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chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)
Quick Stats
Overall: 3.5 stars
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3.5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
This was a thoroughly solid start to a YA fantasy series, and I intend to pick up book 2 when it comes out, but I have to admit this book came as a bit of a disappointment to me. This was a book I’d been highly anticipating—the premise sounded incredible—but it just fell a little flat.
I never got really invested in the story. It was interesting; I wanted to know what came next, but it didn’t pull me in the way a truly good fantasy novel does. I never felt immersed in the story, and I never felt super connected to the characters. I felt disconnected.
The plot dragged at times, and was overall a bit disjointed and slow up until the last fifty pages where it really picked up. The last bit of the book was by far the best part, but it too felt a little disconnected from the rest of the plot up until then.
None of this is to say it’s a bad book—it’s very much not. I did enjoy the book and intend to continue with the series. I loved the magic system and world building, and I really liked the last bit of the book, which made me eager to see what comes next. But knowing Sara Raasch’s earlier work (specifically Snow Like Ashes) I had high hopes that just… weren’t met. It was a good read, but it had the potential to be really great, and it was disappointing that it didn’t live up to that.
Overall: 3.5 stars
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3.5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
This was a thoroughly solid start to a YA fantasy series, and I intend to pick up book 2 when it comes out, but I have to admit this book came as a bit of a disappointment to me. This was a book I’d been highly anticipating—the premise sounded incredible—but it just fell a little flat.
I never got really invested in the story. It was interesting; I wanted to know what came next, but it didn’t pull me in the way a truly good fantasy novel does. I never felt immersed in the story, and I never felt super connected to the characters. I felt disconnected.
The plot dragged at times, and was overall a bit disjointed and slow up until the last fifty pages where it really picked up. The last bit of the book was by far the best part, but it too felt a little disconnected from the rest of the plot up until then.
None of this is to say it’s a bad book—it’s very much not. I did enjoy the book and intend to continue with the series. I loved the magic system and world building, and I really liked the last bit of the book, which made me eager to see what comes next. But knowing Sara Raasch’s earlier work (specifically Snow Like Ashes) I had high hopes that just… weren’t met. It was a good read, but it had the potential to be really great, and it was disappointing that it didn’t live up to that.
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 12+
Overall: 3.5 stars
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
I’ve always been a bit iffy on Kasie West, but this being the second book of hers I’ve read and enjoyed in the past… two days… I think I might officially have to call myself a fan.
Fame, Fate and the First Kiss is the companion novel to Love, Life, and the List, and follows Lacey Barnes, the best friend of Abby, the main character from Love, Life, and the List. Fame can be read on it’s own, however it does include some spoilers for Abby’s story.
Here’s the thing: I didn’t like Love, Life, and the List. I think I gave it 3 stars when I read it a couple years ago, but if I were to read it now, I’d probably give it 2. However, I enjoyed Fame a lot, the plot and writing were all around better, and I found the characters involved to me very entertaining and much better developed. It’s ironic, that I liked this book, because in the first book, Lacey was my least favorite character. I found her annoying. But as the protagonist of her own story, I liked her a lot—and I loved Donovan so much.
I picked this book up because I found it at a thrift store while I was reading an ARC of Sunkissed (Kasie West’s upcoming novel, out 5/4 and very good!) and it was $3 for a hardcover, so I was like “why not”. And I’m so glad I did because I liked this book a lot more than I expected to, and I think I’ve maybe—hopefully—decided that the few books of West’s that I didn’t like were flukes and she’s an author I enjoy.
I think this book is definitely worth checking out—even if you weren’t a huge fan of Love, Life, and the List.
Age Rating: 12+
Overall: 3.5 stars
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
I’ve always been a bit iffy on Kasie West, but this being the second book of hers I’ve read and enjoyed in the past… two days… I think I might officially have to call myself a fan.
Fame, Fate and the First Kiss is the companion novel to Love, Life, and the List, and follows Lacey Barnes, the best friend of Abby, the main character from Love, Life, and the List. Fame can be read on it’s own, however it does include some spoilers for Abby’s story.
Here’s the thing: I didn’t like Love, Life, and the List. I think I gave it 3 stars when I read it a couple years ago, but if I were to read it now, I’d probably give it 2. However, I enjoyed Fame a lot, the plot and writing were all around better, and I found the characters involved to me very entertaining and much better developed. It’s ironic, that I liked this book, because in the first book, Lacey was my least favorite character. I found her annoying. But as the protagonist of her own story, I liked her a lot—and I loved Donovan so much.
I picked this book up because I found it at a thrift store while I was reading an ARC of Sunkissed (Kasie West’s upcoming novel, out 5/4 and very good!) and it was $3 for a hardcover, so I was like “why not”. And I’m so glad I did because I liked this book a lot more than I expected to, and I think I’ve maybe—hopefully—decided that the few books of West’s that I didn’t like were flukes and she’s an author I enjoy.
I think this book is definitely worth checking out—even if you weren’t a huge fan of Love, Life, and the List.