forevermorepages's Reviews (811)

I liked the Tale of Cuthbert the most...

-Book Hugger

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to give three stars or to give four stars, that tis the question...

anywaaaaaaaay, I finally got around to binge-reading this for school!!

I'm not sure about a review yet, but I recommend it if you're interested in books with a whole lot of diversity, feminism, and more about women's rights in the south (and in general) than black's rights. It was a really interesting perspective.

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-Book Hugger

Massive trigger warning for suicide (though not with the intent to die) and self-harm.

“The paper called Eli a hero. The word made Victor laugh. Not just because it was absurd, but because it posed a question. If Eli was really a hero, and Victor meant to stop him, did that make him a villain? He took a long sip of his drink, tipped his head back against the couch, and decided he could live with that.” 

Ever since finishing Vicious, I've been conflicted over what to rate it. I definitely loved it, yes, and found it fascinating, but something was missing. I can't exactly pinpoint what, but there's something that didn't feel right to me. Hence, I'm giving it four stars.

Perhaps, it's the plot, which I can assuredly say isn't in my comfort zone. I can also assuredly say some of the content in this book...threw me off, to put it lightly. This book isn't necessarily something to take lightly. It's rather dark, and I think a tad unsettling. That isn't to say I'm rating it down because of content, but more that I'm rating it down partially because I didn't fully enjoy this because of the content. 

Onto the things I did like though: the characters and most of the plot. As far as characters go, this book has one of the most unique casts of characters that I've ever read. Victor and Eli are both "extraordinarily" (get it?) weird in their own ways, and both rather...villainous. Eli's a terrible person and that's pretty much established, but I don't particularly think Victor is a good person either. Victor is a conflicting character; I love him, but I don't love what he does. He's positively an anti-hero. There's no question about it. As for Eli, I most certainly do not love him. Looking at the other characters, I love Sydney and feel really bad for her. That girl's been through a lot. I also commend Schwab for writing a middle-schooler well. Sydney doesn't act like an adult, even though she may have been through mature situations. She's a very well done character. Continuously, I loved Mitch too. He's your average guy (as far as criminals go), but he goes along with all of Victor's antics and I just love him? He's so precious (and huge!!). He never once questions his loyalty to Victor and Sydney, which I found rather sweet. 

“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

As for the plot, I do have to say I fell in love with it. I love morally-grey stories and this is about as morally-grey as you can get without writing about complete-evil. This story is dark, as I've already said, so some aspects of the plot weren't...kind. I can't say I was fond of people becoming ExtraOrdinary by dying (and Victor and Eli basically killing themselves to get to that state), but the concept of it itself was fascinating. 

This is a superhero story without any heroes.

(I'm falling more in love with the book as I write the review...I'm so sad I'm giving this four stars...I'M CONFLICTED).

Moreover, I thought I'd hate the formatting because it jumps all over time and tells the pre-story during the current-story, but it worked really well. I don't think this book would have worked so well differently, honestly. Can I just say that VE Schwab is a queen? And at this point I'll read anything she ever writes? Except for The Archived #2?

I highly recommend picking this up, but if you're not keen on some of the darker things I mentioned, it might not be for you. Or at least proceed with caution.

“Did you know that when you take away a person's fear of pain, you take away their fear of death? You make them, in their own eyes, immortal. Which of course they're not, but what's the saying? We are all immortal until proven otherwise?” 

-Book Hugger

I'm not going to review this on my blog because frankly I just don't have the energy. So here's a half-ass review since this is the one night I've actually had free time this entire school year.

I liked this a lot, but the footnotes (or whatever they're called?) were really lengthy and boring. I didn't like jumping around to read them, but I did like how much world building they carried. Yay for authors who know how to create a world.

Uhh...what else. I can't even remember this book. I'm a mess.

Mia was pretty badass and awesome, but I lowkey hated Tric.

I ship her with Ash whoops. But seriously props to Kristoff for that bisexual mc

Oftentimes this book was really boring and I just couldn't take it. Other times it was exciting and pumping, but like, I want it that way the whole time instead of in segments. The school setting was really cool and it reminisced Harry Potter, but not to the point of plagiarism or annoyance!! Like it was original!!!

Overall, good, but not good enough. Also??? This is definitely not YA. Whoever's been shelving this as such is kidding themselves.

I would recommend this to fans of adult high fantasy who think Harry Potter might just be a little too young for them.

-Book Hugger

Review to come (tomorrow maybe???)

I want an Eli. Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

-Book Hugger
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“She plucked a rose and held it to her face. She hated the way roses smelled, their sweetness too fragile. She wanted a garden of evergreens. A garden of stones. A garden of swords.”

And I Darken is a book that catches you off guard. I never expected to love it this much, despite my love of European history. Usually, I prefer historical fiction with a tad bit of fantasy to make it exciting, but this, lacking anything near to fantasy, was enough by itself. I think it's a misconception in the book world that And I Darken has fantasy in it. Let's clear this up now: There is no fantasy in this book. Maybe it's concluded that it "must have magic" because it's a retelling? Or because it's not telling history the way it really was? Or because the cover is pretty (which it is, seriously)? I honestly have no idea where the idea that this book has magic in it came from. The only thing separating it from the reality of the time is that Vlad the Impaler is female and her name is Lada.

I actually didn't like Lada. Out of context, that would seem positive. Who would I be if I liked the genderbent Vlad the Impaler? However, I think most people did like Lada, brutality and all. She's definitely not a heroine; she commits gruesome murders too much for that. If I were to title her, I would say Lada is an antihero and Radu is the hero. I don't even know where I'd put Mehmed, what do you do with characters who act like trash and are trash?

That said, I think Lada is a very well-written character. She's ruthless. I don't quite believe it's necessary to like her to enjoy the book. I loved every piece of it, but hated Lada. She's so cruel and heartless and I usually go for the softer characters (thus why I can now claim Radu as my son). 

I was taken more by Radu's storyline, too. From his perspective, I could see why Mehmed was so attractive. When it switched to Lada's however, I found myself hating him, because I could see he had ulterior motives. I think that's what I loved so much about this book is that the story changed with the perspectives and you really do get a different view of their lives and the world around them with the narration change.

“But you always have a choice. You can choose to find comfort and solace in God. You can choose to be brave and compassionate. And you can choose to find beauty and happiness wherever they present themselves.”

However, I wish Kiersten White would have included Mehmed's perspective as well. He felt really flat to me and I think that came as a result of being seen through the eyes of two people who worshipped the ground he walked upon. It would have been interesting to see his perspective to give another layer of depth to his character. Though, I think it definitely set up his place in the story by showing him through these eyes. I'm rather torn about him, because as I said earlier, he is trash, but I think I could grow to like him if I were shown more of him. Hopefully that will change with Now I Rise, which I have just started reading. 

All in all, this book was amazing. It's fast-paced with beautiful prose and a plot to go with it. It's perfect for anyone who loves history, honestly. It was a nice bit of shock to read a description of The Great Mosque in Edirne, Turkey, too, because that's one of the pieces I have to learn for AP Art History. 

-Book Hugger

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I definitely enjoyed Dorothy Must Die and found the plot extremely original (though retellings are in) and creative. However, I had some issues with it that led me to give it only four stars instead of five. Mainly, when Amy finds herself in Oz she isn't surprised enough for the situation. There's no shock when she is introduced to magic, which I believe to be extremely odd. Not only that, but Amy had a "moment" where she only gained confidence in her abilities once she became really pretty. Personally, I'd prefer if characters didn't have to be drop-dead gorgeous in order to kick butt. It's a little degrading and it's one of my least favorite tropes. However, her pink hair sounds amazing. I love that she actually has dyed hair, you don't see that too often with characters.

Other than those complaints, I loved the fast-paced plot. I was on the edge of my seat the majority of the time. I also liked the chapter length, which was somewhere in between long and short. I don't like short chapters because they result in really choppy books, but I also hate long chapters because they leave me bored. This is probably the perfect length because I can read a full chapter in a short period of time, but still feel as though the plot isn't being rushed. So, kudos to Danielle Paige there.

Not to mention, the characters are awesome. Amy is strong, but still realistic, which is a problem I see a lot. Many of the strong characters don't seem real. Sometimes I wonder if Celaena Sardothien is actually meant to be real because she doesn't act real. Amy acted real and that's all I really ask for in a character. That, and character development at least. This book also had some nice character development, which is a plus in my book. If a character doesn't change over the course of a plot, I can't really continue the series. Characters are everything to me, and finding great characters within Dorothy Must Die really made me enjoy it.

Overall, I loved this book and recommend it to all fairy-tale retelling fans despite the minor dislikes. It also made for a really fun read because my friend, who gifted it to me for my birthday, put sticky notes all throughout it with comments. Those were hilarious and so adorable. I would just be in class reading and then I'd stumble upon a little note and just burst into laughter. So, thank you:)

-Book Hugger

I'm glad I finally read this. It wasn't perfect, but it was an interesting look into the lives of Native Americans waaaay back when.

-book hugger

Okay let's be honest here, I'm not gonna get a review out for a book I read at the end of September that'll be decent content because I can barely remember what I did yesterday.

Quick review here, then...

The Raven Cycle is better. I still loved Maggie's writing here. She made me actually interested in horses. I didn't think the romance was necessary. I really liked Puck. Okay bye.