EPIC FANTASY.

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Note: I listened to this through Audible (not an ad, just a FYI) with Michael Kramer as the narrator. I loved it! He does a wonderful job of voices, diction, and tone that I can easily listen to the book.

This series [so far] has truly been the epitome of what I consider epic fantasy. A long book filled with great world building, a lot of action, a side or two of romance, a dose of politics and so much more.

Though, y’all. Be warned, Sanderson is not afraid to kill of characters. I may or may not have shouted THAT’S NOT FAIR! one or two times. I’m still upset, clearly. But there was a handful of depths where I shrugged and moved on. My emotional attachment only runs so deep for some of the crew.

Still totally obsessed with Vin and Elend. Now, I think a little more romance could’ve have been injected into their story. It flew in and out so fast that I was left wanting a little more of them without the pressures of saving Luthadel. They both made some poor choices in this book, but I love that they also never gave up on each other. There really is a strong bond between them that is so sweet to watch.

They’re so many side characters. It would take me way too long to dive into all of them. My favorites are definitely OreSeur, Hammond and Sayzid. And if they don’t survive the next book I don’t know what will happen. I love that with the random side character POVs we’re allowed into their minds (i.e. Sayzid, Brees, Dockson, etc.). Everyone is unique and I understand their choices and intentions.

I was holding my breath til the end. Where a few pieces to the puzzle were placed. I’m still so in the dark, and I am loving it.

Overall audience notes:
-Epic fantasy
-No language
-Romance: a kiss or two, some hugs
-Violence: knives, physical

REGENCY PERIOD FOR THE WIN.

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This was so fun. There was a lot of work that went into this by the author. Goodman did so much research to make sure that her world depicted London in 1812. It was fantastic. Regency books are some of my favorite and this was very well done. YAY!

Y’all I love Lord Carlston. Because I am a total sucker for brooding men with some dark secrets that are [hopefully] marshmallows. I have high hopes for him. He better not disappoint. I am however, completely on the fence about the Duke. I don’t know where I stand, but I’m not really shipping him at all right now. And we all know, my series love can fall apart if who I ship first off doesn’t end up happening. THE SUSPENSE WILL END ME.

I liked Helen overall. Since she unfortunately had no idea about her powers she is a bit naive in this book. Having to learn everything, and understand the world of the Dark Days Club takes over half the book. I’m looking forward to her character growing as the series does. I want an awesome, sword fighting, Jane Austen-esque heroine.

The magic system in this book is complicated. And that’s probably my biggest reason for 4 stars. It sounded awful to actually be a Reclaimer. The 101 things that have to be done just to see the Deceiver, destroy them, their progeny and the like blew my mind. It was too intricate for me to see the fun in being a part of the Club. I will give points for everything being explained even if I didn’t fully grasp it.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult historical-fiction, Regency period, paranormal [demons]
- No explicit language: use of the word whore and others like it for the time period
- Violence: demons with whip-like extensions, knives, physical, gory-detailed scenes
- Romance: a passionate kiss, discussion of some sexual things

MUCH TO BE DESIRED.

It almost pains me to give this book such a low rating because I loved the first book so much. This one however, left too much to be desired.

Jules Ember is not the sharpest tool in the shed. For a heroine who is trying to avoid the Sorceress and the law in general I don’t think it’s wise to let everyone know who you are. She was constantly going to places and events and letting everyone know her plans. Of course she was found!? Jules also kept sending mixed messages to everyone. She’d spit angry things at them, then turn around and basically shout her feelings at her friends/lover.

Liam is the only reason I hung onto this book. I loved his character from Everless. This was a total annihilation of his persona. “His face reddened” more times than I could count. Love struck fool was not a good look on him. It was rushed in comparison to how he treated Jules previously. Though, he was almost the real hero because he repeatedly saved Jules from her own mistakes. It was an odd, off-balanced pairing.

The original book captured my attention because of the blood as time and currency concept. I’ve seen other reviews that mentioned this isn’t totally new (in my case, I haven’t read others like this yet) so I was intrigued! It made things a bit twisted and confusing [in a good way]. Evermore never brought this into play. There was only mentions on the side about others doing using this alchemy.

All of Jules visions were throwing me off big time. They would come at random moments (That’s So Raven anyone?) and not make total sense. It was interrupting the flow of the plot itself. At least the last vision answered a lot of the questions I was stumped on about the actual relationship between The Alchemist and The Sorceress.

Lastly, I profoundly loathe obvious, cliche moments. Pure love conquers pure evil y’all. *sigh*

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- No language
- Romance: a few kisses, one loosely implied love scene
- Violence: knives, a bit of blood, murder

IT WAS CUTE.

3.5* rounded to 4


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I had seen this book floating around bookstagram for the gorgeous cover. So this became a total cover buy since it was created by one of my favorite artists.

We had some of the typical trope characters, a cocky fae-prince and a human girl. They were a pretty funny pair. I found myself laughing out loud on occasion. I’m a sucker for anytime a fae interacts with the human world. They say the darndest things.

“I was merely astonished that so many tools of your Craft can double as armaments. Is there anything you humans don’t use to kill one another?”

– Rook, referring to a skillet (which made me think of Rapunzel from Tangled)

There is definitely instant love in this book. But what I found as sort of it’s own dissection of the concept, Isobel realizes how ridiculous it is that she thinks she’s fallen in love so quickly. She was a true real human. Discussing how filthy she felt, the pimple on her forehead made her much more relatable and I was thinking, yeah girl same, that does suck.

My biggest issue was pacing. It’s a standalone so I understand the need for a bit of a rush. There was so much time spent on details that the story was getting shoved forward quicker than necessary. Pretty prose is nice, but I personally prefer when more time is spent on the scene, not the trees surrounding the scene. I was hoping for a deeper story line.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- A little bit of language
- Violence: swords, some gore
-Romance: a somewhat intense-ish make-out, kisses

THE SEQUEL SURVIVES.


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I totally, thoroughly enjoyed this wicked tale. Was it the best sequel ever? Maybe not, but it was wrapped up in so many devious plots that I enjoyed it all.

“The three of you have one solution to every problem. Murder.”

“Someone tries to betray the The High King, murder. Someone gives you a harsh look, murder. Someone disrespects you, murder. Someone ruins your laundry, murder.“

– The High King, Cardan

I mean, look at that quote. Cardan for all of his twisted ways, is not a murderer. Unlike our lovely seneschal, Jude. This is what makes this series the height of amusement.

I love how cruel and tortured these souls are. Jude remains plagued by her obsessive need for power, yet struggles at some of the most basic emotions. She’s ambitious, reckless and morally gray. Cardan on the other hand has this complete layered sense of wickedness. He is so complex and I would totally love a POV from him. The High King is an amazing villain/anti-hero.

“I want to tell you so many lies.”

Now put those two together and the craziest level of sexual tension ensues. Oh, they drove me batty. They both lack the fundamental rule of a ‘relationship” (that being trust) and in losing this, have created a beautiful tragic love that will probably end up in flames. Though I’m truly counting on them working it out. I’m all for a reunion scene, am I right? They both deserve to love and be loved and I need everyone happy okay??

The pacing is a little slow in this book, as I feel it suffers the plague of the sequel. I wasn’t really invested til about halfway and then within the final few pages things darn well blew up. SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!? The most wicked of all the books will be coming next year, that ending about guarantees it. Jude completely gets what she deserves [and I secretly love it, but also hope she gets revenge all in the same breath].

There’s plenty of characters I would willing stab myself for Jude and I am eagerly anticipating how Black destroys them in the finale. Taryn, Locke, Nicasia, Madoc, Orlagh, I mean, y’all, I have a list.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- No language
- Violence: some gore, knives, poison, torture, enchantments
- Romance: a bit of kissing, a lightly detailed love scene, discussion of how faeries love to be naked
- Trigger warnings: alcohol, bullying

*4.5 stars

SO MANY EMOTIONS.

This is a book that is hard to put down. I finished it within hours and was utterly involved in every aspect of this book. I love Mafi’s work and this was fantastic.

I will never understand or be able to comprehend the things Shirin goes through. I could truly feel her anger coming off the page within the first few chapters. This was only the beginning of how well placed the emotions were throughout this book. It’s been awhile since I have felt everything an author was trying to convey through her characters.

Ocean was this precious, sweet soul who I seriously had flutters reading about. All of his interactions with Shirin were immensely heartfelt and was a strong reminder that, yes they’re bad people, but there are a lot more good people in the world. It’s something I personally strive to remember and connected on a deeper level with. I didn’t always love how he was treated by Shirin, but I sought to understand the base reasoning that drove her decisions.

Her big brother, Navid, was the best protector. I loved seeing him throughout the book constantly ensuring that Shirin knew someone had her back (along with his group of break dancing friends). The break dancing did take a back-seat to the overall love story. I personally didn’t mind because Ocean brought out a lot of self-realization for Shirin.

I appreciated that Shirin acknowledged her right to feel angry, but also her right to let it go[within reason]. Her ability to work on giving the world a chance made me love her character even more.

The writing may seem juvenile at times, but upon further thinking it over, it’s highly accurate. There’s a lot of uses of: wow, like, and just and I kept thinking, oh my goodness this is driving me insane — then, wait, I know I used to talk that way as a teenager myself.

Overall audience notes:
-Young adult contemporary
-A lot of language
-Romance: some intense kisses
-Violence: physical, verbal
-Trigger warnings: islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, mentions of past assault

SANDERSON DOES IT AGAIN!

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I STAYED UP WAY TOO LATE TO FINISH THIS AND I REGRET NOTHING. Sanderson should keep writing YA sci-fi novels, because this was fantastic.

"The answer is not to fear the spark, but to learn to control it. "

The world of Detritus is intricate and well thought out. The underground civilization, the above-ground command centers, the ring of debris around the planet!? So stinkin' cool.

I know I only have the Mistborn series to go off of, but Sanderson puts together amazing female heroines. I absolutely love Spensa and her personality. She's stubborn, blunt, and full of witty and odd old school remarks. I love how she handles and approaches her own issues and flaws, but in the same breath, stands for her crew and friends.

"You’re insubordinate, mouthy, and…well, you’re scudding frustrating. But when you fly, Spin, you fly as part of a team—and you keep my people safe.”

Also, the minor love interest that is screaming hate-to-love is making me beyond excited for the next installment. I love Jorgen and I am here for their romance y'all.

The banter and camaraderie in the Skyward crew is my absolute fav. I love a group of characters who balance each other so well. Even with the few people that you don't get to know that well, I still felt attached to them. As I've noticed, Sanderson isn't afraid of death. Spensa and the surviving crew mates have to deal with grief and guilt and it was making me feel too.

I can't even handle M-Bot and Doomslug. I laughed so much listening to M-Bot attempt human emotions. Then the fact she has a random pet/creature that she named Doomslug who makes little noises? Dead. It was great and I loved these two.

"Brave to the end."

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult sci-fi
- No language
- Violence: space ship blasts, war
- Romance: a hug
- Trigger warnings: grief, loss of loved ones

OOO, I LIKED THIS.

*Note: I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Wednesday Books, for the opportunity to read Wicked Saints. Publication date, etc. subject to change.

I have so many questions, in the best way possible. This was a great opening book and I think this will be a fantastic series.

I was immediately thrown into an action scene where I didn’t know anything, but was totally captivated. I think that scene on its own will have further implications in the following books.

I had the hardest time pronouncing all of these names though, especially the gods. They’re a lot of characters. And often they are thrown together quickly. It took me longer to accept meetings/relationships than it did in the book because I wasn’t sure how everyone was so quickly trusting in the middle of a war.

The only issue I had was that the book could honestly, be a little longer. Now hear me out, whenever I read a scene that seemed very important to the series I felt it wasn’t long enough to grasp the whole picture. There were so many things happening in this book that it’s occasionally hard to keep up. More time could’ve been spent on getting to know others, fully forming plans, action scenes, etc.

Nadya is still growing on me. I liked her and think her character is going to have some great refinement over the next two installments. She’s a little naive and so rigorously faithful that it becomes her downfall. Nadya could stand to be a little more wicked. Especially since I feel this was the entire point of the book. She hasn’t actually done anything just yet.

Malachiasz on the other hand, totally baffled me. I went from: eh → you’re okay → I kinda like you → wait a second → oh no he didn’t → NOW WHAT HAPPENS? all in the course of this book. He took me on a ride and his broken, damaged soul is one to watch for. He’s the actual Wicked one and his buddies need to catch up.

Lastly, are dear Prince Serefin is an interesting character who I think will have a bigger role come book two. He’s here and he does a lot, but his story really picked up right at the end. I enjoyed his wit and charisma and am ever so curious how he will fare.

There’s plenty of world-building and a lot of religious discussions. I liked how Duncan wove the various religions with society and politics and with how religion and magic work [or not] together. I kept debating with myself which side I felt was the more trust worthy/best choice for Nadya because there’s a strong emphasis on listening, learning and not assuming you already know everything about someone’s beliefs. I’m even sitting here now trying to plot the entire series. I love when there isn’t a major cliffhanger, but enough open-endedness that you can hardly wait for the next one.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- Very little language
- Violence: arrows, death, murder, torture, abuse, knives, etc.
- Romance: light kisses, to intense make-outs
- Trigger warnings: child abuse, self-harm, excessive use of alcohol

THIS. WAS. AMAZING.

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Note: While there won’t be any spoilers from KoS, PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE READING if you haven’t read Bardguo’s other Grisha novels (Shadow and Bone / Six of Crows). There will be spoilers to those stories.

I was all for this book from seriously chapter two. I could not put it down. What was even greater was that this book isn’t high action. Yes, there is quite a bit of action, but the story itself keeps you so involved there is hardly a moment of pause. Plenty of literal jaw-dropping moments that will leave you gasping. It’s biggest draw is that we get to see the characters from Shadow and Bone AND Six of Crows mix. This is the real winning moment.

“The monster is me and I am the monster.”

The whole theme of the novel is over-coming your demons. Each of our main POVs (Nikolai, Nina & Zoya) are all battling something; both physically and mentally. I loved how each story was approached and how they all differed in the handling of the situation. These characters arcs are going to be utterly devastating.

Okay, first of all. I AM ALL OVER NIKOLAI AND ZOYA. I didn’t love Zoya the first time I met her (Sh&Bone), but KoS allowed a look at her background. She slowly grew on me, with all of her sass, and the fact she owns her beauty. I love her all the more for her stubborn protective streaks and her fiery nature. And the things she gained along this journey? Queen of the storms indeed.

My dear, sweet, fox, Nikolai. Oh how I love you. Y’all. This has got to be one of my top characters of all time. He is so clever and charming. I want to be in his presence always. Bardugo’s ability to write the best conversation scenes leave me giggling and in awe every time. All I want is his happiness and for him to have Ravka in some semblance of peace. Apparently, this is a lot to ask for currently.

“One could plot espionage and still hope for dessert.”

Now, Nina. Her story was the only one that fell a little flat for me. Her grief over Matthias though? That made me want to sob. Those emotions were raw and broke me. The rest of her story was good, yes, but I think will be better in the second book. I hope that all of these characters come back together! I was really hooked on Matthias and since I clearly haven’t gotten over that I’m still warming up to Nina’s supposed love interest: Hanne. I like her, and I think as her character opens up I will love her. They need more time for me to really see their relationship. Hanne’s character is strong and passionate, so I can definitely get behind that.

This is getting a little long-winded. Whoops. Can you see how much I loved this book? I’ll close up soon because we have to discuss the ending…

…But we can’t, because I would spoil it for you. For real, I went into full panic mode at the end.So many gut-punching twists. I am stunned and questioning everything I know at this point. BOOK TWO COMES OUT WHEN?

“Anything worth doing always starts with a bad idea.”

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy: Need to have read previous Grishaverse novels to really understand whole scope of story
- Very little language
- Violence: physical, poison, gun, knives, magic, etc.
- Romance: so much romantic tension, AHH
- Trigger warnings: mistreatment of pregnant women, mentions of miscarriage, drug addiction, murder

A SWEET, TOUGH READ.
This is a quick-read of a realistic fiction of mental health. At moments it was a bit hard to get through because I personally don’t know how that situation would feel. My heart was in continual pain for the entire Kelly family.

The book is simple in its nature but highlights a struggle that can be found in varying degrees in the world. I thought it was poignant, and that it’s important for books like this to be available for a younger audience.

Everyone has their own degree of mental health triumphs and fears. Della voicing those fears shredded my heart strings. A 12-year old facing so much in loving her Mom, and needing her Mom, but having to act as a Mom herself too often for her age.

A book that is full of topics that need to, and should be discussed. No language and no violence.