leahrosereads's Reviews (1.04k)

One of these days I’ll get around to really sitting down and planning out how I want my reviews to look and read. I really should make them consistent, but it’s not happening yet.

THE ARCHIVED is the second book by Victoria Schwab/VE Schwab that I’ve read, and she’s definitely becoming an author whose work I’ll be on the lookout for in the future. The plot of this story seemed so freaking original and creative to me. I really don’t think I’ve read anything like it. The idea that the dead are lined up on shelves like books in a library is just really a cool idea.

I just really thought that Schwab did so much right with this book.

Mackenzie Bishop, our main character, is incredibly relatable to me, and I loved that she didn’t follow the rules all the time (even if it seemed like a dumb decision when she didn’t). I really thought that her focus on her recently dead brother seemed extremely honest. She’s 16, and losing her brother violently and completely unexpectedly must have been so hard, but working where she does and doing what she does, I can see where this all consuming desire to see her brother again in the Archives could take over her common sense with that type of single focused drive.

I really liked Wes. He’s also a Keeper, but he’s a lot lighter than Mackenzie. He’s more opened and honest, and I think he’ll be really good for her, if she can just let him in.

Really all the characters felt well thought out. I was intrigued about how the Librarians could live in the Archives, because to me, while the place sounds fascinating, I wouldn’t want to stay around the dead for long periods of time. I’d be seriously creeped out.

And then there was Owen (Mackenzie’s love interest), and I guessed what he was pretty quickly. I don’t know if that’s just because I felt like he had to be what he was, or just dumb luck on my part, but I wasn’t shocked when Mackenzie figured it out. I was creeped the hell out by their romance though. No thank you.


I loved that THE ARCHIVED had such a build-up before we got to the meat of the story and mystery. I was able to connect with the characters and really give a damn when everything started to get really crazy. I also finished reading this with an intense desire to pick up the next book from my library. So, that’s exactly what I’m planning on doing. I cannot wait to see where this story goes from here, and I really hope that Mackenzie and Wes continue to work closely together (maybe become Crew partners). Oh, that would be so freaking great.

A Cinderella retelling where she’s a cyborg. A freaking cyborg! Yea, that’s all I really needed to know to want to read this novel. And for the most part, after hearing that, I pretty much assumed I was going to at least get a mild enjoyment out of this novel. However, there was nothing mild about how much I enjoyed and loved Cinder.

This review will be pretty much me fangirling, because I really did find this novel to be just fanfreakingtastic. There was nothing that I truly disliked about this story.


Cinder revolves around, shockingly, Cinder, a cyborg mechanic living in a society where cyborgs are below second-class citizens. She lives with her stepmother, Adri, and two stepsisters - Pearl and Peony. Like in the original Cinderella story, Cinder meets a prince. A dashing, kind, wonderful prince - Prince Kai. She and he forge a friendship and a mutual attraction towards each other, but...of course, nothing is simple and a happily ever after just doesn’t seem to be in the cards for the two of them.


I absolutely loved Cinder as a main character. I thought she was strong-willed and pretty independent, and although normally I don’t care for insta-love or instant attraction, because this is a retelling where in the original that did occur, it didn’t bug me all that much. That, or I just really liked this story, so my issues with insta-love were overridden.

I thought that Prince Kai was a great character. Although, I think some of his decisions were naive, I understood the sacrifices he was/is going to have to make in Cinder and in future novels for his country.

And then there’s Queen Levana...I just wanted to pulverize her, and I really hope that Cinder gets a chance to do just that in the later books...well, most likely in the final novel, Winter. But I can wish for a quick demise of the Lunar Queen, hopefully in Scarlet.

All of the minor characters of the story were well written. From the bitch stepmother, to the adorably sweet Peony, just great. And then there was Iko, the fantastically outspoken android. Her friendship with Cinder was truly well written and enjoyable to read.


As is the case in a lot of first novels, Cinder has world building that helped me understand the background (or some anyway) of what was going on in Cinder’s world. Because I thoroughly enjoy most world building, I didn’t find anything wrong with learning about this futuristic world, and I definitely didn’t think it was over done.


Cinder is the first novel in a series, and because I knew that going in, I assumed this novel wouldn’t wrap up in a tidy bow, and I was right. I’m looking forward to getting Scarlet from my local library and continuing this story as soon as possible.

I would absolutely recommend this novel to any of my friends. It was a quick, interesting novel, and I just loved every minute I spent reading Cinder. Seriously, give it a shot.

Actually 3.5 Stars.

RTC.

So, officially finished the Pine Deep Trilogy this morning when I completed reading Bad Moon Rising. It was freaking amazing. Now, I love zombie books and ghost stories and vampires and werewolves and pretty much the supernatural. I think they make for great stories more times than not.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story's final book. It felt fast paced, and I could not put the book down.

The wonderful protagonists came together for the final showdown, but, while I felt like they brought their A-Game, I also think that due to all the type A personalities that the big bads had, that their ultimate plans fell through in the end for personality reasons.

The good guys shouldn't have won! They were outmatched hundreds to one, and the bad guys had damn near a GOD on their side. But, Vic decided to do his own thing, and Ruger decided to do his, and it really left Griswold completely exposed. Bad on them, good for our heroes. The heroes needed a break, and they got it.

Loved loved this novel. Would absolutely recommend this series!

This is the author’s first graphic novel, and I thought he did well telling the story through a mixture of horror and whimsical elements. And while I didn’t look anything about Hoodoo up prior to reading this, Tom Hammock seems extremely knowledgeable about the rules and from the Introduction, you read about how strongly he feels about sharing this information. I loved how passionate he was about what he was writing, and I feel it shows in the story.


I really loved that while Aurora was the main character, the story needed all of the residents of Ossuary Isle to help her learn and discover and grow. I liked watching her grow up and grow into the culture.

Megan Hutchison’s art was spectacular and worked so well for this novel.




It was pretty and disturbing and magical looking. I just loved it.


Together Tom Hammock and Megan Hutchison really made a fantastical, creepy story come to life, and I will be keeping my eyes on the lookout for future work by both of them.

Holy freaking hell.

Jonathan Maberry has done it again.

He's once again kept me at the edge of my seat, while reading a frightening realistic scenario that will forever change my views on certain up-and-coming technology. I loved every second of this novel. It scared the hell out of me, but I still loved every second of this.

Joe, the Echo Team, the DMS, and Mr. Church never seemed to catch a break this time around. The bad guys were too good, and they knew Mr. Church and the DMS too well. They knew what made them tick, and the bad guys knew exactly how to hurt them.


This was easily my favorite book of the series so far. While I wish there was more Joe and the good guys, I love that I was able to see into the dark, disturbing minds of the big bad bastards for a lot of this. Some of the big bads were new to the game, but the biggest bad bastard was someone the readers have met before, and when I realized who it was (pretty earlier on, it's not like it was a secret), there was profanity. It was a major WTF moment for me.

Every time I review these books, I feel like I have to end with recommending the series. It's an action-packed, techno-thriller series that I think a lot of people would love. Try it out, because the books just seem to be getting better and better!

2.5 Stars

The story sounded like it had the potential to be a phenomenal read to me, but it wasn’t. I guessed the twist pretty early on, and I wasn’t ever truly invested in Stephen or any of the other characters. Maybe it was because the book is under 300 pages, and there wasn’t enough time to build up a connection with the characters, or maybe the writing didn’t allow for a connection to be made.

Or maybe I wasn’t in the mood to read a book like this. I thought I was, until I started reading it, and then…

Whatever the case may be, the characters weren’t what kept me reading. The romance aspect of the story definitely didn’t make me keep reading. If anything, and if there was much more of the romance, I probably would have DNF’d the book.

The romance was just an eye-rolling annoyance to me. It felt forced and unnecesary, even when applying is as part of the twist for the story.


What did keep me reading was my own curiosity. I had to know what the Winged Ones were. If they were real, and if handling the “bad times” like the days of the town’s past, worked. I was a little disappointed with the outcome, but I was happy to find the answers(ish) to my questions.

This definitely wasn’t my favorite YA novel, but I’d be willing to try Heather Brewer’s other works. THE CEMETERY BOYS fell a little flat to me.

With less than 200 pages, THE EMPEROR'S SOUL was able to tell a fully developed and highly interesting story. Brandon Sanderson is clearly a freaking master of fantastic fantasy, and while I’m pretty new to his writing, I’ve been extremely impressed by his stories so far.


Shai is the main character, and as the blurb says, she’s a Forger. Forger’s in this society aren’t regarded very highly, but when the Empire needs her, Shai is given the incredible task of saving the Emperor by using her skills, all the while being looked down on and used. She was such a strong, well written heroine, and again, I have to say how impressed I am by Sanderson’s ability to create such an excellent character in so few pages.

The plot and story were excellently written, and I was completely invested in the story from pretty much page one, and I stayed interested until the end of the book. The pacing felt perfect to me. There was enough informative background that I wasn’t confused as to what Shai was doing for the Empire, and there was enough dialogue and/or action that kept me focused fully on Shai and her situation. Let’s face it, I sometimes have Reader ADD, and if I get bored, I scan. I didn’t scan any sentence. Heck, I sometimes re-read wonderfully written sentences, because I liked them so much.


This is such a fangirling review, but it really was a great story. I highly recommend it. I’m not sure if you need to read another of Sanderson’s novels first, as THE EMPEROR'S SOUL is set in the same world as his novel [b:Elantris|68427|Elantris (Elantris, #1)|Brandon Sanderson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388194739s/68427.jpg|2908871], but I haven’t read that novel yet, and I wasn’t confused or put off by this one.


I think this could be a great teaser story to get people into fantasy, and I’d suggest giving it a read.

RTC, but holy craziness. I see why this is considered great by so many readers.