I'll start with the good: it was an action packed dystopian just like I was promised. The leads weren't the average trope for the genre. And Leigh Dragoon is an epic name. After that, this fell flat on its face.

Now some of this might be because I read the graphic novel and this was originally a book to complex to adapt properly, but I have to review this on what I read. The plot was underdeveloped, and the novel was under the impression that I already knew what was going on and gave me no hints as to what the world was like and the characters. The character development was lacking. The world wasn't explained either. At first I thought it was in placed warped and different from ours like in The Hunger Game, but suddenly the States were still existing. Everything was just lacking and I came out of this almost the same as when I went in. I feel like it was expecting me to read the book first and just know what was going on.

It took a while to get interesting. Overall this book wasn't good, but it wasn't bad. It's not very memorable either. It's just meh for me.

Trigger Warnings: Mild inappropriate references (only if understood), mild violence, mild gore.


Wow that was the longest 300 pages I've read and enjoyed. Probably because this book is soooooo humongous.

This is a great retelling if the Greek Gods for a modern audience told in classic Rick Riorden style. It's a fun way to learn about them too. John Rocco did an amazing job with the illustrations. It made this book complete.

My tale preferences goes as follows:

1. The Fountain of Fair Fortune (Also an alliteration!)
2. The Warlock's Harry Heart
3. The Tale of Three Brothers
4. Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump
5. The Wizard and the Hoping Pot

Wow that was hard. Many of these are tied but I forced myself to give them all a place. The only ones I can say for certain are the first and the last ones. The Wizard and the Hopping Pot did not impress me and wasn't the strongest start. The Fountain of Fair Fortune reminded me of Disney's and Grimm's and Christian's stories that I loved as a kid. Pure, sweet nostalgia!

My first thought after reading this was that I wished there was more. Not necessarily more stories, but I wish that a greater portion of the novel was dedicated to Beedle's fables and not to Dumbledore's notes. I also wish there had been a bit more to The Tale of Three Brothers. It was pretty much the same thing that was presented to us in the [b: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows|136251|Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)|J.K. Rowling|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474171184s/136251.jpg|2963218], book or film. I was hoping for a little extra something, especially since the author saved this one for last and I have to read everything in order, no matter how much I don't want to. Other than that, this book was outstanding and by far my favourite of the Hogwarts Library!

At first I was worried these stories would be too close to the Brothers Grimm's or to Aderson Christain's, but they weren't. They were unique (in ways explained in the introduction) and 100% wizarding tales. The messages, directed primarily to young witches and wizards, did little for me but it did not decrease my enjoyment of the novel. Some even did have relevance to us Muggles, like magic is not always the solution. Dumbledore's and Rowling's notes, while long, gave much appreciated depth to the wizarding world and life as a young witch/wizard and Hogwarts student. The history of how the fables were adapted into less crude/gory/Muggle-loving stories were much like what has happened to our classic tales over the course of time.

What surprised me the most was how open the stories were to Muggles. It's easy in Harry Potter to get that most of the peoples of the wizarding world are not open to them or Muggle-born witches/wizards, yet these stories encourage children to kind to their magicless neighbours and that it's okay to love a non-magical person. Of course this spiked some nasty letters from Luscious Malfoy, but I'm with Dumbledore and will ignore them.

The references to [b: Fantastic Beats and where to Find Them|41899|Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them|Newt Scamander|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1303738520s/41899.jpg|4195128] was a nice change. It's one of the only references in the whole of the Hogwarts Library collection that I could actually look up. I wish there were more of these textbooks out there... especially the ones referenced in the companions. It would just make it all complete.

And finally, the best part about this book is that some of the money from the purchase goes to charity.

Probably the longest review I've written to date (excluding all the papers done for school for The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom)

Trigger Warnings: Mild inappropriate references (only if understood), violence, gore.


Hero Preferences:
1. Atalanta
2. Cyrene
3. Orphues
4. Jason
5. Otrera
6. Daedalus
7. Theseus
8. Hercules
9. Perseus
10. Bellerophon
11. Psyche
12. Phaethon


Again, it's hard choosing favourites but I feel as I must and therefore force myself to. Hercules is low because his story was just too long..................................................................... After that it was just "This hero is cooler than this one" or "I laughed more here than there" or "This guy was dumber than that guy".

Who better to tell us the tales of the Greek Heroes and demigods then a hero and demigod himself? Percy Jackson gives us a funny, in-depth description of the lives of some the most famous Greek heroes like Atalanta (not Atlanta), the Queen of the Amazons, Jason, and Al/Hercules.

I do have to admit: this book is large and long. It takes a while to read. The paperbacks are somewhere around 700 pages when I saw them in the store (and I don't remember seeing any of Ricco's illustrations there to bump up the page total). So hunker down, this book is a long, adventurous ride into the lore behind Rick Riorden's books.

First off, props to Mr. Riordan for making all the questionable content child-friendly. That takes real skill. I think narrating it all from Percy Jackson's point of view was a great idea. I liked the little tidbits for people who have actually read Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus. It makes it feel as if the world continues even when the books are not. It also makes Percy feel like a real human. He has witty writing style that mirrors his personality in the book series perfectly. It makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.

Not to mention the kick-ass females. While there were not as many as the male heroes, this book made sure they got their fair share. There were only two female heroes, yet I feel like they were very present. Their stories were great, by far my favorites.

Last but not least John Ricco did an excellent job at providing illustrations to this book. It brought the characters to life and helps readers to imagine a word they will never live in.

Trigger Warning: Drugs, gore, blood, violence, mild language, death.

4.5 So when I first picked up The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, I was not expecting to like it. I was not expecting vampires. Some of the author blurbs were making me think: "Eh, if they liked it I won't." I never expected to love a book about vampires. Frankly I went into this book with little and low expectations, and was blindsided.

The last Holly Black book I read, [b:Valiant|266607|Valiant (Modern Faerie Tales #2)|Holly Black|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1332713354s/266607.jpg|588218], did not impress me. I was worried that this one would not either. But this did (duh). The characters were great, the plot was awesome, Coldtown is the coolest, creepiest, weirdest, ect setting that I have read about in a while, maybe even forever. It had so many layers to it. Not only that, but how it and vampires were precised by people on either side of it was so different. It made me think about the internet and news today, how everything is sensationalized and warped into something different than it actually is. To people on the outside, Coldtown was like a glamorous, 24/7 party with a chance to earn immortality, but in reality, it was dirty, dank, and unfriendly.

The characters seemed plausible. One of the most annoying things I read in books that take place in our world is how dumb or implausible their actions and reactions are. It bugs me beyond belief and can completely ruin a story for me. Tana's actions did not. It made sense with her history and background, and her actions were felt natural, not odd or staged for the plot. And they moved the plot forwards. Another pet peeve is when everything but the main character moves the plot forwards. Now one thing Tana's sister Pearl did sorta bugged me

Spoiler

when she sent the text to Tana saying "have fun fun fun fun [...]" (not sure how many funs there are)

. It made me roll my eyes and think "Who does that?" along with a bunch of other things, though I guess it can be credited to her age and the perception of Coldtown as I said above.

These aren't the only thing Holly Black did right in Coldtown. She made me like a vampire novel. Usually, vampire novels are either trying to scare me (I'm to visual for books to scare me, it has to be a film) or are deathly romantic. This was neither. It had the right element of creepiness and logical romance (seriously, no one writes logical romances these days). Plus, the romance stayed as a side plot. It didn't take over halfway through the story. It let the plot be the plot.

And finally, Black's writing was great. It wasn't outstanding, but it was rich and exciting. Here word choice was brilliant. Each character had their own voice and I loved the little blog excepts. They were in the right places at the right times, as were the flashbacks. They were relevant; they were what readers want and need to see from the story.

In all this was just a great book. Not the best thing ever, but something I will remember and recommend for a very long time!

This fable isn't just about a girl and a fox who switch bodies. it about so much more. It's about the magic in our world, and how thing like war and lies can kill the magic and twist our world out of shape. It's about being comfortable with who you are and that it's okay to become someone else, or in other words, to evolve and grow up.

There's a nostalgic feel and innocence to this story that is odd. It's modern yet old-fashioned at the same time. While there are kings, queen, and peasants, wars are fought with tanks and machine guns. It's such a cool aspect. And this idea is original, even though we can see element from classic fables and fairy-tales.

I enjoyed every aspect of this novel. How different and ironic it could be, the necessities for fair trials, the different opinions. It's truly a horrifying and charming read for young ones.

3.75

(I was reading a galley copy I won at a book signing for [b: Jane, Unlimited|32991569|Jane, Unlimited|Kristin Cashore|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493651118s/32991569.jpg|53629123]. My thoughts were not influences)

Alright, so this book was great. I loved it, but the starts and the ends got me. It's like your favourite sandwich, only with your least favourite bread. You like everything on it, but the bread still tastes awful. So in spirit of this analogy, I'll dissect this novel like a sandwich.

The Crust: So bread is the first thing you taste, you first opinion of the story. In the beginning, I did not like Marie Lu's writing style. I felt like I was having an argument with the book (it's a very strange feeling). I found like my brain was picking out tropes and writing styles I hated and the novel was like "Oh you hate that? Take this!" I'm quite glad the whole book was not like that.

The Insides: So after about 50 pages of fighting with the book, the whole book changed. It became interesting, action-packed, and futuristic. There was the right amount of action and romance and almost everything. One of my only complaints is that I found the Phoenix Riders were not well developed. I just wanted more from them.

The Other Crust: So this is what lowered the rating for me. I could forgive a rocky start (especially since I was reading a Galley and it's possible the "fighting" feeling isn't in the finalized copy), but then the end, I wasn't shocked. There were a few plot twists at the end of the novel, and I was just sitting there like "That's it? I knew that was coming." I kept on waiting for this new, shocking detail that would actually shock me, that wasn't predictable or extremely tropish to the Si-Fi futuristic genre, but I felt like every trope ending in all utopia/dystopia/space age was used. It was predictable. In bread terms, I knew what was coming next, but I'd hoped it might taste different, or that I would like it, but I didn't.

I don't think Warcross is a bad novel though, just predictable for it's genre. It was quite good, and very entertaining and engaging. I'd say in conclusion you should trust the hype. It has many, many good bits. I was on the edge of my seat while reading it and couldn't put it down.

3.5

The toughest part about this book is that fact that there are no chapters. I love message of the book, about luck and human dedication and being humble and satisfied with what life hand you. It was lovely. I wish there had been some other characters in the book, it really was just the old man and the sea. Frankly there's not much in this book, so that's really all I have.

Okay so you know Jane who got beheaded? And the divides between the Catholic Church and (my history is a bit rusty) the Lutherans? well, just throw that all out the window because this witty, magical tale of the Lady Jane Grey will tell you all what really happened all those years ago. All the stuff historians are trying to cover up.

This was awesome the first time I read it and awesoem this time. It's funny, in the laugh-out-loud type way, and one of the few books that I actually laughed out at. The characters were lovable, the authors' voices were seamless and unique. They managed to keep the ideals of the characters in the time period, yet also make them forwards thinking.

I just love everything about this book.