I would say this is a 4.5 star book for me will have more thoughts later today

This book will keep you guessing through out the whole book. I loved the suspense but the ending lacked for me I like closer and I don't feel like I got the closer I wanted.

Star Rating: 98A *****


Summary: Bridge of Clay is the story of the Dunbar boys; Matthew, Rory, Henry, Clay and Tommy. This is a story of how Clay and his brothers struggle with the death of their mother, the disappearance of their father and the return of their father. This is a story of love, loss, and family.

This was a wonderfully crafted work of fiction. I felt like I really knew every Dunbar as well as those who were important in the passing of Penny Dunbar. I loved that the story was narrated by Matthew. I could feel the love that he had for each of their brothers and their parents. The characters are what made this story for me. I loved how each of them had their own distinct personality and how each of them dealt with things in a different way.
The worldbuilding felt very contemporary but also felt historical at times which is why I took a point away for the worldbuilding. At the beginning I thought that this must have been set in the 60s or 70s and then there was talk of a Minerva McGonagall poster I knew that this had to be more recent.
The plot I feel was very well crafted. Even though I knew that Penny was going to die when it did happen, I really felt the pain that all the boys were feeling. I constantly wanted to know more of the Dunbar family’s story and didn’t want to put this book down.
The writing style was so clean to me. I felt like I could really imagine the house that the Dunbar brothers lived in without parents. I could picture every scrape and bruise from these characters fighting each other. The writing was just so rich and emotive and really helped me to get into this story.
Obviously, I feel like the intent of this book was to show all the different ways that people can deal with grief and that sometimes the ways that we handle things aren’t always healthy. This book will stick with me for quiet some time because I know the feeling of loosing a parent that meant so much to your whole family to cancer. I think that the ways that each of the boys handled things were very authentic which spoke to the authenticity of the story itself.
My enjoyment of this story was 10 out of 10 I loved the whole journey with this story. This is one of my new favorites. I loved this book so much and I am so glad that Zusak again wrote a book that really spoke to me on so many levels.
I think that this is a book that can be widely loved by many, but I can also see where some might not be as invested as I was in the Dunbar boy’s story. They are a rough group of boys but I think that if you are someone who has ever lost someone you loved that you can relate to the actions of these boys as they are dealing with loosing not one but two parents and having to rely on each other to survive


Characters 1-10: 10
Worldbuilding 1-10: 9
Plot: 1-10: 10
Writing style: 1-10: 10
Enjoyment: 1-10: 10
Intent/impact: 1-10: 10

Title: Wicked Saints
Author: Emily A. Duncan​
Star Rating: 57% F *
Characters 1-10: 6
Worldbuilding 1-10: 6
Plot: 1-10: 5
Writing style: 1-10: 4
Enjoyment: 1-10:7
Intent/impact: 1-10: 6

Summary:
This is the story of three characters. One is a cleric who relies on the gods to give her powers; A prince who is a blood mage and trying to save his kingdom from his father; and a boy who has a dark secret about his past. We follow these three characters and their journey’s as they all try to do what is best for their countries by their own standards.


My feelings on the book:

First, I want to talk about the characters I didn’t really feel a huge connection to any character through out this book. I wanted so badly to root for one of the three main characters, but I didn’t like any of them that much and I don’t feel like any of them really had any growth through out the story except for Serefin and even he didn’t have a whole lot of growth. Nadya was a character who kept saying how she was supposed to save her people, but I don’t feel like she ever did anything that really proved how powerful she really was to the story. Malachiasz who was supposed to be dark and brooding just felt like a boy trying to keep everyone at arm’s length for no reason. Serefin started off as a pain in the butt prince who knew he was tough stuff which really bugged me. I do think that Serefin was the only character who really seemed to be growing and learning from the things happening around him unlike Malachiasz and Nadya who were just “falling in love.”
Next is the Worldbuilding now I do think that this is an interesting world and I enjoyed learning about the different gods and saints with each new chapter. What felt lacking to me was the magic itself. The blood magic was explained enough but I never quite understood the magic that Nadya possessed. I wanted more explanation of the magic and the world itself. Which leads me to the plot. I felt like the plot was very slow moving which doesn’t always bother me but because I couldn’t connect with the characters this really hindered my feelings about this book. The writing was a little too simplistic for my taste. I feel like for the simplistic writing it was written well but it wasn’t my favorite. Then there is the impact/intent I don’t feel like this story is one that I am going to carry with me, and I don’t think this was intended to be a book that challenges societal norms. I do think that this book intended audience of young adults can and probably will enjoy this book. Although there were a lot of things that didn’t really work well for me in this book, I did enjoy my time reading it and was always wanting to know what was going to happen next.
I definitely feel like this is a book for a younger audience than my 30 year old self and think that for the target audience this will probably go over well but for me this will not be a book that I look back on and remember much about.