mj_reads's Reviews (415)

I'm going to hold off on reviewing this book, mainly because this is the second time I've read it and I connected with different poems than I did the first time. I think books of poems & poetry mean something different to every one who reads them depending on where they are at in their own lives.

All I have to say is that this book is really lovely, the poems are well written and it's worth giving a shot to form your own opinion on! The author really lays herself bare in this one, and I'm definitely glad that she did because reading this was incredibly therapeutic.

All The Missing Girls is one of the best thrillers/books I’ve read this year. It has a unique presentation, interesting characters, and so many twists and turns that I honestly was unsure of what to expect throughout the entire book.

The presentation of this book is its biggest asset. The investigation told in this story is told backwards, readers start on the final day when the police are pulling up to the house of our MC, Nicolette, and she asks the haunting question What did you do?

On our journey back through the investigation we see answers to questions that we have not yet thought to ask. We see people making judgements based off of evidence that we have not yet seen. We see results before we see actions. While this can be a bit confusing at times, it lets the readers pay close attention to small details that we may have not thought to focus on. We see how devastating rumors can be in these situations, considering that we see the consequences of these rumors before we see why they were started, we are able to better understand why things happen and how ridiculous it is for people to assume something else. The backwards story lets us, as readers, view the evidence presented in a way different from the norm which allows us to make conclusions that are different from those that the investigators quickly come too.

While this story focuses on the investigation of a missing girl, Annaliese, it allows our characters to revisit the investigation that took place years earlier of their mutual friend, Corinne. The investigation of Corinne’s disappearance was left inconclusive, there was no clear explanation as to what happened the night that she disappeared, so naturally when a second girl goes missing from the town, who also has ties to the same friend group, questions of the Corinne’s disappearance are brought back into light. This is really interesting because it just adds more depth to the story rather than just being about one investigation. I can’t really go into this anymore without starting down a slippery slope full of spoilers but it’s just really interesting to see the similarities of the two disappearances and trying to figure out what the link is between the two disappearances (or if there is one at all).

Along with the unique presentation of this story we have some pretty great characters. They are all presented in a way that suggests that they have something to hide, but as the story develops and we travel back these things are slowly explained to us and we are left to decide if (and how) they are important to the investigations or not. Some things are minor and unimportant, other things feel minor but end up being super significant, and of course others feel super significant and end up being not at all important. I can say that without giving anything away because there is so much revealed throughout the story that I don’t think any of that gives anything away.

Individually the characters are interesting and deep, but together their dynamic is electric. I love watching these relationships be explored and explained. I love watching them grow and deteriorate, sometimes at the same time since the characters relieve their past throughout the current investigation. It’s just so amazing to see not only how the details of the investigation are important but also how the characters interactions with one another are important.

Everything about this story is incredible. There are so many layers to be explored, so many details that need to be picked up on, and somehow everything falls into place so perfectly. It all seems to make sense in so many different ways, it feels like there are so many different explanations to this story, that when the ending is finally revealed it is equal parts messy and satisfying. This book was everything I could have hoped for, and then some.

I have some mixed feelings because on one hand my brain is like how are these two lines considered a poem but on the other hand my heart REALLY felt a lot of what was written in this.

I'm just gonna follow my heart on this one because some of these poems were exactly what I needed.

I don’t know what to say…this book is good but it just isn’t great. My rating started at 4 stars and now I’m at 2…the more I thought about this book the more it disappointed/annoyed me.

Ugh okay so this is sort of a story within a story. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time is presented to readers as a murder mystery story written by the main character himself for school. Everything that happens in this book is told to readers exactly as the main character sees and experiences it. Which I have to admit, is a really great concept.

Our main character, Christopher, is a 15-year-old boy who has high functioning autism…or so we think. That is never actually specified, ever. Readers see that Christophe struggles socially and emotionally, and we are aware that he goes to a school for people who have special needs. But in regards to what is actually going on with him, we never get any explicit explanation. This isn’t all that surprising, because in one of the earlier chapters the character expresses his belief that everyone has special needs (ie: when someone needs to wear glasses) and is different when it comes to learning, so he doesn’t think that his special needs are all that different from anyone else’s. And this is my first issue with this book, it’s a book that suggests representation for children with special needs but does not provide a clear diagnosis. Not only that, but the symptoms shown throughout the book appear to be very extreme cases. I work with students who have learning disabilities/special needs and while I know everyone who has a diagnosis experiences their symptoms differently I couldn’t help but feel the way that Christopher shows his symptoms felt a bit exaggerated. Also his self-awareness seems to be a bit off when compared to the degree of his symptoms. He is incredibly rude when he talks about other students in his school and he thinks very highly of himself in comparison to other students. I’m not saying it isn’t possible for someone like Christopher to feel this way, but based on my experience with students like him it definitely feels like a bit of a stretch. (Don’t @ me I know anything is possible but I spent a lot of time doing research on students with high functioning autism and this just felt really off for me).

So anyway onto the plot. This story is presented as a murder mystery, Christopher is investigating who murdered his neighbor’s dog. And without going into too much detail since I don’t want to give away the plot twists, this book is about much more than that. What I will say is that I like the idea of this story. I was really invested in the things that Christopher discovers and found myself rooting for him. I just wasn’t really into the delivery of this story, and I also didn’t find it to be all that believable. Everything felt too convenient for the story and not necessarily accurate in the representation of a person with HFA…or just in general tbh. I can’t imagine this story going this way for anyone, let alone Christopher after spending so much time in his head in this story. So while it was relatively entertaining, it just didn't work for me here.

Idk this just...wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t mind that the plot was different from what I was expecting, but the characters weren’t what I was hoping for and like I said the plot was just too much to be believable, even for a work of fiction. Great concept though.

There isn’t much that I can say about City of Bones, that hasn’t already been said.
This book is hit or miss for a lot of people, and while I totally understand where both sides are coming from, this is one of those series that has been a part of my life for so long (way before I was super active in the book community/made aware of the scandals and issues surrounding it), so for me this is a hit. (items marked as spoilers are actually just some thoughts I had while writing the review, but I felt that they kind of messed with the flow. This is a spoiler free review!!)

I just can’t help it; this book is fun. It’s great to sit and read in a few short sittings, or it’s great to read slowly because it is so easy to fall back into the world after reading just a few pages. There are multiple scenes in which the dialogue is laugh-out-loud funny. The plot is fast paced and easy to follow. I am no longer blind to the controversy surrounding this series, so while I won’t say that this story was original I will say that the first time I read it, it was original to me. And despite what the actual verdict is, that isn’t an experience that can go away. It sparked my interest in books similar to this, I am now a total sucker for books about demon hunting

Spoiler

haven’t read the works by the authors who believe CC copied there work but I do plan on reading them!! I only just found out who they are! Also I don’t approve of the idea of her plagiarizing someone else’s work, but like I said this story had a heavy impact on me before I even was aware

. And I’ve never been opposed to books following along with typical/popular YA plots as long as they do it well

Spoiler

I consider going along with the trends different from the plagiarism issue that I just mentioned—totally makes sense if you personally do not though

, and for me this book is done well. Despite the issues in creativity that some people focus on (rightfully so), I think the story is well written and presented well to its intended audience. I love it.

I like the characters quite a bit. I like how human they all feel/read. They are all incredibly flawed, especially in this book. But readers get to watch them grow and mature as the series goes on. A lot of their prejudice views are resolved as the series goes on. I think that showing them struggling with these views in book one, while they all still have a lot to learn, is fine as long as the issues are resolved later on and they learn from their mistakes /do better to control their thoughts and emotions as they grow. Which they do.

Spoiler

I do have to admit that I am not sure if this factor would have sat with me as well if this was my first time reading this series. If I was unaware of the growth I would probably be put off by some of the attitudes in this book. But as I said, this is a rearead and when I first read the series I was young and didn’t understand how offensive some of the characters opinions/comments were, but I did understand that their growth and ability to change their opinion was important.

So despite the fact that it isn’t necessarily right, I don’t think it’s all bad. The characters are human, and they learn from their prejudices which is really all we can ask for

Spoiler

besides you know, not being prejudice in the first place but nobody is perfect.

This part is getting repetitive because I’m not sure if I’m explaining it well so I’ll move past it for now, but I hope that you understand what I am trying to say here.

The only issue I had with this book is that I had mentally combined the events of CoB and CoA in my head. I thought the ending of CoA was the ending of book one and was very stressed out the entire book because I couldn’t figure out how we would get there in time. Other than that, this was a super enjoyable reread that reminded me of just how much I love this series/world.

I’m having a really difficult time reviewing the third instalment to the Blue Bloods series.

Basically the shit hits the fucking fan in this book??? I honestly don’t know what else to say. There are a LOT of things revealed about who was in league with the silver bloods, more that I was anticipating because while one thing is heavily hinted at it was still WILD to see how it was revealed and the others who were also included/to what degree. We get some more info on the blue bloods and things that are important to them (ie twin thing, bond, the whole angel aspect of them continues to be explored). This book was also just still a lot of fun because there was tons of relationship drama and I am trash for that.

My ONLY issue is that while the most important thing was revealed to ONE character and the reader, it wasn't exposed to the rest of the characters yet so it was a bit disappointing because there is still SO much that the characters need to realize and get together!!! It is definitely done to help create suspense with the next book which I understand BUT it falls kind of flat...I want things to start getting taken care of but now I have to wait for all the characters to catch up on what I already know....sad.

It was a nice balance of drama and plot, but it’s hard to discuss without ruining anything because honestly the things that happen in this one are really important to the entire series, so I guess I’ll just leave it at that. *shrugs*

Heir of Fire currently holds the spot as my favorite of the Throne of Glass novels. I mentioned in my review for Crown of Midnight that this series feels like a completely different story from Throne of Glass, and I definitely still stand by that. This series is slowly starting to fill itself with so much magic and fantasy elements and I’m really here for it. There was a lot to enjoy about this book, but I think the most important thing so far is that none of the elements from books one or two, have been forgotten. So far everything that has been brought up has proven to be important somewhere along the line.

There wasn’t anything too wild about the plot in this book, it is honestly just a lot of filler and character development, with some twists scattered throughout to keep the story from dragging. Thankfully I’ve always believed that well done filler never hurt anybody, and I think everyone knows by now how there are few things in books that I love more than a solid character arc. So despite the fact that 75% of this book is unimportant, I still really enjoyed it. I want to clarify that the slowness of this book doesn’t mean that anything that happens is unimportant, it is just that the events of this story feel very disconnected from what happened in book 2, and what I expect to happen in book 4, aside from the fact that the events in this book push the character development. I think that everything that happens here is important to get our characters into the places where they need to be (both mentally and physically) for the series to continue.

Heir of Fire is broken up into three different sections. We have chapters with Celaena, chapters with Dorian and Chaol, and chapters with a new character, Mannon.
Chapters featuring Celaena started off the same way they always do, and by that I mean I was annoyed with her character until she has one of those moments where she remembers what she is capable of and pulls it together. Her chapters also introduced my husband Rowan. I love Rowan because he pushes Celaena to remember the things she doesn’t want to remember, he calls her out while she wants to feel sorry for herself and makes her feel the things shes tried so hard to ignore. This is so important because to be honest my biggest issue with this series is Celaena’s character. In this book it becomes clear that we don’t get to see all that she is capable of because she keeps trying to hide the amazing parts of herself away. Rowan doesn’t let her do that, he pushes and pulls and gets her to feel the things that she needs to feel in order for her cope with all that she has lost and also to finally take control of her own life. This is important because it becomes exhausting reading about Celaena constantly talking about how great she is, and then failing to deliver on this greatness because she gets hurt or is afraid. While I totally understand the portrayal of her character, it just starts to fall short when it keeps happening with no solution to her problems. I’m glad we finally see our MC properly grieve and feel things, and I think it is really promising for what is next to come for her in the rest of the series!

As for the chapters with Dorain and Chaol all I really wanna say is I WAS SO BORED. I love love love Dorian’s character in books one and two, and I this one he is reduced to some lovesick puppy who is afraid to do anything for literally 90% of the story. He totally steps up to the plate at the end of the book and much like my anticipation to see what is next for Celaena, I cannot wait to see what comes next for him. As for Chaol, I’ve never been a big fan of him. I didn’t mind his scenes with Celaena because they were really cute, but like other than that I wasn’t super into him SO it is no surprise that in this book while they are separated I was pretty not into him. His character is pretty complex because he is struggling to decide where his loyalties lie/how much of a role he wants to play in the events going on, but ultimately I’m pretty tired of his inner monologues while he tries to decide what is right and what is wrong. Just pick one pls. The chapters with these two also introduce Aedion, who was pretty fun but didn’t serve too much of a point in this book, other than to show us what was going on with the rebels. His character seems like one I could eventually enjoy, and I love his connection to Celaena, but right now I’m just left wondering whether or not he will be worth caring about.

Mannon chapters were surprisingly great for me? I love the introduction of witches into this story. I love her, I love Abraxos, and as of right now I’m pretty into the idea of the thirteen. Since she’s a completely new character at this point I’ll skip going into details about her because spoilers and all that, but basically I’m REALLY pumped to see what she will bring to the table in the rest of the series.

This book has a lot of exciting tidbits that happen throughout the story which are all fun to read about and watch the characters deal with. There are some major things revealed through back stories, and lots events that set us up for what will hopefully be an incredible fourth book. I am looking forward to continuing on with the series!

This one is without a doubt my favorite in the series so far. My heart hurts and is also so happy at the same time.

I think the most important thing for me to go ahead and acknowledge here is that the writing in this one is so improved from the first three. It didn't feel awkward or repetitive as it did in its prequels, and in general it just read a lot smoother.

The plot is also so great here. Everything makes sense! Nothing feels forced? Random things from book one fall perfectly into place AND it still continues to set things up nicely for the rest of the series. It does start a bit slow, up until about 25% I was really only into Mimi's PoV and just wanted Schuylers to move forward because she felt so stuck? And I honestly didn't really care at all for Bliss's PoV until even further in. A year passes between the end of the last book and the start of this one, and it just makes the beginning feel a bit awkward I guess. I think a stronger start to this one would have pushed this to a 5 star for me.

The characters are all finally on their right path. While I spent most of the first few books comparing them to characters from GG or some other YA drama, in this book they take on a lot more responsibility and they have so much more depth (at least once we finally get past the slow start and into the story.)

I suppose that for what this is, it's decent, but this really wasn't what I was anticipating sooooooo 2 stars it is.

I went into this under the impression it was going to be strictly novellas in the BB universe but this was a lot more than that. It was basically a summary of what has happened already in the series, it provides lots of character descriptions for everyone from major characters to the tiniest secondary character (literally just lists the names of some people). It is definitions of terminology used in the series, and lots of other useless information that I literally never asked for. Some of it does help clear up some of the events in the earlier books, but it just really wasn't necessary?

I wish that I had taken the time to read the reviews of this before I read it, because I probably would have skipped it. Or I would have waited to read this rather than placing it directly in the middle of the binge of this series.

Why did I keep reading it? I was hoping for more novellas, but unfortunately they were limited.

Hopefully the rest of the series picks back up since it will continue with the actual plot rather than whatever this was.

This one really surprised me. It wasn’t really what I was hoping for, which is weird because looking at the synopsis in comparison to the story I read, I’m really not sure how it could have gone any other way.

This story was very emotional, every page made me feel something different. This story is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and figuring out who you are. It’s a story about love, self-love, family love and of course, romantic love.

Jasmine Warga truly has a way with words, I connected with the characters and their emotions even though I was unable to find myself a place in the plot. To be completely honest, the plot of this story didn’t do anything for me. I thought it was a little far-fetched, and found most of the big plot points to be easy enough to spot from the first page. This story stands out because of Warga’s ability to pack so much emotion into the pages of her stories. It was amazing how much I was able to feel and take away from this story despite not being super invested in it. I wish I could find the words to accurately explain the experience I had while reading this book, but even if I could I think it is something that is better to experience for yourself.