ofclumsywords's Reviews (486)

This book is a very funny and honest book about what it’s like to be an over-thinker. From daily tasks to relationships (be it friends or partners) Hayley shows the reader that they are not alone in their intrusive thoughts. The chapters were short and to the point, and I loved that Hayley included dialog from Brain and other characters from her skits on the internet. Some of the middle chapters got a little dry, but then towards the end Hayley bares her soul and shares her grief of losing her dad to a very rare and cruel form of dementia. It was a great book and makes Hayley become more than just a funny internet personality, and instead someone you feel you can get a cup of coffee with and chat about pesky Brain and all the things you overthink about in life. 

This book is for any reader who has ever dreamed of going to their favorite fictional place. From the beginning this story is filled with bookish things, from books the main character has read to the different literary things she and her colleagues have discussed or even debated at the college they work at. As the reader, you immediately can connect to Elsy and understand her love for the written word above anything else and the power of books healing you during darker days. I would recommend this book to any book lover out there as it feels like you are transported into the pages and are right there with Elsy as she explores the very fictional town she somehow finds herself in. She even gets to meet all her favorite characters, and it is hilarious to watch Elsy try and keep her cool as she is introduced to them all. 

A Day of Fallen Night is the second book in the Roots of Chaos series and takes place 500 years before Priory of the Orange Tree. In this book, we get to see first hand the events of the Grief of Ages, a year long war between the humans and Wyrms, something that was only discussed in minor detail in Priory of the Orange Tree. This book takes place over a four year period, following four characters located in different parts of this lush and beautiful world Shannon has created. Each character has their own story to tell while also being interconnected to the other main characters from the arrival of the dragons all the way through to the end of the Greif of Ages. This book is the very definition of an epic fantasy and stands out against all the other fantasy novels published before as something so unique and beautiful that I will never get tired of returning to this world. 

“Chosen to rise. Destined to fall.”

The first book in the series of Anakin’s apprenticeship starts off action packed and full of foreshadowing. We immediately see Anakin’s constant struggle with fear and Obi-Wan’s worry about training. Then add on the fact that the Jedi council’s refusal to help Obi-Wan or accept the fact that Anakin is the chosen one. Which all connects into the frustration the reader gets when knowing how Anakin’s story ends in the movies. 

Jude Watson is the perfect author to portray all of this and I am so glad she is involved in another series. Jedi Apprentice was an incredible series where she wrote Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon so well that I would trust no other author to depict Anakin and Obi-Wan better in their apprenticeship. I am eager to see where this new series leads as I was already delighted to see some characters pop up from the Jedi Apprentice series. Even if this series will also eventually lead to heartbreak in Anakin’s fall to the darkside, I am at least glad that the beginning of his story is being told by Watson. 

"The things we fear the most are often the things we should fear the least. It's irrational, but it's what makes us human. And if we're able to conquer those fears, then there is nothing we're not capable of."

What a beautifully charming book. I absolutely devoured this book in a matter of days; something that I have not done in a while. And its all thanks to the beautiful writing and incredible story. This book has one of my favorite tropes: found family. It is the main focus of the book where even outcasts can find family and love, especially when they least expect it. This book will instantly be added to my reread list and I cannot wait for the sequel to come out in the fall. 

"...and then I'm going to rattle the stars."

This is the third time I have read this book, which proves just how amazing it is. Out of the entire Throne of Glass series, this one is my favorite as there is such an incredible character growth. 

In the first two books of this series, the reader is introduced to Celaena Sardothien who is chosen as one of the competitors to become the kings champion and new assassin. But at the end of the second book we find out that Celaena is just an alias and instead she is Aelin Ashryver Galathanius, the presumed dead princess of a once great kingdom that was destroyed by the evil king she now serves. The beginning of this book finds Celaena lost and broken after her friend was brutally murdered. She has lost all will to fight or do anything other than wallow in her grief after losing one more person she cares about in her life. But she is forced to face her past and learn how to use her uncontrolled powers so she can take up her rightful place as queen.

Even though it is revealed that she is really Aelin, Celaena refuses to be called by her given name and all through the book she is still referred to as Celaena. In the very last chapter of this book, Celaena finally allows herself to be addressed as Aelin. It is only when she has forgiven herself for her past and has overcome her fear of her powers that she accepts who she is and that she is the rightful queen. In those final moments, that is the last time she will ever call herself Celaena and also the last time the author uses that name when the chapters are in Aelin's POV. It is such a powerful and incredibly cool moment to not only see Aelin accept herself but for the author to switch gears and fully change a characters name, especially in the middle of a series. 

I will always have a love/hate relationship with Sarah J Maas as an author. But I cannot give up these books for the life of me. This was her first series she ever wrote and for that it will always be my favorite since it was before she got too famous. This series fills me with the exact same joy as the Harry Potter series does every time I crack open its covers. It will never get old to me and I find comfort in returning to this incredible world Maas has created and unforgettable characters who feel like old friends. 

I always feel like I'm a harsh critic when it comes to thriller books as my number one rule is that I shouldn't be able to predict who the murderer is. There are only a few thrillers that have truly surprised me, and unfortunately this one wasn't one of them. But I wonder if that also isn't the point of a thriller? That you know who the killer is, but the suspense that builds and keeps you on the edge of your seat is the part that makes people love this genre so much. If so, this book wins the award for the suspense alone. 

One of the things that drew me to this book was the fact that it takes place in a small town in Wisconsin; and upon reading the acknowledgments you find out that Allen's Grove is a real unincorporated town and that the author grew up there. The author also used her childhood home as the setting for the whole book. It was so interesting to find that out after finishing such an atmospheric book where you can easily picture the town, the house, and the woods behind the house so well that you feel like you are there with the Thomas siblings.

But the murders and the murderer themself was where it began to lose points for me.

It is a tale as old as time, a child commits a terrible act and the parents cover it up. The book is narrated by the three Thomas children upon their mothers death. Beth and Nicole (the oldest and middle child respectively) narrate most of the book; while Michael (the youngest, and the murderer) had chapters only sporadically throughout. That right there was the first red flag to me. That and the fact that Michael barely had any emotion during his chapters, other than feeding the flames between Beth and Nicole and making it abundantly clear that he wanted out of town as soon as their mothers funeral was over. Then as the story unravels, you find out that Michael killed little Emma and his father, Brian, covered it up in order to protect his son. And as repayment for Brian's protection years later, Michael kills his father and it is also covered up by the mother. Then, seven years after her husband's 'disappearance' the mother's dying words are a cryptic message to her eldest daughter, Beth, and thus begins the whole plot to find out what really happened the night Emma went missing. I just wish there was a little bit more mystery to who the murderer was and why he decided to kill Emma. Her death is chalked up to Michael's parents stating that they will never really know why he did it, just that they need to protect him at all costs. I just feel like the whole parent protecting their child plot is a little overused and I am eager for a new idea to appear in the thriller genre.

At the end of the day, it was an interesting idea; one that appeals to the 90's kids and the nostalgia that goes with the VHS tapes and home movies. Which is what made me interested in this book in the first place. All 90's kids (and older) remember those home videos and seeing their parents carry around the hulking camera to record seemingly random moments of their childhood. No one expects to pop in one of those old movies and instead find one of their parents covered in blood, pleading to the other parent to come and help them hide a body. It is a unique idea, one that plays on the fact that a child sometimes can see their parents through rose-colored glasses. Which means to say, this story had a strong beginning, one that hooks the reader immediately; but then as the plot unravels, so does the mystery of the murderer. 

The cruise storyline continues! And all the while Yor has to remember why she became an assassin and decide if she wants to continue in that line of work. It was a great turning point for her, where she remembers why she joined the Forgers as a pretend wife and where her future goes now that she has an acceptable cover. But then, just as she is battling bad guys, she remembers that she originally became an assassin to support her little brother when he was little and to make a safer world for him to live in. Which gives her the motivation to get up and finish the fight and is the moment the volume concludes. So it looks like the cruise ship storyline continues for another volume where we get to see how the fight ends and if Yor is successful in her mission.