I give this book 4.25/5 stars. It had a great storyline and I read the whole thing in a few hours. It was an enjoyable read, with a little suspense and a big twist that I only guessed pages before the reveal. And that betrayal? I totally didn't see that coming.

My problem was with the characters. I didn't like most of them. I thought they were all well-written, but none of them really appealed to me, except Imogen. Sage was too headstrong, Tobias was snarky, and Conner was a jerk. I thought Roden was okay, and there wasn't a chance for me to form an opinion about Latamer. But Sage and Tobias did improve towards the end, and Conner definitely got what he deserved, so that helps some.

Overall, it was a great book. While I didn't like the characters much, the rest of the book was awesome, and I do look forward to reading the second book.

2.75/5 stars, rounded to 3 here. Read my review on my blog. :) http://thoughtsofateenbookworm.weebly.com/home/the-gathering-storm-1-by-robin-bridges-review

* Originally written & posted on my blog, Heir of Glitter *

The Heart of Betrayal was a good book, but I thought the plot lost some of its originality, the love interests were hardly appealing, and nothing happened that surprised me. I have to admit, this sequel was slightly disappointing, in my opinion. I may or may not pick up The Beauty of Darkness when it’s released. :/

Review also on Heir of Glitter.

3.5

plot: 15 out of 20
characters: 15 out of 20
setting: 20 out of 20
relationships: 15 out of 20
twists: 10 out of 20
75 out of 100

SPOILER FREE

This book definitely wasn't what I was expecting. It was good, don't get me wrong, but in some areas it felt like it was lacking a bit. :|

The story is very unique. I've never read a book about a society based on the members' reincarnation. It was clearly well-planned and made sense, and I liked reading about it. I think the issue was that it lacked any compelling elements. Because while it was enjoyable, I can't go as far as to call it gripping. I read to finish it, not because I had to know what came next. :|

Ana was a very odd lead, in my opinion. Throughout the story she was brave at some points and scared at others; mature and whiny, understanding and stubborn. I understand having mixed emotions and that feelings change based on certain situations, but she was more hot and cold than reasonable. I liked her, but that temperament sort of threw me off. Hopefully that makes sense. :/

Sam was kind of the same way. He was cold and then caring, gentle and then frustrated, off and on. I liked him and I thought he was a great lead, but again, that attitude was kind of off-putting. I rarely understood his mood swings, because they were either random or just never explained. Hopefully you can understand. :/

(For some reason I always overuse "hopefully," and can never adequately explain my feelings.)

I loved the world of Range and the city of Heart. It was a unique, curious idea that I thought was personally very fun to explore. That applies especially to Heart; a pristine, living (but not breathing, luckily) maze of a city. Even without the compulsion other worlds have, this was a very interesting setting. :)

Ana and Sam's romance is as complicated as their personalities are. I love the idea of them together and want them to be together, but they don't seem to work. I'm sure they want it as much as I do, but one pulls away whenever the other tries to advance or express themselves. It was kind of frustrating, honestly, but if I continue the trilogy I'm hopeful they'll work everything out. ;)

Like I mentioned earlier, I feel like this story lacked any compelling elements. For me, that also affected the twists. What was clearly intended to shock readers didn't faze me too much. I didn't expect any of it, particularly not the events of the last 100 or so pages, but it didn't wow me. :|

All in all, this book was unique and good, but not much more than that. It had some redeeming qualities, but I'm not sure if I'll read the other two books. :/

* actually 2.5

Not nearly as intriguing as I thought. I wanted to like it, but there were a lot of problems I just couldn't overlook. :/

** Full review on my blog - https://heirofglitter.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/the-iron-trial-review/

Find my (spoiler-free) review and more on Heir of Glitter!

3.5 stars :)

This was a fun fantasy read, but it wasn't amazing and I had a few issues with it.

Matthias was a great main character and I really liked his development. He started off as an average, clumsy young mouse and became a brave young warrior. I liked him, but I didn't love him. My three favorite characters were all side characters, though- Basil Stag Hare, Silent Sam, and Warbeak. They were all fun, Basil was comical, and Sam was adorable.

I thought the plot was a little bit too fast-paced. I do enjoy fast books and I did enjoy this, but Cluny is introduced in the second chapter and his intentions are clear before chapter ten. I wish there had been a bit more time to get to know the plentiful characters and Redwall itself.

I also thought some things were a bit too easy for Matthias. It wasn't often, but there were times I thought some tasks could've been more challenging. Luckily, the final battle wasn't like that. It was a great finale to the book.

Overall, I did enjoy this, but not as much as I'd hoped I would. I might read Mossflower, but I'm not sure yet.

* my full review can be found on my blog :)

This book wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. I liked it, but I didn't love it. The plot was unique, I haven't heard of any YA books about archangels in a while, if ever. The characters were good too, they all had different perspectives and personalities but worked well together for most of the story. My big issue was that nothing came as a surprise to me while reading. It was predictable: the hero not believing he's supposed to be a hero, then starting to realize it's true after the antagonist does something terrible, and goes along with the plan mostly, while still falling for the girl and questioning his abilities. He's chosen and defeats the antagonist, everyone that matters survives the ordeal, but there's more to come later on.

Okay, so that summary probably sounded like I was picking it apart and I hated it, but I'm not and I didn't. I was just mostly indifferent towards this book, and that's honestly what it boiled down to in my mind.

Overall, it was an okay book. I wasn't on the edge of my seat, but I wasn't annoyed with it either. So, yes, I will be picking up the second book, although I will be going into it skeptically.

Review also on Heir of Glitter.
Spoiler-free pros & cons video.

plot: 12 out of 20
characters: 15 out of 20
setting: 20 out of 20
relationships: 12 out of 20
twists: 12 out of 20
71 of 100

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST BOOK.

I went into this with little memory of the first book, remembering only that I had enjoyed it. While I wouldn't go as far to say this had second book slump, it wasn't the best sequel either. :|

This is mainly a dark fantasy about anti-heroes, and while it was a unique idea for sure, the first half dragged. It took time for me to really get involved in the story, and even then I wasn't fully immersed. The story followed Adelina after she and her sister fled the country. Adelina was mourning Enzo's death, blaming herself for it, and plotting revenge against the Daggers and the Inquisition, particularly Teren. The first half was her going around Merroutas, recruiting Elites and mercenaries to join her own society, and not much of anything really went down until the second half. That was when the story progressed, majorly, and made things interesting. The ending was the most intriguing to me, with the twist the story took, but still not enough to have much gushing. :|

Maybe I'm just not used to anti-heroes, but I couldn't bring myself to care for Adelina. Watching her deteriorate as her inner darkness got stronger was interesting, but at the same time, I didn't like it. In other words, I thought her character arc was unique but didn't care for the effects of it. She became intensely malicious and power-hungry, feeding off of the terror in those around her and not caring about others. I know that's the whole point of anti-heroes, but I haven't really read about them before and Adelina was basically the polar opposite of all my favorite characters. :|

I didn't like Teren, either. He was like Adelina, but a flat-out antagonist rather than an anti-hero. He was arrogant and sure his way was best, and resorted to violent measures when things didn't work in his favor. Some people might love to hate him, or think the way he thinks is fascinating, but he got on my nerves almost immediately. In one particular scene with Giulietta and Raffaele, I was thinking something along the lines of, "Accept that she's done with you and leave." XD I don't mean that in a bad way, because I think it shows just how well he was written. I just mean to say that I wasn't (and still am not) a fan of his. ;)

The saving grace for me, so to speak, was Magiano. He was a tease, a thief, and a very resourceful, very special kind of Elite. I can't pinpoint why, exactly, but he was my favorite. Even though I had nothing in common with any of these characters, I empathized with him more than anyone else. I just really liked him, and how he always knew what to do, and popped up to help when he wasn't expected. :D

I also liked the world this book took place in. Merroutas, Kenettra, and even Beldain - in the short time readers spend there - were richly described and easy to imagine. I know I say that a lot, but that's because it's true in many cases. All three of the countries visited during this book were different and distinguished: Merroutas was unpredictable, Kenettra was strictly ruled, and Beldain was forceful. I can't elaborate beyond that due to spoilers, but that's what I personally gathered as I read. :)

With an anti-hero like Adelina as our main character, relationships were declining and uncommon. I always prefer romance and/or friendships in books, but the unique lack of both was interesting. Adelina's darkness and viciousness frayed the bond she had with her sister, and made for an unusual love triangle. She had leftover feelings for Enzo, but also felt something toward Magiano, and was torn between the two of them and not wanting anyone by her side. Hopefully that makes sense; I don't want to give too much away. ;)

Plenty of things happened in this book that I wasn't expecting, but none of them ever surprised me. Not even the one in the last few pages did. I think they would have if I'd been immediately hooked, but the effect was lessened because I wasn't. :|

All in all, this book had a mostly equal balance of things I liked and didn't. However, because I was more neutral than anything else, I won't be reading the final book when it's released. >.<

** If you've read the first book and want to read this one, definitely do so. Don't let me stop you. ;)

Full review and more on Heir of Glitter.

The first half of this book was amazing, but early in the second half a twist was revealed that I didn't really like. In the end I was just confused, and I didn't really love any of the main characters or the romance. Compared to the praise I've heard, this book was a bit of a disappointment to me, but if you haven't read it definitely give it a shot. :)

Okay, so Twylla never had a poisonous touch. How does that work? I know it was explained, but to me it doesn't make sense. People don't just develop deadly touches, and I don't think the queen would've let a clueless child walk around with that sort of ability. And on that note, the queen is freaking crazy. Marrying her son? Killing her husband? Summoning the descendant of a cursed prince to further your power? All of that is just bad juju, especially the summoning part. YOU NEVER SUMMON ANYONE OR ANYTHING BECAUSE IT NEVER ENDS WELL. That applies to every book and movie and other thing ever. Just saying...