Edit, December 2017: In the author’s note in Shadowsong, it’s said that Liesl has bipolar disorder and Wintersong is an ownvoices novel that “kept [Liesl’s] diagnosis at arm’s length.” My rating remains the same, but I’ve removed the portion of my review talking about Liesl’s character because it was written before I found out she was bipolar.

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3.5 stars

I finally finished this book. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't amazing. The only reason it took so long is school, because that always gets in the way.

Anyway.

L I K E S

» The writing. It was so lyrical and painted a picture in my head as I read. My favorite writing style.

» The story. I know this is a retelling of Labyrinth, but as I've never seen it I can't comment on accuracy. However, I enjoyed it nonetheless. It was interesting, and I found myself constantly wanting to know more.

» The music. I'm not a hugely musical person. I sing some. I dance badly when I'm alone. I know basic solfege and staff scales, but I have no rhythm and my musical vocabulary is limited. But there are so few YA that really focus on music, and so I liked this one. Also, it put big musical terms in a way simple enough for me to understand.

D I S L I K E S

» The characters' tendency to flip flop. Meaning basically that one chapter they were one way and another the next. [removed] The Goblin King (why couldn't we know his name??) seemed to cycle through being coldly indifferent, animalistic, and selflessly sweet. I don't like animalistic traits in male characters, not in this way, and the indifference just gets really old really quickly. I know it was supposed to be part of his identities as both Der Erlkönig and "the austere young man," but I just couldn't get on board.

» The romance. You're probably surprised to see this here, as I almost always love romances. But in this book, it felt like their personalities when together were always opposite, to the point of creating awkwardness and tension. It cleared up in the end, but then their mutual selflessness got in the way and … ugh. I'll stop there. They had potential to be cute and passionate and a great couple to ship, especially when they composed together, but no. Just no. Sorry not sorry.

» The dust jacket synopsis lies. I won't elaborate too much for sake of spoilers. But the jacket summary describes a story that only really lasts for about the first half of the story. The second half is different, and while I'm not opposed to surprises like that, the dust jacket is what had me interested. I would've liked if it better described the basis of what actually goes down. (Does that make sense..?)

O V E R A L L

This was an enjoyable book, and in some aspects did take me by surprise. But in many key elements I found it was lacking, and in the end it wasn't what I hoped.

*Early copy sent to me by the publisher. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.*

2.5 stars

Tw: self-harm, addiction, reckless behavior, suicidal ideation (per the author’s note in the book)

I wanted to like this. I really did. But honestly, I only read this because the publisher sent me an early copy. I wasn’t a fan of the first book, and I didn’t really like this one either.

First, let me say that I didn’t hate this book. It was unique and diverse, with a bipolar protagonist and side characters of color. I think there was also an
m/m side relationship. I liked Liesl and Josef’s sibling dynamic, and how they were still loyal to one another even after everything. I think communication would’ve helped them a lot, but in the end I did like them regardless.

Unfortunately, that’s where the list ends. I didn’t really like much else about this book. The story was slow, and parts of it didn’t make much sense. I thought more of it would take place in the Underground, so I was a little disappointed that it was almost entirely in the human world.

The ending was nice, but it didn’t make me really feel anything. I think fans of the first book will like it. Personally, though, I was sort of indifferent.

One more thing. You know how, to show the end of a scene or a time jump, books have spaces between paragraphs, sometimes a symbol? In this book there’s only a hashtag, no spaces or anything. It took me some time to realize what the purpose of the hashtag was, that it wasn’t just a typo. This doesn’t affect my rating, but it’s something I thought I’d bring up.

So overall, this book wasn’t for me. I tried to like it, but it just didn’t work. However, I think anyone that liked Wintersong will like this! 😊

Dnf, page 89.

Huge tw for suicide ideation, grief, loss

I usually try to get to either 100 pages or the halfway mark before I dnf a book, but I just couldn’t do it with this one. After about 30 pages I went back to highlight everything I thought was problematic, and now almost every page up to 89 has a bunch of yellow highlighter ink. I’d say 95% is problematic and the other 5% is me being sarcastic.

I’ve wanted to read this since I joined Goodreads and the YA community, about two and a half years ago. I’d seen some bad reviews, but basically everyone loved it. I finally bought a copy over the summer, and, well... I wish I’d gotten it from my library.

I can’t say a whole lot about this book since I only read a fraction of it, but I can talk about what I did read. I won’t speak on the mental health rep, as that’s not for me to speak on, but everything else was just not good. The characters felt flat. I didn’t like Finch at all, although I think Violet could’ve been good if she was better developed. Finch was also kind of creepy, to be honest. There were a lot of clichés, too.

I wanted to finish this and write a detailed, critical review, but I just couldn’t do it. Oops.

3.5 stars

I don’t read a lot of MG and I’ve never really been a fan of Jumanji, but I thought I’d give this a try.

It was a fun read, nothing more. I liked the friendship, sibling dynamic, and casual inclusion of Bangladeshi culture, and the food descriptions were wonderful. However, some parts of the Gauntlet were unclear while I read, and the story seemed rather simple. The challenges didn’t seem very high risk, either.

I liked this, but I think I’m just too old to fully enjoy it. Highly recommended for younger readers. ☺️

This fairytale collection might be my favorite thing Leigh has written so far. While I definitely liked some stories more than others, they were all magical and I flew through them.

Ayama and the Thorn Wood: 4.5 stars. I enjoyed this one, and how the ending came full circle, so to speak.

The Too-Clever Fox: 4.5 stars. This was a fun read, and I never expected the twist.

The Witch of Duva: 5 stars. Though a bit grotesque here and there, this was one of my favorites. I liked the spin on Hansel and Gretel.

Little Knife: 3.5 stars. This was good, but I found it kind of unoriginal and a bit *too* far-fetched. My least favorite story.

The Soldier Prince: 3.5 stars. I liked this one, but it was especially strange and tended to be hard to follow.

When Water Sang Fire: 5 stars. My favorite story, hands down. It was the longest, too, so that’s even better. I love mermaids, magic, and music, so of course I loved this one.

Also, the illustrations throughout the book were absolutely stunning! 😍

(For anyone curious, I found my rating by finding the average of each individual rating.)

4.5 stars

I loved this book. I can always count on Rick to make me smile, because his books have the perfect blend of risk, humor, love, and sass.

I really liked the story in this book. I didn’t know what kind of wild ride it would be, only that there was a foreboding sense of finality that comes with a series finale. This is the final showdown, where Magnus and his friends face Loki to prevent Ragnarok. There were plenty of twists and turns along the way, and it was honestly so so good. I read 79% of this book in a matter of hours and finished it off this morning.

However, Rick’s trademark humor was noticeably absent in this book. There were still jokes and puns, but not as many. I still laughed, but not as much. I know a book can’t be entirely humorous, at least not a book like this one. I just expected a bit more? It felt much more intense and dramatic without as many quips. Not a bad thing, necessarily, just something I noticed.

I absolutely loved the characters, old and new. Magnus was still snarky, and he really embraced his inner healer in this book. Samirah was as badass as ever, as was Alex, my favorite character in the trilogy. Blitzen and Hearthstone were back, some other favorites of mine, and Magnus’s Valhalla friends came along for the ride: Mallory, T.J., and Halfborn. I liked getting to know the three of them, since they were never really major characters in the previous two books. And, as brief as it was, I loved getting Percy and Annabeth back. They were as cute as ever, and PERCY IS A BIG BROTHER. MY HEART. 😍😍

This book is also wonderfully diverse. Samirah is a woman of color and practicing Muslim. Throughout the story she was fasting for Ramadan, and even as someone without much knowledge on the subject I could tell Rick did his research. Alex is genderfluid and Latinx, and shifts between he/him and she/her depending on how she feels each day. T.J. is black, and Hearthstone is deaf and mute, so he and the rest of the crew communicate using ASL. It’s been said before and I’ll say it again: Rick writes diversity seamlessly in his books because he recognizes that that’s how the world is, and that’s just one reason to love him and his work.

Another nice thing is that, at least in this trilogy, there’s no ongoing romance. There are a few undertones and the ending is quite suggestive, but the action and friendships take center stage throughout the book. It’s a nice change.

My one major complaint, and the main reason this book isn’t getting five stars, is the ending. The flyting with Loki felt anticlimactic, and I couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed. I also liked how the characters’ stories ended, but it felt slightly unfinished. When I turned the page expecting an epilogue, there was the glossary. I liked the ending, but I still have a few questions.

Despite that, this book is definitely joining its predecessors on my favorites shelf. It was a great conclusion to a magnificent trilogy, and I can’t wait to see what Rick writes next.

CW: rape (prior to the story, but mentioned) and suicide

What a good book to start the year with.

I loved Lydia’s Control duology and was curious to see how she’d handle something in an entirely different genre. I wasn’t disappointed. This was an intriguing historical fiction, set in a period I’ve yet to read about, accompanied by a gripping murder mystery.

There’s often talk of whether we as readers prefer character- or plot-driven stories. It’s a wonderful thing to find a book with both. The story was full of twists and turns, and the characters were very complex. I loved Allene, Jasper, Birdie, and sweet little Holly. I loved the dynamics of each relationship, and that each one meant something.

The first half sets up for the second half, though both are entertaining. As I read I found myself suspecting almost everyone for some time, and each time I thought I was sure, new evidence was discovered and a new person was suspect. I never expected the final plot twist, not one bit. It was very well done.

Edit: I wrote this really late and forgot to mention one thing. This book does have cheating, though it’s not the main feature. I didn’t find it prominent enough to be bothered by it, but thought it was worth mentioning.

While not quite a favorite, I really enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait to see what Lydia writes next.

This is the January book for Prideathon and I absolutely loved it.

The world was very well-developed, and a good blend of Victorian and modern. I haven’t read very many steampunk books, so I don’t have much to compare this one to. I really liked it, though. I liked the history, the magic, the clock towers, all of it. It was unique and honestly ingenious.

I haven’t loved a cast of characters this much in a while. Danny was a clock mechanic with anxiety and PTSD. His mom was grieving and his best friend Cassie was an eager, supportive car mechanic. Colton was the clock spirit at a tower Danny fixed frequently, and due to his lack of contact with the outside world he had an adorable, childlike innocence. Daphne took a bit of time to warm up to, but she had an interesting backstory and I liked her in the end. All of them had depth and I loved following their journeys.

I daresay the relationships are one of the best parts of this book. Danny and his mom are distant after his father is trapped in the Stopped town, but over time you see them forgive themselves and each other. Danny and Cassie were such supportive friends, both ready to help one another at a moment’s notice. And, even better, they were completely platonic. Granted, Danny is gay, but it’s always nice to see a guy and a girl be friends, nothing more. As for Danny and Colton, they’re definitely my favorites. Two soft boys in a forbidden romance? Sign me up! I never use this term, but they’re honestly cinnamon rolls and the sweetest couple. I ship them so so much, I can’t even.

And on top of all of that, the plot was amazing. It was slower paced at times, yes, but it was so intriguing. On top of the aforementioned forbidden romance, there were unexplained explosions and a surprise betrayal. I didn’t want to stop reading.

If there was one thing I didn’t like so much, it was the inconsistent POV switch. I found the Aetas chapters a bit boring, and although I see why other narratives were important in some situations, I much preferred Danny. But it didn’t bother me enough to make me lower my rating, so no big deal.

I highly recommend reading this if you haven’t yet, and I can’t wait to pick up the sequel!!

CW: parental abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse

This was a surprisingly good book. It wasn’t quite a favorite, but I liked it much, much more than I thought I would.

I don’t read much urban fantasy nowadays, but this one alone has made me reconsider the genre. It was really unique and interesting. The story took place in Portland, Oregon, and demons lived among humans. They were only visible to those that wanted to make a deal; a deal meant trading a body part to get one wish. Small wishes meant an arm or a leg, while bigger ones like Dee’s meant her heart. It was unlike anything I’d read before, and kept me hooked despite the slower pacing.

I didn’t love Dee, but I really admired her. She had anxiety and started the book blaming herself for everything, believing she didn’t deserve anything, and that what happened was her fault. Over the course of the novel she slowly overcame that, and she got stronger because of it. She was determined and dedicated, and her character arc is one that I’ll remember.

I loved the side characters. They were all flawed but dealt in their own ways, and I admired them as well. James was so sweet, easily my favorite of the bunch; he was an artist and everything I didn’t know I wanted in a character. Gremma was a free-spirited aspiring scientist, a loyal friend, and honestly just a badass. She vivisected teddy bears in her free time, so that’s fun. As for Riley, although she came in near the end, I ended up liking her too. Together, the three of them and Dee made quite the group. Oh, and Cora wasn’t too bad. She was probably my least favorite, though.

I have a thing for books that aren’t action-packed but still intrigue me, still make me flip through the pages. This was one of those books. In addition to wish-granting demons, there’s also alternate worlds, a looming apocalypse, homunculi, and slow-burn romances.

While on the subject of romances, let me just say that Dee and James are one of the sweetest couples I’ve read in recent months. They understand each other and build one another up, and James never cures Dee. I also really liked Gremma and Riley together. Both were out and happy, and they just clicked.

I want to mention the casual diversity in this book. I didn’t know about any of it prior to reading. Dee has anxiety and is half-Latinx, Gremma is gay, and Riley is a trans girl. I can’t speak on any of the rep, but I was happy to see it included.

I’m avoiding discussion of the ending on purpose, because it absolutely didn’t go the way I expected and I’m not okay. It was sad and so many elements just hit me in the feels.

If you can handle the topics in this book, I highly recommend picking it up. It’s a unique standalone novel, and honestly a hidden gem in YA.

• full POC cast