Blood Red Road has been on my TBR for years and I was excited to finally read it. However, once I started, I became skeptical; now that I’ve finished, I can say there was only one thing I liked about the novel. It wasn’t a stereotypical dystopian, about love and rebellion. While there was a romance — more on that later — the story was mainly adventure-focused, centering on rescue and relationships.

Based on the content of other reviews, the formatting and writing style is hit or miss. There are no chapters, only sections and page breaks, and no quotation marks. The dialogue is also unusual, in that words are spelled how they sound rather than how they’re actually pronounced; “ezzack” = “exact” and so on. For me, these things were definitely a miss, though the lack of chapters bothered me significantly less than the other aspects. They made it difficult for me to really lose myself in the story Young is telling.

Another large reason I disliked this novel was the protagonist, Saba. There are unlikeable characters, morally grey characters, and then Saba. She was some ungodly combination of both and I wasn’t a fan. I don’t even know how to describe her, to be honest. She’s ornery and standoffish, past the point of being admirable. I think Young went too far in trying to demonstrate these traits, and ultimately it went south. And while I don’t think anyone will accuse me of being sexist, let it be known that I’d say the same things if Saba were male or nonbinary.

On that note, I didn’t like Jack either. I’m not sure what other people saw in him that they liked. He was an arrogant, insufferable snake. If I’m being completely honest, the only characters I liked were Nero, Emmi, and the Free Hawks — Saba’s pet crow, Saba’s nine year old sister, and a group of girl rebels that went around wreaking havoc. The protagonist? The love interest? Nah.

If I didn’t like the protagonist or the love interest, I’m sure you can figure out that I didn’t like the romance either. Normally I’m all over hate-to-love, but not this time. They truly seemed to hate each other and I wasn’t fond of either one of them, so no. Thank u, next. (Maybe His Fair Assassin has ruined all other heterosexual ships for me, haha.)

In many aspects, I felt this novel had an interesting premise but was poorly executed. Much of the story dragged, in my opinion, with a fair portion of it being journeying or planning. There were some fights, including some cage fights that took an entire section of the novel. I also questioned the necessity of some events, such as the hellwurms and everything following Lugh’s rescue. The latter would’ve been better suited to the beginning of book two, in my opinion.

Lastly, this book left me with a number of questions when I closed the cover.

1. Where’s the world-building? It doesn’t have to be the focal point, but it should at least be present. Occasionally there were mentions of Wreckers and Wrecker technology; I assume that’s slang for humans of past generations, which means the story is set on Earth. But where and when is the story set? How did we get to that point? What’s going on? Dystopians don’t just happen! Give me details!

2. Is there magic? There’s no mention of magic explicitly, but early on Saba talks about how her father tries to read the stars. However, there’s no proof of whether or not that works. Then there’s the heartstone, a necklace given to her by a family friend said to belong to her late mother that heats up when the wearer is near their heart’s desire. But how does it know? How and why does it exist in this world? Is it one of a kind? If Saba didn’t know her heart’s desire, how did this stone?

3. There’s a king, but hardly any information given about him or the land he rules over. How did he become king? What areas is he king of? Does he do anything, or just sit back while his citizens are drugged and enslaved, living a luxurious life and ignoring their struggles?

4. Where are all of the people? There are seven locations mentioned in the novel. Two of them are completely unpopulated, two more are only occupied by a handful of people, and another is only populated by the Free Hawks. That leaves two that are full of people, but no other locations are mentioned. Surely there are more people in the world? Wildlife? But if there are, I don’t know about them. Sure, that’s not relevant to the storyline, but it would be really easy to mention in passing. If there was even a simple map, I’d be satisfied. I don’t think I’m asking for a lot.

I think that’s everything. I hope this review doesn’t come across as harsh, as that truly wasn’t my intention. There were simply a multitude of elements I didn’t like, with no real positives to combat that. And yes, I realize Blood Red Road was published in 2011, but I don’t think that’s a justifiable reason for all of these issues. I mean, Grave Mercy was published in 2012, and while the two novels are enormously different, the latter has none of the aforementioned issues. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Admittedly, I’m a tad curious about what goes down in the sequel, but I love myself enough to skip it.

Representation:
• Tommo, a minor character introduced about two-thirds of the way into the novel, is deaf.

CW: blood, gore, violence, kidnapping, slavery, drugging

[second read, April 2019]

4.5 stars

I still consider Unicorn Tracks one of my all-time favorite novels. However, this time around I’m lowering my rating from 5 stars to 4.5, as I noticed a few small details that fetus reviewer Liv did not.

Primarily, while this was a quick read — I read it in a matter of hours — I believe the length was also detrimental. The character development was a bit rushed, and the romance was slightly too close to insta-love for my tastes.

Otherwise, I enjoyed this story as much as I did the first time. It’s a sapphic fantasy with a plot mainly centered around unicorns; what’s not to love? Mnemba and Kara are fierce characters in their own way, and their relationship is sweet and passionate. I loved the world-building and all of the mythical creatures; it was evident that Ember put a lot of thought into every aspect.

I remember thinking that the story somewhat resembles that of Disney’s Tarzan, and I stand by that. In an African-inspired fantasy world, two girls fall in love — one a native and one a foreigner. The gorillas are replaced by unicorns. It’s not a retelling as far as I’m aware, and there are definitely differences, but I enjoyed connecting the dots. Admittedly, I’m not sure if any other readers did the same.

As this is only 150 pages, I believe I’ve covered everything. I love Unicorn Tracks so much, and will recommend it for the rest of my days. I look forward to reading Ember’s future work.

Representation:
• Mnemba, the protagonist, is a POC. Most of the supporting cast is as well.
• The romance is biracial, between a girl of color and a white girl. It’s also sapphic.
• Kara, the love interest, is fat.

CW: animal death, poaching, sexual assault [off-page, prior to story], PTSD, discussions of torture and suicide

[first read, July 2016]

I was sent a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This doesn't affect my opinion in any way.

This was surprisingly good. I went into it expecting to enjoy it (come on, it's about UNICORNS) and definitely did. It was amazing.

I loved the story. It was short and fast-paced, so I read it in a day. I think this book was written for me, but without the author realizing that she wrote it for me. (Pretend that makes sense.) I mean, it's a fantasy with a girl/girl romance and unicorns. I don't know if you know, but I absolutely adore unicorns. If you do too, read this.

Mnemba was a great main character. Prior to the start of the book, she was attacked, and it haunts her throughout the story. Details were revealed slowly, and with each one I felt worse for her. But she got over it, and I was so happy. That aside, she was a fierce tomboy and exceptional tracker, and a loyal friend.

My favorite character, though, was Kara. I loved the relationship she had with her dad, even though the story behind it was sad. She was as fierce as Mnemba, and a dedicated researcher of mythical creatures. I loved her impulsiveness, and seeing her adjust to each new thing as it happened. In a way, she reminded me of Jane from Tarzan.

The fantasy world of Nazwimbe was based on Africa, and that was definitely a first for me. It was a very old-fashioned country, particularly on the safari where most of the story took place. Everything was richly described, and I loved imagining I was out in the wild with the mythical creatures along with Mnemba and Kara. That was my favorite part, by the way - the creatures. Of course, there were unicorns, but there were also phoenixes, griffins, chimeras, carnivorous mermaids, and more. It was such a fun world to read about.

I loved, loved, LOVED Mnemba and Kara's romance. It was sweet and passionate and forbidden, and it was probably the best part of the story. Aside from the unicorns. I can't say a lot without spoiling, because this was a fairly short story. Just know that I ship them. <3

There aren't really any parts I would consider mind-blowing twists, but I'm fine with that. The fast pace and the need to know if the unicorns were okay had me flying through the book.

So basically, I loved this book from the start. It must have been written for me, and I recommend it to literally everyone. It's such an underrated book, and definitely deserves so much more love. <3

While Love & Luck has been on my TBR for a couple of years now, it was not a priority. I likely wouldn’t have read it anytime soon if it didn’t fit a Year of Epic Reads weekly challenge, and honestly, it wasn’t worth the wait.

I was really excited to read a story set in Ireland, but unfortunately, this novel didn’t deliver. The Irish setting was more of a surface element, a backdrop for drama rather than a part of the plot. This was disappointing; although the trip lasted only three days, that’s no excuse to do Ireland dirty. As an Irish girl that hasn’t visited Ireland, I had high hopes, especially since I can’t think of any other YA with this setting. The descriptions of the Emerald Isle were lovely, but I wish Welch had done more.

One aspect I did like was the focus on sibling love, rather than romantic. Addie has a decent-sized family, with three brothers and her parents, and this story centers in on her closest brother, Ian. They’re usually close, but after a school scandal involving Addie, they had vastly different ideas of how to handle it, thus driving a wedge between them. While I acknowledge that this is realistic sibling representation, their constant bickering grated on my nerves. I appreciated the growth in their relationship as the story progressed, but not enough to overlook this.

The true treasure in this novel was Addie and Lina’s friendship. Though it was minor, I loved it. I could tell that the two had a genuine, deep connection, the kind many friends want but don’t always achieve. They were in different countries for most of the story, but that didn’t detract from their relationship. For this, I applaud Welch. Additionally, I discovered through other reviews that Welch’s debut Love & Gelato follows Lina, so I’m sufficiently intrigued.

I think Rowan was my favorite character. He was Ian’s best friend but not shoved into any stereotypical molds, a good friend with his own personality and problems. I appreciated that no romance developed between him and Addie, and feel that that alone prevented this from reading like any number of recycled contemporaries. Admittedly, there was a hint of something more in the end, but I’ll take what I can get. My biggest issue with Rowan was that he didn’t truly feel Irish. Sure, he had an accent. But otherwise, he resembled a sticker that bookstores put on their signed copies — if you peel it away carefully, you can’t tell it was ever there. Take away Rowan’s accent and you can’t tell he’s Irish. Same idea.

As for Addie, she was hardly anything special. It took a couple of chapters to get used to her voice, and once I did, I didn’t have any problems with her. However, she felt like a rather static character, undergoing little development throughout the story. Her only real quality, in my opinion, was her knowledge of cars and knack for mechanics. It was amusing to see Ian and Rowan turn to her when their piece of crap car broke down, completely clueless.

Possibly the most irritating element was the lack of information surrounding the incident with Cubby for the first eighty percent of the novel. Ultimately, it was a cliché, absolutely preventable scandal, and unfortunately, so very high school. Other reviewers call it a mystery, and while they’re entitled to their opinion, I disagree. Addie and Ian knew the circumstances the entire time, but readers are kept in the dark; I was not a fan.

At risk of sounding petty, I have two more minor grievances. The chapters were unnecessarily long, with the shortest still around or exceeding twenty pages, and the audiobook narrator was insufferably boring. I tried to push through but lasted less than a chapter. If possible, I recommend reading yourself.

I think I’ve covered all of my feelings regarding this novel. I considered giving Love & Luck a lower rating, but there’s something about it that prevented me from doing so; I can’t quite put my finger on it. This wasn’t a fun or impactful or even memorable read, to be honest, but it did add one more book to my Goodreads challenge.

DNF at 20%.

Here we have it: my first DNF of 2019. Normally I try to get to the halfway point before giving up, but it was a struggle to get this far; I wasn’t going to force myself.

Since I didn’t finish reading The Secret History, I’ll keep this review brief. My primary issue with this novel was how unbelievably bored I was while reading. The story read like something I might’ve been assigned in a high school English class and hated for its monotony. I read to page 116, and nothing happened up to that point; that, unfortunately, isn’t an exaggeration. I could skim multiple pages at a time and not miss anything. The extent of the action was the characters getting very drunk multiple times a week. I thought this was a murder mystery, but if it is, the build-up is excruciatingly slow and honestly not worth it.

I didn’t realize while reading that this novel was originally published in 1993; however, I don’t think that’s relevant to my dislike. My all-time favorite series started in 2012 and ended in 2014. Another novel I enjoyed — admittedly, more so when I was younger — is more than fifty years old. Age doesn’t necessarily impact my enjoyment of a story.

The ensemble cast was strange and did somewhat pique my interest, though not enough to keep me reading. Maybe I’d be saying something different if they did more than drink, smoke, and half-heartedly do Greek homework once or twice per chapter.

Needless to say, The Secret History is not the book for me. The density of the writing and monotony of the story overpowered any possible sliver of intrigue I might’ve had. I don’t think I’ll be giving this novel a second chance, or delving into any of Tartt’s other novels.

Representation:
• I think I’ve heard about a queer side couple? I can’t be sure, as there was no indication of it in the chapters I read. Honestly though, if you want queer rep, you can find hundreds of better books to read.

CW: alcoholism, homophobia [through page 116/start of chapter 3]

I haven’t read many poetry collections, but they tend to be a hit or miss for me. I can’t put my finger on a specific reason, but Light Filters In was an undeniable hit.

Baby Liv, new to Instagram, followed and admired Kaufman’s account, @poeticpoison. Kaufman was baby Liv’s inspiration to start her own poetry. Although I haven’t followed the account in years, I still remembered that. Kaufman always had a way with words, and if anything, her writing has only improved. Even the shortest poems were full of emotion, and I devoured this collection in approximately twenty minutes.

My favorite poem:
”find yourself
in a page.
look at
where you are.

find your past
in the pages
before.
look at all that
you have survived.

find your future
in the pages
after.
look at all that
you have ahead.

this is not
the end of the book.
you are right
at the heart of it.

keep reading.”

This is a heavy read, but it’s exquisite. If you can handle the content, I highly recommend you take a sliver of time out of your day and read Light Filters In.

Representation:
n/a

CW: depression, self-harm, suicide/suicide ideation, sexual assault, abusive relationships, violence (from the author’s note in the beginning of the novel)

DNF at 23%.

It’s very disappointing to put down a fourth book this month, but I’m trying to embrace the “life is too short for bad books” lifestyle. I don’t think The Kingdom of Copper is a bad book; however, it’s undeniable that, at least in my experience, something went wrong. I don’t know what that is, exactly, but after loving The City of Brass, this was doubly disappointing.

My main issue with this novel is how extremely bored I was while reading. Over the course of six days I only read 150 pages, which is out of character for me when I have so much free time. And if I’m being honest, it felt like nothing happened. All three protagonists were apart, dealing with separate problems, and I couldn’t make myself care. The slow immersion into the world, plot, and politics Chakraborty mastered in the first novel didn’t, for some reason, work in this one.

Additionally, I only really cared about Nahri. Ali and Dara were mediocre this time around, and when I came across their chapters, I didn’t want to read them. I was especially put off if they exceeded ten pages, as many of the chapters in this story seem to.

Needless to say, I won’t be reading the final book in the trilogy. Everything I loved about The City of Brass seemed to be absent in The Kingdom of Copper. But don’t let me discourage you from giving this book or its predecessor a try! I’m definitely the outlier in this situation.

Representation:
• Many characters, if not all, are POC and/or Muslim.
• Muntadhir and Jamshid, two side characters, are queer.

CW: violence, murder, alcoholism, threats, gore, mention of self-harm, death of secondary characters

I received this ARC from the publisher. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.

DNF at 34%.

My unpopular opinion™️ of 2019, right here.

Everyone loves The Fever King. I wanted to love it too. Unfortunately, I did not. Although this diverse dystopian seems to have taken the book community by storm, it didn’t rain here.

I fully believe the reason I didn’t like this novel is because of my own personal circumstances. I seem to be in a reading slump of sorts, and while the concept is intriguing, I couldn’t make myself care about the characters or get invested in the plot.

The world Lee has created is unique and interesting, and what little I did learn of the magic system was as well. And even in the small portion that I read, the political commentary was astonishingly relevant to our own time. (Take this with a grain of salt, as my knowledge of immigration and refugees isn’t expansive or personal.)

So please, don’t sharpen your pitchforks or light your torches. I tried, but for reasons relating to either me or the book, I failed. I’m definitely in the minority on this one, though, so don’t let me stop you from picking up The Fever King.

Representation:
• Noam, the protagonist, is a queer, Jewish, Latinx immigrant.
• Dara, the love interest, is a queer, Jewish POC. (To my knowledge, his specific identity is unspecified.)
• Lehrer, a side character, is Jewish.
• There’s a central m/m relationship.

CW: anti-immigration themes (for lack of a better term)

DNF at 29%.

Whatever funky reading slump I’m in needs to stop. I don’t think I’ve ever DNFed three books in a row before now.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of And I Darken, but the general consensus seems to be that the sequel is better. So I tried Now I Rise, and let me just say...it did not rise. It fell, and it fell flat. (I’ll show myself out.)

I was mildly curious about Lada’s side of the story, but Radu’s bored me. Although I didn’t read much of the story, what I did read felt so dramatic. Heterosexual love triangles have gotten worse over the years, but when two siblings are in love with the same person? Yikes. And when said siblings want/need the other for some reason but refuse to properly communicate? Double yikes.

I think the biggest issue for me, aside from my slump, was that I put this book off for too long. The first was an average read, and if I truly wanted to enjoy this, I probably should’ve read it sooner. I didn’t remember much of the first novel’s story, and even the queer content couldn’t keep me interested in Now I Rise. Hopefully White’s other, unrelated novels will better hold my attention.

Representation:
• Radu, one of the protagonists, is gay and Muslim.
• I believe a m/m romance occurs later in the novel.
• Various characters are POC and/or Muslim.
• There’s a side f/f romance.

CW: sexism, violence

Despite how mediocre I found the first three novels in this series and how long it took me to listen to this one, A Question of Holmes is undeniably my favorite installment in said series. While a few aspects did leave something to be desired, I enjoyed this novel immensely.

Unlike its predecessors, Charlotte narrates almost the entire novel. Her blunt, analytical personality was a refreshing contrast to Jamie’s familiar, easygoing nature. I wonder if this change is part of why I liked the story so much.

The combination of the new setting, the intensity of the mystery, and Jamie and Charlotte’s lovely romance had me completely invested. Although I suspected one of the characters almost instantly and ended up being right, the whole story was a lot of fun. I also liked the audiobook narrator; despite her apparently being older than Charlotte, she narrated really well. It added an extra element that only boosted my enjoyment.

Aside from my ability to predict the antagonist, my biggest issue was the ending. I do believe it was realistic and fitting, but I usually don’t like open endings. I’m glad things worked out for Charlotte and Jamie, and I understand more isn’t always better; I simply want more.

I’m glad I didn’t give up on this series, because A Question of Holmes was the greatest novel in it. I look forward to seeing what Cavallaro does next.

Representation:
• Leander, a side character, is queer and actively in an m/m relationship.

CW: death, kidnapping, mention of rape

I decided to listen to this novel on a whim for a Year of Epic Reads challenge, and I’m extraordinarily glad that I did. A List of Cages is a truly heartbreaking yet stubbornly hopeful story that snuck its way both into my heart and onto my favorites list.

This is not an easy novel to read. It explores themes of grief and abuse, the latter in particular depth. Julian’s parents died in a tragic accident when he was young, leaving him first as a foster brother to other protagonist Adam, then a ward to his Uncle Russell. Said uncle is horrendously abusive, in every way possible; he was manipulative and harsh to Julian. The beating scenes, while not especially graphic, added another layer of horror and emotion. Roe executed this well.

The light in this darkness was the brotherly relationship between Julian and Adam, who is four years older. They’re reunited at school, and long story short, Adam takes Julian under his wing. They become friends, and soon even Adam’s senior friends join in. I especially liked Emerald and Charlie, though the latter took some time to get used to.

I believe the audiobook did an excellent job distinguishing two already distinct voices. The dual narration only aids the stark contrast between Adam’s optimistic, easygoing nature and Julian’s apologetic timidity. The narrators did an exceptional job, and Roe’s skill in character crafting and development was apparent.

Related to my last point, I was impressed by how fleshed out each character was, even those with lesser roles. Adam’s friends and mother, Julian’s uncle — all had a clear cut personality that impacted the plot in some ways, be it major or minor, positive or negative.

One thing I especially enjoyed was the lack of romance. While there was a minor storyline related to Adam’s love life, the focus is primarily on Julian and Adam’s friendship, secondarily on familial love and finding family. Roe’s decision to cut romance from the story allowed the emotions to take the spotlight, the despair and fear and hope and happiness. While these can definitely be present with romantic elements, I think the lack thereof really let them shine.

I have to applaud Roe for writing a story that I absolutely didn’t want to put down. I was hooked almost instantly, and from then on, no matter how small an event was, I had the hardest time hitting pause for any reason. Julian and Adam stole my heart and ran with it. And can we talk about that ending?! It was frightening and thrilling, but ultimately, perfect.

I didn’t expect much from A List of Cages, but it’s now one of my favorite contemporary novels. I can’t believe it took me so long to read, and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a poignant story that pulled at my heartstrings, but still managed to put a smile on my face. I can’t wait to see what Roe writes next; until then, ten thousand stars. [Book reference! If you can handle the content, 10/10 recommend reading so you can understand.] ❤️

Representation:
• Julian has dyslexia.
• Adam has ADHD and, since medication doesn’t work for him, uses homeopathic remedies. I liked that Roe didn’t write either in a negative light.

CW: physical and psychological abuse, bullying, violence, death of parents, death