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paragraphsandpages
“It’s not about what I say right? It’s what I do that matters here.”
Stars (Out of 10): “A whole sky of different stars”/10
Overall Thoughts: I actually needed to give myself a day to fully process this book before writing this review, and yet, I am still just in complete awe of this book. It seemed to meticulously planned, with a plot riveting at every page. The way the book is formatted also seems to bring a whole new layer of immersion in my opinion, and makes the events of the series seem much more real. In addition, the characters were witty, and for a book full of facts and documents, I found a lot of humor in the book, that left me laughing at many points. Overall, no amount of words can describe how much I loved this book, and how fully it completely blew my mind. Super, super excited for book 3!
The Good: The plot was so many layers deep, and every single little detail shared actually has some importance, while it may not always seem that way. In addition, I loved the characters, and they were perfect for the plot in my opinion. I also love how well it connects to book 1, and everyone who survives Illuminae is seen in Gemina, which I was super happy about!
The Bad: Nothing really comes to mind actually, except for some formatting decisions (text speak) or how the audio and ebook files work out. But I didn’t find anything with the story itself that I disliked.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: While they were a lot different from Kady and Ezra, I still really loved Hanna and Nik. They felt really real, especially since we only see them through transcripts and chat logs. I also loved the continued use of old characters, and how they still remained really important. While I hope it remains to the crew of 4, as it’ll get a bit crowded otherwise, I probably would just fall in love to anyone new next book regardless!
The Plot: This was definitely the best feature of this book. I loved the plot of this book, and how so many things came together, especially at the end. Even with all the information in front of us, the twists were still amazingly hidden, even though there was plenty of hints and foreshadowing if I go back and think about it. From the lanima, to all the attack fleets, to the attack squad, and lastly, to the super crazy wormhole happenings, there were problems happening constantly, providing for constant action. It felt extremely in the moment, and I was always super nervous and anxious about what was going to happen next, kept on my toes at every moment. In addition, I’m still completely blown away by the inclusion of multiple universes, and the science behind the wormholes. That’s still so crazy in my mind, and I’m so intrigued by it, and how it’ll affect the rest of the series!
The Favorite Character: I really liked Hanna later in the book!
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it!!!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): “A whole sky of different stars”/10
Overall Thoughts: I actually needed to give myself a day to fully process this book before writing this review, and yet, I am still just in complete awe of this book. It seemed to meticulously planned, with a plot riveting at every page. The way the book is formatted also seems to bring a whole new layer of immersion in my opinion, and makes the events of the series seem much more real. In addition, the characters were witty, and for a book full of facts and documents, I found a lot of humor in the book, that left me laughing at many points. Overall, no amount of words can describe how much I loved this book, and how fully it completely blew my mind. Super, super excited for book 3!
The Good: The plot was so many layers deep, and every single little detail shared actually has some importance, while it may not always seem that way. In addition, I loved the characters, and they were perfect for the plot in my opinion. I also love how well it connects to book 1, and everyone who survives Illuminae is seen in Gemina, which I was super happy about!
The Bad: Nothing really comes to mind actually, except for some formatting decisions (text speak) or how the audio and ebook files work out. But I didn’t find anything with the story itself that I disliked.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: While they were a lot different from Kady and Ezra, I still really loved Hanna and Nik. They felt really real, especially since we only see them through transcripts and chat logs. I also loved the continued use of old characters, and how they still remained really important. While I hope it remains to the crew of 4, as it’ll get a bit crowded otherwise, I probably would just fall in love to anyone new next book regardless!
The Plot: This was definitely the best feature of this book. I loved the plot of this book, and how so many things came together, especially at the end. Even with all the information in front of us, the twists were still amazingly hidden, even though there was plenty of hints and foreshadowing if I go back and think about it. From the lanima, to all the attack fleets, to the attack squad, and lastly, to the super crazy wormhole happenings, there were problems happening constantly, providing for constant action. It felt extremely in the moment, and I was always super nervous and anxious about what was going to happen next, kept on my toes at every moment. In addition, I’m still completely blown away by the inclusion of multiple universes, and the science behind the wormholes. That’s still so crazy in my mind, and I’m so intrigued by it, and how it’ll affect the rest of the series!
The Favorite Character: I really liked Hanna later in the book!
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it!!!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
“Just like the good old days: marching together into the unknown, searching for missing magical weapons and risking painful death.”
Stars (Out of 10): 7/5/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: While I did enjoy the first book more, I still really liked this installment of the series. The humor felt a bit too immature at points though, and semi repetitive at points. This is a kids series though, so I don’t judge too harshly on that aspect. I did enjoy the plot for the most part, but there seemed to be a few too many “distractions” from the main plot. I also enjoyed exploring the Norse World more, and learning more about the characters, as well as the introduction of new ones. I’m hoping I like the third book more, but overall, I enjoyed this one.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Good: The book seems a tad more realistic when dealing with diversity (how Alex reacts to others, as well as explaining the Muslim aspects of Sam’s life). I also enjoyed learning more about Hearthstone, since he seems to be a really interesting characters with a pretty troubled past.
The Bad: I disliked the humor in this book compared to the last one, as it felt much more immature. I’m also a tad fed up with how immature all these Norse gods are (Heimdall and Thor mainly. All I seem to know is that Heimdall takes selfies, and can sometimes see things if convinced to.) There also seems to be a complete lack of interest in stopping Ragnarok for some of them. I also feel there was a bit too many ‘distractions’, too many side quests taking away from the main plot.
The Characters: I enjoyed the growth we saw in these. While Jack is getting a bit repetitve, we see Magnus become more okay with all these Norse guys, Hearthstone gets his backstory and time to shine, as well as the introduction of Alex, who might be an interesting twist in the dynamic of these friends. I’m also glad that the hallmates continue to be shown, and that Valhalla isn’t entirely forgotten about in Magnus’s quest to save the world.
The Plot: Compared to book 1, this fell a bit flat to me, as the ending was a tad rushed since so much of the book was taken up by side quest after side quest. The “death prophecy” about Magnus’ friends and Blitz as well also seemd way too easily brushed off. “Oh hey look you’re gonna die and we can’t stop it!!!” turned into “Oh hey if we take this super long and possibly dangerous detour then we can!!!!” in like 2 minutes.
The Favorite Character: Hearthstone!!
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 7/5/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: While I did enjoy the first book more, I still really liked this installment of the series. The humor felt a bit too immature at points though, and semi repetitive at points. This is a kids series though, so I don’t judge too harshly on that aspect. I did enjoy the plot for the most part, but there seemed to be a few too many “distractions” from the main plot. I also enjoyed exploring the Norse World more, and learning more about the characters, as well as the introduction of new ones. I’m hoping I like the third book more, but overall, I enjoyed this one.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Good: The book seems a tad more realistic when dealing with diversity (how Alex reacts to others, as well as explaining the Muslim aspects of Sam’s life). I also enjoyed learning more about Hearthstone, since he seems to be a really interesting characters with a pretty troubled past.
The Bad: I disliked the humor in this book compared to the last one, as it felt much more immature. I’m also a tad fed up with how immature all these Norse gods are (Heimdall and Thor mainly. All I seem to know is that Heimdall takes selfies, and can sometimes see things if convinced to.) There also seems to be a complete lack of interest in stopping Ragnarok for some of them. I also feel there was a bit too many ‘distractions’, too many side quests taking away from the main plot.
The Characters: I enjoyed the growth we saw in these. While Jack is getting a bit repetitve, we see Magnus become more okay with all these Norse guys, Hearthstone gets his backstory and time to shine, as well as the introduction of Alex, who might be an interesting twist in the dynamic of these friends. I’m also glad that the hallmates continue to be shown, and that Valhalla isn’t entirely forgotten about in Magnus’s quest to save the world.
The Plot: Compared to book 1, this fell a bit flat to me, as the ending was a tad rushed since so much of the book was taken up by side quest after side quest. The “death prophecy” about Magnus’ friends and Blitz as well also seemd way too easily brushed off. “Oh hey look you’re gonna die and we can’t stop it!!!” turned into “Oh hey if we take this super long and possibly dangerous detour then we can!!!!” in like 2 minutes.
The Favorite Character: Hearthstone!!
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: Pseudonymous Bosch was an author I read a good while ago, when I was a good bit younger. I enjoyed the creativity and uniqueness of those books, and even all these years later, their books still have the same qualities! I was actually looking forward to finally reading this book after having it on my bookshelf for a while, but then kept putting it off and reading other books first. In the end, this book did live up to the expectations that built up over the three months I put it off! It was quirky, different, and mysterious, and all these traits combined to an extremely intriguing book!
The Good: I always liked the voice this author/narrator had, and this book was no exception! The little jokes kept sometimes otherwise boring scenes more interesting, and I felt connected to both the narrator and the characters. I’ve also always liked when an unattached narrator seems like it’s own characters (which was part of why I liked the Romantics by Leah Konen so much!) In addition, I really enjoyed the mysterious plot, and was not expecting that from the description of the book! The ending was also quite different than anything I could’ve predicted!
The Bad: While mostly I loved the author interventions, at some points it did kill the mood of the book, especially near the end. The end was building up, and being super mysterious, but then a few tidbits from the author kind of ruined that mood. The ending also felt less grand than it was made out to be.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I wasn’t completely amazed with the characters, and they weren’t what kept me so interested in the book. But they worked with the plot extremely well, and I did like how Clay remained distrustful after all that happened!
The Plot: I really enjoyed the mysterious feel this book had, at least in the beginning! It kinda died around the end, and while the end was a great reveal, it felt unimportant, or less grand, than it should’ve been made out to be? However, I really enjoyed the first 90% of the book, with all the mysteries, clues, and puzzles there were! It was definitely an intriguing book, and I’m excited to read the next one!
The Favorite Character: Clay (and Leira seems like she’ll be cool!)
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it, especially if you liked Bosch’s other books!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Overall Thoughts: Pseudonymous Bosch was an author I read a good while ago, when I was a good bit younger. I enjoyed the creativity and uniqueness of those books, and even all these years later, their books still have the same qualities! I was actually looking forward to finally reading this book after having it on my bookshelf for a while, but then kept putting it off and reading other books first. In the end, this book did live up to the expectations that built up over the three months I put it off! It was quirky, different, and mysterious, and all these traits combined to an extremely intriguing book!
The Good: I always liked the voice this author/narrator had, and this book was no exception! The little jokes kept sometimes otherwise boring scenes more interesting, and I felt connected to both the narrator and the characters. I’ve also always liked when an unattached narrator seems like it’s own characters (which was part of why I liked the Romantics by Leah Konen so much!) In addition, I really enjoyed the mysterious plot, and was not expecting that from the description of the book! The ending was also quite different than anything I could’ve predicted!
The Bad: While mostly I loved the author interventions, at some points it did kill the mood of the book, especially near the end. The end was building up, and being super mysterious, but then a few tidbits from the author kind of ruined that mood. The ending also felt less grand than it was made out to be.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I wasn’t completely amazed with the characters, and they weren’t what kept me so interested in the book. But they worked with the plot extremely well, and I did like how Clay remained distrustful after all that happened!
The Plot: I really enjoyed the mysterious feel this book had, at least in the beginning! It kinda died around the end, and while the end was a great reveal, it felt unimportant, or less grand, than it should’ve been made out to be? However, I really enjoyed the first 90% of the book, with all the mysteries, clues, and puzzles there were! It was definitely an intriguing book, and I’m excited to read the next one!
The Favorite Character: Clay (and Leira seems like she’ll be cool!)
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it, especially if you liked Bosch’s other books!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 5/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: If I’m being honest, this book threw my entire taste in novels in the air. Normally, I wouldn’t be so interested in a book with such a simple plot, such immature characters (for the most part, they seemed like 14/15 year olds, not 18 and ready to go to college), and such cliches, but I just couldn’t help myself from becoming slowly obsessed with this book. It frustrated me so much, for so many reasons, but I enjoyed it anyways! If you don’t mind cliches, simple plots, and at times frustrating characters, this will definitely be a cute read for you!
The Good: It’s a cute, quick read, the perfect fluff! It also has a way of grabbing hold of your emotions and not letting go.
The Bad: The technicalities, and actual “writing”, of the book was subpar at best. Many cliches, immature characters (although they really shouldn’t be at the age), and a way too simple plot.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I didn’t really care for the characters, since I was very put off at first by their immaturity. However, this either gets better as the book continues, or you simply get used to it. I also didn’t like how blatantly some characters got “used,” but then that also gets brought up in the end (Elaina as a rebound, etc.), so that’s not actually as bad as I’ve seen it before.
The Plot: As I’ve said a few times, simple and cliche, but still cute. It frustrates me to no end when unnecessary love triangles show up, and when there’s little going on besides the romance (nothing occurs in their life ever, and chapters only existed if some romance was going to occur), but it seemed to work out better than usual in this instance.
The Favorite Character: I liked Lenny (poor sad characters always get the short end of the stick, don’t they?)
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Borrow it
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Overall Thoughts: If I’m being honest, this book threw my entire taste in novels in the air. Normally, I wouldn’t be so interested in a book with such a simple plot, such immature characters (for the most part, they seemed like 14/15 year olds, not 18 and ready to go to college), and such cliches, but I just couldn’t help myself from becoming slowly obsessed with this book. It frustrated me so much, for so many reasons, but I enjoyed it anyways! If you don’t mind cliches, simple plots, and at times frustrating characters, this will definitely be a cute read for you!
The Good: It’s a cute, quick read, the perfect fluff! It also has a way of grabbing hold of your emotions and not letting go.
The Bad: The technicalities, and actual “writing”, of the book was subpar at best. Many cliches, immature characters (although they really shouldn’t be at the age), and a way too simple plot.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I didn’t really care for the characters, since I was very put off at first by their immaturity. However, this either gets better as the book continues, or you simply get used to it. I also didn’t like how blatantly some characters got “used,” but then that also gets brought up in the end (Elaina as a rebound, etc.), so that’s not actually as bad as I’ve seen it before.
The Plot: As I’ve said a few times, simple and cliche, but still cute. It frustrates me to no end when unnecessary love triangles show up, and when there’s little going on besides the romance (nothing occurs in their life ever, and chapters only existed if some romance was going to occur), but it seemed to work out better than usual in this instance.
The Favorite Character: I liked Lenny (poor sad characters always get the short end of the stick, don’t they?)
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Borrow it
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Since it was such a quick read, I won't be filling out my usual review format.
While I didn't dislike this book, I didn't really like it either. I've read books in prose before, but they never seemed to be so quick or read as fast as this one did. As I did see it covered some possibly difficult topics, such as discrimination, bullying, and parent issues, it's shortness made it feel as if it didn't really cover those topics as well. In addition, I had a hard time connecting with the main character, which made me feel detached from the book. All in all, it had potential, but didn't quit meet my hopes for the book.
While I didn't dislike this book, I didn't really like it either. I've read books in prose before, but they never seemed to be so quick or read as fast as this one did. As I did see it covered some possibly difficult topics, such as discrimination, bullying, and parent issues, it's shortness made it feel as if it didn't really cover those topics as well. In addition, I had a hard time connecting with the main character, which made me feel detached from the book. All in all, it had potential, but didn't quit meet my hopes for the book.
“Fighting emotion with logic is like bringing a calculator to a knife fight.”
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Both the writing style and concept/formatting of this book was really interesting, and I just ended up loving the characters as well! While it could be classified as a rather simple love story, both the complexity of the character, the variety in relationships and side characters, and the tone/diction used by the author made it much more interesting than any other simple story I had read before!
The Good: I loved so many things, from the writing style, to the characters, and all of the slightly funny/slightly cringey events. In addition, I loved the way the book ended, and how it managed to still pull a deeper meaning out of the research experiment.
The Bad: While I loved it, I didn’t give it 9 or 10 stars since it wasn’t a mind-blowing novel. It was great, and I really enjoyed reading it, but it didn’t go beyond that.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I really loved the characters we saw in this novel, and how real they seemed. There was a huge variety in personalities, backgrounds, etc., and yet they all still meshed together really well! In addition, I never felt overwhelmed by the amount of side characters we saw, or choppiness in the history, which was a tough feat to accomplish in a book like this.
The Plot: I loved the plot of this book. From it’s format, to variety in romance and events (all breakups/relationships were extremely unique), it was a phenomenal read, and one I really enjoyed. While it was a true story, which restricted the events that could be used to ones that really happened, the way they were described and written really made it match both the age of the protagonist of the time, and the situation. In addition, I loved how the author chose to end the novel, with the girl Josh ends up marrying. Also, I loved how a deeper meaning was still drawn from a relatively funny book, and that it could still have a lasting effect on me.
The Favorite Character: Josh
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Overall Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. Both the writing style and concept/formatting of this book was really interesting, and I just ended up loving the characters as well! While it could be classified as a rather simple love story, both the complexity of the character, the variety in relationships and side characters, and the tone/diction used by the author made it much more interesting than any other simple story I had read before!
The Good: I loved so many things, from the writing style, to the characters, and all of the slightly funny/slightly cringey events. In addition, I loved the way the book ended, and how it managed to still pull a deeper meaning out of the research experiment.
The Bad: While I loved it, I didn’t give it 9 or 10 stars since it wasn’t a mind-blowing novel. It was great, and I really enjoyed reading it, but it didn’t go beyond that.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE
The Characters: I really loved the characters we saw in this novel, and how real they seemed. There was a huge variety in personalities, backgrounds, etc., and yet they all still meshed together really well! In addition, I never felt overwhelmed by the amount of side characters we saw, or choppiness in the history, which was a tough feat to accomplish in a book like this.
The Plot: I loved the plot of this book. From it’s format, to variety in romance and events (all breakups/relationships were extremely unique), it was a phenomenal read, and one I really enjoyed. While it was a true story, which restricted the events that could be used to ones that really happened, the way they were described and written really made it match both the age of the protagonist of the time, and the situation. In addition, I loved how the author chose to end the novel, with the girl Josh ends up marrying. Also, I loved how a deeper meaning was still drawn from a relatively funny book, and that it could still have a lasting effect on me.
The Favorite Character: Josh
Buy it, Borrow it, or Bin it: Buy it!
This review can also be found on my blog: https://paragraphsandpages.wordpress.com/
