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sassyowlreads's Reviews (910)
4.5 stars! Check out my blog post for a full review!
World-building: The Handmaid’s Tale vibes were clear right off the bat. The Sisterhood is very reminiscent of the Handmaid/Aunt system in Gilead. The hierarchy within the Icarii reminded me of the Red Rising Colors but with a little more fluidity.
The Geans: super religious and live on Earth and Mars. The Sisterhood is part of their Society
The Icarii: technologically advanced and live on Mercury and Venus. “Middle” names denote status, aka the sol in Lito sol Lucius.
The Asters: Former humans who essentially underwent speciation when they moved out to the Asteroid Belt and are now considered completely different species and are the lowest of the low (Low Reds for you Howlers out there)
Synthetics: Only alluded to in regards to a war that broke out when AIs rebelled.
The Gaens and Icarii are at war and the poor Asters are in the middle of it.
Characters: There are 3 protagonists, First Sister, Lito sol Lucius and Hiro val Akira. Hiro’s POV is told via voice recordings which was an interesting way for an entire Point-of-view to be told. Sisters have their voices surgically removed upon becoming a full-fledged sister so most of First Sister’s POV is inner monologue and conveying things by gesturing. Lito and First Sister have a lot of internal struggle, First Sister because she has no voice and Lito because his mind isn’t solely his own thanks to the neural transplant and partner system the Icarii use.
Plot: This plot kept me on my toes for sure! There were a lot of twists and I was constantly trying to connect the threads of the three main characters and secondary character, Saito Ren. I won’t say too much here to avoid spoiling anything but I will say that it starts slow and takes some time to get going but once it does, things get crazy fast!
Other Notable Things: I loved how diverse the characters were too! Hiro is non-binary, First Sister is bi-sexual and gender is presented as very fluid.
The book also gets extra points for the author being so interactive and nice!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for the e-arc!
World-building: The Handmaid’s Tale vibes were clear right off the bat. The Sisterhood is very reminiscent of the Handmaid/Aunt system in Gilead. The hierarchy within the Icarii reminded me of the Red Rising Colors but with a little more fluidity.
The Geans: super religious and live on Earth and Mars. The Sisterhood is part of their Society
The Icarii: technologically advanced and live on Mercury and Venus. “Middle” names denote status, aka the sol in Lito sol Lucius.
The Asters: Former humans who essentially underwent speciation when they moved out to the Asteroid Belt and are now considered completely different species and are the lowest of the low (Low Reds for you Howlers out there)
Synthetics: Only alluded to in regards to a war that broke out when AIs rebelled.
The Gaens and Icarii are at war and the poor Asters are in the middle of it.
Characters: There are 3 protagonists, First Sister, Lito sol Lucius and Hiro val Akira. Hiro’s POV is told via voice recordings which was an interesting way for an entire Point-of-view to be told. Sisters have their voices surgically removed upon becoming a full-fledged sister so most of First Sister’s POV is inner monologue and conveying things by gesturing. Lito and First Sister have a lot of internal struggle, First Sister because she has no voice and Lito because his mind isn’t solely his own thanks to the neural transplant and partner system the Icarii use.
Plot: This plot kept me on my toes for sure! There were a lot of twists and I was constantly trying to connect the threads of the three main characters and secondary character, Saito Ren. I won’t say too much here to avoid spoiling anything but I will say that it starts slow and takes some time to get going but once it does, things get crazy fast!
Other Notable Things: I loved how diverse the characters were too! Hiro is non-binary, First Sister is bi-sexual and gender is presented as very fluid.
The book also gets extra points for the author being so interactive and nice!
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for the e-arc!
3.25 stars
I considered not finishing this a few times because I was having such a hard time getting into it. I had high hopes for it since I love a good Puritanical society read but the society was a little too simplistic to be enjoyable. I also never became invested in any of the characters and more often than not found myself annoyed with Immanuelle.
I did enjoy the parts about the Darkwood, I love a good creepy forest setting. Unfortunately, very little time is spent in it and it's the same with the Witches. They are often talked about but almost never seen which definitely hurt my rating since they were what I was most looking forward to.
Overall, my expectations may have been high but this book missed the mark for me.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc,
I considered not finishing this a few times because I was having such a hard time getting into it. I had high hopes for it since I love a good Puritanical society read but the society was a little too simplistic to be enjoyable. I also never became invested in any of the characters and more often than not found myself annoyed with Immanuelle.
I did enjoy the parts about the Darkwood, I love a good creepy forest setting. Unfortunately, very little time is spent in it and it's the same with the Witches. They are often talked about but almost never seen which definitely hurt my rating since they were what I was most looking forward to.
Overall, my expectations may have been high but this book missed the mark for me.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc,
I knew I was going to like A Golden Fury as soon as I saw the cover and that the publication date is the day before my birthday. I knew I was going to love it as soon as I skimmed the description.
Setting: It’s set in the late 18th century England and France which is a fascinating period in European history. It’s rife with political turmoil and guillotine executions. The book starts off in France in 1792 which means the French Revolution is well underway, the monarchy is gone, Britain is preparing to declare war, and the Reign of Terror is coming up fast. Most of the book is set in England but tensions are still high in England and France.
Characters:
Theosebeia “Thea” Hope is the main character and she’s extremely smart. She speaks several languages, five I believe, and while her mother is the most prominent female alchemist in the world, it’s clear the Thea will surpass her.
On the precipice of a creating the Philosopher’s Stone, her mother, Marguerite Hope, cuts her out completely so the glory is hers alone which I think sums her up pretty well.
I don’t think we ever actually learn Thea’s father’s full name, he is always “the Professor,” “Professor Vellacott,” or “my father.” Given how little we and Thea know about him, this seems fitting.
Dominic did not play the role I expected him to. I thought for sure we were going to end up with a love quadrangle or even a pentagon but thankfully that was not to be.
The Philosopher’s Stone gets it’s own little bullet point since it is technically the star of the show. Everyone wants it but they don’t even know what it is.
Then there is Will, the Jacobin Alchemist who is at the root of the story, I won’t say more than that.
Plot: The pacing wasn’t always super consistent. It lagged at times but I still read it quickly. Alchemy in general is fascinating and this is one of the only Alchemy related books I’ve ever come across. The antagonist situation was the best part by far in that there are several and who poses the greatest threat changes throughout the story as new information comes to light. It definitely kept me on my toes. The threat of madness also kept things interesting and was the largest contributing factor of this being on the darker side for YA which I have no complaints about.
Overall rating: 4.25 stars! This was an excellent debut and I fully expect Samantha Cohoe to blossom into a 5 star author.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the e-arc!
Setting: It’s set in the late 18th century England and France which is a fascinating period in European history. It’s rife with political turmoil and guillotine executions. The book starts off in France in 1792 which means the French Revolution is well underway, the monarchy is gone, Britain is preparing to declare war, and the Reign of Terror is coming up fast. Most of the book is set in England but tensions are still high in England and France.
Characters:
Theosebeia “Thea” Hope is the main character and she’s extremely smart. She speaks several languages, five I believe, and while her mother is the most prominent female alchemist in the world, it’s clear the Thea will surpass her.
On the precipice of a creating the Philosopher’s Stone, her mother, Marguerite Hope, cuts her out completely so the glory is hers alone which I think sums her up pretty well.
I don’t think we ever actually learn Thea’s father’s full name, he is always “the Professor,” “Professor Vellacott,” or “my father.” Given how little we and Thea know about him, this seems fitting.
Dominic did not play the role I expected him to. I thought for sure we were going to end up with a love quadrangle or even a pentagon but thankfully that was not to be.
The Philosopher’s Stone gets it’s own little bullet point since it is technically the star of the show. Everyone wants it but they don’t even know what it is.
Then there is Will, the Jacobin Alchemist who is at the root of the story, I won’t say more than that.
Plot: The pacing wasn’t always super consistent. It lagged at times but I still read it quickly. Alchemy in general is fascinating and this is one of the only Alchemy related books I’ve ever come across. The antagonist situation was the best part by far in that there are several and who poses the greatest threat changes throughout the story as new information comes to light. It definitely kept me on my toes. The threat of madness also kept things interesting and was the largest contributing factor of this being on the darker side for YA which I have no complaints about.
Overall rating: 4.25 stars! This was an excellent debut and I fully expect Samantha Cohoe to blossom into a 5 star author.
Thanks so much to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the e-arc!
I received a digital ARC of Shadow Frost from Netgalley & Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
This was such a good book! I was intrigued as soon as I started reading and couldn't put it down.
The most notable thing about it is that elemental magic is used in a creative AND non-cliche way! There was great character development and plenty of plot twists to keep things interesting.
This was such a good book! I was intrigued as soon as I started reading and couldn't put it down.
The most notable thing about it is that elemental magic is used in a creative AND non-cliche way! There was great character development and plenty of plot twists to keep things interesting.
Full review is on my new blog!
Fable had me hooked from page one! Once again, Adrienne Young has blown me away with an incredible book that has amazing characters! I started this book on a Friday night, finished it on Saturday, started Namesake on Saturday and finished it on Sunday.
Tropes: Found family, enemies to lovers & slow burn romance.
Other notable things: I'm happy to report that this book definitely passes the Bechdel Test! There's also LGBTQ representation and characters of color!
Overall rating: 5 STARS!!!! I love, love LOVE this book!
Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!
Fable had me hooked from page one! Once again, Adrienne Young has blown me away with an incredible book that has amazing characters! I started this book on a Friday night, finished it on Saturday, started Namesake on Saturday and finished it on Sunday.
Tropes: Found family, enemies to lovers & slow burn romance.
Other notable things: I'm happy to report that this book definitely passes the Bechdel Test! There's also LGBTQ representation and characters of color!
Overall rating: 5 STARS!!!! I love, love LOVE this book!
Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc!
I ultimately decided to DNF this one after trudging through 50% of it. I rarely DNF so that says a lot (6th book ever) but once I was halfway, the idea of another 272 pages was too much. The Six of Crows comparison is unfortunately misleading and at least in the first 50%, there's no heisting. I would also disagree with the Cruel Prince comparison unless it's specifically for Queen of Nothing since that turned out to be a bust.
There were too many POVs and too little time spent with each one of them to get invested. I think the story would have benefited from being only from Rags POV, although I did like Inis Ever-Loyal's chapters more than any of the others. The pacing seemed to go back and forth between really fast and really slow and the world-building wasn't as complex as I'd have liked.
I very badly wanted to love this and was convinced I would as soon as I read the description but it was clear early on that this book wasn't going to be for me.
I received an e-arc from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
There were too many POVs and too little time spent with each one of them to get invested. I think the story would have benefited from being only from Rags POV, although I did like Inis Ever-Loyal's chapters more than any of the others. The pacing seemed to go back and forth between really fast and really slow and the world-building wasn't as complex as I'd have liked.
I very badly wanted to love this and was convinced I would as soon as I read the description but it was clear early on that this book wasn't going to be for me.
I received an e-arc from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first of the Twisted Tales I've read but I loved it! Liz Braswell really nailed the whimsical Wonderland language and I loved that Alice is older. The timing couldn't have been more appropriate given the current election situation and race issues the US is experiencing. I've been in the mood for darker, twistier YA and this was perfect but it still has a happy epilogue. I'm definitely going to check out the others.
