shadowbooker's Reviews (780)

I had really high expectations of this book so that was probably unfair of me. I have only read book 1 of City of Brass and although I throughly enjoyed it, I wasn’t obsessed enough to finish the series (yet, I will one day), so I don’t know why I expected so much of this book, but alas.
I LOVED the age of the characters, it was refreshing and fun. I loved the non-western setting, the pirates, the mythology and even the banter, but I felt the pace was too slow and having Amina narrate the story the stakes didn’t feel very high, I knew she would be ok and I didn’t connect with any character enough to worry about their future, so I feel that if I had more time to make a connection with them this would have been a five stars, but it wasn’t the case.
Still fun, full of rep, and well written, and I’ll probably read the sequel, but it missed the mark for me.

As someone who didn’t know too much about Psyche and Eros, I really enjoyed this book. I wish it had some more time to develop the romance and give us cozy times instead of straight out telling us the Greek Myth, so I can see people who are familiar with the story not being too drawn by this book, but since I didn’t I still really enjoyed it and loved the dual POV.

I used to be really into poetry when I was younger but somehow I’ve read less and less throughout the years, and this book made me wonder why I ever stopped!? 
This book is beautiful from the moment you read the dedication, and as always I went in blind so I had no idea what type of poems to expect, and I was pleasantly surprised. The poems read very personal but at the same time so easy to relate to. They also touched an amalgam of subjects from love to loss, religion and race, and so many more, mixed with beautiful art in between to connect you even more. I honestly opened this book and didn’t close it until I was done and I enjoyed every second of it.

If you want a quick read, a thoughtful but light book, something that will give you goosebumps and also make you think, you should definitely check this one out!

I really wanted to love this book because I LOVE The Inheritance Cycle and deeply enjoyed To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. 

Let me start by saying I’m a huge fan of both Paolini and Sci-Fi, so to find myself bored and almost depressed by this book in the first 30% was very disappointing, but I refused to give up because something amazing must be in the horizon… there wasn’t. This book is slow, depressing, and encapsules everything that someone would hate about going to space, without any of the fun or wonder from exploring new places.

The book was still very well written, Paolini is a talented author after all, and the audiobook had amazing narration, although I still find it odd that we were in a male head the whole time and the narration was a female voice, but she did a stupendous job. The sound effects also helped the story along so I’m not sure how much boring reading this on paper would have been.

At the end of the day I expected more and I leave wanting Murtagh more than ever, because fantasy is were his strengths lay, or so I hope.

This book had great Latinx and first generation American/daughter of immigrants representation. Rubi is a very smart, kind and likable character and the way she connected to her roots through food was very fun to experience. The love story felt a little rush but that’s teenagers for you I guess, and the love interest was adorable. The side story with her best friend was really sweet too. 
Her relationship with her parents although I understand it, did bother me a little, I mean the fact that Rubi and the dad called the mom “the boss” said enough, so that did annoy me more than it should have because again, I understand why they put the pressure they did on Rubi, but I just wanted to intercede and protect her the whole time.
If you love YA you’ll love this one for sure.

I loved this book so much. The FMC is a flawed human that also has an extraordinary talent and it was refreshing seeing both sides of her. The rivals to lovers was perfectly done, all the side stories kept the story moving, and the way the FMC had to deal with daily misogyny made me fume but it was extremely well done by the author.
Completely recommend this book for anyone who likes strong FMCS, swoony love interests, and rivals to lovers