I really enjoyed this book. I wasn't sure what took me so long to read it. I have heard such great reviews and I can see why so many people love it. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the plot. It went in a different direction than I thought it would. 

The world building is pretty good. I am excited to learn about other parts of the world though that wasn't explained as much. Overall it kept a fast pace and I flew through the book.

I hope we get to see Laia develop more in the next books. At the beginning of the book, she was afraid but by the end we got so her confident and taking charge of her life. Additionally, I'm excited to see what Elias will do in the next book. Overall, I felt like both characters were well developed. Helene is also someone I am so interested in learning more about and what she will do in the future books. I have a feeling she will play a bigger role in the future.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am excited to see where the series goes. 

Finallllyyyy a Geralt and Yennefer reunion. That was honestly my favorite part of this book. The beginning and ending parts weren't so interesting to me but I loved the middle. We finally got to see all three main characters together and I really, really enjoyed that. The middle part was so action-packed and fun to read. 

I feel like there was more focus on Ciri this book which was fun to read about. I'm excited to see where it goes regarding Ciri and Geralt. 

I liked this book. It wasn't a book that I really loved but I generally liked it. I've heard some not so great reviews so I was pleasantly surprised. In general, I've learned I'm not a huge fan of pirate like books but it was good. 

The worldbuilding wasn't the best, but I enjoyed the references to Greek/Roman culture. The plot was pretty medium-faced paced and I got through it pretty quick. There were areas I wish there was more development, especially the end. I felt like we got so much introduction to the characters and their initial journey that the final task they had to face was wrapped up pretty quickly. 

I liked Alix and Karis. I thought they had decent characterization to them but the other characters really lacked this. I thought Alix was the more interesting out of all of them and we really got to see his development throughout the book. 

I really enjoyed this book. It is very high, high fantasy with tons of world building and lore built into it. Because of this, it really took me some time to get into and get through. But I think that makes it super unique. 

The worldbuilding itself is amazing although we mostly were introduced to Hiranprastha, Ahiranya, and Harsingshar. I hope in the future that we learn more about the other city-states that exist in this world. But the magic system is so complex and truly magical that at the beginning I hardly understood it. I really felt I didn't even understand the magic system until the end, which was very different from what I was used to. There's a ton of lore thrown at you at once. In general, I usually love world building and digest it well but this book actually confused me at times which I thought shows how amazing and intricate it is. 

I liked that a lot of the plot centered around Malini and Priya learning each other in the Hirana. The plot was a bit slow sometimes and I think the pacing bothered me slightly, but there was so much to learn in each chapter. Overall the plot did keep me intrigued despite the slow start. 

The characterization is AMAZING. We are still fully learning about Malini, Priya, and Bhumika. The author did an amazing job of delving into who they are and how they developed throughout the book. An amazing example of showing instead of telling. The only character I wish was developed more in some way was Rao. Malini and Priya's romance was so interesting. It is extremely slowburn and tends to come out of nowhere, but the author does a good job of hinting at it so you expect it. I really loved it. 

In general, this book perfectly sets up the next one in the trilogy. There are many unanswered questions and I am excited to see where it goes. Thankfully, there is no big cliffhanger. 

I know this book was poorly rated, and yes there were a lot of areas that needed help. But surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. I enjoyed parts of it. 

Here is what I didn't like about the book: throughout it, the pacing was pretty off. Also the author gets out of world building with random history chapters throughout to explain the world instead of building it into the book. It's a great example of telling instead of showing. Towards the end, we just jumped into new plot points and settings without much explanation.

The characters themselves felt the exact same. There wasn't very many different parts of their character. Both are brash and aggressive.. and assassins. I wish we got way more development here between them. 

Their romance was alright, but I liked the way it was towards the end. I really should have seen the plot twist (like it was so damn obvious) but somehow I missed it. I think that obliviousness helped me enjoy the book more for sure. I probably will pick up the sequel because I like the way the plot ends. That part is pretty unique and I am excited to see where that goes. 

Wow, I genuinely loved this. I've heard J.J. Abrams is pretentious and this book was just another cash grab but that is not it at all! It turns out Doug Dorst actually wrote the Ship of Theseus whereas J.J. Abrams used this to create the story of Eric and Jen. If you are not familiar with this, this is a book within a book. Two college students use this library book to communicate with each other. So not only do you read Ship of Theseus but all of Jen and Eric's annotations that lead to their own story. 

I can tell that Ship of Theseus is not a book for everybody. It reminds me of a classic with the way it is written, with odd word choices and setting. There are only 10 chapters and they are pretty short, but they take some time to get into. It probably took me about 3 chapters before I was interested in the story and wanted to keep reading. Eric's pencil marks are super helpful to explain certain plot points, themes, and characters.

Honestly, this book reminded me of one a teacher would assign in school where you would analyze this. However, I started to analyze the book myself and began looking for the themes of the book and the overall plot. Eric and Jen's writings help a lot as well. 

Discovering Eric and Jen's story was also one of the most fun parts. It's not always clear what exactly is going on, so you have to read between the lines. Their banter is so fun and I love learning about how this book represents the "author" Straka. The entire time they are trying to figure out who he was and what he was apart of in the early 1900's. There are a couple plot twists in their annotations and I loved the little story that emerged. 

Overall, this is a book that really makes you think and I love that. I wouldn't have picked up the Ship of Theseus by itself, but I'm so glad I got it as apart of S. I genuinely loved this book. I recommend this if you want a book that requires dedication to read and one that will make you analyze and think about it. 

This YA book is just very YA. Is the writing objectively amazing? Well no. But there are some fun tropes and romance in the book. I thought it was super fun and enjoyable despite its faults.

It was definitely plot forward, and it was well done and kept me interested. There was a good amount of world building to understand the world comprehensively. However, I was a bit confused some times with the towns and countries and where they were exactly. I was pretty confused where Belwar and Naupure were and how they are on the map, and well the map did not help whatsoever. The magic system was alright, a bit basic but interesting. In the beginning it felt the magic colors were explained with different purposes and limits, but later in the book I felt like they could use a color for a different purpose. It just confused me a lot. 

 I liked the two main characters, especially Adraa, and I felt their romance was very well developed. That was probably the best part of the book. The arranged marriage trope has such a unique twist on it when they pretend to be other people and fall in love as other people. It was a great twist and I loved their crime fighting storyline. 

The last 100 pages of plot felt very underdeveloped. I wish the ending was a bit more drawn out so I can understand all that happened. It was all just a big whirlwind and I felt like everything was "resolved" in the last chapter. 

I've heard very mixed reviews regarding this series. I felt like I went in with good expectations, and this book actually surprised me! I feel like it's a bit unique compared to other YA fantasy books I read with the plot. 

It was super fast paced and we dive into the actual "Caraval" festival in the first 100 pages. I really liked Scarlet's POV and following along with her as we discover the festival and the magic. The author did a great job of me feeling invested in the characters and feel as if I am there with them. I really enjoyed the characters and the slow romance. 

Towards the end, there was plot twist after plot twist. I was a bit confused when it all wrapped up. I personally couldn't tell what really happened at the end. It was just a bit convoluting. Hopefully the next book kind of clears that up for me. But it did keep me interested and I genuinely enjoyed the books and the characters. 

Looking forward to picking up the sequels soon. 

This was a pretty decent book. I really like the genre of epic fantasy and thought it was a good start. The world-building was AMAZING. The map was beautiful and I referenced it every 2 minutes throughout this book. But the world was very well realized.

I thought we would be further along in the plot by the end but there was some great moments and the ending was great. Honestly I felt like this was a great set up for the next book so I can't wait for that one. I hope it's longer than a trilogy because of all the depth to which the characters could be developed.

This was definitely a plot driven story. There was some development, but not much between the characters. This is a rag tag gang that seems to eventually become a found family, but two of the characters aren't even introduced until more than halfway throughout the book. I felt we missed out on knowing more of Charlie and the bounty hunter. I really liked Coryane and Dom and look forward to learn more about everyone and how they come together in the future.

 

One character I loved was Erida. It was so awesome to get the "villain's" POV. I'm so excited to see her perspective throughout the books.

There are a couple plot twists that keep your attention for sure! I kinda wish this was written as adult instead of YA because I felt it would have even more potential to be better. 

Starting off, I have read The Great Gatsby and it definitely is one of my favorite classics. I really enjoyed the original author's writing, and Vo imitated that amazingly. She also added a sort of whimsical nature to the book. This is one of my favorite retellings and it includes so much more representation of more diverse and queer voices. It dives into xenophobia during that time and how it affects the main character, Jordan Baker. 

Deciding to choose her as the narrator was an excellent choice. I feel as if we got most of Gatsby's POV with Nick and Jordan's story focuses more on herself and Daisy. There's also a bit of magic thrown in, which does well with Fitzgerald's original plot of Gatsby and his amazing parties. There always seemed like some sort of magic within that, even if I didn't quite understand the magic system or the ending. I'll probably have to do a reread at some point. 

Overall I thought this was such a good retelling of a classic. I sincerely recommend this!