★★★★

I'm opting out of writing a review for this one, because the opinions of a white person is not what needs to be heard in regards to this stunning, powerful novel. Go read reviews written by those who's own lives reflect that of the characters in ways that I can never understand

★★★

*Deep sigh*

This book was... fine. It was ok, nothing terribly wrong with it but just rather underwhelming.

I found both Lou and Reid to be intolerable for most of the time; Lou for being stubborn selfish and annoying (but sometimes hilarious because of it), and Reid for being a misogynistic prick. I really didn't understand how this was going to turn into a romance, how these two people who hate the very essence of who each are, could possibly fall in love. But they did, and I'll admit that the romance was actually quite cute for a while. But then it became just a weeeeee bit *too much*. Just sickening in how much they adored each other and would die for each other like ??? can we relax a little please?

By the end of it, I liked Lou a lot more, her personality really grew on me. But Reid didn't change much. He still hates women, hates witches, believes in his church, but has made Lou his only exception. I didn't find he had a whole lot of character growth like Lou did. And the ending of this kind of pissed me off to be honest, it completely went against everything that Lou had been working to prove to everyone. I'll probably still read the second book when it comes out, but it's mainly because I love Coco and Ansel and I feel like they'll have bigger roles in the sequel. I definitely won't be reading it for either of the main characters lmfao

I’ve spent the last couple days trying to find the words to describe this book. I’ve decided that there aren’t any. Five stars could never be enough. This book is poetry, it’s art, it’s magic, and it’s without a doubt a new favourite. Spellbook of the Lost and Found is one that I’m sure will stay with me for a long time; I could feel it lodge itself into my heart and soul from the very first sentence. I listened to the audiobook, and when I first hit play I actually had to start it over and listen to the first couple sentences a few times just to be able to take in how beautiful they were. I truly can’t find the words to describe the beauty of this book, you’ll just have to read it yourself!

This is a book that I’d recommend going into knowing little to nothing about it! Don’t read spoilers, reviews, or even the blurb first. Just dive right in and get sucked into the magic

3.5 stars

I’m highkey disappointed with the ending of this series. I really didn’t like where Tella’s character went in Finale, and a lot of things didn’t really make sense to me. I found the plot to be a lot less interesting than the first two books (but I still enjoyed it enough to stay up until 2am to finish lmfao), and the characters seemed flatter. But the part that really got me frustrated was where things went with The Fallen Star. The whole ending was too convenient and sudden to be believable, and it was way too easy. I don’t really know what I would have wanted to happen instead, but it wasn’t that. Actually maybe what happened with Legend is what got me the most, I’m not sure. Legend and The Fallen Star are tied for most frustrating part of this book I guess

But regardless, I still really love this series. The world is just so fun and intriguing, and the kind of dangerous that makes me want to be part of it, to see if I could survive it. The world of Caraval will definitely stay with me for a long time

3.5 stars

The first 1/4 of Siege and Storm kind of sucked.

The second 1/4 was fantastic.

3/4 of the way in and we're back to snoozeville.

But then that last bit! WOO was that some exciting plot!

Basically, this book was a rollercoaster. I have such conflicting thoughts about it; I'm really not sure if I like the vast majority of the characters. I know I don't like Alina (except in the last 20 pages), Mal is just ok, Tolya and Tamar are pretty good but could use some more character development. The only character that I know for sure I really enjoy is Nikilai, everyone else is just kind of meh.

I feel the same about the plot of this one. I really enjoyed parts of it, but then there were big chunks that just dragged forever. I'll definitely still read the third book, and Six of Crows afterwards as well, because for some reason this series is really addicting despite the fact that I also find it to be relatively boring. Maybe it's just all the hype around this series, or maybe I actually enjoy it. Regardless, I'm glad I finally got around to reading Siege and Storm!

Alright so this was completely unexpected and I’m so here for it!! I only picked this one up because I heard the second book is gay, and that’s really all I want in life let’s be real here. So I read this one expecting it to be a complete snooze of heteronormativity, and boy was I wrong!

I absolutely fell in love with this. Daisy is hilarious, Seb is a hot mess in the best way possible, and Miles is swoon worthy even for my sapphic self. I’m SHOCKED that I loved this so much, and even gave it 5 stars. Who am I ??

My one critique is that the ending felt a bit rushed; everything was wrapped up in like 15 pages and left me with a lot of questions, mostly about Miles. But otherwise, this is a very light, fun read and I’d definitely recommend it!

I decided to pick this book up on a whim the other day. I had heard of it, a few of my friends had read it, but it wasn't on my TBR and I had no plans to ever read it myself. But, I'm avoiding getting back into Queen of Air and Darkness so much that I just picked the first book I saw when I opened my eBook app, and I'm glad I did! This was a really nice story; I loved the characters, the plot was interesting, and the pacing was really good. It wasn't one of those life changing novels you read, I didn't fall head over heels in love, but I did like it quite a bit. I would actually really love a sequel, or maybe a spinoff or something, that centred on Severin after the events of this book. Severin was definitely my favourite character, but if you know me then that's kind of an obvious choice lmfao

It’s 3 in the morning, I’m wrapped in a soft blanket, and have a box of tissues next to me. This book absolutely ruined me, which I did not expect at all. I thought this was just going to be a cute little travel love story, which it was, but it was also so much more than that.

The characters felt so incredibly real and authentic. I could feel the love and grief and the awkwardness of some moments radiating off the page and hit me like a fire truck going full speed. It was insta-love, which I normally despise, but with Field Notes on Love I just completely ate it up. It was so believable, if I them I would have fallen in love too.

The absolute best part of this story though is Nana. She is hands down one of my favourite characters ever, and is exactly who I want to be when I get old.

This is such a beautiful story; it somehow manages to be both beautifully simple but also very intricate at the same time. I would highly recommend this. It’s so much more than a love story. It’s about love, but it’s also about family, loss, finding yourself, and following what you know is right. This is a story that will stay in my heart for years to come.

RTC

Ballad: DNF

I can’t believe I’m giving a Maggie Stiefvater book 2 stars but here we are

So. Let me just describe the plot of this book and you tell me what other book it sounds like, cool?

A girl in high school feels invisible to everyone around her and has very few friends. Her best friend is in love with her but she doesn’t feel the same way. Out of no where, a pale and beautiful man appears. He seems otherworldly and acts way older than every other 17 year old. She knows something is up but doesn’t care because he’s hot. He eventually tells her that he’s a *insert mythological creature here* and he’s very dangerous and she should stay away from him. He’s killed before and it’s his biggest regret. She still doesn’t care because he’s hot. She discovers that she has some powers similar to those of the *insert mythological creature here* and others of his kind are coming after her because of them. There is a chase, a battle, many near death experiences, but after an extremely anticlimactic fight everything turns out ok.

So that’s the plot of Lament. It’s also the exact plot of Twilight. Like literally the exact same, just with faeries instead of vampires. And before people get upset, I’m not accusing Maggie of plagiarism. I’m just pointing out that Lament has a highly unoriginal plot line. It was extremely fast paced and super confusing to follow. The main character is kind of an idiot. The characters aren’t that interesting. The plot twists were predictable. Overall, there wasn’t a whole lot I liked about it.

Maggie is my all time favourite author (which tbh is the only reason this got 2 stars instead of 1) but this book was just not it. I’m sure if I’d read it when I was like 13 I would have been ALL OVER THIS, but yeah it’s just not great and I’m so sad about that. Still gonna read Ballad because I love Maggie regardless, but yeah. Wasn’t a great book. Please don’t kill me