Scavenge the Stars was a little bit... meh for me. It's weird because I like the plot, the world is really cool, the characters were likeable, I didn't see the plot twist coming. But still. Meh.

So what's going on here?
Scavenge the Stars is a retelling of The Count of Monte Cristo (which I have never read or seen so that was entirely lost on me) following Amaya/Silverfish/Yamaa and Cayo as their lives become interwoven in ways that no one saw coming. Amaya, known as Silverfish on the debtor ship she was sold to seven years ago, rescues a man who promises riches beyond her wildest dreams. When her debt is paid up, she finds and strikes a deal with the man she saved; he'll help her get revenge on her tormentor, as long as she helps him take down the man behind the whole thing. And so she becomes the mysterious and wealthy Countess Yamaa, tasked with befriending the son of the villain in order to get at him. But, as Amaya and Cayo get to know each other, they quickly realize that they are falling for each other. What follows is a tangled web of lies, treachery, and a whole lot of danger all in the name of one thing: revenge.

What I loved
This world is super interesting. I do wish there had been some more world building, but I am happy with what we got. I usually find the political aspects in books to be pretty boring, but I was actually quite invested in this one and would love to see more of it in the next book. I'm interested in knowing the history of the empires and how things came to be what they are, and would also love more of their folklore and myths. The bits we got in this book were spectacular. I especially loved the little snippets at the start of each chapter.
I also quite liked the characters, for the most part. While I didn't feel particularly connected or emotionally invested in any of them, I did find them to be fairly well developed and interesting. My favourite character was definitely Amaya, I found her to be multifaceted and I was genuinely interested to see where her character was going to go. I liked the dynamic of her deciding who she wants to be and the kind of moral greyness surrounding that. The rest of the characters were all pretty well done too, but Amaya really hit the mark for me.

What I didn't love
It took me a long ass time to get into this book, and even by the end I still wasn't fully invested in the story. I was kind of sighing in relief when I hit the acknowledgments, glad that I finally finished it. I'm not entirely sure what it is that made me not like it as much as I thought I would, but there was just something about it that didn't fully grab my attention. Like the pacing was good, the plot was interesting enough, there wasn't anything particularly wrong with it, I just kept finding myself being bored. I was actually about to move it to my "finish later" shelf and start something else, but I went to the gym today and needed something to listen to while I did cardio, which is literally the only reason that I decided to push through and just finish it today. If not for that, it would have been moved to that shelf (which is basically a shelf where books go to die/eventually be moved to my "dnf" shelf). And the plot twist, while I genuinely didn't see it coming, I didn't really find it be all that impactful. Any of them actually, I just realized that there were technically a few plot twists lmfao. Yeah, I don't really know how to properly explain why I didn't care for this, I just didn't

Overall thoughts
I will definitely read the sequel (whenever that comes out, there's not even a release date yet RIP), but more so out of a feeling of obligation. If this was going to be a trilogy then no I wouldn't want to continue it. But for one more book I can do it

★★★.5

Man I've been super lazy with reviews the last few weeks

I liked this! Didn't love it, but it was enjoyable for the most part. I adore the concept but feel like the plot and pacing could have used some better development. It was a fairly simple story, and one that probably won't stick with me for too long in all honesty. But I'm still glad I read it, and even more glad that I own it because WOW that cover is stunning

Oh my god that was a MISSION to get through

RTC!

Feb. 11th 2020 update

Ok so it's been like 2 months since I finished this and I fully intended to leave a review, BUT I've completely forgotten everything that I was going to say (and most of what happened in this book tbh) aside from the fact that I found most of it to be incredibly boring. If I weren't so invested in like 2 of the characters, and also determined to read all the books in this world for some ungodly reason, I would have DNF'd this so fast. Huge snooze fest. I do remember there being some exciting moments but I honestly can't even remember what they are anymore. I do know that my main gripe with QOAAD was that it was waaaay too politics heavy. I literally fell asleep ON this book multiple times. Oops

"If you're some stranger who stumbled over this book by chance – perhaps rotting in some foreign garbage pile or locked in a dusty travelling trunk or published by some small, misguided press and shelved mistakenly under Fiction – I hope to every god you have the guts to do what needs doing. I hope you will find the cracks in the world and wedge them wider, so the light of other suns shines through; I hope you will keep the world unruly, messy, full of strange magics; I hope you will run through every open Door and tell stories when you return."

There are two kinds of people in this world; those that say they will only believe something once they see it, and those that believe in anything, because not seeing does not mean it doesn’t exist. I am the latter of the two, and if you are as well then you will fall in love with every word, every letter, every period of this book. And, if you’re like me at all, The Ten Thousand Doors of January will light a spark in the childish part of your soul that never quite stopped believing in magic. I feel like I have been waiting for this book for my whole life. January’s story is exactly what I always dreamed would happen to me, and a small (but growing) part of me still hopes it will.

So what’s going on here?
The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a historical fiction portal fantasy set in early 1900s Vermont (and also the 6900s in the Written). It follows January Scaller, an in-between girl growing up in the estate of a wealthy collector of rare items that her father travels the globe to collect. January’s life is one of waiting; waiting for her father to come home, waiting to have her own adventure, waiting to be free. She feels she is doomed to a life of quiet nothingness, until one day she discovers a book that talks about Doors to other worlds, and realizes the Door she found as a seven year old child was real. And if that one is real, then maybe there are others. However, January is not the only one searching for Doors, and it is a race against time to find hers before the villains of her story destroy it.

What I loved
Everything. Just everything, truly. I genuinely don’t think words could ever properly express what this book has done to my soul. I feel alive again, like I’ve found the childish wonder that I had mostly left behind years ago. It brought back the part of me that had me scrolling to the bottom of the Goodreads page for this book with the hope that I might see “non-fiction” stamped along the bottom with the genres. This book has made me think about magic and all the wild, whimsical things that could possibly exist in this world. Because the thing is, it very well could. There is no concrete proof that these Doors don’t exists, that there aren’t other worlds existing right next to ours, with the passageways that lead to them only visible to those who believe in them. I can say with confidence and no shame that I believe in them. I realize that this isn’t much of an actual review, as it’s mostly just me rambling half-mad about the possibility of magic and how much joy that possibility gives me, but this is what this book has made me feel and therefore this is what I shall write about.

What I didn’t love
The only critique that I could possibly say is that I was pretty confused with the format at the beginning. Basically, you are reading a book in the third person that is currently being written by the main character, who is also the narrator, and within that book she is reading another book by a different author/narrator/character. Maybe this is due to the fact that my first few reading sessions for this book were late at night while I was half asleep, but I was SO confused until I figured out that some chapters were the reading of a different book. But once I got it I thought it was genius! That, and I found it to start off pretty slow; while I did like it from the very beginning, it took me quite a while to actually get really really into it

Overall thoughts
Read this book. If you are someone who has lost touch with your inner child, read this. Even if you haven’t and you’ve always managed to hold onto that beautiful, precious piece of yourself, read this too. This book is for anything who wants to (or already does) believe in magic.

I completely forgot to write a review of this, I think because I finished it in the middle of the night and low-key thought this whole book was a super awesome dream for several days before realizing that I did in fact read this, and now here I am 2 months later realizing I never actually wrote that review. But regardless. Loved this, absolutely adored, a little slow at times but like, wow. Incredible, can't wait to read the rest of this series

While I really enjoyed On The Come Up, this was the book that made me realize I'm not into young adult contemporary novels anymore. I'm 100% a fantasy person, but thought I stilled enjoyed the odd YA contemporary here and there. And I do to some degree, this was still a good read, but I don't think contemporary is something I'll be reaching for anymore. With that being said, I tried to be as objective as possible with my rating, because it's not fair to rate something lower than it deserves just because the genre is no longer what I like. So I'm giving this 4 stars! But as for a proper review, I won't be leaving one. I've left the same comment in the review space for other books with similar content, but the opinions of a white person aren't needed here. Go read reviews written by people who can actually relate to this story and speak on the topics written in this book

City of Ghosts ★★★★
Tunnel of Bones ★★★1/2

I found Tunnel of Bones to be quite a bit less compelling than City of Ghosts, but it was still a fun, enjoyable read!

So what's going on here?
Tunnel of Bones follows Cassidy and her best friend Jacob, who just happens to be a ghost, as they make their way through all the ghostly parts of Paris as they film their parents paranormal television show. As is the norm for Cassidy and Jacob, wherever they go trouble follows. This time trouble comes in the form of poltergeist child, hellbent on wreaking havoc for not just Cassidy and her family, but the entirety of Paris as well. Cassidy and Jacob, with the help of Lara, a Paris tour guide, and an 11 year old descendent of the poltergeist, must help the child move on before anyone gets hurts.

What I loved
I absolutely adore the setting of Tunnel of Bones! The blurb makes you think that most of this book will be set in the Catacombs, which the main parts are, but they also explore other haunted areas that are equally famous and creepy. Schwab does a fantastic job at writing spooky scenes while also incorporating a good amount of comic relief (can't be too spooky for a middle grade book of course). But the paranormal aside, I think she did a fantastic job with the Paris setting in general; from the atmosphere, to the attitude of the people, and the deliciousness of the food (god I miss the food in France!). I really enjoyed the character development that Jaco went through, we start seeing more who he is and was before he died. And the side characters are really fun, I especially liked the tour guide (her name is escaping me right now oops).

What I didn't love
First off, I fully understand that this book is intended for a younger audience and I tried not to let that cloud my judgment too much (which is why I rounded up to a 4 instead of down to a 3). Maybe I'm just biased because 1. I've been to France multiple times, even lived there for a few months last year, and 2. I'm Canadian and we learn French in school here. But I found it really frustrating to follow Cassidy around Paris and while she knows absolutely nothing about France or the French language, not even numbers 1-10. Again, I may be biased because I know Americans learn Spanish in schools, but I and mostly everyone I know has some extremely basic Spanish despite not having learned it in school, so I always imagined it was the same with Americans and French. But I could be wrong! And with Cassidy not knowing anything about France, including things like a crepe and the Louvre, I found myself to be rolling my eyes a bit at how dumb she sounded (but at the same time, I understand that Schwab needed that much description because one should never assume that every single reader will know what you're talking about. But still, it was annoying).

Overall thoughts
Despite some small annoyances, this was overall an extremely enjoyable book and series. They're fun and light, with just the right amount of spook factor to make them perfect reads for the halloween season. I'm really looking forward the next book, and hopefully more after that!

I need to watch the film again ASAP! Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favourite movies of all time, so when I heard it was being adapted into a novel, words could not describe my excitement. Del Toro and Funke did not disappoint! The novel adaptation provides a wonderfully fresh take on the beloved film, filling in details and giving side character so much more depth by telling things from their perspective. I especially enjoyed the mini fairytales between the chapters that told the tales of the witch, the Faun, and the bookmaker. All of the stories were fantastic, but those three were my favourites.

I listened to the audiobook while reading along with a physical copy, which I would definitely recommend. The illustrations are stunning and the narrator did an incredible job. I will definitely be going back to reread/listen to this for years to come.

Actual rating is 3.5 stars

Let me start this off by saying HUGE trigger warning for trypophobia and body horror!! I wasn’t expecting for holes to be such a prevalent theme in this book, but ohhhhh boy it was. The characters’ bodies are literally sewn together with metal, so they’re covered in holes in their skin as a result. And one of the main characters, Key, deals with memory loss which she describes as holes in her consciousness, which made for some disgusting imagery. The word “holes” is mentioned SO many times in this book and it was revolting to me and honestly made it extremely difficult to get through this book, hence the rating being lowered to 3.5 instead of 4. I just couldn’t enjoy it as much as I otherwise would have because of the imagery in it

ANYWAYS, review time!

I’m not a huge sci-fi fan as is, but I absolutely loved The Abyss Surrounds Us so I wanted to give this one a try. I didn’t dislike it, I found it to be pretty interesting and well written, and I liked the characters and the world. But I also feel like it wasn’t quite as well developed as it could have been? Like we got a lot of world building and it was very well done, but I also feel like their should have been more. And with the characters, I loved the main four and we learned a lot about the deepest parts of themselves (their fears, their motivations, their purpose in life, etc.), but we didn’t get a lot of the more superficial stuff, which made it difficult to really grasp their individual personalities

As for the LGBTQ+ representation, I see what Skrutskie was going for but it didn’t quuuuite work for me. I’m all for casual queerness, normalized LGBTQ+ characters in novels is what I live for. But with this novel, it was literally only mentioned once and the never again. I know Skrutskie was not in the slightest intending to do this, but it felt to me like she was pulling a J.K. Rowling and only adding in diversity for the sake of looking good (again, I know that is NOT what Skrutskie was doing in the slightest, that’s just how it read to me). It kind of felt the same for all the diversity in this book; these characters were SO diverse and it was great, but other than Aisha’s religion it just wasn’t talked about at all. I don’t even remember what Praava and Wooj’s backgrounds are, like it literally wasn’t mentioned ever again after their initial introduction. Again, i completely understand where Skrutskie was going with this, it just didn’t quite work for me

Geez it sounds like I really don’t like this book by the way my review is going LOL. I swear I did like it quite a bit and would definitely recommend it if you’re into YA sci-fi. It’s a quick read, pretty entertaining. And it’s highly character driven rather than plot driven, which I personally really enjoyed

I don't even know where to start with this.

THIS WAS SOME GODDAMN BULLSHIT AND I AM UPSET

This book. THIS FUCKING BOOK.

IT WAS SO GOOD. SO ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL AND GENUINELY TERRIFYING. This book had me so worked up, I've been a jumpy mess for the last two weeks that I've been reading it. IT WAS SO WELL WRITTEN. IT WAS SCARY. I LOVED THE CHARACTERS. THE PLOT WAS CONFUSING IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. IT WAS EVERYTHING I WANTED IN A HORROR NOVEL.

U N T I L

EVERYTHING
WENT
TO
S H I T

ABSOLUTE AND UTTER BULLSHIT.

I fucking loved this book up until the 80% mark. I will give credit where credit is due; And The Trees Crept In was wonderful at first. The majority of the book was fantastic, like could have been one of my favourite books kind of fantastic. BUT THEN. THE

FUCKING SEX SCENE IN THE WOODS

HAPPENED. THIS IS WHERE IT STARTED TO GO DOWNHILL.

Before that happened, this was without a doubt a five star book. Afterwards, I was only going to drop it to four stars. Because as stupid as it was, it is YA so I had to forgive it at least a little bit. BUT THEN IT GOT WORSE. IT WAS JUST A DOWNHILL FUCKING SPIRAL AFTER THAT.

THE ENDING????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME. ARE YOU FUCKING JOKING DAWN KURTAGICH?? ALL OF THE HORRIFYING SHIT HAPPENING IN THIS GOD FORSAKEN NOVEL WAS HAPPENING BECAUSE OF THAT???????????? ALL SILLA HAD TO DO WAS

FORGIVE HERSELF

AND THAT WOULD SOLVE EVERYTHING????? HONESTLY. THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING YOU COULD HAVE POSSIBLY THOUGHT OF, AND IS THE REASON THAT THIS BOOK WENT FROM FIVE FUCKING STARS TO T W O.

THE FUCK KIND OF BULLSHIT

THIS BOOK WAS A WASTE OF MY TIME. WHICH IS REALLY UPSETTING BECAUSE I REALLY REALLY LIKED MOST OF IT. BUT THE FUCKING ENDING COMPLETELY RUINED IT. THE LAST TWENTY PERCENT. KURATAGICH WROTE ABSOLUTE PERFECTION FOR 80 GODDAMN PERCENT AND THEN SHE HAD TO GO AND FUCK IT UP WITH BAD YA TROPES AND BAD WRITING AND BAD STORYTELLING AND BAD CHEESY STUPID FUCKING EVERYTHING OH MY GOD I'M SO ANGRY AT HOW MUCH TIME I JUST WASTED.