Fiction

Book Review: The Long WAY TO A SMALL ANGry PLAneT

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“All you can do, Rosemary – all any of us can do – is work to be something positive instead. That is a choice that every sapient must make every day of their life. The universe is what we make of it. It’s up to you to decide what part you will play.”

Not expecting much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer, Rosemary Harper finds herself right at home with a chaotic and crazy life abroad the Wayfarer. The ship has seen better days but it offers a bed, a chance to explore the far off galaxies and most importantly a long distance from her past. Rosemary knows how to keep to herself and finds the crew very different from herself and it’s about to get even dangerous when the crew accepts the job of a lifetime. A job that could mean the end of her life and her crew members if they’re not careful leaving Rosemary in a position that she was trying to get away from. The young woman must learn how to put her trust in others, a team of odd balls that will teach her how to love and trust and that having a family isn’t the worst thing in the world.

There’s nothing that I love more than feel-good science fiction and this book did more than deliver. Glad there are other books in the series because i really enjoyed this one. I love it when there’s a rag tag team of odd balls who are sent on a mission to save the world, it’s so much fun. Along with the feel good vibes, I really loved learning about the world and it felt so real and how it was written really made me love it even more. The writing is what really helped it seem so real and unique so that’s a bonus when you get that in fantasy and sci-fi novels. I loved Rosemary, she was a likable and relatable protagonist and I really felt for her and how she was trying to deal with her past trauma. I think a lot of us are dealing with that right now and it can be very overwhelming to do but I did enjoy her relationships with the other crew members. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I’m looking forward to reading more of the series!

Book Review

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I may be ruthless but I am not cruel. I think it’s one of the things that Ana likes about me, I do bad things when must but I try to be good.

By day Kiki De Souza and Ana Lezama De Urianza are proper seventeenth century ladies. But when night falls, they trade in their gowns and silk for swords and muskets venturing out into the vibrant, buzzling, crime-ridden streets of Potosi in the Spanish Empire’s Viceroyalty of Peru. They spend their time gambling, crime fighting, and falling desperatly in love with one another. But, on the night Kiki’s engagment to Viceroy’s son is announced, her older brother heir to the family fortune is found murdered. The two embark on a investigation to find what happened to Kiki’s brother and if they’re not too careful, they might find themselves falling into the same trouble as he did.

What a fun retelling of The Three Musketeers with a twist. The majority of the book was very entertaining and faced paced but the one that was missing was the suspense. I didn’t really any danger especially with the villains as you know who they are once they’re mentioned so it was a bit predictable. But, it wasn’t something that really held me back from enjoying the rest of the novel and even though I don’t read YA novels that much anymore, this was a quick and easy read. Though I feel like this could work for older YA and maybe even New Adult cause it does have that kind of feel and I didn’t find anything too cheesy. Ana and Kiki, the two main characters were very fun and i love the banter between the two and although I did like the romance, I think they also work very well by themselves. At first, I found the romance a little rushed because it was very in your face but as time passed on, I started to really enjoy the romance and found it endearing. The chemistry between them sealed the deal for me as I felt that it was very real and even more so that they not only found happiness with each other but themselves. A great read so check it out!!

Book Review: The Dragon’s Promise

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Magic had returned to Kiata. I could feel it like a song resonating around me, making the world feel more alive.

Making good on her promise to return the dragon’s pearl to it’s rightful owner, Princess Shiori is now facing the reality that this task is more dangerous than she imagined. She must journey to the kingdom of dragons and navigate the political intrigue among humans and dragons alike while fending off thieves who covet the pearls themselves and willing to any lengths to get it while also presenting an image of a perfect princess to dissuade those who would rather see her burned at the stake for the magic that runs in her blood. But, the pearl is so ordinary cargo as it has a life of it’s own and jumps to Shiori’s aid one minute but betrays her the next with threatening to destroy everything she holds dear including the love of her life, Tekkan. It’s going to take every ounce of strength that she has to defend what she holds dear and find a way through it to the other side.

Well to say this was disappointing is an understatement because I feel really let down by this follow up and conclusion to the doulogy. Six Crimson Cranes was such a beautifully written book with flawed and complicated characters that felt very real in a world that felt unlike your own. Lim does a really good job developing the characters while developing the world around them where the readers can easily immerse themselves into the world. But, this book is a mess and it was one of my most anticipated reads for 2022 and I’m bummed about it cause the beginning started out really great and I was very invested and then the last half of the book completely destroyed it.

The beginning of the book started off really well and I found myself very invested and I loved seeing Shiori, Takkan, and Seyru. Lin does a really good job with explaining the new magic system and how it worked and I found that very neat but then it starts going downhill and ruining really good character development that was established in the first book. I was really struggling but I kept hoping that maybe things would get better and I was let down towards the end as it felt very rushed and I was left wondering where it all went wrong. There were other parts that I did like but it’s hard for me to give it 4 stars because of the other flaws but I guess that’s how it goes sometimes. I hope that those who read it will enjoy it better than me!

Book Review: Seraphina

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“Your lies didn’t stop me loving you; your truth hasn’t stopped me either.”

Seraphina Domingus has many reasons to fear humans and dragons as they haven’t been able to make peace with one another and live in harmony. The dragons are able to shape shift into humans and lend their mathematical minds to humans in different areas of interest including music, politics, academics and so on. But, tensions are high even as the treaty’s anniversary is just around the corner. Seraphina who is an unusually gifted musician who joins the court as a member of the royal family is found murdered and she finds herself in the thick of the investigation along with Prince Lucian Keggs, the principal investigator. Seraphina’ is desperate to keep her secret safe of where she gets her musical gift from and if revealed, it could lead to deadly consequences for her.

This was such an interesting plot and something that I’d never consider unique or something that I would like since it contains Math and that was my least favorite subject in school. I wasn’t very good at it and I found it very frustrating so anytime I had to do anything with math, I hated it. But, the way the author intertwined this concept with the story and how it developed over the course of the book made it very unique and I found myself unable to put the book down. It follows Seraphina, who is conflicted as she has every right to be and scared that people will find out her secret. I found her character very relatable as the inner conflict she had is something that we all struggle with and deeper into the story, we do see a lot of growth in terms of her character and being more assertive. We get to know her and where she comes with flashbacks that were done very well and didn’t detract from the plot of the story and I liked how everything came out in the end. This was a really fun book so I highly recommend it!

Book Review: The Murder of Mr. Wickham

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The happily married, Mr. Knightley and his wife Emma are throwing a house party, bringing together distant relatives and new antiquates, characters beloved by Jane Austen fans. It will be a delight for everyone but all that is dashed when a unwelcome guest, Mr. Wickham shows up and it’s very obvious that no one is thrilled to see him as his latest financial scheme has earned him a long list of enemies, including people attending the party. As the party starts, secrets are to be revealed and tensions start to flare with everyone wishing Mr. Wickham would’ve never come at all. But they’re all shocked when the uninvited guest ends up murdered. To solve the mystery, they need someone who isn’t a suspect in the case and that falls on two of the youngest guest, Jonathan Darcy and Northranger Abbey and the two must put aside their poor first impressions before an innocent person is hanged.

This was a really fun who-dun-it and I absolutely loved how it was a retelling featuring Jane Austen’s leading literary characters as she’s one of my favorite authors. I thought the story was nicely done but I do wish that she would’ve added a bit more suspense and action in some of them because it did feel a bit boring at times. It did get chunky but at least the ending didn’t feel so rushed and wasn’t something that I predicted. I am planning on reading more retellings of historical fiction mysteries because I did really enjoy this one and hopefully will find more as enjoyable. If you’re looking for a fun and entertaining who-dun-it than this is it for you!

Book Review: Fire

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“It was a very hard thing to have crushed the heart, and the hopes, of a friend.”

Equally hated and adored, Fire is one of the last human monsters that lives in the mountains of the Dells where King Nash clings to his throne while rebel lords in the north and south plot to steal his throne. The forest and the mountains are filled with with spies, thieves, and lawless men. With the ability to control minds, Fire is wanted by those in power to use it for their greed but she guards it fiercely unwilling to harness it to harm innocent people especially when she has so many of her own. But, when Prince Brigan comes to bring her to King City with a propistion she can’t refuse and the more she immerses herself into the environment, the more she sees how much her power could save the kingdom. If only she wasn’t so afraid of turning into her father.

This is probably my favorite book out the series and rereading it was a real treat as it had been a long time since I’d read it the first time. The writing in this book is more polished than the first one and I think that’s part of the reason why it’s more enjoyable to me than the first. Fire is different than Katsa and less annoying and the dynamics she has with those around her were very interesting and I did enjoy seeing her growth throughout the story. I really felt for her in how she was so afraid of repeating the mistakes that her father made and didn’t want to turn into him. I think that part made her feel very human because I do think that’s something that many of us are afraid of doing and the inner struggle to branch out and start a new path is terrifying and overwhelming. It was a fun reread and I’ll be working on the third book soon so keep a look out for that!

Book Review: Graceling Series

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“When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?”

All her life, Katsa has been an outsider as she’s a graceling, a rare group of people who are bore in her land with an extreme skill: killing a man with her bare hands. As the niece of the King, you would think she would enjoy having a life of privilege but it’s hard to enjoy it when you’re spending so much time doing the King’s dirty work. But, such is the life that she has until an encounter with Prince Po and finds herself falling for him and the closer they become, the more she discovers that not everything is well within the kingdom as a terrible secret about her race is bound to tear the seven kingdoms apart.

It’s been awhile since I first this series and it was a good reread, fun to go back and see how I feel about the book from when I first read. It’s one of my favorite YA series and a new one is coming out in October so I thought I would start the re-read now so I can be ready for when it comes. I love the different names for the books and each story is it’s own and it’s been fun reading these books again. This first book was never my fave, I really like Fire and the others as I found the main character, Katsa very annoying but I did enjoy the other aspects of the book especially with the world-building as that always helps. Katsa is a graceling which is the ability to kill a person at the slightest touch and being the King’s niece, she has helped torture, murder, and struck horror into the lives of anyone who opposes the king. The older she gets, the more insecure she feels not only with who she is and the skill she possesses and soon begins to start living a double life as a hero. What I loved about this book with not only the world-building, every character was fully fleshed out and even though Katsa annoyed me, I did like aspects of her personality. It’s a very interesting plot and I think it was well written so if it sounds up your alley, then go ahead and check it out!

Book Review: Dark Night, Golden Dawn

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“They complemented one another well, the perfect mix of dark night and golden dawn.”

In a place where the elite are just as powerful as gods, the season is about to begin in where The Immortal Orders will gather, pair and create a spectacle for all Nuva Troi to witness. But, if there is one person who isn’t interested unlike past years it’s Harlow Keane who is more concentrated on fixing her broken heart. Fate has other plans as when the season begins, the order comes to her with a job offer and they promise to back off, if she agrees to pair with their most eligible bachelor, Finn McKay. She has been burned by Finn before and knows that she’ll get burned again. But as the season goes on, strange things begin to happen and the balance of power between Immortal Orders and Humans is growing deadlier by the day. Only Finn and Harlow are the ones who notice what is going on and if they want to save their city, they must put aside their petty grudges and find out what is happening before it’s too late.

Although the start was a little slow, I’m glad it picked up and that I ended up enjoying it as it was a fun and exciting read and I feel like it lived up the what it was about. Sometimes, summaries can be very deceiving and there’s nothing worse than when a book doesn’t live up to it. Besides the beautiful world-building, I really enjoyed Harlow and her relationships especially wit her family, it was so comforting and wholesome. You could tell how much they truly cared for one another and they were all so interesting and unique, it’s not always you find secondary characters as fleshed out as the primary characters. So it’s always nice to have that and I did enjoy the banter between Harlow and Finn, I did fine the romance to be believable and that’s a good sign because there’s nothing worse than a forced romance. Overall, I really enjoyed it so if it sounds like something

Book Review: Shorefall

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“Remember the plan,” said Sancia. “I just also remember there’s a lot of spots in the plan that say, ‘Sancia improvises a bunch of shit.’ Which is not, you know, comforting.”

Having narrowly saved the metropolis of Tevanna from destruction, Sancia Grado and her allies have turned their next task: sowing the seeds of a full on magical industrial revolution and if they succeed, the secrets behind scriving, the art of imbuing every day objects with sentience will be accessible to all the citizens of Tevanna, much to the displeasure of robber-barrons who were keeping this knowledge all to themselves. They must act quickly as an enemy of Sancia’s is pursuing a desperate gambit to awaken an immortal figure straight out of legend known as the heriophant and if awakened, he’ll stop at nothing to rebuild the world in his horrifying image.

The more and more I read of this trilogy, the more I love it. This one was just as exciting and fun as the first book but with more action and heartwarming moments. Sancia and her allies are so kind hearted with wanting to give back to the people of Tevanna who have lived in under fear and terror with it’s current regime. The author does a really good job with the parallels between this world and real life and I think that’s what makes this trilogy so good. I’m on the last book now and I’m taking my time with it because I don’t want it to end but I will checking out more of the author’s books because their writing is so good. The magic system is so interesting, so much of it is rooted in science that I felt confused and would’ve liked to be more alive but along with the world-building it’s hard to put this series down. A really fantastic and wild ride from beginning to end!