series

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: 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!

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

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“People need stories, child. They bring us hope, and that hope is real. If that’s the case, what does it matter whether people in them actually lived?”

The remains of the human race have been crushed, defeated, driven to almost extinction on a planet that is constantly attacked by mysterious alien starfighters. One such human, a young girl by the name of Spensa who longs to be a pilot may have found a way to achieve her dream while helping her people in the process. One day, she finds wreckage of an ancient ship, she realizes this could be her way out but there are more hurdles than she expected and this journey could alter the course of her for better or worse.

This was such a fantastic book! I had heard a lot of good things about this series so I decided to finally check it out and I’m so glad I did. I’m currently reading through the second book right now in anticipation of the third coming out next week. From start to finish, this book was excellent and I loved everything about it. Spensa is such a fantastic main character, with flaws and qualities that make her very relatable and I’ve been loving her character development along the way. It felt very real and I could empathize with her when she was tested with what was the right thing to do and how to go about it. I enjoyed the other characters in addition to Spensa. With the solid worldbuilding, rich and diverse characters, interesting plot and how everything came together to lead up to the second book, I highly recommend it. I am actually checking out his other books because this series reeled me in and I want more! Stayed tuned for my review on Starsight coming up!

Crown of Feathers

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Rating: 3/5

“I control you, he said to his fear, you do not control me.”

The story follows Veronyka, who is a war orphan and dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka is willing to disguise herself as a boy in an effort to finally be part of the riders. Veronyka soon find herself in a place of belonging but that peaceful doesn’t last long with the twists turns that follow her, especially when her older sister reveals a web of tangled lies that will change everything.

The beautiful covers always reel me in and this was one of those books that had a beautiful cover but the rest of the book didn’t do so much for me. I was really hoping more magic would be in the book and there was very little. I also felt like it was very slow in some parts and it was hard to get through it.

Characters and plot are always what I look for in books and sadly, the character aspect in this book didn’t have me loving them at all. I felt like while they were very unique in their own, there was really no development in their personalities. This is always a bummer for me because I did like the characters but the lack of development left me going meeeh.

I really want to like this book but sadly that didn’t happen. But, if you like fantasy and are willing to give this a try then go for it!

Shattered Kingdom #1 Review

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Rating: 4 out of 5.

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance

“I’ll need weapons,” she demanded, and he wanted to tell her that he would lay all the armament he had at her feet when the time came. If the time ever came. But now was not the time.

“If you like ACOTAR, Six of Crows, Throne of Glass, this is for you and this is so correct. Although it was a little slow in the beginning, this book is full of surprises on the way. The main heroine goes by the Gandrett who is enlisted into saving a kidnapped son of a lord. Being fans of ACOTAR, Six of Crows, and TOG, I was a little nervous that this series wouldn’t live up to the hype and boy was I wrong. There was so much to love from this book and I was hooked from the beginning.

First, let’s start off with the characters, Gandrett a spunky and fierce warrior with unique characteristics, Nehelon who is a brooding fae which makes you love and hate him at the same time, Brax and Armand who have overlapping personalities but the more you read about the more you see the growth. Last but not least, there’s McKenzie who is the shining gem out of the entire group. The storyline was enthralling just as the plot twists as they kept me on the edge of my seat. Two gripes that I have is I felt like some of the relationships were formed too quickly and that is usually my gripe with books. I would’ve liked to see more development before two hop into a relationship. I would’ve also liked to see more of McKenzie in this book because I did enjoy her character the most out of the ones in the book. Other than that, I enjoyed the book especially the conclusion. I immediately started the second book because I couldn’t wait.