Fantasy

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black [Book Review]

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Otherworldly / Young Adult by

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Summary

“Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

 
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
 
Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.
To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.”
Review
I had really high hopes for this book because literally everyone is talking about it all over Bookstagram  and I kept getting emails from book blogs that I followed reviewing the book and raving about it. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was a really well done book and really enjoyable but for me I felt like it was…kind of like a lot of other YA fantasy books out there.
Strong female character who was powerful too!
You know me. I love me a good strong female character who takes charge and kicks butt. Jude definitely hit that on the mark. She was badass, she was powerful and she kicked butt. I would have liked to see her develop more as a Spy though. I felt it was kind of glossed over…like she was a spy and got a little training but her missions were pretty lackluster. But as for her throughout the story, she went from being cool and strong to being a Kingmaker! How cool!
Traditional power struggle story.
The story itself, not looking at the fact that it had fae people, was a pretty common frame of someone being in charge and there being the evil brother and then overthrowing people and stuff. I don’t know, maybe I’ve just read too many of these kinds of books that I sometimes want something new or a new angle or something. The only reason I didn’t give it up was because it had these interesting fae creatures in it as well as it mixing between the fae world and the human world which was an interesting aspect – mixing these two worlds into one.
Quick read – writing was simple.
I know this is a YA book, so this is part of it, but the writing was really simple. The book was like…nearly 400 pages long I think and I got through it in about 6 hours which I was shocked about. It definitely caught my attention, so that helped, but also the writing was simple to read so this definitely was a middle YA book. Even with the ‘violence’, it is perfectly suited for mid to up YA (although most people reading it are adults I’ve seen LOL!)
Overall, I did definitely enjoy it and will read the second one.
Even though I had moments of being like ‘what is the hype all about’, I did ultimately enjoy the book. I want to read the newest one, The Wicked King, soon because everyone is loving that one as well and after the ending of this one, I do want to see what happens!
I do give it a 4 out of 5 teacups because it’s an enjoyable book and I think that it’s something to check out!
4 Teacups
Happy Reading!

Book Review: A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

 in Adult / Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Hot Off The Press / Older Readers / Young Adult by

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book review: a court of frost and starlight by sarah j. maas

From Instagram

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Summary

“A companion tale to the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series that takes place several months after the explosive events of A Court of Wings and Ruin

Narrated by Feyre and Rhysand, this story bridges the events in A Court of Wings and Ruin and the upcoming novels in the series.
Feyre, Rhys and their companions are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated – scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.”

-From sarahjmaas.com

 

Review

book review: a court of frost and starlight by sarah j. maas

From Instagram

Once again, I am happily surprised with this series. I was a little disappointed as it was so short. It is smaller than ACOTAR, so I was kind of curious how the story was going to continue. But as I started to read, I realized that this book wasn’t actually a continuation of the story, but more of a light filler to show what they were doing in their off time. It was a deviation from the story, which isn’t bad, but not exactly what I was expecting. That being said, I did really enjoy it.

I’m always a little confused what age range this book falls into, because it is YA, but I would say mature YA. The story itself is perfectly fine, but some of the love scenes are a lot for younger YA, so I classify it as mature YA. In that area, it fits perfectly!

POWERCOUPLE GOALS!
First off, I just have to say how much I love these two. They’re honestly so strong and powerful. Feyre is such a fantastic character. A strong woman and doesn’t take prisoners. Then you have Rhysand who is protective and wants the best for Feyre, but knows when to step back and let her do her thing. The two of them together could rule the universe. They also have the best Court of friends who support them. I mean these characters are all completely unique and Feyre and Rhys are the best….I can’t stop with how much I love the two of them. You get to really see their dynamic in this book and the struggles that each of them are facing, alone, but together.

The Court of Dreams by Charlie-Bowater Deviant Art

Side stories give you another perspective.
I do love side stories though, where it’s more of a novella, because you get to see another side of the characters and you’re just reading about the characters being themselves. It just expands the characters to let you see another side of them that the main story line might not be able to cover. I do like when that is done because I feel that a single chapter within a book doesn’t do the characters justice. Sure, it can give you a glimpse, but having a side book that is completely different is refreshing.

Chapters changed between characters.
I am personally not a fan of when authors do this. I like to immerse myself in the book, so when a chapter is suddenly in someone else’s POV, I really do struggle to figure out what is going on and where they are, and then I have to remember who exactly is being covered within this chapter. I know that some readers really enjoy that, as it gives you more perspectives, but when every chapter is a different characters POV, I feel like I’m being jostled around a little bit and spending the entire time figuring out where and who, I am.

Overall really happy and going to re-read soon!
I loved this book. I’m really excited for the next one (there is another one right?) and I’ll be re-reading again soon. I read it so fast the first time as I was excited and now I can actually sit down and read it and digest it properly.


book review: a court of frost and starlight by sarah j. maas

This book gets 4.5/5 teacups. It only doesn’t get 5 teacups as it’s a side story and I wasn’t expecting that, also the jumping around, but still, it’s one of my favorites!
rating four tea cups mlcwo

HAPPY READING!

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy by

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. MaasSummary

“In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I’ve been seeing this book all over since ACOTAR and the newest release of ACOWAR (both of which were amazing) and so I wanted to check this series out. A lot of people seemed to like it and I was lucky enough that my library seemed to have it in so of course I had to give it a read.

It was honestly really good! It was written by Maas when she was younger, and you could definitely tell that the writing style has changed since her newer books, but the story itself was fantastic!

It had a really strong female lead, who was an assassin, and if you know anything about me,  I love a good strong female. She wasn’t simpering, was able to hold her own, and still had all of these men coming after her. Like how can she get so many! *cries*.

While the language definitely wasn’t as descriptive as it was in some of Maas’ other books, but I kept turning the pages, never the less, because I wanted to know what was going to happen. Of course, since there is a series of books in this one, I knew it was going to be a happy ending, but it kept me wondering what may happen next and to whom! It did have me guessing about bits and pieces along the way though.

Honestly, since this is such an old book, relative to her other ones, a really deep review is useless but I just had to say that it was a great read! I do hope to check out her other books later on, but with so many books on my to read list, it will have to wait just a little while!

Have you read this book? A fan of Maas??

Happy Reading!

 

 

A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses Book #3) by Sarah J. Maas

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy by

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. MaasSummary

“Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

So I had been waiting for this book for ages! If you had been following my Instagram, you probably saw me hyping it up, and if you had Instagram you probably saw everyone else freaking out about the release! I’m new to the series, only having found out about it from people I follow on Insta and being intrigued because so many people were talking about it and so many people loved it. It also had a gorgeous cover! So I started the series and thankfully only had a few months to wait until the 3rd book, ACOWAR, came out. But now that that book is over I’m so lost! There will be one coming out next year, apparently, but the rumor is is that it will be novellas from different characters, however nothing is sure yet, so I will keep track of that.

Overall I absolutely loved this book. It’s such a wonderful YA read. It follows the kind of mythical land and a division between the humans and others and the third book in the series goes on to the war which has been building from book one. All three books work together and the story builds until the massive battle which occurs within this book.

As I’m sure all of you know, I am really picky about characters. So this falls into the genres of fantasy, action and romance. Now, when there is romance in a book, I always look to see what kind of romance it is. I don’t mind superfluous fluff now and then but I always love a strong female lead. And Feyre is definitely one! She is so badass, she can fight and she is so strong. She’s a wonderful roll model as a character. While she is strong, she is also a really good diplomat within the stories, working hard to people all the people within moderation and stop the war from occurring, as best she could, although it was inevitable.

On to the cover, it’s absolutely gorgeous. Just look at it! It’s a gorgeous teal, a color which I absolutely love, and then there is Feyre on the cover with the infamous tattoo and then little bits of smoke whispering around her.  What really caught me was the color as it caught my eye and was just so unique as a book color. Sure, I’ve seen more intricate covers but it was honestly the color which got me.

As for the story, age wise, it is definitely for older YA as there are some romantic scenes. This is not a book which is based around that as it’s YA and not a romance novel, however to aid the story and develop the romance there are some bits like that in it so it’s not a younger YA read.

Overall, the book was amazing and I would definitely suggest reading it! I mean, you have to start with book #1 as you can’t read this series out of order as there are so many characters and a developing story, so you need to start with #1, A Court of Thorns and Roses, then A Court of Mist and Fury and finally A Court of Wings and Ruin! Trust me, you won’t regret it. Everyone I’ve told to give it a try loved it in their own way.

Have you read it? Thoughts?

Happy Reading!

Singing Fire by T.L. Martin

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fantasy / Young Adult by

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Singing Fire by T.L. Martin

Summary

“Constant chills, panic attacks, and now paranoia – there’s a reason seventeen-year-old Charlie keeps to herself. Life is looking up when she gets a job at a whimsical tea shop and gains a few new friends, but little does Charlie know there are secrets lurking beyond its door. It only takes one night for her perspective on her small town to change forever. As if witches, vampires, and demons weren’t enough, she soon realizes she’s being hunted for a power she didn’t know she possessed. Singing Fire takes Charlie through an unexpected journey of self-discovery, betrayal, and forbidden love all while the clock is ticking for her to defeat the dark souls pursuing her – before anyone else dear to her has to die. Singing Fire is the first of a two-part series, and its sequel, Raining Fire, is due for release in 2017.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I absolutely loved this book! Ms. Martin sent me an email asking for me to give it a read and the initial reason I said yes was because the cover was gorgeous. It caught my eye, as well as the summary. I love fantasy kind of books and I hadn’t read one for a little while, so I figured that it was time to.

Now this book just had so much amazing stuff going on. First of all, it was fantasy but not so much so that it wasn’t based in reality. It was kind of like the Shadowhunters idea where they were hiding in plain site. Then you have this girl who just gets sucked into the world. And then you have this vampire who she falls in love with (of course).

I mean come on! Who doesn’t love a good fantasy story, with romance, and a vampire!

I also loved the fact that the ‘base of operation’ was a tea shop! I mean my blood is literally tea, so I had to give it a read just because of that. I just loved imagining this beautiful tea shop that was so small and magical and had all these little secrets. In my mind it was so magical and beautiful.

The book was also not terribly long but so much happened within the short story! I read it in a few hours, outside in the sun (which was amazing) and I just couldn’t put it down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next and it just kept going and it kept you guessing all the way until the last sentence. I mean that ending had me dying. Come on Ms. Martin!!!! You just had to throw that curve ball! I loved it ‘cus I didn’t see half of the ending coming and it has me NEEDING the next book (which I am so excited for).

The cover of this book is also gorgeous as well. The turquoise with the fire in the middle just caught my eye as the colors were visually pleasing. I mean they say don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but you all should know by now that it’s all part of the package. I generally don’t have it negatively impact a book, but it can definitely make a book even better!

Overall I absolutely loved this book! Go check it out on amazon here!

It was definitely a read that I will be reading again in the summer, and just before I get the next book!

Happy Reading!