Book Review: Storm (Elemental #1)

Storm
Brigid Kemmerer
4/5

This is actually my second time reading this, though I read it for the first time in eighth grade before I had a Goodreads or blog or anything. I really like it, I never finished the series and I'm still not sure if I'll do a total reread, I just felt as though this first one has a lot of interesting concepts in it. Becca is trying to escape all of the attention which her ex-boyfriend generated for her, she feels a blend of guilt and fear about a situation which occurred right before her junior year started. She isn't expecting to save a boy in her class from getting beaten up in the parking lot after leaving a self-defense class. Chris quickly launches her into a life of magic which she hadn't thought existed.

Cliche, but there are a lot of deeper issues which I don't remember being as important as they were. It's much more about consent than you would expect from a paranormal/contemporary novel written in the early 2010s. There's also issues with friendships, I hate Quinn and I'm pretty sure she's the reason I quit reading these books. Like, you should support your friends more than she did, especially when they're obviously going through something traumatic.

I wish there hadn't been such a weird love-triangle, I didn't need that in my life. The time-span isn't long enough for me to believe that she became infatuated with two guys that she really met one day after the other. The book felt weirdly realistic in a lot of ways- the bullying wasn't overdone it just felt like life sucked for her in a lot of very unfair ways- but that whole love-triangle thing really annoyed me.

Overall, better than I remember it being. I wanted to read it again after seeing Frozen 2 cause it reminded me of it in a weird way I didn't really understand. Anyways, would recommend it, I think it was cute and Kemmerer only gets better from here.

Book Review: The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1)

The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden
4/5

This is the kind of book that makes you want to go read a whole encyclopedia of Russian folklore. There's so much going on without it feeling like you're being force-fed the information. Vasilisa is a daughter like her mother's mother, or that's what her dying mother claims as she justifies her existence. Her whole life has been riddled by accusations of witchcraft and other-worldliness, all she wants to do is to protect her family from the demons she feels pushing in.

It's really a beautiful story, amazing imagery, amazing world-building. The only reason it wasn't a five star read for me was the disconnect that I felt from the characters. I think that's really just the way that it is for books like this, it's just the general effect of the writing, I just prefer to root for my characters a little more. I wish a few of the things had gone a little more in-depth, I feel like a lot of the storylines and mythology were just picked up and dropped rather quickly.

Overall though I definitely recommend it. It's the kind of book that you feel like you're learning stuff but simultaneously you're enjoying yourself. I can't wait until the sequel gets off the hold list because I've heard it only gets better from here.

Book Review: Vow of Thieves (Dance of Thieves #2)

Vow of Thieves
Mary E. Pearson
4/5

As I said in my review of the first book, I didn't like the Remnant Trilogy all that much. This duology, though, is on a whole different level. Like I'm still shook about how cute everything was an how wild of a roller coaster it all was. Kazi and Jase think that they've gotten their happy ending, until they're ambushed, stabbed, shot, and separated. Now, they aren't sure if the other is alive and they're scrambling to prevent the total breakdown of his kingdom.

There were some major plot twists throughout the book that really got me. The betrayals, the promises, just the romance of it all was exceptional. Kazi is so strong, everything she goes through has only really made her a better character. I don't really understand her magic powers, like I think she decided at the end that it was all because of her mother's determination? That was a little weird and difficult for me to follow, but it didn't take away from the other amazing elements.

Another thing that I was off about was the amount of injuries these two took without any real long term damage. Like I said, they were shot, stabbed, thrown off mountains, poisoned, attacked by dogs. Then, they recovered way too fast. Other people got cut in the hand and they were like handicapped for life, but Kazi and Jase were just good to go. It felt a little off that there was so much damage and so many injuries just for dramatic effect.

But I really loved it. I think that this was a major step-up from the first trilogy and if Pearson goes on in the universe, she's only going to get better.

Book Review: The Flatshare

The Flatshare
Beth O'Leary
4/5

This book was so cute! It deals with people who aren't perfect, but not in the usual way where they're like wow I look like a supermodel I wish I could look like other girls. Tiffy has just gotten out of a horrible break-up, but she still lives with the guy. She wants to get out but she can't afford it without living in the slums. Enter Leon's advertisement, he wants a flatmate who would only use the flat on nights and weekends, and is within Tiffy's budget.

Leon is kind of against social interaction, he's just not much of a talker. Tiffy is larger than life and loves to talk. They bridge the gap through little sticky notes left around their flat. They're so cute, their notes get deeper and deeper until they decide that they need to move beyond the notes and meet in person. I love how it's not overdramatic though, it's a perfect contemporary because while the relationship is amazing, the situations are all happening everyday. Issues of mental domestic abuse and the corrupt prison system and communication, everything gets it's time to shine here.

The book doesn't feel cluttered. There are points where I was like ok that fell a little flat and I could have done without it, and that's why this wasn't entirely a five-star read for me, but I still generally just loved it. I would recommend it for fans of contemporary, or for fans of books that give real people with real problems a realistic voice without being totally depressing.

Book Review: Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

Crooked Kingdom
Leigh Bardugo
4/5

I don't usually like books with more than two main characters, or four at the very max, but this duology really changed my mind. All of the characters had their time to shine, all of them were relevant and all of them worked together to create a beautifully cohesive story line. Following the aftermath of their previous heist, Kaz Brekker and his crew are out to get their due reward. They aren't messing around either, it all involves a convoluted series of one gang trying to get the jump on the other and it builds and builds. It's all beautifully done so that Kaz is always, amazingly, one step ahead of all the people trying to tear him down.

The characters in this book are what really get me. They are all unique and they all respect each other so much. Like, no one's trying to tear each other down, but they're all willing to say what needs to be said. Inej will call out the government that Nina idolizes, Kaz calls Jesper ridiculous for his loose morals, Wylan gets called out for not accepting his limitations and going beyond them. This whole series is a great way to show people's strength through their weaknesses and I love it so much. I just love Bardugo's subtlety when dealing with situations like PTSD and LGBT stuff- especially the LGBT relationship. I love how Jesper and Wylan aren't treated any differently, they're there and they're great and I loved how happy it all is. 

Kaz and Inej are my two favorites I think, they're such different characters with such different sets of morals and yet they are so in sync in their traumas and sensitivities. I do wish they hadn't spent quite so much time hating themselves, it made me so sad. I understand it, they've both been through so many horrible things. But did their happy endings have to be so short? It was like three pages of them deciding they were going to be together no matter what and I'm like ok 500 pages of not knowing where they stood and then three pages of happiness? I need more please.

(Spoilers in this paragraph) Nina and Matthias were my least favorite in the last book but somehow I was really liking where they were going. THEN they had to kill him, in such a heartbreaking and obligatory way. It's like, everything ended too easily so let's kill this poor dude without even going into his killer or giving Nina her just revenge. I get it, it's all a setup for the next book but I am literally SO SAD and I was reading Matthias's last paragraph just crying. It got me and I'm so upset about that. (End spoiler)

Anyways, this has just been a long drawn out way of saying read the series. You won't regret it. I didn't like this one as much as the first, mostly for the previous paragraph and general lapses in the action that I didn't feel in the last. But even saying that, it was amazing and I would totally recommend.

Book Review: Meet Cute

Meet Cute
Helena Hunting
3/5

I feel like this book had the potential to be a lot more than it was. I loved Legally Blonde, so a romance with two lawyers had me pretty excited. But it was more than that, in law school Kailyn and Daxton (weird names I know) had their meet-cute when she fell onto him- twice in one day. They were friends all through law school, but then never talked again after she thinks that he sabotaged her GPA to swipe the top spot.

The general issue that I had with this book was that everything was hyped up even though it wasn't as significant as they were saying. Their friendship in law school didn't seem to extend beyond the classroom. Her childhood trauma with adoption and not having a home didn't extend past when she was three. Not to like say that that wasn't traumatic, maybe it was, but it was so casually mentioned and we like never went back to it.

The villain? Totally predictable. If she had racked up thousands of dollars in debt from the child in question's dead parents, how would she ever be considered for custodial rights? I liked this book because I feel like it gave a more realistic portrayal of career and discussion than most books like this do, Kailyn as a lawyer was great and she was very collected and succinct. But at the same time, that law case was completely wrong, and there were just some slip-ups on the whole realism of the situation.

It's cute and I read it so fast, so I think I could still recommend it. But if you're actually going to think through the logistical situation of the plot, I would caution against it.

Book Review: The Wedding Date (The Wedding Date #1)

The Wedding Date
Jasmine Guillory
2/5

This is me going on my contemporary binge for the year because really they're kind of cute and fun. I didn't really like this one much though, like funny premise and decent characters, everything just wasn't clicking. Alexa is the chief of staff for a mayor, she's career-driven and focused on bettering the world. Drew is a pediatric surgeon with commitment issues who hasn't dated a girl longer than two months in years- though he's nice about it, he's just afraid of hurting them like he did his last serious girlfriend.

You expect a certain amount of obligatory stuff when you read books like this, it's watching Hallmark Christmas movies. You don't watch them to be wowed by the plot, you don't read these looking for much in terms of originality. I appreciated how there was inclusion and acceptance and everything, for racial issues and body shape issues, but like I didn't need all of the trashing of other people. I think we can understand that the character is curvy without you calling her curvy every five seconds.

Aside from that there were just some generally weird warning signs throughout the book. When you read their interactions and you think hm this might not be totally ok? Like when he gets mad at her for moving or says that she should be complimenting or idolizing him for being a doctor? Weird and against that whole nice-guy thing they were trying to do. The communication sucked in general, it gave me so much anxiety cause they were literally just not talking about their issues and then BAM everything was solved and they were engaged.

Wouldn't recommend it, surprised I even finished it but when you have nothing else on your phone you know how it is.

Book Review: A Million Worlds With You (Firebird #3)

A Million Worlds With You
Claudia Gray
4/5

This series has been pretty good. I read it all so fast I didn't even bother with writing a review for the second book because like I think it'll all make sense through this one. It gets confusing, there are a bunch of alternate dimensions and you can travel to these alternate dimensions but only as yourself. But also you aren't really yourself, every different one of you exists as a different person so it really gets complicated. I mean, given this premise every decision as small as the color shirt which you choose creates an alternative dimension.

Marguerite thought, throughout the series, that there was such a thing as fate. That she loves Paul and had loved him in other dimensions so would consequently be eternally destined to be with him. That kind of hinders their relationship here as they have to come to terms with the fact that they are their own people who make their own decisions. I was kind of annoyed the whole time with how whiny Paul could be, complaining about how broken he is and then just getting over it. I get that splintering isn't something that leaves a person feeling completely whole, but he really was holding the plot back.

I usually get annoyed by sci-fi because a lot of it doesn't feel plausible to me. Here, there were obvious plot gaps that were left open just because the author obviously isn't a physicist and it's all made up anyways so whatever. The series as a whole is still super interesting and definitely worth reading, you just might find yourself questioning some of the finer aspects of it all. Paul was annoying but I still liked him as a character, even though I feel like he got like ten pages actually about him throughout the whole series. The ending was more rushed than what I expected from a multi-dimensional fall out, but you know what would really feel like a representative ending to it all. Overall, I'm glad I read it and I'm satisfied with the way everything played out.

Book Review: A Thousand Pieces of You (Firebird #1)

A Thousand Pieces of You
Claudia Gray
4/5

A Thousand Pieces of You is a science-fiction book about dimensional travel. The world has recently discovered that there are millions of alternate dimensions, where lives can be radically different. In one dimension, the Romanov family is still in power, in one technology has progressed rapidly, in another the world is underwater. All of these dimensions have similar characters, though not all the same because of the way that events played out and the potential of you never being born, but completely different premises.

Cool but kind of confusing. You can't travel to these other dimensions, you can only project your consciousness there, because it's very difficult to make matter transfer to different places. Don't ask me what happens to your body in your home dimension when your soul jumps out of it, I still don't know. But Marguerite, our protagonist, is going on a cross-dimensional journey to try and kill the guy who killed her father and who is now on a dimension-hopping getaway.

The beginning was slow, but once I got past that I had a great time with this book. There are a lot of confusing things that I tried not to dissect too much in favor of appreciating the other aspects of the book. I liked the idea of soulmates that they were pushing, or the idea of fate actually, that some people are destined to be in your life no matter what. It was cute and easy to get behind. I like that the protagonist dude is awkward and uncomfy cause that's my aesthetic, it was all just very easy to appreciate.

I'd say read it, there are a few plot-holes that I always see in sci-fi books where something like dimensional travel comes into play. Overall though, it's exactly what's advertised, a nice book with some action and a lot to think about.