Book Review: Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours #3)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5 

Chain of Thorns is the third and final book in the Last Hours, covering too many characters to list out succinctly. It's the children of the characters in the Infernal Devices, and as their children they're just obligated to get into twice as much trouble. We have demons, we have necromancy, and we have a lot of unlawfulness in a society where the law is hard but it's the law. 

Unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed with this book as a finale. At this point in her career, Cassandra Clare isn't just ending a trilogy summarizing 3-4 years of work, she's ending a trilogy that closes a chapter for our favorite characters from TID and leads into the drama that is TMI, TDA, and ultimately TWP. But it was a major let down. If we put all the continuity issues aside- because I will cut her some slack that it's been like 15+ years since TMI and we're living in a very different world than how it was then- the pacing of the series beyond book one has just been way off. I loved book one, I thought it was one of her best ever because it balanced the sort of plot-heavy vibes of TDA with the sedate yet action-packed rhythm of TDA. But she couldn't hold it together, she started threading in all sorts of things that just felt like they weren't really as relevant to the plot as they should have been. She couldn't mess with the TID parents because she had already written the Clockwork Princess epilogue and guaranteed their survival so she couldn't figure out how to write well-rounded characters where their parents were loving and supporting - since she also couldn't traumatize them by making their parents mean because it would destroy the integrity of TMI. And it felt like she realized with 50 pages left that she had about a million loose plot threads and so she decided to slam them all shut as quickly as she could with just about zero exposition or closure. I liked how we dealt with some of the characters trauma, but I think she committed to so many separate plots that she wasn't really able to do any of them justice. 

To get to the spoilers: she should not have killed Kit. It was cheap and it was lazy. She paired off all the other characters (aside from Matthew, Charles, and Grace) and decided Kit was the one who could die. And the fact that there was absolutely no reaction, that everyone was more upset about Matthew and James being in Edom, was pretty cruel. And we didn't get to see the reactions of his parents, she could have easily banked a few points by giving us some heartfelt mourning especially since most people reading have already bonded with the parents and the aunts and uncles. But no, she used him as a throwaway character. And she let James and Lucie get away with everything way too easily. James in the treating Cordelia poorly for the past two books and Lucie in the committing literal crimes but not even having to testify. Cassandra Clare just decided you know what, I'm going to make him Jesse again and the notoriously brutally lawful shadowhunter society will just deal with it. It honestly was inconsiderate to us as readers who spent years trying to figure out how this series would end (and I mean literal years my friend and I have been tossing theories back and forth since we were in middle school ten years ago) to try and just sweep everything under the rug at the last second. And the absolute cherry on top was James and Lucie losing their powers, which makes no sense to me and is also another cheap tactic. Like, we know that Tessa retains her powers through TDA so how do her kids lose that of which is threaded into their genetic composition when Tessa doesn't? Her father should've just stayed a faceless eidolon demon. 

This isn't really a review anymore more of just a rant, but I felt a little wronged as a reader. There were still good parts, I don't regret reading the series or staying up-to-date with it, but I think that Cassandra Clare should put in a bit more if she wants people to stick with something that has gotten as lengthy as the shadowhunter universe has. Sad that we're closing the story but happy to have seen more into their lives and into the lives of the TID characters (barely). 

Book Review: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3)

Overall: 5/5

Plots and Themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Attention Grabbing: 4/5

This is a reread of a series I read in high school and I'm pretty happy with how the quality has held up. It's inarguably young adult, but the quality of the story lines hold up. A few things weren't as deep as I remember them being, specifically the romances and how they're formed, but it's hard to look at teenagers falling in love when you're not a teenager and understand their perspective. But I still think the story is so clever, the manipulation of fairy tales to this quirky dystopian world is so weird but also at the same time so obvious? I don't know, it strikes the perfect balance and it definitely holds up. The cultural references are still iffy, but I appreciate that she improved her representation in her other series. 

Book Review: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)

 

Overall: 5/5

Plots and Themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Attention Grabbing: 5/5

I read this book for the first time in like 2011, before any of the movies had come out. I haven't read it since. I did read the prequel when it came out a few years ago and I was shocked by how well-written it was- not to hate on the original but only because I feel I'm often disappointed by books I read in middle school. Really though, the quality of this book holds up. 

It's firmly YA, but it's done in a way that doesn't belittle the intelligence of the age group. It's well-written and it has deeper themes that come together so nicely. I think that current YA books struggle to balance themselves that way, they either dumb it way too far down or they stray too far into new adult or even adult territory. This book is covering something truly horrific, but I don't believe it's too gory or traumatizing for the age group. I think it teaches valuable lessons and it continues to deserve all the hype it gets.  

Book Review: Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1)

 

Flame in the Mist 

Renée Ahdieh

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Flame in the Mist is the first book in a YA fantasy romance series. I've been holding off on reading it because I wasn't a big fan of The Wrath and the Dawn, the first book I read by Ahdieh. But I definitely think this one was a lot more fun and creative. It's about a girl, Mariko, who survives an assassination attempt on the way to her wedding. She wants revenge, so she dresses up like a boy to infiltrate the group that tried to kill her. 

It's very basic and predictable in many ways and ultimately leaves the impression of enjoyable but forgettable. I didn't mind anything about it but I don't think it's super distinguishable from any of the recent enemies-to-lover style fantasy romances. The different perspectives should have added depth but they maybe just confused the narrative. I was completely checked out during Kenshin's chapters and had gotten a little bored by the big reveal. It's not the worst ever, it definitely had its moments, but it was a little repetitive. 

I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel, but I had a good time with what was here and it's not super long or anything. Would probably be better for someone more into YA.

 

Book Review: Shifting

 

Shifting

Bethany Wiggins

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

I originally read this book maybe four years ago? Maybe longer I have no idea but I remember kind of liking it so I decided to do a reread. I think all of the elements that I liked it for the first time I read it held strong, several things fell flat. Maggie Mae has been bounced around foster homes for years and she's been officially known as a problem child for the last two because of her consistent run-ins with the law. But it's not really her fault, she can't control all the supernatural and freaky stuff that happens around her. At a new school, things are looking up. She has a friend and she has a guardian who can be a confidant for all her worst secrets. The supernatural isn't relinquishing its grip so easily though and things are far behind her control. 

Honestly, the shapeshifting is cool. I love it and the autonomy that it starts to give her. I wish we could've seen it developed a little more. Especially in light of the ending and all the information that we could have had. I also just did not vibe with the idea of some moral superiority cause of being a shifter like they were having arranged marriages and stuff which just very much rubbed me the wrong way. And it's like, a society that prides itself so much on lineage really shouldn't have had such a slip up in the paperwork and we should get an explanation on that. 

So not as iconic as I remember it. The romance was a lot duller too, I liked the way that the friendship was built up but oh my gosh we really did not capitalize on her insecurity of being left? Like the ending was a half-assed way of dealing with it that really annoyed me, you cannot tell me that someone without a real family would be satisfied with that whole "I only walked out on you momentarily but I never stopped thinking about you" excuse. Just very inconsistent on that front. So definitely better for the plot than the characters.

Book Review: Poison Study (Study #1)

 

Poison Study

Maria V. Snyder

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 2/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Poison Study is the first book in the Study series/Chronicles of Ixia. Yelena is on death row, awaiting the noose for a murder which she feels completely justified for. Right at her final hour she's offered a different solution; become the poison tester for the Commander. This would give her an extended lifespan and leave her survival up to the perfection of her own skills. This works well for her until her past catches up to her and she rallies herself to save others from a similar violence.

I read it about eight or ten years ago and was really invested in the series, while I still enjoyed this read and think that anyone who's doing a reread who liked it originally would still like it but would see quite a few problems with the story. For one thing, it's obviously written as more of a YA story but deals with sexual assault in a way that kind of minimizes the trauma and significance of that. It definitely feels like a debut novel with the weak developed of a kingdom supposedly based on the equality of all individuals but allowing its most susceptible members to be consistently abused and then punished for standing up for themselves. 

I'm a fan of Valek and Yelena out of pure loyalty from my 13 year old self at this point. I had somehow blotted the fact that she's 19 and a victim of severe traumas and he's 33 in a position of ultimate power out of my head. It's not the worst example of this kind of thing that I've ever seen in YA, but it's a little questionable especially considering how he trains her through the first seventy percent of the book. Again, I'm still a fan and I recognize that this isn't the best but also you know it is what it is. 

I did appreciate the conclusion to an extent because I think there was a lot of consistency with the separate characterizations. The Commander remains a genocidal maniac, Valek remains loyal to that, and Yelena continues to defend herself and those around her. There were some flaws with it but I still think it was nicely tied up. I don't know if I'm recommending this series at this point but I'm definitely loving it for the nostalgia.

Book Review: Sky in the Deep (Sky in the Deep #1)

 

Sky in the Deep

Adrienne Young

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

After spending the last five years thinking her brother died a horrible death on the battlefield, it's pretty shocking for Eelyn to see Iri on the opposite side of the battlefield. She risked everything thinking she was saving him, but she really ends up a prisoner of the opposition with a traitor for a brother. Now, she has to figure out how to gain her freedom without losing her honor and deal with losing a brother all over again. 

I thought this book was pretty good but pretty insubstantial. If we had focused on her dealing with her brother, her enemies to lovers romance, or the impending war as individual events or plot elements that had separate substantial value it would've been better. Instead, everything felt insta and poorly developed. I guess the way she developed the relationship with her brother was okay, but I didn't really feel any chemistry between her and Fiske and then it was like bam they're in love and willing to give their lives for one another. 

I'm kind of a fan of the ultimate evil in a lot of ways because books make it so much easier. In the reality of a war, no side is completely evil because even if you're supporting an evil cause you couldn't pick the geography you were born in and it stands to reason that there are good people fighting only because they have no other choice. In a book, you can kind of ignore that in favor of being like oops these guys are Evil with a capital E. I don't even remember what the opposition was called in this book cause they were mentioned maybe three times before oh my god they're the worst thing to ever besiege the world we have to band together to stop them. And even though fighting is like their whole goal and they have a scheduled war every five years just for fun, they kind of suck at fighting. It was pretty difficult to get behind especially when the slaughter came without a single hint of consideration for their motives. 

So yeah, it was okay. I was pretty interested as I read it but I was always looking for more in everything that happened. I wouldn't say don't read it because it's easy to get through and has it's perks, but it's definitely not a book you want to overthink.

 

Book Review: Pack of Lies (The Potentate of Atlanta #2)

 

Pack of Lies

Hailey Edwards

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Pack of Lies is the second book of the Potentate of Atlanta series following Hadley, basically a police officer who is also a necromancer. She's losing time and she thinks that the shadow who she is responsible for keeping in line is playing pranks on her. But pranks by this shadow are usually equivalent to a massacre and definitely something she needs to get under control. 

I'm okay with the pacing, both with the storyline and with the romance. I wish there had been a bit more of a boss battle in this book, it just felt a little like a filler but that's probably what it is. I wanted a bit more fulfillment, but the relationship had a nice little arc. I do see a bit of a problem with the secrets that both of them keep so close to their chest which is obviously going to be their biggest hurdle. But it definitely makes me nervous to see some authentic and wholesome development like what we saw in this book while knowing how much they're holding back. 

Still a great book even while being a filler and has definitely kept my attention and prompted me to download the next book. Like I said in my last review, they read very easily and they're just fun to read.

Book Review: Song of the Forever Rains (Mousai #1)

 

Song of the Forever Rains

E.J. Mellow

Overall: 5/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

Larkyra has just reached her majority, the youngest of the trio of Mousai that inspires fear and respect for the Thief King. Her voice gives her magic that most could not comprehend, the ability to rip people apart or put them back together. She's ready for taking on more responsibilities, she wants to succeed at her first solo mission. It involves her posing as a fake fiancee for a corrupt duke, using an addictive form of diluted magic and taking out the subsequent aggression on his stepson. 

I liked this book a lot. I thought it had a pretty decent plot that kept me engaged through the very end. What really made it so notable and unique among all the other books with similar plots would probably be the family dynamics. The banter between the sisters was hilarious and fun and just felt so authentic. And the fact that they have such an open and mutually respectful relationship with their father? Basically unheard of in this kind of fantasy and I was living for it. 

Larkyra's powers were also a fun part of the narrative. I love a good plot line all about balance, balancing the strength that a power like that provides you with the responsibility which you have to keep it under control. I just love a protagonist who is so aware of themselves, it's just really refreshing. 

So while it was a tad predictable and a little weak on the romantic front, I really appreciated this read. I don't know if I'll read the next when it comes out because I'm obsessed with Larkyra but like this is a definite recommend.

 

Book Review: Cast in Firelight (Wickery #1)

Cast in Firelight

Dana Swift

Rating System:

Overall: 3.5/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

 

I'm going to try this new rating system and see how it goes. Cast in Firelight covers the journey of Adraa and Jatin, two heirs who have been betrothed nearly their entire lives. But they're incredibly competitive, they have built the relationship they have based on rivalry and the need to outdo each other. When they are supposed to finally meet again after ten years of only letters, a mix-up gives them time to get to know each other outside of their titles. Their marriage should unite their kingdoms against conflict and encourage a more peaceful age, but there are dark forces at work and that common theme of the gods not being able to leave anything alone. 

I think this book was pretty good, if anything it was addicting because it's one of those books where you just want to see the ending. I like the arranged marriage trope, I think it was pretty-well written and easy to follow. I also think that the characters were pretty okay, they did lay it on a little thick with why they hated each other when they didn't have all that much of a reason for such hatred. The whole idea of them not knowing each other at all then expanding to say they had actually sent these competitive letters was also a bit strange. They weren't the best ever but they also weren't the worst. 

There's an issue with this book and some controversy that I've seen with the fact that the author is not a Person of Color. I didn't know that when I picked it up, I kind of just went for the whole arranged marriage plot. I think it can be damaging to write from that perspective without the proper research and consultation, I'm not entirely sure what Dana Swift did to compensate for this. I found this book enjoyable, I felt as though she was being pretty respectful but also it's not my culture so if you found it offensive please let me know! 

Otherwise, if you're into a fluffy arranged marriage scenario with a dash of enemies to lovers, you'll probably enjoy this book. It's again, not the most complicated book ever but it's a fun read. 

Book Review: Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2)

Unravel Me

Tahereh Mafi

5/5

This is the second book in the Shatter Me series. Juliette has escaped from the clutches of the Reestablishment and found a group of rebels who she has a lot in common with. For the first time in her life she's around other people with superpowers, individuals who have faced similar alienation. She's desperate to shed the fears and insecurities which she's held so close her entire life and be a real asset to this revolution. 

A lot of people come after Juliette. She has a lot of baggage, which I think is fair considering the weight of her backstory. I read this book for the first time as a 12-13 year old and I liked it but I was annoyed by the characters. I think I understand it a lot better now, not that I have similar traumas but just trying to understand where they're coming from and how they interact with each other. I was mad that Adam got ditched the first time I read it, rereading the dialogue between her and Warner though had me real emotional and nostalgic and I really could understand it. Also I think it's a better representation of a normal teenage condition and the idea that your "first love" isn't going to necessarily be the person who's best for you. 

This is also much better to read knowing it's six books. I think that the first time I read it I was mad about how easy and convenient everything was. But seeing it from this new perspective and knowing the extent which the plot is going to go makes it a lot easier to get behind. I also think, for whatever weird reason, I was trying to read critically in eighth grade and not get invested in characters who felt toxic? Honestly though, it feels a lot less toxic and more tragic reading it the second time around. I really appreciate their arcs and how awkward they are, I don't think someone who has been raised to be anti-social would have an easy time in being social. But also I can totally see where Castle and Kenji are coming from, they're great characters to call her out on her bullshit and tell her to get her life together.

So all in all, it's just a really great book to read. It's almost a comfort read because it has exactly what you would want from a kind of romantic dystopian. It's not too heavy on the plot and not too heavy on the romance and really the perfect balance. I can't wait to finish the rest of my reread and see more from all my faves.

Book Review: Sing Me Forgotten

Sing Me Forgotten

Jessica S. Olson

4/5

Isda has lived in the shadows of an opera house her entire life. Haunting the rafters, pillaging the dressing rooms after sets to take leftover props. Raised by the opera house owner to never reveal herself, she has never expected anything more. She is a gravoir, cursed from birth with terrifying abilities that make her kind nearly extinct through persecution. Though she longs to perform on stage, she knows that the closest she could possibly get is through coaching a young singer to stardom. As she craves more and more measures of such freedom, she finds that there's a reason that so many people fear her kind. 

This is a Phantom of the Opera retelling(?) kind of, but I really feel like it's almost a Phantom Hunchback fusion and it's gender swapped. It's very original as it takes elements of a very established story and twists them to being fantastical and much more romantic. But the foundation for Phantom is the darkness within and the inability to ignore the dangerous call of music, the same as the foundation for this book mixed in with some magic. Also the idea of obsession and fixation and a desire for power. It's a lot to deal with in this short 330 page standalone, but I think that it really covers a lot of emotion.

I wish that it had been more developed, there were many elements that were just kind of dropped and expected for us to understand and go with. All of the symbols and everything, haphazard at best. There's a whole revolution that is mentioned in passing and then not brought up again. I know that's the risk with standalones, they aren't really designed to answer all of your questions and they leave you wanting more. But it detracted a bit from the impact of the societal factors of the fallout. 

Still though, it was a pretty amazing book. I loved the world, the romance, and the conflicts of morality than ran through it all. I think that it could be enjoyable for people who just like a good fantasy but also for fans of the Phantom of the Opera, because I know the retellings are few and far between. A tiny bit of a spoiler to close with, the ending might drive you a little crazy.

Book Review: The Archived (The Archived #1)

The Archived

Victoria Schwab

5/5

For the past four years, Mackenzie has had the title of Keeper. As such, she has a key that transports her into a secret Archive where the memories of the dead are kept. Not so much memories, more like ghosts. And when those ghost wake, it's up to her to guide them back to their drawers and resting places. After the death of her brother, her family decides to move to a new location with a higher traffic for these Histories and more confusion than she's ever known as a Keeper. 

This book was way better than I expected it to be. Think of it as like Ninth House but with a more YA spin. It had the intricate and beautiful worldbuilding that you would expect from a VE Schwab book while being aimed for a younger audience. There's definitely a huge difference in being aimed for a young audience and being well-written though, and this book definitely highlights that. It's made me super nostalgic because this is exactly the kind of thing that I would have read and loved in middle or high school. Didn't make me love it any less now. 

I'm excited to see how the duology concludes, it's definitely up there with my favorite VE Schwab books and I've read quite a few at this point. If you're a big fan of the paranormal then I can't recommend this book strongly enough. Also it made me cry so it definitely has a great emotional impact.

Book Review: A Bed of Blades (The Kingmakers' War #2)

A Bed of Blades

Kate Avery Ellison

3/5

Do you hate sequels that start up immediately after the last book ended? Then this is the sequel for you because I'm still unsure on the timeline. Synopsis says two years after the end of book one so we'll go with that, but yes they told Briand they would be coming back but plot twist they didn't and she's been on her own for over a year now. When her paths cross with Kael again, she's quickly thrown back into her role working with a cause she really isn't all that passionate about. She has to choose where her loyalties lay and decide how best to use her powers. 

I don't think I liked this book all that much more than the first, but I boosted it to three stars because Briand was a lot easier to handle. Everyone didn't just hate her for no reason, a lot of the characters actually liked her. I wish everyone would stop calling her a guttersnipe as that's not really all that congruent with her mannerism nor her familial ties but you win some you lose some. 

I'm still not sure if I would call it a fantasy romance because the romance doesn't even really start till like 70 percent into the book. It's essential to the story line but also somehow simultaneously non-essential. All, props to this book because I don't find the characters particularly lovable but I'm desperate to know Kael's identity/what happened with the Hermit so I'm definitely going to keep reading despite the flaws. I think there's a lot of potential for the story could go if we commit to the plot progression a little more firmly. Also, these are ten pretty short books and I think a lot more could be accomplished with like four or five average length books. If they all weren't immediately available to me on KU it would be a lot more annoying though. I'm not sure if I'm recommending the series, it's great for unfocused reading but a little weak regarding fantasy.

Book Review: A Gift of Poison (The Kingmakers' War #1)

A Gift of Poison

Kate Avery Ellison

2/5

Briand has lived with her uncle since she was six. It was her father's home and her uncle resents her for that. The rest of the castle isn't much better, and right when she's on the brink of exile she discovers a hidden magic and sets off on a dangerous quest. Her life is on the line and she's risking everything to try to restore the rightful prince and end the Seeker reign of terror. 

I will say that the book was keeping me reading just because I wanted to see the resolution. But like, there were so many things that were just so poorly explained. The entire castle hated her because her uncle told them that they could, but like why? They called her annoying, but no one could be so annoying that they would lose all their allies like that? Literally everyone aside from her cousin hated her and for no particular reason. No one in the castle that her father owned had any loyalty to their prior master who Briand remembered as a decent man? Didn't make sense and they kept bringing it up, none of these people who she was supposed to rely on or be friends with had any trust or kinship with her at all and it was way overdone. 

The ending was the worst part too. We had some things building up, it wasn't the best plot ever but it was interesting enough. Then all the sudden they were like nope no thanks whatever I gotta go on another quest. I read the synopsis for the next book and it's set two years in the future? There definitely wasn't enough friendship between them to motivate the continuation of their relationships past that point, if I were Briand I would be working on trying to find people who didn't insta-hate me for absolutely no reason. Kindle Unlimited books can be kind of hit or miss or watered down, this one was probably the kind of miss that's just bearable enough to get to the end of.

Book Review: Bloodleaf (Bloodleaf #1)

Bloodleaf

Crystal Smith

4/5

Aurelia has been bullied and resented by her kingdom for her entire life. She is the first princess born to the kingdom in hundreds of years, at least the first that wasn't hastily hidden away and adopted by another family. But the prophecy says that she will marry a foreign prince and end their feud, unfortunately the people don't really want the feud to end. Accusations of heresy and witchcraft get women burnt alive, and Aurelia is in fact a witch. When she tries to run away from her accidental exposure, an attempt on her life forces her into hiding. 

It was entertaining and had a lot of the elements of books I love. It also made me cry twice so it's definitely not lacking in emotion. It's a very rough retelling of the Goose Girl fairy tale, kind of a lesser known story so not bad. It also features a lot of magic, witchcraft and blood magic and so on. It's pretty unique in terms of magical systems but it also could be developed a lot better. 

I'm a little conflicted in the rating because the thing is that I liked it well enough while reading it but upon reflection all of it's shortcomings become super obvious. The characters were a little weak, the relationship was kind of insta-love and forgettable, but it had some nice underlying messages. I wanted to give it five stars but then I was like, okay no it's four, then I was thinking of three but honestly it's very entertaining so I think it deserves the four at least. I don't know if I'll go for the sequel because I feel like things were pretty nicely summed up at the end. 

Book Review: The Heir (The Twisted Kingdoms #3)

The Heir

Frost Kay

2/5

This is the third book in the Twisted Kingdoms series, I don't think it's the last one because two random POVs were introduced but we definitely get some closure on Tempest's story- however abrupt that closure was. Tempest starts the book engaged to her enemy, it's a dangerous position for her to be in but she's doing it to better the lives of those around her. She can't help but regret her choices though as she finds her well-being and safety constantly on the line.

So I was hesitant to call the first books in the series enemies to lovers just because there was so little real interactions between the protagonists. It's like the author finally realized that in this book and decided to do a whole 180 and dive deep into that whole overprotective alpha male thing that YA loves so much. Which doesn't really work on the premise of the other books, he considered her a dangerous enemy to the point that he might try to murder her to silence her as a threat but then he's like oops just kidding she's a maiden in need of protecting. I just didn't vibe with it all that much. 

It felt like everything that was so hyped up in the previous books was just kind of closed in the last twenty pages. Her father? Resolved just like that. The kingdom? Placed into safe hands in the blink of an eye. I just wanted more than this book was giving me. It wasn't the worst thing to read it was just a lot of dropped plot lines and failed expectations.

Book Review: Shielded (Shielded #1)

Shielded

Kaylynn Flanders

4/5

Jennesara has spent her entire life hiding her magic from her entire kingdom to prevent civil unrest. When she is basically bargained away to get more troops for her country to win a budding war, she tries to take it with grace. When her party is ambushed and she is thrown into the wild then into a foreign country where she doesn't have anyone to trust, things get even harder. She has trained her entire life to fight, but finds the reality a lot more daunting. 

Sometimes I get scared that I'm over young adult and then I read a book like this that I really genuinely enjoy and I realize I'm just sick of poorly written characters. Jenna and Enzo and Ren, they all really pop off the pages. It really reminds me of a duology I read a long time ago- Nemesis by Anna Banks. There are a ton of tropes woven through the pages to the point of major cliche but somehow it all just works perfectly and really just pushes you to the end. Some of the tropes include: only one bed, forced marriage scenario, princess who wins every fight she's ever been in on the premise of the force of her will and despite never having been in a fight before, backstabbing world leaders, and some hidden identities of course. 

So the problems were really just on the depth that some of the major plot events were given. Deaths glazed over, traumas just kind of ignored, and kind of a rushed pacing. I didn't hate it at all, but it was a lot more surface level than I would have preferred on some of the issues. I think it had a lot of construction flaws but honestly it deserves the four stars just for being so enjoyable despite that. I don't really know what it was I just think it was just intrinsically fun to read. I read it in one sitting, it was extremely bingeable and I would totally recommend it to people who love to dissociate through reading.

Book Review: We Hunt the Flame (Sands of Arawiya #1)

We Hunt the Flame

Hafsah Faizal

2/5

Zafira is a hunter who has spent the last few years disguising herself as a man to secure food for her village while maintaining their harsh standards. Nasir is the crown prince, also known as the Prince of Death for the assassinations which he commits at his father's requests. Both learn of an artifact which could secure the future of their nation if placed in the correct hands. Like many YA novels before it, We Hunt the Flame throws these two together and sparks fly on the road to their ultimate destinies despite the countless forces trying to tear them apart. 

Listen, it might be on me for reading too many of these in a row recently and over-saturating my own mind. But this just felt like a relatively weak combination of a thousand stories before it. The overarching feel to it felt fragmented, I'm still piecing together what happened and how it all factored into the story but not in a "wow" way more of a "why did we jump around so much" kind of way. It felt like she was picking up tropes then dropping them five seconds later. The conflicts were scattered, the characters were forgettable, and everything just kind of felt faded.

This isn't going to be completely spoiler free from beyond this point but like I definitely won't give away the plot twists. From here on it's really going to be me ranting about the book because I chose it for my book club and have had a lot of time to think about it. 

Not to mention that we had a throwaway character less than halfway through the book. To really pile on the cliches of this attempt at enemies-to-lovers, we have the small town boy who she should have loved who we tragically lost too early to really care about. And the (somewhat creepily older) male protagonist also has trust issues because we peppered in the fact that the girl he thought he loved wasn't actually all that into him. Perfect balance and segue into their obvious romance, right? And we weren't even really allowed to figure that out on our own, every single element was spelled out for us and our feelings on the issues were almost dictated to us. 

The characters new that the events that had befallen them were tragic. I should have felt bad for them, but they had an easy enough time feeling bad for themselves didn't really feel like they needed my help. There are books that you read for the world and books that you read for the characters, most books kind of run the line between the two in a digestible way. This book tried to give us the diverse and beautiful Arabian setting which it started out in but it fell flat as it wasn't followed through on in the subsequent descriptions. The romance wanted to be a great enemies-to-lovers spectacle but we didn't get the time to develop them as individuals and then we didn't have any deep conversations or interactions which would lead me to really get invested in their arc. I also felt more chemistry between Altain and Nasir or Zafira and Yasmine even than I did with Nasir and Zafira so that's an obvious issue.

Two stars because it definitely had potential in the baseline and it wasn't like horribly boring. I wouldn't really recommend it but I can see where there's some appeal. I know this seems harsh but like I also know some people love and swear by it so there were probably tons of things here that appeal to different readers. I also understand that this is a debut so I think there's a lot of potential for future books if things were fleshed out a little better.

Book Review: Wicked Fox (Gumiho, #1)

Wicked Fox

Kat Cho

5/5

Miyoung has been shuffled from place to place her entire life, her mother's attempts at protecting her from exposing her half-gumiho nature. When she sees a boy being attacked by a goblin one night, she can't stop herself from saving him. She loses her fox bead in the process, dislodging it from her chest and putting her at risk of being controlled by a human. The boy who she saved though is different from anyone she has ever met and she starts to realize that there's no point in immortality if you're spending the whole time running. 

Okay this was the perfect mixture of K-Drama and like traditional YA fantasy. It was theatrical without being excessive. The characters both had their annoying quirks, but it wasn't something that weighed the story down too much and they were things that I could see as being genuine problems in the whole scheme of the universe. I was also kind of shocked by the plot twists at the end, so it wasn't as cliche and predictable as it could have been. 

I would recommend this for fans of urban fantasy and especially for fans of k-drama who can't handle sitting through entire k-dramas (specifically thinking of Oh My Ghost because this one has similar supernatural themes). Also if you love a nice coming-of-age type romance then this one would also be great for you it really hits all of the bases.