Book Review: From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash #1)

 

From Blood and Ash

Jennifer L. Armentrout

2/5

I've heard a lot of good things about this book so maybe I just built myself up to be disappointed. I think it was pretty obvious from the beginning what was going to happen, it felt like a weak imitation of so many other books in this genre- especially ACoMaF. It also felt very similar in characterization to her other books, Poppy is indistinguishable from Trinity in Storm and Fury. I didn't DNF because I did want to know where things were going, it's just unfortunate that it wasn't original. 

I think that since ACoMaF succeeded so well, authors realized they could write New Adult type books with sex scenes and gain a whole demographic. I guess it worked for this book since it seems to be so popular, didn't really work for me. Sex just felt like a cheap move, there was the potential to use it the opposite way because of how important it was but instead there was an overload of assertive "alpha male" scenes. I was like skipping through the scenes because they felt so obligatory and pointless.

I don't know if I'll read the next book in the series. Despite it all, I'm a little bit invested in where it's going to go. I don't know if I can handle all the whiplash though, it has that same annoying trend as Rage and Ruin where the oscillation between murder and twisted love isn't cute it just convinces you of their instability.

Book Review: Ghosts of the Shadow Market

 

Ghosts of the Shadow Market

Cassandra Clare

5/5

I would like to inquire as to who gave Cassandra Clare and co. permission to write a book of short stories about a bunch of separate characters just so she could make me cry on multiple different timelines? It would cost ZERO dollars to just let these characters be dead without backstories but she really brought back people who I haven't thought about in eight years just to make me SAD. But I read the whole thing and I'd do it again.

Cassandra Clare's universe is insanely complex. Everyone is tied to everyone in some way even though it spans over a hundred years. It can get confusing, especially when, like I said, she likes to bring back oldies just to remind us that no one has lived without tragedy. I think that it's so amazing though that she's able to keep all these characters straight enough to co-write short stories about them just to destroy me further. 

I don't know how I could give this anything but five stars when the last story was about Jem and Tessa. Or when Jem pretty much narrated the whole thing and made me cry the whole time with his emotional turmoil. These stories are all so short and I was like short stories? I don't need them. But honestly, they're so integral to the story lines of all these characters, even ongoing ones in TLH and what is going to come up in TWP. I'm so excited to see it all come together. 

But yeah, would recommend one hundred percent even if you think you don't need them. Like, who allowed Cassandra Clare to contextualize a fictional immortal character in the tragedy of the contemporary world's World War II? Again, she was just trying to get me to cry which she totally achieved.

Book Review: Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories #1)

Shades of Milk and Honey

Mary Robinette Kowal

3/5

Advertising this as Jane Austen but with a fantasy twist boosted my expectations way too high for this one. Jane is a talented glamourist, but she fails in comparison to her beautiful sister. She prides herself as being able to see through constructions and to the true character of both people and glamours. 

There wasn't a lot of interaction between the love interests. To be honest I was having a difficult time even gauging where this was going regarding the romance just because the male protagonist was so weak. To compare him to Darcy or compare their misunderstandings to Pride and Prejudice doesn't really do this book justice. They're set on a completely different stage and have a completely different vibe to them. 

That being said, it's a very interesting magical universe. I was a little confused as to the extent of the glamour powers but it's a cool concept. I think if I read further into the series I might understand it all a little better. It was kind of strange though that there wasn't really an epilogue but there were definitive statements at the end that echoed the lives of the characters. I wish there had been a bit more separation there. 

I would recommend it if you like historical fiction with a fantasy twist, but I really think it's too different from Pride and Prejudice to be advertised that way. It generally echoes Jane Austen but not to the extent that I would call that the book's redeeming quality. 

Book Review: Vengeful (Vicious #2)

 

Vengeful

V.E. Schwab

4/5

This book lives up to its name because no matter who was introduced and what was going on, it was ultimately all about Eli and Victor getting their revenge. It's another glimpse into the world of EOs, a time jump with the same jumps back in time that happened in the first book. I think that the best part of it all is that you don't know whose side to be on. 

They're both killers and they're both bad people. They've just been through so much at this point that I just feel bad for them. The more I saw of Eli's past, the more that I could justify what he was doing. Not that I can justify it at all, it just made me confused because like, he had a point. I think it's a mark of good characterization and an interesting plot that it's so difficult to take sides. There were times when I was bored and confused with the timeline of it all but it was the main characters that kept me coming back.

The ending confused me a lot. I understood it I just didn't like it because it left too many things open. It looks like there could be more books in the future but it felt so incredibly open-ended. Some things were resolved with a degree of finality but other characters left us hanging completely. I'm excited to see if Schwab continues this universe cause I really just want more at this point.  

Book Review: Murder of Crows (The Others #2)

 

Murder of Crows

Anne Bishop

3/5

Another re-read because it's just so easy. These slow burn series are so easy to hate for how slow everything moves and yet you can't help but keep reading. I think it's totally justified how slow things are moving given Meg's backstory, simultaneously though I really want something else to happen. I also don't like how much Meg feels dumbed down, I know that's part of who she is, but I just hate the language of it all. 

This book is more about helping to deal with Meg's past rather than anything that Meg is doing currently. She keeps making prophecies but it feels like more of a side thing rather than the main story line. There might be too many side arcs going on because I feel like it really didn't focus on Meg's transition to regular life or her relationships with these side characters enough. 

It's about the same as I remember it, a fun series but a little weird and kind of slow at points. I don't know if I'll continue the reread just because it can get so slow at times. If you like urban fantasy though I think this series is a must-read.

Book Review: Phoenix and Ashes (Elemental Masters #3)

 

Phoenix and Ashes

Mercedes Lackey

4/5

I once again started on the third book in a series without knowing that it was the third book. That's okay though, I think that these can easily be read as standalones. Kind of urban fantasy? I'm not entirely sure where to place this, like historical fantasy fiction? It's also a fairy tale retelling, so once again there is a lot going on here. 

Eleanor was set to be one of the first females to attend Oxford, though they aren't yet handing out degrees to women. Then her father married an evil woman and World War I happened. Suddenly, her father is dead and her stepmother cuts off her finger to bind her forever to servitude. It's a harsh and hopeless life, she isn't allowed to go against any of her stepmother's commands and works till she collapses of exhaustion for years without end. 

Reggie is an Air Master and flew planes against the Germans until another Air Master took him out of the sky and he was captured beneath the earth for days. I'm not really sure what the age difference is between him and Eleanor, I think he's a couple years older but he already attended Oxford for a couple years. He and Eleanor meet again after years without seeing each other and are able to speak clearer than they have with anyone else. It's all about dealing with her super powerful stepmother from there on out. 

I really liked it, especially the base story line. There's just something so interesting about fairy tales told with more modern context yet with the same amount of magic. I loved it and I loved the characters. I do wish they had had more face-to-face conversations before they decided they were in love. But I think that was validated with the ending, not too fast for that period or even compared to some of the books that come out today. It's not incredibly original because it keeps so many of the elements of Cinderella, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend for sure.

Book Review: Written in Red (The Others #1)

 

Written in Red

3/5

Anne Bishop

I'm bored so I'm doing re-reads. I don't feel like enough new material has been released this year so I'm really just out here spending hours trying to figure out what to read. Anyways, I read this one initially a couple of years ago and my rating kind of stands. I remember it getting better, but this one is just a little weird. I don't think that I could ever explain this to someone who hadn't read it because I don't think they would understand the intricacies of the universe and they would just find it super strange. 

Meg is a cassandra sangue, prophecies are in her blood and if she cuts her skin then those prophecies emerge. So that's a warning if any kind of cutting is your trigger, it does happen here pretty frequently as it is pretty integral to the plot. That being said, I think that it's well-established that it's an addiction and that she's trying to control it. I think it's an original idea, I've never seen anything like it before and it kind of stuck with me as something specific to this series even years after reading it. 

I think that the names for things could be a little more original. This is an adult book and yet we're calling people Bigwig and there's a place called Sparkletown. It's like she decided to use the same names for everything but decided to change them slightly by dumbing them down. It's kind of reflective of the main character, one of her traits as a cassandra sangue is her "innocence" that exists to protect her from the intensity of prophecy. I wish that could be explained a little more because it feels like a cop out. 

All in all, it's a pretty interesting read. Re-reading it is fun but just makes me remember how angry I was when Bishop decided to continue the series away from Meg and Simon. I think that they're great characters that really reflect the shortcomings of one another and that they kind of got abandoned. Their build-up in this one is good though.