I had so much fun doing the NEWTs readathon in August. I managed to read a good number of books and comics. Many of the books were sequels Ive been meaning to get to for a while. I have full reviews for lots of them up on this blog, but I'll share my brief thoughts in this wrap up starting with my least enjoyed to my absolute favorite.
Containment
Rating: 3 Stars
Publication: August 6th, 2019
Sanctuary #2
Genre: YA Scifi
Format: Egalley
Diversity: Not Sure
I personally prefer reading from a more confident point of view over one riddled with self doubt which tends to keep me detached. A lot of Kenzies survival was due to luck and outside forces more than her own planning, but she is brave and determined. Most of the time I felt indifferent towards the romance, but we dont spend much time on it. I did like the friendships she had with the former prisoners and the overall group dynamics. Each of the side characters had their own personalities and history. The little snippets of the aliens communicating gave an exciting sense of danger. On top of evading the corporations the group was also trying to prevent aliens from finding them and killing off humanity so theres high stakes and a good amount of action. The world was similar to many other dystopians with many people being brain washed while a few fight back.
Last Hope
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Publication: August 13th, 2019
The Raging Ones #2
Genre: YA Scifi Romance
Format: Egalley
Diversity: LGBT+ MC
Cold and calculating Court only lets a chosen few close to him and his boyfriend Mykal is one of them. Mykals warmth and positivity was the perfect balance to Courts reserved personality. The two end up having their senses and emotions linked with Franny who they end up growing very close to. We also get a chapter from Storks perspective after he helps them escape prison in the hopes they will follow him on a dangerous mission to save earth. Zimmer was my favorite side character, but we dont get to know the other ones that well. I liked how we start to unravel the mysteries of their past, but the action took a while to get started so its the relationships that kept me engaged. I felt the characters frustration at not receiving any info unless their mission was successful, especially since it hinges on a myth they found in some old book that might not even be accurate. They put way too much faith in the author knowning a powerful baby would be on a specific planet at this very convenient moment. It definitely required some suspension of disbelief. The death day reader and how everyone was seperated into different classes based on their death day was an interesting part of the world.
Serpent & Dove
Rating: 4 Stars
Publication: September 3rd, 2019
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Format: Egalley
Diversity: LGBT+ SC
I loved Lous independent and sassy personality. Shes selfish at times and not above manipulating others to get her way, but all these flaws just made me love her even more. Her best friend Coco was a queer blood witch with an abundance of swagger and loyality. Lou also becomes close with a witch hunter trainee named Ansel who I absolutely adored. Im glad we got to follow Lous new husband as the second point of view because it helped me empathize with his situation. I really enjoyed their hate to love dynamic. The fact that Lou is experienced while Reid is not was a nice change. Having Lou keep her identity as a witch a secret from her husband added a lot of great tension. The plot also focuses on the witches hunting down Lou to use her in their plans to destroy the crown and the witch hunters. I liked how no side was blameless. The french dialogue, snowy christmas time atmosphere and food descriptions were amazing. This fantasy romance had an interesting magic system with the subjective and nuanced ways witches offer a cost of equal value for each spell they cast. We also hear of different creatures like werewolves and goblins. Not to mention that hilarious bar song I cant get out of my head.
House of Rage and Sorrow
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Publication: September 17th, 2019
A Spark of White of Fire #2
Genre: YA Scifi Fantasy
Format: Egalley
Diversity: PoC MC, LGBT+ SC
Esmae decent into darkness has cemented her as one of my favorite characters. I loved her sharp mind and strategizing. Full of rage and pain shes determined to destroy the people who betrayed and I loved that drive for vengeance. I loved her ship Titanias chapters and her relationship with Esmae. The amount of secrets she possesses made her chapters very intriguing. Esmaes strained relationship with her family is the main focus, but theres also some cute romance and great friendships. I loved how Max fully accepted Esmaes darkness and was thrilled to see Esmaes two closest female friends develop feelings for each other. I really enjoyed the immersive storytelling with all its twists and turns. It was high stakes the entire time and despite the gripping pace the characters felt real. I loved the world inspired by ancient Indian stories with its meddling gods, shapeshifting demons, spaceship kingdoms, and star devouring beast. The scifi elements dont have much logic behind them, but I still enjoyed the blend of fantasy and space. Overall this was a fantastic story with themes of family, love, grief, jealousy, betrayal, and vengeance.
Only Ashes Remain
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Publication: September 3rd, 2019
Not Even Bones #2
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
Format: ARC
Diversity: PoC MC
After the events of the first book all Nita has her identity plastered all over the dark web which means the black market wont stop hunting her unless she gives herself such a terrifying reputation that no one will dare cross her. We get to see her struggle to come to terms with her decisions and the monster shes becoming. She often wishes for a scapel and a dead body to dissect to deal with her stress and social anxiety. Once in Toronto, she decides to team up with Kovit, the pain eating zannie she met in the first book. These two dark and twisted character were perfect for each other. The plot was intense and high stakes with Nita being hunted and doing some hunting of her own. I really enjoyed her strategizing on how to avoid capture, stop the hunters, and get her revenge. The world is just like our own, but with a whole bunch of different types of fascinating paranormal creatures based on all kinds of mythologies. I enjoyed this sequel even more than the first book.
Shattered
Rating: 5 Stars
Publication: June 17th, 2014
Iron Druid Chronicles #7
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Format: Audiobook
Diversity: Not Sure
Atticus is trying to figure out which fae is trying to assassinate him all the while preparing for Lokis inevitable mischief. Atticus and Granuaile spend a good amount of this book apart in this book. Both storylines were great, but Granuailes hit me the hardest. I rarely cry while reading, but Granuailes reunion and her dogs trying to comfort her had some serious tears rolling down my face. Her meeting with some ice giants in the Himalayas was awesome. The archdruid who trained Atticus also gets some chapters and I really enjoyed his character. Seeing Owen trying to acclimate to our world aftee being frozen in time for 2000 years was really funny. Oberon was a joy as always, especially now that he has a companion.
Staked
Rating: 5 Stars
Publication: January 26th, 2016
Iron Druid Chronicles #8
Genre: Adult Fantasy
Format: Audiobook
Diversity: Not Sure
As the title suggest this installement has some nasty vampires that require some staking. I really enjoyed Owen storyline with the new romance and the new druid apprentices. Atticus keeps losing friends as trouble seems to follow him wherever he goes. I love how this world includes all kinds of mythologies and religions. Ive always thought they were all true in their own way so its nice to read about a world that includes all of them. Granuaile seeks help from a coven of witches and agrees to help them find a mythical horse that can determine the outcome of war. I plan on picking up the last book as soon as I catch up with the novellas which will hopefully be before the end of the year. The audiobooks are super quick to get through and the narrator does an amazing job bringing the characters to life. Ill be sad to see the series end.
Shadows Between Us
Rating: 5 Stars
Publication: February 25th, 2020
Genre: Standalone YA Fantasy
Format: Egalley
Diversity: LGBT+ SC
I rarely love a main character as much as I loved Alessandra. Confident female characters who know what they want and how to get it just really do it for me. Alessandra wants to get the elusive young king to marry her so she can kill him and rule in his place. The assassin trying to murder him will just have to get in line. The dynamic between Alessandra and the King was perfect and I couldnt have asked for a better slytherin romance. Shes amazing at reading others which is a skill I admire, but I think shes met her match in the king. On top of being ambitious and cunning she has an incredible eye for fashion. She designs her own dresses and even sows some of them. I also loved the friendships she makes once shes at the castle. Despite her best efforts two ladies at court start to grow on her. She even makes friends with some of the men which was really nice.
📚📚📚📚📚
Short Works:
Kaibab Unbound
Publication: 2011
Iron Druid 0.6
Rating: 3.5 Stars
The main reason I gave this a lower rating than the rest of the series is because it isnt very long and most of it is spent explaining the world and the characters. I dont believe anyone who isnt already a fan of the series would pick this up so that info felt unnecessarily repetitive. Even if it was meant as an introduction to the series I still wish we got more of the adventure because I enjoyed his encounter with the wicthes. The actual story isnt really important to the main series unless you're looking for an example of why Atticus distrust witches so much. Its not as good as the rest of the series, but anytime spent with Atticus and Oberon is a fun time.
Death and Night
Publication: May 2nd, 2017
Star Touched Queen 0.5
Rating: 5 Stars
Id been meaning to pick up this novella ever since I finished the Star Touched Queen duology. I was dying to know the history between the two main characters and how everything went so wrong. It made me love their relationship so much more. They really are perfect for each other. I also enjoyed seeing the antagonist before they became evil. It helped me understand why the main character was so drawn to them. Another element I enjoyed learning about was how the main character sold dream fruit in exchange for peoples stories at the market. The atmosphere and writing was just as stunning as the rest of the duology.
📚📚📚📚📚
Graphic Novels:
Bloodlust and Bonnets
Publication: September 17th, 2019
Rating: 2.5 Stars
It took me a while to get into this graphic novel. The characters did eventually grow on me, but they were too tropy for me to really connect. I know the use of tropes was intentional, but it didnt work for me. The story starts very abruptly with no backstory to Lucys character. Where did she come from and why was she there? The two characters we are first introduced to felt like they had more history than we were shown. Lord Byron seemed to be under the impression that he was a couple with Lucy, but I never saw how he came to that conclusion. Eventually I found the absurdness of the plot and the characters kind of funny and entertaining, but the faceless type of art style wasnt for me. I prefer seeing the characters facial expressions and not just their unibrow and tiny mole eyes. It also felt way longer than it needed to be and it just wasnt what I was expecting.
Kriss: The Gift Of Wrath
Publication: September 17th, 2019
Rating: 3 Stars
I liked how the art style matched the dark and brutal story, but the flow of the pannels and huge time gaps were a little confusing. The world and the wrath spirit werent explained all that well. I feel like a lot of elements needed to be more flushed out. I do love anything carnival related so those scenes were probably my favorite. Kriss is pretty miserable and I dont really enjoy following those kinds of characters. He's also felt very indecisive and without direction. I didnt understand his relationship with Anja. They seemed close at first, but that quickly faded. I wasnt getting those friendship scenes I wanted, but he also wasnt going after his destiny so the whole graphic novel felt very unproductive. The most Kriss did was learn how to forge from Anja father. I really would have liked more from either their relationship or him pursuing his goals. Thankfully there was an interesting rivalry between Kriss and Anja brother that helped keep me engaged
Natty
Publication: June 20th, 2017
Rating: 3.5 Stars
The synopsis sums up the entire first volume, except it ends before we see Sami get captured. I think it would have been more exciting had there been less information in the summary. I liked the concept of the plant inspired characters living in what seems to be a garden setting where the people at the top flourish in the sunlight and the ones hidden away in shadows at the bottom wither away. I would have liked more world building, especially about how the animal suitors fit into this world. After reading the summary for the second and final volume I know exactly how everything will play out so the only reasons Id pick it up would be for the cute art style and more of Natty and Samis interactions. Sami was really sweet and Id like to see his relationship with the Princess develop. I also loved Nattys cow companion and the big sacred bug she encounters. Her parents on the other hand were confusing. I couldnt tell if they wanted her back just so she would take her life to prevent a war after turning down her suitors or if they meant to protect her.
Lumberjanes Vol. 3
Publication: April 5th, 2016
Rating: 4 Stars
Even though I didnt enjoy this third volume as much as volume 2 I see great potential for future volumes to become some of my favorites. Ive really fallen in love with the characters and the camp setting. The scary stories right at the beginning had me put this down a couple times before I finally decided to just read it. I think it was the different art style and cramped writing that put me off, but even once pass that the story was lacking a little bit. Only two of the characters really get to go on an adventure while the others are literally just trying to get these boring scout badges. It was nice to see those two characters get some time together so we could explore their romance and the old bear woman was really funny but I would have liked the volume better had the other characters done something more exciting. Im still hoping to pick up the fourth volume very soon.
Exorsisters
Publication: April 30th, 2019
Rating: 4 Stars
This was such a pleasant surprise. I just randomly decided to pick it up and Im so glad I did because it totally gave me the supernatural vibes I was craving. I thought it was pretty awesome how the two main characters were connected and how different they were from one another. They run this agency that investigates paranormal disappearances and disturbances which often leads them to hell in order to retrieve lost souls. That part was super fun on its own, but what I wasnt totally invested in was the whole evil shadow taking over. Dont get me wrong it was still entertaining and Ill totally pick up second volume as soon as it comes out, but I probably would have loved it more had it mainly focused on solving different paranormal cases.
Mooncakes
Publication: October 15th, 2019
Rating: 5 Stars
This was such an adorable graphic novel with the cutesy type of art style that I love so much. It had some fun paranormal elements like witches, werewolves and demons along with the small town and bookstore setting that I love. We get a sweet queer romance between the female main character and a nonbinary crush from her childhood. Then theres the wonderful female friendship and family relationships. The main characters two demon slaying grandmothers were awesome. I also appreciated the hearing impaired representation with the main character having hearing aids. On top of all that we get an interesting plot with the myserious demon loose in a nearby forest.
📚📚📚📚📚
Stats:
Total Pages: 3339 (Without Comics)
Adult Books: 2
Completed Series: 2
Diverse Books: 3
Novellas: 2
Audiobooks: 3
Graphic Novels: 6
ARC: 6 + 4 Comics
Readathons:
- NEWTs Readathon
- Fantasy JourneyAThon
Genres:
Fantasy: 4
Scifi/Dystopian: 3
Historical: 0
Thriller/Mystery/Horror: 1
Contemporary: 0
No comments:
Post a Comment