Wednesday, August 30, 2023

The Cup and The Prince by Day Leitao - Kingdom of Curses and Shadows #1 : Book Review (No spoilers)


My rating:
 ⭐

This was one of the worst books I've ever read. The writing in it was terrible- it read more like an 8-year-old's first draft of a reluctant essay than a YA book. There was no flow to anything, and the characters kept showing up in random places. Half the time I had no idea what was going on- I kept reading hoping things would eventually make sense, but they never did. It was difficult to picture the scenes or the characters, and the author seemed determined to make us as confused as Zoya probably was. Most events like balls and competitions weren't adequately described and read like a fuzzy dream somebody was narrating a decade after having it. Even if the book had to be from the point of view of a stupid person, it could've benefitted from giving her at least a little capacity for observation.

Most of the things in their Dark Valley were hilarious. The fact that shadow "balls" and shadow humans "spawned" under buckets and clothes had me laughing from the first page itself. The entire thing was ridiculous and didn't feel thought out. Zumba tried to throw out some mentions about how their beds didn't have shadows under them and that nobody wore loose clothes, but none of it was very convincing. It doesn't seem possible to pack absolutely all objects so tightly that there isn't even a little dark space between them. True, Zara did say that carelessness led to shadow guys spawning (still hilarious) sometimes, but wouldn't any sort of construction naturally have dark places in it? I can think of cupboards, dustbins, ovens- even toilets?- as some places which you can't perpetually illuminate.

Besides Zebra's stupidity, she was also not great at, well, anything. She was pretending to be the "champion of the Dark Valley" or some other chosen one nonsense, but I don't see how anybody believed her. We were just expected to assume that all the guards were so scared and sleep-deprived and constipated that they didn't bother looking at her too closely. She also cried way too much, and I while have nothing against crying, she teared up every other page? She saw acrobats and started weeping? She also got offended by everyone and everything and I didn't have the patience to read about how she looked at the ground each time a man told her how incapable she was.

The world-building was also non-existent. A few places like Gravel and the Marshes were named, but we weren't really told anything about them. Every time the author tried to pretend that something was serious and important, she ended up ignoring that plot point halfway. Zoma had made a huge deal out of the Dark Valley people being somehow responsible for creating the shadow creatures, but we did not get any other mentions or explanations later. The same thing goes for the competition, in which the challenges were expected to be life-threatening and intense, but all they did was climb ladders and collect rocks.

Zeba was said to be extremely desirous of the Blood Cup, but nobody had any idea what it was, or how it was going to help. I did not feel very involved or interested in the story, for the simple reason that she herself didn't either. She casually narrated getting shot by arrows and kissing people and being cheated on and killing lions, and none of it felt realistic. Her life just was a random jumble of events, and she kept trying to convince us how harrowing and dramatic it was.

All the characters were idiots. They were also one-dimensional, by which I mostly mean that they had no personality other than being stupid. I don't understand how any of them helped to run a kingdom. Alegra was equally annoying, and not well-written. Everyone kept doing random things to attempt to create a story, but none of it came together. The competition for the Blood Cup had initially seemed interesting, but the writing made it fall through. I found I absolutely did not care about anything or anyone, and all the terribly written sentences got under my skin.

Zinta also kept randomly talking to herself, and it was very off-putting. Not only did she pay zero attention to her surroundings, but at times she seemed confused by the things she'd done herself.

"“Indeed.” She had a cup with red juice and lifted it. “Cheers.”"

I don't get how she just happens to "have" a cup with red juice in it. Wasn't she the one who'd picked it up after entering the party or whatever? Couldn't the author have deigned to flip back two pages and add a line specifying how she acquired it?

I was ready to give up after reading half the book, but I continued because it was short and I wanted to know every single bad thing about it to put in my rant. I have too many highlighted sentences to put in a single review but I'll include some to prove my points.

"Zora wondered if he was right in the head, but decided not to argue. She could hide her emotions, so she smiled."

Let's all applaud Zeta for being capable enough to hide her emotions.

"“What a lovely group of friends,” a female voice said. Zora turned. Alegra was there. Her dress was dark blue contrasting with that awesome red hair."

Something about the way the author writes just gets on my nerves.

"All she could do from now on was avoid the king, not that it would be hard, as it wasn’t as if they were buddies or anything."
"A very tall champion with short black hair approached her. “So you can slay lions?” That was the opposite of what she had said. “No.” “Oh, you said you could. I can be wild like a lion, too. Raw.” He moved his hand as if it was a claw. What a weirdo. “Excuse me.” Zora got up and walked away."

I cannot stand awfully constructed sentences in books.

"He actually looked beautiful lying down with his eyes closed. No, what nonsense. That was a creepy thought, Zora. She put her arm under his head."

How does any part of this match up with any of the other sentences?

"“Sorry, I gave you the wrong bottle, this one is the super amazing wine.”
She put the bottle with the precision potion on his hand. He drank it. And spat it.
“No, no,” Zora said. “Drink it.”
“Not wine.”
“Of course it’s wine. You must have lost your taste or something.”
What nonsense she was saying. Still, he drank it and grimaced. “Worst wine ever.”"

I realise I am putting in too many of these but I can't stop.

Also, a lot of sentences were just wrong?

"She gave her back to him and stopped as if looking at something over his drawer chest. She then turned."
"She wasn’t that strong in her arms."
"She could barely breathe, so afraid she was."
"“Your highness wanted to see me?” She said as she sat. Tum, tum, tum, her heart was so loud, she hoped he couldn’t hear it."
"All I know how to do are potions, and between the time they picked my horse and when I mounted it, there wouldn’t have been time to give it to it."
"Yay, how awesome it was to have someone telling her where and when she could go. What a situation."
"I didn’t face a freaking lion and got an arrow on my shoulder and cuts on my arms for you to waste your life."
"Any other person wouldn’t manage to still look good with such a bump."

I would love to make this book into a movie so that I could act out all the over-dramatic and senseless scenes.

"Zora just stared at him. “You’d better leave the cry-creation for me. Your stuff is dreadful.”
“It’s horrible. Do you think I like it?” He crossed his arms and yelled, “What’s wrong with you?”"
"She stood near him and ran her hand on his arm. “Well, I don’t want to antagonize you.”"
"Griffin took her hands in his and was tired of this game."

I will stop here and I am tired of this review.

In hindsight, I appear to have been very agitated when I wrote this, so I apologize for how passive-aggressive I sounded. But if you made it this far, you probably didn't mind. 

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - Book Review


Summary:

"Since its immediate success in 1813, Pride and Prejudice has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work "her own darling child" and its vivacious heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, "as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. And Jane Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England."

My review:

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

This has to be one of the most well-written books I've ever read, and if I could write like this I would never stop. I've always thought of classics as slow, dreary, plotless, and having nothing that could make me enjoy them. And though I have stuck to that opinion when it came to most of them, Pride and Prejudice proved to be very enjoyable to read. I always feel highly unqualified to review classics, but here are some of my thoughts anyway.


The characters were such as we can see around us even today- the pompous self-assuming relations, nosy neighbours, and sisters and friends to confide everything in. Elizabeth's relationships with everyone were brought out well, as were her thoughts on any matter. The cause of fixedness or alteration of any of her emotions made sense to the reader. She was the main character, yet not every part of the story was about her, and I liked that the whole family was central to the storyline. Her and Mr. Darcy's story began after almost half the book, though they had met before, and I liked how he was in and out of her thoughts the whole time.

The author always accounted for all the characters, which I liked, since it would have been so easy to just skip over Mary or Catherine, or let some characters fade into the background after their part was over. But she kept the entire society involved in the story, if only when the family received letters or an occasional visit from them. The climax of the book was written nicely, and all loose ends were tied up. I would have liked to read more conversations between Darcy and Elizabeth, like the one written at the end. Though there wasn't much interaction between Jane and Bingley that Elizabeth was a part of, their love for each other was shown well through her observations.

Though I had found the long-winded sentences a chore to read, I ended up really liking them. The author expressed all her thoughts with great clarity, and it was easy to understand exactly what she wanted to say. I had not thought it was possible to put some of those specific feelings into words, but the author managed to make each character speak precisely what was on their mind, and still make it concise. At first, I had started marking the sentences I liked, but soon I felt like I would end up highlighting the whole book.

The part about Lydia and Wickham bored me for as long as it went on. I understand its prominence in the story- to show Lydia's folly that Darcy spoke of, to add the "disadvantageous connection" of Wickham to their family, prove Darcy's love for Elizabeth, and simply as a plot twist- but I couldn't help be impatient for Elizabeth's story to progress. There were pages and pages about Lydia, whose presence or absence I couldn't bring myself to care about, which were perhaps the only part I didn't enjoy.

This book gave a thorough and well-expressed picture of their lives at that time, and I can see why it is called a classic. Though I doubt I will pick up any other one soon, I am glad I decided to give this one a try.

The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine - The Ravenspire #1 : Book Review (No spoilers)


Summary:

"Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose."

My review:

⭐⭐⭐

The summary of this book made it sound like the most generic YA fantasy ever, and that's what it delivered. A princess fighting for her kingdom with her ragtag group of supporters, and an enemy King to fall in love with. The story itself wasn't terrible, but the writing was what put me off. The plot and characters felt very cliche, and I wouldn't recommend it if you're looking for something unique.

As someone who has tried and failed to write book-length stories, I can appreciate how many sides there are to it. Even if the story is nice, the book can have bad pacing, stunted dialogues, flat characters, or a lack of world-building, and unfortunately, this book had all those problems. The sentences were wordy and confusing, and the dialogue didn't feel realistic. There wasn't an effortlessness to the writing, which also made it an effort to read.

The magical spells were awkwardly worded, with the magic itself being haphazard and unexplained throughout the book. I did not have the patience to read any of those long, slightly Russian-sounding names tossed in with characters named Leo and Gabril. There were shapeshifters and fae casually involved, though overall the land didn't seem to have much magic. It was a fantasy book without the fantasy part adequately connected to the rest of the story. The plot was centered around Lorelai's magic, but the other supernatural elements such as the dragons and their powers were sidelined.

The inconsequential action scenes didn't make much sense and only added to the tediousness of the book. Lorelai kicking off walls and somersaulting through the air hardly led to anything, as ultimately all the battles were fought with her magic. I didn't understand the extent and limits of her powers either, as I always felt she could've just sent an earthquake to the palace and made the earth swallow Irina, instead of creating all this drama. 

The fact that the person's name had to rhyme with the spell was inexplicably funny, because what if someone had a long name that didn't conveniently rhyme with 'scry'? "Mirror mirror I like stew. Also, show me where's Bartholomew"?

The story was sped up in all the wrong places. I don't remember much of the climax or major events, just Lorelai tromping through forests. I hardly understood where she was heading, or what her great aims in life were. The author seemed to have an idea of the basic storyline, but the rest of it was just repetitive scenes of them getting attacked by random things.

I liked that the author came up with her own magic spells. I had thought it was mostly random words, but there was a glossary at the end, which helped the book make more sense. Some of the dialogue was nice, but most of it got hidden by the overly-lengthy sentences. The characters or lands weren't developed much, and the book wasn't very deep or thorough. Ultimately, though I enjoyed the overall plot, I wouldn't necessarily call it a must-read. You aren't missing out on much even if you skip this one.

Thank you for reading my review!

Thursday, March 23, 2023

The Blood of Stars by Elizabeth Lim - Book Review (No spoilers)

 


3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐✨

The Blood of Stars is a duology consisting of books titled Spin the Dawn and Unravel the Dusk. They narrate the story of a tailor, Maia Tamarin, who has always dreamed of becoming the emperor's seamstress. She gets chosen to be one of twelve tailors competing for the job, and moves to the imperial palace, where she meets Edan, the royal enchanter. Princess Sarnai, the King's bride-to-be, demands three dresses be spun- from the sun, moon, and stars, and Maia travels across the land to complete these tasks. The books are woven with Chinese culture, magic, demons, and fast-paced adventure.

These books read like a children's story, though they are expected to be a young adult series. At times this was a good thing, because the story progressed quickly, without any detours. The plot was interesting and fast-paced, without delving into character development or world-building. However, this also made some parts very underwhelming. The magic was explained very simply, as were everyone's pasts and histories. Everything was stated in a straightforward and factual manner which, in a way, made it less interesting. Though I usually enjoy books that focus solely on plot development, I had expected this story to be more complex which it did not deliver.

The basic plot had an intriguing concept, and I enjoyed reading a book involving Chinese culture. The author did not describe many sights or people, choosing to tell us more about the setting as and when the plot required. I would have liked for her to tell us more about the scenes, as they felt very plain without any background to picture them against. The characters' movements were extremely confusing, and a lot of the time during their journey, I couldn't tell if they were walking, resting, or riding their horses. The frequency of these inconsistencies made them very off-putting. The simplicity of the writing also bothered me sometimes, as it felt more like a factual narration than a novel.

I had thought there would be more to Maia's quest to complete the seemingly impossible tasks, but they were unsatisfyingly simple. Her journey to faraway mountains and unbearable deserts had sounded exciting, but ultimately her problems boiled down to feeling too hot or being hungry. Her fights with wolves and demons felt unrealistically simple. Even her use of the magic scissors felt random and unexplained. Though I understand that the author couldn't get into details of a fictional object's working, I couldn't figure out how waving the scissors around helped with her tasks. There seemed to be no definite limitations or hindrances to magic, and it seemed that simply possessing the scissors solved all her problems. Maybe I've just read so many of these books that they fail to entertain me anymore.

The competition wasn't as exciting as I had hoped, but I enjoyed reading about it all the same. As I said before, the magic scissors made things easy for her, and all the tasks felt very basic and convenient. Since the story progressed very quickly, moving from one plot point to another, there wasn't much time given to developing relationships between characters other than her and Edan. A lot of the first book was spent on their journey, thus the book seemed to focus solely on their interactions. Maia felt more like a passive side character, as she never did anything to progress the story, only going along with the flow of events. Most parts were predictable, but I will say that the book never got boring, because of the pace.

The book engrossed me from the first page itself, and I enjoyed the overall story. Though the plot felt slightly generic at times, the series was well able to combine elements of fantasy with the art of spinning.

Friday, June 17, 2022

Bridgertons 1 to 5 by Julia Quinn - Book Review (No spoilers)



The books in order

1: The Duke And I
2: The Viscount Who Loved Me
3: An Offer From A Gentleman
4: Romancing Mister Bridgerton
5: To Sir Philip, With Love

My review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had picked up this series because I enjoyed the show, and though a lot of aspects were different, I liked it just as much. The fast pace of the books engrossed me right from the beginning. The characters' insults and banter were funny, and they did not hesitate to tease each other about the smallest of shortcomings. The author did not spend any time on world-building, but I didn't mind that. There were no sub-plots, and the side characters weren't given much importance either. All the books focused solely on developing the relationship between the two main characters. They were all short, quick reads with storylines similar to each other.

These books are set in the Regency Era in London, and though we are not told much about the world, it's easy to imagine most aspects. Though I would have liked to read more scenes set in their society as a whole, the Bridgerton family scenes were funny, so I didn't mind those either. The author does not introduce many new characters along the way, and only the Bridgerton family and their spouses are given importance. 

All the characters were well-developed and seemed to have unique, constant personalities. Since there was hardly any plot, the author had plenty of time- even in such short books- to provide the characters separate dispositions. The Bridgerton siblings each had one exaggerated characteristic that the author brought out through their dialogue and actions. All of them indignantly argued their point of view and had a competitive streak that made their disagreements entertaining to read. Their same-but-different behaviours clashed chaotically against each other, and accurately portrayed them as the unruly brood their mother accused them of being. The brothers were overly protective of the girls, and often tried and failed to keep them in line. 

While their protectiveness was written off as something added to make the books funnier, the overbearing attitude of all the male characters got on my nerves. Perhaps the author was only trying to recreate society in Regency England, but I couldn't consider any of them as kind-hearted gentlemen when they sometimes treated their wives harshly. They were all short-tempered and considered themselves superior to women. I don't judge the author for writing them this way, but perhaps if they had been more likeable, so would have been the entire book series.

The fourth book had some plot, regarding the identity of Lady Whistledown. I'd spoiled that for myself by watching the television series before, but apart from that, there isn't much to any of the stories. These are good romance books, centred around the characters, though I wouldn't recommend them to somebody looking for books with a nice plot. Something about them made me want to get into the next book as soon I'd finished the last, but I decided to stop after reading the first five as the story had started to get too similar. I am not very invested in the lives of the younger siblings either, but will perhaps return to their stories after a while.

Thunderhead : Arc of a Scythe #2 by Neal Shusterman - Book Review (No spoilers)



Summary

"Rowan has gone rogue, and has taken it upon himself to put the Scythedom through a trial by fire. Literally. In the year since Winter Conclave, he has gone off-grid, and has been striking out against corrupt scythes—not only in MidMerica, but across the entire continent. He is a dark folk hero now—“Scythe Lucifer”—a vigilante taking down corrupt scythes in flames.

Citra, now a junior scythe under Scythe Curie, sees the corruption and wants to help change it from the inside out, but is thwarted at every turn, and threatened by the “new order” scythes. Realizing she cannot do this alone—or even with the help of Scythe Curie and Faraday, she does the unthinkable, and risks being “deadish” so she can communicate with the Thunderhead—the only being on earth wise enough to solve the dire problems of a perfect world."

My review

⭐⭐⭐

I'm not sure how to review this book. I took almost three months to finish it and read plenty of books to avoid returning to this one. But whenever I started reading it, I got engrossed in the story, and enjoyed discovering more about the world. This author writes well, and I like how he draws comparisons and finds ironies in the oddest places. The author's imagination and world-building make this series fun to read.

This book expands on the idea of corruption among the most powerful people even in their "perfect" world, where the scythes have been divided into the 'new order' and the 'old guard'. The plot was creative, and the author showed the activity on various levels of influence, from Rowan, who was a fugitive, to High Blade Xenocrates. The beginning of this book was lacking in action, and I was bored during most of the irrelevant chapters. This book is long enough for the unnecessary information to have been cut out, and would have been better for it. I slogged through the first half for two months, not wanting to suffer that torture nor give up on this promising series.

The second half was very exciting, though, and it made me want to read the next book. I cannot abandon this story now, without finding out what ultimately happens to the characters. The story picked up the pace later, and actual events began happening, rather than. . . whatever was happening in the beginning. I cannot speak for the actual incidents in the first half, because I don't remember them anymore. The character of Greyson Tolliver bored me to death, as I didn't care for the unfortunate events happening in his unrelated life.

There wasn't any character or world-building in this instalment that stood out to me. The world was sufficiently developed in the first book, and we already had enough information to know how basic things function. There is talk of hidden mystical places, and finding secret islands, but the principal setting remains identical. The characters too, were the same as before, with a few friendships blossoming, though without deep dives into anybody's personality. I didn't mind the characters being slightly bland as long as the story proceeded, because I prefer plot-driven books to character-centred ones.

The parts said to be written by the Thunderhead were tedious, and I skipped all of them. Perhaps they were required to better understand how it functioned, but I could not help turning to the next chapter when all it talked about was its greatness and universal existence and importance to humanity and so on. The Thunderhead was also overly commended in the first book, and that made me somehow resent it, even though it is just an exalted internet from a book series.

The romance here didn't make much sense, as there was nothing really going on between the two characters, though they are said to care deeply for each other. I'm not even sure if theirs is a romance or an acquaintance, seeing as they hardly spend any time together. After every few chapters, they thought about how much they wanted to meet the other person, but didn't spare them any other thought. I know that it would've been unrealistic for them to meet often while Rowan was in hiding, but they could've found a way to communicate, if their world was so technologically advanced.

Overall, though I enjoyed the book, I took way too long to get through it. The multiple POVs and creativity on the author's part added some depth to it, though the characters and romance remained largely undeveloped. There weren't many unexpected plot twists during the course of the book, but I hadn't expected it to end the way it did, and that added some excitement. I will be reading the third book soon. Thank you for reading my review!

Monday, March 21, 2022

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher - Book Review (No spoilers)



Summary-

"You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.


Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.

Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah’s pain, and as he follows Hannah’s recorded words throughout his town, what he discovers changes his life forever."

My review-

4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thirteen Reasons Why is the story of how Hannah Baker's life slowly falls apart, day by day, person by person. In a way, it's about how she lets it fall apart. It's narrated by her through thirteen audiotapes, passed around to everyone who made a difference in her life.

I read the whole book in one evening, which is nice considering how the entire action happens in one night too. Not Hannah's story- that takes place over a couple of years- but Clay listening to the audiotapes as he follows her map around town. Like him, her story kept me hooked too, and I was waiting for his name to come, and to see what part he'd played in her life.

It's a slightly haunting story, and not because it's gross or gory or creepy. It reminds us of how little things we do can have a big impact on someone's life. This book focuses on the snowball effect, with small events piling on top of each other, and rolling into a huge ball of destruction. Self-destruction, in Hannah's case. Everything affects different people differently. Hannah says she had contemplated taking her life many times, after each little event. And after people piled on it, knowingly or unknowingly, she finally did.

I'd expected this book to be darker and more philosophical, but it was actually put quite simply. The writing was very plain, and that put me off in the beginning, but later I realised that it made the book very easy and addicting to read.

At first, the lines of Clay's POV interspersed with the tapes were annoying, as I wanted a continuous narration of her story. Later, I liked that they were mixed in with the tapes, as he provided us background information for some of the events, and helped in connecting the dots. His random thoughts as he listened to Hannah's story also made it feel very real.

It was sad to see how Hannah let everything affect her so deeply. I, and the other characters, sometimes thought the thirteen reasons were not enough for taking her own life. Everyone does stupid things in high school, and if she had only kept away from the people she knew would hurt her, and gotten help, she could've turned her life around. In the end, she admits that she let a few of the reasons happen since she had given in already.

I felt the book could have focused a little bit more on the other options she had, like not taking her life. Instead, it glamourized certain aspects of a suicidal person, like how she pushed Clay away despite the mutual liking, the audiotapes mysteriously showing up on people's doorsteps, and giving her bike away to Tony because she thought she could trust him with it. The plot was interesting, though, and I found myself excited to find out what the next reason was going to be.

The thirteen were all interconnected somehow- the snowball effect again- and all of them linked together was what made her give up in the end. I enjoyed the story, and the simple writing style made it a quick read.
 

Sunday, March 13, 2022

The Kiss of Deception : The Remnant Chronicles #1 by Mary E. Pearson - Book Review


Summary

"In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighbouring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assassin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love."

My review

1.5 stars


Honestly, the love triangle warning should have been enough to keep me away. But I thought maybe it would be funny? I'm not sure what I had expected, but this was not it. I dislike love triangles- or whatever they're called- like those in Twilight, where the protagonist doesn't like one of the men, but I thought maybe this one would be better. It seems Infernal Devices has set my expectations too high.

This book had absolutely no plot. I know all authors make up stuff as they write, to some extent, but at least their books have a basic storyline, so things make sense. In this one, the author just did as she felt, without bothering about the repercussions, or seemingly knowing what she was going to do next. Random events happened, they had random consequences, and the story just went back to being nothing. I don't get how all those scenes were joined together and called a "book" because it certainly didn't feel like one.

Note: My review has a lot of spoilers. If you haven't read this book yet and plan to someday (though I would advise against it) I suggest you stop reading here.

I had expected the story to be something exciting, with Lia running away amidst her wedding preparations and finding herself in a tavern with two strangers and unlocking secrets and whatnot. Instead, she casually rides away with her maid, tells everyone of her identity, chops some onions, makes out with the most obvious guy, and then rides around again. I mean it when I say there is no story at all. Nothing happens in Berdie's tavern, and even more nothing happens after Kaden kidnaps her. When he finally tells her they're leaving the vagabond's camp to ride around again, she is so surprised she might as well have said 'Oh, you're here about the plot? I completely forgot my book was supposed to have a story lol.'

All the romance was just Lia falling in love with the tall, blue-eyed guy. The only time she flirted with Kaden, the second guy, was when she wanted to make Rafe jealous. The other leg of the love triangle stood only on Lia's Stockholm syndrome and some unnecessary kissing.

Lia

"I was a piece of cheese"

Out of context, but I couldn't have put it better myself.

Lia's personality is a collection of all the annoying, whiny, selfish female YA protagonists ever. She has no brains, no sense of responsibility, and all she can ever do is blame others for the effects of her own actions.

She runs away from her wedding, sparking attacks because of the broken alliance. People die. Who does she blame? The soldiers. She attacks some guy with her hands and her fingers bleed or something. Whose fault is it? That guy's. She leads two people on and they have this enmity thing going on because they both like her. It was partially their fault in this case, for having feelings for someone like her, but she couldn't make up her mind and wanted both so she hoped they would sort things out by themselves.

If I was supposed to be sympathetic to her plight, her character has been written all wrong. She is supposed to be a princess, yet doesn't know that innocents die in wars. When Kaden gives her this very obvious information, she wonders if he is deceiving her and telling her untruths to placate her. Somebody tells her the King's cabinet has other pressing matters to deal with, she asks, "Other trouble besides me?"

She runs away from the palace, and then complains about how "We aren’t all leading the regal life." Her "facility for languages" was just how she thinks it is hopeless, then "the letters seemed to move of their own accord right before my eyes, rearranging themselves into a pattern I could recognize. I blinked. It seemed obvious now." Wow, how convenient. I am hoping this is explained as her power or something later, so I won't complain about it too much.

And when she is lusting after the two hAnDsOmE lAdS, she claims "But there was more to how I felt than simple attraction."

Lia had her own share of not-like-the-others ness. She surprised people by telling them that she "had favoured swordplay over stitchery, backroom card games over music lessons." Kaden says "She wasn’t the delicate fleshy royal of their imaginations." which doesn't make sense because 1. She is a delicate fleshy royal and 2. That's reason enough.

She thinks she's doing a very great deed by returning to the palace, but there is so much wrong with that sentiment. If she really cared about her people or the innocents who she didn't know died in war, she would've married the "old stuffy, puffy prince" when she had the chance. Also, she only decided to return as and when it suited her, to stroke her own ego and pretend like she was saving the world.

Kaden

From the very beginning, Kaden's ✨uniqueness✨ was made crystal clear with sentences like "It was apparent very quickly, though, that Kaden was different." and "It was that same different I saw in Kaden when he first walked into the tavern." Somehow, he did not even have blue eyes? I did not know attractive men without blue eyes could exist; thank you so much Mary E Pearson for enlightening me with this information.

Even the way he and Lia kissed was so unique-

No, but seriously, I have never read such absolute trash in a book before. The two of them are randomly standing around when "a horse that had been grazing nearby suddenly charged at another horse." By some masterful play of fate, Kaden manages to pull her aside and they land on the ground with him on top of her? Sure, that is such a normal thing to happen when someone pulls another person out of the way of charging horses. And their position is such perfection that- "his elbows straddling my sides, his chest brushing mine, his face inches away." 

Yeah and then they kiss and whatever.

I really can't believe the author needed horses to make them kiss; I would've believed it more if he'd been the one to randomly charge at her, since he's so unique and all.

Such dumbness.

Stupid book.

Rafe

All this uniqueness on Kaden's part, however, only facilitated Rafe's cliche-ness. He not only had blue eyes and black hair, but he was also a very tall, very handsome prince with a loyal following and an ugly sidekick and excellent horse-riding and trail-tracking skills.

And of course, he was chef's-kiss attractive. His name alone made people swoon in their place. "I tried not to stare, but with his sleeves rolled up and his tan forearms flexing under the weight, I couldn’t look away." Me neither, Lia, me neither. Who had thought a single man could have so many nice qualities, and be so handsome at the same time? How did Rafe possibly manage it all? "Especially his unnerving blue eyes. They were fierce, like a warrior’s." Sure, I'm turning into a mush for his handsome, handsome man with blindingly blue eyes how do I express my adoration in words-

I HATE HIM SO MUCH

Enough sarcasm because I need to rant about some stuff. The author never made it clear whether the two of them were friends or enemies. They were obviously competing for Lia's love or whatever but they did everything together? They stayed in a loft and chatted away all night. Not to mention how "they both went off in search of the smoked venison that teased through the air" together or how "They both left to go back to the inn to bathe and change, promising to return soon."

And worst of all was "When their wrestling brought their faces within inches of each other, I saw their lips moving." Are their mouths twitching to kiss each other because 1. That is what it sounds like. and 2. That is what it is.

I mean, somebody make them a couple, right? Why do they need Lia when they have each other? That fight brought out the worst in both of them, which was surprising considering how I thought I couldn't possibly hate Rafe more. But this- "This time the spray flew higher, spattering Rafe’s chest. He rubbed the drops of mud in with his sweat." And then at the end, Lia has the audacity to say "I hoped that would be the end of the dirty games." I mean Lia, you- you started- you are the dirty game.

"I stumbled into his chest, tripping over rubble."

Please stop stumbling iNtO people's chests.

Just stop.

Please.

This might be getting too long and we both might have important things to do but I really need to mention how, at one point, the author started getting really creative with her names. What should we call the Morrighese book containing Holy Texts? The Morrighan Book of Holy Text. What should we name the place where Queen Venda lived? Venda. How do we incorporate Rafe into a royal name? His name is Rafferty.

The only time this book made me laugh was when Kaden said "Get down from your donkeys." because my sense of humour is broken from reading books like this and I will laugh at the most random sentences.

In conclusion, you might not want to read this book.

Friday, February 18, 2022

Mary, Bloody Mary : Young Royals #1 by Carolyn Meyer - Book Review (No spoilers)



"The story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary's rights to the throne. Believe it or not, it's all true. 

Told in the voice of the young Mary, this novel explores the history and intrigue of the dramatic rule of Henry VIII, his outrageous affair with and marriage to the bewitching Anne Boleyn, and the consequences of that relationship for his firstborn daughter. Carolyn Meyer has written a compassionate historical novel about love and loss, jealousy and fear - and a girl's struggle with forces far beyond her control."

3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

I liked this book more than I'd thought. The writing was simple and plain, but it presented the story in a straightforward way. The historical events were written clearly, and though the characters were filtered through the likes and dislikes of Mary, overall the story felt unbiased.


I'd wanted to read this book when I'd come across it a few years ago. I picked it up now out of pure interest, and though I do not read historical fiction much, I enjoyed this one and might get into the genre more.

The phrasing felt lacking in certain places. Some sentences were altogether too ordinary, and it felt more like an article or an essay than a book. The author did not do anything very special with the facts and only built a chronological story out of them. The world through Mary's eyes was imagined decently, albeit childishly. Her opinions did not change much as she grew older, and I thought some maturing could have been shown.

The writing was also confusing, because though narrated in the first person, it lacked emotions. Mary speaks as though recounting her childhood, but we do not get the sense that she has experienced all of it first-hand. Her opinions of everyone were very detached, and she felt barely anything in both happiness and grief.

The author skipped years in between because nothing historically important happened in Mary's life during that time. I liked that we did not have to read any extra content, but sometimes I was confused as to exactly how much time had passed. Perhaps the information is not available as to what happened during that time, and the author did not want to make up fictional events to fill the gaps.

The ending was very abrupt. We are told about Mary's reign in the Historical Facts given as the Epilogue of the book, but the narration from Mary's point of view came to an end quite suddenly. The story felt past-paced, but at the same time, nothing much was happening. I wasn't bored, though, and the book was short and enjoyable to read.

It is a good book for children to learn about the history of Mary Tudor.

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno - Book Review (No spoilers)


Summary

"Georgina Fernweh waits with growing impatience for the tingle of magic in her fingers—magic that has been passed down through every woman in her family. Her twin sister, Mary, already shows an ability to defy gravity. But with their eighteenth birthday looming at the end of this summer, Georgina fears her gift will never come.

No one on the island of By-the-Sea would ever call the Fernwehs what they really are, but if you need the odd bit of help—say, a sleeping aid concocted by moonlight—they are the ones to ask.

No one questions the weather, as moody and erratic as a summer storm.

No one questions the (allegedly) three-hundred-year-old bird who comes to roost on the island every year.

When tragedy strikes, what made the Fernweh women special suddenly casts them in suspicion. Over the course of her last summer on the island—a summer of storms, of love, of salt—Georgina will learn the truth about magic, in all its many forms."

My review

3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐✨

This book was very different from what I had expected it to be. I enjoyed reading it, but the writing style took some getting used to. I liked the second half of it, though.


The writing was rather informal, and I didn't mind that, but there were a lot of brackets and long winding sentences. It was written in the way people speak, and that sort of made sense because the book was narrated in first-person.

Some events were really weird and left me confused as to what exactly was happening there-

"She took a big swig and then handed it to me, shaking her head from side to side like a dog, with her tongue hanging out and everything."


There were also some inconsistencies in the writing. In the beginning, the author had made it clear that the girls' rooms did not have locks-

"She ignored me when I knocked on her door and even though our bedrooms didn’t have locks, I left her alone."


And yet, later somebody locks Mary's room?

"[The character] shut the door and locked it"


I also couldn't figure out which era they lived in. Sometimes it sounded like an old land, without telephones, but while leaving, Georgina promises to call?

The small island was described well enough, but some parts of it felt very unrealistic. All the girls had long hair, allegedly because their one hairdresser was hard to locate and she did not like cutting people's hair. I also didn't understand why they insisted on having a postman, and the boy living down the road had to post letters to Mary when it was less than a ten-minute walk to the girls' house.

There wasn't much character development either, but the book was short so it didn't matter. The narration style was similar throughout, and there were instances when you could see bits of Georgina's personality.

Mary felt like a distant presence in her life. The little things bothered me- Georgina saying Mary wore 'a' certain dress or 'a' pair trousers instead of the clothes sounding like something she'd seen before. I'm not saying Georgina has to have every piece of her sister's closet memorised, but occasional familiarity wouldn't have hurt. They didn't feel like they were close to each other, though they were supposed to be.

I hadn't expected much from the plot, and the book surprised me on that front. The story really picked up in the latter part, and it went from a usual seaside romance to something of a detective mystery. Prue, Georgina's love interest, wasn't that much of a main character. Georgina's friendships and relationship with her family were given equal importance. The book was fast-paced, and as such a lot of characters and information could be introduced alongside.

The book had a spooky atmosphere, and the author developed that well. Mary had been creeping me out from the start, but rather than throw me off, it was nice that the eerieness was ingrained in her personality.

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The Jewel : The Lone City #1 by Amy Ewing - Book Review


"Sold for six million diamantes, Violet is now the Surrogate of the House of the Lake in the centre of the Lone City, the Jewel. Her sole purpose is to produce a healthy heir for the Duchess – a woman Violet fears and despises.

Violet is trapped in a living death, her name and body no longer her own. She fights to hold on to her own identity and sanity, uncertain of the fate of her friends, isolated and at the mercy of the Duchess."

2 stars

So I could write a really long rant for this book, but I'm going to do it the easier way. Following is a collection of lines from this book that I hated. And why I hated them. Though that's really obvious.

Also, naming the main character Violet because she has violet eyes doesn't sound like such a bad thing until you realise she has a sister named Hazel and a brother names Ochre, and a friend named Raven who has a twin named Crow and that a random guy named Cobalt exists. Then even Violet starts sounding like a terrible name.

⚠️ Screaming in all caps may ensue.

Her not-like-the-others-ness

"But some of the girls follow all the gossip."

"Lily loves the Electress, like many of the girls at Southgate."
And of course, you don't, Violet.

"The only pictures in Lily’s magazines that ever interested me were the ones of the concerts."
Yes of course, because being interested in dresses and hairstyles and royalty gossip is so basic.

"Never in all my twenty-nine years as a physician have I ever seen anything like this,” he murmurs."
She's so speshul 😍

Cliche-ness going through the roof

"claw-footed copper bathtub"
I could find 2734878273 other books with this line.

"We turn down another hall lined with massive gold-framed portraits—their eyes seem to follow me as I go"

"smooths out a nonexistent wrinkle in my dress"
The author is so original, I can't-

"Abruptly, she stands, and the softness falls away, replaced with the rigid mask I’m accustomed to."
Aww, villain Duchess having a soft moment so adoraybl.

"I have the strongest urge to run my fingers over his forearms."
Just me putting this line in here because I hated it.

"A lock of brown hair has fallen over his forehead and I have the strongest urge to brush it back, to run my fingers through his hair."

Violet's lunacy

"Carnelian. What a stupid name."
Yeah, you're one to talk

"[Her love interest] spoke to me like a person, even for just a few minutes . . . it was like exhaling after holding my breath for too long."
The fact that she doesn't accept the maids as people just shows how much of a hypocrite she's being every time she wants respect from the Duchess. Anabelle (her maid) always treated her "like a person".

"I inhale his scent of soap and clean linen and something that must be boy."
I don't really need to comment on this but-

SOMETHING THAT MUST BE BOY

I'M SORRY WHAT

"My heart explodes into a million glittering fragments that rain down like fireworks through my chest."
I have so many questions

"I laugh, but he doesn’t, so I stop. Is he serious?"
Um no, I think he's not laughing because people don't laugh at their own jokes.

"If it was Hazel being sent away on that train and I could save her by taking her place, I would do it in a heartbeat."



She wants to send an 'I'm okay' message to her friend across the fence-
"More flowers might be too conspicuous, with winter approaching."

SO SHE DECIDES TO ATTACH A RIBBON TO THE VINE BECAUSE SURE THAT IS THE MOST NATURALLY GROWING THING IN THE WORLD.

"I feel myself dissolve into a thousand molecules, amazed at how three small words can completely alter my state of being."
You were always made of molecules, Violet 

"The things Ash has revealed to me about the royalty, about his profession, about how he’s treated within the walls of the Jewel . . . to anyone else I think it would be impossible to understand why he would do it, or how he could. But not to me."
Wow, you're so great to be able to understand why he has to have a job. Purrfect for each other.

Just other dumb stuff

"It has a secret, second compartment, and I dump out the earrings and bracelets and pendants and pop the bottom out."
Since when do Duchesses give surrogates jewellery boxes with secret compartments that they don't know about? I really hope this is explained in the next books because I refuse to believe she found some sEcReT, sEcOnD cOmPaRtMeNt that nobody else knew about.

"You seem like a fairly intelligent girl."
Um, no

"I have been changed, forged into someone wiser and stronger than I used to be. I have grown up."
This is the most forced character arc I have ever seen, and it's not even true.

I didn't like any of the characters, and the spare world-building hardly gave me an idea of what was happening. There were too many colours and beautiful things, and it felt very unreal. It was a modern world without really being modern. Hopefully, the other books explain it more, and for whatever reason, I'm going to read them someday.

The Cup and The Prince by Day Leitao - Kingdom of Curses and Shadows #1 : Book Review (No spoilers)

My rating:  ⭐ This was one of the worst books I've ever read. The writing in it was terrible- it read more like an 8-year-old's firs...