The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller - Book Review

"Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice"

This book was beautiful and very well written. I had debated giving it four, or four and a half stars because the pacing in the middle portion was slower than I would have liked. But the ending was really nice, so here I am, giving it a solid five stars. Everything was described perfectly and the author's detailed descriptions drew me into the world. The book abounded in dialogues, and there were so many characters and places, but the story never ceased to move forward. I definitely recommend this book to everyone.

Achilles was developed really well. We got to know him along with Patroclus, and my feelings towards him changed according to what Patroclus felt for him at that time. Towards the end, when Patroclus started feeling alienated from him, the change was depicted clearly. Achilles' certain actions seemed justified when seen through his viewpoint, and I never really thought of him as someone doing wrong. In the end, he realised these mistakes and righted them, and that made them forgivable. All his descriptions were lovely and always to provided a clear picture of his appearance or movement. Small details like the lustre of his hair or the agility in his step gave the book an added sense of reality.

I admired Patroclus the most. He always strove to do what was right, even if it meant going behind Achilles' back. Despite this, he was fiercely loyal and stood by his friend's side. He was always ready to sacrifice his own happiness if it meant the good of others. I liked how the book was narrated from his viewpoint. His love for Achilles was clearly visible, yet not over-done. He also did not fail to notice when Achilles' honour started getting in the way of doing what he felt was right. His kindness towards Briseis and the men from their camp also stood out. Patroclus had a forgiving nature and abided by his beliefs. He was ready to learn new things and respected other's knowledge.

This book focused on the characters, mainly Achilles. The poem Illiad is also centred on him, and the author had kept the main focus the same. We are also told about Patroclus' time spent in the war camp and his friendship with the men there. The war camp itself, and the Greek's strategies have not been discussed at length, showing perhaps that Patroclus did not know much of them. I liked that because it left more time for the plot and development of other things. However, we are given a basic idea that the Greeks camped on the stretch of sand at Troy's borders and the war took place further inland, in front of Troy's walls. I was slightly confused as to where the raids took place, since the Greeks seemed to invade several places at once.

This book includes many famous Greek heroes like Odesyuss, Diomedes and Paris of Troy. I had not heard about some of the other rulers, and it was interesting to know about their lands' different cities and histories. The various Greek Gods play an important role too. I had hoped to read about how Troy finally fell to the Greeks, but that portion is not a part of Achilles' story. The friendship between Patroclus and Thetis, in the end, was shown well, when they bonded over their love for Achilles. The ending was satisfying and felt like a fitting conclusion for the book. I look forward to reading other books by the author.

The author has said that this book is an adaptation of the Illiad, which is one of the older tales about Achilles. The myth about him being invincible except for his heel is newer than Homer's poem. Here, the author has focused on the authentic story.

The Tower of Nero : The Trials of Apollo #5 by Rich Riordan - Book Review

"Will the Greek god Apollo, cast down to earth in the pathetic moral form of a teenager named Lester Papadopoulos, finally regain his place on Mount Olympus? Lester's demigod friends at Camp Jupiter just helped him survive attacks from bloodthirsty ghouls, an evil Roman king and his army of the undead, and the lethal emperors Caligula and Commodus. 

Now the former god and his demigod master Meg must follow a prophecy uncovered by Ella the harpy. Lester's final challenge will be at the Tower of Nero, back in New York. Will Meg have a last showdown with her father? Will this helpless form of Apollo have to face his arch nemesis, Python? Who will be on hand at Camp Half-Blood to assist? These questions and more will be answered in this book that all demigods are eagerly awaiting."

I'll admit I skimmed through some of it. Okay, maybe a lot of it. But that doesn't mean I hated it. The author's writing style is really compelling and it's fun to read about how he gets all his characters out of seemingly impossible situations. Apollo's fight with Python was kept pretty short, and I liked that. It was convenient how he found a chasm to Chaos and pushed Python in without falling in himself, but most fights are like that.

Just in case I haven't said this enough times already- all the haiku are amazing and hilarious. I had been impatient to finish this book, but now I'm a little sad that I can read no more of the Arrow of Dodona's Shakespearean lingo or Apollo complaining about his Lesterized self. It is also fun when the author makes fun of the names created by himself. Dionysus called Luguselwa something along the lines of "Lulugaga" when he first heard it. Meg was also shown to forget names often, which gave the story a sense of reality.

All the characters in this book felt a little less important than they had in the others, but it made sense that the author wanted to focus on Apollo. All the demigods from the previous books in this series made an appearance here. I like how the author ends his books, with all the characters finding something nice for themselves, but also having some work ahead of them. It's not all good, but not all sadness either. Apollo was shown to have become more human, and he became less judgemental of other demigods. He also began to realise his past mistakes and that of the other Olympian Gods. Meg, too, matured some more and the bond between her and Apollo became stronger. 

I would have liked for the story to pick up faster in the beginning. The snake sprouting the prophecy and Apollo visiting Sally Jackson was happening then, but it didn't feel very important to the story. I was waiting for something of actual significance to happen, and that took some time. The rest of the book was great though.

There was an extra short story at the back in the book I read titled "Apollo Sings and Dances and Shoots People". I'm pretty sure I've read it before, but the author's blatant and hilarious criticism of the Gods' actions never gets old.

"Yo, snake!"
Python opened his eyes. "What do you want?"
"To sing you a song about my awesomeness!"
"Oh, please. Just kill me now."
"Okay!" Apollo drew his bow and shot the snake between the eyes. Then he sang a song about his awesomeness.

I'll definitely be reading anything else Rick Riordan writes.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard - Poem Rant

These reviews help me vent

My burning anger and hatred

And all that I resent

About these books I read

(For no particular reason

During the last summer season.)

Mare was a little red girl 

Who was useless in every way

And when she saw her power unfurl

She but dreamed all-day

Of overthrowing villains mighty

With her little lightning powers

And her attitude feisty

Which annoyed me for hours.

She also had Cal the apprehend

Who stood by through cold and hot

He also served as her boyfriend

Oh wait, now he's not.

I think Mare had some brothers

Who were creepy and threw shade

I don't remember any others

Except Cameron treated like a maid.

Yes, and there was Iris

Whom I hated from the start.

I wish she'd gotten some virus

That would've stopped her heart.

And the superb Maven Calore!

Amazing warrior, a great man!

He also possessed wit galore!

And of Mare was a great fan!

(I hope you realise I didn't mean

Any of that praise obscene.)

There was the Mare and Cal

Who are now together again

Wait he just broke the heart of his gal

Their breakups drive me insane. 

Be together or stay apart

It means not a thing to me

Just decide on one from the start

It's my one and only plea.

Sorry, no, I also have some more

Including jumping off a ridge

Because me you terribly bore-

I'll even take a jump from a bridge.

"Rise, red as the dawn"

You stupid "little lightning girl"

And listen to Maven egging you on

Saying 'Go on, give it a whirl!'

I hope you fall into all his traps

And something bad happens to you

I want to give you a thousand slaps

But who'll touch you? Eww!

Your name means Horse Cart

And you have no heart

You're not even a little smart

You were bound to fail from the start.

I hate you Mare Barrow

Through your heart, I'll put an arrow

Cause your mind is so narrow

And people call you Bone Marrow.

Oh and you, Cal Calore 

You, I absolutely abhor

You're hated from shore to shore

Cause you're the biggest bore.

Red Queen, Red Queen

I hate Red Queen

Horse Queen, Horse Queen

She was never even a queen.

Where Dreams Descend : Kingdom of Cards #1 by Janella Angeles - Book Review (No spoilers)

"In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.

As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.

The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost

The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told

The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide

Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed."

I really liked this book. The setting was really cool, and I loved how all the magical places were described. The characters were all nice too. Kallia was fun to read about and so was Jack. Demarco was a well-developed character and I liked how the author kept revealing new things about him. I found the parts about his background a little boring, especially the bits about Eva. However, later they became more interesting when Eva's disappearance was introduced as one of the central themes.

The only complaint I have is that this book felt too long and drawn out. The middle portion of it was rather dull and I was getting impatient to reach the end. It also felt repetitive as the only thing happening was Kallia's performances with and without the circus. Kallia and Demarco's relationship also seemed to move slowly, especially during the middle. This book would have definitely been a five-star read if not for the pacing in the middle.

I loved the starting and ending of this book as it was very exciting. This is certainly a good fantasy duology to read. Janella Angeles did really well for a debut novel, and this book did get quite famous for something coming from a new author. I'm excited for the second book to be released!

Ember Queen : Ash Princess Trilogy #3 by Laura Sebastian - Book Review

~ Some blurb nobody wants so I cut out ~

"Now free, with a misfit army of rebels to back her, Theo must liberate her enslaved people and face a terrifying new enemy: the new Kaiserin. Imbued with a magic no one understands, the Kaiserin is determined to burn down anyone and everything in her way.

The Kaiserin’s strange power is growing stronger, and with Prinz Søren as her hostage, there is more at stake than ever. Theo must learn to embrace her own power if..."  blah blah blah. Well, I think you get the gist so I'll cut straight to the chase. 

DNF at...I don't even know where I stopped but I just had to stop because this book was absolute trash and was getting on my nerves and I really need to write this rant to get the hatred out of my system. So I just read a five-star review of this book and now I'm wondering if both of us read the same book because what was this rubbish? I know I'd said I would do a hate read but sorry this book was too much to handle and I just had to stop. I could have told you everything that will happen in this book even before I started the series and no, it's not because I have magical powers, it's because this series was so very unoriginal. It was predictable and very boring to read. So yes I hated it and you probably shouldn't read it, but here is a review anyway.

I'll warn you about spoilers but there's nothing to spoil in this book really because you will already know what's to come if you ever read this. I agree that most books are predictable and there is some fun in that too, but here it was not even enjoyable to see everything unfold. All the characters just felt really immature. They should have been able to guess what was coming when it was so easy for the readers to do the same. All the pairing was nothing surprising, but I don't mind that since it's that way in all books. I mostly mind how nobody in the book was able to guess anything which gives the impression that the author expected us to not know it either. Artemesia and Maile? Heron and Erik? I'm not even sure if they are couples but I could see them coming from a mile away.

Plot- um can I just say I'm being generous here 1/5. Writing a book is not an easy task and the author has written many characters and places to try to add depth to this series which is good. But finally, none of the side characters really seemed important, all the places seemed the same, and I never got the feel of being there in their world. The author would have done well to add a few surprises to this book. The first book was slightly better when it came to twists, though it was just one or two at the very end. This is sort of boiling down the predictability issue of mine, but the story was also really slow. The beginnings of all three books were extremely dull, and it was so much of an effort to read till the end.

The love tRiAnGle- 0/5. Predictable? Of course. But the main issue? Our wonderful Theo found nothing wrong with being with both of them at the same time. She kissed one during the day, and slept curled around another at night. Whenever she wanted a favour from one of them, she acted all lovey-dovey, only to do the same for the other. I'm pretty sure Blaise knew about her and Soren, and I don't know if that makes it worse or better. Both her relationships were also really fake. Soren liked her even though she had betrayed him multiple times, and Blaise liked her even after she kind of rejected him and went after Soren (honestly, she was giving both of them mixed signals and I don't blame either for being confused).

The character-building was probably not bad, but I hated every single one of them. Theodosia was undeniably the worst, but I can also say the same about Blaise and Soren. All three were kind of the same really. I won't go into all of Theo's shortcomings, but she was really annoying and never did anything right. She was selfish and wanted "more blankets and pillows" when her people slept out in the open without even a shelter, while she had a huge tent all to herself. She expected her people to like her though she did nothing for them. She blamed her advisors for not advising her, though she herself refused to listen to their opinions and always did whatever she wanted. When she was in the mine, she expected her group to have come to a decision or made a plan of attack, while she could not do that herself once she returned, even though she was their queen and nobody could challenge her saying. She was also really dumb and constantly fell into Cress' obvious traps, though she claimed that she had learned the hard way not to trust people and whatnot. Apparently, nobody taught her not to trust her enemies.

Okay maybe I ranted about her a little, but I hate her so much.

Also, I did not get the deal with Soren being sallow all the time? He was taken prisoner twice or thrice in every book, and always returned sallow. Even if he was under-fed every time, the author could have used a different adjective for him. This whole series was repetitive, and I am none the wiser about most things even after having read 2.5 books. The person I buddy-read this with (my buddy?) somehow managed to get through it and told me that many things were left unresolved in the end. 

All-in-all, this was one of the worst books I have ever read, and I do not recommend it. Also, reading my review is giving me major Red Queen (remember that junk?) flashbacks so if you didn't like that, you won't like this series either. Thank you for bearing with me throughout this rant.