Helena Christodoulo
“The Call” is the first in a duology written by Peadar Ó Guilín. The novel is set in a time when the humans had banished the Sidhe, which are like Fae, to a horrible land, and teenagers are ‘Called' to this place, in the human world, the ‘Call” lasts three minutes, but in the Sidhe's world, the ‘Call' lasts twenty-four hours. During the ‘Call' the human teenagers have to fight to survive, because most of the people who had been ‘Called' either come back dead and mutilated, or if your ‘lucky' you come back alive and mutilated.
The novel follows Nessa is determined to survive the ‘Call', even though people think that she would die due to her polio-twisted legs. Nessa is currently going to school, learning how to survive. Throughout the year she witnesses, a few of her classmates get ‘Called'.
I thought the novel would be bloodier, but it wasn't that gruesome, the novel was interesting. I did not like the novel as much as I thought, it was okay, I gave the novel a 3/5 Stars.
“A Court of Frost and Starlight” is a 200-page novella written by Sarah J. Maas. This was meant to be a bridge between the first trilogy and the second trilogy, but really, it was a story on Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends trying to rebuild the Night Court.
I did not care for the novella, there was no action besides from sex. I gave this a 2/5 Stars.
“Listen to Your Heart” is a contemporary, romance standalone novel written by Kasie West. The novel follows Kate, who is forced by her best friend, Alana, to join their high school's podcast. Now Kate is expected to be one of the podcast's hosts, and she will have to give advice to people, on air, which to her is a horrible idea. But to Kate's surprise, she turns out to be pretty good at the hosting gig. Then the advice podcast gets a call from an anonymous guy, who is asking for advice about his unnamed crush. Kate is pretty sure that the caller is Diego Martinez, and even surer that the girl in question is Alana. Kate is excited for her friend ... until Kate herself starts to develop feelings for Diego.
The novel is a fast and quick novel, which I had finished within one day. I really enjoyed the novel, the romance was cute, sweet and fluffy. I gave this novel a 2.5/5 stars.
“Beneath the Sugar Sky” is the third novella in a series written by Seanan McGuire. The novella continues the story after “Every Heart a Doorway” after Sumi was killed in the first novella. The novella follows Rini, Sumi's daughter, but Rini is now fading after her mother died, before giving birth to her daughter. Now Rini needs to go on an adventure to try to bring, her mother back to life to keep the future from changing.
I really liked learning about the multiple worlds that we see throughout the novella, all the worlds were very interesting and cool, so I gave the novella a 4/5 Stars.
“Down Among the Sticks and Bones” is the second novella in a series written by Seanan McGuire. This novella is a prequel to “Every Heart a Doorway” which follows the twin sisters Jack and Jill, and how they ended up in Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children. In this novella we see Jack and Jill finding their new world and home, and then it eventually shows the readers how they ended up being sent back to Earth.
I found Jack and Jill's story interesting and their world was quite dark. I thought that Jack's character was much better than Jill's as she was annoying. I really enjoyed the novella, so I gave the novella a 4/5 stars.
“Every Heart a Doorway” is the first in a series written by Seanan McGuire. The novella follows Nancy who goes, to Eleanor West's home for Wayward Children, this is a home and a school, a place for children who had found their true home after walking through a door and emerging somewhere, where they fit in and feel at home, but sometimes these children are pulled back to Earth, and they can't find their way back.
There is a murder mystery throughout this novel, which was somewhat interesting, but I found the different worlds that the children visited and lived, much more interesting. The characters were also interesting and fun. I gave this novella a 4/5 Stars.
“The Light Fantastic” is a novel set in the Discworld written by Terry Pratchett. This novel continues the story about the inept wizard Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world, and now he is the only one who can save the world from a disastrous collision.
I really enjoy the world that Terry Pratchett created. The world is great, fun and interesting. I love the characters especially, Luggage, he is really funny and awesome. I gave the novel a 5/5 Stars.
“Time Bomb” is a standalone novel written by Joelle Charbonneau. The novel follows six different characters, who are trapped inside their school after a bombing. They eventually all meet up and soon after they hear that someone inside the school is the bomber, this novel is a mystery.
The novel was a fast and easy read. It was an okay novel.
This manga is the first in a series, called “The Ancient Magus' Bride” by Kore Yamazaki. This manga is quite interesting, it is about an orphan named Chise, who is sold to a mage named Elias. With her sale as a ‘slave' to Elias, she starts to learn the truth about the world, she lives in, which is filled with magic, fairies and other magical beings in the world.
This manga is very interesting, and strange, but I really enjoyed the type of magical and magical creatures that were introduced in the manga. I also liked the fact that there is alchemy and alchemists in this word alongside the mages. I gave this manga a 5/5 Stars. I really enjoyed the art and the story.
“The Revolution of Ivy” is the last novel in the duology written by Amy Engel. Ivy now abandoned by her family and she is also separated from her husband Bishop. She is also now beyond the fence and is alone. She needs to find out how to survive with countless dangers, both human and natural, as she is alone in a place that she does not know.
Throughout this novel Bishop and Ivy's relationship is explored after the events of the first novel, they work through their problems. Bishop fought to keep his marriage to Ivy from being annulled, showing that he still loves her. This novel was just as romance heavy, and the novel was also fast and quick as the first one. I gave this novel a 3/5 Stars, like the first novel.
“The Book of Ivy” is the first novel in a duology written by Amy Engel. This novel is set in a dystopian America, after a brutal nuclear war, a small group of survivors eventually banded together, but there was conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The novel follows Ivy Westfall, who is the daughter of the losing family, the Westfalls. Ivy must marry the son of the winning side, the president's son, named Bishop Lattimer. After marrying Bishop, Ivy has a mission to kill him and restore her family name.
The novel was entertaining, and the plot is heavy on the romance, the novel was a fast and quick read, I gave the novel a 3/5 Stars.
“Entwined” is a standalone novel written by Heather Dixon. The novel is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses. Azalea is the main protagonist of the novel and she is the eldest of the twelve sisters. The whole family goes into mourning for a year, after finding out that their mother died giving birth to the twelfth child. Azalea steps into the role as leader and surrogate-parent to her sisters after their mother's death. The sisters start to feel suffocated by all the restrictions, especially the one on dancing, which was their favourite pastime. The King goes off to war right after the funeral, leading the girls to wonder if he even loves them.
Azalea discovers a secret passage with a staircase leading downwards at the bottom they find a forest of silver trees and a pavilion full of enchanted dancers. The owner of the pavilion introduces himself as the Keeper, and he allows the princesses to dance to their hearts' content and invites them to return every night until mourning is over. Every night the girls dance so much that they wear through their slippers. They're often tired in the morning and late to lessons and breakfast, and constantly stitching up their tattered shoes. Azalea eventually realizes that their belongings are going missing and that Keeper has been stealing from them and refuses to give their things back until they find the magic object that's keeping him confined within the walls of the castle.
The novel is slow paced. Azalea is a determined teenager after her mother's death, trying to look after her siblings. The siblings have a good relationship with each other, but their relationship with their father becomes strained when he leaves to go to war, making the sisters think that he doesn't love them. I found some of the romances cute, like the relationship between Azalea and Lord Bradford, where he stands by her side to help her when she is trying to defeat the keeper, even though they both know that she will have no say in who she marries, as parliament will choose the future king/ her husband. The novel was a good retelling that I enjoyed, I gave the novel a 3/5 stars.
‘The Viking's Chosen' is the first novel in the ‘Clan Hakon' series written by Quinn Loftis. This novel is about a romance between a Viking warrior named Torben and an English princess, named Allete. The only problem besides from the fact that their people are enemies is that Allete is engaged to marry the King of Tara, who is a total a**hole.
There was magic in the novel, some of which did not make much sense. The only magic that did make sense was the prophesy, that was that Torben is prophesized to take a foreign bride and rule his people, but other than that, I did not understand the magic, that was used in the novel. The book was a fast and easy read and I gave it an 3/5 stars.
‘Tales from the Front' is a novella in the ‘Air Awakens” series written by Elise Kova. This novella has 12 stories told from different perspectives that take place between book 2, ‘Fire Falling', and book 3, ‘Earth's End'.
I enjoyed most of the perspectives, that were explored throughout the novella. Though some of the perspectives seemed unnecessary. But it was nice to see the perspectives of Baldair, Elecia, Aldrik, and Fritz. I gave the novella 4/5 Stars due to the fact that there were a few new characters that I didn't know, or care about.
“Ringer” the last in a duology written by Lauren Oliver. This novel continues the story about Lyra and Gemma, and the Haven Institute. This novel is filled with action, adventure and romance.
The two stories intertwined nicely, and the duology finishes fairly nicely. It was not as amazing as the first in the duology, but I enjoyed it. I gave this a 3/5 Stars.
“The Cruel Prince” is the first novel in a trilogy written by Holly Black. The novel is set in a fae world. The novel follows Jude, one of three sisters, and out of those three sister she is one of two human's and the third sister is half-fae. Jude wants a place within the fae world and would do anything to be a part of it.
The characters were weird, the world wasn't fully developed, but there was interesting politics within the novel. Through out the novel we were told that Jude was trained, by her kidnapper to fight, but sometimes it really did not feel or seem like she knew what she was doing. The romance was just weird. Didn't like it, but the book was just okay to me, I don't really care, I gave it a 3/5 stars.
“Immortal Reign” is the sixth and final novel in the “Falling Kingdoms” series written by Morgan Rhodes. The novel continues to follow the four main characters, Jonas, Lucia, Magnus and Cleo. Jonas continues to wilfully defy his own destiny. Lucia wants to protect her own daughter and she will do anything to protect her child. Magnus and Cleo still fighting to be together and are still trying to keep their kingdoms from falling apart.
I found this conclusion pretty satisfying. I still do not like Lucia, she is still quite annoying. I really liked that Magnus and Cleo are still in love and that they are still very cute. I do not really care about Jonas's point of view or Lucia. I gave the novel a 2.5/5 Stars.
The second volume is just as great as the first volume. Mikasa is a kickass straight from the start of this novel, just as she was from the first volume and we learn more about her past, and she meet Eren. This volume is full of action, and the volume ends on a strong note, leaving us with more questions.
I loved reading this again, still love the art. This is the second reread, and I notice things that I didn't notice the first time, that come to play in future volumes. 5/5 Stars is what I gave this manga.
“Attack on Titan” is a manga series written by Hajime Isayama. This volume includes four chapters. This manga is a post-apocalyptic story, where humanity has been pushed to the brink of extinction, by these giant humanoid beings know as Titans, which have been devouring humans. For the last hundred years, the remaining humans have been hidden within three giant circular walls, where people believe that they would be safe within these walls, but they were wrong.
The main character is named Eren, and he hates living within the walls, and when the first wall is breached he makes a statement that he will kill all Titans. Eren, and his two friends named Mikasa and Arimin join the military cadets, and plan on joining the Scouts.
I love the manga and the anime, I gave this manga and the anime a 5/5 Stars.
“Daughter of the Siren Queen” is the last in a duology written by Tricia Levenseller. The novel follows Alosa, the captain of a pirate ship. Alosa has now recovered all three pieces of the map that leads to a legendary hidden treasure. She now has prisoners on her ship including Riden, the attractive and unexpectedly loyal, first mate, who is a constant distraction for her, is now under her orders. When Alosa discovers a secret that her father has kept from her, she and her crew go on the run, to discover the treasure first.
Alosa finally meets her mother, and learns more about her people, the Siren's. The romance between Riden and Alosa grow and blossom. The novel was just as enjoyable, as the first novel, I gave the novel a 4/5 Stars. I enjoyed the romance throughout both novels.
“The Hazel Wood” is the first in a duology written by Melissa Albert. The novel follows seventeen-year-old Alice, who has spent most of her life on the road with her mother, but when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, passes away alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood. After her grandmother's death, Alice's mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to have come from the Hinterland, which is the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”
The novel was quite enjoyable and the novel had some dark elements. I gave the novel a 3/5 Stars.
This novel is the first in a trilogy written by Maureen Johnson. This novel is set in Ellingham Academy which is a famous private school which is for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. This school is a place where the founders daughter and wife were kidnapped. The story follows Stevie Bell, who starts her first year at Ellingham Academy, she wants to solve the cold case, but the kidnapper of the founder's daughter and wife, makes a return.
I don't know why but I didn't really enjoy this novel. I don't know what it was, but for me personally, I really didn't like the book, the mystery was good I guess, but just didn't care for it, I gave this novel a 2/5 Stars.
“Wintersong” is the first in a duology written by S. Jae-Jones. The novel follows Liesl, who is obsessed about the ‘beautiful, dangerous' Goblin King. She has heard stories of the Goblin King her whole life, and these stories helped inspire her musical compositions. The Goblin King takes Liesl's sister instead of her and well she is some what jealous, so to save her sister she journeys to the Underground and eventually she replaces her sisters place as the Goblin King's bride.
The main character is annoying, and the romantic relationship within the novel is also very strange and weird. I did not enjoy this novel, I only gave this novel a 2/5 Stars.
“Invictus” is a standalone novel written by Ryan Graudin. The novel follows, Farway Gaius McCarthy who was born outside of time, he is the son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, and his birth defies the laws of nature. Farway wants to explore history himself, but after failing his final time-traveling exam, he takes a position commanding an illegal ship, to steal valuables from the past and sell them on the black market. During a heist on the Titanic, Farway meets a mysterious girl who is armed with knowledge that will bring Farway's existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth which is that History is not as steady as it seems.
I found this interesting, but not the best. I had gotten confused at parts of the story. I gave the novel a 3/5 Stars.