Katie
I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped to.
Maybe it's because the plot dragged with Thorne and Cress - not that I don't like them together, but they're just wandering around for a good portion of the book.
Maybe because it felt like a filler book right before the finale.
Not sure. It was certainly good enough to go on to read Winter, but after Fairest, I thought this just didn't meet my expectations. There were plot twists, interesting revelations, drama, love & romance, but I don't know. I didn't feel a whole lot after finishing it. Not to mention Iko needs to go away because she just gets on my nerves but that's my own problem.
I knew Winter had just come out and I was still a few books behind, so I decided it was time to wrap things up, starting with Fairest.
Let me just say - I really enjoyed this! I loved getting all of Levana's backstory because let's face it - she's a crazy bitch but she wasn't born that way. I had been curious about her since her first appearance in Cinder, but I never realized how badly I needed to know more about her until reading Fairest. I actually wish I could get even more about her because now I'm pretty much obsessed with her. Everything about it was great except her romance. That really struggled in my eyes and even though she was clearly forcing it, I felt like nobody is that dumb or forces things for that long. You would think she would get tired of him not loving her and break it off, but she still felt the same way after all that time? Nah.
I was left wanting after The Jewel, so luckily I managed to acquire a copy of The White Rose soon after finishing. Now I kind of wish I hadn't.
Talk about disappointments. What is happening in this series? Every event falls into one of three categories:
1) I completely saw that coming, how predictable...
2) Holy shit, where are you making up this stuff from??
3) I can't even react because I literally can't follow the plot right now.
That's it, the entire book can be separated into three categories. The weird magic, the sister, the voyage to the wise old woman who can teach you special powers, etc....everything was nuts. I miss the first book. I miss that interesting world. I don't really care anything about the White Rose or this dumb revolution. I have so many more important, more interesting questions that need answering.
With the cover similarities between this and The Selection series, I'm not sure what I expected. They both are roughly based on the same dystopian premise.
It was quite intriguing actually, and I wish I could've seen more of the world or gotten a better understanding on the background. Instead the reader is spoon-fed information to the point of annoyance. I don't know if it just isn't fleshed out or if the author is waiting for a better time to reveal all. I wait patiently.
I've never read any of the PLL books so I thought I would start with this one to see how they were. I was quite surprised to find that I really enjoyed it (well, way more than I thought I would)!
It's full of drama, secrets, interesting twists, and just crazy shit. This is a great setup for what's sure to be an engaging series!
I've read a lot of reviews that loved this book. I wonder if maybe I completely missed the point or got a bad copy, because I didn't think there was anything special about it.
A girl loses her voice, is sent away to her aunt for the summer, falls in love with the troubled rich guy, they band together to win a competition, and she regains her voice. It's like the OC or any teen romance drama mixed with a dash of Little Mermaid. I didn't like the glimpses back to Tobago because they felt so forced, like the author was saying “SHE'S NOT WHITE! SHE'S AN ETHNICALLY DIVERSE CHARACTER - SEE? SEE????”
I didn't get attached to Elyse at all, nor her situation or her relationship. In fact, the part I liked the most was the stuff about her sisters. I want a book detailing the events before and including the accident on Tobago. Now that's a story I would enjoy.
2 Stars
Let us go back a year and a half ago. Picture me sitting on my bed in my parent's house with my Kindle in my hands. With a sigh, I set it down and pick up my laptop lying next to me. My fingers were poised above the keys, ready to let the world know my opinion. But something was stopping me. What had I just read? Would I ever really be the same anymore?
Fortunately I gathered my life together long enough to review that first book in this series, Splintered. It definitely had its flaws, as evidenced by my semi-poorly written first review. However, I did enjoy it (I think) and I had planned on reading the second book, Unhinged. That was written in April of 2014, so you can only imagine what I still remembered when I actually got around to reading the second book. So before I read Unhinged, I reread a.k.a. skimmed Splintered, and boy, was it ugly. I don't know how critically I was looking at things a year and a half ago, but my impressions of the book back then were pretty misguided.
For instance, I had thought Alyssa was really torn between Jeb and Morpheus. During my reread I discovered that she was FIRMLY PLANTED in the Jeb camp. Stuff like that was everywhere. Everything I thought I knew was a lie! But while I'm not quite sure I stand by my old review (I do, but I don't agree with it), this review is really about Unhinged.
What of Unhinged? Well, it's a sequel, and it falls into that sequel trap of I-need-to-bridge-a-first-and-third-book-so-nothing-important-is-really-going-to-happen. It suffers from this BAD. A lot of the dramatic stuff happens to Jeb, who I literally couldn't care less about, so in essence there was no plot.
First of all, I was extremely disappointed that this took place in our world. I don't really care what happens in Texas or what it looks like, I LIVE in this world, I think I understand it pretty well. I wanted the amazing, crazy wilds of Wonderland. I wanted to see something EXCITING AND NEW THAT I CAN'T GET TO WITH A QUICK FLIGHT. Without that, it's just this weird punk girl going on fantasy adventures...in a world we live in everyday. NO. STOP.
Second, the plot is pretty boring. It's pretty much an entire book of clashes between two axes in a love triangle and how the girl axis keeps switching between the two, breaking both of their hearts in the process. I don't like Jeb (does anyone?) but even I could respect her sticking by his side the entire time AND THEN SHE KISSES MORPHEUS. Nope. Get your ass out of here, Alyssa! Other than that there's some forced tension with Alyssa's parents and her mom is a huge liar and also Sister Two from the first book is randomly 1,000% more evil than the main antagonist, for some reason. I still don't understand why she's so upset after all this time to the point where this whole book is about her and not the bloodthirsty murderer from the first book.
Speaking of the main antagonist, we do see Red eventually, at the very end, but she's literally A FLOWER IN A POT and can't really do anything. Alyssa just kinda walks away while Red is shouting stuff at her but Alyssa just laughs like “lol you're in a flower pot” and then tells everyone to go handle Red because she's dangerous. She's dangerous??? She doesn't even have legs! She literally has to drag herself across the floor by her leaf-hands. If I wanted revenge and could possess any living thing, I would have at least possessed something with legs. Like the bandersnatch! That would've been a GREAT conduit for your revenge, Red!
Third, is the cover supposed to be Morpheus? Please tell me that's NOT Morpheus. I know that this series is completely smothered with Myspace-punk culture but he really deserves better than that. I was picturing something much easier on the eyes. If that's how I'm supposed to have been imagining him this whole time, I don't even want to finish this series. Considering some of the rumors I've heard about the last book, Ensnared, I actually don't want to finish this series.
Overall, I'm just really disappointed. I can't even express how disappointed I am. I was so bored while reading this entire book. All this random drama with Alyssa's mom AND NOW HER DAD is really wearing on me. Things are already thrown at you with few clues, so I'm having a hard enough time trying to figure out all the “secrets” as it is. Why not just throw the dad in?? And some best friend drama? I went from really liking this series, to rereading Splintered and realizing it wasn't that great, to reading this and deciding that maybe, just maybe this isn't for me.
3.5 Stars
Have you ever read something that seemed like when the author started out she knew what she was writing about, but then somewhere along the way she kind of fell off the tracks and the book became about something different? That's how I would describe the Bloodlines series as of The Indigo Spell. When you start out with the first book, Bloodlines, you expect it's going to be about protecting Jill (and thereby Lissa's reign) because that's what the description says. Then you read it and realize it's sort of about that...but it's also a lot about just Sydney's life, which is okay but unexpected.
Then you get to The Golden Lily, a.k.a. book #2, and it's even more about Sydney and even less about Jill (who's honestly boring anyways). After The Indigo Spell I can say with 100% confidence that this series is solely about Sydney and, as a result, a little about protecting Jill (but not really). Jill, the whole reason why we're supposed to initially care about Sydney, is a complete afterthought at this point. That doesn't necessarily mean that the series is bad, it's just different from what I expected going into it.
Anyways, I enjoyed The Indigo Spell a bit more than its predecessors once I pretty much accepted that this series had just become about Sydney (and Adrian). Sydney really grows into her own in this book. She not only accepts that magic is a part of her, but she also starts to accept that being an Alchemist isn't who she is or wants to be anymore. Previously she struggled with being almost like an Alchemist robot that did everything that was asked of her without question. In The Golden Lily, Sydney started to break away and question what was being asked of her. In this book, she gathers intel AGAINST the Alchemists and deactivates the magic in her tattoo. I think it's pretty safe to say she's not going to remain part of them anymore.
Adrian is still basically Sydney's best friend and, as of the end of this book, her lover. I will say that they have some steamy scenes together! I really enjoyed the hot and cold Sydney was giving Adrian because it felt very realistic. Too often you get forbidden romances where the characters are 100% into it right away, but let's face it, most of us would STRUGGLE with that decision to go against what's expected. The back and forth also really helped build up the sexual tension between them, so when Sydney did kiss him, it felt explosive. I'm so invested in this relationship, guys!
The major plotline (aside from the stuff with Adrian) was good, but it still felt like just an aside, like Jill. Haha, just kidding (not really about Jill though)! But it really did feel like that, like the conflict was both introduced and resolved within just this book. Sydney embraces witches and magic, faces down an evil witch, plus meets some ex-Alchemists, steals information for them, and deactivates her tattoo. It SOUNDS like a lot went down, but it's all over really quickly. I would love to see some major conflict that spanned more than one book. Something that really has the potential for that is the whole defying the Alchemists/going against them thing, which has been present in every book but really lacks attention. It's always developed in each installment so far, but it's moving really slowly. I'd love something explosive to happen there!
One thing that bothered me was the lack of depth of the other characters. It wasn't until Sydney snuck out through her friend Julia's dorm window that I realized we literally haven't seen “her best friend Julia” since the first book, or the other girl. Why is Julia still friends with her, because clearly they don't ever talk or hang out at all. Same thing goes with Eddie, Jill, Angeline, Trey, Dimitri and Sonya (they just up and left), or anyone else. They pop in every now and then to further the plot or just fill pages with relationship drama, but they don't feel real. At least not as real as Sydney, Adrian, or Mrs. Terwilliger. I still enjoy their scenes, but it all feels kinda transparent to me.
I received my copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 Stars
I'm a little confused about Illusionarium, mostly because I was supposed to like it. I really enjoyed Heather Dixon's debut novel, Entwined, based on the story of the 12 Dancing Princesses. In fact, I was caught completely off-guard by how much I enjoyed it. It was beautiful, magical, and mysterious all at once. When I heard about Illusionarium and read the description, I figured I would enjoy it as well. It's simple logic. Dixon wrote Entwined. Entwined was really good. Dixon wrote Illusionarium. Why would Illusionarium not be really good? I fell into the classic trap.
Don't get me wrong, Illusionarium was interesting at first. The opening scene drew me in by painting some kind of arctic, steampunk society in the future. It was really cool (haha, puns). Jonathan and his family, especially his quirky mad scientist father, seemed like they would be a solid, engaging cast of characters. Unfortunately, after that first scene it all just fell apart, because the main problem is that the plot moves way too fast.
The plot moved at lightspeed, easily breaking the sound barrier. Every time I had just begun to understand what had happened in a scene, something new and important was happening. This left me feeling like I'm always trying to catch up, partly because scene transitions were non-existent. The whole book felt like someone made a Powerpoint and didn't include any slide transitions; just made you click and all of the sudden it's a completely different slide. Where are the appropriate breaks? Tying the scenes together? Making sure your audience knows what's going on??
Scene jumps (there has to be a more technical term for this), named after the abrupt manner in which new scenes were presented, were constant. I have no idea what kind of timeframe the book took place in. I'm not even exactly sure what period in time the book was set in, now that I think about it. The world is certainly complex, which I would have enjoyed, but it was only hashed out where necessary. If it didn't explicitly pertain to the plot, it wasn't explained or even mentioned. I was missing a lot of pieces of information, often confused, and was left with a very weak picture of the world. It didn't even need to be this way, either. At one point we learn so much about “Rivening” and Jonathan describes it in such detail that I could clearly picture it to the point of being disgusted. Throughout the whole book, that would have made for a much richer experience.
There was also quite a bit of what I called in my notes “Florel-ex-machina,” Florel being both the antagonist and not (parallel worlds, yay!). I felt like there were quite a few times when developments were very convenient for the plot, with a lot of them having to do with Florel. For example, Jonathan learns about illusioning for the first time but is already some kind of natural and exceeds everyone else's power within a few days (weeks? months? who knows??). This tied a lot into being info-dumped on a lot for the purposes of getting all the information out, regardless of understanding. Maybe the thought process is if they throw so much at you at one time while speeding through the plot, you won't have time to notice the plot holes.
Finally, the characters really fell flat for me. Like I said, I thought things would be good based off of the first scene. But as the story progressed I realized I really had no idea who anyone was, just what role they played in the plot. The romance was the classic we-spent-time-together-so-of-course-were-in-love. Lockwood was purely the aggressive, relentless soldier with a soft side, kind of like Maximus the horse from Tangled. But who is he beyond that? I have no idea. Actually, I'm not even sure what most of the characters looked like either. For instance, I pictured Lockwood as some older, 40-year-old but then he fell in love with like a 15-year-old. Was she not like 15? Is Lockwood not in his 40s? Is that kind of thing just acceptable in this world or am I just wrong about their ages?
I loved Entwined and I really hope Dixon moves back towards that type of writing. I WANT to enjoy her books! Frankly, this just seemed like sloppy work to me. Something that was a fantastic idea, but got rushed to print.
There are a lot of people who compare this book to Beauty and the Beast. Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with them - it's totally a Beauty and the Beast retelling. But I love Beauty and the Beast. It's easily one of my favorite movies, and while I love all the Disney princesses...come on. Belle loves books, I love books. She has brown hair, I have brown hair. Clearly we're the same person. Beauty and the Beast is basically a biography of my life except for the magic, enchanted castle, beast, France, and sacrificing your life/happiness for other people stuff. That's why I knew I would love Cruel Beauty when I bought it, and why I'm so conflicted now because I didn't.
Cruel Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, but with a twist. Long ago, a man made a deal with the devil, as many of the villagers do, exchanging the ability to procreate with one of his unborn daughters - Nyx. She would be wed to this devil - ironically called the “Gentle Lord” - sent to live in his castle from where he keeps a watchful eye on the village, and attempt to kill him in their bed. Even though, as the villagers know, without the Gentle Lord their village would fall to ruins. With him, they are safe, they are protected, and they are trapped and mistreated. I guess the villagers would like to take their chances. This is Nyx's destiny; she was born and raised to kill the cruel Gentle Lord. So imagine her surprise when he isn't anything like what she imagined.
The story was good for a while. Well, talking with her sister/dad/aunt before the ceremony was boring. Going back to them to plot with her sister was boring. When she was just walking around and exploring alone it was a little slow too. I didn't like her family at all nor any of the scenes that took place in the village she came from. But then she and Ignifex (the Gentle Lord) fell in love and everything was great! I was loving what was going on minus the village scenes. I was too caught up in what was going down with her and Ignifex to care about all of that other stuff going on. I skimmed, okay?! But then the ending happened and it all exploded out of nowhere and really ruined my enjoyment of the book.
Let's back up to the characters. Nyx was weirdly violent, like constantly throwing things and shouting and overreacting at everything. Maybe this was a tactic to make her seem like a tough bitch? It really just turned me off of her. Ignifex was much better and HE was the one that was supposed to be violent and such! I actually love Ignifex a lot. I thought he had amazing depth to him, and not something that was built up just for the purposes of giving him depth either. He seemed like just another smarmy asshole at first, but you get to know the pain and struggle he feels inside. Getting onto Shade, I liked him fine enough at first, but after he pulled the you-know-what I was absolutely NOT ABOUT IT. While Nyx and Ignifex's romance felt really natural to me, Nyx and Shade's romance (yep, triangle) seemed forced. I felt nothing between them, so I wasn't bothered when he turned out to be evil, but that's just another point on why the ending was that much worse to me.
Everything about the ending will be tagged as a spoiler for maximum ranting.
The ending bothered me so much. First of all, I was very confused by what was even happening. Like Ignifex and Shade recombine into one soul, he looks into the box, and the bargain is undone...but they only go back like 17 years in time? Shouldn't they have gone back like 900 years or however long it's been since the bargain? But I guess then that's a long time for Prince Marcus (Ignifex + Shade) to have been alone in the box. So the Kindly Ones brought back Prince Marcus right when she just happened to be sitting there, which is pretty convenient, so that she can sacrifice herself to be in the box with him a.k.a. the selfless act to get him released. But didn't the prince have to be the one to do the selfless act? Apparently if some random sparrow (who even knows what that had to do with anything) says "keep your deal", you have to I guess. The Kindly Ones got all mad like they've been defeated but they STILL had to put her in the box, just to release them? Why did they even have to put her in the box if they she had done the selfless act?The other problem is that when he was brought back it seemed like he didn't know her at all. If he didn't know her then the stuff never happened, but she remembers it, so it still did happen somehow? And somehow he also remembers it even though he should either not remember at all because it technically didn't happen OR he would have a weird fractured memory of everything since he experienced it via two different people. But they just act like they're super in love even thought Nyx acknowledges that it's not quite Shade or Ignifex, it's someone new who has pieces of both. How does she know she loves him? To me it seemed like his mannerisms were weirding her out because he seemed more like a stranger, but I guess love conquers all in this story.The worst part is that near the end Hodge was clearly trying to turn the tide against Shade and make him unlikable. He was all creepy and controlling and scary and FORCED HER INTO A FIRE. So I'm reading and thinking about how much I definitely don't like him and I want her and Ignifex to have babies and be together forever. THEN, Nyx decides to still help Shade out and destroy Ignifex...because why?!? She released gross Shade from his prison even though she seemed very reluctant and uncomfortable the whole time, just so that he could ruin her love's life! You think it's right that the skeevy guy wins?!? Let's just forget all of the stuff he JUST did that landed him in his little prison in the first place!! So pretending it is okay, which it's not, then when Shade joins with Ignifex to create Marcus again, she knows she loves him. She knows this new guy is part creepy guy but she's fine with it. I'd be like "yeah, I know you're part Ignifex but you're also part Shade....I don't know man...." Like NO I could NOT just forgive the way you acted ESPECIALLY since Ignifex was supposed to be the evil part of the prince!
Another thing that bothered me was the integration of Greek mythology. I felt like it was somewhat awkwardly done, so it came off forced and tarnished the story for me. I couldn't even follow the random mentions of Pandora's Box or what that had to do with Beauty and the Beast. Then Prometheus and the gods and Kronos came in and I was pretty much over it. Sometimes simpler is better!
Which speaking of simpler is better, the whole way that the prince not being pure of heart and how that led to the exact scenario Nyx found herself in was so convoluted. Fate would have really had to pull a few doubles to keep that crazy plot on track for 900 YEARS. I mean, why didn't the prince just be like “okay, I'm not pure of heart but I'll try anyways”? The whole situation for 900 years was his fault and everyone just brushed it aside like it's fine. When did the Kindly Ones know it was time for his wives to die? How did they know when they were close to guessing his name? Were they like a few vowels off so they figured they should probably kill her soon? How did they force Ignifex to kill anyone? Why did they let Nyx survive for so long? Why could Nyx remember everything that happened when it actually didn't happen? Aren't the villagers going to be interested in this mysterious handsome stranger that she's married to somehow? I love how her dad and aunt only end up legitimately together in the scenario where an evil demon doesn't rule over them for 900 years. Classic.
Clearly I have a lot of feelings about Cruel Beauty. I really, really wanted to love it. And for a while, I did. But the ending just so completely threw me for a loop that I found it had detracted from everything I enjoyed. It could've been amazing. It WAS amazing for a little bit. Then it all fell apart.
3 Stars
I regret to say that The Golden Lily has suffered the same fate as Bloodlines: I can't really remember the plot. It's not like I'm not paying attention while reading, it's just really hard for me to recall anything that happened in these books. Maybe it's just boring? Maybe I need to start taking notes.
The Golden Lily had a lot of the same issues that I had with Bloodlines. Adrian is the same old Adrian, and again, we dig a little deeper into his character with his growing feelings for Sydney and his strained relationship with his dad. I'm glad he seems over Rose because that ship sailed a while ago, buddy. Speaking of Rose, Dimitri seemed to be just a dull as he did in Bloodlines, just there as Adrian's foil. Random Sonya was a more important character.
One of the major parts of the story is protecting Jill and Lissa's claim to the throne, but Jill didn't make much of an appearance besides to complain and talk about her relationship drama to Sydney. Sydney's own relationship with Brayden/Brandon/whatever was actually pretty interesting to me because I TOTALLY understand that whole dynamic - it's happened to me. It sucks when you're so much like someone but a little too much like them to really feel anything. And poor Sydney has zero relationship experience so she thinks it's normal to feel nothing towards your boyfriend.
Sydney is still a weird character for me. Like I said in my review of Bloodlines, she's really different from Rose, whom I loved in the Vampire Academy series. They're both tough girls, but in really different ways. Rose is all about pride and showing off, and Sydney is tough out of necessity to her duty, like obediently tough? But while in Bloodlines I thought that Rose and Sydney were pretty opposite, I think Sydney really started to grow into her own person in The Golden Lily. She is becoming a little more like the good parts of Rose that I liked, where she's starting to question everyone and rebel. She's no longer exactly who everyone expects her to be and I love it! I'm really starting to enjoy Sydney's view now especially since she stopped obsessing so much over calories. I also think this “blossoming” played a part in how Adrian feels for her. Which, I'm totally rooting for!
But again, there wasn't a lot of plot that caught my attention. The major antagonist of this book fell flat to me. When shit hit the fan, I just wasn't excited. I didn't believe for one second that anyone was in danger, that things might not work out, or that there was really any mystery behind anything. I guess it was nice to have something happen...but it didn't feel like anything was happening. The really great character development must have balanced it out, because now I'm excited for The Indigo Spell!
2 Stars
I'm so conflicted about this series. It's that exboyfriend you're entirely incompatible with, that you fought with often and treated each other terribly, yet whenever you see his cute face you get roped back into his arms for a brief period of time. I think this series is crap, yet I've read every book. WHY?
There isn't a whole lot to say that hasn't been said before. The writing, plot, pacing, etc is all still pretty rough, just like the rest of the series. Eadlyn is a spoiled, selfish brat and I wish I could slap her across the face. Kile has a dumb name and needs to give himself more credit. I don't blame Ahren for ditching Eadlyn after how she behaved over Camille. Best wishes to them on their Eadlyn-less life, I know they'll be happy now! And yet, even after he leaves Eadlyn doesn't take an ounce of responsibility.
At no point does she ever take responsibility for her own actions. Everything is someone else's fault or responsibility. She is a COMPLETELY unlikable character in every aspect. She talks down to her handmaiden and doesn't understand why she gets upset. She treats the Selected like crap and doesn't understand why their feelings are hurt. Maybe she's “just protecting herself” from her feelings, but nobody I know does that in such a way that they could be considered such a complete bitch 100% of the time.
The plot was pretty dumb. Instalove is everywhere. Cold-hearted one second, falling for seven guys at once the next. I would say thank god the terrible rebel subplot is gone but GUESS WHAT? IT'S HERE TO STAY. Good thing Eadlyn axed so many guys in the beginning to ensure that there isn't more than one remaining book in the series. Which we all know I will read.
3 stars
In my review of Just Listen, my first Dessen novel, I said I wouldn't be seeking out more of her books. While Just Listen had exceeded my expectations, I pretty much thought that her books were a “seen one, seen them all” kind of thing. But then I went camping and wanted something really light to read, so I picked up Saint Anything.
I have an older brother, specifically a 7 years older brother. We're so far apart that we're often going through major milestones at completely separate times. I just got engaged, well he's been married for 5 years and just had his second child. When we were younger, it was worse. He got married, I had just gotten my driver's license. He got his driver's license, I was in 4th grade. Everything I do, he's done long before. It's a little weird, and to be honest, it's a little bit of a barrier to us being close. In a way, I do live in his shadow, but not to where our parents play favorites. It just simply is the way things are.
Sydney lives in her older brother's shadow. Before, he was one of those beautiful, bright people that everyone is drawn to. One choice ruined everything, and now, his only fans are his family. The star fell from grace, but not in the eyes of his parents. Sydney struggles with her brother's choices, but her parents make excuses. Sydney aches to have a life, but her parents are too focused on her brother to care. Her parents aren't only blind when it comes to her brother, but also to his friend from rehab that they've taken under their wing. Problem is, he's taken a little too much of an interest in Sydney.
Saint Anything and I have a weird relationship. On one hand, I can really appreciate the message. She basically doesn't exist in her family anymore since her brother went to prison. Her mom spends all her time worrying about her brother or working on his appeals or visiting him. Her dad is pretty emotionally distant about the whole thing. She just moved to a new, much larger school where she doesn't know anyone and all her old friends are too busy. The only person that does see her is her brother's creepy friend from rehab, Ames, who has basically taken her brother's place in their family. He comes over and hang outs with them, eats dinner with them, and even moves in for a while. While the plot largely revolves around the guilt Sydney feels for what her brother did and her trying to be her own person, the subplot with Ames was what really caught my attention. With a book like this, you know she's going to deal with the guilt and her family would come around, but I was a little worried that things with Ames would go too far before that happened. Thank god they didn't. But the MAIN plot didn't capture my interest so much. I knew from the beginning that things would work out, which makes caring about how Sydney gets through things pretty hard.
I did like Sydney's relationship with Mac and her new friends. I loved Layla and totally understood her obsession with fries. I wish we could be friends! Mac developed a relationship with her that had a pretty slow burn, which felt more realistic to me. A lot of books I read have the innocent MC having sex like 2 days after their first kiss which is really hard to believe. Mac was there for her, but not like in a “I'll die for you” way off the bat, which again is in a lot of books. I'm glad that Sydney had the Chathams for support. While her family was sucking, Sydney really needed them. At a few points when I was getting really frustrated with Sydney's mom, I found myself wishing she could just join their family instead. Because seriously, her mom was pretty bad.
On the other hand, I don't know how well executed the plot was. There wasn't really a big moment where everything turned around in Sydney's life. It just slowly got better at the end. When I read, I expect the climax, because while real life isn't like that, books should because they're entertainment. The lack thereof just felt like reading a real diary that no one took the boring parts out of. It might be really interesting at first, but how many times do you need to read that someone just went to school or did homework that day? That wasn't in Saint Anything, but you get my point. Without that big moment, you're just like....oh, it's over. It doesn't engage your attention as much.
I read a few reviews before writing this one and it seems like this is an exception to Dessen's books. Usually they are more traditionally structured. I guess she took a break in the middle of writing it too, so that might explain some of the issues it has. Overall, I think it was a good book, and anyone who can relate to trying to live up to a sibling would enjoy it, but it definitely was not GREAT material. Maybe my next read of hers will be better.
2 Stars
I usually really enjoy Stephen King novels. I already like mystery and horror novels, and I remember staying up late when I was about 14 just to finish Carrie because I was SO hooked. Maybe I wouldn't enjoy Carrie as much now, or in the same way, but I've been exposed to so many of King's stories, I figured I could always rely on them. So when I was bored and at the grocery store in podunk northern Michigan while camping, it seemed obvious to pick up Revival to carry me through the shitty rainstorms we were having. The only problem is, I didn't enjoy it.
The story follows the relationship between the protagonist, Jamie Morton, and the new pastor on the block Charlie Jacobs, all the way from when they first meet to one of their deaths. Jamie is just a little boy when he first meets Charlie, but he soon becomes good friends with him. Family tragedy rips Jacobs apart, and sets him on a path that Jamie happens to pop in on every decade or so. Some might say it was fate throwing them together, time after time. Jacobs becomes increasingly unhinged as the years go by, culminating in some weird, creepy shit at the very end.
That might sound really interesting to you; it did to me. But the main problem is that the plot is completely boring. A solid first quarter of the book takes place when the two first meet and goes up to and including Jacobs' family tragedy and aftereffects. That part was okay, but I kept waiting for more. It read like a memoir of Jamie's early years. I just figured maybe it had a slow start and the rest would be better. Once Jacobs left town, I thought, “This is it. Only up from here.” I was wrong.
While the next 70% was still technically interesting (maybe I was even forcing myself to consider it interesting), I still kept waiting for the big moment. The part where I was so excited I didn't want to put the book down. It never happened. It just followed Jamie as he was a drug addict, then found Jacobs again, then became clean and moved on, then found Jacobs again, then moved on, then found Jacobs again, et cetera. Just the same cycle over and over again. Snoozefest. Several times I questioned why I was continuing to read this book.
The other problem is that it has almost no horror/thriller/paranormal component. I have no idea what people are thinking when they tag this book as such. For almost the entire book, I thought I was being lead to believe that Jacobs was a fraud, that everyone was healed psychologically or they were planted in the audience. That might actually be interesting (although not what I would expect from Stephen King). Then get to that last 5% and apparently he's been actually healing people the whole time?? Don't even get me started on all the random crap that went down at the very end with Mary Fay, because that was SO FORCED.
I was just very disappointed. If the paranormal component had been introduced from the beginning, and I had believed it from the beginning, maybe this would have been a better book. But this was just the memoir of a washed-up minor league rock star addicted to heroin and how he became a doormat to a crazy ex-pastor that can apparently communicate with the devil, except without all the interesting parts you would expect. Less communicating with the devil, more internet research and working in a recording studio. Like I created my “disappointing” shelf specifically for this book...
3 Stars
Confession time: I don't really remember a lot of what happened in Bloodlines. I read it over a month ago and never wrote a review until now...but I'll try my best.
I loved the Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series. It had its low points, but when it was good, it was great! I became heavily invested in Rose and Dimitri's relationship over the course of those six books, and I wished I could see more of them. I knew Bloodlines had come out a while ago, and that Dimitri shows up, but I wasn't super interested in hearing about Sydney. I couldn't (and still can't) even remember at what point in the VA series she had been. But I figured I might as well give it a shot because, duh, Dimitri!
Well, what I DO remember about Bloodlines isn't much. Sydney's dad was a complete controlling asshole, and some fellow Alchemist of Florida named Keith was super two-faced and semi-evil running a back alley tattoo shop (I guess that's an antagonist?). Adrian is the same old same old from Vampire Academy, but he gets a little more depth here with his spirit problems and especially Rose problems. Jill, the whole premise upon which this series is built, seems about as boring as her name implies, and honestly a bit whiny for someone in her position. She overreacts to everything even though there are like 10 people trying desperately to keep her safe.
Onto the worst part: one of my favorite characters, Dimitri, was one-sided and dull. The horror! Dimitri was honestly just there to rile Adrian up and maybe be like the fatherly voice of reason or something. It's probably a good thing Rose isn't in the story because a) it would ruin Adrian and b) it would just further push readers away from Sydney. Now Rose wasn't perfect, not at all, but she was pretty relatable, which is why tons of Mead's readers love her. Problem is, Sydney is SO different from Rose. She is pretty tough, just like Rose, but it's more out of being obedient and doing her duty. She doesn't have any passion to her - it's like just her job. Rose was fighting against who everyone thought she was and should be and trying to be who she wanted to be. Sydney is exactly who everyone expects her to be, there's no mystery or deep secrets following her around other than ~woo~ she doesn't completely hate vampires like she should. Too bad I never really felt like that was a big deal...
Overall there really wasn't anything that stood out to me. Nothing overly exciting happened that got me hooked. Actually, nothing in general really happened. Sydney also doesn't seem like the right fit for a narrator, but hopefully things will get better. Onto book two...
Purchasing this book was what I like to call a “hit and run” but without the legal implications. Basically I was just walking through Barnes & Noble, saw the cover, skimmed the blurb, and purchased it without much thought. Sometimes that doesn't pay off cough coughRevivalcough cough, but this time it did! I really enjoyed this one!
If you aren't interesting in royals, fan fiction about real people, or Kate Middleton, you will not enjoy this. Good thing I like all three! I wouldn't consider myself “obsessed” but I am interested in the Duchess' life. I mean, how many people can say that they went from a nobody to marrying a prince? Okay, exactly. She got what every little girl has always dreamed about. She gives all those girls hope that someday they really CAN be a princess. Anyways, this is unabashed fan fiction about Kate and William's entire relationship, except I would say it is largely based on fact. The only parts that are fiction are things we the general public wouldn't know about (like the first time they had sex). There's really nothing else to say about it. It's fun, it's easy, and it kinda makes you feel like you know them personally (except you don't).
Granted, I've read and enjoyed Heather Cocks' and Jessica Morgan's books before, but I really didn't even notice they had written it until after the fact. I know they run a pretty popular blog, but I've never checked it out. Maybe it's time to do so!
Tarte
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars
I'm having a really hard time with this review. On one hand, I loved Suma's Imaginary Girls, and this was similar in premise and ending. Both books felt very airy, with lots of flowery, descriptive writing and perspective switches and the overwhelming feeling that the narrator just isn't quite right. Ori's POV was very creepy and well-written. It felt like I was reading Black Swan in teenager form. All really great.
However, in a way, that sort of falls flat here. I wanted to know more about what happened, both in the past, and at the end. It felt like there were too many jumps in narration, in time and between people, to get a good handle on what exactly went down. Not to spoil the plot but how did the mistake happen in the first place? Why Ori? And wtf was up with the ending? Flowery writing is good to an extent, but I would've really enjoyed more concrete details. Maybe Suma just sat down and wrote whatever with no real plan, because that's sort of how this book comes across. Without delving into specifics, she avoids confronting any plotholes or errors someone might point out. Nonetheless, I still mostly enjoyed the story, and I will still be looking forward to her future works.
Tarte
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 Stars
Soulprint has a very interesting concept behind it: what if our souls were re-used when we died, and all our experiences influenced the next bearer of our soul? This is a reality for Alina, bearer of the soul of a murderous terrorist, June. Some never want to know their “soul lineage” but Alina has known since birth. Her soul was put on a watchlist, and Alina kept locked up “for her own safety”. The book presents many questions: Is Alina a danger to the world too? How much influence does June's soul have on Alina? Can Alina be held responsible for June's crimes?
This was very cool to read about and explore. The idea that we have soulprints much like we have fingerprints is actually very intriguing. It reminds me a lot of Jodi Meadows' Incarnate series. The scifi aspect was integrated very seamlessly into the story as well. It felt very natural to Alina's world.
As far as Alina goes, I really felt bad for her. Born with the shadow of someone else's legacy over her head, cut off from society for life, almost murdered by her father, and abandoned by her mother. All she wants to do is be free, from the island and from the ghost of June. Nobody is willing to grant her that because of a study conducted many years ago, predicting violence within souls over lifetimes having a correlation of .80. That's pretty damning as far as research goes. So naturally, Alina seeks an escape in both regards. The island escape was pretty simple. June, not so much.
However one must question why everyone accepted this study so readily. One of the golden rules as far as research goes is that correlation does not mean causation. Just because sales of ice cream and deaths by drowning are highly correlated, does not mean large amounts of ice cream will cause you to drown - there is a third variable. Namely, during summer there are both high ice cream sales and also high volumes of people near large bodies of water (some of which will drown). This is the main problem I had with the research study. And without it, there's really no reason to keep Alina locked up. Without it, this whole plot can't be justified.
So I didn't exactly know what to think about Soulprint. I liked the idea a lot. I thought it fit very well into the story. But I wasn't exactly impressed with how it was executed as a plot device. The research study has a huge flaw in it - regardless of whether someone fudged the details. Speaking of, don't they have an IRB? But anyways, without the study, nobody would've locked Alina up. She would've just grown up knowing she had a murderer's soul - surely attached with some stigma, but she wouldn't be as ostracized so severely. Actually, if she never volunteered to know whose soul she had, nobody might have EVER known and she could've been a normal girl. That doesn't sell books, though.
And then there's the romance. I guess it seemed sort of natural that Alina should fall in love with Cameron since the only other people were a creep and a the love interest's sister. I guess she didn't have to fall in love with anyone, but whatever. It's just hard for me to accept that everything happened in like the span of a week. Was it week? Was it less? Was it a month? I can't even say exactly because there might've been spots where we skipped a lot of time - I didn't understand it. Alina's interactions with Cameron were also pretty boring to me. Because they were based on exactly nothing, it just felt like going through the motions to me. Oh look we're staring at each other. I guess we should break the touch barrier. I guess we should kiss. I guess we love each other. Okay...
One part that I felt dragged on incessantly was after she got off the island. They just spent a huge amount of time on the run, but not actually trying to get anywhere. By the time they realized that they should be finding Ivory Street, we had spent an ENORMOUS chunk of the book just running from one hiding spot to another. And there's no way they knew where they had to be going, so it was just aimless. I kept wondering when we would get to any action. Whether we would get back to figuring out June. Whether this would get interesting again.
This is pretty negative so I'll add some points about why I gave this 3.5 stars. Like I said, I loved the idea. It's honestly great and just original enough to surprise me. I liked Alina's time on the island. I liked the conflict between everyone and Dominic. I liked the mystery of June and her notes. I liked uncovering the secret. I liked the characters well enough. I even liked the ending, although it felt pretty convenient that everyone just accepted the study was wrong after believing it for like 18 years.
This wasn't a bad book. This was actually pretty good. But the huge chunk in the middle really turned me off for a while. It really made me not want to pick it back up. But in the end, I'm glad I did.
2 Stars
Literally has the exact same issues as the first book. EXACT SAME ISSUES. Christian is ridiculously controlling and near violent. Ana tries to fix him. Props to her for leaving him, but I'm taking those props away cause she goes back to him after a week. Where is this girl's social support?
I'm only reading these because I got them for free and for some reason I need to know if it gets worse.
2 Stars
I MADE IT THROUGH THE SERIES!
There's very little character development. Christian eases up a little, but when he's angry - he's a lot worse. Just angry a little less often. Ana stands up for herself a little bit, but she always backs down when Christian starts sexing her up.
Can I just say I was absolutely furious with the scene near the end when Christian storms off, gets drunk, and comes home trashed? What he said to Ana is SERIOUSLY THE MOST INAPPROPRIATE OVERREACTION I HAVE EVER READ. SERIOUSLY. I would've bitchslapped him SO fucking hard and kicked him out. And then what he did after? Like at the bar and then when he was home? NOPE-ING RIGHT OUT OF THERE. I was so mad I rage-texted my boyfriend about it.
I feel like I should get a medal.
2 Stars
I'm not quite sure how stuff like this gets published.
The pacing was extremely slow. The novel seems like it takes place over something like 4 weeks yet it drags on ENDLESSLY. Apparently we need minute-by-minute transcription of Ana's days.
The dialogue was forced and choppy. If I read the words “jeez” or “inner goddess” or gasping ever again, it'll be WAY too soon. Kate's relationship with Ana was so ridiculously forced. Why exactly are they friends? Why is Ana friends with anyone? It seems like
The scene transitions were vague. One line they're in bed, the next line it's the next day and she's at work. What??
The plot was pretty random and poorly developed. I enjoyed the non-sex scenes a lot more. The sex was boring and very chaste for a BDSM book. I haven't read a lot of erotica but from what I understand it's supposed to be pretty vivid. This is the opposite of that (anti-vivid?). There's just touching “there” and gasping and Christian slamming into her. I don't know how it got classified as a BDSM book, honestly. The worst he does is spanking her (I think) and light bondage, which is something a lot of “vanilla” couples do.
I pretty much gave this 1 star because I had to, and 1 star because it sort-of let me live out my far-fetched dream of someone with a lot of money falling in love with me and buying me nice things and flying me in a helicopter to dinner. hopes fervently
Check out my opinion piece on Ana at my blog.
This is somewhat of a hard book to review. On the one hand, it somewhat addresses my issues with Angelfall. On the other hand, it added a lot more issues. For example, I had a huge problem with the all-consuming haze around the motivation behind everything. Well, we find out more about that in World After, but at the same time, it also adds more plot elements that are left just as unexplained. And can I say that I still don't really understand WHY and HOW the whole apocalypse happened?
Raffe was a pretty strong character in Angelfall. He was self-assured, confident, and independent. Okay well, in this book he flips between being a cold jerk and a lover. He was pretty hot and cold with Penryn, to the point where I got kinda irritated with him. I understand that he thought she died and that made him sad, but then he realizes she's alive and like sort of treats her like extra baggage weighing down his crusade against Uriel.
Penryn, however, did become a much stronger character. She was already pretty badass from protecting her family, but she got an angel sword and it just intensified. She faced down a lot of scary shit in the name of her sister and I really respect that. One thing I think is important to mention is that she still showed a soft side for Raffe when they finally met up again. So sweet. :)
In other news that continues to scare everyone, Paige is still creepy as shit to read about. Ee does a VERY good job of describing her appearance and actions – so much so that I had to wiggle to the middle of my bed. I was honestly getting a little anxious just reading about her. There is still that hint of humanity shown to Penryn that keeps tugging at my heartstrings, so I'm curious to where her plotline is moving in the future.
Speaking of plot, this was a little slower than Angelfall. There wasn't quite so much intense and frequent action, but more of slower character building and then some action at the end. I didn't necessarily mind because I wanted to know the characters' backgrounds a lot better. Here's to waiting for book 3!
1.5 Stars
Before I get to the review, I want to reflect a little on my history with this series. I absolutely hated the first book. I thought it was an insult to Greek mythology. Why did Carter change their names? Why was Kate so dumb? Why was Hades a sensitive virgin?? All good questions with no good answers. At that point, I pretty much shelved the whole series. I was not about to waste time reading something I didn't like.
Fast forward about six months, when I'm checking out my novella shelf on Goodreads and saw The Goddess Hunt, the novella between the first and second books. I think, huh, maybe I should try it..., and 24 hours later I was HOOKED. The Goddess Hunt was a complete turnaround from the first book! So I immediately went and read the second book, Goddess Interrupted, which was...okay. Still better than the first book.
I then read The Goddess Legacy, the anthology between the second and third books. They were still pretty okay. They weren't bad enough to give up on the series, but they were falling back into The Goddess Test trap at an alarming rate. You know, the whole “dumb heroine” trap. Then came this book. I was excited. I knew Carter would drop Kate's idiocy and uselessness and Henry would show her he loved her, not Persephone, and rescue her and they would bring the beat-down on Calliope and Cronus. Well, that sort of happened.
Kate didn't get any smarter. She actually just decided that throwing herself at the problem as a sacrifice was probably the best idea. And WORSE, the book even addresses her martyr complex. Several characters seriously bring it up and tell her it's a “problem”. So meta. On another point, did Henry clarify his feelings? Nah, not really. He did that super weird thing where he floats between distant and overbearing. He's just trying to protect her cause he can't lose her!!!1
Something that actually did happen was Calliope and Cronus getting the beat-down. Well Kate tried to stab Calliope, but it took three ties before it finally stuck. Cronus, on the other hand, just gets made his (ex?)wife's bitch. He hasn't seen her in like 2 million years and yet he still listens to her?? What kind of antagonist wipes out millions of people but then just agrees to stop because his (ex?)wife says so? Furthermore, if they're matched in power, how can she subdue him? Wouldn't he just be “letting” her lock him up for funsies? I can't take any of that seriously. I can't take any of this book seriously. What a disappointment.