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_ckarys's reviews
433 reviews
A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
It's a cruel thing to give me only 200 pages of the Inner Circle and taking them away from me. Especially when these 200 pages were EVERYTHING I could have asked for. Although, obviously, there was little storyline in this book, I think it was a great bridge between the events of the first trilogy and the future novels. The storylines we will see in the future were very well hinted, as well as who the key players in some of these storylines will be.
But, as always with the ACOTAR series, the real strength of these books are the phenomenal characters, and ACOFAS was the Inner Circle at its absolute best. They made me laugh when they were together, they made me squirm with feelings, they made me suffer. Because ACOFAS is also that: showing the scars that the war has left within these characters, and their struggles, and my heart feels so strongly for them that I want to destroy Sarah for giving my precious children pain.
I didn't think it was possible to fall in love with these characters even more, but damn, they get me every single time .
But, as always with the ACOTAR series, the real strength of these books are the phenomenal characters, and ACOFAS was the Inner Circle at its absolute best. They made me laugh when they were together, they made me squirm with feelings
Spoiler
Hello every single Elriel scene! Hello Feysand finally deciding to have a baby! I AM TRULY LIVING!I didn't think it was possible to fall in love with these characters even more, but damn, they get me every single time .
Spoiler
I mean, the Illyrians play with snowballs. HOW ADORABLE ARE THEY? I'm still laughing.
Fairest by Marissa Meyer
3.0
I wasn't too enthusiastic about having to read a book--no matter how small--about Levana's backstory. Don't get me wrong, I love a good villain backstory, but Levana is one of those villains that I hate and have no interest in loving. I was afraid that seeing her story would somehow change that for me.
Now that I've read it, this book surprised me. I got a little bit of what I expected I would find: Levana, like most villains, was not born bad. Levana was made by the lack of love that surrounded her: an abusive sister, an uncaring mother, a father that is mentioned but that didn't leave any impact in the story if not for the brutality of his death.
What I wasn't expecting was the extraordinary way in which the story was written by Marissa Meyer. While I did feel sorry for Levana on a human level, never in the story did I ever feel the need to side with her. Never in the story did I not feel that the abuses and violence that she causes upon others could be justified. I leave Fairest with more knowledge that I did before about this villain, but with no love for her either.
I am still waiting for her to die in [b: Winter|20706316|Winter Street (Winter, #1)|Elin Hilderbrand|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1394567347s/20706316.jpg|40026661] .
Now that I've read it, this book surprised me. I got a little bit of what I expected I would find: Levana, like most villains, was not born bad. Levana was made by the lack of love that surrounded her: an abusive sister, an uncaring mother, a father that is mentioned but that didn't leave any impact in the story if not for the brutality of his death.
What I wasn't expecting was the extraordinary way in which the story was written by Marissa Meyer. While I did feel sorry for Levana on a human level, never in the story did I ever feel the need to side with her. Never in the story did I not feel that the abuses and violence that she causes upon others could be justified. I leave Fairest with more knowledge that I did before about this villain, but with no love for her either.
I am still waiting for her to die in [b: Winter|20706316|Winter Street (Winter, #1)|Elin Hilderbrand|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1394567347s/20706316.jpg|40026661] .
Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
5.0
At this point, it shouldn't be a surprise that I absolutely adore everything that has to do with the Lunar Chronicles. I'll take any excuse to spend more time in this world and with these characters, and Stars Above is the perfect excuse to do just that. These novellas follow a chronological order, starting from events prior to the series and culminating in the perfect epilogue after the events of Winter. One of the novellas is Marissa Meyer's take on the Little Mermaid . I loved all of these novellas, some a little more than others, but overall this book was absolutely amazing!
Here's a run down of all the novellas and my individual ratings.
The Keeper : 4 stars. This novella follows Michelle Benoit, spanning from the days in which she takes in Scarlet to Cinder's adoption by Linh Garan. I really enjoyed seeing more of the strong bond between Scarlet and her grandmother. We get so much hinting at the phenomenal woman Michelle was in the books, and it was beautiful to get to see more of that here. The hardest parts to read were certainly the passages where Cinder is brought to the farm, barely alive, and the procedure of the operation to make her a cyborg. In case you need reminding as to why we hate Levana, this is the story to read.
Glitches : 5 stars. In this novella we see Cinder's first encounter with her adoptive family. While Adri is absolutely awful, it was beautiful to see Peony and Cinder together again, and it was especially wonderful to witness the first meeting of Cinder and Iko. They are one of my favorite friendships!
The Queen's Army: 4 stars. This novella is centered on a young Ze'ev. We witness the moment he is chosen to become a soldier for Levana's wolf army, so it wasn't an easy novella to read. It was heartbreaking to see him depart his family, and it was even harder to watch his body being violated by the mutations. Oh and his asshole brother is here too. I didn't miss him!
Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky: 5 stars! Oh my, how I love Thorne. This was one of the funnest novellas to read because Thorne...well, he's Thorne. Remember Kate Fallow? Well, we get to see that story play out in this novella. Cress was a little bit right, there was a hero in Thorne after all.
After Sunshine Passes By: 5 stars. This novella centers around Cress. We get to see a bit of her life before getting sent off to the satellite, and the heartbreaking moment in which she is sent to her satellite tower. While it was sad at points, Cress's sweetness and her wide-eyed wonder made it a delightful read all the same!
The Princess and the Guard : 5 stars. This novella follows young Jacin and Winter as they grow up. We get to see the incident that leads Winter to forfeit her Lunar gift, the moment in which Levana forces her to inflict the scars on her cheek and Jacin's decision to become a guard to be near Winter. Some parts were generally harder to read than others (Aimery Park is disgusting), but I could read books about Winter and Jacin being in love!
The Little Android : 4 stars. I loved this futuristic take on the Little Mermaid! Sure, nothing beats mermaids, but this version was almost as enchanting and certainly just as heartbreaking! Cinder makes a cameo too!
The Mechanic: 5 stars. BE STILL MY HEART! This is the Kaider first meeting in Kai's PoV! Did I love it? Of course I did.
Something Old, Something New: All of the stars in the galaxy! *silence* *crickets* What? That's not a rating you say? Oh...*sighs* well then, 5 stars I guess. Whenever the Rampion Crew is reuinited, my heart is happy. Getting to see them finally happy, 2 years after Levana became food for the worms (may she rot in Hell), was so beautiful! And for such a happy occasion! *cries* *blows nose* *sniffs* I love my babies.
Now can I have another novella for the other happy wedding?
Here's a run down of all the novellas and my individual ratings.
The Keeper : 4 stars. This novella follows Michelle Benoit, spanning from the days in which she takes in Scarlet to Cinder's adoption by Linh Garan. I really enjoyed seeing more of the strong bond between Scarlet and her grandmother. We get so much hinting at the phenomenal woman Michelle was in the books, and it was beautiful to get to see more of that here. The hardest parts to read were certainly the passages where Cinder is brought to the farm, barely alive, and the procedure of the operation to make her a cyborg. In case you need reminding as to why we hate Levana, this is the story to read.
Glitches : 5 stars. In this novella we see Cinder's first encounter with her adoptive family. While Adri is absolutely awful, it was beautiful to see Peony and Cinder together again, and it was especially wonderful to witness the first meeting of Cinder and Iko. They are one of my favorite friendships!
The Queen's Army: 4 stars. This novella is centered on a young Ze'ev. We witness the moment he is chosen to become a soldier for Levana's wolf army, so it wasn't an easy novella to read. It was heartbreaking to see him depart his family, and it was even harder to watch his body being violated by the mutations. Oh and his asshole brother is here too. I didn't miss him!
Carswell's Guide to Being Lucky: 5 stars! Oh my, how I love Thorne. This was one of the funnest novellas to read because Thorne...well, he's Thorne. Remember Kate Fallow? Well, we get to see that story play out in this novella. Cress was a little bit right, there was a hero in Thorne after all.
After Sunshine Passes By: 5 stars. This novella centers around Cress. We get to see a bit of her life before getting sent off to the satellite, and the heartbreaking moment in which she is sent to her satellite tower. While it was sad at points, Cress's sweetness and her wide-eyed wonder made it a delightful read all the same!
The Princess and the Guard : 5 stars. This novella follows young Jacin and Winter as they grow up. We get to see the incident that leads Winter to forfeit her Lunar gift, the moment in which Levana forces her to inflict the scars on her cheek and Jacin's decision to become a guard to be near Winter. Some parts were generally harder to read than others (Aimery Park is disgusting), but I could read books about Winter and Jacin being in love!
The Little Android : 4 stars. I loved this futuristic take on the Little Mermaid! Sure, nothing beats mermaids, but this version was almost as enchanting and certainly just as heartbreaking! Cinder makes a cameo too!
The Mechanic: 5 stars. BE STILL MY HEART! This is the Kaider first meeting in Kai's PoV! Did I love it? Of course I did.
Something Old, Something New: All of the stars in the galaxy! *silence* *crickets* What? That's not a rating you say? Oh...*sighs* well then, 5 stars I guess. Whenever the Rampion Crew is reuinited, my heart is happy. Getting to see them finally happy, 2 years after Levana became food for the worms (may she rot in Hell), was so beautiful! And for such a happy occasion! *cries* *blows nose* *sniffs* I love my babies.
Now can I have another novella for the other happy wedding?