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aprildiamond's reviews
144 reviews
Ghostcatcher by Sophie Green
5.0
the ending of this one makes me CRY
this is tonally different from the first two of the series but it's also really necessary? with all the stuff happening in the other books it's easy to forget that one of the main characters is an 11 year old boy who was literally murdered. yes, he's a ghost, but when you're following the plot you're not constantly thinking about how he got that way. however, in this book Nedly's condition becomes a central idea, forcing us to think about it more as well as addressing its long-term consequences. I didn't expect the series to go that direction but I'm glad it did and I think it was a perfect way to conclude.
this one ALSO delivered the answer to one of the biggest questions I've had since book 1, and I love when book series play the long game on answers but still make sure to address everything. it's both "oh hey look! told you I didn't forget" and a gift to us for sticking with it lmao
this is tonally different from the first two of the series but it's also really necessary? with all the stuff happening in the other books it's easy to forget that one of the main characters is an 11 year old boy who was literally murdered. yes, he's a ghost, but when you're following the plot you're not constantly thinking about how he got that way. however, in this book Nedly's condition becomes a central idea, forcing us to think about it more as well as addressing its long-term consequences. I didn't expect the series to go that direction but I'm glad it did and I think it was a perfect way to conclude.
this one ALSO delivered the answer to one of the biggest questions I've had since book 1, and I love when book series play the long game on answers but still make sure to address everything. it's both "oh hey look! told you I didn't forget" and a gift to us for sticking with it lmao
Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger
3.0
I had heard a lot of good things about this book, or at least this series, but I felt like it didn't quite live up to the hype.
The problems I had with this book were mostly in the earlier half or so. Right away, we are presented with the character of Sophie, who is different than all the other kids. We then find out that she is different from humans but that there are others like her (elves). Okay, great, fine. But then, we learn that Sophie is the most ultra special person ever and there is nobody like her and she has all of these abilities that are very rare and can do things that adult elves can't do etc etc etc. Main characters like these kind of take me out of the story, because as hard as the author tries to convince us that she DOES have flaws (bad at PE, lack of confidence), it falls flat and Sophie as a character just seemed way too perfect. It doesn't help that apparently a bunch of guys like her (?) but more on that later. And I understand that there was a reason why she had all these talents, but for a while it felt like every page was just "omg Sophie you can do this too? NOBODY can do that!" which gets pretty old quick.
The story also went WAY too fast at the beginning, so much so that I wasn't able to suspend disbelief quickly enough. This sounds strange, but the way everything was written in the first few chapters was reminiscent of a third grader writing a story. "This is Sophie who is different and special and then one day a boy finds her and shows her a magical world where elves live and then she finds out she is an elf and she leaves the human world to live in the magical world." Kind of like that. I don't know how to place it, but it didn't flow correctly. If the beginning had been stretched out and developed more I think it would have been beneficial to the book.
While a bit off-putting, the beginning and the cliche protagonist weren't enough to knock this down 2 stars. No, there were more serious problems in the assumptions made by this book and how infuriating some of the characters became.
Let's start off with this. STOP PUTTING GIRL HATE IN MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS. Or books, period. It is extremely annoying. The target audience of these books is (usually) girls of impressionable ages where everything they read is going to have an impact on them. I know that the things I read back then definitely changed who I am now. And this book decided that girls were going to hate each other for the sole reason of getting a boy's attention. 1, if characters dislike other characters, there should be a legitimate reason why this happens. Dex gets an actual reason to hate Fitz and Biana. It makes sense. Why not do this for everyone? And 2, girls are not only interested in boys, however foreign this idea may seem. I mean, things really got ridiculous when one of the GIRL characters said something like "I don't usually hang out with girls, they're annoying." ??? SIS YOU ARE A GIRL. Why do we keep teaching girls internalized misogyny?? Why? And then later, Sophie tries to give Fitz a gift, sees a CROWD of girls getting angry at her for it (I can't begin to explain how unrealistic this is) and then thinks to herself "ugh, girls". AGAIN, she IS a girl. This was so immensely frustrating.
Somewhat related but also a separate problem was how the idea of crushes was handled.
1) A horde of girls liked any guy who was described as good-looking (i.e. Fitz)
Firstly, in the earliest chapters of the book it was mentioned that all elves were good looking, so this shouldn't be a thing, but whatever. It also just doesn't make sense. This happens all the time in fiction but it's completely garbage. While most people can RECOGNIZE if someone is attractive, it doesn't mean that they all have feelings for that person. This is evidently a difficult concept, and it makes reading these parts tedious.
2) A bunch of guys like Sophie
I'm not buying this one. It ties into the "super special" main character thing from earlier. The fact is, Sophie did not interact with characters enough to justify that many people liking her. She barely talked! The only one I can understand is Dex, because they were friends and she actually talked to him a lot. But anyone else? No way. Again, it ruins any semblance of Sophie being a normal, relatable character if she has 3 or 4 guys trying to get with her for seemingly no reason.
3) "Boy-crazy" heroine
Although shown to dig on other female characters for this same reason, Sophie is written to be thinking WAY too much about guys for a normal 12 year old. When she first meets Fitz, it would have been understandable to have her recognize that he was good-looking, but the fact that she likes him after that is pushing it. And then it keeps getting brought up at the weirdest times, making the reader suffer through severe secondhand embarrassment/awkwardness.
Most of the stuff that I've outlined disappeared or was severely toned down after about the halfway point, allowing me to enjoy the rest of the book normally. I thought the plot was pretty interesting, and some of the relationships between characters were written really well. Maybe it was just the romantic ones that the author was having trouble with. Although I was kind of sick of Sophie ending up in the infirmary every two seconds lmao.
So I think I'm going to keep reading the series to see how it goes. Hopefully the issues I had with this book don't show up again because they take away from what I think could have been a really strong story.
The problems I had with this book were mostly in the earlier half or so. Right away, we are presented with the character of Sophie, who is different than all the other kids. We then find out that she is different from humans but that there are others like her (elves). Okay, great, fine. But then, we learn that Sophie is the most ultra special person ever and there is nobody like her and she has all of these abilities that are very rare and can do things that adult elves can't do etc etc etc. Main characters like these kind of take me out of the story, because as hard as the author tries to convince us that she DOES have flaws (bad at PE, lack of confidence), it falls flat and Sophie as a character just seemed way too perfect. It doesn't help that apparently a bunch of guys like her (?) but more on that later. And I understand that there was a reason why she had all these talents, but for a while it felt like every page was just "omg Sophie you can do this too? NOBODY can do that!" which gets pretty old quick.
The story also went WAY too fast at the beginning, so much so that I wasn't able to suspend disbelief quickly enough. This sounds strange, but the way everything was written in the first few chapters was reminiscent of a third grader writing a story. "This is Sophie who is different and special and then one day a boy finds her and shows her a magical world where elves live and then she finds out she is an elf and she leaves the human world to live in the magical world." Kind of like that. I don't know how to place it, but it didn't flow correctly. If the beginning had been stretched out and developed more I think it would have been beneficial to the book.
While a bit off-putting, the beginning and the cliche protagonist weren't enough to knock this down 2 stars. No, there were more serious problems in the assumptions made by this book and how infuriating some of the characters became.
Let's start off with this. STOP PUTTING GIRL HATE IN MIDDLE GRADE BOOKS. Or books, period. It is extremely annoying. The target audience of these books is (usually) girls of impressionable ages where everything they read is going to have an impact on them. I know that the things I read back then definitely changed who I am now. And this book decided that girls were going to hate each other for the sole reason of getting a boy's attention. 1, if characters dislike other characters, there should be a legitimate reason why this happens. Dex gets an actual reason to hate Fitz and Biana. It makes sense. Why not do this for everyone? And 2, girls are not only interested in boys, however foreign this idea may seem. I mean, things really got ridiculous when one of the GIRL characters said something like "I don't usually hang out with girls, they're annoying." ??? SIS YOU ARE A GIRL. Why do we keep teaching girls internalized misogyny?? Why? And then later, Sophie tries to give Fitz a gift, sees a CROWD of girls getting angry at her for it (I can't begin to explain how unrealistic this is) and then thinks to herself "ugh, girls". AGAIN, she IS a girl. This was so immensely frustrating.
Somewhat related but also a separate problem was how the idea of crushes was handled.
1) A horde of girls liked any guy who was described as good-looking (i.e. Fitz)
Firstly, in the earliest chapters of the book it was mentioned that all elves were good looking, so this shouldn't be a thing, but whatever. It also just doesn't make sense. This happens all the time in fiction but it's completely garbage. While most people can RECOGNIZE if someone is attractive, it doesn't mean that they all have feelings for that person. This is evidently a difficult concept, and it makes reading these parts tedious.
2) A bunch of guys like Sophie
I'm not buying this one. It ties into the "super special" main character thing from earlier. The fact is, Sophie did not interact with characters enough to justify that many people liking her. She barely talked! The only one I can understand is Dex, because they were friends and she actually talked to him a lot. But anyone else? No way. Again, it ruins any semblance of Sophie being a normal, relatable character if she has 3 or 4 guys trying to get with her for seemingly no reason.
3) "Boy-crazy" heroine
Although shown to dig on other female characters for this same reason, Sophie is written to be thinking WAY too much about guys for a normal 12 year old. When she first meets Fitz, it would have been understandable to have her recognize that he was good-looking, but the fact that she likes him after that is pushing it. And then it keeps getting brought up at the weirdest times, making the reader suffer through severe secondhand embarrassment/awkwardness.
Most of the stuff that I've outlined disappeared or was severely toned down after about the halfway point, allowing me to enjoy the rest of the book normally. I thought the plot was pretty interesting, and some of the relationships between characters were written really well. Maybe it was just the romantic ones that the author was having trouble with. Although I was kind of sick of Sophie ending up in the infirmary every two seconds lmao.
So I think I'm going to keep reading the series to see how it goes. Hopefully the issues I had with this book don't show up again because they take away from what I think could have been a really strong story.
Princess Nevermore by Dian Curtis Regan
1.0
This book had a great premise, honestly. It's been done before, but the whole "someone from another world comes to the real world" thing can be fun no matter how many times it's been done, as long as the story is good.
Yeah, this book dropped the ball, big-time.
Quinn, the princess of an underground world, ends up on Earth in present day. The story is pretty decent as she first gets there, but when she meets the family she ends up staying with, it all goes downhill. In the family are a brother (Adam) and a sister (Sarah), who both suck for different reasons.
Sarah is annoying almost the entire book, because she's constantly jealous of Quinn, who has drawn the attention of a guy at school, Zack. (Oh boy, more about him later). Sarah likes Zack, for whatever reason, and he wants Quinn. Anyway, so Sarah's entire personality is to be jealous and rude until like, right before the end when she tries to redeem herself, but does a terrible job because she told Zack Quinn's secret that she promised not to tell. Whatever.
Adam is painted as the "nice, respectful guy" but there are serious problems with him, too. So basically he says that he loves Quinn after knowing her for less than a day, just because she's pretty. Wow, we love meaningful relationships! Also, he is super possessive of her, which is weird. In addition, there's a part where he gets in a fight with Zack over who gets to take Quinn to the dance??? Like, I guess she can't decide for her own self??? Anyway, during this stupid fight (which is a weird fake joust for whatever reason), Quinn tells Adam not to do it because Zack is bigger and will obviously not stick to the rules. This is probably the only smart thing she says the entire book. But, Adam gets mad at her, I guess because his masculinity was threatened?? Who knows.
And then he loses the fight because Zack doesn't stick to the rules. Wow. Who could have seen that one coming? Oh, and this line is literally in the book during this scene: "The humiliation of being saved by a maiden would be too much to bear." ??? I almost gave up right then and there but I knew that I had to suffer through the rest so that I could fully warn you guys about this book. I made sacrifices for you all, I hope you appreciate it.
Quinn, as a main character, is kinda pathetic. Like I said with Adam, she decides that "oh, I'm in love with you" after not even A DAY. I totally understand her hesitation to go back home, considering that she has no real freedom to choose things in her life. But then she never actually makes her own choices when she's in our world! Zack wins the fight, so she is compelled to go with him to the dance?? What happened to choosing your own life? The book continues in this vein, where Quinn does nothing for herself, and it's frustrating. She only really makes one choice, and that's to go back home.
Also, she tells Melikar to not make Adam forget about her? Why??? That's honestly horrible because now the guy is going to be thinking about her, when pretty much everyone else in his life DOESN'T REMEMBER HER. What a great time.
Zack is disgusting. Like, straight up the worst. He drives while drunk, harasses people, and sexually assaults Quinn by kissing her when she never 1) gave him permission 2) even HINTED that she liked him or that she wanted to kiss him. He also believes girls to be his objects. Creepy, nasty dude. Normally, this would just make him a great antagonist (and it does). Like, there are terrible people and this is one of them. But the worst part is that girls in the book like him!!! What?? He never shows any traits that make him even mildly okay as a person, but a bunch of girls want to go to the dance with him or whatever. What total BS.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the book sucks. None of the characters are likable or even relatable, and the plot, which could have been interesting if it went the route of LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE, is a bunch of nonsense about TEEN DRAMA. I mean, even a story about Quinn accidentally getting far from the wishing pool and trying to find her way back would have been better. It was tedious to get through this book and it's just not interesting. If you're looking for a fantasy/adventure book about a princess, read [b:Dealing with Dragons|150739|Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1)|Patricia C. Wrede|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385526967i/150739._SY75_.jpg|1178402]. It's so much better, trust.
Oh, and if I ever see the word "lad" again, I'm going to scream.
Yeah, this book dropped the ball, big-time.
Quinn, the princess of an underground world, ends up on Earth in present day. The story is pretty decent as she first gets there, but when she meets the family she ends up staying with, it all goes downhill. In the family are a brother (Adam) and a sister (Sarah), who both suck for different reasons.
Sarah is annoying almost the entire book, because she's constantly jealous of Quinn, who has drawn the attention of a guy at school, Zack. (Oh boy, more about him later). Sarah likes Zack, for whatever reason, and he wants Quinn. Anyway, so Sarah's entire personality is to be jealous and rude until like, right before the end when she tries to redeem herself, but does a terrible job because she told Zack Quinn's secret that she promised not to tell. Whatever.
Adam is painted as the "nice, respectful guy" but there are serious problems with him, too. So basically he says that he loves Quinn after knowing her for less than a day, just because she's pretty. Wow, we love meaningful relationships! Also, he is super possessive of her, which is weird. In addition, there's a part where he gets in a fight with Zack over who gets to take Quinn to the dance??? Like, I guess she can't decide for her own self??? Anyway, during this stupid fight (which is a weird fake joust for whatever reason), Quinn tells Adam not to do it because Zack is bigger and will obviously not stick to the rules. This is probably the only smart thing she says the entire book. But, Adam gets mad at her, I guess because his masculinity was threatened?? Who knows.
And then he loses the fight because Zack doesn't stick to the rules. Wow. Who could have seen that one coming? Oh, and this line is literally in the book during this scene: "The humiliation of being saved by a maiden would be too much to bear." ??? I almost gave up right then and there but I knew that I had to suffer through the rest so that I could fully warn you guys about this book. I made sacrifices for you all, I hope you appreciate it.
Quinn, as a main character, is kinda pathetic. Like I said with Adam, she decides that "oh, I'm in love with you" after not even A DAY. I totally understand her hesitation to go back home, considering that she has no real freedom to choose things in her life. But then she never actually makes her own choices when she's in our world! Zack wins the fight, so she is compelled to go with him to the dance?? What happened to choosing your own life? The book continues in this vein, where Quinn does nothing for herself, and it's frustrating. She only really makes one choice, and that's to go back home.
Also, she tells Melikar to not make Adam forget about her? Why??? That's honestly horrible because now the guy is going to be thinking about her, when pretty much everyone else in his life DOESN'T REMEMBER HER. What a great time.
Zack is disgusting. Like, straight up the worst. He drives while drunk, harasses people, and sexually assaults Quinn by kissing her when she never 1) gave him permission 2) even HINTED that she liked him or that she wanted to kiss him. He also believes girls to be his objects. Creepy, nasty dude. Normally, this would just make him a great antagonist (and it does). Like, there are terrible people and this is one of them. But the worst part is that girls in the book like him!!! What?? He never shows any traits that make him even mildly okay as a person, but a bunch of girls want to go to the dance with him or whatever. What total BS.
Basically, what I'm trying to say is that the book sucks. None of the characters are likable or even relatable, and the plot, which could have been interesting if it went the route of LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE, is a bunch of nonsense about TEEN DRAMA. I mean, even a story about Quinn accidentally getting far from the wishing pool and trying to find her way back would have been better. It was tedious to get through this book and it's just not interesting. If you're looking for a fantasy/adventure book about a princess, read [b:Dealing with Dragons|150739|Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1)|Patricia C. Wrede|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1385526967i/150739._SY75_.jpg|1178402]. It's so much better, trust.
Oh, and if I ever see the word "lad" again, I'm going to scream.
Talon by Julie Kagawa
2.0
My rating is more like 2.5 stars.
Unfortunately, reading this book kinda reminded me of why I don't like YA as much as I could. I know, I'm generalizing, but the problems I have with this are usually found in YA novels as opposed to the books I usually read.
Anyway, so when I first started reading this book, I was thinking "Oh hey, this is like [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387577872l/19549841._SY75_.jpg|17375239]!" In both books, there are dragons that have human forms and are trying to integrate into human society. Sadly, the similarities stopped there. Which sucks, cause I really like [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387577872l/19549841._SY75_.jpg|17375239].
The main problem I have with this book, and this is important because it affects the whole thing, was the stereotyping. There is SO MUCH. WHY? Contrary to the beliefs of this book, girls (including teenaged girls!!! wow!) can talk about more than clothes, shopping, and boys! Come on. Those are like, the most basic filler topics you can use. The book really tried to convince me that throughout the ENTIRE BOOK, not one of Ember or her friends talked about movies, books, video games, jokes, funny stories, their life goals, food, etc? There are so many topics that people can talk about, but we decided to go stereotype. Okay.
You want more stereotypes? Great! How about the love triangle? Does someone want to explain why so many YA books use the love triangle? Please? Make it make sense. It's old, it's tired, and I am very much over the "one dude gets jealous when the girl even glances at the other dude" trope. Every book that uses the love triangle also tries to explain why the girl can't choose a guy. The reasons are always some BS. This book is no exception. Apparently, Ember and her dragon form are separate beings (??) and they both want different guys. Yeah, I'm confused too. Ember IS a dragon. So what is this nonsense??
Okay, how about the guy stereotypes? Like where Ember tells Garret that he's a guy, so he's gotta be good at those shooting games! I'm not even sure what that's trying to convey. Boys are... more likely to shoot things? They have better eyesight?? I really don't know.
Or maybe the being in love with someone 2 seconds after you meet them? Garret and Ember meet for the first time and "can't stop thinking about each other". Yiiikes.
I could talk about (bad) tropes in this book for ages, so let's move on. The characters... were also not my favorites. I liked parts of the characters. I liked that Ember had attitude, and she was funny at those parts. I didn't like the rest of her character. I TOTALLY GET that she wanted to be free from Talon because they were going to plan out her whole life and she would get no say. I would feel the same way. What I don't understand is how she's so narrow-minded about it! Girl, they're gonna plan out your entire life and all you're mad about is the fact that you won't get a hot girl summer and won't get to date Garret?? Sis, we're talking career/life choices that you will never get to make!! So that aspect was weird.
On to Garret. I loved his internal conflict with himself (it was one of the best parts of the book), but it's a pity that it resulted from the "love at first sight" thing with Ember. In addition, I didn't really like Garret . His internal thoughts were great. But his actual, surface level personality? Really boring, actually. I can't remember a single thing about what he was like. He just kinda existed. Maybe that was because he was so used to being a proper soldier, but then how does it make sense that ANYONE fell in love with him??
Riley was probably one of the better characters, along with Dante. Those two were a bit more interesting. Dante played his part extremely well, and that's another reason this book isn't 1 star. I had some problems with Riley (he was a little weird at times) but he had some funny lines and he was pretty chill.
All of this could have been somewhat forgotten if the plot had been spectacular. It definitely wasn't. I was waiting and waiting for something to happen, like when they would figure out stuff about Talon or St. George. But it kinda just turned into a romance novel with little hints about the story that was supposed to be the main focus. The action was so minimal. But we finally got some good content near the end, action and mystery wise, so that kinda saved this book from the one star dungeon.
Basically, characters? Eh. Plot? Had potential. Stereotypes? Too many. Wayyy too many.
Final note: The phrase "where the sun don't shine" appears in Ruby Redfort, I believe. That's set in the 70s. Why is it in this book? Literally who says that? Oh well, whatever.
Unfortunately, reading this book kinda reminded me of why I don't like YA as much as I could. I know, I'm generalizing, but the problems I have with this are usually found in YA novels as opposed to the books I usually read.
Anyway, so when I first started reading this book, I was thinking "Oh hey, this is like [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387577872l/19549841._SY75_.jpg|17375239]!" In both books, there are dragons that have human forms and are trying to integrate into human society. Sadly, the similarities stopped there. Which sucks, cause I really like [b:Seraphina|19549841|Seraphina (Seraphina, #1)|Rachel Hartman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387577872l/19549841._SY75_.jpg|17375239].
The main problem I have with this book, and this is important because it affects the whole thing, was the stereotyping. There is SO MUCH. WHY? Contrary to the beliefs of this book, girls (including teenaged girls!!! wow!) can talk about more than clothes, shopping, and boys! Come on. Those are like, the most basic filler topics you can use. The book really tried to convince me that throughout the ENTIRE BOOK, not one of Ember or her friends talked about movies, books, video games, jokes, funny stories, their life goals, food, etc? There are so many topics that people can talk about, but we decided to go stereotype. Okay.
You want more stereotypes? Great! How about the love triangle? Does someone want to explain why so many YA books use the love triangle? Please? Make it make sense. It's old, it's tired, and I am very much over the "one dude gets jealous when the girl even glances at the other dude" trope. Every book that uses the love triangle also tries to explain why the girl can't choose a guy. The reasons are always some BS. This book is no exception. Apparently, Ember and her dragon form are separate beings (??) and they both want different guys. Yeah, I'm confused too. Ember IS a dragon. So what is this nonsense??
Okay, how about the guy stereotypes? Like where Ember tells Garret that he's a guy, so he's gotta be good at those shooting games! I'm not even sure what that's trying to convey. Boys are... more likely to shoot things? They have better eyesight?? I really don't know.
Or maybe the being in love with someone 2 seconds after you meet them? Garret and Ember meet for the first time and "can't stop thinking about each other". Yiiikes.
I could talk about (bad) tropes in this book for ages, so let's move on. The characters... were also not my favorites. I liked parts of the characters. I liked that Ember had attitude, and she was funny at those parts. I didn't like the rest of her character. I TOTALLY GET that she wanted to be free from Talon because they were going to plan out her whole life and she would get no say. I would feel the same way. What I don't understand is how she's so narrow-minded about it! Girl, they're gonna plan out your entire life and all you're mad about is the fact that you won't get a hot girl summer and won't get to date Garret?? Sis, we're talking career/life choices that you will never get to make!! So that aspect was weird.
On to Garret. I loved his internal conflict with himself (it was one of the best parts of the book), but it's a pity that it resulted from the "love at first sight" thing with Ember. In addition, I didn't really like Garret . His internal thoughts were great. But his actual, surface level personality? Really boring, actually. I can't remember a single thing about what he was like. He just kinda existed. Maybe that was because he was so used to being a proper soldier, but then how does it make sense that ANYONE fell in love with him??
Riley was probably one of the better characters, along with Dante. Those two were a bit more interesting. Dante played his part extremely well, and that's another reason this book isn't 1 star. I had some problems with Riley (he was a little weird at times) but he had some funny lines and he was pretty chill.
All of this could have been somewhat forgotten if the plot had been spectacular. It definitely wasn't. I was waiting and waiting for something to happen, like when they would figure out stuff about Talon or St. George. But it kinda just turned into a romance novel with little hints about the story that was supposed to be the main focus. The action was so minimal. But we finally got some good content near the end, action and mystery wise, so that kinda saved this book from the one star dungeon.
Basically, characters? Eh. Plot? Had potential. Stereotypes? Too many. Wayyy too many.
Final note: The phrase "where the sun don't shine" appears in Ruby Redfort, I believe. That's set in the 70s. Why is it in this book? Literally who says that? Oh well, whatever.
Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller
4.0
Mask of Shadows is a pretty good read overall. I especially liked how it avoided common YA pitfalls. That was refreshing.
First off I just want to say that I really like competition/elimination round plotlines. Even if they get sad or violent because a lot of characters die, I tend to think they're really interesting. So if you like that sort of thing, you would probably like this book.
I also liked Sal's character. Sal was the second gender fluid character I've ever read about in a book, and the first main character, so it was interesting to get the different perspective. On top of representation, Sal was just an interesting character (and pretty funny).
In terms of avoiding common mistakes from YA, I was SO HAPPY that there was no love triangle. And while the romance wasn't my favorite part (just a personal preference), I was glad that the relationship wasn't toxic and the love interest wasn't bland and uninteresting.
As a whole: interesting political intrigue, great side characters (Ruby was great, Maud is a legend, and Emerald is my actual favorite), and believable personal motivations.
Would recommend, though the book does get a bit on the violent side (if you're concerned about that).
First off I just want to say that I really like competition/elimination round plotlines. Even if they get sad or violent because a lot of characters die, I tend to think they're really interesting. So if you like that sort of thing, you would probably like this book.
I also liked Sal's character. Sal was the second gender fluid character I've ever read about in a book, and the first main character, so it was interesting to get the different perspective. On top of representation, Sal was just an interesting character (and pretty funny).
In terms of avoiding common mistakes from YA, I was SO HAPPY that there was no love triangle. And while the romance wasn't my favorite part (just a personal preference), I was glad that the relationship wasn't toxic and the love interest wasn't bland and uninteresting.
As a whole: interesting political intrigue, great side characters (Ruby was great, Maud is a legend, and Emerald is my actual favorite), and believable personal motivations.
Would recommend, though the book does get a bit on the violent side (if you're concerned about that).
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
3.0
First of all,
WHAT WAS THAT YEEHAW ALABAMA NONSENSE AT THE END?!! WHAT WAS THE REASON??!
I mean, if you were gonna makeJace and Clary siblings, then WHY WOULD YOU MAKE THEM A COUPLE?? Or vice versa! Pick a struggle!
Well, I can't say that I felt this book was very action packed. It seemed like barely anything happened, but not in a "i'm so bored how many pages left" kind of way, more like a "somehow i'm almost done with this without noticing any progression" kind of way. It was like being stuck in a time loop, very weird.
With that being said I didn't have any major problems with it, other than Jace, who is a whiny baby character the entire time and NOBODY calls him out for it. Honestly this guy acts like a 6 year old, if a 6 year old knew how to be "brooding" and "mysterious" and "a bad boy". Notice all of these are in quotes because, yeah right. He always has to have his way for no reason, and it's so annoying. The book would have been 10x better without Jace.
The other main characters were all kind of strange for me because sometimes I liked them and other times I really didn't. Alec was fine basically the whole time, Isabelle wavered (I feel like she wasn't written very strongly), Simon was good then got really lame for a while and then redeemed himself, and I liked Clary except for when she was "in love" with Jace. (See, so much better without him!) Usually I have to call out YA books for the main female characters sucking but I was pleasantly surprised that Clary didn't (ignoring Jace parts!) Yes, she didn't do much but then again nobody really did, and she had some good lines and acted normally. I thought she was decently funny and had morals, which is the basic criteria for my friends so she passed.
A minor nitpick was that Clary and Isabelle bordered on senseless girl hate for a while (as in they weren't friends and hated each other for no good reason) but they patched it up at the end so hopefully we see a good friendship later on. Tbh Clary and Isabelle would have been a better couple but oh well.
I think this series could go either way. Hopefully with the thing about Jace and Clary, their "relationship" stops (if it doesn't I'm going to go INSANE because WHAT), and the next books are better. And maybe there will be more intense plotlines, too, because the premise of the world is really cool. Or everything could go south and it gets worse. We'll see.
Also there is NO WAY these characters are 15 LMAOOO
WHAT WAS THAT YEEHAW ALABAMA NONSENSE AT THE END?!! WHAT WAS THE REASON??!
I mean, if you were gonna make
Well, I can't say that I felt this book was very action packed. It seemed like barely anything happened, but not in a "i'm so bored how many pages left" kind of way, more like a "somehow i'm almost done with this without noticing any progression" kind of way. It was like being stuck in a time loop, very weird.
With that being said I didn't have any major problems with it, other than Jace, who is a whiny baby character the entire time and NOBODY calls him out for it. Honestly this guy acts like a 6 year old, if a 6 year old knew how to be "brooding" and "mysterious" and "a bad boy". Notice all of these are in quotes because, yeah right. He always has to have his way for no reason, and it's so annoying. The book would have been 10x better without Jace.
The other main characters were all kind of strange for me because sometimes I liked them and other times I really didn't. Alec was fine basically the whole time, Isabelle wavered (I feel like she wasn't written very strongly), Simon was good then got really lame for a while and then redeemed himself, and I liked Clary except for when she was "in love" with Jace. (See, so much better without him!) Usually I have to call out YA books for the main female characters sucking but I was pleasantly surprised that Clary didn't (ignoring Jace parts!) Yes, she didn't do much but then again nobody really did, and she had some good lines and acted normally. I thought she was decently funny and had morals, which is the basic criteria for my friends so she passed.
A minor nitpick was that Clary and Isabelle bordered on senseless girl hate for a while (as in they weren't friends and hated each other for no good reason) but they patched it up at the end so hopefully we see a good friendship later on. Tbh Clary and Isabelle would have been a better couple but oh well.
I think this series could go either way. Hopefully with the thing about Jace and Clary, their "relationship" stops (if it doesn't I'm going to go INSANE because WHAT), and the next books are better. And maybe there will be more intense plotlines, too, because the premise of the world is really cool. Or everything could go south and it gets worse. We'll see.
Also there is NO WAY these characters are 15 LMAOOO
Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller
3.0
3.5 stars.
I loved a lot of the plot points, the twists, the characters, and the emotional impacts of this book, but it wasn't as captivating as the first one.
Still a very good series though!
I loved a lot of the plot points, the twists, the characters, and the emotional impacts of this book, but it wasn't as captivating as the first one.
Still a very good series though!
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
1.0
Before this, in order for a book to receive a 1 star review from me it had to be absolute garbage in all aspects, without a single redeeming quality.
I am horrified to announce that now, there’s a faster way to 1 star - promotion of incest!
Listen, I know that Clary and Jace are going to turn out to be not related, yadda yadda, whatever. That does not change the fact that both of them THOUGHT they were related and (Jace) decided to try and continue a relationship. We all had to read about characters being internally conflicted over the fact that they were romantically in love with someone they thought was their sibling.
As an author, you have control over every part of your story. So I am at a loss as to WHY ON EARTH this ENTIRE MESS would ever make it into the books??? Does the author LIKE faux-incest plot lines??? Like, is it not uncomfortable to write a make-out scene between two characters who think they are brother and sister??? Just WHY???
In my opinion, if the only way you can make a plot point work is by having two people in love find out they’re related, just THROW THAT SHIT OUT. It’s not worth it. So, SO not worth it.
That’s all the justification I need for 1 star but there’s more garbage that I want to acknowledge.
Jace is literally THE WORST. HE’S TRASH. I guess I’m supposed to like him because
1) he’s a protagonist
2) tragic backstory
But no, he’s awful and I don’t care how sucky his childhood was, if he’s a jerk I’m going to react to him like he’s a jerk. Okay, at the start the dude goes into a bar with werewolves who have done nothing to him and NONSTOP starts aggravating and insulting them. After one of them has JUST BEEN MURDERED. When he rightfully gets his ass beat, Clary is like “oh yeah that’s jace always getting into fights” babe he’s a menace PLEASE throw him out already.
I need the author to end my misery and kill him off. I can’t do it anymore. He’s weirdly possessive (of course), toxically overprotective, toxic in general, arrogant, never learns to be a better person and honestly words can’t describe how much I hate Jace. please end his character. I’m begging here………. please…….
If we ignore the whole incest lens, which is a phrase I never thought I’d have to type, Clary and Jace have 0 chemistry. I was trying to ignore their relationship the entire book but suddenly had this epiphany when Jace gave Simon his blood. The whole scene had more sexual tension than Clary and Jace had EVER HAD. Not even kidding… they always acted like they were secretly hot for each other… but this was next level. Clary+Jace is out and Jace+Simon is in, babey.
Unfortunately for my sanity I’m reading this whole series but I need a LONG hiatus before I can even look at the next book in this nightmare ride.
I am horrified to announce that now, there’s a faster way to 1 star - promotion of incest!
Listen, I know that Clary and Jace are going to turn out to be not related, yadda yadda, whatever. That does not change the fact that both of them THOUGHT they were related and (Jace) decided to try and continue a relationship. We all had to read about characters being internally conflicted over the fact that they were romantically in love with someone they thought was their sibling.
As an author, you have control over every part of your story. So I am at a loss as to WHY ON EARTH this ENTIRE MESS would ever make it into the books??? Does the author LIKE faux-incest plot lines??? Like, is it not uncomfortable to write a make-out scene between two characters who think they are brother and sister??? Just WHY???
In my opinion, if the only way you can make a plot point work is by having two people in love find out they’re related, just THROW THAT SHIT OUT. It’s not worth it. So, SO not worth it.
That’s all the justification I need for 1 star but there’s more garbage that I want to acknowledge.
Jace is literally THE WORST. HE’S TRASH. I guess I’m supposed to like him because
1) he’s a protagonist
2) tragic backstory
But no, he’s awful and I don’t care how sucky his childhood was, if he’s a jerk I’m going to react to him like he’s a jerk. Okay, at the start the dude goes into a bar with werewolves who have done nothing to him and NONSTOP starts aggravating and insulting them. After one of them has JUST BEEN MURDERED. When he rightfully gets his ass beat, Clary is like “oh yeah that’s jace always getting into fights” babe he’s a menace PLEASE throw him out already.
I need the author to end my misery and kill him off. I can’t do it anymore. He’s weirdly possessive (of course), toxically overprotective, toxic in general, arrogant, never learns to be a better person and honestly words can’t describe how much I hate Jace. please end his character. I’m begging here………. please…….
If we ignore the whole incest lens, which is a phrase I never thought I’d have to type, Clary and Jace have 0 chemistry. I was trying to ignore their relationship the entire book but suddenly had this epiphany when Jace gave Simon his blood. The whole scene had more sexual tension than Clary and Jace had EVER HAD. Not even kidding… they always acted like they were secretly hot for each other… but this was next level. Clary+Jace is out and Jace+Simon is in, babey.
Unfortunately for my sanity I’m reading this whole series but I need a LONG hiatus before I can even look at the next book in this nightmare ride.
Zodiac by Romina Russell
2.0
2.5 stars.
Well, that was pretty disappointing.
This book had serious potential at the start. We're introduced to a sci-fi world that is based on the Zodiac constellations. Each one is its own House, with different planets, specialties, personalities, and customs. We start off on Cancer but get to explore a couple other Houses, and the worldbuilding is spectacular. By far it's the best part of the book; the author has clearly spent time on bringing this universe to life.
Moving on to the plot, which was also enough to keep this book afloat. The main gist is that Ophiuchus, the 13th House, was largely considered to be a myth in this world, but it turns out he's real and is ready to wreak havoc. The main character Rho is the only one who can see the warning signs, so she has to try and warn the different Houses. In the first chapter or so, things start off with a literal bang as one of Cancer's moons explodes and causes a mass catastrophe. Rho is one of the only ones on another moon that survives it. I was liking this beginning because it reminded me of when the plot really got going in [b:Last Day on Mars|25183019|Last Day on Mars (Chronicle of the Dark Star, #1)|Kevin Emerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468612284l/25183019._SY75_.jpg|44890630], which is some of my favorite sci-fi. Like, boom! Planet-sized disaster happens and the main characters have to figure out what's going on. I thought I was in for a good time.
So if the plot and the world were both fine, what then was left to suck?
Yep, it was the characters. For a while, I was indifferent about them. I didn't think I would like Hysan, but he grew on me and was probably my favorite other than Nishi. Rho was eh, Mathias was eh, yet both of them got the most screentime which I thought was unfair. Anyway,,, as the story progressed I saw the telltale signs of a future love triangle, but I ignored it for as long as I could. Also as the story progressed, Rho and Mathias got worse and worse.
Mathias was just super broody and negative the entire time. Rho was frustrated that he didn't believe her about the Ophiuchus threat despite being her closest Advisor and yet somehow she was still in love with him because that's how this works. But I can't see what she ever saw in him?? Okay I guess he's hot but he was annoying to read about so I bet he would be annoying in person too.
Rho went from "hey this character has potential" to "generic YA female protag" in less than half the book. She was made Guardian early on, meaning that she became the leader of her entire House. Yet, she actually admits to being pretty much useless a few times throughout the book, worries about her love triangle issues when millions of people are dying and there's a powerful enemy on the loose, and NEVER stands up for herself. Girl...
Even the tiny bit of personality she had at the beginning (playing the drums) is basically forgotten and is mentioned a total of like 3 times in the whole thing.
Okay yes on to the love triangle. I tried ignoring it, as I mentioned earlier, which only worked until about halfway through when it just became way too damn prevalent. So Rho is (somehow) indecisive about who she loves more, the hot guy who she's "been in love with" ever since she was a kid (please kill me now) who consistently doesn't have any faith in her, or the new guy her own age who is super optimistic and trusts her completely. Oh and then she decides to be with the second guy and ends up cheating on him with the first.
Well, that was pretty disappointing.
This book had serious potential at the start. We're introduced to a sci-fi world that is based on the Zodiac constellations. Each one is its own House, with different planets, specialties, personalities, and customs. We start off on Cancer but get to explore a couple other Houses, and the worldbuilding is spectacular. By far it's the best part of the book; the author has clearly spent time on bringing this universe to life.
Moving on to the plot, which was also enough to keep this book afloat. The main gist is that Ophiuchus, the 13th House, was largely considered to be a myth in this world, but it turns out he's real and is ready to wreak havoc. The main character Rho is the only one who can see the warning signs, so she has to try and warn the different Houses. In the first chapter or so, things start off with a literal bang as one of Cancer's moons explodes and causes a mass catastrophe. Rho is one of the only ones on another moon that survives it. I was liking this beginning because it reminded me of when the plot really got going in [b:Last Day on Mars|25183019|Last Day on Mars (Chronicle of the Dark Star, #1)|Kevin Emerson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468612284l/25183019._SY75_.jpg|44890630], which is some of my favorite sci-fi. Like, boom! Planet-sized disaster happens and the main characters have to figure out what's going on. I thought I was in for a good time.
So if the plot and the world were both fine, what then was left to suck?
Yep, it was the characters. For a while, I was indifferent about them. I didn't think I would like Hysan, but he grew on me and was probably my favorite other than Nishi. Rho was eh, Mathias was eh, yet both of them got the most screentime which I thought was unfair. Anyway,,, as the story progressed I saw the telltale signs of a future love triangle, but I ignored it for as long as I could. Also as the story progressed, Rho and Mathias got worse and worse.
Mathias was just super broody and negative the entire time. Rho was frustrated that he didn't believe her about the Ophiuchus threat despite being her closest Advisor and yet somehow she was still in love with him because that's how this works. But I can't see what she ever saw in him?? Okay I guess he's hot but he was annoying to read about so I bet he would be annoying in person too.
Rho went from "hey this character has potential" to "generic YA female protag" in less than half the book. She was made Guardian early on, meaning that she became the leader of her entire House. Yet, she actually admits to being pretty much useless a few times throughout the book, worries about her love triangle issues when millions of people are dying and there's a powerful enemy on the loose, and NEVER stands up for herself. Girl...
Even the tiny bit of personality she had at the beginning (playing the drums) is basically forgotten and is mentioned a total of like 3 times in the whole thing.
Okay yes on to the love triangle. I tried ignoring it, as I mentioned earlier, which only worked until about halfway through when it just became way too damn prevalent. So Rho is (somehow) indecisive about who she loves more, the hot guy who she's "been in love with" ever since she was a kid (please kill me now) who consistently doesn't have any faith in her, or the new guy her own age who is super optimistic and trusts her completely. Oh and then she decides to be with the second guy and ends up cheating on him with the first.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
2.0
Welcome back to the Grisha trilogy. In book 2, you can read about exciting events including absolutely nothing happening until the last 30 pages and every single character being annoying/problematic at least once!
I have a lot to say so let’s get into it!
The Pacing: Like I said, why are both of these books just pages of nothing and then the climax and falling action shoved into the last 30 pages?? There for sure did not need to be that much buildup. Even worse, we read about war strategies and new inventions for hundreds of pages and then Vasily just up and said “come on in!” to the enemy and guess what? They didn't get to use any of that stuff! So what was the point of reading about all that preparation lmaooo.
Alina: As the main character, she did not impress me at all in the first book. Here, she instead fluctuates constantly. I honestly can’t say if I liked her this book or not. Sometimes I was like “yes girl period” and other times I was like “wtf are you doing”. Most of the latter came from the times she was worried about her love life when there were much more important things to be worried about. But her deciding to lead the Second Army and seeing her do that was pretty cool. Basically, Alina minus the romance would have been fun to read about.
Genya: She had kind of a small part, but I need to mention her because I liked her last book. Now? Honestly wtf. She rightfully attacked the king after what he did to her. Alina had been held against her will and killed the people on the skiff out of self defense. So Genya, who had BEEN THROUGH a situation like that, had the nerve to say there was no difference between what Alina did and the Darkling murdering an entire town to prove a point. Make it make sense.
That whole thing just rubbed me the complete wrong way. Don't know if I can stan her again, at least not for a long while.
See, even with a tiny part she managed to follow the "must be annoying at least once" rule of this book.
Nikolai: Okay all the reviews I’ve seen are gushing over this man but like… he’s still problematic! I’m not forgetting him being creepy af and kissing someone without any semblance of consent! And making inappropriate comments to women! If this was real life we'd all rightfully bash tf out of him. Just because he’s described as attractive and y'all are hot for him doesn’t make this okay. yikes. If it wasn’t for that he could have been cool.
The Darkling: Don’t really have much to say except to be outraged that some of y’all are like “oh the Darkling could get it he's so secksy
I have a lot to say so let’s get into it!
The Pacing: Like I said, why are both of these books just pages of nothing and then the climax and falling action shoved into the last 30 pages?? There for sure did not need to be that much buildup. Even worse, we read about war strategies and new inventions for hundreds of pages and then Vasily just up and said “come on in!” to the enemy and guess what? They didn't get to use any of that stuff! So what was the point of reading about all that preparation lmaooo.
Alina: As the main character, she did not impress me at all in the first book. Here, she instead fluctuates constantly. I honestly can’t say if I liked her this book or not. Sometimes I was like “yes girl period” and other times I was like “wtf are you doing”. Most of the latter came from the times she was worried about her love life when there were much more important things to be worried about. But her deciding to lead the Second Army and seeing her do that was pretty cool. Basically, Alina minus the romance would have been fun to read about.
Genya: She had kind of a small part, but I need to mention her because I liked her last book. Now? Honestly wtf. She rightfully attacked the king after what he did to her. Alina had been held against her will and killed the people on the skiff out of self defense. So Genya, who had BEEN THROUGH a situation like that, had the nerve to say there was no difference between what Alina did and the Darkling murdering an entire town to prove a point. Make it make sense.
That whole thing just rubbed me the complete wrong way. Don't know if I can stan her again, at least not for a long while.
See, even with a tiny part she managed to follow the "must be annoying at least once" rule of this book.
Nikolai: Okay all the reviews I’ve seen are gushing over this man but like… he’s still problematic! I’m not forgetting him being creepy af and kissing someone without any semblance of consent! And making inappropriate comments to women! If this was real life we'd all rightfully bash tf out of him. Just because he’s described as attractive and y'all are hot for him doesn’t make this okay. yikes. If it wasn’t for that he could have been cool.
The Darkling: Don’t really have much to say except to be outraged that some of y’all are like “oh the Darkling could get it he's so secksy