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bookwormpersephone's reviews
154 reviews
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
4.0
It's been a week since I finished reading Sanderson's Skyward, and its characters, dialogue, heart-pounding actions scenes and the plot twist at the end are still floating around my head as I go on with my life. Usually, a book can't hold much of a niche inside my brain as I have the attention span of a teaspoon, but golly gee. I couldn't have had a better introduction to Sanderson's books than Skyward.
And this is saying something. Science fiction ranks the second lowest in my list of genres to tackle, with contemporary romance being the last. I just didn't like the idea of aliens, space ships, pew-pew action scenes you'd typically see in Star Wars movies (I'm sorry fans!), and was expecting just that with Skyward.
However, as I read the prologue, my expectations of reeling over complicated space terms (though, to be fair, there are a lot of that in this book), space warfare, and complex politics washed away. All I saw was a father who took his more-than-pleased daughter to the surface of a planet in order to... Show her the stars. To bond with her, teach her the how light lines work (clever way of also orienting us for the future chapters where it is /very important/ to know how they function), and just give her a very important talk about aspirations and dreams and the reasons behind those.
In those first paragraphs, I've felt the warm love of a father, and saw through a child's naive eyes how strong and capable that said father is. So much that Spensa, the MC for this book, has set her sights on becoming what her father is: a pilot.
She clung so hard to that dream that even the inevitable fight that branded him a coward (which will worsen as you progress the story) didn't deter her from that dream. She pushed forward, her reason for her goals changing as her mind matures. First, as a small 8-year old, it was to avoid being looked down upon by her peers. As she became a teenager, it was to wash away the grime off of her father's reputation. And when the book ends... Her dream at her fingertips, her reason became simple, even childlike.
To see the stars, to fly through them.
As someone who has dreams and jumps from one reason to another for those dreams, I was immersed in Spensa's monologues a lot. Nevermind that half the time, space terms and even the actions scenes didn't click with me. Nevermind that I (almost) wanted to drop the story when Bim and morningtide died so suddenly, described their deaths so plainly and almost in a trivial way.
(Note: As I invested time and much thought upon this decision of his to kill them off, I slowly understood why. Spensa needed to see how serious being a pilot was. It wasn't just fame and glory and happiness. There was loss behind it, loss that cannot be predicted once they're placed in the battlefield, most especially if they're just untrained cadets. She needed to experience the loss and overcome it to truly grasp her dream.)
What anchored me to continue reading was Spensa and her adventure through life. Her grit and perseverance and courage, despite how often she called herself a coward, somehow helped me to become brave enough to finish it. And I didn't drag my feet, but rather danced and jumped and stomped it. It was such a /fun/ read despite being part of one of my most disliked genres.
This book isn't a full-on 5 stars simply because it IS still a science fiction, and because of my lack of knowledge about space and its endless amounts of terms, I didn't get to enjoy the book to its fullest. Have I been a science fiction enthusiast while still retaining my love for matters of the heart, stars, and dreams, I would have gobbled this up and gave it a 5 star stamp.
And because Bim was the best boy and I wanted a whole scudding chapter of him just being his goofy, awkward self around Spensa, but I digress.
Thank you for reading. If you're looking to read Brandon's books and want to open yourself up to sci-fi, Skyward is the best scudding choice you'll ever make.
And this is saying something. Science fiction ranks the second lowest in my list of genres to tackle, with contemporary romance being the last. I just didn't like the idea of aliens, space ships, pew-pew action scenes you'd typically see in Star Wars movies (I'm sorry fans!), and was expecting just that with Skyward.
However, as I read the prologue, my expectations of reeling over complicated space terms (though, to be fair, there are a lot of that in this book), space warfare, and complex politics washed away. All I saw was a father who took his more-than-pleased daughter to the surface of a planet in order to... Show her the stars. To bond with her, teach her the how light lines work (clever way of also orienting us for the future chapters where it is /very important/ to know how they function), and just give her a very important talk about aspirations and dreams and the reasons behind those.
In those first paragraphs, I've felt the warm love of a father, and saw through a child's naive eyes how strong and capable that said father is. So much that Spensa, the MC for this book, has set her sights on becoming what her father is: a pilot.
She clung so hard to that dream that even the inevitable fight that branded him a coward (which will worsen as you progress the story) didn't deter her from that dream. She pushed forward, her reason for her goals changing as her mind matures. First, as a small 8-year old, it was to avoid being looked down upon by her peers. As she became a teenager, it was to wash away the grime off of her father's reputation. And when the book ends... Her dream at her fingertips, her reason became simple, even childlike.
To see the stars, to fly through them.
As someone who has dreams and jumps from one reason to another for those dreams, I was immersed in Spensa's monologues a lot. Nevermind that half the time, space terms and even the actions scenes didn't click with me. Nevermind that I (almost) wanted to drop the story when Bim and morningtide died so suddenly, described their deaths so plainly and almost in a trivial way.
(Note: As I invested time and much thought upon this decision of his to kill them off, I slowly understood why. Spensa needed to see how serious being a pilot was. It wasn't just fame and glory and happiness. There was loss behind it, loss that cannot be predicted once they're placed in the battlefield, most especially if they're just untrained cadets. She needed to experience the loss and overcome it to truly grasp her dream.)
What anchored me to continue reading was Spensa and her adventure through life. Her grit and perseverance and courage, despite how often she called herself a coward, somehow helped me to become brave enough to finish it. And I didn't drag my feet, but rather danced and jumped and stomped it. It was such a /fun/ read despite being part of one of my most disliked genres.
This book isn't a full-on 5 stars simply because it IS still a science fiction, and because of my lack of knowledge about space and its endless amounts of terms, I didn't get to enjoy the book to its fullest. Have I been a science fiction enthusiast while still retaining my love for matters of the heart, stars, and dreams, I would have gobbled this up and gave it a 5 star stamp.
And because Bim was the best boy and I wanted a whole scudding chapter of him just being his goofy, awkward self around Spensa, but I digress.
Thank you for reading. If you're looking to read Brandon's books and want to open yourself up to sci-fi, Skyward is the best scudding choice you'll ever make.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
**Major spoilers, proceed with caution!**
I'd like to start this review by saying I've been spoiled way before I got my hands on this book. Months before I decided to purchase a copy, I already knew Rhysand, a dark-haired, violet-eyed hottie is the one our MC gets to end up with....
Which is why it confused me to no end when Tamlin was there implied as THE love interest.
Thank the cauldron that's the only thing I was spoiled about, and not /why/ our lovely MC Feyre switched from blond, green-eyed sun-god Tamlin to literally-the-greek-god-hades Rhysand. If I did, I wouldn't have rated this book a 5*.
This book was a RIDE. It gripped me from page 1 until the very end, clutching the edges of my paperback book like my life depended on it. Would you believe I started this book during midnight, couldn't stop even if I wanted to, and finished by the time the sun was up?
I loved how Tamlin went from an aloof, awkward high fae to a warm, loving and protective figure.
I loved Feyre's selfless and absolute devotion to her family, even at the expense of herself and her welfare. It just proves how deeply she can love, and how wonderfully genuine it is that she doesn't ask anything in return.
I adored Lucien, the funny, sarcastic, rake-character that has more to him under the surface. He's the perfect buffer for Tamlin's seriousness and Feyre's detachment. He has his own story to tell, his own struggles and traumas to hide.
Here, I despised Nesta, Elaine, and Feyre's father. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why the youngest of the three siblings was subjected to finding food for a family of four.
And... Rhysand. Oh Rhysand. I hated you and loved you the first time I met you in this book.
Sarah made it her mission to endlessly confuse me with regards to the romance aspect of the book. Here I was, warming up to Tamlin, rooting for him, despite knowing Rhysand was the one Feyre will choose. I resisted, prayed to the cauldron to somehow make a way for Tamlin to move on from Feyre unscathed, maybe to find someone else? Oh boy... My thoughts did not age well.
As I re-read again (at this point I've finished the 2nd & 3rd book) just a few days earlier, I kept some colored tabs with me and place those transparent bookmarks where I found foreshadowing, clues, and most especially, the signs of Tamlin's toxicity.
I found more than just two or three.
There were SIGNS EVERYWHERE. I didn't notice it because I was too enthralled by Tamlin's sweet poem reciting, his efforts to bring her paint, his obvious want and need of her. The writing was too beautiful it ended up covering up this fae's true nature placed too casually you'd miss it the first time.
Or maybe I'm just a sucker for the "I-changed-for-you" shtick.
And don't get me started about his utter inaction during the last arc, when he blatantly wanted to have sex with her instead of smuggling her out the night before the last trial.
I digress.
This book can have me ramble until your ears bleed, but here's the bottom line: it's something else for a first book. It basically sets up a scenario for you to get used to, only to go 180 on you at the second book. It will lead you on like a dog on a leash and then kick you into a warzone with training that turned out to be lies.
It's clever that this book's POV is first person (from Feyre's perspective), so it's as if we realize a lot things alongside her, feel the disappointment, guilt, dilemma, and love through her eyes. This POV plays a big part in masking the many different secrets that would have been revealed if it were a multiple POV or a 3rd-person POV.
Thank you for reading. Sarah's books are nothing short of amazing, and they made me feel a lot of feelings, both intense and deep. If you wish to get into her books, it's best to start here.
I'd like to start this review by saying I've been spoiled way before I got my hands on this book. Months before I decided to purchase a copy, I already knew Rhysand, a dark-haired, violet-eyed hottie is the one our MC gets to end up with....
Which is why it confused me to no end when Tamlin was there implied as THE love interest.
Thank the cauldron that's the only thing I was spoiled about, and not /why/ our lovely MC Feyre switched from blond, green-eyed sun-god Tamlin to literally-the-greek-god-hades Rhysand. If I did, I wouldn't have rated this book a 5*.
This book was a RIDE. It gripped me from page 1 until the very end, clutching the edges of my paperback book like my life depended on it. Would you believe I started this book during midnight, couldn't stop even if I wanted to, and finished by the time the sun was up?
I loved how Tamlin went from an aloof, awkward high fae to a warm, loving and protective figure.
I loved Feyre's selfless and absolute devotion to her family, even at the expense of herself and her welfare. It just proves how deeply she can love, and how wonderfully genuine it is that she doesn't ask anything in return.
I adored Lucien, the funny, sarcastic, rake-character that has more to him under the surface. He's the perfect buffer for Tamlin's seriousness and Feyre's detachment. He has his own story to tell, his own struggles and traumas to hide.
Here, I despised Nesta, Elaine, and Feyre's father. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why the youngest of the three siblings was subjected to finding food for a family of four.
And... Rhysand. Oh Rhysand. I hated you and loved you the first time I met you in this book.
Sarah made it her mission to endlessly confuse me with regards to the romance aspect of the book. Here I was, warming up to Tamlin, rooting for him, despite knowing Rhysand was the one Feyre will choose. I resisted, prayed to the cauldron to somehow make a way for Tamlin to move on from Feyre unscathed, maybe to find someone else? Oh boy... My thoughts did not age well.
As I re-read again (at this point I've finished the 2nd & 3rd book) just a few days earlier, I kept some colored tabs with me and place those transparent bookmarks where I found foreshadowing, clues, and most especially, the signs of Tamlin's toxicity.
I found more than just two or three.
There were SIGNS EVERYWHERE. I didn't notice it because I was too enthralled by Tamlin's sweet poem reciting, his efforts to bring her paint, his obvious want and need of her. The writing was too beautiful it ended up covering up this fae's true nature placed too casually you'd miss it the first time.
Or maybe I'm just a sucker for the "I-changed-for-you" shtick.
And don't get me started about his utter inaction during the last arc, when he blatantly wanted to have sex with her instead of smuggling her out the night before the last trial.
I digress.
This book can have me ramble until your ears bleed, but here's the bottom line: it's something else for a first book. It basically sets up a scenario for you to get used to, only to go 180 on you at the second book. It will lead you on like a dog on a leash and then kick you into a warzone with training that turned out to be lies.
It's clever that this book's POV is first person (from Feyre's perspective), so it's as if we realize a lot things alongside her, feel the disappointment, guilt, dilemma, and love through her eyes. This POV plays a big part in masking the many different secrets that would have been revealed if it were a multiple POV or a 3rd-person POV.
Thank you for reading. Sarah's books are nothing short of amazing, and they made me feel a lot of feelings, both intense and deep. If you wish to get into her books, it's best to start here.
Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard
2.0
*With Major Spoilers!*
Yes, indeed. My first ever book review in this site is a 2
Yes, indeed. My first ever book review in this site is a 2
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
I enjoyed it. No words can describe how dear this book is to my heart. Re-reading it gave me more context and clearer eyes to see the signs and hints I didn't see the first-time around. Cheers!
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
3.0
Oh Laini. You and I have had this love-hate relationship with your plot-building and writing style ever since DOSAB'S first and last book. While the latter I DNF'ed because of... Several reasons, there seems to be something that had me hold on to this one, despite having similar problems with its counterpart.
Strange the Dreamer is about a librarian that seeks to find the answers to the many mysteries haunting him, and one of them is Weep, a city that had long ago lost its real name. With a crooked nose that resulted from a book falling on his face and his relatively rugged appearance, Lazlo strange, orphan-turned-keeper of the forgotten parts of the library, had never considered himself to be the center of any epic stories. That would be Thyon Nero, the golden man who was destined to make the Queen of their kingdom rich by conjuring up Gold through alchemy. But never Lazlo, to him or to anyone around him.
But the universe had never known to follow anyone's prejudices and plans, for as the Godslayer of Weep had arrived to hire young men and women of their expertise, Lazlo was among them.
They journey to Weep, along with Thyon the Gold-maker and several other great minds, will not be easy. As the city, that which centuries of buried myths and records have described as a city of dreams, has become a city of desolation and fear.
And what a story it would be, fitting for the dreamer with the rugged face hiding a kind heart, to have Lazlo fall in love with the most unlikely young woman, her skin an astonishing blue.
When I think about strange the dreamer, my stomach gives a little flip. Because I remember how mesmerizing the world was. I was sucked into it. Gods (or not-so-godly) and ghosts and libraries and cities that lost their name. I devoured the first quarter, so far so good, and would have considered this book the author had made to dish out what my soul searched for in her beautiful writing in DOSAB... And then the other characters came into view.
Much like DOSAB, I didn't care for the other characters save for the main ones. I didn't see the Godslayer particularly scary, even as he was described as such. I didn't feel anything for Sarai's little family. Not that they were bland but... They didn't leave an impression on me.
Whenever chapters arrived dedicated to either Ruby, Feral, Minya, or Sparrow (though I liked her quite a bit), I give a little sigh and discreetly turn the page faster to read more about Lazlo and Sarai.
Now these two... They were the two lone stars in an otherwise empty sky. Every chapter with them was exquisite. The attraction, the mystery, the build-up of their romance was something I squealed over. If Lazlo was an great character before he met Sarai (and vice versa), he became 5x better when he interacted with Sarai. You can clearly see his kindness, his politeness, his SHYNESS, it was adorable. For them to find each other and slowly create something more than trust and friendship between them was satisfying until the very end (which I will not spoil, but darn it LAINI, you can't do this!!!)
Another thing I found problematic with DOSAB was, in the last book, there was a detached mini-story of someone I haven't met before. A seraphim that I, for the life of me, cannot picture how her story tied to the main plot at all. And I never got to because I never finished it. It threw off my reading experience, and my concentration towards the plot following Akiva and Karou and the rebellion oftentimes ended up being scattered because of this independent mini-series. It was like a commercial while watching TV.
This one doesn't have that problem, although there's still the problem with them being... Distant? Blurry? Common? I don't know how to describe it. Only that I didn't immerse myself in their arc as much as I did with Lazlo and Sarai's.
Thus, a 3.5 stars. 3 stars are for stories I'm going to forget in a period of time, while 4 stars are for stories I enjoyed but didn't particularly affect my whole being like 5 stars do. Strange the Dreamer is a strange (hehe) hybrid between a 4 and 3, a story I won't forget anytime soon, but also one I didn't particularly enjoy as much as a 4 star book.
Thank you for reading. I'll be checking out the 2nd book of this duology soon and hopefully it will hook me in to be more interested with the other characters other than Lazlo and Sarai.
Strange the Dreamer is about a librarian that seeks to find the answers to the many mysteries haunting him, and one of them is Weep, a city that had long ago lost its real name. With a crooked nose that resulted from a book falling on his face and his relatively rugged appearance, Lazlo strange, orphan-turned-keeper of the forgotten parts of the library, had never considered himself to be the center of any epic stories. That would be Thyon Nero, the golden man who was destined to make the Queen of their kingdom rich by conjuring up Gold through alchemy. But never Lazlo, to him or to anyone around him.
But the universe had never known to follow anyone's prejudices and plans, for as the Godslayer of Weep had arrived to hire young men and women of their expertise, Lazlo was among them.
They journey to Weep, along with Thyon the Gold-maker and several other great minds, will not be easy. As the city, that which centuries of buried myths and records have described as a city of dreams, has become a city of desolation and fear.
And what a story it would be, fitting for the dreamer with the rugged face hiding a kind heart, to have Lazlo fall in love with the most unlikely young woman, her skin an astonishing blue.
When I think about strange the dreamer, my stomach gives a little flip. Because I remember how mesmerizing the world was. I was sucked into it. Gods (or not-so-godly) and ghosts and libraries and cities that lost their name. I devoured the first quarter, so far so good, and would have considered this book the author had made to dish out what my soul searched for in her beautiful writing in DOSAB... And then the other characters came into view.
Much like DOSAB, I didn't care for the other characters save for the main ones. I didn't see the Godslayer particularly scary, even as he was described as such. I didn't feel anything for Sarai's little family. Not that they were bland but... They didn't leave an impression on me.
Whenever chapters arrived dedicated to either Ruby, Feral, Minya, or Sparrow (though I liked her quite a bit), I give a little sigh and discreetly turn the page faster to read more about Lazlo and Sarai.
Now these two... They were the two lone stars in an otherwise empty sky. Every chapter with them was exquisite. The attraction, the mystery, the build-up of their romance was something I squealed over. If Lazlo was an great character before he met Sarai (and vice versa), he became 5x better when he interacted with Sarai. You can clearly see his kindness, his politeness, his SHYNESS, it was adorable. For them to find each other and slowly create something more than trust and friendship between them was satisfying until the very end (which I will not spoil, but darn it LAINI, you can't do this!!!)
Another thing I found problematic with DOSAB was, in the last book, there was a detached mini-story of someone I haven't met before. A seraphim that I, for the life of me, cannot picture how her story tied to the main plot at all. And I never got to because I never finished it. It threw off my reading experience, and my concentration towards the plot following Akiva and Karou and the rebellion oftentimes ended up being scattered because of this independent mini-series. It was like a commercial while watching TV.
This one doesn't have that problem, although there's still the problem with them being... Distant? Blurry? Common? I don't know how to describe it. Only that I didn't immerse myself in their arc as much as I did with Lazlo and Sarai's.
Thus, a 3.5 stars. 3 stars are for stories I'm going to forget in a period of time, while 4 stars are for stories I enjoyed but didn't particularly affect my whole being like 5 stars do. Strange the Dreamer is a strange (hehe) hybrid between a 4 and 3, a story I won't forget anytime soon, but also one I didn't particularly enjoy as much as a 4 star book.
Thank you for reading. I'll be checking out the 2nd book of this duology soon and hopefully it will hook me in to be more interested with the other characters other than Lazlo and Sarai.