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entirelybonkerz's reviews
313 reviews
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
3.0
I wish Good Reads allowed me to give 3.5 stars. But Ill stick with 3 stars since I don't have that freedom and I will explain why.
I enjoyed the plot immensely. I was gladly surprised by multiple turn of events, I did remain entertained for most of the book and I finished it feeling very curious and excited for the next one which I hope is better than the first once since it has a higher rating. I do not understand the hype though. I think Holly made many mistakes when writing this that were easy to correct if someone had just pointed them out. My biggest problems with this book are mainly two things: 1. mixing all this fantasy with the modern world and 2. the lack of substance and development of a few characters. I read fantasy to get out of my comfort zone, to experience things I would not possibly be able to experience in the real world and every time Holly would mention things like a CVS, an apple store, target it just threw me off and made me roll my eyes to the back of my head. I believe fey culture is so magical and ancient that it only has a good combo with older human days. Like medieval times. I hated when she would make me travel to a distant time where magical creatures are playing dangerous political games for a monarchy and then immediately mention something like a television, cartoons or a fucking Prius car. It is like being jerked awake from a really good dream that would take you a lot of effort to go back into on your own.
The second thing is I felt like even though the plot is very exciting, she did not develop the characters well. I do not care for any of them, nor do I hate them. They don't have much substance. I wouldn't waste my time trying to defend any of them, some things felt a little bit rushed. By the end Cardan is the only one who I believe brings a little bit more to the story than anyone else. I am interested to see what happens next and I will finish the series. I was surprised by the ending and I believe curiosity is the only thing that is keeping me going for now. So my rating is a 3.5 because there were some good parts but a lot of very very annoying mistakes that could have been corrected with some fact checking and basic editing and writing organization.
I enjoyed the plot immensely. I was gladly surprised by multiple turn of events, I did remain entertained for most of the book and I finished it feeling very curious and excited for the next one which I hope is better than the first once since it has a higher rating. I do not understand the hype though. I think Holly made many mistakes when writing this that were easy to correct if someone had just pointed them out. My biggest problems with this book are mainly two things: 1. mixing all this fantasy with the modern world and 2. the lack of substance and development of a few characters. I read fantasy to get out of my comfort zone, to experience things I would not possibly be able to experience in the real world and every time Holly would mention things like a CVS, an apple store, target it just threw me off and made me roll my eyes to the back of my head. I believe fey culture is so magical and ancient that it only has a good combo with older human days. Like medieval times. I hated when she would make me travel to a distant time where magical creatures are playing dangerous political games for a monarchy and then immediately mention something like a television, cartoons or a fucking Prius car. It is like being jerked awake from a really good dream that would take you a lot of effort to go back into on your own.
The second thing is I felt like even though the plot is very exciting, she did not develop the characters well. I do not care for any of them, nor do I hate them. They don't have much substance. I wouldn't waste my time trying to defend any of them, some things felt a little bit rushed. By the end Cardan is the only one who I believe brings a little bit more to the story than anyone else. I am interested to see what happens next and I will finish the series. I was surprised by the ending and I believe curiosity is the only thing that is keeping me going for now. So my rating is a 3.5 because there were some good parts but a lot of very very annoying mistakes that could have been corrected with some fact checking and basic editing and writing organization.
Fable by Adrienne Young
2.0
Meh. It was ok.
Jesus this book got a lot of hype and I guess it really was one of the cases were everyone judged the book by it's cover. lol The cover is stunning but I can't say I loved this book.
It is VERY YOUNG adult, I guess I would even recommend it to middle schoolers if you ask me.
I struggled to read the entire first half of the book because it was simply WAY TOO BORING. The lack of dialogues, excessive description of things we really don't care about, no action what so ever and nothing changed for a total of 200 PAGES! Literally, after page 200 things started to get slightly more interesting. The pace picked up slightly and a few interesting things happened but man, this was harder than it was supposed to be to get through. West is an annoying character, her father is an annoying character, the villain in this book is an annoying character, none of them are really convincing, except for West's sister. Her relationship with Fable is the only one I enjoyed. Fable is ok, I see her as a good-hearted, hardworking teenager with some daddy issues.
Very very very slow paced, a lot of boring extensive descriptions of walls, streets and smells. The ending was meh, the whole thing was meh and I still can't say if I liked this book or not. I don't know if I will pick up namesake, it just feels like a chore at this point.
I might read namesake just so I can give a more informed review about this series, but for now I don't have a lot of good things to say.
I really wanted to like this book. This wasn't at all what I was expecting from the fuss people threw over this duology. 2/5. Like I said before, I would not recommend this book to anyone over the age of 16 to be honest. I think middle schoolers might enjoy it more.
Jesus this book got a lot of hype and I guess it really was one of the cases were everyone judged the book by it's cover. lol The cover is stunning but I can't say I loved this book.
It is VERY YOUNG adult, I guess I would even recommend it to middle schoolers if you ask me.
I struggled to read the entire first half of the book because it was simply WAY TOO BORING. The lack of dialogues, excessive description of things we really don't care about, no action what so ever and nothing changed for a total of 200 PAGES! Literally, after page 200 things started to get slightly more interesting. The pace picked up slightly and a few interesting things happened but man, this was harder than it was supposed to be to get through. West is an annoying character, her father is an annoying character, the villain in this book is an annoying character, none of them are really convincing, except for West's sister. Her relationship with Fable is the only one I enjoyed. Fable is ok, I see her as a good-hearted, hardworking teenager with some daddy issues.
Very very very slow paced, a lot of boring extensive descriptions of walls, streets and smells. The ending was meh, the whole thing was meh and I still can't say if I liked this book or not. I don't know if I will pick up namesake, it just feels like a chore at this point.
I might read namesake just so I can give a more informed review about this series, but for now I don't have a lot of good things to say.
I really wanted to like this book. This wasn't at all what I was expecting from the fuss people threw over this duology. 2/5. Like I said before, I would not recommend this book to anyone over the age of 16 to be honest. I think middle schoolers might enjoy it more.
Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout
5.0
I contemplated giving this book four stars for a few seconds. Then I remembered, last night I couldn’t put this book down for the life of me. I stayed up until 2 am and had to survive on 4h of sleep for a day. I did it with no regrets. This book made me feel angry, sad, hopeful, it made me laugh, it brought me such an extensive roller coaster of emotions. I don’t care if it’s not the most “well thought out” plot, I don’t care if it’s not the most mature, beautifully written book. It did it’s job. It was addicting, I care about the characters, I lived in their world the whole time and I almost forgot who I was for long periods of time. If this isn’t what a five star book should do then I don’t know what is. Jennifer Armentrout has won the place of one of my new favorite writers. Entertaining, exciting, action-packed, filled with romance and sensuality, the covers of this series might look ridiculous (jen’s editors really did her dirty on this one) but this is one of my new favorite series. Even if it’s silly and it feels a little bit like teenage drama, this was such a wild ride. So hard to put down. My love for the supernatural series also reignited along with these books. This was perfect. Good job Jen. Can’t wait to start reading the next one tomorrow. Let me just catch up on my sleep real quick before I die lol
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
I think at this point you guys just write bad reviews to books like this to “stand out” from the crowd, to call yourself “different”. So many negative reviews on this app that almost made me NOT want to pick up this trilogy. If it wasn’t for the Netflix teaser I probably wouldn’t have because all you teenagers do on good reads is “try to sound edgy and hate on things for no reason”. “Look at me I’m not like other girls, I hate things most people like.” Please... spare us. If you actually wrote a review criticizing pacing, writing, and many other writing bullet points I would give you a pass. It’s ok to not enjoy a book, or feel like it didn’t grab your attention as it was supposed to... but these bad reviews are just ridiculous and unfair.
I am not a teenager, I am officially an adult now and I can 100% recognize good writing when I see it. Leigh obviously put a lot of effort into the world building and these characters and they turned out great. I am glad a massive company like Netflix recognized that and decided to invest in it, they’re not stupid. They know a good thing when they see it. It is a YOUNG ADULT book and you should read the series with this statement in mind. I read it in a day and I had low expectations because of all of these stupid reviews you guys leave and I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised.
It is fresh, creative, surprising, beautifully crafted and I honestly did not see a single mistake when it came to writing, pacing and the plot in general. I will definitely finish the series before the Netflix show comes out and I am happy this trilogy is getting the attention it deserves. Have I read better books? Well, obviously. I’ve been reading like a maniac. That’s why I decided to give it a 4/5, its more of a personal choice of how much I related to the story than a grade for the actual book. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with this one. Great read.
I am not a teenager, I am officially an adult now and I can 100% recognize good writing when I see it. Leigh obviously put a lot of effort into the world building and these characters and they turned out great. I am glad a massive company like Netflix recognized that and decided to invest in it, they’re not stupid. They know a good thing when they see it. It is a YOUNG ADULT book and you should read the series with this statement in mind. I read it in a day and I had low expectations because of all of these stupid reviews you guys leave and I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised.
It is fresh, creative, surprising, beautifully crafted and I honestly did not see a single mistake when it came to writing, pacing and the plot in general. I will definitely finish the series before the Netflix show comes out and I am happy this trilogy is getting the attention it deserves. Have I read better books? Well, obviously. I’ve been reading like a maniac. That’s why I decided to give it a 4/5, its more of a personal choice of how much I related to the story than a grade for the actual book. There is ABSOLUTELY nothing wrong with this one. Great read.
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
2.0
Oh boy it was hard to stomach this one. Book 1 was very interesting and appealing and a great world introduction, this book - if it wasn’t for the last 5 chapters - would be of the worst books I’ve read this year.
Let me just share how much I fucking hate Mal. I just hate him. What an annoying, toxic, emotionally manipulative character. It’s almost like the darkling is right! Mal can’t handle her being successful, he can’t handle her if she’s taking charge. He can’t handle her if she’s being something more than he is. He just wants her as the stupid best friend who will forever love him and he doesn’t want her if she’s anything more than his little childhood sweetheart. Major red flags. Everything mal did and said and his whole existence were so annoying to me. I really hate him and I don’t think there’s anything worse or more toxic than this dude. I honestly was hoping they would break up and Alina would surrender to Nikolai.
Nikolai. Nikolai is my boo. Nikolai made this book worth it because I can’t stomach Alina’s selfishness anymore either. Her internal monologues in this book we’re insufferable. I rolled my eyes to the back of my head when she said she was glad someone wasn’t dead because she didn’t want more guilt added to her plate. Are you serious? Is that the only reason you’re happy someone isn’t dead? Because of your own feelings? I have a lot of problems with these characters and I can’t relate to any of them anymore. (Except for Nikolai, the only one who makes sense to me. The one who is clever, funny, handsome and actually deserves to be King because he is a good diplomat and a great politician) I forced myself to finish this book because I really want to read the whole series so I can watch the Netflix show. It took me a week because the first 20 something chapters were so painfully slow.
The last chapters were acceptable. The story itself is great I guess I’m just too annoyed at some of these characters. I honestly can’t relate to them and everything they do is annoying. Hopefully book 3 will finish this series on a higher note for me. At this point I just want to give up to read six of crows already. But ugh... I HAVE to finish this series, I am in way too deep
Let me just share how much I fucking hate Mal. I just hate him. What an annoying, toxic, emotionally manipulative character. It’s almost like the darkling is right! Mal can’t handle her being successful, he can’t handle her if she’s taking charge. He can’t handle her if she’s being something more than he is. He just wants her as the stupid best friend who will forever love him and he doesn’t want her if she’s anything more than his little childhood sweetheart. Major red flags. Everything mal did and said and his whole existence were so annoying to me. I really hate him and I don’t think there’s anything worse or more toxic than this dude. I honestly was hoping they would break up and Alina would surrender to Nikolai.
Nikolai. Nikolai is my boo. Nikolai made this book worth it because I can’t stomach Alina’s selfishness anymore either. Her internal monologues in this book we’re insufferable. I rolled my eyes to the back of my head when she said she was glad someone wasn’t dead because she didn’t want more guilt added to her plate. Are you serious? Is that the only reason you’re happy someone isn’t dead? Because of your own feelings? I have a lot of problems with these characters and I can’t relate to any of them anymore. (Except for Nikolai, the only one who makes sense to me. The one who is clever, funny, handsome and actually deserves to be King because he is a good diplomat and a great politician) I forced myself to finish this book because I really want to read the whole series so I can watch the Netflix show. It took me a week because the first 20 something chapters were so painfully slow.
The last chapters were acceptable. The story itself is great I guess I’m just too annoyed at some of these characters. I honestly can’t relate to them and everything they do is annoying. Hopefully book 3 will finish this series on a higher note for me. At this point I just want to give up to read six of crows already. But ugh... I HAVE to finish this series, I am in way too deep
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
4.0
Best book of all 3 books to be honest. I think this was the only possible ending.
I enjoy endings like this and I am not mad about it.
It was a very very slow paced series compared to what I am used to reading and there were points were I really struggled to keep going because it didn't grip me enough, but it was good nonetheless. I definitely see myself recommending this series to kids (at the age of 12 ish) who love reading. It really does feel like an adventure maybe a younger person would immerse themselves in a lot more.
It wasn't super impactful to me and I have a big hate relationship with Siege and Storm, it was hard to get here but here we are. My last read of 2020. I really do believe this will be awesome as a series and I can't wait to watch the TV show. This might be one of the rare occasions where the TV show will be better than the books.
Overall this book in particular was worded and written beautifully - when compared to the other two. I am excited to move along to Six of Crows and Nikolai's duology because he is the only character who stood out to me and I would actually love to read more of him.
Not bad. Not awesome. Just good I guess.
I enjoy endings like this and I am not mad about it.
It was a very very slow paced series compared to what I am used to reading and there were points were I really struggled to keep going because it didn't grip me enough, but it was good nonetheless. I definitely see myself recommending this series to kids (at the age of 12 ish) who love reading. It really does feel like an adventure maybe a younger person would immerse themselves in a lot more.
It wasn't super impactful to me and I have a big hate relationship with Siege and Storm, it was hard to get here but here we are. My last read of 2020. I really do believe this will be awesome as a series and I can't wait to watch the TV show. This might be one of the rare occasions where the TV show will be better than the books.
Overall this book in particular was worded and written beautifully - when compared to the other two. I am excited to move along to Six of Crows and Nikolai's duology because he is the only character who stood out to me and I would actually love to read more of him.
Not bad. Not awesome. Just good I guess.