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ezzydesu's reviews
253 reviews
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was on my radar (pretty lowkey) since it came out, but after watching the BBC show on Netflix, I got intrigued. Even though I knew whodunit, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, appreciating the changes the BBC show made and experiencing a slightly different version of a storyline I already saw to the end. For a murder-mystery type book to be fun even if you know who did it, that lowkey says enough about the enjoyment of the story. It wasn't just the destination, it was the ride aswell!
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Tom Clancy's The Division: Broken Dawn by Alexander C. Irvine
I have received this book for free from Titan Books in exchange of an honest review.
I have a handful of hobbies and playing video games is one of them. Ofcourse Ubisoft's game adaptions of Tom Clancy's books have been on my radar and I have added The Devision franchise to my TBP, a To Be Played list, which is a gamer variant of a TBR I just invented. So yeah, this book coming unto my path was PERFECT.
The storyline of this book is hard to explain in short and if I try, it might seem a bit dull. And perhaps the faint red line of the story can seem a little boring, but it's the details and the goal that makes the plot so thrilling along the way. The on first sight small things are so significant and everything is so much bigger than directly displayed on paper, as the more indirect meaning of certain events are the key. I can say this isn't an easy, light and laidback read as it shows how little is needed to make modern society collapse completely. But it is such a good read that will leave you on the edge of your seat until the end.
Can I say that I absolutely loved the characters? Each character, however small, had a clear and unique personality. They were written in such a way I could almost imagine the different ways people walked and how their voices sounded.
Each character was completely appropriate for their age and experiences. The kids were stubborn and curious, the Division agents were properly trained with the instincts and reactions of something between a soldier and a regular street cop. Regular civilians didn't miraculously know how to handle every sitation properly, they just followed their gut and self-preservation. I love that, it gives a sense of realness to the people of the story.
A small issue I had with this book is that it is taking place in America. I am a European and have never been across the pond (yet). Everything is so different here, so I had a really hard time to visualize the surroundings of the story. Really, fantasy books are easier somehow! Everything is big, bigger, biggest in the US and distances can be so weird aswell. Sometimes the MC's were traveling between two cities and the times plus distance would bring me halfway across the country here! It didn't ruin the fun for me at all, but I had to refrain myself from googling EVERYTHING out of curiosity.
I think I would be reading more of Alex Irvine's titles at some point. He has written tie-in novels and novel adaptions for both games and comics, two things I like very much. Irvine's writing is very interesting and really has its own flow and signature. I would read more of his work because of just that.
I very much recommend this novel, both for lovers of dystopian and gamers. As I haven't played any The Division games yet, I can't tell you how it ties in with the game lore, but it seems like this book about the events right before the start of The Division 2 and the ending suggests that aswell as it isn't wrapped up, but more as if the story continues elsewhere. Think about a book ending in a cliffhanger and the sequel wraps that up eventually. In this case the game seems to be the sequel.
I have read this book as a standalone with next to no knowledge about the game and its lore and I can tell you it works perfectly well as a standalone novel for whoever wants to enjoy it.
★★★★✩½
4.5
''Translate that into civilian.''
''We're cooked,''
''We're cooked,''
I have received this book for free from Titan Books in exchange of an honest review.
I have a handful of hobbies and playing video games is one of them. Ofcourse Ubisoft's game adaptions of Tom Clancy's books have been on my radar and I have added The Devision franchise to my TBP, a To Be Played list, which is a gamer variant of a TBR I just invented. So yeah, this book coming unto my path was PERFECT.
The storyline of this book is hard to explain in short and if I try, it might seem a bit dull. And perhaps the faint red line of the story can seem a little boring, but it's the details and the goal that makes the plot so thrilling along the way. The on first sight small things are so significant and everything is so much bigger than directly displayed on paper, as the more indirect meaning of certain events are the key. I can say this isn't an easy, light and laidback read as it shows how little is needed to make modern society collapse completely. But it is such a good read that will leave you on the edge of your seat until the end.
Can I say that I absolutely loved the characters? Each character, however small, had a clear and unique personality. They were written in such a way I could almost imagine the different ways people walked and how their voices sounded.
Each character was completely appropriate for their age and experiences. The kids were stubborn and curious, the Division agents were properly trained with the instincts and reactions of something between a soldier and a regular street cop. Regular civilians didn't miraculously know how to handle every sitation properly, they just followed their gut and self-preservation. I love that, it gives a sense of realness to the people of the story.
A small issue I had with this book is that it is taking place in America. I am a European and have never been across the pond (yet). Everything is so different here, so I had a really hard time to visualize the surroundings of the story. Really, fantasy books are easier somehow! Everything is big, bigger, biggest in the US and distances can be so weird aswell. Sometimes the MC's were traveling between two cities and the times plus distance would bring me halfway across the country here! It didn't ruin the fun for me at all, but I had to refrain myself from googling EVERYTHING out of curiosity.
I think I would be reading more of Alex Irvine's titles at some point. He has written tie-in novels and novel adaptions for both games and comics, two things I like very much. Irvine's writing is very interesting and really has its own flow and signature. I would read more of his work because of just that.
I very much recommend this novel, both for lovers of dystopian and gamers. As I haven't played any The Division games yet, I can't tell you how it ties in with the game lore, but it seems like this book about the events right before the start of The Division 2 and the ending suggests that aswell as it isn't wrapped up, but more as if the story continues elsewhere. Think about a book ending in a cliffhanger and the sequel wraps that up eventually. In this case the game seems to be the sequel.
I have read this book as a standalone with next to no knowledge about the game and its lore and I can tell you it works perfectly well as a standalone novel for whoever wants to enjoy it.
★★★★✩½
Wicked Like a Wildfire by Lana Harper, Lana Popović
Have you seen how stunning this book is?! I got this book in the August 'Otherworlds' Fairyloot last month. Even though I was doubting how it would fit the 'Otherworlds' theme as the book takes place in modern time Montenegro (Eastern Europe) & not some fictive world, I was really enthousiastic about the story!
The story is about the twinsisters Iris and Malina. The women in their bloodline all have powers: the ability to manipulate beauty with magic. Their mother tries her best to keep their gifts a secret and the sisters are forbidden to tell (or more likely: show) their gifts to anyone or even to fall in love. But when their mother is attacked, they fall chin-deep in the mess around their family line: a curse that has haunted the bloodline for millennia..
Sounds exciting, doesn't it?! I absolutely loved the book! Best part: this book is the first book of the Hibiscus Daughter duology! The sequel, Fierce Like A Firestorm, is coming summer 2018!
The two protagonists are Iris and Malina and the book is written from Iris' POV, except the very last chapter which is written from Malina's POV (I suspect the sequel to be written from multiple POV's.) There aren't too many (or too little) characters throughout the book and they all have a fitting character development, which makes it easy to keep track of everyone in your head.
The storyline was really good! Especially if you realise that this was Lana's debut book! A thing I really liked that there weren't many of those typical YA clichés in the story. Not going in too much detail, because that will spoil the plot.
As the story is about manipulating beauty with magic, there were many descriptions of smells, looks, tastes and music. The ways all of that was described was really original, but sometimes things were written so detailed. At the first part of the book, I had a hard time going through all the lines of descriptions because there wasn't much else happening due the story still building. But this is the only thing I didn't like that's worth mentioning, as everything else is just personal taste and very little.
Overal a really good book, not perfect, but still worth the read! I'm looking forward to the sequel :)
Rating: ★★★★☆
4.0
“Your beauty is a force, you know, a power all its own. It can be both sword and shield for you, and win you anything you want.”
-Lana Popović
Have you seen how stunning this book is?! I got this book in the August 'Otherworlds' Fairyloot last month. Even though I was doubting how it would fit the 'Otherworlds' theme as the book takes place in modern time Montenegro (Eastern Europe) & not some fictive world, I was really enthousiastic about the story!
The story is about the twinsisters Iris and Malina. The women in their bloodline all have powers: the ability to manipulate beauty with magic. Their mother tries her best to keep their gifts a secret and the sisters are forbidden to tell (or more likely: show) their gifts to anyone or even to fall in love. But when their mother is attacked, they fall chin-deep in the mess around their family line: a curse that has haunted the bloodline for millennia..
Sounds exciting, doesn't it?! I absolutely loved the book! Best part: this book is the first book of the Hibiscus Daughter duology! The sequel, Fierce Like A Firestorm, is coming summer 2018!
The two protagonists are Iris and Malina and the book is written from Iris' POV, except the very last chapter which is written from Malina's POV (I suspect the sequel to be written from multiple POV's.) There aren't too many (or too little) characters throughout the book and they all have a fitting character development, which makes it easy to keep track of everyone in your head.
The storyline was really good! Especially if you realise that this was Lana's debut book! A thing I really liked that there weren't many of those typical YA clichés in the story. Not going in too much detail, because that will spoil the plot.
As the story is about manipulating beauty with magic, there were many descriptions of smells, looks, tastes and music. The ways all of that was described was really original, but sometimes things were written so detailed. At the first part of the book, I had a hard time going through all the lines of descriptions because there wasn't much else happening due the story still building. But this is the only thing I didn't like that's worth mentioning, as everything else is just personal taste and very little.
Overal a really good book, not perfect, but still worth the read! I'm looking forward to the sequel :)
Rating: ★★★★☆