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literaryweaponry's reviews
270 reviews
A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I'm going to keep this short and sweet- this book was a huge let down. I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy very much. The character building was strong and made sense, the storyline had good flow and purpose, but in this concluding novel that just went out the door.
Harper, the lead female character from A Curse so Dark and Lonely, was the most annoying female character I have ever read as she was written in this book. She was portrayed as a naive, love sick girl who lacked sense and lead with her heart. This was not the Harper we had gotten to know in the first book. This Harper I wanted to swiftly kick in the rear or duct tape her mouth shut so she would quit begging for things like a child.
Then there is everything going on with Lia Mara and Grey. They were both idiots, making bad choices left and right, never communicating well, and just overall being ya trope fodder. I adored both of these characters in A Heart so Fierce and Broken so to see them treated so poorly in this novel was a crime.
And just overall over the first two novels you could see that a Big Battle would be coming in the end and it would be glorious! Well, it wasn't. I was bored. It was over quickly and by the time we got to the battle I had stopped caring about the characters anyway.
I am so let down by this book. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and it just...wasn't enough. I will continue to read the fantasy novels that Kemmerer puts out because she has proven she can be a fantastic writer but A Vow so Bold and Deadly just wasn't it.
Harper, the lead female character from A Curse so Dark and Lonely, was the most annoying female character I have ever read as she was written in this book. She was portrayed as a naive, love sick girl who lacked sense and lead with her heart. This was not the Harper we had gotten to know in the first book. This Harper I wanted to swiftly kick in the rear or duct tape her mouth shut so she would quit begging for things like a child.
Then there is everything going on with Lia Mara and Grey. They were both idiots, making bad choices left and right, never communicating well, and just overall being ya trope fodder. I adored both of these characters in A Heart so Fierce and Broken so to see them treated so poorly in this novel was a crime.
And just overall over the first two novels you could see that a Big Battle would be coming in the end and it would be glorious! Well, it wasn't. I was bored. It was over quickly and by the time we got to the battle I had stopped caring about the characters anyway.
I am so let down by this book. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021 and it just...wasn't enough. I will continue to read the fantasy novels that Kemmerer puts out because she has proven she can be a fantastic writer but A Vow so Bold and Deadly just wasn't it.
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“I was Lin. I was the Emperor’s daughter. And I would show him that even broken daughters could wield power.”
Before we begin I would like to thank Judith from Dead Good Book Reviews for talking about this book so often and so positively that I finally gave in and read it. I should have gotten around to it sooner.
That being said, this was an excellent story and one I may not have picked up otherwise. I know what kind of reader I am, I am a devourer of fantasy romance and that is not what this book is. What it is is glorious. The Bone Shard Daughter is written from four different perspectives which, I admit, is not something I’m typically fond of. We’ve all ready one of those books where the multiple perspective become muddled and difficult to differentiate but this is not one of them. Each of the voices in the perspectives are clearly defined and so vastly different that you never get them mixed up in your head.
One perspective, and the one I feel that the overarching story truly revolves around, is Lin. Lin is the daughter of the aging emperor and she is competing with her adoptive brother for the right to inherit the throne. The problem? Lin’s memory is severely damaged and she has no memory of anything beyond five years ago. But, Lin is clever and goes beyond her father’s wishes in an attempt to gain power and knowledge. Along the way she finds out things about herself and her adoptive brother that she would have never dreamed along with the complicated bone shard magic that was previously kept from her.
But, let’s skip over to my favorite perspective, shall we? Jovis is a former military man turned smuggler as he searches for his wife that was stolen from their home seven years prior. He tends to get himself into some sticky situations and despite his attempts to stay focused on his goal his big heart sees him poking his nose in where he feels that it truly doesn’t belong. Our conflicted Jovis has a companion, Mephi. Mephi, well, we aren’t quite sure what Mephi is but Jovis scooped him from the sea to keep him from drowning. The furry creature has the power of speech, has nubby little horns, and loves him some fish. He is also, somehow, magical. Honestly, if you read this book just for Mephi it would be worth it.
Overall this was a wonderful read. All of our characters go about their own lives within the empire and have their own struggles, successes, and failures. As with all good multi-perspective books, as their stories progress you begin to see more and more how all of these characters are connected even if they don’t know it themselves. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series to see how the Drowning Empire continues to explore these connections and what comes of the floundering government and the political upheavals. I see betrayal in the future!
Before we begin I would like to thank Judith from Dead Good Book Reviews for talking about this book so often and so positively that I finally gave in and read it. I should have gotten around to it sooner.
That being said, this was an excellent story and one I may not have picked up otherwise. I know what kind of reader I am, I am a devourer of fantasy romance and that is not what this book is. What it is is glorious. The Bone Shard Daughter is written from four different perspectives which, I admit, is not something I’m typically fond of. We’ve all ready one of those books where the multiple perspective become muddled and difficult to differentiate but this is not one of them. Each of the voices in the perspectives are clearly defined and so vastly different that you never get them mixed up in your head.
One perspective, and the one I feel that the overarching story truly revolves around, is Lin. Lin is the daughter of the aging emperor and she is competing with her adoptive brother for the right to inherit the throne. The problem? Lin’s memory is severely damaged and she has no memory of anything beyond five years ago. But, Lin is clever and goes beyond her father’s wishes in an attempt to gain power and knowledge. Along the way she finds out things about herself and her adoptive brother that she would have never dreamed along with the complicated bone shard magic that was previously kept from her.
But, let’s skip over to my favorite perspective, shall we? Jovis is a former military man turned smuggler as he searches for his wife that was stolen from their home seven years prior. He tends to get himself into some sticky situations and despite his attempts to stay focused on his goal his big heart sees him poking his nose in where he feels that it truly doesn’t belong. Our conflicted Jovis has a companion, Mephi. Mephi, well, we aren’t quite sure what Mephi is but Jovis scooped him from the sea to keep him from drowning. The furry creature has the power of speech, has nubby little horns, and loves him some fish. He is also, somehow, magical. Honestly, if you read this book just for Mephi it would be worth it.
Overall this was a wonderful read. All of our characters go about their own lives within the empire and have their own struggles, successes, and failures. As with all good multi-perspective books, as their stories progress you begin to see more and more how all of these characters are connected even if they don’t know it themselves. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series to see how the Drowning Empire continues to explore these connections and what comes of the floundering government and the political upheavals. I see betrayal in the future!
The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
“You will bow before your Queen.” Casteel eyed the Atlantian coolly. “Or you will bleed before her. It is your choice.”
Minor spoilers
Prior to the release of The Crown of Gilded Bones I made it no secret that it was my most anticipated book of 2021. The first two books in the series, From Blood and Ashand A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire, were my favorite reads of 2020 and as of this writing (April 2021) I have now read them both four times. Yes, I love them that much. So, it was logical to assume that I would continue with that feeling, or at least come close to it, in The Crown of Gilded Bones.
Instead I found myself annoyed with this story more often then not.
First off, let’s start with something I did enjoy. Poppy has had quite the journey in her life and much of it has been full of hardships and sacrifices. With her newfound freedom, which was annoyingly provided to her by a man, she has become a strong willed and intelligent woman. Discovering that she has amazing powers and learning how to wield them, help them grow is absolutely the best part of this book. Watching Poppy become more confident in herself even as she learns some hard truths is fantastic and I feel like Armentrout is doing a wonderful job with Poppy’s character.
Everyone else on the other hand? Well, that is another story.
Casteel/Hawke was a brilliant character in both Blood and Ash and Flesh and Fire. As a physically skilled warrior willing to go to great lengths to help his kingdom and those he loves it was impossible not to adore him. Add in his tortured soul back story and I was sunk. However, and there is always a however, it seemed as if all of the hard edges that made him an interesting character had flown the coup in Crown of Gilded Bones. He talks a big game but does little more than be a big softy which made him disgustingly dull. Where was the warrior we had come to know? I’m hoping he shows back up in the fourth book because this version of Casteel left much to be desired.
While we are at it, we can’t forget Kieran. Kieran, the sharp tongued Wolven and bonded to Casteel, seemed to have dropped his personality entirely somewhere along the way. Gone were the snarky comments and robust attitude that drew readers to him. What we were left with was a sack of docile flesh and bones that just simply trotted around obeying anything Poppy had to say and being a good boy. His personality downfall probably hurt the most.
Overall, I just wasn’t impressed with this book. I found the plot points too jumpy, the characters washed out, and even the sex scenes had become ho-hum. Will I read the next book in the series? Yes, absolutely. I enjoyed the first two books in the series too much to not give it another go but I do hope the male characters find a little of the feisty, fiery attitudes they had before.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
Do not enjoy stories with a contemporary setting.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
“May she wander but always return home, may all her words be written true, may every door lie open before her.”
I find it especially difficult to find the words to review a book I only felt “meh” about. When you love a book it is easy to gush over the parts of it that brought you joy. When you particularly dislike something you read it is simple to put to words the why’s and reasons you didn’t like it. But when you find something neither particularly good or particularly bad what is there to say?
I will say that for large chunks of this book I was frightfully bored.
January is an interesting enough character. As a small child she is willful and bold, constantly getting herself into trouble that her wealthy benefactor gets herself out of. Then comes the emotional child abuse where he tells her she must behave only as he sees fit or so help him…well, you get the picture. The book gives you a very clear glimpse early on as to this man’s character and it is severely wanting.
Honestly, for the most part of this book you are just watching January grow up and cater to the whims of this man who employs her father. There are bits about her strained relationship with said father but for the most part he is a non-entity. What kind of decent father abandons their child with an eccentric old man in a mansion?
You know, the more I type the more I want to change something. I had initially given this book a 3 star. I am currently changing it to a 2 because I’m having trouble finding anything positive to say about this book. The only positive coming to mind is that it is atmospheric. The settings are clear and easy to picture and they always seem to have a bit of mystery and strangeness to them.
There, I said something nice. Aren’t we proud?
Look, this story was just boring. It dragged on and on and on for chapters that felt completely unnecessary. There is a whole bit that takes place in a mental institute that just made me want to bang my head on the wall. The plot is slow moving, the characters are all relatively cookie cutter and dull, and the over arching story objective is based on family and, I’m sure you didn’t know this about me but now you do, I hate stories that revolve wholly around family ties and found family. I find them exceedingly dull.
Was the general concept of this book good? Sure, absolutely. But then it drug on for 100 pages more than it needed. If this had been a novella I think I could have been on board but as is I can’t be bothered to care for it. Do you like slow moving, atmospheric, pseudo fantasy that centers around family? Then you might like The Ten Thousand Doors of January but I won’t be returning to this story at any point.
I find it especially difficult to find the words to review a book I only felt “meh” about. When you love a book it is easy to gush over the parts of it that brought you joy. When you particularly dislike something you read it is simple to put to words the why’s and reasons you didn’t like it. But when you find something neither particularly good or particularly bad what is there to say?
I will say that for large chunks of this book I was frightfully bored.
January is an interesting enough character. As a small child she is willful and bold, constantly getting herself into trouble that her wealthy benefactor gets herself out of. Then comes the emotional child abuse where he tells her she must behave only as he sees fit or so help him…well, you get the picture. The book gives you a very clear glimpse early on as to this man’s character and it is severely wanting.
Honestly, for the most part of this book you are just watching January grow up and cater to the whims of this man who employs her father. There are bits about her strained relationship with said father but for the most part he is a non-entity. What kind of decent father abandons their child with an eccentric old man in a mansion?
You know, the more I type the more I want to change something. I had initially given this book a 3 star. I am currently changing it to a 2 because I’m having trouble finding anything positive to say about this book. The only positive coming to mind is that it is atmospheric. The settings are clear and easy to picture and they always seem to have a bit of mystery and strangeness to them.
There, I said something nice. Aren’t we proud?
Look, this story was just boring. It dragged on and on and on for chapters that felt completely unnecessary. There is a whole bit that takes place in a mental institute that just made me want to bang my head on the wall. The plot is slow moving, the characters are all relatively cookie cutter and dull, and the over arching story objective is based on family and, I’m sure you didn’t know this about me but now you do, I hate stories that revolve wholly around family ties and found family. I find them exceedingly dull.
Was the general concept of this book good? Sure, absolutely. But then it drug on for 100 pages more than it needed. If this had been a novella I think I could have been on board but as is I can’t be bothered to care for it. Do you like slow moving, atmospheric, pseudo fantasy that centers around family? Then you might like The Ten Thousand Doors of January but I won’t be returning to this story at any point.
The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
“If there’s one thing the Hawthorne family isn’t, it’s fine. They were a twisted, broken mess before you got here, and they’ll be a twisted, broken mess once you’re gone.”
Here we are, once again, with a hyped book giving me the “meh” feels. When I picked this up I was very much in the mood for a good mystery. This book sounded fun and had a lot of very positive reviews so I figured it would be a slam dunk. Instead as I sit here over a day since having finished it I’m still a little confused. Not confused about the story, no, it was relatively straight forward, but as to why it is so loved.
Our main character, Avery, is mildly interesting in the way ya females have unfortunately been written for years. Intelligent but also selfish and single-minded and letting hormones lead the way when they would be better off ignored. She was interesting enough, I suppose, but her willingness to be lead and herded ground on my nerves. Her intelligence was her most interesting character trait, outside of that she was any other ya female you’ve stumbled across in mid ranked novels throughout the 2000s.
The mystery itself was very much built up to be a huge reveal as you would expect. The clues kept nudging our characters along, pushing them in the desired direction with a bit of gun fire and peril to spice things up when the plot started to drag. I won’t it spoil here but I will say that after all of that build up I really expected a lot bigger reveal at the end. It felt mundane and expected and left me with a very unsatisfied feeling.
The third core focus of this book are the four grandsons of Tobias Hawthorne’s family. Honestly, they were vaguely interesting but each of them were walking tropes in their own right. We had the good hearted rebel, the quirky and awkward yet brilliant one, the brooding sophisticated one, and the also brilliant yet obsessive one meant as a love interest with a drinking problem. They each had their roll to play (besides the good hearted rebel, I still don’t know what his purpose was besides a place holder) and they did so predictably.
Overall, the book was pretty much what I would expect from a ya mystery. It didn’t blow my mind or set any new standards for the genre but it also wasn’t bad. The book just sat squarely in that middle ground where you really don’t have anything amazing to say about it but at the same time there were no glaring complaints. Is it worth a read? Sure, but even if you don’t you aren’t really missing out on anything.
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
Did not finish book.
Did not finish book.
DNF. Just...bored. I don't think that Black's style of writing is up my alley. And that's okay, not every book is meant for every person.
An Unexpected Peril by Deanna Raybourn
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This book was an absolute delight, cover to cover. I have read all six books in this series and not a single one has let me down. Raybourn continues to deliver on Veronica stories and allows the characters grow and adapt to situations both physically and emotionally. She is unafraid to give her characters flaws making them more human and relatable and I swear I love them more with every book.
In this installment, Veronica poses as a princess from a visiting country, the princess herself having disappeared without a trace. Of course, Stoker is against the idea as the princess is in danger and if Veronica poses as her she will be putting herself in danger. Veronica, not one to listen to Stoker’s fussing, goes ahead with the plan and, of course, drama ensues.
An Unexpected Peril has forbidden love, hidden heartbreak, political drama, and a very fierce cast of female characters that take life by the horns. If you enjoy historical mysteries and haven’t started reading this series I have to ask what you are waiting for? Mystery, drama, the slowest of slow burn romance, vibrant characters, these books have it all and this latest installment is no exception.
This being the sixth book of the series I don’t feel like I can go into much detail without there being spoilers for the previous books but know that I loved this one and it is probably my second favorite of series behind A Dangerous Collaboration. I urge you to give them a chance as they are escapism at its finest.