michellefromsomewhere's reviews
32 reviews

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

3.0

The Prisoner's Throne by Holly Black

4.0

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black

5.0

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

3.5

House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas

5.0

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

5.0

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

5.0

Beholden by Francesca Crispo

4.0

Five Broken Blades by Mai Corland

4.75

I didn't want to put it down! The plot is interesting. The characters are developed and interesting. Corland switches between POVs well and clearly, and you can tell based on writing whose POV you are reading. The writing is accessible and FUN. Most of the book is the characters' journey, and it really picks up when they are all together. A great first book in a series to get to know the world and players. It is pretty obvious who the liar is, won't say here for spoilers, but I don't judge books based on predictability if I still have fun reading and enjoy the reveal. I love the inclusion of Korean myths and folklore, and you can tell Corland cares a lot about the story and mythology. I can't wait for the second book - will definitely be reading.

Thank you RedTower for the ARC. Opinions are my own.

 

To Bleed A Kingdom by Ella Dawes

2.75

The author fell into a common "trap" of forgetting that the readers have not spent the same time or energy with her characters and story that she has. The characters are meant to be likeable, and much of the dialogue is banter, but readers don't know or care about the characters yet, so it falls flat. It's clear how much the author loves her characters, and I kept reading hoping I would too, but I don't feel that the foundations to make me love the characters were there. I never felt like I understood the characters on a deeper level, and the slim promise of a mystery and secrets was supposed to keep me hooked. The secrets and mystery were mentioned constantly, but it took way too long in the book to get any progress/answers and by that point I had lost interest. Very little plot development happens in the book, in favor of establishing the characters, but that wasn't enough to keep me hooked. Three stars because I think the writing is solid for a debut novel, thought it could use more editing as there were many typos, and the ground work is set that the rest of the series could be interesting and improve.


Thank you Nerd Fam for the gifted ARC.