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stilestastic's reviews
303 reviews
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
[ 4.75 stars ]
“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”
is it possible to give a book 4.75 stars? well, i just did, because the only thing i didn't like about this book was manon's povs, which i found to be a little confusing and quickly stuffed with politics i didn't understand. everything else, however, was really freaking good. i now understand why the last book focused so wholly on the characters instead of the plot-- things definitely get cracking in heir of fire.
it's dangerous to ship the main character off to a whole new land at the end of the second book, but SJM did just that. i suppose, for someone so excellent at worldbuilding, it isn't even an intimidating thing to do. i was wary of celaena and her encounters in wendlyn, but things shifted naturally and without a bump in the road.
we also got introduced to some new characters, so i will quickly summarize my thoughts about both the old and the new (sadly i don't have any that are borrowed or blue).
calaena sardothien
or, should i say, aelin galathynius? if you've read my previous reviews for this series, you'd know that i have a love-hate relationship with our main heroine. but, at the end of this book, i grew to appreciate her more. her promise to nehemia is what drives her to face her fears head-on instead of taking the coward's way out like she has in the past. she's still that same snarky assassin from book one, but definitely more mature and now with powers. i'm so proud of her growth already!
chaol westfall
oh, chaol. chaol chaol chaol chaol chaol. this book definitely brings more of his true colors to light, and i went from liking him in books one and two to finding him an annoying little twink by the end of book three. he's prejudiced against magic, but not dorian's magic, because he saw celaena's fire destroy one (1) giant demon and now thinks she's going to set the entire world ablaze. sure, jan. i really hope he gets his shit together by the end of the series so i can stop rolling my eyes at his cringey attempts to control who celaena is. the only thing i appreciate about him is his loyalty to dorian.
dorian havilliard
i've said it once and i will say it again: I WOULD DIE FOR PRINCE DORIAN HAVILLIARD. but let me tell you that being a dorian stan is not a fun ride here. first of all, he barely gets any POVs, and the end....well... moving on because it physically pains me to think about it. i'm proud of my magical son for being so brave and sticking up for celaena when chaol was being an ass. his quote, "you cannot pick and choose which parts of her to love," should be written across the stars because it's so true for everyone in general. he deserves better.
rowan whitethorn
me, looking at an 8-ft tall muscle of a man: i love my son. i didn't really care about rowan at the beginning, but now i love him. you've met brooding, reserved, seemingly cold-hearted characters. now get ready for that times ten thousand, and now you have rowan. chip away all of those layers of pain and snark and you will find what he is at heart: still snarky, but also protective, strong (both physically and mentally), and courteous. and fussy-- very fussy. i really enjoyed reading the growth of his and celaena's dynamic over the course of the book, and i hope he appears again soon!
aedion ashryver
i've only had aedion ashryver for four days but if anything happens to him i will kill everyone in this room and then myself. he vaguely reminds me of SJM's legendary character rhysand from ACOTAR, but only in the sense that they're both known universally as "whores" when that term couldn't be more wrong. he's aelin's cousin and is loyal to her from death do they part, but he's also the king's most favored general. whaaaaaaaat? how does that work, you may ask? well, basically, aedion is a two-sided coin with the ability to slip on a new mask at any given time. another character who deserves better.
maeve
i hate her and that's all i need to say.
manon
i'm going to be honest and say that i skimmed most of her chapters because i couldn't bring myself to care about all of the witch politics or remember all of the names suddenly thrown at me. she's an interesting character, no doubt, and i definitely liked her identity crisis at the end, but my feelings toward her are indifferent overall. i'm sure that'll change, though!
the king of ardalan
honestly, i think this is the longest a book has withheld the true name of a villain in the name of book history. he's only given one title: the king of ardalan. while celaena has, like, seven aliases by the end of the novel, he's stuck with the same one. no death-bringer or something. though i suppose he doesn't need an alias for you to know how much of a piece of shit he is. he's the gum underneath my shoe. a forgotten trash bag in the back of an alley. true scum. just when you think he can't get any worse, he does.
the plot
like i said earlier, the ball really starts rolling in this book. more is revealed about the king of ardalan's wicked plans, dorian's powers, the rebel cause, the fae in other parts of the world, new creatures, and even more that i can't recall. it kept the entire thing exciting. it's like i know everything and nothing at the same time, always leaving me in a guessing game of what will happen next.
overall, this book is my favorite of the series so far, and one of my favorites overall of the year.
“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.”
is it possible to give a book 4.75 stars? well, i just did, because the only thing i didn't like about this book was manon's povs, which i found to be a little confusing and quickly stuffed with politics i didn't understand. everything else, however, was really freaking good. i now understand why the last book focused so wholly on the characters instead of the plot-- things definitely get cracking in heir of fire.
it's dangerous to ship the main character off to a whole new land at the end of the second book, but SJM did just that. i suppose, for someone so excellent at worldbuilding, it isn't even an intimidating thing to do. i was wary of celaena and her encounters in wendlyn, but things shifted naturally and without a bump in the road.
we also got introduced to some new characters, so i will quickly summarize my thoughts about both the old and the new (sadly i don't have any that are borrowed or blue).
calaena sardothien
or, should i say, aelin galathynius? if you've read my previous reviews for this series, you'd know that i have a love-hate relationship with our main heroine. but, at the end of this book, i grew to appreciate her more. her promise to nehemia is what drives her to face her fears head-on instead of taking the coward's way out like she has in the past. she's still that same snarky assassin from book one, but definitely more mature and now with powers. i'm so proud of her growth already!
chaol westfall
oh, chaol. chaol chaol chaol chaol chaol. this book definitely brings more of his true colors to light, and i went from liking him in books one and two to finding him an annoying little twink by the end of book three. he's prejudiced against magic, but not dorian's magic, because he saw celaena's fire destroy one (1) giant demon and now thinks she's going to set the entire world ablaze. sure, jan. i really hope he gets his shit together by the end of the series so i can stop rolling my eyes at his cringey attempts to control who celaena is. the only thing i appreciate about him is his loyalty to dorian.
dorian havilliard
i've said it once and i will say it again: I WOULD DIE FOR PRINCE DORIAN HAVILLIARD. but let me tell you that being a dorian stan is not a fun ride here. first of all, he barely gets any POVs, and the end....well... moving on because it physically pains me to think about it. i'm proud of my magical son for being so brave and sticking up for celaena when chaol was being an ass. his quote, "you cannot pick and choose which parts of her to love," should be written across the stars because it's so true for everyone in general. he deserves better.
rowan whitethorn
me, looking at an 8-ft tall muscle of a man: i love my son. i didn't really care about rowan at the beginning, but now i love him. you've met brooding, reserved, seemingly cold-hearted characters. now get ready for that times ten thousand, and now you have rowan. chip away all of those layers of pain and snark and you will find what he is at heart: still snarky, but also protective, strong (both physically and mentally), and courteous. and fussy-- very fussy. i really enjoyed reading the growth of his and celaena's dynamic over the course of the book, and i hope he appears again soon!
aedion ashryver
i've only had aedion ashryver for four days but if anything happens to him i will kill everyone in this room and then myself. he vaguely reminds me of SJM's legendary character rhysand from ACOTAR, but only in the sense that they're both known universally as "whores" when that term couldn't be more wrong. he's aelin's cousin and is loyal to her from death do they part, but he's also the king's most favored general. whaaaaaaaat? how does that work, you may ask? well, basically, aedion is a two-sided coin with the ability to slip on a new mask at any given time. another character who deserves better.
maeve
i hate her and that's all i need to say.
manon
i'm going to be honest and say that i skimmed most of her chapters because i couldn't bring myself to care about all of the witch politics or remember all of the names suddenly thrown at me. she's an interesting character, no doubt, and i definitely liked her identity crisis at the end, but my feelings toward her are indifferent overall. i'm sure that'll change, though!
the king of ardalan
honestly, i think this is the longest a book has withheld the true name of a villain in the name of book history. he's only given one title: the king of ardalan. while celaena has, like, seven aliases by the end of the novel, he's stuck with the same one. no death-bringer or something. though i suppose he doesn't need an alias for you to know how much of a piece of shit he is. he's the gum underneath my shoe. a forgotten trash bag in the back of an alley. true scum. just when you think he can't get any worse, he does.
the plot
like i said earlier, the ball really starts rolling in this book. more is revealed about the king of ardalan's wicked plans, dorian's powers, the rebel cause, the fae in other parts of the world, new creatures, and even more that i can't recall. it kept the entire thing exciting. it's like i know everything and nothing at the same time, always leaving me in a guessing game of what will happen next.
overall, this book is my favorite of the series so far, and one of my favorites overall of the year.
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
5.0
"'There are no gods left to watch, I’m afraid. And there are no gods left to help you now, Aelin Galathynius.'
"Aelin smiled, and Goldryn burned brighter. 'I am a god.'"
[5 stars]
ladies and gentleman, THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A FINALE!! i was on the edge of my seat for practically the entire book. not just because of the action, but also because there were so many characters that it was a mental workout keeping track of all of them.
some authors are afraid to hurt their characters - truly hurt them - or to let them fail. sarah j maas is not one of those authors. i spent the entire time wondering if the multitude of conflicts would even be resolved. poor aedion and lysandra were just being knocked down the whole time. just when things would start looking up, something would slam the characters back down again, which was part of why i loved this book. it was so realistic. they lost hope. there were surrenders, significant losses, and endless sacrifices. it felt like a real war.
here's a tribute to (almost) every character and my thoughts on them
aelin galathynius
or.... should i say... aelin ashryver whitethorn galathynius? nah, i won't for now, because that's a mouthful. aelin has come so far and i truly love her for it. those of you who have read my crown of midnight review know that she definitely wasn't my favorite character for the first three and a half books. i had a love-hate relationship with her for a really long time, but now i just love her. she would truly do anything for terrasen, which she proved endless times in this book. she is incredibly strong and self-sacrificing. we stan!
dorian havilliard
again, those of you who have read my past reviews know that dorian has been my absolute favorite since book 1. still recovering from the events of heir of fire, dorian has to grapple with the task of finding the third wyrdkey and allowing himself to be happy again. i think that nehemia was smiling at him from the afterworld in this book because he truly rose to his full potential and kicked ASS. he's cunning, resourceful, and borderline nihilistic, but also brave and selfless. and complex?? i want to give dorian a million hugs and a mug of hot cocoa because he deserves it for all he's been through.
chaol westfall
chaol, my misbehaving son, is finally not misbehaving anymore. thanks to his time in the southern continent, he has learned to be more accepting, open to ideas that he's not used to, and that he's still useful, disability and all. i'm so proud of him for being such a persistent leader and for marching into the face of battle when all seems to be lost. he has some of the best character development in the whole series!
rowan whitethorn
i'm gonna be part of that small majority of readers who say that rowan isn't their favorite-favorite, but i still love him nonetheless. he's strong. he's loyal. he's protective. i loved that he didn't always approve of aelin's ideas but kept reminding her that she was her own person who could make her own decisions, i.e "I do not let you do anything," meaning that aelin never has to ask permission to do something she truly wants to. although he tries to thoroughly convince her that some things are bad ideas, it stems from his worry and belief that there is a better, less self-destructive way than aelin's. he and aelin compliment each other perfectly!
aedion ashryver
poor aedion went through a hell of a lot in this book. i still feel like his development could have gone better, considering the fact that i was in LOVE with him in heir of fire and now i tolerate him at most. i wish he'd truly learned to keep his temper in check and learned not to say things to people when he doesn't know the whole story. he kind of realized his mistake with aelin ("Where are our allies, Aelin? Where are they?") but that whole thing backfired with Lysandra again and again. in my list of favorites, aedion is just kinda.... there.
lysandra
lysandra has been one of my favorites since she was introduced and i think i've made my feelings toward her clear under the spoiler cut. a true badass.
manon blackbeak
another character i didn't expect to love so much. i laugh at the fact that i found her chapters to be dull in heir of fire. manon is my queen and i'm so proud of her. she truly learned to love, admit her fears, and sympathize without seeing these things as weakness.
elide lochan
A TRUE HERO!!! i love how elide is soft, yet wholly unafraid of her former abuser (aka her piece-of-shit uncle). what an icon. i'm proud of her for holding onto her grudge to lorcan until he proved himself worthy of her time again
lochan selvaterre
not my favorite after his huge mistake in empire of storms, but he redeemed himself in this book i've always been interested him and i'm glad we got to see more of him, as well as saw his feelings/opinions shift.
yrene towers/westfall
THE TRUE HERO OF THIS BOOK!! yrene, like elide, is soft. but soft does not mean weak or helpless. she's kind, hoping to help people in any way she can even when it's too physically demanding, and yet she stood up to chaol's dad and is unfaltering in her opinions. i'm so glad she finally got the recognition she deserved.
nesryn faliq
my only regret is that we didn't get to see more of her in this book. it was her POV about four-five times, and i really wanted to see more of her perspective because she's so awesome.
gavriel
DESERVED BETTER.
asterin blackbeak
my favorite before manon was. honestly, so amazing and wonderful and everything good in the world.
fenrys
i didn't really care about him in empire of storms, so i definitely did not except him to become one of my favorites. his unexpected bond with aelin was incredibly heartwarming!!
maeve
the worst. UGH, i hate her, but she was a brilliant villain. her rage was understandable and yet she was rotten to the core. proof that, while a villain may have a point, it doesn't make them inherently right. this is how you write an antagonist!!
erawan
bye bitch.
there are so many more characters, but if i go on for any longer, the list will never stop. i'm gonna move onto my favorite parts of the book, hidden under a spoiler cut, obviously!
-aelin's frequent nightmares about maeve that made both you and her question reality. very realistic and very well-done
-the most heartbreaking moment was the loss of the thirteen. it was perfectly executed and was pretty much the part i cried the hardest at
-lord lorcan lochan
-RHYS AND (PREGNANT) FEYRE'S CAMEO!!!!!!!!!!!
-manon being crowned crochan queen
-fenrys taking the blood oath and aelin using it to make him live
-the only time the king of ardalan remembered his own name was looking at his newborn son (i KNEW there was a reason he didn't have a name)
-dorian shapeshifting into a woman and walking in aimless circles for two hours trying to adjust
-YRENE IS PREGNANT
-DORIAN AND CHAOL'S REUNION
-i loved that chaol, dorian, and aelin's goodbyes were the longest. they are the heart of the series, the original 3, and i'm so glad that nobody else was around during it. but tbh it was also pretty funny to remember that both of them were in love with aelin at one point and it used to be a love triangle LMAO
all of that being said, although i will miss these characters dearly, i'm satisfied with this ending and am glad i finally finished the series!
"Aelin smiled, and Goldryn burned brighter. 'I am a god.'"
[5 stars]
ladies and gentleman, THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A FINALE!! i was on the edge of my seat for practically the entire book. not just because of the action, but also because there were so many characters that it was a mental workout keeping track of all of them.
some authors are afraid to hurt their characters - truly hurt them - or to let them fail. sarah j maas is not one of those authors. i spent the entire time wondering if the multitude of conflicts would even be resolved. poor aedion and lysandra were just being knocked down the whole time. just when things would start looking up, something would slam the characters back down again, which was part of why i loved this book. it was so realistic. they lost hope. there were surrenders, significant losses, and endless sacrifices. it felt like a real war.
here's a tribute to (almost) every character and my thoughts on them
aelin galathynius
or.... should i say... aelin ashryver whitethorn galathynius? nah, i won't for now, because that's a mouthful. aelin has come so far and i truly love her for it. those of you who have read my crown of midnight review know that she definitely wasn't my favorite character for the first three and a half books. i had a love-hate relationship with her for a really long time, but now i just love her. she would truly do anything for terrasen, which she proved endless times in this book. she is incredibly strong and self-sacrificing. we stan!
dorian havilliard
again, those of you who have read my past reviews know that dorian has been my absolute favorite since book 1. still recovering from the events of heir of fire, dorian has to grapple with the task of finding the third wyrdkey and allowing himself to be happy again. i think that nehemia was smiling at him from the afterworld in this book because he truly rose to his full potential and kicked ASS. he's cunning, resourceful, and borderline nihilistic, but also brave and selfless. and complex?? i want to give dorian a million hugs and a mug of hot cocoa because he deserves it for all he's been through.
chaol westfall
chaol, my misbehaving son, is finally not misbehaving anymore. thanks to his time in the southern continent, he has learned to be more accepting, open to ideas that he's not used to, and that he's still useful, disability and all. i'm so proud of him for being such a persistent leader and for marching into the face of battle when all seems to be lost. he has some of the best character development in the whole series!
rowan whitethorn
i'm gonna be part of that small majority of readers who say that rowan isn't their favorite-favorite, but i still love him nonetheless. he's strong. he's loyal. he's protective. i loved that he didn't always approve of aelin's ideas but kept reminding her that she was her own person who could make her own decisions, i.e "I do not let you do anything," meaning that aelin never has to ask permission to do something she truly wants to. although he tries to thoroughly convince her that some things are bad ideas, it stems from his worry and belief that there is a better, less self-destructive way than aelin's. he and aelin compliment each other perfectly!
aedion ashryver
poor aedion went through a hell of a lot in this book. i still feel like his development could have gone better, considering the fact that i was in LOVE with him in heir of fire and now i tolerate him at most. i wish he'd truly learned to keep his temper in check and learned not to say things to people when he doesn't know the whole story. he kind of realized his mistake with aelin ("Where are our allies, Aelin? Where are they?") but that whole thing backfired with Lysandra again and again. in my list of favorites, aedion is just kinda.... there.
lysandra
Spoiler
LYSANDRA DESERVES BETTER THAN AEDION!!! lysandra deserves someone who wholly appreciates her, not someone who thinks he's entitled to her when nothing romantic has happened between them and then calls her a bitch, throws her into the snow while naked, and only realizes her worth when she almost dies.manon blackbeak
another character i didn't expect to love so much. i laugh at the fact that i found her chapters to be dull in heir of fire. manon is my queen and i'm so proud of her. she truly learned to love, admit her fears, and sympathize without seeing these things as weakness.
elide lochan
A TRUE HERO!!! i love how elide is soft, yet wholly unafraid of her former abuser (aka her piece-of-shit uncle). what an icon. i'm proud of her for holding onto her grudge to lorcan until he proved himself worthy of her time again
Spoiler
although i'm still not the biggest fan of them romantically, but whatevslochan selvaterre
not my favorite after his huge mistake in empire of storms, but he redeemed himself in this book
Spoiler
and i cried when i thought he was dead.yrene towers/westfall
THE TRUE HERO OF THIS BOOK!! yrene, like elide, is soft. but soft does not mean weak or helpless. she's kind, hoping to help people in any way she can even when it's too physically demanding, and yet she stood up to chaol's dad and is unfaltering in her opinions. i'm so glad she finally got the recognition she deserved.
nesryn faliq
my only regret is that we didn't get to see more of her in this book. it was her POV about four-five times, and i really wanted to see more of her perspective because she's so awesome.
gavriel
DESERVED BETTER.
asterin blackbeak
my favorite before manon was. honestly, so amazing and wonderful and everything good in the world.
Spoiler
her death was heartbreaking, but at least she went down killing manon's grandmotherfenrys
i didn't really care about him in empire of storms, so i definitely did not except him to become one of my favorites. his unexpected bond with aelin was incredibly heartwarming!!
maeve
the worst. UGH, i hate her, but she was a brilliant villain. her rage was understandable and yet she was rotten to the core. proof that, while a villain may have a point, it doesn't make them inherently right. this is how you write an antagonist!!
erawan
bye bitch.
there are so many more characters, but if i go on for any longer, the list will never stop. i'm gonna move onto my favorite parts of the book, hidden under a spoiler cut, obviously!
Spoiler
-dorian bringing down morath and ripping into maeve's mind!!! a KING (literally)-aelin's frequent nightmares about maeve that made both you and her question reality. very realistic and very well-done
-the most heartbreaking moment was the loss of the thirteen. it was perfectly executed and was pretty much the part i cried the hardest at
-lord lorcan lochan
-RHYS AND (PREGNANT) FEYRE'S CAMEO!!!!!!!!!!!
-manon being crowned crochan queen
-fenrys taking the blood oath and aelin using it to make him live
-the only time the king of ardalan remembered his own name was looking at his newborn son (i KNEW there was a reason he didn't have a name)
-dorian shapeshifting into a woman and walking in aimless circles for two hours trying to adjust
-YRENE IS PREGNANT
-DORIAN AND CHAOL'S REUNION
-i loved that chaol, dorian, and aelin's goodbyes were the longest. they are the heart of the series, the original 3, and i'm so glad that nobody else was around during it. but tbh it was also pretty funny to remember that both of them were in love with aelin at one point and it used to be a love triangle LMAO
all of that being said, although i will miss these characters dearly, i'm satisfied with this ending and am glad i finally finished the series!
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
5.0
“Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”
[4.5 stars]
here's the thing: was this the best book i've ever read? no. was it entertaining? heck yes. the main reason why i was able to read this entire book in a day was mainly because, for me, it never got boring. however, the reason why has both its ups and downs. on one hand, it made for an exciting read filled with twists and turns. but it also meant that the book was so focused on action that i felt some character strengths were lacking. to me, there could have been more meaningful interactions with characters or even more of scarlett's inner monologue about what was going on. sometimes the characters could be two-dimensional, which can suck.
another downside was the story started very quickly. there was little to no worldbuilding. i don't know the geography of wherever they live (for it was not given a name. are the islands different countries?). i also felt that there could have been more scenes with scarlett and tella at home so we could get a feel of the place before being whisked away.
however, aside from those points, i thought the story was interesting. a main point of the story was that you shouldn't trust anyone in caraval, which is a risky thing to do in a book because it can make the plot twists anticlimactic if your readers aren't attached to the characters (aka if they're constantly being told not to trust them). however, there were more twists than i was expecting and the climax made me so stressed out, but it was great.
all in all, this book was an exciting, fun read! (it also gave me major [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] vibes)
[4.5 stars]
here's the thing: was this the best book i've ever read? no. was it entertaining? heck yes. the main reason why i was able to read this entire book in a day was mainly because, for me, it never got boring. however, the reason why has both its ups and downs. on one hand, it made for an exciting read filled with twists and turns. but it also meant that the book was so focused on action that i felt some character strengths were lacking. to me, there could have been more meaningful interactions with characters or even more of scarlett's inner monologue about what was going on. sometimes the characters could be two-dimensional, which can suck.
another downside was the story started very quickly. there was little to no worldbuilding. i don't know the geography of wherever they live (for it was not given a name. are the islands different countries?). i also felt that there could have been more scenes with scarlett and tella at home so we could get a feel of the place before being whisked away.
however, aside from those points, i thought the story was interesting. a main point of the story was that you shouldn't trust anyone in caraval, which is a risky thing to do in a book because it can make the plot twists anticlimactic if your readers aren't attached to the characters (aka if they're constantly being told not to trust them). however, there were more twists than i was expecting and the climax made me so stressed out, but it was great.
all in all, this book was an exciting, fun read! (it also gave me major [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] vibes)
Legendary by Stephanie Garber
5.0
“Every good story needs a villain. But the best villains are the ones you secretly like.”
[4.5 stars]
I didn't expect to root for Tella as much as I ended up doing. It's kind of funny, because in Caraval I hated her and loved Scarlett, but now the opposite is true. I couldn't bring myself to care about her love triangle.
I loved the inclusion of the Fates and how it tied into the new Caraval. One thing I didn't like, however, was that the formula was so similar to Scarlett's: love-hate relationship with super hot guy, grave injury that he saves her from, and becoming too wrapped up in the game even though they know they shouldn't. Minor things were changed, of course, but it was mostly the same. I hope the third book is different from the first two so it doesn't feel too repetitive!
[4.5 stars]
I didn't expect to root for Tella as much as I ended up doing. It's kind of funny, because in Caraval I hated her and loved Scarlett, but now the opposite is true. I couldn't bring myself to care about her love triangle.
I loved the inclusion of the Fates and how it tied into the new Caraval. One thing I didn't like, however, was that the formula was so similar to Scarlett's: love-hate relationship with super hot guy, grave injury that he saves her from, and becoming too wrapped up in the game even though they know they shouldn't. Minor things were changed, of course, but it was mostly the same. I hope the third book is different from the first two so it doesn't feel too repetitive!
Spoiler
Also, Dante being Legend? I feel like I kind of saw it coming but it was still a shock that my hunch ended up being true. I just hope he doesn't shatter Tella's heart even further because oof.
Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow: Discovering Your Right Livelihood by Marsha Sinetar
2.0
dated, repetitive, and boring. the author talks in circles and seemed to write 10 chapters on something that could have been easily explained in an article or 100 pages.
Finale by Stephanie Garber
5.0
[4.5 stars]
“Fear was a poison that people mistook as protection. Making choices to stay safe could be just as treacherous.”
THIS BOOK GOT ME OUT OF MY READING SLUMP!!!! Nothing, and I repeat, nothing is worse to me than not being able to read. It was like, anytime I tried to make my eyes go over a page, no matter what it was, I was filled with dread and annoyance. But after finishing this, I finally feel motivated to finish the other two books that I've been reading for months.
There's something magical about the way that Stephanie Garber writes her scenes, which is fitting considering this trilogy is about magic. I love the addition of bright colors and fashion and descriptions that made me feel like I was in a fairytale or a dream while I was reading. It was fantastic imagery that always placed me within the setting perfectly.
This book actually made me like Scarlett again. Due to the last book and the fact that there was going to be a love triangle (the bane of my existence) between her, Julian, and Nicolas in this book, I thought I was going to dislike her even more, but I only grew to love her. It was less a love triangle and more of her discovering herself and finally having the freedom to choose things for herself.
One reason why I knocked off half a star was because I didn't feel like some things were resolved. I don't think there's going to be another book, but it didn't feel like the end of a series. I only wound up having more questions.
Aside from those parts, I think this book was really exciting and constantly had me hooked. The series was enjoyable and a really fun read!
“Fear was a poison that people mistook as protection. Making choices to stay safe could be just as treacherous.”
THIS BOOK GOT ME OUT OF MY READING SLUMP!!!! Nothing, and I repeat, nothing is worse to me than not being able to read. It was like, anytime I tried to make my eyes go over a page, no matter what it was, I was filled with dread and annoyance. But after finishing this, I finally feel motivated to finish the other two books that I've been reading for months.
There's something magical about the way that Stephanie Garber writes her scenes, which is fitting considering this trilogy is about magic. I love the addition of bright colors and fashion and descriptions that made me feel like I was in a fairytale or a dream while I was reading. It was fantastic imagery that always placed me within the setting perfectly.
This book actually made me like Scarlett again. Due to the last book and the fact that there was going to be a love triangle (the bane of my existence) between her, Julian, and Nicolas in this book, I thought I was going to dislike her even more, but I only grew to love her. It was less a love triangle and more of her discovering herself and finally having the freedom to choose things for herself.
One reason why I knocked off half a star was because I didn't feel like some things were resolved. I don't think there's going to be another book, but it didn't feel like the end of a series. I only wound up having more questions.
Spoiler
Did Jacks really just run away and nobody is concerned, even though he's back at full power? He gave up just like that? Why don't we get to see any bits of Legend and Tella finally being together when that's been the conflict for the entire book, and it's such a monumental feat for Legend to finally love someone? How does Legend feel about being mortal? Why didn't they reference Tella having to find her daughter's secret after she made the deal?Aside from those parts, I think this book was really exciting and constantly had me hooked. The series was enjoyable and a really fun read!