troystory's reviews
199 reviews

The Crimson Skew by S.E. Grove

5.0

Have I said how much I love this trilogy? Because I really, really, absolutely, indefinitely love it. This book surprised me with its intricacies and plots, its surprises and heartwarming reunions, and the many new characters I grew to love. The level of meticulous detail in here is astounding. I seriously adore this book, the trilogy, and the author.

Best things about the book:
- the diversity of the characters
- Sophia and Theo staying friends and not having a terrible and forced romantic relationship
- it had a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy (though I would still kill for a fourth book)
- the realistic motivations of all the characters

Simply put, this was a wonderful book. I'm very glad I decided to read it after all these years. Highly recommended!

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove

5.0

I read this book several years ago, and I read it again now because I thought it was about time I finally finished the trilogy (the third book came out three years ago, and I haven't read it yet). I was expecting it to be a mediocre pre-teen fantasy book, but it surprised me. It was well-written, thoughtful, captivating, and so much better than I had hoped. The characters were all fleshed out and believable, and the plot and world were original and wonderful and carefully planned. I thoroughly enjoyed every second I spent reading this book.

The most important things from this book:
- it was a direct continuation of the first in the trilogy, which I always appreciate in sequels
- Sophia, the main character, wasn't the fated Chosen One who accomplishes everything on her own, but instead had many people helping her along the way
- many of the side characters had characters arcs and satisfying endings
- the book wasn't solely focused on one person
- the antagonist was terrifying, wholly believable, and eerily similar to the current president of the US in certain aspects

In conclusion, I absolutely adored this book. Who cares if it's meants for 12 year olds? I certainly don't. I'm very excited to see where the third book goes!

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier, Volume 2: Last Days by Aleš Kot

3.0

First things first: I still adored the art in this volume (minus the, uh, simpler style). It was breathtaking, it was captivating, and it was utterly gorgeous. The story itself, however, felt a little weaker here than it was in the first volume. I think the series could have been much better without future!Bucky and Crossbones, and I probably would have loved it a lot more if it focused on developing Bucky's relationship with Ventolin, who seriously deserves a solo run (or at least another appearance!). I was also a little confused by Loki, who they sort of mentioned in the first volume but then kind of abandoned.

To be fair, this isn't the worst series I've ever read, and it was still good enough that I liked it. I also think that if they stretched this story over more issues, and had more room to explore the plot, it could have been more polished and smooth, and that would have made it better.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier, Volume 1: The Man on the Wall by Aleš Kot, Marco Rudy, Langdon Foss

4.0

I'm a huge fan of Bucky Barnes, and I loved the first issue of his new 2018 series, so I was looking forward to reading this collection. My first impression was: the art in this book is gorgeous! It's beautiful, evocative, and it has an almost ethereal watercolour vibe. I couldn't get enough of it. On the other hand, the more cartoon-y art in some of the later issues wasn't my favourite, so I kind of had to take a deep breath and bear with it.

I think it had a great storyline, and although I'm usually not a fan of relationships that never get time to develop, I eventually liked Ventolin and Bucky's love story. Ventolin was also one of my favourite characters in the series, second only to Bucky.

I would definitely recommend this series to die-hard Bucky Barnes fans, and people who just like space adventures and stunning artwork.

Masters of the Word: How Media Shaped History from the Alphabet to the Internet by William J. Bernstein

4.0

Wow, what an incredible book. I usually don't read history books that aren't about the ancient Romans or Greeks, so I was really hoping this book would be worthwhile - and it was. I was so captivated by it! Bernstein writes well, and his ideas flow beautifully from one chapter to the next. This is a really amazing book, engulfing thousands of years of history, but tying it all up in an extremely easy-to-understand and well-written way. I absolutely loved reading this book.

Side note:
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because there are some things that it helps to have background knowledge on (in that the book doesn't fully explain it, and it could be confusing). I was lucky enough to have learned about some of the events and concepts already, so I filled in all the missing pieces.

Apart from that, this was definitely one of my favourite history books by far. I can't recommend it enough!

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

5.0

Wow. This is one of THE best books I've ever read, hands down. Tomi Adeyemi writes beautifully, and the voices she uses for each character are so unique and developed. It kept me on edge, and I was always looking forward to find out what happened next! I'm usually one for reading when I set time aside, but with this book, I constantly found myself reading whenever I had a few spare minutes. It is a fantasy book, and I'm always hesitant to read them because I get very tired of their predictable tropes, but Adeyemi managed to twist some of them to make the story better.

I really, really loved this book. I can't recommend it enough! I'm eagerly looking forward for Adeyemi's future books!

Gwenpool, the Unbelievable, Vol. 5: Lost in the Plot by Gurihiru, Irene Strychalski, Christopher Hastings

5.0

Gwenpool, the Unbelievable, Vol. 4: Beyond the Fourth Wall by Gurihiru, Christopher Hastings

5.0

Gwenpool, the Unbelievable, Vol. 3: Totally in Continuity by Gurihiru, Christopher Hastings

5.0

Gwenpool, the Unbelievable, Vol. 2: Head of M.O.D.O.K. by Christopher Hastings

5.0