Water For Elephants

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen

3/5 Stars

"An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932 illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place. Winner of the 2007 BookBrowse Award for Most Popular Book."

Review

This book is a little outside of my normal reading tastes, but I actually ended up really liking it! I don't think it's something that is going to stick with me over the years or anything, but it was an enjoyable quick read while it lasted :D

Pros 

Naturally, I loved the circus setting and to be honest this was the only reason I picked this book up... I've also never actually read a non-fantasy circus book before, so it was refreshing to have a more realistic approach to the certain tropes that most circus books have! Also the animals were really cool... Rosie's adorable!

The scenes with Mr Jankowski as an elderly man were definitely the highlight for me. The relationship between him and his nurse was amazing and actually really made me want to read more books from an older person's perspective. It was just interesting seeing how he saw certain things differently as an older man and how some opinions change over time, while others stay unchanged. These scenes also had really thought provoking dialogue and were the only times the book connected to me more than just being an entertaining read.

The writing was nothing special, but I did find it really fast and easy to read, which has helped me get out of my reading slump! So that's definitely a pro!

I also thought that the two different timelines linked nicely together, which lead to a satisfying ending. :D

Cons

While the romance in this book had a few cute moments, it also had some cringey ones! I don't think it was done badly or anything, but I do feel like it was introduced too late in the story and they kinda just both liked each other and that was it... If that makes any sense?

Also all the plot points were really generic and predictable, so I was never really shocked or surprised. This didn't bother me too much though, as I did still enjoy the story while I was reading it, but I doubt it's going to be something I remember a few books down the line...

Every character felt a little under developed to me, especially Marlena. Again this could be down to her being introduced too late in the story. :( When I read about new characters, I always imagine them as real people and imagine them in real-life situations xD For example what kinda take-away they'd order, but I literally couldn't tell you anything about Marlena... If there were more sorta 'bonding scenes' with her and Jacob, I think her character and the romance as a whole would have been more fleshed out and engaging.

I did really like this book though and I'm forever thankful for it (hopefully) getting me out of this slump I've been in! I'm tempted to watch the film at some point too, so I'll be interested to see what the adaptation is like! (If only for Rosie!) :D

My Goodreads Review

The Dream Thieves

The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvatar

3/5 Stars

It's been such a slow reading month for me, so I'm happy I've finally finished this! Even if it is 1 am... But everyone knows late reading nights make the best nights! Right?

I definitely preferred the first book over this one, but there were still a lot of things I really liked!

The Idea of dreams has always been something that have fascinated me, so naturally I love how this is the main theme. I just find it insane to think about. It's crazy how we don't control what we think about, but that makes everything so clear. Like how are we the most imaginative when are brains are switched off? It just blows my mind... But anyway late night thoughts aside, I really liked how all the magic is based on the idea of dreams and it's such an original concept and is actually done really well. It's interesting not fully knowing the limitations of what can actually happen in a dream, which makes for some fun theorising!

Noah is by far my favourite character, I just love how creepy and cute he is! That's just a perfect combo in my eyes! I also grew to like Ronan a lot more by the end of this one and I feel like he's definitely becoming more of a focus to the story, which will be interesting going into Blue Lilly Blue!

I loved all the one on one character scenes. It's hard to explain, but I think Maggie is excellent at writing conversations between two people. I dunno, I just feel like that's when her characters come to life and have their own characteristics and banter and the book instantly becomes more fun and enjoyable to read. However, when there's more than one character in a scene, I can't help but feel like everyone sorta gets lost in the crowd, if that makes sense? And that's when things started to drag for me. .

This could be why I found myself enjoying the Gray Man's scenes more than the other POVs, as it tended to be more solitary and just a man with his thoughts for the most part. Although It annoyed me at the start how forced his 'mysteriousness' was, but I must admit he did start to intrigue me after that! :D

My main issue with The Dream Thieves is how hard I found it to picture everything on a page by page basis. Normally when I read I play a little movie in my mind, so without that I was left with just words on a page... I had this same problem with the first book, but now that the plot lines are getting more in depth, it became increasingly difficult to follow what was happening. Some more description on the setting and people's actions would have sorted this out for me, although it could just be down to my pesky reading slump at the moment D:

I also thought Kavinsky was kinda dumb... Everyone knows him apparently but I was just there like...who even is he? Why was he even there... go away... I don't get why he was suddenly introduced out of no where for some dumb Fast and Furious style car races xD Towards the end I obviously gathered why he was there, but I feel like he could have been introduced A LOT earlier, so it didn't feel so cheaply thrown in.

I will say though, that while I preferred The Raven Boys, I definitely like where things are going now! The ending got super interesting, so I'll 100% be continuing on with the series!   

My Goodreads Review

Howl's Moving Castle

Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones

3/5 Stars

While I had no recollection of the plot, I remember absolutely loving the Howl's Moving Castle Studio Ghibli film as a kid, so I went into this expecting to escape into a world of feel-good nostalgia. And I was for the first 100 pages, but then everything changed with the reading slump attacked... It took me over 2 weeks to get through the next 200 pages, but it wasn't even the book's fault, just me being a big dumb dumb. D:

As to the book itself, I really like how imaginative this world is and how ridiculous everything was! Just the idea of having a moving castle itself is super fun to me... I mean, what more could you want in life?! Well a dragon would be pretty cool but anyway... 

I also really liked how the story was introduced. The first few chapters were definitely my favorites, as it was entertaining to learn about everyone's wacky personalities and the randomness of the magic. Seriously, the magic is just completely crazy, but that's what I loved about it! Sometimes it's nice not to have a really in depth and detailed, scientific magic system... Sometimes I just want a living scarecrow and a cursed fireplace... is that so wrong? 

I know for a fact that I would have continued to love this book after the first 100 pages, if I had read it at a different time, which is why is why it's an annoying 3 stars... It deserves so much more but i just didn't enjoy reading it and it became a chore :( There was nothing I didn't like about it, but I just kept losing concentration and then losing track on the plot and eventually I just had no idea what was going on because I kept zoning out. Like I said though, this wasn't the book's fault, just me and the pesky little reading slump! *Shakes fist to the sky* 

I'm hoping to get out of it soon though and get back into reading again :D 

My Goodreads Review

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater

4/5 Stars

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

Why did it take me so long to pick this book up?! D: I've had it on my shelf for so long, but I've always just kept delaying it and delaying it... I think in part, this is because the whole Raven Cycle just sounds so perfect to me and I was scared to be disappointed by it all... I can tell you now that I'm not disappointed!

I absolutely love how unconventional and original this plot was and how every scene had a purpose! Psychics, fortune tellers and the whole spiritual energy thing are some of my favourite things to read about and I love how Maggie Stiefvater used this to form different prophesies, which really helped to mold the plot. I love how Blue was an 'amplifier' to this energy, which I thought was super cool and I adored the dynamic between her and her creepy little family! Basically, my goal in life is to become a creepy fortune teller xD

There was also a lot less romance than I expected (given the synopsis) and I really appreciated this, as it really helped the main plot lines to develop faster, which were a lot more interesting to me. I assume that the romance part of this book will progress in future books, but I just hope it doesn't ruin the series for me! *Firmly crosses fingers and toes*

The Ley lines were fascinating to read about and actually reminded me a lot of The King's Road in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (one of my all time favourite books). They are by no means the same thing, but they are similar in a way that they are both confusing as heck xD But I actually really love this aspect of it, because it just means that no one is really sure what the limitations are and therefore the consequences of using the them are unknown. This uncertainty is so interesting to me and makes this aspect of the plot completely unpredictable. Coming to think of it, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell also uses the whole Raven King thing... These books are completely different, but it's actually pretty interesting to compare them. :D

I do have a few minor problems with this book, but nothing major:

I felt like some scenes could have done with a bit more description and explanation and just expanded on a little bit more. The scene with that carved raven comes to mind.... Still not 100% sure what that was all about, as it was just quite hard to imagine what was happening. I think if some scenes had a little bit more description, it would have really helped with my imagery and understanding.  I will say that overall I really liked Maggie Stiefvater's writing though and found her prose to be very enjoyable and even beautiful at times.

I also didn't really connect with any of the characters. A few of them started to grow on me by the end, particularly Adam and Ronan, but for the most part I was more interested in the plot, which is rare for me! I didn't hate them or anything, but I just didn't love them either. This is the first book in the series though, so hopefully I'll grow more attached as it goes on! If I had to pick a favourite, I'd go for Whelk for some reason, despite his name sounding like a type of tree... A Whelk tree...is that a thing? It sounds like a thing...

Overall I'm so happy I finally got to this and no longer have to feel guilty every time I see it sat on my shelf! This was a solid start to the series and I'll be getting to sequel soon! I'm actually really looking forward to it, especially as the series is complete now :D

My Goodreads Review

The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

3.7/5 Stars

Speak again the ancient oaths,

Life before death.

Strength before weakness.

Journey before Destination.

And return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

I finally liked a Brandon Sanderson book! I hope everyone is happy now :D 3rd time lucky whoop! Admittedly I didn't like the first 500 pages or so, but as soon as part 3 kicked in I started to enjoy it so much more. I'm glad I stuck at it! If I were to rate individual parts it would look like this:

Part 1 - 2.5 Stars
Part 2 - 2 Stars
Part 3 - 5 stars
Part 4 - 4 stars
Part 5 - 5 stars

So there was a lot I liked but a lot I didn't like too, but overall it comes out as 3.7/5 Stars. :D

Pros

Jasnah. She is everything I love in a character and I'm so happy I've read this book for her and her only.

It's very clear that Sanderson loves this world he has created and I loved the amount of time he dedicated to the world building and development of his ideas. They all felt original and not just copy and pasted. I mean... Shardblades are pretty damn cool... What's not to love about a massive Final Fantasy type sword? Nothing, that's what. Your argument is invalid.

I loved everything about Shallan's POV and thought it was perfectly executed, from start to finish. Everything I wanted to happen, happened and of course Jasnah got plenty of page time! I also loved Szeth and hope to see more of him in the sequel and hopefully learn more about the Truthless too! Also how the POVs interlinked together was just genius and by the end I couldn't help but be impressed with the overall structure of the book.

I have a real hard time concentrating during action scenes and I have no idea why... They just bore me, but I think these scenes were written well. While they were still my least favourite scenes in the book, I did prefer them to action scenes in other books. That must count for something, right?

All of the religious and philosophical talk in this book was fascinating and I loved every second of it. Personally this is when I like Sanderson best. I appreciate how he always considered multiple sides to topics on morality and religion and really makes you think about it yourself and make up your own mind on what's right or wrong. Chapter 36 is still by far my favourite chapter in the whole book and that was down to it exploring this question of morality.

Oh and I also loved whenever Jasnah had a sassy Meryl Streep moment.... that's all ;)


Cons - ( All these opinions are down to personal preference and I am 100% in the minority)


My main issue with this book is how everything was introduced. When characters are introduced they are just simply a name and are built from there, instead of having a solid foundation. I understand we're not going to fully know a character from the first meeting, but when they are just a name it is really hard to care about what's happening to them.

This was particularly a problem with Dalinar's chapters, as everything was newly introduced later on in the story. However, I feel like Dalinar isn't at the start of his journey, which makes it harder to jump into his narrative, as opposed to Shallan, who is very much at the start of her journey... So this probably contributed to the confusion too. If that makes any sense? As his POV progressed though, I started to like him more and more and caught a grasp on his plot, although a lot of characters (including Adolin) are still just names too me.

Don't get me wrong I like Kaladin, but it annoyed me so much how he was portrayed to be so likable and 'good'. He definitely came off as a perfect character, who could do no wrong, which really ground my gears. Also I found it really hard to connect to his plot for the first two parts and I think that's because there wasn't really an over-arching story-line. For example from the start Shallan had a goal of trying to steal Jasnah's Soulcaster, so there was a clear aim and purpose But with Kaladin I just felt like for the first 2 parts, it was event after event after event without really going anywhere.

I also am not a massive fan of this whole Roshar world. *Gasps* I know... This one is 100% a personal preference, so ignore it if you wish xD I think the world is incredibly well crafted and all, but I just don't like how barren and boring it was to imagine... It sounds petty I know, but when I read, the world is a huge thing for me and if I get bored of the landscape it really hinders my enjoyment. As the plot took over this wasn't a problem though.

I had mixed feelings about the Spren. I think they're a really cool concept, but it was sometimes awkward in practice. Example:

"Anticipationspren sprung up around members of the army." 

I don't know it just sounds so dumb to me. There were just a few instances like this and most of the time I think it worked well and was actually a intuitive way to express feelings. So I guess this is more of a pro overall.

Despite these issues it feels wrong rating The Way of Kings any less than 4 stars, as a lot of my complaints are down to personal preference or just me being a big dumb dumb xD I'm looking forward to carrying on with this buddy read and have every hope that Words of Radiance will be a 5 star read. There best be more Jasnah :D

My Goodreads Review