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

Red Rising

Red Rising - Pierce Brown

2/5 Stars

The Earth is dying.

Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it.

The Reds are humanity's last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it's all a lie.

DNF at around 60%

After just starting The Way of Kings, I really can't see myself picking this book back up. Dystopian books just really aren't my thing, but they say your taste buds change every seven years so I gave it a shot! However, I definitely need to wait a couple more years... 

Pros 

There were actually a fair few things I liked about this book, as I thought it used a few interesting ideas to build up this world. For example, how you have to pull a man's legs when they're being hung to combat gravity etc. I thought these little bits of detail were really cool and I could tell a lot of thought was put into the world building. 

While I didn't really care much for the world, I thought that the actual amount of time spent to world building was perfect. Too often in YA, world building takes a back seat, but I thought Red Rising did a good job of exploring this Sci-Fi world without disrupting the overall pace of the story. It is also important to note that I never tend to like books, which are set in space or anything like that, but if you do...Then I think you'd really enjoy this world.

Cons

I could not stand the writing in this book! I just found it excruciating to read, as it consistently used short sentences, which over dramatised every single thing and it just got exhausting. Darrow could be getting dressed and it would be like... 

I bend down and pick up the sock. It feels different. Everything feels different now. I slip it on my left foot and pause. Something is wrong. I gasp out in panic. It's a Tuesday. These are my Wednesday socks. I have to be more careful.

Okay that may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my point. That's honestly how every paragraph felt for me and it was just so unnecessarily exhausting and left me disconnected from the plot.

I also really didn't like how Eo was used, as she was literally only there to serve as motivation for Darrow. It's like the Author thought "Oh, my main character lacks motivation... I know Let's (anyone who has read it knows)... It just felt really cheap to me.

This book also started out very Cliche, which I actually don't mind in books. It just happens to be that I don't like many Sci-Fi or dystopian Cliches... So I was just left annoyed at how predictable the start was. However, things did pick up and the story started to become its own by around 150 pages, but by this point I had lost all interest and concentration to even understand what was happening. 

With all this considered, I don't actually think this is a 'bad book' and I do think that anyone, who likes Sci-Fi dystopians, would really enjoy this read. Unfortunately this genre just isn't for me, but hey... You can't like everything :( 

Pantomime (Micah Grey #1)

Pantomime - Laura Lam

4.75/5 Stars

Gene's life resembles a debutante's dream. Yet she hides a secret that would see her shunned by the nobility. Gene is both male and female. When her parents plan a devastating betrayal, she flees home and joins a circus.

This Book is seriously underrated and more people need to read it! It is honestly one of the best Young Adult books I have ever read!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love circuses and I think this book does an excellent representation of showing the magic and mystery surrounding a fantasy circus. I mean ... what's not to love about bearded women, creepy clowns and contortionists.? However, what really set this book apart from a few other circus books I have read, is that there are Chimaera! I just think that Chinaera fit so neatly into the setting of a circus and really add to the dark, creepy and imaginative atmosphere it should have!

Putting my slight circus obsession aside, this was still a highly enjoyable read and had a very intriguing plot throughout. I found the pacing to be perfect, as I was never once felt bored, but at the same time no plot points ever felt rushed or glossed over.

The main character, Gene or Micah, is now one of my favourite YA protagonists! Gene is intersex and therefore both male and female, however she goes by the name of Micah, disguised as a boy for the main course of the novel. I have personally never read a book with an intersex main character and I found it so interesting to see the world from this perspective. I don't know how accurate the representation of being intersex was, but frankly this is a fantasy book, not a contemporary... and I loved how Laura Lam put her own fantasy twist onto this topic.

Gene is also a runaway (for valid reasons) and ends up at a circus, which is a trope I will never grow tired of! Despite her understandable running away, I appreciated how Laura Lam briefly included the effects this had on Gene's family, which is something that I feel isn't discussed enough with these kind of things. I find that the family is often forgotten about and never heard of again, when in reality they have just lost their child...

I also loved all of the side characters in this book, especially Aenea, who is an aerialist in the circus, but also all of the smaller characters, who each had their own unique roll to play in putting on a show. Despite this, I would have preferred it if there was more time dedicated to more circus members and their back stories, but I understand how this could have disrupted the pace of the novel for a lot of people... Maybe I'm just being greedy!

I never tend to take much notice to the romance in books (especially in YA), however I actually adored the romance in this novel and there was no insta-love. It was more lighthearted and slowly built, which I feel a romance should be at the beginning stages and not confessing your love for each other after two weeks, like some other Young Adult books... *eyerolls* I also found Gene to be highly likable in this respect as she was often kind and calculated, but also selfish when she needed to be and put herself first, which is something I personally admire in protagonists.

Despite all of this, I do have a few little quibbles.

In the beginning stages of the Novel , I found it very hard to picture the main character, which is never normally a problem for me! It was only half way through, when there was a description of Micah's Auburn hair that I started to get a solid image in my mind. I don't know if I missed some earlier description, but it definitely bugged me a little bit.

I also wish there was slightly more world building. I don't think the world building was bad by any means, but I just wish there was a little more! This could just be a personal preference, as I know not everyone cares for lengthy descriptions of places and lore, but I do ... :D Also, I understand how this is the first in a trilogy and I hope that a lot of things mentioned will come into play in the later installments.

Another thing to note is that this book switches between the past and the present a fair bit, which I personally don't like in books, as I prefer a chronological narrative. However as I read on I adapted and understood the reasons behind this choice in structure and it actually kinda worked for me by the middle stages.

I do think that these issues are very minor and down to my own personal preference and not objective flaws to the story itself and should by no means put you off giving this book a shot! If you love circuses, or just want a fun YA book then look no further! Or if you want to read Caraval then read this instead, as it deserves so much more attention :D I'm not salty over that book... I swear ;)

My Goodreads Review

The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time #3)

The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan

5/5 Stars

 I don't think I have ever been this invested in a series before and I'm so happy! I understand some people's reasoning for not liking The Wheel of Time, as yes... it's filled with a lot of cliches and tropes (at least in the first book) However, I just happen to love each and every one of these tropes! While I'm glad more modern fantasy has developed and become more original, I just find it so refreshing to go back to the genre at its core and this series just makes me so happy for them reasons :D

The Dragon Reborn is actually my favourite book so far and this is why...

In this instalment, there is much less POV time for Rand and I actually think this does wonders for the series, as it allows every other character and plot line to develop massively. For example, I feel as though the female characters really come into their own in this book and become their own individual person with their own distinct personalities. Whereas previously I couldn't help but get confused between Egwene and Nynaeve, as I didn't think there was much separating them. While they are still not my favourite characters in the series, I absolutely loved their scenes in this book as they reminded me so much of why I love A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4), due to all the
slowly built up secrecy and court intrigue! (but the White Tower version)

We also get more Perrin, who is my favourite of the 3 Edmond's Field boys! I also started to really grow towards Mat in this book, as he became so much more entertaining to read about and not annoying in the slightest! I also loved Queen Morgase, as she reminds me of Queen Elizabeth 1 crossed with the Queen of Hearts and it just makes me laugh xD I also found Lanfear incredibly interesting as a character and can't wait to learn more about her and her motives!

But what really made this book my favourite in the series so far was the pacing and how it was structured. The pacing was consistently on the increase and slowly built up to an epic climax that definitely satisfies! Also we stayed with one character enough to really develop the story arc before switching POV, instead of switching every other chapter, which can sometimes be quite jarring as in other fantasy books. And then to top it off plot points from the previous two books come back into play and it's just.... *claps* Well played Mr Jordan well played.

I absolutely love this series and I am so glad there are still 11 books to go! All it needs now is a circus and my life is complete!

Spoiler alert- Nynaeve tugs her braid... a lot...

My Goodreads Review