Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales, #1) by Holly Black

Synopsis:

 

Welcome to the realm of very scary faeries!

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.

Rating: 🌟

You know that feeling when you wake up after a long, drunken night out and it's 7am - too damn early to be awake already - and your mouth tastes sour, your eyes are crusty with day-old mascara, and you feel so awful and dirty it's like you're covered in a thin layer of grime? That's what reading this book is like.

I'll be real, I've known about this book probably since I was twelve and have always had zero interest in it. The only reason I read it was because I so immensely enjoyed Holly Black's new novel The Cruel Prince that I thought to check out some of her earlier faerie books. I'll be upfront: if you're here because you loved The Cruel Prince, don't read this book.

Originally published in 2002, Tithe hasn't aged well. The novel plays so much off of the 90's grunge aesthetic that everything in this book is defined by being dirty and dilapidated - and somehow that's considered glamorous. I just don't find that appealing. Not to mention, a lot of the themes in this book - such as sexual assault, LGBT+ rep, and abusive parenting - aren't treated with the same sensitivity that we practice now. Quite a few portrayals in this novel are problematic, and at worst, just offensive.

Additionally, Holly Black's writing, characterization, and plot have leaps and bounds improved since this novel. Tithe can't hold a candle to The Cruel Prince or even her 2015 faerie novel, The Darkest Part of the Forest. This book was frustrating to get through. Everything - from its aesthetic to the plot to the writing itself - is messy. Messy enough to make me mad, because more than once I found myself confused. If I can navigate something as complex as a China Miéville novel, then it doesn't mean I'm not reading deeply enough here - it's just bad writing. The only reason I didn't dnf this book was because I was halfway through and thought I may as well finish it so it would count towards my reading challenge.

The bottom line is this: if you want to read one of Holly Black's faerie books, pick up The Darkest Part of the Forest or The Cruel Prince. Don't bother with her Modern Faerie Tales trilogy.

The One (The Selection, #3) by Kiera Cass

Synopsis:

 

The time has come for one winner to be crowned.

When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon's heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she'll have to fight for the future she wants.

Rating: 🌟🌟

I read these books for the drama. The pettiness, the cattiness, the prom dresses and fake personalities. I don't pretend like there's any real value in that - there's not. But these books are a guilty pleasure I allow myself to indulge in.

This book gets rid of all of that.

Now, for most, I think they would call that an improvement. The girl-on-girl hate disappears. The love triangle goes away. The focus shifts from dresses and drama to the oppression caused by a tyrant king. But here's the thing: I liked the dresses and drama. It's what kept me reading.

After spending two books building your brand on being one of YA's trashiest trilogies, you can't just change your tune in the final book. The people that wanted that stopped reading after book one. Plus, the world-building is still so flimsy that the rebel plot has and always will be weak. So making it the centerpiece of this book just didn't work.

I've been disappointed with this book every single time I've read it. I'll just stick to the first two books, thank you.

The Elite (The Selection, #2) by Kiera Cass

Synopsis:

 

The Selection began with thirty-five girls.
Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon's heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?

America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America's chance to choose is about to slip away.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Okay, everyone and their mother knows how trashy this series is. So instead of rehashing that, I want to write seriously about this book for a moment.

When I first read this book in 2013, everyone's biggest issue with the book was its weak dystopian world-building. The U.S. becomes a monarchy? Seriously? But now having read this book again in 2018 while living in the U.S. under the Trump administration, Cass's world doesn't feel so impossible...

I don't pretend that Cass's world-building is good. It's not. It's still a YA romance shrouded under a flimsy dystopian veil. But the fact that Gregory Illéa's conquest of the U.S. through his extreme wealth and subsequent creation of the caste system in order to permanently keep poor people in poverty seems like a real possibility for the world I live in, now that scares me. I think, because of how the impossibility of Cass's world doesn't feel so impossible anymore, this novel is relevant to the age Americans are currently living in.

Trust me, if you had told me a week ago that The Selection series, the EPITOME of trash YA, would feel scarily relevant to my life, I would've said you were full of shit too.

People Like Us by Dana Mele

Synopsis:

 

Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she's reinvented herself entirely. Now she's a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with effortless popularity and acerbic wit. But when a girl's body is found in the lake, Kay's carefully constructed life begins to topple.

The dead girl has left Kay a computer-coded scavenger hunt, which, as it unravels, begins to implicate suspect after suspect, until Kay herself is in the crosshairs of a murder investigation. But if Kay's finally backed into a corner, she'll do what it takes to survive. Because at Bates Academy, the truth is something you make...not something that happened.

Rating: 🌟🌟

There are four LGBT+ girls in this book. FOUR. I couldn't believe it. I knew that this novel had some LGBT+ rep, but I was not at all prepared for the heavens to open up and bless me with so many gay girls in one place. As happy as I am to see LGBT+ rep more and more present in books, it's also true that LGBT+ men are more common than women. I am SO here for girls kissing girls.

But that's about all this novel has to offer.

I did enjoy People like Us. The writing is good, but not too complicated, which made for an easy, quick read. The mystery was intriguing enough to keep my interest. But there was too much going on, and not enough length or depth to sustain the plot. We have Jessica's murder, the revenge website, Kay's recent breakup with Spencer, Kay's complicated relationship with Brie, Kay's new friendship with Nola, six mean girls to keep track of, Detective Morgan suspecting Kay as Jessica's murderer, and the mystery surrounding Kay's dead brother and best friend. That's WAY too much for a 384 page book. I read the hardcover edition, and the text was especially large as well, making the novel even shorter content-wise.

Because there was SO MUCH going on, I found myself confused for much of the novel. Plotlines and characters that seemed crucial at one point would randomly get dropped in favor of something else. Then that would get dropped for yet another new thing. I couldn't tell what was important, what to pay attention to. It just seemed messy.

Not to mention, the treatment of Jessica's murder was so wildly unrealistic that it killed the believably of the story for me. The adults in the novel were either props or villains, placed only to antagonize Kay. What the heck was up with Detective Morgan? That's not how a professional would conduct herself in a murder investigation. That's not how the real world works.

And that ending? Yikes.

2 stars because we have four gay girls and none of them die (I think), so that deserves a star in itself.

Morning Star (Red Rising, #3) by Pierce Brown

Synopsis:

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society’s mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.

Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied—and too glorious to surrender.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I'd like to think of myself as well-read. Maybe not in every genre, but I certainly think I've held enough novels in my hands to know what's what. Because of that, I find very few stories can truly surprise me. As soon as a hint is dropped, I can call whatever plot-twist will happen a couple hundred pages later. What made this series, and especially this book, great was that I couldn't call the plot-twists. And that brought me incredible delight.

I love this series. I don't think I've loved a series so much since I read Josiah Bancroft's Senlin Ascends and its sequel, Arm of the Spinx a few months ago. That's a lot of books to find more brilliance. But the Red Rising trilogy truly is a gem, and I loathe to think that I ever thought it was just another YA dystopian series.

Golden Son (Red Rising, #2) by Pierce Brown

Synopsis:

As a Red, Darrow grew up working the mines deep beneath the surface of Mars, enduring backbreaking labor while dreaming of the better future he was building for his descendants. But the Society he faithfully served was built on lies. Darrow’s kind have been betrayed and denied by their elitist masters, the Golds—and their only path to liberation is revolution. And so Darrow sacrifices himself in the name of the greater good for which Eo, his true love and inspiration, laid down her own life. He becomes a Gold, infiltrating their privileged realm so that he can destroy it from within.

A lamb among wolves in a cruel world, Darrow finds friendship, respect, and even love—but also the wrath of powerful rivals. To wage and win the war that will change humankind’s destiny, Darrow must confront the treachery arrayed against him, overcome his all-too-human desire for retribution—and strive not for violent revolt but a hopeful rebirth. Though the road ahead is fraught with danger and deceit, Darrow must choose to follow Eo’s principles of love and justice to free his people.

He must live for more.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

As much as I loved this book, it does unfortunately suffer a bit from second book syndrome. Y'know, when the second book sloooows down from the fast pace of the first book in order to set up for the Big Events in the third book? Yeah. Luckily, Golden Son does save itself and picks up about halfway through the book, keeping significantly better balance between the slow bits and the action than the beginning of the novel.

I did think that this book doesn't have as much charm as the first book, especially in the character department. Mustang felt even more bland and only-there-to-be-the-love-interest to me, which is a shame because this series has such a lack of female characters. I think that's my biggest issue with this series: lack of female characters, well-written and not.

Still, I thoroughly enjoyed this second book. Onto the third book I go!

Red Rising (Red Rising, #1) by Pierce Brown

Synopsis:

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations.

Yet he spends his life willingly, knowing that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity's overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society's ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies... even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I don't always know how to write five star reviews. With one, two, three, even four star reviews, there are flaws to talk about, thoughts to explain, and opinions to impart. But when a novel has such fabulous characterization, thorough world-building, and an intoxicating plot, what is there really to say besides read the damn book it's amazing PLEASE?

Red Rising is that kind of book.

I marathon read this thing. I stayed up until 1 am on a weekday reading like I was kid again. I couldn't put this book down, and even when I did, I dreamed about the story continuing from where I left off. In less than 24 hours, I finished it.

This novel is phenomenally good. It's mind-blowingly good. I'm honestly surprised this is a YA book, considering how deep and dark it gets. I feel it fits more in the vein of Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind or Jay Kristoff's Nevernight - written for adults, even though the main character is sixteen.

I've seen some criticism for the abundance of rape and almost rape in this novel, but surprisingly it didn't bother me. It's obvious that Brown himself doesn't condone it, nor does it feel like its placed in the novel to be "edgy." This is a novel about politics and war. And, unfortunately, those are prime breeding grounds for sexual violence. I don't think a novel should be bashed for realism, no matter how awful the act portrayed is. It isn't graphic or gratuitous, and the novel treats it how it is: a horrible, cruel act.

This book was so good. SO GOOD. I'm so excited to read the second one.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (Rise of the Empress, #1) by Julie C. Dao

Synopsis:

An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl's quest to become Empress--and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high?

Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This novel's greatest strength is it's main character, Xifeng. She is a true anti-heroine, and I think the YA genre is still sorely lacking in that department. She's cunning and ruthless, and I enjoyed seeing all the goodness gradually bleed out of her as the novel progressed. However, because Xifeng was such a presence to be reckoned with, all the other characters paled in comparison to her. They're not completely flat and lifeless, but still fit their character tropes too well to feel different and unique.

The world-building is confusing, and the mythology and history of the world left me scratching my head. Usually this would be an extreme detriment to my enjoyment of the novel, but where Dao fails in her world-building, she makes up for in her atmosphere. Her descriptions are lush and detailed, and made me feel truly immersed in an East Asian-inspired culture. I find very, very few authors can make me so comfortable in their world once they stumble in building it.

While a little too slow at times, especially between 100-250 pages, I think Dao's debut is worth checking out. It kept my interest enough to finish the novel, and didn't make me hate doing it. However, I hesitate to pick up the second book when it releases. I don't know if I liked this book enough to read the next, especially because I know how this story ends. Regardless, this is a good, solid addition to the YA fantasy genre.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis:

 

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.



 

  Rating: 🌟

I love the movie adaptation of this book. I've seen it five times since its release in early 2017. If I had to pick one movie to rewatch for the rest of my life, it would be this one. I love this movie. I frickin' LOVE it. So naturally, I was highly anticipating reading the book, the movie's original source material. After all, the book is always better than the movie, right?

In this case, folks, no. I thought the movie did a far better job with the story than the original novel.

Unpopular opinion, right?

What I couldn't get over was how boring and meandering this novel is. Whereas the movie did a great job of streamlining the repeating events and showing how Sam's influence changes her environment, the novel just sort of wanders from event to event with little to no direction. Why is such and such scene in the novel? Just for the heck of it! Plus, I felt the repetition of February 12th lacked a sense of true repetition save for a few core events: getting the roses on Cupid Day, Sam having lunch with her gal pals, Kent's party, and Juliet's suicide. I wanted dialogue to repeat. I wanted little details to repeat. I wanted to feel Sam's terror at having the same day repeat, over and over again. But I didn't.

The characters are also super unlikeable. I absolutely adore the characters in the movie, but I couldn't give a damn about anyone in this book. I didn't care about Sam learning to be a better person. I didn't care about Lindsay facing her demons. I didn't care about Juliet being saved. The mean girls in this book aren't just mean, they're cruel. Whereas the movie toned down their antics to petty drama, Sam and the girls do some downright evil things to people in this book. As someone who was bullied in middle school, I had a really hard time sympathizing with Sam and the girls because some of their actions, in my eyes, just aren't forgivable.

Not to mention, how does Sam's change in person really make a difference in the end? Yes, she saves Juliet and does a few nice things for other people on her last day, but the cycle of bullying doesn't end with her. Lindsay, Ally, and Elody will still be vicious to people. Rob is still an asshole. Alex is still cheating on Bridget with Anna. Really, the only thing that Same did was save Juliet. But who's to say Lindsay and the girls won't bully her with an even stronger vengeance, since Juliet caused the death of their best friend? Sam's journey to being a better person comes off as superficial as her character, and her death doesn't lead to any real change.

The writing also didn't do anything for me. It wasn't bad, but I don't have anything good to say about it either.

Did I hate this book? No. I can see why someone would enjoy it. But I didn't like it, and it was such a disappointment to me that I simply can't justify a two star rating.

A Court of Frost and Starlight (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #3.5) by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis:

 

Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. 

Yet even the festive atmosphere can't keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated--scars that will have far-reaching impact on the future of their Court.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I think my expectations were too high for this book. I always knew that this was just a bridge novel between the original ACOTAR trilogy and the new one, a way to tie up Feyre and Rhys' story. But I expected ACOFAS to be more driven, and it simply wasn't.

ACOFAS is very fluffy, without much plot to drive it forward. We follow mainly Feyre and Rhys' first-person POVs, but also get a few chapters told from Cassian, Mor, and Nesta's POVs in third-person. The novel truly is character-driven, hopping from character to character as it suits the story. While bringing Feyre and Rhys' story to a close, SJM sets up threads of plot with the other characters that I assume will be explored in later books.

While a little boring and meandering at times, this book does what it sets out to do: make Feyre and Rhys' story feel complete and satisfying. I didn't cry because I finished the novel at nearly 1am and I was too exhausted lol, but I definitely feel bittersweet and sad over it all coming to a close. ACOMAF hit close to home in a way few novels do, and will remain one of my favorite books for a long time to come. So seeing the end of Feyre's story is a difficult pill to swallow. But ACOFAS gave me closure, in a way that ACOWAR didn't. (Though, I stand by the idea that the original trilogy could've ended with ACOWAR and the transition wouldn't have as jarring as I think SJM expected it to be.)

Also, the smut in this book is kind of weird.

Clockwork Angel (The Infernal Devices, #1) by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis:

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...
 

Rating: 🌟🌟

After dropping The Mortal Instruments series when I was 14, about a year later I picked up The Infernal Devices. I wasn't too impressed with TMI, but I loved TID! Only the first two books were out at the time I picked up the trilogy. But by the time Clockwork Princess came out, my hype was all but dead at that point. I didn't really remember what happened in the previous books, and pretty much spent the majority of Clockwork Princess confused. When I finished it, I swore off the Shadowhunters books and planned to never read them again.

Well, here we are.

I've been reading the Shadowhunters books as total guilty pleasure reads as finals bear down on me. I reread the first three TMI books, and surprisingly loved them. I won't say I exactly had high expectations for this book, but I did expect to like Clockwork Angel more than I actually did. Whereas when I was 15 I loved everything about it, this time around I thought it was kind of boring.

Very, very few things happen in this book. Will is just Jace in a new skin - though I didn't know it was possible for a character to be more of an asshole than Jace. Jace, at least, I can stomach. He has some redeemable moments. Will just made me want to pull my hair out. Tessa, too, feels very similar to Clary, but has enough characteristics that set her apart from Clary that I grew to like her, however tenuously. Jem, just as I remember, is a gem of a character.

Really, this book just left me feeling lukewarm. I remember I preferred Clockwork Prince to this one when I was younger, so I'm leaving my hopes that this trilogy will get better with the sequel.

Arm of the Sphinx (The Books of Babel, #2) by Josiah Bancroft

Synopsis:

The Tower of Babel is proving to be as difficult to reenter as it was to break out of. Forced into a life of piracy, Senlin and his eclectic crew are struggling to survive aboard their stolen airship as the hunt to rescue Senlin's lost wife continues.

Hopeless and desolate, they turn to a legend of the Tower, the mysterious Sphinx. But help from the Sphinx never comes cheaply, and as Senlin knows, debts aren't always what they seem in the Tower of Babel.

Time is running out, and now Senlin must choose between his friends, his freedom, and his wife.

Does anyone truly escape the Tower?

 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wow. Just wow. I'm not sure where to begin my review. I don't know what to say that will even come close to how absolutely brilliant Arm of the Sphinx was. You should read this book. You should read Senlin Ascends, the just-as-incredible book that comes before this one. I don't say this lightly, but I truly do believe that this series is a masterpiece of fantasy, despite its unfinished state at the time of penning this review.

Arm of the Sphinx is a much different beast than Senlin Ascends. Whereas the first novel was about laying a foundation for the world and watching Thomas Senlin grow, this book is slower. It's a study in the characters and their relationships to each other and the world of the Tower. It's not nearly as action-packed as Senlin Ascends was, but filled me with the same sense of excitement and wonder to know more about the world.

I think what strikes me most about the Books of Babel is how organic the world feels despite its tendency toward whimsy. I'm pretty good at suspension of disbelief and becoming entirely engrossed in a world, but I think a lesser writer wouldn't be able to achieve the kind of immersion Bancroft does with his ideas. Parts of the world that should seem cartoonish don't feel so at all. It's really remarkable.

I'm also very impressed with how consistent the quality is between the first book and this one. I find that oftentimes with series, the quality can vary between books. I may love the first book, but hate the second one. This isn't the case at all with Josiah Bancroft's novels. I loved this book just as much as the first one, despite their noticeable differences. I think that's difficult to achieve, and Bancroft has navigated it masterfully.

Honestly, this is the sort of series I want to live inside. Not in the sense that I think I would survive in the Tower (I wouldn't), but that despite the danger the characters undergo, this is the sort of book that makes me feel safe. Reading Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx both filled me with the sort of feeling I get when I read a long-beloved novel - it feels like coming home. That, in my opinion, is the marker of a true classic. (And mind you, I've never read these books until now.)

With finishing this book, Bancroft has joined my list of authors where I will automatically read anything they write. Heck, Bancroft could scribble his grocery list on a napkin and I'd read it. So, to say the least, The Hod King is now my most anticipated read of 2018.

Also, I love Byron.

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1) by Cassandra Clare

Synopsis:

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know... 
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was 150% a guilty pleasure read. I originally read City of Bones in 2011, when I was 14 years old. I remember having high expectations because the series was so popular, and feeling lukewarm about it at best. I thought it was kind of boring, and I didn't really like the characters.

I pretty much swore off the Shadowhunters books as I got older. Besides my less-than-great experience with them at 14, all I really knew about them was that they were trashy and equally hated as they were beloved by readers. If you had told me two months ago that I would love rereading City of Bones, I would've said you were full of sh**.

I don't know what compelled me to pick up The Mortal Instruments series in particular. With finals looming on the horizon, I've been in the mood for quick, easy-to-read, trashy YA. It's like eating a comfort food. I grew up reading trashy YA, and it's what made me love to read. It's my roots. As much as I've come to now adore reading giant fantasy novels with dense prose and complicated world-building, sometimes a girl's just gotta read some mindless, fun YA. City of Bones was exactly that for me. I loved it.

Kingdom of Ashes (A Wicked Thing, #2) by Rhiannon Thomas

Synopsis:

Asleep for a hundred years, awoken by a kiss. Aurora’s life was supposed to be a fairytale.

But since discovering that loyalty to the crown and loyalty to her country are two very different things, Aurora knows she can only dream of happily ever after. Once the enchanted princess, savior of her people, she is now branded a traitor.

Aurora is determined to free her home from the king’s tyrannical rule, even if it means traveling across the sea to the kingdom of the handsome and devious Prince Finnegan—someone who seems to know far more about her magic than he should. However, Finnegan’s kingdom has perils of its own, and any help he gives Aurora will come at a price.

As Aurora and Finnegan work together to harness her power—something so fiery and dangerous that is as likely to destroy those close to Aurora as it is to save them—she begins to unravel the mysteries surrounding the curse that was placed on her over a century before…and uncover the truth about the destiny she was always meant to fulfill.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

This should've been the first book. While A Wicked Thing was a quick, light, not-bad-but-nothing-special-either read, Kingdom of Ashes was something compelling. The world was more complex, the characters and their relationships were more interesting, and most of all, dragons. I've said I've never read a good dragon book before. This was a good dragon book.

Finnegan could've been the sarcastic, charming, hyper masculine love interest that YA seems to love. Aurora could've been the weak, passive heroine who instantly falls in love with a guy that treats her like garbage. But their relationship was nothing like that. I'm really unhappy with the unequal power dynamics I see run rampant in YA romances, and that's exactly the path I thought Aurora and Finnegan would go down. Then Rhiannon Thomas punched me in the face and said "f*** that."

There is no insta-love here. Finnegan doesn't get possessive. He doesn't try to seduce Aurora. He backs off, let's her make her own decisions, and romance only happens if Aurora wants it to happen. I definitely don't think theirs was the most original, interesting romance I've ever read, but Thomas succeeded in writing a healthy, balanced relationship where many, many other YA novels of similar caliber fail.

The dragons were cool. I liked them a lot better in the beginning. As the novel progressed, they began to feel more like an interesting prop that a unique, fleshed out facet of the world. It's because of this that I realized that this series suffered most from lack of space. I think if the novels had been longer, this series could've been really, really good. But both novels are only what, 350 pages? Where another reader might see a nice, short, quick read, I see squandered potential for more.

Overall, I liked this duology. I liked it a lot more than I ever expected to. It's a shame that it wasn't able to be more.

Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor, #2) by Mark Lawrence

Synopsis:

Behind its walls, the Convent of Sweet Mercy has trained young girls to hone their skills for centuries. In Mystic Class, Novice Nona Grey has begun to learn the secrets of the universe. But so often even the deepest truths just make our choices harder. Before she leaves the convent, Nona must choose which order to dedicate herself to—and whether her path will lead to a life of prayer and service or one of the blade and the fist.

All that stands between her and these choices are the pride of a thwarted assassin, the designs of a would-be empress wielding the Inquisition like a knife, and the vengeance of the empire's richest lord.

As the world narrows around her, and her enemies attack her through the system she is sworn to, Nona must find her own path despite the competing pulls of friendship, revenge, ambition, and loyalty.

And in all this only one thing is certain: there will be blood.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Grey Sister was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. Did it live up to how much I loved Red Sister? No, but it was still a great read that expanded and complicated the world, and drove the plot forward. In this novel we go beyond the confines of Sweet Mercy and explore new places, meet new characters, and discover new facets of the world-building.

I thought the inclusions of Abess Glass and Sister Kettle's POVs in addition to Nona's POV were a great way to make the world feel bigger and more complex. I liked seeing the world and characters through different sets of eyes, making them feel rounder than if the story was told solely from Nona's POV. Keot, the devil that lives beneath Nona's skin, was an interesting addition too. He challenged Nona's interior life and offered a new perspective on it, even if I, like Nona, wanted to strangle him at times lol. I also loved the extra "powers" he would occasionally afford Nona. I'm such a sucker for characters getting special extras in addition to their own strength.

I wish there had been more of Nona's friends in the novel, namely Ara. I loved how much Zole we got in this novel, and how much her character progressed since Red Sister. Ara, on the other hand, was much too scarce. I think that's what threw me a little bit with this novel: where Red Sister was character-driven, Grey Sister is more plot-driven. The transition was a little too abrupt for my tastes, especially when considering how Ara went from a main character in the first book to a side character in this one.

I felt like Grey Sister didn't really find its feet until the second half of the novel. I struggled significantly with getting into the first half of the novel, which I've never had with a Mark Lawrence book before. What I love about Lawrence's books is that they're always consistent. Unlike other authors who fluctuate between having really amazing novels and others that are just Bad, I know I'm always going to get a good book from Lawrence, no matter what. I felt that consistency rested exclusively with the second half of the novel.

The first half of the novel seemed to suffer from poor editing. I noticed it most in the writing. I found so many sentences that were in desperate need of a comma or a period. Too often I had to stop and reread a sentence, find the place where the comma should've separated two ideas, and only then would I understand what the sentence was trying to say. Or there would be a sentence that was so long and jumbled with so many ideas that I got lost, and splitting the sentence in two could've easily solved this problem. Because I was constantly stopping and rereading sentences in order to understand them, I couldn't become fully engrossed in the first half of the story. I didn't have this problem during the second half of the novel.

So I bet you're thinking to yourself now, "okay...so why did you give the book 4 stars?" The second half of the novel was incredible. I read the final 200 pages in one sitting because I couldn't put the dang book down. I don't want to put any spoilers, but dang guys, it was so good. SO GOOD. I'm desperate for the final book.

Overall, Grey Sister wasn't the novel I expected, but I can forgive my issues with the first half of the novel for how addicting the latter half was.

A Wicked Thing (A Wicked Thing #1) by Rhiannon Thomas

Synopsis:

One hundred years after falling asleep, Princess Aurora wakes up to the kiss of a handsome prince and a broken kingdom that has been dreaming of her return. All the books say that she should be living happily ever after. But as Aurora understands all too well, the truth is nothing like the fairy tale.

Her family is long dead. Her "true love" is a kind stranger. And her whole life has been planned out by political foes while she slept.

As Aurora struggles to make sense of her new world, she begins to fear that the curse has left its mark on her, a fiery and dangerous thing that might be as wicked as the witch who once ensnared her. With her wedding day drawing near, Aurora must make the ultimate decision on how to save her kingdom: marry the prince or run.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

 

I went into this novel with pretty low expectations. I had seen the bad reviews, but bought it anyway because the cover was gorgeous. I was pleasantly surprised by how I enjoyed this novel.

A lot of the negative reviews criticize how much of a passive character Aurora is. I'm not much of a fan of the damsel in distress trope, but I dislike it because I see YA authors try to pass off a poorly written, weak character as some sort of strong, badass heroine. This wasn't the case with Aurora. Yes, she was naive and meek for the majority of the novel, but she was self-aware of her naivity and meekness. Rhiannon Thomas didn't pretend that Aurora was strong or brave or clever. Aurora certainly spent time wishing she were those things, but was in full acceptance of the reality of herself.

Plus, can you really fault her for being so passive and weak? She literally wakes up 100 years in the future with absolutely zero clue about the culture or technology of the time. She has no power, in physical prowess or political authority or even knowledge. You may argue that she's a celebrity, but even that doesn't grant her any tangible power. I thought, considering her circumstances, Aurora was a believably written character. Perhaps a little exaggerated, but most YA novels do that. I can't hold them to the same expectations as I would, say, a Patrick Rothfuss novel.

No spoilers, but Aurora does grow "stronger" by the end of the novel. It felt like a good character progression, and I was into it.

The world-building is nothing special. It's a pretty generic YA fantasy novel setting. But I also didn't feel like the world tried to be anything more than bare bones and basic, and I can appreciate that. I think it's worse when a YA author tries to make this great, original world and completely fails. I see it happen a lot in YA fantasy.

I thought the characters were well-developed enough, but there were too many characters. I can think of at least four semi-major characters that boiled down to be nothing more than plot devices, which made me wish the time Thomas had spent developing them was instead put toward the characters that actually matter. I still feel a little too lukewarm towards the main characters, instead of being fully invested in them.

Overall, this was a quick, light read and I enjoyed it. I love reading giant fantasy volumes with lush, complicated worlds and dense prose, but sometimes I need a chaser between novels like those. This was the perfect book for that. I liked A Wicked Thing enough to want read the second book.

Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel, #1) by Josiah Bancroft

Synopsis:

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.

Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists, residents, and miscreants.

Senlin is determined to find Marya, but to do so he'll have to navigate madhouses, ballrooms, and burlesque theaters. He must survive betrayal, assassination, and the long guns of a flying fortress. But if he hopes to find his wife, he will have to do more than just endure.

This quiet man of letters must become a man of action.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

The best thing about this book is its main character, Thomas Senlin. Don't get me wrong, the world is super compelling and the writing is lovely, but the transformation that Senlin undergoes is the most satisfying character development I've ever read. When the novel begins, Senlin is a straight-laced, academic, easily-taken-advantage-of tourist. Slowly but surely, the Tower bleeds these traits out of Senlin and so by the novel's close, he's so unlike who he was at the start of his journey. His transformation to who he is by the end of the novel is very believable, and so despite being very different, he still feels like the Senlin who lost his wife at the novel's open.

I think too many writers stumble into the pitfall of changing their characters too drastically after one pivotal event, but not Josiah Bancroft. His writing of Senlin's change is gradual, shaped by tens of experiences, big and small. It feels real, because real people are shaped by everything that happens in their lives, not just one event. And this didn't just apply to Senlin. The other characters were just as artfully executed. Bancroft is a master at writing believable characters.

I really enjoyed the world-building in this novel. The Tower is a fascinating place, and I liked that while the world felt complex and rich with history, it didn't feel dense in a way that made it hard to follow. The world is still just as lush, but in a way that's more palatable than I think a China Miéville or N.K. Jemisin novel is. It feels strangely cozy, almost, even as these horrible things happen around Senlin. I guess the best way I can put it is that it feels realistically inhabitable, as though I or you could live there.

I'm really excited for the rest of this series. Bancroft is the triple-threat: unique world-building, lovely writing, and realistic, memorable characters. I'm so glad he's had such success! Senlin Ascends was the fantasy novel I didn't know I needed.

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha, #1) by Tomi Adeyemi

Synopsis:

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zelie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were targeted and killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now, Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers—and her growing feelings for the enemy.
 

Rating: 🌟🌟

 

This novel is important. We need more novels with poc characters, we need more published own voices authors, we need more fantasy novels that embrace other cultures and mythologies outside of the Medieval European norm. Even if I didn't enjoy Children of Blood and Bone, I'm glad I preordered it and I'm so happy for it's success. The world needs this book.

However, outside of what it stands for, the novel itself lacks depth. The writing, the characters, the plot, and the world-building all feel superficial to some degree.

As a white person, I cannot speak to how well Yoruba culture and mythology is represented in this novel, and so I direct you to this review.

But what I can speak to is how immersive and successful the world-building is in convincing the reader of its pseudo-reality. I expect fantasies to feel lush and alive with history and culture, and sadly Adeyemi's world falls flat. The novel is littered with what I assume to be Yoruba words to describe objects and activities that don't have an English equivalent, but feel more like props than true features of the culture of Orïsha. They're left unexplored and unexplained, and don't feel properly incorporated to show how these objects and activities shape the inhabitants of this world. They feel indistinct and easily interchangeable with Western cultural activities.

The environments deviate from the typical temperate forests of fantasy - the characters visit jungles and deserts and islands - but are still filled with archetypal fishermen and merchants and the like. Instead of feeling grounded, the world feels vague and intangible, like a thin sheet of West African inspiration has been thrown over a stereotypical fantasy-lite YA work.

The plot is mostly recycled tropes. Because of how the novel is a response to racism and brutality toward poc in the U.S., I think that it was important to this book to use tropes and retell stories we love, but with poc characters as the heroes. I really think this could have worked and felt original if the world-building and writing had been stronger. But because the world-building is so thin, I couldn't help but sigh when the characters were chosen by the gods to fulfill a prophecy and bring magic back to the world. Sounds familiar, yeah?

Not to mention how the plot was repetitive. It settled into a formula of: get to place, meet important character, overcome a challenge/learn something new/gain something, king's soldiers attack, important character dies, feel like all hope as been crushed, escape to new place, rinse and repeat. This happened at least three or four times, and made it hard to care about new characters that died within 30-75 pages.

The characters feel more like caricatures than fully-realized characters. There are no subtleties in their emotions or opinions. If a character is angry, she's ANGRY. If she's sad, she's SAD. Every emotion or opinion is felt with such an extreme that shifting into a new emotion or opinion feels jarring and out-of-character. It happens so abruptly that it's as though someone snapped their fingers.

Insta-love. Two characters go from literally a battle to kill each other to trying to kiss each other within the span of 80-100 pages. I can't make this stuff up.

I feel like this review may make it seem otherwise, but I am genuinely glad that this book exists and hope that Tomi Adeyemi has a wildly successful career and writes tons of wildly successful books. I just don't think I'll be picking up the second book in her Legacy of Orïsha trilogy.

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black

Synopsis:

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

 

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

Edit 2nd reread: Remember how I said I couldn't stop thinking about this book even days after I finished it? Well, it didn't stop. It went on for months, until I couldn't resist rereading it. I've never reread a book within such a short amount of time.

What really gets me with this book is Jude. You know how a lot of people are just head-over-heels for Mia from Jay Kristoff's Nevernight? That's me but with Jude. I love her. I would die for her. I would sacrifice 72 virgins for her under the cover of deep night. She's clever, she's strong, she makes questionable choices, but most of all, she's flawed. I ADORE her.

I love this book so much. It's dark, it's brutal, it's sexy. I'm honestly floored by how mature this book manages to be, while still being so deeply grounded in the YA genre that I would feel comfortable recommending it to my 15-year-old sister.

Honestly? This is one of my favorite books of all time.

Original review:

This book was such an unexpected gem. I can't stop thinking about it even though it's been days since I've finished it. While I had been looking forward to reading it for some time, I didn't buy into the hype. I think it's for that reason that I enjoyed this novel so much, because I didn't really have any expectations for it. This was my first Holly Black novel.

I was a little leery at first of the bullying that happens to Jude. It initially made the novel feel a little too elementary for my tastes, but boy was I wrong. What at first appears to be some innocent name-calling very soon turns much darker and more sinister than I was expecting. We've got betrayal, murder, king-making - I could not believe how the first fifty pages or so fooled me into thinking this book would be anything other than the twisty, dark tale it is. I'm usually pretty spot-on about guessing plot twists long before they happen, but every one in this novel took me by surprise.

I also couldn't guess the love interest for some time, which was extremely refreshing for a YA novel. In fact, the whole romance in general was really refreshing. It didn't overpower the plot at all, but instead added depth to it in a way that I see very few YAs do. It did feel a liiiiiittle insta-lovey towards the end, but it was mild enough that I'm willing to forgive it.

I think my favorite part of the book was Jude's relationship to power. I've read a lot of really fantastic novels with powerful female characters, but never have I seen a dynamic quite like this. Jude is most definitely an anti-heroine, yet I couldn't help but root for her throughout the entire novel. I love her. I want her to succeed, even if I can't trust her choices to always be the right ones. She's one of the most likeable purposefully-unlikeable YA heroines I've ever read.

Just...DANG. I loved this book. This book snuck up on me with how much I loved it. I wish I could unread it, just so I could experience reading through it for the first time again.

The Court of Broken Knives (Empires of Dust, #1) by Anna Smith Spark

Synopsis:

It is the richest empire the world has ever known, and it is also doomed. Governed by an imposturous Emperor, decadence has blinded its inhabitants to their vulnerability. The Yellow Empire is on the verge of invasion--and only one man can see it.

Haunted by prophetic dreams, Orhan has hired a company of soldiers to cross the desert to reach the capital city. Once they enter the Palace, they have one mission: kill the Emperor, then all those who remain. Only from the ashes can a new empire be built.

The company is a group of good, ordinary soldiers, for whom this is a mission like any other. But the strange boy Marith who walks among them is no ordinary soldier. Young, ambitious, and impossibly charming, something dark hides in Marith's past--and in his blood.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

 

This book is like a ghost. Its language, its characters, its world – all of it haunts you long, long after you’ve closed the book.

Anna Smith Spark is an absolutely brilliant writer, and for exactly that reason you’ll either love or hate this book. Spark’s prose is complex, at times feeling more akin to poetry in structure and style. I’d say it’s as close to literary as a fantasy novel can get. Her images can be anywhere from earth-shatteringly beautiful to so gruesome it churns your gut. It’s one of those novels that’s just so artfully written, it keeps me up at night thinking about it. I wish I could write this good.

You follow four main POV characters: a seasoned mercenary, a gay politician, a high priestess who’s never left her temple since birth, and Marith. (There’s no good way to truly capture the essence of who Marith is, so Marith he will simply be.) Each character is familiar in archetype but made so deliciously complex that they’re unique, and at some point or another you’ll probably hate every single one of them. That’s the brilliance of each of them: they feel terribly human. They love and they hate and they make morally grey decisions.

Also, the chapters following the priestess will be narrated in either in third- or first-person. You might hate that. I didn’t. Her voice feels consistent despite the change in presentation, and the shifting narration gives you a fuller picture of her character by exposing her inner (first-person) and outer (third-person) life.

As for the world-building, I don’t even know where to begin. It’s incredible. It feels real. I think where Spark succeeds the most is that her world feels old. It feels laden with history and people and cultures past - that the world we experience in The Court of Broken Knives is shaped by all the people and cultures that came before the present story. It gives the world such a feeling of vastness and weight, like there’s a richness lying beneath the text itself. I’ve never seen a feeling like this so masterfully captured in a fantasy novel before.

I could just pile on the praise for how damn much I love this book, but I will admit I didn’t enjoy the second half of the novel as nearly much as the first. The second half of the novel slows down. It’s for that reason that I can’t give The Court of Broken Knives five stars. But the first half of the novel shines so brilliantly that for me it overshadows my disappointment with the second half, and I can’t help but be absolutely in love with everything this book has to offer.