Monday, October 2

[Review] A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Original Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: May 3rd, 2016
Finished Date: June 5th, 2016
Pages: 624
Read in: English

“Tell me what you see.”

“A world divided in two.”


Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

Source: GoodReads

Rating

I did not particularly enjoy the first book in this series, A Court of Thorns and Roses (Is it a series? Is it a trilogy? I've no idea). I didn't even write a review for it, because I didn't feel like I had anything interesting to say about it. The characters seemed bland to me (with one peculiar exception, the mysterious Rhysand), the magic system was ambiguous and unexplained, and the plot felt too dramatic.

I had no intention of picking this one up, at all, especially since the ending of the first one was suggesting a love triangle. I mean, it seemed a bit contradictory to have the first book end like it did only to present a new love interest. It was as if the first book was completely invalidated.
But, after hearing much talk about it, I finally decided to pick it up and read a few pages to see if it grabbed my attention.
I must say, I'm very surprised with this book. First, because this was the first Sarah J. Maas book I really enjoyed. Second, because the characters that seemed bland to me on the first book, now were unique and compelling enough for me to not only keep reading, but to actually start caring. And lastly, because I really liked the way depression and abuse and PTSD was handled.
The magic system continues not to impress me. Everything seems unexplained and circumstantial, and we are never really told the extent of it or people's powers, which makes for poor tension in climaxes since the characters just use a new power that was never mentioned before to solve that particular problem. I understand some people might enjoy this kind of thing, but to me it just seems like lazy writing.
This book is not perfect, there are actually some really cringeworthy situations, especially the sex scenes. Still, I gave it four stars purely for my enjoyment while reading. It was a page-turner, and it didn't really feel like a 600+ page book.
I will say though that this is not YA. There are some sexy and steamy scenes in this book, and if you don't feel comfortable reading that kind of things, I would avoid this.

«Demons are made of shadow. Don't look at the shadows too long or a demon might look back

Saturday, March 26

[Review] Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge

Author: Rosamund Hodge
Original Title: Cruel Beauty
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
Finished Date: April 18th, 2015
Pages: 342
Read in: English
Graceling meets Beauty and the Beast in this sweeping fantasy about one girl's journey to fulfill her destiny and the monster who gets in her way-by stealing her heart.
Based on the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, Cruel Beauty is a dazzling love story about our deepest desires and their power to change our destiny.
Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom - all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth she has been in training to kill him.
With no choice but to fulfil her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people.
But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle - a shifting maze of magical rooms - enthrals her.
As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love.
Source: GoodReads

Rating

This is a very peculiar book. I'm glad I went into it knowing little more than that it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. I can't decide whether this was beautifully weird or weirdly beautiful. Maybe it was both. The point is that this book should not have worked. But it did.
This book takes most of my buzzwords - greek mythology, Beauty and the beast retelling, morally grey characters - and blends them together in a complicated and strangely woven plot.
If you're looking for a great, out-of-the-box read, I definitely suggest picking this one up.

«Demons are made of shadow. Don't look at the shadows too long or a demon might look back

The following extended review contains spoilers
If you have not yet read the book and/or do not wish to be spoiled, please do not read any further.

Thursday, January 28

Series I want to finish in 2016

I've noticed, over the years, that I have a really hard time in finishing series. I don't know why, but it definitely is not because I don't enjoy it - I think it might have a bit more with my difficulty of letting go. Because when you finish a series, it's done. There are no more books, there are no more new situations and new moments with your favourite characters.
It got to the point that I have way too many series to finish, and I keep starting new ones. To try and take care of this before it gets even more out of hand, I decided I'd make a list of the ones I'm going to try and tackle this year, to see if I can keep myself motivated. I realise that I probably won't manage to read all of these, but if I can get through a few I'll be happy.

The iron fey, Julie Kagawa


Vampire academy, Richelle Mead



The lunar chronicles, Marissa Meyer


Shatter me, Tahereh Mafi


Daughter of smoke & bone, Laini Taylor


The infernal devices, Cassandra Clare


Anna and the French kiss, Stephanie Perkins


Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Rick Riordan


The bronze horseman, Paullina Simons


Throne of glass, Sarah J. Maas


To all the boys I've loved before, Jenny Han



Do you have unfinished series you want to tackle this year? Let me know! :)

Monday, January 25

Bookish goals and challenges for 2016

Last year I was kind of lenient with challenges. I set myself a GoodReads goal of 80 books, which I completed, but other than that I didn't really do many reading challenges.
There were lots of times during the year when I felt slumpy and I went weeks without picking up a book. Even though I still managed to read a lot of books, I kind of wish I'd set myself a challenge or two to keep me motivated to read.
At the same time, I feel like most of my reading slumps were caused by my monthly TBRs. Every month I evaluated my TBR pile and chose which books I wanted to read the next month. The thing is, I'm not really sure this helped.

Bookish goals and challenges of 


I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm a very spontaneous person when it comes to reading, and the books I want to read are constantly changing due to the mood I encounter myself in when I go to pick my next book. My first goal is simple. No more monthly TBRs. This year I'll try to just read what I want to read when I finish a book. I'll still have my huge TBR pile up (which by the way, needs to be updated and restructured - I'm currently at over 200 books, and that's just madness), but I'll just stop doing monthly TBRs.
That being said, I do have a list of books and series I definitely want to read in 2016. Those will be posted soon.

As for the bookish challenges I'm hoping to achieve this year:

You can find out more about these challenges in my Challenges page.
What are your 2016 reading/bookish challenges? Let me know! :)