All posts filed under: 4.5 stars

Book Review – Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

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First off, a big congratulations to ME because I submitted my PhD thesis this week! After four-years slaving away over a hot monkey brain (not really!) it’s finally done! YAY FOR ME!!! Anyway… Empire of Storms…(Come for the review, stay for my self-congratulations!) So as with most sequels, I won’t be giving out any spoilers for any of the other books in this series in this review, but I will STRONGLY encourage you to go read the first book, because this series is still A-M-A-Z-I-N-G-! This is now the fifth book in this series (if you don’t count the book of prequel short stories) and this series is still awesome. Firstly, we are introduced to lots of new exciting places in this instalment of the series, which was pretty cool. Like always there is plenty of our plucky young protagonist setting everything on fire (both figuratively and literally), and there are LOTS of ships in this book (both figuratively and literally – lots of fun, romantic times on the high seas to be had by …

Book Review: The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

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This book is the first book in The Witcher series (it has also been made into a video game, which I’ve never played but now really want to). When I got this book, I thought it was a novel but it turned out to be a series of short shorties, which I usually hate, but in this case I absolutely loved. Andrzej Sapkowski is said to be Poland’s master of fantasy, and he’s created a world in this series which is truly epic. What it’s about: It’s a series of short stories about Geralt, a witcher, who is basically a ‘not-quite-human’ monster hunter who roams around the countryside killing monsters for money. Witchers, despite providing a very important service, are not particularly well thought of, as people tend to believe them to be thugs completely devoid of any humanity, but Geralt doesn’t really fit that description. What I thought: I was a bit disappointed when I realised it was short stories rather than an actual novel, but that disappointment faded quickly when I started to …

Book Review: The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

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What’s it about: A high ranking bureaucrat in a government agency dealing with the paranormal wakes up with no memories of who she is, but a trail of letters outlining that someone else in the organisation is trying to kill her. What did I think? Oh my goodness. What a fantastic read. So, I’ve had this on my ereader for AGES, but never started it until I saw the trailer. Yep that’s right. A book trailer actually made me want to read a book. Curious? Why not give it a little look-see then: This book centers around Myfanwy Thomas, a bureaucrat in the Checquy, a secret government agency that deals with the paranormal. Although Myfanwy has some pretty serious superpowers, to the dismay of her superiors, she has a rather nervous disposition, making her unsuitable for field work. However, her ability to push papers almost rivals her supernatural powers and have allowed her to excel in the Checquy anyway, until someone takes away her memories. However, in true Myfanwy fashion, she is too organised to …

Book Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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Let me start by saying, when this book came out, I had no intention of reading it. As far as I was concerned after the rubbish pit that was Siege and Storm, I didn’t even have any interest in finishing The Grisha Trilogy, despite owning Ruin and Rising. But, after seeing so many people rave about it on Tumblr. I finally decided to give it a go. And I’m pretty glad I did. What’s it about: A crew of loveable criminals attempt a seemingly impossible heist. And there’s magic! “A gambler, a convict, a wayward son, a lost Grisha, a Suli girl who had become a killer, a boy from the Barrel who had become something worse.” What I thought: I must say that it wildly exceeded my expectations. So much so that I am now considering reading Ruin and Rising. The lovable characters are definitely at the forefront of this novel, and each is given a nice amount of complexity and backstory as the novel changes perspective each chapter. And that brings me to the changing perspective. Not …

Book Review – Lirael by Garth Nix

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This is the second book in The Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix (sometimes referred to as the Abhorsen series), if you haven’t read the first book in the series, Sabriel, you can check out my review here (if you like. No pressure). As with most of my reviews of sequels, this one will be short and will contain no spoilers of Sabriel or Lirael. What’s it about: Sensible girls, less sensible boys, Necromancy, and sassy talking animals. So the first book in the series, Sabriel, is about a young girl who is the daughter of the Abhorsen (Big Daddy Necromancer). When her father goes missing, she must travel through the Old Kingdom, which is full of dead things that want to eat your face, to find him. And the fact that Sabriel is one of the most sensible protagonists I’ve ever encountered, just makes this book lovely to read. So what about Lirael? Lirael is the story of two separate characters, about 14 years after Sabriel. The story of Lirael starts off with poor …

Book Review: The Invasion of the Tearling

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“When it fails, they do call it madness, Lazarus. But when it succeeds, they call it genius.” This review will not contain spoilers for either book in the series. Oh my! Wow. What a great sequel! There was a lot riding on this sequel to The Queen of the Tearling (see my review here). With these books being set in such a bizarre world, it would have been so easy for this to all fall flat on its face. But It really didn’t.  We get to know a lot more in this book about The Crossing, and I think Erika put this very unconventional world together incredibly well. We are back in the kingdom of the Tearling, with the queen, Kelsea, having to deal with some pretty disastrous (but completely right) decisions made in the previous book. I wont go into more detail because I don’t want to spoil anything, so this will probably be a fairly short review. This book is quite different to the first book in the series, mainly in that it …

Book Review: Sabriel by Garth Nix

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“Death and what came after death was no great mystery to Sabriel. She just wished it was.” When I picked up this book on a whim (it was on sale and the cover was so gorgeous) I wasn’t intending to read it right away. But then my husband decided to get a haircut and I started it while I was waiting, and then I couldn’t put it down. I’ve honestly been in a bit of a reading slump lately, and this book finally broke it. What’s it about: Sabriel’s father fails to arrive for a visit at her boarding school, and one of his monstrous dead servants arrives in his place, carrying a sack of her father’s necromancing tools. Sabriel knows this can only mean one thing – that her father is trapped somewhere within death and only she can find him. Taking up her father’s tools of a sword and set of bells, Sabriel must cross the magical wall into the Old Kingdom to find her father and learn what it means to be …