All posts filed under: book reviews

Book Review – A Court of Wings and Ruin

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Hello everyone. I know I have been gone for an awfully long time, but I have now finished my PhD and started a proper job, and I work a lot, and I’ve just had no time for anything. But I finally refused to work on the weekend, and snuggled up with ACOWAR. I will keep this review spoiler free with regards to this book, and try as hard as I can not to give anything major from the previous two books away. My reviews of the previous two books: A Court of Thorns and Roses A Court of Mist and Fury For the most part, I was in love with this book, but by the end I was really disappointed. The big major battle at the end was what let this down for me. This story deserved so much more than what it got. I expected more of Feyre, but she spent the whole end of this book as a spectator. There are several battles in this book, and she sits a couple out, letting …

Book Review – Goldenhand by Garth Nix

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Hello, everyone! So amid my flurry of writing job applications, I managed to squeeze in reading the latest installment in one of my FAVOURITE series. Goldenhand is the fifth book in this super awesome series. As normal, with this being a later book in the series, I want to avoid any spoilers of any of the books but you can go read my review on the first book, Sabriel, to find out more about the series, but in a few words it’s about: Magic, Necromancy (both good and bad), bells, and talking animals! I really enjoyed this installment, although Sabriel does still remain my favourite of the series. We get to revisit some of our favourite characters in this book (although perhaps not a much of the talking animals as I would have liked), as well as meeting a new POV character. Some parts of the romance in the book felt just a little too rushed, and just a little out of character (but that could just be my non-romantic cold, cold heart). Unfortunately, this was …

Book Review: GEMINA by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

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Hello, everyone! Today I will be reviewing on of my most anticipated reads of the entire year and perhaps ever. Gemina is the second book in the Illuminae Files series, and you can check out my (extremely eloquent) review of the first book, Illuminae here. Yeah… you could say I’m a fan of this series. So let’s get on with the review. What it’s about? Um… I’m not going to tell you. firstly, because it’s a sequel and I don’t want to give any spoilers for the first book. Secondly, this series is one where you absolutely want to go in completely blind, just trust me. Just know that it’s Sci-Fi, it’s YA, it’s absolutely hilarious, it’s got amazingly creative formatting (it’s all documents and chat logs etc.), there’s spaceships. Just read it okay? Promise? Good. What I thought: I think the best response to this is just an eternal standing ovation. It just deserves applause FOREVER. After a massive reading slump, I sat down and read this in a single sitting. This only arrived Friday …

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 – Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

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Thank you so much to Harper Voyager AU for sending me a copy of this amazing book for review. This review is actually quite hard to write, without raving madly about specific aspects of the book and ruining everything for everyone, but I shall try! What’s it about: Based a a world with three suns, where darkness only falls once every three years, a young girl’s father is killed, she decides to attend a secret school for assassins to get revenge with her awesome shadow-controlling powers. What I thought: It’s one of my favourites of the year. This book is just so damn good. I wish I had never read it so I could read it again for the first time. The stuff I loved: The world-building is phenomenal and unique. The characters are awesome. Every single one. Even the ones I hated. The story is awesome. It’s hilarious. There are footnotes throughout the book that are so clever and hilarious. There was one in particular that made me spit my tea all over the …

Book Review – And I Darken by Kiersten White

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This month I got my first YA chronicles box, and  in it came the YA new release, And I Darken by Kiersen White. What’s it about: It’s a Vlad the Impaler-based historical fiction if Vlad the Impaler was a teenage girl, who did no actual impaling, but a moderate amount of stabbing. Oh and EVERYONE has serious daddy issues. What I thought: I wanted to love it, but I just didn’t. I did like it though. Firstly, it was not fantasy, which is fine, but it just shouldn’t be marketed that way. Firstly, it was far too long, and by halfway through was getting a bit repetitive. This book clocks in at just under 500 pages, and just not that much happens, even when there is plenty of opportunity for some action. When something starts happening, it usually wraps up really quickly, and often even ‘off camera’ so to speak. This book probably could have ditched about 100 pages and been better for it. Secondly, I hated the romance. Lada, one of our two main …

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 – Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

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“Tell me, tutor,’ I said. ‘Is revenge a science, or an art?” This was recommended to me when I was whinging on Tumblr about wanting to read some really dark fantasy, and this one is definitely dark fantasy, and it’s definitely not for everyone. But I loved it. What it’s about: Um… so if Joffrey and Ramsay Bolton had a baby and that baby, it’s likely he’d end up like the protagonist, Jorg. Jorg joins a group of maundering thugs at the age of like 10, and then when he’s like 14 decides he wants to be the king, and everyone should be very afraid. What I thought: Okay, this is definitely not a book for everyone, and this is why: Jorg is about as awful as a person can get. He’s a murdering, torturing, raping, pillaging psychopath. He’s impossible to like. But this book isn’t about liking Jorg. It’s about understanding him, and that’s where this book really shines. Interspersed within the story of Jorg doing his awful things is the story of how …

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: The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle

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I heard about this book ages a go, and heard it was great, but with no ebook available, and it generally impossible to find anywhere, it did take me some time to get around to reading it. Seriously, make ebooks available people. You will make more money, and I wouldn’t have to die waiting for the next book to arrive. Anyway… What it’s about: A girl in an Amish community takes in an outsider during a vampire apocalypse against the advice of her elders. What I thought: Really freaking enjoyed it. The main character, Katie, is an Amish girl who wants nothing more than to go on her Rumspringa and see the outside world. Katie is generally considered a bit too headstrong for the Amish, but is essentially a very good person at heart. She’s sensible, she cares deeply about the welfare of others, and is the sort of person who will always do what she thinks is right, even if others disagree, and the consequences may be fairly severe. She’s also sensible and for …