All posts tagged: 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 – 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 Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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This book has been so hyped up. You’ve all heard over and over again how great it is and you’re probably sick of it by now, bit I’m sorry to say, you wont hear anything different here. This book was awesome. What’s it about? In this retelling of 1001 Nights, Shazhrad volunteers to be the next victim of the cruel king who chooses a new bride each night only to kill them at dawn, or order to gain access to the king to get revenge for her best friend. She manages to survive her first dawn by telling the king a story and using the age-old tool of cliffhangers to keep the king coming back for more. But things start getting a tad confusing when she starts having feelings for the king, and even more confusing when her asshole of an ex comes to take her back. What did I think? I read this book in one sitting as it just dug in its hooks and wouldn’t let go. There are two main highlights with …

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 …