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comprosedreviews-blog · 6 years ago

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Scythe: Spoiler Free Review

Rating 5/5

Has an ending ever ripped your heart out? I hope it has, because if it hasn’t I’m certain you are missing out.

Scythe ripped out my heart. The very last line, having just been read to me (audiobooks are a blessing to college students) is still playing again and again in my head. It was powerful, it was perfect, and it brought the story full circle.

It’s easy to forget what good storytelling is. I feel like, we know about stories we enjoy and we tell ourselves that this is good storytelling… even when it isn’t. I’m going to get crap for saying that, but I genuinely believe it’s true. I’m kind of riding on this Scythe high right now that has reminded me about good storytelling.

Because Scythe is good storytelling.

If I could bottle up the feeling that this ending has left me with and share it with all of you, I would. But I can’t. So instead you’re just going to have to venture off to a bookstore and purchase this book for yourself. Do yourself that favor and be happy about it because I promise you, it is worth it. Or go to a library and request it. Just somehow get your hands on this book.

In case you weren’t aware, this book, written by Neal Shusterman, is a utopian set in a world where mankind has conquered death. We’ve basically waived bye-bye to the inconvenience of mortality and are free to fear pretty much nothing—at least nothing death related. You get what I’m putting down. However, we still have limited resources and people repopulate… so there’s a little caveat to our immortality plan. Rather than limit the amount of people allowed to be created, the people of this world have created a group called scythes who meet yearly killing quotas in order to ensure that humanity is able to have enough resources to continue on. But Scythes aren’t hated for what they do, they are respected. Everyone understands the way the world must be and they accept it. Enter our two scythe recruits and their struggle to not only come to grips with the possibility of being professional gleaners (because the term killing is frowned upon), but also must struggle with a growing corruption capable of changing the world they live in forever.

DUN DUN DUNNNNN.

I’ll be the first to admit that the term “utopian” turned me away from the book. I loved The Giver as much as the next person, but after the dystopian craze that was my early highschool years, I’ve been a little burned out by the whole “futuristic worlds with a little chaos” thing. So let me tell you, if you are at all skeptical like I was, I get it. But, and this is a big but, MY JUDGEMENT WAS WRONG AND I SHOULD HAVE READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY.

This ending has left me SHOOK. It was one of the most masterful endings I have read in a long time AND if I didn’t want to read the next book (which I totally DO) then I could walk away right here and now and be totally satisfied.

There were a bunch of threads in this stories. Little things that folded in on themselves and were mentioned in tiny snippets that I had to dismiss because SO MUCH was going on. And at the end, all of those little snippets were tied into the most amazing braid and I can’t help but just feel completely and utterly awed by it all.

How, HOW do you do that? How does a writer just… do that?

I’ve read other books like this, that have left me with the same awed, inspired, and frankly distraught feeling that comes with leaving a book behind. I, think we all have. But unfortunately these books are few and far between.

This book was dark, introspective, and inspiring. It was also quick. I had it completed in less than a day because I couldn’t not listen to it. I feel as though the characters are real people in my life—because they were so real—and like some of these issues are real—because in some ways they are.

Most of all I just feeeeeeeel. Beautiful, terrible, frightening and powerful feelings.

FEELNGS I CAN’T TALK ABOUT BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T PICKED UP THE BOOK YET.

So let me tell you the three things I think were so impressive, entertaining, and wonderful about this book.

1. That ending though.

2. The world building (which goes in hand with that ending though)

3. The characters (which go hand in hand with the world building)

I’ve talked about that ending, so lets talk about the world. It was full. It was beautiful. It was horrible.

It was everything I needed it to be to be immersed in the book. Frankly, it wasn’t too different from our own in some ways. Yeah, technology is better, and yeah people are more bored because humanity has reached this sort of plateau for improvement, but the caveats and intricacies of the world are where the plot begins to develop—which yeah is like every other book you’re going to read BUT WAIT THERES MORE. This world was a character in its own right. It was a unifying force and a force that pushed characters apart. AND UHHH I’M GETTING INTO SPOILERY TERRITORY, but know that this fully developed and familiar yet foreign world is EXACTLY what was missing in a lot of the dystopian craze of a few years ago.

And finally the characters. Both main characters (YES I AM ONCE AGAIN READING A DUAL NARRATIVE LEAVE ME ALONE) were phenomenal to read. They were two different sides of a coin, but like a good coin. A shiny collectable coin. And they were connected in ways that just made me have the feels. SO MANY FEELS. Yet they weren’t connected in ways that also made me have the feels. (GOSH DARNED SPOILERS). The author played so well with this delicate balance that it really made that ending feel so much more gripping. It made everything feel so much more… important. And it made me empathetic to people whose soul job is killing others. I CANNOT DESCRIBE TO YOU HOW WELL CHARACTERIZATION IN THIS NOVEL WAS, if I could we wouldn’t have needed the novel.

So please, do it because it will make you a better person (in my eyes and maybe in actuality). Do it because you are intrigued by the topic and about how well-received the book is. DO IT BECAUSE YOU WISH TO APPEASE ME.

I frankly don’t care why you do it, just do it. Read the book. REAAADDDDD IT.

Until Next Time,

At which time you have hopefully read this,

Monica

#scythe #utopia #book review #books #book #comprosedreviews #ya

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comprosedreviews-blog · 6 years ago

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Furyborn: Spoiler Free Review

My rating: 4 out of five stars

I don’t know how many times I’ve mentioned it, but if I have beaten the same drum a million times consider it beaten a million and one: because I wasn’t expecting to like the dual narration of Furyborn. In fact, I usually dislike dual narration.

But then writers like Claire Legrand hit me with two equally compelling characters and chapters so well tamed that they allow you to keep reading through the next narrator. Because that has always been my issue with double narration. I find that I have an issue wanting to deal with the character I deem secondary. I have little self-control and I guess patience issues I can attribute to my mother, but now writers are making characters who are equally compelling. Mastering storytelling and making sure that readers like me have no reason to want to skip ahead.

I fear I might eventually withdraw yet another picky reader habit that keeps my wallet slightly fuller. Oh well. Furyborn was worth it.

For those of you who don’t know, Furyborn is a book following two narrators—le gasp!—who live hundreds of years apart. Rielle, the narrator from the past, is a young girl who finds herself grappling with an unusual amount of power and hunger for the spotlight. Eliana is our other narrator who lives in the future and is struggling to remain anonymous and unremarkable—which is hard when she harbors a secret that pulls her to the forefront of an ongoing war. Both are united by a prophesy, that two queens will rise, a gate will fall and that one queen would be capable of destroying the world while the other was capable of saving it. Together, the two are bookends of each other’s story, and reading through each tale helps you uncover a little more about the other characters world.

If you’re looking for a fantasy that will pull you into a dark, tragic, compelling world where characters are as morally grey as they come, then this very well might be the novel for you. But you have to give it a second. Or about three chapters, because that’s where it really starts to pull you in.

What I loved most about the heroines of the novel were their abilities to say no and rebel against the worlds’ expectations of them. It could make some of their actions frustrating and I did find myself at times yelling at characters to do literally ANYTHING ELSE, but without those moments I don’t think I would have felt so awed by the characters’ willful agency. Both were beautifully flawed—a little selfish, a little vain, a little egotistical (which I know… what the heck, why would you want to root for them? But trust me, you do)—while remaining tragically heroic (and yes I mean tragically… which you’ll understand after chapter one SO DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT). They make you want to root for them… but not because of who they are, but because of who they support.

The characters in the MCs’ lives were just as powerfully influencing as the main characters. They revealed the good in our main characters which honestly we might not have gotten without them. Whether it was Eliana’s little brother or Rielle’s best friend, the characters showed us the humanity in the two girls who seem as far from human as legend can allow.

Actual video of Eliana and the world.

I found the plot to be mildly predictable, and maybe that is why I cannot quite commit to the fifth star. This might just be the result of reading so much in a genre or a result of writing in this genre myself, but I didn’t think the predictability of it made it stale at all. If anything, I think it was the subtle ways Legrand's characters took command of the scenes that might have been expected that made the book so compelling and made me need to turn the page to see more of them. Plus, Legrand didn’t shy away from stakes, not even a little. She created an enemy that feels indestructible—which is my favorite kind of enemy—and I am excited to see how our narrators face them. In fact, I’m seconds away from pre-ordering the next book just to ensure I GET MY READING BUTT IN GEAR and have it when it’s available to buy.

RIP my poor, poor wallet.

Until Next Time,

Monica

#furyborn #review #book review #books #book #reader #booklr #comPROSEdbookreviews

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comprosedreviews-blog · 6 years ago

Conversation

Every-reader-I-know: Yeah, so I read Scythe by Neil Shusterman, and it was sooooo good

Me: Okay, yeah, but I've evolved past utopians thanks.

Every-reader-I-know: well you're just missing out

Me: Pshhhht. No, I'm not. I know how I feel. I know my MIND.

Also Me: *needs audio-book* Well... maybe I can deal with this in audio version pssht.

Still Me, six hours later: WHAT IS THIS BOOK AND WHY HAVEN'T I READ IT EARLIER HSLKfsgjslkfdgjslfdkgjkldfjsklfgj

Every-reader-I-know: ... seriously? SERIOUSLY

#why am i like this #book reader #reading #currently reading #scythe

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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To Kill a Kingdom (with Monica)

Yo ho, yo ho, a siren hunter’s life for me!!!!

4.78888 stars out of five for the general public and five out of five for those of you addicted to fairytales (as I happen to be).

My question for you all is do you love the redemption arc? Do you love it when the MAIN FRICKING CHARACTER is the one riding it? Because I learned that I kind of do.

For those of you who don’t know, To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo is a little mermaid retelling featuring a siren princess, a siren hunting prince pirate arg, and a cast of scaly, peg-legged, royal characters that’ll have you turning your head, screaming WHYYYYYYYY and (most importantly) turning the pages until the end. And it’s dark. Oh man is it dark. The best sort of fairy tale retelling.

Why? Because instead of mermaids we get sirens. Instead of searching for love, we have our main character searching for blood. Instead of following Disney to a T we follow the Grimm story to a Q (which is to say loosely in a different, more creative way).

Have I told you yet that I loved this book?

I fell in love with BOTH main characters, I fell in love with the storytelling, and I believed everything the author tried to sell me. Which. Never. Happens.

^This^ is the kind of happiness I felt after finishing the book. To Kill a Kingdom dared to be dark, dared to be witty, and dared to rip my heart out of my chest with siren taloned fingers.

Our two main characters are Princess Lira of the sirens, a bloodthirsty antihero with a knack for saying just the right amount of sassy things at just the right time and Prince Elian, who is sort of at ends with his morality as he makes it his mission to kill monsters that look like defenseless women for the sake of his people.

Enticing, yes?

Going in I was slightly unsettled by the promise of a main character whose morality actually made me cringe. I wasn’t sure I could ever get behind her or that the author would ever be able to pull off any sort of redemption arc to get me to think that reasonably Lira’s motivations would make any logical sense. And BAM was I wrong. SO WRONG (dun dun) SO WRONG (dun dun) I GOT PROOOOooooOOOOoooVED wrong (Dun Dun Dun Dun).

Yeah, in my head that was the “So Good” song... judge me. I dare you.

But for real, I bought all of it. All of the changes of heart, all of the not changes of heart, all of the loyalty and disloyalty and consequences and not consequences and... well basically I bought the story. I believed. And if you read this book, you TOO could believe.

That’s not to say there weren’t a few blips in the story. I have one or two I could mention if this was the spoiler section, but OVERALL this book was so worth the read that those tiny glitches were easily forgiven.

(Name is Spoiler): I didn’t realize the prince was recruiting members for the Saad

Lira: *deadpan* I’m not a recruit, I’m here to kill him.

Elian: She’s joking. And probably a little drunk.

@Elian YOU THOUGHT

If you’re looking for a darker fairytale retelling that still dares to YA then look no further because this is it. This is the one you’ve been waiting for. DEVOUR it. Once you do, come on back for round two and we’ll discuss it together.

So, those of you who have yet to read the book, OFF WITH YE SCALLYWAGS.

And for those of you who have, go ahead and keep scrolling, because man oh man should we talk.

~~SPOILERS AHEAD~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~INSERT PIRATEY JOKE HERE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AHOY SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so I know all you readers have read this book, right????

Right. Good.

Let’s discuss.

So, while I was in the midst of the pages I bought all of the slight changes Lira made. Like as she began to adopt a sense of morality and began to feel feelings for Elian, I never thought HMMMMM this seems a little sudden, which was my biggest concern when picking up the book.

Like, I mean, come on. We start off with her literally salivating at the idea of killing a prince because it destroys the hope of a whole kingdom... I feel like anyone is allowed to be a little skeptical after that.

And after setting the book down, I did wonder why it was I believed so wholeheartedly that it was feasible for Lira to change as she had. I was NOT crazy about the inclusion of the scene where her mother makes her kill her aunt and thereby ‘shuts down’ her humanity for a short while for one reason and one reason only. It read almost like a cop-out. It was like the writer was going OH CRAP I MADE HER TOO EVIL, must backtrack! Which got me thinking... the only way I would ever believe something like that in a story is if the writer actually left hints about the character’s actual morality early on...

OH WAIT, she did. Lira literally took the punishment for her cousin because she loved her, something that a normal siren wouldn’t have done, presumably. She did hesitate in killing the prince, albeit because he smelled nice and not because she actually wanted to spare him. There were signs there, and I think that is how Christo managed to get me.

V proud, Christo. Nice job.

Also, I think the fact that Lira’s goals changed before she changed really helped sell the redemption arc. She didn’t fall in love with the prince and then decide to help him, no siree. She realized that if the prince accomplished his goals, he would bring her right to the eye of Keto and that could be used to overthrow her tyrannical mother--by her, of course.

Usually, I avoid mentioning the author at all in reviews, but this author made so many great choices I can’t help it. Sue me.

Another thing I loved about this author was how she dared to include Elian’s chapters in the book. Ordinarily, I am not the biggest fan of multiple narrators, and it is definitely true that I did like Lira’s narration better, but had we NOT had Elian’s narration I honestly would have thought that Elian was an IDIOT for letting Lira on board and falling for all the things she was doing.

It also might have felt like he was falling in insta love with her, which would have annoyed me.

BUT HE WASN’T AND HE ISN’T AN IDIOT!!! Reading his sections explained so much about how he could put up with Lira and why he was doing the things he was. It wasn’t that he trusted her, it was that she knew so much about sirens and he couldn’t leave her behind.

We also got a different kind of moral struggle with Elian that I thoroughly enjoyed because it wasn’t the typical sort that you ordinarily read in books. His felt darker, it felt more fairytale-esque. It captured a morbid side to Elian that really can only be summed up in this quote here:

Technically I’m a murderer, but I like to think that’s one of my better qualities.

And thus, a likable murderer was born!!

Okay but actually though, homeboy’s decision to leave his cozy castle behind and venture out onto the waters to hunt sirens and protect his people was nobler than not-- when you weren’t there to watch the sirens scream for their lives and turn into frothy water. And I enjoyed reading the understanding he has about his family and the people at court and how they’d look at him if they could see what siren hunting was.

If I hadn’t been in his head for that, I would have thought the guy was just stirring up drama. That he was all WOE IS ME, but by putting us in his head it was easier to understand the hard balance he had to maintain, and also easier to like him.

Remember how I said I did have a few blips though? Well, my main one is this:

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THE SIREN POWERS?

That’s right, that’s my concern. The hearts of these men are what gives them their magic. So much so that when one is destroyed, Lira feels that destruction in her body. It’s also already been established that if a siren has no hearts they die. Like seriously, early on we learn about mermaids eating all the hearts of a siren and that siren DYING.

So um... does that mean that thanks to this newfound peace, all of siren-kind is just going to die? And aren’t mermaids (you know, the ones obsessed with straight up eating humans) going to take advantage of all the people entering the water? Presumably, Lira could like, stop them except you know... her magic is super limited now that she’s not killing princes and taking hearts.

My second one was this:

BUT WHAT ABOUT KIND PRINCE GUY THAT LIRA KILLED??

Like, okay, I get that it was before her change of heart and everything, but she still killed one of Elian’s friends and I feel like that needs to be talked about. And it just, it wasn’t. Like, that’s some heavy baggage in the relationship. Let’s air it out a little please!!

But whatever, that’s all water under the pirate ship.

Let me know what you guys thought! Did you love it? But did you love it? Did I leave something out? Let us know in the comments if you’ve read the book and you loved it.

Until next time guys,

Monica

#booklr #book review #to kill a kingdom #alexandra christo #ya #ya fiction #fairytale retelling #little mermaid #comprosedreviews #books #book #review

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

Conversation

That bookish feeling when...

Me: *has so many wonderful books that are really exciting and will be amazing to read and love and AHHHH*

Also Me: *picks up literally the one book that sounds kind of meh and reads that instead*

#booklr #bookish #bookish things #book #books #bookreader #reader #reader feelings

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez (with Monica)

In the end, I gave it a two out of five stars on Goodreads, though I’m feeling like it should be closer to one and a half.

I feel kind of bad for this story because I think part of the reason I ended up not enjoying it as much as I otherwise would have was that I didn’t know it was a fairy tail// legend// folklore retelling. Had I known that--and the story itself-- I think I would have enjoyed looking for the connections and differences between the original myth and the story the author chose to tell.

But I hadn’t known, so I didn’t.

I ended up finding out this was a retelling right at the entrance of the third act, and AS SOON AS I KNEW I googled the story, read a few different iterations, and tried to forgive the bits that I really disliked using this newfound knowledge and the (admittedly) skilled weaving of original story and imagination showcased in the debut.

As you might have gleaned from my rating, however, this didn’t work out so well for me. WELL, MONICA--you might be saying--WHY DID YOU EVEN BOTHER TELLING US ALL OF THIS?

Well readers, I tell you this because if you do know the story of Iseult and Tristan, then you very well might LOVE this telling of it and I really really do not mean to ‘yuck your yum’ as I am inclined to say. My initial ignorance and dislike of some of the tropes utilized in the book definitely affected my feelings for it and in the interest of being fair, I wanted to inform you of my bias.

K? K. Now for my (mostly unspoilery) review.

Firstly, here’s the summary included on Goodreads for your reference:

“Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores, with only a bloody history between them. As best friend and lady-in-waiting to the princess, Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. When she unknowingly saves the life of her enemy, he awakens her ancient healing magic and opens her heart. Branwen begins to dream of peace, but the princess she serves is not so easily convinced. Fighting for what's right, even as her powers grow beyond her control, will set Branwen against both her best friend and the only man she's ever loved.”

The weird thing about me as a reader is that I usually like to read the first or second paragraph of the blurb and then dive into a book because SO OFTEN now, events halfway through the book are spoiled in the blurb. In this case, it bit me in the butt. Why? Because in paragraph NUMBER 3 (which I never ever read) the fact that this is a retelling is made blatantly obvious.

How.

Stupid.

Am.

ANYWAY, from the bit I’ve included, I wasn’t too thrilled at the idea of this book. I was pretty sure it was going to read like a lot of other books I had picked up earlier in my reading life and I was definitely right. I almost DNF’d this book several times just because it wasn’t anything special. Don’t get me wrong, the writing was okay, the story was okay, but it just felt like it was a regurgitation of a lot of tropes I’d already seen and one that I really, really hated.

Enter my rant about insta love. Because, yeah, that trope is in here.

Enter mild spoilers. If you don’t want to see them (even though they happen in the very first few pages of the book) then go ahead and skip until you see a gif of a frustrated monkey)

The romance of the story starts almost immediately and it starts because of this sequence of events: main character sees pretty boy drowning. Falls in love with pretty boy’s abs. Realizes pretty boy is from a place she hates. Pretends that she hates him because of this but I as a reader didn’t buy it since every other sentence she was already convincing herself that maybe she didn’t hate this country because OH YEAH, this guy is pretty.

I’m sorry, but if you really hate a place and a people that much, one handsome face isn’t going to change your mind in the course of A DAY. I mean, she basically blames this huge group of people for the demise of her parents... and we’re supposed to believe that she’s already changing her mind? She did like literally zero things to tell me she ever hated anyone. And sure, it takes her like, a week of going back and forth between the cave to FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM, but she kind of throws away a hatred we’re supposed to believe is super strong after thinking he was hot.

No. I’m sorry. I hate hate as much as the next person, but I would have liked to see it devolve because of his kindness, or her realization that her misconceptions of his people were wrong, not because he was rocking a killer tan.

In spite of the insta love, however, there was a day that I was reading this where I couldn’t put it down. Idk, call me a sucker for a romance or whatever, because that’s what kept me reading. I really like seeing love begin and all the stuff that comes in hand with it. Plus, earlier into the story I kind of liked our main character. She was responsible, a good healer, just nice to root for. And the friendship between her and Essy was done really well.

But then things started to change for the worse for me. The main character kind of began to devolve and make decisions I thought didn’t allign with who she was and the story began to drag. I felt like whole sections of the book took me years to get through and could have been cut. I also think that-- maybe for the first time ever-- the story didn’t begin early enough.

*gasp* I know. I just said that.

If we had gotten the chance to at least see Branwen believe (or not believe) some of the things we were told she did/didn’t, then it might have been easier to feel close to her as a character. As it is now, it feels like I was info dumped too much and not shown enough.

(Again, minor spoilers.. so if you don’t want to read them, skip to the gif of Dumbledore. Everyone loves Dumbledore.)

This is what the book did:

BOOK: Magic crap happens

Branwen (all of a sudden and out of nowhere): Oh yeah, by the way it’s kind of important that you know that I totally don’t believe in the Old Ones at all. What is religion? My parents are like dead and nothing saved them so yeah. No way.

Queen Alana (who has presumably always been very vocal about her Old Ones belief): Girl, they’re real.

Branwen: I HAVE BEEN ENLIGHTENED!!!

Me: ... ... ...

My other problem was that the climax didn’t feel too climactic. Stuff happens (WHAT A SPOILER OMG) that might appear climactic, but you honestly don’t even know some of it happened until all the action has stopped. And at that point, you just don’t really care. I’m thinking of one thing in particular and if you have read the book you likely know what it is. That was a shame to me because I feel like that moment could have really added to the feelings felt in the climax and brought this book up a peg. As it was I was left feeling like... this is it? That’s... all I get?

All that being said I was pleasantly surprised by the ending. I predicted it like half a book before, but the way it was written really made me consider wanting to read the second. I’m a sucker for a good cliff.

I feel like I just basically spat on the whole book, so before I say goodbye I just want to add this: there was nothing problematic in the book as far as I could tell. There wasn’t anything that made me think WOW this is garbage, it just wasn’t for me and that’s okay. If there’s an insta love moment in a book A LOT has to happen to win me back to that book’s side, and this book just didn’t make the cut.

Let me know what you guys thought if you did read it, and as always if you have any questions feel free to ask them on the blog or leave a comment below!

Thanks,

Monica

#book review #book reviewer #sweet black waves #YA #ya fiction #ya review #new book #new ya #iseult and tristan

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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A Court of Wings and Ruin (finally) with Monica

Rating: 4/5 (goodreads)

With a great (new) laptop, comes great responsibility.

And no one knows that better than me. At least after the seven hour, where-did-all-my-files-go-and-why-didn’t-they-transfer-correctly debacle.

SO while I had an almost full review finished for this book, it has gone MIA. Go. Figure.

But that’s Karma’s way of getting back at me for not publishing this a few months ago, you know, when I actually finished reading the book.

But y’all didn’t come here to listen to me complain, you came for a book review, so without further RAWRS and GRRs, here’s the review:

You should read the book.

Yes I know, you’re probably sitting there glued to your screens, mouth agape because somehow, after loving the first two books of this beloved series I also managed to love and recommend the third. GOOD GRACIOUS MONICA!!! YOU’RE CRAZY!!!

In all seriousness, the book did fall a little bit behind the first and second in the list of favorites for me, but still managed to keep me coming back for more page turns and laughter and fear.

Before writing any further, I want to warn those of you who stumbled upon this review thinking that ACOWAR was the first in a series from reading the rest of this post. You see, young ones, if you continue to read you will be spoiled for the first two books... because well, this is the third and final in its little trilogy.

So turn away, avert your eyes, and direct your feet to the nearest Barnes & Nobles (or wherever you satisfy your book reading needs) and purchase A Court of Thorns and Roses. You won’t be sorry.

THE BRIEF NON-SPOILERY: I can confirm that there are areas of overwriting in this finale. In fact, much of the beginning dragged on or felt unnecessary, to the point where 100 pages or so in, I finally felt like we began the story. The beginning is important for foundational stuff about new characters, old characters and new threat lines, however. It probably could have just been done with far fewer words and scenes.

I also think that there are several areas that just lagged. I could easily put the book down in those moments and do something else... which for me isn’t a great reading experience. And before you wave your fists and say BUT MONICA, books can’t be all power and action and romance all the time, know that I understand that. I mean, I read a lot and love books a lot, but this was an excessive amount of hmmmmmmm don’t need to be reading this right now. I want to be fully pulled in, I want something to make me think I CAN PUSH THROUGH THIS SECTION TO FIND X OUT... but there were whole chapters where I was like... whelp. Nothing interesting happened.

THAT BEING SAID, other moments in the book were done spectacularly and kept me immersed in the world even when I had to put the book down. I was like... No. Nope. Okay Mr. Reporting-Professor, you can talk all you want about the inverted pyramid, but understand that all I’m hearing is fanfic poetry about the love between Rhysand and Feyre.

You get all the characters you love back and all the resolutions you could ask for, which is why lovers of the series must finish it. Don’t let yourself feel the unresolved feeling of ending on ACOMAF (because we all know that ending left us SHOOK).

That’s all I can offer for you folks out there who haven’t finished ACOWAR. I hope these words of wisdom have helped you settle on the right decision of reading the book for yourself. If it didn’t, well, sorry. I’m a mere hufflepuff.

WARNING!! SPOILERS!!! AHEAD!!!

You know, I really enjoyed this book, I swear I did, but as I’m thinking back on it, the things I remember best are the things that annoyed me. Like the father’s convenient return right as the battle was being lost, the constant magic draining, the convenient return of Rhysands angel looking friends, and all the character death bluffs. So for the interest of ending this review on a positive note (because, wtf my brain, we love this book??) I’m going to talk about these things and then swing into the good.

1. WHATS WITH ALL THE CONVENIENCE?

Did we just get written into too tough of a plot to get out of? No, I don’t think we did. Why? Because Sarah J. Mass is brilliant. I’m sorry, but did you see all the foreshadowing with the mirror? Or the awesome trials in the first book? Or the link between the stars of Feyre’s drawer and Rhysand??? This girl can write the tough writes.

But this ending was riddled with oddly convenient and seemingly unnecessary helps. The island with the Seraphine and the wards that worked a little too well... like why didn’t Rhysand and friends check super hard? Why didn’t they shout a bunch. WHY DIDNT THEY REALIZE, oh yeah, we protect our sacred city with a bunch of wards too... Why didn’t the angel beings think to look outside of their wards ever? And how come they were able to get notice of the battle at all? Like... HMM, yeah we couldn’t really reach you BUTTTTTTTTT now we’re here because we found out about it?? No. I need a better explanation.

And maybe there is one to come. Maybe the second series will shine some light on the topic, but if that’s the case then writing that entrance for these guys was a super risky move because--I’m just going to say it--it came across as a Deux ex machina (which are endings I frankly hate).

GAHHHH and the whole book we were like

Reader: Oh no!!!!! Azriel is going to die! His wings are shredding, he went on a kill mission, he’s the misplaced love angle...I knew he shouldn’t have gone with them! I knew it!!! I knew it!! This is Sarah offing him isn’t it--

Feyre: actually we got him back in time so it’s all peas and--

Reader: OMG YOU ONLY GOT HIM TO SURVIVE BECAUSE TAMLIN IS DEAD NOW AND HE HAS SACRIFICED HIMSELF JUST AS HE REDEEMED WHATEVER TERRIBLE DARKNESS HE WAS BATHED IN AS A SMA--

Tamlin: Actually, no. No. I come back in the end. They kept me alive. I’m good.

Reader: HOLY MUFFIN GUACAMOLE YOU DISTRACTED ME SO THAT I WOULDN’T SEE CASSI--oh actually cass is fine wow. Good job Ness--OMG NESSA AND CASSIAN ARE GOING TO DIE AHHHHH

Elain: NOT. In. My. House!

Reader: Oh dang. Nice slashy slash. Wait so everyone-- OMG ARMEN NOOOOOOOO

Ocean: psht. She’s fine. I’ll spit her out as a high fey, no worries

Reader: Oh. Oh. Okay, wow. That’s um, good then?

Cauldron: *Gargles*

Reader: *Sobbing hysterically* RHYSAND!!!!!!!!! Actually, he’ll be fine too probably... yep. Okay.

It got to the point where I was like, well there’s no real need to worry because any character I actually give an emotional teardrop about is protected by all the force of the pen forever. So. Yeah.

I mean, I’m not complaining that all my characters made it out unscathed, just that they made it out and each and every one of them had their life thissssssss close to being torn away... and somehow I’m still expected to buy Rhysand’s near death at the end as our final hurdle to overcome. Which. I didn’t.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THE BAD, let’s talk about the good.

The very beginning had me so upset. But in a good way. When it wasn’t going on too long we got to see a darker side of Feyre, the side that decided to kill a fairy for revenge, the side that isn’t afraid to ruin lives if it means saving the people she cares about.

AND I HAVE TO SAY I HATED IT AND LOVED THAT I HATED IT.

Like, I do not like Tamlin. I will never like Tamlin, there is no redeeming Tamlin. But, still, as Feyre began to turn his armies against him and used Lucien (who I do like!) to tear a rift in the spring court I felt the feels. Like... no. This isn’t how we do things.

But. It. Is.

Feyre don’t mess around.

When the bond between Rhysand and Feyre started to go quiet I was SOOOOO worried that Tamlin had secretly discovered a way to shut it down and was working with Ianthe that I just... I was like STOP WORRYING ABOUT DESTROYING SPRING AND START FOCUSSING ON THIS CLEARLY WRONG THING!!!!! But it wasn’t that.

No. No, it was her magic, being drained from her.

And for someone with SO MUCH MAGIC in the book before, I was so taken aback by how many times her powers were literally drained from her.

Was anyone else impatiently waiting for more Feysand? Because I was. I wanted it sooooo badly. Maybe that’s the real reason everything dragged. Maybe I just needed them to be together again, especially because she was now lady of the night court and I wanted to see some night court shenanigans with the gang.

Good times. That would have been good times.

But I had to wait. And when we did get there

STUFF//WAS//FALLING//APART

I’m sorry, what do you mean Elain is miserable???? And mad???

I’m sorry, what do you mean Lucien is coming with??? (because I might like him but yeesh, I was annoyed with his ��how could you betray me” thing).

I’m sorry, what do you mean IN GENERAL????

Can’t we just like... Idk, ignore our wounds from the other book? CASS got to! His wings grew back//were healed. We should all be like Cass!

For real though, when everyone was talking about how Elain had gone crazy I was sitting here thinking... *raises hands* um maybe she’s like... seeing the future? Did we think about that guys?? But nooooooo. Everyone was all pity filled and I was all :(((((((((((

My greatest regret is we never got the resolution of Cass and Nessa. I want them together and I want it yesterday!

I felt like we were there. We were so close. They almost died together and Cass and Nessa BASICALLY SAID THEY LOVED EACH OTHER and then...

poof. Same old same old rawr.

And then are Elain and Azriel going to be a thing??? I don’t know if I want that or don’t want that???? Are Lucien and bird princess going to be a thing???? Who is a thing, who isn’t a thing, why???????

Like, last book I was here for Lucien and Elain. I mean I figured they’d have to like, get to know each other, fall in love, etc. but I’m a sucker for a falling in love story// enemies to lovers sub-arch.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

Now I can’t even bring myself to root for that. They are just wrong for each other. And I don’t like it. I don’t like that our thing that set up our two main characters can be so imperfect. Rawr, I just want resolution!!!!!!

And did everyone catch that Lucien isn’t related to the monster that was previously believed to be his father??? WHO’S GOING TO EXPLAIN TO DADDY HELION THAT HE IS A FATHER???? WHY DIDN’T THAT HAPPEN IN THIS BOOK???

I’m sorry but all signs for me point to the next series following Elain, Lucien, and Bird princess lady// whatever horrible deal she made to be able to come and fight. I’m not against that. I do want to know more about why the cauldron gave Elain so much power, and how her ex-fiance is feeling now, and how her prophesies/// Azriel thing/// Lucien thing is going to pan out !!!BUT!!!! But here I am wanting to know what happened to giant nightmare cloud, wanting to see baby Feysand, wanting to have Mor find love, wanting to know more about Nessa’s link with the cauldron...

ARE WE SURROUNDED BY I NEED TO KNOWS RIGHT NOW OR WHAT???

*sigh* when is Sarah going to release the next series beginner? I need it. Otherwise, I might combust. And I need these answers. Not in this order but... like in the next book please?? Please???? PLEASE????

So this review turned more into a mindless ramble of happenings and wants than anything else. If you feel I left things out (which I most certainly did thanks to writing this months and months after reading smh) please comment below! I’d love to hear what Y’all think// what y’all want from the next book.

And gosh if you read this far, you’re a saint.

Until next post,

Monica

#ACOWAR #sarah j maas #acotar #acomaf #feyre archeron #Feysand #booklr #book #books #bookreview #comPROSEdbookreviews

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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Secret Heir by MJ Prince (with Monica)

'I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book'

I’m not the kind of person who likes giving bad reviews. I don’t like it because I know that when a writer makes a book, they are putting a lot of effort into writing it. I, being a writer myself, fully understand the huge time commitment and stress that comes with writing a novel.

However, sometimes it needs to be done. I’ve been sitting on this typed review for too long, watching as other people who received this ARC gave it fives and fours and I’m just like… is this because you were given an ARC? I had already given it a star rating and didn’t feel the need to bash the book, but I also don’t want a bunch of people to buy it without first knowing what they’re getting into.

I want to make it clear that this review is a reflection of the book and not the writer. Just by publishing a book, the writer has made it clear she’s a hard worker and I’m not trying to bash her.

The way I see it, books are held to two categorical standards: content and creation. I think this book failed in the former and showed promise, but ultimately failed, in the latter.

Content: Firstly, I don’t think this book was edited. If it was, then the editor did not do a great job. There were several places where words were confused for other words (almost as though autocorrect attacked the pages) and things were misspelled. If this happened a mere one or two times, it would be forgivable—people mess up and life goes on—but it happened almost every other page. A read through should have gotten rid of a lot of these mistakes, which is why I think it is SO SO SO important that we writers read our own work closely and not just once. We’ll miss stuff, it’s inevitable, but that’s what the professional edit is for.

Apart from that, the dialogue was formatted incorrectly. You’d start a paragraph with one character talking, go to the next paragraph and have the same character talking and start yet another paragraph with the same character talking. This issue was often a big deal because it left a lot of confusion about who was saying what. It looked like this:

“Kidding. But my first time was with a guy from my last band. We dated for a year back in sophomore year but long distance relationships are too hard to maintain.”

“So, there’s nothing going on between you and Raph?” Dani prods. “Not even a little kissing, groping, touching …”

Dani says both lines of dialogue, though you wouldn’t know it based on how it is written. I feel like an editor would have spotted and corrected this.

There were also a lot of redundancies. And, while redundancies are forgivable and bound to happen from time to time, the amount that they appeared and the scale that they appeared on, made me feel like my intelligence was being insulted. That frustrates me as a reader for two reasons: 1. I’m not stupid and 2. My time is being wasted. I shouldn’t have to read the same thing twelve different times. Here is an example of this:

“And I’m your grandfather .”

I don’t think I heard him right, because that can’t be true. I stare at him in disbelief.

“What?” I’ve stopped moving completely now. Shocked into stillness. Well, that’s not what I was expecting. At all. He doesn’t say anything, letting me digest his words.

“You’re not—you’re not my grandfather. He’s dead,”

Now really, all that was needed was the last line of this quote, and at MOST we could have also gotten that she had stopped moving because of shock—but we were told in six different ways that the character was surprised… which, when done to the extent it was done in the book, is beyond frustrating.

IN SUM: What gets me most about the content is that these aren’t things you can be subjective about. They are mistakes—mistakes that could have and should have been buffed out. Objectively, there were major content issues that can’t be separated from the story no matter how hard you try. If you don’t care about this sort of thing, then more power to you, but it genuinely made it hard for me to read.

Creation: Creatively, the plot showed promise. I agreed to the ARC because it was a book I genuinely seemed interested in. The world of Eden that the author created was fascinating and intriguing. I loved the little ties to real world mythology thrown into the mix (and though I hate to admit it) I loved the school setting with magic underlying the plot.

All of this created something that I would have considered an AMAZING story, but it fell short.

I simply cannot support the asshole love interest trope. I can’t do it. Not only was it impossible for me to empathize with Raph who appeared to have a predatory desire for the main character that started and ended with how hot she was, but also he was a complete jerk to her and that fact was overlooked a billion and a half times.

Honestly, I don’t like the idea of young readers reading this and thinking that this is a desirable man. Look for someone who will treat you right, not just for someone who has the perfect pair of abs.

AND I THOUGHT that the author was going to end up making Raph an antagonist. End up finally, for once, having the main character end up with someone good and healthy for them. But that just wasn’t the way of this.

The main character also came across as stupid. She denied how pretty she was throughout the whole book in spite of everyone telling her she’s hot and in spite of all the gawking she received by the hormonal teenagers in the book. She also had no idea why Raph paid attention to her, even though the story is in first person POV and she listed out repeatedly (thank you redundancy) all of these facts that spell out he wants to go out with you.

It was basically like this for pages:

He keeps wanting to hang out with me. But he doesn’t like me. I don’t see why these people keep saying he does. He told all the guys at school not to go near me. He isn’t being as much of a player. He touches me a lot more. He gets angry when other guys flirt with or looking at me, but I DON’T GET WHY EVERYONE IS SAYING THAT HE LIKES ME.

I wanted to shake some sense into her. I liked her no bullshit attitude, but the way she acted undermined that, making it feel more like a ploy to make her appear strong and less like a personality trait that gave her any dimension in character. Also, how could she like this guy? And don’t tell me she didn’t, because every chance she got she described how immaculate he looked and she continuously forgave him for everything.

I did like when she blew up his car though. So there’s that. Not that this is a healthy way to deal with your emotions… but he totally deserved it.

IN SUM: The plot line// world had potential but was substituted for little more than an unhealthy romance. The book idealizes the idea of women having to pretend they don’t know their own self-worth and abusive relationships and was genuinely super predictable.

Would I recommend it? No.

thanks for reading,

Monica

#secret heir #bad review #book #books #book review #arc #comprosedreviews #fantasy #YA #ya fantasy #na #na fantasy #would not recommend

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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Due to very busy schedules, Wednesday reviews are on hold for now. We will hopefully return soon. Thank you for being patient with us as we navigate life. You all are the best. Here’s an adorable dog gif because you can never have too many cute doggos.

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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honestly my favorite part of writing is coming up with totally bullshit metaphors

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comprosedreviews-blog · 7 years ago

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Wednesday with Colleen!

Hello good people! Welcome back to another book review!

Today’s Review: The Jedi Path by Daniel Wallace

Genre: Science Fiction/ Star Wars

My Rating: 9/10 Goodreads Rating: 4.1/5

Basically this book is so much of a novel with a plot as it is a reference book for people who want to know more about the Jedi. It’s pretty short (160 pages) but packed with so much stuff.

Why I loved this book:

This book is literally a bible for Star wars geeks like me. It’s got so much information in it that it is so fun to read. I got my copy a few years ago and it’s pretty banged up now because I’ve read it so much. My friend and I always get into discussions about Star Wars and I always turn to this book for information and argument points to prove something. The book itself is so amazing because the cover is gorgeous and the artwork/format of the inside is so cool. The front cover has the signatures of everyone who has owned that particular copy of the book. Starting with Yoda who passed it onto Thame Cerulian, who passed it onto Dooku, to Qui-Gon, to Obi-Wan, to Anakin, and finally to Ahsoka before falling into the hands of Darth Sidious and then recovered by Luke. Inside the actual pages of the book, each one of these characters leaves little comments and opinions about the content. Anakin and Ahsoka leave a whole mess of sarcastic comments (Anakin even leaves some darker ones that make you start to see how he felt about the Dark Side), Qui-Gon’s are mostly all wistful, Obi-Wan’s are fun, Yoda’s are well... Yoda’s, Sidious’ are so dramatic, and so on. They add such a fun little twist to the book by making you feel as though you actually inherited the book down the line. The information in the book too is super interesting and in-depth. There are topics you never thought existed and it dives so much deeper into the Jedi Order, further than the movies and television series go. I actually bought a copy of this book for the friend I mentioned earlier and spent a bunch of time going through it and writing my own comments to the content inside so it seems as though I passed it onto her (because I kind of got her invested in Star Wars.) It’s a hilarious and really informative book that helps a lot of people understand the Jedi more and understand their not just the secluded space monks the movies make them out to be.

Why I didn’t love this book:

Well to be honest there weren’t a lot of things I didn’t like about this book. I guess one of them would be I wish there was more detail on the sabre combat styles. I am a huge geek for that kind of stuff because I want to get my stage combat certification (and I used to fence) so hearing about all that makes me really want to know more and while there’s a little section, it’s such a huge part of the universe I think there should be maybe a bit more. But other than that, I guess I would just like the whole book to be longer because it’s so good but that’s a little excessive. In addition to The Jedi Path, there’s also a Sith one, a bounty hunter code, and an Imperial handbook all of which I have not read yet.

Overall, I really enjoy this little book and the information it provides is really helpful for those who love Star Wars as much as me.

- Colleen

Also Ahsoka is such an amazing character.

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