skyereadsthings

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Lira - Character Aesthetic (7/?) 

It’s the princes who hold the allure. In their youth. In the allegiance of their people. In the promise of the leader they could one day become. They are the next generation of rules, and by killing them, I kill the future. Just as my mother taught me.   

       - Alexandra Christo, To Kill A Kingdom 

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To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

“I’ve made a mistake. It started with a prince, as most stories do. Once I felt the thrum of his heart beneath my fingers, I couldn’t forget it.”

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Book Review: To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

3 out of 5 stars

To Kill A Kingdom is a loose re-telling of The Little Mermaid, featuring star-crossed royals Lira (a siren princess famed for her ritualistic killing of human princes) and Elian (a human prince famed for his hunting and killing of sirens). Their worlds collide when the sadistic Sea Queen becomes displeased with Lira and punishes her by transforming her into a human. You won't win any points for guessing what happens next.

This is a difficult book to rate, because the quality varied so wildly throughout the text. I wouldn't be surprised if it were revealed that this book actually had two authors. There were areas where the writing felt stilted and was almost painful to read; and there were times where the narrative flowed beautifully and held me completely engaged. There are large chunks of 2-star material speckled with 4-star-level prose, so I've taken the easy way out and given it a solid 3 stars.

The novel starts off at a disadvantage, because this is a story that everyone knows very well. The premise of the 'twist' - that the little mermaid is in fact a bloodthirsty killer - is an interesting one, and there are times when it is well-executed. Some of Lira's introspective scenes, particularly in the second half of the book, are a wonderfully-written character study of an anti-heroine who isn't quite sure she deserves the redemption arc that she's been granted.

Lira's inner journey and her burgeoning relationship with Elian are definitely the strong points of this book. The romance here isn't new or unexpected. But the build up occurs in the context of both characters rethinking some long-held assumptions, and I like that the relationship was integral to both of their arcs rather than having the 'tacked on' feeling that a lot of YA fantasy romances suffer from. These developments make up the bulk of the second half of the book, which was when I was enjoying myself the most.

By contrast, the first third of the book and the last ten percent or so (the final battle) are more difficult to plow through. The beginning is filled with such a huge amount of (mediocre) world-building that I began to wonder if maybe we were being set up for a series. But all signs point toward the book being a standalone, so the vast majority of the clunky exposition was completely unnecessary. The final battle has been discussed in quite a few other reviews and so I won't expound on it here. Let's just say that it was long and odd.

One thing I found particularly jarring in Lira's perspective was her use of very un-siren-like phrases and similes. She likens things to "forest fires" and "spun sugar" - those are just two examples, of many, that I grabbed off the top of my head - which is very strange given that she has lived her entire life underwater and shouldn't really be familiar with those things. This inconsistency in her inner monologue was infuriatingly present throughout the entire book, even the 'good' parts.

Overall, this wasn't a horrible read, but there is a glaring amount of unfulfilled potential. I enjoyed the premise and Lira's arc. The book could have earned an extra star if the final battle was cut down to half the length and taken through rigorous editing to make it more readable.

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August 2018 Reads

August was a big reading month for me! I re-read two favourites, finally got around to some things that have been on my TBR for a long time, and snuck in a few new releases. All of the links below are to my Goodreads reviews.

In chronological order:

Scythe by Neal Shusterman: 5/5 stars

Dark Disciple by Christie Golden: 3/5 stars

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman: 5/5 stars

Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston: 3.5/5 stars

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas: 4/5 stars

Most Wanted by Rae Carson: 5/5 stars

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han: 5/5 stars

My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows: 5/5 stars

Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart: 4/5 stars

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray: 5/5 stars

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan: 4/5 stars

The two re-reads were Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling, and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (audiobook narrated by Rosamund Pike), both a definite 5 out of 5 stars.

September is so far shaping up to be an equally good month and I've already gained some new favourites.

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The August 'Mutinous Pirates' Fairyloot box is here, and I'm about 20% through These Rebel Waves. I'm enjoying it so far! My reading buddies either haven't done their unboxings yet, or aren't on Instagram; so maybe I'll find them here? Even if you have a different code, let me know if you've started reading because I'd love to discuss!

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Sunday Morning reading.

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Book Review: Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

4 out of 5 stars.

Grace and Fury follows the story of two sisters who live in a dystopian (but not wholly unfamiliar) world where women are treated as property and denied access to education. Learning to read is a grievous offence which earns life imprisonment. Common women are expected to look up to the Graces, a group of hand-picked concubines that serve the Superior by sitting still and looking pretty. Serina (a perfectly well-behaved young woman) is in training to become a Grace, but disaster strikes when her sister Nomi (a rebel who loves reading) is chosen instead.

This was a fun and fast-paced read that had me really rooting for the characters by the end. There are themes of sisterhood, sacrifice, and fighting on through adversity; but these heavier elements aren't explored thoroughly enough to bog down the story. I never felt the need to put the book down for a moment to ~think~ about what I was reading. Depending on what kind of mood you're in, you might differ as to whether you consider this a positive or a negative. It was definitely a positive for me.

Both sisters have romantic arcs. One of them hit every single one of my 'top romantic trope' requirements and easily wormed its way close to my heart (but because it was a story that was so incredibly suited to me personally, I saw the big 'twist' coming from a mile away). The other romance is completely unnecessary, to an almost-annoying degree. I won't go into further detail in the interests of keeping this review spoiler-free.

This isn't high literature by any means. The story is riddled with cliches and tropes, and there were some phrases that made me sigh. The worst offender: "She felt him shrug imperceptibly." ...What? So did she feel it, or was it imperceptible? These two things are mutually exclusive. I do not think the word means what the author thinks it means.

Having said that, there is some definite skill shown in the pacing of the story, which is rather compact at 306 pages. This world and these characters aren't exactly unique in YA fiction, but there are plenty of similar books which are 400-500 pages, or more, and they often feel self-indulgent in their length. Every chapter of this book was necessary to the story and moved it forward, and I really appreciated that.

I'd recommend this to anyone who is in the mood for a bit of dystopian rebellion, or who needs a light read to cleanse their palate after reading something dense. If you're more in the mood for thought-provoking feminist literature then you might want to pass over this one.

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Book Review: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn

I skipped this one last year and only picked it up a few weeks ago to prepare for the sequel (Thrawn: Alliances, which I've already reviewed).

The story follows the early military career of Thrawn, a member of the mysterious Chiss race who dwell in the Unknown Regions of the galaxy and rarely have contact with the Galactic Republic/Empire. The story is told from his own point of view as well as that of Eli Vanto, a young Imperial Academy cadet who is assigned to shadow Thrawn as his aide and translator. There's also a secondary plot which follows the political career of Arihnda Pryce, who is the GFFA equivalent of a small town girl who moves to the big city with stars in her eyes.

In summary: If you are a reader who is drawn in by complex, flawed characters and enjoys watching them develop, then this probably isn't going to be a particularly satisfying novel for you. If you don't mind character development taking a backseat while you sit back and enjoy an engaging, well-written plot with exciting battle sequences and a little bit of mystery, then feel free to dive in. This was eventually a very fun read and I'm more than happy to give it five stars.

There are some vague/non-specific SPOILERS in rest of this review. I myself am the kind of reader who prioritises characters over plot, so that's what I'm going to talk about.

The first third of the book was a bit difficult for me to get into. In truth I only pressed on purely for the sake of getting it under my belt so I could read the sequel. Thrawn has never appealed to me as a character - I know I'm in the minority, here - because he's far too clever and competent. This is a character who doesn't seem to have any flaws (apart from a lack of understanding of the subtleties of some social situations, but he overcomes that deficiency easily). If Thrawn were a female character the entire fanbase would be up in arms about his 'Mary Sue'ism.

Because of Thrawn's superhuman military prowess, the story is split up into four or five chunks which follow almost identical narrative patterns. Thrawn is promoted to a new position in the Navy. The xenophobic Imperials are unhappy. He is faced with a problem. He proposes a solution which goes against standard Imperial protocol and seems incredibly unlikely to succeed. He does succeed, and either himself or Vanto explain to the audience exactly how Thrawn predicted the outcome of this particular challenge. Thrawn is promoted, and the cycle begins again.

I started to get a bit excited in the third act, when it momentarily appeared as though Thrawn's inhuman competency and attention to detail might get derailed by the way that Nightswan (a rebel who serves as a mostly-absent antagonist) gets under his skin; but apparently that would have been too humanising, and it turned out that Thrawn had the entire situation under control all along.

The barrage of successes doesn't stop with Thrawn, either. Arihnda Pryce's rise through the political ranks is equally implausibly catalysed by her ability to read and successfully navigate every situation she is presented with. I can't help but notice that Arihnda isn't a very well-liked character, and her storyline is generally reviewed as boring and unnecessary. I wonder why people seem to have such different reactions to these two very similar plotlines? By the third act of the book Arihnda was more interesting to me than Thrawn was, and there are some delicious lines and interactions she has that hint at the changes her character has gone through (and she changes/develops more than any other character), but the payoff on these never really happens. It's Thrawn's story, after all.

Eli Vanto, honestly, just wasn't interesting to me at all. There were a few times when I became excited at the prospect of his intermittent resentment/jealousy toward Thrawn finally becoming an actual obstacle, but as with all Thrawn's challenges it was swiftly put to rest.

So, I still can't get attached to the characters. But after 150 or so pages I was able to accept that fact and settle in on the story. And the story, if a little bit repetitive, is highly engaging and very well-written. That's how I managed to still rate it highly.

The sequel, Thrawn: Alliances, has managed to endear me a little more to Thrawn, but that's primarily because we see him interact with characters that I already know and love. I honestly wish I could be a whole-hearted Thrawn fan. If you think I've judged the character unfairly, or you have some further insight, then please share your thoughts!

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Noah Centineo as Peter Kavinsky in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) dir. Susan Johnson

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To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018)

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You gonna break my heart, Covey?

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) dir. Susan Johnson

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“Peter Kavinsky, walking down the hallway. Like magic. Beautiful, dark-haired Peter. He deserves background music, he looks so good.”

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Finished reading: Star Wars Most Wanted by Rae Carson. This book is a very, very good book. I adore this book. It deserves all of the stars and none of the wars. One day I'll share my favourite quotes, but every quote was a favourite. My only gripe (very small) is that I would have liked to actually see Pawlo at the end.

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Here is a drawing of Dorian! It’s been a while since I drew anything Throne of Glass and I was going to draw Chaol first but I didn’t have any ideas. For Dorian I wanted to draw something casual like this, and I’m pleased with the result :)

If you like my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Thanks :)

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He was the reason i started reading Throne of Glass. everyone were raving about this character and i got super curious. well i wasn’t disappointed. he is sweetest character who have been through so many bad things. i enjoy painting him (this is 3rd illustration of him) hope you guys will like it.  

Dorian Havilliard from Throne of glass series by @sjmaas

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Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

4 out of 5 stars, on Goodreads.

I struggled with this rating, because more than a few things about this book absolutely infuriated me. And yet I couldn't put it down. I've never really understood people who 'hate read' or 'hate watch' certain things, but I think maybe that's what I was doing, at least initially.

Let's start with the main character. Celaena is beautiful, witty, highly intelligent, loves reading, is masterfully proficient with any weapon she lays her hands on, is a concert pianist, a prodigious crime scene investigator, can speak several obscure languages fluently, and is strongly hinted to have both fae and royal blood. Oh, and she's an assassin. It's really, really important that you know that Celaena is an assassin. Every viewpoint character, including Celaena herself, makes sure that you are aware of this by referring to her constantly as 'the assassin'.

We never actually see her assassinate anyone, though.

Don't worry; Celaena isn't completely flawless. There's one glaring gap in her abilities. She's a terrible snooker player! She can barely even hit the ball with her cue. This is despite her previously mentioned assassin abilities. Just a few chapters before her complete failure at the pool table, we see her fire an arrow at a bullseye that appears 'the size of a grain of sand' and hit it unerringly. But those skills just don't translate to billiards. Luckily she has a handsome prince to reach around her and show her the correct way to hit a ball with a stick.

Despite the flaws, I had a lot of fun reading this book. There are two characters in particular that I enjoyed (Dorian and Nehemia - #TeamDorian, by the way, but honestly he could do better than Celaena), and I'd like to see where they go in the future. My feelings towards Chaol are pretty similar to my feelings towards kale, but, sure, let's see where his story goes.

I started to really enjoy the plot in the second half of the book, and if it were being navigated by a more well-rounded protagonist this aspect might have edged toward 5-star territory for me. Unfortunately I was a bit let down by the big 'mystery' being resolved in the most obvious way imaginable.

This is definitely a guilty pleasure read, but one that has laid enough groundwork to interest me enough to continue on with the series. So I have little choice but to give it a solid 4 stars in spite of my many gripes.

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Book Review: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

4 out of 5 stars. I published this review on Goodreads back in March 2018.

This book sat on my shelf for a while, because I wasn't super keen to read it after having read some of the less flattering reviews. I finally picked it up this weekend because I'm going to see the movie in a few days and my pride demanded that I read the novel first.

I devoured it. This novel is really FUN. Is it the best novel out there? No. It's not even the best in its genre, or sub-genre. But it's fun. If you are even a little bit enticed by the book's subject matter then please give it a try.

A lot of the negative press I've seen regarding this story seems to focus in on the fact that the book is crammed full of gratuitous references to '80s geek culture. And it is. And not all of those references are necessary to the story. But this isn't high literature, it's casual YA sci fi, and there's no harm in it trying to be cool just for the sake of it. I'm a '90s kid, so a lot of the older references skimmed the top of my head (and in the second half of the novel there are a lot of references to Japanese live action and anime shows which went RIGHT over), but that didn't limit my enjoyment.

The main character is a pretty obvious self-insert, but I still managed to like him and root for him. I wasn't able to become invested in his love interest, or the romance subplot, mainly because it was so incredibly obvious that he would get the girl with very little effort on his part. Half-way through I actually began rooting for a surprise-twist in that department, but I knew it wouldn't happen.

In short: this is an easy, fun read, and if you have a couple of spare hours and are a fan of the genre then you probably won't regret giving it a fair try. Don't expect any life-changing quotes or profound lessons or groundbreaking characters, but not every story needs to have these things to be worth your time.