theslightsavant-blog

[theslightsavant-blog]

Hufflepuff + Autumn 🐿

[theslightsavant-blog]

Eat junk food. Watch Harry Potter. Hopefully that’ll make me feel a little better today. 🍔🍟⚡️

[theslightsavant-blog]

My family has gone thru many iterations of ‘The Sorcerers Stone’. I think I broke our first copy I read it so many times. But these books have seen many hands over the years and will likely see many more. It’s terrifying to think that it’s been 20 years. I have so much love for these books, they changed my life and I will always be grateful for the day my mother put Harry Potter in front of me for the first time.

[theslightsavant-blog]

My family has gone thru many iterations of ‘The Sorcerers Stone’. I think I broke our first copy I read it so many times. But these books have seen many hands over the years and will likely see many more. It’s terrifying to think that it’s been 20 years. I have so much love for these books, they changed my life and I will always be grateful for the day my mother put Harry Potter in front of me for the first time.

[theslightsavant-blog]

End of Days Review

Summary (my version at least): Humanity takes its its last stand against the angels in a last ditch attempt to save the human race. Penryn and Raffe have a lot to work out while trying to avoid a possible angel civil war.

Spoilers Ahead!!

Random Thought Threads: Ok. So I know there are a lot of conflicting ideas on this book as the conclusion to this amazing trilogy. First off, I’m not mad at the book as a whole. There were parts of the book that had me sitting on the edge of my seat as much as the two previous books. That being said, there were still some lackluster parts that left me thinking “Really?”. There weren’t many of those moments though thankfully. My main issue lies with the epilogue. It left me with a lot more questions than answers to the point where I don’t think that specific epilogue was necessary. I know this was supposed to be a 5-6 book series and that explains where parts of the book feel rushed or not thoroughly explained; like the final battle or how the actual fruitcake they kind of time traveled to the Pit.

Now. Me being the hopeless romantic I am, I could not get enough of Raffe and Penryn. I. Was. Living. For. Those. Kisses. That moment in the Victorian style house had me sweating! Swoon. Part of me was so relieved that their feelings for each other were reciprocated. Another part of me thought the book spent too much time focusing on their relationship than the actual apocalypse. One explanation I have for this relates back to the series originally meaning to be longer. My guess is that Susan Ee meant to spread out all that lovely goodness over the last couple of books that never happened. Honestly, I could have done without one or two of the lovey dovey moments if it meant I could get more of Penryn being the BAMF that she is. But I am a hopeless romantic so I can’t complain too much.

One of the things that I loved about the first two books was that the tension was palpable between Penryn and Raffe. There was a true will they or won’t they that was really rare for YA. Here I’m expecting it at every turn. When Raffe came to Penryn’s rescue during the final battle I wasn’t shocked at all. I was actually waiting for it. Penryn was so convinced and worried about Raffe hunting humans for the blood hunt, but I knew deep down that she had nothing to worry about. But once again, the hopeless romantic in me was rejoicing during every scene they had together. I know I’m a conundrum.

I wish with all my heart that the series was longer. Not only would we not have all these rushed scenes and plot holes, but more books. Which would mean more time spent with these characters and overall more time in a world/story I never want to leave. I would have loved more backstories. Or any really. I would have killed for more stories about the Watcher’s antics before they fell or what it was like for them to fall. We saw what it was like through Raffe’s eyes, but not through any of the Watchers directly. I really enjoyed Beliel’s backstory which made him a much more complicated character. I really felt for him when he was strapped to the Pit Lord’s chariot and forced to see his beloved Daughter of Man hurt the way she was.

I knew Raffe was going to lose his wings the instant the Pit Lord pointed them out and tossed him that weird rotten apple thing. I did not want him to give them up. Then he gets Beliel’s demon wings again in the epilogue and I’m like...how many wing transplants can one angel take?

I have so many questions. What was the point of the epilogue? How do the angels get back home? Are the sixers still chilling in the ocean? How does humanity rebuild itself? Is Penryn’s mom the head a new cult? Do Penryn and Raffe stay together? (I will riot in the streets if they don’t!) What happens now?

Final Thoughts: Overall, I don’t hate the book. I know a lot of people are disappointed with how the series ended. I agree only in the fact that I wish there was more. I don’t hate where the plot went or the action that took place. In fact, I enjoyed the book very much. This last installment did nothing to change the attachment I feel for these characters. I was still rooting for every single one of them to succeed and get what they worked so hard for. It just felt like something was missing. Maybe I’m still in denial that the story is over because I didn’t want it to end. I love the characters and world that Susan Ee created and I’m more upset at the fact that its over than the actually ending. Ok, I’m a little miffed at the epilogue.

Recommend?: Yes. Even though there are a lot of negative feelings surrounding this book, read it and finish this awesome trilogy. Then make that decision for yourself if you like it or nor.

Continue the series?: Unfortunately, this is the end. The fact that this could have been a longer series will be one of the things that keep me awake at night when I’m 100 years old.

Rating: 4.5/5 I love this series too much to rate it any lower. I’m loyal to a fault I guess.

[theslightsavant-blog]

World After Review

     Summary (my version at least): Angels have descended to Earth with less than heavenly intentions. Penryn has to fight to keep herself and whats left of her family alive while trying to survive in a broken world. Relationships are formed and tested while action ensues.

Spoilers Ahead!!

Random Thought Threads: I CANT SING ENOUGH PRAISE ABOUT THIS BOOK OR THIS SERIES! Its been such a long time since a book has pulled me in so completely to the point where I purposely slowed myself down while reading it so I could stay in this world longer. I instantly attached to these characters with shocking intensity.

First off, Penryn. I love this girl. She is strong, fierce, determined, capable, smart and loyal. I love how Susan Ee wrote out her thoughts during all of her fight scenes. It was so interesting to read about the methodology and thought processes behind a fight. Not only are Penryn’s fights descriptive, but Ee explains why Penryn throws a punch a certain way or why she chooses a certain weapon. She’s also caring. She cares deeply for her sister and her mom in her own way. We get to see her struggle with her limits with Paige looking the way she does now and how that changes her perceptions about her sister.

Now, Raffe. What can I say? I’m a sucker for him as well. He wasn’t in World After as much as Angelfall so we got a lot more solo Penryn action in this book. Which I’m not complaining about because she’s a BAMF. His character didn’t really come into play until the end during the angel death battle/masquerade. However, I was beyond thrilled when he finally reconnected with Penryn. I was seriously tempted to let out a mighty war cry of victory when he got his wings back! Now we just have to see if he can get them sewed back on. I really hope he does, but we’ll see.

Deep down I’m a hopeless romantic. So I spent part of the book wondering when Penryn and Raffe would find each other again and what would happen when they did. I was not disappointed. I love the tender moments between them and the teases that we get about their feelings for each other.

I also can’t praise the twists and turns in this book. Everything from Paige’s control over the locusts, Clara finding her family, basically everything to do with Alcatraz to the fight at the aerie had me up until the wee hours of the morning.

Final Thoughts: This book had me beyond the edge of my seat. I finished it within 24 hours of starting it if that tells you anything. I was totally engrossed in the world that Susan Ee created. There were times where I had to reread pages because I got too excited and read them too fast. Overall, everything about this book from character, plot to world building is just on point.

Recommend?: Hell yeah. Everyone who loves action, supernatural anything and a touch of romance should read this!

Rating: 5/5

[theslightsavant-blog]

Mat Martin, A Bookstore in the French Quarter in New Orleans

[theslightsavant-blog]

″That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you’re not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.“

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

[theslightsavant-blog]

THANK YOU JO ❤️

[theslightsavant-blog]

“There are some works so luminous…so powerful that they give us strength, and force us to new undertakings. A book can play this role.”

Hervé Le Tellier

[theslightsavant-blog]

The Immortal Rules Review

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

Summary (my version at least): First and foremost, Allison Sekemoto hates vampires. Like alot. This is evident from the very beginning. Allison lives, more like barely survives, in the Fringe in a vampire run society. Vampires control every aspect of society and its basically follow their rules or pay the worst price possible. Even though Allison has very negative feelings towards vampires, an event happens that truly tests her preconceptions about them.

Spoilers Ahead!!

Random Thought Threads: Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I was craving a book about vampires and this story really quenched my thirst (see what I did there?).

It took me about 100 pages to really get invested in the story though. The first few pages focused on world building, which is well done, and Allison learning how to be a vampire. I’ll be honest those 100 pages almost did me in. It took me several days to read that much and I thought I wasn’t going to finish it. The beginning seemed to be really trope heavy. We have a young female vampire with an attractive and brooding vampire “teacher.” I did a few facepalms. I really thought Kanin was going to be Allison’s love interest and I had a here we go again moment.

But I was wrong. And I’m so glad I was.

I’m a sucker, pun intended, for a romance. Especially romances that build and are nice to have in the story, but the plot doesn’t solely revolve around it. Even though I anticipated that Zeke and Allison would fall for each other it was still a pairing that I rooted for. I enjoyed how Allison was so stunned with Zeke’s universal kindness. This makes sense because the Fringe was a place where you fended for yourself and rarely anyone looked out for someone else.

Is it weird to say I enjoyed the violence? I should say action...yeah I enjoyed the action. The action sequences were descriptive and I rarely got lost in what was happening during a fight. A lot of the book’s main plot points happen during action scenes and it was really nice to not get lost during the story’s most important moments.

I also liked how vampires were portrayed. They have some classic vampire features such as fangs and how the sun is a no go, but the rabids were a nice touch.

Final Thoughts: The book took some time to grow on me, but I’m glad I stuck it out through the end. I really enjoyed reading about a strong Asian female protagonist. I haven’t ready very many books with Asian characters, let alone main characters, which helped make this a refreshing read.

Recommend?: If you like stories about vampires or not pick it up for an entertaining read.

Continue the series?: Maybe. The ending of this has me slightly interested in the rest of the story, but I’m still debating on whether to pick up the next book at some point.

Rating: 4/5