If God won't save the Queen...they will.
Orphan Meg Fellowes makes her living picking pockets—until she steals from the wrong nobleman. Instead of rotting in prison like she expected, she’s whisked away to the court of Queen Elizabeth I and pressed into royal service. With a faked noble identity, Meg joins four other skilled girls in the Maids of Honor, the Queen’s secret society of protectors.
Meg's natural abilities as a spy prove useful in this time of unrest. The Spanish Court is visiting, and with them come devious plots and hidden political motives. As threats to the kingdom begin to mount, Meg can’t deny her growing attraction to one of the dashing Spanish courtiers. But it’s hard to trust her heart in a place where royal formalities and masked balls hide the truth: not everyone is who they appear to be. Meg’s mission tests every talent she possesses, even her loyalty to her fellow Maids. With danger lurking around every corner, can she stay alive—and protect the crown?
Dear Reader,
I hope, for your sake, that you have not chosen to read this book because you are in the mood for a pleasant experience. If this is the case, I advise you to put this book down instantaneously, because of all the books describing the unhappy lives of the Baudelaire orphans, The Miserable Mill might be the unhappiest yet. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire are sent to Paltryville to work in a lumber mill, and they find disaster and misfortune lurking behind every log.
The pages of this book, I'm sorry to inform you, contain such unpleasantries as a giant pincher machine, a bad casserole, a man with a cloud of smoke where his head should be, a hypnotist, a terrible accident resulting in injury, and coupons.
I have promised to write down the entire history of these three poor children, but you haven't, so if you prefer stories that are more heartwarming, please feel free to make another selection.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
“Optimist" is a word which here refers to a person, such as Phil, who thinks hopeful and pleasant thoughts about nearly everything. For instance, if an optimist had his left arm chewed off by an alligator, he might say, in a pleasant and hopeful voice, "Well, this isn't too bad. I don't have my left arm anymore, but at least nobody will ever ask me whether I am right-handed or left-handed," but most of us would say something more along the lines of "Aaaaah! My arm! My arm!”
My favorite thing about these books is the author commentary throughout it. It makes it so hilarious and punny and really makes me like Lemony Snicket as an author. Although it does make it almost that much worse that the Baudelaires have to go through so much crap because they live in a world where these adults they have to deal with are completely useless. It's ridiculous, but I bet that's what we would feel like if we were in these shoes.
It also makes me realize that Violet needs to learn way more words, and read way more like her brother Klaus. Since Klaus is mostly incapacitated during this book, she has to do the job for both of them, and there's a chapter where she is reading a book and for all the words that she doesn't understand, she would "hmm" in its place. I guess book nerds learn a lot more than non-book nerds! Is that me being biased? Not at all! Just look at Violet, who has to "hmm" her way through a book trying to figure out how to get someone to be unhypnotized, among other things.
Hmm.
Rated: 4/5 ★
Dear Reader,
If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted; but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all. If you haven't got the stomach for a story that includes a hurricane, a signalling device, hungry leeches, cold cucumber soup, a horrible villain, and a doll named Pretty Penny, then this book will probably fill you with despair. I will continue to record these tragic tales, for that is what I do. You, however, should decide for yourself whether you can possibly endure this miserable story.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
“There are few sights sadder than a ruined book.”
I swear the books just get worse and worse (meaning the content, not my thoughts of the books). I think Aunt Josephine was the absolute worse guardian that the Baudelaires ever had, not including Count Olaf of course. I don't think anyone can be on par with Uncle Monty except their parents, and of course, if their parents were alive they wouldn't have had to deal with all of these unfortunate events.
Reading this for the second time - the first time being a long, long time ago - I had to realize that the Baudelaires were practically thrown away by Aunt Josephine. I don't know if I ever realized it to the extent that I did today just how terrible she was. She was a coward, and I don't know how her husband Ike ever dealt with her. I don't know how she never died of fright earlier. How she lived so long was beyond me.
In case you didn't notice, I'm trying to get through all of these books to finally see what happened to the Baudelaires. I never finished the series the first time around, but here I am, trying to accomplish this goal. So here goes.
Poor Baudelaires.
Rated: 4/5 ★
Dear Reader,
If you have picked up this book with the hope of finding a simple and cheery tale, I'm afraid you have picked up the wrong book altogether. The story may seem cheery at first, when the Baudelaire children spend time in the company of some interesting reptiles and a giddy uncle, but don't be fooled. If you know anything at all about the unlucky Baudelaire children, you already know that even pleasant events lead down the same road to misery.
In fact, within the pages you now hold in your hands, the three siblings endure a car accident, a terrible odor, a deadly serpent, a long knife, a large brass reading lamp, and the appearance of a person they'd hoped never to see again.
I am bound to record these tragic events, but you are free to put this book back on the shelf and seek something lighter.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
“It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know.”
Another quick read to take a break from the previous book I read. It wasn't that the previous book was a long read, but it was so thrilling and stressful that I needed something that could be considered light. Sure, nothing in this book is particularly "happy", but these books remind me of my adolescent years and sometimes I just need a little reminder of the smaller books I used to read.
I liked this book a lot, but I also had to remember that none of these books have a happy ending. It's not like Lemony Snicket warns us of that in every book or anything (sarcasm). To me, Uncle Monty was the best guardian that they ever had, and it broke my heart when they couldn't be with him anymore.
Sorry, was that a spoiler?
Go read this book!
Rated: 4/5 ★
It all started at a dinner party. . .
A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors--a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .
Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all--a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story.
Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.
What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family--a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.
“...nobody makes that much money without taking advantage of somebody. It's much easier to make money if you don't care who you hurt. If you have scruples, it's much harder to get rich.”
This was one of the books that I listened to on Audible, and I think that I'm leaning towards listening to more books than I used to. Seriously, if you haven't tried audiobooks yet, I highly recommend them, especially for books that you probably wouldn't read normally.
So anyway.
This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time! I couldn't believe it, actually. I mean, I know that this was deemed a mystery and a thriller, but I don't know if I was expecting to actually like it! I think the main reason why I really couldn't stop listening to it was because I wanted to find out whether the baby would survive by the end of the book. That was the main endgame for me: does Cora survive? Was she killed? Will she be reunited with her family? Who cares about the rest of these people! I just want to know what happens to the only innocent party in this entire book.
To be honest, I did not like any of the characters in the book. That fact alone made it interesting that I even still wanted to listen to it and actually finish it. Especially since this isn't the type of book I would normally choose to digest. (Thank my amazing Buddy Reads partner for this accomplishment.)
I had so many thoughts while reading this book, mostly revolving around the expression of "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!" There were so many little tidbits that the author added throughout the book that didn't seem to make sense at first until it made more sense at the end. Oh and the ending?! That last chapter was something I was not expecting, and yet I was so happy when it happened. If you have read that last part and you know what I'm talking about, I swear I'm not a bad person. That's all I have to say about that!
I highly recommend this book, if you're into those crime procedurals where you just want to know who the bad guy is, or you want to find out what happens to the victim. It's exciting like that. I'm not sure if you'll like any of the characters, but if you do, good on you. Just know that nobody in this book - except for the baby - is entirely innocent. Everyone has secrets, and they all somehow tie into one another by the time this book is done.
Rated: 4/5 ★
Presented by James Patterson's new children's imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion...
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.
Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.
The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this dazzling, #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.
“I was determined to be both pretty and fierce, as Mother had said I could be. Just because I was interested in a man’s job didn’t mean I had to give up being girly. Who defined those roles anyhow?”
I was definitely a fan of this book, even though I'm not really a James Patterson fan. I know that he wasn't the author, but seeing that this is part of his "Children's" book line was something that I found to be quite interesting. Did it make it better because it was associated with James Patterson? In my opinion, I pretty much forgot that his name was attached to this book by the time I started reading it.
Audrey Rose Wadsworth reminded me of Joan Watson, from the TV show Elementary. While she wasn't an established surgeon like Joan was, she was learning her way around the medical field, mostly dealing with autopsies with her Uncle Jonathan, who was one of the best coroners in London during this time. She got down and dirty in this field, not shying away from the death and decay that comes with corpses. She was good at what she did, and she learned a lot by apprenticing under her uncle, even if this was something that was considered too "dirty" or too "improper" for women to learn. All throughout the book, she was shamed by both men and women for dabbling in the medical field, being around dead bodies and cutting into them for scientific purposes. Apparently, this was going to hurt her chances at being a proper lady in society and even hurt her chances of finding a proper husband to take care of her.
This was the time that she lived in though, and it was refreshing to see Audrey not care about such things like that.
Audrey Rose wasn't the only feminist character in this book. Actually, the most surprising part about it was that her cousin Liza also had feminist tendencies that even Audrey Rose wasn't expecting to see. One of my all-time favorite quotes from the book came from Liza:
"Wield your assets like a blade, Cousin. No man has invented a corset for our brains. Let them think they rule the world. It's a queen who sits on that throne. Never forget that. There's no reason you can't wear a simple frock to work, then don the finest gown and dance the night away. But only if it pleases you."
I'm even tempted to have it tattooed somewhere on my body, but that's another story. Isn't it amazing that men seem to forget that a Queen is in charge of all of England? Even back then? And yet they feel like women should not be in power or deal with unsavory things? Silly boys.
I'm really glad that I finally had the time to finish this book, especially before the Christmas holiday.
Rated: 5/5 ★
Daughter of immortals.
Princess Diana longs to prove herself to her legendary warrior sisters. But when the opportunity finally comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law—risking exile—to save a mortal. Diana will soon learn that she has rescued no ordinary girl, and that with this single brave act, she may have doomed the world.
Daughter of death.
Alia Keralis just wanted to escape her overprotective brother with a semester at sea. She doesn’t know she is being hunted by people who think her very existence could spark a world war. When a bomb detonates aboard her ship, Alia is rescued by a mysterious girl of extraordinary strength and forced to confront a horrible truth: Alia is a Warbringer—a direct descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery.
Together.
Two girls will face an army of enemies—mortal and divine—determined to either destroy or possess the Warbringer. Tested beyond the bounds of their abilities, Diana and Alia must find a way to unleash hidden strengths and forge an unlikely alliance. Because if they have any hope of saving both their worlds, they will have to stand side by side against the tide of war.
“Sisters in battle, I am shield and blade to you. As I breathe, your enemies will know no sanctuary. While I live, your cause is mine.”
This book honestly made me go through so many emotions that by the time I was done with it, I couldn't help but cry.
This is the first book in the DC Icons series, where four YA authors write a brand new original story based on the teenage years of one DC icon. Leigh Bardugo, one of my favorite authors of all time, wrote about my favorite superhero of all time - Wonder Woman - and I honestly think it couldn't have been any more perfect for me. I will have to say that if you're expecting this book to follow the timeline of the movie, you are in for a big surprise. The movie and the book have nothing to do with each other, and honestly, I think that makes both of them that much more amazing.
Seeing Diana as a teenager at the present time was something that I certainly had to get used to. I know that a part of me wanted to envision Gal Gadot as Diana, but eventually, I was able to make her younger in my mind. Her character development from the time we see her beginning the race on Themiscyra through the ending of the book was absolutely amazing and so realistic to me. Diana is not perfect, and her development certainly wasn't perfect to the point that it was almost godlike of her. She was just a seventeen-year-old girl learning about the new world by living in it and fighting for it, rather than just reading about it from the comfort of her own home. She is still full of wonder when she enters this world, especially when she is thrown into the heart and soul of New York City, and the name of Wonder Woman still applies. She may not be going by her moniker "Wonder Woman" in this book, but we all know who Diana is, and she is a wonderful woman.
Alia, this girl is amazing. I thoroughly thank Leigh Bardugo for creating so many POC characters in this book, and having them as actual main characters rather than just sideline characters. In fact, if you consider Diana to be a POC, then all the main characters are POCs. How rare is that though? I couldn't believe it, and I loved how they were all written out! They weren't all just black, or just one-dimensional characters to solely say that the book had POCs in it. No, this was well thought out on Bardugo's end, and these characters were ones that I actually wanted to root for, that I could actually relate to.
Alia is half Black, half Greek, with her mom from Louisiana. She and her brother Jason attend a private school for the rich and fancy, and of course people like to assume that Alia is poor or a troublemaker because of her skin color. It's sad, and it's so racist, but it's true. It happens in the real world and that's something that I can directly relate to because I've been through similar. There was a passage during their time in New York City where Alia and Diana are in a convenience store, and of course, there's a cop or security guard or whatever watching Alia because she's dressed in dirty clothes. He automatically assumes that she's going to steal something based on her appearance. Diana's clothes are dirty too from their trip, but there's no suspicion of Diana from the guard. Just Alia. That part - from the moment Alia noticed the guard starting at her to the time the guard stopped because she paid for their purchase without any issue - hit home for me and made me almost angry. I was angry like Alia was, and it made me wish that things weren't an issue like that anymore. Alia knew it was because of her skin color, and so would the reader. Bardugo doesn't hide the fact that racism and discrimination still exist in the world, and I'm glad she included a passage like that.
Alia is the rich one, and yet she was thought to be a potential thief.
Another quote that really stayed close to my heart was one when Alia was thinking about her mother, and when they were first going to the private school:
"Look them in the eye, she'd always told her. Let them know who you are. When someone asked where you were from. When a new kid at Bennett wanted to know if she was on an athletic scholarship. Look them in the eye."
This mentality of not backing down, not being afraid to be proud of who you are and where you're from, making sure that when you tell people who you are you don't give them any reason to doubt or make you feel inferior was something that I needed to hear in my life at that very moment. Alia has no reason to apologize or make an excuse for why she's there. She has no reason to, and by making sure she maintains that eye contact, that silent strength about her, will tell the world that she belongs there no matter what they think. It was so important to her that she never forgot about it, and I can tell that she lives with that quote in her life during all of the difficult times that she's been through. She rarely backs down, and as the book progresses she becomes so much more sure of herself and so strong that it only makes sense that her heritage is so commanding and demands respect. She's descended from Helen, and she has something to be proud of.
I had so many good feelings about this book, and I loved it so much, in case you couldn't tell. I hope there's the potential to meet Alia and Nim again because there's no way that Diana can only have them in such a small moment of her life. There's no way. I would be so heartbroken if she never saw them again.
Rated: 5/5 ★
Another year down already? Well almost, but hey, it's already December and I made my GoodReads Challenge! Have you made yours yet? How much farther do you have to go?
So I've been looking at my blog over and over, and I think it's about that time to change the template of how I review books. The post is going to stay mostly the same, with the book cover, the synopsis, and my actual review, but I will be adding more information about the book so you can really get a good idea of what's in store for you with each book that I've read. I'm thinking maybe more quotes than the one that I usually do, maybe even a quick biography of the author... who knows!
The new template will be implemented at the beginning of next year, so look forward to that.
When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing. Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens.
“All the air whooshed from my lungs as I stared into my mother’s face, woven into an object that was nearly nine hundred years old.”
I listened to this book for my book club. It had an interesting premise, a girl that travels back in time to save the mom she thought was killed in an earthquake. Well, after she ends up going to Scotland because her aunt that she never met or talked to wants her to be there. Because that makes complete sense.
But I mean I guess it's alright to make a crazy decision after going through a funeral and having an empty casket because your mother's body was never found in the rubble and debris. So while I probably wouldn't even feel like visiting some aunt that never gave me the time of day, I get why Hope did it.
I liked the premise of the book for the most part. I've never really read a time travel book before, and having this as a YA book made it even better for me. I've never read Outlander, so having this book compared to it didn't give me an incentive to read it more than what I already had. I think it's really only because of the Scotland and time-travel aspects that they have similar, but who knows? If anyone else read both of these books, please let me know.
I have to say that I do not like Hope very much. She really isn't a good protagonist. One of the main issues that I and some other reviewers have expressed is the fact that she slut shames way too much. We are in a day and age where women should not be slut shaming other women, especially when said slut shamer has no idea how these girls even behave anyway. It shouldn't matter what they wear, how big their breasts are, or what color their hair is. Why is she judging these girls solely based on their appearance? I didn't like that at all. She also just seems to be way too hard on herself for some reason, almost unnecessarily. She has some cowardice tendencies, and I honestly don't know what the push was to get her to be a little bit brave. I just didn't get it.
I think because I didn't like Hope so much, I couldn't really enjoy the rest of the book, which is sad because it could have been really good! I don't have much to say about this other than it could have been better, but it wasn't completely terrible.
Rated: 3/5 ★
What if Belle’s mother cursed the Beast?
Belle is a lot of things: smart, resourceful, restless. She longs to escape her poor provincial town for good. She wants to explore the world, despite her father’s reluctance to leave their little cottage in case Belle’s mother returns—a mother she barely remembers. Belle also happens to be the captive of a terrifying, angry beast. And that is her primary concern.
But Belle touches the Beast’s enchanted rose, intriguing images flood her mind—images of the mother she believed she would never see again. Stranger still, she sees that her mother is none other than the beautiful Enchantress who cursed the Beast, his castle, and all its inhabitants. Shocked and confused, Belle and the Beast must work together to unravel a dark mystery about their families that is twenty-one years in the making.
“Magic comes back to you, just as the actions of people do.”
Well, this book definitely didn't end the way I was expecting, and I'm not sure if I liked it better than the original Disney version or not.
Besides the ending though, I liked the twist question of having Bell's mother being the Enchantress. It makes the story have much more meaning to it, and such a twist than just having a random Enchantress curse the Prince because he's a jerk that has an ugly personality. Sure, it makes for a good moral, but like, what made the Enchantress come there of all places, and why that test? With this addition to the story, it makes more sense, a lot more sense.
I also really appreciated the background of Maurice and Belle's mom - who finally has a name! It's Rosalind - and how they met, fell in love, and came to such a provincial town. They definitely didn't start off there, and it was so nice to know that Maurice actually did have friends before we first met him in Beauty and the Beast. He wasn't such an oddball that everyone ridiculed and didn't take seriously, but he was someone that people actually respected and loved and care for... at least back where they were originally from.
The connection between the kingdom where the Beast is from and Maurice and Rosalind also comes into play, and the background on that is almost heartbreaking and reminds me of World War II. Maybe not as devastating with the concentration camps and an all-out war, but you'll see what I mean when you read it.
We've always wondered what happened with Belle's mother, and this book really explains what happened. It's also true to its word on being a "twisted tale" as nothing is as it seems, and certain scenes that you may imagine to play out as it did in the original - or remade - Disney versions don't always happen that way. Are you expecting everything to fall into place, even with the realization that Rosalind was the one that placed the curse on the kingdom? Will Rosalind even be found alive in this book, or will Belle have to face the fact that her mother left, and died? Will Maurice ever remember the loving wife that he adored and couldn't imagine life without before he seemed to have forgotten about her?
So many questions came into my mind as I was reading it, and trust me when I say that it does not end neatly wrapped with everything explained. It leaves just enough for the imagination to grow, but still has the elements that made the Disney version loveable. I think I liked this book almost a little more than the Disney animated version. The live-action remake? Well, not so much.
See for yourself. And remember, it's not always what it seems.
Rated: 4/5 ★
Years ago, everything changed. Phantoms, massive beasts of nightmare, began terrorizing the world. At the same time four girls, the Effigies, appeared, each with the unique power to control a classical element. Since then, they have protected the world from the Phantoms. At the death of one Effigy, another is chosen, pulled from her normal life into the never-ending battle.
When Maia unexpectedly becomes the next Fire Effigy, she resists her new calling. A quiet girl with few friends and almost no family, she was much happier to admire the Effigies from afar. Never did she imagine having to master her ability to control fire, to protect innocent citizens from the Phantoms, or to try bringing together the other three Effigies.
But with the arrival of the mysterious Saul—a man who seems to be able to control the Phantoms using the same cosmic power previously only granted to four girls at a time—Maia and the other Effigies must learn to work together in a world where their celebrity is more important than their heroism.
But the secrets Saul has, and the power he possesses, might be more than even they can handle…
"Technically, this was what I'd always wanted, in a way... To fight like one of them. To save lives like one of them. And now I was one of them. An Effigy. Careful what you wish for, I guess."
So my library was doing a "Blind Date with a Book" thing, and the description is what made me get this. I had no idea what the title was or anything because of course, it was wrapped up in brown packaging and only had bullet points as a summary. I took a chance, but I liked what I saw.
I definitely have to say that I'm so glad I read this book, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to get it as a blind date. To think that the author herself described this book as a mix of Sailor Moon and Pacific Rim made me want to devour it as quickly as possible. I could see those aspects of it for sure, but as I was reading it, I got more of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibe from it, and I'll tell you why in a minute.
Basically the book is about Maia Finley, a Jamaican-American high school student who learns that she is the next Fire Effigy, one of four girls that are tasked with saving the world from the creatures only known as Phantoms. This wasn't something that she knew she was going to do until this feeling came over her. It was then that she knew that the previous Fire Effigy, a Russian girl named Natalya Filipova, known to the entire world as the Matryoshka Princess, was dead. The Buffy reference comes into play here because once one Effigy dies, another girl is called to take her place. Just like a Slayer, when one dies, another one is called to battle evil. In this case, there are always four at a time, one for each of the elements (Avatar the Last Airbender, anyone?): Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. These girls must work together to stop the world from being destroyed, all while being followed and talked about by the media and other fans that dedicate entire forums to them.
Sounds pretty crazy, right?
One of the main things that I loved about this book was that the Effigies are usually from different parts of the world. They are never all from America, or all from Euope. It's diverse, and I love that. I love reading about POCs in books, especially having them as main characters in books and not one-dimensional people just there to claim diversity. In this case, our two POCs are Maia Finley and Chae Rin Kim, who is Korean but grew up in Montreal. Chae Rin is the Earth Effigy, and it screams Toph all over to me, with her temper and sarcastic quips and all. Only difference is Chae Rin isn't blind like Toph, but she is still really strong and has amazing control over her powers.
We also have Belle Rousseau, the longest standing Effigy after Natalya's death, the Ice Effigy since most of her powers manifest into ice rather than water. She is as cold as her power, and it's hard for any of the other girls to really get her to let her walls down. Natalya was her mentor, her sister in arms, and with her death, Belle takes it hard and shuts down completely. She's the hardest of the four girls, and also the one that's been hurt the most. Victoria "Lake" Soyinka, a British pop star trying to stay away from all the death and destruction to focus on her music career, has powers over the wind. Although she was scared to be an Effigy, to the point of flaking out of her training and resorting to the celebrity life, she was able to come together with the others and work together.
I adored this book so much. There were times where I would get extremely frustrated with Maia, especially since she didn't seem to have any handle on her powers, and I just wanted her to be brave, but it didn't deter me from enjoying this book. I get it. To have to follow in the footsteps of someone as formidable as Natalya, there's no wonder that the pressure would be much to handle. Her powers seemed to manifest during times of emotional distress, basically when she wasn't even aware of it. When she was scared, her powers came out. When she was in a fit of rage, her powers came out. But when she was concertrating, and I mean really concentrating, nothing would happen. This kind of reminds me of Aang when he was trying to master Earthbending. I know she will get it, and I know that she will be great, especially being a part of a team like the Effigies.
I can't wait to read the second book, and I'm a little bummed that it's only going to be a trilogy, but I'm also hoping that we get to explore more of the other Effigies backgrounds and what makes them tick. I believe the author did an amazing job of getting these girls to be three-dimensional. None of them were perfect, and that's what made me appreciate them even more. I highly recommend this book.
Rated: 5/5 ★
Dear Reader,
I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.
In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.
It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.
With all due respect,
Lemony Snicket
“It is useless for me to describe to you how terrible Violet, Klaus, and even Sunny felt in the time that followed. If you have ever lost someone very important to you, then you already know how it feels, and if you haven't, you cannot possibly imagine it.”
I remember the first time that I read this book, way back when. I didn't think that the author was going to be serious about having an unhappy ending, but he certainly delivered. It was terrible, everything in this book was pretty much terrible for the Baudelaires. First, they lose everything and everyone that they every loved, and then they are sent to live with such a terrible man that there is no way that they should have had to deal with what they did.
And yet they did, and like the book said, this is just the beginning.
Such a quick and easy read for me to kind of alleviate my brain from that long book that I just read before. Yes, I may have listened to it, but it was about 23 hours of listening to that book, and it was spread out over the entire month. I definitely recommend listening to it because they have multiple voices and it feels like you're watching a movie or something in your head when you're listening to it. I really enjoyed it.
Sorry this is a short review, but it's a short book. Go read it!
Rated: 5/5 ★
A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery, so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks, but her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries--and she's the only creature who can break its spell.
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed (Albert Einstein)”
Daemons, Vampires, and Witches... Oh my!
I'm actually a little surprised that there are only these three types of supernatural creatures in this world, but hey. It is what it is.
We start off with a young scholar named Diana Bishop. I'm a little envious that she already has her doctorate and she doesn't seem pretty old at all. Not to mention she's spending her time in Oxford, one of the most amazing schools in the world. It seems like she's just doing some regular research work on alchemy, probably working on her thesis or another book that she plans on publishing. Lo and behold, she just so happens to be a witch, and she was actually able to obtain a certain manuscript that has been deemed "missing" for almost a hundred years. And yet, she was able to get it.
That was one part of the story, and while the manuscript called "Ashmole 782" seems to be one of the most important plot devices, we still don't fully know the extent of its importance. It probably has something to do with the origin of these species, maybe even the extinction or destruction of the species. It's hard to know because when it was in the possession of Diana, she didn't think to read through the entire thing or use her powers to figure out why some of the writing was moving and invisible.
Did I mention that Diana is a witch?
I ended up listening to this book in order to get through it. I don't think I would have read it otherwise, with it being over 600 pages and it was mostly a way for me to pass the time during my commute. I won't get much more into the book because there's a potential for a lot of spoilers. I will say that I didn't really like Diana as the main character. There were a lot of times where she was just really annoying and seemed way too ignorant for her age and for being a witch. Matthew, the vampire guy that she ends up falling for even though it seemed like he was going to attack her at some point, is alright too. Not my favorite vampire in the world, but at least he was worldly and knowledgeable. He also had a lot of doctorates as well, so clearly he was all about education and learning about the world he was imprisoned in for years on end.
I will probably read the second book solely because the first book ended before the coolest thing in the world could happen, which I knew it would because that's how books like to be. I just want to know what happens next, and I'm curious to find out whether or not there may be other creatures out there, or what would happen if they were ever to mate with one another. I mean, it's not normal that a witch and a vampire would fall in love and want to get together, so imagine the kind of chaos going on in this book about their love.
Rated: 3/5 ★
In the not-too-distant future, genetic engineering has turned every newborn into a ticking time bomb: Males die at age twenty-five, and females die at age twenty. While scientists seek a miracle antidote, young girls are routinely kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When sixteen-year-old Rhine is taken, she enters a world of wealth and privilege that both entices and terrifies her. She has everything she ever wanted - except freedom.
Soon it becomes clear that not everyone at her new husband's home is how they appear. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to escape... before her time runs out.
“Tell freedom I said hello.”
I'm 25 years old. According to this book, I would have been dead five years ago.
I thought about that a lot when I was reading this book, especially because I think about where I was during my life five years ago. Would I have been happy to die at that age? Would I have felt like there was more out there for me and tried to fight for the chance to live and die the way I wanted to? That's the amazing thing about dystopian books. It gives you a chance to imagine the world in a completely different way.
The book starts in complete darkness. Our main character Rhine is in a truck full of other girls, lost in the dark and they have no idea what's in store for them. They were just taken from their homes and there's no guarantee that they will ever go home. Rhine and two other girls - Cecily and Jenna - out of the entire group of girls in that van end up being whisked away to be the wives of a boy around their age, who just so happens to have a rich father. It's there that Rhine has to learn that there's a world out there that she isn't used to, and not everything is as it seems.
In this world, cancer and every other human biological flaw have been "cured", and the first generation of children to be born cancer and flaw-free grew up strong and healthy, with a lot of them still being alive today. However, it was their children and the children afterward where the problem was found. Every single generation after the first generation ends up dying at a young age. The males die at age 25, and the females die at age 20, no matter what. According to the first generation, there's a virus that makes every single child a ticking time bomb. There are scientists out there that are working desperately to find a cure but to no avail. And yet there are other people that make it a point to do much worse things, from kidnapping girls from off the streets and selling them to be the baby-bearing brides to the rich.
Not all of these girls end up being wives though, not even sister wives like Rhine, Cecily, and Jenna became as the book progressed, and those that were not chosen could be found dead in the streets or disappeared entirely. When there was no chance of living past a certain age, it didn't matter who ended up living or dying at an early age.
Rhine ends up having a very rare "birth defect" that just so happened to save her life. She has heterochromia, where one eye is brown and the other is blue. Everyone who meets her notices it, and they don't always believe that they are actually real eyes. This is what ends up saving her from certain death, and it may also hold the key to the virus that kills everyone. At least, that's what Rhine thinks when her captors basically tell her that her eyes are what makes her special and not as disposable as the others.
This book was interesting to me. To know that all of the children in the world are basically on a time limit is heartbreaking, and when factoring the fact that some of these children wind up murdered makes it even worse. Rhine basically had to lie to herself and to her husband Linden to make him think that she actually loved and cared for him when all she could think about was running away back to her twin brother. While she did end up learning how to care for him in the end - as well as Jenna and eventually Cecily - it didn't take away from her main goal. It didn't matter what it took, she wasn't going to spend the rest of her life in this beautiful prison. It took her a while, but she ended up doing something about it, and that's what matters.
Rated: 4/5 ★
"A riveting world, a fierce heroine, and electrifying action--I burned through this sparkling debut!" —Sarah J. Maas, New York Times bestselling author
Edinburgh, 1844. Beautiful Aileana Kameron only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. In fact, she's spent the year since her mother died developing her ability to sense the presence of sìthichean, a faery race bent on slaughtering humans. She has a secret mission: to destroy the faery who murdered her mother. But when she learns she's a Falconer, the last in a line of female warriors and the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity, her quest for revenge gets a whole lot more complicated. Now in paperback, this electrifying thriller—the first volume of a trilogy from an exciting new voice in young adult fantasy—blends romance and action with steampunk technology and Scottish lore in a deliciously addictive read.
"Crimson suits you best."
I stumbled across this book at the library here in Virginia, and when I read the synopsis of it, I knew that I had to try it out. Lo and behold, it would end up being one of my favorite books this year.
For one thing, the steampunk aspect of this book, paired with 17th Century Scotland was something that I didn't expect to work so well but it really did. Maybe the only thing that kind of messed me up was that I would keep forgetting that Aileana was Scottish until she'd say "Aye". It was as if I was in an entirely new world filled with the infamous Fae creatures that I've come to learn and love - well some of them anyway - in an entirely new light that was nice to hear about.
Let me start off by saying that I personally liked Aileana. Yes, she's actually a proper Lady, with money, status, and a title that not all women can say they have. If she were to get married, her husband would probably inherit a lot of wealth and prestige. However, ever since her mother was murdered right in front of her eyes, she had no desire to be a part of that world anymore. She had vengeance in her heart, almost to the point of hatred, and all she wanted to do was find the Fae that killed her mother and exact her revenge. In the meantime, she did what she could: taking care of the other dangerous Fae around Edinburgh so that the human casualty rate wasn't ridiculously high.
But how did she go from a lady that only cared about society's parties, to someone that would spend her days inventing new weapons and her nights slaying the Fae?
She had a mysterious teacher, one that wasn't all that human himself. She spent an entire year training with him, a Fae named Kiaran, one of the most powerful breeds of Fae in existence. But what she didn't know was that there was something far worse at stake, and all of her nights that she spent fighting alone behind Kiaran's back would make her a target, and the real fight would begin. She would have to put aside her revenge plans and figure out how a barely trained Falconer, a breed of warrior woman that have the power to kill the Fae, would be able to save the world on her own.
Aileana was an interesting protagonist. She had no problem letting us know that she was in pain, and having the memory of her mother killed right in front of her eyes was something that she couldn't let go of so easily. Anything that even resembled her mother would bring her back to that night, and it would fill her with such a rage that it was almost dangerous to be around her. She knew that, and she tried to suppress it as much as she could around Kiaran so that he wouldn't know her weakness. It was something that despite all of her efforts, she just could not let it go. She felt like it was her fault that her mother was murdered because she didn't do anything to stop it. It led her to go out the next night and immediately try to kill a different Fae, and while she almost died, it was a good thing that Kiaran found her. She was thoroughly untrained that first night she tried to fight, and even though she knew it, she still wanted to satisfy the lust for death in her heart. The more she would kill, the happier she felt, even if it was just in that moment when the light would leave her victim's eyes.
I also liked the fact that she is an inventor. She created her very own flying machine, even though it seems like many of the rich families have at least one of their own. She designed and created her own, with a bat as the inspiration for its wings. She created all of the weapons she would use against the Fae. It was something that she would do with her mother, and even though her mother was gone, she kept up this important hobby that would become useful to her in her future battles. All in all, I liked her personality and her ingenuity.
One of the things that confused me though was how sometimes the chapters would jump through time. One chapter would end with a certain event going on and the next chapter would start off hours or even half a day later. It made me feel like I was missing something, or that I needed to go back and make sure that I didn't skip a page or something like that. I understand that not all chapters have to take place back to back but it still left me confused. The ending as well was one that I didn't understand. It ended up abruptly that I had to go back and see what happened, and yet I still didn't quite get it. Something definitely happened, but hopefully the next book will be able to explain it better than this first one did.
Rated: 4/5 ★
