Children of Blood and Bone by
Tomi Adeyemi
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
This is still glorious. I'm just rereading in preparation for book two, which I'm really excited about. Since it's such a unique world and magic system, I wanted to make sure I remembered everything before moving forward.
The audiobook narration is fantastic and spot on. There's so much texture and variety in Bahni Turpin's voice, and she brings a lot of drama and emotion to the storytelling. I just love it.
PREVIOUS REVIEW:
This story slayed me in all the ways. It’s so compelling that I want to clutch it close, in case it would try to slip away from me. I just finished the novel, and I almost want to go back and start it all over again, right now, as I’m not ready to let go of this world.
I was so captivated by this YA West-African inspired fantasy novel that I couldn’t stop reading once I started, and this is not a small book. Despite that, I still read it straight through, and wow. I just have so many wild feels that I’m not even sure I know how to write this review, but I want to write it now, while the magic and heartache is still fresh in my mind.
Things I loved and/or cried over:
--The characters and all of their uniqueness and intricacies
--The storyline and fast-paced plot, despite the length of the novel
--The captivating world and fascinating setting
--The magic system is A+, and I can’t wait to learn more about it in future novels
--The cover of the book, which is just stunning. I’m honestly obsessed with it, and I don’t know how much of the time that I spent just looking at the cover while I was listening to the book.
---The audiobook narrator: Bahni Turpin, who brings such life to the words
--The author’s note at the end of the book, which made me cry twice in just a matter of minutes
-- The title and its meaning to the story. I could reread/replay that segment right at the end over and over and over again, because it’s so perfect and gorgeous
--The ending, which really delivers, in all kinds of emotional ways
--They way 4 POVs are handled so well, and with so much unique voice that I always knew whose part of the story I was on, even when we switched between characters
--The characters names, which felt so perfect for them
--The ferocious feline beasts that I sometimes want to snuggle
--The fact that this is a debut novel, and it’s so incredible (no offense to other authors, who have also had some amazing debuts, but wow!)
--The fact that this lived up to absolutely all of the hype and it’s so easy to adore this book
--And obviously the diversity. I’m feeling pretty cheated that this is the first Nigerian inspired fantasy novel I’ve ever read, and I hope I see many more in the future. In case it’s my fault that I’ve never read one before, I’m going to go out and research this topic as soon as I finish this review, to see if there are any others that I’ve missed.
As far as I’m concerned, this book is perfection. It’s what YA fantasy novels should be. Honestly, in my opinion, it’s what all fantasy novels should be, regardless of category. And there better be more of this world heading my way in the near future. Preferably lots more.
Book 114 read in 2018
Pages: 525
Orange Is the New Black by
Piper Kerman
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
I enjoy the show, so I figured it was finally time to read the book and see how the two compare. I thought it was interesting and well-written, and the book actually made prison seem less scary than I expected.
It was interesting comparing this to the show, which obviously moves in a different direction and carries on for far longer. It also gave me a lot to think about, in terms of how ineffective the penal system can be.
Overall, and I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I actually prefer the show over the book. Yes. Blashphemy. I did just speak words that almost no librarian will ever utter, but it's true. The show shares information from a lot of different perspectives, which just gives it more depth and grit than you get from only Piper's POV.
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring
Home the Lost Children of Nepal
by
Conor Grennan
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
I was so caught up in this that I stayed up until 2 AM on a work night to read is straight through.
The Hating Game
by
Sally Thorne
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This book tackles a lot of common romance tropes in the most enjoyable fashion, including office place romance and enemies to lovers. It’s funny and quirky, which makes it stand out in the deep sea of romance.
Dark Eden by
Chris Beckett
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
What a great premise! This is such an interesting and other-worldly sci-fi novel, with a strong dystopian feel about it. This story just sucked me right in, but I won't try to explain the plot, as to avoid spoilers. I think this is one of those books that reads best when you go in knowing almost nothing and just get to be surprised as the story evolves.
I'm so happy that it was suggested in an Audicted podcast, which is why I picked it up in the first place. The audiobook is fantastic, with 8 different narrators, representing different POVs, though a majority of the narration is handled by two main POVs, and the others just make occasional appearances.
I am definitely moving on to book 2.
Mother of Eden
by
Chris Beckett
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
Such a fascinating world, with so much to say about humanity, society, power, politics, etc. But it never says anything in an in-your-face sort of way. It just presents the world and people and lets you draw your own, educated conclusions, based on how things occur.
Rage by
Cora Carmack
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
I still really love this series, the world, and the characters, but this story didn't flow quite as well as book one did. It was just a little bit more all over the place. I still enjoyed it all, but because the pacing and flow seemed off, I don't love it as much as I loved book one. However, I am ready to get my hands on book 3 to see how this all works out.
The Art of Starving by
Sam J. Miller
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
This was an intense read. I wanted to love this. The premise is solid. The format is interesting. The content is important. There’s lots of diversity, and it has a unique perspective. I see how this should be an excellent story. All signs pointed towards this book being a perfect read for me.
Unfortunately, I still struggled to connect with this story. It is relatively well-written, though the side characters are underdeveloped, and their motivations and intentions were rarely clear to me. The pacing also felt off to me, and I wasn’t that into the subplots. Honestly, I kind of just wanted to cut away some of the excess and focus more on the heart of the story, which was valuable and intriguing.
I think the supposed powers were a confusing distraction for me, as I thought they were all due to the inner-workings of Matt’s mind, as he struggled with his mental illness, which was upsetting but also fascinating. Then, some things occurred that suggested that it may not be all in his mind, which had me questioning if this is supposed to be magical realism, instead of contemporary, and that unsettled me. I think I spent so much time feeling awkward and uncertain about this that it left me holding the story at arms length, instead of fully embracing it.
On the Come Up by
Angie Thomas
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Well, this was glorious. Angie Thomas has this was of making me think over things that I thought I already knew and understood, but then once I rethink them a bit and see all the different points of view, it's like I understand those things in all new sorts of ways. I kind of love that. It feels like that shift from knowing to really understanding.
I think her books make a lot of complex topics clearer, even though, they also sometimes make me a bit discouraged about humanity and the slow rate at which change occurs. It would be nice if we could just all agree to do better right now.
One Word Kill
by
Mark Lawrence
My rating:
2 of 5 stars
This did not work for me.
The premise was interesting, but the execution left a lot to be desired.
Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by
Jaye Robin Brown
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
I confess that, at first, I was not sure if I was going to like anyone in this story, as circumstances are rather rough at the beginning. However, I quickly came around on almost everyone, and I really enjoyed this one. There's a lot of change and growth, which all feels very realistic and honest. The romance elements are so sweet and hopeful.
The writing and storytelling are both fantastic, and the pacing seems to be spot on. Overall, this is a really solid YA Contemporary romance with a good amount of diversity that doesn't come only from the LGBT characters.
