Mini Book Reviews

I read a bunch of smaller kindle books at the beginning of the year so that A. I’d get through some of my 200 kindle books quicker and B. I could easily get ahead in my GR goal in case I fell behind or when months without reading a lot (like I did in February and the beginning of this month!) So here are 5 quick reviews for you!

The Circle (The Heirs of Gorus #1) by Myka Ramos – 3.5 stars
– This had me entertained and interested the entire time. It had amazing opening sentences and I loved this mystery about the wall and I also loved the political mess and the character connections. On top of all that, homosexual relationships are also a major plus and positive for me personally ❤ I really want to read more! I hope there is more! The ending too left A LOT unanswered but in a good way that I wanted to continue!

The Princess of Egypt Must Die by Stephanie Dray – 2.5 stars.
I really like the setting, because I am a huge Egyptian and Greek mythology lover, and so Acient Egypt was an ideal setting for me to be thrown into! It definitely kept me interested throughout too, but, unfortunately I really didn’t like the main character (she was far too naive), and I feel that the story ended when it was JUST about to start getting real good! But I enjoyed it nonetheless and might keep my eye on this author.

The Hero and the Fiend by Glenn G. Thater – 4 stars
This was really good!! I enjoyed the Norse mythology surrounding it (which as you can tell from my review just above, I’m into the whole mythology thing and so Norse fits nicely into it too!). This novella/short story was mysterious, suspenseful, action packed, and a little chilling! I never wanted it to end and I need more!! This author I WILL keep an eye on! There’s definitely something working in his head and I think this world he’s created will be a great thing to explore more (< I’m ill. If that made no sense then I’m sorry!). Also, I really like this cover!

A Dark Kiss of Rapture by Sylvia Day  -2 stars.
Romance really isn’t my thing, which I REALLY realised while reading this because I was so much more interested in the vampire plot line, and just skipping over the romance and sex scenes… The actual vampire part of this story was great and I’d love to know what happens next but the romance… I wasn’t in it at all and it was pretty insta and stupid but that’s me and my personal preferences talking there, you might like it! A little note: you could tell this was written by a woman as it didn’t feel quite realistic enough on the guys side. And unfortunately, there were some cheesy lines too. But I enjoyed the book while I was reading it; at least the plot vampire line I enjoyed.

Claimed by the Beast – Part One by Dawn Michelle – DNF’d/Lemmed (1 star)
I DNF’d this after the first 5 or so pages. I’m just too old for this type of teenage, unrealistic situation and talk and cliche stories. I just wasn’t the correct audience for this that’s all. Maybe if I was 6 or 7 years younger I would’ve enjoyed this (wow, how the hell was I 15, 7 years ago?! Time flies I guess…). The suspenseful writing was great though!! < I can at least give it one positive comment for DNFing it. Sorry Miss Author but just not for me personally!

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And they are 5 mini reviews of kindle books I read recently (actually ALL in January in about a week xD)

Have you read any of these? Gotten interested in any? Let me know below!

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

So my last review was way back in November which means I’m 8 reviews behind. So I best start of from where I left off!

Quickie Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

I put off reading this book for SO long because I was SO worried it wouldn’t live up to book one but oh my god; the was so good!

Brandon Sanderson has such a way of weaving in little clues and things along the way and create these MASSIVE reveals and shockers at the end. Seriously, the last 100/200 pages were INSANE! At the beginning of the story I was like ‘I know where this is going’ and some things that I predicted came true straight away but in true Sanderson style, he ADDS something that you don’t expect to it and it just blows up!! I was completely hooked, so invested, loved every moment of it and holy hell – that ending!

I have to say though; I’m still not a fan of the main romance (but I seriously shipped the other couple in this book though! Y’know Zane!!) but that’s just me not liking romance in books that I read. I prefer books (and movies I think) without romance, especially when they’re fantasy and/or action.

Spoilers (and less coherent thoughts):

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

I finally got around to writing the review for this! I am excited to get this review out although I am no doubt of one the bajillion positive reviews that you’ve already seen about this book – so sorry that I happen to be matching the popular opinion in this book. BUT, I will take this moment to say: I went into this book with NO expectations. All I knew before hand was:

• About a magic school
• 3 days of a person’s life
• A lot of negative reviews commented about the story being slow and the character being very naive (but this could’ve been more about the second book)
• Pat Rothfuss is such an intelligent, funny and nice guy.

Regarding the last point: It is because I enjoy watching Pat Rothfuss interviews and because I enjoyed his podcast so much, is why I decided to finally pick up this book. He is a great person and it helps to really like the author when it comes to a book, or at least gets me more motivated about reading a book when the author is great!

So without further ado, lets get onto the actual review!

Quickie Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Holy crap this was so good!! From start to finish, I was engrossed with the story. While it’s technically a slow paced story, it no way felt like it dragged once!!! I was so absorbed in the world and what Kvothe was doing and the writing flowed so well that it (again while the story is ‘slow’) reads quickly. Rothfuss hella knows how to write and certainly knows the right words to use!!! Some words I seriously loved! Like seriously, beautiful word choice! My favourite characters… that’s tough, definitely young Kvothe . I loved the conflict between Kvothe and Ambrose was great! But Ambrose does scare me a little and concerned as to what he’ll plot next! I like how our MC is never safe; he’s always at risk of dying or serious injury, as well as not sure whether he’ll be able to afford to live and while it is rather depressing, it was nice not having that safety net. Auri is still a mystery too – how did she get there?! Finally, I like Bast – cannot wait to see how he got picked up along the way and what he actually is! The one main location that I love is definitely the Library! It holds so many secrets and feels like an actual, live character =] From the writing, to the story, to the characters, to the chilling ending (omg the ending was just so chilling and so just dark and powerful!) ; I loved it and I need more!!!!

Quotes:

‘Call a jack, a jack. Call a spade, a spade. But always call a whore a lady. They lives are hard enough‘ << genius!!

‘never do anything in private that I didn’t want talked about in public‘

‘ “You think too much of me.” I smiled. “Perhaps you think too little of yourself.” ‘

‘ It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting for die. ‘ < that ending!!!!

And that’s everything!! I think I’m gunna leave it a while before I start bok two because I don’t wanna rush the two main books and the novella and then have to wait 2 years for the final book. So I’ll see how Rothfuss’ progress is during 2016 before I start reading the second book.

Have you read this? What did you thnk? Do you want to read it? Comment Below!

Blood Apples (The Grimm Diaries Prequels #6) by Cameron Jace

Quickie Review: 3 out of 5 stars

This is the last in the bundle of Prequels that I got. It is still free on Kindle so I highly recommend you at least try them out! They definitely surprised me!

Onto the book/story…

This cover and all the covers in this series for that matter! It’s a beautiful cover once again! I need to find out who designed them! But getting onto the actual contents of the story… This wasn’t as good as the previous one, but I definitely enjoyed it nonetheless, especially the mission that took place in this tale. I am really interested in the character Marmalade, and in Jack as well! It was very Romeo and Juliet-esque in terms of the mission that occured. The ending, I think, was the weakest part but by no means did it make me want to stop reading this series!! =] I thoroughly look forward to getting my hands on the next lot of Prequels and on the actually main series of The Grimm Diaries themselves! Cameron Jace has proved to suck me into this world and has persuaded me to keep an eye on him and his other works! So big points for a self-published writer here! =]

Have you read any of these books? Have you read any Cameron Jace? Have I persuaded you to?

Mary, Mary Quite Contrary (The Grimm Diaries Prequels #5) by Cameron Jace

Quickie Review: 4 out of 5 stars

I think this is my favourite out of the 6 I’ve read!! The POV alone was brilliant and interesting and kept my interest the entire time!! I love our POV’s sassiness so much!! It definitely suits who he is perfectly. I really liked the story too and it’s development. I think it’s the darkest one so far and it was beautiful both in terms of how it developes, how it was written and also in terms of of dark but sassy/sarcastic it was! It was great being able to all these different character’s storylines from the previous Prequels begin to show connects and similarities. It definitely got me excited and wanting more!!

Have you read any of these books? Have you read any Cameron Jace? Have I persuaded you to?

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Quickie Review: 2 out of 5

I think because the whole Jekyll and Hyde mystery is well known by everyone, and that is why I feel I was rather spoiled on what could’ve been an interesting mystery story. Because I knew the ‘reveal’ of this book, I couldn’t really get anything out of it. I just spent the entire time waiting for the reveal. While the writing is beautiful, and while at times it’s scary and confusing (in a good way), I ultimately found myself very bored and skim reading =\

Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Were you spoiled on the reveal too?

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Quickie Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars

The hype was right this time (for the first time ever!)!! I enjoyed this so much! So many times I found myself wanting to read this book rather than do other things that I enjoy more than reading – that’s how good it was! It was fast paced, the plot development was great, the writing was solid, the characters were enjoyable! I loved the ancient rome-ness setting as well! So many mysteries are left to yet be answered! But the .5 deduction is due to not feeling enough fear for the characters, and a lot of things felt way too convenient for Laia. but DAMN! Give me more now!!

Have you read this? What did you think?

Armada by Ernest Cline

Quickie Review: 3 out of 5 on GR.

This was a solid, entertaining read with tons of SF reference goodies! I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, and the story. Favourite characters being Lex and Red. At times I felt the book was very reminiscent of Ender’s Game which I’m not saying is a negative at all! I loved that >.< My favourite parts were definitely the fighting sequences!

However, sometimes the amount of referencing was a little over the top for me personally, and I can’t decide if the alien’s true motive was a good reveal or a cheesy, bad one… at the minute I’m leaning towards ‘Lightman’s feeling at the end of the book makes me like the motive’ but honestly, jury is still out on that one.

Nevertheless I was entertained thoroughly and will definitely read his other work in future!!

June Wrap Up and July TBR!

I have a announcement tomorrow so it’s better to post my WU/TBR today instead of two posts tomorrow ^_^

Wrap Up

GANTZ Chapters 191 – 285
Ladel Rat Rotten Hut by Camerca Jace (3/5)
Angelfall by Susan Ee (3/5)
Shingeki no Kyojin Chapter 70
Kuroshitsuji Chapter 106

I got 340 pages into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and The Vampire Lestat is currently on-hold because I am not in the mood to read it.

Total Pages: 2573
Day Read in Month: 28 out of 30
Average Pages Per Day:  85
Average Pages Per Week: 643

I know what you’re thinking ‘but most of that was manga!’ yeah true they don’t technically count but… technically they do! xP

TBR

Well… I have a pile of books on my floor which I wanted to get through before I went to Japan… want to see those books? Here you go! Cos they’re this month’s TBR!

Oh dear…. don’t believe me? Here you go!

HAHA! There is NO way in hell I’m getting through ALL those books in 26 days! Whatta shame I can’t =[ so looks like my suitcase and handluggage will be having more books in than anticipated!

What did you read in June? What do you suggest I read first? Long books first? Quick books first? IS THIS DO-ABLE?! What will you read this July? Let me know in the comments below!

Angelfall by Susan Ee

Quickie Review:  3 out of 5

I enjoyed this book a lot! I’ve never read an Angel book – no wait, I have read ‘Daughter of Smoke and Bone’ but did not like it but not because of the angels. I didn’t think they’d be my thing even though I love Supernatural, and I ended up enjoying this book! I really liked the amount of mystery it gave, I like how it didn’t shy away from topics like sex, worrying about being raped and stuff like that, it was gritty and dark, something I personally rarely see in YA and it made is all feel a lot more real. Josiah was by far my favourite character! ^_^ The writing was easy, I loved the world building – especially with the club and the angel fashion aspects.

My only real negative is Peryn, I didn’t like her. Her only redeeming quality is her fighting skill but my god, she has no common sense what so ever and just made dumbass decision after dumbass decision. There is nothing good about her except the fact she can fight. I also hated how Peryn felt the need to describe Raffe body all the damn time! A 17 year old girl can think of a thousand more things before repeatidly mentioning someones body! -_- AND, I am certainly not feeling the romance. I don’t see any chemistry there at all.

A fellow GR-er pointed out and made me realised that this is the typical YA plot of ‘save the sibling’ and also, I felt a similarity to The Hunger Games where Katniss is knocked out and misses as the action -_- Yes Peryn missed out on the biggest juiciest part of the action, but I’m so glad she was still conscious for it and witnessed it – unlike Katniss -_-

There’s a lot of things intruging me about this series and so I will definitely carry on! I seriously wanna know wtf those scorpion things were! EWWW! xD