This book handles the concept of blackmail and coming out really well for the most part. These are some heavy, sensitive topics, and I think it helps that it's such a unique take on the situation. Usually when we see storylines like this they involve the protagonist giving in to their blackmailer, but this time we got to see Amir actually leave the country and spend a month away from home and away from some of the things that scared him most which I think in the end was good for him. I really enjoyed this book.
It was a quick read, with interesting characters in a lovingly described setting. It is diverse and it handles culture and queerness carefully and honestly. It doesn't shy away from real world prejudice. It's not a book that focuses on romance, although there are aspects of that which run throughout. The focus of How it All Blew Up is on family, bravery, and honesty. It's about how running away from your problems won't solve them, and that you have to be brave and face them head on sometimes, but for me it also shows that sometimes leaving is the right thing to do. I don't know how everyone else feels, or if this is what the author intended, but for me Amir made the right choice to leave because that's what he felt safest doing. He was true to his own feelings and wants. Amir thinks the way a lot of queer people do-- a points system forever building in our heads to try and tot up if the people we love will still love us when they know the true us. We are often surrounded by coming out horror stories, and so it's no wonder that when Amir felt trapped he chose to leave it behind, and in doing so he found himself in the freedom that gave him. I do wish we'd have gotten to see slightly more retaliation against the people who tried to blackmail him in the first place, and i'd have liked to see more of what happened to the characters after the events of the book, but it was a well rounded novel which was written in quite a unique format with the way it interspersed scenes in Italy with scenes from the present. It really felt like a story was being told. Overall I would recommend this to anyone who wants a story about self discovery. It is a coming out story but in a very unique format and though Amir doesn't always do things the right way, he's brave on his own terms and in his own way a lot of the time. There are situations he's forced into, by family and by friends, and by blackmailers too, but he looks after himself, and that takes a lot of bravery. By the end of the novel I was proud of him and how far he'd come.
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4/5 STARSSYNOPSIS
The Wicked Deep meets A Curse So Dark and Lonely in this gripping, dark fairy-tale fantasy about two girls who must choose between saving themselves, each other, or their sinking island city. REVIEW Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This was such a lovely book. I enjoyed the writing style, I liked the characters, I liked how no one was perfect and everyone had their dark side, or weaknesses. And I really like how it portrayed fear and what fear can make you do, whether it's fear for yourself or fear for other people. I am always here for sapphic stories, and I'm always here for witches, ESPECIALLY when those witches are tied so heavily with the ocean. I don't know why but magic and the sea go so perfectly well together that I just can't resist them, and this story, which takes place on the edge of the water, is no different. The magic system was also really interesting. I loved the way that it was described, and the way that it was vicious and unique and oh my gosh I loved the sea serpent so much. The plot itself was good too, I was eager from the start to know how the story was going to end, if they'd find a way to get around the sacrifice, if Eva would mirror her sister or Lina would step forward, and in the end it wasn't what I had expected (which is a good thing) but I'm not going to spoil that here, you'll have to find out for yourself! As for the romance, well. Let me tell you. I'm also a sucker for enemies to lovers which is basically the main trope of this book so I was living my best life. I would have liked a little more time to develop the relationship between Lina and Eva as the romance of it kind of hit a bit fast (One more thing i'm a sucker for: slow burn haha) but they had great chemistry and I had SUCH a crush on Eva so I'm not going to complain too much haha. Overall this book was really fun. I'm so happy to have read it, and I can't wait to have a physical copy too because that cover is gorgeous and I'm obsessed. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of witchy books with f/f romance and a wonderful atmosphere. First of all thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This was a very fun read. I love the superhero trope and I love diverse fiction and this book had both in spades. We have a lovely side f/f relationship and a very sweet best friends to lovers type main relationship which from the start is the definition of cute backed up by a dash of the miscommunication trope and a heaping pile of the pining trope. There's also a hearty helping of second hand embarrassment which you tend to find a lot in these types of awkward teen main character books, but it wasn't enough to frustrate me or put me off, which can sometimes be the case. The plot itself was pretty simple, as superhero type stories tend to be, and I guessed the vast majority of the twists before they happened, but I didn't really mind that. There was one occasion where I was like 'ok just get to the reveal already!' but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. I liked what Klune did with these twists, even if I saw them coming, it felt a lot more unique than what I originally thought was going to be the case (Vague review is vague hahaha). In terms of character relationships there were several good, healthy ones that shone through, and one which wasn't really healthy OR unhealthy but was very interesting (I'm trying to do a spoiler free review here haha, sorry if that's super vague). Nick's friend group is great. I liked them all, although I will say I kind of felt like a lot of the interaction between them all was very reminiscent of the interaction between the friend group in The Lightning Struck Heart and that did kind of pull me out of the story a bit. I'm not sure if it's just me, I've read the Wolfsong series and The House in the Cerulean Sea and never got that vibe before so maybe it's because these characters are so young? I'm not sure. The relationship between Nick and his dad, however, played a huge part in why I liked The Extraordinaries. Klune is very good at writing good parents who are accepting and loving, and who like to embarrass their kids almost as much as they like to protect them, and I can't get enough of this in YA books. It's refreshing and it feels good to read. Overall I recommend this book to anyone who loves superheroes, especially the kind with cheesy lines and banter. It's fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously, but there are moments of emotion in the book that made me tear up a little. It felt very wholesome, if that makes sense. I am kind of side eyeing if a sequel is planned though, because with the way it ended, (which isn't a cliffhanger precisely but definitely has elements of it), it could definitely benefit from one, and I think it would be even better than the first book because all the groundwork has been laid.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher and author for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for a review! I also got a copy in my Fairyloot box in May with a very pretty pink cover and artwork on the reverse of the dust jacket! This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year so I had a lot of expectations placed on it, which is mostly my own fault, but i'm a little sad that I was a little disappointed with this book. For the first chunk it felt like it dragged too much, and I was a little bored and I didn't really feel anything for any of the characters, there was just no attachment to them for me. The second half, on the other hand was much better, I loved the twist (which I hadn't seen coming) and I liked the way it ramped up to be more action packed and interesting. I think overall the worldbuilding was also done very well, which helped with setting the story and making me want to know how it ended. As a fairytale it works very well, it follows the same basic structure and tone (though I can't pretend to be super knowledgeable about this, i'm just going off of experience in reading the odd one) and does a good job of it. The writing is pretty and descriptive and the book itself is wonderfully diverse. I love the inclusion of a f/f romance and I will forever be excited that LGBTQ book are getting hyped up and also getting included in book boxes. Overall, if the first half of the book had captured me just a little more, and if i'd felt more connection to the characters my rating would have been a 4/5 instead of a 3.5/5. But despite my own slight quarrel with the characters and the pacing, I still recommend this, especially to people who absolutely love fairytales because it very much has that vibe and we don't see all that many queer ones either, so this is a great addition to the genre. I have been! so! absent! Ahh! I got swallowed down the bookstagram hole haha. That's where i've been spending the majority of my time for the past month, so feel free to come join me over there, I'm @rainbowbooksandbeyond. How have you been? Hope you're all staying safe in these hectic times! In the month of May I read 11 books, which i'm very happy with since I hit a slump eary to mid may and only really battled out of it in the last week when I decided to challenge myself to read 7 books in 7 days (spoiler: I won!). The books I read last month were: The Gravity of Us 4/5 I'll Give You the Sun 4/5 Serpent & Dove 4/5 Into the Blue 4/5 Date Me, Bryson Keller 4/5 Bloom 5/5 Heartstopper Volume 1, 2 and 3 5/5 The Sunken Mall 5/5 Runaways (2017) Volume 1 4/5 Out of all of these Heartstopper, Bloom and the Sunken Mall were my favourites. The art of Bloom, with the way it only used blue as a colour, was absolutely breathtaking, and the sweetness of Heartstopper with the underlying more serious tone that the plot sometimes has, was beautiful. 100% recommend these. The Sunken Mall is written by K.D. Edwards and is therefore, always going to wow me, but stepping back into the world of the Tarot Sequence felt especially needed with all the stress going on. This month my aim is to read at least 10 books, and I've already finished The Fascinators, which was a great opener to the month although the ending slightly let it down. I'm going to finished A Gathering of Shadows, which I started on the 1st too, as a buddy read, and start another buddy re-read of the Mortal Instruments. 5/5 starsSYNOPSIS: A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend--the man he trusts most and might even love--only to learn that he's secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire. Ettian Nassun's life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded. He's spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he's met Gal Veres--his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who's made the Academy feel like a new home. But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised Academy unscathed, rattled both that Gal stands to inherit the empire that broke him and that there are still people willing to fight back against Umber rule. As they piece together a way to deliver Gal safely to his throne, Ettian finds himself torn in half by an impossible choice. Does he save the man who's won his heart and trust that Gal's goodness could transform the empire? Or does he throw his lot in with the brewing rebellion and fight to take back what's rightfully theirs? REVIEW: Bonds of Brass has been on my radar for a while now and as soon as I saw the cover and the synopsis I knew it was going to be one of my most anticipated reads of the year... which is why it was so frustrating when my order took so long to come that I ended up buying the audio version too only to have the book show up the next day haha. (The narration, by the way, is very well done in the audiobook version so if you're into listening to your books then definitely check that out). Once I'd finally managed to start the book I didn't appreciate the need to stop for essentials such as food and sleep. I mean, c'mon. This is a sci fi book with heavy Star Wars vibes, it has a potential friends to lovers relationship where bed sharing is not only a trope that is used with great delight, but also is less "there's only one bed," and more "there's two beds but I want to sleep close to you." So you can maybe see why sleep and food kind of went off the radar for me haha. Now, from an objective POV Bonds of Brass is incredibly well written. The characters are diverse and layered. The worldbuilding is well done and deep as sci fi world building kind of has to be in order to make a great background to the plot. Taking of which, the plot was great. It was twisty and turny and while I did guess the big twist it was still satisfying, and though it didn't play out in the way I had hoped it would, it still left me desperate for the second book. From a Lauren POV however it does do the thing at the end that I hate, which is introduce a huge cliffhanger. And, like, without getting into too much detail, you know as you have the cliffhangers that are like "well darn! Wonder what's gonna happen now!" and then the cliffhangers which have you shaking your first at the sky asking for revenge like "WHY GOD WHY?" well for me this was definitely the second. I can't give you any more context because to do so would be to ruin it a bit, and also because when you read and get to the end I want you to suffer like me haha. Basically, overall, Bonds of Brass was a delight. I had high expectations from the start and it managed to hit them, which isn't always the case with hyped up books. The one thing that I wasn't a fan of was the ending but that's because on a personal level I just hate cliffhangers, as much as I can appreciate why they're used. If I take a step back and try to be objective about it you'd find me rolling around on the floor, clutching the book and screeching for a day straight because hot DAMN did that ending smash it out of the park in a very exciting way that spells very good, very tense things for book two... This is a double review! I reviewed Crown of Feathers but only posted it on Goodreads as it was before I made my blog, so I'm posting that on here, and then reviewing Heart of Flames also! I had a sister, once… In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart. I promised her the throne would not come between us. Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks. But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled. Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all. Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken. Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands. Crown of Feathers4/5 Stars** Spoiler Alert ** Crown of Feathers is a strong start to what is shaping up to be a delightful trilogy with a very interesting concept. I love novels where humans have special bonds with animals especially magical animals like dragons and the like so this was right down my street. It is told in multiple POV chapters which I usually don’t like as a personal preference of mine but I'm so glad that it was done this way because otherwise I never would have got a look into my favourite character's head in the way that I did. Of the POVs we see Sev was by far my favourite. I wasn’t really taken with Tristan, he was nice and all, just boring. The other one is the main character, Veronyka, who I liked even if there were moments when she frustrated me. Her relationship with her sister, Val, was particularly interesting and fraught with tension and I can't wait to see how things progress. As I said before, Sev was definitely my favourite. His budding relationships with Trix and Kade were fantastically written and out of all the characters I think his arc shows the most character growth. And the chemistry he has with Kade? Off the charts and so well written. It's so nice to see some LGBTQ representation in fantasy books where the character being gay isn't a big issue. I did feel like the POV chapters were a bit unbalanced. Veronyka is the main character so she is the most featured, but because there are multiple POVs it kind of feels like it's also trying to be an ensemble cast at the same time, which doesn't work with the amount of focus on Veronyka. (Lauren from the future is happy to tell you that having read Heart of Flames, this is fixed to an extent, I don't know if we actually saw more of Sev or if it just felt that way, but it felt more balanced overall). Heart of Flames4.5/5 Stars** Spoiler Alert ** Heart of Flames is an absolute brick of a book with cover art as beautiful as the art on Crown of Feathers. There are over 600 pages of action, tension and worldbuilding. I gave this a 4.5 because I enjoyed almost every aspect about the book apart from one, but we'll get to that later. First of all, I liked Tristan a lot more in this book than I did in the first. He's grown up and grown on me quite a bit which is very relieving because I was kind of dreading reading his POVs. I loved that Eliott was given POV chapters too, it helped to get more in his head and understand his motivations for his actions in the first book, and also to see as he started to make amends and bond with Sparrow (who, by the way, is literally one of the best child characters I've come across). I also really liked the part that Val played in the story, although the ending makes me very nervous. It was frustrating to see Veronyka and her go back and forth in what felt like the same dance multiple times but as a character I find her enchanting (I have a thing for bad bad lady characters, so sue me). It was so interesting to find out more about her background, how she and her sister interacted, and I loved seeing more of her old crew. The worldbuilding is, as always, great. And of course, the best part about this book was Sev and his continued (and working) efforts to worm his way into my heart as the best character in the entire series. His relationship with Kade started to blossom, his courage continued to grow, and just when I was ready to shout for joy he made a hard, but right, decision which left him and Kade seperated again. I absolutely love slow burn romances. I love them. When they're done right, as this one was with all the build up and will they won't they, it's the best thing. This leads me onto the thing I wasn't so keen on. It's not the biggest issue ever but I'm really not a fan of the relationship between Veronyka and Tristan. It just feels a bit?? I'm not sure. I didn't have any problems with it in the first book, even though I wasn't exactly a big Tristan fan, but something about it just doesn't sit right with me in this one. It might be because I hate the fact that he prioritises Veronyka over his existing group so easily. One of the characters in the books even points it out himself. I'm a really big fan of the found family trope so I feel like this book missed out on having their phoenix troop be their own little family. I would have liked to see Tristan respecting his fellow riders a bit more, especially as his position as their leader and especially considering that yes sure Veronyka is cool and all but some of these other people have been training a hell of a lot longer than her, and it must feel to them like she just waltzed in, lied to everyone and then kind of took over all of Tristan's attention. Overall though, I can't wait for the third book and for Sev and Kade's reunion. I want to find out what the discovery at the end means for everyone, I want to see Kade do that thing that he was going to do with that thing he was given (it's a big spoiler okay, even I can't give that away so easily haha), I want to know what happens with Sev and Tristan and I want... you know what? I want Sparrow to be a phoenix rider haha, that's my final want.
3/5I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher and author for this opportunity. This was a very well crafted story, and different to anything I've read before. The format is basically two people having a conversation, one of them is a cleric and the other an old woman, and the old woman, Rabbit, tells a story of an exiled empress who rises to power again. It's difficult for me to quite wrap my head around how I feel about this book. It's wonderfully diverse, with queer characters, including a non binary (they/them) protagonist called Chih, and the mythology of the world/political system seems very interesting, but nothing about the story grabbed me. It didn't make me FEEL anything. I was more drawn in by the story that Rabbit was telling than the present day story of Rabbit, Chih and Almost Brilliant, but even that felt a little boring at times. Considering how short the story is I think it did a good job of trying to pack in a lot of details about the world that these characters live in, but I just don't think this was for me. This isn't to say that it isn't worth the read though because the writing itself is very well done, the world is interesting, I think I just need a bit more action to keep me paying attention. 4/5I was provided with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this opportunity. The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea is a fantastic, lyrical book full of pirates and escape from danger. It's also packed full of love, both romantic and familial. I am always here for a good mermaid book, and the mythology of mermaids and their connection to the sea was absolutely beautifully written in this one. Flora and her brother Alfie are young pirates on the Dove, a ship captained by a tyrannical, mermaid-blood drinking man who, along with his crew, pretend their ship is a passenger ship, and plan to sell everyone on board to slavery. Lady Evelyn has just been promised in marriage and is therefore leaving her home and travelling by ship to her new spouse. When Flora and Evelyn meet, Flora is Florian, as she is only safe on the pirate ship as a he, (there's no official wording that I remember, but as far as I can tell Florian is non-binary and mostly used she/her). and with some resistance on Florian's part, the two strike up a friendship. The Mermaid, The Witch and The Sea is a tale told in several parts, from several POVs. We have Florian and Evelyn themselves, and then Rake, the captains first mate, and even the sea herself, mother to the mermaids. As always, I do prefer books written from one POV rather than multiple, but I must admit it works very well in this story. I especially liked seeing the parts written from the eyes of the sea. It was a unique way to read. The relationship between Florian and Evelyn is a huge part of this book, and in fact sets in motion their need for escape in the first place, and it is written so well, and so sweetly. From Evelyn teaching Florian how to read to Florian abandoning all she'd ever known to make sure that Evelyn was safe. All the characters in this book are intriguing and unique but these two by far were my favourites. I thought the ending, though slightly bitter sweet in some respects, was done perfectly. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who loves pirates, mermaids, or adventures at sea. I would have liked to see a little more of the sailing the open waters aspect that I enjoy about pirate books, but it didn't make a huge impact to not have much of that in this one, as the story was more about Florian and Evelyn finding freedom and happiness together rather than Evelyn learning how to steer a boat. I also would have liked to see more of Alfie, but the majority of the book wasn't spent in his presence so I guess that's understandable. The magic system, along side the mythology was also very well put together. The world building in general was done well, everything felt connected and polished and I enjoyed my visit into it. IF the author should ever decide to take another dip into this world... well I definitely wouldn't say no!
4.25/5This is such a sweet, light book, while at the same time it deals with grief and illness (someone in Ollie's family, not Ollie himself). Reminiscent of Grease, Ollie and Will have a summer romance that is lovely and intense, and when it's over Will drops off the map. Fate intervenes however, and after summer is finished they end up at the same school together when Ollie's family move to be closer to his Aunt, who is very sick. While Will does indeed frustrate Ollie at first, he meets a handful of other people he becomes close with. Juliette, Lara and Niamh are a trio of friends who end up adopting Ollie into their fold (some less willingly than others) and Ollie soon finds his feet at his new school. One of my favourite parts of this book is the relationships between Ollie and the girls, and the girls themselves. Juliette wants a career in music, Niamh wants to be a plus size model and Lara, though she starts off cold and abrasive, turns out to be someone Ollie has the most in common with, in many ways. The journey across the pages of them meshing of a group was so well done. At times the girls didn't get on, but overwhelmingly it was an example of positive female friendship, of girls who are there for each other, and who are there for Ollie, now that he's their friend too. There's one scene involving a dagger (you'll know it when you read it, it's not an actual dagger) that made me cry like a baby at how far Lara and Ollie had come. (Some spoilers in this next two paragraphs)The Afraid-to-come-out story was handled well too, in my opinion. Will is scared of his friend's reactions, and of his family's reactions, because he's "supposed" to be the typical guy jock, but as his feelings for Ollie grow, so does his bravery. The fact that at the end of it he comes out on his terms, and not because Ollie is pressuring him, was such a relief, as I hate the trope of "well if you loved me you'd be out." Ollie himself had a great character arc where he went from being annoyed at every move that Will made that Ollie interpreted as Will showing he didn't care, to realising that in many ways Will was trying to meet him halfway and Ollie himself hadn't been doing that. Overall, this is such a lovely book to read. It's lighthearted in some aspects and heavier in others (be warned, it does deal with the idea and reality of death and I did sit there reading with tears streaming down my face several times over the course of reading), but overwhelmingly it's about life, and living it to the fullest and being there for the people you love. "When someone you love needs you, you step up." is the motto of this book, as well as a direct quote, and I think the world would be a better place if we all acted on that. |
Reviewer26. Capricorn. INFP. Hufflepuff. Archives
October 2020
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