Book Review: Binti: Home And Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Binti: Home by Nnedi Okorafor

Published January 2017 by Tor.com|164 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Binti #2

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi

It’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she abandoned her family in the dawn of a new day.

And now she must return home to her people, with her friend Okwu by her side, to face her family and face her elders.

But Okwu will be the first of his race to set foot on Earth in over a hundred years, and the first ever to come in peace.

After generations of conflict can human and Meduse ever learn to truly live in harmony?

I liked this one!  Not as much as Binti, and I didn’t love it.  I wanted to love it, but it didn’t capture my attention the way Binti did.

I liked seeing what was going on with Binti, and the journey she took with her grandmother.  I did like seeing how much things had changed for her, and how differently people saw her because of everything that happened in the previous book.

Still, I felt like what actually happened in the book does not match up with how the book is described in the blurb.  I thought we’d be seeing more of Okwu on earth and working with humans for peace.  Instead, we get a completely different story involving Binti realizing that’s more special and different than we could ever imagine.  She’s great at math, and has alien DNA, and this novella added another element to how special Binti was.  I don’t mind when characters are super-special, but in Binti: Home, it really bothered me for some reason.

So, I felt like this one was more of an afterthought.  Binti (the first novella) felt like a pretty complete story and was pretty contained.  This one, not so much.  It somehow seemed more rushed and much more of a rough outline than the previous novella.  Even though it’s longer than Binti, I wanted more development with the characters and the world.  Particularly with this book.  It kind of makes me wonder what Okorafor would do with the idea if it had been a novel from the very beginning.

My Rating: 3 stars.  I like the character and the world she lives in.  It has a lot of potential, but I think the novella format is working against the story, because it could definitely be expanded into something a lot longer.

Book: Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor

Published January 2018 by Tor.com|208 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Binti #3

Genre: Adult Sci-Fi

The concluding part of the highly-acclaimed science fiction trilogy that began with Nnedi Okorafor’s Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning BINTI.

Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse.

Far from her village when the conflicts start, Binti hurries home, but anger and resentment has already claimed the lives of many close to her.

Once again it is up to Binti, and her intriguing new friend Mwinyi, to intervene–though the elders of her people do not entirely trust her motives–and try to prevent a war that could wipe out her people, once and for all.

Don’t miss this essential concluding volume in the Binti trilogy.

I thought The Night Masquerade was okay.  I’ve liked this series to varying degrees, and even though I liked seeing how Binti tried to make peace between the Meduse and the Khoush, I still didn’t like it as much as I wanted to.

One of my issues with this trilogy is how short each volume is.  I know they’re meant to be novellas, but I just wanted something longer.  There’s a lot that could be expanded on and developed, and Night Masquerade is no exception.

There was something towards the end that seemed randomly introduced, and I don’t know that it worked.  The series has been fine with no romance- I really liked that there was no romance and I liked seeing how much the events of the first novella changed Binti’s life.  I liked seeing her go back home and try to get things resolved between the Meduse and the Khoush.  I liked seeing how people saw her differently because she not only went away to school but because she was Meduse as well.

I didn’t care for the romance at all.  It felt sudden, and though it sort of makes sense, I also was fine without it.

I know people love this series, and Okorafor is pretty amazing.  She creates these amazing worlds, but with this book in particular, I kind of feel like novellas are too short of a format for her.  It’s nice to see her do something slightly different, but part of me wishes I had just read Binti and not continued on with the series.  I don’t regret seeing it through to the end, but I had a hard time with the length.

It’s not the book at all- I really do think it’s just me.  Maybe I’m just too used to reading her novels and that’s why I had a hard with the novella.  It would be interesting to read a full-length version of these stories, because there’s a lot she could explore in Binti’s world.

My Rating: 2 stars.  I wanted to like this one more but the length didn’t work for me.  I don’t know that I’m necessarily the right audience for this book, and even though there were things I didn’t like, I do really like the world she created.

Book Review: Shadow Of The Fox by Julie Kagawa

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Shadow Of The Fox by Julie Kagawa

Published October 2018 by Harlequin Teen|409 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Shadow Of The Fox #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.

Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.

Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

There are many who would claim the dragon’s wish for their own. Kage Tatsumi, a mysterious samurai of the Shadow Clan, is one such hunter, under orders to retrieve the scroll…at any cost. Fate brings Kage and Yumeko together. With a promise to lead him to the scroll, an uneasy alliance is formed, offering Yumeko her best hope for survival. But he seeks what she has hidden away, and her deception could ultimately tear them both apart.

With an army of demons at her heels and the unlikeliest of allies at her side, Yumeko’s secrets are more than a matter of life or death. They are the key to the fate of the world itself.

This is a book I’ve been excited about for a while.  I’ve loved Julie Kagawa since I read the Iron Fey series years ago, and I’ve been a fan ever since.  I really liked her Talon series and her Blood Of Eden series, so I figured I’d like this one.

This series and I did not get off on the right foot.  Like the first book in her Talon series, I thought it was okay.  If it had been most any author, I probably would have given up on it completely.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this series and I are having a rocky start, and that I’ll end up liking the series more in the 2nd book.  I’ve been in a weird reading mood lately, so that might be part of why I didn’t love this book.

Part of it, unfortunately, is the book.

I thought a lot of it was confusing, and I had a hard time keeping up with the 3 perspectives.  It wasn’t clear to me who was narrating what chapter, and it took a while to figure out that 3 people were narrating the book.  I did like the 3 different perspectives, and maybe, when I’m not in this weird reading mood, I’ll re-read this book.  I really did like the idea and the mythology, thought I’m not at all familiar with the mythology we see in the book.

That was another thing I found confusing.  I felt like a like of names were thrown at me, and while I’m not completely sure how much she was drawing from real mythology (or what mythology was her inspiration), it was hard to keep up.  I did like the glossary at the end of the book, but by then, I didn’t particularly care.  And honestly, the names didn’t stick with me at all, so it didn’t really do me any good.  I still appreciated it though, and it’s good to know for when I pick this book up again.  I really do want to give this book another chance, and I’m hoping I’ll like it a lot better on the 2nd read- with my current mood, though, I’m half-tempted to try the audio book, since the idea of listening is much more appealing than reading.  At least, that’s where I’m at right now, but that could change.

Anyway, back to the book.  I like the idea of a scroll that grants a wish to whoever holds it.  I like the idea of it being hidden by monks, and while it’s horrible that Yumeko’s home was burned, I also like the idea that she’s the Great Hope of the future.  Like I said, the idea is really cool, even if I found things confusing and muddled when I read it.

Is it predictable?  Of course it is.  Her series are pretty predictable, and they do have the same tropes.  I don’t mind it, because her series all have different enough story lines, so it doesn’t get in the way of my enjoyment of her books.  But sometimes, like with Shadow Of The Fox or Talon, it takes a while to warm up to the series.

2 stars.  I’m definitely going to keep reading this series, even though this book was okay for me.  My love for the author, and the fact that it’s a cool idea is why it’s getting 2 stars instead of 1, and I’m hoping that I’ll like the rest of the series better.

Book Review: Allegiance Of Honor by Nalini Singh

Posted in Books by

Book: Allegiance Of Honor by Nalini Singh

Published June 2016 by Berkley|478 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #15

Genre: Adult Romance/Adult Paranormal Romance

The “unparalleled romantic adventure”* of Nalini Singh’s New York Times bestselling series continues as a new dawn begins for the Psy-Changeling world… 

The Psy-Changeling world has undergone a staggering transformation and now stands at a crossroads. The Trinity Accord promises a new era of cooperation between disparate races and groups. It is a beacon of hope held together by many hands: Old enemies. New allies. Wary loners.

But a century of distrust and suspicion can’t be so easily forgotten and threatens to shatter Trinity from within at any moment. As rival members vie for dominance, chaos and evil gather in the shadows and a kidnapped woman’s cry for help washes up in San Francisco, while the Consortium turns its murderous gaze toward a child who is the embodiment of change, of love, of piercing hope: A child who is both Psy…and changeling.

To find the lost, protect the vulnerable—and save Trinity—no one can stand alone. This is a time of loyalty across divisions, of bonds woven into the heart and the soul, of heroes known and unknown standing back to back and holding the line. But is an allegiance of honor even possible with traitors lurking in their midst?

I don’t even know where to start for this review!  I mean, I liked Allegiance Of Honor, but not as much as I thought I would or as much as I wanted to.  I really did want to like it more, but I think, after Heart Of Obsidian, I started to lose interest a little bit.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this series, and I really love the world.  I liked catching up with all of my favorite characters, and seeing how everything was resolved.  I liked seeing everyone come together for the Trinity Accord, and how important it was for Trinity to stay standing.  Everyone wanted a better world for all Psy, Changelings and humans, though some groups seemed more interested in saving the Psy.

It’s just…the world as we know it got so big, and I felt like we only saw glimpses of the characters we’ve come to know and love.  There’s a lot to wrap up, and with a world like this one, everything moved pretty fast.  Some things weren’t resolved (like the Architect and the Consortium), and for a group that seems like a pretty big threat to Trinity, I expected more resolution to it.

But there’s also a sequel series, so some of the things that aren’t resolved in this book/series will probably be the focus of that series.  That’s what I’m hoping, anyway, because otherwise, I’m not really sure what the point of introducing them was.

If I thought the character lists were getting longer…well, let’s just the character list featured at the beginning of this book was the longest we’ve seen so far.  Understandable considering we’ve met a lot of characters along the way.  But one of the things I gave up on books ago was trying to keep a lot of characters straight, especially the side characters.  But also some of the main couples as well.  I had a hard time remembering a lot of the newer characters, and as much as I liked catching up with some of the characters, it also felt a little bit unfocused to me.  Maybe it’s because of all of the characters we followed in this one.

I think part of why I only liked this one is that it felt like a really long epilogue.  Everyone’s happy, things are mostly okay, but things are also setting things up for the next series.  I’ve enjoyed the series, and I liked that it was for the fans…but…it also seems like it’s more for the hardcore fans of the series.  I like Singh and this massively amazing world she built, but it was a little too happy and sunshine and rainbows for me.  Or maybe I just wasn’t in that mood when I was reading the book.

I think I just missed the overall story that we got in the previous books, and I kind of missed that in this book.  It just wasn’t there enough in this one but in a series this long, you’re not going to love every single book.  I just wanted something with a little more action to it, I think.

3 stars.  It’s not one of my favorite books in this series, but I liked it enough.  It’ll be interesting to see how some of the things in this book come up in the following books.

Book Review: Shards Of Hope by Nalini Singh

Posted in Books by

Book: Shards Of Hope by Nalini Singh

Published June 2015  by Berkley Hardcover|483 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #14

Genre: Adult Romance/Adult Paranormal Romance

The “smoldering heat, epic romance, and awesome action” of Nalini Singh’s New York Times bestselling series continues as two Arrows find themselves caught in a chilling conspiracy that spans all three races…

Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira.

I really liked Shards Of Hope! We find out more about Aden and we actually see some different changeling packs, which was nice.

Don’t get me wrong, I love SnowDancer and DarkRiver, don’t get me wrong, but other changeling packs are mentioned throughout the series, and it was nice to see the Psy-Changeling word beyond San Fransisco. Particularly the Changeling world, because I feel like like we do get glimpses of the Psy world outside of San Fransisco, but not the changeling world.

Aden was ap retty mysterious figure, but I’m not surprised, considering he’s an Arrow. Obviously, Silence is really important for him, especially as the leader of the Arrows. It’s interesting that he was so underestimated in terms of his power, and with the updates from the PsyNet and the livestream comments, it’s obvious people seem to either love him or hate him. Well, I don’t know that love and hate is the best way to put, but people have some really different thoughts about Aden as the leader of the Arrows. There’s more to him than people thought, and I’m glad they finally saw that Aden is the one who should be leading the Arrows. Even though he’s Psy, he’s obviously their Alpha, and I really liked seeing how much he wanted to change things, particularly for the kids.

I was really hesitant about the romance between him and Zaira, especially since I wasn’t a fan of the romance in the previous book. Zaira wasn’t cold like I expected her to be, and it was obvious she’d follow Aden to the ends of the earth. I liked them together slightly better than the one in the previous book, but I still wasn’t completely into it. This part of the series is clearly wrapping up, and I’ve found that as the series went on, I wasn’t also interested in the romance. Maybe the Psy-Psy romance focused books aren’t my thing as far as the romance goes, but I do really like the series, so even though I might not love the romance, I still really like the world.

Shards Of Hope does build on Shield Of Winter, and I know I already mentioned how much I liked seeing more of the Arrows and how much he wanted to incorporate the really cool things the changelings are doing with their young. I thought it really showed how willing he was to make things better for the Arrow kids and how there are different (and maybe better) ways of doing things.

With one book left in this series, I don’t know that we’ll see more of the changeling world we were introduced to in this book. I’m hoping we get more of it, but there’s a lot to wrap up- and with a lot of characters too. The character list felt like it went on for pages, and I gave up books ago on trying to keep all of the characters straight because there are so many. This world that Singh built is massive but also awe-inspiring. I’m curious to see where things will go, and how everything (and everyone) will come together. There’s definitely a lot more story to tell, and Singh really could go on for books to come where this series is concerned.

I don’t know, I feel like I’m talking more about the series as a whole than the actual book. I don’t really have anything else to say about the book, but I’ll be glad to read the next book.

3 stars. I liked it but I didn’t love it. Part of it is not being completely invested in the romance (I tend to like the Psy-Changeling romances more than any other pairing), but at this point, I’m pretty curious to see how it will all come together.

Book Review: Shield Of Winter by Nalini Singh

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Shield Of Winter by Nalini Singh

Published June 2014 by Berkley Hardcover|431 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #13

Genre: Adult Romance/Adult Paranormal Romance

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch—if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life. 

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she’ll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness…

I really liked this one!  We finally get Vasic’s book, which was nice.  I was wondering if we’d ever get his book, and I’m glad we did!

I’m curious to see what is next for the Arrows, particularly with Silence falling.  I mean, protecting Silence is their main goal, so I’m wondering if we’ll at least get a glimpse of what their goals are now that things are changing.  It kind of seems like their future is linked with the Empaths, and I wasn’t expecting them to have such a big role in this book.

It makes sense that Empaths are really important to the future of the Psy, so I’m hoping we’ll get more of them as well.  I think Slave To Sensation is the last book that had such an emphasis on Empaths, and I really felt like a lot of this series was building up to both Heart Of Obsidian and Shields Of Winter.  We start to see what a post-Silence world looks like, and with a couple of books left in the series, I’m curious to see how things get wrapped up.  I now things are far from being resolved, and I really do want to know what else is going to go wrong before it gets better.

I like Vasic and Ivy, and I do like them together, but…something about their relationship seemed a little cold to me.  I know Silence is really important for Vasic as an Arrow, and he’s seemed pretty cold whenever he’s popped up in the series before this point.  Maybe it’s just me, but I expected more angst and tortured hero from Vasic.  Considering all of the things he’s had to do, I figured there would be more angst as far as his relationship with Ivy goes.  He’s an Arrow, and she’s an Empath, and I figured there would be more conflict with that, but there wasn’t really enough of it, at least for me.

Maybe I was expecting something like the romance we saw in Slave To Sensation or Caressed By Ice, and that’s why I wasn’t into the romance.  I wish I liked them more together, because I do like them together, and I think they’re a great couple.  I just didn’t love them.

4 stars. I really liked Shield Of Winter, and I’m really curious to see who will be paired together in the next book.  And how the series is going to end.

Book Review: Heart Of Obsidian by Nalini Singh

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Heart Of Obsidian by Nalini Singh

Published November 2013 by Berkley|371 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the paperback from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #12

Genre: Adult Romance/Adult Paranormal Romance

Step into New York Times bestseller Nalini Singh’s explosive and shockingly passionate Psy-Changeling world…

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained bloodred.

A woman whose very existence has been erased.

A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.

A deadly price that must be paid.

The day of reckoning is here.

From “the alpha author of paranormal romance” (Booklist) comes the most highly anticipated novel of her career—one that blurs the line between madness and genius, between subjugation and liberation, between the living and the dead.

This is the book I’ve been waiting for in this whole series, and I’m glad we finally got it!

So, up to this point, it was obvious Kaleb was not only really powerful but also up to something.  We got an idea of what he was really up to in the last book, but this was the book where everything came together.  I wasn’t let down by anything, and there has been a lot of build-up to the events and revelations in Heart Of Obsidian, and I was really nervous it wasn’t going to live up to the expectations I had going into this book.  Either Singh was going to do it justice, or I would be really disappointed in the story.

Thankfully, Singh did it justice, and I had nothing to worry about.  Kaleb makes a lot more sense, and I feel like I understand him a lot better in this book.  He was a character who could go in any number of directions, and I wasn’t sure what to expect with him.  Having read Heart Of Obsidian, I can’t imagine his story being told any other way, and for a book being focused solely on the Psy world, I was really intrigued by what he and Sahara went through.

I’ve always liked the books that focused on both Psy and Changelings- both worlds are so cool and interesting, and it seems like I tend to really like the books where we see both.  It seems like when a book focuses mostly on one, I don’t seem to like it as much.

That wasn’t the case with this one, and I’m not going to lie, I actually liked that this one was so completely focused on the couple.  We didn’t really get any of the other stuff going on in the background, and as much as I love all of the different pieces, it was nice to take a break from everything and focus on one thing.

I know this book has been out for a while, but I’m still hesitant to talk about it because I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t read it.  This is one book where it’s better to go in not knowing a lot.  Unless you like spoilers, which is also cool.  I know I was glad I went into it not knowing anything.

4 stars.  I really liked Sahara and Kaleb together, and I’m glad we finally got Kaleb’s book!

Book Review: Tangle Of Need by Nalini Singh

Posted in Books by

Book: Tangle Of Need by Nalini Singh

Published May 2012 by Berkley|422 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Psy-Changeling #11

Genre: Adult Romance/Paranormal Romance

Adria, wolf changeling and resilient soldier, has made a break with the past—one as unpredictable in love as it was in war. Now comes a new territory, and a devastating new complication: Riaz, a SnowDancer lieutenant already sworn to a desperate woman who belongs to another. 

For Riaz, the primal attraction he feels for Adria is a staggering betrayal. For Adria, his dangerous lone-wolf appeal is beyond sexual. It consumes her. It terrifies her. It threatens to undermine everything she has built of her new life. But fighting their wild compulsion toward one another proves a losing battle. 

Their coming together is an inferno…and a melding of two wounded souls who promise each other no commitment, no ties, no bonds. Only pleasure. Too late, they realize that they have more to lose than they ever imagined. Drawn into a cataclysmic Psy war that may alter the fate of the world itself, they must make a decision that might just break them both.

This one was okay for me.  I mean, I liked seeing everything that happened with the Psy and everything going on with Alice but I wasn’t particularly interested in the romance.  I definitely found myself more interested in the other couples we see in the book, particularly Sienna and Hawke.

I found myself bored with both Adria and Riaz, and I think they’re one of my least favorite couples, if not my least favorite.  I think the fact that he had a mate didn’t help, though it seemed like he really did choose Adria, and that part I did like.  But otherwise, I just had a hard time rooting for them as a couple and I didn’t particularly care about their story.

I just think that all of the other couples and everything going on with the Psy and Arrows took away from their story, and it felt like everything going on with Adria and Riaz took a backseat to everything else going on.  It felt like everything else going on was more important than their relationship.  Who knows, maybe I would have liked them as a couple more if we spent more time with them.

As far as Kaleb goes…I’m wondering what he’s up to.  Clearly, finding someone, and I want to know who it is.  I’m sure all will be revealed soon, and I’m hoping it’s not a disappointment or letdown when we get there.  As for the Ghost, I’m hoping it’s the same as well.  I really hope it’s soon.  It will probably will be, since we only have a few books to go.

I’m not sure what else to say about Tangle Of Need, but I think I will finish with the thought that it’s very much about the aftermath of Kiss Of Snow.  It wrapped up a lot of things we saw in that book, and I’m curious to see where things will go.

2 stars.  As much as it pains me to give this book 2 stars, it really was okay for me.  Still, I think it wraps up a lot of things from the previous book, and it hints at some things I’m sure will come up in the rest of the series.

Book Review: As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows

Posted in Books by

Book: As She Ascends by Jodi Meadows

Published September 2018 by Katherine Tegen Books|550 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: The Fallen Isles #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

MIRA, THE HOPEBEARER
Mira Minkoba is on the run with her friends after a fiery escape from the Pit, where she’d been imprisoned for defending the dragons she loves. And she wants answers. Where have all the dragons been taken? Why are powerful noorestones being shipped to the mainland? And did the treaty she’s been defending her whole life truly sell out the Fallen Isles to their enemies?

MIRA, THE DRAGONHEARTED
As her connection to the dragons—and their power—grows stronger, so does Mira’s fear that she might lose control and hurt someone she loves. But the only way to find the truth is to go home again, to Damina, to face the people who betrayed her and the parents she’s not sure she can trust.

Home, where she must rise above her fears. Or be consumed.

The second page-turning novel in Jodi Meadows’ Fallen Isles trilogy scorches with mysterious magic and riveting romance as one girl kindles a spark into a flame.

I liked this one!  I didn’t like it as much as the first book, but I still want to know what happens next.

I wasn’t a big fan of the timeline in this book, so that didn’t really change from the first book.  It’s slightly better than it was in the first book, and a lot more linear but I still wasn’t a fan of it.  Most of the book is told through Mira’s perspective, but we do get chapters about what happened to Aaru.  Aaru’s chapters are much more linear than the timeline we saw in Before She Ignites, and I liked learning more about what happened to Aaru.

At the same time, though, I just wanted to be in the present.  It did tie in to Mira’s story, at least a little, and I am curious to see if it will tie into the last book as well.

I did like seeing more of the treaty, and what was really going on with it.  It wasn’t what I thought it would be, and it was clear that for a lot of people living in the Fallen Islands that the treaty wasn’t what they thought…or at least, what some people thought.  I was surprised by everything with the Treaty, and while part of me is hoping everything is okay with Mira’s parents, part of me is hoping things are not okay.

Mira really finds an inner strength that we didn’t see before, and I really hated that her worth as a person- for some people- depended on her looks and her doing what people told her to do.  It made me angry, because Mira is a good person, who wants a better world.  She wants to help dragons and her people, and all some people want is a pretty figurehead to further their own agenda.

I’ve really liked seeing Mira grow and change, and I’m sure we’ll see more of that in the next book.  Part of me didn’t like that she didn’t want to take her medication for anxiety, but…I can also understand not wanting to use when you’re unsure if you’ll be able to get more.  So much is depending on her, so I’m hoping…what, exactly, I don’t know, but there’s something about it that I didn’t like, and I can’t pinpoint why.  I’m also not sure where I want it to go, but part of me hopes we’ll continue to see Mira deal with her anxiety.

3 stars.  I liked it, and I liked Mir’s journey in this book.  There’s a lot I’m hoping we’ll see in the next book, and I’m hoping we don’t get past and present in the next book, because it really hasn’t worked for me in this book.

Book Review: Heart Of Thorns by Bree Barton

Posted in Books by

Book: Heart Of Thorns by Bree Barton

Published July 2018 by Katherine Tegen Books|438 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Heart Of Thorns #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

Inventive and heart-racing, this fiercely feminist teen fantasy trilogy from debut author Bree Barton examines a dark kingdom in which only women can possess magic—and every woman is suspected of having it.

Mia Rose wants only one thing: revenge against the Gwyrach—feared, reviled, and magical women—who killed her mother. After years training under her father’s infamous Hunters, Mia is ready. She will scour the four kingdoms, find her mother’s murderer, and enact the Hunters’ Creed: heart for a heart, life for a life.

But when Mia is thrust into the last role she ever wanted—promised wife to the future king—she plots a daring escape. On her wedding night, Mia discovers something she never imagined: She may be a Huntress, but she’s also a Gwyrach. As the truth comes to light, Mia must untangle the secrets of her own past. Now if she wants to survive, Mia must learn to trust her heart . . . even if it kills her.

I liked this one! I didn’t love it, for a few reasons, but there were also some things I really liked as well.

So…what didn’t I like about Heart Of Thorns?

For one thing, it’s pretty predictable. I mean, Mia is set to get married at the beginning of the book, but it’s not something she wants. And of course, Mia is the very thing she hates, especially after what happened to her mom. It’s predictable in the sense that she has to learn how to accept the thing she’s been trained to hate. I didn’t mind the predictability of Heart Of Thorns, but I can’t say I’m surprised by pretty much anything that happens in the book.

Wanting to protect her sister, I get. Finding out that her sister wasn’t who she thought wasn’t a surprise. Her dad maybe trying to help her out even though he doesn’t seem to care about her? A dead mother who had a secret, but left behind information Mia needed? None of that was surprising.

And I skimmed over the parts where Mia was reading what her mother had left behind. I don’t mind cursive/the handwriting-type font, and I get needing to differentiate between what her mother wrote and the rest of the book, but I found it a little bit hard to read, so I sort of skimmed and got bits and pieces. I wish it had been a little easier to read, but that’s just my preference.

I was curious to find out what happened to her mom, but I wasn’t really interested in that part as much as I wanted it to be. Maybe it’s because I pretty much skipped over that part of the book, and I did like everything with her sister…well, all of the stuff towards the end of the book. I was definitely surprised by the end of the book, which was less predictable than I thought it would be. Was it still predictable? Of course if was. But it was less predictable than I thought it would be, considering everything that had happened for most of the book. It’s took bad the rest of the book wasn’t like the ending. I hate it when books only get interesting at the end, and this book was no exception.

Mia definitely learns that everything she knew about the Gwyrach is not necessarily the case, and that was something I really liked about the book. It definitely highlighted how something that only women could do became twisted into something terrible- I did expect something more as far as a sisterhood goes, and it was that part of the book that really shows why the blurb describes this book as a feminist fantasy. I didn’t love it, and it wasn’t enough to warrant stronger feelings but it was something that’s giving the book a higher rating than what it would have received otherwise.

3 stars. I liked it but I don’t know if I’ll continue on with the series. I’m not dying to know what happens next, even if I am slightly intrigued. It’s was entertaining but predictable.

Book Review: Wildcard by Marie Lu

Posted in Books, diverse books by

Book: Wildcard by Marie Lu

Published September 2018 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers|341 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: Warcross #2

Genre: YA Sci Fi

All bets are off. This time the gamble is survival.

Emika Chen barely made it out of the Warcross Championships alive. Now that she knows the truth behind Hideo’s new NeuroLink algorithm, she can no longer trust the one person she’s always looked up to, who she once thought was on her side.

Determined to put a stop to Hideo’s grim plans, Emika and the Phoenix Riders band together, only to find a new threat lurking on the neon-lit streets of Tokyo. Someone’s put a bounty on Emika’s head, and her sole chance for survival lies with Zero and the Blackcoats, his ruthless crew. But Emika soon learns that Zero isn’t all that he seems—and his protection comes at a price.

Caught in a web of betrayal, with the future of free will at risk, just how far will Emika go to take down the man she loves?

I really liked this one!  I was really curious about where things were headed after finishing Warcross a few months ago, and I’m glad we finally found out.

We learn a lot more about Zero in this book, and the mysterious Blackcoats that he works with.  I don’t know what I was expecting with Zero’s story, and why he disappeared years earlier, but I’m also glad we learned more about him.  I was surprised by everything that happened with Hideo- I wasn’t expecting it, but I am glad there were consequences to what he did.  I definitely get why he wanted to find his brother, and the lengths he would go to in order to find him.  At the same time, though, I think his technology could be used in ways he never intended, but hopefully, everything will turn out okay with his algorithm.

Emika…I don’t have strong thoughts about her either way.  She’s a pawn for pretty much the whole book, and I wish she had been able to make more of her own decisions.  Emika is more of a messenger/go-between than anything else, and I really missed the parts where she’s with the Phoenix Riders.  I also missed the actual Warcross elements as well, though I get why we don’t see more of the Phoenix Riders and Warcross.

Wildcard is definitely more about Hideo and Zero, and less about the technology Hideo created.  I liked those parts, don’t get me wrong, but I still wish we had seen more of the other things I really liked about the first book.

Part of me is glad that this was a duology, because I can’t really see how Lu would stretch the story out.  At the same time, part of me wants to see Emika and Hideo’s story beyond what we saw in this book.  Overall, it’s a pretty good conclusion to the story.  The story did move pretty fast, and there were times where I kept forgetting the book only took place over the course of a few days.

4 stars.  I really liked it learning more about Hideo and Zero, but Emika seemed boring in this one.  I also missed the Phoenix Riders and the Warcross elements but it’s still a pretty good good conclusion.