3 Stars

Review: The Queen of the Tearling

08:00

The Queen of the Tearling
By Erika Johansen

 Source: Personal purchase, ebook
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adventure

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother – Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard - each pledged to defend the queen to the death - arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding...

And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea's story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance - it's about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive...


This book looked really intimidating to me before I read it - not only is it almost 500 pages and looks really wordy, but everyone seems to love it. I literally haven’t read a bad review of it! This can be really scary, especially for a book blogger. I was worried I wouldn’t enjoy it as much as everyone else did, but sadly, that was the case.
It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy this book, because that’s not true at all. I did like reading it, but for me, it wasn’t anything special at all. I wasn’t blown away by the plot, the characters, or the world, and I found the writing to be pretty bland. It was readable, and I did want to read on, but I wasn’t hooked at all, and was constantly waiting for something exciting to actually happen.
My favourite aspect of this book was Kelsea, the protagonist. I really liked her - she made the right decisions, and actually had some common sense. She was strong and brave, and I really admired just how tough she was. She was my favourite character by far, and the only thing that made the book bearable.
My main problem was that nothing happened. There were plot points, and there were scenes that I think were meant to be exciting, but for me, it just didn’t work. It wasn’t built up enough, and there was no tension, so the book overall felt a bit dull. I was anticipating greatness, and for it to be super exciting, but sadly that never came.

I would recommend this book to some people, but if high fantasy isn’t really your thing, I don’t think this is the one for you. It takes perseverance, so if you’re looking for a fast-paced, highly exciting novel, I’d recommend something like Half Bad. It was well-written, but left me disappointed with the slow-pacing. I thought it to be a rather dull read.



2 Stars

Review: Magonia

22:29

Magonia
By Maria Dahvana Headley

 Source: Physical copy
Page count: 320
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, 

 Goodreads Synopsis:

 Aza Ray is drowning in thin air. 

Since she was a baby, Aza has suffered from a mysterious lung disease that makes it ever harder for her to breathe, to speak—to live. 

So when Aza catches a glimpse of a ship in the sky, her family chalks it up to a cruel side effect of her medication. But Aza doesn't think this is a hallucination. She can hear someone on the ship calling her name.

Only her best friend, Jason, listens. Jason, who’s always been there. Jason, for whom she might have more-than-friendly feelings. But before Aza can consider that thrilling idea, something goes terribly wrong. Aza is lost to our world—and found, by another. Magonia. 

Above the clouds, in a land of trading ships, Aza is not the weak and dying thing she was. In Magonia, she can breathe for the first time. Better, she has immense power—and as she navigates her new life, she discovers that war is coming. Magonia and Earth are on the cusp of a reckoning. And in Aza’s hands lies the fate of the whole of humanity—including the boy who loves her. Where do her loyalties lie?

 My review:

 I picked this book up expecting to absolutely adore it. I had heard so many good reviews, and the cover was so beautiful... I actually had an argument with my sister on who got to buy it (obviously I won). In the end, it was a huge flop. I actually had to force myself to get through it because it got really slow in the middle.

 The author definitely has a talent for writing. The style was beautiful and vivid: I could find no fault in it. I really liked the fancy formatting too of the book, which paired really nicely with the poetic style. I think I will read books by her in the future because she's obviously very talented. 

 My main problem was the weirdness of the book. I think in the middle it got a little bit confusing and far-fetched, so I found it hard to get into. I thought the concept was clever and original, but just not done well. It got too weird, so I found it hard to believe and got a little bored.

 The characters were very enjoyable. My favourite was Jason because he was written really well, and had an original personality. You could definitely see why Aza liked him, and why they were friends. 

 Another thing that I thought was done well in this book was the romance. A love triangle could easily have been written in, but Aza and Jason stayed loyal to each other throughout the whole book. It didn't detract from the main storyline, but helped to progress it. I usually don't like romance, but in this case, it was done really well.

 Overall, I couldn't really enjoy the book, even though certain elements were done well. I feel like the weirdness and pacing of the book made me lose interest, and by the end I was very ready to finish it. I got bored, so found the book to be a big flop.

 My rating:

4 stars

Review: Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3)

19:38

Throne of Glass
By Sarah J. Maas

 Source: Personal purchase, paperback
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure, 

 Goodreads Synopsis:

 Consumed by guilt and rage, Celaena can't bring herself to spill blood for the King of Adarlan. She must fight back...

The Immortal Queen will help her destroy the king - for a price. But as Celaena battles with her darkest memories and her heart breaks for a love that could never last, can she fulfil the bargain and head the almighty court of Terrasen? And who will stand with her?


 My Review:

 Holy cow this book was awesome! I really enjoyed it, and in my opinion, was definitely the best in the series. Actually, this series just gets better and better, which makes me super excited for Queen of Shadows (hurry up September...!). 

 The plot in this book was so good. It had so many twists and turns, and it's so original - I have never read anything like it before, and it really blew me away. I know the words of this book are going to stick with me forever. 

 Like most books, this was slow to start with. I think I was just in the wrong mood (I was really tired when I first came to read this), but it still made me a bit bored at the start. Though that soon went away - Sarah J. Maas' writing is so beautiful - it really captivates me, and the description makes the world seem to real. 

 The climax of the book was built up to well (there is a battle at the end), and everything linked together well. I was really hooked at the end (like always with Sarah J. Maas' books), and I actually got up really early to finish this (I do not regret my decision. Although I was exhausted at school all day, I just had to find out what happened. The only downside was that all my friends got annoyed at me for being to emotional after this book...). You know an author is good when you miss sleep to read their books!

 Celaena was still as amazing as in the previous books. This book, she did have a little bit too much self-pity, but she was still grieving, so that was to be expected, and just made her seem more real and human. She again saved the day and everyone else, yet still juggled all these emotions and events occurring in her life too. Why can't everyone just be as bad-ass as Celaena?

 In this book the series significantly developed a lot, so new characters were to be expected. I didn't really like reading about Manon Blackbeak because I didn't really know her - at the start it just seemed pointless, and bored me, but as I got nearer the end of the book I cared about her a bit more. In my view, some of her POVs were unnecessary and could have been cut down on a bit, but she did develop into a much better character. And you know how I feel about character development...
 

In Crown of Midnight, I really liked Chaol, but in this book I went off him a bit. I felt that he was clinging to the past too much, when Celaena had already moved on much further from that. He was a bit annoying, and didn't really do much to the story, apart from clog it up. Overall, I would have been much happier if there was less of him in the book.

Sorscha was another really irritating addition. She just got too fangirly over Dorian (who just needs to get with Celaena, and anyone who stands in his was I dislike), which was just unnecessary. Seriously people, it's destiny - stop standing in their way!

So many new ships developed for me in this book. I am still a true shipper of Celaena and Dorian, and I used to ship Celaena and Chaol too, but now I really don't - Celaena is way too good for Chaol. I really ship Rowan and Celaena as friends - they just bounce off each-other so well! I'm really glad Sarah J. Maas didn't try to make them romantic together, because I know some other authors would have, and it would have been wrong on so many levels. 

On the subject of BROTPs, Chaol and Dorian were really cute together too. When Chaol said "I love you" to Dorian, that was so cute! They are such good friends, and it's really nice to read about. 

It was also really cute in the bit where Aelin, Dorian and Aedion were small. I know it wasn't intended to be cute, but it really was, and I just really loved it. Celaena and Dorian were meant to be from when they were 10 - it's destiny. 

Overall, this series has made me a true lover of fantasy. I am really looking forward to reading more of Sarah J. Maas in the future (hurry up May with A Court of Thorns and Roses!), and September just cannot come fast enough for the next book in this series, which has become a new favourite of mine.

Rating: 

3 Stars

Review: These Broken Stars

20:11

These Broken Stars
By Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

 Source: Book depository
Page count: Young Adult, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, 
Genres: 374

 Goodreads Synopsis:


Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive -- alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.


 My Review:


 I'm going to start off by saying how this book was beautifully written. I was so jealous of the author's writing - they really made a sense of mood, and the description was amazing.

The book took a while to get going, but once I was past the start, I really enjoyed it. The middle was definitely the best part - the starting and ending definitely weren't as good, and bored me a little. But the middle was so good! I was racing through that, so it did disappoint me a bit when I got to the end.

Which was so confusing! Anyone else who has read this book must agree with me. It was so strange and odd! It was also not satisfying at all *sigh*. So, it really was disappointing, which is sad, been as this book is so hyped about.

Though, I did really like Tarver. He was a great character, really nice to read about, and kept on going, which is what I was looked for in him and Lilac.

Although, Lilac was a disappointment. She was always complaining and getting things wrong - she was really irritating to read about. When she did finally grow up, she just got foolish and reckless - as if all of sudden, she had a complete change of heart, and now doesn't care about her life at all. This was really annoying!

But, saying all this, I did go into this book with really high expectations. I had heard such good things about this book, which made me think it was going to be great. One of the main selling points on the back of this was the character development - this really puzzled me because the character development in this book was appalling. Tarver just developed to be a whiny character in the end, and Lilac just turned out to be stupid. This really made me wonder - why put that on the back of a book cover? I know it sold the book a bit, but the quote was from someone's review. Why would you put that in your review? To me, it's just a lie.

Though, I was that excited to read this book, that in hindsight, I don't think it could have ever lived up to my expectations. I did really enjoy the book though, and I am going to buy the rest of the series!

Rating: