I thought it was time for another WWW Wednesday
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Memory of Babel by Christelle Dabos
Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao
WWW Wednesday
Month: September 2020
Book Covers with Faces
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a cover freebie, so I thought I would go with 10 books I read in the last year with a face on the cover I love!
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young
Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
The Memory of Babel Review
The Memory of Babel continues about two and a half years after the events of The Missing of Clairedelune. Ophelia has spent her time on Anima trying to research and waiting to hear from Thorn. When Archibald turns up and offers her the chance to go back to the Pole, Ophelia makes the decision to go find some answers on her own.
I think in this edition of the series Ophelia really wants to be seen as an adult and not some child that doesn’t know what she’s doing. The fact that she embarks on the apprenticeship when she gets to Babel even though it pushes her right to her breaking point really shows how much she has evolved over the course of the series. I just wish she would of asserted herself a bit more and didn’t let people get under her skin so much.
Thorn I struggled a little bit with in this book. He is incredibly cold and standoffish when he is reunited with Ophelia and even though he did finally expressed his feelings to her he doesn’t display it. For the majority he is present in the book I get the feeling that he didn’t even miss her at all and the way he spoke to her didn’t really give her cause to express her feelings back to him. He only really opens back up to her after she bears her soul to him and then we finally get some concrete answers to what’s actually going on.
Babel was a completely different setting to the previous Arcs. It definitely made me more invested in the book as I was eager to find out about what prompted Ophelia to come here. We are introduced to a lot of new characters and I appreciated some of the new friendships that were sparked, mainly Blaine and Augustus. I think they are going to have more focus in the coming book!
I was surprised by the direction this book went in. I genuinely thought this was the last book in this series so throughout the course of the story line I was waiting for all the plot points to come together and make sense but it seems as we were getting some answers more questions were popping up. There were certain twists that I predicted from the start but then there were others that completely took me by surprise.
⭐️4/5 stars A slow build but the end ensnared me once again!
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin Review
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin follows two perspectives Malik and Karina. Karina is hell bent on bringing her mother back from the death after she was assassinated and Malik is trying to kill Karina in order to save his younger sister from an evil spirit who has kidnapped her.
I was really invested in Malik’s storyline right from the start; from his backstory with his sisters and how they came to be in Ziran, to his magical abilities and his journey over the course of the storyline. I loved seeing how he has had to overcome his insecurities and anxiety and step up and do the right thing in order to save Nadia.
Karina was a little unlikeable at the start to be honest. I can understand the situation she is in and the pressure that has been placed on her since the death of her sister, but she came across as whiny and selfish to me. She does evolve and see the error of her ways and kind of comes to terms with the fact that her family are never going to come back but still she just wasn’t a favourite character of mine. It didn’t impede my enjoyment of the story at all, just something I wanted to note.
The world building was great even though we are only in this one city for the majority of the book I can see the potential for growth in the rest of the series. The history of the royal family and the kingdom was very interesting and I definitely want to learn more about Karina’s family and faceless king in the coming books as well. The magic system we didn’t really learn that much about. I am looking forward to Karina and Malik figuring out how to control their powers and trace back to their origins.
I liked the concept of the book I think it is highly original and engaging. The use of the competition kept me highly invested in the plot and eager to find out what was going to happen next.
⭐️3/5 stars Great introduction to the series, I’m looking forward to continuing!!
5 more favs over 500 pages
Around this time last year I posted 5 of my favourite books over 500 pages so I figured I would do an update with 5 more books I read and absolutely loved from the last year that have over 500 pages!
The Black Prism by Brent Weeks – 739 pages
This was the perfect amount of world building and introduction of all the characters and their backstories without being overwhelming. Granted at the start as I am with most epic/high fantasy I read I am a little lost, but I established myself pretty quickly into this world and was invested almost instantaneously with the characters. The magic system was unique and interesting and had just enough information to keep me engaged yet eager to know more.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas – 803 pages
From that first twist at the start I wasn’t able to predict anything that was going to happen next. The forced partnership between Bryce and Hunt, the investigation, the revelations, everything came together perfectly for me and even though it was over 800 pages I flew through this book!
Morning Star by Pierce Brown – 544 pages
It was honestly one of the best series I have ever read and I am itching to reread the whole thing again just to experience this epic rollercoaster of a tale again!
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett – 512 pages
I really loved the setting of this book, the atmosphere and the conditions of the city really added a layer of depth to the storyline and set the tone for the book. The dark, grittiness of the commons was heavily described and the almost hopelessness Sancia felt whilst living there really captured my attention.
The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty – 521 pages
I loved the overall concept and the premise of the story. The world building was wonderful and highly atmospheric. I could do with a little more information about the magic system and the extent of the powers of the different clans. I can’t wait to find out this world and how each of the characters develops as the story continues!
Amy Leigh Reads 