It’s Top Ten Tuesday time once again friends! This week’s prompt is books that I read on vacation, but I haven’t been on a vacation for a very long time so these are 10 books on my TBR that I would pick up the next time I’m on holiday!
My Vacation TBR includes:
After years of seeing her sisters suffer at the hands of an abusive prince, Marra—the shy, convent-raised, third-born daughter—has finally realized that no one is coming to their rescue. No one, except for Marra herself. Seeking help from a powerful gravewitch, Marra is offered the tools to kill a prince—if she can complete three impossible tasks. But, as is the way in tales of princes, witches, and daughters, the impossible is only the beginning.
I quite enjoyed Marra’s character. I think at the start she came across as quite naïve at times and refuses to see the world for what it is hidden away in her convent but as she became more aware of what was happening to her family and the hold the northern kingdom has on them she evolves and decides to take action. She is very much devoted to her course and won’t let her fears of other people and how she is being perceived stop her from trying to help.
The gravewitch was definitely my favourite of the characters. Her rapport with everyone around her was very entertaining and I appreciated how candid and straight out she was with Marra. She didn’t sugar coat anything and would call each of them out respectively when they were pushing themselves to much. Her knowledge of the magic within this world was highly necessary and a great way for us as the reader to learn more about it but I do wish we could of seen her wield it a lot more throughout the course of the story.
Fenris was just an ok kind of character for me. He felt a little cliché but I can appreciate how his presence was necessary to the plot line and how the story played out. He was just a little too nice and placid for me, I think if we would of seen him in action a bit more I would of liked him better. Agnes on the other hand was a pleasant addition for me. I liked how upbeat and carefree she seems and the fact that she lied about doing curses because she didn’t want to be affiliated with them even though she could be very powerful.
Overall I just needed a bit more development and time with each of the characters and on the journey. If this had maybe 100 more pages with exposition I would feel so much more grounded in the world and create more of a connection with all of the different characters. I loved the premise and the quest portion of the story but I found that I didn’t really care about the outcome because I wasn’t all that invested.
⭐️3/5 stars felt like a classic fairytale with a demon possessed chicken lol
I finally finished my reread of King of Scars and I am a bit ambivalent to be honest. I don’t know if it’s because I am in the midst of a reading slump or this duology just isn’t my cup of tea. Nikolai has never been a favourite character of mine and being that the majority of the book surrounds him and the political plight he is having to pull Ravka out of just isn’t gelling with me. I liked that we got more of an in depth look into Zoya’s character and the reasoning behind some of her decisions from the Shadow and Bone series. The second time around I can see the rumblings of a romance between her and Nikolai that I thought was just fun banter the first time I read this and I kind of don’t want that to eventuate but we shall see. I loved Nina’s character from the Six of Crows duology and her perspective really got me through this book. I was intrigued, the stakes were high and I liked the introduction of Hanne and the surprise twist of who her father is. My rating has definitely gone down from the first time I read this book, I think I rated it a 4 but I’m more inclined to a 2.5 though I might round it up to 3 for nostalgia purposes. This was my last reread of the Grishaverse, I haven’t read Rule of Wolves before and I am so excited to see how this book wraps up this duology and the universe as a whole.
I can’t believe it’s already been three months since my last quarterly reading recommendations! This is going to be my third instalment for 2022 and even though I didn’t read that much I still able to pick 10 books that I would recommend. If you want to check out my second quarterly reading recommendations click HERE!
My recommendations for July – August – September are:
The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
Into the Riverlands by Nghi Vo
Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
Book of Night by Holly Black
The It Girl by Ruth Ware
So Happy for You by Celia Laskey
Six of Crowns Duology by Leigh Bardugo
Amy Leigh Reads 