Category: Reviews

Reviews

Blade of Secrets Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Blade of Secrets Review

Eighteen-year-old Ziva prefers metal to people. She spends her days tucked away in her forge, safe from society and the anxiety it causes her, using her magical gift to craft unique weapons imbued with power. Then Ziva receives a commission from a powerful warlord, and the result is a sword capable of stealing its victims’ secrets. A sword that can cut far deeper than the length of its blade. A sword with the strength to topple kingdoms. When Ziva learns of the warlord’s intentions to use the weapon to enslave all the world under her rule, she takes her sister and flees.

Ziva’a character was definitely interesting. It was nice to hear about how she learnt how to become a blade smith and the process in which she creates her weapons. It went into a lot of detail about how she imbues her magic into the metals and how she incidentally comes up with the various abilities for each weapon. I think she is a very relatable character though I felt like a lot of the guilt she holds in relation to her sister and her upbringing was unnecessary.

Temra I think holds a lot of resentment to Ziva for being too protective over her and for making them have to uproot and flee. But I think again this was very relatable, her sister is the one with the magic powers and the infamy and I can understand why she would want a little bit of separation from that and be her own person. Though I don’t think it was very fair of her to throw that back in her sister’s face.

I like that there was a bit of depth to each of the characters. Kellyn wasn’t just a muscly mercenary, there was more to Petrik than what we are initially told so that kept me intrigued and interested in finding out more about them all. I liked that through their travels they all formed a bond of friendship before the romance started. The romance aspect was a little cringe for me to be honest. Because she has sheltered herself from the world so much Ziva’s social skills aren’t the greatest so her trying to process her feelings for Kellyn was a bit exhausting. I was glad when she just accepted that he might actually like her and moved forward. It just felt a little juvenile in that aspect and then right after we would get quite a graphic fight scenes so that juxtaposition would pull me out of the story.

I’ve found all of Tricia Levenseller’s books to be quite fast paced and action packed and this was in that realm. I think there was just so many scenes were they are just travelling from town to town trying to escape the warlord that I didn’t feel particularly rooted in the story. Though I’m looking forward to learning more about the magic system and this world as the series progresses and we find out what is going to happen next.

⭐️3/5 stars I was expecting more but enjoyed it for what it was!

Reviews

All’s Well Review

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Miranda Fitch’s life is a waking nightmare. The accident that ended her burgeoning acting career left her with excruciating, chronic back pain, a failed marriage, and a deepening dependence on painkillers. And now she’s on the verge of losing her job as a college theatre director. Determined to put on Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, the play that promised, and cost, her everything, she faces a mutinous cast hellbent on staging Macbeth instead. Miranda sees her chance at redemption slip through her fingers.

Miranda as our main protagonist isn’t the most likeable of characters. She’s quite a miserable person and doesn’t really ensnare me as a reader. But rightly so because of the debilitating nature of her pain. I think the commentary surrounding the medical field not believing woman when they say they are in pain was a great inclusion in this book and was a great topic to explore.

The way Miranda devolves during the course of the plot left me quite confused. I didn’t know what she was talking about half the time and didn’t know what was real or if she was just imagining most of her interactions.

I really want to know Mark’s intentions when he was treating Miranda. Did he really just not believe in her pain or was he just being intentionally harmful to her. She expressed to him a few times in her sessions that he was hurting her and the stretches weren’t helping and he would still persist. I can understand her frustrations for sure and I was somewhat satisfied when she projected her pain onto him or whatever it was that she did.

I think what I didn’t really enjoy about the book was that there was no explanation. How the three men gave her the powers and healed her of her pain and how she was able to transfer it to the others. Did she suck out their energy and vitality and used that to heal herself or did she just give them her pain. At the end of my read I’m still left with questions and I’m just not feeling satisfied.

⭐️2/5 stars Regrettably forgettable!

Reviews

The Paris Apartment Review

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*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.

Jess’s character felt new and fresh to me. I liked the fact that she’s led a completely different life to Ben and even though they’ve had their differences and grown apart she doesn’t give up her search. She’s definitely wary of those around her and I appreciated how she didn’t just take everyone’s word at face value and dug around a little more to unearth all the dirty little secrets.

The multiple POVs were a great touch I think. It made it easier to differentiate between all the different characters and added depth to the plot. Learning what everyone was doing prior to Ben’s disappearance and seeing how they all weave together was very satisfying.

The setting of this apartment building in Paris was fantastic. We really get a sense of just how gritty and dark Paris can be and how one’s perception of a place can just be so wrong. Having all the secret passages between the apartments and the mysterious nature of the concierge added to the overall tone of the book.

In terms of all the different twists and reveals it was very dramatic for sure. I can’t say it was the most shocking thriller book I’ve read but I feel like the entertainment factor was so high that I was just happy to go along for the ride. In retrospect the main twist was quite obvious but during my read I really didn’t predict any of the main plot points which made for a easy and fun experience.

⭐️4/5 stars I was here for the drama of it all!

Reviews

Gallant Review

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Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance School for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother’s journal—which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home—to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn’t matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways.

I really liked Olivia as our main protagonist. She has a bit of a petty streak that I really appreciated from her, it definitely made her more of a realistic character to me. She is very relatable in her yearning to belong and how excited she was at the prospect of being a part of a family even though her mother warned her about going to Gallant.

I kind of wish this was a dual perspective with Matthew. I think seeing how his mind comprehends Gallant and the duty the Priors have held and how it has crippled their family. To see how the whispers have driven him nearly to death and why he was so adamant in sending Olive away when she first arrived. I think we don’t get enough interaction between the two of them and the ones we do get were so poignant and touching.

I love a haunted house setting and this book really brought that spooky atmosphere for me. The ghouls were a great addition to the plot and really cemented the history of this estate and how much this family has sacrificed for the greater good. I really enjoyed the contrast between the two worlds and how Olivia’s magic changed with the different settings.

I liked the overall concept of Gallant and what is expected being a Prior. Learning how Olivia was lured back and how she unintentionally followed in her mother’s footsteps going across the wall was fascinating and compelling. I was very much invested in the storyline and wanted to know how everything was going to come together in the end. I was very happy with how this wrapped up and the fact that it wasn’t the fairy-tale ending I was expecting made it even more satisfying to me.

⭐️4/5 This was fantastic!

Reviews

We Ride Upon Sticks Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on We Ride Upon Sticks Review

Set in the coastal town of Danvers, Massachusetts (which in 1692 was Salem Village, site of the origins of the Salem Witch Trials), the story follows the Danvers High field hockey team as they discover that the dark impulses of their Salem forebears may be the key to a winning season.

The opening to this book was a little chaotic. I didn’t know what was happening at first and who was narrating. It wasn’t until after the camp and they go back to Danvers was I able to understand what was going on. We’re just kind of thrown into the story with all of these different characters and personalities it was a little hard to differentiate between them all at first.

The concept was something I found to be super intriguing, but the way the connection between them all is created was a touch on the ridiculous side. But it’s the fact that these girls believe wholeheartedly in this ‘witchcraft’ kind of made the story for me. Emilio being the overseer that these girls need to appease and power up to beat their opponents and get to state was just so over the top and kept me invested.

I really enjoyed the fact that even though the story is told as a collective ‘we’ because these girls have this bond we still get more of a background on all of them and we get to know each of them as an individual and their motivations behind signing the notebook. Even though they all have this overarching goal of being state champions they have their own issues they are working through.

I appreciated the amount of field hockey we got to see throughout the course of the book. It was a good balance of being on the field as well as in school and socially out in Danvers. Honestly I would of been happier if we got too see more of the games with more of an in depth commentary of their structure as a team but there was definitely enough.

The fact that le splotch and the Claw were active characters and had a major input in the dialogue between the team just tipped this book over the edge. It added just that layer of campiness that the 80’s was well known for and added some humour into the mix that made me think that Quan Barry didn’t want us to take the book too seriously and just enjoy this journey of self discovery and and adolescent hijinks!

⭐️3/5 stars I appreciated what this book did!