Category: Reviews

Reviews

Hollowpox Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Hollowpox Review

Morrigan Crow and her friends have survived their first year as proud scholars of the elite Wundrous Society, helped bring down the nefarious Ghastly Market, and proven themselves loyal to Unit 919. Now Morrigan faces a new, exciting challenge: to master the mysterious Wretched Arts of the Accomplished Wundersmith, and control the power that threatens to consume her.

Jupiter is definitely one of my favourite characters in this series. He is just super supportive of Morrigan and lets her express her opinions whilst also giving her boundaries. He actually listens to her and wants to know how she is feeling and always has her best interest at heart.

 Morrigan has a bit of a rebellious phase in this instalment. She has a period of self-isolation from her friends and focuses on the shadow classes and really starts to become obsessive with becoming a better Wundersmith. There were little instances, like when she tries to steal the book and gets her friend to cover up for her, or when she ruins away to become Ezra’s apprentice and ends up getting manipulated by the president. But I really appreciated how she took into account all of the advice she has been given and listens to those in authority and sees the error of her ways and apologises for the things she’s done.

The mystery surrounding the Hollowpox was interesting and again gave us more of an insight to Nevermoor and the people living there. It was a little predictable how it was created and the way the storyline progressed it seemed inevitable that the ending would turn out the way it did.

For some reason this didn’t quite keep me as engaged as the previous books in this series. I can usually get through one of these in a day or so and I ended up only getting around 20 pages in and then put it down for nearly a week. I just didn’t have that urge to pick it up and finish it until I forced myself to.

⭐️4/5 Still such a fun, action packed, entertaining read!

Reviews

No Exit Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on No Exit Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

This was a wild ride!

No Exit is about a college student named Darby who is on her way back home to visit her mother who is dying from cancer. On the road she is caught in a snow storm and is forced to take refuge at a remote truck stop, where she finds a young girl who has been kidnapped in the back of one of the cars owned by someone else who has been forced off the road by the weather.

I really liked Darby as our main protagonist. I thought she was portrayed realistically and reacted I think within reason throughout the course of the plot line. She was under and incredible amount of stress after she found Jay and I couldn’t even imagine what that would of felt like. I found in a few reviews people questioned her decision making, but honestly I thought given her state of mind before even entering that situation I could overlook that and just enjoy the story.

I am not really an avid mystery/thriller reader so I am usually surprised with everything I read as I have never come across a lot of these tropes before and that is the same for this book. I definitely had my predictions the whole time I was reading this book and I was 100% wrong most of the time, which definitely kept me engaged and entertained. 

I liked that even though it was mostly written from Darby’s perspective but we are given a few chapters from the other characters as well. I felt like it gave the book a lot of depth and gave us more of an insight to what these others characters were thinking and their motivations behind their choices as well.

The pacing of the book was perfect, it was a slow start to establish the scene and then after the main twist when Darby discovers Ashley’s treachery it was just action right up until the end.

⭐️4/5 stars This had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Reviews

A Deadly Education Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on A Deadly Education Review

*A FEW SPOILERS AHEAD*

A Deadly Education is all about a dangerous school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death – until one girl begins to rewrite its rules. Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

I have to admit this was a little difficult to get into. There is a bit of an info dump at the start of the book with a lot of different names and characters that I was a little confused at first. It wasn’t until like a third of the way through was I able to get my head around everything and enjoy the story.

El I really enjoyed as our main protagonist. The fact that she has to work so hard to be good it just such a fun and unique concept. I almost kind of wanted her to dip into that darker side; I thought that would be an interesting twist. I liked how straightforward she is and isn’t afraid to call it like it is and stand up to the enclave kids. It was nice to see her become a little more vulnerable when she started opening up more to her friends and starting the alliance, it was quite gratifying to see her finally being able to rely on others and not fight to be included.

Orion we always just kind of there but we don’t really get to learn much about him or see him open up and discuss his life with El all that much. After the kiss with El he did kind of explain his feelings for her and how he has been treated all his life but I wanted more of an in depth look at his character.

The school setting was fantastic. The stakes were at an all-time high throughout the course of the storyline and the conflicts got progressively bigger and more entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the pacing was fast, this was fresh and distinctive and I am sooo excited to see what will happen next!

⭐️4/5 stars has the potential to become a new all time fav!!!

Reviews

On the Come Up Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on On the Come Up Review

On the Come Up is about 16 year old Brianna Jackson who has a dream to become a rapper just like her father. He was killed in an act of gang violence when she was a little girl but he was an underground rap legend in her community.

Brianna seemed very believable as a sixteen year old. A lot of times in YA the main protagonists would act a lot older than what they really were but this was very realistic. She has had to deal with a lot over the course of her life and I think that definitely came across in how she holds herself and acts around others. She struggles with issues about her self-worth and not being fully realized about her identity and the grief surrounding her father’s death and then the abandonment issues in regards to her mother. That’s a lot for one 16 year old’s shoulder’s so honestly it’s no wonder she lashes out.

I loved the familial aspect of the story; I thought that was very interesting and again very realistic. Bri’s relationship with her brother was lovely, he is always there taking care of her and making sure she is ok but then will also call her out on her BS. Her grandparents were hilarious and added another layer of realism and depth to the storyline. The little feud was entertaining and I appreciated the way both women hashed it out at the end and came together to form a solution to their problems.

I loved the banter between Bri and her friends. They have their fights but then they remind each other just how far back they go and how much they care about each other and then they are able to overcome their petty squabbles, which I found really cute.

 These kinds of books frustrate me. I can appreciate how we see the evolution of Bri as she tries to save her family and not feel like a burden to them but at the same time watching her make all of these decisions that are questionable and all the angst involved just isn’t all that entertaining to me personally.

⭐️3/5 Eye opening, raw & real!!

Reviews

Children of Virtue and Vengeance Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Children of Virtue and Vengeance Review

After battling the impossible, Zélie and Amari have finally succeeded in bringing magic back to the land of Orïsha. But the ritual was more powerful than they could’ve imagined, reigniting the powers of not only the maji, but of nobles with magic ancestry, too.

I have to admit I wasn’t as enthralled with this installment as I was with Children of Blood and Bone. It was a lot shorter than the previous book but I felt like it just wasn’t as immersive, which is mostly to do with the characters.

All Zélie cares about is her betrayal by Inan. It rules over her emotions and she is unable to see reason when he is involved in any plans. All she wanted to do is kill him for betraying her. As an elder now I feel like she definitely should have been able to see beyond her own prejudice and do what is best for her people.

Amari I can understand how frustrated she became after they joined with the resistance. I feel like she was frozen out of the plans almost immediately and wasn’t trusted by any of the maji even though she was integral in bringing magic back to the land. But instead of building rapport and trying to gain friendships naturally she was petulant and combative.

Miscommunication was the main source of conflict in this book and that frustrated me. If Amari and Zélie had just sat down and worked through their issues I feel they could of probably come up with a foolproof plan that would have saved a lot of lives.

⭐️3/5 Had a bit of the second book syndrome for me!