I figured it was time for another WWW Wednesday update:
The Girl and the Mountain by Mark Lawrence
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
The Wicker King by K. Ancrum
WWW Wednesday
❄️Winter TBR❄️
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is the books I plan to read this Winter! I thought for this season that I would circle back to last years Winter TBR I created and catch up and complete the books that I still haven’t read and the sequels to the other books on the list!
The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence
Red Tigress by Amelie Wen Zhao
Sword of Destiny by Andrzej Sapkowski
Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto
Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
The Red Queen’s War Series by Mark Lawrence
The Ones We’re Meant to Find Review
*A FEW SPOILERS*
Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay, and it’s up to Cee to cross the ocean and find her.
I think the first thing that I was intrigued about with this book was the world and how apocalyptic it is. How they have had to build these cities in the sky to contain what is left of the human race and how they are trying to reduce their environmental footprint by living their lives in these stasis pods for a good majority of their days.
But we are kind of thrust into the storyline which did overwhelm me a little and was a tad confusing. We aren’t really given a lot of explanation at the start as to what was happening it’s just Kasey reliving moments of her life and trying to figure out what happened with Celia. I have to admit the parallel storylines between Kasey finding out the truth and Cee on the island had me intrigued and wondering how these events played out for sure.
Cee and her experiences on the island seemed very repetitive to me and I was more interested in what was happening with Kasey. However, once Hero came along and we see the duality of his character and how he interacted with Cee I was more invested yet still confused as to how they came to be in this situation.
This book was not what I was expecting at all. A lot of the scientific explanations really went over my head, and even though it was crucial to the storyline and the reasonings behind Kasey and Art’s actions I was still lost for the majority of the time. I understood what was happening but the prose wasn’t what I was expecting for a YA book. You really had to pay attention and focus on what you were reading to be able to fully comprehend the story.
But I have to admit it was highly original and unlike anything I have read before. The way the plot evolved and we finally learn about Kasey’s secrets and why she was banned from science and the revenge she planned to take on behalf of her sister and everyone else who has died was highly gratifying.
⭐️3/5 stars a slow build, buckle up!
House of Hollow Review
*SOME SPOILERS BEWARE*
Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.
I really found myself attached to Iris’s character and highly intrigued by her sisters. Immediately I was ensnared by the introduction of this book and the way Iris explained how her and her sisters were weird and strange. I liked the fact that they were all so discernible from each other and had different personalities even though they were so close.
The mystery aspect surrounding Grey’s disappearance and how Iris and Vivi have to try and piece together the clues she left behind whilst also trying to escape from the man who is chasing them was highly entertaining. It kept me engaged and wanting to read on and find out what was going to happen next. It was definitely a roller coaster ride of a plot and I was surprised at every turn.
From what we learn about Grey I didn’t really like her all that much. I appreciated the lengths she would go to to help and protect her sister’s but she kind of went too far at times. Her secretive nature and how much she supposedly didn’t tell her sisters even though they promised not to investigate what happened to them all those years ago, really didn’t give me a reason to trust her at all. Which I guess my instincts were kind of right in the end.
I really felt like Tyler’s character wasn’t all that necessary, if he wasn’t in the story at all I probably would of enjoyed the book all the same. I think his involvement in the mystery came out of nowhere and I didn’t think he was that important as a character when we are first introduced to him. I still have unanswered questions as to why he wasn’t affected by their gifts and why he is drawn so much to Grey but then didn’t come when she called to his soul.
Overall I highly enjoyed this book. I felt like the premise was highly original and entertaining and the twist at the end about what happened when they disappeared was shocking and unexpected to say the least. The prose was highly descriptive and I was able just to get lost in the story and enjoy the ride!
⭐️4/5 stars creepy, bizarre & gripping
Goodreads Reading Challenge Update
Since we are in June (wtf) I figured it was a good time to check in and see how I’m going with my reading challenge and stats for the first half of the year. At this stage I have only completed 29 books and Goodreads says I am 14 books behind schedule if I want to complete the challenge whereas last year at this time I had already completed 67. I am honestly not that worried about completing the reading challenge, even though in the 4 years I’ve been on Goodreads it would be a first. I am just trying to get out of this reading slump I’ve been in for the majority of 2021. I think I am on the tail end though and I am getting more and more in the mood to read so fingers crossed for that! So far this year I have completed 9747 pages as opposed to last year where I had already read 27,598! So yeah I have some catching up to do, but I have some really good books on my TBR and I am excited to get stuck in and read!
Amy Leigh Reads 