Reviews

Spinning Silver Review

by amyleighreads4 Comments on Spinning Silver Review

ssA unique twist on the classic Rumpelstiltskin tale!

Miryem is the daughter and grand-daughter of moneylenders. Her grandfather is very successful in this business but her father unfortunately isn’t so much. Free to lend and reluctant to collect, he has loaned out most of his wife’s dowry and left the family on the edge of poverty–until Miryem steps in. She quickly turns their troubles around and makes a reputation for herself. One day she boasts of being able to turn silver into gold and is overheard by a Staryk, one of the magical men who live in the forest and who rape and plunder for gold.

This was very immersive! I could see the foundations of the original story there but it was completely turned on its head which made me more invested. I didn’t quite know where the story was going to go next or how it would circle back to the original but boy did it!

Miryem was a little forgetful as a main female protagonist to be quite honest. I liked her initiative and her ability to trade up and earn more money for her family but there wasn’t much other than that that really swayed me to her. I much preferred Irina’s drive and her cunning as opposed to Miryem. Though I thought the two contrasted well with each other.

I like the way the story unfolded. It took me a minute to get situated into the plot, I was a little bored at first, but the action and the intrigue definitely picks up and kept me engaged. The whole storyline with Irina & Mirnatius was so very compelling. I loved the banter between the two and to see Irina evolve as a character from the forgotten daughter of a Duke to a Tsarina was wonderful to read. I really dismissed her as an insignificant character at the start of the book but she really bloomed and caught me off guard with her calculating ways.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book but it took me by surprise. It was a bit of a slow start but I was ended up really enjoying the storyline and the setting. The Staryk’s and their magic was very unique and I liked the fact that there was the Chernobog to oppose their might. You didn’t quite know who to barrack for in the situation and it made it a lot more interesting because of it!

⭐️4/5 Slow build into a fantastical tale!

Reviews

The Unhoneymooners Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Unhoneymooners Review

*DEFINITE SPOILERS*

42201431This was so engaging and entertaining from the start! I absolutely loved it!

Olive’s twin sister Ami has just gotten married to her boyfriend Dane and Olive couldn’t be happier for her, except the fact that she has to put up with Dane’s older brother Ethan who hates Olive for some unknown reason. So when the whole wedding party and guests get massive food poisoning and only Olive and Ethan don’t get sick and Ami insists that they should go away on their honeymoon instead Olive doesn’t know if they will make it out alive.

I love that Olive is so honest and upfront with Ethan from the start, and how that honesty becomes such a focal point in the relationship in the future. I love how confident and proud of herself she is and doesn’t shy away from her curves. She is super endearing and I loved the witty banter she shares with Ethan throughout the storyline.

Ethan I was a little unsure of at the start, but I definitely warmed up to him! I like how realistic he is as a male character, hopelessly naïve in some ways. He is always willing to communicate how he feels to Olive and he isn’t afraid to apologize if he feels it is warranted. I think it was fair that he stuck by his brother and wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, though I figured he would try to understand Olive’s intentions a bit more thoroughly than to just dismiss her so quickly and assume she misinterpreted the situation. I am glad that he circled back to their earlier conversations and he went with the grand-gesture to try to win her back, I thought that was very well rounded and well very swoon-worthy lets be real!

I also enjoyed the fact that the book didn’t just finish at the end of the ‘unhoneymoon’. They had to go back to the real world and actually deal with a lot of the issues that sprung up during the trip that they didn’t want to focus on. Again I found the whole thing really realistic. All of the characters reacted to the situation within reason. A lot of times in adult romances I found situations are dealt with too quickly and things work out a little too conveniently and I’m not sold or find it too fictional if that makes sense!

I am a sucker for the hate to love trope and I thought this was a super unique take on it! The premise as a whole I found super intriguing and I was invested in the characters and the storyline from the start. I am for sure going to have to dip into Christina Lauren’s previous books and see how they compare!

⭐️5/5 I loved it!

Book Lists

5 Books I Want to Read Update

by amyleighreads2 Comments on 5 Books I Want to Read Update

Back in January I posted about 5 books I really wanted to get to in 2019 and now that we are halfway through the year I thought I would post an update! I have actually read 4 out of 5 of the books and I had a few mixed thoughts/feeling about them. They are all relatively hyped book and I genuinely thought I would love them all but that wasn’t the case…

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

I was very much invested in the characters and the plot in this book. The battles and the simulation were exciting and precarious. There were definitely rumblings of political schemes in play so I can see it really evolving and expanding a whole lot more in the books to come! Some of the flight jargon and manoeuvrings slowed me down and bored me a little but the overall plot and storyline was very captivating to read!

My Rating: ⭐️4.5/5 stars

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Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

The premise of the book is really unique and I like the eastern cultural influence that is written into the story. The different clans and the different castes really added a layer of complexity to the plot that I enjoyed immensely. I was very much engaged throughout the course of this book as the stakes were always extremely high.

My Rating: ⭐️4.5/5 stars

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The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

The overall premise I found highly original and engaging and the magic system was unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Definitely enjoyed the majority of my reading experience however, I’m a little bummed I wasn’t as in love with the story as much everyone else seems to be.

My Rating: ⭐️3/5 stars

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Circe by Madeline Miller

I enjoyed the sort of historical aspect with all of the gods, titans, demigods and monsters and how they came to be in this book, but it was fleeting and the story dragged a little.I found I didn’t really form a connection to any of the characters and by the end of it I honestly really didn’t care. There wasn’t any sort of build-up of anticipation and the ending was a little too open ended for me.

My Rating: ⭐️2/5 stars

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Reviews

Sawkill Girls Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Sawkill Girls Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

38139409Sawkill Girls is about a town that is located on an island called Sawkill Rock where for the last 120ish years girls have gone missing and none have ever been found. The book follows the perspectives of three girls who live in this town; Marion who has just relocated to Sawkill Rock after her father passed away in a car accident, Zoey who has lived here for a few years now with her father who is the police chief and Valerie whose family have always lived on Sawkill Rock.

This was actually pretty trippy. I was a little lost for around the first 100 or so pages. There wasn’t really a lot going on at the start but I found I wasn’t really engaged in the story until like the last quarter or so of the plot.

I loved Zoey’s character the most. I found her to be super relatable. I love that she already had this established idea of what had happened to Thora and she wouldn’t let anyone talk her out of it or accept that she just simply disappeared.

I didn’t really like Valerie a whole lot. She was a super bitch at the start and the fact that she is complicit but then is kind of given a redemption arc that I felt wasn’t really justified. I get that she was really held hostage by her family and their circumstances but I didn’t feel like she was empathetic at all until she started getting feelings for Marion.

Marion kind of got on my nerves as well. I mean her sister befriends this girl and two minutes later goes missing and your only real friend is telling you that she thinks this girl and her family is behind everything and you go on a walk with her through the woods by yourself late at night and then make out with her? Her reasoning for everything just didn’t sit right with me I guess.

Other than that I actually really enjoyed my experience reading this book. It was super unique and a little bizarre but I was definitely intrigued enough to read on. I loved how strange everything kind of was and it got really weird but I was into it and I liked not being able to predict what was going to happen next because I can honestly say I’ve never read anything close to this storyline at all.

⭐️4/5 Cool mix of fantasy and horror!

Updates

Library Books Update

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Library Books Update

img_3875I’ve still been perusing my local library around once a week but my previous library haul lasted me like a full month and a half of reading. I have been trying to get through all of the books I currently own but haven’t gotten around to picking up yet so I’ve been trying not to borrow too many books… though after I finished Red Sister by Mark Lawrence last month (which was a library book), I immediately knew I had to continue on with the series! So when I seen my library also had a copy of Grey Sister I had to go in and scoop it up and I will definitely be getting through it this month! I still haven’t had a chance to get to Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson even though I have been highly anticipating reading it, but I have finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik and Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (which were also library books), so I’m definitely still on track with my library book goals!

Happy Reading📚