Reviews

Two Dark Reigns Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Two Dark Reigns Review

y648I really enjoyed this!

Because I marathoned both Three Dark Crowns and One Dark Throne earlier this year it took me around the first 100 pages to get acclimated to the world again. Once I was situated back into the plot I demolished this book!

Two Dark Reigns picks straight up in the storyline with Katharine reigning over Fennbirn with Pietyr by her side. Arsinoe and Mirabella have made it safely to the mainland with the help of Billy and are trying to carve out a life for themselves there but the island beckons.

I am loving the relationship that we see between Arsinoe and Mirabella and how that has grown and developed over the course of the books. I am also enjoying having Billy thrown into the mix and him having to deal with his mainland issues as well as the abdicating queens of Fennbirn. 

I don’t fully know how I am feeling about Katharine yet. I kind of hate her and then I think about her upbringing with the poisoners and how she has always been destined to either kill or be killed and I can understand why she’s made some the decisions she has. So I’m kind of in two minds about her at the moment.

I don’t trust Pietyr at all, especially after he pushed Katharine into the Breccia Domain. He said he had her best interests at heart but that’s always made me wonder how far he is willing to go. Especially after he propositioned Madrigal without Katharine’s knowledge.

Everything that happens with Jules and Emilia and the rebellion wasn’t my favourite of everything that happened. I think the cause of most of it is Emilia. I didn’t particularly like her character. She was a bit too pushy for my liking. I did enjoy learning more about Jules and the prophecy about her legion curse and seeing it in its full grandeur after it was unleashed.

There was a lot more history about the island and how the mist was created which I thought added a lot more depth to the story. It was nice to have a bit more understanding about the world and the backstory of some of the superstitions of the island.

This series is so captivating. The premise is so dark and mysterious and the storyline that Kendare Blake has managed to concoct is fantastic. I didn’t know that there was going to be another book in this series, I thought it was just going to be a trilogy so I am kind of excited to continue on and see where the story will go next. There are a lot of questions that have been left unanswered and I cannot wait to see what is going to happen next!

⭐️4/5 stars highly entertaining, dark and twisted!

Reviews

Ignite Me Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Ignite Me Review

Ignite_MeI thought this was a solid ending; it just didn’t really excite me though or have me on the edge of my seat.

This is the third novel in the series and it kind of left me underwhelmed. I haven’t really built an emotional connection to any of these characters and I think that’s why I didn’t really have any outstanding emotions after I finished the book.

Ignite Me focuses on the aftermath of the war. The Reestablishment won and now we see Juliette siding with Warner to kill Anderson and restore peace to the world. She finds a few who survived the attack including Adam and she now is forced to face the truth and ultimately choose which brother she wants to be with.

The only thing I really actually enjoyed in the book was Juliette’s friendship and witty sparring with Kenji. I like how their relationship has grown so much over the course of the three books and how he has opened up and given so much of himself. I also like the fact that Juliette is so raw and honest with him, I feel like most of her conversations with Kenji should of happened with Adam that way she could of explained the situation a lot more better and caused less grief on both their parts.

I just feel like she handled the situation wrong and Adam had a right to feel and react the way he did, sure he went a bit overboard, but I felt like she just didn’t care about his feelings and was a bit selfish. I get that she has grown and matured and become more self assured but I feel like she completely disregarded their history and cut him off. I think she was mean and very in your face about her new burgeoning relationship with Warner and that kind of made me like her a little less.

I do still enjoy Warner in this book though. He has stayed pretty much constant throughout the series we have just delved a bit deeper into his history and he has shown a bit more of himself. Having everything explained added a lot of context to his actions and really painted a different picture of who he is as a character, which I enjoyed.

I am a bit in two minds about this book. It was a little slow in some sections and then felt a bit overly rushed in others. We don’t have many different settings and it became a little stagnant for me. For what I think was supposed to be the conclusion to a trilogy I felt it was definitely lacking in oomph. I’m not quite sure what Restore Me has to offer but I’m still waiting to be wowed.

⭐️3/5 stars just a bit lacking for me…

Book Lists

Author I’ve Read the Most of in 2018

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Author I’ve Read the Most of in 2018

So I was scrolling through my Goodreads and I realised that there is one author who without a doubt I have read the most of this year and that is Sarah J Maas. I only really discovered her books through Booktube as they are highly popular and people love to review her work. To be honest I felt a little bit out of the loop as so many people talk about her books and the characters and who they ship and I had no idea what anyone was talking about so I had to pick them up and see what the deal was. I’ve found that a lot of people either don’t enjoy a majority of her books/characters or they completely love them. I think I’m a part of the love them side as the average rating I’ve given for all her books is around 4/5 stars which is pretty high for one author! 

All of the Sarah J Maas books I’ve read this year includes:

The ACOTAR Series – A Court of Thorns and Roses ⭐️4/5 stars, A Court of Mist and Fury ⭐️5/5 stars, A Court of Wings and Ruin ⭐️4/5 stars and A Court of Frost and Starlight ⭐️3/5 stars

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The Throne of Glass Series – Throne of Glass ⭐️4/5 stars, Crown of Midnight ⭐️4/5 stars, Heir of Fire ⭐️4/5 stars, Queen of Shadows ⭐️4/5 stars, Empire of Storms ⭐️4/5 stars, The Assassins Blade ⭐️4/5 stars, Tower of Dawn ⭐️5/5 stars and Kingdom of Ash ⭐️5/5 stars

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 I don’t really go into books to analyse and critique every single detail or plot point. I want an interesting premise with a entertaining storyline and unique, diverse characters in a fantasy setting. Which is exactly what Sarah J Mass gave me every time and I really enjoyed my journey.

Happy Reading📚

Reviews

In the Afterlight Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on In the Afterlight Review

Book_3_CoverKind of just meh.

I’ve finally come to the conclusion of this series and I’m a little disappointed to be quite honest. I didn’t really enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Ruby and the remaining few who survived the attack at Los Angeles travel north to the ranch to meet up with Cate and regroup. With Clancy in tow under Ruby’s control for now, she unites with Cole to somehow try to save all the kids that are still under lock and key in the camps.

I found Ruby to be very unlikeable in this last book. Every decision she made and every time she sided with Cole over Liam just grated my nerves. Every time Liam, Vida or Chubs would confront her about keeping secrets and making plans with Cole without their input she would always deflect and say they wouldn’t be able to understand. I get that her heart is in the right place and she does genuinely want to save the children but she just really rubbed me the wrong way throughout the course of the storyline.

I did like how we have the meeting between Vida and Zu and how Vida is jealous that Ruby has kind of forgotten about Jude. I did say in the last book that I thought Jude kind of felt like a replacement Zu to me. But I like that we gradually see them grow closer and how Vida helps Zu gain the confidence to speak again. That was a touching moment.

All of the maneuvering and scheming at the ranch was kind of slow paced to me. It wasn’t as engaging and exciting as I expected it to be. I wanted more action and adventure and a grand scheme that is slowly orchestrated with several layers and manipulations involved. It kind of just felt like they didn’t know what they were doing half the time and a lot kind of happened outside of the ranch that we don’t get to see. It’s a lot of reactions and emotional turmoil and it was a little boring.

I did like that the ending wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows that there is still progress to be made in the world but for now they were safe and together. I’m happy that Ruby gave Clancy the chance to live a normal life especially after everything that he’s been through.

⭐️3/5 a bit too slow paced and not enough flair, kind of average for me

Reviews

They Both Die at the End Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on They Both Die at the End Review

*Spoilers Obviously*

they both dieThis was so tragically beautiful, I definitely got emotional.

I really enjoyed this book. I was a little sceptical and hesitant going in because when a book is just super hyped for me I find myself not wanting to like it for some reason. But lo and behold I loved it! It was witty and effervescent and even though you have this event looming over their head it doesn’t become too dark and macabre.

We follow the perspectives of Mateo and Rufus and they live in a near futuristic world where they are able to pinpoint the day that someone is going to die. Mateo and Rufus have both just received their calls that they are going to die sometime within the next 24 hours and we join them as they make their way through their final day.

Mateo and Rufus as the two main protagonists in the book were wonderful. I like how they complement each other and grow this bond over the course of the day and finally bloom into this relationship they both needed. I like that we are given a backstory for each of them and we see how they eventually make contact through the app, I thought it was very up to date and connected to the present.

I also enjoyed that we get a multitude of small different perspectives from people throughout the book and we see little by little how they all link back to Mateo and Rufus. I thought it was very well done and it really helped to expand the world outside of the two boys and how everything seemed destined to happen the way it did.

The concept of the book is so unique and interesting; it did have me invested from the start. It was also a very fast paced book that I found quite easy to read. Knowing what was going to eventually happen really kept the stakes high and kept me turning the pages. I found myself towards the end trying to predict how they were going to die. The foreshadowing was definitely there but it was subtle enough that you didn’t notice until the very end and then everything comes flooding back to you. It was not pandering in any way and kept true to the concept. I thought for a second one of them might get miraculously saved and I’m happy that wasn’t the case.

⭐️4.5/5 stars I loved it, it was different, it was unique and the fact that we are not given a happy ending really topped it off for me.