Tag: amyleighreads

Wrap Ups

July Wrap Up

by amyleighreads5 Comments on July Wrap Up

I’ve had a pretty great reading month in terms of quantity, the quality of the books were a little average though. There was a lot that I thought I would love that were just kind of ok. I participated in two readathons this month which went really well and I read a lot of books that have been on my radar now for a while so I am definitely satisfied with that!

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The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker – ⭐️3/5 stars

The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski – ⭐️3/5 stars

Kingsbane by Claire Legrand – ⭐️4/5 stars

A Heart so Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai – ⭐️4/5 stars

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert – ⭐️5/5 stars

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa – ⭐️4/5 stars

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller – ⭐️5/5 stars

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed – ⭐️4/5 stars

The Night Country by Melissa Albert – ⭐️3/5 stars

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo – ⭐️3/5 stars

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – ⭐️3/5 stars

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan – ⭐️2/5 stars

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan – ⭐️5/5 stars

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Updates

🔱The Heroes of Olympus Series Reread🔱

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 🔱The Heroes of Olympus Series Reread🔱

18705209._SY475_It’s time to wrap up my reread of this series!! I realised getting into The Blood of Olympus that I have actually never read it before. I just always thought I had finished the series before but this book was completely new to me. I absolutely loved the finale of this series. It wrapped up all of the various plot lines in such a satisfying way! I know that even though it was foretold that one of them was going to die I didn’t really have any doubts that they would succeed. Even though Leo’s story line was more on the open ended side it felt right for his character. The battle with the giants in Athens did feel a little rushed for me, I would of liked more of a prolonged battle since they have been building up to that moment for over 4 books now. I really enjoyed the fact that we got perspectives from Reyna and Nico in this book. Finding out about Reyna’s background and seeing her connect and open up to Nico and vice-versa was lovely to read and seeing their bond solidified at the end was gratifying. Honestly I was entertained, engaged and highly committed to these characters and this series, I don’t know if it tops the Percy Jackson series for me but I would have to say it is definitely tied as my favourite! 

happy-reading

Reviews

Sex and Vanity Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Sex and Vanity Review

52070924._SY475_Sex and Vanity revolves around a girl named Lucie who travels to Capri for her good friend’s wedding where she meets George. From their first meeting Lucie decides she doesn’t like him but gradually she is drawn closer to him as the festivities continues and eventually they are involved in a tryst that could damage her families reputation.

Lucie I am kind of in two minds about. I sympathise with her in regards to the casual racism and subtle ostracism she feels from her father’s side of the family but I can’t relate to her at all because of her wealth. She can definitely be likeable at times but she just doesn’t stand up for herself enough. I wanted her to call out her grandmother and her cousins about what they have been doing to her for all these years but she just takes it all out on Christine. And then petulantly running that smear campaign against Rosemary who has been nothing but nice to her was just unnecessary, though I am glad she got called out for it.

  We honestly don’t find out enough about George. I wish we got a few chapters from his perspective or just even what he has been up to. His background is alluded to but we don’t really get any concrete facts about him or his personality. The relationship between him and Lucie is kind of lacking depth as well. We get a nice introduction at the start of the book and the foundations are laid but they just didn’t have enough scenes together for me to really be convinced.

There were just a little too many conversations throughout revolving around all of the connections and various famous people that they know. I found myself skimming through a lot of those sections because I wasn’t all that interested in reading all these different random names and titles all the time. If the narrative would have focused more on the actual characters and the relationship at the core of the story and not just name dropping all the time I felt like I maybe would have enjoyed it a lot more.

⭐️2/5 stars A little shallow…

Reviews

Into the Crooked Place Review

by amyleighreads4 Comments on Into the Crooked Place Review

43550637._SY475_Into the Crooked Kingdom follows a girl named Tavia who sells dark magic on the streets for her Underboss Wesley. Until one day she uncovers a sinister plot that could detroy the whole realm and all the people in it.

I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. They were all very distinct and you could differentiate between them easily. All being from different parts of the realm and having such varying backgrounds was really intriguing and definitely brought more depth to the storyline.

Tavia was one of my favourites. I think because she essentially introduced us into the storyline I was more attached to her character in particular. Her love/hate relationship with Wesley was very entertaining, I kind of wish they would of acted on their feelings or maybe communicated a little bit better. Wesley for a minute there seemed open to that idea but Tavia shut him down and walked away. I think if we had a little more romance in the plot I would have been more engaged.

Unfortunately there were times throughout the book where I wasn’t all that interested in what was happening and didn’t really care. Although we are given pretty high stakes and there was definitely a lot of twists thrown in there were long periods of not a lot happening and it made me zone out a little.

I also wish we delved deeper into the magic system and how it works. We are kind of given a lot of information but I felt like it wasn’t enough. Maybe if we were given the origin of the world a little more and how the different charms work. How the Kingpin came to power in the first place or learning about the different people in the world would of helped. How the crafters came to be and how many different clans of the Kin there are.

I came out of this book a underwhelmed. I felt like the bones were there for a great fantasy story and there were elements I really loved. The found family, the intriguing magic system, an evil overlord they need to defeat, but it didn’t wow me in any way. I am still interested enough in the characters where I think I will be picking up the next book but it’s not something I’m dying to read.

⭐️3/5 stars Not gripping enough for me…