amyleighreads – Page 243 – Amy Leigh Reads

Carry On Review

January 28, 2019January 28, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

81yxWqchlgL Thought it was just okay.

We follow the story of Simon Snow who is the chosen one. He is the most powerful mage that ever was and he is prophesied to change the world. However, he isn’t the most skillful of all the students who attends Watfords; the magical school presided over by the High Mage. None of his spells ever work and his wand doesn’t even respond to him half the time.

The beginning of the book I didn’t really enjoy all that much. It was just Simon recounting his history of the school and what he did in the last 7 years he went there. I didn’t immediately make a connection with him and I wasn’t really invested in the story at the start.

The magic system I wasn’t a big fan of. All of the random sentences and rhymes that make the spells work felt a little juvenile for me. It was a little too mundane and not fantastical enough for me personally, I couldn’t really take it seriously.

Simon was just kind of ok to me. I found him to be super obsessed with Baz and the Mage and not much else. The first hundred pages or so was just him fixated on the fact that Baz wasn’t at school and why. I wasn’t really interested until we got a lot farther into the story and we dug deeper into his history and why he is the chosen one.

I did enjoy Baz a lot more than Simon. I thought he was more unique and distinct as a character. I like that we get an explanation of why he was so mean to Simon over the years and it makes him more redeemable in my eyes. He’s been hiding so much of himself from the rest of them and I love that he finally gets the chance to be free and truly be himself.

The plot was a little boring to me. I was mildly interested in finding out about Baz’s mother and the whole conspiracy surrounding her death but everything with the Coven and the families just didn’t interest me all that much. I did enjoy the twist at the end and I like that the multiple perspectives exposed different aspect of the storyline.

This wasn’t a favourite of mine, I can see why a lot of people would love this story but again it just wasn’t my taste.

⭐️2.5/5 I’m not fangirling…🤷🏽‍♀️

Reviews

The King of Attolia Review

January 25, 2019January 24, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

untitled This book was great!

Gen has managed to become the King of Attolia. Though he always maintained that he was in love with the queen and not the crown and he made his thoughts known throughout the Attolian court. Not paying attention during meeting, wandering around, acting indifferent towards the queen. Then he drags a young naïve guard into the middle of his political maneuverings. Cortis hates the king he is a staunch supporter of the Queen and feels like Eugenides has stolen the crown. Little does anyone know Gen is not someone to be trifled with and he will find a way to come out on top.

I loved the introduction of our new character Cortis. I like that he isn’t a fan of Gen and we slowly over the course of the storyline see his feelings and loyalties start to shift. I loved seeing the inner workings of the guards and attendants and how the interact with each other; the little ongoing rift between them added a nice spark to the storyline. I thought Cortis was quite honourable and likable, he doesn’t just blindly accept rumors or speculation, even though he wants to. He sees what kind of person the King is and can’t help but grudgingly respect him.

Gen was once again simply fantastic. I loved that we get to really see how he is portrayed through different perspectives. Because we don’t see his every move you can’t help but think something else might be going on. Nothing is really ever as it seems with Gen, he might make you think a certain way or give the impression of something but the truth is totally different. We get to see so many different sides to him in this book and he had me second guessing his character for a bit there but I knew that he had to have something up his sleeve. I like being surprised by him on a regular basis; it keeps me invested in the plot.

The whole premise and continuation of this storyline was fantastic. I think Megan Whalen Turner definitely went in the right direction and totally sets up the rest of the series beautifully. There are so many different directions the plot can go now that Gen has stepped up and finally become the true King of Attolia. Seeing all the little intricacies in his plans and how it all came together in the end was masterful. I honestly loved this book and I am very excited to continue on with this series very soon!

⭐️4/5 stars Political intrigue, plot twists and conspiracies!!!

Updates

⚡️Harry Potter Update⚡️

January 24, 2019January 24, 2019by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment

This month I bought the third illustrated edition of the Harry Potter series with The Prisoner of Azkaban and you better believe I picked it straight up and dived right in! This edition is so beautiful and it just enhances the reading experience so much. I haven’t read The Prisoner of Azkaban in a few years now and I was enthralled. The intricacies in the storyline and how everything matches up together in the different timelines is genius! The illustrated edition of The Goblet of Fire should come out later this year which is sooooo exciting, I can’t wait to see all of the dragons and the delegates from the different schools, Madame Maxime! I am definitely not waiting until then to continue with my reread of the series, I will just have to skim through when it comes out.

Happy Reading📚

Reviews

Wundersmith Review

January 22, 2019January 21, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

9780734418227 This was a great sequel!

This book really delved so much deeper into the land of Nevermoor and we are beginning to see some of its fantastical elements. I love the trick lanes and their classifications, especially since we are made aware of them early on in the book with no explanation.

Morrigan had such a hard time in this book and it really had me cheering for her. Nobody really knows what she has to deal with being a Wundersmith and having that stigma attached. So when she is still constantly told that all of the Wundersmiths are horrible and evil of course you would start to second guess yourself. Thank goodness for Jupiter who mostly was always there to support Morrigan and tell her that she is good. I loved how he scoured the city to try to prove to her that there was some good Wundersmiths in the past, which really cemented how good and honourable and supportive he is.

I love the unit element as well. How these nine kids who only met during their exhaustive trials would somehow connect and become a family. And to have their bond tested so early on with the blackmailing was a great twist. Miss Cheery was a wonderful character as well, I really loved her. She was a constant in these kids’ lives, when they needed a bit of stability she was there. She really proved how loyal and supportive of Unit 919 she is and it really showed throughout the course of the storyline.

The Wunder Society kind of got on my nerves for most of the book. How they decided to just quash Morrigan’s knack and not give her the tools to control it. She knows almost nothing about being a Wundersmith and is forced to just deal with it on her own. Jupiter is off trying to figure out the disappearances and he can’t intervene on her behalf, so she has to weather the storm on her own. She acted exactly how I would have in her situation so that made me like her even more! They did sort of redeem themselves at the end though so I’ll give them that. Forcing Morrigan to reveal herself sort of forced them into action and teach her the proper way to handle her knack.

This was a fantastic read. It is very fast paced and with every turn of the page there is something going else going on. All of the components are established very early on in the storyline and they are just weaved throughout the book so well that when the reveal happens you didn’t see it coming at all. I couldn’t predict what was going to happen next in this book which really kept me invested and interested.

⭐️4.5/5 Please read this series you won’t regret it!

Reviews

The Wicked King Review

January 18, 2019January 18, 2019by amyleighreads2 Comments

26032887 Similar to my experience reading The Cruel Prince, I just didn’t really gel to this book.

Its five months into Cardan’s reign and Jude has been running the kingdom under the guise of his Seneschal. With Cardan under her command she has complete control over the land and is finding it difficult to manage. Cardan is finding ways to undermine her orders and she has to circumvent many plots against the throne, her life as well as her king’s.

Jude again really got on my nerves in this book. I don’t know what it is about her but I can’t seem to warm to her. I thought she was a lot more thoughtful in her planning and processes in this book, but her lack of modesty in the sense that she feels like she’s untouchable just grates me. Like the fact that she’s warned time again to have a guard with her at all times and she rides off to Madoc’s property by herself and gets ambushed. She is told that someone she trusts has betrayed her by a Fae who cannot lie and all she does is speculate as to who it might be, she doesn’t actively try to pin point who… Little things like that where she thinks she is smarter than everyone else and can do things on her own. I enjoy a strong, powerful female protagonist who doesn’t need a man beside her to help her but Jude is on the other side of the spectrum to the point where I don’t care what happens to her. Every bad decision she makes that results in something bad happening to her I think well she deserved it.

The pace of the book was a little off for me as well. I found the first half of the book to be very slow but it did pick up towards the tail end of the story. Around the last 100 pages or so I did actually enjoy the plot and how things were unraveling but it took too long to get there. There were a few twists in the plot that I liked and piqued my interests, but they were too few and far between to keep me thoroughly entertained and intrigued.

I just think maybe this series isn’t for me right now. If you read The Cruel Prince and liked it you are probably going to really like The Wicked King. I tried The Cruel Prince and thought it was just ok and now I’ve read The Wicked King and again it’s not my cup of tea, I don’t know yet if I’m going to pick up the next book in this series…

⭐️2.75/5 unfortunately this book/series just isn’t for me…