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Reviews

Immortal Reign Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Immortal Reign Review

23367265We dive straight back into the action in this final book of the Falling Kingdoms series. Jonah is trying to defy his destiny, Lucia will do absolutely anything to get her daughter back from Kyan, Amara heads back home to Kraeshia to be throned and Cleo and Magnus continue to fight to bring the kingdoms together.

Magnus’s arc over the course of the series was wonderful to read. I had a feeling his character would change drastically because of how he was portrayed in the first couple of books and I find he was definitely vindicated himself for his past actions. Also the fact that Cleo still chose to overlook those past deeds and just accept Magnus for the person he has shown her was lovely.

Cleo I feel I have steadily enjoyed but haven’t loved in the series. She was definitely a little too naïve and spoilt but through all of the difficulties she has had to face over the last year she has matured and shown a lot of restraint and poise.

I think I have the most thoughts and feelings about Lucia above all because she had such a drastic plot line in the series. I always thought she was an unlikeable character and that feeling didn’t really change over the course of the series. When her powers were drained by her daughter she finally realises how much she has relied on those powers and how non effective she is without them.

I honestly wouldn’t of been mad if this book had another 200-300 pages to really draw out the plot and build up the anticipation. The short length was something I always appreciated in the previous book because all you really get is all the action and manoeuvres that brought them to this moment. I would of loved go fully in depth with each character and get the minute details of everything that is happening.

I thought the pacing picked right back up and I was on the edge of my seat throughout my read. The ending did kind of wrap up quite conveniently but after the epic journey these characters embarked on back in the beginning of this series I was very content with how it ended!

⭐️5/5 WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO READ THIS SERIES????

Updates

🔱 Heroes of Olympus Reread Update 🔱

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 🔱 Heroes of Olympus Reread Update 🔱

7736182._SY475_I am currently in the middle of my reread for The Lost Hero and I am loving it so far! It definitely is giving me the same vibes as the Percy Jackson series and from what I remember its pretty much follows the same formula. Theres some sort of impending doom, there’s a quest and like a mini resolution leading to the next obstacle. I’m enjoying the new perspectives we’re getting in this series and how they differ from the original characters. Just the fact that we are moving away from the main three (aside from Jason and Percy) and showcasing a few of the children from the different gods is keeping me invested. Once again the pacing is consistent and fast, I have flew through the first half of the book! I think we are on the higher end of the middle-grade age range with this series but I will see whether or not it stays consistent as the books continue!

happy-reading

Reviews

Bitterblue Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Bitterblue Review

915sDFes1LLWhen Queen Bitterblue took the throne of Monsea, she was a child, and her advisers ran the kngdom for her. Now she is beginning to question their decisions, especially how they handle the legacy of her father Leck, who who ruled through his Grace–a special talent for mind-altering–and his taste for darkness and violence.

I found Bitterblue to be way too cavalier as Queen of Monsea for the first half of the book. She was unaware of anything that was happening in her kingdom and feasted control over to her advisors who were able to manipulate her. The way she handled herself at the start of the book was almost infuriating. She ran off in the middle of the night to listen to stories and ignored the concerns of her kingdom hiding in paperwork for the rest of the day in her tower. She doesn’t assert her control enough for me and let everyone walk all over her. She isn’t relatable at all, she didn’t even realize how privileged she was until three quarters of the way through the book when she seen how so many of her countrymen were struggling. She does strive to better herself and her kingdom though which I think is honourable, I just feel like it should of happened a lot sooner.

I just didn’t feel like there was enough Saf in the story for me. For the first 100 or so pages we don’t really learn much about him and what his purpose in the story is. He and Bitterblue continue to keep secrets from each other and don’t communicate well at all so the fact that they fall in love boggled my mind a little bit. I just didn’t think the romance aspect needed to happen at all. He was an interesting character though and I liked that we delved a little deeper into his backstory as the plot progressed.

It was nice having Katsa and Po come in and out of the story. It had been quite a few years since I read Graceling so it was nice to reacquaint myself with those characters.

I found the entire plot to be a little boring to be totally honest. There wasn’t really any stakes that kept me engaged in the storyline. It was basically just Bitterblue walking around her castle deciphering codes and reading books, trying to figure out who was lying to her and scheming against her, which I think was pretty obvious from the start…

⭐️2/5 I’m glad I read it, didn’t really enjoy though…

Book Lists

Fav Fantasy Stand Alones

by amyleighreads19 Comments on Fav Fantasy Stand Alones

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is a genre freebie so I though I would do an update of a post I did around this time last year which is my favourite fantasy stand alones! I love stand alone fantasy books and I feel now-a-days they are quite rare to come across, as there are mostly series or duologies in this genre. 

These are 5 more of my Fav Fantasy Stand Alones:

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho I loved the lore and the legends woven into the storyline. The tales of the previous Gumiho’s and how the correlate back to Miyoung was fascinating. The Korean culture was another factor I really enjoyed reading about. It definitely made the experience more interesting and unique.

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Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant – This book really had me on the edge of my seat. Mira Grant definitely didn’t shy away from making this very dark and killing off the characters when it suited the plot.

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Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson – The whole premise and concept of the book was really refreshing and original to me. I liked the build up of mystery and the many twists and turns the plot goes through. I world was rich with culture and I just loved that it’s based around these great libraries. 

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Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young – The plot of the book was quite simple but I was so engaged and entertained that it was easily overlooked! It was fast paced, rich with lore and culture and I loved the Viking aspect I thought it was fresh and original, unlike anything I’ve read in a very long time.

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Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody – There was a real sense of urgency and suspense woven throughout the story line which kept me highly engaged in the book. The stakes were always at an all-time high and trying to figure out who was behind everything was very entertaining!

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Reviews

Crystal Storm Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Crystal Storm Review

23367261Wild!

Once again we are continuing straight off where Frozen Tides concluded. Magnus and Cleo have decided to accompany King Gais to visit his mother who was thought to be dead. Jonas, Felix, Nic and Taran are sailing back to Paelsia along with Prince Ashur who was also thought to be dead.

So Lucia is warming up to me now. I like that we see her acknowledge all of her wrongdoings not only to Timotheus but to Jonas as well. Saying she deserves to die for all of the pain and devastation she has caused around Paelsia. I think her discovering she is pregnant really made her stop and think about what she was actually doing and why. I still think she is quite selfish and arrogant but that is really a cause of her upbringing, I just hope we see her mature and gain a little bit more humility in the upcoming conclusion.

Magnus and Cleo didn’t have enough moments together for me. We still see them continue to keep secrets from one another, which is causing issues in their relationship. I didn’t like the fact Cleo won’t open up to everyone and let them know she loves Magnus, I just think it shows she’s a little ashamed of her emotions and doesn’t want her friends to hate her. I think sure they might be a little disappointed, Nic in particular but if they really love her as much as they claim to, they would get over it. I enjoyed that we see Magnus be a little insecure and jealous of Cleo’s friendship with the other rebels, Jonas in particular. I just wish he would communicate his feelings to Cleo more openly instead of bottling them up.

I liked the inclusion of Selia into the plot. I thought she was intriguing and interesting characters. I loved her interactions with Cleo and I thought her devotion to her son was quite relatable, even though he’s this horrible person. When her real motives are finally revealed it was definitely a twist that I didn’t see coming!

This book was a little more stagnant compared to the previous books. The pacing is still quite fast and there are many twists and revelations that keep you invested and entertained. For a good chunk of the story all of the characters are in one place. I like that the story has kind of been centralised and all of the main players have come together and we see some of the schemes and plans come to fruition.

⭐️5/5 Ugh, they just keep getting better!