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Reviews

Into the Water Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Into the Water Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

In the last days before her death, Nel Abbott called her sister. Jules didn’t pick up the phone, ignoring her plea for help. Now Nel is dead. They say she jumped. And Jules has been dragged back to the one place she hoped she had escaped for good, to care for the teenage girl her sister left behind.

As a character I didn’t particularly like Jules or feel any kind of connection to her so I wasn’t that invested in the story as whole because of that. Throughout the book she never surprised me or did something that would encourage me to be on her side. Sure she had something horrific happen to her when she was a child and the other children and her sister were horrible to her but none of that had anything to do with Nel’s death and the deaths of all the other women at the pool. It did give us some context as to Nel’s character and I can see why Jules would believe that her sister was so callous all these years.

Lena just got on my nerves for the majority of the story as well. I can appreciate that she just lost her mum and is in mourning at the moment but her attitude and brattiness was annoying. She was very selfish in keeping that secret about Katie and I was 100% on Louise’s side for telling her that! She would of eased their minds months and months ago about why Katie killed herself had she just told the family about the relationship.

I feel like Louise bless her was the most realistic out of all the characters in this book. Her grief over her daughter’s death and her unwillingness to give up and figure out the cause of it all felt so real and raw. I can’t imagine what she would be going through but she knew that Nel and Lena had something to do with it and ultimately they did.

I liked the structure of the book, having the multiple perspectives really gave us a lot of context and upped the mystery factor as to who was behind Nel’s death. The pacing was just a little off though, there wasn’t enough reveals or twists for me, it was just one big build up to the standoff with the Townsend’s. It was original, unlike anything I’ve read so far and ultimately was just an ok for me!

⭐️3/5 stars Very eerie, dark and wet!

Reviews

Witchshadow Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Witchshadow Review

*A little Spoilery*

War has come to the Witchlands . . . and nothing will be the same again. Iseult has found her heartsister Safi at last, but their reunion is brief. For Iseult to stay alive, she must flee Cartorra while Safi remains. And though Iseult has plans to save her friend, they will require her to summon magic more dangerous than anything she has ever faced before.

The structure of the plot wasn’t a favourite of mine to be honest. I didn’t really like that we lost all of that time right at the start and then have to have flashbacks throughout the course of the plot to find out what happened. Once again Safi and Iseult have been torn apart and even though they are evolving and distinguishing themselves as characters we don’t see them together enough anymore.

I feel like this was definitely Iseult’s book as she figures out what it means to be the new puppeteer and her voidwitch powers. We witness her struggle with the guilt of having to kill so many people and being able to do it so easily and not giving in to that ‘monstrous’ side of herself that she feels is within her. She has many revelations and epiphanies and we learn so much through her about the truth of who the paladins actually are.

Safi’s storyline was a little stunted to begin with. I didn’t really care about the Emperor at all and I wasn’t as invested in what was going on with that. I did like the fact that we learnt more about the Hell-bards and their history and the restrictions that they have now that Safi is one of them.

Vaness and Vivia was a storyline I wasn’t sure where it was going. Definitely didn’t think that they would actually form a relationship which seems to be the direction it’s going. Having that weaved into Stix and Ryber and their adventures was very entertaining and had me wanting to find out what was going to happen next.

Overall the Paladin’s and Exalted Ones were brought into the story way too quickly for me. Had they been introduced right from Truthwitch at maybe I would be on board but right now I’m kind of confused as to who is who. You absolutely need to read Sightwitch to have any indication as to what was going on in this book and even though I only reread it a month ago I was still kind of like huh?

The only thing that is really pushing me forward is Iseult and Aeduan finally being reunited and Merik’s little appearance right at the end with those mysterious sisters. I have no idea what is going to happen next I just hope Iseult and Safi get a chance to sit down, catch up with us and let us as a reader take a breather.

⭐️3/5 stars I’m invested, the story just veered far from what I was expecting

Readathons, TBR

Tome Topple Round 15 TBR

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Tome Topple Round 15 TBR

Round 15 of the Tome Topple Readathon which is hosted by Thoughts on Tomes started yesterday and I didn’t realise but I figured this was the perfect time to try and tackle some of the longer books on my TBR in the next couple of weeks!

My Tome Topple TBR for round 15 is:

Tome with a movie adaptation – Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer

Tome in a genre you don’t usually read – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

A sequel tome – The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

Tome you started in another round – The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Read 1 tome – The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Tome with the most pages – Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto

Tome in a series you haven’t read in a while – Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson

Spooky tome – Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Tome by a BIPOC author – The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

Reviews

Vespertine Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Vespertine Review

*Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC for review!*

Artemisia is training to be a Gray Sister, a nun who cleanses the bodies of the deceased so that their souls can pass on; otherwise, they will rise as spirits with a ravenous hunger for the living. She would rather deal with the dead than the living, who trade whispers about her scarred hands and troubled past. When her convent is attacked by possessed soldiers, Artemisia defends it by awakening an ancient spirit bound to a saint’s relic.

I feel like I didn’t get to connect enough with Artemisia before all the action happened. We get a brief example of the ostracisation that she felt living with the Gray Sisters and how much more comfortable she was with the dead than the other nuns. But then all the action starts and we are swept away into the story before I could form that bond with her. Throughout the plot we are given insight into what she had to endure growing up and why she acts the way she does which I appreciated.

I liked how Marguerite came back into the story. I didn’t think any of the nuns were going to be super relevant to the story since Artemisia leaves them so quickly but it was nice to have her come back in and give us some understanding about how people perceived Artemisia and the misunderstanding that could occur when people don’t communicate properly with each other.

The terminology in the book was a little hard to understand and completely wrap my mind around. Keeping track of all the different orders of the souls and the clergisy was difficult and wasn’t explained as well as it could of been I feel. We’re thrown straight into the action and all of these names and titles keep flying around and I wasn’t as rooted into the story as what I could of been if it was all just drawn out a little longer.

The same thing can be said for the setting and the structure of the plot. I found it quite difficult to picture where we were and what was happening a lot (which I found to be similar to Magaret Rogerson’s two previous books). We are just moving through so quickly and I wasn’t given enough description and I was lost a couple times and had to go back and reread a few pages.

Overall I really liked the concept, I thought it was highly original and compelling. I just would of liked the pacing to slow down and we can get situated with what’s happening before jumping into all of the action. The were some twists and turns throughout the course of the storyline that ultimately kept me turning the pages but was a bit underwhelming in the end.

⭐️3/5 stars The potential was there just lacking that oomph for me…