book – Page 253 – Amy Leigh Reads

5 Fantasy Stand Alones

March 21, 2019March 21, 2019by amyleighreads3 Comments

These are a few of my favourite fantasy stand alones! I think most of these are great if you aren’t an avid fantasy reader, to get you started and to dip your toes into the genre. Fantasy is my absolute favourite and I don’t get around to reading a lot of stand-alones in the genre but what I have read I have loved!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore – I get that there are two more books in this world but I believe they are just companion novels, so I am counting this as a stand-alone. I loved this book. The premise alone I found to be very interesting and I loved how it was executed! Katsa is one of my favourite female protagonists and I loved her arc throughout this story.

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To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo – This book surprised me a little bit! I picked it up on a whim and thought it was going to be a little dry (lol) but I actually really enjoyed the storyline. The pace was very well done, I thought the premise was unique and the kind of hate to love romance trope is one of my favourites so I really liked this!

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Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson – I was highly entertained throughout the course of this book! I loved Mila and her commentary in this book was very witty and kind of snarky which I like in a female protagonists. Overall I think it was her desire to find out the truth and her stop at nothing nature that really captured my attention and ensnared me!

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The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw – Dark and atmospheric, I really enjoyed this book as well. The premise I found to be very unique and the twist at the end did really surprise me! I didn’t see it coming and I felt like the execution was very well done.

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The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – Even though this is a fairly new read I had to put it on the list! An epic fantasy book of over 1000 pages I’m sure it is intimidating to the average person. However, I found it to be an incredibly fast engaging read. The world is vast, the characters are diverse and the magic system is unique. Everything I love about fantasy this book really captured!

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Updates

The Seven Realms Series

March 20, 2019March 15, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

I am beyond excited that I am finally getting around to reading this series!!! When I got back into reading about 4 or 5 years ago now I did a lot of research on fantasy series and what was highly rated and The Seven Realms series popped up on a lot of lists of people’s all time favourite fantasy series! They are all pretty lengthy books and I am so ready to dive into a new world full of hopefully diverse characters and a unique magic system with a lot of action and adventure thrown in the mix. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Cinda Williams Chima and her writing so I am already fully invested in these books!

Happy Reading📚

Books I WANT to read, but don’t want to READ Tag🏷

March 19, 2019March 20, 2019by amyleighreads4 Comments

I seen this Tag floating around a few different blogs and thought why not I haven’t done a Tag in while!

Please see the original tag for the rules!

1: A book that you feel you need to read because everyone talks about it

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – I didn’t actively pursue this book but because I had seen it on my social media soooo much as soon as I seen the physical book in a bookstore I had to buy it immediately!

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2: A book that’s really long

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks – this is the longest book on my physical TBR, 629 pages seems like a lot to most people but as a high/epic fantasy reader this is kind of average sized. Very excited to get into this series though!

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3: A book you’ve owned / had on your TBR for too long

The Host by Stephanie Meyer – I seen it on sale at a thrift store and I thought hmm I have all her others book, why not? That was about 5 years ago now and I still haven’t touched it!

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4: A book that is ‘required’ reading

(eg, school text, really popular classic – something you feel obligated to read!)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – Never got around to it, but I still want to read it just to be included in the conversation lol.

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5: A book that intimidates you

The Diviners by Libba Bray – simply because this series is very well loved and I don’t know if I’m going to love it as much as everyone else.

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6: A book that you think might be slow

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood – I’ve been meaning to read this for a while now and it’s on my TBR for this month but I have a feeling it’s going to be very slow paced!

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7: A book you need to be in the right mood for

The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan – From what I’ve heard about this book it deals with a lot of grief, and I really need to be in the right mindset to get into those kinds of books.

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8: A book you’re unsure if you will like

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid – I’ve heard the synopsis and I’ve seen a couple of reviews already and this book just isn’t my style, but I still think I have to read it.

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Reviews

Thick as Thieves Review

March 18, 2019March 15, 2019by amyleighreads3 Comments

y648 We follow a new protagonist in this last book of the series. Kamet is a slave to a very important man in the empire. He keeps his master’s books and accounts and is considered to be a very important slave himself. He has accumulated a few possessions and has a considerable about of personal power in his role which he relishes. That is until an unknown soldier’s comes and offers an escape from his life as a slave, and whispered warnings of poison and murder destroys all of his plans.

I like that everyone’s identity is kept hidden throughout the course of the book. It kept me engaged in the plot as I wanted to figure out who everyone was. We find out the identity of Kamet’s master pretty quickly and I had a feeling about who the Attolian was but it wasn’t confirmed until nearly the end of the book (I was right!)

Kamet I liked him but he wasn’t a favourite of mine in this series. I like that we get a different perspective of what a slave’s life is like in the Empire. All the mannerisms and behaviour is carefully monitored by everyone around them and they can be punished for even the most minor infringements. I liked that we see Kamet constantly vigilant and schooling the Attolian on how a slave should be acting and why he can’t sit next to him or share his food.

Even now five books later I am still getting surprised by Gen and I love that. Even though the main focus of this book isn’t even on him he still has such a commanding presence throughout the plot. Every book really highlights a different trait of his and I loved that once again he has proved how valuable he is and why he chooses to befriend certain people.

The pace was a little bit up and down and at times I did struggle to retain my focus on the book. I think maybe the journey was a little too long for me. It just kind of felt like they were just walking for a lot of chapters and remarking on the scenery which I like for establishing the scene but it became a bit boring for me. There wasn’t enough action.

Even the whole storytelling element that I enjoyed in previous books I found myself kind of skimming in this instalment. I read maybe the first two all the way through and then the rest I wasn’t all that interested in. They were again a little too long for me and they didn’t really bring anything to the storyline.

It wasn’t bad but I didn’t find myself enjoying this as much as the other books in the series. It was just kind of ok. That’s it…

⭐️3/5 I liked it, nothing wrong with it, just not a favourite!

Reviews

The Rose and the Dagger Review

March 15, 2019October 4, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

51fuyxthzgl Soooo I didn’t love this as much as The Wrath and the Dawn…

This book continues straight after the last book finishes off. Tariq has whisked Shazi off into the desert after the storm that has razed Rey. Shazi has to deal with the consequences of loving the Caliph and siding with the murderous boy king.

Don’t get me wrong it was still a great book regardless yet it didn’t completely meet my expectations. This has kind of been happening to me a lot as well, I will start a new series and the first novel will sweep me off my feel and then as I continue on the rest of the books don’t give that same feeling.

Shazi though still being very witty and tenacious I felt like at times she kind of acted a bit arrogantly. Like when she first met the Sheik and she refused to relinquish her weapons and demanded the guards to let go of her. I just felt like that was totally unnecessary and made a big fuss over nothing. She was in the presence of Tariq who would let nothing happen to her and she was a guest of the Badawi Clan who had housed and protected her family. Also when she first met Artan someone Musa said could potentially help her break the curse she was rude too as soon as she met him. Granted he was discourteous at the time but she took offense too quickly and that grated me nerves a little.

I liked Isra a lot, I enjoyed that we get to delve a lot deeper into her character and get a feel for who she is. I loved her honesty and compassion for her family. She is very loyal yet will still question her sisters’ motives and wants to be treated as her equal not her little sister.

The book was still very entertaining and the pacing was pretty good. At some stages it was a little slow and I did find myself skimming a little just to get through certain scenes. Though there were a lot of twists and shocking revelations thrown in throughout the plot and that kept me invested and reading on.

The magical element still wasn’t thoroughly explained either. There was no reasoning as to why Jahander and Shazi have this power and not Isra. Where it comes from or really what it is, just that it exists. I liked that there was a little bit of a history told about Artan’s family and the lore behind their magic but still it wasn’t enough for me.

All the elements are there, the characters, the plot, the setting, yet it wasn’t executed enough for me. I appreciated the ending, I liked that I was totally blindsided by several character and their motives, yet I wasn’t left with any overwhelming feelings at the end like I did with The Wrath and the Dawn.

⭐️3/5 Good not great!