books – Page 246 – Amy Leigh Reads

Save the Date Review

May 17, 2019May 17, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

81Ilto+efPL This was good!

This book follows the story of Charlie Grant a 17 year old girl in the middle of a transitional period of her life. Her 4 siblings have all grown up and moved away and she is about to graduate and go off to college, she doesn’t know which one yet. For the first time in what feels like forever all of family are back in their home for their sister Linnie’s wedding.

This was a cute, fun very quick easy read for me and it was very engaging. I like the fact that the storyline happens over the course of just three days. It goes into the minute details of everyday life that sometimes gets overlooked in regular novels, but I actually really enjoyed it!

The book started off pretty simple in concept but as the plot progressed it started to get more convoluted and complicated. There was a lot happening behind the scenes in this family that from just face value you would never know.

I thought Charlie was very naïve and kind of refused to see the bad side of any of her family. I like that we see her kind of grow and come to accept that change is definitely going to be inevitable and she realized that maybe her family aren’t all that they are perceived from Grant Central Station. I’m definitely glad that Charlie could see how badly her family treated Brooke as well. She mentions it various times throughout the story that it was fine that they were leaving her out and not including her or disregarding her feelings. I also thought she was a little too judgmental about the whole situation with Mark. She really didn’t take his feelings into consideration at all and I thought she was pretty dismissive overall about him which when we found out about the actual situation I thought his actions were quite justified, just maybe not to the extent that he took it.

I definitely enjoyed my reading experience and as the book progressed it delved a lot deeper into a lot of familial drama but overall it was a little too predictable and didn’t really blow me away at the end of the book.

⭐️3/5 Entertaining, family drama!

Book Lists

5 Fantasy Series I Want to Start Update

May 16, 2019May 16, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

I did a post back in January about 5 Fantasy Series that I wanted to start in 2019 and since we are already in May I thought I would do an update of what I’ve started/finished/not even touched yet!

The five series were:

The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima – I completed this series this month actually! I absolutely LOVED these books, I think Cinda Williams Chima is a fantastic fantasy author and I will definitely be continuing on with the Shattered Realms series very soon! The-Seven-Realms-Series copy

The Falling Kingdoms Series by Morgan Rhodes – I only currently own Falling Kingdoms and Gathering Darkness. I don’t like to start a series unless I have access to all of the books, so I haven’t had a chance to pick these books up yet. tumblr_o4hpav2jRC1tgcknno1_1280 copy

The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard – I have completed all of the books that are currently out at the moment. I have been loving this series so far! Iseult and Safi are amazing characters and the plot is getting progressively better with each book! Picture1 copy

The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks – I own all of these books but I feel I haven’t prioritized this series because I think I’m not as excited to read it as much as the other series in this list. I will probably get started later on in the year! Screen-Shot-2018-08-02-at-9_16_40-AM copy

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb – I also currently own all of the books in this trilogy I just haven’t picked up them up yet! *Spoiler* Assassin’s Apprentice will be on my TBR next month so no doubt I will be completing this trilogy very soon! asssason copy

So far in the last 5 months I have completed 2 out of the 5 series I wanted to read this year. That is a total of 8 out of the 20 books that make up these series. I think I am on track to hopefully finish all of these series by the end of the year; I originally only wanted to get started on these books so I am quietly confident I will have least read at least 1-2 of the books from the other three series before the end of 2019!

Reviews

Red Sister Review

May 15, 2019May 14, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

Perfection, I absolutely LOVED this book!!!!

Nona was saved by the High Priestess Glass just as she was about to be hanged. Falsely accused of murder Nona is sought after by some powerful enemies. The Priestess sweeps her away to the Convent of Sweet Mercy where all their novices are raised to become lethal killers.

The premise of this book is everything that I love about fantasy to be honest. The school setting was wonderful, all of the different classes that Nona has to attend surrounded by the other novices. Even the different bells and their meaning were interesting and utilised throughout the course of the book.

I really liked Nona; she is such an interesting character. Super loyal to all of her friends and isn’t afraid to speak up in their defense or even sacrifice herself to save them from any harm. She has a lot of secrets and I like that we aren’t made aware of some of the more significant ones til the end of the book. I like that her ignorance was kind of used as a way to be able to explain everything in a lot more detail letting the reader absorb all the knowledge slowly. Being that a majority of the characters are very young only 9-11 they are really discovering themselves as the plot progresses.

The story is incredibly rich with magical lore and also political machinations. The whole trial that the High Priestess Glass and Nona had to endure and the eventual reasoning’s behind it really took me by surprise. I was stunned that Glass put everything in place and saved Nona just on the off chance that this would occur, putting herself and Nona in danger. Her cunning and intellect really engaged me and I was deeply invested in the plot after that!

The way that the story shifts and the revelations really start to come out was so well done, multiple layers of plot lines with different characters with different intentions. Convoluted fantasy books with a multitude of characters and magical elements are my favourite books of all time and this really blew me away!

⭐️5/5 High stakes, magical, bad ass fighting nuns, I am IN!

Book vs. Movie

📚 Book vs. Movie 🎥

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019by amyleighreads2 Comments

I have this recurring series on my blog where I compare books to their TV/Movie adaptations and this month my post aligns with this week’s Top 10 Tuesday prompt.

I decided to go with Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and its movie adaptation Twilight. I read the Twilight series for the first time right when Twilight came out back in 2006 and yes I will freely admit I was a hard stan for the book series, the movies however….

These were my thoughts on Twilight:

Pros: The book was very entertaining. I remember the first time I read it when I was around 13/14 I was enraptured. The premise, the storyline, the characters everything appealed to me and I was IN! I like that the movie sticks to the original plotline, and honestly that’s about it.

Cons: I mean the writing isn’t the greatest however, you can sort of lose yourself in the story so I kind of overlook it purely for the entertainment value. Bella kind of got on my nerves as well, always talking about how she is so plain and clumsy and doesn’t think she’s attractive whatsoever, but all the boys in her year all have a crush on her. Is she really that oblivious? With the movie I honestly can’t stand Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. I thought Robert just wasn’t attractive enough to be Edward, he wasn’t at all how I pictured him in my mind. With Kristen I just thought she was a horrible actress, I couldn’t take her seriously at all. So that really blew my whole experience with all of the movies!

Overall thoughts: When I was a teenager I absolutely loved this series with a passion and that whole nostalgia I have surrounding it has left a soft spot in my heart for the books. With the movies I think I stopped after New Moon, I couldn’t take it seriously and I thought a lot of the acting was subpar…

My Recommendation: 100% would recommend the books over the movies.

twilight

Reviews

99 Percent Mine Review

May 10, 2019May 10, 2019by amyleighreads1 Comment

36300625 The Hating Game was my favourite book of last month and I knew I had to immediately pick up Sally Thorne’s latest release 99 Percent Mine and see how it compares. Granted I enjoyed the read immensely however it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.

We follow the story of Darcy who has until recently been travelling the world. That is until her grandmother passed away and left Darcy and her twin brother Jamie her old run down cottage with the instructions to renovate and sell the property, dividing the profits between them. Darcy wants to keep the old charm of the house but her brother wants everything modern/up to date. World war 3 seems imminent until in walks Tom Valeska, their long-time friend and Darcy’s first crush that Jamie has contracted for the renovations.

The start of the book was a little jumbled and didn’t fully explain what was going on. The characters were kind of hazardly introduced and I didn’t know where the story was going. However, as the book progressed things became clear and more defined and I was easily able to follow along.

Darcy wasn’t a very likable character in my eyes. She was a little too crass and sure of herself and very blunt. It was entertaining the way she would just blurt out anything and everything that she was thinking but it I couldn’t really imagine anyone really speaking like that in real life so it kind of threw me off a bit. I did enjoy how we got a very in depth look into her life and why she acts the way she does and how she has this sort of false sense of confidence. I also found it strange that she never really acknowledged herself as being pretty, she describes herself as quite plain and boyish, but all of the workers can’t seem to keep their eyes off her and they all find her irresistible. Little things like that where I was like hmmm….

I did love how the sexual tension built up between Darcy and Tom though. She being so brazen and out there and Tom trying to keep things professional and proper. It was very entertaining and had me engaged throughout the course of the plot.

All in all still an enjoyable read. Didn’t quite enrapture me like the Hating Game did but I think it’s because I just love that hate to love trope so much!

⭐️4/5 Building site, old crush, sexual tension!