Tag: fantasy books

Reviews

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches Review

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

I enjoyed Mika as our main protagonist. She is inquisitive, she asks questions about the situation and even though she feels like she is in over her head she doesn’t give up and really tries for the girls. I liked the witchy elements through in, like gathering stardust in the middle of the night and casually mentioning the koi pond she has in her car. She continually questions Primrose why witches have been made to ostracize themselves from each other and doesn’t stick to the status quo.

Now with Jamie, I can understand why he is opposed to Mika coming but the outright rudeness I didn’t think was necessary. He could see just how much his averseness to her being there was affecting her potential relationship with Terracotta and yet didn’t change until something bad happened. In the end once he started coming around and opening up to Mika I was able to garner more affection for him.

All of the other characters were super distinctive and for the most part very wholesome. I loved how Ian kept trying to push Mika and Jamie together even though they were both so against it for so long but he knew they were meant to be. The girls were precious, the teaching scenes between them and Mika really made me appreciate how much patience and understanding she has for them.

I liked the fact that the relationship between Mika and Jamie was a slower burn. They each have issues from their past that they have to overcome before they can see clearly that the person right in front of them might be the one. The way that they naturally progress from enemies to friends and then ultimately end up together was a joy to read.

⭐️4/5 stars this was super cute!

Book Lists

5 Fav Fantasy Stand Alones

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 5 Fav Fantasy Stand Alones

For the last couple of years I’ve been listing 5 of my favourite fantasy stand-alone books that I read in the year previous. So I figured I had to continue on and list 5 more for you all!

A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Updates

🌌Cosmere Catch Up-date🌌

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*ALL MY UPDATES ARE GOING TO BE SPOILERY*

I just finished my first reread of The Final Empire! There are soooo many little details in this book that I have forgotten over the years so I am really glad I decided to reread this series as a whole. I don’t really remember my reaction after finishing The Final Empire the first time so I don’t know if I like the book any more or less. Right now I feel like I really enjoyed this book I didn’t absolutely love it as much as I thought I did, which is probably just the nostalgia. It was just very dense with a lot of strategizing and hiding around until the very end which felt kind of rushed and chaotic. I loved relearning everything about Allomancy and the mistborn as well as Feruchemy. I just wish that Kelsier didn’t have to martyr himself in order for the Skaa to rise up. I know that he has struggled since Mare died and came to terms with the fact that maybe she didn’t betray him but I wish we still had the opportunity to get to know him more.

Reviews

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries Review

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party–or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people. So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily’s research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

I really enjoyed Emily as our main character. I think even though she is this academic genius she is still quite relatable in terms of her obliviousness and her inability to read other people. I think she could of done a better job trying to warm up to the townsfolk since she was a visitor and encroaching on their lives for months but I did think it was a little cruel of them to withhold their hospitality because of one little faux pas. Emily definitely has the tendency to jump into situations without a lot of thought and puts herself sometimes unnecessarily in danger but I can’t really fault her because this is why she came.

I did take me a minute to warm up to Wendell because I didn’t quite know the reasons behind him coming and wanting to help Emily. I thought at first he might be coming to undermine her and steal all her findings (which she herself believes) but as we learn more about him and discover that perhaps he isn’t what he has claimed to be I did become a lot more invested. I kind of wish we could of explored his relationship with Emily a little more and see them actually be a couple.

Normally books revolving around faeries don’t interest me but this kind of fae adjacent book was a nice compromise for me. This did have kind of a slower start and didn’t really pick up until around the half way point of the book. This just felt like a whimsical folk tale that didn’t shy away from getting a bit dark which I wasn’t really expecting. We learn a lot about the lore and the rules around dealing with the fae and the ruthlessness of their behavior mixed with the careless way they view humans.

⭐️4/5 stars Pleasantly surprised, this was great!

Reviews

A Court of Silver Flames Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on A Court of Silver Flames Review

Nesta Archeron has always been prickly – proud, swift to anger and slow to forgive. And since the war – since being made High Fae against her will – she’s struggled to forget the horrors she endured and find a place for herself within the strange and deadly Night Court. The person who ignites her temper more than any other is Cassian, the battle-scarred, winged warrior who is there at Nesta’s every turn. But her temper isn’t the only thing Cassian ignites. And when they are forced to train in battle together, sparks become flame.

Nesta is the kind of character that is just so easy to hate but honestly after getting her perspective I find her to be a lot more relatable than Feyre. I’m glad that we get to see the consequences of what she has gone through and the work she has to put in to move past everything. I think it’s very unfair the amount of times the rest of the Night court make decisions without her input and decide when to deign her with crucial information. They seen how long it took for Feyre to get over her time at the Spring Court and didn’t give Nesta enough grace I feel.

Cassian wasn’t as honest with Nesta as I think he should of been but he definitely was her biggest supporter and advocator when they were all discussing what to do and what to tell her when she wasn’t present. I feel as though we only really scratched the surface with him and what he has overcome in his life as well which could of made me feel more connected to him had we got maybe some flashbacks to some of these battles and wars he’s been in.

This was a very emotional book about finding acceptance and trust within yourself. This was definitely the most adult of Sarah J Maas’s books as it gets very smutty which I wasn’t expecting to go to that level but I was pleasantly surprised. I loved seeing Nesta and Cassian grow closer and try not to give into their quite obvious feelings for each other. There was a little bit of the miscommunication trope which I hate but they hash everything out multiple times which placated me.

I have to be honest the mystery surrounding the trove and the queens didn’t really interest me that much. It was a nice way to include all the other characters we know and love but just Nesta’s journey with training and establishing the Valkyrie’s would of been enough for me.

⭐️5/5 stars I am soooo disappointed in myself for not reading this sooner!