Tag: Fantasy Series

Reviews

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear Review

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she’d been missing from birth. It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong. It wasn’t her. Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyyreka, the Land Beneath the Lake–and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyyreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

Like most of the backstories for the Wayward Children’s series we are shown just how horrible these kids were treated by those around them who should love and care about them the most which is why these doors open for them. Nadya’s story wasn’t as harrowing as some of the other kids but I still can’t even imagine growing up the way she did. The abandonment from birth and then even though she is comfortable and happy with the body she was given having to try and please these ‘white saviors’.

I love when we get the chance to enter the worlds and experience them figuring out the rules and finding their place. Nadya’s experience out of everyone else I think was the most positive. Even though she has that scare right at the start with the frog, every else she encounted was very understanding of her situation and helped her out every step of the way. Her transition into Belyyreka was the least adventurous out of the rest. There wasn’t really any obstacles for her to overcome or mysteries to solve, she kind of just showed up and integrated herself into life there and lived happily until she fell back out.

So because there wasn’t really any real plots or mysteries to keep me in suspense I wasn’t all that invested in the storyline. I loved how we got to explore this new world but some of the descriptions made it hard to visualise in my head so it took me out of the story quite a bit as well.

⭐️3/5 could’ve packed more of a punch I feel!

Reviews

The Last Hours Series Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on The Last Hours Series Review

*SERIES SPOILERS AHEAD*

Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.

So it has been probably about 4/5 years since I immersed into the Shadowhunter world and it felt very nostalgic and easy to get back into. This time around the series definitely felt very YA and as the series progressed it was quite easy to pretty much predict what was going to happen. Sure, there were some twists and turns that surprised me but there are quite a few repeat themes that keep popping up from previous series.

With Chain of Gold specifically I thought this was a pretty solid first book. It establishes all the main protagonists pretty well, however and this has been a gripe of mine from earlier series but there is always an influx of Shadowhunter families and characters that we are introduced to all at once and it is really hard to keep track and distinguish everyone from each other and what families they belong to. This book sets up the rest of the series very well and really gives us great insight into all of the relationships our core characters have with each other as well as the overarching mystery that spans all three books.

Chain of Iron broadens out the scope of the series by including more of the secondary characters and a bit more of the adults into the plotline. One things that starts to pop up in the this book is how many secrets each of these characters are keeping from each other which carries over into Chain of Thorns for sure. Had everyone just laid everything out on the table from the start a lot of the conflict could have been avoided which irritates me. It just seems like laziness to come up with all of these reasons why they can’t just come out and tell each other what is really happening instead of creating all these crazy justifications.

Chain of Thorns felt a little too long for me. I think the first third could of really been condensed down and added to the end of Chain of Iron. Was I a fan of the love triangle, no. Do I think it was used as fan service to everyone who were diehard fans of The Infernal Devices series, yes. I just don’t think it was necessary as Tessa, Will and Jem are very prominent in this series. Again, we learn a lot more about the minute details of Belial’s plan and see it unfold. We still have this miscommunication trope running rampant and everyone is starting to acknowledge that. The sex scenes were a very fade to black and awkward to read, I appreciated that it was included but still made me cringe.

Overall, this was a good series. Very on brand with the whole Shadowhunter franchise, it just seems like Cassandra Clare followed the same blueprint just changed around a few details and expanded on those changes. Not my favorite by any means, but very entertaining and you do have this group of friends that you want to root for and see succeed.

I gave all three books ⭐️3/5 stars

Updates

🌌Cosmere Catch Up-date🌌

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 🌌Cosmere Catch Up-date🌌

*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

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!