Tag: review

Reviews

Flame in the Mist Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Flame in the Mist Review

23308087I really loved this book!

Marika is on her way to the imperial city to meet with her betrothed. A marriage her father a prominent samurai arranged for her as she had known would happen her whole life. On the road her convoy is attacked by the Black Clan, a rogue group of bandits, who’ve been hired to kill Marika. As the lone survivor Marika makes the decision to take her life into her own hands, track down the Black Clan and find out who wants her dead.

I really enjoyed Marika’s character. She wasn’t naïve or overly innocent and immature which I kind of don’t like in female protagonists. I thought she was quite forthright and speculative and unwilling to bend. She asks questions, she wants to be informed, she doesn’t want to be in the dark or unaware and she pushes for information. Her growth over the course of the book was great to read. She has decided she doesn’t want any man to make decisions for her. She is in charge of her own destiny. I also really liked how self-aware she became towards the end of the story. She understood how much she overlooked as the daughter of a samurai and how skewed her perception of the world and those around her were.

At first I didn’t find any of the members of the black clan to be likeable. I didn’t really connect with any of them until around the half-way point of the book. When they decided to trust Marika and we got a few more details about who they are and what they are doing and that’s really when I started to be more invested.

I loved reading about the backstory of Ranmaru and Okami. Everything about their father’s and the emperor and how it wove together into the plotline was beautiful. I loved that their friendship was based on loyalty and honour. You could really get a feel for the lengths that they would go to protect each other and the rest of the Black Clan.

I love that this book is so unique and different culturally, learning about the samurai’s and the different clans in the empire. Seeing the political manipulations of the emperor and his son’s and how they interact with others around them. How the plot unfolded and the way the characters interacted kept me highly entertained. Though there were passages at the start where it got a little boring and I was skimming a few paragraphs but overall the actual story was fantastic!

⭐️4.5/5 Twists and turns, samurai’s and sword fights!

Reviews

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

11194970I loved this!

We follow Mara Dyer after she has woken up in the hospital. She was involved in an accident that killed her best friend, her boyfriend and another girl in her year but she doesn’t remember anything about that night. Eager to move on her family agree to relocate to give her the space to heal.

I really liked Mara as a character. She was deeply flawed, yet still so persistent and dedicated to trying to pick up and continue on with her life. She hasn’t lost touch and completely succumbed to her condition, she is still trying to maintain some form of normality, which I thought was commendable. I thought she was witty and the banter she has with Noah and Jamie was fun to read.

I loved Noah… I found his surety and his arrogance very appealing. I think he was written in a way where you can’t help but find him likeable, even when he’s kind of being duchey. I like that we get such a thorough backstory and we see that there is this completely different side of him that he doesn’t show.

I also really liked Jamie. I thought that he was a great friend to Mara and I think it was purely the fact that he only wanted to be friends with her. There were no strings attached, he just seen a kind of awkward, new girl in his year and was nice to her. He gave her some pretty sound advice based on his personal experience but he still let her make her own decisions and still supported her regardless. You don’t really see a lot of these characters and I appreciated him a lot in this book. It kind of sucks how his arc sort of ended abruptly but hopefully he makes a reappearance in the rest of the series.

I also really enjoyed the relationship Mara has with her brothers, especially Daniel. I thought he was so supportive of Mara and didn’t judge her in any way. They still had the typical big brother little sister dynamic but there was a protectiveness that he has for her that I found very endearing.

I was very much sucked into the book from the start! I liked how it was paced; it started off pretty slowly but gave me enough information that I still needed more and that really kept me turning the pages. That paranormal element to the story I felt was executed very well. That aspect of the story was always kind of floating around the edges and then finally when Mara came to the realisation of her powers it was thrilling.

I think this a highly entertaining read and honestly after that plot twist at the end it just made me want to pick up the next book and start reading it right now!

⭐️4.5/5 I loved my experience reading this!

Reviews

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy Review

y648I thought this was a solid sequel to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue!

In this installment we follow Felicity who is currently in Edinburgh trying to find some form of apprenticeship to train to be a physician. However a sudden marriage proposal has thrown her off track and she makes her way to England to try to further her education at a medical school to get her life back together.

I found Felicity to be a very enjoyable character. She I tenacious and driven and isn’t afraid of hard work. I love that we see her strive so hard and fight for what she feels she has earned, despite the fact that she is a woman. I love that Mackenzie Lee has highlighted the plight of woman back in the 18th century. The growth that Felicity undergoes in the plot is wonderful and to see her become more self aware and ok with herself I feel was a great highlight in the story.

Another character I highly enjoyed was Johanna. From her introduction as the societal princess who enjoys parties and dresses and makeup and then to see Felicity’s perception of her change over the course of the book was great. I loved that we see Johanna challenge Felicity multiple times and expose her kind of elitist mentality. The changes in their relationship in the storyline was very well done and I loved how open and honest they were with each other in the end.

Sim was a little bit up and down for me personally. I didn’t really like her for a majority of the book mainly because we didn’t get enough information about her. She was very secretive and pensive for about three quarters of the story. When we finally get her backstory and history about who she is I became a lot more invested in her character and engaged a lot more with her. I thought the relationship between her and Felicity was a little too forced in my opinion. The three girls were already tied together closely by the plot that including that romantic aspect wasn’t really necessary.

This was a very fast paced and action packed with the storyline evolving and changing very organically which kept me turning the pages. I like the little cameos of Percy and Monty they added a lot of witty banter to the dialogue. I thought the story was very unique and adventurous but still has a relevance to present day.

⭐️4/5 stars I honestly didn’t expect to like this as much as I did!

Reviews

Night Study Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Night Study Review

16130759I liked how the story progressed from the last book to now.

Yelena is still dealing with the ramifications of loosing her magic and once her pregnancy has been confirmed she is in even more danger. Valek will stop at nothing to protect her even if that means disobeying the Commander, something he has never done before.

The stakes have risen once again and they remain at an all time high throughout the course of the book. The struggles and situations that Yelena and Valek find themselves in constantly have evolved and become a lot more serious which I enjoy. This evolution of the storyline over the course of the five books is excellent. We see Yelena go from a struggling, beaten, morose young girl, into the strong, resilient, loyal woman she has now become.

I also loved seeing this other side to Valek come through. Finally accepting that Yelena and his love for her has become more important to him than the Commander. I thought the scene where he finally made the decision and proposed to Yelena was super emotional and beautiful to read. The changes we have seen from Valek are probably the most drastic and the growth of his character has been steady over the course of the series. I loved reading from his POV, seeing how he thinks and experiencing the situations through his eyes really helped to engage me in the story.

The plot was constantly ebbing and flowing, being super fast paced at times with a lot of action and then having the dips in between that helped to maintain the setting. The characters are on the move constantly so we really get a firm grasp on the world and really broadened the scope of the story.

Night Study really delved a lot deeper into the details that were sort of glanced over in the other books. I liked that we actually got to meet Valek’s spies that he has placed around Ixia and Sitia and how he utilizes them in various situations. Seeing how loyal his corps are to him and the lengths they will go to satisfy him was another point I enjoyed.

All in all I thought it was a solid book. It progressed and established the plot more quickly I feel which made for an easy read. There were still some surprises and plot twists thrown in to keep me engaged and immersed, which helped to propel the story forward.

⭐️4/5 stars I really enjoyed it! Evolving storyline, high stakes, plot twists, magic!

Reviews

Wildcard Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Wildcard Review

29386918I liked how the plot progressed in this book!

Now that Emika knows the truth about the Neurolink she can no longer trust Hideo. But after someone in the Dark World puts a bounty on her head she is no longer safe. Having to put her trust in the one person she never thought she would in Zero and his merciless crew the Blackcoats.

I thought the pacing in the story was very well done and I was highly entertained throughout the course of the storyline.

Emika didn’t really have a lot of growth I feel for me in this book. She stayed pretty much the same as we seen her in Warcross and I kind of wanted a bit more from her. Granted she was still an essential character there was just something lacking from her. She doesn’t take control as much as I wanted her too being the badass bounty hunter; I felt she was more so reliant on the other characters.

I loved the inclusion of Jax into the plot. She is strong, powerful, yet still empathetic and helpful. I thought she contrasted with Emika perfectly. I loved how multi-faceted she is and how much of an impact she had on the plot in a short amount of time within the story.

Learning everything about Zero and Sasuke was a twist that I honestly could not see coming. I thought it was very well thought out and made a lot of sense. I could truly see some scientist who has a skewed ethical compass actually doing this to someone and that’s one of the things that I liked about it.

I also like that we see this morally gray side to Hideo that was hidden in the first book. We knew why he established the Neurolink but I didn’t really fathom how far he would go once he realised he still hadn’t found Sasuke. Creating the algorithm to try to trace the kidnappers was kind of genius and really threw into the light just how dedicated he is to his cause, which I low key found admirable.

The action ebbed and flowed nicely for me in a way that I remained very invested in the story. Having that count down hovering over their heads was another factor that I felt kept the tension high and the stakes even higher.

⭐️4/5 stars I was invested in the characters, the action was entertaining, really enjoyed it!