review – Page 80 – Amy Leigh Reads

Fire Study Review

October 8, 2018October 22, 2018by amyleighreads2 Comments

*Spoilers!*

1966969 I am a little disappointed.

I found that I didn’t enjoy Fire Study as much as I did the other books in this series. I didn’t really connect with the storyline and I found myself kind of forcing myself to read it just to finish.

Fire Study continues on pretty much straight after Magic Study concluded. The knowledge that Yelena is a Soulfinder has spread throughout the keep and she has to deal with that new title as well as keep the council at bay as they argue about her fate. The last Soulfinder in Ixia over 150 years ago nearly succeeded in overthrowing the council and taking over the country. That as well as trying to locate the Soulstealer who has escaped the cells with the help of Cahil and trying to track them down before they rendezvous with the Daviaan tribe and wreak havoc upon Ixia once again.

Yelena kind of got on my nerves for most of the middle section of the book. Her constantly second guessing herself and her abilities and pushing everyone she loves away from her for their own benefit without talking or consulting with them really grated me. I just thought that she went about things the wrong way and a lot of the conflict could have been avoided had she sat down with them and explained herself. The way she treated Moon Man I thought was a little disrespectful. He was supposed to be her Storyweaver someone who helps and guides her on her journey, someone I feel she should revere and honor and yet as soon as things get to out of control for her she rebuffs him and chooses to accept Gede as her new Storyweaver. I don’t know, that kind of put me in a place where I was kind of over her at that point and things kind of spiraled from there.

I still thought the action was highly entertaining and the world definitely grew immensely throughout the course of the storyline. We get to see a couple of the different clans of Ixia and how they all differ from each other, which was great to read. I also like how each clan has a different style of clothing and colouring and how they could be distinguished by what they wear, I think that was a nice touch. The cast of characters really expanded as well. Things got a little convoluted and I got a little jumbled with all the characters in the beginning but that dissolved as each character was quite vital to the plot so we delved more into them as it progressed.

All in all it wasn’t my favourite book in the series, mostly due to a lot of Yelena’s actions and justifications. However, everything did kind of come together in the end and in hindsight I can see where Maria V Snyder was going with the story. I guess she was trying to make Yelena a little more human and showcase her insecurities and how she overcomes them, which I guess is quite admirable and makes her more relatable.

⭐️3.5/5 stars not as good as the previous books but will definitely be continuing on in the series though!

Reviews

The Raven Boys Review

October 5, 2018October 22, 2018by amyleighreads1 Comment

*Kind of Spoilery… tried my best not to be*

17675462 Not what I was expecting…

I honestly didn’t know too much about The Raven Boys going into it. I had heard everyone raving about this series but the synopsis didn’t really capture my attention you know what I mean. I basically only wanted to read it to see what everyone was going on about. I am pleasantly surprised.

This story follows a few different perspectives. But basically it’s about Blue the daughter of a psychic but isn’t a psychic herself she amplifies everyone’s powers around her. She lives with all her aunts and cousins (who are also psychics) in a town in rural Virginia that houses a prestigious all boys’ boarding school. Three boys who attend this school are on a quest to find a welsh king who is said to slumber on the ley lines that are found near the town. Blue somehow gets caught up in their quest and accompanies them and help them to accomplish their goal. This is really just the basics there is soooo much happening in this story it is really immersive.

I like Blue I find her to be very non-conformitive and has a mind of her own. The fact that she has this kind of prophecy held over her head for her entire life she still takes that chance and wants to live her life the way she wants regardless. I think she has guts and a kind of spirituality about her that I really enjoyed! Gansey I didn’t really know what to make of him. I liked how attuned he was to his friends and how far he would go to protect and help them in their own struggles. He did come off as a bit pretentious at times but that was well contrasted with his almost child-like obsession with the ley lines and the welsh king. The scene when he finally opened up about his past to Blue was really touching and really expressed a different side to him that I didn’t see before. Ronan bugged me a little bit as well but after we delved more into his backstory and the relationship he has with his brother it really explained a lot about his character and I am eager to find out what else could become of that in the future. Adam really had me in my feels for the second half of the book. We get an inkling in the start about how bad things are for him but it all really came to a head towards the end of the story and it really just made my heart bleed for him. Noah I really didn’t pay a lot of attention to throughout most of the book. The foreshadowing was very well played in this aspect and that twist really caught me by surprise…. That’s all I’m saying!

I loved all the mystical, otherworldly elements to the storyline; I thought it added great depth and enriched the world very nicely. I really could not anticipate anything that was about to happen in The Raven Boys and I enjoyed that immensely. It really kept me guessing which is something I highly enjoy. There are some seriously dark undertones to this book and a lot of real world problems weaved into this kind of fantasy double lives that these boys are using as an escape.

⭐️4/5 stars highly enjoyed didn’t think I would like it as much as I did!

Reviews

Obsidio Review

October 3, 2018October 22, 2018by amyleighreads1 Comment

*Some Spoilers Beware*

obsidio5 What an ending.

There was once again so much political maneuvering and action sequences and heartache it was a wild ride from start to finish.

We pick up pretty much straight after Gemina finishes and the two separate populaces from the Hypatia and the Magellan are having a difficult time acclimating to their new ship the Mao as they proceed back towards Kerenza.

We are also introduced to another wonderfully written female protagonist in Asha and her old flame Rhys and how they reunite on the Kerenza colony of all places in the universe. He a BeiTech grunt and she one of the main rebels hoping to overthrow the soldiers and come out alive. Their backstory and how it’s woven together into the overall plot was awesome. I love that Asha is somewhat normal, she just an ordinary girl trying to keep alive and doing everything she can to make it through this harrowing situation. Rhys I really wasn’t attached to at the start, I found him to be a bit pretentious and I wasn’t interested in him at all, though he kind of made me come around though in the end. I really thought Asha had lost his support after the Duke so that came as a pleasant surprise and was the start of my thinking ‘ok maybe he’s not so bad’. The missing footage right when Asha told him about the Mao was a little bit of a tell for me but I was so swept away in the plot that I didn’t really take notice. I enjoyed the courtroom aspect of the story as well. I like that we get those flash-forwards to the future and it made me happy that BeiTech was being investigated and consequences could finally be laid. Aidan again was a little bit of an enigma for me. I liked his arc of the story and how he didn’t really grow but diminished in the story but was still such a critical component to the plot.

I 100% enjoyed my time reading all three of these books. I thought it was highly original, there were soooo many twists and turns and you could honestly not predict what was going to happen next. The characters were all so complex and beautifully written and were very distinguishable in the cacophony of the plot. The format of the series was super entertaining to read. The emails and the memos and the surveillance logs and chats were so much fun to dive into. It made for a very well rounded experience, for some aspects of the story it really made you feel like you were there with the characters going through everything with them. It was sensational!

I am so glad that I bought into the hype and purchased the Illuminae Files, I certainly wasn’t disappointed!

⭐️4.5/5 stars. A MUST Read!!

Reviews

Winter Review

September 26, 2018November 27, 2018by amyleighreads1 Comment

*A few Spoilers*

41SSIYbE2LL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_ I absolutely adored this series! I really did not know what to expect when I started it and thankfully it completely exceeded my expectations.

We start with a fresh perspective from Princess Winter who is greatly admired by the people of Lunar for her grace and kindness as well as her beauty which is marred by three scars that mark her face (said to be given to her by Queen Levana). Winter can’t stand her stepmother and her only solace in Luna is her childhood friend Jacin who is now one of the royal guards. He is the only one who can keep her somewhat sane as she refuses to use her abilities and has vowed to never control another person the way that she has been controlled. Not using her abilities has caused them to turn back into her and now produces debilitating attacks of hallucinations. But hopefully with the help of Cinder and Emperor Kai she will be finally able to overthrow Queen Levana and reestablish peace over Lunar and Earth.

Winter was a very different character to the rest of the cast of strong female protagonists. She had a whimsicalness to her and she kind of floated along the storyline maintaining a strong presence but I was unsure as to what input she could add to the plot. She definitely redeemed herself in my eyes towards the end of the book and I came to really appreciate her arc. Jacin was one of those characters that you kind of love to hate but you understand his motivations. I honestly didn’t really enjoy him at in the last two books but reading how he acts around Winter and going more in depth to their history together made me kind of change me mind about him in the sense that he was integral but I still didn’t quite like him. Their relationship did feel genuine to me though and I like how they have that unrequited thing going.

Cress definitely stepped up in this book. I love that she really has no combative skills and even doesn’t know how to swim, yet everyone relies on her so much for her technological know how. Being separated from the rest of crew for a majority of the storyline and not giving up and still helping in whatever way she can was really inspiring to read. I also still absolutely love how her relationship with Thorn progressed throughout the course of the story and I just found them to both be absolutely adorable!

The action in Winter was kind of up and down. You get a whole lot going on all at once and then a slow build towards the next event and then that pattern would continue throughout the book. I appreciated the build up but a lot the book was quite stagnant for me. It felt like things were moving and plans were set in motion and then it would kind of stop for a few chapters and there would be nothing happening. Eventually everything did come to a head and we get this fantastic, dramatic fight scene at the end where all of the plot lines intersect and comes to fruition.

All in all this was a highly entertaining series and I really enjoyed every second reading these books and dissecting the storyline and seeing how these characters were going to interact with each other and work together towards this seemingly unattainable goal.

⭐️4/5 stars HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! Amazing YA Sci-fi/Fantasy series that ticked all my boxes 🙂

Reviews

Gemina Review

September 25, 2018November 27, 2018by amyleighreads1 Comment

*No Spoilers*

9781780749815_1 This. Was. Amazing.

I am completely enthralled by this series so far! I loved Illuminae so much it was so different to anything I had ever read and the storyline was super entertaining and somehow Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have been able to step it up another notch with Gemina. I feel like it has catapulted the plot to another level that I wasn’t expecting at all!

We follow two fresh perspectives of Hanna and Vik. Hanna is the daughter of the Heimdall station commander and Vik is the son of a highly known crime family. They meet under nefarious circumstances, as Vik is Hanna’s dealer of recreational drugs that are semi-popular on the station. Hanna’s boyfriend Jackson is one of the workers under her father and he isn’t that fond of Vik and vice-versa. The plot picks up as the Alexander is making its way towards the Heimdall station so they can publicize the attack of the Kerenza camp and BeiTech want to completely destroy all evidence of this. So BeiTech send an “audit team” to Heimdall station to stop this from happening.

I really loved Hanna and Vik as our protagonists in Gemina. Hanna has wanted for nothing in her life, her father has provided for her and taught her how to protect herself and ingrained in her a thorough knowledge of political and military strategies. She has moved around from station to station a lot and is completely capable on her own. Vik has grown up in the criminal world, with street smarts and deep rooted ideals of loyalty and family honor. The contrast of the two makes for an entertaining and fun read.

Again there is soooo much happening is such a short period of time in this book but because I had become accustomed to the style from Gemina I definitely enjoyed the experience a lot more this time around. The plot unfolded super quickly and the stakes just kept getting higher and higher as it progressed. I literally could not put the book down until I finished it. I was on the edge of my seat throughout the whole story and it kept me guessing right from the start. I had no idea where the story was going to go and what was going to happen next and I loved it! There are so many plot twists and action scenes and high intensity moments that I enjoyed so much.

I know it looks intimidating to start but its actually a very fast paced, action packed, emotionally charged story that you fly through.

⭐️4.5/5 stars I’m picking up Obsidio and starting it ASAP!