Tag: ya book review

Reviews

The Memory of Babel Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Memory of Babel Review

The Memory of Babel continues about two and a half years after the events of The Missing of Clairedelune. Ophelia has spent her time on Anima trying to research and waiting to hear from Thorn. When Archibald turns up and offers her the chance to go back to the Pole, Ophelia makes the decision to go find some answers on her own.

I think in this edition of the series Ophelia really wants to be seen as an adult and not some child that doesn’t know what she’s doing. The fact that she embarks on the apprenticeship when she gets to Babel even though it pushes her right to her breaking point really shows how much she has evolved over the course of the series. I just wish she would of asserted herself a bit more and didn’t let people get under her skin so much.

Thorn I struggled a little bit with in this book. He is incredibly cold and standoffish when he is reunited with Ophelia and even though he did finally expressed his feelings to her he doesn’t display it. For the majority he is present in the book I get the feeling that he didn’t even miss her at all and the way he spoke to her didn’t really give her cause to express her feelings back to him. He only really opens back up to her after she bears her soul to him and then we finally get some concrete answers to what’s actually going on.

Babel was a completely different setting to the previous Arcs. It definitely made me more invested in the book as I was eager to find out about what prompted Ophelia to come here. We are introduced to a lot of new characters and I appreciated some of the new friendships that were sparked, mainly Blaine and Augustus. I think they are going to have more focus in the coming book!

I was surprised by the direction this book went in. I genuinely thought this was the last book in this series so throughout the course of the story line I was waiting for all the plot points to come together and make sense but it seems as we were getting some answers more questions were popping up. There were certain twists that I predicted from the start but then there were others that completely took me by surprise.

⭐️4/5 stars A slow build but the end ensnared me once again!

Reviews

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin Review

by amyleighreads3 Comments on A Song of Wraiths and Ruin Review

A Song of Wraiths and Ruin follows two perspectives Malik and Karina. Karina is hell bent on bringing her mother back from the death after she was assassinated and Malik is trying to kill Karina in order to save his younger sister from an evil spirit who has kidnapped her.

I was really invested in Malik’s storyline right from the start; from his backstory with his sisters and how they came to be in Ziran, to his magical abilities and his journey over the course of the storyline. I loved seeing how he has had to overcome his insecurities and anxiety and step up and do the right thing in order to save Nadia.

Karina was a little unlikeable at the start to be honest. I can understand the situation she is in and the pressure that has been placed on her since the death of her sister, but she came across as whiny and selfish to me. She does evolve and see the error of her ways and kind of comes to terms with the fact that her family are never going to come back but still she just wasn’t a favourite character of mine. It didn’t impede my enjoyment of the story at all, just something I wanted to note.

The world building was great even though we are only in this one city for the majority of the book I can see the potential for growth in the rest of the series. The history of the royal family and the kingdom was very interesting and I definitely want to learn more about Karina’s family and faceless king in the coming books as well. The magic system we didn’t really learn that much about. I am looking forward to Karina and Malik figuring out how to control their powers and trace back to their origins.

I liked the concept of the book I think it is highly original and engaging. The use of the competition kept me highly invested in the plot and eager to find out what was going to happen next.

⭐️3/5 stars Great introduction to the series, I’m looking forward to continuing!!

Reviews

The Guest List Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Guest List Review

The Guest List is about a wedding between a rising television star and a smart and ambitious magazine publisher on an island off the coast of Ireland where someone turns up dead.

This was my first taste of the who-done-it murder mystery novel and I actually quite enjoyed it. At the start I was left a little confused as we are kind of thrust into the story with a multitude of names and different characters and the relationship between them all.

Honestly I didn’t really care for Will or Jules. I found them both to be very self-absorbed and entitled. But I think that was intentional, I really can’t see anyone finding them likable at all. Which I think was explored throughout the course of the book through the experiences the other characters have with them.

Hannah was probably the most relatable out of all the characters. I enjoyed reading from her perspective and finding out more about her relationship with her husband and Jules. Olivia was very secretive and a cagey at first but as we learn more about her and what she has endured over the last year you can’t help but sympathize with her.

The way the book was formatted with the dual timelines definitely kept me invested and eager to read on to find out who was killed. The reveals were made a precisely the right times in the book as this was a little slower paced and it there were periods where not a whole lot is happening.

I predicted a couple of the little twists that occurred throughout the course of the plot line but the main revelation definitely came as a surprise.

⭐️3/5 stars entertaining.. not exactly mind blowing!

Reviews

Binti Series Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Binti Series Review

Binti – I really enjoyed this first book of the series. We are established in the world pretty quickly and we are learning about space and the other lifeforms as Binti is. I thought she was a little naïve at first but as the story progressed we see her undergo a pretty big emotional upheaval, especially after the massacre she witnesses on the Big Fish. A lot of the mathematical equations and treeing went right over my head but I was still able to comprehend what was happening and enjoy the story as a whole. ⭐️4/5 stars

Binti: Home – This installment of the series was a little chaotic. I could definitely relate to Binti and her feelings of homesickness and the need to go back home and reestablish her sense of self. I like that we see more of the relationship between her and Okwu and the introduction of Mwinyi definitely added more depth and complexity to the story line. Binti just seemed a little frantic and not in control of herself a lot in this book. I think all of the events that have happened have definitely caught up to her and she breaks down a lot in this book. ⭐️3/5 stars

Binti: The Night Masquerade – This installment was a again kind of too chaotic for me. We see a lot of the repercussions from the previous books come into play here and we are given a lot of answers to questions that have been put forth throughout the story line. There is a pretty steady buildup of tension throughout the course of the story line but the ending was a tad anticlimactic. I had no doubts that Binti would be okay and then travelling to Saturn after interpreting the messages her edan was sending her only for a recommendation for the Oozma Uni. I guess I can appreciate how it has come full circle but I was expecting something different. ⭐️3/5 stars

Reviews

Cinderella is Dead Review

by amyleighreads3 Comments on Cinderella is Dead Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Its 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again.

Sophia’s character was likeable. She wasn’t like a new all-time favourite or anything but I appreciated her for what she was. She’s very spirited and grounded in her beliefs and won’t be compromised by what the societal expectations are of her, even though it is very dangerous. I think she was still just a little naïve in her approach, not listening to reason and just flying off the cuff with no plan at the start. I think over the course of the story we see her evolve and become a lot more patient and willing to see other perspectives than her own.

I would have liked to see Sophia and Erin’s relationship a little more before the opening scene if that makes sense. We are just kind of thrust into the story and we see Sophia bearing her soul to this girl get rejected and then the next girl that comes along Sophia falls for her. Sure we see her battling with her emotions and she has to go and say goodbye to Erin closing off that relationship but I just thought her rushing into the next romance was unnecessary. I don’t think she needed to be in love with Constance at all, it didn’t really add anything to the plot and I think I would have liked it a lot more if she was just friends with Constance and didn’t just write off Erin.

I thought the concept of the story and the retelling aspect to be compelling; I just thought the execution was a little underdeveloped. I would have appreciated going a lot more in depth with all of the characters and their backgrounds. I felt it was a little lacking in the atmosphere of the story, it was quite bleak and one dimensional for me. I never really made a connection to anyone I just kind of along for the ride.

Overall I just think the novel as a whole read a little younger. The characters are all pretty juvenile and one dimensional. The twists that were thrown in were entertaining but still predictable. There was nothing in there that really took me by surprise and shocked me in any way. I appreciated the diversity in the characters and the topics that were discussed but I wasn’t wowed in any way by this story.

⭐️2/5 didn’t love it, kind of average…