Tag: ya book review

Reviews

Our Violent Ends Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Our Violent Ends Review

*DEFINITE SPOILERS BELOW*

After sacrificing her relationship with Roma to protect him from the blood feud, Juliette has been a girl on the warpath. One wrong move, and her cousin will step in to usurp her place as the Scarlet Gang’s heir. The only way to save the boy she loves from the wrath of the Scarlets is to have him want her dead for murdering his best friend in cold blood. If Juliette were actually guilty of the crime Roma believes she committed, his rejection might sting less.

I found Juliet in this book to be frustrating. I could tell straight away that something was happening behind the scenes with her father as he sent her to ‘work’ with Roma. But because she was so wrapped up in finding out who the blackmailer was and dealing with Roma directly again she was oblivious to what was happening around her until it was too late and she had to scramble. For someone who is supposed to be the heir to the Scarlett gang she is rarely ever with her father or privy to any of his meetings and plans I felt.

Roma was not all that impressive either to be honest. The first half of the book before he found out that Marshall was still alive was just him having conflicting feelings towards Juliet and not really getting anything done. Honestly he didn’t really add anything significantly to the book other than just being a Montagov. I didn’t really come away from the book having that much of a connection to him.

One thing I loved was the evolution of Benedikt and Marshall. Ben finding out that he was still alive and then their reunion where you could feel the tension stirring between them to the eventual declaration of their love! I found it to be incredibly heart warming and lovely to read. I also was very much surprised with Rosalind and Kathleen and how integral their roles were in the plot.

I think what really bogged down this story for me was all of the political talk about the revolution and the different factions within the city that came to a head in the end. I couldn’t find myself being that invested even though it took up so much of the storyline. I know what they were talking about was significant but it derailed the whole story so completely that I feel like the original premise was lost.

⭐️2/5 stars Fell flat for me!

Reviews

The Storm of Echoes Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on The Storm of Echoes Review

*SOME SPOILERS AHEAD*

The distrust between them has been overcome and now Ophelia and Thorn love each other passionately. However, they must keep their love hidden. Only in this way can they continue their journeys toward an understanding of the indecipherable code of God and the truth behind the mysterious figure of the Other, whose devastating power continues to bring down entire pieces of arks, plunging thousands of innocents into the void.

Ophelia’s journey to the truth about who the other is was really dragged out throughout the course of this book. I just felt like not a lot happens throughout the course of the storyline even though the book was over 500 pages. We are mainly focused on Babel again and even though we discover more about the Ark and venture into the Observatory we are mainly in Ophelia’s head struggling to figure out how to get to the horn of plenty and who the other is.

We get a few chapters from Victoria’s perspective that I didn’t quite understand. What were the reasons for having them? Sure we get to see the infamous LandmArk and see the interactions between Archibald, Janus and God but I was left more confused than anything. Why was Victoria able to see these things, how did she come to be on the Other side and how did she end up at the bottom of the well for Thorn to find.

I struggled more than anything with a lot of the terminology in this book. I understand that its a translated book but a lot of the phrases of what was happening to Ophelia at the Observatory just didn’t register with me. The concept of the crystallisation creating the echoes and having these revelational moments just went over my head and I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

I think what was the issue is that this book really veered so far away from where I was envisioning the story to go and I was disappointed with how it ended. The fact that Thorn gets stuck in the Other place and we don’t get to see him and Ophelia truly get to live in peace as husband and wife really irritates me after being kept apart or having to pretend they didn’t have feelings for each other this whole time.

This was definitely my least favourite book in this series. I wasn’t all that invested or interested in the direction the plot was going and it took me a while to get through it. If this wasn’t the last book in the series and me being a completionist I probably would of DNF’d it at 30%.

⭐️2/5 stars I’m just disappointed and underwhelmed.

Reviews

The Dead and the Dark Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on The Dead and the Dark Review

*A few Spoilers below*

Something is wrong in Snakebite, Oregon. Teenagers are disappearing, some turning up dead, the weather isn’t normal, and all fingers seem to point to TV’s most popular ghost hunters who have just returned to town. Logan Ortiz-Woodley, daughter of TV’s ParaSpectors, has never been to Snakebite before, but the moment she and her dads arrive, she starts to get the feeling that there’s more secrets buried here than they originally let on.

I definitely liked Logan’s character a lot more than the rest of the characters in this book. The only real issue I had was that she knew that her Dads had an explanation for what was going on in Snakebite and why they were there in the first place but she wouldn’t demand they tell her. Instead she was running around in circles with Ashley while more and more people were dying. If they would have just sat her down and explained and then her and Ashley could have worked together to find the dark and stop it.

I feel like Ashley is one of those girls who was always popular, had her whole life planned out for her and then Tristan’s disappearance just turned everything upside down. I really don’t like the way her and her friends treated Logan and her dads when they first got to town and even though she wasn’t as nasty as those around her she still condoned their behaviour. I appreciated the way Logan called her out for it, but I still feel like she didn’t really learn anything from it or called her friends out for their biases enough.

I really enjoyed the fact that we got more of an insight into Brandon’s life and an explanation as to why he was so distant with Logan. Throughout the course of the book I just didn’t really understand why he was so aloof and standoffish with her, like you chose to adopt her why would you treat her like that. Even though it made sense in the end, I just really feel like if they were honest with her it wouldn’t of escalated to the point it did and maybe some of those characters didn’t have to die.

The overall mystery surrounding what happened to Tristan and why it started when Brandon first came back to Snakebite was interesting and I was intrigued enough to finish the book pretty quickly but I just feel like the atmosphere wasn’t really there for me. Even though the stakes were pretty high there was just no sense of urgency for me.

⭐️3/5 stars wasn’t as gripping as what I was expecting!

Reviews

A Song Below Water Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on A Song Below Water Review

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Nevermind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

I liked Tavia’s character. Having to constantly be on guard and quelling her powers so often would definitely have an effect on anyone and I thought she did a pretty good job of it for the majority of the storyline. I think having to overcome her father’s fears and constraints was her main obstacle throughout the course of the book. She is wanting to know more about her siren power’s and to connect with her grandmother but he is so against anything happening to her that she has to resort to sneaking and lying.

Effie’s storyline was definitely more intriguing. Originally thinking she wasn’t anything special and then to find out what happened in the park with the other kids and then eventually seeing her morph into who she truly is was quite a remarkable storyline. It’s frustrating knowing that the adults know what Effie is and just won’t tell her. Just locking her away without an explanation and being outed at the prom after being pushed to her limits.

However, I just feel like their whole magic system and the different beings in this world just wasn’t fleshed out enough for me. There was a lot of talk about myths and ethos but we really don’t get to dive right in and get a thorough explanation. I was left with more questions than answers and would of appreciated the book more had I maybe had more of a history of the siren’s and the network and how that was established.

This just isn’t my kind of fantasy I guess. I’m not even sure if this is labelled as a fantasy or whether it’s just a contemporary with some magical realism thrown in. I was just not all that invested and felt like the book dragged. The pacing might have been a little off for me and made the book seem longer than what it actually was.

⭐️2/5 stars Just wasn’t for me!

Reviews

Namesake Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Namesake Review

*SPOILER ALERT*

With the Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and the rest of the crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when Fable becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination, she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems.

Fable in this book just goes from one predicament to the next. I feel as though she is very much in over her head for the majority of the storyline, but she does manage to pull it together and ultimately get everything she wants, albeit at the expense of the other crew members of the Marigold. I appreciate that they called her out for her selfishness and she does acknowledge that.

We get to learn a lot more about the dredging in this book which I appreciated. Seeing the whole process of the diving and all the variables that go with it. I liked seeing how Fay and Koy establish a bit of a mutual respect as Jevalis even though they had their differences in the past. With that connection coming fill circle when they create a trade port in Jevali.

West really goes above and beyond the protective and loving boyfriend trope. He made some decisions in this book that were just too full on and should have been discussed with everyone beforehand. Especially when he wouldn’t let the crew vote on whether or not to join Fay to find Midnight and then signing Holland’s contract on Fay’s behalf. His heart is in the right place but he just keeps alienating everyone in an attempt to protect/save them which wasn’t really necessary.

The relationship between Fable and Saint is what bumped up my rating for sure! We are never really know what Saint’s motivations are throughout the course of the duology, does he actually love Fay or does he scorn her for being alive when Isolde perished? We are finally given all the answers to the questions that kept building up in the plot as to why he did what he did. Clove was a great source of information and made us realise that Saint was actually in the midst of running more schemes than what we initially thought. When everything came to a head at the meeting and he finally stood up and acknowledged Fable as his daughter was a beautiful moment that had me glassy eyed for sure!

⭐️ 3/5 stars Daring, adventurous and swashbuckling!