Tag: ya review

Reviews

This Savage Song Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on This Savage Song Review

*Careful, some spoilers…*

thissavagesongI loved this!

The start was a little slower paced for me and it kind of took me a minute to really get invested in the storyline but once I did I was hooked!

This Savage Song is essentially about a city that is divided by humans and monsters. We follow two perspectives of Kate Harker and August Flynn. Kate is the daughter of the kind of leader of the human side and August is a monster that is adopted into a family that is the leaders of the monster side of the city.

August was so different than the usual kind of male protagonists we see in YA fantasy. The fact that he is a monster but is trying so hard to abstain from that side of him and try to be more human and how he yearns for peace is so captivating.

Kate is kind of a badass. To start I didn’t really find her to be very likeable but as her story progressed throughout the book I started to be really empathetic and feel for the situation she’s in. All she’s really ever wanted to do was to live up to her family name and show the world and her father that she is worthy. To be feared and respected like him and show that she isn’t little Katherine anymore, she is grown up and can handle this life.

The premise of the book really blew me away. I don’t typically find myself picking up a lot of urban fantasy, I’m much more of a high fantasy kind of girl but I was super engrossed the more I read. The idea that monsters are literally birthed from violence and the different kinds of violence committed creates different breeds of monsters is so originally and creative. I liked hearing the history of Verity and kind of how the whole war began and the causes behind the division of the city and how August and Kate and their families are linked into all of it.

As I said the start and introduction into the story was a little slow at first and it took me a little while to get situated with the story, but after about the first 100 pages or so it really pulled me in. The action sequences were amazing and seeing the differing styles of attacks from the different monsters was so interesting and gripping.

I also really enjoyed the fact that the relationship between August and Kate was very organic and natural, it didn’t feel forced or contrived in any way. I like that there is also room for their relationship to grow and broaden especially after everything that happened!

⭐️4/5 stars highly enjoyed, super unique can’t wait to continue on in this duology!

Reviews

Blue Lily, Lily Blue Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Blue Lily, Lily Blue Review

*Some Spoilers*

Blue-Lily-Lily-BlueOnce again Maggie Stiefvater has taken the plot in a whole different direction to what I thought was going to happen. I honesty haven’t been able to predict anything in this series and that’s one of the qualities that I am really enjoying!

Blue Lily, Lily Blue starts about a month after Maura has disappeared underground. Blue is trying to adjust to life without her mom and the boys have renewed their attempts to try and find Glendower whilst dealing with their own personal issues in the meantime.

One thing I love about this series is how multifaceted the characters are. They all have some many layers and different sides to them that really help to convey their personalities that are all so different.

I enjoyed Blue a lot more in this book than The Dream Thieves. I thought she was a lot more vulnerable and showed a lot more emotion and anguish that we haven’t seen from her. We see her relationship with Gansey start to grow even though she knows what will become of it which is kind of exciting to read as we don’t know when or how or what will happen after so that’s keeping me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. Adam was a little up and down for me. I liked that he decided he wasn’t going to hold any grudges against Gansey and Blue and let everything go, simply because he still didn’t want to loose either of them. I thought that shown more maturity from him that we haven’t seen before. I think that has a lot to do with the Cabeswater and how much responsibility he has taken on listening and trying to interpret its needs. Ronan is showing more and more of his softer side as the series progresses. Even though he still has that hard outer shell that he wears constantly we are getting more glimpses of what I think is his true self. The caring, die-hard, loyal person I think he would have been had everything not happened with his dad. Gansey I think grew a lot more as a character in this story. He’s always been pretty well established but every now and then he displays these raw emotional scenes that really touches me. All of the scenes with him and Blue by themselves are so emotionally charged and the scene in the cave where he falls and he opens up to the rest of them was beautifully done.

There is still the end goal of finding Glendower but I find everything else that’s going on is sidetracking me. The pace of the story was a little slow in comparison to the other books. There was a really slow kind of build up to the final scene where everything was kind of jam packed in. There was a lot more intrigue in this book though and some plot twists that I definitely did not see coming! Ultimately I am deeply invested in the story and the characters, I now need to know what is going to happen next and I am excited to pick up the last book and read the conclusion.

⭐️4/5 stars I’m picking up The Raven King and reading it ASAP!

Reviews

The Dream Thieves Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Dream Thieves Review

*Kind of a little spoilery*

17347389I’m getting invested!

The ley lines around Cabeswater have officially been woken and now things really seem like they are coming together in their search of the Raven King. That is until an unknown Gray Man lurks into town in search of a Greywaren and seemingly interferes with everything.

Things have really taken a turn that I absolutely did not see coming! The developments of the characters are slight but impressive. We really get to delve deeper into their motives and how each of them entwine around the plot is so entrancing. I particularly enjoyed the psychics and the role they played. Maura, Calla and Persephone are so interesting and enigmatic and how they each have a distinctive voice is wonderful. Even though they are not the main protagonists in the story they are quite vital and each have scenes that I really enjoyed that explain why they are necessary.

I think that Ronan was really the star of Dream Thieves. I like that he’s kind of unlikeable but every now and then he shows a different side of him and you can catch a glimpse of his redeemable qualities that he shields within himself. I enjoy how much we get to see about his past and what happened with his father and how that affected his relationship with his brothers and Gansey. The introduction of his powers and the connection with Cabeswater was super clever and ties things together from the last book but also establishes new questions that I need answering thus ensuring my continuation of the series (which was inevitable anyways).

I think Dream Thieves although highly entertaining and action packed was just really setting up for the next two books in the series. I highly enjoyed the read and I am surprised and intrigued about everything that has gone on in the story. But I really feel that everything is building up and the hunt is really going to be on in Blue Lily, Lily Blue and then the crescendo at the end with Raven King. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen next, but after that ending I can really see things becoming a lot more frenzied and urgent, particularly in Blue’s case.

⭐️4/5 stars literally cannot predict what’s going to happen next!

Reviews

Fire Study Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Fire Study Review

*Spoilers!*

1966969I 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

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Raven Boys Review

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

17675462Not 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!