These are 5 books that span several different genres that I would really like to get to in 2019. I have heard enough about these books that I am intrigued and I think I will end up liking them, maybe even loving them who knows….
The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Circe by Madeline Miller
I 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!
I picked up Warcross on a whim last year after I read the synopsis and thought it was interesting and I immediately loved it. Emika is one of my favourite female protagonists I’ve read this year! She was tenacious, spunky, smart and just had an attitude about her that I loved. The storyline was super interesting and I loved the gamer setting in the not too distant future. The plot was definitely engrossing, but this was one of those times where I could immediately predict how things were going to go down. Granted I wasn’t 100% accurate, especially about that ending but it was a little predictable nonetheless. I can’t wait to get stuck in to Wildcard and I am really hoping it lives up to my expectations.
Happy Reading📚
*Some Spoilers Beware*
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!!
I am currently on page 206 of this epic sci-fi/fantasy saga that has completely swept me away. I honestly don’t know how Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have done it but they have again sideswiped me and took this tale in a whole other direction that I did not see coming at all. I am about a third of the way through at this stage and the setting and characters have all been established and I’m starting to feel like the action is really about to pick up soon! I have no idea what is about to happen next, I have a few theories up my sleeve but so far I have been proven wrong and completely caught by surprise. I am loving the complexity and depth that has been added so far and once again the stakes are at an all time high. I NEED to know what is going to happen next so I will be binge reading for the next few days and I will get back to you with my thoughts!
Amy Leigh Reads 