Review: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I kind of went into this book not knowing what to expect, I knew it was going to be creepy and vintage just by looking at the cover.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was craving some sort of fantasy to get lost in, so I took a dive into a YA novel again. It was fun, it was fast, it was... romanc-y, which was not as fun.

I liked the plot, I liked the plot twists, even though I predicted like 90% of them. I did get a tiny bit bored in the mid-section of the book, probably because I kept predicting everything. I will admit that the last 50 pages of the novel was pretty exciting and did take me by surprise.

Review: Thieves at Heart by Tristan J. Tarwater

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It started off sooo good. And it ended sooo... not quite as good.

The book starts off with Tavera as a little 6 or 7 year old girl assisting her mother who is a prostitute. She's then adopted by a young man, a thief who happens to notice her skills when she tries to steal from him.

Review: Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book left me feeling so nostalgic. I listened to the audiobook for this, and the entire time I felt like I had been tucked into bed on a winter night and read to.

Review: Darkbeast by Morgan Keyes

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You know the feelings you get when you watch a Studio Ghibli film? The nostalgia, the butterflies in your stomach from the quaint magic. That's what this book feels like, I feel like I'm watching Howl's Moving Castle or something similar.

Review: Deadly Games by Lindsay Buroker

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Each book in the series just gets better and better. And, when I found out that this is not just a trilogy, and that there are actually multiple books in the series... Oh boy, I think it's time to lock myself in.

I pretty much powered through the first three books, right now I'm taking a little break. Because, you see, when I read a really good series that allows me to get super absorbed in the world, I come back to reality very disoriented. And then I realize that I haven't eaten anything in 24 hours

In this new adventure with Amaranthe and the gang, we investigate a missing persons case occurring during the Games (kind of like the olympics).

Review: Dark Currents by Lindsay Buroker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read the 2nd and 3rd book so fast that I finished each one before I could even think to write a review.

In Dark Currents Amaranthe and the gang go on another adventure, this time up north into some mountains to get to the bottom of who's poisoning the city's water supply. With each book Lindsay delves a little deeper into each of the characters. They're as funny as always, as quirky as always, and the book is filled with jokes that actually tickled my dark, cynical humour.

"Amaranthe's birthday is next week and, with our limited funds, I didn't think I'd be able to find her a gift."

"So, you're getting her...dead bodies?"

"Perfect, don't you think?" Books smiled.

"Most women like jewelry and flowers."

"Do you honestly believe she would prefer jewelry over a mystery to solve?"

Maldynado jiggled the key fob thoughtfully, then nodded toward the bodies. "Can we say one is from me?"

Review: The Emperor's Edge by Lindsay Buroker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was fantastic. Being stressed out with school, and midterms, and all my university assignments I could really get lost in this book.

Let's do a pros and cons list because I'm just not feeling creative today...

Review: The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brandon Sanderson got me into the epic fantasy genre, so of course I could count on him to engage me during a reading slump. Seriously, he has never failed to wow me, other than Way of Kings (which I actually ran out of time since it was due at the library) which I'll be rereading.

Review: The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite genuinely enjoyed the plot of this book, which is pretty amazing considering that my usual tastes are for character-development based books.

I loved all the characters, especially despite the fact that even though this is a middle grade novel. All the characters were very morally gray. In fact, Alice, even with her natural good nature acknowledged that she would have to yield to some pretty shady tactics to reach her own goals. And you can't even fault her for it, her situation really is almost completely out of her control, and drastic measures call for drastic actions.

Review: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Boy, oh, boy.

I did not see that coming.

I listened to the audiobook of this, the narrator was great, and I loved listening to him switch to different British accents.

The plot of this book was great, the plot twists were even better. I was sitting in a Chinese restaurant eating soup, and when the plot twist hit me I pretty much screamed in front of everyone, drew quite a few suspicious glances haha.

Review: Durarara!!, Vol. 2 by Ryohgo Narita

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Loving this series so far, especially the light novel version. Again, like my last review, I'm going to repeat how much easier it is to follow along with the novels. Everything's so much more straight forward. Narita Ryohgo is probably one of my favorite authors now. I just have one question...
Did this man study psychology??

It could be said that this entire series is about the human condition... And boy, did Narita get so much stuff spot on.

Well, I'm too tired to say anything else, I'm currently holding myself back from buying the 3rd and 4rth novels until the 5th one is translated in November.

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Review: Durarara!!, Vol. 1 by Ryohgo Narita

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Let me start off by saying that Durarara!! is probably my absolute favorite series.
Ever.

The reason for this is the characters.
I have watched the anime countless times, read parts of the manga, and searched up everything that a person could possibly search up about this series. Everybody has that one series or novel that changes their life on a massive scale, this is what Durarara!! is to me.
Heck, I even read the afterword at the end of the book. That is how obsessed I am.

Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I shouldn't like this book. I really shouldn't, it feels more like a guilty pleasure than anything. Don't get the wrong idea though, the romance is very backseat in comparison to a lot of YA novels that hit it off 1/3 of the way through (le sigh). This book, however, does us the favor of just not bothering us with cringe worthy romance until appropriate (thank you maria).

I'm glad that the setting isn't in some dystopian, totalitarian monarchy-esque world. The military ruler really isn't so bad. He's given equal rights to everyone, including women. He's lowered the poverty rate, and given EVERYONE a job. So, this novel isn't about "overthrowing the evil ruler". It shows what is happening post-" overthrowing the evil ruler".

Okay, Yelena is pretty likeable. I feel sorry for her, and yes, she is a cliché heroine. BUT, she is endearing. Nothing much else to say there. Valek (sorry if I get names wrong I listened to the audio book) is kind of a cliché love interest, except he's 33, and he has a bit more depth to him once you look past those clichés, and no, HE IS NOT DARK AND BROODING (thank god). I mean he is dark, but he doesn't brood. He's actually pretty cheerful most of the time.

I have nothing else to say, except that I will be reading the rest of the series.

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