A World of Reviews

Sixth former from Cardiff who devours any books she can get her hands on.

Last Werewolf

The Last Werewolf - Glen Duncan The writing style got on my nerves too much for me to enjoy it, and I wasn't a huge fan of the main character either.

Spy for the Queen of Scots

Spy for the Queen of Scots - Theresa Breslin It's more like 3.5 stars, but it was a great read. I'd definitely recommend it to fans of historical fiction, especially if you want to know more about Mary, Queen of Scots.

Sense and Sensibility (Penguin Classics)

Sense and Sensibility  - Jane Austen It's more like a 3.5, because I really couldn't decide between three and four stars.

Tiger Lily

Tiger Lily - Jodi Lynn Anderson The ending of the book turned me into such an emotional wreck. That last chapter killed me.

Across the Universe

Across the Universe - Beth Revis I wasn’t really sure what to expect when I started reading this book. I’d seen a lot of mixed reviews about it and, to start with, I really wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy the book. However, by the time I finished it I found that I did really like this book. It tells the story of Amy who is frozen for 250 years while the spaceship she is on travels to Centauri-earth. She is unexpectedly woken up early, and has to deal with life aboard this weird and mysterious ship. Across the Universe also tells the story of Elder, a boy who is destined to be the next leader of the ship but is intent on discovering it’s secrets.

The first thing I want to mention is the cover. I’ve seen a lot of people who were really confused about what the picture actually is, but I rather like it. It has some of the important stuff in the book shown here, like the stars, and is just really pretty too.

Although it started out slow, the plot improved a lot by the end of the book. I found that the beginning of this book seemed to have a lot of filler while it introduced to the ship and the world. Amy being woken up doesn’t actually happen for a long time and, although I did enjoy her chapters when she was still frozen, I would have been happier if the plot had picked up more quickly at the beginning. However, the pace of the book kept speeding up once Elder and Amy had met and by the end there were revelations and plot twists in every chapter. It was a lot of information in a very short amount of time and it’s possible it might have been too fast by the end. I did really love the book once things started happening though.

There aren’t many characters in this book, which means we learn a lot more about each of them. Our main character is Amy, who has been frozen for 250 years. I liked seeing the way she adapted to living aboard the ship, and she seemed to be a very realistic character. Her reactions were very believable and I did rather like her character by the end of the book. The story is told by alternating between Amy and Elder’s viewpoints, and I loved Amy’s parts. I thought that her chapters while she was still asleep were also very well done.

I also liked the character of Elder and the way he wanted to change the world that he was apart of. I liked the fact that he was able to see Eldest’s point of view and I thought that made him a much more rounded character with conflicting feelings. He was also quite a sweet character sometimes, and the scenes where he introduced Amy to his world were really nice,

There were some things that got on my nerves, and one of these was the word “frex”. Usually, I’m not bothered by swearing or anything like that in books because that’s pretty much how real life works. However, I got really annoyed with words like “frex” because they were used so often. I understand that Beth Revis was avoiding swearing in her books, but this is pretty much the same thing. I just got annoyed every time Elder used the word, which was a lot.

I really loved the setting and the details in this book, and the way the ship was set up. It was clearly planned well, and the details about how the technical side of the ship worked was really cool. Also, the setting itself was great and I really enjoyed reading about it.

The one thing I will say is that I don’t think a sequel is required. I understand where the story is going, with the whole thing about the engine, but I think it would’ve been really nice if this had been a standalone.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes sci-fi and futuristic novels with a bit of romance and mystery thrown in. I’m not sure if I’ll read the next book in the series, but I may give it a go.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Raven Boys

The Raven Boys (Raven Cycle, #1) - Maggie Stiefvater I’ve heard a lot of good things recently about this book because the second book, The Dream Thieves, was recently released and I figured it’s about time I read the first book. I’m so glad I read it because I loved it. It was such a great read! I really liked the characters and the plot, and the setting was great too.

The plot of this book is so gripping. The copy I had didn’t actually mention the whole Glendower plot, which I will fangirl about later, so I was quite surprised when it popped up. The plot is very gripping with plenty of twists – some which are easy to guess, some which are a lot harder to figure out. I found that this book was a very easy read and that the events were easy to follow most of the time, although parts of the book had me really confused. But it was the sort of confused I felt while reading Mara Dyer, and I enjoyed it. This book does end with a cliffhanger, but it’s not a big one. It’s more of a throwaway line that you don’t expect and it really does confuse you. Thankfully, I am able to read the next one once I’ve finished my current book, and I can’t wait.

There are a lot of characters to deal with in this book. Firstly, we have our main character Blue Sargent. Putting the name aside, I did like her a lot. She’s an interesting character who’s likable and is also ready to get involved in the action in the book. It was nice seeing a main character who didn’t have an amazing supernatural gift either, and instead had to deal with the rest of her family having those gifts. Her relationships with the other characters are really interesting, and I liked the way those relationships developed throughout the book. Blue’s family was really fun and I loved the fact that their psychic-ness worked in different ways.

The Raven Boys were also great characters, and all so different. Gansey, otherwise known as Richard “Dick” Gansey III, was a character that definitely grew on me over the course of the book. Although he started out quite pompous and cocky, he became really sweet and adorable and it was clear that he did care for Blue a little. Adam, who had a totally different background to Gansey, was even more lovable and I really loved his character arc. Ronan was a very conflicted character who wasn’t as easy to like as the other too, but he seemed to open up more later on in the book and he clearly did care about some things in his life, like Chainsaw. I really loved Noah too and his arc was something really different to most YA books. I thought the way the whole thing worked was very clever, and his character fitted in well.

One of my favourite parts of this book was the Owain Glyndŵr storyline. As a Welsh person, I got really excited when I saw his name turn up in an American book by an American author. I assumed that this story was only known well across Wales, so it was awesome seeing him in this book. Glyndŵr is a really important figure in Welsh history, and it was so nice seeing that people still care about his story and the fact that more people know of him.

The whole supernatural side of this book was awesome too. I haven’t read many ghost/psychic books that I enjoyed so this was a nice change. The way the world worked was good and I liked the way different things turned out to be connected.

Overall, this book was awesome. By combining so many different elements, Maggie Stiefvater has created a really good book which I couldn’t put down. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of ghost and supernatural storylines, Welsh history and romance (although there wasn’t loads of it in this book).

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Heroes of Olympus: The House of Hades

The House of Hades - Rick Riordan This review is proving itself to be very hard to write. I’ve been a fan of the Percy Jackson books for several years, and I really loved this book and the way it fit into the series. My only problem is that I loved it too much and now I can’t seem to find the words to describe such an awesome book. Also, I can imagine this review turning into a rant about all the wonderful characters that Rick Riordan has created, so I’ll try and keep it short.

Firstly, I do rather like this cover. Although I’m absolutely in love with the US cover, this one matches the rest of the UK covers really nicely. The title looks so pretty too!

So much happens in this book, it’s crazy. Seriously, the action never slows down until the end of the book. There’s always some sort of fight or conflict or problem to solve – sometimes it’s a fun, little problem but at other times it’s heartbreaking and tear-worthy. There are so many great twists in the book, and I loved the way the events of this book tie in with previous books. The only bad thing about this is that I have to wait another year for The Blood of Olympus to be released.

Another thing I really love about this book is the different viewpoints. Being able to see how the different characters think works really well, and they all have such an individual voice. Also, it’s really nice being able to see how they react to each other and the world around them.

I love all the characters in this book, and all of them develop so much. I really want to give each character their own post and be able to talk about them in depth, but clearly there is no room for that in this review so I’ll have to make do with a couple of paragraphs. Firstly, I’m still totally in love with Percy and Annabeth. They’re both such strong and capable characters, but they also know that sometimes they need help from other people to solve problems. Their scenes in Tartarus were horrible and it showed just how much they really do love each other as they journyed on. One of my other favourite characters is, of course, Leo. I loved his story in this book and how he coped with everything that was going on. He’s such an essential part of the team, and he really helps everyone to keep going after they lost Percy and Annabeth.

I really loved Frank and Hazel in this book too. I did like them previously, but they had awesome character arcs and developed so much! Hazel was just brilliant and I really can’t express my love for this girl. She got on with what she needed to do, and she always tries to do what she think is right, even if it seems impossible. Similarly, Frank was amazing in this book. I loved reading his chapters just to see what would happen. Plus, I love his animal transformation skills.

Another couple I adore are Piper and Jason. I’ve never been that keen on these two, but this book really changed my mind. For one thing, it was obvious how much they were in love with each other, but they didn’t let it get in the way of running the ship and finding the Doors of Death. Jason was a really good leader, and he seems like such a good friend or brother, especially when he shared scenes with Nico. Piper was just as cool, and her strength in some parts of the book really showed her character.

There were so many other things I liked. One thing I’ve always loved about the series is the comedy and light-heartedness, and there was plenty of it here. Every single chapter had an amazing opening. It was so nice reading the beginnings and being able to laugh.

Obviously, the mythology plays a huge part in the book. Which is good, because I love Greek mythology. I love the way Rick Riordan brings Greek mythology into the story and it’s also really nice when he brings back familiar characters.

The descriptions, whether it was Tartarus or Italy or Croatia, were amazing as always. They’re always so vivid, and really creative.

There are so many other things I loved, but have no room to talk about here. All in all, this was an amazing book and I will definitely reread it at some point. I would totally recommend it to fans of the series and Greek mythology.

For more review, visit my blog.

Acid

Acid - Emma Pass This book has been sitting around in my room for a while, so I figured it was about time that I should read it. I had been a little put off by some bad reviews that I’d seen, and that lowered my expectations for this book, but I was pleasantly surprised. It certainly didn’t wow me, but I definitely did enjoy it!

This cover is really cool. I actually really like the cover of this book, and am not put off by the model on the front at all. Usually I’m not a fan of models on books, but this one works well. Also, the colour scheme on this is really nice and it does kind of suit the whole theme of the book.

Plenty happened in this book, and a lot of the plot was good stuff. Although it wasn’t the most gripping book that I’ve ever read, there were parts that I did enjoy. There were some really good twists in the book, although some were quite predictable, and other parts weren’t very believable – such as the whole memories thing. One thing that I definitely could believe was the world that Emma Pass created. It seemed like it was possible to create that environment in Britain, and I loved the descriptions of the whole world.

There were a lot of characters in this book, but I didn’t really connect that much with any of them. Jenna had an interesting story and could have been more interesting as a character. Jenna changed her personality so much in the book that I didn’t get a chance to really know her. However, the other characters were a lot more straight-forward and I did like them. The relationship between Max and Jenna worked well, although he did get over the problems between them pretty easily, and I liked seeing the different viewpoints of the characters about the world. I also felt that there were a lot of throwaway characters in this book that seemed as if they might become important and then were pushed to the side and forgotten about.

I really loved some parts of this book. I loved the fact that it was a dystopian book set in Britain, that there was no love triangle (although I thought that there might be one coming) and it was a stand-alone. I can’t remember ever reading a dystopian stand-alone book, so that was a lot of fun. I really liked the newspaper clippings and letters that broke the book up a bit, and the way they were worked into the story.

All in all, I enjoyed this book but there were a lot of things that could have been improved. I’d recommend it to fans of dystopian books and books set in Britain.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Fifth Wave

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey This book has been hanging around my room for a while, and I haven’t really felt like picking it up. Now that I’ve read it, I really wish that I’d picked it up earlier. I loved it! I really wasn’t expecting so much awesome-ness within this book.

The cover of this book is very cool. It definitely suits this book, and also suggests a new day for the characters and that there might be hope for them. I like the mysterious character on the front and I like the light effects on the cover too. Silhouettes on the front of a book always draws me in.

This book had me hooked. Although I did need to read a bit of it before I really got into the book, I found myself loving it pretty soon. This book keeps you guessing at what’s going to happen and sometimes throws out little hints about what’s coming. The plot was really exciting too, and I know I really want to know what happens next.

The characters are all so different, and each of them have their own unique voice. All though I was little confused because of the PoV switching to start with, I got used to that quite quickly. It was easy to figure who was talking in each section of the book, and I loved seeing the lives of the various characters come together. Cassie was such a strong character and is definitely become one of my favourite heroines. She was ready to get up and fight against an invasion, but Rick Yancey also makes sure that it’s clear that she’s only sixteen.

The secondary characters, such as Evan, Sammy and Zombie, were all also well-developed and each had their own story to tell. They all had important parts to play in the story, and I loved seeing what those parts were.

I really liked the world, and the idea of the invasion. I liked the way it was revealed in bits and so the reader had a chance to figure out what was going on. It also reminded me a little of The Host in terms of the aliens and the romance, but it also had much more of a life-or-death vibe to it.

One thing I wasn’t sure about was the beginning of the book. I couldn’t tell if the book was written as Cassie’s thoughts or if it were her diary. Later on, it seems that another character has read the same part as the reader does at the beginning, so I guess it was a sort of diary, but it’s not very clear at all.

I really enjoyed this book, and I will definitely be buying the next in the series when it is released. I’d recommend it to fans of sci-fi, alien invasions and dystopian/end of the world scenarios.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #1) - Laini Taylor I have no idea how to do this book justice with a review. It was so perfect, and I really loved it. It was such an enchanting book that held my attention, and by the time I finished it I needed more. It’s one of those books that quietly creeps up on you so that you end completely in love with it.

I really love the cover of this book. The US one is nice (and I now understand how it fits into the story), but I think this one really portrays the book. A mysterious half-open door and an intriguing hand print really set the atmosphere for this book. I really love the swirly title, as well as the colour scheme.

The plot in this book was so gripping, although I wasn't sure where it was going to start with. I felt a little lost at the beginning, but the story slowly and subtly begins to reveal itself. It starts to enchant you and draw you into this fantastic world, and it’s so clever how the story begins to unwind. It appears bit by bit, and I loved being able to try and figure out what might happen from the little hints in the book.

The characters totally blew me away. There’s such a variety, and they’re all so unique. To start with, Karou is such an interesting character. She isn’t a girl who hasn’t had life experiences – she’s traveled a lot, she’s had a boyfriend, and she also has a mysterious past. I loved the sense of mystery that surrounded her because she didn’t really know who she was and so her journey to discover the truth was amazing to read. I also fell in love with Akiva as I discovered more about his character and his past. The growing relationship between him and Karou was wonderful, and it was such a nice development which definitely wasn’t insta-love.

The secondary characters were great too. Zazume and Mik were so adorable and perfect. I loved seeing them being happy together, and Zazume herself was such a lovely character. I love that she sticks by Karous through everything, and that the events in Karou’s life don’t effect their friendship too much. The chimera were also brilliant additions to the story – I loved Brimstone and Issa, and the way they impacted on Karou’s life.

Every time a description appeared in this book, I devoured it. The way the world is described is so enchanting, and the style used in the book is so reminiscent of a fairy tale. I fell in love with the world that Laini Taylor created, and I also fell in love with the Karou’s Prague. I also thought that the style in the book was so haunting, especially by the end of the book.

There were lots of little details that I really liked too. The wishing beads were a nice addition to the story, and I really liked how magic worked in the book. I also loved the whole aspect of the doors that Karou used to travel the world, and the descriptions that came from this really worked. To start with, I wasn’t sure if I liked the time jumps from section to section. It was a little confusing the first couple of times because I really wasn’t expecting it. However, I loved the little “mini-story-things” at the beginning of each chapter and how it related to that part of the story. I also loved the parts where the story went back into the past, and those parts were so magical to read.

I adored this book. It was beautifully written and I fell in love with the characters, the story and the world. I’d recommend this to pretty much anyone, especially if you like fantasy, angels, magic and Europe.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Dragonfly

Dragonfly - Julia Golding Before I start, you should know that I have reread this book several times and it’s one of my favourite books. There may be a little bit of bias from my childhood in this review. Only a little bit though. I hope.

Anyway, it had been a while since I read this book, so I thought I should reread it so that I could post a review up on here. This must have been my fifth or sixth reread of this book, and I loved it just as much as the first time I read it. It’s a really fun, light read, and it definitely was one of the reasons that I fell in love with fantasy in the first place.

Firstly, I’m not the biggest fan of this particular cover (from the UK). There is a really nice American version (at least, I guess it’s American) and I really love that one. Anyway, I really like the horses at the bottom, and it definitely suits the tone of the book. I’m not keen on the model in the middle (although the character I’m guessing that she portrays is awesome), and the mosaic doesn’t really work for me either. I really love the title though. It’s pretty.

This book has such a gripping and interesting plot. It’s very fast paced, and there’s always lots going on. There’s a lot of excitement in the book, along with some nice romance which doesn’t take over the plot (apart from when it is the plot.) There are quite a few twists, although it can be a little bit predictable. But that’s alright, because I absolutely love this book.

There’s such a variety of characters in this book. There’s the princess, the prince, the assassin, the professor, the circus giant… The list goes on. I really love the main characters – Tashi and Ramil. They’re both very different characters, but seeing them get over their differences is great. Tashi is very likeable, and I felt so much for her during the course of the book. She goes through so much and yet she keeps coming out on the other side stronger than before. Ramil is also a great character whose development is obvious over the course of the book.

I loved some of the details about this world too. I’ve always loved this world (which is why I keep returning to it), and there are some many diverse places in the book. Tashi’s home, the Blue Crescent Islands, sound beautiful and the land of the Horse Riders seems to have an awesome landscape. One of my favourite things about fantasy books is the first time a character visits a new destination, and this book certainly didn’t disappoint.

One thing I will say is that the ending seemed a little rushed. I think this every time I read the book, and it might be because I don’t want to leave the world in the book. It does seem as if it’s trying to tie up the ending very quickly, and there’s a quick explanation of what happened to the other characters after the big battle.

Overall, I really love this book. I’m totally in love with the story, the characters and the world, and so it will always remain one of my favourites. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy, new worlds, a little romance, horses and great characters.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

The Path Of Daggers: WHEEL OF TIME Vol 8 (The Wheel of Time)

The Path of Daggers  - Robert Jordan This has been on my to-read list for a long time, and I’ve mainly been putting it off because of its length (although it’s actually one of the shorter books in the series). I read the seventh book in April, so my memory of those events wasn’t great, but I soon really got into the story told in this book. There’s no way I can review a book like this using my normal method, so I’ll change it a bit, because books in a series like this always get a little samey.

Cover

This particular cover is pretty simple, seeing as it’s similar to a lot of the other covers in the series. However, the logo of the series is cool and I like the way the wheel is weaved in with the snake. I also like the gold and black theme with this cover.

Likes

I really like some of the characters in this series, and it was nice seeing Aviendha, Elayne and Nynaeve doing something pretty important. I am a huge fan of Aviendha, because she’s awesome, and it was nice seeing Nynaeve and Lan getting some time together too.

The Bowl of Winds scene was amazing. I loved the way the different groups of women got together to make it work, and I’m also quite a big fan of the Athan M’iere. Also, the group went back to Caemlyn! I love Caemlyn! I got pretty excited in that part of the book.

One of the things I really like about this series is the way saidin affects Rand and the Asha’man. Seeing some of them slowly progress into madness was really interesting, and Rand’s reaction to the madness really made me want to read more of the book. His conversations with Lews Therin are also a great addition to the book.

Talking of Rand, he and Min make a great couple. She clearly cares about him a lot, and he’s lets down part of his “Dragon Reborn” shield when he’s around her. Those two are just adorable around each other, and I like how Min can change Rand’s personality a little to make him a better person.

I really liked the Seanchan parts of the book, especially when Robert Jordan started describing the raken. They’re clearly very dragon-like, and it’s so cool that this mysterious race of people pretty much has dragon riders. I did find the relationship between sul’dam and damanes a little odd and creepy though.

I love Faile and Perrin. Those two are possibly my favourite characters in the book, and I love the way they care about each other. They both get so confused about how the other is feeling all the time, but their relationship is rather cute.

Finally, the chapter symbols are so pretty! The wolf for Perrin is my favourite, and they really do add to the book.

Dislikes

Mat didn’t turn up once in the book. I was really disappointed. This happened in about book four (?) with Perrin, and I missed the inclusion of some of the light-heartedness that comes with Mat’s scenes.

There were quite a lot of characters who popped up from time to time that I just couldn’t keep track of them. Some were only in it a little, and so I really didn’t see why they had to be mentioned at all.

One thing that does annoy me about these books is the really long prologue that switches between several characters. It was about thirty pages long in this book and it just went on for too long. Similarly, there was a ridiculously long chapter about a battle that also lasted about thirty pages.

Another thing that tends to happen in these books is someone suddenly getting knocked out. It’ll be in the middle of their PoV, and then the next paragraphs will have skipped ahead a few moments. It really confuses me.

Something else that confused me was the difference between the Kin and the Knitting Circle. I assumed that they were the same people throughout the book, and then realized at the end that they really aren’t.

Overall, I did enjoy this book, and it was a nice addition to the series. It didn’t let me down at all, although it certainly didn’t blow me away.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

United We Spy (Gallagher Girls)

United We Spy  - Ally Carter I’ve been wanting to read the conclusion to this series ever since finishing the fifth book, and this book definitely didn’t disappoint. I loved returning to the familiar world of Cammie, Zach and their friends, and seeing how their final adventures played out. Also, I loved the fact that this book could go from fun to possible heartbreak at any time.

Cover

The covers of this series are great. The mysterious aspect of not being able to quite see the person on the cover works well, and I really like the simple-ness of the colour scheme.

Plot

This book was such an easy read, and it was definitely gripping. I found it hard to put it down, and I loved the occasional, completely unexpected plot twists that happened every so often. There were intense moments which had me turning pages very quickly, and there were really nice, adorable scenes which I absolutely loved. Ally Carter has a way of writing lovely relationships between couples. Also, I was a huge of the ending of this book as, even when you think it’s all over, a lot keeps happening. The epilogue was great too, as was the bonus short story in my copy of the book.

Characters

I love Cammie. She’s such a strong character who has been through a lot in her life, yet she’s still ready to try and save the world from a potential World War. Also, she’s never ready to give up on her friends, and she’ll always try and do the right thing. Her relationship with Zach is wonderful, and I loved all the scenes that they share. Zach himself is a great character too. Even though he has a complicated back story, he’s still able to leave it behind him and help Cammie.

The secondary characters in this book are great too. Bex, Liz and Macey are a great group of friends, and the friendship between them and Cammie is so believable. Each of them is so unique with different personalities, and I love them all. The other side characters are great too, and really added to the story.

The Little Things

One problem that I did have, and this wasn’t really because of the book, was that I couldn’t remember half the things that happened in the previous book. I read it a while ago, but I did manage to slowly remember the events as I read more of the book.

Spies. They’re simply awesome.

I loved the lists in the book. It’s different to most other books, and I just really liked reading them.

I really enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to all fans of the series, fans of spies, boarding schools and nice romance.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

A Quest of Heroes (The Sorcerer's Ring, #1)

A Quest of Heroes (The Sorcerer's Ring, #1) - Morgan Rice I am a big fan of epic fantasy books, and when I saw this it piqued my interest. I bought this back in June for a couple of pounds, but I didn’t get around to reading it until recently. Honestly, I wish I’d read the reviews on goodreads before reading this book, as it was very disappointing. I know that this is a children’s book, but I have fallen in love with many a children’s book and this one really didn’t grab me.

Cover

I must admit, I am a fan of the cover. I have no idea how it relates to the one castle that is mentioned in the book, as I certainly never imagined it like that, plus this castle looks as if it’s meant to be creepy and interesting. I like the colour scheme for this cover too, and it is a very nice illustration.

Plot

This book has a very fast-moving plot. A lot happens in every chapter, and it’s hard to keep up sometimes. A lot of the events are quite sudden without much of a lead up to them and so I was left wondering ‘why did that happen?’ I guess that, for a children’s book, things can’t go too slowly, but I did feel that the events were rushed and that more time could have been used in developing the plot. The story is also quite a typical fantasy without anything particularly new. A young boy is unhappy with his life and then he suddenly finds out that he is “special” (and that part of the book is very rushed and sudden), and so the young boy ends up in the capital where he falls in love with a princess. Nothing new was added to this story, and so it was very predictable.

Characters

Thor, the main character, is very good at most things. He’s good with a slingshot, seems to pick up swordsmanship pretty quickly and can suddenly ride a horse by the end of the book. That development was very unexpected, because Thor grew up looking after sheep and doesn’t seem to have any horses on the farm. Also, as a relatively poor child who wasn’t loved much by his father, I found it very surprising that he could read. It didn’t seem particularly realistic in this setting.

Although I wasn’t a huge fan of Thor, I did like some of the characters more such as Kendrick and Reece. They were a lot more fun and interesting, especially Kendrick. They felt more genuine as I read the book, and I was far more interested in their story.

Another problem I had with the characters was that there wasn’t much development, with the characters or their relationships. Most of the characters seemed to stay the same throughout the book, and if a relationship changed it would be very sudden, such as from love to hate (or vice versa).

The Little Things

I was a big fan of the scenery in this book, and I did like the setting. It was quite different to most worlds, seeing as this one had a canyon that happened to be a perfect circle which surrounded the kingdoms of MacGil and MacCloud. It was nice reading about the geography of the world.

Generally, I wasn’t a big fan of this book and I don’t think I’ll be buying the second book.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Fangirl

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell I adored this book. It was so perfect and I loved every aspect of it. As a fan of many things myself, I really got into this book and I loved all the references to various fandoms. I loved the fandom that was created inside the book too, and I ended up falling in love with every character in the book.

Cover

It’s so pretty yet simple. I really like the way it’s been done and that it reflects what’s going in the story. There really isn’t much I can say about the cover, but I love it a lot.

Plot

I really liked the pacing in this book, as there’s always just enough going on. The plot is interesting and there are so many adorable parts in the story. There’s plenty happening, and I liked seeing how Cath coped with being in college and the fact that there was a lot more pressure on her. I really liked the writing in this book and I found it really hard to put it down as I got closer to the end. I also really liked the ending of this book, and it seems this may become a pattern with Rainbow Rowell’s books.

Characters

There are so many great characters in this book, and I could really connect with Cath. Although I personally don’t write fanfiction, I could totally understand how Cath felt at uni and her dedication to the fandom. I wasn’t a big fan of Wren in the book, due to Cath’s feelings towards her, but I did like the interactions between them. It was interesting seeing the conflict between them as they began to grow apart.

There are some lovely side characters too, such as Levi and Reagan. Reagan was a great roommate to Cath, and seeing their relationship develop was wonderful. I liked the way they suited each other, even though their personalities were so different. I also loved Levi a lot, because he was so genuinely interested in Cath and her fanfiction and her life. That was a very adorable relationship.

The Little Things

The book excerpts and the fanfiction about Simon Snow was a great way of splitting up the chapters, and I really liked the way it would sometimes related to Cath’s life. Also, it was nice seeing some of what Cath had written.

The way the characters interacted was so real as well, such as the head tilts between Cath and Nick.

This book is one of the best I’ve read this year, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes contemporary fiction.

For more reviews, visit my blog.

Eleanor & Park

Eleanor and Park - Rainbow Rowell I’d recently started to hear a lot of good things about this book, so when I decided I needed to buy a few new books, this was one of the first that came into my mind. I had very high expectations of the book, and it totally lived up to it. Eleanor & Park was an amazing book, which I couldn’t put down at all.

Cover

I love this cover. It’s so pretty and simple, and it shows a lot about the story and the characters. I love the simplistic feel the cover has, and it has also has a really nice colour scheme. The whole thing just looks really nice.

Plot

This book tells the story of Eleanor and Park, two outcasts who don’t quite feel like they fit in. Park is the only Asian kid in the area, and this sets him apart a little from the rest of the neighbourhood, although he still has friends and is liked in the school. When Eleanor moves back to her mother and step-father’s house, she feels like an outcast both at home and at school. She’s forced to take the bus every day, which is where she first meets Park. Neither of them are keen on each other to start, but their relationship begins to develop as they share music and comics with each other. However, Eleanor is having a hard time at home and she’s not sure how long she can cope with being there.

This book was addictive. The plot was really interesting and things kept happening all the time. To begin with, I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy this book, but it quickly found its way into my heart. The book is told from both Eleanor and Park’s PoV’s, and the chapters are often split between them. I really liked the way some scenes were shown from both of their perspectives, and this made it so obvious how much they cared for each other.

Characters

I fell in love with both Eleanor and Park right at the beginning of the book. They’re both such well-developed characters, and they’re both really interesting with interests and a personality. I loved Eleanor, and how she developed throughout the book into this really awesome character. I also liked how she had her flaws, and that she accepted those flaws. Similarly, I also loved Park. A lot. His character was just so lovable. He was so sweet around Eleanor and all he wanted to do was to look after her. As I was reading, I fell in love with the way he talked to and about Eleanor.

The Little Things

I really liked the way Eleanor and Park would fangirl about some things together, but they could also argue about other things. It seemed like a very real relationship which had taken its time to develop, and one which the characters didn’t seem forced into.

Eleanor and Park were really adorable together too. I really can’t get enough of them.

I absolutely loved this book, and I plan on getting a proper copy rather than an ebook at the first chance I get. I loved the story, the relationship and the whole thing in general. I would definitely recommend this to fans of contemporary fiction and romance.

For more reviews like this, visit my blog.

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