House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I decided not to put the synopsis of this book with this review because I feel like it gives too much away and spoils so points in the book. 

First of all, can we all just look at the eye candy that is this book cover?! This has got to be hands down my favorite cover of all time! 

I don't think that anyone should be surprised by my rating and review of House of Earth and Blood because I LOVE Sarah J. Maas! She has got to be one of my all time favorite authors! I understand that she is not for everyone and that she gets a lot of hate but I'm not ashamed to say that I love her books. I went into this book expecting to love it and I did. There was a moment where I doubted this mainly due to the main character. 

So, let's dive into the main character, Bryce, first. I hated her in the beginning of the book. I thought that she seemed obnoxious, self absorbed, and a party girl. I couldn't relate to her at all. I was praying that she would become tolerable as the book progressed because I couldn't understand what Maas was doing. Thankfully, she grows tremendously as the story unfolds and becomes more likable though at times she is still a jerk. I loved the rest of the characters. They were interesting and Maas was able to represent many different groups of creatures including angels, shape-shifters, humans, merfolk, and faeries. I loved having the variety!

I noticed that a lot of people said that the book was extremely slow and that nothing happened until the last 200 pages. While that may be somewhat true, there is a lot that happens during the whole story up until that point. We get to know the characters and the tension builds regarding the mystery of who is committing the murders. While there were parts that were slower paced, I still enjoyed the dialogue between the characters and getting to know the vast world that is Crescent City. I think that I would describe this book as fantasy thriller which may be why it is throwing some people for a loop. It's not the author's typical type of story with the exception of the romance element which you would find in all of Maas's books. I devoured the last 300 pages because that is when the crap hits the fan and the majority of the reveals happen but I loved the entire thing. I have no doubt that the next book in the series will be even better and I heard that Maas intends to include different parts of the world that she created. If you tend to love Sarah J. Maas books then I think you are in for a treat!

Small Spaces (Small Spaces #1) by Katherine Arden

🌟🌟🌓 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn't think--she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with "the smiling man," a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price. 

Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she's been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn't have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: "Best get moving. At nightfall they'll come for the rest of you." Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie's previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN. 

Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver's warning. As the trio head out into the woods--bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them--the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: "Avoid large places. Keep to small." 

And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.

I absolutely fell in love with The Bear and the Nightingale and I've been trying to read more middle grade so I thought that Katherine Arden might be the author that could help with that. I thought that Small Spaces would be a book that would draw me in with a creepy atmosphere and begin my journey into enjoying middle grade. 
Small Spaces is a solid book that a younger audience would enjoy if they like books like Goosebumps but it just didn't do it for me. I think that I will stick to her adult books because Small Spaces didn't have enough depth or what I felt was Katharine Arden's usual flavor to it. It was an interesting story that didn't really go anywhere and was wrapped up very quickly. The atmosphere that she is famous for in The Bear in the Nightingale was in Small Spaces as well with the fog and creepy tension but everything else felt somewhat lackluster. I liked the idea behind the story but I think it needed more time to develop. It felt rushed and lacking in originality. 

All Your Perfects

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Colleen Hoover delivers a tour de force novel about a troubled marriage and the one old forgotten promise that might be able to save it.

Quinn and Graham’s perfect love is threatened by their imperfect marriage. The memories, mistakes, and secrets that they have built up over the years are now tearing them apart. The one thing that could save them might also be the very thing that pushes their marriage beyond the point of repair.

All Your Perfects is a profound novel about a damaged couple whose potential future hinges on promises made in the past. This is a heartbreaking page-turner that asks: Can a resounding love with a perfect beginning survive a lifetime between two imperfect people?

I have been terrified to read this book since I bought it. I tried to go into it blind but the issue that is the focus of the book was spoiled for me. Knowing what the issue was was what terrified me. I have read and loved all of Colleen Hoover's books in the past but I knew that this one would tear me apart much like It Ends With Us but worse.

I have struggled with with the same issue as the couple in the book though thankfully things never reached the devastating results as they did in the book. Each page of this book was painful to read regardless of my husband and I being at peace with where we are. I was reminded of all the pain I felt throughout the years from the inquiries of others as well as my own feelings of inadequacy as a woman and wife.

I'm not sure if the author has ever struggled with what she wrote about in All Your Perfects but she showed masterful skill regardless in writing about it. I felt understood in a way I haven't before and less alone in my struggles even though the book is a work of fiction. I honestly don't know if others will get what I got out of this book by reading it but I think it is important to read. It meant so much to me and I wish I could meet the author to tell her thank you for writing about difficult topics like this one. It makes people like me feel heard and it means a lot.

Sorcery of Thorns

🌟🌟🌟🌓 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

I told myself I wasn't going to read this book because of the insane amount of hype but then a reviewer I follow said that it actually deserved the hype so I thought....why not. 
In the beginning I assumed that this book was going to be about fairies because I was aware of the author's other book which I believe is called An Enchantment of Ravens. I was dead wrong. This book was nothing like what I expected. I enjoyed the magic system even though it is not delved into in much detail in the book. I especially enjoyed that the book centered around magical libraries and the books that had the potential to be extremely dangerous to come into contact with. 
I thought that the Elisabeth was interesting and I found her to be relateable albeit slightly annoying at times. I think that readers will love her because of her love of books because they will see themselves in her.  I also liked Nathaniel as a character  and I think that I might have preferred him as the main character. He seemed to have more growth and depth than Elisabeth who went through so much but appeared to remain the same throughout the book. I think that the majority of my issues with characters pertain to the villain. It was obvious who the villain was going to be and the character was just....blah. I just plain didn't care about the villain which is depressing because I love a great villain. 
I know that there was something that I didn't like about the book while I read it but it was hard to pin down. I think what it came down to was that I didn't feel the chemistry between the love interest and main character, there were no high stakes, and there was something off about the pacing. Frankly, I think the author should have cut out the romance all together because it seemed forced as well as the love interest's sexuality. We get one sentence during the book where the love interest basically says "oh yeah, I like guys too" which felt shoehorned in to me. It seemed like the author just wanted to say that she included representation. 
The stakes in the book raise in certain ways like the amount of tension but it seems like people aren't really in danger. If you don't like books where characters don't stay dead, I would recommend that you don't read this. However, if you enjoy the movie Pagemaster ( I know I do!) and love books about books then I think that you will love Sorcery of Thorns.

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.

The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.

I need someone to explain to me why so many people love this book so much. I'm so confused about the hype and why readers think that this is one of the best fantasy books ever written.

I found my mind wandering and becoming bored so often while I was reading. I am convinced that the only reason I finished was because it was a book club book and I was already half way through such a hefty novel and it felt like a waste not to finish it.

Name of the Wind wasn't a bad book by any means. It was well written and I enjoyed Kvothe as a character. He was damaged and continued to suffer at the hands of others because he refused to back down and submit. The book was interesting in its own way. However, it read like a memoir or diary that absolutely nothing happened in. I felt like I was some kind of sidekick following the main character around and being told to sit to the side while he took care of business. I wanted more action and adventure. There were three moments in the story where I thought that the book might take a turn and I would become more invested but even the small bits of action felt bland and unmemorable.

I wanted to love this book so much and I'm disappointed that I didn't. I don't think that I will continue the series which is somewhat of a relief considering that the author seems to have stopped writing it. I'm glad that I don't have to suffer like the readers that are still waiting for the third book. 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

It's hard to believe that this book was written by the same person that wrote Pride and Prejudice. It didn't feel like a romance at all. There didn't seem to be chemistry between any of the characters and the love interests. There were only two characters that I liked and I wished that they would end up together but that wasn't the case. I didn't understand why the author decided on the couplings that she did or why she feels the need to put one annoying female character and a complete jerk male character in her books. I know that I have only read two of her novels but it seems to be a pattern so far. I went into this book hoping to like it and was disappointed that wasn't the case. The plot was uninteresting and difficult to follow at points. I felt like the ending was rushed and didn't really make any sense due to certain characters motivations changing so drastically without much forethought or explanation. This just wasn't the book for me. I will probably try another book by Jane Austen but if I feel similarly to how I feel about Sense and Sensibility then I might decide to give up on Jane Austen books.

The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales.

I was immediately entranced by the atmosphere that the author was able to create. I was skeptical of people who had said to read this in the winter because the author makes you feel as if you are within that season in the book. It is absolutely true! I found that I had to have a space heater on because the author describes the hardships of winter for the characters in the book so well. 

The Bear and the Nightingale never seemed to go in directions that I thought that it would and I loved the unpredictability of it. There was still a great progression to the book and held my interest throughout. Vasilisa was a great main character that helped to drive the story forward. I loved her strength and wildness but I hated how she was described as being ugly so much. It bothered me that she was seen as having little to no value because she was not seen as beautiful and docile. I have to give the author credit for making me hate the way that society was at that time because I wouldn't have fully understood Vasilisa's perspective as well as I did without it. 

Early on in the book, the author makes it known that religion old and new is a part of the culture of the time in the story. I thought that this aspect of the book might make it hard for me to continue reading the book. I don't tend to enjoy preachy books but luckily I found the book exciting and fantastical even with the religious aspect. It adds more depth to the book and adds in unlikely villains. 

I had never read any kind of Russian folklore or fairy tales before this book but The Bear and the Nightingale has me wanting to read many more. I am hoping that I will enjoy the next book in the series as much if not more than this one. I would add that if you enjoy historical fiction or fairy tales or are looking for a way to begin reading either of the genres then you would probably enjoy The Bear and the Nightingale.