***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

I am now officially calling 2016 the year of the meh books because I have yet to read a book that has truly blown my mind and makes me want to roll around in the mud with joy. Banished is by no means a bad book, I would actually say that on the whole, it was a lot better than its predecessor but my problem with the book and what prevented me from loving it was the shit ton of romantic drama.

Romantic drama is the bane of my existence. Why cannot two people love each other and that be it? Why is it that there has to be 50000000 complications before my otp can be together? UGH. I am okay with *some* drama as long as I get groveling but when the main couple basically faces a new hurdle every couple of pages, I cannot. I want my couples to be able to work together as a team and trust each other. Trust is IMPORTANT and my rant is starting to get out of hand so let me pull myself together. Give me a second. I am alive. Okay. So within the context of this book (can you tell that the drama frustrated me?), I just wanted Jayden and Kadesh’s reunion to be a sweet one rather than them forming another fragile relationship after everything they had been through in Forbidden.

Now that I have that major rant out of the way I can calm the fuck down (to some extent) and talk about everything else in the book. WE GO ON A JOURNEY. And I like journeys so I really liked that aspect of the book. The stakes were super high and it was so so fun (I am a closet thrill-junkee…. SHHHHH.)

Jayden has also come so far since Forbidden. Her strength was admirable in Forbidden but it always seemed a little naive. In Banished; however, Jayden has matured so much that I just wanted to hug her and tell her I was proud. What? All characters are secretly my children. Kadesh on the other hand did not fair as well. He was still swoony but the fact that he chose to keep things a secret because he wasn’t ready to deal with issues was not a good thing. I realize he kept them a secret not because he didn’t think Jayden was ready because he wasn’t ready (which is better than nothing) but I was not satisfied. I am going to stop right here because otherwise, I will go on another long rant about romance stuff since that seriously disappointed me.

The setting also continues to be amazing. This time we got to see even more of the world and that made me happy since world building is always really important. I did notice that religion became a part of this story in a way it wasn’t in Forbidden. Or maybe I just noticed it more? It wasn’t like shoved down our throats which is nice but I also felt like the way religion was done wasn’t necessarily accurate given the era? I don’t want to say more because again, things get out of hand when I go on and on about something completely off topic. I am just really bad, aren’t I? You should all treat yourselves to chocolate if you are still here and reading my review. YOU HAVE EARNED IT.

So what else can I talk about? The ending? YOU MEAN THAT THING THAT HAD ME BITTING MY NAILS AND MAKES ME WANT TO BEG THE AUTHOR FOR BOOK 3? yeah that thing. it was okay I guess. *flips hair and walks out*

But on a serious note, if you are looking for a book set in a completely different time period, this is it. You have come to the right place, the Mesopotamian setting of the series is what appealed to me in the first place and now here I still am because the characters and the great plots keep me coming back for more.

Note that I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

I cannot tell you how much I wanted to love this book and how disappointed I am that it didn’t sweep me away. There are SO many things I love about this book but the slowness of it became a big issue for me.

Slow books can be a hit or miss for me. A Thousand Nightswas neither a hit nor a miss. I loved the beautiful lyrical writing, I loved the characters and I loved the world building. What I didn’t love was the lack of action. By now, you might know that one of my favorite things ever is action. This is partially because I am an impatient human (wait am I a human? WHAT?) but also because I become more invested in a story if there is something happening.

There isn’t a lot happening in A Thousand Nights. In fact, the most exciting stuff happens in the last 15% of the book. Do you think you can wait that long for the good stuff? Do you think that absolutely stunning writing, fantastic characters and breathtaking world building is enough to get you through almost 85% of nothing? I still don’t know the answer to this question and I already finished the book. I think what got me through those lulls was just the way Johnston built tension. There would be a slow simmer of tension and then suddenly everything would be boiling and then it would go back to a simmer.

Johnston does a fantastic job with setting up the world of this story. I felt myself transported across the centuries to this middle-eastern land. I could imagine the heat of the desert and the beauty of the palace. I could see Lo-Melkhien amongst this world suffering. The way Johnston weaves the story and brings the world to life makes it feel like you’re reading a folk tale. It makes everything seem so magical and compelling.

Overall, my main issue was that I just wanted the book to move a little more faster so that I could have been a little more invested in the story and what was happening to these characters. Also I totally wouldn’t have minded if there had been a little bit more romance.

Note that I received an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Here are a bunch of reasons to read this book.

1. Original. This premise of this book is unlike anything I have encountered before. Can you imagine the idea of a world where the sun rises every 28 years? Can you imagine all the details that would need to be put in to the book make that seem plausible? Well Jake and Peter pull it off because they made this world come to life. It was interesting and original and sucked me right in.

2. Survival aspects of the story. Do you love a good survival story? You've come to the right place. This book might not terrify you but it will (hopefully) have you rooting for the characters and hoping that they will beat the odds and make it to safety and back to their families.

3. Romance takes a back seat. I love my romances but there are some situations where I think romances are unnecessary. In this book the romance was barely hinted at. It's not that there aren't feelings. It's just that a lot of the romance stuff was established before the book started so this book is mostly about these characters trying to work out a way to survive instead of you know... make out?

4. The Characters. I was a little put off by the idea of 14 year olds for main characters and the fact that they didn't really seem like they were 14 but overall, I liked them. They may not have been perfect and sometimes make some not so smart decisions but I think the way they worked together was amazing. There were *some* secrets but they are understandable.

5. The Creepy. Isn't that what we are really here for? The Creepy. The Scary. I will say that Nightfall is not the scariest book I've read of late but there were some downright creepy bits. After all, when you find out your deserted island isn't as deserted as you thought it was and is inhabited by an entirely other species that kill your kind, there are bound to be some terrifying moments.

This book isn't perfect but I still think it makes for a fantastic Halloween read. If you want something original and creepy, I'd definitely recommend this. Nightfall will draw you into it's world and will leave you wanting more (in a good way) once you're done!

Note that I received an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

Firewalker - Josephine Angelini

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Firewalker was an anticipated novel but I ended up feeling 50/50 about it. On one hand, it is a fantastic follow up to Trial by Fire but it was also filled with romantic drama and I hated that.

With this book, Lily’s Tristan--the one she used to love--is back in the picture. I was actually surprised by how well that was handled. I was happy that even though Tristan clearly had feelings, Lily doesn't feel the same way any more. Rowan also trusts Lily enough not to question things, SO YAY! But the problem was that Rowan and Lily’s relationship kind of took a bad turn in this book. For a good chunk of the book, they are both keeping secrets from each other and we all know how that ends. In case you don't know, IT ENDS BADLY. And just because you’re keeping secrets to protect one another doesn’t mean the result will be any different. SERIOUSLY, this is all Relationship 101 stuff. I think given a lot of the awkwardness surrounding Lily and Rowan’s relationship (what with the fact that Rowan used to be in love with Lillian) I just want them to be a strong couple who stand side by side instead of one who doesn’t know how to communicate. Don’t get me wrong, secrets aside, they still work fantastically together with Rowan respecting Lily’s wishes and vice versa but secrets just suck. Then there was something that happens towards the end that bothered me. There was a lot of dramatic irony and the whole situation just made me antsy. I just wanted to shout at both of them to build a bridge and GET OVER IT.

I also had a hard time taking in Lily’s Tristan, Breakfast and Una easy acceptance of the situation at hand. I wanted them to not let go of things they had known all their life so easily. Situations like these are always so tricky because one might get annoyed if characters take too long adapting or if they don’t even bat an eye at the situation.

Lily's struggle on the other hand was fantastically portrayed. Lily is still very much adjusting to all these changes and learning new things about herself. For example, Lily has all this magic at her disposal but she still doesn’t know how to handle all of this power, so she constantly needs to be grounded and reminded not to take over her mechanics’ minds. Lily has her selfish moments but in spite of all of this, she is still very much Lily but she struggles to remember that throughout the book. Lily becomes haunted by the similarities between herself and Lillian and a lot of this book deals with Lily trying to find something that makes her Lily and not Lillian. By the end of this book, I was SO proud of Lily and the choices she had made (even though there were times when I disagreed.. LIKE WITH ALL THE SECRET KEEPING.)

However, I was a little bothered by how Lily was treated by her friends/mechanics. I get it, mechanics must protect their witches but she is a super powerful witch and I wanted to see that in their treatment of her. I wanted Lily to be seen as badass instead of just having the ability to be badass.  Also there were times when her opinions weren’t even considered. We as readers know that she is on to something but I hated when her own mechanics just dismissed the things she said.

Lillian plays a big role in this series and the more we learn about her, the more I want to know. She is the 'other Lily', the one who had a different upbringing than Lily but is similar to her in many ways. This book really made us question her role as a villain by showing her side of the story and things became all sorts of complicated. It made Lily question herself and the people around her but it also made me question aspects of the story.  I don’t know where things will go but to be honest, I’d rather Lillian not turn out to be this amazingly good person because the things she has done cannot just be excused because she had ‘good’ intentions.

One of my favorite things about this book was seeing Lily’s Juliet. I absolutely adore her and Lily’s relationship and it was so much fun seeing her again (and I hope we get to see her again!!) Juliet is such a fantastic sister and I love that she was on Lily’s side no matter what.

This series is so rich in its world building and I loved seeing even more of that in this book. We aren’t just given enough details to keep the story going. Instead Angelini pushes the limit and we learn more things about the world and question things we hadn’t before. I LOVE that.

I am having so much fun with this series and while I did have some issues with this book (AND WHAT HAPPENED a little before the end) I think it's a good follow-up and I am ready to sell my soul for Traitor’s Pyre. IS IT 2016 yet because I NEEEDS to read Traitor’s Pyre.


Note that I received an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review

***This review has also been posted on The Social Potato

Court of Fives was kind of disappointing. The blurb had me excited but the book itself wasn’t nearly as exciting as I had thought it would be.

I imagined that this would be a politically tense book and there would be high stakes but I never felt that way. Sure the MC is ripped away from her family by a conspiring lord but I never felt as though there were hidden motives everywhere or any sort of mystery that one usually gets in a politically charged novel. In fact, I think that this book is pretty straightforward because even though some people have agendas, they aren’t necessary hidden. Everyone knows there is something fishy going on and nothing is very surprising.

To add to that, this is a slow book. It isn’t boring per se but it is slow which is why it took me longer to read than it should have. The pace picks up a little towards the end of the book but I just wish more had been going on in the book. If there had been higher stakes, if things had been slightly more shrouded in mystery, I think this book would have nailed it but it didn’t.

I will say that I absolutely adore the world building in this book. It’s by no means original but I think Eliot does a good job of making it stand out. I LOVED learning the history of the world this book is set in and I loved learning about the war that rages on. We might not have gotten as many details butthere was never a moment when a small detail was mentioned and then just forgotten about. Everything was woven in beautifully.

I also adore Jes as a main character. I won’t say that she is one of the best female leads but her development over the course of the book is fantastic. She starts of as someone who has privileges she is completely unaware of and in some ways, despises. Yet when it is all taken away from her, we see how much her privileges have shaped her. She may be biracial but all of her beliefs and customs have been heavily influenced by one race (which just happens to be the dominating one.) I loved seeing her become aware of this and realizing that not everything she has been told is a 100% true and that she doesn’t have to be a part of an oppressive culture.

One of the things that I also found was beautifully done was the portrayal of classes. The Commoners are the lower class whose land was taken over by the upper class Patrons. The Patrons grow up sheltered and are told lies about their history whereas the Commoners are more aware of what really went down and have a lot more freedom than the socially oppressed Patrons.

Kal is one such patron. He also happens to be a prince. My problem with him was that even though he is shown to be this kind and considerate Patron, he is completely unaware of his privilege. He wants to be seen as an equal yet he can be so unaware of the differences between patrons and commoners and their upbringings. It was really hard to get behind Kal sometimes but I do think the future books will involve some serious growing up for him.

The romance also did not work for me. I loved it in theory but on paper it wasn’t done as well as it could have been. There was no real development and there was no chemistry. It all felt very bland to me which was why it was so hard for me to ship the two characters.

Jessamy’s relationship with her family on the other hand, was amazing. I LOVED seeing her with her family. Her sisters differ a lot from one another since they all want different things from life. Yet they all seem to love each other (in spite of all their banter and differences.) Jessamy’s mother is a commoner and her father a patron but they were a couple that stuck together for 20 years until a lord decided he wanted to tear the family apart. We didn’t get much of it but I liked that her parents loved one another. Her mother was a fierce woman who wasn’t always seen as such by her daughters but one who has hidden strength. Her father, at first, seems like an asshole but I ended up warming up to him too.

The book is slow, like I mentioned earlier, and the first quarter of the book is spent establishing the world and the race. The next two quarters were Jessamy getting used to her new life at the stable and the last quarter is where anything really worth of note happens. It isn’t that the first 3 quarters of the book are painful or boring; it’s just that there is so little worth note going on.

While I think this book would have benefited from higher stakes (and perhaps a better developed romance), I did enjoy the book and can only hope it gets better from here (especially if that ending is any indication of what is to come in future instalments.) I eagerly await the sequel and till then, if you are a fan of fantasy, you should definitely check this one out!

Note that I received an ARC of the book for review in exchange for an honest review.