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This is boring me so badly. I feel nothing for either enchanter, and while the game idea was sort of cool, the whole thing felt flat. I couldn't connect with anyone.
This is boring me so badly. I feel nothing for either enchanter, and while the game idea was sort of cool, the whole thing felt flat. I couldn't connect with anyone.
Out of the 82 books I read (hopefully 83 if I manage to finish Outlander before the end of the year), those were my favourites (well, I took all my 5 stars read of 2017 and chose 10 out of those, it's not really a scientific rating):
1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: because this book was EVERYTHING. You need to read it if you haven't yet.
2. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: and the whole trilogy. I totally enjoyed this unique universe with those amazing characters, a must read!
3. Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton: just WOW! This series is just so important for me, I love this world.
4. Phobos4 by Victor Dixen: this is the last book in my favourite series of 2016. This conclusion was epic.
5. The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson: I just can't understand how I had never read Sanderson before this year. He is such an amazing author and I can't wait to discover more of his work.
6. A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas: well, this series is one of my favourite of all time and this book did not disappoint.
7. The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye: I love this series full of Russian magic. I fell in love with the author's universe.
8. Warcross by Marie Lu: because, Marie Lu + video game = perfection.
9. The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli: a beautiful book with a strong message. This book made me open my eyes.
10. Wild by Cheryl Strayed: I think it is the first time ever a non-fiction book is on my top 10. But this was such a great experience, I had to include it.
What were some of your favourite books this year?
Thanks for reading,
Line.
The Crown’s Fate is the second book in the Crown’s Game series. The Crown’s Game was amazing, I rated it 5/5 stars and naturally, I was excited to continue on with the series. I read The Crown’s Fate pretty quickly after getting my copy. It was really great!
I did not rate it 5 stars because it was not as good as The Crown’s Game in my opinion; maybe because The Crown’s Game was the first book and I discovered a new (amazing) world, new characters etc. Still, I gave it 4 stars, which is good, because I enjoyed reading it.
The Crown’s Fate begins right where The Crown’s Game ended and I was excited to meet my old friends again. Everything that happened to the characters in this book made them change so much. Even more so that in the first book, they went through a lot and learned so many things about love, loyalty, friendship… Still, the characters are not what I liked the most about this story (as I already said in my review of the first book). What I preferred was again, the setting. By reading this book, you know the author really made a lot of research about the subjects and obviously knows a lot about Russian culture. I love it!
What is really great about the characters is the lack of romance. There is a sort of love triangle, where love does not equal romance. Not really. I cannot put words on this but I think it was well done.
I do not really know what to say about this book, it was a great continuation of the first book and I am happy about how it ended. I don’t have a lot to add, really, if you liked the first book, read this one, you won’t be disappointed. The one thing I want to mention is that I liked the fact that our characters wanted to build something new, even if they knew it would not be the easiest path to follow. Not because they were oppressed by the system or anything like you can read in a lot of YA books, here, they were actually in the minority and they have a great life. But they want to change the way Russia is and make people more equal. That was great.
I will definitely read anything this author writes, this was her debut series and I will definitely keep an eye on her projects to come.
I was tempted to rate this book 4/5, but then the ending convinced me to rate it 5/5. This a debut novel and I have to say, I’m impress.
The setting was amazing. I’ve always been a bit fascinated by Russia but I don’t really know anything about it. It’s a country I’m not familiar with, so I was really glad to learn more about Russian culture. The author did a lot of research about it and it seems really accurate (she actually explains at the end of the book what is real and what is made up). The passion for Russia that the author has is really present in this book, I could feel it and I was really glad for it, it’s always amazing when someone can show his/her interest about something through his/her writing. I love discovering new things so it made me enjoy the book even more.
The plot was not that original. It’s about magic and enchanters and a game in which the loser has to die; nothing really new here. But I did love the magic system and the fact that only a few people have access to magic (two in Russia for example, but it’s extremely rare, most of the time there is only one enchanter). I found it really great that the other people don’t see the magic. It’s not common to handle magic like that in books (well at least, I have not read that in many books). The enchanters perform magic in public, without bothering hiding it, because the people just don’t see it. They think magic does not exist, so they always find a rational explanation for the extraordinary stuff they see. Isn’t great? It’s like in real life, we do not believe in what we do not see. It was a plus for me.
Apart from the magic system, the game in itself was not what I expected. I thought about an arena or something like that, but it was not that at all. I won’t say any more, you’ll see for yourself! And it was not a bad thing, really, I liked it.
The ending blew my mind. I was not at all expecting that. I thought it was not going to end this way and I’m glad it did (even if I’m not really happy about what happened, and even a bit sad, but at least it was not to be expected). There are revelations and something I did not see coming at first, even if it was quite obvious. I like it when books surprise me!
The characters are what almost made me give only 4 stars. They were not enough developed for my taste, I would have liked to learn more about Vika for example, we do not really understand what she feels. Pasha and Nikolai were quite easy to understand, but still, I would have liked a bit more of their thoughts.
Rating: 5/5. I would gladly re-read this book in the future and I’m really excited about book two, which is The Crown’s Fate (to be released in May 2017).
I will recommend it to… people who love magic, impossible love (and love triangle)!
