ARC Review // Things to Do Before the End of the World by Emily Barr

Title: Things to Do Before the End of the World
Author: Emily Barr
Publisher: Penguin
Pub. Date: May 13th 2021

Synopsis

What would you do if one day you discover that you have nine months left? Not because of a disease, but because all humankind and other species will extinct. When news breaks that humans have done such damage to the earth and that it’s too late to repair it Olivia discovers that it is the time for her to start living her life. She was always a shy person who preferred to stay at home than socialize with people. Her social anxiety was always standing in her way to make new friends or tell the girls she loves about her feelings. Now she needs to decide if she will spend her last months living in a way she did before or be brave and live her life as fully as she can. However, it’s not as easy as it’s said.

Out of blue, she discovers that she has a long-lost cousin that she didn’t even know existed. She decides to contact her, and their relations get closer each day. Natasha is everything Olivia always wanted to be. Her ease and self-confidence affect Libby, that she trusts everything she says. She convinces her that she is the only person that can help her to make her life better. However, when she joins Olivia and her family on the family trip, she realizes that Natasha isn’t everything she first appears to be.

Book Review

It’s a little bit hard for me to review this book since I was prepared for a completely different story than that. I thought it will be written more in a dystopian way, however, it was a more teen contemporary novel. As much as I enjoyed this book, I was also a little bit disappointed.

I think the story overall is very well written, the plot interesting and the mystery very well structured. In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if I will like the main character Olivia, however, it’s only because I didn’t see all the qualities that we can learn about her throughout the book. I loved to watch her open and grow up. She changed a lot thanks to Natasha, and as much as she hurt her at the end I think it was kind of worth it. She broke the limits and finally started living. She spent her summer abroad learning how to forget about her fear. I really enjoyed her and Natasha running through Madrid and Paris and showing the magic tricks to people. Honestly, I would like to do it myself. Just run away to a nice city and perform to make money for hotels and food.

Well, as good as it sounds, I knew from the start that there was something wrong with Natasha. There were a lot of signs on the way that were screaming at Libby “Run”. I was so surprised that her parents let her go with her to Madrid and then Paris when they knew that there was something wrong. I think this was one of these moments in the book that I could not understand, it was just so stupid. Besides, Natasha was a very sneaky person that knows how to sell her lies. On one side I dislike her for what she did to Libby for the faults of Natasha’s father. I could feel the anxiety coming from Olivia after what Natasha did to her. If I would be in her place, I would die from a heart attack. It would be so terrifying. However, there was this one side that even I wanted to believe that she is there with Olivia just because she wants to get to know her better. I wanted her to be like a sister to her because Libby deserves to have more people that love her in her life.

The aspect of the end of the world situation was shown in this book from the perspective of “how people would behave if they know that they have only nine months left. I think that even if the chaos I expected to find in this book wasn’t there, the whole situation hit me hard. Especially in the situations when many species just started dying. This kind of situation opens your eyes because you can clearly see that there’s no coming back, no solution that will help you to survive. It was a very interesting background to show the change in the person. However, it’s very upsetting that when Olivia finally gets to the point she wants to live, she loses her time for a person that only wants to trick her, instead of with people that she loves.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would like to thank TheWriteReads, Emily Barr, and Penguin for inviting me to join this tour. I was enjoying reading this book a lot and I was happy to review it. I hope you guys enjoyed my review and will read this book yourself soon.

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ARC Review // Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

Title: Kate in Waiting
Author: Becky Albertalli
Publisher: Penguin
Pub. Date: 22 Apr 2021

Synopsis

Kate’s biggest dream is to work as an actress. However, her shy personality doesn’t allow her to exploit her talents. She always gets a small part in the play, and keeps dreaming about the leading part. This year brings new changes to her life. Firstly, a boy from her camp moves into her city and joins her theater circle. Secondly, she gets a big part in a play with a boy she has a major crush on. 

The problem is that she’s not the only person who slowly falls in love with Matt. Her best friend Anderson cannot keep his eyes away from him. Kate and Anderson were always having crushes on the same people. They shared everything in their friendship. However, this is the first time that emotions are involved and it makes it harder for them to keep their friendship without jealousy involved. As much as they try, it pushes them further away from each other. 

Review

This book is a light, and fast read for the busy days. The book tells a story of a shy girl that dreams big and lives in a shadow of her best friend Anderson. Part of her personality is being his friend, which is kind of sad. However, when a boy they both like comes to their life, she is ready to take her chance with her even if she feels that it will destroy their friendship. Maybe I’m just a kind of person that always cared more about friends than boys I barely knew.

I think I’m getting a little bit too old for this kind of book. I still partly enjoy reading it, however, there are some parts that are very annoying for me. Especially the childish behavior, and hiding things that aren’t that serious. I liked Kate’s musical personality. I feel that she is a very talented person, however, her shyness and humbleness drugs her down anytime she is supposed to show it. I felt so proud of her when she finally got a bigger role in the play. I could see that she finally gets closer to making her dream come true. I also liked the fact that the author kept it realistic and didn’t give her a leading role. It was actually something I thought would happen.  I was nicely surprised. 

I think my favorite character in this book was Kate’s brother, Ryan. He was just chilling all book long. He kind of reminded me of my boyfriend so it’s probably a reason why I liked him so much. Even if he was giving me the “I don’t care” vibe all the time, I knew he cares deeply for his sister and family. 

I think it’s also important to discuss the love triangle of Matt, Kate, and Anderson. I don’t actually know if you can call it this way. However, what actually surprised me is that from the beginning of the book I knew that there is something in Matt that I knew that he will still surprise me. I knew that there is something missing in his story and it will come soon, and it did. To be honest I wasn’t expecting this. I was pretty sure that there is something bigger going on between Kate and Matt, but well that’s all I will say to not give you spoilers. 

Overall, it was a nice read. It wasn’t a book that drugged me into the story and I couldn’t stop reading, but I also wasn’t expecting it to happen. I think I would recommend it more to the younger audience in their teenage years. I’m sure that I would enjoy it much more if I would be 16 again. Now, I’m almost 23 and I cannot handle a teenage drama. 

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would like to thank TheWriteReads, Becky Albertalli, and Balzer + Bray for providing me with the copy of this book. It took all the stress hiding in me away and let me rest for the time I was reading it me. I would like to invite you all for the rest of the Book Tour for this book, and check out other reviews of amazing book bloggers that also joined this tour. 

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ARC Review // The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Title: The Gilded Ones
Author: Namina Forna
Publisher: Usborne Publishing
Pub. Date: 04 Feb 2021

Synopsis

The biggest fear of sixteen-year-old Deka was to go through the blood ceremony. Even if she knew that she has never done anything that would make you impure, she was still scared of her blood to run gold. When the time of ceremony finally comes, the group of deathshrieks attacked the village. That’s when Deka discovered her cursed gifts; she could feel the deathshrieks coming and control them with her voice. However, even if the gifts would be very helpful for the village, the fight proved that she is impure and there is no place for her among her people.

Everyone, even the closest people turned their back on her. She is imprisoned, and the men of her village try to kill her, however, it is not possible. After nine attempts, a mystery woman paid her a visit, which can change her life. She offered her a way out of her situation. She proposed to join an army of alaki, a half-demons woman who is trained to fight deathshrieks.

Review:

It’s the first fantasy book I read based on the West African culture and I couldn’t be happier that I requested it on NetGalley a few months ago. From page one I knew that this book will take me on a journey none of the books did this year and I was right.

Deka is a young very powerful girl who was destined to become one of the most powerful warriors in the kingdom. However, when we meet her at the beginning of the book, she doesn’t show any signs of it. She is a nice obedient girl for whom the most important thing is to be impure and to find a husband who will give her a purpose in life. It all changes when she turns out to be alaki. All her dreams and plans need to change and she needs to grow up into her new rule. Her transformation in this book is marvelous. It’s not immediate. It took her a while to finally reach the moment when she understood that she needs to be proud of who she and her sisters are. Besides being courageous and powerful, she also is very smart. She didn’t allow anyone to brainwash her, and she started noticing things that none of her friends saw. She kept her eyes open, and never fully believed the emperor’s words.

Another amazing thing in this book was sisterhood. The author presented this aspect in a very successful way. This book is very feministic and I think it sent the right message to all the girls that read this book. Instead of fighting the individual fights, we should stay together and fight side by side (not literally obviously). I don’t want to give you too many spoilers but I adore the moment when Deka and the rest of Alaki became sisters. It was breathtaking and very powerful. I might say that it was one of the best scenes in the book.

The overall idea for the book is very well created and structured in the book. There weren’t any moments that wouldn’t be clearly explained/described so reading this book is very smooth. There weren’t any unnecessary scenes, everything was chosen in a way to make the reader understand the ending of the book and it was brilliant! I cannot wait to read the next book in this series! Hopefully, we won’t need to wait for it too long.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would like to thank NetGalley, Namina Forna, and Usborne Publishing for providing me with a copy of this amazing book! I loved every single detail about this story and cannot wait to find out what’s going to happen in the following books!

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Review // The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Title: The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Author: Maggie Tokuda-Hall
Publisher: Walker Books
Pub. Date: 03 Sep 2020

Synopsis

A story about two girls that were growing up in two different worlds. Evelyn, a rebellious imperial daughter who’s forced to marry a man she doesn’t know. She’s sent by her parents to travel by sea on the ship “Dove” to reach him. This is where she meets Flora. Flora and her brother Elfie were fighting their whole lives to survive in this barbaric world. They joined the crew of Dove as children. They learned everything they know there. As life on the sea is dangerous for a woman, she decides to become Florian.

When Flora became Evelyn’s guard, she didn’t know that this is going to change her desires and dreams for the future. Evelyn teaches her how to read and shares her beloved books with her. They spend a lot of time together, and they get closer each day. Everything is going perfectly until the voyage turns out to be a trap for imperials.

Book Review

I have no words to explain how much I’m impressed by this book. First of all the genial representation of LGBT in the book. I love that it was portrayed as love, without any other name behind it. Evelyn fell in love with Florian but her feelings didn’t change when she found out that Florian is a woman. It doesn’t matter for her, because she loves what’s inside her not outside. Their love story is beautiful. They were both ready to sacrifice themselves for each other.

As much I love the love plot in this book, I love even more the sea and magic image in this story. Both very powerful and connected in a way that no one was expecting. Moreover, the kindness of the sea for people that were helping her children was beautiful! She helped Florian and Flora three times just because they saved one of the captured mermaids. I think I read only one book before where the sea was visualized as a living creature and both times I’m in love with the idea.

It wasn’t a surprise for me when I found out that Flora is a person of magic. Most of the time witches are women who went through a lot in their lives and Flora is one of them. However, I was a little bit upset that she didn’t use her magic that much, I was waiting for her powerful comeback to the ship.

As Flora’s growth was mostly in understanding her past and accepting herself, Evelyn did a great job in fighting to finally be who she wants to be. She was very unhappy as an imperial daughter, and she knew she will be even more unhappy as a wife. On her way to find herself she also allowed herself to admit that she loves Florian. She was ready to do anything to win her way back to him.  Nothing could stop her.

The ending of the book was the most beautiful scenery in this book. It was so powerful and emotional. I wish I could share my every single thought about it but I would need to spoil what happens there. Well, I hope it will motivate you even more now to read this book. It is worth it!

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would like to thank NetGalley, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, and Walker Books for providing me with the ARC copy of this book. It’s currently my favorite sea-based story I read in the last few years! I can’t wait to buy a copy of this book soon!

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ARC Review // The Stitcher and the Mute by D.K. Fields

Title: The Stitcher and the Mute
Author: D.K. Fields
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Pub. Date: November 12th 2020

Synopsis

Detective Cora Gorderheim has found the man who killed the Wayward storyteller, but he was just a small part of a much bigger picture. Someone powerful ordered a murder and made sure the murderers will disappear before Detective finds any connection. As she continues her investigations, Cora is warned not to pry into the great and the good of Fenest. Cora keeps digging and begins to piece together a conspiracy that reaches from the gutter dwellers of the Union of Realms right to the top: the Chambers. Even after hearing many warnings, it doesn’t stop her to continue the investigation. As the Audience hear the Torn and Perlish tales, Cora realises she must return to her own story, to its very beginning.

Book Review

The Stitcher and The Mute is the second book in the Tales of Fenest series. When I requested this book, I had no idea about it. I noticed it after halfway through the book. However, it wasn’t an issue with this book because all the events from the first part were well explained.

The book was divided into two parts; one was the interrogation of Cara Gorderheim and the second was the tales of the storytellers. It was an interesting combination. I was sure that the author will just summarize the stories, however, each story was described on almost or over 50 pages. It didn’t bother me though. They were sometimes more interesting than the main story. The stories were about foreign nations so we could learn more about the world that the author built.

The main story wasn’t boring. The detective is a very smart woman who knows where to lurk to find what she’s looking for. Personally, I didn’t like her. I couldn’t feel any connection and empathy to her. She’s very cold and also kind of empty in my opinion. She’s a good person. She’s one of two people there that actually care about this investigation. She’s giving herself for this case and does everything to find a person who stands behind the murders. She was ready to risk her dream job to find the truth. I was very impressed that nothing scared her away.

The ending wasn’t surprising. There were so many clues within the story that you could figure it out yourself. Few parts were unexpected, but they didn’t give me the “WOW” feeling. The plot was quite creative. I like the world-building very much but I feel like the characters and the whole story luck emotions. With this change, I would like this book much more.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️

I would like to thank NetGalley, Head of Zeus, and D.K. Fields. I enjoyed this mystery series and I can’t wait to find out where the story leads us.

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Blog Tour – ARC Review // Bad Habits by Flynn Meaney

Title: Bad Habits
Author: Flynn Meaney
Publisher: Penguin
Pub. Date: 11.02.2021

Synopsis

After the divorce of her parents, Alex was sent to a Catholic boarding school. Alex is an individualist, feminist and rules breaker. She works for a long time to be finally kicked out of the school and come back to California. She was very close to it when she didn’t come back to her dormitory before the curfew. However, her father has a connection in the school, he talked with the principal, who was his good friend back in the days, that she will finish her studies in this school no matter what. Since her plan didn’t work out, it’s time for a new one. Something shocking, big, and important.

Her school is full of priests and nuns, so they put pressure on keeping the kids uninformed about their sexuality, which means for them “keeping them safe”. It’s a subject taboo so many young girls are clueless if it comes to their sexuality, and also, they are scared to talk about it. Alex is the only person on the campus that is always helping them with their issues. Girls are coming to her for a piece of advice when they get into trouble or have no one to talk to about this kind of staff. She’s kind of a big sister for all of them. This gave her an idea to present Vagina Monologues with her Feminist Club at her school. However, since it’s a catholic school it is not appropriate for the girls in this school, especially younger grades like 13 years old. The word vagina is already not appropriate to say for the principal so imagine how hard it will be to get this project accepted. However, Alex doesn’t accept the word “no”. She will do everything to change something in this school and stop the inequality between girls and boys in the school.

Book Review

I had such a good time reading this book. Hilarious characters, unpredictable situations, and thousand jokes. Alex is a teenage girl with her own rules. She’s introducing her feminist part very strongly already at the beginning of the book. She has her own point of view on the world, school, and people around her. She speaks about important things like inequality in the catholic school and that girls should have their right to learn about their sexuality and speak about it freely. It’s hard when even the word “vagina” is taboo.

As much as I agree with most of the things she says, I also disagree with her attitude to most of the girls in the school. She acts like she’s better than them and that their choices and behavior are wrong. However, that’s the whole point of feminism, that we all should stay together without any judgment. I’m so happy that she finally noticed it at the end of the book, and that someone had the courage to say it straight to her face.

I love what this book represents and all the subjects it talks about. I grew up in schools that menstruation, sexuality, and more were subjects we didn’t speak about loudly because someone could hear us and that would be a real shame. This is also a reason why all men are clueless about it all. I remember talking with my boyfriend about it and explaining all processes he never heard about. I think we need more books like this that will encourage young girls to speak openly about it without feeling uncomfortable.

The most surprising character in this book is Mary Kate, which by the end of the book shows what was sitting in her the whole time. It was so powerful, and she finally has shown her character. What also was surprising in this book is the friendship between Kasey and Alex. The scene with both of them starting a fire is everything. It’s full of positivity and happiness.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is full of comedy and sarcasm wrote in a good style. It’s kind of took me back to my teenage years. I would like to thank The Write Reads, Penguin, and Flynn Meaney for providing me with this ARC copy. I don’t remember when I laughed so much while reading a book.

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Book Review // Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

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Title: Blood & Honey
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pub. Date: September 1st 2020

Synopsis

After escape from Dame Blanches, Lou and Reid are constantly on the run. They are not alone though. They’re accompanied by Coco, Beau, Ansel and Lady Labelle. They have no plan and nowhere to go. They want to try to look for help from Coco’s aunt, however, their plan changed when Morgane leave’s the message for Lou, which points out that she’s planning an attack on Cesarine during the Archbishop. It’s a good time to run as far from there as they can. However, they decide that they will play Morgane’s game and try to defeat her. To do so they need strong allies. It won’t be an easy task, since they are wanted in the whole kingdom.

Book Review

I have so many mixed emotions about this book. I have a love – hate relationship with it. There were moments I really enjoyed but most of the time I was very annoyed by the characters in it. Let’s start with Lou; I think that below her confidence there was a fear of losing her love and friends. They were constantly in danger and she would give everything to keep them safe. She made many sacrifices to keep Reid safe. She started to change with each time when she was using magic. However, she couldn’t care less about her life when her husband had to be rescued once again. I wish everyone around her could see it how much she gives to all of them and don’t ask for anything back. She’s scared of becoming a monster the same as her mother is. Reid doesn’t help her with his hate for anything that is magical.

Since, I already started to talk about Reid, I think it’s a good time to discuss his part in this book. I remember that after long time I finally started to like his character in the first book. Well, everything has its beginning and the ending. I cannot stand him. I understand that he was taught to hate magic his whole life. However, since he knows now that not all witches are evil, he could finally open his eyes and see that he hurts Lou with his behaviour. I know he’s worried about her; however, if she saves his life it would be a nice thing to appreciate it a little. He’s bragging all the time about how much she changed and that she’s not the same Lou he met. Well, maybe for once stay out of trouble so she wouldn’t need to do it once again? This book is like a long story of Reid’s unsuccessful plans. I’m wondering how it is possible that he was a captain of Chasseures, if he cannot see how bad his plans are.

I think my favorite scene in this book that actually made me very interested what will happen next was the time when they joined Troup de Fortune. Claud Deveraux in my opinion brought color to this story. He made it more interesting and mysterious. I didn’t know how big role he will play in it but thankfully he didn’t disappear after one chapter.

The thing I hate the most in this book is that the book is written in a way that you really adore Ansel’s character. You feel pity for him for the way everyone is treating him. You think that he is such a pure soul and with each chapter you like him more and more. Then the ending is coming, and it destroys you in every possible way. I don’t want to give you any spoilers but be prepared for it.

Overall, I didn’t like the ending. I feel like it was forced so the author can continue with the third book. I think it completely ruined my opinion about this book. I feel that instead of creating a new plot, it will repeat once again. I think the ending is always the most important part of the book because it’s decides about how you will feel about, and I don’t think I ever was that disappointed when it comes to this part. If not the ending I would easily give four stars for this book but know I’m considering three or three and half. Well, I hope that at least the author has a good idea for the continuation, and it won’t be as bad as I feel it will be.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Book Review // Speak the Ocean by Rebecca Enzor

Title: Speak the Ocean
Author: Rebecca Enzor
Publisher: Reuts Publications
Pub. Date: July 9th 2019

Synopsis

Finn is a young student who was interested in the ocean all his life. He’s working at Oceanica, the place that is training mermaids to perform and entertain the audience. For many years he was waiting for the day when he will become a trainer. His dream came true when they brought new mer to train. However, it wasn’t just some other mermaid. She looked exactly like the first mer that was discovered by his father. He decided to train her in his own way, without shocking her with the loop as most of the trainers do. Thanks to his new approach he discovered that mermaids are more than dangerous fish.

Erie is a princess of Seadom. She spends her days trying to find a pattern between the disappearing of the mermaids in her kingdom. However, the dates don’t make any sense to her. Her kingdom lives in the fear and hunger. She tries to find a way to help her people, but instead of helping she is the one who’s taken away to the land. Thankfully, her loyal guard Niku didn’t leave her alone and let the landfolk to take him with her. Since there is no way back, she decides to learn the language of humans and find out why are they doing this.

Book Review

This book is an emotional rollercoaster. Erie is such a precious soul, and I couldn’t bear anyone who tried to heart her. She cares for her people more than for her own life. I loved the moments when she was showing Finn and Jen that she is smarter than they thought. It was so cute how interested she was in the Disney movies and any other new thing that they showed them. It was so easy to fall in love with her. I wanted to cry whenever someone tried to break her like other Mer. Mermaids in the Oceanica were treated worse than you can imagine. They couldn’t speak or touch each other. If they do, they were shocked until they couldn’t move. The funniest thing is that people were surprised that they are trying to attack them or kill them whenever they have a chance. After all, they do to them I would be surprised if they wouldn’t want to do that.

Finn was the only trainer that proved it. He taught Erie respectfully and kindly and he received back the same thing. He understood that mermaids are not the bad guys here and that it needs to be changed. However, this change didn’t come fast to him. Throughout most of the book, he was one of the most annoying characters in this book. It’s not that I don’t like him because I do, he’s a good guy. I feel like he’s very lost because he finally found out that everything he believed in and dreamed about was a lie. Most of the time he behaves in a way that he doesn’t even want to notice it. Moreover, he is very selfish. He thinks only about what will be good for him and he doesn’t see how much he can hurt people around him with his actions. Thankfully, my precious Erie showed him that it’s not what life is about and changed him.

The story overall is beautiful. I love the smooth changes in the characters. It was very hard for me to get through the violence with which the trainers treat the mermaids and the reasons they were stating, she’s only a fish, were completely dumb. Even if she would be only an animal or fish, it doesn’t matter you can hurt them for your own entertainment.

The thing I loved the most about this book is a presentation of the cruelty to animals/sea creatures in places like Oceanica. Even if the mermaids do not exist and this is just a fantasy book, I’m sure that animals are not treated better in places like this. I’m really grateful that the author touched on this subject since the subject seems a little bit forgotten.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I feel that this book deserves much more attention than it gets. It’s an amazing, well-written book that will make you forget about reality. I would like to thank NetGalley, Rebecca Enzor, and REUTS Publications for providing me with a copy of this book. I think that this book is joining the list of my favorite releases of 2020.

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Blog Tour ~ Book Review // Soul of Cinder by Bree Barton

Title: Soul of Cinder
Author: Bree Barton
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pub. Date: January 12th 2021

Synopsis

After the disaster in the Luumia, Mia and Pilar follow Nell to the healing land of Pembuk, where the famous Shadowess will help Mia to retrieve her senses. Quin, on the other side, returned to The River Kingdom to fight back for his place on the throne. With a letter to the Twisted Sisters, he vows he will destroy them if they will oppose them. However, it is not as easy as he thought. The throne has been taken by the rebels during his absence. Especially that their leader is a man he was madly in love with.

Across the four kingdoms, catastrophes happen one after another. Volcanos erupt, glaciers collapse, and cities sink into the western sands. After the incident with Quin and Angelyne, the elements lost their balance. More and more people are coming to Pembuk looking for shelter after losing their house. Mia and Pilar lost everything during the last few months so it’s surprising that they cannot find their way to communicate and be sisters. They find their place in Pembuk’s society. However, they cannot stay there forever. Will they find a way back to each other and become a family?

Book Review

This book was very different from the first two books. While there the action was all the time heated and dangerous, this book was about healing. This is the time when they all hit rock bottom. Quin already did it by the end of the second book and he just deepens it with his dark intentions. Pilar cannot find herself in this new place that everyone’s loving so dearly. She pushes Mia away, instead of letting her in. It’s pretty understandable, she doesn’t want to get hurt by another member of her family. She starts to train Nell’s brother and shortly after he comes to a more teenager that finds their safe place with her. In my opinion without the complications that came, this would help her to recover. However, I also think that before teaching kids she should also learn something about trust and being a teacher. Thankfully by the end, she understood her mistakes.

Mia had a different journey. Thanks to the Shadowess, her recovery was very progressive. She started feeling things again and got closer to Nell. However, it didn’t take her long to break once again. However, this time she didn’t have much more willing power to fight it. I think Mia was a portrait in this book as the weakest link. It’s not a surprise after what she went through but I missed her strength. She lost her confidence; I couldn’t stop thinking that I see her here as a different person. However, it was a very thoughtful illustration of how people change when they go through dramatic situations in their life.

Quin’s change of personality was very interesting. I wasn’t sure if it’s an act or if it’s truly whom he became. He changed an attitude from one second to another and she couldn’t find his place in the castle as well. He decided to trick the Embers and get his throne back but in the back of his mind, he still didn’t believe he could be a king. He tried to be feared and powerful and forgot that kindness is the characteristic people are looking for in the royalty. Well, his recovery was the most dramatic of all the three and also the journey he went through was the hardest one, but he definitely needed it to find himself and understand whom he wants to be.

The author presented the perfect journey of recovery of all great characters. To be honest, I didn’t expect it. After so many plot twists, I thought this book will be about another great fight, however, it was a nice surprise. Thanks to this book, this story feels real to me. No one with a normal mind could go through all of these and don’t break. They went through a lot and the next fight would kill them all. They needed recovery to finally find peace and that’s what they get by the end. I was very satisfied with the ending. I wouldn’t change anything in it. I may also say that this is my favorite book from all three.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I would like to thank FavoritePages, Patricia Lopez, Harper Collins and Bree Barton for inviting me to join this amazing blog tour. I enjoyed all three books and also found a winner of the best book in the series! I hope you enjoyed my review! Have a nice day!

Song of the Day

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Book Review // Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

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Title: Siege and Storm
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company
Pub. Date: June 4th 2013i

Synopsis

After Alina and Mal run away from the Darkling, they try to hide from him in Novyi Zem. However, it didn’t take much time for Darkling to find and take her back. After the accident in Shadow Fold, he comes back with a new terrifying power and new plan how to win his way to the throne. She knows that it also means the end for Ravka and its people. When the situation’s getting worse, they are saved from the Darkling by a privateer called Sturmhond.

However, the savior doesn’t make her free. She goes back with him to Ravka and gathers the forces against Darkling’s army of monsters. She takes over the Second Army and make them stronger than before. Her powers grow stronger but not strong enough to fight the nicheve’yo yet. She starts to lose herself in the search for more and push Mal away with her hunger for power. The situation gets much complicated every day, but she still tries to have hope that they will be able to defeat the enemy.

Book Review

As I said in the last review, I’m obsessed with this series and this book didn’t disappointed me. In this part we can clearly see the growth in Alina. She becomes more powerful than she was before but she also she becomes a leader. She’s not Darkling’s marionette anymore. However, besides the growth we can also see her slowly falling into depression. Not only because of Darkling’s doings but also Mal. I didn’t know that I can start dislike someone so fast as it happened with him. At the beginning I could see that he loved Alina and he cared for her more than anyone. However, with the time I could see him becoming selfish and jealous. She didn’t want to see it though. He was the only person in her life that she could trust, and she didn’t want to lose him.

The best part and character in this part is Sturmhond. His confidence and sense of humor just makes this story so much better. He has no magical powers, but he honestly doesn’t need them to be powerful. He has a brilliant mind and confidence to get in life whatever he wants. He’s also a person I would like to see around Alina all the time. He always makes her laugh and smile instead of making her more and more depressed like Mal. I really don’t like this guy. I can see in him what Darkling was talking about. But let’s go back to Sturmhond, I think he didn’t get a part in the book that he really deserved, and I hope it will change in the next book.

I think it’s a time to discuss Darkling in this book. In the last review I described him as brilliant and passionate about his believes. However, in this book to words that comes to my mind is mad and terrifying. I think that after the accident in the Fold he lost his mind. I knew he is dangerous but in this part his behavior change. He was always cruel and hungry for power but now the power he gained slowly kills him by taking piece by piece from him.

I enjoyed seeing Alina back in the Little Palace, especially as a leader. I like the changes she implemented that made Grisha a whole instead of hierarchizing them into separate groups. It made them stronger and changed their way of thinking.

The ending of the book destroyed me completely. Especially after Vasily actions, when his stupidity kills all the plans they made. I don’t want to give you too many spoilers, but I just want to warn you. This book won’t end in the way you want it to end.

Rate: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’m taking a little break from this series, so I can enjoy it for longer. I will read some other books in between and read the final book in a week or so. I don’t want to finish it yet. I want to enjoy the story as long as I can.

Song of the Day

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