March 2019 - Page 2 of 3 - Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Blood Heir – The Book and the Controversy

By Brookelorren on March 18, 2019March 14, 20196 Comments

I was so excited a little over a month ago when I was approved to read Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao. It sounded amazing: a Russian-inspired fantasy! And look at the cover! Almost immediately after I downloaded the book, it suddenly became controversial.

Today’s post is partly a review of this book, and partly a discussion of the controversy surrounding this book. Unfortunately, the author has chosen not to publish this book for the time being. I was given an advanced reader copy of Blood Heir in exchange for an honest review.

Our hero, whom I’ll call Ana, was framed for a murder she didn’t commit. She teams up with a con man (Ramson Quicktongue) in order to seek revenge. In the meantime, both Ana and Ramson discover that they sometimes have to make difficult choices between right and wrong, while at the same time fighting off corruption and discovering a much larger conspiracy…

The Controversy

This isn’t one of the fairy-tale books you read in your childhood, where the hero always wins in the end.
Blood Heir ARC, ~loc. 5586

I think this quote from Blood Heir sums up my feelings on this controversy. In case you don’t know what happened, Ms. Zhao was accused of racism because of some of the content in the book. One of the characters, a girl named May, ends up getting killed after being rescued from a slave auction. Slate wrote an article about this. Yes, there is slavery in Blood Heir, but despite some people saying that the book was referring to African slavery in the 1800s in the US, most of the slaves in this book weren’t even black.

Yes, I can see how some people might be upset because May ends up dying, and it wouldn’t really be very good optics to kill off your main black character after a slave auction, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that May wasn’t even black. She has ocean-colored eyes, to give one example.

The book had so many good things to say about corruption, and powerful people taking advantage of the less fortunate… it breaks my heart to see this book with such a beautiful message be taken away from public access. There’s a whole dedication page at the front of the book where the author says why she wrote the book… because she sees the racism and hatred that people have for “the other” and wanted to try to combat that. Anyway, from a messaging perspective, I am very sad about what happened. I hope at some point this book will have another chance.

The Book

Overall, Blood Heir was an interesting story. The characters had depth, and even though they were trying to do the right thing, had plenty of darkness inside of them as well. The book kept me interested and I needed to know what happened next. Even after finishing the book (which was originally supposed to be a trilogy) I’d still like to know what happens next.

There was some phrasing that I personally wouldn’t have kept, but I’m probably just being nit-picky because I’m in the middle of editing my book… so editing mode me seems to always be in full gear. It didn’t detract from my enjoyment though.

The book was meant to be Russian-inspired. This was one of the things that drew me to the book in the first place because I speak Russian and go to a Russian meetup group every week. There was some beautiful Russian worldbuilding: the Taiga biomes, the domed buildings, the governmental setup, but there were some things about the Russian inspiration that I think would be distracting to readers. Some of the “Russian”-ish words were very difficult to pronounce, even for someone that speaks Russian (many of the Russian sounding words weren’t Russian). This is a fictional world, so it doesn’t have to follow Russian conventions; the author probably could have made the names a little simpler.

Overall

My conclusion about this book: it was enjoyable, the book shouldn’t have been pulled off the shelf, but the Russian inspiration could have used a little work. I would recommend this book if it ever is published, I would read the sequels to this book, and I would definitely read more work from Amélie Wen Zhao again. I was blessed to have the opportunity to read this book and I wish more people would have been able to read this as well.

Prodigy (The Graphic Novel)

By Brookelorren on March 16, 2019March 14, 2019Leave a Comment

This week, I’m reviewing the Legend series graphic novels by Marie Lu. Today, I’ll be reviewing Prodigy The Graphic Novel, which is the second book. Since this is the second book in a trilogy, there are some spoilers for the first book here.

In Prodigy, June has just helped Day escape from his execution, but what’s already been done cannot be reversed. Day will never get his brother and mother back. As the book begins, they’re on the run from the colonies, and they need help from the Patriots, a group that Day has always shunned because of their more violent methods. When the Elector Primo dies, things are about to change. Should Day and June support the new elector, or should they support the Colonies? You’ll have to read either Prodigy the Graphic Novel or the original book to find out.

I’ve already given my opinion on the original Legend Trilogy, which is one of my favorite series ever, so I’d like to mainly talk about the graphic novel adaptation of this book. While I think it was well done, there were a couple of things that I thought it could have done better.

Sadly, one of my favorite scenes from Prodigy, where Day and June kiss in the bathroom in Las Vegas, was left out of the graphic novel. One of the things that I appreciated from the Legend Graphic novel was how much attention was paid to detail. While there was still a lot of detail in this book, there were a few things that were missing. When they get to Las Vegas, as an example, June’s hair is supposed to be spray-painted scarlet and Day’s hair is covered up by his hat, while it isn’t in the graphic novel (they do have June’s temporary face tattoo, however). Kaede’s vine tattoo seems to have disappeared as well (which I’m pretty sure was not temporary).

While tattoos and hair color are just little details, it does reflect how much attention was paid to the original novel. There isn’t any real reason to get it wrong.

Other than these small things, Prodigy the Graphic Novel stays faithful to the original novel. It still has the same basic story and the same ending. If you loved the original novel and need a quick reminder of the story before Rebel comes out, or just want to see this book in graphic novel form, I recommend it.

Badass Heroines (Fangirling on Friday)

By Brookelorren on March 15, 2019March 10, 2019Leave a Comment

It’s Friday again, which means it’s time for us to fangirl over one topic or another. This week’s Fangirling on Friday topic is Badass Heroines. As with every week, FoF is hosted by Books in the Skye! Here are two of my favorite badass heroines!

No matter what you call her, Calaena Sardothien, Lilian Gordaina, or Aelin Galathynius, the main character of the Throne of Glass series is definitely a badass heroine. I wouldn’t want to be on her bad side.

She is a trained assassin, but even though she’s a ruthless killer, she’s also definitely a girl. She loves fancy clothes and shopping (an interest I don’t share with her). She loves reading books. She’s smart and calculating. While I still haven’t had the opportunity to finish Kingdom of Ash, the final book in the series, I already know that somehow she’s going to find a way out of the mess she’s in and will rally to save the country.

Another name that comes to mind when I think of badass heroines is Emma Carstairs, the main female protagonist in The Dark Artifices series. She trains like crazy, in addition to having natural strength as a Shadowhunter to begin with.

I love how Emma is not just a killing machine. She loves vintage clothes (again, another thing I don’t have in common with her). Sometimes she makes stupid decisions (she is a teenager, after all). She loves her friends though, and she tries to make the right choices, even if making them is a courageous decision.

Some other characters that I think of when I think of badass heroines include Chatine from Sky Without Stars, Tris from Divergent, Adelina from The Young Elites (she might be evil and have mental issues, but she’s still pretty badass), and Alina from the Grisha Verse books. I’m sure I could think of more if I tried.

Who are your favorite female heroines? Next Friday, we’ll talk about favorite tropes.

Legend (The Graphic Novel) Is Adorable!

By Brookelorren on March 14, 2019March 11, 20192 Comments

One of my Christmas presents to myself last year (with my gift card money) was getting a copy of the Legend graphic novels. I’m not really a graphic novel reader, but these were so adorable that I couldn’t pass them up. Besides, as a book reviewer, I’m starting to try new things.

Legend (in case you haven’t read the original novel) is the story of Day, who grew up in a poor family, and June, who grew up in a wealthy family, in the dystopian future country, The Republic. Fun fact: Day is related to Asher Wing from Warcross. Anyway, after June’s brother Metais dies, she goes to look for who she thinks is the killer. Things aren’t exactly as she thinks they are, and they end up on an adventure together.

The first thing that I notice about this book is that it’s adorable. The first few pages show 10-year-old Daniel (Day is a nickname) taking his trial, which is used to determine things like what high school (if any) you get into. 10-year-old Daniel is just so adorable you want to reach into the book and give him a hug, especially when you find out what happens to him.

Most of the book happens after they both turn 15 in this book. Legend the Graphic Novel follows he original storyline fairly accurately, although the order the story is told in had to be altered a bit to fit the format, there is less detail, and it’s not told form the 1st person perspectives of Day and June like the original novels.

One of the things that I appreciate about Legend the Graphic Novel is that it gets a lot of details from the book correct (unlike some movies that I’ve seen of popular movies ::cough cough Divergent::). The hair and eye colors seem accurate, most of the clothing seems accurate; even Kaede’s vine tattoo is correct. As someone who has written Legend fanfiction and strives to make sure I get the details correct, I appreciate that the graphic novel was done so well.

The fourth Legend book, Rebel, is coming out this fall. If you don’t have time to reread the original series and want to review everything before you read it, you might want to try Legend the graphic novel. It doesn’t take that long to read, goes over all the major details, and is cute on top of that. Happy reading!

Books I Have to Read More of NOW!

By Brookelorren on March 12, 2019October 5, 201932 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, where we take a topic and come up with ten books to make our list. This meme is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! Today’s topic is supposed to be “Stand Alone Books that Need a Sequel” but I don’t read a ton of stand-alone books, so I’m just going to write about books that I want to read more of. Stat!

Sky Without Stars doesn’t even come out yet, but I already need the next book! This book is amazing! I’m sure you’ll hear me fangirl about this book for a long time into the future. This book is based on Les Miserables, and it’s also supposed to have a Lunar Chronicles vibe to it… so maybe I should read the other two while I’m waiting. I got the Lunar Chronicles when they were on sale over Black Friday weekend, so I don’t have the excuse that I’m waiting for the library to get it…

I really need to read Les Miserables. It’s a brick of a book, but considering that I love not one, but two, books based on it, I figure there’s a good chance I’ll like the original as well. Legend was originally based on Les Miserables, and it happens to be one of my favorite books, and the next book, Rebel, comes out October 1st! Are the ARCs for this one out yet?

Four Dead Queens is a stand-alone… for now. I did hear some rumblings that maybe… someday… there would be another book, but I’d love to see more from this universe. If not, I definitely want to see more from this author.

Another book I’d love to see more of is Into the Hollow. I read it last year, and couldn’t put it down. It definitely didn’t get enough marketing when it came out. I enjoyed it a lot, and I think that there are more things I’d like to see from these characters.

After the way The Wicked King ended… yes I need the next book in this series now! I just have to find out what happens next! There isn’t a release date for this one yet, but it’s supposed to be 2020. Is it 2020 yet?

I really loved Fangirl and I’d love to see more of Cath and… her love interest (trying not to give away spoilers here). There’s a lot more that I could see in this world, although I don’t expect to see any more.

Carve the Mark was a duology, but I’d love to see what happens after The Fates Divide. Fortunately, there are a couple of short stories from this world coming out in Veronica Roth’s new book, The End and other Beginnings, which comes out October 1st (lots of bookmail for me that day).

I’d like to see more of what happens to the characters in Crow Flight. I thought they were interesting enough, and I’d love to see where life takes them.

Muse of Nightmares was left open-ended, which opens itself up to fanfiction, or maybe another book? I don’t think there are plans for more in this series, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Lazlo and Sarai as they continue their adventures. Maybe they’ll get a true happy ending after all.

I’m pretty sure I’ve heard from the author that Enchantée is not going to be a stand-alone book, and that would make my heart so happy. This book was wonderful, and I’d absolutely love to read more about this story. After the French Revolution, there was the Terror. How would the characters go through that? Oh, how I hope to see more of this book!

So what about you? Are there stand-alone books that you wish were made into duologies, trilogies, or more? Or do you read a lot of series and wish the book fairies would send another book your way immediately? I love to see your response.

Next week we’re sharing what books are on your Spring TBR! And we’ll find out how well I did on my Winter TBR.

Sky Without Stars Gets Five From Me

By Brookelorren on March 11, 2019March 9, 2019Leave a Comment

When’s the next book coming out? You can’t just end it like this! That was my first reaction when finishing Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell, a story about three people living on the planet Laterre based on Les Miserables. It was an amazing book and I have to read the next one. I was fortunate enough to get a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sky Without Stars follows three characters with vastly different lives: Chatine, the girl who disguises herself as a boy and steals whatever she can to survive; Marcellus, a high ranking military officer who always feels like he has to prove something to his grandfather; and Alouette, who has been living in a library for most of her life. Their lives begin to intersect on the eve of what looks like a revolution.

As the book unfolds, we discover the truth about what’s really going on in this country. Each of our main characters has their eyes opened to what is going on, and they will have to make decisions to either be selfish, or act for the greater good of society, which might not be in their best interests. Unfortunately, the problems don’t get resolved in this book, so we have to wait for the next one. Is the next book out yet?

My favorite characters in this book are Marcellus and Chatine. I like Alouette as well, but I’m more attached to the other two. All three of them have facets that I like, but I hope I get to see Marcellus and Chatine together in the next book. We’ll see. There really isn’t a love triangle in Sky Without Stars, but I do expect to see one in the next book.

One of the things in this book that I thought was pretty cool was the French influence of it. A lot of the words were french-ified, which didn’t make it difficult to read, but gave it a different vibe. There are some French words smattered among the text; even though I speak some French, I didn’t understand every word at its first use, but that’s okay. Sky Without Stars makes it clear what the terms mean when it uses them. The royal family is a lot like King Louie and Marie Antoinette, and there is even a contraption that is similar to a guillotine. Of course, there’s also the threat of revolution in the air.

I highly recommend this book! The only think I don’t like, I think, is that I have to wait to read the next one. The book doesn’t come out until March 26th, but you can pre-order it today.

Children’s Books (Fangirling on Friday)

By Brookelorren on March 8, 2019March 8, 2019Leave a Comment

It’s Friday again, and that means it’s time for another episode of Fangirling on Friday. This week’s topic is Children’s Books, in honor of Dr. Seuss. This weekly meme is hosted by Books in the Skye.

I saw on Twitter the other day that Dr. Seuss was rejected several times. He was about ready to give up, when he ran into a friend of his who had just started a publishing business. If he had been walking on the other side of the street, we might never have heard of Dr. Seuss.

I don’t read a lot of children’s books (unless you count YA, which I don’t) so today I’ll talk a little bit about an author that my boy absolutely adores and another one that I’m currently reading that I think he’s going to love. The author that my boy adores (he’s 12) is Lauren Magaziner. She’s the author of Wizardmatch, Case Closed, and The Only Thing Worse than Witches. These are all Middle Grade books.

For the longest time, my boy would only read Minecraft books. Like most kids, he loves Minecraft. I couldn’t get him to read anything else. Anyway, I found out that Goodreads has Middle Grade lists just like they have YA lists, and I got this book for him from the library. He’s since loved every book that he’s read from this author.

Right now I’m reading The Land of Yesterday by K.A. Reynolds. I’m only about 25% done with the book, but I’m pretty sure this is a book that my boy will love.

In addition to the gorgeous cover, this book is pretty funny. My boy loves funny. The girl lives in a town called Hungrig (which means hungry in German). They have a neighbor called Mr. Curmudgeon. This book is all sorts of cute and I’ll definitely have to recommend this book to my boy.

I also happen to be pretty happy that I actually convinced our library to buy this book. I buy a lot of books, but I can’t buy them all, and since my library bought it, other girls and boys will get to read this one after my boy and I are done with it.

Do you have any book recommendations for my boy? He reads the occasional YA book, but he still enjoys a lot of middle grade books. He likes funny books with magic in them.

Next week I’m supposed to write about badass heroines. See you then!

Twisted Roots

By Brookelorren on March 6, 2019February 27, 2019Leave a Comment

I recently read Twisted Roots by Shelly Goodman Wright. For full discosure, I know the author and was given a copy of this book.

Jessica is living a nightmare. Her mother is evil and wants her to marry this creep, and her father is in a coma. In order to keep her mother from ending her father’s life, Jessica feels that she has to do everything that her mother wants her to. When her father dies, she figures that she’s had enough and decides to escape. After she leaves, she finds a group of people in the Okefenokee swamp that treat her more like family than her own family.

The book was interesting enough. The characters are likeable, and I thought the family-type dynamic was pretty cool. The villains can be pretty creepy and I definitely hate some of them.

This is Christian fiction, so there is a good vs. evil storyline in here, and it’s also a clean book, so you don’t have to worry about a curse word or sex scene that you’re not interested in seeing. Since it is Christian fiction, there may be elements that bother people if it’s not their thing. Jessica meets a guy that she’s interested in, and their relationship develops slowly, with a few bumps in the road to make it interesting.

While I liked the story overall, it’s not without it’s problem areas. The book could have used another run-through by an editor. I found quite a few mistakes while reading the book (granted, I find mistakes in lots of books, but it’s usually one or two per book). There were also some places where I was unclear how a few of the characters found out some of the things that they did.

It wasn’t my favorite story, but it was a pretty good read nevertheless. I would consider reading the next book in the series, but I’m not going to rush out and put it at the top of my TBR.

Book Characters I Would NOT Like to Switch Places With

By Brookelorren on March 5, 2019February 24, 201930 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Top Ten Tuesday! This week, we’re supposed to talk about book characters we would like to switch places with, but to be honest, most book characters have horrible lives. Sure, maybe I’d like to switch places with them for a scene or two, but I’d rather just stay me, thank you. So I decided to pick out some characters that I would definitely NOT want to switch places with. I’ll try to avoid major spoilers. As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

Christina: Divergent

While a lot of people are upset by what happened to Tris in Divergent, I think Tris’s friend Christina was dealt a pretty crappy hand too. I know Ms. Roth tries to make everything better with We Can Be Mended, but… no. I don’t envy Christina and I wouldn’t want to be her.

Maven: Red Queen

Of course Maven from Red Queen was evil, but like a lot of good villains, he’s a lot more complicated than just somebody that is evil for evil’s sake. Part of me feels a little sorry for him. Anyway, I certainly wouldn’t want to be him.

Lily: When Elephants Fly

It would be hard to be Lily from When Elephants Fly. Her mother is gone and she doesn’t know if she’s going to become schizophrenic. She had a pretty grand adventure, but it would have been a scary one to take nevertheless. I think I’d pass on wanting to be her.

Jem: The Infernal Devices

I do realize that everything works out, eventually, for Jem. But in The Infernal Devices, things aren’t going so well. He’s addicted to a substance that his friend has to get for him, and he knows he’s dying. Plus, things don’t exactly work out well for him until 100 years later. No thanks.

Tasmin – Pennies

I haven’t finished the series that begins with Pennies, but I think I would rather die a thousand deaths than trade places with Tasmin. She’s sold as a sex slave to this evil, disgusting man and… it’s a good thing that she escapes her predicament in the first book, or I might not have been able to continue the series. Even though she still has to go through some stuff. No thank you, no way, not for me.

Christina – Never Stop Walking

This is one of two real people on this week’s list. Sorry Christina, I would not want to trade places with you. Especially the you of this book. Christina went through a lot of difficult stuff as a child, which makes for good reading, but it’s not something you want to live. The sad thing is, this book reminds you that there are people going through stuff like this every day. I’m certainly thankful I’m not going through the life she lived.

Wren – Fangirl

I know that Wren from Fangirl makes a lot of the bad choices that lead her to the place where she ends up, but that doesn’t make me want to switch places with her any more. While Cath and I tend to have a lot of things in common (introversion, fanfiction writing), Wren and I do not. Nope, don’t want to trade places with her.

Cath – Heartless

I don’t want to become Cath from Heartless either. She didn’t wake up deciding that she wanted to become the villain in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, she went through a lot of bad experiences that led her there. Experiences that I would rather not go through.

Mary – Little House on the Prairie

Mary Ingalls’s life might have been okay in Little House on the Prairie, but if you continue reading the series, things go downhill from there. She becomes blind after contracting scarlet fever. Unlike in the TV show, she doesn’t even find true love. So I think I’ll pass on trading places with her.

Cassie – The 5th Wave

The world is destroyed and then invaded by aliens? Cassie from The 5th Wave has to deal with it. While I guess the ending was somewhat appropriate, it’s now how I’d want to end my story. If I had written the book, it would have turned out much better for her. As it is, she makes this list’s week of people I wouldn’t want to trade places with.

So who would you want (or not want) to trade places with? I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to say this week. Next Tuesday we’ll be talking about stand-alone books that need a sequel. Or maybe… characters that need another book written about them, since I tend to read a lot of series.

The Waking Forest

By Brookelorren on March 4, 2019February 25, 20192 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to read The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees (thank you Netgalley). I love that cover! So spooky. I have mixed feelings about the book though.

The Waking Forest is divided into two parts. In part one, the chapters alternate between the story of the Witch of Wishes, who lives in an enchanted forest and grants wishes to visiting children, and a family of homeschoolers who are a little strange (the main character, Rhea, has visions). As the story progresses, you eventually find out what these two storylines have in common. Part two builds on the first part, and I don’t wish to give spoilers.

This book does have a lot of good things going for it. Ms. Wees has a very descriptive style, somewhat like Laini Taylor. Although some of her descriptions are beautiful or clever, I wouldn’t exactly describe her words as beautiful prose like I do with Taylor. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the descriptions, which help the story come to life.

I really enjoyed the first part of the book, where we read about the Witch of Wishes in the forest, who befriends a boy who visits her disguised as a fox, and the family who lives next to the beach and have names that all start with R. It was fun to see the similarities in the stories and try to figure out how they were related. This part of the book would have gotten a solid four stars from me.

After we find out how these two storylines converge, part 2 was… just okay to me. While the descriptive prose remains, the action was a little muddy and I didn’t find it to be all that interesting. Sometimes things were a little confusing.

The other part that I found to be a little confusing was all the names in the family whose names started with R. It was hard to keep track of all of them, and they don’t have a small family. Amazon says this book is only 298 pages. With such a small space devoted to the family, it was really hard to get to know what all of their personalities were like. Fewer family members or more pages devoted to getting to know them would have probably helped with that.

Overall, I thought this story was okay. I’d consider reading future books by this author, but The Waking Forest isn’t one of the best books I’ve read this month.