Reviews Archives - Page 10 of 21 - Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps

Storm Glass

By Brookelorren on May 9, 2019May 6, 20194 Comments

Storm Glass is the first book in The Harbinger Series by Jeff Wheeler. I was fortunate enough to get it for free when it was on audiobook. It was so enjoyable that I ended up purchasing later books in the series when they were on sale as part of Amazon’s Kindle Monthly deals. I recommend this book.

Cettie is an orphan girl living in a dystopian universe. In the land where she lives, the wealthy live in mansions in the sky, while the poor live in terrible conditions in the cites below. Her life is changed when a wealthy admiral tries to adopt her.

You might think that this would be the happy end where everybody sings Kumbaya and lives happily ever after. If that was, this would be a really short book. Instead, Cettie finds out that not everybody in the wealthy sky mansions are rooting for her. In addition, the wealthy people don’t find everything to be rosy either. As you read the book, you will discover that even for the wealthy, life can be precarious.

In another sky mansion, Sera Fitzempress isn’t impressing her parents, and she doesn’t think the way her father would like her to. She asks too many questions. Sera might one day rule the entire country; her parents want to make sure that she’s trained properly… they don’t want her to disrupt the status quo that doesn’t really do anybody justice.

I enjoyed this story. Sera’s chapters weren’t as exciting as Cettie’s at first, but towards the end, it really helped to set up how incredibly corrupt this country is, and… resolving everything that’s wrong with this place is going to be a very tricky knot to untie. I definitely want to continue reading this story at some point to find out what happens.

Storm Glass has an imaginative setting. Instead of science, people study “mysteries.” The mysteries govern everything from the law to why the mansions float in the sky. Cettie discovers that she has a talent for the mysteries, which comes in handy towards the end of the book (and beyond).

There are several intriguing characters in Storm Glass. Cettie and Sera, the main female characters, are interesting (and they finally meet towards the end of the book). Both have to deal with villains who almost ruin their lives. There are also adult figures in the books that eventually help them overcome the villains. A lot of YA books don’t have parental figures in the books (although in this book Cettie is 12 so I wouldn’t expect her to be completely on her own).

I plan to finish reading the rest of the books in The Harbinger series at some point in the future. I’d like to find out more about the mysteries of this universe.

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins

By Brookelorren on May 6, 2019May 5, 2019Leave a Comment

I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to read Rebel by Beverly Jenkins (thank you Netgalley!). This was a great book! Since I’m sure I’m going to also love Marie Lu’s Rebel later on this year, it looks like there will be two amazing books with that title out in 2019.

Val is a black schoolteacher in the days shortly after the Civil War. Although originally from New York, she’s in New Orleans for a short time while her intended is away in France on a business trip. She’s teaching a group of newly freed slaves (both children and adults) how to read. She’s proud of all the progress that her students are making.

But even though the slaves have been freed, this is still a dangerous time to be black and live in the South. A lot of white people don’t like the idea of black people becoming better people. A group of supremacists decide to derail Val’s teaching plans and try to attack her.

Val isn’t the kind of person that will allow herself to be attacked without fighting back though. And that’s how she meets Drake LaVeq.

LaVeq is instantly attracted to her, but after he deters the thugs that are after her, he thinks that’s the last he’ll see of her — until she ends up at his brother’s hotel. You’ll have to read the book to find out how they find their happily ever after.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book. For one thing, I loved Val’s character. She was brave and willing to stand up for herself, yet at the same time, she was realistically constrained by the expectations that society had for her at the time. She wasn’t this Mary Sue kind of character that would kick the bad guy’s butt and then nobody would think anything of it. This did happen right after the Civil War. Even in the 1960s, that would have been unrealistic. LaVeq was also a well-written character. He was generous, yet still had his own demons to deal with (part of them having to do with being interested in a lady that was engaged to another).

I thought the setting portrayed the struggles that black people had to deal with after the Civil War quite well. There were a lot of white people at the time that didn’t want to see black people do well. Some former slave owners tried to force their former slaves to work for them again. Black people’s testimony wasn’t worth as much in a court of law, and some white people could get away with terrorizing black people. The first black people were elected to the US Senate around this time; this book really brings to life the struggles these people must have gone through. At the same time, Rebel doesn’t gloss over the fact the everybody was struggling at the time. There were poor whites in the South at the time too.

In addition to the amazing setting and the great characters, the romance aspect of this story was good too. LaVeq was respectful and tried to maintain his distance from Val (although that wasn’t easy to do). I loved how they resolved the situation with Val’s intended, and even with her father (who is an old-fashioned kind of guy). Val and LaVeq were great together and their story was compelling.

If you’re interested in a romance set in the post-Civil War era, I highly recommend Rebel by Beverly Jenkins. She’s an outstanding author and I would read other books by her in the future.

Happily and Madly

By Brookelorren on April 29, 2019April 25, 2019Leave a Comment

I recently was given the opportunity to read Happily and Madly by Alexis Bass (thank you, Netgalley). The premise sounded really exciting: Maris Brown would one day fall happily and madly in love, and she might die before her 18th birthday.

Maris Brown isn’t one for making intelligent choices. Her former boyfriend, Trevor, was into drugs, and she once got into trouble because she was with him when he was doing something stupid. She also comes from a broken home: her father left her mother for another family, and now she’s going to spend the summer with him. One of the new family members she’s going to stay with is Chelsea, who is about the same age as Maris.

Unfortunately, I have to give out a slight spoiler to discuss my feelings about this book. Chelsea and Maris become friends. Chelsea is dating Edison… a boy who Maris meets and instantly becomes attracted to, before she knows he’s Edison. But does that cause her to stay away from her? No. She still is friends with Chelsea even while they’re all hanging out like a big happy family and Chelsea kisses Edison right in front of her.

I had to ask myself why this aspect of Happily and Madly bothered me while the book I’m writing involves a girl that’s supposed to become betrothed to someone but falls in love with someone else. I’ve also lived something like this. In my story and in my life, the two people who were both seeing the third person were not friends. I think that’s what I found difficult about that situation.

Maris is also a horrible spy, yet she does this on more than one occasion. She follows people to see what’s going on and then gets caught. Stop doing this! It’s maddening. It would be one thing if she did it in the beginning and learned to be more cautious later on… but no.

The final thing that bothered me was… they were always hanging out with Edison’s family on their summer vacation, and his family was loaded so they paid for everything. Who does this? Maris is expected to hang out with the Brown family most of the time and watch the fireworks with them every evening. She’s 17. She’s not allowed to choose her own things to do every now and then?

That being said, Happily and Madly was enjoyable overall. There were unanswered questions that kept me reading. Even though there was heartbreak (obviously, when two people love the same boy) the situation does get resolved. I think eventually, the good guys will live satisfying lives. If you like forbidden romances and don’t mind if the boy’s two girlfriends are friends, and don’t mind her clunky spying, you might like it.

First Ten Books I Reviewed on this Blog (Top Ten Tuesday)

By Brookelorren on April 23, 2019April 22, 201934 Comments

Hello! Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, where people all over the planet get together to post about a different bookish topic each week. Today we’re talking about the First Ten Books I Reviewed. To be honest, I really couldn’t tell you about my first ten book reviews. Long ago and far away, I used to write for a site called Epinions.com, and I’m sure I wrote at least ten book reviews there. Since I can’t tell you about my first book reviews, I’ll just tell you about the first books I reviewed on this blog.

When I first started this blog, I imagined this as a blog where I just posted all sorts of general reviews, which is what I did on Epinions.com. Back in the day I had also posted a lot of articles on places like Squidoo; every January 1st, I’d post a list of my favorite books from the previous year. In 2016, I didn’t write down all the books I read in a year like I do now, and I forgot to put The Hiding Place on my list of favorite books I read the previous year. So I wrote a review of the book instead.

Since I started the blog at the beginning of the year (January 1, 2017, to be exact), I figured that the New Year is the time people want to make a new start. I reviewed Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money a few days later.

Of course, once you get your finances in order, you’ll want to get your spiritual health ready for the New Year as well. It was only January 8th when I reviewed The American Patriot’s Bible. Book reviews have evidently been a big part of this blog from the very beginning.

I think Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark was the first pre-order I ever bought, and I remember counting down the days towards its release. Not only did I blog my review of this book, I also blogged about the pre-order gift you could get by buying it.

From there, we have to jump a year into the future before I start posting again. I had gotten a job and just couldn’t find the time to keep up with posting here. The Titan Strain was the first book I downloaded from Netgalley. I was so in awe of the fact that I was able to read a book before it came out!

The next book I reviewed was Flame in the Mist. I had discovered Goodreads’ Listopia, and I found it to be such an amazing resource at the time. Smoke in the Sun was towards the top of its Top YA Books of 2018 list, and after following the links, I found the first book in the series. I was in luck, because the first book in the library was in stock! I remember how I couldn’t get this book out of my head while I was working.

The next book review post that I wrote was two short stories in one post: Ōkami and Yumi, which are two short stories from Renée Ahdieh’s Flame in the Mist series. I was excited for the release of Smoke in the Sun at the time.

Since I pretty much skipped blogging for an entire year, two books from the same series ended up in this post. The Fates Divide is the second book the Veronica Roth’s Carve the Mark duology, and of course, I had to review that one too.

It was less than 11 months ago that I reviewed Marissa Meyer’s Heartless, but it seems like quite a while ago. This was even before I discovered Top Ten Tuesday!

I reviewed Smoke in the Sun shortly after that. It had the most amazing pre-order gift: when I bought a copy of Smoke in the Sun, they gave me a paperback copy of Flame in the Mist! This was the second set of full duologies that made the first ten books that I reviewed on this blog.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour back in time to the earlier days of this blog. What were some of the first books you reviewed? I look forward to seeing the other posts on this week’s Top Ten Tuesday.

Next week we’re going to talk about some inspirational and/or thought provoking quotes. I decided to write about quotes that moved me. I’ve only recently started to keep a book journal, where I write those sorts of things down, so most of the quotes are from books I’ve recently read. I ended up with one bonus quote after this one passage from an audiobook completely moved me.

No Place Like Here

By Brookelorren on April 22, 2019April 7, 20196 Comments

No Place Like Here by Christina June is branded as a Hansel and Gretel retelling. While I didn’t see a lot of similarities between this contemporary story and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, it was a sweet story about family.

Ashlyn is looking forward to the summer. After making a mistake by choosing the wrong boyfriend and getting into a tight spot, her father had sent her off to boarding school. As the school year ends, she’s excited about spending her vacation with her best friend.

Unfortunately, her plans are derailed when she finds out that her dad is going to prison, her mother is going to a residential facility to deal with her depression, and Dad’s plans for her summer involve working at a summer camp. She’s supposed to work there with a cousin she barely knows. Could anything be worse?

Over the course of the summer, Ashlyn learns to speak up for herself and gain confidence. Through a series of trials, she deals with boys, work, and her family. When we close the book, we have hope that things are looking up for this family.

No Place Like Here was an enjoyable book. The story was interesting, and Ashlyn seemed to be a well-rounded character with a compelling backstory. Her family situation is probably like many others out there – families that do love each other, but have drifted apart and have trouble communicating what they really want.

That being said, there are things that could have been better with this book. Most of the supporting characters could have used more depth to them. The worldbuilding could have been stronger. Since the book is only 288 pages long, there isn’t exactly a lot of room to develop these aspects more.

The story is light in the romance department, but is very believable, since we are talking about summer camp here. You’re not likely to find your true love while working at a summer camp at age 17.

Overall, if you’re looking for a quick contemporary book where a teenager learns how to stand up for herself and help her family heal, No Place Like Here may be up your alley. It’s not the Hansel and Gretel retelling that I thought it would be, but that’s okay. It was still a good story. This book will be released on May 21st, but you can pre-order it now.

Ruin and Rising is More Rising Than Ruin

By Brookelorren on April 20, 2019April 21, 20192 Comments

While reading Siege and Storm, I was so happy to find out that Ruin and Rising was available at my library! I loved the first two books of this series and wanted to find out what happened.

This isn’t exactly part of the story, but the dedication of this book was so sad. It was dedicated to Ms. Bardugo’s dad: “Sometimes our heroes don’t make it to the end.”

Since this is the third book in the series, there will be spoilers for the first two books.

The actual story begins underground. Alina is the Sun Summoner, and hordes of people see her as a saint. As a sun summoner, Alina doesn’t do so well being cooped up in the dark. And the Apparat is keeping her friend Mal away from her. Even though she’s the celebrity, Alina is more like a prisoner. As a prisoner, she has to find a way to break herself out. Along with the rest of her friends.

Once above ground, Alina and the group have to avoid the Darkling, as well as the forces at war that would do her harm. Fortunately, she ends up meeting up with Nikolai, and they make plans for the future. Nikolai still thinks that Alina should be his queen, even though that’s not really where her heart lies. First things first though: they have to find the third amplifier.

On their journey to find the third amplifier, they discover some heartbreaking news (which I will not share here). They also learn about Mal’s ancestry, and why he is such an amazing tracker. Mal’s family is not the only bit of interesting backstory that we discover in this book.

All of this leads to the final showdown. I can’t say what’s going to happen, but I will say that the ending (for me) was incredibly sweet. I know that some people have a different opinion as to how Ruin and Rising should have ended, but it was the ending I would have liked. If I ever write fanfiction about this book, it won’t be fix-it fiction, because it ended on a satisfying note.

Overall, I loved Ruin and Rising, and started reading Six of Crows (on audiobook) shortly afterwards. This series made me love Leigh Bardugo’s writing, and I even pre-ordered Ninth House, her next book, which comes out in the fall.

Siege and Storm

By Brookelorren on April 18, 2019April 12, 2019Leave a Comment

Siege and Storm is the second book in the Grisha Verse trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been thinking about reading these books for months, and I finally got around to it.

Since this is the second book in a trilogy, there may be spoilers for the first book in this review.

Alina and Mal are on the run from the Darkling. Even though this isn’t exactly the perfect life, they seem to be content. But this temporary respite is not to last. Because they get caught.

The Darkling’s forces now want another amplifier for Alina: Rusalye, a sea creature that inhabits the north. It’s a good thing that Mal happens to be the best tracker out there, because it keeps The Darkling from killing him (that, and the fact that he can use him against Alina). They end up tracking down the sea creature, but then things take an unexpected turn.

Siege and Storm forces Alina to think about who she is and what she wants. She’s the most powerful Grisha ever, and perhaps she is the only person that can stop the Darkling. Unfortunately, as she gains power, Alina wants more of it. Will this thirst for power push her away from Mal? The ambitious prince of Ravka, who is a new character in this book, thinks that because she is so powerful, Alina should be with him. Neither Alina nor Mal want that, do they? It feels as if forces are pushing him away and they are destined to be apart. It made me so sad.

“I have loved you all my life, Mal,” I whispered through my tears. “There is no end to our story.”
p. 416

I did not know the ending to this trilogy prior to reading this book. Quotes like this made me so sad, because I wanted these lifelong friends to end up together and… it didn’t seem like they were meant to be.

I loved this book and read it in two days. I loved these characters, I loved the setting. Funny, there is a minor character named Privyet in the book. Privyet (привет) means “hello” in Russian, so when they called the character that for the first time, I thought they were saying hello instead of saying the character’s name. The plot kept me wanting more, and the book ended with a bang.

Siege and Storm was a great book, and I absolutely love Leigh Bardugo’s writing. I recommend this series to people that like to read fantasy books, especially if you enjoy the whole Russian vibe like I do. I’ve already finished the rest of this series, listened to Six of Crows on audiobook, plan to read the rest of her books, and have pre-ordered her new book (out on October 1st like Rebel and The End and Other Beginnings), Ninth House. Even though I waited far too long to start reading her books, I’m definitely going to keep on reading them as long as she keeps writing.

Shadow and Bone was Amazing!

By Brookelorren on April 17, 2019March 25, 20192 Comments

Shadow and Bone is the first book in Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha Verse books. For months, I’ve heard people ooh and aah over the Six of Crows duology. Since I tend to believe in starting book series from the very beginning, I always said to myself “I have to read the Grisha Verse books first.” I finally started the series, and I was not disappointed.

Alina is an orphan girl who now works in Ravka’s army with her best friend, Mal. While Mal seems to be able to do everything right, Alina is mediocre at best. Everything changes when her unit tries to cross the dangerous Shadow Fold. When Mal is nearly killed, a dormant force inside her awakens and saves his life. It also changes her life forever.

Alina is kidnapped and taken to The Little Palace, where she learns that she is a Grisha (magically able to manipulate matter in some way) and hones her magic skills. She misses Mal, although she makes new friends along the way. One of the people she meets is The Darkling, who tells her that she is unique among Grisha; he tries to befriend her (and more). You’ll have to read the book to see how it turns out.

What I Loved

Is there anything I didn’t love about this book? I actually can’t think of anything. I loved the characters, and I thought Alina and Mal were so sweet together. It made me so sad to see them forced apart as they were. I know that some people who read this series rooted for Alina and The Darkling to develop a relationship, but I was rooting for Alina and Mal from the beginning.

I adored the Russian vibe of this book! Since I speak Russian and go to a Russian meetup group almost every week, when I discovered that Ravka has this Russian thing going on, I was overjoyed! I didn’t know about that before reading this book. Had I known this, I probably would have read this series sooner.

Conclusion

After finishing Shadow and Bone, I went on to read the remainder of the Grisha Verse series, and I loved it. I’m now listening to Six of Crows on audiobook. This universe is amazing and I love Leigh Bardugo’s writing. I highly recommend this book and plan to read more of her books in the future.

A Thousand Perfect Notes

By Brookelorren on April 11, 2019March 29, 2019Leave a Comment

What can we say about A Thousand Perfect Notes… it’s a beautiful book! I bought this book on the Kindle, but if you’ve ever seen the paperback copy with the beautiful butterfly that folds out, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s by C.G. Drews… AKA Paper Fury! That alone is probably enough to make you want to check out this book.

A Thousand Perfect Notes is about a boy named Beck. He loves his little sister and lives with an abusive mother who tries to compensate for her broken life by forcing him to become the person she wanted to be. This means practicing on the piano for hours a day, neglecting his school work in favor of the piano, and never having a social life. It’s a pretty dreary existence.

Things change when his teacher teams him up with August for a school project. Even though he keeps telling her no, she won’t give up on him. Her intrusion into his life changes his family forever.

What I Liked

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. A Thousand Perfect Notes brings us into an impoverished fictional town somewhere in Australia. Beck and August weren’t the only characters I felt for in this book. Everybody seemed to have a difficult life. But aren’t we all facing something?

The main characters were great. Beck’s mother was a monster, but she had her own personal demons to deal with too. Beck was a sweet, caring cinnamon roll who you just have to with a better life for. August was a sweet, optimistic girl with a dash of crunchy-granola.

Drawbacks?

This is a beautiful story and I think the only thing that separates this book from one of my favorite books that I read this year is a matter of taste. It’s a sweet story with a small but adorable cast. There’s no world-shaking politics, oh-no-we’re-all-gonna-die! moments, or anything like that. The book is light on romance. And that’s okay. We need stories like this one.

Conclusion

If you’re in the mood for a sweet contemporary with adorable characters that deserve better in life and find comfort among each other, A Thousand Perfect Notes is a good choice. I enjoyed this book, although I think I will choose to read C.G. Drews next book, The Boy Who Steals Houses, at a moment when I’m tired of dark fantasy and need something lighter. Because this author is definitely worth reading again.

Finale Goes Out With a Bang

By Brookelorren on April 8, 2019April 5, 20192 Comments

I was so excited when I got an email from Netgalley saying I was approved to read Finale by Stephanie Garber. I loved Caraval and Legendary, and had already pre-ordered it. My Advanced Review copy was given to me in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely loved this book.

Because this is the third book in a series, this review contains spoilers from the previous two books.

Finale starts shortly after Legendary ends. Legend is going to be the emperor, and after leaving Tella at the end of the last book, only visits her in dreams. Their mother is still asleep. Scarlett has decided that she wants to get to know her former fiancée Nicholas even though she has feelings for Julian. Nothing is perfect.

And everything is about to get worse.

When the Fates start waking up, Tella witnesses something heartbreaking… and disturbing. She vows to get back at The Fallen Star, who seems to be the worst of the Fates. In order to hurt him, she has to find out what his weakness is. Then she has to exploit it to kill him.

Meanwhile, Scarlett decided that she wanted to have Julian and Nicholas compete with each other so she can decide who she will marry. Almost as soon as she makes that deal, she realizes that she wants Julian. Before she can tell them both that, her life turns south as well.

What follows is a beautiful, twisty story where secrets are revealed, people have to work with people they otherwise wouldn’t want to work with, and love triangles resolve quite nicely. All of this neatly packaged amidst a sea of gorgeous words and lines that give me all the feels.

I recently started a book journal where I write down some of my favorite quotes and reactions to books I read. There were so many quotes I wrote down from this book. “She looked the way Love might have looked if Love looked in a mirror, infectuously happy and radiantly beautiful.” Also I loved the line “maybe no one deserved love. Maybe love was always a gift.” My favorite line in the book was the last two sentences of chapter 59. I can’t quote it here because of spoilers.

The heart on the cover of Finale tells you exactly how I feel about it. The ending was amazing. I highly recommend it.