Book Review: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

 

Goodreads Summary: The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.
You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

Goodreads Rating: 4.46 stars with over 390,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Humor, Dystopia, Adventure, LITRPG

Goodreads/Storygraph challenge: 9/48

2026 Reading Challenge: #6 Read a book that was either given to you or recommended by someone who means a lot to you (find the full challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers. I hope everyone is doing well! Let's get into Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. This one has been on my radar for a while, but I hadn't really gotten around to reading it. I finally caved when two very good friends and two co-workers all harassed me in the same week to read it. This is a good one for prompt #6. 

I'll start by saying that I really did enjoy the book, but I think that it got over-hyped, at least to me. I expected to enjoy it a lot more than I did because of it. I liked Carl, and I felt bad for what he'd been through before the dungeon. I liked that he tries to be a good person even in the dungeon. I liked the mechanics. The lootboxes have me cracking up throughout the entire book. I liked Mordecai a lot. I'd actually love to read more about his story if possible. 

I think what kept me from enjoying the story as much was the reality TV aspect. I would be super into a scene and then lose interest because they had to go do an interview or there was a bunch of nonsense about the TV network. Also, and I realize this is going to be a controversial take, I don't love Donut. I tolerate her. She has her moments where I like her, but for the most part, I feel like she's trying too hard and just comes across as fake. I realize she's supposed to be a show cat, but her personality feels so forced. 

Overall, I enjoyed it. It's a fast-paced story with interesting game mechanics. I do think that I set my expectations too high to really, truly love it. That being said, I did buy the rest of the series to read. It's a quick read, and I am curious to see what happens next. 

Book Review: The General of Izril by Pirateaba

 

Goodreads Summary: Clowns, Goblins, and Erin Solstice. Not all in the same place, mind you.
Erin Solstice trusts a lot of people—even some lost Redfangs survivors of Esthelm—but can she handle being friends with Goblins when every hand is turned against them and the tribes are on the rampage?

Liscor is in the path of Goblin Lord's inexorable march north, and the fates of Rags, Garen Redfang, and Tremborag's Goblin tribes are all tied to an impending war. Who will survive?
Tom the [Clown] is facing Demons in Rhir while Zel Shivertail is facing Wall Lord Ilvriss and an uncertain future. Faced with the knowledge of the Necromancer's return, who can the two Drakes turn to?
Contains bonus content, an exclusive account of the 2nd Antinium War by famed [Writer], Krsysl Wordsmith.

Goodreads Rating: 4.63 stars with over 1400 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Magic, Humor, Adventure, LITRPG

Goodreads Challenge: 8/60

2024 Reading Challenge: #32 Read a book with the name of a place in the title (see the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

I don't typically do two posts in a day (hell, lately, I don't even do one post in a day...Sorry!), but I finished the audiobook of The General of Izril this afternoon. I took notes and want to get better at reviewing the audiobooks I listen to. Let's see how well I can do on not giving spoilers.

As I have with the previous books, I enjoyed it thoroughly. There's a lot of me thinking (sometimes yelling), "What the ****, why?" while listening to this book. I've said multiple times at this point that I've just given up on figuring out where the story will go. At this point, I'm just hoping Erin makes popcorn or something. 

The General of Izril provided a lot of information to answer my questions and promptly gave me even more questions regarding other details. Pirateaba gives you just enough information to keep a reader interested and then dangles a different carrot in front of their face. However, the first few chapters of this book were definitely a knowledge bomb. 

Honestly, I can't give this series enough praise. It is definitely not something I would have gotten into if it wasn't recommended, but I'm so glad I got into it. I can't speak for how it reads in the e-book or web novel, but the audiobooks narrated by Andrea Parsneau are fantastic. I already have books 7-11 and Book 12 pre-ordered if that shows how much I'm enjoying it. The General of Izril ends with a cliffhanger, and I'm curious to see where it leads. There's so much more I want to say, but it would be filled with spoilers, and I don't want to ruin the element of surprise that these books have. 

 

This is not book-related, but I wanted to share these photos from my trip. They are pictures over Indianapolis while I was coming back home. 

Book Review: The Last Light by Pirateaba

 

Goodreads Summary: [Kings] awake, and [Emperors] build new lands. Change is coming to the world, from the King of Destruction moving to a certain [Doctor] finding more friends from home.
The Wandering Inn has a [Princess] who solves problems rather than creates them, and her name is Lyonette. Yet what happens when the [Innkeeper] returns to manage her inn? Lyonette must learn to be a good employee rather than manage everything herself, and sharing power is never easy...

Nor is it ever simple in war, but that is where Geneva Scala remains. In bloodier and increasingly brutal battlefields, The Last Light of Baleros is now growing in fame, but there is no future there. She is desperate, working against hostile forces who see her intervention as dangerous, and still bears the wounds of her previous war to save lives. But she is no longer alone.

Goodreads Rating: 4.62 stars with over 1700 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Magic, Fiction, Fae, Adventure, RPG, LITRPG, Action

Goodreads Challenge: 6/60 (I already feel impending doom!)

2024 Reading Challenge: #2 Read a book by an author you've previously read (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello Readers! As always, I hope everyone is doing well. I just finished The Last Light, book 5 in the Wandering Inn series by Pirateaba. I wanted to get a blog post out while a few things were fresh in my memory. It's been hard for me to write posts about this series. I'm listening to it as an audiobook and have been starting one book right after the other. Events are getting blurred together, but I will try my best. Going forward, I'm going to take notes if I can.

This book was one of my favorites in the series so far. However, I've long since given up on predicting where this story will go. It's just sheer chaos. The last five hours were an absolute rollercoaster of emotions for me. There are also so many strings that I am still determining how they will connect or even if they will. I've been trying to figure out how to review this without giving spoilers, so I will try to provide some general thoughts about some of the characters/groups. Since I'm doing the audiobook, forgive me if I don't get character names correct. I am way too lazy to go through the web series and get the spelling.

Erin: Erin feels like the drunk friend you can't take your eye off, or they'll go missing. I'm listening to the series with a friend and am a book behind him. I've lost track of how many times I've proclaimed, "Erin is so damn stupid!" That said, she's loyal, sweet, and cares about her friends. But damn it, woman, think before you do.

Rhioka: Rhioka really grew on me in this book. She's still hot-headed-know-it-all, but I like her take no shit attitude. A lot of her story in this book wrecked me emotionally.

Lyonette: Now that the incidents in book 4 have thoroughly humbled her, I'm no longer rooting for her to be punched in the face. She's becoming one of my more liked characters. And what she did for Brunker. 😭

Lakin/Doreen: Love them. They're adorable, and I want nothing but the best for them.

Geneva: Her scenes fascinate me. The combination of her medical knowledge with Okasha's healing is so interesting. If they teamed up with Pisces' ability to mend bones, they'd be one hell of a medical team.

Octavia: I feel bad for what Erin puts her through, but she also annoys the ever-loving hell out of me.

Horns of Hammerod: They feel like a real team now. I am amused by the weird friendship between Kisemver and Pisces.

Antinium: In the audiobook, one visiting Antinium sounds like Sean Connery, and I can't unhear it. Is it weird that I like the Antinium? At least the individual ones. Bird even amuses me, as odd as he is. 

I have more thoughts, but they get spoilery, and I'm not sure which book some of my thoughts are about. Plus, I'm still processing the book's last 5-8 hours. I absolutely love this series, though, and I can't recommend it enough for Fantasy/RPG fans. It's amazing. I plan to start book 6 tomorrow. If you've read/listened to the series and want to ask me specific thoughts about books 1-5, feel free to use the Contact Me portion of the blog. 

Book Review: The Wandering Inn: Fae and Fare by Pirateaba

 

Goodreads Summary: Winter has come to the world, and still, Erin Solstice has no idea how she came to be an [Innkeeper].
Erin is running an inn outside the city of Liscor, but she's no longer alone. Ryoka Griffin, the City Runner, has business in the south of Izril; she's out on a dangerous delivery of her own. Yet, while both young women have finally found their calling, more and more people are beginning to realize that these visitors from Earth don't belong here.
Erin must find new and old guests for her inn while expanding her tentative business. Staying safe would also be nice. At the same time, some pesky creatures have arrived to herald winter, bringing mischief and danger unlike anything she's ever seen. But as more and more children of Earth begin appearing, the cold of winter is the least of Erin's worries.

Goodreads Rating: 4.53 stars with over 4,200 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Adventure, High Fantasy, Dragons, Fae, LITRPG

Goodreads Challenge: 1/60

2024 Reading Challenge: #49 Read a book with a Unicorn in it (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review: 

Hello, Readers! Welcome to 2024. I hope the first few days have treated everyone well. I finished the first book of the year and am trying to get back into the habit of doing reviews after every book. Let's jump right in.

Fae and Fare is the second book in the Wandering Inn series by Pirateaba. The series started out as a web novel. I've been listening to the series on Audible, however. The series is narrated by Andrea Parsneau, and she does a fantastic job. The premise of the Wandering Inn is that Erin winds up in a different world in the city of Liscor. She doesn't know how she got there, but she hides in an abandoned Inn to escape monsters trying to kill her. However, she finds that the entire world is based on leveling up and getting skills like in a video game. Adventure and chaos ensue from there. 

Before the Wandering Inn series, I hadn't read anything that would fall into the LITRPG genre. With the Wandering Inn, I was instantly drawn in. Fae and Fare were the same. The characters' levels, classes, and skills made for an interesting addition to the story. Without it, both The Wandering Inn and Fae and Fare would be good adventures, but the system becomes a predominant part of Fae and Fare's story towards the end of the book. 

With the first book, I tried to predict where the story was going. I gave that up somewhere in the second book and just tried to enjoy the story. The book took so many twists and turns that there was no good way to predict it. I thought I knew where something was leading, and then it would travel down a different path. It made the story exciting. The ending of Fae and Fare leaves a lot of interesting loose ends that I'm eager to pull at and see where they go. I'll likely start book 3 tonight or tomorrow. 

I typically end up with a favorite character or two in a book; however, I have a love/hate relationship with many of the characters introduced. I feel like both Ryoka and Erin made many dumb decisions that annoyed the absolute hell out of me. But simultaneously, they were likable, and I was cheering for them. Their various groups of friends all have an interesting dynamic. I am definitely getting the impression that not all of them will stay friends, but as I said before, I'm done speculating where this story will go. There are a lot of them to list, and I'm probably going to spell their names wrong, but there are a few arcs I'm very curious about. 

Overall, I'm absolutely loving this series. I already grabbed the 3rd audiobook. I recommend it to anyone who likes Epic/High Fantasy and video games. I don't think the latter is necessary to enjoy it, however. As far as why I stuck it in the unicorn category, there is a very brief mention of a unicorn. It is all of one sentence in this massive book. However, I caught it, and I'm using it for this prompt. I'm trying to work through as many books as I already have and not buy any more, but also because I'm too lazy to dig for another book with a Unicorn.

Book Review: The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst

 

Goodreads Summary: An idealistic young student and a banished warrior become allies in a battle to save their realm in this first book of a mesmerizing epic fantasy series filled with political intrigue, violent magic, malevolent spirits, and thrilling adventure
Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow...

But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. But queens are still just human, and no matter how strong or good, the threat of danger always looms.

With the position so precarious, young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, is under no illusions as to her claim to the throne but simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits' restlessness—a journey that will test their courage and trust and force them to stand against both enemies and friends to save their land . . . before it's bathed in blood.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.89 stars with over 11,300 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Magic, High Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Adventure

Goodreads Challenge: 43/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #53 Read a book that has the letter Q in the title (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! As always, I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing what I set this blog up for - individual book reviews. Yeah! Go me. Before the review, I have a quick life update- I got a kitten! Her name is Nebula Jane, and she is five months old. Adorable pictures will be after the review for those who care. 

Anyways, on to my riveting thoughts on The Queen of Blood by Sarah Beth Durst. I picked this up randomly at a used bookstore when I was still in Minnesota. I didn't realize it then, but the copy I have is autographed. This doesn't have anything to do with the thoughts on the book; I thought that was a cool tidbit. 

The book was a little hard to get into at first. Although I was interested, it covers many years in a concise amount of pages, making it hard to follow. Once the timeline stayed consistent, it was easier to follow. I really liked the world Sarah Beth Durst created. I thought living in trees was interesting, and the combination of magic and spirits was unique. I also liked the hierarchy that the kingdom had. 

Character development fell flat for me. There wasn't much difference between how the characters were written. While I didn't feel like she grew in the story, I liked that Daleina is resourceful and clever. She can step back and think of different ways to work with the spirits instead of controlling them like the others in her class. 

I think this is a good option if you're looking for a short high fantasy. It's just under 400 pages but has some interesting world-building. It has romance, but it doesn't have graphic sex scenes- it just alludes to them and then moves on to the next scene. Overall, I liked it, but I don't need to rush out and read the second or third books in the trilogy. 

And now, pictures of Nebula! 

Book Review: The Fires of Heaven by Robert Jordan

 

Goodreads Summary: The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become a legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is may yet fall under the Shadow.
Into the forbidden city of Rhuidean, where Rand al'Thor, now the Dragon Reborn, must conceal his present endeavor from all about him, even Egwene and Moiraine.

Into the Amyrlin's study in the White Tower, where the Amyrlin, Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, is weaving new plans.

Into the luxurious hidden chamber where the Forsaken Rahvin meets with three of his fellows to ensure their ultimate victory over the Dragon.

Into the Queen's court in Caemlyn, where Morgase is curiously in thrall to the handsome Lord Gaebril.

For once the dragon walks the land, the fires of heaven fall where they will until all men's lives are ablaze.

And in Shayol Ghul, the Dark One stirs...

Goodreads Ratings: 4.18 stars with over 165,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adventure, Magic

Goodreads Challenge: 21/36

2022 Reading Challenge: Read a book  with at least 5 prominent characters (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hi, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I am excited we made it to September; my favorite season is approaching. I've been collecting books lately more than I've been reading them. I've really been having a hard time staying interested in a story. I hope I get out of this funk soon. I started reading Fires of Heaven at the end of July and just now finished it. I'm likely going to stay away from long epic stories for a bit, as my classes for my Doctorate just started this week. Yes, Tress, I know. I'm a masochist. 

Okay, so Fires of Heaven. As you might be able to guess, this one was tough for me to get through based on how long it took me to read it. I enjoyed a lot of the story and appreciated that there was more information on the Ajah. I liked the dream world and thought it was interesting what Nynaeve, Elayne, and Egwene learned to do in it. Brigitte was my favorite character in this book. I feel like she brought out a different side of Nynaeve. Mainly she was just a fun addition to the story. 

For me, this book mostly felt like a middle-of-the-series book that you have to read to get to the other books. I enjoyed it, but it definitely wasn't my favorite. I don't know if it was my frame of mind, but by about 70%, I was ready to be done but kept trying to push through it. I didn't hate it. It was just slow-paced, and it felt like a lot of nothingness was happening. Once I was done reading it, I had to ask Tress a lot of follow-up questions because I'd forget something just as soon as I read it. I tried to keep up my usual WOT Twitter feed, but this was hard for me to keep up. Here's the link if anyone cares about my absurdness while reading: Social Tweety Thing.

I was missing a lot of the rest of the Two Rivers crew with this one. I kept wondering what was going on with Perrin and Loial. I do think that Mat's adventure was enjoyable, and I'm getting more interested in him as a character. He's growing on me, finally. I'm still processing Moraine's part of the story in this one. I don't want to go into spoilers, but I was definitely surprised. 

Fire of Heaven was probably my least favorite of the Wheel of Time so far. I don't know that that's entirely on the book, though. I really enjoyed The Shadow Rising, so I think anything that followed would fall short for me. Combine that with me just not being in a reading mood and it being so focused on traveling and waiting (more so than the other books). It just was okay for me. I still enjoyed a lot of it, and I'll continue with the series, but it was rough to get through.

Book Review: The Octunnumi Fosbit Files Prologue by Trevor Alan Foris

 

Goodreads Summary: The Octunnumi does not exist.
Fosbit and any files relating to a Fosbit do not exist.

The Tarelen peoples that protect and provide sanctuary for the Avitens of Fethrist are not real.

The abilities of the Tarelen peoples with their heightened skills, living in their Utopian world are myth, their purpose here mere tales; rumours of their reincarnations enabling them to live many lives… ridiculous!

And there is definitely no magic.

None at all.

No, really, there isn’t.

Magic is not a thing.

There are also no hidden worlds or mythical beings coexisting just out of sight.

Equally, there are no secret access points to these hidden worlds that don’t exist, and there is no, 'unfinished business from the past' that is set to destroy, well, anything.

There is no disaster looming.

Anyway, regardless of any potential threat that may or may not be present, this publication, The Octunnumi and any reference to any other beings is a work of fiction.

And for the record, Scariodintts, should they exist, are perfectly lovely beings whose purpose in life is grossly misunderstood.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.08 stars with over 8,000 reviews

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Adventure, New Adult, Science Fiction

Goodreads Challenge: 9/48 (Oh hey. I'm behind, shocker)

2022 Reading Challenge: #20 Read a book with a black cover (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

I would normally use this section to tell you about a book I read, but I can't do that because this book doesn't exist and it most definitely does not contain magic. So instead, for this review, I'm going to type in hypothetical thoughts. Because as the description said, it's all just rumors. I most certainly did not order a book that can only be obtained from the author's website that I knew nothing about. It was most certainly not shipped from Europe at the cost of $60. All of this would imply that it existed... 

Okay, that is really hard and I can't do that for the full review. Props to Trevor Alan Foris for being able to write out a description like that. 

Anyways, the whole thing with this book is that as far as I can tell it's only sold on the website, which can be found here. It ships from the UK, I believe so it does take a while if you're in the US. Not including textbooks, it is the most expensive book I have ever bought. It's also the most beautiful. The book it's self is black with a gold title. Every page in the book has decorative steampunk borders, and it's lovely. The appeal for me was purely astethic and the fact that it was a total mystery as to what it was about. Another great feature is that the dictionary is an actual bookmark. Genius.

Here's a look at the prettiness.

I honestly don't want to really talk about the story. Well, I take that back. I do want to talk about it, but I want to help preserve the mystery more. I find that just to be such a cool concept and really as much of the story as the actual story and experience.

What I liked about the story is the uniqueness and cleverness of it. There were a lot of moments that I really had to think about and take it in. I've never ready anything like it. The hardest part for me was that a lot of the time I felt like I was getting half of the story. I don't know if that was because it was a prologue or because it took me so long to read. I just felt like so often I didn't understand what was going on or how the world or magic worked. The only way I can think to explain it is like I was on the outside looking in and everything was fuzzy. Given the secrecy, maybe that was intended. 

I think I'd like to read this again sometime and try to get a better understanding of what happened. I liked the story, and there were parts that I found funny. I just was also really confused a lot. Given that it cost me $60, it's unlikely that I'll acquire the rest of the series when it comes out. Which is unfortunate because I do want to read more. Now that the mystery is gone, I just can't bring myself to spend that much on one book again. I'm hoping that it will come out on kindle at some point. Overall, reading it felt like an actual experience and I'd recommend it or someone who is looking for a book outside of the norm.

Book Review: The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

 

Goodreads Summary: As the old gods awaken, the Chromeria is in a race to find its lost Prism, the only man who may be able to stop catastrophe, Gavin Guile. But Gavin's enslaved on a galley, and when he finally escapes, he finds himself in less than friendly hands. Without the ability to draft which has defined him . . .
Meanwhile, the Color Prince's army continues its inexorable advance, having swallowed two of the seven satrapies, they now invade the Blood Forest. Andross Guile, thinking his son Gavin lost, tasks his two grandsons with stopping the advance. Kip and his psychopathic half-brother Zymun will compete for the ultimate prize: who will become the next Prism.

Goodreads Rating: 4.46 stars with over 56,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Magic, Adult, Adventure

Previous reviews on the series: The Black Prism, The Blinding Knife

Goodreads Challenge: 4/48

2022 Reading Challenge: #38 Read a book that's over 500 pages (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! It's been a while. I hope everyone has been doing well. I honestly have been swamped and just haven't been in a reading mood lately. Weird, I know. My heart just wasn't in it this past month. I was trying to chip away at The Broken Eye and Octunnumi as I had the energy, but mostly just spent non-working hours staring at my phone playing games. Anyways, I finally finished The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks last night.

I don't know if it was just the headspace I was in or what, but it took me a really long time to get into book three of the Lightbringer series. I really wasn't that into it until around 50%. It just felt like a middle book of a series until that point. It has to be read to get to all of the other stuff. There was a lot of background story in this one. There was a lot of information on how one becomes a prism and a lot of the history involving the position. It was good to know; it was just a lot to take in when I wasn't really feeling like reading. 

The Broken Eye shifted a lot of the attention to Kip, Karris, and Andross. Gavin was out of the picture for most of the story. I felt like Kip grew a lot in this book and is transitioning out of that kid phase. I'm curious to see where the story takes him. I really hope he starts to gain more confidence and move away from that whole self-deprecating thing. 

Towards the last 100 pages or so, I said "What the fuck, Brent Weeks?" a lot. There are a lot of plot twists in the final 20% of the book. In the other books, the twists were more spread out, whereas this one was all at the end. I won't go into specific details because I don't want to spoil the plot twists. But there's a lot of information that's game-changers in the story. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book, and I'll eventually finish the series. I just need a break from High Fantasy for a while. 

Book Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

 

Goodreads Summary: Meet Celaena Sardothien.Beautiful. Deadly. Destined for greatness.
In the dark, filthy salt mines of Endovier, an eighteen-year-old girl is serving a life sentence. She is a trained assassin, the best of her kind, but she made a fatal mistake: she got caught.
Young Captain Westfall offers her a deal: her freedom in return for one huge sacrifice. Celaena must represent the prince in a to-the-death tournament—fighting the most gifted thieves and assassins in the land. Live or die, Celaena will be free. Win or lose, she is about to discover her true destiny. But will her assassin's heart be melted?

Goodreads Ratings: 4.18 stars with over 700,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Fiction, Magic, New Adult, Adventure

Goodreads Challenge: 37/50

2021 Reading Challenge: Read a book for under $5 (find the complete challenge here) 

Book Review:

Happy Saturday, Readers! I finished Throne of Glass late last night and thought I'd go ahead and get this post out of the way before I have to be productive. Apparently, I've had this book on my kindle since 2019. I got it on sale at the time, so it felt like a good fit for the Under $5 prompt.

Part of me was a little hesitant to read this. I recently joined a book recommendation group on Facebook, and Sarah J Maas's books are getting major hype. More so her other series, but this one as well. I went in this preparing to be let down because of all the attention her work was getting. I must say, I'm glad I didn't let the popularity sway me. 

First, let's get the things I didn't like out of the way. It's a YA Fantasy/Romance, so of course, there's a love triangle and swooning where it just seems ridiculous. There's also a lot of needless mention of how attractive someone is, including Celaena. Everyone in a YA Fantasy must be a model; it's an unwritten rule. No one wants to read about ordinary people that you can't even see. I thought the plot was pretty predictable, but it made sense. I didn't feel like any big plot twists just blew my mind. All that being said, I really did enjoy Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas.

The story kept me entertained. At first, Celaena came across as extremely arrogant, but I think the trials put her in her place a bit and made her grow. By the end, she seemed more like just an eighteen-year-old girl who has had to do terrible things to survive. I do feel that there was more telling that she was an assassin than showing, however. What I mean by this is because we meet Celaena after she's arrested and been enslaved. We just get told she's an assassin. It's reinforced by the number of times she's just referred to as "The Assassin." Sure, she can fight and threatens death a lot, but that's about all that gets shown. 

The love triangle wasn't anything to write home about, but I feel like most love triangles in books. It's not that I'm against romance in books. I feel like I read a ton of it. I just want it to make sense and not be there for the sake of being there. I feel like the only purpose it served was to create a little drama and break down some of Celaena's walls. This could have been just as easily accomplished with friendships, as seen with her relationship with the Princess (the likelihood I'm going to pell her name right is slim.) Anyways, I was neutral towards the slight romance, but it went just about how I expected it to go.

I'm inquisitive to see more of Celaena's backstory and how the banned magic will come into play more in future books. I think there was just enough of it in this first book to get me curious and wanting more. It will be interesting to see how the story progresses. Overall, I enjoyed the story. I wasn't obsessed with it, but it was entertaining. I needed something light and uncomplicated to cleanse my mind from how confused I was from my last book, so Throne of Glass fit that need pretty well. I'll probably read the other books eventually, but it's not anything I'm making a point to do right away.

Book Review: The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

 

Goodreads Summary: Gavin Guile is dying. He'd thought he had five years left--now he has less than one. With fifty thousand refugees, a bastard son, and an ex-fiancée who may have learned his darkest secret, Gavin has problems on every side. All magic in the world is running wild and threatens to destroy the Seven Satrapies. Worst of all, the old gods are being reborn, and their army of color wights is unstoppable. The only salvation may be the brother whose freedom and life Gavin stole sixteen years ago.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.38 stars with over 81,000 ratings

Genre listing: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Adventure

Previous Review on the series: The Black Prism

Goodreads Challenge: 34/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #39 Read a book over 600 pages (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello readers! I hope everyone is doing well this lovely Sunday afternoon. I am super ready to just kick back and watch football all day while I work on homework. I wanted to try and get this review out beforehand. It's going to be a busy week. We're moving into our new house (Yay!!!!!) next weekend, and I still need to pack a bunch of stuff. 

I'm honestly just going to get straight to the point with this one. If you like magic and epic fantasy, read the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks. This is quickly becoming one of my absolute favorite series. I liked The Blinding Knife quite a bit more than The Black Prism, just because I wasn't trying to figure out the magic system. Not having to think about how the different colors and drafters work made it easier to get through. 

I really like that Brent Weeks made Gavin a hero, but not a boy scout type of hero. He feels like a realistic character because he has his flaws and makes mistakes. He does what he needs to, but there's a lot of complexity and gray areas to who he is. I think it makes him really interesting to read and a lot more likable. 

I really liked seeing Kip go through his trials to figure out who he is and wants to be.  I'm curious to see how his story plays out. He's in this awkward place where he still has the childishness because he's 15 but also is starting to grow out of it. He comes across as just having a huge heart who wants to do the right thing. I adore some of his internal thoughts. I find them sarcastic and humorous.

I don't want to spoil too much in this book because there are so many plot twists. I will say that Brent Weeks is an evil genius when it comes to plot twists. There are so many moments where I'm like, "Holy Shit! Wait, What just happened?" It makes the book so exciting to read because I never know what's going to happen. There were a couple of things that I kind of expected to some extent, but not many. This book is the main reason I've not slept recently. The "one more chapter" bargain ended with multiple nights of me forcing myself to put my kindle down at 3-3:30 am. 

One of the more fascinating pieces of this book that I didn't fully appreciate in The Black Prism is the intricacies of the society Brent Weeks has created. At the top of society, you have the religious leaders being The Prism and The White and then the color spectrum representing the different regions. The associations within the areas are super political. Some get along, some don't, etc. From there, it's just this classist system based on the colors. If you can draft colors, you're of higher status than those who can't. The more colors you can draft, the more your status rises. There's a whole system of drafters being sponsored within the Chromeria, which is influenced by what colors you draft and how many. Which results in the lower classes having to become slaves just to be trained. The slavery aspect is challenging for me to read. I feel this way about any book that I read with it included. That being said, I think it goes a long way in this book to show the extremes in how the different drafters are valued. 

Liv annoyed me in this book. I can't remember my thoughts on her in The Black Prism. Her anger at the Chromeria feels fake, and she doesn't necessarily believe in the Color Prince's cause. I can't really tell if she's supposed to be a likable character or not, but to me, she comes across as a spoiled brat who is just angsty because she didn't get attention and is treated like a princess in Chromeria. 

There's so much about this book I want to talk about, but I just can't bring myself to get into them because I don't want to spoil all of the plot twists for someone. I'll just leave it at I highly recommend this book and series to anyone who loves Epic Fantasy and adventure books with complex magic systems. It's so good, and I honestly could not put this book down. One thing to note is that if you are looking at this book on Goodreads, some readers have listed this as YA and a Children's book. One of the main characters is fifteen, but I would definitely not put this as YA or a Children's story. It's pretty violent, and there's a lot of sexual content involved. There is mention of rape, some of the previously mentioned slaves are sex slaves, and at one point, a character gets teased for how vocal they were doing sex. I can typically look past a lot of this kind of stuff in books and movies, but understand that some cannot so I wanted to make sure I give a warning. 

Book Review: The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

 

Goodreads Summary: 

Enter a fantastical world of dangerous fairies, wicked princes, and one half-human girl who discovers her entire life is a lie. This special edition of The Iron Daughter includes the bonus Guide to the Iron Fey and an exclusive excerpt from the new Iron Fey book, The Iron Raven.
Half Summer faery princess, half-human, Meghan Chase has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter faery prince she thought loved her, she is a prisoner to the Winter Queen, Mab. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real threat is the Iron fey--ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars with over 127,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance, Paranormal, Fairies, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Adventure

Previous review on the series: The Iron King

Goodreads Challenge: 33/50

2021 Reading Challenge: #36 Free Space Pick any book! (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Happy Saturday readers! I hope everyone is doing well. I basically burned through two books back to back, as you can see. In case anyone is wondering, I don't sleep and it's usually because of books. Especially fantasy books that catch my interest right away. This is one of those books.

The Iron Fey is a series that's been on my to-be-read list for a while. I read the Iron King earlier this year and really liked it, so when I saw the Iron Daughter on sale, I picked it up. I really like the world that Julie Kagawa has created where the old legends of fairy realms mix with a new modern age of fairies. The idea of there being a group of iron fey because of how the human world has advanced is really fascinating. 

In a way, I'm kind of annoyed at myself for liking this series as much as I do. The fantasy and adventure are interesting. In the Iron Daughter, there was a little bit of espionage and some unexpected alliances. All of this I love. However, at its core, it's a typical YA fantasy where the Teen girl needs to save the world, but she's too busy focusing on the two boys trying to win her affections. One of which is outright trying to kill her. It plays really hard on the Romeo/Juliet star-crossed lovers trope. I want to hate it because it's cheesy and overdone. The entire time I'm screaming at Meghan in my head to get over Ash and fall for Puck. Yet, I'm so entertained that I don't care how stupid the romance aspect is. 

One thing I do like about Meghan is she's willing to fight for herself. The boys kind of seem to start the process of saving her, but something ends up happening that gets her to save herself. She's got some emerging powers that I'm really excited to get explored.  I'm excited to see where the story goes.

The Iron Daughter is a quick read and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes YA fantasy/romance. There are some aspects that frustrate me, but I love the story so much that they seem minor at best. I'm definitely going to continue on with the series. 

Blog Post: A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney

 

Goodreads Summary: Still reeling from her recent battle (and grounded until she graduates), Alice must abandon her friends to complete her mission: find The Heart and prevent the Red Lady's rise. But the deeper she ventures into Wonderland, the more topsy-turvy everything becomes. It’s not until she’s at her wit's end that she realizes—Wonderland is trying to save her.
There’s a new player on the board; a poet capable of using Nightmares to not only influence the living but raise the dead. This Poet is looking to claim the Black Queen’s power—and Alice's budding abilities—as their own.

Dreams have never been so dark in Wonderland, and if there is any hope of defeating this mystery poet’s magic, Alice must confront the worst in herself, in the people she loves, and in the very nature of fear itself.

Goodreads Ratings: 4.07 stars with over 1600 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retellings, LGBT, Urban Fantasy, Adventure, Fiction

Previous Review on the series: A Blade So Black

Goodreads Challenge: 32/50 (woohoo, back on track!)

2021 Reading Challenge: #8 Read a book where the main character is a High School or College student  (Find the entire series here)

Book Review:

Hello readers! I burned through another book. Let's all just accept this is who I am as a person, shall we? Anyways I picked up A Dream So Dark when it was on sale recently. I read A Blade So Black last year and LOVED it. I was super excited to dive back into L.L. McKinney's version of Alice in Wonderland.

A Dream so Dark picks up immediately where A Blade so Black left off, which was nice because it quickly got through the first book's recap. The story moves fast because there are nightmares for Alice and her friends to fight. I was instantly drawn back into Wonderland, and in one night, I read 40% of the book. I really like L.L. McKinney's version of Alice. I feel like she'd be someone I'd be friends with. 

There were parts of A Dream so Dark that hit home really hard for me. In some of the story, we meet Alice's grandmother Nana K, who at times suffers from Memory loss. Having watched both my grandmother and grandfather going through Dementia, this really just hurt my heart. Mostly  Nana K seemed pretty lucid, and I adored her. Sassy Grandma's are my favorite characters. Not only was she sassy, but I feel like she may have some secrets that end up playing out. This is just a hunch I have; we'll see if I'm right. I don't really have much to say about the new situation with Alice's mom. I liked it; anything I can say beyond that will give all kinds of spoilers.

I really liked how we got to see more of Wonderland. And we got to learn more about the connection between the various knights. Again, trying to not give out spoilers, but I suspect drama in the next book. We did get to meet a new gatekeeper and dream walker. I think Romi, the dream-keeper was a nod to the caterpillar. She was kind of grumpy, but I liked her and her pet dragon. While in Wonderland, Alice finds more of her "muchness". How she finds it almost had me in tears. It was somehow sweet and heartbreaking at the same time. 

The biggest disappointment in this book is that I have to wait until 2023 to read the third book. I absolutely adored it and am eager to read more. I highly recommend this series if you love fantasy, Alice in Wonderland, and retellings of classics. It's so good. 

Book Review: The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

 

Goodreads Summary: The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become a legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is may yet fall under the Shadow.
The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.

In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow Rising stands the Dragon Reborn... 

Goodreads Ratings: 4.24 stars with over 183,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fiction, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Adventure, Magic

Previous reviews on the series: Eye of the World, The Great Hunt, The Dragon Reborn

Goodreads Challenge: 30/50 (Hey! Only one book behind.)

2021 Reading Challenge: #40 Read a book that uses the "Chosen One" trope (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hi readers! I hope everyone has been doing well. July and August have been really busy for me, so I haven't gotten a chance to do any non-book review posts while reading The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan. I'm definitely ready for things to settle down, but I suspect it will continue this way until October. I'm a little surprised that as long as it felt like it took me to read this book, I'm only one book behind on the Goodreads challenge.

The way I go about reading Wheel of Time books is a little different and insane. So for those of you who are new to the blog, Challenge co-conspirator Tress is a huge Wheel of Time fan. She started a tradition of buying me the books for my birthday or Christmas. When I finally got around to reading Eye of the World, Tress provided screenshots of my thoughts. It is now time for me to explain my brain, or the strain of my thoughts in the Twitter threads will make no sense. It takes little to no effort to get a song stuck in my head. My internal thoughts are just basically the most random playlist ever on repeat. This is fitting because it's also my music taste. So the Twitter thread is predominantly my random theories/reactions, songs, and pop culture references.  This year, I tweeted out my thoughts as I read them. So it took me a while to read Shadow Rising. If you'd like to read the Twitter feed, you can find it here. The previous threads should be linked to the blog reviews above.

Okay, so time for actual thoughts. There was a lot of information in Shadow Rising, and truthfully, I'm still trying to process a lot of it. I felt like there was a lot more explanation of what can be done with the magic in this series. It was discussed in the other books, but I had a hard time really understanding its depths. Shadow Rising made it seem more elemental and somewhat limitless (not including the whole madness thing.) I really liked the Dream Walking aspect and how it was used to tie the characters together. Nyn's ability to seek things out that she needs in it was fascinating. I'm intrigued to see what else they learn how to do both with Saidin and Dream Walking.

There were so many details about the Aiel culture. I was really surprised at the intricacies between the different clans and the customs. I don't feel like I really grasped most of them, and I'll probably forget them by the time I read the next book. That being said, it was still interesting to read, and I assume more will be explained later on. We also saw how the Aiel came to be and their previous relationship with the Tinkers. I liked seeing how everything connected.

I found myself wanting to read more about Perrin and Faile than the other characters. Not that I didn't like the others, but I felt like the back and forth between them was humorous. They seem well matched. I really wish we would have been told what was in Elayne's letters to Rand. Based on his reactions, I assume they were two very different things - one professing her love for him, and the other either downplaying their relationship or breaking it off. Mat annoyed me quite a bit in this book. He just comes across as whiny a lot of the time. I will say I'm intrigued to see where his small prophecy goes. Verin is probably my favorite of reoccurring Aes Sedai that we encounter. For some reason, in my head, I always picture her as a really sassy Flora from Sleeping Beauty. The images in my head for characters rarely match the description provided in the books, and truthfully I don't remember how she was described. I'm not quite sure what to make of Alanna. I'd really like to know if we learn what happens to Moraine in Rhuidean. I don't think it was really discussed because she seemed so traumatized by whatever it was.

As always, I loved the book. I found myself negotiating one more chapter with my brain. There were definitely a lot of late nights because I didn't want to put it down. I'm excited about the next book, but it'll likely be a bit before I pick it up. I need time for my brain to decompress from this one. After my rating, there will be a list of songs that I've gotten in my head while reading this series.

Song	Artist	Book
Mickey Mouse Club theme	Mickey Mouse Club	Eye of the World
Wannabe	Spice Girls	Eye of the World
The Devil Went Down to Georgia	Charlie Daniels	Eye of the World, Dragon Reborn, Shadow Rising
I am the Walrus	The Beatles	Eye of the World
YMCA	The Village People	Eye of the World
Aquarius	The 5th Dimension	Eye of the World
Eye of the Tiger	Survivor	Eye of the World
Closing Time	Semi Sonic	Eye of the World and Shadow Rising
Milkshake	Kelis	The Great Hunt and The Dragon Reborn
Reunited	Peaches and Herb	The Great Hunt
Truth Hurts	Lizzo	The Great Hunt
Bohemian Rhapsody	Queen	The Great Hunt
Word Up!	Cameo	The Great Hunt
Safety Dance	Men without Hats	The Dragon Reborn and Shadow Rising
We will Rock You	Queen	The Dragon Reborn
Bugle Boy	The Andrew Sisters	The Dragon Reborn
Baby Shark	Pinkfong	The Dragon Reborn
Two Princes	Spin Doctors	The Dragon Reborn
Ghostbusters	Ray Parker Jr	The Dragon Reborn
meet Me Inside	Hamilton Soundtrack	The Dragon Reborn
Toss a Coin to your Witcher	Witcher Show	The Dragon Reborn
Ice Ice Baby	Vanilla Ice	Shadow Rising
Can't Touch this	MC Hammer	Shadow Rising
Colors of the Wind	Pocahontas Soundtrack	Shadow Rising
It's All Coming Back to Me Now	Celine Dion	Shadow Rising
Say My Name	Destiny's Child	Shadow Rising
Go Your Own Way	Fleetwood Mac	Shadow Rising
Fifth Symphony	Beethoven	Shadow Rising
Tunnel of Terror	Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory	Shadow Rising
Break the Rules	Charli XCX	Shadow Rising
I know Him	Hamilton Soundtrack	Shadow Rising
Going To the Chapel	Dixie Cups	Shadow Rising
Great Balls of Fire	Jerry Lee Lewis	Shadow Rising