Tag: Leslie

The Savior’s Champion by Jenna Moreci

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The Savior’s Champion

Author: Jenna Moreci
Reviewer: Leslie

Content Warnings

Graphic violence, gore, adult language, sexual situations

Summary

Tobias Kaya doesn’t care about The Savior. He doesn’t care that She’s the Ruler of the realm or that She purified the land, and he certainly doesn’t care that She’s of age to be married. But when competing for Her hand proves to be his last chance to save his family, he’s forced to make The Savior his priority.

Now Tobias is thrown into the Sovereign’s Tournament with nineteen other men, and each of them is fighting—and killing—for the chance to rule at The Savior’s side. Instantly his world is plagued with violence, treachery, and manipulation, revealing the hidden ugliness of his proud realm. And when his circumstances seem especially dire, he stumbles into an unexpected romance, one that opens him up to unimaginable dangers and darkness.

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

I was pretty interested and excited to read this book because it sounded like a Hunger Games meets The Selection story that I could get behind. Plus, I knew that the author was a pretty well-known Authortuber and has a ton of fans for her writing knowledge and advice. 

However, to say that I was disappointed is a slight understatement. Things in the story start off well enough, with the typical reluctant hero storyline, but there weren’t many other things that I was impressed by in the end. 

First, it was long. Really long. And then it ends incredibly abruptly. I definitely felt a little cheated because of that and may be (definitely) holding onto some resentments about investing the amount of time I did and NOT getting any real sort of resolution. 

Secondly, I’m not a prudish reader by any means and am all for the properly used adult language in whatever context, as long as it makes sense and is done for a purpose. However, this was not the case here. I literally searched the ebook for how many times the f-word, and a couple of c-words were used throughout the book and was not surprised that the totals were staggering. For example, the f-bomb is dropped 182 times and the word “cock” is used 96 times and by every single character (or so it seemed). Because of this, the characters lacked depth, they all sounded the same, and it seemed like a society who literally couldn’t be bothered to come up with words that were different or unique in any way, no matter what the character’s background or place in that society. This might seem nit picky, but for me, it definitely stood out and made things seem like a farcical telling of what a girl thinks boys sound like (similar to the girls have pillow fights at sleepovers type of stereotype).

Lastly, the plot was interesting enough that I wanted to see if the secret that was being kept was what I thought it was and I will hand it to Moreci about the challenges–they were interesting, even when they weren’t that exciting, but some of them were, and it allowed the book to have some high points. 

Overall, I assume that there will be a book two, but I won’t be picking it up. I think that sums up my thoughts succinctly enough. 

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

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Queen of Air and Darkness

Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: The Dark Artifices #3
Reviewer: Leslie

Summary

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

I put off reading this book for a while because I knew how the previous book, Lord of Shadows, ended and I knew I was in for some really deep emotions at the beginning of this one. Well, Clare delivered on that front and picks up right in the aftermath of book 2, making me relive the whole tragedy over again like I had just put down the previous book. 

Overall, I thought that this story fit with the rest of the trilogy, and even the Shadowhunter universe that Clare has developed through the various series, with lots of characters coming in from the previous stories. However, there was just a lot to be dealt with here. 

The story was really long. It honestly could have been two whole books and half way through I felt enough of a resolution that I wondered what else could be in store for them, but it seems that the trilogy model is something Clare wanted to stick with (or her publishers did), so the story plows on. 

Although previous books had me worried for Emma and Julian and the rest of their outfit, this book didn’t deliver as much on that front. I wasn’t really concerned about how things would turn out and about half way through the book, Clare makes a plot decision that I just couldn’t get behind. It opens way too many doors and options for the storyline and seemed too convenient to really fit the plot. Similarly, towards the end, with a big battle going on, something weird and extravagant happens because of Emma and Julian’s forbidden love, and the explanation and resolution left me again feeling like this had been contrived a little too heavily to make it feel believable and rewarding as a reader. 

In the end, Clare wraps things up (maybe a little too neatly for these characters) while still leaving gaping holes in the world open for what I must assume is going to be her next trilogy.

Books in this series

Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

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Mr. Penumbra’s 24 Hour Bookstore

Author: Robin Sloan
Reviewer: Leslie

Summary

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, but after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything; instead, they “check out” large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele’s behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends, but when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore’s secrets extend far beyond its walls.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time. With a title about a 24-hour bookstore and a back cover hinting at a mystery and assembly of characters, I couldn’t resist. However, I was fairly disappointed in how it ended up. 

I enjoyed the witty way that our main character, Clay, describes the world and other people, and also the themes that were broached throughout. One of the larger themes that I picked out was the way that advancements, like technology, might allow us to get things faster, isn’t part of the adventure the tediousness of the journey? Along with that, there’s a mystery, a secret society, some fancy detective work, and more.

However, the actual execution of everything didn’t really excite me. I was hoping that at some point, the action would pick up, or the tension would increase, but there weren’t enough negative side effects to really ramp it up. What I mean by this is that although there are some tense conflicts and situations, very, very few of them actually ended in any sort of consequences, leaving me with a sense that nothing could go wrong, so why worry?

I gave this a three out of five because I liked the style and language enough to finish, but put it down not feeling like I had really connected to anyone or anything in it. Even in writing this review, I almost forgot that I had even read it.

The Dark Wood by Sydney Mann

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The Dark Wood

Author: Sydney Mann
Reviewer: Leslie

Summary

A young woman trapped in darkness faces a choice–a chance for love or the freedom of light?

Stella lives in Noctum, land of eternal night. A stranger named Luc appears speaking of strange, impossible things—of a golden disc called the sun, of lands drenched in light with vivid blue skies, and perhaps most startling of all, he claims that Noctum is under a curse that he has come to lift. To banish the darkness that covers the land, all he has to do is kill Draven.

But curses are never easily broken and complications soon arise. Stella finds herself faced with an impossible choice—Luc’s life or the light she so desperately longs for. Because to gain one, she will have to lose the other.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I loved this book. I mean, I literally read it in ONE DAY! It was so much fun and the world was so wonderfully done.

The Dark Wood is about a young girl who lives in a world where it is always night, always dark, and there is a very strict divide between those who live in the cities and those faced with braving the forest. Not only does the constant darkness provide really rich and detailed descriptions of people and things in the dark that I haven’t seen used before, it provides a really deep, ominous mood. Additionally, there were so many details and pieces that were brought in that it was clear that Sydney had spent a lot of time connecting details and spinning this world together because it all made sense in the end, but never felt overwhelming or boring.

The action was fast-paced and kept me in constant worry about whether Stella was going to fall prey to the cruel and mysterious ruler. Also, the way that Stella’s love life became tangled in with all of it was perfect and had me rooting for one particular character. Let’s just say I’m a sucker for the enemies to lovers trope.

This book also presented a great character in Stella who was independent, resilient, passionate, and cunning. It was such a fun, thrilling ride to see how her story played out and even to the final page, I was left guessing and hoping and did not put the book down disappointed.

Dreamer Babble | Podcast Chapter 1

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Dream Read Repeat Podcast Chapter 1

With Natasha, Leslie, and Kim

Listen today on the following platforms, more are being added every day so check back for additional options.

In the first chapter of the Dream Read Repeat podcast,  we give you an introduction to Dream Read Repeat, a project from a collective of book enthusiasts. Then we discuss books we’ve been reading, books that surprised us, and what we’re reading next.

Some books named and discussed in this chapter include:

  • Gentleman’s Guide to Vise and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee (historical fiction, LGBT, MLM)
  • Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (thriller/horror, LGBT, WLW)
  • The Dark Wood by Sydney Mann (fantasy, indie)
  • Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas (fantasy, new adult)
  • One of us is Lying by Karen M. McManus
  • Beartown by Fredrik Backman (contemporary, #MeToo)
  • We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirly Jackson (mystery/thriller, gothic)
  • Soulless by Gail Carriger (steam punk, paranormal)
  • The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin (historical, contemporary)
  • Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan (fantasy, middle grade)
  • Shield of Shadows by Sidney Mann (fantasy)

Music: Tuxes by Podington_Bear, used in the spirit of it’s  Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License and downloaded from the FreeMusicArchive.org