Author: VE Schwab Series: Shades of Magic #3 Reviewer: Marlou
Summary
Witness the fate of beloved heroes – and enemies.
THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED…
The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.
WHO WILL CRUMBLE?
Kell – once assumed to be the last surviving Antari – begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?
WHO WILL RISE?
Lila Bard, once a commonplace – but never common – thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.
WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL?
And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.
I liked this book the least even though I gave it the exact same rating as the rest. It started off extremely quickly and I was scared shitless because there were still hundreds of pages to go and things were going epically wrong already. Eventually it all slowed down and then I got bored. It picked up speed a little in the end. I disliked the pacing a lot as you can see. There was a lot of drama and way less banter and sass than in the other books and that’s a pity because that’s what I liked so much about the others. The characters were diverse and strong and well written but this is a more shaky and unstable 4 stars.
I loved the Shades of Magic books, I really liked the characters and the way it was written is amazing. So compliments to VE Schwab for writing so beautifully.
Author: VE Schwab Series: Shades of Magic #2 Reviewer: Marlou
Summary
It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift–back into Black London.
Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games–an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries–a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.
And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.
Lila is once again being a freaking badass. *heart eyes* She has learned magic (!) and she can’t wait to show Kell what she’s capable of. She’s also afraid to see him again after months on the sea and well, angst ensues.
“She bent most of the rules. She broke the rest.”
Kell is not as grumpy as he was in the first book because he gets to let go a little in this book.
Prince Rhy is more involved in this book and that is lovely because Rhy is absolutely lovely. I love Rhy’s personality. He talks himself in and out of trouble countless times. Shows off whenever he can. And he’s bi. Yes people, in this book we find out that Rhy does not have any preference as long as he can sleep with them (I guess he prefers them to be pretty tho).
“The prince shrugged. ‘Who needs magic when you look this good?’”
Alucurd Emery makes an appearance in this book. Holy moly, what a great character. I don’t know whether to hate him or love him. I want to whack him over the head or have a drink with him. I love it when characters are like that.
Favorite quote from the book? Easy choice (for once)
“Everyone’s immortal until they’re not.”
I liked this book a lot. It was so different from the first book that it did kinda give me whiplash. I didn’t like that Kell and Lila’s path crossed very late in the book. Still a solid 4 stars for this one, too.
Author: VE Schwab Series: Shades of Magic #1 Reviewer: Marlou
Summary
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”
I’ve been waiting a while to write this review because I just didn’t seem to be able to find the words. It didn’t look like a strong review if I just wrote asdfghjkl but that’s exactly what I was thinking.
Delilah Bard is a freaking gem. I love her. I want to be her. I want to date her. But alas, she is a free woman and no one is gonna shackle that one. Good luck to anyone who might try.
Here’s one of my favorite Delilah snippets from this book:
“I apologize for anything I might have done. I was not myself.”
“I apologize for shooting you in the leg.” said Lila. “I was myself entirely.”
Kell is such a grumpy cutie and he also has a good sense of very sarcastic humor. Exactly the kind of humor I love.
“What are you?” she asked. “A monster,” said Kell hoarsely. “You’d better let me go.” The girl gave a small, mocking laugh. “Monsters don’t faint in the presence of ladies.” “Ladies don’t dress like men and pick pockets,” retorted Kell. Her smile only sharpened. “What are you really?” “Tied to your bed,” said Kell matter-of-factly. “And?” His brow furrowed. “And in trouble.”
A Darker Shade of Magic is a book all on its own. The story could very well be finished with this book, but lucky for us it was not! This book is mostly about Kell and Lila and I really like that. The world(s) itself and its magic (or lack thereof) is already complicated enough. With Kell and Lila being in the spotlight the rest is much easier to comprehend and the world-building is very strong in this book. A solid 4 stars.
In the land of Tarrkin lives four segregated clans. Humans with the capability of shifting into wolves on command as soon as they hit maturity at the age of thirteen. The clans are broken up based on color on their wolf’s coat; gray, brown, black, and white.
A rivalry between the black wolves and white wolves, a rivalry that has lasted since the beginning of time, is finally coming to an end. Binding the two heirs of both the Whitefangs clan and the Blackhearts clan.
Valenthia Percival is the leader’s daughter of the white wolves’ clan—Snowfangs. She is sent off to marry the Blackhearts, leader’s son—Ariston Armadyl. The treaty is to end their long-spanned rivalry and prevent a new war from erupting. This treaty holds the power to bond them together…forever.
For the first time ever, a white wolf and a black wolf are to have a child. As part of the treaty Valenthia is forced to marry her nemesis, Ariston, and bear his child. The treaty is to bring peace amongst them, but while in Blackheart territory Valenthia experiences nothing but rejection, hate, and conflict.
This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.
I follow EM Courier on Instagram (both her author insta as her bookstagram) and I consider her a dear friend. You can buy her book via Amazon but Amazon and The Netherlands don’t do well together so I was afraid I could never read her book. That would have been tragic. Em decided to send me the ebook and I promised her I’d give a well written review. So here goes nothing:
I enjoyed the book very much but it’s not my kind of story. I’m very picky of how wolves are written and EM Courier’s way is a nice way to see it but doesn’t fit with what I like. BUT I still really liked the book.
There were several moments that I was like HELL TO THE NO but everything would turn out alright in the end. Several people die and I did not like that at all. Okay, I liked two deaths. If you read the book you might find out whose deaths I’m referring to.
I gave this book 3.5 stars because it’s not my cup of tea but it’s still well written and suspenseful. Val is a badass, Dalna is amazing, Cronin is intriguing and Ariston can be as infuriating as he is handsome but I still love him.
Author: Sarah J. Maas Series: Throne of Glass #7 Reviewer: Marlou
Content Warnings
Violence, Torture, Depression, Death, War
Summary
Aelin has risked everything to save her people―but at a tremendous cost. Locked within an iron coffin by the Queen of the Fae, Aelin must draw upon her fiery will as she endures months of torture. Aware that yielding to Maeve will doom those she loves keeps her from breaking, though her resolve begins to unravel with each passing day…
With Aelin captured, Aedion and Lysandra remain the last line of defense to protect Terrasen from utter destruction. Yet they soon realize that the many allies they’ve gathered to battle Erawan’s hordes might not be enough to save them. Scattered across the continent and racing against time, Chaol, Manon, and Dorian are forced to forge their own paths to meet their fates. Hanging in the balance is any hope of salvation―and a better world.
And across the sea, his companions unwavering beside him, Rowan hunts to find his captured wife and queen―before she is lost to him forever.
As the threads of fate weave together at last, all must fight, if they are to have a chance at a future. Some bonds will grow even deeper, while others will be severed forever in the explosive final chapter of the Throne of Glass series.
This book tore my heart out, gave it back, shattered it, glued it back together, and then burned it to smithereens, never to be seen again.
I have never cried while reading a book. Thanks, Kingdom of Ash, for ruining my perfect record. And thanks, Sarah J Maas, for writing such an amazing book. SJM managed to make me cry, it can’t get much better than that.
“You do not yield.” Don’t mind me, I’m just bawling my eyes out. What a perfect line. It’s right along the lines of “I am Celeana Sardothien and I will not be afraid,” and yet so much more.
Yes, the book was lacking in several places. Unnecessary things were added and necessary things were deleted. It wasn’t a great serie finale but it was still an amazing book that kept me on the edge of my seat.
Let’s talk about the characters since this was the last book of the series and we’ve met a great deal of people:
Rowannnnnn: He shall always have a special place in my heart. *insert multitude of love eyed emojis* Dorian: I’ve loved you from those very first lines: “‘It’s clear that you respect me, Duke Perrington, but it’s a bit unnecessary to put such effort into forcing Celaena Sardothien to have the same opinion. You and I know very well she has no love for my family. So perhaps your intent is to humiliate her.’ He paused, and she could have sworn his eyes fell on her face. ‘But I think she’s had enough of that.’ He stopped for another moment, then asked: ‘Don’t you have a meeting with Endovier’s treasurer? I wouldn’t want you to be late, especially when you came all this way to meet with him.’” Chaol: I didn’t like him, at all…That changed after reading Tower of Dawn. He’s still not one of my favorites or even close to second but he’s alright. Aedion: Wasn’t impressed at first, but he started growing on me. Eventually I started to really like him, but what I like most of all is his love for his kingdom. He’s as fierce as any lion (see what I did there). LYSANDRAAAAAA: As you can obviously see, I love this chick. Didn’t like her in Assassin’s Blade (but hey, who did?) but omg, Lysandra for the win! My favorite form of hers is her Ghost Leopard form. Manon: I didn’t like her chapters in Heir of Fire. I wanted to skip them. Glad I didn’t. Manon is for me the character with the most character development. Gosh, I love her. The Thirteen: a badass group of ladies that will always be friendship goals. Nesryn: EMPRESSSSSS BADAAAASSSSSSS Sartaq: Oh boy… what a darling… and such a flirt *waving hands frantically because ooh la la* Yrene: “For wherever you need to go – and then some. The world needs more healers.” YAAAAASSSS GIRL YOU MADE IT! Elide: DAYUMMMM you tell him darling, don’t take his BS, don’t be afraid of anyone. FENRYSSSSSS: oh my lovely boyo. I love him so much. He deserves the world. *insert squealing fangirl* Lorcan: You smol baby bean…You can go to Perranth with me. *winks with both eyes* Gavriel: You amazing dad. Aedion loves you, you know…almost as much as I do. *hugs him tightly* And last but definitely not the least: AELIN: fire-breathing-bitch-queen/ fireheart/ Elentiya/ Lillian/ Celeana —it doesn’t matter what name she goes by, she is amazing. Aelin will forever be my favorite character of the Throne of Glass series and one of my favorites from any other book. *applauds for the Heir of Brannon*
I have definitely not mentioned all the characters but my review was getting long enough. Kingdom of Ash was an amazing book and will have a special place in my heart. Thank you, Sarah J Maas, for such an inspiring and lovely series and such an amazing series finale. This book will stay with me for a while.
It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.
A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.
This book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Fall in love, break the curse.
We’ve got ourselves a main character with cerebral palsy! We’ve got ourselves a cursed prince! We’ve got ourselves some good banter! And last but not least we’ve got ourselves a relationship that actually builds up properly! YAY!
Okay fangirling aside, this book was lovely. The only reason I gave it four stars is because it’s not my kind of book. This year I’ve been reading some retellings and I’ve noticed that I never give more than 4 stars for them simply because I don’t like to know the ending before I even begin with the book.
A Curse so Dark and Lonely is a spectacular Beauty and the Beast retelling (way better than ACOTAR if you’d judge that book as a retelling, which I didn’t so you’ll find a higher rating for ACOTAR, don’t judge me 🙂 ). I started the book not knowing how many pages it was. I received the e-arc from Netgalley and read this book because I’d been putting off the books I got from Netgalley which isn’t fair. Finding out that this book is 500 or so pages was hilarious. It did not feel like 500 pages at all. I flew through the pages of this book so that means the writing was excellent!
Harper is freaking amazing. Bluffing her way through Emberfall and impressing everyone who meets her. Gosh, I love her.
Rhen is so great, too. I thought he was way too manipulative at first, but now I quite like him.
Scary Grey was a nice addition as well. Loyal to a fault, yet also not afraid to have his own opinion, do things his own way.
Author: Natalie C. Parker Series: Seafire #1 Reviewer: Marlou
Content Warnings
Violence, death
Summary
After her family is killed by corrupt warlord Aric Athair and his bloodthirsty army of Bullets, Caledonia Styx is left to chart her own course on the dangerous and deadly seas. She captains her ship, the Mors Navis, with a crew of girls and women just like her, who have lost their families and homes because of Aric and his men. The crew has one mission: stay alive, and take down Aric’s armed and armored fleet.
But when Caledonia’s best friend and second-in-command barely survives an attack thanks to help from a Bullet looking to defect, Caledonia finds herself questioning whether to let him join their crew. Is this boy the key to taking down Aric Athair once and for all . . . or will he threaten everything the women of the Mors Navis have worked for?
The idea of this book is great. I just didn’t feel satisfied when I was reading it. I kept feeling like something was missing, be it the characters or the world, I don’t know exactly. I didn’t hate the book, not at all. I’m a feminist, I love me some good female pirates. They just didn’t feel like pirates to me. Maybe I had high expectations after having read Daughter of the Pirate King and Daughter of the Siren Queen.
It took me a while to read Seafire because school got in the way and then Kingdom of Ash was released and I had to read that one first. I was emotionally incapable of starting a new book after that. 😉 The style of writing wasn’t my preferred style so that might have slowed down the reading as well.
Seafire is a good book with strong females but for me there was just something missing and I can’t quite put my finger on it and that makes it even more annoying. 😉 This book gets three stars from me and I must admit I’m still going to pick up the second book just to see where the story leads.
Thank you Faecrate for including this book in your August Deadly Dames box.
Author: Tahereh Mafi Series: Shatter Me Reviewer: Marlou
Content Warnings
Violence, anxiety, depression
Summary
I have a curse I have a gift
I am a monster I’m more than human
My touch is lethal My touch is power
I am their weapon I will fight back
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.
This review is about all Shatter Me books and novellas.
Shatter Me
What a book. You feel for Juliette from page one. You also know that she has major issues. Warner is a total ass that you can’t help but love. Adam is relatively harmless and kinda cute AND HE CAN TOUCH HER WHOA. No one has been able to touch poor J in a very long time and I’m not a person that likes hugging but at least I’m still capable of doing it, I can’t imagine what it’s like not to be able to touch people because you’ll hurt them. I love Mafi’s writing and the pace she sets in the book is perfect. This book deserves a solid 4/5 stars.
Destroy Me
Set after Shatter Me and before its forthcoming sequel, Unravel Me, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.
CAN I HAVE MORE FROM WARNER’S POV PRETTY PLEASE.
I loved being in Warner’s head, boy oh boy that smol bean has issues. His relationship with his dad is awful, he had to do things as a kid that he did not want to do, but had to or he’d be called weak. Can you hear my heart breaking for my boy? Gosh, I just want to wrap him in a blanket and protect him from anything Mafi still has planned for him. 4/5 stars for this ruthless boy.
Unravel Me
WARNER CAN TOUCH JULIETTE I REPEAT WARNER CAN TOUCH JULIETTE. I know I had to frantically fan myself at the end of Shatter Me when I found that out. I can only imagine how shaken Juliette must have been. Her enemy can touch her. There are two people in the whole world that can touch her and she hates one of them. Juliette dumped Adam YAY. Adam is such an ass in this book, it’s surprising Juliette didn’t break anything besides her heart. Can I just mention that I didn’t trust Omega Point at all… I thought they were sketchy, turned out they really are the good guys. The ending of this book was pure hell. I nearly threw my book across the room. Read to find out I guess 🙂 Also, this book gets 4/5 stars just like the rest.
Fracture Me
Still have to read this novella.
Ignite Me
Everyone is dead. The end. HAHA if only. Everyone is super screwed, and several people did die in the fight at the end of Unravel Me…
Ignite Me was a very interesting read. In this book Juliette starts to change from a caged, lethal bird to a badass that takes no shit. This book also has a lot more serious romance parts in it and I didn’t think I’d like it, but it turned out I did. Mafi writes such tasteful romance that I wanted more. In all the books, I was screaming that Warner and Juliette should kiss already and, finally, they did! And Warner has some pretty cool tattoos, one of which is the books title AAAAH. This book gets 4/5 stars and many, many heart eyes.
Restore Me
Yeah, I needed some serious restoring after this book. Holy moly. I now know why this series is called “shatter me,” because this book shattered me into a thousand pieces. It’s been a year since I’ve read this and still all I feel like typing is “asdfghjkl” and I can’t really elaborat. I can barely even talk about this book without spoiling everything so I’ll just tell you that this book is awesome. Juliette is a freaking badass and scares me a little. And where is that blanket for Warner to roll him up in and protect him from Mafi? Did Kenji steal it? Probably… 4/5 stars for this one. It’s only not 5 stars because the dystopian part of the book makes it a little less my cup of tea, also I can’t deal with Adam, he should die already (sorry not sorry).
Shadow Me
Fan favorite character Kenji Kishimoto narrates this gripping companion novella to Tahereh Mafi’s New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series, set during the explosive events in Restore Me!
I am so disappointed by this novella. This felt like I was reading Mafi’s notes on what Kenji was doing during certain key points in Restore Me and even then it doesn’t even feel like he was discussing the key points. The story was also still focused on Warner and Juliette and I really hoped that wouldn’t happen. Kenji is a freaking sweetheart and I loved reading about him but there could have been so much more or Mafi could have written multiple scenes we wouldn’t have seen from Juliette and Warner’s perspective. The book didn’t feel done when I reached the last page and not in the ‘Oh plot twist or open ending yay fun’ kind of way. Kenji gets 3 stars because it’s still Kenji and I can’t bear to give him any lower than that.
Defy Me
Defy Me releases April 2nd, 2019. Here’s the synopsis:
The gripping fifth installment in the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shatter Me series. Will Juliette’s broken heart make her vulnerable to the strengthening darkness within her?
Juliette’s short tenure as the supreme commander of North America has been an utter disaster. When the children of the other world leaders show up on her doorstep, she wants nothing more than to turn to Warner for support and guidance. But he shatters her heart when he reveals that he’s been keeping secrets about her family and her identity from her—secrets that change everything.
Juliette is devastated, and the darkness that’s always dwelled within her threatens to consume her. An explosive encounter with unexpected visitors might be enough to push her over the edge.
There’s no surprise that this team loves YA fiction. We read it. We talk about it. We follow it on social media. And, sometimes, we just don’t see enough attention cast towards our favorites. Or at least we think there should be more.
Here are several books that we here at Dream Read Repeat feel need a little more love.
The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu Picked by: Marlou
Why should more people read this book?
Simply put? Because it’s awesome!
The villain is the main character but she’s not really a villain but just a girl who’s always been treated awful and decided she didn’t need anyone in her life telling her what to do. She thinks she’s a hero and that she is saving her country from a corrupt ruler. It also has a very interesting magic system that has always stuck with me even if I can’t quite remember the details of the story anymore.
For people who like…
People who like Shatter Me will like this trilogy!
Time travel, a love story (or three), a World’s Fair with a serial killer! This is a great start to an energetic series. Each book in the trilogy advances the overall plot to stop the end of the world. It gets better and better with each book.
For people who like…
People who likes the straight forward and demonstrative writing styles of Marissa Meyer, Brendan Reichs, or Marie Lu or if you like anything time-travel-y will enjoy this series.
Fast paced enemies to lovers story where Rouen, the dark Fae princess, is under a Contract of Blood and Bone to kill all fair Fae sleeper-princesses. The problem? Syl is the last sleeper-princess and they kind of have feelings for each other. Dark Fae and fair Fae are also supposed to be mortal enemies, but they can change that, right?
Dream Read Repeat 