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I always try to write my reviews close(ish) to the time after I read them, because the longer the time between the review and actually reading the book, the less detail you can give. Here are three books that I read last year (2017) and never got around to actually fleshing out a full review. I know I use this excuse every time but I'm really sorry, it's a really busy year. I know these are all excuses but I'll give them to y'all anyway to ease my guilt. It's my junior year, and I'm taking all the hardest classes accessible to me = lots of work. Aside from that I also for some reason decided to take on a ton of extra work on the side including tutoring several students, being a producer for our school's play and musical plus I also do stats for the wrestling & lacrosse team plus I also do Cappies and I also like to enjoy just hanging out with my friends while also getting around to read occasionally. So yeah, lots of excuses but now you know why I don't write reviews quite as often. I actually haven't been having time to read quite as often, either, so sorry.
Alright, now that you all are tired of hearing my excuses and about my busy life, here are some mini reviews to give you a feel for these three books.
Alright, now that you all are tired of hearing my excuses and about my busy life, here are some mini reviews to give you a feel for these three books.
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa
What attracted me to this book? While scrolling through Tumblr on my occasional need to look for ACOMAF material (my favorite book), I heard this book had a similar set up of characters and story to A Court of Mist and Fury, and it had a good review. Obviously I had to get it immediately. Unfortunately, this book was just that. A rip off of A Court of Mist and Fury. Instead of using the good bits of ACOMAF and twisting them into a new and enterprising book, this just took the tropes and tried to rush into a story that readers will swoon over. Spoiler, I did not swoon. In fact, I spent most of this book rolling my eyes. I really wanted to like it, I did, but I just couldn't.
Other than the characters' amazing journey and the well thought out plot in A Court Of Mist and Fury, that book worked so well because we were already attached to the characters and story and knew the world from our experience with the first book. Also the writing in A Court of Mist in Fury was just beautiful. I've never fallen in love with a story and its characters more than my experience with A Court of Mist and Fury. I know, y'all might be thinking I might've enjoyed the book if I quit comparing it to my favorite book. It was impossible not to compare, though. In fact, Rhapsodic basically was A Court of Mist and Fury with just changed names, and instead of beautifully setting up a story to connect with like A Court of Thorns and Roses did, this book just rushed right into the part of the story everyone loved, as if trying to just get to the money//fans. There was no journey to get attached to the characters. They were just there already, as was their relationship.
All together, I found this book to just be a mess. The characters were just meh, I didn't care for any of them. I was actually more annoyed with the choices they made more than I actually found myself connecting with them. There were scenes where I knew I was supposed to care and that were pivotal moments, but I just didn't because I didn't care enough about the characters (or at all, really). I think that's all due to the lack of set up for the story. Would A Court of Mist and Fury have done as well as it did without its first book? Who knows.
I just couldn't fall in love, or even in like with this book. Sorry. 4/10 stars. I'm not all that interested in trying the next one. Might as well leave that to fans who actually enjoyed the book and leave out the low rating for it.
Synopsis:
Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years she’s been collecting a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she’s received. Only death or repayment will fulfill the obligations. Only then will the beads disappear.
Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He’s a man who can get you anything you want... at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects.
But for one of his clients, he’s never asked for repayment. Not until now. When Callie finds the fae king of the night in her room, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, she knows things are about to change. At first it’s just a chaste kiss—a single bead’s worth—and a promise for more.
For the Bargainer, it’s more than just a matter of rekindling an old romance. Something is happening in the Otherworld. Fae warriors are going missing one by one. Only the women are returned, each in a glass casket, a child clutched to their breast. And then there are the whispers among the slaves, whispers of an evil that’s been awoken.
If the Bargainer has any hope to save his people, he’ll need the help of the siren he spurned long ago. Only, his foe has a taste for exotic creatures, and Callie just happens to be one.
What attracted me to this book? While scrolling through Tumblr on my occasional need to look for ACOMAF material (my favorite book), I heard this book had a similar set up of characters and story to A Court of Mist and Fury, and it had a good review. Obviously I had to get it immediately. Unfortunately, this book was just that. A rip off of A Court of Mist and Fury. Instead of using the good bits of ACOMAF and twisting them into a new and enterprising book, this just took the tropes and tried to rush into a story that readers will swoon over. Spoiler, I did not swoon. In fact, I spent most of this book rolling my eyes. I really wanted to like it, I did, but I just couldn't.
Other than the characters' amazing journey and the well thought out plot in A Court Of Mist and Fury, that book worked so well because we were already attached to the characters and story and knew the world from our experience with the first book. Also the writing in A Court of Mist in Fury was just beautiful. I've never fallen in love with a story and its characters more than my experience with A Court of Mist and Fury. I know, y'all might be thinking I might've enjoyed the book if I quit comparing it to my favorite book. It was impossible not to compare, though. In fact, Rhapsodic basically was A Court of Mist and Fury with just changed names, and instead of beautifully setting up a story to connect with like A Court of Thorns and Roses did, this book just rushed right into the part of the story everyone loved, as if trying to just get to the money//fans. There was no journey to get attached to the characters. They were just there already, as was their relationship.
All together, I found this book to just be a mess. The characters were just meh, I didn't care for any of them. I was actually more annoyed with the choices they made more than I actually found myself connecting with them. There were scenes where I knew I was supposed to care and that were pivotal moments, but I just didn't because I didn't care enough about the characters (or at all, really). I think that's all due to the lack of set up for the story. Would A Court of Mist and Fury have done as well as it did without its first book? Who knows.
I just couldn't fall in love, or even in like with this book. Sorry. 4/10 stars. I'm not all that interested in trying the next one. Might as well leave that to fans who actually enjoyed the book and leave out the low rating for it.
Synopsis:
Callypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years she’s been collecting a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she’s received. Only death or repayment will fulfill the obligations. Only then will the beads disappear.
Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He’s a man who can get you anything you want... at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects.
But for one of his clients, he’s never asked for repayment. Not until now. When Callie finds the fae king of the night in her room, a grin on his lips and a twinkle in his eye, she knows things are about to change. At first it’s just a chaste kiss—a single bead’s worth—and a promise for more.
For the Bargainer, it’s more than just a matter of rekindling an old romance. Something is happening in the Otherworld. Fae warriors are going missing one by one. Only the women are returned, each in a glass casket, a child clutched to their breast. And then there are the whispers among the slaves, whispers of an evil that’s been awoken.
If the Bargainer has any hope to save his people, he’ll need the help of the siren he spurned long ago. Only, his foe has a taste for exotic creatures, and Callie just happens to be one.
A Poison Dark and Drowning by Jessica Cluess
As you may or might not recall, I was very enraptured with the first book in this series and was quite looking forward to book 2. Unfortunately, the second was not nearly as fun a read as the first. There was just so much about this book that felt rushed. Since I read it a long time ago, I don't recall the exact details of what irked me about this book, but I remember a lot of feeling irked and a lot of eye rolls. A lot of stuff happened in this book that I didn't particularly care about. There's a new character introduced that I could tell from the beginning was going to be a main, but I just didn't care for them. Still don't.
Also, sorry, but Rook annoyed me even more in this book than he did in the first, so, yeah, I didn't feel all that bad for him and his plight. Yeah, it's been a long time so I don't want to start spouting off too much stuff because I can't accurately remember it all.
Also the "plot-twists" were not so much as twists as they were just... there. The big reveals? Yeah, they were easily guessable from about five hundred miles away.
I'm sorry for the rant. This is why I don't like to write reviews long after I read the book, it's easier to remember the negative, especially if there wasn't anything overwhelmingly positive. I'm sure there were good elements of the book, they just weren't great and they are forgotten in comparison to the negatives of the novel. All together, like the first book, I suppose you could call it a fun combination of classic tropes and cliches. (Which is part of what made it so predicable).
If you enjoyed the first book, read this one. Why not? Don't let my short little rant stop you from reading it, because plenty people did enjoy this one. Don't take my word on this book too seriously since it's been too long for me to give an accurate review. All I can really accurately remember is being annoyed and liking this book less than the first. So if you didn't like the first all that much, maybe this isn't the book for you since the story doesn't actually get better...
I can't decide what to give this book, I'm caught between 5-6/10 stars, so I'll leave it there.
Synopsis:
The magicians want her to lead. The sorcerers want her to lie. The demons want her blood. Henrietta wants to save the one she loves. But will his dark magic be her undoing?
Henrietta doesn’t need a prophecy to know that she’s in danger. She came to London to be named the chosen one, the first female sorcerer in centuries, the one who would defeat the bloodthirsty Ancients. Instead, she discovered a city ruled by secrets. And the biggest secret of all: Henrietta is not the chosen one.
Still, she must play the role in order to keep herself and Rook, her best friend and childhood love, safe. But can she truly save him? The poison in Rook’s system is transforming him into something monstrous as he begins to master dark powers of his own.
So when Henrietta finds a clue to the Ancients’ past that could turn the tide of the war, she persuades Blackwood, the mysterious Earl of Sorrow-Fell, to travel up the coast to seek out strange new weapons. And Magnus, the brave, reckless flirt who wants to win back her favor, is assigned to their mission. Together, they will face monsters, meet powerful new allies, and uncover the most devastating weapon of all: the truth.
As you may or might not recall, I was very enraptured with the first book in this series and was quite looking forward to book 2. Unfortunately, the second was not nearly as fun a read as the first. There was just so much about this book that felt rushed. Since I read it a long time ago, I don't recall the exact details of what irked me about this book, but I remember a lot of feeling irked and a lot of eye rolls. A lot of stuff happened in this book that I didn't particularly care about. There's a new character introduced that I could tell from the beginning was going to be a main, but I just didn't care for them. Still don't.
Also, sorry, but Rook annoyed me even more in this book than he did in the first, so, yeah, I didn't feel all that bad for him and his plight. Yeah, it's been a long time so I don't want to start spouting off too much stuff because I can't accurately remember it all.
Also the "plot-twists" were not so much as twists as they were just... there. The big reveals? Yeah, they were easily guessable from about five hundred miles away.
I'm sorry for the rant. This is why I don't like to write reviews long after I read the book, it's easier to remember the negative, especially if there wasn't anything overwhelmingly positive. I'm sure there were good elements of the book, they just weren't great and they are forgotten in comparison to the negatives of the novel. All together, like the first book, I suppose you could call it a fun combination of classic tropes and cliches. (Which is part of what made it so predicable).
If you enjoyed the first book, read this one. Why not? Don't let my short little rant stop you from reading it, because plenty people did enjoy this one. Don't take my word on this book too seriously since it's been too long for me to give an accurate review. All I can really accurately remember is being annoyed and liking this book less than the first. So if you didn't like the first all that much, maybe this isn't the book for you since the story doesn't actually get better...
I can't decide what to give this book, I'm caught between 5-6/10 stars, so I'll leave it there.
Synopsis:
The magicians want her to lead. The sorcerers want her to lie. The demons want her blood. Henrietta wants to save the one she loves. But will his dark magic be her undoing?
Henrietta doesn’t need a prophecy to know that she’s in danger. She came to London to be named the chosen one, the first female sorcerer in centuries, the one who would defeat the bloodthirsty Ancients. Instead, she discovered a city ruled by secrets. And the biggest secret of all: Henrietta is not the chosen one.
Still, she must play the role in order to keep herself and Rook, her best friend and childhood love, safe. But can she truly save him? The poison in Rook’s system is transforming him into something monstrous as he begins to master dark powers of his own.
So when Henrietta finds a clue to the Ancients’ past that could turn the tide of the war, she persuades Blackwood, the mysterious Earl of Sorrow-Fell, to travel up the coast to seek out strange new weapons. And Magnus, the brave, reckless flirt who wants to win back her favor, is assigned to their mission. Together, they will face monsters, meet powerful new allies, and uncover the most devastating weapon of all: the truth.
One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus
I often talk about how hype can completely ruin a book. This book was one that was severely overhyped. Sometime, I think it was over the summer everyone was talking about this book, you could barely turn a corner in the book world without hearing about One of Us Is Lying. Eventually, after a lot of resistance, I finally got sucked in and figured: screw it. I might as well try it out, I might be missing out.
I wasn't.
One of Us if Lying is advertised as a modern day "mystery" novel. The basic premise is that five students go into detention. The jock, the popular girl, the nerdy/good girl and the "bad boy" are all the classic cliches you need, and then the fifth is a student universally hated by everyone in his school. He runs a gossip blog and basically ruins everyone's lives. If you have a dark secret Simon posts about it.
So when Simon is murdered in detention and it's discovered that he was about to make a post about everyone who was present in the detention room, they all instantly become suspects in his murder.
Without spoiling on the mystery of the novel, I'd just like to say it was predictable and also poorly written/thought out. Why do I say that? Well, I predicted the murderer before I even opened the book. It's kind of hard to scrape by on calling the book a mystery if it's that predictable.
By poorly written I mean the characters weren't written well enough for me to find them and their story compelling. There was not a single character in this book that had my sympathy/that I even remotely cared about. And the relationships? Don't even get me started. I know, I was suppose to majorly ship the bad boy and the good girl because that's a classic, right? I had to love it. I didn't, and it's not because that's a total cliche, because I love cliches. It's because the writing and the story, I just didn't particularly care for their relationship. At all, partially (mostly) due to the fact that I didn't actually care about any of them. They just weren't compelling, or written in a way that I could connect with them.
And by poorly thought out? I mean this book caused a lot of controversy from a certain group of people, more on that in my spoiler section, but let me say I agree with this group 100%.
Was it the hype that destroyed the book, or the book itself? I think a combination of both. I went into the book expecting great things, and was met with less than mediocre content, which made the let down even greater. All together, I was left unimpressed. 5/10 stars.
Synopsis:
The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them."
SPOILERS
Spoiler: ALL OF THEM WERE LYING, but not in the way that counted.
See, the author tried to make it a huge plot twist that none of them killed Simon. Except that wasn't plot twist, it was actually what I was expecting. What would be more of a plot twist and what I was hoping to occur (but not expecting) was that one of them actually did kill Simon, because that would've actually made the story interesting. Seeing inside the character's head the entire book and being fooled by them? And then seeing why, the motivation and how (they came up with the plan)? Yes. I would have absotlely loved that. In fact, if that had been the case it might have actually redeemed the novel somewhat in my eyes.
Instead, the novel took the predictable route and made Simon the culprit. Which is exactly what I had been expecting the entire time.
And that group pissed off? It's the group saying that this book is mocking mental illness and using it as a get out of jail free card. I agree with that. As someone who's seen a lot of mental illness and is very close to it, I would say this was not a good way to represent it. At all. I could go on a whole rant on that topic, but I'll just leave it at I don't think this book handled the mental illness aspect well.
Thanks for reading these rant-ish reviews. Sorry they were ranty.
Love y'all!
Anj
I often talk about how hype can completely ruin a book. This book was one that was severely overhyped. Sometime, I think it was over the summer everyone was talking about this book, you could barely turn a corner in the book world without hearing about One of Us Is Lying. Eventually, after a lot of resistance, I finally got sucked in and figured: screw it. I might as well try it out, I might be missing out.
I wasn't.
One of Us if Lying is advertised as a modern day "mystery" novel. The basic premise is that five students go into detention. The jock, the popular girl, the nerdy/good girl and the "bad boy" are all the classic cliches you need, and then the fifth is a student universally hated by everyone in his school. He runs a gossip blog and basically ruins everyone's lives. If you have a dark secret Simon posts about it.
So when Simon is murdered in detention and it's discovered that he was about to make a post about everyone who was present in the detention room, they all instantly become suspects in his murder.
Without spoiling on the mystery of the novel, I'd just like to say it was predictable and also poorly written/thought out. Why do I say that? Well, I predicted the murderer before I even opened the book. It's kind of hard to scrape by on calling the book a mystery if it's that predictable.
By poorly written I mean the characters weren't written well enough for me to find them and their story compelling. There was not a single character in this book that had my sympathy/that I even remotely cared about. And the relationships? Don't even get me started. I know, I was suppose to majorly ship the bad boy and the good girl because that's a classic, right? I had to love it. I didn't, and it's not because that's a total cliche, because I love cliches. It's because the writing and the story, I just didn't particularly care for their relationship. At all, partially (mostly) due to the fact that I didn't actually care about any of them. They just weren't compelling, or written in a way that I could connect with them.
And by poorly thought out? I mean this book caused a lot of controversy from a certain group of people, more on that in my spoiler section, but let me say I agree with this group 100%.
Was it the hype that destroyed the book, or the book itself? I think a combination of both. I went into the book expecting great things, and was met with less than mediocre content, which made the let down even greater. All together, I was left unimpressed. 5/10 stars.
Synopsis:
The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.
Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High's notorious gossip app.
Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn't an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he'd planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who's still on the loose?
Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them."
SPOILERS
Spoiler: ALL OF THEM WERE LYING, but not in the way that counted.
See, the author tried to make it a huge plot twist that none of them killed Simon. Except that wasn't plot twist, it was actually what I was expecting. What would be more of a plot twist and what I was hoping to occur (but not expecting) was that one of them actually did kill Simon, because that would've actually made the story interesting. Seeing inside the character's head the entire book and being fooled by them? And then seeing why, the motivation and how (they came up with the plan)? Yes. I would have absotlely loved that. In fact, if that had been the case it might have actually redeemed the novel somewhat in my eyes.
Instead, the novel took the predictable route and made Simon the culprit. Which is exactly what I had been expecting the entire time.
And that group pissed off? It's the group saying that this book is mocking mental illness and using it as a get out of jail free card. I agree with that. As someone who's seen a lot of mental illness and is very close to it, I would say this was not a good way to represent it. At all. I could go on a whole rant on that topic, but I'll just leave it at I don't think this book handled the mental illness aspect well.
Thanks for reading these rant-ish reviews. Sorry they were ranty.
Love y'all!
Anj
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