REVIEW #77 | ERAGON by Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance Cycle #1)

Review for “Eragon” by Christopher Paolini

Eragon — Christopher Paolini

Title: Eragon

Author: Christopher Paolini

Series or Standalone?: The Inheritance Cycle #1

Pub. Date: April 2005

Synopsis (via StoryGraph):

One boy…
One dragon…
A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and tge advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

Trigger/Content warnings:

• fantasy violence
• gore
• character death
• fatphobia
• torture
• massacre
• imprisonment
• beheading
• attempted rape (inferred)
• ableism
• grief

Representation:

• N/A

⭐
1/5 stars

I don’t even know where to start. My god.

For those of you that don’t know, Eragon is a YA fantasy novel that follows a 15-year-old boy Eragon and the dragon Saphira whose egg he finds in the forest near his house. When mysterious creatures called the Ra’zac destroy his home and kill his uncle, Eragon and Saphira go on a quest with storyteller Brom to hunt them down.

Let me be blunt: this books is one of the worst I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot. For starters, the writing is almost impossible to read through. Yes, I understand Paolini was a teen when he wrote it, but I’m quite certain his editor wasn’t (assuming he had one). So like. They could’ve made it so much better. The reader doesn’t need an adjective or adverb every three words to understand what is going on in the story, and they definitely don’t need every single detail spelled out for them. On top of that, I had the feeling that Paolini was trying to write like some sort of pretentious classic literary author, but it did not work whatsoever. Instead of wanting to submerge myself into the story, the writing pulled me out of it so many times, I just started to skim for most of it.

The same can be said for the dialogue. It was written as if the author was trying to pull off Tolkien’s or some other “classic” high fantasy author’s style of dialogue, but at the end of the day, it just sounded like a rip-off. I just couldn’t get behind the writing whatsoever.

Second of all, the world-building. I just…what the fuck was that? Having Brom (or any other character, for that matter) monologue to Eragon about any world-building of importance — dragons, Riders, Galbatorix, etc. — is. not. world-building. It was boring and tedious, and it makes the reader want to skim. Two or three or four pages of a character talking to the ~naive protagonist~ is definitely not needed, and if the reader actually needed the content of the monologue, the author should have figured out some other way to include it that wasn’t info-dumping. Taking a five minute break to tell the reader the entire history of the world through Eragon’s perspective isn’t world-building, either! Please, I beg, find another way.

And now…the characters. The characters, the characters, the characters. I cannot put into words how utterly underdeveloped and boring these characters are. Let’s start with Eragon, the most Gary Stu protagonist ever to Gary Stu. Learns sword fighting quickly, learns magic even quicker (and is then somehow able to manipulate it to do basically whatever he wants). The other characters around him are practically there only to give him Important Life Lessons™. He’s the perfect protagonist with the perfect morals because all he wants to do is avenge his uncle and go home…or something. Let’s ignore how his morals make no sense — “why would you kill a slaver who sells human beings for a living? He wasn’t armed!” — and that he totally crushes over a random elf girl he saved from prison even though she’s in a coma with no clue where she is or who he is. Oh! And on top of that, he later questions said elf girl why she is on the battlefield with everyone instead of fleeing with the women and children when she beat him in a sword fight twenty pages earlier. I think this was yet another way for Paolini to show that Eragon ~cares about her~, but it was….pretty sexist and ridiculous, lol.

And speaking of Arya… Y’all. If there’s one thing I hate more than the “I went through traumatic things, and ✨ it made me stronger ✨” trope with woman/girl characters, it’s mixing it with the fact that there are no solid, re-occurring woman/girl characters until three quarters of the way through the novel. On top of that (…as if this book wasn’t bad enough), Arya doesn’t even count until about 90% of the way through the book because she was comatose for the majority of the time the reader knows her. And Eragon’s out here getting a crush on her without even knowing her name or if she’d even live.

Going on to the other characters… Brom was the “wise old teacher with a mysterious past” trope, and that was it. Saphira starts out interesting, but turns into the “wise old dragon” trope real fast for ~plot purposes~ so that got boring quick. Murtagh was somewhat intriguing, but Paolini doesn’t understand subtle foreshadowing, which kinda ruined his character. Angela and Solembum were actually pretty interesting characters, and I hope they stay around. They made this whole ordeal…somewhat tolerable, I guess.

But I think what gets me the most about the characters…well, there’s a couple things. One, specifically regarding Eragon, but it could pertain to basically everyone else: there’s little to no character development. Sure, Eragon (…pretty effortlessly…) learns magic and fighting and all, but he never seems to learn from his mistakes throughout the book. The other characters are constantly left to pick up after him. Even with a certain character’s death, I…didn’t feel like it really changed Eragon as a character. Sure, he says that he’s sad about said death, but because the connection didn’t seem to be there to begin with, his thoughts/feelings/actions read as extremely shallow.

I think most of it boils down to the fact that, at the end of the day, the characters are so incredibly flat. They don’t inspire any positive connection or emotions within me, and because of that I didn’t see any connections between the characters. Even between Eragon, Brom, and Saphira, the relationship/connection just seemed…fake? manufactured? The reader is told that they care about one another (at the most — sometimes, not even that), but they aren’t often given any evidence that such a deep connection exists at any meaningful level. The fact that these three major characters have such little connection with one another was extremely frustrating to read, and I really wanted to DNF.

But yeah, this book was…horrible, lmao. The writing was bad, the world-building was dry, and the character development was non-existent. And yet I am forcing myself to read the rest of the series because I own them…y’all better thank me for this, and keep your eyes out for the rant reviews for the rest of the series in the coming months ✨

Kait | sixcrowsbooks

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REVIEW #67 | STORM FRONT by Jim Butcher (Dresden Files #1) (Mini Review)

Title: Storm Front

Author: Jim Butcher

Series or Standalone?: The Dresden Files #1

Pub. Date: 1 April 2000

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Harry Dresden — Wizard

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or
Other Entertainment.

Harry Dresden is the best at what he does. Well, technically, he’s the only at what he does. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal creativity or capability, they come to him for answers. For the “everyday” world is actually full of strange and magical things — and most of them don’t play well with humans. That’s where Harry comes in. Takes a wizard to catch a — well, whatever.

There’s just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry’s seeing dollar signs. But where there’s black magic, there’s a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry’s name. And that’s when things start to get… interesting.

Magic. It can get a guy killed.

Trigger/Content warnings:

• I…can’t remember all of them.
• blood
• gore
• dead bodies
• misogyny/sexism

Representation:

• …literally nothing, lmao

⭐⭐
2/5 stars

• Storm Front follows a wizard named Harry Dresden, who hires himself out as a private investigator/consultant. As a string of murders comes to light, all clues pointing to Harry, he has to find out quickly who’s framing him
• Yes, hi, hello, I uhh really hated this book
• I do not like Harry as a character. Like. At all. He’s so misogynistic, and he hits me as the “m’lady” type
• Literally none of the woman characters (like…three??? maybe???) are written well at all. They’re all flat caricatures. I mean, tbh, all the characters are pretty flat, but it was really obvious with the characters who were women
• This is definitely a personal thing, and not an objectively bad thing, but I found the plot boring because it was one of those police procedural-type books. I love them as TV shows, but not as books; I just find them as boring
• On top of that, I felt like the world-building was a bit lackluster
• The two stars go entirely to the talking skull
• I know that some of these problems would probably be resolved the longer the series goes, but uhhh, I’m not giving my time and effort to a book series with over 15 books and not knowing if the payback is worth it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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REVIEW #64 | PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon

Title: The Priory of the Orange Tree

Author: Samantha Shannon

Series or Standalone?: Standalone

Publishing Date: 26 February 2019

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

“The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

“Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

“Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

“Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.”

Trigger/Content warnings:

• executions
• character deaths
• gore and blood
• violence
• miscarriage/death of a newborn

Representation:

• f/f relationship
• m/m side relationship (prior to the events of the book)
• characters coded as people of color
• a woman character dealing with depression and anxiety

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

So I think I’m Samantha Shannon trash now? I now have a desperate need to read the rest of her books. As someone who is just dipping their toes into adult high fantasy, The Priory of the Orange Tree was absolutely amazing.

The Priory of the Orange Tree is a political high fantasy novel that follows several characters in different parts of the world as the dreaded Nameless One (the evil dragon baddie, if there ever was one) begins to rise from its slumber to destroy the world.

First, there’s Ead, who is one of the helpers for Sabran, Queen of Inys. She is actually part of a secret mage society but is working undercover to keep the Sabran safe from harm. Then we have Loth, a Lord from Inys and one of Sabran’s closest friends. He and his friend Kit are sent to another country, where both a plague and support for the evil wyverns are rampant. However, not everything is as it seems. Niclays lives in the East, having been banished from Inys years before. When he helps a stranger hide, his sheltered life begins to crumble. Tane is a young woman who has been training her whole life to be a dragon rider, someone that protects the East with the help of the mythical god-like creatures. Things start to go awry, though, when she helps to hide a castaway she meets on the beach.

As the story unfolds, these four characters are instrumental to what happens, either making decisions that help move the world toward destruction, or further away from it. The four of them have such rich backstories — along with the other characters — and I loved learning about them. They each have their own distinct desires and motives, and they’re not all black and white. For those of you who’ve known me for a while, you know how much I love books that focus on its characters, and this is definitely one of them! Oh, and you know what’s even better? When all of these seemingly separate stories become interconnected —- it’s simply *chef’s kiss*.

Along with that, I truly believe that the writing is such a strong aspect of this book. The language used is beautiful and easy to understand. I didn’t have to strain to find out what was going on and, on top of that, the language could be very pretty and/or moving. It was accessible, and sometimes that can be hard to find in adult high fantasy.

I will say that the ending is a bit rushed for my liking, but in the grand scheme of things, I wasn’t bothered by it. The climatic battle didn’t feel all that climatic, but at the end, I still felt like The Priory of the Orange Tree is its own contained story. I think it does well as a standalone, but of course, I will always be happy with a sequel (or even a prequel!). It was a very fun world to visit, and I can’t wait to see what Shannon does next.

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REVIEW #62 | THE FIFTH SEASON by N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth #1)

Title: The Fifth Season

Author: N.K. Jemisin

Series or Standalone?: The Broken Earth #1

Publishing Date: 4 August 2015

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“This is the way the world ends. Again.

“Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze — the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization’s bedrock for a thousand years — collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman’s vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.

“Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She’ll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.”

Trigger/Content warnings:

• child slavery
• physical child abuse
• death of children
• character death
• rape (in the sense that the two characters are ordered to have sex by their commander(s), not one character forcing themselves onto another)
• blood/gore
• violence

Representation:

• an all-Black (or nearly all Black) cast of characters
• a polyamorous trio
• multiple transgender characters

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

I didn’t think I was going to fall absolutely in love with this, but uhhh, here we are. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore, but I am.

I can’t really explain the plot of The Fifth Season without spoiling a lot of the novel, so I’m going to try my best. The book is set in a world where there are people called orogenes: people who can control the Earth (including the rock, lava, crust, etc.). Oftentimes, these people are feared by those around them and are usually looked down upon. Sometimes they are taken to a place called the Fulcrum, where they are trained to control their powers.

The Fifth Season follows three people and their journeys. First, we have Essun. She is a middle-age orogene mother who is trying to find her daughter who recently disappeared. Then we have Syenite, who is an Imperial orogene who must go on a quest/mission with a stronger orogene. And finally, there is Damaya: a young orogene girl who is sent to the Fulcrum to train, after her family comes to the decision that she is too dangerous.

I loved all three of their perspectives! Sometimes, with books that have more than one POV, I like one over the others, but I honestly couldn’t wait to get to all three of them. The three of them all had engaging stories, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next.

On top of that? Let’s talk about the diversity! If I remember correctly, all or nearly all of the cast of characters we have are Black. One may be considered white, but…well, you’ll figure it out if you read the book why I’m not sure, lol. And also??? We have casual polyamory, which is so cool. I think this may be the first book I’ve read with polyamory, and I thought the trio was amazing! On top of that, we also have a trans woman character and (if I remember correctly, sorry, my memory is jacked up) a trans man character. I just really enjoyed the diversity in this book, and I can’t wait to see what the next two books bring.

As for the writing itself: it is SO GOOD. Seriously, I have nothing but good things to say about it. The story itself kind thrusts you into the middle without preamble and you’re left to blunder a little bit until you understand the world. But, if you do get a bit too lost, there are a couple appendices at the end of the novel that can give you a bit more context. I…didn’t realize that until the end, lol. But! As someone who is new to Adult fantasy (as well as science fantasy specifically), I was able to piece together the world-building within the context of what was going on. I didn’t personally find it difficult to get through once I read through a chunk of the book.

I also have to say that this novel definitely sold me on second person point of view. Before reading The Fifth Season, I had no idea it could even be used in fiction outside of seeing it a bit in fanfic, but wow, was I surprised to see that Essun’s chapters were in 2nd person. I thought I fit the story really well, and I’m happy I was able to experience it for the first time with Jemisin’s novel.

But also, if you don’t know this, you will now: this is not a happy read. There are happy moments, yes. Moments that will make you let your guard down and think, “Wow, everyone’s so content!” Moments that will let you have the slightest glimmer of hope. And then you know what happens to those moments? They’re crushed. Obliterated. Turned to dust. But like dust, the hope is still there all around you, lingering. It never really goes away, it’s always settling somewhere. Basically, all of this to say that this is not a happy book, but to me, it’s a hopeful one. I’m hoping, at the end of the trilogy, no matter what happens, the characters end up with some sort of ending that fits them. It probably won’t be the happiest ending in the world, but I feel like it’ll be enough that the characters would say, “The journey was worth it.” at the end.

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REVIEW #57 | THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern

Title: The Night Circus

Author: Erin Morgenstern

Series or Standalone?: Standalone

Publishing Date: 13 September 2011

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

“But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

“True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

“Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.”

Trigger/content warnings:

• character death
• abusive/toxic family relationship (I viewed it that way, but you may not)
• blood

Representation:

• sapphic side character

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

This book makes me want to scream, but in the good way. Seriously, no one told me that I was going to fall in love with this atmospheric, gorgeous piece of art.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern follows two people — Celia and Marco — from when they are children up through when they’re young adults in their 20s. They have been instructed by their guardians that they are part of a competition where they must use their magical abilities against one another in order to win. Most of the competition takes place in a circus that travels all around the world and performs at night. However, even though they both know little of the rules — or even the competition itself — they break one of the few rules: they begin to fall in love. The question, though, is who is going to win, and who is going to lose.

I’ll start the review off by saying this: what the f u c k, Erin Morgenstern, whose soul did you sell in order to write so dang beautifully? What the hell, y’all. I’m usually not one for heavy description (and The Night Circus has plenty), but not once did I feel like I was being dragged out of the story because of it. The writing was just that good: I found myself vividly imagining what everything looked, sounded, and tasted like in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced. It was incredibly atmospheric, and I appreciate the craft and hard work that went into all of it. The language was simply amazing.

Going along with the writing, I thought that the plot (or lack thereof) is just….some good stuff. The reader gets sucked into the world and the characters’ minds, and it makes me so happy. As someone who adores character-focused stories/novels, The Night Circus is perfect for me. By the end, I felt like I really knew the characters, and I rooted for most (if not all) of them at one point or another. I enjoyed being on their journey, and honestly? I can’t wait to re-read it so I can experience it again. But yeah, if you’re expecting a huge action-oriented plot, this probably isn’t the book for you.

And now my favorite part of this entire book: the characters. For one, Celia and Marco are the only valid allocishet couple. Sorry, I don’t make the rules. On a more serious note, I truly didn’t think I was going to like them as a couple; it just seemed like yet another insta-love story. But I’m so glad I was proven wrong. While the relationship was a bit insta-love, it was executed in such a way that, at the end, it didn’t feel like that. I know that may not make a ton of sense, but like. Believe me. As someone who doesn’t like insta-love, their relationship throughout the novel was truly beautiful.

I mentioned this before, but the other characters were so fleshed out, and I absolutely loved that. They all had their own motivations and personality.

The only thing that may be considered a downside is that you never really find out why the competition happens outside of the two men, Alexander and Celia’s father, continuously going at it throughout the centuries. Or, at the very least, I didn’t grasp it as I was reading. However, the more I thought about it, the more I’m convinced that maybe not knowing their motivations is the point. Maybe the reader is supposed to grasp that they’re both so old that they don’t even remember why they partake in these competitions. Just something to think about, and I think I’ll keep it in mind the next time I read this book.

Anyway, that was just a small personal gripe I had out of the whole novel. Outside of that? This book is phenomenal, and I really do recommend it to anyone who loves character-driven stories.

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REVIEW #56 | THE STORM CROW by Kalyn Josephson (The Storm Crow #1)

Title: The Storm Crow

Author: Kalyn Josephson

Series or Standalone?: The Storm Crow #1

Publishing Date: 9 July 2019

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life…until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.

“That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother’s death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.

“But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.”

Trigger/content warnings:

• depictions of depression
• anxiety/panic attacks
• self-harm (for blood magic; non-graphic)
• death of family members
• violence/gore
• blood

Representation:

• MC with depression and who struggles with the aftermath of trauma (including having panic attacks)
• sapphic side-characters
• gay side-character who is a man
• m/m minor relationship
• f/f side relationship
• characters of color

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

Yo, who was going to tell me I was going to fall in love with this book and think about it for days after I finish it? Seriously, I adored The Storm Crow.

In Rhodaire, where the protagonist Thia lives, the people live and work with magical Crows who are able to use elemental magic. However, on the night of their festival, Rhodaire’s capital is attacked by the enemy country of Illucia. In the end, not only are all the Crows dead, but Thia’s mother, the queen, is as well.

Months pass, and Thia is stuck in a deep depression as her sister tries to run Rhodaire as queen. The country is in disarray as it tries to move on from the extinction of the Crows it used to depend on.

One day, though, Thia learns two things: a Storm Crow egg survived the attack by the Illucians, and she is being forced into an engagement with the Illucian prince, Ericen. Soon she is carted away to an enemy nation with only her closest friend and the Storm Crow egg as allies.

Like I said earlier, I have little to no negative thing to say about this book. The world-building was confusing for me at times (there’s a lot of name-dropping with different countries), but by the time the book ended, I think I had a good grasp about the world. Anyway, on to what I loved.

You want casual diversity? You get casual diversity. And I absolutely love it! We have Thia, who has depression and panic attacks as a result of the trauma she faced at the beginning of the book. I can’t say personally if the rep is any good, but from the standpoint of someone studying mental health, I thought the MI rep was done very well (obviously, depression symptoms vary widely from person to person, but I think this case was dealt with with love and care). On top of that, we also have sapphic and gay side characters, f/f and m/m side relationships, and characters of color.

Y’all wanna know what else? There is no homophobia. The sapphic and gay characters are just accepted for their sexuality, and if they’re bad, it isn’t because they’re queer. How rad!!

Somewhat related to that: I loved all of the characters. Usually, I latch on to a few and then feel neutral about the rest, but I genuinely enjoyed the complexity given to these characters, especially Thia, Ericen, and the Illucian queen. I felt that we got to see all of their struggles (some clearer than others), and as far as my experience goes, nobody seems one-dimensional.

One thing that I especially liked was how Thia and Ericen’s relationship unfolds. It didn’t go the way I thought it would, so I was pleasantly surprised as I was reading about what actually happens. Their relationship in particular is one of the things I’m especially interested in learning about in the sequel.

As for the writing itself, I have no qualms with it. Its fast pace kept me on my toes as I was reading, and I was able to fly through it. If memory serves me right, I finished this book in a couple days, which is fast for me.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book, and I cannot wait until the sequel is released so I can snag it up!

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REVIEW #49 | “The Written” by Ben Galley (Ultimate Blog Tour)

“The Written” cover

Title: “The Written”

Author: Ben Galley

Pages (eBook): 460 pages

Original Publishing Date: 1 December 2010

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“His name is Farden. 
“They whisper that he’s dangerous. 
“Dangerous is only the half of it. 

“A spellbook has gone missing from the libraries of Arfell – a very old and extremely powerful spellbook from the time of dark elves and demons. Five scholars are dead, the magick council is running out of time and options, and the Arka is once again on the brink of war with the Siren dragon-riders. 

“It falls to Farden the Written mage to keep the world from falling into chaos. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Farden must recover the spellbook before an ancient enemy rises, even if it takes journeying halfway across icy Emaneska and back.

“In his fight for answers, Farden will unearth a secret that not only shakes the foundations of his world, but threaten the entire future of Emaneska. Sorcery, death, drugs and the deepest of betrayals await.

“Welcome to Emaneska.”

Trigger/Content warnings for the novel:

• character death
• blood
• gore
• violence
• drug use
• drug addiction

Representation in the novel:

• N/A

⭐⭐
2/5 stars

Before I begin, I want to give thanks to both Ben Galley, the author, and Dave from TheWriteReads, who organized this tour, for giving me the opportunity to read this book (in exchange for an honest review, of course)! If y’all are interested at learning more about Ben’s other books and himself, I’ll have more information after the review. With that being said, let’s get into it.

The Written follows Farden, a mage, when a group of mage scholars end up murdered and a mysterious book goes missing. Farden is sent out to look for said book and try to prevent whatever evil is showing up along the way. That’s about as much as I can say without getting in to too many spoilers.

First, the characters. I…didn’t really like them. While I thought the different races/creatures were a fun touch (vampires and werewolves and dragons and mages? sweet.), the characters themselves were forgettable or, in some cases, frustrating to read about. Take Farden, for example. He is the lovely protagonist that the reader has to be in the head of for the whole story (or, well, most of it since the story likes to randomly change POVs sometimes, but more on that later). He is a complete and utter asshole. The first interaction with another character the reader sees is him yelling at his maid for no good reason.

This is not a one-off thing: Farden is an ass to nearly everyone he comes into contact with, whether it be a merchant trying to sell him something or someone he has known for years. And in the beginning I thought, “Okay, ya know, I can deal with this. An asshole protagonist who learns to like and trust others throughout the novel. I can get behind that.” Except. That’s not what happens. There is little to no character development. He is the same person he was at the beginning of the novel when the reader meets him, except more pissed off. Granted, this is the first book in a series, so maybe he has development later. But I still would have expected something, and nothing really happened. In the latter half of the novel, when something happens, it got to the point where I was somewhat rooting for a character I definitely was not “supposed” to be rooting for.

He also has a drug addiction for some reason, and I want to say that I have never been personally addicted to drugs, or have even used one. I cannot say whether this is a good representation of addiction or not, and I will not try to. However, I do think that it was handled as a mere plot device, looking back after I finished the book. Overall, I thought Farden was a flat character with no redeeming qualities, and I really did not like being in his head for 95% of the novel.

As for the other characters…they were also flat. Most, if not all, of them just seemed to be cut-outs of tropes thrown together: the innocent maid; the mysterious vampire friend; the wise dragon. Which, okay, sometimes I do like trope-y characters. There are certain character traits that I love seeing done. But what I do not like is when those traits are the character’s entire personality, and that is what happened in The Written.

On top of that, here is something else that really grind me gears whilst reading: I can easily name ten characters that are human men (or were the non-human equivalent) that were either main characters or side characters. Ya know how many I can count that were human women (or the non-human equivalent)? Four. And, once again, none of them really had much depth to them. Granted, that was the fate of a lot of characters, but it was especially seen in the way the characters that were women were written, which was all stereotypical and filled with character tropes. I could not stand it.

When it comes to the plot, I was pretty ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about it. Overall, it had potential and seemed intriguing at first, but the characters killed most of my initial excitement for it. On top of that, the writing did not help in this particular case. A lot of things like the setting and Farden’s appearance were described in far too much detail, and for me, that really took away from the story itself. I think it could have also been edited a tad bit better. There are a lot of instances where Farden is described as simply “the mage,” long after the reader knows who he is.

Along with that, from what I could remember, the reader does not find out Fardan’s name until the third chapter or so, even though the story is supposed to be from his perspective. Parts of the story are also told from another character’s perspective, which would have been interesting if it was not simply explained away by a character talking about their evil master plans at the end of it. A lot of it just felt disjointed to me, and I kept being dragged out of the story because of things like that.

The battle/action scenes also seemed disjointed to me, and I feel that, a lot of the time, they were a stand-in for actual plot-/character-related things. This book is steeped in fight scenes, and, me being a much more character-driven reader, I did not like that much, either way.

Like I stated before, there were a few things I enjoyed in the novel (…even if I did skim that last quarter of it). I liked all the different races of creatures. Some people may not like it because it seems to mix genres between supernatural (vampires and werewolves) and fantasy (mages, elves, and dragons), but I thought it was an interesting point of world-building. It did seem lacking in parts, but again, it is the first book in a series, so it has room to be fleshed out. Unrelated, but I really love the cover. Whoever designed it did a wonderful job, and I think it is gorgeous. Those two tidbits were the sole recipients of the two stars.

Overall, I thought the characters were flat and the writing could have been better. As a result, the plot was not as fun as it could have been. However, kudos for world-building and the cover.

Bio: Ben Galley is an author of dark and epic fantasy books who currently hails from Victoria, Canada. Since publishing his debut The Written in 2010, Ben has released a range of award-winning fantasy novels, including the weird western Bloodrush and the epic standalone The Heart of Stone. He is also the author of the brand new Chasing Graves Trilogy.

Hey there, everyone! I recently created a Patreon that has more bookish stuff. If you like what I do on this here blog, maybe you could think about supporting me with a few dollars in exchange for even more bookish content!

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REVIEW #48 | “An Enchantment of Ravens” by Margaret Rogerson

Title: “An Enchantment of Ravens”

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Pages (hardcover): 300 pages

Original Publishing Date: 26 September 2017

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.

“Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.”

Trigger/Content warnings for the novel:

• self-harm (for blood magic)
• blood and gore
• violence
• kidnapping

Representation in the novel:

• N/A

⭐⭐⭐⭐ .5
4.5/5 stars

Hi, this book made me a Margaret Rogerson stan, and I do not even like faerie books usually. There is just soemthing about it that made me intrigued and want to keep reading.

Starting out, An Enchantment of Ravens follows Isobel, a human girl who paints portraits for the fae population around her in exchange for charms for her family to live easier. Faeries cannot create things by way of “human” means: they cannot cook/bake, paint, write, or anything of the sort, so they pay humands to do it for them. Isobel is a popular artist in faerie circles, and she soon has royalty knocking at her door: Rook, the autumn prince. When she places human emotion into his portrait — something generally seen as weak — he forces her to go with him to the court to answer for her “crime.”

Can I just say that I love Isobel and Rook? Not even as a couple, but as their own characters. Isobel knows of faeries’ conniving ways, and she tries her best to use that to her advantage to help her family. However, at points, it is still obvious that she is only a teenager, and I love that. She is witty, but she still slips up sometimes. Rook is an ass, and I love him for it. Well, okay, I did not like him in the beginning of the adventures, but he grew on me, and he ended up being one of my favorite characters of all time.

When it comes to the relationship between them, I was a bit weary about the insta-love that seemed prevalent in the beginning. However, I was pleasantly surprised: it was more lust/initial attraction that anything, and their relationship actually developed quite well over the novel.

The plot kept me on my toes, too. I honestly did not know what was going to happen next — once I thought I figured it all out, something else popus up to surprise me. However, it was not over the top or give me literary whiplash. Whatever happened made sense in regards to what was happening in the novel. I loved it. The pacing seemed a bit off, and the ending was a bit abrupt, but I had so much fun reading it. And the atmosphere! The world-building was amazing; the reader really gets sucked into it all. And those descriptions of all the places? Absolutely gorgeous.

Just. Y’all. I love this book so much. I wish I could have gotten a five- or ten-book series in this universe. It is phenomenal.

Write caption…

Hey there, everyone! I recently created a Patreon that has more bookish stuff. If you like what I do on this here blog, maybe you could think about supporting me with a few dollars in exchange for even more bookish content!

You don’t have to worry about any content from here being behind a paywall, either. Absolutely everything on this blog is staying here, including reviews, book tags, weekly memes, discussions. Everything. The content on Patreon could be seen as extra perks and a way of saying thanks for supporting me!

Depending on the tier you choose, being a patron allows you to have:

• early access to reviews (24 hours)
• the ability to collectively choose 2 books for the following month’s TBR
• exclusive posts on bookish tips and tricks
• character analyses
• and more!

Regardless if you become a patron or not, I really appreciate the support you have all given me throughout my blogging journey. ❤️

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REVIEW #45 | “Into the Shade” by A.L. Rose

Title: “Into the Shade”

Author: A.L. Rose

Pages (paperback): 390 pages

Original Publishing Date: 30 October 2018

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“TWO ASSASSINATIONS, leagues apart, set the stage for events that will change the world of Ondel forever.

“MAEVE WHELAN, an innocent girl with a gift, is training to become a priestess. When her world turns upside down on the night of a holy festival, she must master the darkness within to survive what happens next.

“THEORIS AL’OREN, a world away, is second in line to the throne of Orwyn and covets the one thing he cannot have—the one thing that would bring Orwyn to its knees. When tragedy strikes in the royal Alcazar, it’s up to Theoris to pick up the pieces and put them together before it’s too late. 

“What happens to each in this tale will affect the course of the other’s life. A world apart, Maeve and Theoris are more intertwined than they know…”

Trigger/Content warnings for the novel:

• character death
• gore
• blood
• violence
• religious extremism

Representation in the novel:

• Middle Eastern-coded side character

⭐⭐⭐ .5
3.5/5 stars

Alright before I get into the actual review, we are going to have a lil story time. Back in October or November 2018, I entered a giveaway by an author. It was a cute giveaway — there was a copy of her book, a journal, a keychain, and some themed teas. I figured, “Why not?” I never heard about this particular author, but the premise of the book sounded interesting. The giveaway ends, and look at that, I won! The author DMs me to get my address, and we get to talking. Well, long story short, she was not able to send everything until the end of this past April due to some issues, BUT we also became pretty good friends. So now, here I am, reviewing my friend’s book, and that is just cool, right? Right. This was just supposed to be a cute paragraph about how A.L. Rose and I met! If you’re interested in her book, its sequel, and book extras, you can access it on her Patreon page! She is also available on Twitter. Go talk to her, if you want, she is super nice! Now…on to the review.

Overall, I thought Into the Shade was a good first book in this six-book series. It follows two characters that are miles apart: Maeve, a 14-year-old girl who recently finds out that she has dark powers, and Theoris, the best friend of the prince of a faraway land. Two separate calamities end up changing their lives forever.

The characters are intruiging — I wanted to learn more about them, especially Theoris. I liked figuring out the back stories of some of the characters, protagonists or otherwise. Again, I was mostly invested in Theoris’ backstory, and I want to know more about him and his connect to Reis, the prince. I do have to point out, though, that the dialogue felt a bit off to me. It seemed cheesy, but that is not a bad thing! A lot of readers like cheesy dialogue, myself included if it is done a certain way. However, I do not talk about it a lot, but I am really particular about my dialogue. So, overall, the dialogue was not for me, but it could be for someone else.

As for the plot, there are two of them that are happening side-by-side: Theoris has to investigate how and why the king of his country is killed, and Maeve learns how to come to terms with her supernatural abilities, as well as search for two other members of the group she is part of. I gravitated more towards Theoris’ plot because I always like when kings die by mysterious means. However, I still enjoyed Maeve’s story, too: I liked seeing the conflict she goes through with herself regarding her powers and who she is as a person. On top of that, I really enjoyed how the novel ended. I see the two plots clashing together eventually, and I cannot wait for that to happen!

So, yeah, as a whole, I thought Into the Shade was a wonderful first book. While I am personally picky about the dialogue, I am interested in what is going to happen next.

Write caption…

Hey there, everyone! I recently created a Patreon that has more bookish stuff. If you like what I do on this here blog, maybe you could think about supporting me with a few dollars in exchange for even more bookish content!

You don’t have to worry about any content from here being behind a paywall, either. Absolutely everything on this blog is staying here, including reviews, book tags, weekly memes, discussions. Everything. The content on Patreon could be seen as extra perks and a way of saying thanks for supporting me!

Depending on the tier you choose, being a patron allows you to have:

• early access to reviews (24 hours)
• the ability to collectively choose 2 books for the following month’s TBR
• exclusive posts on bookish tips and tricks
• character analyses
• and more!

Regardless if you become a patron or not, I really appreciate the support you have all given me throughout my blogging journey. ❤️

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REVIEW #36 | “A Darker Shade of Magic” by V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic #1)

Title: “A Darker Shade of Magic”

Author: V.E. Schwab

Pages (paperback): 398 pages

Original Publishing Date: 24 February 2015

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

“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.”

Trigger/Content warnings for the novel:

• self-harm (for blood magic)
• gore
• blood
• character death
• [Note: yet again, I forgot to write down TWs and rep, so my apologies if I missed anything!]

Representation in the novel:

• bisexual side character
• disabled character (character is does not have an eye)
• ??? (Note: see the prior note)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5/5 stars

Almost every book blogger and/or Booktuber I read/watch has loved this series. So after hearing about it one hundred thousand times (okay, that might be a tiny exaggeration, but still), I finally picked up the first book. And hello, new favorite book…outside of Six of Crows, of course.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab follows Kell, a magician called an Antari who can control the four types of elemental magic (earth, water, air, and fire), as well as blood magic. Antari are rare magicians; outside of himself, Kell knows of only one more, Holland. Kell is also part of the royal family. While he is not a biological brother to the prince, Rhy, he is often considered family on top of carrying messages to the different Londons.

Yup, you read that right, different Londons. Because, you see, Kell has the ability to pass through doors to different worlds that all incidentally have a city by the name of London. There is Red London, which is where Kell lives. Magic is used fairly regularly hear without much commotion, and Antari are revered. Grey London is the “regular” London, if you will. Most people do not know or believe in the existance of magic. White London is in the midst of a civil war due to magic; there, magic is seen as something that should be dominated, and whoever has the most control over it is the ruler. Finally, there is Black London, which is fabled to not even exist. Many years ago, magic tore through the entire world, destroying it from the inside out.

Although Kell passes through the different Londons for his king, he also goes on…unofficial business. Unbeknownst to the king and queen (though, not to Rhy), Kell is also a smuggler; he travels to Grey London to give items from the two magical Londons in eschange for trinkets and tokens from the “regular” London. However, while out on a smuggling job, he runs into trouble. Not only is the smuggled item a dangerous relic of magical power, but a girl from Grey London, Lila Bard, is thrown into the mix. Soon, both she and Kell are forced to work together in order to dispellthe relic back to Black London.

For me, this book definitely lived up to the hype. All of the characters are fun to read about, except the king and queen of Red London. They seem a little flat, though that could just be due to the fact that they were in the book so little. Everyone else, however, is amazing. Rhy is relaxed and flirtatious, but he deeply cares for, and often worries about, Kell. Kell himself is a wonderful protagonist: although he is an all-powerful Antarie who works for the royal family, he smuggles items through the different Longdons when that is strictly against the law. He is witty and a tad sarcastic, and I love him. Lilah is just a girl who wants an adventure so bad she would practically kill for it. She is impulsive and head-strong, and she exudes strong queer energy. I cannot wait to see where she will go in the next two books. And the only thing I will say about the twins is that they easily became my favorite love-to-hate villains. 10/10.

On to the plot and setting! I enjoyed both of them immensely. I was not really thinking about what was going to happen next; I was just along for the ride. I did not push to see what happened afterwards just because what was going on at any given time was so captivating, I did not see a reason to peak ahead. The ride itself ended up being a bit of a rollercoarster, abut that is more than okay. Seriously, though, the plot was engaging for me, and I was able to tear through the book fairly quickly, mostly due to anticipation. I knew in some way or another that Kell and Lila would succeed because A Darker Shade of Magic is the first of a trilogy, but I needed to know how. And, oof, I got the “how” alright.

Along with that, the setting and world-building were marvelous. At first, I was confused on which London was which, but as the book continued, I thought it was explained very well. As the reader travels along with Kell, they also learn the differences by simply being at Kell’s side throughout the novel. There was not a ton of info-dumping, and I enjoyed that; it made it much easier to read. I am pretty neutral about having different or alternate worlds within the same book because I have not read many books prior to this with those sorts of settings. However, I thought it worked extremely well, and now I have actually fallen in love a little bit with these Londons.

Overall, I devoured A Darker Shade of Magic, and I cannot wait to get my hands on A Gathering of Shadows. If you have yet to pick this up, I would recommend it if you have the chance.

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