Wicked Fox | Review

Very good book to start my February (Valentines day, yay) and Asian inspired TBR with.

"It may not seem it, but its a rare gift hes giving you, his friendship."

"I didnt ask for it."

"Its not something you ask for, that's why its a gift."

I didn't know at first it was purposely written as a Korean Drama but I immediately felt it. The characters are sweet and deep, with difficult pasts and strained familial relationships.

I instantly liked the characters. I liked how Jihoon has the personality of what most (at least in my opinion) assume a Fox spirits to be. Hes attractive and uses that to get his ways, he's playful and mischievous. I like that irony.

The first scene when Miyoung met Jihoons Halmeoni and they had dinner together was so sweet and wholesome. You got this build up of their relationship and then seeing it through someone else's view was really nice to see. It got me choked up for Miyoung.

Which leads me into a positive of this book. I feel the emotion really hits. Going back to the Korean Drama aspect, I don't personally watch them. I think the acting is usually too dramatic and cringey. You dont really get that when reading. (Minus the couple of times when the group of friends all "bust out laughing" at the same time at a joke thats not really THAT hilarious.) But this book hits the elements in a natural and heartstring-pulling kind of way.

I think its interesting that it takes about 200 pages for the whole friend group to finally come together. Its actually kind of nice. The build up seems genuine and realistic. You see the struggle she had alone, then the struggle to accept Jihoon and then it all just comes together.

My next point being that this book felt fairly long, but I didnt dislike it. I feel like I still went through it pretty quickly and enjoyed my time. It took time to set up the drama and relationships and I think it really paid off.

Let me get to some negatives and why its not a 5 star before I wrap up my review:
This isn't necessarily a negative but a preference, or at least a warning. In my opinion when I think of a Fox-Demon I image their mischievousness, their fox-fire, their trickster or illusionary power. In the book their kind just beautiful, and strong, with the ability to live off of human life force, that's it. The fantasy element isn't taken too far in this book so measure your expectation as this was kind of disappointing to me.
I also feel like we didnt get to see much of her powers and abilities before the "drama" set in to where she couldn't really make use of them.

This next part is about a particular plot element at the end, so spoiler:
[Im sorry but one of the most annoying sentiments is when someone younger, usually the child or in this case grandchild, lose their parent/ grandparent and think its their fault, or it should have been them. Like NO parent or grandparent would EVER trade their life for their childs (I mean in most cases where we assume love is involved) Quite frankly its stupid and selfish to think that. Would your Grandparent really be better off if they lived on while their grandchild died...come on. You should want to live right by your family that died, not wallow and think it should be you. You have your whole life ahead of you, and Grandparent wouldnt want that gone.

The sentiment really only works with siblings (and ofcourse parents that lose children.) I just cant wrap my head around a child thinking that about the grand/parents. (hide spoiler)]

I know one of my positives was the 200 page mark/ friendship group thing. But I did want to point out that I wish they stayed in the story a bit more, they aren't that prevalent and I think it would have been nice to see Miyoung finding alot of people to care about not just Jihoon.

Finally: After the drama picks up, there's a lot of time and distance skipping, it was kind of jarring. The way she wrote the climb to the climax/resolution wasnt very smooth and could have used some more work.

Those are really my only grievances. I really quite liked it and the cover is beautiful so Im happy to say its staying on my bookshelf! I think it would be a good reread if Im ever going on a trip or a romantic getaway.

I was actually nervous the ending twist or resolution wouldn't be satisfying. But I still was surprised by the actual reveal which was nice! I honestly didnt think I would have these feelings for certain characters but it all paid off quite nicely.

Lastly I definitely appreciate her glossary in the back of the book and details she added to help the reader. I know it sounds small but I just finished a Nigerian styled book and the way the author wrote it left the reader not know what anything was and gave no help to educate us. I;m not Korean or Asian at all so I hope she did her culture justice because it felt really immersive and I really enjoyed being entertained and educated with the Korean practices, language and foods.

Asian Inspired TBR

In honor of the Chinese New Year and Disney's Mulan releasing in March I really wanted to tackle some of my books inspired from Asian authors, location, folk-lore and stories.

Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

A fresh and addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret--she's a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

StormDancer by Jay Kristoff

Japanese-Fantasy Inspired setting with added SteamPunk

Arashitoras are supposed to be extinct. So when Yukiko and her warrior father Masaru are sent to capture one for the Shõgun, they fear that their lives are over – everyone knows what happens to those who fail the Lord of the Shima Isles. But the mission proves less impossible and more deadly than anyone expects. Soon Yukiko finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in her country's last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled arashitora for company. Although she can hear his thoughts, and saved his life, all she knows for certain is he'd rather see her dead than help her. Yet trapped together in the forest, Yukiko and the beast soon discover a bond that neither of them expected.

The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera

F/F relationship with the setting being  inspired by the cultures of Japan, Mongolia and sometimes China.

The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach―but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.
"This is a Mongol-inspired fantasy setting with an Empress of the Hokkaran and an heir to the Quorin at the centre of the story. They are childhood best friends (their mothers were best friends too) and we follow their story through letters and present day. Both are women of great importance in their world."
(https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2391171115?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

When New Yorker Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home and quality time with the man she hopes to marry. But Nick has failed to give his girlfriend a few key details. One, that his childhood home looks like a palace; two, that he grew up riding in more private planes than cars; and three, that he just happens to be the country’s most eligible bachelor. On Nick’s arm, Rachel may as well have a target on her back the second she steps off the plane, and soon, her relaxed vacation turns into an obstacle course of old money, new money, nosy relatives, and scheming social climbers.

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

This is an ownvoices Japanese inspired fantasy about three people who come from very different backgrounds, but their stories get interwoven regardless of what they wanted.

One thousand years ago, the great Kami Dragon was summoned to grant a single terrible wish—and the land of Iwagoto was plunged into an age of darkness and chaos.
Now, for whoever holds the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers, a new wish will be granted. A new age is about to dawn.
Raised by monks in the isolated Silent Winds temple, Yumeko has trained all her life to hide her yokai nature. Half kitsune, half human, her skill with illusion is matched only by her penchant for mischief. Until the day her home is burned to the ground, her adoptive family is brutally slain and she is forced to flee for her life with the temple’s greatest treasure—one part of the ancient scroll.

Reflection by Elizabeth Lim

What if Mulan had to travel to the Underworld?
When Captain Shang is mortally wounded by Shan Yu in battle, Mulan must travel to the Underworld, Diyu, in order to save him from certain death.

Infinity Son | Review

Infinity Son I would generalize as just being pretty mediocre. I wouldn't say its as bad as others are reviewing it as, I mean Ive read some pretty terrible popular books that are one star, so by comparison this isn't as bad.
Unfortunately it probably will be one of my most disappointing reads of 2020. Because I was hoping for so much more.

Before I get to the real review I want to preface this with two thoughts that don't reflect my rating, but definitely skewed my review of it.
First is I dont know if I just didnt pay attention that well to the synopsis but the setting completely threw me for a loop. I guess when people say "Fantasy book," I dont think of something like this. I was excited to get into an actual fantasy world, but this is set in our modern time New York. Also I feel like just including some magical beasts doesnt quite make it feel fantasy either. This book reads more like a SuperHero novel or tale, and if that still qualifies as Fantasy, then I guess the mistake is on my terminology.
Second, I LOVE Phoenix's. I one day dream to write my own Phoenix inspired novel. So this kind kind of hurt and helped my view of. On the one hand I love that the main character loves Phoenixs and alot of what happens involves them, but on the other hand this book wasnt very good so its even more wasted potential.

Lets start this review off with the bad:
-World Building, its practically non existent. You'll read the whole book and it treats you like you just already know how everything works. By the end you can make accurate assumptions, but most of the time I kept thinking, Wtf is Gleamcraft? How are people using these wands? How is this Armor made? WTF is the Crowned Dreamer. (Seriously the wands are so unexplained I literally kept imaging those fake plastic ones with stars at the end.)
-Characters, some of the most frustrating Ive had the displeasure to read from. The villains are mostly not fleshed out in the slightest. But who cares about the villains when our heroes are terrible. The two that win the award for biggest douche and douchette is Maribelle and Brighton.
Maribelle is...reasonable, still annoying and has issues but you can see where shes coming from. But shes such a bitch if I was Iris I would have knocked her the fuck out. Plus all she can do is "levitate", I dont see how she was even that useful, but apparently she was.
Now lets get to Brighton...hot damn is he one of the worst fucking characters. Absolutely irredeemable. He doesnt deserve friends, and he sure as fuck didnt deserve Emil. He's such a pompous, clout-chasing, asshole. Almost every word or thought he had made my skin scrawl, he more than anything would make me not want to pick up the sequel.
(Spoilers: Seriously...like the whole ending where Ness got captured and Gravesend got captured ONLY because Emil refused to leave without searching the whole building for his fucking brother. Just because this idiot didnt have the balls to tell anyone hes leaving. Seriously fuck this guy, he did nothing, who gives a fuck if you gave them some good social media points, god I hate him.)

Emil doesnt make the good characters list, but he was ok. Just kind of a wet blanket to follow. Like he was just too vanilla and boring and sucked with his powers.

The Good is primarily just the other characters.
Iris and Eva were fine. Atlas doesnt make the list just because his relationship with Maribelle doesnt seem real with how stupid she is.
But Ness and Prudencia were probably the best. They were the most logical and competent people and I think I would read the sequel just to make sure my baby Ness is ok.

I think the twists werent too bad either, I think once you get about 70% of the way the book ends pretty smoothly. Most of the rest just isnt super interesting, and it doesnt feel like alot happens. So again, not a bad book, but not good. An unfortunate average book.

Muse of Nightmares | Review

Once upon a time there was a silence that dreamed of becoming a song, and then I found you, and everything is music.

This is my second month of my challenge where I read one of my Highest and Lowest rated books on my TBR. This was one of my highest and boy does it deserve its spot:

This was fantastic. I elevated everything from the first book. I loved the way Taylor expanded on the lore of the world. While at the same time crafting heart-breaking yet beautiful plots for her character. I dont Ive read so much, tragedy, yet hope in any story. Ive just got say, after read that first Chapter, those name Kora and Nova, I did NOT expect what happened.

I loved all the characters, but honorable mention to Nero. I liked how he was humbled in this book, it was very natural and likable. I loved him, if this story is to continue I really hope they do more with his alchemy.

IF she chooses to continue I really hope its just more light hearted character developing stories. I really dont want to be dragged back into this kinda heavy of a story after finishing this. I dont think my poor heart could take it.

Beasts Made of Night | Review

I did a challenge to read one of the best rated books on my TBR and worst. This was one of the worst. And boy did it earn that title.

So Ive only done this one other time. But usually when I read if moments or ideas really stand out in a book I will write it in a draft here on my blog. Then at the end I will sort through them and create a review from it. However, with this book there was SO much bad things that it basically just turned into a full rant. So if you want to know what I thought and WHY I didnt like this specifically read here. For a normal review, head to my Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2883310240


The early pacing seems really weird. We go from serious, sad funeral to arguing about their rights and being discriminated, to a parade, to a neighborhood being bombarded, to a hookah bar trying to pick up chicks to basically adopting this kid. All in like 77 pages.

Im not particuarly a fan of Taj, he's a little bit of a brat. A little smug. Super moody. Hes just kinda unlikable as a main character.

There are some annoying plot elements, I just dont understand.

The Arashi are, to my best knowledge, creatures that go to heavily sinful areas. So when Dahias (which I guess are neighborhoods) get too sinful (which they determine with someone standing in a special robe and the blacker it gets the worse it is) then they just bombard it with catapults. Which I dont understand...its doesnt sound like it exactly murders alot of people. It just kinda fucks shit up and makes them homeless. I dont see how THAT solves sin? Not to be morbid but it would make more logic to go around and just kill people, not randomly bombard and then steal children.

Which immediately leads to the next dumb plot point. These Aki are clearly VERY important. Yet everyone fears them and hate them and the city doesnt take care of them...yet they are the ones that are supposed to clear the sin? So instead of raising a correct force of Aki, sending them into Sinful neighborhoods they just bombard them and leave really shitty neighborhoods and hope it kills people?

After he eats King Kolades sin, the Kings just like "arrest them" and then after a long useless chase he is captured anyway, sent back to the palace and the palace just offers him a job? Why TF didnt they do that to begin with?

Please...god..dont tell me this Princess is there to do nothing but be pretty and fall in love with the main character.
(Spoiler for the end of this Rant, but no thats not all she is...and I kinda wish I was right for once, because its actually worse....and weird)

There so many little odd elements in the story that just seem to be kind of a waste or contradictory. Like when he first enters the palace, he talks about how he doesn't want to wreck his clothes because theyre super expensive. Then he doesnt eat his food because he thinks about all the poor people who dont get to eat it (so wasting it is obviously the answer) But then he goes to town wastes more food by buying a bunch of chicken fingers, then goes and ruins his clothes. Only to get dragged back to the palace anyway.
I also find it annoying that his best friend now seems annoyingly butt-hurt about him joining the palace people or something...(the only way this would make sense is if we figure out that Bo got the same offer but denied it so it looks like Taj sold out).
(Spoiler for end of the Rant, its actually the OPPOSITE, Bo DOES get an offer, AND takes it, so it literally makes NO sense why Bo acts this way....)
Taj has been in palace for a day, and hes already so annoying and saying he's "trapped".

Oh and then they introduced the "rich spoiled kids of rich families doing cocaine" cliche.


Its REALLY annoying that Taj gets, IMO, unreasonably angry and bitchy whenever anyone brings up his sin tattoos. But when the gorgeous beautiful flawless Princess does it, he doesnt care even though she doesnt give him ANY other reason to treat her differently besides the fact that she hot. Like damn, really thinking with your dick there arent you?

Chapter 17 has to be the WORST chapter in this book. Every single thing that happens is annoying, frustrating or dumb and its only like 5 pages:
1. The patheticness of Taj not caring the Princess was all over his tats even tho he freaked out over everyone else.
2. Taj thinks about how plain Izus room. office or w/e is. Then Izu apparently reads his mind and goes into a long unnecessary explanation of why that is.
3.THIS is where the pacing makes absolutely no sense. Izu basically says Taj is bored with his position, wants to give a new position, and hints that he knew the Taj and Princess have... talked?
3.1 It feels like its been like at most 2 fckn days. How is he already bored? Hes had nothing to do. NOONES told him anything to do. Why are they acting like hes been hanging around for like a whole month..
3.2 The Princess and him have talked like TWICE...why is it a big deal to bring it up? Taj literally thinks: "He does know. The ruby-licker (also wtf kind of insult is this?) knows about me and the Princess." Im sorry, but KNOWS FCKN WHAT?
3.3 The build up to whatever the fck this was, was so stupid im baffled.
4. Izu threatens killing another neighborhood to find "strong Aki" I think at this point we also come to ask the question, WTF makes the Aki so strong? Like I dont think they have magic, or their sin eating makes them more durable or physically skilled. I just dont understand what they expect to get out of them and why Taj is even so "powerful"
5. As Taj leaves he bumps the desk of Izu. And I swear hes "accidentally" run into things like 3 or 4 times, can you find a new passive aggressive action to do. FFS.
6. Aliya goes in, apparently RIGHT after him. And then Taj can ONLY hear her give a long ass monologue about how precious and needed the Aki are (which I mean..I agree) but this was kinda dumb how it was talked about, and why couldn't he hear Izu? Especially since he made it clear his desk is closer to the door than where the Aliya would stand.
-Jesus this chapter more than anything else made me want to DNF this book. Lucky theres only about 100 pages left.


Ok heres my problem with him training the younger Aki. He's only 17, and he's immature as all hell. He has no leadership experience (atleast that we've seen.) I mean he saves children, thats it, nothing shows that he should be TRAINING them. They dont have like a higher ranking ADULT to train them. Again its not like what Aki do other people cant, just the eating part sets the, apart. Which they arent even doing, theyre just fighting. We also dont even KNOW how good he is. Like mostly people just say hes the strongest, theyve only showed it during the dragon fight and lion/tiger or w/e from the first chapter. But...it wasnt that compelling to make me think "whoa this guy is a skilled badass." Show DONT tell.
Im sorry but it just comes more off as the authors fantasy to be that cool young guy thats really badass and gets to teach other people. Realistically he should NOT be the leader.

They are supposed to be killing BEASTS, but, sure, teach them the 1-2 punch followed up with a duck. Bc theyre definitely going to fight them like that -__-

Im so confused by his training. First off, this girl randomly keeps popping up and finding him. Fun I love random encounters, and oh look a wild sin bear happens to find them for her to kill.
BUT THEN, its discovered that one of the TRAINING Aki was told to kill the bear but he failed so he died. Taj even said "this is the first one ive lost, im responsible for training them" Like YES, you damn well are. So why wasnt the TRAINER supervising the fight? Like I dont even feel bad that this kid died because the plot is so dumb.

So not am I already bored with this plot but then Taj thinks the Aki have bad bathing conditions so hes going to the Mages to tell them. (Wow this is so exciting)
BUT then "One woman with silver braids nearly knocks me over, and I turn, daga (knife) in hand. Im about to let her know what I think of her and her kind"
Put your fckn knife away you child, like ffs, this protagonist is so annoying. Flipping from irrationally angrier, to so self sacrificing like "I just want to eat all the sins so all these kids can go home, and I want them to have proper baths." Hate him.
So anyway after this dumbass pulls his knife, he then sees Aliya the random Mage that, guess what, has glasses, because we havent been told enough times. But she just comes up and starts saying how exciting it is to view all these sin-eatings (yet again why TF is Taj not supervising these? He hasnt mentioned them at all) but then Taj just starts ranting about how much his Aki stink and need better showers or mister pouty face isnt going to train them anymore.
Ffs lets break this down:
1. You quitting isnt going to get this kids, you apparently care about, anything.
2. What in the HELL makes you think this random girl has ANY say in the shower conditions of your kids lol. Like holy fck, WHY IS THIS GUY IN CHARGE OF ANYTHING.

Jesus this is so bad. So he starts complaining about his pain, or his "madness" or whatever. Even though he hasn't complained about it at all this whole book and the last time he ate was the Dragon a while back around the 20% mark. But just because Zanaib talks about it and warns him, he all of a sudden feels it now?
In case you havent been paying attention (which with this book I wouldnt be surprised) but he already told us VERY CLEARLY that a young aki girl ate his moms sin and that sin was a SPIDER and it had a SPIDER mark on her face. So when Zanaib is first introduced its really frustrating for him to not remember when it was Taj that told us this in the first place, bc its first person. Like are you kidding. Then in a terrible set up he starts to randomly tell Aliyah the first time he saw a Sin eating only to "omfg jump up in the air" realize THATS how he recognized Zanaib. She ate his moms sin! THEN at that EXACT same moment Aki are bring by her body, oops shes dead. Im baffled at the way he sets up his events. Now hes crying over it, but we dont care because we dont care about any of these characters he did a terrible job setting up.

LMAO, its really subtle, the scene where Taj announces he cant read. So then Aliya throws a random fit and throws her papers in the air. Then Taj just decides to help pick them up. So aliyas like, "wow thanks, sorry I threw a tantrum, while your down there picking up my shit can you order the papers by number and header."(im not kidding she literally says by number or title) so...he doesnt bc he cant read. And shes like. "WOW you couldnt even PRETEND to put them in order like I asked."
-___- Reeeeal subtle dude. He cant set up a scene to save his life.
I know alot of this is starting to sound like nitpicking, but when the writing is this bad for almost the whole book, it just continues to frustrate, I can see why people DNFd way before this. He could have atleast set up he couldnt read EARLIER in the story so it didnt come out all at once and sound so bad. Like I feel like he didnt plan out his novel AT ALL. He just got to this part is like "hmmm I need to have something that drags out this book even longer, I KNOW Ill have him learn how to read and NOT bother going back to the beginning.(Ok I wrote all that before I finished the scene but it get even worst. Shes then hands him another sack of papers, tells him to organize them. Like bitch damn, shes so insistent for him to clean up after her damn mess.)
(Not that Im reading this Im actually remembering back to a scene at the beginning where theyre exchanging money and Taj points out that MOST of them dont know how to read so he could be lying. But I cant remember if its clear Taj is one that can read or not. But even if it briefly mentions he cant read it doesnt stop this scene from being so fckn unnatural)

This just gets so convoluted. So im bored out of my mind with this stupid lack of plot. We are treated with Aliyah bitching about feasting. Then apparently they carved for him all the letters of the alphabet into like...childrens blocks?, and hes just sitting there sounding out words. So then Aliyah reveals to 'Save the Princess, You are not Safe."...like im fckn sorry but wtf, this is so stupid. First off, thats not how learning how to read goes. Second, why didnt she just tell it to him..what if Aliyah never learned he couldnt read? When would she have told him if she didnt go to him and see he had his reading blocks. Is this why he made that awkward ass dropping papers scene? Was he supposed to organize the papers and get the clue (this wasnt confirmed but it makes sense) but even if that was the case, when she learned he couldnt read why didnt she just TELL him the fckn plan instead of going through the effort to teach him how to read. Like holy crap EVERY scene they create is either boring or bad.

ok, ffs. If the author was trying to set up Taj training an army for a rebellion. Why didnt they TALK MORE ABOUT IT. The whole time has been him whining about no baths, or his boredum or his numbing limbs, or learning about Zanaib. Like why not introduce the "soldiers" go over training? Is it bc they are a bunch of fckn kids who arent special so WHY IS THERE AN ARMY OF THEM?

The scene where Noor kills the Griffin shows more skill than anything Taj has done. Maybe she should be the leader >_<
(I made sure to leave a note to comment in case it doesnt come back, BUT Noor is apparently REALLY talented with a stick, and Taj comments that he definitely didn't teach her that and its just...never brought up again. Like we arent told why this is relevent..)

In the same fckn chapter Taj thinks "Man Im so fckn hungry, but i cant go over to the table and eat bc I cant sit next to Aliya shes  a MAGE and I cant probably EVER trust mages." Literally two seconds later he finds the entrance to their secret meeting full of mages (one being the same that he pulled a knife on) and theyre like "Hey are you ready for this secret mission that changes everything?" And he says "yeah Im ready to do what ever needs to be done" like bitch, wtf?

Ok this rebellion idea is so stupid. First off, why would you have them ask if he wanted to help, he immediately says "Yes." Then immediately go to a dream sequence thats completely pointless only for him to wake up as the mages walk randomly into his room, THEN Taj finally ask, "Why are we doing this?"
Not only of that but clearly they have known SINCE HE ATE THE DRAGON SIN that he can apparently control sin beasts. But they dont tell him until the day before the rebellion happens that he can do it, even though hes done it only once. So instead of using that time since the Dragon incident to have him practice they have him do...nothing. Did the author plan out his story at all?
(Let me also comment that after this exchange they tell him to get some rest and leave, like WHY TF did they enter his room in the first place, he was already sleeping, TAJ is the one that initiated the questions of the conversation...like wtf)

To further add to the stupidity of their lack of training him. Not only does their plan kinda rely on him basically just being their back up incase a sin beast appears but they NEED him to control a beast to even get into the palace...so their plan LITERALLY relied on him doing something hes never done before. ok...yall are the worst fckn rebels ever, pls lose.

Ive skipped alot at this point becasue Im literally just reiterating the book at this point because every plot point is stupid. But this one stood out to me so bad.
So all throughout the book any time hes in the palace he wont shut up about how far away the slums are. And thats why the royals dont care about the people in the slums.
But all of a sudden when all the Sins are rampaging in the town Taj can SEE his friend being attacked. And it seems like Taj just walks out the palace door and is all of sudden hes in the city. Nice consistency -__-

He literally only tells the demons to "Stop" like seriously. Thats it...like 4 times any time he communicates with them he just yells stop...

Praise hallelujah I finished. That ending was pretty dumb, go figure. I dont understand why he seemed literally possessed by the princess or something? And apparently his friend Bo was in on it the whole time (so why did he give him such a bad attitude?) and can also control the sins.? Not like that was EVER hinted at.


Ok heres an idea, that would help this story have any kind of consistency and character development.. You already introduced Omar...he was a young new Aki....why didnt he get recruited into the ones Taj trained in the forest.(Even if he didnt get recruited we know Omar follows him EVERYWHERE, so he could have just followed him into the forest.) Then we would have a reoccurring character you could build on, someone to lead the aki in their place (instead of that random ass kid that had a 'streak of gray' in his hair you know...those kids with gray hair.) Can you imagine how much more interesting it would have been for during the final fight, the city almost seems over run, but then Omar shows up with his crew of "well" trained aki that turn the battle. Hell even kill Omar since it would actually mean something to Taj and us if we've been following him so long. But no...this character is completely fckn pointless, and that ending battle is so fckn dumb.

Thats it...thats my Rant on this book. Its seriously...so bad, I dont understand how people didnt point out ANY of this shit to him, its even traditionally published. FFS, Im done with this.

The Lies of Locke Lamora | Review

"What thief does not fight to hold what he has?"

"One that has something better."

Normally I like to have a little quote here or there when I review books. But rarely does one stand out so impactfully, its as if I'm already imaging the movie trailer, and this line being said as the anthem of the song swells.
Locke was a pleasure to read about. This kind of character has always intrigued be, and I feel is exceptionally hard to write. It brings me memories of Robert Downy Jr in his Sherlock Movies. Of Wayne from Mistborn Second Era. Its top tier entertainment and excellent story making.

I struggled for the most part what I was going to rate this. There was something about the beginning that didnt immediately hook me and I worried I wasn't going to love it like I hoped I would. Eventually I really got in to the groove of it and began falling in love with these characters. So much so that when it started to get really bad for them I got so angry FOR them. I couldn't wait for them to retaliate and come out on top. Then it felt like it took a little TOO long for them to get back on their feet. At this point I was like...hmm I dont know, this may be a bit of 4 star I'm not absolutely loving it. The last hundred or so pages though really pulled it all together.

In essence it was a WILD ride, quite compelling, there were high and lows. Victories and Defeats. It was actually pretty extraordinary and Im looking forward to continuing this story. I hope to see this family of Gentlemen Bastards grow!

I didnt know quite where to put this in my review but I really wanted to talk about the world. It's basically Victorian Venice. But theres alchemy and a deep rooted magic history. What I found interesting though is it still isnt that different from our world. So it doesnt really hold your hand and present its world as if its a grand epic fantasy. It sort of feels like your studying abroad and where your studying just happens to have alchemical lights and unbreakable structures and you just think, "Oh, this is cool. We dont have this where im from. Neato." I hope this makes sense to those who have read it?
Side note Im Italian, so the Venice scenery plus the Italian inspiration of names was cool. I hope we see more of Camorra in the future!

Elantris | Review

I can see why this isn't Sandersons strongest book and considered his "rough" entry to his collection. But it still is fascinatingly well developed. Far better than most author's first novels.

(Before we begin let me point out this is my favorite of the UK cover Sanderson books. Greens a favorite color of mine and this cover really perfectly sets the scene for the book!)
Here are my cons and reason for a 4 star:

The Pacing:
I usually wish Sanderson could devise a way to make his books shorter as they are usually pretty chunky. But they usually serve their purpose with their page count. Unfortunately I don't think so with this one. I really feel like the first 50% is uncomfortably stretched too thin, though the last 50% hit pretty hard in a good way.

The World:
Funnily enough the world is also a pro, but for different reasons. Im more referring to the world at present as we read through it. Now granted the way he describes Elantris is interesting because its SUPPOSED to be awful. But besides that no other description of the the scenery or location was particularly interesting. This made the long read all the more painful.

The Side Characters:
Im not gonna lie, it probably has to do with the names?(But I read Stormlight and remember the characters better there) But I could not remember the difference between most of the characters. In one particular scene where s**** was hitting the fan I was getting completely confused who was doing what and such.

Yup, that's it, just those things. Without those it would definitely be a 5 star read. Its just unfortunate that these exact two things make rereading it unlikely.

The Pros |

The World: (We'll get to this first since we've already briefly talked about it.)
I felt the lore he created for the world was fascinating. I thought how religion played such a big part was unique. The idea behind the magic system and history of  the lands all were VERY interesting. Though I dont mind it I should point out that unless Im mistaken its entirely related to us through exposition. (I really dont mind it just because I dont know how else he would make us aware of it. I can atleast say I didnt feel like it was all at once and he it spread out, and even fed to us naturally through conversations between characters who are also not aware of the information that is being told.)

The Twisty Twists:
If this isnt your first Sanderson book you know that his reveals and twists are usually exquisite. Though this one doesnt hit as hard as other books of his it was still interesting to see things unfold as the characters solve the mystery. Speaking of which...

The Characters:
I quite enjoyed our main cast of characters. Raodin's wholesome outlook on his people was balanced by Sarene's intellectual maneuvering as we went back and forth between them.
I feel like the good twists come to us in the way the characters develop more so than the plot. In particular I think readers will appreciate how Sanderson handles his antagonist.

I think the stand out thought after finishing the book was I like how we can learn from the success as well as failures of the people in the story. (And the characters realize this as well.) I also very much like the gray area some characters take on. Maybe slight spoiler, but I dont think Ill see Severus Snape the same again after reading this book. I feel like it did what JK Rowling was trying to do with Snape but doesnt quite succeed with.

New Year Book Tag

Question 1. How many books do you want to read?
Last year I crushed my reading goal of 19 by reading 43 books. I was unsure if I thought I could do more this year but am hoping I can atleast match it. So in honor of 2020 my goal will be to read 20+20=40 books!

Question 2. What 5 books did you not get to in 2019 that you want to make a priority in 2020?
1. This is probably cheating since I already started it, but The Lies of Locke Lamora were ALL over my 2019 TBR and I never got to it. So it's literally the first book of 2020 Im reading!
2. Similarly I'm getting to Sandersons first book, and have already started: Elantris.
3. Sticking with Sanderson my 3rd book is Warbreaker. It was actually going to be the FIRST Sanderson book I ever read, and planned to read in 2019. But I discovered Mistborn and everything just kind snowballed from there. Im currently caught up on all his big series (Stormlight and Mistborn both era's) So I figured I'd finally get to his smaller stuff.
4. Speaking of which. Skywards sequel Starsight came out...never got around to. So that ones on the list.
5. You thought I was done with Sanderson? Not quite. I spent the better part of 2 years trying to find a decent Superhero themed novel. So far no such luck. Steelheart by Sanderson is my shining beacon of hope. I never got to it last year so Im looking forward to finally starting it.
Honorable mentions since 4 of my books were all Sanderson: 4th book of Apollo (Tyrants Tomb) by Riordan. And Red Skies Falling, sequel to Black Wings Beating by Alex London.

Question 3. What Genre do you want to read more of?
Probably still sticking with fantasy. Ive never given too much thought to genre. If it counts I SHOULD get around to alot of graphic novels I have, but hadnt really considered them when making my TBR.

Question 4. 3 non-book related goals in 2020?
1. Finish editing my novel and hopefully publish it. I know its technically book related. But I think they meant "reading" related and this is my BIGGEST goal of 2020 and have to put it in here.
2. Stick to my diet/ lose weight. I need to take better care of myself and I havent been happy with my body lately. I gotta change that around!
3. Work more on my art. I would really like to better myself. Understand programs better, make art Im really proud of!

Question 5. Whats a book you've had forever you still need to read?
Peter and the Sword of Mercy. Book 4 in Peter and the Starcatchers series. I started this series probably a decade and a half ago when my friend owned them. I bought all 4 of them myself about 5 years ago. But I never reread them and still have yet to get to book 4.


Question 6. One word you hope 2020 will be?
Successful.