Injustice Year 2

I'm assuming you're going into this series having played the Injustice game. With that assumption in mind this 2nd book (as Im sure most will be) is incredibly painful. There's so much hope and you're rooting for them to win even though you already know the eventual outcome.

This was honestly pretty great though. The art was amazing, and the story was incredible. There's a couple of things I wanted to point out I liked.

It was cool how they made use of the visual media that is comics to have Sinestro telling his backstory that sounds sympathetic, but the panels reveal him twisting the truth so we, the reader, know what really happened. I really liked that part.

I love Black Canary being a bad ass bitch, standing up to Superman, making his ears bleed.She was my favorite part about this book and happens to be my favorite part about Injustice 2!

I've never much cared for Commissioner Gordon, I understand why here's there and I kinda just let him do his thing. But DAMN did they make him look good. He was awesome, powerful (in the human spirit, and then with the Superman pills) and it was an amazing send off to him. Hats off to you Commissioner.

The chapter with Sinestro and GL was interesting, I liked how they both basically agreed they didnt trust anyone to have this weapon, including Superman. Though I didnt really know what was happening or what the weapon was , the message was clear.

One of my favorite things about Injustice is that Lex Luthor is actually a good guy. I like that this is his true character all along, to fight for and save humanity against aliens. And its cool to see his character in the right for once, will logical reasoning.

Lets get to the GREAT storytelling, but things that hurt me/ made me angry. (It was done on purpose, this isn't negatives lol)

THEY KILLED THE SQUIRREL :( thats all Ill say about that...RIP Ch'p.

 Honestly...Hal Jordan, went from a straight up idiot, to my most hated character. In Injustice 2, I see why no one wanted to forgive him. Fck Hal Jordan.

Lastly, let's end it on the serious dissection and point of this book. The Green Lantern war stemmed from the concept of the GL Corp letting planets do what they do to itself and each other. They are guardians, but they protect outside enemies from destroying a planet, but dont dictate what a planet does to itself. Is this Wise? I dont know, but its an interesting debate and makes for a complicated argument that fueled this book and made it so great.

The Rage of Dragons | Review

Can you not imagine a world where we work as hard for Peace as we do for War?

Yes! This book was great! I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. The world was incredibly interesting, and yet you KNOW there is so little you know about it. The entire time you can tell you're only hearing about how the "world is" from just these people and that skews the truth. This story is Spartacus (the Starz Tvshow) meets Black Panther, and I love it.

This story is ultimately a journey for our main character Tau. And it is INTENSE, I honestly get tired just reading about his struggle. He is already a commoner, just trying to get by and live with his love as best he can. Then a terrible event in his life puts him on a path for Vengeance, and it BREAKS him in some ways, and makes him stronger in others.

I've never appreciated a love side plot more, it was perfect, wasnt over done, wasnt the focus, but you cared for both sides!

There's alot of gray area in this world and our heroes. It's incredibly gripping and thought provoking. 

Sanderson is usually the first name I would mention when I think of set ups for amazing moments in books. But Evan Winter is now on that list. The way he sets up certain events earlier in the book to pay off later are cleverly and intriguingly done.

The stakes are incredibly high and there's so much tension and twists!

-You'll stand in a world of char and ash.

-But I'll stand.

I wanted to point out the one difficulty with the book. It's diverse, and that's amazing, he has a glossary, and that's amazing, BUT these names were KILLING me. I would never recommend to change them or make them more digestible but I gotta say, besides the main character Tau and Zuri, I don't know what ANY of the other names are. Or most of the names of the powers or people. (Luckily the glossary atleast has those)

I would definitely recommend the audio book too. I shifted back and forth between it, and the narrator is amazing!

I do have some questions about the rules and story that may have been missed in translation but I walked away chilled at the events of these book and eager to see what awaits us for his future installments.

A dragon had been called, and someone would have to die.

Master and Apprentice

People are more than their worst act. At least, most people. And they are also more than the worst thing ever done to them.

I was pleasantly surprised by this! If you're a fan of star wars (which Id say you definitely have to be to read this) then you may be aware that good Star Wars novels are hard to come by.

I couldn't really find any negatives to go with this. My only grievance is that the "villain" in the end, though interesting, seemed kind of rushed and out of character. I also found it odd how there seemed to be NO mention of telekinesis by the force. There were many instances where they used it simply as a way to sense people/ emotions and danger, or to just augment their physical abilities.

Besides that I think this was great. I was hoping for a story that actually shows their bond and them working well together, not conflicting so much. But I think that the way the book went was more compelling. Though they still work well together as a team, they butt heads alot on whats right and the proper way to handle things. The way they still respect each other even through their tumultuous relationship shows a depth I wasn't expecting.

I think the book presents its moral quandaries in a compelling, and not pandering way. Slavery, Light vs. the Dark, The Council. It was surprisingly deep.

The plot isn't super deep, which I like. I, oddly enough, enjoy the 'simpler' times of just Jedi questing and such. I liked that it was less "Galaxy Ending"

I really liked how it shows a bit of Qui-Gon and Dooku when they were younger. And I surprisingly liked the two side characters they threw in. Pax and Rahara, at first I didnt really care because I just wanted to get to the Jedi. But they were still sparsely put in and I like seeing Jedi interact with different people.

I wanted to dive into some connection/ foreshadowing the book has because that's why we're hear right? To see one of out favorite characters as a Padawan.

-There is a part where Obi-Wan says there can never be a lightsaber fight to the death, because Jedi dont fight each other....that one hurt. If only he knew what was coming lol.

-A big plot contention is Qui-Gon becoming invested and studying prophesies. Which as we all know connects to when he meets Anankin on Tattooine and believes hes part of the Chosen One prophecy. This also shows/ gives the reasoning to the fall of Dooku, which I didnt expect to see in this book.

-One of my favorite parts is when Obi-Wan connects with a Varactyl and enjoys riding it. For those who may not know, a Varactyl is the very animal Obi-Wan uses in the 3rd movie to pursue Greivous. Makes the scene where it gets shot and falls off the mountain even more sad. BUT it doesnt show the Varactyl die, and neither did Obi-Wan so Im going to assume they both made it :)

It matters which side we choose. Even if there will never be more light than darkness. Even if there can be no more joy in the galaxy than there is pain. For every action we undertake, for every work we speak, for every life we touch - it matters. I don't turn toward the light because it means someday I'll 'win' some sort of cosmic game. I turned toward it because it is the light."

-Im glad this next part was finally addressed. We get through most of the book Obi-Wan liking flying. I kept thinking this off because I specifically remember him hating it. But at the end he finally goes through something so crazy he resigns to hate flying. So I'm glad that was consistent.

-Finally, if you you followed The Clone Wars (and the brief mention at the end of the 3rd movie) we know that Qui-Gon learned how to be a force ghost. And this is actually nicely alluded to and set up here.
"The danger came in thinking that knowing the future became a form of control over it. Finally Qui-Gon understood it was the exact opposite. Knowing the future meant surrendering to fate. Surrendering to the ebb and flow of life. Only though that surrender could the Force be truly known."
Im not an expert on force philosophy or Star Wars lore. But that seems to be what allows the Jedi to be ghost. Its what Obi-Wan eventually does in episode 4 when he allows Vader to cut him down. Accepting fate and flowing with the force.

I lastly wanted to discuss some specific grievances that involve spoilers, so beware that below:

-Rael Aveross and his padawans death. This kind of ropes in the lack of telekinetic force. It seemed to me her death was completely unnecessary. They (I think) introduced this nano-bot dart that causes someone else to control your motor functions. NOT the mind of someone. (If I read that correctly) That in itself is...odd. But that happens to his apprentice so she starts attacking him. I find it hard to believe nanobots could make her perform any kind of competent fighting maneuvers, so Rael should have easily been able to disarm her, or at the minimum cut off a limb or something. (Star Wars is famous for it) Or atleast force push her or something. I just dont understand why he had to go for the killing blow. It just seemed avoidable, but when a book isnt riddled in issues stuff like this is easier to look past and just focus on the IDEA of his plot which is a grieving Master trying to do anything he can to make up for her loss. (Which I like he admits can never happen.)

-Fanry, most of her reveal, though I didnt expect, was oddly intense. I mean just because the characters say they didnt expect it doesnt make it any more believable. I understand her reasoning, but then it immediately goes into her really doing it for her self and to seize power. I think the idea could still work, but it wasnt set up well. (Besides the earlier mention that she may be young, but other rulers are just as young if not younger. Shout out to Padme when she mentions Naboo lol, though I dont think that timing matches up)
I also thought that Obi-Wan planned himself to put that fake kyber crystal in his light saber. I was like, damn Kenobi, thats hella smart. So, though it was set up nicely that Fanry planned this by seeing how his lightsaber worked, I still liked the idea that Obi-Wan figured it out.

But thats it for my review, or more like discussion, of Master and Apprentice. I recommend it to any fan of Star Wars!

Soul of the Sword

The Sequel to Shadow of the Fox: Soul of the Sword.

I feel the sequel suffers from a case of Middle Book syndrome.
I felt it had unnecessary POV's, book was too long, and honestly not a lot happened.

I will say the characters stayed consistent and the build up to the ending, where our characters learn what they need to to defeat the bad guy works well.

I dont recommend the audio book, it wasn't super great.

Over all it was decent, if you liked the first book and the characters, this is worth a shot to bridge you over to the 3rd one, which I heard was better (and shorter).

Serpent and Dove

Ill have to admit starting off that I listened to this book on audio book. Usually while I was simultaneously doing something else at the same time. So where I know all the events that have happened I probably missed some of the nuances and build up.

Serpent and Dove was a pretty grim tale of a bad ass girl just trying to survive. When I heard everyone describe it, I imagined this sneaky witch going off to some village or big estate or something. Just something that made the story feel a little more fun, or light. I was kind of disappointed that it entirely took place in a church...basically? Or some kind of monastery for "templars".

Over all I think the characters and the relationships saves this book. Most of them are nuanced and interesting. Coco and Lou's love for each other is refreshing. Ansel is a treat. It really shows alot of grounded characters, people who may be stuck in their ways but slowly open up and realize more about the world by the end.

Lou really is the star I think. I loved her attitude, her confidence and strength, given all shes been through. She makes this kind of dreary world a little more fun.

The story is centered around Lou hiding among witch hunters while trying to practice magic and defeat her mother. This is where my lack of attention may show my ignorance. But I dont recall her practicing magic much. I didnt really see her building a plan against her mother, and the beginning centers around her stealing a magic ring, and she hardly uses it.

There is alot of intense reveals toward the end, and they kind of happen all at once. I do recall that there is SOME bread crumbs, so they dont completely come out of left field.

I felt at first that there didn't really seem to be that much magic in a book about magic. But I guess thinking back, there was a good amount considering the situation they were in.

I want to point out one thing that DEFINITELY will have me coming back for the sequel. But it is spoilers so stop here if you dont want to know.

I LOVE that Reid has magic. While reading this book I kept thinking, I wish there was more books with men and magic. Too many stories are always about how only women have magic. So the fact that Reid is actually a mage, considering his history is super interesting, and I cant wait to find out more.
Side note, Im not sure how Coco's Aunt's name drop at the end was significant. I feel like I missed a story that discussed her, or its just a mystery to keep you reading, because Reids like, "Oh shit."

The Infinite Noise | Review

Very quirky and beautifully written story about a boy who discovers a difficult power and someone who helps him understand.
This book was primarily a 4 star for most of the book, with the ending dropping it to a 3. I'm going to talk about most of my feelings and even though it reveals some of the plot, its not really spoilers because it's what you should be expecting. I actually think if you go into the book with these expectations you may like it more.

So first I will start with all I THOUGHT I knew about this book before starting. I knew it had gay representation. I thought it was about a jock who had the ability to read minds and ended up connecting with a nerdy, introverted fellow student.

The first thing I was wrong about, and actually glad I was, is that he doesn't have telepathy but Empathy. Which is the power to feel emotions of others, not read their minds. Which I think actually works so much better, the author really had fun painting this power for us to imagine. It was more unique and it adds a lot more tension and drama because the feelings make it difficult to control what are ACTUALLY HIS emotions and when they are OTHERS emotions. It also get's a lot deeper and expands more on these abilities and emotions that I thought it would. Pleasantly surprised!

This was really interesting and made one of the main points of our second character, Adam, more intriguing because he suffers through depression. Reading about depression through the emphatic color filter was so palpable.

Unfortunately, this brings me to my first thing I was "wrong" about. I say wrong in quotations because it was more that I didn't know if Caleb and Adam were actually going to get together. And as someone who REALLY enjoys gay novels, I found myself for the first time hoping this was going to remain a platonic relationship. That is definitely not the case.
I felt this way because honestly Adam and Caleb helping each other understand their conditions in a platonic way felt so much more meaningful and special. I cant completely explain how but they just didnt "fit" (which is funny because one of the other characters LITERALLY say that they do)
I mean sure they were cute, and not a bad couple, but I just didnt feel it and felt dissapointed it didnt turn out differently.
Furthermore, on this topic, as I stated above: Caleb feels others emotions which begin to effect his own. So I thought (when I still wasnt 100% sure they would get together) that he actually didnt like Adam and he was just feeling what Adam felt for him. It did not turn out this way and he ended up liking Adam for HIS feelings. There is this vagueness about whether Caleb is ACTUALLY gay its kind just "I dont know, I just like Adam." Which is...not necessarily bad, but I feel like it wasn't pulled off well. I still didnt understand and couldn't feel why Caleb chose Adam as a romantic partner. I actually thought there was this nice underlying theme about getting to know someone and changing their negative feelings but reaching out and just BEING there for someone. So I felt this missed opportunity to show this WITHOUT romance.
It really didnt feel like Adam or Caleb should be looking for a romantic partner during their time, but rather a platonic one. Hell if you take out anytime Caleb says hes interested in being physical with Adam, or any of their physical scenes, it could basically remain the same. I think it would feel more natural. It would be beautiful for a gay person to find a deep bond with a straight guy and they could share their emotions and secrets without it developing to romance.

Regardless of all of this, I still liked it and had a good four star experience. That is until the end. So the rest will be my spoiler discussion of the end.
So if you haven't read the book I will briefly describe that throughout the book it is revealed there are other people like Caleb who have special powers. (One of them even, briefly introduced, Damien, has his origin story explained in book 2.) And theres a vague hint of an organization that "studies" them. All of a sudden close to the end (where it really felt like the author didnt know how she wanted to end it) we have a telepath read the minds of Adams parents (who were VERY un subtly described as clearly working on/ being aware of people with powers) and we find out they had something to do with experiments on people with powers.
We get a VERY clunky and awkward scene where Caleb just tells his therapist (Dr Bright who works with powered people) and Adam what the Telepath, Chloe, said. They both kind of freak out and Caleb just leaves. Then we get these very short, one page chapters, about them thinking about each other all summer but not talking. (Yeah the author completely skips over Summer, which I have a HUGE biased for because I love summer and was looking forward to a really cute ending in the Summer) Then at the end they just come back together apologize and makeup and get back together. I HONESTLY dont know why they had to skip all the way to the school year again EXCEPT I guess to show a scene where Caleb stands up for Adam one more time?
Lastly, Adams depression, though not entirely forgotten necessarily, but is left completely undeveloped. I was really looking forward to them address and getting some really good moments of it.
I feel like the author spent WAY to much of the book dragging her feet on getting them together and sorting out their feelings for each other, that she could have cut alot of that out and been able to expand on the end and not rush it. It was so close to be a solid GREAT book.
I just felt SO wanting by the end of this book, it was pretty sad and disappointing.

But that is a wrap up of my review for The Infinite Noise. With the right expectations you can get a pretty fun story, and some beautifully written powers.

Steelheart | Review

Fast-paced, extreme, and gripping. This book was quite a ride. I knew it was a "super hero" book written by my literary hero Brandon Sanderson, and I knew it took more of a "evil" villains route, but that's about all I knew going in. 

I was surprised to see that it was completely centered on people who didn't have powers. Adopting a world where super-powered people (or Epics) were almost exclusively villains and took over cities, ruling as dictators. It was actually very intriguing, David describes a lot about Chicago's transformation to a Steel City, and this almost dystopian look at a world ruled by "Gods" was unique way to start a super hero story. 

This became more interesting as we get Abraham's "religion" where he believes one day good Epics will come to save them. It gave me hope that eventually we would be reading from powered people that are good.

I grew really interested in their discussion of whats right and wrong. Megan's point of view was compelling, her thought process to why Steelheart wasn't that bad. Then a couple of chapters later you get Profs perspective of how they shouldn't settle for that to be the normal.
It really shows what kind of tough world they live in, with no right answers, and no perfect way.

I didnt realize at first, but this book has a very similar story to Mistborn. Rag tag group of revolutionist work to take down the big bad. I will say the defining difference is they are more like mercenaries killing ANY Epics and they just happened to be focused on this one because of Davids Vendetta.

I was so intrigued by the mystery of the book the whole way through! Ive gotten used to Sanderson crafting interesting plot reveals, and wanting to know what Steelhearts weakness is Plus the secrets brought up during Part 2's Power Plant scene added even more to the list of curiosities. I'm really interested to find out what would happen and had me on the edge of my seat because I feel like we are pages away from something terrible happening and blowing up in their face.

Unfortunately, there was alot of foreshadowing of Davids plans being risky, and Prof threatening him if David hurt the team. It had me chomping at the bits, but this wasn't really paid off. There was definitely some negatives here, not a perfect story.

I usually dont care for when they input romances in books like this. I grew tired of how often David thought and spoke of Megan. But that really started to turn around during the Part 2 where he talks more about how different she is, and not afraid. It became tolerable once we knew there was a better reason than just, "shes hot". So though the romance wasn't my favorite subplot, it was still handled relatively well with David having alot of self awareness of how ridiculous he was being.

Some other negatives is how sometimes juvenile it came off. There was hardly consequences for David, as I said above, it seemed to foreshadow that his improvisation would lead to some issues, which it never did. David's character also seemed to know a little bit too much about everything but Sanderson softened this by Davids backstory. I mean, he spent 10 years after his fathers death doing nothing but training for this, he had the motivation and the drive to do this. So even if its not a favorable way to write a character, the build up and back story supports this. My final gripe with David is he had this odd "shtick" of basically making bad metaphors. It was kind of cringey. But again, Sanderson cushioned this with David basically being naive as how to be social.
Furthermore, if you read alot of Sanderson, he usually gets creative with his curse words. Mistborn and Stormlight is reasonable. I dont remember if Elantris had it, it probably did. But this book, it just seems unnecessary. We're in our world, not a fantasy one. Using Sparks and Slontze was really weird. I did like Calamity though, it was fitting considering the world that it grew into.

Those were really most of my negatives, it wasn't anything major. Sanderson usually always has the background and build up to why things happen the way they do, so you can understand it, even if you dont like it. I would say, however, if you're a heavy character driven reader, you may not like this. Most of the characters aren't bad, but just seem like back up dressing to David. I think my least favorite is Cody, which again if you've read Sanderson, comes off as his early attempts at Wit (from Stormlight) or Wayne (from Mistborn 2nd Era) His character reasons behind why he acted made sense, but his quirks were still odd.
David, overall, was still really good. I tire of these "young" characters who still win but show not competence throughout the story. I enjoyed how David theorized and how competent he was at what he did. I'm very interested to see how he grows.

In typical Sanderson fashion (which has been a phrase I've been using a while now when reviewing his books) it usually comes down to final reveals, build up, and plot twists. So lets get into some final spoiler discussion about the ending.

Megan - I assumed she hadn't had died, she went out too unceremoniously for that. I really did assume she was an epic. The foreshadowing was alittle ham-fisted, especially in the elevator, and then definitely in the motorcycle chase. I actually thought she was going to be that Epic they killed earlier when getting Davids notes. And she killed the real Megan and took her over. I DIDN'T expect her to be Firefight, which just seems obvious to me now since I figured she was an illusionist, and they said Firefight was illusionist, I'm a little ashamed I didnt piece it together until the final fight when he started to see her.
I thought it was interesting, and a nice touch, that her powers faked the dowser test.
Over all I think it was interesting, I was hoping she more faked her death than actually reincarnated, that was super out of left field and didnt as much care for that reveal. I like that we didnt get any kind of reciprocation of the romance from her in this book.
She obviously raises big question about how them using their powers "changes them", so Im intrigued for the sequel.

Prof - I also didnt catch him being a Epic until the final fight where I began to assume that he just wore gloves to make it look like he wasn't an Epic. I REALLY didn't see him being able to gift them. I thought that was super interesting. I actually just thought that he was one of the Epic's experimented on, and he escaped, killing the scientists and taking the technology they made from him.
I, ofcourse, didnt bring this up in my non spoiler, but I like how this reveal DID give us that plot of "good" Epics stopping bad. It doesnt even diminish the "regular people " stopping Epics because thats why we have David.
Just like with Megan we have this whole mystery as to what happens to them when they use their powers.

Steelheart- I DID not guess the Fear weakness. That was pretty cool. I liked how it still wasn't obvious and kept me in suspense the whole book, its why I read it so fast, I NEEDED to know what it was!

The House in the Cerulean Sea | Review

I am but paper. Brittle and thin.

This book was incredible. I wish I could remember how it first came to me, perhaps it was the cover, perhaps a random passing recommendation, but whatever put it in my path, I'm so thankful for it!

I am held up to the sun, and it shines right through me.

I absolutely loved this book. A touching story, set it a world oh so similar to ours, where a middle aged man, who struggles with his confidence and self worth, works as a child protective service representative for magical children. He has been in the same position for many years, and though he truly cares for the children that he's assessing, wanting them to have safe homes, he's never let himself get too close. But then he goes to a fairy tale like ocean village with an island on the cerulean sea and finds something he never thought he would have, or even dreamed of. And they found him.

These scratches are a history. They're a story. They tell things for others to read, but they only see the words, and not what the words on written upon.

This story, though completely new, threw me into a sense of nostalgia. For me at least, this book was heavily reminiscent of those stories read to you in elementary school. Wholesome, sweet, with a strong message and an ending that may leave your memory with time, but never your heart.

I am but paper, though there are many like me, none are exactly the same.

I really only have one negative. And that is when they begin to address the injustice/ hatred humans have for magical beings, it comes off a little hard. Like it really drills in with questions and leaves little for the readings imaginations. But truly, doesn't effect the book for me overall.

It still had beautiful people, lessons, words. I would definitely say I'm a very emotional person, but sometimes its hard with books, alot easier with visual media because the acting helps. So it REALLY means something when I can tear up and get all choked up with a book.

This book left me feeling so good and I love the idea of this place. I would dare say, if someone asked me: "Wish you were here?" I would say yes, of course yes.