Crown of Feathers | Review

May their eternal flames burn bright. 

This book had one of the most prominent plot elements that guaranteed I would like it: Phoenixes. At least that's what I thought when it first fell on my doorstep in a lootbox over a year ago. I didnt immediately get to it, but in the months it sat on my shelf I realized something, the more I love something the more critical I am when it's in a story. 

Thankfully, this book still did not disappoint me!

Let's get the negative out of the way first.

Some of the set up wasn't well done. It made me lose interest so that when the good stuff started happening I had wished I would have paid better attention. In general toward the end with all the twists/ reveals I found myself regretting I wasn't more perceptive and took care to read the interlude notes and letters. 

Lastly I didn't quite understand the point of the male/ female disparity. I almost wonder if the author put it just because she wanted a parallel to how women have been unfairly treated in real life. Because besides women not being able to be riders in this new era, in the history women are strong and the greatest leaders. It actually seems like they are the most powerful, even saying that female phoenixes are the fiercer fighters and the only shadow mages we are aware of have been females. I just feel like this didn't have to exist in the story and rubbed me the wrong way. I'm just glad the author balanced it with really good male characters as well. Instead of choosing to create a world where every guy is bad and only women can do things, yet somehow are still disenfranchised. Like some really bad feminist novels/ movies have attempted. I thought it would take a different route and I wouldn't even include it when explaining and recommending it to other readers like it was to me.

What I liked:

Characters:

Most of the characters I liked. I don't think there was any I disliked. Veronyka had a brief stint of the cliched, "New person who is actually really talented and strong." Which leads to a disagreement and tension with another character. I was VERY thankful they got over this quickly and actually opened up to a very honest conversation about why this affected the characters. It sadly rare how well and often this characterization is done.

I was most interested in Zev and what he was doing. I think his point of view was unique and Im very intrigued to see what happens to him in the sequel. I hope he can find Kade again! I greatly appreciated the authors subtle representation of a queer character. Its not the point of him at all, he just happens to be queer.

Val was also incredibly compelling in her blunt, fierce attitude. I was always concerned yet curious what was going on with her.

Lore:

There was definitely a couple of info dumps, but it usually came up in relevance to what was happening. I'm intrigued with the world and as I said before wish I would have paid a little more attention to the interlude letters and such. But I think it makes a reread of this book all the more interesting! 

Plot:

I think the reveals of this book were insanely compelling and had me regretting I wasn't paying attention more in the earlier parts of the book. But I loved who these characters turned out to be and how they were all connected to each other by the end!

Conclusion:

I am very excited to see where our characters go from here. I look forward to more Phoenixes as this book had a lot of introduction to characters and the world but not alot of real communication with the phoenixes. I think we should be getting alot more from Val, and Zaphyra and Veronyka in the sequel. I know the second book is huge, and am fascinated to know what the author plans on revealing to us!

The Last Sun

The Last Sun is unapologetically blunt. With its characters, their dialogue and alot of its scenes. I however, had a lot of issues with this book as I was reading and decided to DNF just after the halfway mark.
I probably could have pushed through, but just based on some of the reviews and my current feelings I can already tell Im not going to care for some of the relationship and plot developments.

Most of my positives have a negative side. So lets begin:

I want to first praise his writing. Though the dialogue was odd (he always put I said BEFORE whatever the line was, which I dont think Ive ever seen in a book before) most of the descriptions were really well done, particularly in fight scenes. So let's first get into the fight scenes because there was...alot of them.
For the positive, as I said, the way he described his magic and how it performed was really interesting:
"The Fire spell I stored flushed through me like a fever,:
"A Frost spell shivered loose."
"Its illumination was wildly disproportionate; shadows tripped over each other as they receded into corners and cracks."
A lot of lines like this really made the scenes interesting to read, and boy did they need to be because there was just too mamy. If you like fighting for the sake of fighting then this is good for you, but I did not enjoy it. I've learned and grown to think that most scenes should have a reason behind them. To set up something, or explain. But here was just too much action that it comes across more as fluff. In my opinion ever fight scene should build character, set up a plot, or reveal/explain more about the powers. I didnt feel like most of his scenes did this.

Speaking of powers and set up, lets move on to the world building and magic. The best positive I can come up with is it's interesting. The author clearly has alot of ideas and incorporated alot of mythology of magic. The author unapologetically is vague in how the world works. Theres no hand holding, it speaks to us like the way this world works is obvious. I dont think I disliked this, but I was so aware that this is a dangerous way to write that I think it just distracted me.
I did like the idea of translocated places. Most of the buildings in this New Atlantis came from real places teleported by magic. But that in itself is weird and New Atlantis in general is odd and vague.
Although the author clearly has some creativity and talent behind his world, it still felt a little amateurish with no direction as he just threw in any interesting magic he came across during his time of consuming stories throughout his life.
Theres the tarot, the probability and future seers, dark magic, untamed magic, undead, golems, were-creatures, resurrection. Everything is thrown together without showing rules or a system for the magic, it is very messy. (Keep in mind this is just what I consumed in the first half)

Im going to have to segue into the characters by first bringing up my distaste for "only the main character can fight" trope. For instance there is a scene where a spectre or ghost I guess is following them, Rune, our main character, throws a shield. (It doesnt really describe what the shield is but it some how traps the spectre) Their companion throws telekinesis, and Rune thinks "Oh telekinesis is versatile but useless against a spectre." Because of course it is, b/c the magic isnt being used by the Main Character, this stuff got very tiring.

So lets continue to move on to the characters, what I think most people ended up liking. I think Rune is cool, his name is neat and not the worst protagonist. Like I said the fact that he is the main competent fighter can get cliche and irritating. It kind of gets worst as he has this habit of showing flashes of his "aspect" and just acts cocky as fuck like he's unstoppable. Him and Brand are very intense with each other, the dialogue has a nice way of showing how comfortable they are with each other, but some time its too blunt and immature. Speaking of which, the characters are supposed to be, I think 35, but they dont act like it. Similarly there is a character they essentially adopt who is 17, who acts like a 17 year old at first, until he grows too familiar with Rune and Brand and then he starts acting like an 8 year old. Not good stuff.

An example toward the end of my reading which started to tip me over the edge of getting over this book is a scene where a bunch of mages save Rune. They put up a large fire wall to stop the undead, but for some reason left Brand on the other side. (Even though he was right next to Rune) Rune has ENOUGH TIME to pick a fight with the lady, assume his aspect form, the strongest its ever been, and push her aside, grab brand and the and then the lady just jumps back up to continue the wall, it is resumed and all the undead hit it and die. So I just had to roll my eyes and ask, what was the point of this, why was this lady mage so determined not to help Brand? This is just an example of forced tension and fights to impress us, or to show how strong the MC is. I didnt like it.

A page or two later Brand gives Rune shit bc he got out of breath when running from monsters. Yet he didnt make it any farther? Stop picking on each other just to be quirky and bitchy.

I couldn't believe by the time I got the the 50% mark I was only halfway done. It seemed like they already went through alot and that the story should be wrapping up. This book drags, its why I hate the necessary fights that add nothing, and dumb moments like the zombie fire line. The chapters really are too long, its ruins the flow of the story and exaggerates its length.

Sometimes when you like a book enough small things dont bother you. Thats when i knew I needed to put it down.

For instance, they end a chapter talking about the legend that liches are so powerful that they ruin nations. But they are so rare that most people think they are a myth, and what nations are they talking about? This book is in OUR world, so wouldnt we know the nation that they destroyed.

Its unfortunate I didnt end up liking this. Gay protagonist, Sun themed powers, magic. But there was just too many issue.

Apollo Book 4

I understood heartache a little better now. Each persons grief has its own life span. It needs to follow it own path.

Evil undead Emperor yelling at a cat. Made my day.

This installment of Trials of Apollo has us picking up from where we left off after the death of Jason Grace. This story seems to take its time and really focus on its characters. Apollo is even more humanized and we learn alot more about mistakes he's made and the consequences that follow him.

I can't say I saw alot of bad in this book. But it also didnt overly excite me. Riordan continues to grow from his "middle grade" books as this story covers alot of loss, stressful expectations and regret.

We spend almost the whole time in New Rome, which is of course an exciting throw back to the series we've loved and learned from. We have some returning characters, and some plot threads from the past series are even tied up here.

One of my favorite things about this series so far is successfully making this universe feel alive, diverse, and it doesn't come off as "scripted." The casual way characters we've read about come and go is really interesting. I also love this because it doesn't feel like Riordan is just throwing in characters for fan service. So many of them come and go too that at some point you run into your favorite again. Whether it's Percy, Grover, Jason, Frank, Hazel. etc they've found a very natural place in this story.

Another positive I want to bring up (that was a negative for the 3rd one) is that we are seeing Apollo come back into his powers more. I didnt like how after his revitalization of some of his abilities from book 2 (which I still think is the best so far) he seemed to have lost them in the 3rd installment. He shows alot more competence now and I appreciate his growth and recovery.

I am, however, ready to have Apollo accept that he has changed and just work toward winning. I didnt think we would be going into book 5 with Apollo still having alot of issues with his confidence. I would like him to have the confidence from his Godihood restored, just without the cockiness. I want to see him play his music with purpose and know its right, I want him to pick up his bow and loose an arrow knowing it will find its mark. (He did that quite a bit here but he always added how he was "surprised that he had hit his mark") Lastly, as a fan of the Sun aspect, I would like him to grow into some of those powers.

I am very hopeful of the finale! We are returning to New York, which means Camp Half-Blood and I'm excited to see Apollo complete his journey and see which friends we will run into along the way!

Firefight | Review

After the death of Steelheart at the hands of David we find the Reckoners of Newcago plagued by assassination attempts from the leader of Babylon restored, previously known as Manhattan.

In the sequel to Sandersons Reckoners series we are transported to a very unique new city. The leader of Babylon Restored, Regalia, possessing immense control of water has flooded the city. Leading to people living off of the rooftops of the city. But that isnt the only new feature of this city. Strange aspects of the city also include plants and trees that grow indoor without needing sun. Warm waters that are irregular. And most interestingly, paint and fruit that glows like neon lights after the sun goes own, attributing to the citizens more nocturnal way of life.

I enjoyed the world of Firefight more than Steelheart. It reminded me of one of my favorite series, Infamous 1 and 2. (which also played with good and evil morality) Which leads me to my next favorite thing about this book. After the discovery of the uncontrollable urges the Epics get, from book one, we are often faced with these choices and ideas as The Reckoners work to kill the epics.

This struggle is all the more personal as David struggles to help Prof become the Hero he thinks he could be. And theres not just Prof. There is former Reckoner traitor Firefight that David has to deal with. Which leads me to my NEXT favorite part of the book. Megan, without a doubt, makes this book all the more better. When she comes back into the story and any scenes shes in, she immediately piques my interest and had me wanting to read more. No offense to David, but on his own I'm just...not a fan.

This finally brings me to my only negative really. Im still not vibing with Davids quirkiness. I REALLY wish I could like David more, it would make this almost a perfect series for me. But his metaphors or similes quirk just puts me off. What actually helped me like his character (and secure that 5 star rating) is with the addition of this unique city we see David dealing with a phobia of water. It was a very nice touch on Sandersons part to introduce this weakness to our protagonist. It make the location feel more interesting and dynamic.

I am happy to say though that alot of the potential issues with Davids more "perverse" thinking is simmered down in this one. He still has his wandering eye, but honestly it feels natural, I dont think its uncommon to linger on the physicality of the people around us. Leaving behind Abraham and Cody we also learn about a new team of Reckoners. They have their own unique personalities and I felt this new team helped make the sequel refreshing.

Lastly I just got to say that the last quarter of this book KNOCKED it out of the park. I love trusting Sanderson to start pulling in his foreshadowing and hints so that we just slammed with nonstop reveals that leave me exhilarated and excited for what comes next. Not to mention we started getting hints at Calamity. This ending just has me thinking I have no idea how Sanderson will finish up this trilogy but I'm excited.

If you dont want any hints I would consider this next part spoilers:
But Im so happy how this Superhero series is turning out. I didnt expect it to be all Powered people are Villians, and after this we are starting to see some exciting turns into Heroes fighting Villains. Fingers crossed that a certain event in this book that SEEMS to have no changed a character, is utilized in book three.