BOOKS | Review: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

Name: The Wolf and the Woodsman

Author: Ava Reid

Publisher: Del Rey

Date published: June 2021

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 418

Rating: 4/5

 

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.
But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.
As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

- From Goodreads.

This was a well-told story with a wonderfully detailed world, an intriguing plot and real characters. I liked the way the author used real world history and religion as a basis to create their world and plot and also added their own unique details to it. It was very well crafted and you could tell a lot of time and care had gone into telling the story. I also liked that the main character travelled quite a bit so we got to see a lot of the world that had been created and the characters that lived in it.

The plot was interesting and took several twists and turns that I was not expecting. There were times I felt a little less invested and could not follow along as easily with what was happening, but mostly I enjoyed the story and liked how it developed and felt generally satisfied with the ending. I also liked that throughout the story mostly Évike, but other characters too, told stories, stories from their religions or their history or legends. It added more depth to the world and story and made the book feel like an ancient adventurer's story, passed on and retold over the years.

I really liked the romance between Évike and Gáspár and was invested in them both as individual characters and together. There were moments when I did not love how their relationship developed or I felt something that happened between them did not impact me as much as it should have, but overall I did really like the two of them and wanted things to end well for them.

Overall, it was a very immersive story, told with descriptive and almost poetic writing, that felt very emotional and real, even with the magical elements, which were very creative and exciting to read. I would definitely recommend it if you liked Uprooted by Naomi Novik as it certainly had the magical, dark forest, complex word building and compelling relationship elements that book has too, although this book still feels like a unique story of its own.

BOOKS | Review: The Scarecrow Queen by Melinda Salisbury

Name: The Scarecrow Queen (The Sin Eater's Daughter series #3)

Author: Melinda Salisbury

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Date published: October 2017

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 376

Rating: 4/5

The final battle is coming... As the Sleeping Prince tightens his hold on Lormere and Tregellan, the net closes in on the ragged band of rebels trying desperately to defeat him. Twylla and Errin are separated, isolated, and running out of time. The final battle is coming, and Aurek will stop at nothing to keep the throne forever. 

- From Goodreads.

I definitely enjoyed The Scarecrow Queen the most out of the books in the trilogy, however I still found it a little hard to differentiate between Twylla and Errin, the two main characters, in terms of their personalities. Twylla was supposed to be the quieter one and Errin the more passionate, but I still had some trouble distinguishing their voices in the narrative, although I found them both likeable and was still rooting for them.

This book certainly had the best plot out of the three in the series, so the trilogy certainly escalated well in terms of risk and the possibilities of what could happen. It was thrilling and kept me turning the pages, excited to see what would happen next.

The Sleeping Prince continued to be a truly terrifying villain, he did some absolutely awful things that made him frightening and made you understand why the characters hated him and wanted to defeat him, and yet he still had strangely charming or thoughtful moments that kept him interesting.

I was glad at the direction the romantic relationships went in as the chemistry and feelings between all of the characters felt right. However, towards the end of the book there were some arguments between one of the couples that felt placed into the story just for added drama which felt unnecessary when the rest of the story had drama enough and the rest of the time the characters had become quite good at communicating and had grown as people, so the arguments felt out of character.

Overall, it felt like a good conclusion to the series and was definitely the book I preferred most out of the three. The ending felt it was lacking slightly in Errin's side of the story and since we had followed her story so closely in the second book, it felt like we got less of in this one and her story did not feel as wrapped up as Twylla's, but other than that I felt satisfied with how the story ended and where the characters were at the end of their journeys.

BOOKS | Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

Name: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Author: V.E. Schwab

Publisher: Titan Books

Date published: October 2020 (this edition 2021)

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, historical, romance

Pages: 560

Rating: 5/5

 

When Addie LaRue makes a pact with the devil, she trades her soul for immortality. But there's always a price – the devil takes away her place in the world, cursing her to be forgotten by everyone.
Addie flees her tiny home town in 18th-Century France, beginning a journey that takes her across the world, learning to live a life where no one remembers her and everything she owns is lost and broken. Existing only as a muse for artists throughout history, she learns to fall in love anew every single day.
Her only companion on this journey is her dark devil with hypnotic green eyes, who visits her each year on the anniversary of their deal. Alone in the world, Addie has no choice but to confront him, to understand him, maybe to beat him.
Until one day, in a second hand bookshop in Manhattan, Addie meets someone who remembers her. Suddenly thrust back into a real, normal life, Addie realises she can’t escape her fate forever.
- From Goodreads.

I liked the way that the book told the story, as the narrative jumped back and forth in the timeline. Although I did not know what was going to happen at the end, from the summary of the novel you could tell what the main plot of the novel would be, so the way the story moved back and forth in time definitely added to the mystery and gave a good character driven story an extra suspenseful edge that kept me turning pages.

At first I wondered why we had some parts of the story from Henry's perspective when the book was really Addie's life and story, but the scenes that we did get in his parts of the story were interesting and effective in explaining how he came to be where he was and what his role in the story was. His journey parallels Addie's and he feels invisible in his own way, so it was useful to have his viewpoint as the story went on.

I really enoyed the dynamic between Addie and Luc, the god, or darkness, that she made the deal with. Each moment between them was written so well and perfectly worded. Schwab created the tension of their relationship excellently, creating a situation where they were enemies but not quite, with a connection between them almost like lovers that was glorious to read.

Addie was a very strong character, my heart really felt for her, having to go through everything she did over the course of the book and all the pain she felt, and I was so happy for her when she got to experience moments of real joy. It is just wonderful that we got to spend such a long time with her and came to really understand her and Schwab had the opportunity and took the time to really build her into a complex character. It feels so heartwarming that Schwab created this character who was cursed to be forgotten but then shared her with us and made her completely unforgettable. 

The descriptions were so vivid and written in a way that was wonderful to read, the emotional moments all hit me perfectly and overall I would say this was just a very well written book. I also just have to say that the multiple David Bowie and Labyrinth references throughout the book made me very happy.

Overall it was a truly wonderful book to read and I really enjoyed the experience. It is already a new favourite and definitely confirms that V.E. Schwab is an author I am always going to read.

BOOKS | Review: The Sleeping Prince by Melinda Salisbury

 Name: The Sleeping Prince (The Sin Eater's Daughter series #2)

Author: Melinda Salisbury

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Date published: February 2016

Genre: Fiction, young adult, romance, fantasy

Pages: 373

Rating: 4/5

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.
When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.

- From Goodreads.

The Sleeping Prince definitely felt like an improvement on the first book in the series, The Sin Eater's Daughter. There was more depth to the story, characters and world, although the pacing and plot structure was not so strong, and during the first part of the story I could not really tell where the story was going and it did not feel like it had any forward momentum. However the plot twists towards the end of the book were definitely thrilling and interesting.

I liked reading from Errin's perspective and found her to be a character I could root for, although I think a little more work could have been done to make her more of a distinctive character from Twylla, she just needed a little something more to make her a really memorable character of her own standing, but she was definitely likeable and I could understand her.

The new characters in this book were quite fascinating, I really liked Silas and thought the Sleeping Prince was a good villain. I have to admit none of the mentions of Lief in this book made me like him any more, but there were some other characters I was glad to see return or at least see call backs to.

I enjoyed the continued world building, the explanation of the history of the world and how the legends were built, although at times it was not easy to follow, it was still interesting to read.

I will definitely be reading the third and final book in the trilogy, The Scarecrow Queen, and I am curious to see what happens in it and how the story concludes for everyone.

UNBOXING | Illumicrate Collections: The Night Circus

 

I read The Night Circus last year and really fell in love with it, I really think it is such a magical book, so when Illumicrate announced their special edition for the tenth anniversary of the book, I was really excited to buy it. I am so happy with the book itself, and all of the wonderful items that came with it!

Hanging banner, designed by Sylvia Bi.

Foiled print, designed by Noverantale.

Book tin, designed by rosiethorns88.

Metal bookmark, designed by Danielle.*

Enamel pin, designed by Stacey McEvoy Caunt.

Tea for one tea pot, designed by Chatty Nora.

Exclusive edition of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern with stencilled edges and foiled embossing on the hard cover, signed by the author with an author letter on the front end papers.

I really am so impressed with this box and everything in it, it is all so beautifully designed and each item is so unique and will be wonderful to own. I will definitely be putting the print and banner up in my room and making use of the book mark, tin and the teapot, the pin will look great as part of my pin collection. The book is a really stunning edition, especially under the cover, that will really be a treasure to have and read from. I think the teapot is definitely my favourite, it is just so gorgeous!

If you got this box, what did you think? Let me know in the comments. If you would like to find out more about Illumicrate you can find their website here.

*Usually I would provide a link to find out more about each designer but unfortunately I could not find this artist online.

BOOKS | Review: Bone Crier's Dawn by Kathryn Purdie

Name: Bone Crier's Dawn (Bone Grace series #2)

Author: Kathryn Purdie

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books

Date published: March 2021

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 437

Rating: 4/5

 

 Love is a matter of life and death.
Bone Criers have been ferrying the dead into the afterlife for centuries, a dangerous duty only possible with the powers they gain from sacrificing their amourés, the men destined to love them and die. But Bone Criers Ailesse and Sabine - along with Ailesse’s love, Bastien - are working to chart their own course and rewrite the rules of the afterlife. If they don’t break the soul bond between Ailesse and her amouré, she could die - just as Bastien’s father did.
Sabine struggles to maintain her authority as matrone of her famille - the role always destined for her sister - even as she fights to control the violent jackal power within her.
Bastien is faced with a new dilemma as the spirits of the Underworld threaten the souls of his friends - and his father.
Ailesse attempts to resist her mother’s siren song as she’s drawn into her own version of the Underworld. How will she save her friends once she’s cut off from their world?

- From Goodreads.

I enjoyed reading this sequel and conclusion to Bone Crier's Moon and sped through it quite quickly. However, I think I was expecting something slightly different from the plot, as it felt like the first part of the book did not move on much from where the ending of the first book left off and the characters were almost stuck going in circles with their conversations and emotions.

I also felt that too much time was spent on certain relationship conflicts when if those had been cut down, simplified or executed in a different way then there could have been more time to develop other relationships and plot points to make them more satisfying. I would have especially liked to see more time for Ailesse and Sabine to connect and talk about what they had been going through and to work together.

Unfortunately while I still really liked the main characters and rooted for them as I did in the first book, they were not always written as strongly as I felt they were in the first one and felt weaker in some ways. The characters often made foolish decisions that were frustrating to read, and while I could understand emotions clouding judgement to some extent, some of the choicess they made were so clearly going to lead to bad circumstances that it did not seem believable that the characters would make them, no matter what their emotions were. The characters kept holding each other back, fighting over things that seemed very small in comparison to the larger problems, miscommunicating and being insensitive to each other's pain, and a lot of the time never seemed to even try looking at things from each other's perspective or from the bigger picture. A lot of these things were used to create conflict in the story, but mostly they seemed unnecessary or just too frustrating, which kept the story from being fun to read at parts.

On a more positive note, the writing style was very easy to read and the descriptions all made the story and world clear to imagine and picture in my mind. The mythology and legends of the world were also fascinating to read about and now that I had the understanding from reading the first book, learning more about how the Bone Crier's work and seeing all the revelations about their magic was really interesting.

Overall, even with the flaws in the story, the ending was satisfying enough and I was relieved when the characters found their happy endings and was pleased with where they ended up. I just think it would have felt even better if the journey to reach those endings had achieved its potential and taken a few different routes. It was absolutely still an engrossing and thrilling book with a lot of great ideas, but there could have been a bit more work done to make both books a really solid and cohesive duology.

Despite the parts that I did not like, I think I will read this again someday. I think I will enjoy it more on a second read, as I did with the first one, and perhaps I will change my mind about the weaknesses when I read it knowing that things are going to resolve in a way that I like.

BOOKS | Review: Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Name: Crooked Kingdom (Grishaverse series #5, Six of Crows series #2)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Orion's Children's Books

Date published: This edition September 2019, first published September 2016.

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, adventure, romance

Pages: 544

Rating: 5/5

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties.

A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets - a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of the Grisha world.

- From Goodreads.

Crooked Kingdom was an incredible follow up to Six of Crows with a exciting plot that kept me invested the whole way through.

The way the emotional journeys of each character developed and wrapped up felt well done to me, and towards the end I found myself quite surprised by how much I reacted to the events and conclusions to the stories. I especially enjoyed Kaz and Inej's developments and how they reacted to each other and helped each other.

I also enjoyed the more in-depth exploration of Ketterdam, since in the first book the main heist took place outside of the city, it was interesting to see more of the place that meant so much to the characters and see it really become its own character. It was so detailed and well built, it felt like such a real place.

The little hints and references to the first trilogy in this series and the characters included from those books were exciting to see and well placed. They felt like they were included with good reason and because they needed to be, not just for the sake of it. Some of the small references even made me a little emotional.

Just as with Six of Crows, although a lot of the plot seemed to be set out in front of you because you knew what heist or plan or trap the characters needed to pull off, the plot still managed to be full of interesting twists and turns that were not expected and kept me wanting to read onto the ending to find out how everything resolved and what tricks the characters had up their sleeves.

Overall this was a fantastic book that was a great addition to the universe of the series in general and a great wrap up to the Six of Crows duology. It was intense and emotional and heart-breaking at times, but also had some really joyful and heart-warming moments.

BOOKS | Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Name: Six of Crows (Grishaverse series #4, Six of Crows series #1)

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Orion Children's Books

Date published: This edition October 2018, first published September 2015

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, adventure, romance

Pages: 494

Rating: 5/5

Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker is offered a chance at a deadly heist: break into the Ice Court - a military stronghold that has never been breached - and retrieve a hostage whose knowledge could change Grisha magic forever. To succeed would mean riches beyond his wildest dreams - but he can't pull it off alone . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Together they might just be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first.

- From Goodreads.

Six of Crows was a thrilling story from start to finish, full of mystery and adventure and intriguing and complex characters.

The plot never ceased to be exciting and made for a very addictive storyline to follow. There were some parts where it was a little difficult to understand what was happening, but that definitely heightened the atmosphere of the mystery, and mostly everything was explained later so you could look back and realise what had been happening.

All of the characters had plenty of depth, and the way Leigh Bardugo slowly revealed information about all of them through their different perspectives was quite clever and made me very emotionally invested. I was worried I might not be as invested in all of the perspectives but I found them all interesting and Bardugo managed to give them all distinct points of view, even though it was written in third person.

Although it feels like quite a different book to the three books of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, it still fits into the series well and extends the world in a fascinating way, telling us about different parts of the world we first started learning about in that trilogy whilst also showing us how the world is carrying on after what happened in those books.

Overall this was a really brilliant book that had me very excited to read the sequel, Crooked Kingdom. The characters were compelling and made me want to keep following them to see how their journey continued, the plot was thrilling and full of well-written twists, and the world felt immersive and fit-to-burst with intriguing details. I definitely recommend it for anyone who read the Grisha trilogy and wants to see more from the world.

BOOKS | Review: Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

 Name: Fireheart Tiger

Author: Aliette de Bodard

Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

Date published: February 2021

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 103

Rating: 4/5

Fire burns bright and has a long memory….

Quiet, thoughtful princess Thanh was sent away as a hostage to the powerful faraway country of Ephteria as a child. Now she’s returned to her mother’s imperial court, haunted not only by memories of her first romance, but by worrying magical echoes of a fire that devastated Ephteria’s royal palace.

Thanh’s new role as a diplomat places her once again in the path of her first love, the powerful and magnetic Eldris of Ephteria, who knows exactly what she wants: romance from Thanh and much more from Thanh’s home. Eldris won’t take no for an answer, on either front. But the fire that burned down one palace is tempting Thanh with the possibility of making her own dangerous decisions.

Can Thanh find the freedom to shape her country’s fate—and her own?

- From Goodreads.

I enjoyed this novella and found it to be an engaging story well told in a short time. 

The characters were all intriguing and realistic, Thanh and Giang being my favourites. I thought the two of them had very compelling personalities and their interactions were thoughtful and emotional.

Although the world of the story had to be kept quite small because of the length of the story, I felt like it was well built and described in an interesting way. The politics felt authentic and the dangers of the world that Thanh was worried about felt real too. All of the story, except for a couple of flashbacks, took place in one palace, and I enjoyed reading the descriptions of that palace and felt it was a fascinating setting for the story to take place in.

Fireheart Tiger was a very sweet and captivating story about a young woman learning to stand her ground and come to terms with her emotions. While there were a couple of places where I felt the story could have used slightly more expansion and moments where characters could have been a little more developed, mostly I really loved it and will definitely reread it and continue to read more of Aliette de Bodard's work.

BOOKS | Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

 Name: Sorcery of Thorns

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Date published: June 2019

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 456

Rating: 5/5

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

- From Goodreads.

Sorcery of Thorns was an extraordinary story that felt like a gothic romance version of Howl's Moving Castle and I loved every moment of reading it, learning about the characters and the world and discovering the plot as it unravelled. 

Elisabeth was a truly wonderful main character and I fell in love with her from the very beginning. She was easy to believe in and relate to, and I really became emotionally attached to her. I really adored Nathaniel too, he was incredibly well written and I loved every moment he was on the page. The two of them together just worked so well and they were a really brilliant couple. Silas was a great addition, a very compelling character and always intriguing to read. I also liked the female friendships and relationships in the story and how they were important to Elisabeth and how she never forgot about them and they remained a presence throughout the story. Every character in this book was well-rounded and felt real and equally fascinating.

The world was so detailed and felt so real and vivid. The ideas that went into it were exciting and interesting to learn about, like the libraries and grimoires and sorcerers, and following Elisabeth in this world I really felt the emotions that the world evoked in her, whether it terrified her or overwhelmed her or made her feel in awe.

I felt the author dealt with the themes that came up in the book very well. Both Elisabeth and Nathaniel had to deal with grief and horrible situations that brought on things like panic and nightmares and it seemed like it was all addressed well and the characters were allowed to experience their emotions and support each other. It was strangely comforting to read because although the characters went through terrible things, they looked after each other and recovered and the end of the story felt very hopeful.

Overall, this was a really marvellous and well crafted book that I was absolutely enchanted by. Everything about it, the mystery, the romance, the magical atmosphere, was just done perfectly.

BOOKS | Review: Radiance by Grace Draven

 Name: Radiance (Wraith Kings series #1)

Author: Grace Draven

Publisher: Independently published

Date published: 2014

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 296

Rating: 5/5

The Prince of no value

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

The noblewoman of no importance

Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

- From Goodreads.

Radiance was a really wonderful read, it had me engaged from beginning to end and made me really happy to read. 

The romance was addictive and unusual. I do not think I have ever read a story where the couple finds each other ugly at first and it made for some really amusing moments, and was a good way for their relationship to start with friendship and develop into more in a believable way. I loved the way they talked to each other, and were quite honest with each other from the beginning and saw each other as equals. I really rooted for them as individual characters and together in a relationship too.

The world building was interesting to read about, and I liked how the author created the different cultures and how the people from the different kingdoms were so different from each other but could get along and find similarities between them too.

Along with that, the side characters were well developed too, especially Lord Serovek Pangion, who I thought had a very well layered personality and was a great addition to the story, and Anhuset, who was always enjoyable to read and a very fierce character.

The author built up the plot well, including enough action to keep things thrilling but also including a lot of scenes between Brishen and Ildiko that developed their relationship and made the romance intriguing. All of this lead towards an exciting climax that made for a great conclusion to the story and set up for what could be some fascinating stories set in this world in future books.

Overall, this was a really great book and it made me look forward to reading more of Grace Draven's work in the future. It was a marvellous love story that I really enjoyed and will read again many times. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a fantasy romance with a unique premise. 

BOOKS | Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Name: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

This edition published: 2020

Genre: Fiction, young/new adult, fantasy, romance, fairy tales, retellings

Pages: 432

Rating: 2/5

Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price...

Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre's presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

- From Goodreads.

A Court of Thorns and Roses had a promising start, a really great atmosphere, some very interesting characters and world building details, and a good premise (I find it difficult to resist a Beauty and the Beast retelling), but I felt let down by some parts of it that will probably mean I will not feel motivated enough to continue with the series, despite the things I did like about the book and the reasons why I could see it was so popular.

I really did enjoy the atmosphere, the way that Maas built up the world with her description was great, especially at the beginning of the book. Tamlin's estate and the surrounding lands were described particularly beautifully and I was able to fall in love with his home just like Feyre did.

I also really liked some of the characters, specifically Tamlin and Lucien, and the way they were written in most of their scenes, and I thought their backstories were interesting. Unfortunately, apart from a few background characters, there were not many more characters that I found to be likeable.

In relation to that, I did have a little trouble connecting to Feyre. While I did like her sometimes and occasionally really felt for her, I felt like something was stopping me from reacting really emotionally to her, which meant I could not get as lost in the story as I would have liked to.

My rating of the book would probably have been higher if it were not for the last part of the story, which I felt took a strange turn and did not connect well to the rest of the book for me. While for most of the book I had enjoyed Feyre and Tamlin's romance, in this part something seemed missing from it which made the challenges they had to face at the end and the sacrifices that had to be made fall a little flat. There was also a lot of explanation in this part of the story, a lot of backstory, just a bit too much exposition that left me a little lost, I could not quite keep track of it all. I also felt like the characters did not act quite like they would in that situation and there were just a few things that happened that did not make sense to me. One character's actions were explained away as if they had justifiable reasons for what they did, but I felt like they had gone too far and crossed a line and it should have been better addressed.

Overall, while A Court of Thorns and Roses began well, although it was not perfect, it was fun to read with an enjoyable romance and some exciting intrigue, however the ending became too frustrating and out of place and ruined the pacing of the story for me and I felt it was not the ending I wanted for the book. I do not think I will be reading on with this series as the first book left me with too much disappointment, but I would not discourage others from trying it if they want a faerie romance with some mystery and think it might be for them. 

BOOKS | Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Name: Uprooted

Author: Naomi Novik

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

Date published: November 2020

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance, fairy tales, retellings

Rating: 4/5

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

- From Goodreads.

While Uprooted was not quite what I expected, it was definitely an excellent book. I was always curious to know what happened next and was unable to predict the plot, which was certainly thrilling and filled with action.

I loved the ideas and the worldbuilding in the story, the atmosphere of the Tower and the Wood were both created well and were fascinating to read about. The creatures in the Wood were so sinister and awful but also creative and impressive. The magic too was very interesting to read about, especially how magic could work differently for different people, and how Naomi Novik described that.

I enjoyed the relationship between the Dragon and Agnieszka. They were both such interesting characters, very different, which made for a very enjoyable to read dynamic and development of their characters. I really liked that Agnieszka was messy and learnt a lot through trial and error, it made her very relatable and loveable, and I enjoyed how the Dragon grudgingly began to accept that the way that she did things could work too. I would have liked to read a few more moments between them, a few more deeper conversations, to really feel that the arch of their relationship had been completely fulfilled throughout the story, but overall I really loved their parts of the book.

Overall, this was such a wonderful dark fairy tale style story with a brilliant hint of romance and  surprisingly fast-paced plot with plenty of action, but I would have liked to see a little more of the Dragon, and of the development of his relationship with Agnieszka.

UNBOXING | Illumicrate Collections: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Ever since I read and loved Laini Taylor's Strange the Dreamer, I have wanted to read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone series, and Illumicrate's tenth anniversary edition seemed the perfect way to start collecting the series and reading! It was a wonderful box to open up and I was delighted by every item.

Foiled print, artwork by Merwild.

Angel and devil book ends, designed by Noverantale.

A door between worlds book tin, artwork by Rosie Thorns.

Fluttering dreams mug, artwork by Rosie Thorns.

Soul thurible, designed by Illumicrate.

Wishbone enamel pin, designed by Stacey McEvoy-Caunt.

Smoke and bone book sleeve, artwork by Monolime, quote design by Chatty Nora.

Exclusive tenth anniversary signed hardback edition of Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, with illustration on the cover by Peter Strain, and artwork on the reverse of the dust jacket by Jim Di Bartolo.

I was really happy with the quality and inventiveness of each item in this box, Illumicrate always impresses me with their special edition boxes, as every time they have quite creative and beautiful items. The book in this box was especially beautiful and I am very glad to have it on my shelf. 

Did you get this box? What did you think? Let me know in the comments! If you would like to find out more about Illumicrate, you can find their website here.