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.