Month: February 2020

Book Review, Children's Fiction, Series, YA Fantasy

Series: Tristan Strong by K.M.

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Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

4 stars. A great freshman novel! I absolutely loved the rhythm and pacing, it was intentional, pleasant, and engaging. It held countless morals and it was refreshing to see a message of hard work and perseverance along side an in depth review of how to cope with heartache and trials that seem too hard to overcome. So intense for a children’s book, but just the right amount. Despite a cast of relatively weak characters, it was insightful and beautifully written. And though I would have appreciated more insight into characters I haven’t heard of since childhood, I hope to see much more of that in the following books. I can’t wait to read more!

Book Review, Series, YA Fantasy

Series: The Bone Witch by R.C.

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Image result for the bone witch trilogy

The Bone Witch

4 Stars.

The plot of this book is character development (which I kinda love) and the character development is so slowly paced that it seems as if the reader will never get to the point. And perhaps that is why there are more books in the series. There are so many twists and turns that make this novel enjoyable and even more nuanced culture and world building that make this book one of a kind (or three of a kind if you wanna count the follow-ups). It is refreshing to see the action (and I mean lots of intense action) take a back seat as we learn about how Tea came to be the way she is. The alternation between present and flashback annoyed me at first, but soon I came to admire the complexity of the chiasmus. Beautifully done.

The Heart Forger

3.5 stars. My rating seems a bit high, but when you factor in that it had a high enjoyability, was incredibly easy to read, and was paced nigh perfection (as well as possessing decent enough character progression) I guess it all evens out reasonably.  The plot was tacky though, like sticky-tacky, like I’m stuck in molasses and enjoying it more than I should, but would rather get to the point already. Maybe I’m saying that because this one was less plot=character development and more plot=history. Ok, ok. I know I said it was pretty good pacing–and, honestly, maybe I’d be more satisfied if I read the final book–but trust me the plot doesn’t really develop any further than what we ended with in the previous book. Let’s go back to how I said it was enjoyable. Obviously, I love character development and boy-howdy there was a ton. *flips through notes* Romance is a big bleh, thumbs down, blah-dee-dah. The transitions were lesser compared to the first book: more forced, in my opinion (which of course this whole review is my opinion); but I do believe that those transitions contributed to a more accurate chiasmus, so that’s something!

In short, I think it lacked quality overall but the enjoyability really surpassed all its shortcomings.

The Shadow Glass

Review to come

Book Review, Fantasy, Mystery, Series

Series: Hexen’s Cross by J.K.

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hexen

Hexen’s Cross

5 stars. Instantly captivating. Some romcom-esque tropes. But you know what? I didn’t even care. With an original plot line and interesting characters and development, I can’t wait to read the second book of Kowallis’s sophomore series!

Hexen’s Binding

4 stars. This book was not at all what I expected to come from this series. It was totally off pace with the first and yet still in line. It was a joy to read and get to know all the characters a little more as well as meeting new people altogether. There were a few editorial oversights, but nothing too distracting (especially since it cleared up near the end). Kowallis sure knows how to make a struggle real and I admire that wholeheartedly. The pace was a bit slow for my liking, but that would probably be my biggest and only qualm with this story. An overall success.

Hexen’s Wane

Not yet released. Hopefully soon!