DNF: A Multitude of Dreams

Release Date: August 29th, 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ (I only rated because I made it to 50% of the way through.)

Review:

DNF at 51%. Normally I would never DNF an advanced review title. I’m grateful to get to receive books ahead of time and I try to always get through the book even if I have my gripes with it but honestly, at halfway through I was just done with this book.

I’ll admit I had not read ‘The Mask of the Red Death’ by Edgar Allen Poe before reading this and maybe that would’ve helped inform me better on what this book was supposed to be like. The main reason I struggled to get through this is it felt like the author was trying to tell two different stories. One consisted of a commentary on Jewish oppression during the Black Plague and the other is a fantasy version of the plague, filled with dark, thriller-like atmosphere and because other reviewers have already spoiled it, vampires. These two just don’t go together. One is a social piece on a historical time period and treatment of people during that period. The other is a fantasy that leans into its gothic backdrop and ill-defined setting and time period. When they’re together the story loses what makes it interesting, the chilling undertones, the subtle hints of paranormal. It all gets confused when the “real” elements keep crashing back in like Seraphina wanting to remind us of her Jewish heritage at every opportunity.

Review: Howl’s Moving Castle

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review:

So l’ll admit to watching the anime film first before reading this. I honestly didn’t know that the film was based off of a book when I went to watch it and only found out after looking up more information. Unfortunately, I feel my experience with the film definitely colored my reading of the book.

While I liked its whimsical elements and humorous moments, I felt the characters were a lot flatter in the book. I came expecting closer to what I experienced in the film, which of course is always a mistake when reading the source material. For me the characters of the film were much more vibrant and interesting where the ones in the book left me frustrated and feeling as if they lacked whole personalities at times. The world building as well, while interesting and full of small details, never fully came to life in a way that I could picture. I enjoyed what there was of the explanations on Howl’s house, the workings of magic and the overall world in general but I feel the author had so much more to include and left much out that could’ve added to the story.

Review: The Poison Season

Release Date: December 6th, 2022

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

“They said the island grew roots around your feet so you couldn’t leave, even if you wanted to.”

What can I say? Like the stunning cover and haunting songs of the Endla residents, this book draws you in. While I wouldn’t call it the most perfectly polished book or one that tied up every plot seamlessly, what this book did do right were its characters, pacing and atmosphere.

It’s rare for me to like nearly all the characters in a book but even the villains in this story were worth the pages spent on them. Everyone had an interesting personality, quality and dimension to them, making it easy to connect to each of the characters in their own way. Leelo was easily likable as the main heroine. She is a bit innocent throughout the book, although the world around her is obviously not. Somehow you can tell that even though she’s been exposed to a certain kind of dark brutality, her inner spirit is one of kindness and innocence that makes her come across as genuine and a character worth rooting for. Her treatment of Jaren and her family only fuels that. I admired her strength of character in being willing to question when she felt things were wrong around her, like the treatment of her friend Isola, what happened to her brother Tate and how Sage began to act towards her.

Review: Wishtress

Release Date: September 13, 2022

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

“Someday I’d have to put my trust in something beyond my own power.”

I decided to request this book for two reasons, the cover and because it seemed to be a Christian fantasy and I can’t pass those up. Anytime I see a Christian author attempting to delve into fantasy is makes me so excited because so few do it and succeed. But this author succeeds and can I say, what a stunner of a book she wrote.

I would call this book a character journey above all else. It’s more character-focused than it is plot, world-building or even romance. All of those play an important role to the characters’ individual journeys but in the end their stories are what take the forefront. Watching the three different POVs of Myrthe, Bastiaan and Coralythe converge and diverge as they each explored their own course through the book was great storytelling. Of the three Bastiaan was by far my favorite and I think the best developed. Although Myrthe is meant to be the lead as the Wishtress I felt that her story lacked some depth at points and she was floundering to find herself amidst her curse, which was understandable but made it hard to connect with her. Bastiaan’s intensity and surety of purpose made him easier to connect to and follow as even though he stumbled and make mistakes he moved through the book with intention, less letting things happen to him and taking charge of his faults and trying to find the best way forward. Coralythe I wasn’t always sure what to do with, she became a gray area that even unto the end stayed gray. I felt she needed a better resolution in the end but at the same time imperfect resolution can fit with a morally gray character who’s choices you don’t always agree with but on some level can understand.

Review: Scales of Ash & Smoke

Release Date: October 5th, 2021

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

“Could I be both dragon and human without betraying one or the other?“

I’ll admit, I picked this book up because it teased dragons and an enemies to lovers romance. Well, it delivered on both fronts, although not really in the way I’d expected for either.

The plot revolving around dragons was new and fresh, making the dragons more fearsome, menacing and human-like than a lot of the glamorizing done in many books now. Not to say that there isn’t still some dragon appreciation going on, it’s simply less a part of the overall story. I liked that the author managed to create a whole new take on some well-known creatures, giving them new interest. With everything the author put into this world she’s created there’s of course still more I would love to know, about the dragon’s magic, the shapeshifters abilities in contrast and just the structure of this world system in general. Why do the dragons behave somewhat human-like if they could choose to fly around and walk on all fours? Why sit in chairs and drink from cups? All really interesting questions that her narrative brought up but I love stories that make me think and immerse me into the plot. This author’s writing really pulls you into the story, so much so I found myself struggling to put the book down because the pull to know what was happening next was intense. 

Review: Idriel’s Children

Release Date: July 20th, 2021

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review:

“Now the shadows seemed to be all she was. Just darkness lined with good intentions.“

Instead of continuing to focus on the journey of the Heirs from the last book, this book introduces the future Heirs, Klaus and Kaia’s children. This direction definitely attempts to expand the story as the reader isn’t confined to just Kaia and Klaus but now their children. However, where Kaia and Klaus really shone in the last book as far as development and being relatable, their children fell flatter for me.

Aza takes center stage as the upcoming Shadow Heir this time around, which was interesting since the last book had a focus on the Dragon Heir. Unfortunately, as the main heroine I found her to be distancing and a bit irritating at times. I believe Aza’s character is supposed to come off as sad. A girl who feels she needs to bury herself behind a mask of confidence and loner bravado because she wants to keep those she loves safe. But really she only comes off as arrogant and heartless most of the time. The few times she doesn’t are with Makeo and even then she can come across as flat. For me to love a character I have to root for them and believe at least somewhat in their choices or at least in their reasoning but Aza just made me frustrated. While her friends cared so much about her she only seemed to care for what she thought was best continually, at the detriment of everyone else. And even though this is pointed out as a character flaw early on it’s brushed off and not really dealt with until right at the very end and not super satisfactorily.

Review: Odriel’s Heirs

Rating: ★★★★★

Review:

“But what did you do when your best wasn’t good enough?”

This book reads like a fantasy movie put to pages. Between the depth of the world-building, intensity of the story and emotional pull of the characters, I was hooked from the start.

This is a vibrant, incredible world the author has created, with such richness just begging to be explored. In ways I wish the book was lengthened at certain points because I want to know more about these places, the creatures, the magic and the atmosphere that lives inside this story. It almost would’ve been nice to stop Kaia’s journey at a different point so that further details could be fleshed out. Although the author is going for more of an epic fantasy, I think extending Kaia and Klaus’s journey out to one more book may have helped as there was a lot of traveling and action that was condensed into a shorter period that I would have loved to explore more. Now I may be a little biased because I loved the characters so much I just didn’t want to part with them yet.

Review: The Infinity Courts

Release Date: April 6th, 2021

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

“Maybe I was never supposed to have my own opinion. And now I’m being punished for it.”

For me this book was a little mix of brilliant and frustrating. I’ve thought about this whole story a good deal and while it was frustrating that characterization and some of the world building fell short, with much of the focus going on the overarching theme, it was honestly, equally brilliant. The author wove everything together to create a narrative that perfectly reflects the idea “do our choices really matter”, which was pretty masterful. For me, the better aspects won out over what might’ve been missing here or there.

The book discussed plenty of other moral issues and there was a fair bit of virtue signaling that I could’ve done without but this one idea was done spectacularly, at least in how I see it. Of course I can be totally wrong about the author’s intent, after all I’m not the one who wrote the book. Taking a look back though and trying to see how everything came together, this central idea seems to fit best. Unfortunately, I can’t say exactly how because it has to do with the twist (so too many spoilers) but, in general, the whole book shows Nami as a character who believes she understands the morally better choice. However, she grapples with what to do when her choice conflicts with what others believe to be the “right choice” in their fight to end the war with the Residents. She struggles in her desire to find a moral grey middle, where she doesn’t have to choose sides and everyone can coexist but feels forced into a corner, both by circumstances and those around her. Ironically, both sides are after the same goal, the problem is they go about achieving that goal in ways that seem to make no room for a middle ground. On one side Nami is a Hero, helping a resistance to end the war. Nearing the end, however, Nami is confronted with another perspective which forces her to deal with the reality that she may not be the hero she was propped up to be, perpetuating a war she didn’t even want to play a part in through the choices she’s made and the choices of others.

Review: Six of Crows

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review:

“Always hit where the mark isn’t looking.”
“Who’s Mark?”

Ok, so the hype may have been a little true about this book. While I didn’t agree with or like everything, there were some parts that stood out. Kaz’s struggling with his past, Inej’s fight for purpose, their moments together, Nina and Matthias’s journey to understand each other, the unexpected humor. All of it mixing to create a very well-crafted, thoroughly entertaining heist read.

The thing I loved most though was undoubtedly the relationship between Kaz and Inej. The romance elements were subtle for sure but that idea of caring for someone yet not being with them because you need more from them is an important one. I adored Inej’s strength of character and purpose in being able to feel for Kaz but still be ok with the potential of leaving him because she knew he couldn’t give her what she wanted. And Kaz’s wrestling with wanting to be more for her while hiding behind the mask he had made for himself and dealing with the traumas he still suffered from.

Review: Court of Bitter Thorn

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review:

I so wanted to like this book more than I did. Don’t get me wrong, I sped through it in a day and a half. It was entertaining but unfortunately not very memorable and somewhat confusing at times.

The characters just didn’t resonate with me at all. The only one I had any interest in was Brannick and even he fell flat. There wasn’t much of him until near the end of the story and then his characterization was patchy at best. His speech changed between cultured and immature teenager which made it hard to see him as this swoonworthy fae prince. His tortured backstory, which was supposed to carry more impact, came across as something sadly adolescent and not a trick a fae prince who’s touted as so powerful and smart would fall prey to. The main heroine, Elora, annoyed me pretty much the entirety of the book. I wanted to like her but the insistence that she was smart when she continued to make dumb choices and do childish things didn’t endear her as a character. She acted like she was so mentally tough but broke at the slightest thing, stomping around and having outbursts. She claimed to care so much for her sisters and family but forgot those responsibilities easily when her own desires got the better of her. One moment she seemed completely incapable of something and the next she was so smart and able to achieve what a powerful fae prince could not. It’s those traits that bothered me about her. Not to mention her constant whining about marriage, it’s like I got it, you don’t like it, enough already.