Living for the Books

For some reason, alien books have never really been my thing. I think it's because whenever I read something involving aliens it's really weird. I didn't remember enjoying The 5th Wave, even though I never ended up finishing that series, so I was intrigued by the pitch that this is that meshed with Beauty and the Beast. I'm a sucker for fairy tale retellings and especially for that specific retelling, so I knew I had to give this book a shot and I'm so glad I did. 

While this book might seem that it's going to be mainly romance based, it's not. The plot is fairly character driven, but it's mainly about the survival of the human species during an alien invasion. I thought the survival aspects were really interesting and it seemed realistic to me. I'm no expert on surviving the apocalypse though, so I could be wrong. 

In the beginning, I really didn't like Raven as a main character. Especially because she's one of those main characters that is kind of like "I'm not like other girls because I hate dresses!" That sort of main character is never my favorite, but she did end up growing on me. I really enjoyed that her emotions were so human and believable given her situation. I especially enjoyed that she didn't immediately fall in love with the Nahx. Her grief for the people that are lost throughout the book is realistic and I also really enjoyed how the people around her reacted slightly differently to everything. 

I didn't dislike the other main character, Eighth, but he also isn't my favorite. For a lot of it he's just very sorry and while I thought this was endearing at first, it got old after awhile. I did like how his POV is so different from Raven's. It's always really clear when it's his voice and not hers and I really enjoyed how he seems so lost because he believes he's defective. I didn't understand why he ends up falling in love with Raven, it seemed very insta lovey.

The writing was honestly one of the best parts because there was very clearly two distinct voices. It was fast paced and intriguing. Just enough information about the Nahx was released throughout the book to keep me hooked and wanting to find out more. I wanted to know the whys and while it doesn't give you a full reason for the invasion, I feel like the information that is revealed is so good that I don't mind waiting for the next book to find out more. 

I can't wait to see what the rest of the series will bring to this interesting world that Predergast has created. I think this book would be perfect for those looking for a good alien invasion story, and even fans of retellings.

*I received this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

When I first heard about this book I was immediately interested. I haven't read a Nigerian influenced fantasy before, so I thought that this would be really unique and have some intriguing concepts. I really liked the idea of this book and I was interested enough in the world to enjoy reading this, but there are also a few aspects of this book that I didn't really enjoy.

I highly enjoyed the idea of sin beasts and the aki. It's unique and unlike anything I've ever read before, so I was really interested in that. I would have liked things to be a little more clear with the world building though, like what math has to do with the Unnamed. It wasn't entirely clear to me why the aki are treated so poorly by the Mages and the rest of their society, other than this is what happens. The ideas were great, I just enjoy a little more clarification when it comes to things I'm not really familiar with and especially in fantasy worlds.

The main plot wasn't anything out of the ordinary, which was kind of disappointing, but it wasn't boring. I didn't really understand the reasoning behind Taj getting brought to the palace just to be shipped off to train aki. It seemed like an easy was for Taj and the princess to meet, but it didn't really make a whole lot of sense, especially considering how aki are viewed in this society. There was a lot of build up to the ending and most of it felt a little like filler. I wish that the more exciting stuff at the end of the book had taken up more of the story. It wasn't really a rushed ending, but I would have enjoyed it more if it was more drawn out. I haven't seen anything about a sequel yet, but there must be one coming because the ending was a little bit of a cliffhanger.

While the characters weren't bad, they also didn't feel unique. There was nothing that really stood out to me about any of the characters. Taj is super special and it's never really explained why and it doesn't really seem necessary for people to keep saying that. Having a super special main character is something that bothers me because it's essentially saying that this person is important and the hero because they're so special. Taj really cares about his fellow aki, but I didn't really feel a connection to the people he cares about. The romance felt like it came out of nowhere. As soon as Taj and the princess met, it seemed like they were into each other and I didn't really get it. It seemed like Taj liked her just because she was pretty and the princess, which isn't a good reason to like someone.

I especially enjoyed the writing during scenes with the sin beasts. I could vividly picture the beasts and the action that was happening. The descriptions of the world were also very easy to picture. Where the writing fell flat was with the character development. Overall, I did like the story though, which is unusual for me because good character development is something that is usually a must.

I did have a few issues with the book, but as a whole I liked it, mainly because it was so unique to me. If there is a sequel, then I may pick it up, but I won't be in rush. 

*I received this from First Reads in exchange for an honest review

This was nothing like what I was expecting. At all. I can't emphasize that enough. I thought this would be an interesting story about ghosts and new take on what happens when someone dies. At the very least, I thought there would be a kind of family theme going on since the blurb leads me to believe it's going to be all about family. If I could sum up this book, I would have to just say that it's weird. I don't know what else I could possibly say because honestly I'm not sure what I just read. 

One of the most confusing things about this book is definitely the plot. For the first half of the book, it's entirely Dashiell possessing Ruby and Everett for what seems like no reason at all. There's no explanation for why any of this is happening. There's also a villain of the story, but his motives are really muddled and ultimately don't make that much sense. Why bother going through so much trouble over one family? What was the goal of possessing Everett and Ruby? Just to possess them? Yeah Aloysius was evil and a bad person, but his character lacked any depth or emotion. There's no story to why he's bad, he's just that way because he's the villain.

There characters felt like a mess to me, primarily because they lack human reactions and reasoning skills. None of the characters really seemed that surprised that it's possible for a ghost to possess a living body. Everett does at the beginning, but it doesn't last very long. Not only is there a lack of surprise or disbelief from any of the characters, but all of them fail to have the normal reaction of running away screaming when you hear a dead man talking through a sixteen year old girl or at least trying to commit said girl to an insane asylum. I felt no connection to them. I didn't care if they lived or died because they weren't realistic enough. There were many different points of view and characters thrown into the story, but the side characters felt like props and I didn't understand why there were so many points of view. Two or three max would have worked better in my opinion.

The romance was cringe worthy and not just because there was some incest going on. Everett and Ruby both have terrible self images. Neither believes that anyone pays any attention to them, Everett even more than Ruby. But wait, turns out that a girl that Everett likes has been secretly in love with him for what seems to be no reason at all, other than to make him feel good about himself. There's also a very weird scene, that could possibly be considered rape because the woman involved thought she was having sex with someone, but that person was being possessed. This is discussed very briefly by the person who's body was used by the ghost, but eventually it's pushed to the side. I found the whole situation quite uncomfortable. Then there's the incest that I had mistaken for sibling love, but oh was I wrong.

One of my biggest issues when it comes to writing is when an author tells instead of shows. I felt like there was a lot of that in this book. It made it difficult to imagine certain scenes and characters. The reader is told that Dash is loved by everyone and basically perfect, aside from his drug addiction. I didn't see a reason for Ruby to trust or love Dash as much as she does. I actually thought there were more reasons for her to do the exact opposite. I would have liked to see more descriptions and maybe some more flashbacks to good times with Dash and his siblings in order for me to become invested in the story. 

I thought the idea behind this book was really interesting and that's why I wanted to read this in the first place, but the execution was all off. This just wasn't for me. It was too weird and for a primarily character driven novel, the characters weren't likable. 

*I received this via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

It might be impossible for me to completely sum up why I love this book so much, but I will definitely try. I think this was one of my most anticipated releases this year and there was so much hype surrounding it. I'm so glad it lived up to the hype.

This book really shines with the characters. From the very beginning I fell in love with Monty, Percy, and Felicity, all for different reasons. Monty is hilarious and snarky in a way that makes me die laughing. His struggle with self worth and coming to realize he is worth something was done so well. Percy is sweet and I love how he deals with his illness. I feel like most books don't take the stance that Percy has with illnesses and I loved it because it just seemed so much more realistic. Felicity is the gem of this book, she's one of the only female characters and she's badass. I loved the group dynamic throughout the book because it was so realistic. I can't get enough of the three of them.

The romance made my heart melt. I love Monty and Percy's relationship as friends and I really enjoyed seeing it develop into more than that. Even though the book starts out with Monty's feelings already there, it doesn't feel like fake feelings or a forced romance. It's sweet, but they also have issues that they have to work through. There's tension, but it's not because of their sexuality, even though that would have been a problem during their time. 

The plot was very interesting to me and ties in really well with Percy's illness and Monty's desire to cure him, even though he doesn't necessarily want that. Their adventure was never boring because after one thing happened, something else was already lined up. It was a fast paced read, so the 500 pages didn't feel that long at all. I actually wanted more because I just loved the story so much. 

I can't say enough good things about this book. I'm so excited for the sequel that's supposed to be narrated by Felicity. I have a feeling that one is going to be even better.

This book had so much potential to be so good. It started off so well. With mystery and life and death situations, but as the story progressed I was less and less into the story and the characters. I was so ready to like this book, especially after seeing a few positive reviews, but it just wasn't for me.

The story starts out with Tabitha in the Center and the immediately jumps into the main plot. Within the first couple chapters it is revealed that PharmPerfect isn't all that is seems. I was intrigued and definitely wanted to learn more about the company and the people behind it. I wanted to know more about the society that is ok with turning a blind eye to raising children for parts. 

Unfortunately, that's where my enjoyment stopped. Tabitha wasn't a bad main character, but she made decisions that didn't make any sense. In fact, a lot of the decisions made by the characters didn't really make sense. The secrets and the lying was entirely unnecessary. They seemed to just be there to create tension and add suspense, but kind of ended up flopping in that department as well because none of the surprises were really that surprising. 

Aside from a few things not making much sense, the romance really didn't do much for me. It felt rushed and it didn't feel like there were emotions behind the initial attraction. There was also a love triangle, which honestly never really works for me. I really disliked Parker and how he seemed to feel like he had a claim to Tabitha's life because of a pact they made. I didn't like how both Parker and Gavin seemed to think that they had the authority to be make decisions on Tabitha's behalf too. It wasn't only the guys that bugged me, Tabitha's instant dislike of any girl that Gavin knew was a little much. It wasn't warranted and she judges Cherry so harshly and only because she has a history with Gavin. 

This just wasn't my cup of tea. It wasn't really a bad book and I could see many people really enjoying it. It's fast paced and the story definitely draws you in, but there were just too many parts that I didn't enjoy that made it difficult for me to like the book as a whole.  

*I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

If I had nothing else do to the day I started reading this I would have definitely finished this book in one sitting. Our Dark Duet is everything that I wanted from the first book and so much more. Honestly, I have no issues with this book. Nothing bugged me about the story or the characters. It was just such a perfect conclusion. 

For me, the first book lacked that extra something that makes me absolutely love it, so I was really hoping that this one would have what I was looking for. Oh boy, did this book blow my expectations out of the water. Where I thought the first book lacked originality with the school setting, this book more than made up for that. I loved the two different stories at the beginning of the book and I kept wondering how they would end up connecting. 

I really enjoyed the monster aspects of the book. It's dark and kept me glued to this book because now there are two forces that Kate and August have to worry about, one is the Malachi and the other is a new monster. The way that the Chaos Eater is described throughout the book is eerie and intriguing. It's never entirely clear what the monster is, but I think it's better that way. 

Honestly, I can't get enough of August and I ended up really liking Kate in this book. I was kind of neutral about her for the first book, but her character definitely grew on me. I love her friendship with August and how they seem to be so good for each other. I also really enjoyed Kate's new friendship with the Wardens, maybe my only complaint was that they didn't play a more significant role, but honestly I don't really mind that much. 

The ending of this book was by far the best part. It was action packed, bloody, and dark, but also leaves you with hope for the future of Verity. It was definitely a satisfying ending, but I'm really sad to see this world go so soon. I will definitely be picking up the author's other books.

This book was way different from Divergent, but not in the good way. I was a fan of Roth's other series and I even remember enjoying Allegiant during some parts (definitely not as much as the other two books), but I just couldn't get into this one.

When I picked this book up I had no idea that it was controversial. I hadn't read any reviews or really looked up the book at all, I just saw that Veronica Roth had written it and thought that I would give it a try. I am not claiming to be an expert of racism, but I don't really see why this book is so controversial. Yes, there are two groups of people of different races that are at odds, but it makes sense for the people from Thuvhe to be lighter skinned because of the climate they live in. People in colder climes tend to have much lighter skin because their skin needs to be able to absorb more vitamin D due to the fact that the sun isn't as strong (please don't quote me on this, I'm just trying to remember what I learned from classes I've taken). The Shotet live in a much milder climate, so it makes sense from them to have darker skin. Am I an expert? God no, but I'm struggling to understand why this book is so controversial. 

Anyway, moving on from that. This book was not at all what I expected. Divergent was a faced paced thrilling story, while Carve the Mark seemed to drag on forever. The first chapter was extremely difficult to get into. So many names are thrown around. There's a lot of confusion and it felt kind of like a mess and I was so close to just stopping there because it was that unappealing. It was too much all at once, but at the same time it seemed to move at a snail's pace. While the rest of the book definitely improved from the first chapter, the pacing did not and honestly my overall confusion wasn't really cleared up.Time seemed to fly by in a matter of pages, but it didn't feel like it and it was sometimes hard to remember that however many years had passed. I think at one point during the book it was mentioned that Akos was fifteen when he started training with Cyra, but like I'm pretty sure he was older than that when it was mentioned and I didn't realize that Akos and Cyra had known each other for years now. It was really odd and confusing. 

The characters weren't bad, but they also didn't stand out. Cyra was alright, but I dreaded reading Akos's chapters. They were so boring and honestly I didn't really care much about Akos in the first place so I didn't really want to read about his POV. I did think that Cyra's currentgift was the most interesting part of the entire book. I definitely liked the idea behind currentgifts and the current, but I kind of wanted a little more explanation. Also I saw the romance between Akos and Cyra coming from a mile away. I wasn't really insta love, but it also didn't feel believable. When they first kissed it kind of felt like it came out of nowhere. 

And now for the plot. For maybe a little less than half of the book, I kept asking myself "where is the plot?" It was basically nonexistent for a large chunk of the book and this left me feeling like there was no direction to the story for awhile. Once the plot did get going though I did enjoy it, but it wasn't really original.

Overall, I'm really disappointed by this book. I was a fan of Roth's other series so I was expecting a lot more from this book, but it didn't deliver. I probably won't be picking up the next book, unless it gets really good reviews.

I can't believe how long it took me to start reading this series. Although, I'm kinda glad that I started it once all the books were released. I couldn't imagine how terrible it would have been to wait for the books to come out after the endings of the first and second books.While this book wasn't my favorite out of the entire series, it definitely evoked the most emotions. 

The pacing of this book is fairly slow for the majority of it. It's not a long book by any means, but it still did take me some time to get through it. This was mainly because a large portion of the book was almost entirely the characters sitting around and talking. Not much was going on, it was all set up for the grand finale. Yes, the ending needed to be set up, but I wish it could have been done in a way that wasn't so slow. It wasn't boring, but I also wasn't itching to pick up the book every time I had to put it down.

The part that made me enjoy this book is the development that all of the characters seemed to go through. All of the Young Elites are struggling with the realization that their powers are slowly killing them. They're scared of that, as well as fighting each other. I actually really enjoyed Adeline's character in this book. She's clearly going mad and her new power has definitely gone to her head, but she's also still a person. She very clearly cares for people when she's clearheaded enough to function and it's honestly kind of sad how clear it is that she's losing herself. 

I really loved Adelina's relationship with Magiano. At first, I didn't think that she was good enough for him and I couldn't really understand why he liked her in the first place, but once I got past that I really enjoyed them together. Magiano is so nice and sweet to her, I couldn't help but ship them. 

The ending was by far the best part of this book. I won't spoil it, but I'm really glad it ended how it did because I honestly couldn't see how it could end any other way. It wasn't a shocking ending and sometimes that would bother me, but it felt like it nicely tied up the story and it also left me near tears. 

I just really enjoy Marie Lu's books and I probably won't be hesitating to read any more of her books when they come out.

It honestly still surprises me how invested I can be with books. While this book wasn't the best thing I ever read, it was still so good and kept me reading even though it's incredibly long and probably doesn't need to be. These books are kind of like my guilty pleasure, but I'm actually not that guilty about enjoying these.

I have always really enjoyed Cassandra Clare's writing style. There are such vivid descriptions and her world is very imaginative with so many parts, but it works so well and doesn't feel like it's too much. I also love that the emotions the characters feel are so real and believable. It's so real that it's easy to feel the happiness and sadness the characters are feeling. 

For the most part, I absolutely adore the characters. I love how strong Emma is, but how she's also vulnerable in ways that make her human. She isn't an untouchable heroine that's hard to connect to because they might be too perfect and I really enjoy that. Julian has to be my favorite character by far though. His love for his family is so sweet and I just feel so much for him. The fact that he can be sweet, but also ruthless is what really makes me love him though.

Another thing that I really enjoyed about this book was the character development for Livvy, Ty, and Kit. In the last book I had complained that the siblings, except for Mark and Julian weren't developed enough. I'm so glad that Kit's point of view was introduced because Livvy and Ty became more central to the plot and less like background characters that were there only when it was convenient. The friendship that develops there is honestly one of my favorites and seemed to work so well.

I really love Julian relationship with Emma throughout this series, but I did get frustrated by them a lot for the majority of this book. Neither one will talk to the other about their feelings because they believe the other doesn't feel the same way and it's just so frustrating. I didn't understand why Emma couldn't tell Julian what she learned from Jem at the end of Lady Midnight. Why she thought that was a good idea I'll never understand.

I wish there had been more of Cristian in this book. She played a very central role for the first half of the book, but she gradually seemed to become less important as the story progressed. I was really interested in her relationship with Mark and Kieran, so I hope there's more about them in the next book. I also thought that this book was very long and probably didn't need to be as long as it is. It wasn't really slow or boring, but there were a few parts that didn't seem entirely necessary.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I will definitely be looking forward to the next one, but apparently that one doesn't come out until 2019. Why is it so far away? That wait is going to be like City of Heavenly Fire all over again. Of course this book had to end on a cliffhanger too.

I knew this series would be dark based off of the first book, but wow this series went farther with that than I originally expected it to. Honestly, I'm so glad this book went there. It stands out from the numerous young adult books that feature characters with special powers.

The main character, Adelina, is not the typical main character you'd expect. She fully embraces darkness and feeds off of others fear. She revels in the deaths that she causes and her ambition drivers her further to being a villain. It's incredible to read about because it's such a unique story and Marie Lu artfully depicts Adeline's ambition, as well as her madness. 

Adelina is not the only stand out character in this book. Due to events at the end of the last book, a new set of characters becomes the main cast of the story, aside from Raffaele and Teren. Teren is very clearly crazy and dangerous and I really liked the direction his character went in. It was believable, but also chilling, especially when it's clear that his mind isn't all there. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about Raffaele though. His chapters seemed the slowest, but honestly he seems like the only one in this series with his head screwed on right.

The main reason that I wasn't blown away by this book was because it didn't shock or wow me in any way. I enjoyed the characters and the story, but the plot played out almost exactly as I expected it would. I was hoping that this ending would surprise me like the last one did, but I had predicted how it would end before even picking up the book.

The romance in the book didn't overwhelm the plot, but there is somewhat of a love triangle. There also seems to be a bit of insta love with Magiano and Adelina. Honestly, I don't know why someone full of joy would be attracted to Adelina in any way, but somehow that happened. There wasn't really a build up to the attraction and I'm kind of confused by it. I quite like Magiano, but he deserves better than Adelina, especially because she still pines for Enzo.

As much as I enjoy the characters and where the story has gone, I was looking for a little more from this book. The beginning was fairly slow and consisted mainly of planning and setting up for the action at the end of the book. If you can get through the slower part, then the end definitely makes up for it with plenty of action.

Overall, I did enjoy this book though and I will be picking up the next book. However, my need for The Midnight Star is less than the need I had to read The Rose Society. I'm not sure if it's because I feel like I know how the series will end or if it's because this book didn't end nearly as dramatically as The Young Elites.

I can't believe this is my first Victoria Schwab book. I've been putting off reading her books for awhile now and I honestly don't know why. This book has such rave reviews, so I knew I had to at least give it a shot. I was really hoping that I would love it because it sounds amazing. Maybe it was my high expectations, but I'm not in love with this book as much as I wanted to be. I was expecting to be wowed, to feel things, to never want to stop reading, etc., but while this is definitely above average, it wasn't the flawless masterpiece I was expecting.

The book really shines with the unique world that Schwab has created. Monsters that are born from violence made by humans is so original and the idea kept me engrossed in the story. I wanted to the know the the whys of everything. Throughout the book I kept thinking "how could this possibly be resolved/fixed" and that makes me want to keep reading. I loved the little song that pops up throughout the book about the monsters, it's creative and chilling.

I really loved August as a main character, if not only because his character plays the violin (I have a weakness for violin playing characters, don't ask me why). I did enjoy his character for more than his music though. I really liked how he's a monster dealing with the fact that he doesn't want to be one. It's not a unique idea, but I really loved how it was executed in this story. It felt fresh and out of all the characters, I think I felt for August the most.

The story falls a little flat in the beginning. Kate and August are both new students, they're kind of drawn to each other/keep running into each other without meaning to, and at first they don't seem to like each other much. It's not a very original start to the story if you take out the monsters, but the story redeems itself with absolutely no romance. Honestly, I didn't see that coming. I thought for sure there might be some sort of romance, so I was pleasantly surprised that a friendship developed instead. I didn't dislike Kate, but she also wasn't my favorite, but I loved her friendship with August and how it developed.

The second half of the book is intense and so many things start to happen. I absolutely loved it and the ending left me kind of chilled. I really need the next book and I've heard it's even better than the first.

I went into this book scared. There's so much hype around this series and Rhysand that I was actually a little afraid that I wouldn't like this book because my expectations were too high or because the story/character didn't appeal to me (wouldn't be the first time I didn't like a hyped book). I really wanted to love this series as much as the next person, and I'm so glad I ended up enjoying it. 

ACOMAF is drastically different from the first book. The characters are incredibly different from the characters they were in the first book, particularly Feyre and Tamlin, as well as Lucien. Lucien was less of an offender in this book, but only because he didn't actually do anything, compared to Tamlin actively being a possessive asshole. His character changes dramatically in this book and it's pretty clear from the beginning the reader isn't supposed to root for Feyre and Tamlin anymore. Tamlin becomes possessive and controlling, not that he wasn't possessive to begin with to a certain extent, but those characteristics are pushed to an extreme that makes me cringe. 

Thankfully, for the majority of the book, Tamlin is nowhere to be seen, at least physically. One of my issues that kept this book from being a full 5 stars, was that Feyre constantly compared Rhysand to Tamlin. It felt like overkill constantly being reminded of how horrible Tamlin became and comparing them against each other probably isn't a good thing. I'm sure Rhys didn't appreciate it because he tries so hard to be so different from Tamlin where it counts. Yes they're both possessive, but I actually didn't mind Rhysand's possessiveness nearly as much as Tamlin's. Rhysand doesn't treat Feyre like an object and that's essentially the difference there.

I could go on and on about Rhysand and I'm sure I'm not the first one that could do that or wants to do that. There's a good reason why everyone loves him as a character. I loved the layers he has and how his character develops over the course of this book. The romance is so slow burn and flirtatious and I loved it so much. The affection and attraction develops over time and seems so much more real. It's a ship I will gladly root for. 

There's a whole new cast of characters in this book and they're so much more developed than the characters at the Spring Court. Aside from Tamlin, Lucien was the only other character with a backstory and yeah it was sad, but I never really felt for him. The Night Court characters so much more developed and way more likeable. Feyre also develops so much more and grows as a person. Feyre's development is so important, especially to the romance aspects of the book. It allows the romance to not be a love triangle, but to show it more as a people change and drift apart from each other.

There were a few other issues I had with the book, mainly with the fact that this book was long and probably didn't need to be 600+ pages. It was completely character driven, up until the last parts of the book and while I do love the characters, I would have liked a little more plot or possibly a faster pace. The motivations for the villains of this book are a little unclear to me, or don't quite make complete sense, but I don't want to spoil so that's all I'll say about that.

The world Sarah J. Maas created is breathtaking. The descriptions are vivid and the beautiful world she created was easy to picture. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will hopefully be getting to ACOWAR really soon.

This book immediately caught my eye because there aren't that many Robin Hood retellings and I remember a couple years ago I was really interested in reading a retelling of that story and I never got around to it. I'm so glad I got the chance to read this.

This story different from a lot of retellings because it involves time travel, most don't have the main character aware that they're participating in the retelling of a classic story. I actually really enjoyed the awareness Ellie has about her role as Robin Hood because it provided a bit of comic relief. I definitely enjoyed Ellie as a character because even though she was in the middle ages, she didn't let her gender allow people to boss her around or tell her that she can't do something be it's not ladylike.

I also enjoyed the side characters, especially Will and James, even Guilbert. I thought all of them were interesting and I enjoyed that Will and Guilbert were flawed. I don't remember James having an obvious flaws and usually that bothers me because then the character is too perfect, but I still really enjoyed his character because he was just a really good guy. I'm not really familiar with the details of the Robin Hood story, but I don't remember ever hearing about a character named James. If he is a new character, then the author did a really good job of incorporating him into the story so that it seems natural for him to be there. If he's not a new character, then I should really go back and reread the story of Robin Hood.

I actually really enjoyed the fact that there wasn't really any romance throughout the book. There was a little bit of romantic tension during certain parts, but it definitely didn't go further than Ellie noticing that James is attractive and her occasionally thinking about that. It's probably a good thing that nothing happened there because that would probably do something bad for the future. As is, Ellie probably messes a little too much with the past

There were a few parts of the book that I didn't enjoy that much, one of them being the dialogue. I'm not historian, but the characters seemed to talk a lot like Ellie or at least they used very similar language, when they weren't speaking in french. It probably made it easier to understand, but at the same time it sometimes took me out of the world. I also would have liked more descriptions of the world and the characters. The story was good enough to make up for a lack of some descriptions, but I definitely wanted a more clear picture of the time period and the people that Ellie encountered.

The ending of the story tied everything up really well. I thought it was really sweet, but also bittersweet. It was a nice fast paced and fun read. I'll definitely be looking forward to more books from this author. 

*I received this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

On my main blog, I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of my 5 year blogoversary!

Prize:

One book worth up to $15 from Book Depository (INT)

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This book is very different from what I usually read and there's kind of a backstory to why I ended up reading it. I was at the library with my boyfriend and I really wanted him to read The Raven Boys because it's my fave, so I agreed to read a book that he picked out for me. Yeah, our reading tastes are not the same. It's not that I didn't want to like this book, it just isn't for me. Even when I was younger, I probably wouldn't have picked up the book because I was even more of a cover snob and the main character was a boy (ew boys - middle school me probably).

Anyway, onto my actual review. This book wasn't necessarily bad, it just isn't something that I usually enjoy. While I have read some really good middle grade books, the majority of them don't appeal to me because I find it more difficult to connect to the characters. Arthur isn't an unlikable character, but I couldn't really connect to him. His sole motivation seemed to be curing people of this virus and while that's not a bad motivation there wasn't really any insight into who he was as a person, other than he's a decent human being that doesn't want people to die. 

The plot of this book was kind of confusing. I'm not really sure why the Will needed to do what it does because the real world seemed fine. The weird world that Arthur goes to doesn't seem to be in the greatest of shape, but there wasn't really anything outright wrong with it, I think. The book also kind of just throws you into the world without much help, except for the info dumping that occurs sporadically, but always during or right before it's most convenient. The rules of the world don't seem to be clear and seem to allow for pretty much anything to happen, especially if it'll move the plot along. 

The side characters all seemed to have ridiculous names that I found distracting. At one point, Arthur says that one of his siblings was named Eminor and is a musician, but he changed his name and I just found that so ridiculous. What kind of a name is that, at least go with Melody if you're trying to go with a music name. The side characters were all just kind of weird and honestly not really important for the most part, except for maybe Suzy. Suzy gets a lot more page time than most of the other characters, aside from Arthur, and she would have been a great character if her dialogue wasn't so bad. She's supposed to be from the time of the bubonic plague, but sometimes she talks like she's from the 1900s or like she's from the south. It didn't really make much sense. 

The story was definitely creative and I could see many middle grade readers really enjoying this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I don't really plan on continuing this series, mainly because there's seven books, unless they get a lot better.

This book was definitely unique and I was instantly intrigued by the idea that the main character had her voice stolen. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I did enjoy it and I ended up finishing it much faster than normal. 

The world that the author created was really interesting. It took me awhile to figure out that it wasn't set in a made up place, but in New Zealand. There were a lot of words that I didn't really understand and at first I thought they were made up because I know next to nothing about New Zealand. The setting definitely made the book stand out more. I also enjoyed the technology aspect of the world. I loved the idea of the virtual psychoreality simulator because it sounds so cool and something I would be interested in trying if I could. 

The majority of the book takes place within the virtual psychoreality simulator and while I think that whole idea was really cool, it also seemed to take up a lot more time than necessary. The beginning of Addy's journey through that virtual reality was a little bit confusing and the chapters involving the house was repetitive to the point where I wanted the book to move on, even though I was interested in the simulation.

Where the story fell flat, was with the characters and particularly with their motivations. The characters were for the most part, fairly well developed, but they were lacking a believable motivation for their actions. Yes, explanations are given, but they aren't really satisfying and it made the characters less real for me. The reason for the Vox Pox disease didn't really seem that clear to me and I was really hoping there would be something more to it, but ended up being a kind of disappointing ending to the plot. 

I'm on the fence about whether I'll continue with the next book. I really wanted to enjoy this book a lot more because the idea seemed so unique and interesting. Plus, I really liked the development that Addy goes through during the story, so if the next one sounds good I'll probably pick it up. 

*I recieved this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.