Review: Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Title: Falling Kingdoms
Series: Falling Kingdoms #1

Author: Morgan Rhodes

Genre: Fantasy

Age group: Young adult

Pages: 412 (Hardcover)

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication date: December 11, 2012

Synopsis from Falling Kingdom's Goodreads page

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface.

As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed... and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

The only outcome that's certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed?

It's the eve of war.... Choose your side.

Princess: Raised in pampered luxury, Cleo must now embark on a rough and treacherous journey into enemy territory in search of magic long thought extinct.

Rebel: Jonas, enraged at injustice, lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished. To his shock, he finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making.

Sorceress: Lucia, adopted at birth into the royal family, discovers the truth about her past—and the supernatural legacy she is destined to wield.

Heir: Bred for aggression and trained to conquer, firstborn son Magnus begins to realize that the heart can be more lethal than the sword.... 

THOUGHTS

Going into Falling Kingdoms, I had some SUPER high expectations. Everyone I know who has read them has absolutely loved the series so far, and all of the book bloggers and booktubers I follow and watch have also loved it.

I found the beginning of this book extremely hard to follow and to get into. Falling Kingdoms takes place in three different kingdoms on the same island, and is written from three different characters' perspectives from these three kingdoms. That alone was extremely hard to follow, because the author delves right into the book and you have to try and remember who is related to who, where they come from and how each character affects and is affected by each other character.

Once I began to follow the characters and I got well into the book, I found it a bit easier to enjoy the story, because I wasn't spending all my time trying to remember who was who and where they lived, which affected their entire lives. As this got easier and I actually started to read the book for the plot, I started to enjoy it. It took almost half the book for this to happen though, and although I want to say that this book was amazing and all the hype was correct...I found it a bit disappointing.

Falling Kingdoms wasn't as good as I had hoped it to be, yet I still gave it 4/5 stars, albeit a very hesitant 4/5 stars, because I know that this series will become much better. Falling Kingdoms was used entirely to set up the characters, to begin to create turmoil and problems in the characters' lives, and to create the world, history, and the politics of the kingdoms.

For what this book was used to do, and how it was used to set up four different characters lives in three different kingdoms, it was done extremely well. If the rest of the series is like the ending of Falling Kingdoms, I know that I will have nothing but good things to say about it and nothing but good reviews.

Rating - ★★★★☆ 

Top Ten Tuesday (9): Top Books I Want to Read: Summer 2017 Edition

Hello everyone!
I'm going to be honest here - this post was SUPPOSED to be a Top Ten Tuesday, but since I had a final exam today I totally forgot what day it is, so here's a Top Ten...Wednesday I guess?
This summer is going to be filled with reading for me, and since I have a very large stack of 10 very large books staring at my on my desk, I figured I might as well make a blog post out of it, because why not?

1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
2. A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
3. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

      4. The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

      5. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
      6. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

      7. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
      8. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

      9. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
     10. To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Genre: Contemporary

Age group: Young adult

Pages: 310 (Paperback)

Publisher: Corgi Chrildrens

Publication date: September 3, 2015

Synopsis from Everything, Everything's Goodreads page

Madeline Whittier is allergic to the outside world. So allergic, in fact, that she has never left the house in all of her seventeen years. But when Olly moves in next door, and wants to talk to Maddie, tiny holes start to appear in the protective bubble her mother has built around her. Olly writes his IM address on a piece of paper, shows it at her window, and suddenly, a door opens. But does Maddie dare to step outside her comfort zone?

Everything, Everything is about the thrill and heartbreak that happens when we break out of our shell to do crazy, sometimes death-defying things for love.

THOUGHTS

I just want to start with this: I loved this book. It made me ugly cry, sad cry, and happy cry, and I never cry while I'm reading; the last time that happened was when I read The Fault in Our Stars.

When I first went into this book, I didn't have a lot of expectations. I knew there was insta-love, and I assumed the ending would be unrealistic. I definitely wasn't expecting what I found.

Everything, Everything is about a girl who is happy with where she is, but not with who she is. She wants to experience the world, and when a boy moves in next door, he gives her that opportunity, and she takes it and runs with it. It was a beautiful story that everyone who reads it will absolutely love.

Throughout the book, there are little drawings, pictures, and endless amounts of little snippets that let the reader see into Madeline's life. I've never been a huge fan of a lot of drawings, as I normally feel like they don't add anything to the story. However, with this book, the story couldn't have been told without them. They add so much to the story and to the characters, and they show parts of Madeline that you can't see in the story, and that she doesn't explain through words.

The plot is extremely well thought out, and even though I was worried it wouldn't be, it was VERY realistic. The doctors, the medical charts; the author doesn't try to hide the parts of the illness, she puts it out there and makes the reader feel for Madeline. Madeline also has accepted her illness at the beginning of this book, and she initially doesn't try to fight it or go against it, which is a refreshing thing in young adult books.

I don't want to say too much about the ending, but I'm ecstatic with it. It's painful to read at times, happy and pleasant to read at others, and real. I've never been happier with the ending to a contemporary novel before, and I couldn't see it ending any other way. It was unexpected, but I'm glad it ended the way it did. If you want more information than that, you'll have to read the book! I definitely recommend it!

Rating - ★★★★★

Review: You Are Here by Jennifer E. Smith

Title: You Are Here

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Genre: Contemporary

Age group: Young adult

Pages: 256 (Paperback)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication date: April 24, 2012

Synopsis from You Are Here's Goodreads page

Emma and her neighbor Peter are both lonely in a way that only bothers them on occasion. They both come from families they don’t quite understand. They both feel like something big is missing from their lives—and they’re both about to search for answers. When Emma makes a discovery that shakes the foundations of her identity, she convinces Peter to join her for a road trip. Each of them has something to find: For Emma, it is a grave—a grave that may be her only connection to her family. Peter is seeking something harder to define, but perhaps easier to navigate—a freedom, a sense of something more than what he has. Together, they take to the open road, engaging in a universal quest to make sense of who they are and where they come from…and learning a thing or two about love along the way.

THOUGHTS

Firstly, I want to talk about the cover. I'm honestly not a massive fan of it, because of how much I completely love Jennifer's "theme" of covers. Even though I bought this book not knowing that it came in other editions, it was a good price and the yellow spine is pretty cute.

This was the first book that I've read in months, the first book of Jennifer's that I've read in awhile, and the book I was hoping would get me out of my reading slump. Needless to say, I had some pretty high expectations for this one.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Both of the main characters were cute and quirky, and I saw a lot of myself in them. The main female character's family is obsessed with school and knowledge, and she doesn't understand anything and can't figure out why she feels so alone and isolated. Her next door neighbour, the main male character, is the perfect son for her family, but can't find anything in common with his own father, creating a tense atmosphere and a lot of awkward family talks, especially about his "unhealthy" obsession with maps and his desire to be anywhere other than where he is.

The main characters, and all of the characters, seemed realistic to me. Jennifer has a way of creating a story that seems like it couldn't happen, but as you read it, it makes perfect sense and it feels like you're driving across the country with the characters in the story. Everyone seemed like they were real people; they all had their secrets, their problems, their own backstory that had nothing, and everything, to do with the other characters in the story.

Although I really did like this story, I felt that it was missing something. It is a very short story, only 256 pages, and I feel like something else could have been done with it.

Overall, I gave it 4/5 stars, and it definately got me out of my reading slump, and I'm ready to read again!

Overall - ★★★★☆

Update

Hi readers,
As you can all probably tell, I've been missing for, well, a long time.
I started University in the fall of last year, and it really took a toll on me physically and mentally.
I've been re-evaluating what I want to do about my book blog and my instagram, and I'm still not entirely sure exactly what I want to do with them, but I feel that I've put too much work into them to just give up after one hard, dry spell.
I've taken the last bit of time to recoup and to change my writing style up, my reading style, and to figure out exactly how I want to run this blog.
I've decided that I'm going to post reviews when I want to, and about books I want to. I'm not going to force myself to write and I'm hoping that that will make me want to write.
The last time I tried to run this blog, I had to force myself to write, and I had to write a list at the beginning of every month about what I was going to write about. This time, I'm going to just see what I feel like writing. If that doesn't work, then I may consider shutting this blog down.
For now, there's going to be a lot of changes, and I'll see where this takes me.
To everyone who's kept checking my blog while I've been away, I really appreciate it, and I hope I can be a good reviewer and a good writer for you guys.
Thank you everyone.

2017 Reads

2015 Reads | 2016 Reads 

Last updated: December 31st, 2017

January

1. ★★★☆☆.75 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer
2. ★★★★☆      Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

April

1. ★★★★★      Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor
2. ★★★★★      Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

June

1. ★★★★☆      You Are Here by Jennifer E, Smith
2. ★★★★★      Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
3. ★★★★☆      The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
4. ★★★☆☆.5   Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
5. ★★★★★      The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

July

1. ★★★★★      Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1) by Cassandra Clare
2. ★★★★☆      Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
3. ★★★★☆.5   Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake
4. ★★★★☆      Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms #1) by Morgan Rhodes
5. ★★★★★      The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

August

1. ★★★★☆      The Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace
2. ★★★★☆      In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
3. ★★★★☆      A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab
4. ★★★★☆      Kalahari (Corpus #3) by Jessica Khoury
5. ★★★★☆      The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
6. ★★★☆☆      The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
7. ★★★★★      Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) by Victoria Schwab
8. ★★★★☆      Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
9. ★★★☆☆      The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough
10. ★★☆☆☆      Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott

September

1. ★★★★★      The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
2. ★★★☆☆.5   Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips
3. ★★★★☆.5   The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli
4. ★★☆☆☆.5   The Last Star Burning by Caitlin Sangster
5. ★★★★☆      Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

October

1. ★★★☆☆.5   Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomney Sun
2. ★★★★☆      Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
3. ★★★☆☆      Fishbowl by Bradley Somer
4. ★★★★☆      The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
5. ★★★☆☆.5   Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero
6. ★★★★☆      One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2) by Kendare Blake

November

1. ★★★☆☆      Slasher Girls and Monster Boys by Various Authors
2. ★★★★★      Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
3. ★★★☆☆      The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
4. ★★★★★      Very Good Lives by J. K. Rowling
5. ★★★★☆      Archie Vol 1 by Mark Waid
6. ★★★★☆      Archie Vol 2 by Mark Waid
7. ★★★★☆      Archie Vol 3 by Mark Waid
8. ★★★★☆      Archie Vol 4 by Mark Waid
9. ★★★★☆      The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
10. ★★★★☆      Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman
11. ★★★☆☆      The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances by Matthew Inman

December

1. ★★★★☆.5   The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson
2. ★★★★☆      The Wicked + The Divine Vol 1: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen
3. ★★★★☆.5   The Wicked + The Divine Vol 2: Fandemonium by Kieron Gillen
4. ★★★★☆      Seconds by Bryan Lee O'Malley
5. ★★★★☆      Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
6. ★☆☆☆☆      The Wicked + The Divine Vol 3: Commercial Suicide by Kieron Gillen
7. ★★★★☆      The Wicked + The Divine Vol 4: Rising Action by Kieron Gillen
8. ★★★☆☆      The Wicked + The Divine Vol 5: Imperial Phase 1 by Kieron Gillen
9. ★★★★☆      Alex + Ada Vol 1 by Johnathan Luna
10. ★★★★☆      Alex + Ada Vol 2 by Johnathan Luna
11. ★★★★☆      Alex + Ada Vol 3 by Johnathan Luna
12. ★★★★☆      The Heart of Betrayal (The Remnant Chronicles #2) by Mary E. Pearson

Books read this year: 58/52

August 2016 Wrap Up

Since I start University this month, I got as much read as I could in the month of August, since I know I won't be able to read as much as I used to.
This past month I read:

• ★★★★☆.5     The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson
• ★★★★☆.5     Grave Mercy (His Fair Assassin #1) by Robin LaFevers
• ★★★★☆.5     The Winner's Curse (The Winner's Trilogy #1) by Marie Rutkoski
• ★★★★☆.5     Dark Triumph (His Fair Assassin #2) by Robin LaFevers
• ★★★★☆        The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
• ★★★★☆        The Winner's Crime (The Winner's Trilogy #2) by Marie Rutkoski
• ★★★★☆.5     Mortal Heart (His Fair Assassin #3) by Robin LaFevers
• ★★★★★        The Winner's Kiss (The Winner's Trilogy #3) by Marie Rutkoski

The first book I read this month was The Well of Ascension. I really enjoyed this book, and I felt that there was great development between Vin and Elend, as well as a lot of development from other characters throughout the story. The only reason this book wasn't an automatic five star read for me was that I've found that ever since a certain someone died in the first book (avoiding names because of spoilers) the group dynamic between the characters has seemed a bit forced and very off. They don't seem to mesh together as a group as well as they once did, and they seem to be forcing themselves to work as they one were, where it had originally seemed so easy to them. Other than that though, I absolutely loved this book. The battle and fight scenes were amazing, and the ending to this book was extremely unexpected, but in a good way.

The next book I read was Grave Mercy. I've seemed to be in a massive fantasy kick this month, so I figured I would give it a go. And I absolutely LOVED IT. The characters were amazing, the storyline was brilliant, and every single aspect of the story was so well thought out, from the convent to the back stories of the characters to the relationship between every single character. I also really liked how the author didn't force any of the relationships between the characters, especially between Ismae and Duval. Their relationship, as well as those between almost every other character in this book, seemed to flourish on their own, with no force put on by the author to make it seem like they needed to be together. Lately, I've found that a lot of authors will make it extremely obvious from the very beginning of a book (or a series) who will end up together in the end, and they make their connection strong and their relationship perfect. Those always seem forced to me. In this book, however, it seemed like the actual characters made all of the decisions, and the author was there to just write it down.

I then read The Winner's Curse as I waited to buy the rest of the Grave Mercy trilogy. I really enjoyed this book too, and I found that it deserved all of the hype that is given to it. The characters were very well thought out, the relationships between them were very well created, and the story line between all of the characters, especially Kestrel and Arin, was written perfectly. I also really enjoyed how the actual novel was written; the words flowed and the story line ran beautifully. Every single thing about this book was absolutely gorgeous.

The next book I read this month was Dark Triumph, the second book after Grave Mercy. I found that this book had a very slow beginning, and as I started reading this book I had a small dislike of Sybella. As I read, however, she slowly started to grow on me, and I found I enjoyed reading about her more and more. This book is a lot shorter than Grave Mercy is, but I found that I enjoyed it more, as I understood the world and how the characters lived due to the first book. The story line was perfectly lined up with the first book, but it also showed a whole different side to the story you learn about and follow in the first book. I really enjoyed how quickly the pace sped up as you continue to read this book, as once you have quickly recovered the world and the people in the story, you begin to delve deeper and faster into the main story line. This one I enjoyed about as equally as I did Grave Mercy.


The next book I read was The Walls Around Us, which was very different from the other books I had been reading this month. I really enjoyed how suspenseful this book was, as well as how different the characters were from what I had been reading this month. The story line as well is so different from anything I have read, as it takes place in a detention center. I found that this book had a great ending, and I also feel like it was the perfect length, and written perfectly, for how the author had the story play out.

I then read The Winner's Crime. I was not as much of a fan of this book as I was the first one, but I still enjoyed it nonetheless. I felt that this book was more of a filler book for the other two in this trilogy, and although I felt that because not many things happened action wise, a lot happened relationship wise. I have a lot of mixed emotions about this book, because although I feel like it was a filler book, I also feel like the trilogy couldn't have worked without it. This particular book had a lot of problems for me, as a lot of parts dragged badly for me, but I was still kept interested because of how much I am invested in the characters. I found that there were too many problems within the book, and many of them were so small and unimportant that they could have easily been left out with no problems continuing on the trilogy as it already was, but other parts of this book were so important that I feel like they defined Kestrel and Arin's relationship, as well as the relationship of the countries they were in.

I then read Mortal Heart, the final book in the Grave Mercy trilogy. This book was fantastic in every possible way. Through reading this trilogy, I have always been fascinated by Mortain, who he was as a God and as a father, and we got to see him in a way that we never have before. I absolutely love his relationship with the girls (and one particular girl) of the convent, and how beautifully it was written and described. I loved how every single girls' story throughout this entire trilogy were perfectly wrapped up, and how every single lose end and problem was accounted for. The amount of problems that happened in this trilogy makes it seem unbelievable that it could have ended so perfectly and beautifully, but I couldn't imagine it ending any other way.

The next book I read was The Winner's Kiss, the third and final book in The Winner's Kiss trilogy. This book was everything the second one wasn't; it was intense, fast-paced, and action-filled. This story was the perfect way of ending the trilogy, and the ending between Kestrel and Arin couldn't have been any better. This book concluded the series, as being the last book, and also as being a way of ending the trilogy better than how the first one started it. There was so much growth and development in these books, not only from the characters, but from the countries and the setting itself.