“A Court of Wings and Ruin” by Sarah J. Maas: A Book of Annoyances and Spite [Book Review]

A world divided was not a world that could thrive.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses (Book #3)

Length: 719 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Fiction

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Release Date: 2 May 2017

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

FEYRE WILL BRING VENGEANCE.

She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

BUT WHILE WAR RAGES, IT IS HER HEART THAT WILL FACE THE GREATEST BATTLE.

My review for A Court of Thorns and Roses

My review for A Court of Mist and Fury

I have such mixed feelings about A Court of Wings and Ruin. And this series in general. On one hand, it’s my favorite kind of trash (when I’m in the mood for romance and trash). On the other hand, I really hate a lot of things about this book, as well as quite a few things about this series in general.

But it’s been bothering me for years that I left the initial ACOTAR trilogy unfinished, and after getting my mom into reading as a motivation to finish it (my trash is her treasure), I’m gonna finish the other two ACOTAR books that have been released.

I Have Some Things To Say about this book, so without further hesitation I’m gonna start ranting.

The World

Once again, the most fascinating aspect of ACOTAR’s story is its setting. I really do like the world that Maas built, even if the Prythian landmass is just a fantasy UK.

I like a lot of the creatures that she created (but underutilized greatly). Also, I think the Court system itself is interesting, though Maas didn’t really take it in a direction that I liked. I thought that the High Lords themselves had a lot of potential as well, but Maas didn’t really make them interesting or unique aside from their powers. (And even that isn’t unique since Feyre has all of their powers combined.)

I also would’ve liked to know more about the other countries, but they only get name dropped and that’s it. We don’t even learn really anything about Hybern – the invading force – except that they were speciesist 500 years ago, and they’re still speciesist now. I felt like Maas could’ve done more with that.

The Characters

Oh boy, do I have Thoughts about the characters in this book. I hate most of them. Viscerally. But I will admit that I do like a few of them.

Let’s start with the ones that I like, since there are so little of them. First off, Nesta is still the best character in the series (so far), and I hated how much some of the other characters started to rag on her closer to the ending. She’s also one of the few characters in this novel with an actual, distinct personality and character. And it was very enjoyable to read her being bitchy.

The only other characters that I really liked were Amren and Lucien. Amren was fun to read about, and also unapologetically a bitch. And we stan Amren/Varian on this blog. My favorite couple in the series.

Amren and Varian didn’t even bother to join us.

No, she’d just wrapped her legs around his waist, right there in front of us, and he’d stood, lifting her in one swift movement. I wasn’t entirely sure how Varian managed to walk them out of the tent while still kissing her, Amren’s hands dragging through his hair, letting out noises that were unnervingly like purring as they vanished into the camp.

Rhys had let out a low laugh as we all gawked in their wake. “I supposed that’s how Varian decided he’d tell Amren he was feeling rather grateful she’d ordered us to go to Adriata.”

Tarquin cringed. “We’ll alternate who has to deal with them on holidays.”

Lucien was probably the most interesting male character in this book, and I hate that no one likes him (not even the author really seems to, lol). And he doesn’t really even deserve any of it. The only character that gets more hate is Tamlin, and Lucien doesn’t deserve to be that high on our group of MCs (s)hitlist.

Oh, and before I forget, I really loved the Suriel and the Bone Carver. But then SJM decided to do away with them (and the Weaver) (also SPOILERS), which really irritated me. They were the most interesting characters in the series, and definitely still had a ton of potential, but since Maas chose to get rid of them, I guess we’ll never see what could have been.

Annnd I didn’t much care for anyone else. Feyre was even more annoying than ever, and I hated reading about how spiteful and pissed off at everything. She wasn’t a character that I really enjoyed following, like, at all. And she was ridiculously overpowered and I hated it (and her) because she wasn’t even close to being a likable enough character to be fun to read being overpowered.

Also, it bugged me that she kept bragging about solving Amarantha’s riddle from the first book. 1) That was like the easiest riddle ever and 2) it took her months to figure it out.

My goal was bigger than revenge. My purpose greater than personal retribution.

Uhhhh, no it’s not Feyre… You’re lying to yourself.

Speaking of being overpowered, Rhysand also started to get super annoying here too. The author made him too secretly perfect under a veneer of bad-boyishness. And I both of those aspects about him. I also didn’t like how he was the most powerful of all the High Lords. Like, power couples can be fun, but that only works for me when both characters are very likeable, of which neither individual person in this couple is.

I also don’t like Mor anymore, as (SPOILERS) she’s apparently been stringing Azriel along for 500 years. And that’s just irredeemable to me, regardless of the reasons. Stringing someone along for 500 years is just morally reprehensible.

And Azriel and Cassian (and Mor) all just kept acting like college frat boys and a sorority girl, and it just got insufferable to me after a while. They’re all supposed to be over 500 years old and I can’t take them seriously because none of them act like it. Rhysand doesn’t either – he’s a frat boy too!

The Romance

Night Triumphant – and the Stars Eternal.

If he was the sweet, terrifying darkness, I was the glittering light that only his shadows could make clear.

The romance in A Court of Wings and Ruin was… meh. Most of it was average at best. And I hated the smut. Not because it was bad (though I’ve heard it’s not very good), but because I don’t care enough about it to make that call.

I just don’t like smut in general. I skip all the sex scenes in every book I see it in. And yes, I’m aware that the majority of A Court of Silver Flames is smut, but I’m still gonna read it so I can say I read this whole series.

The only relationship that I liked in this book was Amren and Varian, and that’s mostly because I just like Amren’s character.

The Plot

“Leave this world… a better place than how you found it.”

I didn’t much care about the plot until the last third, and even then it wasn’t that engaging, for the most part. SJM used a bunch of plot and character conveniences, which I despised, and when they’d had their use (in her eyes) she just dumped them for good. Ugh.

The plot also didn’t really start to move until close to the halfway point. Sure, a couple of things happened closer to the beginning, but not all that much occurred until about 40% of the way in. And Feyre was just so angry for the first 20% – it was just really annoying to read.

Also, Nesta’s powers. Maas built them up so freaking much and then, in the end, she hardly did anything with them. Literally all Nesta did with them was throw the King of Hybern into some trees really heard (which didn’t even kill him, let alone slow him down!), and nothing else. It’s like SJM couldn’t figure out what to do with her or something.

And before I forget, Feyre running off in the middle of battle without telling anyone was about the stupidest decision I’ve ever seen her make. And just to go find the Suriel who she didn’t even get any useful information from. Ughhhh!

Also, Lucien did a ton of stuff off screen, and it was the most interesting plot stuff in the book. I wanted to read that!

Final Thoughts

Even as an immortal, there was not enough time in life to waste it on hatred.

So yeah, I had a lot of thoughts about this book. And this series (so far) in general. I’m feeling pretty bland about the last two novels in this series, but I have to finish it now since I’m buddy reading it with my mom and she’s enjoying it a lot.

If you like the other ACOTAR books, you’ll like A Court of Wings and Ruin. Also, probably if you like fantasy with romance (and smut) too.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

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The Sequel That Will Break Your Heart | The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber [Book Review]

Conceived in the north, and born in the south, you will know this key, because she will be crowned in rose gold.

She will be both peasant and princess, a fugitive wrongly accused, and only her willing blood with open this arch.

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can…

You can read my review for the first book in the series here:
Once Upon a Broken Heart Review

Oh my stars. This book was like a hurricane – whipping around sharp and fast, spinning me around almost until I felt dizzy.

The Ballad of Never After is the sequel to Once Upon a Broken Heart (and the second in the eponymous series) written by Stephanie Garber. It was first published in September 2022 by Flatiron Books, and features the genres of fantasy, YA, and of course, romance. TBONA and OUABH are also spin-offs of Garber’s previous Caraval trilogy, and are set in the same universe around the same time period, but following different characters.

This book evoked the whole spectrum of emotions from me. As with the first book, I was constantly lurching from side to side on how I felt about this book. Yes, those two opposing sides were love and hate, how did you guess? But I’ll make it easy on you guys, and split that stuff up and talk about it separately.

Stuff I Liked

Once upon a time, there was a girl with a furry tail that twitched whenever snow was coming. And, Once there was a house where laughter constantly curled from the chimney instead of smoke.

Much like its predecessor, I really enjoyed a lot of the descriptions that Garber cooked up. They were unique and surreal. I also liked the weird magic and magical artifacts and stuff. They kind of made me feel put off, and I really liked that.

I also very much enjoyed the world building of the Magnificent North, once again, but even more so this time, as there was a significant amount of background revealed about it (and some of the characters, to a degree at least) in The Ballad of Never After. This was something that I felt was kind of missing in Once Upon a Broken Heart, but at the time I thought it was because I hadn’t read any of the Caraval trilogy. (That’s right, I totally went in blind!)

Stephanie Garber’s writing style is also frequently eloquent and beautiful. I just like how flowery the prose feels sometimes. It’s… nice.

Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasure with wings. They are wild, feral, reckless things that need to be constantly chased, or they will certainly run away

This was also a very fast-paced novel, and that’s honestly the last thing that I enjoyed, to some degree, about this book aside from the ending. And let me tell you: Stephanie knocked the ending to this book completely out of the park and into the next city. It was that good. Like, the book wasn’t doing too much for me, but that ending made me bump it up a star. A whole star! But I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say too much about it.

All I’ll say is that if you love romance books, the ending is gonna kick you in the feels. Hard. And I’ll let you in on a little secret: I read some spoiler free reviews after this came out and they warned me about this. But at the time, Stephanie hadn’t announced Once Upon a Broken Heart as a trilogy yet, so those poor bastards were left hanging, hoping against hope for one more book.

And then she announced another book with a title and a cover and the future looked a bit brighter. So I finally decided to commit and put it on my TBR and eventually read it. And read it I did. (And it broke my heart. In the best way possible.)

Stuff I Didn’t Like

The truth is never what you want it to be.

I’m gonna be real with you: I kind of feel like there was more that I didn’t enjoy here than I did enjoy. But Mar, you ask, how did this get four stars?

(It’s cuz of the ending guys. We just talked about this.)

The characters were once again kinda insufferable. Like, I kind of liked a few in OUABH, but they all kind of tanked in The Ballad of Never After.

Evangeline Fox, our protagonist, is still annoying. I mentioned in my other review that I thought she was starting to improve near the ending of the first book. That was, unfortunately, not true. She’s just as bad as in OUABH. Whiny and stupid. Seriously, this girl makes the worst decisions that I’ve ever seen an MC make. And they all immediately end up biting her in the butt, and she never seems to learn from them.

Not to mention, Eva doesn’t seem to have any agency. Oh sure, there’s the illusion of agency, but it’s not real. It’s never real. She’s always either being manipulated like a chess piece by someone ten steps ahead, or she’s running into the arms of various (obviously) untrustworthy people every other chapter.

Evangeline, please. Run far, far away from here.

Next on the character roster is Jacks. (Yes, his name is spelled correctly.) He’s the sexy, “bad boy” type of live interest that all the girls fall for. And he’s the most homicidal one that I’ve ever seen. Eva literally had to tell him not to murder a bunch of people more than once. Honestly, I actually thought it was really funny because I hated most of the other characters, but I didn’t understand how Eva was still falling in love with him because of this. It went against her entire character and personality.

“You give people too much credit,” Jacks grumbled. “And you should have told me this right away.”

“Why, so you could kill him?”

“Yes.”

“No, Jacks. You can’t go around murdering people because they’re a problem.”

There’s a lot more characters here, too. Far too many to go over, here in my little review, so we’re doing a lightning round.

Apollo was a mid character, up until he wasn’t. I’ve never cared for him, personally, but that’s because I understood his role of being a plot device so that Stephanie could have a love triangle. But I underestimated him. He somehow went from mid to terrible.

LaLa was a character that kind of annoyed me in Once Upon a Broken Heart, but she was also kind of okay. But, lo and behold, she got more annoying in The Ballad of Never After, and she did a ton of stuff that I really hate her for.

Chaos was one of the lesser annoyances. Or at least, one of the lesser annoyances at first. I actually thought he was the only semi-decent guy for a while, despite being a vampire. (Shocking, I know.) But then he did that thing, and it makes me really mad, so he goes in the pile of dirty socks with the others.

Annnd that’s all the characters that I’m gonna talk about. 1) Because they’re the only ones that really matter, and 2) because this section is getting way too long.

Before I conclude this review, I also want to mention that this book has the same problem as the first one, in that it moves too fast sometimes. Like, I love a fast-paced novel as much as the next bibliophile, but characters need time to reflect and to breathe in books, and the plot was going too fast for any of that kind of stuff. Which is unfortunate, because I think TBONA could have benefitted from that.

Final Thoughts

“This isn’t a bedtime story, Little Fox.”

“Most fairytales aren’t.”

The Ballad of Never After was kind of a mid fantasy-romance with a heart wrenching ending that was so good I added a star to my rating. (An entire star guys!) Fans of Stephanie Garber’s other novels will definitely enjoy this one, as well as fans of fantasy-romance (and just romance) in general.

(And also, for those who were wondering, of course I’m going to read the last book in the trilogy, The Curse of True Love. I gotta know how it ends – especially after the ending of this book!)

Thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!

And also: Happy Valentine’s Day!! 💖🍫🌹💌

See ya ~Mar

“The Savior’s Champion” by Jenna Moreci: Book Review

It’s been over a week since my last retrospective book review, so I deemed it time for another one. Today, I’m rereviewing The Savior’s Champion by Jenna Moreci.

(If you’re new, or you haven’t read any of my retrospective book reviews before, allow me a very quick explanation before moving into the actual review. You can probably surmise what it is on your own, but I’ll just say that I skim over a book I’ve read in the last few years prior to having a blog, and re-judge it to see if it was as great as I remember.)

The Savior’s Champion by Jenna Moreci

Series: The Savior’s Series (Book #1)

Length: 671 pages

Genres: Dark Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

Release Date: April 24, 2018

Book Description:

Tobias Kaya doesn’t care about The Savior. He doesn’t care that She’s the Ruler of the realm or that She purified the land, and he certainly doesn’t care that She’s of age to be married. But when competing for Her hand proves to be his last chance to save his family, he’s forced to make The Savior his priority.

Now Tobias is thrown into the Sovereign’s Tournament with nineteen other men, and each of them is fighting—and killing—for the chance to rule at The Savior’s side. Instantly his world is plagued with violence, treachery, and manipulation, revealing the hidden ugliness of his proud realm. And when his circumstances seem especially dire, he stumbles into an unexpected romance, one that opens him up to unimaginable dangers and darkness.

Trigger warning: this novel contains graphic violence, adult language, and sexual situations.

My Review

Then: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

Now: ★★✯☆☆ • 2.5 / 5 stars

I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that there’s something a little different with this book review.

If you haven’t, it’s totally the lack of quotes from the novel. I’m telling you now, that there aren’t gonna be any quotes here, if you were looking for them. This is for a very simple reason: I didn’t find anything of this book to be particularly memorable. Like, line wise anyway – I remembered scenes from The Savior’s Champion well enough.

You might also be wondering: why, upon my reflection, there was a drop in stars. That is also something that I will answer here. But not quite yet. First, let’s go over the usual.

(Before doing so, I will acknowledge that my reading tastes may not be in this specific subgenre, so even though I found a lot I didn’t like about for me personally, someone else might really love it. I don’t know who to recommend it to, though.)

The Plot and Its Pacing

Let’s start with the storyline itself. The plot was pretty generic: protag has to save his family in some way, enters deadly tournament in order to get paid, falls in love with a girl. You know, the usual.

There’s nothing inherently wrong right that. Actually, the base plot is actually okay. The problem is, this book is far too long for what its pages contain, and thus is very slow-paced. Almost excruciatingly at times, even. It’s also super overwritten to fluff up the page count – it did not need to be over 600 pages long. (I think it would have been fine being around 400, but nevermind my opinion.)

But yeah, the plot itself is… fine. Most of the problems associated with it have to do with TSC’s pacing, and… other stuff.

The Characters (aka: The “Other Stuff”)

I’m going to be frank here: most of the characters in this novel kind of sucked. Like, they weren’t written very well. Many of them were under-characterized and has little to know motivation, and others didn’t have much of a personality and had motivations that shifted and didn’t make sense.

The main character, Tobias, is very dull. Nothing about him is interesting. Not to mention, he completely transforms into a complete different character around like halfway/two-thirds of the way through the novel. Like, wth?

And his family were complete non-characters. They merely existed as a motivation for Tobias for the first three chapters, and then ceased to exist in his mind for pretty much the rear of the book. And even when they do appear, as brief as it is, they are always “Number Two” in our protagonist’s mind, which they should not be, if he loves them as much as he claims.

“Number One” in Tobias’ mind – after he first encounters her at least – is Leila. Leila is our dueteragonist in this novel, and she’s just about as bland as our hero. She also has a “secret,” but it is something so completely and utterly obvious to the reader that I hesitate to name it as such. (And even then Tobias doesn’t figure it out until the very end of the book and he still has to be told it.)

All of the other characters – much like Tobias’ family – did not matter. Not really, at least. And there were far too many of them and they didn’t feel very distinct from one another. And the villain was just… so evil that it was nearly ridiculous.

The Prose

The prose wasn’t super good. There was either too much or too little description, and the dialogue never felt very natural. And the text is oversaturated with one word (~~cock~~), to the point that I actually wanted to fling the book across the room both times that I went through it!

Also, the chemistry between all of the different characters just really wasn’t there. And the romance between Tobias and Leila could have – and should have – been much stronger. I dunno, this book might have needed another edit or something – I’m no expert.

Why My Rating Changed So Drastically

Sooo… I discovered this book through the author’s YouTube channel. That’s right, Jenna Moreci is an authortuber, and she makes videos with writing advice. At the time I first read this book, its sequel The Savior’s Sister was releasing.

And, I’m just gonna be real. I liked Jenna and her videos, so I wanted to check out her books. And even though The Savior’s Champion was difficult for me to get through – it took me almost a month to finish it, which is extremely unusual for me – I was really self-conscious about my review. So I didn’t think too much about the book itself when I finished it, and just gave it 4 stars.

But looking back on it after attempting to read the sequel, as well as having since pretty much discontinued with watching Jenna’s videos, I can no longer ignore how I truly felt. So, I went through the book again (skimming at high speed) just to make sure my feelings were true, and then have it my true rating, without any of my bias blocking my vision.

So yeah, that’s why it went down to 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Final Thoughts

I didn’t really care for The Savior’s Champion too much, but someone else might like it, so as always, I encourage anyone still interested to give it a shot. Everyone has different taste buds when it comes to books, so everyone prefers something different on their pages.

Thank you to those of you who read this ~~rant~~ review, and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

LINKS: Goodreads | Instagram

Reading Retrospective: Red Winter

Let’s see… It’s been, I don’t know, about exactly a month right down to the day since I last did one of these. So I’d say that it’s been more than overdue for me to post another one.

Since it’s been such a looonng time since the last one – or if you’re new – Reading Retrospectives are posts where I go over a book I read in the past, of which there are many (ei: before I started posting stuff on this blog), and determine whether it still deserves the star rating that I originally gave it. So I basically just give it a proper review.

This time, I’m reinspecting a book I read around three years ago. It’s Red Winter by Annette Marie.

Red Winter by Annette Marie

Series: Red Winter Trilogy (Book #1)

Length: 348 pages

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

Release Date: October 21, 2016

Book Description

Emi has spent her entire life hiding from the creatures that hunt her. The savage earth spirits are determined to kill her before she can become the living host of a goddess, so she stays hidden–until the day she saves the life of one of her hunters.

Shiro isn’t the harmless fox spirit she thought he was. He’s mysterious, cunning, unpredictable … and now hers to command. He’s sworn to pay his debt to her, but he doesn’t know who she is. If he finds out, he’ll kill her.

But she can’t send him away–not yet. Her future isn’t what she thought. The lies surrounding her fate have begun to unravel, and she needs answers before time runs out–answers that lie in the spirit realm. Shiro can take her there… if she dares to trust him.

And only then will she find out how deep the gods’ treachery runs.

My Review

Then: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

Now: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

Actions change our course, influence our futures, but intentions define us, empower us. Without intent, we are nothing.

So, like… This book still holds up for me. I still really like it. I’ve seen it compared to shoujo manga and anime, and, speaking as someone who has watched some of the latter, I absolutely agree. So I’m just gonna say straight up, that if you enjoy shoujo, you’ll like this book.

My favorite part about the book is how much the author cared about her book. It’s very clear just by reading this, that Marie put in a considerable amount of research and effort into making this as authentic, and true to the cultural source, as possible. And it really shows. It really does feel like I’m watching a shoujo anime (anime geared towards teenage girls), only no I’m not, I’m just reading a really well written novel. With a few really pretty illustrations.

But yeah, the setting is solid. It really feels like I’m reading a book set in Japan. I also adore the Japanese folklore here. I feel like I really don’t see enough books about it, outside of anime and such.

Not that that was the only thing that I really liked about Red Winter. The characters were pretty alright too.

“Actions change our course, influence our futures, but intentions define us, empower us. Without intent, we are nothing.”

I really liked Emi. She’s “not like other girls” in the best way – by which I mean she doesn’t have the stereotypical, overly sassy, good at most everything characterization problem that most YA female protagonists do. And I loved that about her. Emi has a traumatic backstory, like many leading characters, and most of her development over this novel is her learning to deal with, and begin to move past, said trauma. And she doesn’t put up a badass, sassy front to hide this part of herself from the world. She’s timid and vulnerable, and because of this, you can really start to see her evolve and shine that much more brightly. She’s definitely one of my more liked female protagonists in recent years.

Shiro was also decently interesting, despite being the more stereotypical of the two. Marie might have given Emi a variation on the “chosen one” cliche, but Shiro was the one to really inherit a lot of the more common tropes. Not that that’s a bad thing – I really like Shiro! I just wanted to acknowledge that he’s tied to a few literary (and anime) stereotypes. But yeah, Shiro is a kitsune (a Japanese fox spirit), so it’s really no surprise how likeable he is. Most people just love foxes.

She stopped, a half-dozen paces still separating them. The frantic thudding of her heart filled her ears as she met his vacant crimson stare. “Don’t forget me, Shiro,” she said hoarsely. “You’re not allowed to forget me.”

He blinked slowly and something shifted in his gaze. His lips curved in his familiar crooked smile. “You’ll forget me someday, little miko.” His voice was even hoarser than hers, rough and coated in a hint of an animal growl.

“I’ll never forget you,” she told him. “I’ll remember you to my last day.”

“Do you promise?”

Her heart gave an odd little flutter. “Yes, I promise.

The romance is also done just right between the two of them. It’s slow-burn, the (for the most part) best way to write a romance, which is your biggest giveaway that it’s well-written. (Hey, when the other option is insta-love, I will always choose a slow-burn any day!)

And, to top it off, Red Winter isn’t just a standalone novel. It’s the first part of a trilogy! So there’s even more to enjoy if you just couldn’t get enough of this one. (And yeah, haven’t read the rest of it yet, on account of life happening. In a good way, but it still happened.)

So yes, in short, I really like this book. The only downside is that, due to some pretty extensive world building at the start, it takes a bit for the plot to get going. Despite that, I still highly recommend it. If you like any of the novel’s genres, or folklore, or Japanese shoujo media, definitely give this book a shot!

Shelf Control #8: Instructions for a Secondhand Heart

It’s that time of the week again (or thereabouts *coughs*), so it’s time for some more Shelf Control. Shelf Control is an original feature created and hosted by Lisa @ BookshelfFantasies.com.

It’s a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, go ahead and check out this post at BookshelfFantasies.com.

This week I’m not talking about a fantasy book that’s been languishing on my bookshelf for years for once. This week I’m highlighting Instructions for a Secondhand Heart by Tamsyn Murray. (Yes, I do occasionally read something that isn’t even remotely SFF. Yes, it is very surprising.)

About Instructions for a Secondhand Heart

Length: 321 pages

Genres: Contemporary, Romance, YA, Fiction

Release Date: December 5, 2017

Book Description

A moving novel about grief, guilt, and the unpredictability of love, for fans of Everything, Everything and All the Bright Places.

Jonny knows better than anyone that life is full of cruel ironies. He’s spent every day in a hospital hooked up to machines to keep his heart ticking. Then when an organ donor is found for Jonny’s heart, that turns out to be the cruelest irony of all. Because for Jonny’s life to finally start, someone else’s had to end.

That someone turns out to be Neve’s twin brother, Leo. When Leo was alive, all Neve wanted was for him (and all his glorious, overshadowing perfection) to leave. Now that Leo’s actually gone forever, Neve has no idea how to move forward. Then Jonny walks into her life looking for answers, her brother’s heart beating in his chest, and everything starts to change.

Together, Neve and Jonny will have to face the future, no matter how frightening it is, while learning to heal their hearts, no matter how much it hurts.

Features select graphic novel illustrations from Jonny’s sketchbook.

Why It Languishes on My Bookshelf

When I Got It: January 2018

Why I Wanted to Read It: Unfortunately, I can’t really remember why. But upon rereading the summary, I think I can get a bit of an inkling of what drew me to this book. Angst and romance – a bit of a guilty pleasure for me, particularly when the angst doesn’t have to do with the actual romance itself.

Why I Haven’t Read It Yet: At the time I got this book, I was making my way through a series – The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer – so I had put this off and into my TBR. Then, a horrible thing happened in my personal life, and I just wasn’t feeling books for a bit. And then I forgot about it. Whoops.

Will I Ever Read It?: Hmm… I really don’t know. Maybe if I’m in the mood to break away from fantasy for a bit and/or I want a quick and easy read. But yeah, don’t know. It would probably be a spontaneous decision if I did, though.

Have you read this book? Or is it languishing on your bookshelf too?

Have a glorious day/night!

~ Mar ~ 🙂📚

Reviewing Another Little Mermaid Retelling | Out of the Blue: Book Review

Dogs barking, children yelling, car horns carrying down the sand from the… what’s that word again? Oh, street.

About This Book

Title & Author: Out of the Blue by Jason June

Length: 377 pages

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQIA

Release Date: May 31, 2022

Book Description

Crest is not excited to be on their Journey: the month-long sojourn on land all teen merfolk must undergo. The rules are simple: Help a human within one moon cycle and return to Pacifica to become an Elder—or fail and remain stuck on land forever. Crest is eager to get their Journey over and done with. Humans are disgusting. They’ve polluted the planet so much that there’s a floating island of trash that’s literally the size of a country.

In Los Angeles with a human body and a new name, Crest meets Sean, a human lifeguard whose boyfriend has recently dumped him. Crest agrees to help Sean make his ex jealous and win him back. But as the two spend more time together, and Crest’s perspective on humans begins to change, they’ll soon be torn between two worlds. And fake dating just might lead to real feelings…

This sophomore novel from Jason June dives into the many definitions of the word home and shows how love can help us find the truest versions of ourselves.

My Review

Star Rating: ★★★✯☆ • 3.5 / 5 stars

It was the perfect rom-com moment, when the two leads finally realize they’re meant to be together.

This was a super fun retelling of The Little Mermaid. I loved this on so many levels. The bits of world building. The dialogue and inner monologues. So much of this book was fantastic.

I also really loved all of the modern additions June included. I mean, it was urban fantasy, so obviously. I just liked how it was done is all.

The highlight of the book for me was definitely the characters. Crest’s sarcasm and grumpiness was a lot of fun to read, and I liked how gentle and kind Sean was (when he wasn’t trying to make his crappy ex jealous). I also liked how body positive Sean was about himself – it was really nice to see, especially compared to Lily from When Life Gives You Vampires. I also adored Kavya – she’s the kind of friend that everyone deserves, though she’s definitely not perfect either.

I also really liked how the predictable plot points and issues that are normally left to a book’s climax and ending were resolved long before. Such as the realization and acceptance of romantic feelings. And the stuff that came after didn’t feel tacked on or boring or anything. There were still some plot threads to tie up, after all, and I’m glad that the author didn’t leave us hanging.

“I swear as each day goes by you become more and more of a bro.”

I also really liked the ending, even if I ended up predicting it exactly. It was sweet, and there was definitely some happily ever afterness going on, even if it wasn’t what readers might initially expect. // The reason that this book is a 3.5 out of 5 and not a 4 out of 5, is because I would’ve liked to see more of the mer life and mer culture. I really liked the world building around them that we did get, I just wish we got to see more of it, instead of just humans and land for the majority of the book. Also, I would have liked less mention of mer sex. Like, I like to think I’m a rather sex-positive individual, but mentioning wanting to have mer sex every other page is just waaay too much for a book like this – this wasn’t erotica after all.

Anyway, this book was pretty great. Probably a much better summer read than in the winter, but hey, I still had fun reading it. The rep in this book is good too, and it’s done pretty well. Definitely recommend it if you’re into the genres.

Book Review: “The Will and the Wilds” by Charlie N. Holmberg

A chill wind makes its way through the wildwood, whispering of misfortunes to come.

About The Will and the Wilds

Length: 265 pages

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Release Date: January 21, 2020

Book Description

Enna knows to fear the mystings that roam the wildwood near her home. When one tries to kill her to obtain an enchanted stone, Enna takes a huge risk: fighting back with a mysting of her own.

Maekallus’s help isn’t free. His price? A kiss. One with the power to steal her soul. But their deal leaves Maekallus bound to the mortal realm, which begins eating him alive. Only Enna’s kiss, given willingly, can save him from immediate destruction. It’s a temporary salvation for Maekallus and a lingering doom for Enna. Part of her soul now burns bright inside Maekallus, making him feel for the first time.

Enna shares Maekallus’s suffering, but her small sacrifice won’t last long. If she and Maekallus can’t break the spell binding him to the mortal realm, Maekallus will be consumed completely—and Enna’s soul with him.

My Review

Star Rating: ★★★✯☆ • 3.5 / 5 stars

Mankind cannot linger in the monster realm, just as mystings cannot abide here long. Our worlds are too different, and they reject those who don’t belong.

Sooo… I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. But it gets 3.5 stars because I’ve given books I’ve liked less 3 stars. It’s not a bad book by any means, though, and I’ll definitely be getting around to more books by Ms. Holmberg. Her prose and writing in general is pretty amazing, and is one of my favorite parts about the book.

What is a soul if not an extension of the heart? Grandmother once said to me. To lose one’s soul is to lose what makes one human. It’s no better than death.

I found that the MC, Enna, to be not annoying, so I’ll definitely give the book that. Especially since so many female protagonists are like that nowadays. Maekallus, one of the two love interests and another main character, also pleasantly surprised me by not being toxic – once actual emotions started happening on his end, that is – and he was actually pretty insecure and kind. Especially since he’s essentially an emotionless demon. He’s actually called a mysting, but mystings are basically totally demons, so he’s a demon.

Anyway, back to the relationship talk. Enna was actually the more toxic of the duo, with the way she flip-flopped between the two love interests, and how she gaslit her mentally incapacitated father (which I did not approve of. At all.), as well as one of the love interests. (Which I also didn’t like.)

It is painful for mystings to cross oon berry. Weaving a circle of thorny plants around your home will act as a proficient safeguard.

The plot and world also felt a little underdeveloped, and I really wanted to know more about the human world and The Deep. I would’ve loved to have a map or two. The climax was also kind of “meh,” but it was primarily a character and emotional driven story, so I’ll let it slide.

Something that I really, really liked though, were the little notes underneath the chapter headings about the mystings and their realm. I also liked how it quickly became obvious that they were Enna’s notes (as well as her grandmother’s). It made me want a bestiary of all the creatures and stuff, with drawings to boot.

I did enjoy this book overall, however, and I have a feeling that people who liked the author’s other stuff will like this. It also had Among the Beasts and Briars (by Ashley Poston) vibes, but not quite as good, so if you like that type of fantasy novel, you’ll probably like The Will and the Wilds.

Reading Retrospective: “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas

So, it’s been what, like eleven days or something, since I last reflected on a book from my past? That’s far too long. Let’s change that, shall we? It’s time for some retrospecting. (Yes, I know that’s not a real word.) (No, I don’t care.)

Reading Retrospectives are when I go back and reflect on books that I’ve read. Books that I have strong opinions on, but never reviewed because I read them before I even had a Goodreads (let alone a blog), and books from my childhood to my college days. Everything is fair game, honestly. If you’ve read the title, you know what this post’s gonna be about. If you haven’t, I’m reflecting on A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. Here we go!

1st Edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

2nd Edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

About ACOTAR

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses [Book #1]

Length: 432 pages

Genre: High Fantasy, Romance, New Adult

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Book Description

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.

At least, he’s not a beast all the time.

As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin-and his world-forever.

My Retrospective Review

When I Originally Read This: November 2015

Then: ★★★★✯ • 4.5 / 5 stars

Now: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

“Be glad of your human heart, Feyre. Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.”

ACOTAR. Oh, ACOTAR. The history that you and I have.

Gonna be perfectly honest here, before I caved in and started reading this, I had very strong aspirations to never do so. Like, I saw in my local Barnes & Noble in May or June of 2015, instantly could tell what type of “YA” book (the quotes are there, cuz hindsight) this was gonna be, and just… stayed away. Or attempted to, anyway.

In November of 2015, my strength failed me, and I caved into buying this book. And it was exactly like I knew it would be. YA with a “strong, female protagonist” who falls in a “passionate, fiery” love with some supernatural supermodel.

And I loved it.

Don’t get me wrong, it absolutely irritated me that I even started reading this in the first place. But, at the time, my soul wanted a guilty-pleasure-romance, so a guilty-pleasure-romance was what I read. And I liked it mostly in a guilty-pleasure sort of way. Not because I thought it was amazing literature or anything. Because, trust me, I didn’t.

“I came to claim the one I love.”

The characters were not very likeable, for one thing. Feyre was an annoying protagonist, who continually made stupid decisions; some of which, were extremely contrived. She was also quite bland, like a blank canvas, if I may incorporate one of Feyre’s “hobbies” into a simile.

And if Feyre was a blank canvas, then the love interest, Tamlin, was the material that a blank canvas is made out of. This man – sorry, “male” – was less than a block of wood, or even a sheet of paper. He honestly barely qualifies as a character, as he was mostly just a plot device to push Feyre to do something. Because, despite this book being over 400 pages, it becomes clear after a while, that at least 150 of them could have been cut. (Maas likes to overwrite and over-describe.)

“Do you ever stop being so serious and dull?”

“Do you ever stop being such a prick?” I snapped back.

Dead—really, truly, I should have been dead for that.

But Lucien grinned at me. “Much better.”

I’d get into more of the characters, but there really weren’t any. That really qualify as characters, at least. Lucien was probably the best of the almost characters. Actually, scratch that, he was the best. Even better than Feyre honestly. Throughout the novel, he and Feyre had way more chemistry than her and Tamlin, so I was kinda rooting for them as a couple for awhile. But we can’t have nice things, so I quickly gave up.

Feyre’s family were pretty much nonentities here (except for one tiny part later in the novel), they just existed as a motivation for her. Also, they sucked. Like, they were completely horrible to her. And, let’s not get into the “most handsome man [Feyre] had ever seen.” No, that’s going in the retrospective on ACOMAF, thank you very much. I’ll get to him though, I promise.

I’d mention the villain of the story, but the book isn’t really about that, so… yeah, just gonna leave this already long rant about the characters in this book here.

This book wasn’t all bad with the characters (barring Lucien), however. There were a few good lines and character moments nestled within some of the pages, that I wish we’d seen more of. Like this:

I found him carefully studying me, his lips in a thin line. “Has anyone ever taken care of you?” he asked quietly.

“No.” I’d long since stopped feeling sorry for myself about it.

and this

“Because I wouldn’t want to die alone,” I said, and my voice wobbled as I looked at Tamlin again, forcing myself to meet his stare. “Because I’d want someone to hold my hand until the end, and awhile after that. That’s something everyone deserves, human or faerie.”

I actually really like the setting and the world building (that we get) a lot. I found it to be very interesting, even though it’s more than obvious that Maas just traced over a map of the U.K. and renamed it Prythian (and Hybern). The division of the “courts” was intriguing to me, and I wish that the series expanded on the way their hierarchies worked in a way that made sense more than it actually ended up being. (We’ll get to that, don’t worry. Just not in this review.) I also adored the magical atmosphere of the book, as well.

Despite… everything about ACOTAR, I will admit that I really enjoyed it. It was stupid fun – guilty-pleasure-romance, just as I said near the beginning. So I’ll take one thing that this book said, to heart:

“Don’t feel bad for one moment about doing what brings you joy.”

Because if we don’t read what we enjoy, then what the hell are we doing with our limited free time on this planet? We should do things that bring us joy (within reason. I’m looking at you… people who do bad things.) and if they include reading not-that-great, but also, weirdly-addicting, fantasy romances, then we should just do that!

Have you read A Court of Thorns and Roses, or any of Sarah J Maas’ other novels? What did you think of them? What are your guilty-pleasure books? (I know you have at least one…) Thanks for reading, and see you again soon for more bookish things.

Reading Retrospective: Serpent & Dove • Shelby Mahurin

It’s been a bit, but it’s time for a Reading Retrospective.

Reading Retrospectives are when I go back and reflect on books that I’ve read. Books that I gave strong opinions on, but never reviewed because I read them before I even had a Goodreads (let alone a blog). And books from my childhood to my college days. Everything is fair game, honestly.

Today I’m discussing Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin.

About Serpent & Dove

Series: Serpent & Dove [Book #1]

Length: 528 pages

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Release Date: September 3, 2019

Book Description

Bound as one, to love, honor, or burn. Book one of a stunning fantasy trilogy, this tale of witchcraft and forbidden love is perfect for fans of Kendare Blake and Sara Holland.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation—marriage.

Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

My Retrospective Review

When I Originally Read This: November 2020

Then: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars

Now: ★★★✯☆ • 3.5 / 5 stars

When I first read this back in 2020, I gotta be honest, I enjoyed this. Quite a bit. It wasn’t a five star book by any means, but I thought it was still pretty good. In a guilty pleasure sort of way, at least.

But after going for a second round with Serpent & Dove more recently, it was honestly kind of hard to get through on a reread. I actually had a strong urge to drop it, which I felt kinda bad about, because I hate DNF-ing stuff.

What I Still Like About It

The characters. Well… some of the characters, at least. The leads, Lou and Reid, left something to be desired, as I didn’t find either of them to be very likeable (though I enjoyed Reid’s POVs more than Lou’s).

The characters I’m talking about were the supporting cast. Coco was a blast to follow when she was actually hanging around the protagonists, and thus actually in the plot. I also thought that her sacrificial blood magic was more interesting than Lou’s “pattern based” magic. Ansel was also a delight – he was an absolute cinnamon roll and deserves to be protected at all cost. Madame Labelle also seemed interesting, initially, however, she grew far less so the farther I got in the novel.

I did like the interactions and the banter between the characters, even the two protagonists, despite how subpar I thought they were as main characters. Lou and Reid had some good interactions, I’ll admit it. I liked how they challenged each other – they were much better together than they were alone.

I also really liked the setting; I’m good with most historical fantasies or historical fantasy based settings. Even though I couldn’t tell whether or not it was a fantasy world or magic historical France; it was a little unclear, although I’m pretty sure that it was a fantasy world.

I also loved that it was around not-Christmas. I love Christmastime, and I never see it in a book that’s not a holiday romance or Harry Potter, so that was kinda nice.

Though the dialogue and prose weren’t my favorite, there were a few lines that I kinda liked. (That, and I’m gonna quite some lines that I thought were stupid in the “Stuff I Hated” section, so I decided to be nice.)

Un malheur ne vient jamais seul. Misfortune never arrived alone. {French proverb}

I really liked this one, though the author didn’t come up with it herself, so…? 🤷‍♂️

I also liked this one.

Lou glared at him. “I like you, Ansel, but this had better be something good. Emilie and Alexandre just had a moment.”

and

“Why the ~~feck~~ is everyone in this kingdom trying to murder my wife?”

What I Don’t Like About It

Well, first off, as I mentioned above, I don’t much care for Lou and Reid. Lou was far too sassy and erratic, and she made a lot of dumb decisions. And I just found her generally annoying. Reid was less insufferable, but he too, made stupid decisions. And he was almost comically naive at times. For instance, he’s a witch hunter, but he pretty much believes everything Lou says. Nearly unquestioningly. It’s actually that ridiculous.

Another thing that I really hated was the McGuffin: The One Ring. *cough* Sorry, “Angelica’s Ring.” Whatever. It pretty much functions the same way, minus having a consciousness. (They both can turn people invisible.)

The inciting incident that forced Lou and Reid into marriage felt excruciatingly convoluted, and filled me with hatred. Like, there really weren’t any other options? Seriously?!? It just felt so contrived when I read it, that it made me want to bang my head against the wall.

I also hate a lot of decisions that happen during the climax. I’m not gonna spoil anything, but they just didn’t make sense to me at all. Just saying.

And, before we go, it’s time for the lines that I hated. Just like I promised.

Coco and I shared a black look. If Babette wasn’t careful, she’d soon learn just how wretched and violent we could be.

Just. Ugh. They’re so annoying.

And such a tight little ass.

I really like this line, actually. It’s so direct. Just not in this book. It feels too out of place.

“Do not urge me to leave you and turn back from you.” He trailed his fingers down my arm in slow, torturous strikes.

Ew. Waaayy too sappy.

Final Thoughts

As much as I I’ve ragged on Serpent & Dove in some parts of this review, it’s really not bad at all. That’s its sequel, Blood & Honey. (I’m not joking – that one’s terrible. There’ll be a roast on that one coming up, you can be sure of that.) S & D just feels like guilty pleasure fantasy-romance. A little like the ACOTAR series, but somehow, not as good. (I know, I didn’t think it was possible either.)

This really has ACOTAR vibes though, so if you’re really into that series, this is probably for you. Not sure about B & H, though. (I’m honestly not sure who that one’s for, actually.) (Fine, I’ll stop.)

Anyway, have you read Serpent & Dove? Or the rest of the series? What did you think of it? Thanks for reading – as always!

Shelf Control [Week #1] | ACOWAR

Shelf Control logo from BookshelfFantasies.com (…and ACOWAR too, I guess)

Guys. It’s time…

…for my first Shelf Control!

Shelf Control is an original feature created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! For more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out this post from BookshelfFantasies.com.

This is my first week participating in it, and I’m very excited! I’ve got a ton of books that I’ve bought, but are still sitting unread on my shelves, months or even years later. And the book that I, Marin Gier, have decided to start off with is… 🥁🥁🥁

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas (Both its 1st & 2nd edition covers)

Title & Author: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses [Book #3]

Length: 736 pages

Publication 1st Edition: Bloomsbury USA Children’s [May 2, 2017]

Publication 2nd Edition: Bloomsbury Publishing [June 2, 2020]

Book Description (ala Goodreads):

Feyre will bring vengeance.

She has left the Night Court – and her High Lord – and is playing a deadly game of deceit. In the Spring Court, Tamlin is making deals with the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees, and Feyre is determined to uncover his plans. But to do so she must weave a web of lies, and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As mighty armies grapple for power, Feyre must decide who to trust among the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

But while war races, it is her heart that will face the greatest battle.

When I Got It:

November 2017

Why I Wanted to Read It:

I had read the first two – ACOWAR and ACOMAF – each after they had come out and enjoyed them, so I thought I’d do the same with this one.

Why I Haven’t Read It:

I read the first two in November of the years that they were released – despite them both coming out in May, just like this one – and I wanted to recreate the same feeling and atmosphere as when I had read the others.

I ended up getting both busy and distracted, and by the time I finally had time to read it, I just… didn’t. I didn’t feel like reading it at that time for whatever reason, and not just because it’s ginormous. And I guess I still haven’t gotten around to reading it because I kind of fell out of the ACOTAR series after that. I’d still kind of like to read it eventually, though.

Have you read this book? Or any of Sarah J. Maas’ series’? Did you like them or dislike them?

Thanks for tuning in, and have a great day/night!

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