book review – Page 4 – Pixel Reads Books

author: Naomi Novik

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Fantasy, Romance

my thoughts: under the cut for possible spoilers.

This book is highly rated on goodreads and I was expecting this magical read. It ended up being overhyped, for me anyway. I guess I’m the odd one out here but I just did not really love this. I barely even liked it really. I felt that everything was just too nicely thought out and plotted specifically for the main character to stand out. It didn’t feel organic, oh here comes this underdog but wait she’s special and no one noticed, a natural at magic no training required. Actually the training is too strict for her, no training needed! Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t necessarily bad but it left me wanting. Wanting for more backstory, more detail, just more. Basically a three for me is I liked it, the end, nothing more. I’m still going to give Spinning Silver a try but my expectations have been lowered.

Wait wait how could I forget! The weird romance that was so forced between the Dragon (who is not a dragon ??) and Agnieszka, yikes! Talk about Stockholm Syndrome. He was terrible to her, abusive really. The book was not graphic at all and then BAM awkward sex scene. Okay this might be more of a 2.5 bumped up to a generous 3. Sorry guys, this book just was not for me.

Finish date: 08/10/18

title: Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

author: Leigh Bardugo

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Fantasy

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

Amazing! Yet again Bardugo has blown me away with this universe. I’m in love with all the characters and the world Bardugo has built. I’m so happy for Jesper and Wylan, my OTP! Jesper and Kaz is love! My heart absolutely broke for Nina when Matthias died, I definitely shed some tears. I was rooting for a happy ending for them all and was so heartbroken that he died, why?! I’m so excited to start The Grisha Trilogy and to read Bardugo’s other books.

Finish date: 08/09/18

15. A book about feminism – We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Finished 07/30/18

I really enjoyed this, it was very to the point. I both read and listed to the audiobook, which was a little under an hour. The only reason this wasn’t 5⭐️s was because of how short it was and I felt many of the things mentioned could have been expanded upon. I wanted a little more but nonetheless it was a great read.

A6. An allegory – The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Finished 07/29/18

I loved this. What fun, seriously. I don’t have anything bad to say about it. A very whimsical and playful read with a deep message. I loved the illustrations that went along with the story. This was a joyful and fast, easy read. I definitely recommend this book.

30. A book with characters who are twins – The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

Finished 07/28/18

This was a doozy of a book. My aunt recommended this book to me ages ago and I finally took the chance to read it. This book was perfect for me, it was daunting at first with the language and how long it seemed to be taking me to read. Once I got to the end of the book it was well worth the initial struggle. This is not a light read, it really took my concentration to pay attention and understand the language as it’s not something I’ve read in a long time.

title: Off Base (Out of Uniform #1)

author: Annabeth Albert

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): Contemporary, Romance, Lgbtqa+

my thoughts: under the cut for possible spoilers.

I loved this! I’m a little sad that it seems to be just a standalone book because I would love to read more about Zach and Pike. This is actually the first published m/m romance I’ve ever read and I loved it! I can’t wait to check out more books by Albert. I really enjoyed her writing and this story. Yeah the romance was 10/10 hot but I was also very invested in the two characters story. I loved Zach and Pike’s budding romance, from casual to officially boyfriends. I do wish we had been able to see more of Zach and Pike’s life after they became official, a little view of their life as an out couple.

Finish date: 07/25/18

A4. A book tied to your ancestry – Across a Hundred Mountains by Reyna Grande

Finished 07/21/18

I had a hard time with this one, the books I’ve come across that take place in Spain or Mexico are very politically heavy and I wanted something a little lighter. In the end it was between this and Esperanza Rising (I could not find anything emotionally lighter). I ended up putting both on hold, Across a Hundred Mountains was checked out to me from the library first and that’s how this book was chosen.

This was an intense and painful (in a good way) read, had me in tears. Very heavy subject matter, especially with what’s happening today in the world. If you’re interested in a thought provoking and emotional read I recommend this book. Anyway I’m very glad I read this book and I’m going to be checking out more by this author.

40a. A book you own but have never read – Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

Finished 07/12/18

Now I saw another person doing this challenge separate #40 Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges into 3 parts for each year. I loved the idea and decided to try it as well. This prompt comes from the 2015 popsugar reading challenge.

Originally I bought this book for a children’s lit class I was taking in college but I never read it. 3 years later I finally got around to reading it and I enjoyed the story. 4/5th grade me would have absolutely loved this book.

36. A book set in the decade you were born – The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

Finished 07/12/18

About the prompt: I had a hard time with this prompt because not many books were available to me that fit into this category. After many google searches I found this wonderful book. I was born in the 90s and this book takes place during 1993-1995, perfectly fits the prompt.

About the book: After finishing this book and having just read Aristotle & Dante by Saenz, I’ve re-discovered my love of coming-of-age themed stories. I used to devour these kinds of books during my middle school and high school days. This book was everything that I would have wanted to read back then and I’m glad I had the opportunity to read it now. It was a great coming of age story, heartbreaking with an uplifting and hopeful ending. You follow Maggie during her teenage/young adult years, trying to navigate the world as she knows it.

title: The Assassin Game

author: Kirsty McKay

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
genre(s): YA, Mystery, Contemporary

my thoughts: under the cut for spoilers.

This isn’t usually something I read, the first time I read the summary I just wasn’t interested in reading about a bunch of rich kids hazing each other. It was chosen in my book club and I’m trying to expand my genres so I thought I’d give it a shot because why not. I’m honestly glad I did, it was so much better than I expected. Okay so they are a bunch of rich kids with high IQs who want to be a part of this secret society but I really had fun and I could not figure out who was trying to kill their fellow students. All the red herrings! Seriously I was like is it this person or this person, well turned out I wasn’t even close. The only thing that was weird was that **SPOILERS** the summary gave the impression that students were dying and being harmed but no one actually ended up dying. **SPOILERS**

Anyway other than that it was a well written whodunnit.

Finish date: 07/11/18