Supermarket by Bobby Hall

Supermarket by Bobby Hall

Published: March 26th, 2019, Simon & Schuster
Pages: 272 
Source: Paperback, purchased
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 1.5/5

How I Felt: I love Hall's music so when I heard he had come out with a book I immediately picked it up. I really wanted to love this.

I want to preface this review by saying that the majority of other reviews I've read have said that the plot of this book is very similar to Fight Club but I've never read the book or seen the movie so I can't attest to the accuracy of that claim.

There were so many things I had issues with in this book and I wish that wasn't the case. I really do think Hall has potential as a writer and I'll eagerly pick up any other books he writes in the future.

One thing I loved about this book and thought was well done was the depiction of anxiety and depression. I admire Hall for having the courage to write about something that affects him so much and I related to his sentiments.

(I have a few quotes I want to share throughout this review because some of them were poignant to me and others are just for the sake of explaining why I found problems with his overall writing style.)

"I couldn't understand why my body felt this way because I wasn't freaking out in my mind--it was my body that felt out of control" (pg. 78-79). This quote in particular hit close to home for me because I often feel this way in a panic attack. It was startling to me to read the words of someone who just gets it, you know?

Another quote I thought was interesting was when he was describing the retail industry and how it feels to work in a service-type job. "Your sole purpose is to blindly serve people who don't give two sh*ts about your own happiness or future." (pg. 19) This stood out to me because it was one of the most relatable quotes I've read in a "celebrity" book. It was thought-provoking to me so I thought I'd share it.

Ok, so the writing. It was...messy to say the least. It felt very unpolished and informal. One of my biggest pet peeves is when narrators break the fourth wall and talk directly to the reader and Hall did that a lot in this book. It became annoying after a while. This is just my personal preference, though. I don't see how it added to the story but that could just be me.

Also, the characterization. Mia just felt like a cookie-cutter, perfect modern girl. I've seen in a couple reviews that her description is very similar to Hall's ex-wife but again, I don't know enough information about that to confirm or deny. I just thought she was bland and only there to give Flynn something to strive for. It was a very dated approach at forming the character of the token girlfriend.

What I also noticed was that for the first half of the story, most of the side characters or brief descriptions we get for clothing are all almost the exact same. It seems the standard uniform for a man is black shoes, blue jeans, and a white shirt. I made a note of it on page 34 after I'd already seen it mentioned a couple times and it got under my skin.

Foreshadowing is used A LOT in this book, and it's very obvious. I love a good foreshadow when it's subtle enough you don't realize how all the pieces fit until the end. Then you can go back and scream about how brilliantly plotted the story was. In this book, however, it felt like I was an animal being led directly to the food and I couldn't find it myself. (That's probably a horrible analogy, I apologize.) It's like the author wanted you to KNOW he was foreshadowing, which spoiled all the fun lol.

There's also a moment where Flynn literally describes the entire plot of "Sphere" (a book that was later turned into a movie) complete with a "spoiler alert" and all. I saw that and literally closed the book for a second because it was so unnecessary and strange??? Like,,,, WHY was that included?? I digress.

Hall also often used phrases like "You know the one" etc. to describe things and it just seemed lazy to me. Not to mention hecka informal. Another thing that bothered me (more so in the first half) was the over usage of similes. Literally ANYTHING and EVERYTHING was described using a simile. There were some outlandish ones too but I don't want to make this review longer than it has to be by including them aksjdhakjsd

It was an interesting concept to me, (take that with a grain of salt as I'm unfamiliar with the story of Fight Club) but I just felt like the writing wasn't able to hit the mark. I really wanted this book to be great.

Overall, I was really disappointed by this book. I didn't go into it expecting a masterpiece or anything but I still was hoping it would be better. I can't say I recommend reading this but I'll be keeping an eye out for more Hall books in the future. Maybe pick this up if you're a mega-fan? But this just was not it for me.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Published: September 26th 2017, Margaret K. McElderry Books

Pages: 297
Source: Library, hardcover
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3.75/5

How I Felt: This book was so atmospheric and the writing was so beautiful. There were so many parts of this book I liked but I also had a few problems.

For one, this book didn't live up to my expectations at all. With the way everyone was raving about it when it was first released I was expecting it to be a phenomenal, mind-blowing, unique faerie book and while it was unique and interesting, it just felt like it was trying to be like the ACOTAR series and I couldn't stop drawing comparisons. Also, I was expecting Rook's character to be a lot more brooding, dark, and mysterious but after like 10 pages of walking through the forest he opened right up and spilled his heart out to Isobel. There wasn't even any real court intrigue. In fact, WE DIDN'T EVEN GET TO SEE HIS COURT that he was the so-called prince of.

That brings me to another point. The pacing and the overall plot of this book. To me, everything except world building was lacking in this book. For the majority of the story, probably up until the halfway point, we're just trudging along in the forest with Isobel and Rook and we never even get to really see the faerie lands as a whole and learn their politics. We see a lot of the spring lands but they only make up a fraction of the mystical realm that's so built up over the course of the story.

There was so much potential for this story but I just feel like it wasn't utilized to its potential. I think it was the structure of the story as a whole that didn't really vibe with me. There were so many interesting things that could've happened instead, that I won't mention because of spoilers, to send the plot down a darker or more interesting route, in my opinion. I appreciate that this book I a fantasy standalone and I wish there were more of those but I think that if this was to be a strong standalone book it needed to be a little longer to iron out certain parts of the plot but also cut back on scenes I found to be tedious.

On that note, I found the ending to be way to rushed and just easy. There was never any real threat to the characters. I never felt scared for them. And at the one point near the end of the story where there's an interesting conflict brewing between multiple characters that would create danger and uncertainty it's just like nope, not gonna happen onto the next scene. A perfect moment for conflict GONE. It was a little frustrating.

This is a mild spoiler but I'm just going to quickly mention it: The ending was tied up in too neat of a happy little bow for me to fully enjoy it and connect with the characters.

Personally, I really enjoyed the world building, magic system, and dynamics between the fae and humans in Whimsy. I thought it was so unique, interesting, and well-written. But I had a lot of problems with the development of the characters. I just didn't really connect with any of the characters and found a lot of them to be flat and one-dimensional. A lot of them were just there as props to further the plot and they weren't fleshed out or given real dynamic personalities to me. Isobel often also annoyed me at times in her narration and I can't quite put my finger on why but sometimes she just got under my skin. She had her moments of cleverness that made me cheer her on but there were also times I wanted to roll my eyes.

On a superficial level I can say I enjoyed the romance and how it ended just because I'm sappy like that but it was a little insta-lovey at times. They were cute as a couple at the end but their relationship for most of the book was a little unbelievable to me just because they knew so little about each other.

I'm aware I might be a little over critical of this book but it's only because I went into it with the highest of expectations and was let down more than once. It's an enjoyable book, don't get me wrong. It just didn't live up to what I was thinking it was going to be.

One of my favourite parts of the book that I found so funny and unique were the goat sisters March and May. They were just hilarious in their shenanigans and banter and honestly were some of my favourite characters. I wish we could've gotten to know Emma more.

Overall, this book didn't completely live up to my expectations but I still enjoyed my time reading it. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a quick fantasy read with amazing world building and an interesting take on fae. I can't wait to read more from Rogerson in the future and I really did enjoy this book, despite all my criticisms.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Top 12 Books of 2017!

Hello, welcome back! Wow, that was a long break. My life has been crazy this year and I haven't been motivated or had the energy to make posts but I've missed it so much. I had to come back before the end of the year because I love wrapping up my favourite and least favourite books of the year. I decided to start off with my favourites this time around because I've been much more critical with the books I read this year. I've been very hesitant to give out 5 star ratings and the majority of the books I read this year were either 2 or 3 stars so you know I absolutely loved the ones on this list. Without further ado, in no particular order, here are my favourite books of the year! (I'll leave a link to my goodreads review for each book if you want to know more of my thoughts.)

1. Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
This was the first book I read this year and I flew through the whole thing on New Year's Day because I couldn't put it down. I absolutely love these books. The world is so mysterious and cool and the characters are hilarious and kick-butt! Even despite the fact that this is told through a collection of files and not a direct narration from the characters, I've never felt a problem connecting with each of them and following along with their stories. I loved this book so much and can't wait for the next one. It's definitely one of my all time favourite series.

2. The Winner's Curse series by Marie Rutkoski (The Winner's Curse, The Winner's Crime, The Winner's Kiss)
I marathon read this series because it was so interesting and I read the first chapter on a whim and then couldn't stop. I also read these books at the same time I was learning about ancient Rome in school so a lot of the battle techniques were things I was actually learning about so I found that fun and made my reading experience that much more real to me. The writing in these books is phenomenal and I absolutely love the characters; how they think, interact, everything!! I highly recommend these books. I couldn't decide between them because I surprisingly loved each of them equally!

3. The Girl of Fire and Thorns series by Rae Carson (The Girl of Fire and Thorns, The Crown of Embers, The Bitter Kingdom)
I picked up this series because I knew it was a well-loved political fantasy series and after the Winner's series, I was looking for some more books from that genre. This didn't disappoint at all! To this day and for the rest of my life, I will always love Hector. Elisa was just such a realistic character and I loved how she was written. She had some of the best character development I've ever read about and again, the writing in this series was so surprisingly good, I loved every single book in this series and there wasn't one I felt was boring.

4. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
After hearing so many good things about this book, I decided to pick it up and give it a chance. Surprise! I loved it. Audrey Rose was such a brilliant and strong female character. I loved reading about her solving mysteries. Her banter with Thomas was also hilarious. The writing was so atmospheric and beautiful and while it was a slow read that takes a bit getting used to, it was worth it and I loved it so much. I can't wait to dive into the sequel; hopefully I love it as much as this one!

5. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
I picked this up on a whim because I told myself I couldn't read any of Meyer's other books until I finished the Lunar Chronicles, but I'm clearly weak and have no self-control. The writing in hear was shocker beautiful. Meyer did a great job of giving Catherine a compelling backstory and the writing was so wild and weird it felt like Wonderland. I could vividly picture everything that happened in this book and I loved every bit of it. I want her to write an infinite amount of fairy-tale retellings and villain origin stories please.

6. Caraval by Stephanie Garber
I read this immediately after coming back from a two week vacation with my family and I hadn't been in the mood to read anything for two weeks so I gobbled this book up. Again, the writing was so atmospheric and beautiful and I absolutely loved the whole mystery behind Caraval. The writing was brilliant and there were so many twists I found really enjoyable. The whole theme of deception and not knowing who to trust was really well done in my opinion and I can't wait to read the next one when it comes out!

7. Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
This book absolutely blew me away. The writing was beautiful, the characters were amazing, the plotting was next level. Everything was perfect. It made me cry. Very few books made me cry this year but this book, and it's sequel, both made me sob. They were just so well written!!! I don't have too much to say about these books, but they were awesome and please read them to experience the preciousness and awesomeness that is Yael.

8. Worlds of Ink and Shadow by Lena Coakley
Alright, this book was a total wild card. I'd never heard of it before, I just picked it up randomly from my library one day because the synopsis sounded interesting. It ended up blowing me away. It was about something I'd always wanted to read: people who write stories and then can jump into the story as the creator and change things as they go along. I loved movies like this as a kid but I'd never found a book that encompassed it as perfectly as I pictured it. Until this book. It was dark, mysterious, creepy, but so so fun. I highly recommend this. It also made me want to read all the Bronte sibling's works.

9. Allegedly by Tiffany Jackson
I wanted to read this book since before it came out because it sounded super dark and interesting and that was exactly what it was. I don't want to say too much because I'm afraid of spoiling it but if you want to be mislead by a mystery book in the best possible way, please pick this up. I gasped out loud multiple times and lost my chill because of the twists that happened. It was so well written and completely unpredictable to me and I really enjoyed it. I can't wait for this author to write more in the future.

10. And I Darken by Kiersten White
I'd been hearing things about this book when it first came out but I never really had an interest in it. Then I found it in the bargain section one day at Chapters and decided to give it a shot. It completely blew me away. The writing was very mature for YA and it dealt with a lot of dark things and because of that, it was a bit of a slower read. However, I liked that it was slow because it developed a lot of important things and really built up the world for me. It was super rich in history and again, I could vividly picture everything. I absolutely loved this book. The sequel, I found to be a little boring and disappointing so that's why it didn't make the list, but this first one was absolute gold and I highly recommend it.

11. Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
My babies were back and this book broke my heart I will never be the same. There was one point in this book where I legitimately went through the five stages of grief because someone died and I couldn't accept it. Even though I was spoiled, I still went through this book thinking it was wrong and couldn't be true but it was and it destroyed my heart. This duology was incredibly well written and I can't wait to read more of Bardugo's other books.

12. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
What a coincidence. My very first and very last reads of the year made this list. This book completely surprised me. I didn't like the last couple of Clare books I read too much so I went into this with pretty low expectations and they were completely blown out of the water this book was so good!! I loved the writing, the characters, the plot, the twists, everything!!! Honestly, the characters are seriously competing with the characters from the Infernal Devices for my heart, I loved them that much. I'm currently reading Lord of Shadows and I can't contain my excitement. I'm so happy I read this.

Honourable Mentions: Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh, Turtles all the Way Down by John Green, A Court of Wings and Ruin (I'm just as shocked as you are that this didn't make my Top list) by Sarah J. Maas, Geekerella by Ashley Poston.

Thank you so much for reading! Hopefully I'll be able to post more often this year because I really have missed it. I had a great reading year in 2017 and hopefully 2018 will be just as good. Look out for my most disappointing reads coming soon!

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Published: Flatiron Books, January 31, 2017
Pages: 407
Source: Hardcover, purchased
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5

How I Felt:  I really enjoyed this book! At first, it was a little hard for me to get used to the writing style but once I did I felt it really worked for the whimsy and mystery of the book. I didn't expect to love this because I'd heard a lot of negative reviews but I was pleasantly surprised! I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this as much if I went into it with higher expectations so I suppose it's a good thing I'd seen those reviews.

This book was full of some awesome plot twists. While reading, I thought I'd already figured everything out and that the book was so predictable but I WAS SO FREAKING WRONG. Some twists I didn't see coming and came out of nowhere and I absolutely loved them. This was so beautifully plotted and I loved every second of this book. There was never a dull moment and I always wanted to continue reading to figure out what happened next. I actually stayed off the internet for most of the day yesterday because all I wanted to do was read this and I didn't care about what was happening online. A CONCEPT, I know. But that's how good this book was to me.

I couldn't give it five stars because the beginning was a bit hard for me to get into and it had a bit of a rocky start but once I got past that and got into the story there was no stopping me!!!

I need to discuss the writing a lil bit. At first (and you can tell by my status update) I found the writing to be a little weird and unnecessarily fluffy. But. I was so wrong because I think it really worked for the story. Caravel is such a whimsical, mysterious place and the writing perfectly complimented that in my opinion. It honestly reminded me a little of Wonderland and reminiscent of how Marissa Meyer built Heartless' Wonderland and I loved that. It was like that but with a much darker twist that made it its own world. The writing really flowed and the world building was really intriguing as well. I'm so glad there's going to be a second book because I thought it was a standalone and Garber can't leave us hanging like this!!! That ending. It crushed my heart, put it back together, and then gave it a punch for good measure. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT THERE'S SO MUCH MYSTERY I MUST KNOW MORE. So, what I'm trying to say is that the cliff hanger at the end was masterfully written and literally made me scream because this book can't end like this these dirty tricksters I must know more.

I really enjoyed Tella's character as well as Scarlett's and I was so emotional getting to see them be free of their wicked father and make their own choices and grow into their own people. Another thing I thought was well done was the crafting of their father's character. He was so complex and well written I feared him just as much as Tella and Scarlett. He was truly wicked and not just a superficial villain. I thought his character was extremely well written. Also, can I just say that I ship Julian and Scarlett so freaking much like they're just so cute and I love them together and want them to be together forever, ok?

For this whole book I kept thinking about how the mystery surrounding Tella and Scarlett's mother was never really addressed and I wondered if that thread was just going to be left hanging but then I read the epilogue and HONEY NO THAT THREAD IS ABOUT TO BE SEWED IN MY BODY IS READY FOR MORE PLOT TWISTS KEEP EM COMING. I'm just really excited for that plotline to be expanded in the second one.

I love a good scavenger hunt so I really enjoyed the game of Caraval and watching Scarlett figure out all the clues. It was so enjoyable and I really liked how it was full of mystery and nothing was as it seemed. SO well written!

Overall, I think you might be able to say I loved this book. I thought the writing, plot, and characters were all done excellently and I can't wait to read more of Garber's work in the future! I can not wait for the second book. I must know everything!!! This book completely surprised me and I think it's going to be one of my favourites of the year. I highly recommend this if you're a fan of dark, mysterious, whimsical fantasies. Amazing!

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan
Published: V&R Editoras, April 2016
Pages: 328
Source: Paperback, library
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 3/5

How I Felt:  This book took me by surprise and I enjoyed it more than I expected to! For starters, I read this in less than a day because the writing was really easy to fly through and there was a lot going on and I wanted to know what'd happen next.

I'm not sure if this is marketed as a Rapunzel retelling but that's exactly what I thought of when reading this. It actually reminded me a lot of Tangled (the Disney movie) which I loved. For starters, Luna is the princess who was kept in the safety of a tower in the woods since she was a baby and then Fowler (the Flynn Rider type) helps her on her quest to save her kingdom/learn more about herself. There's even a scene where Fowler cuts her hair because it's getting too long and she needs to be disguised as a boy for a bit. Basically Rapunzel and I loved it!!!

This book is very mysterious with a dark (no pun intended) mood to it that drew me in and made me extremely interested in the world. It's an incredibly unique topic to me; an eclipse began 17 years ago and the world has been in darkness ever since. I thought that was so interesting and I really enjoyed how it was described.

Sivo was such a great character and I really liked getting to see how much he cared for and wanted to protect Luna. Perla was also great but something about her character got on my nerves a bit. I hope Luna gets to reunite with them in the future even though I know it's unlikely.

I really enjoyed getting to read from both Luna and Fowler's points of view. Luna's blind but she doesn't let that stop her from being incredibly smart, strong, independent, and an overall butt-kicker. I enjoyed her perspective because it focused a lot on sounds and smells and it was so cool to see her navigate new surroundings to her in that way. But I found that she was incredibly immature and naïve for a lot of this book. I get that it's expected considering she's been locked in a tower all night, but that scene at the beginning of the book where the soldiers were at the tower and Fowler was trying to hide her but she kept fighting and making noise really frustrated me because she almost put everyone in danger and didn't care/realize it. I also enjoyed Fowler's P.O.V. because getting to see him go from a heartless "tough guy" to this soft smol precious bean who'd do anything for Luna was so sweet. They're so cute together and I ship it so hard.

Now for the few issues I had. I wish there was more world building. I get the story about the eclipse but I wanted to learn more about the history of this world since it seemed so intricate and interesting. I was expecting maybe insight into the religion (if there is or isn't one since the Oracle's mentioned a bunch but I have no idea what she does besides "prophesize") or what the heck those dwellers actually are. I couldn't picture them at all and I wish they were described more or explained where they came from and how they live because at first I pictured zombie type things but then I started thinking they looked more like aliens. Honestly, I have no clue what those things are and I wish they were explained a little better. There was just so much potential where world building's concerned and I wish it was explained in depth a little more. There's definitely room for it seeing as this book's fairly short (just under 300 pages).

Another teeny tiny problem I had with this was that it was very predictable. I say teeny tiny problem because while I knew what would happen for almost every plot twist, it was still an enjoyable read. For example, I saw the whole reveal about who Fowler really was coming from the very beginning of the book but I still enjoyed seeing it all play out and watching Luna realize who he was. Other that those two things I didn't really have any other issues with this.

Ortley was such a cool city. It was really interesting to see how they lived in the trees and kept safe from the dwellers. That Glagos guy was mega creepy though. The whole lake sequence had me on the edge of my seat and I was a little disappointed when the outcome of Fowler's little swim was glossed over. I wish we could've seen what was lurking under the water because there was such a big build up of suspense for it. On the other hand, I really liked Mirelya's character. Her sass gave me life and I love how she always interrupted Luna and Fowler at exactly the wrong times XD.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it exceeded my expectations. There's definitely potential for this to become a great fantasy series and I can't wait to see where the story goes. I don't really have the urge to rush out and find the sequel but eventually I'd like to get to it to see what happens. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a book to get you into fantasy because it's really fast-paced and filled to the brim with mystery.

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
Published: Feiwel and Friends, November 8th, 2016
Pages: 453
Source: Hardcover, library
Genre: Fairy-tale retelling
Rating: 4.5/5

How I Felt: This book was phenomenal. It surpassed all my expectations and blew me out of the water. I didn't expect to love this book as much as I do; I was just looking for a fairy-tale retelling standalone that I could read quickly and enjoy. Marissa Meyer is the queen of fairy-tale retellings in my opinion and I want her to write one for every fairy-tale ever please and thank you.

Can I just say how much I love the writing. It's been a few years since I read Cress (the third installment in her other series, The Lunar Chronicles) and haven't read any of her other books since. I don't remember loving her writing this much. Obviously, I enjoyed those books too but the writing in this was so whimsical, dark, not overly descriptive, and atmospheric. I found it extremely easy to read and kept a great pace that left me wanting more after every chapter. I carried this book with me everywhere I went because I wanted to use any free time I had to find out what happened next.

Another thing that was great about the writing is that going into this, I already knew how things would end up for the Queen of Hearts and yet this book was written in such a way that I still had hope for a twist at the end that would end in happiness. I was still rooting for and shipping Catherine and Jest so hard yet I already knew how it'd end up for them. That is some freaking awesome writing.

I must admit that I have never read the original Alice in Wonderland by Carroll but after reading this I have the strong desire to pick it up and read it immediately. I've been told this book is supposed to be a direct prequel so the original story picks up where this left off and I will say that while reading this, I noticed many things being set up to come into play in the original that takes place after this.

All the descriptions and mentions of talking animals and objects was so fun and magical and made reading this all the better. It was hard to grasp at first because I kept picturing people but after a while I got used to it.

It needs to be said. I. Love. Jest. New book-boyfriend alert. My heart cannot contain all the feels. Can I just say that Marissa Meyer is a MASTER at romance because not once did it feel like insta-love and she was able to build up so much tension, chemistry and romance between Jest and Catherine even though they didn't kiss until like 300 pages into the book. I didn't even feel the need to complain once because it was written in a way that felt so natural and just worked perfectly.

The three sisters were such an interesting addition to the story and I quite enjoyed getting to see their prophecies and how they'd play into the plot. It added to the darkness and mystery that was already building toward the end. Also, Peter Peter and his wife were also a great creepy addition to the story. Although, I did find the reveal about Mrs. Peter to be a bit predictable.

The one complaint I have about this book is that Catherine's wicked turn seemed a bit abrupt to me and I thought the change was a little sudden. I think I would've enjoyed it more if it was slowly worked into the story and then fully came out at the end. But otherwise, I liked everything about it. It was a phenomenal villain origin story in my opinion, although I have heard a lot of negative reviews for this book.

Honestly, I have the biggest sweet tooth and reading this book didn't help at all because Catherine was always baking and everything sounded so good and it just made me so hungry while reading XD

I enjoyed that there was a lot of talk about the history of Rock Turtle Cove. I found that very interesting and enjoyed those scenes where Cath's father recounted the history. It never dragged for me or felt boring; I was intrigued and yearning for more information.

Overall, I completely adored this book! This is my favourite book of Marissa Meyer's so far (although I haven't read Winter yet so that might change). I love this book with every fiber of my being and it's definitely one of my favourite books of the year. I highly recommend this if you're a fan of the Lunar Chronicles or if you're looking for a great standalone fairy-tale retelling. This definitely didn't disappoint.

Thanks for reading!
(Sorry for the long absence, I'm horrible I know!)
~Birdie

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
Published: Greenwillow, September 20th, 2011
Pages: 423
Source: Paperback, library
Genre: High Fantasy
Rating: 4/5

How I Felt: I loved this book! I heard nothing but good things about it and wanted to give it a try because it sounded so unique and interesting.

This is one of those books where the writing is very slow-burn and takes a while to build up and usually I don't have the patience for that and don't enjoy it very much but for this book it really worked! Instead of losing patience, I was caught in suspense and couldn't wait to find out what happened next for the majority of the book. Of course, there were a few sections that were slow and hard to get through but I'll discuss that more later on in the review.

I really loved Elisa as a character. She was such a strong woman and I enjoyed getting to see her grow into her own and learn to love and accept herself for who she is. Her journey from the beginning of this book to the end was long and she went through some major changes and I'm so proud of her as a character. She was just so realistic and I really enjoyed getting to see from her perspective.

I found the role religion played in this book to be quite interesting since it isn't something found much in YA. Getting to see Elisa learn more about her religion and grow in faith was an interesting journey I haven't read about a character before and I definitely appreciated getting to read that. I can't wait to learn more about the mysteries behind this religion and the Godstones in the next books.

Rosario is such a precious lil boy and must be protected at all costs I love him so much pls spare my child in the rest of the books.

Okay, I gotta talk about ships here. It needs to be done. I can't not talk about my thoughts here. From the second Hector was introduced I was like SIGN ME UP SOMEONE GIVE ME A PEN DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNER AND HE HAS A FUNKY MUSTACHE. I ship him with Elisa so hard and I don't know if this is going to be a thing but I don't care I immediately supported this the minute he and Elisa interacted with each other. Alejandro and Humberto were pretty cool too, and they each helped Elisa grow in their own way but THERE AIN'T NO MAN LIKE HECTOR. And I was beginning to slightly ship her with Alejandro but then his reaction when Elisa came back to court just annoyed me so much and that ship sank.

I really liked all the side characters in this. They were just so well developed and I cared about them all so much. Especially Cosme. She was such a complex character and I really enjoyed getting to know her more.

I couldn't give this book a full 5 stars because I found the middle of the book to really drag on. There was just too much wandering throughout the desert with nothing really going on and it was just boring me and I put the book down for a few days to take a break. But other than that I really enjoyed the writing.

Overall, I really loved this book. I'm so happy I picked it up and I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel. I can't wait to see what Elisa discovers next because that ending was amazing! Although, there wasn't much of a huge cliff-hanger, I'd say it wrapped up pretty nicely but I still NEED to know what happens next. I definitely recommend this if you're a fan of high fantasy!

Thanks for reading!
~Birdie