Review: LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng

Rating: 4/5 stars

I don’t know if I was ever really planning to read Little Fires Everywhere, but it’s been so popular and I want to watch the tv show, so I decided to give the book a chance, and I’m so happy I did because I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I didn’t know what the story was about before I started reading it, but it’s a multi-family drama that’s at its core about what it means to be a family. The children latch on to their friends’ parents instead of their own, and the mothers have to make some hard decisions. I think this book was a great commentary about family.

I didn’t expect to be when I first started the audiobook but I was hooked throughout the entire story. I would have finished it in one day had I not needed to go to work because I wanted nothing more than to know what would happen next. The plot is truly engaging.

Interestingly, the story is written in a third-person omniscient perspective, which is unusual to see. I found this point of view to be necessary, however, to see into the minds of all the characters and see how all their emotions and thoughts interconnected and to help the reader understand information that we would know no other way. I thought this was a smart writing technique here; it wouldn’t have worked in all books but it definitely worked in this one.

I wonder how much of what is said about Shaker Heights is true. It is such a strict, rich suburban town, and I can see it all being true, but also it does seem a bit over-exaggerated. I was surprised to learn Shaker Heights is actually a real town, and I kind of want to go visit it now.

One criticism I do have is that I kept getting Izzy and Lexie mixed up. I don’t know if their names were too similar-sounding or what but I had to think really hard about who was being referenced whenever one of their names came up in the audiobook, and a couple of times I thought one of them was doing something when it was actually the other one. The confusion didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the story too much, but I do think the names could have been more distinct from each other.

I liked Little Fires Everywhere a lot. I was interested in all the people and their stories and how they intertwined with each other. Pearl was my favorite. I can’t pinpoint exactly why I gave this book four stars instead of five; there was nothing that I didn’t like, but for some reason it just wasn’t a five-star read for me. I still really enjoyed the story though and was swept up in everyone’s lives, and I was very pleased with the ending. I’m even more excited for the show now, and I would definitely recommend checking out the book before the show’s release.

Review: SIXTH OF THE DUSK by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 4/5 stars

This was an interesting little story. I liked the carnivorous tropical island setting with magical birds called Aviar that have different talents, such as the ability to show you your death or the ability to read the minds of their prey. I thought it was a cool story.

I struggled the whole time, however, to see the purpose of the story or to understand how it relates to the cosmere. It could be set in a different universe and I would be none the wiser. There were references to the “Ones Above” that Brandon said was the link to the cosmere but I still didn’t know how that connected.

This was a totally different setting than Sanderson usually writes and it could have been expanded so much, even into a full-length novel, but instead all we get is this short story. And while I liked the setting, I did think there was little character development or emotional connections made (as is the nature with novellas). I also didn’t really know what was happening for the first third of the story. This was probably just me being distracted because I did reread this part after I finished the whole thing, and it did make more sense the second time around, but there was still clearly no indication of what was to come; the beginning is 100% world building with no plot.

I also think it was too short (again, as is the nature) and ended too abruptly. I wanted to know more about the nature of the island, the birds, the briefly mentioned mainland, the cultures of the people, the politics, etc. The society is on the brink of a technological change but I felt like I knew nothing about it. And what exactly is the big machine they keep referencing?

I was also dissatisfied with the ending. I started really enjoying the story from about the 40% mark to the 90% mark, but then the ending made no sense to me and I don’t understand the implications. What does it mean? What’s going to happen next? It felt like the end of a first book with a big opening of more to come. Sanderson said that there were no plans for future stories in this world, but that we’d likely see more from the people of this world. I don’t know what that entails but I’m looking forward to it regardless.

Although I enjoyed the setting of this little story, it still felt like much of the plot was missing, mostly because of how it ended. Unfortunately, even Sanderson can’t make me a fan of short stories and novellas, but I will still continue to read everything he writes. I do think this is one of the better short stories of his that I’ve read, though, but I still have quite a few more to get to so we’ll see.

Review: THE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE by Samantha Shannon

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

A world divided for over a thousand years: the west fears dragons, the east reveres dragons, yet their common enemy is about to rise again.

In the west, it is believed that the great evil wyrm called the Nameless One will remain at bay as long as an heir of Berethnet rules Inys, as has been the case for the past millennium since he was vanquished, but the current Queen Sabran has rejected all her suitors and the people are worried she won’t marry, which will thus release the Nameless One to wreak havoc once again.

In the east, they believe differently, and they have dragons of their own that are not at all like the fire-breathers of the west. I love the juxtaposition between the dragons from the east, dragons of water, and dragons from the west, dragons of fire. I saw a similar connection to the dragons in our world, the traditional Chinese dragon and the European dragon.

This story follows four perspectives. In the west we have Ead, who is a lady-in-waiting in the court of Inys, sent there to protect Queen Sabran; and Loth, best friend of Sabran and who has been sent away on a mission to a foreign land. In the east we have Tané, a girl who has spent her whole life training to be a dragon rider but who harbors a secret that could cost her everything; and Niclays Roos, an alchemist who was banished from Queen Sabran’s court seven years ago and is now living in exile.

It is easy to keep straight the four main perspectives, and it’s easy to keep track of the secondary characters, but there are a lot of tertiary characters that I kept getting mixed up, especially the people of the court and who held which positions. Ultimately it didn’t matter too much and it didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the story, but just know that there are a lot of characters in this book, especially when you take into account all the historical and mythological figures that play an important role in the religion and politics of the world.

That is one thing I loved about The Priory of the Orange Tree though, is that it is a highly detailed world with a very rich history. The history of this world plays a huge part in the founding of all of the religions, and you can see where they each divided over time. There are also distinct cultures and landscapes described in the different nations of the world, and each nation has its own language that is consistently referenced. I cannot communicate how in-depth this story is, like there had to have been so much research and time put into constructing the world because of how utterly expansive it is, and I love that. The world-building here is some of the best I’ve ever seen.

I also love how everything connects. Some characters are related to certain historical figures, of which some of these were the cause for the creation of the religion in Inys, and the present-day religious beliefs in Inys completely drive their politics, which in turn affects the political climate of the surrounding nations, and the list goes on and on. So many threads weave together to form a beautiful story. I love all the political intrigue discussed as well.

Despite the size of this tome, Priory is actually very readable, and it’s easy to get right into the story. I was intimidated to start it, but after a few chapters, I knew I was in for a good ride. I will say that the beginning is much more drawn out than the end, but I think that’s because we are being introduced to the vast world and cast of characters, plus I was constantly referencing the maps, the timeline, the glossary, and the comprehensive character list while I was getting used to the story. I like knowing everything when I start a book so I will spend time getting to know the world and the characters at the beginning, even if it takes extra time. It’s not a slow-moving or boring story, but it does require time and patience to read, so just know that before starting it.

Speaking of the maps, I am so grateful they were included. I really don’t think I would have made it through this book otherwise. They were beautifully drawn across three full pages and were very helpful in pinpointing all the locations mentioned throughout the story. I do wish, however, that we had an even broader map. There were vague references to locations beyond the borders of the map and I wished I could see them and see even more of this world. I think a fold-out map would be perfect for this book.

I also wish we would have learned more about Hróth and the Empire of the Twelve Lakes. We see so much of the other nations but we know next to nothing about those two. The Empire of the Twelve Lakes is the biggest nation on the map and it has a very detailed landscape, yet we learn very little about it during most of the book, and Hróth literally has only one city on the map because most of the nation is beyond the page. I would love to see this world expanded in every direction because I just can’t get enough of it and there’s so much more to explore.

We spend a great deal of our time in Inys, seeing as it’s the influence for the primary religion of the west and three of our four main characters have lived in Inys at some point. I love the idea of the queendom in Inys, where the queen is expected to produce a female heir. That’s a complete flip on the traditional patriarchy where the king is expected to produce a male heir, and it was great. This book has a lot of feminist undertones, and I thought it was wonderful. Also, there is very little romance in this book, but what little is there is beautiful.

This was one of the first books where I didn’t mind reading about pirates. Normally—and I don’t know why—I don’t like stories set on boats or involving pirates, but I actually enjoyed the small part of this book that included pirates.

The last 150-ish pages went a lot quicker than the rest of the book. Not that the beginning and middle were slow, but the ending seemed a lot faster in comparison. And the climax of the book felt a bit rushed, to the point that I was slightly disappointed because I expected the final battle to take longer and be more difficult. We have nearly 800 pages of buildup and 1,000 years of preparation for this final moment, and then . . . it’s over like that. Maybe that’s just me, and this isn’t a huge complaint because the rest of the book was so extraordinary, but I would have liked to see a bit more at the end.

Also, I think the finding of Ascalon was too easy. It’s been lost for centuries and all of the sudden a character is like, oh I think it’s in this place, and it is, and I wish there had been more mystery behind that. There are some great twists and unexpected reveals in this story, but sometimes the path to get there was so convoluted that the outcomes felt a bit too easy for all the trouble the characters had to go through.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Priory of the Orange Tree, and I would recommend it to high fantasy fans who love dragons. It’s long and takes patience to read, but the world is so beautiful and the characters are so wonderful that every second spent in this book is worth it. And although this is marketed as a standalone fantasy, I want more, I really do. I can see so many openings for a sequel, like which directions it could take, because each character’s future is left open, and I need more details. I hope one day we get to see more in this world, even if it’s set another thousand years in the future and involves different characters.

Here are some SPOILERY questions about the ending:
What can we learn from the ending? Who was Ead’s real father? What was the blood on Tané’s side?
I expected Niclays and Nayimuthun to be dead and was surprised when they came back, especially the dragon.
The Nameless One tells Sabran, “Beware the sweet water.” What does that mean? Do not say things unless they are important to the future of the story.
The emperor of the Empire of the Twelve Lakes told us about his lover who he spurned and she said that she was coming for him. Will we see what this really means?
What will become of the celestial jewels?
Will Tané and Ead become friends?
What will Sabran do in the next decade, and who will she elect to rule Inys once she abdicates the throne and moves to Lasia to be with Ead?
Also, Fýredel is still out there and therefore could be the villain of the next installment.

Even though the story wraps up nicely, there are still so many questions left unanswered. I need more.

2019 Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag

This book tag is to reflect on my reading so far this year. I’ve read 38 books during the first half of 2019, seven of which have been rereads. I’m not counting any rereads when answering these questions.

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019
    The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019
    The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks

3. New release you haven’t read yet but want to
    The Near Witch by V. E. Schwab

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
    The Burning White by Brent Weeks, and Starsight by Brandon Sanderson

5. Biggest disappointment
    Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson—I expected this to be my new favorite book but it ended up having a different plot than I thought it did, so I didn’t love it as much as I expected to

6. Biggest surprise
    Elantris by Brandon Sanderson—I expected this to be mediocre but I ended up loving it

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)
    Brent Weeks

8. Newest fictional crush
    No one—I don’t really have fictional crushes, plus I haven’t read a lot of good ones yet this year

9. Newest favorite character
    Kell from A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

10. Book that made you cry
      Safely Endangered Comics by Chris McCoy—I cried from laughing so hard

11. Book that made you happy
      One Day in December by Josie Silver

12. Most beautiful book you’ve acquired so far this year
      The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
      Other than my anticipated releases mentioned above, my current plans are Warbreaker, The Rithmatist, the Reckoners trilogy, the third White Sand graphic novel, and the rest of the short stories by Brandon Sanderson; and hopefully I’ll also get to the whole Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis.

Review: WE HUNT THE FLAME by Hafsah Faizal

Rating: 2/5 stars

Zafira is the Hunter. Her job is to venture to Sharr and acquire a certain book that will bring magic back to the land. Nasir is the prince and an assassin. His job is to follow the Hunter to Sharr and take the book once she finds it and then kill her.

Unfortunately I just . . . didn’t care?

I read We Hunt the Flame for the young adult book club that I’m moderating at my work, and I likely wouldn’t have read it otherwise as the story did not really appeal to me. I tried to go in with an open mind but when I reached page 100 and still wasn’t connecting with the characters or caring about the story, I knew I would have a rough time continuing. And it isn’t even until a third of the way through the book that the plot starts, so it felt to me like there was a lot of unnecessary prose that just dragged me down.

The plot itself isn’t wholly original either, and it’s also rather predictable. It’s no surprise the prince doesn’t want to be the assassin (do I need to mention again that I’m tired of reading about soft assassins that don’t actually assassinate anyone?) and that he falls in love with Zafira and doesn’t want to kill her, the exact person he’s been sent to kill. And it’s no surprise that Zafira likes him back and is conflicted about her feelings because he’s an assassin. The story was also excruciatingly slow even while listening to the audiobook, which is rare because audiobooks usually speed up a story. But also, the female narrator’s voice kept switching tones and I swear I thought there were two different female narrators because of how much her voice changed, and it threw me off every time; it was very distracting.

This book is inspired by ancient Arabia and included Arabic words mixed into the narrative. I have no issue with a secondary language being used as emphasis or to describe certain events in a story, but I do not think Arabic was incorporated very well in We Hunt the Flame. It only added confusion when I would come across them, and I had to stop at every new encounter to pull up the online dictionary and pronunciation guide just to know what was happening.

One thing I did like about this book is that it has a clean romance. It seems like every YA book these days features sex scenes or at least alludes to them, but this book didn’t and I greatly appreciated that. I can’t say if that will change for the rest of the books in the series but at least this one was clean. I also liked that the chapters were super short. I love short chapters. Other than that though, there wasn’t anything that stood out that I liked.

Overall I don’t think We Hunt the Flame is really worth the read. Other than the ties to Arabic culture, it’s just another basic young adult fantasy with a reused plotline that doesn’t add anything new to the genre. I will not be continuing on with this series because I don’t care what happens to the characters in the next book, and I honestly thought this book could have been a standalone story if a few things at the end were tweaked just a bit, but of course it’s going to be a series instead. This book has been very popular and enjoyed by many, but it wasn’t for me.

Review: THE HANDMAID'S TALE: GRAPHIC NOVEL by Margaret Atwood & Renee Nault

Review: 5/5 stars

The Handmaid’s Tale is one of my favorite books, and with the long-awaited sequel coming out later this year, reading the graphic novel version was the perfect recap for me. I’m even more excited now to be continuing on with Offred’s story in The Testaments. 

I thought this book was a very good graphic adaption of the modern classic novel. The story was as haunting as ever and the pictures only served to help drive its message home. The entire plot of the book was covered and I didn’t really feel like anything was missing from the story, which can sometimes be the case with graphic adaptions.

I noticed a few key direct quotations from the original book of some of the most jarring phrases, which I was happy to see make the cut of what to include. This adaption stays true to the tone of the original story, and I think that’s very important. Renee Nault does an excellent job of adapting the language to fit this version.

The artwork was also very well done. I appreciate that the clothing and characters differ from what we’ve seen in the tv series; the illustrator took her own approach and I love that. The art style and color scheme are fitting for the narrative and pleasing to look at while also having the necessary emotional impact. I honestly couldn’t imagine a better graphic novel of this book.

To see my review of the novel version of The Handmaid’s Tale, which includes my thoughts on the meaning behind the story, click here.

Review: ELANTRIS by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

I was a little worried when starting this book that I wouldn’t like it. I’ve read a lot of reviews that say Elantris is Sanderson’s worst work, that it’s slow and rough and less polished than his other books, but I didn’t find that to be the case at all. Even though I’m biased toward Brandon Sanderson and therefore predisposed to like anything by him, I still thought this was a fantastic book, despite the amount of criticism I’d heard beforehand. In fact, I liked Elantris more than Legion, so this isn’t even my least favorite book of his.

Elantris is different from Sanderson’s other books, I will say that. But it’s by no means bad. We follow three repeating perspectives of Raoden, the prince of Arelon, who just was thrown into Elantris; Sarene, the princess of Teod, who arrives in Kae to marry Raoden and finds him dead; and then Hrathen, the high priest of the Derethi church in Kae, whose goal is to convert all of Arelon to Derethi.

The story is very unique and very political. It has a classic Sanderson-original magic system and a highly developed world and fleshed out characters, and the plot, although mostly politics, isn’t one I’ve read before. Almost this entire book is about politics, but it’s all interesting. I never found the story to be dragging or the narrative to be dry. The magic system develops slowly and it isn’t until the end that we fully understand its depth and vast implications. There’s also very little action until the very end, but I didn’t mind at all (I actually prefer scenes about political intrigue to action scenes anyway when I’m reading fantasy).

I listened to the audiobook for most of the story and that made it a little hard to keep track of what was going on because there are lots of fabricated colloquial words in this book, many unusual names for both people and places, many of which are very similar to each other, and also the magic system involves Aons, which involves a lot of other terminologies that get confusing when you aren’t able to see the words written out. Keeping track of the main characters and plot is no problem but it’s the side characters that I got mixed up. So I would definitely recommend reading this book with your eyes if given the chance because it will make the story much easier to understand. I had to read along to the audiobook during most of the story to keep all the characters and locations straight, and I also was constantly referencing the maps and the Ars Arcanum, which I would also recommend heavily utilizing.

Speaking of, I’m so glad I have the tenth-anniversary edition that has the three maps because I can’t imagine reading this book without the maps for reference. I was constantly looking at them to familiarize myself with the lay of the land and where everything was located. The same goes for the Ars Arcanum at the back. I can’t imagine reading this book without that critical reference either. It was very helpful to see the list of Aons and their symbols and meanings, and especially being able to reference the list when they’re described in the story is a big help.

There is lots of room to expand on this world in a sequel, so I hope it does eventually get written. I know Sanderson has a plan for it way down the road, so we’ll see. Like what will Wyrn do next? What else can we learn about AonDor? The drama between Kiin and Eventeo—who will be the true ruler of Teod? Raoden and Sarene both voice some questions at the end that could be the basis for the sequel as well. I’m very curious to see where the story goes next.

Overall I thought this was a solid book from Brandon Sanderson, and it makes me wonder what other early stories of his exist that haven’t been published. I bet they’re all just as good, and I hope we get the chance to read them someday. I would highly recommend this book, especially if you’re trying to read all the cosmere books, and don’t let the heavy political intrigue, general lack of action, or large amount of new words turn you away. This book is one to be savored.

“Elantris proves that a book can be magical, yet not show magic itself until the last few chapters” (from the postscript).

Review: SORCERY OF THORNS by Margaret Rogerson

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

I was super excited to read this book once I heard about it: sorcerers, magical libraries, grimoires that are alive and quite possibly dangerous, and the enemies-to-lovers trope. A fantasy book about books and set in a library is right up my alley.

Elisabeth has been raised in one of the Great Libraries. She has believed her whole life that sorcery is evil, and then one day she meets a magister, a sorcerer proclaimed to do great demonic magic, and he isn’t what she expected.

The descriptive imagery at the beginning made me feel like I was in an ancient stone library, smelling the old worn leather books, and that’s such a pleasant place to imagine myself. It was so atmospheric, at least while Elisabeth is actually in the library, and that was my favorite part of this book.

Bookcases soared upward toward a vaulted ceiling six stories above . . . When she breathed in, the sweetness of parchment and leather filled her lungs. Motes of dust hung suspended in the sunbeams, perfectly still, like flakes of gold leaf trapped in resin. 

The beginning started out amazing and the story seemed really promising, but I was a bit disappointed where the story went for a while after that. The whole bit with Elisabeth being stuck at Ashcroft’s manor and the reasons behind it just weren’t what I wanted from this story and that part dragged a little. I was expecting a more defined magic system and setting than we got. I still enjoyed the story but it wasn’t what I had expected it to be.

I was a little confused in the first hundred pages what the difference was between a magister and a sorcerer and what kind of magic was good and what kind was bad because none of that was clearly explained. Things seemed obvious to me that turned out to be wrong, and then I connected pieces that weren’t meant to be connected and it confused me.

Likewise, the rules of sorcery are very vague and not defined at all. The grimoires are alive and enchanted, presumably by sorcery, but those who look after the grimoires and the libraries abhor sorcery and say it is evil. What’s the difference between the magic of enchanted books and the magic of sorcery? Why is it viewed as evil? I would have loved some more explanation about the background and depth of the magic system in this book because it felt very one-dimensional and obfuscating at times.

Also, Ashcroft is the Chancellor of Magic, and the workers of the libraries, who supposedly abhor sorcery, still regard Ashcroft with respect even though he’s a sorcerer. That didn’t really make sense to me either.

I thought the characters were likable, although there was minimal character development, especially where Ashcroft was concerned. But I read for the enjoyment of the overall story so flat characters don’t really bother me too much, whereas I know it would be a big turn-off for some readers.

I absolutely love Nathaniel’s personality. His dry humor and witty comments had me smiling the whole time. However, I wanted him to be older. He’s a magister sorcerer at only eighteen, and he’s the head of his family at twelve? His age just felt like it played into the fact that this book is YA, where the protagonist is rarely older than eighteen. I pictured him the whole time as being around twenty-two, and I think that would have been a better fit for him. Elisabeth is seventeen and I don’t think that’s too big of an age gap; it would make the romance seem more unexpected, but when he’s literally only a year older than she is, that didn’t feel plausible for who Nathaniel is supposed to be.

I love a good slow-burn, hate-to-love relationship though. Even though Nathanial calls Elisabeth a menace and a terror, I always felt like it was in good spirits and he never actually meant it offensively. They’re never really enemies so this trope wasn’t played out as well as it could have been, but it was still fine nonetheless.

The last hundred pages were a struggle for me to get through, and I especially couldn’t wait for the final battle to be over because I was sadly not that interested in what was happening. Plus it kept feeling to me like the battle was done but then it just kept going. There’s a lot of action scenes in this book, but at some point, that becomes a detriment to the story. For example, I noticed a lot of telling instead of showing, especially for events that happened in the past. Like there would be a ton of action and then the chapter would end, and the next chapter would be a little while later and Elisabeth would explain to us how the battle ended when it could have just been shown to us in the previous chapter instead.

Despite Sorcery of Thorns being a good story that many will love, it sadly didn’t live up to my high expectations. I thought I would love it and it would be an instant new favorite; it started off strong at five stars, but then it slowly declined to four stars and then to three, and parts of it were a two for me. I liked the story but I was ultimately disappointed with the direction it went and that hindered my overall enjoyment. I think the library imagery is beautiful and that’s what I expected the whole book to be like, but it wasn’t. I didn’t expect a story about a girl getting captured, being shipped to a mental hospital, and then trying to convince the whole world that she isn’t crazy, that the bad guy is actually the bad guy, etc. but that’s what I got with this one. Somehow the cover’s synopsis failed to communicate the actual plot to me, which turned out to be not at all what I wanted to read. I picked this book up for the magical libraries and the grimoires, and while that’s an underlying tone of the story, it isn’t the actual story, and that really disappointed me. Hopefully I will someday be able to find the fantastical library story that I’m looking for because, unfortunately, this book wasn’t it for me.

Some SPOILERS that bothered me: 
So after Elisabeth slew the Book of Eyes, Warden Finch and Master Hargrove were arguing about how it was her fault that the grimoire has escaped and the Director was dead because no one else was down in the vault. But not two chapters prior, Magister Thorn came to the town and was escorted down to the vault by the Director herself. The magister who does sorcery, which is perceived as evil. And no one thinks to question if he was involved in letting the grimoire loose? That just didn’t add up to me, like he would be the first person I’d suspect.

I don’t like how sorcerers’ spells keep not working on Elisabeth, like that makes it feel like the author is setting her up as the chosen one. This spell was supposed to kill everyone but somehow she survived; this was supposed to mind control her, but somehow she was immune; this was supposed to wipe her memory, but somehow she still retained her memories. Like that makes everything feel so fake. I understand that we don’t want pain or misery or sadness to befall the protagonist but sometimes it’s necessary to make the story feel genuine.
I did like the reasoning behind Elisabeth’s immunity though, that she was the only person to have grown up in a library and be surrounded by the magic of grimoires from such a young age and it made her “a true child of the library”; I thought that was cute.

The very end felt like a cop-out, like when someone is dead, leave them dead. Silas died to save them, let him be a martyr; don’t bring him back to life. I don’t like that the narrative implied that he survived and would be coming back. I mean I love Silas, but stop pulling the punches.