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maeashah's reviews
265 reviews
Ashes of Aether by Holly Rose
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Spoiler-Free Thoughts:
This was a promising first instalment and I'm eagerly awaiting book two. There is a bit of pushing through required to get through the slow pace of the first ten or so chapters, but after that it starts to pick up and gets better with every chapter.
There is a lot of info dumping and unnecessary paragraphs of description, but that improves considerably in the second half. However, I am writing this off as this is only the first book by the author and I know the writing will be even better in the next book. The magic system is pretty cool and I'm excited to see more of it, and possibly the other types that were mentioned or introduced in the story.
I would really recommend checking this out if you're looking for an interesting new fantasy with some unexpected twists.
Spoiler Review:
This was a solid debut! I really enjoyed the story, especially in the last half. It went in directions I didn't expect and I loved that (the way Arluin came back truly evil or Reyna dabbled in dark magic to summon the Void Prince). The characters were reasonably fun. Reyna was annoying at the start but became much more likeable once she started putting in more effort to be better. I had the opposite journey with Arluin, however. I really liked him at the start but then when he returned at the end, he was just a completely different person. He was so creepy and cruel and I can't believe he expected Reyna to marry him after killing her father and best friend.
But since I got invested in their relationship at the start, it makes me sad that they really don't have a future anymore. I just think Arluin's actions are unforgivable. I can't see how Reyna would look past the murders of not just her loved ones, but all of Nolderan.
Now to get to some of the less enjoyable aspects: As I mentioned before, there is a bit of excessive descriptive writing. Sometimes, really simple scenes are explained in lots of detail and it really doesn't add much to the story. This was especially evident in the first half of the book and so did take me a bit of time to get through. However, as I also said, it really picks up and the plot gets very interesting in the latter half.
The other thing was that the mage trials were a bit of a letdown for me. I expected them to be a much bigger and more drawn out part of the story but it was actually over pretty quickly. I guess I just wanted to see more of Reyna learning and struggling to be a better mage.
What I did really appreciate was the fact that Reyna didn't just become the best simply because she wanted to and she's the protagonist. It was refreshing to see that she tried really hard but others were still just as powerful (or more in Kaely's case). We do see some hints of her having a lot of power in her fire spells so I'm curious to see if that'll come up more later.
I think this book has set up the series fairly well and I'm going to be getting book two the second it's available. The epilogue introduced some interesting characters and I'm very curious about seeing Reyna interact with the Void Prince of Pride (and if other Void Princes will make an appearance perhaps???) and to see how Reyna vs Arluin goes. I'm also a little curious if we'll get a new love interest in book two. đ
Spoiler-Free Thoughts:
This was a promising first instalment and I'm eagerly awaiting book two. There is a bit of pushing through required to get through the slow pace of the first ten or so chapters, but after that it starts to pick up and gets better with every chapter.
There is a lot of info dumping and unnecessary paragraphs of description, but that improves considerably in the second half. However, I am writing this off as this is only the first book by the author and I know the writing will be even better in the next book. The magic system is pretty cool and I'm excited to see more of it, and possibly the other types that were mentioned or introduced in the story.
I would really recommend checking this out if you're looking for an interesting new fantasy with some unexpected twists.
Spoiler Review:
But since I got invested in their relationship at the start, it makes me sad that they really don't have a future anymore. I just think Arluin's actions are unforgivable. I can't see how Reyna would look past the murders of not just her loved ones, but all of Nolderan.
Now to get to some of the less enjoyable aspects: As I mentioned before, there is a bit of excessive descriptive writing. Sometimes, really simple scenes are explained in lots of detail and it really doesn't add much to the story. This was especially evident in the first half of the book and so did take me a bit of time to get through. However, as I also said, it really picks up and the plot gets very interesting in the latter half.
The other thing was that the mage trials were a bit of a letdown for me. I expected them to be a much bigger and more drawn out part of the story but it was actually over pretty quickly. I guess I just wanted to see more of Reyna learning and struggling to be a better mage.
What I did really appreciate was the fact that Reyna didn't just become the best simply because she wanted to and she's the protagonist. It was refreshing to see that she tried really hard but others were still just as powerful (or more in Kaely's case). We do see some hints of her having a lot of power in her fire spells so I'm curious to see if that'll come up more later.
I think this book has set up the series fairly well and I'm going to be getting book two the second it's available. The epilogue introduced some interesting characters and I'm very curious about seeing Reyna interact with the Void Prince of Pride (and if other Void Princes will make an appearance perhaps???) and to see how Reyna vs Arluin goes. I'm also a little curious if we'll get a new love interest in book two. đ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera
This book was so adorable!!!
I loved Arthur and Ben and I loved them together and every little nerdy aspect of this book. It was so cute. But the ending kind of let me down just because I wanted an epic get together and it was more open and âWhat if?â which I get. I understand itâs more realistic maybe and kind of goes with the bookâs main concept but I REALLY WANTED THEM TOGETHER.đ
Ben and Arthurâs relationship evolved so beautifully (except the end, Iâm still mad theyâre not together even though they are best friends). They fell in love so sweetly and I was grinning the whole time.
I loved all the other characters in this book (except Hudson or Harriet because I didnât feel like I got to know them for too long). Dylan was hilarious and I love his relationship with Ben and just the whole dynamic between Ben/Dylan/Samantha. Just like I adored the friendship between Arthur, Jessie and Ethan. Everyone was just so cute and relatable. I loved how they all interacted.
I havenât read anything by either author before (which is crazy, I know, their books are everywhereeee) but now Iâm really excited to! I really enjoyed the writing style of this book.
Also this book was so relatable??! There were all these little things that the characters did that I do too and it just felt so nice to see it.
If anyoneâs looking for a cute book to devour, please read!!!
4.0
If I'm going to feel something, I want to feel it.
This book was so adorable!!!
Ben and Arthurâs relationship evolved so beautifully (except the end, Iâm still mad theyâre not together even though they are best friends). They fell in love so sweetly and I was grinning the whole time.
I loved all the other characters in this book (except Hudson or Harriet because I didnât feel like I got to know them for too long). Dylan was hilarious and I love his relationship with Ben and just the whole dynamic between Ben/Dylan/Samantha. Just like I adored the friendship between Arthur, Jessie and Ethan. Everyone was just so cute and relatable. I loved how they all interacted.
I havenât read anything by either author before (which is crazy, I know, their books are everywhereeee) but now Iâm really excited to! I really enjoyed the writing style of this book.
Also this book was so relatable??! There were all these little things that the characters did that I do too and it just felt so nice to see it.
If anyoneâs looking for a cute book to devour, please read!!!
What I Like about You by Marisa Kanter
4.0
This book kind of fixed a reading slump for me, so I'm grateful for that. I always love a character who's a reader because it's just so fun and relatable. I really liked the characters, the friendships, and family relationships. You don't see a lot of family in YA so it was a nice change.
I love the way Halle and Nash's story played out. All the book blogger elements were so enjoyable too.
I read this a while ago and am only writing the review now so I can't remember exactly what, but I do remember there was a weird "YA vs adult" argument happening that I felt iffy about but other than that, it was a good read. I'm glad I read it when I did because it had me emotionally invested and broke my reading slump!
I love the way Halle and Nash's story played out. All the book blogger elements were so enjoyable too.
I read this a while ago and am only writing the review now so I can't remember exactly what, but I do remember there was a weird "YA vs adult" argument happening that I felt iffy about but other than that, it was a good read. I'm glad I read it when I did because it had me emotionally invested and broke my reading slump!
Vampire Academy: The Untold Stories by Richelle Mead
4.5
The Meeting (4 stars): I really liked this short story. Reading from Dimitri's perspective was very interesting, but the fact that this was a scene I'd already read, and a scene that wasn't particularly interesting, made it a little bit dull. A different interaction between Rose and Dimitri (that we'd already seen from Rose's POV), one that had a little more excitement to it, would've been more fun, but still, I loved getting to see Dimitri's narration style.
Twice Magic by Cressida Cowell
3.0
This was a really enjoyable audiobook.
David Tennant is great at narrating and doing all the different voices!
Similar to the first book, I felt that I wasn't as interested in the plot until about halfway through, where things really picked up and we started learning more about why things were happening. I am still no closer to finding out who the narrator is and I can't wait to find out!
I love the way Cressida Cowell writes stories; it's so fun and exciting. The story is definitely getting more interesting, now that we have a little more backstory on Wish and Xar's parents, and how Wish came to possess magic.
It was interesting to see more into the personalities of Sychorax and Encanzo. I feel like I understand their actions and motives in the previous book more now.
David Tennant is great at narrating and doing all the different voices!
Similar to the first book, I felt that I wasn't as interested in the plot until about halfway through, where things really picked up and we started learning more about why things were happening. I am still no closer to finding out who the narrator is and I can't wait to find out!
It was interesting to see more into the personalities of Sychorax and Encanzo. I feel like I understand their actions and motives in the previous book more now.
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
4.5
This was SO MUCH FUN.
I liked the concept and I'd seen this book be mentioned all over booktube, so when I saw my library had the audiobook and there was no queue, I started reading.
It started off pretty well, but it wasn't so interesting that I had to be listening to it at all times. But then. Oh my god. About a quarter of the way in, it got so interesting. I found myself constantly itching to listen to the next chapter and finding tasks to do that would give me a chance to have the book playing in the background.
As the story went on, the characters became more and more endearing to me and I was getting more invested in the Ellingham mystery. And then there's a murder and everything is suddenly more high stakes. I actually couldn't put down the book for the last couple of hours. I just sat there, done with lunch ages ago, focussing on nothing but the story. It just pulled me in.
Now that I'm officially invested in everything, I can't wait to read the next two books.
THERE'S SO MANY QUESTIONS I NEED ANSWERS TO!!!
I liked the concept and I'd seen this book be mentioned all over booktube, so when I saw my library had the audiobook and there was no queue, I started reading.
It started off pretty well, but it wasn't so interesting that I had to be listening to it at all times. But then. Oh my god. About a quarter of the way in, it got so interesting. I found myself constantly itching to listen to the next chapter and finding tasks to do that would give me a chance to have the book playing in the background.
As the story went on, the characters became more and more endearing to me and I was getting more invested in the Ellingham mystery. And then there's a murder and everything is suddenly more high stakes. I actually couldn't put down the book for the last couple of hours. I just sat there, done with lunch ages ago, focussing on nothing but the story. It just pulled me in.
Now that I'm officially invested in everything, I can't wait to read the next two books.
THERE'S SO MANY QUESTIONS I NEED ANSWERS TO!!!