Mini Book Reviews Again Again
Look I know I did one of these five minutes ago but I still have 20 books to get through here so bear with me okay.
Down Among the Dead Men by Peter Lovesey, book 15 of the Peter Diamond series - I don't normally read crime novels and this book reminded me why. It was a lot of police propaganda in places, a lot of nonsense in others, and overall just a bit boring. There was also a bit where someone being a lesbian was a major plot twist like??? what decade are we in??? (tbf it was written in 2015 but that's no excuse!). So yeah, didn't like this one much.
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor, book 2 of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series - Well, if I could marry a book series then this would be the one. It's beautifully crafted and beautifully written, and the worldbuilding in this one is incredible. I love the characters and the conflict and I can't quite articulate specifically how or why without giving too much away but seriously everyone should give this a go, I've even given it to my mum to read.
Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley - Oh boy was that one weird. It's not very long, but it doesn't need to be. It was cool and creepy and ominous in so many ways, and I think it would be good for people who like more gothic horror than slasher horror. I'll never look at a hare the same way again. TW for off-screen child death though. Like almost the whole book is focused around a couple dealing with the loss of their son.
The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, book 3 of the Heroes of Olympus series - What can be said that hasn't been said already? Pretty sure all of Tumblr already knows that this man is a brilliant author and that these books are amazing so I'm not going to elaborate here.
Fractured by Teri Terry, book 2 of the Slated series - Very early 2010s dystopia but still very good. I really do very strongly believe that part of the reason these books never majorly blew up the way The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner did is because they're set in Britain, and obviously weren't marketed as much. I'm enjoying them a lot. They're not the very best things I've ever read in my life, but I would have devoured them as a teenager if I'd gotten around to reading them back then.
Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick - Cute little lesbian love story. I enjoyed it well enough but it wasn't my favourite. It made me laugh in places, but I was never really invested in the relationship between the girls unfortunately. However, I was in a major reading slump at the time I read it, and was really stressed with work and life and stuff so maybe that was why I bounced off it.
Songbirds by Christy Lefteri - I'm not normally one for books that feel like they'd win a lot of awards (I like Blue Bloods for crying out loud!) but this one was very good indeed. I can't say I enjoyed it because the subject matter was really depressing, but it was very well written and had a lot to say about it's topic. It's about a live-in maid called Nisha who works for a woman in Cyprus but goes missing in chapter 1 and the rest of the book is her partner and her employer desperately trying to find her but struggling because basically no one else cares. It was a very powerful book in all honesty.
Rhosllannerchrugog, Johnstown, Ponciau, and Penycae: A Collection of Pictures by Dennis W. Gilpin - Just me out here reading some local history. Nothing that would really interest anyone who doesn't know the area, but it was fun to see places I know today as how they looked in the past.
The Dissolution of Valle Crucis Abbey by Derrick Pratt - Again, local history. It was a bit dry, as expected, but still fun to learn more about the local area.
Masquerade by Melissa De La Cruz, book 2 of the Blue Bloods series - Again, complete trash, but for some reason I love it. I think it's partially nostalgia because I first read these back in 2010 or so when I was 11 or 12 and loved them then, but sometimes I think it's because we all need something to just switch our brains off to. Some people like reality TV, some people like Ali Hazlewood, I like Blue Bloods. It's all the same.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow - This is one of those books that you get from the library and enjoy so much you immediately wan't to go out and buy your own copy of. Like I feel like I'm going to be incomplete if I don't have this book in my life forever. A truly beautiful world-hopping story about finding yourself and where you belong, and it has the 'book within a book' thing going on like in The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Can't say too much without giving it away, but it's very good and I recommend it.
Revelations by Melissa De La Cruz, book 3 of the Blue Bloods series - It's Armageddon time baby! No not really but there is a little bit of a reckoning. That all obviously comes secondary to the terrible romance thought because of course it does and that's what we're all here for anyway. It's still thoroughly problematic and off the wall, but hey, 2000s vampire novels were never going to be sensible. Cringe is dead give me more vampires.
The Van Alen Legacy by Melissa De La Cruz, book 4 of the Blue Bloods series - Oh look, more vampires! Originally, and for most of the year, I decided not to read too many books form the series too close to one another in case I got burnt out on the series, but Blue Bloods made me break that because I was having too much fun with them. I'm officially caught up to all the ones that were out when I first read the so form here on out I'm in uncharted territory. I'm hoping it's still all just as trashy.
The House of Hades by Rick Riordan, book 4 of the Heroes of Olympus series - Again, we all know Rick Riordan is god so I won't spend too much time on this one but I will say that I think that one is my favourite of the series. The bits in Tartarus are really well done and I still love all the characters and everyone on earth should read this book series.
The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman, book 7 of the Invisible Library series - This is the second to last book in the series so things are really ramping up here and getting everything in place for the finale, and it managed to do all that whilst also telling a satisfying contained story. We've got another new main character, the return of an old villain or two, and adventure to be had all round. I'm very much looking forward to the next book.
Ask the Passengers by A.S. King - Another lesbian romance one I didn't really enjoy. I think I'm getting too old for coming of age stories like this. Or maybe this one just wasn't very well written. It was okay for the most part, but I didn't like the love interest at all and it seemed a lot of the time that the main character didn't either, which isn't ideal for a romance. Also, there's a running thing where the main character will watch aeroplanes flying overhead and 'send her love' up to the passengers and then we'd cut to a passenger on the flight for a few pages as they magically feel overwhelmed with a sense of love that helps cure all their troubles or whatever and I thought that was silly and I didn't like it. Not the worst thing I've ever read though.
The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan, book 5 of the Heroes of Olympus series - A cracking finale, even if I do still find the fight with Gaia a little anticlimactic. I love getting to hear from Reyna and Nico for the first time; they're some of my favourite characters. Honestly just a 10/10 series.
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