Review: Outlander

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WARNING TO PEOPLE THINKING OF READING THIS BOOK: There are many attempted sexual assault scenes and other very graphic violence scenes. Be careful, and don't read it if this could be harmful or triggering to you!

Honestly, this book made it to my favorites shelf around 50 pages in. By then, I was obsessed.

I've seen many booktubers rave about this series (i.e. Tasha, Sasha, and Naya mainly), and I'm so glad I was finally able to get around to this. It's a big intimidating book when you first pick it up, but it honestly flew by so quickly.

The romance leaves something to be desired. Here's the thing: it's a historical romance. Like, way, way, way back to the 1700s, where men weren't exactly known to be chivalrous or respectful or all the lovely things that men are supposed to be are today. There are many attempted r*pe scenes, because I'm pretty sure that's how men viewed women back in those days. I am by no means condoning this - it was absolutely revolting to read; but I understood where the author was coming from if that makes sense without sounding horrible???

Another thing about the romance: Jamie Fraser is not the perfect angel people make him out to be. There are many times in the first half where there is physical abuse and sexual coersion! FORTUNATELY, Claire sets him straight. It was definitely jarring to see at first how so many people were in love with him because there were just !!! WARNING !!! signs going off in my head, but he gets himself together and eventually becomes the ~steamy romance man character~ everyone knows and loves. (I do hear that the second book is better about this.)

Finally, ~the plot~
This book was absolutely amazing plot-wise. It's technically a romance book, but oh wow it was heavily action-packed. I don't think there was a single dull scene the whole book to me. It's also, as many people probably saw from my updates, SO cool to see how Claire, a modern 1940s nurse, has to deal with lackluster 1700s medicine. I took a class on plants last semester where we learned some medicinal properties of different ones, and it was fun to see old and new ones used here.

If you can stomach the first half of the book and the problematic romance (that eventually turns out much better), you'll probably really like this book.

I'm used to very dark movies, shows, and stories, so I knew going in that this was something I could handle. Others may not be able to (and that's 100% okay!!!), so please be careful and think of your mental health. If this could be triggering or harmful to you, please don't read it no matter how good the reviews may be for others.

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Review: The New Dark

The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you, Netgalley and publishers, for an advanced e-book copy of this story! All opinions are still my own and are not influenced in any way.

The New Dark by Lorraine Thomson is about a dystopian/sci-fi book about a girl named Sorrel whose town gets raided by mutants. She barely escapes, but is now on an adventure to find her little brother and childhood crush. Along the way, there are many dangers. Will Sorrel ever find David and Eli?

This started and ended strangely. It dives right in, and you sort of learn about the characters through Sorrel's thoughts, but a lot of it you have to piece together yourself. You also don't get a real feel for the relationships between characters (since you learn about them in a small first chapter). This made me not as excited to go find Eli and David as I probably should have been. The ending was very abrupt. The book definitely should have been longer, as I was trying to figure out if I got a janky e-copy or if it literally ends right where it does.

The character development was great. The writing style was very plain and simple, but it didn't bother me. Even though it was pretty plain, I still feel like I was there along with Sorrel having this adventure too, which is always fun instead of feeling like just the audience.

This is a pretty good book. It was only ~180-190 pages on the nook, so it's a relatively quick read if you just sit down and read it (which I did not do). I'm definitely interested in seeing what happens next!

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Review: Bird Box

Bird Box by Josh Malerman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Who needs Stephen King when you have Josh Malerman?

This is the first horror book I've read that legitimately creeped me the heck out. This was crazy spooky, and I loved it so much. I got it on Halloween, hoping I could be even just the slightest bit creeped out on such a ~spooky~ night, and wow, this was amazing.

This switches off between past and present experiences of Malorie, but both timelines seem to merge together the more you read on. In the present, she's raised her kids not to see outside. She has trained them to hear very well, and finally, they make an escape to freedom. They have to row down a river blindfolded with dangers lurking about around them. In the past timeline, Malorie joins a house full of survivors trying their best to be safe from the unknown dangers around them. Over time, arguments fight and everyone starts to psychologically break down.

This is 100% a book you have to read in bed, at night, and in the dark. It had me backed up against the wall of my bed scared to look out into the dark. Every moving shadow I saw actually made me tense up. There's something about the danger lurking about here, where no one knows what it is, and that's honestly scarier than some killer clown or disease-ridden zombies.

It really messes with the characters' minds.

The writing was so amazing. It made me feel like I was right there along with everybody the whole time.

I would recommend this book to everyone looking for a good scare.

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Review: Mr. Splitfoot

Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a spooky audiobook I listened to on my rides to and from home and college. It was very creepy, not in a "spooky" way, per se, but just the gist of it itself. These orphans are raised by an overbearing, abusive pastor. Ruth, one of the children, ends up taking her pregnant niece on an adventure, and the two worlds intertwine slowly, and secrets come out.

The ending was creepy and sweet at the same time! A good book.

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Review: The Tethered Mage

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you, Netgalley and publishers, for an advanced e-book copy of this story! All opinions are still my own and are not influenced in any way.

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso is a young adult, fantasy novel about an esteemed heir, Amalia Cornaro, who, by accident, becomes a Falconer. Falconers control Falcons: mages with different and distinct powers, and Amalia ends up with one of the most powerful. With this newfound power, Amalia is thrust into political situations and must stop her country and a neighboring country from going to war.

This book was so amazing, and I really hope you all read it when it comes out. The characters were all so flushed out. You really ended up rooting for the main three. These three characters' personalities worked so well together that it was a pleasure to experience their interactions and feelings.

This book is full of mystery - there seems to be about three mysteries going on at once. Caruso did not fail to surprise me. The different plots were so well entwined, and I'm obsessed. The plot twists were not predictable (at least to me), which makes the whole story even more interesting. Who's behind all this?! Gotta read to find out!

The writing style was beautiful and had me basically watching the whole story play out in my head. It's difficult these days to find a book with such great writing that that happens, but this did not fail to disappoint!

This book is very much politics. I do have trouble sometimes wrapping my head around all the different people and still did so here for a good half of the book. The politics doesn't take away from the action (although it is all intertwined); there are still plenty of action scenes to keep your attention.

View all my reviews

Review: The Tethered Mage

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you, Netgalley and publishers, for an advanced e-book copy of this story! All opinions are still my own and are not influenced in any way.

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso is a young adult, fantasy novel about an esteemed heir, Amalia Cornaro, who, by accident, becomes a Falconer. Falconers control Falcons: mages with different and distinct powers, and Amalia ends up with one of the most powerful. With this newfound power, Amalia is thrust into political situations and must stop her country and a neighboring country from going to war.

This book was so amazing, and I really hope you all read it when it comes out. The characters were all so flushed out. You really ended up rooting for the main three. These three characters' personalities worked so well together that it was a pleasure to experience their interactions and feelings.

This book is full of mystery - there seems to be about three mysteries going on at once. Caruso did not fail to surprise me. The different plots were so well entwined, and I'm obsessed. The plot twists were not predictable (at least to me), which makes the whole story even more interesting. Who's behind all this?! Gotta read to find out!

The writing style was beautiful and had me basically watching the whole story play out in my head. It's difficult these days to find a book with such great writing that that happens, but this did not fail to disappoint!

This book is very much politics. I do have trouble sometimes wrapping my head around all the different people and still did so here for a good half of the book. The politics doesn't take away from the action (although it is all intertwined); there are still plenty of action scenes to keep your attention.

View all my reviews

Review: The Tethered Mage

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you, Netgalley and publishers, for an advanced e-book copy of this story! All opinions are still my own and are not influenced in any way.

The Tethered Mage by Melissa Caruso is a young adult, fantasy novel about an esteemed heir, Amalia Cornaro, who, by accident, becomes a Falconer. Falconers control Falcons: mages with different and distinct powers, and Amalia ends up with one of the most powerful. With this newfound power, Amalia is thrust into political situations and must stop her country and a neighboring country from going to war.

This book was so amazing, and I really hope you all read it when it comes out. The characters were all so flushed out. You really ended up rooting for the main three. These three characters' personalities worked so well together that it was a pleasure to experience their interactions and feelings.

This book is full of mystery - there seems to be about three mysteries going on at once. Caruso did not fail to surprise me. The different plots were so well entwined, and I'm obsessed. The plot twists were not predictable (at least to me), which makes the whole story even more interesting. Who's behind all this?! Gotta read to find out!

The writing style was beautiful and had me basically watching the whole story play out in my head. It's difficult these days to find a book with such great writing that that happens, but this did not fail to disappoint!

This book is very much politics. I do have trouble sometimes wrapping my head around all the different people and still did so here for a good half of the book. The politics doesn't take away from the action (although it is all intertwined); there are still plenty of action scenes to keep your attention.

View all my reviews