Review: Tess of the Road

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley, for giving me a digital ARC of this book! All thoughts are still my own and not influenced in any way.
Release Date: February 27, 2018

Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman is about Tess, the rambunctious sister of Seraphina from the Seraphina books. Tess is always getting in trouble and not as well-liked as her sisters, and her parents want to put her in a nunnery. Of course, Tess runs away, and an adventure ensues.

This isn't a typical runaway adventure book, though. Tess of the Road is a slow read where Tess literally just goes from place to place, all the while haunted by her past. I thought her travels were very lackluster, but her backstory was honestly so impressive that it boosted this rating up 2 stars. She's such a unique character from what I'm used to for many reasons (which I can't really get into because this isn't out yet), but I'm obsessed. There were so many things I'd never seen before with a 16-18 year old female protagonist in young adult books.

If you're reading this for dragons, prepare to be disappointed. There really weren't any. The ones that were there were so humanoid, which was super disappointing.

I've also never read the original Seraphina books. I still got the gist of things though, and you can definitely read this without the originals! I'm sure I'd get more little things in the book, but nothing too important was referenced where I was like, "What the f is this???

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Review: The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One

The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One by Amanda Lovelace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced reader's e-book copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

The Witch Doesn't Burn in this One by Amanda Lovelace is a poetry book about the patriarchy, sexual assault, and women finding their own voices. The poetry itself has been heavily debated in other reviews - is it "tumblr text" or actual poetry? My answer: both?

The poetry definitely has a tumblr text post aesthetic to it. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, though. It reminded me a lot of the ever-so-popular Milk and Honey going around in 2017. While very similar, this had its own passion and style.

This book had me S H O O K. As a woman who has been harassed on numerous occasions, this spoke to me a lot. It had me angry again, and it was really nice to see that other people have had the same thoughts as me.

This does paint a bad picture of men, though, which can have people butthurt. The unfortunate reality though, is that a lot of women do have these experiences and these thoughts of many different men. "Not all men, though!" Sure, not all men. But many. Enough.

This poetry book was incredibly empowering, and I am so glad I had the chance to read it.

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Review: Ash Princess

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

WOW! What a page-turner!

Ash Princess is about a girl named Theodosia, a princess whose kingdom gets conquered. Instead of dying, she's kept as a prisoner for years. This book is about her trying to become free.

This was sort of a generic YA fantasy book, but darker. There was a lot of whippings that went into detail, so stay away if that makes you queasy.

The characters weren't all lovable, and I think that makes the story great. You're not supposed to love every character. Some are despicable. Some I want to love, but hate. Some I want to hate, but love. A perfect mixture, to be honest. There is a bit of a love triangle, but it's not the main subject of the book - thank goodness. It also leans a lot towards one boy instead of torn between two most of the time. That makes it a bit more bearable.

The writing was very well done. It wasn't jaw-dropping, but it definitely kept my attention and there are some quotes I would have loved to put in here (but I can't because it's an ARC :( )

Definitely read this if you like YA fantasies!

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Review: Gemina

Gemina by Amie Kaufman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE YEAR I PUT GIFS IN MY REVIEWS. I'M A NEW WOMAN. NEW YEAR NEW ME.

My first and foremost thought: I didn't know that Marie Lu could draw so well?!

Other thoughts:
This book was great, but Illuminae (the first book) was still better.

This book was thrilling and fun to read, but it seemed to drag on for me. I found myself trying to read smaller books in between to feel more accomplished, but all it did was rack up the "currently reading" books and leave me stressed.


The format, of course, was unique and super cool as before. In this case though, AIDAN wasn't really there, so I didn't get as much of a feeling of Love and Doom in this book. (No worries, though. There is still a lot of Doom in Gemina.) One of the main reasons the formatting was so noteworthy in Illuminae was because of AIDAN, and I feel like I got sort of gypped here.

The characters seemed to be basically the same as before but with slightly different appearances. I really don't feel like I met anyone new, and that upsets me.

Story: 3 stars
Creativity: 4 stars
Final score: 3.5 stars (rounded up before because I'm sometimes nice)

I know I'm starting to complain now, but I'll still definitely be getting the next book when it comes out.



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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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