the child thief — brom

Wow. I’m sorry to the two (probably more like zero, lol) people who read my reviews. I’ve been super busy lately with work and attempting to have a social life, also I was diagnosed with Shingles, so that was great. That being said, I was having trouble getting into books. But let me tell you The Child Thief ripped me right out of that slump. I was hooked from the prologue and could not put this book down. I read it on the recommendation from a lady from work that knows how much I love Disney, and Peter Pan in particular, and showed me one of those Pinterest lists saying, Peter Pan stories you need to read as an adult. I had already read a couple, but I downloaded some samples, and like I said hooked from page one.

This is a very dark and twisted retelling of my childhood favorite. I mean, trigger warning, it starts with an attempted rape by a stepfather. One of the reasons I was fixated on this novel was the true crime feel of the prologue. It doesn’t follow that pattern, but it was a great hook. No pun intention, oops.

The Child Thief is not only dark and twisted, it’s rife with Celtic mythology. I’m a huge mythology enthusiast, I was a history major in college because of it, and this book introduced me to the dark, twisted, but beautiful world of Celtic myths.

The characters are vastly interesting and complex. Peter is still the child-like character we all love, but with a dark side. He gets really dragged into some situations that you’re cringing. Ultimately, he just wants to be loved and he’s willing to do anything, and I mean anything for that dream. The other major characters are just as complex. They all have traits that you see in yourself or those around you. At times you just want to yell in their faces and say, just think about the consequences. But, sadly, immortals don’t really think about the long-term, and they tend to only look out for number one.

Peter in this story was just very charismatic and childlike, but like I said, he’s dark. He’s a murderer, make no mistake. He makes some horrible choices, and then goes along like he just had afternoon tea, but that’s kind of what I love about the character. He doesn’t care about what means justify the end. He just wants to be loved and adored, and he will kill you if you get in his way. Literally.

I don’t want to say too much about this novel because there are so many twists and turns and I don’t want to give any spoilers. It is definitely a dark, wild ride. I really couldn’t put this book down, I had it on my Nook and was reading at work because I couldn’t get the story out of my head. I absolutely had to know what was going to happen. I read this book in about two days, and I think after my current read (this month’s Fairyloot subscription book), I’m going to reread this. I think I’ll find some things that I missed, and that will make me fall in love all over again.

I feel slightly odd loving this book so much, but seriously it’s not for the faint of heart. There’s some trigger warnings I feel like I should give:  rape scenarios, murder, murder of children, gang violence, abusive parents, more murder.

Please give this book a chance, and if you read it please get in touch with me! I would love someone to talk about this gem! Happy reading 🙂

Rating:

The Child Thief: A Novel by Brom  5  /  5

the summoner trilogy — taran matharu

I’m going to start this one off kicking myself for not picking up The Novice sooner. It was always on a featured spot at my local Barnes and Noble, and I remember picking it up about a year ago and just not being into it. I’m so glad a friend of mine convinced me to buy it this time. What a great trilogy!

The characters are great. Some you love, some you love to hate. I like that the villains in this series are villains because they think they’re so much better than anyone else and they don’t have a ‘redeeming’ moment like you see often in these kind of novels.

I burned through The Novice, The Inquisition, and The Battlemage in less than a week. I was on a road trip these past couple days, so I couldn’t finish the final novel as quickly as I wanted. I could not put these books down! There are well-written, and well-planned. They are a bit predictable, but that in no way is a bad thing! The trilogy ends at a sweet moment, and it just leaves me begging for more to Fletcher’s story. I did read there is going to be a fourth novel, but I believe it’s more of a prequel. I’m sure I’ll read it but I would love to see more of Fletcher and his mother, and some Fletcher and Sylva! ❤ But, it may just be up to the reader’s imagination to wonder how this one plays out. I hope to read more of Taran Matharu’s work. He’s a very talented author, and a lot younger than I thought! Just goes to show anyone who wants it enough can get a novel published and be a successful author.

Glad I picked this one up, and I hope to venture back to Hominum, and Raleighshire, again real soon!

 

Ratings:

The Novice — 4/5

The Inquisition – 4.5/5

The Battlemage —  3.5/5

a court of wings and ruin — sarah j. maas

Okay. As you know from reading my first post about A Court of Thorns and Roses and A Court of Mist and Fury, I was beyond excited for this book! However, I am sad to say I am a bit disappointed.

It’s not that I didn’t like this book, because I did, I just didn’t love it. There were lots of secrets that were kept, for no real reason. I understand you want to protect those you love, but I think there’s a line with the lying and going behind others backs. I though the plot was well-planned and well-excuted. The battles were great, and no one made it through totally unscarred. Maas just has a way with setting the stage with her world-building and her characters.

I believed the novel ended in a really good place. There was announcement that there is going to be another novel going to be out in 2018, but even if it ended as a trilogy it would have left me stated.

There was one glaring, irritating issue with this book. I’m not sure if it was because I had the Nook edition, but there were so grammatical errors that made my blood boil. It was one grammatical issue that kept repeating over and over, and that was questions were phrased as declarative sentences. There are times when this is used, as when you form a command as a question. It just drove me insane, there was one sentence that had two of the same errors. Just drove me a little nuts.

In my initial read I did overall like this book, not as much as the other two– through all the secrets, lies, deception and massive battles. I will definitely be rereading and I’ll most likely find things I missed, and that will make me enjoy the story even more. I’m sure the next installment will be as thrilling as the first three, and always leave you guessing.

 

RATING:

A Court of Wings and Ruin — 3.5/5

 

 

strange the dreamer — laini taylor

Wow. Laini Taylor does it again! She is such an amazing author that I honestly can’t think of enough praises for her. Laini has such a beautiful prose and way with words. Reading Strange the Dreamer was like walking through one of Lazlo’s dreams with her. Laini writes novels like poetry without it ever becoming too much. She uses descriptions that other authors wouldn’t even think to use. I vividly remember one scene where we are in Lazlo’s dream for the first time, and I had to read through it a couple times. I was absolutely blown away by her descriptions. You feel like we’re walking through the dreams with the characters. I don’t have enough great things to say about this book. I can’t wait to read the second novel in this duology, and I think I’ll even enjoy it more a second time around. Not only is the writing just beautiful, the plot doesn’t lack for it. There are so many twists and turns, and you just don’t want to put it down. All the characters have their own ticks, and you just can’t help but like all of them, even if there are not ‘good’. There are characters that you’re meant to dislike, but the way Laini wrote them, you understand why the way there are and feel sympathy.

I want to keep this spoiler-free, but I could take so many quotes from this book that are just beautifully written. They are gloriously-written without being too much, and too sugary. I would highly, highly recommend Strange the Dreamer, maybe even more so then the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. Stepping into the pages of this novel is like stepping into the sweetest of dreams.

RATING:

5/5