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 thorns and roses series — sarah j. maas

I’m a huge fan of Sarah J. Maas as you could tell from my review of the Throne of Glass series. I originally wasn’t going to read this series because I saw someone had posted about a Beauty and the Beast retelling– but I was caught in the thrall of the story from the first page. I’m a sucker for fantasy, and a world with fae. It’s a great genre, and Sarah J. Maas is it’s current queen.

A Court of Thorns and Roses has another strong female lead, who kind of rubs you or at least me, in the wrong way from the get go. But like all of Maas’ characters, you get a lot of backstory and a reason for all of Feyre’s quirks. The mundane world is great, but the world of the fae and the Courts are amazing and complex. Their are certain rules and constraints for everything. Characters have their own agendas and their own reasons for their madness. It’s a great story, it is a little bit “Stockholm Syndrome” but that was what I was expecting, but that gets blown out of the water in the second installment.

A Court of Mist and Fury totally didn’t suffer from the sophomore slump. I loved this book way more than the first. It’s complex and the characters are more relatable and less, for lack of a better word, flat. The story is complex and everyone is after one goal, and they seem at odds with everyone. All the characters tend to be a little selfish, but as the novel goes on everyone seems to grown up and start caring about others. It was a great second album and so many things are set up to take place in A Court of Wings and Ruin. I am beyond excited to see where this goes!

RATINGS:

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES — 3/5

A COURT OF MIST AND FURY — 4/5

throne of glass series — sarah j. maas

It’s been a while since I’ve done a reread of this series, the last time was before Empire of Storms was released. But I cannot say enough good things, or recommend this series enough! I’ve actually begged friends to read and had to make some deals, but everyone has loved it. Even my mom is currently reading the series!

I’m going to review and talk about this series as a whole, for the spaced out reading. The books in order, including the novella are- Assassin’s Blade, Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms, and at least two other untitled novels are on the slate.

The world building of these novels is amazing and incredible. The characters are so rich and lovely, each relatable in their own way. I have a special place in my heart for badass female characters, especially when they’re fashionistas and love to read! The relationships between the characters is somewhat predictable, but in no way is that a bad thing in this novel. There are so many facets to each character, and even the evil are sympathic in their own unique ways.

Characters that were mentioned earlier on in the series, come back to play a huge role in the later novels. Sarah J. Maas goes above and beyond to plan ahead with her characters and it’s refreshing. You mainly see characters through the eyes of her protagonist Celaena. Everyone has a role to play even if they were not featured in the main novels, like Celaena’s first love.

The plots are great with some twists and turns, taking the view point of different characters along the way. Spanning across empires and different tiers of life. It’s amazing to see how all their stories weave together and make for an amazing story.

I am anxiously awaiting the next novel that has no release date or title as of yet. I’m sure Sarah J. Maas is hard at work on all her other novels as well as the next ToG.

RATINGS:

THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE — 5/5
THRONE OF GLASS –– 4.5/5
CROWN OF MIDNIGHT — 4/5
HEIR OF FIRE — 5/5
QUEEN OF SHADOWS –4/5
EMPIRE OF STORMS — 5/5