Omnilegent: A Need to Read

TRUTH AND COURAGE! I had to shout that to even start writing this review. Oof, my heart. What a wild ride. 4.5 stars from me.

In Ruin, we get to see our characters really solidify in their roles. Nathair has finally accepted that he’s not who he thought he was. Corban is accepting that he’s more than who he ever thought he was. Our Black Sun and our Bright Star. Nathair is determined to be a leader and he will be that for whichever side will have him. He has lied and killed his way to the top. The power behind him is terrifying. Corban truly becomes a man in Ruin. He has experienced heartache and devastation and manages to go on, amassing an army that follows him out of pure respect and love. The pure of heart are in a desperate battle to escape the clutches of Asroth’s servants. They’re deceived, many times over. Our story and the various scattered characters really start to come together in Ruin.

Lemme tell ya, the title is spot on. Major things that we THOUGHT we knew in this book are dismantled. Families are destroyed. Loyalties are broken. Friends are lost. A lot of progress is made, though. Our good guys get a short reprieve from tragedy, finally. Gwynne continues his spectacular writing of characters that keep us engaged. It takes a special talent to keep your audience hanging on while simultaneously kicking the asses of the best characters. He also starts to introduce personal relationships between characters, which proves to be a bright spot between the tragedies.

‘Three reasons. Three people. Jael. Lykos. You.’ He paused and looked up into her eyes. ‘Two for vengeance. One for love.’

Ruin had a lot of really great moments, we see a lot more triumph in this novel. The tone for much of the novel is hopeful even during the tremulous moments. Reversely, the battles are heavier and more descriptive than the past novels. The losses weigh heavier. The ending was the most powerful and earth-shaking thus far. The only reason I knocked off a half a star was for the revelation at the end which I don’t fully understand yet. I don’t get the specifics of why certain people were chosen or affected by this revelation, or how some of the themes conveniently lined up to what was foretold. There’s not much more I can say without spoiling, but what I’ve already emphasized still stands: John Gwynne is a superior voice in the fantasy world.

Hmmmmmmm. Shadow and Bone earned a 3 stars from me. I was truly enjoying the book but when it ended, it felt like a book that had cut bits and pieces of a book and pasted it together for a shortened version. Things happened quickly and the story kept taking turns very fast. I didn’t feel as connected with the characters because they didn’t have time to even connect to each other. I think the surprising part for me was reading it on kindle, there was a large excerpt for the next book so it showed that I had a huge percentage of book left when the end came. I honestly clicked back and forward to make sure my ebook wasn’t messed up and checked the ending on Wiki. The ending was SO abrupt. There was no actual climax to the story, in my opinion. Where it ended seemed as if it should have been the climax of the book. I felt as if we were just starting to get a feel for our characters’ situations when it ended.

Our main character Alina is dramatically swept up into the lifestyle of a Grisha, which are people with powers beyond the ordinary. I feel like my background of having read Six of Crows made this world make a lot more sense (which is funny because Shadow and Bone came first). You can tell that Leigh Bardugo strengthens in her writing as time goes on, and it does me good to remember that this WAS her first book and hiccups are okay. Anyway, Alina grew up as an orphan with her best friend Mal, that she’s secretly in love with. They are in the midst of a war and they are the common foot soldiers for it when Alina’s powers are discovered. Now, if you’ve heard anything about this series, you’ll have heard about the love triangle. If you want to skip ahead, I’ll be talking about this love triangle here, and that might be spoilery. I’ll try to avoid actually going into WHAT happens.

Okay, so Alina basically has to choose between The Darkling —whose power is unmatched until Alina comes into her power— and Mal. This is your typical choice between the bad boy and the good guy. I’ve seen quite the few heated argument between “shippers” on bookstagram; certain people love The Darkling in spite of his goals, and certain people think that it’s a toxic relationship and that Mal is the better choice. Here’s the thing… they both have their faults and their redemption. The Darkling immediately sees Alina for who she is and relishes in it. On the flip side, he’s also used to controlling a situation and will use his power to his advantage, which leads to the toxic aspect of their relationship. I won’t go into what actually happens THERE, because it would be a major spoiler, and I haven’t read past this book so I don’t know how that storyline evolves to comment on my thoughts about it.

“Alina, the Darkling doesn’t notice most of us. We’re moments he’ll forget in his long life. And I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing. Just… be careful.”

I stared at her, baffled. “Of what?”

“Of powerful men.”

On the other hand, Mal is the sweet and comforting boy that Alina grew up with. He’s reliable and she feels safe with him. Here’s the thing though… Mal doesn’t have feelings for Alina until she’s gone. It’s made clear that he’s exceedingly handsome and he goes to Alina for advice on how to hook up with other girls. When Alina comes into her powers and sees a Grisha that “enhances” her beauty, Mal is like “wow, I realize that you’re pretty awesome.” That’s not encouraging to me? It took your best friend gaining power and beauty to realize she’s someone you could fall for? Eh. Kinda lame, buddy. I’m not swooning.

“I’m sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”

We are left in the midst of a major choice between “right” or “wrong.” I’m curious to see if everything is how it seems or if we are going to be thrown through a loop from what Bardugo originally wants us to believe. Despite all of the issues I’ve seen in this book, I AM invested and will continue. Like I said, having read Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows, I know she becomes a stronger writer. Her characters are interesting and I feel like her leaving us in the dark about a lot of stuff in the first novel will play into the rest of the series. Her Grishaverse is a rich world brimming with endless potential and her straightforward writing style is something that can be very refreshing as a reader.

I was given an advanced reader’s copy of Grown Ups by Emma Jane Unsworth in exchange for an honest review. I struggled between 3 and 4 stars with this book and ultimately decided to round up to 4. At first, I found Jenny to be a bit over the top and thus, quite annoying, but I think that’s the point of the story.

Jenny’s life falls apart all at once: her boyfriend leaves, her ultra feminist magazine dumps her for not being hardcore enough, her roommates move out on her, her friends become agitated with her, and worst of all, Suzy Brambles has unfollowed her on Instagram. That last problem sounds absurd, right? Emma Jane Unsworth hilariously and honestly catches the absolute absurdity that IS social media. MOST of Jenny’s issues comes from her frenzied use of social platforms. She has become less interested in authentic experiences and more interested in the likes that she can accumulate from a perfectly captured croissant. She is utterly entranced by the likes of Suzy Brambles, people that frame their lives and self promote on the internet. She buys into their picture perfect lives and is in a constant competition with herself to keep up. Her job at the magazine makes her doubt herself even more. With every article she posts, the world has their comments. She should be MORE of a feminist, she should be writing about this or that topic, and all the other mean drivel that internet users spew safely from behind a screen, never having to see the impact they have on others lives.

Part of what made Jenny “annoying” to me at first was this constant need for attention. She would revolve whole parts of her life around social media. But then I realized… most of us do this to an extent. We don’t always stop to appreciate, we take a picture first and appreciate later. We want other people to validate our experience before we totally enjoy it. Social media makes us ALL a bit of a nut case at times, whether it’s creating perfect posts or dealing with the cruelties of the internet. Jenny isn’t dumb, by any means. She shows complete moments of self-awareness and is surprisingly accurate when analyzing others. Her addiction to the internet has quite literally become a sickness in her life, tearing her attention away from her friends, family, and love life.

Eventually, Jenny is very much made aware of her issues and begins to work towards a healthier life with the help of her friends and mother. Grown Ups was a quick read that made me alternatively laugh and cringe at the accuracies of social media usage. It comes out in the US on May 12th, 2020. It has already been released under the title Adults in the UK!

‘Foe,’ Corban whispered in Storm’s ear and in a blur of fur and muscle she lept at the startled man.

AhhhhhhhhhhHhhhhhhhhhHhh! Does that count for a review? No? Okay, here we go.

Valor by John Gwynne is Book Two from The Faithful and the Fallen. It rates a 5/5 stars from me. The pacing was a bit slower the first half of the book than Malice but not enough to dock any stars. The second half of the book kept a rollicking pace and I couldn’t read it fast enough.

The Faithful and the Fallen is one of those series that reminds me of WHY I fell in love with the fantasy genre. Fantasy readers tend to love the plot building up to a resounding crescendo that crashes over us, fully encompassing. We love worlds that need steady building, characters that reveal their complexities over time. We like stories that need multiple volumes to be told. We like taking characteristics from the real world and mixing them with the endless possibilities of fantastical storytelling. John Gwynne’s series is all that I love about fantasy. I’ve said before that I immediately include him in the ranks of my favorite authors, and like those authors (Hobb, Martin, Rothfuss, Lawrence, Sanderson, Abercrombie), Gwynne has all the elements we love about fantasy but it still reads like his OWN work and ideas. It stands apart even in its similarities to other fantasy series.

Yet, if he has chosen right, why did he feel wrong, somehow, somewhere deep down, and why when he closed his eyes, did he see (name hidden for spoiler free review)’s face, his dead eyes accusing him.

In Valor, we have the usual good vs bad dilemma. We also have the bad-that-truly-thinks-it’s-good vs the good. We have purposely misled characters. Accidentally misguided characters. Betrayed characters. Straight up good or evil characters. Characters that have no choice, that despise themselves for their actions. I think what is interesting about this story is we have two characters that have been told THEY’RE the chosen savior of the world. There can only be one, though, so what happens to the person that was actually chosen for evil instead of good? How do they react to that? This book is about that journey, about the build up to that shattering realization. There are characters are in league with the obviously “evil” side that I have truly come to care for. That’s what a good author does. In life, we can find good and bad in (almost) everyone. The scale might tip us one way or the other, but most people have goodness in them if you look. This goodness makes it hard for us to write a character off completely. It gives us hope for a better outcome.

‘Before the battle you warned us about what side we were choosing.’

‘Yes,’ Veradis said. ‘I did.’

‘I would give you the same advice,’ Maquin said, then disappeared into the forest.

One thing I would like to praise Gwynne for, is his writing of women. There’s some subtle attraction, occasionally, between characters, but it’s never unintentionally sexist or inappropriate. Rather, it’s a natural progression of potential relationships. What do I mean by this? Women in his stories are strong. They’re purposeful. They’re not there for the amusement of men or for men to look at. They serve the plots, and are not background characters. Gwynne doesn’t focus on their looks above all, in fact, he rarely comments on their looks. There is ONE case of intentional harassment that might be triggering to some and that is used to advance the plot to some degree. It incites hatred and the motivation to break control from a certain leader. You might think this is all odd to mention, like, “Oh, John Gwynne DOESN’T sexualize women?? Cool?” But it IS worth mentioning that Gwynne writes women like a respected WOMAN author would (thus far, at least). I’ve seen some women authors write women characters pretty shamefully as well, which may be a conditioned behavior, and I think in recent years, the public has grown more conscience of the way women are written. I certainly have. I recently read a male-written fantasy series that put a bad taste in my mouth when it came to how it approached writing women, despite liking the series otherwise. The worst part is that I don’t think the author even realizes he was being sexist *cringe*. It might just be me following up that series with this one that makes me appreciate Gwynne’s writing. He writes like he respects PEOPLE, it isn’t some facade, it isn’t forced. It’s natural, as it should be.

‘All right,’ she muttered. ‘I can always kill you another time.’

‘It’s only because I’m too tired to bury your corpse,’ she said as she strode up to him.

He took a step back and placed a hand protectively over his groin. ‘Not too close,’ he said. ‘I saw what you did to Helfach’s boy in the hall the other day. Me, I’m very fond of my stones.’

Do I want to spoil this whole book and tell you all of the parts I loved? Yes. Will I do that? I GUESS not. I will tell you that there’s loss. There’s adventure. There’s battles. There’s scheming. And most importantly, there’s HEART. This story has a lot of it. I love these characters more than ever. I love the respect for animals in this story. I love that through the tragedy, there are moments of beauty. The good fight and sometimes the bad win, but the good never give up. They don’t take the easy path. It imitates what I most admire about people in modern times. A lot of us feel like the world has gone to SHIT, but it gives us more motivation to fight for what we believe is right. It’s perfect.

Such friends. Following me through the mountains… Just looking at this, he felt pressure building in his chest. This world may be full of greed and tragedy and darkness, but I am fortunate beyond measure to have such people about me.

“I’m so sick of this. Sick of scavenging and proves and scouting and caution and harvesting. I don’t care that we’re amazing at it. I don’t care that we can just dampen down every part of our curiousity which make us human. I’m sick of just wandering around and taking what we can find. I’m sick of being parasites.”

I started this book this morning and I easily finished in a couple of hours. Parasites by Matthew Samuels is an easily devourable YA science fiction and space odyssey novel. Our home-world is Lyra, which is rapidly declining. Our main characters, Alessia and Kael are best friends that explore other worlds to scavenge objects, food, and other means to keep their home and people from crumbling at an even faster rate. Alessia sets out on a mission with Kael and their friend/bodyguard/father figure, Basteel, to find a solution to the imminent danger to their planet. It happens to be that this is the same mission her father was on when he disappeared.

What I loved most about this book was the friendship between Lessie and Kael. I think it makes it easier to face dangers over and over when you have someone to trust. Eventually, they acquire a good little group of trusted individuals that make their mission easier. Also, Alessia was conflicted about her feelings towards her father when he disappeared and I think Samuels was very wise in doing that. I think it made her more human and relatable. Sometimes people die and you have unresolved feelings or you feel bad about the conflicted feelings you had. Part of this story was about finding peace within herself after her father disappeared.

I think that this is an especially fabulous introduction to the majesty that is science fiction and solar punk for YA. I felt like I was learning new things while reading an entertaining story and this is the type of story that you feel smarter after reading. At the same time, it’s completely marketable to readers of all ages. If you’re looking for an indie author to support, give Samuels a try. You’ll hardly believe this is an independent publication. Thank you, Matthew for sending me this delightful story.

“Two born of blood, dust and ashes shall champion the Choices, the Darkness and Light.”

Wow. First, I wanna thank Petrik for recommending this book to me. Malice by John Gwynne lives up to the recommendation. On goodreads, I rated it a 5/5 stars without a second thought. This first book revolves around a prophecy that the world will be divide into two sides, basically your classic fight between good and evil.

“Black Sun will drown the earth in bloodshed, Bright Star with the Treasures must unite.’ Again he stopped, carefully turned more pages, eventually continued his halting reading: ‘By their names you shall know them – Kin-Slayer, Kin-Avenger, Giant-Friend, Draig-Rider, Dark Power ’gainst Lightbringer.’ And so he went on: read, pause, search. Read again. ‘One shall be the Tide, one the Rock in the swirling sea. Before one, storm and shield shall stand; before the other, True-Heart and Black-Heart. Beside one rides the Beloved, beside the other, the Avenging Hand. Behind one, the Sons of the Mighty, the fair Ben-Elim, gathered ’neath the Great Tree. Behind the other, the Unholy, dread Kadoshim, who seek to cross the bridge, force the world to bended knee.”

What I found interesting about this book, is that while the characters are pretty easily distinguishable between good and bad, the concept of good and evil itself rides the grey line. I can only assume that this line will keep getting thinner. We have characters that we see committing heinous acts while truly believing they are doing things for the greater good. There’s supposed to be certain races of people/creatures that are servants of the sides of good and evil, but these aren’t always as they seem. There’s a lot of politicking going on in Malice and truly nobody is safe. I love that we get multiple POVs and most of the chapters are short because it keeps the story really fresh and fast moving. The way this book is written, it TRULY reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire. What sets it apart is that John Gwynne is MUCH more straightforward in his writing. We don’t see long-winded passages filled with descriptions that don’t serve to advance the plot. It is much more palatable to the average fantasy reader, and this is coming from someone that loves ASOIAF with a passion. That being said, EVERY moment of this book served the greater objective. I raced through each chapter to get to the next POV because they were all interesting, though I will claim Corban’s as a favorite.

Speaking of, here’s a brief introduction to our POV characters:

•Corban: a wolven-raising, colt-loving boy with immense talent in the training field. He deals with bullying from another boy with kindness and grace. Okay, if you know me, you know I’m a sucker for a wolf-human bond in a story. This satisfies that craving for me. Corban loves animals and they love him.

“Your colt, Ban. He just raced past us, from nowhere, threw himself into the hound. He killed it, Ban, defending you. I’ve never seen the like before.”

•Cywen: a smart and hardworking girl, sister to Corban. She’s often found embarrassing him by protecting him (aka beating up) the bullies. Strong and capable, her mother taught her knife throwing at a young age.

“Cywen remembered her knives suddenly, fumbling one from her belt and hurled it at a face in a red cloak — saw him fall backwards, clutching at his throat.”

•Evnis: I don’t know much about this guy yet. From his first chapter, it makes it clear that he’s a two-faced, self-serving weasel. I’m not sure his motives yet for acting the way he does, but he’s one of the few that are easily put in the EVIL pile. He’s a mentor to King Brenin.

“You hide your greed behind a cloak of revenge, Evnis. Power is what you seek, and will grasp it where you can.”

•Nathair: the son of High King Aquilis. A warrior with a penchant for battle strategy. Fiercely ambitious and capable of charming leagues, he believes he is destined for greatness that even his father can not comprehend.

“I know who you are, what you will become. That is why I serve you.”

•Veradis: eager to prove himself as capable as his older brother, Veradis quickly becomes Nathair’s first-sword and best friend. Veradis believes that Nathair is the key to saving their realm and protects him at all costs.

“Then stand, brother, for that is what you are to me now, and let us seal this oath with our blood.”

•Kastell: orphaned from his immediate family, and caught in feud with his jealous cousin, Kastell is torn between serving his uncle or joining the Gadair, a group of prestigious sword-brothers. He is mentored and protected by his family friend, Maquin. Kastell is pure of heart and motive.

“You are like a son to me and I fear for you. Let me make one thing clear. The only thing that will part me from you is death.”

•Camlin: a brigand with morals, he refuses to harm women or children. He will play a major part on both sides of the war at certain points.

“No more innocent blood…

I am thankful for your coming, more than I can ever show, but I’d rather walk right back into my cell and face the headsman on the morrow than see their blood spilt.”

And that’s it for POVs. We truly have a wonderful cast of characters, good and bad. no one character‘s chapters are so lingering that you get bored of them. Before you know it, you’re reading the next character’s chapter and wanting to get back to the previous… IN A NEVER-ENDING, GLORIOUS CYCLE. I can say that the last 25 percent of the book gave me heart palpitations and probably more than a few gray hairs. Nobody is safe here. John Gwynne is good at making your heart tender towards his characters and then stabbing you in your perfectly primed, tender heart. If you like getting stabbed in the heart repeatedly because you’re a book masochist, like me, this is for you. I can only see the series getting better –and more heartbreaking– from here. Dare I say, this book/series is already primed to be in my top ten favorite fantasy books ever. By the end of this series, I won’t be surprised if John Gwynne joins the ranks of Rothfuss, Hobb, Martin, Sanderson, Abercrombie, and Lawrence in my favorite authors.

“Both the brave man and the coward feel the same. The only difference between them is the brave man faces his fear, does not run.”

“Look at your mistakes long enough to learn from them, then put them behind you.”

I finished listening to The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks last week but just now got around to reviewing it. It was a 3.75 stars for me, which I rounded up to a 4 on goodreads.

Honestly, there’s not much to say about this one. Altogether pleasant storytelling and while we learned quite a few new things, I feel like the plot was a bit stagnant. Don’t get me wrong, I fully enjoy being immersed in this world. I just don’t feel like much was accomplished in this installment.

That being said, I don’t have much BAD to say about it. Kip is fully coming into his own and though he’s always going to have that shred of modesty and self-deprecation, he’s harnessing his power and fully taking on his leadership role. His marriage might not have been his initial choice, but in true Kip fashion, he’s making the best of it. Heck, by the end, he’s starting to thrive in it. No lingering in a wallowing state for him. I think it’s good that Kip has realized that he has an incredible woman in front of him and that his bond with Teia was something that would probably never have came fully to fruition.

“To realize in an instant that you aren’t going to have the life you’d hoped for, but not waste a moment complaining, instead acting instantly to save what good you can? That’s more guts than I’d have had.“

Gavin Guile is still as low as we have ever seen him and we start to learn some important and revealing things about him. He is looking at himself in the mirror and for the first time, really disliking what he sees. He’s always had an undercurrent of distaste for himself but with these revelations, he’s disgusted with himself. Yet, to the rest of the world, he’s still a god. He is the reason so many people keep fighting.

“With no small amount of swagger, Gavin Greyling said, “I remember Gavin fucking Guile, who won the False Prism’s War, who outwitted the Thorn Conspirators and ended the Red Cliff Uprising. Gavin Guile, who brought low pirate kings and bandit lords, who ended the Blood Wars with wits and one deadly wave of his hand, who brought justice to the Seven Satrapies. Gavin Guile, who hunted wights and criminals, who built Brightwater Wall in less than a week, who aborted the birth of gods, destroyed at least two bane, and killed a god full fledged at Ruic Head. Gavin Guile, who faced a sea demon and lived, saving all the people of Garriston and the Blackguard, too. Gavin Guile, who sank Pash vecchio’s great ship Gargantua with a rat. Gavin Guile, who armed us for war and gave the Blackguard the seas entire with our sea chariots and hull wreckers. Gavin Guile, heart of our heart, our Promachos, the one who goes before us in war, who came and conquered and will come again.”

That moment gave me chills and brought a tear to my eye. I love the goodness in Gavin Greyling and I don’t think Gavin Guile even realizes the positive effect he’s had on people. I think he knows people idolize him but he doesn’t know that he makes people want to be GOOD and strive for better. Brent Weeks definitely knows how to pull a heartstring here and there.

I don’t have much more to say about this story, but I can say that I hope it sets us up for a great finale. I’m ready to see the conclusion of this all!

Simon and Schuster sent me this uncorrected galley of The Roxy Letters by Mary Pauline Lowry in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, it was a 5 out of 5 stars for me. I loved the style of the book. Roxy is a flawed, love-able, passionate over-sharer. She has let her ex-boyfriend-turned-close-friend, Everett, move into her house to help pay the mortgage. Everett is a bit of a slacker, a hippy, and doesn’t use a cell phone so Roxy leaves him letters, partly to keep him informed on her daily life (and grievances towards living with him) and partly as a therapeutic release for herself. Through her letters, we learn about her sex life and relationships, her desires and plans to topple the corporations taking over her beloved neighborhood in Texas, her (sometimes failed) veganism, and money issues stemming from being underemployed and overqualified as a Whole Foods employee.

Something about this book and Roxy reminded me of an adult version of Georgia from Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging. I mean that in the best way, it was one of my favorite series when I was younger. Roxy is earnest, charming, smart, talented… and an absolute chaotic mess at times. She has hilarious encounters with men that will leave you laughing and cringing. In her letters, she’s constantly detailing her crazy antics. A feud with her boss, Dirty Steve, featuring laxative brownies. An ongoing battle between herself and her neighbor, Captain Tweaker, involving a meth van in front of his house. Taking on Lululemon using her artistic abilities to create protest signs. An immediate regret after venturing into OMing (meditation featuring clitoral stimulation). Lots of laughs and fun in this book.

Roxy’s voice really makes this book, she’s full of passion in every regard of her life. Her messiness makes her more of a realistic character. She’s also a woman’s woman, a tarot card lover, lover of the goddess Venus. She has two female friends, Annie and Artemis, that are complete contrast to one another while still encouraging her to make the most of her life. Together, they face Roxy’s problems and get into a bit of trouble while doing it. There’s a few men that come in and out of Roxy’s life that are wholly entertaining, as well. I loved that all of these characters have their flaws: alcoholism, addiction, mental illness, chronic unemployment, simple irresponsibility.

This was a completely delightful read. If you’re looking for a lighthearted book filled with laughs, this is your book! The Roxy Letters will be released on April 7th, 2020. Thanks Simon and Schuster and Mary Pauline Lowry for the opportunity to read and review this!

I didn’t realize until the end of the month that this month seemed so long! Maybe a time lord is out there jumping through the passages of time and extending our days longer, or maybe it was the sheer amount of events that happened this month (impeachment trials, earthquakes, viruses, Kobe, the ever lingering doom of war)… but damn, January has seen a lot.

On the upside, I had a pretty good reading month ending at 13 books finished. Here’s what I read and how they rated out of 5 stars

1. Room to Breathe, Liz Talley⭐️ (it’s just fluff… and not even of the entertaining, beach read fluff variety)

2. Red, White, and Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (enthralling, sweet, with a diverse cast of characters)

3. 4. & 5. The Folk of the Air Trilogy, Holly Black, overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (if you’re open to YA fantasy romance, you’ll probably like it. Otherwise you’ll hate it)

6. We Met in December, Rose Curtis ⭐️⭐️ (not awful but nothing special or original)

7. Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (probably the best book I’ve read this month and the most stimulating, only knocked off a star because it can be a bit hard to read)

8. My Sister, The Serial Killer, Oyinkan Braithwaithe ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (easy to read, unlikable characters)

9. 10. & 11. A Court of Thorns and Roses Trilogy, Sarah J Maas ⭐️⭐️⭐️. 75 overall (some were phenomenal, but a lot of cheesiness. Another YA fantasy romance, so I think that comes with the territory)

12. Esemtu Vol 1: A Graphic Novel, Karin Springer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Unique subject for a graphic novel, mythology, and a quick read)

13. The Broken Eye, Brent Weeks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (the most ME book out of the lot. Adult fantasy: ahhhh, that’s the good stuff)

I’m excited to get into more adult fantasy in February. I think I’ve had my fill of branching out for the next few months, unless some library holds come through. I would also like to read more memoirs this month!

Currently reading/listening to:

The Unspoken Name, A.K. Larkwood

Malice, John Gwynne

The Blood Mirror, Brent Weeks

The only other book I know for sure that I’ll be getting to is Parasites by Matthew Samuels.

Happy reading, everyone! Is everyone else happy with their reading this month?

“This world has only two kinds of people: villains and smiling villains.”

Phew! Okay, admittedly, The Broken Eye took me a while to finish. Got distracted by tv binges and then had to reacquaint myself with what I had already listened to. About a halfway through, it started zooming for me and I turned that narration speed up because I was eager to finish it.

First off, if you’ve read my reviews for the previous installments, you’ll know that I love the world-building and the plot. You’ll also know that I started to get irked by the focus on female bodies. It was distracting me from how good the story was. Well, maybe Brent Weeks grew up or his wife or publisher put a leash on him, but that’s almost completely erased from this book. I can handle a bit of focus on the human form, it’s natural, and PORTRAYED a lot more naturally in this one. I’m open to people learning from their mistakes and refocusing their internal narrative away from the way we’ve been conditioned to think/act.

One of my favorite things in The Broken Eye is actually the domination of powerful women. Karris Whiteoak isn’t the maiden in distress, she’s actually on a mission to save dGavin from HIS doom. She’s handling restraining from drafting remarkably well. She’s guiding multiple teens into their power. I was cheering for her by the end of the story. She’s always been a woman to be reckoned with, being in the Black Guard, but she’s a whole new level of power now. The *twist* at the end, wasn’t so surprising, though. I was like DUH, Karris.

Tisis even becomes a player in the game beyond

just being a pretty face. She has motives and she’s actually surprisingly sweet underneath the coy facade she’s put up. I’m excited to see where she goes in this story, good or bad.

Teia starts really coming into her power, too. She’s being tested from all angles and she still manages loyalty to Kip. Their friendship and feelings for each other is such a heartwarming plot line. She is so young and so uniquely powerful, and she takes all the wacky —and at times, heartbreaking— plans that Kip brings forth with such grace.

“Don’t judge a man by what he says his ideals are, judge him by what he does. Look at what the Color Prince has done. They’re wrong, Teia. They’re liars and murderers. It doesn’t mean everything we do is right. It doesn’t mean our house doesn’t need a thorough cleaning. I just don’t think we need to burn it to the ground to do it.”

Honestly, the only woman in this that makes me cringe is Liv. I know it’s partly because she is on the opposing team but I just don’t understand how she can actively fight against her father and is just like… dumbfounded when her father expresses disappointment or counsel against the way of thinking that she’s adopted. But she’s powerful and can be a gamechanger in this series, I’ve just kinda stopped caring about her storyline at this point.

Minor spoiler coming up (don’t read the next paragraph if you’re worried). One thing that threw me off in the beginning was dGavin’s capture. I wanted him to come back avenging halfway throughout the book. The more I reflected, the more I was okay with where he ended up. Do I still want him to come back and avenge the heck outta himself? Yes!!! I’m okay with it being played out though. This book was about humanizing dGavin, humility, and really showing that he IS a good person. I think that we are supposed to have our doubts because of all that he has done in the past but… I’m not convinced. dGavin is a beloved prism for a reason. He has a lot of good in him. And I’m just saying, I woulda been totally okay with him drafting black luxin and obliterating the HECK outta people when they were in the midst of torturing him. He didn’t though. He chose not to. That’s pretty freaking stand up. I can’t say I’d have the same grace in that situation.

KIP. He’s really making progress and I’m so proud. Instead of Kip the Lip, he’s really thinking. He’s working hard even though his original intentions are going awry. He is EMBRACING being a Guile. He’s done apologizing for it or feeling meek or resenting the privilege he is getting from it. Own it. He’s powerful. He’s kind. He grew up in a crappy environment and is now meant to change the world in some shape or form. He is such an earnest character that the deceit really affects him but he pushes through for the true greater good.

“I am of you,” said Kip.”I am Guile as much as you are. True, I have a scrap of decency, but only a scrap. How do you think you can treat a Guile with such disregard and get away with it? Because I am you. I’m as cold as you, I’m as smart as you, and when you push me, I’m as evil and cruel as you. I have a thin film of goodness floating on the top of my Guile, grandfather, but I don’t know how senile you must be to miss just how thin it is.”

Andross… still a brilliant bastard. These webs are getting so delightfully tangled and it’s making my anxiety skyrocket. He’s playing all the right keys and getting away with it all.

Except…………….. that ending. That gosh darn glorious ending. That’s all I’m gonna say. Excuse me, I need to start the next one.

”This is what it is to grow up. It is to live beyond the blind rush of passion, or hate, or green luxin, or battle juice. It is to see what must be done, and to do it, without feeling a great desire or a great hatred or a great love. It is to confront fear, naked. No armor of bombast or machismo. Just duty, and love for one’s fellows. Not love felt, not the love that compelled action without thought, but love chosen deliberately. I am the best person to do this thing, it said, though I may die doing it.“