House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

 BOOK ONE

Finally book two; House of Sky and Breath, is finally out. And of course, I need to do a re-read of book one to refresh my memory. And let me tell you, I'm so happy I did.

I didn't think I forgot as much as I did until I started reading.

Unfortunately, lately when I re-read Sarah J. Maas' books, I don't like them as much as the first time. And House of Earth and Blood was no exception.

The first time reading Sarah J Maas' books I fall instantly in love with the main characters, which is always the main two love interests. Then when I re-read them, I end up hating the main two characters and really enjoy the side characters.

They are just more intriguing and much better character development. They have "issues" like the main two characters, but they also don't act like they have a carrot up their arse and think they are better than everyone.

She always writes her two main characters as these emotionally challenged, no one understands them but better than everyone, people. You never see this the first time around, but you definitely pick it up re-reading it once or even twice after.

They don't really have "character development" as such, because they don't learn, the author just makes them great and perfect.

Does any of that make sense? I hope so, cause I don't know how to word it differently :)

Just because I didn't love it as much as the first time, doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it.

Even though I'm not the biggest fan of her characters, I do find her story telling captivating. She knows how to get you into this fantasy world and you want to know more about it.

And the story, even though at times it can make no sense, I still enjoy it.

I will be picking the next book up because I want to know what will happen next and I know I'll love it first time reading it.

I just really enjoy her fae world and creatures.

Until next time, happy reading

Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier

BOOK ONE

If you have read my other reviews so far, then you know that I have been mainly re-reading books so far this year. Well, Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier is no exception.

Actually, I've read this trilogy already, but I do have a good explanation on why I want to re-read them.

There is a follow on series called A Warrior Bard. I've only read book one, haven't read book two and I finally bought book three.

Does anyone else once they get a new book in a series they like to start from the beginning again?

For me it helps refresh the memory on what is going on. And, really, just to get back into this world again from the start.

If you haven't guessed, I love this book, series and author.
Juliet Marillier is an amazing story teller, that from the first page to the end, you are on the edge of your seat and definitely wanting more.

Her characters are so good as well. They all have great character development, especially our main duo; Blackthorn and Grim.

My heart breaks for each of them. They went through so much, and they have so much more they need to get through. I just have such a strong connection with them and just want the best.

If you are interested in fae, magic and mystery, this book and series is for you.
Even if you aren't, Dreamer's Pool will change your mind.
I'll push Juliet Marillier books to anyone I come across. She is just an amazing author no matter what book she writes.

Until next time, happy reading

January 2022 Wrap-Up

 

January was a pretty good month for me and I'm proud of myself for reading three books
I've been in a bit of book rut lately, so it's great to get back into it with books that I know I love.

So what books did I read...

You can see my reviews for each one in the links below.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

Juliet by Anne Fortier

I've also completed three challenges for the Dymocks Reading Challenge. If you want to know more about that, you can click the link here.

Fingers crossed February would also be a good month.

Until next time, happy reading

Juliet by Anne Fortier

 

Reading Juliet by Anne Fortier at least twice a year has become a tradition for me since I bought this book over ten years ago just because I loved the book cover.

That's right, I bought this book just because I loved the cover, and I'm so happy I did.

I am thinking about getting another copy because I'm worried this book will start to deteriorate.
Please tell me I'm not the only one that does this...

Another review where I'll be gushing non stop about it.

I love the story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. Yes, I wish it had a happier ending, but haven't you always wondered what if it did have one?
Now, Juliet by Anne Fortier isn't technically a re-telling, it's more of telling the real-life story from the past and their ancestors in the present.

I'm hoping that all makes sense, I always find it hard to explain about a book without giving too much away.

I just love these characters, the setting in Sienna, Italy.
This is a comfort read for me. I just know that every time I pick this book up, I'll just sink right into the story and fall in love with it over and over again.

I definitely will be re-reading this book again this year and the following years to come, but don't worry, I won't be posting a review every time I do read it.

Until next time, happy reading

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

 

This is my second time I'm reading The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I know, another one this year that I'm re-reading.. I just love reading books that I know I love. Also, I've read all of Kate Morton's books and I love every single one of them. She just knows how to tell a great story and keep you hooked from start to finish.

Even though I want to gush about this book, I really think you should go into her books "blind". Just know bare minimal about them. They do have time jumps between past and present and it's written so well that it doesn't get confusing.

The Forgotten Garden is a sad and beautiful story about Nell O'Connor and her grand-daughter, Cassandra, trying to solve a mystery from the past.

It's such a captivating story that once I finished reading it, I could see myself picking this book up again.
Like I said, I could read Kate Morton over and over again. She is just that good.

I don't want to say anything else, I highly recommend you pick this book up. Actually, I highly recommend you read all of Kate Morton's books. One of my top favourite authors.

I'm sorry this review is short and very vague. Just know that I love the book, and if you love mystery and time jumping done well, then you would love it too.

Until next time, happy reading

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

 BOOK ONE

This is my second time reading The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, and again I ask myself, why haven't I continued with his series.
More than likely with every series I start and never finish, I'm just worried that the following books won't be as great as the one before, and I also don't want it to end. Book hangovers aren't great.

Whatever my excuses are, I should just finish this series and also get into this review.

As you might have gathered, I really enjoyed The Cruel Prince. I knew what was going to happen, but I was still on the edge of my seat. I was so engrossed in the book that I read it in one day, which hasn't happened is such a long time.

Jude is an amazing and interesting character. It's great to see character development done right throughout the book. I haven't read a Young Adult book in a while that had this. 

However, I did find the very start of the book odd. Now, this is right at the beginning so I don't think it's a spoiler as such, but you are warned.
In my opinion, I felt that the murder of Jude and her twin sisters parents right in front of them, it just didn't seem like a big deal to them. Yeah, they said they were sad, but it's like they got over it so quickly and accepted basically the "murderer" as their father? Their half-sister was the only one that actually felt like she cared.
Now, maybe in the following books more is done and felt with this plot, but at the moment it was just odd.

Like a majority of Young Adult books there is always romance. Now, there is romance in this as expected, but it didn't feel like it took away from what I really enjoyed about The Cruel Prince; and that was the politics of the Fae. There is just something about political intrigue that I love to read, especially (mainly) in the fantasy genre.

Unlike last time, hopefully I will continue with this series.
I'm not holding my breath, it's such a bad habit of mine that I don't finish series.

Until next time, happy reading

Dymocks Reading Challenge 2022

 

Last year I participated in Dymocks Reading Challenge, and you can probably guess due to my lack of posts on here, I failed. For some reason, I wasn't in the mood to read. Actually, there are reasons, but I'm not going to get into them. 

In honesty, I missed it. I missed getting sucked into a world and losing yourself to the imagination of amazing authors. 
So, to get me back into the swing of things, I've decided to give the Dymocks Reading Challenge a go again for 2022.

Here is the reading challenges I hope to complete:

If you are interested in joining you can also print this out from their website I'll link here.
I've printed it out and plan to decide what I'm going to read for each challenge, then also place those titles in a jar and start choosing them that way.

That's one problem I had was on deciding on what to read next, then end up choosing nothing at all. Hopefully this way I'll complete the challenges as well as reading as many books as I can.

Besides reading more this year, I also plan to start blogging again. Not just on books, but also history and gaming as well. Maybe even throw in a few random blogs as well, see how we go.
We all say it every year, but I hope this is the year I get my life sorted.

So until next time, happy reading