Category: Book review

“Star Wars: Death Troopers” By Joe Schreiber Review

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When the Imperial prison barge Purge–temporary home to five hundred of the galaxy’s most ruthless killers, rebels, scoundrels, and thieves–breaks down in a distant, uninhabited part of space, its only hope appears to lie with a Star Destroyer found drifting, derelict, and seemingly abandoned. But when a boarding party from the Purge is sent to scavenge for parts, only half of them come back–bringing with them a horrific disease so lethal that within hours nearly all aboard the Purge die in ways too hideous to imagine.

I gotta admit here, that I wanted to read this book for a while now because this book is very unique even for the Star Wars universe, because this book talks about stormtroopers turning into zombies due to some virus thing. But as always I will explain everything in this review.

The plot in this book is pretty interesting, but there were times when I was getting pretty bored while reading this book. Thats because in my opinion the plot in this book wasn’t developed enough, in my opinion the plot of this book had a huge potential to be good and even be a series if it was developed enough and made more interesting than what we get in this book.

However, the plot we get in this book is a pretty good creepy tale from the star wars universe which hardcore star wars fans like myself can look back on as a creepy old story from the star wars universe. 

However I did like a lot the virus aspect of the plot, because we get to see that the virus reacts differently to different species in the star wars universe and we get to see how it affects the different species to make them into zombies. The virus aspect of this book was at least very well developed even thou the plot wasn’t as developed in this book.

The characters here are pretty decent, most of them were pretty unknown to me since I couldn’t remember if I had seen them in pervious star wars books or not. But we also get Chewbacca and Han Solo in this book, which in a way made me like this book better. Because I love Chewbacca and Han so this book gave me characters I already loved and which I could root for in this book. 

When it comes to the other characters in this book, they were pretty minor because most of them die in this book, but I really liked Kale Longo, Trig Longo and Zahara Cody. I really hope that I can see more of them in other star wars books I plan to read at some point in my life.

The writing style in this book is pretty different from the star wars books. Since it doesn’t have the star wars vibe to it and it feels more like something which would have worked more for a horror book rather than star wars. But at the same time I cant say much here because this book is the first Star Wars / Horror book I have read so far in my life.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“A Touch of Ruin” By Scarlett St. Clair Review

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Persephone’s relationship with Hades has gone public and the resulting media storm disrupts her normal life and threatens to expose her as the Goddess of Spring. Hades, God of the Dead, is burdened by a hellish past that everyone’s eager to expose in an effort to warn Persephone away. Things only get worse when a horrible tragedy leaves Persephone’s heart in ruin and Hades refusing to help. Desperate, she takes matters into her own hands, striking bargains with severe consequences.

This book is the second book in the “Hades x Persephone” series. And I need to admit the further I get in this series the more I love it and the more I want to keep going in this series.

I gotta admit that this second book wasn’t as good as the first one in this series, but it was still very interesting and enjoyable to read. But at the same time the further I get in this series the more interested I get in the greek mythology which is very surprising to me personally because before reading this book I tried getting into the greek mythology and I just couldn’t but this book is awakening my interested in the green mythology in a way.

The main thing which has stopped me from giving this book a 5 star rating was Persephone herself at times (which was also relevant in book 1) which is that at times she does very stupid stuff which made me question how many brain cells she had left. There are also times when Persephone jumps into very heavy conclusions without knowing the whole context which is the cause of why she does some of those very stupid stuff in this book and in the first book in this series. While other times she makes those very stupid decisions solely based on making herself feel good and just doesn’t care about the consequences her stylus decisions will have on others. 

But don’t take it as me hating on Persephone. I personally think that 90% of the time she is a very good character. But there is still the 10% of time where she acts like a impulsive child throwing a tantrum because she couldn’t have the cake and eat it at the same time. Which made me have some very mixed feelings and thoughts about her.

When it comes to Hades, where should I start with him ? With each book in this series I fall more and more in love with him, because he is an incredible character. The relationship between him and Persephone gives him huge personality which makes him more than the “god of death”. 

This book and the first book in this series, also gives us knowledge on the greek mythology without overwhelming us. Which makes this book so much better because it gives this book (and the whole series) a rich backstory and history of the universe which this series takes place in. 

The writing style in this book, plays very well with the plot of this book because both the writing style and the plot in this book has the cozy and fantasy-ish vibe to them. The writing style in this book is very simple and easy going which makes it very easy for me personally to get sucked into the plot of this book and makes me want to continue reading this series. 

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“Stay in the Light” By A.M. Shine Review

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After her terrifying experience at the hands of the Watchers, Mina has escaped to a cottage on the west coast of Ireland. She obsessively researches her former captors, desperate to find any way to prolong the safety of humankind. When Mina encounters a stranger near her home, she fears the worst – for she knows the figure is not what it seems. Soon, people she has encountered start to disappear. Mina knows the Watchers’ power is growing. She flees for her life, but when she reports her fears she finds her sanity questioned. Can she convince people that the Watchers are real, and ready to strike – or will she suffer the fate she has dreaded since she first encountered those malevolent beings?

This book is the second in “The Watchers” series. The first book in this series was actually pretty decent, but this book is a complete dumpster fire but as always I will explain everything in this review. So if you are interested in hearing my thoughts about this book, then by all means keep reading this review my dear reader.

The plot in this book was way too overcomplicated than it needed to be. It was like the author of this book took the good plot from the first book and just went to town with it, and just made everything way too complicated and confusing for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

I personally couldn’t keep up with what was happening in this book, because the author kept jumping from one event to another without any warnings and all of the events taking place in this book seemed like the same thing for me because of how similar all of the events in this book were to each other.

The characters in this book are the same once we got in the first book in this series, but at the same time the author have taken the good qualities they had which I liked about them in the first book and set them on fire to exchange them with something which made me want to strangle the characters. Because they reminded me of the regular high school bully who thinks he knows the best at everything he does. The characters were also way too pleased with themselves constantly in this book which didn’t help me like them at all. 

I had also a very hard time telling who is who in this book. Because all of the characters we get in this book seem like the same annoying and frustrating person. Which made me dislike this book even more than I already did simply from the overcomplicated plot.

The writing style in this book felt like the author didn’t care to give us a well written book as much as the author cared about getting the paycheck from publishing this book. Which is never a good thing to say about the writing style in a book.

I Give This Book 1 / 5

“Deep End” By Ali Hazelwood Review

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Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself. Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

This book is my 3rd book written by Ali Hazelwood and I have realized that I have a love-hate relationship with her. Because I either hate or love her books, and no in between. And this book is one of those books I hated, but as always I will explain everything in this review.

The plot in this book is pretty decent, but at times it feels very unexplored. The plot had a lot of potential in this book, but the way the author presents the plot in this book makes it very boring. 

The majority of the plot in this book is the main character which is Scarlett, feeling self-pity on herself because she used to be the top student in High school and now that she is in university she struggles with subjects she doesn’t even need to take in the first place to complete her degree. Which is the main reason why I hate this book as much as I do after trying to read it. Because Scarlett makes this book so annoying and boring for me personally because I just couldn’t stand her as a character.

The characters in this book are all over the place. Because the majority of the characters are very good and likable but the main character which is Scarlett is just a grown up toddler. The main problem I had with Scarlett is that she acts like a toddler anytime she doesn’t get the perfect grade or if something does going her way. And she constantly tries to show everyone that she is the best in everything she does, and when things doesn’t go her way she spend chapters in self-pity and telling herself that everyone hates her.

Lukas is a very good character in this book, because he has a lot of personality to him and he is very likable and relatable. And I have absolutely no idea what he has seen in Scarlett throughout this book because as ive said above I hate her a lot. She is easily the one character from book I hated the most from all the books I have read so far this year.

When it comes to the romance between Scarlett and Lukas, it was none existent. They didn’t have any chemistry or anything which would indicate that they would end up engaged at the end of this book which had really blowed my mind when I came that far in this book.

The writing in this book is easily the best part of this book. Because the writing style in this book is very easygoing and simple which in a way had immersed me in the plot of this book even though I hated the plot of this book. It was like the author knew exactly what words to use to completely grab my attention and not let it go until the veery end of this book even tough all I waned was to DNF this book and throw it into an active bonfire.

I Give This Book 1 / 5

“A Touch of Darkness” By Scarlett St. Clair Review

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Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist. Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible. After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever.

I need to start this review by saying that I was never into greek mythology, so looking at this book (and this series) which is about greek mythology I had very little hope for it before actually getting into it. But now that I have read this book I gotta admit that this book has easily been one of the better books I have read so far this year. But as always I will explain everything in this review, so if you are interested in hearing my thoughts about this book then by all means keep reading this review my dear reader.

The plot in this book is amazing, because it got everything I love in a book which of course is magic, romance, rich mythology and we get to see the world in this book through the eyes of the main character who is also a newcomer to the world of this book. 

The beginning of this book is more on the slower side, which at the beginning gave me mixed feelings about this book because I wasn’t that into this book at the beginning. But the deeper I got this book the more I started liking this book. And I’m very glad that I decided to keep reading this book even though I had a few thoughts of DNF-ing this book early on because of how slow it was at the beginning.

However the plot of this book is very addictive, by chapter 5 I was fully addicted to this book and the characters we get in this book. Which made me want to grab the second book in this series immediately after I have finished this book. But this book is so addictive that I have read it in one day and I was beating myself over the fact that I only bought this first book and not the whole series straight away, because now I have to wait for the rest of the books in this series which I have ordered from amazon. So it will be some very long few days as I wait for the books I have ordered.

The characters we get in this book are amazing. I completely fall in love with Persephone who is an amazing character because of how relatable and likable she is. She got a lot of personality to her, and she has her unique quirks which makes her stand out from the rest of the characters in this book. In a way she feels like a real life person which I would have no problems being best friends with. 

When it comes to Hades, I need to admit that I had fallen in love with him from the moment he entered the plot in this book. Because he has a lot of personality to him but also he is mysterious, dark and broody. And even thou he is the god of the underworld he has a lot of relatable aspects to him and he paints a very good picture that characters and people aren’t solely just bad or just good. 

However the character development in this book leans very heavily on the generic romance fantasy book tropes. But at the same time the author of this book is able to put a unique twist to those generic troops which I have come across a lot since I started this website in 2020.

The writing we get in this book is very good, because it has this easy going vibe to it. But also it is very immersive and cozy, which makes this book a perfect read for when you want to spend the entire day in your bad or couch and just read a very good book which was written very well. At the same time the writing in this book fits with the plot of this book very well, which made me give this book extra points for it.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

“The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness” By Jonathan Haidt Review

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In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

I need to admit here that I had some high expectations for this book, which it didn’t quiet live up to. But of course I will explain everything in this review. So if you are interested in hearing my thoughts about this book then by all means, keep reading this review my dear reader.

This book gives us a lot of good points about how and why the Gen Z (my generation since am a 2002 baby) and later generations are (or seem at least) to be more anxious or depressed than other previous generations.

I personally didn’t agree with some of the points which the author of this book makes in this book. Some of the points I didn’t agree with which are made in this book are that Social Media and Video Games are the only cause behind anxiety, panic attacks and depression. It all depends on the person and what they actually interact with when it comes to social media. But I might not be the best person to comment on that aspect because I almost never use social media. My social media usage is probably like 2 or 3 hours a week solely because I have no interested in watching Tik Toks and selfies people post on instagram. But again blaming everything (anxiety, panic attacks, depression and other metal health issues) only on social media and video games felt to me like saying “the cause of getting cancer is bad genetics from your parents”.

But this book does make some very good points about the current education system in USA, Canada and the majority of Europe. I personally finished high school in 2021 and I personally were very bad in school because I had hard time concentrating on the classes. And out PE classes where the last class we would have on Friday each week so its safe to say that the PE didn’t help me there during high school. 

At the same time this book is aimed more towards parents, because this book provides a fair share of advice and recommendations aimed towards parents with teenagers and younger children. 

This book provides us with some statements from parents who’s kids are having anxiety and metal issues because of video games and social media. Which are a good way to explaining the theory the author has, but at the same time its like the author of this book makes very hard to believe him because in a way he tries to force us to believe that social media and video games are the cause of all evil in the world.

However this book wasn’t all bad, because throughout this book the author makes some good points. But those points are pretty rare in this book. And I need to admit that this book has to be the weakest psychology book I have read so far in my life. And it is for sure not worth the money and time you will spend on it because there are far better psychology books available. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5

“Apprentice to the Villain” By Hannah Nicole Maehrer Review

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Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome, evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat out-of-evil-office. But Rennedawn is in trouble, and all signs—Kingsley’s included—point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies . . . including their nemesis, the king.

Before we start this review I need to say that this book is the second book in the Assistant to the Villain Series. With that being said I need to admit that this book is just as good as the first book in this series is. 

The plot in this book is very good but also a little bit on the slow side of things. But I still loved the plot a lot in this book. Because even during the slow moments in this book we get to see the very slow burn romance between Evie and Trystan which I have turned a sucker for. The best part of the plot in this book (and the whole series so far) is the slow burning romance between Evie and Trystan for me personally. 

The plot in this book is also very sweet, funny and cute. Which makes this book to a overall cozy read which is the main reason why I love this book (and the first one in this series) so much as I do.

In a way this book takes every troop the first book had and improves them. Which made me like this book so much more, because this book takes the things I loved in the first book and it just improves them to be better.  

The characters in this book are the same as in the first book, but they are so much better than they were in the first book. The reason behind this could be that I have spend 2 whole books with the same characters I already loved from the first book which made me fall in love with them even more in this book.

There have been so many times during reading this book when I wanted to smack Trystan solely because of how stubborn he is. I personally am very invested in the slow burn romance between Trystan and Evie which made me want to slap both of them in this book so many times that I have lost count halfway through this book. 

We also get much more of Kingsley in this book, which made this book so much better in my opinion. Because he adds flare and fun to the plot of this book, which makes it very funny and good read.

The writing in this book, is very good. Its simple and easy going which goes very well with the cozy and easy going plot in this book. Which made me give this book some extra points for doing.

This book also ends on a cliffhanger just as the first book in this series did. Which annoyed me a lot because I want to take a break from this series for a little while just because I read this book and the first one in a very short time and I don’t want to get tired of this series and be overly harsh towards the third book. But the cliffhanger made it very hard for me to actually take a break from this series because I want to know so badly what will happened next in this series.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Knife” By Jo Nesbø Review

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A man like Harry had better watch his back. Following the dramatic conclusion of number one bestseller THE THIRST, KNIFE sees Harry Hole waking up with a ferocious hangover, his hands and clothes covered in blood. Not only is Harry about to come face to face with an old, deadly foe, but with his darkest personal challenge yet.

This book is the 12th book in the “Harry Hole” series, and I just gotta admit that deeper I get this book the more and more bored and tired I get of this series. But as always I will explain everything in this review so if you are interested to here my thoughts about this book, then keep reading this book.

The plot in this book is decent for the most part. The biggest issue I had with the plot in this book was that there was something about it that didn’t allow me to enjoy it in full extent but also I just couldn’t get engaged enough in this book to actually enjoy it. The plot in this book was very long and drawn out without a reason, I personally think that this book would have been so much better if it was shorten and was straight forward without going back and forward between things which were very major and didn’t lead anywhere. For the most part the plot in this book felt like a very bad attempt at a soap opera in the Harry Hole universe, which I was not a fan of to put it in a pleasant way. 

At the same time the deeper I got in this book, the harder it became for me personally to finish it. Because as I’ve said above this book kept going on and on. And there were multiple times while reading this book I felt like this book would never end and I felt like I was back to high school and reading a textbook about something I just couldn’t bring myself to care about.

The deeper I get in this series the worse the books seem for me at least. I have bought the complete series 2 years ago which includes all the books from the first book in this series to book 13 in this series. So it means that I have one book left in this series which is the 13th book, and as I’m writing this review, I have very strong feelings that I will finish the 13th book in this series soon since I already own it. But I wont continue this series farther than that if the author decides to continue this series behind the book 13.

The characters we get in this book feel very shallow and watered-down after 12 books I spent with the main characters in this book. Harry Hole is barely recognizable in this book, because it is almost like the author of this book tries to rewrite who Harry Hole is as a character to try to make him likable for every possible read. Which felt like a “fuck you” to everyone who spend 12 books reading this series which is about Harry Hole and his problems. Even Harry’s detective skills seemed like they changed into fitting into the soap opera plot the author tries to give us in this book which didn’t sit well with me personally.

At the same time Harry Hole is the only one left alive from all the best and good characters in this book. Which felt like they author trying to make us as readers as pissed off at this series as possible. Because all of the good characters are gone and Harry has turned into a bad parody of himself in this book.

I Give This Book 2 / 5

“Assistant to the Villain” By Hannah Nicole Maehrer Review

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ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits. With ailing family to support, Evie Sage’s employment status isn’t just important, it’s vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer―naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

I had a lot of expectations for this book since I have heard a lot of good about this book. And now that I have finally read this book I gotta admit that this book is way better than I have expected it to be.

The plot in this book is very engaging, interesting and intriguing. In a way the plot in this book is a regular fairy tale retelling but from the “villain’s” perspective and apparently thats how to make me personally love fairy tales just give them to me from the villain’s perceptive.  At the same time the plot in this book is very fun to get into for me personally because it has magic, dragons and other fantasy book animals which I tend to love the most about fantasy books.

The plot in this book is very cozy read, but it also introduces us to a new fantasy series which doesn’t bomb drop a ton of information which I have experienced in other fantasy books I have reviewed on this website throughout the years. This book is more of the light fantasy type which is focuses more on the atmosphere and making the plot pretty cozy type rather than giving us a lot of action and dropping a truck load of information on us.

This book also gives us two perspectives from both Evie and The Villain. Which in my opinion made this book so much better. Because we got to spend a fair share of time with both of them and actually get to know both of them throughout this book. 

The characters in this book are very good characters. Because each of the characters in this book have their distinct personalities and their own quirks which makes to very easy to like every character in this book even thou some characters are more of a asshole than others. 

I personally found Evie as an amazing main character in this book. Because she is very relatable and likable. And I feel in love with her a lot from the very first chapter in this book. As of The Villain in this book, he is such an amazing character, even thou he is supposed to be the bad guy, he is very likable and I personally were rotting for him personally when this book tells us his backstory which was very bad. 

There are 2 huge plot twists at the very end of this book, which I didn’t see coming, so those 2 plot twists shocked me a lot. Not because there were bad, but because they were so good of an ending to this book that made me want to immediately grab the second book in this series which I of course did.

However there are some issues this book has, one of the main issues this book faces is that one of the characters in this book is named “Arthur” but then later on the author refers to the same character as “Albert”. Which made me pretty confused at the time and made me go back a few chapters to see how the character introduces himself to the main character and see that his name was in fact “Arthur” not “Albert.

One other issue this book faces is that this book doesn’t mention a few important things which clearly the characters were planning. So when that something happens and they start talking about how the characters talked about it and planned it made me pretty confused and considering if I had early signs of dementia because I could absolutely not recall the characters talking or planning that event. Which of course we didn’t see the characters talking or planning that event.

But overall, I loved this book a lot and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get into the Fantasy genre because this book is a very good and easy fantasy book which is very likable and fun to read.

I Give This Book 5 / 5

“Exodus” By Peter F. Hamilton Review

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Forty thousand years ago, humanity fled a dying Earth. Traveling in massive arkships, these brave pioneers spread out across the galaxy to find a new home. After traveling thousands of light-years, one fleet of arkships arrived at Centauri, a dense cluster of stars with a vast array of potentially habitable planets. The survivors of Earth signaled to the remaining arkships that humanity had finally found its new home among the stars.

Ive heard a lot of good things about this book on the internet, which was the main reason why I have chosen to buy and reading this book, I gotta admit that this book is one of those way too overhyped books which I regret reading. 

The plot in this book had a lot of potential to actually being good. But in my opinion this book has way too events and characters to keep track of which made it very confusing to me personally. Because the author just bombards us with a truck load of information and characters at once. In my opinion it would have been better if the author tried to ease us as readers to all of the information which is relevant to this book rather than just throw all of those informations at once at us. 

The plot in this book was very predictable and contained a lot of generic SCI-FI jargon which didn’t let the plot anywhere, which really made this book disappointed by this book. Because the plot in this book had a fair share of potential which apparently the author decided to trash instead of use in this book.

The characters in this book are pretty shallow. There are too many characters which we get their point of few from, which means we don’t spend a lot of time with each of the characters in this book. Which means we don’t get a lot of sense of the personalities and quirks each character has, which made them seem very shallow and boring to be very honest here. At the same time the different point of views we get in this book, makes it seem like the author couldn’t decide who was the main character in this book and which character weren’t as relevant to the story as others. 

All of the characters in this book have the same pattern of thinking and doing things on, which made me constantly question which point of view we are currently following in this book. Which also made it very hard for me personally telling the characters apart in this book because they all seemed the same to me personally. Because there was nothing making the characters standout from each other and actually be likable in ay way.

A lot of the chapters in this book start off with describing different environments to just switch it without a warning to a character minding their own business and going to talk to someone else. Which made me question why the lengthy descriptions at the beginning of most chapters were even there if they weren’t that relevant in this book.

The writing style in this book was very generic in this book but also very high school textbook like. Which made me think that the author didn’t care about this book to actually make it fun to read. 

I Give This Book 1 / 5