Tag: Fantasy Book Reviews

Gwen has spent the past several years manning the blacksmith’s in place of her father, an open secret in the village in which she lives. A much more covert secret, however, is that she knows not only how to craft but also how to wield a sword, and an incognito stunt at the local jousting tournament manages to catch the eye of the wily Lady Isobelle. Isobelle has secret dreams too, but she’s been promised in marriage to the winner of the whole stupid tournament, which means an end to any freedom or choices for her. Desperate to avoid this fate, when she connects the newcomer knight to the female smithy she saw earlier that day, she begins to hatch a scheme.

I gotta admit here that I was very skeptical about this book before reading it because I thought it was one of those overhyped books which I personally would hate. But I gotta admit that I really like this book. So if you are interested in hearing my thoughts about this book then keep reading this review.

The characters in this book were amazing. I personally liked a lot both Isobelle and Gwen because they had a lot of personalities to them which makes them stand out from the rest of the characters in this book. 

Both Isobelle and Gwen had something to them that made them feel like real human beings which I wouldn’t have any problems being friends with in real life. Which always makes me give the book extra points for when it happens.

However we don’t learn much about of Isobelle and Gwen’s backstory other than some key aspects which are relevant for the plot of this book. Which in a way didn’t make this book to this very long list of requirements to keep track of who is who in this book.

The romance aspect of this book was very slow but at the same time it was also pretty sweet and cozy which I liked a lot in this book because it really played very well together with the overall plot of this book. 

The plot in this book was very fun, interesting, enjoyable and cozy. This book is overall a typical fantasy book because it was knights, sword fighting and dragons. And the main character in this book is a female character which in a way made this book more relatable for me personally. 

The plot in this book has also some humor in it, which at times makes the anticipation  and tension in this book less tense at times. Which in a way helps this book to make it a relaxing read.

The writing style in this book is very typical to YA books. Which means that the writing style is very easy going and straightforward. The writing style which this book has goes very well with the plot of this book which in my opinion makes this book more enjoyable and easy to have fun with.

I need to admit that this book doesn’t quite feel like fantasy book until the very end of this book. Because this book has the historical fiction ish vibe to it. Which in my opinion is the only bad thing I can say about this book. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction books which means that I didn’t like the historical fiction ish vibe this book had which made me give this book 4 stars instead of 5.

I personally had a lot of fun reading this book because the plot is very cozy in this book and the characters in this book are very well created which makes them feel more likable and more relatable. At the same time the plot in this book doesn’t require a lot of brain power to it which means this is a perfect read when you just want to enjoy yourself without thinking a lot about what is happening.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

Gemma lives with her mother in an isolated antique shop in Michigan, near a small patch of woods that conceals an enchanted gateway to fairyland. She knows she’s not supposed to go into the woods – her mother Virginia has warned her multiple times about the monsters that lurk there – and yet defiantly, curiously, she goes anyway.

I need to admit here that the only reason why I read this book is because I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book on Tik Tok. And after reading this book I gotta admit that this book doesn’t live up to the hype it has on the Tik Tok. 

The storyline in this book is very hard to get into because the storyline is very hard to get into. I personally found it to be very confusing because I didn’t know what was happening in this book as I was reading it because the storyline seemed all over the place in this book.

The pacing in this book was very very slow. The plot would take forever to go anywhere which really annoyed me because of how slow this book is. I don’t even know what the main plot in this book was, because the plot so slow and it kept switching directions very frequently.

In this book we get 2 different POVs which made me even more confused as I was reading this book. Because both of these POVs sounded very similar to me personally and because of it I had a really hard time telling the POVs apart.

The writing style here was very simple here. Almost too simple. As if it was meant for a elementary school student to read it. But it wouldn’t make sense but Goodreads ranks this book as “adult” category book.

The characters in this book seemed to me like the same character but split into multiple characters instead of being one good character.

All the characters in this book seemed very similar, and for the most part had the same thoughts and opinions which made it very hard for me to tell them apart from each other.

To be very honest here, this book didn’t feel like a fantasy book. It felt more like a fiction book because of how little fantasy elements this book had. Actually this book had none fantasy elements to make it a “fantasy” book.

I Give This Book 1 / 5

Mercia, 878. Witch-warrior Niamh discovers a new order called the Hidden Ones is seeking to establish a foothold in Lunden. Her land is already scarred by Viking raiders, bloody wars, and clashing cultures. Determined to protect what remains of her homeland, she infiltrates this new group to discover whether they stand with her… or against her. Yet when Niamh learns the Hidden Ones have stolen an artifact sacred to her people, her own loyalties are challenged. Casting aside newfound alliances and friendships, Niamh soon discovers that betrayal comes with a heavy price and it will take everything in her power – her gods willing – to survive.

I gotta admit that the only reason why I bought and read this book is because I wanted to get back to the Assassin’s creed book series which I started 5 years ago and put it on hold. But lets not make this intro longer than it already is and lets jump into the review.

I need to say that this book isn’t exactly bad, but its still a very long way from being good. 

The plot in this book is pretty fun. Because it is interesting and enjoyable. But I would say that the plot in this book is meant more for young adults and teenagers who are only getting into Assassin’s creed franchised and not for people like me who grow up playing assassin’s creed.

The plot is very simple and easy going in this book. And it doesn’t involve brain power on the reader’s side to actually enjoy this book. 

The action in this book keeps building towards the big ending in this book which doesn’t happen. Which really annoyed me because the author uses 90% of this book to build towards the huge ending which in reality is very lacking and it seems like the author didn’t really think the ending through because of how weak it is.

The characters in this book are pretty okay for the most part. But they lack any distinct form for personalities. The characters in this book have some kind of personalities to them, but those personalities are very weak and shallow.

At the same time there aren’t a lot of characters in this book, which makes it easy to remember the shallow characters we actually do get in this book. 

I personally felt like there was something missing when it comes to the characters in this book. It could be the fact that the characters miss something that would make them unique and standout for themselves which of course didn’t happen in this book.

The writing style in this book felt like its was aiming towards the YA readers and the teenager as I’ve said above. 

The writing style is pretty simple and easygoing just like the plot in this book, which really makes this book lacking of something which would make this book unique and stand out in the Assassin’s creed franchise.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch. When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage.

I gotta admit here that the only reason why I read this book is because I loved the previous book I’ve read from this author so I decided to give her other books a go to see if they are just as good as “Cinderella is dead” which I already talked about on this website a few months back. But without making this intro longer, lets get into this review.

I personally didn’t have a lot of hopes or exceptions for this book or the plot in this book. But I gotta admit that the plot is pretty good and interesting. The plot is actually pretty unique, very enjoyable and very interesting. It had unique premise and I personally had a lot of fun with the plot.

But at the same time the plot has some moments where the plot starts rolling down hill very fast. One of those things is the author trying to squeeze as many black culture things into the book that it became very stereotypical and cringy. A good example of this is where Bri would say the most black phrases you ever heard in conversation where it made no sense at all for Bri to say those phrases. Which made me personally feel like the author was forcing the book to have as much of black culture and black phrases / sayings that it really took the whole book down a lot for me at least. 

The second things which annoyed me a lot of this book is that the book is 350+ pages long and the action is very minimal. Because around 30% of this book is about nothing relating to the main plot, it was the main character exploring the town she moved into, making new friends for it to turn to point where the new friends and the places she been to in the town being forgotten in the next chapter. I personally don’t understand it when authors introduce places or characters in their books to completely forget about those places and characters for the rest of the book.  

When it comes to the characters in this book, they were pretty good. I really liked the main character in this book and I also liked the main character’s parents. Because they have very good relationship with each other and you could very easily see how much the main character’s parents really cared about their daughter. 

When it comes to the rest of the characters, I didn’t like them that much. Because for me they felt very shallow and they had very minimal personalities / character. Which really disappointed me, because a lot of this side characters had the potential to be as amazing as the main character and her parents. But in the end the side characters were very forgettable and the majority of the side characters were introduced to be forgotten later on in this book.

The writing style in this book was very good. Because it was simple and it played very well with the plot in this book. The writting style was just like the author knew exactly what words to use to completely grab my attention and to not let it go until the very end of this book. Which of course made me give this book some extra points for doing.

The ending of this book leaves us as a big cliffhanger, which really made me want to read the second book in this series. Which of course I’m gonna read at some point in the near future.  

I Give This Book 3 / 5

Feyre, Rhysand, and their friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly altered world beyond, recovering from the war that changed everything. But Winter Solstice is finally approaching, and with it, the joy of a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, her concern for those dearest to her deepens. They have more wounds than she anticipated-scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.

This book is between book 3 and book 4 in “A Court of Thorns and Roses” book series. 

I gotta say that this book is less impressive than the 3 previous books in this series, because this book follows multiple characters like Feyra, Rhysand, Kasjan and Morrigan. All of their perspectives talk about how they deal with the events of the third book in the series as they prepare for Christmas.

I gotta say that the plot was okay for the most part, its not as fun and interesting for me personally as the 3 previous books in this series were. This book dense involve any battles or war meetings instead it focuses on what I said above. 

Even thou this book is about preparing about Christmas it doesn’t have the Christmas vibe a lot of books about Christmas have, which made me deduct a few points because of it.

This book is pretty short, my copy of this book has 265 pages, and this book has quiet a few Feyre and Rhy’s naughty scenes. To be very honest here I didnt expected to have so many of them in such a short book this one is.

In this book we also got the see the characters from this universe having a normal lives which really wasn’t that existing for me personally but it was still fun to get to see that happen. 

The writing style in this book wasn’t as impressive as it was in the 3 previous books in this series which really made me disappointed in a way. But still it might not have been the most impressive writing style in this series but it was still much better than some other books ive read to this point. But if you want me to give you a straight answer about the writing style I gotta say that it was pretty decent.

The characters here were very good, you could easily see in this book that the characters really matured and changed in a way since the events of book 3. Which really made me happy.

I Give This Book 3 / 5

Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

I gotta admit that this second book in the “The Farseer Trilogy” is much better than the first book. 

This book builds on the foundations we get in the first book in this trilogy. And because of this book expands the trilogy in a way makes this book so much more fun than the first book.

The plot in this book is very good and very interesting. I got sucked into this book so much that I didn’t notice when I finished this book. And if you have read some of my reviews before reading this one, you will know that I love when I get sucked into a book so much and I give some extra points for that.

This book and this trilogy is easily one of the best fantasy series I’ve read so far. For me personally this series so far is very close to being as amazing for me as the “A song of ice and fire” series and “The Witcher” series.

The characters in this book are so amazing. There is a lot of character development happening if you compare the characters in this book to who they were at the beginning of the first book in this trilogy. 

The characters in this book feel like real human beings because they have so much depth to them and each of the characters have their own unique personalities. And you find yourself identifying with them in a way. Which really makes me give this book some extra points. 

The only less good thing in this book for me personally. Is that at times the plots drags and is expands on situations which could have been cut shorter in a way.

The ending of this book is very good, it leaves us at a cliffhanger yes. But this only adds more to this trilogy because it makes you want to grab immediately the third book in this trilogy to see what happens next. 

The ending of this book is very satisfying and it really makes you proud in a way that you were able to finish this bad boy of a book. 

The writing style in this book is very amazing because it is like the author know what words to use to completely grab your attention and to not let it go until the very end of this book.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

Meet Roger. Skilled with words, languages come easily to him. He instinctively understands how the world works through the power of story. Meet Dodger, his twin. Numbers are her world, her obsession, her everything. All she understands, she does so through the power of math. Roger and Dodger aren’t exactly human, though they don’t realise it. They aren’t exactly gods, either. Not entirely. Not yet. Meet Reed, skilled in the alchemical arts like his progenitor before him. Reed created Dodger and her brother. He’s not their father. Not quite. But he has a plan: to raise the twins to the highest power, to ascend with them and claim their authority as his own.

I had high expectations for this book because I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. But after trying to read it I quickly DNF-ed this book because it was very boring. But let me explain what I mean.

The plot here was all over the place, we follow way too many characters here and its very hard to get track of everyone. From the moment I started reading this book to the moment I DNF-ed I was confused all the time.

The characters here were very weak, and I just couldn’t find the strength in me to care about them or form any thoughts about them. Because my brain refused to give the characters in this book any brainpower. The characters in this book are very silly which makes this book feel like a book for 10 years old. The way the characters talked with each other in this book really made me cringe AF, because it was like the author was trying to make the characters as cartoon-ish as possible and she succeeded but in a very negative way.

When you read the summary of this book then the premise of it sounds very interesting but the moment you start reading this book you realized that the plot is very nonsensical. The entire plot just seems like it was written by second or third graders trying to write a book for themselves.

The writing style was very bad it felt like again second or third graders have written this book. The writing style gets from being very advanced to being way too simple and again to being very advanced. It was like the author couldn’t decide which writing style she wanted to use in this book, so she just went with multiple. 

I DNF-ed this book after having read around 100 pages of this book, just because this entire book was way to bad for me to handle reading the entire book. 

I Give This Book 1 / 5

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

I finally got to read this book and I cant tell you how happy I am that I finally read it.

The plot in this book is very very good. And at the same time its very unique. The fact that it was written in the late 1930s and is still relevant in the 2020s really proves how good of writer J.R.R Tolkien really was.

The moment I started reading this book, I was clued to this book but at times I needed to take few days break from this book to process properly what had happened in this book so that I could enjoy this book better.

The plot in this book makes you feel like you are there in the plot and part of everything which is happening in this book. Which really surprised me because I wasn’t expecting this to happen.

There is a lot of action in this book, there are a lot of things going on which will make you sit at the edge of your sit because you get so interested in what is currently happening in this book. 

This book gives you like the huge feeling of connectedness, which I really loved about this book and give this book extra points for.

The characters in this book were very very good, and I loved each and all of the characters in this book. It was like every single character in this book was a really human being with his / hers own thoughts, feelings and opinions which really made me love this book even more.

Bilbo’s adventures in this book very very interesting, enjoyable, at times funny and very adventurous which really gave this book a place in my brain and heart to live forever rent free.

The writing style here is incredible, even thou there is a lot of old English in this book or at least in my copy of this book. But for me the old English makes this book even better and even more real.

As I was reading this book I felt like going back to childhood and reading “A Song Of Ice And Fire” for the first time. Where you didn’t care about anything else but to read the book. 

My only issue with this book is that it is too short, I really wish that this book would have been longer than it was. Because I desperately didn’t want this book to end in a way. 

If you want to get into fantasy then this book (and this series) is the best starting point you can get. Because its the OG fantasy, which really as times continues it gets more and more fans as it should do.

I Give This Book 4 / 5

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

Ive been wanting to get into this series for a while now because ive heard so much good about it, and even my favorite author of all time, George R R Martin have recommended this series and this author on several occasions during interviews. So of course I needed to get into this series at some point. And this year is the time for it.

The plot in this book was very good, but on occasions I found myself bored because at moments the plot would stretch for far too long on events or descriptions which in the end didn’t have anything to say in the major picture. 

Even thou the plot has boring and uninteresting parts here and there, the bigger picture of the plot it is still very good. And solely from this book alone I think I found a new author to add to my list of favorite authors, which hasn’t seen much change for at least 2 years.

The characters in this book were very good, which really surprised me a lot because I wasn’t expecting such good characters from an so underrated author as Robin Hobb. Every characters in this book had all unique personalities and something which made them unique in their own way. 

I personnel didn’t like a lot of characters in this book, and the beginning I didn’t even like the main character, but the more and more I read, the more and more Ive grown to like the main character. He might be a hard character to like at times, but still he is a good character in my opinion.

The ending was very good, because thats where the most interesting part came into the play, and it sort of doesn’t leave us with a cliffhanger but at the same time it does. Which is a really odd thing, but a thing which I liked very much.

The writing style here, was very good because it was like the author knew what words to use in this book, to fully grab my attention and to not let it go even through the parts which I found boring and / or uninteresting. 

I Give This Book 3 / 5