Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard Book Review

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

“You want me to pin my entire operation, the entire revolution, on some teenaged love story?”

Mare’s just an average Red girl until the day she gets a job working for the Silver’s in the Silver Palace and during the Queenstrial discovers she has powers linked to electricity. However only Silvers have powers so to cover for her the King and Queen force Mare into being Mareena Titanos, a Silver from a long lost family, and she’s engaged to the second Prince.   

This book took me a long long time to read mainly because Mare was an annoying main character. Having read a lot of YA novels you get used to reading books with the main lead being special but this book focused too much on Mare and everything that happened seemed to have her at the centre of it. Personally I think the book would have suited having dual perspectives.

The plot wasn’t bad it just moved really slowly. There was a lot of focus on Mare’s character pre discovering her powers and this included the introduction of the rebellion group ‘Scarlet Guard’. Typically the rebellion is shown after the main character is with the opposition but by introducing it earlier it made the story predictable and solely focused on Mare’s actions.  But the thing is what did Mare actually do for the rebellion group before the Ball.

The romance in this book is really awkward which is natural when there are 3 love interests. The heir to the throne, Cal is the one who saves Mare and I know he’s supposed to be someone conflicted on the right thing to do but his character at the start is way different to him later on…his opinion changes and his character is contradictory. The next love interest is the one which is predictable, Kilorn her best friend. Following the stereotype he’s in love with her and she doesn’t see it but protects him all the same. Lastly the 3^rd love interest is Cal’s brother and her fiancé Maven, the perfect prince.

There’s this major ‘twist’ near the end of the book but to be honest all the signs pointing towards it were in the book. The way that Mare describes Maven as a better King than Cal, what Julian says, how he’s the Queen’s son and how he’s presented as too perfect. Other aspects I didn’t like was how she knew all the bad stuff on Cal and yet she still went to him and hated Evangeline for being with him and how although there was a lot of death, no major character died.

What I did like though is the ending action scene it was well written but then the ending with the discovery of something was too cheesy.

★☆☆☆☆

Cage of Deceit by Jennifer Anne Davis Book Review

Cage of Deceit by Jennifer Anne Davis

“The bars of her cage felt like they were collapsing in on her.”

Allyssa is thrown into an arranged marriage of convenience to a King of a neighbouring kingdom so that the two can unite in battle against a threatening enemy. However Allyssa has secrets of her own, things she does at night which aren’t suitable for a princess and with the arrival of the King and his people, she finds herself in a lot of trouble.

For the most part I really enjoyed the book it had an interesting plotline with subplots linking to the overall action, a variety of characters and had good world building.

However the book was so predictable that I knew from the start what  the ‘twist’ was and all the other ‘mysteries’ were so easy to guess. What was annoying was that Allyssa was always very close to finding out information and something or someone always stopped it occurring and this happened way too many times throughout the book.  

The relationship between the 2 main characters was developed well as they both struggled with their situation and other events. Although the blurb says ‘she unveils a heinous plot’ which is overrating her participation in the unveiling way too much

However although the book was predictable it was easy going in the sense it was fun to read and fast paced which helped me get out of my reading slump.

There are aspects of the story which do interest me – I haven’t read the original series based on her parents so I did find her parents quite close off and secretive and there is a link between the book which I think is relevant to the war that is mentioned in this book.

The romance aspect of this book is very tame which suited the plot and characters as Allyssa was coming to terms with her engagement.

Also Allyssa is supposed to be this trained fighter so when she’s attacked she can defend herself so why is it that when she needs to be a fighter the most she finds herself weapon less because she’s dropped them previously…surely years of experience would have made her more adaptable to these situations.

★★★☆☆

The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden Review

The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden

DNF at 12%

This book wasn’t for me for various reasons mainly the annoying main character;

“Let my long waves of espresso-coloured hair” Who describes themselves like that

“I belong here, not with rich kids” Not sounding snobbish or up yourself at all

“I’d always thought of myself as just a normal teenager” You and every other main 

character

“I tried not to yelp as the solvent spidered into the wound” Again who talks like this

“The sound of the busy signal made me burst into tears” “Tears dripping” I have 

nothing against tears in books but why so many... It’s not interesting

I silently mourned the death of the Chanel as the blood soaked through it” This coming from a girl who doesn’t care for designer clothing or rich stuff

★☆☆☆☆

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner Review

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

“How do you live again, knowing what waits for you in the end?”

After the Icarus, a spaceship crashes down on an unknown planet there are only 2 survivors left; Lilac the daughter of the creator of the ship and Tarver a major from a lower class background. The story follows them as they have to trek through the planet in order to signal for help however they find they’re not alone on the planet and their hate for each other doesn’t help.

This book has an interesting concept and one of my favourite aspects was the scientific knowledge surrounding the hyperspace and reflectors however I didn’t like the characters, the writing style and the plot.

Lilac is annoying because of her constant need to be projected as cold and distant and she is so self-pitying. At the start of the book there’s a hint to the ‘mystery’ surrounding a bad past experience on her behalf leaving her scarred of showing real emotion to any guy however the higher class women role is stereotypical even her back story is typical and so added with her personality of trying way too hard to hate on Tarver I didn’t sympathise with her at all. Maybe it would have been okay if she hadn’t mentioned how lovely she really was constantly and that this was all an act to keep strong. As the novel progresses her character is more bearable and becomes a strong heroine without having to be kickass which I really liked however by this point I didn’t care for her so it meant nothing to me.

Tarver is supposed to be this strong handsome gentleman instead what we get is someone who constantly complains about how he’s not suited for the higher class lifestyle – he has the nerve to say that Lilac constantly complains when he doesn’t even listen to half the shit that comes out of his mouth.  Also he underestimates Lilac to the point it’s insulting – how she was totally defenceless in this planet even when they had been there for a long time. All the sexual tension and the things he said... were they supposed to be sexy or funny? Well he came off very sleazy and creepy.

The romance is predictable from the start. But it’s so cringe worthy to read because from the start all Tarver seems to be focused on is her looks yeah he says it’s her personality but why does it seem as if every time he mentions her he comments on her looks. Their relationship wasn’t slowly built or anything it was instant love from the start even if they masked it with hate. Their interactions when they were a couple were weird to read and out of place in the story.

Plus where was the world building of this unknown planet?

★☆☆☆☆

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers Review

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

“I am beginning to think that love itself is never wrong. It is what love can drive people to do that is the problem.” 

Annith has spent all her life training to be a assassin and serve Death however after sitting back and seeing girls with less trained than her going out on missions, she finally finds out her true fate. The Abbess of the Convent wants her to become a Seeress and stay locked away from the outside world but Annith has spent her entire life waiting and she’s finally decided to break free of her constraints.

I loved the books before this especially Dark Triumph so I was wary to read the book as I didn’t want it to ruin the series for me but thankfully it was so good. The first two books are distinctly different but have a similar plot of the girls being sent on a mission and along the way they find adventure and love however from the previous books I knew that Annith’s book was going to be different.

The book is big it’s around 550 pages and so naturally there’s a lot of different plots. Similar to the previous novels this book is slow paced but the writing style stops it from being boring and the pace and length suit the book. The story to me is split into different parts regarding the setting and current plotline, all of them link together and make Annith’s story. Annith chooses her own journey so all the steps building up lead to her mission which is different to the other books.

As the book progresses we see Annith go onto different things which show her character development especially from what I’ve gathered from the previous books. I really liked her as the main character so much so that she’s probably my favourite now. Her story concludes the trilogy and includes Ismae and Sybella in it to show everybody’s role in the protection of the Breton Court and the duchess, which I think went well with it being the final book.

The romance was shown earlier on and could be considered very fast however I think it was just so sweet and cute. It seemed to follow a similar pattern to the other books however there’s a massive difference which when revealed it’s awkward but then they just seem to suit each other and have this playful thing.

There’s a better insight into the convent  and what happens especially when Annith’s past is brought up which like the other girls she has a horrible childhood. More information on ‘The Nine’ are given – on what each group believes and how they work compared to Annith’s convent. This is interesting to read about as it’s loosely based on real beliefs. There are some obvious clues given to certain twists however some of them are surprising like why Annith wasn’t sent on any missions.

Lastly although it’s the final book I hope there’s a book on the Duchess.

★★★★★

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish 

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday is Top Ten Books I’m Grateful I Read When I Was Younger

These are books that have either been really mind opening, influential, relatable or just so well written and good that they’ve had some sort of impact on me.

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken Review

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

 “But inside or out, I was alone, and I was beginning to wonder if I always had been, if I always would be.” 

Ruby wakes up on her 10^th birthday and something has changed within her, something so big that her parents don’t recognise who she is and enough to get her thrown out and into a camp for kids just like her. After living as a Green for 6 years – she’s been saved after being identified as an Orange one of the only kind left. However after finding some of the intentions of those who broke her out – the Children’s League – Ruby decides it’s better to leave and finds herself with a trio of misfit kids trying to find a safe haven.

The first half of the book was the best half - Although it was slow paced it was full of a lot of action and events. The plot was very typical of a dystopian novel with the MC being special and hiding who she is however the other aspects of the book made it worthwhile to read. I loved the plot and how it felt dystopian adventure road trip style book as it showed their journey and built up towards them finding the safe haven. The information surrounding the context and history of the characters were scattered throughout the novel so it wasn’t just an overload of information. The characters were individually really unique and their different personalities when together were good and added to their close bond. The relationships between Ruby and the other characters were all different which was nice so the reader knew more about the minor characters.

I haven’t read a dystopian novel like this in ages as they were all the hype 3 years ago and whilst reading this I wondered why I had stopped and then came the second half and I remembered just why. The book changed settings towards the safe haven and the plot was so stereotypical with her growing close with the main leader and it all ending badly. Ruby losing touch with the other characters and having a fall out with them, dealing with her powers and knowing she’s extra special and betrayal occurring. The entire set up was repetitive of other books and it just didn’t suit the first half. Also the second half was way too fast compared to the other half; the emphasis on the panic button thingy throughout the novel made it so obvious what was going to occur and the world building needed to be built up better as it was confusing sometimes how America had changed outside of what happened to the kids.

I knew that Ruby would do something for Liam but I didn’t expect what she did to him.

★★★☆☆