Review: Circe

Circe by Madeline Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

How do I even begin to start describing how much I absolutely loved this book? I knew how popular Miller’s ‘Song of Achilles’ was, but for some reason I had never picked it up. After reading ‘Circe’, I’m definitely will have to add it to me list of things to read. Reading about the Greek myths always brings me back to my middle school days and how much I enjoyed learning their stories. When I saw that Circe herself would be using witchcraft, i knew I had to get my hands on this book immediately.

Her name is Circe, she’s the daughter of Helios, banned to an island because of what she has done. Her crime wasn’t the fact that she could cast witchcraft, or the fact that she made someone a monster and someone else immortal. Her crime was telling everyone what she did and making her father seem like a fool. As punishment, Zeus demanded she isolated to an island for all of eternity. However, just because she could never leave, didn’t mean others couldn’t come to her. So her thousand years of life are filled with wonder and stories of all who she had met and all she had cursed.

When I first started reading this book, I knew I was going to like it. The writing was beautiful and captured me from page one, and I liked Circe. I enjoyed watching her grow from the girl who wondered her fathers empty halls, looking to belong somewhere, and seeing her became this goddess who even Athena wouldn’t stand against. She had faced mortal men who thought to subdue her, gods and goddesses who thought to trick her, and finally her own divinity in the end. For some reason it wasn’t an ending I was expecting, though after I had read it, I should have known it was where her path might have lead, but I never suspected a thing.

I think that was the greatest thing about reading this book. Even though most of us know the stories about the Greek gods and while some of the stories in the book are familiar, everything felt fresh. It was purely Circe's’ story, yet it involved so many different characters and seeing them in a light that played well with the story. I can’t wait to see what Miller has up her sleeve for her next book, but I’ve become such a fan of her writing style that I honestly can’t wait.


View all my reviews

Review: When the Moon Was Ours

When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay, I've finally have had enough time to think about how this book left such an amazing impression on me. I was able to finish this beauty in one sitting, because I simply could not put it down. The words just flowed from the page so perfectly, that I didn't realize how quickly I had come to the middle of the book. I was lucky enough to win a copy in a giveaway and I'm so happy that I did.

I have always love magical realism and this book is the very definition of it. You have a boy who loves to create stars and moons, and then you have a girl who appeared out of a water tank one night. Already they are perfection. Sam and Miel are just so perfect together. I love the way they are just so in sync with each other. I love how they've come to accept each other for who they truly are and not for what the world thinks they should be.

Then we have Sam's mom and Miel's guardian who are probably one of the most supportive peoples I've had the pleasure to read about in this small town. Don't even get me started on the Bonner sisters. Part of me didn't want to like them in the beginning, but how could I not? They were so perfectly un-perfect from the image they want their town to see and Miel and Sam give such different insights on them that it's hard not to relate to these beautiful girls.

I loved everything about this book.
A boy in the wrong body,
A girl with roses growing from her wrist,
A girl who likes girls more than she likes boys,
A girl who is smarter than everyone thinks,
Thats just some of these amazingly diverse characters. This whole book is pure magic.

View all my reviews

Review: And I Darken

And I Darken by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm honestly completely torn with this book. It starts off amazing. Lada is the reason for everything. I love her anger. I love her cruelty. I like that fact that when someone told her she couldn't do something, she just went out of her way to do it better then anyone else. I honestly think my favorite part of the book is when she's about to be married off and she tells her future husband that will she cut his tongue, swallow it, so that when he dies she will be both husband and wife and know freedom. She was still a child when she said this.

While Radu was all sweet faced but learned how to use his words and ears to manipulate everyone around him. Even if he felt guilty about it. He was Lada's opposite in every way but they still had so many things in common. It wasn't until the second half of the book that it got a little slow for me. I do wish it would have gone differently. I wish that she didn't love Mehmed the way she did. There were parts where I wished she had been using him in Oder to go back home and become the leader. In the end she got that. She became Prince, Lada Dracul. The dragon. But she sacrificed her heart to do it. She sacrificed her brother.

I am excited for the sequel though. I want to see how she rules. I want to see how she interacts with Mehmed. I do hope she doesn't marry him. It's the one thing she doesn't want, no matter what. She won't be owned by anyone. I hope that's not something that's changes in the coming book.

View all my reviews

Review: Wytches, Volume 1

Wytches, Volume 1 by Scott Snyder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always have this feeling whenever I read something so amazing. I need it to be turned into movies, I need it to be turned in to show. I need it to be turned into 700 page books. Witches is everything I wanted it to be and more. I had been seeing this beauty almost everywhere for the last couple months and its ominous cover was everything I love. This story was beautiful, and I'm not talking about Sail and her dad (though they were perfection) I'm talking about how messed up and chill inducing this was. My imagination is in over drive and I hope theres going to be so much more to this series. I've gotten so used to how witches are being portrayed in the media at the moment, that I had forgotten what they were like in the past. I'm so happy with this and I want everyone to read it. It's something that going to stick with me for the years to come, especially when I'm out in the woods somewhere.

View all my reviews

Review: Reindeer Boy

Reindeer Boy by Cassandra Jean
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can we talk about how ridiculously perfect this book is? It's funny, and it's adorable. The story is everything. I like the ideas that Santa and his reindeers are like this. I love the art work too. Quincy is adorable. I love how she goes with the flow. Like 'oh, I'm growing antlers? No big' or 'oh there's a new kid in my school with antlers and his entire family has them too? Cool' I loved her attitude about it. And oh man Cupid! What a little flirt and kind of a diva too. I love them all and I can't wait too see what comes next.

View all my reviews

Review: Iron Cast

Iron Cast by Destiny Soria
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay let's talk about this book shall we. You know when you find a book that you just absolutely love from the first page and want to fly through it, but at the same time you read it as slowly as possible because you don't want it to end? This is that book. From page one I fell in love with Corinne and Ada. Everything about their friendship had me smiling from ear to ear. For all the faults Corinne seems to think she has being an amazing and loyal friend isn't one of them. These two girls stood side by side and faced what ever came their way together, never once doubting the other. The friendship was written so beautifully that it was one of the best parts of the books.

I enjoyed this work over all. I like the fact that they weren't really called witches anymore. Now you have wordsmiths, thespians, and songsmiths. There was also Saint who was his own amazingness. It made me want to be a part of this world. I wish I could cast illusions with my words. That would be so amazing! Like what ever? I don't know if it was just me, but I didn't expect that plot twist at all. I thought the bad guy was going to be so obvious and the conflict something supernatural. But in the end it was so plainly mortal that it blew me away. It's always gonna be about the money and greed. And I thought I liked Johnny.

I basically want this to be an entire series about Ada and Corinnes adventures. I want to see what happens next. They just joined forces with the Red Cat and the switcher brothers. There's so much that could happen afterwords. I really hope she eventually decides to right more. Either way it did end perfectly.

View all my reviews

Review: The Mind Readers

The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I wish I could give this a 3.5. Like many other YA novels, it was good but still at the same time it left me wanting more. I liked the mind reader aspect. I like the idea of this school and the slight xmen vibe I was getting from it. But I liked the ending far more then I liked the beginning. It's a fast paced novel. I read it in less than a day and it is a nice entertaining read. The ending, I thought was the best part. It left you wanting answers.l and it makes you want to read what happens next which I always think is the best way to end a book.

View all my reviews