Book Review: Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater (Spoiler free)

*Mild spoilers for Call Down the Hawk
If you’ve not read it, check out my review here!

Synopsis:

The stakes have never been higher as it seems like either the end of the world or the end of dreamers approaches.

Do the dreamers need the ley lines to save the world . . . or will their actions end up dooming the world? As Ronan, Hennessy, and Bryde try to make dreamers more powerful, the Moderators are closing in, sure that this power will bring about disaster. In the remarkable second book of The Dreamer Trilogy, Maggie Stiefvater pushes her characters to their limits – and shows what happens to them and others when they start to break.

My thoughts:

I love Ronan, always have since TRC. I now love all the Lynch brothers.

This book was kind of a filler book. Am I mad? No? Maggie Stiefvater’s writing is just so lovely, dreamy, if you will. It’s just nice to read, so while this book was slow, so very slow, it wasn’t painful. It was flowery and metaphorical, as you would expect a Stiefvater book to be. Emotional, funny, witty – just everything. As I was reading I thought to myself, ‘Wow, I wish my writing was this magical’.

The plot – pretty slow.
A lot of filler, not a lot going on, however, not boring. I still enjoyed the story, I’m not typically a fan of a slower pace but Maggie Stiefvater always makes it work for me. It did pick up towards the end and holy shit, the twists. I did not expect some of the twists and turns. It was seriously good. Mind blown.
THE ENDING – what was that how am I supposed to wait a year for the next one…
I felt empty after finishing. Completely empty.

The characters are everything. As with Call Down the Hawk and TRC, it’s very character driven, if you don’t like the characters you won’t enjoy it at all.

Ronan – Such interesting character development, I really didn’t think Ronan would be the way he is in this one. So different from TRC and CDTH. I was very surprised. He’s just as entertaining as always, but a bit more broken. I find Ronan very relatable, I know a lot of people don’t. I can see Maggie Stiefvater has woven in her own experience with chronic illness into Ronan and his dreaming and feelings.

Declan – Who would’ve thought I’d end up loving Declan…
I am so invested in him and Jordan, I don’t even know how to put it into words. I ship them. I said in my review of CDTH I was interested to see where his story would go, I was talking about him and Jordan. They’re amazing. hey didn’t disappoint. It has been so great to learn more about Declan as a character and this book only made me love him more.

Hennessy – I’m not overly keen on Hennessy for the most part. I don’t hate her nor do I love her. I do find her interesting though. She’s not a super likeable character, maybe she’s supposed to be like that.

Jordan – I feel like Jordan got all the best parts of Hennessy. It was nice to see her character development, from feeling like she was stuck with Hennessy to being more independent and claiming her own identity. I also like the bonding between her and Matthew about being dreams, that was sweet to see. Like I already said, her and Declan *chef kiss*

Farooq-Lane – Still meh. Still my least favourite storyline.

Matthew – Bless him. Such a sweetheart!!! I just want to hug him.

BRYDE – The driving factor of this book. After the ending of CDTH I knew I just had to pick up Mister Impossible because ~Bryde~
I had so many theories about him – they were all wrong. I did see some hinting in this book to his origin. But I got it wrong. However, all my questions were answered and now I have new ones.

Rating: 3.75-4 Stars

Book Review: Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

“You are made of dreams and this world is not for you.”

Synopsis:

Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.

Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.

Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer… and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed…

My thoughts:

I was super excited to get back into this world and be reunited with these characters!! I absolutely loved The Raven Cycle, I don’t know why I put off reading this for so long. I even pre-ordered it… Alas, in hindsight, I’m glad I didn’t read it when it first came out because now I already have the sequel in my hands instead of waiting.

Anyway onto the plot –
It was a slow start. Not going to lie, at first I was think oh no, I’m not going to like this one. It did pick up and I was soon invested. I started it when I was editing my final assignment for university, so I read around 100 pages over 3 days. Once my assignment was done, I binged the last 360ish pages in an evening! I was addicted. I became so invested in Ronan again and the new characters. The plot was weird, sometimes I stopped and I was thought I have no idea where this is going (but in a fun way). I love Maggie Stiefvater’s weird and wonderful stories.

The writing style – As always, beautiful. Magical and amazing. I wish I could write as amazingly as Maggie Stiefvater. I just adore her writing so much. I had forgotten what a joy her writing is, it has been ages since I’d read anything by her.

Characters:
Ronan – Love him. Always have. He’s such a mood; so grumpy and angry. He’s such a complicated character and so much more than he lets on.

Adam – Having Ronan & Adam together made me miss the Gangsey so much. He’s not in it much, obviously, he’s away at college. It was nice to have a glimpse and see some Pynch. *my heart*

Declan – It was nice to see more of him. I didn’t expect to like him much, but I did. I enjoyed getting to see him more and get to know him. I’m looking forward to reading more of him and a certain storyline in the next one.

Matthew – Again, nice to see more of him. He’s such a sweetheart. It’s lovely to see how the Lynch brothers work and how both Declan and Ronan adore Matthew.

The new characters

Jordan Hennessy – I loved this new character. I didn’t know what to expect really. I did think how am I going to take to these new characters. I actually really like her. I won’t say much as it will spoil.

Farooq-Lane – The character + storyline I liked the least. I understand it’s an important part of the story, of course. But meh. I didn’t take to her much. Every time it was her chapter I was like ugh, give me Ronan or Hennessy!!

Bryde – Mysterious. So interesting. I was dying (and still am) to know who he is…

May Wrap Up | 2021

Hello! Happy June!
This year is seriously flying by, it’s scary!!

May was a super busy month for me, I had my final finals! I am officially done with university and I couldn’t be happier. Since I was busy writing essays and assignments, I didn’t actually pick up a book until almost half way through the month. All things considered, 3 books and a short audiobook isn’t a bad total!

1) Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Rating: 5 Stars // Review here

2) Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 4 Stars / Review coming soon

3) Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: 3.75 Stars // Review coming soon

4) The Story of Antigone by Ali Smith

Rating: 3 Stars

What did you read in May? Any new faves?

Finally, a 5 Star Read! | Book Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Goodreads Synopsis:

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

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My thoughts:

I had low-ish expectations going into this book. I had tried to pick up it a few times but uni got too busy and I put it down.

I read An Enchantment of Ravens last year and found it seriously disappointing. I loved the writing but everything else just didn’t work for me. I’d heard great things about it and ended up not liking it. So, I was pretty nervous going into this one…

However, plot twist – I loved it. Everything.
I devoured most of this book in one evening, stay up late reading, which I haven’t done in a very long time. I even got up the next day and immediately kept reading and finished the book. I put off my uni work to finish it.

I loved the world, the characters, the writing – I personally cannot fault it. Everything that was lacking in Enchantment, was here.

The writing style – I really love her writing style. It’s the main reason I picked it up. It was one of the very few aspects I enjoyed in An Enchantment of Ravens. Rogerson writes such lovely prose, it’s beautifully written and wonderful to read.

The world – this world felt so much more developed and interesting.
I was so much more immersed in this world than I expected to be. It was perfectly described, I found it easy to imagine.
The library setting was just incredible! I mean, what book lover doesn’t love a good library?! I loved that the books talked and had personalities. It was such an interesting take on a magical library.

The characters were all amazing.
Each character was very distinctive, none were alike.
Elisabeth and Nathaniel were well written and well developed.
I loved Nathaniel’s sarcastic personality in contrast to Elisabeth’s slightly more serious personality. They had some wicked banter. I found it really funny, not even just amusing, full on laugh out loud funny. As for Silas – the best side character. I LOVED him!! Never thought I’d love a demon so much but here I am.
I was so invested in all the characters and their relationships.

Emotions – I was ridiculously emotionally invested in this. I won’t go into details because spoilers, but I almost cried at certain moments.

The only downside is that it ends. I wish there was more! It’s a standalone, which is nice but damn do I wish it was a series!! The world is amazing, the characters, I didn’t want it to end.
ALSO, that ending?? Bit odd for a standalone, it almost sets up for a sequel…

All in all, thoroughly enjoyed myself. A new fave. Will definitely be rereading in the future!
I will also be picking up Margaret Rogerson’s new book when that comes out later this year!

Rating: 5 Stars
First 5 star rating of the year (that wasn’t a reread)

Book Discussion/Review: *Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal

Goodreads Synopsis:

Teen Wolf meets Emergency Contact in this sharply observed, hilarious, and heartwarming debut young adult novel about friendship and the hairy side of chronic illness.

Priya worked hard to pursue her premed dreams at Stanford, but a diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease during her sophomore year sends her back to her loving but overbearing family in New Jersey—and leaves her wondering if she’ll ever be able to return to the way things were. Thankfully she has her online pen pal, Brigid, and the rest of the members of “oof ouch my bones,” a virtual support group that meets on Discord to crack jokes and vent about their own chronic illnesses.

When Brigid suddenly goes offline, Priya does something out of character: she steals the family car and drives to Pennsylvania to check on Brigid. Priya isn’t sure what to expect, but it isn’t the horrifying creature that’s shut in the basement. With Brigid nowhere to be found, Priya begins to puzzle together an impossible but obvious truth: the creature might be a werewolf—and the werewolf might be Brigid. As Brigid’s unique condition worsens, their friendship will be deepened and challenged in unexpected ways, forcing them to reckon with their own ideas of what it means to be normal. 

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My thoughts:

Okay, so I really enjoyed the plot and the characters.
I love Teen Wolf, so when this was pitched as TW x Emergency Contact (a book I’d like to read) I was like perfect, I’ll accept it for review.

However, upon researching I realised this book has problematic features. So I’ll discuss those first:

The main character is a disabled Tamil/Indian American.
– The author is neither of those. So this is not an own voices novel, despite the cover and blurb kind of hinting towards that.

I cannot speak for the Tamil/Indian American community, as that is not my place. But it is clearly culture appropriation. It really wasn’t necessary to the story. The author is white and it would’ve totally been fine to have a white character? I’m not sure of the author’s though process on this. I don’t know why they felt the need to take a culture they are not familiar with and write about it. Those elements of the book were scarce, so why not leave it out although?

The side character is a werewolf, which is on the cover, above the main character. This has been noted as racist by some own voices reviewers. They said having a werewolf above an Indian is racist as it perpetuates the idea of the ‘hairy brown person’.
I wanted to clarify – the werewolf is not the main character who is also on the cover. It’s side character. The cover does kind of hint that the main character might be a werewolf but she’s not, it’s her friend and that’s her friend on the cover. Obviously, again it’s not my place to say whether or not it’s racist, but I feel like there’s some context missing from some of the comments I’ve seen. A lot of the own voices reviewers have not read the full book and are going off the cover and synopsis alone. (I believe, correct me if I’m wrong)

Chronic illness side – I can actually speak from personal experience on this one.
Although the author isn’t chronically ill (I think) – the rep isn’t too bad. I think the novel does a decent job as representing what life can be like with chronic illness, particularly the loneliness. The group chat that is made in the story for people with chronic illnesses to connect was actually lovely to read.

As for the story itself,
I really enjoyed it. I thought it was fun and engaging. I liked the characters and the character interactions. I love werewolves and I thought it was a really interesting take to make it like a chronic illness, having negative effects on the body etc. It was a cool idea.

I liked the main character, Priya. I found her character to be relatable in some ways and I enjoyed reading from her perspective.
I loved her friend Brigid – what a cool character. She was just great, funny, one of the best parts of the novel.

Spencer – Amazing side character. I really liked his introduction and sort of being forced into the werewolf stuff. It was nice to see the friendship bloom between him, Priya and Brigid.

Overall, the book is good – it’s a shame it’s tainted by problematic elements.

I recommend you check out the reviews over on Goodreads where more own voices reviewers have left their thoughts.

*This book was gifted to me by Quirk Books. All opinions are my own.

April Wrap Up | 2021

Hello everyone!
April was a pretty good reading month. Somehow I managed to read 7 books, despite having tons of uni work!

April’s wrap up is going to be a quick one, I don’t have time to go into book details, like I usually do. (I cannot wait to be done with uni in a few weeks!!)

Emergency Skin by N.K Jemisin – Rating: 4 Stars

Summer Frost by Blake Crouch – Rating: 4 Stars

Randomize by Andy Weir – Rating: 2 Stars

The Dog Share by Fiona Gibson – Rating: 3 Stars // Review

*Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli – Rating: 3.5 Stars // Review

Queen of the Conquered by Kacen Callender – Rating: 2 Stars

*Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O’Neal – Rating: 4 Stars

Reviews for the rest are coming soon!

What did you read in April? Any new favourites?

Book Review: The Dog Share by Fiona Gibson

Goodreads synopsis:

Suzy Medley is having a bad day…

… when a shabby terrier turns up at her door. Just like Suzy, Scout has been abandoned, although only Suzy has been left with a financial mess and a business in tatters thanks to her ex.

Suzy takes Scout in and her chaotic world changes in unexpected ways: strangers have never been more welcoming and her teenage kids can’t wait to come home to visit.

Then a chance encounter on a windy Hebridean beach makes things more complicated, because Suzy isn’t the only one who needs a friend.

Scout has plenty of love to go round… but does Suzy?

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My thoughts:

First things first, the cover and title are a tad misleading.
I expected this to be heavy on romance. The cover makes the story seem like it’ll be a romance between people who dog share. It’s not. The romance is very very very minimal. I didn’t read the synopsis prior to reading, but it was marketed as a romance which I feel is pretty wrong.

There is a strong focus on family friendship – which I’m not mad about. Friendships are awesome and it’s great to read about people developing friendships. Family centred stories are great too. However, the cover doesn’t suggest that whatsoever.

That being said, I did enjoy it for the most part.
It was slow going at first – it could’ve benefited from editing down the beginning. I felt like the story took a while to take off. It was a little too slow for my taste.
It picked up around the 50% mark, the second half then flew by! It was a lot more interesting and didn’t drag as much.

I really enjoyed the setting also. A picturesque Scottish island sounds like a dream right about now. I wish I could just escape and have an adventure on some lovely island. I like learning about the island’s community and how close knit everyone and everything is. It was lovely!

As for characters, I can’t say I loved anyone of them. I didn’t feel overly connected to any of them, I wasn’t disinterested however. Main characters Suzy and Ricky were just fine. I wish there was more between them. I wanted more flirting and romance and there just wasn’t any.

Obviously, the best part was the dog. Who doesn’t love dogs?
Scout was definitely the star of the show (or book). He was adorable. Why am I in love with a fictional dog? I want a lil Scout for myself. However, despite the title, the dog sharing wasn’t really a big part of the plot. The dog sharing was mostly between Suzy and a her friend.

Rating: 3 Stars

Review/Discussion: Shadow and Bone TV Show

I have many many many thoughts.
There will be (minor) spoilers.

Let’s talk casting first:
Alina – Decent casting. Okay actress. Wasn’t blown away, didn’t hate either. I wasn’t a fan of Alina in the books and kind of expected the same for the show but I don’t hate her…yet…

Mal – I still don’t like Mal. The casting is good. He’s more likeable in the show for sure. I still don’t buy into Mal x Alina ships. *vom*

The Darkling – Perfection. Ben Barnes is everything. His performance was incredible. So dark, evil and manipulative. He did it so well. Ben Barnes really captures the essence of the Darkling. The name change though… Kirigan. No. Just no. I get that the Darkling gives away that he’s going to be the villain but still.

Zoya – Can I just say NO. I don’t like Zoya in the books at all. But her casting was just blehhh. I didn’t like her portrayal at all.

Genya – I like her but she was done DIRTY with that wig. What an attrocity.

Now for the Dregs:

Kaz – I liked the dude playing him. He could’ve been more sadistic/morally grey. I wanted a bit more, but I overall think he was good.

Jesper – PERFECTION OMG. Like just *chef kiss*
He was amazing. I loved the portrayal. Kit Young really captured Jesper’s character and charm. I loved it.

Inej – Almost perfect. Casting on point. However, she was too soft.

Nina – Great casting, I liked her portrayal.
I understand the sadness for the lack of plus size casting. It’s not really my place to comment on that aspect as I am not plus sized. It’s a shame they had an opportunity for rep taken.

Onto the story:

Firstly, what the fuck was that racism.
I found it so jarring. So unnecessary.
The show runners/makers adding diversity to the very white characters was amazing. Adding the racism, not so much. Right from the first few minutes too.
I’m super sick of fantasy worlds having racism, like it’s fantasy. The world can be anything and yet they always have racism, sexism etc. etc.
I’m not Asian so I will not commented on the use of slurs towards them, as it’s not my place. However, the ‘half breed’ slur hit me. It took me out of the story for a moment. So so gross. I don’t even know what to say. *shudder* This is not the representation mixed people want!

*deep breath*
Let’s move on.

It was an interesting decision to combine the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. I’m not really sure what to make of that aspect. It kind of worked and didn’t work for me all at the same time.

It’s no secret that I prefer Six of Crows (doesn’t everyone?) to the Shadow and Bone trilogy, I couldn’t help but be a bit more interested in the Dregs than Alina and Mal. However, I was very interested in the Darkling. Man, I wish he had more air time because *swoon*.

The story was engaging and definitely binge-worthy. I watched it over two days, but if I’d had the time I would’ve binged it in a day. I was gripped from episode one all the way to the end. I don’t think there was a bad episode. They were all really (surprisingly) good.

I had low expectations going in. I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I think I actually enjoyed this more than the books. I enjoyed Shadow and Bone, the first book, but the series went downhill from there for me. I’m excited for the potential second season of the show. (PLEASE NETFLIX) Obviously, I know where the story goes. I’m interested to see what changes they make and how the Dregs will slot into the story still…

Nina and Matthias’ story was odd, I get that’s their back story but it makes absolutely no sense to the people who’ve not read the books. I like Nina, but I feel like this could’ve been cut. It would’ve been better to have those scenes as flashbacks when Nina and Matthias have an actual part of the Six of Crow timeline.

The main problem I had (aside from the racism) was that it seemed a tad rushed. Everything seemed to happen too fast. I like fast pace, but I feel like there were areas that could’ve been a bit more developed. Such as Alina ‘training’ – that barely seemed to happen. Baghra was barely in the show. I don’t know, maybe it’s me. I feel like they could’ve added in an extra 2 episodes to develop certain parts more.

Will I watch Season Two: Hell yes!
Rating: 4/5 Stars

Chat with me!
Who was your favourite character? / What was your favourite part?

Book Review: *Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli | Bookstagram Tour

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*Mini review on Instagram. Full review below*

Goodreads Synopsis:

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.
But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.
Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship.

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My thoughts:

I’m going to be honest, the first half had me worried I wasn’t going to like it. It was slow and I struggled to be invested initially. The second half though!! Complete flip. I was hooked.

It’s a fun book. The teenage drama with crushes and such is always interesting to me. It’s so different to my teen years, I can’t relate but it’s interesting to read. I like the books focus on friendship rather than romance. I thought this would be romance-heavy, to my surprise it was more of a tale of friendship.

The setting of the theatre was interesting. I have never read anything that’s centred around theatre kids or school plays/musicals. The story is full of theatre kid antics, which is entirely new to me. I have never been a theatre kid, not even sure we had them in my school. The difference in schools and teenagers is so crazy to me. It all seems very fictional and not relatable. I guess that’s the culture difference between the US and UK.

The characters themselves, although completely unrelatable for me, were fun to read. It has a great cast of diverse characters, all were very unique and different. Each of the side characters were developed enough for me to know each one individually. I actually ended up enjoying some of the side characters more.

Kate is a bit of an annoying teen, as is Anderson… (am I becoming too old for YA?!) I didn’t hate them, but I didn’t love them. I did like their friendship though.
However, Kate, Anderson and their general group of theatre friends come across as so snobby! It was quite jarring. Very judgemental, they reminded me of ‘popular’ kids.

Even though Noah was supposed to be the annoying one, he was the star. I wish there was more of him. He was such a great side character!

My biggest complaint: the way these teenagers speak. f-boy/fuckboy. JUST STOP. It was AWFUL. It was so very overused. It was cringeworthy and could’ve been left out.

Rating: 3 Stars

*Disclaimer: Book was sent to me by Penguin/ PrideBookTours in exchange for a review/Bookstagram post. All opinions are my own.

Nope Trope Book Tag!

Hello guys!
It has been a while since I did a tag, so when I saw Emily from BooksWithEmilyFox do this on her booktube channel, I just had to do it too! It was originally created by Zoe’s All Booked.

1. Eavesdropping w/ miscommunication – Name a book you heard great things about and expected to love but ended up hating.

I can name so many for this question but I’ll go with House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas. I am a huge SJM fan (or was). I’ve liked both her previously series, so I fully expected to adore this one like everyone else. I have a ranty review explaining why I hated this.

TL:DR: It’s just a mash up of ToG + ACOTAR. It feels very YA despite being marketed as adult.

2. Love Triangles – Name a series where you can’t pick your favourite book.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
THE cutest graphic novel romance series. I love all of the book so far, I couldn’t possibly pick a favourite!

3. Not Like Other Girls/Didn’t Know I’m Beautiful – Name a book that has a pretty cover but was boring as all hell.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Ugh, it pains me to say this… This book was just such a drag!! More in my review.

4. All-Consuming Love – Name a book that gave you a book hangover

So many!!
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert was the last one I can remember. I didn’t pick anything up for a while after that. It was just so sweet!

5. Douchebag Boyfriend – Name a book that took you a while to get into, but you ended up loving.

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

6. Tell us your favourite or least favourite trope!

I love the chosen one trope. I know it’s cliché and quite overdone, but if it’s well done, I will love it.

Least favourite/will never read is those incest-y one *shudders*

I tag:
Morgane – Book Me Some Time

Dhwani – The Written Journey

Allie – The Wandering Nerdette