Review: The Fate of the Tearling

The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was the strongest book in the series, but like others I don't know that I like the ending. I loved the rest of the book though and it would have been a five star rating if the ending hadn't struck me as slightly off. Also, I had a few questions that weren't answered. I know in life we don't have all the answers so maybe in fiction we don't have all the answers either.

The relationships in this book were amazing. The Red Queen and Kelsea have had an adversarial relationship and in past books she was the main antagonist. Here we see her in a different light. I didn't think the character went through a big change it was just the way we see her. I liked many of the characters were more developed and we saw them in a new light in this book. Kelsea also seemed to have more dept of emotion in this book.

In the last book we saw Lily before the crossing. In this book we see Katie who is born after the crossing. The adults have not shared what the world was like before the crossing with the children. This is the beginning of the darkness that Kelsea sees in her time. I liked that we got more of the history of the Tearling in this novel. This novel is by far the strongest in the series, and I will recommend the series, but the ending was not as strong as the rest of the book.

View all my reviews

Review: Around the World In 80 Days

Around the World In 80 Days by Jules Verne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. I listened to the audiobook and it was well done. I've read Jules Verne in the past, but not this book. I'm surprise that I didn't read it and I'm happy to find that the author holds up to my opinion of his works. I have found that coming back to an author I liked years ago can be disappointing. I was not disappointed by Jules Verne.

Around the World in 80 Days follows Phileas Fogg as he travels around the world on a bet in 80 days. He takes his newly acquired valet Passepartout and from there they jump from one method of travel to the next. Along the way the have adventures. I really liked the ending and was glad to have read the book. I think I will be reading more the Extraordinary Voyages books.

View all my reviews

Review: The Power

The Power by Naomi Alderman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a hard book for me to rate. I found the ideas engaging. I thought about them when I wasn't reading the book. But I didn't connect with the characters or the story. I found myself at times bored when I was reading. However, I did think about the book when I wasn't reading. This isn't to say I always disliked all the characters, sometimes I liked some of them, but there was no time during the story when I liked all of the main characters. There were times I disliked all of them. So did I like the book, not really. Was it effective at getting me to think about the power structure in a new way, yes it was. I am glad I read the book but I'm not going to recommend it.

View all my reviews

Review: The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a powerful book. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit because he was poor and black in Alabama. I listened to the audiobook and it was an emotional listen. It was very good though and I didn't want to turn it off. The narrator did an amazing job. I really enjoyed the discussion of the relationships the author built while he was on death row. I would recommend this book and I hope that maybe there is starting to be a change in our legal system to fix problems like this. Anthony Ray Hinton's story is not an anomaly. His story is the story of many who are wrongly accused. I would recommend you listen to this audiobook, we need to make a change to our legal system and the first step is understanding the problems.

View all my reviews

Review: Wicked and the Wallflower

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I enjoyed this book, it didn't work as well for me as other books from the author. Devil and Felicity had chemistry, but the rest of the story, particularly the backstory, was at times a little confusing. My biggest problem with the book though was the way Devil acts towards Felicity. I liked Devil for most of the novel but he ended up annoying me.

I'll be reading the next in the series as I've really enjoyed many of MacLean's novels, this one just didn't meet the standard I expected based on her past writing.

View all my reviews

Review: A Feast for Crows

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoy A Song of Ice and Fire. I've listened to the audiobooks for the series and found them to be excellent. Before I started this book I read summaries for each chapter of the previous book. Starting this I was still a little lost. Then this is such a huge world that even between chapters I sometimes get confused about who is who. I've had been putting off reading this book in the hopes that maybe The Winds of Winter would be published soon. However, I realized that waiting was not going to work because it could be years. I'm glad I decided not to wait. I like the world and Martin creates and the characters are fascinating. This novel doesn't include all of the characters, but I was alright with that. I was surprised to have characters that I disliked in past novels be characters I enjoyed in this novel. I still don't like Cersei. She makes it so easy to dislike her.

I know that this novel is really half of a novel, but the ending did not feel at all like an ending to me. I'm glad that I have A Dance with Dragons that I can read otherwise I would be very unsatisfied. Some of the characters had what felt a little like an ending but the actual ending felt like a beginning.

View all my reviews

Review: Just Like Heaven

Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've read enough of Julia Quinn's novels to be familiar with the abysmal Smythe-Smith performances. Getting to see the performances from the inside added a lot to why they happen and why people attend.

Honoria and Marcus were a nice pair there was a good amount of sexual tension built up in the story. There were a few things that didn't work for me though. I could see that Honoria and Marcus loved each other but I think I wanted something a little more from the relationship. The story itself was a nice light read.

View all my reviews