nclcaitlin's reviews
1731 reviews

Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt

3.25

If you want a book cure for Red, White, and Royal Blue, or books by Alice Oseman, I would recommend this!

Wren is president of the student council and he is determined to make an impact. Starting with ridding the school of the much-loved Valentine’s Day dance to allocate that money elsewhere. However, his fellow council members—especially the vice president and annoyingly perfect person Leo Reyes—suggest that they use Buddy, the popular anonymous not-dating app to sponsor it instead. 
Whilst managing homework, council duties, and expectations, Wren secretly curiously downloads Buddy and makes a connection with the boy he starts chatting with.

This was so cute! Wren is such a sassy, chaotic main character. He can also be an obnoxious teen sometimes, but he’s also very relatable and sympathetic.

This also presents Wren struggling with expressing his asexuality, as well as his grief over losing his mother a couple years previous. His experience is portrayed with empathy and opens up discussions on how we should approach exposing Young Adult audiences to important topics in a way that is open and not treated negatively. 

Yes, it was obvious who the Buddy Wren chats with is, so all the drama and mystery initially felt overdone. This predictably did make me roll my eyes and mutter, get on with it, but I had to remind myself, this is a type of romance type of book where ‘I hated this guy forever, but maybe that’s because I actually had feelings for him’ is expected. 

I think I would have wanted more emotional exploration of Wren’s asexuality. There isn’t many conversations between him and his family, friends, etc. which could have provided a good framework to deal with how we navigate such experiences. 

The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

4.0

Shai is a Forger, a magical practise deemed illegal and abhorrent. She is set to be executed when caught in the act of robbery. 

However, the Emperor's advisors offer her freedom if she forges a new soul for the Emperor who has been left brain dead by an assassination attempt. Without much choice, she agrees, planning to escape.

Shai is a master trickster, liar, and thief. She is charming and knows how to play people, how to read them and know how to win them over. This makes her such an intriguing character to be in the mind of. Always at work with both her hands and her mind. 

“People", Shai said, rising to fetch another seal, "by nature attempt to exercise power over what is around them. We build walls to shelter us from the wind, roofs to stop the rain. We tame the elements, bend nature to our wills. It make us feel as if we're in control. Except in doing so, we merely replace one influence with another. Instead of the wind affecting us, it is a wall. A man-made wall. The fingers of man's influence are all about, touching everything. Man-made rugs, man-made food. Every single thing in the city that we touch, see, feel, experience comes as the result of some person's influence.”

Sanderson knows how to create magic systems. This is mastery is shown with such genius in the novella that I am astounded. It should have been confusing - Forging someone’s soul, rewriting the history of objects, using seals to keep things that way? Yet, Sanderson manages to completely immerse yourself in this without ever relying on information dumping. 

I normally don’t like books under 400 pages as there’s never enough depth and I left feeling bereft and needing more. This is a novella I feel satisfied with. I recommend. 

Vilest Things by Chloe Gong

3.0

Every push and pull between them exists as a promise of mutual destruction.

Princess Calla Tuoleimi has been declared the victor of the king's annual games after backstabbing her last competitor, and lover, Anton. She has also been made August’s advisor and is pardoned from any past crimes.

Yet, Anton managed to jump to the new King August with no one but Calla the wiser.

The two hate each other but are forced to work together as new qi experiments lead to mass deaths in the provinces. 

I loved the push and pull between the two. They know they are each other’s ruins. They both want to tear down the world. They are bound together by secrets. 

Chloe knows how to write star-crossed lovers!

“What's wrong with a little dearest of my heart?"

“Tyrant of my heart is far more fitting."

The magic? gods? genetics? surrounding qi and body jumping felt slightly more chaotic in this instalment with little explanation but appearances of new powers. 

Also, something that really drew me out of the story - the writing feels really YA as well as the story and then I was bluntly reminded by a sudden sex scene where the word c*ck was used. I just can’t. 

I am kind of let down as I think I was an outlier in loving book one! It was addictive and I loved the idea of the games, body jumping, and the claustrophobic city. However, I think the shorter length of this book hampered the ability to expand and describe in as much detail as I wanted.

I still want to see how this plays out!

  

Thank you to Hodderscape for providing an arc in exchange for a review!

Heroes and Villians by Ana Sampson

3.5

Illustrated poetry about villains, heroes, quests, voyages, royalty, and beasts. Some poems were already known to me (Sylvia Path, Shakespeare, Keats, etc), but there were also new creative  poems which flowed perfectly! 

 

If you are worried poetry might be too boring for you - the illustrations are spectacularly interwoven and the poems cover well-known people, places, or places so it is easier to follow along!

My favourite was URBAN MYTH by Caroline Bird. 

I don't even know if that's how planes work, or if gumming punctures keeps you airborne... We played our love like that for a while. Chewing then stoppering. A patch-up job cobbled in midair from whatever we had in our pockets at the time, fighting fire with blobs of miscellaneous optimism, aiming only for temporary insulation, to stopper the sky whistling through us, stay airborne, unofficial and miraculous, cork each new wound with a wad of sweetness freshly printed from the panic of our mouths.

Thank you to Macmillan Children’s Books for sending me an arc in exchange for a review! 

Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

3.5

The Pattern groans. The dead are walking, an increase in odd deaths. In cities, rooms vanish and food spoils.

Egwene must manage a new age of Aes Sedai.

Mesaana is still in the White Tower, able to defeat the Oath Rod.

Not to mention, there are killers in the shadow with four sisters dead and Egwene already has her hands full trying to keep the Ajahs from turning back to their mistrust of one another.

“When change comes, you can scream and try to force things to stay the same. But you'll usually end up getting trampled. However, if you can direct the changes, they can serve you. Just as the Power serves us, but only after we surrender to it."

It is time for Perrin to return to Rand. He never wanted to raise a banner or become a Lord and he didn’t want things to become awkward between him and Falie after her rescue. 

Perrin tries to keep the wolf locked away. But a wolf could not be locked up for long. 

This part of the book was one of the most boring. Perrin trying to learn to embrace or control the wolf alongside Hopper. It just felt like a lot of back and forth. 

Mat can’t leave the city for a few weeks unless he opens Verin’s letter and do what it says. But the gholam is chasing him and the Forsaken is hunting him, with a picture of his face in the pocket of every footpad in the city. 

I have always enjoyed Mat’s perspective, but his attitude towards women still annoys me. I thought in Sanderson’s hands, he would dial down this. Instead, it sometimes seemed even more forced as if to remind us of his character under Jordan which seemed out of sorts with the last two books. ‘Oh, I’m married so I don’t look at women like that anymore. Oh, but she does have good breasts and I still deserve a short glance…’ etc. 

“I need to write a lettei to Her Royal bloody Majesty Queen Elayne the prim." 

Joline sniffed. "Are you going to swear at her too?" 

"Of course I am," Mat muttered, turning to go back to Thorn's tent. "How else is she going to trust that it's really from me?"

Elayne’s absolute confidence in her survival and success because of Min’s viewing still continues to irritate me too. Directly quoting from the book - “My children will be safe, and that means I will be, too. We have until their birth." This causes her to take many dangerous risks. I too understand Brigette’s frustration. 

“Real life is often more disappointing than dreams, but at least when you find honor in the real world, you know it to be more than a fancy."

I am greatly enjoying the climax of the series. I am scared of Rand becoming so powerful that some things may become too easy (even though this series has been nothing but). Yet, suddenly having the protagonist acquire massive amounts of power right at the end always frustrates me in a series. 

Also, my version has a mistake where Galad’s name is used instead of Gawyn’s when discussing his romance with Egwene!!! 

Just had to reread to wonder why Galad popped up in between Gawyn and Egwene in an intimate moment before realising it was a mistake!

 

This isn’t a new favourite (at the moment, that remains book 12), but I did like seeing all the pieces being moved together.

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma

3.75

A dark and blood-drenched vampire dark academia for fans of Serpents and the Wings of Night, A Dowry of Blood, and Legendborn. A truer enemies-to-lovers than The Cruel Prince.

Hidden from our world, a society of vampires are bound to only feed from select human bloodlines. To ensure peaceful co-existence and inherit their legacy, these human children must study at Uxley university before choosing a vampire companion. 

Kidan Adane can only pursue justice by entering the enemy’s lair, the place she has learnt to hate as evil with a raging vengeance. But her sister has been taken, and she is sure the vampire bound to her own House is responsible - Susenyos Sagad. Feared by even his own kind. 

To gain knowledge and acquire her inheritance, to keep it out of Susenyos’s hands, Kidan must pass all her courses and survive the nightmares Uxley unleashes on her.  

This is TRUE ENEMIES-TO-LOVERS. 

I have never seen two character despise each other more. 

He drew in a slow breath, tracking one pupil then the other. "Your hatred burns like ocean ice. And it's entirely... mine. I've never owned something so completely."

Kidan isn’t here to mess around. Her hands are already drenched in blood and she is willing to drown her soul in order to find her sister. 

This covers some dark themes. Triggering topics. It is about loving yourself, forgiving yourself, moving on, trusting yourself, seeking a future and connections. 

Wait, this is Young Adult?!

Seek mind above blood, and if you must bleed, use it as ink.

I loved that it was rooted in Ethiopian culture and there was an emphasis on reclaiming lost history. 

Thank you to Berkeley for providing a physical arc in exchange for a review! 

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

4.25

This is my favourite book of The Wheel of Time!

The first book penned by Brandon Sanderson in the Wheel of Time series as dictated and directed by Robert Jordan.

"The Wheel has groaned its final rotation, the clock has lost its spring, the serpent heaves its final gasps. He must know pain of heart. He must know frustration, and he must know anguish. Bring these to him. And you will be rewarded.”

The omens are all bad.

Egwene’s position as a prisoner has worsened, the severity of her beatings increasing the longer she continued to defy the powers in the White Tower.

No doubt about it - Egwene is my favourite character. Seeing her manoeuvre around the Tower and hold her patience and pride was awe inspiring. Every single character should learn from her. 

Rand desires a meeting with the Daughter of the Nine Moons to secure peace with the Seachen. 

Rand’s journey has by no means be easy over this series, but in the book, we really see how everything has piled on to turn him for a farmer’s son to a King and someone resigned to dying.

His character arc in this book is what I have been eagerly anticipating for the last 5 books!

The Shaido had left Perrin two things: a scent of blood on the air and a hundred thousand refugees to care for. The men all saw him as their leader. Some even thought of him as their king! He'd never asked for that and grated against the duty he feels chained to. He just wants to lead a normal life. 

This seems a common theme amongst all our characters. 

And yet, he had quickly learned one thing from being a king: the more authority you gained, the less control you had over your life. Duty was truly heavier than a mountain; it forced his hand as often as the prophecies did. Or were they both one and the same? Duty and prophecy? His nature as a ta'veren and his place in history?

This book read so well. The chapters are thankfully shorter. The descriptions don’t worthlessly drone on. Sanderson’s writing is engaging and more accessible at times compared to earlier books where names and titles can overwhelm with needless details. 

Sanderson also explained issues to do with the Wheel more accessibly and I barely found myself skimming when character started droning on about prophecies and the Wheel.

The Wheel has turned, for better or worse. And it will keep on turning, as lights die and forests dim, storms call and skies break. Turn it will. The Wheel is not hope, and the Wheel does not care, the Wheel simply is. But so long as it turns, folk may hope, folk may care. For with light that fades, another will eventually grow, and each storm that rages must eventually die. As long as the Wheel turns. As long as it turns.

You can tell Sanderson’s joy and loyalty to this series. Led by Jordan’s notes and scene descriptions and dictations to his agents and wife, this felt like an incredible collaboration between the departed and the new. 

I admitted to being scared I would be let down by the end of the series after book 11, but I am getting quite excited now.

Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon

3.25

Imagine Monty Python, but Irish and set during the Peloponnesian War.

A historical fiction narrating the not-so-glorious-exploits of two unemployed potters Lampo and Gelon following the Athenian invasion of Syracuse. The defeated Athenians are kept prisoners in an old quarry in the city, starved, dirty, hopeless, and easy targets for those seeking revenge against the invaders.

Gelon and Lampo wish to direct a production of Euripides’s Medea with those captives who remember the lines from the plays. 

Whilst Gelon is brooding and intense and painstakingly serious and passionate, Lampo is funny, more easygoing, incredibly impulsive, compassionate, and endlessly loyal and optimistic. 

The hearts of men are alike wherever you go. The rest is scenery.

What took me off guard was the contemporary dialect, particularly when it came to Lampo which was highlighted by the audiobook’s narrator and the Irish addition. 

For such a short book, it tried to do a lot. This causes a awkward pacing. A slow meandering start followed by a rather hectic ending. 

I also wanted more world building as it chucks you right in without much historical context except the bare bones. However, I admit I don’t think that was the purpose of this book.

Ultimately, it is a homage to the power of story to affect individuals and connect us all, crossing borders through empathy. Even enemies.

Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson

2.5

Indiana Jones fans, here’s a new book for you!

After being arrested for a Women’s rights protest, strong and adamant Ellie Mallory with archaeological ambitions is fired from her archivist job.

When Ellie finds (steals) a map to a mysterious ancient city, she is desperate to explore. Only thing is, she is tracked by a ruthless villain right out of an Indiana Jones movie. 

This means (unwillingly) acquiring the help of surveyor Adam Bates, a snake-wrangling, charming rogue who can’t seem to keep his shirt on and makes it his duty to tease Ellie. 

The first half was definitely the best. I loved Ellie’s voice. It was distinct, funny, and strong. However, as they get to the temple, the action and moustache twirling villains just overtook any grand character moments. 

Honestly, I was fighting boredom the whole time. With such a great premise, I couldn’t get attached to the characters or plot. It seemed too predictable and extremely troupey. Adam was basically a young Harrison Ford insert. 

The audiobook narrator did a great job at the dual pov and all the accents!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me the audiobook in exchange for a review!

Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan

3.25

Following the assassination of the Seanchan Imperial family, Suroth wants to become Empress which means killing the heir - Turon, the Daughter of Nine Moons. Also, a pain in Mat’s butt. 

Not to mention, he’s supposed to marry her. But how could a man be married to a woman if he did not know her? Worse, he had to make her see him as something more than Toy.

Elaida thought Egwene safely imprisoned in the White Tower but Egwene did not consider herself a prisoner. She was carrying the battle into the heart of the Tower itself refusing to back down. 

Egwene has definitely cemented herself as a favourite! I love her attitude.

“Stone cracks from a hard enough blow," she said, her face an Aes Sedai mask of calm. "Steel shatters. The oak fights the wind and breaks. The willow bends where it must and survives."

Elayne’s arc really frustrated me in this book. Jordan seems to think pregnant woman can’t manage to do anything without having a tantrum. Not to mention, Elayne, headstrong and stubborn Elayne, suddenly questions whether her own decisions are sound!

She is made to be petulant. Instead of maturing into the role of a mother, she is relegated to a childish girl in need of babying and coddling.1 

Perrin’s increasing rage and desperation for Falie as the book crescendos into a rescue attempt was interesting to see alongside Falie’s only escape attempts.

Surprisingly however, not a lot of time was dedicated to their portion!

The twisted iron pieces of a blacksmith's puzzle moved only in certain ways. Move them in the right way, and the puzzle came apart. People could move in a thousand ways, sometimes in directions you never believed possible till it happened.

This is supposed to be the start of the best. Whilst I admit it was better than books 8, 9, and 10; it was not a huge step up. 

I am now worried that I will be an outlier and will not be absolutely blown away by the last three books….