Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3)

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3)

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Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children, #3)Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s sad when a perfectly decent story leaves you disappointed, but that’s how I feel about this little novella. I absolutely loved Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones. They were both deep and meaningful and had important things to say about accepting yourself no matter how different you are and finding your place, whether it’s in this world or another. They spoke about how adults don’t see children as their equals, and undervalue their experiences and opinions and value just because of their age.

Because I was so moved and inspired by the first two books, I was expecting some of the same from this third installment. But that’s not what I got. …

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The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)

The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)

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The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A slow paced book containing an utterly powerful climax sequence; a spectacular middle book for the Mistborn trilogy.

When I first read The Well of Ascension, my experience was that I thoroughly loved it. It’s not until later that I discovered that apparently, a lot of people found the book disappointing. Because of this, I was scared that my reread experience would be ruined. Apparently, there’s nothing to worry about. Yes, it’s slightly an inferior book in comparison to The Final Empire but my overall experience of this reread is that I found the book almost as good as the first time I read through it. …

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My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2)

My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies #2)

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My Plain Jane (The Lady Janies, #2)My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so much.

Seriously. So. MUCH.

There aren’t enough comedic novels out there that don’t edge irritatingly into silly. This book, and the preceding book, are two of the funniest things I’ve ever read. They don’t take themselves too seriously, but the humor doesn’t overwhelm the plot. Both have made me laugh out loud with their pop culture references and plethora of awkward moments. I hope the authors write one of these on every famous Jane from history and literary, and that they move on to another first name from there. Maybe Elizabeth or Lucy or Alice or something. I wish that, some day, there would be dozens of these books, just lining book shelves and waiting to brighten someone’s day. …

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In Shadows We Fall

In Shadows We Fall

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In Shadows We FallIn Shadows We Fall by Devin Madson
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

In Shadows We Fall is an Asian inspired fantasy that won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novella in 2017, and it’s a well-deserved achievement.

I was away on a one week vacation and I barely had time to read anything except during my airplane ride. For this reason, I needed a novella or something short to fill my reading needs and I chose this book randomly because guess what? You can actually get this 108 pages novella for free just by subscribing to the author’s mailing list, which is an amazing gift. I’ll try to keep my review as brief as possible because this is a short book and I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers. …

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The Muse

The Muse

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The MuseThe Muse by Jessie Burton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Is there anything that holds as much sway over humankind as art?

Whether it takes the form of music or a painting or a sculpture or the written word, nothing speaks to our souls like art. This gives artists a power over their fellow men and women. But no one doubts art so much as its creator, and so an artist’s audience holds within themselves the approval and praise that said artist craves, and thus artists rely on their audiences for the affirmation and reassurance needed to create their next work of art. However, if an artist isn’t careful they begin producing cheap imitations of the art that first garnered them attention, and so artists must be careful regarding how heavily they rely upon and value the opinions of others. They need something else to feed that need and fuel their creativity.

They need a muse. …

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City of Lies (Poison Wars, #1)

City of Lies (Poison Wars, #1)

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City of Lies (Poison Wars #1)City of Lies by Sam Hawke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor—in exchange for an honest review.

An alluring debut imbued with a perpetual threat of lies and treachery.

City of Lies is Sam Hawke’s debut novel and the first book in the Poison Wars series. For the same reason as one of my most anticipated debuts of the year—The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang—I was intrigued by this one because of the amazing cover. Yes, I’m a sucker for a book with great cover art and I’m not ashamed of it. The main difference though is that I’ve waited for this one for so much longer than The Poppy War; since last September to be exact, when the cover was first revealed. Other than that, I seriously knew nothing about the book except the fact that two of my favorite authors of all time—John Gwynne & Robin Hobb—have already praised this debut. Now that I’ve read it, I have to agree with them that this is a great debut, but at the same time, it’s certainly different from my usual fantasy read. …

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Book Review: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

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I have a Booktube channel now! Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/petrikleo

Cover art illustrated by: Chris McGrath

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Mistborn (Book #1 of 3), Mistborn Saga (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 672 pages (Leatherbound edition)

Published: 17th July 2006 by Tor Books

Here it is, the beginning of the trilogy that sparked my love for reading fantasy novels. …

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The Good Girl

The Good Girl

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The Good GirlThe Good Girl by Mary Kubica
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Wow. I definitely didn’t see that ending coming.

Have you ever read a book where the last chapter completely changes the entire book for you, and how you view all of the events that preceded it? That’s what happened to me with this book. Before that final chapter, I found the book compelling, but honestly kind of predictable. This is the story of a kidnapping, told from the perspectives of three people: the mother of the kidnapped girl, the detective on the case, and the kidnapper. Each chapter is from one of these perspectives, from either before or after an unspecified event. …

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American Gods

American Gods

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American GodsAmerican Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mythology has always entranced me. Greek or Egyptian, Norse or Celtic, any myth I’ve ever come across has interested me, especially considering what each myth says about the culture it stems from and how said culture sees the world. Myths are man’s way of explaining the world and its phenomena to himself. How the world was created, why there are droughts and floods, how the tiger got its stripes or the elephant its trunk, are all things that man has attempted to explain through myths. …

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