The Muse

The Muse

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)

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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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

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

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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