Book Review: Proven Guilty: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even though this was a slow read for me, I enjoyed this book nonetheless. Harry Dresden, Chicago's only Wizard, has dealt with a lot. But with a case dealing with horror movie monsters coming to life and attacking him, and someone very close to him using magic to the point that she may or may not have messed up someone's psyche for good, it's up to tired ol' Harry to grab his blasting rod, his skull Bob, his dog Mouse, and every single wit he has to solve the case and find out why his friend would do such a thing and maybe try to fix everything.

This one might be my least favorite Dresden, but that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy this book. I liked how it went from Harry trying to get over what happened during the Warden's meeting with the Merlins, to how the phobophages got in and started attacking people and leaving some wounded, to finding out it was Molly that was did magic on her friends, to scare them to stop taking drugs and put them on the straight and narrow, only to realize that she may have scarred her now ex-boyfriend, Nelson, with the spell she did.

The most shocking thing throughout the book was Molly's mom, Chasity, actually taking a stance and went into Arctis Tor to save Molly when the agents of Queen Mab kidnaped her. I wasn't expecting it, it was so left field and it was totally badass. I did laugh a bit when Caine actually tried to sell Dresden on ebay-that was pretty darn funny. Anyway, back to goin into Arctis Tor to save Molly, Dresden does an oopsie and let out the Summer Fire, and once they saved Molly, had to get out of there quick before pretty much all of Winter Court comes down on his, Chasity, Molly, Thomas and Murph's heads. When they did leave though, Dresden did think that he saw Mab's eyes winking at him somewhere. Oh, and his godmother, the Leanshitde, was locked up for some reason, and that she wanted to leave, but sadly couldn't.

I enjoyed reading this book, it was funny and showed the best Dresden, even when he's bone tired, but at the same time, it was fun to read and I enjoyed myself. Gave it a four because it was just slow for me, that's all.

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Book Reviews: Hooky Volume 2, Heartless, The Vanderbeeks on the Road & We Hunt the Flame

Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The art style was perfect and my heart kind of broke in the end. Also I still love Princess Monica and I'm now worried about Daimen and Dani. That means TIME TO READ BOOK THREE

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Heartless by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Heartless by Marissa Meyer felt like you're looking inside the mind of a famous literary character and how she turned completely evil. I liked reading about the humble beginnings of Catherine Pinkerton and how she wanted to open her bakery, because she could make the best pastries in Hearts. But thanks to her dear mother, who thinks that she shouldn't be doing that, is pressuring her to fall in love with the King of Hearts, marry him, and live happily ever after.

Yeah, right.

During the night of the King's Ball, she meets a man named Jest, and the two of them have some really cool adventures-going to Hatta's shop to have a real tea party, going out and seeing the real Hearts at night, I guess, and also trying to figure out how to keep their relationship a secret. When the Jabbawocky starts to attack, everyone in Hearts is scared and afraid and doesn't know what to do. So Catherine, along with Jest and her maid Mary Ann, figure out where the Jabbawocky is coming from and why it's attacking people.

Who would've thought that the attacks and the Jabberwocky is actually Sir Peter Peter's wife? I wasn't even expecting that outcome, but when it did, I was shocked, and was worried when Catherine finally got to fight the Jabberwock, but once it died and Jest was killed (QUITE VIOLENTLY, BY THE WAY) and that they wanted her heart because she was supposed to be the Queen of Hearts...well....that changed up Catherine's whole world completely.

Seeing her turn into the villian we know and love was very well-written and I loved every bit of it. Seeing the three sisters and how each of the characters turned out at the end was very good, though painful, and this might be my first book I like of a Alice in Wonderland retelling.

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The Vanderbeekers on the Road by Karina Yan Glaser
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the second Vanderbeekers book that I've read, and once again, I loved it. In this book, the Vanderbeekers are on the road to surprise Papa about the road trip his grandfather (or father, I think?) wanted to take with him before he passed. But like any Vanderbeeker book, this does come with funny hijinks and worry about a family splitting apart.

Laney tried to keep Jessie and Orlando from going to Berkley by doing everything she could possible to make them miss their interviews, and she did make Orlando miss his, but instead, with that turnaround, Jessie used her interview to talk about Orlando and he go it, and now Jessie isn't going to Berkley. Isa and the others were wondering what was going on, and why Jessie and Orlando were being secretive, all over their phones and whatnot. Even one time Oliver and Laney broke into their phones and wrote them a fake email changing the times so they wouldn't go to their interviews.

At the same time, everyone is stuck in this van, trying to go and see their Papa and also deliver two cats to their Auntie, who was speaking at the Monterey Bay Aquarium I believe, and for Mr. B to go up to Auntie Penny (I think that's her name) and they also stayed at a Dude Ranch when the van broke down. I really liked the pictures of the many states they went through--I thought that they were a really nice touch, and the miles the family went though to get to Monterey Bay was also fun as well.

I am planning on reading the rest of this series, because it is a fun time and I love it so much :)

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We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I AM UNWELL.

That ending. What-how-EXCUSE ME?!

So first off, before I go off a weird tangent on why this book surprised me, this is my second time reading Hafsah Faizal's books, and We Hunt the Flame might have to be the second book of hers that I like. This book felt like a weird combination of Assassin's Creed and Skyrim, with the names I peeped (Altair and Haytham) and how this book felt like a very long episode or movie of a really good fantasy show, and I really didn't want it to end.

My favorite characters would have to be Zafira, Nasair, and Altair, shockingly. I do like the other characters, like Yasmine, Lana and Deen, and the villain of the month goes to the Lion of the Night, because SHEESH brother. SHEESH. And that reveal about the Sliver Witch and Nasir and the Lion of the Night and Altair. Like, I NEED to know more, because ma'am, you can't just drop that and then end the book! You just...you just can't!

The atmosphere and the danger of it all was set up really nicely, and the fact that I wasn't even expect half of the things that happened in the book was so good that I almost screamed. I'm so glad that I got book two so I can read it and find out what happened next, because I GOTS TA KNOW, DARN IT.

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Book Review: All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first time reading anything by Adalyn Grace, and I have to say, this was a pretty fun book. I loved the action, the adventure, everything. It made me want to pick up the next book in this series, and then finally read Belladonna, because Adalyn Grace has become one of my favorite authors of all time right now.

This book is about a princess named Amora, who was training and was about to become the next High Animancer, when the soul magic that she uses took over her, and her father threw her in jail. Thanks to the help of a pirate named Bastien Bargas, she gets on his boat, the Kneel Haul, and starts to escape...but her fiancee, Ferrick, comes to try and stop them, only for him to come along with them on their adventures. Amora wanted to be on the ship and learn how to steer one for so long, that being on the boat feels like a dream. The three of them go to three islands to find and learn about a man named Kaven, who wants to take over the kingdom of Viridia.

There is a tiny bit of romance in the book which I liked, but I also liked how Amora was strong and wanted so hard to see and save her kingdom from what her family has done to it after all this time. Seeing the world and seeing where her father didn't do what he was supposed to do when it came to protecting the kingdom and helping the rest of the islands was so heartbreaking to read. I felt so bad for her to witness all the pain that happened, and when she finally met Kaven and learned about where the soul magic came from and how it twisted into what she knows now.

When she lost her magic, it felt like she lost a part of herself, and she didn't even want to get out of bed. But thank god someone (Bastian and Ferrick) told her that she can save her kingdom with or without her soul magic, which she did, but thanks to Kaven tying her father's soul to him and then her father turning around and killing himself (ow that hurts so much!) she finally got the strength to kill Kaven, but at the same time, learn that Bastian tied himself to her and that part of her soul is with him, just like Bastian's soul was with Kneel Haul. I am so invested in this story that I NEED book two to know how it ends.

I really enjoyed this book so much, and I'm so glad that I read it. Adalyn Grace, you're my new favorite author, I love you

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Book Review: The Perfect Wife by Lynsay Sands

The Perfect Wife by Lynsay Sands
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So this was an okay romance, nothing to run home and tell Mama about. It's about a girl named Avelyn, who's curvy and perfect, but thanks to her cousins, her self-esteem is torn to the point that she thinks she's ugly and not attractive to her husband that she betrothed to. When Paen comes to marry her, she thinks that Paen would find her disgusting and would run the moment he sees her. Instead, Paen falls in love with her, and once he finds out why her self-esteem is so messed up, he helps her see that she's perfect the way she is.

Some funny things keep happening to Avelyn, like her dress ripping to the side, her near drowning and Paen getting on her horse to clear out her windpipe, and her falling to the point that her dress caught and saved her. It turns out that someone was trying to kill her because she was with Paen and not her daughter, which was clearly messed up. But it was funny that the killer was scared of Avelyn's pet piglet, Samson, who just came up the stairs and just ran towards her.

The spice scenes were okay, it wasn't the ones that made me go "Well godddamn!" and all that. It did make me laugh every once in a while, but other than that it was alright, nothing to come home and tell mama again (again, because it was just okay).

The murder plot against her was fine, it wasn't all that shocking to me anyway, but all in all it was a really good book, I enjoyed myself, and I might pick up the next book, I might now, Idk.

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Book Review: A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faisal

A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a very interesting book. In the beginning, it was introducing the characters and nothing happened. It was quite nice, and I liked the setup of how they were going to save the teahouse. But when it got to the action, it fell a bit flat to me. It was like the author was waiting for the right time for the characters to be badasses, and it can get a bit frustrating for them to do so. When it did get to the parts of them ready to let them do what they gotta do, it got really fun.

I do like the triple POVs of Arthie, Jin, and Flick, and seeing them preparing for the heist, but when it falls apart and they have to regroup and figure something else, secrets come out-things that some people want to keep hidden. One example of this secret is Arthie being a half-vampire and keeping it a secret from practically everyone. I wasn't even expecting it, to be fair. I thought she was just hiding something and didn't want to tell anyone about it, but to confess to Laith, who looks like some anime character, even though he was captain of the Honored Guard, even though he figured it out and tried to steal her gun from her was kind of messed up. The way Jin was scared of fire was interesting and how he finally just jumped inside the burning Spindrift, just to save Arthie but turned around to get saved by Flick was really nice. And, to me, the best character growth has to be Flick, because she finally stood up to her mother, only to turn around and get shocked when her mother was the Ram.

That's right, Flick's own mother is the Ram.

Another shocking thing was the ending, when the Wolf of White Roaring, whoever he was (maybe it was Matteo?) knew where Arthie was and picked her up...and that was it. I wanted to know more about this Wolf that keeps getting mentioned--who is he? Who are they? Did they know where Arthie was? What's going on here?

And Jin. Poor Jin. Getting turned after getting shot by the Ram. But hey, I did like the side romance between him and Flick, and how he got comfortable enough to finally call her Flick after calling her Felicity multiple times, even when she told him to call her Flick.

Flick standing up to her mother was actually fun to read. I know it was probably hard for her to do, but at least she did it, and gave back the lighter so she can finally be free of her. When she found out that her own mother was the Ram, and how she was going to start a war with a bunch of starved vampires....it hurt her so much.

This was the first time reading anything by this author and it was very interesting, and I want to read more of her work.

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Book Review: The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a fascinating retelling of Arthur and Guinevere, and the twist that Guinevere is a changeling sent to protect Arthur was very interesting indeed. I found that I enjoyed this book more than I thought, mostly because of how we see this Guinevere learn and struggle with her position of being a queen, then trying to be a wife to Arthur and also trying to protect him at the same time. I feel like this is quite refreshing to see, instead of just Guinevere marrying Arthur, and then oh she meets Lancelot and oh she betrays Arthur by being with Lancelot and all that good stuff.

I also liked the romance that blossomed between Arthur and Guinevere. It was quite refreshing to see two people learn to love each other instead of just knowing each other and then hop into bed. This romance between Arthur and Guinevere is sweet, kind, and gentle, and then Mordred appears almost every single time next to her, acting like he was "protecting" her, saying little things like "Oh, I know what you are" and all that jazz. But when Malagear, I think his name is, kidnapped her, he did show up...and he gave her an idea about waking up the trees.

Well, Guinevere did do that, spilling her blood so she could wake the trees up, but then it backfired on her, when it turns out Mordred tricked her into summoning his mother/grandmother, I believe. I was shocked when that happened because I wasn't expecting it. But I still enjoyed it nonetheless, and I now want to finish reading the series to find out what happened next.

Bringing up legends like Sir Tristan and Isolde and making Sir Lancelot a girl (in which I wanted them to get together, but ah well), to making Merlin, shockingly, look like the villain in the book about what happened to her and why she only knows knot magic and not actual magic to help protect Camelot, I enjoyed myself. Seeing Guinevere struggle in Camelot and try to hide everything she is while doing so, also trying to figure out her feelings for Arthur, it was actually pretty darn good and I cannot wait to read the next book in this series, because I need to know what happened and how Camelot survive, and also how Arthur and Guinevere get on in their blooming relationship.

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