Book Review: We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even though this took me a long time to read, I have to say, this was a very satisfying read. I enjoyed the action, the romance between Nasair and Zafira was beautiful, and I hope the Lion is burning in hell for what he did to Altair and Aya and Nasair's father, even though Nasair's father was a horrible person to him. I also liked how Lana and Yasmine were in it and somehow grounded Zafira because I had a scary thought that the Jawarat was going to control her and make her do things she would regret, like the time she killed the Demenhune caliph. Was I proud of Zafira in that moment when she did so? Yes, yes I was. But then, was I a bit sad that she did that, but she never really killed anyone other than the things she hunted in the Arz, and now that the Arz is gone, she is no longer the Huntress. She is Zafira bint Iskandar (hopefully I got the name right), and she is her own person.

In fact, I really liked how, in the whole book, they gave her space. She was going through so much throughout the book, along with planning on how to take down the Lion so he can go to hell, and to also find a way to restore magic. It felt like she was struggling--from her thoughts and feelings with the Jawarat near her, her feelings for the Prince of Death, and her feelings about trying to stop the Lion. I'm going to be honest, I really didn't like Zafira and Nasair together, but once I started reading this book, that's when I started to ship them and even loved them, cheering them on with their relationship.

Let's talk about Altair for a minute. I was ready to throw hands when he betrayed them, only to turn around and say that he was trying to kill the Lion, his father, mind you, himself. I was both shocked and still wanted to throw hands at him. But when Aya...sweet, kind, strong healer Aya betrayed us....these hands were rated E for everyone at this point. Because I was so mad at the both of them for betraying the zumra for the Lion, and the Lion taking Altair's eye just about to make me go off. I kinda felt sorry for Altair for watching his father get his heart implanted in, but was damn glad he escaped and turned around to face his father once more.

This duology might be one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm so glad that read it. It was a wild ride and I loved every bit of it.

View all my reviews

 

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

View all my reviews

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

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.

View all my reviews 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

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 :)

View all my reviews 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

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.

View all my reviews

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.

View all my reviews