My Cup of Tea

How embarrassing. I know, I KNOW!! But this was SO MUCH FUN!!

The chills

This book has nothing to do with ASoIaF. There, I said it. Although, I guess I can see the Tolkienish aspect, that something that completely captivates. Comparisons are rather annoying, and yet I’m going to throw another one out there: this book is like Harry Potter, dude!

The truth is that we can compare this book to basically any other book existing. Let me tell you why.
The Kingkiller Chronicle Saga is the telling of Kvothe’s life story, a “retired” epic hero, living his life in the quiet anonymity as a tavern keeper. Any well told life-long story would include high and lows, misery and happiness, love, friendship, mistakes and triumphs; and this is how The Name of the Wind intertwines the core of different genres and the base of any other story you have ever read.

A parallelism starts when Kvothe is convinced of telling the true happenings that lead him into becoming a legend, going all the way back to his childhood, and continues mixing between his present and his past. The present is boarded in a third person narrative and very little explored. The past is boarded through a first person, very unreliable narrator.
Clever mechanism, right? The whole books is clever in fact, a very astute reflection about what storytelling really is, done almost in a satirical way. The story is plagued with typical clichés, approached in a quasi-realistic manner.

I knew the shape of stories. When a young couple comes to a river there is a definite shape to what will happen next. (…)I would move off a discrete distance, out of sight, but within easy talking distance. Then... something would happen. She would slip and turn her ankle, or cut her foot on a sharp stone, and I’d be forced to rush over. And then...
But this was not a story of two young lovers meeting by the river. So I splashed some water on my face and changed into my clean shirt behind a tree.

This makes kind of a predictable story and a very main-character based one. Luckily, our protagonist is funny, cute, ironic, ingenious, a little arrogant and pretty mysterious; enough to keep us entertained.
The world building is marvelous, but mostly lightly shown: geography, background history, currency, bibliography, folklore and a quite believable kind of magic.

I can’t give this book 5 stars. I loved it, but the hype took my expectations too high, to an unreachable point. Let’s be honest, Patrick Rothfuss doesn’t need my pity stars, and if I’m allowed to be completely subjective in my reviews, I won’t give it a perfect score because I ended feeling a little hungry for more. Meaning, I will totally read the sequel and I’m expecting more side-character development and action.

Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Consideration before reading:
This book is an indie work. So basically, Plague Jack (I’m 90% sure that’s his real name) has done the entire job by himself (I’m guessing). Books are not about having a good idea and writing it down in an appealing way anymore, book industry nowadays is a lot about marketing: writing the story people would buy and pretty covers. I’m not getting into a big rant about this; I just want to point out that, as an indie book and the first work of the author, SoaS is a little bit undercooked in some aspects (as spelling issues) that I choose to overlook in the light of it being a really bold move. What can I say… I’m an admirer of all indie things.

“Events have been set in motion that cannot be undone, and when he returns the sky will go dark and the stars will be unmade.”

Sins of a Sovereignty, first installment of The Amernia Fallen series, indeed sets up the beginning of what seems to be a complex and an exciting story to come. This novel is mainly focused on characters development and world building, and maybe too little on a particular sequence of events. Chapters are presented on a POV way, narrated on a 3rd person with the particular perception of some characters and several flashbacks here and there of the previous events that lead to the present day.

I spent almost half of the book trying to set up the background history of this world on my mind, which is not that easy considering it’s delivered through the book in little glimpses (that did very well on keeping me interested). So, let me give you a head start…

The land of Amernia has being scarred by two wars: the Rose Rebellion, that expelled the Vaetorian conquerors, and the Green War, that stopped the usurping attempts of Prince Darius. The latter did not only leave the north of the country inhabitable cause of a poisonous gas, but also encouraged the resentment and hostility between humans and elfkin. Since the end of the Green War, elves, dwarfs, fierce faelings and big, not-so-brilliant gildnoids have to spend their lives being look down as sub-humans. This is only setting up for disaster right?

As for characters, they’re developed in a quite multifaceted manner. It really reminds me of GRRM in the sense of not being an only protagonist, and every one of the character not being inherited evil or good, but driven by different events that shape their personalities. Among them, we have:

♦ Clark Pendragon, the honorable veteran of both wars. He participated willingly by the side of his best friend King Gabriel Roselock in the Rose Rebellion. After Gabriel’s death, he followed dutifully his Queen to another war that would leave him only guilt, regret, and a small uncertainty about where his loyalty should truly lay.

♦ Minerva Roselock, the Blood Queen. A ruthless ruler that accepts any means to her goals, although, oddly her goals seem to be nothing but unselfish. A beautiful, intelligent and brave woman, whose strong measurements have being drifting her alone and isolated from any other person.

♦ Calcifer, the Bottler. A young elf that has suffered the consequences of the Green War, chosen personally by The Life Bringer God to impart justice between the gifted ones that give a wrong use to their powers, the hellions. But he’s no saint himself; he carries the name of a feared legend, but deep inside remains a very conflicted young boy.

♦ Shrike, the Queen’s Spymaster. A witty, clever dwarf that knows too much for his own good. A true realistic and funny as they come; remains loyal to the Queen as long as it solves his personal interests.

This are the POV characters that we really get to know. There are few other significant to the plot; as Duchess Veronica Evrill, the inventor. This woman embodies a standout and distinctive feature of this book: technology.
We’re set on typical magical medieval world, but we see hints of inventions characteristic of a modern society that give this fantasy a steampunky feel to it (Yeah, let's make "steampunk fantasy" happen!). Dialogs also fluctuate between really formal and informal, which I myself feel gives this book some sort of lightness in a good way.

The plot is pretty lineal, events flow as expected for the most part. There are very few shocking moments, which didn’t even bother me as caught up as I was with the world building and characters interactions. Some particular geographic spots, as Harpy’s Point, are ideated and described amazingly, and some secondary characters, as Joseline, give a really pleasant surprise.

The dark scenes are very well written. At times I got a bit disgusted about what I was reading and peculiarly quite excited all at once.

A real lacking point: A map at the beginning. Just saying... many of my favorite books start with maps.

At the very end, I just feel privileged of have being able to read this book. I know for sure that with a little luck and little help for the author, this saga could become an outstanding work in the fantasy genre.
If you've never "read that book before it was cool", this is your chance!

I'm not really into poetry, but the thing is... I have had a little bit of a crush on Becquer since I first read this.

1 + 1/2 star

Meh....Too cheesy-romantic....not my kind of thing

The only interesting part of the plot was the whole adultery, and that was solved so, so, soooo poorly.

"The more time I spent with her, the more immune I became to the hot mess that she looked. Not even a hot mess, which implied some kind of hotness, just a mess."

That phrase totally works for both, Jeane and this book.

Jeane is adorkable. What is that? Well....It's being weird + being really strong minded/revolutionary + being feminist + internet addict + puppies (WTF? I love puppies so OK!).
She dress in the most oddly ways to accent her uniqueness and it's completly uncapable of keeping her mouth shut about "stuff that really matters".
And Jeane gets oddly involved with a boy who is everything but adorkable: beautiful and liked by everyone, Michael Lee.

So...If you get to liking Jeane, despite her bitchyness cockyness, you can probably enjoy a fun story. I know I really enjoyed it (don't be fooled by the rating) and it was not about the plot, not about the characters development, not about the dialogs and definitely not about the odd romance. You'll have a dual pov to understand this romance better, but yet this story seems to me a lot more of a coming of age or a self discovery one.

The highlight of this book is the empowerment of dorkiness. It's always interesting to see how authors manage themselves to reflect the reality of how internet is changing us. Awkwardness has skyrocketed its populatity online, and I want to think that that makes it more acceptable offline. And that's cool! I expended most of my teen years trying to fit in and be normal, but teenagers this days are embracing their dorkyness/awkwardness/being-differentness.
This book can give you ,young adult, a wonderful message about how it's OK to be different (which isn't that obvious to everyone) and that in today world you're never alone.

“Dorkdom isn't something you can choose. It's something you are. But instead of dividing the world up into dorkside and darkside, I've realised that we all have a little bit of dork inside us.”

I know I would definitely join this dorkhood!

So....This book is supposed to be read between book 1 and 2 of the Artist Trilogy, although it's in fact a prequel. I read it after Shooting Scars, because ....that's how I roll.

I can totally see what Halle was trying to do from the very beginning. This is the story of Ellie and Javier, and this is supposed to flip up everything we preconceived about Javier in [b:Sins & Needles|16029994|Sins & Needles (The Artists Trilogy, #1)|Karina Halle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347859611s/16029994.jpg|21799599].
But...I ...can't...even....grrrrrr

I spend a grand part of the book thinking this was not doing it for me. Sure, Javier is a smooth, sexy man, but the possessive kind has been done a lot and it's not really my cup of tea. Until a certain chapter at the end... He-totally-broke-my-heart!

So touché Karina Halle, you have fairly made your point here.

Yet, I really miss the strong Ellie Watt. This was too much of a love story compared to the other books!

2.5 stars

This book....It's just a fun contemporary. Don't look for nothing else in it because you won't find it.

The characterization of Lucy lastname Vacarro is surprisingly cool and modern. She's a quite not-girly girl that is really into Left for Dead a zombie video game. She's funny at times (that wins the extra half star!)

"Social networking should bring people together, not serve as an online gladiator arena.”
My mind drifts to Russell Crowe in his gladiator outfit, but even that picture of perfect badassery can’t keep the knots out of my stomach. I want to do the right thing, to say what I need to say, to stand up for what’s right—not just for me, but for everyone who goes through stuff like this.

The thing about this book is that it's an underachiever. It draws our attention to quite interesting topics as cyberbullying, slut-shaming, the wrong use of social networks and general stereotyping, but it doesn't go deeper enough into those matters to make an valuable statement.
That's quite a shame, cause it ruins every other aspect for me:

*Romance: little development, which would be ok if the book had a stronger focus on the main thread: bulling maybe? (everything mentioned before)

*Plot: some events are too convenient, but as a whole it's kind of thrilling. The ending just feels unsatisfactory.

I'm apologizing now. I gave a warning in my Throne of Glass review about it being YA and hinting that was the reason that that book was a lot of chick-lit drama and too light for a fantasy.

So... this one is YA too, but it kicks TOG's ass!!!

The improvement is exponential! This book dives completly into fantasy and the assasins theme, and it slowly starts to display the complex world and back story that Sarah J. Maas has prepared for us.
I've just find out that this will be more than 3 books long. That really explains why the first book was so mild, and it really excites me because (as I said before) this world is full of potential.

Crown of Midnight is action packed, misterious, funny, dark and yet it keeps the girly fling to it and develops a lovely romance. Team Chaol over here! From the very begging!!
We get to see deeper into each one of the characters and to witness the appearance of new aspects of their personality.

Complaints:
1- Mental trauma is a too much used tool to confuse protagonists. Celaena gets a little annoying, like grab-her-by-the-shoulders-and-shake-her-like-crazy annoying.
2- There are a couple of too obvious hints (from both books in this series) about the major plot twist at the end that made it really predictable. But there are other really shocking ones so...we're ok!

Summing up: If this saga keeps this pace, [b:Heir of Fire|20613470|Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3)|Sarah J. Maas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1398368877s/20613470.jpg|25128502] will be epic!

I have seeing this book everywhere and everyone have loved it 4 or 5 stars much. So when I decided I was in the mood for some light, easy-read romance, it had to be this one.

First thing: That title is kind of corny. There actually isn’t a lot of kissing and this book is not intended to be sexy. But I get it; “Anna and The French Kiss” is catchy.
I just wanted to point that out.

So… Paris. Is there a better place to fall in love? And yet, Anna hates her father for forcing her into cursing her senior year in a Parisian boarding school. But of course, because Anna’s potential sweetheart and her best friend will be miles away, back home in Atlanta. She will be all alone in Paris. Except for her friendly next door neighbor Meredith and her whole group of friends, which includes Mer’s secret crush: Étienne St. Clair. Yes my dear, he’s beautiful, nice, funny, clever, truly perfect (maybe too perfect). And he’s completely taken. You will enjoy a sweet, funny and really entertaining story where Anna tries not to fall for him.

I totally ignored the clichéd characters (perfect boy, girl that doesn’t know how perfect she is, the pretty mean girl) because in spite of that, Perkins really make them work out together and creates a cute and relatable ambiance.

I’m lowering the rating because of one specific thing. In my opinion, this book could be better with a few less chapters. I feel like at the moment our romance peeks its development, Perkins determinately mess EVERYTHING up so the story could be more interesting and goes on with all the fuss for another ten chapters. This way when the resolution really comes, it’s kind of disappointing. I totally understand about the world wide problem about people not speaking to each other when is needed and assuming too much, but this story does push it to a limit. Maybe this is just a syndrome of me reading this book in 2 sittings, but well… It gets really frustrating!

Warning: remember this is YA Lit.

I went in believing this was about badass assasins (just look at that amazing cover!), but this is YA and YA is about an appealing young protagonists through a "coming of age" process.

It is truly sad that the characteristics of this book that make it a YA fiction are the things that frustrated me. The settings, the world, the characters have so much potential that it hurts seeing the author not taking enough advantage of it!!

So... This book is a light fantasy (right next to Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor). This books are beautifully developed in a fantastic world, but mantaining the lightness of a chick-lit novel.

Our heroin is Celaena Sardothien (awesome name, yes!). At 18, she has managed to become the most deathly and feared assasin of Adarlan. But she was betrayed, so she ended up slaving on the salt mines of Endovier. There is where she's found by Prince Dorian, who has an offer: She must be his champion on a competition for becoming the king's personal assasin during 4 years in exchange for her freedom.
Are you picturing a strong, proud, beautiful, intelligent woman that always speaks her mind no matter what? Yes, she is all that, but she also enjoys sweets, pretty dresses, shoes and being coquette (told you, chick-lit). Deep down, she's just a little girl that has been shaped into a lethal weapon.

The story developes inside the Glass Casttle, core of the rising empire of King Havilliard. Along the competition, Celaena will get to know Chaol better (her scowling escort/trainer and captain of the royal guard), she will tease prince Dorian, she will meet princess Nehemia (another strong woman from a land in process of conquest) and she will find out that even though magic is forbidden, it has not yet disappeared.

This might be helpfull:



I'm really sad that having developed a complex world like Erilea, Sarah J. Maas decided just to stay in one place. On a positive side, this gives enormous room for expantion in the next book [b:Crown of Midnight|17167166|Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass, #2)|Sarah J. Maas|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1391580481s/17167166.jpg|21581860] (that I will totally read!)

The mistery....well, there is no such thing as mistery. The whole plot is quite predictable, but that doen't make it less enjoyable.

“I hate women like that. They're so desperate for the attention of men that they'd willingly betray and harm members of their own sex. And we claim men cannot think with their brains! At least men are direct about it.”

This doesn't really feels like 4 stars, this could have been EPIC. But, in the end I think this could be an extraordinary read for young girls. So I guess I'm rating acording to the genre now.

I am definitely part of the target market of Rainbow Rowell's books. I'm so identified with Rowell's main characters that I can't help loving her books. It's like someone asked me "What do you want in a contemporary novel?", and they put every thing I wanted together.

This book is funny, awkward, lovely, happy, surprisingly nerdy and geeky...CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!

And this is not just a love story. This is multiple relationships developing, people growing: Lincoln, his mom, Beth, Jennifer, even the silly Justin!

There are things that could make you dislike this book, as:
1- I didn't quite catch all of the 90's reference, which make them a little annoying and distracting.
2- I pictured Lincoln entirely different in my mind.
3- It's predictable.

I don't even care about those things, just... Rainbow Rowell: Stop making me believe in this marvelous kind of love!

“Things get better--hurt less--over time. If you let them.”