urban fantasy

Book Review: The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith ★★★

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“The trouble with reading is it goes to your head. Read too many books and you get savvy. You begin to think you know which kind of story you’re in. Then some stupid git with a cosmic quill fucks you over.“

I definitely enjoyed this book! I think I’ve decided to give it 3.5 stars overall. The concept was very cool and I had been excited to read it ever since hearing about it a year ago. Ultimately, the concept was a bit more successful for me than the actual execution was, but I did still like it. If you’re looking for a “book about books” or a “book written for book lovers” or “a book about a magical library,” forget A Sorcery of Thorns and read this instead. It is a billion times better.

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Book Review: An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard ★★

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“Magic, at its heart, starts with sacrifice. You have to give up something to get something, and because magic is big, with all that it allows you access to, what you give up has to be big. It has to be meaningful.”

So ultimately, I am really disappointed in this book. I requested this one from my library and I have heard a lot of good things about it, so I was really excited when it finally came in and I could get my hands on it. I had heard people call this one “adult Harry Potter” and it was (originally) a stand-alone. All things I was very interested in! However, it just fell very flat for me in the end😕😕

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Book Review: The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman ★★★

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“Never turn yer back on the sea, and remember what’s hidden beneath her is always more deadly than what’s in plain sight.”

I read this book so fast! Honestly like in two days. And I am already getting into book three, so suffice it to say, I am flying through this series! Book two was really good. I liked it better than the first one and it felt like we were truly delving into the characters and the meat of the story for the first time. I’d give this one 3.5 stars.

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Book Review: Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter ★★

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“And, I suddenly understand, I do want to be Vassa–or technically I want to make Vassa into somebody worth being. The only way to become that somebody is to live in a real, substantial world: a world that doesn’t follow orders, that’s just as willful and independent as I’m going to be. I can only become a whole girl in a place that offers resistance; a place that makes me fight for what I want.“

Ugh! I’m so sad about this book. I was ready to love it, despite the mixed reviews surrounding it and the incredibly weird plot I had been hearing about. It was a Russian-inspired YA retelling of Vasilisa the Beautiful! Of course, I was going to like it! At least, that’s what I thought 😢

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Book Review: This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab ★★★

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“But the teacher had been right about one thing: violence breeds.
Someone pulls a trigger, sets off a bomb, drives a bus full of tourists off a bridge, and what’s left in the wake isn’t just shell casings, wreckage, bodies. There’s something else. Something bad. An aftermath. A recoil. A reaction to all that anger and pain and death.”

This book was really good! It started off a bit slow, but I think in the end getting the complete history of the characters and city was well worth it. I am eagerly anticipating the next novel about August, Kate, and the monster menagerie we were introduced to here!

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