❝ Despite our mundane lives, perhaps we make our own magic with words. ❞
—you can see it with the lights out; you are in love, true love <3
Unpopular op❝ Despite our mundane lives, perhaps we make our own magic with words. ❞
—you can see it with the lights out; you are in love, true love <3
Unpopular opinion alert... I think I loved this more than the first one! There's more plot, more action, and of course some more of the gorgeous romance that we all fell in love with in the first book.
I'm letting out my deranged side, you might want to take cover.
.....
ok too late you're trapped
*trips across the threshold sob-singing to long live*
*rI'm letting out my deranged side, you might want to take cover.
.....
ok too late you're trapped
*trips across the threshold sob-singing to long live*
*rights myself* Um, hi, guys, and welcome to my review of Leo Vald- um, I mean, Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan.
I read these books for the first time when I was young and spritely and about five feet tall (and yes, I am pretty far above five feet tall at my grown height, and yes, I know, I'm tall, the weather is great up here, thanks for asking).
Except, for reasons unknown to the public, I never read the last one.
Which means that this is my first time reading this one, that I'm reviewing right now, assuming I'm writing this review on the right book, which means that golly gosh darn dang it *cue Hazel fainting in the background* I was taken on the hugest emotional rollercoaster that left me in an even huger book hangover that makes me want to take money out of my not so huge savings and buy this series.
And no, this book wasn't perfect. *eyes well up as I resist the urge to take it back and start screaming about how perfect it is* because. Even though I love the characters and their bromances (and um the romances too.... duh) and relationships and banter. And even though the tension was great. The climax just.... wasn't.... it.
It was about 10 pages long and it was suspiciously easy for Leo, Jason, and Piper to send the Princess of Potty Sludge back where she came from, after literally two thousand pages of buildup over the course of the series. The entire seven wasn't even involved in the ultimate showdown! *dramatic sighing and throwing myself onto the floor*
Also, in the scene where all the gods are actually being helpful for once.... THE GODS ARE ACTUALLY BEING HELPFUL FOR ONCE. LIKE, WHAT??? TOTALLY MESSED WITH MY BRAIN.
Zeus was being all powerful and commanding and wise (and he wasn't even in his Roman form, which would have made more sense) and, needless to say, it made me so uncomfortable I kept looking into the imaginary camera filming me like I'm in the Office.
But I'm giving it five stars anyway, despite the slightly disappointing climax (though the ending was so cute and bittersweet, the climax just didn't serve), and don't you judge me, you who probably read all three of The Selection books even though you hated them from page one.
And I don't know how that's relevant in any way, but it has the same vibe. YOU'RE NOT THE BOOK POLICE OK.
If you MUST know, *hair flip* I'm giving it five stars because of the characters and their found family trope, arguably my favorite trope of all time. And because the writing sucks you in like your favorite hairtie into your mother's vacuum.
— Character breakdown because you all definitely need to hear everything I thought of all the characters <3
۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ❝You're not nothing to me. That's precisely the problem.❞ ۪⊹ˑ ۫
This was such a fun book! The idea of a wonderous and magical hotel, with 3.5 ⭐
۫ ˑ⊹ ۪ ❝You're not nothing to me. That's precisely the problem.❞ ۪⊹ˑ ۫
This was such a fun book! The idea of a wonderous and magical hotel, with all the mysteries and lore that surround it, were so compelling and intriguing. Taylor creates a solid backdrop for her story in a magical France where magicians are feared and outlawed and an orphaned young woman is struggling to fend for herself and her sister while wanting more in life than what the dice have cast for her. Nothing extremely new, but the story itself was original enough that you can definitely say this book is its very own, and the author has a wonderful imagination.
The plot was a bit slow-paced, but each chapter was stuffed with magic and wonder like an overfilled cannoli and I was never bored! Jani was a great protagonist and I enjoyed seeing her development. Bel was also cute, and their romance was sweet, if a tiny bit bland in my opinion. Another negative was that the climax seemed a bit lacklustre and coincidental, but hey, we love a nice happy ending.
Overall this was a great debut, not amazing or completely memorable, but fun! I will definitely look out for more from this author! <3...more
I wish that I had read this when I was still a child, because I know I would’ve absolutely adored it and read it countless times.
But alas, I read it nI wish that I had read this when I was still a child, because I know I would’ve absolutely adored it and read it countless times.
But alas, I read it now, much older. And my silly, nostalgic little heart loves it just as much as if I had read it years ago. It’s such a charming, unique, hilarious tale of mice and princesses and thread and soup and honestly, it’s a gift to humanity. I have a feeling that no matter how many generations pass by, this book will still shine just as brightly as it does now. It has one of those timeless feels to it, like it could never be outdated.
✎₊˚⊹♡ ❝I am coming to love him, in two different ways. Face to face, and word to word.❞
Rebecca Ross has some of the most gorgeous prose I have ever re✎₊˚⊹♡ ❝I am coming to love him, in two different ways. Face to face, and word to word.❞
Rebecca Ross has some of the most gorgeous prose I have ever read. If you don't read this for the immaculate WWI vibes, the swoony romance, or simply to get rid of the fomo, read it for the writing.
Iris and Roman are the most adorable cinnamon buns ever, but what kept this from being a five star read was how rushed their romance was. I would have liked to see more banter and slow burn. But nevertheless, they have one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever read and the kind of lyrical love they have is something I would give anything to experience or at least be able to write with the skill Ross does.
My other favorite part of the book is the aesthetic. I just love WWI aesthetic, and this book is basically WWI but with an age-old war between gods. Ross does an excellent job of blending realistic aspects with subtle magical ones that almost makes you feel like the world you're currently living in could very well be hiding an enchanted typewriter or two in someone's dusty attic.
The plot was a bit slow-paced and mainly centered around the romance but I was definitely invested enough to never be bored, and the ending lowkey gave me a heart attack ...more
Rereading this series has been sm fun with my memories of all the little subplots coming back to me as I read. I think I annoyed the heck out of4.5 ⭐️
Rereading this series has been sm fun with my memories of all the little subplots coming back to me as I read. I think I annoyed the heck out of my sisters with the amount of times I said "oh my goSH I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!"
But my obviously impeccable memory aside, this one was lowkey better than the first. It was fun and funny and fast-paced and (hereee I shall break the alliteration, my apologies) the dialogue was top tier. There was a noticeable lack of bland golden boys and pick-me "doesn't know she's beautiful" brats which I appreciated. My husband Percy was as hilarious, sassy, hot, and amazing as always and I just wanted to be besties with Hazel and give poor Frank a hug.
I did miss Leo, but I have a feeling he'll be in the other ones quite a lot. Found family is my favorite trope so I am unspeakably excited for all of the seven to come together in the next books. Although if my crappy amazing memory serves to be correct, I have a real heartbreak for an ending coming up in the next book. Oh, well. I'll have my tissues ready.
~pre-review~
Octavian is a little rat. He had no right to destroy Percy’s panda pillow. Smh.
❝Stories are only half told until they've found a listener.❞
*taps mic* hi, is this on? Testing, one two three.... yes? It is? Great. Now, I know you h❝Stories are only half told until they've found a listener.❞
*taps mic* hi, is this on? Testing, one two three.... yes? It is? Great. Now, I know you have much better things to be doing with your life than listening to, er, reading this, so I'll make it quick. I just have one thing to say. *deep breath*
Marissa Meyer, I owe you an apology. I mean, I'm not taking back what I've said in the past. You are an evil conniving backstabbing wicked extremely talented storyteller. But you are also definitely capable of giving us, your children, what we want. After lots of bumps and scrapes and obstacles in the road, you have delivered us what we asked for, all wrapped up nicely with an only slightly torn and bloodstained bow. I mean, not all the time *looks pointedly at my tear-splattered copy of Heartless* but this time. You delivered. I am content.
*dead silence from the crowd*
*awkward laugh* um sorry that was cheesy but um I've gotten my point across so... bye! *falls down the stairs and runs out the door*
I cannot coexist with the ending in peace. I need the second book immediately.
she's grumpy, he's sunshine?? hogwarts but even deadlier?? literally theI cannot coexist with the ending in peace. I need the second book immediately.
she's grumpy, he's sunshine?? hogwarts but even deadlier?? literally the best ya protagonist ever??? hilarious writing style??? found family???? HUUUGE CLIFFHANGER ENDING??????
❝ when it comes to the things one loves most, it is always better to be trapped together than safe and apart. ❞
❀ ~ long live by taylor swift I ha3.20 ☆
❝ when it comes to the things one loves most, it is always better to be trapped together than safe and apart. ❞
❀ ~ long live by taylor swift I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you
this book was such a cute fantasy romcom! it wasn’t as similar to the tiktok series as I was expecting but I did get the little references and I love how she expanded upon her idea with the tiktoks to make a full-blown book.
₊˚❀.ೃ character breakdown ࿔*:･
~ evangelina sage: she was adorable! her personality went quite a bit overboard at times and I kind of wanted to put duct tape on her mouth at some of the stuff she said... the secondhand embarrassment was real. but I did love her and all her quirks for the most part! she reminded me a lot of evangeline from ouabh. even the names are extremely similar ...more
˚₊‧꒰ა ʚ ❝Instead of being afraid, I could become something to fear.❞ ɞ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
*crosses legs* *uncrosses them* so, yes. I, uh… *checks notes* I definitel˚₊‧꒰ა ʚ ❝Instead of being afraid, I could become something to fear.❞ ɞ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
*crosses legs* *uncrosses them* so, yes. I, uh… *checks notes* I definitely, um, understand the hype. And I, um, also advise that… *visibly sweating* you guys don’t make the same… mistake I did and refuse to read it and suffer from, uh… fomo for years just because you, um, well, for no reason, I guess, other than you’re really stup- uh, stubborn. *laughs awkwardly*
‧͙⁺˚*･༓･*˚⁺‧͙ ༓･*˚⁺˚*･༓･*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*･*˚⁺
There’s not much I can say that lots of people haven’t said already, and better. Only, this book is so beautiful.
In a twisted and dark and bloodthirsty and evil way, yes, but still beautiful. I love Jude and, after lots of conflicted emotions, Cardan, so much, and I swear, I read the last half of the book with a queasy and nervous feeling just because it had me attached so strongly to the characters. This magical story holds my heart in its bloodstained hands and I am terrified that it will break it.
also, I have a lot of money bet on the theory that one day this book will be a classic and kids will have to read it in high school. My great great great great great grandchildren better not let me down
˚₊‧꒰ა ʚ ❝ “If you hurt me, I wouldn't cry. I would hurt you back.❞ ɞ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚
❦ pre-review ❦
cause of death: the last 40% or so of The Cruel Prince
here lies Lydia. So young and unassuming and naive to the terrors the alternate universes of books thrust upon us readers. She was not prepared, and if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Rest in peace.
RTC.
❦ tbr review ❦
yes, I'm adding it to my tbr and therefore losing the internal battle I've been having with myself.
There was much less drama and girl hate than in the first book, thank gosh. It was still there, but the courtly politics, while a bit dry, overs2.5 ⭐️
There was much less drama and girl hate than in the first book, thank gosh. It was still there, but the courtly politics, while a bit dry, overshadowed it most of the time. There were times when I would start to enjoy it… but they wouldn’t last long, because then Alina would open her mouth and shatter the illusion.
Why oh why did Bardugo create the immature and pick-me protagonist that we have to deal with for 437 pages???
Alina’s life is so hard. She finds out she’s the most powerful magic-person to, like, ever exist. Her hot childhood bestie/crush likes her back. A hot evil dude with magic powers like hers, but different, likes her too, in his own way, and wants her to join him in ruling the world forevah. People worship her and call her a saint. An actually hot privateer also likes her and also wants to rule the world with her, just minus the bloodshed that guy #2 is planning on.
Oh, and did I mention that she is sooo tiny and pale and petite and clumsy? And, like, super ugly.
Leigh Bardugo tries to write a character slowly consumed by hunger for power and magic until she slowly turns to the dark side but is hindered by the character outline that she’s already created for herself. A self-pitying and shallow girl who cares more about her relationship problems and her next meal than the important problems people try to involve her in because she’s the only one who can solve them, for goodness' sake. The evilest she ever gets is when she sends away people trying to ask her about orders she just gave because she hasn’t eaten breakfast yet and she’s ✨grumpy✨.
I don't know how she got THREE guys pining over her, especially the hot prince-turned-privateer. You all were not kidding with him. He's perfect and amazing and hilarious and selfless and ahhhhh ...more
if a girlie says that marissa meyer is her favorite author give her an anti-stress face mask, emotional support squishmallow, and back rub immedi4.5 ⭐
if a girlie says that marissa meyer is her favorite author give her an anti-stress face mask, emotional support squishmallow, and back rub immediately. This is not a joke, nor a drill. This is not the first time nor the last Marissa has broken my heart and then stomped on it.
“omggg she’s so dramatic” NO I’M ACTUALLY NOT. AND IF I AM, I HAVE EVERY REASON TO BE. *ugly cries and flops down onto bed*
Like girl, this isn’t even the last book in the series. This isn’t even the one that traumatized every poor soul on this app who has this book under “read”. I’m actually reading that right now, and preparing to have my broken heart fractured.
BUT. THIS BOOK IS STILL SO EVIL.
Ahem. To preface, I have still never read the full Rumplestiltskin story. I knew the basics before I read the book, some guy is told some girl can spin straw into gold so he gives her a loom and a pile of straw and a death threat but she can’t, so she’s gonna die, but then some little man shows up that CAN and she make a bargain with him to do it for her in exchange for her firstborn child. Or something.
That was the extent of my knowledge.
(Aye yo, it’s not my fault that Disney never made a movie out of it. I’m simple minded.)
But my POINT IS, I was nearly completely ignorant of the original fairy tale before I read the book. Which means two things. a) I had not a clue what was coming, and b) I probably did not appreciate in full all the twists Marissa is so fond of made on the fairy tale.
HOWEVER, these aspects did not take away from my enjoyment of nor utter brokenness over the book.
I mean, it’s a fractured fairy tale retelling threaded with a Gothic twist and woven with German mythology. Add to that Marissa’s signature cinnamon roll characters, captivating plots, and obsession with shocking twists, and you have a tapestry of my love.
*spits out water* Lydia I thought we decided to stop with the idiotic and nonsensical metaphors in your reviews don’t you want followers? FRIENDS?? omg ahhhh ok we can still salvage this just pretend you didn’t say that ok…
Um um uh, I loved this. It would be a very tall order to ask me NOT to love this. *ignores my inner self glaring at me*. It was just so good. All of it. So good. *hand gestures to bring across the point of my love for it and how it was so good*
they probably get the point Lydia MOVING ON!
Our story begins with Serilda, our stunning and adorable star of the show, a outcast to society and a storyteller, with twin braids and golden wheels on her black irises that cause many suspicions to arise about her, spinning a dark and wild tale for her rapt listeners, the children of the small and superstitious town of Märchenfield. She spends nearly all her time with these kids, because as aforementioned, she is an outcast to society due to her strange eyes and penchant for telling stories.
Or, more to the point, telling lies.
But the children love her stories, so here she is, telling them one of the wild hunt they know so well. You see, there is a whole different realm out there, one full of demons and ghosts and the “dark ones”, as they are called. And normally, there is a magical veil that separates the two worlds and protects the humans from the evil spirits. But once a month, every full moon, the veil is lifted. And a collection of demons and ghosts and even kidnapped mortals emerge to embark on a ruthless night of hunting and killing. Animals, normally, but once in a while, they’ll take a man or woman or even a child right from their beds, in a trance, to join their hunt. Sometimes, they return home. But more often, they are never seen again.
So even these young children know. Lock your doors and board up your windows and pray to the gods that you are spared of drawing the attention of the hunt.
But in this story, it is no mere full moon. It is the Endless Moon. And on this night, the gods take beastly forms and enter the human world and become susceptible to the hunt. And the hunt will indeed try to capture them, because as the myth goes, if you capture a god on this night, they will grant you a wish.
Now, the hunt had wounded a god and was about to capture it. But the god managed to escape, and was found by a miller. And because this kindhearted miller helped the god, he was given an opportunity to be granted a wish. And what did he wish for?
Well, he wished for love. He wished that the girl he loved would take notice of him and they would marry and give birth to a child together. So his wish was granted, the child born.
But the child was no ordinary thing. It had a blessing from the god. Or, as the child would grow up to think of it, a curse.
What was the blessing/curse? That would change with the telling of the story. When Serilda tells the children this story, the god was the god of stories and tricks and lies, and the blessing/curse is the ability to magically spin stories and lies at will.
But later, on a night of a full moon, when Serilda was hiding two moss maidens, victims of the hunt, in her cellar, and had to explain to the leader of the hunt, the Erkling, why she was outside at this haunted hour, the god became the god of labor, and the blessing became the ability to spin straw into gold.
The only similarity is that the child cursed or blessed in the story is Serilda herself.
Now, the Erkling was satisfied by this explanation and withdrew to continue his hunt. Serilda convinced herself she was fine and safe and would be forgotten.
But on the next full moon, the hunt again come to her door. And when they depart for the castle they take refuge in, they carry Serilda with them. She is thrown into a dungeon with straw and a loom and ordered to spin the straw into gold before the sun rises and the veil falls again over the spiritual world. Or else she will die, and her father along with her.
In her desperation, Serilda accidentally summons a mysterious boy to her aid. A boy with the gift of spinning any substance into gold. A boy who will help her. But only for a price.
And even when the straw is spun, the Erkling will not forget Serilda or her so-called abilities so easily. The more time Serilda spends inside their realm, the more questions are asked and stakes raised. And Serilda finds that there are many more layers to the story she is weaving than she could imagine.
*wipes sweat off of my forehead* wow, that took forever to explain. But now that it is explained, everyone who took the time to read it knows that the plot is AMAZING and IMPECCABLE! I haven’t even begun to explain the intricacy of the story and twists! It’s beautiful and haunting and heart-pounding!
Now, first off, we have Serilda. Your honor, I love her with my everything. She’s brave and quick-tongued but still sweet and adorable. She deserves an easy life and a true love and living to a ripe old age. ...more
Wind tears down trees, and new ones sprout again. Fire destroys forests, and they grow back. People chop them down to build their walls, and the t4.5⭐
Wind tears down trees, and new ones sprout again. Fire destroys forests, and they grow back. People chop them down to build their walls, and the trees reclaim the land.
This was stupendous. It's so melancholy to see these characters' story come to an end, bc they have all earned a special place in my heart, even little broken Rin in this span of one novel. <3 This book was sweet and soul-healing and exciting and I feel so contented because all these characters got the happily-ever-afters they deserved and it was beautiful. The natural fantasy touches in this series are impeccable and this book brought together people-speaking and tree-speaking and a wholly unexpected way and I am so here for it!
Shannon Hale is just an amazing writer and I will definitely be looking into more of her works. But right now, I'm just so happy and content with this series, not to mention the amount of quirky fantasy books currently in my life. Sometimes you just need a clean, wholesome, yet not amateurish at all series, and this series is EXACTLY THAT.
I'm the sheen on water .... I'm the looking glass. I'm not real.
Bottom line: I can't wait to make my future kids read these books!...more
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