Tag Archive for: Fantasy

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Forest Born

Forest BornTitle: Forest Born
Author: Shannon Hale
Series: Books of Bayern #4
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Reason Read: Utah Book Month
Rating:

My Thoughts

I really liked FOREST BORN, but not quite as much as the previous three books in the series. Rin, the MC, was younger than the MCs in the other three novels by a couple of years. In a YA novel that may not seem like much, but it is. I couldn’t relate to her as well and I didn’t like that there was no love interest in this one. I also didn’t like the tree-speaking gift quite as much as the wind-, fire-, and water-speaking gifts. The way Hale portrayed the gift was a bit weird to me.

I liked being back in Bayern and I’m so glad Isi, Geric, Enna, Finn, Razo, and Dasha were all in this book in some way or another. I liked being around the speaking gifts and seeing how they all intertwined with one another. And, I liked the elements of the story that required the fire sisters, as Rin calls them, to do what they did.

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Steel And Bone

Steel And BoneTitle: Steel and Bone
Author: Penny Freeman
Genre: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories
Format: ARC
Pages: 375
Reason Read: ARC Review
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’ve read short stories for school, but I’ve never read nor reviewed a book of short stories before. It was an interesting experience.

While I did enjoy some of the stories, I realized I’m not a huge fan of short stories because I want more. I want more than just a snippet. I want all the details. I want the character development and the relationship development, etc. If it were more like a cartoon and I got an episode at a time, like comic books, then I’d be okay with that because I’d know I’d get more (at least I think I’d be okay with that). But, in this setting, it was like watching a one-episode sitcom already in the middle of the series.

I also found it hard to get my bearings on the next story having just come from a completely different one. It’s not like finishing a book and then starting a new one. It’s like being thrown into something similar but completely new and being expected to know exactly what’s going on. I had to read one story each day to give myself time to move on.

I also felt like I was playing the lottery. I didn’t know if I’d get a good short story or one that bored me to tears. For the most part, I liked the short stories. There were three, “Sindisiwe” by Scott E. Tarbet, “Island Walker” by C.R. Simper, and “The Steel Inside” by Gail B. Williams, that I enjoyed a lot. And, there were two that were torturous get through because I was so bored.

I’m glad I had the chance to read STEEL AND BONE because it showed me that short stories aren’t really my thing, or at least a whole novel of them isn’t. I don’t think I’ll be reading any other compilations of short stories in the future.

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Mania

ManiaTitle: Mania
Author: J.R. Johansson
Series: Night Walkers #3
Genre: Fantasy, Thriller, Young Adult
Format: ARC
Pages: 408
Reason Read: ARC Review
Rating:

My Thoughts

I’ve been really excited to read MANIA because I’ve wanted to know how th trilogy ends. I wasn’t disappointed in the least. It was a wild ride.

Even though we learned about the different types of Night Walkers in PARANOIA, we learned more about their society and what life is like for them. The politics involved were very intriguing. In MANIA, not only are we in Parker’s head, but we get the addition of being in Jack’s head too. I really loved getting to know him better and learn what his motivations were. It was easy to tell the two apart because they both think so differently. And, they both added a lot to the story. It gave it a new dimension that I wished was there during previous two as well, but I understand why that couldn’t be the case.

I expected a lot of the things that happened in the story. But there were a few things that I didn’t expect and I was quite surprised about. I thought MANIA was a fantastic ending to a great series.

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ArchEnemy

ArchEnemyTitle: ArchEnemy
Author: Frank Beddor
Series: Looking Glass Wars #3
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Young Adult
Format: Kindle
Pages: 370
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: Seeing Redd
My Thoughts

I’m glad I’ve finally finished the Looking Glass Wars trilogy. It was a fun retelling of ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS by Lewis Carroll.

Having finished the entire series, I still don’t think third-person omniscient was the best way to write these stories because the story jumps from character to character too quickly and often. I wanted more detail and the stories and characters to be fleshed out a bit more. I didn’t feel like I connected with anyone besides Alyss. I also wish there was a little more romance because what was in the story was very surface-level. I think there could’ve been more without taking anything away from the story. This is probably because I felt like there was too much going on–way too many plots. Despite all of that, the overall story was fun and I’m glad I read the series.

ARCHENEMY was the best out of the series in my opinion. I loved that everything came to a head from the previous two books and we finally got to see how everything resolved. I also liked how everything ended.

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The Golem And The Djinni

The Golem And The DjinniTitle: The Golem and the Djinni
Author: Helene Wecker
Series: Golem and the Djinni #1
Genre: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Format: Kindle
Pages: 656
Reason Read: Book Club
Rating:

My Thoughts

I ended up really enjoying THE GOLEM AND THE DJINNI. The story was very original, at least from other stories I’ve read or been privy to. I loved the historical fiction aspect of it and I loved the meshing of three different cultures–Judaism, Maronite, and Muslim. And, I loved the fantasy element involved with each culture. I didn’t know anything about golems going into the book and I only knew about the djinn in the sense of genies. It was fun to learn more about each of them.

I really liked the characters, especially Ahmad. I liked Chava too, and I was interested in her life, but I was more drawn to Ahmad. The story’s told in an interesting way. It’s mainly told from Chava and Ahmad’s POV, but it does feature a few other characters’ POV too. You get the story bit by bit from the different perspectives and have to piece it together. At times it was frustrating, but I really enjoyed getting to know the secondary characters better through this method. And, fortunately, all the stories weave together in the end.

I was a little disappointed in the ending. It felt a little anti-climactic, but I do like how things were resolved mostly, strangely. I just wanted more, especially in terms of Ahmad and Chava.