source: the world

Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

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Started: 8/28/23
Finished: 1/10/24

Yay dragons and fighting and conspiracies and sure, some romance while we’re at it! I had a little bit of a hard time right at the beginning, but then it started moving and it was BRUTAL. I didn’t expect the deaths (it seems like a pretty terrible way to train your military – can’t they be moved into the infantry or something?), but I suppose it helped set the tone. And we have dragons with personalities! That makes me so happy.

The second book continued the story in a satisfying way, and while I wasn’t quite as devastated by the end of it as it seems the internet was (don’t they know how second books in trilogies go?), I’m very much looking forward to the third book. More stuff about the dragons, please!

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield

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Started: 10/17/23
Finished: 10/22/23

Yay for main characters who are actually adults (and over 30!), but otherwise this was just okay. Enjoyable enough, not great, sometimes annoying. Writer for an SNL-like show tries not to fall in love with the hot musical guest man because he’s too famous, he’s too attractive – she’s too insecure. Whatever, they work it out, and if they make a movie out of it, I’ll see it.

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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Started: 1/21/23
Finished: 1/25/23

And then I started this series, too. This one was the author’s very first book, and it shows. I enjoyed the premise enough to keep going (and then to keep going and going and going), but her writing had LOTS of room for improvement, and I was SO irritated by the ages of the characters. Our main character is a world-famous assassin who was caught and sent away at the ripe-old age of SEVENTEEN. She’s 18-19 in this book, and her love interests are 21 and 23, and I just can’t. Can’t they be at least 25?

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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Started: 1/16/23
Finished: 1/18/23

Yes, I started this series. The writing was okay, but this was clearly a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I like fairy tale retellings. The hero seemed pretty great, except when he didn’t, and the answer to the “riddle” was so obvious I thought I couldn’t possibly have it right. But also I didn’t care that much. I finished it to see what the hype was about. It was okay.

A Truly Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Started: 12/6/22
Finished: 12/12/22

Hank Green does everything, so it’s not really a surprise that he also wrote a book. And it’s pretty good! Not subtle in its message, and it’s a bit meta (about his life) at times, but since I tend to agree with the message and I know something about his life, it didn’t bother me.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Started: 1/23/21
Finished: 1/26/21

I’ve been meaning to read this for years, but I guess better late than never. This book is so good. Young adult can be hard to read. If it’s bad, it’s cringe-y bad, and I’ll usually put it down. This is good. And it’s hard. I cried, I got angry, I felt helpless, I cried some more, and I got angry some more. And then I cried again. I was so emotional, nearly the whole book, that I stopped reading it in bed. I switched to a friendly murder mystery before going to sleep because I’d be more able to wind down and fall asleep. I’m not going to tell you the plot, even the beginning – it’s easy enough for you to find that. And as awful as it is to know what prompted this book to be written, it’s so much worse knowing how much worse things have gotten since this book was published not even four years ago.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Started: 9/18/20
Gave up: 9/19/20

I gave up on this one, but not through any fault of its own.  I just wasn’t in the mood. It’s set in early 20th century Mexico, and maybe it’s fantasy and maybe it’s magical realism (which I generally do NOT like), but there are gods and bargains and LOTS of discussions of towns and their histories, and yeah.  Not in the mood.  It has really good reviews, so I feel bad about giving up, but not that bad.

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

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Started: 12/14/19
Finished: 12/16/19

First in a series a girl who wants to be a knight.  I would have eaten this up if I’d found it when I was 10 (it was published in 1983).  I enjoyed the first book (and I’ll keep reading), but I’m having a little bit of a hard time believing that this 10-year-old girl would talk the way she does, have the power (magical) that she does, know all these things, be able to do all this stuff, etc.  She makes it to age 14 or so by the end of the book, so hopefully her ability to master EVERYTHING will get a little easier to swallow as she gets older.

The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander

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Started: 7/14/19
Finished: 7/18/19

I had heard such wonderful things about this story, but at its start, all I can think of is how SAD it is.  Update: at its end, all I can think of how sad it is.  It’s an alternate history that combines two true events tragedies: Topsy the Elephant and the Radium Girls.  It’s very good, but very hard to read.  I suppose it’s a good thing it’s a novelette…

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

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Started: 5/8/19
Finished: 5/10/19

I’ve heard so much about this book while also learning absolutely nothing about it, so I really didn’t know what to expect.  It’s an interesting story, but I think I was looking for more to come out of it.  More…plot.  So I’m left feeling unsatisfied. Sort of “that’s it?”  I’m pretty sure that’s the fault of my expectations, though, and not of the book itself. I need more distance from it.