Author: Simplistic Reader

I'm in love with the world of books and bookish things. I enjoy nothing more then diving into a new book and experiencing a new world. I'm not the type of person to critic every little piece of a book. Although there are certain authors that have a style of writing that stands out to me like, Leigh Bardugo and Maggie Stiefvater, the writing style is not what I think determines if a book is good. I'm more in love with the tone and way they tell the story of the characters. I would rather say how I feel about a book then write an essay like I would for collage paper. Books are meant to be enjoyed and I would rather write how I normally think when reading them then try to come up with a very elaborate way of making it sound pretty to the eyes and ears. Enjoying a book is a simple thing and so is wanting others to love them too just as much as you do. As long as you write with passion the message will come true.
Dystopian · Fantasy · Sci-fi · Science Fiction · young adult

Skyward By Brandon Sanderson

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39348113. sy475

  • Published by: Delacorte Press
  • Read: November 28, 2019- November 30, 2019
  • Rating: 4.5 Stars

“Their heads are heads of rock, their hearts set upon rock. Set your sights on something higher. Something more grand.”

-BRANDON SANDERSON

This is not a book I would of normally picked up. As soon as a book mentions aliens or space I tend to walk away from it. I was never a big sci-fi reader, or watcher. There is honestly one sci-fi book I have ever fallen in love with it, and honestly I forgot it was sci-fi half the time…. that book is the Red Rising series by Pierce Brown for those wondering. I now have another book to add to that list. Brandon Sanderson did something only one other person has done, he made me love sci-fi.

Skyward is about a seventeen year old girl named Spensa who wants to be a pilot, but has trouble after her father was branded as a coward. Her whole life Spensa has had to live with the fact that everyone thinks her father died a coward, and now it’s her time to become a pilot and redeem herself and her father, but they won’t make it easy for her. With the help of a few caring people, and a wrecked talking ship she found, she will fight for her right to be a pilot. Along with answering the questions she always had about her father, and the biggest question of all, what’s among the stars.

I won’t lie, the beginning of this book somewhat bored me, but it was all necessary. It showed us Spensa’s life since her father was branded as a coward, and her as a character. Then it takes us to her in flight school with her squad. A lot of the beginning is getting the reader used to the world and it’s characters and showing us what flight school is. It’s a little boring, but the dialogue makes up for it, and it is a necessary part of the story.

I don’t exactly remember how long it took for the book to get interesting(to me at least)… actually I do, but it includes spoilers so about a little over a quarter of the way through, which wouldn’t seem so bad but the hardcover is 510 pages(according to goodreads anyway), so it does take a while. Or at least it did for me. That’s when the book started to hook me, when it got REAL interesting to me was closer to seventy percent way through the book. That’s when things started to unfold and as I said, got REAL interesting.

I will go into more important details, but I wanna talk about some of the characters first, since they are the most important part of the story usually. Now there is a lot of characters and I’m not going to talk about a lot of them, only the ones who are really important to know.

Spensa- There was times were Spensa got annoying, BUT I liked that, which is not something I would ever really say. Spensa is a seventeen year old girl who never got anything handed to her in life. She had to fight her way to get treated like the others. She’s been society punching bag for ten years, so of course she is going to act that way she acts. She is wrathful, but because of defense. When is isn’t having to defend herself or her family, she’s friendly and jokes around with everyone else. She has her flaws though. She’s narrowed minded. She only cares about being a pilot, and not a coward. This causes many problems with her friends and herself. We also see Spensa go through ALOT within the short time she is in flight school, and the whole time we are watching her change. I loved Spensa, and I loved watching her grow.

M-Bot: I love robots so M-Bot comes next. When I saw that the book had a talking ship in it I thought it was weird but when I met M-Bot I fell in love with him. I thought he was going to have a bland personality, because it’s a ship, but boy was I wrong. M-Bot is best boy. He wins all the awards. He was funny, adorable, and did his best. He deserves as many mushrooms as he wants. Out of all the characters, M-Bot was easily the best.

Jorgen – All of the kids of the pilots from a previous war get an easy ride in life, and Jorgen is one of these kids, and he is also the flightleader of Spensa’s flight squad. Jogen is one of those character I found annoying in the beginning, but as I read more of him I like him more. I don’t love him yet, but I don’t find him annoying. I understand him. He’s very uptight and is like a robot half the time, not because he lacks emotion, but because what he says sounds like something he was programmed to say. He tries really hard though and I hope he gets more time in the next book so I can love him.

Cobbs- Cobbs is the instructor for Spensa’s flight squad, and also her dad’s old wingmate. I loved Cobbs. He is one of my favorite type of mentors in books. He is hard on them, but you can see that he truly cares about all of them.

Admiral Ironsides- She is, of course the Admiral. She is an antagonist, not world wise, but towards Spensa. She tries very hard to not let Spinsa be a pilot. One of my favorite parts of Ironsides is reading her side through her point of view. (She is the only character so far with their on POV, but only at certain times) By the end of the story it’s easy to understand why she does what she does.

The Krell- The Krell are THE antagonist of the story. They are the alien forces that try to kill and destroy whatever the humans build. The Krell is why pilots are needed and why they are stuck on the planet they are stuck on. Not much is known about the Krell. No one has even seen one. Just their ships.

Easily, I found the best part of this book to be character development. We see all of the characters change along the way, but especially Spensa. As each event unfolded we got to see her process it and how it affected her. There is no question of whether these characters devlop or not. The Spensa at the beginning of this book, is not the same Spensa at the end. Within one book she has changed so much. She isn’t the only one that changes either. Watching each character change as they faced real problems for the first time in their life was my favorite part of this book. It was like watching a flower blossom. You saw what it looked like when it was closed off to the world, but watched as slowly, it opened up and became something beautiful, getting to truly experience the world.

There is a lot to love about this book. M-Bot is one, Doomslug the other. I read this book, solely because of it’s author. The first book I read when stepping into the adult type novel world, was Mist Born by Brandon Sanderson. It easily became one of my favorite books and I fell in love with his characters and the worlds he builds. This book did that. I loved the world, and I loved the characters. I loved the dialogue. It felt real, and funny. It would actually make me laugh and it was believable. I’m pretty sure half of my notes in the boot were parts I found funny. It was a really fun read, not to mention that ending. I’m pretty sure within a few chapters we somewhat get the gist of what’s going to happen at the end, but actually reading it… masterpiece.

Another thing I would to note, the eyes. Most people probably didn’t or don’t have this same reaction, but I have a fear of deep space and the vast unknown, so when I got the spot about the eyes, (you’ll know when you get there.) I actually got scared. I won’t say anymore about that. Just had to mention that.

As someone who avoids sci-fi like it is a horrible disease, I can say I LOVED this book and can’t wait till I can relax and read it’s sequel…which will probably be in a few minutes to be honest. Towards the end I couldn’t put it down. It was late, and I knew I needed to go to bed, but I couldn’t. I HAD to finish it and know how it ended. The thing I found when it comes to books, shows, anime, manga, is that there is usually a genre we don’t like, but there’s exceptions to those rules. I hate mecha anime, but I love Gurren Lagann. When something has good writing, you can’t help but throw away your opinions about a genre and just devour it. I don’t like sci-fi, but I love this book. This book is my exception(along with Red Rising). Brandon Sanderson is a creator of masterpieces, and this is another example of his beautiful work.

“Good night, sweet prince.” M-Bot whispered as the junk crashed to the ground. “Or princess. Or most likely genderless piece of inanimate space junk.”

bRANDON SANDERSON

I had to include a quote from M-Bot. I couldn’t just not show why I love him. That would be wrong.

Manga

An Uncomfortable Truth By EErun

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I said before, a long time ago, that since I read and enjoyed manga, I wanted to talk about some manga. Now, technically, this is from Korea, I believe, so it’s actual name is Manwha, but they are the same thing. They are just formatted differently. This manwha is very easy to find. It’s on Lezhin comics and the first six chapters are actually free. There are 74 chapters total and each one is worth 3 coins. I didn’t do the math to find out how much that is. So sorry.

First let’s get all the warning out of the way. This manwha features graphic content such as murder of humans and an animal, stabbing, self harm, abuse, and mental illness. This review will also be talking about such things so if it’s not something you wish to read about, you probably don’t want to read the rest of this.

An Uncomfortable Truth is a psychological drama about a Korean freshmen(In America, where I’m from, they would be a sophomore,) who was just arrested for the stabbing of eight people, and how it got to that point. The manwha tries to answer the questions of why this high school boy would do this, and what it has to do with his older brother.

Firstly I would like to say this story is wild. There was moments where I just stared at the page wondering why. Why was this happening? Why would anyone do that? The manga definitely did its job of making you wonder, What the Fuck?. There’s lots of things I want to say about this manwha, but let’s get to know the four main characters.

We will start with character we first get to see. Yoseob.

Image result for an uncomfortable truth yoseob

Yoseob is the high school freshmen who we start off by seeing at the police station for the stabbing of eight people. We first see this innocently looking boy with blood splattered all over his face, showing that he is not innocent at all. There is a few things to note about him, the main one being his obession with his older brother, Jaeha. He is also very violent and not mentally stable. I would say that’s a spoiler, but you can tell from pretty early on that he is in need of help.

The second important character is the older brother, Jaeha

Image result for an uncomfortable truth jaeha

Jaeha, the sweet adorable Jaeha, is the object of his little brother’s obsession. He is nice, shy, and very sporty. He is a second year, I believe, and takes care of his little brother. Everyday he tells his friends he can’t hang out with them because he has to go home with his brother. He spends a lot of time worrying about his sickly little brother. *He is so adorable I felt so bad for him through the whole story*

Next is the only girl main character, and there so much to her, and I love her.

Image result for an uncomfortable truth yura

Yura is my probably my favorite character in sense of development and complexity. I think she was done incredibly well. Yura is seen as the beautiful popular girl, and she is Jaeha’s crush. A lot of the story features her story and her interactions with the two brothers. I love seeing Yura’s character. She is first seen as the typical mean girl, but the more the you read the more you understand Yura.

And lastly, Taeoh

Taeoh’s story features a lot of his past, and is how we get to see a lot Jaeha and Yoseob’s past. He is friends/classmates with Yura, and a previous victim of Yoseob’s.

So I said the story is about a high school boy who gets arrested for stabbing people and is telling is story, but what is the story? Well, to be honest, a lot of the story features Yura, because she is the new equation to the brothers lives. Jaeha has a crush on Yura and Yoseob notices this, and for him that’s a problem. Yura knows Jaeha has a crush, but does nothing about it because she finds him amusing, but then one day she gets a weird visit from Yoseob, and from there the story goes. A lot of the story is Yura trying to avoid Yoseob, by avoiding Jaeha, and Jaeha confused by the whole thing. There’s also Yoseob noticing his brother is distancing from him, and him being confused by that.

Now I won’t tell anymore of the story, because with these type of stories it’s best to watch it all unfold around you so you get the whole experience. Instead I will go into the topics the manwha brings up, because I think they are important and real messages.

  • Yura’s Character- There’s a lot to Yura’s character and what she deals with. She is constantly being asked out and hit on by the guys in her school, to the point where she hates them. It causes a bitter resentment in men for her and eventually causes other issues. She also brings up something many people have to deal with and that’s expectations. People have the tendency build up other people in their head to be something they’re not, and then there’s a bitterness for that person not being that type of person who they were built up to be.. that was probably worded weird, but I hope you get it…Then there is the biggest part of Yura’s character, to me at least, and that is how trying to be other people’s expectations creates a sense of loneliness and a usually backfires.
  • Ignorance and How it Hurts- Ignorance is such a big part of this story. There is a whole part of this story where one of the characters in is emotional distress and everyone is acting like they are faking it and ignoring it, even adults. It’s sad because it happens. There’s also many issues that could of been handled and stopped if someone had just paid attention. Like’s Jaeha’s parents paying attention to Yoseob, instead they put their job first and ignore what’s going on.
  • The Cause of Effect of People– The story shows the downward spiral of what happens when you treat others badly. Make someone feel like shit and they might make other’s feel the same way, or the will crave love and affection from other people, dangerous and toxic people. It paints the picture of how one bad action done towards someone can ruin their life, and others.
  • Mental Health– Mental health is such a big part of this story and shows why you show NEVER ignore it. Just it seems fine now, but that doesn’t mean it will always be that way and warning signs of it getting worse should always be taken seriously. Yeseob is the villain of the story, but it’s hard to see him as that way when you want to help him and feel bad for him. He just desperately needed help. Yes, he was obsessed, and it seems odd, but in his case it’s normal. He needed that love and feeling of safety, so he did what he needed to have it. Also, and this may be a bit of a spoiler, but because of his early childhood, Yoseob doesn’t understand emotions. It’s not that he doesn’t have them, but he doesn’t understand what they are, which again, in his case is normal. You need to be treated with love to love and understand it fully. When a child is not given the love and sense of security they need, not understanding emotions and looking for a sense of security is normal. So even though Yoseob is the villain, I can’t fully see him in that way. He’s problems were ignored and if they hadn’t been he could been of been ok.

Manga like this one are some of my favorites to read. I love psychology and seeing stories explore the mind in it’s deepest and darkest moments. I love seeing why people or characters do what they do and how it could of all be avoided. I read this manga in one whole night and I loved it. I loved the story, the characters, and the art. Also, THAT ENDING! It got reallllll messed up. There was also parts I didn’t expect, but I also wasn’t sure how it was going to end. Obviously with Yoseob stabbing the eight people, but everything included in it…. it was defiantly a moment.

Also, the art when Yoseob was having a moment was great. You really got that feeling of something is wrong. There is another manwha that gives me the same feeling and that is Bastard, which is my favorite manga/manwha of this type. It is so good and genuinely gave me chills. It’s on webtoon, for free, so if you like stories that are messed up, go read that. That author also has a more tradional horror manwha out right now, and that is Sweet Home(also on webtoon), which has actually made jumped scared me, and made me tear up because it scared me. Enough about that author though. Maybe I’ll talk about them another time. Back to talking about the art of this story, or more like me showing you little snippets of it, and don’t worry. I’m not spoiling any important parts. Just the art. Also. i’m not showing the graphic scenes. I didn’t want to show those.

Overall, this is a really good story and if you like psychological horror or drama, you should check it out. Just beware my warning above if you are scared or dislike any of that.

Fantasy · Magic · New Adult · Romance

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

Simplistic Reader2 Comments

This is just going to be really quick since I wasn’t really planning on writing a review for this book because I wasn’t really looking at any of it’s flaws while reading it. I was just reading in bliss, happy to finally have this book in my hands, but after I was done with it I couldn’t tell if I had book hangover from this book or something else, and I think it’s something else.

I loved this book and it’s series. It’s the only book series by Holly Black that I like, but I have only read one other book by her. In that book I found the same problem, most of it was good, but I found something lacking. For that book I wasn’t really sure what it was, but for this one I am, and that’s Cardan.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVED Cardan. I loved him since we saw him in the first book and he was this horrible character. It wasn’t that Cardan, as a character was lacking, but content of him was lacking. Cardan. Most of the time in this book Cardan is not there. You see him, and then poof he’s gone. You read more about Cardan from other characters then you see him. You do see more of Cardan’s good side, but again you rarely see him. In the other books you see Cardan a lot. I just reread The Wicked King and you see Cardan plenty, but in this book I rarely ever saw him.

Other then my sadness over the lack of Cardan, I loved this book. It had it’s moments were I was bored, not gonna lie, but I’m pretty sure all books do that so I can’t fault that. Most of the time I didn’t want to put this book down. Once I got halfway through the book I had to force myself to put it down and read the other half tomorrow. I’m honestly sad it’s over. I want more. It’s a rare type of book that I don’t see a lot of it and I want more of. I NEED more of. I’m very sad this journey is over. I’m still stuck in the book hangover and have no idea how I will get out of it.

P.S. This book scared me for the characters many times. I had no idea how it was going to end to be honest.

Adult · Magic · Paranormal · Romance · Urban Fantasy · Vampires · Werewolf

Sealed with A Curse by Cecy Robson

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14910823
  • Published by: Signet Eclispe
  • Release Date: December 31st, 2012
  • My Rating: 3.5/ 5 Stars

‘”Mind your own business, you goddamn raisin with legs!” Taran screamed from inside the house.’ -Cecy Robson

I’ve read PLENTY of Urban Fantasy, or more liked tried. A lot of them lack that special something that keeps you going. They start boring and keep going with the boring and you just got to trudge through it hoping it gets better, when it never does. I was glad to see that for the most part, that wasn’t the case with this. Did it have it’s boring moments, oh hell yeah, but was it entertaining, yes, yes it was. For only one reason though, the sisters.

The story starts off with the four sisters on trial for killing a vampire. Within these few first pages you get to see the different personality the sister’s have, and their personalities are the best part of the book. You have our main character, Celia. Celia is the leader type. She does her best to protect her sisters and to keep them in line. She is head strong, except when it comes to a certain character, which is my least favorite part of her, but we will touch on that later. Oh, and she turns into a tiger and any animal that touches her. Next, is my favorite sister, Taran. She is a foul mouth hell raiser, literally, she shoots fire. Then there is Shayna, whose whole personality is basically her saying dude. She’s the most chill one and turns random objects into weapons. Lastly is Emme. Emme is the sweet innocent one. She doesn’t really like violence and looks at the good in people. She can pick things up with her head and heal people. I don’t really know how those things go together, but they do. Now that we know the sister’s lets move on.

During the trial we learn two things. The sweet innocent vampires, who aren’t dangerous apparently, are starting to have trouble with a disease, and that the vampire who put the sisters on trial, Misha, wants to bang Celia. Dude literally puts her on trial, trying to have her and her sisters killed, but is just walking around like, ‘aye, I know I tried to kill you, but i still want to bang ya.’ Because that would work…. The only other important parts of this book is the shifters, and this is were my problem comes into play. Celia is supposed to be this leader type, take no shit, type of girl, but when Aric, a shifter she doesn’t really know, comes around, she turns into a teenage girl. She literally walks around half the time talking about how she doesn’t know why she is acting like that. Me either. I really don’t. She is fine around other men, fine as in she scares the living shit out of them, but she doesn’t turn into this person who is not her character. It’s annoying. Also the fact that she lets Aric push her around. He is the typical werewolf who wants to just boss her around and treat her like an ancient glass vase. She and her sisters prove over and over again that they are capable of protecting themselves and he still tells her she needs to stay home… I get it, you like her and want her safe, but she’s her own person and should have a choice. It’s annoying that she lets him do it. She literally just smiles and is like, ‘ok whatever you say’. Other than his over protectiveness, I didn’t mind Aric. He is no Curran or Adam from Kate Daniels or The Mercy Thompson series, but he’s ok. I’m hoping he gets more likable and isn’t just a bland werewolf stereotype though.

If you’re like me, you don’t like Insta-love. This book has four insta-love romances. Not one, but four. Each of the sisters meets a wolf in Aric’s pack and instantly they are all couples who would pretty much do anything for each other. It was literally like reading Romeo and Juliet. They instant they all see each other, they like each other, and would die for each other.

My last problem with this book was the action was boring. There was literally a part in the book were the action all stopped for a lot of chapters and the book just became a stereotypical romance novel. All talk of what was going on the vampires was done and I honestly thought for a while the last half of the book was just going to switch into a straight up romance. It didn’t help that when the action was present it wasn’t the most entertaining. It wasn’t the worst, but I kept getting bored during it.

I named a lot about the book I didn’t like, but there was parts I did like. I loved the four sisters. They made the novel. They were all funny and got along well. I loved all their different personalities and reading their life. Also the dialogue of this book is good. I genuinely laughed while reading it. If it weren’t for the fact that the werewolves acted like literally animals at time, this would of been a really good Urban Fantasy novel. (Aric literally brings Celia a box of live rabbits and plans on skinning them for her at her house to eat them… as if that was normal. He plans on murdering these living rabbits in front of her as if that’s sweet…it’s not. I get that he’s a wolf, but that was still weird. It was very obvious that it was for plot convenience because it literally made no sense.)

Over all, did I like this book. Yes, for the most part. It had it’s problems of course, but it was an enjoyable read. Do I play on checking out the rest? Yes, though after I reread The Wicked King and read Queen of Nothing. So it will be awhile, and I might not even read after reading those two books. It just depends. Lastly, would I recommend this book. That also depends. If you like books that are the up to standard of Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels and you don’t want to read any urban fantasy books lower then that, then no. This is not the next book to join that rank. If you like those books though and don’t mind reading a book that isn’t as good as those, but is still enjoyable as a easy simple read, then yeah, this is a good book to read. I can be very picky with books at times and I finished this book and was going to read the next one till I realized that Queen of Nothing was about to come out and I needed to reread the last book before I got my hands on Queen of Nothing. So if you want an Urban Fantasy book with an ok story, then this is good. I’ll make sure to update you if it gets better.

P.S. I forgot about this until I looked at my notes, and I would like to note that this book came out in 2012 where this happened a lot so I can’t exactly fault it, but there is a scene where they down talk a prostitute. Emme, innocently says this women can’t be a sex worker because she lives in a nice area, and Taran calls refers to the women as a skank. I don’t like shitting on sex workers, or calling them disgusting or names that refer to that, but like I said, this book came out in 2012, where that did happen a lot. It’s something I just thought I would mention. It didn’t stop me from reading the book, but it was something I didn’t really care for. I also don’t know if Taran meant it as an insult. You could take it as the same way some girls’ who address each other as bitch in a more friendly matter. It really depends on how you want to take it.

RECCOMEND ME!

I’m Back- I guess..

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Hello Everybody who sees this. It’s been awhile since I wrote anything on here, but I feel like doing it again. This whole year with books for me has been weird. Usually I would of meet my goal of books for the year by now, I’m very behind. There’s books I’ve been waiting to read and I can’t bring myself to read them. The only book I went crazy over recently was Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, and that’s because I’ve been waiting literal years for it. I know a big part of the problem is me not being in the mood for it, but another part is my favorite genre of books are really lacking. They lack in quality and are lacking in the literal sense of they don’t exist really, What’s my favorite genre you ask? Well, it’s Urban Fantasy, but it’s more than that.

Right now I’m going to list my favorite genre and tropes, and just weird things I like in books. If you know a book similar to it, tell me it and i’ll look at it. Also, I named this blog Simplistic Reader for a reason. While I love and cherish Maggie Stiefvater’s writing, I don’t care if the books I read are up to her standard of writing. I love my simple books as much as the books whose writing leaves me in a wonderful bliss. As long as the writing isn’t terrible, or the protagonist isn’t walking around talking like a horribly written teenager, I’m general open to it. Also, I prefer new adult to adult. YA is fine, but right now I am into the more older part of it. Also, I’m not into smut books. Sex is fine in books, but I want to read more of what’s going on in the story then I do them having sex. Let’s get into my list though.

  • Urban Fantasy- I LOVE Urban Fantasy. I’ve always had a love for it since I was a child, probably because of things like Underworld and Twilight. Yes I liked Twilight, I was like Twelve. I used to be really into vampires, but I found that now, probably because of twilight, I’m not as into them anymore. The only real vampire book I have been into over the years is The Chicagoland Vampire Series. Other then that I don’t really know any strictly vampire books I’ve been into. My favorite Urban Fantasy’s normally are about, or is a big part of the plot, Shifters. I love werewolves, always have. My favorite series in this genre are, The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs, The Kate Daniels Series Ilona Andrews, Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs, The Others Series by Anne Bishops. These are the type of books that I like.
  • This weird be a weird trope, but stay with me. I like books with one girl, and a group of platonic guy friends, in which there is romance with one of the guys… Like I said it might be a little weird but I love platonic friendships in books. I don’t want harems. I don’t really like them. A love triangle might be ok, but usually just one male interest. And by platonic friendships I meant friendships where the guys will hug or be close to the girl but not in a romantic way. I prefer this in Urban Fantasy/paranormal settings, but others are fine. Examples are: The Forever Evermore Series by Scarlet Dawn, The Healer Series by Maria V Synder, A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet, Supernatural Prison by Jaymin Eve, and of course, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. I know it’s a weird thing to like, don’t judge me.
  • I don’t know why I like, I haven’t even read that many books with this, but I just like it. that would be supernatural schools. Generally where a bunch of different supernatural creatures go to school with each other. The only examples I got for this is Forever Evermore series by Scarlet Dawn and Supernatural Prison by Jaymin Eve.
  • I don’t know how to explain this next one, so bare with me. I like adventure books, I guess that’s the easiest way to say that. I guess an easier way to explain, and I honestly never wanted to admit that I have read this book, but Scarlet Dawn’s Trixie Tower Series. (This book is like a love letter to furries I swear, but for some reason I keep reading. I think she put a spell on me.) I like seeing characters go on a adventure together. My favorite part of Trixie Towers was the adventure and it was done very well. Other examples of verisons of adventure I like are The Healer Series by Maria V Synder, and A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet.

I, of course, have more kinds of books I like, but right now this is what I really want to be reading. I’ve actually been into what I call my garbage reads at the moment which is like my guilty pleasure reads because they aren’t usually the best books, but I can’t stop myself from devouring their contents. Anyway, if you could help me by recommending me books like the ones above I would be grateful. Just comment them and let me see what you think I would like. Like I said though, I’m not into horribly smutty things or harems.

P.S….. I know this is a almost impossible task, but if anyone ever finds a book that compares to The Foxhole Court (All For The Game) Series, I WANT to know. That book puts me on a hangover every time and I have nothing to feed it with. I would say I would be in your debt, but I read a lot of books with the fae and have learned that’s a bad thing to say.

Adult · Fantasy · Magic · Romance · Urban Fantasy

White Hot (Hidden Legacy #2)

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Ilona Andrews

  • Publisher: Avon
  • Year Released: 2017
  • Date Read: December 22, 2018
  • Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, Fantasy, Magic, Adult
  • Rating: B+/ 4.8

“When you saw him, you knew no matter what happened, he would handle it. Little did they know that he solved most of his problems by throwing money at them or trying to kill them. Sometimes at the same time.”

-Ilona Andrews

Nevada hasn’t heard from Rogan since their fight with the fire prime, Adam Pierce. She has gone on living her normal life with her small jobs, until a man she met during her hunt for Adam comes to her asking for her help on a job. His wife was murdered along with a few other people and he knows it wasn’t an accident. One of the houses did it and they’re trying to hide it. This new job causes problems for Nevada, but Nevada is also about to have to face her own problems that she isn’t going to be able to hide anymore.

I enjoyed this one just as much as I did the first one. This book had the same action and the same humor to it. The reason I like Patricia Briggs work( the author of the Mercy Thompson series) and Ilona Andrews is that they can write urban fantasies that are also detective like novels without each book being an exact copy. I love Patricia Briggs books but I think that Ilona Andrews is actually better at making her book different within the same series while still having each book leave you with the same feel. Ilona Andrews is an author whose writing isn’t very complex, but she has a clear writing style, that even people who liked complex writing, would like. That’s not to say her writing is simple. I think her writing is actually very clever.

Pros

  • Like I said, her writing. I mentioned this with the first book, and I don’t know if she intentionally does it, but the way she writes Rogan’s fighting scenes is in a clever way. Rogan is a Prime, the highest rank of magic users, and he is probably the most feared of the primes. He was in the war for years and still thinks of everything with war logic. Death of bad people mean nothing to him. Murder mean nothing to him. When Rogan fights it’s not written in a drawn out incredibly detailed way, it’s straight to the point, like how he is. For example, this scene where someone betrayed him and he was angry, “He hit the door with the palm of his hand. His magic smashed into the wood. Every window in the house exploded outward.” There is no other description of what he did. There isn’t a description of how the magic felt around them, the way the glass would of shattered around them, the caving of the door. The book is told through Nevada’s point of view but when she describes Rogan’s magic it’s always simple like this, as if this incredible thing he did was no big deal, because it’s Rogan and to him it is no big deal. I love that it’s written this way. It makes Rogan seem more badass.
  • The development. Nevada and Rogan have changed from the first book and it’s not just their relationship. Nevada’s personality is changing. Her need to protect those around her is getting to her and making her into a harder person. She’s starting to use her power against people more when she used to not want to. She’s starting to be able to kill people without thinking about it. She is taking complete charge. Nevada is becoming a more dominant person who won’t let anyone take anything away from her. In the first book Nevada was scared of dying from Adam and actually started to cry when she thought she was about to die. In this one Nevada almost dies a few times and instead of thinking about the fear she does what she needs to do at that moment. Then there’s Rogan. He is losing his alien nature and becoming more human like. He’s doing things for Nevada that no one has ever seen him do. He’s doing what he can to make sure she’s safe and well protected, even if he can’t be there to do it. He even goes as far as threatening to kill someone he somewhat cares about. He starts to become genuinely happy.
  • What I liked about the Kate Daniels Series was how long it took Kate and Curran to become a couple. In the first book of that series they only kissed once and it was barely even a kiss. It is a slow burn kinda romance in a way, it just is full of tension to not make it feel like it’s so slow. This book series is slow but in a different way. In the start of Kate and Curran, neither of them thought anything really of each other. It was something that would never happen, so no one tried. Kate was someone who refused to listen and Curran was someone who needed control. In the Hidden Legacy series Nevada and Rogan have an instant attraction where they both want each other, but that’s just it, it’s only want. Neither of them care for each other past that, which is why Nevada refuses. You can tell they like each other but it’s nothing more than that. In this second book you can tell that those feelings are different. It has all changed and it’s no longer just want. They actually care for each other now. Their attraction wasn’t slow but their love wasn’t instant either. They had to build to get there.
  • This book was more action packed. The first book seemed more like an introduction into the series, while this one just went in. Nevada and Rogan were constantly getting wrapped into trouble like being in a car chase with people trying to shoot them, a party full of the town’s most dangerous people, creatures that aren’t easy to kill, and things that involve literally tanks. Also in this book we get to see more of Nevada’s family’s secrets. It’s been hinted by the mom that things in that family aren’t what they seem, and we get to see what she means. We get to see the secret she has been hiding from them all that can get them all killed or captured, and we get to see the families magic, especially Nevada’s younger sister’s magic. We also learn just how strong they all are. We also get more of Nevada’s boss in this book which I really enjoyed because we got to see a lot more of his personality and his interactions with Rogan.

Cons

  • This might just be a more personal con but I hate when books mention social media by name. I’m ok with the main ones like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, but not smaller ones like vine. When Nevada mentioned Vine I actually cringed, mainly because it dates the books. I don’t know if it’s just me but I hate when modern books date themselves with little trends like that. I get historical books and such, but in a modern book it dates it back to only a few years ago and it always feels weird to me. Like in the Morganville Vampires Series, one of the characters, Shane I believe, talks about how another character, Eve, nails are painted one color but the ring finger is painted a different color. That is a sentence or so that is so minuscule but has stuck with me, and I read this series years ago. I know this probably isn’t bad for a lot of people, but it’s something that personally bothers me. Other then that, once again I was very wrapped up in this book and didn’t have any cons. I loved this book and ate it up to fast to really pay to much attention to anything that could be considered bad. Usually I say something about the men’s attitude, like how it’s barbaric at times or commanding, but Rogan really isn’t it. He is a strong dominant person, but he isn’t controlling at all. He actually wants Nevada to go with him to do dangerous jobs(not like he WANTS her to, more like he doesn’t try to stop her.) so I can’t complain about him even if I wanted to.

Sadly I only have one more book of Nevada and Rogan. This book sets it up in its last chapter and from there you can tell it’s going to be good. Got to love those cliffhangers that get you wanting to read the next book at that very moment. This series is a must for Urban Fantasy lovers. It’s one of the best I’ve read, probably my second favorite. It might be beating Kate Daniels. I’ll figure that out with how the last book ends and once I eventually read the last two Kate Daniels books. Nevada and Rogan are two character I don’t see a lot of in other series. At first glance they might seem like a generic male and female lead but when you read more into the books you can see that they are not what you expected.  

*I did read the last book of this series, but sadly I was to busy to write a review for it, and too much time has passed to write a proper review of it, so I will just write my overall opinion here. I love this series and this was a great ending to a great series. I loved the third book as much as the other two. I’m waiting for the spin off, that comes out this year, of Nevada’s sister. I can’t wait for it!

Adult · Contemporary · Music · New Adult · Romance

Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin

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By Mariana Zapata

  • Publisher: Mariana Zapata
  • Year Released: 2015
  • Date Read: December 12th, 2018
  • Genre: Music, Romance, Contemporary, New Adult, Adult
  • My Rating: B/ 4 Stars


“I wouldn’t trade you for a million dollars, Mase.”
His reply was to beam at me.
“But for ten million, I’d work out some kind of visitation schedule” 
― Mariana Zapata

Devastated, and feeling pathetic, Gaby is stuck back home with nothing going for her. Then she gets a call from her twin brother who is known for trouble. He needs someone to sell his merch while he is on tour and since Gaby has nothing to do, he wants her to go with him. Gaby agrees to travel with him and their two best friends, but then finds out it’s not just them she’ll be on tour with. They have another band traveling along with them. She’ll be stuck with eleven boys for three months and all the trouble they bring with them.

I liked Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin, but it wasn’t my favorite Mariana Zapata book, it’s probably my least favorite so far. It’s not bad, just compared to her other work it feels somewhat lacking.  For one, the romance in the book was trumped by Gaby’s relationship with her brother and their two best friends. Once again, this isn’t bad to me since I like seeing bonds that aren’t in a romantic setting, but people who came for the amazing romance wouldn’t probably be that happy that you’re getting sidetracked by people who get along better. Sacha and Gaby were nice to read together. They were together literally all the time and at first I thought it was going to be an insta love story, glad that Zapata hasn’t failed me with one of those yet.

Pros

  • Gaby, her brother Eli, Mason, and Gordo. The four of thems relationship was the best part of the book. It is what makes this book likable to the extent that I do. If they weren’t in this book I’m not sure I would of finished it. The four of them have known each other since they were children and it’s very clear. They all tease each other and get along well well. We see moments of Gaby laying on Mason comfortably even though he jokes about her about marrying her. We see the more quiet Gordo joking around with her like by putting a sign on her back, and then we see her with Eli who treats her as his best friend. Their relationship is very close and I loved it. They were twins who grew up together without leaving each others side for too long, and it really showed in the writing. It’s clear they need the other in each others lives. I also loved the fact that none of them cared that Gaby was a girl. They don’t treat her like a girl at all, expect when Mason jokes about marrying her or to defend her. They treat her literally as if she was one of them. I also like how Zapata didn’t just say the group of boys were trouble and make them not trouble at all. She backs it up by mentioning things like how they got detention in kindergarten, and also when they ask Gaby to play a game with them she instantly starts saying no because she knows what it will lead to. The four of them were my favorite part of the book. I knew their relationship was going to trump the romance once you saw Eli and Gaby together once again. Everyone around was looking at Eli like he was a star because he was in a rock band and all Gaby could see was her brother who she called Eliza and would find in her bed in the middle of the night randomly because they were also close with each other.
  • The book was funny, obviously because of the three boys. They act like idiots so there was a lot of moments that had me laughing.
  • Zapata always has a more serious topic in her novels, and this one is pretty much body dysmorphia. The character had a part of themselves they didn’t like and hid from others. In the book we start way after her surgery to change that part of herself that she wanted, which sets up new problems for her that she thought would be fixed with changing her body. Now she has to learn to accept that’s the new her and that the people around her or people she invites into her life, will have to aware of it too and be ok with it. We also get to see that it’s all still a sensitive subject for her, showing that just because you get the change you want, while you will most likely be happy in the long run, it won’t always be immediate. These are usually my favorite parts of Zapata novels. I like seeing that the characters aren’t bland and go through real problems that aren’t mentioned and then thrown away. These problems stay with them just as real problems in real life tend to do.

Cons:

  • I know I had cons for this while I was reading it, but for some reason my dumb ass didn’t mark them as I read them so I can’t fully remember them. The one I can remember is this is not the best Zapata romance novel. Out of all her romantic relationships I liked this one the least. They kinda seemed like teenagers half the time and while it’s still a slow burn romance, they bonded and got real friendly within a few chapters. Like stuck with glue kinda friendship. I guess I’m just used to Zapata’s enemy to lovers novels that when I read the one that isn’t, it’s more off putting to me. I don’t know if it’s just me, I just personally cared for the friendships in this and didn’t care as much for the romance. The romance wasn’t bad. It’s just that the couple kinda reminded me of the teenage couples I used to see in school who were literally always touching as if their bodies were magnets. I mean even when eating they were hugging each other(talking about real life, not the book.). It’s kinda too much, especially when it’s supposed to be a slow burn.

I’m saying I don’t like this book that much, but only because I have high expectations for Zapata novels because I’ve read her newer and better work. For a normal romance novel, this is still a four star book. I don’t really like straight up romance novels but I liked this book and continued it because it was still good, it just isn’t as good as Zapata’s other works. It probably also doesn’t help that I have been reading Zapata novels back to back to where I know the set up and structures of her books. But also at the same time, this is the book she wrote after Kulti, but right before the Wall of Winnipeg, which are two loved books made by her, so I can’t just say that it might because it’s one of her first books. It isn’t. Kulti was good and the Wall of Winnipeg was amazing, and this lacks compared to both of them.

If you enjoy books with good bonds, read this. You will love Gaby and the boys. If you want romance and don’t care that it’s clingy in a way, you will also probably like this. If you’ve read many Zapata novels right before deciding to read this, probably don’t do that. Wait a month or so and come back. Maybe it will be better that way.

“My brother had pulled one of our mom’s largest crucifixes off the wall and held it in the air at me while he hissed, “I banish thee!” 
― Mariana Zapata

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Little Message From Me

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Hello Everyone!

I have not updated, or written anything in about a month now. I was busy during December and afterwords just hadn’t gotten around to doing it. I haven’t even been reading books again till a few nights ago. I plan on uploading some reviews I had from last month that I wrote but had not published, but it is possible they may be published not in order from when I read them or they may not even be finished reviews. What I mean by finished reviews is that I know for fact that one of the series I wrote a review on, I read the all three books, but only wrote reviews for the first two, and never wrote one on the third. I will say which book this in when I post the review of the second book in that series. Also there is just some books I read that I never wrote a review for and too much time has passed to write a proper review on them so I won’t be writing those.

Another thing to add, as someone who is trying to make a book review blog, I don’t like that sometimes I’m gone for a while. Inconsistency is not a good thing. For me, what I read is like a mood. Sometimes I want to read books, other times I want to read manga, or write. Usually if I write all day, I don’t read books because I have trouble focusing on them, and instead will read a manga. So, to help with my inconsistency, I might upload some reviews on the manga I read, and maybe even some of the things I have learned about writing over the years. Though, there probably won’t be a lot of manga reviews since I would only be writing a review on a manga that is completed and I read all the way through within a few days. I will try out these little changes, and so that people know what it is, I will try to write in the title, book review, manga review, or something about writing.

I know a lot of people probably won’t care, and probably won’t even read this. That is fine. That’s not why I’m writing this. I just wanted to put this message out there for myself, kinda like me putting out there an expectation for myself to keep. I will admit that I’m bad on staying on track sometimes, so hopefully by writing this I will force myself to stay on this track.

To the people who read my blog,

Thank You.

Adult · Fantasy · Magic · Paranormal · Romance · Urban Fantasy

Burn for Me (#1 Hidden Legacy)

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Burn for Me
Ilona Andrews

  • Publisher: Avon Books
  • Year Published: 2014
  • Date I read It: December 16, 2018
  • Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Adult, Romance
  • Grade: A-/ 4.5/5 Stars

“You can’t just kill people because they annoy you.”

“You keep saying ‘can’t,'”

-Ilona Andrews

Nevada Baylor is a private investigator in a world where magic not only exist, almost everyone has it.  Nevada’s family usually only takes on small cases like catching a cheating spouse. They aren’t able to take on bigger, more dangerous cases, but when Nevada is told to catch one of the most dangerous people in their city or lose everything her family has worked for she has no choice but to risk her life to catch this man who doesn’t care about anyone else’s life. She has to not kill him, but bring him back, which is harder then killing him. How do you bring back someone who has no regard for human life. Her search for him sends her right into the eye of another dangerous man, one known for his murderous past. He is a dangerous man, but with his help she might be able to catch the other dangerous man.

Later this year I read, Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series and fell in love. Finding a good urban fantasy book is not an easy task. You have to wade through the mound of garbage to find that diamond hidden within. Most of urban fantasies are cliche garbage. Ilona Andrews writes diamonds. I only have one urban fantasy series that I love more then Kate Daniels. That would be Mercy Thompson, which is my all time favorite urban fantasy that I have read multiple times and I don’t think anything can beat. When I saw that Ilona Andrews had a another book series out that isn’t related to Kate’s world, at least I don’t think it is, I immediately wanted it. I really enjoy the worlds Ilona makes. Kate’s world was our world but without having electronics you could depend on. At any given moment you could have a power surge that would make cars and such useless. People usually traveled by foot or horses. In Nevada’s world, while magic has become apart of everyday life, it doesn’t effect the world like that, but it’s people. Everyone has magic pretty much and use it to do things they couldn’t normally do, sometimes making life worse. Magic is very depended on and sought after. Many people who have powerful magic are put into the army and used. Many of the characters is this world has military background. There’s also places in the book where magic has helped to destroy a town and now that town is basically a wasteland.

The magic concept in this book is not complicated. There isn’t a system that has to be used, or sacarfies that need to be made on a full moon. Magic is just a part of people. Even though the magic is basic in its structure, reading how characters used their magic was interesting to read. In this world there are ranks of how strong your magic is, the top rank being a Prime. Primes are capable of mass destruction. For example, regular magic users can do thinks like communicate with animals, summon poison flies. A prime can destroy a building without touching it, and that’s just them using magic at a basic level. If they were to go full power they could destroy a town. The two men who are introduced in Nevada’s life in this book are two primes. The villain who Nevada is trying to convince to go home and turn himself in is Adam. Adam is a prime who is pyrokinetic, meaning he can make fire. He burned down a bank with people in it and didn’t care. The other man is Conner Rogan, otherwise known as Mad Rogan, the Butcher of Merida, and Huracan(hurricane). Mad Rogan is known for murdering many people. He can slice out a chunk out of a building as if it was nothing, and to him it is. He is telekinetic, he can move things without touching them using his head. Adam and Mad Rogan are two people who are feared for their magic use and Nevada has caught both of their attention.

I know some people think that comparing books or characters are a bad thing, but I like to look at an authors previous work and seeing the differences in her worlds and characters. I liked to see if the characters are the same, or if the author knows how to write more than one kind of character. In Ilona Andrews’ case, she is able to write characters that are similar but so completely different.

Kate Daniels was a badass. She was a trained fighter that people knew. She radiated a badass aura at all times. There is no doubt that you don’t want to fuck with Kate. She doesn’t stand down, even if she knows she will die. She is stubborn and doesn’t care that your an alpha. She’ll look you in the eye and smile as you growl at her. Nevada is a badass, just in a different way. Nevada is not a fighter. Kate’s strength was her literal strength and magic abilities. Nevada is very smart and thinks out all the possibilities before engaging. Kate is the type who if a problem is prevented she would want to deal with it then and get it out of the way, while Nevada would rather take the day and think about which way to go about it. Nevada isn’t just a smart character though, she can be a fighter, just not in a physical way. There is times where Nevada gets angry and you see a glimpse of that Kate Daniels attitude that tells you to run. Nevada’s magic also isn’t useful in a fight, so she uses things like guns, tasers, and something that’s like a taser, and if she wants to shot you there’s a good chance she isn’t missing. My favorite moments of the book with Nevada was when she took charge. It was like Nevada became a new person. That second Nevada was angry and started commanding people you could feel this power from her. There’s also other differences between the two characters. Kate Daniels was a loner. She was raised being told that she was a danger to others and that no one could be with her, so she was always alone. Even by the end of the book, Kate has only a hand full of people she actually cares about. Nevada is a family person. She runs a business with her family that consist of her mother, grandmother, sisters, and cousins. She would do anything for them, including die. When one of them was messed with Nevada went into a rage mood. Nevada is a very family oriented person, while Kate is a loner. There is some things both of them have completely in common though. Both are very brave and selfless. Both have no problem dealing with alphas, murderers, people who radiate fear, and telling them no. They stand up for themselves and it doesn’t matter if you can rip them in half with your bare hands, or without even touching you.

Curran vs Mad Rogan. Curran is the definition of Alpha. His word is final, you don’t disobey him. He tries to control everything. Kate refers to him a lot as a control freak, and he is because he is an alpha who demands to be listened to, expect with Kate who he eventually sees as an equal. Curran is literally a beast at times. When you hear the stories of Mad Rogan, you would think he would be just like Curran, but he is almost nothing like Curran, which really surprised me. Mad Rogan’s personality was something I didn’t expect. Nevada refers to Mad Rogan as an alien in one part and I fully agree. It was like he was an alien trying to understand basic human emotion. He is a murder who was also a soldier for years that was used to pretty much destroy towns. He doesn’t feel the same ways or emotions  that normal people do, but he wants to understand it. There is a part where he kills someone with a building, freaking out Nevada. He seriously asks Nevada if she would rather he do it in another way. He doesn’t want to freak her out so if there is a way he can kill people that is better for her then he will do it. There is also times where she tells him to stop killing someone who he thinks deserves it because their an asshole and he asks Nevada why she doesn’t want him to kill that person and why isn’t she angry. There are time where he asks these questions and they are sarcastic, but a lot of the times he is asking because he actually wants to understand. Also, Mad Rogan likes to joke and tease people. He is actually more playful in the book then he is ever angry. He is only truly angry a few times but for a lot of the book he is making jokes about him killing people, and teasing people. Based on the stories you heard from him you would of thought he was another Curran but he isn’t. If it wasn’t for the killing he would pass for normal.

Pro

  • I love a book where the characters make me laugh. I take notes all through books and a lot of my notes in this one were just moments I found funny. Like Nevada buying a man a shirt because he is never wearing one, her being completely blunt to people like telling her boss he is a bad person, and things like her and her family hanging up multiple times on a man known for murdering people. There’s also a lot of moments Rogan made me laugh when he would kill someone as if it was nothing, and then make a joke about it a few paragraphs later. The book wasn’t cheesy funny, but genuine funny. It didn’t come off as trying to be funny, it just was. A lot of the characters had these little funny moments.  Nevada’s family is a family you want to be a part of because every moments you are with them is enjoyable.
  • The fighting. I’m someone who doesn’t necessarily care about combat in books since for combat I prefer visuals. I don’t usually care about reading it in depths. If there’s anything I like to read about combat it’s more like taction. There was no taction in this book, yet I loved the combat. I loved reading about Rogan picking up car parts and slicing people in half with it. I liked how simple it was written when Rogan just threw a guy in a lake and dropped building on him. It was literally written in a few sentences as if it wasn’t important because to Rogan, it wasn’t. I liked the null space where if a Prime used so much of their magic they literally became untouchable because it basically put them in a dimension where you could see them but that was it. The combat in this book was so good that I actually enjoyed reading it and didn’t feel like I just wanted to skim through it.
  • Even though Adam was the villian, he was charming. A lot of times villains are portrayed as awful from the start with no good qualities as if there only personality trait was them being evil, which isn’t always bad thing because sometimes evil is just evil depending on the context of the character. For Adam, since he was well known, popular, rich, if he was just an evil asshole he wouldn’t be a good character. The fact that he is rich and popular would mean that he is charming. He was probably taught to be charming because it’s good for business and its how you get people to do things for you. Adam is also a manipulator, so it makes perfect sense for him to being charming. He didn’t care for people, but he could act like he did. He could make you feel like you were worth something to him because he wanted you to do something. He is a good villain because he a charming villain which makes him tricky. I also don’t really see books where the main character and the villian sit down and have chats while the main character knows that person is the villain. They did and each time it was a game of them trying to convince each other to do something.
  • Like I said before Nevada is smart. She doesn’t rush into things and make stupid decisions like a lot of main characters. She needs to go into a bar to question people but she knows that it’s dark, and it will have a bunch of drunk men in there who will probably already be a little angry and won’t like a random girl in there poking around, so she goes home instead and decides to go in the morning because it’s safer. She thinks out everything before she does it. A lot of times characters rush into everything because it makes good content for the book. Nevada shows you don’t need to have a character do that. There are ways to make your character not make stupid decisions and still have the story progress and still be likeable. Even when Nevada has to put herself in a dangerous situation she makes sure to take precautions before going. She makes sure to think about what will happen if she does something and if it’s not a result she will like she will find another way to do it. She is a witty character who is actually clever.

Cons

  • I was honestly to interested in reading that I didn’t find anything wrong. Even as i true to think about it, there was nothing I didn’t like about the book. I think i might actually prefer it to Kate Daniels, which I didn’t think I would. Even the writing was good,It was written in a smart way. Maybe i’ll see something wrong in the second one but i’m not going to try to find fault in something when I didn’t find fault in it while reading it. It’s not fair to the author so this book doesn’t have any cons to me.

If it’s not clear enough, I love this book. If you like Urban Fantasy and haven’t read this book yet then do it. I like that this isn’t a world of supernatural creatures but just people who can use different forms of magic because of experimentation. It was fun to read about people shooting fire, talking to animals, being able to tell if something was a lie, the magic circles. Ilona’s characters are realistic and entertaining to read. Nevada was a constant enjoyment and Rogan trying to understand human emotions was a different approach for a powerful man. It doesn’t seem like it is, but the way Ilona writes it is different then the ways it’s been done before. I honestly thought Rogan was going to be a character who was emotionless except for anger, but he wasn’t. This book blew away everything I had expected it to be and I love it.


“And let’s be honest, you weren’t exactly harmed. I even took you home.”

“You dumped me on my doorstep. According to my mother, I looked half dead.”

“Your mother exaggerates. A third dead at most.”
― Ilona Andrews

Adult · Contemporary · New Adult · Romance · Sports

From Lukov with Love

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From Lukov with Love
Mariana Zapata

  • Publisher: Mariana Zapata
  • Year Released: 2018
  • Date Read: December 7, 2018
  • Genre: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult, Adult, Sports
  • Grade: 4.8/ A+


“You say nobody remembers second place, but no one remembers the girls that win once and disappear afterward either.”

-Mariana Zapata

Jasmine has been skating for seventeen years, but those years are about to be over. Jasmine career in figure skating is about to come to a close with nothing but bad partnerships to show for it. She has worked hard, but because of her honesty no one wants to work with her, until Ivan, the star of figure skating, brings her an offer. Be his partner for a year to get the gold she wants, and afterwards he’ll help her find another partner. Only one problem, Jasmine and Ivan can’t stand each other. After years of insulting and jabbing at each other they will have to learn to get along enough to trust each other on the ice.

This book had me rolling in little fits of laughter. I loved it, every part of it. This is Mariana Zapata’s newest book, not counting the one that hasn’t been released yet. You can tell while reading it that her writing has most definitely improved along the years. The main character’s inner thoughts to herself were just as amusing as when she was speaking. There was little difference in it. I also noticed some little call backs or little traits Zapata puts in every book. Like how all her characters like the other character’s booty, she likes to talk about shanking people, and she even used a reference from Under Locke, which is comparing the main character and the love interests to oil and water to show that they don’t go together. The main reference that I caught and enjoyed was when Jasmine says she isn’t afraid of spiders, flying roaches, mice, the dark, clowns, and heights. I don’t know if the rest of them come from other books but I know the bugs were a mention of fear in Under Locke, and the dark and clowns were mentioned as fears in The Wall Of Winnipeg and Me. Zapata definitely has a style to her writing and puts her own love of things into a book, which isn’t always a good thing, but I enjoy in her case.

Pros

  • Jasmine and Ivan. From their first interaction of each other I knew this was going to be good. The second they started flipping each other off and mouthing insults to each other I knew this was going to be a damn good read. They had me laughing. There’s also them hitting each other under the table and the little ways they challenged each other. Even when they were rivals, they went together very well. They acted like friends who bantered and teased each other even though they were rivals who didn’t like each other. There’s also their little insult nicknames they have for each other. Them mouthing or whispering insults at each other as if they were children trying to hide from their mom they were fighting.
  • This is the first Zapata novel I read where the families didn’t have an asshole nature. There was Jasmine’s dad, which I will touch more on, but other then that, the families in this were sweet. I loved reading Jasmine interact with her family just as much as I loved reading her with Ivan. Jasmine’s interactions reminded me of how my family interacts. The way they all make fun of each other and are ready to call you out on things. You could see the love they all had for each other, that they were willing to do anything for each other. I also loved that we got to read her group text messages with families. They were never not funny.
  • Jasmine’s relationship with her dad. It wasn’t as bad as the two other Zapata novels I read, but I really love how this one was handled. Throughout the novel it’s clear that Jasmine doesn’t have the best relationship with her dad and it shows that it’s because of her being a figure skater. Zapata is really good at writing things that people go through with their parents not being there. In The Wall of Winnipeg and Me, we see the relationship of a intoxicated mother who neglected her children and denied their other children abusive actions. In Under Locke, we see the relationship of a father never being there when he is needed and just being awful in general. In those two books it shows relationships that can’t be repaired. In this one, Zapata goes the other route and shows that a bad relationship between children and parents can be fixed, though generally it’s still toxic and will never be perfect. Zapata has said in all three of these novels how someone can love someone, but it’s a toxic love. That they know their parents think they love them, but what they really feel is this toxic kind of thing. Each book has its own quote about love and how it’s such a complex feeling that people just throw around. In this book, when Jasmine’s dad asks if she knows he loves her she thinks to herself, “Love is a weird word. What the hell was love? Everyone had such a different opinion on what it meant to them; it was hard to figure out how to use it.” If there’s something that Zapata can write as well as her slow burn romance, it’s character’s relationship with parents and how damaging it can be when it’s not a good one. Jasmine’s break down in this actually had me in a little bit of tears, especially since she was written as such a strong person. Zapata writes these moments very well and it makes the books more serious than just a book about a girl who is falling for a boy.
  • In these last three books Zapata has also had something that the main characters hated or tried to hide about themselves. One was student debt and her sister abusing her, one was her arm from cancer treatments, and this one was a learning disability. Jasmine has a learning disability that she is sensitive about. She had trouble with school because of it and doesn’t like others to find out about it because they will assume she is stupid. Throughout the book Jasmine talks about it and the problems she has faced with people and school. It’s not something that is mentioned and then thrown away because it was only used for a scene. It’s a part of Jasmine.
  • I also really loved how the author talked about perverts on the internet, because that is a real gross problem. How people, especially those with fame, get disgusting messages and comments sent to them and how degrading it makes them feel. We see it in people’s comments all the time, about how someone wishes they could screw the person who is in the picture or video. It’s disgusting and not flattering to think that someone out there is getting off on something you didn’t want them too, or you sending them picture or videos of it. It’s something that is gross and needs to stop, and she talked about it, letting us see through the stars point of view of how it makes them feel. This doesn’t just go for men doing it either. I’ve heard plenty of women degrade men in a way they wouldn’t want to be talked about. Zapata talks on this also. In the women’s locker room, Ivan gets talked about in that way, by teenage girls of all people. It’s not cute, it’s not funny, it’s gross and if not something you would say to the person to their face you shouldn’t say it at all, maybe not even if you would say it to there face. If it something about their body, keep that shit to yourself.
  • Ivan and his farm, because the image of him holding a bunny all day and talking to his animals is honestly the cutest thing in this book.

Cons

  • I wished there would of been more skating. They were always practicing, and the author did use figure skating terms, but when they were practicing it never went into depth about the practice, just that they practiced and they did this move or tried to get in sync with each other. It was always just, oh we practiced but now we’re done. There was moments of when Jasmine would skate and we would see her fail over and over when she was stressed out, and those were the most in depth scenes of them skating. But I can also understand that figure skating is probably very hard to write about compared to other sports. This one is more artistic and to describe it would probably be very hard and take a lot of length up of a story that is already  very long.


“I was honestly worried you were going to do some John Wick shit with the comb I left on the counter.” 
― Mariana Zapata

I can’t choose if I prefer this one or Winnipeg. They were both very good, though I will say this one was a lot more funny, but Winnipeg’s characters were more serious acting so that makes sense. I honestly want to see this book though as a movie(Yes I know there is an old movie that is just like this. But I want to see THIS story as a movie.), even though generally I think book to movie adaptations are awful.  It reminds me of a romance version of the comedy movie, Blades of Glory(Though it’s not the movie I was talking about above. I actually have not seen that movie). Out of the three of her novels I’ve read, I would want this one to be a movie. Winnipeg was a lot slower in getting things going also, while From Lukov with Love, while still having that slow burn romance, was a lot faster at getting the plot and ball rolling. It had more things happen in it and was fun. I have so far enjoyed all the Zapata novels I have read. I would one hundred percent recommend this one to people. Ivan and Jasmine are the ultimate enemies that care for each other and are there to comfort each other in their times of need. Their chemistry is there from the moment Jasmine sees him in the office. The way she walks into the room and he just stares at her blankly, as if he doesn’t care that she’s there and he doesn’t want any part in it. They were the perfect match and made this story amazing. I’ve always loved the artistic side of figure skating. I know that people think the guys are all frilly or whatever they think about it, but Ivan shows that they aren’t. They are just someone who really loves the sport and that makes them in no way girly. It’s an artistic sport and it’s beautiful and takes talent. I’m glad Zapata wrote a novel about it and I read it


I blinked. “I hope you get abducted by aliens.”

Ivan laughed, and the sound of it made me smile. “You would miss me.”

All I said, while shrugging was, “Meh. I know I’d get to see you again someday—”

He smiled.

“—in hell.”

-Mariana Zapata