The Raven King (All for the Game #2)

September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 Simplistic ReaderLeave a comment

The Raven King

Nora Sakavic

18187013

Publisher: Self Published by Nora Sakavic

Year Released: 2013

Date Read: September 16, 2018

Genre: Sports, LGBT, Contemporary

Grade: A+/ 5 Stars

***This become contains sexual abuse and talk of sexual abuse, torture, murder, abuse, gangs, drugs, and general violence. If you are sensitive to this or if these trigger you please either be cautious of it or do not read it. These are mentioned though a lot of the book so if this bothers you do not take it lightly and read it thinking the will only mention it once. For those are not into darker type of books, this is not for you.***

“You have this way of making people want to kill you,”

-Nora Sakavic

The war between the Foxes and the Ravens have started. After the aftermath of Riko’s warning, the team is having to cope and find out how to fix what they have lost. They only have a short amount of time before they play against Riko, but the team is having a hard time getting it together. The only one who can bring both side of the teams together is Neil, but to do that he will have to work with Andrew, which isn’t easy. To get Andrew to work with him, Neil must give up pieces of his life he has never given anyone. Neil has to rely on and trust the man everyone calls a monster in order to stay alive and beat Riko, for Kevin, and himself.

Writing a review for this book is hard. Finishing the last half was hard. Not because it was terrible, or bad, it was nowhere near bad. It was so hard to digest what was going on. I had known before reading this book that it was going to get dark, but it got darker than I thought. It shocked me to the point where I couldn’t even cry because I was still trying to fully register what was going on. It wasn’t until the aftermath that I started crying. The author doesn’t write the book in first person, yet I have never felt more immersed in a book. I felt like I was in that room, watching what was going on. It’s terrifying because it’s so real, and it happens, and it hurt, bad. I’ve cried reading many books, mostly for character’s death, no main character died, yet I felt the most pain reading that part of the book than any other book I’ve ever read. The book won’t leave my mind. It’s burnt it’s image in it. It was dark, but what happened after the dark moment is what hit me the hardest. I love this series more than I ever thought I would. It represents everything I have ever believed in. I had seen this book all over, and when I saw it, I thought it would just be a cute sports book that I would like, that it would be like the sports anime I watch like Haikyuu or Kuroko no Basket. I was so wrong. It’s like Haikyuu in certain ways, but it’s not a happy book, it’s not cheerful. It’s heartbreaking. I’ve read many books were characters were abused and it’s never broken me this much. And that’s probably because in most books it’s like a redemption story where they start to immediately get better, but that’s not how this book works. They don’t get automatically better, the change in them is small. They’re scared to change and still don’t know how to. The characters in this are slowly helping each other and it makes everything hit harder because it makes it real. People who have been knocked down their whole life don’t usually just take medicine once, or get up one day and decide that everything is better. It’s usually is a growing process and that’s what happening. This book has made its way up to my top favorite books.

Pros

The character development. Everything in these books have subtle growth. The characters have gotten closer to each other then they have in the first book, but they’re not all friends still. Neil has gotten more brave. He isn’t wanting to run away even though he knows he is in danger. Andrew is opening up and trusting Neil more. Neil is starting to see them as friends, even if he doesn’t realize it. He went through two weeks of pain to help Andrew. The character’s growth isn’t something that sticks out, but you can definitely see the change in all the characters.
Andrew. Once again, I LOVE Andrew, and this book made me love him more. You find out a lot about Andrew through this book. A lot of people say that characters are complicated but I have never see a more complicated character to explain then Andrew. There is just so many elements to him, and while this book helps to make him a little less unpredictable, he still catches you off guard. I have no idea how to really explain his character without going into a hour long speech, with a whole presentation, with quotes and drawn up pictures. So, the easiest way to say it is, Andrew goes from being seen as a psychopath to someone who found a way of coping through his life by making everything into a game. I don’t think Andrew is a psychopath, he just has a weird way of helping people and dealing with how he feels about everything.
Neil. Neil really is a good character. He starts out in the series not caring about anyone, because it’s what he was taught to do. He doesn’t want to be friends with anyone and he doesn’t trust anyone. After losing his mom he is lost and knows that he just wants to survive. By the end of the second book though,Neil has started to change his thoughts on all of that. By the end of the first book, when Kevin was freaked out Neil took the attention off him and put it on himself even though he knew it would put him in danger. In the beginning all Neil cared about was surival and playing Exy one last time. Now he would give up Exy if it meant he could help one of them. He is starting to trust in people and find his own reasons to stop running and live a life he always wanted. He knows staying could mean dying, but he is risking it, to play Exy, but also because he doesn’t want to leave the people who are making them feel like family. There’s a part where Nicky tells Neil, “It’s about family. Not necessarily the one we were born with, but the one we chose…. The people we trust to be part of our lives. The people we care about.” Neil takes this to heart and it’s such a difference from how he felt in the first book. It shows that he is being able to heal and find a place he wants to belong in.
Once again, the writing. I really want to know why these are self published. I feel like i’m there with the characters. She is able to fully immerse you into the story. You feel a connection to all the characters.It’s really good. I love it. I want to read it over and over again. I will read it again eventually. I don’t doubt that.
The ending. That ending. It was dark and I loved it. I loved it’s translation into the next book. I loved it. It helps people to understand Kevin’s life before joining the team. It’s very dark, but within that one chapter it sums up what these books are. It sums up the before and the parts of Neil’s life that he is changing. It was a great ending and it makes you respect certain characters so much more than you already did.
I put this one last because it’s more on the spoiler side. So be warned. It’s a spoiler. I will make the cons way lower so you don’t have to even risk seeing this but I have to mention it in the pros. It’s the part of the book that hit me the most in the best way and I can’t stop thinking about. It needs to be praised……….. The immediate help for Andrew. As soon as they knew what has been happening to him, and why he acts how he does, they didn’t hesitate to drop everything and help him. They didn’t care that they could lose their games, or that he wouldn’t be calmer anymore. They just wanted him to be able to be helped. That’s the moment I started to cry a lot. That’s when the shock was gone and I was just sobbing. I’ve always loved these types of books, the ones with troubled characters, like the Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. They all show something that I believe in. They all show something that people forget. These are just kids, they’re barely adults. There is more to them they how they act out. That people who are troubled usually have a reason why and that they deserve just as much help as anyone. They deserve to have chances to redeem or fix themselves to be who they want. The psychologist did something in this, in this book, I hope all psychologist do. She cared that Andrew needed help, and that the medicine wasn’t going to help him. Keeping him on the medicine would of been the easiest route for everyone, but she knew that it was hurting him more then it was helping him, so put Andrew’s needs first. I loved this scene. I loved how everyone put aside their differences and did what they needed to get Andrew help. That whole part of the book was hard to read but that one part of them getting together to help him made it so much easier to get through it. I cried more at that part then I did at the part before it.

Cons

Seeing Cons in this book was hard once I got to the tough part of the book. I was so focused on what was going on that I didn’t really notice any flaws. I don’t think it’s right to sit here and try to come up with flaws either. The only thing I feel like people might think is a flaw is how extreme some of the characters are but I think that’s because they’re not taking the time to understand the characters and that people react differently to different events. In the first book, the characters did seem extreme, but after reading this book they don’t. I’m know there is a con in this book because all books have their imperfect parts, but I was so immersed in reading that I didn’t see one. Maybe it’s the honeymoon phase, or maybe it really is just that good to me that I’m blinded by all pros. I don’t know. I know that i could say that it being so dark is a con, but to me it isn’t. I think, while it was one of the darkest things I have ever read, it went well with the story and was written and done very well. To me it isn’t a con. If I can think of a con I will update it later, but at this point in time I can’t think of one I felt while reading, and I’m not going to be unfair and try to think of one just so I have one. I enjoyed the book so much that I didn’t want to put it down. The last time binged a book this hard was Red Rising, which is in my top five favorite series. At this point in time, I don’t have a con.

“As he listened to them, Neil realised he was happy. It was such an unexpected and unfamiliar feeling he lost track of the conversation for a minute.”

― Nora Sakavic

I am in love with this series. I’m glad that after going back and searching, I found that there are physical versions of this book and not just e-books. I want them all. I want to go back and annotate it all over. There is so much in this books, and they’re not even big books. They’re small, yet they have so much put into it. I haven’t redone my top books in a while, but after a few weeks to see if my love for it is just the honeymoon phase, it might move one of my top fives out. It’s definitely in the top ten though. High top ten. If it’s not the top five, it’s number six. After the series I actually kind of want to go through and break down all the characters, and put together why they do what they do, and how they are. This is a really character heavy story and I love it. I love it for the same reason i loved Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys. These are my favorite type of books and It’s books like this that I’m glad I’m in love with books, and became a book reader. I’m glad I found this book and read it. It was the book I didn’t know I needed.

“He was their family. They were his. They were worth every cut and bruise and scream.”

― Nora Sakavic

Contemporary · LGBT · Sports

The Foxhole Court

September 16, 2018 Simplistic ReaderLeave a comment

The Foxhole Court

Nora Sakavic

17259690

Publisher: Self Published by Nora Sakavic

Release Year: 2013

Date Read: September 15, 2018

Genre: Sports, LGBT, Contemporary, Young Adult

Rating: B/ 4 Stars

***This book series features talk of abuse, murder, torture, gangs, violence in general, and I believe later it may contain self mutilation, and rape, but I can be not. If this concerns you or triggers you I would advise looking more into it before reading. This book is on the darker side and talks of abuse a lot. If you are uncomfortable with it or it triggers you be cautious. This reviews talks about the abuse and the way I talk about it isn’t meant to offend or say that you have to feel this way. It’s all based on what I have learned self studying child psychology from a young age and other people I know personal experiences. ***

“It’s about second chances, Neil. Second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you.”

― Nora Sakavic

Neil has been on the run for eight years, not for a crime he did, but from a criminal he is avoiding, his father. Neil’s father is a murderer known as The Butcher, and Neil will do whatever he needs to do to not end up in his hands again, but when Neil gets the chance to play his favorite sport for the last time he can’t help himself. Neil is the new addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team, a team full of delinquents and people who most don’t want to give any more chances. Even though the team is full of trouble, especially one who is psycho in every way, the team members aren’t what puts Neil in danger. The team is well known, and it doesn’t help that a star player from another school is now on their team, and with him comes spotlight, something Neil has been avoiding. Now Neil must ask himself which is more important, Exy, or his life.

We’ve been told over and over not to judge a book on it’s cover, that is very literal with this one. I will admit, the cover put me off because it seemed like it was just something someone put on a fanfiction website, but when I found out why the cover looks like that I understood, and also was amazed. This book is self published, which makes it clear why the cover looks that way, but what I want to know is if the book is self published because no one wanted to publisher it for her, because if that’s the case, they messed up. While the description of this book seemed like it was a lot, when you read it, it doesn’t seem like it at all. It was to me, like I was watching Haikyuu(A sports anime for those who don’t know), mixed with a much darker version of the Raven Boys from Maggie Stiefvater, two things I love. This book mostly is set around before the start of the games to let you get to know the characters and how they interact with each other. It lets you get to know all the characters before you get to see them in action at the games. It mainly features Neil hanging around four other characters, Andrew, the psycho that everyone is too scared to mess with, Aaron, his twin brother and that’s all his character is, Kevin, the Exy star with a forever damaged left hand and family issues, and Nicky, Andrew and Aaron’s flirty gay cousin, which is why I described it as a darker version of the Raven Boys.

Pros

I hate watching sports. I cannot stand it. I don’t care about sports at all. The only sports I watch is anime sport shows and it’s more about the characters and feeling happy for them then for the sport. This book is a sports book, and I loved reading them play the sport. Not only to cheer for them, but because I actually thought the made up sport was interesting. It’s brutal. The characters start to physically fight during the game and then just go back to playing as if they weren’t just in a fight. To make it better… This is a co-ed sport. They have girls on their team who get just as violent and rough as they do. As someone who hates watching real sports, I loved reading them play it. Mostly because they are all aggressive and brutal.
Andrew. I love Andrew. And while I love Andrew just for being Andrew, my favorite part of Andrew is how he is written. The main character calls Andrew a Psychotic Midget, and he is not wrong. Andrew is terrifying. If I met a man like him in real life I would run. Andrew has two sides, his medicated side that is full of calm smiles that make him less aggressive, but still calculating and scary, and his sober side which is pure anger and aggression. But, It’s not just how Andrew acts that makes terrifying, it’s how people act around him. No one wants to have back facing Andrew. They all want him where they can see him, especially when he is angry. Even when he is angry he will smile calmly, as if nothing is wrong, but they know what will happen if they turn around while he is angry at them. Everyone in the book fears him. No one wants to be around him when he is not on his medicine. They all avoid him on whatever cost. Their looks of fear and the way they go out of their way to avoid him is to an extreme. He has also beaten people almost to their literal death. Neil doesn’t call Andrew Psychotic as an exaggeration. The way the author writes Andrew makes you fear him as if he is real. She writes him so well. He’s unpredictable and terrifying. It’s something that I will never be able to explain completely. The way the other character fear him makes him even worse. They fear him like someone would fear a killer.
The bonds between the characters. I keep comparing this book to The Raven Boys and there’s a reason. My favorite part of The Raven boys is the special bond between each characters. Each character has a different relationship and friendship for each character. That’s how this book is. The book focuses a lot on how each character interacts with another character and how they bond. It’s a very character driven story, which is something I personally love.
The accuracy or abused people. It’s not a mystery that Neil is abused, his dad is a crazed murderer that he is running from. A lot of authors write abused characters but make them mostly only fear the abuser, which is how it is for some people, but a lot of people who are abused fear anyone they can relate to their abuser. Neil’s reaction to adult males compared to women and people his age is very realistic. Neil isn’t an abused character just to make his character abused or to appeal to the audience, it’s apart of him. It control him in some situations. And yes, Neil being abused is a huge part of his character, but it makes sense for it to be, he has been dealing with it and running from it his whole life. He hasn’t had time to not think about him being abused or his abuser. Running from his abuser has been his life for years, so it makes sense for a major part of his story to be focused on his abused self, but it also doesn’t focus on it where that’s all Neil is. Neil has other characteristics and does in fact not let it control him fully. He says what he believes in and doesn’t let people push him around. He stands up for himself and others, but there are times when the fear does control him and he does cower or start to shut down. Neil is an abused character, but his character is not only abused.
The LGBT part. While it is labeled as LGBT, it barely comes across as that. Now let me explain why that’s a pro before it seems like i’m saying something else. As I have said before, there are a lot of authors who make their characters only talk about being gay, only think about how they are gay, and all of their actions can relate to them being gay. It makes it come across as the characters are gay to just be gay and nothing more. Like the characters are there to say you have a gay character so you look more diverse. While there is more LGBT things to come in the series, this book only brings it up when Nicky is talking about how he is gay or flirting, or when Nicky is asking Neil which gender he likes. Neil, in the first book, never says if he likes either, and always just either ignores the question or denies liking either. The story focuses on the characters bonding instead of the LGBT part of it. Like some of the characters just happen to be gay instead of their characters only being gay. While being gay is a big part of someone’s life, it’s not all they are. There is more to them they who they like and their character should only revolve around that unless it’s exactly the plot of the book like Simon vs. Homosapien Agenda. Since this books focuses more on Neil choosing between the life he wants vs the abused life he knows it should focus more on his feelings towards the two then on which gender he likes. So the subtle amount of it in the first book makes it perfect and gives it time to build like real relationships and feelings do.

Cons

If you are a sports lover and want to read this book for sports reason, in this book they only actually play once. That’s not to say they don’t play more in the rest of the series, but in this book they only play an actual game against someone once. It’s a sports book but it focus a lot more on the lives of the characters than the sports. But it is a interesting made up sport that has been explained like a cross between lacrosse and hockey and it is actually fun to read them play it, and they do practice a lot. But the book is more drama than them playing the sport.
It has these weird moments. There were times that something happened and I had no idea why or it isn’t explained why it happened. It mostly is with Andrew, who does a lot of unexplained things, but it was still weird. One part that I couldn’t understand was why Andrew doesn’t want Neil to wear his contacts. It’s not explained, just that Andrew doesn’t want him to wear them and might harass Neil if he wears them out. It was weird. Now some of the weird things do get explained, but not in the first book, so it just stays weird.
To someone who doesn’t like problematic characters this book will be a big problem. Literally every character is problematic with a past. It’s definitely a darker book.So if not into that, don’t read it.
This book is mainly only found as an e-book. The only way I have found to buy paperbacks of the books is on Amazon. The author is self published though so it’s easy to understand that e-books would be easier to make than a lot of books she would of had to pay for without being certain people would’ve liked it. I have looked on Amazon though and they are there for sale.

“I’m not scared of Kevin. I know him.”

“You’re going to eat those words,” Neil said. “You’re going to choke on them.”

― Nora Sakavic

I really loved this book. I read it in two days. The first day I thought it was ok, but then spent all day wanting to stop everything to read the book. I wanted to just sit there all day and read it. I went to write and instead found myself looking at pictures of The Foxhole Court. I loved the characters and the drama that went on. I’m already halfway through the second book and am in love with it. I stayed up till seven in the morning reading it….. Now I do binge a lot of books but I don’t feel the need to drop everything, including sleep, to finish reading it. Only a few books have done it. This was one.

“Hope was a dangerous, disquieting thing, but he thought perhaps he liked it.”

― Nora Sakavic

I recommend the book to those who liked the Raven Boys(Especially Ronan) and want a much darker version where they play sports instead of searching for the welsh king.

“Andrew was smiling, but Neil knew his cheer didn’t mean he was going to play nice. He’d been smiling when he smashed a racquet into Neil’s stomach, too.”

― Nora Sakavic

Fantasy · Paranormal · Science Fiction · Uncategorized

The Queen’s Wing

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018 Simplistic ReaderLeave a comment

The Queen’s Wing

Jessica Thorne

41443903

Publisher: Bookouture

Release Date: November 21, 2018

Date Read: September 11, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Sci-fi

Rating: B/ 4 Stars

“She killed her with a pair of embroidery scissors!”

Like’s that the sin here. I used embroidery scissors.

-Jessica Thorne, The Queen’s Wing

***I got this ARC from Netgalley and the books publisher in exchange with the hope of a review. The feelings for this book are mine and mine alone.***

There is almost nothing Bel loves more than flying, but when the royal family, her distant family, is wiped out, Bel’s dad takes the throne. One of his first demands on the throne is for an alliance to be formed by marrying Bel off to a man she has never met or seen planets away. To help her family, Bel has to give up everything, flying, her family, the guy she loves, to marry Conleith, a widowed man who rules a world opposite of hers. Bel must try to find her balance at this new place where people think she is a savage, while also trying to survive assassination attempts from the people who killed her cousins, the mysteries that surround Conleith’s world, and find out if she is really going to marry Conleith because she wants to or because she is being told to.

The Queen’s Wing is a fantasy book that mixes with the sci-fi genre. Bel comes from a world where everyone, including women, are ready for a fight if needed, and ride in the air. Conleith’s world is more peaceful and elegant. They aren’t really fighters, which is what brings Conleith and Bel together. I tend to not really enjoy sci-fi. There’s only really one Sci-fi book that I like, which is Red Rising by Pierce Brown.(It is one of my favorite books serious that I recommend to everyone.) I am happy to add The Queen’s Wing to that list. As soon as I started reading and saw them talking about other planets, and some other sci-fi elements, I felt like I was going to not like it, but the fantasy part made the book better. Although the book does take place within different planets it is a fantasy at heart. There’s space ships, but only for a few chapters and then it’s life at the kingdom. I also really enjoyed Bel. In the beginning, to me, Bel sounded childish. She has this way of thinking in the beginning that is dream like. Her thoughts are like day dreams and her wishing and thinking of what she wants to happen. But after her father takes the throne that is gone and Bel becomes selfless and serious, but still remaining herself. She comes into her new life of being the royal princess quickly and starts to take charge. Bel felt like a real person, not just a character. This book really reminds me of The Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, expect without all the betrayal. It has those elements from the Red Queen series that I enjoyed and i think if you like the Red Queen series this is a good new series that is going to be coming out to look at.

Pros

I really enjoyed Conleith, and he isn’t the typical character I like. I like characters like Rowan from the Throne of Glass series, Warner from Shatter Me, Cardan from The Cruel Prince. I like the more darker characters or warrior types. I guess it follows that cliche of liking bad boys but mine is in book form only. Con is nothing like those characters, the other male interest is, but I didn’t like him nearly as much as Con. From the moment Con appeared I knew I would be cheering for him. He is sweet, treats Bel like a equal, so adorably shy. He is more sweet and gentle, but he does get angry and that side of him still has a gentle side even though he is yelling at people. He is also incredibly smart, and just watching him try to make Bel happy about their situation is heartwarming. Con was probably my favorite character, even more than Bel maybe.
There’s two LGBTQ characters who don’t seem to just be in it to help sell the book. They are not overstated or talked about so much to the point where it becomes apparent that they are there for nothing more than to be LGBTQ. It’s more like the two characters happen to LGBTQ. It doesn’t define them as their whole character.
Although Bel does get an almost instant attraction to Con, they’re relationship is slow growing. They fight and argue, have awkward moments around each other, and then have their bonding moments. Even with Shae, which is someone she knew her own life, it’s also a growing relationship of them figuring out what and how they feel about each other. I’m usually not a fan of love triangles, but this also isn’t a normal love triangle. To understand why you’ll have to read.

Cons

They kept mentioning an empress and it seemed like there was a dislike for her, but they never go into it. I don’t know if that’s something that the later books will go into, but for this one it doesn’t.
The beginning can be somewhat confusing, or it was for me at least. The author just kind of goes into the story without explaining anything, but as the story goes on she does start to explain more. It’s one of those book where the more you read the more you can understand it.
There is one more part that I personally find a con but I’m not sure if I can say it because the book hasn’t been released yet. Once it’s released I may come back and write it in, in place of this. I will say it’s a con for me but I know it’s not for a lot of people, and that this con didn’t change how I felt about this book at all.

I think this is a really good upcoming series for sci-fi and fantasy readers. It had really good characters with a good plot. I had actually planned on splitting this book up into different days to read it but I ended up reading it in one night. I couldn’t put it down. I have no self control, especially with books. I plan on reading the second book whenever it comes out.

Fantasy · Magic · Romance

Fire Study (Study #3)

September 11, 2018September 11, 2018 Simplistic ReaderLeave a comment

Fire Study

Maria V Snyder

1966969

Publisher: Mira Books

Year Released: 2008

Date Read: Septemeber 10, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Magic, Romance

Grade: B/ 4 Stars

“There’s always another storm. It’s the way the world works. Snowstorms, rainstorms, windstorms, sandstorms, and firestorms. Some are fierce and others are small. You have to deal with each one separately, but you need to keep an eye on whats brewing for tomorrow.”

― Maria V. Snyder

A war between the magicians and Ixia is about to take place. Yelena is finishing her apprenticeship, but still is having trouble proving to the Magicians Council that she is not against them or trying to betray them. Matters are only made worse when a plot is made against Yelena that makes everyone out to get her. Yelena must get all of her friends together to try to stop the war that is brewing and save Sitia from its own destruction. There’s only one more problem. One of their friends is betraying them, and Yelena doesn’t know who.

Fire Study is the best of both the first and second book of the Study series. You get all the characters from the first book and all the characters from the second book working together, either helping or trying to get rid of Yelena and Ixia. An even better part is that it’s a book that is pretty much full of Yelena and Valek. It’s also full of more of Yelena’s sneaky plan’s and Valek’s plan B’s which is just him cutting throats.

Pros

Even though there is more of Valek in this book, it’s still not romance heavy. Maria V Snyder always has a way of putting her romance in the background and letting the characters figuring themselves out and growing take the lead. She also always make the male interest majorly supporting the main character. They are there to help them with what they need, and to help them grow. But she does it in a way that doesn’t make the male interests just a support character with nothing else to them. In the Healer series, Kerrick is also there to help Avry but he also has his own goals that he sets out to do. Avry helps him and he helps Avry. It’s the same with Valek and Yelena. I really enjoy reading Maria V Snyder’s relationships, not only with the couples, but the friends. The friend’s bonds aren’t as strongly written as Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Boys series, but it’s still very present.
Yelena’s growth. Her growth throughout the three books seems subtle but as she has figured out her new powers she has grown with them. She went from being someone who avoided the conflict and was just trying to survive in the first book, to saving both the place she grew up in and the place she was meant to be. She’s gotten more confident in herself and mentions Reyad less showing that she is learning to move on from the pains in her past.
There’s more action scenes this time. Even if there’s not actual fighting all the tie there’s scenes that get intense and make you want to keep turning the page.

Cons

Cahil is still an annoying brat through most of it. He got more ok towards the end though. I was hoping Valek would just kill him through it.
The book can be seen as boring possibly because it is almost the same as the second book. More sneaking around, council doesn’t like Yelena, people trying to make Yelena pick a side, a lot of people want to kill her. It’s the same as the second book with just different events. I still enjoyed it but I can see how someone could think it was repetitive.

“It’s the problem with mistakes, they tend to linger.”

― Maria V. Snyder

This is the second series written by Maria V Snyder that I have loved and i’m glad that it’s not over. I only finished the first half of the Study series and will soon start the second part of Yelena’s story with the Soul Finders series. I can’t wait to see what new issues Yelena will have in the Soul Finders series and have more of her and Valek. This book was a good conclusion to the first half of the series and marks a good place to take a break on from. Everything is solved with no foreshadowing so you can read this book and be content to stop. You wouldn’t even have to read the second half if you just wanted to leave Yelena’s story there. This is a good series to read if you like magic, adventure, political disagreements, assassins, diversity, kingdoms, and if you liked Maria V Snyder’s Healer series.

Fantasy · Magic · Romance

Magic Study

September 9, 2018September 9, 2018 Simplistic ReaderLeave a comment

Magic Study (Study #2)

Maria V Snyder

1265703

Publisher: Mira

Year Released: 2007

Date Read: September 8, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Romance

Grade: B/ 4 Stars

“I’ll have you know that the most delicate flowers often produce the strongest scent when crushed.”

― Maria V. Snyder

**This review contains talk of things that could trigger some people. If you do not wish to read things that contain talk of rape or rape victims then please either do not read this review or just be aware of it.**

Magic Study is the sequel to Maria V Snyder’s Poison Study. Yelena no longer is having to test foods for poison but that doesn’t stop her life from being in danger. Yelena has left Ixia, the place where magic is banned, and now is in her home land where she will meet her family she was taken from and learn more about herself as she learns magic. Learning about her new magic is the easiest part of Yelena’s new life as she tries to solve who is kidnapping and killing girls, and stopping multiple people from trying to kill her, not to mention being named a spy by a man who claims he is the rightful heir to the throne in Ixia. More and more problems pile on to Yelena as she starts to uncover more about her would be life.

Going into this book I was scared that I wouldn’t love it as much as the first book, or just hate it general. I was glad those thoughts did not become true. I loved this book almost as much as I loved the first one. I thought I was going to miss Yelena’s constant interactions with Valek throughout the whole book but Yelena’s story kept busy. There was never an off period where nothing was happening. Yelena was always having something going on. Drama with her family(mainly her brother, Lief), constant ridicule from the same two people, being chased by a man whose pride was taken by Yelena, and trying to stop a man from harming more girls. It was a packed story but it wasn’t too packed where it seemed like to much. It was just the right amount where you never got bored reading it.

Pro

I don’t know how she hasn’t, but Maria V Snyder needs to be praised for how she writes how Yelena handles being raped and how she comforts other girls who go through it. I loved in the first book when she spoke briefly about it but I especially loved how she spoke about it in this one. Her conversation with Tula about how none of it was her fault, and then told her that it was going to be a battle to get through it but everyone would be there to help her.
Valek’s love and loyalty to Yelena. Valek make it apparent that whatever Yelena wants from him all she has to do is ask him for it. Valek will give her anything or do anything for her. He is constantly popping into her head when she is in need of it and asking her what he can do for her, and no matter how weird or impossible her request is, all he says is he will do it with him calling her love tied onto the end of it Valek was only in this book for a little less than half(if even that) and he still had me swooning over him.

Cons

The only real con I can think of is that this book does have a lot of drama going on, though that wasn’t a con for me, it might be for others. There was a lot more action and fighting scenes then the first book.
Cahal is annoying, but that’s his character. He is very obnoxious and is always angry for no reason. He is very bratty and reading about a very bratty man isn’t the most enjoyable. The more he shows up the more the dislike for him grows. He gets worse as the book goes on, though i’m sure that was the point of his character.

“And what did you give him in return?”…

“My heart.”

― Maria V. Snyder

Magic Study was just as good as Poison Study. The characters have grown and changed from the first one and the story is progressing in a good way. The action is coming along more and so is Yelena as a character. There is a lot of times when some off the middle books in a series get boring but this one kept my attention well. It was a very good addition to the series.

“Living is a risk…Every decision, every interaction, every step, every time you get out of bed in the morning, you take a risk. To survive is to know you’re taking that risk and to not get out of bed clutching illusions of safety.”

― Maria V. Snyder

Contemporary · Fantasy · Mystery · Suspense · Thriller

Lies You Never Told Me

September 2, 2018 Simplistic ReaderLeave a comment

Lies You Never Told Me

Jennifer Donaldson

36547961

Publisher: Razorbill

Year Released: 2018

Year I Read It: 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Contemporary, Suspense

Grade: D/ 2.5 Stars

*Before you read this review please know that there is talk of many things that might trigger people. Mostly being manipulation and relationship problems. Those are the only triggers within the review, but there are more in the book. To see the ones in the book please scroll to the bottom and read them. I will make them bold so they stand out clearly.*

Gabe and Elyse are two teenagers with two separate lives in two separate places. Both of them have things that they are hiding. Although they live in different towns, they both have one thing in common, both make the mistake of picking the wrong person for them. Elyse is shy but is forced to come into the spotlight when she is surprisingly casted as Juliet by the new drama teacher. Elyse believes she needs extra rehearsals which leads her to someone she should not be with. Gabe on the other hand has all he ever wanted, a hot popular girlfriend. To bad she is terrible and slightly crazed. Gabe thought she would be all he ever wanted but finds himself wanting to break up with her. These two actions made by these two people make the biggest impacts on their lives and might even bring them together.

I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway and in the spirit of winning one I figured I should give it a review. Sadly I did not finish the book nor could I bring myself to finish it. My reason for not finishing it wasn’t because it was an awful story. I just figured it all out very quickly and it got boring to me once I knew what was going to happen. I was reading what I already knew and it got less entertaining as I read it. Once I got halfway I figured out the plot twist and from there i couldn’t bring myself to finish it. I used to watch a lot of lifetime and this book was like that. Once you watch one of them you start to understand how they all work so figuring out what was going to happen in this book wasn’t hard and to me was just like watching another crazy lifetime movie.

Pro

If you are a fan of lifetime movies then this is like one of those movies in book form. It has that crazy atmosphere with people making horrible decisions. It definitely has some moments that make you think, what the hell is going on. It does what all lifetimes movies do, making you think about everything you do and focus on the negative possibilities more than the positive.
If you like stories that are messed up in a psychological way this is one of those. It’s not the horrifying type of psychological, but the type that really makes you think about what you do, and who you should trust.
It does teach the lesson to be cautious of who you give your heart and trust to. Get to know them more before you go all in. People are good at acting to get what they want. Watch out for signs and if you see a bad one, don’t blow it off but instead investigate it deeper.

Cons

It is very easily to tell what is going to happen, maybe not to the full extent, but the future of what is going to happen within the book isn’t hidden. Through the characters actions and choices it’s very easy to know what they will do next and predict everything.
Elyse is one of the characters you want to help but also ask why is she being so dumb. She’s that typical teenager who makes every bad decision because she can and part of her feels like the world owes it to her. It does provide in depth why she feels that way by showing her home life, and it does make sense, but watching her mess up where most people would know that’s not a good idea is one of those moments where you cringe because her decisions can be so dumb. I would say it was like the author wrote her like she thinks a high school girl would act, but I have personally seen high school girls act like Elyse did so the author wasn’t actually wrong in her character, and the author did show how easy it can be for a man to manipulate a younger girl. For showing how a grown man can exploit a girl, who has nothing, like it was nothing more than a game, I give her props. As someone who doesn’t mind reading age gapes in romance (within reason and something that clearly isn’t manipulation, and also not like 15 years old ) I know that age gapes do get romanticized a lot, mostly in fantasy settings, so I liked that she showed the realness of what could actually happen in that situation and why young girls should be cautious of getting into a relationship with a older man.

The book had its good parts and its bad parts. I don’t tend to read a lot of psychological thrillers, I tend to prefer watching them, so I don’t know how they are usually written, it could just be me. Also I believe this is her first book and for a first book it was good, but as someone who loves mystery… everything, I didn’t think this was a good mystery. I’ve been stumped many times with mysteries and this I got instantly. Once a mystery is figured out the flame starts to die down, and unless the author fans the flame the fire gets put out. If you’re looking for a mystery, this is not one I would recommend, but if you want a disturbing story about the abusive relationships of two teenagers then I would recommend this one. It made you feel disturbed reading it, which you should when reading something so problematic. Once again, I give the author props on the relationships because watching Elyse’s views on her relationship change do seem so real, and watching both Elyse and Gabe slowly see real cruel parts of the people they loved did make you feel something. And this does happen to people, especially young people because they lack experience in this area. As someone who was lead on by someone’s lies, although it was not a boyfriend or a girlfriend, but someone very important to me, I have felt somewhat like what they have gone through and I think people should be more aware of telltale signs of when a person is not who they act/say they are.

*This book does feature, people on drugs, manipulation, stalking, abusive relations, and bad relationships with parents. If any of these do trigger you or you don’t like reading then be aware or don’t this book. It does go into depth with all of these, it’s not just a glimpse into them. This book is very heavy with manipulation and pathological liars.*

On the other hand if you are someone who doesn’t know the signs of someone manipulating you then this is a good book to help you understand those moments, and to watch out for them. Manipulation can be very subtle and a lot of times people don’t know they are being manipulated. It happens more than you think.