A Torch Against the Night

A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I feel like very often the second book in a series is just kind of a filler book, but that's not the case with this one.

I loved the additional perspective in this book, and the storyline progressed quickly.

There were twists I didn't see coming, and I loved how the ending wasn't the typical 'introduce some magic to solve all the problems and everyone's happy'.

Definitely going to grab the third book as soon as it comes out.


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An Ember in the Ashes

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-read 2017:

I so wanted to read the second book in the series before the 3rd comes out next year, but I really didn't remember anything about this book except that I loved it.

Upon re-reading I remember now why I loved it so much. Both points of view were captivating and had me hooked. I loved how the same scene was occasionally told in both perspectives.

While I could poke some holes in the story or world building being unbelievable, or using some lazy writing tactics to progress the plot in a direction it wouldn't go otherwise... I don't want to since it was so flipping entertaining.

I need to read the next book now and the third needs to come out ASAP, cuz I can't get enough.


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Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hmm.. I’m not sure what to make of this book. It was cute, entertaining, and fast paced (I read it in a single evening, which is something I rarely do). I found it about as enjoyable as a book about a teenage girl with cancer whose only friend is a dick can be.

Greg has figured out how to navigate high school so that no one ends up hating him. Be on the fringe of every clique, but not part of any one group. He has no friends, only a colleague named Earl with whom he makes videos. Then one day his mother makes him re-befriend Rachel, the girl who was just diagnosed with cancer.

The book was kind of unbelievable and yet another reason adolescent male protagonists are not my thing. The main character was consistently using logic I couldn’t follow and making, what I thought, were stupid decisions… maybe that’s exactly right for adolescent boys, no one understands them. He was a jerk with an inability to form real friendships or truly care about others.

Despite the fact that I couldn’t fully get behind this being something that might actually happen, I did quite enjoy it. Even more importantly I appreciated it. There was no last minute, unrealistic love for the girl who was dying, or meaning of life only becomes clear in the face of death lesson. Sorry for the spoilers..? It seems like lately if you have a story about a terminally ill teenager, it means it’s a love story.

Since this book is such a quick read and it is different from all of the other kids-with-cancer books out there, I definitely suggest you check it out.. and if you’re worried about it being a tear jerker, don’t fret, I made it to the end without the use of a single tissue and I’m usually the first to cry in any book or movie.

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I Am The Messenger

I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ed is an underachieving cab driver with no direction in life. He spends his days playing cards with his unusual and quirky group of friends, pining over his best friend, and drinking coffee with his elderly dog. Then one day he foils a bank robbery and his entire life is turned upside-down. He begins receiving playing cards that point him towards people who need some help and Ed is supposed to be the man/boy to provide it.

I wasn’t as attached to the characters, even Ed I found myself not really caring if he got his happy ending. The thing is, I should care about these people, they seem like they should feel real. They’re not perfect and should therefore be believable and relatable, but they’re not entirely believable or really all that relatable. I thought the Doorman, Ed’s coffee and ice cream loving dog, was the most endearing character.

The plot was unbelievable, but that’s to be expected. Read the synopsis and you can tell it’s not a series of events that might ever happen. However, I do think this was trying to do something original between the lines of reality-like fiction and surrealist version of reality and I think it fell a little short (and a bit on the confusing side). But I’m a sucker for originality and this book definitely gets points for that, it is like nothing I’ve ever read before (I could have done without the being hopelessly in love with the best friend trope though).

Overall I did enjoy reading this book. It had an unusual premise and I love a book that’s original. It’s a quick read and will probably be worth the time spent reading it

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The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I feel like I can’t give this book a bad review and then sleep well at night.. I mean this is the basis for one of my all time favorite movies.

The story is an epic love story. Wesley and Buttercup share a love so true that nothing can come between them, even presumed death, pirates, giants, murder plots, and sadistic princes.

In all honesty, I don’t think the book really added to the story. The characters are their loveable selves you see in the movie, the events are so similar it’s unnerving, and it takes a fraction of the time commitment. You do get some neat backstory for the characters and find out what in their lives brought them to this point and what drives them forward.. But unfortunately I think that a lot of that is unnecessary. Plus it just wasn’t worth reading Goldman’s story outside the story. Much of his “annotations” about when his father was reading the book to him as a child were cute and added to the mood of the book. However, the pages and pages and pages about his legal battles with the Morgenstern’s estate and Goldman’s life after childhood reading was tedious to say the least.. I ended up skipping a lot of it, I just couldn’t read it.

As a book lover, I know what I’m about to suggest is a mortal sin, but just go watch the movie.

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The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ooohh the feels. This was a beautiful story about a man who was kind of dealt a shitty hand at life.

After the death of his wife, A.J. Fikry becomes a grumpy, cynical man. Drinking himself into oblivion on a regular basis, he has very little to look forward to, until a wonderful surprise is left in his bookstore that changes his life for the better.

I love every aspect of this book. The characters are beautifully written, with depth and soul that feels like they could step right out of the page. No one in the story is perfect, but their imperfections just make them seem all the more real and relatable.

A.J.’s bookstore seems to be a character in itself. Both the store and A.J. seem to grow together from the dark period after the wife’s death through the years when things are getting much better and brighter for A.J.

This is another one of those books that I feel my words just wont be able to do justice to.. Just read it. Whoever you are and whatever you’re looking for, I think this could be it. Just don’t for get the tissues.

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Vicious

Vicious by V.E. Schwab
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have heard a lot of people rave about this book. The hype surrounding it seemed to be almost too good to be true.. and it kind of was. I do really like the book, sure, but is it the best thing I’ve ever read? No. I enjoyed reading it and I’ll be reading more from Ms. Schwab, but its not quite entering the realm of favorites.

Vicious is about two friends who discover that it is possible to give themselves superpowers. And ultimately become eachother’s arch nemeses.

There were several things I really enjoyed about this book. First of all, I enjoyed the idea of everyone being the hero of their own story. For a long time I have been very intrigued by villains. What’s their motivation? Why did they turn out the way they did? And this novel caters to my borderline obsession with what makes villains tick. That being said, there isn’t really a villain in this story (but there isn’t really a hero either) just two opposing sides, both of which are not good people, who happen to have superpowers.

Everyone is doing what they think is best, it just turns out that sometimes they’re intentions are not what is best for those around them. What’s that saying about the what the road to hell is paved with..?

The characters are all wonderfully written and not a single one feels at all flat. There’s a lovable villain and a psychopathic hero and an array of wonderful “sidekicks.” All the characters are given the same resect from the author, not even the stereotypical cop-in-the-superhero-story is left out of the depth department.

The author writes beautifully and is able to bounce between timelines with ease.. it could have easily gotten confusing, but I never had a problem following along.

I do recommend that you read this if you’d like to experience a unique superhuman story and you don’t mind if the lines between good and evil aren’t just blurred, they’re nonexistent.

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