Summer 2017 Wrap Up

It’s been an age and a half since I’ve done a wrap up. That’s because I’ve been reading very little. There has been so much going on this year that I’ve barely read. And I am seriously behind on my reviews. Anyway, here we go.

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

3.5/5 stars

I read this quite a while ago, back in June I believe. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I was disappointed by some things, particularly the lack of stories. Still, I do plan to continue with the series and see how the story ends. I’ve also read two of the short stories that came with this series: The Mirror and the Maze and The Crown and the Arrow.

I have a full review of it, if you are interested.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufmann and Jay Kristoff

5/5 stars

I loved this book so much. It’s so freaking cool and gripping and beautiful and amazing. I adored it. I have a full review of this one as well and I urge you to read it. Seriously, it’s so cool! I can’t wait to get my hands on the next one!

 

Attack on Titan vol. 1-3 by Hajime Isayama

4/5 stars

I enjoyed these, although I had already seen the anime twice, so they were a little bit boring, which is why I only gave them 4 stars. I also read them in e format, which I don’t like at all, especially for manga/graphic novels. So I’m just going to buy physical copies of the rest of the manga. I should probably do that soon. I really love the story!

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

4/5 stars

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I thought I  would. I don’t know why, but there was just something that kept me from loving it as much as I know I could have, and I can’t put my finger on exactly what that it. Maybe the writing? Maybe just the general state of mind that I’ve been in recently, I don’t know. It’s weird, but I can’t really tell. In any case, I’m going to continue with the series at some later time. I don’t have a review of it yet, because as I said, I am desperately behind on reviews.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

3.5/5 stars

This book was really slow to start. It took half the book for things to really start happening. However, it was very interesting once things did start happening and I get the impression that subsequent books will be more exciting, so I’m interested in continuing with the series.

 

Dreamland by Edgar Allan Poe

4/5 stars

This is sort of the “core” poem for Lord of Shadows, like Annabel Lee was for Lady Midnight. I really love Poe and I love that aspect of The Dark Artifices, so I obviously read the poem before reading Lord of Shadows and I liked it. Even though a lot of poetry leaves me cold, I always enjoy Poe’s poems.

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

5/5 stars

This book was so freaking awesome. I keep forgetting how much I love the Shadowhunter books. Like, I’ll be excited about a new release, but no so excited that I’ll read it right away. But then I do read it and I’m like “Holy crap, this is so freaking awesome how did I forget I loved it so much?”. It’s really weird. But I’m always amazed by how good the books are. I guess it’s because urban fantasy doesn’t generally appeal to me, so I always have this weird mental thing. But yeah, anyway the point is this book was awesome. It was just awesome!

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

4/5 stars

This was a strange and interesting book. It was a bit slow to start, but it was a good mystery. Felt very Agatha Christie-y and I really enjoyed it once it got going. It had a very weird concept with the tree. It was a bit confusing, I’m not quite sure what was going on there, but that kept it interesting. I will try some other Hardinge books. I’m intrigued.

 

Sketchy, Doubtful, Incomplete Jottings by Johann Von Goethe

3/5 stars

This is a collection of thoughts and writings by Goethe’s. I found his ideas interesting and thought provoking, though I don’t necessarily agree with all of them. A great portion of the musings were on art and some of them were general and I could understand them, but then others were more specific and referred to the German art of the time, which I’m not familiar enough with to know what he’s talking about.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

5/5 stars

I just finished this books and I don’t know why I’ve waited so long to read it, because it was awesome. It was like sweet, sweet honey for my nerdy soul and it cheered me up and made me so happy. I was so excited reading it, I was so immersed into it. It’s one of those books that I just got completely lost in to the point where I would forget where I am and what I’m doing and just be completely immersed in the story. I recommend it for any and every geek out there. You will love it.