Series in Which I’ve Only Read the First Book #1

I love reading series. But there are so many out there that I just have this bad habit of reading one book in a series and then not continuing, even though I really enjoyed it. Often, if I don’t immediately have the next book available to me, I just start reading something else and then end up not continuing with series that I really enjoy. So here are the series that I want to continue with, but have only read the first book. Since there are so man, I’ve decided to split this into two posts.

---

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

I read this earlier this year and I enjoyed it, although perhaps not as much as I thought I would. Still, I do want to continue with the series, especially that there’s just one other book.

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Also read this one earlier this year and I liked it, though not as much as I liked Six of Crows. Which makes sense, since this was written first. But I do want to continue with the series.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani

This was a fun book. Didn’t enjoy it as much as I would have liked. I think that’s mainly because I read it at the wrong time, so I don want to continue with this series.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

I read this right after it came out, which I think was last year. I really liked it. It had deserts and rebels and it was cool and I don’t know why I didn’t pick the second one up when it came out, but I should.

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

I actually loved the first book. I have no idea why I haven’t picked up the second one yet considering I read this one a couple years ago, but there you have it.

The Farseer Chronicle by Robin Hobb

I read this one over the summer and even though it was a bit slow, I think the series has great potential and I’m interested in continuing with it.

Cruel Beauty – Rosamund Hodge

This was a strange little book, but I personally really enjoyed it. I think the other one is actually a companion, but I guess it’s still considered a series.

The Broken Earth by N. K. Jemisin

Just finish reading this one, it’s my most recent read, so I’m not super guilty for not continuing with this yet. But it was a really cool book and I look forward to reading the other two.

The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

This is a book that I randomly picked up because it was on sale and I ended up really enjoying it. The second book came out this year and I should probably pick it up. Although… I was under the impression that this was a standalone. I think I even mentioned that in my review, and that sort of contributed to me not picking the second book up.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufmann & Jay Kristoff

One of my new favourites this year, I really need to pick the second one up. This series is amazing!

MASSIVE Book Haul – 25+ Books

I’ve been buying books like crazy over the past few of months. So a book haul is long overdue. This is going to be pretty long, so let’s get right to it. If I have a review of a book, it’ll be linked.

 

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson | The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton | Sabriel by Garth Nix | Temeraire by Naomi Novik | The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare | City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare | Harry Potter and the deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling | The Bat by Jo Nesbo | Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

The School For Good and Evil by Soman Chainani | Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo | A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (20th anniversary Ravenclaw edition) by J. K. Rowling | The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

The Wrath and the Dawn by Rene Ahdieh | Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman| Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey | Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare | What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

Sketchy, Doubtful, Incomplete Jottings by Johann van Goethe | Ready Player One by Ernest Cline | Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Mass | Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff | The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valante | The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainani – Book Review

Rating: 4/5

Genre: middle grade, fantasy

First published: 2013

Author: Soman Chainani

Synopsis: The first kidnappings happened two hundred years before. Some years it was two boys taken, some years two girls, sometimes one of each. But if at first the choices seemed random, soon the pattern became clear. One was always beautiful and good, the child every parent wanted as their own. The other was homely and odd, an outcast from birth. An opposing pair, plucked from youth and spirited away.

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains.

Book Depository | Goodreads

---

Finally getting to review this, 100 years after I read it. I am so behind with reviews. I’m behind with life, really. I need a nap.

Anyway, this was a really cute book. But I don’t feel like I have a lot to say about it other than that. I mean, I enjoyed it. Just not as much as I thought I would. And I’m not sure why. I liked the characters. The story was fun. I didn’t have a problem with the writing… I don’t know why I didn’t like it as much. It may have something to do with the fact that i read it while travelling, so I wasn’t as immersed in the story. Or maybe just the state of mind that I was in at the time was incongruous with the book. I don’t know.

What I can tell you is that it has a fun plot and fun characters. Although both the story and the characters are very cliche, it’s an exaggerated cliche, which gave me the impression that it was done purposely to make a point about cliches. Like, Sophie was the cliche of a princes: beautiful, golden haired blah blah blah, and yet she turned out to be the ‘evil’ one. Which in itself is a cliche. So yeah, that was fun. Playing with cliches like that.

I couldn’t really connect to the story or the characters though, and again I’m not sure whether that’s because I was travelling, or just read the book at the wrong moment. But I am interested in seeing where the story goes, though I think I will have to wait for a time when I’m in a different mood, because my current mood just doesn’t seem to fit with this story.

I liked the theme of friendship that was at the heart of this story and that’s one of the things I love about middle grade. YA is often so focused on romantic relationships, it overlooks the even more powerful and important bonds of friendship, and that was well explored in this book. I felt like it was even a little tongue in cheek towards that particular trend in YA.

All in all, I liked this book, I thought it was cute and I am interested in continuing with it at some point in the future.

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.