The Unhaul Challenge

I’ve been wanting to get rid of some of my books for ages now because I have too many, I’m running out of space and I just don’t need that kind of clutter stress in my life. I’ve seen this challenge going around on booktube, and decided it’s time. It’s just time to get rid of them. This challenge was created by Lala @ BooksandLala. There are 10 categories of books and the aim of the challenge is to get rid of at least one from each. Now I know that that’s not going to happen for me, because I don’t have books that fit all the categories, but I do have multiple books for some categories. So I’m fairly confident that I will get rid of at least 10 books. Let’s do this.

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A book you’ve rated low

This is probably the category I will have the most books for. Cause I just want to have books I like, not ones I hate.

There are a few more that I could include here, but they either fit in another category where I have no others, or for one reason or another I don’t want to get rid of them just yet.

A book you’ve changed your mind about

I would say for this one, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I enjoyed it when I first read it, but after reading Glass Sword, I just don’t want anything to do with this series.

A series you won’t be completing

Obviously, Red Queen fits in this category. Also, Tunnels by Roderik Gordon & Bryan Williams. However, I really enjoyed that series and while I doubt that I will ever re-read them and continue on with them… I have good memories attached to those books and I don’t want to get rid of them. So, for this, I pick The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.

I read the first two, first one was ok, hated the second one. For some reason, I only own books 2 and 4 in this series. I have no intention of reading them ever. I don’t want them, they’re taking up space. Someone else can have them.

A book you DNFed

I don’t think I have any of those. I have books that I’ve yet to finish, but I plan to. The only books I’ve DNFed and don’t plan to ever finish aren’t really mine, they’re more like family books and while I’m the main book carer in my family so in that sense they’re mine, I can’t just throw them away because I didn’t finish them.

A book you have multiple copies of

This is actually one that I don’t yet have multiple copies of, but I do plan to buy a box-set of the series very soon, so I don’t need the copy I already have.

A book you’ll never actually get to

A book you bought because of the hype

Don’t think I have anything for this. Well, I do. Caraval. This would also fin in at least 2 other categories. But honestly, that book has such a gorgeous cover and looks so nice on my shelf that I don’t think I want to get rid of it.

A book you bought because of the cover

It’s not even the first book in the series. Bye.

A book you don’t know anything about

There are a couple of those on my shelves, but I kinda want to read them, so they’re staying.

A book you didn’t buy

Cradle and All by James Patterson. I got this in a giveaway and I just don’t really care to be honest.

That’s it for now. Got rid of 15 books, which is not too bad.

Top Ten Books With Covers That Don’t Reflect the Inside

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is book covers. I’ve chosen to tell you about 10 books that have covers that are simply discordant to their content. Whether the cover is beautiful and the book isn’t, or the other way around, or the cover simply has nothing to do with the book.

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Caraval by Stephanie Garber

This book is gorgeous. Both the UK and the US editions are just so beautiful, I can’t even! But the actual story is absolute shit. I hated it so much, but it’s so beautiful that I’m never going to get rid of it. I have both a spoiler free review and a rant review of this, if you would like to know more about it.

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

Another one where the covers are beautiful, but the books are just not. Well, the first book was okay. I absolutely hated the second one. I obviously haven’t read the third one because I’m not subjecting myself to another book of rage and frustration, but yeah… I hated Glass Sword. You can check out my review of it if you are interested in knowing more.

The Sin Eater’s Daughter series by Melinda Salisbury

This series has such cool covers! And it’s so… boring. I’ve only read the first book, but it was so boring that I cannot imagine what happens in two more of them. I am telling you, this was a 250 page book of nothing happening.

The US Editions of the Daughter of Smoke and Bone Series by Laini Taylor

These covers don’t do the series justice. The UK covers are stunning, but I would not be interested in these books at all based on these covers. They’re kind of ugly. And they really don’t have anything to do with the plot. What close ups of girls wearing masks or makeup has to do with this? I don’t know. This series is so beautiful and the writing is magical and these covers just don’t reflect that.

Poison Study series by Maria V. Snyder

I know there are some other editions of the books, but these covers make no sense to me. To me, this looks like some period romance/court intrigue series. It’s not. These covers just do not reflect the content of the books at all, in my opinion. Based on these covers, I would never buy these books. They’re not necessarily ugly covers, but they speak to me of a genre that I’m usually not very interested in.

The Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer

I don’t think this series has an entire set of matching covers. There are like 5 different cover editions at least and none of them are complete as far as I could tell. It’s so annoying. And what’s even worse is that all those editions are just varying shades of bad. The one in the picture is the edition I hate the most. It’s just so… bad. It does not do the series justice. The series is awesome! I want them re-released in a nice edition where they all match. Is that too much to ask?

The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

It’s a really nice cover… I just don’t understand what a butterfly has to do with anything. I suppose the two halves of the butterfly could represent Sidonia and Nemesis, one soft and one sharp and serrated. But… why butterflies? They did that for Replica by Lauren Oliver as well. It’s like they have no idea what to put on the cover, so they just slap a butterfly on it and call it a day.

The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer

Again, very aesthetic covers, just… what do they have to do with the books? I suppose the theme of black, white and red does capture the vampire-y, but why an apple, a petal, a ribbon and whatever else? Could have been some objects that reflect the story somehow? I mean, I like these covers. And they’re so iconic by now, that everyone would recognise them. But I just wonder what the thought process was when first printing this. “Hmm… so this is a book about vampires. It’s called Twilight… let’s put an apple on the cover.”

The US editions of the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

Both the US hardback and the US paperback editions are just hideous. This looks like some shitty comic-book covers. They’re so, so ugly and this series does not deserve such ugly covers. Thankfully, the UK editions are really cool. I’ve only read The Final Empire so far, but it was so amazing, I can’t wait to read the rest of them. I have both a spoiler-free review of it and a rave review if you are interested to know more of my thoughts.

The US covers of the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

These aren’t horrible, but they certainly don’t do the books justice. The UK covers are much better and I feel also capture the essence of the series much better. I absolutely adore these books, it’s one of my favourite series. I have reviews of both The Name of the Wind  and of The Wise Man’s Fear, if you are interested.

OTP Book Tag

So, I was planning to do a review post today. But I just really didn’t feel like being thoughtful and critical and all that. So as I was watching some Booktube in procrastination, I came across this tag. I saw Sam from Thoughts on Tomes do it, and I believe the original creator is Kirstin @ Kirstin Reads. Even though people sometimes use OTPs from film and TV, I will only use book couples because otherwise, this will turn into a full blown dissertation on my ships.

Alright, here we go. Prepare for a lot of fangirling, ranting and so forth. This is going to be a long post. Grab some popcorn.

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1. Pick an unpopular OTP that you ship

Hmm… I’m not sure how unpopular this is because it’s the Harry Potter fandom. I don’t think there is any ship that is unpopular in the Harry Potter fandom, but Snape and Lily Potter. I love Snape and I wanted him to be happy. And I understand that it wasn’t going to be a good relationship and I absolutely think that Lily did the right thing getting away because it was toxic. Although, I personally feel like she made a  mistake giving up on him, not necessarily as a romantic interest, but as a friend. I strongly believe in not giving up on your friends. I will go to hell just to drag a friend out of there and I think that’s one of the most powerful kinds of love that is or should be the foundation of romantic relationships as well. And for all his faults, Snape had that loyalty, that unconditional love that cannot be explained by infatuation or attraction or fluffy romantic butterflies. That’s why some of my favourite OTPs are based on friendship.

I didn’t necessarily want them to be canon, but my heart still ships them together in a “What if” sort of way. And I also personally believe that, at least as far as we are shown, which might be biased because we only see Snape’s memories, but I don’t think James Potter was a good choice either. He was immature and an ass and we don’t see him growing out of that. So I really don’t care at all about that relationship.

Okay, that derailed. I feel very passionately about this. I have written longer essays than this on obscure, background Harry Potter stuff. But let’s move on now.

2. Pick an OTP that you didn’t ship at first but do now

I don’t really know what to say for this. I usually either ship a couple or I don’t. Well, sometimes I’m just indifferent. But I don’t think I’ve ever not shipped a couple and then shipped them. Actually, I have just not from books, so for this question I will pick a TV couple and that is Willow and Tara from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I did not like Tara at first at all. And I was a hardcore Willow/Oz shipper and I wanted them to get back together and I just did not like this ship at all. But then Tara really grew on me. And especially after re-watching the show. I still don’t really like her as a character in season 4. But I do like her in later seasons. My favourite Willow OTP is still her and Oz, but her and Tara are my second. I really, really hate everyone else that Willow is ever with. I can’t… just no.

3. Pick your most hated NOTP

BUFFY AND RILEY! Okay, I said I’m not doing TV shows, but I needed that out there. My most hated book NOTP… there are different ways I could look at this. I could tell you just an OTP that I hate because I hate the book and the characters. Or I could tell you an OTP that that I just don’t like them together. I’m going to do both, because I can’t decide.

An OTP that I just hate because I hate the book and the characters is Mare and prince whatever his name is. Cal, Cat, Cam. I don’t even remember. I absolutely hate Mare with a passion, if you’ve read my review of Glass Sword, you know how much I hate that book and Mare in particular. I don’t really have a problem with Cal. I just don’t care about him because he’s so one-dimensional and tropey and boring that I just don’t care.

And one OTP that I just don’t ship them together is Celaena Sardothien and Chaol from the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas.

 Art by Linneart

I never particularly liked Chaol. I don’t hate him, but he’s a little bit too boring and self-righteous for my taste. But I really did not like him with Celaena. I literally ship her with anyone else more than I ship her with Chaol. Anyone. I got a really sibling-y vibe from them for some reason and I don’t… that’s just wrong. I can’t ship that. It doesn’t work for me. And I really think that their relationship was completely ruined by them being together. I think there was potential for a good friendship there, but it was completely ruined and that kind of annoys me.

4. Pick an OTP that took waaaayyyy too long to get together

I don’t have any such OTP. I quite enjoy slow-burn romances. I hate, hate, hate insta love and I actually really like relationships where the two partners grow together, grow to know and love each other. So I don’t have an answer for this.

5. Pick your favourite non-canon OTP

I don’t know… maybe Ruby and Clancy from The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. I mean, not really. I like Clancy because he’s so clever and scheming. I don’t particularly care about Ruby though. I don’t know. I can’t think of any other answer though, so I’ll go with Ruby and Clancy.

6. Pick Your favourite BROTP

Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare. Forever. I just love them, they’re my babies. I love their friendship so much, I don’t even know how to explain my love for them, I just ugh! I love them. That scene in Clockwork Princess. If you’ve read the book, you know which one I’m talking about. When Will is on his way to… wherever he was going. It broke my heart. I cried so much just… I cried.

7. Pick an OTP you adored in the books but not as much in the movie or tv adaptation

Jace and Clary from The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

Art by Firelordwael

I love Clace. I am a very hardcore Clace shipper, but I did not really feel the relationship in either of the adaptations. I did not like Jace at all in the film, even though I loved Lily Collins as Clary. And in the show… I’ve yet to see season 2 of it. But I had a lot of problems with the first season of the show and the relationship between Clary and Jace was one of them. I didn’t feel it at all.

8. Pick a popular OTP that no matter how hard you tried you just can’t ship it

Dorian and Sorscha or whatever her name is from Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Mass. I can’t even find any nice fanart of them.

I’m always picking the same series, but I just really didn’t like this relationship. I know a lot of people did and were really upset by what happened, but I just didn’t really care. I was even a bit relieved, because it just rubbed me the wrong way. It felt like that relationship was used as a crutch and I don’t like that kind of relationship. I like relationships where the two partners make each other better. And that just wasn’t it.

It wasn’t a good, healthy relationship. They had nothing in common. Her crush on him felt like a celebrity crush and I felt like he was only with her because he was broken and lost and needed a crutch. And I think that a lover is never a good crutch. At least, not a new lover. Like, getting into a new relationship as a crutch… I don’t like that. I don’t agree with it, I cannot get behind it no matter how much I try.

9. Pick your favourite LGBT+ OTP

Hmmm… I’m gonna go with Alucard and Rhy from the Shades of Magic series by V. E. Schwab.

Art by Victoria Ying

I love this series. I love all the characters. I just, I love them. Nothing more to say.

10. Pick your al time favourite OTP/s

I mean, there are so many! I would say maybe Feyre and Rhys. My babies.

Art by Charlie Bowater

Some other ships I absolutely love are Kaz and Inej from Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Art by projectnelm

Will and Tessa from The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Art by Taratjah

To name a few. I could go on and on naming OTPs and showing you pretty fanart, but this post is long enough as it is, so I will stop here.

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Feel free to do this tag if you want to. Let me know some of your ships, let me know if you agree or disagree with some of the things I said.

The Sims Book Tag

It’s been foreverrrr! I’ve been super busy and been neglecting this place for the past couple of weeks. Hopefully, I’ll be able to ease back into it now that the crazy couple of weeks have gone. And what better way to do that than with a book tag? Thank you to Heather @The Sassy Geek for tagging me!

So, let’s get into it!

The Original Sims – The best author debut.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It’s hard to believe this is a debut.

The Grim Reaper – Saddest character death.

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. You know who I’m talking about! *sobs uncontrollably*

Sims Getting Stuck – A character that just got in the way.

Mare Barro from Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. My hatred for her knows no bounds. I feel like the whole world would have been better without her.

Simlish – A book with amazing writing.

Anything that Laini Taylor writes.

Expansion Packs – A series where the books keep on getting better.

I am DYING for ACOWAR! I NEED IT!

Sim Romance – The worst case of insta-love.

Meira and that prince guy. Forgot his name. I mean, Snow Like Ashes is just the most recent horribly insta-love-y book I’ve read. I’m sure there are many others.

Cheats – A book that was entirely unrealistic.

Pale Highway by Ncholas Conley. I mean… talking slugs?

Needs Fulfillment – A character who made all the wrong decisions.

Tamlin. TAMLIN. Tamlin. T a m l i n.

Error Code 12 – A series that started off great but went downhill from there.

I mean, I wouldn’t say it started off great, but compared to Glass Sword, Red Queen was much better.

The Sims Vortex – A book/series that completely engrossed you.

I would start reading and next thing I knew, it was dark, I hadn’t eaten all day and I really had to pee.

That’s it for this tag. Thank you once again to Heather for tagging me. And if you love the Sims, then you are tagged to do this!

Year in Review 2016

I’m a bit late with this, but better late than never, right? Besides, it’s a perfect opportunity for me to abuse gifs.

2016… not my best reading year. Massive reading slump for the first half or so of the year. Didn’t manage to finish my reading challenge. However, I did read some amazing books this year, so it wasn’t all bad. First, let’s get the stats out of the way. I read 74 books in 2016 (80-ish, if you include re-reads) out of my goal of 100. I’ll just leave a link to that nifty year in books thing GR offers if you want more details. Now, let’s get on to the reading.

Let’s see… I think the crown has to go to ACOMAF. I mean, I’ve read the book three times, THREE TIMES, in less than a year. That book just adsjhfk. And still, I have not managed to write a proper review of it. I wiiiiillll, I promise. third time’s the charm. As soon as I catch up with all my other reviews. It’s just that… how do I convey my love for this book in words?

SIX OF CROWS! Six of Crows is right on its heels. Aaahhh, that series killed me! (I have reviews for both of them.)

Six of Crows
Crooked Kingdom

Then, I read some painfully beautiful books such as The Book Thief, The Nightingale and The Giver.

2016 was also the year I was introduced to V. E. Schwab and found myself a new favourite author. A Darker Shade of Magic and A Gathering of Shadows have left me wanting more, more MORE of Schwab’s writing in general and that series in particular.

And last, but most certainly not least, 2016 is the year I took my first steps (and then marathoned through the whole damn thing) into the rich and magical world of the Kingkiller Chronicle. Ahh, yes… The Name of the Wind, my newest obsession. Despite the sheer size of if, it only took me about a week to finish The Wise Man’s Fear, and now I am left waiting… waiting… waiting…

Unfortunately, there have also been a few books that I hated. Not as many as those that I loved, but alas, still a few. The crown for the absolute most infuriating book I have read this year goes to Glass Sword. This book pushed all my buttons and invented a few more buttons just so it could push them.

Eldest comes right after it. I just could not wait to finish this book. Goodness, I have read many books over the years, but few have managed to annoy me quite so much.

Another vast disappointment was The Sin Eater’s Daughter. I had expectations for this, but it was just… no.

 

The Game by Terri Schott was probably my only DNF of the year. I just could not be bothered to finish it.

Okay, just one more absolutely cringe-worthy book. I am not even sure why I read it… it was just so bad it was funny. I’m talking about Touch a Dark Wolf by Jennifer St. Giles. I don’t even… this book was just ridiculous.

So, there you have it. The best and the worst of 2016. How was your 2016?

The Beauty and the Beast Book Tag

So, I got my hands on a little bit of free time and I went on a blogging binge and scheduled a bunch of posts (you may have noticed I’ve posted every day for the past few days!). As I was scrolling through my feed, I saw the girls @ Thrice Read do this tag and since I love Beauty and the Beast and I love tags, this seemed like a match made in heaven.

1. “TALE AS OLD AS TIME” – A POPULAR THEME, TROPE OR SETTING YOU WILL NEVER GET BORED OF READING.

Probably the whole “bad boy with a tortured past and kind of a chewy centre” trope. I know it’s everywhere and it annoys some people, but I have a soft spot for it and I’m not even sorry. Also, just high fantasy settings. I never get tired of reading about the worlds people make up.

2. BELLE – A BOOK YOU BOUGHT FOR IT’S BEAUTIFUL COVER THAT’S JUST AS BEAUTIFUL INSIDE TOO

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. Look at that gorgeous cover. I honestly knew nothing about this book. I just bought it because it was a hardcover and was really beautiful and cheap. But I ended up loving it so much.

3. BEAST – A BOOK YOU DIDN’T EXPECT MUCH FROM BUT PLEASANTLY SURPRISED YOU.

I have to go with Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid for this one. I got it as a free kindle. I really wasn’t expecting much from it, but I actually really loved it. I have a review of it by the way, if you’d like to read more about it.

4. GASTON – A BOOK EVERYONE LOVES THAT YOU DON’T

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. I wouldn’t say that everyone loves it, as I have seen several reviews that pretty much agreed with me. But it does seem to be generally liked and I really hated it. I also have a review of it if you’d like to know why. I have to admit thought, the cover is really gorgeous. A pile of rubbish wrapped in a pretty package. Kind of like Gaston.

5. LEFOU – A LOYAL SIDEKICK YOU CAN’T HELP BUT LOVE MORE THAN THEIR COUNTER PART.

Lucien from ACOTAR (where the counterpart is Tamlin). Even before Tamlin lost his marbles, I loved Lucien more. (Image credit)

6. MRS POTTS, CHIP, LUMIER & COGSWORTH – A BOOK THAT HELPED YOU THROUGH A DIFFICULT TIME OR THAT TAUGHT YOU SOMETHING VALUABLE

The Bible. That’s what I always go to when I’m going through a difficult time and I always find comforting words of wisdom in it.

7. “SOMETHING THERE” – A BOOK OR A SERIES THAT YOU WEREN’T INTO AT FIRST BUT PICKED UP TOWARDS THE END.

The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. When I started reading CoB for the first time, I got through a couple of chapters and then gave up. It was only years later that I picked it up again (quite by accident). I had forgotten that I’d started it before and I was confused as to why it seemed so familiar. Anyway, the second time around I finished it and then I got really into the series.

8. “BE OUR GUEST” – A FICTIONAL CHARACTER YOU’D LOVE TO HAVE OVER FOR DINNER

Can I have a really… REALLY big dinner table? Because I really want to have dinner with so many characters. I want Rhys and the Night Court and I want Will Herondale and I want Kaz Brekker and ALL of his gang. ALL OF IT *sobs uncontrollably* and I want the entire Fellowship of the Ring and Hermione and Aelin and all of her court and Manon… well I kind of want the whole cast of ToG and… well, do you know any good catering services? And a really big venue? Preferably with access to an orchard or something. I feel like some of these characters might butt heads.

September Wrap-Up

This has been another slow month for me. I’ve only read four books and I know exactly who is to blame! Glass Sword. That book just drained the life out of me. Anyway, let’s get into it.

Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor

5/5  stars

This is the first book I read in September and it was a very educative read. I got it via NetGalley and I am so glad I requested it. It’s one of those books that people should read and be aware of. I have a more thorough review of it, if you are interested in hearing my thoughts.

 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Caroll

5/5 stars

This was a re-read, of course. It was due. I hadn’t read it in a long time. Such amazing nonsense, it’s genius. If you have not read this book at least once in your life, I feel sorry for you. I do not have a review of this one since it was a re-read, but it’s only like 100 pages. Just read it.

 

 

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

1/5 stars

This book sucked the life and joy out of me. It took me over a month to finish and I almost gave up on it. But I don’t like not finishing books, so I pushed through it. I have a full review of it if you want to know why exactly this book made me so angry and why I hated it so much.

 

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas

4.5/5 stars

Probably my favourite book this month! I also – you guessed it – have a review of it. It has left me wanting more, like SJM books usually do and also, I am so excited about meeting Sarah next week! *squeeeeeeeee* I can’t wait! There will probably be a post about that later this week, so stay tuned for that.

 

 

 

Top 5 Wednesday – Characters I would not like to be

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme created by gingerreadslainey and hosted by Sam @Thoughts on Tomes – and you can find more details about it on the Goodreads group. This week’s topic is “Characters you would not like to trade places with”. I don’t participate in this meme very often, but this week’s topic was really cool.

1. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Her life just sucks. It’s great to read about, but yeah, no thank you. I’d rather not live in fear and poverty. And this applies to pretty much all characters in dystopia, but I choose her because The Hunger Games is what started this whole dystopia trend.

 

 

2. Tamlin from A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Little bitch gonna get what’s coming to him. And I would not want to be in his pretty little shoes when that happens. Sorry Tam, but you screwed up big time. But his life sucked even before he screwed up. Which is all the more reason for me not wanting to be him.

 

 

3. Mare Barrow from the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

If I ever act like such a spoiled, entitled, insufferable brat, please shoot me. I would rather die than know I am anything like her. She is honestly the worst character ever. If I were any of the other characters in that  series, I would just put on a rubber suit and send her gift-wrapped to the queen. Because I would rather be ruled by a mind-controlling maniac, than have to deal with her.

 

4. Any ASOIAF character

Seriously… on average, the life span of a ASOIAF character is like half a book. And during that time, they get raped, lose their whole family, their puppy, their home and possibly a body part. Except maybe Daenerys. She has dragons. I think that compensates for all the suck in her life.

 

5. Louisa Clark from Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

I think it’s pretty obvious why I wouldn’t want to be her. She looks happy in that picture, but don’t be fooled. You wouldn’t want to be her. Even if she got to kiss Sam Claflin.

 

 

 

I don’t think there are many characters in the books I read that I would want to trade place with. Their lives bring me enough pain when I read about them, I can’t imagine how it would be to live them. But these are just 5 characters I really *really* wouldn’t want to be. Let me know what characters you would hate to trade places with in the comments below.

 

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard – Book Review

Rating: 1/5

Genre: YA, dystopian

First Published: 2016

Author: Victoria Aveyard

***SPOILER ALERT*** This is book two in the series and therefore the synopsis and this review might contain spoilers for the first book. If you have read the first book, or don’t mind some spoilers, proceed.

Synopsis: The world is divided by blood. The common folk, with red blood and the nobility, with Silver blood that affords them special abilities. 

After escaping from Maven and his mother, Mare, Cal and the Scarlet Guard set out to find the other people like Mare: Red and Silver at once. 

Book Depository | Goodreads

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This is probably the biggest gap in rating I have ever had with two books in the same series. I enjoyed Red Queen. I’m not sure whether it was because I was relatively new to the world of YA literature when I read it and I have now grown as a consumer of this genre and I am more critical of it, or because this one was just worse than the first one. I suspect it’s a bit of both.

I did not like this book at all. It was a chore to read. The only positive thing I have to say about it is that it has a really beautiful cover. As you can tell by my synopsis, not much happens in it. It doesn’t have a plot-line to speak of and it’s just a long, boring and very annoying introduction to the next book.

However, this lack of plot is not even the reason I disliked it as much as I did. The reason for my dislike was mare. The most insufferable, entitled, self-pitying, spoiled, selfish brat of a character I ever did come across. I don’t remember her being such a bitch in the first book. Mare Barrow has de-throned America Singer from The Selection series as the most obnoxious character ever.

It’s funny, because in my video review of Red Queen, I called it “The Selection done right”. Well, not anymore. After reading Glass Sword, I prefer The Selection. At least that was just… silly. And it was actually entertaining to read.

Everything in this book was about Mare. Like she was the most important person in the whole universe. She fancies herself to be such a badass, such a leader, such an important, special snowflake. Just thinking about her makes me want to punch her. I honestly just wanted Maven to win. Just straight out. The ending, the last 3 phrases were the most satisfying of this entire book. And that is all I will say.

None of the other characters had any real substance and the few times they said or did something resembling a personality (usually about Mare), our special snowflake threw a temper tantrum. There is this one scene where Mare gets angry with this one girl and she thinks something along the lines of “all I could think about was educating this brat”. I nearly threw the book across the room at that point. It just made me so angry because Mare was the biggest brat there and also the other girl (one of the first to show any hint of personality) was actually right.

I could go on and on about how much I hate Mare Barrow. But I don’t want this review to turn into more of a rant than it already is. I usually try to express my opinions as professionally as I can in my reviews, but this book and this character has made me so angry that I just felt like I needed to say it. I would not have hated the book as much if it weren’t for this character. It was meh when it came to the plot, but Mare just made me angry. I cannot get behind her attitude and her entitlement.

Series I Probably Won’t Finish – Part Three

Part one | Part two

It looks like I’ve finally exhausted my list of series I won’t finish (for now, at least) and I only have 4 series for this post.

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1. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Read the first book and I enjoyed it. I was pretty excited about Glass Sword, but I just kept putting it off for some reason. And now, I finally got it and it’s the book I am currently reading. I am so frustrated with it and I am very close to just not finishing it. I will try to get through it, because I just don’t like leaving books unfinished and I kind of want to see what superpowers the other reds have. But I will not continue with the series.

Book Depository | Goodreads

2. Left Behind by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins

I thought this series had a really interesting premise. It’s a Christian fiction series about the end of days and it basically describes the events in the book of Revelation from the perspective of those left behind. But the writing just doesn’t agree with me. Something about the writing style annoys me and it makes the characters unrelatable and dislikeable. I’ve read 2 and a half books of the series and it’s a pretty long one. I’m not sure how many are published, but I own 10 of them. And despite owning them, I don’t think I will finish them.

Book Depository | Goodreads

3. The Secret Circle by L. J. Smith

I read some of the books, then I got bored because it wasn’t a very good series and I have absolutely no intention of ever reading the rest of them. I don’t even know how many there are in total. Or how many I’ve read, for that matter.

Book Depository | Goodreads

4. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini

Read the first two books in the series and I just can’t go on with it. the first one was okay, though not as good as I had expected it to be. But the second one was pure torture to read. I could not relate or understand any of the characters, they all annoyed me and it was very, very long. Even though not that much happened. I didn’t like the writing style either. And the other two are even longer and I’m probably just going to spend half an hour on Wikipedia one day and find out how the story ends, because I cannot submit myself to two more books of the torture that is reading about those insufferable characters.

Book Depository | Goodreads