I haven’t been reviewing most of my purchased books lately — just the ones I get for review. So I figured I’d do a quick wrap-up of some of my last reads of books I purchased.
This Mortal Coil
This Mortal Coil by Emily SuvadaSeries: This Mortal Coil #1
Published by: Penguin on November 2, 2017
Genre: Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller
Pages: 464
Source: Purchased
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★½
When a lone soldier, Cole, arrives with news of Lachlan Agatta's death, all hope seems lost for Catarina. Her father was the world's leading geneticist, and humanity's best hope of beating a devastating virus. Then, hidden beneath Cole's genehacked enhancements she finds a message of hope: Lachlan created a vaccine.
Only she can find and decrypt it, if she can unravel the clues he left for her. The closer she gets, the more she finds herself at risk from Cartaxus, a shadowy organization with a stranglehold on the world's genetic tech. But it's too late to turn back.
There are three billion lives at stake, two people who can save them, and one final secret that Cat must unlock. A secret that will change everything.
I think my first impression of This Mortal Coil was hesitant. It sounded PERFECT on paper, but usually these kinds of books do and then I’m a bit disappointed by them. But This Mortal Coil ended up blowing me away!
There’s tons of interesting tech/coding stuff, and the best part was that the author is a legit scientist. This means she actually knows what she’s talking about, rather than having done research just for the book. This made everything feel more real and extremely interesting.
Look how awesome that DNA design is on the pages!
I highly recommend This Mortal Coil if you’re into science fiction/tech/coding.
Flame in the Mist
Flame in the Mist by Renée AhdiehSeries: Flame in the Mist #1
Published by: Putnam Juvenile on May 16, 2017
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 393
Source: Purchased
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★
The only daughter of a prominent samurai, Mariko has always known she’d been raised for one purpose and one purpose only: to marry. Never mind her cunning, which rivals that of her twin brother, Kenshin, or her skills as an accomplished alchemist. Since Mariko was not born a boy, her fate was sealed the moment she drew her first breath.
So, at just seventeen years old, Mariko is sent to the imperial palace to meet her betrothed, a man she did not choose, for the very first time. But the journey is cut short when Mariko’s convoy is viciously attacked by the Black Clan, a dangerous group of bandits who’ve been hired to kill Mariko before she reaches the palace.
The lone survivor, Mariko narrowly escapes to the woods, where she plots her revenge. Dressed as a peasant boy, she sets out to infiltrate the Black Clan and hunt down those responsible for the target on her back. Once she’s within their ranks, though, Mariko finds for the first time she’s appreciated for her intellect and abilities. She even finds herself falling in love—a love that will force her to question everything she’s ever known about her family, her purpose, and her deepest desires.
Flame in the Mist was iffy for me. For the most part I really liked it, but it lost a bit of steam for me at the end. Don’t get me wrong – there was a ton of action and twists at the end… but it’s almost like it became harder to follow the book? I don’t really know how to explain it; maybe it’s like everything moved too quickly and it was actually kind of hard to keep up?
I don’t know, but the end was a bit odd for me, despite having some pretty massive twists.
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon SandersonSeries: Mistborn #1
Published by: Tor Books on July 17, 2006
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 541
Source: Purchased
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★★
Where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. Criminal mastermind Kelsier teaches Allomancy, the magic of metals, to another Mistborn, urchin Vin 16. The unlikely heroine is distracted by rich Venture heir Elend. Can Kelsier's thieving crew take on the tyrant Lord Ruler and bring back colour to their world?
Confession: I’d never actually heard of Brandon Sanderson until a friend dragged me to his signing at BookExpo America a few years ago. There I picked up an ARC of Steelheart, which I LOVED, but it took me forever to actually get around to reading Mistborn. I finally did and YES, IT WAS AWESOME! I’m a die-hard fan now and even ordered the leather-bound edition.
I’ll definitely be continuing the Mistborn series and then move onto The Stormlight Archive.
Origin
Origin by Dan BrownSeries: Robert Langdon #5
Published by: Bantam on October 3, 2017
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 465
Source: Purchased
Book Details
Rating: ★★★★★
Robert Langdon, Harvard professor of symbology and religious iconology, arrives at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao to attend the unveiling of a discovery that ‘will change the face of science forever’. The evening’s host is his friend and former student, Edmond Kirsch, a forty-year-old tech magnate whose dazzling inventions and audacious predictions have made him a controversial figure around the world. This evening is to be no exception: he claims he will reveal an astonishing scientific breakthrough to challenge the fundamentals of human existence.
But Langdon and several hundred other guests are left reeling when the meticulously orchestrated evening is blown apart before Kirsch’s precious discovery can be revealed. With his life under threat, Langdon is forced into a desperate bid to escape, along with the museum’s director, Ambra Vidal. Together they flee to Barcelona on a perilous quest to locate a cryptic password that will unlock Kirsch’s secret.
In order to evade a tormented enemy who is one step ahead of them at every turn, Langdon and Vidal must navigate labyrinthine passageways of hidden history and ancient religion. On a trail marked only by enigmatic symbols and elusive modern art, Langdon and Vidal uncover the clues that will bring them face-to-face with a world-shaking truth that has remained buried – until now.
Origin was everything I hoped for from Dan Brown. It was a little bit crazy, kind of predictable, but extremely exciting and thought provoking. Even though I guessed the ending early on, I really enjoyed watching everything unfold. Dan Brown’s books always give me a lot to think about and I love that!
I’ve been meaning to read Mistborn for a while, too, but just haven’t for some reason. I’ve been aware of Sanderson sir a while, ever since Robert Jordan choose him to finish the Wheel Of Time series. He did a good job, I just haven’t read any of his original works yet. I’ll have to give Mistborn a shot some time soon.
It was the same for me for ages. I had Mistborn on my Kindle for years before I finally got around to it. I’m glad I finally read it though – it was wonderful! I hope you like it. 🙂
You have me cheering to find another Dan Brown reader. I always feel a bit embarrassed, like people think he’s not for “real” readers or something. Like you, I feel they are somewhat predictable and yet I still learn so much history because I have to look everything and everyplace up as I’m reading. My beloved Google is never very far while I read for the rabbit holes he sends me down.
Yeah I’ve definitely seen people make comments like that about Dan Brown – like how his books are all absurd and the same, etc. But I always enjoy the plots, even if they are predictable. And like you said, the history is extremely cool to learn about. Maybe what I love about his books is the combination of real (history, art, etc.) and ridiculous. That “real” element makes me imagine that the ridiculous parts could actually be a reality and that in itself is quite fun/interesting.
Glad you’ve shared these, I own the first two so I really need to move them up my TBR pile 😀
Awesome! I hope you like them Lauren. 🙂
I felt the same way about Flame in the Mist. I listened to the audiobook and had a hard time following the story. I think it was because the character names were too similar, so the ending was a little confusing for me. For the next book I plan to read it so I can easily go back a chapter if I get lost lol. I had not heard of This Mortal Coil so I added it to my tbr.
I’m sorry to hear that. 🙁 I’m 50-50 about whether or not I want to continue onto the next book.
I hope you enjoy This Mortal Coil!
Ohh I have This Mortal Coil on my TBR list, so I’m excited to hear that it was good! Also, I love the idea that the author is a scientist so has year worth of knoweldge and really knows she’s writing about, it adds to the details of a story. I hope I love it just as much!
I really wanted to love Flame in the Mist, but it just didn’t seem to get there. The beginning was great, then it petered off really fast, then the ending was confusing and rushed and resolved so quickly? I’m definitely reading the next book though. Because that ending was a little bit of a surprise to me.
I actually started Mistborn at the beginning of 2017 when I decided I wanted to read more epic fantasies. But I put it on pause and haven’t picked it up again. Granted I’ve been in a huge reading slump where I’ve only read one or two books in 4-6 months… I really want to keep reading it though, I feel like I could love it!
I hope you love This Mortal Coil! I really think the author’s background made a huge difference. Being kind of tech-savvy myself, I read a lot of tech/science books and often think, “this sounds like total BS the author just invented.” But while reading this book, I actually kept thinking, “wow the author really knows what she’s talking about. I wonder if she’s a scientist” and it turns out she is! I mean, obviously the book is still fiction, but I think it was written in such a way that the author’s background really shone through.
I 100% agree with you about Flame in the Mist. The ending just got VERY strange. It’s a huge bummer though because I really enjoyed the book up until that point. But then it just totally crumbled… I don’t even really know what happened!
I do hope you give Mistborn another chance. 🙂 Have you read any of Brandon Sanderson’s books? The first one of his I read was Steelheart, which is his YA fantasy/sci-fi book. I haven’t finished the whole series yet but I thought it was excellent! That might be a good choice if you want a YA fantasy (Mistborn has a young main character but I think the book is considered more of an adult/epic fantasy).
I suggest reading Warbreaker prior to The Stormlight Archive for reasons. I would certainly read Warbreaker prior to the second book in the Stormlight Archive. You may or may not be aware that all of Sanderson’s adult fantasy books (published by Tor) are loosely tied together, including Mistborn, Elantris, The Stormlight Archive, Warbreaker, and a number of short stories.
Enjoy!
Thanks so much for the suggestion – I will keep that in mind!