Despite my lack of posts about books lately, I have been reading. I thought I’d do a quick round up of some of my recent reads.
While writing this post, I realized that I had quite a few to go over and they largely fell into two categories:
- Fantasy
- New adult romance
So I decided to split these up into two posts and today I’ll be sharing the epic (and one not-so-epic) fantasy books I’ve devoured.
Ruined by Amy Tintera
(tl;dr synopsis)
In her quest for revenge, outcast Emelina infiltrates the royal family to save her kingdom and what’s left of her family. But the closer she gets to the prince, the more she questions her mission.
I LOVED IT!!
- Great characters
- Epic, forbidden romance (yummy)
- I loved the motive (revenge)
- I even loved the politics
I took off a star because I felt like the ending was missing… something. I can’t quite put my foot on it, but it was a little less epic than I thought/hoped it would be. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of crazy stuff happens, but I think something kept me from reacting appropriately. I felt a bit distanced from the action? I don’t know.
Still a great book though. I hate that I have to wait so long for book two X_X
My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows
A comical, fantastical, (not) entirely true story of Lady Jane Grey.
Lady Jane Grey, sixteen, is about to be married to a total stranger—and caught up in an insidious plot to rob her cousin, King Edward, of his throne. But that’s the least of Jane’s problems. She’s about to become Queen of England. Like that could go wrong.
LOVE LOVE LOVE!!
So much love for this story, these romances, and basically everything.
The characters definitely dominated my love for My Lady Jane. They were all so different and fabulous in their own ways. And c’mon, what book lover isn’t going to adore a main character who is… wait for it… a book lover.
- History.
- Romances. Yes, plural.
- Magic.
- Betrayal.
- Humour.
- Swoon.
It’s almost hard to believe there could be so much awesome in one book.
The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
No, no, no, NO!
If there could only be one book in the world that’s SO NOT MY STYLE then this one is probably it.
Magical realism.
NOT FOR ME!
I’m doing this book the courtesy of not rating it because I didn’t personally choose it. It was for a blogger project I partook in. So if it were up to me, I probably wouldn’t have chosen this book on my own, and for that reason, I’ll spare it the negative rating.
The Strange and Beautiful {blah blah blah} was just… weird. But also the first half of the book was basically one big huge info dump. Kind of like reading through a family tree. Start with the grandparents, tell their whole story, then move onto the next generation and tell their whole story. Ohmygod no.
Objectively I guess the writing was beautiful but it just wasn’t my style. At all.
And I’m finally finishing The Heroes of Olympus!
I read the first two books in this series back in 2012, but I never started The Mark of Athena. It wasn’t because I didn’t love the series (because OMG I did!), I just got caught up with other books.
Starting a little over a week ago, I started re-reading the series so I could get back into it. I remembered so little from The Lost Hero and The Sun of Neptune so I felt I should start over. I did, and loved them! Then I finally dove into The Mark of Athena and loved that just as much.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Rick Riordan’s work because of his fun writing style and I ADORE mythology. It feels so good to dive back in! 🙂
I’m loooving fantasy at the moment!! Great post! xx
Me too!!
❤️ Your reviews are always on point!! I’d love to know what you think of the Foxhole Court! It’s not quite fantasy but if you like slow burn romance, you should definitely check it out! It’s about college and mafia and it’s sort of a literary sports anime???? Absolutely crazy good!
I love slow burning romance!! Thanks for the suggestion Iris. 🙂
I have the eARC for Ruined and I can’t wait to read it! I’ve been super obsessed with the Throne of Glass series! I’m not usually into fantasy BUT I AM NOW!
Ahhh I hope you love it!!!
OMG! The Captive Prince series is amazing! Please pick it up! You won’t be disappointed! Love it to death 🙂
Really looking forward to Ruined, promises to be amazing!
Latest fantasy books I finished were both from Sarah J Maas: A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass. What an amazing writer she is! The books were both thrilling and fantastic to read. Can’t wait to start in their sequels!
That’s what I keep hearing!! Captive Prince has been all over my Twitter feed.
I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses. 🙂
I recently read A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab and loved it! 🙂 Great fantasy series. I’m reading Ruined soon! 😀
Ohh nice one Bee! I haven’t read that book but it’s been in my Twitter feed a lot and I’ve heard really good things about it.
I hope you love Ruined!!
I read an excerpt of My Lady Jane and loved the tone of it, I can’t wait to read it! I’m glad you liked Ruined, it’s coming up soon on my April TBR. My other book twin, Alyssa, liked it too! Hopefully I will as well!
Ava Lavender. What a clusterfuck. I won’t even get started on that freaking book since you already saw my review, ha….
This is a perfect example of why it is so important to talk about the books we do not love rather than just pushing them under the proverbial rug. I love the sound of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and may never have heard of it had you not mentioned it. Of all of these that is the one I added to my wishlist!
Thanks Ashley!
I’m so happy for you Melissa! I know a lot of people who have ADORED that book so if it sounds like something you’d be interested, then I bet you’ll love it! 🙂
I have been too busy writing fantasy to read anything since like mid-2015. I’m super excited to start picking books up again. My Lady Jane is definitely on my tbr 🙂 I’m so glad to hear that you liked it!