The Promise of Amazing

by Robin Constantine

Rating: 3/5

This book did not promise anything amazing. It just gave the promise of following the same formula to lead to the same boring story. Cool, hot popular boy that is totally out of girl’s league + quiet, too nice for her own good girl that is too good for any popular boy = INSTALOVE.

The Promise of Amazing is about a girl, Wren, who is average in just about everything and a boy, Grayson, who just got kicked out of private school for selling term papers. Wren saves his life while he chokes on food at a reception hall she works at. Their lives soon become intertwined and a love blossoms. (Who would have thought?!)

Okay, just by that description I should have known this book would have been a doozy. But I was really in the mood for a contemporary romance and this one just happened to be sitting on my Kindle. This book just fell flat. There was really no character development. The secondary characters were boring. Most of them I kept forgetting their names. I am not saying this book was terrible. It wasn’t, I read it in one sitting, however it just lacked something different. It felt like the same story I have read a hundred times. I mean that because I cannot think of anything to even say about it. Seriously, my mind is blank. (Maybe this could do with the fact that I haven’t written a review in a long time but I have been busy. I am not using that as an excuse. Okay I kind of am. But there was bookcon and I wanted to Cosplay for it and I worked my ass of for two weeks to finish it. So I apologize.)

So read this if you want but if you’ve read any book that follows that formula above then you have already read it.

 

Now this brings up another problem of mine. I feel like I am in a reading slump. I mean I have been reading but I feel like it’s been awhile since I read something truly amazing or original. Everything just seems the same to me and I don’t know if it is just because I keep setting high expectations or if books are truly losing their originality. Now I am not counting books in series in this because obviously I love that series if I still read it. And Lady Midnight doesn’t count either because it is part of the same world as TMI and TID. (Review to come soon.) Does anyone else feel this way? Or do you have a book recommendation for me that you think will blow me away?

The Impostor Queen

by Sarah Fine

Rating: 3/5

I was very much looking forward to reading this book. I even decided to read this one before some other very hyped books. Although the synopsis of this book was awesome and enticing, it fell short of expectations. There was so much potential in this book too but it just didn’t do it for me. I am not saying it was awful, it wasn’t, it was just okay. With so many fantasy books coming out fighting for that spot on best-seller lists, a book needs to have something truly special to stand out in the crowd. This one almost did. But it lacked a few key factors that would have made it great.

The Impostor Queen follows the story of Elli, the girl chosen to become the Valtia, the queen who wields strong power, when the current Valtia dies. However, when the Valtia does pass the power is not bestowed upon Elli, it is missing. Elli flees to the Outlands, ashamed of herself. In the Outlands she meets a group of people who teach her about power, love, and the secrets of the kingdom.

Sarah Fine creates a very interesting world. One that is commanded by magic wielders controlling fire and ice. I loved the idea of fire and ice magic and Fine’s ability to use those two powers to control so many other things. There was a science behind her magic and I really enjoyed that. The basic premise of the story was very interesting. I was intrigued by the way the country was run because I could tell something was off. I knew the Elders had to be hiding something. Things just seemed slightly weird. This helped me keep turning pages because I just wanted to find out what the hell was happening! I also loved the idea of the Suurin. It made for a very interesting story with Sig and Oskar, two magic wielders Elli meets in the Outlands. And speaking of Oskar! Oh boy, I just really love when there is a hunky, brooding man in a book. I always wanna cuddle with them.

Some of the problems I had with the book included the ending and the world building. There was definitely opportunity for Fine to build her world up, make it into something more. I was confused at times when she was talking about certain things because they were not explained well enough. There was just too many questions I had about things. I wanted to know more about the Soturi and how other cities were taken over. How does the magic work? Why do only certain people have it? What’s with the copper? Maybe these questions will be answered in the next book. I also got annoyed with Elli a lot. I feel like she just didn’t really grow as a character. She had no distinct flaws about her that made her seem like a real person. It was frustrating. I also did not like the ending. The big “battle” at the end just did not flow right for me. The very ending of the book I liked but I don’t like how it got there.

I am interested to see how things turn out in the next book, The Cursed Queen. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered and a lot of issues that need to be resolved. I hope the next book will expand the world and take us to new places. It is slated to come out next year. And hopefully the cover is just as beautiful as this one!

---

 

I will hopefully have a handful of reviews over the next week for you guys. I am planning on reading at least 3 books before March 8. We all know what comes out that day. I cannot wait!

Endgame: The Calling

Endgame: The Calling

by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton

Rating: 3.5/5

I debated with myself back and forth for the last few days on what I was going to rate this book. Well, I debated between 3 and 3.5 stars so it really wasn’t a HUGE decision. The debacle in my head about its rating was kind of how I felt while reading this book. Sometimes I liked it and sometimes I didn’t. It did take me almost 15 days to read which is a long time. (Okay, part of that was because I went through a phase of wanting to read romance novels. So I did. I read six. I know, I know cheesy, silly romance novels. But come on, everyone has a weakness somewhere! Alright maybe a few weaknesses, romance novels and cheese. Always cheese. I don’t read romance novels and eat cheese at the same time though, that just sounds weird. Of course now I am probably going to start.) Gahh, okay I stopped, back to the review. So yes, it took me awhile to read. I just had trouble connecting at parts, while other parts had me flipping pages like a mad woman.

The Calling is a dystopian/apocalyptic page turner (at times) that follows 12 teenagers on a journey to save the world. These are not just normal teenagers though. They come from ancient bloodlines. They have trained their entire lives waiting for the calling to happen. These players, as they are called, are ruthless, cunning, deadly individuals. The players are essentially in a game where they travel the earth in search of three keys that will save humanity. However, they also have to be cautious of the other players because some believe murder is a better game to play.

First thing first, the writing is just blah. There is nothing special about it. It in no way drives the story. The story is what makes this book, at least at parts, good. I loved the entire idea of this story from when I first heard about the book on a ARC party from Tea Time with Epic Reads. It sounded like just my cup of tea. (haha, sorry i had to.) The beginning of The Calling was slow and confusing. I had trouble getting in to it. It jumped around between different characters and points of view and I just didn’t really know what was going on. Finally, about 80 pages in, things start to make more sense. I am using sense very loosely because at this point I was still slightly very confused. I kind of felt like Christopher Vanderkamp. He is the boyfriend of Sarah Alopay, one of the players. Christopher is not a player. He is a dumb, love struck, stupid teenage boy who believes he can play with the big kids (the players) because he was his football team’s quarterback and he’s strong. And he just wants to save his girlfriend and live happily ever after. (cough, gag, puke) Yes, like I said dumb. Eventually, I started to comprehend the story a bit more. All of a sudden alliances were made, relationships came about (both friendly and romantic), and some people died or were tortured. I like that part. Probably because I am a weird person but I just love death scenes. Anyway, the book got pretty exciting about two-thirds of the way through. I really started to enjoy it. Except for stupid Christopher Vanderkamp. I seriously hated him. He got on my nerves. I wanted to punch him in the face about 20 times. His part in the story, however, was important and gave it a little bit more depth. The best part about the book is the end. I am not going to say anything but WHOA. I did not see that coming. Or the other thing. Or that other part too. Get my point? It was a definitely a what the f*ck ending. And I loved every second of it.

Overall, I would recommend reading this book if you like adventure and blood and death. It is easy to read and fast paced. The chapters are short which makes it easy to put down when you start to get bored. The characters, besides stupid Christopher Vanderkamp, are all fantastic. They are all so different. All have very different upbringings, beliefs, and stories. The characters are another reason I gave this more than 3 stars. I am excited for Sky Key, the second in this series which comes out October 6.

I almost forgot…this book has a real life game in it. You can win $500,000 in gold. It is actually on display at Caesar’s Palace in  Vegas. However, this game is hard. I only made it through about one third of the clues so far but I feel dumb. I can’t figure anything out for the life of me. And I am 30 years old. I bet some ridiculously smart 14 year old prodigy is going to win. I stopped trying to figure it out after awhile because I felt my brain cells dying. I will get back to it eventually, I suppose. So if any of you have read this and have attempted the game let me know how you’re doing or if you too are stumped like me!

The Cure for Dreaming

The Cure for Dreaming

By Cat Winters

Rating 3.5/5

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters is a beautiful historical fiction novel set in 1900 Portland. This is the time of the women suffragist movement and Olivia Mead is more than slightly interested in the cause. Her father finds out her desire for women’s rights, education, and freedom of speech and hires a hypnotist to erase her dreams from her mind. The rest of the story follows the strength of Olivia as she fights to keep her mind her own and the relationships that develop between the hypnotist, Henri Reverie, friends, and other women who may not have the same view for the future of women.

Overall, this was a very fun, quick, easy read. I loved the historical aspect of the novel and really feeling like I was living in 1900 America. Winters does a incredible job of building a world that grows around your mind, drawing you in, and making you join the cause of Olivia Mead. Her research on women’s rights and hypnotism seemed spot on because I honestly felt that if Henri Reverie was whispering all those words to me I would too fall under his spell. This book is a great educational tool for young minds to learn about women’s suffrage while still enjoying the history lesson. (I was never a fan of history class. Only the wars and the blood and the drama. Everything else made me fall asleep.) I wish this book was published when I was younger because I might have enjoyed history just a tad bit more. Winter’s does an inconceivable job of making the reader want to be living during the times of women’s suffrage and take a stance and lead the rebellion, so to say, and change the minds of men with their foolish thoughts of keeping women in the house, silent and docile. This novel is a feminist dream novel, with references to Susan B. Anthony and Kate Chopin, and although I never really was much of a feminist I feel a little more so now.

My only issues with this book were minor. Yet again I felt like it was slightly predictable. I knew how it would end, maybe not how it would end up there, but I knew about half way through where it would lead. But maybe I just read to much and I’m never going to be surprised by a book again. Oh dear, I really hope that is not the case. I also felt this book should have had just a bit more. A bit more rioting, more opinion, more rebellion, more chaos, more complexity, and a bit more connection with the characters.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this to anyone. It is quite a fun read and a delightful transport back to another time. This book is filled with magic, history, feminism, and a tad bit of romance. Go read it and prepare to come out of it a more “responsible woman!”

Favorite Quotes

“Come along. Let’s get out of here and go toast to youth and vampires and rebellion.”

“I love that books allow us to experience other lives without us ever having to change where we live or who we are.”

Red Queen

Rating: 3.5/5

Anyone who knows me knows that I have been waiting for months to read this book. As in I was willing to spill blood in order to get this in my hands because I didn’t think I could survive one more day without it. And after taking 6 days to read it, a small struggle, I was slightly disappointed. Perhaps all the hype for this book set my expectations far too high but it doesn’t change the way I feel. By no means was this book terrible, hence why I gave it an extra half star, it just lacked the connection I like to feel with characters. This book could have been so special, the plot line was intriguing, hell, the first 40 pages had me wanting more but it fell short of the epic debut novel it was built up to be.

Red Queen is Victoria Aveyard’s debut novel and the first book in this new fantasy/dystopian trilogy. This is a world divided by blood. Reds are normal citizens, poor laborers slaving away for coins, barely enough to feed their families, or sent to war and expected to die on the front. Silvers are powerful, born with skill sets to harness the elements or the mind. Mare Barrow is a red, counting down the days until she is sent to war, until the impossible happens. Mare suddenly stumbles upon an ability only a silver should have. The King and Queen of Norta then hide her in the castle to keep her a secret because a Red with Silver power may be the key to destroying Silver control.

Who doesn’t love a love triangle? (Well actually when I was at Yall Fest this was brought up and it seemed like a 50/50 split of people who loved or hated them.) I love them. But only when they are done right. A reader should be battling with themselves, having as much of a struggle figuring out who the main character should choose as the character is having. And in this book it seemed like Aveyard was attempting to do that but it just came off as Mare just falling for any boy she came in contact with. I think the strongest connection was with Cal because there was still some mystery behind it, why is he acting a certain way towards her when they are enemies? And that mystery is what was lacking between Maven and even Kilorn. The other piece that really bothered me in this novel was the lack of connection with Mare. At times I felt she was so strong and I completely understood where those feelings were coming from but other times I was scratching my head and questioning what the hell happened. The book tried to be too fast paced at times when it should have spent more time developing certain aspects of the story.

Despite the small issues I had with Red Queen does not mean I am turned off by it yet. I really liked the ending and I am so curious as to what happens next. Now I just have to wait another year…

**I also want to say I freaking love this cover! It is beautiful! And even the endpapers were gorgeous!

Favorite Quotes

“In school, we learned about the world before ours, about the angels and gods that lived in the sky, ruling the earth with kind and loving hands. Some say those are just stories, but I don’t believe that. The gods rule us still. They have come down from the stars. And they are no longer kind.”

“I see a world on the edge of a blade. Without balance, it will fall.”

“It’s our nature. We destroy. It’s the constant of our kind. No matter the color of blood, man will always fall.”

“I’m afraid of what happens if nothing in this world ever changes. That scares me more than dying.”

“I’m the shadow of the flame.”

“In the stories, the old fairy tales, a hero comes. But all my heroes are gone or dead. No one is coming for me.”

Four: A Divergent Collection

Rating: 3.5/5

Finally! We waited seven months for this and it finally came out! Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth gives us Initiates another trip into the head of Four (swoon).

Sorry, felt like that was needed! In this collection there are four novellas and three scenes from Divergent in Four’s point of view. Three of the novellas take place before Divergent and the last one takes place throughout the timeline of Divergent. It was interesting to read about Four before the timeline of Divergent and see him in a different light, seeing him as a transfer and initiate, rather than the Dauntless hero we know him to be.

The first two stories, The Transfer and The Initiate, seemed very repetitive to Divergent. Even though we can see inside Four’s head to understand his story, it almost felt like reading the first couple hundred pages of Divergent again. However, The Son and The Traitor, made up for the first two stories. It was a much needed point of view to understand why Four started to disbelieve the faction system and how he discovered to fight against it in a sly manner. Read below for more in depth reviews of each story. BEWARE OF SPOILERS!

The Transfer: This story revolves around Four’s aptitude test and his choice of what faction to choose. As we know, he chooses Dauntless to escape his father’s abuse. It is interesting to see his thought process on deciding which faction to escape to and his first day in Dauntless and how Amar gives him the name of Four. I also really enjoyed the first interactions with Amar and seeing the very beginning of Four and Amar’s relationship begin. However, I felt like I was rereading Divergent. Four knew he was under simulation, he doesn’t take the bus home and takes the alley, he runs into a factionless; all very similar to Tris’ journey after her test in Divergent. Then after the Choosing Ceremony the run to the trains occurs and the jumping. I understand it is a different point of view but it bored me/annoyed me.

The Initiate: This story talks a lot about Four’s difficulty in hand to hand combat and dealing with simulations. The first simulation he does only last 5 minutes and then Amar escorts him out the back door to the dormitories. Can we say déjà vu? The part I did enjoy in this was the relationship growth between Four, Zeke, and Shauna.

The Son: Finally we get into the depth of this book. Four starts out trying to be a leader but begins to question their loyalty. This is also when Four finds out his mother is alive. I think the scene was written well and really blended well with the plot line in Insurgent. We also discover more about Jeanine Matthews and her involvement with Dauntless. This story really helped develop Four into the character we know him to be in the Divergent trilogy.

The Traitor: This story happens during the timeline of Divergent. We see a lot of Four’s point of view through the scenes that we know and love. The part I loved is seeing how he breaks a lot of rules and goes behind backs to discover how deep the Dauntless/Erudite plan goes. Four has really become a rebel, which is something that isn’t apparent in Divergent. It’s also fun to see the relationship build between Tris and Four from his point of view. I really fell in love with Four even more during this story because he comes off as such a strong character with strong opinions with a secret love he has for someone with many similar experiences and qualities.

Overall, I did enjoy the book. The third and fourth novella definitely made up for the first two. I loved seeing Four fall for Tris the way she fell for him. So adorable!! The scenes at the end were fun to read from Four’s point of view. I definitely recommend this for anyone who is a fan of the Divergent series!

Favorite quote:

*Just so y’all know I literally slammed my fist into the book and said “Damn you Veronica Roth!” because she just brought one of my favorite lines from Allegiant full circle.

“I don’t know what she came here for, but if I had to guess, it would be that she chose Dauntless for its freedom. Abnegation would have stifled the spark in her until it died out. Dauntless, for all its faults, has kindled the spark into a flame.”

And why not one last one (or two)…