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Monday, June 16, 2014

Review for The Quick by Lauren Owen

The Quick is the debut novel written by Lauren Owen.



a copy of this book was won through Goodreads

Nothing about this book gave me the impression that it was about vampires. I thought it would be a mystery about a sister trying to find her lost brother in London. When the supernatural element is first introduced, I'm thoroughly shocked and I had to put the book down to comprehend that I was reading a totally different book than what I expected. Once I got over that, I enjoyed reading about this secret society very much and would recommend it to anyone looking for a long weekend read.

I loved all of the characters. James is the protagonist. The story starts and begins with him. His sister is truly pulled into the story until I'd almost completely forgotten about her. I thought the focus should have totally been on just James and Charlotte but there is a lot going on in this book. There are multiple characters that you grow to like and look forward to reading about and then suddenly, they're dead. It's best not to get invested in anyone from this story. The writing was a bit much for me. The way Lauren Owen writes is very thick and drawn out. She jumps from POV to POV in each chapter so you have to pay close attention to who's talking and how they matter in the story. It's almost halfway into the book that we're finally brought to the entire point of the novel, Charlotte looking for James. I felt this book could have been 100 pages lighter and still enjoyable.

The ending was disappointing for me. I would have liked to have been left with a better cliff hanger than that. It just seemed to end so abruptly. I don't hate it and I definitely don't love it, it was just there. As dramatic as this book is, it should have been more theatrical or foreboding. How ironic that the book is titled The Quick but there was nothing quick about it. I kept starting and stopping and finally made it to the end. I'm glad I finished it. Now I'm off to a lighter and fluffier read.


3 STAR RATING



Monday, June 2, 2014

Review for Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods & Monsters is the final book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy written by Laini Taylor. The first book is titled Daughter of Smoke and Bone and the second is titled Days of Blood and Starlight. It is a fantasy young adult series.


Here I am, standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to plummet into the unknown. That is how I felt reading this book. I was always waiting to be pushed, to have the floor yanked out from under me. But it never happened. Sure, there were moments when I had to catch my breath or reread a passage to grasp what fully happened. There was no...finality to this book. The second book read more like an ending to a trilogy than this one. People died in that book. Shit got real in that book. There was none of that here. I love a happy ending as much as the next person but I couldn't help but feel cheated with this book. SPOILER  No one dies in this final installment. Even people you really wanted that to happen to didn't. 

Other than my morbid complaint, I still loved this book. Karou and Akiva were just as lovable and heartbreaking as I remembered. All of the other characters were just as amazing. Again, I liked the alternating POVs in each chapter. Sometimes it was hard to immediately catch onto who was talking but the narrative was always entertaining. Every scene felt important and was written that way. I didn't skip any parts, knowing that I would have to keep track of every little thing that happened just in case it came back up later, which it did. There was a lot to take in during the last few chapters and the epilogue. It felt a little bit rushed and cramped, even though the whole book was building up to that reveal. Still, the last two pages were perfection. I got misty eyed reading it and couldn't contain my shout of joy at the ending. It wasn't a fairy tale ending, which would have just pissed me off. It was imperfectly perfect and I couldn't ask for a better book in an amazing series.


4 STAR RATING