Tag: sci-fi

ARC REVIEW: Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves – Meg Long

Published on by Breanna1 Comment

ARC provided by Wednesday Books.

Sled racing, a frozen planet, and wolves? I don’t believe there’s another book out there as perfectly tailored to my wants and needs as Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves. I’ve made it very clear in the past that if the title says “wolves” or “wolf” there is a one hundred percent chance of me reading it and this was no exception. I was so excited for a story about the bond between a wolf and girl, especially one that features sled racing (I mean, I named my husky Balto for crying out loud).

The worldbuilding is definitely the book’s strong point. The author did an amazing job creating a setting that was both believable and imaginative. The vivid descriptions easily bring to mind images of an inhospitable frozen planet and the feel of the sharp sting of cold winds on your face. It was so easy to feel transported into the story while reading. The entirety of the setting of Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves was detailed, well thought out, and excellently written.

I was truly expecting to love everything and anything about this book, but the pacing of the story needed some work. The actual sled race doesn’t happen until well past the halfway mark. The beginning half of the story spent way too long setting up for the events of the second half and I was getting frustrated. I felt like the same plot line was reused multiple times: Sena angers her boss, Sena runs away from her boss, Sena has to go back because she needs something–rinse and repeat until the race begins. My expectations of the story were hoping for a book that spent a majority of time following Sena and Iska during the sled race as they fought for survival in the deadly elements of their world.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a debut that I still highly recommend, despite my personal shortcomings. The worldbuilding and atmosphere of the novel is phenomenally written and who can resist a book about the bond between a wolf and girl and a deadly sled race?

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ½

REVIEW: This Vicious Cure – Emily Suvada

Published on by Breanna7 Comments

46404266Title: This Vicious Cure (This Mortal Coil #3)
Author: Emily Suvada
Rating: ★★½

This Vicious Cure was one of my most anticipated releases for the year and therefore it pains me to admit how unsatisfied and disappointed I was with the conclusion to this trilogy. I was so excited for this release that I reread the first and seconds books–something I almost never do–because I loved them so much and wanted to fully enjoy the series all over again before starting this. Now I’m think that might have been a bad idea and perhaps that’s why This Vicious Cure feels so underwhelming.

What is this book about? This Vicious Cure picks up a little bit after the end of This Cruel Design. Jun Bei is back in control of her body, after wiping the memory of everyone from the past few months, and Catarina is trapped in their mind.

What did I like? Like the previous two books, the pacing was absolutely perfect. It starts out steady from the beginning, with just the right amount of action and forward-moving plot elements that easily kept me entertained throughout the story. There were also a few clever twists. I really loved finding out the truth about Catarina and her DNA!

What didn’t I like? This Vicious Cure is set through alternating chapters told through the points of views of Jun Bei and Catarina, and I’d be lying if I said I liked the change. I was not of fan of having to read half the book from her character mostly because we spent the first two books not having any kind of emotional connection towards her, and that didn’t change just because she now has her own chapters. I wouldn’t have minded a few chapters from her POV thrown in between Catarina’s, but more often than not I skimmed parts of her chapters because I just didn’t care enough.

I also felt really disconnected from the other characters as well. The interactions between Catarina and Cole, Leoben, and Anna were some of my favorite aspects from the previous books, and that was a something sorely missing from This Vicious Cure. And when they were together, it didn’t feel like a lot because the chapters would end abruptly and then jump back to Jun Bei.

And speaking of limited character interactions, the thing that was most disappointing was the complete lack of interaction between Catarina and Cole. After everything those two have been through together in the past two books, we are given one–O N E– scene with the two of them alone and having a conversation. Their feelings for each other are barely brought up, they hardly talk to each other, and their past is never touched upon. After the ending in This Cruel Design with Cole losing his memory and all their declarations of love, I was expecting……more? Instead, they exchanged probably less than fifty words throughout the book and we are given absolutely no closure for them. It honestly made me so sad and disappointed, especially since their relationship was one of my favorite parts from the series.

Overall thoughts: I would still absolute recommend this trilogy. It’s clever and unique and extremely well-written. But I wanted so much more from this conclusion than I was given, especially when everything regarding Catarina and Cole was basically swept under the rug and forgotten about.

WWW Wednesday #23

Published on by Breanna4 Comments

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words in which the three W’s stand for:

  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?

43979540WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

Starsight (Starward #2) by Brandon Sanderson

 

 

43263331WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard

 

 

44441993WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

The Dating Charade by Melissa Ferguson

REVIEW: DEV1AT3 – Jay Kristoff (ARC)

Published on by Breanna3 Comments

40177770Title: DEV1AT3 (Lifelike #2)
Author: Jay Kristoff
Rating: ★★★★

ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

Jay Kristoff has delivered another thrilling book. Like it’s predecessor, DEV1AT3 was action-packed, features a cast of amazing characters, and is full of plot twists and reveals that will keep the reader begging for more.

First of all, the book begins with a recap. Bless you Jay. As silly as it may seem, I really wish more authors would do this with their series! It’s so incredibly helpful and saves me from either searching the internet for a recap or spending the first few chapters trying to remember everything that happened in the last book.

DEV1AT3 focuses a lot more on Lemon Fresh and her story. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this, but once I started it was a total non-issue. I really enjoyed her character in the first book and I loved following her journey in this one. She makes some important discoveries for herself and finally starts to develop of sense of self-identity. There were some X-Men vibes and I was totally digging it! We’re also introduced to some new fun characters; in particular, I was really enjoying reading about Grimm and Abraham and hope to learn more about them.

Besides Lemon Fresh, the story also features chapters from Cricket’s and Ezekiel’s POVs, but only few from Eve’s. Eve’s presence wasn’t as prominent in DEV1AT3, which I think is what led me to holding back a star, but I understand the decision to withhold her perspective. Eve is going through an identity crisis and therefore is make some really terrible choices. I really feel for her and I think by the end of the book she was beginning to realize that perhaps the path she has chosen is not what she really wants or believes in. I have total faith in her for the next book.

Jay absolutely killed it with the end. And by that, I mean he pulls another jaw-dropping cliffhanger that has me itching for the third book. DEV1AT3 was full of non-stop action and a fast-moving plot that pulled me in from the prologue. I absolutely love these characters and this world that Jay has written and I cannot wait for the conclusion!