Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder

Author: Marissa Meyer

Narrator: Rebecca Soler

Published On: 1/3/12

Audio Length: 10hr 2min

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads):

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague

ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to

make their move. No one knows that Earth's fate hinges on one girl...

I enjoyed book even though I've already read Fairest. I don't even know why

I read that one before this one. I would eventually like to continue the rest of the

Lunar Chronicles.

The plot with the plague was interesting and I liked how Cinder was a tomboy.

It was nice to have a female mechanic of sorts. She wasn't all about the ballgowns

and fancy items. She was focused on surviving and helping those in need. She

didn't fall at the prince`s feet and that made me like her even more.

I look forward to seeing how her story continues even with the additional

characters in the chronicles.

TTFN,

Ashley

Review: Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

Title: Bridge of Clay

Author: Markus Zusak

Narrator: Markus Zusak

Published On: 10/9/18

Audio Length: 14hr 44min

Rating: 2/5

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads):

The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by

their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the

adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father's disappearance.

I would like to share the length of time it took for me to finish this book.

10/22/18-2/1/19

Yes that would be 3 months and roughly 10 days. No I wasn`t listening every

day but this was the book that made me not want to audio every time i got in

my car. After seeing that Fox and Wit was doing their reading challenge and one

of the prompts was “Book about Siblings” I knew I needed to bust out the last

5hrs of this books.

I first thought it was the narrators voice that i wasn`t vibing with

(just a heads up its narrated by the author). In reality though I think it

was just the novel itself. The Book Thief was one of my favorite books

in high school so I was excited to pick this one up. That excitement was

quickly squashed.

Maybe I missed something and its truly something I don`t understand about the

novel. It just felt long and drawn out. We get Michael and Penny`s story, then there

is boxing/fighting and ‘Ends with some horse racing. The book sounded more

like a biography of the Dumbar boys which is not at all what I was expecting.

For now however my rating will stay at 2 stars, some people seem to love

this one and others are on the same level as me with not getting it.

TTFN,

Ashley

Review: A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessica Cluess

Title: A Sorrow Fierce and Falling

Author: Jessica Cluess

Narrator: Fiona Hardingham

Published On: 10/16/18

Audio Length: 11hr 49min

Rating:5/5

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads):

It's time for her power to rule.

As Henrietta nervously awaits her marriage to Lord Blackwood, she discovers that

Sorrow-Fell is not a safe haven from the bloodthirsty Ancients. It's a trap.

Spoilers

What a way to wrap up a trilogy. Well paced and kept the pages turning.

Sad to lose some pretty awesome characters. I know it's part of the process and

some of the favorites had to die but it was so well written.

I'm still not a huge fan of Blackwood. He let his passion for success get in the

way far too much throughout his story. It was hard to not be upset that he didn't meet

his demise.

I`m interested to read whats next for Jessica. Her realm of magic was well written

and it would be interesting to come and revisit other areas on the map.

TTFN,
Ashley

Review: Evermore by Sara Holland

Title: Evermore

Author: Sara Holland

Published On: 12/31/18

Page Count: 368pgs

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads):

Jules Ember was raised hearing legends of the ancient magic of the wicked

Alchemist and the good Sorceress.

Spoilers

I enjoyed Everless enough to buy Evermore however I was hoping for more.

The entire book was well paced and had tons of adventures. This being a duology

I figured the last third of the book would be the “final battle” or pivot point of the novel.

Nope it was the last 36pgs to wrap everything up. Just a bit disappointing since the

plot “magically” lined up to help the ending along.

I still think the story is an interesting concept of how blood becomes time and

money. The rulership fighting for that control and how much they rely on peasants

in order to live their luxurious lives.

TTFN,

Ashley

Review: Undying by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Title: Undying

Author: Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner

Narrator: Alex McKenna, Steve West, Vikas Adam

Published On: 1/22/19

Audio Length: 11hr 19min

Rating: 3.5/5

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads):

Trapped aboard the Undying's ancient spaceship and reeling from the truth

they've uncovered, Mia and Jules are desperate to warn their home

about what's coming.

After a perilous escape, they crash-land on Earth's surface - but Jules and

Mia can hardly fathom their new predicament: No one believes them.

I liked the recap in the beginning it was a really nice refresher. The start of the

novel we get a fast action chase through vents of the enemy ship. Talk about diving

right into the story. It really added to the initial suspense.

I do hope there will be a novella or longer epilogue on the events after the novel.

Earth has gone through some crazy changes and It would be interesting to see what

future earth would look like.

This novel did suffer from second book syndrome unfortunately. It was nice to

have the focus shifted to those of the undying. Their history was well planned and I

think I found myself rooting for them more than the humans themselves.

TTFN,

Ashley

Review: The Blood Spell

Title: The Blood Spell

Author:CJ Redwine

Published On: 2/12/19

Page Count: 438pgs

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis (Found on Goodreads):

Blue de la Cour has her life planned: hide the magic in her blood and continue trying

to turn metal into gold so she can help her city’s homeless. But when her father is

murdered and a cruel but powerful woman claims custody of Blue and her property,

one wrong move could expose her—and doom her once and for all.

Out of the four books in this world I think this one has to be my favorite.

Kellan wasn't my favorite human when we were introduced to him in The Traitor Prince.

However once there was some backstory I started to understand him a bit more.

Blue was by far the most interesting character alongside Nessa. Nessa did steal

pieces of my heart throughout the novel and I hope to read more about her and

some adventures in future novels.

I`m starting to fall in love with any book that involves Alchemy. Blue uses

alchemy as a way to help others not for personal gain. I also loved how much

botanicals came into play when crafting spells and brews.

A super highlight of this novel is the fact Nessa using a form of sign language

in order to communicate. There are some in the court who have taken the time to

earn the language while others refuse to do so. This whole scenario relates so well

with real life. I had a friend in elementary school that did sign language and I knew I

wanted to get to know them so I asked to take classes. This sparked my love of all

languages. I took ASL classes for 9 years and jump at using that skill any chance I

can. Having that sort of representation in a YA novel is fascinating. It was well written

and I look forward to what else this series will bring.

All of CJ`s Ravenspire novels can be read separately however I feel like this one

you really should read the other novels to fully enjoy the plot.

TTFN,

Ashley