A Slew of Book Reviews

I LOVE SUMMER. Not because of the weather, not because of beaches and pools, not even because school has ended (I get bored too easily without it, but I'll admit, not having the stress is nice). It is because I finally have time to READ.
Let's see. School finished for me three weeks ago, and I've read five books This rate is a much better one than I've managed to maintain during school months. And now, I shall review them all. Right here. Yes, all five of them. At once.
(All covers link to Goodreads.)

First of all, look at that cool DNA/hair thing going on on the cover. So imaginative, right? I LOVE it.
Okay, what to say about this book. At first I was a little thrown off, because at the end of Uninvited Davy (short for Davina, so yes, the main character is a girl) and Sean were just fine and dandy in their relationship. A few days later at the beginning of Unleashed, Davy is having PTSD symptoms and doesn't really want to even be around Sean. Seriously? The change was a little too sudden for me, and it made me feel like the issues were just being made up to try and create some sort of conflict to hook readers. I didn't like it. But, since it was a sequel, and I'd liked the first book, I kept going, and things got better. Namely when Davy ended up by herself. Suddenly the relationship things were much more interesting and the plot . . . it was a thousand times better because suddenly there was goals apart from survival and motives apart from self-preservation. Davy's internal struggle was brilliantly done and kept tension high right up to the end of the book. Speaking of which, I loved the ending. It was an emotional roller coaster and I won't pretend I didn't feel disappointed and exultant right after the other. I gave it 4 stars on Goodreads.

Isn't that tagline sort of similar to each progressive grade in high school? xD Seriously though, I probably should have taken a closer look at the genre listings for this book on its Goodreads page before I read it. I was expecting a sort of contemporary mystery, but then at the three quarter mark I got slammed with sci-fi. Which I wasn't expecting, despite the light hints of it earlier. Maybe I'm just an oblivious reader. It was a good thing I do like sci-fi, because the genre-flip took me way off guard and would have made me put the book down otherwise. As it was I got jarred out of the book for a moment, but I continued reading anyway and I'm glad I did. Alison, the main character, has synesthesia as well as tetrochromacy, which basically means her senses are cross-wired (she tastes words and sees sound, etc.) and her eyes can see into the ultraviolet range. Anderson did a great job with capturing the synesthesia in her descriptions - I loved them! The writing was gorgeous, and I especially loved a section near the end - I seriously want to make a poster out of it and hang it in my room, it was so beautiful. I am in love. I gave this one four stars - would have been three, except I loved the ending and that one patch of writing too much.

I picked this one up because the main character was such an underdog, despite being a prince. Culture only values men who fight? Main character prince who can't because he's only got one hand? Yes please. AND I LOVED IT. Yarvi was a fantastic main character, with all his insecurities and the lessons he learns and everything. And the other characters. . . they were beautiful. Jaud and Shadikshirram and Ankran and everyone else. Though, I wish I'd learned more about the world. It felt like there was so much more Abercrombie could have told us about the elves and other nations, but I suppose that is the mark of good world building. There feels like there is much more. Even though the sequel isn't about Yarvi I still want to read it. Aaaaand I just noticed that the point on that snowflake is a sword. OKAY NOW I LOVE THE COVER TOO. This was unquestionably four stars.

I expected great things from this book. Great things. I'd read Neilsen's Ascendance Trilogy and absolutely ADORED it, so even though The Mark of the Thief sounded not much like anything I'd read before I still expected to love it too. And I must have a good eye for books I'll like because yes, I loved this book too. It was a cross between historical fiction and fantasy, since it was set in ancient Rome + magic. Which was a very refreshing combination, although I'm not complaining about the Medieval European style fantasy worlds. And Nic. I loved him and he is my new baby. At first he felt like a carbon copy of Sage from The Ascendance Trilogy, but then as the story developed it became clearer that he was different. His default behaviors were different, he wasn't as arrogant, and he had better success curbing his witty tongue to keep him out of trouble. And I also loved Aurelia, who was tough but not in a masculine way. AND CAELA. There was a griffin, okay, and I loved her too. Just go read it! You won't regret it, I promise. FIVE STARS.

(This is copied from Goodreads.) Ahahahaaaa where do I start. How about this? POOR POOR SIRAN. The sympathy I feel for this character is too much to contain. Barrows, I'm looking at you - give the poor baby a break in a future book (and there had better be one, because I still have questions). I adored The Follower, and I loved The Merchant's Son as well. While The Follower I think illustrated the struggles of a believer, The Merchant's Son focused more on how evil influences those who aren't saved and also those who are. I loved how the two different kinds of people were affected differently by the dragons and the river. Brilliant. Though fantasy, it was a reminder of what evil can do if we're not wary and don't keep our faith. And I loved Sern. He was a Christian, but he was sort of grouchy and didn't really want to talk to people, a lot of the time, which I identify with completely. He was very much like me, except much more haunted, poor man. I love both him and Siran. And Sheth! And Gaevra! Gah, I love all of them, what am I trying to do, picking favorites. Just go read it. Then you can understand why I can't right a perfectly coherant and logical review.

Have you read any of these? If you have, what did you think? If not, will you go read any of them now? Have you ever read a book that almost seemed to switch genres in the middle? How about a fantasy not set in a Medieval Europe style world? Any good Christian allegories (I want more). Give me recommendations.