I really liked this book, the writing, plot, and characters were all brilliant. Though, if this was a star rating, I'd still give it only 4 out of 5 stars. Simply because it did have a few slow parts that dragged on. Plus, there were a few plot issues that could have been buttoned up a bit more.

Overall, if you like RPG-lit or something with a similar premise to Ready Player 1 (Without the 80's lore) this would be a great book to pick up!

Another great story from Sanderson. The compact format is definitely different for him as his books tend to be 300-1,000 pages long. But, he was able to get the story out and give it a James Bond sci-fi feel to it still.

However, the books seems to start and stop abruptly and with no other strong connections to his other worlds. It just doesn't hold the same quality that I've come to expect from such a prolific writer.

Skyward is the pinnacle of what YA sci-fi should be. Yes, this is coming from a known Brandon Sanderson fan, but you just have to trust me. However, this book is a beautiful blend of the many things I enjoy about YA and sci-fi. There‘s AI starfighters, evil aliens, and mysterious human defects that could destroy the planet all crafted in with teenage angst, arbitrary adult biases, and straight up shitty parenting. Oh, yeah give me that good stuff!

I loved this book. It was fun, scary, gory, and fantastic. It had all the elements to keep you wanting more, with a not so subtle reminder that classism, racism, and sexism are still very much alive and well in America.

I really can‘t say much about this book except that it‘s basic. There was nothing that stood out about this book at all. The characters can be found in any D&D roleplaying game and the story could be found in a real D&D module storyline. There was nothing new or exciting that existed, no new spin on an otherwise great classic. This just was your classic entry level fantasy or RPG book.

This book is complicated. I loved the first half of the story when it followed a single main character, but as the book progressed and more characters were introduced, I got lost in multiple different tangents that all start to happen at the same time.

This book was everything I was expecting, and better than I had hoped. I want more. I like the concept that the boogie man is real, and easily identifiable. I like the idea that death is possible, but only in the right hands. I like that society has shifted, that the world looks at death differently. I like the idea that society not longer can connect with “mortals“. That our problems were dumb, and easily corrected.

This was a great book. It has a great pace that keeps you on your toes, without going too over the top. More importantly, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows, or people fighting the good fight. It was scary, and treacherous. It was back alley fights and spying. It was keeping one step ahead of your enemy the entire time and hoping that no one got suspicious, or ratted you out. Plus, it was a long and forever growing love story!

My cousin and I decided to start celebrating Jolabokaflod (And Icelandic Tradition)about 5 - 6 years back. Over the years we've added more people to our exchange but we still sit down and have a fun exchange with coffee or cocoa and warm fuzzy blankets.

This was my haul this year! Can't wait to dig into the pile!

#Jolabokaflod

Another great book, however I wasn't excited about the ending. I feel like it would have been a better ending if Aurora didn't come back. I mean, love means not demanding more than you're willing to give right?

Additionally poor Tyler never gets the recognition he deserves. Like he literally saves the space station and all the top execs from being blown up. But gets nothing in return.

All together though great series.

Aurora Burning helped me finish my yearly challenge! Phew, just in time for the holidays and the craziness around them!

I'm struggling on this series because the characters all fall into obvious stereo-types and stay well in their lanes. Additionally, these characters don't really have freedom of decision here. They are all reacting to the situations around them and only have the illusion of choice. However, while this annoys me, the time traveling concept has kept me hooked, and I already own the last book So, I'll definitely be finishing this series up.

I think this can be summed up in one simple line from the book. “There are no good guys here.“

Unfortunately, as it would be none of the characters really stand out. There isn't a ton of depth to any one of them which made the book way to easy to predict. No one cares about anyone else but themselves and what they have going on. This means the backstabbing and fighting is easy to predict. Which makes this lackluster at best.

After trying to swallow this down for two months, I've given up. I liked the idea of a Jane Austen worded book. But I just couldn't get past it at the same time. Too many words and not enough actual story.

“It's as if life equals winning, so death equals losing“

Of course, I had to read both... This one some how isn't as terrifying as the first. But it's probably because I can't even fathom how bad it was. Can you truly understand what hell on earth is like? Watching people die from pure exhaustion, walking over corpses, smelling their bodies burn. And constantly realizing that you're probably going to be next. If you don't come up with a plan, you're just like everyone else. Dead.

Stephen King you can keep all your horror stories to yourself. This is one of the scariest books around because it's real. This happened. People just “disappeared“ never to be heard from again. Family members taken away, people asked to pick a side with no knowledge of what each side meant. Hiding, starving, barely surviving in cramped terrifying conditions. What happens when the scariest monster you can think of is real?

This book tried to be good. However, I hate books where the main characters don't actually make any decisions. Sure, he has been actively been trying to kill you for the last 10 chapters, but... if you don't trust him. Then you're dead, so... You better fall in love instead! it's a very linear story line. Add to that it wasn't an original story plot and I don't see why it had so much hype. was.

I still really liked this book, but this book didn't have the same appeal to me as the first one did. Simply because it a Druid, or a Warlock? This bit was super confusing to me. It seems that there are different magical classes that humans can be gifted with. At times Adam fights a Druid, and other times he's a Warlock. So, what makes a warlock a warlock and a druid a druid? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This book was such a fun read, and made me want to go back to re-watch the Little Mermaid for the first time in decades. However, it's also the third book in a series, which I didn't realize until after I was halfway through the story and couldn't follow along with the majority of the “background“ story.

However, I still sang along with Poor Unfortunate Souls, and enjoyed the overall retelling of the classical story.

I really enjoyed this book. Adam is a hero you want to root for. Being shunned by his family for his magical and sexual oddities, Adam keeps it all together. Not only unknowingly saves the man he loves, but helps his family find peace within themselves. I think that was one of the most interesting aspects to this story honestly. That it's not just a fantasy story, but it's a real story, about how different families react to different challenges.

Third re-read and still an all time favorite! Let's go Sevro!

#AllTimeFavorite #Howler

Having not read the #SevenRealms series before this, I didn't exactly know what I was getting into and it took me a while to get into this book. However, this book was pretty great, and once I got past Lila and Ash's awkward escape (lots of questions about that part) at the University. I got more into the book. I'm don't think I'm hooked enough to continue the series. But I am intrigued by the Seven Realms Series now.

Another great Patterson book covering all the same crazy over the top antics.
Though, because this book tried to incorporate RPG games into it. I didn't enjoy this book as much simply because I'm too much of a nerd. A high roll for three 20 sided dice isn't six, five, and four.

Also, there was just too much going on with Christine, the kids, and Sampson. Plus I felt that there were too many cases should never actually got reconnected to “Death“.

Iron Widow started off smart, intelligent, and exciting. It hit some strong topics about gender inequality and discussed the true differences about gender roles in a futuristic, yet ancient Chinese society.

However, while it started off strong, it didn't finish that way. The book meanders off into too many topics including polygamy, corruption, love, drug abuse, and independence. Ultimately never addressing any of the topics at all

This book was still an amazing book, but to me it wasn't as great as the first two in the series. This book just felt too much like the first book, except with the addition of trains. Plus Donut came off a bit more drier than the first two.

All together, I still loved the book and will be picking up the next in the series as soon as my next Audible credit drops in.

If you liked the first book, this book is just as amazing. Honestly, this book has been near impossible to put down, and I can‘t wait for one more credit from Audible so I can jump into the next one.

This book is just over the top crazy, harder villains, bigger explosions, and even more Princess Donut. What's not to love?

I should have bailed on this book from the get go, but it was read my Jim Dale who also read Harry Potter, and the concept was intriguing. But this book just fell flat for me. The imagery was breath-taking, I'll give it that. But for me the book tried to be too much. It tried to be a fantasy, murder-mystery, comedy but without compelling enough characters for it to work. Also, the ending seemed more self-congratulatory than anything else.

This book was just a good as the first one! I know it's meant for middle school or high school kids to try and introduce them into fantasy, but I love it! What's not to love either? It's a beautiful balance of good vs evil, with a hint of childhood growing pains. And in the end it's about three young adults learning to navigate a very scary, very real world.

This book is a little bit more personal to me, than the majority of books that I read. As I have moved further away from Christian teachings and started to enjoy and feel more empowered by Buddhist ones instead. I thought this would help me explain some things to my family. And in some ways, it did. But I left feeling a bit cheated as well but that's probably because this is so new to me.