Kat @abookiesbooks, Author at A Bookie's Books

The City of Ashes

So besides the sister/brother romance, everything about this book is superb.

The Book:

Title: The City of Ashes

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Mortal Instruments #2

Published September 1st 2015 by Margaret K. McElderry Books (first published March 25th 2008)

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Pages: 455

“Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what’s normal when you’re a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who’s becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn’t ready to let her go—especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary’s only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil—and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings—and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

In this breathtaking sequel to City of Bones, Cassandra Clare lures her readers back into the dark grip of New York City’s Downworld, where love is never safe and power becomes the deadliest temptation.” -Goodreads

My Review:

Cassandra Clare wrote horribly in the first book, City of Bones. She wrote writing that I could only describe as fanfiction writing. In this book though, she seems to have a grip on her fanfiction descriptions and reigns it into more professional and exquisite writing.

This is really shown off in the third book, but we are not talking about that yet.

Near the end of the book, the story sucked me in and I could not put it down. I finished the book in two days. I started to read the next one and devoured that as well.

The fighting scenes are so good. The little twists and turns are so good. The descriptions of the world are so vibrant. I can envision everything so well.

The humor in this series is the best. The witty comments are cheesy, but I appreciate them. They are actually funny, unlike other fantasy books.

The one thing I hate about this book is the romance. Ugh, I want to barf. If you don’t know, (spoilers for the rest of the paragraph) the main character and the main love interests are brother and sister for this book. It irks me because the romance could be so great, but now it is just tainted.

Other than that, this book is really good. I am enjoying The Mortal Instruments.

The next book is so much better than all the others. I cannot wait to finish it and put up my review.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 4

Have you read this book? Let me know down below!

A Late Post of a Black Friday Haul

For a class this quarter, I had to create a blog. For this blog, I wrote out my Black Friday post, where I showed off the books I bought on Black Friday.

I wanted to report my original post here, and here is the link to the original post. I will probably not post on that blog anymore, but I did like this post.

Here it is:

“The day after Thanksgiving is a time to relax after the huge meal, spend some quality time with family, and, the most important part, shopping!

My boyfriend and I went to the Olympia Mall on Black Friday to shop the deals. I went to stores like Bath and Body Works, Earthbound Co., and Old Navy. However, my favorite place I shopped was not at the mall, Barnes & Noble.

I spent more on books there than on my other purchases combined. I bought a few for their sale and then a few signed books.

1. Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

This was the main reason I went to the store. Aveyard is one of my favorite authors. She has been posting about picking up copies of her book this week and I knew I had to get one. I thought that the store would run out since I was going later on in the day, but they had three left in stock!

2. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Do I already own this book? Yes.

Did I still buy the signed copy of it? Yes!

I read this book for the first time when I was thirteen and it was honestly a game-changer. The twist at the end was so unexpected. I am so happy I got a signed version.

3. Anyway the Wind Blows by Rainbow Rowell

I love Rainbow Rowell. Her books have always had a special place in my heart. I was so excited I could nab another one, with her signature! I now own a signed book by Rainbow Rowell. How cool!

4. Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

This book I, unfortunately, did not find a signed copy. I did get a killer deal on it being half-off though. I was so happy. I am excited to read this one, but I do not have high hopes since I did not think Garber’s other series, ‘Caraval,’ was super riveting. I have heard more positive things about this book though.

5. The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

I have heard amazing things about this book. My mom tried to buy it for me for Christmas but she could not find it. I thought my Christmas list was going to go unfulfilled, but I spotted the copy from across the room. I ran to it and this book ended my shopping in-store.

Online, I bought a few more books that I have not gotten yet:

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton
Here’s to Us by Becky Abertalli and Adam Silvera (Signed) (Preorder)
Galant by V.E Schwab (Signed) (Preorder)

I spent a lot of money, but I am so happy with all of my purchases.”

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Finally Reading the Mortal Instruments

Let me just say, the early 2000’s YA books were wild.

The Book

Title: The City of Bones

Author: Cassandra Clare

Series: The Mortal Instruments #1

Published September 1st 2015 by Margaret K. McElderry Books (first published May 27th 2007)

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Pages: 486

“When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It’s hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary’s first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It’s also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace’s world with a vengeance when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know…” -Goodreads

My Review

The Mortal Instruments has been out for ages and was one of the original YA fantasy books. I am going back in time to read them because I never did as a kid.

I am shocked, disgusted, but also… happy?

You got Clary, who is a total “I am not like other girls” girl learning she has a crazy dark and mysterious history. She find this out because she met…you guessed it, a boy.

This book series is going to ruin me, and I mean this in a bad way.

The whole thing is gross. It has racist jokes, gay stereotypes, and politically incorrect words up the wazoo. Not to mention the (spoiler) incest plotline???

The negatives aside, the book was pretty good. If I had read this book back in 2010, I would definitely would have liked it.

By the end of the book, I found myself rooting for Clary. I hated her the whole book and now I am ready to read the second to see how it all plays out.

I think that is all I have to say for this book. I can’t compare it to anything recent because writing has evolved so much over the past ten or so years, which I am thankful for.

As always, thank for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.0 (It would have had four, but I dont stand for the bigotry scattered throughout this.)

A Veil of Truth and Poor Writing

I would never lie to my readers, so I will not be giving this book a good review. I wish that I could.

The Book:

Title: A Veil of Truth and Trickery

Author: Analeigh Ford

Published July 31st 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 308

“Delphine has been fae-marked from birth, treated as a curse despite the fact the once treacherous fae haven’t been sighted in decades—in fact, no one in Delph’s village has so much as laid eyes on one of the folk in nearly a century.

Right up until a fae turns up on her doorstep, demanding Delph as down payment.

No sooner has she set foot in the fae realm, however, then she learns she’s no mere collateral in a deal made with the lord that owns her family lands. She was selected for a reason, hunted down for a single purpose.

The fae courts are fading. The folk disappearing.

Only four courts remain. Four princes determined to save their crumbling kingdoms.

And Delph … Delph may just hold the key to save them all.

But even as Delph learns to see past the feared glamour of the fae realm, she quickly learns the impossible position she’s found herself in. The fae may not be the monsters she was led to believe, but in order to save them … she may have to become a monster herself.” -Goodreads

My Review:

*I just read the synopsis and that is even written poorly.

Negative reviews are literally my least favorite to write. But I have to for this book.

First, I feel like I was promised a lot from the author on TikTok. I was excited and so I purchased the book.

There was supposed to be spicy romance that beat out the ACOTAR series.

Let’s just say that it was not true.

This book started and instantly I knew it was not going to be great. In my creative writing classes for college, there is a saying thrown around A LOT and I hate to repeat it here, but I must. A writer should show not tell.

This writer did a lot of telling. Many places where there could have been descriptions and details.

This book regarded the Fae. I love Fae books, but I think Ford just tried to use the basic outline of Fae from a Sarah J. Maas world. I read the book like that because there seemed to be no focus on who they were.

The world building in this story in general was a bit lacking. I felt like the village the main character starts off in was okay. It was bland and I did not get the relationship with the family.

The fae realm was even more lack luster than the village. When the main character enters the realm, her body is unable to adjust and she describes feeling sick. But the way the realm is described feels like an acid trip…that never stops.

We get little snippets of the world, but I feel like it was not enough for me to stop imagining that first drop into the world.

I might just be being picky though.

Each chapter ended with like a resolution to the issue presented in the beginning. I dislike that kind of narration. I believe the author was trying to make each chapter end in a cliff hanger. It just wasn’t for me.

There were so many plot holes or things that didn’t add up. I kept expecting to find answers, but I was left with more questions.

The characters were static and one dimensional. No one learned anything or changed. I got more intriguing characters in the Ice Planet Barbarians series than this.

The premise of the story was good. I don’t think it was super unique as it clearly copied a lot of ACOTAR, but it had some interesting aspects that *almost* make me want to read the second book when it comes out.

Except I probably won’t.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 2

Red Queen: My First Aveyard

Hey guys! I am trying out a new format with my blog so bear with me…

THE BOOK:

Title: Red Queen

Author: Victoria Aveyard

Series: Red Queen #1

Published February 10th, 2015 by HarperTeen

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Sci-Fi

Pages: 383

“This is a world divided by blood—red or silver. The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. That is until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power. Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime. But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance—Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.” -Goodreads

MY REVIEW:

Plotwise this book had everything. Characterwise this book had everything. Romancewise this book had everything. This book was everything I wanted and more!

Before reading this, I was in a total reading slump. I had five books on my book cart begging to be read, but they did not entice me. I thought, “Okay, let’s try one more attempt at recovery.” I grabbed the first book on my shelf, something new, something fresh. I had never read Aveyard’s work before. I had attempted to read this one a long time ago, but it became overdue at the library and I had no care to continue on.

But damn how I have missed out!

From the moment I picked up this book, I devoured it. I began reading it last week and then just finished today. I have not finished a book in a week since Summer. School has been kicking my butt and this was the perfect escape.

The plot was exciting. Aveyard is a temptress. She brings you into the story with vivid details and then smashes your face into the Silver’s diamond walls with twists and turns. I got to see the seedy underbelly of the elite in this society, and I want more.

Whenever I started getting comfortable with the storyline, thinking: “What else could possibly happen?” I was thrown into a whole new hole and sunk deeper and deeper into the story.

The graphics in my mind were so amazing. Aveyard found the sweet spot when it came to describing the setting. It wasn’t overcontrolling but it wasn’t so little I could have thought of anything and it would fit. The imagery wrapped around me like a nicely fitting glove.

Mare Barrow, the main character, excites me, infuriates me, and charms me in every word of the story. She goes from peasant Red in rags to noble Silver in silks. We, as readers, see the internal struggle she feels working with her enemies. We feel all of her emotions as we go through the story.

The kind, sweet-hearted Maven was my favorite character. Emphasis on the was. I was really rooting for him throughout the book. I wanted the second child to get some sort of recognition in this book. He was handsome, smart, and emotionally available for Mare. Again, emphasis on the past tense.

Cal infuriates me. Yeah, I said it. He is annoying and I do not root for him. He stands against everything Mare stands for, which I am always going to be on Mare’s side, and that makes him a little punk in my mind.

The other side characters were amazing. Everyone was well developed, no matter who they were and if they only showed up once or twice. I got to love almost everyone in this book.

I think this book was super entertaining. I have heard that it might be made into a TV show or movie. I would die! I think that it would be so cool to see the story of Mare Barrow brought to the big screen.

Go check out my Twitter and Instagram @abookiesbooks

As always, thanks for reading

A Bookie

MY RATING:

Blackout: A Must Read

Title: Blackout

Authors: Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon

Published June 22nd, 2021 by Quill Tree Books

Genre: Contemporary YA, Romance

“A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the city is thrown into confusion, a different kind of electricity sparks…

A first meeting.

Long-time friends.

Bitter exes.

And maybe the beginning of something new.

When the lights go out, people reveal hidden truths. Love blossoms, friendship transforms, and new possibilities take flight.” –Goodreads

My Review:

This is going to be short, I am just trying to catch up!

I read this book in the summer. And clearly, I am posting this review in the fall. I am sorry. I have been doing a whole lot of reading and not a lot of blogging. Blame it on the various ways I am able to read books these days. Audiobooks have made it so I can literally read without my eyes open.

That is how I read this glorious book.

Let me tell you, I love these short story books by multiple authors. This is similar to the winter My True Love Gave to Me book. Except it is even better.

It is about black teens of all different sexualities in New York City. It has representation and New York City. What more can I ask for?

I don’t have a lot to say about this book other than it is really good. I think that everyone should read it. If you like romance and short stories that you definitely should read this book.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

A Not So Warm Beach Read

AHHHHHHHH

SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG!!!!!!

I am so trying to handle school, three jobs and this blog. This blog just had to sit on the back burner, sadly. Anyways, I think posts are going to be more infrequent. I think I am going to write posts when I am procrastinating my homework (like right now). I again apologize but lets move on…

Title: Beach Read

Author: Emily Henry

Published May 19th 2020 by Berkley

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

Pages: 361

“A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.

They’re polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.

Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really.” –Goodreads

My Review:

Apparently, I have been crazy into romance novels this summer. I have never read so many before. I think it has to do with getting turned down for an internship at a publishing house because I “did not know enough about the genre,” but that is besides the point.

I listened to this book on audio, which let me say, I was not expecting the spicy scene halfway throughout the book and was getting weird stares while listening to it in my car.

This book was a pretty great book. And by pretty great I mean, really really great. The entire premise of the book was amazing. I think I mentioned this before in another review, but I am really digging the this-could-happen-to-literally-anyone books. I am so deep into fantasy novels that reading books about real life situations is such a load off my back. No longer am I swinging swords on the battlefield and running away from scary dragons, I am just casually relaxing by the beach gossiping with my girl January.

January is a great character. I think she is so down to earth. Authors try to make their characters different and quirky, but I think Emily Henry just brought us a real girl with real girl problems. She was obsessed with one dude in college. That one dude became her next door neighbor after her dad cheated on her mom, died, and than left January a fancy house. See, very normal.

One thing I will have to say about this book that irks me is that they are not near a beach. Technically any mass of land and sand probably equals beach, but they are on the shores of Lake Michigan. Isn’t it cold in Michigan?

The title totally made me believe nice warm read. And yes they describe it as warm sometimes, but I just cannot help but imagine the mitten shape of Michigan and how cold it must be.

This book was so cute and fun to read. I do not think it was the best book I have ever read. Certainly was not the best book I read this summer. But it was still a fun book.

The book kind of lacked in conflict and problems. Yes there were overlying issues and the main couple broke up ~sorta~ not. But maybe the main focus of the book was on the character finding themselves and not whether or not they fell in love with the dark, mysterious author who lives next door.

I am telling you, too much fantasy and too much romance. I need to read more normal books with normal problems.

All in all, Beach Read is a great read. It is fun and light hearted and nice book to pick up.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

What am I reading this week?

For those that dont know, WWW is a meme and this meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words. And it involves answering the 3 Ws!

What am I currently reading?

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

A Veil of Truth and Trickery by Analeigh Ford

*If you want to see the whole list of my current reads, my Goodreads is listed in my sidebar of this blogsite.

What did I recently finish?

Layla by Colleen Hoover

What am I reading next?

Beach Read by Emily Henry

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:

Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time

The Harry Potter Series J.K Rowling
The Throne of Glass Series by Sarah J. Maas-specifically the first first three books
The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Paper Towns by John Green
Heartless by Marissa Meyers
Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur

Let me know down below what books you would put on this list or link your own TTT post in the comments.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

An ACOTAR Christmas Special

Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.1

Published May 1st 2018 by Bloomsbury YA

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Romance, Novella

Pages: 229

“Hope warms the coldest night.

Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and, with it, a hard-earned reprieve.

Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated—scars that will have a far-reaching impact on the future of their court.

Narrated by Feyre and Rhysand, this wondrous tale of hope and promise picks up after A Court of Wings and Ruin and sets the stage for the thrilling events in the future books.” -Goodreads

My Review:

So did anyone else reading this read it as a Christmas special?

This book basically picks up after the third book. And it was basically a Christmas special but in book form.

In the novella of the Throne of Glass series, Maas wrote back stories for Aelin and Celeana. This novella was a Christmas special. I guess you could say I was just quite a bit surprised. It was a different change. I guess I do not know what I expected.

It was a cute little story though. I have been on a romance kick, if you have been seeing my Goodreads shelves updating or reading my reviews. So this is just one of many romance books I will be reviewing. I finished it in one day. It was a cute little book to read and to get me back in the physical book reading mood (before this I did a lot of Kindle and audiobook reading).

It started to introduce the new little love triangle between Elain and Azriel. I know the Gwen is not introduced in this book, but this is the start of Az and Elain’s little romance. I am not sure how I feel about it just yet. I know that a lot of BookTok and BookTwit don’t like them. I am really not sure how I feel. I do really like the fanart for Gwen and Azriel I have seen though. I have yet to purchase ACOSF, so the wait for my opinions on the remaining canon plot is yet to be had.

Feyre and Rhysand seem to be recovering after the War. Obviously they are not healed but they do seem to help work through that. So far, Rhysand has helped her through so much. You can see Feyre’s healing in the end of this. She is returning to herself pre-Under the Mountain. This series is really cool because you can see how far she has come from the beginning of the series.

One thing that bothers me a bit about this series is how Feyre is seemingly becoming a housewife. I understand that, yes, in this book there is not fight to be had and she does have to rule her Court. I feel as though she does sit out of a lot of fights. She is less of a bad*ss (not offense).

This is a contrast to Aelin in Throne of Glass. It is hard for me to love Feyre and this series as much as I loved Throne of Glass. I loved Throne of Glass because it shattered those gender stereotypes for me. The MC could still be an assassin, ruthless in everyway, and still love to wear fancy clothes and get dressed up. I thought it was an important lesson. Also, Throne of Glass emphasizes that Aelin can save herself most of the time. ACOTAR seems like she needed a man to save her in every bad living situation.

I hate to bash on it, but it is true.

I did enjoy getting to see the other character’s POVs. I hope to see more of them in other books. (Again, still haven’t read ACOSF so I don’t know if it has them or not.) I liked Cassian’s POVs the best probably. I think he is my favorite side character so far. He just is such a fun and loyal guy.

Nesta in this book made me mad. But I understand why she acts the way she acts, mostly. She is traumatized and in pain. I feel like her being with her sister, at least Elain for the solstice would help her. But hey, I am not a licensed therapist so I have no real authority over others emotions.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I can not wait to read the other books. I chuckled all day over this book because it felt like a Christmas special. Out of everything, I have never read a Christmas special to a book series before. Is this a real thing?

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star Rating: 3.8