Spoiler Free Book Review – Mistborn: The Final Empire

Hello hello! Welcome back y’all!! Today, I’m going to be reviewing Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. You’ve all seen me scream about how awesome and believable this book was, so let’s jump right in to my finally full review.

Book: Mistborn: The Final Empire

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre: Epic Fantasy, Adult

Summary: For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the “Sliver of Infinity,” reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler’s most hellish prison. Kelsier “snapped” and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld’s elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Only then does he reveal his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel’s plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she’s a half-Skaa orphan, but she’s lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets, and gotten it. She will have to learn to trust, if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

This saga dares to ask a simple question: What if the hero of prophecy fails?

Book Review – The Queen of Nothing | ft. a rant about why I’m super disappointed

Hi there, dear friends!! Welcome back to another book review! Today, I will be discussing the absolute mess that was The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black. Or well, why I think it was an absolute mess.

Title: The Queen of Nothing

Author: Holly Black

Published: November 19th, 2019

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Summary: After being pronounced Queen of Faerie and then abruptly exiled by the Wicked King Cardan, Jude finds herself unmoored, the queen of nothing. She spends her time with Vivi and Oak, watches her fair share of reality television, and does the odd job or two, including trying to convince a cannibalistic faerie from hunting her own in the mortal world.

When her twin sister Taryn shows up asking of a favor, Jude jumps at the chance to return to the Faerie world, even if it means facing Cardan, who she loves despite his betrayal.

When a dark curse is unveiled, Jude must become the first mortal Queen of Faerie and uncover how to break the curse, or risk upsetting the balance of the whole Faerie world.

Spoiler Free Review:

This was incredibly disappointing. All the things that made The Wicked King amazing – politics, Jude’s plotting, her ruthlessness, the absolute complexity and amazingness of the characters and the plot – were missing from this book. The plot was incredibly lackluster, the politics were dialed down, and Jude was tame. TAME. She was so soft, much kinder, and a totally different person from the ruthless Queen that she was in TWK.

And that was annoying. I kept waiting for her to become the Jude I know. I kept waiting for the Jude who is a destructive force of nature, who is constantly on her toes, and constantly scheming, and it didn’t happen.

The plot was just a big question mark and the plot twist left me speechless. It was that bad. I still don’t understand why on earth it was used.

One of my biggest problems is how short this book is. It’s ONLY 300 pages. This book that I’ve been waiting a whole year for, a book that I was truly excited to read, was not only a hot mess, but also a very short one that didn’t do this series any justice. There was no build-up and no excited anticipation. It just went from A to B in five seconds (with the above mentioned totally weird plot twist) and then the ending. Everything was neatly wrapped up, some things happened off page, and characters who deserved so much worse were given a “punishment” that felt more like a joke.

I’m tired of this book. I’m just so disappointed and so tired of it.

To hear my completely unfiltered thoughts with spoilers, keep on reading for the spoiler part of this review.

If you don’t want to see spoilers, you can skip straight to the end to hear my recommendation! But beware of the comments which may have spoilers too.

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Spoiler Review:

So. After much consideration and debate with fellow readers, I’ve come to the conclusion that either HB didn’t write this book someone else did under her name. y’all I’m that desperate to explain this mess, or she was willing to sacrifice a potentially phenomenal ending to a good series to later make spin-offs.

But why am I so upset with this book? Let’s start off from the beginning.

Some of the major characters (aka JUDE) were totally out of character in this book. Some others were the same.

Jude went from a ruthless Queen to…this Jude. This very forgiving, very accepting, totally not intricately scheming, very emotional Jude. She was so incredibly tame and bleh, she’s almost like a whole different person. Her rich and powerful character was watered down so much in this book, and it ruined everything.

Example: she kind of forgave Taryn. TARYN. That back-stabbing so called “sister”. One second Taryn’s betraying Jude, the next, Jude is willing to overlook everything to get back to Faerie, and eventually just lets Taryn be, even with all she’s done.

Oh, and can someone explain to me how Taryn is pregnant??? Like what? And she killed her husband Locke because of this weird super petty non-excuse? And she wanted Jude to go back to Faerie to lie to Cardan for her since Jude can’t be glamoured?? And Jude said fine??? Okay, yes she did it partly so she could sneak back into Faerie but still. And that’s all????

Locke was killed off-page for some non-excuse and Jude asks like one or two questions about it and that’s it? LOCKE WAS KILLED AND THAT’S IT?

Like others have mentioned, it’s kind of lazy, but also super fishy. And I don’t like how it’s pretty much ignored and Taryn doesn’t get punished for it. It just happens and that’s that.

Now to Vivi and Heather. I love Heather. She’s so sweet and innocent, and I love how she’s trying to reconcile with Vivi, but is also very rightfully untrustworthy of her. I wish Heather had been given some time so that she could talk to Jude and understand Faerie properly, so that she has a good idea of what she’s getting in to if she continued her relationship with Vivi.

Which she did. After having Vivi wipe her memories.

That’s horribly disturbing, and I hated Vivi by the end of this book. I don’t trust her at all, and she doesn’t deserve Heather. I really really wanted to give Vivi a second chance, because I liked her in the first two books. But she messed up at the end of the last book, as well as in this one and she should not have agreed to wiping Heather’s memories. Their relationship is completely unbalanced with Heather being mortal, and Vivi being a faerie, and the fact that Vivi can glamour Heather doesn’t sit well with me. Especially since she did it before so easily.

Also, I initially totally forgot about the fact that there was pending war/conflict with the Queen of the Undersea and Nicasia, but then someone mentioned it and I remembered and I wonder what happened to that. But okay, whatever.

Nicasia was just absolutely weird and emotional in this book. Like Jude, she was ruthless and determined and this cruel steely person in the previous books, and the few pages where she was talking in this book (it was probably like only 3 or 4 pages max) she was absolutely emotional and teary and “you have to save him!!” because Cardan was a snake. And I’m utterly confused because I can’t connect the Nicasia that I knew to this new person.

Madoc was still the same incredibly ruthless and cruel guy, and I don’t think I had an issue with him. It’s just what happened to him in the end that annoys me.

Cardan was still the awesome great Cardan. But he barely had any page time at all! I can remember all the instances where he was Cardan and not a snake on ONE hand.

1. When Jude first returned
2. Their passionate reunion afterwards
3. After the snake where he’s with Jude giving out punishments
4. Afterwards when they’re in the Mortal World

Yeah. I think that’s it. That’s it!! He deserved so much more, and I missed him.

Orianna was so interesting and I wish she was explored a lot more. But sigh.

Lady Asha confuses me. I have no idea where she stands in this whole drama, and why she was included. Every question I have about her starts with Why. I don’t understand her role in this story.

Now, for the characters who I loved.

Oak was so adorable and cheeky, and I loved him!! He reminded me of a mini sassy Cardan (not the cruel part, just the awesome sassy part) and I loved him so much, and I just wanted them to protect him and keep him far away from this mess.

Grima Mog was so interesting, and hilarious and I’m so glad she was in the book!! She’s the only character besides Oak, Heather, and Cardan that I liked.

And I think that’s the majority of the characters who I feel like mentioning.

*laughter*

First of all, there was no exciting build-up. No tense situations, betrayals, back stabbing, and all of that jazz that throws a wrench into Jude’s plans (well she didn’t have any plans, but hypothetically speaking) and creates so many little plot twists before the main amazing and magnificent plot twist.

Second of all, the Court of Teeth? Okay. They confuse me. And I’m very creeped out by their girl Queen. Everything related to them was just disturbing. I mean, Madoc worked with them, so yeah, obviously they are very disturbing people.

Third of all, that plot twist with Cardan turning into a snake and all of that.

I know, I used a GIF!!! But really, there’s no other way to understand my utter confusion without it.

The whole problem with his book is that it is short. It’s just 300 pages. So the plot was rushed, not fleshed out well, horribly wrapped up, and this big plot twist with Cardan breaking the crown, and then turning into a snake, and Jude dissolving into a rather teary-eyed Queen who’s trying to be strong, but still teary eyed- it was just totally out of the scope of plausibility or awesomeness.

I was expecting this book to go right, and it went left. That’s not bad, but the way it went left is horrible, and I’m still utterly confused about how this snake and war drama was supposedly a good idea.

I mean come on? What was that “war”? And the snake? Okay, fine, let’s have a snake great way to add it to the cover btw. What’s next?? Where’s the actual awesome plot twist?? Is this snake supposed to be a wrench in Jude’s “plans”? Where’s the actual big and awesome part?

But nope. It is the major plot twist, Rukky. And after this, everything’s just fine and dandy, and everyone gets let off so easy, and nothing happens to Taryn and this is supposed to be the spectacular and amazing finale that you were waiting a whole year to read. Didn’t you just love it?

No. I hated it.

Another thing that was weird was that Locke was killed off page. Like he dies, and Taryn explains it with her crappy excuse and that’s it. Locke, Master of Revels, Cruel and Heartless, the guy that I hate for a lot of good reasons, he just dies, and we’re told about it, and that’s just it.

??????????????????

After the awesome twisty plot of TWK, this plot was just a really really big flop and let down. Sigh.

Ahh, finally. The ending.

Madoc gets banished to the Mortal world.

The Court of Teeth is no longer a valid court, but they still get an ambassador who is Lady Asha.

Lady Asha is apparently being punished by being an ambassador for a none existent court.

That weird girl queen on the bridle is let loose.

Some of the traitors who fought for Madoc are turned into hawks (or ravens or something??)

Some of them are forgiven (I believe?)

The Ghost is free and happy (he was locked up with Madoc before). He and Taryn are apparently, um, idk, but they share this Look at the end that is highly disturbing.

Cardan is free and happy.

People have accepted Jude as their Queen.

Heather gets back with Vivi after wiping her memories. She is also happy. Vivi doesn’t learn anything, and she’s also free and happy.

Orianna is fine, free, and happy.

And they all (aka Jude and her fam) head back to the mortal world to celebrate Jude and Cardan’s wedding, and everything is wonderful and dandy.

Take a wild guess about how I feel about this ending.

Let’s pretend this book didn’t happen. Or at least I’m going to try and pretend that it didn’t, because my brain is tired of thinking of this book. My brain is tired of this utter disappointment. I am exhausted just thinking about how everything went wrong.

And it hurts even more because I was very excited and expecting a fabulous book. This book just crushed everything.

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In the end, I did not like this and I wouldn’t recommend it. This was one of the most disappointing books that I’ve read. I expected so much from it, and it didn’t live up to my expectations at all.

Here’s Kay’s much nicer and wonderful review that you could check out if you want to see a more positive review. For some, this could have been an awesome final book, but for me it just wasn’t.

One sentence summary: A very disappointing finale with bland characters, ridiculous plot twists, and a horrible ending.

Overall, 1 star.

⭐

Rating: 1 out of 5.

So, that’s the tea! It was honestly really therapeutic while still very exhausting to write this review.

Have you read The Folk of the Air series? Were you super excited for this book? What were your thoughts? Am I being overly salty? Do you agree or disagree with me? Share your thoughts in the comments below!!

Book Review – The Book Thief

Hey ya’ll!! Welcome back to my first book review of the year (and my first one since November)! I’ve said it a few times now, but I’m going to start working on posting reviews more frequently maybe if I say it enough it’ll become reality. Honestly, I kind of miss writing them, and hopefully I’ll keep it up from here.

Today, I’ll be reviewing one of my favorite books of 2019, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Title: The Book Thief

Author: Markus Zusak

Published: December 18th 2007

Genre: Historical Fiction, YA, Coming of Age

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

Review Summary:

This was a really emotional coming-of-age book set in Nazi Germany during World War II. It has a really unique narrator who follows the life of Liesel, after the death of her little brother, and her placement in a foster home. Originally, it was slow, but towards the second half, I was really attached to all the characters, and I loved the story. The ending hit me so hard even though I knew it was coming.

Quote: “The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.”

*Characters. I love the characters. They were real and so wholesome. Liesel, Rudy, Mama, Papa, the Mayor’s wife, all the characters on Himmel street played a role in making this book what it is. Death as well, was a phenomenal narrator, and it was so interesting seeing the story from his point of view. I loved the relationships between each of the characters, and how they loved each other, despite Mama seeming really harsh. She still loved Liesel so much, and it made me feel so warm and happy to see all of their interactions with one another. Rudy was hilarious, mischievous, and very much a saukerl. Papa was kind, patient, and adoring. Mama was harsh, loud, but still loving underneath. The Mayor’s wife was quiet, kind, and so lonely. All of them supported Liesel in their own way, and I loved reading about their lives.

*Death. Having death as a narrator was different and really interesting. It was sad, it was painful, and I sympathized with him so much. One thing I didn’t expect was for me to like having him as a narrator. He’s not this gloomy cruel thing that loves death. He had feelings. He was real. You could feel the sorrow and sadness coming from him. It made me sad that he had to see so much horror and that he had such a depressing job.

*Story. I like how the story moved through the years, pointing out the big events, and mentioning the small ones as well. It was a coming of age over several years, and even though the pacing was slow to start, I got used to it later on and I didn’t want it to end. I just wanted their story to continue, to see all the mischief and adventures that Rudy and Liesel would have, to see them grow up and grow old. It was so heartfelt and I loved it.

Quote: “I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right.”

*Max. Max was really interesting. What happened to him was horrible, but I’m glad that he still survived, that he found a family with the Hubermanns. I’m also glad that he found a way to express himself, and that he became Liesel’s reading companion. There’s so much power and beauty in words, and instead of falling into depression, or chronically over stressing, he wrote his story and stayed the strong despite the bleakness of his situation.

*Books. The book starts off with Liesel stealing a grave digger’s handbook, and it becomes a passion of hers. She has Papa teach her how to read, and as the years pass, she swipes books when she can to read some more. She meets the Mayor’s wife while doing laundry for her, and discovers a library full of so many books. The best thing is that the Mayor’s wife lets her come and read, which makes Liesel’s knowledge and power with words grow. I’m glad that books held such a special place in Liesel’s heart.

*Message. This book has several messages, and all of them are so important. Nazi Germany was a horrible time, and I loved how the Hubermanns, and Liesel, fought Hitler in their own way. They hid a Jew, showed sympathy to other Jews despite the severe consequences, and used Hitler’s own powerful device, words, to fight and tell their own story. This was about giving them a voice, when they didn’t have any. This was about doing what’s right, even when your whole country, your own son, is against you. It also offered a new perspective, because this was the first time that I’ve read a book about a non-Jewish German family hiding a Jew in their own home. It’s about the horrors of war, of the Holocaust, and how it can affect one small family that just wants to stay far away from it. And I absolutely loved it.

*Ending. That ending punched me so. hard. It still hurts to think about it. You know it’s coming, you get warned beforehand, but I still spent a few hours crying, feeling so much pain and sadness for all these amazing characters.

Quote: “Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness.”

*Slow. Starting out, it was slow, and I was a little impatient because of it. But once I got used to the pacing, and I began to like the characters, I didn’t care that it kind of dragged anymore.

Quote: “He does something to me, that boy. Every time. It’s his only detriment. He steps on my heart. He makes me cry.”

In the end, I loved this, I would highly recommend it, and I hope you enjoy it if you read it! The characters are so interesting, and it was so heartwarming to read about their lives. The ending shattered me. Great job to Zusak for absolutely destroying my heart.

One sentence summary: A heartbreaking and important historical fiction novel with amazing characters and books.

Overall, 5 shining stars.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

That’s it for today! I’m working on my Monthly Wrap-Up post, so you can expect that either tomorrow or Thursday.

Have you read The Book Thief? What did you think? Am I the only one who fell in love with Mama as the story progressed? What are some of your favorite World War II books? Chat with me in the comments below!!

End of Year Book Survey + Reading Wrap-Up | 2019 Edition

Hey guys and welcome back! Today is the 7th day of 2020 and life is finally getting back to normal. Yesterday was the first day of school again, and to be honest, I kind of missed having classes and assignments. I know. I can barely believe that I even thought that myself. But of course, when assignments properly start, I’m going to be wishing for another break once again.

Anyways, today I’m going to be wrapping up my 2019 reading year.

To help wrap up my past reading year, I’ve decided to do Jamie’s End of Year Survey with a twist. Instead of answering all her questions (46!!), I’m going to pick a handful to answer, and also do a wrap-up my way. Initially, I was going to do 2 different posts, one with the survey and the other with my wrap-up, but that’s going to be repetitive, so I’ll be combining both.

(This is the 10th year that Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner has hosted this tag, so if you’d like to do it, head right over to her lovely blog to see all the prompts and questions!)

This is probably going to be rather long, so without further ado, let’s get started!!!

2019 Reading Stats

Number of Books Read: 98

Number of Re-Reads: 3

Genre You Read the Most From: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

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I didn’t make it to 100 books. But that’s okay. Because I got to 98, which is still a pretty good number and I’m really proud of myself for making it that far.

The re-reads were The Fixer and The Long Game, both by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. The first two were great, and I loved re-reading them. The third one was a little cringey, and I can see why it appealed to a Younger Rukky, but it was not for Current Me.

Lol, no surprise. Mystery/Thriller/Suspense was by far the genre that I read the most from, with Fantasy coming in second, and Contemporary in third.

I made a little pie chart to break down my reading even further, and I’m so relieved that it turned out looking okay.

if it’s a little fuzzy, I apologize!

I also did another chart showing my year in books by rating, so here you go:

I like how most of my books were 4 or 3 stars. The books were either mediocre or pretty good, just not super great, and I’m happy with that. I think it also shows that I’ve figured out what books work for me, and what don’t, and so hopefully next year, this will have much less 2 or 1 star books.

I did have a couple of DNFs (Did-Not-Finish), and most of them, I plan on trying to re-read another time, while some I absolutely did not like.

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For Blanca and Roja, Ninth House, and Blindsighted, I don’t think i was in the right mood when I picked them up, so I was really bored and impatient with them. These are the ones I plan on picking up some other time.

Marshall Law just wasn’t for me. I got it for review from Reedsy, but I didn’t like it and never finished it.

Captive Witness was disappointing, because I loved Nancy Drew once upon a time, and when I picked this up, I couldn’t get over how old fashioned it was. I was cringing so much, and decided to stop so that I wouldn’t ruin all my great memories of reading all the various series.

The Perfect Husband was a nightmare. I am so done with that book. Usually, when there is extra stuff going in books, especially in thrillers and mysteries, I just skim past and move on. But this book had stuff in pretty much. Every. Single. Chapter. I can’t believe I got to 74%. SEVENTY-FOUR, guys. And you’d think that they don’t have time for any of this extra drama, and so called “romance” when the MC is being hunted by a pure 100% psychopath. But no, they can’t stop their “love” for five seconds.

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So yeah. 3 of them, I might try later, 2 of them were just not for me, and 1 of them was a true nightmare. But I’m still pretty glad that I only had 6 DNFs the entire year.

Best in Books

Best Books Read in 2019:

Mystery:

• Hell’s Corner by David Baldacci
  • This was more of a political thriller, but I still loved the mystery of who was behind the attack. I’m also a huge fan of any book with “secret agents” and Mary and Stone were amazing and made me love the story even more.

Suspense:

• I Found You by Lisa Gardner
  • It was interesting being told what happened to Frank in bits and pieces, and what brought him to that beach. There was so much suspense, as things were slowly revealed and I liked that. The book wasn’t perfect in other aspects, but the suspense was really great.

Thriller:

• No Exit by Taylor Adams
  • This is a master thriller. It was honestly the first time that I’d been truly petrified and nervous, and anxious about how things would end in a book. It was a little over the top, and would probably be better as a movie than a book, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Fantasy:

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  • I loved this. I loved the characters. I loved Kaz’s cunning ruthless and brutal, I loved Inej, Jes, Wylan, Nina and Matthias, I loved everything about it. Well, it was slow until the heist at the end, but I liked the build-up and relationships between the characters, and how we got to know them so well. This is honestly my top fantasy book of 2019.
• The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
  • This is a fantasy that I loved because of it’s worldbuilding. The way Allomancy was described, the way the Empires and cities felt so real that I could literally picture everything happening clearly, that was amazing. I loved the heist, and was shocked at how things turned out, but what I loved the most about this was how real, and possible, and well-thought out the world and Allomancy was.
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stievfater
  • I got a recipe for November Cakes. That’s honestly enough to bribe me into loving this book. But really though, I sincerely enjoyed the story. The happiness, calm, and peace that came after I finished reading it. The deadly but utterly beautiful horses. Puck and Sean fighting for what they want, what they love. It was really beautiful, and I’m so glad that Meegs pushed me to read this.

Contemporary:

• A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
  • He’s grumpy. He’s strict. He’s mean. But underneath that tough exterior, Ove is hurting. And this book is about what caused it, and what happens when a new bustling family, with a fiery and delightful mother, moves in next door. I loved this because of the characters, and because the found family relationship that all the neighbors built with one another. Ove is also really endearing, and it was heartbreaking reading about everything that went wrong in his life. Even if it was fictional. This book made me so happy, because Ove learned to live and love again.

Historical Fiction:

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
  • I may have loved this solely because the ending shattered my heart. But I’m also a big fan of coming-of-age novels, and this is one of them. At first, I didn’t like many of the characters, and I was a little annoyed, and maybe bored. But as the story continued, and the years passed, and the war dragged on, I began to feel for all these characters. I began to understand them, love them. And when that ending came, even though I knew, even though I’d been warned, it still shattered me when that happened. It’s a book that made me laugh, made me smile, made me cry. And I don’t think a book has ever done all three to me.
• The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
  • This was a great book about a woman fighting society’s sexist and racist views through a newspaper column in 19th century Georgia (aka the 1800s). Jo was a great main character, and I loved Old Gin, Noemi, and Nathan so much. She’s brave, she’s fierce, and she was risking so much to write her Miss. Sweetie column and using it to inspire change in her community. This was one my most anticipated books this year, and it did not disappoint.

Best series you started in 2019?

Honestly, it was Mistborn: The Final Empire, but to pick a different book, I’m going to go with the Shades of Magic trilogy.

I’ve already read the first book, A Darker Shade of Magic, and even though it was slow in the beginning, I loved the magic and the world, and I can’t wait to read the second book.

Best Sequel of 2019?

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. This was such an awesome sequel, and I loved the new villains, as well as Victor’s search for a cure. The ending was really great, but I hope that there is still a 3rd book! Mitch, Syd, and Victor were so sweet together, and honestly, this book was just perfect.

Best Series Ender of 2019?

Nope, none. The only Series Ender I read in 2019 was The Queen of Nothing, and that was most definitely one of the worst I’ve ever read. I’m just really disappointed and salty about it.

Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?

My new top three authors that I discovered in 2019 are:

Maggie Stiefvater (The Scorpio Races), V.E. Schwab (Vicious), and Brandon Sanderson (The Final Empire).

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?

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It’s a tie. I can’t pick one over the other! Both covers are just so beautifully gorgeous.

 Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read? 

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. I’d seen it in my library a lot, and I can’t believe that I never picked it up until earlier this last year. It was one of the first YA mysteries that I read, and I really loved it.

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?

This post is already over 1,500 words long, so I’m going to stop here. I think I’ve covered all the major questions, and if you’d like to see all the books I read last year, check out my 2019 Year in Books on GoodReads. I’ll probably be doing a Blog/Life Wrap-Up next, and I may do a Most Disappointing Books of 2019. Not sure yet, but keep an eye out for another wrap-up!

That’s it for this post! What was your favorite book of 2019? Have you read any of the ones mentioned above? What did you think? How many books did you read in 2019? Chat with me in the comments below!

Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2019

Good morning friends! I hope you’ve had a great start to the year. Today, I’ll be sharing with you my Monthly Wrap-Up for December 2019.

A lot of great things happened this month. I had my Winter break which I spent with family, I read a good number of books, and something exciting happened…more on that below. My blogging took a dip since I barely wrote anything the last few weeks of the month, but I’m still pretty happy with everything else in my life right now, so I’m not too upset about that.

I am still happy to get back into blogging full time and doing all the wrap-up posts that I should have done before.

Anyways, without further chit chat, let’s get started!

Books:

Covers are from Goodreads

My goal for the year was 100 books, but I read 98 which isn’t bad. I’m still proud of myself, especially because I read 13 books this month. And some of them were great. Others, not so much. I also didn’t do any reviews, and that’s something I plan on working on this month and through-out the rest of the year.

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• Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas – 3.5 | This was so so so much better than the first book, and we actually got to see Celaena in action. The disaster that happened in the second half was nerve-wracking and the final reveal was surprising. However, it all made sense and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the series goes. RTC

• The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Choksi – 3.5 | It was good. Not spectacular like I had been hoping but still good. I liked the puzzles and the characters. However, the plot was meh, and I didn’t feel like I connected to the characters that much. Unofficial Review

• The Lines We Cross by Randa Abdel-Fattah – 2.5 | It was meh. There wasn’t much Muslim rep like I’d been hoping. Mina was aggravating, Michael was just meh, and I honestly liked the side characters more than the MCs. The politics was interesting, but overall this book was just meh. RTC

• Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson – 4 | This was really good. I loved the world, the Allomancy, and the explanation of how everything worked. The characters were all pretty interesting and I liked Vin, Kell, and Ham the most. The heist was unbelievable and that ending shocked me. I can see why many people love Sanderson’s books, but there were some things that annoyed me and weren’t done very well. Unofficial Review

• Lock Every Door by Riley Sager – 3 | This had a lot of potential, but in some areas it fell flat. There wasn’t much of a mystery, but there was a lot of suspense and some thriller parts towards the end. I liked the atmosphere and how I could feel Jules’ terror, but I was disappointed that pretty much all my guesses and suspicions were correct. RTC

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• Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – 2 | This book was a disaster. The ridiculous twists, and the reveal at the end made no sense at all, and I was so frustrated with Audrey Rose. Being in her head is painful, because she thinks the exact same thing a hundred different ways. I’m just so glad that this series is over. There were some good parts (Liza, Daci, and Illeana met and their friendship is amazing!!), but overall, this was still a disappointing finale to this series. Unofficial Review

• The Late Show by Michael Connelly – 4 | Pretty good. I liked Renée and the mystery of who did it, as well as the rogue cop aspect. However, I wished that Renée had a partner who also played a major, present, role in the story. It was good, just not amazing. RTC (maybe..)

• I Hate Weddings by P. J. Petersen – 2 | This was short, a little sweet, but also rather annoying. It was hilarious seeing all the things that went wrong, but I was also annoyed by the juvenile-ness of it as well as the decisions that Dan made.

• Our House by Louise Candlish – 4 | This was great. I liked the alternating storylines, and the ending was super satisfactory. I didn’t like Fi much, but I understood her passion to protect her kids. Bram was the one I sympathized with the most, and I really hoped that he would be saved. It was really sad reading the story from his POV. RTC

• The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly – 4 | It’s been a while since I read a legal thriller and I loved this. Mickey was ok, and I liked his relationship with both of his ex-wives, and the way that he made things right by the end. Again, it was good, but just not a 5 star. RTC (maybe..)

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• Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin – 3 | There were some good parts. There were some bad parts. I liked Ayesha and Khalid somewhat, especially at the beginning, and the rep was also pretty good. The drama was hilarious. However, the ending completely went off the rails, and I hate how some things were resolved. RTC

• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – 2 | I have no idea what happened to this book. It’s so short. It’s so tame. It’s so ridiculously unlike The Wicked King that I can’t believe they are from the same series. There’s no backstabbing political poison awesomeness. There’s not much epic spying or fighting. Sure the snake part happened and everything, but that’s it??? That’s ALL that happened??? And the ending. Wow. RTC

• Standstill by Jack Probyn – N/A | I got this for review from Reedsy. The idea of the story was great, and it was somewhat thrilling, but there were too many errors, grammatically and with the plot/setting. The MC was really unlikable, and overall, it just wasn’t for me.

• Blingsighted by Karin Slaughter – DNF | I read the first few chapters, and I just wasn’t pulled in to the story. My hold was also up, so I decided to DNF and maybe try and read it some other time.

• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – DNF | I was bored. There is so much telling, and not so much interaction/dialogue, and I love dialogue. So I was bored. And then my hold was up and I let it go. Maybe I’ll try to read it some other time, but right now, I’m just disappointed.

Total Number of Books Read This Month: 13

Total Number of DNFs: 2

Tags:

I’m still behind on tags, like usual, but I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has tagged me!! I’m working on getting them all done.

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Fall Bucket List Book Tag  | The Real Neat Blog Award

Let’s Talk Bookish:

Content Warnings

How Do You Deal With Problematic Books

Spoilers

Writers of Diverse Books

Life & Blog Updates

So. For that awesome news that I was telling you about. I got into college. Aka, I am now a college student. Not fully, because it’s a program where I am in High School and in college at the same time, but still, I. am. taking. college. classes!!!!! Or well, I’ll be starting in a few weeks

I’m partly excited, and partly nervous, because hey, this is a lot. I’m a high school and college student now. It’s still weird saying that lol. Classes are going to start in a few weeks, and I’m still not sure how this is going to affect my blogging. It was a little hard to do everything before with just my high school classes, but now that I have extra, I might not have time to blog as regularly as I used to.

So yeah that was the awesome exciting news…

I’ve also been thinking about a new posting schedule:

• Monday: Review
• Wednesday: WWW
• Friday: LTB
• Sunday: Review
• Tuesday: “Creative” post (such as wrap-ups/tbrs/”other” posts)
• Thursday: Tag
• Friday: LTB

And repeat. At the end of the month, I should have 4 reviews, 2 WWW Wednesday posts, 2 tags, 2 “creative posts”, and 4 LTB posts. I feel like those are still pretty good numbers. This is not definite, and it all depends on how much time I have. If I can still manage to post 4 or 5 times a week, I’ll try, but if not, that’s my tentative new posting schedule.

I said in my November Wrap-Up that I was going to do some more creative posts in December, and I did do some! I did my first Book Recommendation post, which you can check out here, and I also talked about my anticipated reads for 2019, and whether they lived up to my expectations or not (this may be more of a wrap-up post than a creative post, but still).

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  Check it out here!!

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  Check it out here!!

Once I’m done with all the wrap-up posts (2 or 3 more), I’m going to do another Book Recommendation post, and maybe try creating an original tag. I know, I’m very ambitious.

I’m also behind blogging-wise. Last week, I started my Winter break, and I spent it with my family so I didn’t blog as much, and I didn’t blog hop either. I managed to catch up on all my comments yesterday (I hope I got them all, and I’m sorry if I missed one!!), and through this weekend, I’ll be going back to catch up on all your awesome posts! I may or may not comment I’m behind on a lot guys…I don’t have a number, but it’s a lot, but I’ll definitely read them.

And yeah. I think that’s all the updates I have.

That’s A Wrap!

In the end, I read 13 books, did 0 reviews, 2 tags, 4 LTB posts, and 1 recommendation post. My goals for December were to read 14 books (at least 10), do 3 reviews, 4 or 5 tags, and 4 LTB posts. I only met my reading and LTB goals.

For this month, my goals are to read 12 books, do 2 more wrap-up posts, 1 book recommendation post, at least 4 LTB posts, 1 creative post, and maybe 1 or 2 book reviews.

That’s it for this wrap-up! How was December and 2019 in general for you? Did you meet any of of your goals for the year? What are your plans for 2020? Any tips for my new college self? Am I the only one who was disappointed by The Queen of Nothing? Chat with me in the comments below!!