Tag: 2 stars

Review: The Almost King by Lucy Saxon

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22929591The Almost King by Lucy Saxon
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 400
Format: ARC E-Book
Rating: ★★
Series: Take Back The Skies 
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I have to say that after finishing this book, I’m not entirely sure what the point was. The main plot lines consist of: Aleks finds a journal detailing the horrible plans that the reader already knew about from Take Back The Skies, Aleks builds a new life for himself including love interest, Aleks goes on a mission to discover new land but nothing really comes of it. To say that I’m disappointed is an understatement. I really enjoyed the first book, even though I was frustrated with the ending. At the very least I wanted the sequel to evoke the same feelings, but this time the ending was so frustrating because it just seemed too happily ever after in comparison!

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Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

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18484807Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 304
Format: ARC E-Book
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I really wanted to read Hello, I Love You. The cover is beautiful, the concept was super intriguing, and I’ve basically only read fantasy so far this month and wanted to cleanse my palette. This book is about Grace Wilde, country girl and daughter of super famous music producer, who runs away from her troubled path to go to school in Korea. At school she meets bad boy Jason, lead singer of KPOP group Eden. The story starts with a letter to her Big Brother, and from that very moment I guessed what Grace was trying to hide from everyone. I don’t know if it was supposed to be obvious – it certainly wasn’t a surprise when her backstory was leaked – but it did build the tension for the characters, if not the actual  readers.

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Review: Cleo by Lucy Coats

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cleoCleo by Lucy Coats
Genre: Mythology, Adventure
Published by: Orchard Books
Pages: 320
Format: ARC E-Book
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

I was first interested in reading ‘Cleo’ because of its obviously Egyptian themes. I’ve only read one other book on the subject, ‘The Red Pyramid’ by Rick Riordan, and was interested to see how another author transformed the mythology. To place Cleopatra in a YA setting sounded like an excellent idea, and I was looking forward to being immersed in the land of sand, gods and temples. But, (I know, I know, why does there always have to be a but?) I had a few issues with the execution. Let’s discuss!

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Review: Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos

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22749847Material Girls by Elaine Dimopoulos
Genre: Dystopian? Social Critique? I have no idea.
Published by: HMH Books for YA Readers
Pages: 336
Format: ARC e-Book
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

Maddie requested this book from NetGalley, but because she had a bunch of other things to read, I said that I would read Material Girls instead, therefore I had absolutely no idea what it was going to be and what it was about. I’ve now looked at the blurb which claims Material Girls was a mix of Project Runway and Divergent. I saw neither of those things. Overall, I’m not entirely sure whether this book was the most ridiculous take on dystopian that I’ve ever read, or a really interesting satire on materialism with some epigrams thrown in for good measure!

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Review: Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivision

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lobstersLobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Vision
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 307
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

Lobsters was subtitled ‘A Socially Awkward Love Story’. Because of this, I was expecting ‘Lobsters’ to be the tale of two socially awkward people finding love and happiness and feeling better about having social anxiety. Unfortunately, ‘socially awkward’ is being used in it’s derogatory form, claiming something that isn’t really ‘socially awkward’, just an embarrassing situation, and unintentionally making light of legitimate social anxiety.

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Review: In Bloom by Matthew Crow

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in bloomIn Bloom by Matthew Crow
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: Much-in-Little (Corsair)
Pages: 235
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: GoodReads | Amazon

(Warning: The blurb of this book is misleading.) On the back cover, this book is compared to ‘The Fault in Our Stars’. Normally, comparing a contemporary book with John Green is a risky business, as A LOT of people in the world love TFIOS. However, I’d say the only similarity with John Green’s most famous novel is that the two main characters have cancer. That’s like comparing Shadow and Bone with The Selection, because they both have a female protagonist!

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Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

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the scorch trialsThe Scorch Trials by James Dashner
Genre: Dystopian
Published by: Chicken House
Pages: 360
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★
Series: The Maze Runner (#1) | The Death Cure (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I was a little bit worried to begin this book, because it meant venturing into new, unchartered territory. I knew what to expect with ‘The Maze Runner’ and wasn’t that surprised with the changes the movie made. With ‘The Scorch Trials’, the fate of my reading enjoyment was left solely in the hands of James Dashner. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Here’s why…

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Review: Split Second by Kasie West

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15792316Split Second by Kasie West
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Published by: HarperTeen
Pages: 360
Format: e-Book
Rating: ★★★
Series: Pivot Point (#1)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

Contrary to the majority, I actually enjoyed Pivot Point more, although this book really did tie up all the loose ends of the series I felt that it was kind of tedious, and certainly not as gripping as the first book. I think the addition of Laila’s voice added to the story, but the differing perspectives weren’t as enjoyable, for me anyway, as the two different voices of Addie that made Pivot Point so original.

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Review: Starters by Lissa Price

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15797745Starters by Lissa Price
Genre: Sci-Fi
Published by: Corgi
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

Starters is incredibly fast paced, and if I’m honest, rather confusing to begin with. We’re thrown straight into the world and the story picks up with Callie, the protagonist, visiting a ‘body bank.’ I thought this book was going to be a lot more sci-fi than it actually was. Starters focussed more on character relationships, which meant it took quite a while for the plot to pick up.

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Review: Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson

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22449950Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson
Genre: Thriller, Action, Romance, Contemporary
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 320
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I’d previously read The Sound by Sarah Alderson, so when I saw Conspiracy Girl on NetGalley I thought, “Why not?” However, it’s safe to say that I haven’t found my new favourite Sarah Alderson, and I even found the ending a little predictable given the plot twists in The Sound. It had the same basic structure: conspiracy, bad boy love interest, the ‘big’ reveal – none of that was problematic, it was just that I felt I’d read the book before.

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