Mini Book Reviews: The Comeback

Hello, all lovely Book Dragons, 

Today marks the return of the Mini Book Review and I am very excited about it. These are so fun to do. August has been a rather productive reading month, and that makes me happy. It is so weird how much happier I am now that I am back to reading. 

Today I am going over six of the books I have read. They were all great reads. Everything got a high rating. I don’t know how that happened but it feels great. Please enjoy this quick overview. 

• The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer- Rating 9/10-

  “While the traditional image of knights in armour is accurate and widely accepted, the equally representative image of knights wearing corsets and suspender belts is perhaps less well known.”
  ― Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century

  First of all, I see your title reference and I appreciate you. This is the level of effort I need from my books. This book is all about medieval England. The author hs it divided up into sections like “food”, “people”, and “travel” I got the breakdown of market town populations and I was happy. He talked about how society really functioned at the time and not just about the different levels. We got to follow along and see cities and what travelers could expect at an inn. We talked about typical food stubs, and what would be served at a fany=cy dinner. I still question the necessity of swan mostly because a bird so mean should not be eaten. Turns out I was right, swan tastes horrible, thus we do not eat it today. I got to hear all about the seafood industry in medieval England. I do not want to go to that market. Imagine the smell for a second. I also do not want to pass by tanner or a butcher. Maybe if my sense of smell is removed I would go there. Until that magical, and tragic because I am a candle addict, dayI will just travel to medieval-inspired worlds with magic that has a magical sewer system and a magical way to dispose of animal remind. Thank you for joining me for this short and informative summary of the medieval world. Onwards!

• The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan- Rating 10/10-

  “Jumping out a window five hundred feet above ground is not usually my idea of fun. Especially when I'm wearing bronze wings and flapping my arms like a duck.”
  ― Rick Riordan, The Battle of the Labyrinth

  Greek mythology is dark. The more you read about it the darker it becomes. There are rarely happy endings. The ancient Greeks were allergic to happy endings. If you want to read about a horrible thing I recommend greek mythology and ancient Greek tragedies. Seriously, you will find everything from patricide to cannibalism and everything in-between. The myths around which this particular book is built are dark, and the overall tone of the story changes in this one. Things get much more serious. Percy goes through a lot in this book, and he also grows a lot. I am not saying that the previous books were not full of serious issues because they were. They just somehow felt lighter. The stakes were not yet life or death. That changed at the end of the third book with our first deaths. There is a war brewing. Western Civilization is falling apart. And yet I still laughed like a lunatic on multiple occasions and I still adored Percy with his sarcasm and sassiness. These books are just so good, and there is so much more to them than humor. So while they are middle grade they are also written so well that I, in my tottering old age, still find new things to obsess over on every reread. 

• The Guest List by Lucy Foley- Rating 8/10-

  “The rage is growing inside me, overtaking the shock and grief. I can feel it blossoming up behind my ribs. It’s almost a relief, how it obliterates every other feeling in its path.”
  ― Lucy Foley, The Guest List

  A wedding on a deserted island is always a good idea. It also helps if the island is difficult to get to, and has the reputation of being hunted. It screams romance. Well, it would scream romance if it was a different type of couple getting married. Our couple is not the type to see the romance in sea and cliffs, which is pretty clear when you get into their heads. Jules prefers cities, rooftop bars, and overpriced drinks, but she cannot afford to finance a wedding to her standard anywhere else. In her head she can turn this uncharacteristic behavior as a publicity stunt and everything will be fine. I had problems liking any of the characters. I wanted to like Olivia The Bridesmaid, but I could not get behind her whing and weakness. I could understand all of them. I knew exactly who those people were and what motivated every one of their actions. I just didn’t like them. I think the author was trying to make them unlikable to the reader. This whole wedding was a disaster waiting to happen. And disaster did happen. Well, maybe that depends on your definition of disaster. Frankly Will had it coming. I wanted him to get stabbed so badly, and he did. He was a psychopath of epic proportions who believed he was owed. Just that owed. He was owed women, money, opportunities. love, forgiveness. Everything. He felt no guilt for a murder he committed to cover up his cheating on a test. Let me repeat, he murdered a thirteen-year-old because he got caught cheating on a test. Ia had an issue with the number of coincidences that connected the guests to the groom from hell. The wedding planner planed the whole thing so she made sense. Olivia inadvertently let to Jules and Will meeting so she made sense. The best friend groomsman made sense. What I did not like and could not understand was the coincidence of it being will who caused the suicide of Hannah’s sister. Everyone on that island had a motive to kill Will, but I was glad it was the sister of the child he murdered that got to stab him. I’m sure it was a relief to everyone. I did not like that we were not presented with any consequences post-murder. All the guests, aka the witnesses, just got to leave the next morning on the ferry. Like I’m sorry what? That is not how murder investigations work. Overall this was a good book, I loved the atmosphere and I liked Foley’s writing style. She pulled you right into each character’s head. I didn’t love the convenience of everything. 

• Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead- Rating 9/10-

  “The only thing better than imagining Dimitri carrying me in his arms was imagining him shirtless while carrying me in his arms.”
  ― Richelle Mead, Vampire Academy

  I forgot how much fun this was. Richelle Mead was ahead of her time because she did not include a love triangle in her story. This was first published amidst the post Twilight craze and thus love triangle prime time. I am not the biggest fan of love triangles because usually they are made to be obvious and thus just create needless drama that adds nothing to the story. This is not to say that there is a lack of hot guys in VA, quite the opposite. There are quite a few and they are on fire. Let me get back to the topic. The book opens with the recapture of Rose and Lissa and their return to a literal academy for vampires. It is secret and located in the middle of the wilderness in Montana. This is a cool take on the vampire legend. We have living vampires with elemental magic, dead psychopath vampires who sacrifice their magic to live forever, and half-vampire guardians who at the beginning of the series have a shitty deal. Rose, our narrator does not see any problems with the system because she has been fed the line since the age of seven so how could she. I see it because systemic injustice bothers me. Lissa and Rose share a psychic bond, which is the only reason Rose is not expelled. Lissa would never be expelled no matter what she did because she is a princess. The disparity in treatment is obvious. We quickly find out there was a reason the two ran away, and that there is a lot more going on with Lissa’s magic, their bond, and the politics of the world than the girls realize. My favorite parts of the book were the friendship between Rose and Lissa, and the slow burn romance between Rose and Dimitri. Rose and Lissa are best friends. While the world sees their relationship as weird they are loyal to each other equally. Rose chooses to not tell Lissa things to protect her, but we all know how well that worlds out in the long term. As for Rose and Dimitri, can we talk about hot for teacher? I really cannot blame her in the slightest because, my god. We also have a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Like when Christian sets someone on fire. Rose and Lissa might have been horrified but I was laughing my head off along with Christian. He didn’t harm him, and thus I am allowed to laugh. Please stop judging me. One last note, my god that ending. I don’t want to spoil anyone who has not read the book but the ending has some seriously shocking twists and turns. Please read this one. I wish they would do a cover redesign for this series. They deserve something way better than what they got. 

• Alpha Night by Nalini Singh- Rating 9/10-

  “I think, to be missed is a gift. To be remembered an even bigger one.”
  ― Nalini Singh, Alpha Night

  We are nineteen books in and I am still not satisfied. There are just so many amazing stories left to tell in this world. The people who inhabit it are amazing. After reading this I had to talk myself out of rereading the whole series from the beginning. It is just so good. I dont want to talk about it too much because everything is a spoiler at this point but I will say that we are learning more and more about Psi abilities and it is fascinating and scary. The ending had my jaw hanging open. I do wish the book was longer. Everyone who reads my ramblings regularly knows I love long stories, so if these books were six-hundred pages each I would not be upset. There is so much in this world that I want huge books that let me sink back into the world, explore new areas, and catch up with old friends. Is that too much to ask. Nalini Singh does an amazing job either way but I just want more. 

• A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh- Rating 9/10-

  “The way it had been displayed, the way it had been discarded, that was a thing too many men had done to too many women across time.”
  ― Nalini Singh, A Madness of Sunshine

  It appears Nalini Singh can do everything. This is her first full-blown thriller and I loved it. There is some serious build-up of tension. Nalini does elements of a thriller with all her books, but this one was a thriller with an element of romance. I loved the romance too. The characters were so vivid. No one was perfect yet they were all so human. I also enjoyed the setting. I have not read many books set in New Zealand the only ones I have read were Nalini’s contemporary romances. This book took place in a remote area of New Zealand full of cliffs and sea and forest and I loved it.  The atmosphere was caught somewhere between gothic and dark fairytale. I also want all the baked goods mentioned. Nalini loves dessert and it shows in her books and I want it. 

Alright, everyone, this is all for today. If you stuck thus far with me thank you for reading and I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings. If you have read any of these books please feel free to tell me what you thought! I love to discuss my books. 

The schedule is back up, and I ill see you all next time! 

Anna