Weekly Reading Wrap Up- March 8th to 14th
Hello Book People,
Here we go with another reading update. I had a good reading week, mostly because I was avoiding school responsibilities. I am paying for it now but past me didn’t think twice about punishing future me.
Here are the books I read in the past week! Please enjoy:
“Love is not always a lightning bolt. Sometimes it is a creeping vine. It grows slowly until suddenly it is all that there is in the world.”― Cassandra Clare, Chain of Iron”
Chain of iron by Cassandra Clare- Rating: Heartbreak Stars/10- How do I even rate something like this? This book broke my heart, gave me hope, then snatched it all away at the end. I am not okay. It’s been a week since I read it and I am still not okay. I don’t think I’ll recover until I get the third book. And honestly, maybe not even then because how dare the author let no one be happy? Seriously, no one is happy when the book ends. Not a single person. Not even the pets. This was quite the emotional rollercoaster for me, and for the characters. The only problem is that they had to live through it and I had to read about it. Secrets are exploding in everyone’s faces like I said they would while reading the first book. The people who were not keeping any secrets have other people’s secrets explode instead. But I loved them all, and they all deserve better than this actual torture.
“Unrequited love was never easy, but at least Penelope Featherington was used to it.” ― Julia Quinn, Romancing Mister Bridgerton”
Romancing Mister Bridgerton by Julia Quinn- Rating 9/10- Ah I really loved this book. I still love it on my sixth or seventh read. We fast forward quite a few years since the last book and I think that breathed fresh air into the series. This is Colin’s and Penelope’s book, and they are a delight. They both have been given time to grow up and to live some life. Penelope lived life despite her limitations, and she made a good amount of money doing so. Seriously, what tan inspiration. Colin traveled and enjoyed everything the world had to offer for a rich man and now he came home and these two are bonding and falling in love. I liked that despite knowing each other for twelve years they both still shocked each other.
“I didn’t want to get caught. But I also wouldn’t stop doing what I needed to do just because I feared the possible consequences. Fear was something I could accept. Abandoning the galaxy to a group of despots was not.” ― Amanda Bouchet, Nightchaser”
Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet- Rating: 8/10- I was fully prepared to love this book unconditionally but sadly my insta-love radar can’t let me. I still had a blast reading this, and I loved the characters, but the fact that they fell in love ina week was a bit much for me. I loved the sci-fi setting, and I really hope we do much more world exploration in the next few books. This one really felt like a setup for a larger story that will come after. We shall see. I will still read everything this author writes. The way she crafts worlds and characters works well with my imagination.
“More than anything she wanted the world to be uncomplicated, for right and wrong to be as easily divided as the black and white sections of an Oreo. But the world was not a cookie.” ― Roshani Chokshi, Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes”
Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi- Rating 9/10- Excuse me what was that ending? What is it with all these authors forcing cliffhangers upon poor unsuspecting readers? I started to trust Roshni, she didn’t leave me hanging with the other books in this series. But the trust has been broken. I spend a good ten minutes ranting to my sister about how stressed the ending of this book made me. My sister was not interested, but who else am I supposed to tell these things? Other than the ending, this book was wonderful. There is so much tension starting to build up, internal conflicts are really becoming intense. Some characters are becoming more confident and growing into themselves, while others are really struggling. Poor Aru is one of the struggling ones. She has many doubts and it makes her second guess her own actions. I want to give her a hug and a Lord of the Rings Movie Night. She would enjoy that.
“You will lose what you value most, so treasure it while you can.”― Richelle Mead, Shadow Kiss”
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead- Rating: 10/10- The emotions! I have already read this series years ago, but have not reread it since. I forgot how many emotions came up because of this book. When I first read it I remember sitting there and reading until four in the morning. I had a school bus to catch at six-thirty. Needles to say, I was useless that whole day. This was one of the first books I read that left me feeling like I have been put through the same hell the protagonist went through. Rose does so much growing up I this book. It makes sense considering how the previous one ended, but it was still heartbreaking to read about. Now I am also devastated that these children have to grow up so fast. I am not decrepit by any means but I also realize that a few more years would prepare them to face life and death better at least emotionally. Lissa annoyed me a bit in this one, became she truly was so focused on herself she didn’t notice her best friend was struggling. You are not the only one with problems, and most of Rose’s are directly linked to you and your issues. Pay attention. Christian and Rose admitting they are pretty much the same person was hilarious. And Dimitri… how dare you be so perfect? Oh, and watching Adrian fall more and more into a depression hole while everyone lets him was truly devastating. That was another thing I didn’t notice on my first read-through. Now everyone, go get these books.
“Even in the Future, the Story Begins with Once Upon a Time.” ― Marissa Meyer, Cinder”
Cinder by Merissa Mayer- Rating 7/10- I think I read this for the fourth time now, it was still fun. The book reads like a first in the series for sure, and there are a lot of hints dropped about what is coming. We are still missing most of the gang, so that’s sad. But Cinder is wonderful. She is such a strong character. She really knows who she is. Her world might be turned inside out by the information that comes out in this book but she is still herself even though her world gets crushed. Kai has a lot on his shoulders, and my favorite moments with him happen when he is being sarcastic with world leaders. For an eighteen-year-old dealing with the death of his father and a global epidemic of plague, he is holding up pretty well. I liked the little hints of moral questions we got here and there. This is not the best book in the series, but it’s a good strong start to a larger story. That’s why I could no rate it higher, it really does not hold up as a standalone at all. Everything is left hanging in the air.
Here is the list of books I read last week! Have you read any of them, or are you thinking of reading any of them? Let me know!
See you next time.
Anna
