The Dream Theives - Review

Book Review:
Title: The Dream Thieves
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them.
Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness.
Her raven boys.”

Read my review for the first book in the series, The Raven Boys HERE

Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Blue and Gansey will be the same. Ronan is falling more and more deeply into his dreams ... and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Gansey is needed at home, and is struggling to stay in Aglionby. And Adam? He's made some new friends. Friends that are looking for some of the same pieces of the puzzle that Gansey, Blue, and Ronan are after. Great power is at stake, and someone must be willing to wield it.

This book was such a great follow up to what is becoming possibly one of my favourite series! I loved how we focus mostly of Ronan and his strange but fascinating gift of retrieving things out of his dreams. As I mentioned in my review for The Raven Boys, Ronan is my favourite character in the series (though he may now have to share that spot with Gansey) so I really enjoyed learning more about the complexity of his character.

The only problem I had with the first book was the pacing of the story. Certain parts seemed to drag on longer than others and it was hard to stay fully invested. Though I had the same problem with this book, it wasn't as frequent. There was possibly one or two points in the book that I found to drag (the parts where the gang were split up), but for the majority I was completely engrossed and loving what I was reading. 

I especially loved how naturally all the relationships in this book evolve. There's no insta-love or a complete one-eighty in a person's feelings. It all progresses very smoothly, making it a very believable read. I also really enjoyed how my perspective and feelings towards the characters changed throughout the story. My view of the Gray man at the start of the novel was incredibly different to my view of him at the end. My view of Kavinsky, another new character introduced, changed constantly. One minute I loved him and the next, I hated him. I think by the end, I couldn't commit to one feeling so I both love and hate him at the same time. You know what they say, there's a thin line between love and hate. 

Another thing that needs to be addressed is my admiration for Blue. She is quickly becoming a favourite protagonist of mine. She doesn't take (mind my language) shit from anyone and I love that. Whenever anyone is rude to her (usually Ronan), she doesn't sit back and endure it, she fights to ensure that she is treated with respect by everyone. And even though she is one feisty character, she has this adorable side that pops up a couple of times during the book. Namely that one scene with Noah and that other scene with Gansey. *Swoon* 

There wasn't as much Noah in this story as I would have liked to have, so I'm hoping that we see a lot more of him in the next books. To be honest, I want to see more of everyone. There is not one character that I don't enjoy reading about, they all have such different personalities that I never get bored of them and I just want to know more them and their thoughts and feelings.

But yeah, all in all I really enjoyed this follow up to The Raven Boys and I can't wait to see how the story continues in both Blue Lily, Lily Blue and the finale, The Raven King. (Wishing that we get to see some more Bluesy action)


4/4.5 Stars
Goodreads

The Winner's Curse - Review

Book Review:
Title: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Publisher: Bloomsbury

“Happiness depends on being free, and freedom depends on being courageous.”

 Kestrel is the general's daughter in an empire that revels in war and enslaving the opposition. As a 17 year old she is given two choices: to get married or join the military. Kestrel has no interest in either of these choices. She wants to be free. As does Arin. The strong-willed and defiant slave. Arin is auctioned off and ultimately bought by Kestrel on a whim. However this decision does not come without a price - a price known as the Winner's Curse.

I actually hadn't planned on reading this book any time soon. I mean I've had my eye on the series for quite sometime, but thought it would be quite a while before I actually picked it up due to my never-ending TBR list. However everywhere I looked, this trilogy was popping up. On Twitter. On Instagram. And everyone was talking about how excited they were for the last back to come out. So obviously I succumbed to the hype and ordered the book on my kindle - and I'm so glad I did.

One major thing that this book excelled at was world-building. Most books normally have one section where it's pure information dumping, where the author is trying the teach us everything about the world all in one chunk. It's excruciatingly boring and really drags out the story. It think most people prefer it where we learn little tidbits of history as we go along, where it's spaced out and not all crammed together. Or at least I do. And that's exactly how this story went. We learn little snippets of the past through many different characters, at different points in the story. It was a smooth read, which I really appreciated.
I must admit, I did find the starting a bit slow but, as the story progressed I became enthralled and found myself reading the novel in the space of 6 hours.

Another thing I loved was the romance aspect of this book. I am a complete sucker for romances, especially the ones that are filled with angst and really make you feel. The romance between Kestrel and Arin ticked both of those boxes. There was no insta-love (which I absolutely loath!) There was a great build-up and was no actual sharing of feelings till after half way, which I thought was the perfect part to reveal them as that's where the story really came to life.

After that half-way mark, I was completely immersed into the story. There was action. There was romance. There was some politics. It was brilliant. I can't really name my favourite thing about this story because, I enjoyed so many parts of it. The writing, plot, characters, all of it was great. The only reason that it is a four star read for me and not a five star is because I thought the start was quite slow but other than that, BRAVO! I'm now off to go order the second book in the trilogy and devour it, just like I did for the first.

To sum up in 3 words: Intelligent, Enthralling, Romantic

4 Stars
Goodreads

The Raven Boys - Review

Book Review:
Title: The Raven Boys
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Publisher: Scholastic

“She wasn't interested in telling other people's futures. She was interested in going out and finding her own.”

Truthfully speaking, I have no idea on how to summarise The Raven Boys. The complexity and bizarreness of the book, makes it so hard to put the premise into words. But I'm going to try anyways...
The Raven Boys follows a group of young boys as well as a young girl and their journey to discovery. The group of boys, who include: Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Noah, are all on a mission to find a Welsh King named Glendower who was supposedly buried alive. It is said that the person who finds Glendower will have a favour of their choosing granted. The young girl, who is named Blue, happens to become a part of their search crew after she has a weird ghost sighting of Gansey in the churchyard.
Oh, and also, it has been foretold that if Blue were to kiss her true love, he would die.

I am normally the type of person who enjoys reading fast paced books, where something is always happening and there is non-stop action, so for that reason, I found it quite difficult to immerse myself into this book at first. The Raven Boys is extremely slow-paced, especially for the first 100 or so pages and I constantly found myself slipping out of the story and kind of just glossing over the words. There was point where I was ready to put it down and try again maybe in a couple of months. It just wasn't working. But then my friend threatened to kill me if I didn't continue, so I fought through it and carried on (because I'm clearly too young to die.) Let me just say how happy I am that I carried on. As the story progresses, things get a little bit faster, a little more complex and so much more beautiful. After those 100 or so pages, I found myself absolutely loving the story and all of the characters.

The characters are all complete opposites, yet they have the most wonderful, close relationship that is honestly heartwarming. The way they cared and looked after each other, as though they weren't just friends, but Family. Their bond is unbreakable and that it's probably the thing I loved most about this story. Not the plot and the search for Glendower, but the connection they all shared.

I think my favourite character would have to be Ronan, which I myself am quite shocked about, since going into this story, I thought my favourite would be Gansey. But there was something about Ronan that drew me in; maybe it was the way he looked after and protected Chainsaw. Nevertheless, although Ronan was my favourite, I absolutely adored all of the characters, and I cannot wait to see how the story progresses in the sequel, The Dream Thieves

Overall, though quite snail-paced at first, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

4 Stars
Goodreads 

That Time I Won 21 Books

Truthfully, I've never had much luck when it comes to giveaways and competitions. I can count on one hand the amount of times I have ever won something, yet I still continue to enter them in the hopes that maybe this time will be my time.
So, when I saw that Walker Books were holding a competition to win a load of books on Instagram, I knew I just had to enter it even if my chances were slim.
I entered the giveaway, then went on with my life as normal.
A couple of weeks later, I received a notification and message from Walker Books stating that I was the lucky individual who had won the wreath of books. It was safe to say that I was Happy. Ecstatic. Over the moon.

Since that day I have been anxiously waiting for the postman to knock on my door and deliver me my goodies.
And today it finally happened.
I came home from a tiring day at college and found a package waiting for me.

I dropped everything. My bag. My books. My coat. And I ran to open up the package.

At this point my mind is going crazy. As a lover of books, I can honestly say that getting book mail is one of the best feelings in the world. So, receiving a box filled to the brim with books is one hell of an amazing feeling.

I proceeded to remove each book from the box, admiring the range of stunning covers. After laying them all out, I called my family into the room to show them all the books I had won. Honestly, I just wanted to gloat.

I sat there admiring each book for quite some time, reading the titles and blurbs and just getting a feel of what each book is about. There is such a diverse range that I know that for whatever mood I am in, there will be a book to fit that mood.

After appreciating the beauty of the books, I decided to give them a new home on my second bookshelf. Personally, I believe they fit right in.

Some of the books received have been on my TBR for quite some time, such as Patrick Ness - A Monster Calls, but I never got round to buying or reading them. Now I have no excuse and I cannot wait to dive in and read these amazing books.

So here's a HUGE thank you to Walker Books for my brilliant prize!