Author: GoodeyReads

Book Review: The Toll (Arc of a Scythe #3) by Neal Shusterman

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult sci-fi + dystopian
Length: 627 pages
Author: Neal Shusterman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: November 5th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s been three years since Rowan and Citra disappeared; since Scythe Goddard came into power; since the Thunderhead closed itself off to everyone but Grayson Tolliver.

In this pulse-pounding conclusion to Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe trilogy, constitutions are tested and old friends are brought back from the dead.

I THINK I LIKED THIS?

This was an…interesting finale. And I had REALLY hyped it up (especially after the ending of Thunderhead). I was expecting a lot from this book, and something a lot different which is why my feelings are a bit mixed up over it.

Who did I miss most? ROWAN AND CITRA. I felt like they were barely in this. And I thought they were supposed to be the whole crux of the story, it really turned out to be the Thunderhead. That was different in its own right.

Y’all. I had seen multiple reviews about people not knowing what was happening. And I was thinking how odd that was…then I read it. No lie, til about 500 pages in I didn’t quite know where everything was going. It was a tad ridiculous. Everything was hidden so much that I felt it dragging because the level of action in the previous book wasn’t present here.

I’m finding it difficult to write out this review because everything was not as I imagined. It was honestly kind of heart breaking watching the demise of the planet because of Goddard. I liked having so many different POVs though because that gave me perspectives from truly every angle. I saw what the protagonists and antagonists were thinking, and even what some random side characters were witnessing. It helped round out the narrative.

The evolution of the Thunderhead was intense. This all powerful AI somehow had some actual humanity in him and helped lead the charge for change. I would go into more detail on this, but it would be best if you went into this blind! I promise it’s at least interesting and will make you think.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult sci-fi + dystopian
  • Language: a little
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: a lot (which should be no surprise), page 107 – suicide by drowning, multiple killings in hundreds of different ways

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Book Review: Akarnae (The Medoran Chronicles #1) by Lynette Noni

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 436 pages
Author: Lynette Noni
Publisher: Pantera Press
Release Date: February 1st, 2015
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

With just one step, sixteen-year-old Alexandra Jennings’s world changes—literally.

Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her… but he’s missing.

While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora’s boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can’t ignore her fear that something unexpected… something sinister… is looming.

An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex’s shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race’s survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?

Will Alex risk her entire world—and maybe even her life—to save Medora?

DIFFERENT THAN I THOUGHT.

I went into this book mostly blind because it had been a few months since I added it to my TBR because of someone’s review I had seen. I kind of like when this happens because it makes everything more of a mystery.

The biggest reason this was different than I thought was that it leaned more towards the younger YA side than the older. The main character, Alex, is 16 (turning 17 during the book), but her group of friends and interactions in general throughout the whole book just led me to think that this was for a younger audience.

I’ve decided that I did enjoy this overall. We all know that I don’t love HP, so I’m usually hesitant of fantasy/magic school based books. I didn’t mind this one. I thought the classes were interesting and I liked the teachers too. I really loved Alex’s friends Jordan and Bear. I liked that she had a friend group that were just her friends. It added an amazing version of a found family trope that I was so here for.

For the plot, I found this to give me enough information without over loading it. There was a nice build up of the villain and his background, the larger world surrounding Medora and about how the magic system worked. I liked the way the way the plot moved through classes, friend moments, action, and more. I actually got to see Alex’s entire school year which was fun too.

I’m curious how this series will continue to expand and hope to read the next book soon.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: swords, magic, physical; not overly bloody/gory

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Book Review: Imagine Me (Shatter Me #6) by Tahereh Mafi

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Sci-fi / Dystopian
Length: 464 pages
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: March 31st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The explosive finale to the New York Times and USA Today bestselling Shatter Me series.

Juliette Ferrars.

Ella Sommers.

Which is the truth and which is the lie?

Now that Ella knows who Juliette is and what she was created for, things have only become more complicated. As she struggles to understand the past that haunts her and looks to a future more uncertain than ever, the lines between right and wrong—between Ella and Juliette—blur. And with old enemies looming, her destiny may not be her own to control.

The day of reckoning for the Reestablishment is coming. But she may not get to choose what side she fights on.

SET LOW EXPECTATIONS.

This is what I’ve told people who’ve asked me about this series. The first three books (the original series) was stellar. One of the few dystopian series I really enjoyed. Then came the next three books which felt like extended novella/Warnette series (I do love them, so that part’s fine), but they never felt necessary. And this is where I stand on the last book – wondering yet again, why it’s here.

It was essentially another rescue mission book. Rescuing Juliette/Ella from the Reestablishment. The whole book. I was surprised at how fast I read it, and how much didn’t actually happen. A lot of neat bows were tied to get some closure on characters (truthfully, much appreciated or I would have had too many questions), yet again though…this was all solved with finishing the original three books.

WE DIDN’T EVEN GET THAT MUCH AARON/ELLA TIME. WHY.

Clearly, my biggest gripe. I read this book for them. I needed the happy ending (and you do get that much) they just weren’t together much of the book and lets face it, they carry the series.

Well them, and Kenji. Gosh dang, I love Kenji. He ranks up there with some of my favorite main (but more side) characters; i.e. Sevro from Red Rising. Kenji is funny, honest, a lover, and a genuinely good guy. Watching him and Warner through around a bromance was one of the highlights of this book. I like that it’s clear they both care of each other’s well-being, even if they have a hard time showing it.

Side-step back to my loves Warner and Juliette (I have the inability to decide which names to call them in this review so I apologize). I am smitten with Warner and his unending love for Juliette. He gives me all the butterflies and swoon worthy moments and that’s why there needed to be more. I loved the closing scene with him finding Juliette and the epilogue was perfectly fluffy as well.

Yes, yes. Buildings explode, some people die, and at last things seem to fall into a new world order. Lets leave it here.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult sci-fi/dystopia
  • Language: some strong (mostly in Kenji POV’s)
  • Romance: kisses, make-outs with removal of some clothes
  • Violence: guns, machetes, powers (Juliette can literally rip people apart); pretty gory at times

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: May 2020

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Longest month ever with the shortest amount of books read. Wow May was tough on me. I at least read some good books and enjoyed what I picked up!

I focused a lot on ARCs to keep on top of those. Added in a bunch of Kasie West books for their quickness and cuteness. All in all, I’m amazed I made it through 9 books with how I spent my month.

My favorite this month was easily Aurora Burning. That book was AMAZING. My least favorite was By Your Side. It was the first Kasie West book I just really didn’t jive with.

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