Author: GoodeyReads

Book Review: The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #5) by Rick Riordan

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆  
Audience: Young adult fantasy + mythology
Length: 381 pages
Author: Rick Riordan
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: May 5th, 2009
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows. While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time. 

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.

LOVED THIS.

This was a great ending to a wonderful series. I absolutely adored all of the mythology and friendships that played a major role in all of these books. I haven’t read many Greek mythology books and thought that this clearly had so much research done to bring these characters to life. I am now really interested in seeing what other books Riordan has.

I love Percy. He is a great MC. So full of heart, loyalty, and a desire to help those around him. I cheered for him throughout this entire series and laughed at the ridiculous (and often cute) situations he would get himself into. His ending for this series was not quite what I expected. Not a big deal, I liked the way this went better.

I think it’s crazy it took me so long to pick these up. It’s a fantastic series for all ages. I think it has many things that appeal to the masses. The focus on friendships, continual flow of action and moments that’ll stop your heart. It’s all there and quick to get through.

Percabeth is SUCH A CUTE SHIP. At times they annoyed me a touch because they were being a little naive. But, I realized they are 16. It’s okay to work through feelings and first love and all those moments that most of us remember going through too. I loved watching their relationship blossom over all of the books and it was a nice little touch to this one.

ACTION. The battle scenes took up chapters. It was crazy. I never felt like it was too much though. There were pauses and dreams throughout the battle that broke it up nicely and kept it from overpowering what was happening. I got the redemption I was hoping for and was pleased with how the everything else unfolded.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy + mythology
  • Language: none
  • Romance: a kiss
  • Violence: swords, death, battle scenes (never bloody/gory), loss of loved ones

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books I’ve Read That I’d Like in My Personal Library

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Ohhhh this post hurts my heart.

Why?

BECAUSE I JUST WANT THESE BOOKS IN MY LIBRARY.

I am counting any books that I don’t physically own. A couple of these I have digitally or as an audio book. I really want the physical books so I can stare at the pretty covers all day.

Air Awakens Series by Elise Kova

Air Awakens | Fire Falling | Earth’s End (5 stars – RTC) | Water’s Wrath (5 stars – RTC) | Crystal Crowned (5 stars – RTC)

I don’t think I will ever not shout about this series. IT’S AMAZING. AND THE COVERS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. I only own these on my Kindle, and I desperately want them as physical books. Anyone want to do a book trade? (I am absolutely serious).

Arc of a Scythe Series by Neal Shusterman

Review for only the second book (third book will be out in November): Thunderhead

This series is INSANE and makes me worry every time I read about it. I never want a world like this, but I do love them as a book!

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden

I have reviews for the last two books: The Girl in the Tower | The Winter of the Witch

OH MY GOODNESS. Top 10 favorite all-time series. And I read it from the library. All I want are these books y’all. Seriously.

The Bone Season Series by Samantha Shannon

I know this series is far from completion, but I really enjoyed binge reading these 2 years ago. Book four is hopefully being published in 2020. YAYAY.

Falling Kingdoms Series by Morgan Rhodes

I only have reviews from the last two books: Crystal Storm | Immortal Reign

This was an amazing series! Lots of POV changes, ships sailing, trickery, death and tender moments. And I really love these covers.

Alexander Hamilton and Grant by Ron Chernow

Not gonna lie, the only reason I want these is proof I read two 1,000+ books in a month. These were also fantastic history books, but yes. I would love proof *shrugs*.

Mistborn Series by Brandon Sanderson

The Final Empire | The Well of Ascension | The Hero of Ages

My hubs and I both loved these so much that we want them for our personal library (we listened to them through Audible). We’re slowly growing our Sanderson library.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

I LOVED THIS ROM-COM. It was the first one that really got me onto rom-coms. I have picked up a great handful since then.

The Great Library Series by Rachel Caine

Ink and Bone | Paper and Fire | Ash and Quill | Smoke and Iron

I am so excited for the last book!! This series is a bit different than I usually go for and it’s probably the reason I’ve really enjoyed it.

The Bridge Kingdom Series by Danielle L. Jensen

MY FAVORITE BOOK. AND I DON’T PHYSICALLY OWN IT. UGH. But, I’ve listened to it twice and flippin’ think it’s fantastic. So there’s that. You should read it too.

What books do you want for your library? Are any of these already on your shelves? Lets talk in the comments!

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Book Review: The Woman Who Rides Like a Man (Song of the Lioness #3) by Tamora Pierce

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2  
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 284 pages
Author: Tamora Pierce
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: 1986
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Newly knighted, Alanna of Trebond seeks adventure in the vast desert of Tortall. Captured by fierce desert dwellers, she is forced to prove herself in a duel to the death — either she will be killed or she will be inducted into the tribe. Although she triumphs, dire challenges lie ahead. As her mythic fate would have it, Alanna soon becomes the tribe’s first female shaman — despite the desert dwellers’ grave fear of the foreign woman warrior. Alanna must fight to change the ancient tribal customs of the desert tribes — for their sake and for the sake of all Tortall.

Alanna’s journey continues…

SOME GOOD. SOME BAD.

This book was so quick I’m having trouble formulating a review. I’ve sat on it for a few days and I’m going to try to put some thoughts to page, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe I’m using a list again:

Things I did like:

  • That Alanna did stand up for the type of relationship she wanted.
  • A bit more intrigue with her brother Thom and trying to decide his motives and who’s side he’s on. Adds some mystery to the plot.
  • George. I love the King of Thieves. He’s fun, sweet, gentle, and ruthless. I like watching his relations with Alanna develop.
  • I did like the characters from the Bazhir and enjoyed seeing Alanna form some tentative friendships with them.
  • It’s a super quick read.

Things I didn’t like:

  • I’m not sure about the story overall. I thought it was random she stayed with the Bazhir. It was like this book was added to give Alanna “an adventure.” Not much really happened in regards to the larger story (defeating the Duke).
  • Jonathan. Wow, and I was into him. He ruined any redemption chances. And I really hope there isn’t one. I’m over that ship.
  • Much slower pace than the previous two books and seemed oddly out of place.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: implied nights together, but no further details; some kisses
  • Violence: swords, magic, fire, poison, arrows

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Book Review: Save the Date by Morgan Matson

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Rating: ☆☆ 
Audience: Young adult contemporary
Length: 417 pages
Author: Morgan Matson
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books
Release Date: June 5th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Charlie Grant’s older sister is getting married this weekend at their family home, and Charlie can’t wait for the first time in years, all four of her older siblings will be under one roof. Charlie is desperate for one last perfect weekend, before the house is sold and everything changes. The house will be filled with jokes and games and laughs again. Making decisions about things like what college to attend and reuniting with longstanding crush Jesse Foster all that can wait. She wants to focus on making the weekend perfect.

The only problem? The weekend is shaping up to be an absolute disaster. There’s the unexpected dog with a penchant for howling, house alarm that won’t stop going off, and a papergirl with a grudge.

There are the relatives who aren’t speaking, the (awful) girl her favorite brother brought home unannounced, and a missing tuxedo. Not to mention the neighbor who seems to be bent on sabotage and a storm that is bent on drenching everything. The justice of the peace is missing. The band will only play covers. The guests are all crazy. And the wedding planner’s nephew is unexpectedly, distractedly cute.

Over the course of three ridiculously chaotic days, Charlie will learn more than she ever expected about the family she thought she knew by heart. And she’ll realize that sometimes, trying to keep everything like it was in the past means missing out on the future.

I DO NOT WANT TO SAVE THE DATE.

I seem to be in the minority for not loving this book, but asdfghjkl; NO. I wanted to give this three stars to be friendly, but the more I thought about it the more that I realized this book annoyed me more than pleased me. I’m still open to reading more of Matson’s contemporaries, this one just let me down overall.

The writing had a nice flow and is easy to keep turning pages. I kept going thinking that I was going to get some character arcs to help my thoughts on the book. I did enjoy the family dynamics [mostly]. It was fun seeing that many family members together and interacting. Some of the dialogue is a tad cheesy, but fits with the atmosphere of the story.

My biggest issue is that the two main focuses of the book collided so much and I thought it needed either more of one and less of the other and vice versa. Let me explain:

  • We had the “love story”. With the first chapter I was already very curious as to how this was all going to unfold (and why I thought the book was going to focus on the romance). I had guessed right with most of it, but the fact of the matter is that neither guy was in the book all that much. I was wondering if we were going to have more interactions. It left me wanting more from that angle.
  • And we had the “family story”. The entire story (400+ pages) covers THREE DAYS. That’s its own issue. Anywho, there was a big focus on reconnecting with family and accepting change within that dynamic. I would have loved if the plot focused solely on them and not added the romance. ONE OR THE OTHER. The combination of both left these plot lines frazzled.

I couldn’t stand Charlie as a MC. She was often very immature and naive. Not to mention, literally every chapter something else went wrong with the wedding. I was amazed that that many things could happen in THREE DAYS. It got to be so ridiculous I couldn’t even handle it.

This book would do much better on the big screen. The unrealistic happenings caused me to roll my eyes rather than laugh. I think this would have translated better as a movie. It was cute to have the cameo of characters from The Unexpected Everything (a book I did give 4 stars) too!

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary
  • Language: a little strong language
  • Romance: an almost love scene (where you basically know what’s happening, takes up most of the first chapter), some kisses
  • Trigger warnings: divorce

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