Book Review: The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

May 22, 2019May 8, 2019 GoodeyReads10 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 662 pages
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: March 27th, 2007
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This is the riveting first-person narrative of Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a novel that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THIS BOOK.

Okay, first I’m going to start out by mentioning that I started this book on Audible. This was my mistake. I still gave it four stars (when I was truly contemplating three) because I really enjoyed The Name of the Wind much more reading it. My library happened to have a digital copy so I downloaded that because it took me almost two months to listen to it. There was something about the way it was done that never clicked. I didn’t love the voices and couldn’t appreciate the characters.

Now that I chugged along twice as fast with reading it I appreciated the story as a whole so much more.

Kvothe is an interesting child. I’m actually annoyed that he’s so good at everything, but maybe that’s the point? I did find it amusing how poor he was with women. I mean, the book ends and he’s barely 15/16. IT TOOK 600+ PAGES TO GO THROUGH THIS MUCH OF HIS LIFE? Talk about a slow burn build of a fantasy.

Everything was definitely explained well. The world-building was fantastic. I loved the differing characters and the romanticism of the story. He’s the amazing, warrior, kingkiller and everyone wants to know the tale. Since Kvothe takes his dang sweet time, nothing is left out. I haven’t read a book where I truly felt nothing was left out.

The book picked up once Kvothe made it to the University. More and more continued to happen and a lot more webs were being weaved. Kvothe is pushed by one thing, and one thing alone (spoiler if I say more!). His sheer determined mindset had me hoping he would get his answers.

The only thing I stand wondering now is, do I want to read book two?

Overall audience notes:

Adult epic fantasy
Language: A little
Romance: a kiss or two
Violence: knives, killing creatures, poison, physical, whipping

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Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Refuse to Let Anyone Touch (Because I Gave Them Such a Low Rating)

May 21, 2019May 19, 2019 GoodeyReads4 Comments

If I’m being honest, there is only ONE book I won’t let anyone touch. Won’t let anyone borrow. It’s a look, don’t touch situation.

My signed first-edition Kingdom of Ash (which I’m fortunate enough to have two copies of). But since I have a third copy that is the B&N special edition I would let people borrow that one. JUST NOT THE SIGNED ONE.

So instead, I turned this post on its head and decided to now give you nine books I refuse to let anyone touch because I don’t recommend them.

I apologize now for any ranting that may occur. But I’m hoping to also explain why I wouldn’t recommend, but you could still enjoy (…in some cases).

Dorothy Must Die (Dorothy Must Die #1) by Danielle Page

I gave this 3 stars by the skin of its teeth. It dragged on soooo much. I started book two, and realized I was OVER IT. So now I have the first 3 on my shelves and really need to unhaul them. I think my biggest turn-off was that I realized I’m not a Wizard of Oz fan in general. It’s fine, and I’ve seen the original movie, but that’s it.

Rock-A-Bye Baby (The Sand Maiden #1) by L.R. W. Lee

Purely a oh look it’s free on Kindle and I love this artist who created the cover! kinda buy. Y’ALL. I didn’t even write a review because I made it 30%. I had briefly heard this was like ACOTAR so why not? WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG.

THIS IMMORTAL, 400+ YEAR OLD ACTED LIKE A FULL BLOW CHILD. She has a stuffed unicorn that she had to sleep with every night (and I can give you more ridiculous things) and the time line was all over the place. I never knew what year it actually was and what in the world was happening.

Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter

…I made it 8 pages. That was it. The amount of f-words and just poor writing in that small time span had me question every thing in my mind as to why I picked it up in the first place.

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

I feel this was a money grab book. She is a very popular blogger and owner of a media company that kept trying to tell me stories so I could feel like she was connecting with me. It instead felt like a celebrity trying to tell me how to fix my life, and I was NOT into that at all.

Carry On (Simon Snow #1) by Rainbow Powell

I never connected on this and I know it’s loved by a lot of people. I made it through maybe half of it before I set it aside and never picked it back up. Because of that I generally wouldn’t recommend it if I couldn’t bother getting through it. It’s been 2 years now and I still have no desire to finish it.

I’ve heard a lot of people thought it was Harry Potter-ish so that’s probably why I didn’t like it, I’m not a HP fan anyways.

The Dysasters (The Dysasters #1) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

My original review here. This was all sorts of hot mess and I ranted about it on my review. Just…no.

Evermore (Everless #2) by Sara Holland

I WISH SO MUCH THAT I HAD LOVED THIS. I loved book one so much and am still upset that this was such a big letdown. My original review is here!

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick

This had some of the least likable characters ever. I thought it would be a cute quick read, NOPE. There was SO MUCH DRAMA and like crazy, what is happening, why are we throwing that into the plot, drama. I was so annoyed with the insta-love and the way everyone acted.

The Crown (The Selection #5) by Kiera Cass

I absolutely ADORED books 1-3. Then with 4 and 5 there was a change of main characters and it ruined it for me. I was really attached to America and Maxim. Then moving to everyone else left me hanging. Oh well, I know others did love this whole series!

Did you hate or love any of these on my list? Would love to hear other opinions! Lets talk in the comments!

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Blog Tour Spotlight: Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small

May 20, 2019May 19, 2019 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Guess what books releases TOMORROW?

That’s right, Bright Burning Stars.Y’all this dark and intense book was so good. It’s full of ballet dancers, hard decisions, and dangerous passions. I truly recommend this for your TBR!

Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers for the e-ARC and the opportunity to be apart of the Blog Tour.

Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small

Read my original review here!

BOOK SUMMARY:

Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too? Neither girl is sure.

But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition—for the prize, for the Demigod—becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other.

AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT:

A.K. Small was born in Paris. At five years old, she began studying classical dance with the legendary Max Bozzoni, then later with Daniel Franck and Monique Arabian at the famous Academie Chaptal. At thirteen, she moved to the United States where she danced with the Pacific Northwest Ballet for one summer in Seattle and with the Richmond Ballet Student Company for several years. She’s a graduate of the College of William and Mary and has as MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing, she spends time with her husband, her puppy, and her three daughters, and practices yoga. Bright Burning Stars is her first novel.

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Book Review: The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi

May 16, 2019May 6, 2019 GoodeyReads7 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Historical Fantasy
Length: 388 pages
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: January 15th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

No one believes in them. But soon no one will forget them.

It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance.

To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from his home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in arms if not blood.

Together, they will join Séverin as he explores the dark, glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the course of history–but only if they can stay alive.

WENT IN NERVOUS, WALKED OUT HAPPY.

I feel like the hype for this book was ALL OVER THE PLACE. I couldn’t scroll down my Instagram feed without seeing a photo and hearing about the hype. And because of that I instead let myself sit on it for a few months. Then, my library got a digital copy, nobody had it checked out so I gave it a chance. This turned out sooo much better than I thought and I found myself really loving it overall.

I was enraptured from the beginning with the historical aspects of everything. I LOVE HISTORICAL FANTASIES. It combines my two favorite genres into spell-binding stories. The setting was (Paris – 1889) unique from most books I’ve read. A lot of research went into this. So much research that at times I felt it was a bit dense. I couldn’t wrap my head around all of the mathematics problems throughout. The historical pieces were easy to follow, but hard to grasp all together. There was an intense amount of information thrown at you about how the world worked. It was substantially more than I bargained for which is why I settled on four stars. I didn’t think it needed everything it presented to still be stellar. Even more so, I still have no idea how the magic system fully works.

With all of those complications the way it was woven it was really cool. I was amazed at how the characters, organizations, and the world itself were put together. So while a bit of an enigma, also super fascinating and impressive. This was my first Chokshi book and I’m glad this was the one I picked up!

The characters though, what an amazing, diverse, witty group. I was nervous going in having heard that it’s similar to Leigh Bardugo’s, Six of Crows. Yes, the similarities are there, but each member of this family is vastly different. The representation in this book was incredible! It made the book stand out [in the best way]. I intensely loved watching all of their interactions with each other. This book was focused more on the heist and these friendships rather than relationships (but don’t you worry, some of that is in there too!). Fantastic banter that would make me smile and moments where I wanted to hug everyone brought this home for me.

Overall audience notes: