teachquelle

A Court of Frost and Starlight Review

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Booooooring. Good thing I listened to the audiobook because I’m pretty sure I would have never finished this novella. ACOWAR and ACOFAS made me entirely too nervous and afraid to read the last installment of TOG. Thank God Maas delivered on Kingdom of Ash because that would have been utterly disappointing. If for some reason you feel the need to read this book, DON’T. Life and time are precious, and despite what some members of the SJM fandom may say about this one, use your energy for more satisfying endeavors.

Revised Review from May 9, 2018 on Goodreads.

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Dance of Thieves #1 Book Review

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As much as I enjoyed the Remnant Chronicles, this spinoff series, Dance of Thieves, is not nearly as good. It felt too trope-ish, predictable and a bit corny. The beginning started off slow, and despite having decent characters, the two main characters as love interests didn’t work for me. I’m not a fan of the heroine either, she is hard to understand and perhaps that’s because she lacks depth. I listened to the audiobook for which I am thankful because I don’t think I would have been able to finish the book. However, I wish I hadn’t wasted my credit on it. If you just want to read a decent book with romance, adventure and a bit of intrigue, then give it a try.

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Ash Princess Book Review

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I like the fantasy realm created in this book, the pace is bit slow yet perfect for introducing us to this new world. Even though this was written in the first person, I enjoyed the authors writing style and she did a great job of showing and not telling. There are the typical relationship tropes with a love triangle that somewhat reminiscent of the Red Queen series. However, what I like about this love triangle is that the heroine is not thirsty, naive or stupid. I connect with Theo because she has a backbone and as she endures each trial, she grows in wisdom and her convictions become stronger. This series has potential, I hope the rest of the books give us even more depth.

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A Shadow Bright and Burning Book Review

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One of my fave booktubers gushed about this book, and I just was not feeling it. Maybe because this book read more like a middle-grade novel? Although it was well written, I did not connect with any of the characters. It does, however, have an interesting magic system with cameos by classical magical creatures like trolls and elves. The mix of mystical gods, portals, magicians, etc, just felt like a hodgepodge of myth and magic. All this takes place in Victorian England, which as a history buff, all seems very appealing. The heroine’s struggle of being a teenage girl thrust into a male-dominated role as a sorcerer was interesting. However, her tendency to running away or out of a room during confrontations was a bit annoying and reminiscent of my nine-year-old daughter. I listened to this book on Scribd which probably made the book more entertaining than actually reading it.

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til January

It was my intention to blog my experiences as a grad student. If only life was that simple because since then my husband got a promotion, we have relocated to north Chicago, and just like that I’ve finished my courses and student teaching begins in January. During that time I’ve mostly blogged poems and book reviews, along with a few likes and new followers.

I don’t know what I’m going to do til January, but I’m thinking of posting a few high school history lesson plans based on Kanye rants. What do you think?