books – Page 3 – teachquelle

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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The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang Review

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Look, I was in L-O-V-E with this book, to the point that I neglected my family to keep reading. Then something happened. I fell out of love, and I had to make myself finish this book. Rin went from this rationally irrational teenage go-getter to irrational foolish and full of rage. For the simple fact that I hated that digression, I give Kuang props for creating such a flawed character and being able to disappoint me so well. The writing is excellent , and I’m digging the historical fiction-ness (China/Japan) of this book, that’s mixed with a magical pantheon.

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Furyborn (Empirium #1) REVIEW

Furyborn by Claire Legrand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book gives me Falling Kingdoms (by Morgan Rhodes) vibes. I enjoyed Legrand’s writing style however, it wasn’t until the end of the book that I realized that the two main characters were from two different time periods! LOL not exactly sure how I missed that. I think it’s because there was a bit too much jumping around and too many characters to remember. So now that I know what’s going on, perhaps it will make reading the second book easier.

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