Transitive Verve

  *edited to add* I apologize for errors and typos and I typed most of this with one hand while holding a fussy baby. I have been SO excited for this! I'm a big Leigh Bardugo fan, and I've been following the progress of this adaptation since they first announced it and started announcing the cast members. (PS--to see my reviews of the books, click the "Leigh Bardugo" tag! I still have not read the newest Grisha series though--I am going to reread the originals first.) I'm not going to summarize the plot here because that's easily google-able, but I will sum up the major "difference," which is that the series combines the main plot of the original Shadow and Bone  trilogy, and then melds in the Six of Crows  characters by incorporating some new original content plus some character backstories, since SaB takes place a bit before SoC does. So we meet the Crows before the events of the actual books take place. So it really is a full Grishaverse that we g...

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  Alex Stern was a nobody going nowhere fast. After being the sole survivor of a horrific drug-related mass homicide, Alex awakes to a chance at a new life: a full ride to Yale in exchange for some work with its Ancient Eight secret societies, or Houses. The thing is, those Ancient Eight Houses, with their illustrious, powerful alumni that include past Presidents and other well-known figures, operate using some very old and dangerous magic. And it is the job of the Ninth House, the House of Lethe, to keep those Ancient Eight in check. Alex's work with Lethe, already dangerous and difficult to stomach, takes a turn for the worse when, first, her mentor disappears and, second, a local townie girl is found murdered on campus. Authorities are quick to brush off the murder as mundane (well, non-magical), but Alex thinks there is some House involvement. Surviving on just her street smarts, her memories of her mentor, and her u...

It's July, and apparently this is a thing bookish Internet people do :) 1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019? 2. Best sequel you’ve read? (Well, I read all three of these this year, but yeah!) 3. New release you haven’t gotten to, but want to? 4. Most anticipated release for the second half of 2019? 5. Biggest disappointment? I can't say that I have one! I mean, I've read books this year that I didn't love, but to call them a disappointment would mean that I had high expectations to begin with, lol... 6. Biggest surprise? The plot twist was DEFINITELY one I didn't see coming, and plus, this book challenged me in surprising ways. 7. New favorite author (either debut or new to you)? Stephanie Garber, author of the Caraval  series (new to me) 8. Newest fictional crush? The gang of The Raven Cycle , but I'm a Gansey girl for sure. 9. New favorite character? The entire gang of Aurora Rising . Like, their entire dynamic together...

I can't believe it's that time again! Here are the books that came out this year that I enjoyed most. I did not read nearly as many books as I wanted to read, so if you're looking at my list and wondering where X is and why it's not on my list - it could be because I just haven't read it yet. *hides* Please don't throw books at me. (I mean, unless they're good and you think I should read them. But try not to hit my head.) This list is in no particular order, and even though these are all technically YAF books, some of them have some adult content. (I think you will know what I mean, if you've read some of these.) A lot of these books are continuations of a series, which I know can be frustrating if you've never read them, but hey... now you have some things to put on your 2017 reading list. =P

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This is the part 2 of a duology. It is the sequel to Six of Crows . (Go here to see my review of that one.) This review will contain spoilers for the first book. Kaz and his crew barely made it out of the Ice Court alive with their target, and now they've been double-crossed by Jan Van Eck, the most powerful merchant in Ketterdam. AND he's got Inej. AND his son is stuck with his face altered to look like the boy they broke out of Fjerda. AND Nina is fighting a jurda parem  addiction. Schemes, tricks, and friends old and new come together as Kaz prepares perhaps the biggest con of all, to get the money they are owed, to get revenge on one of the other Barrel bosses, and to take down the corrupt Van Eck. But as they double-down on their bets and enemies old and new show up, they start to realize how much they stand to lose - not just money, reputation, or their own lives, but each other.

Here we go, huh? I was super excited for this box!

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This book (part 1 of 2) is part of the Grisha universe and takes place after the events of the Grisha trilogy. (You can read my reviews for all of them here .) You don't have to have read the Grisha trilogy in order to understand Six of Crows , but I recommend that you do - you get a more detailed understand of the world and the stakeholders. In the small island country of Kerch, the main city of Ketterdam is ruled by a number of different gangs, and making a name for himself among them is Kaz Brekker, the criminal prodigy lieutenant of the Dregs. At the young age of 17, Kaz is already a legend, with his cane and his leather gloves, which only serve to further enforce his nickname of "Dirtyhands." A new drug is making the rounds in the criminal underworld, one that amplifies Grisha powers far beyond what was previously thought possible, but that leaves them quaking with addiction. It's a dangerous drug, o...

Thoughts at a glance: ***** (It was amazing!) Summary:  This is the third book of the Grisha trilogy . This review will contain spoilers for the first two books. You can read my reviews for the first two here and here . After the last major attack from the Darkling, Alina Starkov is severely weakened, and hiding underground among the vast community of Ravkans who pray to her name. They are on the run yet again, and Alina knows that the only way she can truly defeat the Darkling is to find the mythical firebird and unite all three of Morozova's amplifiers in order to gain the power necessary to go up against his shadow army. But as she and her loyal crew embark on their quest and fight battles at every turn, she starts to wonder if the cost is too great. And when she learns the truth about the third amplifier, she finds that the sacrifice required to wield that power may be greater than she's willing to pay.

Thoughts at a glance: **** (I really liked it) Summary: This is book 2 of the Grisha trilogy , and therefore, this review will contain spoilers for book 1. Feel free to read my review for that one here . Alina and Mal managed to escape the Darkling at the end of book 1, but it nearly cost them their lives, and it definitely cost Alina a little bit of her soul, as she is haunted by the memory of lives lost at her hand. They are now on the run. They would both love nothing more than to find a place where they could live normal lives together, but Alina begins to realize that for her, life will never be normal. As the Darkling continues to pursue them, as they take up with privateer Sturmhond to locate a second Morozova amplifier, and as the streets of Ravka fill with people praying to her like a saint, Alina must decide whether to come back for Ravka and whether the cost of her heroism may end up being too high.

Thoughts at a glance: *** (I liked it) Summary:  In Ravka, there are non-magical humans who end up in the army, and there are magical people called the Grisha, who have a number of different abilities like controlling wind or fire or mechanical abilities or glamouring. Together, Ravka's leadership and forces work to fend off enemies to the north and south. They are also cut off from the coast by a swath of darkness called the Shadow Fold, which is inhabited by dangerous creatures. The Shadow Fold has been there for centuries, and its existence ensures that Ravka remains divided and vulnerable. Enter Alina Starkov. She is an orphan, with no one except her lifelong best friend/secret crush Mal, and together they prepare to make the dangerous journey across the Shadow Fold to the coast. But when an attack reveals a rare power that she hadn't know existed, Alina is taken away by the Darkling (mysterious, seductive, dangerous, and the most powerful man in Ravka) to the palac...

There is a neverending battle between those who love e-readers and those who love physical books. I fall somewhere in the middle. I love my Kindle, I love how easy and convenient it is to own hundreds of books and to be able to access them at any time, and I like how easy it is to read privately on a Kindle (because, let's face it, no matter how well-written a book is, if it has an embarrassing cover, I won't be carrying it in public). But I love physical books too. I know people talk a lot about the smell of books, but to be honest, I don't sniff books, unless there is some scratch-and-sniff feature to it. Old books smell like... really old books. Like dust and must and other people's hands. So the "old book smell" is not what draws me to physical books. Nope. What wins me over? Beautiful endpapers and interesting design features. These are things that you absolutely need physical copies to appreciate.