Demon in the Wood (Grishaverse, #0) by Leigh Bardugo and Dani Pendergast ★★★★★
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab ★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
I have read only 4 books in March. For the most part the books were shiny XD – all except Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick had some shiny cover art. I wish I’ve read more but The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab too a lot longer than expected.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in March? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
The Cat who saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa was almost a cathartic experience. I got really emotional reading it by the end even though I realized what the plot is going to be like from the start of the book. I am actually tearing up a little just remembering it…
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
I had some high expectations from The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Maybe too high. The book was long and I got annoyed by it quite often. I kept getting stuck with the idea of a someone who is “invisible” trough so much history and I kept having ideas how Addie’s curse could be overcome in creative ways. This way of thinking while reading got me stuck and not enjoying the book often. To make matters worse I could not find a connection to the characters and their motivation enough to find them likable.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
I got two more books in for Buddy Readathon done which is amazing! The rest of my plans involved catching up some more on The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas (that book is still my nemesis!) which sadly did not happen…
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
I did not progress on any of the many book series I am currently in the middle of and I have already taken steps to remedy that in April!
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
I think I need more authors from non-English speaking territories just to get a little more perspective on things…
Final thoughts on March 2023 reading
This time of the year has been a low period for reading for a few years now. There is something about Spring that makes me slow to wake from slumber or prone to being more sleepy I guess.
Four books a month is still keeping me behind on making my reading goal for the year and I will need to do better in April!
Last year I did this book tag and was very pleased with the result. You can check out my Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag for 2020 HERE. This year I am nervous about it and a lot closer to actually freaking out! Last year was a good year in reading. I read some great books and considering the world wide pandemic situation I had a lot of awesome reading challenges and time to participate in them. This year I made a reading goal to read 100 books – respectable book goal considering I have read 120 books last year.
Being halfway through the year it is time to look at my reading experience in the first part of the year 2021. By the end of June I was thirteen (13!) books behind on my reading to reach the goal I have set for myself.
Total number of books I have read in the first half of the year is 37.
I had some rough patches in the first months of this year and the unemployed status is starting to weigh down on me emotionally. It is at times panic inducing anxiety riding journey trough life that prevents me from focusing and drains me from energy I need in order to actually work on making my life better. Now with those depressing thoughts out here for everyone to see let us begin with this year’s Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag!
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2021
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider
I got this book as a present from a my Buddy reading friend last year and it took me almost a full year to actually pick it up and read trough! What I found most amazing about this book was the inspiration for reading challenges and projects it offers and positive energy I got from reading trough it. It is more than just a comic/ graphic novel book with short and sweet bookish illustrations. I was pleasantly surprised by how many caricatures were grounded in real life situations of book lovers worldwide that may seem silly to anyone who might not be a part of that group. This book is an excellent gift for writers as well as readers. Endearing and intelligent at the same time this is the type of a feel good book any book lover would appreciate and I am very glad to have gotten it as a present!
2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021
Rafael (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book 28) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series by Laurell K. Hamilton is a longest standing book series I own and read. My relationship with this book series is complex and I am always apprehensive about the newest book. Rafael is one of the few books in the series that center around other characters development and story. Last one like it was Jason and that one was a little underwhelming for me. I was pleasantly surprised by Rafael as a wholesome book that made my interest in reading the whole series trough a second time peak! The storyline progressed, most of my favorite characters have gotten some page time, Rafael and the rodere have been shown in new light and all shifters in general have gotten a new dimension. It was one of the best possible sequels to a series I love to read!
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
Smoke Bitten (Mercy Thompson book 12) by Patricia Briggs
&
A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell
There are a few books from last year that I wanted to read but did not get to just yet. Both are something I am looking forward to reading and both have gorgeous covers. I expect I would love reading both of them and my excuse that they just did not fit into my reading challenges prompts is weak at best….I have no excuse for not reading them yet! I got both of these books this year and if you want you can check out my Book haul post on them both from February HERE.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
Empire of the Vampire (Empire of the Vampire #1) by Jay Kristoff
I have not read any books by Jay Kristoff! That being said I do have some of his books on my wish list and TBR. But when I first saw Empire of the Vampire being announced I was hooked! I think everyone is ready for a new vampire themed hit that will be made into movies and TV shows and have a huge following! I want that for this book! There is already GR record for a whole trilogy of this book series! This book has been announced a whole year in advance and there are so many wonderful special editions to choose from that I am stumped and can’t decide which one to choose! There is the obvious difference between the US and the UK edition cover art and there is a whole range of each with color variations and sprayed edges in different colors and even illustrations on them as well. Only thing I am sure of is that I want the hardcover edition for sure, the rest is still undecided. Any help is appreciated and I really hope I don’t end up with more copies of the same book because I really don’t want to be that person…Oh and the book is announced to come out in September!
5. Biggest disappointment
Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan
I have been looking at this book series for a very long time. Even before I started this blog I was often browsing the Amazon bookstore online and making lists of books I wanted to read one day. This book was often on my lists but then I had no means of buying all the books I was interested in. This might have been for the best since this book was a total disappointment for me. In fact I thought the book so bad I could not even finish it. I still have problems with letting go of the books that I don’t like and will most of the time make myself finish them. On this one I made an exception and made myself stop reading at exactly half of it. The dialogue was dumb, the main characters had no appeal for me and the whole setting of the story seemed stretched too thin and did not even offer any interesting back up characters to grab onto. This book first came out over twenty years ago – 1999 and it did not age well. I am not bothered by many things and consider myself a very forgiving reader but this book presented me with some many things that annoyed me and did not offer anything worthwhile to hold onto and like…
6. Biggest surprise
Radiance (Wraith Kings book 1) by Grace Draven
As opposed to the last book I mentioned Radiance by Grace Draven was another Kindle edition I got this year that I quickly fell in love with! I tend to download samples of books that I find interesting and when I read the offered sample of this one I got hooked right from the start! I loved the fantastic setting and the quirky way the author presented the differences between humans and elves. I was intrigued by the world the author build and the only complain I had was that the title of the series made sense only when I started the second book Eidolon. The characters were interesting and the story was passionate. I loved it so much that I had to buy the next book in the series right away. There is one more book after these two The Ippos King and I am keeping my eye on it for some promotional price but I might give in and buy it before the price drop.
7. Favorite new author. (Debut or new to you)
Martha Wells and Grace Draven
Space themed books and general science fiction are not my first pick and when I find a book that belongs in that genre and love it I make a note to look up more from the same author. Martha Wells is a new for me author I have heard about winning genre awards for her Murderbot series few years in a row. I decided to pick it up in a box set edition of first four books in hard cover. I was happy with the price point for them like this and the flimsy box or even a small damage on one of the box did not made me regret buying them. I ended up enjoying the short novella format of this series and plan to follow up for more books from Martha Wells. I had to add Grace Draven as a new favorite author because of how much I loved her worldbuilding style and her characters. Both of these authors I plan to read more books from!
8. Newest fictional crush
The artwork is not mine and all rights belong to their respective owners!
Asher from Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series
Asher is not a new fictional crush of mine. He’s one of the oldest fictional crushes I am still into. This year I am slowly continuing a second read trough Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series and I was reminded of how much I like him. I think he is an amazing character. I love his flaws and I get angry at how much he was used in Anita’s moody interpretation of morality trough the books. I keep coming back to some of his scenes and I wonder what happened to make him seem as an arrogant a-hole with a impulse control of a five year old spoiled child. It does not add up with how he first started out and was introduced in the series. I’m loving reading this “older” version of him.
9. Newest favorite character
The artwork is not mine and all rights belong to their respective owners!
Brishen and Ildiko from the Wraith Kings book series by Grace Draven
I am fangirling on both of these characters! I love their banter and their chemistry. The Prince of no value and the noblewoman of no importance are both awesome and intriguing! The reason I did not go for Brishen or Ildiko alone is that without Ildiko Brishen is far less interesting to me and without Brishen Ildiko is just bland and easy to ignore. I see them as a pair that should be kept and adored as a set!
10. Book that made you cry
Rule of Wolves (King of Scars book 2) by Leigh Bardugo
I loved this book. I has also made me angry and sad to the point of frustration. I cried a bit at some parts too. There was so much tragedy and hopeless moments that I just found it hard to deal with. I devoured all other books from the Grishaverse but this one took me a lot longer to read trough. I am still mad about how some characters were dealt with. This book reminds me of pain and tragedy and even though some characters were supposed to have their happy ending I did not feel it. All that stayed with me after all the previous books was the feeling of melancholy and I expected a lot more and a lot better! My tears are from sadness but out of frustration as well…
11. Book that made you happy
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling
There were a few books that made me feel happy this year. Most notably it was reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling for my book club assignment in May. I love my Hufflepuff edition books and I finally have a complete set by getting the last two books for birthday this year. The last two book were given to me by my book club friends and that is a reason more to smile while I read them. I love the yellow and black design of books and I love the little stars that are above each chapter title! Just thinking about those books makes me happy!
12. Favorite book to film adaptation that you’ve seen this year
The Shadow and Bone
The first answer that came to my mind was Witcher! I have only recently read the first book and was sure that the first season was only last year only to be shocked to find out that the first season came out on Netflix in December 2019! This led me to the only option of The Shadow and Bone since I read the last book in the Grishaverse this year and watched the TV series as soon as it came out back in April! There were a few move and TV series adaptations I have seen this year and liked but all those I’ve watched I haven’t read the books or in some cases graphic novels for. Those would be: Enola Holmes and The Old Guard whose move sequels I can’t wait for.
13. Favorite review you’ve written (booktube or written)
2020 Reading Challenges Report
I kept meaning to write a book review but to my shame in the whole first six months of 2021. I did not write a single book review post! Throughout this book tag I have remembered more than one book that I had a lot of things to say about and more than a passing reading experiences to share. For this reason my favorite post this year is the summary on all the reading challenges I did in 2020. That post gives me an overview and a list of all the reading activities I made myself try out. I am still trying to continue with this so I can make a similar post next year that I can be proud of! You can check my 2020 Reading Challenges Report HERE.
14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)
The Rule of Wolves (King of Scars book 2) by Leigh Bardugo
&
A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell
Both of these books I have already mentioned in this book tag already for different reasons. Grishaverse books are one of the most beautiful book mass produced on my bookshelves. But I can’t help but being drawn to the beautiful cover of my paperback edition of A Phoenix First Must Burn collection of stories. I have high expectations from it as well!
15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas was my answer on this question last year. While I made some progress with it I can’t seem to get myself to finish it. I truly believe I would need to take a whole month away just to read that one book. My Word cloud edition has 1055 pages and I am currently on page 358. This is the book that I keep having in a background like an accusing hush but I just keep reaching for other books instead. I decided not to add more plans aside from reading challenges trough the year in order to get to this book. Clearly reading it slowly is not getting me anywhere and taking a whole month just to make myself read only one book seems a bit drastic. Maybe it is time to for drastic measures…
Lucky (Lucky Santangelo #2) by Jackie Collins ★★★★★
Mogla je biti prosta priča by Ajla Terzić ★★★★
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski ★★★★
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider ★★★★★
Školski knjižničar by Dinka Kovačević, Jasmina Lovrinčević ★★★★★
The Lives of Saints (Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★
Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan ★ DNF
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells ★★★★
Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
The Dynasty of the Dark Elves ( Elves Vol. 5) by Marc Hadrien, Ma Yi, Olivier Héban ★★★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
I had plans to read ten books and I read ten books. The amount I am happy with, but these are not all books I planned to read…On the bright side: I made a major break trough with finally finishing one of the books from my long postponed TBR Jar Draw reading project!
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in June? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
I was intimidated by Lucky (Lucky Santangelo #2) by Jackie Collins for around a year or so. It turned out a much better book than I expected and I found myself enjoying it! I expected to love I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider and my expectations were met. I found much enjoyment and inspiration in the book. Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton was a lot better than I remembered, but then I may be a bit biased when it comes to Anita Blake Vampire Hunter books series in general. I ended a month on a high not with The Dynasty of the Dark Elves ( Elves Vol. 5) by Marc Hadrien, Ma Yi, Olivier Héban. I loved coming back to this awesome graphic novel series and loved it so much that I Have already made plans for reading the next one in July.
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The sole and biggest let down for me this month was Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan. This book was on my TBR for almost a decade and when the opportunity to get the “Authors Cut” Kindle edition arose I jumped at the chance. The characters were so underdeveloped and the dialogue was so annoying I had to stop torturing myself and DNFed this book at exactly half of it! I tried giving it all the chances but I just realized I was wasting time on the book that is not getting any better for me and wasting time I could be reading a book I actually enjoy. I cant remember the last time I decided to not finish a book like this but in the end I felt relieved since I really tried and I don’t feel guilty about it!
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
In June I made plans to read 5 books for Bookopoly and 10 books for Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon reading challenge. I did NOT have to go with 10 books! Going for 10 books was not a very smart decision! I read some of the books I planned to read and then some things I did not plan on happened and I lost a whole week preparing for a test and reading books for that. I read most of what I have planned on reading: I read 7 books that I planned on reading, 1 book I DNFed and I read another 2 books that I did not plan on reading. 1 book I planned on reading has been left out because I wanted more time to enjoy it and not just read trough it quickly. And 1 book I am currently still reading from that list.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
I have finally started on The Witcher series and The Murderbot Diaries – both are on my buddy reading project. The Lives of Saints is the last Leigh Bardugo book I had to read connected to the Grishaverse. Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan is one book series I will not be reading anymore and since it has a bunch of books I am glad to cross it off my TBR and the lists of books to buy. My second reading of Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series is progressing nicely and I managed to read Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton and enjoy it more than I thought I would.
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells was a nice surprise and the short format make it a fast and enjoyable read. Most of the books in the series have won genre awards and I recommend them for those who love science fiction and those who are like me and are picky about science fiction books they choose to read. Grant Snyder and his book I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf is super fun and intelligent book for book lovers and all who are interested in the book business.
Final thoughts on June 2021 reading
I am not totally happy with my reading in June. I managed to squeeze in all ten books as planned but I was forced to shuffle some and change others so I get the number ten. I had to put in some literature for the exam I was preparing instead of one book and I DNFed a book. One book I was planning to read I am still reading and will finish later in July and instead of that I put in a graphic novel to meet the quota. On week of reading was marred by trying to read a book I ended up not finishing and letting go and one other week I spent reading the stuff I did not plan on. I will elaborate a bit more on the detail in the next Bookopoly and Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon reading challenge review posts.
The Hedge Knight: The Tales of Dunk and Egg by George R.R. Martin I am still reading and A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell I was soo looking forward to but it was left untouched and will be postponed for some other more opportune time when I will be able to enjoy it more!
June experience aside I have made plans and new lists of books to read in July. There are even some reading challenges involved so stay tuned and wish me luck!
At the beginning of the month I found a new reading challenge for June I wanted to participate in. Since the month already began I had to think carefully am I going to make it or not. The idea of this reading challenge is very appealing to me and it seamed as too good to pass on. Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon is created by Maddie from book browsing blog channel on YouTube and you can check her channel HERE and give her some love and support. The reading challenge lasts for the whole month of June and is a team challenge with five teams competing in reading goals they mostly set for themselves. Each team has two captains, their color, and their chosen main genre. These are mostly guidelines and are designed to offer readers direction and something to identify with in the team challenge.
The hosts are mostly the people whose content I have been admiring and watching for a while now. I was excited to see them all together collaborating on a project like this one. Since the books I read tend to come from many different genres and I consider my reading taste to be a bit eclectic I decided to go with the Comrades of Chaos team! The fact that the team captain for this team were the least known to me was even better and in accordance with the Chaos factor. Watching some content from my new team captains was hilarious and revealed that we might not be the most competitive team in the mix which is fine by me since my own goal is to challenge myself by joining these types of reading challenges.
How the challenge works is that you can choose to read a certain amount of books for the challenge and set your own goal. Every book you read wins you certain amount of points and every book you read above your set goal gives you double the amount of points. There is the Pride month bonus for LGBTQ content which is optional. All hosts have provided the readers with their favorites and you can choose to read those for more extra points as well – again this is optional and if the said favorites are a part of a series any book in the series counts as well! With ten hosts and many different genres there is plenty of options for those extra points to choose from. Team genre is also optional for earning points but as the title say – You can read whatever you want! Each book you read earns you points and counts but if you make the book fit into any of the categories you earn extra points.
There are fifteen available prompts to get extra points on the books. You can fit one book in one or more prompts. You get extra points for up to three prompts per book. The amount of options and choices for fitting my books in June has stumped me and I just made a pile of books to read without much consulting of the prompts – which is a first for me! It felt very liberating at the start but kinda intimidating since I decided to make my own challenge a lot more challenging that I had to.
How did I manage to do this?
I started big by adding all my books I already choose for June Bookopoly. That was five books and I felt I needed to make it more interesting by adding more books that were not part of the Bookopoly for June. I made a wonderfull decision to double my reading goal from five books for the Bookopoly with extra five books which got me to my reading goal for Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon – TEN BOOKS!
Here are my ten books I set my goal on for the Whatever-You-Want-A-Thon reading challenge:
The Hedge Knight: The Tales of Dunk and Egg by George R.R. Martin
Lucky (Lucky Santangelo #2) by Jackie Collins
Mogla je biti prosta priča by Ajla Terzić
The Last Wish (The Witcher #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf by Grant Snider
A Phoenix First Must Burn edited by Patrice Caldwell
The Lives of Saints (Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardugo
Dark Prince: Author’s Cut (The “Dark” Carpathian book 1) by Christine Feehan
All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells
Micah (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #13) by Laurell K. Hamilton
There were some last minute tweaks to this list and I only checked a few for actually matching some of the prompts. I’m going with chaos as my guide here! I have one third of the month already slipping past me and I have barely scratched the pile of books I made for myself. All the while my team captains are very active across all the social media platforms and there are some very cool videos to read along books to and talk about books in the challenge. Here is the list of all the team captains (in no particular order) and their YouTube channels so you can check them out if you are interested:
Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★
King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★
The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black ★★★★
The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2) by Holly Black ★★★★★
The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black ★★★★★
The Witch With No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison ★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
This January I read 7 books total. I am happy with the amount and page count in particular.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in January? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
All of the books were fantasy genre. The first half of January I was totally into Grishaverse and managed to read everything Leigh Bardugo had written related to Grishaverse. The second part of the month I was happily enjoying Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air series – I’m still confused as to why they are called that though But the characters Jude and Cardan have become favorites right away!
This is just one of the beautiful pictures I found of Cardan and Jude – all rights belong to the author and artist!
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The only book I had any issues reading this month was The Witch With No Name. I got overwhelmed by the complicate metaphysics supernatural elements of the book. I let too much time pass between reading this last book of The Hollows series and the previous one. I had problems keeping up with the book plot. You can check out my review for more details HERE.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
I made a list of the books I own I wish to read this year and five of them I read this January already. I’m very happy with that score and enjoy making reading plans so I can keep better track of my reading. You can check out the whole list HERE. I will be making a separate post and update on it later in February.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
Having finished all books related to the Grishaverse universe I will have to wait for the next book in Nikolai duology which happens to be one of the most anticipated books this year! I have finally finished with The Hollows series by Kim Harrison (insert little happy/sad dance here). That felt like a chapter of my life has been finished as well – this is how long I was a devoted reader to this book series. As for The Folk of the Air book series – I managed to make a run trough the whole trilogy this month and will probably need to turn to some fanfiction and hope that the author writes some more books soon!
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
I have become a devoted reader fan to both Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black. I’m going to try some other books by Leigh Bardugo in February – primarily Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) which I have ordered and received already. Anyone who likes fantasy will probably like both of the Grishaverse and The Folk of the Air book series. I find the plot engaging and the books are just beautiful as well!
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic
by Leigh Bardugo
★★★★
Expectation
I picked this book up with some other Grishaverse books I was buying to complete the collection. I loved the Shadow and Bone trilogy and was hooked so bad I wanted to get them all. I had no idea what this book was about except that it was a short story collection and it looked really gorgeous. I was pleasantly surprised with the story themes. The symbolism reminded me of some fairy tale compilations I read when I was younger.
Summary
The darker folk tales the author choose for her world of Grisha hit home and gave me a lot to think about. The stories are engaging and do not let the reader to make assumptions on the world being all black and white. There is a lot of depth in shades of grey and a whole rainbow of colors springs up when you least expect it. The themes in these stories many authors might shy away from but Leigh Bardugo handled them beautifly. I loved it.
The stories have a „cautionary tale“ feel to them. Some were even therapeutic in their practical approach to life. I liked the consistently provocative female characters and situations they were put in. The illustrations on the pages drew me in and provided and extra motivation from page to page.
– Ayama and the Thorn Wood –
The first story blew me away right from the start. I was intrigued with illustration and scanned every page for picture clues along the text. The narrative style was very soothing and helped with giving the story a „Seherezade“ from „One Thousand and One Night“ feel. Moral of the stories was appealing along with pacing of the narrative.
– The Too Clever Fox –
The second story started out as a fable. I could not help but notice how the characters braced their difficulties as challenges to overcome. There was a distinct lack of vengeful feelings throught the story. Again, the practicality of life is at the fore front of all things. The ending came almost too sudden for me and I did not like it at all.
– The Witch of Duva –
I liked this one a lot. It started out simple enough as a some of the folk tales might but turned out darker than I expected. I love the dualitiy of this story and how something might seem perfectly logical driven by superstitions and our own expectation but the other side of the coin hides the truth we are taught to shy from sometimes.
– Little Knife –
This story I enjoyed the least. The dominance of the male characters was annoying and the end was not enough gratifying at all! I went trough this story at a rather fast pace and when I consider it now it probably needed some slower pacing and contemplation.
– The Soldier Prince –
I could not help but feel a bit creeped out by this story. I found the illustrations for this story to be the most compelling. The red coloring and the Nutcraker motive gave the illusion of a theme that was more Christmasy for me ( I was reading it during Christmas time). It was all mixed signals for me.
– When Water Sang Fire –
It was difficult to imagine Fjerda as a setting of this story. I loved the characters and the character dynamics in this story. This story seemed like a an introduction to something larger. There were so many possible points for further narrative and so many characters I was wondering about.
Conclusion
I think the reason I did not get along with some of the narrative so well was because I was still thinking about it along the lines of more traditional fairy tales. These stories have much more depth to them than I expected and require more time for contemplation. The story I tend to most get back to is the first one – Ayama and the Thorn Wood. Because of the “story inside of the story” mechanism I liked it and have a need to read it again from a perspective of both characters. When Water Sang Fire is the strongest story for sure. It is longer than others and there are many characters I was intrigued by and wanted to read more about. It was not what I expected when I got the book but it is a more than solid short story collection for not only Grishaverse fans but for anyone who enjoys folk tales and myths as well. Anyone not familiar with the any of the Grishaverse books might enjoy these stories and an elegantly produced this book is a great present for any book aficionado.
The Royal Companion (The Companion, #1) by Tanya Bird ★★★
The Emerald Talisman (Talisman #1) by Brenda Pandos ★★★
Black Butler Vol. 1 (Black Butler, #1) by Yana Toboso ★★★★
Stray (Shifters #1) by Rachel Vincent ★★★★
Suddenly by Candace Camp ★★★
Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels #1)
by Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti ★★★
The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels #2)
by Robert Venditti, Rick Riordan ★★★★
1. How many books you’ve read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
Due to the trip I recently made I lost a whole week of reading time so I’m a little grumpy to have gone back to single digits by reading 9 books in October.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in October? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
I’m very much into the Grishaverse with Shadow and Bone book by Leigh Bardugo. I’m slowly savoring the characters and the story. I’m hoping to have enough time to rad the whole trilogy soon!
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The only book I was really not happy about this October was a book club assignment – Buick Rivera by Miljenko Jergović. The plot was completely lost on me and the characters did not help. The book actually started really good but somewhere along the way all sense of the plot was gone.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
I made a list of fifteen books I wish to read by the end of the year and so far I’ve rad three books and started on another two from the list which is cool. You can check out my list HERE. Also I made progress with my TBR Jar Draw reading challenge by reading two picks in one month! You can check both in my posts HERE and HERE.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
This October I’ve actually started a few new book series! From all the first books of the series I’ve started I will be continuing almost all of them. The two exceptions are Kindle editions that I am not ready to invest in to buy the sequels so I can read them further: The Royal Companion (The Companion, #1) by Tanya Bird and The Emerald Talisman (Talisman #1) by Brenda Pandos. I guess I was not that impressed with them to really want to spend money to continue reading them.
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
Aside from being lost in Grishaverse trilogy I am quite enjoying going back to Rick Riordan’s world of half bloods and Percy Jackson series by reading the graphic novel editions. At first I was not that thrilled with the artwork but the story is still amazing. Sadly I have only first three graphic novels and I don’t know when will I get the other two
But the characters Jude and Cardan have become favorites right away!
This is just one of the beautiful pictures I found of Cardan and Jude – all rights belong to the author and artist!
anastasiaadamov 