Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – Book Review

First off, I’m so mad at this book. I’m mad because I got tears on the last few pages and mad because WHAT. WAS. THAT. ENDING.

Second off, my rating for Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor is FIVE FRICKIN STARS.

Third off, here is the synopsis–

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep

Now, let’s dive into the review:

This book waxed poetic. The imagery, the symbolism, the world building, the dreams and the nightmares…it was all so eloquently written. This book is unlike anything I have ever read, it is fantasy on a whole other level. Each page spoke to you in a way that made you fee like you were there with the main characters. You felt so much emotion, you dreamed with them, you wished with them, and you held hope with them. The setting is one thing I’d love to talk about more only for the fact that the world building is so intricate and intriguing. I loved the concept that Lazlo Strange “Strange the Dreamer” dreams about this world Weep, he wants it so bad and you can feel just how bad he wants it.

A fantasy world and fantasy creatures. Godspawns–creatures of innocence and pillage. Gods who were ruthless, and those like Sarai, who do not wish to harm. The world was almost built like a fairytale. I love all the anecdote of stories and tales told through the book. I loved the characters a lot. They were unlike any characters I have ever read out. Sarai, Ruby, Feral, Sparrow, and Minya were unique, they all have different powers and they all have dreams. If you can’t tell this book is centered around dreams which I feel gives off a beautiful message: Never give up on your dreams. But, it doesn’t necessarily give off that message either. When it comes to the godspawn trapped, reading from their POV, we see that they crave a certain normality they could never have. Not while are blue. Not while they are godspawn. Ruby, passionate, who longs to kiss and have a life and love.

Sarai, who hates her power, who hates giving nightmares to people. Who doesn’t want revenge anymore. Sarai’s power is through her moths. Each moth goes to the people of weep, she enters, and she gives them tormenting nightmares. Sarai herself is a dreamer, she goes out into Weep with her moths and she watches people. She watches them have a life. She sees them as people with feelings who don’t deserve revenge because their parents–the gods–have harmed them. Sarai develops a sense of guilt and revulsion but it is Minya who continues to tell her to do bad because Minya was the only one to witness the Godslayer murder all the babies. Babies of Gods. Minya saved four babies: Ruby, Feral, Sparrow and Sarai.

Sarai is a beautiful character, although she brings people nightmares, she wishes and dreams for a new life. One where she is free and can live with the people of Weep. Something strange happens when she enters the dreams of Lazlo Strange.

He can see her.

What I love about Lazlo Strange is that he is so unlike all other male characters. He isn’t a warrior stronger with rippling muscles. He isn’t devastatingly handsome. He isn’t a ladies man who has been around the block a ton of times. Lazlo Strange is quirky and sweet and puts his dreams that people laugh at above all. He is smart and charming in his own kind and considerate way. He isn’t the charming asshole character that is witty with a crooked smile that makes the ladies on the street faint at. Lazlo is underestimated, he isn’t first choice, and that is what make Lazlo human and relatable and makes you undeniably fall for him and love him for being so wholesome and admire him for chasing his dreams at any cost. During his scenes with Sarai, he wasn’t confident, he was nervous and shy and curious and he wasn’t skilled, they fumbled through kisses and smiled liked fools. I loved it. I loved it because it wasn’t cliche, it was heartwarming and I wanted more! I can easily say that Lazlo Strange has won over my heart and has taken his place in my top 10 list of book boyfriends. (Maybe even top 5—we’ll see I have to finish Muse of Nightmares before making any decisions)

They fall in love in this dream world. When they are asleep, the world of Weep and their worries disappear. All they know are each other in a dream world that is accepting. Where it is beautiful and they can be free. They can live. I found myself smiling like a fool during their dream scenes together. They both are inexperienced and they experiment with each other, loving and lusting with such intense, fiery passion. You can’t help but root for them. Both of these characters deserve everything. They deserve all the happiness and seeing them together, its so unrefined and new and hopeful. Lazlo Strange, the orphan boy who has never been considered to do great things, dreams. Sarai, daughter of the goddess of despair, who is named the muse of nightmares, longs. They dream and long and find it in each other.

The entire story is almost a forbidden love. It is not a romance story despite the romance between Lazlo and Sarai, but it is a story about fantastical worlds where people hate and people love, and people fighting evil while evil fights back. It is a morally gray story where there are no clear villains and heroes. Not really. Not while the gods were killed along with innocent babies and those babies grew up thinking the humans were monsters. It is tragedy and it is trauma. It is beautiful and strange and this is a story worth reading and a story worth loving.

The plot is to save Weep, but saving Weep means messing with the five godspawns trapped in the citadel. Minya–one of the godspwans–doesn’t want to be messed with. She has hatred and is ready to kill. Ready for her revenge. Kill Godslayer, the reason they are stuck in the citadel, the reason the gods are dead, the reason thirty babies were innocently slaughtered. Godslayer…father of one of their own. Lazlo accompanies Godslayer on his quest to free Weep of the darkness the Citadel brings. Lazlo, who is strange, Lazlo who doesn’t know it yet, but he will be a man destined for great things.

Lazlo and Sarai have an epic love story filled with turmoil. Weep needs saving. People need saving. The real question is: Will there be a happily ever after? Who knows….we will just have to see in the second book: Muse of Nightmares.

Will Sarai and Lazlo’s love survive? Will dreams come true? Will lives be lived?

FIVE STARS!

Review Etiquette

I think people forget their manners when reviewing a book. So to all you meanie reviewers—this post is for you. For all you non-meanie reviewers—this post is also for you!

I’d like to discuss what to write in a review for a book. Congrats you just finished a book! You now have one of three thoughts.

  1. You hated it.
  2. You liked it.
  3. You loved it.

A good thing to have when reviewing is your own star system.

⭐️: I did not finish(DNF)/Really didn’t like at all.

⭐️⭐️: Finished it but didn’t really care for it/not my style.

⭐️⭐️⭐️: It was good enough to keep me reading and was semi-invested in the characters or plot.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I really liked it but there was one or two things that I wish happened differently.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I loved it!!!

Great, so now we established what your rating system should be/is. If you hated it you will mostly likely rate this book 1 or 2 stars. If you DNF’d it, it’s probably a 1. But not in every case, there are many DNF books that were good but they just weren’t meant for me. Those books I typically don’t review for two reasons; one because I did not finish it I don’t think I deserve to write a review and two because I don’t think my review will be helpful to anyone.

So in the scenario that you gave this book a one star review here is what you should do

  • Explain why it didn’t meet your standards.
  • Use words like “personally, I did not care for….” or “Fans of X may like this book, but I don’t.”
  • Talk about where you lost your interest.
  • Discuss which characters you might have liked despite your one star review. Discuss characters you didn’t like and why.
  • Mention plots that might have good potential or plots that let you down.

What NOT to do

  • Do NOT write a review that says something simple like “it sucked” or “I hated it.”
  • Do NOT use words like hate/sucked and do not curse.
  • Do NOT tell people “do not waste your money.”
  • Do NOT bash the authors writing

I don’t know how many times I see so many mean and hateful reviews. I understand that spending money on a book and it not living up to your standards is frustrating but do NOT take it out on the author. The author worked hard on the book writing it for months and years and is excited to put it out into the world—is brave to let all you wonderful people read it. It was your decision to spend your money on the book. YOU took the chance so don’t blame the author when it didn’t live up to your standards. Be kind a courteous. Just because you didn’t like the book doesn’t mean another person won’t.

Often times people forget that authors are humans with feelings. Your hurtful review can easily hurt their feelings. It’s one things discussing that you didn’t like a book for X reasons but to say something along the lines of “Omg this book was so horrible and I hated every second of it. The writing was atrocious and you shouldn’t waste your money. It was poorly thought out and the characters sucked.”

This is a NO.

For one you aren’t even helping readers make a decision. Readers read reviews to know how well you fall in love with characters/setting/plots etc. So, EXPLAIN what you didn’t like in a way that is kind and also doesn’t say “do not buy.” Say something along the lines of “This book wasn’t for me. I had a hard time getting interested because I couldn’t relate to the main character. The setting did not seem to come alive in my head and the plot was predictable. Personally, I thought the book needed something more. What I didn’t like was (insert reasons here). What I did like was (insert possible likes here).”

The same thing goes with a two star review.

For a three star review, this means you liked the book but it was lacking something that just didn’t qualify it to be a four-five star book. It’s important to discuss everything you loved about the book. Again many three star reviews I see are mixed between “I liked it.” and “I didn’t care for it.” This will follow whatever you decide your star rating is. When writing a review explain yourself. No one wants to see a simple review where you only state that you liked/disliked the book. It doesn’t tell them anything. What was the book lacking? Go into depth—if the author needed to write with more visualization then say “maybe if I could picture the setting a little better I could’ve felt more immersed in the story. I felt lost.” or “The characters were sassy/sarcastic/*insert adjective* I love that in a character (or) I don’t really like that in a character.”

For four and five star reviews: you loved the book! Awesome, now rave about it! You can’t write too much for a book review. The more the better! Talk about how the ending wasn’t predictable at all and how mind blowing it was. Tell people that you cried so much you ran out of tissues or that you laughed so hard you got a cramp. It’s important to let the readers know how you established a connection with the book whether the plot made you turn each page until you found out what the main character was hiding or that you had a major book crush on that one swoon-worthy character. You can also discuss what disappointed you. You may say I was really sad when this didn’t happen.

An author works SO hard on these books. If you have never wrote a book I don’t think you understand just how much thought and planning goes into creating it. Do NOTTTTTT leave a review and say poor planning because I doubt it…the author planned the crap out of that book you just couldn’t recognize it or you didn’t enjoy it enough to see it.

Also, I see a lot of reviews that love to point out “omg I just couldn’t get through this book because of the grammar/spelling/punctuation errors! It annoyed me!” Okay, let me give you the 411…if you see a handful of those types of errors in a book I want you to do one thing

LOOK TO SEE WHO PUBLISHED THE BOOK

Oh? It was self-published? That means the author does not have a professional editor. An author can have BETA readers, but mind you these BETAs do not have their PhD in grammar. Things will be missed by both beta and author. It will happen. So instead of scolding the author, how about giving them some props for having the confidence to get their book out into the world? You don’t have to be nasty. You can have an opinion and still be a civilized human being who is considerate of others feelings.

So, next time you write a review, don’t be a meanie. Talk about what you liked and disliked. Don’t be afraid to make the review long! The longer the better! That’s what she said. Be mindful of your words, this is your opinion, not the general consensus of the book. Just because you hated doesn’t mean others didn’t love it and just because you loved it doesn’t mean others won’t dislike it.

Support and love our authors! Be helpful by explaining your rating! Be kind and courteous!

And keep on reviewing!

New Shelves – Shelf Tour

If you follow me on Instagram (lovingcassian) you’ll know that I got new bookshelves. These have been long awaited. I’ve been running out of room for some time now, books were just stacked all over my room and it was getting so cluttered. My shelves were just not doing it for me anymore… the black shelving was getting dark and depressing in my room and I needed a change. Something different and lively and therefore I went with white shelving.

The full shelves

First off, I got these shelves from IKEA, they are the white billy bookcases (six shelves). $59 for each one.

Width: 31 1/2 “Depth: 11 “Height: 79 1/2 “Max load/shelf: 66 lb

They were super easy to put together. My dad helped me only because I was afraid of screwing up and I don’t usually put furniture together so…dad to the rescue. Each shelf took about 30-45 minutes. Each time we did one our put-together time got shorter. The instructions were clear and easy—but if you’re like me and you don’t usually use a hammer, your dad or brother or husband or maybe even mom/sister/girlfriend will do it better.

Let’s start the tour.

Bookcase one

Bookcase one – Shelf one: my holly Black shelf. It’s not much…but with all of the editions I’m buying from book boxes the new merch and editions will add to it. I have the plain white versions of the books and then the B&N black editions. I have my Cruel Prince inspired candles and my Jude mermaid from undertheseacrochet on Instagram/Etsy.

Bookcase one – Shelf two: half of the rainbow. Red/orange/yellow/green/blue. I really love rainbow shelves but I really don’t think I can pull them off because I own like one orange book and one yellow book. I’m showing off my UK signed red sprayed edges of Finale by Stephanie Garber. I won this book in one of her giveaways. It is custom signed to me as “Dante’s wife” and the quote on the cover means a lot to me it says: “The Most Magnificent Things are Worth Living for.”

Bookcase one – Shelf three: the other half of my rainbow shelf for colors red – blue. Nothing too special, not the biggest fan mainly because of all the different sizes and the lack of orange and yellow.

Bookcase one – Shelf four: my white books! I hardly own any white books. I’m showing off my hardcover of The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons which is my favorite all time romance book. I’m obsessed. I love Alexander. I got my Voltron pop figures there, my white “treat yo-shelf” mug which is one of my favorites. And then my light up board which has my username spelled out.

Bookcase one – Shelf five: I have my a Court of candle box. I was their rep from April to June and I loved it and I’m obsessed with their book inspired candles. I have my very small—but growing—collection of Agatha Christie in between my donut bookends and next to that is my Anne of Green Gables collection.

Bookcase one – Shelf six: these are just paperback books that honestly don’t mean much to me. They’re just standalone books or first books to a series I didn’t care for thus I don’t have the second or third book to the series. Or they’re are paperback books I have that I still haven’t read. Majority of them are YA or middle grade which I’ve grown out of or lost interest completely.

Bookcase 2

Bookcase 2 – Shelf 1: my Jay Kristoff Shelf. Again, it could use some improving. The only books I’ve read from him are on this shelf: Nevernight (US and UK), Godsgrave (US and UK), Lifel1k3 and Dev1at3, and Aurora Rising. I’m hoping to get more merch and different versions from all the book boxes coming out for Darkdawn in September.

Bookcase 2 – Shelf 2: the end half of my rainbow shelving. Blue/purple/pink. I’m displaying my Sorcery of Thorns Owlcrate edition. I have one of my favorite candles on this shelf from flickthewick it’s called “bookshop cafe” and smells like coffee and I’m obsessed. I have my wood plank design thingy that reads: “And they lived happily ever after” because that’s all I want for my favorite characters and all my book boyfriends to have with me. I have my Cinder mermaid from undertheseacrochet if you don’t know Cinder is from the lunar chronicles series by Marissa Meyer.

Bookcase 2 – Shelf 3: the end half of my rainbow shelving. Blue/purple/pink. I have a few pop figures on this shelf. Some of my favorites, beast, Steve from Stranger things, Rosie the Riveter, and Belle. The displayed book on this shelf if Little Women the B&N fancy edition which I’m obsessed with.

Bookcase 2 – Shelf 4: these are just hardcovers some of them I really enjoyed and some of them I haven’t read yet. My undertheseacrochet mermaid is Rapunzel. The book displayed is Caraval which is one of my favorite series (Def top 10).

Bookcase 2 – Shelf 5: Again, black hardcovers some I read and liked, like Carve the Mark and Six of Crows and then some of them I haven’t read or I disliked.

Bookcase 2 – Shelf 6: These are mostly black paperback books which I either didn’t care for, didn’t read, one of the books though is MY book I wrote so of course I liked it 😉

Bookcase 3

Bookcase 3 – Shelf 1: my VE SCHWAB Shelf. I love VE Schwab. On this shelf I have the dark vault, this savage song, our dark duet, city of ghosts, the near witch, a darker shade of magic trilogy with a gathering of shadows b&n edition on display because I love the rose gold cover. Then I have my US and UK editions of Vicious/Vengeful. And then the comic books she made. Along with some merch—ADSOM/Vicious candles.

Bookcase 3 – Shelf 2: my Harry Potter Shelf! I have my box set with Hogwarts on the spine. Then my paperback set of HP 1-4, then hardcover of HP 5-7 + the cursed child. I also have HP 1 my Italian edition I got when I went to Italy last year. Then I have the house editions. One Slytherin and one Gryffindor. I am a slytherin though! Let me say it louder in the back—IM SLYTHERIN NOT GRYFFINDOR. I wanted to collect all the houses but…I’m poor and don’t have the money to collect them all. So I just have two out of four of the houses. Although I should collect all the Slytherin before anything. Then I have some of my large collection of HP pops

Bookcase 3 – Shelf 3: my Sarah j Maas shelf! I have my Feyre mermaid from undertheseacrochet. My a Court of candles, candles. I have my entire collection of Throne of Glass and A Court of Throne and Roses.

Bookcase 3 – Shelf 4: My JR Ward shelf. Here is my entire collection of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. All hardcover and missing some.

Bookcase 3 – Shelf 5: this is the most pointless shelf of my entire bookcases. This will be used for any future books that I buy. Right now it’s occupied by pointless stuff like pop figure, my pin hoops, some candles, and a little more of HP merch

Bookcase 4 – Shelf 5: I have my special edition VE Schwab box from flickthewick. I have a metal wire basket filled with my booksleeves (I have five) and then my really big Hedwig pop figure.

That’s all, folks! I hope you enjoyed my new shelf tour!

Top 5 Authors

I was posed with a question the other day that got me thinking. What if you could only read one author for the rest of your life? Of course there are a lot of factors, what if your favorite author only wrote one book compared to another author who wrote 100 books. All that aside—if you could only read the works of one author for the rest of your life assuming that they will write enough for you to only read them until the day you die—who would that author be?

See, I find it hard to narrow it down to one author. So, I will talk about my top 5 favorite authors and then at the end I will give my answer on who I would read for the rest of my life and why.

1. Sarah J. Maas

Why else would my blog name be lovingcassian if Sarah J. Maas wasn’t one of my favorites? (For those scratching your heads Cassian is a character in SJM series A Court of Throne and Roses.) I fell in love with Sarah J Maas when I was writing a book of my own—here’s a story—I was on Pinterest looking for cool fantasy names to name my characters. One pin came up and it named all the characters of Throne of Glass. I wasn’t an avid reader at the time. I was just starting to get into reading. It was December 2016, I had read the Divergent series earlier and fell in love with it which prompted me to want to get fully into being a book worm. After reading those names on the Pinterest photo, I decided to go on amazon and yes order every single book in the series all the way from Throne of Glass to Empire of Storms. To put it lightly I became INFATUATED with Throne of Glass, where reading used to lose me when I was younger was the beginning. It was so hard to get hooked. But with ToG I got hooked automatically. I think I read the entire series in just a few short weeks. It made me fall in love with fantasy. I became intrigued with fantasy world building and magical powers. I loved reading about Kings and Queens, assassins, and Fae.

To me nothing could ever beat Throne of Glass (at that time) I ended up ordering other fantasy books from “since you read that…read this” and started to build my collection. It wasn’t long after that I started my Instagram account dedicated for SJM I wanted to connect to people who loved her and ToG just as much as I did. Of course all the accounts I followed posted things about ToG AND A Court of Throne and Roses. I had no interest honestly, I was afraid of reading another book by her because I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to how AMAZING ToG was. Finally, I caved, and I’m so glad I did because I loved ACOTAR 100000x more than ToG. I found the character so much more lovable and I was drooling over Cassian falling completely head over heels over him. Tobias Eaton from Divergent was my first ever book boyfriend, then Chaol from ToG became my next book boyfriend, but it was Cassian—my 3rd ever book boyfriend who really took the cake. Hence the username for all my accounts—lovingcassian. I love and adore him. SJM writing along with character and world building inspires me and motivates me and makes me feel less lonely when I am reading about the characters. They are my friends and SJM has a great way of making you feel like you are going through exactly what the characters are going through.

2. V.E. Schwab

One of the reasons I love bookstagram is the recommendations. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a photo of Vicious or A Dark Shade of Magic on my feed last year, I’d be rich. But I’m so glad I saw so many people posting about those books because it made me go to Barnes and Noble and pick them up. Vicious and ADSOM stayed on my shelves for wayyyy too long before I decided to pick them up. I bought Vicious before ADSOM but ADSOM called to me one night. So, I picked it up. “Kell wore a very peculiar coat” Gosh, even the first sentence gives me chills to think about. I was hooked. From the first sentence I was so hooked on ADSOM. I read this book December 2018 during Christmas. I could not put it down. I remember a Christmas Day reading the third and final book and now wanting it to end. VE Schwab is unlike any author I have ever read. I can’t even describe how I feel when I read her work. But I can say she makes my heart skip a beat, she makes me fall in love, she makes me laugh and cry. Her writing is unique and intense and amazing and inspiring. Her world building in ADSOM is pure fantasy perfection. Four worlds of London and only Antari can move through to these worlds. I mean…it’s just so interesting. To learn about the London’s, to read about Kell. It was so easy to fall in love with Kell. You wanted to know more about these characters and you ended up loving villains.

It’s just like Vicious, she made you fall in love with these morally gray characters. It’s a refreshing looks on writing, Vicious is more science fiction, regular people who attempt to kill (and revive) themselves in order to become ExtraOrdinaries. Genius writing. I love the rivalry between Victor and Eli. I related so much to Victor in a way that doesn’t make sense, because I never technically went through what he did. Never craved revenge for a person as much as Victor did with Eli. But for some reason when reading you felt like Victor. You wanted what Victor wanted blurring your own morals. Victor is my favorite morally gray characters, he’s so interesting and I easily fell in love with him. After that I read her This Savage Song/A Dark Duet and I loved it. At first it was hard to get into but boy am I glad I pushed to finish. It was dystopian fantasy, monsters and humans. Human falls in love with a monster. Beautiful piece of work. Everything about the story felt right.

VE Schwab is a goddess at fantasy and science fiction. I love and adore her writing and her books I hold very close to my heart. I love how diverse her characters are, how screwed up they can be, and how real they are.

I want to marry every VE Schwab character and possibly VE Schwab herself

3. Jay Kristoff

This is weird to write because if you asked me like five months ago who my top 5 favorite authors are, Jay Kristoff would not be on this list. You have no idea how long it took me to read one of his books. THREE YEARS!! I bought Nevernight after asking someone for a recommendation on New Adult Fantasy books. I bought it and became so confused, so uninterested, that I DNF’d it. I tried picking it up again about a year later. I still hated it. I could not understand the hype on Nevernight. I thought the narration of the story was so weird and the footnotes—what the heck were those footnotes?? It added to my confusion. I decided that I’d be done. I spent about $10 on this kindle book to DNF it hardly 20 pages in.

Bookstagram again is funny. The booksta’s I followed loved to post things about Nevernight constantly. Every one loves the book and I’m like why can’t I? So one night in March I FORCED myself to read to page 100 and as I finally got past where I left off last time and forced myself to keep going…30 pages in…40 pages in…50 pages in….I was starting to love it. The whole idea about going to this school to train to be an assassin and not to mention her friends were interesting to read about. I loved the dynamics and I loved Tric yet another book boyfriend. After three years I finally finished Nevernight and I was obsessed. Hooked! I needed more! I whipped out my credit card and bought Godsgrave.

At the time Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman we’re coming out with Aurora Rising set to come out in May (by this time when I finished Nevernight it was April). I was intrigued by the idea of space, I loved Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth and thought I could love Aurora Rising, too). I pre-ordered the book and surprisingly when it came I started it right away instead of tossing it into my TBR pile. Oh my word…I loved it. It was by far one of my favorite reads of the year (2019). I loved the squad. As someone who is relatively friendless, books are my best friends and reading AR I found friends. I found a squad and I felt apart of something. I loved the space, the misfits of the characters, the different personalities, of course I loved* the romance. Kal is sexy space elf and another one of my book boyfriends. I cried at this book and I hugged the book, it was a beautiful read that I struggled putting down but had to force myself because I didn’t want it over so soon. The squad was charming and funny and sarcastic. They pushed each other’s buttons and I loved it, laughing along and feeling like I was on their squad.

Jay Kristoff posted on his Instagram that one of his books LifeL1k3 (which I honestly had NO intention of reading) was on sale for kindle for like $0.99. I caved and bought it. Again, it took me WAYYYY too long to pick it up. But when I did.

Mind.

Blown.

Holy heck what a plot twist. That book toyed with my brain and completely blew it to pieces. Everything you think you know is wrong. Holy crap. I’m still baffled over how this book went in one direction and took a 360 and went somewhere I didn’t even see. Mind blown. After I finished the book and cried over the ending I forced my mother to drive me to Barnes and Noble. yes I am a 21 year old adult that has her own car and license and could’ve went by herself but dragged her mother. Oh and also Ezekiel in this series is another book boyfriend. I loved the second book Dev1at3 just as much. Since Divergent got me into reading I have to say dystopian books have a special place in my heart. Lifel1k3 is dystopian kinda post-apocalyptical and also involved robots. See, I’m not a big robot fan but this…I liked this.

This is why Jay Kristoff is on my list, because he consistently book after book blows my mind and is the reason why I am an avid reader. Because he tells a story that you feel involved in, he creates characters that make you forget why you’re so lonely in the first place. He creates a world of possibility and friendships. It’s why I love him and his work.

4. Paullina Simons

This is hard because if you play the game one of these authors is not like the other it’s Paullina Simons. Aside from all the fantasy authors I’ve discussed, Paullina Simons is a romance writer. First off let me explain by saying I’m a sucker for smut in a book. If you tell me “you should read this book,” I might. But if you tell me “you should read this book it has smut,” there is a good chance that I just went on amazon and ordered the book. I’m only slightly ashamed to say that I bought The Bronze Horseman when someone posted on Instagram talking about the “controversial” sex scenes in The Bronze Horseman. Interesting…I had to read it. I’m also very much more ashamed that I bought it and skipped right to reading the sex scenes. Forgive me father for I have sinned. Needless to say, I didn’t actually read the book from page 1 until much later. Boy am I glad I did. I might have to keep this short because out of all the books in the world, all my favorites, THIS book is the one that makes me the most emotional. It is the most sentimental to me. It strikes a nerve and can make me cry in command if I think of certain scenes and characters. Paullina Simons is on this list because of the emotions she evokes out of me when I simply just think of The Bronze Horseman Trilogy. Not to mention Alexander is my book boyfriend I love him so much he makes me emotional and oh my god if I don’t shut up now I will continue to write a thesis on how much I love Captain Anthony Alexander Barrington

It’s strange though because when thinking of this author (compared to the others I mentioned) I have only read The Bronze Horseman. I haven’t read her other work but I also feel nothing can compare to TBH. I actually read her newest series The Tiger Catcher, back in May. I’m saddened to say I didn’t actually care for it. I liked it but it wasn’t mind-blowingly good. It didn’t make me feel like TBH made me feel.

5. JK Rowling/Holly Black

This has to be a tie. As I’m sitting here thinking who my top 5 favorite authors are 1-4 come easy, but 5… If you asked me my top 5 favorite series I could easily give you an answer and The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black is definitely on there but as far as author wise, I don’t know if Holly Black would be my answer. Again, I haven’t read any of her other books, but also other than The Cruel Prince, they haven’t caught my attention much. I adore The Cruel Prince. I’m a hardcore Jude and Cardan shipper. Oh and have I mentioned Cardan is my book boyfriend? As for JK Rowling, any Harry Potter fan would have to put her on her list and seeing as I am a die-hard fan of Harry Potter—here she is. But it’s also the fact that I love Harry Potter more than JK Rowling. I love that series and her other series have never really caught my attention. Not even Fantastic Beasts… please don’t hurt me. I think I could live off the Harry Potter series for the rest of my life but unlike SJM, Jay Kristoff, VE Schwab, and Paullina Simons…JKR misses the romance aspect in her books. Of course because HP is a children’s book, but I love romance books. They’re my not-so-guilty pleasures. I don’t think I could live without reading about a little romance.

The answer…

Now to answer the burning question of which author would I chose to read for the rest of my life.

Is it the author who got me into fantasy and writes about sexy males in magical fantasy lands who have large wingspans and writes smut?

The author who has amazing fantasy and science fiction world building with morally gray characters?

The author who writes YA to adult, science fiction and fantasy, has smut but also characters that you feel like you’re best friends with and has mind-blowing plot twists?

The author who writes great romance, great smut, and let’s be real Alexander is so swoon worthy living a life without knowing him is sad.

And let’s just be honest authors 5 and 5.5 aren’t going to be my answer.

So, out of those four authors, who am I going to pick. Well, now I just feel like stalling as I write this because I have no clue. I want to stay loyal to Sarah J Maas because she is the reason for my book loving obsession, the reason I love fantasy, and the reason for my infatuation with Cassian. But also, I feel like I know Sarah J Maas may not be the answer—at least not in this moment. This year has been the year of Jay Kristoff and I have so thoroughly loved him and his writing that I feel compelled to answer with Jay Kristoff. It makes my heart hurt though to not answer SJM or even VE Schwab because I thoroughly enjoyed their stories and they inspired me greatly. Those two authors are the first two I think of when asked who my favorite authors are—and I think it will always stay that way. I love them and their stories and their characters to death. I mean SJM wrote my ultimate book boyfriend Cassian, I owe her a lot for creating him. I’m hopelessly in love with a book character send help.

But in this moment right now, after loving series after series and having a permanent “jaw-drop” I must say….Jay Kristoff…you won.

Review: Anne of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery

Anne of Avonlea, book 2 of the Anne of Green Gables series. My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Description: At sixteen Anne is grown up. . . almost. Her gray eyes shine like evening stars, but her red hair is still as peppery as her temper. In the years since she arrived at Green Gables as a freckle-faced orphan, she has earned the love of the people of Avonlea and a reputation for getting into scrapes. But when Anne begins her job as the new schoolteacher, the real test of her character begins. Along with teaching the three Rs, she is learning how complicated life can be when she meddles in someone else’s romance, finds two new orphans at Green Gables, and wonders about the strange behavior of the very handsome Gilbert Blythe. As Anne enters womanhood, her adventures touch the heart and the funny bone.

Anne of Avonlea is the second book in the Anne of Green Gables series and let me start off by saying, book one was SO much better. I found this book boring, boring to the point that I almost did not finish. I started reading this series because I loved the adaption on Netflix: Anne with an E. I was disappointed yet intrigued that Anne of Green Gables was COMPLETELY different than the TV show. It was interesting to see how things were different but, I was actually disappointed because I found the TV show better. One of the reasons I found it better was because the TV show touched on more modern day subjects such as LGBTQ+, periods…etc. I was disappointed in the book for how plain it was. Anne herself is fun and I loved getting to know her classmates but as we talk about book 2, Anne isn’t in school anymore.

The focus is on Avonlea itself (hence the name) but there were so many different neighbors introduced I couldn’t keep track! The time seems to go way too fast in this series. Anne in book one was around 11 and ended at 16. This book she is 16 and ends around 18. If we look at what the description tells us this book is about, we do see Anne as a school teacher. We see that she is beloved by all (except Anthony) which is refreshing from the last book where everyone seemed to dislike her. There really isn’t a test of her character, I mean it isn’t the main focus of the book at least. She’s a teacher, she’s loved, one of her students Paul takes a good liking to her, Anthony doesn’t like or respect her until she gets so mad that she whips him. That’s it. That’s really all her school teaching is.

The twins seems to be the biggest part of the book. Marilla and Anne adopted Davy and Dora. Davy is an annoying little kid who clearly has the biggest crush on Anne. They seem to give him the most attention because he’s so much work, but Dora is in the shadows. She’s quiet and shy and we don’t see too much of her. It’s really just focused on Davy and turning him from a trouble maker to a good Christian boy.

The last sentence in the description made me most excited to read this book. “…and wonders about the strange behavior of the very handsome Gilbert Blythe.” First off, I could probably count on my fingers how many times Gilbert is in a scene with Anne. They BARELY talk and when they do it’s for maybe a page maybe two if we’re lucky. The very last three pages is when Anne looks at Gilbert as though she might see him as more than a friend. Then end of story.

The reason I had so much trouble getting into this book was because there was basically no plot. Usually you get invested in a book because there is a problem and you read on and see the problem escalate and then eventually become resolved. There was no “problem” no “situation” that made you want to keep reading. Each chapter Anne did something new. If something funny or unfortunate happened to her it would happen in the chapter and then next chapter either time would pass or it’d be a new day. What is Anne going to do today…that’s what the basis of this book felt like. What is Anne doing today in Avonlea? It wasn’t even excited. It took me so long to read this book and I SKIMMED so much. I skimmed to the point where I don’t even remember really what happened but I can tell you…nothing did happen. It’s just meeting random neighbors, hearing about their lives, it was boring.

Nothing made me want to keep reading except for the fact of her love story with Gilbert. He was so nonexistent in this story that it was annoying. I want to know what happens between Gilbert and Anne and it is the only motivation to keep me reading this series. I like the characters, I just wish it was more exciting and plot based. It almost felt like a diary entry. “Today I did this…and this…” next chapter/new day “Today I did this…” I need something more. I wanted to read more about her and her friends. Not these neighbors that seemed so irrelevant.

Don’t get me wrong. I REALLY wanted to like this book and that is why I’m giving it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I think I’ll read the third book. It’s SUPPOSED to be more Gilbert-Anne based so hopefully I’ll enjoy it more than I did this one.

Revenge: Dark Billionaire Romance by E.M. Courier

Hey guys! I’m excited to talk about my newest release, Revenge: Dark Billionaire Romance (E.M. Courier)

You can buy this book on amazon for $2.99 or if you have kindle unlimited you can read it for free. Every buy or every free page read helps me tremendously. My living is made off of these books and I spent a lot of time and effort into them. I love hearing feedback and offers for ARC/BETA readers. Buying and supporting my work is everything. It allows me to continue to keep writing.

So what is Revenge about? It is a romance book (duh) but also a steamy romance book for all you erotica lovers out there. So this book is recommended for 18+ … but enough of that, let’s get to meeting the beloved characters!

Alexander Novak II, oldest of the six Novak siblings. Famous and rich. Alexander with his blond hair and green eyes had everything, straight A’s, captain of the baseball team, many friends, many girls fawning over him, he was king of the world. Until a car accident ruined his life. Alexander broken and lost, he gave up on life unable to think of anything but revenge.

Scarlett Halloway, amnesia has taken away the first seven years of her life. It’s been her and her dad ever since. They travel a lot, her father paranoid of staying one place for too long. Finally old enough, she’s moved to New York City with her best friend Jo, ready to tackle the world.

Synopsis:

Sixteen years ago Alexander Novak’s little sister, Ellie, was killed in a car accident. He spent years searching for the man who killed her. Ellie’s murderer has changed his name and gone under the radar. Even the most expensive private investigators money could buy couldn’t find him. A new lead emerges as his daughter, Scarlett Halloway comes to New York City seeking a job. Alexander hires Scarlett as his secretary hoping that she will lead him right to her father.

And she does.

Revenge is the only thing on Alexander’s mind. The car accident that killed his little sister was no accident and now he is going to make the murderer pay for his sins. His daughter is all he has left and Alexander is going to ruin his family just like he ruined his. Keeping Scarlett as his prisoner he will turn her into his perfect pet, owning her in every way possible.

The book is about 60,000 words, it’s a quick read and has potential for a second book with some other beloved characters (Olive—Alexander’s younger sister)

I would also like to say that I am a self published author, meaning I have no editor. I edit the book myself but note that I am one person and I can miss things. So there may be grammar issues please don’t crucified me too much for that. I hope if you give this book a chance that you love it!

“She didn’t fall in love with Alexander the man who kidnapped her and tortured her father, she fell in love with the glimpse of the boy he was before Ellie died.”

Revenge (Dark Billionaire Romance) by E.M. Courier

July book wrap-up

For the month of July I managed to read four books

Dev1at3 by Jay Kristoff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Jay Kristoff never fails to disappoint. This books is full of adventure, action, a pinch of romance, 2 and half cups of plot twists and a full serving size of heartbreak.

I didn’t expect this to leave on a cliffhanger…but it did. I didn’t even realize when I was on the last page that I was on the last page. I need more!

The book mostly follows Lemon Fresh and boy does she have a journey. Her chapters were the most interesting as we explore her powers as a Deviate and meet more just like her. (Grimm is swoon-worthy). The other main POV were in Cricket and Ezekiel (with a few from Eve and The Preacher). I found Crickets chapters to be boring—but I found myself laughing at times especially when he’s with Solomon. Ezekiel—my love—my heart aches for him as he searches for his lost love, Ana.

I thought we would’ve got more on Ana but the ending left a lot unsaid and a lot left unresolved so I am looking forward to reading book 3. This series is amazing and I can’t wait for more!

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Holy. Crap.

I’m not sure if there is a book written by Kristoff that will disappointment me because so far every book has been filled with excitement and the most mind blowing plot twists.

I enjoyed this book a lot, I will say not as much as Nevernight, but I still loved it. I found this book hard to put down. We meet some new characters who are extremely lovable and we end up loving people we thought we hated. I found this book to be extra action packed so if you love fight scenes, you’ll love this. The romance or should I say the smut, is on point. I really enjoyed who Mia’s love interest was in this book although I was really rooting for her to get with Furian or Arkades.

I don’t know why but I really had a thing for Arkades in this book….

It’s filled with a lot of violence and I found the arena gladiator type fights to eventually grow a little…boring. But it’s the plot and the character arcs that kept you wanting more.

In this book we find out things about Mia’s past that left my jaw dropped. Like I’ve said in many reviews for Kristoff before—he is the master of plot twists.

Also, the very last page of this book had me screaming as a certain beloved character of mine makes an appearance *swooning*

I can’t wait for Darkdawn!!!

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I’ve recently became interested in Agatha Christie thanks to Amazon Prime’s series The ABC Murders, I loved it so much that I ended up watching more shows/movies including Ordeal by Innocence, And Then There Were None, Crooked House, And Murder on the Orient Express. So, I decided to buy a book. This being the first BOOK of Agatha Christie I read.

There is one thing I have learned from watching the movies/shows, that is the murderer is never the obvious suspect and Christie does a great job at plot twists and really shocking you with the, who done it? I don’t know if maybe that is my mentality because it has been true for the movies/shows I watched, but when reading this I actually figured out who did it. I didn’t know the motive or anything like that, but because I knew from watching those shows I picked the least obvious suspect. So the ending felt less than thrilling.

Also, I have to state the obvious that this book is hard to read haven written by an English woman in the 1950’s the language to a modern day American is hard to follow. Sometimes the wording tripped me up. Aside from that, I found that there was less Hercule and too much Katherine Grey, we follow her and she talks nonsense most of the time. Granted, this is how we got to know the characters, but it felt too chit-chatty and not enough detective work and clues and mystery.

I really wanted to like it as much as I liked watching the movies/shows, and looking at the other reviews I don’t know if it was specifically this book, but it wasn’t my favorite. I actually found myself forcing to finish the book and putting it down every couple of pages. Like I said, maybe it was specifically this book, but I’m going to give her books a try again having bought ‘Halloween Party’ Hopefully I won’t figure out the murderer this time.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely adored this book!

I bought the series when I finished season 2 of Anne with an E on Netflix. When people said it’s so much different than the books I didn’t realize just how much! Even having watched 2 seasons everything in the book was different, new, and exciting! It is such a heart warming story of friendship and family. There is a lot of hardship, clumsiness, goofiness, and whole lot of imagination!

I found it hard to put this book down and I absolutely cannot wait to dive into book 2! I’m so anxious to see what Anne is going to do with her life. She is such a special and unique girl and you root for her the whole way through. Also, I absolutely adored Gilbert Blythe—I mean it—I absolutely loved him!

This book is an absolute classic and I think everyone should give it a chance!

GODSGRAVE BY JAY KRISTOFF

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

FIVE OUT OF FIVE STARS

HOLY CRAP!!!!

I’m not sure if there is a book written by Kristoff that will disappointment me because so far every book has been filled with excitement and the most mind blowing plot twists.

I enjoyed this book a lot, I will say not as much as Nevernight, but I still loved it. I found this book hard to put down. We meet some new characters who are extremely lovable and we end up loving people we thought we hated. I found this book to be extra action packed so if you love fight scenes, you’ll love this. The romance or should I say the smut, is on point. I really enjoyed who Mia’s love interest was in this book although I was really rooting for her to get with Furian or Arkades.

I don’t know why but I really had a thing for Arkades in this book….

It’s filled with a lot of violence and I found the arena gladiator type fights to eventually grow a little…boring. But it’s the plot and the character arcs that kept you wanting more.

In this book we find out things about Mia’s past that left my jaw dropped. Like I’ve said in many reviews for Kristoff before—he is the master of plot twists.

The beginning of this book was pretty slow going, at least for me it was, I had trouble keeping interest. It starts in one place and time but also has flashes to the past of how she got to where she is. In the beginning we have a steamy (almost) threesome scene. Which, yes, was called for and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Things really picked up when Mia is bought by Leona…and that’s all I have to say about that.

Also, the very last page of this book had me screaming as a certain beloved character of mine makes an appearance *swooning*

I can’t wait for Darkdawn!!! Seriously…can September come any sooner??

About me…

Some of you may know me from my bookstagram @lovingcassian. For those of you that don’t, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Emmy and I’m 21 years old living in New York. I have my BA in psychology but I don’t exactly want to do anything with it. My dream is write! I am a self published author under the pseudonym E.M. Courier I write romance and fantasy books. I wish I could say I started reading from a young age but I would be both lying and telling the truth. Around 1st grade I became obsessed with the Junie B. Jones books, Dear Dumb Diary, and Nancy Drew, but that’s about it. It wasn’t until high school when I picked up Divergent by Veronica Roth that I fell in love with reading. That book prompted me to pick up Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas which made me fall in love with fantasy.

What you can expect from this blog are book reviews mainly of YA fantasy. My favorite books include

  • Throne of Glass
  • A Court of Throne and Roses
  • The Cruel Prince
  • The Bronze Horseman
  • Nevernight
  • Black Dagger Brotherhood series
  • A Darker Shade of Magic
  • Caraval

and my favorite authors include (usual auto-buys for me)

  • Sarah J Maas
  • VE Schwab
  • Jay Kristoff
  • JK Rowling
  • JR Ward

Expect to see romance reviews, when I’m not reading the typical fantasy book I like to relax with a good quick romance read.

My reviews are honest and I like to discuss characters I loved or didn’t love, parts that made me lose interest, parts that sparked my interest, and will probably include reasons why the book made me cry (I’m known for being emotional). I will try to steer away from spoilers but sometimes it’s hard to discuss what was right (or) wrong about a book without discussing spoilers. If that is the case I will put right before I spoil– *** SPOILER BEWARE *** so if you don’t want to be spoiled heed my warning!

Thank you for reading!

Reviews to come!

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