2019 Challenges

I'm attempting a number of challenges this year! I took the last year off of pretty much all challenges besides the Goodreads challenge because over half of the year was an unexpected hiatus.

Runs January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019. Run by HotListens and Caffeinated Reviewer.

Challenge Details

• Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
• ANY genres count.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
• You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Facebook, LibraryThing, etc.
• If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweeting about the challenge.
• Updates plus a giveaway will be posted twice during the year. The first update will be June 30, 2019, and the last update will take place on December 15, 2019.

Achievement Levels

Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5

Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10

Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15

Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20

Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30

My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+

Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+

The challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2019. Run by It Starts at Midnight and Feed Your Fiction Addiction.

Challenge Details

• Please link back to both challenge hosts and include the challenge button in your sign-up posts.
• The challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2019. Sign-ups will remain open through December 31st, 2019. (So, you can sign up all year long! Come join us!)
• Share it! The more people we get to participate in this, the more awesome discussions we can all be a part of and the more fun it will be! So, invite your friends to join us!
• Discussions can be about whatever you want as long as it’s relevant to books or book blogging (no discussions about things that are completely off-topic like travel or fashion, etc). They can also be about you personally if it’s a get-to-know-you type post.
• On the 1st of every month, a link-up will go up on both Feed Your Fiction Addiction and It Starts at Midnight where you’ll leave your links for that month’s discussions. Every month, we’ll update this 2019 Book Blog Challenge Page with the links to that month’s Challenge linky–so you’ll always know where to find the latest link-up!
• There will also be monthly giveaways, so make sure you check in!
• Every month, we’ll feature our favorite posts from one challenge participant. There will be extra options in the Rafflecopter for commenting on posts by our featured blogger.
• Use the hashtag #LetsDiscuss2019 to share your progress and connect with other participants on Twitter.
• Have questions? Feel free to ask in the comments!

Achievement Levels

Discussion Dabbler: 1-10

Creative Conversationalist: 11-20

Chatty Kathy: 21-30

Terrifically Talkative: 31-40

Gift of the Gab: 41+ 

Runs January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019. Run by Cornerfolds. 

Challenge Details

• Books must be read and reviewed in 2019. (You don't have to review books to count towards your goal, but you do have to review them if you want them to count as giveaway entries.)
• Audiobooks, e-books, re-reads, short stories, novellas, and graphic novels all count, and you can read adult, YA, and middle grade books for this challenge.
• It's also totally fine to use books from this challenge to fulfill other reading challenges and vice versa.
• ALL retellings count!
• You don't have to be a book blogger to participate! You can link up and track your progress on Goodreads, Instagram, Youtube, or wherever you share books!
• Sign up below with your post, shelf, etc. and leave a comment letting me know what your personal goal is.
• Link up your reviews each quarter on the post provided! (Bookmark this page to make sure you don't miss a link-up!)

Achievement Levels 

Silent Assassin: 1-5 Retellings
Warrior Princess: 6-10 Retellings
Elemental Witch: 11-15 Retellings
High Fae: 16-20 Retellings
Fairest of them All: 21-25+ Retellings

The challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2019. Run by Novel Knight.

Challenge Details

• this challenge focuses on backlist books, that aren't new releases, of which there are many that I need to read
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Achievement Levels

• Hmm so there isn't really an achievement list, but I'll be trying to follow along the with the bingo pages. 
• My ever-updating list of books for this challenge can be found on my Goodreads

Runs January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019. Run by A Dance with Books.

Challenge Details

• This reading challenge consists of 3 sections. Fantasy, Sci-Fi and General for a total of 52 prompts which comes down to about 1 book a week.
• With each section, one Double-Up is allowed. (1 book for 2 prompts.) 
• In the general sections both fantasy and sci-fi books can be used, but not other genres.
• Graphic novels, comics, audiobooks and novella’s are allowed. It is all reading in my book.
• Rereads count
• You can move the books around throughout the year if things fit better elsewhere and all.

Achievement Levels 

I'll be working my way through at least one bingo card, and hopefully all three sections! 

The challenge runs from January 1st until December 31st, 2019. Run by  Lexxie and Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworkms.

Challenge Details

• Books have to be released and reviewed in 2019.
• Other challenges can be used as well, if you are participating in the Netgalley / Edelweiss challenge or in the COYER challenge, books can count towards more than one challenge, as long as the ones you use for the 2018 New Release Reading Challenge qualify to the other rules.
• The minimum length for a book to qualify is 100 pages, it can be in any format though, physical, e-book, ARC or audiobook.
• The New Release Challenge is open from January 1st through December 31st 2019, and sign-ups are open until September 1st 2019.
• You don’t have to be a blogger to participate, you can link to your review on Goodreads or Booklikes instead – so don’t be shy!
• If you want to spread the love, please use #2019NewReleaseChallenge on Twitter

Achievement Levels

1-30 books per year – New Release Newbie

31-60 books per year – New Release Pro

61-100 books per year – New Release Veteran

101-200 books per year – New Release Enthusiast

200+ books per year – New Release Obsessed

I should probably do some sort of challenge or what-have-you for Instagram in order to make me actually use Instagram this year, so if anyone has recommendations for that, let me know!

Reread Challenge: The Supernaturalist

WHEN I First Read

I read this right after I finished all available Artemis Fowl books and was desperate for more of Eoin Colfer's writing. It's my second favourite from Eoin Colfer, after the Artemis Fowl series.

WHAT I Remember

I remember the general story, and some vivid memories of specific scenes (the satelite scene, the end scene). I also remember wondering why on Earth we didn't get a sequel. I would still dearly love to revisit this world and it's inhabitants.

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

My library has it available in audiobook. While waiting for the rest of the Artemis Fowl series became available, I listed to this one.

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I still really like it. It isn't as strong as Artemis Fowl, in my opinion. The plot and action isn't quite as tight. I don't like the dialogue as much, but there's something about Eoin Colfer's science fiction that's really excellent.

The Supernaturalist is also a bit grimmer in my eyes than Artemis Fowl is. Colfer is pretty good at bittersweet endings, but I think the end of The Supernaturalist is darker than the end of Artemis Fowl, not helped by the fact that it doesn't really feel finished. The Supernaturalist reads more like the begining of a series than a standalone. Also I don't think I'm totally over what happened to Stefan... he ends up being a bit of a tragic hero, doesn't he?

Basically the end verdict is "still pretty great, 10/10 would read more of this story."

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Probably at some point. I think I'll always feel a twinge of regret that this book is the only one I'll see with these characters, though.

Review: The Star-Touched Queen

Title: The Star-Touched Queen
Author: Roshani Chokshi
Series: The Star-Touched Queen
Volume: 1
Genre: Fantasy
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: Cursed with a horoscope promising a marriage full of death and destruction, Maya is content to resign herself to life as a scholar. Thanks to her horoscope, she is blamed for anything that goes wrong. However, when her father decides to try and marry her off to quell outside rebellions, she finds herself married to Amar and queen of Akaran. But both Amar and Akarnan have secrets, and Maya begins to suspect that her life is in danger and must figure out the truth on her own.

Out of Ten: 6/10

Review at a Glance: A fantasy debut with a great concept that faltered a bit on execution.

Review: This was one of my most anticipated debut novels of the year, and overall I enjoyed it! While I didn't love it, it was still both an interesting concept and fairly well executed. The story pulled me in initially, but stumbled a bit as the story continued.

Maya's horoscope means that she is treated terribly by the women in her father's harem, where she lives and is blamed for every bad thing that happens- from small injuries to stillborn children. Maya basically navigates from difficult situation "people in the place I live routinely tell me to go die" to difficult situation "my father just told me he's planning to marry me off to a stranger" to difficult situation "I'm now the queen of a magical kingdom where nobody tells me anything about anything." For so much of the book it felt like things were happening to her, as opposed to her being an active participant in making them happen. Which was weird because she did do things, but there's something about the writing that feels kind passive.

I think that was one of the things that stopped me from all-out loving this one. It kept me from really being involved in the story. While I enjoyed reading about Maya's journey, I wasn't fully engaged in it. The romance between Maya and Amar felt kind of rushed as I read it. I also found all the secrets being kept from Maya frustrating. I know that, within the story, there was a magical reason, but from a storytelling perspective it felt a little contrived.

The plot itself was a great way to showcase a very interesting world- one that is both beautiful and imaginative. While this book did struggle in some places, I did overall enjoy the story, and I'm still looking forward to exploring this world more in the next book.

Review: Love, Lies, and Spies

Title: Love, Lies and Spies
Author: Cindy Anstey
Genre: Historical fiction, Romance
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: All Juliana Telford wants while in London is to get the scientific research she and her father have been working on published. She is determined to get that done, and have an otherwise completely uneventful season before returning to her father in their country home. This plan is interrupted by a chance encounter (one where she was stranded on the side of a cliff) with Spencer Northam. Unbeknownst to Juliana, he has is own reasons for being in London- he's working as an Agent for the War Office, and the family she's staying with are under suspicion.

Out of Ten: 5/10

Review at a Glance: This novel focused mostly on a romance that I just wasn't feeling, and would have benefited from a change in pacing.

Review: I think this novel was okay for what it was, and the issue is that it just wasn't what I was hoping it would be. You may have noticed that I don't generally read stories that are just romance. I confess I was hoping for explosions. And also lady scientists. And this book didn't really deliver on those fronts.

I didn't really feel like either of the main characters were particularly memorable. It wasn't that I disliked them, but I wasn't terribly invested in the characters, or their romance. And since this story was entirely romance, that was a biiiiiit of a problem. They didn't really have any chemistry, I suppose? They didn't really have the characteristics that I like in my fictional pairings. I think I would have been more invested in the relationship if I'd been more invested in them as individuals. (Is this a veiled complaint of NOT ENOUGH LADY SCIENTISTING? Maybe.)

The writing was just kind of "meh." There were certain word that were used excessively, and I found that really getting on my nerves. (The overuse of the word "pure" for one thing kind of made me want to scream.) Otherwise this writing was just sort of flat, and the dialogue suffered for that. The plot meandered somewhat- it was fairly simple, and didn't move anywhere with much urgency.

Overall, this novel just didn't have what I was looking for. It was definitely a fluffy romance, but didn't have the kind of character depth and writing that I would have liked to see.

P.S. Also the lack of an Oxford comma in the title dove me to distraction.

Review: Rebel of the Sands

Title: Rebel of the Sands
Series: Rebel of the Sands
Volume: 1
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: Mar. 8, 2016
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: Sharpshooter Amani is desperate to get out of her dead-end desert town. When she meets Jin, a foreigner passing through, she seizes an opportunity for escape. However, escaping her family proves more difficult than expected, and she's finds herself in a situation beyond imagining.

Out of Ten: 7/10

Review at a Glance: A quick, fun fantasy debut set in a magical desert.

Review: Wow, I should not have put of review this one for so long. I still remember stuff, but I don't think I'm going to really communicate the full impact of the book. This is what happens when I read during exams. I picked this one up during an author event that ACTUALLY CAME TO CANADA.

I really enjoyed this one. It wasn't a particularly heavy read, it was overall just a fun fantasy. Amani was a very determined, and such a resourceful character, and she also has her flaws. She makes impulsive decisions, and she has a temper that occasionally gets the better or her. Jin was... sort of flat in the beginning, and I still feel like he's not completely formed as a character. Their relationship felt a little abrupt, but I also think it has potential to grow as the story progresses (this is a series).

I seem to enjoy fantasy novels set in the desert. Granted, I haven't read that many, partly because there really aren't that many. A place as hostile as the desert opens up a whole bunch of new challenges, and novels set there also draw on different cultures for inspiration. There's a lot of potential there, and I'm delighted to see it being explored!

The magic system is interesting. It's familiar somehow, but I'm not quite sure how. I get the sense that there is going to be bigger magic as the series continues.

Overall, this was a fun read, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

Review: A Study in Charlotte

Title: A Study in Charlotte
Author: Brittany Cavallaro
Series: Charlotte Holmes
Volume: 1
Genre: Mystery
Goodreads

A Quick Introduction: When Jamie Watson ends at Sherringford prep school, the only thing he's looking forward to is meeting Charlotte Holmes, hoping that they'll get along as well as their great-great-great grandfathers, the famous John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. When a student who both Jamie and Charlotte have reason to want hurt dies under mysterious circumstances, they agree to team up and figure out who really is to blame.

Out of Ten: 7/10

Review at a Glance: An enjoyable Sherlock Holmes tribute debut featuring some interesting and complicated characters.

Review: At this point, reading various Sherlock Holmes retellings, tributes, and spin-offs has just become a thing I do, with very mixed results. This one surprised me by falling more toward the "I liked it" end of the spectrum than the "well that wasted hours of my life" end. Which was nice.

This is a really quick read. Once I got invested, I flew through it. The story itself is a fast-paced mystery, set at a boarding school. While components were a little unbelievable, at times, the overall plot was still enjoyable.

Jamie and Charlotte have an interesting dynamic - they both expect a lot from each other when they first meet based on their legacies, and they have to get to know each beyond those. They definitely have an immediate connection, as well as a dynamic one that changes over time. I'm interested in seeing what their dynamic settles into.

This novel does touch on some more serious concepts (sexual assault and substance abuse), which I am assuming will be touched on in the next two books in the trilogy, and I'm hoping they'll be handled alright. Overall, I'm quite looking forward to the sequel.

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If you're looking for other YA mysteries featuring teens solving crimes, using their talents of observations.

Mini-Reviews: The Slightly Belated ARC Review Edition

"Slightly."

Title: Into the Dim

Author: Janet B. Taylor

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Out of Ten: 4/10

Review: I actually started reading the eARC of this one totally on time. Then my computer corrupted the file I had on there and I had to wait until I could borrow my mother's iPad, to which I had sent a Kindle copy of the eARC, in order to finish it, and that is why this is so late. (Advice: always send copies of everything to at least two different places.)

I wasn't terribly impressed with this book. I am a big fan of time travel, but I have come to realise that I am also a VERY PICKY fan of time travel. And this one just missed the mark for me. The pacing was wonky, and I truly didn't enjoy the set-up of the novel, which felt forced. It leaned too heavily on some tired tropes, and romance was more frustrating than anything. While it was clear that aspects of the story had been researched fairly well, the setting wasn't particularly vivid, and I really wasn't clear on how a lot of aspects of the time travel were meant to work.

I don't think I'll be continuing the series, this one overall just wasn't for me.

Title: Tell the Wind and Fire

Author: Sarah Rees Brennan

Release Date: April 5, 2016 (Today!!)

Out of Ten: 7/10

Review: This was a weird book for me to rate, because my reading experience was a bit all over the place. I didn't like it as much as I enjoyed the books from The Lynburn Legacy, but, since those hold a special place in my heart, that isn't really a comparison. I think part of it is that Sarah Rees Brennan's storytelling style isn't quite as well suited to first person narration as it is to third, but she still manages to create a cast of characters that are interesting (and sometimes at least a little terrible as people). (One bone to pick: do not kiss people who are not also into kissing you. Just saying.) The nature of the magic system was pretty simple, but served its purpose. 

Confession: I've never read A Tale of Two Cities. Along with The Giver, it seems to be one of those books that everyone else had to read for school, but I never did. So I can't really tell you how it compares, I only know the shape of the story in the original. That said, I overall enjoyed the plot, though it was a fairly straight forward one (despite the identity-based chaos). I quite enjoyed this one, especially toward the end- the last 70-or-so pages especially... hurrah for examinations of human nature and also sadness! 

I might actually write a complete review on this one, but with exams coming up I'm not sure how my next few weeks will look.

Review: Gambit

Title: Gambit
Author: C. L. Denault
Series: The Prodigy Chronicles
Volume: 1
Genre: Post-apocalyptic

A Quick Introduction: In a world where power is in your genes, Willow Kent has always expected to hide her ability for fear of being taken from her family to one of the Core cities. Then, just as she is coming into her power, revelations about her parentage turn her world upside-down. Suddenly she finds herself adrift in an unfamiliar city, with a family she's never known, with a new destiny and set of expectations upon her.

Out of Ten: 3/10

Review at a Glance: This fairly formulaic post-apocalyptic novel had a rather disturbing romance which destroyed any enjoyment I might have had.

Review: I've discovered the number one way to take a "well it was okay..." rating down to a "please let's never do that again" rating for me! The secret ingredient is to at a disturbingly unbalanced relationship! Especially when you season it with actual physical violence! Yep!

Okay, I'll stop with the sarcastic exclamations now. Basically, this book started off fine. A bit formulaic, but fine. I can do formulaic! I've been known to actually enjoy formulaic if I'm in the mood and the writing's good. The book opens with Willow on the verge of developing her gift (which come in around sixteen). Though the novel says that there is a scientific reason for all the gifts, it is, for all intents and purpose, essentially magical in nature.Willow was a fairly typical heroine, but none the less one that I was getting comfortable reading. She's quick-tempered, confident, and has ambitions far beyond working the tavern run by her family.

The setting was fairly typical of this sort of post-apocalyptic novel- the privileged living in glittering cities, the ungifted generally living in poverty outside. I am curious about how the wars that led to this world happened... were they civil wars between prodigies and normal humans?

So writing was fine, the story was fine, I was just beginning to enjoy myself, when it happen. It being the relationship which I was trying through shear force of will to ignore the signs of until I could not deny that it was happening anymore. And then my enjoyment rapidly decline until the point I was considering just not finishing the book. Because this relationship handled a power-imbalance between two characters very poorly, and basically romanticized a pretty worrying dynamic.

Overall, this book really wasn't for me. Relationship dynamics are something that can really make or break a book for me... and this one fell on the "break" side of that line rather spectacularly.

2016 Challenges

I'm a huge fantasty reader already, but I figured it would still be fun to challenge myself. This year I'm going to try and read 40 books that are fantasy in some way. The Flights of Fantasy challenge is hosted by Alexa Loves Books and Hello, Chelly.

The Re-Read Challenge, hosted by Belle of the Literati.  I took part in this one last year, and it was great (I reread kind of obsessively anyway, but, again, it was kind of fun to incorporate a challenge into it). Last year I set a goal of 10 books, which I exceeded. I'm still going to keep 10 books as my goal for this year.

I've challenged myself to read 100 books again for the Goodreads challenge. It's the same number I chose last year, though I didn't quite meet it, I still believe it's completely withing my abilities- I just wasn't completely focused last year.

I took a year off of The Debut Author Challenge, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, but I actually found I kind of missed it, so I'm giving it a try again this year.

Reread Challenge: Harry Potter

WHEN I First Read

It was sixty million years ago, unfamiliar creatures roamed the Earth... and... Okay, all joking aside, I had the first book read to me by my parents when I was eight or nine.

WHAT I Remember

Okay, so I remember almost everything because these books are ones that I reread often.

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

I reread them a while every year or so for a bit, though my interest in doing that is cooling. I still really love the books, though.

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I have done this over the course the past few months, but I figured that it would be more fun to post about the whole series. I'm still working my way though Deathly Hallows, actually, but now this post is hanging over my head.

I am still amazed by how intricately structured the foreshadowing and world of Harry Potter are. I think the way J. K. Rowling created her characters was amazing, because they are both fantastical characters and incredibly real people. Their vividness is breathtaking, and I found myself adoring the world more in all of its complexities.

I'm also just realising how incredibly screwed up the wizarding world is. It has all of the flaws that our world does, and it a  post-war society. They've got so many things that are terrible from the outside, but normalized within the world to such and extent that the reader accepts them, or almost does. 

Umbridge is terrible. I find that every time I read these books. There are plenty of wonderful analyses of the reason that people have such a repulsed response to her, and I think that they're spot on in saying that everyone has had an experience with someone like Umbridge. Voldemort is incredibly evil, of course, but most of us haven't met someone who commits mass genocide. But we've all met someone who condescends, someone in authority who will tell you that you're wrong about something you know to be true, someone with that special kind of malicousness that we see in Umbridge. Everyone has had an experience like that.

Also, I'm at the point now of "they're all so young!" Lily and James were so young- I have friends the same age as they were when they died. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all so young to be going through what they did. It just really hit me. 

So these books are still a really fun, interesting read! It's always going to be a part of my life, and I really enjoy revisiting it.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Definitely. I've reread it before, I will reread it again. It is inevitable.

Re-read Challenge: May Re-reads

WHEN I First Read

I read Shadow and Bone in February of 2013, Siege and Storm in July of 2013, and  Ruin and Rising when it came out.

WHAT I Remember

I remembered a lot of the broader details, but not the finer points of the story. 

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

There was a read-a-long, and I figured, why not, especially with Six of Crows coming out later this year.

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I still really like this trilogy. These books are enjoyable in no small part because of the cast. Alina isn't always likable, but she is always understandable- I see where her choices come from, even if I don't agree with them, and she goes through an interesting arc over the course of the trilogy. It was interesting seeing all the foreshadowing that Leigh Bardugo slipped in, now that I knew where the story was going. Overall, I still really enjoyed reading this, and I'm definitely looking forward to revisiting this world when Six of Crows is released. Here are a few more of my thoughts from the re-read on Tumblr.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Definitely. I'm collected the paperbacks, I'm just waiting for Ruin and Rising to come out.

Re-read Challenge: Across a Star-Swept Sea

WHEN I First Read

I  read and reviewed this March of 2014.

WHAT I Remember

I think I've read this again since reading it the first time. I remember most of the plot, including a lot of the finer details. One might say that I didn't need to reread it, but I wanted to back into the world. I remember hating the use of the word spy because it seemed weird in that context- what Persis does is really closer to vigilantism than spying, I think. It isn't primarily information she traffics in, after all. Otherwise I really like it.

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

Remeber how I reread For Darkness Shows the Stars sort of on a whim? It made me really want to reread this one too.

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I wish more than ever for another retelling set in this world. I still really enjoyed reading this, despite the fact that the word spy still didn't feel quite right. (My mental word-replacer would probably have it switched to vigilante... while it isn't the perfect word, it is better). Anyway, my inner editor aside, I still quite enjoyed this.

Part of it is that this story plays on something pretty awful: people willing destroy other's minds as a form of punishment. This just gets to me a little, as does Persis's mother's condition (which is essentially an aggressive form of early-onset dementia) and Persis's own fears regarding her own mind. They're something that feel very real to me, on a personal level.

I think I was in an analysis-y sort of mood when I read this, because another thing that I noticed was the idea of limitations, and working within and against them. Persis uses her society's expectations of her limitations to her advantage: her people wouldn't expect a woman to be capable of what she does as The Wild Poppy, and those on the neighbouring island wouldn't expect an aristocrat to be capable of it. It also means that Persis is going to have to carve out at space for herself, as herself in her world, because she doesn't fit them, and nor do a lot of others. Justen spends a lot of time realising his own limitations, as well as thinking about the limitations of others (like thinking how Ro has grown within hers). 

Anyway, point being, I still really liked the book. There are things that I wished for more of, like more information about the technologies, but I found it clearer this time around than I did my first time reading it.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Yep. I'll eventually get a copy of my own... I just haven't gotten to it quite yet.

Re-read Challenge: March Re-read Recap

I didn't intend to reread more than one book in March... but it happened. Naturally. I've mentioned before that I am an obsessive re-reader, and I wasn't lying.

 For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

After finishing For Darkness Shows the Stars, I found that I wanted to pick up Across a Star-Swept Sea again as well, so that will be happening in the near future.

Re-read Challenge: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown

WHEN I First Read

I first read this in January of last year? (Apparently, it feels like it has been longer).

WHAT I Remember

I remembered the general concept of the story (the vampire-disease, the Coldtowns). I roughly recalled the characters and the plot. I still recalled the feeling of the novel  as well.

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

I've been on a bit of a Holly Black kick this year... I read and really enjoyed The Darkest Part of the Forest, and finally got around to The Spiderwick Chronicles (I have a beautiful bind-up edition). So I just decided on a whim to reread it while I was browsing at the library. As one does.

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

This book was more intense for me this time. I mentioned the feeling book before, and it hit me harder this time. There's a feeling of slow decay to the entire world, which I find delightful (apparently I have a thing for it). All of the  Holly Black books that I've read have an almost Gothic feel to them, and I really like that.

I don't recall noticing it last time I read it, but this book is GORY. Now, gore doesn't bother me, but if its something that squicks you out, I would probably give this book a pass. For me, it made the reading experience more vivid. Overall I found myself really enjoying reading it again. It has a strange sort of style, which I really enjoyed reading.

"...the world I remade with my terrible mercy."

 Random quote that I bookmarked while reading... the downside of mercy plays a interesting role in this book, and morality is very grey thing. I find I'm never quite sure what I would prefer to happen in the end, for Tana. I know what I would choose, but for her, I don't know.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Yes, probably eventually. I feel like I almost always say that, don't I? I'm kind of a chronic re-reader.

Re-Read Challenge: For Darkness Shows the Stars

WHEN I First Read

I  read and reviewed this December of 2013.

WHAT I Remember

I was staying at a family member's cottage with my immediate family and some cousins when I read this, and I was not in a people-seeing mood, so I spent the better part of three days reading and rereading this book. (I know, I know, that wasn't what was meant by this question).

I remember this one quite well, plot-wise, because it is a fairly simple plot. What made it for me then were the characters (and specifically Elliot, the main character).

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

I liked this book so much the first time, and finally order my own copy from Book Outlet. I wanted to break it in.

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I liked it just as much the first time. Elliot remains a character that I enjoy. I like her practicality and sense of duty. She's got a lot of good character traits, but certainly flaws as well. She's just one of those characters that I empathise with.

I've always dislike this cover and how this book was packaged, because a) whitewashed cover and b) it makes it sound like the romance is the only thing going on, which it isn't. There's class struggle, there's Elliot desperately trying to keep the her family's estate together (behind her father's back), and conflict of progress vs. tradition. It isn't that I have an issue with romance, it just isn't all that is going on in this book. Elliot spends a lot of the book struggling with a lot of things, and her relationship with Kai is only one of them. She was definitely the strongest part of the book for me, and is still someone who I connected to pretty quickly.

Weirdly, I found that I followed Kai's character more than I did the first time I read it... I don't know how to put it. Just I was more aware that he was actually a character on his own who was wandering around doing things... he didn't just disappear when he wasn't in a scene. 

The Reduction was still something that seemed a little vague to me, simply because it wasn't explained (it wouldn't really have made sense for it to be explain, seeing how technologically backward the Luddites are, but still). I'm still trying to picture Elliot making transgenic wheat... I would love to see some more of that (for me, trying to wrap my head around that was the hardest part to really. There was also the fact that compasses don't work anymore, which suggests that, during the time of the story, Earth was going through a pole-reversal event, which could throw a lot off. (Sorry, science student tangent...)

In the end, I would love it if there were more than two retellings in this world. I would probably read another four, if offered.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Yes, definitely at some point. I mean, I own it now, too, so probably randomly, on impulse (that's usually how my rereads happen to be honest). Also, I wasn't planning to reread Across a Star-Swept Sea, but now I kind of want to. Maybe that will be my next reread?

The Re-Read Challenge: Vessel

First re-read completed for The Re-Read Challenge! Which I missed the link-up for in January, because I'm like that with my  2015 challenges post.

WHEN I First Read

I actually reviewed this two years ago.(I really hope my reviewing style has improved since then...) 

WHAT I Remember

I remember being drawn to the world of the story more than anything. I picked it up from my local library, back when I was still working my way though their collection (now I've read just about all the YA that they have which sounds remotely appealing to me). Vessel is set in a desert, and its about a girl who is to be a sacrifice- giving her body to a god so that she may help the people of the desert survive the hostile environment. Except, of course, there's a complication- when the ceremony is conducted, the goddess doesn't come, leaving the vessel, Liyanna to be abandoned by her clan. It follows Liyanna's quest to find out what has become of her goddess.

WHY I Wanted to Re-Read

I really like the world and story the first time I read it, but by now couldn't remember the finer points of the story. 

HOW I Felt After Re-Reading

I like it just as much as the first time. I didn't remember everything, though I remembered the general shape of the story.

I focused more on Liyanna's character arc this time through, and I found her an enjoyable lead. She's brave,  very determined, which I like, and also very comfortable rising to what a situation demands, especially toward the end of the book. She's just great at rising to the occasion. Someone to use a knife? While she's not super-good at it, she'll be there. Need someone to work magic? She's working on it. Even if it is against the rules, someone has to do it or they'll all die in the desert. Someone to negotiate? She walks right into the enemy camp and demands an audience with the emperor. 

“You do realize that you are addressing the emperor of the Crescent Empire."
"And you are addressing a free woman of the desert. You are not my emperor. Therefore, I am your equal.”

I love books with an emphasis on stories, it gives such a great background to the cultures in the book. In this book, storytelling is often used to communicate another idea or to tell the reader (or other characters) something about a character.

I realised, when I got to it, that I had sort of forgotten the climax of the story and how exactly that came about, so that was enjoyable to rediscover.

For me one of the weaker points of the story was, both times, the romance. I didn't particularly feel much of anything for the romantic aspect of the story... it definitely wasn't my favourite aspect of the story. It was just sort of strangely told, I suppose? I liked how the other vessels grew on Liyanna, when she, in the beginning didn't like them much, and I wish that there was more of that.

This book very much feels like a story. Its something that I often find I like- books that read like stories. I don't know how to explain that. There's just a certain feel to some books that makes it feel like a story being told to you, and I often find that I really enjoy that.

WOULD I Re-Read Again

Probably at some point. I don't know when, but it is a book that I feel like I could read multiple times and still get something out of.