Reviews

Mini Review Monday: 5/29

Happy Memorial Day to my American friends and a Happy Monday to everyone else! I feel like I’ve fallen behind in all my bookish commitments but am extremely excited for June to get here! I know we bloggers have been moaning and groaning about the sheer size of our TBR for next month, but that just means that there are so many exciting books being published that we get to be a part of. My goal for the month of June is to catch up on ARCs, both paper copies and e-galleys, which will hopefully put me ahead of schedule and have me able to fit in more fun reads for my mini reviews. I was hoping to have more read by now, but today I only have 2 reviews for you, so enjoy the break! 😉 The first was a buddy read with fellow blogger Bentley at Book Bastion and the second was a NetGalley I requested ages ago. If you’ve read either of these I’d love to know your thoughts!

Book Title: Shadow and Bone
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Series: The Grisha #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance
Goodreads
5 STARS

Am I going to be crucified if I admit I may love this more than the Six of Crows duology? I think this may be due to the fact that I should have listened to everyone and started with these first. I was so confused initially in SoC that it took a lot longer than it should have for me to get sucked in. So far the grisha trilogy feels darker and more serious than SoC as well. I’m really liking Alina more than I have liked other female leads of late and was pleased this book didn’t end with her being the weeping willow I’ve grown tired of. Don’t hate me, but I still ❤ THE DARKLING . Beard of Moses. All the heart eyes. I may have to just binge the rest of the series because I just gotta know what happens before I start searching for spoilers. I apologize for waiting so long to read these and not listening to the masses.

Book Title: It Started With Goodbye
Author: Christina June
Series: None
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads
3 STARS

This one’s a mini-review as I can’t seem to conjure up enough to write a fully fleshed wording of how I felt. I think this is mainly due to the fact that the story is fairly straight forward and I really don’t want to take anything away from the future reader who may want to go in blind. I think most readers are aware this is a form of a Cinderella/Fairy Tale retelling that simultaneously felt new and familiar. While I wasn’t blown away with the story, I highly respect how the author has created an age appropriate book in the YA realm amidst a sea of mature and graphic material that is being touted to a younger audience. This is the type of book I’d feel comfortable handing to the most conservative of teens and even a mature middle grade reader.

The story did feel a bit predictable, but I applaud the author for covering some tough topics while still keeping the overall feel of the story light and uplifting. Those readers who love extra cheese with their romantic tales will be head over heels for this one; I think my experience was more a case of being too old for the appropriate demographic that will enjoy this story. I was immediately drawn in by the cover though, and I feel like it was a read that was worthy of my time, just nothing memorable. I would, again, still highly recommend this to that younger audience that are in the intended reading range and I think this novel will resonate in a deeper way with those in a similar walk of life as our characters in ISWG.

*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my copy via NetGalley

10 thoughts on “Mini Review Monday: 5/29”

  1. I’m so glad you loved Shadow and Bone! I actually really liked Alina as well but most people didn’t, which I found odd. She’s incredibly balanced and feels real to me.
    The Darkling was a great character, one of the best villains ever. He’s got so many layers, it’s impossible to tell what’s going through his mind!
    Awesome post, Chelsea! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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