Mini Reviews – The Thief + A Darker Shade of Magic + Language of Thorns

Mini Reviews

Mini Reviews!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a review on here, and I had too many I wanted to post, and I couldn’t choose soooo…. Mini reviews it is! And umm… I think I’m capable of making these mini, and not ridiculously long…

These are all books I’ve read in the past week or so, and they were all wonderful! So these will hopefully be semi-coherent reviews, and not just a big mess of screeching and squealing… Hopefully.

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The Thief

by Megan Whalen Turner

Rating: 4 stars

I really, really enjoyed this book!

I fell head over heels in love with these characters!
It took me a while to warm up to them. At first I just thought they were pretty bland. And then at some point I realized that was no longer true, and I was completely in love with them.
Gen was a really likeable MC. I mean, at first I thought he was an arrogant whiny brat, and to be honest that description still fits fairly well, but by the end it’s really hard not to like him anyway.
The side characters were amazing too! All of them were so well developed, and I loved them so much!

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And the world was fascinating. It was a fairly unique world, and if I’m not mistaken it was somewhat inspired by Greece. Not culturally perhaps, but it was just little things such as the food, that were constantly putting me in mind of Greece.
Maybe I’m completely wrong, and it wasn’t at all Greece-inspired, but either way, I really liked the world, and thought it was developed quite well. And I should just shut up now… Instead of rambling on about Greece and proving that I have no idea what I’m talking about…

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My only problem with this book was the plot. It was literally the most predictable thing I’ve ever read. While I didn’t quite predict every plot twist, I did see a couple of them coming from miles away, and the others simply weren’t surprising. At all. I mean not even slightly. It was just like, “Yep, that happened. Why am I not surprised?”
Although I admit, it did make the plot “twists” pretty funny, so… At least I got a good laugh out of them.

This was definitely a very enjoyable read, and I would totally recommend it.

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A Darker Shade of Magic

by V. E. Schwab

Rating: 5 stars

How was this book so good? How is it even possible to write a book this good? And why did I wait so long to read this?! Okay, I actually know the answer to that one.. It was marketed as adult, and that was scary. But honestly, I knew I would love this, so I was just being silly. And I do think I was also just as scared of the heartbreak that I still suspect this series will bring.

But seriously, this book is SO good! I won’t say that I fell in love with it from the first sentence… That would be wrong, the first sentence was good, but I didn’t quite fall in love. No that honour goes to the second sentence. Because while I can’t say that the first one hooked me all that much, by the time I’d finished reading the second sentence I knew I was going to love this book. No scratch that. By the time I’d finished reading the second sentence I did love this book.

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I literally can’t find anything about this book I didn’t like. It was just too perfect.

I love the writing. I didn’t love Schwab’s writing style as much in Monsters of Verity, but for some reason it was different here. In A Darker Shade of Magic the writing was perfect. I can’t decide whether the style was different in this one, or whether it fit this book better, or if I just like it more now, but whatever it is, I adored the writing in this!

The plot is intense and twisty and incredibly well thought out. It’s never slow. Never boring. It had me on the edge of my seat constantly, needing desperately to know what was going to happen next.

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I also love the world. Er… Worlds. Grey London isn’t really anything special, but I sort of love books set in historical England, so honestly I liked even Grey London. White London was creepy in the very best way, and I really enjoyed the few glimpses of it we got. And then there was Red London. Can I please live in Red London? I mean, maybe not during the events of the book, but before or after? When it’s peaceful? Please? I really loved Red London, can you tell? It was so unique and magical, and OHMYGOODNESSILOVEITSOMUCH!!! Can I at least visit Red London? Pleasepleaseplease?

And actual worlds aside, I love all the other aspects of the world building! The magic is fascinating, and so well developed! The Antari are so cool! And while elemental magic isn’t exactly original, this is a fresh new take on it, and it’s fascinating! I love the politics within the worlds, and the politics between the worlds, and every aspect of these words really!

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The characters are absolute perfection! ALL of them.

  • Kell is one of the best main characters I’ve read for a while. He’s well developed. He’s a good person, and he always tries to do the best he can. But he’s also very flawed. He makes mistakes. BIG mistakes. He’s very human. He longs to be loved. To belong. He’ll do anything for the people he loves. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make mistakes that put them in danger. Mistakes that hurt them. He feels so real, and he suffers so much, and I JUST WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY!!!
  • Lila is so sassy and awesome! I love her so much. I mean, what’s not to like? She’s a sassy pirate girl who manages to rob Kell and then convince him to bring her to another world. And yes, he wasn’t exactly in great shape at that point, but seeing as he’s one of the most powerful magicians of his time, that’s still pretty darn impressive.
  • Rhy. Rhy is my darling. I love Rhy with all my heart! From pretty much the first scene he showed up, I knew I was going to love him! He isn’t actually in this book much, but something about him just captured my heart.
  • Holland is creepy and villainous, but I felt incredibly sorry for him, and honestly I’m still holding out hope that he’ll turn out to be a good character. Even if he doesn’t… well, I still sort of like him.
  • The Dane twins were also creepy and villainous. Unlike Holland however, there is absolutely no redeeming them. They were just plain evil. They maybe could have been a tiny bit more three dimensional, but honestly they don’t really need to be. What incredibly creepy villains.

Overall? This book is pure perfection! If you haven’t read it yet what are you even doing?!?! This series is an absolute must read if you even remotely like fantasy. It’s so amazing!

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The Language of Thorns

by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: 5 stars

SO BEAUTIFUL!! That is all. Bye.

No, I do have a lot more to say about this book, although it all probably could be summed up by the word ‘Beautiful’. Because ever aspect of this book is beautiful. The cover is gorgeous, the writing is even more gorgeous, and the illustrations are the most gorgeous of all. SO PRETTY!

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When I was first starting this book I was a little dubious… I mean, it’s Leigh Bardugo, so I knew it couldn’t be awful, but because they’re short stories they lack a lot of the character development that made me so love her other books. Because they’re fairytales they lack the sassy banter that made Six of Crows a favourite. But I shouldn’t have worried. Although they lack those things, the fairytale style of them gives her beautiful writing a chance to shine. And it more than made up for the fact that they didn’t have witty banter.

And the character development was actually really good for such short stories. Leigh Bardugo has a real talent for writing characters, and it shows here as just much as it does in her full length books. The fact that she can write thoroughly well developed characters in as little as fifty pages is pretty darn impressive!

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Also the art is GORGEOUS! I love it with all my heart! Love love love it! I have a very strict rule for myself. I buy books new ONLY if I haven’t already read them. If I want to add something I’ve already read I to my collection it can wait until I find it used. I’ve already decided I’m breaking that rule on this book. I simply can’t bear to return it to the library without the knowledge that I’ll be adding it to my collection at some point in the future, and I don’t want it even the slightest bit damaged. I NEVER break this rule. Never. Until I start making some money I’m simply too broke to even want to spend my money on books I’ve already read, and can always access again, when I could be buying books that I haven’t read, most likely that my library doesn’t have. But I’m breaking it for this book.

Because THE ART!!! I LOVE the art style, and OH MY GOODNESS THE PICTURES ARE JUST SO PRETTY!!!

Ulla and Signy Language of Thorns Nutcracker

So pretty, right?

Pretty Ocean Kiss

I think this one might be my favourite.

Ayama and Prince

Ooh, no maybe this one’s my favourite…!

Sea Witch

Ooh, no maybe this one! Why am I even trying to decide? They’re all so beautiful!

Anyways, this book is an absolute must read for all Leigh Bardugo fans, or even people who vaguely sorta liked her books. So go read it! What are you waiting for?! Read it.

Have you read any of these books? Did you like them? Do you plan to read any of them? What was the last book you read with illustrations? Aren’t these ones so pretty?

4 Comments »

  1. I haven’t read any of those yet, although I do have six of crows out from the library! They all sound really good! (And that art is pretty!!) Now I’ll have to read them…😄

    Like

    • Ooh yes, I loved that one! I think the first one about the girl and the beast prince guy was probably my favourite, but they were all so good!

      Like

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