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★★★★☆ I received this ARC from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH This was actually really good, like wow Obligatory Summary Aurelia is a witch, and she is hated for it. All her life, she's been threatened because of her power, feared for her ability, and one day, just as she's to leave for her arranged marriage with her kingdom's enemy's heir, an assassination attempt almost kills her. Forced to flee her home, she is betrayed by her friends and has to make her way to Achleva, where an impostor has taken her place. There she meets new friends and confronts the new threat facing the kingdom: a wicked mage is destroying the magical wall that protects Achleva, one murder at a time. The strongest magic requires the greatest sacrifice...

★★★☆☆ I received this digital copy from Doubleday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change. Obligatory Summary Three sisters live alone with only their father and mother, cordoned off by the sea and by the rusting fence and the forest. Once, long ago, their home was a restorative retreat for ailing women seeking their special therapy--the water cure--that claimed to heal them of the wearies of a dying world. Now, they are all alone, with only each other as company, performing their water rituals in solitude. But their father, King disappears, seemingly dead and taken by the sea. And then, worst of all, three men emerge from the sea, and everything changes. The Writing and Worldbuilding Every time I think I am very lonely, it becomes bleaker and more true. You can think things into being. You can dwell them ...

★★★☆☆ Original rating: 5 stars Wow, this was way worse than I remembered it being. This series and this book hold a special place in my heart. It was the thing that got me back into reading, after essentially only reading assigned books during high school. It was fun and intense and I really liked it. That was 2 years ago and oh boy have things changed. Maybe I'm a new person. Maybe my 2 years of vigorous reading have altered my literary priorities. Whatever the reason, I found this to be very poorly written, with awkward pacing and inconsistent characterization. Clary's convictions and opinions fluctuate scene by scene; the only consistent idea she has is that Jace is hot. And speaking of Jace, his behavior makes absolutely no sense!! Their "love story" is built on him quoting Wikipedia and standing next to her. That's not romantic in the slightest. Isabelle's character felt contrived and like Clare was trying too hard to make ...

★★★★★ Madness. Monsters. A city full of death. Even if we survive this plunge, it’s hard to see a future. This re-read was utterly fantastic! I'm slowly losing my ability to read with my eyes and not just with my ears (bless and curse audiobooks!) but I could barely put this down, and I already knew what happens! There were a few parts, particularly at the beginning, that stretched my suspension of disbelief a little too far, and I still don't really care for Sprout, but this is definitely still a 5 star read. "People have pasts. You can’t be a person without one." R's journey through this is one of my favorite things I've ever read. It's paced so well (and having re-read it, foreshadowed like crazy in the best way possible!!!!). Something about Marion's writing just does it for me. His philosophical ramblings feel natural and are genuinely thought-provoking. I love everything about it. Everything on earth has meant something to...

★★★★☆ Hot Thanatos is an aesthetic I wholeheartedly stan Honestly, this wasn't nearly as good as the first one, and lacked that atmosphere I absolutely loved. Only about one character (*cough* hot Thanatos) had the non-human, morally dubious attitude I got from Boreas and fam. My biggest issue with this installment was the characters. Hazel was alright, but certain aspects of her character were way too similar to Piper, and Frank was almost exactly like Leo. And some aspects of his characterization made it clear Riordan was operating under false assumptions about non-white teenage life in the PNW. It was nice having Percy back, but the deus ex amnesia was pretty annoying. I loved the harpy, though. I was surprised that I didn't hate the Amazons as much as I remembered. The first time I read this, I was like 13 or so, and I would literally seethe with rage whenever I thought about them. Why was I so pissed off? I was really happy with the scenes in Por...

★★★☆☆ The world was dying, and death did not care who mourned. This was such a disappointment. I'd heard it wasn't as good as Cruel Beauty , which was one of my faves last year, but I didn't think it would be this... meh . I guess I should also say that I don't particularly care for Romeo and Juliet to begin with. The Writing and Worldbuilding The writing was okay. The dialogue felt unnatural for the most part; half direct Shakespeare quotes, half incongruously modern-sounding speech. Juliet's dialogue was particularly bad. Mostly because she was always saying things without emotion. So she basically never expressed any emotion that wasn't righteous indignation. But more on that in a bit. The two different plotlines worked for the most part, but for half the book, I didn't care about Paris's whatsoever while liking Paris himself, and was very intrigued by Runajo's but hated her guts. Paris's story got more inte...

★★★★★ Nothing is pointless, as long as one is alive. For being a grimdark fantasy novel, this was surprisingly optimistic. Well, if you can look past the whole "death and all demons" parts. Why we march and why we die, And what life means...it's all a lie. Death! Death! Death! Yeah, that kinda dampens the mood a little. I really enjoyed this. At first, the writing was somewhat difficult to get into, particularly the first chapter, but once I got into it, it flowed amazingly well and painted quite an enrapturing image. It was scenic and epic and I loved it entirely. (My only qualm with this being that Thalia's 1st person perspective every once in a while was jarring and didn't feel entirely necessary, but was well-written nonetheless.) Amrath and the lore was probably one of the coolest things I've ever read. This gave me the strongest Game of Thrones vibes in the world, mixed with a little bit of Six of Crows of all things...

★★★★☆ "There is more in you of good than you know [...] Some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." This was a fun adventure, and I really enjoyed it! While not my favorite children's fantasy, it was a fantastic introduction into Tolkien's world, and I am very excited to explore it more in his adult works. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★☆☆☆ This was one of the most mind-numbingly boring piece of "literature" I've ever read. Everything that was good about this series was stripped away, leaving only the obnoxious, ridiculous, and downright formulaic parts. Meet Rhys, the bad boy with a criminal past and tattoos, and hot white ex-boyfriend of the hot white girl. Said hot white girl is named Asha Grant, and she's a headstrong teenager (?) who somehow holds a leadership position despite having no qualifications. Don't worry about personality. They're sassy! That just about covers it, doesn't it? Sound familiar? That's because this is the third incarnation of Kady and Ezra, following Hana and Nik. In case you didn't already have it drilled into your thick skulls: HOT WHITE TEEN = GOOD, MOUSTACHE TWIRLING VILLAIN = BAD, AIDAN = THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THIS SERIES Now, perhaps for the sake of originality, our author duo decided to drop the insidious psychologi...

★★★☆☆ This book is simultaneously better and significantly worse than the first book. The Good ~ Caraval seemed to have forgotten that it was a fantasy and needed even the bare minimum of worldbuilding, and so all of the worldbuilding was shoved into this one. Granted, the lore of the Fates and the Stars was kinda awesome, and the specific Fates had a great atmosphere. I really liked that part. ~ The world, besides the magical aspects, was finally expanded and I thought it was okay. Not great but, like I said, bare minimum ~ Jacks in general The Bad ~ Tella in general ~ How was Tella supposed to be 15 freaking years old for the majority of the book? I seriously doubt a 15 year old would do all the stuff she did. The only believable part of it was how much of a naivë fool she was, and that's not necessarily a trait of youth ~ Dante in general ~ Scarlett and Julian (RIP their personalities) ~ The atmosphere of the first book was completely...