BookSelf

★★★★★ I received this ARC from Delacorte Press via BookishFirst 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. I better be getting a sequel or I will personally strangle Rory Power. The Tox didn't just happen to us. It happened to everything. Obligatory Summary It's been 18 months since an insidious and horrific disease known as the Tox took over Raxter Island, and the girls trapped there are beginning to unravel. The Tox takes something from each of them, humans and animals alike—some their eyes, some their sanity—and gives them something else in return. Hettie and her two best friends, Byatt and Reese, have managed to maintain a friendship throughout all this turmoil. But things are changing, and when one of them disappears, Hettie will do whatever it takes to find her. Part psychological thriller, part psychological hor...

★★★★★ This was truly delightful! I'm a big fan of children's fantasy, as it turns out, because I loved every minute of this! It's whimsical and magical and really just great. It has the same vibe as The Little Prince , Peter Pan , and Alice in Wonderland , but a bit lighter on the dark themes. It's definitely something I'm going to be reading to my future children. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★★ Look back to the old tales of fairyland. Look back to legends of monsters and magic. Our stories have changed, but the world behind the world never does. This short story by one of my indie favs, K.A. Wiggins, really butters my bread, to be frank. It's got the spooky, fair folk vibes that I live for; the atmosphere really just shines in this. While I wasn't necessarily pulled in by the opening (such is often the case with first person for me, so there was no fault with the work itself), I was without a doubt pulled in by the tale itself. AND THAT ENDING! *literally dying* So you will want to stop here, while you still believe my words, while your world remains as it should be. Because this is the sort of story that cannot be told. Read the book here

★★★★★ This was the first book that I ever really loved. I first read it when I was about 10 or 11, and I fell in love with Scott O'Dell's writing, getting my hands on any of his books that I could find at my elementary school library. It really made me into a reader. But I hadn't read it in about a decade, and I was curious how well it would hold up to my adult mind. IT WAS EVEN BETTER!!! I originally rated this 4 stars, rather arbitrarily, but this reread proved that this is truly an amazing piece of historical fiction, especially for children. Even for its time, it does a great job at portraying Native American peoples in a humanizing light, as well as young girls (which is amazing, because Scott O'Dell was clearly a white adult male). It's compelling and action-packed, and extremely educational. I really felt for Karana as she lives abandoned on an island for the majority of her life, missing her family but feeling unable to leave her home. M...

★★★★★ My brother sat me down to read this, since it's one of his favorite ghost stories. It's basically an amalgamation of various other ghost stories, but told in such a way most of the plot points are via implication, and I loved it! It's very spooky and fun. I'm kind of shocked that it has so few ratings on Goodreads, actually. Definitely go read it, it's only like 1 page long hah. There's a great reading of it on Youtube by Michael Hordern that's only about 7 minutes or so.

★★★★★ Buddy read with Nana (not to be confused with the dog nurse 😂) As usual, this was golden ❤️ (Original review) This is honestly so wonderful. I read this mostly because I am writing a dark fantasy Peter Pan retelling (you can vote on a title here ), but it really exceeded my expectations. I knew it would be enjoyable--it is a classic that has stood the test of time--but it was really a fantastic story told so wonderfully. It feels like it is being told to you, and it feels like there's even more to tell, which is probably why it has become so iconic. Peter's character is so interesting because he's almost an antihero sometimes, and quite similar to Hook in so many ways. If you've only seen the Disney movie, you really should read the book because it is significantly better in every conceivable way (except for the singing--there isn't a lot of singing lol). Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★★ Oh my gosh, I'm sobbing like crazy This was a really hard book to review. I usually wait only like a day at most to write my reviews, so my ideas are still fresh in my mind but I'm not a blubbering, post-book idiot incapable of forming coherent sentences. And with this book, I just couldn't really figure out how to say how I felt throughout. I guess all I can really say is this, and forgive me if it makes no sense hah: I really liked the story, the characters, the pacing, the writing, the core concept of Death as a narrator. It was full of personality and unapologetically emotional. I loved it, and I highly suggest it if you haven't read it already. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★★ "Wherever you walk, I will be there." *sobs* This third installment, the end of the main trilogy, was pretty darn good. There's something about Garth Nix's writing that just really does it for me. The subtle humor and wit, the syntax and sentence structure. It's all just so great. I love everything about it! The world is the best fantasy world ever, in my not so humble opinion. It isn't overbearing, but it's intricate and unique and dark without being grimdark. Death is probably the coolest setting in any book ever, and you can fight me on that. I loved the character arcs in this, especially Nick's. He didn't have much of a character in the previous book, but he really shone in this one, and his ending was just...*cries a little more* just perfect. I love how relatable all the characters are. I wish Sam had had a bit more to do in this, but as it is, I'm happy with how it all turned out. "So I'll d...

★★★★★ This first one was cool, but didn't really do it for me. This one, though, was seriously awesome. I'm loving this aesthetic, this art, and this world. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble

★★★★★ The beauty of it cannot be understood, either, and when you see beauty in desolation it changes something inside you. Desolation tries to colonize you. I loved this! It's so atmospheric and spooky! It doesn't really give you all (or any, for the most part) answers, but I think that added to the atmosphere tbh and I appreciated that. If it had attempted to answer literally everything, I think it would probably have fallen into the pit of parody like the Illuminae Files did for me. What this short book accomplished spectacularly for me is that it felt like a half-forgotten nightmare or a memory I've repressed. I felt, reading it, that I had read it before, but not in the sense that it was formulaic or overly predictable, or even that it was a blatant rip-off of something else. No, rather it gave me strong sensation of sensory discomfort and the idea that what is familiar is not familiar, that what is real is actually very much not real, which I believe was en...

★★★★★ Yes, I read this all at once, with very few stops, and no, I'm not ashamed. Feed the Forest inside you with blood, and it would feed you in return. I loved EVERYTHING about this book. Literally everything. The love interests, the conflicts, the main character, the character arcs, the setting, the writing, the pacing, the world, the magic— E V E R Y T H I N G My favorite character was Rachelle herself, Erec being a close second. They felt so real and intense and everything about them was so well done. I didn't love Armand as much as I was definitely supposed to, but I still really liked him as a character and really appreciated his role in the plot. I hadn't expected Amélie to be as important as she was, as best friend characters usually don't have very big roles, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that she was a real person, not just a pretty painting for Rachelle to compare herself to. It was all very well done. Rosamund Hodge ha...

★★★★★ 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...

★★★★★ 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...

★★★★★ I was listening to the last few chapters on audiobook (bless Tim Curry and his downright villainous voice) and had my eyes closed, and when that epilogue reveal happened, my eyes shot open like I was a Dead thing come back to consciousness. The first 100 or so pages of this didn't entirely hook me, as we had a new protagonist and not a whole lot happened. But once it really got going, I was very invested. Lirael and Sameth were fantastic protagonists and I loved them both so much. Garth Nix is phenomenal at writing characters that act their age without being annoying or cliche. Even Sabriel and Prince Pinocchio aka Touchstone were recognizably the same people, despite so many years having passed since the first book. The animal sidekicks in this once again utterly stole the show. As usual, Mogget was A+, but the Disreputable Dog was new and just as awesome. And their dynamic was golden. I absolutely adored everything about it. The world in this never ceas...

(I hate movie covers but oh well) ★★★★★ I buddy read this with Nana ! It was a re-read for me, my first read being in junior year of high school, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it once more! How quickly one accepts the incredible if only one sees it enough. Honestly the best thing about this book is Robert Neville. He's sad and alone and a little bit crazy, and I loved him. The poor guy deserves a nice long hug and a good ol' dog. He's such a fantastically complex character, and I really savored his sarcastic conversations with himself: Crossing your fingers, Neville? Knocking on wood? He ignored that, beginning to suspect his mind of harboring an alien. Once he might have termed it conscience. Now it was only an annoyance. Morality, after all, had fallen with society. He was his own ethic. Makes a good excuse, doesn’t it, Neville? Oh, shut up. *sighs contentedly* That's the good stuff, right there. The very ending s...

★★★★★ This book finally did what all 4 books before it failed to do. It made it to my favorites list. That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen, when there was no royal blood in your veins. When the world owed you nothing, you demanded something of it anyway. I started this with low expectations, to be honest. I had been let down by Six of Crows  and didn't want to repeat my disappointment. And I think those low expectations saved me just a little bit. While I still had reservations in the first 100-or-so pages, by the midpoint, I was sufficiently hooked. Honestly, I feel like the real problem with this duology is that the first book is bogged down by thematic set up that only pays off in this book. The plot was better paced, held more tension and stakes. There were real ideas here to latch onto, and real character moments that didn't feel too contrived or that they were entirely for the aesthetic. I felt myself begin to truly care for the characters an...

★★★★★ This was my second time reading this book, but because I originally read it around the time of its release, 2010, when I was 11 year old,  I didn't remember much about it. I only remember not really liking it at the time. I found the conflict to devalue Percy and company's journey and struggle. I found that the villain's motivations lacked profound themes, and had no character analogous to Luke. I missed the first person and the chapter headers. But most of all, I found that a book without Percy in it was not something I wanted. Essentially, this was just too YA for my MG mind. And I was also completely wrong. Rereading this was a really special treat. It was like opening a time capsule almost a decade later. I've changed, and therefore my priorities and preferences have also changed. What I found lacking in my reread of the original series was present here, and even better than I'd hoped. The thing I loved about this the most was the atmo...

★★★★★ No warmth could warm, no wintry weather chill him. No wind that blew was bitterer than he, no falling snow was more intent upon its purpose, no pelting rain less open to entreaty. This was surprisingly quite funny! The narration was done in that particular style that seems to have been largely abandoned by modern authors: third-person told from a first-person non-character narrator. I love this style! Many of my favorite classics (Peter Pan, The Chronicles of Narnia, etc) are told in this style, and it always lends itself a storybook quality that is sorely lacking in today's literature. The story itself was something I am at this point extremely familiar with, as it has permeated all corners of Western civilization at this point, but still, there were some things that are often excluded in most adaptations, such as the children of mankind: "They are Man's," said the Spirit, looking down upon them. "And they cling to me, appealing from th...

★★★★★ Buddy read with Nana !! OH MY GOSH Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker? The Writing and Worldbuilding I adore Garth Nix's writing. It's lyrical without distracting from the narrative and flows very well. He clearly has a very strong grasp on the language. I absolutely loved every bit of it. I have to admit that I thought this wouldn't be nearly as good as it was, because it came out before I was born and often older (and tbh even current) YA writing lacks strong narrative voice and relies heavily on tropes and cliches to convey the story. But this was totally unique and excellent in every way! I can even see the influence it has had on the genre, with books like Shadow and Bone and Throne of Glass clearly trying to emulate what this book had (though their success varied). I AM IN LOVE with this world and its inhabitants. From the very beginning, this gave me White Walker and the Wall vibes from Game of Thrones a...

★★★★★ This is my favorite book in the series and rereading it reminded me of that. I love how everything plays out, how the threads tie up. The titular character and their main theme is the best part though. It makes the entire series more than just a fun middle-grade adventure. It's a story about the meaning and importance of family, whether that be by blood or by friendship, and how it can literally change the world. Buy the book here: Amazon Book Depository Barnes & Noble