Review: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

“Tell me that and we’ll go. Right now. Save ourselves and leave this place to burn. Tell me that’s how you want your story to go and we’ll write it straight across the sand.”

Synopsis:

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there's nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can't wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up "wed or dead," Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious and devastatingly handsome foreigner, in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she'd gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan's army, with a fugitive who's wanted for treason. And she'd never have predicted she'd fall in love with him...or that he'd help her unlock the powerful truth of who she really is.

My opinion:

To be honest, I had so many issues with this book that I don't even know where to start, but at the same time I had a great time reading it. The idea of kind of like a Western set in an Arabian type of setting was so cool and so refreshing. I loved the whole setting and world building in general. Also, the characters were great (well most of them, but we will get into that a little later), especially Ahmed. He is the type of guy everyone would want as a ruler: kind, but relentless. I overall had a good time with this book, but some things just didn't feel right to me.

First of all, the protagonist. There were parts where she surprised me, but most of the time I was just annoyed by her. HOW in the world could you leave a friend to die just like that? How selfish can you be? I know that things are kind of explained later on, but it annoyed me anyway. And that didn't happen only once. Overall her decisions felt much too ... convenient? Like she didn't even try to safe anyone else than herself, although she "wanted to"? The problem solving felt much too easy, like everything else that happened.
There was no struggle in their quests, everything added up too perfectly for my taste. Everything just solved itself. The reveal that happened towards the end of the book concerning her “powers” (which you know about if you've read the book) was also kind of underwhelming. I don't know what I expected, but it was definitely something ... well, more.
Another thing that was confusing were the names. Not so much the characters' names, I loved all of these, but the names of the places. I got the cities confused every time any city was mentioned, just because they were so similar and not described enough for me to actually remember what they were talking about or which place they describe. Does that make any sense? I hope it does. All the places just fell like a huge blurr to me, and to be honest I can’t even remember one single city this book took place in, let alone their names!
Furthermore, some scenes were kept a little short in my opinion. The action scenes were almost done in the blink of an eye, which was unfortunate, because I love action scenes, and again it just felt too convenient. I don't know how else I should describe it.

Conclusion:

Anyway, this all might sound bad and all, but don't get me wrong, I did like the book and I will continue on with this series, especially because of the characters. But somehow I maybe expected too much? We will see what the next book will have install for us!

Rating:

3.5 / 5 ★

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (re-read)

“Declarations of love amuse me. Especially when unrequited.”

“Where there is love, there is often also hate. They can exist side by side.”

 

Synopsis

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?
This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

My Opinion

*Spoilers ahead for the TMI and TID books*

I read this book almost four years ago for the first time, and since then a lot has happened in the series, and in general the whole Shadowhunter world. My original rating was 3 stars for this book, just because I felt that some aspects were missing. Re-reading it now, after reading all the books that are currently out, it definitely was a 5 star read for me. Let me give you a list of things/scenes I absolutely loved:

"Alec, is that you?"
This quote made me fangirl so hard, just right at the start of the book. Not because its such an amazing quote, but because we know this quote from someone else: When Tessa meets Jem for the first time, and he is playing his violin in his room, he asks "Will, is that you?" This quote just gave me so many feels all at once: the Jalec feels, the Heronstairs feels, just all of them.

Church
I feel so bad for saying this, but for a short amount of time, I forgot that church existed. (OMG, I know, what even) Seeing him now in CoB, the cute little fluff-ball he is, just made me smile and made my heart grow with love for him. I love cats, but this cat ESPECIALLY will always have a place in my heart.

Clary punching Jace, just because she can
I am not entirely sure if this happened in the movie or the TV-show, but I missed that scene so much. Yes, most of the time I feel like that Clary is slightly annoying and not self-confident enough, but that scene shows that she can also act differently, which I love. Also: sometimes Jace just deserves a punch in the face, doesn't he? OMG

"Nobody wants soup."
That might sound completely stupid, but Isabelle's terrible cooking skills kind of made me feel like home. This small detail kind of goes on until the last book, and it really made me feel like I am there with the characters again. Such a small detail, but really important for me.

"This place is for the living."
Ohhhh oh oh oh do I see some foreshadowing there? This quote is from the dream Clary has, where they are in Idris and she is dancing with Jace (abt page 160) When I first read the book I didn't understand what Cassie meant by that, but OH BOY, now I do. And it was just such a fantastic hint towards the upcomming events.

MALEC action
Right when Magnus asked if Alec would call him any time soon, I died a little inside. Call him? Oh oh, we want more than just calling. And OH BOY more will follow. After knowing what's going to happen I just really look forward to see how their relationship is developing from the start. My ultimate OTP and I cannot wait. (Hamilton reference)

RAPHAEL
Reading this book the first time I didn't really like Raphael that much, but since I know his story now and the END to his story, I fangirled so hard just seeing him. He is so cute and he doesn't deserve what happened. Also: since I watched all the episodes in the TV-show I must say, they take my Raphael to a whole new level, let me tell you guys.

Simon x Jace scenes
I am not going to lie, I kind of, sort of ship these two. Simon and his quirky, nerdy comments, and Jace with his sarcasm, they would be perfect together. And there are some scenes in this book with these two which really made me happy. I am excited to see some more Jimon (?) action in the next books.

Jace only loving himself
I love this quote so much. And yet, when Jace said that I was just like "Ohhh honey, if only you knew". This was my favorite quote in the movie and in the book probably too. This quote just shows Jace's character so well, and I love it.

Luke as the BEST DAD EVER
Because I was so into the show for the past months, and also into show Luke, I forgot what an amazing, perfect, lovely character Luke was in the books. His flanel shirts, his book store, how he cares about Jocelyn and Clary, he is just so lovely, and honestly, the best dad award definitely goes to him. Not one other specific person *cough*

Alec trying to be funny
I totally forgot about the great scene in the Epilog with Clary and Alec. He makes a joke (???) and is so nice to Clary, I just loved it! It really surprised me, and it was the best ending to the book I could've imagined. Alec is so smol, I love him.

Conclusion

If you can't tell by this list, I LOVED the book the second time around much more than reading it the first time. If you have read the series a long time ago I HIGHLY suggest that you re-read it. Reading it a second time is a totally different experience, and it definitely is the most rewarding thing ever. Onto City of Ashes!

Rating

5/5 ★

Review: Salt to the sea by Ruta Sepetys

“War is catastrophe. It breaks families in irretrievable pieces. But those who are gone are not necessarily lost.”

“I wanted to stay locked away from the pain and destruction. I didn't want to be strong. I didn't want to be the 'smart girl'. I was so very tired. I just wanted it all to be over.”

“I became good at pretending. I became so good that after a while the lines blurred between my truth and fiction. And sometimes, when I did a really good job of pretending, I even fooled myself.”

Summary

Winter, 1945. Four teenagers. Four secrets.
Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies…and war.
As thousands of desperate refugees flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.
Yet not all promises can be kept.

My opinion

This book was so beautiful and heart-wrenching, and I loved! EVERYONE needs to read it!

This book has four main points of view, and I loved this aspect in this book. Everyone had their own voice, so that it didn't get confusing as to who was talking. These four characters give us different perspectives on the story, which is very important in historical fiction novels, in my opinion. If such books only had one point of view it might get a little one-sided. But this book did everything so perfectly. Because the characters are all from different countries, we can really see how war effected all of these countries, all of these people. It was amazing. But let's talk about each character individually:

Florian: He was by far my favorite character. I loved his voice so much, and his story too. I feel like he stayed true to himself, no matter what happened throughout the story. He was that one character that seems very rude and cold on the outside, but is still so kind and would sacrifice his live for the ones he loves. I ADORE such characters.
Joana: Her character was the most vital to the story in my opinion, and I loved how she just kept the whole crew stuck together. Without her, these people would have gotten lost long ago. She cares so deeply about other people, no matter where they come from, no matter what intentions they have. She doesn't care about anything but helping people, and that's what I found most astonishing about her. I really admire such people.
Emilia: She was definitely the character I felt most compassion towards. How COULD THEY? How could anyone do that? I was so touched and saddened by her story, and I rooted for her all the way. I felt her fears, her sadness, her struggle; it was heart-breaking, and nobody should experience what she experienced. Still, it is important that also such topics get addressed in YA books nowadays in my opinion, because more light needs to be shed on them!
Alfred: Well, what to say about him? I always wondered why he never sent any letters to the one he loved, and the reveal made me so sad and it made me feel bad for him. Even though throughout most part of the story I didn't like him too much, he is still an important part in the story, and it was important that also his POV got chosen, and the story got told through his eyes.

The Group: The Shoe-Poet, the Child, they were not part of the main four characters, but they hold a special place in my heart. Even though they were side-characters, so much depth was given to them, and I felt so close to these characters even though we only got to see a bit of their story. I would LOVE a book about these characters. Their past, their future, everything. I just need to know MORE.

The author does an amazing job with revealing a character's past bit by bit, not all at once, so that you are still on the edge of your seat the whole time. The secrets that were revealed over the course of this story were just so interesting, so heart-breaking, it was amazing.

I (as many of you know) am a History student at university, and the fact that this book was based on a true story just made it more heart-breaking for me. I didn’t know about this before, but now I will definitely look more into the things that happened on the Wilhelm Guslof.

Conclusion

The writing was amazing and the characters really grew so close to me in these few pages, I loved all of them. This book touched me in every possible way, and I think it’s important that everyone reads this novel (and other historical fiction novels too), to spread the word, and to remember what happened in the past. I will definitely check out more books by this author.

My Rating

5/5 ★

Review: The Forbidden Wish by Jessica Khoury

“The things that were once sweet to me are now bitter. The sun is not half so bright. The stars seem dimmer. All this wealth and luxury feels meaningless. All the world is in your shadow, Zahra. I cannot help but see you when I close my eyes.”

“And what do you know of love?"
"That it must be a choice."
"Oh, my naive thief. " I pause briefly to meet his gaze. "Love is rarely a choice.”

Synopsis

When Aladdin discovers Zahra's jinni lamp, Zahra is thrust back into a world she hasn't seen in hundreds of years—a world where magic is forbidden and Zahra's very existence is illegal. She must disguise herself to stay alive, using ancient shape-shifting magic, until her new master has selected his three wishes.
But when the King of the Jinn offers Zahra a chance to be free of her lamp forever, she seizes the opportunity—only to discover she is falling in love with Aladdin. When saving herself means betraying him, Zahra must decide once and for all: is winning her freedom worth losing her heart?

My opinion

This was so beautiful, I don't know if I can put it into words right now, but I will try!

I have to admit that Aladdin is my favorite fairytale of the Arabian fairytale-collection, it's my favorite Disney movie and my favorite musical; basically it is my favorite everything, so of course I had high expectations for this books. And boy, these expectations were more than met!

I loved the twist to the story that the story is told from the Jinnis POV, who is a girl now. I will not give away too much from the plot, but I can say that it went into a completely different direction than what I was expecting. The book kept me on the edge of my seat all the time, there was not one scene without action or excitement. I loved how the author incorporated things from the past into the present, but only bit by bit. Not everything was revealed at once, and that kept the story interesting throughout. Getting to know what really happened in the past, and why the Jinn fight the humans, was so interesting and it was such a nice twist to the story. The author wrapped everything up perfectly in the end, that I felt eternally satisfied, even though it was just a “short” standalone novel.

The characters were amazing too! I loved the main character Zahra, and I even think she is now one of my most favorite female characters ever, and that says something! She is so tough, so strong, she doesn't depend on anyone, and I love that! Her character development throughout the book (especially the last few hundred pages) was incredible. Aladdin felt kind of one-sided at first, but I grew really fond of him, too. My other favorites were the watchmaidens, though. This group of girls is just slaying, no matter who they face. What would I give to be part of them? I loved all of them so much. We also got not one, but kind of four villains in this story, which was great!

One thing that was also described so nicely was the magic in this world. Usually when magic is used in other books, you hear the sentence "and I felt the magic tingling at my fingertips when I released it", and that's it, but it wasn't like this in this book. I almost felt the magic growing inside of me when I read about it, which was amazing and so refreshing!

Another thing that was great, was that the author incorporated elements and even sentences from the real fairytale, and even from the Disney movie, which made me fangirl so hard! I love it when you can still see some elements from the story the book is based on. I loved that so much. The author even hints at other Arabian fairytales, which was so exciting!

Conclusion

I honestly do not have anything bad to say about this book, that's how much I loved it. It is definitely one of my favorites so far this year! Definitely check it out, guys! You have to read it!

Rating

5/5 ★