July Wrap-Up

If I were to summon up my reading habits this month the only way I would be able to describe it were: Weird.

Hey guys, how are you? Long-time no see. I am sorry, but my computer had to be repaired and it took longer than I thought it would. But at least I read a lot! Especially during my vacation, but after that things got strange. I fell into a reading slump, but only kind of. I wanted to read, but no book grabbed my attention so I started I think five different ones until I finally committed and finished a book. But since then the only thing I have read this month are graphic novels/comics. Nothing wrong with that, but it I would rather read novels. Anyway, moving on to what I actually read:

City of Lost Souls, by Cassandra Clare          4/5 Stars

Once again a great book by Cassandra Clare, really liked the plot (Review to come)

The Neverland Wars, by Audrey Greathouse           2.5/5 Stars

Got this one as an ARC, this one just kinda fell flat. Pretty forgettable

The Well of Ascension, by Brandon Sanderson       4.5/5 Stars

While not as good as the first book, this was a really great high fantasy book (Review to come)

Confessions of a Shopaholic, by Sophie Kinsella     5/5 Stars

ReadbyZoe on YouTube read these books a while ago so I wanted to pick them up as well. LOVED it. Really fun and fast read with loveable characters

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, by Sophie Kinsella    4/5 Stars

This one repeated lots of things from the first book, so while still enjoyable, it just wasn´t as refreshing and fun

Shopaholic Ties the Knot, by Sophie Kinsella          4.5/5 Stars

The plot goes into a different direction and shopping takes the backseat, once again really great (I think I might review the series as a whole, or maybe in pairs, not sure yet)

My Life Next Door, by Huntley Fitzpatrick            2.5/5 Stars

This was the book that helped me start reading again, but it wasn´t pretty good to be honest. The characters were really cliché and the plot felt unnecessarily stretched out. (Review to come)

Graphic Novels:

Attack on Titan Vol 1, by Hajime Isayama    4/5 Stars

I started watching the anime again, so I knew what was going to happen; While really great, the art style was confusing at times

Attack on Titan Vol 2, by Hajime Isayama    4/5 Stars

I really appreciated the scene that was left out of the anime, it gave me a better understanding of Mikasa; I think I still prefer the anime though because the manga isn´t as suspenseful and emotionally gripping

East of West Vol 3: There Is No Us, by Jonathan Hickman         3.5/5 Stars

I took too much time off this series, so I was quite confused by what was going on, but I got back into it by one point; Finally, the threads are intertwining!

East of West Vol 4: Who Wants War? by Jonathan Hickman      4.5/5 Stars

Loved the information (maps, history etc.) at the beginning. Some of the story arcs are becoming understandable, but there is still lots of mystery around what´s really going on; Can´t wait for Volume 5!

Fables Vol 1: Legends in Exile, by Bill Willingham          5/5 Stars

Great first instalment, I can definitely see myself becoming obsessed with this series

Fables Volume 2: Animal Farm, by Bill Willingham         5/5 Stars

This volume was even better!

Seconds, by Bryan Lee O`Malley        4/5 Stars

A really quirky and cute graphic novel. The art style portrays the characters similar to chibis, which is sweet. The dynamic between Katie and the narrator is unlike anything I have read before. Recommend especially for people who want to get into graphic novels!!!

Sweet Tooth Vol 1: Out of the Deep Woods, by Jeff Lemire        3/5 Stars

Didn´t really like the artstyle, but it does fit the story well

Sweet Tooth Vol 2: In Captivity, by Jeff Lemire      3.5/5 Stars

I liked this one better; Also we got some backstory, which is always nice

Sweet Tooth Vol 3: Animal Armies, by Jeff Lemire          3/5 Stars

Didn´t like it as much as the second volume

Chew Vol 1: Taster´s Choice, by John Layman       3/5 Stars

This was a difficult one, I appreciate the plot and the characters, but I wasn´t a fan of the art and it is just a bit too gross for my taste (pun intented), I´ll probably read Vol 2 and then decide if I really want to continue on, I would still recommend it though, because it is by no means a “bad” comic

Y: The Last Man Vol 2: Cycles, by Brian K. Vaughan      4/5 Stars

Even though I didn´t like it as much as the first Volume, I still really liked it! It wasn´t as humorous and I can´t comprehend Hero´s actions. Also: Not cool Yorrick! What about Beth?

Y: The Last Man Vol 3: One Small Step, by Brian K. Vaughan   4/5 Stars

I think this is my least favourite volume in this series yet, it was great until that part with the theatre. That turned me off a bit, but apart from that: Great Volume, great series!

Y: The Last Man Vol 4: Safeword, by Brian K. Vaughan  4.5/5 Stars

The beginning was strange, but after they leave 711 this volume did everything right again.

As you can see, I was pretty busy this month. Do you want me to review any book/comic in particular? Let me know down below and we can discuss it together!

Read on xx

Lena

The Neverland Wars, by Audrey Greathouse

*Disclaimer* I was provided with an eARC in exchange for an honest review by Sara from YA Bound Book Tours.

Title: The Neverland Wars

Author: Audrey Greathouse

Pages: 302

Published by: Clean Teen Publishing

Rating: 2.5/5 Stars

Magic can do a lot—give you flight, show you mermaids, help you taste the stars, and… solve the budget crisis? That's what the grown-ups will do with it if they ever make it to Neverland to steal its magic and bring their children home.

However, Gwen doesn't know this. She's just a sixteen-year-old girl with a place on the debate team and a powerful crush on Jay, the soon-to-be homecoming king. She doesn't know her little sister could actually run away with Peter Pan, or that she might have to chase after her to bring her home safe. Gwen will find out though—and when she does, she'll discover she's in the middle of a looming war between Neverland and reality.

She'll be out of place as a teenager in Neverland, but she won't be the only one. Peter Pan's constant treks back to the mainland have slowly aged him into adolescence as well. Soon, Gwen will have to decide whether she's going to join impish, playful Peter in his fight for eternal youth… or if she's going to scramble back to reality in time for the homecoming dance.

I love Peter Pan. I really do. And I love retellings even more, so it is really sad that this is a book that is best described as forgettable and just ok. Nothing too special and not worth recommending or even remembering. While it is a fast paced read with fun aspects like e.g the mermaids (really enjoyed those) and it does have a nice modern twist on the Peter Pan store I just had lots of problems with it, the biggest one being the characters, especially Gwen. Apart from being a naive girl, the only thing Gwen is the perfect shining star (pun intended) and she is oh so special. Yes, she "sees behind the glamour" of growing up, contrary to all the teenage robots around her, but apart from that she has about zero personality. She justifies lots of her behavior with how her parents treat her, which by the way is NOT how parents treat their kids these days. It is only used as another device to get the authors message across, but while yes, I got what she wanted to achieve, but there is hardly any way around that if the reader is hit over the head with what they should be feeling. Another example for that are the lost boys. They are depicted as these really, once again, naive children, who are so centered around the idea of adventures that they completely shuffle off their families to be in Neverland. I can´t comprehend these actions, but at least they had more character than Gwen did. Also I smell a love triangle coming, which I am not a fan of.

This book just tries to be/do something it does´t have the skill to do. It tries questioning the meaning of growing up and how age and puberty affect us, but really all it does is making me roll my eyes on a seemingly desperate added depth to an already forgettable YA book. I would say if you look for a fast paced read and are willing to over lacking characters, this book might be for you, but it just wash´t for me.

Do you guys know of any other Peter Pan retellings you would recommend? If so I would be really interested in reading them!

Read on xx

Lena

Finding the Raven, by Patty Dickson Piezca

I want to thank the author of this book, Patty Dickson Piezca, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. I was really excited to read this book as this is my first ARC I have ever received, so I am really sad to say that I really did not like this book, which was why I did not finish it. My general policy before I stop reading a book is to read at least half of it, which I did so I put it down because I just didn´t enjoy it very much. Before I start with this review I also want to add, that this review is intended as constructive criticism and in no way as just bashing something I didn´t like. I respect how much work the author put into this, but I still want to say what I thought of this novel.

Title: Finding the Raven

Author: Patty Dickson Piezca

Pages: 292

Published by: Ravenswood Publishing

Rating: 1/5                         

When Julia Dulac's father is murdered onstage  and her inheritance is swindled away, she must work through her grief and fear of poverty to find both the killer and a means of survival with help from the Raven, a black crystal that reveals images of past and future truths. While having the crystal appraised, Julia finds love and her life takes unexpected turns through mystery and betrayal against the backdrop of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis.
Through the boarding house window, Julia overhears an argument between Rose and her wealthy father over Rose's illegitimate pregnancy. He drops Rose off, saying he will return in one year, that she must be either single and childless or respectably married. Though from completely different backgrounds, Julia and Rose become fast friends, facing lessons of survival and redemption as their fates become irrevocably entwined.

Having never read a book that wasn´t published by a big publishing house before, I didn´t really know what to expect from this book, so I was really disappointed to see how botched it felt. The author took way too little time with practically everything. In my opinion, to make the story more realistic it would need at least 150 pages or so more. The whole thing just felt rushed, already beginning with the setup of the story. The reader just gets thrown into this world and while that may be refreshing if done right, it just doesn´t work. The whole plot in general just seems to fall into place. It doesn´t feel like it is neither character nor plot driven, but more as if the author knew what needed to happen next in order to get to the final point at the end, so she let the characters do something. Their actions just didn´t feel comprehensible to me. The characters in general are all definitely upgradeable. It seemed as if out of nowhere they suddenly had certain characteristics that just weren´t mentioned before.

Another thing that didn´t sit well with me was the pacing of the story. Time was a thrown around variable. While sometimes things just flew by, in an unbelievable amount of time, some things took way too little time. Some of the longest passages were the ones describing how terrible the food or the hostel were. While, yes I get that it was used to emphasize that there weren´t in a good place, which is fine, I do not need lengthy abstracts to remind me of that several times, thank you. On the contrary, I found that lots of details, which often were important to the story, were skipped, so when it came to use I was surprised. For example: As Rose gets sent away to St. Louis in no way was there mentioned that her father was coming with her, but suddenly he began talking to her. And I was just like: What? Where did he come from? So while we got a long description about the label of a wine bottle, the environment or even the looks of characters were hardly touched on.

In conclusion I just want to add that my main impression of this book is, that the author had a vision in her head, which could have worked out wonderfully, but just weren´t mainly due to the lack of description in certain places. But if you personally really enjoy a light guilty-pleasure read without thinking too much and you are thinking about picking this book up, I would say don´t let me discourage you, hopefully you will enjoy it more than I did.

Have any of you read “Finding the Raven”? And if so what did you think of it?

Read on xx

Lena