The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh | Spoiler free review

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch...she's falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. 

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

Rating: 4.5/5
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction

First of all, I have to appreciate and gush about the diversity in this novel. While I love fairy tale retelling/inspired stories, I recognize that the most popular ones are from Western Europe, the capital of historical colonization. Their stories are great and all, but that's partly because we're so used to them due to Europe prioritizing their culture over others. There are so many beautiful, creative fairy tales/folk tales around the world, and they deserve just as much attention. So, The Wrath and the Dawn is heavily inspired by One Thousand and One Nights (or what we more commonly know it as: Arabian Nights) in a way that is new-ish to the YA community, and it's amazing.

Going a little deeper, the writing is phenomenal. When you have a storyteller for a narrator, it's pretty obvious that the language needs to be smooth, poetic, but not too over the top. It's a tricky balance, but Shazi's voice was exactly how it should be, with a little more sass added in for character purposes. Actually, when I really think about it, several characters had some sassy element to their personality; the only difference was whether it was based on confidence, cleverness, or arrogance. And you can definitely tell the difference, which showed how strongly developed and unique Ahdieh's characters were. (Also sarcastic, take-no-shit characters are my weakness which made this novel heaven on earth, really.)

Something else I really appreciated in the book was that while there were a couple different points of view, they were always minor but necessary. Shazi still had full reign of the narration, but sometimes there were some outside scenes that needed to be done since there was so much happening both in and outside of the palace. I kind of thought of it like The Hunger Games movies; although the novel was told from Katniss' view, which meant the movie should focus solely on her, I really enjoyed the small, independent scenes they included with President Snow. It gave us a little more perspective into The Capital outside of Katniss' view, which made it personal to the viewer, and it was always to benefit the plot and theme. It all shows how when an author/producer has a complete understanding of the novel, they are always aware of how a scene becomes useful whether it's for plot, character development, or theme.

And while a lot happened plot-wise, there was so much more set up for the next book (which is killing me because I need to know what happens). To be honest, I'm a bit unsure as to how it will all be able to fit into a duology (or a two-book series). There's a lot of layers happening and a lot of people making plans, so I'm very interested in how it will all play out in the sequel. I trust the author, however, so I'll be eagerly awaiting what's next for Shazi and the gang.

Overall, The Wrath and the Dawn was beautifully written, culturally refreshing, and incredibly captivating—there was always some foreshadowing, adventure, suspense, or romance happening, but it was never over-stimulating. If you pick up this book don't expect to put it down for awhile.

Photo Challenge Update

Thanks to a vacation with barely any wifi, I got way off track for the challenge, so I've decided to scrap it for this month. I did manage to read 3 books on vacation, however, so I should have some more reviews posted soon!

Nikki

July Book Photo Challenge | Set One

I couldn't decide between these three books—their titles are all so unique. I just reviewed A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I have not read the other two. I've heard good things about The Wrath and the Dawn and The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, but I'm saving them for a vacation this month.

The humor in Anna and the French Kiss is so natural and witty thanks to her vibrant characters, and I will always love it for that. This book feels like when you meet someone who clicks with you right away.

My True Love Gave to Me is the perfect thing to get you into the holiday mood, or just make you happy when you need it. Christmas in July anyone?

Decided to do all three for some 4th of July spirit. I would recommend all of these books except for The Queen of the Tearling and Seriously...I'm Kidding since I have not read those two yet. But, once again, I have heard good things about them. The Bone Season and Unravel Me are excellent fantasy/paranormal YA fiction, while Dessen writes YA contemporary. My first review on this blog was of Saint Anything.

This is actually a graphic novel, but it's so amazing I had to include it. I'm not normally one for horror stories since they don't appeal to me in a storytelling way, but I love the short stories in Through the Woods. "A Lady's Hands are Cold" was my favorite one.

(You can find the challenge here.)

New Challenge

Happy July! Since this month will be a pretty chill and awesome one since my birthday is soon, I thought I would try something new. There are challenges that go around the internet that often revolve around literature: reading challenges, writing challenges, one word challenges, ect. The one that caught my eye, however, involved both literature and visual art. The popular book blog, Books & Cupcakes, hosts a Book Photo Challenge every month. Every day has a prompt for a photo to take, and I find that very fun and artistic. So, I decided to join! To try and not clog up the page too much, I'm going to post my photos every five days. My first set will be posted soon, and I hope it can serve as a kind of mini recommendation/about me thing since it will feature books old and new from my collection. Here's to new challenges!

Nikki

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas | Spoiler free review

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Rating: 5/5
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance, New Adult

As I've said again and again, I love fairy tales, and I love the new twists that writers can pull out of them. So, that's what I mostly look for in novels inspired by fairy tales: originality and voice. Luckily, A Court of Thorns and Roses excelled at that.

The world building was spectacular and elaborate, and it left the readers with just enough to know the basics, but there's obviously a lot more to learn in the rest of the series. And while some of plot was already set up thanks to the Beauty and the Beast influence, there was so much more to it. At some point in the novel I realized the original fairy tale plot had just about expired, but there was still a good amount of the book left. Don't worry, though, Maas does just as well on her own.

The pacing was particularly nice. I'm a somewhat patient person when it comes to pacing, and I don't mind things slowing down when it feels natural. Relationships need time to develop, characters need to explore, and tragic events need healing, so I get it. This book was fairly long at 416 pages, and I felt like it really was a complete journey—there was only one large part of relaxation, and the rest was pretty even on adventure and normality.  In some stories you just feel the smallness of it all, the lack of a full adventure, but this novel closed everything splendidly.

Overall, the thing I'll remember and appreciate most about this novel is Feyre. She is so many things at once: vulnerable and strong, fearful and courageous, intelligent and ignorant. But overall, she is selfless and determined, and it all makes her so real. The other characters were also well-written, but Feyre always shone the brightest. She recognizes and embraces her humanity in a world of immortality, and it doesn't make her weak for doing it.

Oh, and an extra plus: this novel pushed a little on the New Adult side, and it was delightful. For those who are unaware of what New Adult is, it's basically a new genre created for those who want all amazing-ness of YA along with sexy times. Yes, you heard me right. So if you're uncomfortable at all with sexual themes, I would be wary if you want to read this! Nothing too explicit, but it is definitely there.

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first in a series (unsure how long), and the second should hopefully be out sometime next year. One last note: I wish there were more women present—when I see an author can write strong female characters, I always want more.  Love is great and all, but frienship is just as important, and especially female friendship. I want Feyre to have a kickass female friend she can go to, and I really hope it happens in the sequel.

P.S. Look at that gorgeous cover!

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater | Spoiler free review

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.” 

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive. 

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her. 

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble. 

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little. 

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

Rating: 3/5
Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance

I enjoyed the characters and the overall idea of The Raven Boys a lot, and I think a good amount happened for the first in a series, but for some reason I never truly got excited about this book. There was something about it that didn't hook me, and I think it mostly centered around the pacing, narration, and point of view.

Firstly, I began to lose a bit of interest thanks to the slow pacing towards the first half; things were slowed down in order to introduce all the characters and their goals, which took a good amount of time. Also, the first meeting scene, in my opinion, could have been taken out and replaced by an event that was already being set-up. It did add a bit more to a later scene because characters were somewhat-kinda acquainted, but not enough that I think it was truly needed. The pacing was better throughout the rest of the book, but it still seemed a bit disjointed overall.

Moving on to the characters and narration, I think this was what bothered me the most. There were multiple narrators in this book, and sometimes it wasn't obvious at first who was telling a chapter. I'm not a fan of more than two narrators in books anyway because even though we do gain more information from different characters that way, I also think we lost a bit of the authenticity. Even if I know that the narrator is biased, and shouldn't be trusted, I could at least trust that their voice is true. That trust gets harder once you throw in four different eyes to see through.

Similarly, I know characters are layered, and that makes them interesting and real, but I struggled to find the true character beneath these ones. They all were well-developed in a checklist sort of way, but I wasn't 100% sure of their true personality. I questioned the actions and thoughts of them too much to be comfortable, and thus began to lose interest.

Overall, the creative setting and theme of the novel may be enough to continue the series, but I'm sadly not too impressed with The Raven Boys. The series is a quartet known as The Raven Cycle, and the third book came out last year. If you're interested in paranormal YA, I would still recommend this to those who want to try it out.

Youtube Web Series Adaptations

Hey, guys! Fun update for today because I just recently re-watched the amazing web series, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. If you can guess from the name, yes, it is a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, and it is amazing. So amazing it actually won an Emmy award. AN EMMY. It's a new frontier for literature, and it's extremely entertaining.

So, if you haven't heard about this phenomenon, let me introduce you:

In an age of rapidly evolving technology and rapidly consuming viewers, it's no surprise that adaptations have taken on a new form in web videos. People like to say that our generation has no attention span, yada yada, but I'm thoroughly convinced it's because we have higher expectations. Sure, I can't stand Mark Twain's long-winded writing, but that's because authors now-a-days can write a perfectly solid novel with less boring, droning details. It's efficient and we still achieve the same stories that make authors like that famous. Example #1: Jo Rowling. Anyway, keeping up with that evolution, classical adaptations were brought to the computer screen these past few years, and it's amazing.

Here's some web series that I thoroughly enjoy, and I hope you will too:

The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (Pride and Prejudice adaptation)
Emma Approved (Emma adaptation)
The March Family Letters (Little Women adaptation)
The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy (Peter Pan adaptation)
Nothing Much To Do (Much Ado About Nothing adaptation)

If I'm not mistaken, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Nothing Much To Do are finished, Emma Approved and The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy have wrapped one season, awaiting a next, and The March Family Letters are ongoing. But don't let that stop you from getting started on them now!

And remember, at the end of the day we're still experiencing the same story and characters. The medium you choose to appreciate it with doesn't make you any better or worse of a person.

Happy watching! And sorry for the new addictions. Sorta.

Nikki