Red Rising:
This book has the same set up of a lot of dystopian novels, but I still really liked how the world was shown. I felt really bad for the main character in the beginning and liked watching him grow into a more complex character. I hope to check out the next one soon. People were dying left and right, and there was some more adult material, but nothing too graphic on screen. The characters might be younger to start with, but this isn’t really a teen book, so I didn’t mind so much. Especially since you could see the main character trying to improve the darkness in the world around him. Five Stars
Cinder Heart:
I liked the idea of modern fairytales and the powers. There were a few clever twists that I enjoyed and it was a nice, clean novel. I just wasn’t connecting as much to the character and the conflict as I would like. Even though it’s kinda cool that she has these powers, there didn’t seem to be much point to them. The love interest didn’t impress me. It was just . . . okay the whole way through. Nothing terrible, but nothing I loved either. I probably won’t continue this series, but might read something else from this author if the premise is something that interests me. Three Stars
Dark Triumph:
I loved the first one of this series and I really liked this one too. It has a historic feel, but its still relatable and draws you right into the action and the characters. It is interesting to watch these characters grow and the world evolve around them. I hope to get to the next one sooner than I did with this one! My only real complaint here was some of the content. I expected some grittiness, like in the last one, but there just seemed a few moments where the framing was off, where a few terrible actions were supposed to be good somehow. And since this book IS marketed to older teens, it was a bit off-putting to me. That’s the only reason I might hesitate to recommend the book to someone else. Four Stars
Daughter of the Pirate King:
This was a fun book, with lots of fun pirate-y action, and of course, lots and lots of "I hate him/I love him-type" romance. I liked a lot of the world building and it was an easy book for me to zip on through.
I spent far too much time trying to decide if I liked the main character or not. She was too full of herself for me, but I did like some of the clever ways she did things. By the end, I think my only lingering frustration was that there just wasn’t a lot of growth . . . or an ending. There were a few scattered tense moments, but I’m not sure what the actual climax was supposed to be. And when I got to the last chapter, I kept turning pages looking for more—not in a good way. Like in an actual, "I think there is something wrong with this book" way. It wasn’t even a tense cliff-hanger ending, just an exposition-type conversation that resolved nothing, that I would expect to transition to another scene.
I know there is a sequel that might tie things together better, but sometimes when I’m left hanging so much that it seems unfinished, I just don’t know if I want to keep investing in the story. We’ll see.
Four Stars