Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor -- Review

Summary: Karou is an art student at a university in Prague. She also doesn't know who she is but that's cool because she works with Chimera...and then she sees a hot angel. Wow.


It says I gave this a 3.5 on goodreads, but I think this is more of a 3 star read. I reviewed this on my channel, but I can't remember what I said because I have the attention span and the memory of a hyper active fish (which is not very long...just to clarify)

I had heard a lot about Laini Taylor over since I started watching booktube videos in 2013. She is quite the popular author. I hadn't experienced her writing until I read a short story she did for My True Love Gave to Me (a collection of short winter love stories edited by Stephanie Perkins). Her story was beautiful and haunted my very soul. I cried a bit and it just stuck with me. I thought it was amazing and to this day I can't get it out of my head. I immediately bought Daughter of Smoke and Bone...but I never picked it up...I was too scared to. What if it was a fluke? After getting Overdrive (an app where I can get free audiobooks from my library), I decided that I should finally read this book.

The likes:

The thing about Laini Taylor is that she is a beautiful writer. The way she tells stories is amazing. The world was so well written that I felt like I was there. I really loved the way her stories have a fairy tale quality to them. They just feel so...familiar and comforting. I loved the fantastical elements to this book as well. As it is a fantasy, it had some mythical creatures in it. Chimera, creatures that are half human and half animal. I loved learning about them and how they worked. Fascinating.

Dislikes.

I hated soooooooo much about this book though...It started out so good. Then she met Akiva...Akiva is an angel who is trying to kill the Chimera...And she sees him and he sees her and kira kira eyes happen (that is japanese for sparkle eyes)

^Very much like that 

No thank you. I really don't like instalove. It is soooooooooooo annoying. While yes, for those of you who have read it, I know there is a reason for why it happens...but that doesn't mean I have to like it. And I don't. I hate instant attraction. I know it is possible in real life, but this was just...ugh...My eyes rolled so hard that I may have been able to see my brain for a little bit.

Then there was the fact that the last 50% of this book was a flashback. I don't know if I have ever made it apparent...but I usually abhor flashbacks. They are ok when they are done well...and I find that they rarely are. This was a flashback disaster for me. This would have been better as a 1.5 instead of a chunk of the book. I understand why it was there, but she could have given us some information and then put the rest as a separate book. I was so bored and I was taken 100% out of the story. I was so annoyed and I didn't really care. It was really hard to care once the flashbacks started...and then the uber romance between Karou and Akiva...and the fact that the book went from a fantasy to a YA romance. Not what I signed up for...not what I wanted. It was frustrating that the book went in this direction when, again, it had started out so strong.

As I usually do when I read audiobooks, I'm going to review that as well. The narrator, Khristine Hvam, was amazing! She had so many amazing voices and never once did I not know who was talking. Her accents were fantastic and she was such an enchanting speaker that I couldn't help but keep listening, even though I hated the story. Her narration and voices perfectly matched Laini Taylor's lyrical writing style. I loved her. I would totally listen to more books narrated by her.

So there you have it. My unpopular opinion on a well loved book.  Naturally I will not be continuing the series. With the way the book ended, I can see where it is going to go and I'm not excited to actually read it. So I am not going to torture myself with that. How is her other book series? Strange the Dreamer? If you have read it, let me know. I'm curious to see if it is something I will like or if it will do the same thing for me as this book did.

Thank you again for reading and I will catch you all next time!!


Links and the like:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured
Originally reviewed in March 2018 novel wrap-up

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks

Gifs: https://giphy.com/










seriously...this book was the biggest disappointment ever.

 

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virture by Mackenzi Lee -- A Not So Favorable Review

Summary: Monty is lechy lush with an abusive father and a crush on his childhood best friend. Percy is bi-racial in a time where that in unacceptable. Felicity is Monty's sister and just wants to study medicine. They go on the Grand Tour of Europe together. Shenanigans ensue, the trip derails and Alchemy happens?

I gave this book 3 stars...Ugh






I want to start out with a strong statement...What the ACTUAL fuck is this book?! Holy. Shit. I just can't.

  
I know that the opinions below are probably going to be very unpopular...I just want everyone to know that I'm not judging anyone who enjoyed this book. This book wasn't meant for me, and that's ok!  So, to start us off, I'm going to talk about the positives. It's a polite thing to do.

On a Positive Note:

The first 100 pages or so were AWESOME! I was super enjoying this book! It was hilarious! Monty is a lech and he loves to drink and gamble. Naturally it gets him into a lot of trouble and some really awkward predicaments. I loved it! If the whole book had just been about the Grand Tour and all the shit Monty got into, SOLD! Unfortunately, it wasn't...but we'll get to that later. I promise. It was funny and interesting to read. I understood 100% why people were losing their shit over this book. Again, I will touch on what happened later.

The characters are soooooooooooo good! I love Monty, Percy and Felicity. They are real people with real problems and they are treated in a way that I feel was historically accurate for the time period in which this book was meant to have taken place. Monty is terribly flawed and very stupid, but that is part of his charm. You watch him struggle with trying to please his father and trying to fight against his wild nature. He was charmingly frustrating and I loved that about him. 

Percy was super sweet and I was genuinely cheering for him throughout the novel, as I was Felicity as well. At first I found her to be annoying, but as her character and personality came out, I didn't mind her so much.

I did also like the romance between Monty and Percy. It was a bit like Carry On by Rainbow Rowell...but not done nearly as well. Still, I was rooting for them to get together...and for Monty to pull his head out of his ass. Haha

Things that DIDN'T work:

Honestly, if it wasn't for the characters I would have DNF'd the hell out of this book.

Let's start with that love story I was just praising. It was SOOOOOOOO hot and cold, but not in a sexy way. Monty is so frustrating...I am not sure how Percy put up with him. He must be a saint! He insults Percy multiple times, mostly because Monty is a privileged white boy and has no idea what is like to be in Percy's shoes (as I mentioned before, Percy is bi-racial and he doesn't have the same rights as Monty does in this time period). He also doesn't really try to understand either? I don't know. I wasn't super into the romance...but I still wanted them to succeed.

The plot was a hot mess. First we are the Grand Tour, then something happens and they end up going on a wild goose chase all over Europe because of alchemy.....What? And I didn't even think it was original! It was like Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa. I can't say how because it might spoil both series, but trust me...there were some odd parallels...

There were scenes that reminded me of other things as well...like:

Or this:

And if all those things weren't enough, how about some of this:

...upon looking at all of this, it sounds really cool...but the thing is, it has all been done before...and better! All I could think of were these comparisons and how much better they were than what I was currently reading. Plus what I was reading was NOT what this book was advertised as. I was expecting something completely different. A best friends road trip novel...but in Europe and it's all old timey and there is an amazing M/M (male/male) romance...but it really wasn't what the book is about. It's about best friends who are SUPPOSED to go on a European tour but something happens and they end up getting severely sidetracked because Monty is an idiot.

I am having a really hard time expressing my feelings for this book. I was annoyed with most of it and everything is spoilers so I can't really say what else bothered me. UGH!

So anyway...I think I'm done thinking about this damn book. I was mislead, I was bored, I was upset and shocked that everything felt like a plagiarized bastardization of things that already exist...and are a million times better....I am emotionally spent.....I need some alcohol....and an angry nap.

I also want to apologize for the excessive use of GIFs in this post...I was trying something new and I may have gone overboard? Maybe not? Ehh...I'll probably keep doing it until someone stops me. Hahaha

Here's where to find me!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan-peachyfishybooks

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk5eRrShYL-HK0Gzg2qp4zQ/featured















Again....I can't just leave it like that...I have more to say...and it's spoilery...so...you've been warned if you go past this point. 

I still have no clue why this book is so bloody popular. It is literally the biggest rip off a ton of major anime/movie titles...I mean...yeah, it's not a complete bastardization, but there were so many parallels that it made me really dislike this story. Yeah, if you haven't seen One Piece or Fullmetal Alchemist, I could see that it might be an enjoyable read a little bit more....but even then...after looking past everything...this is NOT what was expected. At. All. After the incident with the robbers and escaping into town, I was already starting to get disappointed...then we find out Percy is sick and that he's going to be sent away...so yeah, that was sad, but they find out the trinket Monty had stolen from the important French guy....whose name I can't be arsed to remember...is actually a key for an alchemical heart that could possibly cure Percy...so this is no longer a story about a final horrah on a Grand Tour...which is what I was hoping. This is a trio of teenagers trying to get a key to a heart of a chimera...of a not dead but mostly dead woman...I didn't want this. They spent so much time in Spain faffing around trying to get answers from the son and daughter of the guy who did the alchemy...great...more shit I don't care about. Like, we went through some shitty character development of characters we didn't need to hang around. Yeah....we are supposed to feel bad about taking the heart of their mother...but we shouldn't have been in this position to begin with. Then the whole going to Venice and getting the key................Going into the catacombs....the fight scene......the escape.......like a scene right out of Indiana Jones...except they weren't looking for a religious item.

I know this is kind of incoherent and maybe it doesn't make sense...but I just feel like I can't fully explain why I didn't like this book...................................There were just too many things working against it. I had such a hard time talking about this book. I literally have a headache. I sorry if this ending bit is a bit...shit. XD

Our Youtube Channel is LIVE!!

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Remember that Youtube channel I've been talking about for soooooooooooooooooo long?

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That's right! You can now watch my stupid face on the Youtubes!

Follow me and my friend Gigaburi on PeachyFishyBooks where we post wrap ups, hauls and other bookish nonsense!

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Please be kind to us....We know we have a lot of work to do to make better videos and we already know some of the things we need to improve in the future. ^^'v

PeachyFishyBooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmCvglhzf8I 

My Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6483377-supermomochan

Gigaburi's Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/43541532-gigaburi-peachyfishybooks

June Book Haul!

Hey guys! I'm here with another book haul! I wasn't planning on buying anything this month, but I ended up getting a sequel I needed and then my grandpa gave me some money for shopping...so I picked up a few things that I had been wanting!~  

P. S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

After I finished To All The Boys I've Loved Before, I ran out and picked this up right away. I'm really not a huge fan of contemporary...but I really did enjoy this. I needed something light and I really enjoyed Jenny Han's writing. I am currently reading this book and am 68 pages in and am enjoying myself. ^^

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson

I read Steelheart recently and I really liked it...but I couldn't find this dang book anywhere!! Two Walmarts, Two Barns and Nobles and a Half Price Books later, I finally found it! XD I felt like Steelheart could have been a stand alone (ish), so I'm really interested to see what problems are going to arise in this book...hopefully there are less...feelings and insta-love-y-ness...That super annoyed me in the last one.

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

I had been wanting this book for a while, ever since it was hauled like mad on Booktube...but I haven't really seen anyone talk about it since. I did hear a few good things about it, so it kept me excited. ^^ I'm not too sure what it's about, but I like going into things blindly sometimes. 

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

I have heard mixed reviews on this book, but I still really wanted it.  I also don't know what this is about...but it's a fantasy that's based in Ancient Greece (or was it Rome.......?) and that's interesting enough for me! XD  It was said to be advertised as a fantasy stand-alone but then they announced another book after it was released...I heard that will change you views on it because it was written like it was for a series and not a solo book...hopefully I'll enjoy this. ^^

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Another book I have heard mixed things about but still wanted to try. This cover is so much prettier in person! Everything about this book is really nice! It makes me all the more excited to read it!~ I really like that books are starting to take place in different places other than the US and some sort of Europe. Yay!

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

Another book I have been wanting for a super long time and haven't picked up...Until now. I am SUPER excited about this book (which I have also heard nothing about). A Japanese steampunk novel with mythical creatures....ALL of the win! I don't really know what this book is about other than what I mentioned before...I'm super excited!~ 

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

My friend Robert has been wanting me to read The Wheel of Time series for a long time now and when I saw the trade paperback at Half Price Books, I decided to pick it up. I wanted to collect the hard covers, but I liked the way this book felt in my hands, so I decide that I'd finally give the series a shot. I am SUPER nervous about starting it though...Lindsey Rey and a few other Booktubers read them and they hated them...but Robert loves the series and I believe he said Lewis from Yogscast loves it...Gods I hope I like it.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami 

This....This is one of my top 10 favorite books/movies of all time. This books is IMPOSSIBLE to find, so when I saw two copies sitting on the shelf I pretty much poo'd myself!! I read this while I was living in Japan (that's also where I saw the movie) and I have wanted to read it again ever since the Hunger Games became huge (I still think this is WAY better than HG). To those of you who love the Hunger Games and haven't read this....DO IT!!! The movie is also fabulous! The sequel film is rubbish though, so don't watch it...I like to block it from my brain and pretend it doesn't exist. XP

 Well that's all for this posting...and it'll probably be the last one, besides my June wrap up, until I come back from Japan (I leave in a few days).  I will probably end up doing a haul on some of the stuff I bring back, so that will be a thing to look forward to!

Until next time! Bye!!

Above mentioned Youtubers:

Lindsey Rey: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1VyYW1dxsY6z9j-dCWLEwA/featured

Lewis (Yogscast): https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueXephos