Ok so I know its been forever since I have posted something (December 2nd if we got to be specific) but in all fairness this month has been complete and utter madness and I have literally zero time for anything let alone blogging! (and it has been slowly killing me because the need to rant about the books I've read is becoming unbearable!)
Okay so I finally finished the A Darker Shade of Magic series by V.E. Schwab and they were INCREDIBLE!!! Literally the best books I have read in a long time and I mean a couple of months (I was in a major reading slump and for a while there I didn't know if I would recover) Thank god the magical Kell and the fabulous Delilah were able to transport me to Red London!!!
Also I finally got around to reading the endlessly raved about novel that is The Raven Boys by Maggie Stievater and I have to say it was not at all what I was expecting! Still not sure if that is a good thing or not my feelings are very mixed about the book (mostly because I don't know what to feel?) It was just so messy and all the characters were so heartachingly real and it literally hurt my soul at some points in the book (Adam my heart goes out to you!) I will however give the second novel a go because I'm just too invested at this point not too (my curiosity will eat me alive if I do not find out what becomes of Gansley and Blue) A full review is to come on this novel, I just didn't think a mini review would do it justice (or maybe its because I have so much to say about it that it would end up a five page rant and I can't really pass that off as a mini review now can I?)
A Conjuring of Light (ADSOM #3)
by V.E. Schwab
(I won't put in the summary because... ahem spoilers!)
AHHH this book was so fabulous I don't even have the words!!! I loved every second of it even when it was literally shredding my heart into pieces! The characters got even better (didn't know that was possible but hey you learn new things everyday) I loved all the characters so much that at times I was battling with myself over who was my favorite (they were all just so undeniably wonderful!)
Plus they had to go in a put a pirate ship so I was already destined to fall in love with this book (I did not want it to end) I mean I didn't think the series could get any darker (Kell was pretty moody in the last book and somehow his moodiness was able to transcend into more of a dark prince type of thing in the third book? I mean I'm not complaining give me a dark prince and a cup of coco and I'm set for life) Also there was a lot of impending doom looming over this novel. It seemed like at every turn something devastatingly horrible was about to happen and I was internally screaming at the characters about their own stupidity (sometimes not internally, its hard to keep that stuff all in you know?)
“Three Antari get on a boat...”
Rhy continually stressed me out the entire time if there is a character that makes horrible choices repeatedly he would win that contest. I mean half the time I would just be worrying about what stupid thing he was going to do next all the while trying to juggle the internal struggles of Delilah, Kell, and Alcuard ( it was a very light read if you cannot already tell).
“What are we drinking to?"
"The living," said Rhy.
"The dead," said Alucard and Lila at the same time.
"We're being thorough," added Rhy.”
The writing was incredibly beautiful though and I feel it was able to paint a perfect picture in my head of all the different Londons. Red London will forever be my favorite ( the beauty of it just steals my heart every time I read about it) This book also has some interesting things going on with white london and that definitely adds to the chaos that is this book (I loved it though)
“Love and loss,” he said, “are like a ship and the sea. They rise together. The more we love, the more we have to lose. But the only way to avoid loss is to avoid love. And what a sad world that would be.”
Kell and lila! OMG these two were absolutely perfect in this book and if anyone disagrees there going to be picking a fight with me because the chemistry and the development that goes on between those two is electric. I loved how they were both so protective of each other yet they trusted in one anthers skills and gave each other the space they both needed in order to treat each other like equals. The magic that they both learn is really inciting to see and I never get tired of hearing them tease one another.
“I have never known what to make of you. Not since the day we met. And it terrifies me. You terrify me. And the idea of you walking away again, vanishing from my life, that terrifies me most of all.”
Also Kell's love for his brother and Rhys love for Kell is so touching and tortured that I just want to cry and scream at the same time! They are both insanely protective of one another and would both throw their own lives away in half a second if it meant saving the other. I love just how complicated their connection becomes ( I won't give details because there is just too many spoilers there) and if anything they grow closer because they both have to learn to adapt and to accept one another flaws in a new way.
“At that, Kell smiled. It was a rare thing, and Rhy wanted to hold fast to it –he vas the only one who could make his brother simle, and he wore it like a badge.”
This book also focused a lot more on Alcuard especially since now they include chapters from his point of view! I really liked looking into his past and seeing a different side of the culture that is Red London and how the politics and everything works with magic. I will admit there were times were I wish I could skip ahead to a Kell or Lila chapter just because I'm biased and they are my fav's but every chapter added a new layer of complexity to the story and is what really made me fall in love with this series completely and utterly!
“Magic made everything feel so impermanent, it was easy to forget that some things, once changed, could never be undone. That not everything was either changeable or infinite. Some roads kept going, and others had an end.”
There is also chapters from the King and queens perspective and this really took me by surprise because I was not expecting to get to read about their thoughts on everything going on but it was actually quite interesting and really made this book all the more heartbreaking. Getting to hear everyones deepest and most personal thoughts made you understand each character individually and made you feel for them in a new way that made you attached to each and every character even if you were not aware (this is probably why I was on the verge of bursting out into tears on several occasions while reading this).
This series just took my breath away and I loved it so much that the thought of finishing it actually pained me (I was literally filled with panic and I did not know what I was going to do without this book!) The ending was heartbreaking yet everything came full circle in a way that I was able to make peace with. The characters have all stolen my heart (Kell I will always love you and I will continue to ship you and lila until the end of reading) PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read this series!!! You will not regret it (not if you have any sense anyways) It is definitely in the top three or four books I have ever read (right next to ACOMAF and Six of Crows)
If you have any time over the course of the Holidays READ THIS BOOK (Warning reading of this book may cause you to stress eat multiple holiday chocolates with no self control) (but its not like we weren't going to be doing that anyways so why not being reading a good book while easting delicious chocolate?)
Are the Holidays making you stressed or excited? Have you read any good books recently? What are they? Let me know in the comments below! Happy Holidays and Happy reading!
-BubblyBooks
