Review: The Assassin's Blade

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Assassin's Blade is a series of novellas set before the beginning of the Throne of Glass series. It chronicles her time at the Assassin's Keep, and her relationship with Sam Cortland. I enjoyed reading this book to understand Sam and Celaena's relationship, and how it impacts her in the Throne of Glass series. Like when she says, "I am Celaena Sardothien, and I will not be afraid", it was cool to find out how that originated. However, I did not feel emotionally connected to this book. I felt as though I should be sad when I got to the part where Sam dies (which if you read the Throne of Glass series, you know that already happens), but I didn't have an emotional response. I enjoyed getting the background of Celaena before Endovier, before she became a Champion. It was interesting to see what it was like for Celaena to live in the Assassin's keep, and have some more understanding about her mental state before coming to compete to be a Champion. But overall, I don't think it was particularly needed, and it definitely did not compare to other novellas I've read before, or the Throne of Glass series.

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Review: Girl Online

Girl Online by Zoe Sugg
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

*I reviewed this book for NetGalley*

Girl Online follows a girl named Penny from Brighton in the UK, who suffers from anxiety and vents her feelings and shares her thoughts on the anonymous blog as “Girl Online”. She’s a teenager, so she deals with a lot of drama from other pupils, and has to deal with panic attacks and other sources of anxiety.

Girl Online is written by Zoe Sugg, a YouTube personality known as Zoella. I have followed her videos for the past year or so, and I was interested to see what her book was about. If you weren’t aware, there is a controversy surrounding this book, since many believed that is written by a ghostwriter.

As I began the book, I wasn’t particularly optimistic. I found that the book seems to be written by an adult, using out of date words, or vocabulary that teenagers don’t use. Also, the characters don’t seem to act in a way teenagers do. It feels inauthentic, and it is hard to believe that this story could happen to someone in real life. The characters are also supposed to be around year 11 in the UK, 15 or 16 years old, but the way the story’s written feels as though they are 12 or 13.

Also, since I follow Zoe on YouTube, I am aware that she lives in Brighton, deals with anxiety, and loves Christmas. It seems like she projects her experiences with anxiety, living in Brighton, and loving Christmas, rather than relating it to the characters. I felt as though she was trying too hard to portray her life experiences, rather than convey the experiences of a character who just happens to deal with anxiety like her.

What I did like was reading about the panic attacks and anxiety through the book, written by someone who faces anxiety. I enjoyed being able to understand more of the mindset of someone who has anxiety, which is hard to get from an outside source. As an online personality, I understood some of the things she wrote about, such as when she said “I didn’t do my usual thing of waiting to see if it got any comments or shares”. I enjoyed the relationship between Penny and her guy best friend, Elliot.

So, things I didn’t like about the book. The awkward phrasing, such as “all glossy chestnut hair and pouting”, “his blue eyes are sparkling like the sea in the winter sunshine”. Also, the relationship between Penny and the love interest in this novel was very insta-love. They hung out for about 6 hours, realized they had so much in common and were PERFECT for each other, and a few days later were in love. Also, in one of Penny’s blog posts, she mentions how life is going absolutely wonderful, and her life’s been completely turned around because she met a guy. This does not make me like this book, nor do I believe it’s true. Once you meet someone, your life isn’t fixed because of them. That is an untrue and unhealthy thought for teenagers to have, and I don’t think mentioning it in a book while positively impact the readers.

Also, I don’t think the author(s) understood that Americans and British people speak differently. At one minute, “Brooklyn boy” is judging Penny for using very British terms, but later he himself says something extremely British. Research should’ve been required! A lot of things in this novel, I knew were going to happen way ahead of when they did, so the book was pretty predictable. Not ALL the time, but very easy to guess.

This was one of those books where the characters are in relationships, and it seems okay by the middle, so you have to wait a while for conflict to surface and be resolved within the last 50 pages. So, the pacing wasn’t great. It felt like a super cheerful fanfic at times, seeing the best parts of the relationship, then quickly through itself into drama.

So, overall, I’m giving it a 2.5 stars. It could have been a lot better, and much more realistic. I may continue the series, because I would like to know what happens to the characters, but I don’t believe this book accurately captured the teenage experience. Some parts were relatable, but it felt, say it with me everyone, “INAUTHENTIC!”


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Review: Red Queen

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'd heard so much about Red Queen, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it. I originally thought (because of the title) that it was a retelling of Alice and Wonderland from the Queen's perspective, however that is not true. Red Queen is a dystopian fantasy book about a girl named Mare, who grows up in a "Red" family in a world where people are divided by their Red or Silver blood. The Silvers have all the power and magical abilities, whereas the Reds are conscripted into military service. Mare, however, is sent to the palace to work for the royal family and discovers that she has mysterious magical abilities that should be impossible. She is then betrothed to a prince and begins to try to help her people from the position she acquired. Whilst this is happening, a rebel group called The Scarlet Guard is trying to save the Reds from oppression and build a new, fairer government.

Overall, I really enjoyed how all of the characters were rounded and well developed. The story always kept me on my toes, and I could only speculate what would happen next. Mare's family was a huge part of the story, and I could really tell how motivated she was to help them, despite their disapproval of how she made money for her family. I found the relationship between Mare and Cal/Mavin to be a trope, but I won't reveal any more for the purpose of making this review spoiler-free. The friendships in this story, particularly between Mare and her best friend, and Mare and Cal, were very central to the story and added a lot of depth to her character. There was one thing that annoyed me about the story, though, which was the use of the phrase, "I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding". The ending (basically the last hour of the audio-book) completely blew me away, and really made me love it more, which contributed to my five-star rating. I definitely recommend you give it a try if you love stories with strong female characters, fantastical elements, and well-developed characters.

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Review: The Bane Chronicles

The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this collection of novellas, and though I didn't completely speed through this, I really enjoyed having more insight on characters that weren't featured as much in The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices.

My favorite novella was the one featuring Edmund Herondale. It was also interesting seeing the backstory of Magnus and his relationships with fellow Warlocks Ragnor Fell and Catarina Loss, and his relationship with Camille. Plus, these novellas presented more of Malec's relationship in the books that we never got to see, since the books were focused more on Clary.

I did not realize that Tessa was at Magnus' house when Jocelyn came trying to stop Clary seeing the Shadow World at a young age. Seeing more from The Circle was great, because their prejudice was less theoretical, and more hard hitting. I previously read the Shadowhunter Academy novellas, so I already learned more about Valentine's followers, but to read how brutal they were and how loyal they were to Valentine was quite enlightening. It was also great how a novella explored more of Raphael's backstory, and added to my understanding of his character. Furthermore, seeing how Ragnor Fell and Raphael interacted was great. I love how they both ganged up on Magnus!

I give this novella bind up a 5/5 stars, because the writing was excellent, the characters were rich and well developed, and every novella broadened my understanding of the Shadow World. Having multiple authors did not change the fluidity of the story or the characterization, and it did not change the quality of the story.


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Review: Size 12 and Ready to Rock

Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love this series from Meg Cabot. It has just the right amount of Comedy and Mystery. Heather Wells was a pop star in the 90's, and is no longer in the music industry. She is now an Assistant Residence Hall Director at New York College, a Private College in New York City. With this job, she has to deal with many troublesome College students, and the situations they get their selves into. She has investigated mysterious deaths in past books of the series, and that doesn't change in this book.

Heather Wells' character is very relatable, I believe, despite her pop star past. In this installment, we learn more about Jordan and Tania's marriage, and Tania's past. In the earlier books, we don't learn much about her except that she is the reason that Heather and Jordan broke up. Also, a reality TV show aspect is introduced which creates an opportunity for more drama as well as more comedy, which is much appreciated. Heather and Cooper are engaged in this novel, not so secretly (despite their wishes). I really appreciate the natural progression of their relationship, and it has a presence in the story, but the novel isn't overwhelmingly focused on their relationship.

I enjoyed the continuing tales of Jordan and his family, as his eccentric sisters are introduced. Also, Magda and her boyfriend Pete do not have such a big presence in this book, but it does not take away from the story. New characters are introduced such as Stephanie, Jared and Lisa Wu. I enjoyed the segment with parallels between Lisa and Heather particularly.

I found no problems with this book to speak of. I enjoy each Meg Cabot book, and I don't necessarily find any faults in them. The pacing was great, the story advanced well, introducing new characters and examining previously established characters more. Adding a backstory to Tania's character added a lot to the central plot, and I enjoyed seeing the different layers of her character. This series keeps getting better, and I can't wait to read the last book, The Bride Who Wore Size 12.

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Review: The Next Together

The Next Together by Lauren James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Next Together is a reincarnation romance set in the 18th, 19th and 21st centuries that examines how love can cross centuries and endure despite hardships. 

I enjoyed the reincarnation romance aspect of it, and how science was a part of the book. I also enjoyed Katherine and Matthew's characters, and my favorite time scape was the one in the 1700s, though the one in 2039 was great too. I didn't really enjoy their 2019 communication through texts and letters. It felt like they would never talk about top secret information or write it down in that fashion, so it didn't really seem real.

         I enjoyed that history was injected into the storyline, however I would have enjoyed seeing a greater variation of time periods. I didn't particularly enjoy the 1854 storyline. Also, when they have the text at the end of sections that says "request for intervention, request denied", it was very confusing as it was never mentioned who "controlled" their time scapes and time so they could be reincarnated.

         I found the message of the novel, that love can always bring people back together and that even death can not separate us, very moving. Overall, I would give this book 3.5 stars. The story wasn't particularly well written, and I sometimes couldn't connect with Katherine (in 2019), but it was a pretty original idea for a novel, and the different time scapes weren't difficult to follow.

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My 100 Subscriber Giveaway!

Hi everyone! I just reached 100 Subscribers and 1000 views on YouTube, so I decided to do a giveaway! This is the first giveaway I've ever done, and I'm so excited! This giveaway is for The Crown by Kiera Cass, which I have ranted about ever since I started my YouTube Channel. It was my most anticipated read for the entire year, and I'm really happy to be sharing it with you guys!

 Instructions:
1) To enter this giveaway, you must be subscribed to my channel, CarolineReads. 
2) You also must live in the US for this giveaway.  I hope to do an international giveaway in the future.
3) If you want an extra entry, you can retweet my pinned tweet about the giveaway
4) If you want an extra entry, you can follow me on twitter, Reads_Cara

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My First Blog Post

Hi Everyone! This is my first blog post.  My name is Caroline, and I have a BookTube Channel called Caroline Reads. Check out my BookTube Channel here! I love to talk about books, movies and tv shows, and share my passion for reading! I wanted to start a book blog so that I could become more connected with the reading/blogging/BookTube world, so that I can share my ideas, and make some friends! I hope you'll check me out, and that we can build a community together.