Category: Reviews

Posted in Blog Tour, Reviews

WHERE DREAMS DESCEND by Janella Angeles

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

I LOVED THIS BOOK!

I have a weak spot for stories about circuses and competition. There is just so much potential for drama! and magic! and darkness! And Where Dreams Descend certainly delivered on this tall order!

Kallia is a protagonist who was very easy to root for. I genuinely liked her and wanted her to succeed! It was really refreshing to see the confidence she brought to her performances and life, even as she was facing so many unknowns (new places, judgmental people, and a society she knew nothing about) and while nobody believed in her but herself.

Jack and Demarco were also both interesting characters in very different ways. I feel like I know them a bit less than Kallia, mostly on account of the mystery surrounding their characters that was significant to the plot. I hope moving forward in the sequel that we get more candid looks at their values and motivations.

The storyline was a lot of fun. I just love the way competition-style plots create such a heightened, condensed arena for drama and intrigue. My one critique which held me back from giving it five stars was that the ending felt a bit rushed. It certainly captured the *wow* moment I was expecting from all the suspense throughout the rising action, but I wish we had a bit more time afterward to digest what just happened.

Altogether, though, this is certainly a book to look out for this summer/fall! I will definitely be recommending it to many friends and YA fantasy fans.

Comparable Titles:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

***I received an e-ARC from Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review as a part of the blog tour!

Posted in Reviews

THE BETROTHED by Kiera Cass

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

Over the years, I have been a pretty big fan of The Selection series (It’s kind of my guilty pleasure series… it’s just so entertaining to reread). The Betrothed is definitely in the same vein as Cass’ first series as a relatively feel-good fantasy romance. In fact, at times it felt like the same world to me (although this one is much more high fantasy than dystopian futuristic). While I enjoy that Cass’ writing style is distinct and recognizable, I wish this book held its own a bit more. I will try to refrain from comparing the two series too much, but I felt it just had to be said since I think a large part of my enjoyment of this book stemmed from the sentimental factor that it brought me back those warm and fuzzy and jaw-dropping feelings!

I quite enjoyed the first half of the book, but then the ending felt rushed with so many plot twists thrown in there. I was a bit surprised to learn that there will be a sequel due to this hasty ending (it felt more like trying to wrap it up quickly for a standalone); I wish that the fall-out of the climax was more fleshed out rather than thrown in there for shock value. I’m sure it was a necessary plot point for the future progression of the story, but I found it rather jarring and didn’t quite find my footing again by the time the novel finished.

While I have many critiques, I am giving it such a high rating because of how darn enjoyable and entertaining it was to read! Please give this one a chance. I know I’ll be reading the sequel and maybe I’ll even reevaluate my feelings about the plot’s pacing once I see where it’s going!

Comparable titles:
Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
Torn by Rowenna Miller
The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

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THE MORNING FLOWER by Amanda Hocking

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
3/5 Stars

I enjoyed the sequel to the Omte Origins series a bit more than the first book. I feel like it’s because this book had *more oomph* — if that makes sense. The relationship between Ulla and Pan is better developed and actually discussed between them in a very mature, commendably responsible way that I rarely see in fictional relationships. While the characters themselves don’t come across to me as super complex, their fierce loyalty to one another really makes the book for me.

I enjoyed getting to see more insight into this world. The mysterious magical elements felt darker (where I feel like the envelope wasn’t quite pushed enough in the first book). However, I still had some of the same issues of the worldbuilding feeling vague and intangible. The different cultural groups for the trolls were further explained and seem to be like a microcosm of our society. However, I think the lack of interaction between the troll world and human society prevented the narrative from really *going there* with this concept.

Comparable books:
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

***I received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Posted in Blog Tour, Reviews

LOBIZONA by Romina Garber

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

I was very excited to be invited to be a part of the blog tour for Lobizona because I have been hearing buzz all over about this book (and also just look at that gorgeous cover!!!). I enjoyed reading this new spin on a paranormal fantasy school. The concept was cool and I found the beginning to be particularly gripping and difficult to put down. The narrative angle of Manu struggling with her identity of being viewed as an outsider (both within the grounded-to-reality immigration storyline and the fantastical structure of the society based around the bruja and lobizón) was a great launching point for the plot.

I did find that the balance between these two threads became much more lopsided in the paranormal school setting toward the latter half of the novel. From the onset of my reading, I wasn’t expecting this setting to be as present and it took away some of the urgency of the beginning of the novel to me. Obviously Manu was in a precarious situation with her hidden identity, but it didn’t have the same urgency as I felt during the exposition since the school was a bit of a safe haven (at least for her magical peers).

Altogether, I have pretty positive takeaways from this one and am interested to read more books from this author!

Comparable titles:
The Dysasters by P.C. Cast
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
Tithe by Holly Black

***I received an e-ARC from Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Reviews

HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD by Sarah J. Maas

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
5/5 Stars!

I’m a bit obsessed with House of Earth and Blood if I do say so myself!

I loved the expansive worldbuilding throughout the novel. I found the story to be super addicting which was absolutely essential for me to stay invested since the book is over 800 pages! The characters were complex and the mystery of it all was soooo good. I could totally picture this fantasy world and the investigation plot as like a crime-fighting procedural show that would be so fun to binge-watch.

I have some mixed feelings about sensing a lot of similarities in the character traits and thematic elements that were also present in Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses. I think this may be in large part because I have such a strong familiarity with these series. Maas’ writing style is definitely very distinct, so I could see that signature humor and snarkiness ring through in the dialogue and characters’ voices. I could probably write up a whole blog series about the parallels between the three book series (actually maybe that would be a fun project to work on as I wait for her next book hmm….)

Back to this individual book, I thought it was a great start to a new series. It definitely got me hooked to the world and the characters. The main story also felt contained enough to satisfy me for however long it may take for the sequel to come out. The ending left me interested, but also a bit confused. I predict, similar to her other series, that the plot will pivot more toward the fantasy origins of the world now that the major present-day conflict has been resolved.

Needless to say, I will definitely be continuing on with this series!

Comparable titles:
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
A Winter’s Promise by Christelle Dabos

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THE MIDNIGHT LIE by Marie Rutkoski

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

This has been one of my favorite reads of 2020 so far! I just adored the characters and couldn’t help but feel giddy at being taken back to the world of The Winner’s Curse series, which is one of my all-time faves. The Midnight Lie was a bit slow to start, but it really picks up and then you won’t be able to stop.

I thought this story set up the foundation for a great expansion of the fantasy world from The Winner’s Curse series. I liked the way it was a spin-off, yet it wasn’t necessary to read the original series, so anyone can just jump into this story. And it definitely had its own original fingerprint, apart from the previous series. The romance is so sweet and features two really distinct, multi-dimensional characters with bold, unforgettable voices of their own.

As always, I’m a huge fan of Marie Rutkoski’s writing and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Comparable titles:
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta

Posted in Blog Tour, Reviews

THE LOST CITY by Amanda Hocking

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
3/5 Stars

The Lost City was a pretty feel-good fantasy in that the stakes didn’t seem super high, but it was still enjoyable to read. The characters are charming and while the plot didn’t totally grip me, I feel like tonally this was a nice pandemic read that let me ponder a while about a fantasy world that is parallel to our own world.

I should say that this is my first Amanda Hocking book and I believe this is the start of a spin-off series to her earlier books. So I didn’t have the background of previous knowledge about this fantasy work. While I don’t think this greatly deterred my enjoyment, I did struggle a bit with understanding the scope of the world-building. It felt like there was lots of info-dumping at times in the narration or even just in the characters’ dialogue that felt kind of unnatural for me to believe that these characters would actually explain to one another verbatim. I do think this world has interesting potential with a lot of background and history for the different groups of trolls and other creatures featured in the story.

My major gripe was that it felt like a middle grade read, even though the main characters were firmly in YA. The language often seemed juvenile and the plot seemed to steer clear of taking risks and getting into the real nitty-gritty of what I think was intended to be a pretty dark fantasy world.

Overall, I was underwhelmed, but still intrigued enough to keep reading Hocking’s other novels!

Comparable books:
Tithe by Holly Black
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn

***I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Posted in Reviews

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU by Marisa Kanter

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

I enjoyed What I Like About You because it felt really grounded in something that’s very relatable to my own life: book fandoms and the publishing community. The main character Halle is a book blogger and her major conflict comes from her anonymous identity online causing issues when she moves to a new town and meets her online best friend and crush Nash in real life. I haven’t read many books that are so in-touch with the present-day YA book community. Yes, tons of contemporary novels feature protagonists who LOVE to read, but rarely do they actively engage with reading beyond stating it as a hobby to seem more *relatable*.

I did find some of Halle’s friends to act in off-putting ways at times, but it seemed kind of realistic because you can’t always control or expect the ways people will react, especially when all your interactions are behind a screen. It was also pretty unrealistic (at least, to me!) that Halle would just choose not tell Nash about her real identity. They start becoming really close friends and I feel like there is no way that a normal teenager would keep that from their friend for *so long* since the stakes were pretty low (Like they’re friends online and now they’re friends IRL, what’s the big deal?). But once you suspend your disbelief, it is a really interesting conflict to drive the novel and help explore their relationships through two totally different platforms.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun, relatable contemporary read. Also, it gave me a bit of nostalgia for *the old days* before this whole pandemic turned the world upside down. Book Con, author signings, even going to the library!! These are all things that I miss and can experience by living vicariously through Halle in this story.

Comparable Titles:
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia
Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde

***My review is also posted on my blog!

Posted in Reviews

FANGS by Sarah Andersen

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

I’m so happy to see that this webcomic has been turned into a book! I randomly stumbled across it online a few weeks ago and absolutely loved the concept and characters. Then when I realized that the author was Sarah Andersen, whose Sarah’s Scribbles books I love, I was even more excited. This comic is certainly a departure from her previous books, but it still has the same heart and humor running through it despite its differences!

Fangs really plays on the cliche of vampires and werewolves by depicting an unlikely romantic pairing between the two in a modern day AU setting. Each page of the book is one simple scene where the two main characters interact. Reading it in the book bind-up setting, I felt like the storyline was nicely continuous and showed great development as the pair explores their relationship. Initially, reading it as disparate comic strips every few days, I hadn’t noticed the flow between the scenes as much, but this way it all really hit me in a super effective way. By the end of the book, I was extremely attached and didn’t want it to end!

This brings me to my main critique: I felt like the ending fell flat. Not that there was anything wrong with it but it didn’t seem like a needed conclusion. I wish there had been a bit more of a resolution or glimpse into their future. Instead, it just sort of ended abruptly to me. Like it was just for the sake of finishing the book, but I could foresee there being so much more interesting content in their relationship moving forward that *the world* is denying me!

Overall, Fangs was so fun and quirky. Although the panels are short, it becomes really easy to get attached to the characters. Whether or not you’re a big comic/graphic novel reader, I would definitely recommend it for a quick read or even something to get you out of a reading slump since it’s mostly visual and fast moving. I honestly haven’t read so many comics before, but it’s something I’ve been getting into a lot lately. I can’t think of any direct comp titles in this genre, but I would say that it has the spirit of Carry On mixed with Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (and yes, I know those are sort of wild comparisons, but think of it in *spirit* and *humor* and *satire*… and just go with it!).

***I received an e-ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Reviews

WITCHY by Ariel Slamet Ries

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

Witchy was a bit of an unexpected surprise that I got in my OwlCrate subscription box last month. I’ve been really in the graphic novel mood lately, so I figured this would be a fun one to pick up. And I have to say I was really impressed! I loved Ries’ art style and found the story itself to be captivating and honestly adorable (although it can get super dark, don’t get me wrong!).

The characters felt very dynamic and complex despite the story being relatively short. If you enjoy YA fantasy books set in a magical school setting (but with a twist!) or adventure novels, this will be your cup of tea! The main character Nyneve is just so lovable and all of her friends and allies were really interesting to get to know as well.

My main complaint would be that the book felt like two different plots in the first and second half. There wasn’t really a satisfying resolution, which leads me to believe that this may be just one installment in a larger series, but this is the only one I could find that has been released yet. If there is another book, I would definitely be interested in reading it! It looks like it’s a webcomic, so I will be looking into seeing if the chapters on there are updated past the end of the book.

Comparable Titles:
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughn
Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter by Marcus Sedgwick

***My review is also posted on Goodreads and Tumblr!