Tag: book review

Posted in Reviews

THE MEMORY OF BABEL by Christelle Dabos

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

I really enjoyed the third installment of the Mirror Visitor Quartet! I won’t get into too much detail to not spoil any of the earlier books, but long story short: you should read this series, especially if you’re a fan of YA fantasy!!!

The Memory of Babel was a fun follow-up to The ​Missing of Clairdelune, particularly in terms of Ophelia and Thorn’s character and relationship development. They were really the stars of the book for me and I always looked forward to their scenes together. While I quite enjoyed the way the first two books focused on the Pole, this book exposed the reader to an all new setting. Dabos once again shows her great knack for worldbuilding as she explored all the unique and intricate customs of Babel.

I was expecting a bit more of an expansion of the setting beyond Babel since the early chapters seemed to indicate that there would be more travel between the other Arks that we haven’t gotten a chance to see yet. But hopefully this will be something we will get to see in the grand finale!

I also felt like I didn’t grow as attached to the new characters as I did with the cast of characters from the previous two books. One of my favorite scenes was in the beginning when Ophelia reunited with Archibald and her other friends from the Pole after three long years apart… only for her to split up from them and not see them again for the rest of the book. So I can’t wait to see what’ll happen in the next book where all these forces Dabos has set up will come together for a dramatic conclusion!

Comparable titles:
Furyborn by Claire Legrand
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

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

Posted in Reviews

GROWN by Tiffany D. Jackson

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
5/5 Stars!

Wow, this book was absolutely chilling!

Grown is an utterly addicting contemporary YA thriller about a teenage girl named Enchanted Jones and her toxic relationship with famous singer Korey Fields… who is found dead, alone in a room with blood on Enchanted’s hands. A thriller from start to finish, Jackson uses flashbacks to show the descent of Enchanted and Korey’s relationship from what she thought was a dream mentorship to its reality as an abusive nightmare.

Enchanted was such a compelling character. Her hope and aspirations were so inspiring, which made me root for her so much. Even though the reader knows from the start that her road with Korey will end in the worst possible way, you want so badly for her to achieve her dreams of stardom like she imagines.

Jackson’s writing is really unique and I have felt stunned after finishing each book I’ve read from her. I really recommend her as a standout YA contemporary writer, especially as one who features diverse characters at the forefront of her timely, relevant stories.

It’s important to note that this book includes very sensitive subject matter and includes content warnings at the start of the book, which I thought was a really apt way to caution readers of potential triggers before diving in. So I would definitely recommend you read through the warnings before you begin!

Comparable titles:
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Whisper Network by Chandler Baker
Shackled by Tom Leveen

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

Posted in Reviews

WE HUNT THE FLAME by Hafsah Faizal

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
5/5 Stars

I LOVED We Hunt the Flame!!!!

I can’t believe it took me so long to finally pick this up because I adored every second of it. At the same time, though, I’m kind of glad because this means I won’t have to wait as long for the sequel!

A quick listing of some of the high points of the novel for me:

Dynamic, memorable characters: check
Slow-burn romance: check
Interesting magic system: check
Fun relationships between the characters: check

Basically, what isn’t there to love?

Don’t get me wrong, some of the plot elements could have gone wrong. I tend to find the pacing of fantasy adventure novels that take place over a long journey to be a bit slow and sometimes rambly. And while this one had some side quests and smaller obstacles along the way, they all seemed super important for the end goal and allowed the protagonists to experience further character development.

To get a bit more specific, I really enjoyed the way this story embraced darkness and explored the main characters’, Zafira and Nasir, inner selves and insecurities to portray them as complex, believable characters. The setting was also richly detailed and totally transformed me into the story.

Pick this one up! What are you waiting for??

Comparable Titles:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

Posted in Reviews

Series Review: THE CARLS by Hank Green

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
5/5 Stars

I recently finished this duology and was honestly so surprised by how much I LOVED it!

I’m a big sci-fi/fantasy nerd and I’ve found I really like books that are surrounded by video games and/or aliens so An Absolutely Remarkable Thing had kind of the perfect set-up for me. I loved April’s super frank voice. I felt like she had become my friend by the end of the book and I really knew her as a person. I also really recommend listening to this book as an audiobook because it really put me in the story in a transformative way by reading it in that medium!

I’ll be honest—I didn’t know this was going to be a duology when I read the first book. I finished it and was like OKAY, that’s a bit of a rude cliffhanger, gave if 5/5 stars, then walked away and sort of forgot about the series… but then when the sequel, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, came out this summer, I dusted up on my knowledge of the world with a quick reread and dove right back in.

With the sequel, I really enjoyed how Green expanded on the side characters from the first book. This really felt like an ensemble cast and I grew attached to each perfectly flawed and lovable character. The main plot was so urgent and like kinda existentially scary to think about in the context of a global pandemic right now… Anyway, such an engaging read! Kind of hard not to include spoilers, but I would definitely recommend walking into this series with an open mind and letting it drift you away with fun, quirky details, lots of humor and heart, and characters that you will want to call your new best friends!

Comparable titles:
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

Posted in Reviews

SKY IN THE DEEP by Adrienne Young

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

This was a fun, unique concept and a super quick read for me! I have been meaning to get to Sky in the Deep for a while now and I’m happy to have finally devoured it.

I found the premise of deep-seated Viking clan rivalries to be a super fun jumping-off point. Having read a lot of stories with the enemies-to-lovers trope, I thought the plot arc was *a bit* predictable at times, but that didn’t take away from the well-developed characters and intriguing details that illuminated this world.

I also thought the ending read suuuper fast (which can be a plus or negative, depending on your reading preferences). I wish that part was fleshed out a little more. But then again, I am also totally the type of reader who loves suspenseful build-ups to big battles where you get to know all of the characters motivations and fears (which this book did a great job of showing), but not a super big fan of the actual action sequence of the battle itself.

Basically, my main takeaway was that I really enjoyed Young’s writing style and characterization, so I’m very excited to read more of her works!

Comparable titles:
Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh
The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
Nemesis by Anna Banks

***I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Reviews

SPIN THE DAWN by Elizabeth Lim

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

First of all, can I just say the “Project Runway meets Mulan” comp for this book was soooo intriguing to me that I bought this book on the day it came out and I am a bit ashamed it took me a year to actually get to reading it, but also so glad that I have read it now!

This was such a fun fantasy thrill ride. I really found the main character Maia to be such a lovely, likeable person whom I was rooting for so much. Both in the competition and in her life, I just wanted her to be happy! And I think that’s just a great sign for a fun, dynamic protagonist. Plus, Elizabeth Lim’s beautiful writing style on top of this was just A+ *chef’s kiss*.

I’ve always loved stories about making clothes because I love fashion… plus competitions?? It’s like this book was made for me! I will say that I found the pacing of the book a bit jarring. I thought the tailor competition was going to be the main plot of the novel, but it only took about half the book! Then the story completely changed to something new (and exciting!), but I did feel a bit like it was two separate books squished into one. I enjoyed the high-stakes, contained nature of the competition a bit more… although, the latter portion of the novel got *super dark* and deliciously magical too. I think I will need to read the sequel to see how the ending plays out as I felt a bit like I was on uncertain ground by the end there.

All in all though, this was a great premise, with memorable characters and fun twists in the storyline that I would definitely recommend. Looking forward to the next one as well as Lim’s future works!

Comparable titles:
Torn by Rowenna Miller
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
The Falconer by Elizabeth May

Posted in Reviews

FURYBORN by Claire Legrand

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
5/5 Stars

Furyborn is definitely one of my favorite reads this year. I am obsessed with this book and I can’t believe it took me this long to finally pick it up.

The book has such a great set-up for a thrilling, YA fantasy story: it’s told in two alternating points of view following amazing, badass women over a thousand years apart. The prologue sets up a prophecy of sorts, where the reader knows from the beginning how Rielle’s story will end. But then we get to follow her life leading up to this point and it’s so much dramatic irony and *ahhh* anti-hero feels. If you love dark, villainous plot points like I do, this timeline will send you to such an ideal cloud of reader bliss, let me tell you.

Then, the other storyline follows Eliana and it’s in the same world but *so much* has changed over these centuries that have passed. Eliana is so freaking cool and I love her (but I also love Rielle and like every single other character too??).

The romance is great and the twists are so unpredictable! The magic system is also super unique. There is so much I want to say but I also loved going into it not knowing much about what I was getting into and being so completely surprised. It’s a bit of a longer book but it is so worth it to set up the rich worldbuilding and what I’m sure is going to be a cinematic stage for the sequels.

I read this book literally in one day. I just couldn’t stop reading. I will definitely be picking Kingsbane very, very soon! Do yourself a favor and binge this series before the final book comes out in October.

Comparable titles:
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
The Young Elites by Marie Lu

***I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley 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 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!