The Last of the Firedrakes by Farah Oomerbhoy | Review

The Last of the Firedrakes by Farah Oomerbhoy
Publisher: Wise Ink
Publication Date: August 15, 2015
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Magic
Pages: 488
Source: Received through Booktube Tours
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Goodreads Descritpion

16-year-old Aurora Darlington is an orphan. Mistreated by her adopted family and bullied at school, she dreams of running away and being free. But when she is kidnapped and dragged through a portal into a magical world, suddenly her old life doesn’t seem so bad.

Avalonia is a dangerous land ruled by powerful mages and a cruel, selfish queen who will do anything to control all seven kingdoms—including killing anyone who stands in her way.

Thrust headlong into this new, magical world, Aurora’s arrival sets plans in motion that threaten to destroy all she holds dear.

With the help of a young fae, a magical pegasus, and a handsome mage, Aurora journeys across Avalonia to learn the truth about her past and unleash the power within herself. Kingdoms collide as a complicated web of political intrigue and ancient magic lead Aurora to unravel a shocking secret that will change her life forever.

My Thoughts

I decided to take a different approach with this review just to switch things up a little. 

Pros

• For someone who hasn't read a lot of fantasy, this book was easy to get into. It was also easy to follow along with.

• The world, characters, and how everything is connected seems to be really well thought out. I never questioned the world or how everything worked in the world while reading.

Cons

• All the characters were too trusting. No one, especially the main character, questioned anything that was said to them. I didn't find this very believable especially when you start to learn about the rivalry between family. This could have caused a lot more conflict than it did.

• I don't think I've ever read a book where the main character makes as many bad decisions as Aurora does. It seems like whenever she has the opportunity came around she chose the wrong action, even when she knew it wasn't right. 

• There didn't seems to be any consistency in the timeline of the story. A certain even would happen then a few sentences later Aurora is talking about that same event like it happened a long time ago. For the most, the pacing for the story seemed to take place a day at a time so when I found out at the end that the entire book took place over 3 months I was confused. 

Overall

I enjoyed the general story. Although the cons took away from the reading experience, I'm still interested in continuing this story and seeing what happens next.

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead | Review

Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: November 13, 2008
Genre: YA, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 443
Source: Purchased
First Line: "His fingertips slid along my back , applying hardly any pressure, yet sending shock waves over my flesh."
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Goodreads Description

WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa - the last Dragomir princess - must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken...

Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most... but will her choice mean that only one can survive?

My Thoughts

This review will be probably end up shorter than some of my others. I reread this book a few months ago so I will be going through a summary to share my thoughts. Since this is the third book in this series there will be spoilers.

In the opening of Shadow Kiss Rose is struggling with the death of Mason and not being able to be with Dimitri. While trying to seem like she isn't extremely affected by everything that's happened, Rose along with all the other novices are prepping for their qualifying exam. Throughout the book Rose has moments of seeing people who are dead. There are also moments of extreme, uncontrollable anger from Rose that can't be explained.

In this book I feel like the Strigoi were an even bigger threat then they have ever been. In Frostbite there was a glimpse into what the Strigoi were planning but I think in this book everything becomes more real and widespread. The end of this book was heartbreaking. The first time I read it I knew something was going to go wrong but I was hoping it would be something that I, and the main characters, could live with.

Shadow Kiss was a fast-paced read and another great installment to the series. I am really enjoying my reread of this series. 

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead | Review

Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: August, 16, 2007

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Pages: 332

Source: Purchased

First Line: "I felt her fear before I heard her screams."

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Goodreads Description 

ONLY A TRUE BEST FRIEND CAN PROTECT YOU FROM YOUR IMMORTAL ENEMIES…

Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires—the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.

After two years of freedom, Rose and Lissa are caught and dragged back to St. Vladimir's Academy, a school for vampire royalty and their guardians-to-be, hidden in the deep forests of Montana. But inside the iron gates, life is even more fraught with danger…and the Strigoi are always close by.


Rose and Lissa must navigate their dangerous world, confront the temptations of forbidden love, and never once let their guard down, lest the evil undead make Lissa one of them forever…

My Thoughts

I don't exactly remember what I first thought about this book when I picked it up since it was so long ago. I do know that I was interested enough in the summary to pick it up. During the summer I got into a bit of a reading slump, and when I was finally coming out of it I wanted to read one of the many books I haven't picked up yet but at the same time I wanted to read something I was sure was going to be good. It was between this one and another series that I got most of the way through but still didn't finish. I decided to start rereading this one first.

I thought this book was amazing! It gave a completely different take on vampires. While the Moroi still need blood to survive they don't fall under the stereotypes of what we typically think of when vampires are brought up. At the same time, the dangerous parts aren't completely taken away because there are also the Strigoi and they follow all the stereotypes of burning in the sun and killing any and everyone.

I appreciate that Rose took it upon herself to protect Lissa no matter what. When St. Vladmir's isn't safe anymore she decides they need to leave. Any moment Lissa was in trouble, Rose did everything she could to help her without any concern for how she would look or the consequences she would later have to face. Sometimes this bothered me because at times Rose acted like she was a servant instead of being Lissa best friend. However, I also understand that Rose was raised to believe that Moroi life was more important than her's and others like her.

I loved Rose! She always said what was on her mind and was quick to make jokes but she knew when it was time to be serious and focus. That was usually when she was training with Dimitri. Rose and Dimitri! I just have one word for them. SEXY!! I love that although were attracted to one another it was instant love. It starts from a place of respect and progresses as they learn more about each other.

Overall, I think this was a great start to this amazing series. I would recommend this to anyone look for a fun, fast-paced read.

Paper Towns by John Green | Review

Paper Towns by John Green
Publisher: Speak
Publication Date: September 22, 2009 (reprint)
Genre: YA Contemporary
Pages: 305
Source: Borrowed from friend
First Line: "The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle."
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Goodreads Description

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew... 

My Thoughts

Going into this book, I didn't know too much about it besides the basics. This is surprising considering the movie just came out and everyone was talking about it. Before Paper Towns, I read two other books by John Green, The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska. The two were so different so I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. 

John Green's way of writing makes everything believable. All the characters were unique but still seemed like real people. I felt this was especially true when we see how the different characters saw Margo Roth Spiegelman. Each character's response to the disappearance of Margo was genuine. Quentin, finally coming the closest to Margo since their childhood, is the most invested in finding her no matter how he might find her. In order to help, Q's friends do what they can but aren't as invested as Q. This was another way the characters were more believable. When Margo disappeared, they didn't just drop everything and go searching for her. They continued living their lives and when they finally figured out a new clue or had the time, they went look, and I liked that 

Paper Towns was fun and entertaining while still having serious, thought provoking moments. While Quentin is trying to figure out why Margo left and where she might have gone to, he takes the time to think about who Margo really was compared to how he and everyone else say her.

I was disappointed by the end. There was so much buildup that I felt like I was running full speed ahead. When I got to that final section it was like I ran head first into a wall marked the end. The story just stopped and it definitely felt like there should have been more. However, I appreciate that the story wasn't nicely wrapped up since life keeps going and there is never a definite ending. While I had some mixed feelings about this book, I still enjoyed it

Favorite Quotes

"...Humans lack good mirrors. It so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and hard for us to show anyone how we feel." 

"What a treacherous thing it is to believe that a person is more than a person."

"As much as life can suck, it always beats the alternative."

"I imagine it is hard to go back once you've felt the continents in your palm."