JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

A Court of Thorns and Roses was a letdown for me. I allowed all of the Twitter/blogger hype for this book to give me expectations that the book just couldn’t live up to. Truthfully, I think that fans of Sarah J. Maas are going to love whatever book she writes simply because her Throne of Glass series is so popular.

I hate to start with negatives, but there were three major things I hated about this book:
1.The premise is not believable
2.The ‘threat’ doesn’t exist until the end
3.The love interest doesn’t seem real and their connection doesn’t seem believable

Let me explain in detail. Feyre (main character) kills a wolf in the woods, but this wolf is actually a faerie. And when his friend, Tamlin, comes looking for revenge, instead of killing Feyrie, he invites her back to his house with him. She is fed amazing food and is cared for and she allowed to paint whatever she wants and they vow to keep her safe. AND her family is taken care of. What? Huh? She killed someone! That’s the worst punishment ever! And even though the reason Tamlin did this is explained later in the novel, it just doesn’t make any sense. Plus the explanation came a little too late in the novel, AND it was revealed via a servant girl’s monologue. Such a cheap way to reveal it!

Secondly, the only villain in the entire book doesn’t actually appear until the final 50 pages. So, the first 90% of the novel is so slow. It’s almost like the first 90% of the book functions as a love story, except this love story is ridiculous and unrealistic (will explain this in the next paragraph). The evil queen is a rich character who is actually a great villain, but she comes into the story way too late and at that point, you know she’s not going to win. And that entire section of the book where Feyrie has to pass three tests and figure out the queen’s riddle is fantastic. It’s a shame it didn’t start earlier on.

Lastly, Tamlin is a two dimensional character with no depth. I didn’t actually feel like I understood his character, and therefore I wasn’t cheering for him and Feyrie to get together. When she challenges the evil queen in order to save Tamlin, I was like meh. Who cares. Moving on. His role in the novel seemed generic, and he seemed too distant to be understood.

There were some redeeming qualities in this novel. Lucien is a way more interesting character than Tamlin – he’s witty and funny, and provides a different dynamic to the novel. Also, A Court of Thrones and Roses does open up a lot to be explored in the rest of the trilogy. I just hope the plot for books 2 and 3 is a little more fast-paced.

My Score: 5/10
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The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.

I enjoyed reading this novel much more than I thought I would – I actually devoured it in one sitting. Perhaps it’s because it doesn’t even seem like a YA novel. There are quite a few explicit sex scenes and this novel deals with some deep issues like child abuse. It was refreshing to have such young main characters deal with adult issues.

The main character is feisty and witty and actually has real personal issues that justify her behaviour. I mean, sure, she’s a heartless bitch, but it makes sense since her Dad is an alcoholic and her mum, well, I’m still not really sure about her mum. She’s flaky, to say the least.

I do think there are a couple of flaws with this story. Firstly, the progression of Bianca and Wesley’s friends-with-benefits relationship isn’t realistic. It happens too fast and Bianca doesn’t seem to notice that Wesley’s parents are never home. She just seems a little clueless sometimes. Secondly, Bianca’s two best friends seem like cardboard cut outs. There was no depth behind them and there didn’t seem to be any authenticity to their behaviour or dialogue. They were just there as props. You probably could cut them out of the story and it wouldn’t affect it that much.

However, I did like Wesley and Bianca. They were authentic, likeable characters – their motivations seemed justified and their banter back and forth provided some comic relief for the reader. Plus, the ending is soppy and cute and perfect for a teenage audience.

I recommend this to young adult audiences, but also to females who are little older (up to mid 20s). There are some deep issues explored in this novel, and this will resonate with an older target audience.

My Score: 8/10
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An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free. Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do. But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

An Ember in the Ashes is one of those books that reaches social media stardom almost out of nowhere. I read about this book a few months ago, but no one else seemed to know what it was or what it was about. And now, it’s #2 on the NYT bestseller list and it’s all over my Twitter news feed.

Both the US and UK covers of this book are amazing. The US cover almost looks like a Roman, gladiator setting (which is on point with the Trials fought in the book), and the UK cover makes it look more dystopian and young-adult-friendly. Both of these covers work for the audience and for the storyline.

What I loved most about this book is that the main character is treated exactly how she should be in that time period. When you have a fantasy novel set in a time period where woman are treated terribly, the main female character always seems to somehow avoid trouble. But not in this book. Laia is tortured both physically and mentally, and is treated like the other female slaves that surround her. And Sabaa manages to capture her fear through subtle actions and through Laia’s motivations.

The attraction in this story between Laia and Elias isn’t overwhelming. There is actually two boys in the story who Laia finds herself attracted to. But in saying that, it doesn’t feel like a love triangle. To be honest, nothing really happens, because in this kind of world, she doesn’t really have time to be chasing boys. And I love that. It’s much more realistic.

This book evokes anger in the reader. The world is unrelenting and the Commandant (a female ruler in control of Laia) is ruthless and a psychopath. There’s the imminent threat of rape throughout the entire novel, and you get the feeling that Sabaa wouldn’t save her characters just because they’re the main characters. She’d do what’s right by the book and by the Roman-like world she’s created.

It hasn’t been confirmed that there is a sequel to this book, but enough of it is left open-ended that the reader can secretly hope for the story to continue. All of the attention that this book has received (not just in Australia but internationally) will mean that the publishers will probably want to publish a sequel.

My Score: 9/10
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All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld

Jake Whyte is living on her own in an old farmhouse on a craggy British island, a place of ceaseless rains and battering winds. Her disobedient collie, Dog, and a flock of sheep are her sole companions, which is how she wanted it to be. But every few nights something—or someone—picks off one of the sheep and sets off a new deep pulse of terror. There are foxes in the woods, a strange boy and a strange man, rumors of an obscure, formidable beast. But there is also Jake’s past—hidden thousands of miles away and years ago, held in the silences about her family and the scars that stripe her back—a past that threatens to break into the present.

This story weaves between past and present quite abruptly, so, my number one tip for reading this book is, READ THE BLURB FIRST. It sounds silly, but for some reason I glazed over the blurb and didn’t really take it in. And God was I confused when I started it, because I wasn’t really sure what was happening in the present, or even which story was the present. At first I thought the main character was presently working on a sheep farm (which she is), but when we delve into her past, there is more description and dialogue and social interaction, and I thought perhaps the sheep farm plotline was actually the past. I remember flicking back and forth through the pages trying to work out how all the stories fit together.

Take note that the main character, Jake, is a female. When the reader is thrust into her past and characters refer to her as Jake, I thought this was a different character. But Jake is the main character of the entire novel, and in the present, Jake lives on a sheep farm with her Collie and her sheep. That is, until someone – or something – starts killing off her sheep.

Almost half of the book is about Jake’s past, and those chapters detail parts of her life that she desperately wants to run away from. This writing technique confuses the reader, but I think that’s the effect. I think the reader needs to be confused and hazy, because the character is trying to pick up the pieces of her life and make sense of what happened and what went wrong.

The author is also a lyrical genius, and the language she uses is rife with imagery and disjointed (but satisfying) sentences. Just marvel at the opening sentence:

Another sheep, mangled and bled out, her innards not yet crusting and the vapours rising from her like a steamed pudding

You can’t not picture that sentence. It’s a little gross, and it might make you feel a little uncomfortable, but it sets the tone of the entire novel. It’s eerie and inviting and just screams LITERARY FICTION.

I recommend this novel to readers of literary fiction – readers who will appreciate the character development and the writing style, and who will understand Jake’s abrupt and at times, misguided, actions.

My Score: 7/10
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Girl Online by Zoe Sugg & Siobhan Curham

I had no idea GirlOnline would take off the way it has – I can’t believe I now have 5432 followers, thanks so much! – and the thought of opening up to you all about this is terrifying, but here goes…

Penny has a secret. Under the alias GirlOnline, she blogs about school dramas, boys, her mad, whirlwind family – and the panic attacks she’s suffered from lately. When things go from bad to worse, her family whisks her away to New York, where she meets the gorgeous, guitar-strumming Noah. Suddenly Penny is falling in love – and capturing every moment of it on her blog.

But Noah has a secret too. One that threatens to ruin Penny’s cover – and her closest friendship – forever.

Girl Online sold the most number of books in its first week, meaning it beat Harry Potter. Seriously? What? Huh? I don’t understand! Be prepared for a scathing review…

Girl Online would probably be fantastic for readers under the age of 14 – it’s fun, fast-paced, and the love story is cute. But for anyone old enough to realise that the entire plot is completely unrealistic, they’re disappointed by the book.

The friendship between Penny and her gay best friend is wonderful. The dialogue is funny and witty and I love the social dynamic between the two, and how they have their secret knocking code and how her parents invited him on the New York trip.

However, the relationship between Penny and Noah is not realistic. They only know each for one day before they’re practically declaring their love for each other, and even though this is common for young teenagers, it still seemed a little exaggerated.

Penny starts a blog about her life and suddenly, after one year, she has thousands of followers. Huh? I doubt that. Usually, this only happens if the blogger is funny or particularly insightful. And Penny is neither. It’s completely unrealistic.

Penny is extremely naïve. Almost embarrassingly naïve. But her parents just let her go travelling around New York with a strange 18 year old boy, so I guess that’s where she got it from. Also, there’s a ‘twist’ at the end of the book about Noah, but it’s not really a twist because Zoe Sugg makes it way too obvious with hints along the way. Perhaps younger readers won’t see it coming, but those younger readers would have to be just as naïve as Penny to not see that twist coming.

This novel might be okay for younger readers – it is hopeful. And Zoe does capture the naivety and at times, immaturity, of the main character well (which you usually see in the targeted age group). But for older readers, there are too many flaws for them to overlook. And it’s oh-so-obvious that the writer is an adult who is trying to write like a child: For example, “Black-and-white photos are my favorite – they’re like little moments of history captured forever”.Ugh. Yucky, unrealistic dialogue.

My Score: 3/10
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