Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.



Rating: 1/5 Stars

"General William, Lady Meira-“
Lady. My nose curls, the title rubbing up my spine. That had better not stick-I’m not sure I want to be a lady.

Snow Like Ashes… how to explain this book? You know, I’ve wanted to read this since it first came out? It was years ago and I was a different reader back then, but for some reason I always thought this would be a book that I would love. SO I’m on winter break, I have time on my hands and say “Why don’t I try this book once and for all?” I had heard it wasn’t great, people who knew me thought this wouldn’t be a story I would enjoy but I was SO CURIOUS! Aaaand in the mood for a bit of a silly read so I thought, why not?



Oh boy… rarely does a book manage to hit every.single.motherfucking.annoying trope so badly that makes me want to reach through the pages and strangle everybody as I laugh maniacally.


I know that I complain a lot in my reviews and… well, in my everyday life too. BUT despite all the tropes and all the clichés what bothers me the most is not a love triangle, nor is it instalove (though those things do annoy me), but my greatest weakness and what will absolutely make me hate a book is stupidity.

Snow Like Ashes was special to me because it completed a perfect trifecta of:

1.Stupid main character.
2.Stupid world building.
3.Stupid writing.

You might be wondering how is this possible, and I have to admit as I was reading I wondered the same thing. Why, why would someone do this? But it’s done, and it’s time to rant about it.

Buckle the fuck up my friends. We are about to start.


The Story and World-Building:

The world (although I don’t think it’s the entire world because Meira mentioned other Kingdoms? But then never again?) is divided in eight Kingdoms: Four seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn and four Rhytms… which are not really explained.

Each Kingdom’s ruler has a Conduit, that is a trinket infused with magic from a giant ball underneath the ground that allows them and their heirs to use magic and help their Kingdom. For reasons not fully explained, the magic ball underneath the ground knows how to differentiate between gender (and makes a big deal out of it because certain Kingdom’s Conduits can be used only by female Heirs, others only by males) and the Conduits affect only the people of their own Kingdom… but it’s not explained what happens when royals marry people from other Kingdoms?

In the book, someone from a Rhytm Kingdom marries Autumn providing a heir that can use the Autumn’s conduct (a girl), but the girl’s magic will only affect the people living in Autumn? And how does the magic know who are the people who belong to that Kingdom? So nobody from any other place has come into any other Kingdom and started a family? Do you have to be born there for the magic to affect you, or do you have to be a descendant of the people living in those Kingdoms when the Conduits were made and the magic sealed??

So many questions! I can go on all day, but I’ll get back on track.

Turns out that the King of Spring is crazy and looking for world domination… because power, I guess. So sixteen years ago he attacked Winter, killed Queen Hannah, broke her conduit and slaved all of her people.

In the present day, Meira is an orphan girl (and if you have read YA before you should know that that makes her special)and one of the eight survivors of the twenty-five people who were able to escape Winter when Spring attacked. She’s in love with her best friend and King of Winter, Mather, who can’t even use his mother’s broken Conduit because he’s a boy.

The book is pretty much Meira complaining and throwing temper tantrums, realizing she’s throwing tantrums, and then doing it again when she gets bored. Oh, and there’s an unimportant love triangle and war going on.

There were so many things in the world-building that don’t make sense! First Meira says how the Winter Kingdom was made of a thousand people. Only a thousand! How can you possibly have a kingdom with only a thousand people? What about the military?? But then Meira gets documents on the number of slaves at Spring concentration camps and it’s roughly the same number so… I don’t get it.

Not to mention that as only eight refugees and none of them with magic, they really don’t have a chance.

if so, how will we defeat Spring, a kingdom steeped in magically induced strength, when all we have are eight refugees and a pretty necklace?

Seriously, the only reason they might win is because deux-ex-fucking-machina. At one point, Sir lies to Meira and sells her hand in marriage to the Prince of a Rhytm court, Cordell, under the promise that they would give her a proper title once Winter was back on its feet, and in exchange Mather would let this King have access to his lands to see if he could find the magic ball of light underneath to get more power.
BUT… it really makes no sense? I mean, they are only eight people with no army or magic, if Cordell’s King wanted access to Winter’s lands he could just walk in and do whatever he wanted. Assuming of course that Spring didn’t see him because EVUL king wanted the same magic.

The marriage plot is only an excuse so Meira stops obsessing about Mather’s beautiful face and instead starts fixating on Prince’s Theron’s corded muscles and sweaty abs.




The Characters:

HA HA HA HA *cracks knuckles* okay here we go.


Meira, Meira, Meira… oh what an annoying, spoiled, perfect snowflake you were! I have to admit it was funny seeing this girl that was clearly written by a modern woman with little understanding of feminism, trying to be spunky and dishing out “wisdom” about being her own woman free of man, when in reality she was a dumb, selfish girl that only ever accomplished something because the author forced circumstances to make it so.

It was strange, because there times when Meira realized what she was doing.

I have been so selfish, haven’t I? Selfish and narrowminded and wrong, because I wanted to matter to Winter, but in my own way. Within my own set parameters that would also fit who I wanted to be.

But then she did it again???

Right at the beginning of the story Meira is explaining how she’s training with Matter (her crush, best friend and King) and how he can easily kick her ass because she’s not very good at fighting. She complains about how she wants to do more for Winter other than staying behind camp, but understands why it is that Sir (the leader) doesn’t let her go into dangerous missions until she can at least stand her own in a fight (which she certainly can’t do). Seems reasonable, right? Until she starts saying stupid things like:

[…] and me, the perpetually intraining orphan girl (who, despite six years of sparring practice, still “isn’t good enough” to be trusted with the important assignments.)

And then she spends pages and pages moaning about how everybody takes her for granted and how she can do more… when in reality she can’t??? Bitch, you just said you were totally useless in a fight and you’re wondering why it is that grownups don’t trust you, an emotionally unstable and totally useless teenage girl, to carry on top secret missions???

This was something that kept happening. Meira would do something stupid, realize it was dumb and then DO SOMETHING MORE IDIOTIC!

For instance, when she got engaged to the Prince against her will she was clearly mad. Hell, I would have been shocked too, specially because nobody told her (and that was a really dumb decision made to shock readers. Sir could have easily told him that he was planning to get her married with the Prince because it was their only chance at saving Winter, instead she had to find it out by the Prince herself when they were courting).

Meira goes through several stages:

(I am) Just someone who gets bounced around in whatever position needs to be filled, used and used like a candle on a moonless night until I burn away into a puddle of compliance and obedience.

Bear in mind that this was pretty much the second time they had asked something of her, and the first time she begged and cried until she was given the assignment (which she fucked up until the author magically fixed it). She’s such an exaggerated dumbass.

And then:

I instantly hate myself for thinking that.
Other Winterians suffer enslavement while I’m engaged to the Crown Prince of Cordell-someone bring out the sympathy parade, poor Meira is engaged to a handsome Prince.
My life could be worse. Much worse.

So, for nearly a moment Meira is alright with the wedding. I mean sure, she’ll complain every breathing second about how she hates being a lady and all feminine stuff and blah, blah,blah.
But everything is relatively well… until she learns that the King set the date for the wedding in two weeks-time.

Meria, knowing that the wedding is the only possibility to help her people (stupid I know, because Cordell’s King could easily take the Kingdom from these eight useless people) and even though she had made her peace with it, TWO FUCKING WEEKS IS NOT GOOD FOR MEIRA Y’ALL!




Suddenly she gets FUCKING INSANE and starts screaming at everybody at how she won’t be tamed by these men who are trying to control her life as an independent capable woman, dammit! (let’s ignore the fact that she’s none of those things).

I may be trapped in this arrangement , but that does not mean I’ve become Noam’s future queen-shaped slave.

And:

I’m so tired of Noam and Herod and Sir and Angra and all these arrogant, puppet-aster menwho hold all the strings and refuse to give them up.

So, after refusing to speak to anybody who is trying to explain what’s happening. She decides that the smartest course of action is to go SCREAMING LIKE A FUCKING MANIAC to the King’s chambers and bang on his door demanding… what? I mean, if his own son couldn’t convince him to change the date what the fuck does she expect to do? And why the fuck does it matter if they’re getting married in two weeks?? Seriously, the Prince has better marriage offers she should be happy they are getting the deal at all.But the King is an idiot, of course, and left the door open and that’s how Meira finds out that the greedy and very obviously devious King of Cordell is actually betraying them to get access to the giant ball of magic!... Exactly as everybody had predicted…


And then when Meira finds out she’s surprised because… well, she knew he had been using them but not so “ruthlessly”? Ugh God, trying to understand her way of thinking is making me stupider (and I wasn’t very smart to begin with, shit).


As for the plot twist regarding her character (view spoiler)


The love triangle and the two love interest won’t get much from me. Usually with love triangles I tend to choose the guy that comes later (if you have the girl in love with her best friend and a new guy appear I usually like the new one DON’T ASK ME WHY cuz I don’t know), but here? I honestly couldn’t choose any because it was like choosing between two pieces of cardboard. 

Do you want cardboard number 1? Or cardboard number 2? I DON’T KNOW, IT’S FUCKING CARDBOARD THERE’S NO PERSONALITY.

Meira has been in love with Mather, Winter’s heir ever since she was a child. The second Theron, Cordell’s Prince appears though? She couldn’t care less about her childhood friend and I have no interest in seeing hoe the love triangle ends.


The Writing:

I mentioned earlier that the writing in this book was stupid but… what exactly did I mean by that? I have to admit I’m not someone who pays much attention to the writing style unless it annoys me or is particularly beautiful. Here though? The writing was full of inconsistencies and odd phrases that made little sense.

A moment, Meira had her wrists tied and she was awkwardly thrown on a horse with another rider. The next scene she managed to cut her bindings but suddenly she had her own horse, and she was galloping away with the necklace (what she had tried to steal and had been captured for). Not only did the horse appeared out of nowhere, but who the heck puts the stolen item in the same horse as the thief??? Probably the same people who didn’t check to see if she had any knifes on her *sigh*

Then:

Both servants are only a few years older than me, dressed with plain but simple dresses made of cloth in Cordell’s hunter green.

Plain but simple???

And:

Finn and I leap, dropping facefirst off the balcony and into the cool night.

If you’re on a balcony and want to safely get on the ground… you don’t throw yourself face-first as if you were diving into a f*ckingf pool??? But I guess it was a magical balcony, because first the building was two stories high, then as they were falling it was like six… so yeah… magic.

And then of course, we have all the typical clichés which I will only mention because I’m bored already:

-Orphan MC
-love Triangle
-Girl doesn’t like feminine stuff
-Girl has make up on and is suddenly beautiful as she gazes at herself in the mirror
-Mentor and father figure dying without revealing the truth
-Rape threats to the MC.
-I mean TONS of rape threats.
-Magic was INSIDE HER all along!!!!!!1!!!11
-Etc, etc.


In the end Snow Like Ashes definitely wasn’t for me. It was a bad combination of awkward writing, annoying characters and painfully predictable plot. Read at your own risk!

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

THE INFERNAL DEVICES WILL NEVER STOP COMING

A net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain plans to use his Infernal Devices, an army of pitiless automatons, to destroy the Shadowhunters. He needs only one last item to complete his plan: he needs Tessa Gray.

Charlotte Branwell, head of the London Institute, is desperate to find Mortmain before he strikes. But when Mortmain abducts Tessa, the boys who lay equal claim to her heart, Jem and Will, will do anything to save her. For though Tessa and Jem are now engaged, Will is as much in love with her as ever.

As those who love Tessa rally to rescue her from Mortmain’s clutches, Tessa realizes that the only person who can save her is herself. But can a single girl, even one who can command the power of angels, face down an entire army?


Rating: 3/5 Stars


“I am dramatic,” said Will.
-An Infernal Devices Summary.


My thoughts:

Aaaaaaand it’s finished, I completed the trilogy and… I’m not really sure how to feel. On the one hand, some things ended too perfect and “happily ever after” to my taste, on the other there were a couple of heartbreaking moments that brought me nearly to tears. 

I guess I’ll just rant as usual.

Tessa was, for some reason, more insufferable to me in this last book. I don’t like hating the heroines because… well it’s their stories! But there were so many moments in which I wanted to reach across the pages and slap Tessa. There were so many obvious things that she should have done, so many ways for the conflicts to end that would take little effort from her and yet ???????? why didn’t she do any of that stuff? Tessa has the power to transform into anybody/thing and instead of using it to her advantage (hello? Vampire strength??) she remains Tessa!! And when she does transform she somehow messes that up. Then we have moments when she stops being passive and makes a decision!... Only for it to be a very obviously wrong one.

What have I done? She thought as the automaton began to push her from the room. My God, what have I done?

I did not like how things went between her, Jem and Will. I’ve said it before, that for Tessa it seems like Jem is a second choice, someone who comes after Will and that was painfully clear in this last book. Every moment she would think of Will and forget about Jem.

And GOD! When Will and Tessa thought Jem was dead, the first thing they do is have sex?! HOW IS THAT GOING TO FIX ANYTHING?? I was horrified all throughout that scene “Are they gonna do it? Please don’t do it-Fuck, they did it”. Why don’t they just go and have sex right on top of Jem’s grave? I’m sure his body was still warm enough to keep them cozy, ugh

Cecily was Will’s younger sister and the very definition of an OC character. Her introduction at the end of Clockwork Prince made for an interesting cliffhanger, but her potential was soon wasted. Why was she in the story other than to be Gabriel Lightwood’s forced love interest? There’s no reasonable explanation on why she went to find Will; sure she wanted to bring him back home because she thought Shadowhunters had brain-washed him… but why now? Why, if she’s always thought this did she decide to come right at the end of the second book? Was one of their parents sick? Had she finally found evidence of something and that made up her mind? Basically what I’m asking is what is the catalyst of her decision? There is none, and that shows in the construction of her character. She added nothing to the plot other than even more gushing about Will.

Jem MY PRECIOUS BABY! God, he knew what Will and Tessa had done but forgave them because it hurt him too much. They don’t deserve you (okay maybe Will does) and I wish we had seen more of you other than in the epilogue. My issue with the romance is that it keeps us readers from knowing more about the characters. I for one, would have loved to know more about Jem and Will as well as their friendship, but I did not care how thorn Tessa was between the two of them. Take the romance out of the equation and this could have been great (at least for me).

Alas, the trilogy has come to a conclusion. I can’t say I’m completely satisfied because some things were too perfect and neatly wrapped up to be realistic (I hated that Tessa didn’t technically had to make a choice) but it was an ending that will satisfy people if they have loved the previous books. 

Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.


Rating: 4/5 Stars

”Will,” Tessa said firmly. “Do you care more about the plan being enacted or about getting credit for it?”
Will pointed a finger at her.
“That,” he said. “The Second one.”

This second book was less about Mortmain and his automatons army, and more about the characters dealing with their own issues and personal lives. There will be a few spoilers from this book though, so be warned!

The Love Triangle of Doom (or) Reasons on Why Tessa Is an Idiot:

What had Will meant, coming to her room like that? Why had he shown her such sweetness when she knew that he despised her? And why, when she knew that he was the worst thing in the world for her, did sending him away seem like such a terrible mistake?

I always want to roll my eyes (or stab someone’s eyes, depends) when heroines do this. The guy treats them like crap, they are assholes to them but in very rare occasions they show kindness or a slight bit of interest and they go all “Oh, but if he hates me why does he occasionally treats me well?” BECAUSE he’s manipulating you honey! Oh yes, I know that this is not the case here and that Will pushes Tessa away because of the curse and blah, blah but shedoesn’t know that! If you look at any website or article about couple’s abuse, this manipulative behaviour is definitely on the list!

Honestly, there was absolutely no reason for Tessa to be hanging on to Will like that other than the author forcing the narrative so this insufferable behaviour kept happening for the sake of drama. Unless you had some sort of masochist complex, if someone treats you like crap and ignores you you’ll probably walk away from this person.

If the relationship had been developed more, then I would have bought up, maybe. But these two have been practically in love from the moment they met and even after months they barely know each other.

Give me more development and believable romance, dammit!

The Curse Was Really Dissapointing:

“You.”
The blueskinned demon blinked. All the demons stood stockstill, looking at one another. There must have been some agreement in place, Tessa thought, to keep them from attacking the humans at the party, but she did not like the way the wet red mouths were licking their lips.
“Er,” the demon Will had addressed said, in a surprisingly ordinary voice. “I don’t recall-That is, I don’t think I’ve had the pleasure of your acquaintance?”

Okay, so we find out that the reason Will pushes people away but Jem is because he believed he had been cursed by a demon at the age of twelve, and that anybody who loved him would die so he made his best to try and pretend to be an asshole so people would feel no sympathy for him.

So Will gets Magnus help to find the demon and when they do… turns out there was no curse at all? The resolution to this conflict was sooo disappointing I mean, you had Will believe for five years that he had this horrible curse that meant nobody could ever love him or they would die, and when they finally find the demon it goes “Oh that? Lol I was just fucking with you there’s no curse.” So… there was nothing? I would have liked the result better if it had made some sense. Sure, twelve year old Will had no idea of the Shadowhunters world, but as he grew and learned, wouldn’t he have tried to find a way to break the curse? Wouldn’t he have researched about demons and realized that curses like that are really hard to make, especially when the demon was trapped and weak? Will should have been like a demon expert or something! And this really obvious result just never occur to him??

It made no sense!


Jessamine What the Heck??



I don’t know what I was expecting from jessamine’s character, she always seemed like a loose end. What was her part in the story? Her past was sad, yes, but her being so bitter and angry put a wall between her and the other characters and of all the people in the institute, I think she was the one readers knew the least.

But still… I don’t know, I had hopes for her I guess? Her hate for all Shadowhunter things was interesting, especially when she considers that being Shadowhunters was what got her family killed and how she doesn’t want to live in a world full of danger… but betray them?? And for that monster of Nate?? I honestly thought Jessamine would be smarter, but I guess she was so desperate to get away from the institute and have a “normal life” that she was willing to do anything.

In the end, and even though during both books I hated her more than anything, I did feel bad for her. And that scene at the end when the “diamond” of her ring breaks and she sees that not even that little thing was real? That was fricking heart-breaking.

Congratulations on Jessamine for calling out Tessa’s bullshit though:

“You are the one who does not understand love. ‘Oh, I cannot decide between Will and Jem. Whatever shall I do?’” she said in a highpitched voice, and Tessa flushed hotly.

Jem and Magnus Are Too Precious For This World:

For me the most painful part of this love triangle (other than Will moaning about his curse and Tessa moaning about Will being hot-and-cold) is the fact the Jem kind of flies under the radar. The story has made it clear that Tessa loves both, but the way the story is written it’s like Will is The Great Love of Tessa’s life. He’s the guy she can’t stop thinking about, the guy whose soul calls to her and whose skin sets her on fire and so on… But Jem? Despite saying that she loves them both it’s pretty clear that Tessa (and Cassandra Clare) prefers Will, and that breaks my heart because Jem is just so beautiful! He doesn’t deserve to be a second choice and I hate that he is.

Magnus is fantastic, and his outlook in life refreshing. I love him every time he’s on the page, however brief that may be.


Henry And Charlotte Are a Cute Break From All the Drama:

I was so happy when these two talked and realized they were both absolutely in love with each other. With Charlotte loving him but believing he had only married her because his father owed her father money, and with Henry loving her but believing the only reason she married him was because she needed a husband to run the institute, when they finally got that out of the way and found out they are expecting a baby was a cute moment that broke the tension in the teen’s love story drama.


The end came with a cliffhanger that keeps you hooked to the last book of the series, and apart from the love drama, Clockwork Prince has a good deal of mistery, suspense and funny moments to keep readers entertained.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Timesbestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them...






Rating: 3/5 Stars


I bought this book in 2015 because after reading City of Bones and not really enjoying it, many friends told me to try this series deeming it to be a “better version of TMI” at least in their opinion! So I started reading it happily, but my problem was that while being on Tumblr I saw THE Mother of All Spoilers. Like, I’m not even kidding, a person wrote a blog post (thus forgetting that despite tags anybody who followed her would see it) and without knowing what it was I started to read and… that’s how I got spoiled for the entire series *face palm*

After that, I was so pissed I stopped reading but after almost two years (MAN does time fly?!) I’ve decided to pick it up again and do a binge-read of the series.

Now, comparing it to City of Bones I have to admit I enjoyed Clockwork Angel a lot better. Maybe it wasn’t a masterpiece for me, but it was entertaining and the writing has an addictive sort of quality that makes you want to keep reading… even though the characters sometimes leave a lot to be desired.

Tessa is our main character, she’s an American girl that after the death of her aunt goes to live with her brother Nathan in London. As soon as she arrives she’s kidnapped by Warlocks who want to sell her for a special power she didn’t even know she had. 
Admittedly, I liked Tessa better than Clary… but that’s not saying much because I really disliked that asshole.

They both have similar stories; a relative goes missing and they are thrown into a supernatural world they didn’t know it existed but that they’re part of, and both have special powers that set them apart from others. Personality wise they are also similar, and that’s a shame because they both have this weird superiority complex and are extremely judgy of everybody, always holding themselves on a higher ground.
I wasn’t exactly a fan, especially considering how Tessa was pretty much useless (I know I’m harsh, but can you say I’m wrong?) and yet everybody praised and loved her and stuff. She was the typical self-insert to live the story by. She’s also a book lover which is a huge WARNING ALERT for me. I know I must be pretty much alone with this, but whenever a main character loves reading I just have to roll my eyes. It’s just so… cliché? Like a cheap way to make the MC relatable to the audience, “my readers clearly like to read, so I’ll make my character a bookworm! They’ll love that!” but I can hardly ever connect with them because it doesn’t feel real. The way Tessa speaks about books feels like those fabricated posters “Live everyday as if it were your last!” that are sold by the bucket world-wide. She didn’t seem like a real book lover to me, simply a stereotype of it with no soul, like those fricken automatons.

Still, I tried hard not to see her through my standard because I know this is nineteen century and things were different back then. I can’t expect Tessa to just throw away everything she believed in and embrace this world because standards were different, and women especially were indoctrinated to think a certain way. I just didn’t see the appeal to her.

Will is the main love interest and one I’m not terribly fond of. I know, I know, EVERYBODY loves him but to me he was just… too much. Too snarky, too brooding and I know that there’s a story behind what he does, but I also know it’s convoluted and forced to make the “tension” between him and Tessa last for three books. Why does he even like Tessa? I mean, other than her being the lead?? The romance had little development and basically came out of nowhere, it just consisted of Will pushing Tessa and way and her being “drawn” to him despite everything because she’s kind of a masochist that, thanks to the century she lives in, thinks with a great deal of misogyny and believes that a man who treats a woman poorly is most likely in love with her (her words not mine).

Jem oh… my sweet Jem! You deserve better than being Tessa’s second choice, damn you Cassandra Clare!

The story in itself was good. I’m really curious about the Magister and who Tessa is, plus her role in this whole war against Shadowunters. It was also interesting seeing how this wasn’t black and white with the “Good” Nephilim fighting against the “evil” downworlders. Nephilim do think of themselves as superior and won’t even give downworlders positions in their council, despite that what the Council does is oversee the whole of the supernatural world! The characters certainly weren’t perfect and I liked that.

Overall, not perfect but really fun and entertaining. I recommend it for people who either loved or hated The Mortal Instruments, though beware because the characters can be quite similar!

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions—not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.



RATING: ★★☆☆☆


Welcome to another episode of, “Mila Doesn’t Get Why This Book Has Such a Fricking High Rating!” today it comes in the buddy read version with the lovelies Victoria and BookishBoy!



So, I have to admit I don’t think I heard about this book before Victoria told me to buddy read it (thanks to college I have no clue on what’s been going on for the last three months in the bookish world) but I understand it’s become quite hyped and popular, and so far all the reviews I’ve seen are mostly four/five stars with very few negative ones. However, despite this promising approval from the Goodreads community, my experience with The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue was not so… let’s say, pleasant. 

The best way I can describe this book is like this:

You know those movies in which you have like, a cool assassins organization or spies or whatever. And there are super cool and capable people who have basically trained all of their lives to get to where they are, but for some God-forsaken twist of Hollywood magic they are not the main characters of the story, but rather a pasty, inconsequential average dude with no particular set of skills or ambition, maybe with some daddy issues (like, his father abandoned him when he was six but then turns out his father was a really famous spy and now the organization is after him because they want his super-awesome genes or shit) and the story is told from his boring, ignorant and rather annoying point of view. And even though the story is not so bad, you wonder why the hell was this bland-oatmeal of a man the main character and not one of the super fucking awesome secondary ones that could totally kick the guy’s ass.

Throw in some historical fiction stuff and you’ll have The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue.

Henry is our main character, he’s a young man with an abusive father who is going on a grand Tour throughout the continent with his best friend and secret crush, Percy a biracial that is going away for Law School at the end of the Tour and Felicity, Henry’s sister (who mutually hate each other).

Basically my main issue with this book was that the narration came from Henry, and he was just an unlikeable and boring character to read about. I was conflicted about this, because he does have a horrible relationship with his father, he beats him, calls him useless and Henry has endured this kind of abuse since he was a child. I felt bad for him, I really did and it’s not like I found his characterization to be unrealistic; it’s just that for all he’s been through it didn’t change the fact that he was also horrible, self-centered, selfish and incapable of caring about anyone without worrying about himself first and thisdoesn’t change at the end of the novel; if at least a bit toned down, he’s still the same unsavory fellow that started the novel.

”Oh, how tragic, you have to run an estate and be lord and have a good, rich, cozy life on your own terms.” 

All the time I was reading, I couldn’t stop being frustrated at him. It was fuck up after fuck up, and what bothered me the most was that he didn’t even care that the horrible things he did would affect the people around him most, and after he did all of those things he then had the nerve to be mad at them for HIM ruining things.

”You can behave the way you do and then be surprised when someone tells you so.”

His love for Percy was sweet, although he hurt him so SO much I honestly believe Percy could do better. I’m also saddened that what we know of him is all through Henry’s eyes, and he mostly focuses on how hot he is, but now that I’ve finished reading I realize that I know little of him other than a few anecdotes of them together and Percy’s illness.

He folds his arms. “So which is it-do you want me to be well to keep me from an asylum, or so you don’t have to deal with me being ill?”
“Does it matter?”

Who is Percy? What does he want other than to be free and happy with Percy? Now that I think about it, as cute as their chemistry was, we don’t really see Percy beyond how Henry sees him, and that is based on his attraction to him and how his illness affects Monty in how he views their relationship and how it serves him for his character development. Percy is hardly seen beyond his role as a token character for this story and Monty… and that sucks.

”This isn’t about us.”
“It’s always going to be about us.”
“No, you want this to be about you. You care about what happens to me because of what that would mean for you. You are the only thing that matters to you.

Felicity is a bit more well-rounded character, with her passion for medicine and strong personality but since the story is narrated by Monty and he can hardly think of anyone but himself, I really can’t say that I know her that much. That’s a shame because they were the most interesting characters and would have been much more fun as narrators.

”Do you know how horrid it feels to watch my brother get tossed out of the best boarding school in England, then get to travel the Continent as a reward, while I’m stuck behind, not permitted to study the same things or read the same books or even visit the same places while we’re abroad, just because I had the bad luck to be born a girl?”

The story is a bit of a mess, to be honest. It’s like nothing happens up until eighty percent of the story, and by that time I honestly couldn’t give a fuck. I mean sure, it had potential, but it was just Monty screwing things up, usually almost getting everybody killed, then he getting mad at them because they are not happy about almost dying because of him. Then a cure-all appears that could help Percy from his epilepsy even though he says over and over how he doesn’t want it, and Monty then gets mad because… Percy should have said no harder before he decided to ignore him and look for a cure because he couldn’t deal with Percy’s illness?


I don’t know. Monty does have a bit of character development at the end but not much and it’s the kind of development in which some things are either ignored or forgotten and it’s not so much development as it is convenient writing.


As for diversity, the book does have some interesting aspects, Monty is bisexual, his sister might be asexual and Percy is a black gay man with epilepsy. But… I don’t know, I love when a book is not a SJM and doesn’t write heteronormative whiteness, but I wouldn’t say the diversity in the book is an argument to read this book, especially considering how Monty is dangerously close to the “promiscuous bisexual” trope, and by trope I mean he freaking is. What the Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue will teach is some very obvious things about sexism, ableism and racism that you can’t possibly not know, unless you are Monty himself. Other than that? Not much, really. I see people recommending it because it’s such a diverse read but I don’t think this is something you can use to cover up the fact of having a boring story.


I really don’t know what to say, minus Victoria all of my Goodreads friends (and it seems all of goodreads!) have enjoyed the story, I guess we were just the odd ones out? Give it try! I hope you guys enjoy it better than we did.

The Queen of All that Dies by Laura Thalassa

In the future, the world is at war. 

For the last decade, King Lazuli of the Eastern Empire has systematically taken over the world. No one knows much about him other than a series of impossible facts: he cannot die, he has not aged since the conflict began, and he wants to rule the world.

All Serenity Freeman has known is bloodshed. War has taken away her mother, her home, her safety. As the future emissary of the Western United Nations, the last autonomous region of the globe, she is responsible for forging alliances where she can. 

Surrender is on the horizon. The king can taste it; Serenity feels it deep within her bones. There is no other option. Now the two must come face to face. For Serenity, that means confronting the man who’s taken everything from her. For the king, it means meeting the one woman he can’t conquer. But when they meet, something happens. Cruelty finds redemption. 

Only in war, everything comes with a price. Especially love.



RATING: ★☆☆☆☆


                              

Welcome! Enemies To Lovers is a segment of my blog where I focus on reviewing books that fall into this trope (as it is one of my favorite ones). The books can range from Fantasy to Contemporary and all they have in common is that the romance featured there is between two people who start out as enemies. Recommendations are more than welcome!

"I thought all women liked getting pampered?"
I narrow my eyes at him. "Do I look like the kind of woman who enjoys that?"

                               

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a review so my apologies if I’m a little rusty. Also, thanks to Minni for giving me such a cool list of books to try!


Enemies-to-lovers, if done well, can be one of my favorite tropes in a book. There’s something I love when a couple starts by knowing the worst about each other, they slowly begin to talk and realize they’re not so different, start a friendship and then (after a strongly consolidated friendship) move on to something else. That's why I wanted to start a segment on my blog where I dedicate to review books focused on tropes, and what better way to start with than with one of my faves? However, I’m well aware that, as it happens with any trope, when used poorly it can be god-awful.

I’m saddened to say that this is what happened with The Queen of All that Dies. Despite my hopes the trope was handled poorly. Add lousy characterization, no world-building and severe inconsistency, and you have one infuriating and confusing novel.

>>World-Building:
Let’s start with the basics; the world is at war (go figure). Some evil immortal King has taken over most of the world and kills anybody that opposes him. He’s poisoned the land with atomic bombs (that somehow only kill very few people?) and basically submerged everybody into chaos.

Our protagonist’s name is Serenity Freeman, probably a second cousin to America Singer based on their name and level of intelligence, and she’s at nineteen an ambassador to the entire western hemisphere alongside her dad.

I’ll say it right now, I have absolutely no idea of what the world is like aside from “bad”. Serenity speaks about representing the entire western hemisphere but apparently they lost contact with Latin America a long time ago due to atomic bombs causing the downfall of communication, particularly internet (although somehow it’s later explained that everybody has access to internet and that the rebels use it to try and bring and King down… I don’t know).

It is in situations like this, when presented with post-apocalyptic worlds that I often ask myself:

Where the hell am I??

I mean, for all I know all of the action is happening in the US. What about Argentina? Am I alive? Is Latin America at war too? Am I just eating popcorn and watching as the gringos die on TV?? Who knows? Certainly not Serenity.

As far as the book tells us, the entire western hemisphere consist on the people living in the bunker Serenity shares with her father, so… like a hundred people are all that’s left? How can she give away the entire hemisphere to the King when she only represents the US?? IF she even represents that much.

The enemy here is King Montes Lazuli (which I pictured as Monty Burns, sorry not sorry). All we are told is that the King is an asshole who wants to own the world because of… reasons and Serenity and her father are sent to try and negotiate a treaty; their hemisphere will surrender to the King bringing an end to the war. This, however, is all a hoax. Serenity explains how the king is a ruthless bastard, and the reason they hadn’t gave up before despite their lacks of resources is because what Montes does to his territories is even worse than what he does to his enemies. Later on in the story this is re-written and Serenity tells us how everything is good and wonderful in the King’s hemisphere and she can’t wait to help her people… I think it was a matter of edit, there are many contradictions in the novel.


>>The rape masquerading as romance:

Guys I’m going to be honest with you. If you read that summary and expect to find some steamy romance you’ll be disappointed. What you will find is a sixty year-old stuck-up homicidal creep preying on a nineteen year-old girl who, after hating him for 98% of the novel (and rightfully so), suddenly decides she is starting to love him for some unknown reason and without any indication on how or why it happens.

You see, the western hemisphere (aka a handful of people) wanted to send Serenity in the hopes that she would “seduce” or distract the King (it’s unclear what they expected from a nineteen year-old girl to do with an immortal guy who didn’t have any morals but, book logic). The minute the King sees her he knows that she’s “not like the other women he knows” because she’s brutal and savage and whatnot (she’s not). 

“The world doesn’t stop moving, the room doesn’t go quiet, but I swear something inside me just broke and reformed the moment she turned her devilish eyes on me-and that’s the only way to describe those eyes of hers. Devilish. She’s a wicked soul through and through.”

So, because the guy is a creep and the story just needed there to be romance, the King decides that he has to “have her” and that’s when the story starts going from clichéd-but-popcorn-entertaining to all shades of creepiness.

The people Serenity works for want her to use the interest the King has in her to their advantage and get a better treaty, one that would include healthcare and investments for the hemisphere so they could begin to improve their economy after thirty years of war. Serenity is clearly NOT PLEASED because the King is freaking creep who is obsessed with her, constantly touches her without her consent and, oh yeah he’s killed literally MILLIONS of people because he wanted power.

The thing about the King is that he’s not a tortured hero, or someone who does the wrong things for the right reasons or anything resembling a compelling anti-hero like the novel requires, no. The King is a freaking pedophile rapist who wants power because… he likes power, I guess. And for some unknown reason he decides he wants Serenity and nothing will stop him, not even the fact that Serenity hates him.

”You can’t have me Montes! Not ever!”
“My King,” a voice near me says, “should we administer the sedative?”
“I will never forgive you!” I shriek. “You hear me? Never!”
“I think that would be best.” The King’s voice glides over me like the smoothest silk. He’s not even listening.

After her father realizes the King wants to exchange a peace treaty for his daughter, the two of them try to escape the palace only for Serenity’s dad to be shot right in front of her as the King’s guards tried to take her back to him. She escapes, gives a speech ala Katniss that’s really rushed and out of place, and after being in bed for days after seeing her father brutally murdered in front of her eyes, she learns that her hemisphere made an agreement with the King in which they’ll give him Serenity in exchange for a better treaty.

So now Serenity has to go and marry the monster that killed her father as well as half of the world.

I stare at the general for a moment, not allowing myself to comprehend his words. And then they sink in. Bile rises up to my throat, and I barely have time to grab a nearby trashcan before I retch.

Needless to say the King is a freaking asshole. When Serenity has to see Marco again, the bodyguard that killed her father, she’s angry that the guy can walk away unscathed when her father died. But the King gets all touchy and says that it was all her father’s fault because he wouldn’t let his daughter by raped by the King, so if he hadn’t tried to protect her (and Serenity hadn’t escaped) then nothing would have happened.
In fact, he even goes on to shame her for killing the bodyguards that tried to capture her to send her to the King… after which Serenity agrees that he’s right and they are both twisted souls who understand each other… or something.

”That’s it? He kills my father and he goes unpunished?”
“Watch your words.” Now the King turns to face me, and his eyes flash. “You and your men killed and injured some of my best men, and you got a peace treaty and a promotion out of it.”

Yeap, it gets worse. After they marry (against their will, please remember that everything that happens so far is ALL against Serenity’s will), the King makes it clear that they’ll have sex even though she is disgusted by the mere thought of it. He then takes off her clothes and forces himself on her.

My movements are jerky and automated. I kiss the king, but I’m not really present. My skin crawls as his lips caress mine.[…]

“Still a virgin?” he asks.
“That’s none of your business.”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says, “which means it’s my job to make sure you enjoy yourself tonight.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“We’ll see what you say after all is said and done.”[…]

It’s so wrong it makes my skin crawl. A stray tear streaks down my cheek.
“I hate you,” I say to him.
“You won’t always feel that way,” he says, thrusting into me.
“I will. I swear it.”
“Give it up,” he growls, pushing into me harder. “The war is over.”
“Not for me. It won’t even be over for me.”

Look at that. WOULD YOU FUCKING LOOK AT THAT?? You can’t read that and tell me it’s romance, it’s freaking rape, that’s what it is. From that moment onwards Serenity feels like a traitor because her body reacts to the King. At some point, and don’t ask me how or why because CREEPY BOOK LOGIC Serenity decides she’s falling in love with the King and wants to protect him, putting her life at risk many times to do so.

The situation never improves, and I mean NEVER. It’s not like the guy has a change of heart and starts treating her right (which wouldn’t change a damn thing). Nope, their entire interactions consist of Serenity wanting to do something, the King not letting her so he threatens her and has his bodyguards drag her to her room and lock her up while she screams, kicks and threatens to kill someone.

That’s basically the entire “romance.”


>>The clichés, because what’s a novel without them?

The novel relies heavily on all sorts of clichés, but I honestly would have been ok with that if the rest of the book had at least been entertaining. Unfortunately, it’s not and so every time a new cliché would appear I just had to roll my eyes and sigh.

Let’s see a compendium of said tropes:

-Fate of the entire world relies on an untrained, unqualified and bratty teenage girl.
-The girl, of course, never sees herself as attractive. She’s tall, beautiful, blond, skinny because of radiation poisoning but somehow toned… so, basically a supermodel.
-Girl DOES NOT like clothes, makeup or anything girly. She’s a badass after all!!!!!!1!!!
-Childhood best friend is in love with her and she learns about it when she has to marry the evil guy.
-Dead parents.
-Nonsensical world-building.


>>The ending:

I don’t want to get into any sort of spoilers so I’ll be brief, but to me there was a severe issue with editing/writing and that really showed at the end.

As you read you’ll find a handful of inconsistency here and there (seriously, how can the world be fine with so many freaking atomic bombs being detonated ALL THE TIME?) but as we reach to the end there were a lot of things changed without warning to make the story work, such as the King’s conquered lands thriving under his rule when at the beginning of the book we were told that the surrendered lands were doing worse than the rebellious hemisphere.

Besides that, after Serenity marries him she still plans to end his life but when the opportunity arrives thanks to a rebel group, she’s actually SHOOK that people would think she wanted to kill him?? Serenity makes the rebels seem like terrorist because they want to end King Lazuli’s reign now that there’s finally world peace… but is she forgetting that the guy is a dictator that is basically leaving the entire world to die? I honestly don’t know where she got the idea that being submitted to a tyrannical and murderous dictator is conducive to long-lasting peace.

To sum up, The Queen of All that Dies had an interesting premise, but the lack of consistency in writing, the dumb character decisions and overall disturbing “romance” made this not a very enjoyable read, and I wouldn’t say it used the Enemies to Lovers trope well. It was just a creepy pedophile preying on a teenage girl.