Reading round up (77)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week. 

25th May

Today I read 12% of The Girl At Midnight by Melissa Grey, and I started With All My Soul by Rachel Vincent (22 pages) because I NEED  a good book to break up The Girl At Midnight. That 12% almost killed me - I've just lost all kind of investment in it.

26th May

Had a crappy day today, so I only read 12% of The Girl At Midnight. I'm pretty astounded by the fact it's adding a love triangle and instalove 50% through the book. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? It was So Good without it!

27th May

DNF'ed The Girl At Midnight at 71% because not only is the girl falling in instalove with the crappy love interest, and getting all RIDICULOUSLY CLICHE about it, but the guy (the hundreds year old dragon!!!!) is doing the same. Thought he'd know better BUT NOPE.

On top of this I read 22 pages of With All My Soul, and I'm not flying through this book as quickly as I'd hoped. Today's amount of pages is pretty pathetic tbh. 

I also picked up Falling Kingdoms again because I need to finish my reread (I dropped off reading this around a month and a half ago...) and read 31 pages of tiny, tiny text.

28th May

Today I finished The Wolf Wilder (50% read) and it was everything I hoped it'd be.

29th May

Light reading day - all I read was 5% of In The Air Tonight by Lori Handeland which has stopped the confusing references, but I'm still not sure. I don't need the guy to be referencing the MCs breasts every POV chapter tbh, and I want more ghosts!

30th May

To say I was getting grumpy with the language and references of In The Air Tonight, I actually found my way into the book. It took 25% but w/e. I'm now at 40% and I like it. Still having to overlook a lot of stuff and I can't see me giving it more than 3 stars but at least it's seeming like I'll finish and enjoy it!

31st May


Read another 17% of In The Air Tonight, bringing me to 57%, and I actually do like it. But there's still something off.

Books finished this week: 1
Books DNF'd this week: 1

For review:

NOTHING!!!

I'm so proud of myself. 

Bought:

When Magic Sleeps | Tera Lynn Childs

I LOVED Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs, so when I found out she had a novella for less than £1, I didn't hesitate to get it. Pretty excited to read this!

The School For Good and Evil | Soman Chainani
Unremembered | Jessica Brody
Kindle sales are my best friend. Two of the books I was DYING to get my hands on I now own!!!!

Powerless (4.5 STARS)

The Singular and Extraordinary Tale of Mirror and Goliath (3 STARS)

The Girl At Midnight (DNF AT 71%)

The Girl At Midnight (DNF Review)

The Girl At Midnight: The Girl At Midnight | Melissa Grey

Published by: ATOM, April 28th 2015

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 361

Format: Ebook

Source: ATOM, via Netgalley

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

Oh boy.

My review of this is going to be in two parts - the first 50%, and the second.

First:

The Girl At Midnight is a unique, magical story that feels like a real life fairy tale when you read it. It's original and compelling, and I didn't hate most of the characters. I wasn't sure about the Caius and Dorian POVs but the rest of the book made up for them.

I loved the quest to find the Firebird. I loved how original the world-building was, and the whole society of birds and their quirky underground community. The marketplace was cool. The travelling through doorways was AWESOME. The writing is evocative and lyrical in parts, and there were some really great quotes that I loved. 

I was excited to see where the story would lead next!

Second:

One percent into the second half (ONE PERCENT) The Girl At Midnight changes violently from a captivating fantasy, a vital quest, and a desperate scrabble to survive to ... mostly romance. The quest and the Firebird take A MAJOR BACKSEAT. And what comes to the front is a cliche, forced romance (love triangle!!! Yay!!!) between Echo, the pretty alright main character, and Caius, who is a morally corrupt tortured asshole. But not your average tortured asshole. One who is just vile and makes me retch.

I wanted the story to keep moving forward, but it slowed down considerably and allowed for moments like this:

Their fingers brushed when he took the key from her hand, and a shock ran up his arm, stronger than static.

And this:

There was something monumental about her. He was beginning to understand what drove a certain breed of man to make art.

This comes from a guy who is hundreds of years old, should be immune to the teenage cliched crush, is terribly hung up on his dead wife, and yet ... this ridiculous romance starts to form. And I've read it a hundred times before and I am just not interested. I wanted to read to the end for the awesome quest but by that point I could see that it had already been kicked down the ladder of priorities.

Sorely disappointed. This book was seriously awesome and wonderfully unique, and would have easily made its way onto my favourites shelf, but then the catastrophe of a romance happened.

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world-building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

DNF at 71%

Reading round up (76)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week. 

18th May

This week I'm reading The Girl At Midnight by Melissa Grey and Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield. Today I read 229 pages of Chantress, and I went from liking it to horribly invested Real Quick.

19th May

Had a crappy day today, so I only read 12% of The Girl At Midnight. I'm pretty astounded by the fact it's adding a love triangle and instalove 50% through the book. WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? It was So Good without it!

20th May

I've got a bit disillusioned with The Girl At Midnight - it's going somewhere I'm not interested in At All. I LOVE the fantasy of it but hate the romance it's gonna force. So I started The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell and read 50%. It's magical and wonderful and makes my heart full of feelings. 

21st May

It's that time of the week when my reading goes all over the place. I didn't read anything during the day, which is when I'd have picked up The Wolf Wilder. But I did read 13% of Powerless by Tera Lynn Childs and Tracy Deebs, which is pretty great already. However, it does mean I'm currently reading 3 books at once :(


22nd May

Today I read 34% of Powerless, and I'm really enjoying this. Nitro has a fucked up accent and I can't figure out his voice, but I'm liking the arguments between the MC and her villainous love interest. (Also LOVING the gaping lack of instalove.)

23rd May

I wanted to finish Powerless today but I just didn't find the time. I did read 30%, though, which is A LOT for Saturday reading!

24th May

Finished Powerless, which was SO GOOD that I want the next book right the heck now. And because I'm in a mood with The Girl At Midnight, I started In The Air Tonight by Lori Handeland, and I dunno, I'm just not impressed so far. It switches from 1st person to 3rd in the same chapter, and the writing style is FULL of american stuff I don't know.

Books finished this week: 2
Books DNF'd this week: 0

For review:

 

The Wolf Wilder | Katherine Rundell
Eden's Wish | M. Tara. Crowl

A Thousand Nights | E. K. Johnston

Spinning Starlight | R. C. Lewis

I am so exited for ALL of these!!! Especially, not gonna lie, Spinning Starlight. I LOVED Stitching Snow, so I'm expecting greatness. I've already started The Wolf Wilder, so I know that's awesome, and I can't wait to read the rest of it as soon as I find time!!

The Fog Diver (4 STARS)

Reading Round Up (75)

Reading round up is a weekly journal where I record my daily reading progress, my thoughts on each book as I read it, and any books I've acquired during the week. There was a major gap of these, because my laptop wrecked itself and I couldn't commit to a regular update, but I'm back now to give you my thoughts on each book as I read it!!!

Books I read 20th April - 10th May:

 

11th May

So this week I'm reading Sleep No More by Aprilynne Pike and Emmy & Oliver by Robin Benway. I'm liking both, but the characters in Sleep No More are ANNOYING as hell. Today I read 32 pages of SNM and 25% of Emmy & Oliver, bringing me to 33%.

12th May

Focused on Sleep No More today, reading 109 pages. The more I read the more I want to dropkick every single character. Can't wait to be done with this book. I also read 11% of Emmy and Oliver, which I'm really liking.

13th May

Finished the last 30 or so pages of Sleep No More, which stayed true to itself and pissed me off right to the end. I also read 48% of Emmy and Oliver, which I REALLY love. So glad I took a chance on this. AND I read 49 pages of Pip Bartlett's Guide To Magical Creatures by Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce because I couldn't help myself (or wait!)

14th May

I flew through Pip Bartlett, reading 132 pages, and I also read the last 8% of Emmy and Oliver. I loved both, to be honest, and would recommend them a whole bunch!!

15th May

Today I started Chantress by Amy Butler Greenfield (44 pages), a book on my physical TBR that I've been wanting to get to for some time. The book itself is shiny and pink and I'm aesthetically in love with it.

I also began reading The Girl At Midnight by Melissa Grey (16% read), which I was really reserved about because I read a slew of negative reviews, but I'm actually really enjoying it. If you could just remove Caius's parts, I'd love it.

16th May

Read neither of my current novels today, but I never read much on Saturdays. I finished Two Lines by Melissa Marr, though, (56%) and it was alright. Nothing fantastic.

17th May

Read 28% of The Girl At Midnight, which I really like. I'm still shocked that I liked it so much. I also read 51 pages of Chantress.

Books finished this week: 4
Books DNF'd this week: 0

For review:

Inherit The Stars | Tessa Elwood

Fire & Chasm | Chelsea M. Campbell 

A History of Glitter and Blood | Hannah Moskowitz

In The Air Tonight | Lori Handeland 
Heat Of The Moment | Lori Handeland 

Smoke On The Water | Lori Handeland 

LOOK AT THOSE COVERS! THEY ALL FLOW!!!!! HOW PRETTY? AND THE TITLES ARE SONGS! (I keep thinking of Supernatural, with Heat Of The Moment.) I'm really looking forward to this series!

Actually, it's Reviewed Since The Last Time I Updated, but that's a bit wordy :)

Omega City - 3 STARS

Crimson Bound - 5 STARS

A Magic Dark & Bright - 5 STARS

Cold Burn of Magic - 3.5 STARS

Ferals - 2.5 STARS

Nimona - 5 STARS

Dragons Are People, Too - 4.5 STARS

The Huntress of Thornbeck Forest (DNF)

Illusionarium - 4.5 STARS
Rat Queens, vol 1 & 2 -  5 STARS & 5 STARS
Sleep No More - 2.5 STARS
A School For Unusual Girls - 5 STARS