Thursday, January 10, 2019

Review: Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

38255342Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

Elizabeth Lavenza hasn't had a proper meal in weeks. Her thin arms are covered with bruises from her "caregiver," and she is on the verge of being thrown into the streets . . . until she is brought to the home of Victor Frankenstein, an unsmiling, solitary boy who has everything--except a friend.

Victor is her escape from misery. Elizabeth does everything she can to make herself indispensable--and it works. She is taken in by the Frankenstein family and rewarded with a warm bed, delicious food, and dresses of the finest silk. Soon she and Victor are inseparable.

But her new life comes at a price. As the years pass, Elizabeth's survival depends on managing Victor's dangerous temper and entertaining his every whim, no matter how depraved. Behind her blue eyes and sweet smile lies the calculating heart of a girl determined to stay alive no matter the cost . . . as the world she knows is consumed by darkness.

Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Katharine McEwan
Published By: Delacorte Press/Listening Library
Genre: YA - Historical Fiction, Horror

Rating:
✮✮✮

Review:
Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein was something I had been looking forward to reading, but because of timing, I ended up not having the time to read it so I picked up the audiobook. For me, the audiobook was the way to go because I don't think I would have finished it if I had read it.

This was one of my highly anticipated reads. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and the synopsis was intriguing, and I wanted to read this book badly. And when I finally was able to get my hands on a copy and listen to it, I was highly disappointed. I think a good portion of my disappointment came from having loved previous books by Kiersten White, so I was already super hyped about this book - and I put a lot of pressure on it.

First and foremost, I do want to say that I did enjoy this book - it just happened to fall short of my expectations. The pacing was very slow at times, and then when it would pick up, it didn't last for long. The story itself didn't really stick with me - I probably couldn't tell you much of what happened in this book, and I just finished it a few days ago.

I loved the moral ambiguity of our main girl, Elizabeth, but at the same time, that also made it difficult at times to connect with her, which made it even more difficult to get into the book. This was probably the only thing that I really loved about this novel.

I would recommend this book if you like slower paced stories, but at the same time, just be cautious and read other reviews, because I found that at times, what was happening in the story wasn't engaging while being slow, which may make you not enjoy the novel - which was the case for me.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Review: And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

36979356And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness

With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba's pod live for the hunt, fighting in the ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a myth, a monster, perhaps the devil himself...

As their relentless Captain leads the chase, they embark on a final, vengeful hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of both whales and men.










Pages: 160
Format: E-Book
Published By: Walker Books
Genre: YA - Fantasy

Rating:
✮✮✮

Review:
Patrick Ness is a hit-or-miss author for me, and this one book ended up being an ok read for me. I did enjoy it, but I found the plot to be rather slow and overall, very short - which may have been a good thing since it was so hard for me to get into.

And the Ocean Was Our Sky was a powerful novel in regards to what the novel's message is about, and I am definitely grateful that I took the time to pick up this book, because initially, I had no desire to read this one, but after reading A Monster Calls, I wanted to see if another book by Patrick Ness could be as great as that one.

I would still recommend it, even though I wasn't as satisfied with this novel as I was hoping. If you love Patrick Ness's books then you will most likely enjoy this one. If you are not a fan of Moby Dick, then I don't know if I would recommend this book to you - but ultimately if the book sounds interesting, then go for it.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

January TBR


In the month of January, to start the year off, there are a few books that I want to read. I'm going to try to get my TBRs done this year, because last year I wasn't able to get many of my TBRs finished because I would get distracted by other books. So I have decided that I'm going to have three books that I am to complete during the month leaving room for spontaneous decisions.

In 2019, one of my reading goals is to finish the Series of Unfortunate Events. I am currently on the third book in the series, Wide Window, and have already started it, so I am hoping to have that finished by the end of this week.

Another challenge that I am doing is the Big Book Challenge, which I got the idea from Emily over at BookswithEmilyFox. I got this book in the November Bookie Box, and that is Skyward by Brandon Sanderson, which is going to be my big book of the month.

The final book that I would like to read during the month of January is Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire.

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2019 Reading Resolutions

I hope that your year is starting off great - and I hope that you have a great one. Every year I make a list of just some reading goals that I want to accomplish in that year, and I would venture to guess that many other readers out there do the same. Sometimes they are the same goals year to year, and other times they are different goals. This year they are mostly the same, with a new addition.

1. Meet My Goodreads Reading Challenge Goal

I try to do this every year, but every year the amount of books that I try to read changes depending on how much time I think I will have to read books. This year my goal is to read is 50.

2. Listen to 10 Audiobooks

3. Read 10 Contemporary Novels

Contemporary books are my least favorite genre, so every year I just aim to read 10, sometimes I read more and other times I don't meet the 10 books.

4. Read a book in all of the following genres:

Dystopian/Apocalyptic
Historical Fiction
Fantasy
Fairytale Retelling
Mystery
Thriller/Suspense
Horror
Graphic Novel/Manga
Poetry/Verse
Anthology
Sci-Fi
Middle Grade
Steampunk

5. Read 10 books that are longer than 500 pages

6. Finish the Series of Unfortunate Events