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Six Of Crows and Crooked Kingdom | sprinkledpages

That’s right friends!

This is a Six Of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo review! *all around the world people stand to applaud as finally, Anisha, has conquered the beast and read…Six Of Crows*

Okay, slightly melodramatic but very true. I have had SO many people on my case to read this duology for the longest time and whenever I would whisper oh so quietly that I had not read Six Of Crows yet, I would be met with SUCH ASTONISHMENT!

So this is to Jananee, who I think has been on my case the longest about reading this duology – because girl, it finally happened!

Also, you can read this entire review without fearing spoilers. including my review for Crooked Kingdom as this is completely spoiler free! Enjoy!

SIX OF CROWS

I think the reason I put this off for the longest was because I was scared. I had such high expectations after hearing SUCH positive things and while I do feel it didn’t meet my expectations I also didn’t really expect it to.

Let me just begin by saying this book was super enjoyable and fast paced and action packed and for me, the characters were the best part! They were so realistic and loveable and they all had their own stories and fears and dreams and they felt like real people to me. undoubtedly though Inej is my favourite but I have a lot of appreciation for Kaz, Nina and Wylan!

The slight problem with this was, because Six Of Crows is such a hyped book, I knew almost everything there was to know about the characters and plot before I began. I knew it was a book about a daring heist with anti-hero main characters. I knew all the character names, roughly a little about their backstory and all the ships.

This meant there was no surprise element left for me. I wasn’t able to discover the characters myself and uncover parts about them. I accidently got mildly spoilt for some bits and knew the general gist of the story. I found that I was a little let down by that and the plot.

I’m not one for hugely complicated plots because I always find myself in over my head and just WAYY too confused, like I was in this book. I find that this would have been the perfect character driven book with minimal plot and while some may argue it has both, I would have liked it to be more about the characters and their journey than a complicated heist story. But at the same time, I also do like the dangerous heist plot because damn that’s exciting.

But, anyway back to the characters, I don’t want to turn this review into a huge gush where I cannot stop talking about my love for these 6 anti-heroes but I can’t help myself. For me, there is nothing better than an anti-hero because they are the most realistic type of character.

There was something just so profoundly beautiful about these characters having experienced the worst yet still making something of themselves and taking back what is theirs. It was an ode to survivors and I freaking loved it.

Can I also just have a little segment in here about how much I adored the diversity? Bardugo puts in characters into her novels that are diverse – but wait for it – she doesn’t make the entire novel about their diverse aspects. *moment of silence to allow this to settle in*

Just kidding. (No not really. Authors, please take note.)

From chronic pain and to people of colour (especially women of colour) to positive and uplifting female friendships and showcasing different body types, Bardugo does it all. However I don’t want to get too much into this because it is mildly spoilery and I don’t want to spoil you all like I was!

OVERALL RATING:

★★★★½

CROOKED KINGDOM

So this segment is going to be a little shorter than the one above because I’ve already said pretty much all I wanted to! I found Six Of Crows to be better than Crooked Kingdom but Crooked Kingdom to have a satisfying but slightly anti-climatic ending.

I found that this one was way too plot and action heavy and I didn’t really understand what was going on. I literally still do not know what happened and I only got through it because of the characters. It was also pretty chunky to read *sweats nervously*.

The cast was amazing as per usual in this! I actually feel there was more character development happening in this one than the previous and that made me so immensely happy because THEY ARE MY BABIES OKAY? Fight me.

And that ending. I knew it was coming and I hadn’t really expected anything else so I wasn’t disappointed but at the same time, I felt the book ended quite abruptly. Like there was all this action, especially towards the end…and then suddenly nothing.

But other than that, WHAT AN AMAZING DUOLOGY.

READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS.

You will fall in love with the characters. And when you think you can’t fall anymore…you’ll fall again. And again. And again. Until you’re a broken mess on the ground.

Yay.

Thank you to Hachette Australia for providing me a review copy of Crooked Kingdom. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

OVERALL RATING:

★★★★

Have you read either Six Of Crows or Crooked Kingdom? What did you think? Or are you planning to? And who is one of your favourite anti-heroes? Let me know because I always look for book recommendations with a good anti-hero!

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Why I Lost Interest In The Daughter Of Smoke And Bone Trilogy | sprinkledpages

*waves dramatically*

It’s only been a week but I missed this so much! So I bet you are all wondering why the heck I went from a consistent blogging schedule to completely AWOL and that is because school just started this Wednesday and I was instantly swamped with work and I didn’t have any pre-written posts ready so it was a mess.

But I am working on having a few pre-written posts ready so I (hopefully!) will not be stuck in a position where I go a week or two without posting because I want to aim to post at least once or twice a week!

Today I am bringing to you a review of the Daughter Of Smoke And Bone trilogy by Laini Taylor which consists of Daughter Of Smoke And Bone, Days Of Blood And Starlight and Dreams Of Gods And Monsters.

I hadn’t heard a HUGE amount about this book but I knew it was popular and loved by many people so I wanted to try it! I also wanted to read it before Taylor’s next book Strange The Dreamer came out in March!

This review is going to be set out a little differently where I am going to chat about each book separately rather than the usual structured review I do because I feel it’ll work MUCH better for what I want to say about this trilogy!

DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE: BOOK 1

Daughter Of Smoke And Bone Trilogy | sprinkledpages

So I thought this was an absolutely stunning, mind blowing, beautiful, let’s make a shrine for it kinda book and I cannot recommend it enough! The writing was so whimsical and dreamy and poetic and aha I was in love. Everything about it was beautiful from the cover (which gave me the creeps but in the best way possible!) to the characters, the plot and of course the writing.

I felt the idea of this book was so fantastic. AND THE SETTING! I mean how many books do you read that are set in Prague? It just added that super mystical and mysterious element to it!

I don’t read a lot of magic realism but the way Taylor combined aspects of the real world with concepts from mythology and fiction was so intricate yet at the same time so easy to keep up with and enjoy! Same goes to the plot.

I liked how Taylor just threw us into the book and didn’t have a lot of explanation at the beginning. Rather she got ahead with the story and the explanations came after. The mystery elements of this story were also amazing because it was impossible to guess what was going to happen next because you were just always on your toes!

Aha, the characters! I have never loved characters more in a book. From the main characters (which I don’t always end up loving) to the side characters, everyone was loveable. Even though I am NOTHING like Karou, I still connected with her because it was easy to love her and even easier to feel for her. Akiva, my precious cinnamon roll! How can I put into words how much I love Akiva?

I don’t tend to read books with angels and demons because I have been burnt very badly by some of them before *cough* Fallen *cough* Hush Hush *cough* Unearthed *cough* where while I didn’t hate them (and might have even enjoyed some) they just leave me super confused with all the technical terms and all that mumbo-jumbo but this book explained everything so simply and easily and it was literally a breeze.

It’s safe to say I very, very much loved this book.

OVERALL RATING:

★★★★★

DAYS OF BLOOD AND STARLIGHT: BOOK 2

So getting into this, I had heard from friends that after the first book the rest just kinda go downhill but I was very reluctant to believe them because I wanted it to be good after the amazingness that was the first book.

But sadly, I was disappointed.

This just fell flat for me for a number of reasons.

It was draggy. Not much happened in a 500 page book and the fact that it was so long made me want to pull my hair out in frustration because WHYYYYY??? Why would you write a 500 page book in which nothing happens?

It didn’t capture my attention at all. There was none of that magic that was present in the first book for me. Akiva is barely in the book and it just felt so disjointed and boring for me. The chemistry that was present between Akiva and Karou just dissipated and I didn’t feel anything for them anymore.

The multiple POVs didn’t work really well for me at least because it just created so much waiting (not even angst – it was waiting) until I could find out what happened. I was introduced to new characters that I wasn’t able to form connections with and instead of being something I loved, they came a hindrance to me as I had to get through their chapter before getting back to characters I did care (sort of!) about.

The good thing is Zuze though! Zuzana is Karou’s best friend and she is literally a ball of sunshine! She brought in so much light heartedness and fun to the book and became one of my fav characters. But even with her, I was unable to connect sadly. And there is a really good plot twist in here that I was NOT expecting.

Also did I mention this book is pretty huge? It took me 3 days to read, which is slow for me especially during the holidays and I felt absolutely no satisfaction by the end of it.

But I continued to the third book in the hopes that at least something would happen.

OVERALL RATING:

★★★

DREAMS OF GODS AND MONSTERS: BOOK 3

What the heck even happened in this book? <<<< basically the one sentence needed to sum up my thoughts on this.

This book started off strongly and was much more interesting than the second one but it’s even longer being 700 pages which is practically a brick (also probably the size of Empire Of Storms by Sarah J Maas).

I was getting more into it, especially during the middle and I was beginning to form (some) attachments to the characters again. There were some action-packed scenes which I LOVED and Mik and Zuze made everything so much fun with their relentless enthusiasm and positivity!

But it wasn’t enough to counteract the negatives such as the pacing which was WAYYYYYY off. There were some extremely dry, ‘I wanna bang my head against the wall’ moments and it really, really diverted from the first book.

You’ll know by now that I ADORED the first book so it diverting from there made me miss the first book a lot. Where was the ‘Karou, the art student in Prague’ narrative? It went so off topic that by the end of the third book I couldn’t even believe they were part of the same series!

And you know how I said the first book was super easy to understand and la de dah. Yeah…nope.

I wasn’t able to keep up with what was happening, the technical terms were just flying off the top of my head, I had no idea what was happening, it was such a mess. I began to skim read parts just so I could get to the end because none of it was catching my attention, the romance was so spotty and odd and barely there and almost forced.

Also, can we talk about the Eliza chapters? I still don’t understand what she was there for! (PS this is not a spoiler it’s literally the first chapter of the book!). I skim read her parts because there was 0 explanation as to why she was there and by the time I found out, I no longer cared.

Basically I was left feeling super unsatisfied because I had to go from DOSAB which I LOVED SO MUCH to DOBAS which was super dry to DOGAM which I didn’t understand.

OVERALL RATING:

★★★

FINALLY…

There are some very mixed reviews on this trilogy because some people loved it and others, like me, had no idea what was going on. I’m not sure why exactly I didn’t understand everything but it got super boring and draggy and dull for me that I didn’t even have the energy to try.

I know this review went from gushing to ranting and I’m sorry but this series really frustrated me because I went from loving loving loving to just not having any idea what was happening.

If you wanna take my advice, read the first book and just leave it at that because it explains everything and the second two books were really unnecessary.

But, in the end, it is your choice after all.

Have you read this trilogy? What did you think? Did you agree or disagree with me?

Thank you to Hachette Australia for sending me review copies of this trilogy. However all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.

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The One Memory Of Flora Banks and A Shadow Bright And Burning | sprinkledpages

AFTER THE HOUR IT TOOK TO READ THAT LONG AS POST TITLE, LET'S GET STARTED!

Hey lovelies! Today I am here to share with you another round of mini reviews! I just started these recently and I can't help but love them! I hope you don't mind that they're a bit briefer than my other book reviews BUT I have a good reason for that!

I don't feel like I would have enough to talk about if I wrote these as seperate book reviews so instead of wasting time publishing two different posts, I thought I'd just put these two together because they both have one thing in common: they disappointed me.

THIS IS GOING TO BE SPOILER FREE, BUT BEWARE, IT CAN GET A LITTLE RANTY.

THE ONE MEMORY OF FLORA BANKS BY EMILY BARR

The One Memory Of Flora Banks | sprinkledpages

Before we begin, can I just tell you all how excited I was for this one? I had originally requested this on NetGalley and was pretty disappointed when my request was declined. So when Penguin sent it to me, I was pretty ecstatic!

The premise for this is so unique and unlike anything I've ever read before, so naturally, I was intrigued! I expected it to be a little like Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon and let me just tell you this, it was nothing like that.

THE POSITIVES

As mentioned before, the premise for this book was really, really great. I wanted to know how Flora couldn't remember things, how she remembered the kiss, what she was going to do know. It made me question a lot of things, which is exactly what a book blurb should do.

I also thought the disability was well researched (although I can't say for sure as I do not have it and don't know anyone else that does so if you do know and think it wasn't well researched, please let me know in the comments!) according to me and I learnt a bit from Flora's disability.

I thought it was quite admirable how she managed to live a normal life with that kind of disability (even if it bordered on slightly unrealistic but once again, I can't say for sure as I don't know anyone that has it and therefore I do not have first hand knowledge) using her sticky notes and the notes she wrote on her hand including a journal. It opened my eyes to how difficult memory loss is, on the person and their loved ones.

It didn't occur to me before this book what kind of person I'd be like if I didn't remember my childhood memories, memories of conversations I've had and laughter I've shared and all those good, joyous moments that have lead up to now.

I thought Flora was a pretty strong character, even though I didn't like her very much. She was calm and kind.

THE NEGATIVES

I tried so hard to get into it but I just couldn't.

The writing was awfully dry and there wasn't a consistent pace. Everything happened so suddenly. There'd be moments where the plot would be completely flat and then there'd be lots of action and then it'd go back to being flat again. There was no build up or proper explanation for the plot as well, in terms of the backstory of Flora and the revelations made throughout the book. They were meant to shock you and I think Barr expected the readers to be shocked but it honestly did nothing for me.

Also, I understand the constant repetition of the events in the book was meant to illustrate how Flora was remembering everything that had happened so far and how she was dealing with her memory loss but after a while it just got repetitive and boring.

It was also highly unrealistic at times. I don't understand how a girl could have just gone to the Arctic all by herself. I don't understand how no one would question that, I don't understand how she survived without having proper food or clothing or anything. I don't understand why she would remember a kiss, of all things. It just frustrated me above and beyond.

I couldn't connect to the characters. AT ALL. I have never felt more dispassionate towards a character as I have towards Flora. She was not at all interesting, I found her extremely annoying at times and there was absolutely no connection with the readers. The whole 'chasing after a boy' thing does not work well with me and I feel that is where the problem began.

There were times where I felt the book was trying too hard as well, if you know what I mean? It tried to focus too much on the whole 'go out and live your life' and 'be brave' which is a great message, don't get me wrong, and I loved how it encouraged those with disabilities and mental illnesses to not let it hinder them, but the way Barr went about doing it didn't really work for me. It got too cheesy at times and not in a good way.

Unfortunately for this book the negatives are more prominent than the positives, which I am quite sad to admit as I did really want to like this book, especially after hearing positive reviews from a few of my friends!

This was not for me and we'll just leave it at that!

OVERALL RATING:

★★

A SHADOW BRIGHT AND BURNING BY JESSICA CLUESS

A Shadow Bright And Burning | sprinkledpages

This was another book that I was excited for. I hadn't heard too much about the book and didn't know what it was really about other than it was a fantasy but what I had heard of it had been positive so imagine my surprise when I started to read it and didn't enjoy it at all.

Just a disclaimer, this was a DNF for me. I did not finish this book but I got to more than half way before I gave up because of how boring it was. I was dragging through it and while I may pick it up in the future to finish it off because I hate leaving things unfinished, this review will be based off what I have read. And unless the book magically get's better by the end (in which case, please do let me know) these are my thoughts on it.

THE POSITIVES

Rook is such a sweet heart! I loved him from the very beginning and I wish he was a bigger part of the book. I wanted him to literally be in every scene and it made me really sad that he was barely in the book!

I liked how it was set in the real world with Victorian London. It is rare to find fantasy and dystopian in the real world so it was pretty cool and a little bit different from the others.

Also, the cover is totally gorgeous! The designer should get a pat on the back for the amazing job they've done!

THE NEGATIVES

I feel this world is SO overdone these days! The whole society being divided, things depending on your blood etc is what most fantasy/dystopian novels are in YA these days so by the time I got to this, I wasn't really interested or surprised.

The blurb also gave away a major part of the book which only happened about half way through the book and it made me really roll my eyes at the poor planning because who does that? An event that happens half way through the book is considered part of the plot and should NOT have been on the blurb. If it had not been on the blurb, it would have been 538214659% more exciting and intriguing!

The writing was dry. BOY WAS IT DRY. It didn't pull me in. There was nothing exciting about it. It didn't develop the world, the plot and the characters at all.

There was no explanation for any of the backstory of the world. I didn't understand any of the magic systems or the society. I didn't understand what was happening in the plot and who the characters were really were and why they were there. I couldn't understand the variety of powers or the whole 'shadow bright and burning part'. Like yes, I get the 'burning' part but where is the 'shadow' part???

I didn't like the main character very much but I didn't hate her either. The only character I feel I did love was Rook and that is in the negatives because HE WAS BARELY IN THE BOOK! The only thing that got me to more than half way was the hope that I'd get another glimpse of Rook but he is in the book for literally 0.000000000000001 seconds before disappearing to god knows where.

Maybe someone else will like this better than me but there wasn't much in it for me.

OVERALL RATING:

★

Thank you to Penguin Random House for sending these two books for me to review. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own and this is an honest review.

I am sorry these two reviews have been fairly negative. I don't like being so rambly and it makes me feel really guilty for dumping all this on my blog and on the authors. I am sure these two books will be enjoyed by other people but I, unfortunately, did not enjoy these two so I really don't have many positives to talk about!

Hopefully the next review will be much more positive! Fingers crossed.

Have you read these books? What did you think?