Review: Spoiler Alert

 

Spoiler Alert 

Rating: 4/5 

Buy or Borrow: Buy! 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Marcus Caster-Rupp has a secret. While the world knows him as Aeneas, the star of the biggest show on TV, he's known to fanfiction readers as Book!AeneasWouldNever, an anonymous and popular poster. Through his stories, Marcus is able to get out his own frustrations with his character, especially the ones that feature the internet's favourite couple to ship, Aeneas and Lavinia. But if anyone ever found out about his online persona, he'd be fired. Immediately.

April Whittier has secrets of her own. A hardcore Lavinia fan, she's hidden her fanfiction and cosplay hobby from her 'real life' for years - but not anymore. When she decides to post her latest Lavinia creation on Twitter, her photo goes viral. Trolls and supporters alike are commenting on her plus-size take, but when Marcus sees her pic and asks her out on a date to spite her critics, she realises life is really stranger than fanfiction.

Even though their first date is a disaster, Marcus quickly realises that he wants much more from April than a one-time publicity stunt. And when he discovers she's actually Unapologetic Lavinia Stan, his closest fandom friend, he has one more huge secret to hide from her.

With love and Marcus's career on the line, can the two of them stop hiding once and for all, or will a match made in fandom end up prematurely cancelled?

Ah, that opening scene had me flashing back to the days I spent filming a certain movie and all of the blood, sweat and tears that I poured into it. Vividly. It was certainly an opening that hooked my attention and pulled me in and I genuinely think I'd probably watch that show if it existed! Or at least read the books! 

I knew I was going to love this book based on the opening alone. The narrative caught my attention and had me giggling within a couple of pages, and it made my geeky self happy because I was 100% sure that Dade was having a little bit of a GoT reference. All I'm saying is...it reeked of GoT and a certain pair of showrunners that we all love to hate for a certain season finale. I couldn't help but wonder if the actors in real life felt the same way as the actors in the book. 

I lived for all the mentions of the other movies and shows that Marcus has starred in, along with their descriptions AND the script extracts. I was howling at some of them, they were so brilliantly cringey I can't believe Dade came up with them! I can't begin to imagine how much fun Dade had coming up with all of these and then writing little extracts for them, I was snickering to myself so much while I was reading them! I also loved the fan fiction extracts, complete with AO3 tags! My nerdy self was so, incredibly happy reading this and I could more than relate to the fan fiction and fix it fics and so on. It kind of reminded me why I love fan fiction so much and how much fix it fic I read for a certain show at one point when it took an annoying turn! 

Spoiler Alert is a fluffy romance, it was cute and sweet and funny...but it also had a depth to it and the characters that I hadn't entirely been expecting. April and Marcus both had things to overcome and work through, and while the romance was brilliant and I thoroughly enjoyed it, the emotional depth to the story really made it for me! Marcus puts up this false image to hide himself away so everyone thinks he's stupid but he actually has Dyslexia and his parents weren't too kind to him about it. They're super smart and they got very frustrated and lately they've been belittling his choice of roles and don't seem to realise what they're doing or that it's wrong. April has a mother that loves her dearly, and truly is just trying to look out for her...but is hurting April in the process because of her unhealthy views on weight and food that have been drilled into her. In short, they're both dealing with emotional abuse from their parents and I thought it was tackled really well. 

The way April went to  her mother and the conversation they had about it really hit me, and I thought it was a fantastically written scene. Not to mention the fact that there was no insistence that parents have to be forgiven and you have to remain in contact with family members that hurt you. I really loved how the entire situation was handled, and I loved watching April and Marcus have real conversations about this. I also liked that any misunderstanding was talked out pretty quickly and there's lots of admission of fault that I really respected from the characters. 

April I utterly loved! She's so confident and such a strong character throughout and she never doubts her self worth and never loses her self respect throughout the book. I rooted for her 100% and I completely got where Marcus was coming from too. I really enjoyed watching them come together and overcome things together, but I also loved the way they loved themselves and Marcus especially came to have and believe in his own self-worth. 

And finally...our support characters. I LOVED all the fights amongst the cast members in the group chat that they had! I had a note written to myself that I'd love a spin off book about Alex because I think he might be my favourite but then when I got to the end of the book and the note that was there...my wish was granted and I already can't wait for that! 

I had a really good time reading Spoiler Alert, I laughed, I got emotional and I looked forward to picking the book up every single time I had to put it down. I love a good dose of the nerdy and the inclusion of the fan fiction element had me feeling right at home and nodding along with certain aspects to it that were described! I also pretty much equated the show to GoT and it brought back a rush of feels along the lines of...'I dedicated how many hours of my life for THAT ending?! You've got to be kidding me'. But the thing that stays with me the most about this book are the characters and the struggles that they overcome throughout the book. 

Review: Set Fire To The Gods

 

Set Fire to the Gods

Rating: 3/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources.

Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family's taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn't have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn't been seen in centuries.

When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can only be settled by deadly, lavish gladiator games. The fights put Madoc in Ash's path, and she realizes that his powers are the weapon her rebellion needs—but Madoc won’t jeopardize his family, regardless of how intrigued he is by the beautiful warrior. 

But when the gods force Madoc’s hand, he and Ash uncover an ancient war that will threaten more than one immortal—it will unravel the world. 

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that I LOVE Sara Raasch's books. There's not been a book of hers that I haven't 100% loved and completely fallen into! As such, I was incredibly excited for this book. Brand New Raasch, plus Gods, plus a Gladiator aspect!? I NEEDED it, more than I needed anything else. However, my excitement dimmed a little as I started to read and this book ended up being a little bit of a mix for me and kind of hard for me to give a rating. 

I was immediately intrigued by the world of the book, how it worked and the magic aspect as well as the Gods and their history. The main characters were intriguing as they're both on opposite sides of this war and seemingly heading towards a big, final showdown despite their developing feelings for each other and I couldn't wait to see it play out! 

Ash is such a badass and I always love to see a female character that's more than capable of holding her own and is no damsel in distress. Ash ticked every box for me in that regard. Madoc I liked well enough, perhaps slightly less than Ash...sorry. The most interesting aspect to him was his magic and what exactly it was and how it worked. The two of them share a mutual hatred towards the Gods...or well, Madoc hates Ash's God but loves his own while Ash hates her God completely. The thing I found most interesting was Madoc's journey with his God and how he felt about him, he'd always prayed to him for everything and then he discovers he might not be as fantastic as he thought. For Ash, hers was kind of the opposite journey, she's come to hate her God but slowly discovers that maybe Ignitus isn't all bad and I actually kind of felt for him and would have liked to see more of him! 

The setting was created well enough although I'd have loved to delve into a bit more. I think we're getting to see more of Ash's land and the rest of the world in the next book which I'm excited for! There are a lot of twists and turns throughout, but I will admit that I did find myself not entirely riveted to the story and that makes me so incredibly sad. I'd been so excited for this book, but I didn't feel that burning need to pick it up and keep reading. I'd put it down, wake up the next day and I wouldn't be thinking about it and rushing to get back to reading it. In all honesty, I did briefly contemplate DNF-ing but because I love Raasch's books so much and her writing, I pushed on. 

Things do pick up towards the latter half of the book and I did find myself once again curious about what would happen next, and I am curious to see how things are going to play out in the next book! But I'm also on the fence about actually picking it up as I found it kind of hard to connect to Madoc and Ash and the plot was a little bland for a good chunk of this book. 

I think I might give the sequel a try to see if starts off stronger and is more consistent with the plot but I might be stricter at DNF-ing this time around. 

Review: Beast Boy

 

Teen Titans: Beast Boy 

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy! 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Garfield Logan has spent his entire life being overlooked. Even in a small town like Eden, Georgia, the 17-year-old with green streaks in his hair can’t find a way to stand out–and the clock is ticking. Senior year is almost over. If Gar doesn’t find a way to impress the Chosen Ones–the social elite at Bull Creek High School–he will never know what it’s like to matter. Gar’s best friends, Stella and Tank, don’t understand why he cares what other people think. They miss their funny, pizza-loving, video game-obsessed best friend.

Then Gar accepts a wild dare out of the blue. It impresses the Chosen Ones and his social status soars. But other things are changing, too. Gar grows six inches overnight. His voice drops and, suddenly, he’s stronger and faster. He’s finally getting everything he wanted, but his newfound popularity comes at a price. Gar has to work harder to impress his new friends. The dares keep getting bigger and the stakes keep getting higher.

When Gar realizes the extent of his physical changes, he has to dig deep and face the truth about himself–and the people who truly matter–before his life spirals out of control. 

So, Beast Boy is my absolute favourite in Teen Titans so I've been practically vibrating in excitement waiting for this to come out! I really enjoyed Garcia and Picolo's work on Raven and I couldn't wait to see what they'd do with Beast Boy! 

Once again, I loved how the colour scheme for the volume's art was all shades of green or cool tones to match Beast Boy much like for Raven's volume it was all purple and blue! I also liked the art once again, particularly how the scientific aspects/DNA/body diagram's were all drawn and time passing and so on.  

I feel like Gar is quite relatable with the whole 'everyone has a thing, you just haven't found yours yet' thing, I know I felt that deeply anyway! I also feel like he's incredibly relatable with his desire to fit in and be popular if only to see what it's like. He doesn't go too crazy with it or let it get to him that much though it does push him at one point. Overall Gar is basically just really relatable in this volume and there's some teen angst because of everything he's going through with being small and kind of weedy, I guess? There's an additional, subtle thread of something strange going on with him woven throughout that builds up and comes to a nice climax towards the end of the volume! 

I loved Gar's friends and how Stella and Tank always had his back! I'm sad that he had to leave them behind for the next phase of the story! Beast Boy is a nicely paced origin story showing how Gar comes into his power and where it came from. It builds throughout the volume until he finally realises something's wrong and what that is and has to go to Slade for help! He's not entirely in control of his power and we don't see too much of it, I'm sure we will in the next volume though! Slade is such an ominous presence, I can't lie! 

I liked how the story flowed up until the end and set things up for the next volume and the next phase as Beast Boy and Raven will no doubt meet! Gar still has a way to go with controlling and understanding his power, but he's well on his way! 

Manga: Wandering Witch

 

Wandering Witch Vol 1 

Rating: 3/5

Buy or borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Ever since she was a little girl reading books of magic and adventure, Elaina has dreamed of following in the footsteps of her childhood idol, the witch Nique, and living a life of travel. Now a full-fledged witch herself, Elaina sets off on a journey without a destination, wandering far and wide to see the world. With each new place she sees and person she meets, Elaina's world grows a little bit richer. 

I haven't read the light novel that this manga is adapted from, so I can't speak to how well it is or isn't adapted. I did think that the art was cute, there was a fairy tale/storybook feel to it and a nice amount of detail to the characters and background. 

I did think that it was very nicely paced and moved smoothly from one adventure to the other and encounter to encounter. Things are solved quickly and neatly in each case and there's no wasted time throughout the volume. It's very....episodic? In its structure! 

However, I wasn't particularly grabbed by this volume, I found it hard to connect with Elaina and I wasn't very invested in it either. I felt like there was no depth to her character which is always a problem for me. While I did enjoy the volume well enough, I doubt I'll be continuing the series, it wasn't really what I was expecting and it's not really my kind of vibe! 

Review: Queen of Coin and Whispers

Queen of Coin and Whispers 

Rating: 2.5/5

Buy or Borrow: Borrow 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review 

When teenage queen Lia inherits her corrupt uncle’s bankrupt kingdom, she brings a new spymaster into the fold ... Xania, who takes the job to avenge her murdered father.

Faced with dangerous plots and hidden enemies, can Lia and Xania learn to rely on each another, as they discover that all is not fair in love and treason?

In a world where the throne means both power and duty, they must decide what to sacrifice for their country – and for each other … 

I really wanted to rate this higher because I was so here for the f/f romance and all the LGBTQ+ representation the book provides but while I did enjoy myself somewhat reading this, it ultimately fell a little flat for me. 

It does jump straight in with the plot and things move forward quickly, the book is fast paced which I appreciated and there was a huge amount of political intrigue and plotting and so on. There are really smooth and seamless transitions through time throughout and as for our main character Lia, she was very determined. She has a lot to contend with and there's a lot of political treachery that she has to find a way around and she wants to be better than her Uncle and make things better but as she discovers it's not too easy to do so. 

Our other POV is Xania, she's quite the badass and she becomes more and more adept at her job as Whispers over time throughout the book. She and Lia are quite ruthless, or at least they're supposed to be which was quite refreshing I just didn't particularly feel any true danger or high stakes throughout the book. I also appreciate side character Matthias. I loved his entire attitude and I spent a good chunk of the book really hoping he wasn't going to turn out to be shady. 

Unfortunately, I can't do a review anywhere near the length that I usually would as that's really all the positives I can say about this book. It was just...okay. I read this book in two sittings although it took me a little while to work up to reading the other half, I put the book down and I didn't feel that burning need to pick it back up and finish it I'm afraid. 

On the negative side of things, I feel like while the pace is fast and we move through time quickly, it's at the cost of developing the characters. I don't feel like they were fleshed out enough and that also affects the romance as well. I personally felt the romance to be quite sudden, I was looking forward to watching it develop and having some slow burn to squeal over but it was just suddenly there. I feel like some time could have been taken to fully develop the characters and the romance, and it was a little unconvincing how adept Xania became at being Whispers with no previous training doing such things. You do see her get more adept at it over the course of the book but the time skips do allow for it to be glossed over. There were just a lot of things about Xania that didn't really make much sense, she could just suddenly do this, or she'd learned this and so on. 

The world building was okay, it could have had more depth to it and I didn't really have a true image in my mind of the setting. I found it difficult to be bothered about the characters when they weren't that fleshed out so while there's plenty of blood and action and politics I was kind of breezing through the book without feeling too invested. The writing style was also a bit bland and there wasn't really that much of a difference between Lia's narrative and Xania's. The writing didn't draw me in at all and I felt like when it came to Xania the author was trying too hard to make her seem dangerous and edgy with her inner monologue and some of the imagery used. 

Overall, Queen of Coin and Whispers is a quick, fast read and it's an okay book. It's not truly bad, but it could have been improved a little, like it could quite easily have been a duology and more time could have been taken to develop the characters, the romance and the world. There were too many things about this that were a little hard to believe, and Xania wasn't entirely convincing a lot of the time. The romance lacked chemistry and development, and the characters weren't fleshed out enough for me to truly care about them and what happened to them. The setting could have been any generic fantasy setting with one little original twist and the writing didn't work to draw you into the story. I found myself making myself finish this once I'd put it down and I was overall very disappointed because I'd been so excited for the f/f romance that's in this!

Review: The Obsidian Tower

 

The Obsidian Tower

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

The mage-marked granddaughter of a ruler of Vaskandar, Ryx was destined for power and prestige at the top of Vaskandran society. But her magic is broken; all she can do is uncontrollably drain the life from everything she touches, and Vaskandar has no place for a mage with unusable powers.

Then, one night, two terrible accidents befall her: Ryx accidentally kills a visiting dignitary in self-defense, activating a mysterious magical artifact sealed in an ancient tower in the heart of her family’s castle.

Ryx flees, seeking a solution to her deadly magic. She falls in with a group of unlikely magical experts investigating the disturbance in Vaskandar—and Ryx realizes that her family is in danger and her domain is at stake. She and her new colleagues must return to the family stronghold to take control of the artifact that everyone wants to claim—before it destroys the world. 

I'm going to be honest, The Obsidian Tower has been an anticipated read of mine for a little while now! I read and completely loved Caruso's Swords and Fire trilogy and I was really excited to see what she would come up with next. As it turns out, that would be a bisexual mage with magic that doesn't work quite right and prevents her from getting close to people in case she kills them...and then there's a minor incident with a shady door that may or may not lead to ruin for their entire Kingdom. No biggie. 

There's tension from the start with peace talks about to be underway between two neighbouring Kingdoms, and that's before someone goes snooping where they shouldn't and unleashes all manner of chaos into the world. The Obsidian Tower is set in the same world as her debut trilogy, though a different area of it and one that deals with magic quite differently. I was excited to see more of the magic system that Caruso established in her previous trilogy, as well as see an interesting perspective on certain magical technology that's used! That being said, if you haven't read the previous trilogy it's not a problem! You can quite easily read this without having read it, all it adds a little bit of extra understanding when it comes to the relationship between Vaskandar and the Serene Empire! 

I actually really liked Ryxander as a main character, I thought she was interesting. Her power is dangerous and she's constantly having to keep herself under control to ensure she doesn't hurt anyone and she can't touch any living thing without consequences. I felt so much empathy for her and I was right there with her when she got to relax when it came to controlling her power and she got to hug her friends....and actually have friends! I was so happy for her, and then equally as heartbroken as she was when that was all potentially taken away. I feel like we see her very isolated and closed off, and then slowly bloom as the book goes on and she finds her people. 

As for the other characters I loved every single member of the Rookery and I can't wait to get to see more of them! Particularly Ashe....just let her stab something Foxglove, one little thing! Ashe made me laugh so many times throughout this book and I loved the banter between all of them. Whisper was an intriguing addition, he's the castle's resident chimera but there's clearly more to him than meets the eye! Ardith was a fantastic addition and so relatable, they kept saying 'I just wanted to drink your beer and eat your food' or words to that effect and I was reading like...understandable. I was waiting to see whether there was going to be more to their relationship with Ryx, and I'm quite hoping we get to see more of them in the future! They were just such a great comic addition to proceedings and kept the mood up! Then there's Severin. As soon as he was introduced I was like 'hello, you're going to be added to my collection of favourites aren't you?' and then it turned out he was the love interest. I thought he might be, but the way he was introduced and who he was had me thinking otherwise and a little sad about that fact only to be surprised again later. He also wasn't at all what I was expecting, I was expecting him to take charge more but he's very much under the control of his brother and struggles to go against him. I'm hoping he'll come in to his own more in the next book although I'm very much here for their relationship!  

The thing I loved the most about this book was all of the representation! Our main character is bisexual, we've got a non-binary side character and two other side character's are lesbian's so we get a nice f/f romance that had me cheerfully wanting to bang their oblivious heads together at one point! 

The thing I love the most about Caruso's writing is that she weaves these intricate, rich worlds with plots involving magic and politics and explains it all without dumping a lot of information on you or making the book dry in the process. Her writing is riveting and has you eager to know more and keep on reading to see what happens next. I particularly liked the inclusion of a good old murder mystery element this time around and had quite a lot of fun lining up my suspects and trying to figure out who it was! There's also some original twists on some other things too! 

The Obsidian Tower is wonderfully paced and weaves in brilliantly crafted characters some of which you love and some of which you can hate, with political intrigue, impending potential war, a murder mystery, a mysterious and definitely shady door leading to who knows what and uh...I don't think anyone really wants to find out, and a fun magic system! I quite easily binge read this in two sittings and I'm already impatient for the sequel to get back to the characters and see what fresh hell will be unleashed next! 

Review: All The Stars and Teeth

All The Stars and Teeth 

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer - the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it's never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy's dangerous soul magic.

When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he'll help her prove she's fit to rule, if she'll help him reclaim his stolen magic.

But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder - and more peril - than Amora anticipated. A destructive new magic is on the rise, and if Amora is to conquer it, she'll need to face legendary monsters, cross paths with vengeful mermaids, and deal with a stow-away she never expected... or risk the fate of Visidia and lose the crown forever. 

There are so few pirate books out there and as we all know, I'm weak for anything pirate related so you can imagine how excited I was for this book! Pirates, magic, mermaids, sea monsters and adventure, this book pretty much has it all! 

Hooking you in from the start, there's a quick pace to this book and the story progresses nicely with barely any time to catch your breath. The magic system is intriguing, there's multiple different kinds and depending on the type you have...you live on the corresponding island. Amora's magic, however, is different and I was so curious about it and the beast it allegedly was holding back. There's a nice element of mystery to her magic and the history of it that provided some nice surprises! 

I quite liked Amora, she was very confident and determined in whatever it was that she was doing. She never really gave up and kept fighting forward and when she did waver it was honestly very understandable and relatable and I appreciated the fact she didn't wallow in that feeling for too long. She's also not afraid to spill some blood to get things sorted and does quite well at protecting herself! Bastion is predictably my favourite character because hello pirate captain! But there's more to his backstory than just that and again...he provides a few nice surprises and there's one twist that I can't wait to see play out in the book. He also has some excellent lines. Along with our Princess and our Pirate we have the healer that Amora is betrothed to, and our mermaid who I loved and I can't wait to see more of her! I just loved the fact that she was a tiny, little bit vicious and I kind of felt like mermaids and sirens had been combined in to one for her! 

The romance isn't the main focus of the book though it does take over here and there at certain points. I do feel a little bit like the 'love triangle', or whatever you want to call it, wasn't all that strong and didn't have much to it. I partially felt like more could be done with it, but at the same time at least things are pretty straightforward though there are still some things that will need to be worked out. 

What I did enjoy were some of the topics that were broached within the book. Menstruation which I haven't actually seen mentioned in a YA book before, abuse and sexual assault. I wasn't actually expecting any of it in this book and I very rarely come across the latter two so it was a bit of a surprise and I was intrigued that the author wanted to include them, though I feel like there was room to go a bit more in depth if that was the direction Grace wanted to go in. Just be aware that those things are talked about within the book at various different points if that's something that you would want to avoid. 

All The Stars and Teeth has some great world-building, an interesting magic system and plenty of action and adventuring to keep you intrigued. The characters are likeable and they all share an interesting dynamic and there's a few great twists that will be fun to see play out in the next book. I read this fairly quickly, I did enjoy reading it and I will pick up the sequel to see what happens next but I felt like there was a little something missing for me personally that could have made this really stand out all the more! 

 

Review: The Court of Miracles

The Court of Miracles

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

In the dark days following a failed French Revolution, in the violent jungle of an alternate 1828 Paris, young cat-burglar Eponine (Nina) Thenardier goes head to head with merciless royalty, and the lords of the city's criminal underworld to save the life of her adopted sister Cosette (Ettie).

Her vow will take her from the city’s dark underbelly, through a dawning revolution, to the very heart of the glittering court of Louis XVII, where she must make an impossible choice between guild, blood, betrayal and war. 

I was sold on this from the words 'diverse fantasy reimagining of Les Miserables' and I was so eager to dive into this. I was immediately thrown into a rich world that's built up more and more over the course of the first part. Our setting is Paris in the wake of a failed revolution, and now there are Guilds that operate under their own law. Our main character Nina is in the Thieves Guild, and she's basically out to save her sister from a not as pleasant Guild. Alongside Nina and her own personal mission, there's another revolution brewing in the streets of Paris. 

As I read this, I eagerly drank in all the world building, the atmosphere and the history along with the tension and emotional first few chapters. The setting is quickly established, as are our main characters as we smoothly and quickly set up for the main part of the story. Honestly, I was hooked from the first page, eager to know more and eager for Nina's plan to unfold. I loved being in the world of this book, and I loved the storytelling. 

I loved, loved, loved the Les Miserables threads woven in. We've got all of the characters we know and love from the book and musical and I screeched a little bit at each reveal. The more you read, the more you can see the book intertwining with it, coming together and slowly building up to the events of Les Miserables, specifically a certain heartbreaking scene! I'm going to be honest, at one point I had 'Do You Hear the People Sing' stuck in my head! 

I enjoyed the little slices of history at the beginning of each part that tells us the story of how the Guilds came to be, as I was incredibly curious about that aspect and eager to know more. There's some brilliantly smooth transitions through time as the story builds up and gets us to where we need to be. I just loved how things got a little bit more familiar towards the end and the sense of dread that started to build up! 

As for the characters, I loved Nina! She was a badass and would do anything to protect Ettie. I also lowkey ship Nina and Montparnasse, as soon as I read them together I was like...that's it. That's my ship. Shove off St. Juste and Prince! I'm going to be honest, Ettie annoyed me at points, but I did love the sisterhood between she and Nina and I feel like Ettie has some excellent character development over the course of the book until she's more than capable of holding her own. I loved to see it, and I thought it was nicely done alongside all the events of the book! 

Genuinely, The Court of Miracles builds up so wonderfully! The revolution creeping through the streets and building up with the plot and Nina's scheming until it reaches a crescendo. There are some excellent twists and I was on the edge of my seat for the last part! I was just as tense as the characters were as I waited to see what would happen. 

With vividly described settings with rich detail, The Court of Miracles was atmospheric until the end and you can get completely lost in the world of the book and the story being told. It's excellently written and more than kept my attention on the page and my mind from wandering! I was eager to know what would happen next and reluctant to have to put the book down to do anything real world related. 

I will say that The Court of Miracles wraps up really nicely, and could quite easily serve as a standalone so I'm curious to see where the sequel is going to go! 

Review: The Ship of Shadows

The Ship of Shadows
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy! 
Source: Bought it myself as soon as my hot little hands could get hold of it! 

Aleja whiles away her days in her family's dusty tavern in Seville, dreaming of distant lands and believing in the kind of magic that she's only ever read about in books. After all, she's always being told that girls can't be explorers.

But her life is changed forever when adventure comes for her in the form of a fabled vessel called the Ship of Shadows. Crewed by a band of ruthless women, with cabin walls dripping with secrets, the ship has sailed right out of a legend. And it wants Aleja.

Once on board its shadowy deck, she begins to realize that the sea holds more secrets than she ever could have imagined. The crew are desperately seeking something, and their path will take them through treacherous waters and force them to confront nightmare creatures and pitch-dark magic. It will take all of Aleja's strength and courage to gain the trust of her fellow pirates - and discover what they are risking everything to find. 

It's a truth universally acknowledged that if a book has pirates in it...I'm going to read it. Not only does The Ship of Shadows have pirates...it has badass female pirates, what more could you want? 

I've followed Maria on Instagram for forever, so I've seen every single post she's made about writing this book and I've been so excited to get my hands on it! When I saw it on the trolley to be put out at work I snatched it so fast it's probably a world record! Unfortunately, I had to wait until I was done with first year exams to finally settle down to read this but...it was worth the wait! 

As soon as I started reading I was instantly enveloped in the world of the book, I could picture everything as clearly as if I was there. There's so much detail throw in to the world building and the characters, with slick writing so that the narrative isn't too bogged down. I instantly settled down and easily read over 100 pages in one sitting...then the next day read the entirety of the rest of the book! I just instantly fell in love with the setting, the frankly awesome kinda Tardis-esque magical ship and our strong female lead. 

I loved Aleja, she was relatable and easy to root for and every single time she mentioned going home I was sitting there like, oh no sweetie. You're not going home, you CAN'T! How could she leave not only the ship and adventure, but the crew that I came to love as much as Aleja did?! Speaking of the crew, they were such an interesting bunch who'd all come together to create their own family and there wasn't a single one of them that I didn't like. I was curious about all of them and how they'd come to be on the ship, and each of them had a different set of skills to contribute. 

I need to talk about the magic of the book quickly as well! I was intrigued as to what it would be after seeing other readers comment on it, and honestly? It was so cool! The ship has shadow magic to it so all these rooms appear randomly, or you'll be minding your own business exploring one of the ship's passages and BOOM, there's a waterfall out of nowhere! It was so inventive and imaginative and I had a lot of fun reading about it and thinking over the possibilities! 

The Ship of Shadows is fast-paced and utterly riveting. There's so much packed in to it and we smoothly sail from point to point in the story! This isn't just a pirate adventure about sailing the high seas. Yes we have krakens to face and treasure to steal, but we also have a heist and a quest into the desert in search of a treasure map with some riddles and puzzles to solve along the way! If you like your piracy with a side of puzzle-solving, questing and adventure, then this is the book for you! 

Review: Bookish and The Beast

Bookish and The Beast 
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.

On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he's forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.

But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts. 

"Who's going to tell her this is Stockholm Syndrome?" 

If you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that I absolutely adore this series! Geekerella was such a fun read and I instantly fell in love with it, and while I had an issue or two with the sequel it was still just as nerdy and fun to read! I've been eagerly awaiting this third book, but after meeting Vance during the previous book I thought it was going to take a lot for Poston to make me like him. 

As it turns out, I'm a weak, weak woman because during the first chapter from Vance's POV I was kind of just like....oh. Okay Vance, okay. I get you, I see where you're coming from and it was hard not to chuckle at some of the things he came out with. It was so easy to see things from his point of view once you become familiar with his background and what he's been going through and it really wasn't long before I had a little bit of a soft spot for him. I just settled in to wait for him to open up a little and relax. 

As for our other POV Rosie, I knew I was going to instantly gel with her as a character because hello fellow book nerd! I related to her on so many levels and I really enjoyed her character. She wasn't afraid to stand up for herself no matter who it was to, whether it was Vance or Garrett, aka the Gaston of this book, who just could not take no for an answer. Damn. She also brought with her some really fun supporting characters in the form of her hilarious Dad, and her awesome BFF's Annie and Quinn! I particularly loved the rep for Quinn and I really commend this series for all the rep that it gives us whether it's LGBTQ+ or POC. 

Of course we have some cameo's from some of our favourite characters from the previous books. I was ridiculously pleased to see that Vance had kept a connection with Imogen and I liked their friendship, it was also nice to see Ethan again too! Darien pops up as well, as does Elle in a manner but...EXCUSE ME ASHLEY!? I was SHOOK to my core at the news about them. I kinda, sorta want a little novella to see what that was all about! I was just minding my own business and then BOOM, the OG ship of the series left me a little bit stunned! 

As you would expect with this being called Bookish and the Beast, there are some excellent, modern nods to Beauty and the Beast in here. Rosie and her birthmark, the library, a couple of scenes that are a little bit reminiscent of the Disney movie, Garrett as Gaston and then instead of an angry baying mob we had...reporters and paparazzi. OH and the castle house, I think Poston described my dream house and I'm kinda sad it doesn't actually exist! I just really enjoyed that it wasn't too excessive and in your face and was the odd nod here or there, much like with Geekerella and The Princess and the Fangirl! 

I'm going to be really honest here, as excited for the book as I was I was also a little bit wary of reading it. I thought that with everything going on and conventions being cancelled that this book would be a little bit bittersweet for me and that it might make me a little sad. While I did get that kind of sad longing for a convention at the beginning of the book, this one isn't actually set entirely at a convention like the previous books. I think this was a great move, because it kept the series fresh and stopped it from becoming too repetitive. Don't worry though, this book is still brimming with glorious nerdy-ness. 

We've got the story told through a brilliant use of book extracts, texts, articles and so on as usual to keep things fun and interesting, and to deliver information without bogging down the narrative too much with information. There's plenty of nerdy references that had me squealing every single time I spotted them and I just love that about this series. It's so unashamedly nerdy and not even limited to one fandom, there's a tonne of them in there to spot! 

Bookish and the Beast is nicely paced, I breezed through this in a couple of sittings and basically binge read it because I had no self control. Well, that and I found this book so...comforting? It's been a hard year so far for a lot of us that have left us feeling kind of low and in need of a pick me up and the relatable characters, fun story and the doses of nerdiness just gave me such a sense of comfort as I was reading. I'm sure that makes no sense, but it's kinda like Ashley brought the con to us? In a sense? I was just reading like 'ah, these are my people' and it all felt so familiar and ugh. I'm bad at describing it but this is definitely a comfort book to me and it really recharged my mood a little and picked me right up when I needed it! 

My only teeny, tiny issue with this book is that little bit with Darien and Elle like...I'm sorry Ashley, please elaborate!? I need the tea! 

Much as I loved Geekerella, I think this book just might slightly surpass it and is now my favourite book in the entire series! Plus it swiftly made its way on to my favourites list! I'm already planning a big series re-read, and I feel like this is one series that you can just read again and again and never get tired of the fun and the mayhem. 

Oh, and if the nerdy references don't get you smiling and all cheered up, then the humour definitely will. Poston's humour is my kind of brand of humour and the way I howled laughing at the line, "who's going to tell her this is Stockholm Syndrome?" it was such a beautifully placed line! 

I'm not sure if this is the final book in the series, I think it is although part of me is really hoping that it's not because I'm going to miss having a new book in this series to look forward to each year, but I feel like this is a timeless series that's going to be great to come back and revisit as many times as you need! 

Manga: I'm Standing On A Million Lives 6

I'm Standing On A Million Lives Vol 6 
Rating: 3.5/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Ninth grader Yusuke Yotsuya is a loner and he likes it that way. But one day, he and two female classmates are suddenly sent to another world, where they must work together to battle for their lives. But he's been reincarnated as a farmer! How is someone who's only ever wanted to be left alone supposed to be a hero?! A one-of-a-kind original manga that will challenge everything you thought you knew about fantasy! 

At the very end of the last volume we were introduced to Glenda, the new member of the team and there was a little bit of a twist with her that could make communication a problem. I was very interested to see how she was going to fit in with the others and adapt to the new situation. 

Glen provides some information on other players that she's found and it's soon decided to use her YouTube channel and substantial following to try and reach out to other players. Unfortunately, by the time the players reach out to them they're all pulled in to round 6 of the game with Glenda in tow. The plot definitely thickens as they make contact with other teams and trade answers amongst themselves. They even get a very interesting and valuable piece of information that opens up a potential theory for what these quests are leading up to. 

Yotsuya meanwhile, is torn between the two different versions of himself...his city self and his hometown self and we see a slightly more laid back side to him. The difference between the two versions of himself was interesting, but it seems like we're going to be treated to the more relaxed version of Yotsuya from now on thanks to Shindo. 

The quest this time is focused on stamping out drug addiction, and I actually thought it was quite fascinating to get to examine the causes of drug addiction and how to combat it. It's quite a thought provoking story arc as we watch the characters encounter so many blocks to resolving the situation and all the different aspects to it. 

As usual, the plot moves along quickly despite covering a long stretch of time and the action is nicely spread out although I felt this one was a little bit slow and didn't really liven up fully until the end. 

Manga: The Seven Deadly Sins 37

The Seven Deadly Sins Vol 37 
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

This manga series takes readers to the land of Britannia, a picturesque country ruled by the benevolent King Lyonnesse - or at least it was, until the king's guard assassinated him and started a full-blown Holy War! Now the king's only daughter Elizabeth must seek the aid of the dreaded warriors, the Seven Deadly Sins. Wrongly framed and sent into exile, they're now the princess's only hope to free the kingdom from the grip of the villainous Holy Knights! 

Quite a lot happened last volume to move the story forward with some twists and shocking moments, including one that left us with a cliffhanger so I was eager to delve into this volume. Volume 37 sees Meliodas facing off against the Demon Lord with a bit of an assist from the others and a focus on the bonds of friendship once again, which is heartwarming to see after we've come so far in the series. I like that this series doesn't lose that message no matter how many volumes it goes on. 

There's an action packed start to the volume before we eventually turn to the second problem that's imminent...Elizabeth's curse. We've had action packed volume after action packed volume, so it was a little strange for things to suddenly slow down in the middle of this volume. There's a bit of a lull after the final battle as everyone has some time to relax and hang out with each other and we visit a few familiar places. 

I was starting to feel like things had been resolved a little too quickly, but luckily some ominous threads started to weave in before a reveal that threw the seemingly happy ending out of the window. I was more than happy with that, even if I am starting to feel like this series is perhaps being dragged out a little too long, because as I said, I felt things had been resolved a little too easily. 

Just when you thought this series was close to being done, it turns out that isn't quite the case! 

Manga: Boarding School Juliet 11

Boarding School Juliet Vol 11 
Rating: 3/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

On the fair island campus of Dahlia, the student body is split into two rival dorms: The Black Dog House of the eastern nation of Touwa, and the White Cats House of the West. Despite his doting childhood friend and a loyal posse, the first-year leader of the Black Dogs, Romeo Inuzuka, has one big teenage problem: He has a crush on Juliet Persia, the first-year leader of the White Cats! With her own brainiac right-hand man and a powerful crew behind her, the cutthroat Juliet thinks she has no time for misadventures with a hopeless romantic like Romeo. When Romeo meets Juliet one fateful twilight, he thinks he has a shot at love... but is this secret affair really worth dying for?! 

There was a little bit of a shake up last volume as Reon was introduced and the Prefect selection war finally started. This volume provides a look at another side of Reon, and while she's definitely going to be an interesting character considering her plan...I don't particularly trust her no matter how much of a softer side we might see. 

Teria steps up a little bit in this volume and it was nice to see her overcome her shyness a little bit to step in and help out Inuzuka, dealing with the Black Doggies problems and so on. It was also really nice to see how far Inuzuka's come since this series started! We know he's been working hard to get better and better and once again we get to see that really pay off this volume. 

Volume 11 sees our characters progress into second year and a new crop of first year students enter Dahlia Academy. Unfortunately this means Inuzuka has to deal with his own little selection of them as part of his Yeoman duties. Which might be fine if Kogi didn't make a reappearance as one of the first year's that he's in charge of. He certainly causes some trouble for him, though there's the odd heart warming moment too as Inuzuka has to figure out how to win him over in order to get the other first years to fall in line! I was also pleased to see Shuna again as she brings in another dynamic and I think she's quite funny! 

Inuzuka isn't the only one facing a problem when it comes to the new first years, Persia is pushed quite a way out of her comfort zone in order to wrangle her own first years and even Char has a little struggle of her own. 

While the new first years mix things up and provide some fun new characters, I think the biggest twist to this volume is Inuzuka's little brush with death and the aftermath of it. It certainly livens things up again, makes them interesting and provides an interesting new dynamic to freshen the series up a bit. Yes, it might be a little bit cliche, but the volume does acknowledge that with a sly little comment but I personally feel like it's a fun new element that leaves us with a great cliffhanger for next volume! 

Manga: Knight of The Ice

Knight of The Ice Vol 1 
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Kokoro is the talk of the figure-skating world, winning trophies and hearts. But little do they know... he's actually a huge nerd! From the beloved creator of You're My Pet (Tramps Like Us). Chitose is a serious young woman, working for the health magazine SASSO. Or at least, she would be, if she wasn't constantly getting distracted by her childhood friend, international figure skating star Kokoro Kijinami! In the public eye and on the ice, Kokoro is a gallant, flawless knight, but behind his glittery costumes and breathtaking spins lies a secret: he's actually a hopeless romantic otaku, who can only land his quad jumps when Chitose is on hand to recite a spell from his favourite magical girl anime! 

I'm not going to lie, I've been missing Yuri On Ice quite a lot lately and I will take anything that even remotely resembles it, no matter how vague, to try and fill its place. Knight of The Ice has the ice skating element and focus on it of Yuri On Ice, complete with fleshed out rival characters, and the secret otaku element of Wotakoi alongside the romance so I was curious to see how things would turn out. I was a little worried things might be a little too ridiculous or a little too much but I was pleasantly surprised! 

I ended up laughing so much while I was reading this first volume and it very quickly caught my attention and I had a feeling it was going to be one of the series that I look forward to each new volume impatiently! 

We quickly establish who each character is and a little background to the whole spell casting thing and how it came about. This initial volume moves the story along nicely, giving us a feel for the relationship between Chitose and Kokoro as well as Chitose and her Editor in Chief who screams second male lead at this point already. 

The supporting cast are a lot of fun from the manager to the coach and each of his rival competitors has their own distinct personality. They were interesting to meet and I'm sure they're going to be interesting to see in future volumes. 

As for the art style, it's nicely drawn that's for sure! Especially the skate sequences, they were so wonderfully drawn and represented. 

Quite a lot happens in this initial volume and I feel like we covered a lot of ground to get to the main point of the story. There's a lot of set up, and I'm already shipping the main two characters though it's clear we're in for some angst for now as everything isn't smooth sailing! This took a lot more of a serious tone than I initially thought it would, though there were moments of humour, and I found myself really enjoying reading this volume. On this volume alone, I'm sure it's going to become a favourite series of mine and I'm already eager for the next volume! 

Manga: Hitorijime My Hero 7

Hitorijime My Hero Vol 7 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

Masahiro Setagawa doesn't believe in heroes, but wishes he could: he's found himself in a gang of small-time street bullies who use him to run errands. But when high school teacher (and scourge of the streets) Kousuke Ohshiba comes to his rescue, he finds he may need to start believing after all... and as their relationship deepens, he realises a hero might be just what he was looking for this whole time.

Kensuke and Hasekura have a few problems to work out that have been a long time brewing and came to a head in volume 6. In volume 7, it's time to conclude working them out! I liked that there's still more development to their relationship and it hasn't just stalled and faded into the background in favour of the main couple. We even get a smidge more background on Hasekura as well as a little more depth to how he and Kensuke first became friends and bonded! 

Meanwhile, Masahiro and Kousuke are working on moving in together and actively looking for apartments. However, Kaide sensei might potentially throw a spanner in the works as she saw something at the service station but it could all just be a misunderstanding. It certainly seems like we're heading for a little bit of potential angst or drama thanks to this, although there's a hint of Kaide's own 'scandal' that could prove to be interesting. I'm wondering if I might be on to what it is, but I'll have to wait and see! 

I'm going to be honest, I kind of felt like this volume jumped around a lot. Particularly when it came to time, though there was only one clear flashback. I did get a little bit mixed up as to what was happening and when, although I did like finally getting to find out about Kensuke and Kousuke's father. 

I think that while there's some resolution for Kensuke and Hasekura, there wasn't much progression when it came to the plot overall in this volume, or when it came to Masahiro and Kousuke's relationship though there is a possible set up for some potential trouble coming in the future. 

Review: Incendiary

Incendiary 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

I am Renata Convida.
I have lived a hundred stolen lives.
Now I live my own.

Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King's Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata's ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King's Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.

Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred--or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned "hollow" during her time in the palace.

When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love makes her place among the Whispers bearable. But a disastrous rescue attempt means Renata must return to the palace under cover and complete Dez's top secret mission. Can Renata convince her former captors that she remains loyal, even as she burns for vengeance against the brutal, enigmatic prince? Her life and the fate of the Moria depend on it.

But returning to the palace stirs childhood memories long locked away. As Renata grows more deeply embedded in the politics of the royal court, she uncovers a secret in her past that could change the entire fate of the kingdom--and end the war that has cost her everything. 

Incendiary starts us off with an intriguing opening that provides threads of the world we're embarking into and leaves you with plenty of questions. We're in the middle of a rebellion that's been brewing for a long time and the history to the world and this rebellion is woven into the opening chapters, along with the mythology and lore of the Moria's magic. 

I have to say, Ren was such an interesting MC to me, not only because she has no memory of her past but also because it's kind of refreshing to have an MC that's got this super rare power and first of all, there's consequences to using it. Her power is different to the others in that she gets scars on her hands in exchange for using it and if she takes too many memories she leaves a Hollow behind. Second, she's not viewed as the 'chosen one' which happens in quite a few books from this genre. Instead she's viewed with suspicion, called a traitor and treated quite badly because of it. I was kind of half waiting for her to go down the villain route and I genuinely would not have blamed her one bit if she had.  I just enjoyed her character, she's a badass, she's fighting against other people's image of her and coming to terms with herself and who she is. 

When it comes to the rest of Ren's group, only Dez and Sayida treated her as normal, but it made for an interesting dynamic to have Margo and Esteban be so hostile towards her. I loved the pay off towards the end of the book when Esteban had warmed up to her, though I'd expected more from Margo. I was surprised at her character and a little disappointed. I felt like her reason for disliking Ren so much wasn't particularly strong as she didn't exactly make the effort to befriend Ren either. 

I have to mention Leo as well, I really liked his character and he was quite the source of mystery and debate as I was reading and trying to figure out if he could or couldn't be trusted, or if he was a spy or not. Lady Nuria was also a pleasant surprise, and I liked her immediately. I would have just liked to see more of the two of them, particularly Nuria but I hope for that in the next book! Castian was also quite the surprise. I was torn for most of the book between disliking him but also having a strong inkling that he was going to be the love interest and trying to figure out how that would be possible. I wasn't quite sure what to make of him and my opinion on him kept changing thanks to all the pieces of memory that Ren discovered. Eventually though, I had to admit he was going to be on of my little misunderstood cinnamon rolls. 

The romance aspect is quite interesting to me, because there's very little of it. It's sprinkled in at the beginning and I'm not quite used to having a relationship already established and then of course some things happen and the romance is pretty much non-existent as we focus on the story. What does intrigue me is where it's going to go in the next book. I'm envisioning a love triangle and I'm curious as to how it's going to play out. 

I'm going to be honest, I was living for the world that was being built. It's Inquisition era Spain and I really enjoyed the world building and the magic system. I thought it was nicely crafted with the backstory to the Kingdom and the rebellion and it was very realistic that Memoria had been wiped out and their traditions and beliefs changed and twisted. The Kingdom of Puerto Leones is definitely out to conquer and colonise as much as it can and there's a long road ahead to take them down. There was so much tension and danger in the first few chapters I couldn't help but be drawn in and I was ready for things to get going...except they already were so I was curious what the story was going to do when the rebellion was already in full swing. I also had a very big sense of unease as I read certain scenes with certain characters. I shipped two characters, I thought they were cute but I had such an awful feeling and then the big twist happened and everything I thought this book was going to be was turned on its head. 

There are so many stunning plot twists to this novel. There are ones that you kind of have an inkling about from the way things are going but you're like 'oh no, the author wouldn't do tha-never mind'. Then there are the ones that are subtly crafted and creep up on you, so you start to get a creeping suspicion about something and then you get hit with the realisation as you put the pieces together right before the reveal and you have to take a minute to process everything and order your thoughts. We have all the exact same information as Ren does, and we find out bits and pieces at the same time as she does, it's just a case of which of us can put it together first. 

I have to be honest, I did find things to be a bit slow in places and the twists did seem to be timed to counter that and could be seen to be a bit overdone in that sense, though I did enjoy them. Particularly towards the end, my attention was fully engaged with the book and I found it harder and harder to put it down. Incendiary is quite trope-y in that it uses a lot of tropes we're all familiar with and have seen many times in this particular genre, I do feel like it brings something a little different with Ren and the consequence to her power as well as the way she isn't front and centre leading the rebellion. 

There are intriguing characters, some more fleshed out than others, the world was interesting and I enjoyed the world building even if I felt it could have been a little bit richer in places. For the most part, I had a really good time reading this, particularly as the story picked up pace in the latter half of the book and I'm definitely going to need to get my hands on the sequel to find out what happens next! Not to mention how Ren's power may or may not develop based on something we caught a little glimpse of in this book!