So it’s been a week roughly now that I’m back from my travels, and I’ve got a few reviews to get off my back! This is an assorted batch of books again, so let’s go!

A GIF of Napoleon from a painting, riding on a penguin sliding on his belly on the snow. It’s pretty hilarious.

Crooked Kingdom, ★★★★✬ 4.5 stars

Point #1:

Crooked Kingdom is awesome and totally deserves a longer review.

Point #2:

But it’s also a sequel, and who likes reviewing sequels? Also, you’ve probably all read it already, so I’ll be preaching to the choir..?

For me it’s especially hard because I bought the book straight after finishing Six of Crows, and they sort of translated into a single book for me. So there’s not much more I can say about Crooked Kingdom that I already haven’t said in my Six of Crows review (minus the spoilers, maybe.) I just know that I hope there WILL BE a third part! Because I simply cannot deal with that ending regarding some of the characters which were unjustly eliminated!!

The things I loved best in this book, ordered by importance:

1. Inej
2. Inej and Kaz
3. Inej though.
4. How fleshed out Wylan was!!! And everything about him! He was the characters most overlooked in the first book, and I was so happy that he got so much more attention in this one.
5. Nina and Matthew’s relationship and all about them as well – it made up a really enjoyable part of the book for me.
6. JUSTIFIED REVENGE. Dayum!
7. I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Is it Inej, by any chance..?

Anyway. This is a series that is definitely worth reading, and if you haven’t picked it up yet, now’s your chance. I’m all for avoiding hyped books – you know me, but this one? You’ve got to try this one!

[ Shelve on Goodreads | Buy at Book Depository ]

Dispatches from the Heart, ★★★★☆ 4 stars

This is a very uplifting tale about how a man who survived time and again, against all odds. Going through polio at a very young age, but despite that, becoming very physically fit and active, Ed gets knocked down again in his 50’s by a genetic heart disease which mows him down in one stroke. He has to choose – certain death in a matter of months, or a heart transplant. A heart transplant comes with a lot of uncertainty and waiting, so this is not an easy choice to make, but despite that, Ed is saved.

But this is not a thriller on the countdown for Ed to get his heart. Nor is this an instructional or biographical book on how the process went. This is an uplifting collection of letters and some commentary by Ed and Paige of how they survived this ordeal. The letters are to their dear friends and relatives, people this family has incredibly close ties to. And it’s uplifting because rarely do you see such wonderful people, especially under such circumstances. Stress and pain makes most of us bitter, cranky and act ungratefully towards life or the higher power. But not Ed and Paige. They seemed to be optimistic, jokey and thankful to the universe (God, in their case, as they are Christian). This was truly inspiring because you don’t see a lot of people in a mindset like that. It’s almost like you’d look at them and they’d have this faint glow. The letters to their friends are sincere and full of love and truly beautiful to read. If you’re struggling with something in your life, they will remind you how to be thankful for what you have, or how to make the best of your situation.

I thank Ed and Paige and their publisher for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange to my honest review. This has not changed my opinion.

I also wish Ed, Paige and their family the best of luck in their lives. Been through so much, they seem to be unbelievable people, and the world needs more people like that.

[ Shelve on Goodreads | Buy at Book Depository ]

Tell Me You’re Mine, DNF review

This is a DNF @ 52% review, and that’s why I’m not leaving a star rating. Despite being written well and being truly engaging, this read turned out to be far too triggering for me. It’s about a mother suddenly suspecting that she met a child who was abducted and thought dead about 20 years ago. There’s lots of talk about depression (for multiple of the characters), lots of discussion about guilt and just general human manipulations. I guess the fact that it gave me anxiety attacks means it was written well and was quite tense, but I guess I was just not the person to read a book like that. I might have expected a completely different story when I read the blurb. However, if you like psychological thrillers and don’t get triggered by anxiety, depression, child abduction, controlling [adoptive] mothers and guilt discussion, I’m sure you’ll love this. Like I said, it is written well. Just not for me.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

[ Shelve on Goodreads | Buy at Book Depository ]

An American Princess, ★★★☆☆ 3 stars

This is a book about a real woman who lived quite a spectacular life that I would say was against all odds – coming from a simple American family and marrying up and up until she became part of European royalty. I have to admit that Alleen Tew truly had an incredible and very dramatic life. At certain points, I could not believe how unfortunate she was, despite being financially very fortunate and ending up as royalty. Her story could make a good costume drama with all the glamour of the turn of the century, and all of the pain of loss at failed marriages, the Spanish flu and World War I. To think that a simple girl from America could live such a colorful life, get married to all the rich men and then advance to become part of a royal family? It’s pretty unbelievable.

However, despite the story itself seeming as if fictional, it was told in quite a boring way. Perhaps it’s me or that I expected it to be a bit more fictionalized, or the fact that I hadn’t actually heard anything about Alleen even existing before I started reading this book, but I struggled reading this. If you are interested in Alleen’s history though and already know something about her, you will probably find this a lot more interesting than I did.

I thank the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange to an honest review. It does not affect my opinion.

[ Shelve on Goodreads | Buy at Book Depository ]

Canopy Harvest, ★★☆☆☆ 2 stars

I can not believe the amount of pure effort and force it took for me to get through this book. This is by far probably one of the hardest reads to get through this year. And you know I like science fiction, but this one? I just… I don’t know what made it so hard to read, but this book was boring me to the depths of my soul. It wasn’t clear why things are happening, the setting just sort of appears and isn’t detailed very much (or maybe I was too bored to keep paying attention?) It was just too hard to stay invested in the story. More than that, there’s one female character. She’s young and sexy. Yeah, that always works so well in science fiction.

I was disappointed to be unable to get into this one AT ALL, because there are a lot of good or alright reviews. I just don’t get it. The first 20% I even went back to reread, in case I missed something CRITICAL that… makes the book readable. I don’t think I missed anything. It’s deathly boring. If you want good scifi, pick The Freeze-frame Revolution, Doorways in the Sand or Remembrance of Earth’s Past instead.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

[ Shelve on Goodreads | Buy at Book Depository ]

Have you read any of these? And how are you doing with your reviews? Want to join me and post a mini reviews post?