Mini Book Review Blitz!
I’m going to need a feature image… Anyway, even when posting three times a week, I found myself becoming increasingly behind in book reviews. Behold: my solution – the Mini Book Review Blitz!
Book Info: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
I couldn’t really come up with enough material to do a full review for this one – I liked it well enough, but it didn’t knock my socks off. What it had going for it were interesting characters and some cool ideas (most notably, overlapping dimensions of London and a dude who can travel between them). There were some sections that I thought were interesting, albeit a little dry (mostly near the beginning) and others that had me totally riveted. Overall, as the first in a series I’d heard so much about, I can definitely see the appeal. It had a very “Muggles” feel to me, like at the beginning of Deathly Hollows where the Prime Minister is trying to reconcile the paradigm of his world with the Wizarding world he know exists. If you liked those sections of HP, you’ll love this.
Book Info: Captain’s Fury by Jim Butcher
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Academ’s Fury and Cursor’s Fury were two of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read – I loved the snot out of them. They took me on a whirlwind of a ride and so, by comparison, Captain’s Fury was a slower burn, more on par with the first book (although the events that happened within this one still rocked my world). It seemed more like a set up novel for the last couple books in the series and it did a great job generating some momentum. I can’t wait to finish this series – almost everything about it has made me very upset that I didn’t start it ages ago (and that my library holds are taking sooo long to come in). I love it!
Book Info: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews
Rating: 4/5 stars
I now count myself among the Kate Daniels super fandom. Magic Slays was another great installment on what is shaping up to be an awesome series. Since I’ve gushed about it enough in other reviews, I’ll stick to specifics for this title. I especially loved how authentic the relationship was between the main character and her bff. They argued like real people, and it’s the kind of back-and-forth bickering that’s fun to read about. In fact, all the relationships are great, and I especially love how many interesting side characters get their own spotlights in some of the short stories (yup – it’s good enough to read all of the extra novellas that go along with it!). I’ll probably be doing a Kate Daniels short story blitz once I get through them all.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my Mini Book Review Blitz! As you can see, I’ve been reading a lot of great titles lately. :-)
The Obsessive Bookseller 
Butcher’s Alera books are just plain awesome. I am glad you’re still liking them. My only complaint is that he’s stated somewhere on his blog that he’s never going to write anymore in that universe. It’s finished and he’s finished with it. I guess that’s better than going on forever and ruining it… *shrug*
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Huh, I have mixed feelings about that. I guess I also would rather he not screw it up with a bad continuation lol. At least these are good enough to reread eventually…
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I think mini- reviews are nice because they let you belt a few out and it’s fun to read a quick, concise review! I’ve been conflicted about whether to start the Schwab books but the idea of overlapping Londons does have me curious, I must admit.
I haven’t read Butcher yet.
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Thank you Greg! I think the mini reviews might also be more fun to write – no room for “fluff” and I have to organize it down to just a handful of sentences. I’m really glad to hear you say they’re fun to read. :)
DSoM definitely stands out for a good concept. And I’ll say that I’m enjoying the sequels even more – I’d recommend it.
And Butcher… so good.
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I kinda feel like I should have continued with the Codex Alera series. I mean, I liked the first well enough, but now so much time has passed… Do you think I could just jump straight back in, or will it be confusing? Some authors bring you up to date to what happened previously while others don’t :D
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For the record, i though the first book was pretty mediocre, and so it took me over a year to pick up the second one. I’m not sure I could have remembered names had it been any longer, but he definitely gave me enough drop in details to help me remember main events. It depends though. How long ago did you try this one? :)
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Um, probably 5-6 years ago :D
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Hahaha I’m not sure he does THAT much recapping. 😂
I’m in that situation with a few that took that long to get published. You’d probably enjoy the story, and not a lot is really relevant from the first that he doesn’t go over, so I think you’d be okay. I can give you a short plot recap if you want haha.
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Aw thanks!! That would be handy :) i let you know whenever i start it :D my day needs more hours..
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Truer words were never spoken…
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I liked A Darker Shade of Magic but it was never really memorable. In fact I have kind have forgotten most of it.
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Yeah – it was kind of just meh even though my overall impressions were positive. Have you read on? I ended up liking the second and third a lot better.
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