Month: May 2019

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The Red Scrolls of Magic Review

Dee’s Reading Tree
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I had been looking forward to The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, #1) by Cassandra Clare for almost a year now. One of my favorite characters from her other Shadowhunter books is Magnus Bane, and when I saw the book was mostly about him I was super excited. On the other hand, one of my least favorite characters is Alexander Lightwood, but this book was exactly what I needed in order to understand his personality more.

I trust you with my life. But can I trust you with more than my life?”

alec

Alec and Magnus have decided to take a vacation around Europe after the Mortal War. Then, bad news arrives to ruin their trip. There are rumors of a demon worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand circling around. A cult supposedly founded by Magnus as a joke, but now it has become very real and out of control. In order to continue on with their vacation, Magnus and Alec must put a stop to the Crimson Hand before they cause any more damage.

He’d have no vacation at all without Magnus, no shine of magic and no shocks of joy, no lights and no music.”

alec

There was so much humor in this story, and with a main character like Magnus what else did I expect? Even in the worst of moments he was still making jokes. I found myself laughing out loud throughout the story.

Do I know you?” said Magnus. “No, but you definitely could,” the dryad said, blowing Magnus a kiss. Alec coughed loudly from behind Magnus. “I’m flattered, but as you can hear, I’m spoken for. Well, coughed for.”

magnus

During the book, we are able to see a lot of character development when it comes to Alec. He really has a chance to come out of his shell and shine, now that Jace and Isabel are not there to overshadow him. He is really sweet and protective of those he loves, and this book definitely changed my mind about him.

Ever drive stick before?”

Alec hesitated. “Can’t be harder than shooting a bow and arrow while riding a horse at a full gallop.”

magnus and alec

The world building is amazing as always. Not only do we travel Europe alongside Magnus and Alec, but we get to travel in style. There are hot air balloon rides, gondolas, trains, and luxurious sports cars. We get to attend an awesome party full of downworlders, and as we all know no one knows how to throw a party like a warlock. This book was amazing and I cannot wait for the second one.

Did you guys read the book? What did you think?

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WWW Wednesday

Dee’s Reading Tree

This is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where you answer three questions: What are you reading now? What did you just read? What will you be reading next?

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday again. But here is what I just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next. Although not everything ends up going to plan, I still try my best.

What I just read

The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare

This book was amazing. I knew I would love it because I love all her books and this was no exception. I missed these characters so much. My full review is coming up soon!

What I’m reading/listening to now

Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

This is the first audio book I try, and it’s a good one. It is voiced by three different people which is great when a male actually voices the male character. I’ve been listening to the audio on my way to and from work and when I do housework. Then, I switch to the real book on my down time. I’m loving the story. I liked the Immortal Rules series by her, and I knew I would love this one.

What I plan to read next

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

I’ve started this book and then left it a few times and I don’t know why. The beginning drops you right in the middle of the action and it seems like it will be a great read. I think I just stopped it because Red Scrolls got released and I just had to read that one, but I will definitely finish this one soon!

What are you guys’ WWW’s?

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The Sparrow by Denna M. Davis

Dee’s Reading Tree

This book had a lot of potential. The story was unique, and the world building was well done. Unfortunately, the characters lacked depth and there was a tendency to over explain feelings and emotions which became very bothersome as the story progressed.

Come read my full review at:

http://onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-deesreadingtree.html

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Legendary Book Review

Dee’s Reading Tree

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://www.instagram.com/deesreadingtree/

I have a confession to make…I just recently managed to finish reading Legendary, and in honor of Finale by Stephanie Garber releasing today I am posting my review. For reasons I will explain, I was dragging my feet through this book, and I kept giving up on it. Finally, once I changed my frame of mind I got through it, and I enjoyed it.

Let me explain. I liked the first Caraval book which was mostly narrated by Scarlett Dragna. It was a four star rating for me. Legendary was narrated by her sister Donatella, and I had a lot of trouble liking her, but once I got used to her snarky personality and the reasons behind it, the story got a bit better. Another thing I disliked was the way she kept changing her mind. One page she would decide on one course of action, and then the next page she would decide something else. This would go back and forth until finally a decision was basically made for her. It was really annoying.

When it came to the relationship between the sisters, they seemed pretty close in the first book, like a united front. But in this book they were keeping secrets from each other, and suspecting one another, it was very frustrating. I found myself screaming at them to collaborate, because they only have each other.

I did enjoy the male characters Dante and Jacks. I found their behaviors were more consistent than that of the female characters. Dante was dark, sexy, intriguing and he knew exactly what he wanted when it came to Tella. Jacks was a great villain, one I kind of started to like by the end. I didn’t see too much of Julian which made me a bit sad because I like him. Hopefully we get more of him in the next book.

This world is easy to get lost in, and once I stopped fighting it and just gave into it I was able to enjoy the story a lot more. Garber did a great job as always when it came to the world building. The gowns, the people, and the buildings were all described in great detail. The last 200 pages of the book were fun and entertaining, and it felt like I was playing along with Tella. Once I stopped taking the story so seriously and I let the spirit of Caraval sweep me away I was able to enjoy myself a lot more.

After all, it is only a game. ♠️

Any of you lucky people who got an ARC already read Finale? Will I like it?

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Monday Cleaning Day

Dee’s Reading Tree

I’ve actually been looking forward to doing this all week. I went a little TBR happy for a few days there adding everything and anything to my list. Now every time I look at it my OCD starts getting to me. Just like last Monday I organized my Goodreads TBR list in reverse chronological order. I then chose the first ten books and decided to keep or delete it. I obviously skipped the books I decided were keepers last Monday.

Marked (Eternal Guardians, #1) by Elisabeth Naughton

I read one of Naughton’s books a long time ago, it’s called Wait for Me, and it was published in 2011. At the time I was into these romance novels, but this is not that time.

Delete 😦

Rapture (The Elfin, #2) by Quinn Loftis and Surrender (The Elfin, #3)

I did like the first in this series, but once again that was many years ago and I don’t think I will continue on with it. The recent reviews for it are bad, and many of my friends on Goodreads also agree that this series went downhill.

Delete 😦

Consumed (Firefighters, #1) and The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #16)

Like I said on my Guilty Pleasures post, I have to be in a certain mood to read J.R. Ward books. I have heard a lot of great things about both of these books, especially The Thief. I do love me some Brotherhood vampires every once in a while.

Keep 🙂

Glitter (Glitter, #1) and Earthbound (Earthbound, #1) by Aprilynne Pike

These books have really bad reviews from everyone on Goodreads. I remember reading a few of Pike’s books when I was a teenager, but I think I have outgrown them. It’s a shame, because the Glitter cover is so gorgeous.

Delete 😦

Storm and Fury (The Harbinger, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I’ve been looking forward to this book which will be out in June. I really liked her Wicked series. I found it really fun and entertaining. Before that I enjoyed the Lux series.

Keep 🙂

To Best the Boys by Mary Weber

I’ve never read one of Weber’s books, but I have heard great things about this one, and that cover is gorgeous.

Keep 🙂

The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves, #1) by Roshani Chokshi

Once again this is another one I’ve heard lots of good things about. Everyone on my Goodreads friends list agrees this is a keeper. Also, look at that cover! I am a sucker for pretty covers.

Keep 🙂

Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

I think I added to my TBR list to recommend it to a friend who likes these type of books and then I forgot about it. I have since told said friend and deleted it.

Delete 😦

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I understand I’m way behind the times with this one. Everyone says it’s great. It has just been sitting there on my TBR list and I have struggled to get to it, but I will!

Keep 🙂

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

I really liked Flame in the Mist, but I struggled to get through Smoke in the Sun and eventually DNF it. I will attempt to read it again soon. But this one I’m really excited about because I love vampires, also the cover! It’s coming out October 8, 2019.

Keep 🙂

Once again I do realize I ended up talking about thirteen books and deleted six of them, but only because they were by the same author or part of a series. My OCD is thanking me 🙂

Have you done any deleting in your TBR list lately? Do you avoid looking at it sometimes like I do?

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Five books I DNF

Dee’s Reading Tree

I hate, hate, one more time, hate not finishing books, but sometimes I just can’t drag myself through it. I strongly feel that reading should be enjoyable, and if I’m not enjoying it then I should stop. These are five recent books that I tried to read, but unfortunately did not finish. Be warned, there might be some unpopular opinions in here, sorry not sorry. I might try to read some of these again, but some not so much.

Glass Sword (Red Queen, #2) by Victoria Aveyard

I actually own a physical copy of this book. I bought it without thinking because I loved the first one so much. But this one missed the mark by a long shot. I hated Mare the main character, and when I hate the main character and cannot find any redeeming quality at all then that leaves no hope for the whole book. Mare turned so boring and whiny, I couldn’t take it. Some people say the series gets better, maybe I will try again someday.

Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices, #2) by Cassandra Clare

I love Cassandra Clare books, and I love the whole shadow hunter universe, but I struggled with this one. I somehow got through the first book in the series, after putting it down a lot of times. The whole forbidden love thing was not doing it for me, especially because there was no easy fix to it, like in the Immortal Instruments series. These characters loved each other and they couldn’t be together, and I honestly couldn’t take it anymore. I might try reading it again someday, but not any day soon.

Wildcard (Warcross, #2) by Marie Lu

I liked the first one in this series, and I felt like it was a very unique story. Then, this second one was so boring. I liked the main character Emika, she is tough and has a lot of good qualities I look for in a strong female lead. Maybe I will find the will to stick to it in the future, but for now this is a DNF for me.

Glow (Sky Chasers, #1) by Amy Kathleen Ryan

I honestly don’t know why I ever bought this book. I must’ve not read the synopsis on Goodreads, because it clearly says: “The New Horizon’s leaders are desperate to populate the new planet first, and will do anything to get what they need: young girls.” If I would’ve read that I would’ve never attempted to read this book, because I have a hard time dealing with rape, especially when it involves children. I’m not saying rape was involved, they might’ve just been planning to use in-vitro fertilization or something, I’m not sure. The creepy direction the narrative was veering off into made me think that they were not going the in-vitro route. This book just became too uncomfortable for me to keep reading.

Wintersong (Wintersong, #1) by S. Jae-Jones

Everything about this book was boring. The main character, Liesl, was terrible, I couldn’t stand her. Her whole family was also awful as well. I stuck through a lot of it because of the musical aspect of it, but then found myself mad at Liesl for all her stupid decisions. Once I couldn’t find a single redeeming quality in this story, I stopped reading.

What are some of your DNF books? Are there any you would probably get burnt at the stake for voicing out loud in public?

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Bookish Bucket List

Dee’s Reading Tree

It’s Friday, and time for me to add some items to my book bucket list. A recap of last week, I added: read Moby Dick and Ana Karenina, go to London, and own the rest of Throne of Glass series.

Read the Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Okay, so I realized if I don’t add these to some sort of list then I’m never going to read them. They’re not even on my TBR list anymore because I got tired of looking at them on there. First of all, the covers are terrible aren’t they? But, I did and I do love the movies, so I will make myself read these at some point. I’m sure I will feel so good after I do, like a giant weight, or maybe just 5 pounds or so, has been lifted off my shoulders.

Go to New York

New York is the setting for so many great books, including one of my favorite series The Immortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. It’s filled with giant buildings and the possibilities of so many bookstores just waiting to take all my money.

Own all the Shatter Me books

Can you believe I don’t actually own a single one of these? I love this series, and all Tahereh Mafi books, but I just own the e-books, or I have gotten them from the Library to read. The covers are amazing and I’m sure they will look great on my shelves soon!

I can’t wait to fulfill some of these. I will sure post about it on here. Drop me a comment and let me know about some of the bookish things you want to accomplish.

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A Very Large Expanse of the Sea Review

Dee’s Reading Tree

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, so you all know I love the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, if you didn’t then you know now, this book has nothing to do with the series, but it’s still amazing. This new novel is about a Muslim girl named Shirin, and the struggles she goes through post the events of 9/11. Shirin wears a hijab every day to school and in public, which makes her a target. She has endured so much hate in her life that she has put up giant walls to protect herself and her feelings. Then, she meets Ocean, a boy determined to bring those walls down brick by brick.

I think the whole point of this book cover was to relay the message: “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” which I feel is the main idea in this story. This cover is terrible, and staring at it for too long gives me a headache, but it didn’t stop me from reading the book and I hope it won’t deter you either.

I was stuck in another small town, trapped in another universe populated by the kind of people who’d only ever seen faces like mine on their evening news, and I hated it.”

shirin

The characters in this book were so real. Mafi has a way of delving into teenage angst and feelings like no other author I’ve ever read. I also like when those feelings are validated, like in the case of Shirin, and they’re not the product of teenage drama. I couldn’t help but fall in love with Shirin and her tough attitude. I could feel her internal debate and I was undecided along with her. On the one hand she wanted others to accept her for who she is. On the other, she was afraid that getting too close to people would only end up hurting her and hurting them in return.

Ocean was so direct, and he knew exactly what he wanted when it came to Shirin, although not so much when it came to his future career. He was so sweet I couldn’t help but cheer for him the whole time, while also being scared for him and his reputation like Shirin was.

If the decision you made has brought you close to humanity, then you’ve done the right thing.”

Shirin’s dad always had the best advice

I also liked Shirin’s no-nonsense parents, even if I thought they should’ve paid a bit more attention to the struggles their daughter was going through and what moving from school to school all the time could do to her. I could understand their need to move around in order to better themselves and do what they thought was best for their family. Her parents loved tradition, but they didn’t make her wear the hijab, she chose to wear it every day for her own reasons.

We broke apart, fighting to breathe, holding on to each other like were drowning, like we’d been lost, left for dead in a very large expanse of the sea.”

shirin

I loved this story, and I hope you will too.

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WWW Wednesday

Dee’s Reading Tree

On Wednesdays I share what I just read, what I’m currently reading, and what I plan on reading next.

What I just read:

1. The Sparrow -by Denna M. Davis ⭐️⭐️ (review pending on onlinebookclub.org)

I am not allowed to say much about the online book club reviews. I will post the link to it later on when it’s approved.

2. The Watchmaker’s Doctor -by G.M.T. Schuilling ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Another online book club review which I posted yesterday.

3. The Wicked King -by Holly Black ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I posted all about this amazing book last week ♥️

What I’m currently reading:

1. The Red Scrolls of Magic -by Cassandra Clare

This has been a much anticipated book on my TBR list. It came out this month and it just became available for me to read on Overdrive.

2. Crooked Kingdom -by Leigh Bardugo

This book started right in the middle of the action and I love it for now. I had to put it on hold to finish The Red Scrolls of Magic before it expires.

3. Legendary -by Stephanie Garber

This is a re-read because Finale (the 3rd book in this series) is coming out soon, and I had to brush up on the events of this book.

What I will read next:

1. One Dark Throne -by Kendare Blake

I better get to this one soon before I forget everything that happened on the first book.

2. Daughter of the Pirate King

I just picked this one up while on vacation. I heard the second one in the series is also really good.

That’s all for now guys!

What’s on your WWW lists? Leave a comment below!