All the Books.

"The ending felt rushed, and it all fell rather flat. It was a slightly disappointing conclusion to what had the potential to be a great trilogy."  3 Stars Pros:  The Prologue, nail bitingly open ended//Sam, though a bit bumbling at times, is a genuinely likable character/Again, Mogget.  Cons:   The Disreputable Dog and Moggets elusive, conversations about the spirits that existed before the Charter kept me guessing but at the same time, my patience was wearing thin/I feel like parts you'd want to see and experience, were told to us and not shown/The ending felt rushed.   Full Review:    With Lirael's new job as Abhorsen in Waiting, she and Sam set off to find his friend Nick and try to stop him from working with the necromancer, Hedge to dig up the hemispheres that house the divided spirit of an evil being that was around before the creation of the Charter. It's obvious that the Disreputable Dog and Mogget were around during that time as wel...

"With the Old Kingdom being rebuilt by King Touchstone and his wife, Sabriel, the Abhorsen, the attention now turns to the younger generation. This book follows Prince Sameth, son of Touchstone and Sabriel and Lirael, a Daughter of the Clayr and how their paths cross and everything that happens in between."  3 Stars Pros: Again, Mogget, he's just sarcasm incarnate and I love him/I feel like the big twist made sense but it was revealed in such an ordinary way but it flowed well.   Cons: This book was really dark at times, like, suicidal ideation, panic attacks, all sorts of depressing struggles. I guess I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy at times/Sameth and Lirael can be incredibly whiney but they're still young.    Full Review It's been about 19 years since the events of Sabriel.   Touchstone, who is now the King and Sabriel, who is the Abhorsen, have worked hard to rebuild what was left of the Old Kingdom. There are always struggles and demands but ...

 " A high fantasy coming of age story that follows Sabriel and her investigation into the whereabouts of her Father and why the dead are suddenly coming back to life." 4 Stars Pros:  Mogget is the best character, hands down. Some of the scenes with Kerrigor and the Dead were truly unsettling but gripping.  Cons:  I wanted to learn more about the Abhorsen and how one learned the art but perhaps Nix was vague for a reason/The Charter was a hard concept to grasp.  Full Review:  Sabriel is the only daughter of the Abhorsen, a necromancer who can walk freely between life and the river of death. It's the Abhorsen's job to send the dead and other free magic creatures back into proper death when they decide to escape into life. Sabriel doesn't know much about the art of necromancy, though she's the next in line. But she's spent most of her life at a school in Ancelstierre and only being visited by her father through magical sendings.  But when she suddenly rec...

"A Zombie Apocalypse race against time with a sentient AI suddenly wondering why it must take orders, set in space. The visuals in this book were truly incredible and unique, making it a truly immersive read." 4 Stars Pros:  Incredible bad guy/good guy/chaotic neutral character in AIDAN Cons:  Some of the lingo was a little technical at times. I'm not good with acronyms etc. Kady's typical "problem with authority" personality was melodramatic at times but in the end both she and Ezra were likable and relatable characters.  Full Review:  When their settlement is attacked with no provocation, Ezra and Kady are forced to flee onto two ships that come to the planets rescue. And all of this happens on the day that Kady decides to break up with Ezra. Their lives are changed in an instant and they're forced to try and make sense of it all and deal with all of the loss, grief and devastation as the two ships flee, pursued by the battleship that initiated the att...

"A direct continuation of Vicious , Schwab leads the reader on a fast paced, violent, adventure that follows three separate storylines that eventually all come together. Like the threads of a spiderweb, everyone's tangled up in it and as Mitch says, "There's no good guys in this game." Great series overall."   3 Stars  Pros:  Schwab has succeeded in making the entire cast of characters both likable but also terribly flawed/Victor and Eli are both easy to love and to hate/The ending was open ended enough that I feel it can be left as is and the reader can imagine what happens.  Cons:  The time jumps, I just couldn't keep track of them and eventually I stopped trying. I figured, at some point, everything would come together and it did but the time jumps really irked me/The part with Dr. Haverty seemed rushed and terribly convenient.  Full Review:  Picking up right where Vicious  left off, well, I feel like I can't really give a review because t...

"A unique and darkly fun, gritty, realistic look at the Superhero Origin story with the idea that not all things that seem good are good and not all things that seem bad are bad. Great read, Schwab, so far, has not disappointed."  4 Stars Pros:  An interesting concept, kind of like "Flatliners" meets "X-Men" meets "The Boys"/Gritty and realistic, Shwab does not shy away from the dark parts of humanity/As Mitch says, "There are no good guys in this game" and it's true, but Victor especially is the not so bad, bad guy that you can't help but love, Mitch as well.   Cons:  The EO transformation for Eli/Victor was sort of glossed over/Both of Eli/Victor's backstories were left vague but I'm hoping that will be remedied in the sequel.  Full Review:  Victor Vale - Disgruntled product of Self-Help gurus and best-selling author parents, he spends his free time blacking out the pages of his parents' novels and creating dark me...

"Fit to bursting with power struggles, intrigue, betrayal, love, loss, change, choice this installment is inundated with information. Instead of enlightening and explaining though, Maas's focus went to too many things. There were so many characters and so much going on that it was overwhelming and confusing. So much so, that by the end, it was a struggle to get through the last 100 pages."  2 Stars Pros:  There were some truly emotional parts where my jaded self, got teary-eyed. Some of the characters introduced were interesting and I wanted to know more about them.   Cons:  I feel like Maas tried to shove way too much into this book. With the mind-blowing ending of #2, I had no idea where the series would go and I feel like Maas tried to throw too much at us, too quickly and I didn't absorb it or connect with any of the characters/Much the same as "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" could have ended at about seven different points, this book went on...