Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars)
‘Divine Rivals’ made my heart warm with love letters, and I love a well-executed letter-based romance. It has a good side plot that served even better as an extremely well backdrop for the characters.
I’d recommend this to readers who like war-based YA that has a little bit of magic in it but not central to the characters’ development and romance. If you’re in the mood for a light, grounded, and love letter-based romance, check it out! The duology is finished and I am off to read the sequel!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars)
If, like me, you’ve had a phase around the 2010’s gothic horror anime scene watching shows like ‘Another’ and ‘Angels of Death’ and watched multiple gameplays of ‘Misao,’ ‘Mad Father,’ ‘Ib,’ and ‘The Witch’s House,’ (or played them yourself if you’re braver than I’ll ever be), then you’ll understand what theme this book is going for. I love that genre and it’s one of the reasons I was able to bear finishing this book. Unfortunately, even with that background, this book was still a struggle to finish.
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars)
‘How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow’ gave me a teenage fantasy action movie vibe reminiscent of ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (the movie) and ‘Sky High.’
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5 out of 5 stars)
IT. KEEPS. GETTING. BETTER.
Everything I craved for after finishing the first book, Digging for Heaven, were given to me in this installment. Adventure? Character depth? Political intrigue? Yes to all and more!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars)
‘Libitina’ has a really interesting hook, but it felt both fast-paced and slow-paced at the same time due to the lack of atmosphere building between significant events. While that is unfortunate, at least I can say that a lot of things do happen – enough to keep the reader interested to stick around and solve the mystery of Libitina’s identity.
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars)
A slasher novel reminiscent of the movie ‘Scream’ and the book ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ that leaves a lot of room for depth. There’s a lot of potential for this series. Individually, the elements are theoretically a banger on its own – the diverse characters, the interesting setting, the twists, the self-awareness trope that it knows it’s a slasher piece of literature, etc. However, the way they’re meshed together needs a lot of work.
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) While fiction gives me so many emotional highs and lows that makes my heart sing, nonfiction books like ‘More Light’ touch my heart in just a tad more vulnerable way because it encourages philosophical discussions out here in the real world using examples of real people. I certainly learn a lot too!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5 out of 5 stars) I think I’m gonna throw up now. Or read the sequel to throw up even more? What is sanity? The book promised to shock, disgust, and offended… and it DELIVERED!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars) ‘Divine Rivals’ made my heart warm with love letters, and I love a well-executed letter-based romance. It has a good side plot that served even better as an extremely well backdrop for the characters. I’d recommend this to readers who like war-based YA that has a little bit of magic in it but not central to the characters’ development and romance. If you’re in the mood for a light, grounded, and love letter-based romance, check it out! The duology is finished and I am off to read the sequel!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) If, like me, you’ve had a phase around the 2010’s gothic horror anime scene watching shows like ‘Another’ and ‘Angels of Death’ and watched multiple gameplays of ‘Misao,’ ‘Mad Father,’ ‘Ib,’ and ‘The Witch’s House,’ (or played them yourself if you’re braver than I’ll ever be), then you’ll understand what theme this book is going for. I love that genre and it’s one of the reasons I was able to bear finishing this book. Unfortunately, even with that background, this book was still a struggle to finish.
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) ‘How to Hunt a Menacing Magical Shadow’ gave me a teenage fantasy action movie vibe reminiscent of ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ (the movie) and ‘Sky High.’
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5 out of 5 stars) IT. KEEPS. GETTING. BETTER. Everything I craved for after finishing the first book, Digging for Heaven, were given to me in this installment. Adventure? Character depth? Political intrigue? Yes to all and more!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) ‘Libitina’ has a really interesting hook, but it felt both fast-paced and slow-paced at the same time due to the lack of atmosphere building between significant events. While that is unfortunate, at least I can say that a lot of things do happen – enough to keep the reader interested to stick around and solve the mystery of Libitina’s identity.
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐ (2 out of 5 stars) A slasher novel reminiscent of the movie ‘Scream’ and the book ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ that leaves a lot of room for depth. There’s a lot of potential for this series. Individually, the elements are theoretically a banger on its own – the diverse characters, the interesting setting, the twists, the self-awareness trope that it knows it’s a slasher piece of literature, etc. However, the way they’re meshed together needs a lot of work.
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) While fiction gives me so many emotional highs and lows that makes my heart sing, nonfiction books like ‘More Light’ touch my heart in just a tad more vulnerable way because it encourages philosophical discussions out here in the real world using examples of real people. I certainly learn a lot too!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.5 out of 5 stars) I think I’m gonna throw up now. Or read the sequel to throw up even more? What is sanity? The book promised to shock, disgust, and offended… and it DELIVERED!
Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3 out of 5 stars) Not as scary nor as fleshed out as I hoped but still written well.
The Stray Reader 