Monday, October 24, 2016

Mini Reviews that I've Procrastinated Too Much On | Ice Like Fire, Walk on Earth a Stranger and The Game of Love and Death


WELL I'M BACK!! I'm such a bad blogger, but my excuse is that I didn't feel like blogging, but no excuses, it was entirely my fault. Today I'm going to be reviewing too many books that I've procrastinated on writing their reviews for too long (also books I think are mediocre) (also I can't spell mediocre what is my life even) (also these covers are all gorgeous)

Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes, #2)Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2)
By: Sara Raasch (@seesarawrite)
Published By: Balzar + Bray on October 13, 2015
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 479

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

“The most powerful magic of all is choice.” 

This was a terrifyingly sad sequel. After the amounts of badassery we had in Snow Like Ashes, Ice Like Fire book is rather slow and boring. Even Meira, the amazing kickbutt character we saw in Snow Like Ashes is boring. This book focuses more on the politics and such, and sadly, no more amazing woman power. Romance in this book is all over the place, and yes - the love triangle (that I had forgotten about whoops) was just a constantly bugging me. 

That brings me to my next point - something else that was constantly bugging me - the WORLD BUILDING. There are like FIVE HUNDRED GAZILLION places and countries (actually maybe seven or so) AND MY LITTLE BRAIN WANTS TO REMEMBER THEM ALL but there are SO MANY and it's SO CONFUSING with the rhythms and seasons and asdf;alksdf;alkjsdfalksdjf;lkj!!!! <-- reason for why Beatrice was so frustrated. I want to know all the kings and queens and their histories and what their favorite colors were (actually, I'm writing this review so late that I can't even remember if they discussed that...probably not) but we never go in depth with anything or anyone.

Will I read the third book? Probably; it's gorgeous. HOPEFULLY THINGS WILL CHANGE!!!

Final Rating:

Walk on Earth a Stranger  (The Gold Seer Trilogy, #1)Walk on Earth a Stranger (Walk on Earth a Stranger #1)
By: Rae Carson (@raecarson)
Published By: Greenwillow Books on September 22, 2015
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 436

Gold is in my blood, in my breath, even in the flecks in my eyes.

Lee Westfall has a strong, loving family. She has a home she loves and a loyal steed. She has a best friend—who might want to be something more.

She also has a secret.

Lee can sense gold in the world around her. Veins deep in the earth. Small nuggets in a stream. Even gold dust caught underneath a fingernail. She has kept her family safe and able to buy provisions, even through the harshest winters. But what would someone do to control a girl with that kind of power? A person might murder for it.

When everything Lee holds dear is ripped away, she flees west to California—where gold has just been discovered. Perhaps this will be the one place a magical girl can be herself. If she survives the journey.

The acclaimed Rae Carson begins a sweeping new trilogy set in Gold Rush-era America, about a young woman with a powerful and dangerous gift.

“Men. And their no-good, fool-headed proposals.” 

Having tried Rae Carson's other series, The Girl of Fire and Thorns and not particularly liking it, I was hoping for something great in this series! I enjoyed Walk On Earth a Stranger (WOEAS), but I did have some issues with it. What frustrates me most is when fantasy novels with a main character who has a magical, amazing, power, NEVER APPEARS TO BE USING IT IN THE NOVEL. Lee has the power to detect gold, but I rarely remember her using it. The characterization in the novel was well done, and I loved seeing Lee's character grow. Another thing I cannot understand is how girls can disguise as boys. If they say that she has feminine features and then say that she's going to disguise as a boy, wouldn't people be able to tell??

This book has a classic romance trope that I fall for every time, and this book was no exception. I'm not going to say what it was, because that'll spoil it, but I did love the romance in this book very much. Leah's best friend, Jefferson, is African-American, which adds great diversity to the book.

Overall, enjoyable read. Will I be picking up the sequel? Perhaps. Time will tell.

Final Rating: ❄❄.5

The Game of Love and DeathThe Game of Love and Death
By: Martha Brockenbrough (@mbrockenbrough)
Published By: Arthur A. Levine Books on April 28, 2015
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 352

Antony and Cleopatra. Helen of Troy and Paris. Romeo and Juliet. And now... Henry and Flora.

For centuries Love and Death have chosen their players. They have set the rules, rolled the dice, and kept close, ready to influence, angling for supremacy. And Death has always won. Always.

Could there ever be one time, one place, one pair whose love would truly tip the balance?

Meet Flora Saudade, an African-American girl who dreams of becoming the next Amelia Earhart by day and sings in the smoky jazz clubs of Seattle by night. Meet Henry Bishop, born a few blocks and a million worlds away, a white boy with his future assured—a wealthy adoptive family in the midst of the Great Depression, a college scholarship, and all the opportunities in the world seemingly available to him.

The players have been chosen. The dice have been rolled. But when human beings make moves of their own, what happens next is anyone’s guess.

Achingly romantic and brilliantly imagined, The Game of Love and Death is a love story you will never forget.

“Why choose fear over love? In what world does that make sense?”

One word (or maybe two words? I don't even know anymore): Instalove. I know I shriek about the stupidity of this trope all the time, but maybe that's just indication that authors should stop using it. Just by reading this blurb, you can tell that Flora and Henry are going to be lovers. In the first scene that Henry meets Flora, he's all like OMG I LOVE YOU. That being said, I loved both Henry and Flora and how they were both just incredibly determined in their own ways.
 
This book takes place in the 1930s, and so there are lots of racism and prejudice, and since Flora is black, we get to see a lot of that. Brockenbrough wrote these scenes really beautifully and I was thoroughly engaged.

Final Rating: ❄.5

 Let's discuss! What did you think about these books that I found rather mediocre? I think I got rather lazy towards the end of these reviews xD