Hello everyone!
Today is one of those Mondays where I'm gonna forego sleep for the most part in the name of social life and time spent with my favourite people! Since one of my besties lives in Italy, the whole group doesn't meet together more than twice a year, so whenever we do, it's always a celebration! And this time, I'm hosting breakfast at my new apartment, so I'm extra excited!
Today for Mark This Book Monday I have two mini reviews, since I do have a bit of a backlog of reviews pending! Since one of them is all about Egyptian mythology I'll be counting it towards by 2015 Mythology Challenge and the other book will be counted for the 2015 Release category for the 105 Challenge!
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had read quite a few super positive reviews of this one, but I wasn't sure what to expect of this one when I started reading it.
Despite having a rather large cast of secondary characters, we follow Jess's POV throughout the whole book, except for the communications/letters/memos we get in the beginning of each chapter, that I loved, btw, since it gave us a lil more information about how the Library has always been working, and some outside info that Jesse wouldn't have.
The world building of this book has to be my favourite part of it for sure! The Great Library of Alexandria never burnt and instead it became the greatest power of the world, with daughter libraries all over the world. And since knowledge is power and power corrupts, the Library holds to the knowledge and its power with an iron fist, and won't tolerate any suggestions of change that will lessen their absolute control.
As a book lover and book hoarder the thought of not being able to own copies of books is something that made me panic a lil bit! And I absolutely could relate to Jess's horror and disgust at the thought of someone destroying books or eating them! So very few copies of them, and people decide that they want to eat them? Twisted indeed!!
I loved how we get to know our batch of students that want to enter service to the Library, with their own motives, hidden or not, and how they competed and helped each other all the time. I also loved seeing their opinions of each other and their mentor change with their tasks and their triumphs and loses.
There's plenty of character development and there's also a lil bit of romance here and there that didn't take over the book or the plot and that was rather believable and well done.
The ending was both the right way to close this book as a chapter in a larger story but still giving it enough closure and also the perfect set up for what's to come in the sequel!
This was my first Rachel Caine book but it won't be the last, because now I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the next one! Very well deserved 4 stars to this one!
Reawakened by Colleen Houck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was my first Colleen Houck book, and I'm happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed it! I had heard some rather meh things about her previous series, but then I read some awesome reviews for this one from bloggy friends, and it had this gorgeous cover and Egyptian mythology that I love, so I decided to give it a try!
It took me a little to warm up to Lillian, because at first I really didn't like her or her attitude much. But once she finds herself dealing with a guy that appears out of seemingly thin air, dressed in a skirt and that needs "sustenance", I really liked how very realistically she reacted, trying to rationalize his ramblings into something she can understand at first, and how she simply wants to help him and get back to her regular life.
But of course that's not how things work out when you are dealing with a resurrected mummy/god/prince that needs to find his brothers to stop the end of the world at the hands of the god of Chaos. And I started to warm up to her and the way she tried to face things and how she dealt with the "what's expected of me" and the "do I want to do this, how do I know what I want to do" doubts that are her main point of growth in this book.
Amon was a character driven by his mission and that finds himself in a much more hostile environment this time around, not waking up close to his brothers or with a Vizier ready to help him, and he makes the most of the odd circumstances he finds himself, and learns the most of the changing modern world he awakens in this time. He was rather swoony and sunny too (pardon the pun) and I loved how he managed to teach Lily a few lessons about enjoying life by enjoying some of the small things, and I loved how much he enjoyed "feasting"!
The humour in this book was great and it got even better once we meet Amon's brothers! Those two are adorable and are ever bantering and are so snarky sometimes... I loved them!
Having so many Egyptian myths and legends explained thoughout the book was also one of my favourite parts, although I knew them all already, I loved reading about them, and how the author managed to weave them into the story!
The ending seems quite final as it is, except for that final bit, and now I just cannot wait to see how it will all come to play in the sequel! Very much deserved 4 stars for this one!
View all my reviews
Today is one of those Mondays where I'm gonna forego sleep for the most part in the name of social life and time spent with my favourite people! Since one of my besties lives in Italy, the whole group doesn't meet together more than twice a year, so whenever we do, it's always a celebration! And this time, I'm hosting breakfast at my new apartment, so I'm extra excited!
Today for Mark This Book Monday I have two mini reviews, since I do have a bit of a backlog of reviews pending! Since one of them is all about Egyptian mythology I'll be counting it towards by 2015 Mythology Challenge and the other book will be counted for the 2015 Release category for the 105 Challenge!
Ink and Bone by Rachel CaineMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had read quite a few super positive reviews of this one, but I wasn't sure what to expect of this one when I started reading it.
Despite having a rather large cast of secondary characters, we follow Jess's POV throughout the whole book, except for the communications/letters/memos we get in the beginning of each chapter, that I loved, btw, since it gave us a lil more information about how the Library has always been working, and some outside info that Jesse wouldn't have.
The world building of this book has to be my favourite part of it for sure! The Great Library of Alexandria never burnt and instead it became the greatest power of the world, with daughter libraries all over the world. And since knowledge is power and power corrupts, the Library holds to the knowledge and its power with an iron fist, and won't tolerate any suggestions of change that will lessen their absolute control.
As a book lover and book hoarder the thought of not being able to own copies of books is something that made me panic a lil bit! And I absolutely could relate to Jess's horror and disgust at the thought of someone destroying books or eating them! So very few copies of them, and people decide that they want to eat them? Twisted indeed!!
I loved how we get to know our batch of students that want to enter service to the Library, with their own motives, hidden or not, and how they competed and helped each other all the time. I also loved seeing their opinions of each other and their mentor change with their tasks and their triumphs and loses.
There's plenty of character development and there's also a lil bit of romance here and there that didn't take over the book or the plot and that was rather believable and well done.
The ending was both the right way to close this book as a chapter in a larger story but still giving it enough closure and also the perfect set up for what's to come in the sequel!
This was my first Rachel Caine book but it won't be the last, because now I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the next one! Very well deserved 4 stars to this one!
Reawakened by Colleen HouckMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was my first Colleen Houck book, and I'm happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed it! I had heard some rather meh things about her previous series, but then I read some awesome reviews for this one from bloggy friends, and it had this gorgeous cover and Egyptian mythology that I love, so I decided to give it a try!
It took me a little to warm up to Lillian, because at first I really didn't like her or her attitude much. But once she finds herself dealing with a guy that appears out of seemingly thin air, dressed in a skirt and that needs "sustenance", I really liked how very realistically she reacted, trying to rationalize his ramblings into something she can understand at first, and how she simply wants to help him and get back to her regular life.
But of course that's not how things work out when you are dealing with a resurrected mummy/god/prince that needs to find his brothers to stop the end of the world at the hands of the god of Chaos. And I started to warm up to her and the way she tried to face things and how she dealt with the "what's expected of me" and the "do I want to do this, how do I know what I want to do" doubts that are her main point of growth in this book.
Amon was a character driven by his mission and that finds himself in a much more hostile environment this time around, not waking up close to his brothers or with a Vizier ready to help him, and he makes the most of the odd circumstances he finds himself, and learns the most of the changing modern world he awakens in this time. He was rather swoony and sunny too (pardon the pun) and I loved how he managed to teach Lily a few lessons about enjoying life by enjoying some of the small things, and I loved how much he enjoyed "feasting"!
The humour in this book was great and it got even better once we meet Amon's brothers! Those two are adorable and are ever bantering and are so snarky sometimes... I loved them!
Having so many Egyptian myths and legends explained thoughout the book was also one of my favourite parts, although I knew them all already, I loved reading about them, and how the author managed to weave them into the story!
The ending seems quite final as it is, except for that final bit, and now I just cannot wait to see how it will all come to play in the sequel! Very much deserved 4 stars for this one!
View all my reviews
I cheated and read the end of Reawakened Pili and didn't like what I found there, but then Nick explained the situation to me (which of course I would have known if I'd read the whole book ;-)) and now I'm really looking forward to this one. I need to give Ink and Bone a try too! I share your panic at the thought of not being able to get my hands on copies of books:)
ReplyDeleteYep, the ending made more sense if you've read the whole book, that's why I don't usually peek at endings! ;)
DeleteCannot wait to hear what you think once you read these two, Jenny!
I wasn't sure about Ink and Bone myself. As a lover of her Morganville series I haven't really found anything that matches that one. I didn't enjoy Prince of Shadows either. I'm so glad you enjoyed though Pili. :)
ReplyDeleteInk & Bone is like historical fantasy, very different from vampire books! This is my first of her books that I've read and I quite loved it, maybe give it a try, Emma?
DeleteWELP, you've given me hope on both fronts. I've been putting off reading Ink and Bone b/c it's sounds fabulous, but I've had MEH experiences with Caine before, AND I DNF-ed the first book of Houck's other series. I'm thinking I might have better luck with these though. Thanks, Pili!
ReplyDeleteI do hope you will! Both were my first forays into both authors and both were quite positive!
DeleteGlad you enjoyed both books. I've only read Ink and Bone and I really enjoyed it. I agree, the world building was so well done. I will def read more from Caine!
ReplyDeleteSame here, I'm planning to check her story about Romeo & Juliet's Tybalt next!
DeleteThank you Kristen!
Okay, so, apparently I didn't even have Ink and Bone on my radar (or at least, it wasn't on my GR TBR), and I'd really written off Reawakened... apparently both of those were mistakes, but they have now been rectified! Ink and Bone sounds SO good, and you got me excited about Reawakened again. THANK YOU. <33
ReplyDeleteI do hope both of them will work well for you because otherwise I'm gonna feel awful Nikki! THANK YOU!!
DeleteI want INK AND BONE! I NEED IT! It is about a library, so how could I not love it? :)
ReplyDeleteI do hope you can get yourself a copy, it was fascinating, an EVIL library!
DeleteI LOVED THESE TWO! I was surprised when I enjoyed Reawakened - I love Egyptian mythology, but I didn't like Houck's debut series! So happy to see that you enjoyed this, Pili! Also - I love love LOVE that cover of Ink and Bone. The USA cover is wonderful but I think this one is quite lovely! :D
ReplyDeleteFabulous reviews, Pili!
Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!
Thank you Alyssa dear! To see that you loved Reawakened was what made me read it, since I had heard quite a few not so positive things about her Tiger series...
DeleteI don't think I knew that Ink and Bone had mythology roots. Interesting!
ReplyDeleteKate @ Ex Libris
Reawakened has more mythology than Ink & Bone though...
DeleteAw, yay :D So glad you liked these books Pili. <3 Stunning reviews, as always :) I'm unsure about these books.. but still curious :D One day, maybe ;p Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetie! I hope that if you give them a try you'll like them!
DeleteBrilliant reviews! I think both of these books sound intriguing for different reasons. Ink and Bone seems like the world building and the characters are what is most interesting about it. As for Reawakened I am a huge fan of Greek and Egyptian mythology, so the idea of that sounds appealing to me especially!
ReplyDeleteIf you like Egyptian mythology you'll love Reawakened! So many stories of the myths are told!
Delete