Monday, January 18, 2016

Mark These Books Monday: ARC Reviews of NEED & An Inheritance of Ashes!!

Hello there guys!

Mondays off are one of those lovely treats, aren't they? Today I really must catch up on some house chores and also run a few errands, but I'm hoping to also have some time to relax and read a lil bit, or maybe just go back and continue binge watching BSG on Netflix... who knows??

For this week's Mark These Books Monday I have two reviews of eARCs that I got approved for quite a while back on Netgalley but I never got around to reading in time, so now they're part of my Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge and my ongoing battle for finally reaching the 80% ratio (and keeping it!).





NEEDNEED by Joelle Charbonneau

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


NEED was one of those books that I requested because they sounded extremely interesting: social media and teens using it to get what they really wanted with no concern for what they have to do in exchange... Sounds really cool! It also was a Read it Now when I got it on Netgalley.

Then release date rolled over, I couldn't fit it into my schedule and fast forward till I had a conversation with a friend about it and I remembered I had the eARC somewhere in my Kindle!

NEED was a very fast read and one that had me turning pages rather fast wondering if what I was figuring about it would be right or not. With multiple POVs it could have felt slow or cumbersome, but given that they were also short chapters for the most part, they didn't seem to slow the pacing as much. I know other people have said that some POVs seemed pointless to them, but for me it showed the outreach of the website and different people's reaction to the website, their actions and the consequences of those actions.

But the moment the big reveals started to happen... I was disappointed. I can't really go on in depth about why because I would spoil the ending and climax for everyone of course, but it just made me think, and I'm sorry all my dear US friends, "oh come, yet another typical American movie move". It felt like very typical combination of a blockbuster + conspiracy theory... just... gah.

Given how disappointing the ending was for me, I cannot give this one more than 3 stars and only because it was an interesting take on social media and the freedom to forget about being responsible from our acts & choices that seems to be inherent to anonimity sometimes, and the mob factor. Multiple POV was also done well for me, but nothing can take away how disappointing the ending was.





An Inheritance of AshesAn Inheritance of Ashes by Leah Bobet

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Some books have slow beginnings peppered with enough small bits here and there that make you want to keep on reading to see if it delivers what it promised, and this one is one of those. From 40% onwards it became better and better and ended up earning 4 stars.

An Inheritance of Ashes is one of those books that needs to be given a chance because they develop slowly and hides its secrets quite well. For a good part of the book I wasn't sure if it should even be considered fantasy because despite the mentions of the Wicked God and the presence of the Twisted Things, what we get is two sisters at odds, trying to survive in the aftermath of a war and the trials and tribulations that come with that.

The biggest strengh of this book lies in the characters and the story & relationship between the two sisters and their struggle to survive. Hallie and Martha have to deal with their family history, the losses from the war and being alone in running the whole homestead on their own. The book is told from Hallie's POV but we get to see that things might not always be as she perceives them.

And the secondary characters aren't any less strong, meeting the neighbours that love the girls as family, even if sometimes the sisters feel like they have to prove they don't need help. Tyler, Nat & their family weren't without issues on their own, but dealt with them differently and provided with a great balance for the sisters.

I said it before, sometimes I struggled with the book till I reached the 40% mark, because I wasn't sure where it all was going, or wasn't sure about the world building, but after the 40% mark I was well and truly hooked, not only because everything started to come together both plot and world building wise, but because the character development continued to grow and expand and the interactions between the characters grew even more complex as new revelations started to drop here and there.

The mix of magical world of fantasy and the feeling of historical fiction/period drama was so well done. So much about the mistrust between family members, living within a lie to protect yourself, and consequences of war and how it changes you when you're lucky enough to return from it. This book is one wonderful study on human nature and how we shape or relationships with those around us with our fears and hopes and secrets and not only how the others act.

And once thing I haven't been able to stop thinking about was a conversation about help, how we need to make sure when we're offering help to others is NOT to offer things we want to do for them, but to make sure to ASK them what is the help that they really NEED. I will have to look up the exact quote because I really need to have it up somewhere in some shape, because I feel it is SO relevant and so important!

As I already said, the last 60% of the book really earnt itself the final 4 star rating and I'm very glad I got the chance to read it!



22 comments:

  1. An Inheritance of Ashes has been on my radar since it released. I'll have to grab it from my library soon.

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    1. Do give it a try indeed! I really liked it!

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  2. Aw man, Need sounds like such a disappointment! I hate it when books have such a build up, but then the climax doesn't work. But An Inheritance of Ashes seems really interesting! I'd love to explore the dynamics between the two sisters and their struggle. Awesome reviews, Pili!

    - Aila @ <a href="happyindulgencebooks.com/>Happy Indulgence</a>

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    1. I do hope you'll give An Inheritance of Ashes a try then Aila!

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  3. Yay for having today off :D Sounds like you have had an awesome day sweetie. <3 Hugs. And gorgeous reviews sweet girl :D The second one seems pretty amazing. And I'm so curious about it. So glad you liked it a lot :) Probably not reading it, lol, but I am curious. The first one is not for me. But I'm glad you liked it :D But so sorry it wasn't perfect :\ Sigh. Hope you are having an awesome week so far :)

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    1. Thank you sweetie! The week is going well so far!

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  4. Well, I don't feel so bad about An Inheritance of Ashes now. I will probably get it from the library at some point. I do have problems with stories that take longer than 25% to get the reader into the story. Thanks for the reviews, Pili. :)

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    1. Give it a try, maybe it won't feel as slow to you!

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  5. These are two books I was dying to read. I'm not sure about Need anymore, but I'm glad it was an okay read.
    Awesome reviews, Pili!

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    1. Thank you Lis! I cannot recommend NEED because of the ending not working for me, but maybe it'll be different for you?

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  6. Thanks for letting me know that about An Inheritance of Ashes! I will definitely push forward if I feel that slowness. That usually happens to me with fantasy novels anyway, so maybe it won't be too bad.

    I'm sorry Need wasn't a winner for you. There's nothing worse than a disappointing ending!

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    1. I do hope that An Inheritance of Ashes will work for you as it did for me in the end!
      And yeah, slow beginnings I can work with, disappointing endings... not so much!

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  7. I don't think I am going to be reading Need. I always need my endings to be something that thrills me! I would rather have a bad/slow beginning and then have a brilliant ending. Which is why I am looking forward to an Inheritance in the Ashes. I actually have it, so it's just a matter of time before I dive in and read it.

    My recent haul post: http://olivia-savannah.blogspot.nl/2016/01/my-hoarding-catastrophe-it-wasnt-me.html

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    1. I agree Olivia, I can deal much better with slow beginning than disappointing endings!

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  8. Despite me not liking An Inheritance of Ashes, I'm happy to see that you enjoyed it! Gosh that book was slow! I have yet to read one of Joelle's books and I'm not dying to change that! It won't be that one, in any case - doesn't sound like a me book. :/ Lovely reviews, Pili!

    Alyssa @ The Eater of Books!

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    1. Nah, I don't think you'd like NEED at all, Alyssa!

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  9. Seems like you had two opposite reading experiences with these Pili - one started strong and then turned out to be disappointing in the end, and the other started slow but ended strong. I'd much rather a book start slow and end strong, so I think An Inheritance of Ashes will work better for me. Plus, that cover! So pretty.

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    1. Yep, I think An Inheritance of Ashes would be much more up your alley, Jenny!

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  10. Need had such potential but sounds like you weren't much of a fan. I'm not sure about an Inheritance in the Ashes either - I'm hopeless with slow reading books - mind you some of these have ended up turning it around and completely surprising me, which this book seems to have done for you.

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    1. I tend to give slow books a chance if the story seems intriguing enough, and was very glad to do so this time!

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  11. Okay.. so now I'm even more interested for An Inheritance of Ashes. I got it from my book club Secret Santa and was really intrigued by it despite it not being on my radar really. I like the idea of the sisterly relationship and subtle fantasy elements. I hope I get a chance to read it soon.
    Cassi @ My Thoughts Literally

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    1. I think you should give it a try, if the slow beginning doesn't put you off, it might win you as it did me!

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¡Muchas gracias por vuestros comentarios, leerlos me alegra el día!/ Thanks a lot for all your comments, reading them brightens my day!!