Hello, hello, friends.
We are already well into December! Can you believe it? Where has the time gone? It is the last month of the year, the last chance to meet reading goals. My only goal for this month is to read more books than in November. Though to be honest, it’s not looking good so far. But we are here to talk about November. I finished 5 books. And here they come:
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas ★★★★
(Throne of Glass #7)
This is the last book in the Throne of Glass series. The different plots and characters finally come together for the final fight. The reader meets old and new characters. If you have a sieve as brain (like me) you should probably re-read the other books, because I couldn’t remember everything and there were several question marks in my head. The writing style was typically Sarah J. Maas and I probably can’t see the words “mate” and “utterly” for the rest of my life without thinking of her books. I liked the book way more than I thought I would, I was so happy to see those characters again. I just love all of them so much. Though I have some issues and was not really satisfied. Also, the fighting scenes were giving major Lord of the Rings vibes. You can find the whole battle on the Pelennor fields in there.
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan ★★★★
There are three castes: the paper caste is the lowest and is for humans. The moon caste is the highest, made up of demons. The steel case are part human, part demon and are inbetween. Every year, eight selected girls from the paper caste are chosen as the demon king’s courtesans. But this year, nine girls are chosen. And Lei is one of them. Forced to leave her little town she now has to live in the palace with the goal of surviving and fleeing in mind.
I enjoyed this immensely. I fell in love with the writing style. It
was fluent, and a bit prosaic at some points, beautifully describing the
characters and their surroundings, making me taste the delicious food
and smelling the rich scents and feeling the pain. The main character,
Lei, was beautifully written as well, strong, smart and learning,
adapting and waiting for the right moment before making a move. She is
not perfect, but a bit clumsy which just makes her more likeable. And
she falls in love with another girl, much yay for that. The love
interest is this gorgeous girl who seems not to care about anything but
actually cares a lot and has a big heart.
The story was good, quite drastic and brutal at some parts. There is a
lot of abuse, physical and emotional, rape and attempted rape, killings.
The society in this book is pretty bad, animal-form demons reigning
above everyone else and doing whatever they want with other people. If
you can say that about a book, I’d say it was quite harsh, but with soft
spots.
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller ★★★★
A mysterious island. 3 parts to a treasure map.
Pirate princess Alosa lets herself get captured by enemy pirates because she is on the hunt for the second part of the map. Her father already has one. But the search doesn’t go as smoothly as she thought, mostly thanks to the clever first mate, who manages to outsmart her from time to time. Alosa needs to use all her abilities, fighting with words and weapons… and the unwanted gifts her mother gave her.
Hell yes, a pirate princess? Sign me up. Alosa is amazing, she is smart and witty and doesn’t hold back her opinion. She uses sarcasm as her first language and is better with a sword than most other people. She always has an ace up her sleeve and even in unforseen situations she manages to make the best of it. Riden, the first mate is her match in almost everything, though he seems to be at bit softer than her. For the two, and every other character as well, I would have liked a bit more backstory.
The plot was mostly the typical pirates searching for treasure thingy, but with young people, fun and tons of sarcasm. I definitely liked this book and need to know how the story continues.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte★★★★
What shall I say about this one? I was positively surprised! I once started the TV show and couldn’t really get into it, so I did not expect too much. But I really had fun reading this, especially the beginning is hilarious. Then it gets more and more serious and confusing. Especially whentwo characters have the same name and you always have to think about who it is the author talks about. But this is probably my second favourite classic now. Emily Bronte somehow manages to write a good, enjoyable story while every single character is horrible. Seriously, I hate all of them but then the book is really, really good.
… and a happy new year? by Holly Bourne ★★★★
(Spinster Girls #3.5)
This is a novella, set after the last Spinster Girls book. Lottie has gone to uni in London, Amber is still at home, planning where to go and Evie visits the local college. Much has changed (or not) in the months they have been apart. And so there are a lot of things they need to talk about and discuss. There are tears, screaming and lots of love and friendship. I liked this book quite a lot. The whole series and the characters have a special place in my heart, they’re so real and in this novella some more flaws are shown. But it also shows what might happen to a friendship when people move away or don’t really talk to each other. And I just want to thank Holly Bourne for those girls and how she portrays them and their world.
And that’s it! Those are the books I’ve read. What did you read in November? What was your favourite? Do you have any goals for December?
