Heartless

***

3/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for giving me this book to review.

I enjoyed Heartless but I think I would have liked it more if I was a fan of Alice in Wonderland as it is full of references, and also weirdness with I know it part of wonderland but I didn’t get on with it. It is well written like all of Meyer’s books but I did find it a bit forgettable. I would really recommend not reading this when on a diet as it will make you want to bake and eat with its vivid description of the food.

Cath is whiny, naïve, and has no backbone, and by trying to please everyone she ultimately pleases no one. Jest is mysterious and charming but no as interesting as some of Meyer’s other male leads.

While I still enjoyed this book, it did not grab me as much as Meyer’s other novels. I would recommend Heartless to those who enjoy the world of Wonderland or books about villain’s backstories.

Ascendant

**

2/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Weapenry Co-Op for giving me this book to review.

Ascendant was an interesting if unoriginal story idea which was much darker than I was expecting, the problem I had with this book was that I could not care about the main character Sybelle as she felt lifeless and made decisions which I could never do. I just really struggled with Ascendant and I could not get into it and DNF at 42%.

Dragon's Heart

**

2/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Buoni Amici Press for giving me this book to review.

Dragon’s Heart started really interestingly with forbidden romances and different races, however, by the end I didn’t care about the characters as there was not enough world building and the story didn’t grab me. I was not a fan of Killian or Serena by the end of the book as I felt they made irritating decisions and behaved really inconsistently. I could not get on with this book as I could not connect with the characters.

The City of Brass

***

3/5

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for giving me this book to review

The City of Brass is an enjoyable fantasy book with excellently described world. This book is full of politics and oppression. It felt very slow for most of the book and it mainly just felt like an introduction to the next book. While I loved the Daevabad, I wish we had spent more time in Cairo as I wanted to see and learn more. Action-packed and with a bit of romance but it didn’t take over the plot.

Nahri was a brilliant character to being with as she was very independent and resourceful, with an amazing ability, however, when she got to Daevabad is really regressed and didn’t make any decisions and just lost her spark. Ali is very devout and knows his own mind, even if he is influenced by those near him. Dara was the most interesting character as he has a dark past and was very intriguing, I just think this book would have been better if we had had his point of view.

While this book didn’t live up to the hype for me, I plan on reading the next book The Kingdom of Cooper, as I feel the next book will be better without having to explain everything. I would recommend The City of Brass to fans of The Hundredth Queen series and Rebel of the Sands series.

Tess of the Road

**

2/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for giving me this book to review.

Tess of the Road is a companion novel to Seraphina, but I did not grab me like that book. I think my main problem with this book was that was really slow paced, and it isn’t what I want in an adventure fantasy novel. I like to escape into a book and leave the realistic things in the real world, but this book was not an easy read as it is emotionally draining, which meant this book was more about Tess learning to accept the past and herself and less about having a fun adventure.

Tess is an interesting character and at some points I liked her with her stubbornness but also how emotionally damaged she was, but at other times she seemed so selfish, spiteful and unable to compromise that I just could not connect with her.

While I DNF Tess of the Road at 44% I would still recommend it to those who enjoyed Seraphina but are looking for a book about self-discovery rather than adventure.