REVIEW: The Rithmatist

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson with illustrations by Ben McSweeny
Published: May 14th 2013 by Tor Teen
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Young Adult, Mystery

Pages: 374

Format: Hardcover
Rating: 8.5/10
Description: More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles. As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.

Brandon Sanderson has done it again and he created a beautiful book. One word to describe it: creative. It is masterful and cool (heads up: I say "cool" alot in this review). This whole book was just fun. The Rithmatist a combination of the coolest elements including magic, art, mystery, it has steampunk elements, and it is just really cool. Basically, the story is set in an alternate world where North America is separated into islands called the United Isles. Like, how interesting is that? 

Also, due to the lovely and intriguing design of the cover, people constantly asked me about this book. I took it to school one day, and a bunch of my friends picked it up to study it. I, of course, made them look at the United Isles map, and then proceeded to give them a brief description of the book. Seriously, click the picture and study it more closely. It's just so cool. 

Inside the book, there are a ton of illustrations and drawings. Some illustrated various defense tactics, and they were very clever. Others were drawings of chalklings. 

 

Some of the illustrations were kind of blurry which did kind of bother me, to be honest. But they were beautiful and added so much life to the book, so what can you do? 

The Characters? Joel was a good character. He is highly intelligent and bright. However, he's one of those smart-but-don't-try kind of kids, which annoyed me a lot. I hate people like that... Who take their talents for granted. Other than that, though, Joel was a great protagonist. His ambition and obsession with Rithmatists and the magical art of Rithmatics was admirable. Melody was awesome. Her vocabulary and speech was so relateable. That fact that she had repeated phrases made her really believable because a lot of teenagers talk like that. Every time she said something like "It's tragic" and "The unicorn is a very noble and majestic animal" I laughed out loud. All her banters are so funny. She reminded me of Hermione with her stubborn and... well... kind of annoying character. We all love her, though. This book reminds me of Harry Potter so much. There's a character named Finch, for goodness sake! All the characters were fully-fleshed out and even the minor ones were interesting.

The Setting? The alternate universe in which this book was set is so interesting. I loved hearing about how their society works. The form of travels were awesome (steam-powered horses and the sky train). And coins with the gears inside were so cool. The names of the cities were so fun, for example "Nebrask", "Albert", and "New France." I wish this book was an epic, so I could immerse myself in this cool world more. It was very interesting.

The Plot? I loved the story progression. It was quite simple and easy to follow. The storyline is just SO creative. Brandon Sanderson made me scared of chalk drawings. How is that possible? The magic system was very unique. It was complicated, and very immersive. The diagrams really helped the whole story come to life. The illustrations made everything feel real. I liked the inception ceremony, and the fragile state of the war waging on with the wild chalkings. The mystery was riveting. 

Usually in young adult books, I can guess the ending. This book? Nope. It wasn't predictable. Sanderson just took me on this really fun ride. The two battles at the end were just perfect. The last battle had me smiling the whole time.

Overall? This is one of the most creative books I have ever read. It is just so full of fun. At the same time, it is very clever, with a rather complicated system of magic and defense. I LOVED the military jargon, and the in-depth descriptions of the defense systems. The characters were loveable, the world was beautiful, and the plot was engaging the whole time... Sanderson is quite obviously a word wizard. 

 

Harry Potter (both the books by J.K. Rowling and the movies) because of the awesome magical elements. Also, the setting? It's a boarding school... where kids learn magic... Harry Potter, anyone? The characters as well! Muggles and Wizards, are like the Rithmatists and the regular humans. Professor Finch? FINCH? Nalizar was like Snape, with Joel having this uncanny obsession with him. Melody reminded me of Hermionie with her stubborn, headstrong, and kind-of annoying nature.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card (the book, not the movie). I just used the movie poster because Asa Butterfield is adorable. It reminds me of The Rithmatist because of the huge military component of the book. Ender's Game is filled with all these complicated military strategies, and so is The Rithmatist. Ender's highly analytic and strategic mind is quite complicated, and very interesting to read about. The military defense in The Rithmatist is equally as complicated and interesting to read about. The setting is also simmilair. Ender attends a battle school, Joel attends a magic school. Also, the two fairly young protagnists remind me of eachother. Both Joel and Ender are sort of ostracized, and they don't really fit in with their peers, but both are so intelligent. Oh! Petition for Asa Butterfield to play Joel if The Rithmatist ever turns into a movie!

REVIEW: Sea of Shadows

Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong
Published: April 8th 2014 by HarperCollins
Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult, Horror, Romance
Pages: 416
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 7/10
Quick Run-Down: In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire’s worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned. Only this year, the souls will not be quieted. Ambushed and separated by an ancient evil, the sisters’ journey to find each other sends them far from the only home they’ve ever known. Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor. But a terrible secret awaits them at court—one that will alter the balance of their world forever

This is a great young adult fantasy novel! It basically centers around twin sisters Moria and Ashyn. They are the Keeper and the Seeker (which reminds me way too much of Quidditch positions). They are in charge of quieting these angry souls/spirits.

The Characters? I loved the two sisters a lot... They had a really nice family dynamic. I preferred Ashyn over Moria, simply because I could relate to her more quiet, bookish nature over Moria's fiery and passionate nature. The two are very realistic sixteen year old's, despite the novel being a fantasy. I LOVED Ronan, he is so cute and funny. His lines made me laugh out loud. Gavril definitely annoyed me a little with his over-confident and cocky character, but he was intriguing and I wanted to know more about him. I liked the companion animals and their accompanying characteristics, too. 

The Plot? The plot was fairly slow, however I was kept entertained simply because of the world and the creatures which inhabited it. I mean, the parts with the legendary creatures were awesome. I was kept intrigued and breathless with the fight scenes with the shadow stalkers, thunder hawks, and death worms. I mean, those creature names alone intrigued me! The actual plot was pretty thin, and the "plot twist" at the end wasn't very shocking at all. The slow storyline progression didn't bother me at all, though, as I wanted to slowly venture through this world with Ashyn and Moria. I liked how they were discovering what the world looked like outside the Waste's the same time we discovered it.
It wasn't a super fast-paced read, but I kept thoroughly hooked the whole time.

What I didn't like was the lack of communication with the spirits. We didn't really get to see what Ashyn and Moria are supposed to do. We just know that they are highly respected.
Not a lot of people liked this book, which surprises me. I quite enjoyed it.

Supernatural, because of it's... well... Supernatural elements and creatures. Also, the dynamic between Ashyn and Moria reminded me of Sam and Dean. Sam and Ashyn are the quieter, more level-headed, bookish siblings, and Dean and Moria are the rash, fiery, warrior siblings. The relationships between Ashyn/Moria reminded me of the relationship between Dean/Sam.

REVIEW: City of Heavenly Fire

 



City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Published: May 27th 2014 by Margaret K. McElderr
Genres: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 725
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 9.5/10
Quick Run-Down: Clary and her friends fight Sebastian Morgenstern, Clary’s brother. He is systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Dark Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures out of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers.

Oh, the epic conclusion to one of my all-time favorite book series, “The Mortal Instruments.” What can I say about you? Firstly, the feelings. This book made me cry in four different parts. Four. And laugh, too! Clare is SO funny, and not in a cheesy way.

Being the sixth book, I feel way too attached to these fictional characters. I love these enigmatic characters so much. From Simon’s quirk and sass, to the mysteriousness of the Faerie Folk, to the pure majesty of the Shadowhunters. Clary, Jace, Isabel, Alec, Magnus… I just love them all so much.
Now the book. I felt like Emma Carstairs’s parts were a bit slow, and it honestly felt like a bit of a filler section. I know the purpose was the introduce Emma as she is going to be a protagonist to another series by Clare, but still.
The romance stuff was adorable. There was more than enough Clace and Sizzy, but the moments of tension with Alec/Magnus were my favorite. I wish we got to see Luke and Jocelyn’s wedding, though. We waited so long!
The parts in the demon realms were by far the most captivating. It was SO COOL. Sebastian’s downfall and the manner in which he died was so emotional and beautifully written. I wish all villains could go like that… with only the good parts of them remaining. Yep, I cried here. Simon’s memory and everything had me screaming. There were so many parts that me so emotional. It surprised me HOW EMOTIONALLY INVESTED I AM IN THESE FICTIONAL LIVES.
A popular critique is that there wasn’t enough destruction in this book because all the main characters stay alive, and the couples stay together. I agree, however the lack of tragic deaths and giant shocking plot twists don’t take much away from the story.
Overall, I couldn’t ask for a better conclusion. It tied up all the loose ends, and kept me in a very fragile state afterwards. The Mortal Instruments is a truly wonderful series.

Greetings!

The eve of summer break is upon us, and I decided to finally start a book blog. I’ve been wanting to do this for the longest time, but because of my effective procrastination, Netflix, and, well, reading copious amounts of books, I never found the time.

So here I am, starting this.

I will be posting book reviews of varying depth, general ramblings on the subject of bookery, rants and feelings, and overall just bookish things. Books, books, books!

That just about caps off my introduction post. If you want to get a taste of what kind of books I’ve been reading/ books I enjoy (which is pretty much any genre) continue reading!

I’ve read 38 books so far this year, and my goal is 50. Some of these books include: Y/A such as the entire Mortal Instruments series (moment of silence for CoHF) by Cassandra Clare, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, and the Legend series by Marie Lu. Fantasy such as the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin, Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, and The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. Sci-Fi such as Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, and 5th wave by Rick Yancey. Romance such as Save Haven by Nicolas Sparks, the Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, and TFiOS by John Green. Classic such as Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (annnd that is the only classic book I’ve read this year ugh).

I read a ton more genres and stuff, but I thought the prior list was sufficient enough.

I’m really excited to get started on this book blog!

Keep Reading!