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Nicks

  • Mitglied seit 01.12.2014
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Cover des Buches The Downstairs Girl (ISBN: 9780349423609)

Bewertung zu "The Downstairs Girl" von Stacey Lee

The Downstairs Girl
Nicksvor 4 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Schöne, unaufgeregte Geschichte über den Alltagsrassismus des 19. Jahrhunderts in Amerika mit einer absolut liebenswürdigen Heldin.
Cover des Buches Frostblood (ISBN: 9781473635197)

Bewertung zu "Frostblood" von Elly Blake

Frostblood
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Nichts Neues an der Fantasyfront.
Ice Cold, Baby

Frostblood offered barely anything new.
A bit of Throne of Glass mixes with a bit of every average fantasy element out there and somewhere in between I thought I landed in the midst of Ever the Hunted, although with better characters and a more humorous heroine.

I´d love to tell you it was one of the unique stories that set themselves apart in terms of world building, character development and writing. But the truth is that Frostblood is quite average in all regards, that it doesn´t bring anything original to the game and that you see the twists and turns coming from afar.
Hidden identities aren´t hidden and the next time I see a girl caught between two nobles, of whom one is obviously crazy and power hungry and the other is not crazy and power hungry enough, I will certainly scream.

Frostblood tells the story of an unabashed girl who has no idea about the power she´s able to wield and is of the outmost importance to a secret plan of mortals, a higher plan of gods and some minor plans of minor players as well. She´s hardly learned how to control the raw strength everybody else already knew about, when she´s forced to compete against the strongest magic wielders in the kingdom and - of course - blasts them all into the after life.

A dash of romance here, a dose of helpful strangers who all happen to disagree with the common opinion of, let´s see, the whole country and coincidences which obviously work in the heroines favor complete a story that can´t be called either good or bad, because we´ve seen it before so many times.

I actually liked the humor and Ruby. She´s sassy and talks her mind, which makes her easier to tolerate than most of the other female leads, but she´s missing the spark that leaves you with some strong emotion about her. She´s okay, she´s nice.
So is the rest of the characters.
So is the story.

I´m fearfully considering the next installment, which promises another unnecessary and troublesome love triangle in the midst of another war in another country.
But maybe it will surprise?

Cover des Buches The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen Book 2) (ISBN: 9781406377552)

Bewertung zu "The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen Book 2)" von Alison Goodman

The Dark Days Pact (Lady Helen Book 2)
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Wer Fan des ersten Bandes war, wird hier nicht enttäuscht!
A Truth Universally Acknowledged

3.5

Halfway through the story I got anxious and really started wishing for Helen´s life to get less complicated and for fate to at least grant her one wish.
That´s when I noticed that Lady Helen #2 is, in fact, better than the first book and a generally fantastic story.

The book picks off where the first installment left us hanging, with Helen being basically forced to learn the Reclaimer trade and the whole world frowning upon her decisions. Whether it´s society and their intrusive need to gather information about a private life they should have no insight in, or a secret society that thinks it okay to mess with said private life and practically forbids having one. Being Lady Helen in the midst of her fierce loyalty to the cause, her feelings for Lord Carlston, her impressive strong will and her balancing the life of a society´s lady and a asskicking superhero is quite a task to handle.
The whole story is much more compelling on a deeper level. Helen has a strong sense of loyalty, not only towards her new friends and colleagues and her duties, but also towards the oath she gave even though it is about to ruin her whole life. Although I wanted to slap her at times and remind her that she is her own person, who has her own rights and opinions, I kind of backed down when I remembered the times she lives in.

Which is the best part of the book for sure.
Every action, every conversation, every touch and word and thought are genuine. This book is so perfectly researched you will feel like you walk along with them in the bright sun of Brighton´s summer days. The conflicts Helen faces are therefore wonderfully done, all her decisions are based on an upbringing a lady of her status enjoyed and on a moral codex that puts the most honorable men to shame. Her word won´t be broken, her righteousness isn´t hypocrite and her selflessness and especially compassion are as admirably as genuine.
Same goes for the friendships and connections made in the book. The loyalties of her girlfriends, who selflessly join her in her adventurous life style are admirable, her new found friends´ sorrows and fears are reliable and especially the resentment she faces as a woman doing a man´s job is artistically enwrapped in her strong need to accomplish the required tasks.
Last, but not least it is quite a pleasure to watch the bittersweet romance of her and Lord Carlston evolve in an equally genuine way, just to have it crushed upon his increasing madness and society´s frown. Also, Duke Selburn is a likable character and I found myself quite despaired for Helen´s sake, because she has to choose between her heart, her head, her feelings and her upbringing.

I´m honestly curious about the next installment.

Cover des Buches Daughter of the Pirate King (ISBN: 9781250095978)

Bewertung zu "Daughter of the Pirate King" von Tricia Levenseller

Daughter of the Pirate King
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Unterhaltsam, humorvoll, perfekte Lektüre für zwischendurch!
Piraten haben´s gut


This book is undeniably adorable. Every now and then something completely different is released, something that stands apart in writing and plot terms and, most of all, entertainment. It hasn´t always to be epic fantasy or moving coming off age. Every now and then it´s enough for a story to simply be fun and pull you under for the time being.

Daughter of the Pirate King is one of those books to immediately sweep you off your feet with fast pace, hilarious banter, a little bit of magic and a kickass heroine.

Every now and then I crave a pirate book anyway. Growing up with Jack Sparrow as a role model and Hook hijacking Once Upon A Time means developing a clearly romanticized, but nevertheless undying love for those who conquer the seas.
Pirate stories also taught us that a great tale doesn´t have to focus on an unlikely love story between a bewitching young lady and a handsome, but piss poor guy. Nah, instead they showed that twisted tales, cunning characters and a single minded love for ships and water can be enough for a story to function.

Who cares about kings and queens and their desires to fight wars for small strips of land when a vessel, a crew and a whole ocean of possibilities lie beneath your feet? Pirate stores convince with the value of friendship, loyalty, a dash of selfishness and the necessary, perfect amount of magic. At least the good ones do.
Fortunately, Daughter of the Pirate King can be counted as one.

We get nothing of the sappy romantics, of cliché love declarations and exaggerated acts of foolishness. Instead there is a heroine who knows her strengths, ignores possible weaknesses, stays true to herself and is capable of doing whatever she sets her mind to. Just because she wants to.
I love Alosa. She doesn´t need men to save her and just spits them in the face if they laugh at her. Her loyalty lies with her family and herself and she hasn´t any qualms about getting her hands dirty.

This books is pure entertainment that refuses to bore you at any second. There´s stealth, action, a lot of kissing, even more bantering, hilarious situations and - as it is supposed to be, after all - the all consuming ignorance about who has the upper hand.
They all want the same, but cleverness can´t be bought and comes in different forms.
I adored every single sentence of this captivating book.

The world´s an ocean and the ocean is a world. It´s simple as that, apparently. 

Cover des Buches Spindle (ISBN: 9781484722282)

Bewertung zu "Spindle" von E. K. Johnston

Spindle
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Eine wunderschöne Nacherzählung von Dornröschen, die dem ersten Teil aber nicht das Wasser reichen kann.
Once Upon A Dream


Spindle is the 2nd installment in the 1001 nights series by E.K. Johnston, but be assured that you don´t have to read The Forbidden Wish to understand the plot. Although I´d still recommend doing so, because it´s a magical story. 


All you need to know is that E.K. Johnston has a very beautiful, unique way of writing and magic practically oozes from the pages. 
Also she has an undeniable talent for weaving particular, fantastic stories that´ll evoke quite realistic drams of sand deserts and burning rays of sunshine. Her stories are always a little bit more and her words are always a bit deeper. Considering required standards, Spindle is one of those perfect stories that feature all the important ingredients to guarantee perfect entertainment. 


Yet I couldn´t enjoy it as much as I did The Forbidden Wish. As far as retellings go it´s certainly one of the best, not only because the setting changed from well known Disney woods to dry heat and dirt roads, but also because the atmosphere and the feeling turned darker and more desperate. 


Focusing on singular parts of the book it´s rather obvious that it´s a piece of art and that pathos recedes in favor of an undercurrent of meaning and single worded truths. There´s no need for clichéd turns of events or stereotype developments regarding relationships. Yet the only thing I really could grasp was Yashaa´s and Saoud´s deep friendship. 


The rest of the book dragged at some parts and wasn´t entirely relatable at others. For example I just don´t understand everyone´s blind trust in a cursed princess. Or the need to spin. Or their willingness to throw their lives away at such a young age for a cause they don´t even know about. 


During their journey I was rather bored than thrilled, even though some conversations proved rather humorous. I don´t even know what I´d been waiting for, since the story had everything from beautiful world building to deep thoughts, but it didn´t click with me for most of the time. 


The ending though, redeemed a lot for it was quite sober and refused to fall victim to cheesy happiness and uncharacteristic prettiness. Instead, it was sad, real and slightly streaked with hope for a better future. 

Cover des Buches Maybe Someday (ISBN: 9781471135514)

Bewertung zu "Maybe Someday" von Colleen Hoover

Maybe Someday
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Mein Lieblingswerk von CoHo. Leichtfüßig, einfühlsam, ehrlich und absolut lesenswert!
You Are the Music in Me

So far this is my favorite CoHo book.
Besides the obvious trademark elements all her books show (and make me go on and on buying her books), this one convinced me with something I´ve been missing a bit until now.
Lightheartedness.

The story, although displaying tragic twists of fate and the unfairness of some god´s twisted sense of humor, features a healthy amount of humor and simple bantering that makes reading this book a pleasant experience.
I caught myself laughing quite a lot and contrary to the other books I´ve read by her, I felt a general happiness for the characters. There wasn´t so much darkness and despair pressing down on my reader´s heart. It was quite nice for a change.

Apart from that and the addiction you begin to develop whenever opening one of her books, because her writing just pulls you in completely, I absolutely adored the plot.

Thankfully, our MC isn´t a doormat this time, but an independent, strong girl with a heart of gold and maturity beyond her years. She´s able to communicate what she thinks and values honesty above everything else. Sydney was nice for a change, a girl I could picture befriending because she has an awesome sense of humor and she isn´t above telling the truth. Aaaand she isn´t one to throw pity parties every time something half-bad happens in her life.

I won´t ever get why CoHo tends to label all the other girls in her books, except the MC, as bitches, though. As if we wouldn´t like Sydney anymore just because there were other nice girls around? We read the story from her POV for God´s sake.

Anyway, the thing that really made the story is one person: Ridge.
Ridge is perfect. A fantastic guy. The first guy in a CoHo book I think flawless and don´t want to punch in the face.
He is able to talk. He is able to be honest with himself, but also with the persons around him. He is able to make decisions and even stay true to them. He is a brilliant musician, which of course only made me fall in love with him more.
Because let´s be honest, having someone being able to write songs for you is pretty amazing, but he somehow takes it to another, higher level and it´s nearly impossible to dislike him. Plus, he is thoughtful and understanding, funny and loyal and he cares so much for those he loves. It´s impressing, really, and reading about him wasn´t just great, it was a joy. I really like this guy, who managed to take the ever annoying love triangle and somehow turned it into a moving love story that made me understand the subject for the first time.

This time everything went together really well. The characters, the plot, the dialogues and conversations, the absolutely adorable friendships and dynamics between the figures and the heartbreak and the heartiness.
Also, let us not, my friends, forget the beauty of Ridge´s music. 

Cover des Buches Confess (ISBN: 9781476791456)

Bewertung zu "Confess" von Colleen Hoover

Confess
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Eine Liebeserklärung an die Kunst und die Kunst des Lebens, Schicksale zu verflechten.
Pictures of You

 I am madly, deeply, irrevocably, and irresistibly in love with the concept of Owen Gentry´s art.
It is one of the most expressive ways to paint a picture I´ve ever heard of and if not for anything else, the book is worth a read for that alone. I love the idea of a person connecting to the feelings of strangers so much they are able to pour them into their art.
Therefore, I´m also madly, deeply, irrevocably, and irresistibly in love with the general package of Owen Gentry.

CoHo´s writing is addictive.
Opening her books means being sucked into her stories immediately, whether you like it or not and also whether you like the characters or not. She manages to capture your heart in seconds and then you practically are forced to go through with it. Or rather sprint.
Because her writing is addictive enough to make you read for hours on end.
It was the same with Confess, I flew through the pages whenever I had time to read and that is a basic criterium of the outmost importance.

As for her stories, my opinion is mostly split. On the one hand I adore her character compositions. Not because all of them have so many dramatic secrets or because they are so very mature despite their age, but because they are shaped by little moments, little details and single words and those influenced their personalities for the better or the worse. But they do care. They always care about something more than about themselves and I like to believe there are more people as selfless as Auburn and Owen than as egoistic and arrogant as Trey.

On the other hand, though, all her MC share the same idiotic incapability to articulate themselves in the right situations and, even more important, the right way.
I simply can´t understand why they always, ALWAYS hold back the one and only information that would not only rescue their social relationships, but also themselves. Things could be so much easier for them if only they believed in the power of words.

With Confess it was double twisting my heart, because Owen and Auburn came clean with a lot of things quite quickly, yet they missed major opportunities to shape a different future from the beginning.
I liked Auburn, I really did, but I hoped so much she´d be a bit more determined. A bit less self pitying, because in the end she was strong enough to create the world she´d like to live in on her own. If she would´ve done so from the beginning, she´d spared herself and Owen a lot of heart break. I do get some of her decisions, but I am a bit disappointed that she wouldn´t even try to find an alternative. She didn´t even dare to dream of it, although it´s a common truth that your own happiness is fiercely connected to your loved ones.
Owen thankfully was a lot more communicative than most male leads of the genre and he was creepily understanding. That I obviously immediately loved him for - and the artistic talent, of course, because imagine… A guy looking at you and actually seeing you.
Buuuuut as every other guy, and especially CoHo´s guys apparently, he refuses to switch on the brains when the now-or-never moment finally comes. When will they ever learn?

All in all I really enjoyed this book. It may be a tad on the dramatic side, but at least it features the protective, weird best friend and that makes up for all the drama and series of unfortunate events a bit.

This could be fate, you know..
As with Ugly Love CoHo manages to do one thing. She makes one believe. This time, not in love, but in fate, in circumstance and coincidence and in the funny paths life chooses to follow.

Cover des Buches Imperfect Chemistry (Imperfect Series Book 1) (ISBN: B00JTJQRNW)

Bewertung zu "Imperfect Chemistry (Imperfect Series Book 1)" von Mary Frame

Imperfect Chemistry (Imperfect Series Book 1)
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Süße Geschichte über einen weiblichen, weniger seltsamen Sheldon Cooper mit obligatorischem Happy End.
Minus + Minus = Plus

Sheldon Cooper is a hero.
We all know that.

Now imagine what´d happen if Sheldon had a distant cousin, approximately as brilliant as himself, with the same non-understanding for social relationships and a tendency to articulate herself in rather complicated combinations of foreign words and complex sentences.
Imagine her taking the risk of research human emotion and actually feeling something.

Welcome to Imperfect Chemistry where Lucy, a highly gifted student who hasn´t seen the need for friendship and human relations yet, is forced to focus on a part of her she haven´t even noticed. Lucy needs to take time off her investigation to study human emotions and their consequences as a self-experiment with unknown outcome.

This story is absolutely hilarious, really cute and features everything you´d wish for.
A hot, good hearted guy who could break any girls heart but of course falls for the weird one with the coincidentally hot body.
A group of out-of-nowhere best friends, who take said girl in as a charity case, but soon enough become her second family.
A loving family.
A snowstorm to move things ahead, because otherwise everyone´d be treading carefully for even longer.
A big secret that threatens to change one of their lives.
A break in faith at the least appropriate moment.
A string of funny scenes with a lot of heartful laughter, silent aaaaaws and the final happy ending.

I really liked how Mary Frame told her story of a social outsider who learned the value of friendship and a big family and that she´s allowed to be different, as long as she likes herself.
Especially the fact that Lucy isn´t the average shy student who suffers from inadequacy due to some high school jerks, but a young woman who knows where she stands in her world and doesn´t even recognize something could be amiss, makes the story charming and enjoyable.

Nice one.

Cover des Buches A Conjuring of Light (ISBN: 9781785652455)

Bewertung zu "A Conjuring of Light" von Victoria Schwab

A Conjuring of Light
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Wie erwartet gibt es auch hier nichts zu meckern.
I want something just like this

Most of the time I felt like a headless chicken, ready to run around uncontrolled and uncoordinated, but in dire need to move.
If this book is an indication for what we can expect of the next Schwab books, then we can eagerly grab our neighbor in a tight hold.
If this book sets the bar for the other highly anticipated sequels of this year, then those are in for some grand competition.
If this book was expected to be fantastic, it blew its own dimensions by being actually brilliant.

If you were afraid that you´d be disappointed, be assured that ACoL simply bypasses all those fears and surpasses all set bars.
It simply continues to be part of a great, epic fantasy adventure, one of the best even, and topped it off by being an amazing conclusion to a fantastic journey.

Une raison pourrait être the pace.
Osaron wreaks havoc on Red London, therefore little time is left to spare for unnecessary planning and petty discussions. A city and amore than one world need saving and only a handful of people is qualified to actually dare an endeavor of such measures. Leaving a Gathering of Shadows in the midst of a catastrophe means being thrown right into same happenings without any break. Lives are on the line, after all. The story continues at the high speed it ended and races against time, a dark king and a ticking clock set by the heroes themselves. You won´t be able to put the book away, least to catch a breath, because whenever things seem to calm down they just come rushing back at double speed. From the beginning until the end there´s no stop, no break, no slowing down.

Reason 2 might be the characters. That far into the story our love for Kell and Lila can only grow, which indeed it does. Kell continues to be crush worthy by acting selfless and loyal and focused on his self declared duty.
Lila plays his counterpart, following her good heart, strong will and own goals.
No words needed for perfect Captain Alucard Emery.
I know the focus lay on Holland and his story, his past and the hidden, bright darkness of his soul- and of course I fell for the trap Schwab set there. TeamHolland.
But it´s Rhy who deserves extra mentioning, because his character developed so much over the series. From the spoiled, good hearted prince with obvious hidden depth to devoted brother and loyal friend he finally became who he was always supposed to be. A soldier, a hero, a magician who only needs to rely on himself to accomplish what he sets his mind to. Rhy, who´s already captured my heart, nestled deeply. He came to stay.

Reason 3: The sheer brilliance of everything. I want to take a tour in Schwab´s brain. Whether it´s the constant bickering between Alucard and Kell, the easy silence between Lila and the captain, Hastra´s nervousness or Tieren´s observations. She makes them come to life next to you. She doesn´t only excels at world building and writing, but also at evoking emotions with well placed dashes of drama dn single words. It actually felt as if every single page had something important to say. Every sentence was its own little story and stuck to the following sentences in a peculiar way. You´ll want to read carefully, else you´d miss something important. Laughing is as easy as despairing with this book and woah, did I do a lot of that.

An achievement.
A jewel.
Another perfect book.
It´s almost creepy. 

Cover des Buches King's Cage (ISBN: 9780062310699)

Bewertung zu "King's Cage" von Victoria Aveyard

King's Cage
Nicksvor 7 Jahren
Kurzmeinung: Es ist immer noch nicht vorbei! Wann werden wir endlich von Mare befreit?
Let It Be

„Choose me, Mare“
Applause, applause for the 3rd and final installment of the Mare show.

It´s hard enough to overlook the empty abyss of the first half of the book. It´s quite a challenge to be fine with yet another detailed description of basically nothing, meaning training sessions and pointless conversations that are simply there to fill up pages. But it´s nearly impossible to stomach the epilogue. Imagine that, faced with all of the disappointment the book brought.

To work with an ending that is supposed to bath Mare in the light of a strong woman, of a glorious martyr. I couldn´t care less about her and her false righteousness and self centered egoism. I don´t care whether she´s happy or heartbroken or numb or dead inside.

I do care about Cal, though. What exactly did he do to become the great lier in the end? How could Aveyard turn him into a betrayer, paint him a villain, one far worse than Maven? Poor Maven was changed irrevocably by Mommy Dearest. Nothing ever was his fault.
How dare she let him be left alone, challenged by a new world´s order, all on his own in the midst of the one thing he never wanted? Cal didn´t deserve that. Not even Evangeline deserved what came for her and my heart broke for her as much as for Cal.
How can a writer justify such a turn of events, such a downgrading of a book´s major player? The only beneficiary was Mare, once again, who simply turned her back on everyone because she thinks herself above Silvers and Reds. She´s the only one who really understands, the only one who suffered, the only one who really felt the wrongs of the world she lives in.
There´s hardly anybody who could possibly understand her feelings and her motivations. Therefore she has every right to drown out reason, to look beyond others wishes and to hurt and break her companions with every word she says. She´s Mare. She survived the worst. She was pampered by not only one, but two princes and she did NOT get killed for her acts while regular rebellions were slaughtered like cattle. She´s the lightning girl and the world revolves around her.
Queen of Egoists and the single person allowed to twist knives in already deadly wounds.

The best part was Evangeline´s PoV for sure.
My heart still weeps for her and Cal. Can´t get over the absolute egoism of a self declared heroine who brought nothing but misfortune and calamity.
Never before did I wish all the bad luck of the world on a fictional character that much. But with Mare it seems I´m able to make an exception.

I expected nothing and got less, quite an achievement on its own.
And Mare I dislike with a fervor.

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