Keep on reading if you wish to find out a bit more about: Uprooted, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and Vengeance Road.
I hope you’ll find something of interest. :)
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Title: Uprooted
Author: Naomi Novik
Published: May 19th 2015
Pages: 437 (Hardcover)
Date read: August 7th 2015
Standalone
My rating: 5/5 stars
The synopsis:
Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood’s powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows – everyone knows – that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia – all the things Agnieszka isn’t – and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl. And when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him.
My comments
If you’re looking for a magical, delightfully creepy story with lots of humour, you should definitely pick up this book. Trust me (do it!).
To tell you the truth, I actually squealed at the end (you have to read it yourself to find out why, though). A lot.
I am now on a mission to make my friends read this. Wish me luck!
Update! They have now read it and both gave it a nod of approval. ;)
You should read this if you like…
- Fantasy
- Great standalones (seriously, so much story fits effortlessly into this one book)
- Moderate amounts of romance
- Kingdoms
- Small villages
- Beauty and the Beast
- Grumpy, sarcastic, perfectionist, rule-following, neat-freak wizards
- Magic
- Spells
- Evil forests
- Fairy tales
- Folklore
- Banter
- Opposites attract
- Asshat, wannabe hero princes
- Messy, spontaneous, “I used enough to make a nice smell” witches
- The Brothers Grimm (the 2005 movie)
- Creepy demonic possessions (kind of)
- Howl’s Moving Castle
- Badassery
- Creepy creatures
- Rot
- Character development
- Death
- Female friendships
- War
A small taste:
“If you don’t want a man dead, don’t bludgeon him over the head repeatedly.”
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Title: The Rest of Us Just Live Here
Author: Patrick Ness
Published: August 27th 2015
Pages: 348 (Hardcover)
Date read: December 1st 2015
Standalone
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
The synopsis:
What if you aren’t the Chosen One?
The one who’s supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?
What if you’re like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.
Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week’s end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.
Even if your best friend is worshipped by mountain lions.
My comments
Patrick Ness is great, and if you haven’t read any of his books yet, I encourage you to try at least one, because man are they weird and beautiful and real.
This one is not an exception.
You should read this if you like:
- Weird stuff
- Real people having real problems
- Zombie deer
- I said weird, right?
- Three-quarters jewish, one-quarter God
- Love, but not the romantic kind
- Family, but the kind you choose yourself
- Friendship
- Indie kids who just can’t catch a break
- Satire
- Life
- Growing up
- Patrick Ness…because Patrick Ness
- Cats…lots of cats
- School buildings that just can’t catch a break
- LGBTQ characters/elements
- Strong sibling bonds
- Great standalones
- Mental illnesses handled well and without being glorified
- Explosions
A small taste:
“What’s important is that I know how much you worry about shit. And what’s also important is that I know a big part of your worry is that, no matter what group of friends you’re in, no matter how long you’ve known them, you always assume you’re the least-wanted person there. The one everyone else could do without.”
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“ “I’d kill anybody who tried to hurt you,” I say.
She hugs me back. “Not if I was too busy killing them first.” ”
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Title: Vengeance Road
Author: Erin Bowman
Published: September 1st 2015
Pages: 336 (Hardcover)
Date read: December 3rd 2015
Standalone
My rating: 4/5 stars
The synopsis:
Revenge is worth its weight in gold.
When her father is murdered for a journal revealing the location of a hidden gold mine, eighteen-year-old Kate Thompson disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers—and justice. What she finds are untrustworthy strangers, endless dust and heat, and a surprising band of allies, among them a young Apache girl and a pair of stubborn brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, a startling truth becomes clear: some men will stop at nothing to get their hands on gold, and Kate’s quest for revenge may prove fatal.
My Comments
I don’t think I’ve ever read a western, nor have I watched a lot of western movies (can’t really recall watching any at all), so I can’t really tell you whether or not this is a good one.
However, I can tell you that it’s a book full of badassery, shootouts, and cactuses, and if that sounds appealing to you, then you should most definitely give it a shot (ha! see what I did there?).
You should read this if you like:
- Satisfying standalones
- Girls disguised as boys
- Vengeance, obviously
- The good ol’ wild west
- Bickerin’
- Spittin’
- Gold diggin’
- Horse ridin’
- Murderin’
- Seriously, if you think this is all cute n’ happy, yer dead wrong
- Cowboy speak
- Shooting, pow pow
- Saloon brawls
- Bands of rugged outlaws
- Deserts
- Cactuses
- Badassery
- Shootouts
- A darn lot of squintin’
- Gold sickness
- Family secrets
- Questionable grammar (though on purpose, mind you)
- Character development
- All them cowboys
A small taste:
“Good thing yer so vigilant with those binoculars,” Will says to Jesse. “Woulda been a shame if Nate’s naked eyes were the only thing we could count on to save us.”
“Shut it, Will.”
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“When I were first learning to shoot a rifle, Pa told me that nearly every battle people face is in their heads.”
DreamlandBookBlog 
Wow congrats on a great book selection! I have you know that you helped my TBR monster pile grow!
Haha, yay, mission accomplished!