Was the book community's most hyped book of the month worth the read?
It's always interesting to see how people react to 'hyped' books, especially anytWas the book community's most hyped book of the month worth the read?
It's always interesting to see how people react to 'hyped' books, especially anything with a sprinkle of romance. There's a certain adrenaline in the community to dive in head first and align yourself with either the 5-star fans who adore it or 1-star readers who think it's trash.
But really, I think it's a matter of knowing your personal tastes as a reader.
This book was a pure romantasy (romance + fantasy). It's got the high-stakes environment of mythological creatures, military academies, and threats from rival nations, but the main focus of the story is Violet's growth as a dragon rider and her enemies-to-lovers romance with Xaden.
Personally, I thought this was a solid read. The enemies-to-lovers was ACTUALLY enemies-to-lovers (he's the son of a traitor + her mom ordered his father's execution). The dragons all had their own unique personalities and fun banter with their riders. The chronic illness representation was very well done. And that cliff-hanger? I CAN'T.
If you hate romance being a focal point in fantasy books, you're not going to like Fourth Wing. The world-building and magic system aren't the most complex, but it is approachable and easy to grasp. The comparisons of this book being an adult Divergent are pretty spot on.
While this wasn't a book that I'd sacrifice sleep over and stay up to 1AM to finish, I am excited to see what happens in Book 2. Much of this book felt like it was setting up the final plot reveals that would weave into the sequel. I'm hoping we get to dive more into the political clashes, magic systems, and of course, the romance....more
Thank you Ali Hazelwood for not disappointing me!!!
I ended up marathoning this book in one night (yes my eyes hurt), but Ali Hazelwood's writing is juThank you Ali Hazelwood for not disappointing me!!!
I ended up marathoning this book in one night (yes my eyes hurt), but Ali Hazelwood's writing is just so easy to read. You fly through the pages, and before you know it, it's 3AM and you're resigned to future Tiffany hating past Tiffany's choices.
Okay, is it just me...or have y'all always found chess (or the idea of chess) to be really ATTRACTIVE?? If you've watched Queen's Gambit, you know what I'm talking about. Just the tension of a match, the intelligence and decision-making of the players, the competitive environment...maybe it's just my Type A personality showing.
If you enjoyed The Love Hypothesis , you'll likely enjoy this book too as the writing feels very familiar. While this is technically a YA, the main differentiator is that there are no majorly explicit sex scenes from Ali Hazelwood's Adult books. Still, I enjoyed how we have open discussions about sex on the page whereas some YA books may choose to ignore the topic completely.
The story itself was so much fun. Mallory was an easy main character to root for, and her slightly chaotic yet hardworking personality was very reminiscent of Olive from TLH. I loved following her journey as a chess prodigy, and the ROMANCE. J'ADORE.
Nolan Sawyer was a very swoon-worthy YA love interest, and his tension with Mal was *chef's kiss*. The yearning and slow-burn was wonderful, but most of all, I love how the tension and rivalry between our two love interests were built on mutual respect rather than just jealousy or antagonistic feelings.
Mal's younger sister Darcy must be protected at all costs, and I just love the chaotic family energy between Mal, her two sisters, and her mom. When we get to the scenes where Nolan interacts with Mal's family, I was kicking my legs in giddy.
As you get to the second of the book, things do start to get predictable, but I wouldn't necessarily fault that as a bad thing. It's predictable in the way you want a Disney Channel Original Movie to be predictable. While I'm happy with how things ended, I wish we got to spend more time wrapping up our main characters' future. Selfishly, I just want to spend more time with these characters~
Thank you Penguin Teen for an advanced copy of this book!...more
i will never complain about having more per-sassy and annabeth moments <3
much of my enjoyment of this book leans into the nostalgia, so while i lovedi will never complain about having more per-sassy and annabeth moments <3
much of my enjoyment of this book leans into the nostalgia, so while i loved the scenes with percy, annabeth, and grover, the quest itself felt lackluster in comparison. considering where we left off with Last Olympian and Heroes of Olympus, the action here felt low-stakes, and the storyline read more like a novella than a 6th book. i'm not saying we need to throw percabeth back into Tartarus and induce more trauma...but let's dial up the action!
BUT percy still needs to get 2 more recommendation letters for New Rome University, so that means we'll get 2 more books with our favorite characters!! just give us more cameos, pretty please. bring in the hunters of artemis! bring in hot stuff leo valdez! also, nico...my sweet child. how are you doing? are they feeding you well?? ___
tiffany (readbytiffany)
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