guessing books based on their one star reviews

I saw this video of Merphy Napier guessing books based on their one star reviews recommended on my YouTube feed, and I thought it sounded like a fun idea. I made a list of a bunch of popular YA/adult books I’ve read, and I forced asked my sister to compile 10 one-star reviews. Thank you to my sister for gathering these for me (and blurring out any character names and the title of the book if it’s mentioned) and enabling me to do silly things on the internet XD

If you’d like to play along, make a list from 1-10 and see how many you can guess correctly (the answers will be revealed at the end)!

Kindle Paperwhite review [1.5 years later]

Hi heya hello! I thought I’d update my thoughts on my e-reader now that I’ve had it for a good while. If you want to see my first impressions, you can read about them here. In this post, I’m going to touch up on things I didn’t talk about in my first review.

A Dance with Fire by Aleera Anaya Ceres | Book Review

“All magic came with a price, some prices were just higher than others.”

A Dance with Fire by Aleera Anaya Ceres

This review is short and spoiler-free!

Title: A Dance with Fire
Series: Fae Elementals, #1
Author: Aleera Anaya Ceres
Published: September 21, 2020
Publisher: self-published
Category: new adult
Genres: romance, fantasy, fae
Pages: 502
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

──────── ●⚫● ────────

Synopsis

Shula Azzarh is Fae…

…in a world where it’s illegal to be.

Working at Piriguini’s Circus keeps her hidden in plain sight, but when a vicious accident exposes the truth of what she is, her safe game of hiding comes to an end. Taken by the emperor’s soldiers, Shula is forced into the hands of a mysterious Brotherhood, a group of humans hell-bent on eradicating her race completely.

The Fae Resistance needs her. Their healer hates her. And the Emperor of Illyk will stop at nothing to possess her. The secrets of the empire run deeper than she knows, and Shula will have to rely on the magic she’s suppressed for years to save herself from the emperor’s malicious plans.

Because Shula is an Elemental.

And her fire might be the only thing that can make or break their world.

Fans of Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black will love the first installment in this new, action packed, adult fantasy series!

This is a High Fantasy Fae series intended for readers 18 and over as it contains adult M/F romance, sexually explicit scenes, cursing, and dark themes.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett | Book Review

“All things have a value. Sometimes the value is paid in coin. Other times, it is paid in time and sweat. And finally, sometimes it is paid in blood. Humanity seems most eager to use this latter currency. And we never note how much of it we’re spending, unless it happens to be our own.

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett

This review is spoiler-free.

Title: Foundryside
Series: The Founders Trilogy, #1
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Published: August 21, 2018
Publisher: Crown
Category: adult
Genre: fantasy
Pages: 505
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

──────── ●⚫● ────────

Synopsis

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.

But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black | book review

“Having a heart is terrible, but you need one anyway.”

Holly Black, How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories

Title: How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
Series: The Folk of the Air, #3.5
Author: Holly Black
Published: Nov. 24, 2020
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Category: young adult
Genre: fantasy
Pages: 200
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This short review is spoiler free!

──────── ●⚫● ────────

Synopsis

An illustrated addition to the New York Times bestselling Folk of Air trilogy, that started with The Cruel Prince, from award-winning author Holly Black.

An irresistible return to the captivating world of Elfhame.

Once upon a time, there was a boy with a wicked tongue.

Before he was a cruel prince or a wicked king, he was a faerie child with a heart of stone. #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black reveals a deeper look into the dramatic life of Elfhame’s enigmatic high king, Cardan. This tale includes delicious details of life before The Cruel Prince, an adventure beyond The Queen of Nothing, and familiar moments from The Folk of the Air trilogy, told wholly from Cardan’s perspective.

This new installment in the Folk of the Air series is a return to the heart-racing romance, danger, humor, and drama that enchanted readers everywhere. Each chapter is paired with lavish and luminous full-color art, making this the perfect collector’s item to be enjoyed by both new audiences and old.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Rise of the Red Hand by Olivia Chadha | ARC review

I was given a free digital ARC in exchange for a honest review.

✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧

Title: Rise of the Red Hand
Series: The Mechanists, #1
Author: Olivia Chadha
Expected publication: January 19, 2021
Publisher: Erewhon
Category: YA
Genre: sci-fi
Pages: 384
My rating: ★★★☆☆ (2.5)
Goodreads page

─────────────────────────── ●⚫● ───────────────────────────

Synopsis

A rare, searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia. A street rat turned revolutionary and the disillusioned hacker son of a politician try to take down a ruthlessly technocratic government that sacrifices its poorest citizens to build its utopia.

The South Asian Province is split in two. Uplanders lead luxurious lives inside a climate-controlled biodome, dependent on technology and gene therapy to keep them healthy and youthful forever. Outside, the poor and forgotten scrape by with discarded black-market robotics, a society of poverty-stricken cyborgs struggling to survive in slums threatened by rising sea levels, unbreathable air, and deadly superbugs.

Ashiva works for the Red Hand, an underground network of revolutionaries fighting the government, which is run by a merciless computer algorithm that dictates every citizen’s fate. She’s a smuggler with the best robotic arm and cybernetic enhancements the slums can offer, and her cargo includes the most vulnerable of the city’s abandoned children.

When Ashiva crosses paths with the brilliant hacker Riz-Ali, a privileged Uplander who finds himself embroiled in the Red Hand’s dangerous activities, they uncover a horrifying conspiracy that the government will do anything to bury. From armed guardians kidnapping children to massive robots flattening the slums, to a pandemic that threatens to sweep through the city like wildfire, Ashiva and Riz-Ali will have to put aside their differences in order to fight the system and save the communities they love from destruction.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir | Book Review

✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧

“You are cruel, Elias,” she whispers against my mouth. “To give a girl all she desires only to tear it away.”
“This isn’t the end for us, Laia of Serra.” I cannot give up what we could have. I don’t care what bleeding vow I made. “Do you hear me? This is not our end.”
“You’ve never been a liar.” She dashes her hands against the wetness in her eyes. “Don’t start now.”

A Reaper at the Gates, Sabaa Tahir

Title: A Reaper at the Gates
Series: An Ember in the Ashes, #3
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Published: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Razorbill
Category: YA
Genre: fantasy
Pages: 458
My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5)
Goodreads page

Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim | Book Review

“I know that for every dawn, dusk must unravel its darkness.”

Elizabeth Lim, Unravel the Dawn

Title: Unravel the Dusk
Series: The Blood of Stars, #2
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Published: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Knopf
Genre: YA fantasy romance
Pages: 355
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang | ARC Review

A digital copy was provided by the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Search Omnibus
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics, #2
Author: Gene Luen Yang
Illustrator: Gurihiru
Release date: October 27, 2020
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Category: YA
Genre: fantasy, graphic novel
Pages: 224
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This review is spoiler-free!

—– ●⚫● —–

Synopsis

Immediately following the Avatar’s adventures chronicled in The Promise, this remarkable omnibus that collects parts 1-3 of The Search, from Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko!

For years, fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra have burned with one question–what happened to Fire Lord Zuko’s mother? Finding a clue at last, Zuko enlists the aid of Team Avatar–and the most unlikely ally of all–to help uncover the biggest secret of his life.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim | Book Review

“It is an illusion to assume we choose whom we love. I cannot change how I feel about you. I would move the sun and the moon if it meant being with you.”

Elizabeth Lim, Spin the Dawn

Title: Spin the Dawn
Series: The Blood of Stars, #1
Author: Elizabeth Lim
Published: July 9, 2019
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA fantasy, retelling, romance
Pages: 392
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Goodreads page

This review is spoiler-free!

—– ●⚫● —–

Synopsis

Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this young adult fantasy is pitch-perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Renée Ahdieh.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]