The Saturday Review is a weekly meme hosted by me (Taylor Fenner's Bookish World) where fellow book bloggers and readers can share what books they've recently reviewed.
A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
Published in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of George R. R. Martin s landmark series, this lavishly illustrated special edition of A Game of Thrones featuring gorgeous full-page artwork as well as black-and-white illustrations in every chapter revitalizes the fantasy masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon. And now the mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure of this magnificent saga come to life as never before.
A GAME OF THRONES
A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE: BOOK ONE
With a special foreword by John Hodgman
Winter is coming, and in the frozen wastes to the North, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom s protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a region of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale rife with plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, as each faction endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones."
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I've seen a lot of different covers for this book, but since this is the illustrated edition, I think it really compliments the edition well.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (“When you play a game of thrones you win or you die” – George R.R. Marton, A Game of Thrones" So many lines in this book are quotable but this one is probably the most telling of the story. There will be death. There will be betrayal and intrigue.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟 (This book is told in multiple perspectives: Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Ned Stark, Bran Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Caitlyn Stark, and more. There are some characters you hate straight off like Joffrey and Cersei, characters you love instantly like Dany, Khal Drogo, and Jon, but overall they're all really well developed.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (From Winterfell to the Eyrie, King's Landing to the Dothraki lands this book is gorgeously set, with diverse landscape and imposing castles, desert lands and haunting woods.)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I went into this book not expecting to like it. I've tried watching the show a couple times but never from the beginning and I thought, it's time. I need to start from the beginning, read all the currently published books if I can, and then watch the show. The first chapter in the woods beyond the wall dragged for me but everything after that was fantastic. I devoured this book in a week, fell in love with the characters, and now eagerly await the arrival of book two so I can return to this fantastic story. The only thing I did not care for in the plot was all the killing of the horses and direwolves. I'm an animal lover and while I don't care what humans get killed in battle scenes, I dislike the killing of animals and could barely stomach those parts. I suppose they are casualties of war, but I'd rather remain oblivious.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.8 of 5 Stars!
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (“When you play a game of thrones you win or you die” – George R.R. Marton, A Game of Thrones" So many lines in this book are quotable but this one is probably the most telling of the story. There will be death. There will be betrayal and intrigue.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟 (This book is told in multiple perspectives: Jon Snow, Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Ned Stark, Bran Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Caitlyn Stark, and more. There are some characters you hate straight off like Joffrey and Cersei, characters you love instantly like Dany, Khal Drogo, and Jon, but overall they're all really well developed.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (From Winterfell to the Eyrie, King's Landing to the Dothraki lands this book is gorgeously set, with diverse landscape and imposing castles, desert lands and haunting woods.)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I went into this book not expecting to like it. I've tried watching the show a couple times but never from the beginning and I thought, it's time. I need to start from the beginning, read all the currently published books if I can, and then watch the show. The first chapter in the woods beyond the wall dragged for me but everything after that was fantastic. I devoured this book in a week, fell in love with the characters, and now eagerly await the arrival of book two so I can return to this fantastic story. The only thing I did not care for in the plot was all the killing of the horses and direwolves. I'm an animal lover and while I don't care what humans get killed in battle scenes, I dislike the killing of animals and could barely stomach those parts. I suppose they are casualties of war, but I'd rather remain oblivious.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.8 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟 🌟🌟
4.8 of 5 Stars!
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Blurb:
Cover: 🌟 (Like Game of Thrones, The Haunting of Hill House has many variations when it comes to cover. This is not one of my favorites. I much prefer the Penguin Horror Classics cover for a creepier vibe.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("Makes your blood chill and your scalp prickle" - from a New York Times Review Blurb on a different cover. This tagline prepares you for a chilling read.)
Characters: 🌟🌟 (Oh Eleanor, Eleanor how I hate you. You're weak, your gullible, you're.. annoying. The problem I had connecting with the characters in this book has entirely to do with the differences between the book and the 1999 movie adaptation, The Haunting [my personal favorite adaptation]. )
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟 (I like the picture Ms. Jackson paints of Hill House and it's horrifying past, I'll give the book that.)
Story: 🌟🌟(Again, I have the horrible problem of having seen The Haunting many, many times. It's one of my favorite movies. So I knew the basic premise of the story going in. It's a bit of a chicken before the egg dilemma for me. Did I love the movie more for the liberties the director took with the source material? Did I hate the book for being so different from the movie adaptation? Is it just because I dislike Eleanor Vance that much? I cannot say. All I can say is that I've heard popular horror novelists describe this book as truly frightening and for me it just... wasn't.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟 2.6 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟
2.6 of 5 stars!
Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
Blurb:
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I love the cover of this book! It's what first made me notice this book when I saw it mentioned online, even before I read the blurb.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("A thief, an officer, a guardian. Three Strangers, One Shared Destiny." - This tagline in the blurb really drew me in and made me want to learn more.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (You need to consider the characters as I did: Chatine, Marcellus, and Alouette are mainly the only characters that matter in this story. Sure, there are other characters in this story; Chatine's parents and sister, Marcellus's grandfather and former governess, Alouette's father and the sisters, and Inspectuer Limier - but they're mostly varying degrees of background noise. We have Chatine masquerading as a boy named Theo, Marcellus trying to become the man his grandfather wants him to be while having insecurities and fears that he could be like his father, and Alouette who wishes to explore the world above her underground refuge and has forgotten memories of her life before coming to the refuge. I liked Marcellus and Chatine but for some reason I really did not like Alouette.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I loved discovering the world of Laterre. With its fabulous world of the elite in Ledome to the slums of the frets, the peace of the defector camps, and the vast nothingness of the land beyond the capital and the horror that is Montfer. I can't wait to see more in the second book!)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This book grabbed me right away, from the 75 page readalong hosted by the authors to the rest of the book - I was hooked. I've never read Les Miserables, only once briefly watched a few minutes of the horrendous movie adaptation with Hugh Jackman (I like musicals okay? Just not when there's no dialogue and just singing) so I really am unfamiliar with the plot of it and can't tell you how closely this reimagining compares to the source material. There was a brief section in the middle where it felt like the story dragged (only about 50 pages) but the story quickly picked up again and the ending left me breathless! I can't stop thinking about this book and all I can say is: I WANT MORE!)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.6 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.6 of 5 stars!
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
Blurb:
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟 (The cover is pretty to be sure. It's vibrant and in person, sparkly which I love. It's not my favorite cover this year, but it's not bad.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("Let them hear her." Oooh I love that tagline! It makes me think of fierce female leads.)
Characters: 🌟 (I honestly could not connect with any of the characters in this book. I wanted to like them but I just ended up finding them lacking. It's infuriating with a tagline on the cover and the premise of a fierce female lead that I'm left with the impression that the female lead is more of a side note in someone else's story.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟(This book should have had amazing worldbuilding, the blurb sets you right up for it but in the end I found it unoriginal. Maybe I've read too many fantasy novels of late, but this setting just didn't stand out for me.)
Story: 🌟(I really tried to like this book. The premise sounded good but this book fell flat for me. I often find that when a book is as hyped up as this book has been, described as "one of the biggest hits of the year," that I struggle to get through it. I found myself skimming this book more than actually reading it. I have peculiar reading tastes and this book just wasn't for me.)
Overall: 🌟🌟 2.4 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟
2.4 of 5 stars!
You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This cover definitely grabbed my attention when I first saw it. I love the title font but I wish the tagline would be a little more visible and the author's name kind of blends in with the... is it wheat?)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("Love on the line. Life on the open road." This tagline sounds interesting, but it's the blurb that really draws the reader in.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (Annie is country music royalty but she's reluctant to step into the spotlight. Clay is a rising star and the bad boy you can't help but fall for in this story.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(I honestly think if you liked the show Nashville, you'll probably love this book because that is the vibe I got from it.)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟(I liked this book well enough. I'm a big fan of books about musicians, opposites attract, hate-to-love that kind of thing. But this book lacked a little of the drama, sass, and bickering I've come to expect, but then I think - this is YA and most of the musician love stories I've read are aimed at a NA age group so perhaps that's where it deviates for me. If Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series could be compared to a sexy lifetime movie, You'd Be Mine is a cute Hallmark type book.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 3.8 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
3.8 of 5 stars!
Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟(I love, love, love the cover of this book! It's dark, mysterious, and gorgeous!)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("The End is Only the Beginning." Hold for a minute while I think of the line from The Mummy, "death is only the beginning." I do love the tagline for this book, it makes me want to see what that cryptic line means.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I like the unique names of the characters in this book. Instead of the names they had in life they are named by the objects with them when they come back from their graves. Key, Ribbon, Smoke... unusual, but kind of cool character names. I thought the characters were reasonably developed, I feel like I got a good handle on their personalities.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This book, above all things is creative, and that definitely extends to the worldbuilding. I enjoyed seeing the world through Key's eyes... The world of Under is dark and delightfully creepy which I absolutely loved!)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This book is so unique and creative... there's just something so different about it. I was hooked from the beginning and the story did not let me down. It was a little confusing at times and dragged in a few places but overall, it was a good read! The writing is easy to get into which makes for a quick read that will keep you dying for answers alongside Key to the very end.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.4 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.4 of 5 stars!
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting;' Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.
My Review:Cover: 🌟 (Like Game of Thrones, The Haunting of Hill House has many variations when it comes to cover. This is not one of my favorites. I much prefer the Penguin Horror Classics cover for a creepier vibe.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("Makes your blood chill and your scalp prickle" - from a New York Times Review Blurb on a different cover. This tagline prepares you for a chilling read.)
Characters: 🌟🌟 (Oh Eleanor, Eleanor how I hate you. You're weak, your gullible, you're.. annoying. The problem I had connecting with the characters in this book has entirely to do with the differences between the book and the 1999 movie adaptation, The Haunting [my personal favorite adaptation]. )
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟 (I like the picture Ms. Jackson paints of Hill House and it's horrifying past, I'll give the book that.)
Story: 🌟🌟(Again, I have the horrible problem of having seen The Haunting many, many times. It's one of my favorite movies. So I knew the basic premise of the story going in. It's a bit of a chicken before the egg dilemma for me. Did I love the movie more for the liberties the director took with the source material? Did I hate the book for being so different from the movie adaptation? Is it just because I dislike Eleanor Vance that much? I cannot say. All I can say is that I've heard popular horror novelists describe this book as truly frightening and for me it just... wasn't.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟 2.6 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟
2.6 of 5 stars!
Sky Without Stars by Jessica Brody and Joanne Rendell
Blurb:
A thief. An officer. A guardian.
Three strangers, one shared destiny . . .
When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. A new life for a wealthy French family and their descendants. But five hundred years later, it’s now a place where an extravagant elite class reigns supreme; where the clouds hide the stars and the poor starve in the streets; where a rebel group, long thought dead, is resurfacing.
Whispers of revolution have begun—a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes…
Chatine is a street-savvy thief who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime, including spy on Marcellus, the grandson of the most powerful man on the planet.
Marcellus is an officer—and the son of a renowned traitor. In training to take command of the military, Marcellus begins to doubt the government he’s vowed to serve when his father dies and leaves behind a cryptic message that only one person can read: a girl named Alouette.
Alouette is living in an underground refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. But a shocking murder will bring Alouette to the surface for the first time in twelve years…and plunge Laterre into chaos.
All three have a role to play in a dangerous game of revolution—and together they will shape the future of a planet.
Power, romance, and destiny collide in this sweeping reimagining of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Misérables.
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I love the cover of this book! It's what first made me notice this book when I saw it mentioned online, even before I read the blurb.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("A thief, an officer, a guardian. Three Strangers, One Shared Destiny." - This tagline in the blurb really drew me in and made me want to learn more.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (You need to consider the characters as I did: Chatine, Marcellus, and Alouette are mainly the only characters that matter in this story. Sure, there are other characters in this story; Chatine's parents and sister, Marcellus's grandfather and former governess, Alouette's father and the sisters, and Inspectuer Limier - but they're mostly varying degrees of background noise. We have Chatine masquerading as a boy named Theo, Marcellus trying to become the man his grandfather wants him to be while having insecurities and fears that he could be like his father, and Alouette who wishes to explore the world above her underground refuge and has forgotten memories of her life before coming to the refuge. I liked Marcellus and Chatine but for some reason I really did not like Alouette.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I loved discovering the world of Laterre. With its fabulous world of the elite in Ledome to the slums of the frets, the peace of the defector camps, and the vast nothingness of the land beyond the capital and the horror that is Montfer. I can't wait to see more in the second book!)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This book grabbed me right away, from the 75 page readalong hosted by the authors to the rest of the book - I was hooked. I've never read Les Miserables, only once briefly watched a few minutes of the horrendous movie adaptation with Hugh Jackman (I like musicals okay? Just not when there's no dialogue and just singing) so I really am unfamiliar with the plot of it and can't tell you how closely this reimagining compares to the source material. There was a brief section in the middle where it felt like the story dragged (only about 50 pages) but the story quickly picked up again and the ending left me breathless! I can't stop thinking about this book and all I can say is: I WANT MORE!)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.6 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.6 of 5 stars!
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.
A prince in danger must decide who to trust.
A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.
Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.
In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy...
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟 (The cover is pretty to be sure. It's vibrant and in person, sparkly which I love. It's not my favorite cover this year, but it's not bad.)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("Let them hear her." Oooh I love that tagline! It makes me think of fierce female leads.)
Characters: 🌟 (I honestly could not connect with any of the characters in this book. I wanted to like them but I just ended up finding them lacking. It's infuriating with a tagline on the cover and the premise of a fierce female lead that I'm left with the impression that the female lead is more of a side note in someone else's story.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟(This book should have had amazing worldbuilding, the blurb sets you right up for it but in the end I found it unoriginal. Maybe I've read too many fantasy novels of late, but this setting just didn't stand out for me.)
Story: 🌟(I really tried to like this book. The premise sounded good but this book fell flat for me. I often find that when a book is as hyped up as this book has been, described as "one of the biggest hits of the year," that I struggle to get through it. I found myself skimming this book more than actually reading it. I have peculiar reading tastes and this book just wasn't for me.)
Overall: 🌟🌟 2.4 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟
2.4 of 5 stars!
You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn
Blurb:
Annie Mathers is America’s sweetheart and heir to a country music legacy full of all the things her Gran warned her about. Superstar Clay Coolidge is most definitely going to end up one of those things.
But unfortunately for Clay, if he can’t convince Annie to join his summer tour, his music label is going to drop him. That’s what happens when your bad boy image turns into bad boy reality. Annie has been avoiding the spotlight after her parents’ tragic death, except on her skyrocketing YouTube channel. Clay’s label wants to land Annie, and Clay has to make it happen.
Swayed by Clay’s undeniable charm and good looks, Annie and her band agree to join the tour. From the start fans want them to be more than just tour mates, and Annie and Clay can’t help but wonder if the fans are right. But if there’s one part of fame Annie wants nothing to do with, it’s a high-profile relationship. She had a front row seat to her parents’ volatile marriage and isn’t interested in repeating history. If only she could convince her heart that Clay, with his painful past and head over heels inducing tenor, isn’t worth the risk.
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This cover definitely grabbed my attention when I first saw it. I love the title font but I wish the tagline would be a little more visible and the author's name kind of blends in with the... is it wheat?)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("Love on the line. Life on the open road." This tagline sounds interesting, but it's the blurb that really draws the reader in.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (Annie is country music royalty but she's reluctant to step into the spotlight. Clay is a rising star and the bad boy you can't help but fall for in this story.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(I honestly think if you liked the show Nashville, you'll probably love this book because that is the vibe I got from it.)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟(I liked this book well enough. I'm a big fan of books about musicians, opposites attract, hate-to-love that kind of thing. But this book lacked a little of the drama, sass, and bickering I've come to expect, but then I think - this is YA and most of the musician love stories I've read are aimed at a NA age group so perhaps that's where it deviates for me. If Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series could be compared to a sexy lifetime movie, You'd Be Mine is a cute Hallmark type book.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 3.8 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
3.8 of 5 stars!
Smoke and Key by Kelsey Sutton
Blurb:
A sound awakens her. There's darkness all around. And then she's falling...
She has no idea who or where she is. Or why she's dead. The only clue to her identity hangs around her neck: a single rusted key. This is how she and the others receive their names—from whatever belongings they had when they fell out of their graves. Under is a place of dirt and secrets, and Key is determined to discover the truth of her past in order to escape it.
She needs help, but who can she trust? Ribbon seems content in Under, uninterested in finding answers. Doll’s silence hints at deep sorrow, which could be why she doesn't utter a word. There's Smoke, the boy with a fierceness that rivals even the living. And Journal, who stays apart from everyone else. Key's instincts tell her there is something remarkable about each of them, even if she can't remember why.
Then the murders start; bodies that are burnt to a crisp. After being burned, the dead stay dead. Key is running out of time to discover who she was—and what secret someone is willing to kill to keep hidden—before she becomes the next victim…
My Review:
Cover: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟(I love, love, love the cover of this book! It's dark, mysterious, and gorgeous!)
Summary/Tagline: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 ("The End is Only the Beginning." Hold for a minute while I think of the line from The Mummy, "death is only the beginning." I do love the tagline for this book, it makes me want to see what that cryptic line means.)
Characters: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 (I like the unique names of the characters in this book. Instead of the names they had in life they are named by the objects with them when they come back from their graves. Key, Ribbon, Smoke... unusual, but kind of cool character names. I thought the characters were reasonably developed, I feel like I got a good handle on their personalities.)
Worldbuilding: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This book, above all things is creative, and that definitely extends to the worldbuilding. I enjoyed seeing the world through Key's eyes... The world of Under is dark and delightfully creepy which I absolutely loved!)
Story: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(This book is so unique and creative... there's just something so different about it. I was hooked from the beginning and the story did not let me down. It was a little confusing at times and dragged in a few places but overall, it was a good read! The writing is easy to get into which makes for a quick read that will keep you dying for answers alongside Key to the very end.)
Overall: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 4.4 of 5 Stars!
My Rating:
🌟🌟🌟🌟
4.4 of 5 stars!
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