Booksthetics: Wolf by Wolf

Thought I'd start a new thing where I do book aesthetics or "booksthetics". Just thought it would be fun, so here's my first one for Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. Hope you enjoy!

Book Review: Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf is an alternate history set in the year 1956 where the Axis powers won World War II. To commemorate their victory, a motorcycle race across Europe and Asia is held with the prize being a private audience with Hitler. Yael, having previously lived in a death camp, has the ability to shape shift (due to the experimenting in the death camp), and her goal is to enter the race as last year's victor, win and kill Hitler.

Rate: 5/5 stars

This book was FANTASTIC! If you didn't know, I love the WWII era, so that on top of a SUPER interesting premise, a shape shifting assassin, deeper running themes, interesting characters and relationships, plus a cross-continental motorcycle race made this book one of my favourites. This book also switched between two timelines seamlessly, and it was wonderful. Wolf by Wolf is an extremely underrated book, and I encourage you to read it!

Spoilers ahead.  

So as I mentioned before, Ryan Graudin did a fabulous job of switching back and forth between timelines. I loved seeing Yael's background in the labour camp and how she got to where she was currently in the story. But I have to say that I loved the race just a bit more. I just love the whole feel of it! The action, the scheming, the plotting, the secrets and the characters just made that part of the story amazing.

I really loved the interactions between Luka and Yael as we knew that there was something between Luka and Adele. It created this really interesting dynamic between Yael, as she tried to pretend to be Adele and did not know everything about her and Luka while simultaneously trying to not have any feelings for anyone in the race (especially not a German who she is supposed to hate after what she went through). While on the other hand Luka was in love/falling in love with someone pretending to be the girl he knew for last race. The theme that there are so many different sides to people emerged, and I was happy to have deeper meanings wrapped up in the story. I also liked how Yael was constantly fighting her demons, creating another deeper theme within the story.

The constant action in this book kept me at the edge of my seat and was another one of the reasons why I whipped through this book. The constant plotting and sabotaging was great! Some of my favourite action-y parts where when the racers had to escape from the Soviets they encountered, the sabotaging of Katsuo and his death, along with the part at the very end where Adele finally managed to kill "Hitler" who turned out to be another shape shifter. And speaking of the other shape shifter, that opens up a whole other can of worms for the next book. I can't wait to see what happens in Blood for Blood!

Overall this book was freaking AMAZING! I loved the characters, relationships, plot, action and the overall feel of this book! I NEED the sequel now!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Trailer Reaction

I'm SUPER excited for this movie (like every other Harry Potter fan), so I've decided to do a trailer reaction/talk/review. If you haven't watched the trailer yet, what are you doing with your life?! I've already lost track of how many times I've watched it! But you can watch it here if you haven't already.

First of all, I love the feel/aesthetic of this movie so much! I love the fact that it is set in the 20s in New York. If you didn't know, I adore movies and books set anywhere between the 20s and 40s; I think it makes for an atmospheric and fascinating setting. The costumes and set for the movie really makes the feel of the movie amazing. I mean look at Newt Scamander's coat! It's absolutely gorgeous (and so are the other costumes)! 

Also, who are all these new characters?! I can't wait to see who they are, because the only character we really know about is Newt. I'm also excited to see where the plot goes since we know so little about Newt Scamander and the wizarding world in the 1920s. Plus there is a whole new wizarding culture to explore since the movie is set in America this time!

Now let's talk about the actual beasts. We only get to see a handful of them in the trailer, so I'm hoping there will be lots more in the actual movie.

My favourite is the mole thing in the last picture! It's so cute! The blue, winged creature is also pretty cool, and I don't even know what the thing inside his suitcase is supposed to be.

It was also mentioned that Newt was expelled from Hogwarts and that Dumbledore argued against his expulsion, so hopefully they will expand on that. I wonder if we'll see a young Dumbledore?

And finally, I wanted to talk about the music. It was so GOOD! I loved how they incorporated some of the old music (Hedwig's Theme) from the original Harry Potter movies. It was just done so well and it really added to the overall greatness of the trailer!

Overall I was really pleased with the trailer! I loved the aesthetic/feel of it, and the cinematography, costumes, setting and overall quality was fantastic (*wink*). I can't wait for November! Let me know down below what your favourite part of the trailer was!

The Hamilton Book Tag

So, lately I've become a little bit obsessed with this musical, Hamilton. If you haven't heard of it before, it is a musical that tells the story of Alexander Hamilton (one of America's founding fathers) and the American Revolution through hip-hop/R&B songs. It's SO GOOD and I would definitely recommend checking it out (it's on Spotify). So, I'd thought I'd do this tag, which was created by Maureen Keavy. Link to her video here .

Anyways, here we go.

1. The Room Where it Happens: A Book World You Would Put Yourself In

I'm going to go with the obvious choice here and choose the wizarding world of Harry Potter. I would absolutely love to live in that world! Ever since reading that series I've wanted to attend Hogwarts!

2. The Schuyler Sisters: An Underrated Female Character

I think that Zu from Alex Bracken's The Darkest Minds trilogy is pretty underrated. She has been through A LOT at such a young age and I think she is one of the strongest characters in the series because of this. She need some more recognition!

3. My Shot: A Character That Goes After What They Want and Doesn't Let Anything Stop Them

Celaena Sardothien from the Throne of Glass series definitely goes after what she wants. She is a super strong female character and is willing to manipulate and kill for whatever she wants.

4. Stay Alive: A Character You Wish Was Still Alive

SPOILERS FOR THE BOOK THIEF.

I wish that everybody from The Book Thief was still alive. Especially Rudy, Hans and Rosa since they died during the bombing and not of old age like Liesel.

5. Burn: The Most Heartbreaking End to a Relationship

SPOILERS FOR THE DARKEST MINDS.

The end to Ruby and Liam's relationship (kind of) in The Darkest Minds was super devastating and frustrating since Ruby didn't have to erase herself from Liam's memory (and they are one of my OTPs). The fact that it also ended in a cliffhanger made it that much worse.

6. You'll Be Back: The Sassiest Villain

Here I'm going to have to say Moriarty from BBC's Sherlock, which is kind of cheating since I've only seen the show and not read the stories (I know, I'm terrible). But Moriarty (played by Andrew Scott) is my favourite villain of all time, he has some of the best dialogue, and impeccable taste.

7. The Reynolds Pamphlet: A Book With Twist You Didn't See Coming

There were a ton of scheming and twists in Queen of Shadows. You'll know what I'm talking about if you've read it.

8. Non-Stop: A Series You Marathoned

Last Year I marathoned all of Rick Riordan's completed series: Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus and The Kane Chronicles (with a break between each series, mind you). I read all of PJO first, then later went back to marathon HoO, and then again later that year I read KC.

9. Satisfied: Favourite Book With Multiple POVs

I'm going to have to go back to one of Rick Riordan's books, The Mark of Athena. I was super glad that we finally got to see some of the story from Annabeth's point of view, and I loved her narration!

10. Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story: A Book/Series That Will Be Remembered Throughout History

Harry Potter obviously! Enough said.

BONUS QUESTIONS!

11. Helpless: A Relationship You Were Pulling For From the Start

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. OTP, OTP, OTP.

12. Ten Duel Commandments: Favourite Fight Scene 

The fight scene at the end of The Last Olympian was great. The whole book was basically one huge battle, it was amazing!

13. Say No To This: A Guilty Pleasure Read

I don't really have an answer for this question. The Selection series maybe?

14.  What Comes Next: A Series You Wish Had More Books

Again, Harry Potter! I think everybody wants more.

15. Right Hand Man: Favourite BROTP

I'd have to say that one of my favourite friendships would have to be the golden trio from Harry Potter, but I also really love [Spoiler (ish) for The Throne of Glass series] Aelin and Lysandra's friendship.

16. What'd I Miss: A Book or Series You Were Late to Reading

PJO and HoO. I only got around to them last year (crazy right?!)!

That's it for the tag! You should definitely go check out Hamilton if you haven't listened to it yet!

Easter Reading!

This long Easter weekend I hope to get a good amount of reading done! Yesterday (Thursday), school was cancelled due to bad weather, so I ended up getting a five day weekend! Unfortunately, I've been a sick since yesterday afternoon, which has limited my reading a bit. 

Currently I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and I'm about 80 pages in. I hope to finish it and then move on to A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (finally).

So far Miss Peregrine's is pretty good and I'm enjoying the narration! Can't wait to finish it so I can watch the trailer (and then the movie when it comes out)!

Well, that's it for this reading update. What are you guys reading over the Easter break?

Book Review: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

This synopsis contains spoilers for the previous books in the series.

In the fourth installation of the Throne of Glass series, Celaena Sardothien, who has now embraced her title of Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen, returns to the kingdom of Adarlan to deal with her past and fight for her country.

Overall this book was really great (even though it took me a while to read). It has become my second favourite book in the series next to the first novel. Characters changed, new ones were introduced, ships sank and battles were fought. I would recommend reading The Assassin's Blade before you read this because it has connections to the novella woven in, and it gives the story more depth.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Spoilers ahead.

Some of my favourite parts of this book were the epic battle scenes, specifically the one between Manon and Aelin. I was glad that we the two characters met, and I thought the fight between them was amazing and well written. I also enjoyed the final battle at the castle with the King of Adarlan, Dorian and Aelin. Magic was freed (finally), Dorian became himself again (mostly) and the King died. But as it turns out, he might have just been a chess piece in a bigger plan, Erawan might just be Perrington. I also loved how Aelin and Dorian's magic worked together seamlessly. 

Manon's chapters also got more interesting. She's starting to become more "human", and tensions seem to be rising between and her grandmother. The scene where she fled Morath while Kaltain burnt it to the ground. I think it will be interesting to see where her character will go in the next books.

Another one of my favourite parts of the book was when Aelin was planning to kill Arobynn. The dinner, Aelin playing up Celaena's character, the part where I thought she was under Arobynn's control, the extreme scheming, everything about that part of the book was just great.

Finally, can we just talk about the characters and their relationships? Aelin's character certainly changed quite a bit, maybe to the extent of it being a bit unrealistic. She and Chaol have both changed so much that I think we've come to the conclusion that that ship has sunk. A relationship between Aelin and Rowan seems to be building though, which I'm fine with this, but I don't love them. After reading about her and Sam in The Assassin's Blade, I just don't think that Aelin and Rowan's relationship is as great. The one relationship that I absolutely loved though was Aelin and Lysandra's! I love that we got an amazing friendship between two female characters, something that I think we need to see more in the YA genre.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

In the land of Mytica, three countries rule, Auranos, Limeros and Paelsia, but not for long if things continue to head downhill...

Four individuals are pulled into the brewing war of the three countries. They must deal with political 

maneuvering and the consequences of war on top of their own personal issues.

Pampered Princess Cleo of Auranos is trying to cope with the murder she witnessed before her own eyes. And when her sister falls sick, she sets out on a quest to find a magical legend as a last resort.

Jonas, a rebel from Paelsia, is angry and wants vengeance for his brothers death. He finds himself a leader of a rebellion for his oppressed country.  

Magnus, the heir of Limeros, is the King of Blood's son. But he doesn't want to end up like his father when he is to become king. Meanwhile, his sister, Lucia, begins to discover the secrets of her heritage.

Rate: 3.5/5 stars

I thought that I was really going to enjoy reading this book. I'd heard great things about this series, and the concept sounded like something I would enjoy quite a bit. But it turns out, I didn't like as much as I thought I would. At first I gave this book a four star rating, but when I began to think about it more, I realized that not a lot happened, and I didn't like it as much as I thought. Overall, the book was just okay. I think I'll continue with the series, but it's not on the top of my list.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

For the most part, the characters in this book didn't amaze me. Although I did think that Magnus was decent, but maybe that's because I like morally grey characters. The rest-- Cleo, Jonas and Lucia-- didn't do too much for me. They just didn't seem as fleshed out as some other characters I've read.

I wished that the magic system was explored a bit more. We got to see some of the things that Lucia could do, but that was only until the second half of the book, and even then we barely saw any of it. I think that elementia could be a pretty cool magic system if we got to see more of it.

Another thing that I wished we got to see more of was the action. During the war scenes, we barely got to see any of the actual fighting. It was kind of skimmed over by the author. Action is one of my favourite things in a book, so I was disappointed that there wasn't too much of it in this book.

I thought that the war in this book took too long to develop. I was kind of let down by the overall plot. Interesting things did happen though, Cleo went out to search for an ancient watcher, Lucia discovered her magic, alliances were made, as well as betrayals. But it was just the way it was executed that made me like it less.

Also the fact that Cleo and Theon fell in "love"quite quickly bothered me. They only really realized it right as Theon was dying. I didn't care much about his death anyways. 

The book overall wasn't horrible, I just didn't love it like some people.