The Hating Game - Sally Thorne

What a fun read! This book is the definition of adult rom. The clichés, characters, and overarching story are just perfect to give you the right vibes you get while watching a romantic comedy film.

The book is about two colleagues, Lucy and Josh, who hate each other. Really hate each other. When a promotion comes up, their rivalry reaches an ultimate high. Feelings get confusing and maybe, just maybe, they don't actually hate each other as much as they thought?

Aaaah Sally Thorne wrote a little wonder which I adore. I cannot wait to reread it! I just feel that this is one of these books that'll give me comfort in difficult times and I need to escape to a safe world that can make me feel better.

Lucy and Josh are just such a funny dynamic duo. The sexual tension is just cutting so much in everything they do. The hate being described is so intense that you can just tell from the beginning what the end of the book will be - which was fine by me hehe -, but I didn't expect the scenes to be this heated! Their chemistry is incredible and I didn't expect it to be so hot - believe me . . . - and so sexy. The dialogue, wasn't cringe somehow? No idea how Sally did that, because every cliché in the book was used!:
- Unexpected first kiss-moment
- Getting a fake date to make the other jealous-moment
- You're sick so I'll take care of you-moment
- . . .
AND SO MANY MORE!!!! BUT I DON'T WANNA SPOIL IT FOR PEOPLE hehe. I found a lot of joy in how these clichés were used because the comfort of knowing what will happen next is something that makes you keep on reading. 

"Then why doesn't this book get 5/5?" you ask me. Well, there were certain things I wished the author would've elaborated on. I wanted to see Josh meeting Lucy's parents. In the beginning, Lucy's dad makes clear that he will give Josh a hard time if he ever meets him. That's just something I would've loved to see in the book! Josh being grilled. Also, he always talks about the strawberry farm and how he wants to visit. Sally could've written an extra 100 pages showing this because it felt as if it was gonna happen somehow? Anywho. . . Another thing I wanted to see was a follow-up on the relationship between Josh and his dad. It ended on such an epic note thanks to Lucy, but I wanted to know the aftermath. Is Anthony now trying for his son? Does he contact him? Does he feel guilty? I WANT TO KNOW. In other words, the ending didn't give me the closure I needed from this book and I feel that a lot of things are unsaid and promises made by the author have not been worked out completely. 

Despite certain things, this book still deserves an amazing 4/5⭐️'s!

To Kill a Kingdom - Alexandra Christo

 When I think about the ideal comfort book with lots of action, my favorite tropes, and a lot of fantasy... I think of this book! To Kill a Kingdom is the ideal escapism dressed up as a fairytale gone rogue. It'll make you laugh, scream, and - let's be real- tear a little up at the end. A must-read for people who like a stand-alone book, but who still want to be taken into a world full of wonder. 

The story is about the Siren Princess, Lira, who steals and takes the heart of princes, and the Prince of the kingdom of Gold, Elian, who makes it his life's mission to track down and kill Sirens. 

When Lira disobeys her mother, the Sea Queen, she has to make amends to get back on her good side. Her punishment is becoming what she hates most: Human. Take the prince his heart out without her song to lure him. But along the way, she learns things about herself that make her doubt her actions.

"Then you should be able to steal the prince's heart even without your voice. Without your song."

Prince Elian is shocked to hear about the death of his friend, Prince Cristian, killed by the famous Siren: Prince's Bane. To avenge him and all the other people who were killed by these monsters, he decides to go on a mission to get the Crystal of Keto to eliminate the entire Sea Kingdom, although he doesn't know how to really get it. But when he saves a drowning girl in the middle of the sea, he doesn't know if he can trust her to help him find the most powerful object in the world.

THIS. BOOK. IS. SO. GOOD. I know, it's another reread - been doing this recently a lot -, but it brings me so much joy. It's one of these books that I read once and I remember was so good that now, after some time, I WANT to read again. 

Every scene has something unique that will keep you captivated by this book. The pacing is quick, fun, and action-packed so there's never a dull moment! The story is a fun take on The Little Mermaid story and is such a page-turner. You will have to finish it without taking a break.

The two main characters are such a joy to follow. Both of them are morally grey, and morally discovering what's good and bad. Will they trust each other? Is Lira going to kill him and redeem herself as a worthy heir for her mother? They both have their individual journey, and they learn a lot about themselves by watching the other. It's the ultimate enemies to lovers-trope and I'm all here for it! Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing the two of them bicker and fight, but then ending up saving each other's asses all the time! They're an underrated book couple that doesn't get enough credit on the online book platforms. I just love them so much... 🖤

This book is a masterpiece. One of the most fun retellings ever of a fairytale story that will leave every fantasy reader want to join this world. 

5/5⭐️'s, because this book is just everything I needed in this world right now.

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

 Oh, the magic, the ambiance, and the characters. This book is everything I long for. 

Set at the end of the 19th century, a challenge between two gentlemen starts. A challenge of skill and endurance. The two candidates are Celia and Marco. They both grow up training for defeating each other and when the time has come to begin the competition officially; the Night Circus is born. Welcome to a magical world that makes you feel as living in a dream. 


All I can say is "Wow". I reread this book. The first time around I've already found it magical, but now I discovered more things that I hadn't before. Let's take a closer look at why this book is one of my favorite ones out there:

1) The atmosphere 
Erin Morgenstern brings a vibrant world to life in the way how she describes scenes. There are passages that will tell you all about the outlook of the circus. What certain tents look like from the inside, or there are passages that tell you the way how an interior looks like. Don't worry, they're not endlessly long. They're the right amount of length to keep you invested to discover the world and to feel the magic in the entire scenery. Amazing how she does it. 

2) The usage of time 
The book follows two stories that are set in a different timeline, but come together at the end in some way. You have to see it as a chain of reactions happening in the first timeline which will trigger the second timeline. You can compare it a little to a Christopher Nolan movie where he uses time often as an important part of his storytelling (think Inception in the dreams, Interstellar in the Black Hole, or Dunkirk with the 3 timelines - so yes, a lot like that last one). Just as in these movies, Time plays a pivotal role in this book. Timing is everything. You just have to be at the right spot at the right time. In the beginning, it won't make much sense, but when eventually it comes together and you will understand. Let the time guide you. 

3) The characters 
Waw. I l o v e all the characters. 

Celia and Marco are everything you need in a book: A slow-burn romance, a lovers-to-enemy romance, and a forbidden romance. It's enchanting and daring and both of them are so different but just drawn to each other, despite the fact that they compete against one another until a winner is declared. Both of them grew up in different circumstances and had different training, but the way they fit together is perfect despite their imperfections. Both make mistakes, both feel overwhelmed, and both feel infatuated with each other. Their entire lives have been about the other, creating a bond that even their teachers cannot deny. 

Bailey is an interesting young boy we get to follow. He's nothing special. No particular skills, no big ambitions, and no special life planned ahead of him. The only thing he truly - truly - has is his fascination with the Night Circus which starts at a young age. And when he breaks into the circus at a young age on a dare, he meets Poppet, and here starts his weird, but a magical journey with the circus. I love his inner dialogue and love that we get to see the magic of the world through his eyes as opposed to Celia and Marco who create the magic. Bailey shows us what it looks like from an outside perspective. 

Of course, there are many other characters who bring this book to life such as Isobel, Poppet, Widget, mister Friedrick Thiessen, mister Chandresch, and one of my favorites Tsukiko. So many more people should be mentioned, but this review would go on forever otherwise, and let's be real, I hardly doubt many people want to hear me ramble on forever about how amazing everything written in this book is. 

So yeah, this sums up my thoughts about the book that I adore with my life. Having all the aspects I need from a story. Romance, tension, and magic. 

5/5⭐️'s, but it deserves so much more.

Rule of Wolves - Leigh Bardugo

OMGOMGOMG. I just wanna scream with excitement! This book is everything I wanted from Leigh Bardugo. She just read my mind and was like, "Yeah, let's give Elke the freaking book she wants". The perfect story and twists and turns and wittiness and omg I cannot keep on raving about it! 

This is gonna be a review full of spoilers because there is just sooooo much to talk about that got me this pumped up!!! So apologies in advance for the use of capslock and the amount of explanation marks hehe.

Woooooow, what a story! I don't even know where to begin. So much to process. I loved A L L of it. In King of Scars, I wasn't the biggest fan of Nina, but oh boy did she bloom! Finally, I felt that she was still thinking of Mattias. I was afraid that she moved on so quickly, but when she encountered the boy who actually killed him I was so happy to see so much emotion in her! And then her confiding in Hanne and how brave she was. OMG, Hanne is just going through life now as a freaking prince? They're so good together. Yes, girls. You are so powerful!!! Nina's character development was everything I wanted from her and she delivered! I AM SO HAPPY WITH THIS. The perfect end for her. <3

And OMG. Can we talk about Zoyalai???? Zoya and Nikolai are just perfect together. 

"I would give you a crown if I could," he said. "I would show you the world from the prow of a ship. I would choose you, Zoya. As my general, as my friend, as my bride. I would give you a sapphire the size of an acorn."

This was some foreshadowing!!! I thought they would marry at the end of the book, or something when I read this quote. But oh boy was I surprised. Yeah, Nikolai is some sort of consort and will probably marry Zoya. BUT HE GAVE UP HIS CROWN FOR HER AND JUST HANDED IT OVER TO HER. Zoya is officially a queen. She already was one before, but now it's, like, legit??? He accepted being a bastard and the fate of not being a king anymore. Come on, how can you not love Nikolai??? Everyone should deserve a man like him. For real! Here is also my favorite quote from him when talking about his seducing skills that had me laughing out loud:

"I have a gift for persuasion. I once talked a tree out of its leaves."
"Nonsense."
"Well, it was autumn. I can't take full credit."

Thank you Leigh for this amazing character!!

Also, Alina and Mal made an appearance??? This book just makes me want to S C R E A M. Honestly??? How do I move on after reading all this???? The Darkling wanted to see her, and we really should thank him for that request because that's exactly the request every reader wanted???? 

Now, Let's move on to elephant in the room here. THE CROWS WERE IN THIS BOOK. All of them. How???? It was amazing to see Kaz, Jesper, and Wylan again! The little heist was so needed and made my heart all fluttery! I looooooved the interaction between Nikolai and Kaz. And Jesper being typical Jesper with Wylan being the voice of reason. Like, how much did all of us need to see them again??? And even though Inej was hunting slave traders and is not involved, we get a glimpse of her at the end and I just cannot. And the freakin' last sentence of the book is this??? 

"Get a message to the Crow Club," she said. "Tell Kaz Brekker the queen of Ravka has a job for him."

I sense a new book coming and this is gonna be the death of me. 

I think I'm gonna explode with emotions of happiness! This book is worth more than 5/5⭐️'s!!!!

Previous Reviews of Leigh Bardugo's books:

• Shadow & Bone
• Siege & Storm
• Ruin & Rising
• Six of Crows
• Crooked Kingdom
• King of Scars

A Sky Beyond the Storm - Sabaa Tahir

 An Ember in the Ashes. Finito now. What a ride Sabaa Tahir took me on... 

Finishing this book has been a challenge for me as I couldn't care less about the story anymore, but the characters got me through. It will be a review with spoilers, so beware! 

Allow me to explain. 

The story? Well, it was all over the place. I don't understand what the hell happened in the last book???!!! It was too much for me. I couldn't remember the beginning at all. There probably were 10 revelations throughout the entire book and I'm not sure that all of them mattered? I don't even remember more than half of it. And I finished it yesterday evening. Sooooo... yeah, I felt that it was rushed, not dwelled on, and just quickly written. Moreover, some things I wished Sabaa Tahir would elaborate on, she just left unsaid. I'm a little bit grumpy about the story. I couldn't follow 100% what was happening with the jinn? They couldn't die except with the scythe or something and then you had Grimaur (or something) which was a weird thing, and then next to that you have all the attacks of the Commandant, and in between somewhere Laia keeps escaping the Nightbringer. Oh and then you have the attacks on the Tribes people and the Waiting Place that is going to shit while the Soul Catcher is having inner battles with humanity. Confusing much? Yeah, because it was for me. These could have easily been divided into another book with more depth. 

And I was not happy with the ending that much. Though I did feel emotional (and yes even shed some tears) I felt... no closure? Maybe that's what Sabaa wanted with this book. But the characters deserved so much more than the trauma they went through. 

The theme was also clearly 'love', but man. Love hurts like a bitch in this one, doesn't it? 

Helene. Dear Helene. She really got dragged into the mud by the author. She's the main reason I cried in the book. Her ending was too tragic. I wanted it for her to be better. She lost E V E R Y T H I N G. I was sure that in some way she would get a happy ending. Yes, she does stay alive. But what happened with her sister wasn't fair and what happened to Harper wasn't fair. Their deaths were so quick and useless. So undeserved for her to lose again so many people around her. So much death and darkness. I truly admire her character. Because despite all that sadness in her life, she goes on. But it was just heartbreaking. Crying I did for her. Especially when she looked at Harper's corpse and said the following words: 

  “You got there first my love, I envy you so, for how will I endure without you?”

Helene deserved the world and more but ended up the opposite in my opinion. <3

I was a little bit annoyed with Elias and Laia. I somehow expected more scenes with them together. And when they did have them, I missed a lot of the F E E L S... It was, again, pretty rushed or not following through on the promises of a passionate relationship. Elias is constantly thinking as a Soul Catcher and I thought that Laia would get him out of it, but it eventually was Mauth who just said "Yo, you're right. You need feelings to understand the tribe better. Here ya go, enjoy". So yeah, that was just utter disappointing... I did like their ending together, though. They deserve to be happy because Laia endured a lot too.  

There are also some honorable characters I wanna take a look at who should be remembered in this series: 
1. Keris. 
I. Loved. Keris. Yes, give me a good villain who carries through on her promises of being evil, except when it comes to her only child. Yes. Yes. Yes. Ruthless. Dangerous. And absolutely unapologetic murderous without remorse. Her backstory gave a little insight, but I would love to just read everything about her. Give me an entire book to devour! I gladly will! She was incredible and someone I feared more than the Nightbringer. 

2. Marcus. 
Damn, I would've loved to have some more Marcus. I think the was more potential for him to see him go completely mad and seeing the ghost of his brother, but also by being a father now. I think that's a missed opportunity that could've been something great. Anywho, he should've died at the end. But there could've been so much more to him! 

3. Izzi. 
Dear Izzi died way too soon. I think that's also a theme with Sabaa Tahir. She kills the people you least expect. Izzi is having a taste of freedom for the first time ever and within months she's dead. She shouldn't have been. And the way she died also felt utterly useless. Totally by surprise. It was so quick and that's what made it so hard to say goodbye to her. She's set up as a true friend for Laia, which makes you feel that she'll make it to the end. But no. In the middle of book two death sweeps her away. She was funny and careless and brave. RIP <3 

4. Harper. 
I did not see this death coming. yet again, it died just as Izzi's. Quick, that made saying goodbye to him way worse. The reason why is that he is set up in a way that he's got so much unfinished business in the world left! Helene for god sake is his love and he never truly got to say it or the fact that he never gets to properly talk with his brother. I thought that he was gonna make it till the end. But I was wrong. And it broke my heart as I previously mentioned.

Also there were some things that I wasn't too happy with: 
1. Darin. 
The freaking guy who was the main reason the story is starting. We don't get a bond with him as a reader. We barely see the relationship he has with Laia, don't learn about his struggles properly that he had because of Kauf and we don't really know what he endured. [And then, he just died by screaming "Laia, I'm here and the Nightbringer just breaks his neck after that? After all the people saying that he shouldn't go after her????????!!!!!!!! It was so useless. His character was one of the most disappointing. 

2. Musa. 
What. Was. The. Point. Of. MUSA?! Why was he there? He did nothing really worthwhile? He was written as if going to be a major player in the entire story against the Nightbringer, but he just spies. Oh yeah, and also is the estranged husband of a princess who dangles along somewhere in a kingdom that doesn't want to help and she then just dies so also meeting her and the king were totally for nothing written into the series? The only thing I enjoyed was the humor. But that was it. For the rest, no idea what he did there. 

3. The freaking pace. 
Again. Can someone give me a timeline of what happens when to who? 'Cause I sure can't follow anymore. How old is the baby? How many months have passed since Livvy died? How many weeks is the Blood Shrike fighting in the city???? Aaaaaargh. I could not make sense of it. 

4. Fighting. 
I don't know. I often felt as if it was just Helene and Harper on a killing field, just the two of them against an army of like 1000 men haha. I could not deal with it. There was no imagining that they were standing there with an army. 

5. The Nightbringer. 
What the hell? Can someone please explain his entire arc again? Anyone? No? Okay then. Beloved or something. Whatever... 

Okay, I know I rambled a lot now about everything here, haha, and if you even read it till the end then you're a real miracle! Don't get me wrong, I loved the series. Otherwise, I wouldn't have so passionate written this review, and of course, there are some things that I dislike. But I still liked the story, although nothing could top the first book in the series: An Ember in the Ashes. It was the best with an amazing world-building and great backstories. 

I would like to give this book a 3.5/5⭐️'s (but on Goodreads standards, it's getting a 4)!

A Reaper at the Gates - Sabaa Tahir

Wooooh, where to start???? I have many feelings about this book. I hoped that it was gonna be as good as book nr 1 & 2, but it let me down a little bit. BUT DONUT WORRY. It was still great though! 

I'm gonna try to make this as spoiler-free as possible, but a lot of the reasons why I found it more on the 'meh'-side have to do with story details. So I will put a spoiler warning, just in case. 😉

Sooooo, let's dive into it. 

Elias, Laia, and Helene. They all three are getting more complex by the book. And I still love them. 

Laia doesn't really have a big development anymore. Or at least not in this book. I feel that she has gotten the max already out, though she's the fearless lioness now who does heroic things all the time. It's up to you to decide whether it's stupid or brave what she does. We learn quite a lot about the past of her mother, father, and sister. How they ended up dead and broken. Of course, with the typical Sabaa Tahir plot-twists in between to spice the drama up some more hehe. Something I found sad, though, was that in 'An Ember in the Ashes' & 'A Torch Against the Night' the main focus was on saving her brother. I know that the whole 'Nightbringer'-thing has shaken stuff up, but we barely get to see anything from Darin? I finally wanted to get to know his character and that didn't happen, unfortunately. *breaks a little inside* 

Elias his whole story in this book was just confusing. Don't get me wrong. I.LOVE.HIM. He is brave and makes every girl swoon, but this book messed him up! The whole 'forget your humanity'-vibe was just not working for me at all. The weird dialogue with Mauth, or whatever its name is, didn't go well. And additionally, the magic stuff was also not that clear? What can he properly do with it? Agliugsqmvk. It just annoyed me a little. More so, I know he can travel super fast apparently through the Waiting Place Forest, but then how does every time Laia somehow gets to visit him? Pffff... I was just not hooked on his story in this book. I'm also pretty sure that, now being the Soul Catcher, Laia is gonna anyways remind him of his humanity and he'll go back to normal in the book. Mark my words! I'm predicting it! 

Helene, the little Blood Shrike, is the one who clearly is suffering the most at the hand of Sabaa Tahir. I mean, in the last book her entire family is killed, except for the little sister who married Marcus and is now carrying his baby meaning that she is a target for all enemies of him. What the *bleep*? Helene can not get a break at all. Oh and now she also gets toyed about by the Nightbringer? Out of all of the characters, we're following, she's definitely the most thorough one. The one with ethical struggles. A very grey person. And if you know me, you know I love me some good complex characters who do wrong things in the hope that it's good. Anyways, she's in pain and pushes through, but always ends up being broken again. 'How does she do it?' I keep asking myself the entire time... Poor her. I do hope that the last book of the series will bring her some joy and glory. She's the person who deserves it the most out of the three of them. 

A few things that did fell of were the following: 
1. Why did Laia have the power of invisibility and it rarely gets used? I know it has something to do with the Nightbringer, but that just seems like a loophole for the author to make Laia look 'weak' at the moment of an action-packed scene. 

2. The chemistry between Laia & Elias. Don't get me wrong. I love them because book 1 made me believe in them. But I just wish some more time between the two of them to see the relationship grow some more. They are now apparently in love, though we barely have any scenes with them since Elias basically left in book nr 2 to go and get Darin out? I hope and wish, that the finale of the series will be grand for them and their romance. 

3. The FREAKINg timing. Please someone give me a timeline of this book because I don't know how many weeks or months have passed, okay???? Somewhere in the first couple of chapters, it's revealed that Livvy is pregnant and by the end of the book, she's giving birth. I. Had. No. Clue. How much time passed. Especially on Helene's end. It often said '4 weeks after arriving in city blablabla' or 'The commandant will arrive in 2 weeks. Does the time jump then also apply to the other characters? 'Cause, what are they doing in the meantime? 'Cause Laia spends a lot of time than with the Bee Keeper (or whatever his name was) and never makes any more friends????

4. New characters. Who are they? Why do they come in & why do they leave so fast again? We meet some characters like the Musa & the weird king and princess, but they only are there for a small period of the book. I do have hope that they'll play a big role in the ending, but momentarily, I did not understand their arcs.

All in all, I enjoyed the book a lot and will still give it a 3.5/5⭐️'s. 

On to the next one!

A Torch Against the Night - Sabaa Tahir

 A Torch Against the Night is a good follow-up book to An Ember in the Ashes. It was action-packed, was emotional, and had a lot of plot twists. 

The story starts immediately where it is left off in book 1. The escape of Blackcliff and Serra. Elias and Laia are now officially on the run to Kauf prison where Darin, her brother, is kept up locked away. They want to break in and get him out. 

The world-building of this book was 'thicker' than compared to the last one because they now travel over the entire empire. You get introduced to new cities and characters further along with the story. Everything was written out beautifully. Sabaa Tahir knew how to create a vibe in every city, area, or woods they were.

As for the characters... instead of following just Laia and Elias, we now also follow Helene. Helene her setup of this story is an interesting one. She starts off being tortured because Elias has gotten away and then afterward gets send on this quest to catch him and bring him to the emperor so she can prove herself as a worth 'bloodshrike'. This is an internal struggle because if she fails, her family will be executed, and if she wins, Elias will be executed. Helene has her own crew who go with her with one new addition Avitas. He starts out as an 'open'* spy for the commandant, but the relationship between him and Helene change in some way. It was interesting to discover her thoughts and to see how she views the world around her. What are her morals? What does she stand for? What is she fighting for? Character growth is there, but not as much as I hoped for, though I expect that the next book will bring that about... 

Elias's story in this book is tricky. He promised Laia that he would help break out her brother, but during their escape from Blackcliff he got poisoned by his mother. He has a side story where he gets dragged in and out of the 'Waiting Place' which is a place where ghosts dwell who don't want to move on yet. Though not dead yet, he knows he has borrowed time and decides to shut everyone out. Including Laia. The ending also has some interesting reveals about his personal life (but I won't spoil that for you just yet), so you deffo have to read this book if you love him! 

Laia, the little lion as she is, is still determined to get out her brother. She gets reunited with Keenan and Izzi and the four of them (including Elias) set out together. Although she has feelings for Elias, he is shutting her out which somehow is drawing her closer to Keenan. So the love triangle in this book is really present. But of course, revelations will be made that will keep you on the edge of your seat for wanting to read the next book! 

This was a good one too, although not as good as the first one (which is unfortunately often the case with book-series) it's still worthy of 4/5⭐️'s!

xoxo, peace out
Elke 

*they basically know he reports everything back to the commandant.

An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

Alrightyyyy. I decided to reread this book because I finally wanna finish off the entire series. I've only read the 2 first books of the quartet and never truly read all the way to the end. So here I am. rereading once more, which is probably my entire 2021 at the moment. 

An Ember in the Ashes is one of the first books that I read since discovering the Booktube community online and is what has gotten me into a lot of fantasy books. Sabaa Tahir has an intriguing way of writing this story and she knows how her way around words (she's very quotable). 

Set in a fictional roman-inspired world, a cruel empire is ruling. The book follows 2 characters Laia and Elias who both struggle with their demons. Laia her family gets raided and killed, except for her brother who gets taken to prison. She's determined to get him out of there and asks the help of the Resistance, a group of rebels who want to overthrow the empire. They agree to help her on one condition: spy for them as a slave in the most dangerous school on the most dangerous woman in the empire. 

Elias is a student at Blackcliff, a training school for Masks, where he is best out of his year. He made up his mind to desert the empire and his position the day after graduation. But on the day itself that he finally is fully a Mask, he is offered to participate in Trails. If he wins, he can become emperor of the empire. 

And thus both their stories begin.

The setting is really interesting. As I previously mentioned, it's inspired by Ancient Rome and I honestly could really see it in my mind! Maybe because I visited Italy so often already, but the entire world-building is created around words to how places look. I loved it and fell madly in love with it. Also, the differences between Martials, Scholars, and the Tribes were interesting to see. Martials are basically the 'upper' humans, scholars are the slaves and somehow the Tribes get left alone. So there is relatable discrimination going on which we can see even in our day-to-day life. 

The characters themselves are also an interesting mix. Laia is probably my fave. She's truly - TRULY - broken from what happens to her, but you get to see such a gorgeous development. By the end, she is fearless (not completely but you know what I mean) and takes risks to save other people. It's a contrast because she started out fleeing and running away, which made her feel utterly guilty for leaving behind her brother. The unexpected thing is that all of the changes in her happens so gradually that it feels very natural. She learns, discovers, and takes pain along the way as she grows.LOVED HER!

Elias is a somewhat complex character, but that is because his backstory is already pretty messed up. Basically, he is the son of the commandant of Blackcliff who left him with the Tribes-people just after he was born. Abandoning him. Then, at six years old he gets taken away to the school and learns then and there who his mother is and goes through a hard training of years. Luckily he meets Helene, who is the only girl within a decade to learn to become a Mask. They are best friendos and always have each other's backs. Until, of course, Elias starts to notice that Helene is acting weird and that is mainly how this book starts for him. Oh, and also the wanting to desert-thing because he doesn't like the empire. 

He doesn't necessarily have a lot of character growth in the sense of becoming strong and taking risks, but more so in the part of accepting who he is and what he wants. That's a big theme for him in the book. Along with the Trails, he uncovers more about himself and when he meets Laia she's some sort of moral compass for him. They have good chemistry and I loved their scenes together! Even though they didn't have that many. A great book-couple if you ask me!

All in all, I still love this story as much as when I read it for the first time so the 5/5⭐️'s still stands!

xoxo, peace out
Elke

Serpent & Dove - Shelby Mahurin (Ah, a la reading vie est belle)

 Okay, so this book did what it had to do. Entertain, relax and not make me think too much. 

Set in some fictional world, loosely based on France, 2 characters are forced into a 'holy' union: marriage. Now, the twist is Lou is a witch and Reid is a witch hunter. And thus starts the enemies-to-lover trope we've all come and love to adore. 

The 2 characters are painted as each other's opposites. Lou is free, doesn't care what others think, and just goes through life by day. Takes it as it comes. Reid on the other hand wants to control, learn and do everything by the book. So of course, other than the fact of witches and hunters, these traits are set to also give some good inner dialogue and a fun way of interaction between the two of them. The main characters I loved. The development they had in the book went so gradual that I didn't even really notice until the very end and then I went like 'Oh wow, they actually changed a lot and grew as people??? How did I not notice????' That's when you know you did a good job in building up you're character. When I'm not looking for growth in personality because it's coming naturally. 

Some characters were a little bit off? I didn't understand why Beau, the prince, went along on the quest? He was introduced somewhere on page 300 of the 512 pages and I don't know much about him other than he is a prince? He didn't really add value to the crew. Whether he was there or not, nothing would've made a difference. Another character that felt weird was the girl Reid had feelings for in the beginning. I think the only use of her was to set up the arc for Reid about his past, but she felt flat that all I could think off 'Huh? Reid fell in love with her at the beginning of the book? ARE YOU JOKiNG ME???'

I liked the setting, although I read some reviews that people didn't really like it that much. Oh boy, I ADORED it. I love France so I could imagine everything perfectly (oui oui, mon chèrie). The only thing I will say though is the way the book was written. It was in a style that wasn't overly explanatory.So you got the basics of the outlook, but it was up to me to fill in the rest of the blanks with my 'fantasy'. 

Storywise I was intrigued. It's not the most eventful, action-packed read up until the end. But, what it does well is processing the situations that are happening. Both main characters are flawed and make many mistakes, but they react realistically to it. You don't get crazy, kick-ass magic but a well-formed and explained way of how it works and that you give and take for it. Despite the fantasy in it, it was realistic. 

So yeah, all in all, a good book. I give it a 3.5/5⭐️'s!

xoxo, peace out
Elke

The Shadow Between Us - Tricia Levenseller (The worst book in years)

 This book has to be the worst book I've read in years. I think the last time I disliked a book so much was when I gave 'Three Dark Crowns' a chance and absolutely hated it. How did this get published? Why is this a book you can buy? So many things wrong with it... I won't put a spoiler warning on this review, but I for sure will spoil some stuff. I am so ready to just RANT. 

The premise of the book is basically a girl who has a plan: 1) woo the king, 2) marry him, and 3) kill him to take the whole kingdom for herself. How can a concept like that go wrong? 

Let me tell you what.

There is zero to no worldbuilding . What does the castle look like? I don't know. What does the kingdom look like? I don't know. How is she dressed? Oh, be sure I know even into the littlest details how our main character Alessandra is clothed. But something other than that, like imagining what the world looks like, is too much to describe. It was horrible. 

Then Alessandra herself is just a horrible character. What do you mean with she's cunning and dangerous? I did not have that feeling? Okay, she killed her first love because of heartbreak and hides it for 3 years. Yeah, sure, but she makes it sound as if she's a mastermind in hiding and disguising it when in reality she cuts him with a knife, puts him in a trunk with her initials, and then digs a grave for him somewhere in the woods. Okay, but that doesn't take a criminal genius to do. Heck, be smart and at least burn the body so that there are no remains??? She is a dumb characterwho thinks she controls everyone, is an amazing feminist, and is the smartest person in the room. She didn't have any development and had the worst inner dialogue??? Also, her plan to woo the king is wearing a color different than the favorite color of the king and not wait in line with the other possible suitors for the king?

Then there was the king himself: Kallias. Oh boy, did he have the most confusing introduction. All it takes to get his attention is a girl in a black outfit and her being rude to him. Sure, the 'you're different from the other girls'-trope comes into play here, but at least try to make her stand-out more than just her style and rudeness. He also has some sort of shadow-power, which to me was the most confusing thing ever? Basically, when he touches someone for the first time, he can't use his powers or something? What is that about? So that's why he doesn't want to 'take a wife'. Also, he somehow gets to be super old if he doesn't wed? His father was 300 years old and nobody in the entire kingdom found that odd??? Is everyone naive and dumb who lives there? 

Also, this was supposed to be a 'slow burn romance' with the promised 'enemies to lover trope'. How on earth do you mess that up? There was NO tension at all between the two of them!!!! How they got feelings for each other is a mystery for me because, in all seriousness, they could have fallen in love with a stick or rock and that would have been the same relationship. To just expand that, the entire court and the rest of the characters are just flat-out bland. Do any of these people have brain cells? No, seriously, how odd and weird are they? Let me explain:

There are 4 side stories and this is how they got solved:
1) An old love of Alessandra wants to blackmail her for her status by saying she has slept with him before her courtship with the king. 
She has a weird plan to get rid of him by borrowing money from a friend (??confusing why but ok??) to only hear afterward that the king doesn't mind her having had previous bed-partners... so this plot was unnecessary and was also resolved by page 120...

2) There's a bandit in the kingdom stealing money from the richest and giving it to the poor.
Turned out to be a guy from the court who wanted Alessandra for himself, and was also quickly discovered by her and nothing much really came of it... Also, this was the king's main issue in his kingdom for some reason? 

3) There's an assassin trying to kill the king. Someone other than Alessandra wants to kill him.
Hold your horses... turns out it was Kallias's dead brother who tried to kill him! You can think 'OMG, his own brother was alive and willing to kill him?' Oh boy, not only that... He also lived in the castle as one of his best friends for 4 years! All it took him was some hair-dye and a broken nose to keep him from being discovered. What. A. Mastermind.

4) They investigate the guy's disappearance who was Alessandra's first love (and she killed him).
It didn't matter. It came to light, she told the king, and he pardoned her LAUGHING at the fact that she killed that guy and that he had it coming for breaking Alessandra's heart. Are you OK sir???????

So all these stories didn't matter, had no influence, and she eventually forgot that she wanted to kill the king? In, like, the last 20 pages they also find poison in her room because they were putting her stuff into the king's room and they figure out she wanted to kill him. A little side note here, they already removed 2 times before that, her stuff into another room... 

She also has a weird relationship with her father and a sister, who we eventually never even meet. We only get 2 odd letters from her that show nothing to add to the story. They could have been erased from the narrative and nothing would've changed in the book. 

So when it comes to giving this book a rating I can clearly say that it gets a big fat 1/5⭐️'s. It's a miracle I finished it and am willing to give it a star.

xoxo, peace out

Elke 

Crooked Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo (The book that made me undone)

This book tore me down. I am undone by it. No mourners. No funerals. 

I'm currently feeling a lot of emotions at once: excited, sad, happy, mourning, melancholic. It's a recipe for not truly knowing what to do next. Crooked Kingdom was good. Better than good! It was exquisite. I remembered a lot of stints from reading the book for the first time, and that's why I feel so surprised by how I'm now reacting towards the story. 

I'll try not to spoil too much in this review, but that will be a difficult task... so beware of the spoiler warning.

Crooked Kingdom, just like Six of Crows, tells the story of 6 people brought together into a 'criminal' mission to assure their money. The story immediately sets off at the moment where the first one stopped. It started with a chapter of Wylan (which I was very excited about to finally get into the brain of this genius boy) and the question 'Why am I here?'. The perfect question that you can ask the rest of the six of them: Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina, and Matthias. Everyone has their reasons and everyone has their strengths to add to this crew. An irreplaceable mix they are. 

I don't want to dive in too deep into how the story develops but I do want to mention that the book has an incredible pace that makes it very difficult to put your copy down. I legit couldn't stop! I didn't know how to. I was so consumed by everything, wanting to... no NEEDING to know what happens next! We got amazing cameos of characters from the 'Shadow & Bone'-trilogy and we got some amazing new ones. Everything that happened, happened for a reason with many twists and turns and of course, misdirects. I truly start to wonder if Leigh Bardugo herself might be some criminal mastermind? The way she writes scenes and knows what to do put in for words and how it all just can make sense. No, I think she has another job next to being an author... (I'm on to you Leigh!)*

Let's please all go through each character! I would love to start with Jesper. Our dear smoll Jesper who has a gambling addiction, who is cocky, and who knows his way around guns. This book really dove into his backstory. You'll learn a lot about his heritage, his family and his secret 'skills'. You also see him in a more delicate way. His emotions come out more and his relationship with Wylan is all I lived for in this book. The ship that I was happy to happen!

Wylan is definitely the more 'pure' boy in the team. He is not roughed up the same way that the rest of the crew is, but you do get to see him develop beautifully in this tale. He probably has one of the biggest changes in him throughout these two books. He truly figures out who he is and what he likes. Just as with Jesper, you'll learn a lot about his backstory in this one. His tragic family story of shame. A lot of it was already revealed in SoC, but this time you truly see what the boy had to deal with and how he ended up in Kaz's care. Lucky for Wylan, he did, because otherwise, he would've never met glorious Jesper. 

Moving on to Nina. Nina is our amazing Grisha. She had a lot to deal with in this book, and we all know by now that she is also part of the 'King of Scars'-duology so she still has a lot of suffering ahead of her. The last book had a terrible thing happening to her so a lot of it in this one was recovering from it and how to move on from that point. She probably is the most driven Grisha to have wandered this world because her will is something no one else can compare to. She is the biggest fighter of them all, even if odds are against her favor. 

Matthias his piece does contain spoilers so skip him if you don't want to be spoiled! 
Oh dear Matthias. I was truly weeping when I read your last chapter. I knew it was coming. It's the most vivid memory I had since finishing the book for the first time and I didn't want to get to the point again. How much I loved his character. He's changed so much in these two books. He opened up, learned about so much, and more! His death made me so sad and I felt sorry for him and Nina. I felt sorry for how short their time was and how quickly it had ended and why it had ended for him. I was so afraid for him, reading this book and I can't let it go. His character will be missed so much. Just like all the dregs say "No mourners. No funerals". Rest in Piece Matthias.🖤

Our favorite acrobat and Wraith: Inej. Inej is the perfect shadow and nobody can replace her. Even Kaz knows that. She deals with a lot of inner monologue about her past which gives a clear idea of who she was before. Inej is pure and dangerous. She knows it, and it's what makes her character intriguing because thanks to her pureness, you can't believe that what she's doing is evil. She has a clear goal in mind and I know she will achieve whatever she says she wants to pursue. She has great things coming her way. I can just feel it.

Kaz is the last one of the crew and also the mastermind behind all the planning and scheming. He is still as deadly as in the last book, but more softened around the edges. He knows loving is a weakness and he will never ever show it again, although we all know that that's not true. He has his issues with touching, just as much as Inej, and the scene where it happened (you all know what I'm talking about if you read the book) had me completely in pieces. It's difficult to ship them, knowing they're both in pain, but at the same time, they're perfect for each other? His character development is small, but big at the same time. Kaz underwent a lot in his 'previous' life. He endured pain, deceit, and loss. He has a hunger for revenge and for being cruel. That's why we all love Kaz Brekker so much, and nobody would want him to change too much.🖤

So yes, this book was amazing. Crooked Kingdom ended an adventurous, beautiful and exciting story of six people who happened to be criminals and who became unlikely partners, lovers, and friends. 

5/5⭐️'s and more. The night sky doesn't hold enough starsto offer them. 


xoxo, peace out
Elke 

*This is a joke, please don't take it seriously! I have no proof that she is one 😉