Summer, reading wise, has been extremely successful for me thus far. And as you might know, I brought quite a few books with me on my holiday. So now it’s time to wrap up my holiday reads! Find out what and how many books I read during my 8 day holiday in Corfu, Greece.
MAGIC STUDY (POSION STUDY SERIES) by Maria V. Snyder
Before my holiday, I reread the Poison Study book and it was as good as I remembered. During my holiday I read the novella titled Assassin Study and finished the second book of the series, Magic Study. While the second book was definitely not as strong as the first, I’m enjoying the series quite a lot. The characters are complex, and they are well written. The second book lacked the intrigue the first book had, and it was a bit all over the place. Yet, I think as far as the writing goes, it makes up for its mistakes structure wise. Definitely will keep reading this series this year.
WHAT TO SAY NEXT by Julie Buxbaum
This was the last book I read during my holidays, mostly while getting back to Estonia. It was a simple YA book with a double POV. One of the main characters, David, has autism, and Kit has just lost her father. What To Say Next has a good story idea, and the character voices are interesting. David’s voice is refreshing and important. But while the first half of the book thrives, the second starts to slowly decline. The ending is too abrupt, and the book lost its edge by the time it was over.
THE WRATH AND THE DAWN by Renee Ahdieh
The most disappointing read of my holiday because I just did not like it. The concept of the book is great, the cultural representation is amazing. Yet, the character development is complete bullshit! I’m sorry, it just makes me so angry and frustrated but it’s how I feel. The Wrath and the Dawn just doesn’t back up the idea with the writing. The story thins to mediocre quite quickly, and the worst thing? It’s reeks of instant love. But for what its worth, I’m giving it an extra star for the fact that it does introduce us to Middle Eastern culture.
ELANTRIS by Brandon Sanderson
Last but not least, my favourite read of the holiday! This was the first book I read, and I devoured it in 3 days. Elantris tells a story of a city by the same name in ruin. It’s closed up from the rest of the world after magic disappeared. There’s also Shaod, a disease going around which makes people into zombie-like beings. Then there’s Raoden, a prince who is taken by Shaod, and Sarene, his future wife, he hasn’t even met. The story builds up from there, and the mystery of Elantris starts to unravel. The story is amazing, the character development is inspiring. It’s also a great example of Brandon Sanderson’s ability to create a world such as Elantris. Also, I found it exciting that he borrows so boldly from other genres, such as horror and sci-fi.
Have you read any of these books? Are you planning to? Tell me what have you been reading during your holiday or during summer, recommendations are also always welcomed!
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I see we feel the same way about The Wrath and The Dawn! I am so angry at that book because the idea was SO GOOD
I KNOW RIGHT!
It’s awful how an idea can be fucked up so much. 😀
It’s taken me 8 months to read 8 books, you did half of that in a week!! Amazing! I’m reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being right now and I’d defo recommend it – some good old Soviet throwbacks and all!
Oh man. I think I couldn’t go that long without reading. I just… I need to read at least something every week. Though this week was completely blank, I feel awful about it!
I had the same thoughts on What to Say Next! Really good first half, but faltered towards the end.