Day: November 9, 2016

Book Review: Paper and Fire (The Great Library, #2)

Unlike the first book which was a bit of a slow burn for me, Paper and Fire (The Great Library, #2) by Rachel Caine, was a fun ride from start to finish!

Let the world burn.

With an iron fist, the Great Library controls the knowledge of the world, ruthlessly stamping out all rebellion and, in the name of the greater good, forbidding the personal ownership of books.

Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but serving in its army is nothing like he envisioned. His life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered forever. His best friend is lost, and Morgan, the girl he loves, is locked away in the Iron Tower, doomed to a life apart from everything she knows.

After embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies make one wrong move and suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library’s deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria, all the way to London.

But Jess’s home isn’t safe anymore. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon, Jess must choose between his friends, his family, and the Library, which is willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control…

The Good

  • Pacing – This book started off fast and never really let of the gas. I found this to be pretty surprising as sequels, as a general rule, tend to be a little slower paced. Also, the first book suffered from a bit of a slow start. Fortunately, that wasn’t the issue here and Caine took us on a wild ride from start to finish!
  • Plot – The plotline of the first book was intriguing, but things are really starting to come together in this one. Our rebellious group of initiates are finally banding together and actually taking action against the Library by trying to save their friend from the clutches of its secret prison. However, little do they know that this is only the beginning for them and their mission is about to take a much more serious turn.
  • Characters – The main thing you need to know about the characters in this series is… DIVERSITY!

    The Bad

    • The Ending – I think the plot got a tad overwhelming towards the end. Multiple plot lines were merging and a ton of questions were being answer. Normally, this would be a good thing but I felt that it all might’ve happened too quickly here. I would’ve liked different answers being spread throughout the book, rather than everything all at once. I caught myself having to reread multiple pages towards the end as I having trouble absorbing so much information. Though, I guess there are much worse things to complain about, right?

    Seriously, everyone just go read this series. I feel that it’s very underrated and underappreciated, and I just don’t know how that can be. I mean it’s a series about the a library being in charge of the world, basically! Booknerds should be all over this! So please… READ IT.

    Final Verdict: 4/5 Stars

    Have you read The Great Library series yet? What are your thoughts on it?

    WWW Wednesday – November 9th, 2016

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    Welcome to WWW Wednesday which is currently being hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words. It’s really just a place to do little update on what all you’ve been reading lately. Anyone is welcome to join, just leave a link to your post in the comments and be sure to give the appropriate credit to Sam!

    The Three Ws are:

    • What are you currently reading?
    • What did you recently finish reading?
    • What do you think you’ll read next?

    What are you currently reading?

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    The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid

    A Diabolic is ruthless. A Diabolic is powerful. A Diabolic has a single task: Kill in order to protect the person you’ve been created for.

    Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.

    When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia—a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

    As the Empire begins to fracture and rebellion looms closer, Nemesis learns there is something more to her than just deadly force. She finds a humanity truer than what she encounters from most humans. Amidst all the danger, action, and intrigue, her humanity just might be the thing that saves her life—and the empire.

    I’m almost halfway through this book. I was expecting to be almost done but I got sidetracked by the absolutely shocking clusterfuck that occurred last night. I do expect to read an insane amount tonight as this book is turning out to be living up to all of the hype. I’m usually letdown by overly hyped books, so I’m really excited this book didn’t fall prey to statistics! It’s brutal, intense, mature, and dark. It’s also filled with one of the most fun characters ever – crazy ass, Tyrus. Seriously, he is totally stealing the show with his personality. Also, I think his supposed insanity is actually all a ruse, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself with that thought process!

    What did you recently finish reading?

    • Like A River Glorious (The Gold Seer Trilogy, #2) by Rae Carson – review coming this week!
    • How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather – full review HERE
    • Paper and Fire (The Great Library, #2) by Rachel Caine – review will be posted later today

    I enjoyed all 3 of these! I’ve actually had a fairly good reading experience since that awful run-in with The Midnight Star, which you can read about HERE.

    What do you think you’ll read next?

    • Wolf by Wolf (Wolf by Wolf, #1) by Ryan Graudin – I’ll be buddy reading this book with the lovely Britt @ Geronimo Reads. Apparently we’ve both had this book for a super long time and keep pushing it back on the TBR, so we decided to finally make ourselves read it!
    • Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns, #1) by Kendare Blake – This is the November BOTM for Hype or Like Friday. I decided to read it fairly early in the month as the Tome Topple Readathon begins on the 18th, and this book doesn’t qualify for it as it is below the +500 page minimum requirement. You can learn more about this readathon at Sam’s booktube channel, Thoughts on Tomes.

    What does you WWW Wednesday look like? What are you currently reading? Have you read any of the books on my list? What are your thoughts on them?  Have you been having good book luck lately? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday in the comments!