ARC – Page 6 – Wonderfilled Reads

WWW Wednesday – January 23rd, 2019

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 W’s 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?

Heart of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles, #1) by Helen Scheuerer – audiobook
Archenemies (Renegades, #2) by Marissa Meyer – physical book

Well I’m only about a third of the way through Heart of Mist, but I am LOVING it. The world is so interesting and I love how engrossing each of the POVs are. I’m also really enjoying Bleak as a main character. I cannot wait to continue on with this story to find out what will happen next. If you like a complex fantasy story with a lot of POVs, I definitely recommend picking this one up.

I’m not very far into Archenemies but I’m enjoying getting back into this world. I’m really interested in seeing where Meyer plans on going with this story, as I have a feeling it’s going to get dark pretty fast… And. I. Here. For. It.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta – physical ARC, review to come
Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha, #1) by Tasha Suri – physical ARC, REVIEW
The Disasters by M.K. England – audiobook
Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns, #3) by Kendare Blake – physical book

The Brilliant Death started off a little rocky for me. The writing wasn’t all that good starting off. However, it did seem to get a lot better as the story moved along. I will say that this is more of an Italy-inspired fantasy story, with little in the way of true mafia inspiration (just your usual marketing ploy failure!!!). But I enjoyed the political plot and exploration of gender-fluidity.

My feelings on Empire of Sand was that it was really hit or miss in areas. The world-building was amazing and overall plot was interesting, but the characters were a bit flat and lacked any personality. I also felt like the pacing was very off, especially in the middle part where the action was REALLY lacking.

While The Disasters plot was engaging and fast-paced, I felt all of the character relationships were pretty surface level and lacked any real depth. I would’ve liked to see more personal interactions between them. The ending also felt a bit rushed, but I think that’s because the author was trying to cram too much into a standalone novel. Had she added another 100 pages or so, the rushed ending and lack of character depth could have been addressed.

I’m obviously trash for the Three Dark Crowns series, so all I can say is that I loved this latest release. It was engaging, dramatic, and just as dark as the previous books. I NEED THE NEXT BOOK NOW!

What do you think you’ll read next?

The Kingdon of Copper (The Daevabad Trilogy, #2) by S.A. Chakraborty – physical book
Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte – physical ARC
Pride by Ibi Zoboi – physical ARC

My copy of The Kingdom of Copper arrived yesterday and I know I can’t put off picking up this amazing novel for too long. I also plan to continue on completing my collection of BookCon ARCs that I still haven’t picked up yet. I really need to not put off BookCon 2019’s pick ups this year. I swear to read them all before their due dates! Definitely adding that to my 2019 reading goals, ha!

What are you currently reading? What books did you finish this week? What are you planning on reading next? Have you read any of the books on my list? If so, what did you think of them? Leave a link to your WWW Wednesday post in the comments below!

ARC Review: Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha, #1)

Ever since I first snagged Tasha Suri’s debut novel, Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha, #1) at BookCon, I was immediately intrigued by the premise. I loved the concept of a Mughal India-inspired fantasy series. Unfortunately, I know I’m a little late to the review party on this ARC. But hey, better late than never, right?

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.

Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance…

I was really impressed with Suri’s writing style. For a debut novel, she does a good job of creating a world that is fleshed out and immersive. It didn’t feel like there was too much info-dumping, just enough information to provide some context for why the Amrithi are persecuted by the rest of the Empire. I also liked how the magic system was fairly straightforward without being overly complicated. I feel like can be a problem with a lot of debut fantasies but luckily it wasn’t this time.

Mehr is your typical outcast-type of heroine. She’s independent with a bit of a rebellious streak but she’s also pretty fragile inside. I would also say she definitely suffers from abandonment issues with her mother which affects her overall confidence. She wasn’t my favorite character ever, more average than anything else. And then there’s Amun.. He’s stoic and closed-off, having spent his entire life being singled out by the mystics for his Amrithi gifts. It took me a long time to really care about him as a character, as he didn’t have much of a personality. Usually the stoic types are harsh and blunt, but he was more silent than anything else. However, he did grow on me some as he started showing his loyalty to Mehr. I liked how he was willing to do anything to try and protect her.

I would say the biggest weakness with this book was the inconsistency in the pacing. It started off really strong and then I felt myself growing bored through most of the middle, before ramping back up at the end. The majority of the book is just Mehr and Amun practicing their dancing, which I felt lacked any real tension even with the lingering presence of the Maha. Honestly, I was just hoping for more appearances from the daiva. They were my favorite part about the book but made too few appearances. I’m really hoping they play a bigger part in the next book. I also wouldn’t mind the next book to have a POV from Amun’s perspective as well, so we can connect more with him as a character.

Overall, this was a solid debut novel with a few issues that I think can be fixed in future sequels. I loved the world that Suri has created and am looking forward to seeing where she goes next with this story. I feel like there’s so many different things she can explore, which makes me excited for the next book.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5 Stars

Have you read Empire of Sand? If so, what did you think of it? Did you have a hard time connecting Amun’s character? What was your opinion on the novel’s pacing?

WWW Wednesday – June 20th, 2018

The Three W’s 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?

Lady Thief (Scarlet, #2) by A.C. Gaughen – audiobook
Defy the Worlds (Constellation, #2) by Claudia Gray – physical book

No surprise here, but I am LOVING Defy the Worlds right now. The stakes are even higher in this book, with biological warfare going on and my two loves separated by an entire galaxy. Things are really ramping up and I cannot wait to see what’s going to happen next!

I’m not very far into Lady Thief, so I don’t have much of an opinion on it at the moment. However, I think the plot in this second book is more intriguing than the first one. I will say this, you definitely can’t say this series is all rainbows and sunshine. Gaughen isn’t afraid to make things really dark and I can appreciate that for sure, especially in retellings.

What did you recently finish reading?

The Diviners (The Diviners, #1) by Libba Bray – audiobook, 5/5 stars
A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes, #3) by Sabaa Tahir – physical book, 5/5 stars

I cannot begin to explain how much I am loving the entire An Ember in the Ashes series. It just has everything that I love in a story – great multifaceted characters, engaging plot, epic political intrigue, and a great slow burn romance. I didn’t know that Tahir could take this story and expand it even more, but she did in A Reaper at the Gates and completely knocked it outta the park. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to wait another year for the finale!

The Diviners was a reread for me, as I needed a definite brush up before moving on with the series, since I haven’t read it since it was first released. And I can sincerely say that I enjoyed it just as much this time around. The story is so engaging and I love all of the paranormal aspects to it. I also definitely recommend the audiobook version, as the narrator does such a fantastic job!

What do you think you’ll read next?

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse – physical ARC
Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali – physical book

I’m super excited to get to both of these books! They’re both diverse and own voices novels but very different in terms of plot. Trail of Lightning is being likened to an indigenous Mad Max: Fury Road story about a Native American girl fighting monsters in post-apocalyptic New Mexico. Ummmm, YES PLEASE! While Saints and Misfits is a heavy contemporary novel following a Muslim girl who I believe must deal with the issue of sexual assault/harassment from someone within her mosque. Like I said, completely different style novels but both sound totally amazing and I cannot wait to dive into them!

ARC April 2016

So I came across a post the other day from Lila @ The Bookkeeper’s Secrets, where she discussed joining this challenge hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat that’s all about tackling that massive pile of ARCs. I think this is a fabulous idea so I’ve decided to join in on the fun. Not only is a fun idea to just bang through your ARC list but there’s also opportunities to win some amazing prizes. And come on, who doesn’t love winning free book swag?! All you have to do is make a post about joining the challenge and then add the link to Read.Sleep.Repeat’s list. All are welcome!

For those of you who aren’t sure what ARC stands for, it means Advanced Readers Copy. These are books that have been sent out by authors, publishing companies, etc. to different book reviewers in exchange for reviews to drum up interest in the book prior to it’s release date. It’s a fantastic marketing tool. I just appreciate all of the free books, haha! 😉

Now, my list of ARCs isn’t too bad but I do have quite a few pending requests that I should be hearing back from any day now. So I’ll just go ahead and add those to the list for now and hope that I get accepted for all of them! These are all ebook copies at the moment as well. I’d like to thank NetGalley for making it far too easy to just request book after book after book. I have a sickness and it can’t be cured!