Review - "More Than We Can Tell"

More Than We Can Tell
by Brigid Kemmerer
rating: ☆☆☆☆
published: 6th March 2018
spoilers? no

Goodreads

We all push sometimes, just to make sure someone is on the other side, pushing back.

Galley provided by publisher

Letters to the Lost was one of my favourite books in 2017, so when I heard there was going to be a sequel, it immediately shot to the top of my anticipated books list. This all sounds like I was hugely disappointed by this book, but I wasn't. I just didn't like it so much as the first one.

It had all the same elements as Letters to the Lost: amazing writing, angsty family relationships, Rev and Declan's friendship, and it almost made me ugly cry (Letters to the Lost actually did make me ugly cry though). But it was just missing something for me. I loved Rev, and I loved his family, and his friendship with Declan was definitely my favourite part of this book. I just didn't really like Emma all that much.

I couldn't really tell you what about her I disliked - all I know is that I found myself almost just wanting to get through her parts quickly so I could get back to Rev's. I think part of that was because she felt a little unsympathetic especially given how she treated Cait and, from time to time, her mother.

That being said, it was still a really good book, and there were scenes that had me almost crying. Admittedly, they were mostly Declan and Rev scenes, because that was about my favourite part of Letters to the Lost too. I was a little disappointed not to have enjoyed it as much as that, but I still really enjoyed it.

Review - "Not If I Save You First"

Not If I Save You First
by Ally Carter
rating: ☆☆☆☆
published: 27th March 2018
spoilers? no

Goodreads

Galley provided by publisher

I'd be the first to admit that I wasn't all that impressed by the last book Ally Carter released. I would even go so far as to say that I was a bit disappointed. This one, on the other hand, is a welcome return to how good her previous output had been.

Maddy Manchester is the daughter of the (former) head of the Secret Service. Following the attempted kidnap of the First Lady, Maddy's father moves them to the wilderness of Alaska, cut off from human civilisation, for reasons unknown. In doing this, she leaves behind her best friend Logan, the son of the President. Six years later, Logan is sent to Alaska following a string of misdemeanours to find Maddy completely changed from the girl he knew, and hating his guts.

What follows is typical Ally Carter. And it's great.

I have to say, Maddy Manchester might be one of my favourite Carter heroines. After Kat Bishop, of course, but I might even go so far as to say she's better than Cammie Morgan. I loved her so much, even despite the slight "not like other girls" thing going on at the start (which, maybe fair enough, I wouldn't know many girls who could survive alone in Alaska myself, let alone throw a hatchet with accuracy into a tree trunk so). I think one of the problems I had with Embassy Row was that I didn't really connect with Grace that much, or even like her really, in the way I had with Cammie and Kat. Maddy is a lot more like those two, and it's like returning to something familiar (imagine thinking I wouldn't die for Maddy Manchester).

Normally, I also really like the love interests. However, the thing that slightly irritated me about Logan was that he never seemed to realise how capable Maddy was, not even really at the end. It was all him being like "no, Maddy, don't do this!!" like this isn't a completely different Maddy than the one he knew aged 10. There's also the whole thing where whenever one of the bad guys so much as looks at Maddy, he pretty much jumps them and starts yelling "don't even look at her!!", like, my dude, chill. I know your masculinity has been impugned on and you want to make up for it because Maddy is clearly more capable than you could ever wish to be but please. Just chill.

There was also the small matter of the twist at the end being a little out there, but I kind of expect that with Ally Carter so, while a bit strange, it wasn't like it brought me out of the story any.

Review - "The Cruel Prince"

The Cruel Prince, The Folk of the Air #1
by Holly Black
rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
published: 2nd January 2018
spoilers? yes

Goodreads

What could I become if I stopped worrying about death, about pain, about anything? If I stopped trying to belong? Instead of being afraid, I could become something to fear.

Galley provided by publisher

You know when you finish a book and you just don't have any words for how good it was? That's me with this book. Even over two hours since I finished it, I don't know how to put into words what I feel about this book.

Holly Black is one of those authors I know I'll always be able to trust to write a good and compelling book, and The Cruel Prince is no different. After the prologue and first chapter hook you, it's perhaps a bit of a slow burn, but the pace picks up soon enough, and by about a quarter of the way through I couldn't put it down.

As per usual, the characters in this are wonderful, and Holly Black even had me changing how I felt about Cardan by the time the book was over. I'd still like him to have some more character development before (if) he embarks on a relationship with Jude (though after that ending my hopes of that aren't high), but he does start to develop as the book goes on (and there's another two books worth of time in which he can further).

My one (eensy-weensy) problem with the book is how the conflict between Jude and her twin sister, Taryn, comes about. Locke, one of Cardan's friends, starts hooking up with Jude. Meanwhile, Taryn is going to be proposed to by an unknown faerie at the High King's coronation. Firstly, it's blatantly obvious - or it was to me - that Locke is this unknown faerie. Secondly, Taryn knows Locke is playing Jude. She's aware of that. So forgive me if I don't feel any sympathy when she gets angry at Jude because Jude feels betrayed. Taryn knew everything that was happening with regard to that. And yet, instead of punching Locke in the gut like he deserves, she gets angry at Jude. I'm mostly annoyed about the fact that this is the way Holly Black feels the need to get conflict in between the twins. This. When she could have brought it about through a number of different ways - I mean, the whole book, Taryn is against Jude antagonising Cardan and his friends. Surely it's not hard to get the angst in through that.

But despite that part, I really really loved this book, and I don't have a clue how I'm going to manage to wait til 2019 for book two.