Rebecca's Thoughts

Fighting under the command of Lady Evadine Courlain, a noblewoman beset by visions of a demonic apocalypse, Alwyn must survive war and the deadly intrigues of the nobility if he hopes to claim his vengeance. But as dark forces, both human and arcane, gather to oppose Evadine’s rise, Alwyn faces a choice: can he be a warrior, or will he always be an outlaw?

 My Review of The Pariah

I thought this book was an amazing conclusion to an already great series. This was also my favourite of the books in the series! The series is quite sprawling, and I think this final book did a good job of bringing all of the ends together to make a very satisfying ending. This book took all of the twists and turns from the previous book and really ran with them to make a full-circle story that was really good. 

This series does a great job of blending conventional epic fantasy storylines with an almost mid-evil setting. This all works alongside a very intricate religious hierarchy in which the characters are forced to confront and work alongside and against. I think this a very refreshing take on religion in high fantasy and did a really good job building lore around an already complex setting.   

I really enjoyed this series and look forward to reading more of Ryan’s work in the future!

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blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity already reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and sprawling parks spread across the planet. Darrow—and Reds like him—are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

My Red Rising Review!

I am really enjoying this series and I think that each book keeps getting better and better. I am really enjoying this adventure yet very much a space opera vibes that this this book has going on. The intrigue and the characters are the parts that I am most enjoying, and I think that the overall plot is also very easy to follow without feeling too simplistic! This book is such a good combination of everything that I look for in a book series, and I am really looking forward to finishing the series!

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Hylas: Herc’s first friend (They were more than friends)

 Megara: Herc’s wife (She’ll tell you about their marriage)

 Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc’s labours (Definitely did not hide in a jar)

 His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims.

 It’s time to hear their stories.

 Told with humour and heart, Herc gives voice to the silenced characters, in this feminist, queer (and sometimes shocking) retelling of classic Hercules myth.

I really, really enjoyed this book. Do I think it is the perfect retelling of the myth of Hercules… umm no. But it was really enjoyable and an ultimately quick read. I think that the letter qualities of the story mixed with the multiple POVs made it a very original and new take on retellings. It was a story that I had never really heard in full before and I thought it was interesting. Despite taking place over a lifetime, the book was really fast-paced and held my attention for the whole book. 

One of the main complaints I see about this book is that it has many anachronisms and uses very modern language. I didn’t really mind this and even thought it added to the very modernized take the book was trying to accomplish. I can see how it would be annoying if you were just looking to read more about the story of Hercules but again, it didn’t bother me. 

That being said, this isn’t really like the other books that get compared to it. It’s not as well written as Madeline Miller’s work and is not as tight in its storytelling or direction. This book has a major flair for the melodramatic and reads almost like reality TV confessionals. So, if you are going to read it keep that in mind and don’t expect like the Illiad or some deep and sprawling story. 

At the end of the day, I really enjoyed this book for what it is, and came to find it really endearing and an interesting read!

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 In her diary, Isa describes a sweltering summer in the glittering city. By day, the girls sell clothes in a market stall, pinching pennies for their Bed-Stuy sublet and bodega lunches. By night, they weave from Brooklyn to the Upper East Side to the Hamptons among a rotating cast of celebrities, artists, Internet entrepreneurs, stuffy intellectuals, and bad-mannered grifters. Money runs ever tighter, and the strain tests their friendship as they try to convert their social capital into something more lasting than their precarious gigs as au pairs, nightclub hostesses, paid audience members, and aspiring foot fetish models. Through it all, Isa’s bold, beguiling voice captures the precise thrill of cultivating a life of glamour and intrigue as she juggles paying her dues with skipping out on the bill.

This is a book about nothing. It’s mostly just vibes but I ate it up. I really like this book and enjoyed learning about how these two girls were surviving in New York. The characters are unlikable, unrelatable, and at the same time very interesting and great storytellers. Despite being unlikable Marlowe Granados does a great job humanizing these characters and by the end, I was really wanting them to succeed. 

As I said, this book has no plot. It’s comprised of journal entries, and they often depict very frivolous things or juicy gossip about the other characters in the book. The book is vapid and very materialistic in the way it depicts life in New York, but at the same time feels very endearing and realistic in its pursuit of happiness and belonging. It’s a book about finding oneself, but also getting drunk and living life to the fullest and who can knock that?