Review | Heartless (ARC)

Heartless

Marissa Meyer

⭐⭐

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UK Publisher | Macmillan's Childrens Books

UK Release Date | February 9th, 2017

Format | Paperback

Page Count | 462

RRP | £7.99

DISCLAIMER: I received this book from the publisher for free. All views and opinions remain my own. 

Long before she was the Queen of Hearts, Catherine Pinkerton was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

I'm not sure what I was expecting going into this one, but I don't think villain origin stories are for me. 

The main struggle I had trying to read Heartless was it's pacing. It's slow to start; perhaps it could be argued that it's to help build a connection between character and reader. To build a bridge of empathy between myself and Catherine as her hopes for the future are explored and then cut short. Yet, I found myself slogging through it to get to the more interesting parts of the narrative ... and was still left disappointed.

Catherine, as a character, was one that I found myself getting frustrated over. A lot of her inner monologue was spent in this spiral of whining, moaning, and scrabbling to hang on to her dream of owning a bakery. I'm not someone who is typically bothered with naive protagonists, as long as they grow and learn as the novel progresses. I didn't get that with Catherine. A lot of the time we spend with Catherine at the start of the novel could have been better spent in the last act, and really make sense of her decisions and the consequences of her actions. Which I think would've really helped flesh out this interpretation of the Queen of Hearts' character.

The one (okay, there's two) saving grace was that I really enjoyed the romance aspect of the plot and Marissa Meyer's writing style. If you're struggling to stop snacking during the lockdown, this really isn't the book to be reading. Meyer's descriptions of scrumptious bakery delights were the real joy of reading this one. Just thinking of them is making me hungry.

WRAP UP| Apr-May '17

I've had quite a good reading quarter, even with deadlines around every corner (promise, this is the last time I'll mention it).

I am in a current state of writing reviews for most of the books I've read over the last three months. 

April

The Song Rising (The Bone Season #3)
Samantha Shannon
⭐⭐⭐⭐

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I made the mistake of reading this the day before leaving Uni. I was emotionally wrecked. So good! 

I spoke to Samantha Shannon about this, and she said why I might not have liked it as much as I LOVED The Mime Order. If her theory is true, then I am going to be OBSESSED with book 4.

Strange the Dreamer (Muse of Nightmares #1)

Laini Taylor

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+

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This might just be a new favourite of mine. Everything that I wanted this to be it became. And more.

If you love myths, fairy tales, lost tales, heart-wrenching stories and lyrical writing- get to this one, and quick!

Nobody Told Me: Poetry and Parenthood
Hollie McNish
⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Required reading for University.

This one took me by surprise. Why were we being made to read a book about parenthood and children?

Torchwood Tales (Audible Exclusives #1-7)

Various Authors

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- The Sin Eaters

⭐⭐⭐⭐

- In the Shadows 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

- Hidden

⭐⭐⭐

- Department X

⭐⭐

- Everyone Says Hello

⭐⭐⭐

- Ghost Train

⭐⭐⭐⭐

- Army of One

⭐⭐⭐

Torchwood: World Without End
John Barrowman, Carole Barrowman
⭐

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This was written by the man who knows the characters, arguably, the best. Captain Jack Harkness. So, why did this suck?

This needed to be longer, a graphic novel rather than a bind up of a few issues. This one will definitely have a review coming up soon- my most disappointing read of the year so far.

May

A Court of Wings and Ruin (A Court of Thorns and Roses #3)
Sarah J. Maas
⭐⭐⭐⭐

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Well, this conclusion has been rather polarizing. A lot of people loving it and others that just hated it. I was- meh?

The first half was fantastic, and then it went to shit. Again, another one where I'm in the middle of editing a review for this. But, I'm indifferent to it. It wasn't going to live up to ACOMAF, was it?

Champion

Marie Lu

⭐⭐

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Its been about a over a year since I started Legend, just under a year since I read prodigy, so why did I think it a good idea to read the final book in the trilogy? Who knows?

I was lost for most of this story, to be honest. That was a given. The only thing that gave this book the rating I did was the fact that it was a unique ending to a dystopia. One that I haven't read before in YA.

A Dance with Dragons 2: After the Feast (A Song of Ice and Fire #5.2)
George R.R. Martin
⭐⭐⭐

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I've had this on my "Currently Reading" tab on Goodreads for probably 18 months, and I was just sick of seeing it on there. I read it. Pushed myself to read it as fast as I could. It was like Hell- all my least favourite POVs. 

Where was Dany? Arya? Sansa? Cersei? I needed my woman!

Stardust

Neil Gaiman

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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I listened to the audiobook for this one. Read by Neil Gaiman.

I think it would have been interesting if the movie kept the intended audience for the film as much as the book. The good ol' tradition that fairy tales are for children only.

I really did like this one. 

REVIEW| Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Harry Potter #8)
J.K. Rowling

2 star

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Synopsis:

It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

Review:

The Cover:

I don't understand this cover. Nope. Not even after forcing myself through this. I guess you could say that the child inside the weird snitch nest is the centre of the fragility of the time that the snitch is most relevant to the Harry Potter-verse?

I have no clue. I'm just making this up as I go along. It does nothing for me except tying it to the stage play that is currently still (?) going on in the West End in London.

The Content:

If you want my real emotion while reading this, how about this: A constant stream of cringe attacks.

I didn't feel like I was reading the next 'story' and adventure in the Potter-verse but rather semi-decent fanfiction on AO3. The whole time. It made me cringe so much I had to put this book down until I forced myself to finish it- it was irritating me for just being on my Currently Reading list on Goodreads.

This whole thing just had so many plot holes. I'm still confused about the entirety of events that went down. I understand that this isn't a novel but, the script of the stage play and so it's a lot harder to judge. Yet, if this was a fantastic script, there I shouldn't have these problems?

REVIEW| Through the Zombie Glass

Through the Zombie Glass (White Rabbit Chronicles #2)
Gena Showalter

⭐⭐

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Synopsis:

Zombies stalk the night. Forget blood and brains. These monsters hunger for human souls. Sadly, they've got mine...

Alice Bell has lost so much. Family. Friends. A home. She thought she had nothing else to give. She was wrong.

After a new zombie attack, strange things begin to happen to her. Mirrors come to life, and the whispers of the dead assault her ears. But the worst? A terrible darkness blooms inside her, urging her to do very wicked things.

She's never needed her team of zombie slayers more, but ultra bad-boy Cole Holland, the leader and her boyfriend, suddenly withdraws from her...from everyone. Now, with her best friend Kat at her side, Ali must kill the zombies, uncover Cole's secret and learn to fight the darkness.

But the clock is ticking...and if she fails at a single task, they're all doomed.

Review:

The Cover: 

Ah, the cover! Reminiscent towards the era of the generic YA paranormal romance story. Girl dolled up in a fancy dress. Pretty meh. Honestly, though, I can't think of any other cover that would fit the story. This is just how I feel about what I read, and actually for once the generic cover hold up the foundations of a pretty typical YA tropes filled story.

The Content:

The reason that I couldn't give this a flat one star is because I still really liked Ali as a character and I understood her traits and some of her thoughts. In saying that I've already opened up a can of stinky tuna as there were some things that happened in her mind set that was a cause of vile irritation throughout ATTZG.

I remember not so fondly of reading Crescendo, the second book in Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush series. I remember distinctly DNFing the thing after a hundred pages. I'm not to explain why due to spoilers and I would like to try and avoid that. However, if you didn't like that book for whatever reason or you are avoiding reading it I would try and stay clear of this one. It felt a little juvenile at times in terms of arrangement of plot structure and character choices.

I also found that this book got rather repetitive as the story continued on. I think I even skipped pages because I knew exactly what the series of events were going to be and their outcome. And I never do this-- ever! If I wanted to improve it, it would be the simple matter of removing 200 hundred or so pages.

I don't think I am going to finish this series, unfortunately. I have little to no interest and it would be great to just unhaul them from my bookshelf and be free of this burden on my tbr. And I don't even want to know what happens.

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REVIEW| The Bone Clocks

The Bone Clocks
David Mitchell

⭐⭐

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Synopsis:

Run away, one drowsy summer's afternoon, with Holly Sykes: wayward teenager, broken-hearted rebel and unwitting pawn in a titanic, hidden conflict.

Over six decades, the consequences of a moment's impulse unfold, drawing an ordinary woman into a world far beyond her imagining. And as life in the near future turns perilous, the pledge she made to a stranger may become the key to her family's survival . . .

Review:

The Cover:

Alright. Alright,  I'll own up to this one- this was a complete cover buy. 

I found this in a group of intimidating hardbacks in Waterstones during the after events of meeting Veronica Roth back in 2014, my pockets then cried in relief as I refused to part with £20 in order to pick it up there and then.

Instead, I found it in a local supermarket in its newly published paperback form. I snapped it up. The cover is soft and buttery. Just gorgeous. The fact that I didn't enjoy this book doesn't hold out that I won't be un-hauling this book anytime soon. I just like looking at this beautiful piece of art we all refer as the cover-design.

If you do go on to picking up this book you'll begin to realize all the little easter eggs-- or, bone clocks-- that Neal Murren has gone to such lengths to include. 

If you couldn't tell I'm in love with this cover.

Enough said.

The Content:

This was one of the many books that I started last year, enjoying greatly but, ended up putting down because newer, shinier books took my short attention span. I can hear my friend scream "book w****" across at me, granted she's across town from me.

When I started The Bone Clocks I was interested in Holly Sykes, this spunky rebellious teen from Gravesend, throughout the 80's. Seeing as Gravesend used to be rather local to me, I already felt like I have a connection with Holly's and mindset. Even if I was a teen throughout the noughties rather than in the eighties.

When it got to my third P.O.V this is when I lost interest, nothing was being answered, and wont be answered til at least 490 pages in. Mitchell just keeps on tying on pieces of string and expect me to now grow tired of wanting. It just slowed the whole pacing down completely and left me swimming in the pages of incoherent prose.

However, I did like the full cycle that Mitchell seemed to tie this book into it's end. Going back to Holly's P.O.V as an elderly woman brought this book to it's conclusion and left me mildly satisfied, if a little annoyed at the long way round I was taken to get there.

In short of my 3am ramblings on Facebook:

I feel like massive parts of it could have cut down. The middle had no major conflicts that I felt emotionally involved in, accept, the overarching character events of Holly Sykes' life. Mitchell should have cut out the middle men (and women).