{Series Review} Fae's Captive (#1-4) by Lily Archer

Fae's Captive (#1) by Lily Archer 

2.5 stars

Page Count: 100
Published On: February 19, 2019

Road to Winter (Fae's Captive #2) by Lily Archer

2 stars

Page Count: 94 
Published On: February 19, 2019

Bite of Winter (Fae's Captive #3) by Lily Archer 

2 stars

Page Count: 125 
Published On: March 22, 2019

Beyond the Mountain (Fae's Captive #4) by Lily Archer 

2 stars

Page Count: 164
Published On: April 18, 2019

Series Information:

Published via Amazon Publishing (independently) 

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Erotica

Goodreads synopsis of #1:

My college roommate is the worst. Cecile steals my food, brings guys over at all hours, and parties instead of studying. But those quirks pale in comparison to what she does next. She drugs me, and I wake up imprisoned in an alternate universe full of terrifying creatures.

Now, the biggest and scariest creature of all - a fae king - believes I'm his mate. He's freed me from the dungeon, but, keeps me close. So close, in fact, that I'm beginning to like his wintery gaze and ice-chiseled body. But, secrets and villains lurk throughout this new world. And I don't know if I'll survive long enough to figure out how to get back home.

~~~

I originally picked the first book up for fun. It was recommended to me on Facebook, the cover looked hilariously cheesy, and the premise was just ridiculous enough to pique my interest. I knew this wouldn't be the height of literature, but I didn't expect it to be this discombobulated and disappointing. From the comments that I had read on Facebook and the few reviews on Goodreads, I expected this to be cheesy, but bearable. It was what I wanted. Just for funsies. Buckle up, folks.

This novella and its sequels have a lot of potential to be fantastically cheesy and fun. If you squash all of the little books together and edit it, it would be a decent full-length novel, but it just seemed like the author wanted to churn out chunks of the story (which do not fully connect) and publish them on Amazon without actually editing them. By the end of the fourth installation, I still hardly knew the characters or even cared about their stories. The entire story was just so haphazard that I was purely reading them all to get some sort of closure. I still don't understand the point of the story. 

There's just an immense lack of depth in the characters, the plot, and the world. I wish that there had been more description, less cringe-y dialogue, and more world building. The characters just accept that things are happening, when a realistic and well thought out character would question everything. The explanation that a good fantasy novel would have is not there. It felt like the author was too focused on being mysterious and keeping things for "twists" when there was a perfect place to add some explanation to hint toward the twists that were coming. I constantly found myself annoyed with the lack of explanation.  

As I read these books, I continuously lost hope for any potential that this series would improve. The author continued to make the same mistakes that were found throughout the other books. She constantly over explained her work. I think she did this because of the lack of planning and cohesiveness as she was writing. It's obvious how much she lacked proper planning. Overall, there was just a lack of editing. The switching between modern and older vernacular, inconsistent writing, missing scenes and information, unrealistic sex scenes and emotions surrounding the scenes, and convenient plot additions all revealed her lack of editing and organization.

ALSO the use of "creamy thighs" needs to be ERADICATED from any novel. NO. GROSS! No more of that, please.

I can see the passion behind this story and the characters, but there needs more work, more beta readers with actual experience, and a good editor. I'd love to be this author's editor. It'd be so fun to get this story to where it could be. Right now, it's just a few chunks of a story that aren't written well. It almost felt like reading a strange fanfiction (of something???) that was written on Wattpad in 2014. It just wasn't an enjoyable time. 

I hate to roast these books, but they just need a lot of work before they can be actual books. 

Happy reading!

Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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{Review} The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Page Count: 336

Published on: January 13, 2015

Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy
Source: Paperback - personally purchased

Age Rating: YA

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Book Depository: {click here}

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?

~~~

Hey, guys!

      After reading The Cruel Prince, I just had to pick up another faerie book from Holly Black. Once again, I'm impressed with her books. I think her YA books are what I love the best. The Darkest Part of the Forest follows Hazel and her twin brother Ben in the town of Fairfold. In the town of Fairfold, humans and fae live and exist together. The townspeople have an agreement, the faeries do not play their cruel tricks on the townspeople and the fae may play tricks on the tourists that wander into danger. Seniors in high school, Ben and Hazel have lived in Fairfold for almost all of their lives and they know of the dangers that the fae can unleash.

     However, The Darkest Part of the Forest wasn't as good as The Cruel Prince in my opinion. This was an excellent standalone. I loved it, but there was just something missing for me. I feel like there was something missing from the overall book and I felt like there was something lacking in Hazel's character. I also felt like the ending was rather rushed and the characters didn't seem to develop as much as one would hope over the course of a novel. The relationships that developed throughout the novel were also initiated quite quickly. I really hoped that they would have developed over more time, but it just seemed very instantaneous.

      Although it wasn't my favorite, I still really enjoyed the book. The writing style was awesome. I basically devoured this book; the story was so addicting and I didn't want it to end. I really enjoyed the dark and mystifying plot and world. Holly Black managed to develop a mysterious and intriguing world that I wanted to visit within the first fifty pages. The characters and their stories were so riveting that I didn't want the book to just be a standalone. However, they also did not really develop like I would have hoped they would. During the first half of the book, I became really interested in the characters; but, during the later half, it didn't seem like they were showing the kind of growth that is usually found in a standalone. I got somewhat bored with them, but not enough to hate the story. During the last few pages, the story really picked up and I really enjoyed it. Even if the ending wrapped up too quickly. 

     Overall, this was a really good book. I really enjoyed the characters, the plot, the world, and the writing. However, the characters were missing a sort of depth that I was hoping for and the book was wrapped up too quickly. Though this isn't my favorite of Holly Black's work, I'm really excited to dive back into her other YA work. 

My Previous Holly Black Reviews:

• The Field Guide (Spiderwick #1) 
• Spiderwick #2-#5 
• The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1)
• Bailey's Spiderwick series review
• The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) 

Happy reading!

Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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{Review} The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

Page Count: 370

Published on: January 2, 2018

Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Genre(s): YA, Fantasy (Fae/Fairy/Fairies/Faeries), High Fantasy, Romance
Source: Hardback- personally purchased

Age Rating: YA

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon

Book Depository: {click here}

My Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

~~~

Hey, guys!

     The Cruel Prince was one of the first books that I purchased in 2018. Unfortunately, I put off reading it until March. Man was that a dumb idea! Oh my gosh this book was so stunning! I'm obsessed! The world building, the characters, the conflict, the Faerie court, the whole plot, the political intrigue!!! Everything was done so fantastically! This book has become one of my new favorite books. I love love loved this book! I'm going to try to write a review that you all can understand, but it is going to be so hard not to gush in this review because I loved it so much

     The Cruel Prince follows Jude. When Jude was seven, her parents were murdered and she and her sisters were stolen away to live in the High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude just wants to belong in the Faerie Court, however; she is basically treated like a glorified pet and is rebuked because of her mortality. Jude becomes deeply engrossed in her desires to fit in and begins to become embroiled in the political schemes and intrigue that is frequent in the Faerie Court. Jude has to make the choice to risk her life to save the people that mean the most and the least to her. 

     Before reading The Cruel Prince, I really was not a fan of Holly Black. Her work just did not impress me. A few years ago, I read her Spiderwick Chronicles and I wasn't overly impressed. I then I tried to get into her Magisterium series that she writes with Cassandra Clare and I really wasn't impressed. However, this book has introduced me to her YA writing and I'm in love! I love her fae worlds so much! In my opinion, her YA writing style is so much more compelling than her middle grade. I cannot wait to dive into her other work and I definitely cannot wait to read The Wicked King. The Cruel Prince has definitely become one of my favorite books of 2018 and probably one of my new favorite books of all time. Yeah. It's that good.

     Let's dive into the characters in this book because... spoiler alert! I loved them all. They were just so incredibly complex and interesting. I absolutely adore Jude. She's very flawed and almost annoying at times, but I honestly loved reading from her perspective. She's sarcastic, she's fierce, she's strong. I just loved her character overall. I just loved how she rose above her tragedy and worked to make her life more fulfilling. Her goals for her life were so interesting and her story was so addicting. I cannot wait to see what she does next. Her relationships with her family and adopted family were so fascinating. I can't help but wonder what she'll do next in book two. Her relationship with Cardan was also so strange. I'm not sure how I feel about what happened at the end of the book. I just desperately need the story to continue so I can see what happens next. 

     I'm just going to flat out admit that I loved Cardan. I think he's just as complex and intriguing as Jude. I think that his character is one of my favorites. His history and personality are just so thought provoking. He is a complete d-bag, but wow...he has a story to tell. I cannot wait to continue read more about him in The Wicked King. He has so many LAYERS! Call him Shrek, because the dude is just wow. I have no words. I just cannot wait to continue his story.

     Holly Black has a talent to write whimsical yet dark magical worlds with dark and mysterious fey people. The world was so twisted and her world was so fabulously written that I did not want the book to end. The book was just so immersive and addicting. I loved how there was a larger focus on the political intrigue rather than the potential romance. The romance is somewhat woven throughout the story, but it definitely is not the focus. I adored that. Her faerie world that she has created is so different from the whimsical fae that I'm familiar with. I'm so excited to read more of Holly Black's work. 

    Overall, I just adored this book. I cannot wait for the sequel or the finale. I need it in my life and I will continue to impatiently wait for January. I'm just honestly hoping that my pre-order will come at least a day in advance from Amazon, but I doubt it will happen. I'm just so in love with this book. I recommend it to everyone. It's just wonderfully done. I'm so impatient for more! 

My Previous Holly Black Reviews:

• The Field Guide (Spiderwick #1) 
• Spiderwick #2-#5 
• The Iron Trial (Magisterium #1)
• Bailey's Spiderwick series review

Happy reading!

Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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{Review} An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Page Count: 300

Published on: September 26, 2017

Published by: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Genre(s): Fantasy, YA, Romance

Source: hardback

Age Rating: YA

Where To Find It: Goodreads // Amazon // Book Depository

My Rating: 5

Goodreads synopsis:

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous debut novel.

Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.

Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

~~~

Hey, guys!

     This review is just so long over due. I've literally had no time to write reviews. I feel terrible, but school has had to come first. I'm currently writing this at 1:30 AM on the 24th. I was given this beautiful book for my birthday by my twin sister for our 20th birthday and I was so excited to recieve it. An Enchantment of Ravens was one of my most anticipated 2017 releases. Although this book didn't live up to the hype that I expected, I take full responsibility for that. Sometimes I tend to expect books to be better than they are. Granted, this book was absolutely fantastic and I adored it, but I'm a dork and I expected it to be as fantastic as A Court of Mist and Fury. This standard is unhealthy because I do not think any book can live up to ACOMAF. 

     An Enchantment of Ravens was the last book that I read in 2017. I'm pretty sure I finished it around 10:30 in the evening. I was completely blown away by this book. It was absolutely lovely. The writing style was so beautiful and I'm so enchanted by the story. I desperately wish that this book would have been expanded upon and made into a duology. While I do think that this book was well thought out and the story was beautifully executed, the book lover in me really wanted the book to be much longer. The world that Rogerson created was so gorgeous and I just really really wanted more. 

     There were a couple "issues" that I had with this book, but overall the rest of the book made up for them. First of all, this book kind of deals with some insta-love or insta-attraction, but I really just enjoyed the time that Rook and Isobel spent together. I loved their friendship and I really aggressively shipped them. Rook is such an interesting character. Rook really had some of the best lines in this book. 

“If you must stare at something for hours on end, I’d prefer it to be me alone.” 

~~~


"I love you wholly. I love you eternally. I love you so dearly it frightens me. I fear I could not live without you. I could see your face every morning upon waking for a thousand years and still look forward to the next as though it were the first.” 

     Overall, I really do recommend this book if you adore fae stories, gorgeous writing, gorgeous worlds, and a fantastic magic system then I recommend this book. I cannot wait to read what Margaret Rogerson puts out next. She has a fantastic ability for story telling. Her book was magical.

Happy reading!

Olivia

~LivTheBookNerd~

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