Ace of Shades (Spoiler Free) Review

TTitle: Ace of Shades
Author: Amanda Foody
Series: The Shadow Game #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read:  8/4/19

Ace of Shades was such a surprising read for me, in a good way. I read her debut novel last year and enjoyed it (3 stars) and I wanted to give her second book a chance as well since I heard even better things about it and the concept seemed very intriguing. Turns out I really enjoyed it and had such a fun time reading it and now want the sequel, which thank goodness is already out.

This book follows Enne Salta who travels to the City of Sin to find her mother. The only clue to her is the name Levi Glaisyer, a street lord and a con man. The City of Sin is sort of reminds me of Vegas. I found the world unique and interesting as well.

Out of all the characters my favorites were Levi and Lola. Enne was extremely annoying in the beginning but she grew on me more and more as the story went on. In fact, all the character became better people.

I wished the Shadow Game was explained better as I found the game to be a little confusing. I wanted to know the rules and what it was in general. In the beginning it is just referred to The Shadow Game with little information other than no one survives it. At the end of the book we do learn a lot more about it but I do wish it was explained better.

When I first started reading this book, I will admit I was a bit bored and the story was slow. It took me about 50 pages before I became fully invested in the book. But once I was hooked, the book was hard to put down.

Overall I do recommend this and it is definitely and underrated read. I think Foody's world building, characters and writing were improved from her debut and do recommend you give this one a try even if you did not like Daughter of the Burning city.

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Top Ten [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Top Ten
Author: Katie Cotugno
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 6/25/19

Top Ten is a book that I have heard a lot of mixed things about and was hesitant to read it. Many people really enjoyed it but I also heard a ton of negative reviews and I am so happy to find myself being one of those who actually enjoyed it and I think it was because I was in the mood for a fun quick contemporary read.

Top Ten follows Gabby and Ryan who are best friends since freshman year in high school. Now graduated. One of the things they do is make top ten lists of random things so they decide to recall the top ten moments of their friendship.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book is that their friendship is not perfect. It is evident that both characters truly care about each other, but they argue and get mad at each other which are things that happen in real life and I enjoyed how their relationship was not always cookie cutter perfect.

One of the main characters, Gabby also has anxiety and it is mentioned throughout the book and does play a role in the story. I really appreciated how her anxiety was not just mentioned once and never touched upon again. It was part of who she was and I appreciated how we could see how it affected the choices that she made and some of her everyday struggles and I did relate to some of the choices that she makes. Gabby is also bisexual and I had no idea about that going into the book. I do not know if the representation was good as I am not an own voices reviewer but I did not see any problematic issues when reading.

The one thing I wished this book did was instead of having the top ten moments as a countdown from 10-1 it was mixed up and told in chronological order. I feel like if it was told that way, the story would of been more enjoyable and easier for some people to follow.

Overall I do recommend this book hesitantly mainly because I know that it is not for everyone. But if you are craving a contemporary and this book does appeal to you, definitely give it a chance. I will hopefully be able to read another Katie Cotugno book before summer ends as this was the perfect summer read.

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Girls of Paper and Fire [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: Girls of Paper and Fire
Author: Natasha Ngan
Series: Girls of Paper and Fire #1
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 6/24/19

Girls of Paper and Fire is a book I heard a lot about ever since it came out. I heard mostly good things about it and really wanted to give it a shot and I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it.

This book is an Asian inspired fantasy following a girl name Lei who has golden eyes. As a result she one day gets chosen to become one of the kings paper girls and taken from her home. However, she is the ninth paper girl and usually only eight are selected. Lei does not want to be a paper girl and throughout her time as a one, she starts to fall for one of the other paper girls. Yes there is a f/f romance in this book.

This book does have a trigger warning for rape and sexual assault as well. It also says it explicitly in the beginning of the book before the book even starts so only read this if you are in the right head space to handle the subject matter.

The beginning was slow. I feel like I have been saying that about a lot of the book I have been reading lately, but it is true. It took me several chapters to understand the world and to become invested in the story and the characters. Once I pushed through that point, I was invested in the book and flew through the rest of the book because I had to know what would happen next.

I wished some of the side characters got more character development because I really knew nothing most of the other paper girls and most were very forgettable. I thought that the paper girls would all have a stronger friendship then they actually had and was slightly disappointed by that.

Overall I do recommend this book especially if you are looking for a diverse fantasy read. I definitely will be reading the sequel when it comes out and so am so glad that I finally picked this book up!

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The Truth About Forever [ Spoiler Free ] Review

Title: The Truth About Forever
Author: Sarah Dessen
My rating: 4/5 stars
Date Read: 6/19/19

Since it is summer and I have been craving a contemporary I finally decided to pick up another Sarah Dessen book. Sarah Dessen is an author that has so many contemporaries released and the ones I have read so far, for the most part, I really enjoyed. I do hope to pick up another one of her books before summer is over.

The Truth About Forever follows a girl name Macy who lives a perfect academic life. Her boyfriend is the top student in the school. She is also very studious, studying for the SATs all summer and helping her boyfriend out working at the local library while he is at brain camp. She and him are very type A. Macy also gets an unexpected catering job where she meets new friends and starts to get out of her shell. In this book (before the book starts) it is mentioned that her father passed away and it mentioned and does affect the family throughout the story.

The one thing I love about Dessen's books is that they are realistic, have important messages, the characters grow, and family usually plays an important role in it. Yep, parents do exist. I feel like in every YA contemporary book I read, the parents are usually absent which I think their presence in this book and Dessen's other books, make them more realistic.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book and they all have distinct personalities. They were each their own person and I could tell them all apart no problem. Macy went through a lot of character development and self discovery in this book and it can easily be seen how she became the person she is at the end of the book.

Overall I do recommend this and I will be reading other books by the author in the future!

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