I know nothing about war, but I understand grief. I know it extinguishes everything else, even victory I imagine.’ She twisted a piece of his hair and let it go. ‘How odd it must be to return home a hero and be confronted with celebration while grieving.’ She slipped her hand into his. ‘How ludicrous you must find the feasting as you count the empty chairs before you.
This is a quick one but felt it deserved a wee review cause I think… This is my favourite book so far of 2020. I know. I’m surprised too – relatively unknown and not a cult following fantasy read; but I just couldn’t put it down!
WOAH. This did a total 180 on me. Started incredibly slowly and I struggled to keep interest, however it definitely picked up by about a 1/3 of the way through. This is definitely a romance front and centre, so don’t assume anything else when you pick this up.
Some of the perspectives are a bit *ahem* sexist and degrading to women but I think this is the entire point and helps to present the contrast between the main character and her love interest nicely – in both senses of the word they are looking for the opposite of what ‘royal society’ is constraining and categorising them to.
My one bug-bear is that the world-building and characterisation is a bit empty… A lot more could have been done with this to help the story develop and help the reader become fully immersed within the read. That being said, some of the writing was truly beautiful and had me pause after reading (like the quote above) and think, “huh.”
For a free book on Kindle it is definitely worth a read – and there are loads more in the series! However, I feel I have been trapped as all others are £4 (Still cheap but now I need to buy them ALL to follow what happens next).
I couldn’t not kick this off with indulging in my romantic self, could I?! OTP’s, also known as ‘One True Pairing’ are a derivative of ‘ships’. They are crucial to a successful romance story. And often the reason why I keep going back to a book series for the next installment. See below for my Top 10 so far – in no particular order. (Potential spoilers and artist credits have been applied where possible).
Feyre & Rhysand
I mean, are we really surprised? Feyre and Rhysand from Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series are the ultimate enemy-to-lovers paradigm. And I love it!
Feyre & Rhysand – Charlie Bowater
Warner and Juliette
Another classic enemy-to-lover story, Warner and Juliette from Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi are, quite frankly, stunning. Their relationship blossoms over the course of the Shatter Me storyline and is empirical to both Warner and Juliette’s character development.
Juliette & Warner – Morgana0anagrom
Thomas Cresswell & Audrey-Rose Wadsworth
Ooft. The Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalo was definitely one that got me out of a reading slump and I think it is all down to these two. The whole series is fab and all the better for them being in it.
Cresswell and Wadsworth – Morgana0anagrom
Adam & Ronan
From the moment these two were introduced I knew there was more than meets the eye… and there was! Just love them. The perfect contrasting couple from the most FANTASTIC YA fantasy series – The Raven Cycle.
Adam & Ronan – llstarcasterll
Aelin and Rowan
Another on SJM couple – are you shocked, yet? There may be a theme here… I love Aelin and Rowan. ULTIMATE power couple. Their love stroy is a bit less mature than that shown within ACOTAR, however nonetheless gorgeous. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, READ THRONE OF GLASS.
Aelin & Rowan – Gabriella Bujdoso
Lou Le Blanc & Reid Diggory
A pretty fresh one for me, but Lou and Reid were the OTP I never knew I wanted (or needed!) I feel like Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin is one of those new cult classics within the fantasy genre and Lou and Reid’s relationship is just, lovely.
Lou Le Blanc & Reid Diggory – Gabriella Bujdoso
Thorne and Cress
From Marissa Meyer’s fairytale retelling bonanza series The Lunar Chronicles Thorne and Cress were the all-reigning couple that stole my heart! There were a lot of relationships going on in this series, and I did enjoy the development of all, but I think they get the ticket. Also a sci-fi series rather than fantasy made a nice change – I’m trying to expand!
Thorne & Cress – Arz28
Cartier & Brienna
I feel like The Queen’s Rising series doesn’t have the attention it so, SO deserves…! Cartier and Brienna’s relationship is fantastic, and their character writing is truly stunning. Brienna is defo the sassy heroine we should all aspire to be more like!
Cartier & Brienna – Paris of Ink & Wonder Designs
Mare & Cal
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard was the first book I read post-uni; the first one I read for leisure rather than essays, anyway! Mare and Cal (and actually Mare and Maven)’s turbulent relationship(s) made for a wild ride, and their story was pretty intense…
Fitzwilliam Darcy & Elizabeth Bennett
My forever favourite novel and pairing – Darcy and Bennett from Pride & Prejudice are the romance I have always wished for and think I have now found! It was a slow start for them but they got there in the end and Austen’s writing makes it magical when they do get together.
That’s it! Who are your all-time favourite OTP’s? I’m almost looking for new stories and romances to dig my teeth into so let me know!
4/5 stars. WOWIE! This book took me on a wild ride. Thank you to the author and publishing company for giving me the opportunity to review this book as an ARC!
I’ll be honest, I did not expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. I would say this gave me definite Serpent & Dove vibes; if you enjoyed that, read this! I managed this in 2 days.
Mageborn is a fantasy surrounding magic and mystery, like all the best ones are! It has the perfect smattering of enemies to romance, smut and powerful protagonist portrayal you could hope for! The book follows a simialr thread to a lot of others within this genre, mystical kingdom is under threat by [X], powerful heroine needs to help save the kingdom from [X], along the way she either meets a dashing hero or has to SAVE said hero from [X]. This is the writing cocktail I adore, and so it was completely for me. Think Sarah J. Maas-esque creation. Superb.
I would say there are two main protagonists within this read, and their perspectives are split chapter-to-chapter. This, for me, enabled the build-up of the relationship that forms between the two to become all the more hard-hitting, as you get the chance to really see how one is feeling about the other. Likewise, the writing style really helped the world to come alive for me, and I was truly engrossed from start to finish. The overall storyline delivered enough adventure and action to keep me on my toes but allowed a real exploration into the developing burdens and implications faced by the characters.
3/5 stars. It was great! But not fantastic. Do I understand the hype? Honestly? I’m not sure.
I’m not really sure what to say about this book. It was VERY slow at the start… and I mean very. I struggled to keep with it. I made a mental note of when it picked up: 53% (kindle).
I think that’s when Marco and Celia had their first confrontation and their romance really began, which I think is what I was searching for the whole time. The second-half of the book was definitely my favourite; and the twist at the end did have me surprised. Although the finale did leave me feeling a little bit deflated. A bit like, is that it?
Something which I admired about the book and it delivered extremely well: the world building. I loved the whole facade and adventure of The Night Circus. The tents and ‘worlds’ invented within them were incredible. The descriptive writing; beautiful. I also really enjoyed the turbulent romance between Marco and Celia. I was happy with their ending though, and found myself really feeling like they deserved to be together. Saying that, Marco was a bit pining, wasn’t he? Let Celia be the independent powerhouse that she is(!)
Something which I think the book could have done better: I enjoyed the different perspectives offered through the time-hopping, however it was a bit confusing. At times I was struggling to follow who I was reading about and where they were, and in what time. And I may have been missing the point entirely but Bailey… I found his story-line the most dull?! Anyone else or am I just being very pessimistic?
Myfavourite quote of the entire book:“I would have written you, myself, if I could put down in words everything I want to say to you. A sea of ink would not be enough.” The sentiment behind this is stunning and totally soppy and just what every romantic wants to read/hear/experience.
I wanted to love this but I struggled to. I would give it a solid 3/5 stars. It was good, borderline great, but the only reason I persisted with it was because of the following it has gained in recent years and its popularity with other readers. If it was a lesser known novel, I think I would have struggled to finish it.
What I will say is this – I would try it again. I have not completely given up on it, I feel like maybe it deserves a bit more of my time and possibly a different reading environment? I did try to squeeze a lot of this in on my 30mins lunch breaks with my tuna mayo sandwich!
belle in pages 