Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

*This post contains spoilers for the first two books in The Illuminae Files series, Illuminae and Gemina.*

Read my review of book 1, Illuminae, here!

Read my review of book 2, Gemina, here!

Series: The Illuminae Files, #3

Publications: March 13th 2018 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Description:

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? 

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. 

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken. 

My thoughts:

Obsidio absolutely blew my mind! It was an amazing concluding novel to this epic sci-fi series! It was such an exciting read! 

Liked Rhy- pretty interesting. But nothing compared to Ezra and Nik

Wasn't a fan of Asha- my least favourite of the girls. Wasn't as interesting. Felt very one dimensional. 

Despite not being massive fans of either of them I was still rooting for them and was invested in their part they had to play in the series!

I was here for the other characters though. Starting with our original duo: Kady and Ezra have the best banter in the chat rooms that had me laughing out loud. But they also had some very sweet emotional moments too that I loved reading. My favourite parts where any time they were on the page. 

Ella and Nik's interactions were such a highlight too!

An unexpected pair that stole the show for me was Nik and Ezra. The two are funny guys by themselves and together they are freaking hilarious! Their unexpected friendship in Obsidio was everything. I was here for it!

Obsidio started in the beginning but then I couldn't read fast enough. The second half of the book was mad. There was so much action it was as intense and crazy as the previous books. 

I loved the illustrations by Marie Lu from Hanna's journal- there was a mini comic strip in the story and I was dying reading it. Marie Lu captures Hanna's voice so well in her illustrations. Her personality comes across so well.

Obsidio was such a heart pounding read with lots of action and shocks and I throughly enjoyed every minute of it! It wrapped up the series very nicely and I can't wait to see what Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff do next! 

Thanks for reading,

A :)

Series Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

Series: The Diviners 

Publication of book 1, The Diviners:September 18th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Description of book 1, The Diviners:

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened.

My Thoughts:

The Diviners is a new all time favourite series of mine (that's right it is not a trilogy! There are more books to come out so don't do what I did and read the three thinking it is a completed story!) I marathoner the first three books back to back and had the best time. I loved every minute of it and as soon as I finished one book I jumped right into the next!

This review is broken down into three sections and I have warnings before spoilers so don't worry!

The Diviners 

The Diviners was not at all what I was expecting and I loved it! It was such a unique read that was complete different to anything else I've ever read!

The atmosphere and setting were so good. Libba Bray did an excellent job making me feel like I was in New York in the 1920s. She just captured the vibe so well. I was even reading in a Gatsby-esque accent. All the parties and glitz and glam really made the it feel real. 

The Diviners has a huge cast of characters which I loved! I haven't read a book with loads of characters in ages (last one I can think of is Lord of Shadows). I really grew to love a lot of them, especially Evie, Sam, Theta and Memphis. Because the book is so long we really get to spend a lot of time getting to know the characters and connecting with them. I also loved how all the storylines crossed paths at some stage and all the friendships that started developing between the characters.

The plot was very engaging for the most part. It is a mystery thriller but the reader knows who did it so it took a little bit away from the story because I was getting annoyed they were taking so long to figure it out! It wasn't too bad though I was still very invested in the story and couldn't stop reading. 

Speaking of the mystery thriller aspect Libba Bray nailed it at creating such a creepy haunting eerie atmosphere in some scenes. I was genuinely freaked out at points.

I was surprised at how emotionally invested I was, I was getting freaked out and stressed for the characters it was so intense at parts and I loved it! 

I was hesitant to pick up The Diviners because I wasn't the biggest fan of Libba Bray's other series, Gemma Doyle, and I didn't want to commit to a series with such long books but I was so glad I did! It was such a unique read and as soon as I finished book 1 I started book 2, Lair of Dreams!

*Spoilers for book 1, The Diviners ahead!*

Lair of Dreams

I absolutely adored reading Lair of Dreams! There was so much going on and I loved it!

We get to see a good bit of Sam in Lair of Dreams and I loved it! Sam quickly became one of my all time favourite characters, he is just so funny and enjoyable to read about! I wheels anticipated getting a chapter from his POV. 

Speaking of POV, both Jericho and Mabel had POVs in this book too. They were pretty prevalent at the start but then they disappeared for what felt like ages and when they popped up I was surprised- I'd forgotten about them. I wasn't the biggest fan of their stories but I was still engaged while reading from them.

We get introduced to a new character- Ling. Ling is very different from the other character and I loved it! She is half Chinese and has a physical disability. It was great getting that kind of rep in a historical fiction book! Usually it's all the contemporary books that have diverse cast of character but The Diviners has so many different types of people and it's great!

The plot was excellent I never felt like it dragged even though it was a long book. There were a good few storylines going on at once and while I definitely had my favourites (Sam and Evie and Memphis and Theta) I enjoyed all of them. I will say this book is not as big on the thriller mystery stuff as book 1 though. We do get more into the government side of things and I had lots of questions and was constantly theorising what things meant as I was reading.

The ships were sailing in this one and it was so much fun to read about! I had so much fun reading about one in particular, won't say who because spoilers!

I had just as an amazing and surprise reading experience reading Lair of Dreams as I did The Diviners! It was a fantastic sequel and just like with book 1 I had to jump into the next one immediately!

*Spoilers for book 2, Lair of Dreams ahead!*

Before the Devil Breaks You

Before the Devil Breaks You is probably my least favourite of the three books out but it was still great! 

I was frustrated at Evie a good bit in this one which hindered my enjoyment. She was just making stupid decisions I didn't agree with which was annoying. I still love her but she got on my nerves at times.

There was a lot of Jericho in this book which I wasn't that happy about. I wasn't a fan of him going in but then he kind of grew on me and then he did something and I didn't like him again. I was all over the place with him.

There was a good bit of Mabel too which also effected my reading experience. I was never a fan of her, she just wasn't as interesting as the others but in this book she was just stupid I couldn't stand her! She was constantly doing stupid things that had me rolling my eyes and I felt no sympathy or empathy towards her. 

We do get some lovely character development for Theta though which I lived for. She is such a strong young woman and I could read about her all day every day!

I also really liked Ling in this book. I felt like she had a bigger role than she did in Lair of Dreams and it was interesting getting to know her better it is also confirmed that she is ace so yay!

We do get a good few answers about things from previous books about Diviners but I still had questions when I finished reading.

There was a good bit of relationship drama in this one- won't say who but some couples need to learn to communicate!

There was definitely some very emotional parts in Before the Devil Breaks You compared to book 1 and 2. I was surprised at how emotional my response was to some stuff going down.

The ending of this one is absolutely mad so I'd recommend waiting until book 4 is out or closer to its release date before picking up Before the Devil Breaks You because the ending will leave you wanting more!

Beyond excited for the next book! I need it asap! Really hoping we don't have to wait years for it! I had so much fun reading these first three books and can't wait to jump back into this world soon!

Thanks for reading,

A :)

The Girl on The Train by Paula Hawkins

Publication:January 13th 2015 by Riverhead Books

Goodreads Description:
The debut psychological thriller that will forever change the way you look at other people's lives.

EVERY DAY THE SAME
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning and night. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. Jess and Jason, she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

UNTIL TODAY
And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel goes to the police. But is she really as unreliable as they say? Soon she is deeply entangled not only in the investigation but in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

My thoughts:

I never read mysteries or thrillers and The Girl on the Train did not sell the genre to me. It wasn't the best one to start on; I'm not really interested in picking up more in the genre now because i didn't like this one. The Girl on the Train was just okay. I had a lot of problems with it.

Firstly the characters; not a single one of them is likeable or relatable. They were all awful people who are all selfish and self centred, They couldn't care less about the consequences of their actions. The only thing I appreciated about them was that they were all flawed.

Rachel, the main character was so depressing to read about. It was not fun reading about a sad alcoholic who was doing nothing to try make her situation better. The only good thing about her was she challenges readers to think about how much we assume about--and pre-judge--other people based on our limited knowledge of them.

A big problem I had with the story was how all the women were portrayed. They are all defined by the men they are married to/dating. The three female characters were all pathetic to be honest, it annoyed me how they were all so dependent on the men. As a 19 year old girl I want to be reading about strong admirable role models in the literature I read.

The writing was very plain. There was nothing special about it. The only good thing was the chapters were short an to the point. 

The plot was boring to me. I wasn't intrigued at all. I didn't care about the mystery.The big plot twist at the end wasn't a plot twist for me- I saw it coming a mile away.

Overall The Girl on the Train fell flat for me and I was very disappointed. It definitely didn't live up to the hype.

My rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

Thanks for reading,

A :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Series: The Illuminae Files,#1

Published: 20th October 2015 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Description:

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.

This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes. 

My thoughts:

Illuminae is freaking amazing! I absolutely loved it! It is a fantastic story told in a unique way that I throughly enjoyed.

The formatting of Illuminae is what really makes the book special. The story is told through IMs, survallience footage, interviews, transcripts of audio recordings, emails and lots more types of multi media. This unique format is hard to get used to in the beginning, the first 50 pages or so were difficult for me to follow the but I pushed through and eventually it started to make sense. Because of the unique formatting we get lots of POVs which is great, even artificial intelligence which is so cool!

I loved the two main characters Kady and Ezra so much. They were great. I had a hard time really connecting to Kady because it's all through dialogue it is hard to really get to know her but with time I really grew to love her. She is one of the coolest characters ever; she is a freaking genius computer hacker! And she is really pro-girlpower which I love and she so so sarcastic and blunt I loved it! Ezra was freaking hilarious; he is so snarky and just anytime he was in a scene it was so much fun. The banter between the two of them was on point. The authors really captured teen voices in their characters. The way they spoke (well typed since it was IMing mostly) was so relatable and realistic. Their relationship was so fun to read and was developed perfectly. 

The plot was a bit slow in the start; there is a goo bit of build up but then it gets crazy. Once it got going to story was so intense, with some surprises here and there, it was so addictive,I couldn't put it down. I was constantly on edge wondering will they make it or won't they make it.

I'm not a huge sci-fi reader so I was apprehensive going in that I wouldn't have a clue what was going on but it was grand. Illuminae is very sci-fi- there is spaceships and computers and artificial intelligence but I didn't have a problem with it at all. 

The ending makes me so excited for the next instalment in the series; I've heard the second book is about different characters so it will be interesting to see how their story connects with Illuminae.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed Illuminae, it was nothing like I've ever read before and I highly recommend it!

My rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Thanks for reading,

A :)

Follow my blog with Bloglovin