The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Summary: Kestrel is a general's daughter in stolen land and in a stolen house. In a few years she will have to choose between getting married and joining the army, neither road seeming ideal to her.When she stumbles upon a slave auction she feels compels to buy Arin , a blacksmith who she will soon begin to have feelings for.

4/5, 85%

Good book that i'm for some reason really invested into but I can't quite figure out why. My negatives outweigh the positives but I can't bring myself to put it any lower than four stars. I was entertaining and grabbed onto my emotions.

I think this should've been two books or some of it shortened, the first and second half two different stories. It was also too long and then end dragged on. The world building could've been better, but it's made up for in the second book. One of my biggest problems, which is also a big problem in the second book is the angst that's annoying and they need to get over with.

Overall, good book but real long and dragged on.

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

Summary: The second novel in the Winner's trilogy. Will Give spoilers to the first novel, The Winner's Curse. Kestrel is now betrothed to the Prince of Valorian and in between party after party she wraps herself in a blanket of spying and treason. Arin keeps himself busy with trying to enlist allies for Herran and battling with his mind over his thoughts of Kestrel's true feelings.

3/5

This was a typical young adult YA second in a trilogy book. A filler book where the couple is fighting and not much happens. The only thing different, and the only thing that kept my attention was the ending. Me, getting angry at the main characters for not just telling each other that love each other and getting over with it. It was slow and angsty as well.

Although I wasn't very fond of this book I am still for some reason really invested in this couple and want the next book. like, now. The ending killed me. Very Brutally.

The Body Electric by Beth Revis

Rating: 4 Stars

Summary: Ella Shepard lives in the future. Her mother is sick, her father died a year ago and her memory is faulty. 

Beth Revis' first series, Across the Universe, was my favorite series for a really long time. It's also one of the few series I've read more than once. When I heard Revis was writing something new I was really excited and I've only waited this long to read it because I wanted my own physical copy. Comparing the two, The Body Electric and Across the Universe, I definitely liked Across the Universe better. They are two very different books, and it's also incredibly difficult to compare a standalone to three separate books.

I had a couple problems with this book. I thought the pacing was off. The beginning was kind of slow but the ending, and the last 100-200 pages felt really rushed.I wish I got to know the supporting characters more. Other than Ella, the protagonist, and the antagonist, none of the supporting characters were really fledged out. I don't even feel really connected or knowledgeable about the love interest, Jack. I also got kind of a insta-love feel because of that, which you'll know is weird if you've read the book.

However, I liked pretty much everything else. I read it really fast, in a couple hours. Every five minutes I was like "stop at the next chapter" then next thing I knew I was at the final page. Apart from the first a hundred pages the entire book kept me on my feet and engaged. I was really fast paced and I flew through it. I liked the mystery, and although I guessed the overall twist there were some details that really shocked me. The world building was really good and interesting and the nod at Godspell made my heart grow three sizes. I really like Ella, I thought she was a really strong character and likable. The writing, particularity the parts with the bees, was amazing  I think I should also mention the gorgeous cover. The format of the rest of the book, the font and the chapter illustration, is also really pretty. 

Overall, I really liked this book and wouldn't mind a couple novellas about Jack, Xavier and Julie. Definitely read this if you enjoyed her previous books, Across the Universe. 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Rating:5 stars

An Iliad retelling, Patroclus is exiled from his kingdom and soon finds Achilles as a best friend and then lover. In the backdrop of the Trojan War you can hear my tears.

I loved, loved, loved this. I loved everything. The characters, the writing style, the setting of war. I don't even want you to read this, I want you to go read this book now and then come back and cry with me.

The Song Of Achilles made me very emotional. Going in I knew basic Greek mythology, including the ending, which only made it that much sadder. So even during the cute parts I was crying about how the ending. I loved the writing style and the description, it was almost lyrical and felt like I was dreaming. Patroclus descriptions of Achilles were amazing and perfect and heartbreaking. Achilles character development, the way Patroculs realized he was slowly turning into a complex person, was so good. The war backdrop made the story so much more epic and much more deep (and heartbreaking).

The few unfavorable things were the lack of structure of time, but I think it's like that in the Iliad too and sometimes I got the minor characters confused.

  I've been meaning to pick The Iliad up as I love Greek mythology and I think this is the motivation I needed. It drew me in from the first chapter with the beautiful writing and had gotten me out of a reading slump that was sufocating me.This also isn't my usual get-out-of-a-slump book. I usually read cute contemporary romance things. It wasn't as I expected either, I thought it was a young adult romance and it was so much more and so much more complex, which made it so much more great.

If you love Greek mythology read it. If you don't, still read it. If you don't even know who Zeus is, still read it. It was good at explaining the more obscure and not common knowledge myths and there was a glossary at the back, but I didn't know about untill I finished the book.  

P. S. I started to cry in the middle of class when I read the ending, not a good idea. I was also disappointed I didn't get the full crying effect.