But anyway, since I want to post reviews in 2020 that I actually read in 2020, I'm just going to get the last two books I read last year out of the way -- The Well of Ascension, which is the second book in the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, and Wendelin Van Draanen's contemporary stand alone Wild Bird.
Both were five star books for me, which also makes me really happy. What a great way to end the year. :)
Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen
My Rating: ★★★★★
Description: A girl is sent to a wilderness rehabilitation program by her parents after her drug and alcohol abuse spiral out of control.
I did not think I was going to like this book as much as I did, and I literally only picked it up because my book club was reading it that month. And what do you know? I actually ended up loving it. There's so much to like about this book -- an exploration of family and friendship, themes of forgiveness and self-forgiveness, a great female friendship, and wilderness survival.
One thing I liked was how clean the book was. It dealt with some really tough topics, but it did it in a way that wasn't graphic, while at the same time not diminishing the severity of the topics it was dealing with. I consider this a huge feat just by itself.
On top of that, there was some excellent character development, especially for Wren and her family members, as well as the camp counsellors and other kids in the program.
I highly recommend this book!
5/5 stars.
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (SPOILERS for The Final Empire)
My Rating: ★★★★★
Description: After the events of The Final Empire, Vin and Elend struggle to hold the city together under the threat of an invasion.
This book ended up being my last completed book of 2019, which was somewhat disappointing, since I'd hoped to finish the entire Mistborn trilogy before the New Year. That never happened, but you know what wasn't disappointing? This book!
While I still ended up enjoying The Final Empire a tiny bit more, this book was excellent as well! There were a lot of fantasy politics, great character development carried over from the first book, and, of course, the truly epic magic system and worldbuilding.
I do have to recommend this book for older readers only; there is a number of violent and brutal scenes in the book, some, while not heavily graphic, do include gory details. There's also some (mostly implied) sexual content, and one or two descriptions of a woman's body (not hugely graphic, again, but definitely there.) I would say there's a bit more sexual content in this book than in The Final Empire, mostly because of a certain new POV. TRIGGER WARNING for self-harm.
The plot was well-put together, including a few excellent twists and a great cliffhanger ending.
Again, 5/5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment