Critique || A Court of Mist & Fury by Sarah J. Maas

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this book, but it was definitely not this and I love it. I got everything I want and more from ACOMAF. I’ve decided that I’m going to split this review into a non-spoiler section and a spoilery discussion section. Ok? Ok. Let’s get to this because there’s so much I need to get out. (This is a long one. Sorry!)

Synopsis:

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

Brief Thoughts:

• Unlike ACOTAR, the pacing for this book was good. We felt Feyre’s conflict about what she’d done from the start and from there it kept going.
• I really, truly don’t see a love triangle here, and I feel sorry for everyone missing out on it because of that.
• We get to meet a ton of new characters, each of whom I completely fell in love with.
• The world-building kinda sorta awed me in this book. We learn so much more about relationships between courts, fae politics, and traditions.
• I love Feyre’s character development in this book; she really comes into her own and starts to find her own way.
• Rhysand. I loved everything about him and that we get to know him a little better.
• The ending…as is SJM’s style, she really threw me for a loop and I had to sit back and go, “Wow,” when I was done.
• The writing style felt different, which was great. Though there were a lot of F-bombs I wasn’t expecting and oh boy, were there more of those steamy scenes she loves to write, haha.
• If you’re a fan of Tamlin, you don’t see much of him in the book at all. He’s absent for probably 95% of it.

That’s all I can really say without giving away too much. Keep on reading if you want to see my in-depth thoughts. 😀

***Spoiler warning from here on out***

Mini Critiques | Tyler Knott Gregson

All the Words Are Yours: Haiku on Love
Tyler Knott Gregson

5 Teacups

Description:

Here starts the journey

Every day for the past six years, Tyler Knott Gregson has written a simple haiku about love, and posted it online. These heartfelt poems have attracted a large and loyal following around the world. This highly anticipated follow-up to Chasers of the Light, presents Tyler’s favorites, some previously unpublished, accompanied by his signature photographs, which capture the rich texture of daily life.

This vibrant collection reveals the intimate reflections of one of poetry’s most popular new voices — honest, vulnerable, generous, and truly present in the gift that is each moment. 

My thoughts:

Fun fact about this book; I found it while I was wandering through anthropologie this past weekend. All it took was one poem, and I fell in love and needed it in my life.

All I really want
is to roll over to you,
and tell you my dreams.

I’m not the biggest fan of poetry, as is apparent in the lack of it on my Goodreads shelves. I haven’t found anyone whose writing speaks to me on the same level that Tyler’s does. He is the kind of writer that I aspire to be; his writing is magical and lyrical, so much so that even his introduction takes you on a journey.

I found that these poems were warm-fuzzies-inducing, while also feeling incredibly relatable without being too mushy (though there are some of those too). Unsurprisingly, the ones that I was drawn too erred on the sexy-ish side because of the implications without the raunchy. I 100% recommend picking up this book if poems are your thing, or you want to get into them.

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Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series
Tyler Knott Gregson

4.5 Teacups

Description:

The epic made simple. The miracle in the mundane.

One day, while browsing an antique store in Helena, Montana, photographer Tyler Knott Gregson stumbled upon a vintage Remington typewriter for sale. Standing up and using a page from a broken book he was buying for $2, he typed a poem without thinking, without planning, and without the ability to revise anything.

He fell in love.

My thoughts:

I read these books in reverse order (which is totally fine. One has nothing to do with the other). I also found this one at anthropologie; the reason why I didn’t immediately jump on getting it because it was longer poetry and let’s be real, normally I don’t have the attention span for that. If I can’t understand what’s going on, I’m immediately checking out mentally. However, I couldn’t get certain poems out of my head, such as this one:

“Thank you”
she whispered soft
like it may
blow away
with anything stronger
than a breath,
“for fixing me.”
“You,”
I sputtered out
like the first sound
of morning,
“were never broken.”

So the day after the first one arrived, I bought the second one. Last night I decided to get even crazier and also buy the audible version, so now I can listen to Tyler himself reading me the poems. You can bet your bottom dollar I’m bookmarking my favorites and snapchatting them because I’m crazy and obsessive like that.

I enjoyed this book and it still resonated with me, but not as much as All the Words Are Yours did, and I don’t know if that has to do with my short attention span when it comes to poetry, or the poems themselves. They aren’t bad by any means., just slightly repetitive, and some are just as warm-fuzzies-inducing as the Haiku. This book paired with the other totally put me into a lovey dovey mood, and I read three, albeit shorter, lovey dovey books this week.

I definitely recommend this one if you’re into poetry or looking to get into it. I love that you can an audio version of this, which totally helps to enhance the experience, and his voice is all gravelly and awesome, and has that permanent morning husk. Yaaaas.

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Critique | Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Spoiler-Free)

5 Teacups

I am so excited that this was a five-star read because this book is absolutely adorable. I’d heard it raved about all over BookTube, so of course I was off to the library to see if I could get my hands on it. I am so glad I did, because I fell in love with Simon and his quirky cast of friends and family.

The story starts off as Simon is blackmailed, but he shrugs it off and muddles his way through life figuring out how to deal with his sexuality, his friends, his family, and the grammatically correct cutie he’s emailing known as Blue. The thing that I liked best about this book was how real and relatable the characters were. They talked about real issues that teens deal with in a way that teens actually talk.

Critique | Saving Lawson by R.J. Lewis

5 Teacups

Dates Read: July 6th, 2015 – July 14th, 2015

Holy Lawson!

Hang on to your kindles, ladies (and gents)! It’s gonna be one helluva ride. This book…I’m in love. I love a book that keeps you guessing and makes you go, “Say what?” as you’re reading. I literally slammed my tablet against a pillow a few times (in a good way. I was so not expecting that). I read in reviews that this book was intense and had some twists and turns in it. Um, yes. I’d say that, most definitely.