Some Ramblings: King of Scars

King of Scars

by Leigh Bardugo
Book 1 of Nikolai Duology

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible.  No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way.  Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.

Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built.  With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him.  He will risk everything to save his country and himself.  But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal.

It feels like it's been ages since I read the Grisha trilogy, and, as others might have pointed out, a reread of Bardugo's debut trilogy might have been beneficial.  I remember some details, but not others, and it might have been the reliance of back story knowledge that had me feeling like this book was a bit hard to get into in the beginning.  It probably also didn't help that there were a lot of POVs, even though we really just switched between three main ones--Nina, Nikolai, and Zoya.

And in truth, I feel like Bardugo handled the multiple POVs and the multiple story lines A LOT better in the Six of Crows duology (which had been known as The Dregs duology at some point, and is now going to get a third book apparently which has caused me to feel completely flustered, because that's all I can think of now, so the rest of this review is sort of a blur.)  The truth is, because of the connection between these two series, it was hard NOT to make those comparisons, which might have been a bit unfair to this book.  I found myself wondering if any of the other Dregs would make an appearance, and whenever Nina's POVs swung around, I wondered if she'd run into Inej or Kaz, or whether they'd suddenly pop up to help her with her missions... as awkwardly dropped as those instances would have been.

But enough of the Six of Crows versus Nikolai comparisons, because this book is quite obviously a sequel series to the Grisha trilogy.  So, to start, I DO highly recommend reading that trilogy before jumping into this one.  I even highly recommend reading the Six of Crows duology first as well.

Because while this book COULD stand on its own in some ways, I feel like there were too many references to previous books that could cause fleeting moments of "I wonder what that was about?"

Back to this book...

As I had already mentioned, I had found the beginning a bit slow to get into--dragged a little bit, even.  And despite the fact that every tangent seems to have its significance, the book still feels like it tried to cram too much material into one book... and yet there were a lot of moments where I just wanted to get on with the story.

It's conflicting, because it's not like I didn't like this book.  In fact, I very much enjoyed it, because aside from the story's outline and presentation itself, Bardugo has a way with words and creation that really just draws you right in.  Bardugo's Grishaverse is a wonderfully crafted place, and I've always loved how intricate all the details of her world are presented, how you can pluck any character out of the world and there can be a whole story to tell.  Even background characters have their significance and aren't just there for filler.

King of Scars is a book I've been looking forward to ever since it's announcement because it boasts two characters I came to love from previous series.  While I was never in the Nikolai/Alina camp, I always found Nikolai charming and fun to follow as a side character to Alina's journey.  And while I had started off Six of Crows not quite feeling Nina as a character, I slowly grew to love her as the books progressed.  Finally, as mentioned already, I just love Bardugo's Grishaverse!

King of Scars ended up being enjoyable and entertaining, but maybe I was over-hyping myself, or I was just expecting so much more, but I couldn't seem to relate with any of the characters, or find myself caring a whole lot.  Nikolai doesn't come off as charming as I remember, even though an inkling of that charm kind of hung in the background.  Nina's story was a bit rocky to begin with, got a little bit better, but then I feel like it sort of lost direction at some point.

In contrast, I found that I DID really like Zoya and really appreciate the glimpse into her history.  I honestly don't remember much about Zoya from the Grisha trilogy, except as maybe the "mean girl" Alina had to steer clear of.  The focus on her as a main character made her so much more fleshed out; and maybe because I didn't have any strong feelings for or against her previously, it was easy to kind of accept her as a new character altogether.  But that doesn't mean that I really felt any strong feelings for or against her in this book either.  I liked her, but not in that "I've got a new favorite character" type of giddiness.

Anyway, in the end, the book DID suck me right in as all the conflicts started coming to a head.  I really like the new twist to Grisha powers and hope to see it expounded on in the next book.  I never really expected this book to be a romance, and just as well, the whispers of the romances were a bit lacking in chemistry, as well as in credibility--this is something else that I'm hoping will be developed a bit more if we're going to pursue this line.

Also... are we going to see any other old favorites in the next book?  Inej?  Kaz?  Jesper?  Yes, please?  =P

Brief Rambling: Equal Rites

Equal Rites

by Terry Pratchett
Book 3 of Discworld | Book 1 of Witches

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

On Discworld, a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of an eighth son, who is just at that moment being born.  The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late.  The town witch insists on turning the baby into a perfectly normal witch, thus mending the magical damage of the wizard's mistake.  But now the young girl will be forced to penetrate the inner sanctum of the Unseen University--and attempt to save the world with one well-placed kick in some enchanted shins!

This is the weirdest book ever, even if not the weirdest book I've ever read (that award goes to Alice in Wonderland).  The book itself took a little time to get into, but the characters start to readily grow on you.  And I've found a nice appreciation for Sir Terry's odd, meandering descriptors for almost everything that is written about.  (I believe I've seen people call them Pratchett-isms?)

Meanwhile, the second half of the book was much more interesting than the first half, even if I still don't have quite the idea what the story was actually about.  There were a lot of clever play on words and some rather thought-provoking instances that probably only really make sense in the context or philosophy of Discworld, though could be applied to the real world if you really think about it.  (More Pratchett-isms?)

Meanwhile, I found Granny Weatherwax rather charming and fun, in spite of her gruff ways.  And the librarian is surprisingly amusing, and now I'm wondering if he gets his own book at any point.  I've grown rather fond of the wizard turned orangutan, who somehow manages to infuse a whole bunch of meaning into a simple, "Ook."

Rambling Thoughts: Part Time Cowboy

Part Time Cowboy

by Maisey Yates
Book 1 of Copper Ridge

~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.5 Stars

A one-time bad girl comes home to small-town Oregon in the first in a sexy, heartfelt new series from USA TODAY bestselling author Maisey Yates…

Sadie Miller isn't expecting any welcome-home parades on her return to Copper Ridge.  Least of all from part-time rancher, full-time lawman Eli Garrett.  The straight-laced, impossibly hot deputy sheriff glares at her like she's the same teenage hoodlum who fled town ten years ago.  But running from her demons has brought Sadie full circle, ready to make a commitment at last.  Not to a man, but to a B and B.  On Garrett land.  Okay, so her plan has a tiny flaw…

Eli works too hard to let a blonde ball of trouble mess up his town.  But keeping an eye on Sadie makes it tough to keep his hands off her.  And if she's so wrong for him, why does being with her feel so right?

Bear with me here, because this rambling is going to get very bipolar.  And before we start thinking that I completely despised this book after the next three paragraphs, the truth is, the book somehow managed to win me over.

I considered dropping this book after Eli was introduced.  Eli was introduced in the first chapter.  And I already didn't like him.

There's broody, and then there's douche-nozzle, and in my honest opinion at that time, Eli landed very clearly in the latter.  He wasn't just broody, and even calling him "straight-laced" or "no-nonsense" was probably way too nice (and misleading) a descriptor.  Eli was just a jack ass--an arrogant, judgmental jackass... who also plays at double standards.

Meanwhile, Sadie isn't the best heroine in the world either.  She had a penchant for being reckless and seemed to have trouble respecting boundaries.  However, Eli's reactions to her actions were overly intense and extreme.  If he didn't like what she was doing, he could have just said so without resorting to insulting her person, or referring back to her wild child days.  But the moment that Sadie set foot back in Copper Ridge, Eli was already bound and determined to judge her by the one incident of her trouble youthful shenanigans, immediately seeing the worst in all of her actions, certain that she was in town to cause trouble and, gasp, gasp, cost him his run for town sheriff!

But here's the kicker... Eli admits that he only wants to be town sheriff to satisfy his need to be a control freak and run things his way.  He's not in it for the people; he doesn't even seem to like the people, despite what he claims.  He wants everyone to stay off of his property and leave him alone and stop talking to him about community events...  Or so it seemed.

My first thoughts after reading about a third of the book was that this book had a lot of potential for a cute, contemporary romance.  It had the all-too-familiar and pretty well liked "Bickering Couples" trope--this is something that sometimes draws my attention.  You've got a straight-laced cowboy slash small town sheriff, versus a free-spirited, devil-may-care wanderer...  (Sawyer and Chloe?  Though not an exact replica, I'll give you.)  And that cover is super, super cute, and just oozes "Cute Contemporary Romance" to the max!

But the bickering between Sadie and Eli got pretty old, pretty fast, and started turning into a verbal display of juvenile hair-pulling between the two.  Their arguments were eye-roll inducing, and a lot of times I felt like the two were arguing like teenagers just for the sake of arguing like teenagers.  There was childish taunting, with the occasional extension of an olive branch by one side, only to be shot down when the other party just decides to be insulting about it.  And usually it was Eli being insulting in his judgmental, holier-than-thou way.

By this time, still only about a third of the way into the book, I was dead set on being annoyed with both story and characters.  I'd thought to drop it and the series, but I kept on with it if only because I wanted to see how this relationship imploded in on itself.  Whether or not Eli stopped being so arrogant and judgmental.  Whether Sadie stopped being so childish.  And also, I did find myself liking Connor and Kate, the other two Garrett siblings, in spite of their brother's character flaws.  Connor at least displayed a sense of humor, and Kate is just a nice, normal young woman who knows how to interact with people without being a jerk.

Incredible thing of all things...  This book somehow managed to win me over and I'm not even sure when or how it happened.  Like I said, I was set on being annoyed with it and was sitting firmly in a 2-Star rating.  The next thing I know, I'm plowing through the rest of the book, unable to put it down.

The "Bickering Couple" morphed into a more agreeable "Friends With Benefits."  And while their bickering still felt kind of juvenile, the banter was MUCH more akin to fun and flirty rather than childish taunting and pulling of hair.  You start learning more about both Sadie and Eli, and it was as if each of their characters made massive personality developments you didn't really see coming.  And yet, at the same time, that transition wasn't all that jarring.

You learn that Eli is quite aware of how controlling and judgmental he is, and that he has his reasons.  I'm not saying that his reasons give him a right to be insulting to random people, but it's more understandable from his perspective, why he's so uptight.  But because he's also a caring and good man, I'm guessing it was just easier to accept that his arrogant front was more of an exterior defense mechanism--a public persona as a part of his campaign running for town sheriff.  And what made it so much easier to start liking him was that he starts to curb his judgmental, holier-than-thou attitudes, and lessen his controlling tendencies.

And he admits that he was wrong for insulting Sadie's lifestyle without understanding the history behind her need to wander.

Meanwhile, Sadie also drops her childish taunting; though if I were to nitpick, her development was less prominent than Eli's, probably because I didn't really have much a problem with Sadie in the first place.

In the end, this couple just kind of worked.  They clicked and that chemistry just started sparking.

The romantic development was MUCH more credible as the two started getting to know each other.

I would have liked for some of the more serious issues to be addressed a bit more properly.  Both Sadie and Eli come from rather broken families, and their histories shape the type of person they started off the book as, as well as continues to influence their actions throughout the story.  I'm not sure if they were truly handled all that well, or if we just pulled a "Jill Shalvis" and cloaked the resolution under a "love cures all" machination.  The truth is, I got so caught up in those last few chapters and the resolution of the romance that I didn't really notice... aside from the whole Alison episode with her abusive husband and how that incident seemed to resolve itself way too easily for my liking.

But the kicker is that these issues are also left pretty open-ended, as if there were room for more exploration, off-the-page.  At least that's what it felt like to me.

So yeah...  This book totally screwed around with my review, because I couldn't think of the best way to talk about how annoyed I was by this book... and yet at the same time, how much I ended up enjoying it, without this whole post becoming a messy rambling.  In a way, I'm glad I stuck with it.  However, the first third of the book probably could have benefited from having a less intensely judgmental and arrogant hero, and better outlined bickering... and maybe not have the couple have sex against a wall while they still dislike each other?

Maybe it's my own lack of reference or experience, but if a guy is nothing but insulting, rude, and judgmental towards me within the first couple meetings, I don't really find that much of a turn on.  Insulting my lifestyle doesn't really add points either.  Although I DID find it amusing that the two of them decided to start learning to get along after setting up their Friends With Benefits plan...  I suppose if they're going to sleep with each other, it would help them to actually try to like each other.

Will I read the next book?  Yeah, probably.  I'm not going to rush out and get it immediately, but this is definitely a series I'm interested in following, and Maisey Yates' writing is pretty solid.

It's Monday! What are you reading? | 2/11/2019

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself.  It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile!  So welcome in everyone.  This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey.  Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.  And here we are!

Hmm... I didn't finish all the books I'd been hoping to finish, but that's to be expected when you get distracted so easily.  But whatevs, I'm stumbling along quite nicely, in my honest opinion.  And I expect that I'll be finishing up King of Scars pretty soon, then I'll end up zooming through the rest of the books I have "on my schedule."

Meanwhile, here's another fur baby update to brighten everyone's day!

Baby's got himself a new housemate this month as my brother and his fiance have need of a dog-sitter for the coming weeks.  The two of them will be flying out of town, both respectively, for the work, and so we decided to host one of their fur babies at our home.

This is Yogi in the background, whom I don't know if everyone has had the chance to meet in the past.  He's only about two years old, but already quite mature for his age.  He has the tendency to crawl into people's laps to take his naps, though, something that Baby has never done before.  He's Bear's older brother--the latter of which will not be staying with us.  My brother's fiance left Bear with her sister for reasons.

So our spoiled little Baby is now learning to get over his jealousies of having another doggy around.  He's coming around, and he remembers Yogi from the last time we visited my brother, so it's been quite fine so far.  Except for the fact that they both keep trying to eat each other's food...

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

What I Read Last Week

What I'm Currently Reading

What I'm Planning to Read Next

Other Plans On the Blog

I'm actually not flying through King of Scars as quickly as I thought I would, but I'm thinking I'll have it finished this week, at the latest.  Meanwhile, I'm making my way slowly through The Ebony Swan.  And then, obviously, I'd like to get to the rest of my Reading Assignment books this month, so that will be my focus next.

I have a couple reviews prepped for the next couple days, but otherwise, I'm just going to focus on reading (as per usual).

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? | 2/4/19

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself.  It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile!  So welcome in everyone.  This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey.  Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date.  And here we are!

This week's 'It's Monday!' is brought to you by Static Baby:

I was told you have something for me!

And now onto our regularly scheduled meme!

I know I'd already included Mr. Ridley in the previous 'It's Monday!' post, but I technically didn't finish reading it until last week, which effectively puts it into this Monday's update.  So here it is again in a more official capacity... just so I could plump up my post a bit more.

In other news, it's another new year, the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Pig!  The official first day of the New Year will be February 5, but due to time constraints, my family decided to do our socializing a little early.  Lots of things going on in the real life world, with family visits, lots of food, and lucky red money packets.  Reading, obviously comes to a bit of a standstill during family gatherings, but I'm still hoping to get a couple books read.

I had intended to finish Part Time Cowboy before the weekend was over, but that didn't really happen.  But never fear, it's quite a breeze to read through, so even though it's been a bumpy one, I'll finish it soon and have a review out.  In addition, I think I'm finally going to call it quits with The Disappearing Spoon.  I'm just not feeling this book, and I've been eyeing other books I'm itching to read, so I'm putting myself out of my misery and moving on.

Meanwhile, my brother and his fiance brought their fur kids up to visit, so here's a reintroduction to Bear, all grown up, but still looking (and acting) like the little baby doggy that he is!

Just chillin' on the coffee table... don't mind me.

What I Read Last Week

 

What I'm Currently Reading

What I'm Planning to Read Next

Other Plans On the Blog

Really, the only activities I have planned would be book reviews... not-quite-galore.  Hopefully I'll have the Vanza series finished soon--two books left--followed by a series review.

Also, as you can see, I had HAD a plan for February, but the truth is, I couldn't just let King of Scars sit there and NOT start into it.  I was hoping to give some attention to Equal Rites first, but Leigh Bardugo, and Grisha-verse, and Nikolai, and... well... it can't be helped, ya know.

Otherwise... not a whole lot else going on, really, so I leave everyone with this last photo.

These two are actually getting along a lot better than they did last time.  And Baby learned to play nice by sharing all of his toys... which ended up being strewn across the living room as Bear couldn't decide which one he wanted to play with most.  Le sigh...

Starting: King of Scars!

King of Scars

by Leigh Bardugo
Book 1 of Nikolai Duology

~ Goodreads ~


Let's do this!

Brief Thoughts: The Neverending Story

The Neverending Story

by Michael Ende
audio book narrated by Gerard Doyle
~ Goodreads ~

Rating:  3.0 Stars

The story begins with a lonely boy named Bastian and the strange book that draws him into the beautiful but doomed world of Fantastica. Only a human can save this enchanted place by giving its ruler, the Childlike Empress, a new name. But the journey to her tower leads through lands of dragons, giants, monsters, and magic and once Bastian begins his quest, he may never return. As he is drawn deeper into Fantastica, he must find the courage to face unspeakable foes and the mysteries of his own heart.

Readers, too, can travel to the wondrous, unforgettable world of Fantastica if they will just turn the page...

I honestly don't think I'm the type to openly trample all over people's favorite childhood classics, but this is probably the second or third one I've read that I just wasn't feeling.  The book was fascinating in it's own way, but to be completely honest, I was pretty bored through most of the story.  I'm suspecting that this book might have been better experienced in print.  I noticed that an illustrator is listed, so out of curiosity, did some Google research.  While I'm not entirely sure which illustrations depicted are from the print book and which ones aren't (or if there are illustrations in the print book at all), I still feel like those visuals would have been a wonderful addition to this book's reading experience.

It wasn't that this was a bad story or anything, but it definitely wasn't as adventurous or exciting as I'd been expecting, being a fantastical tale of the standard boy hero and his journey in both vanquishing evil as well as self-revelation.  There's a pretty nice message in there somewhere that I'm sure I might have found once or twice.

But in the end, this book didn't really speak to me.  Maybe had I been much younger, I might have found this book much more interesting.  Maybe.  I want to say that it's possible I'm too far removed from my childhood years to really give this book a fair chance, but it's not like I haven't read and loved childrens or young adult stories as an adult with a great amount of enjoyment.

As far as characters and story goes, the formula is rather standard and predictable; although while the first half of the book was set up well, despite how long it took for me to get into it, the second half of the book was where the entire story kind of starts falling apart.  Forgive me for the blasphemy, but I honestly feel like that second half didn't need to be so long.  So much could have been left out and still had an agreeable conclusion to the book, and some side tangents didn't really feel as if they contributed much.

If I wanted to be honest, even as the second half of the story progressed, I wasn't entirely sure I knew what was going on.  And as the book came to an end, I still had no idea what was going on... and was quite eager to have this book over with.

Even so, the story itself had it's interesting points.

So I'm probably just going to chalk this up to being a book that's really not for me.