First Book Reviews | Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl to bring bookish friends together. A new topic is posted each week.

This was a challenging prompt, because I really wanted to look at the first reviews I ever published online, back before 2015. I went digging through my goodreads, before I realized – I wasn’t actively reviewing on goodreads for quite some time. I was on a norwegian bookreview site- and so I finally found the password. I’ve been on this site for seven years, was the first thing it told me, last updated four years ago. I’ve read a couple hundred more YA books that I haven’t registered on goodreads, woow.

First books I ever rated

2012 (13 years old): 6/6 stars. I really liked The hunger games, the books were so much better than the movies. Also gave The thief lord by Cornelia Funke the same rating, but I’m not quite sure if I remember any of the plot.

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First book reviews posted online:

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Throne of glass by Sarah J. Maas

2015: 5/5 stars

I love how I enjoy books just to enjoy it when rereading them, since the elements of suprise is mostly gone. “What are you doing here? It’s almost midnight, and I’ve got a Test tomorrow” I find this sentence so amusing. It’s something that could have come out of the mouth of one of my friends, not the famous 18 years old assassin. “She couldn’t deny having him here was a bit of relief- the murderer ony seemed to attack Champions when they were alone.” Okay, maybe not completely normal. The test, with campital t, she talks about is a possibly deadly fight to become the tyrant of a kings Champion and gain her freedom. Not the usual school type, even if they’re horrible too. However these two sentences kind of shows Celaena as a person and what the bok is about. She’s sweet and normal one second and plotting peoples murders the other. Not that I don’t do it too, but perhaps not as bloodthirsty or serious. All in all, I like her. She’s not jus an assassin, and it gets shown in a great way, even if I look forward to seeing her kick some more ass in the future. In spite of her jokes, girlyness and assassin-ness she’s both physically and emotionally destroyed at the beginning and barely hanging in there. She was taken right out of a labour/death camp after all… can’t say I blame her.  The only thing I’m a little bit annoyed of is that the book and Celaena are promoted as very much assassin and battle and weapons, and even if there are a lot of that in there, the softer, more girly side and the whole mystery things should be worth mentioning. OUTSIDE OF ROMANCE. Will her assassin’s heart be melted? What the fuck is that? She’s already melted, and kind of in the middle of something trying to stay and act sane and figuring out this magic-mystery-stuff. It’s mostly the boys hearts that get melted and crushed and all wobbly anyway. It’s like they don’t have anything else to do.  Why not write about the crown-prince wanting adventure and the captain of the guard who finds his heart and laughter? That would be something, but no. Well, well, I guess we’re just not there yet.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

2015: 1/5 stars

How do people like this book? I’ve started out wanting to like the book and even then it turned so awful so quickly.

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All fall down by Ally Carter

2015: 5/5 stars

I really liked this book! It had both ups and downs, but overall a great book with a lot of action, likeable and mysterious characters and a lot of great twists.

The plot gets a slow applause from me. A girl who no one believe when she says someone killed her mother? Brilliant. Living at a embassy? Why have I never thought of this before. Spying? Looove. The characters? Mixed feelings. The revealing of all the secrets? Ehh. Halfway into the book I could imagine the ending, but I was only halfway right. Maybe it’s because I feel like I’ve read these kind of novels before, but I wasn’t that suprised. I was more excited about what’s coming next. 

Sometimes the writing seemed kind of messy because suddenly a lot happened in a short amount of time. It happens a few times, especially at the end. I think that could have been done in a better way, but it was okay. I’ve read worse. I just had to lay the book down for a bit before trying to figure out what was really going on. I’m relieved the whole book wasn’t like that because it’s basically written to confuse and throw you off. 


“Keep your chin up. Eventually, you will meet someone who cares about your opinion. I’m so sorry I’m not her.”
― Grace

That quote is basically Grace. I love Ally Carter’s previous characters, and Grace is no exception. She’s a sarcastic, brave, spontanious, witty, creative and paranoid person. Really, she jumps off brick walls into different countries. What is there not to like? Most of all she is something I hadn’t expected: troubled. It’s a nice change and really makes sense after a while. First I thought she got panick attacks, which she does in a way, but it’s more like flashbacks. It can be a bit confusing, but makes the story more mysterious and real. Something I miss is the relationship between the characters. There are so much potential there. COME ON, they’re embassy kids. From all over the world, all different kids stuck in the same situation. But you really don’t get to hear a lot from them. Mostly because Grace is stuck in her own head, which I can understand, but I would really like to know more abut the others. I feel like they don’t get enough time and it becomes something weird. Like ghosts who follows her, but only because they’re bored.

I don’t know what to think about Noah and Grace. The russian boy I’ve already forgotten the name of. The group doesn’t really work, even though I really wanted it to. There are also a few very cheesy things, like the fine line between peace and war. I get the idea, but the conversations with her grandfather is just too much. Sometimes these things made me want to cover my eyes, but I got through it, fortunately.
I felt a little old for this book, but I know I would have thought of it as a favourite a few years ago. Anyway it was a great read and I can’t wait for the next one! 

Succubus Blues by Richelle Mead

2016: 4/5 stars

I really liked Succubus Blues. It’s an amazing and exciting easy-read. I really had my hopes up too because I usually love Richelle Mead’s books. This one didn’t disappoint! Not at all, in fact it wasn’t the sobby no-one-will-ever-love-me story I was afraid of.

Georgina Kincaid is an amazing heroine, an unusual, but welcoming mix of human and immortal succubus. Her personality seems almost split at moments, but it gives a good balance to the story. She’s working at a bookstore like a normal mortal who loves books and dancing, but also surviving by feeding on people’s life energy during sex. Something that makes being with people she likes a lot more complicated. Her group of friends (both mortal and immortal) is also awesome and so is the idea of several love interests. It’s a notch up from the usual love triangle. Everyone seems to fall for her succubus’ charm. Georgina actually reminds me of a mix between Rose (Vampire Academy) and Sage (Bloodlines). She has Rose kick-ass moments, one-liners and sexiness, but also Sage’s smart mind and more calm personality. 

My favorite of the love interests is of course Seth. He’s her favorite author, but she accidently makes herself look like a fool in front of him at their first meeting. From there’s a lot of shyness, romantic emails and drama. There are also others like Ronan, her older boss and a bunch more. But what else could you expect from someone who has lived through millennia?

The characters are for me what makes this book stand out. But the plot is interesting enough too: someone is killing off immortals. Both heaven and hell is involved in the investigation and so is Georgina. She sees it as her mission to find out who and what it is, knowing no one is safe until she does. It might sound very mystery/crime – like, but it really isn’t. There’s too much going on to have time for that kind of thing. Even if it’s a big part of the plot it’s not necessary the focus. 

I would categorize this as a paranormal/urban fantasy book. But the lack of world building and vampires who don’t seem to drink blood bothers me a little. That’s also why it gets 4 stars and not 5. A world where supernatural creatures live side by side and we don’t see anything from it other than their little group? It’s a wonderful group, don’t get me wrong, but I expect some “bigger picture” to come up in the next books. Higher/more powerful demons get mentioned, but not anything more. On the other side the ending hints about learning more about Georgina and her world. I really can’t wait for the next 5 (!) books. 

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Legend by Marie Lu

2016: 5/5 stars

Legend was everything I hoped! And much more. I love it. It’s fabulously amazing with sparkle on top. Ok, maybe that’s a bit too much.
I seriously don’t know what this book has done to me, my brain is simply destroyed. And I who thought “what is all this fuss about?” when i started reading it… I had no idea.

Prodigy by Marie Lu

2016: 4/5 stars

I like it, but I felt like something was missing. There were also a few things that bothered me. Other than that, a great book and I really like June

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The sea of tranquility by Katja Millay

2016: 5/5 stars

I loved this book. It meant so much to me. Of course there are some things that doesn’t really make sense to me, like everyone having a form of art that they excell in (basically just are the best in what the do). You can do several arts and be average in all of them, it doesn’t mean that you’re a worse person or not fitting for a book. Also the ending kind of ruined it a bit for me, the idea that everything had to come together to this almost normal-nice life for the main character Sunshine (dunno what to call her??). Just a little bit too intricate, it disappointed me. But other than that; WOW. I don’t know how to describe it. I struggled so much this week with hospital tests coming back after kind of giving up on them finding anything and then it being spmething other and worse than expected. You know that mix of hope, relief and grief? That’s what I felt and it’s all over this book too. Also books including piano is always a plus. 5 stars with a hint of doubt because of the ending.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

2015: 5/5 stars

I LOVE IT – really not that much more to say. I just didn’t want it to end and when it did i actually walked around with it for the rest of the day. Just to keep the story with me I guess. A cinderella cyberborg (part human part machine) named Cinder? And a mechanic? I love her. She’s perfect. Reminds me of Mercy Thompson (by Patricia Briggs), but that might be because she’s also a mechanic. I seem to have a thing for them.  When I first heard of this book I wasn’t that optimistic because it sounded very sci-fi and all robots and no emotions, but it’s kind ofsci-fi with robots WITH emotions! Or programming faults that is. Iko is the best. She’s so cute for a robot.  I don’t think this story could have been told much better. Absolutely the best cinderella version I have seen/read/heard ever. It’s so different. Cyborgs, robots, aliens, a plague and so much more. Extra point for being in Asia (New Beijing) and having a different kind of cinderella for once. And even if there are a lot of changes from the usual fairytale, you can still recognize the same elements. It still has a touch of magic.  That said I have to add that I saw the plot twist long before it came. Like a few chapters in or something. It was pretty obvious, and it ruined it a little. However I’m still looking forward to reading the next book, Scarlet. Can’t wait to get back into this world. The book was just brilliant, kick-ass and adorable. I can’t get over it. And I’ve fallen head first for the prince. Never thought I would, but I did.