Care for words

"Mosaic Chronicles" by Andrea Pearson

(contains some minor spoilers)

PLOT

Nicole Williams is an Arete, a fourth child with magical abilities. After struggling with finding her magic's focus, she is faced with the task of saving the world from an association that, with the help of all-powerful aliens, is trying to destroy all Aretes.

Luckily she is not alone on this quest: her friend Lizzie, professor Collidge and Austin, one of the most powerfull Aretes of their generation, will help her along with a lot of other magical being.

REVIEW

I started this series thanks to a wattpad suggestion, that gave me the chance to read the first book.

The idea at the base of the books is fascinating; I love how every Arete's magic is different and needs hard work to be unlocked. Nicole and Austin's characters are well written and are perfectly developed throughout the series.

I was glued to the series from the beginning to the end and it never felt repetitive. I really liked the cliffhangers at the end of each book, they made me want to read the next one immediately.

So, after being dead on here for a really long time, I can finally say I'm back again.

In a few weeks I'm starting university, BUT, until then, I will be posting the reviews of all the book I've read during my absence (and trust me, there's a lot, because who needs friends when you have a full tbr shelf?).

“WHEN YOUR NUMBER IS CALLED “ by Courtney Praski

PLOT Hello. My name is Emily Judith Fuller-Elms. When I was born, my parents didn’t ask the doctor if I was a boy or a girl, or if I was healthy. Instead, they asked, “What’s the number?” You see, in my world, everyone is born with a 12-digit number on their right wrist. What does the number mean exactly? Well—the number gives us the day we will die. My number is 152310232048. This means that at exactly 3:23 PM on October 23rd, 2048—my heart will stop.

REVIEW First of all I want to thank @sincerly-patientlywaiting for giving me the opportunity to read this short story. Now let’s get to the review I loved it. It made me cry from almost the beginning and it’s just a little morr than 50 pages long. The story is so simple that I think I’ll read it over and over again. The character are just as great and they didn’t need any big description which made every chapter flow easily in no time.

“THE SEVEN BOOK ONE" by Courtney Praski

PLOT After the nuclear apocalypse of 2100, now referred to as the Great Fire, Oloris—the last habitable land in the world has become mankind’s last chance at survival. This topographical phenomenon is home to seven vastly different climates—a freezing tundra in the north, a dark murky swamp in the west, a vast mountain range in the south, a subtropical sand filled beach in the east, and at its center lays a sweltering desert, gentle rolling plains, and a bioluminescent tree filled forest. Once home to only a few hundred survivors of the Great Fire, Oloris is now entering its eight-hundredth year and is home to over a million citizens. Separated into seven nations, and ruled by seven very different factions, the land is monitored by a group of magically enhanced individuals called the Seven. Through the time-honored tradition of passing their mantle to a younger counterpart from their home nation every thirty years, the Seven have ensured Oloris’s peace for nearly half a millennia—until now. A power-hungry queen in the north will stop at nothing until all of Oloris is hers to rule. She is gathering her forces, making allies and planning the Seven’s demise. Her thirst for power couldn’t have come at a worse time. The current Seven have reached the end of their service and must choose their successors. Now, the sanctity of Oloris will be entrusted to a group of individuals who most perceive as children—not warriors. A blind orphan, a rich highborn, a slave, a gentle hunter, an enlightened blacksmith, a warrior, and a queen long thought dead—are thrust into a world of magic, power, and deception. Enemies are lurking in the shadows, allies are rallying their forces, and nations are struggling to choose sides in the coming war. Carefully navigating Oloris’s politically charged climate, these young protectors must learn not only their place in the world but how to save their world as they know it. This omniscient third person point of view novel follows the story of this group of magical young adults in a post-apocalyptic world.

REVIEW I got this book as a free copy, so I could review it, so thank you @sincerly-patientlywaiting for giving me this opportunity. First of all, I really like the story and the characters; they have this realness to them that made them feel very real. Of course I have my favourites, but I’ll keep them for the spoilery part of this review. Even though the story is great, at first I had some struggle getting really into it. It is built very slowly in the first part and I started really appreciating it only later on in the storytelling. Some parts of the story felt reptitive and sometimes I could find some grammar and structure mistakes that, with english not being my first language, sometimes had me struggle (this is probably due to its being a self-published book, so the author has all my respect, because I’d make a lot more and far worse mistakes). Now let’s get into the spoilery and fangirling part, where I’ll talk about how much I loved this story.

POILER AHEAD I warned you - - - -

I’ll follow a little order here so if you haven’t read the book and you want some spoiler it makes sense. Edlyn is one of my favourites, she’s awesome. She is kind and gentle, but she also is a fierce warrior. Ever since her head popped out of Kane’s coat, she’s had a special place in my heart. Kane also could have been a favourite had I seen more of him in the story, which I hoped there’d be, but sadly there wasn’t. The Seven are awesome, especially Nero and Conrad, though I also love Griffin and Onyx just as much, so I’ll talk about them: first of all let’s talk about this quote “And if anyone dares, always remember she is a child of the Seven- and may God have mercy on whoever hurts our daughter, because they’ll find none from us.” This is where Nero became my favourite of all the Seven, because despite his being the Doyen and rarely showing his emotions, he deeply cares for all the Seven and the tyros. Griffin and Onyx are the loves of my life because they’re so in love with each other and I feel like they are the ones who hugged Edlyn, after rushing to her bed, when she woke up with nightmares calling to her uncle and that’s just too cute for me not to live them. Now let’s talk about Conrad. My dear author, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT. You slowly build this character dor the whole story and then you have him die like that, with Edlyn screaming his name. My heart broke just then and I couldn’t put it back together for a long time. This is not something you should do to people. The tyros are all wonderful and I don’t think I could pick one out of all of them as a favourite, though if I had to I’d choose Tomin, just because he’s the youngest and he’s the most fragile of all, so I constantly wanted to take him out of the book and hug him tightly. So here’s what I thought, I can’t wait to know what happens next in the series.

“THE KANE CHRONICLES" by Rick Riordan (this review is about ALL THREE BOOKS, so there will be some spoilers both in the plot and in my review)

PLOT This is a trilogy about Carter Kane and his sister Sady. On a christmas eve they see their father die after an attempt at summoning the god Osiris in a the British Museum, destroying the whole Egyptian exposition and almost killing them in the process. The two siblings are quickly thrown into the world of Egyptian gods and magicians. But when Julius Kane cast his spell, others were released along with Osiris and now the younger Kanes will have to go,with the help of friendly gods and other magicians, through Russia, Egypt and Duat itself, battling more than one evil god and turned magicians that will try to stop them, in order to stop the world from being thrown into Chaos.

REVIEW As I say with every book Rick ever wrote: I love it. In his books he can always balance action, magic and teenage life perfectly, so every book is great for everyone. The characters are great and they always show that little sass for which Rick is known and loved. I can easily say my favourites were Walt and Anubis, though Carter was a close second. I really like the way the story is told, I could easily imagine hearing the recording myself and those small parts, where Sadie and Carter talked to each, other during the storytelling, were always a lot of fun. As an obsessed Percy Jackson fan, I couldn't help but freak out every time something related to "other gods" and Long island, but that was just a plus. I'm pretty hopeful that these three books will not be the last we see about the Kanes. (yes, I do know about demigods and magicians)

“BE MORE CHILL" by Ned Vizzini

PLOT Jeremy Heere is your average high school dork. Day after day, he stares at beautiful Christine, the girl he can never have, and dryly notes the small humiliations that come his way. Until the day he learns about the "squip." A pill-sized supercomputer that you swallow, the squip is guaranteed to bring you whatever you most desire in life. By instructing him on everything from what to wear, to how to talk and walk, the squip transforms Jeremy from Supergeek to superchic.

REVIEW The only reason I read this is because I really love the musical made from it. But I didn't really like the book. It's not bad, but I was expecting a lot more than what I read. Jeremy's character is underdeveloped and the ending could have included a clue about what happened after the play.

“THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE" by Amanda Lovelace

PLOT This book is a collection of poems about e girl's life starting with her youth up to her adulthood

REVIEW I read this because I've heard a lot about it and it's been on my tbr list on good reads for more than a year, so I finally read it. I realized that I'm not a poetry person. It's a good book, but understanding what is not hidden in a poem just isn't for me; maybe it's just because I'm more of a romentic poems kind of person, but these just didn't click with me. Anyway I really liked those parts where part if the poem was in the way it looked, because I love it when a poem has a heart or a tree shape and so on.

“SECRETS FOR THE MAD: OBSESSIONS, CONFESSIONS AND LIFE LESSONS" by Dodie

PLOT When I feel like I'm going mad I write. A lot of my worst fears have come true; fears that felt so big I could barely hold them in my head. I was convinced that when they'd happen, the world would end. But the world didn't end. In fact, it pushed on and demanded to keep spinning through all sorts of mayhem, and I got through it. And because I persisted, I learned lessons about how to be a stronger, kinder, better human - lessons you can only learn by going through these sorts of things. This is for the people with minds that just don't stop; for those who feel everything seemingly a thousand times more than the people around them. Here are some words I wrote.

REVIEW I love Dodie, she's such a strong woman and an inspiring person. Reading this book has given me the chance to understand her just a little, though I know that I can't really know how everything she went through actually feels like, but thanks to this book I know that things aren't just black or just white and that it's okay to ask for help. She's been able to send such a powerful message using just words put in a small book and I could never find enough of them to thank her.

“MAGNUS CHASE AND THE GODS OF ASGARD THE SHIP OF THE DEAD” By Rick Riordan (there may be some minor spoilers

PLOT Magnus Chase, a once-homeless teen, is a resident of the Hotel Valhalla and one of Odin's chosen warriors. As the son of Frey, the god of summer, fertility, and health, Magnus isn't naturally inclined to fighting. But he has strong and steadfast friends, including Hearthstone the elf, Blitzen the dwarf, and Samirah the Valkyrie, and together they have achieved brave deeds, such as defeating Fenris Wolf and battling giants for Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Now Magnus and his crew must sail to the farthest borders of Jotunheim and Niflheim in pursuit of Asgard's greatest threat. Will they succeed in their perilous journey, or is Ragnarok lurking on the horizon?

REVIEW So, I really liked how it developed more Magnus's friends. I really wanted to know more about the gang of floor 19 and now that I do I like them even more (especially TJ he's my precious little bean). The story kept me engaged from the very beginning I just couldn't stop fangirling over every little thing. If I had to find some things I "didn't like" I'd say that I really wish there was more Percy in the story even if just in the background minding his own business and saving Magnus' podex every once in a while; SPOILER also I really wanted to know more about Magnus understanding animals. The flyting was so amazing I was almost crying when Magnus finished talking, though I wanted to see more of a battle. Now let's get down to the fangirling: HADES PINK UNDERWEAR WHAT WAS THAT DAM CLIFFHANGER?! Rick I really hope you'll explain that or I WILL TAKE A PLANE, CROSS THE OCEAN, COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND THEN I'LL ask you politely to tell me what that was about.