Mini Reviews - My January Wrap-Up

Hi guys! Today I'll be reviewing 3 of the books I read last month. So in January I read 23 books. Yep, 23 books! January was definitely a great reading month for me because I ended up reading a bunch of different stuff. To see all the books I read and the rating I gave each one of them, feel free to check out my Goodreads shelf by clicking here ^^

And now let's start with the reviews...

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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Genre: YA Fantasy 

My Rating: 4 stars

The Plot: Celaena Sardothien, one of the kingdom's best trained assassins, is taken out of the salt mines where she had been enslaved following her capture by the king's men, in order to participate in a secret competition organized by the king. The end game? If she is able to defeat the other contestants, she will have to serve as the king's personal assassin for a few years after which she will be granted her freedom. With this contest as Celaena's last shot at freedom, she accepts the challenge...


My Review: This book was such a fun ride! I was pleasantly surprised by how complex the plot ran and really enjoyed the writing. Celaena was such as awesome main character, too. I love how she was both kick-butt while retaining a softer side to her personality along with a unique sense of humor. Celaena was strong but she was also a realistic character with her set of fears and desires. The romance in this book also felt fresh as compared to other YA books and that's because it actually builds up over the course of the entire book rather than pop up as soon as Celaena meets the male leads. I already have the other books and will probably be finishing them up throughout February!

Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Genre: YA, Retelling 

My Rating: 5 stars

The Plot: Tiger Lily is the daughter of her tribe's shaman. She's an accomplished hunter and is seen as being very different and strange by the other tribe members. Peter Pan is known among them as one of the most dangerous beings in Neverland. And yet, one day, as Tiger Lily's and Peter's paths cross, despite everything Tiger Lily thinks she knows about Peter, she lets him slowly drag her into his world. Before Wendy, there was Tiger Lily and her story is as beautiful as it is tragic.

My Review: The prose was very beautiful and world building was simply on point, making it very easy to envision this book’s version of Neverland and the things that were happening there. The pacing of the story was also very well done. Despite the book being on the short side, at no point did I feel like the story was rushed. In fact, everything unfolded at a nice pace, resulting in a very unique and well developed ending. And speaking of the book’s ending, regardless of whether you’ve read the original material or not, I can assure you that the ending isn't predictable at all. Character-wise, the author did a fantastic job portraying Peter Pan and Tiger Lily. They were unique enough to stand apart from any cliché associated with their characters in popular culture and had distinct and complex personalities. I also really enjoyed the character of Tinker Bell. She’s the narrator of this story, which I think was a really nice idea. She’s a sort of silent observer, not participating herself in the story, but seeing and remembering all of it anyway. While I was not expecting to love this book so much, it ended up completely blowing me away and I can definitely see myself re-reading it soon.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: YA Fantasy 

My Rating: 4 stars

The Plot: Four friends, called the raven boys for the emblem of the academy they all attend, are hunting for ley lines. These are magical energy spots, said to make strange and mystical things happen where they exist. It is also said that if you follow the ley lines, they’ll lead you to the resting place of an ancient sleeping knight. Whoever is able to find him and wake him from his slumber, will be then granted a magical favor. As the hunt becomes even more complex, the raven boys cross the path of Blue, the daughter of a local psychic, who also takes an interest in the boys’ quest. But Blue and the boys are not the only ones searching for the ley lines and soon, their hunt begins to take a darker and more dangerous turn that any of them could have anticipated.

My Review: Wow, I hadn’t thought I would end up enjoying this book as much as I did! I loved all the characters. All of them! The titular Raven boys were all so cool, each with a well-fleshed out and complex personality of his own, and with one of the best friendships I’ve read in YA so far. Our main female character, Blue, was also pretty unique and was a refreshing take on a YA female lead. I loved Stiefvater’s writing. It flowed so well and was very descriptive. The world building was nice and we got to visit some pretty cool, mystical places. The story moved at a really nice pace and each chapter came with a fresh load of twists and surprises that made it very hard for me to put the book down! I love how this book’s main story was pretty much resolved within this book itself. Overall, this was a really well written book with a fresh and unique plot and fantastic character dynamics. I definitely recommend it!

So those were my reviews for some of the books I read in January. What were your favorite books of last month? Let me know in the comments :)

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