Tag: #Evelyn Skye

November Wrap Up

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Hey guys! I hope you all had a great November. I decided to fill this post out as the month went on rather than all at once at the end of the month and it has definitely helped! This post hasn’t taken nearly as long as it wold have done if I had done it all at once and I think I am definitely going to keep filling out my Wrap Up posts throughout the month. Looking back over the month, I definitely need to go onto a book buying ban until at least the new year! I feel like I had a great reading month and I am well on my way to completing this year’s Goodreads Reading Challenge with 87/90 books read so far.

Read:

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Physical Books read this month! Missing is The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye because I traded it for another book with someone 

Bought:

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Physical books bought this month! I found a website that is similar to Book Outlet but for Germany and I may have gone a little wild!

ARCs Acquired:

Goodreads Monday:

Special Posts:

Book of the Month

I’ve decided to add a new feature to my monthly wrap ups and that is the Book of the Month. This will be my favourite book read during the month! So, this months book of the month is a from an author I wasn’t expecting to love because I disliked all of her previous works!

WC

Warcross by Marie Lu

Published: September 12th 2017 by G. P. Putnam’s son book for Young Readers

My Review

Amazon: Warcross

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

This has been a fantastic month for me and I cannot even believe that it is nearly the end of the year already! In other news, I have already put the Christmas decorations up (bar the tree) and the house is looking pretty festive!

How has your month been? Feel free to let me know in the comments and feel free to add your links to monthly wrap ups so I can see what you guys have been up to!

Find me Here:

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners

 

The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

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The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

Published: May 16th 2017 by Balzer + Bray

Amazon: The Crown’s Fate (Crown’s Game, Band 2)

Book Depository

Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.

Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.

For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.

With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.

The Crown’s Game was a book that I highly anticipated reading, which left me underwhelmed – so I went into this one a little wary. I wasn’t sure how the author was going to answer so many question in just this last instalment (this is a duology). I ended up DNFing this book. I found this book even more underwhelming than the first and I was really having to force myself through it.

Whilst this book starts off at the end of the previous one, I feel like it is basically a repeat of book 1 – but on a slightly different level. It is less a game and more of an open warfare between Vika, Pasha and Nikolai. The book is basically Nikolai trying to get the better of Vika and Pasha, whilst Vika hits back and Pasha sort of stuck in the middle. I didn’t feel like there was a huge amount of character development from book 1 (except for Nikolai with what his mother was doing to him) and the characters remained relatively 2D. I didn’t feel a connection with characters to actually care what was going to happen to them throughout the story.

I also feel like I was being given more questions than answers. How was Nikolai in the form he was? How did Aizhana come back? How does the transference of energy work? Why can Galina do magic if there is only supposed to be two people in the entire of Russia who can do it? Why can only two people do magic? There are more, but I feel like all the questions I have would take over this post. I have spoken to a couple of people who read both books and they have had similar opinions in the sense that they have a lot of questions that have, and will remain, unanswered.

The plot didn’t really interest me that much – to the point where I was having to force myself to pick the story up. The style and the form that the plot took was very repetitive from book one, but on a bit of a bigger scale (I don’t want to say too much because of spoilers). I also decided to read the ending after DNFing to see how it would all wrap up and I found the ending to be a little weak. It would have been better had it gone down differently.

I honestly don’t understand either canon for this book. I don’t see a connection between Vika and Pasha or Vika and Nikolai. Jealousy was a huge motivator for what some of these characters did and I honestly didn’t understand why because I didn’t see a spark between any of the characters.

All in all, I was pretty disappointed by this duology. This series was highly anticipated series for me and I ended up not really enjoying either book as much as I thought I was going to! I gave this book 1/5 stars.

Find me Here:

Instagram/Twitter/Goodreads/Litsy @ Lauren’s Page Turners

Other reviews for this book:

Alyssa @ Eater of Books

Jananee @ Head In Her Books

My Guilty Obsession

Goodreads Monday

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Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme hosted here. To participate, choose a random book from your TBR and show it off! Don’t forget to link back here and add your link in the comments so that others can see what you picked! 

Hey Guys! I hope you all had a good weekend 🙂 The weather here has been a bit on and off, so it’s been a bit iffy! But a lot more time to read 😛 Anyway, this weeks pick for me is the second book in a duology – I wasn’t really blown away by the first, but I’m still interested to see where the series is going to go – and whether all the points can really be wrapped up in the second book! Also, quick note, I am going to stop putting inlinkz at the bottom because there aren’t really enough people linking up to put it in every week – despite the number of people that participate!

The crowns fate

The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

Published: May 16th 2017 by Balzer + Bray

Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected.

Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom.

For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply. Although he just managed to escape death, Nikolai remains alone, a shadow hidden in a not-quite-real world of his own creation. But when he’s given a second chance at life—tied to a dark price—Nikolai must decide just how far he’s willing to go to return to the world.

With revolution on the rise, dangerous new magic rearing up, and a tsardom up for the taking, Vika, Nikolai, and Pasha must fight—or face the destruction of not only their world but also themselves.

 

Top Ten Tuesday

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toptentuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the Broke and Bookish

Hey guys! It is time for another TTT! This weeks topic is top ten books that I wish had more/less X in them. Now, I read this and I was literally stumped. So, I’ve decided to change it up just a little bit and I am going with top ten books that needed that little extra spark! I’m going to explain my reasons for each book! So, in no particular order:

10. this savage song This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab – I read this and I thought that the writing was absolutely fantastic… but I felt like the plot was lacking and it missed that extra spark to push it over the edge.

9. never never part three Never Never Part Three by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher – The first two books in this series were absolutely amazing and they had me turning the pages and wanting to know more. However, when the explanation came in this final instalment, the spark sort of fizzed out because I feel like it was a complete cliche.

8. the-accident-season The Accident Season by Moira Fowley – Doyle – I had heard some really great things about this, so I was really excited about getting around to it. However, I felt like the plot was a little slow and it lacked originality… which affected the spark!

7. labyrinth Lost Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova – I feel like the relationships between some of the characters was really lacking, and I think that is one of the most important things in a book!

6. shooter Shooter by Caroline Pignat – I was expecting so much more from this book, but I was left disappointed. I expected something a little more to do with a school shooting and less to do with teenage angst. I feel like this book suffered because of it!

5. the leaving The Leaving by Tara Altebrando – This book was completely underwhelming in so many ways because it just lacked the spark in the sense that it lacked originality…

4. with-malice With Malice by Eileen Cook – I feel like, had Dangerous Girls not been published earlier this might have been successful, but it lacked the spark because it was just too similar!

3. the shadow queen The Shadow Queen by C. J. Redwine – I feel like it lacked the magic of the original and I was severely underwhelmed by it

2. the crowns game The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye – I think maybe this suffered the hype monster because it just wasn’t as good as I thought it would be

1. The Heir The Heir by Kiera Cass – I absolutely loved the first three books, but I feel like this book in particular lacked the magic the first three because I disliked the MC.

That’s it from me! Do you agree with any of these?

The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye

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the crowns game

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.

And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.

Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?

For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.

And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love… or be killed himself.

As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear… the Crown’s Game is not one to lose. (Goodreads)

It took me a while to read this book. I was hoping to love it! I had hyped it all up because it just looked that amazing. Unfortunately, I was vaguely disappointed. I then spent a while trying to decide whether to give this 4 stars or three… or even to against what I normally do and give it 3 1/2 stars!

The characters felt a bit 2D for me. I liked them all well enough – except for Aizhana… she kinda creeped me out – but the rest, while they were enjoyable, they lacked that certain pizazz that makes them memorable. They were all very similar, so all of the faces blurred together for me a little bit – the only difference being that Nikolai and Vika could do magic, whilst the others not so much…

The world was ok, but it could have been better. I wanted more! I wanted more descriptions and more happenings. The book was seemingly slow and it wasn’t very reminiscent of a game that players are supposed to play until the end. It is almost like the didn’t really care about dying at the end, they just wanted to show off. I needed more actions, more attempted deaths and less of the showing off for Pasha’s birthday.

I really like Yuliana as a character. She was bold, decisive and she didn’t care what other people thought. She was there to be heard and that was that. I think if the main characters had bit of that about them, this book would have been better. I also wanted more to Aizhana’s story. Sure, we got what happened, but I have so many unanswered questions, it is unreal!

I did not ship either couple. I got no feels and I just thought it fell flat, even though it is supposed to be an insta love thing – I just didn’t get those vibes! I wanted to feel all squishy inside and I just didn’t. I liked them as a platonic thing thing, but I can’t see any of them being together… and if they do, it’d be a pretty boring relationship.

I’m a bit worried about Nikolai turning into a male version of Aizhana and demanding the throne from Pasha… I think one creepy character is enough, we don’t need another!

I gave this book 3/5 stars. This book was ok, but it was just lacking in all of the right places. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was ok, but it wasn’t something special for me – but I am going to sit and wait for the next book.