The Sub-Domain

 I promised myself I'd return to this blog when I had this book in my posession, and here I am in 2021, five months later :') I think my pillow's been my best friend during this book. It tolerated me screaming into it, me reprimanding our main characters, me rolling around on the bed in agony, me sobbing into it. The last sentence may or may not have been a hyperbole. I have come to the conclusion that authors are evil. Wait, I'm an author too- Anyways, this book was brilliant. Katherine Applegate never disappoints. A few of my theories were proved in this book, and yet a zillion others were disproved. This book was shorter than the others, so tbh I'd have liked a little more time with our beloved five-person-band before it ended, and I do feel that some characters were conveniently done away with (I will elaborate more on this in the spoilery rant below). We finally get Gambler's backstory. I might have been laughing that entire chapter, even through the seriou...

 Hey! For some reason lately I've really been into espionage fiction - and when my Audible credit came up I chose this book. This is also, coincidentally, the first not-fantasy book I've read for a while, and it was nice to take a break from the genre. The cover looked pretty cool and who can miss out on such a diverse cast of main characters? I was not let down by any of it. City Spies was so fun and thrilling that I made up a joke to describe the ride to my friends. Joke below. Me: I should really get some sleep. Ten hours at least. Also me at three in the morning: OMG THIS BOOK IS SO EXCITING SLEEP IS OVERRATED Yeah. That pretty much sums up the awesomeness of this book. City Spies has characters from all around the world (France, Nepal, Brazil, Australia, and America) and I could not NOT read it. They all range in age as well - twelve to fifteen years old. The stakes are high - although not you're-dead-if-you-don't-do-this-right high - and I was absolutely thrilled ...

 Oh, look, Gambler's not purple after all. Lol, if you're a newcomer to my blog and this is the first post you see, don't worry, I'm not crazy. *maniac smile* I'm book-crazy. Anyway, The First continues the trail that The Last left off, starting with our five main characters on their sort-of-road-trip. I say road trip because that's the only way I can describe this. The First is just as good as its predecessor. We finally get some big, epic revelations *dramatic music builds up*, a dIsCoVeRy, and explanations to things that I had thought plot holes in the first book. Khara finally gets some backstory (EEEEEEEEEEE YAY AND IT IS SOME REAL AWESOME BACKSTORY TRUST ME) and I finally receive the reason why Renzo has joined them. For some reason I burst into hysterical laughter when I realized why, and my brother was just staring at me like o.O Tobble is still as cute as ever, but like Gambler says, he asks some big questions that need to be answered. Those questions a...

 OMIGOSHOMIGOSHOMIGOSH a new fantasy series to LOVE YAY! I've actually had this book for a few months (the signed first edition) and have loved it. I got the second one on Audible, and the third...well, it's coming out in March, which is so far away *sobs*. Buuuuut I have to review this one because I can't wait to go crazy over it. I had already heard of Katherine Applegate's The One and Only Ivan, so I decided to give this book a chance (anyway, who can pass up a signed first edition? Have I already mentioned this?) and I was not disappointed. The Last, despite being a first book in a series, is brilliant. The worldbuilding is just *dramatic flourish* and so are the characters. Byx was a very interesting perspective, as I had expected a human's. It was enlightening to see the world from someone whose species is endangered, possibly extinct. The fact that the book opens with a quote from Silent Spring pretty much conveys the message it is trying to give - what are w...

Hello! I am now twelve years old and have been reading books for nine years *grins*. Aaaand of course I got this book for my birthday. I knew the author was getting better. And I was right. Serafina and the Splintered Heart is a wild, unexpected, exciting journey. This series probably isn't up there with The Green Ember and A Series of Unfortunate Events in my eyes, but it's still better than certain other books I've read. And I suppose that's all it needs. Seriously, just look at that gorgeous cover. It's the prettiest in the whole series. This isn't quite a Grand Finale, but it's definitely a finale. It's pretty hard to review this book because there's an author's note at the end, which says not to reveal certain elements of the stories, and those elements are central to the plot. All I want to say is that the story starts right where the other book stopped...and it doesn't. In Serafina's mind, it does, but in the real world, it doesn...

Hi! Some of you may remember my admittedly raging review about Serafina and the Black Cloak. It was a bit furious, I know. But I picked up the sequel, just to see if the writing would get better. I mean, I reasoned the author must be a newbie. Maybe he would improve in his next book. And Serafina and the Twisted Staff doesn't disappoint. It picks up two straight weeks later after Serafina defeats the Black Cloak, and takes us on another adventure with another object. Serafina and the Twisted Staff is infinitely better than its predecessor. The pacing of the plot is perfect, and I actually began to like Serafina as a character. I mean, she's still a bit special-snowflake-y, and sort of terrible when it comes to making decisions, but she grew as a character. I cared about her, which in the other book I didn't. She had actual development and a journey, and I really loved that. I wish the Twisted Staff had more story, because it's actually in the title. It just seemed to be...

 Wow, I am actually posting regularly. This is my sixth book review in a row (wow) and I'm actually keeping track of all my homework (wow) and I manage to live a little at the same time (wow). I have also used the word wow  four times in the past two sentences. I think my mom gave me Serafina and the Black Cloak because the synopsis was so interesting, and I thought it was too. Unfortunately, the synopsis is rather different to the book's actual plot. Okay, so I was super thrilled to read this at first. It sounded like historical fiction mixed with urban fantasy and a touch of horror, so naturally, going in, I was pretty excited. But midway through the book, my expectations started to decrease. This book tries to be horror. It tries to give me nightmares and have me looking around in the shadows for someone there. But it doesn't succeed. I doubt that I would have been scared of this even when I was seven. I can't understand the idea that this is a bestseller.  I think m...

 Aaaaaand, surprise surprise, here's another book review! I have, as previously informed you, a lot of new books and I need to review them all. This one took a little searching in the bookstore, but I immediately fell in love with the cover. As I explained to my mother on the car ride home, usually the best books make more money, and with that money the author can make stellar covers, and that's how you know a book is good. A Wolf Called Wander delivers on all those things. (It also took me a while to find an image of my edition).                                                                                                                   ...

 I literally have nothing else to do other than write book reviews. Honestly, I should have written this a long time ago, but...you know...procrastination... I read this book after watching the movie, but I was actually pretty little then (can't remember, but I was probably seven or eight) so it didn't resonate with me as much. After a friend told me how great it was, I decided to just go ahead and read it because there was nothing else at the bookstore worth my attention, lol.                                                                         Wonder is a book with a simple message; be kind. We probably hear these two words pretty much all the time, but when something is repeated over and over, it loses its meaning. The story is simple at first glance, but when you begin to become more deeply immerse...

 I figured I might as well get this over with, which is why I'm posting this review the same day as Ember Rising's. The best books are sometimes the hardest to review, especially the ones with heart-stopping twists. It has been a perfectly wonderful ride from the very beginning of The Green Ember, all the way to here. The final book. The fourth, and the last, time I will ever see The End in my mind this way.                                                                                                                     "Now, my dear," Father said. "Tell us a story."                          ...

 Hey, sorry for the inactivity! I might be even less active during the school year, but honestly, who knows. I'll try to post at least once or twice a month, and I have tons of book reviews to write, because I have nothing else notable to post right now. *makes snoring sounds* Here's my review of Ember Rising. I hope it's worth the wait!                                                                       Who knew a bunch of bunnies could make such an impression? I didn't, until I found The Green Ember. This is the third installment in this not-able-to-explain-with-adjectives series.  Of course, following the cliffhanger of the next book (I guessed who was doing that , did you?) the story begins with Heather's POV. Now this is getting a bit repetitive. The past two books have also started with her point ...

As I promised, here is a review of Ember Falls, the second book in the Green Ember series! I do  have more important things to do than write book reviews (such as worry about the characters in Ember's End, which are currently in mortal peril - I'm halfway through the book), but who's judging? No one is!                                            Okay, so where do I begin? This book is a great follow-up to The Green Ember, and I loved it. I don't knooooow how to review it, because it seems very hard to review without spoiling.  Well. I'll have to try. Ember Falls was exhilarating. It was intense. It was thrilling. Okay, maybe not thrilling. That belongs to the third book. But yeah.  Many of the plot twists were unexpected. There was one I saw coming a little early on, maybe because it had been hinted in the first book (a certain betrayal) but it doesn't matter. It ...

Hi! Today I'm reviewing one of my favorite books (and will review the rest in the series)! I actually kind of thank Covid-19 for happening, because if it hadn't then Audible would have never put out a free collection of books for kids, and I never would have seen the cover and go, "I'm listening to this." So, um, thank you, Covid-19. Anyway...                                                                 *royal trumpet screeches* The Green Ember is probably one of my favorite books to date. It has awesome epic fights, awesome epic plot twists, and awesome epic sibling relationships. (Sorry, Frozen.) Heather and Picket are two ordinary rabbits living an ordinary life with their parents, and baby brother Jacks in a place called Nick Hollow which looks straight out of a Tinker Bell movie. But the sweet little plot goes epic and aw...

I'm writing this right after an hour since I came back from the cinema and let me tell you, Frozen 2 was a treat! Amazing, amazing, amazing!  I was so charmed by it, and my mother sitting next to me literally started fangirling over the water spirit (something I'd never thought she'd do!) Review starts here! Movie name:  Frozen 2 My rating: 5 stars My review: Each scene of this amazing movie is eye candy. The comedy is there, thrown in by Olaf. The intense, sad, scary moments are there, and there is a time when it looks like both sisters are gone for good. I would say that I actually liked this better than the original. Anna finally takes the role of a hero, and Elsa's personality becomes more developed, more than just the protective older sister. We're seeing the next "Let It Go" with the song "Into The Unknown", both of which are remotely similar. The movie was basically a musical - there are about 8-9 songs in it. Each spirit is d...

Hey guys. I have officially found a new favorite book (or a new series). You can probably tell from the title what it is - ASOUE. It started when I was doing a sort of Netflix marathon with my cousin, and we clicked on the series. I loved it. Recently, when I was at my local library, I caught sight of a row of books. My arms couldn't have worked faster. I carried them in a pile to my mum, and announced, "I have found GOLD! PLATINUM! SOMETHING MORE PRECIOUS THAN ANYTHING!" Alright maybe I didn't get hysterical like that. But I carried the lot to my secret shelf, which no one ever looks at. But yo, MY LIFE WAS COMPLETE. I went home and decided that the books were - a complete - treasure! Right now my favorites are The Slippery Slope and The Ersatz Elevator . A few things I liked: - The Quagmire triplets. I almost jumped around the room when...SPOILER ALERT...Q was alive. (I didn't put the full name there, because you'll probably like jumping around the ro...