Ricky Pine's Blog, page 102

Review: Throne of Glass

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've been an off-and-on fan of the Throne of Glass series for quite a while. I read the first two books, gave up after Crown of Midnight, then my friend convinced me to give the series another try. Which I did, and I was happy for it.

These days, you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone, other than a hardcore stan, who'll admit to enjoying Throne of Glass and its sequels, because so many in the community look down on the series for its ge...

Review: City of Glass

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Good thing I'm rereading this third Mortal Instruments book now - they're already adapting elements of its story into the Freeform series. Like Alec and Magnus eventually taking their relationship public, Hodge being kept in the cells under Idris, the introduction of Aldertree (whom the TV series serves up with a heaping dose of Adaptational Attractiveness, of course), and a few other storylines I can't discuss here because spoilers.

I...

Review: The Immortal Rules

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I kinda remember reading this one a few years back, when I was first getting into Julie Kagawa and gobbling up the Iron Fey books right and left, but for whatever reason I slept on this trilogy and didn't really enjoy it enough to complete it. Now, however, I'm glad I took a trip back to The Immortal Rules, because I'm realizing now, five years after its publication when The Walking Dead was in its heyday, this book captures the...

Review: City of Ashes

City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

And the series continues! Out of the original TMI trilogy, this one is my favorite, for several reasons. One, Max made his debut here - they should have introduced him in Book 1, he would have made a great deal of fun for everyone. And also, this one has the most memorable humor out of all of them. My favorite being this exchange: (warning: my quotes may not be exact)

Jace: I guess it's true what they say. There are no straight men in...

Review: RoseBlood

RoseBlood by A.G. Howard
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

*sigh*

I'm sorry, but as much as I love A.G. Howard and her beautiful books, I couldn't bring myself to finish this one. Not only did I go in with trepidation because I'd heard the book overuses the "Gypsy" slur (to make matters worse, it's the half-Romani narrator who uses it, and it's pretty clear she has no intention of reclamation), not only did I go in with next to no knowledge of The Phantom of the Opera, but I also went in with tons of...

Review: City of Bones

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*editing my old review from years and years ago so I can share this on my blog just 'cause)

I don't know why I like this book series so much...oh wait, yeah I do. Cassandra Clare knows what we want to read. She knows that we the people love paranormal stuff. She knows we need generous doses of questionable-quality humor.

In short - SHE EFFING DELIVERS.

When I was in high school, still an insecure teenager endlessly questioning his sexual...

Review: Unhooked

Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I went into this one on a friend's recommendation - and because I thought it looked very A.G. Howard-esque. Basically, the Peter Pan version of Splintered. In that respect, I wasn't disappointed - Unhooked proved just as creepy and fantasy-action-packed as expected. However, the story itself was a little too breakneck-paced when it didn't need to be, and the plot, mostly because it felt so surface-similar to an A.G. Howard book, was surprisin...

Review: King's Cage

King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"You need to watch me beg and lose it all."
-The Dear Hunter, "Never Forgive Never Forget"

"Wake to see your true emancipation is a fantasy
Politics have risen up and overcome the brave
...
You don't have long, I am on to you
The time, it has come to destroy your supremacy!"
-Muse

Rise, red as the dawn.

All aboard the Aveyardian Hype Train once again, my friends, and you know I'm never getting off this one. Red Queen was a lavish dystopian with...

Review: The Walled City

The Walled City by Ryan Graudin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Before Wolf By Wolf, Ryan Graudin went not so much for alternate history as for an alternate world, inspired by the Kowloon Walled City slums of Hong Kong in the mid-20th century. Photos of the place (which appear at the end of this book) make it look so otherworldly, like something out of Star Wars, that of course Graudin couldn't resist penning a dystopian novel set in what is, in all but name, the Kowloon Walled City.

It's an action-...

Two Years Of Blogging, Etc.

Two years ago, I started blogging because Andrew Garfield was getting replaced as Spider-Man, and my poor little fanboy heart couldn't take it. Since then, of course, I've accepted Tom Holland as a more than suitable replacement, though I've kept on working on Amazing Spider-Man-centric fanfics because I cannot, will not, ever let go of my top fandom. I'm still nowhere near finished with Deadpool Syndrome: Marvel's Folly.

In my second year on this blog, I've expanded my social media presence a...