Ricky Pine's Blog, page 37

Review: Once Upon a Broken Heart

Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I felt that Stephanie Garber's debut series, Caraval, had diminishing returns over time, with each book being progressively less enjoyable for me...but this time, with a new spinoff series beginning, I think Garber's really found her footing a lot more easily. While this book does require you to have read the complete trilogy from before - the reappearance of old protags Scarlett and Tella is pretty clearl...

Review: Pahua and the Soul Stealer

Pahua and the Soul Stealer by Lori M. Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I somehow missed this one for a few months after it first came out - in part because the usual library through which I order Rick Riordan Presents books never did get it, but at least I had a backup. So here it is, a new addition to the lineup rooted in the legends and culture of the Hmong people - and I'm happy to say that one of my littlest cousins, who is Hmong, will finally be able to see a hero just like...

Spider-Man: No Way Home: NO. SPOILERS.

***WELL, FOR SURE SPOILERS FOR FAR FROM HOME AND A FEW FOR INFINITY WAR AND ENDGAME. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.***

It's finally here, the Marvel event we've most been waiting for this chaotic calendar year. Tom Holland back in the Spidey-suit after Far From Home upended him into the same not-so-secret nature of identity as pretty much every other Marvel Cinematic Universe version of our classic heroes. Thanks, Mysterio. And thanks, J. Jonah Jameson, played once again by J.K. Simmons - and, in this lates...

Review: Our Violent Ends

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"without the monster, there is no madness. without the madness, he goes out of business." These Violent Delights 
"nothing was ever as simple as 'my people' or 'your people...'" Our Violent Ends 
Early this year, These Violent Delights became another one of those books that I wish I could've actually read in its debut year, and now the series comes to another duology conclusion for the YA list. Although it's a bit of a st...

Review: Cytonic

Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been a minute since Sanderson put out a book in this current YA sci-fi series - two years, in fact - and it's pretty clear that he's used that time to really work hard on the material we got in this here Book 3. It feels so different from the previous books in this series for sure, miles away from the territory of Book 1 (with its extremely Ender's Game-esque storyline) and Book 2 with its laser-focus on Spensa and M...

Review: Gilded

Gilded by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I dunno about you, but I'm sad to say that Marissa Meyer, in recent years, seems to have been losing her touch. Don't get me wrong, this latest book of hers, a welcome return to her fantasy and fairytale roots (after her strange turn toward contemporary-with-a-touch-of-magic in last year's Instant Karma), is as compulsively readable as ever - and, not unlike years past with the likes of Winter or Renegades, I spent a lot of ti...

Review: Daughter of the Deep

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rick Riordan may have taken a bit of a break from the world of Camp Half-Blood (though he'll be back with Mark Oshiro on the long awaited Nico di Angelo and Will Solace spinoff, of course), but now it looks like he's gone off and started a whole new series that works pretty well in the style to which his fans have grown accustomed. This time, it's also got its roots in the old "fantasy/fairytale retelling" trend t...

Review: Firekeeper's Daughter

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'll admit, I made the mistake of thinking this one was a fantasy novel at first due in part to the style of its cover art (that the title is written in a near-identical font to the one used by Leigh Bardugo on Six of Crows, from the same publisher no less, doesn't help), as well as its title (to which I kept mentally adding "The" at the start when it's not actually there). But this Reese Witherspoon-approved...

Eternals: Ignore The Anti-Hype, Please.

**NO SPOILERS FOR ETERNALS, BUT SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS MCU MOVIES APPEAR WITHIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.**

For the third time this calendar year, Marvel gifts us with a long-delayed movie, and this time, it's rather unusual this time in that we also have the first officially "Rotten" MCU movie on Rotten Tomatoes, earning only 48% at the time of this writing. Well, I'm here to tell you that in a world where the likes of Thor: The Dark World exist, and where Amazing Spider-Man 2 is also rated "Rotten," ...

Review: The Hellion

The Hellion by S.A. Hunt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I do feel bad that S.A. Hunt's series seems to have stalled out due to the bugbears of low sales and difficulties in her life (she'll occasionally vent about those on Twitter), and even more so that it took me this long to finally read her third novel. That said, though, I did get the feeling that this one may have been affected by the troubles in Hunt's personal life, coming off a little wheel-spinny with an aimless narrativ...