Ricky Pine's Blog, page 58

Captain Marvel: Sorry Spark, But Team Instinct's Got A New Leader Now

***NO SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL, BUT SPOILERS FOR OTHER MCU FILMS - PARTICULARLY INFINITY WAR AND GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, AS WELL AS AGENTS OF SHIELD, APPEAR HEREIN. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.***

I've been seeing a lot of conflicting responses to Captain Marvel's official MCU intro in the days since her movie came out. A lot of people saying that it was a beautiful movie to watch, but the writing wasn't so good, or that Brie Larson was miscast. At least I don't really follow any of the w...

Review: Firestarter

Firestarter by Tara Sim
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tara Sim's first trilogy comes to a close, and as she promised for months before its release, it's a hell of an attack on all our feels. The biggest book of the trilogy in all the ways, Firestarter finally launches into a truly twisted endgame of forces fighting all across the world, from England to India and tons of points in between, for dominance over time - and that's even before the old gods themselves have their say.

For months, my biggest...

Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can't say I'm the biggest fan of this book, purely because of how often grossgusting it is. I mean, it's super engaging, and has the recommendations of Neil Gaiman and Roxane Gay going for it. And it's super colorful in a lot of ways. And super...well, I mean, I can totally see why Gaiman loves it, purely because it's very stylistically similar to American Gods with its sprawling road-fantasy to a lot of memorable places with...

Review: A Good Kind of Trouble

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I remember meeting this author for a brief moment as she was buying Tyler Johnson Was Here, and with her book only a few days away from its launch party (which I will sadly have to miss due to commitments at my other job), I was very happy to see an ARC available in a box in the office at work. So I've taken it for a quick weekend read and review, and let me tell you, though MG isn't quite my bread and butter like YA, this is...

Review: Running With Lions

Running With Lions by Julian Winters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oh, Harry, I do apologize for not realizing I'd pulled one of your faves off the shelves at work. But I hope I've made up for it by reading it - and enjoying it! Julian Winters' debut is a sweet - and often sweetly grossly boyish - lighthearted YA sports romance, extra-fun for me as an #ownvoices bi reader who relates all too well to Sebastian for a lot of reasons. Not only because he and I are both bi boys, but also because the who...

Review: The Gilded Wolves

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've seen a lot of conflicting responses to this book in the time since it came out, and even before that. A lot of people saying it's too similar to Six of Crows, or that it's got too much of an overwrought writing style, that sort of thing. Well, I'll concede on the first point only because, frankly, SoC was so big that it practically defined the YA fantasy heist story, and while this book isn't as much about the heist, it's also...

Review: Undying

Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is supposed to be the end of the series? Duology AGAIN? Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhh...

...but hey, after the first book dazzled me so much, I'm not surprised that this one caps off the story in high action, high romance, and high fashion.



What he said.

While the first book of this duology was very Indiana Jones meets Prometheus in space, this one plays out a lot more Earth-bound and less puzzle-y, but losing nothing of its predece...

Review: Slayer

Slayer by Kiersten White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've been waiting for this book pretty eagerly for a while, it being a spinoff-slash-sequel to one of my all-time favorite series. And it's good to know that like many in the YA community, Kiersten White is a fan too, and it shows in her work. That said, though, I read this book and couldn't help but feel a certain sense of disappointment, which I think stems from the fact that it's a Kiersten White book and, for some reason, she's always been...

Review: The Storm Crow

The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trigger warnings for this book: depression, self-harm, colonial invasion.

Harry found this ARC at work and saved it for me, believing it to properly be my style. And for that, I thank him. I admit, the comps written on the back don't inspire me with a lot of confidence, because I'm not a fan of Eragon or of And I Darken. But I have a comp in mind from reading this, a comp that I think works so much better: The Dragon Prince, but with ma...

Review: King of Scars

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR PREVIOUS GRISHAVERSE NOVELS. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

I managed to forget Nikolai for the most part after reading the Grisha Trilogy for the first time...but after rereading all those original books, I remember and love him a lot more.

Now I've finally read the first in his duology - well, it's a little misleading to simply refer to it as the Nikolai Duology as GR has been doing. The King of Scars Duology sounds more accurate,...