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bookafiction's reviews
279 reviews
The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine
3.0
"You don't go into a battle because you are sure of victory. You go because its the right thing to do"
My views - The Shadow Queen is a fairytale retelling of Snow White. The cover is beautiful and that is what intrigued me.
The first few chapter lags a little but it picks up later. It starts with a 'Once Upon A Time' which acts as a backstory. The story then picks up 9 years later.
Lorelai, the main character of the book is really sweet and kind like Snow White but she is also tough, intelligent, analytical and calculating. She represents her character properly.
The story has a Third person POV and follows three different part of the story. First, it follows Lorelai and her brother Leo who are on a run with Gabriel (an old soldier). Second, it follows Kol who is the king of Eldr and puts up all his effort in protecting his kingdom. And third, it follows Queen Irina who uses her magic to rule her kingdom.
They cross path and story progresses further. The writing is nice and not confusing.
It keeps the action moving with a cute romance and no love triangle at all. The characters are really lovable and that's what kept me hooked.
What I liked the most - I really liked the concept of Eldr. They have two hearts - a human heart and a dragon heart. They have the ability of transforming into a dragon and dragons are always an improvement.
Honestly, there were times when I was a little bored and that's what dropped my ratings but it was a good read at last and I would recommend it to people who love fairytale retellings, dragons and magic.
My views - The Shadow Queen is a fairytale retelling of Snow White. The cover is beautiful and that is what intrigued me.
The first few chapter lags a little but it picks up later. It starts with a 'Once Upon A Time' which acts as a backstory. The story then picks up 9 years later.
Lorelai, the main character of the book is really sweet and kind like Snow White but she is also tough, intelligent, analytical and calculating. She represents her character properly.
The story has a Third person POV and follows three different part of the story. First, it follows Lorelai and her brother Leo who are on a run with Gabriel (an old soldier). Second, it follows Kol who is the king of Eldr and puts up all his effort in protecting his kingdom. And third, it follows Queen Irina who uses her magic to rule her kingdom.
They cross path and story progresses further. The writing is nice and not confusing.
It keeps the action moving with a cute romance and no love triangle at all. The characters are really lovable and that's what kept me hooked.
What I liked the most - I really liked the concept of Eldr. They have two hearts - a human heart and a dragon heart. They have the ability of transforming into a dragon and dragons are always an improvement.
Honestly, there were times when I was a little bored and that's what dropped my ratings but it was a good read at last and I would recommend it to people who love fairytale retellings, dragons and magic.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
4.0
This book was sitting on my bookshelf since quite a while. I decided to give it a try and went into the book with least expectations as I am not a major fan of John Green. But surprisingly, I ended up like it more than I expected to.
I have to accept, John Green has a way with words. The writing style is really great and beautiful, specially for a debut book. It's the type of literature that gets one excited about reading, school, adolescence and friends.
The characters were well drawn, witty, bold and crazy. At first, I was disturbed with too much of smoking, adolescence and foul language but slowly I became used to it and felt drawn towards the characters as I am a teenager myself. The story follows Miles (Pudge) Halter to a new school and then settles to a group of friends he finds to be with. The story is realistic with no sugary bluff.
If you are looking for anything that would take back to your young adult self then maybe this is the book for you, it might leave you feeling nostalgic. It deals with a phase that everyone once has to go through - New school, new friends, adolescence, and the desire to just have fun.
Miles Halter is said to be looking for Great Perhaps and later he realised that maybe Alaska was his great perhaps hence it is named Looking for Alaska. The story also teaches us to be forgiving. Everyone makes mistake and everyone forgives us but what's important is that we learn to forgive ourself first.
"Great perhaps was upon us and we were invincible. The plan had faults but we didn't."
My favourite part of the book was the pranks. The school had weird tradition among the students of playing pranks and John Green didn't fail to present it properly.
The one thing I had problem with was insta love. Miles falls in love with Alaska the first time he sees her. But, overall I enjoyed the book. And I am mostly happy because I went into it with no expectations at all. It was (surprisingly) a 4 star read for me. And I (surprisingly) liked it more than The Fault in our Stars. As, The Fault in our Stars was a 3.5 read for me. So, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light contemporary book with great writing.
"After all this time, it still seems to me like straight and fast is the only way out - but I chose the labrynith. The labrynith blows, but I chose it.
I have to accept, John Green has a way with words. The writing style is really great and beautiful, specially for a debut book. It's the type of literature that gets one excited about reading, school, adolescence and friends.
The characters were well drawn, witty, bold and crazy. At first, I was disturbed with too much of smoking, adolescence and foul language but slowly I became used to it and felt drawn towards the characters as I am a teenager myself. The story follows Miles (Pudge) Halter to a new school and then settles to a group of friends he finds to be with. The story is realistic with no sugary bluff.
If you are looking for anything that would take back to your young adult self then maybe this is the book for you, it might leave you feeling nostalgic. It deals with a phase that everyone once has to go through - New school, new friends, adolescence, and the desire to just have fun.
Miles Halter is said to be looking for Great Perhaps and later he realised that maybe Alaska was his great perhaps hence it is named Looking for Alaska. The story also teaches us to be forgiving. Everyone makes mistake and everyone forgives us but what's important is that we learn to forgive ourself first.
"Great perhaps was upon us and we were invincible. The plan had faults but we didn't."
My favourite part of the book was the pranks. The school had weird tradition among the students of playing pranks and John Green didn't fail to present it properly.
The one thing I had problem with was insta love. Miles falls in love with Alaska the first time he sees her. But, overall I enjoyed the book. And I am mostly happy because I went into it with no expectations at all. It was (surprisingly) a 4 star read for me. And I (surprisingly) liked it more than The Fault in our Stars. As, The Fault in our Stars was a 3.5 read for me. So, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a light contemporary book with great writing.
"After all this time, it still seems to me like straight and fast is the only way out - but I chose the labrynith. The labrynith blows, but I chose it.