50/50 Friday is a meme hosted by Carrie @The Butterfly Reads and I and focuses on the opposite sides of books (best/worst, differing opinions, etc). Every week will have a new topic and several advance topics will be listed in the tab labeled 50/50 Friday!
Today's Topic: Best/Worst Book Read in April
Best:
There was no shortage of amazing books this month and I rated 9 out of 11 four stars or higher!
Legend of the Liberator #2
Goodreads Blurb:
"After fleeing her home in Tharien with the Emperor's forces hot on her heels, Aia Wynnald has only one goal: To end the two-thousand-year-old discrimination against Benders—a race of beings like her, with a misunderstood gift. But when the Emperor’s Church of Mighty retaliates with a new threat, her noble plans are put on hold.
With her companion Cole Balain, a former enemy, by her side, Aia must halt the devastation triggered by her well-meaning actions. The only way she can fight the Church is with the help of a disenchanted group of rebel Benders who'd sooner submit to their fate than follow Aia's lead.
Can she inspire them to fight and work together to resolve this new crisis, or will her ingrained submissive nature bring her, and the Benders of Dyel, to their knees?"
With her companion Cole Balain, a former enemy, by her side, Aia must halt the devastation triggered by her well-meaning actions. The only way she can fight the Church is with the help of a disenchanted group of rebel Benders who'd sooner submit to their fate than follow Aia's lead.
Can she inspire them to fight and work together to resolve this new crisis, or will her ingrained submissive nature bring her, and the Benders of Dyel, to their knees?"
This author never fails to amaze me with her ability to create complex and 3D characters, nuanced sets of plot lines, and well rounded and grounded worlds. If you're a fan of YA fantasy, I strongly recommend this series! I rated this book 5 stars. See my review HERE!
Worst:
Like I said above, this month was nothing but good reads! There were two that I rated 3.5 stars which were my lowest ratings this month. They are:
Indication of series continuation
Goodreads Blurb:
"Fourteen-year-old Hannah Bradbury loved her father so much that she worried about him constantly. After all, he was a photographer who traveled to the most dangerous places in the world.
To allay her fears, each time he came home he brought her silly gifts, each one with supposed magical powers: the Seal of Solomon, the Ring of Gyges, even Aladdin’s Lamp. It was that lamp Hannah found the most unbelievable, for it looked like an ugly teapot. Nevertheless, her father assured her it was real, and made her promise to save her three wishes for something very special.
Then . . . six months later . . . the unthinkable happened. Her father was killed while on assignment to Baghdad. And so on the day of his funeral Hannah did something she never thought she would ever do.
She took out that teapot and gave it a rub . . .
The Ugly Teapot by Fred Holmes is a timeless tale, filled with magic and adventure. More importantly, it will make you believe in the overwhelming power of love."
To allay her fears, each time he came home he brought her silly gifts, each one with supposed magical powers: the Seal of Solomon, the Ring of Gyges, even Aladdin’s Lamp. It was that lamp Hannah found the most unbelievable, for it looked like an ugly teapot. Nevertheless, her father assured her it was real, and made her promise to save her three wishes for something very special.
Then . . . six months later . . . the unthinkable happened. Her father was killed while on assignment to Baghdad. And so on the day of his funeral Hannah did something she never thought she would ever do.
She took out that teapot and gave it a rub . . .
The Ugly Teapot by Fred Holmes is a timeless tale, filled with magic and adventure. More importantly, it will make you believe in the overwhelming power of love."
The characters and plot in this book are wonderfully developed. I had a slight problem with the ending and it's implications for the rest of the story which caused my rating to take a hit. Overall, though, a solid MG novel! See my review HERE.
Jagged Scars #1
Goodreads Blurb:
"Sixteen year old Wendy never knew the world before the Starvation. She’s learned to put her trust in her knives, and her confidence in her fighting ability. When the Skinnies attack her compound, she's the lone survivor.
Injured and near death, Wendy is rescued and nursed back to health by mysterious strangers. Her saviors offer her a place among them, but trust has never been one of Wendy's strengths, and suspicion soon leads to evidence that these people might be the group who killed her family.
The decision to get her revenge, and take the settlement down from the inside out is easy. Keeping her distance from those she must befriend in order to make it happen proves to be much more difficult."
Injured and near death, Wendy is rescued and nursed back to health by mysterious strangers. Her saviors offer her a place among them, but trust has never been one of Wendy's strengths, and suspicion soon leads to evidence that these people might be the group who killed her family.
The decision to get her revenge, and take the settlement down from the inside out is easy. Keeping her distance from those she must befriend in order to make it happen proves to be much more difficult."
Like The Ugly Teapot, I loved this book overall. There's an interesting problem and the plot progresses at a steady and exciting clip. There's just a lack of enemy development that made the book feel very one-sided. After reading Fairest by Marissa Meyer, I think we can all agree that enemy development is one of the most important elements of a fantasy series. See my review HERE.
Have you read any of these books? What were your high and low points of April? Make a post and link up down below!
Next Week's Topic: Character You'd Want/Not Want to Meet
Those are still pretty good ratings. So awesome that you had such great reads in April.
ReplyDeleteRight?? It's been quite the month!
DeleteYour April was better than mine, then! I read a lot of books I probably could've skipped without batting an eyelash, while my rereads were more worthwhile. The Ugly Teapot sounds really good- I haven't read any MG books for a while.
ReplyDelete~Litha Nelle
Haha so it seems! Rereads are always lovely :) It's so nice to go back to old favorites. It is! Thanks for stopping by, Litha!
Delete