Bianca

Midnights: 3 stars
The Lady and the Fox: 2 stars
Angels in the Snow: 2.5 stars
Polaris is Where You'll Find Me: 4 stars
It's a Yultide Miracle, Charlie Brown: 4 stars
Your Temporary Santa: 3 stars
Krampuslauf by Holly Black: 3.5 stars
What the Hell Have You Done, Sophie Roth: 2 stars
Beer Buckets and Baby Jesus: 1 stars (what the hell was this story really about?)
Welcome To Christmas, CA: 4 stars
Stars of Bethlehem: 2 stars
The Girl Who Woke The Dream: 2.5 stars

This took way to long to get through. I had to take breaks after a few chapters just because of the dullness, repeativeness and the lack of emotion Mare was giving as a narrator. Korrect me if I'm wrong (Mare wasn't that emotional in the first book) but except one scene at the end she was even more emotionless than in the previous book. Also she became kind of indecisive: One page she roots for Cal/says Silvers aren't that bad, next one she hates him/ Silvers. Get your thoughts together, stupid lightning girl.

I saw most of the plottwists coming since the narration almost foreshadows everything! I didn't guess the deaths in the book at first but it became kinda obvious.

The first half was slow and boring most of the times, mixed with the endless repeations of ‘quotes' from the first book. It just felt as if these passages were added to lengthen the book. But this cliffhanger.... was really good.

I think about reading the next one to see if it will become better (like the first one). I like non whinny characters as Mare is one. But since she still got on my nerves I will wait until I read the third one (and hope that I don't get in a reading slump WHILE reading it).

4.5 Stars.

There were a few parts in the novellas which I disliked because I felt that Sam and also Celeana went a bit out of character. After the second story I had the urge to read Heir of Fire further, but a friend reminded me of the intertwining of the last three stories with the 3rd book. So I came back to this and stopped one chapter before it would have been mentioned in Heir of Fire. So I would definitely recommend you to read the novellas - if you plan in doing so - before beginning the 3rd book.

2 stars.

This put me in a reading slump. twice.

I didn't like the middle third of the book and felt that the scheming of the group felt not as genuine as in the first book. I guessed most of Kaz plans and some characters fell more flat than in the first book. Also the ending didn't hook me.

So I must sadly say that this disappointed me and I think it's because of the way Leigh Bardugo writes her finales (since I didn't enjoy Ruin and Rising).

2.5 Stars

This was way better than book 2 but still not as pleasing as I would expected it to be. Juliette seems to be a different person depending on her boyfriend (which was kind of dumb). Adams ‘reaction' was just plain stupid and only empathized the ‘feeling' for Team Warner.

I did like Juliette more with Warner (nowhere near perfect but closer than with Adam). The tension in this book was like an ECG of a heart infarct. There were so many spikes which were mostly dissolved in a few pages but the little main tension was still available. The plot was simply foreseen and not as shocking as I would have like it. The ending was just ugh. I thought: ok, open endings are fine and I get why there isn't a fourth book (because there is not enough to handle after this ending), but a novella could have solved this.


Overall I see the series as overhyped and don't see why it would be so good.

3.5 Stars

Okay, where do I begin. I hated the main characters friends because they only pushed her their own way and for their own convinience. I don't think Kestrel is all that intelligent and strong minded since she made quite a few stupid decisions through the story (also very thoughfull decisions but we are talking about the things that annoyed me first). Also the romance: Kestrel was loving one paragraph and hating her love interest the next one. That's not how I picture a hate-to-love relationship because there was no real progress to the loving part only a constant change in heart which annoyed me quite a lot. Because of that I found Kestrel quite indecisive and egoistic at times.
Plotwise the book was neatly done. I liked the overall story, setting the romance aside.

I hope that my problems with this first book will go away or lessen in the next books.

It was okay, I guess. Partly cute, partly ultracheesy, partly weird.

The way bullying was handled but not as I would liked. I would have liked less drama for the sake of resolving the friendship and bullying issues more. Because not everything is resolved with saying sorry.

I 'guessed' Blue in that way that I didn't tought about the options Simon saw. I knew it was someone of the sports group but the name of the president twist was done quite well.

It was ok but not an extraordinary read for me.

I tried to like the KonMari method, but it wasn't for me. After 3 months of doing it, I went back to my old cleaning habits. Why? Because I was not satisfied.
Most ideas like everything has a place in the home and if it isn't used, give it away are nice and easy ideas of which I used many myself before. I love organization tools such as boxes and document holders, but some suggested ideas don't work for me personally. Sadly these were the most pushed and central ideas of the method: I love my big unread bookshelf because I not only say but eventually read books from it. I am a quite fast reader so ~ 120 books can be tackled in a year.
There are more things like throwing out boxes of products and there manuals which I will never do because warranty is quiet difficult without and I actually read the manual if I need something: I just don't pack these boxes in my living room!

To the book itself: The writing was selfish and arrogant (at least in the german translation) which made me furious sometimes. The tips were either presented clearly and super easy or hidden ( I think there were a few passages where there wasn't a clear tip given). Most of this book was a waste of time in my option. If you can think and have found an organisation technique that works for you: great optimize it and you will be much happier than reading this.
If you are messy or not quiet organized, this might be for you. Although I tried this on some of my friends and given them a list of tips based on the key points of this book. Guess what: It didn't work quiet well. They destuffed their apartment but were furious about things like all-year-closet or similar-things-in-same-area-policies. Not because of tradition, because it doesn't work for their apartments and live style as university students!

3.5 Stars
This was way better than the second book. I really liked the world expansion in the first half of the book but then stupid decisions came back.

The dual point of view was confusing since I couldn't guess which character was which until they mentoined each other (even the audio book didn't help).

The ending.... was quite unexpected. I liked the last chapter but that doesn't make up for the plot and science flaws the book had. I don't consider myself an expert in social psychology but I studied medi and I cried a lot about the so called “genetics” in this books (that's why it took me so long to finish it).

3,5 stars.

Ok I have some things to say. I loved the first 80 % of the book. It was interesting, weird (the good kind) and captivating. But then it went downhill: I don't see why this is a so “awesome” ending. This was weak, too nice, too frustrating..... I would have liked some deaths for different characters since I either didn't care for the dead or it was obvious that they would die at some point.
The epilogue was also frustrating and too focused on a small amount of the beloved cast of the book. That made the book quiet unsatisfied for me till the point that it bugs me even days after I finished reading this book. I felt empty.... and betrayed by an bad ending.

1.5 stars

This sounded so promising but it is just historical fiction with very unbelievable “enemies”-to-lovers with to many conveniences.

The magical elements were not developed enough for me. And I hoped we go from historical war romance to a more magical approach.

There are regular mentions of technologies (lifts, baseball, ...) but the main media is still typing on typewriters for the newspapers. It's inconsistent and not explained enough for a solid world building. This also didn't grab my attention through this boring book.

The language of the two maincharacters changes between lyrical deep lovey-dovey to young teen language which took me out of the story a few times.

Even the ending couldn't have me engaged enough to read the second book.

If I wouldn't have read the audiobook most of the time, this would be a contender for chucking at the wall.

3.5 Stars.

I don't really know how I feel about this. 75% of the book, nothing happens! You only get the conversations with a mix of old and new Alina which super enerves me! I hated Majlen even more than in book 1 for his either stupid actions or his not-so-full-devotion to Alina.

This definitly suffers the second book syndrome.

3 Stars
This book took a looong time to finish. The writing was new and refreshing but not that stunning (could be because of the translation I read). I did not care about the characters. I found Juliette and Adam annoying and unreasonable in the first part of the book. It got a bit better in the later part of the book but nothing overwhelming in my opinion. I will try to read the next book in the series in english just to see if it has more impact in the original language.