It’s time again to ask ourselves the three W’s:
What would you do if you found a book of magic?
Would you use it to try to help others?
Would you try to unlock all its secrets?

Wait, no, that’s not right. We ask these three W’s:
What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

   

Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
★★★★☆ || Goodreads
Oh my gosh, where to even start this? Okay, so the beginning was kind of slow. I was very unsure about it to start with. Not to mention that where this book really fell down, for me, is the relationship between Jelt and Hark, who are supposed to have a “brotherly” bond, and I just … didn’t see it. Let’s be clear: Jelt is a giant jerkface from page one, and Hark tells us this. Most of his inner thoughts about Jelt are how he’s manipulative and constantly puts Hark in tough situations and that he should just leave. It screams toxic relationship over and over. But then Hark chidingly reminds himself that it’s Jelt, and they’ve been together forever and he owes him this much. Why? I don’t know. The entire plot hinges on this relationship, and I just didn’t feel it. I wasn’t buying it. There was no legit reason given why Hark should care so much about Jelt, and as the book goes on, there’s even less reason, to the point where I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to believe this would even be a thing. Phew. Okay, that being said, that’s why this is four stars instead of five, because I freaking loved everything else. You learn about the gods as the story unfolds, little by little, and they are freaking terrifying, but also brilliant and just … oh my gosh. This world is magnificent. I liked Hark and the arc he goes through. I absolutely loved Quest and his complexities and contradictions. Selphin is probably my favorite, though. She’s tough and spunky, unwilling to settle for anything and unafraid to go get what she wants. She’s also deaf, which added a really interesting dynamic to the story. A lot of dialogue in the last half is done through sign, and there are some challenges with being deaf that are raised, but it doesn’t stop her. Plus, this is a world where the deaf are revered and have a higher status, and I thought everything about how this was handled was just fabulous.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
★★★☆☆ || Goodreads
I had to read this because of peer pressure and everyone seemed to love it. I loved it until about 42%, when I was like … okay, this book is clearly done. What the heck is the other 58% about? And I was right. The book was done. This felt so much longer than it needed to. I think someone who read and enjoyed a lot of romance would have a better time with this (which … duh, it’s romance!), but I just didn’t care about a lot of the little, random things about their relationship, and there were just too many sex scenes for me. Okay, I get it, you’re both hot and you like to have sex, but I need more from a plot, please. I also felt like the book was doing too much. Instead of being just a romance, it was very political, and a little too on-the-nose political for me, with obvious allusions to both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I just wasn’t here for that, and it was kind of boring. I loved the banter at first … and then I didn’t. At some point, it just become too much and I started cringing sometimes at how cliche some of it was. In the end, this was a freaking fun read for … well, half of it, at least. I would’ve given the first part I read five stars. I can see why people like it, though, and if you’re into romance, I’d definitely suggest checking this book out.

This Week’s Reviews

       

What We Found in the Corn Maze and How It Saved a Dragon by Henry Clark
Status: 30%

When three kids discover a book of magic spells that can only be cast a few short minutes a day, they’ll need all the time they can get to save a dying magical world, its last dragon, and themselves!

An ordinary day turns extraordinary when twelve-year-old Cal witnesses his neighbor summon a slew of lost coins without lifting a finger. Turns out she has a secret manual of magic spells…but they only work sometimes. And they’re the most boring spells ever:
To Change the Color of a Room
To Repair a Chimney
To Walk With Stilts
To Untangle Yarn

Useless! But when Cal, his friend Drew, and his neighbor Modesty are suddenly transported to the world the spells come from — a world that’s about to lose its last dragon — they’ll have to find a way to use the oddly specific incantations to save the day, if only they can figure out when magic works.

From the inventive mind of Henry Clark comes a hilariously wacky adventure about magic, friendship, a lookout tower come to life, a maze in the shape of a dragon, an actual dragon named Phlogiston, and lots and lots of popcorn.

That title is a full mouthful and then some, but it mentioned a dragon, so of course I had to try it. So far, it’s been really cute! The book was super easy to get into from the start, and it’s an easy, light, fun read. The voice is pretty fun, and I’m really enjoying it. I think it’s really neat that the main character is also from a farming family, so it touches on a lot of the struggles of owning and maintaining a farm, which I love!

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega
Status: pg 49/237

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout their hometown of St. Augustine, Florida. Together, they must join forces with Syd’s witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely’s firefly spirits before it’s too late.

So, my Scholastic order finally came in! I’m so excited. I had to specifically have this cover, because it hearkens back to all the lovely ’90s covers I grew up with, and I love it so much. <3

This is a buddy read with Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads and one I’ve really been looking forward to! I’ve followed Claribel Ortega on Twitter for quite a while and wanted to support her the minute I heard she was publishing this!

I’ll admit that the beginning was a little rough for me and hard to get into. It was a bit slow, and I kept wondering when something was going to happen plot-wise. But then it did last night, and yeees, let’s go! I do love the Hispanic rep here, and it makes me smile. Usually, when authors try to do bilingual characters in books, it annoys me because it’s obvious they’ve never been around actual bilingual people, but you can tell in this that Ortega knows what’s up, and it’s such a joy to read! (Also, in case you were wondering, yes, there are las chanclas!)

                       

Not gonna lie … I hoped to be much further on my TBR than I currently am. The Faith Machine came out on the first! So I really need to squeeze that one in here still.

My blog tour stop for Harrow Lake is next Friday, and I’m really looking forward to this one! Reviews I’ve seen for it so far have been really positive, and I’m in the mood for some creepy reads at this point.

Rogue Protocol is still chilling on this list, because I’m an obvious slacker who hasn’t read it yet, but I really need to get on with it so I can read Network Effect already. xD

After that, I’m not really sure what I want to pick up? Since The Edge of Everywhen is short and sounds like a fun read, I might just grab that one. I’m loving the sound of it, and I think it’ll be a good fit for our patrons at the library, so I definitely need to read it soon.

That being said, Dragon Ops sounds like an absolutely perfectly geeky book. AND there’s a giant, fierce-looking dragon on the cover. Sooo … obviously I can’t wait to get to that one!

On May 12, it’ll be the two year anniversary of my grandmother’s passing, so I plan on doing a re-read of My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry at that point. Because one, the book is fabulous and deserves to be read over and over again. And two, I clearly hate myself and would like to obliterate my emotions, because Backman gets me every freaking single time.

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