Andye Reads

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book was absolute perfection for me! Addie LaRue meets The Originals (or Interview with a Vampire, or Empire of the Vampire, or whatever dark vampire story you want to insert), and I was completely CONSUMED. "What grows in the midnight soil is not a different flower, only a bolder bloom." I knew from the first chapter that this book and I were going to get along splendidly. I absolutely love Schwab's writing and I honestly think this may have been some of the best prose she's crafted. I swear I could've highlighted something in every paragraph. I was absolutely giddy just to feel something so deeply and love something so much so quickly. I honestly didn't even care how the story was going to unfold because I was enjoying the journey so much. Fortunately, the story and the characters were also incredible and I loved every minute of it. While I was giddy reading it, don't think...

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare My rating: 5 of 5 stars BUY THE BOOK Ok my thoughts are gathered! Haha Overall there were things that I wish has been done differently but every time she writes a book I end up devouring it. I don't necessarily think this is a five star book, however, it is a five star series in a five-star world, and considering so many people gave it one star for literally no reason when they haven't even read it, I'm rounding up. My actual rating would be about a 4.3. I listened to this on audio (thank you S&S audio) and it was fantastic. I'm so glad they have finally picked a great narrator and stuck with her for the entire series. She did an amazing job with The Last Hours and I highly recommend the audiobook! My absolute favorite Cassie Clare series, and one of my favorite series ever is The Infernal Devices. I reread the series while waiting for this to come out and it was even better than I remember. I also reread the first two books in t...

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake My rating: 3 of 5 stars It's going to be interesting to see the reaction to this book. I listened to The Atlas Paradox on audio (thank you Macmillan Audio for the review copy), and I really enjoy the production of this series. I feel like every narrator they got perfectly encapsulated the character they read for and I do think it adds to the overall feel and atmosphere. The Book: I feel like people are either going to be incredibly disappointed because this book doesn't live up to book one, or they're going to be so in love with book one that they're just going to be so happy to be in this world with these characters again that it won't matter. I strangely fall into both of these categories. In my opinion, TAP definitely suffers from second book syndrome. There was SO MUCH dialog and inner dialog about the characters and what they were thinking about themselves and each other. About what they might be capable of, or not. About wha...

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen My rating: 3.5 stars Thanks so much to Macmillan Audio for the review copy. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was such a fun time. I don't usually read a lot of "cozy fantasy" books, but I was in the mood and You've Got Mail is one of my favorite movies, so this sounded perfect. I thought the audiobook was great! The narration was duel narration and I enjoyed both of their voices for the characters. Hart (break) and Mercy (less) were such fun characters and they had me equal parts laughing and frustrated with their antics. I will say that at times the book followed a little too closely to You've Got Mail. There were scenes (especially the cafe) where I knew what was going to happen before it did because it was almost exactly what happened in the movie. I would've preferred a little more originality in those scenes. However the fantasy/magic element really added an extra layer that I enjoyed immensely. And Hart...

by R.F. Kuang My rating: 3 of 5 stars (I haven't settled on a star rating yet. 2-3 stars I believe) Thank you Harper Audio for an early audiobook copy of this book. The audiobook narrators did a fantastic job and really enhanced my enjoyment of BABEL. I thought the way they handled the footnotes was quite well done, and the main narrator, Chris Lew Kum Hoi, did a phenomenal job with voices and emotion throughout. I would definitely recommend this on audio. Review: I, like every bookish person I know, was highly anticipating BABEL. When I was sent the audiobook, I dove in immediately. There were definitely things that I really loved about the book, but those things tended to be on the educational and informational side and not on the story itself. I found the world of Babel to be fascinating. The way language was used in the book is such a perfect metaphor for how important, manipulative, destructive, and motivating language can be in life. There were incredibly relevant and compl...