DNF Mini Review: Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch

Title: Ice Like Fire (Snow Like Ashes #2) 
Author: Sara Raasch
Publication Date: October 13, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 479
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Review for book 1

It’s been three months since the Winterians were freed and Spring’s king, Angra, disappeared—thanks largely to the help of Cordell.

Meira just wants her people to be safe. When Cordellan debt forces the Winterians to dig their mines for payment, they unearth something powerful and possibly dangerous: Primoria’s lost chasm of magic. Theron sees this find as an opportunity—with this much magic, the world can finally stand against threats like Angra. But Meira fears the danger the chasm poses—the last time the world had access to so much magic, it spawned the Decay. So when the king of Cordell orders the two on a mission across the kingdoms of Primoria to discover the chasm’s secrets, Meira plans to use the trip to garner support to keep the chasm shut and Winter safe—even if it means clashing with Theron. But can she do so without endangering the people she loves?

Mather just wants to be free. The horrors inflicted on the Winterians hang fresh and raw in Januari—leaving Winter vulnerable to Cordell’s growing oppression. When Meira leaves to search for allies, he decides to take Winter’s security into his own hands. Can he rebuild his broken kingdom and protect them from new threats?

As the web of power and deception weaves tighter, Theron fights for magic, Mather fights for freedom—and Meira starts to wonder if she should be fighting not just for Winter, but for the world.

Last year I read Snow Like Ashes after about a hundred people insisted I would love it. I did not love it. There were a lot of things I didn't like about the first book in this series and I really never thought I would read Ice Like Fire, but then I saw book three at ALA and decided to give it one more chance. Maybe the second book would draw me in where the first one couldn't and then I could be excited about Frost Like Night with everyone else! It was only after I had started that I noticed the warnings around Goodreads that this book wasn't as good as the first, so... the outlook was not good.

Ice Like Fire picks up shortly after Snow Like Ashes leaves off. Meira is (grudgingly) the queen of Winter and is working to come up with a plan to gain support for her kingdom in order to keep the dangerous chasm of magic closed. Of course, the king of Cordell wants it opened because he's all about the power, and Meira doesn't know where Theron, prince of Cordell (love interest #2, because there are always two) stands in the whole thing.

I'll admit, I only made it 35% into this book because I was so damn bored. I couldn't tell you half of what happened because I kept zoning out and having to go back to re-read if I wanted to see what I missed, but most of the time I just didn't care. Why didn't I care? Because the characters were still awful. (And by characters I mean Meira.) For the first 35% of this book, at least, Meira continues complaining about how much her life sucks now that she's queen even though she wanted to be throughout book one. Mather is equally annoying with his non-stop whining. I just cannot deal with whiney characters.

So I can confidently say I gave this series a second shot. I made it 1/3 of the way through Ice Like Fire, but I had to call it quits. I know everyone loves this series, but it's not for me. I still find the world building to be unconvincing. Even after traveling around the world a bit this time, I still only got that Summer was hot and Winter was cold. It just wasn't enough! Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be reading Frost Like Night after all.

Weekly Recap: 7/10 - 7/16

My Super Exciting Life 

This has been a difficult week, so I want to apologize for being a little slow about commenting back and blog hopping. There has been a lot going on that I've had to deal with and it hasn't left a whole lot of time for blogging, but that is mostly taken care of for now so I'll be much more active next week. One super exciting thing that has come of all of it though is my husband and I may be looking at buying a house by the end of the year! I'm not totally sure, and it may be next year before it happens, but either way I can't wait!

In other news, this week did free up a little time to read! I was fortunate enough to get my hands on two ARCs, The Architect of Song by A.G. Howard and A Torch Against the Night. Unfortunately, massive hangover ensued so now I'm bouncing back and forth between several books until I'm able to make progress again...

New Books

Purchased:

Traded ARCs:

  

Traded Finished Copies:

  

In Case You Missed It

Monday audiobook review of Burnt Offerings
The topic was bookish facts about me for Top Ten Tuesday
On Wednesday I discussed 8 new books Sarah J. Maas announced
Friday audiobook review of Trial By Fire
On Saturday I shared sequels I won't watch for Disney For the Weekend



This Week I Read

    

Upcoming Reviews

  

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I'm linking up to Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post!

Disney For the Weekend: 5 sequels I will never, ever touch

Welcome back to Disney for the Weekend! Last week I shared my top five favorite Disney sequels! This week I'm back with the five sequels I will never touch. Ever. I've already been burned by a few! I watched Pocahontas 2: Journey to the New World and Atlantis: Milo Returns recently and... never again. Some things just shouldn't be tampered with and these are my top 5. 

Mulan 2

Mulan is one of my favorite Disney movies (I have many, many favorites) and I loved the way it ended! It was one of the many that I didn't feel needed a sequel... although this is the only sequel on my list of movies I'd never watch that has actually been recommended to me by a friend. I'm not sure what's going on with these other girls, but they were in almost every gif I found and they don't make me feel much confidence in this movie... So I have to ask: is this actually good?

The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar

This is one no one will EVER convince me to watch and it makes me so, so sad. If you recall, The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride made my list of favorite Disney sequels last week. The Lion King 1/2 was a wreck, in my opinion, so I was very wary when I heard of this sequel and the subsequent TV series. I've seen all I need to see to confidently conclude that I do NOT want to see this. What happened to the animation?? Why are all the characters so round? And more importantly, what happened to Kovu and Vitani?

The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea

This is yet another sequel that just did NOT need to exist. Ariel's story was awesome. Ursula had a personal problem with Ariel's dad. The conflict made sense (even if the romance didn't). Why do we need a movie about Ariel's and Eric's daughter? Who is the sea witch? Why does she want to get the kid? Why doesn't the kid know her mom is/was a mermaid? No, I'm probably not going to watch the movie to find out.

Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True

Just... what even is this? Why does there need to be a movie about how the mouse felt left out? Cinderella found her prince and she got her happily ever after. If there was going to be a Cindy sequel, why not have it be a story about her and her prince after they were married? Why do we need to see the love story of a wicked stepsister when this is a character we hate? Cinderella is one of THE most beloved Disney princesses of all time. I just literally do not understand what the studio was thinking when they made some of these sequels.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

And then there's this one. Just look at the gif. Do I even need to say anything? I'll admit, The Hunchback of Notre Dame actually put me to sleep the first time I saw it (in theaters) but I know that a lot of people adore it and I think I may be able to appreciate it more as an adult. But I don't think anything could convince me to watch part two. And can we please talk again about the change in the animation styles? Why does Disney even bother with some of these if they aren't going to maintain any of the quality of the first movie?

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Do you totally disagree with any of these? Which ones would you add to the list? 

Let me know in the comments!

Audiobook Review: Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini

Title: Trial By Fire (The Worldwalker Trilogy #1) 
Author: Josephine Angelini
Narrator: Emma Galvin
Publication Date: September 2, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
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The exhilaratingly seductive new series from the author of the bestselling Starcrossed series

Love burns. Worlds collide. Magic reigns.

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying many of the experiences that other teenagers take for granted...which is why she is determined to enjoy her first (and perhaps only) high-school party. But Lily's life never goes according to plan, and after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly Lily is in a different Salem - one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruellest of all the Crucibles is Lillian . . . Lily's identical other self in this alternate universe. This new version of her world is terrifyingly sensual, and Lily is soon overwhelmed by new experiences.

Lily realizes that what makes her weak at home is exactly what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. It also puts her life in danger. Thrown into a world she doesn't understand, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone, and a love she never expected.

But how can Lily be the saviour of this world when she is literally her own worst enemy?

I have heard about Trial By Fire from some of my best blogging friends ever since it came out two years ago. Although I had purchased the book last year, it was still sitting on my shelf collecting dust. It just never spoke to me, but still sounded interesting enough to buy just in case the mood struck. When it came up as available as an audiobook from my library, I knew it was the perfect opportunity to finally give it a try!

Trial By Fire is about Lily, a girl who is allergic to everything and her life is pretty limited as a result. She wants to go to a party for the first time, it turns out horribly wrong, and she... ends up in a parallel world full of witches and monsters. There, she meets Lillian, her alternate universe double, who also happens to be the strongest witch Crucible in this version of Salem and wants Lily to join her in her schemes. Obviously, because Lily is the heroine of this story, she decides to do the opposite.

I actually didn't have many feelings about Lily. She was an okay main character, I suppose, but she just didn't wow me like I hoped she would. I could certainly understand why she wanted to get away from Lillian, why she wanted to help where she could, and why she struggled with going back home. It wasn't that I couldn't understand her motivations, there was just something about her that didn't really click for me and I can't quite put my finger on it. I also didn't quite buy the romance.

The two love interests (because there must be two) are Rowan and Tristan. Rowan actually chases Lily down and tries to kill her upon their first meeting, but quickly redeems himself. There is actually a Tristan in Lily's own Salem, but he is a cheating scum bag so she has issues trusting this Tristan to begin with, but begins to realize they are not the same person. The three of them go on the run together and Lily has to work out her feelings for each of them. I didn't hate either of the love interests, but again I just didn't really connect with either of them. To be honest, I didn't really connect with this book.

Trial By Fire tries to be a lot of things. When I picked it up, I assumed it was fantasy, obviously with parallel universes as well. Those two things could probably work together alright, but throw in a ridiculous amount of science-y stuff and giant man-eating monsters and... it's just too much. Essentially, science is outlawed and the world runs on magic. I understand the point. Again, the problem with the book isn't that I didn't understand, it's just that I never really cared - I wasn't invested.

And on to something I never quite did understand - Lily's magic. It's repeated over and over that magic is something learned over years, so I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Lily basically just walked into Salem and dominated everything. I also couldn't understand why a lot of the magical elements in this story worked the way they did, especially the weird mind connection thing. In the case of the magic, I do wish things had been explained a bit more.

The world building was well done, I'll give it that! I had a great time picturing this alternate Salem with its differences from our world. I loved how the differences were explained to make me feel like they actually made sense instead of just being ridiculous. The gardens were especially interesting to think about. Unfortunately, an interesting world doesn't make a great book.

I wanted so much more from this book! I have heard endless great things about this entire series and, although I had never read anything by this author, I expected to be blown away. Trial By Fire just wasn't what I'd hoped. I never really connected with any of the characters and the plot was confusing and scattered. I don't think I'll be picking up the next one in this series.

Sarah J. Maas is writing all the books!

Yesterday one of my favorite authors of all time made a pretty huge announcement: there will be a ton of new books in her two current series. How many is a ton? Well. Eight.

Way back in the day, as far as I know, Throne of Glass was planned as a trilogy. This is when I initially became interested in Sarah J. Maas. At some point, Throne of Glass became a six book series instead. But now... Now it is getting an additional two books, according to Entertainment Weekly. In fact, it's going to be an eight book series.

Not only that, but my absolute favorite series in the entire world, A Court of Thorns and Roses, which was also planned to be a trilogy, is getting new books. A LOT of new books. SIX new books. To be fair, one of these six new books is a coloring book, which does sound like a super fun addition! But as of right now there will be an additional five books added to the previously planned three in the ACOTAR series and there are a lot of opinions flying around about it.

Guys, I'll be honest, I'm scared. I loved A Court of Thorns and Roses AND A Court of Mist and Fury so much and I'm so worried that an eight book series is just too much and... I don't know. My first thought was that we get more Rhysand and, well, YAY! But...

This reminds me a little of A Song of Ice and Fire. While I don't read these books (and absolutely refuse to until the series is complete), I have a lot of friends that do. I have a lot of friends that lament how ridiculously long and convoluted the series, originally planned to be a trilogy, has gotten.

I also read the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan, which started as a six book series and turned into fourteen. Yes, fourteen. And guess what? They drag in the middle. The series gets bogged down and way more complex than it needs to be. And that's what I'm scared of.

Will I buy every single last book in the ACOTAR series? Um, obviously. Because the first two absolutely killed me. (In a happy way.) But am I extremely wary? Yes, absolutely, because I'm expecting perfection! DON'T LET ME DOWN, SJM!!

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What are your thoughts on this announcement? 

Will you buy and read every single one? 

Let me know in the comments!

Top Ten Tuesday #104: Bookish Facts About Me

Today's Topic: 

Ten Five Bookish Facts About Me

1) I didn't start reading YA...

 until I was 25 because I didn't really know it existed. I read a lot of Phillipa Gregory, Anne Rice, and Charlaine Harris.

2) Three years before I started blogging... 

I won some random ARCs on Goodreads. I had no idea how Goodreads giveaways worked and I really didn't want to read any of them so I just kind of didn't. Now that I understand how it all works I can't win anything.

3) I really want to love re-reads...

But I've only re-read a few books in my life. Harry Potter 1-3, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Twilight, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I'm thinking about making re-reads a priority next year.

4) I usually hate non-fiction books...

But I LOVE reading about Disney World (especially Epcot) and Walt Disney in general. I've read multiple Disney biographies and books filled with behind the scenes info about the parks. 

5) If it's a book I love...

I want every edition ever published ever. Unfortunately, this isn't something that actually happens. Currently I have two complete Harry Potter sets and three I'm want to comple. I really want to get every version of the Grisha Trilogy eventually!

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.