Catch-up mini reviews! Part 1 - YA

Okay… let’s face it… there is NO WAY that I am actually going to get round to writing proper reviews of all of the books that I have been reading for the past few months. So instead, I’m just going to split the books into categories and ramble about each one a bit. Yay! This first post is for YA. Coming up will be posts covering graphic novels, short story collections, non-fiction and non-YA fiction (I guess literary fiction? But I’m never entirely sure what should go into that). And I am actually going to try and write all of the posts today and tomorrow, so this won’t turn into a thing where I say I’ll do something but don’t. Huzzah!


Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Finally got round to reading some Rainbow Rowell! I LOVED IT. LOVED LOVED LOVED IT! I started reading it while I was on the plane on my way back to Japan, and basically got addicted to it and couldn’t put it down for the rest of the flight (I normally am not a good reader on planes, so this is an excellent sign!) I have Fangirl in a pile of actual physical books at home, and I’m looking forward to reading it! I’m so glad that everyone was so right about Rainbow Rowell!  (Also, speaking as someone who is married to a Japanese man, Asian men are VERY underrated in general, so it was nice to see someone of Asian descent as a romantic interest!)


Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

Second book in the “The Grisha” series. I feel like I read this AAAGES ago so I can’t remember it amazingly well, but I do remember that I enjoyed it and it wasn’t a letdown after the first book at all. Looking forward to the next one!







Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

This started out annoying, but I got really into it halfway through and found it really difficult to put down. Weirdly, the bits set in another universe/world were much more believable than the stuff set in this one.







Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

The second in the “Daughter of Smoke and Bone” series, was just as enjoyable as the first, but occasionally said stupid things like “She wasn’t actually old enough for a license, which struck her now as funny. She didn’t know about Morocco, but in Europe you had to be eighteen, which she wouldn’t be for another month…” …what? Because Europe is just one big country which has the same rules everywhere? Hmm. Still, I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the next book!



Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Very enjoyable, the love story bit didn’t annoy me as much as it can do in YA, and I really liked the main character.








Fire by Kristin Cashore

The second in the “Graceling Realm” series, and sort of a prequel to Graceling. I still enjoyed it, but the romantic elements in it were too confusing and didn’t strike me as realistic at all. But if you ignore that and just focus on the plot, it was okay! I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series.




I'm pretty sure that's it for YA! Yayyyy!