Haven and The Red Queen Commentary/ Life update
Hey all,
So I'm going to get this post started with some important details regarding the blog and my own life right at this moment. I know I haven't been super consistent with posting and all, but right now it's been really hard to focus on so many things at once. My boyfriend just moved very far away and was inducted into USNA's class of 2021 about three weeks ago. He is my best friend and we have been together for about four years this November. Obviously this has been pretty tough on me, but I'm figuring it out. I'm really proud of him and so far I've only talked to him once for 10 minutes but I've seen a lot of pictures and he seems to be doing well. It's a huge adjustment and that's why I haven't really updated because I needed time to get back to my normal life again. As for me, I'm doing fine as well, some days are harder than others but for the most part I'm happy and never better! This isn't to say my life was put totally on hold. I'm getting ready to begin my senior year in high school and so everything is really crazy right now anyways. I have an All-Star Cross Country race next week that I have been preparing for and also I have been meeting with college coaches all over the east coast. All these activities have really helped with all the change that I have gone through in the past month. If any of you guys have any questions about me, or if you maybe can provide any tips for having someone close to you in the military then just shoot me a comment or contact me through my Tumblr (magicalbooksandthings) and I'll be more than happy to get back to you all!!
Okay...on to the book talk! I'm going to talk about Haven first because it has a longer backstory on why I began the Winterhaven trilogy in the first place. When I was in 7th grade, I went to a Catholic middle/high school and we had this library that was filled with books that probably shouldn't have been in there but were because they all came from book donations and previous librarians. For example, I read three Stephen King novels that year because there wasn't a limit on what we could check out. Need less to say, my parents made me return the third one before I could finish it haha. Anyway, the librarian didn't have the first book to the Winterhaven series, so I read the second one because why not. I literally became obsessed with it, even though I never read the first or third book. (I know I'm really weird). I honestly hadn't thought about it in years and then one day I was reminiscing with some friends about what we used to read in middle school (you know Hunger Games and stuff like that) and I started thinking and was like I'm gonna read this whole trilogy again now that I'm older to see if it was really as great as I remember it. So I did, more out of nostalgia purposes than anything else. I haven't finished the second book yet because I read the Red Queen and started Strange the Dreamer (which is so good rn, I can't even) and also because I didn't read anything for about a week after C left for USNA.
So for blogging purposes, I am going to give my thoughts on the first one now, rather than wait for ever and do them all together because yeah. Alrighty then, let's get started.
My first impression was even though its targeted audience was supposed to be an older high school audience, I felt like a middle schooler reading it. The language is really simple to put it lightly and the conflict/plot reminded me so much of a knock off Twilight, that I had a really hard time believing all these kids were as smart as described. The dialogue just didn't show much of their personalities and I found Violet kind of whiny. Glad to see that my reading tastes have definitely evolved. There were some parts that were just so cringey I laughed. But the most surprising thing is that I kind of enjoyed it in all of its awkwardness. It was nice to read something not super complicated and from my youngsterhood. Another surprise was that there was tons of sexual innuendo I know that I didn't pick up on when I was in 7th grade so some parts of that made me laugh as well. I'm not going to go much more in depth on this because I over all thought the book was alright and it wasn't meant to be thought that hard on. I'd give it a 3/5 just because I was entertained when I was supposed to be entertained.
Now for the Red Queen. Omygah I just...that ending though....I need to pick up the second and third book because I hear it just gets better. Something about me and my interests is that I really love not knowing how things are going to swing and I also really love betrayals that toy with my heart strings just because it makes things interesting. I loved Mare and thought she was a great female character and the lightning power was just electrifying to see in action each time (haha I'm so punny *bows*) Thought I had a love/hate relationship with the brother against brother supposed love triangle. ( I say supposed because all you guys that have read it, well you know what's going on). Personally, Maven was my favorite character. I always love a character with a million personalities because it keeps me guessing. I will say that I did see certain things coming, but they panned out in a way that had my mouth gaping as I read. Another thing I really liked was how fast paced the action scenes were. Now one of the biggest complaints I had seen regarding the series was that it started out kind of slow. It did but in my opinion it built plot and background that was necessary for the epic ending. I also felt that the time was well spent because everything was well-developed rather than just thrown together. Overall this one gets a 4.5/5 because I loved pretty much everything except for Cal *shields self from vengeful fan girls* I tried so hard to love him but I just felt that his whole dynamic was just a little off, like the author tried too hard to make him lovable and noble. I was rooting for Maven the whole time, just cause come on who can't love someone with a nickname like Mavey.
So in short I definitely recommend The Red Queen if you love being surprised and ever changing characters. I'm not going to recommend Haven as much just because I was reading that one for my own experience to compare what it was like to me then in 7th grade to what the experience was like for me reading them now. It isn't the worst book I've ever read but definitely for 13-14 year olds.
That's all for this time! Continue to follow my daily book journeys and magical adventures by following the blog and my Tumblr (magicalbooksandthings). I love interacting and meeting people so never be afraid to share your opinions, as long as they are polite and worthy of discussion!!
Up Next: Strange the Dreamer and Rhapsodic
See you next time!
Au Revoir,
NM Black
So I'm going to get this post started with some important details regarding the blog and my own life right at this moment. I know I haven't been super consistent with posting and all, but right now it's been really hard to focus on so many things at once. My boyfriend just moved very far away and was inducted into USNA's class of 2021 about three weeks ago. He is my best friend and we have been together for about four years this November. Obviously this has been pretty tough on me, but I'm figuring it out. I'm really proud of him and so far I've only talked to him once for 10 minutes but I've seen a lot of pictures and he seems to be doing well. It's a huge adjustment and that's why I haven't really updated because I needed time to get back to my normal life again. As for me, I'm doing fine as well, some days are harder than others but for the most part I'm happy and never better! This isn't to say my life was put totally on hold. I'm getting ready to begin my senior year in high school and so everything is really crazy right now anyways. I have an All-Star Cross Country race next week that I have been preparing for and also I have been meeting with college coaches all over the east coast. All these activities have really helped with all the change that I have gone through in the past month. If any of you guys have any questions about me, or if you maybe can provide any tips for having someone close to you in the military then just shoot me a comment or contact me through my Tumblr (magicalbooksandthings) and I'll be more than happy to get back to you all!!
Okay...on to the book talk! I'm going to talk about Haven first because it has a longer backstory on why I began the Winterhaven trilogy in the first place. When I was in 7th grade, I went to a Catholic middle/high school and we had this library that was filled with books that probably shouldn't have been in there but were because they all came from book donations and previous librarians. For example, I read three Stephen King novels that year because there wasn't a limit on what we could check out. Need less to say, my parents made me return the third one before I could finish it haha. Anyway, the librarian didn't have the first book to the Winterhaven series, so I read the second one because why not. I literally became obsessed with it, even though I never read the first or third book. (I know I'm really weird). I honestly hadn't thought about it in years and then one day I was reminiscing with some friends about what we used to read in middle school (you know Hunger Games and stuff like that) and I started thinking and was like I'm gonna read this whole trilogy again now that I'm older to see if it was really as great as I remember it. So I did, more out of nostalgia purposes than anything else. I haven't finished the second book yet because I read the Red Queen and started Strange the Dreamer (which is so good rn, I can't even) and also because I didn't read anything for about a week after C left for USNA.
So for blogging purposes, I am going to give my thoughts on the first one now, rather than wait for ever and do them all together because yeah. Alrighty then, let's get started.
My first impression was even though its targeted audience was supposed to be an older high school audience, I felt like a middle schooler reading it. The language is really simple to put it lightly and the conflict/plot reminded me so much of a knock off Twilight, that I had a really hard time believing all these kids were as smart as described. The dialogue just didn't show much of their personalities and I found Violet kind of whiny. Glad to see that my reading tastes have definitely evolved. There were some parts that were just so cringey I laughed. But the most surprising thing is that I kind of enjoyed it in all of its awkwardness. It was nice to read something not super complicated and from my youngsterhood. Another surprise was that there was tons of sexual innuendo I know that I didn't pick up on when I was in 7th grade so some parts of that made me laugh as well. I'm not going to go much more in depth on this because I over all thought the book was alright and it wasn't meant to be thought that hard on. I'd give it a 3/5 just because I was entertained when I was supposed to be entertained.
Now for the Red Queen. Omygah I just...that ending though....I need to pick up the second and third book because I hear it just gets better. Something about me and my interests is that I really love not knowing how things are going to swing and I also really love betrayals that toy with my heart strings just because it makes things interesting. I loved Mare and thought she was a great female character and the lightning power was just electrifying to see in action each time (haha I'm so punny *bows*) Thought I had a love/hate relationship with the brother against brother supposed love triangle. ( I say supposed because all you guys that have read it, well you know what's going on). Personally, Maven was my favorite character. I always love a character with a million personalities because it keeps me guessing. I will say that I did see certain things coming, but they panned out in a way that had my mouth gaping as I read. Another thing I really liked was how fast paced the action scenes were. Now one of the biggest complaints I had seen regarding the series was that it started out kind of slow. It did but in my opinion it built plot and background that was necessary for the epic ending. I also felt that the time was well spent because everything was well-developed rather than just thrown together. Overall this one gets a 4.5/5 because I loved pretty much everything except for Cal *shields self from vengeful fan girls* I tried so hard to love him but I just felt that his whole dynamic was just a little off, like the author tried too hard to make him lovable and noble. I was rooting for Maven the whole time, just cause come on who can't love someone with a nickname like Mavey.
So in short I definitely recommend The Red Queen if you love being surprised and ever changing characters. I'm not going to recommend Haven as much just because I was reading that one for my own experience to compare what it was like to me then in 7th grade to what the experience was like for me reading them now. It isn't the worst book I've ever read but definitely for 13-14 year olds.
That's all for this time! Continue to follow my daily book journeys and magical adventures by following the blog and my Tumblr (magicalbooksandthings). I love interacting and meeting people so never be afraid to share your opinions, as long as they are polite and worthy of discussion!!
Up Next: Strange the Dreamer and Rhapsodic
See you next time!
Au Revoir,
NM Black
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