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But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette… Even though there were many aspects of the book I admired, I can’t say that it was all that I had hoped for. Camille holds much love for her sister as well as the past self of her brother, while Sophie is naive in her distribution of love, choosing to trust both her siblings even though it is apparent one does not earn that trust. The details of ordinary magic and blood magic are quickly introduced, but then the weight of their usage by Camille doesn’t hold as much gravity as it is supposed to, mostly because the scenes in which she relies on magic are few and entirely glossed over most times.

I’m being a bit more cutthroat this time around since I have a better understanding of the the type of books I like to read nowadays. I remember wanting to read this one a while ago, but if I haven’t made an effort to begin reading it, then I probably won’t be making an effort in the future. Also, the book has several mixed reviews, and many reviewers have mentioned that the characters and their actions are now considered quite cliché: tropes like angsty teens that need to be apart for reasons, and the YA guy always smelling good and looking good, etc. And it’s only good to let go of things you’ll only hold on to for years and years… Thanks for stopping by!

Why is it so hard for me to blog hop and interact with my fellow bloggers, especially when I had been doing so well in the first year or so of my blog’s creation? I can usually choose one or two hobbies at a time, and I have to be careful not to choose the activity that feels like a chore, which unfortunately, blog hopping and/or making a post often feels like. But I can’t do that if I’m constantly blog hopping and discovering new books that I end up buying and reading right away, leaving my other “new” books on the shelf, unread and unknowable for weeks, months, and sometimes years… * Buy only 1-2 new books each month and make sure to include at least 2 older books from my bookshelf in my monthly TBR * Set a smaller range (i.e. 5-10 posts or blogs) for when I have block of time to blog hop If anyone has any other ideas on how I might be able to set up a more consistent blog hopping schedule or to at least get back into the blog hopping groove, I’d love to hear it!

I’m totally feeling this tag right now, because I’ve just realized there are a lot more books on my TBR that might not need to be there but are there anyways because I keep telling myself that I’m going to read even though I…don’t I really want to read this one, while simultaneously not wanting to, only because I feel like it’s one of those books that will knock on your mind and say THINK! Nowadays I’m a little hesitant to pick up books I know that will make me want to talk about them, because now I’m not in college I’ve already come to the conclusion that I have a love/hate relationship with Maas’s writing (great storytelling, horrendous diction), and so I’m hesitant to continue on with this series, especially since I’ve heard many people say that the series goes downhill with this book or after this one.