Romance - The Keysmash Blog

Review: Queen of the Tearling

December 15, 2017 tanazmasaba

Ratings: 3/5

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother – Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard – each pledged to defend the queen to the death – arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding…

And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea’s story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance – it’s about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive..

I’ll be honest, I had very low expectations for this book, partly because of the abundance of negative reviews this book has on Goodreads and partly because of Emma Watson’s apparent obsession with this book. Now that I have finally read it myself, I am pleasantly surprised: Queen of the Tearling is an intriguing, entertaining, well-written piece of fantasy and a classic example of why we should all read a book ourselves in order to form our own opinion instead of listening to what the mass people are saying. The characters were very interesting and well developed–Kelsea is by far one of my favorite female characters; she has her flaws like any nineteen-year-old but what sets her apart Continue reading “Review: Queen of the Tearling” →

Home, Young Adult

Review: The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey#3) by Julie Kagawa

October 13, 2017 tanazmasaba

Note: This review is for the third book of The Iron Fey series and may therefore contain spoilers. Click here for the review of the first book and here for the review of the second book.

RATINGS: 5/5

I am Meghan Chase.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.

I am trying my best to write a coherent review for this book, one that will do this book justice, but sometimes when you read a really good book it is almost impossible to express into words the feelings that the book leaves you with. The Iron Queen is one such book.

Our MC, Meghan Chase, who is forever going to be one of my favorite female leads in literature comes a long way from being the quiet, shy sixteen-year-old she was in the first book. Though she does not lose her humor or her endearing moments of Continue reading “Review: The Iron Queen (The Iron Fey#3) by Julie Kagawa” →

Adult, Home, Mental Health

Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

September 22, 2017 tanazmasaba

Ratings: ☕☕☕☕☕ (5/5)

Trigger warning: abusive relationship, domestic violence, sexual assault

SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST

Lily hasn’t always had it easy, but that’s never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She’s come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up – she graduated from college, moved to Boston, and started her own business. So when she feels a spark with a gorgeous neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid, everything in Lily’s life suddenly seems almost too good to be true.

Ryle is assertive, stubborn, and maybe even a little arrogant. He’s also sensitive, brilliant, and has a total soft spot for Lily, but Ryle’s complete aversion to relationships is disturbing.

As questions about her new relationship overwhelm her, so do thoughts of Atlas Corrigan – her first love and a link to the past she left behind. He was her kindred spirit, her protector. When Atlas suddenly reappears, everything Lily has built with Ryle is threatened.

“Shouldn’t there be more distaste in our mouths for the abusers than for those who continue to love the abusers?”

It Ends With Us isn’t a book that changed me, nor is it a book that taught me things that I didn’t already know. But it is a special book, nonetheless, not just because it is incredibly well-written, has complex characters who are painfully imperfect, and a plot that is–to quote Hoover herself–brave and bold. This book is special, because this book is important.

Abusive relationships is a subject that needs to be discussed more often, especially considering that even now, though we do hate and condemn abusers, almost all of us have asked this question at least once: “Why didn’t she leave him the first time he hit her? Why did she give him a second chance? Why didn’t she walk away?”

Continue reading “Review: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover” →

Home, Young Adult

Review: The Iron King (The Iron Fey#1) by Julie Kagawa

September 8, 2017 tanazmasaba

Ratings: ☕☕☕☕☕

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth – that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart

Oh where do I begin?

The last time I read The Iron King was back when I was thirteen and the only other YA book I had read before was the Twilight Saga (before then I mostly would read Bengali titles and Classics). Obviously, since thirteen is quite an impressionable age, lately I couldn’t help but wonder if this book is actually as good as I thought it was. Hence the reason why I decided to re-read this book after nearly eight years of first reading.

And boy oh boy did I love it!

The Iron King is a wonderful fantasy novel that has an excellent world building, and incredible plot, and characters who not only develop and change in major ways

Continue reading “Review: The Iron King (The Iron Fey#1) by Julie Kagawa” →

Home, Young Adult

Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments#2) by Cassandra Clare

September 1, 2017 tanazmasaba

Ratings: ☕☕ (2/5)

This review contains spoilers from the first book. Please do not read any further unless you have read City of Bones. You can find my review of City of Bones here.

The second book of The Mortal Instruments series was a conflicting book for me–on one hand, I enjoyed it immensely, and thought it was much more well written than the first book. On the other hand, there was a certain problematic element in the book that I believed was never acknowledged: the incestuous relationship between Clary and Jace.
Continue reading “Review: City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments#2) by Cassandra Clare” →

Adult, Home, Retellings

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass

July 12, 2017 tanazmasaba

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Rating: ☕☕☕ (3/5)

Where do I even begin?

As someone who was not at all impressed by Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass, I was extremely reluctant to pick up this series, especially given the fact that it received the same amount of hype that Throne of Glass did–a book I did not enjoy at all. For this reason, I had very low expectations when my best friend forced me to read ACOTAR (you know you gotta read a book when your BFF says “read this book or friendship over”).

And well…surprise, surprise, I once again have the unpopular opinion.

The first thing that I want to mention is that this book is set in an incredibly beautiful world, and the way the writer portrayed this world and made this world come to life is beyond amazing. Continue reading “Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Mass” →

Young Adult

Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare

March 18, 2017 tanazmasaba

Ratings: ☕☕☕ (3/5)

This is probably my fifth re-read of this book, and I gotta say, my opinion about this book have changed dramatically since the first time I read it, which made it very difficult to write this review. In the end, the question I had to ask myself Continue reading “Review: City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1) by Cassandra Clare” →

Dystopia, Home, Young Adult

Review: Glass Sword (Red Queen#2) by Victoria Aveyard

September 12, 2016 tanazmasaba

Ratings: (5/5)

SEE GOODREADS BLURB HERE

Trigger Warning: contains some scenes of graphic violence and torture. PG-13

This is my review for the second book of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard. Do not read this review if you have not read the previous book, as this review contains spoilers from the previous book. To see my review of Red Queen, click here.

If I thought Red Queen was “sweet” torture–you know, the kind of book that is really bad for your emotional stability but so addictive that you can’t help but want to keep reading it–then Glass Sword was, simply put, pure devastation. This book wrecked me, left emotional scars that will take a long time to heal, and made me have trust issues. Victoria Aveyard does not pull any punches, so if you are planning on picking this book up, readers beware: you are in for abrasive, ruthless protagonists, a violent psychopathic antagonist, and of course let’s not forget the disastrous fates of some beloved characters from the previous book.

Continue reading “Review: Glass Sword (Red Queen#2) by Victoria Aveyard” →

Dystopia, Home, Young Adult

Review: Ignite Me (Shatter Me#3) by Tahereh Mafi

September 2, 2016 tanazmasaba

This is my review of the third and final installment of the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi. To see my review of the previous books, click here (book 1) and here (book 2).

SEE GOODREADS BLURB HERE

Review: (4/5)

That awkward moment when you are supposed to review a book but it’s so incredibly, inexpressibly great that you really have no idea how to articulate your thoughts so you could explain the magic that this book is.

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi was everything I wanted it to be, which is to say a lot because my expectations for this book was probably as high as Mt. Everest. After the way Unravel Me ended, I couldn’t help but want to see how the writer ties it all up in the last and final book of the series. Safe to say, I was not disappointed at all.

Continue reading “Review: Ignite Me (Shatter Me#3) by Tahereh Mafi” →

Home, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Thriller, Young Adult

ARC Review: Rose Petal Graves by Olivia Wildenstein

June 8, 2016 tanazmasaba

I recieved this book for free from the publishers in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Ratings: 2/5 ☕☕

SEE GOODREADS BLURB HERE

There. I did it again. I fell for a book with a pretty cover, and now I want back the 6 precious hours of my life I wasted reading a book with loosely tied plot, an irritating and selfish protagonist, and unrealistic bland characters I couldn’t care less about.

Continue reading “ARC Review: Rose Petal Graves by Olivia Wildenstein” →