Dog Ears

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo My rating: 3 of 5 stars I was a little disappointed by this book after how much I loved Six of Crows. The plot was something I have read a hundred times before; a plain girl finds out that she's special, is swept away to a new fancy world unlike anything she's ever experienced before, is trained to live this new life, then has to rebel against what she thought was a dream life. Shadow and Bone immediately makes me think of Red Queen, the Selection series, and the Throne of Glass series. I'll probably keep reading due to my devotion to Leigh Bardugo, though. View all my reviews

If you want to learn how to write cliche YA fiction, Snow Like Ashes  by Sara Raasch can show you exactly how. The main character, Meira, is a cookie cutout heroine; tough and not like the other girls, but cursed with the unique challenge of having to decide between two handsome and charming men. These men are basically the same, yet Meira is being forced to marry one while the other she can't have. If you predicted that she falls in love with the one she doesn't want to marry, though, you'd be right! There's barely any conflict between them, and I found their relationship to be boring. Mather, on the other hand, is the king, and therefore Meira can't be with him. Even though they are both homeless refugees from a ruined kingdom, somehow she still isn't worthy of him. Maybe this is Winter culture, I don't know since we don't get to learn much about any of the kingdoms' cultures.  I saw the plot twist at the end coming from a mile away. I'm sure