Mini Book Reviews #2 – Run, Rebel, City of Ghosts and Warcross

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Welcome back to another Mini Book Reviews post! Sometimes I procrastinate writing reviews or simply don’t feel like I have enough to say for an individual post. My solution: mini book reviews for all the thoughts from my notes. This way, my thoughts don’t vanish in the abyss of my notes app and instead might still be useful to you in deciding whether or not to pick up a book.

Run, Rebel- Manjeet Mann

trigger warning for domestic abuse

I listened to the audiobook version of this book which is performed by the author and I am so glad I chose this version. Run, Rebel is a novel in verse and hearing it spoken, sometimes whispered, made the words truly come alive.

It’s a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking story of abuse and rebellion, running and hope. Amber, the main character, felt so real. I wanted nothing more than reach into the book and give her a hug. Her fear and anger are palpable in every word and I think this is where the poetry really shines. 

The different narrative threads and the character development were handled masterfully, bringing every arc to a conclusion that felt organic and satisfying. I especially appreciated how the topic of domestic abuse was handled, the book offers what felt like a very nuanced and realistic portrayal of the emotional trauma that comes with that experience. It acknowledges that rebellion is a privilege and not everybody is in a position to just walk away. It also didn’t shy away from showing Amber make some truly terrible choices and lashing out at other people as a result of her trauma. Infuriating to read, but real.

Lastly, while it did take me a few chapters to get into the flow of the book, I loved the structure. After learning about the structure of rebellions in history, the rest of the story follows that arc, intertwining these steps with Amber’s own personal rebellion.

City of Ghosts – Victoria Schwab

I was so excited to finally read one of Victoria Schwab’s books but unfortunately, City of Ghosts was a bit of a miss for me.

The premise sounded intriguing but the story didn’t quite deliver in the way I had hoped. My main issue was that everything felt too info-dumpy for my personal preference but I was also left with many questions that simply weren’t answered!  Ultimately, Cassidy as the main character didn’t manage to win me over and I ended up not really caring about her story. 

Don’t worry, this hasn’t put me off Schwab’s other books at all! It just means I won’t continue this series and instead try her other books (some of which I’ve owned for quite a while, oops).

 

Related: 21 Books I Want to Read in 2021

Warcross – Marie Lu

I loved the premise of this, but ultimately, the story didn’t really deliver what I had hoped for. Here’s why:

• The pacing was too slow for my taste. Nothing much happened, the real action happens in the very last chapters. The one thing that would justify the pacing would be more information about the world and characters…which there wasn’t enough of for me. The whole book felt like a setup…but the payoff and final plot twists weren’t satisfying enough for me to see past all the moments where the story dragged.
• The characters felt fairly flat, I had hoped for more time with the team because colourful casts of secondary characters are my jam. Sadly, there wasn’t that much of that so I didn’t have a reason to care about anyone. Emika suffers a tiny bit from “I’m not like other girls” syndrome, but I found her perspective interesting enough to mostly forgive that.
• I didn’t like the romance, which is very much a personal preference. It felt very insta-love-y and I didn’t find it believable or compelling.

Basically, I was very excited to learn more about Warcross and how the game works, get team training shenanigans and a mystery…the potential is there but the execution didn’t work for me.

I hope you enjoyed the mini book reviews in this slightly chaotic format!

💀 Have you read any of these books?
💀 How do you deal with reading books by an author that you’re excited about that end up being a let-down?

I hope you have a lovely day,