Thursday, October 1, 2015

On Reads: Fantasy First Books with Fall Sequels

It's already October? When did that happen? I had a great month reading in September though. I read some really great books. If you didn't see my recap yesterday  check it out here. In August I unveiled a new monthly feature where I talk about a few of the books that I got to reread. With so many series enders and series continuations happening this fall and winter I decided I needed some refreshers before I done back into the series. For the foreseeable future I will be doing one reread a week so I thought I would do a new feature I'm calling On Rereads. They will be mini reviews where I talk about the books I reread and any different impressions I may have had after reading them a second time. This month I read three first books in a series in preparation for their sequels.

Jackaby by William Ritter -  (Amazon / Goodreads / AudibleMy Review)

I absolutely loved this book when I read it last year. I thought it was incredibly fun with an engaging plot full of mystery, a atmospheric world full of fantasy, and likable characters full of humor. It still does. The second time around I was not at all disappointed by this book. It was just as fantastic and enjoyable.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the audio on this one. Nicola Barber does this boook justice which was a big concern of mine. But she captured Abigail's enthusiasm, Jackaby's snark, and Charlie's mystery. She also captured the supernatural world and I felt like I could perfectly visualize New Shoreham and all the characters. My only criticism is that because I knew how it was going to end it didn't have as much mystery and usually I'm okay with that but this time I didn't really pick up some extra plot points that I missed the first time around. But on the whole it was a fantastic read.

I was so glad I read this before Beastly Bones. It reminded me how much I liked the characters and how fun this series is. I picked up a few references from the book that I may not have noticed if I had not reread Jackaby.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu(Amazon / Goodreads / AudibleMy Review)

This was another favorite book of 2014 and another really anticipated sequel. I cannot wait for my copy of The Rose Society to get here. I need more Adelina and her descent into madness. I seriously love how dark this book is and it was just as dark the second time. I didn't forget how ruthless these characters are and it didn't affect me any less. Neither did that climax. I didn't sob as much but the anticipation killed me. But that being said the dramatic irony sort of made it so that I didn't like the characters as much. I held a few of them at arms length knowing what they would do so that was a change I didn't like the characters as much.

But I did really like the audio in this case. I knew that the world is influenced a lot by Italian/Renaissance history and that was so much more obvious with the audiobook. The narration was fantastic and the way they pronounced the names and certain words really helped to immerse me in the world. And I really love this world and magical system so that was great.

I wish I had waited a little bit before I read this though. I now need The Rose Society so badly and I still have to wait two weeks. Three from when I finished my reread. I need book two like... yesterday.

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson - (Amazon / Goodreads / AudibleMy Review)

It should come as no surprise to you that I love the Mistborn series if you have been here for awhile. Mostly I am obsessed with this world. The Alloy of Law is not my favorite in the series but it's a fantastic series that's more like a police procedural. I had completely forgotten so many elements of the mystery so it was great to reread and refresh on that note. One thing I didn't forget about is the characters. How much do I love Wayne? SO MUCH! And Ranette. And Marassi. And Wax. Ah, they are all so fantastic.

I didn't listen to all the audiobooks for the first three Mistborn novels but I did listen to a bit of them and the narrator is fantastic. They use the same one for this one which is nice. He gets the world so well and I can immerse myself in it along with his voice.

But now I am so ready for Shadows of Self. It comes out next week and I am starting the preview from Netgalley today. I cannot wait for more crazy hijinx, more mystery-solving, and more allomancy and feruchemy. But mostly more Sanderson because obviously!

Have you done any rereads lately? What books? Do you like doing rereads or not? Tell me why. I hope you like this new feature. I'm hoping to do it once a month or when I finish a reread of a series. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

10 comments:

  1. I read Mistborn, I might go for the audiobook if you liked it. but Brandon Sanderson is pretty good . Might add the other books to my list now that you are reading it haha

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    1. The audio is great. In particular I liked it a lot for this series. I hope you listen and like them.

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  2. YAYYYY Shadows of Self! I can't wait. And OMG that's coming out soon! The audiobooks are just great so I kind of want to listen to the audio but I already am in the middle of Six of Crows, then I need to listen to one for review, and then I need to make sure I get The Scorpio Races in there for the end of Oct. Eep!

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    1. Brittany it was so good! I hope you love. You will. I know you will. I know what you mean. I'm thinking about listening to the audio for The Rose Society but I'm also in the middle of a reread of the Finishing School series by Gail Carriger. To many books too little time.

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  3. I haven't read any of these, but The Young Elites and Jackaby are both on my list! I'm amazed at how you have time to re-read THREE books on top of all your other reads for the month! Where do you find the time?! :P

    Tracy @ Cornerfolds

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    1. They're fantastic. All very different but all really great fantasies. And as far as finding the time, I listen to audiobooks at work. Also I was sick a lot this month and staying home instead of socializing. October is not going as well. Oh well.

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  4. So. I have yet to read Brandon Sanderson. *hides* Also, I've heard mixed things about The Young Elites, but you just said Italian stuff and unlikable characters, aka TWO OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.

    C.J.
    Sarcasm & Lemons

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    1. SHUT UP! We cannot be friends. Kidding. But he is one of my absolute favorites and if I haven't convinced you to read him yet then I have failed you. But also The Young Elites is brilliant. Read that too.

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  5. The Young Elites is my bookclub book of the month for October so I'm glad that I'll be able to grab the sequel once I'm done (even if I've heard cliffhanger rumours from early readers)!
    I re-read 3 books in September, which is a lot because until this summer I had not allowed myself many (if any) re-reads for the last pair of years!

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    1. YES! That is a great book club book. Cliffhanger in The Rose Society? *internally freaks out*

      I never really allowed myself to do rereads either but I've done tons lately and I really like it. It's nice to have an audiobook for when I'm working or driving.

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