Author: Stephanie Garber Pages: 478 Overall: 5/5 Setting: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot and Themes: 5/5 Cheers Factor: 5/5 Pairing: Long Story Short Sauv Blanc 2020 This pairing felt like it was important to use for this title because it felt like I finished the book and explained it to someone by saying long story short they all fall in love. “Every story has four parts: the beginning, the middle, the almost ending, and the true ending. Most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, when the situation feels hopeless, but that is where hope is needed the most. Only those who persevere can find their true ending.” Take a Shot: In the final installment of the Caraval series we get a dual perspective look at the Dragna sisters story. Now that the Fates are freed and are wanting to destroy Legend and take his powers the world has never been more unsafe. However, both Tella and Scarlett are grappling with their love over the two men who they have fallen hard for. The question is whether that love is enough and can be reciprocated.
“Fear was a poison that people mistook for protection.” Setting We are back in the same locale as we were in Legendary where we are near Elantine’s Castle and at times we are in one of the Fate’s residences so that is interesting and new. I think the setting of these novels is very interesting, but at times it feels confusing to know truthfully where you are and what exactly everything happens. It’s the only gripe I really have with the series in general. Characters I loved the dual perspective. It was a really great tie in from Scarlett’s book and Tella’s book. I love getting to see both their love stories from their own eyes.I also really loved legend in this book and the juxtaposition we still get between Jacks and Legend. The concept of the immortal beings being unable to love is such a cool concept to see play out with them all. I enjoy seeing their lust and their obsession being the main topic between both of these characters. I also selfishly love seeing more of Julian. I’ve loved him since the first book and naturally knew he loved Scarlett (Crimson) so much more than she believed him to love her. Plot and Themes There was a slight lack of urgency in a lot of the plot if I’m being honest. It isn’t the kind of action that keeps you on the edge of your seat, however that is the style of these books. I did like the nuances we get with the relationships in this book as well as the plot twist that was apparent, but never called out enough that it felt spoiled before we knew it. Conclusion Overall this last book made it worth reading the first two. It was definitely my favorite installment of the series and it did a great job of tying everything in and giving closure to all of our characters. I love a good fantasy based story and this was grounded in more realism than a high fantasy even with the magical aspects so I did appreciate that. Reasons to Raise a Glass: Perspectives from both Dragna sisters, clever plot twist Too Strong: I got lost on where we were and where we were going, I lowkey wish it wasn’t so young adult cause that would have been fun “Dazzle was a lot like romance- fantastic while it lasted but it never lasted long enough.” Warning spoilers ahead if you click read more. Proceed at your own risk.
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Author: Richelle Mead Pages: 327 Overall: 4.5/5 Setting: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot and Themes: 4/5 Cheers Factor: 4/5 Pairing: Prisoner Red Blend by Orin Swift This one is the same for the whole series! Take a Shot: Rose and Dmitri can’t be together for obvious reasons. Tasha Ozera comes into the picture and clearly has eyes for Dimitri however, Rose is intent to not let it get to her so she starts dating the loving and adorable Mason. However, things are starting to get weird and our characters are starting to learn the Strigoi are getting smart which could be life threatening for our favorite Moroi and Dhampir alike. “‘This changes everything doesn’t it?’ I asked. ‘Yeah,’ he said. “It does.’” Setting I like the setting of this title more than the first of this book. I enjoyed that it takes place more away from the school and we get to see our characters outside of the academic setting. Characters My favorite character of this series is introduced in this book so it obviously takes the cake for 5/5. There’s a really great broadening of characters that appear in Rose and Lissa’s lives and it makes it much more interesting. Plus I like a villain redemption arc and we start to get that with one character in this one so it’s nice. Plots and Themes I like the stakes of the plot more in this one than the first one. There’s a greater sense of urgency in this book behind all of the actions of our characters and the plot moves quickly with it to the ultimate ending. I do think occasionally it felt very convenient how a lot of the characters were able to solve their problems. However, I did love the obvious way the plot allowed Rose to become a true leader that people are willing to follow. I also appreciate the move Rose makes away from her forbidden love given that she’s still a minor. It’s a nice move that I think Mead executed well in order to avoid it becoming more problematic than what is originally implied as already kind of is. Conclusion I like the pivot this book takes from the first one and definitely recommend sticking around with the series even if the first wasn’t a favorite. Reasons to Raise a Glass: STRONG. FEMALE. CHARACTER., realistic stakes and consequences Too Strong: convenience of plot lines, questionable age gap relationship (it’s not aggressive, but definitely there and definitely something to consider) Spoiler review if you click Read More! Or check out the review of book one by clicking the button below! Author: Richelle Mead Pages: 332 Overall: 4/5 Setting: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot and Themes: 4/5 Cheers Factor: 4/5 Pairing: Prisoner Red Blend by Orin Swift This is my pairing for the entire series because it’s such a quick read. I read the first 4 books in 2 days because I’m crazy so I literally only have one pairing. Also a good bottle of red is perfect for this series. It’s one of my favorite series and Prisoner is one of my parent’s favorite bottles of wine and is quickly becoming mine. Take a Shot: Rose Hathaway and her best friend Vasalissa Dragomir have been on the run for the better part of a 2 years after running away from their school. Oh and Lissa is a Moroi vampire meaning she’s technically not undead and has magic and Rose is a Dhampir which makes her half Moroi and half human. Upon being captured and brought back to St. Vladamir’s Academy strange things start to happen that scare even Dimitri, the sexy Russian Dhampir that’s Lissa’s new guardian seeing as she is the last Dragomir from one of the twelve royal bloodlines. Author: Kim Scott Pages: 246 Overall: 3.5/5 Takeaways: 3.5/5 Cheers Factor: 3/5 Pairing: Canned Peach Bellini by Infinite Monkey Theorem This fun little canned cocktail is great for this book because it’s light and airy, but also makes you feel like a bad mamajamma. Plus the color of this can match the color of the book jacket which believe it or not is hard to do with those colors of orange. https://theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com/wine-shop/peach-bellini-can-4-pack Scott was a faculty member at Apple University and worked at Google for AdSense so she has experience working with teams. She also worked very closely with Sheryl Sandberg who wrote Lean In which I have reviewed on this site and will link down below. I really enjoyed reading this title even though a lot of it’s not necessarily applicable to my life right now. A lot of the focus of the book is about how to better work in a professional setting as a leader and some of the advice is to the employees as well. One of the parts I found incredibly interesting is when Scott quotes the 1996 movie Jerry Maguire starring Tom Cruise. There’s a line in the movie where Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character says to Tom Cruise’s character, “you think we’re fighting, I think we’re finally talking”. I felt this resonated with my own experiences of working with a team. I spent a year in 2019 on my sorority’s executive council and before you make any assumptions about it, I will be the first to say yes it was a sorority, but it was also real work. I ran the finances for the organization and handled a 6 figure budget while also handling a department as well as managing the house and working with general members. It was no small feat that taught me a lot personally about what it means to work with people that have different leadership styles, thoughts and opinions than you may have. In this section of her novel Scott writes about how the Jerry Maquire quote resonated with her when she was working at Google. It’s very accurate in my own experience too. I am best friends with the woman who served as our president while I ran finances and we fought fairly consistently throughout the entirety of our term. I preface this by saying that friend Ashlyn and Sarah were not fighting just exec Ashlyn and Sarah because there is a difference and separating friendship from before with our work relationship definitely helped us to remain friends after. Anyway, but my point to that is we spent a lot of time not talking about important aspects of our jobs until we were fighting about them. We spent hours talking in person and on the phone about all of these issues it became all consuming. Although the fighting felt, at times, aggressive we were actually making decisions and resolving our problems. We were able to disagree and “fight” about it in order to resolve the problems that we needed to fix. Again I’m not saying fight it out to the death for your opinions at the expense of others, but also stand up for your opinions and fight for what you believe is best. However, more importantly concede and compromise when you are wrong or see a better option. I felt it was important to share this story because it’s crucial to know where your relationships start and end and how to separate them whether that’s a work relationship to a friendship or a love driven relationship to a partnership because there is a difference. Sarah and I fought like a married couple that’s house was going into foreclosure, but I never loved her any less because friend Ashlyn and Sarah would still go to each other's rooms right after fighting and ask to grab dinner together. Not all fights have to be true fights and they shouldn’t be, they can be talking and you can come out stronger at the end with a clear path to start down. “Blaming people’s external essence rather than their external behavior leaves no room for change.”
Author: Sasha K. Shillcutt Pages: 230 Overall: 4/5 Takeaways: 4.5/5 Cheers Factor: 4/5 Pairing: For this novel my pairing is one of my favorites. I read this novel and it made me think about the strong women I have in my life and the community that they have given me. This pairing is for my roommates. I chose The Dreaming Tree Sauvignon Blanc because my roommates love The Dave Matthews Band and so it only felt fitting that I chose something to honor them. Thank you ladies for being badass strong women who make me a better badass strong woman. |
Cheers FactorEach book here at Cheers&Chapters is rated based off of certain categories that are genre specific, however every book will get a Cheers Factor. The Cheers Factor is how much we wanted to raise our glass while reading it. So get your glasses ready and cheers! Archives
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