-Welcome to my World of Fantasy-
A.J. Torres
My 5 Star Reads
Here is where I will place book reviews that have 5 stars. These books have kept me up at nights, made me fall in love with characters, story, and worlds, and hit me so hard in the feels that I am utterly destroyed. I hope you will like these as much as I do.
You can find my other reviews on my GoodReads account.
Aletheia is a New Adult Dystopian novel book 1.
I'm giving this book 5 stars. I would happily give this book more if I was allowed to lol. I went through quite the emotional roller coaster, and the writing is just beautiful in my opinion, the author really knows how to use her words. I also like/love every character we meet, from 736 to Seth(a minor but hugely kind character). I. AM. LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SECOND BOOK RED RIVER! Seriously, I want that book, in my hands, like, RIGHT NOW! I'm kind of in reading limbo right now lol, don't mean to gush but I love this book that much. If you want to give this book a try, the first 5 chapters are up on the author's website. Go check it out to see if it is right up your alley.
Eragon is a Young Adult High/Epic Fantasy novel book 1.
All in all, I had such a blast rereading/listening to Eragon. I loved most of the characters, especially Eragon and Saphira, I loved the world building, the history especially, and the story was just so adventurous and fun. There is urgency, but there is also time to gather oneself after the loss of a loved one or they just lost. There is a time to learn and a time to fight. To me, this book is just so wonderfully balanced and I. Freaking. Loved it. Now, I know I said this book is a High/Epic Fantasy, but in my opinion, I think this a good introduction book into this genre. It's not at all dense in information and I think it's pretty easy to read. If you know someone that wants to try something a little more fantastical, adventurous, and large in scale, I will totally suggest this book to start of with. I can't wait to reread the rest of this series now.
The Goddess of Nothing at All is a Adult Dark Fantasy novel book 1.
I received an eARC for an honest review.
Wow. Yup, this story pulled my heart out, punched it, stabbed it, stomped on it a few times, then grabbed Mjolnir and pounded away at my heart until it was broken into so many pieces, it left me in a blubbering mess on the floor, and I loved every second of it. These characters made me smile, laugh, root for them, scream, rage, and cry. There are characters I love and characters I hated, there were even characters that, although I understood their situation, I couldn't help but feel so disappointed in them too. This story put me in one Hel of a ride, TWICE! And what's great, there's going to be second story that may finally end Sigyn's story in a way that I think she just deserves... Gods I hope so, I don't think I can handle another heartbreak this one gave me lol. Anyway, Sigyn is a woman who has experienced so much and been made to be forgotten, and by the end, to me, is a woman worth following to hopefully a better world, and one I hope to see.
Keeper of the Lost Cities is a Middle Grade Urban Fantasy novel book 1.
This book was a lot of fun and my husband and I enjoyed following Sophie and her friends on one heck of a journey in this new world. Five stars! I felt feelings, my husband was laughing, our son was . . . barely paying attention haha! He's 2 so I don't really know what to expect by this point lol. Anyway, although I wasn't expecting this story to be portal fantasy, it was still fun learning about this new world, and it was actually the kind of book I needed to read at this time. Now although this series is a long one, my husband and I seriously can't wait to continue Sophie's journey, and I hope you give this story with a magical school a chance too like I did.
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is a Middle Grade Urban Fantasy novel book 1.
Alright then, this story totally gets a 5 stars from me. It was fun and adventurous, the characters were enjoyable, and the world building was very much believable to me. My husband and I enjoyed this first book and we look forward to reading book 2. However, I should include a warning as I did notice this from many Middle Grade books released in the early 2000's had this issue, and that is that most villains and antagonists in this story have been old looking, fat, and ugly, and sometimes a combination of the 3. I know that some readers may be put off by that, but I decided to let it slide as I've heard the author gets better as the series and the entire Half Blood Universe expands. Now, as much as I would also include how my son felt about this story, I honestly can't because he's barely 2 years old and I'm mostly reading this series to him to help him hear words and encourage him to speak. I think it's working because my son is trying to speak more and that's good enough for me!
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard is a Young Adult Urban Fantasy novel book 1.
Oh man, I am definitely giving this book five stars. I was laughing, trying not to cry, rolling my eyes at certain characters actions, and being like oh hey I know this story hehe. I thought Magnus was a great character, however his snark was getting old by the end there, but when he accepted who he is, I couldn't but be like "Very nice.". My husband couldn't get much enjoyment out of this book as I did as our son isn't really 100% listening to us anymore at dinnertime, so I'm pretty sure my son barely retained anything I said, but I had fun reading this at least and I look forward to picking up book 2 in this trilogy.
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor is a Middle Grade Urban Fantasy novel book 1.
This book was just amazing. Five Stars! This is my first Xiran Jay Zhao book and I loved so much about it. Zachary Ying was a wonderful, adorable, and somewhat flawed protagonist that I loved from start to finish. Many of the other supporting characters were amazing too, especially that banter Zack has with them made me laugh and feel things too, it was great! I also LOVED the story in this book of a young boy trying to make and keep friends by just doing what they wanted no matter how much it made him uncomfortable to suddenly being pulled into a journey to save a country he knew nothing about, along with the world, from an ancient spirit trying to take it over and "save" it. This isn't even a matter of good vs evil because even the spirits you are helping aren't good either, but more on the . . . morally gray spectrum lol. Throughout this book you learn of these spirits and their importance in China's history, and while getting a brief lesson in it, the figures aren't at all romanticized and talked up as the best thing ever, but criticized for what they've done and mostly not at all feeling sorry about it, but seen as a necessary evil on their part. This book has some hard topics to tackle from feeling out of place in a country you've lived in, to still feeling out of place in a country you were born in. I felt for Zack all throughout this book and I was so ready to just jump into these pages and give him the warmest hug I could give him. Oh! Zack is also queer. So if you're one of THOSE readers, then BACK OFF! This book is so wonderfully amazing that it deserves to be read by anyone in Zack's shoes and anyone wanting to learn with an open mind. The fam and I seriously can't WAIT for book 2. Seriously, I want it, like, yesterday haha!