I'm in a Reading Frenzy, Apparently

 For a very long time I didn't want to look at books. I didn't want to think about them, and I couldn't even stand to think about doing any of my own writing. My brain had too much going on to let much of anything else in. 

Now, it's been a few years and I finally felt the urge to pick up a book, and I've been working on my own writing as well. I feel like it's better not to read other people's work when you're writing your own, so part of that non-reading time was due to my own creation. It's in the editing stage, working on the 6th revision, but I can see where it can potentially get so I'm excited to see if I can figure out how to get it to that golden spot of potential. 

In the meantime, it's been nice to be able to pick up some books. I'm going to need to provide some comparisons for my work, and while I know it's not great to pick the most popular books (nor could I, since my work is quite different), I honestly am not sure what to choose as comparisons. It's particularly tricky because it could be based on writing tone, or subject matter, but I'd rather it encompass a vibe. It's way more helpful to me when someone can tell me the feeling a book generates, or a mood, over what a writing style is like. I don't really read books for a particular writing style, I read it for the mood and feel it provides. How about you? Do you read more for the type of tone or writer's voice, or for a mood? I can see either way being helpful depending upon what type of reader you are. 

Anyway, I'm getting a bit off-track. I wanted to share some of the books I've been reading during this time and what I think of them. 

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas 

I've heard glowing praise for this author, so my expectations were probably a little too high. I also began reading this without knowing a few things. Based on some reviews I read, this appears to be a prequel to the main series which starts with A Court of Thorns and Roses. I did not know this, but I think it's probably good to read The Assassin's Blade first since it's a prequel. 

Another thing that I realized while reading is that The Assassin's Blade seemed to be a collection of stories. After reading more reviews, it was confirmed that it is indeed a collection of novellas (I believe) which detail certain parts of the main character's life. If you haven't read it yet, I'll let you know that it is disjointed, in that I would guess not much difference was made to try and make the individual novellas flow together. They are simply introduced with pages that say something like "Book One". I think it would have been nice if there had been a little more effort to meld these novellas into a more cohesive story, especially since I don't think it would have taken many changes to provide a slightly better experience for the reader. Once I learned more about the origins of this "book" the reading experience made more sense to me.

*SPOILERS* I'll say that the premise of a "best assassin" ever who is impulsive, aggressive, lacks some planning and information-gathering skills, and likes pushing people's buttons is...not very believable. It unfortunately jarred me out of the reading at the strange portrayal of the extremely immature, then suddenly very mature protagonist.*END OF SPOILERS*  

The plot itself though, and the way the story was weaved kept my attention. If these were a collection of a few first books, it's understandable that getting a handle on the protagonist could be tricky. Towards the end, the character development and rationale for the main character's actions was much more believeable and I'm looking forward to reading the first main book in the series. 

Now that you know what to expect, I'd recommend reading this before A Court of Thorns and Roses since (based on reviews) some people were confused about certain characters that were mentioned in the main series but never fully explained. This will solve that problem, so when you get to the official book one, you'll have the necessary background information to better enjoy the main series. Ultimately I do think it's worth a read. 

Crave by Tracy Wolff 

Crave is heavily influenced by the Twilight series, but not to the point of being a rip-off. It manages to be predictable in some of the good ways you might want out of a romantic novel, while packing enough surprises to make you want to jump right in to the next book. The plethora of characters were interesting, and I appreciated the level of detail and description. It was easy to imagine the places as they were described, which is great for the imagination. 

One of the other ways this novel was intriguing was how it dealt with the concept of grief, which plays a more prominent role than I would have expected. It felt well-done, and relatable to me, though everyone experiences grief in their own way, so if it's a sore subject you may want to avoid this until you feel ready to deal with talk about the grieving process. 

I just finished this book today, and it was an enjoyable read. If you don't mind a little bit of predictability in the romance department, and some influences from the Twilight series I'd encourage you to give this story a try. While I wouldn't necessarily call it a light-hearted read, the author's tone is a perfect balance for the more macabre nature of this book. I'm looking forward to devouring the rest of this series. 

Since I'm on the lookout for fiction books, I'd love it if you have some recommendations. I'm also re-reading City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, followed by catching up on the Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa. I'm open to lots of different types of fiction though, so feel free to share any of your favorite suggestions in the comments! I appreciate it!