husnaibrahim_'s reviews
206 reviews

This was such a gem of a read! It brought back memories of another book I enjoyed called "Unbury Our Dead with Song." 

I stumbled upon this book thanks to a friend's recommendation, and it really struck a chord with me. I think following the book while listening to the playlist and the audiobook was a bit of a challenge, but it added so much depth to the experience. There were times when I had to pause because it just hit me hard!  Overall, I think I'd give this book a solid 10.

Plus, I guess I guess I have to admit, I'm not quite sure I can put into words how I really feel about this book just yet. It's something I need a bit more time with to properly express my thoughts and feelings about how beautiful experiencing this book was.

I had such a great time listening to this! It's surprising that I've never tried any books by this author before, but now I'm definitely going to explore more of her work.

It's kind of crazy, but I actually finished this in under four hours during my transit. I'll definitely be listening to it again.

“Red Island House” was alright, though I’m not entirely sure if I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would, or if it just happened to be the right book to pull me out of my reading slump.

Either way, it was a good listen. I always appreciate audiobooks that are easy to follow, even if you lose track of where you left off. The narrators did an excellent job in this regard.

The constant use of the word soccer made me realize that this book must’ve definitely been written by a Nigerian American author and everything else after that just kind of made sense. Because, Initially, I didn’t realize that this was the second book in the series. I guess I had the American cover (‘Sunny and the Mysteries of Osisi’) and not the Nigerian one (‘Akata Witch’) so I was really confused when it came to the order of the books. 

I have to say though, I really enjoyed this book. I couldn’t really relate to a lot of things but at the same time, I could relate to almost everything. It just reminded me so much of my childhood. Growing up in northern Nigeria, I didn’t expect to connect much with this book, but it turned out to be quite the opposite.

Sunny’s intense curiosity but also her ease of believing all the tales meant to scare her were portrayed exceptionally well. It captures that irrational part of Nigerian society where you know a superstition isn’t true yet can’t help but believe in it and even somewhat live by it.

Overall, it was a solid read, though some parts left me a bit confused. So, I’m definitely planning to check out the first book in the series.

What a predictable but amazing book!

The beginning of this book was a bit slow so I didn’t think I’d like it much but my God! 

At first, I thought Victor was crazy after what happened because his reaction to Angie’s situation seemed reckless. In fact I agreed with Eli on that front. So imagine my surprise when I realised that Eli is even crazier. His descent into delusion and his godlike aspirations revealed a surprising depth of madness because he somehow thinks he is the only sane E.O?? I mean Serena was truly the perfect match for him. Her character was flawed yet captivating. It provided a perfect foil to Eli. 

So despite her instability, particularly in her actions towards Sydney, I think Schwab’s nuanced portrayal of her also evoked a sense of empathy. She has such a way of craftily writing such characters that you have no choice to root for them . So I definitely supported her throughout because Eli truly had me fooled.

Speaking of Sydney, she was such a sweet and thoughtful girl. Her innocence and sincerity brought a refreshing dynamic to the story. At first I thought she should have been written to be older than she was and might have possibly been a love interest for either victor or Mitch but I’m glad it wasn’t written that way. Because I appreciated the nuanced relationship that developed instead. It was refreshing. 

So, as I look forward to delving into “Vengeful,” I’m honestly intrigued by the potential trajectory of these complex characters. I’d like to see what comes next for Victor and even Mitch. And while I think “Vicious” could stand alone, I’m eager to see how Schwab continues to explore the themes of past and present in the sequel.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The world building was a bit weird but the whole concept of the soul collectors, the intricacies of the underworld, and its multifaceted nature was very fascinating.

Usually with books that touch subjects of the angels of death, the afterlife and all that comes with it, they only seem to scratch the surface, often remaining shallow. This is usually because they tend to predominantly focus on the Western world, so seeing other perspectives being explored was refreshing. Plus even though we only glimpsed the afterlife of just two places, the portrayal, especially of the Japanese afterlife, felt well-executed.

So I’m honestly excited to dive into the next book, but I’m not sure if I can just over look what Neven did and the fallout with Hiro and just get comfortable with his brother?! It’s a complex situation because, as much as I admire the mistress of death, I’m still struggling with some of her choices.

And there are still so many Unanswered questions, like the whereabouts of her mom and the fate of her brother. So despite how much I enjoyed this book, I’m torn about whether to jump into the next one right away.

There are some books that portray teenage obsession in a way that’s easy to enjoy and even indulge. This, unfortunately, isn’t one of those..

Initially, I understood Grace’s love for the wolves, but it quickly became annoying—especially when she rushed into the woods to save them from being shot while also completely forgetting how her friend Rachel was also supposedly in the woods taking pictures. Yet all her focus was on the wolves and not her friend being potentially shot?

And that’s just one thing. There’s several other things like the infuriating absent-mindedness of her parents. I mean how convenient that her parents were the type to let her fend for herself and never check up on her so then she can, again, conveniently  invite a werewolf into their home to literally live there without them noticing. And I don’t even want to get into how fast that relationship moved. I mean you could probably argue that they had some pre-existing connection, but it felt a bit creepy given the lack of scrutiny from her about his wolf form and how he is only half human?

Then there’s how she tried to gaslight Isabel about her own brother. These were all elements that, in a different context, I might have overlooked for the sake of the plot, but collectively, they just left me feeling that the book wasn’t well-written. Or Perhaps I’ve just outgrown my phase of reading teen romance fictions involving supernaturals. I truly hope so then.