Tome Topple Round 11 - Wrap Up & Mini Reviews

Happy Thursday everyone!  Today I'm sharing my wrap up and mini reviews for the books I completed for Tome Topple Round 11 which ran from May 9th through May 22nd and was hosted by Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes.  The one and only rule from the readathon is to read books 500+ pages and of the ten books I pulled off my shelves I managed to get to read my way through five of them.  You can check out my original announcement and tbr post here.  I also managed to read about half of my 6th book before time was up on the readathon so I'll include my review of that novel here as well.  Overall, I read a total of 4,103 pages for this readathon.  Wow!  Read on to see my thoughts on them, in the order that I read them:

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ 

Holy wow! Why did I put A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin off for so long?! I loved the first two A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and this is no different. It's a brick of a book, but it's totally worth getting lost in the world of Westeros and beyond. I know my review isn't doing just how impressive this is, but I will say that my favorites this time around are Arya, Brienne, Jon Snow, Sam. I need to get caught up on this series, and the tv adaptation while I'm at it.

My review is also on Goodreads.

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ 

Wow! I officially understand the hype with The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I couldn't put it down and I sped right through it. I can't wait to read book two. Talk about a book hangover though after reading this and A Storm of Swords so closely together. I can't believe I sat on this for so long before deciding to give it a go, but it truly lives up to all of the positive things I'd heard. I'm glad I have a copy of The Wiseman's Fear ready to go on my shelf - it's officially been bumped up my TBR.  I can't recommend The Kingkiller Chronicle enough, especially if you enjoy getting lost in epic fantasy worlds.

My review is also on Goodreads.

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

The Blade Itself (The First Law #1) by Joe Abercrombie is well on its way to becoming a favorite series. I enjoyed getting to know the world and its characters. It's brutal and bloody, but also somewhat lighthearted at times, if that makes any sense. The characters are my favorite aspect and they all feel like they could walk right off the page (not that I'd want them too, if you know what I mean). Everyone is fascinating and complex, but I can easily say that Glokta (I realized midway through that the name wasn't actually "Glotka" - anyone else get that mixed up or was it just me?) is my personal favorite. One thing I really wish this book had: a map. That would have been really helpful. I can't wait to continue this series.  I can't wait to pick up Before They are Hanged.

My review is also on Goodreads.

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ 

For A Few Demons More (The Hollows #5) by Kim Harrison is the best book in the series so far.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: Jenks is the real MVP.  It's so cool to see Harrison's alternate Cincinnati.  By the way, the short story included at the end of the novel called "The Bridges of Eden Park" was particularly brutal to read because of how the novel ended. How could Kim Harrison do that to us?  I can't wait to continue this series.  The Outlaw Demon Wails, here I come!

My review can also be found on Goodreads.

❋ ❋

I loved the concept of Weaveworld by Clive Barker and it's very fascinating at times, but it's also very boring and slow as well. The first half of this would have been a solid four stars but the longer it went the more bogged down it got.

My review is also on Goodreads.

❋ ❋ ❋ ❋ ❋

Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass #7) by Sarah J. Maas was a perfect finale.  It was quite a ride and I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to spend all this time with some of my all time favorite characters.  If you would have asked me, where I thought this book would have ended up I wouldn't have been able to accurately begin to guess.  Everyone on the cast really grew and progressed over the course of the series.  My favorite newer character here was Yrene.  She was great in the previous installment, but was marvelous here.  There have been so many twists and turns as well that it's really kept me on the edge of my seat.  I loved every second of this 984 page finale.  It was quite a ride and I wish I could experience it all again for the very first time.  Five stars just isn't enough!  Now, I'll have to go back to the beginning and read The Assassin's Blade collection of novellas.

My review is also on Goodreads.


Have you every taken part in Tome Topple?  Have you read any of these books?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!