The Apothecary Diaries

 

The Apothecary Diaries is the first in a manga series. However I have never read a manga like it before. Instead of it being a comic it was like a chapter book with very few pictures. Despite this I really enjoyed the story and all the characters. 

Maomao is interesting, she just wants a peaceful life with out drama or attention of men. As the story progresses you learn how far Maomao goes to make avoiding men happen. Despite being a lowly servant Maomao has several things going for her, she can read, has strong wits, and knows how to diagnose and treat ailments of the women in the inner palace. 

The writing is smooth and easy to read. All transitions are easily marked and I never once lost track of what was going on. I really want to watch the anime now but I am going to finish reading the series before I watch the anime. Since I thought it was a picture manga I checked out volume one and two the same day. 

Iron Flame

 

Iron Flame is the second book in The Empryean series. 

I feel like Violet changed a lot from Fourth Wing to Iron Flame but to be fair she is most likely dealing with a lot of PTSD and exhausted from keeping her secrets from her friends. Instead of relying on people like she had previously Violet tries to find more and more herself. Digging deeper and deeper until she risks it all for answers she desperately needs. 

Xaden was left out of the story for a major part of it and when he reappeared I did not like his attitude much. He was even more cocky and secretive despite tying to be better with sharing stuff with Violet. 

Several side characters seemed left out as well which was sad since I like their relationship with Violet but she just tried to avoid all her friends and hide from them the majority of the time or ignore them.

My biggest gripe was another love triangle sort of thing being introduced. Violet already dealt with a love triangle in the Four Wing so need to do some odd Xaden love triangle with an ex that makes Violet feel even more insecure. Parts of the writing were too much, I felt like it repeated and did not provide enough new information but I did enjoy the story a lot overall. Like many others I am eager for Onyx Storm next year.

The time it took me to read the story has nothing to do with the story being slow, bad, or boring. Just things going on in my personal life are making it hard for me to want to pick up a book and try to read. 

Compete

 

Compete is the second  book in the The Atlantis Grail series. I actually bought the Ebook since the library did not have it. 

Having made it through the brutal qualification Gwen is now on a spaceship traveling through interstellar space towards and unknown galaxy and an unknown life on the alien planet Atlantis. As usual Gwen continues to be her difficult self and refuses to settle into the strict schedule the Atlanteans have created for the teens. Refusing to choose civilian or cadet Gwen is allowed more time to decided which she will choose. This comes with a price though and she has found herself an aide to the commanding pilot Aeson and learning more about the officers aboard the fleet. 

Despite it taking me a long time to read I really liked the book. The author was able to constantly add new information despite daily life being the same throughout the book. I like that you learned more about Aeson even though everything was told from Gwen's point of view. The writing continued to be consistent and easy to read. Despite tech not being my strong point I really liked how Nazarian broke down the more technical stuff and made it easy to understand. 

I have already purchased Win on my tablet and am eager to start it.