!!!Spoiler Warning!!! If you haven’t read any of these books yet, don’t read my villain ratings. I give away some key spoilers!
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas was my favourite book of the month!
March – 2020
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Thoughts: This was like reading a work of art. It’s not going to be for everyone. It’s heavy in metaphor and surrealism, but it’s also absolutely stunning. I’d like to frame this whole story and stare at it for hours. It was perfect. Page Count: 512
Villain Rating: There’s really only one villain to pick from in this book—Allegra Cavallo. This woman is how villains are supposed to be written. She’s clever, ruthless, and truly believes she’s doing the right thing, which is what makes her so good.
Allegra is a painter. She lives in the harbor of the Starless Sea. She loves the library, so she decides to follow the path that turns her into an acolyte. Usually, acolytes give up their tongue or speak in honor of their vows, but Allegra chooses to give up her sight.
The result is that one of Allegra’s eyes is able to see everything about the story, including how it will end. In an endeavor to prevent the the inevitable destruction of the harbor, she decides to seal off the library from the world and destroy all the doors leading there.
She’s willing to kidnap, threaten and maim in her pursuit to keep her secrets, but what she really wants is to preserve things exactly as they are. Her wickedness and villainy comes from her desire to protect and serve. It’s a very complication reasoning and I loved it. She’s also got style, and some great scenes. I would have preferred more of a showdown. 7/10
Best Quotes in the Book: A boy at the beginning of a story has no way of knowing that the story has begun.
He believes in books.
Not all stories speak to all listeners, but all listeners can find a story that does.
He was never at the beginning of this story. This story is much, much older than he is.
They are gods with lost myths, writing themselves new ones.
This person is a place Zachary could lose himself in, and never wish to be found.
Know thyself and learn to suffer.
The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
Thoughts: I didn’t have much hope going into this book. Vampires can be very hit or miss in literature, plus I’d already read two of Ahdieh‘s books before and found them underwhelming, however, I’m delighted to report that I really enjoyed this one. It’s well written and fun to try and work out the killer. I’ve heard some people saying that it wouldn’t make a difference if it was set in 1872 or nowadays, but I didn’t find that at all. The period backdrop to the story really set the scene for me. Page Count: 432
Villain Rating: Huge, Huge, Huge Spoiler Warnings Ahead!!! This book kept me guessing from start to finish. I think for a while I’ve honestly thought about every character as the villain. I even entertained the thought of Odette being the mastermind behind everything.
In reality, the villain turns out to be none other than Bastien’s sister, Émilie. She’s the reason that Bastien has such pain in his past. His mother and sister are supposedly dead, so it’s a real surprise to find her alive in the end. The reason she’s become evil is because Bastien’s uncle wouldn’t grant her immortality when she was dying, instead opting to just let her go.
Instead, it appears the werewolves have granted her eternal life and she’s pledged her loyalty to them. The book manages to throw you off the scent (werewolf humor!) by convincing you that the killer is male. This is true, it’s just that Émilie has someone working for her.
She’s an interesting character with complicated reasons to exact revenge on a species that she deems turned its back on her. It was great to get some POVs with the villain, which gave us an insight into how her mind works. I’m investing in knowing more about this mysterious woman. 7/10
Best Quotes in the Book: It doesn’t matter who you were. It matters who you are.
Die in my arms.
I am not the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, nor am I the worst thing I’ve ever done.
Rage is a moment. Regret is forever.
If there are no gods among us, there can be no demons.
All the best saints are sinners.
He was painfully beautiful. Not in the way of art or the way of poetry. But in the way of violence.
When life becomes difficult, the only source of strength we have is love.
Sometimes a girl must make her own magic.
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Thoughts: I loved this book. I’m actually disappointed it was a standalone because I would the hell out of a sequel here. I love books set at court, where people don’t say exactly what they mean and the colour of dresses is the most important decision some people make all day. These sorts of books are my guilty pleasures. But this one knocked it out of the ball park. I absolutely loved it. Page Count: 326
Villain Rating: Huge, Huge, Huge Spoiler Warnings Ahead!!! While I had my suspicions, they weren’t confirmed until the end of the book, and I really didn’t see the major twist coming, which is always a nice surprise.
So, it turns out that our villain is none other than Leandros, one of the kings closest friends. Or rather, Xanthos, the kings brother! Dun, dun, duuuuun! Turns out that Xanthos is the eldest brother but he didn’t inherit the Shadows, this disappointed his father who had him beaten and left for dead, preferring to give the throne to Kallias.
When Xanthos was rescued, he returned to the castle in a disguise and murdered the king and queen in cold blood. Can’t really blame him really. Since then he’s been working on getting close enough to Kallias to kill him. That, and steal everything from him, including Alessandra.
He’s a great villain. He’s cheerful and fun to be around, very handsome and full to the brim with romance. It’s a real surprise to find out he could be such a bad guy. Or it he, really? I mean, sure he killed his parents, but they tried to kill him first. And isn’t the throne his by rights as the eldest? With Alessandra and Kallias both being pretty villainous themselves, it could be Xanthos that was the good guy after all. 7/10
Best Quotes in the Book: A woman’s worth is not decided by what’s between her legs but by what is in her mind.
It is your body to do with as you will.
I’m not a trollop. I’m a sexually empowered woman, and there is nothing wrong with that.
House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Thoughts: Loved it, loved it, loved it. I really enjoy Sarah J. Maas’s writing style and the way her characters become people you care about. I can’t wait for the sequel to be released. I think Bryce might be one of my new favourite characters. Page Count: 803
Villain Rating: Huge, Huge, Huge Spoiler Warnings Ahead!!!
We start off thinking the Kristallos demon is the baddie here, probably summoned by someone with some nefarious scheme in mind. But, it turns out this demon is just a byproduct of what’s really happening, and certainly isn’t responsible for the murders of Danika and the Pack.
Finally, we discover our villain is none other than Micah, the archangel that asked Bryce to investigate in the first place. Turns out he was looking for an incredibly powerful artifact that Danika had hidden from him and believed that Bryce would be able to find through her history with the wolf.
His plot was to open portals to Hel and let the demons come through. He wanted the power that would grant him, so he could lord over every other being in Midgard. In other words, this guy is smart, cool, cruel and bad news. He even tries to kill Syrinx! How could he? For a brief interval, I thought he might be a potential love interest if Hunt turned out to be a alphahole, but he turned out deliciously evil. 9/10
Best Quotes in the Book: Through love, all is possible.
No one gets a medal for suffering the most, you know.
Loyal unto death and beyond.
We’ve been friends from the moment you thought Jelly Jubilee was a dildo.
Remember that you will die.
That’s the point of it, Bryce. Of life. To live, to love, knowing that it might all vanish tomorrow. It makes everything that much more precious.
The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoshi
Thoughts: I know this author is a fan favourite, but this is my first time reading her and I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped I would. I think this is more a case of my fault that the books. I can’t really pinpoint the exact moment I knew I wouldn’t like it, but something just seemed off for the entire read. I nearly DNF’ed, if I’m honest. The story seemed fine. The writing seemed okay. I just didn’t like it. Personal opinion, I guess. Page Count: 358
Villain Rating: I suppose the Lord Protector should be the main villain of this book, but I’m going to choose Raven instead. She just strikes me more of a truly evil person, somehow, and we didn’t get enough time with the Lord Protector to make a good analysis.
Raven is the woman who adopted Nirrim from the orphanage and raised her like a servant/daughter. Nirrim is ridiculously grateful to her and doesn’t see the controlling abuse that happens. Raven gets mad over little things and hurts the girls in her care, before apologizing and promising it won’t happen again. Typical emotional abuse.
As the story progresses and we learn more and more about Raven, we find she’s nowhere near a nice as she paints herself. She spends her time having Nirrim forge passports and then charging people their life savings for them. She never puts herself in danger, and spends lots of time gallivanting around the Middling sector where she has a lovely house.
This woman stole a baby from its mother because she wanted her to carry on working for her. It turns out she’s Nirrim’s biological aunt, but never told her anything about that, or about her past. This woman is only out for herself and what she can get from the world. A real monster. 6/10
Best Quotes in the Book: The kind of lie that sits between goodness and wrong, just as midnight is the moment between night and morning.
You are my favourite impossible person.
“Nirrim, I can’t be good to you.” “Then be bad.”
I would rather have you for a little time than no time at all.
Wanting illuminates everything you need, and how the world has failed you.
Page Count Total : 2431
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Let me know if you disagree/agree with any of my reviews, or just share with me what you’re reading! I check my mail every day so I’ll always respond quickly!
As always, Happy Reading!
Claire
Love the Villain 