A REVIEW OF THE BOOK OF SECRETS by M. L. Little

Hellooo and happy weekend! I hope you've all had a lovely week and your weekend is just as lovely. My weekend will include watching Ant-Man and the Wasp and agonizing because I NEED TO WATCH ENDGAME IMMEDIATELY AND I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK. HAHAHAHA. prayforme

But I'll spare you my torture and move on. For this week's post I'm bringing you something I don't do a lot of: a book review!

Wayyyy back last summer, I received a free ebook of The Book of Secrets by M. L. Little to review. (Thanks so much to the author for the opportunity to read her book!) And it took me wayyyy too long to get around to reading it-- January, to be exact. And here is the long-planned-and-overdue review.

(WARNING: Emily's book reviews are quite unorganized and really just a word dump of all her thoughts on the book she is reviewing. Please excuse her.)

THE BOOK OF SECRETS

Okay, first of all, how gorgeous is that cover?

To avoid as much of my rambling as possible, here's the official synopsis:

After Gabriel Draven smuggles home the Stone of the Seven Realms, his fear of facing consequences launches him and his oddball family on a rollicking run for their lives across the world they only thought they knew. As his journey takes him out of his realm and into another, Gabriel discovers that the deepest mystery lies at the heart of his own family, and he must do whatever it takes to find his way back home.

Strong and unapologetic, full of vivid, well-timed simile and lilting rhythm, bright with humor, at times bursting into a depth of pure simplistic beauty, The Book of Secrets looks far beyond the typical medieval swords-and-sorcery and, instead, introduces mystical creatures, absurd new worlds, and, at its heart, a hymn of praise to the complicated bond of siblinghood.

This book had me drawn in from the very first sentence. It opens mysteriously-- just the kind of beginning I love!-- and already has you asking all kinds of questions. (And let me just tell you, it keeps you wondering for a while. So strap in for the ride.)

The setting is just delightful. It's obviously a fantasy world, but it's also pretty similar to our world in some ways. For one, there are things like refrigerators and cars. Nooot what you'd expect in this type of setting, but it makes it so charming and interesting. It was somewhat similar to the world in my current WIP, but other than that I can't think of anything else like it.

There was a perfect amount of eeriness in the setting and the plot. If you know me you know I loveeee eerie elements in stories. Here it comes from the mystery of what happened to the Dravens' mother, the legend of Rex Bellum, and the stone that Gabriel carries. I adore it all.

There were also some amazing creatures. Wolfdragons, shrugcats, nullians, castle dragons?? I'LL TAKE ONE OF EACH PLEASE. (Maple the dog was adorable as well. Even though she wasn't a fantastical creature. xD)

Now, onto the best part: the CHARACTERS, of course!! Our cast is the Draven siblings: Ren, Gabriel, Hollis, and Patch. I absolutely LOVED every one of these guys. First there's Ren, our precious quirky girl with the secrets that drive her brother. Then there's Gabriel, of course, said brother and our protagonist who cares so much about his family and has so many doubts with all this crazy stuff that's consuming his life. Hollis is the most adorable ready-to-roll little dude who seems to think he's older than he is, and Patch is the precious baby with lines like "We should break his face."

These siblings' relationships were SO believable. They argued just like siblings, but at the same time you could just tell how deeply they all cared about each other. And like I already mentioned, their dialogue was GREAT. They played off each other so well. One of my favorite parts:

"Stop trying to be a hero!" he yelled into the chaos. 
"Why?" Hollis yelled back.
They dodged a second arrow, which lodged itself, vibrating, into the leather sofa.
"Because I very much want you to live, you idiot!"

This is an example of just one of these sibling interactions that made me laugh out loud. I can't express how much I loved them. They're now for sure some of my very favorite fictional siblings ever.

That being said, this book did make me chuckle quite a few times. And it's really rare that a book makes me laugh. The dialogue was definitely a highlight.

I do have to say I was a BIT confused in parts. Like, there were some questions that really weren't clearly answered for me. BUT I'm not going to lie, that actually happens to me pretty frequently when I read because I get distracted and stop paying attention. xD It's absolutely not because a book doesn't hold my attention, it's just a problem I have with staying focused and missing some key words or sentences or hey, even paragraphs. And I also read this book over the course of a little over a month (again, nooot because I was bored! because it was an ebook, I read it on my phone and that's just not my preferred way to read. so even though I was 100% enjoying the book, I didn't get as excited about picking up my phone to read as I would have a physical book.), so that didn't help. I'm sure if I would have read it more quickly I wouldn't have missed as much. (And I DO plan to reread it at some point, so hopefully I'll pick up more then!)

Another good thing about it was that it pretty much had the same feel throughout the whole book. I've read books before that started out feeling a certain way, and I would think that I was going to love that book, and then the atmosphere would kind of shift and change my opinion by the end. I don't think this happened with this book. It felt pretty much the same all the way through but at the same time I thoroughly enjoyed every word of it. I was never ever bored or burnt out. The story never felt slow to me. And even if there were a few parts that some people might consider slow, the characters made up for that with the dialogue I've already praised.

Overall, I absolutely loved The Book of Secrets. I mean, it's got pretty much everything I love in a book-- fantasy, fantastic characters and relationships (including sibling relationships which is always a plus), emotional plotlines, and a tad of eeriness. It really reminded me of a cross between The Chronicles of Narnia (with the four siblings, and the allegorical aspects that started to emerge toward the end), Lord of the Rings (with the stakes and the emotion and the object that Gabriel carries that has such a toll on him), and I'm pretty sure something else I had thought of but I forgot what it was. xD Basically you just need to read this book as soon as possible because you won't regret it. I'm going to have to buy myself a physical copy and, well, that should tell you how much I loved it. Four out of five stars! I miiight even give it 4.5/5.

Also, on Goodreads it's listed as The Book of Secrets: Seventh Realm #1 so apparently that means it's the first book in a series??? UM YES PLEASE! I'LL TAKE THE NEXT BOOK NOW PLEASE! I can't wait to dive back into Gabriel's world again!

GUYS. I have a very special announcement.

Remember last week when I told you that I was on the list of stories being considered for Havok's Season 2 anthology?

Well...

ONE OF MY STORIES WAS CHOSEN.

*cue forever screaming*

My story, Careful What You Hunt For, will be featured in the anthology! And I couldn't be more excited!! What makes it even better is that I'll be in there with some lovely friends of mine. A biiig congratulations to you guys, as well! LET'S FREAK OUT TOGETHER!!

Go on over to the Havok website and give all the anthology authors some love! And once again, thank you all so much for reading and commenting and supporting my stories! This wouldn't have happened without you. And it's so surreal that my story is going to be PHYSICALLY IN YOUR HANDS very soon.

Alll right. So have you read The Book of Secrets? (You need to.) Do you like reading ebooks? And who else gets really easily confused when they're reading? Tell me I'm not the only one. xD