Review: Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson [Spoiler Free!]

I don’t even know where to start with this book. Obviously, I should start with what the book is about. But I’m not really sure that I can do it justice. Or explain it in a way that makes sense. But I’m going to try.

Warbreaker is a high fantasy novel following a slew of characters as two kingdoms, Idris and Hallandren, are on the brink of war with each other. There are way too many to explain here, but here are the highlights:

- A princess from Idris who is betrothed to the God King in Hallandren.

- Her sister, set on saving her sister and seeing her returned safely to Idris.

- A lesser god named Lightsong the Brave who isn’t quite sure how he received that title.

- Vasher. A bit of an enigma, and would prefer to keep it that way.  

The first thing that really drew me to this book was its prologue. A couple months back, I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to read and I was half trying to pick something just based on what I was in the mood for, but I also was trying to read something fast-paced that I could get through quickly. I pulled 5 books from my shelves and read the first few pages just to see what would grab me, and this one grabbed me so much that I ended up reading the entirety of the prologue. Unfortunately, I wanted to be done with whatever book I chose within a few days, and I wasn’t sure that I could do that with a book that was 600+ pages, especially since I was still in classes. So I set it aside, waiting for the right time to pick it up again. And at the end of May, that’s exactly what I did. And full disclosure, I freakin’ loved it. But I’m going to try to be accurate and critical in my review so it’s not just me gushing about how much I loved everything.

This is my 7^th Brandon Sanderson book. Before this, I’d read his Mistborn trilogy, the first book in his Rithmatist series, and the first two books in his Reckoners trilogy (which I’ll be finishing ASAP—I’ve been waiting for my physical copy of Calamity to reach me). So far, I have yet to be disappointed by a book that he’s written, so he’s rather quickly climbing to the top of my favorite authors list.

As with all of Sanderson’s adult work, Warbreaker takes place within the Cosmere. If you’re unfamiliar with the Cosmere, it would take me far too long to explain, so I won’t go too in-depth. Basically, it’s a universe with several different worlds. So far, none of the stories from separate worlds have overlapped (AKA you won’t be spoiled for Mistborn if you read Warbreaker or vice versa) but eventually, once more Cosmere books are published, I believe that many things should come together at some point. I don’t know the full scope or breadth of this, because I haven’t even gotten through all of the Cosmere books that have been published so far, but it’s a pretty large-scale endeavor.

OK, so now let’s talk about the world that Warbreaker takes place upon. As always, Sanderson’s world-build is impressive. Both of the kingdoms within this world are rather distinct, with completely different religions and beliefs, which are constantly prominent and discussed throughout. Both are well fleshed-out, intricate, and rather interesting. In this world, there is a magic system called Breath or BioChroma. I don’t want to ruin anything for you (part of the fun is learning all of the intricacies of the magic system) so I won’t go into too much detail here. Essentially, this magic system is based around color. Breath can be used in various ways when used in combination with color. And that’s about all I’m willing to say about the magic system, because it’s just really interesting to learn about throughout the book. It’s just really intricate and really intriguing to learn about.

The characters in this book are also a major strong point. There are a lot of really interesting characters, and they all have really strong character arcs. My personal favorite character to follow was Lightsong, a lesser god. He's really funny and sarcastic, and I found myself always wanting to delve deeper into his character and learn more about his backstory. Another character who was a highlight for me was Vasher. The prologue is from his POV, and that's initially what drew me in, and I immediately wanted to learn more and more about this really mysterious individual. And then there are the two princesses- Siri, who's very happy-go-lucky, and Vivenna, who's very disciplined. When the book begins, they're presented as polar opposites, but as they begin to develop as characters, you realize that they might be a bit more similar than expected. And in addition to those, there are numerous other side characters who constantly keep you on your toes and guessing as to who you can and can't trust. 

Because there are so many interesting characters, we also get a really interesting plot. Each character has their own interesting motivation and storyline, and all of those plots are woven together in extremely interesting ways. Sanderson is an amazing writer and knows just when to cut out from a scene and leave you wanting more so that you'll be invested to keep reading. I'd say that this is more of a slower paced book-- a fantasy driven by political maneuvering and intrigue rather than constant battles-- but that's one of the things that I really loved about it. As you continue through the book, you uncover new mysteries to be solved while simultaneously slowly unraveling other mysteries. It's just an intricate, well-crafted plot that I thoroughly enjoyed. 

So, as you can tell from the above ramblings, I thought pretty much every aspect of this book was a strong point. The characters, the plot, the world, and the magic system were all incredibly intriguing and I found myself getting incredibly invested into everything going on. I ended up giving Warbreaker 10 stars out of 10, which of course translates to 5 out of 5 on Goodreads. Seriously, Brandon Sanderson is a master of his craft and has me believing that he can do no wrong.

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The Leveller by Julia Durango [SPOILER FREE REVIEW]

Hey, y'all! I recently read The Leveller by Julia Durango, and despite having a lot of feelings about the book, I didn't want to devote an entire video to reviewing it. So, I decided to do a full written review on here instead. Despite the fact that I'm reviewing it quite soon after its 6/23 release date, I did NOT receive this for review, it's a book I purchased for myself.

Nixy Bauer is a leveller, a pseudo bounty hunter inside of the virtual reality game called MEEP. Because MEEP is a fairly new technology, the government limits how much time people can spend within it per day. When a kid is spending too much time in MEEP, their parents call on Nixy to pull them out, and she's known for being able to pull kids out of MEEP extremely efficiently.

One day, however, she gets a job from the game's creator. His son, Wyn, has blocked himself into MEEP and has left behind a suicide note. It's now Nixy's job to go in after him and retrieve him. However, when Nixy reaches Wyn, she discovers that things are not quite as they seem, because he reveals that he has actually been trapped inside MEEP. Nixy and Wyn must fight their way out if they ever want to get back to the real world.


That concept sounds really intriguing, right? Doesn't it give you Ready Player One vibes? I'll be honest, that's the biggest reason that I picked this up. I've been in the mood to re-read Ready Player One for quite a while, but can't really justify the re-read when I have a reading challenge going on. And I hoped that this would at least be a decent stand-in for Ready Player One. Unfortunately, though, this was just overall disappointing.

My first major problem with the book was the writing. This may sound strange, but I don't typically notice how good or bad the writing is unless I really enjoy it or really dislike it. And in this case, I really disliked it. Everything came across as very juvenile and sometimes reminded me of the way that I worded things when attempting to write stories at the age of 13. Nixy and Wyn were supposed to be 16, but they often spoke and acted like 13 year olds. On top of this, there were some words that were just extremely over-used. Specifically, the word 'truly.' It got to the point where I was going to throw the book if a character said 'truly' ONE. MORE. TIME.

Unfortunately, the problems don't stop there. Overall, I didn't find the plot that intriguing. In fact, it was only vaguely there. After Nixy got into MEEP to rescue Wyn, nothing really happened until the very end, apart from some instalove and some aimless wandering around. Speaking of which, the instalove in this book was really painful and cringe-worthy for me. I don't know how else to describe it except that I was physically cringing at some of the dialogue between Nixy and Wyn within approximately 10 minutes of meeting each other.

I also kind of expected some of the things that I think were supposed to be a surprise. This is generally to be expected, because I've mentioned many times that I can usually guess twists. Durango tried to surprise the reader with the villain reveal, but the foreshadowing was too heavy pretty early on, and she practically blatantly revealed it a while before the official reveal.

However, despite the many problems I had with it, I didn't hate it. I do see potential in the story and the world based on the way that the story ended. I think it will be really interesting to see the real-world implications of the things that happened within the game. I'm assuming that this will be a trilogy (because series apparently just means trilogy in YA anymore), and I hope that the next two books are a little longer and better written so that we can dive a little deeper into this game.

I found it very hard to come up with a rating for this one. Based just on my criticisms alone, it would seem that this book should get an abysmal rating. But for some reason, I somewhat enjoyed it. I would say that my dislike of the book didn't outweigh my like of the book. There's something oddly intriguing and charming about it, and enough loose threads left that I'm curious about what will happen next. I think I would have given this a slightly lower rating if not for the potential that I see in this series. Durango definitely has room to delve deeper into some of the issues that were raised very late on in this first installment, and I hope for everyone's sake that she does, or else the rest of the series will be as bland as this book was.

In the end, I gave The Leveller 6 stars out of 10. I think I would've gone with a 5.5 if not for the potential that I see, but I can only hope that Durango takes this series in a slightly better direction than she took this first book.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl [SPOILER FREE REVIEW]

Hey, y'all! So, I recently read Night Film by Marisha Pessl. Normally, I would film a video review and would eventually get around to writing a review. HOWEVER, given the nature of this book and my opinions on it, I realized that it would be really difficult to articulate my feelings in video form.
But because it was such an interesting read, I had to at least do some sort of review, and decided to just do a written review. So let's jump into it!

Stanislas Cordova is an enigma. This cult horror director hasn't made a public appearance in over 30 years, but maintains a rabid, obsessive fanbase. 

Scott McGrath is a once-revered journalist whose life fell apart when he dug too deep into Cordova's life a few years back. Disgraced and drug through the mud by the media and Cordova's lawyers, his career became irreparable. But, when Cordova's daughter, Ashley, dies in an apparent suicide, McGrath's curiosity and desire for revenge drives him to dig once again into the life and career of Stanislas Cordova. 

This book... the best way that I can describe it is a mindfreak. After finishing the book, I went back and re-watched some of Regan's (PeruseProject on YouTube) videos where she talked about the book, and she said several times that this was one of the most immersive books that she's ever read, and that perfectly hits the nail on the head for me as well. Everything about the world and the characters feels so real and well developed that it felt real. I've made it no secret on here and my YouTube channel that I don't get scared/ freaked out easily. I watched Saw for the first time while chowing down on popcorn and see horror movies in the theater almost solely to see my friends freak out. 

However, this book FREAKED. ME. OUT. (Granted, I'd also just discovered that my hallway is "haunted," but given the fact that I don't believe ghosts exist and that I've been perfectly fine since finishing the book, I think I'm going to chalk it up to Night Film.) Anyway, the best way I can describe my emotional state while reading this is paranoia. While walking down the hall in my dorm, I found myself constantly double-checking to make sure the nonexistent ghost wasn't behind me, and when I went to sleep, I was convinced that every single sound was someone (or that freaking ghost) in my room. Seriously. And I knew it was possibly my most illogical and idiotic reaction to anything ever, but that's just the state of mind that this book put me into. 

As well as messing with my emotions, Night Film also messed with my mind. I found myself constantly questioning what was really going on. One second I would believe one thing, the next second I had completely changed my mind. It felt like the further I got into the book and the more that was uncovered, it just felt like I had less and less of an idea as to what was really going on. That, for me, is the sign of a really great mystery. 

One of the coolest aspects of this book, for me, was that there were visual aspects strewn throughout the book that just added to the immersive experience. If Scott was on a website researching something, there would be a screenshot of the website shown in the book. Images of the case files are also shown several times, and this just added a wonderful visual element to the reading experience.

That doesn't mean that the book is without its flaws, however. While I really liked the characters, I did think that one or two seemed a little stereotypical. Personally, this did not bother me because (as I said), I did really like the characters. However, I know that this might bother some people, so I figured I should at least mention it. 

Per usual, I did think that at least a few aspects of the book were pretty easy to figure out. I do think that these were probably purposeful, however, which is a nice change from just figuring out the twist because it's accidentally obvious. Aside from those few moments, though, I did think that the book was pretty unpredictable. Like I said, it messed with my mind. I found myself chasing different ideas that I was certain were the twists that would ultimately be unsurprisingly thrown in... just to learn a new piece of information 10 pages later which made my idea impossible. So while a couple things were pretty easy to predict, I thought that the book overall was very surprising.

The plot was very engrossing as well. I found myself constantly either thinking about the book or wanting to read the book, and that's always a really great sign. I've found that people are torn half and half between liking and disliking the ending. I'm kind of torn on this. I think that it was a really great ending, but I'm not totally sure how much I liked the ending. I think my opinion on the end sums up my opinion on the book in general. 

It comes down to the dichotomy of appreciation versus liking. I can absolutely appreciate this book, and enjoyed the experience of reading it thoroughly and liked it, but I definitely like some books more than this one even if I would say that Night Film is a better book overall. The best explanation/example that I can use for this is that I gave both Night Film and The Body Electric by Beth Revis the same rating and ranked Night Film higher on my 2015 rankings list because I feel like its slightly better overall than The Body Electric, but I ranked The Body Electric higher on my top 20 standalones because I like it slightly more than I like Night Film. 

So, in the end, I gave Night Film 9.5 stars out of 10. It was a really excellent read, but the appreciation/like dichotomy kept me from giving it a full 10/10.

So, that's it for my review of Night Film by Marisha Pessl! Let me know down in the comments if you have any questions about the book, because I can absolutely answer them for you. Also, if you've read Night Film, tell me what you thought of it! It's such an interesting experience that I feel like there will be many varying opinions on it, so I'd love to hear what everyone else thought.

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Maybelline Fit Me! Shine Free Foundation Stick Review

Hey y'all! I'm doing another makeup review today. This one is going to be the Maybelline Fit Me! Shine Free Foundation Stick. I've been seeing a lot of advertisements about this product and decided it was worth a try.

I was really intrigued by the idea of a stick foundation, and I'm constantly looking for something that's good for my oily skin and comes in several shades, because I'm so pale that I make Edward Cullen look tan. 

... OK, not really. 

But, I do usually need the lightest shade of any face makeup that is available, so I'm always looking for makeup that has a large range of shades, and with a "shine-free" claim, I found it hard to resist. As seen in the above picture, I got 110 Porcelain, which is the lightest shade it comes in. 

What makes this foundation unique (or at least, what Maybelline claims makes it unique) is that it is a gel foundation with an anti-shine powder core. 

While there is a clear color difference in the "anti-shine powder core" and the gel foundation of the outer ring, I was skeptical as to the actual differences between the two, so I went ahead and swatched each of them, as well as the stick as a whole.

As you can see on my hand, the coverage is fairly light, and it matches my skin fairly well. It does look a touch yellowy in the above photos, but did not turn out that way in actual use. As you can see from the individual swatches on my fingers, there is a distinct difference in the formulas of the inner core and outer ring. The inner core, on my pointer finger, is much thinner, lighter, and more lightweight. I actually rubbed it a bit more than I did on the outer ring, and it's still much lighter and thinner. On my ring finger, I just did a light swipe around the outer ring, and found that it was a darker, more yellowy shade, which had a thicker consistency and more coverage. It appears that these two blend to create a foundation that should be able to blend into both warmer and cooler skin tones, as well as fitting a wider shade range. 

First Test:

In both pictures, I had already done my eye makeup. The picture on the left is my natural complexion, the only makeup being my eye makeup. My face had no moisturizer, primer, etc. The only comment I have about this picture is that I don't feel like it fully captured all of the redness of my face without makeup. I have many many acne blemishes which also aren't as apparent in the picture, and those cause my face to be very red, and you can't tell quite as much based on this picture.

The picture on the right is after applying my regular primer (L'Oreal Studio Secrets Color Correcting/ Anti-Redness Primer) and the Maybelline Fit Me! Shine Free Foundation. For the first impression, I used my fingers rather than a brush.  

First Impressions: 

I was really happy with the color of the foundation, because it was actually light enough for my extremely pale skin. After applying the foundation, my skin felt extremely soft, which I really love. However, I did have to apply quite a bit of the foundation to be able to achieve the coverage shown in the picture, especially in my cheeks. I have the hardest time covering the pinkness of my cheeks, and the only way I was remotely able to with this was to dab it on and blend it by patting. 

Long Term Wear:

For a couple days, I used the Fit Me! foundation as my primary foundation and will be playing around with it in multiple ways to see how well the foundation holds up during the day.

Both of these pictures are here to use as references for my starting point- my makeup-less face immediately after going through my skincare routine (which, for a while, has been the AcneFree System). The one on the left was taken without flash, and the one on the right is with flash. I feel like the one on the right is a bit more accurate at depicting the redness of my face, which is why it's included.

Day 1: On its own

For my first test of it, I decided to test how well it stayed throughout the day, without using any other product such as a primer or setting powder. 

I first applied the stick all around my face, and then instead of using my fingers as I had for my first test, I blended it with my E.L.F. studio powder brush, which I think worked better for application. I got better coverage, probably due to the fact that the brush applies less pressure to the makeup than my fingers do. As shown above, my skin tone looks completely even, and very matte.

Pictures using flash make my face look like it has a bit of an odd coloration, which actually isn't the case. I'll have to play around with this a bit, but this definitely could be one of the "dreaded white cast" foundations. On the plus side, however, it does make my skin feel really soft once again! As you can (slightly) see, the foundation eliminated a lot of my face's redness.

By the end of the day...

By the end of the day, I felt like it was completely gone. I looked at it several times throughout the day, and I'd say it probably only stayed completely in place until maybe 1 or 2, which was only 3-4 hours after I applied it. Overall, I was not really impressed with how well it stayed on by itself.

Day 2: Integrated into my normal routine

For day 2, I inserted it into the place of my regular foundation. I used my L'Oreal Studio Secrets Color Correcting/ Anti-Redness Primer, and then applied the Fit Me! Foundation Stick and used my E.L.F. Small Stipple Brush to blend it, to see how it reacted to a less dense brush. I followed that up by using Physician's Formula Loose Mineral Powder to set it. 

Unfortunately, I totally forgot to take a picture of my face prior to applying the makeup, but it was pretty comparable to the other pre-makeup looks. Just as the day before, the makeup started out very matte. Both of the above pictures are without flash, but I have a bit different coloration in them due to the backgrounds. Also, because we've been going through climate changes, my face was fairly dried out on the lower cheek area near my mouth.

This picture was taken about midday. As you can see, the large pimple on my chin wasn't covered well at all, and the foundation was clinging to the dry skin around my chin and cheeks. Rather than looking and feeling soft, it both looked and felt pretty rough.

By the end of the day...

I'd say I got fairly similar results as the day before. As you can see in the photos, the pimple on my chin got worse throughout the day, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was due to the foundation. I usually have several blemishes, but it's been a while since I got that large and painful of a pimple, and I didn't change anything else about my skincare routine. The flakiness was even worse by the end of the day. It kinda reminded me of using a cheap stick concealer that just pigments scabbed pimples rather than concealing them.

Overall Opinion On...

- Color: I think the color was really good. It's rare that something is pale enough for me, and it came in a huge range of colors. If you're like me and have a more cool/pinky undertone to your skin, it might be just the slightest bit yellowy, but I did't think the color looked bad at all.

-Coverage: It's definitely light to medium coverage. It's buildable, but I did find it a little difficult at first to cover my cheek redness.

- Staying power: Not the best. It didn't stay that well with or without the primer. My cheeks and blemishes were definitely red by the end of the day.

- Skin Types: I wouldn't recommend this for people with dry skin, and maybe not even people with combo skin. If you have dry skin, it will be super flakey. It never looked terrible on my oilier parts of my face, but my cheeks didn't look great most of the day. 

Will I Use It Again?

By no means will it become a part of my everyday routine. I'm also not going to be throwing it away either. I'll probably stick it in my purse for when I'm out of the house and need to touch up or maybe even to be used as foundation when I'm on a road trip or something like that. In the end, it just didn't work well enough for me to use it on a regular basis.

So, there's my review of the Maybelline Fit Me! Shine Free Foundation Stick! I hope you enjoyed it, and that it helped you decide whether or not you'd like to try it out. Or, if you've already tried it, what did you think of it? Did it work better for you? Let me know all of this in the comments, as well as any other questions you may have for me. I'd love to answer them! See you next time, y'all!