Last Year I Was Reading is hosted by Maria @ ReadingMaria. Every Thursday (or whichever day you choose), take your current read and compare it to what you were reading this exact time last year.
- Which one do you like better?
- What is different about the books?
- Any special facts/things you want to make note of or bring attention to?
Last year, I read/reviewed Instant Karma.
Today, I read and reviewed The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire #1).
While both novels appear for a young adult audience at first glance, The Drowning Empire series is more adult than YA given the ages of the characters. It still has many YA themes, which is why it could be classified as such, but just at the upper end. On the other hand, Instant Karma is more middle-ground to younger in the YA area. Both series are enjoyable to readers of all ages, so this is just my interpretation of the levels.
Karma is a simpler story as it follows one girl’s journey of self-discovery after she has to redo a presentation/project. The Bone Shard Daughter is more complex given that there are five points of view in the novel with each character going through their own journey. It is still an easy-ish read as the story itself isn’t overly complex, but it does have a lot more information to track.
Karma also has a romance story angle as the two characters start as enemies, but realize the other is not that bad and they form a connection. Bone Shard includes romance within the pages, but it is not a focus of the story and instead, it focuses on the adventure and development of the characters.
Both novels take place in a fictional universe, however, Bone Shard is a fantasy setting while Karma is a fictional town in a more realistic California small beach town setting.
While I enjoyed both novels, The Bone Shard Daughter was more re-readable compared to Instant Karma. I love the concept of the latter, but there are some elements that I wish were done better.
Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What book were you reading this time last year and how does it compare to your current read?
chonkybooksreview.com 
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