The Handmaid’s Tale (Trump’s wet dream)

I finally read it! Okay so there seems to be societal pressure to read these modern classics, and after reading this book I get why, but at the same time please don’t feel like you must read these. This book is amazing and I loved it but if it’s not something you care about then don’t worry about it.

Anyways, that was a bit of a tangent that I went on so let’s get back to an actual review of this book. As you likely know, this book is a dystopian which is set within a world where there is an issue with mass infertility. We follow Offred (of Fred, as in Fred owns her…) as a Handmaid, she lives in a rich man’s house and must have sex with him in the aim to become pregnant and provide this household with offspring. If the Handmaid does give birth then the baby is straight away taken by the Wife of the house and is raised as their own child, with the Handmaid being moved on to the next household to serve the next family. Terrible, I know, but there is so much more depth, and therefore worse parts, to this world that I’ll leave you to find out yourself if you decide to read this book.

This book, despite being written a few decades ago, is still relevant today in a somewhat unsettling manner. If you’re a woman you will definitely recognise the exaggerated societal pressures and expectations within this book (blokes, you’ll probably see it too, please don’t take offense) that’ll strike a chord.

Overall, this book is one to give a shot if dystopians are your thing and if you want to read about Trump’s ideal world! Because I can only imagine how happy Trump would be if this was the reality and he was in charge *eye roll*

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

Okay so I did this backwards, I actually reviewed This Cruel Design (book 2) first. So if you’re interested then that review is available here! I reviewed that one first as I had received an ARC copy from the publishers and wanted to put up my review to coincide with the books release. This is also the first time I’ve been able to slot my review in, despite me finishing this book on the 8th October… so let’s get into the actual review!

Of course, I LOVED this book!!! It was absolutely amazing and I was completely engrossed from start to end. I adored our main character Cat and enjoyed slowly learning more about her background and also learning through her about how the world is and what has happened between now and the future in which this book is set.

The sci-fi, coding and tech side was so developed and clearly Emily had researched it well or previously had a good knowledge as it was in so much detail and was so interesting to learn about. It would be pretty cool if it was real! (Let me ignore the real world implications for a bit, okay?).

The ending of this book absolutely murdered me, as in lying on the kitchen floor making weird noises as my (at the time new) flatmate looked on in confusion. She’s not a reader. Yet. But it killed me and I cannot believe I hadn’t read this sooner. If you like any sort of dystopian, sci-fi, techy reads then definitely give this one a go! I will be reading absolutely everything Emily Suvada publishes in the future thanks to these two beauties ♥♥♥

Fractured by Teri Terry

This is the second book in the Slated trilogy by Teri Terry, (check out my review of book one here) which follows a girl named Kyla after she has been through the slating process and has lost her memories.

Yes, this is the middle book in the series, but it definitely doesn’t suffer from middle-book-syndrome! This book not only keeps up the fast pace set by book one but smashed through that and ups the ante yet again, keeping you on the edge of your seat and making the book incredibly difficult to put down.

There is so much character development within this book, as well as introducing new characters and developing them well also. Kyla’s memories are becoming more clear, although still blurry, and she has a great desire to question why she was slated. Who she had been. This is done very well, and feels very realistic and it also feels that it is how a teenage girl would react to this bizarre situation.

I am incredibly invested in the relationships that have been developed throughout these two books, both those that are romantic and platonic, friendly and unfriendly. There is so much thought and attention to detail put into this book and book three can only get bigger and better! I just hope it doesn’t break my heart in the process!

Have you picked up Slated yet? Or any other books by Teri Terry? I’ve only read this series by her but I definitely need to read more from her!

 

Slated by Teri Terry, a review

It’s been many years since I’ve read this book, and I still absolutely adore it and recommend it to anybody who wants some amazingly done ya dystopian! It’s a well-covered genre within the young adult age bracket, and yet this book manages to bring a fresh look to the genre and is incredibly engrossing and absorbing.

I read this when I was 17 (5 years ago now, oh god) and there are two reasons that I know this book was amazing.

1. I was still obsessed and needing to read the rest in the series years later (I couldn’t afford to buy the next two straight away)
2. I read this whole 400+ page book on my phone. I found ways to read it in class, on the bus, when I should’ve been revising for my exams. I was so into it!

This isn’t some mahoosive phone either guys, this is an iPhone 6. This book was so damn good. So obviously I’ve given this 5*s, but why?

First of all, the concept. Our main character Kyla has been “slated”, which means that she was caught doing something illegal and those under 16 have their minds wiped by the government and are placed with a sort of foster family in order to try and give them a second chance at life. Sounds great, sounds like a good solution. But her memories are gone, her personality erased, and she has no clue why.

Teri Terry has mixed dystopian and sci-fi together here to create an interesting and unique concept of a world that has drastically changed, for the worse, since the past but no one can quite see it with the technology and the government blinding them with lies and deceit.

Kyla is a relatable character and a typical teen. But more than that, she also has a great developmental arc and slowly, very slowly, starts to become her own person. Just here, it’s instead of one the government molded rather than our parents. When it comes to the rest of her foster family, you don’t know who to trust. Sides keep changing and the cards in play are never fully revealed. Her mum is the daughter of the assassinated previous Prime Minister, her dad seems to be on her side but there’s something he’s not saying, and her foster sister is a slated too. What did she do?

We also have Ben, beloved Ben. He’s the cause of the romance in this book, and Teri writes him in a way that would make almost anyone fall for him. You need their relationship to succeed. And yes, I know, I don’t like romances. But when they’re intertwined brilliantly with a story arc which is technically separate I just can’t help but fall in love with couples!

Some older readers might be put off by the “ya-ness” of this book, but I urge you to give it a go. I may have been within the age bracket when I read book #1, but I read the next 2 books when I was 21 and adored them both and definitely want to re-read them. Get the from the library, from a charity shop, just give this amazing author and amazing book series a go. You never know, it might surprise you.

Have you read the Slated trilogy? Or any of Teri Terry’s other books? I’ve yet to get around to her other writing but I’m very excited to! I adore it!

July Wrap Up! Hella late but better than never!!| 2018

So this is ridiculously late (just wait until I pop my August TBR up!) but surely it’s better late than never?! Okay, shush just let me get on with it! If you’d rather see this in a video format, then click here for the link to my YouTube July wrap up, which was actually posted within a reasonable time frame! Shocker, I know.

Who-Ology by Cavan Scott    4/5*

This is a fun read which covers the whole history of the show and goes into details about all the doctors, companions, villains and more! As a whovian it was fun to read about some episodes I’ve not been able to get to and have some more depth to the show.

In The Shadow of Hitler by Richard Vaughan-Davies     3/5*

Find my full review here! This was an interesting read, but it didn’t quite hit the mark. Certain aspects were interesting, however, they couldn’t quite make up for the rest of the story to increase my rating.

 

Hit Squad by Sophie McKenzie    4/5*

Find my full review of Hit Squad here! I am so glad I finally finished up this series, this ended the Medusa Project in a really satisfying way, as well as leaving it open enough that it could be picked up in the future! I would absolutely love that, but seeing as it was published in 2012 I doubt Sophie McKenzie is going to write any more in the series. I can always hope though!

Being Nikki by Meg Cabot     4/5*

I’ve been really enjoying this series. Contemporary with a fun twist that really adds another dimension to the story, the ending of this book was really shocking and left me on such a cliffhanger!

 

Othello by William Shakespear    1/5*

Oh my god, I HATED this!!! I just could not get through it and ended up DNFing it! Maybe one day I’ll pick it back up again, and I’d like to watch an adaptation seeing as it is supposed to be performed. But for now, I’m leaving it be.

 

Fractured by Teri Terry     4/5*

This is the second installment in the Slated trilogy and I really enjoyed it! It has been years since I read Slated (around 5!) so I’m really happy that I still love this series and I’m excited for Shattered!

 

The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse    4/5*

I listened to this book via audiobook (thank you library) and sadly I think this might’ve made me less emotionally attached to the characters, and with a book like this, I personally feel that this is an important part. So maybe this could’ve gotten 5* if I’d read a physical copy, or maybe it was the writing. Either way, I still recommend this read!

The Eye of the North by Sinéad O’Hart    4/5*

I absolutely fell in love with these beautifully written characters and the world building was fantastic. I genuinely felt sad that the story was over and hope that there could be a sequel in the future! A great 8-12 read and I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from Sinéad O’Hart in the future!

That Old Black Magic by Cathi Unsworth     4/5*

Find my full review here! This was a really really odd book, but don’t let that stop you from reading it! Magical, dark and intense, this book has the potential to suck you in and only spit you out hours later.

Next up, the 7in7Readathon reads! Find my wrap up and reading vlog here!

The Punisher    3/5*

I enjoyed this comic, however, this was my first experience with this format and I had been expecting to get more of the story within the issue. Therefore I finished it feeling slightly disappointed, but I still enjoyed the story arc and may finish it up in a bind up in the future.

Norse Mythology by Neal Gaiman    4.5/5*

I really enjoyed Gaiman’s take on the Norse God’s and their antics! The short stories all lead on beautifully to the next and come together at the end to create one larger overall story. I definitely recommend this one!

 

The Essential Spike Milligan   3/5*

I think I could’ve given this 4/5* if I wasn’t reading it for a readathon. It made me read through this a lot faster than I would’ve liked and took away some of the impacts. I want to reread this at some point and see how I feel then.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell    4/5*

I can’t believe this took me so long to read! I’m so happy that I give contemporaries a chance nowadays. This is a deep book that follows Cath through her discovering college and being introduced to adult life, slowly but surely.

After Anna by Alex Lake    4.5/5*

This book fucked me up so bad. I 100% recommend! Even though I could tell all of the “twists” I was still completely hooked and couldn’t put it down. Total mind fuck! (a great compliment for a thriller!)

Now into the BookTubeAThon reads! Find my wrap up here in blog format and here in video format!

I Used to Know That Geography by Will Williams    4/5*

This is a great little geography book and written in a way that keeps you interested (rather than feeling like it’s a textbook!). Great for those wanting to recap the subject or be introduced to the GCSE (14-16 yo) standard of the subject

Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery    4/5*

Although I found the middle section of this book (before Anne turns 12/13) quite tedious, after finishing I absolutely adore Anne and can’t wait to read more following this young girls life! Definitely very invested haha.

 

And that is my wrap up! I read loads this month and took a loooong time to recover after it! Hence this really late post haha, but I’m getting myself back on track now… before I go and leave for uni. So hopefully I can stay this way! I don’t think I’ll keep this level of reading up but I’m really glad I got through what I did.

The Woodlands – SPOILERS!!!

** spoiler alert ** *SPOILERS*
Sorry about the spoilers but I just had to write some stuff and damn there’s a lot in this book!!!

This took me a little while to read because I was reading it on my phone and forgot about it as I was doing my A Level exams at the same time, but I really enjoyed this book. I got this book for free on Apple iBooks so I wasn’t expecting anything amazing, but I was totally wrong! This dystopian world was different to the others I’ve read before, and that’s always a good thing as there always seem to be a lot of similarities within this genre.

I liked the segregation of jobs at the beginning and how Rosa was allocated a job she had no idea she was good at, just a small little reminder that we could be great at something if we just give it a go is something we should all try to remember. The twist of the girls having been forced into multiple pregnancies without any real awareness of the situation was shocking and as a female very hard hitting. Such a good twist to be fair, but my stomach was so twisted at the thought. The way the two girls (Rosa and Clara) handled their pregnancies was really well written, as both had very different opinions but still cared for the other girl and attempted to cater to the others opinion and not push their own agenda.

By the end, I was ridiculously worried about Joseph and truly thought he was dead, which broke my heart as I could imagine how devastated and numb Rosa would feel, but finding out he was still alive and risked his life to see Rosa when he heard her in pain was amazing and heart breaking in a different and beautiful way.

If you’ve read this review despite not reading the book, and are still interested, then I definitely recommend picking it up. I very much enjoyed it and want to read the sequels at some point. Something that’s a little bit different in the world of dystopias.

Beneath The Surface will get under your skin

This book is so so good! 5/5* from me. Firstly thank you to NetGalley and NineStar for a free ebook of this novel in return for an honest review. I had attempted to read a NineStar published Sci-Fi already this year (again thanks to NetGalley) and disliked it so much that it’s the first book I have ever DNF’d. I was pretty worried coming into this book that I would end up doing the same but Rebecca Langham has written an absolutely engrossing novel.

This isn’t a faced paced Sci-Fi, and that really isn’t an insult! Instead, it is a slow moving, dystopian world, where you gradually learn more about the characters and their backgrounds and start to form certain suspicions about the Outsiders (one of my suspicions was confirmed near the end of the book) who are treated poorly by the humans and forced to live underground and have many limitations placed upon them. The oppression of the Outsiders and the feelings of the humans who are around them is an incredibly interesting plot and reflects attitudes of society today.

As anyone who knows me is aware, I really really don’t like romance in books. The mushiness has always just annoyed me in the past, but I absolutely love how it was written here and the way it plays so naturally into the story and does not feel forced at all. The LGBT romance is written very naturally, unlike some other stories I’ve read where it feels forced and not simply a natural progression of the plot, and is a very sweet relationship.

The only issue I had with this book was that the ending felt a little rushed to me, as everything was wrapped up very quickly. I understood how the author was attempting to make the reader feel, in that everything happened very quickly after certain events and change came about in a small time period, but I don’t think she quite managed to capture it the way she wanted. I wanted more!! All in all, this was an amazing book and I will 100% be reading any sequels to learn more about these characters and the world they live in. The writing in this book is very well done, and without having read up on it I would never have known it was Rebecca Langham’s first novel. Looking forward to seeing more from this author!

My dystopian dreams fullfilled

This book is AMAZING. Before I get into my babbling about how much I loved this book, first I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for this book. Okay, back to the amazingness that is Dhonielle Clayton’s writing and this story she has managed to beautifully capture on paper. I sound incredibly cheesy, but I genuinely didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. The cover of this book suggests a girly contemporary (not my thing), but the synopsis sounded promising so I thought I’d give it a shot. We start out being introduced to the “Belles”, and our main Belle Camellia Beauregard. The normal people of this world, in our fictional city of Orléans, are born grey, with it being said that it’s a curse from a God. The Belles are born with not only coloured skin, hair and eyes, but also the ability to change the features of others from colourings to the physical shape of their bodies. This is, as you probably guessed, is coveted by the rich in this society and the Belles are therefore allocated to different “houses” which belong to the highest of the society, with the “favourite” Belle being allocated to the Royal Palace to work with the Royal Family and those they deem worthy. But there is a darker secret that lies beneath this seemingly sweet exterior, and when Camellia starts to uncover these secrets everything starts to fall away.

I absolutely loved the world building within this book, I liked the world when it was perfect and pristine, but as the darker tones come in and more about Orléans is discovered I really enjoyed learning the cities dark secrets and the issues which are present in our societies but seem greatly enhanced here. I personally feel like the message from this book can be likened to that of George Orwell’s 1984, in that if our society continues to behave in a manner which is detrimental to the majority of the population then a higher power will take over and remove freedom whilst retaining its illusion. In 1984 this is done to relationships between families and friends, whereas in The Belles this is instead done to both outer and inner appearances (as The Belles can also influence personalities, although outer beauty is focused on in this first book).

This book is definitely a brilliant addition to the dystopian genre, with me wishing that the sequel was available the second I finished the book (I’m not even lying I went to go check and it’s not even on Goodreads!! 😦 ). I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this book to support Clayton and add to my shelf and I 100% need to read the sequel as soon as I can get my hands on it! I may just be adding to the hype-train for this book, but personally, I believe it to be worth it.