The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

This. Book. Needs. More. Love. *clap emoji*

This is an absolutely amazing book ❤️❤️ I genuinely have no idea why this book isn’t more popular or well known in the online book community because it’s amazing 😍

IT’S SO GOOD!!!

Okay, so moving on from my fangirling just a little. This book was picked up on a whim, when I saw it in the Works for £4 and really liked the cover. I never expected this to become one of my favourite books ever… but here we are. I had presumed from the cover I have that this book was a YA, and therefore set certain expectations. But it definitely isn’t a YA read and the book surpassed all these expectations with ease, being deeper, grittier and less cliche than I was expecting.

The world building for this book was done incredibly well, with the fantasy side beautifully integrated into the “normal” world. The vastly different social etiquette in place due to the drastic lifestyle differences and knowledge that they possess is incredibly interesting to delve into and experience, especially with the differences shown between personality styles and experiences.

The tension, the drama, the edge of your seat feeling is just absolutely done perfectly and I would kill for a sequel just so I can dive back into this world again and live there for a while. I’m so sad that there isn’t one or even a TV or film adaptation, as I think not only does this story need to be heard by more people, but that it would also transition so well onto a screen.

I really don’t want to say too much more because this book is absolutely fantastic and I want you to go into it and experience everything brand new! No spoilers, nothing. Because that way you won’t know what to expect, and isn’t that just the way to do it sometimes?

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is definitely now within my list of all time favourite books! Pick it up if you want a sci-fi fantasy book with timey-wimey elements!

The Hazel Wood

As a lot of you reading this will know, this book received a lot of hype in the book world online. I don’t know if this is because of the premise of the book, the various beautiful covers, or if the publishers just did a really good job of marketing! I would like to say thank you to NetGalley for the free eARC of this book in return for an unbiased review.

This book follows Alice as she tells us about her life, we are sped through her younger years on the road with her mum Ella, essentially being homeless, until they end up stationary, finally, in New York. But Alice is noticing some weird things happening around her, and they’re resurfacing memories that she had subconsciously pushed deep down. This is when things start getting… weird.

I won’t be saying any more in order to keep this spoiler free, but I really liked the way the book progressed from this point. There is a strong and frequently mentioned link to fairy tales and when this fully gets underway it’s incredibly gripping and engrossing. I enjoyed the twists and turns and discovering the details as Alice does, and I absolutely loved the end half of the book! But… the very end was a bit… eh…

I feel bad for saying that, after such an amazing book all the way through, but the wrap up of this story felt rushed, incomplete, unsatisfying, and as if Melissa Albert didn’t know how to end the story. It could’ve been so much better if there had just been a bit more tweaking of this section. There is going to be a sequel which is expected to be published in 2019, and I am sure I’m going to pick it up as I need more of this world and to learn more about Alice, Ella and the Hinterland. I just really hope Melissa Albert improves on how she ends books, and that her editors help her along with this because this could have been a five-star book. As it is, it was a very enjoyable 4-star read and I am looking forward to finding out more about the world (if it’s possible with the ending we got…).

 

The Guilty Reader

I don’t read enough.

There I said it, I definitely don’t. I have my dissertation to think about and so much other stuff that sadly takes priority right now, along with me just plain being lazy. Looking at my books when I’m at university is a bit of a guilt trip, I really want to read them. They’re there because I want to read them. But I just don’t have the time!

It’s even worse when I visit home, which I did recently for the Easter holidays. I get to see all my old favourite reads, which is lovely, but I also get to see the 150+ books I own that are on my tbr list. And I know I don’t have time to read them! Part of me wants to declutter and unhaul some of these books just to make the list more manageable, but I feel like that’s a waste of money It’s genuinely a struggle. I don’t feel like I’m ever at home long enough to be able to sit on a decision of unhauling and really make up my mind to get rid of some of this absolutely massive tbr. I picked these books up for a reason, I clearly want to read them. But will I ever actually get round to it? Who knows? Maybe once my dissertation is finished and I move back into my parents’ house in the summer I can just spend all of my time reading and try and get through as many books as possible.

Unfortunately, I think any sort of action has to be taken a few months in the future. I need to focus on finishing up my higher education as best as I can and that doesn’t involve setting reading challenges for myself… sadly…

For now, I just have to live with the fact that my tbr pile is far too large and there is nothing that can be done at the minute about this other than trying not to buy any more books. I am on an attempted book buying ban from now on! Let’s see how long that lasts!