An author you want to read more from this year?

📚📚📚

Teri Terry!! I still have one book by her that is on my physical tbr, and more that I’ve not gotten my mitts on yet!

She’s a fantastic YA fantasy author and I’ve adored everything by her I’ve read so far. I can’t wait to delve more into her different books and hopefully I’ll love those just as much too!

We’re about to start out first full week of 2022, I hope that you’re doing well, that you have amazing books, and that we can make 2022 much better than 2020 and 2021 were!

Image ID: a white woman stood in front of white bookshelves. In her hands she holds four books vertically. From left to right these are: Shattered, Fractured, Slated, and Books of Lies. All by Teri Terry

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My best books of 2019!

 

I read a lot less 5* reads in 2019 compared to 2018, but I still had a decent selection to pick from for this list and I love all of these books!

I’m going to start off with my absolute favourite of the year, which seems backwards, but I can’t rank all of my other favourites so I may as well get the #1 spot up first!

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, translated by Geoffrey Trousselot, is an absolutely gorgeous book.

There’s a small coffee shop in a basement which has a secret, people know about it but they can’t believe that it’s true. The staff in the shop will only tell the customers who they believe need the experience. And it’s not as positive as many believe before they sit down. But their lives are forever changed, big impacts are made. This book is beautifully written and I only picked it up randomly for NetGalley, I’m so so glad that I did. I recommend this above everything else on this list, which is a big statement seeing as these are all 5* reads for me. However, I feel like this book will appeal to many different audiences and so I really do encourage you to at least look at the GoodReads page and read the synopsis (link here) and consider picking it up. If you’re interested, then you can find my full review here.

Now onto the rest of my favourite books! There are 10 books for the rest of this list and they are in the order which I read them throughout 2019 (to avoid putting them in any other sort of order, because I really can’t decide).

The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon (The Bone Season #2) 

I read this on the train going back down to Portsmouth for my heart operation after my Christmas break, it’s around 8 hours of travelling so I had a lot of time to sit with the book and I really enjoyed it. Although the ending annoyed me so much and I had to stay composed because I was on a train!! Another amazing book from Samantha Shannon. Read my full review of the book here.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale #1)

I’m massively late to this party, of course, but I finally picked up this book in a secondhand shop and read it early on in 2019. It was amazing. I loved the commentary on female autonomy and sadly it did really hit a chord with me, despite being written “so many” years ago. If you’re interested my full review is here.

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen (Orphan Monster Spy #1)

I got this the day before I started by BookTube channel, and it took me until now to read it. There’s a bit of a theme here but if I’m getting through my backlog I won’t complain! This YA WWII based book follows a young Jewish girl who can pass as an Aryan and becomes a spy in a Nazi girls school. Check out my full review here.

Book of Lies by Teri Terry

I really love everything I’ve read so far from Teri Terry, she is truly one of my favourite authors. This book follows a girl who isn’t loved by her family, they don’t care about her at all. But then she finds out a bit secret, something that she wasn’t supposed to know. Magical and mystical, this is such an interesting book. My review is here.

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman (The Devouring Gray #1)

This is the first book that I ever requested from a publisher and it’s the first one that was sent to me! So of course this book will always have a special place for me, but on top of that it’s a fantastic YA book with sprinkles of magic and just enough weirdness to keep you completely hooked. I can’t wait to read book #2! Check out my full review here.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman (Arc of the Scythe #2)

Have you read this series yet? Why not? If you like dystopian or just a great YA directed book then this is 100% a series you should pick up! There is no more natural death in the world, it’s been cured. So scythes must kull the population in order to prevent it getting out of control. But of course there are a lot of issues with this plan, it was never going to work. Check out my full review of Scythe here(which is book #1) and my review for Thunderhead here.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Illuminae Files #1)

Another book I’ve finally read! This multi-media sci-fi YA is gripping and so interesting and I finally understand why people raved about it so much for years! I definitely need to get my hands on the rest of the trilogy and I can’t wait to carry on with this story and see where it goes. See my full review here.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I actually DNF’d this at my first attempted reading this year, but at a push from so many people online I picked it up to give it another go. I’m so rediculously glad that I did as this book is magical and wonderous and such a great read! If you’ve seen the film you’ll still love the book as there were only a few changes and I’m very glad I listened to everyone who told me to pick this back up! My full review is here.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

I read this all in one day, sat by a paddling pool my aunt had set up on the hottest day of the year in the UK at 40 Celsius, that’s 104 Fahrenheit for those of you in the US. I was dying! Yet despite that, I was glued to my seat, gripped within this story. A fictional tale inspired by the suffering of so many from slavery in the US. My full review of this novel can be found here.

The Aliens are Coming by Ben Miller

This was the first book I read after finishing my MSc dissertation. I’m so glad I picked up a science-y non-fiction as this was perfect for me in the mindset that I was in and it was also really fun (Ben Miller is a UK comedian if you didn’t know) as well as teaching me more about the search for other life forms. Check out my review here.

And that’s it! Those are all of my favourite books of 2019! I did read a few more books which I gave 5*s throughout the year (Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein and Night by Elie Wiesel). I would have ranked them lower than these books, however, and given that there are already 11 books on this list I decided to cut them out. What was your favourite (or your favourites) of 2019? Have you read any of the books that are on my list? Let me know!!

 

Yet another amazing book

I love Teri Terry. I was pretty sure of this already, but I’d only read one series from her – her Slated series. I adored it and sped through each book so quickly and so when I saw this book in the charity shop I knew I had to grab it and I’m so glad I did because I loved it!

This book follows one of two twins, who were separated at birth due to a prophecy that one would be evil and one would be influenced by her. The character development was amazing and done so incredibly well, as well as having an intricate magic system that’s well developed and easily understandable.

Basically, I loved this book, I read through it so quickly and found it incredibly hard to put down. I felt massively invested in the plot and also with the girls and the ending was intense and also made me think. The way Teri Terry left the book at the end means that the world carries on within your mind, and you think about it for a while after finishing the written word. She seems to have an talent for this and I think it’s a beautiful way to write a story and have it be poignant for many readers.

Teri Terry is a beautiful writer and I look forward to getting around to all of her books, she is 100% a favourite author of mine.

Shattered by Teri Tery

This series can’t be over? Surely?

…

Nope! Teri Terry has a prequel within this world and OMG I need to read it!!!!! But this is about the third book in the Slated trilogy, so let’s get down to business. First obvious thing first, I adored this book, 5/5*, it was amazing.

We not only get the wrapping up of so many loose ends, but at the beginning of the book new ends are created, and some are created by splitting apart threads we had thought were all twisted and wrapped up.

There were so many heartbreaking moments, those which will shock you and those which make you feel warm and fuzzy. There is romance present in this book, and surprisingly for me I absolutely loved it! It took a backseat to the main plot, but was also very much present throughout the book (which I find to represent real life and is my preferred romance representation and gives me the most heart fluttering feels), as well as being slowly developed over time rather than rushed into.

This is definitely a series you should start if you haven’t already (check out my review for book one here and give it a go!) and if you’ve not gotten around to finishing up the series then I hope this pushes you towards it as I massively enjoyed it and am so excited to read more from Teri Terry in the future! I definitely need to get more of her books!!!

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!

September Wrap Up| 2018

I didn’t manage to read all of my September TBR (click here to see that) this month for various reasons. Two books I own physical copies of, and they weren’t coming to uni with me. I didn’t manage to get to them before I left as I was busy preparing so they are unread. There was also one eARC, which I simply didn’t have time for, and I also DNF’d one book. But I’ll talk about that a little further on, as well as having a separate review for it in more depth in the future.

Shattered by Teri Terry (Slated trilogy book #3) ***** 5 stars!!

I have greatly enjoyed every single book in this trilogy and it’s a crime that it took me so long to get to books 2 and 3! A really engrossing and well-written series that I also feel has managed to be unique in an oversaturated world of dystopian young adult literature.

Aaru by David Meredith (Aaru Cycle book #1) **** 4 stars

This book surprised me. I will admit that I was disappointed in the beginning, but as you can see by my star rating I ended up enjoying! Click here to see my review on Goodreads, or it’ll be up on my blog sometime soon!

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit ***** 5 stars!!

A book which has been on my Goodreads TBR, but not my physical one, for a while. My lovely mother bought me it as a treat when we visited an independent bookshop and I read it soon after. I absolutely adore literature based in WWII and loved the observation of Anna growing as a woman in her time with the Swallow Man.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson **** 4 stars

This wasn’t as enjoyable for me as his book “So You’ve Been Publically Shamed”, however, I still did read through this very quickly and enjoy it. A lot of interesting thoughts to consider about psychopaths, their role in society and more. A good pop-psych (although not great on an actual psychology level).

Of Blood Exhausted by Jemahl Evans (The Blandford Candy Series book #3) **** 4 stars

No image here as I was beta reading this book for Jemahl, another great addition to this historical fiction series set in the English Civil War (1600s) and I definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys the genre. As far as I can tell from a laywoman’s pov, (and he was also a teacher so this should add some weight), it is historically accurate from what we know of the time. As well as being humorous, realistic, and fully retaining your attention.

Happier Thinking by Lana Grace Riva *** 3 stars

I was sent this book to review by Lana, and I will hopefully be uploading a full review post of it soon. It’s definitely a positive review, however, I’m not 100% sure of what star rating I’m going to give it currently, so it’s subject to change. A good book that’ll make you aware of negative thoughts and provide possible ways to alter this.

The Mystery of Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah (New Hercule Poirot Mysteries book #3) **** 4.5 stars

I got this book from NetGalley to review, and I adore Christie’s style of writing, so I was intrigued. I absolutely loved this rendition and 100% want to go back and read the previous 2 books released within this series by Sophie Hannah. The writing, I feel, is done incredibly well and I found it genuinely hard to put down! I love a good classic mystery!

Time School by Nikki Young *** 3 stars

An 8-12 (middle grade for North American readers) book involving traveling back in time to a school during the WWI period. There was very little depth within the story, and I know that it’s aimed at a younger audience but this is still something that can, and in my opinion should, be included. Other than that, I enjoyed the plot and the emphasis of remembering those we lost during world wars (and other wars) and being thankful for their sacrifice. A good way to bring this story to life for younger children.

The End of Chiraq edited by Javon Johnson and Kevin Coval *** stars, DNF

I struggled with this book, and as I said at the start, this needs its own in-depth review. There were 2 reasons I DNF’d this book, one is that the style of the writing was not for me. The second was that I felt that the book wasn’t intended for me. I was not the audience that it was directed at, as a white British female, and although there are cases where this doesn’t matter I felt like this was very much not for me. I know more now about Chicago and the cultural and economic divide, but I also feel that this was written by the black people of the city for the black people of the city. I felt like I was intruding. Like I said, this needs its own review, and I need to find a way to express my feelings fully so that I don’t accidentally insult someone. But for now, this will suffice.

And that’s it folks! That’s all the books I read this month, and I really enjoyed loads of them! Fingers crossed next month can be as good in terms of star ratings and reading quantity!

Have you read any of these books? Are you going to? Let me know! I want to chat, recommend and gush!

My stupidly large August TBR! Aaand, my last catch up post!

I have definitely set the bar a little toooo high this month! So I’m likely to not manage all of these, but at least I’m aiming high… right? This should also be my last “catch up” post after the hecticness of the readathons and my Gran coming to visit. Fingers crossed I can stay up to date from now on! Also, I’m not going to be including the remainder of my BookTubeAThon tbr (which continued into the beginning of August), if you’d like to see that tbr then click here, and my wrap up for that is here!

Finally, into the tbr!

Of Blood Exhausted by Jemahl Evans

This one doesn’t have any cover art as yet, as I am reading it as a beta reader. I keep putting it off as it feels like a bit of a daunting challenge (and it’s on my laptop which is just awkward). But hopefully, placing it within my tbr will encourage me to actually get to it! It is the 3rd book in the Blandford Candy series (link to book #1 here) which I adore and go on about frequently! I really am so excited to get to it! Just a little daunted!

King of the Seven Lakes by A. B. Endacott (Legends of the Godskissed Continent #2)

I absolutely fell in love with Queendom of the Seven Lakes, book one in the series (link here!), and am so pleased that the series is continuing on (book 3 is already out! I need to read, read, read!). This is an amazing fantasy series, with great character and world development and this should be such a good read!

Aaru by David Meredith (The Aaru Cycle #1)

I was sent a copy of this self-published book by the author, and the dystopian synopsis really intrigues me. I’m hoping that I really enjoy this, as there is already a sequel out and I can jump into it!

The Mystery of the Three Quarters by Sophie Hannah (New Hercule Poirot Mysteries #3)

I got this book to review from NetGalley, and although I haven’t read much from her, I really love Agatha Christie’s writing so I’m hoping that Sophie Hannah can match it! Many of Christie’s books could be read individually so I’m hoping that I won’t be at too much of a disadvantage having not read the first two books.

Shattered by Teri Terry (Slated #3)

I’m finally getting round to finishing this series!! I started it so many years ago and am so ready to see the conclusion, although I’m 100% not ready for it to end! I’ve loved the first two books in this series so this should be a good one!

The Universe Between Us by Jane C. Esther

A book I acquired through NetGalley that I should’ve read a long time ago. I don’t remember what it’s about, I’m assuming it’s a Sci-Fi. I hope I enjoy it but only time will tell.

 

The Orchard by Anne Frasier/Theresa Weir

Another book I got through NetGalley that looked interesting. This is an autobiography of fighting for love and changing her life dramatically. I don’t actually know of the author but she has written fiction so I am expecting it to flow well and be interesting!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass #1)

Does this need an explanation? No, I’ve not read it yet. Yes, this is my first time through it. I really hope that I enjoy this! The hype is intense for this book so fingers crossed!

 

Sabriel by Garth Nix (Abhorsen #1)

Another well known YA book that many have read, although this one is a little older! I only bought this relatively recently, so it’s not toooo bad… right? Again, hoping I enjoy this one!

 

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Chaos Walking #1)

There seems to be a bit of a theme going on here… another older YA book that so many people have read. I intend to join their numbers!

 

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

Booksandlala (in her older videos) goes on about Gillian Flynn so much that I had to pick up a couple of her books! This is the one that has the most intriguing synopsis to me so it’s up first!

 

The Empathy Problem by Gavin Extence

Look at how pretty this cover is! This was a total cover buy, along with The Universe Versus Alex Woods, but I absolutely loved that book and the synopsis sounds really interesting so I’m expecting to really enjoy this one!

Truth Sister by Phil Gilvin

I got this book as an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy – pre-publishing with a few minor tweaks to be made to the finished book) at NYALitFest (see my haul here!) and at the time it wasn’t on Goodreads and there was no date on my copy so I didn’t know when it came out. Fast forward months later and it turns out it was released on the 1st July so I need to get reading! This is a novel that, as far as I can tell from the synopsis, revolves around a matriarchy with a severe class system, knowledge, and corruption. Should be a good one!

The Time Travel Handbook by Wyllie, Acton and Goldblatt

I already started reading this during the 7in7readathon (vlog here) and I’m really enjoying it. It’s essentially a travel guide to 18 historical events, both very recent history (the fall of the Berlin wall) and ancient history (such as the eruption of Vesuvius) and is written in a really engaging and interesting way. Excited to finish it!

And that’s it! Fourteen books! Like I said I probably won’t get around to all of them but I can try! I’ll be going off to a different University next month to start a Masters so I probably won’t have too much free time, hence the massive reading goal for my last month of freedom for another year! Let’s see how much I manage!