The Mask Falling – a review

The fourth book in The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon. This was one of my most anticipated reads and it did not disappoint!

This is going to be a spoiler free review, which just makes things hard on myself because it means not only can I not talk about the specifics within this book itself, but also nothing from the series as a whole. So.

This. Was. Amazing.

Of course I’m going to think that, I love the series. But genuinely this is so well written. We see so much character development as well as seeing various relationships develop in line with the plot. We learn so much more about the wider world we’re now entering after spending three books in a “limited” setting (ha! that makes it sound like there wasn’t much to explore, there was! Just now we’re going worldwide!)

I loved the points of anguish, and how threads have been pulled together and wound to create the plotline. So much has been learnt about the wider workings of this world, the politics, the individual storylines, and the system of the oppressor. It caused me so much anguish but is so so perfect and I am so highly anticipating the fifth book and it’s going to be a long and tough wait!!!

For my CAWPILE ratings I gave:

Characters: 10

Atmosphere: 10

Writing: 10

Plot: 9

Intrigue: 9

Logic: 9

Enjoyment: 9

For a grand total of 9.43 which of course is a FIVE STAR READ!!!! Did we truly expect anything else from my opinions on the wonderful Samantha Shannon?

Highlight here for trigger warnings: war, torture, gore, war themes, colonial themes, blood and gore, multiple murders, torture, reference to murder of family members, abduction, hostage situation, explosions, fire, prolonged sickness, medical procedures

All in all, as expected, I am in love with this book, this series, and Shannon’s writing as a whole. I can’t wait to read any and everything she comes out with!

The Dawn Chorus – a review

Book 3.5 in The Bone Season series by Samantha Shannon, I picked this up after reading The Song Rising and The Pale Dreamer as it was the last unread book left before I picked up The Mask Falling!

Coming in at 92 pages it was just a short read, but wow did I love it!

Of course with this being so far through a series I can’t say all that much. What I can say is that this covers the transitional gap between books 3 and 4, and it does so really well. You don’t need to read it before you continue on with the series, but for big fans it adds an extra dimension to the world and the characters that I really appreciated.

Whilst there is some discussion of larger overall events, this novella is really focused on the relationship between two main characters. Due to events they spend a lot of time together and seeing this develop through the novella was so much fun to read, and for once Samantha Shannon wasn’t torturing her characters! A mini between book break for us all!

For my CAWPILE rating I gave:

• characters: 10
• atmosphere: 9
• writing: 9
• plot: 9
• intrigue: 9
• logic: 10
• enjoyment: 9

Which totalled at 9.29, a solid 5* read that I really enjoyed!

Highlight here to see trigger warnings: abuse, PTSD, torture, trauma

I really recommend picking up this little novella if you like The Bone Season series. In English it’s only available in ebook format, so that’s how I read it. But I believe there’s a little paperback version that’s published in Polish! This is such a wonderful little slot of time with our faves and a nice rest between two heartbreaking books!

The Pale Dreamer – a review

Another short book from the beginning of the year! I was determined I was going to catch up on The Bone Season series and this was the next step after reading The Song Rising at the end of 2020. I ended up reading all 90 pages in one day and I absolutely adored getting to see more into the world that Samantha Shannon has built.

This prequel follows a 16 year old Paige (who is 19 at the start of the main series) who has recently started working for Jaxon Hall, one of the most notorious mime-lords. She wants to prove her worth to him as the newest member and the latest event in the underworld is the perfect chance for her to do so, but of course this won’t go as smoothly as she’d like.

This is a fantastic novella, it provides another dimension to the relationship between Paige and the others within the underworld, both working with Jaxon and against him. It makes Paige’s reasoning for her decisions in The Bone Season much more understandable and explains the connection and the debt she feels towards Jaxon. It also gives us some more insight into the relationship between Paige and Nick, and also Paige and Eliza. These details feed throughout the entire series, and I’ve noticed threads of them in even the most recent book so it’s wonderful to see them here!

All in all this is a lovely little novella that I really wouldn’t miss out on if you’re a fan of The Bone Season. It adds dimension to the world that isn’t necessarily needed but is wonderful to have and it really deepens your connection to Paige and the others. So of course I rated this 5*!

The Song Rising – a review

I finally caught up with the main series!! And then The Mask Falling came out lol, but I still really enjoyed The Song Rising to the point where it ended up on my favourite books of 2020! So far I’ve read one book from this series each year which has been a nice progression. If you want to check out my review of The Bone Season (book 1) or The Mime Order (book 2) then click on the respective links. This book took me a little while to get through, a good month and a half, and exactly like the first 2 in the series I gave this 5*s and I adored it so so much!!!

From this point on there will be spoilers for book #1 and #2. No spoilers for The Song Rising though. You have been warned!!!

The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

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We start this book after Paige has become the Mime Queen, after her betrayal and defeat of Jaxon she now rules over the underbelly of London. Controlling this rabble is difficult enough without the government coming after her. And does she really think Jaxon is going to take his humiliation gracefully?

With twists, turns and deception throughout, we get to explore more of ScionBritain than in previous books as well as delving more into their impact on the world as a whole. The Senshields that can detect those with clairvoyant powers have become stronger and more dangerous for the underworld, forcing them to go into hiding. Paige has to find a way to overcome this and set her populace free, as being hemmed in isn’t going to end well for any of them. In hunting for this solution Paige is exposed to more of what is happening outside of her immediate boarders. There’s so much more to Scion than she had ever imagined.

We also learn quite a bit more about Paige’s past specifically in this book, something which provides context for the world’s view of Scion and that I found incredibly interesting. I’m really excited to see how this world view develops in book 4.

This book didn’t end on such a dramatic note as the last one, but more so looking out towards the future and what lays there. I’m so excited to pick up the Mask Falling but also so nervous because once I do that’s it! I’ve got to wait years for another book! And I don’t want to have that wait sitting there staring at me! Have you read The Mask Falling? Should I just pick it up?

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!!

 

A sequel that lives up to the hype of book 1

This is the second book in the amazing The Bone Season series, if you want to read my review of the first book check it out here! It took me around a year to get to this book, and if I’m being honest I was worried that it wasn’t going to be as amazing as the first. I had nothing to worry about! I started this book close to when I was traveling back down south on a long train journey after Christmas/Winter break and ended up having this as my train read, it’s around 500 pages long and I read this relatively slowly for me with many breaks etc. meaning that I finished it lying in bed after a long day. I gave this book 5*, I loved it, it messed with my head in the best way!

Now for bits that will SPOIL The Bone Season if you haven’t read it yet, so go pick it up from your library or buy it or borrow it from a really cool friend, read it and then come back and read the rest of my review! (NO spoilers for The Mime Order ahead, just book #1)

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We start the book following Paige after her escape from Sheol 1, as she returns to Jaxon and seems to be going back to the life she had in London pre-prison camp. But now Paige isn’t oblivious, now she knows, and she sees Rephaim crawling out from the shadows and into the city. She needs to save them all whilst they’re still in denial, and whilst on the run as a fugitive.

This book is insane, with so many twists and turns and different maneuvers, the ending, which I won’t spoil, screwed with my head and was written absolutely amazingly. I loved it so much! I wish that I had The Song Rising here with me at uni so I could get into the rest of the story already!! Samantha Shannon’s writing is gorgeous and encapsulating for the emotions you experience from the events she subjects you to. I sincerely recommend you read from her if you have not already.

Let me know if you’ve read this book, or The Song Rising, and tell me what you thought of it!

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, a review

I adored this book, so so much! I read it back to back with Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard and when I say back to back I mean immediately after each other. Combined they got me out of a reading slump, and I have managed to keep their storylines completely separate which to me, when reading them so close together, means that their plots were incredibly strong and engaging.

This book follows Paige Mahoney, who works within the black market. We get a good sense of this world and how it functions, before Paige is then kidnapped. Hidden in a city which has not existed for over 200 years, Paige must figure out a way to survive in a situation designed to kill her.

The world building done within this book was incredible and is fitted seamlessly within the storytelling. I enjoyed being able to grow alongside Paige as she learns more about the people around her, what is going on within her world, and also as she becomes more aware of her own abilities. The actual plotline is also incredibly engaging, with so many different moving parts and intricate pieces which have been balanced perfectly in order to make a world which I feel like could rival that of Harry Potter if the following books continue in this way. Of course it’s not the same magical book as the Potterverse, however, JK is renowned for her plotlines (in a similar way to the Whoniverse) and I feel like this series could also do this incredibly well.

I am so excited to read more books in this series, I own books 2 and 3 and plan to read book 2 in December. I’m just nervous to start them because I know it’s going to be amazing and also probably destroy me! I’m nervous to read it and not be anticipating it anymore! Isn’t that silly haha.

Have you read any of this series? Am I going to cry when I read the next two books? Let me know in the comments!