Who’s really the monster?

This is one of the few books that I have impulse purchased at full price… and then I took almost a year to read it. Yup, that’s me! I learnt about this book at the NYALitFest 2018, where I saw Matt Killeen on some panels at the con and found myself intrigued. Then I learnt that his book was about WWII and I was sold, hook line and sinker. So I bought it! And I got it signed! And it’s pretty! But it took me a while to read the damn thing. Eventually, though I have, in the space of two days, and I gave it 5/5*!

There are so many different nuances within this book, there is, of course, the main plotline of a young Jewish girl, with no parents to look after her, attempting to escape the Nazi’s clutches. Somehow (I won’t say how here as I enjoyed finding out within the plot of the book) she ends up in a Nazi boarding school for girls, as a spy. I had expected this school to be nice, I was so incredibly wrong and I found it fascinating.

Along with this main plot, however, there are also various subplots behind it that carry on throughout the book. I also would like to give a trigger warning (if you don’t want to see it, don’t read the inset below, I’ve made it a very faint grey).

---

Paedophilic rape 

---

These subplots really add an extra dimension to this book, without taking away from the main story, and I was so completely engrossed throughout this whole book. If you are at all interested in WWII or just a dramatic and intense historical fiction that draws you right into the MC’s world, then give this beauty a go! I honestly have no bad words to say and I look forward to reading so much more from Matt in the future!

My first foray into the Legend trilogy

This was my first Marie Lu book, despite me owning six of her books before starting this one! So there was a lot of weight on this little books shoulders, and it is a small book, Goodreads says that it’s around 300 pages long but I could’ve sworn it was smaller!

I will be honest, the first 100 or so pages of this book weren’t going great. This happens for me with most books of this length or longer but this one, in particular, I was just… not that invested in the world. Thankfully, however, I ended up really enjoying it! This dystopian-esque world is so incredibly interesting to learn about and the development of the characters on either side of the battle.

There was so much depth to this book that I didn’t expect from only 300 pages, and there’s so much more to come from how this book was ended. I’m really looking forward to getting around the rest at some point in time that’s relatively soon, which makes it super annoying that the rest of the trilogy is at my parents’ place!! Hopefully, I can get them back soonish!

Have you read this book or the series? Should I bump the rest up on my tbr?

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 ♥♥♥

FEBRUARY TBR!! | 2019

It’s time for us bookworms (well, a decent number of us) to decide what we want to read for the next month! February is a short one, and I also have 2 exams and a 5000 word assignment this month (and I have to do work on my thesis too) so this isn’t going to be a huge tbr. A little spoiler into my January wrap up, I didn’t read Fall of Giants. It was too much for me in my surgery month and it’ll be too much in this hectic time at uni so I’m not adding it to my tbr again this February. Instead, I have three smaller books!

All the Walls of Belfast by Sarah J Carlson -> RELEASE DATE: 12th March 19

This is an arc copy of a book set in the capital of Northern Ireland, as a woman who is half-Irish, and grew up in America, comes back to meet her father and explore his world. If all goes well there’ll be some cool stuff up on the blog closer to March for this one. Fingers crossed!!

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

I couldn’t resist picking this up from the charity shop (thrift shop for non-Brits) and I know that if I don’t read it soon it’ll collect dust on my shelves for a while. So I’m intending to read this sooner rather than later so I can actually get the enjoyment out of it that I wanted when I bought it!

Orphan Monster Spy by Matt Killeen

Simply put I’ve owned this for far too long and I really need to read it!! As it’s YA and a topic I love to read I’m really hoping that this’ll be a speedy one and I’ll be completely sucked in and absorbed.

 

And that’s it! Again, another short tbr. But I never stick to this small number of books and always end up reading something else (my smallest reading month since tracking was 4 books) so fingers crossed I’ll get to some more books as well, but I’ll only stick to these three for now so I don’t overwhelm myself.

What are you wanting to read in the coming month?

Anna and the Swallow Man by Gavriel Savit

Another WWII book, and one I’m really glad I picked up. This one is unique in that it follows a man and a girl wandering through the wilderness, avoiding the Nazis and trying to stay alive through the seasons.

Anna loses her father when he is taken by the Nazis, and at seven years old was left without anyone to help her. Until the swallow man. He happens to be around when she is sat around and takes a liking to Anna, letting her tag along with him.

This book elicited lots of different emotions from me, with some sections being incredibly sad, disturbing, and once Anna was older there were also some creepy and uncomfortable moments that I hadn’t been expecting when I started this book.

The ending of this book may seem unsatisfactory to some, as it is left very open. However, I surprisingly liked this as we are as knowledgeable as Anna is and what with our understanding of the past we can infer some of what will happen in the future.

Overall this was a very unique little book that I’m very glad I read, and I obviously gave it 5*. There are so many little nuances that I would’ve loved to mention but I didn’t want to spoil anything! So you’ll just have to go read this little gem for yourself to find out what they are 😉

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!!!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

It took me absolutely forever to read this one, I know I know. But at least I’ve read it now! I hadn’t been expecting to love this, to be honest, it is so hyped on the Bookternet which always makes me wary, and I had also heard a few bad things about rep and character development. However, I definitely want to continue with the series!

It wasn’t a 5* read as there were a couple of problematic aspects and I also didn’t find the writing to be the best (although given Sarah J Maas’ age when writing this I think I can give that a pass as it’s still decent!). I did personally find that there were some points where Celaena’s obliviousness grated a little, as she seemed to not notice the absolute obvious that is staring her in the face. These bits just seemed to be there to further the plot and were not interwoven well enough into the story to not stick out like a sore thumb.

On a more positive note though, I was so engaged and engrossed within this book. I couldn’t put it down and felt so personally invested in Celaena’s story and what was going on! I am definitely planning on continuing on with this series (once I find book #2 in a charity shop!) and I can see myself giving future books a 5/5* review if the writing improves and all my boxes are ticked. Super glad that I finally started this series!!

December Wrap Up| 2018

I set my tbr as four books this month, and as per I deviated pretty early on. So let’s get into what I actually read in December! If you’d rather watch this in video format (with closed captions) then click here to go to my YouTube channel.

Five Go Gluten Free by Bruno Vincent -> 3/5*

This parody of Blyton’s well-loved Famous Five was a fun and quick little romp. I adored the original books as a child and it’s fun to see the group brought into the modern day and dealing with the most random of problems.

Five Give Up the Booze by Bruno Vincent -> 2/5*

Seeing as I read the book above so quickly I thought I’d get through this one as well. I did have a bit of a problem with one section, which is why it dropped a star, however, it’s also a fun little parody and I look forward to reading more from this mini-series.

Other Words for Smoke (sampler) by Sarah Maria Griffing -> 4.5/5*

25 pages and I’m hooked! I am so excited for the full book to be released so I can become fully immersed within this amazing world. Thank you Titan Books for the sampler!

The Devouring Gray (sampler) by Christine Lynn Herman -> 4/5*

Another sampler I was very kindly sent by Titan Books, another 25 pages and another book I am super excited for in 2019! This is also going on my tbr!

 

Enemy of the State, pt. 2 of 6 by Millar, Romita Jr., and Janson -> 2/5*

Honestly, I wasn’t that keen on this. I think I just don’t like comics as they’re too short and I don’t get enough of the story in one go. I don’t have any more comics in my tbr that I own so this is the last one.

Game of Thrones by George RR Martin -> 4/5*

I finally read it!! Finally!! This is a chunker of a book at over 800 pages, and I’ll be honest, when I tried to read this book before watching the show I just couldn’t get into it. There was too much for my little brain. But now that I’m completely up to date with the show (and in love with it) it was much easier to get through this book and I ended up really enjoying it.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens -> 5/5*

Starting Christmas Eve, and finishing Christmas Day, I read this little classic novella from Dickens. This was such an entertaining little book that I really enjoyed and I’m glad I’ve finally read the original after seeing various adaptations over the years. It was also a lovely way to spend Christmas Day.

Little Moments of Love by Catana Chetwynd -> 4/5*

My lovely boyfriend gifted me with this book for Christmas, and I read it on Christmas day! We always send Catana’s comics to each other and this was such a sweet and thoughtful gift from him.

Legend by Marie Lu -> 3.5/5*

It took me a while, but once I got into this book I flew through it! I was tempted to give it 4*s but it doesn’t quite match up to other books I’ve given that rating. But, overall I massively enjoyed it, I even enjoyed the romance! And I look forward to carrying on with this trilogy in the future.

And that’s it! I should have read The Mime Order, and who knows. Maybe by some magic, I’ll read it tonight, but being realistic I won’t finish it this year. Ah well! That’s my last wrap up of 2018! It’s been a helluva year and I’m looking forward to 2019!

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton, a review

Book 2 of this series is keeping up the massively high standards set by book one! (Check out my review of Rebel of the Sands here) Yet again I took my time going through this book, but it’s definitely not me slogging through, it’s more that I need to take time to absorb every single one of Alywn Hamilton’s words, each word she writes seems to be there with intent and meaning. Her writing is just so beautiful and I truly have the desire to read absolutely everything she has ever published and ever will publish.

I really enjoyed the time we spent in the palace within this book, it added another dimension to the events of the world and really gives the reader more of an insight as to why people act the way they do. The dynamics of this group inside of the Sultan’s walls was so different from that outside and really added great perspective.

The political side of this war was also more developed in this book, and it meshed so well with the world building and how Alwyn Hamilton showed us the groups of people outside of who we had interacted with in the first book. It gave more insight as to why people were acting in certain ways, and to how the Sultan was looking to manipulate others to achieve his aims.

Overall this is yet another gorgeous book within this series and is something that I one million percent recommend to anybody wanting to read a great fantasy book. Again the writing is absolutely beautiful and it leaves me in awe.

Please tell me you’ve started this series? Do you agree about the beautiful prose that the story is written in? Let me know!

Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken, a review

In March of this year I posted a review of Passenger, which you can find here, and I found Wayfarer to be quite similar. I will start this review by saying that I gave it 4/5 stars, and that I did overall really enjoy it. However, this book did struggle from the overly slow pacing that was present in the first book.

I do absolutely adore Etta and Nicholas, and the plot points were so interesting and are what kept me reading, along with the great characters. I was constantly really annoyed by Etta’s parents as they kept so much from her and weren’t much help overall (this is a compliment, as I feel that Alexandra Bracken intended to write them both this way). Li Min is such a great character and I loved her interactions with Sophie and the LGBT aspects incorporated. I also liked that the only special point of the LGBT relationship was that one character was married to a man due to the constraints of the time that she lived in.

There are many different groups of people, and their personal stories are well developed, to just the right point where you know enough but not too much. There is one specific scene where these groups have congregated, and I greatly enjoyed this and the interactions that were then had.

However, sadly again this book suffered from really slow pacing. As it’s such a large book, it makes it feel even slower and also intimidating to the reader. It’s such a pity as everything else about this duology is great and I get so absorbed into the world. I just wish it wasn’t so… lethargic?

I loved the time zones that we jumped through within this book, and the various different plot points with different characters. It’s such a fun story and I would still read more in the world, so I’m hoping that Alexandra Bracken will release a novella or a collection of short stories (these also may then be faster paced due to their shortness which would be perfect!).

Overall, I really good book and duology that just didn’t quite hit the mark. However, I still do love the world and the characters within it. Maybe give Passenger a go and borrow it from the library?

Have you read this duology? Do you agree or disagree with my views? Let me know in the comments!