Book Review: Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea; April Genevieve Tucholke.

It is irritating me so much that I'm taking so long to get through books, but nevertheless, I've completed another one! I came into it a little unsure, but ended up really enjoying it! Before I dive into my review, I'll be entering it into the Key Words Challenge this month, because the word 'Blue' is in the title.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea
AUTHOR: April Genevieve Tucholke
SERIES: Between (#1)
PUBLISHER: Dial
PAGES: 368
GENRE: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard.

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back.

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

What I Liked:

• I loved the fact that Tucholke wrote so well! I'm a big fan of authors that use clever imagery, and Tucholke's was irresistible! It managed to get certain scents and sights so on point that I could actually picture everything so much more clearly. It made me think of a Baz Luhrmann film, and that made me very happy.
• The characters, despite their rather unusual names, were very interesting. Another smallish cast in this one, but I got a pretty in-depth look at them all and each one oozed personality. Violet was a strong and likeable lead, not too gullible or boring as so many Paranormal Romance heroines are. River West had more to him than just being a mysterious bad boy too, and I very much appreciated that.
• The plot was pretty different to what I expected. It was actually much more original than I first thought it would be, with it's own tropes, interesting mysteries and plenty of twists to keep me enthralled. I've seen this book compared to Twilight and I would have to politely disagree that they are the same. There are vague similarities, and maybe Twilight readers would enjoy this, but I felt like they were still very different.

What I Disliked:

• Unfortunately it didn't hit the 5 Star mark because for me, the villain just didn't live up to expectations. There was no build-up, he just popped into existence as if he'd only been put there so the book had an ending. Sure he was a total psychopath (which was quite interesting to read) but I would have liked this a lot more if we had been introduced to him more often, maybe even spoke to him before the big finale. It felt a little anti-climactic.

Overall Conclusion:

There were so many good things to this book, despite some negative reviews I've read. The imagery was gorgeous (I mean it, so quotable and unique), the cast was pretty good and I thought the story was actually very good and not so predictable that I was bored. The main couple were a good match and I'd like to see more of them in the next book. I was a little annoyed that the Villain fell flat, this book would have definitely been 5 stars if I hadn't been so disappointed with him. Still, there's a chance for that to be rectified in Book 2, which I am very much looking forward to reading.

Life Of A Blogger: 'Ten Things I'll Never Do'.

This was actually a pretty difficult to list to come up with as there are so many things that despite the fact that I will probably never do them, there's still a chance I will.

1. Leave Mat. This may well seem to be a bit of an obvious one, and slightly cheesy, but I will never leave him. What can I say? He's the love of my life and I can't imagine life without him.
2. Take drugs. This one was a bit of a no-brainer for me. I can never imagine getting myself into a situation where I would do this. 
3. Smoke. My thoughts on this are pretty much the same. I don't understand why anyone would want to fill their lungs with the awful things found in cigarettes.
4. Completely read my TBR pile. We all know I love reading. We all know I will never stop. However, every time I finish one book, another six appear on my list of books need to read. 
5. Stop trying to be a better person. I know I have a lot of flaws, and I am always trying to improve upon myself and become a nicer, better person to be around. I will never stop trying to be there.
6. Learn to swim. If you read my post on phobias, you'll know I am terrified of water and so learning to swim is a definite no go activity for me. I know it will never happen too. Many a swim instructor, family member and friend have tried. All have failed.
7. Have a pet spider. I am very scared of spiders. Even if you paid me £1,000,000 I would not be in the same room as a spider, if I can possibly help it. Sorry.
8. Give up on my dreams of writing a book. I don't get a lot of time to myself these days, but I absolutely haven't stopped thinking about this, and wanting to do it. 
9. Stop listening to music. Music makes me feel very happy. I always manage to find a track that suits my mood and if I'm sad or angry, it has the power to make me feel better.
10. This list. I seriously couldn't think of something to put for number ten. However, by choosing this option I actually wrote ten things, thus rendering this list paradoxical and enter a theoretical state whereby no task is entered into this realm of impossibility. For want of a better phrase: never say never. Man, I sound like Doctor Who.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Top Ten Sequels I Can't Wait To Get'.

For some reason I thought this topic would be quite difficult for me, but in actual fact it wasn't! It has made me really needy for more books in my life (and I already have far too many).

1) 'Magic Study' by Maria V. Snyder.

I seriously loved 'Poison Study' so much, it had so much going for it! Awesome characters, a great setting, and a gripping plot. The second book looks like it will be even better. Not to mention, the prospect of reading more Yelena and Valek makes me very happy.




2) 'Golden Son' by Pierce Brown.

I read 'Red Rising' pretty recently and really enjoyed it! I've not read much in the way of Sci-Fi, but the beginning of this series was amazing and I'm very excited to read more! It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger too so I really want to see what happens next!





3) 'Stealing Phoenix' by Joss Stirling.

I actually have this book in my shelf, but I haven't got round to reading it yet! I really liked the first book, 'Finding Sky' a lot. While there were some tropes that are found in a fair few books, I really liked the way they were handled in this one and I love the idea of following the stories of some of the other Benedict brothers.



4) 'Valiant' by Holly Black.

I read 'Tithe' some time ago and rather enjoyed it. This series has such an awesome idea behind it and I can't wait to get into it properly. I would be interested to see where it goes! The world-building in 'Tithe' was so, so good! 






5) 'Under The Light' by Laura Whitcomb.

'A Certain Slant Of Light' had such a different take on the whole Paranormal Romance genre. How can I not give it's sequel a go? I would be really intrigued to see what more can be added to this story, as it felt very much concluded in the first one.




6) 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins.

We all know I should have read this one by now. In fact, I should have read the entire series by now! The second film was very good, I can't wait to see how the book compares. I did love the first book, so hopefully the rest of the series is equally as good.





7) 'Rogue Wave' by Jennifer Donnelly.

When I first read 'Deep Blue', despite some mixed reviews, I really enjoyed it! I managed to get hold of an ARC for this one on Netgalley so hopefully I'll get round to reading it soon and having a review for you guys. It looks so good!





8) 'Siege And Storm' by Leigh Bardugo.

Oh my goodness, why have I not read this one yet?! I keep meaning to but just don't seem to get round to it. 'Shadow And Bone' was a really good first book in the series, and I strongly believe it can only get better.






9) 'Hidden Huntress' by Danielle Jensen.

I adored 'Stolen Songbird', and am hopping up and down with excitement at the prospect of a second book even existing! Please may 2015 come around a little quicker so I can read it sooner? Pretty please?

10) 'Scarlet' by Marissa Meyer.

'Cinder' was just a phenomenal book to read and I thoroughly look forward to the second in the series. All I can say is that it's on the list for the forseeable future and I simply need to get round to it soon!

Last Week's Shenanigans (November 10th - November 16th)...

So this week I had no holiday, so I worked for most of the week. It was a little different though, in that Mat went home for a couple of days and I was alone for a night! I was amazed at how weird that was for me actually! Not to mention that the one night he went away, the spiders of the building rebelled against hiding and came to pay me a visit. Not. Fun. Other than that, not a whole lot happened! I read 'The Miniaturist' which I loved, but actually ended up neglecting this blog quite a bit. Sorry guys!

I Reviewed:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters That I Want To Have Their Own Book (Harry Potter Edition)

Life Of A Blogger: Unpopular Opinions

Book Review: The Miniaturist; Jessie Burton.

So I know I have been a little neglectful of this blog, but I come bearing a book review! And it's a good one too! Before I start, I'm entering this into the 2014 'Monthly Motif' challenge as it is set pre-2000. I'm also entering it into this month's 'Jumble Your Genres' challenge, being Historical Fiction.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: Hardback

TITLE: The Miniaturist
AUTHOR: Jessie Burton
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Picador
PAGES: 435
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Adult

RATING: 5/5 Stars

Blurb:
On a brisk autumn day in 1686, eighteen-year-old Nella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam to begin a new life as the wife of illustrious merchant trader Johannes Brandt. But her new home, while splendorous, is not welcoming. Johannes is kind yet distant, always locked in his study or at his warehouse office-leaving Nella alone with his sister, the sharp-tongued and forbidding Marin.

But Nella's world changes when Johannes presents her with an extraordinary wedding gift: a cabinet-sized replica of their home. To furnish her gift, Nella engages the services of a miniaturist-an elusive and enigmatic artist whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in eerie and unexpected ways...


Johannes' gift helps Nella to pierce the closed world of the Brandt household. But as she uncovers its unusual secrets, she begins to understand-and fear-the escalating dangers that await them all. In this repressively pious society where gold is worshipped second only to God, to be different is a threat to the moral fabric of society, and not even a man as rich as Johannes is safe. Only one person seems to see the fate that awaits them. Is the miniaturist the key to their salvation...or the architect of their destruction?

What I Liked:

• Okay there are so many things I can put here for this bit, but I'll start with my favourite. Jessie Burton's writing. I completely fell in love with it the moment that I started reading. Many of you will know that feeling you get when you read good writing and it was the best I've read in a while. Whether the moment that she wrote about was a twist that left me gaping, or a quieter moment for reflection, Burton's writing was on point and I want so badly for her to write more books for me to read.
• The plot twists in this were really good. They weren't predictable or unbelievable, and they certainly weren't boring. I actually didn't expect many of the directions that this book took me down and I'm so glad that I finally got to read a Mystery book that mystified me!
• The characters were interesting. They had distinct personalities and I always managed to keep track of who was who and my thoughts on them. There was a fairly small cast in this book, but a fascinating one! Burton kept me distant though, and didn't allow me to get too attached to anyone. In any other book I could mark this as a bad thing, but for this one it felt right. It made me empathise with Nella's situation even more than I would have done in other cases, not knowing who to trust and being out of control.

What I Disliked:

• I suppose my only real niggle was that the main, over-riding plot arc of the book was not properly resolved. This was a purposeful move for a good reason, but that doesn't mean I have to like it! It left me with unanswered questions that I know will never be answered and that's just upsetting!

Overall Conclusion:

There were so many amazing things about this book and it's the best I have read in a while! I loved the quirky characters, interesting setting (and may I say, much research went into this book) and fantastic plot. Burton's writing was nothing short of incredible and I am anxious to read more of her work. I don't even care that the ending didn't answer all my questions (at least, that's what I'm telling myself) because this book was too good to be ignored.

Life Of A Blogger: 'Unpopular Opinions'.

Okay so one instantly sprang to mind here the moment that I read this, though it's probably not actually that big a deal. I actually cannot stand Pizza! Every person that I have encountered has treated me like I'm some sort of alien from another planet the moment that I mention this, so I thought it was worth a mention on here. The smell of it makes me feel a bit ill and I've always found it too cheesy. I normally find this opinion coming out when all of my friends inevitably suggest Pizza Hut to eat at and I have to politely decline.

Another unpopular opinion of mine is to do with my Film choices. I am not a RomCom kind of girl. Films like '50 First Dates', 'Friends With Benefits', 'There's Something About Mary' and 'How To Lose A Girl In 10 Days' just don't interest me. At all! When people suggest watching them at the cinema/at a sleepover I can't help but groan with a complete lack of enthusiasm, even though it makes me feel like a terrible person. My lack of interest in Romance extends to books too, as you may have noticed in some of my previous posts. I mean obviously there are exceptions in both cases but for the most part, I get a lot of "I can't believe you haven't watched that!" lectures.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Characters That I Want To Have Their Own Book' (The Harry Potter Edition).

This is such an interesting topic, I always look forward to doing these every week. I find myself wishing so often for certain characters to get their own book or series and now I finally have the opportunity to let everyone know which ones!

1) Neville Longbottom.

When you think about it, Neville has actually had a really interesting life. In fact, in a way, it's similar to Harry's in terms of tragedy, isolation and the continuous fear of death. I feel like Neville's potential part in the prophecy was a little overlooked and I think he would have a pretty fascinating childhood story, as well as his life as a Hogwart's student.

2) Professor McGonagall.

To be honest, I would love to view life from any Hogwarts Professor's POV, but I think McGonagall is awesome! Can you imagine the Hogwarts Staff Room conversations? Her thoughts as she has to give Harry detention (again)? and I bet that she transformed into a cat to listen in on private conversations all the time. 

3) Scabbers/Peter Pettigrew.

Okay just think about this one. The entire first three books from Peter Pettigrew's viewpoint. He would hear everything the trio said and not be able to do a single thing about it! Perhaps, while everyone was sleeping, he just transformed back into a human and went for a walk. I'll bet there are a ton of hilarious 'being chased by Crookshanks' stories too!

4) Lily Potter.

This is a pretty obvious one really. I would just love to get her view on Hogwarts life, meet some new professors and watch her fall in love with James. I'll bet her childhood friendship with Snape would be the most heart-breaking, emotional thing to read too! 

5) Bellatrix Lestrange.

I never really felt like Bellatrix Lestrange, as a character, was given any real back-story or motivation. She was literally just a psychopath. Why did she join Voldemort? Were they ever romantically involved? Does she have a tragic story that turned her into the craziest woman alive, or was she always like that?

6) Draco Malfoy.

Okay so this story would probably involve an awful lot of whining and moaning about Potter, but there would probably be some pretty cool bits where he tries to understand jut what his Father is up to and his own feelings on that. Not to mention, I am desperate to know exactly what Draco did in his school Summer holidays...

7) Luna Lovegood.

This would literally be the Harry Potter story with added Nargles. No, seriously, I want to read some cute Lovegood moments and maybe find out a bit about Luna's Mother. The Lovegood back-story has always intrigued me! Also, how did she cope with being captured and taken to Malfoy Manor?

8) Rubeus Hagrid.

I would love to read a bit of Hagrid at school, wouldn't you? I bet he was the most enthusiastic pupil of the lot and was absolutely heartbroken when he lost his wand. It would just be interesting to find out about some of his early Gamekeeper years, and interactions with other Hogwarts Students, pre-Harry.

9) Arthur Weasley.

Does anyone else want a 'Mr Weasley's Guide to Muggle Inventions', and then just page after page of various Muggle things and how they work (except they don't work like that at all)? Well I do. I would love to find out more about the inner workings of the Ministry Of Magic and he would seem to be the man to ask.

10) Gilderoy Lockhart.

Who on earth doesn't want to actually read Gilderoy Lockhart's books? They sound like such fun reads! It would be really cool to try and figure out at which point Gilderoy pulled out his wand on the real Wizard who braved all these foul beasts, and wiped their memory.