Last Week's Shenanigans (20th June - 26th June)...

As some of you may have figured out, Mondays are actually my day off and they'e usually pretty quiet. Last Monday however, I actually ended up doing quite a lot. The morning started off with a house viewing (there were meant to be two but one cancelled last minute) and then in the afternoon I went to see a friend of mine at her Art Exhibition in Brick Lane. It was really nice to catch up, and the art of her and her fellow artists was really good. When I returned home, I did a little bit of sorting before Mat's friend George arrived (having spent a year away in America) to visit us for the first time in ages! He stayed for the next couple of days and they played a lot of Xbox but of course I was still working.

Nothing else really happened until Sunday: my Godson's Christening! A month or two ago, my cousin asked me to be the Godmother to the newest addition to the family. I agreed and it really was a lovely ceremony. Afterwards, we went to a nearby pub for a bite to eat (they had laid out a wonderful buffet) and drinks. It was nice to see so many members of my family that I hadn't seen for a long time, and get to talk to them about how they've all been doing. It was a really lovely day, and my close family and I returned home to spend the rest of the afternoon/evening playing games and relaxing.

I Read:

I Received:

- 'Nevernight' by Jay Kristoff: Approved by Netgalley (21/06)

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite Books I've Read So Far This Year

Book Review: Notes On Being Teenage; Rosalind Jana.

As my second non-fiction read for this blog, it stands to reason that I've been looking forward to writing this review. I'm trying really hard to appreciate and read more in the way of non-fiction works because there are so many great ones to peruse!

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Notes On Being Teenage
AUTHOR: Rosalind Jana
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Wayland
PAGES: 260
GENRE: Non-Fiction, Young Adult, Autobiography, Self Help

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
How would you describe yourself? Do you like to stand out, or fit in? Are you an Instagram junkie, or is Snapchat more your thing? Are you watching Zoella on YouTube, or reading Rookie on your phone? We're all different, and no-one's teenage years are the same. But we do all have one thing in common - being a teenager is about discovering who we are, and who we want to be.

It can be tricky, building and forming your own identity and sense of self, and sometimes, advice from someone who has been there and done it in the not-too-distant past can come in useful. Enter Rosalind Jana, who's crammed more into her 20-odd years than most (including winning the Vogue Talent Contest for Young Writers AND 'Well Dressed' at the Observer Ethical Awards, but don't tell her we told you that...). Notes on Being Teenage covers all aspects of teenhood, from the serious (mental health issues, bullying, staying safe online), to the slightly-less-so (dating, style, fashion, starting a blog) and everything in between. Rooted in her own experiences as a blogger, part-time model and eco-fashion-expert, but also as a teen who struggled with scoliosis, bullying and her dad's depression, Rosalind is well-placed to offer advice and guidance to anyone navigating their teenage years.

She's also spoken to loads of teens about their experiences, too, and their stories, problems, advice and wisdom are gathered here as well, along with interviews with inspirational and interesting people like Louise O'Neill, Juno Dawson and Rosianne Halse-Rojas. All this combines to form a warm, witty, wise book not just on how to survive but how to thrive as a teen. Essential reading for smart girls of any age.

What I Liked:

• This book was impressive in the vast array of topics that Jana chooses to cover. She really did cover pretty much everything that a teenage might have to consider during that turbulent time in their life: mental health, body image, sex, relationships, fashion, bullying, etc. You name it, Jana has probably written about it somewhere in this book. It was nice to read Jana's opinion on all of these matters, especially as it mostly coincided with my own and it gives me hope that young teens will end up reading this book and learning from it.
• Jana is a very talented writer. She wrote in a way that connected with her intended age group, but intelligently too. She promoted acceptance and positivity throughout each chapter, and I really loved the way she styled her book, filling it not only with her own thoughts on each matter, but a bunch of interviews with 'experts' (prominent figures in the YA community among others), quotes from teens that she has spoken to and a huge list of resources for each subject should the reader want to better educate themselves or receive more advice on any given subject.

What I Disliked:

• While I can't really call this a 'dislike', Jana's book is very much intended for teens and sadly, I'm a little older now. Her opinions, though well formed, are quite vague and require a lot of further reading if a teen or someone older wished to look more deeply into the subjects she chose to discuss (hence why I was pleased to see the extra resources). I would have appreciated reading this book a lot more when I was younger and more vulnerable. It would certainly have reassured me about many things that I struggled with or worried about, which still makes it a great tool for teens to use right now.

Overall Conclusion:

Despite not connecting with this book due to it's intended audience being a little younger, I really do like this book a lot. When I was a teen, I had so many questions but my own anxieties and fear of not fitting in prevented me from asking them. Jana's words would really have put my mind at ease, and I love the message of acceptance that she promotes in every chapter. It's okay to have a different body, okay to dress differently, okay to think differently and okay to be unsure. Many people overlook how difficult being a teenager is and I am so happy that people like Jana are writing on the subject in order to raise awareness on some of the issues that teens nowadays are facing.

Book Review: The Girl On The Train; Paula Hawkins.

Whew! What a roller-coaster! This was a really interesting read for me because I'm not a huge fan of this kind of genre. Thrillers aren't normally my thing. But despite that, I really enjoyed this book and I'll get into why in this review! I'm also entering it into the 'Monthly Motif' challenge!

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: The Girl On The Train
AUTHOR: Paula Hawkins
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Doubleday
PAGES: 400
GENRE: Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

RATING: 4/5 Stars

Blurb:
Rachel catches the same commuter train every morning. She knows it will wait at the same signal each time, overlooking a row of back gardens. She’s even started to feel like she knows the people who live in one of the houses. ‘Jess and Jason’, she calls them. Their life – as she sees it – is perfect. If only Rachel could be that happy.

Until Today.

And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough.

Now everything’s changed. Now Rachel has a chance to become a part of the lives she’s only watched from afar.

Now they’ll see; she’s much more than just the girl on the train…

What I Liked:

• Hawkins displays a really good writing talent here. As I said I don't normally get into Crime and Thriller books unless they are something really special, and this one definitely made that category. There were so many fantastic plot twists in this story, and it was fast-paced with some great, heart-pounding action to boot. The murder mystery aspect was so much fun too and actually the conclusion was pretty surprising!
• That ending. It was the best part of the book and was shocking in that I didn't figure out what was happening until right before it happened. In a large portion of these books, they can be pretty easy to figure out in terms of 'whodunnit' and what the story is behind that. This was not easy to figure out. I also really loved the build-up to that ending too, Hawkins did a great job with pacing and writing out the dramatic, adrenaline pumping finale.
• I wrote on Goodreads that the characters in this book were the best and worst aspect of it. I'll write why they were so good to begin with, and it's actually pretty simple: they were human. They came with flaws. The book was written from three female POVs, and in some ways they wee each very strong, while in others they were prone to vices and weakness. While I normally like to root for my characters (I wasn't really rooting for these ladies) it was refreshing that they weren't all 'perfect. Hawkins did a pretty good job of studying human nature here and it was interesting to see how the three women viewed each other as well as themselves.

What I Disliked:

• The characters also fall under this category I'm afraid, mostly because I'm used to a much more 'flawless' POV. Rachel, the titular viewpoint was an alcoholic. But beyond that, she was bland, whiny and full of self-loathing that made her chapters frustrating to get through. The two other POVs consisted of a cheating, damaged woman who refused to admit that her husband was a little controlling, and a home-wrecking former estate agent whose paranoia and bitchy attitude wore on my nerves. These are in no way role model characters, but they were real.

Overall Conclusion:

Despite the fact that in some ways this book should have made it to five stars, I chose four because in the end, it's down to reading preference. Hawkins was very clever throughout this book in everything: plot, characters, world development, and certainly the ending. But due to me being me and not enjoying viewpoints where the characters are so self-involved, I couldn't give this such a high rating. There were other minor quibbles: at times the plot slowed and I felt like I was asking more questions than getting answers. This is still a fantastic example of it's genre however and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone, especially those that would like to get into this sort of genre.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Favourite Books I've Read So Far This Year'.

Here's the thing. While I've managed to read more new releases this year than I normally do, I still haven't read nearly enough to base this category solely on books published in 2016. Especially as a few of those that I have read were not as enjoyable as I'd hoped! I've changed the category to books that I have read generally and I will definitely be including a couple of new releases in this list, but hopefully I'll have better luck over the rest of the year.

1) 'The Dark Days Club' by Alison Goodman.

I read this book right at the beginning of the year, but seeing it on this list really put a smile on my face. I loved this book. It is actually a new release, and I received an ARC in a 'Maximum Pop!' prize box around Christmas time, much to my amazement! Based on the well-loved Jane Austen classic 'Pride & Prejudice' this gripping story is set in the heart of an alternate Regency Period where Demons roam the streets posing as humans, and people are born with special powers in order to stop them. I loved the slow-build romance in this, it gave me such Elizabeth and Darcy feels! The plot and characterisation was really nice too.

2) 'Winter' by Marissa Meyer.

Uhh...duh! I had been waiting for a chance to read this book as soon as I possibly could and while 'Cress' remains my favourite, it still warranted 5 Stars along with the rest of the series. Meyer is great at diversity and badass heroines, her ability to introduce memorable new characters constantly is outstanding and it was the conclusion I'd hoped for regarding the four most shippable couples in YA. Seriously. I really miss this series so am eagerly anticipating more books from this wonderful, talented author!

3) 'Wolf By Wolf' by Ryan Graudin.

My first Illumicrate read, I adored this book. I am a great fan of alternate historical fiction and this book did a great job at WWII! What if Hitler had won the war? How would the world be shaped differently? That mixed with a thrilling race (I do love a good Dystopian competition) and a dash of sci-fi and it's the perfect read. Graudin did such a good job at nailing the characters and their motivation, and I loved uncovering bits of backstory as time went on.I can't wait for the second book and I hope it's as full of suspense and blood-pumping action as book one!

4) 'Seven Ways We Lie' by Riley Redgate.

A contemporary YA really has to be something special to hold my interest, especially as I have some pretty mixed experiences with them. 'Seven Ways We Lie' was released this year and I didn't expect it to blow me away like it did. These teenage characters are the kind that more young people need to be reading about right now: they perfectly sum up what it's like to be at school. The characters were relateable; each of them was supposed to be a 'sin', but they were so much more than that. People are complex, not stereotypes. Also she included a very diverse cast of POVs including a guy who openly identifies as Pansexual. More of this please!

5) 'Thorn' by Intisar Khanani.

I read 'Sunbolt' by this author quite a while back, and while I anxiously awaited book two I thought I'd check out her other work. As soon as I saw that this book was a retelling of 'The Goose Girl' I knew I needed to read it ASAP. Khanani is so fantastic at writing strong female characters and fast-paced, action-filled plots. I like that this one didn't focus on the 'romance' aspect of the tale. Much like 'One Thousand Nights' by E.K. Johnston, this book had a bigger message behind it and that is the purpose of a true Fairy Tale. To learn from it.

6) 'Pantomime' by Laura Lam.

This is a really recent read of mine, from when I went on holiday to Italy and I'm so glad that I chose it for my travels! I'd seen some really mixed reviews of it on Goodreads so I didn't know what to expect, but the Intersex protagonist, from the very beginning, sold it to me. Micah/Gene was such a complicated character, especially as she refused to be defined into a gender or category. I love that Lam built the idea of being androgynous into the story's Fantasy setting and yet, it didn't quite feel like the main focus of the plot either (which was a bonus). A magical, exciting world and fantastic characterisation all round made for wonderful book!

7) 'Beautiful Broken Things' by Sara Barnard.

It's so hard to find books about friendship only nowadays. YA especially is filled to the brim of romance and love, but teenagers go through much more than crushing on the cute boy in class. Luckily, this year's gorgeous release set in Brighton didn't need any of that. Instead, it focused on jealousy of new friends, how destructive friendship can be, and also how much it can change you. Barnard's debut is written beautifully with well-built characters and relateable situations. Abuse and mental illness are also heavily involved in this book which is always good to read and learn about.

8) 'Let The Right One In' by John Ajvide Lindqvist.

This is a little outside of my usual read, but seeing as I loved the Swedish film adaptation and the play based on this book, I figured I'd give it a try. If horror (especially regarding vampires) is your thing, then definitely give this book a go! It maintains a spine-chilling tension throughout, and you're never quite sure what will happen next, but also builds a strangely likeable romance despite the sinister undertones it implies. The darker, dirtier side of Sweden that he provides a glimpse into is also fascinating. 

9) 'The Tropic Of Serpents' by Marie Brennan.

It took me a while but I finally got round to the second book in this enjoyable series and loved it. It reminded me why I'd given the first one such a high rating. People who want fire-breathing, treasure hoarding, constant dragon activity might be disappointed. But learning about these creatures: their bone structures, hunting habits and different varieties is totally fascinating, and Lady Isabella is a feisty, spirited heroine to boot. The mystery behind the plot is always fun to solve and I eagerly await the opportunity to read book three!

10) 'Reasons To Stay Alive' by Matt Haig.

I chose this as my last book in this category because it's something a bit different: non-fiction. Since starting this blog I haven't really read any and I'd like to expand my horizons and do so. Focusing on Anxiety and Depression, I thought it was the perfect first choice as I myself suffer quite severely with the former. Haig explained himself well, drawing on examples from his own experiences, conversations and quotes from others. It's a quick read for anyone that suffers with these mental illnesses and certainly for those that want to learn more!

Last Week's Shenanigans (13th June - 19th June)...

This week has been super busy, but I've really enjoyed having so much to do! To start off, I stayed round my Parents' house Sunday night into Monday and we headed back to London early in the morning for a Flat viewing with Mat before splitting off from him again to spend a day in London together. To begin with we had lunch at Westfield in Stratford, then hopped on the Tube for an afternoon at the Natural History museum! Anyone who hasn't been, I highly recommend it because there's so many interesting things to see there and it's completely free entry! After another Tube journey to Covent Garden to grab a bite to eat at Jamie's Italian, the four of us made our way to the Novello Theatre to watch 'Mamma Mia'. Normally, Jukebox musicals aren't my thing but this one is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine! The whole cast had so much energy, and Mazz Murray's performance as Tanya had me almost wetting myself with laughter. A fantastic end to a wonderful day organised for my Mum's birthday a couple of months back.

Viewing places to live is very much at the forefront of Mat and mine's priorities right now so we've had a really exciting time looking around and finding places that could potentially be our first home together. Of course we'll only be renting temporarily while we attempt to build enough money for a house of our own but it's still a fun (if slightly stressful) process. Other than that, I worked (as usual). On Saturday night I went out with a large group of my work colleagues for some food, which was a lot of fun! It rounded off a pretty nice week really well and gave me a chance to relax for a little bit (something I do surprisingly little). Sunday was Father's Day in the UK so in the morning I rang my Father to check he'd received his present, before spending the rest of the day doing chores and sorting bits and bobs out.

I Read:

I Received:

- 'The Hawkweed Prophecy' by Irena Brignull: Approved by Netgalley (19/06/16)

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Releases For The Rest Of 2016

Book Review: Crow Moon; Anna McKerrow.

After raving reviews from Lucy Powrie (Queen Of Contemporary) on Twitter and he blog, and receiving a copy of 'Red Witch' to review, I really wanted to try this series out. In short, I liked it and see a lot of potential, though perhaps didn't fall for it as much as I hoped. Also, it's my Key Word challenge entry for this month!

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Crow Moon
AUTHOR: Anna McKerrow
SERIES: Crow Moon (#1)
PUBLISHER: Quercus Children's Books
PAGES: 384
GENRE: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopian

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:

Danny is a fun-loving 16-year-old looking for a father figure and falling in love with a different girl every day. He certainly doesn't want to follow in his mum's witchy footsteps.

Just as his community is being threatened by gangs intent on finding a lucrative power source to sell to the world, Danny discovers he is stunningly powerful. And when he falls for Saba, a gorgeous but capricious girl sorceress, he thinks maybe the witch thing might not be such a bad idea...

But what cost will Danny pay as, with his community on the brink of war, he finds that love and sorcery are more dangerous than he ever imagined?

What I Liked:

• I was impressed by the aspect that I was most looking forward to about this book: the magic. I read Cate Tiernan's 'Sweep' series a while back and really loved the way that Wiccan/Pagan magic worked so I was happy to read another book that centres around the subject but this time set in England. McKerrow knew her stuff, I learnt a lot! The setting of Cornwall/Devon is perfect too and I think that McKerrow really built the world nicely, combining the fantastical with an almost Dystopian plot-line. It was original and fresh, like nothing I'd ever read before.
• The plot was pretty good for this one. It was paced well and contained a multitude of twists and turns, combined with characters that were complex and morally ambiguous. I liked that they all had flaws and yet were still likeable: Danny is frustratingly awful to girls yet hilarious, Saba is intensely captivating yet selfish, Demelza is hard-working and passionate but short-tempered and tough to crack (I really connected with her especially). YA so often holds 'perfect' characters that are either wonderful or awful. I liked the in-between found here.

What I Disliked:

• For me, there were a few flaws to be found in this book that meant I didn't fall head-over-heels like I'd hoped. To begin with, while I liked McKerrow's writing, I found that she had a very 'tell don't show' style. That means that rather than showing me her character's personalities through their actions, she would explain them instead and I was forced to believe it despite at times there being evidence to the contrary. Lowenna was the greatest example of this, described as a woman who would go to any lengths to protect her community and way of life yet when she chose to ignore Danny's visions (that she had previously stated were important) I didn't see that at all. It was frustrating because she'd argued with Zia on the subject just chapters before. I would have preferred to have Zia herself actually use old-world Cornish phrases in her speech, rather than being told that she 'always does' (she doesn't in the book...not once). 
• One of the biggest annoyances in this book was the lack of consistency. The reader is informed that those born in the Greenworld (like Danny) know virtually nothing about the Redworld outside of their villages. However, I lost count of how many pop culture references Danny made during his narration. These are things he shouldn't have known about, especially as the witches had to teach him so much about his community which he grew up in. I just didn't quite buy his allusions to Narnia and Wee Willy Winkie, when he was so clueless about magic...especially considering his own Mother is a witch.

Overall Conclusion:

As you can see, mixed views on this one. On the one hand, I really loved the world-building and originality of the plot-line! McKerrow clearly knew what she was talking about witch-craft wise and I loved her references to Cornwall and Devon. Her writing was pretty good too, and the pacing of the plot had me fairly hooked from start to finish, especially when coupled with complicated personalities in her characters. I just wished that she'd spent less time dumping so much information on me about everything and shown it to me through the actions of her characters. The huge information overload made her character's conversations feel very forced and some of the facts presented didn't match up with what was happening as a result plot-wise.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Most Anticipated Releases For The Rest Of 2016'.

I've been really looking forward to doing this category because I have so many books I'm looking forward to coming out later this year! All of these releases will be from July onward (all in 2016 of course) and I can't wait to read what everyone else is excited about too!

1) 'This Savage Song' by Victoria Schwab.

Expected Publication: July 5th 2016

Now no one shoot, but I've never actually read a book by Victoria Schwab (or V.E. Schwab as she's sometimes known). I really want to but it's simply not come up on my TBR as of yet. When I saw this book was being released, I knew straight away it would be one I would want to read. Set in a city filled with monsters that are born of violent acts, the two MCs are both heirs to a city cut in half. It sounds like a Romeo & Juliet style story but maybe without the romance, and certainly a lot darker and more dangerous than 'fair Verona'. It sounds brilliant.

2) 'The Muse' by Jessie Burton.

Expected Publication: July 26th 2016

When I saw this pop up on Edelweiss, I was so excited! I read 'The Miniaturist' by this talented lady a while back and absolutely loved it, so I've been waiting very impatiently for Miss Burton to release her next work. I'm pleased to say that I was approved to read the ARC (though I don't know if I'll be able to read it before it's released). For those that like Historical Fiction, you should definitely read Jessie Burton's work, as it's so well-researched. It seems there'll be two POVs in this one: strong women, one from the 1930s and one from the 1960s. I'm interested to see how their stories link!

3) 'Nevernight' by Jay Kristoff.

Expected Publication: August 9th 2016

I've heard a little about this Author but something about this book really caught my eye. I'm a huge fan of Fantasy involving assassins, and this one has plenty of those, because it's set in a school of them! I love the idea of competition among the students and something about the way the synopsis is written (and the cover of course) gives me some really creepy vibes so I have high hopes for this book! Hopefully it lives up to my super excited expectations!

4) 'Three Dark Crowns' by Kendare Blake.

Expected Publication: September 20th 2016

Wowee, this synopsis has me so excited! It's so original, I definitely don't feel like I've read anything like it before, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Blake weaves this story together. Three powerful triplets are destined to fight each other for the crown, but in reality only one of them truly has the powers they are supposed too, while the other two play pretend so that no one is any the wiser. Sisterly bonds are always interesting to read and I think that these ones have so much potential to be complex and interesting!

5) 'Stealing Snow' by Danielle Paige.

Expected Publication: September 20th 2016

I haven't actually got round to the 'Dorothy Must Die' series just yet, but I'm really hoping that I will soon. If not though, I may just read this ASAP because it's a Fairy Tale retelling of one that I really love: the story of 'Snow White'. Paige looks like she's put a really big spin on the well-known tale and I'm really interested to see exactly how similar it is to the original. I only know that it involves Asylums, is set in a Fantastical New York and has an absolutely gorgeous cover!

6) 'Bright Smoke, Cold Fire' by Rosamund Hodge.

Expected Publication: September 27th 2016

Just look at the cover! Look at it! Rosamund Hodge has written so many wonderful looking Fairy Tale retellings and I haven't read any of them. This is one I want to read. It's not strictly Fairy Tale, in fact it's mostly based on 'Romeo & Juliet'. That's the second one in this list, but as I'm a big fan of Shakespeare, I'll let that pass! This one is definitely one I'll be reading ASAP, perhaps before the other Rosamund Hodge books!

7) 'Strange The Dreamer' by Laini Taylor.

Expected Publication: September 29th 2016

I have a feeling this book will be on a lot of lists. Laini Taylor really touched a lot of readers with her 'Daughter Of Smoke & Bone' series and I know a great many bloggers who are extra excited for this brand new series. I've seen so many people hyped about this one and I was given a sampler in my latest Illumicrate box which really intensified the enthusiasm for 'Strange The Dreamer'.

8) 'Dead Girls Society' by Michelle Krys.

Expected Publication: November 8th 2016

The first thing that this synopsis tells me is that it's about a character suffering with Cystic Fibrosis. I have never read a book with an MC that has that illness so that instantly caught my attention. The rest sounds very intriguing too: a secret society, a potentially dangerous game and a lot of sneaking around. People have compered it to 'Pretty Little Liars' which I haven't actually read but that only serves to intrigue me more.

9) 'Heartless' by Marissa Meyer.

Expected Publication: November 8th 2016

Another one that I know will be popular, this book was my instant thought when I read this topic title. I love Marissa Meyer! Her 'Lunar Chronicles' series absolutely blew me away, so a re-imagining of 'Alice In Wonderland'? Wow! It looks to be a Queen Of Hearts origin story of sorts, with plenty of Wonderland-esque mayhem along the way to keep me entertained. The forbidden romance aspect is intriguing too, so I'm looking forward to see how Meyer plots this one!

10) 'Ever The Hunted' by Erin Summerill.

Expected Publication: December 27th 2016

Though the cover isn't totally eye-catching, the synopsis for this story really caught my attention. I like the idea of reading from another badass heroine viewpoint, one who knows how to use a dagger and a bow. Father-daughter duos are always a winner with me and I like that the whole situation seems complicated. Plenty of room for romance, betrayal and mystery-solving.