Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Books On My Summer TBR List'.

I always get so excited when it comes to writing TBR lists, especially for the Summer because I am very much a seasonal reader and like to (as much as possible) read certain types of books at certain times of the year. During the Summer, I like to read light, upbeat contemporaries, a dash of fantasy and books set in hot countries! You'll certainly see a few of those here!

1) 'Red Ink' by Julie Mayhew. 

I always think of this book during the summertime but never seem to get round to it. It's a contemporary YA coming-of-age story that focuses on family, myth and superstition and I actually won it a while back on Twitter! I really hope I get to read it this summer!

2) 'A Study In Charlotte' by Brittany Cavallaro.

I received this book for my birthday and I am so excited to read a retelling of the 'Sherlock Holmes' series! Particularly as I'm most of the way through the classic series and really enjoying them! This one promises to be a fun little mystery with a bit of a twist on the stories that we know and love.

3) 'Uprooted' by Naomi Novik.

I have seen this book reviewed so many times, and I really don't know why I haven't read it yet! I love fairy tales and this has the makings of a great one! Girls being kidnapped by a mysterious wizard? A corrupted, malevolent wood? Perfect! I can't wait to get stuck into this one.

4) 'And The Mountains Echoed' by Khaled Hosseini.

Another book I received for my birthday from a good friend, and one I'd very much heard of before from my sister, who loves Hosseini's books! I've always wanted to read something by this author and am so glad that I now own this one! Plus, it definitely ticks off the 'set in a hot place' box.

5) 'The Penelopiad' by Margaret Atwood.

I've read only one book by Margaret Atwood, 'Good Bones', and liked that collection of stories, poetry and essays a lot. Now, I want to read something longer! I'd actually been eyeing up 'The Handmaid's Tale' which is a classic, but this new retelling of 'The Iliad' looks so intriguing too!

6) 'Over Raging Tides' by Jennifer Ellision.

Something else I love to read about during the summer months? Pirates! And one look at this gorgeous cover has me desperate to get stuck into this series, especially as they are all lady pirates who do not allow men on board their ship! What a role reversal indeed.

7) 'The Song Of Achilles' by Madeline Miller.

This book looks like it's going to haunt me in so many ways, and I'm totally up for it! Who doesn't want an LGBT retelling of 'The Odyssey'? Honestly, I've only read the blurb and I already ship it. I can't wait to read this, and then hopefully follow it up with Miller's latest release, 'Circe'.

8) 'Whispers Underground' by Ben Aaronovitch.

It's time to make a little more headway with this series. My sister bought me a few books from it so long ago and I really haven't made a decision on it yet. I thought the first book was only 'okay', and then the second book was better but still not blowing me away. This one is going to be crucial in helping me make a decision on whether to continue or not!

9) 'The Glow Of Fallen Stars' by Kate Ling.

I didn't expect to be in the mood for sci-fi at this time of year, but although I wasn't totally in love with book one, I really want to read this second installment to the series. I really adored the final third of the first book so I'm hoping that the author keeps that level of interest in this one, though I've seen it has mixed reviews. We'll see.

10) 'I Was Born For This' by Alice Oseman.

I am so ready to read another book by Alice Oseman. I loved 'Radio Silence' so much, and though I've yet to read Solitaire, this book has really caught my eye! Especially the orange cover! Fingers crossed that it lives up to my very high expectations, though I'm certain it will because Oseman is so talented!

Last Week's Shenanigans (11th June - 17th June)...

What a week this has been, and not in the best of ways! The flat next door to ours sprung a leak, and the damage to their living room and our kitchen/spare bedroom (as well as flats below us) is quite extensive. It's better now that the leak has been located and fixed but Mat and I have been running on next to no sleep thanks to the emergency plumbers coming out to look at the issue at all sorts of hours, and the constant need to be glued to the phone solving the issue.

It has meant I haven't had much time for reading or doing a whole lot else, which has been sad. I was supposed to go to my parents' house for Father's day but had to stay in for the plumbers and landlord which was a real pain. I am going to speak to a couple of wedding suppliers today though, so that should be fun!

I Read...

I Received...

- 'The Good Guys' by Rob Kemp: Netgalley (15/06/18)

Book Review: Warrior Witch; Danielle L. Jensen.

It actually pains me how disappointed I was that I didn't fall in love with this final installment of this series. The first book was so good, and I'd really hoped that my disappointment with the second would be a case of 'filler book' syndrome. Sadly, not so.

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Warrior Witch
AUTHOR: Danielle L. Jensen
SERIES: The Malediction Trilogy (#3)
PUBLISHER: Angry Robot
PAGES: 317
GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal Romance

RATING: 2.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Sometimes, one must become the unimaginable… 

Cécile and Tristan have accomplished the impossible, but their greatest challenge remains: defeating the evil that they have unleashed upon the world. As they scramble for a way to protect the people of the Isle and liberate the trolls from their tyrant king, Cécile and Tristan must battle those who’d see them dead. To win, they will risk everything…and everyone. 

But it might not be enough. Both Cécile and Tristan have debts, and they will be forced to pay them at a cost far greater than they had ever imagined.

What I Liked:

• Jensen's world-building is still very much there, which makes me so happy! After all, it was the world-building that I fell in love with in the first book and that made me want to read more. I got to see more of Trollus again, as well as plenty of Trianon and some new places too thanks to the appearance of the Fey in the story!

What I Disliked:

• I really feel that part of my problem with this book came from the lack of attention to one of my favourite OTPs, Cécile and Tristan! I loved them in book one, and was so sad that they spent most of book two apart! So imagine my shock that no sooner were they reunited, then they split up again in this final installment. Even when they were together, I missed the snarky Tristan from previous books and fiery Cécile had become a little cruel and bratty! Such a shame!
• That ending deserves a review of it's own. I hated it. I mean truly, it destroyed all of the hard work that Jensen put into developing her characters! Not just for Roland and Marc, but especially for Cécile and Tristan. No spoilers, but no amount of tacking on a final paragraph about how it 'all worked out in the end' fools me. That was a horrible ending for them and I felt cheated!

Overall Conclusion:

I liked elements of this book and I think that Jensen really writes well, which is why I did end up giving this book half marks. But I am so angry at the treatment of an OTP that I loved so much in book one, and especially that ending, and I had some niggles with the constant need for an end of chapter 'shock plot-twist' too. It was like the opposite of book two, where there was only one major twist that I guessed from the start. Here, too much seemed to happen in the space of one novel.

Last Week's Shenanigans (4th June - 10th June)...

Mat and I are back from Edinburgh! Yay! We are so glad we got to go on this trip, mostly because we got to watch our friends get married but also because we got to see a city that we've never seen before! In fact, I've never set foot in Scotland before so this was very new for me. We crammed a lot into our trip: the zoo, the castle, Arthur's Seat, and so much more! I really loved this beautiful place and hope that I can return someday while the Fringe festival is going on!

I Read...

I Received...

- 'The Psychology Of Time Travel' by Kate Mascarenhas: Netgalley (04/06/18)

- 'The Liar's Gospel' by Naomi Alderman: Bought (06/06/18)

- 'Floored' by Sara Barnard et al.: Publisher sent ARC (07/06/18)

- 'Girls Write Now' by Girls Write Now: Netgalley (10/06/18)

Memes...

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Came THIS Close To DNFing

Book Review: Out Of The Blue; Sophie Cameron.

This reading slump is killing me, but I have to say this book was enjoyable and helped me a lot. It was picked for me to read out of a hat alongside a group of friends, and timed perfectly with my trip to Edinburgh!

SOURCE: Netgalley
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: Out Of The Blue
AUTHOR: Sophie Cameron
SERIES: --
PUBLISHER: Macmillan Children's Books
PAGES: 272
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Contemporary, LGBT, Young Adult

RATING: 4.5/5 Stars

Blurb:

When angels start falling from the sky, it seems like the world is ending. For most people it doesn't. But for Jaya the world ended when her mother died, two weeks before the first angel fell.

Smashing down to earth at extraordinary speeds, wings bent, faces contorted, not a single one has survived and, as the world goes angel crazy, Jaya's father uproots the family to Edinburgh, intent on catching one alive. But Jaya can't stand his obsession and, struggling to make sense of her mother's sudden death and her own role on that fateful day, she's determined to stay out of it. Then something extraordinary happens: an angel lands right at Jaya’s feet, and it’s alive.

Set against the backdrop of the frenzied Edinburgh festival, Sophie Cameron's Out of the Blue tackles questions of grief and guilt and fear over who we really are. But it’s also about love and acceptance and finding your place in this world as angels drop out of another.

What I Liked:

• I really loved that (a) Sophie Cameron set up a present-day reality in which angels fall out of the sky so realistically that I was actually horrified to imagine that this probably would happen and (b) wrote a book about angels falling out of the sky that didn't fall for every urban fantasy/paranormal genre trope under the sun. THANK YOU.
• The diversity and themes covered in this book were what struck me most about this read. It's hard to find LGBT PoC characters, especially main characters. I was so pleased to see Cameron be so effortlessly inclusive in the story and I'm glad that this was a story about love, friendship, family and grief rather than just angels.

What I Disliked:

• This wasn't a major dislike of mine but I did feel that the end was a little rushed and dramatic in comparison with the rest of the book's pacing. I also couldn't help but notice a few plot points that were unrealistically incidental. I know Jaya's relationship with her father was strained, but I can't believe for a second that she never demanded to know what he planned to do with the angel if he got one.

Overall Conclusion:

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and think this was a stunning debut from Cameron! I have seen that a lot of people enjoyed this, and was really excited to read it myself. I'm glad I was finally pushed to do so! If you like reading books with supernatural elements, particularly angels, but find most of what you read to be the same old story then I really recommend this!

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Books I Came THIS Close To DNFing'.

I really don't like to DNF. I can't stand the idea of starting a book and not finishing it. That being said, in the case of books I am not enjoying, this can definitely be to my detriment. Here are ten books that made me come way too close to breaking my anti-DNF rule!

1) 'A Red Tale' by Nicola Mar.

The cover of this looked pretty cool when I requested it, and I was particularly attracted by the unusual interpretation of dragons and the idea of global cooling. I was very quickly disappointed by the author's unedited, confusing style that felt more like a stream of consciousness than anything. I didn't get the story or the characters, and really...I have no idea what happened in that book...

2) 'Fractured Dream' by K.M. Randall.

Honestly, this whole book was a mess for me. I was drawn to the idea of fairy tales merged and retold, and navigating a land full of recognisable characters. While I liked some of the diversity inclusion, the characters were badly written and frustrating, the dialogue stilted and the plot pretty much non-existent. The cover's cute though?

3) 'Midnight Crossroad' by Charlaine Harris.

I really hoped that I would enjoy this book because it's written by a pretty esteemed author. I didn't want to get into the 'Sookie Stackhouse' series until I was sure I'd enjoy her books however and I'm glad I started here because I really didn't like it. Her MC was a sexist, creepy fraud who's attitude towards women particularly bugged me. Also, Harris had a really strange fixation on overly-describing physical appearances too which vexed me.

4) 'How To Fly With Broken Wings' by Jane Elson.

This book was just a bit too simple for me. Considering the themes that it is supposed to touch upon, I would have liked to see more. I found that everything felt a little off and two-dimensional - particularly the characters. I hated the dialogue in this book too, as it mostly consisted of CAPITAL LETTERS which is my pet peeve.

5) 'A Whole New World' by Liz Braswell.

I wanted to adore this book, as I haven't read too many retellings and I liked the idea of a re-imagining of Disney's version of Aladdin. Instead, I found myself rolling my eyes through most of this book, as it read like fan fiction. And not good fan fiction either! It pasted most of the film, word for word with just the tiniest dialogue changes in the first half, then went completely off it's rocker in part two. What?

6) 'A Song For Ella Grey' by David Almond.

I couldn't stop laughing through most of this book - and not in a good way. It seriously made no sense! I've seen so many reviews hailing this as a wonderful read but for me, it's overly flowery prose and nonsensical story-line (if it can be called a plot) threw me off completely. I hated the narrator so much and I was so disappointed because the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of my favourite greek myths of all time.

7) 'Going Bovine' by Libba Bray.

I tried reading this during my teenage years but quickly gave up on it. I then tried again while I was on holiday, and while I got through it I still found it completely bonkers. Mixed in with the bizarre plot and annoying characters is some symbolism that I'm sure means something. I can't for the life of me work out what though, and honestly I thought I was high while reading this.

8) 'Hunter' by Mercedes Lackey.

The MC for this book ruined the whole thing because she was every YA trope out there! AKA she was Mary Sue, the chosen one. I adored the cover for this book and wanted to love it so much, especially as Mercedes Lackey is a really popular author. But I felt that it had nothing all that good going for it and I have zero interest in continuing the series, even if the covers are cool!

9) 'Passenger' by Alexandra Bracken.

I was so on board for this book because I've yet to read a really good time travel book and I think this had some potential. I'd also been waiting a long time to read some Alexandra Bracken! I was disappointed therefore that this book did not do it for me. It's pacing was awful and it was filled to the brim with info-dumping. 

10) 'Stealing Snow' by Danielle Paige.

This one was my biggest disappointment. We all know how much I love fairy tales and re-imaginings usually are my favourite genre to read. But this book killed that dead by giving me an awful heroine that fell in love with every character that she met (I'm not kidding), a vague 'fantasy' land and a forgettable plot. Ugh.

Last Week's Shenanigans (28th May - 3rd June)...

We have had a really lovely week this week because we actually spent a little part of it away in Edinburgh! The first half of it was in London though, and we particularly enjoyed spending Monday evening with friends. Since I changed jobs, I've felt a little freer to do things around work, which has been wonderful! Also, I met with a couple of friends again for what I will start calling our 'book club' in order to work on our exciting, upcoming project some more! It's all super exciting!

On Friday, Mat and I set off to Kings Cross station to start our journey towards Edinburgh. After amusing ourselves for a four hour train journey, we arrived mid-afternoon and were very happy to start exploring straight away! Honestly, we've had a lovely time and got up to a great many things while here. Friday involved meeting up with a few friends at a nearby pub, having a lovely walk along Princes street and planning our trip. Saturday was the reason that we went in the first place - a friend's wedding! It was a beautiful venue and ceremony and I have to say it got me a little bit emotional! I'm now very excited for my own wedding next year. On Sunday, Mat and I went to Edinburgh zoo! We were so excited for this trip for a number of reasons, and particularly to see the Panda! I'm so glad that we got to!

I Read...

I Received...

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I Posted...

May Wrap-Up
Planned Reads For June
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