Top 5 Wednesday - Favourite Villains

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly meme where you discuss your 'top 5' in a variety of different topics on, guess what, a Wednesday. Full list of topics and more information can be found here on the Goodreads group. 

This is my first time doing Top 5 Wednesday and I'm hoping to keep this as a regularly scheduled thing on my blog. This weeks topic wasn't really me so I thought I would jump into one of the many back list topics for my first post, top 5 villains. 

Any manifestation of the Sea Witch or Ursula and in this case The Sea Queen from To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo. 

There's just something about an evil entity that lives deep underwater that just makes it even more sinister. 

Bellatrix Lastrange from the Harry Potter series. 

I'm sure Harry Potter characters are on a lot of peoples lists but for me it's Bellatrix. She's just completely and utterly crazy!

The Sleeping Prince from The Sin Eaters Daughter trilogy

The Sleeping Prince was just evil. He was twisted and sadistic, I loved him!

Queen Levana from The Lunar Chronicles 

I loved Queen Levana's character. She was a bit of an unknown, unless you read her novella your not quite sure why shes so evil but she is. 

The Darkling from The Grisha trilogy

Another one that's probably on a lot of peoples lists. There was just something so compelling about The Darkling that made you want to love him. 

I'd love to read about your top 5 favourite villains. Link your posts or comment down below and I'll check them out. 

Review - Garrison Girl by Rachel Aaron

Garrison Girl by Rachel Aaron

Published 7th August 2018 by Quirk Books

My Rating - ***

Goodreads Challenge - 27/50

I received an advanced proof copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

A novel of adventure, romance, and monsters...set in the dystopian world of Attack on Titan, the mega-hit manga and anime series.

An original novel, with all-new characters and a new story set in the world of Attack on Titan! Fans of the series and readers alike will enjoy this immersive and engaging experience of the pop culture phenomenon and manga mega-hit. 
With the last vestige of the human race threatened by unstoppable carnivorous giants, a brave young woman decides to defy her wealthy family and join the military to fight against humanity's enemies. But Rosalie Dumarque soon finds out that bloody sword fights with monsters aren't the only dangers faced by the Wall Rose Garrison. Can she earn the trust of her fellow soldiers, stand up to a corrupt authority, navigate a forbidden romance...and cut her way out of a titan's throat?

My Thoughts

I've never actually read or watched Attack on Titan but I'd read that you don't necessarily need to be familiar with the series to enjoy this novel. I agree with that to some extent but I also think that a previous knowledge of the series may have enhanced the reading experience. Here are my thoughts...

What I liked 
• The writing was fun and engaging. It made me want to pick it up and read. It was also very easy to read so the story went by quite quickly. 

• The action scenes were particularly well written. Again they were engaging and fast paced but didn't lack on the details. 

• Rosalie's character development was pretty good. I didn't really like her to begin with but over the course of the novel I liked how determined she became. 

What I didn't like 
• Although the writing was easy to read parts of the plot did feel a little bit disjointed at times. The pacing seemed a little off and we seemed to take fairly large jumps forward in time. I think this novel would of benefited from being a bit longer to enable to author to rectify this. 

• There were lots of dislikeable characters. I'm not opposed to characters like this but I do prefer a redemption arc storyline. 

• I didn't like the romance. It felt rushed and lacking in depth and development. 

• I would of liked more background information on the world and society however, I think if I had read or watched the Attack on Titan series before reading this I wouldn't necessarily need it. 

Overall it was a fairly average read. I liked the basic storyline and I enjoyed the reading experience however, it was quite forgettable. If you really enjoy the Attack on Titan series then you'll probably want to pick this one up and, although I think you can read this not having read the series, I wouldn't expect anything to revolutionary.

Overall Rating

Mythothon TBR

I love the idea of read-a-thons but I normally always fail. I find it really hard to feel like I have achieved anything in a short space of time. However, I'm not one to give up so when I saw this month long read-a-thon I thought I'd give it a go. As it runs over the whole month of November I thought this would make it a bit easier for me to achieve some of the challenges. I'll list all of the details down below as well as my TBR if you fancied giving it a go. 

Full details and sign ups can be found over on @Foxesfairytale's blog at https://foxesfairytale.wordpress.com/2018/10/02/mythothon-sign-ups/

My TBR

Zeus. King of the Gods. God of the Sky. Read a book at least 400 pages long. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Hera. Queen of the Gods. Goddess of Marriage, Mothers and Families. Read a book about royalty. A Thousand Nights by EK Johnston

Hebe. Goddess of Eternal Youth. Read a Middle Grade or Young Adult book.

Poseidon. God of the Sea. Read a book which features the sea – mermaids, pirates, surfers etc. Daughter of the Pirate King by Trisha Levenseller

Hermes. God of Travellers and Thieves. Read a book set in a country not your own. The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Choppa by Vaseem Khan

Aphrodite. Goddess of Love and Beauty. Read a book with a beautiful cover. Howls Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 

The Hydra. Multiheaded Serpent. Read a book with more than one POV. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Iris. Goddess of the Rainbow. Read a book with your favourite colour on the cover or in the title. There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Ancient Greece. Read a book set in the past. The Wonder by Emma Donoghue

Hestia. Goddess of the Hearth. Read the first book in a series. Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Dionysus. God of Wine. Celebrate this year by reading a 2018 release. The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Achilles and Patroclus. Read a book with an LGBT+ protagonist.

Free Choice.

Homer. Read a retelling (of a myth, fairy tale, classic novel etc.) Scarlet by AC Gaughen

Hephaestus. God of Fire and Smiths. Read a book with a disabled character.

Ares. God of War. Read a book with a compelling antagonist or a written from the villain’s POV.

Echidna. Mother of Monsters. Read a book about monsters – dragons, zombies, serial killers etc. Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi

Herakles. Read a popular book (define ‘popular’ as you wish).

Gaia. Primordial Earth Goddess. Read a book which was published at least 5 years ago. The Robber Bridegroom by The Brothers Grimm (Little Black Classic)

Artemis. Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt. Read a book with an animal on the cover or in the title. The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow by Katherine Woodfine

Athena. Goddess of Wisdom, Strategy and Crafts. Read a book that’s not the first in the series. Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Persephone. Goddess of the Underworld and Springtime. Read a book which is less than 200 pages. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe (Little Black Classic)

Apollo. God of Prophesy, Plague and Poetry. Read a collection of poetry or short stories. The Beginning of the World in the Middle of the Night by Jen Campbell

Hades. God of the Underworld and Riches. Read a book which you got for free (library, from a friend, ARC, Kindle offer etc.) Girl Squads by Sam Maggs

Demeter. Goddess of Agriculture. Read a book with a nature word in the title – e.g. leaf, wind, flower etc. Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi

So that's my TBR for the Mythothon I have left a few blank as they're quite generic prompts so I'm hoping to fill these in with books I'm in the mood for. I've also left the LGBTQ and the disability prompts blank as I'm struggling to find any short books to fill these prompts so any recommendations would be greatly received. 

Let me know if your planning on taking part in the Mythothon, I'd love to read your TBR posts.