March Wrap Up

I had a bit of a blogging break at the end of March and as a result my reading slowed down a little bit. That being said I still managed to read 5 books in March which I'm pleased about. They were all 4 and 5 star reads too which was fantastic. 

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Published 2nd October 2018 by Balzer + Bray

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 13/50

Review - Blog Review

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Published 26th March 2019 by Rock the Boat

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 14/50

Review - Blog Review

The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab

Published 12th March 2019 by Titan Books (first published 2nd August 2011)

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 15/50

Review - Blog Review

The Tesla Legacy by K.K. Perez 

Published 12th March 2019 by Tor Teen

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 17/50

Review - Blog Review

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Published 25th July 2016 by Harper Voyager

Star Rating - *****

Goodreads Challenge - 16/50

Review - Blog Review

Have you read any of these? What did you think of them?

What was your favourite book from March?

O.W.L.S Magical Readathon TBR

I've seen lots of people take part in the various Magical Readathons over the past year and it's that time again where lots of people are getting ready to take their O.W.Ls. 

This round of the Magical Readathon takes place from 1st April - 30th April and the idea is to choose a wizarding career and then take the required O.W.Ls for that career. I am planning to choose a career but I'm going to set a TBR for all of the subjects as I'd really like to push my reading for this month. 

So here are the 12 books I'm hoping to get to in April and their respective challenges. 

Ancient Runes - Retelling
Scarlet by A. C. Gaughen

Arithmancy - Work written by more than one author
Poppy Haviland & The Secret of the Lively Widow by Michael Barra with Annabel Lively Barra

Astronomy - The word "star" in the title
Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett

Care of Magical Creatures - Land animal on the cover
Music and Malice in Hurricane Town by Alex Bell

Charms - Age-Line, read an adult work
One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence 

Defence Against the Dark Arts - Reducto, title stars with an "R"
Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

Divination - Set in the future
Nyxia by Scott Reintgen

Herbology - Plant on the cover
Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

History of Magic - Published at least 10 years ago
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 

Muggle Studies - Contemporary 
The Anomaly by Michael Rutger

Potions - Next Ingredient, Sequel
James Clyde and the Tomb of Salvation by Colm McElwain 

Transfiguration - Sprayed edges or red cover 
Final Girls by Riley Sager

This is quite an ambitious TBR for me but I'm hoping to get through as many as possible. 

What are your reading plans for April? I'd love to hear about them. 

Review - Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Published 2nd October 2018 by Balzer + Bray

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 13/50

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: when the prince-who-will-be-king comes of age, he must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.

When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.

However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threats to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her.

My Thoughts

I was really drawn in by the cover of this one, I'd seen a lot of reviews floating around at the end of last year, a lot of them not great, but I was still intrigued enough to give it a try. Now, after reading this I can understand why this is not for everyone. It's very dark and graphic with a lot of trigger warnings, which I'll list at the end, but I enjoyed the story overall. 

It was definitely an uncomfortable read at times, with a lot of problematic elements but its supposed to be. Damsel is described as a feminist fairy tale and I agree with this. It was a very twisted take on a lot of the usual fairy tale tropes with the prince rescuing his damsel from a dragon and bringing her back to his castle to live a 'happily ever after'. There are a lot of rebellious undertones running throughout this book as we follow our 'damsel' and dive into her inner thoughts as she comes to stand up to her Prince. 

I thought the development of the damsel was great. She started off as quite a weak character but as we follow her throughout the story she begins to grow stronger and more independent. She's determined to discover who she is and where she comes from. She doesn't just accept her fate as the previous damsel did. We see a lot of this development through her thoughts rather than her actions and it's great to follow her as she learns how to stand up for herself. The Prince was just down right evil. He started off seemingly likeable but as we followed the story his true personality begins to shine through as he truly becomes a horrible person. He was a very well written character as, although he is really unlikable, he's supposed to be and to me that means the author has done her job. 

This book as a whole reads exactly like a fairy tale. It feels like the author quite literally tells you the story. I think this fitted well with the style of story and the plot. As I've said before the writing is quite graphic and it definitely doesn't shy away from details so please bear this in mind if your easily triggered. Throughout the story their was a lot of foreshadowing of things to come and I worked out the twist and the end before we got there but that didn't really hinder my enjoyment of the story however, the surprise would of been nice. 

Overall I enjoyed this story, although I'm not sure enjoy is the right word. It was dark, harsh and made me uncomfortable in places but that was the whole point of this story. The author did a great job at developing the story in a way that made a seemingly powerless female become strong and independent. Please just be aware of the trigger warnings and maybe avoid this one if they will cause you any issues however, if your okay reading about these things then I would recommend giving this one a go. 

TWs: abuse, sexual assault/rape, animal abuse, self harm and suicide. 

Overall Rating

Top 5 Wednesday - Spring Reads

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 weeks Top 5 Wednesday post is your top 5 spring reads. This can be interpreted as books or genres you reach for in Spring, Spring themed recommendations or just 5 books you want to get to this Spring. I'm going with 5 books I'm planning on reading as I tend not to read seasonally. 

Here are the books I'm hoping to get to this Spring. 

Caraval and Legendary by Stephanie Garber

   

Caraval will be a re-read for me and Legendary a first read. I really want to get to both of these before Finale comes out in May. 

The Priory of the Orange Tree

As you may of seen in my recent Mailbox Monday post I received this one in a book trade. I really want to pick it up ASAP otherwise I know I'll keep putting it off because of the size. 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I'd really like to start my re-read of this series so I can then move onto the Six of Crows duology and then finally pick up King of Scars. 

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff

I'm currently reading and absolutely loving Nevernight so I'm definitely going to want to continue with this series. 

The Dark Vault by V.E. Schwab

I've just finished The Near Witch which is the first book I've read by this author even though I own a lot of her books. I'd like to continue working my way though her backlist and try this one next. 

Have you read any of these? I'd love to hear what you thought and if there are any I need to get to ASAP. 

What books are you hoping to read this Spring?

Mailbox Monday - Weekly Book Post

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme that was started by Marcia of To Be Continued. The aim is simple, for people to share what books they received in their mailbox that week. To check out everyone else's posts head over to the Mailbox Monday blog.

This week I received lots of book trades...

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

This is a collection of short stories about race and cultural diversity. They tackle some of the difficulties surrounding these topics. I think there might be a slight magical realism aspect to some of these stories too. I enjoy short stories every now and again so I'm looking forward to giving this one a go. 

Daughter of the Siren Queen by Trisha Levenseller

This is the 2nd book in a duology, the first one being Daughter of the Pirate King. I haven't read the first one yet but I'm excited to dive in now I've got the 2nd one too. 

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

I've never read a John Green book nor have I really been interested in reading one as I'm not the biggest contemporary romance fan however, the mystery element of this one intrigues me. 

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

I have heard nothing but great things about this one however it is massive! I'm planning on getting to it very soon otherwise I'll keep putting it off because of the size. 

Have you read any of these? I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

What books did you receive this week?

The F.R.I.E.N.D.S Book Tag

I love Friends, it has to be one of my favourite TV shows, I also love book tags so when I saw Roxanne over at An Average Life combine the two I knew I had to take part. 

Feel free to take part in this tag too, all Roxanne asks is for you to use the header and to link back to her post here. 

Monica: A book based on a game or competition

I love video games so this was perfect for me. I remember reading this in day whilst I was on holiday last year and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Organisation Queen: How do you organise your books?

I'm currently in the position where I have the majority of my books in boxes as I have recently moved house and we are still sorting out the room in which my bookcases will go into. I'll actually have two bookcases in this house instead of one so that's exciting but I'm not sure how I'm going to organise them yet. I love the idea of rainbow shelves but I'm not sure if I could cope with series being split. 

Rachel: A book you read for the hype

The Lunar Chronicles is very well loved within the book community. This was one of the first 'hyped' books I picked up and I would say it's definitely worth the hype. I wasn't a massive fan of the second book in this series but that didn't put me off and in the end I loved it. 

Shopping Addict: What makes you buy a book?

I have a few authors, Rick Riorden, Marissa Meyer and Holly Black to name a few, whose books I will pick up regardless. Other that that I often look for books I've seen mentioned by fellow bloggers and booktubers that I like the sound of. I also often browse the library for books that jump out at me and I'm usually attracted to their covers. 

Ross: A science fiction book

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff is another one of those series that's well loved within the book community. It took me a while to get to these but I'm so glad I did. It's definitely a 5 star series for me. 

On a Break: Which books have you put down to pick back up later?

I'm making my way through the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovich. This is a mash up of crime/mystery with urban fantasy and I am enjoying the series but I've got to be in the mood to read crime books. I've currently read the first 3 books and I own the 4th which I'm hoping to get to soon. 

Chandler: A book that made you laugh out loud

This is my most recent finish and it definitely had some humorous moments. It's released on 26th March and I would recommend picking it up. 

That Time at Space Mountain: Are there any books you're embarrassed to admit you've read?

No not that I can think of. 

Joey: A scary book you'd keep in the freezer

I don't tend to read scary books. I would like to try some Steven King at some point though. 

V is for Encyclopedia: As an adult, have you read any books with words you had to look up to understand?

I do sometimes come across words I'm not familiar with but I don't usually look them up, unless I'm on my kindle. I tend to just keep reading and I get the gist from the rest of the sentence.

Phoebe: A book with a spiritual or supernatural theme

I read this one at the end of last year and loved it! A fantastic spooky, atmospheric read, perfect for winter. 

The Boycott: Are there any authors, booksellers or publishers you refuse to support?

No I don't think so. Obviously if I saw any of these being outright problematic then I might have a different answer but at the moment no I don't.

Janice: A book with an OH MY GOD twist

If you've read it you'll know what I mean when I say THAT ENDING!! If you haven't read this series then you need to!

Emily: A British Classic

This is the only classic I've read. I don't know if it counts as a British classic but the authors from the UK so I'm going with it. I really do need to read some more classics. 

Gunther: A book nobody seems to be talking about

I've used this book for a similar question in a previous tag and I'm going to sat it again here, I loved this, more people need to read it!

Carol and Susan: An LQBTQ+ book or author

   

I'm going to repeat this book here as I don't think I've ever read another book with such a wide range of representation as this one. 

Mike: A slow burning book or a romance novel

I don't read solely romance books, there not really my genre, so I went for a slow burning book. This one takes a while to build but it was still really enjoyable and there is quite a significant romance in this one too so I suppose it fits both prompts. 

Richard: A book that left you feeling accomplished or better educated

I learnt a lot about some great females from history whilst reading this book. This made me want to pick up some more non-fiction about some of these people. 

I hope you enjoyed my answers to this great tag. Thank you again to Roxanne for creating such a fun tag and I hope lots of you decide to take part in this too. 

If you do decide to take part I'd love to read your posts so please let me know about them. 

Review - All the Lonely People by David Owen

All the Lonely People by David Owen

Published 10th January 2019 by Atom

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 12/50

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Everyone tells Kat that her online personality - confident, funny, opinionated - isn't her true self. Kat knows otherwise. The internet is her only way to cope with a bad day, chat with friends who get all her references, make someone laugh. But when she becomes the target of an alt-right trolling campaign, she feels she has no option but to Escape, Delete, Disappear.

All the Lonely People is a timely story about online culture that explores the experience of loneliness in a connected world, and the power of kindness and empathy over hatred.

My Thoughts

I don't think I've ever read a book that made me feel so angry after reading the first chapter. This book covers some very important topics, cyber bulling/trolling and alt-right online communities, in an interesting and emotive way. I definitely wouldn't describe it as a happy book but in a good way, let me expand a bit more on this. 

I would describe this book as a contemporary, realistic story with a speculative twist. In this story we see people literally fade from existence as a result of their feelings of insignificance, want to hide themselves and become someone else. I think this was a really impactful way to explore these feelings as that often is what people in these situations want to do. This was a very relevant story and the topics covered need to be discussed with all our young people as nearly everyone has an online presence nowadays and people can be so easily influenced in this way. As well as cyber bulling/trolling and online communities this book also looks at peer pressure, family and friend dynamics and it includes a f/f romance so overall a very well rounded and important book. 

As I said before this isn't a happy book. Although the ending is positive the journey to get there is full of uncertainty and questionable thoughts, feelings and actions. The writing is very melancholy and this fits really well with the tone of the book. We follow 2 POVs throughout this story and I think they were both written well and were both relevant in their own way. The author did a great job at evoking feelings of anger, sadness, longing and loneliness throughout this story and, like I said before, I has some very strong feelings after only reading the first chapter. 

I enjoyed reading from both characters POVs. Through Kat we explore the effects of cyber bulling and trolling and the impact that has on her life. Kat feels like online is the only place she is safe and when that gets taken away she struggles to be herself and feels like she doesn't belong. Throughout the book we follow Kat as she learns to love herself for who she is and to embrace her personality. Through Wesley we follow the effects of a broken family dynamic and peer pressure from his friends who have gotten involved with an alt-right online community. Although I didn't agree with what Wesley had done in any way you do begin to feel sorry for him as you begin to understand his thoughts and feelings and his desire to make things right. The one thing I did appreciate was that Kat couldn't and didn't forgive him for his actions. He nearly ruined her life and for that there was no going back, she understood why he did it and appreciated his help but that doesn't always make things right. 

The reason why I didn't give this one 5 stars was the romance. It was a f/f romance and that I appreciated however, it felt a little bit forced to me. The way I describe it is the 'love conquers all' trope and I don't like the idea that love and romance will 'fix' everything and make it better. I think in this circumstance a development of friendship, understanding and support would of been a better scenario. 

Overall, as you can see, I really enjoyed this story. I think it was a very important and relevant read, one that I could definitely relate to and I think a lot of other people will to. Whilst reading I have decided to start picking out some quotes that really speak to me or fit well with the story and I'll share the ones I found with you below. 

Quotes

"'Loneliness could make you reach out for company in all the wrong places, or make it seem an impossability, even if an outlet was staring you in the face. There was comfort in being alone, unable to disappoint or be disappointed by others. Tell yourself enough, and it's not hard to believe that's the best you're ever likely to get from the world'"

"'Some people hurt because of the things that that happened to them. I hurt because of the things that didn't.'"

Overall Rating 

Currently Reading Update

So I've not been great at updating my blog or twitter over the past couple of weeks. I'm not sure why, it's just been one of those things, but here I am back today with a currently reading update. I'm going to share with you the books I've recently finished, what I'm reading at the moment and what I'm hoping to read next as I have a lot on my TBR for March. 

      

These are my two most recent finishes. I enjoyed them both and give them both 4 stars. Damsel was a late 2018 release that I'd been wanting to pick up for a while and Once & Future is a new release, I read the ARC and this one is released on 26th March. I will be posting full reviews of both of these so keep an eye out for these on my blog. 

     

I'm currently reading Nevernight as part of the Lost Between the Covers book club. I'm not very far in as I'm reading this one slowly throughout the month but what I have read so far I've loved. As I'm writing this I'm planning on picking up The Near Witch this evening. I've never read any of Schwab's work and I was sent this one for review so I think this would be good place to start. This book is being re-released in this new edition on 12th March. 

      

These are three of the other books I'd really like to get to this month. I have a NetGalley ARC of The Tesla Legacy from the publisher and this one is released on 12th March too. I really want to re-read Caraval so I can finally read Legendary ready for when Finale is released in May and I have Otherworld out from the library. 

So that's it for my quick reading update. I'd love to hear about what you've been reading. 

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

 

Mailbox Monday - Weekly Book Post

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme that was started by Marcia of To Be Continued. The aim is simple, for people to share what books they received in their mailbox that week. To check out everyone else's posts head over to the Mailbox Monday blog.

This week I just received one book...

Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze

I was lucky enough to be gifted this ARC from the publisher. It sounds like a super interesting fantasy book and I can't wait to get to it. 

What book post did you receive this week?