Review - The Tesla Legacy by K.K. Perez

The Tesla Legacy by K.K. Perez

Published 12th March 2019 by Tor Teen

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 17/50

I was gifted an eARC of this one from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

THE TESLA LEGACY follows a precocious young scientist named Lucy Phelps whose fateful encounter in the Tesla Suite of the New Yorker Hotel unlocks her dormant electrical powers. As Lucy struggles to understand her new abilities through scientific experimentation, she is thrust into a centuries old battle between rival alchemical societies.

One side wants her help and the other wants her dead, but both believe she is the next step in human evolution. Unfortunately, carriers of the genetic mutation—including Nikola Tesla—have a greatly reduced life expectancy. Even if Lucy can outrun her enemies, she can’t outrun herself.

My Thoughts

I was kind enough to be offered a copy of this one from the publisher in exchange for review. I'd never heard of it before I received the email and I was really intrigued by the premise. It's a super fun YA sci-fi book that I really enjoyed. 

In this book we follow Lucy as she tries to lead a 'normal' teenage life after being home schooled and quite sheltered by her parents most of her life but, of course in true YA fashion, this isn't going to be the case. The writing in this one was quite easy to read and that therefore made it quite a quick read. There was lots of mystery and intrigue too and some twists and turns throughout the plot that kept me interested throughout the story. I did manage to work out one of the twists that happened towards the end before it happened but that didn't hinder my enjoyment of the story. I liked the focus on science in this book to especially as our main character is a female. 

I really liked Lucy as a main character. She was smart and independent. She wanted to live a normal life and was determined to not let her illness get in her way. Lucy has epilepsy, so we have this representation throughout the book too which was nice. Lucy also wasn't reckless as often many YA main characters are. She always looked for the facts and used science to try and find a reasonable explanation for everything that was happening. She was also fiercely loyal to her friends and I really enjoy strong female friendships in books. I wasn't a massive fan of Lucy's romance with Cole. It was your generic YA romance, it was quite flat and a bit boring. I did enjoy Lucy's relationship with Ravi though and it was nice to watch that develop. 

Overall I thought this was a really enjoyable story. I liked the premise and the science focus as well as Lucy as a character. There was a lot of mystery in this book and I definitely still have some unanswered questions and things I want to find out more about so I really hope there's going to be a sequel as I will definitely be picking it up.

Overall Rating

Top 5 Wednesday - Collectables on my Bookshelf

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 week I will be looking at my top 5 favourite collectables on my bookshelves. This is actually last weeks topic as I don't really like this weeks but that's okay!

Funko Pops

I've only recently started collecting Funko Pops and I love them. The majority of mine are from Harry Potter but I do have a Baby Jack Jack from The Incredibles as that's by sons nickname and I have a couple from Fantastic Beasts. 

Candles

I love candles. I have a couple bookish ones on my shelf as well as a Harry Potter set and just some generic candles. 

Bookmarks

I have a few bookmarks, although I tend to just use the same one. I keep them all in this jar on my shelf so they're handy if and when I need one. 

Photographs

I know this isn't bookish but my bookshelves are one place where I keep some of my favourite photos. 

Soft Toys

Again, not really bookish but I have some soft toys that I was gifted or that I got on a holiday and I tend to keep these on my shelves. 

So these are my top 5 collectables on my bookshelves. 

Do you keep collectables or trinkets on your shelves or do you refer to keep them clear? I'd love to know. 

Quarterly Wrap Up

I'm one of those people who actually quite enjoy looking at and comparing stats so I thought I would share with you my stats from each quarter and at the end of the year I can look back and see what I read and when. 

This wrap up is for the first quarter of the year, January to March. In these three months I read a total of 17 books and I'm going to break these down further for you. 

Age Demographic

Middle Grade: 1

Young Adult: 12

Adult: 4

Genre

Fantasy: 10

Sci-Fi: 4

Contemporary: 1

Historical Fiction: 1 

Mystery/Thriller: 1

Source

Physical ARC/Finished Copy from Publisher: 5

eARC from Publisher/NetGalley: 3

Bought in 2019: 5

Owned Prior to 2019: 1 

Library Book: 3

Star Rating

1 Star: 0

2 Star: 0

3 Star: 1

4 Star: 12

5 Star: 4

Top 3 Books of this Quarter

The Wicked King by Holly Black

Blog Review

Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Blog Review

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Blog Review

So there we have my stats for the first quarter of the year. I'm looking forward to carrying on doing there wrap ups every quarter so I can see how and if my reading changes over the course of the year. 

I'd love to hear about your top books so far this year. 

Review - The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab

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

I was gifted a finished copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Brand new edition of Victoria Schwab’s long out-of-print, stunning debut

All-new deluxe edition of an out-of-print gem, containing in-universe short story “The Ash-Born Boy” and a never-before-seen introduction from V.E. Schwab.

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

There are no strangers in the town of Near. 

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. 

But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. 

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. 

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

My Thoughts

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this one from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I've never read any V.E. Schwab, despite owning several of her books and I thought what better place to start then at the beginning. This book is actually Schwab's debut novel that has been republished. I have read a few reviews from people who have read Schwab's work already saying you can tell this is a debut novel however, having never read any of her other work I had nothing to compare this to which I think was the best way to go. 

I actually really enjoyed this one. I loved the writing style it was very lyrical and whimsical, reading very much like a fairytale which is how this story is premised. It was super atmospheric too. The setting really helped with this and I think the author did a great job at building this world and provoking the feelings of eeriness and spookiness. It was a compelling read and there was lots of mystery throughout the story and I loved watching it unfold as we made our way though the book. 

I quite enjoyed our main characters too. I thought Lexi was a strong and independent character although she did come across a little bit reckless at times. However, her main motivation for her actions was to protect the people she cared about which was nice. I also thought Cole was quite an interesting character. He was very mysterious and I really enjoyed the inclusion of the short story about Cole at the end of this new edition as I liked learning more about his back story. There was also a romance in this book and although it was quite sweet it was very much insta-love which isn't my favourite. However, back when this was first published I can imagine this trope wasn't as over done as it is today. 

Overall I really enjoyed this one. I loved the writing style and this has made me really excited to get into some more of V.E Schwab's work. It was a really mysterious and atmospheric read that I would recommend you pick up. 

Overall Rating

Review - Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy 

Published 26th March 2019 by Rock the Boat

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 14/50

I was gifted a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

I’ve been chased my whole life. As a fugitive refugee in the territory controlled by the tyrannical Mercer corporation, I’ve always had to hide who I am. Until I found Excalibur.

Now I’m done hiding.

My name is Ari Helix. I have a magic sword, a cranky wizard, and a revolution to start.

When Ari crash-lands on Old Earth and pulls a magic sword from its ancient resting place, she is revealed to be the newest reincarnation of King Arthur. Then she meets Merlin, who has aged backward over the centuries into a teenager, and together they must break the curse that keeps Arthur coming back. Their quest? Defeat the cruel, oppressive government and bring peace and equality to all humankind.

My Thoughts

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was super excited to pick this one up as I'm quite a fan of the Legend of King Arthur and a gender bent retelling set in space seemed right up my street and, I can honestly say I enjoyed reading this one however, there were a few things that bothered me. 

As I just said this book is described as a gender bent retelling of the Legend of King Arthur and I loved that premise. It was a super fun story with some great twists and turns along the way. There were definitely a couple of shock moments where I literally found myself gasping out loud. There was also a lot humour in this book which I really enjoyed. The humour didn't feel forced or cheesy and I genuinely found myself chuckling to myself at times. It was definitely a very diverse read with lot's of LGBTQIAP+ characters. It also took the current refugee crisis and put a unique spin on it within the story which I thought was really interesting. 

The writing itself was super fast paced. A lot happened all of the time and although this made for quite a quick read I do think it was a little bit too fast paced at times. The plot had a tendency to jump around a bit and we went from one action scene to another without much of an idea of how we got there. I found myself getting a bit confused at times. I will just say however, that I read the proof of this book and the authors have said that there are several changes in the final copy so I hope they might have addressed some of this. 

One thing I really did love though were all of the characters. We had m/m romances, f/f romances, bisexual and pan-sexual characters as well as a whole host of others and I loved them all! They were all completely individual and strong in their own ways but also worked so well together. They were a great band of friends who were completely realistic, they supported and looked out for one another but also fell out with each other and disagreed at times because that's what friends do. I enjoyed all of the romances, I thought they were all really sweet but I do think that Ari and Gwen's may have been a bit rushed. 

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I loved the premise and I loved the diverse cast of characters. It was a shame the pacing was a bit off and I hope this has been rectified in the final book as I think if this was the case this would be close to a five star read for me.

Overall Rating

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.