Book Series I've DNFed

Following on from my post last week where I talked to you about all of the book series I'm in the middle of I thought I would share with you the book series I've decided to DNF. 

Putting together last weeks post made me realise just how many series I've started and that I need to be a bit more select with which ones I continue with and, because of that you'll notice some quite recent reads in this list. 

It's not as long as last weeks list but there's still a few here to talk about. 

The Beckoning Shadow by Katharyn Blair

I read this one last month and I thought it was just okay, nothing special. The ending of this first book was quite conclusive too so I don't feel like I'm missing out on too much but not carrying on. 

The Empty Gods by Breanna Teintze

I enjoyed this one and in my review I said I would pick up other things by this author but carrying on with this series is not high on my priority list. Especially as we don't have any info about subsequent books. 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Another one that was just okay. I enjoyed the first book and thought it was fun but I'm satisfied with that for now, but I will say I love these covers. 

Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy 

I actually really enjoyed this one, it was very close to a 5 star read however, the pacing was really off. I won't be picking the next on up when it comes out because of this but, if reviews say this has been fixed then I might consider giving book two a go. 

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Lee

I was quite disappointed of with this one. I was really looking forward to it because I love anything based around mythology but I was just left wanting more.

Ivory and Bone by Julie Eshbaugh

This one was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I enjoyed the setting and the time period but I struggled to relate to the characters. It was also quite a forgettable read, I can't really remember what happens. 

Grey Land by Peadar O'Guilin 

I enjoyed this story but I didn't find it as scary as everyone seemed to. Again another one that was what I wanted at the time but that I'm not invested enough with to continue.

Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller

Another that I enjoyed when I read it but it also had some issues. The story jumped around a lot in this one and I wasn't a fan of the romance. It was a couple of years ago now that I read this one and I can't remember what happened and I didn't love it enough to re-read.

The Blackthorn Key by Kevin Sands

I thought this one was fun, I enjoyed it when I read it and I fully intended to continue. I did get the 2nd book from the library and start it but for some reason never finished and I lost the motivation to continue with this one unfortunately. 

So there's definitely not as many here as there was in my last post. Maybe I'll have another cull of my series in a couple of months and see if there are any more I want to DNF as this has felt quite refreshing and has definitely taken some of the pressure off of my TBR. 

Do you read series? Are there any here you would convince me to carry on with?

Review - Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Published 4th June 2019 by Tor Books

Star Rating - ****

Goodreads Challenge - 40/50

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

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Ivy Gamble has never wanted to be magic. She is perfectly happy with her life—she has an almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, and an empty apartment, and a slight drinking problem. It's a great life and she doesn't wish she was like her estranged sister, the magically gifted professor Tabitha.

But when Ivy is hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Tabitha’s private academy, the stalwart detective starts to lose herself in the case, the life she could have had, and the answer to the mystery that seems just out of her reach.

My Thoughts

I was kind enough to be gifted a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for review. I'd seen a lot of hype for this one from the publisher and other readers however, several of these readers seemed a little bit disappointed but luckily that wasn't me. I actually really enjoyed this book. 

This is the first book I've read by Sarah Gailey, I know her other books are a series of novellas and this is a full length novel which I generally prefer however, I do want to check out her other series now. This book is about a magical school (hello HP vibes) and someone has died in strange circumstances within this school. The Headmaster calls in a PI, who is non-magical, to investigate this and it just so happens her estranged magical sister teaches at this school. Now as I just mentioned the synopsis of this book is very Harry Potter esque and I have seen this described as an adult version of HP however, please don't take this as it sounds. This book is very different from HP but, if you enjoy the magical school trope you will like this one. 

I quite enjoyed Sarah Gailey's writing style. It wasn't overly flowery or descriptive and I thought that fitted well with the story. It meant it was fast paced and easy to read and I flew through this book in a very short space of time. There was lots of misdirection and at times I thought I had figured out the twist but that turned out not to be the case. I wasn't able to predict the ending which made the mystery much more interesting. Although I quite liked that the writing wasn't overly descriptive, the one thing I will say is that I would of liked a little bit more exploration of the magic in this book. 

I enjoyed the characters too. Ivy was kind of your typical character for this type of story. She was a bit of an introvert, drank quite a lot, that sort of thing but I liked her determination to solve the case, even when it got a little bit too close to home. I enjoyed reading about the relationship between Ivy and her sister Tabitha. They're actually estranged at the start of this book and over the course of this story they're relationship starts to unfold and we find out about their problems with each other. This was interesting to see. 

Overall I really enjoyed this story. I liked the characters and the mystery aspect I just would of liked a little bit more development of the magic. Since reading this I have added Sarah Gailey's other series to my wishlist and I'm keen to check out more from her. 

Overall Rating 

Can't Wait Wednesday 07/08/19

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings and it is an opportunity to showcase and shout about upcoming books that you're excited about. 

This week I'm showcasing Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff, the 3rd and final book in the Nevernight trilogy, UK release date 5th September. 

I absolutely loved Nevernight! I thought it was fantastic, its quite a dark fantasy, definitely adult and not YA, but Jay Kristoff's writing style is phenomenal. I haven't actually read Godsgrave yet, book 2, but I need to very soon. I've been putting it off until closer to this release date because I hear there is an epic cliffhanger!

What new releases are you excited for? Let me know. 

Book Series I Need to Finish

I love a good series however, I'm not good at keeping up with reading series. I hate having to wait for the next books in series so, if I don't own the next book or if it's a new release I tend to put it off. 

That being said I have started several series this year and last that I want to continue with so I thought I would share them with you here. Several of these series have more books than those listed in this post, I have only listed books that have a released title so please bear in mind some series may be longer. Buckle up its going to be a long ride!

Adult Series

Relics by Tim Lebbon

                                                  read

Impossible Times by Mark Lawrence 

                                         read                 read

Emaneska by Ben Galley

                                read

The Nevernight Chronicles by Jay Kristoff

                                            read

A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons 

                                                            read

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

                                read                 read               read

          

The Bone Collector by Fiona Cummins

                                           read

Young Adult Series

Even the Darkest Stars by Heather Fawcett

                                                             read

A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney

                                            read

The Folk of the Air by Holly Black

                               read                  read

Phobos by Victor Dixen

                                read                 read

Everless by Sara Holland

                                           read

The Montague Siblings by Mackenzi Lee

                                            read

Cursebreakers by Brigid Kemmerer

                                           read

Mirage by Somaiya Daud

read

Empirium by Claire Legrand 

                                           read

The Lady Janies By Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Medows

                                            read

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

                                                             read

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

                                read

Middle Grade Series

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend

                               read

The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riorden

                              read                 read

Wow! That's a lot of series. Doing this has made me realise I really need to step up my game when it comes to reading series as I know a lot of these have books out that I haven't read or are even completed. Maybe I'll do a series month towards the end of the year. 

Have you read any of these that you would recommend? Let me know which ones I should get to first.