Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco (05/04/2020)

So I received this book as an ARC in my December Fairyloot book subscription box.

As the release date wasn't until March 2020, I hadn't really seen or heard anything about this book to know if I wanted to read it or not. After reading the summary, I was pleasently optimistic. It was put across as a kind of Snow Queen re-telling.

This made me very interested!



 I'm not sure anyone I have ever met has seen the cartoon I had on video as a child, but it was 'The Snow Queen' and I loved it so much. It was really dark and absure, likely made from one of those cheap animation studios, but none the less I loved the story of Gerda venturing off on a perilous journey to save her childhood friend Kay.

After a bit of digging on google it turns out the version I loved was the 1957 version of the story.... animated in Soviet Russia....

I'm not overly surprised. As I was primarily raised by my grandparents so tended to end up watching random old films.


 Anyway, this film gave me a good understadning of the orginal story, so long story short, I had high hope for this book.

I like the orginal story, I have liked many other re-tellings, and this book seems to have lots of other fairytales woven into it.

So far so good.

And don't get me wrong, I ended up in the long run enjoying this story. BUT....

The beginning was so confusing and I didn't really see the point in the main character having Philippine heritage. I know, I know... it's likely to be an unpopular opinion but I found it made the world building really confusing. The world was like the 'real' world. Some countries the same and not much changed about them other than the addition of a magic system... But then there was random 'mythical' countries all over the place. The book didn't have map which made it really hard to place things, I ended up spending a lot on time confused about where the hell everything was in connection to countries I knew.

The other confusing bit was there were so many characters introduced so early, that didn't really have actual parts. But they kept talking. I had to re-read so many pages because I just had no idea who was saying what, or who they were talking to. It was very slow starting book which I actually started reading way back in February. I could not get past the first hundred pages easily. A couple of times I was close to DNFing it.

However, I pushed through it and really knuckled down to get it done this month and I am glad I did. I'm not saying it was the best fantasy re-telling, by a long shot. It is such a shame the last 50% of the book was actually paced well and had interesting character development. I particularity likes the 'Banders', the group selected by the Cheshire Cat (yes from Alice in Wonderland) to assist getting the Lost Prince of Avalon, our heroines best friend, Alex, back to his sealed off Kingdom of Avalon. I liked those characters much more initially than I did Tala and Alex the 'main characters'.

There was a tiny element of romance, but it seemed thrown in and not a main plot point in this book. This is the start of a series. Will I continue?

I would have liked to give the ending of this book a better rating but the slow start really pulled it down. It was nearly a 2* book, had the ending and character development not picked up.

Batman: Year One by Frank Miller (03/04/20)

So following the success that was reading the Locke & Key graphic novels, I thought I would try some more graphic novels available on Kindle Unlimited. So I picked up Batman Year One by Frank Miller. I was recommended this years ago by an old friend. This friend  read a lot more graphic novels that I do, so I thought I would finally take him up on the recommendation.

I'm not quite sure what I expected from this but it wasn't quite what I ended up getting. I didn't realise going into this that is had in fact been written in the 80's. Had I known that I think my expetations would have been different.

This graphic novel basically follows the standard origin/start up of Batman. However it is without the development of his skills or emotional story centered on the loss of his parents. The whole thing to me felt very, without emotion. There also wasn't even really that much from Batman's point of view. It seemed to be more following Jim Gordon, who I generally like as a character. But not so much in this rendition.

Overall I felt a little let down and just kind of, like, meh...

It wasn't bad, the art work was solid. It just wasn't really what I wanted. Maybe I need to try a more current version and then make a judgement on superhero graphic novels.

That being said I couldn't honestly give this less than 3 stars.

Locke & Key Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe HIll (02/04/20)

I thoroughly enjoyed this first volume in the Locke & Key series. I have been a big fan of Joe Hill's work for a long time. I first read a Joe Hill book back when I was about 13 and it was Heart Shaped Box. I loved how dark and at point actually scary his writing was. I am as of yet, to read something by Hill that I don't like.

I was curious to see how his writing style transferred to graphic novel. I wasn't worried, his dark writing would suit graphic novels perfectly with the right art work. Gabriel Rodriguez pulls it off brilliantly. I love the clean lines and bold colours. I was genuinely enraptured with the whole thing. It was an excellent introduction the the main characters and I honestly can't wait to continue.

The only downside I had was i read my copy on my phone as part of my Kindle Unlimited subscription. I would love to have these volumes in real life so i could spend longer enjoying the art work.

This book basically introduces us to the 3 Locke children and how they are dealing with the aftermath of their father being shot and murdered, and then the murderer coming after them. Each child deals with the grief in very different ways. Ty the oldest and arguably with the most trauma is seen not coping well and blaming himself for his fathers murder. His sister Kinsey used to and out there rocker but after her father dies, just wants to fit in, so in fact de-individualises herself which is a really interesting look into how teenagers try to get attention. And finally, Bode the youngest seeks escape from reality and finds it in their new home the 'Keyhouse'.

It is very gory, and gruesome so not one for younger teens to read and I have yet to start watching the Netflix show but I can already see this series as a whole becoming a firm favorite!







This book hit everything I really like in book/graphic novel so gets a solid 4****.

I would have given it 5 stars but I want some room to see how the rest of the series goes and to be able to have so distinction in my appreciation.

April TBR List 2020

So I have been thoroughly inspired by watching a range of book tubers! If I had that kind of time I would love to take up vloging rather than blogging. However with my work and having a 3 year old it just isn't practical right now.

However since we are all currently in lock-down and having the extra time at home since my school is closed, I thought this may be a good time to once again try and revitalise my blog.

Soooo, this month I have a number of reading prompts to meet, which has been inspired by Codie's Wheel of TBR. If you haven't already, check her out I love her vlogs and she now works for Fairyloot, who I subscribe to. Also part of my very ambitious TBR list this month will be the inclusion of some elements of the O.W.L.s read-a-thon this month, which is organised by another booktuber I follow, who also works for Fairyloot....

I wish I worked for Fairyloot....

Anyways, here is a my VERY ambitious list and the prompts needed to meet them. I'm not super strict so over the month I may change some of these books is i get hold of others that meet the prompt. At the end of the month I will do a 'wrap up' and say what I managed to read.


1. Read a book you received from Fairyloot.

Wicked As You Wish - Rin Chupeco
 


This is a prompt I will have every month, as I (well my husband) pay a lot for the subscription I don't want to leave the books just sitting on my shelf to long. This prompt allows me to focus on getting this book in every month.
This month the Fairyloot book I am hoping to read is;

This book was sent in the December Fairyloot box as an ARC..... I started reading it in February, but it was very slow to get started, and so I kept picking up other books. I plan to knuckle down and get this book done!









2. Listen to an audiobook.

Angel Mage - Garth Nix

Another book I've been reading for a long time. I'm completely new to audiobooks. This is in fact the first audiobook I've ever attempted to listen to. And I've been listening to it since November.....

I just don't know if its the book, the audiobook , the narrator or just me that is the problem. I intend to get this finished as well this month and try another audiobook to try and find what I like in this new for me format.











3. Read a book by your favourite author.

The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J Mass

So this may be a dividing opinion but currently one of my favorite authors is Sarah J Mass. I have yet to read a book she has written that I dislike.

I binge read ACOTAR and ToG last year and am currently waiting to see is Goldsboro books can honor the signed edition of House of Blood and Bone before I give up and buy the eBook. That being said I have had this in my TBR list on my kindle for a while and it will, I imagine be a lovely quick read that will likely make me want to re-read ToG.










4. Read a book that has won or been nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards.

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

This book has been on my radar to read for at least a year. It's been on my kindle since my birthday last July so I final made a push and have decided to focus on it now. I was actually on my TBR last month but I ended up with a couple of changes due to 'Mood reads' so I moved it to this month.

I have already read Leigh Bardugo's first trilogy, the Grisha Trilogy and I enjoyed them but, didn't madly love them. I have seen a lot of reviews and vlogs saying this is the better story from the Grishaverse so I have my fingers crossed.







5.  Read a self-published book.

Angelfall - Susan Ee

This is the first book that I can honestly say may get changed by a mood book during the month. Especially if I can make it hit both the prompt for April and an O.W.L. But for the sake of the blog post the main contender for this prompt it....

Now again this is another book I have had on my Kindle TBR for years! When I started using eBooks, I went a little crazy and have a ridiculous amount of ebook that still need to read in addition to my physical TBR shelf.










6. Read a second-hand book.

Black Maria - Diana Wynne Jones

Now, I have a big confession to make. I don't really do second hand books. I don't like books that get dog eared or have broken spines. I take a lot of care to keep my physical books in very good conditions.

That being said I have a very old copy of a favorite book that is nearly as old as I am. I 'acquired' it from primary school when I was in year 5 I believe and I just never returned it.... it isn't in the best condition now as it was printed in 1991 and was a school's copy of book. I have read it so many times but I cant bare to part with it as I really dislike the new covers for this book.

I will put both covers so you can see what I mean. The new cover is just a bit garish for me.


7.  Read a book with food on the cover.

Mirror, Mirror - Jen Calonita

This was surprising hard to find! I tend to ready Fantasy or romance books, which apparently don't tend to have food on the covers.... or at least the ones I read don't.

However I managed to find one on my physical TBR shelf so it has finally managed to make to the reading pile!












8. Read a book by an author who is now deceased. 

Mort - Terry Pratchett

This one perfectly allows me to continue working my way through Terry Pratchett's back catalogue of Discworld novels. I have enjoyed the 3 I have read so far. So it seems reasonable to assume I will like this one as well.
















9. Read a new to me author.

The Haven - Simon Lelic

This book and author are completely new to me and came from Goldsboro Books as my free book for signing up to their 'Book of the Month' subscription... I know I am just throwing my money at books. I have a problem but I love it!

I don't really know anything about this book or the author. It seems to be some kind of early teen action adventure book. That used to be my favorite kind of book so fingers crossed its a good one. My edition is a Goldsboro exclusive and has bright orange sprayed edges and is numbers and signed by the author. It also has an embossed stamp on the signed page which is very cool. Overall it seems a very nice edition to have received for free.







10. Read a Young Adult Fantasy or Science Fiction.

Illuminae - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Another books I have heard a lot about and managed to get fairly recently on my kindle when the price dropped to 99p! I don't really know much about the story but feel it hits the prompt and gives me and excuse to read it sooner rather than later.















11. Read a book with the same title as a film or TV show but is unrelated to it.

Red Queen - Victoria Aveyard

This was another surprisingly tricky one to find. I didn't want to have to specifically by a book for this prompt. The whole idea of doing these prompts is to get me to read as many of the books I already have as possibly. Again a book I picked up for 99p on my kindle and has been sitting there unread for quite a while.













12. Read a book about a book club.

The Bromance Book Club - Lyssa Kay Adams

Now this is the only book I so far don't own a book that meets the prompt. If i cant find one from another book I already own I will have to buy one. And if that is the case this is the book I will likely buy....

This is not my normal style of book that I read. When I read romances they tend to be 'trashy' quick steamy reads. I don't feel that this will be that but the premise sounds fun and interesting











13. Read a book with a pun in the title.

Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft - Joe Hill

There were a few option for this one, from books I already owned. Most of them were from part of a series, but it would have meant reading previous books first and I couldn't quite fit them into the other reading prompts.

Then I remembered a friend had told me that some good graphic novels had been put on Kindle Unlimited. this particular series I had always intended to read as I love Joe Hill as an author, I have liked all the books of his I have read and the premise for this graphic series seemed right up my street.










So this wraps up my Wheel of TBR April list.... I normally read between 8 and 11 books a month at the moment and I had factored in that I will have more opportunity to read so added in an extra couple of books to really challenge myself.

Now begins what I intend to read for the O.W.L Read-a-thon, I intend for this books to be for the most part in addition to the April list (I Know I'm Crazy!!!). If however I am unable to read the entire TBR lists I may double up some books on prompts they meet both for. But I have so many books to read that I would really prefer to get through them!


O.W.L's April 2020: Career Path - Care of Magical Children.



14. Arithmancy - Magical qualities of number 2: Read something out of your comfort zone.

 Look Who's Back - Timur Vermes

So this is book from my physical TBR shelf. I have had it for at least 6 years and started it, liked it, but never finished it. It's, I guess, kind of controversial. Just because of the nature of the subject content. Now seems like as good a time as any to finish this book!















15. Charms - Lumos Maxima: White cover. 

Garden of Thorns - Amber Mitchell

This could be meet by a couple of book I own but as I am trying to get through as many books as possible, I decided that I would choose another book on my eBook TBR list.

I can't at this point remember much about this I just know I would have read the summary thought it sounded interesting and, boom, bought it.













16. Defence Against The Dark Arts - Grindylow: Book set at the sea/coast.

Crown of Coral and Pearl - Mara Rutherford


This is one of the prompts I feel I could meet with another book. But again I will try to read a different book for each rpompt and only double up if I need to.

This book caught my eye as there seems to have been an increase int he amount of sea/mermaid themed books in the YA fantasy genre. It is something I would like to read more of.










17. Mimnulus Mimbletonia: Title starts with an 'M'.

The Midnight Lie - Marie Rutkoshi

I am choosing not to count 'the' as part of title. Again this is a prompt I could use another book for and double up. But if I manage not to need to do that this will be the book used for this prompt...

This edition I bought as an extra from Fairyloot and my edition is absolutely stunning. It is a gorgeous turquoise colour with rose gold foiling all over. The edges are stencil sprayed and it is a signed edition. I didn't really know to much about this book, and I am not going to lie I primarily pre-ordered this book because it just looked so good.
 

18.  Muggle studies: Book from a perspective of a muggle (contemporary).

The Fault In Our Stars - John Green

This is another I could possibly double up depending on what I end up reading for the main April prompts. But in the same way I have listed individual books for each prompt I will continue to do the same.

This is another book I have intended to read for such a long time and is from back when I first got my kindle and went crazy for eBooks.












19. Shrinking Solution: Book under 150 pages.

Batman: Year One - Frank Miller


This book was chosen for a couple of reasons.

1. I want to read more graphic novels.
2. It was included in my Kindle Unlimited subscription.
3. I like superheros, Batman has always been one that I particularly like.
4. It met the page number.
5. I knew it would be a fast read!












20. Transfiguration - Animagus lectures: Book/series that includes shape-shifting. 

Alpha Knight - Renee Rose

This book was chosen as a quick read that I knew I could get as part of my kindle unlimited subscription. Something quick and trashy (and hopefully hot and steamy!).


















 So, that's it. That is the list. It's soooo big. Wish me luck!

The Captive Prince Series - C.S. Pacat (01/01/20)

This review will pretty much encompass all three books in this series; however it will contain no plot spoilers. It seems to be based in some kinds of ‘Roman’ based fantasy realm. The story itself is based surrounding a Prince called Damon and his journey to escape his enslavement to the Crown Prince of a rival nation, named Laurent. The books contain very strong themes and imagery throughout which may be a trigger for some people. This may not be a book for everyone. It is almost solely M/M for its ‘romantic’ scenes.

I overall found the book to be very enjoyable and quickly became invested in the characters. The book overall seems very character driven, which is why I think the pace was fast for the most part. I managed to read all three of these books in weekend (including a 30-page novella as I just had to have more). I particularly enjoyed the character development in the series. In the first book you become invested in Damon and how he just wants to get home. He is still grieving the loss of his father and the betrayal of those closest to him, which is how he has ended up as a pleasure slave. The second book looks at the changing dynamic between the two princes and the third pulls everything to a dramatic close. I love the conflicted emotions of the Princes. Damon goes from having an opinion of the Crown prince like this;

“A golden prince was easy to love if you did not have to watch him picking wings off flies”

 

Honestly, I did not see how a romantic relationship would form as the initial interactions between Damon and Laurent are awful. As you would expect an entitled prince to treat a pleasure slave. But some scenes are brutal and you wonder how they will see past them. But by the time you get to the second book, something has shifted. Some small glimpse of Laurent’s true character have been seen by Damon.

“Damon said, with helpless honesty, “ Laurent, I am your slave.””

And one of my favorite quotes is the following,

“A kingdom, or this.”

By the third book there is so much tension and angst between them I devoured the book in now time what so ever. I just needed to know how this would end for them both…

“I think if I gave you my heart, you would treat it tenderly.”

“Don’t, toy with me. I – have not the means to – defend myself against this.”

I would recommend this book if you want to read a vivid M/M book with strong character building. Overall I gave the first book a 3* rating and the 2^nd, 3^rd book and novella all received a solid 4* rating. There were some areas that I feel could have been looked into more deeply, however it did not detract from the overall story.

The Beautiful - Renèe Ahdieh

 

So this is the October book from fairyloot. My edition has some beautiful red sprayed edges and some exclusive art work on the inside of the dust jacket. In addition to being signed by the author (in red, which is a nice touch). Now the other two books I have recieved and read from fairyloot I have more than enjoyed. In fact both have been solid 5* reviews from me. So I will be going into this book hopeful for the same. 

However, the general theme (vampires) is not one of my common go to read now. Saying that I throughly enjoyed Twilight back in the day, as well as The House of Night Series and the Sookie Stackhouse Series. I was big into vampires as a teen, Buffy and Angel were staples of my youth. But I have found as I got older I dont tend to drift towards vampire novels. 

I intended to give this book a good go and I was hopeful that the added murder mystery element would add something new to what can, in my opinion be quite an overdone genre.

Set in New Orleans French quarter at the back end of the 1800's we are introduced to Celine who has sailed to New orleans to escape something we as of yet do not know. I must say that has me intrigued already, I love hidden secrets in the main characters. It makes it really seem like we are finding out about characters this way and not just being privy to all their thoughts and history straight up.

Early on we read the point of view our first murder victim a young girl who has ventured out after dark, in the dead of night to meet a mystery man. Unfortunately for her she is then killed and I guess the mystery begins. Who is the murderer and why are they killing?

Now as of half way through the book I must say I was generally underwhelmed. With just about everything. The characters don't seemed well fleshed out. They feel like they just, kind of, appear. The main character has no idea what she wants to be, and not in a good way. She seems to flit from disdain to camaraderie so fast I often have to check who is interacting with.

Also as any seasoned reader will know, it's never good when you start skim reading. And boy am I skim reading this now. It's so annoying as the synopsis screams interesting engaging story. But unfortunately that doesn't seem to be what I am getting with this book. From taking a brief look at other reviews it is felt by alot of people and they have stated a lot of this authors books feel like this. If so I probably will not be picking up a book by this author again.

Update: I did indeed finish this book. The main point I want to make is this; if only thr last 30-40 pages were the quality of the whole book. These last chapters were brilliant. The story and pace picked up immensely. It went from being 2 star book to 4 stars because of those last pages. I do still feel that the characters were in general really flat and none of them made me feel attached to them at all. I am a few months post reading this now and I am unsure if I will read the follow on books. If just wasnt really for me.

August Fairyloot 2019

 

So first things first. I am not being paid for this. My husband bought me a subscription to Fairyloot for my 30th Birthday (this July).  The August box is the first box I have ever received. And it did not disappoint. I cant even begin to explain how much I enjoyed opening this box and how good the quality is of all the items. So lets break down this unboxing.

 I will add, I had to open this in my kitchen, because my 3 year old would have been all over it, and I literally couldn't wait until he was in bed as I had been waiting since July to get a box!

I have seen enough unboxings on YouTube to know the card on top is the spoiler card, so I put that to one side straight away. At this point I just want to say I couldn't believe how beautiful the box was on the inside. I am not going to be precious about keeping the box, but it wasn't lost on me how lovely it looked when I opened it. Underneath the spoiler card was some lovely purple packing,it looked high quality and well packed when I opened this box. Now onto the stuff...

The first thing I pulled out was this set of 3x scrunchies. Honestly not my favorite item in the box, and I didn't initially recognise the fandom. When I checked the spoiler card and saw it was for the Graceling trilogy, I must admit I liked them a little bit more, however I have only read the first book in the series and that was quite a few years ago. Once I knew it was easy to see the references to each of the books; Green for Graceling, Red for Fire and Blue for Bitterblue. It is really unlikely I would wear these out, but I do put my hair up for bed so I have designated these for bedtime scrunchies.

The next item i pulled out was a Candle from 'Flick the Wick', again I didn't recognise the fandom as 'Slaking Jack the Ripper' is actually on my Kindle to read, I in fact bought it a couple of weeks ago with my birthday voucher. So the smell is a coffee and chocolate scent for the character Thomas Cresswell. All I can say is the scent is heavenly! I hope I like this series just based on this scent alone. It primarily smells chocolate, but more on the Shea/coco butter type of smell. Which happens to be one of my favorite scents. I literally made an audible moan when I opened this to smell. I haven't tried burning this yet but I really hope it emits a good amount of smell.

The next item is a Lord of the Rings themed mirror. Not much to say about this item, its a nice enough, simple small mirror. Again like with the scrunchies I'm probably not going to use it as if it was a bag mirror I would have liked a flip open back, otherwise its just going to get scratched it. I a a Tolkien fan, but my husband is more of a Tolkien fan than me, and he has in fact claimed this item for his man cave. This item along with the scrunchies were my least liked items, but that doesn't mean i disliked them. I liked them but compared to everything else they were the least impressive items.

This item was my first little 'squeee' moment. I was slightly confused pulling out this little pink box initially then I saw on the back it said cutlery set. I opened it and found a lovely little pink velvet bag. when I opened this I nearly died with happiness. In side was a set of chopsticks, a fork and a spoon. All rainbow coloured! I loved them straight away, then I noticed it had some engraving on it. When I read the engraving I knew straight away what fandom it was from. The Lunar Chronicles. I have read all but the last book in this series and loved them all. I will be using these for work.

 Then I pulled out this beautiful, very good quality, cushion cover. It is listed as a pillow case, but as far as I am concerned pillowcases are rectangles, not squares. Either way, its a lovely item, and another one I recognised, the cushions read, "You will burn for you are an ember in the ashes". I am actually currently reading 'An Ember in the Ashes', loving it by the way. So whilst I am not currently part of the fandom, I feel like I will be soon. I did wonder how good the quality of items like this would be, as I have recently bought a 'Court of Thorns and Roses' cushion cover from 'Wish' for a couple of £'s and I wondered if this was where these companies got cushions covers as well.... I can confidently say they do not. This is a lovely item I will be using when I get a cushion filler. 

This may be one of my favourite items in the whole box. It is a laser cut metal book mark complete with a Brandon Sanderson quote. It is a beautiful rose gold colour with a shiny grey tassel. Honestly I love this book mark, I feel awful saying I haven't yet read any Brandon Sanderson novels, but again the Mistborn saga that this bookmark showcases is on my to read list. It is incredible quality, it has some really delicate sections but these are sturdy and none of it feels like it is going to break.

  

This box just keeps giving! These are the next two cards in the new tarot card set. These appear to be Harry and Hermione. Obviously I am Ravenclaw, I'm completely into Harry Potter. It was the original series that got me into reading, got me excited about a book release. I'm into it! As this is my first box I have actually missed 4 cards so far 2x sets of 2 cards. I am hoping to buy these separately as I would love this to be a full collected set. The artwork is beautiful, the quality is lovely and has a matt type finished which is much nicer then if it was a shiny finish. They are just really lovely.

Lastly, the book. The real reason everyone gets this box. I was complete in the dark about what book it was going to be. I was very pleased with the book, it is a book I had added to my Goodreads 'want to read' list. Now lets talk about the 'exclusive features'. It has beautiful art work on the inner dust jacket and obviously is signed, this is lovely and the book itself is a stunning teal/turquoise colour. I have read 2 or 3 chapters already and I can tell I am going to enjoy this book. It does tend to take me longer to ready standard books now compared to my read time with eBooks, mostly because I tend to have the most time to read at night, and my husband doesn't like the light on. So it is much easier to simply pick up my Kindle rather than my every piling up real books.

Overall I am in love with Fairyloot. My subscription will be continuing and I am Keen to get some of the standalone release editions of new books. I will be getting my husband to order the 'Queen of Nothing' box as I am just going to love it, I can tell. If you are on the fence, get one, try it, I believe it is seriously good value.