Datasets:

dhmeltzer

/

goodreads_test

like 0

This review was written for here You can read the full review here This book fell onto my radar thanks to Angie's (Angieville) and Caits's (Paper Fury) reviews and both of them were so complimentary and effusive in their praise that I simply had to get hold of a copy for myself, so this one is totally on you two. And thankfully this book more than lived up to all those high expectations I went in it with. I am a big fan of the BBC Sherlock - I love the way the stories translate to a modern day setting, so the idea of another modern day exploration of Sherlock was an excellent starting point. Add in that 'Watson' is a girl called Rachel Watts, 'Holmes' is a teenage genius who lives two doors down called James Mycroft, the fact that their chemistry and friendship is off the charts and it's both brilliant and set in Australia and quite frankly: be still my beating heart. (Tiny side note of glee for fans of the original books, I giggled like a little crazed thing whenever anyone called Watts Rache, because Study in Scarlet. Detail.) This book is genius, basically. Watts and Mycroft are one of my favourite pairings in fiction ever. Which is a truly incredible feat. Their friendship is such a strong foundation and they work so brilliantly together that I would have been happy were they only ever friends. However the chemistry between them is truly electric, and I absolutely adored the slow build of tension between them throughout the story. They just work so well together. Watts is neither stupid nor bumbling. She may not put the pieces together at the same speed as Mycroft (really, who could?) but she's methodical and sharp and attentive and is an equal half of the partnership rather than a documenter of Mycroft's genius. Whilst there is plenty of attention paid to Mycroft and his delectable brilliance (yes I have a fiction crush, how did you guess?) the real heart and soul of the story is Watts. She is such an incredible protagonist. Told from her point of view the story is very firmly grounded with her at the centre, and she holds firm against the overwhelming tidal wave that is Mycroft. Some characters would get lost against his brightness, but she is grounded and sure of herself and she provides the heart, soul and humour that turns this from a good book into a brilliant book. I also loved that this isn't a Sherlock and John story, they are never playing at being them, there are plenty of references to the Conan Doyle stories. It's played as simply an amusing coincidence rather than anything else and it works brilliantly. It allows the story and characters the space to breathe and become their own, whilst still giving a sly wink and nod at Conan Doyle's characters - the perfect blend. The murder mystery is also brilliantly handled, so that whilst they are two teenagers sleuthing around trying to fit the pieces together and catch the murderer, it never felt ridiculous or unrealistic. The motives and thought process behind it all made sense. I never once questioned it or felt that it was ridiculous what they were trying to do. And I loved the varied reactions of the adults around them when confronted with their super sleuthing, plus their general awesome pairing. Admittedly I did know who the murderer was as soon as they were introduced - I think I may have read one too many murder mysteries that I can now spot them a mile away. But for once I wasn't frustrated by the knowledge, the story was so good that I just got swept up in it, and the thrill of the chase and desperate climax were superb. It's a brilliant debut - wonderfully paced, with two incredibly real and vivid characters who tugged me into their world and brought me racing breathlessly after the murderer with them. I fell for Watts and Mycroft completely and I cannot wait to see where they go next in the sequel "Every Word".

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I adored the first book in this series so much that it made me nervous to read the second one, just in case it didn't live up to my expectations. However when I read the second one a couple of weeks ago it more than lived up to the high standards set and left me with none of the reservations I'd had about launching straight into the third and final book of the trilogy. Sadly, I really wish it had. There is an awful lot to love in the conclusion to this thrilling series, but unfortunately there were quite a few elements that really didn't work for me. One of the things I loved so much about the first two books is that Mycroft and Rache never exceed the limitations around them being teenagers and having limited resources/power. Adults got involved in the situations where necessary and I loved that extra element of realism that is so often missing from YA crime fiction. Not so in this book. Suddenly our heroes find themselves in utterly ridiculous situations and insane stand offs that jarred me and felt thoroughly unrealistic and left me thoroughly frustrated. I could probably forgive that were it not for the two other big issues that marred the enjoyment. Firstly a love triangle is introduced. For no reason. With no real build up or explanation and Rachel suddenly starts acting completely out of character and flirting back with this new guy. I get that she's having problems with Mycroft following the events of the second book, and I get that she's suffering from PTSD, but this seemed so thoroughly out of the blue, out of character and completely ridiculous. I frequently found myself frustrated with Rachel's sudden obsession with the new boy and it didn't make any real sense. Then the third frustration, and this was enough to make me put the book down and walk away for a few days. I wasn't sure if I was actually going to pick it up again and finish it. Mycroft and Rachel work out who the big bad is, but then instead of being logical or even remotely like their usual coherent selves, Rachel fires off an angry email telling the person that they know who they, everything they've done and she and Mycroft have all the evidence they need. I'm sorry, what?! Not even a remotely good idea, and it sets off the truly awful chain of events that topples down in the second half of the book. Now yes ok, I get that Rachel is angry and hurt and stressed and upset and has had enough of being terrified because of other people. But come on SOME COMMON SENSE PLEASE. It is a completely out of character move that puts everyone in danger and for NO REASON AT ALL. It was just so frustrating and ridiculous and not like Rachel at all. Add to that the problems with the love triangle and some highly suss behaviour on Rachel's part and my love for her was basically in shreds by the end of the book. A lot of the elements I loved about the first two books were still there - good writing, fast paced plot that kept me on the edge of my seat. I also loved seeing Rachel's PTSD tackled, although it felt a little like a couple of hugs and it went away which was also frustrating. However all the love I felt for those things was horribly over shadowed by the problems I've outlined above. I adored this series, I fell in love with these characters, I swooned over them, I cried over them, I stayed up all night reading their nail biting stories, and this final instalment felt like a complete let down after that. By all means go and see the brilliance of the first two books, but be warned going into this one that it has quite a few problems by comparison and might leave you wishing that you'd stopped after book two.

Some problems with pacing, but overall a really good read. Full review to come.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here So I read and loved the first book in the trilogy 'Shadow and Bone' - it was the perfect bit of escapism at a moment when I needed it the most. So as soon as I finished the first book I immediately picked up the second book and carried straight on with Alina's story, which at the end of the first book was tinged with a little bit of hope in amongst all the darkness. It doesn't last long. We're barely thirty pages in when everything goes to hell in a handbasket and Alina and Mal are plunged straight back into terror and torture and bad things all round.But in amongst all the very bad things is one extraordinarily thing, or rather, person. Sturmhond. Be still my beating heart. This book is a lot funnier than the first, the banter is on point, and it is pretty much all thanks to this wonderful guy. Seriously, virtually every word out of his mouth is a quote I highlighted, and I was frequently laughing out loud. There are also AWESOME TWISTS involving him which made me giggle with glee. Basically laughter, banter and a little bit of swooning. Whilst I would have enjoyed this book without him, the presence of Sturmhond truly lifted the book from one I enjoyed into one I adored. Which is a good thing because Mal was truly getting on my nerves in this book. I wanted to love him, so much love just waiting to give to Mal (except Sturmhond stole it all) but he was being a whiney child throughout the novel. I wanted to shake him. I couldn't see the relationship between him and Alina, and almost every interaction with them left me frustrated. I feel like I'm being pointed at this ship and told to love it, yet not really getting any reason why I should. The pacing is very different to the first. We're chucked straight into the action for the first half and then there is a lot of politics and strategizing which was interesting, but definitely a change of pace. It's a time to slow down, take stock, develop characters and relationships, and, you know, for Alina to think she's going full on crazy. Despite the change of pace, or perhaps because of it, I really enjoyed this book, and I really settled down into loving this series. I loved getting lost in the magic, the world, the characters. Basically it was the perfect read for me in this frame of mind. If you're after escapism, this is one to pick up. Then it all kicks off and we have big battles and much death and it all feels rather bleak and desperate and I LOVED IT. Seriously, whilst I really enjoyed the first book, this book took everything to a whole new level, which was intriguing because often the second book in a series is the point where everything falters as pieces are moved into place for the grand finale in book three. So if you're worried that the second book won't live up to you love of the first, HAVE NO FEAR, because it's excellent. And you'll meet Sturmhond, who is basically my latest fictional baby. Because, reasons. And if you like me have put off reading this series (foolishly) then you need to get on it stat, because this is brilliant. Imaginative, brilliantly written, and thoroughly addictive, I love it.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I know what you're thinking - how has it taken you so long to get to this series?! And I have no decent excuse. It got tangled up in my head with 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' by Laini Taylor, and by the time I realised they were two very separate books the ship had sailed and I decided to wait until the full trilogy was out to sit down to read to them. Then I promptly forgot. Until 'Six of Crows' started making exciting waves and I decided that enough was enough and I really ought to get caught up on the Grisha world properly before launching into 'Six of Crows', and well, here we are. This book had me from the first page. It was just the type of world, mythology, and exciting plot peopled with fascinating characters that I needed to get lost in. I stormed through it virtually in one sitting and loved it thoroughly. It was such a refreshing change to see a gorgeous take on Russia used as the backdrop in Ravka. It leant the book a wonderful freshness and set it apart from so many of the fantasy books I've read this year. The world building is superb and I loved being immersed in this world, familiarising myself with the history and culture which is all captured so vividly and really adds an additional layer to the story that helps lift it from the page. The characters are all complex and fascinating and I loved Alina from the start. She's a wonderfully relatable protagonist, filled with flaws and weaknesses as well as strength and determination. I loved watching her come to terms with her past, her present and her future and all the facets of herself that she's kept hidden for years. The only character that I wasn't fussed on was Mal, strangely enough. I cared about him, but I wasn't sold on the romance in the way I was hoping and expecting to be, which was a shame. This is a fantastic start to what I'm sure is going to be a fabulous series. It's filled with excitement and drama and magic and I slipped into this world and Alina's life and fell in love. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the trilogy has in store.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review Side note: It really frustrates me when covers are designed by people who have clearly never read the book. Why is she wearing a hat and a blanket? The entire book takes place in the middle of summer when it's stupidly hot and there are forest fires coming for them. It's always a bad sign when you want to shake 90% of the characters in a book. Alas, 'Instructions for the End of the World' has that in spades, in fact I think there was only one character that didn't frustrate me. It also might be my book of the year for truly terrible parenting. I don't think I've ever read a book with such a bunch of awful, unfit to have children parents in some time. You have Wolf's mother who is completely self-absorbed and tries to bring everyone into the drama of her life. Then Nicole and Isabel's parents - one of whom it emerges never wanted children and willingly leaves her kids with their slightly unstable father in the middle of nowhere with no intentions to come back and rescue them. Good job parents. Then there are the kids, who are slightly screwed up but no less frustrating. There was so much potential here with both Nicole and Isabel and the situations they find themselves in, but it didn't feel like the book was ever fully allowed to explore them, it just glossed over the top and as a result any emotional impact was lost. It also makes both of the girls decisions really hard to understand, particularly in the end of the novel where I just wanted to introduce my head to the desk for a while and weep for the idiocy. There are several character viewpoints: Wolf, Nicole and her sister Isabel - all reasonable. But then we have one random other view point from Laurel who gets a grand total of two chapters out of the book and feels like a secondary character arc that was meant to be expanded into something, but instead was left as a beginning and an end. Whilst the concept was fascinating, I never really connected with the characters or the story. I wanted to get drawn into the situation, to feel for these people, but I felt like nothing was really driving the events - there was no real plot to speak of. I ended up just feeling apathetic and mildly frustrated, and wishing for the story I thought I'd be diving into when I opened this book.

Started out strong but lost focus in the second half, and felt a little rambly in places. Also incredibly frustrating to read such modern language in the 1728 sections. Still very enjoyable read though. Full review to come.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here here Every now and again you need a good romance to sweep you off your feet and since I had such a wonderful experience reading my first novel by Tessa Dare earlier this year, I was eager to go back and fill in the gaps with some of her other novels. Enter the 'Duke of Midnight' who had me intrigued just from the blurb and I couldn't wait to see whether he live up to all of that anticipation. Short answer? Sort of. The novel gets off to a glorious start that had me laughing out loud at the sheer plucky nerve of our heroine Amelia, and the banter between her and Spencer. I loved the whirlwind of their romance, how quickly they fall together and how their relationship unfurls. I was utterly swept away. But then it all starts to get a little bit murky. I really struggled both with Spencer and Amelia's inability to truly communicate with each other and their inability to compromise. Add in Amelia's truly baffling defence of her brother, who has a gambling problem and at no point shows any sort of love or affection for Amelia and I was becoming increasingly frustrated. Blindness over loved ones is fair enough, but because we never see any reason or reciprocation of that love, Amelia's blind faith and defence of her brother just become irritating to read. That leads into a snowball effect where both Amelia and Spencer become increasingly unlikeable and I just wanted to sit them down and give them a stern talking to. However, despite this I had too much love for Amelia and Spencer built up over the first half to truly despair. It got me thoroughly intrigued about the other boys and their stories, and was just the kind of escapism read that I needed. It doesn't rank as one of my favourite historical romances, but it does have a lot to love. Fluff, romance, feisty heroines and dashing heroes galore.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I adored 'The Anatomist's Wife' - it was the first book I read this year and it really got my reading year off to a wonderful start. It was quiet, dark and atmospheric with engaging characters and a thrilling story - a recipe for success.So I was eager to get on with the rest of the Lady Darby series, and last week I finally sat down with this, the second book in the series, eager and excited to get swept back into the mysteries of Kiera's world. However all did not go quite as expected. I expected a similarly beautifully written historical novel with a dark and thrilling mystery that kept me on my toes right until the climax. What I got instead was a well enough written story with glaringly obvious plot twists stuffed full of modern and American phrases. Oh how I wept. Where was the stunning writing of the first book? The period appropriate language? The plot that kept me guessing with my heart in my throat as the final confrontation loomed? All absent, and sadly as a result the novel suffered. It was well enough written and enjoyable enough that I did still enjoy the story and this instalment in Kiera's life and exploits with Gage. However it didn't grab me in the same way as the first book. Every twist was glaringly obvious, signposted from the outset, and I experienced no shock or surprise as each laborious motive was uncovered at the end. I frequently found myself wincing at the language - 'no worries' for example smacks of modern day conversations, and after searching online to try and prove myself wrong the earliest uses I could seem to find of it in England/Scotland were in 1980, a little way off the 1830s setting... It's not the only instance of modern language creeping in, and the liberal use of Americanisms was decidedly upsetting for a novel supposedly set in Scotland/England in the early nineteenth century. All in all this was not Kiera's finest hour. I have not been put off from continuing the series but I am warier, and I live in hope that the third book will recover the ground lost in the second and bring the series back up to scratch. The second novel is competent enough but nothing like the glorious darkness of the first, and leaves a decidedly bitter taste in the mouth upon finishing.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here So many people have loved this book, so many people whose bookish overlap mine, so I was expecting to love this book when I finally sat down to listen to it. Unfortunately it ended up being a bit of a rocky road. I don't know if it was that I didn't get along with listening to it and would have loved it had I decided to read it instead, or whether I was in the wrong frame of mind, but this novel and I really did not get along until around 80% of the way through. And that was heart-breaking. I couldn't connect with the characters, I found both Ari and Dante frustrating. I was irritated by the emotional swings - people crying all the time. The writing style was at times abrasive and abrupt, intermittently littered with truly beautiful prose. It was just such a mix and I couldn't settle into the story. Finally at around the 80% mark I settled more into the rhythm of the story and found myself beginning to really care about these characters, so by the end I was thoroughly engrossed in the story, but it was so frustrating for it to have taken that long to pull me in. There is so much to love about this story though. Like I said, it has some truly gorgeous prose and some really profoundly beautiful phrases and quotes that I loved. I loved the content, the subject matter tackled, the two polar opposites we find in Ari and Dante. I loved their parents. Too often in young adult fiction parents are portrayed as awful, absent, or ignored completely. Here both Ari and Dante's parents are complex individuals who round out the story and complete it in ways that would never be achieved if the focus was purely on the two boys. Their love for each other shines through, and each of them is individual bringing their own fears, hopes, and personalities to the narrative. I think part of the problem for me was that the story is incredibly slow. There is no driving force to the plot to really propel it and keep the momentum going. It ambles, it pauses, it takes tangents, and at times that can be incredibly frustrating. I think that would have been less of a problem for me had I been reading this, but listening to someone else take these narrative rambles didn't hold my interest. I can see why people love this book. I can see why others have found it frustrating and hard to engage with. It isn't a favourite for me - yet. I think this is one of those times I need to go away and forget it for a few years, then come back and read it rather than listen to it.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Sixteen year old me read 'Twilight' and loved it. I was swept away by the atmosphere and the forbidden love and the whole magical quality to the story. Now sixteen year old me didn't have a huge amount of sense when it came to relationships and luckily I've grown up and realised just how unhealthy and terrifying the relationship between Edward and Bella really is, but I've never let go of the enjoyment and love I felt for this story when I first read it. So it was a no brainer that I was going to read this re-imagined version when I heard about it, no matter what my logical brain might be screaming at me. When Meyer says she's gender swapped everyone apart from Charlie and Renee, she means everyone. Down to really bizarre things like the school nurse being an old man. There were moments like that where I really felt like she was taking it a bit far, as if she's trying to make a point of 'look how much re-writing I've done!' rather than it serving an actual purpose to the story. The gender swapped characters are a bit of a mixed bag. (Urgh, names, who would name their child Royal?!) On the one hand I was quite interested in Edythe - she's still got all the creepy over possessiveness of Edward, but she's not nearly as terrifying in her displays of anger which made me warm to her a little. However she's juxtaposed against Beau, who I really did not get along with. I found him infinitely less interesting than Bella (which is saying something given how bland Bella has a tendency to be) and thoughts and actions which could be (sort of) forgiven with Bella came across as creepy and downright disturbing with Beau. Maybe Meyer cannot write un-alarming male characters, particularly not in this particular world, because almost all of her male characters in both this version and the original are terrifying. They're possessive, angry, and have a tendency to be emotionally manipulative. Bella and Edwards' relationship was a classic case of abuse, which is why it's so alarming that a generation of teenagers grew up thinking that Edward and Bella had the perfect romance, and saying that they wanted to find their own Edward. Whilst the gender swapped version manages to avoid some of the issues of the original it is still more than a little alarming in places, both with Edythe's control issues and actions (still not over how creepy Edythe/Edward watching Beau/Bella sleep is) and Beau's actions towards Edythe. This is the very definition of an unhealthy relationship with a whole heap of instalove thrown in for good measure, and a gender swap doesn't change that. In fact, gender swapping brings up a whole host of new issues. In 'Twilight' there were no real moments where Bella talked about Edward's physicality. Not so with Beau who judges every woman/girl he meets by their physicality. Meyer seems to think that turning Bella into Beau means that because he's a boy he must be more fixated on how girls look. Iffy at best, but when you start looking at the things he focuses on it becomes much more alarming. He fixates on how you can see the sharp angles of Edythe' collar bones and shoulder blades. How you can count all her ribs through her t-shirt, and then waxes lyrical about how this is the epitome of attractiveness. Not even remotely ok. In fact, aside from these blatant 'look, I can totally write from a male perspective, look at these male thoughts!' moments, Beau never actually feels like a guy. I kept forgetting that he was a guy (until there would be the inevitable reminder and it would jolt me into remembering again) and most of the story he was actually a she - which made for much more interesting reading to have a female/female relationship. Alas, the possibilities that could have given this story a much needed shake up. If you were hoping that Meyer might provide an insightful and (much better) version of Twilight with this gender swapped version, you may as well not bother. The majority of the novel is just a find and replace on pronouns and names. The novel is still filled with problems - some the same as the original, a few delightful new ones brought to light with the swap. There are a few new scenes which hardcore fans will delight in reading, and there is of course the alternate ending which is essentially a hot mess of exposition and Meyer attempting to cram the three books of the quartet into fifty pages. In fact I found the alternate ending thoroughly depressing, fitting in quite nicely with the feeling of reading the rest of the novel. It's expensive, even on kindle, and if you buy the hardback you get a thoroughly unnecessary extra copy of Twilight so that the book becomes even more unwieldy. The entire thing smacks of being a money grab rather than what it's pretending to be - a tribute to fans of a book that despite its problems helped to put Young Adult fiction on the map ten years ago.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for sending me a copy in exchange for and honest review I absolutely adored 'The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight' so I was eager to get back to Jennifer Smith with her latest novel. Whilst it did have a cute story and I swept through it in one sitting, it never really grabbed me in the way I was hoping it would. In fact, if I'm completely honest the overwhelming feeling I was left with on finishing it was 'meh'. It didn't really feel like there was a huge amount of point to the novel. The entirety of the action takes place over one night as Clare and Aidan attempt to work out if they should break up or stay together and take their relationship long distance. A lovely premise, except Clare gives every impression right from the start of the novel as already having decided she wants to break up and as a result the entire novel feels like one long protracted mope session as she wails and is generally indecisive - see sawing back and forth between the two options. That might have worked had the characters been remotely likeable or relatable. But Aidan remained flat and one dimensional throughout, and I never particularly warmed to Clare. I wanted to, but she's so black and white in her opinions - there is no middle ground. As a result I just felt bored by her dramatics and inability to make a decision and stick with it, or to learn to be a little more flexible. She starts to comprehend that the world isn't built up of yes and no questions towards the end of the novel, but it just felt like too little too late. So whilst it's an engaging story, and I did enjoy reading it, and I loved the subject matter tackled (after all it's a relatable story for anyone going off to college or uni who is faced with the prospect of a long distance relationship) it never really took off for me. I closed the book feeling meh about the entire thing and wondering what the point of it had been. If you're a fan of Smith's other works then you'll enjoy this latest offering from her, but be warned this is far from her best work. And if you haven't yet discovered Smith's heart warming love stories I don't recommend starting with this one. Instead pick her up infinitely more engaging debut novel 'The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight'.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I'm still catching up with the rest of the world when it comes to Rainbow Rowell's books, so when I started reading 'Carry On' I had no idea until a friend told me when I was a third of the way through that it was in fact a book that had been a fictional book in one of Rainbow Rowell's other books 'Fangirl' where the main character wrote fanfiction about the character's in 'Carry On'. Confused yet? I was, but I was also highly entertained at how meta Rainbow was deciding to go with her latest novel. Considering 'Fangirl' takes a fictional look at the real life Harry Potter fan-fic extravaganza, it is no surprise that the easiest way to sum up this book is to say that it's like Harry Potter on crack. It's bizarre, completely insane, brilliant and more than a little crazy, and on the whole I loved it. Rainbow dumps you into Simon and Baz's final year at Watford and it feels like there should have been seven books leading up to this where we see all the crazy stuff they got up to and watch the rivalries and relationships develop. Instead we're given this as a standalone and get constant references back to the various things that have happened in the past seven years. Sometimes that works brilliantly when they're just casually dropped in and you have a moment of 'wait, WHAT!?' but other times I was just left feeling frustrated because I had missed all of this other stuff being referenced. It ends up being a bit of a mixed bag where some of it works and some of it doesn't and I was left see sawing back and forth between loving it and being frustrated. The magic is crazy. I adored so much of the insanity and frequently found myself laughing out loud - particularly at the phrases for spells that they use. It was all just so utterly bizarre. I also really loved the relationship between Simon and Baz, that was probably the best part of the entire novel for me. Scrap that, Baz was the best part of the novel for me. He's snarky and aloof and the banter alone was fabulous. Rainbow plays on so many cliches and turns it into something other, something that you never expect. However I did have a couple of problems with it, mostly due to the complete lack of surprise at the twists and reveals. I could see them coming right from the start so instead of it eliciting gasps and excitement from me, I was left waiting for the characters to catch on. I also struggled with Simon's persistent one track mindedness about Baz in the first section of the novel. Once Baz makes an appearance and we start getting his point of view, it wasn't nearly so frustrating and it didn't bother me in the same way. However to start with Simon sounds like a broken record and the lack of anything else really driving the plot forward makes it drag a little until Baz shows up. All in all this was a good book, a quick and enjoyable read, and one that has made me even more eager to go and read 'Fangirl'. I'm proof that you don't have to have read 'Fangirl' first to enjoy and understand 'Carry On', although we'll see how my opinion of this book changes after reading the former. It's not without its problems, but it's funny and unique and if you're a fan of Harry Potter is definitely one to pick up.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here The ending of 'Dragonfly in Amber' left me with no other possibility than to storm straight into the third book of the series, and it was wonderful to re-immerse myself back into Claire and Jamie's lives with no delay. However as each book in the series continues to get larger so does the possibility for frustrations and gripes, so whilst I did really enjoy the third instalment in the series, there were a lot more problems for me than I've found with the first two books. The beginning of the story (as with the previous two books) has a tendency to lag in places. Having discovered that Jamie didn't die at Culloden, the race is on for Claire, Brianna and Roger to try and find out what did happen to Jamie. Their efforts are interspersed with chapters following Jamie in his own lifetime so we can witness some of the key events first hand, as well as insights from a new character, Lord John Grey, who was briefly introduced as a very young man in the previous book. All of the information is interesting and I really enjoyed seeing the two timelines juxtaposed against each other, as well as trips into the past as we see more of Claire's relationship with Frank and what life was like when she came back through the stones. However it did all have a tendency to feel like it was dragging, probably in part because I was so eager to see Claire and Jamie reunited. Once the timelines all converge into one narrative from Claire again I found myself on more familiar ground and I settled into the novel quickly, enjoying the familiar rhythms and patterns of Claire's thoughts and adventures. There is never a dull moment, never a peaceful moment either really. I loved the reunion and the small pieces of intimacy between Claire and Jamie as they re-learn each other and re-kindle their love. It's by no means an easy road, and there are a lot of setbacks along the way, but that simply made their moments of joy and peace that much more rewarding when they appear. However there were some sections, particularly towards the end where my belief was stretched a little too far. Where I found myself almost rolling my eyes because really?! I know that disbelief must be suspended because this is a story about a woman who time travels, but at the same time I felt like there were one too many adventures and mishaps that made me feel like any credibility was being stretched a little too far. There are also quite a few sections when Claire begins to explore new places and lands where the narrative becomes horribly bogged down in over detail. Whole pages of nothing but detail on vegetation and climate and I found myself growing a little bored and skim reading some sections because nothing was happening for so long. The action is also vastly confined in this book, unlike the previous two books, and so much of the narrative takes place on board ships. Full marks to Gabaldon for finding quite that many subplots to keep things busy on the long voyage, but it did put a strain on the action being confined to a ship for so long. These gripes aside this was still a very good, engrossing and brilliant book. It's not my favourite in the series, but it's still a wonderful instalment and one that moves the story into whole new exciting territories. I adore this series and I cannot wait to continue onwards to see where Jamie and Claire end up next. I don't think anything will ever re-create the magic I found in Scotland and Paris in the first two books, but this comes a close second and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I've been thoroughly enjoying my discovery of the Witches of the Discworld, particularly 'Wyrd Sisters' and I knew that this third outing would have to work incredibly hard to live up to the brilliantly high bar set by the preceding book. On the whole it succeeds, but it didn't quite recapture the magnificence of 'Wyrd Sisters' for me as I found the earlier parts of the story to lag and not hold my attention in quite the way I hoped. It's still a brilliant story and Pratchett flexes his truly impressive writing skills to combine a fantastic array of fairy tales, twisting them into something quite unique. I loved seeing Granny, Nanny and Magrat out of their element and exploring the Discworld. The combination of countries, cultures and languages that Pratchett appropriates is utterly brilliant, and I don't think anything will ever beat Nanny speaking the local lingo. Unless it's Greebo in person form, which was one of the best things I have ever seen. As with other Pratchett's the threads are set up and the story ambles along at its own pace for the first two thirds of the novel, which is fun to read but didn't particularly grab my attention and force me to read. As a result I spent quite a while ambling through this novel around other books and didn't find myself thoroughly hooked by the story until everything starts to snowball in typical Pratchett style. As everything comes together and we flit between view points as the action coalesces into one glorious whole, that is when Pratchett truly shines and I found myself thoroughly engrossed and unable (and unwilling) to relinquish the story until I'd seen it through to its end. I love the directions Pratchett takes the Witches on their third outing, I love seeing the character development and the masterful twisting of other tales into one brilliant and unique whole. This may not have been my favourite Witches instalment, but it is still a bitingly funny, brilliantly written book.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Whilst I didn't get along as well as I'd hoped with 'Eleanor & Park' I found myself falling head over heels in love with 'Landline' a couple of months ago so I've been itching to read the rest of Rainbow Rowell's books ever since and find out which way I fall with them. I did really enjoy 'Attachments' but unfortunately not quite as much as I'd hoped. It was a good read, enjoyable and engaging and incredibly funny in places, but at the same time I didn't connect with the characters as I'd hoped and the plot becomes really stagnant at several points and a whole lot of nothing actually happens. Everything starts out brilliantly with a hilarious exchange between Beth and Jennifer, one that sets the tone for their friendship wonderfully and gets the novel off to a great start. But then we meet Lincoln, who I didn't really connect with in the same way and the story kinda stumbles out. Lincoln's story is much slower, in fact it barely moves for the majority of the novel and it really drags everything back. I found myself putting the book down repeatedly because I'd become invested each time with Beth and Jennifer, and then lose interest with Lincoln. I also really didn't feel satisfied with the resolution. It felt like the plot meandered along for most of the novel and then things start to happen but not really and then suddenly poof, done. I felt like I missed the build-up, I missed the excitement and as a result I missed the pay off. None of this means I didn't enjoy it though. Beth and Jennifer's friendship was the heart of this and I adored them. I loved their emails, the little snippets of their lives and backstory coming together. It was a gorgeous friendship, and my favourite part of the entire story. I did eventually start to enjoy Lincoln's parts but never in the same way, and I never felt entirely comfortable with both Lincoln and Beth's methods when it came to finding the other. So whilst I did enjoy it, and I did find it funny and sweet, it also didn't hit me in the same way as 'Landline' which was a shame because I know so many people who loves this one. Maybe I need to come back to it at another point, but this time around 'Attachments' sadly wasn't quite my cup of tea.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here And so my Discworld Witches education continues with the second book in the thread, and this one went down even better than the first. I really enjoyed 'Equal Rites' but it still felt like it was very early on in the conception of Discworld, before Pratchett really hit his stride of weird and wonderful awesome. However 'Wyrd Sisters' left me with no such feelings and I fell in love with this one, storming through it in one night and frequently cackling out loud at the genius. Pratchett messing around with Macbeth is quite frankly comic gold. I loved the twisting of the original play, the unfound comedy that comes to light through his shaking and poking and the all-round awesome of the Witches themselves. As the cauldron bubbled an eldritch voice shrieked: 'When shall we three meet again?' There was a pause. Finally another voice said, in a far more ordinary tones: 'Well, I can do next Tuesday.' The tone is set from the very first line, this is going to be a book that isn't afraid to be utterly superbly insane. Whilst I enjoyed all of the different characters and plot threads, any scene involving the three witches was an instant favourite that found me messaging Sarah with particularly superb lines from them as I tried not to lose my place in the book from laughing too hard. Notable favourites are Granny going to the theatre for the first time and the demon summoning. My only problem is something that I find with most Pratchett novels that things tend to get a little bit meandery in the middle. He likes to take his time, to thoroughly set up and explore all the threads and weave them into the rough shape he wants before suddenly in the last section tugging on everything and turning it into a free for all of awesome. It leaves you feeling thoroughly satisfied with the end, but a little bit less enthusiastic in the middle unless you're in the mood for a read that is quite happy to take its time.However I've now read enough Pratchett's to expect this slight lag and instead of feeling frustrated I just enjoy the ride knowing we're going to be in for one hell of a final act. 'Wyrd Sisters' has firmly cemented the Witches as favourites. I adore Granny Weatherwax, and I'm loving seeing her evolve from the first book into the character I met in 'The Shepherd's Crown'. This book is a favourite Discworld outing and I cannot wait to get onto the next one in the thread.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here This book nearly sent me into a rage spiral that would have sent my kindle flying across the room, except a) there were one or two redeeming features (although sadly not as many as I would have liked) and b) my kindle is new. I've always been a little wary of Sherlock Holmes retellings - I love the books, I love the movies I love the shows, but as soon as you start sticking my beloved characters into strange and slightly side eye worthy situations I get nervous. Then earlier this year I read Every Breath by Ellie Marney and it was so GLORIOUSLY GOOD that I thought maybe I had been too hasty to judge. After all here was a modern day re-telling that involved teenage James Mycroft and Rachel Watts and it was so good I shrieked loudly and often at everyone over the days following reading it. So after that brilliance I found I had renewed interest in the forthcoming 'Lock and Mori' which featured a teenage Sherlock and Moriarty with a modern setting and a gender twisted Moriarty - colour me intrigued. Sadly though, it really didn't live up to those expectations. As with several books I've read recently the only thing that stopped this being a one star read was that the writing was not bad, in fact in places it was quite good - it's just a shame about everything else. Sherlock does not actually feel like the Sherlock we have come to know through the original stories, in fact the only things he shares are a name, a brother called Mycroft and a slight tendency towards the genius. Which we see in precisely one scene at the start of the book and then it's dropped in favour of INSTALOVE. I could possibly forgive the Sherlock character destruction (I'm lying, I totally couldn't) if Mori had been an interesting and compelling character. Sadly I was disappointed yet again. She's not a particularly nice person, very selfish to the detriment of others, and for me she really didn't work at all. Sure she's intelligent, but she's aloof, cold, not particularly likeable even to the reader and her reasoning behind a lot of the decisions she makes in the book seemed bizarre at best. Sherlock's fascination with her I could understand - after all she's definitely intelligent, but instalove? Really? The big reason at the end for why Mori will never trust Sherlock again left me feeling decidedly non-plussed. Any sort of logic or reasoning she may have been in possession of disappears at around the half way mark where solving murders is tossed away in favour of make out sessions, and justice and safety for not just herself but her three younger brothers is tossed aside for decidedly tenuous reasons. Add in the fact that she's an English girl constantly referring to her Mum as 'Mom' and I was about ready to give up. Then there's the pacing. We discover who the murderer is at the half way point and I reached that reveal, checked to see how much more of the book was left and genuinely didn't know how the second half could possibly be filled. Short answer? Badly. It plays on all the tired cliches - look how stupid the adults are, we teenagers will solve everything and save the day! being the most frustrating to witness. Chuck in the instalove and I was ready to weep at the assassination of these characters. I'm all for playing with well-loved characters, twisting the scenarios to see how they work with different players and variables, but sadly in this case it really didn't work. If you're after a good modern day Sherlock story then I cannot recommend 'The Every trilogy' by Ellie Marney enough. If you're a fan of Sherlock, of the original stories, of interesting believable characters and well built up romance then sadly 'Lock and Mori' won't be the book for you. It's a great concept that could have been brilliant, but sadly is left to founder in bad pacing, terrible characters and an unbelievable plot.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here When I initially saw this book and read the blurb I didn't pick it up because to be quite frank it looked like real person fan fic based on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the idea of real person fan fic makes me feel a little squicky. I ignored it and read a whole heap of other books, but then reviews started coming in and everyone was saying how good this book was. So I gave it a shot. And you know what? I am so glad that I did. Yes ok the story is markedly similar to the real life story of the Duke and Duchess, but it also deviates in a lot of ways to create its own unique tale. From the very first page I was completely hooked. Morgan & Cocks have a truly brilliant writing style and it shines through in Bex's narrative. From the very beginning I was drawn in, I was chuckling, I wanted to know more. It felt delicious and wicked and utterly brilliant and I tried to draw out reading it for much longer than I normally would with a book, because I wanted to savour it for as long as possible. It was an engrossing read, peopled with fascinatingly real and flawed characters and tackled some really interesting problems, particularly with the media. How the media portray Bex (and by extension Lacey) how each character reacts to that attention as well as the truly terrifying lengths the methods the paparazzi go to to get their pictures and stories. It's all depicted in horrifyingly realistic detail and really made me think about the news stories I see each day in a very different light. The novel is a brilliant blend of these heavier, darker tones, as well as exploring bereavement, family bonds, and trying to retain yourself in impossible situations where everyone feels like they own a piece of you/you're constantly watched. But layered in with these heavier threads are some lovely light, romantic and fluffy elements that create a truly moreish read. I squeed and giggled as Bex and Nick got to know each other at Oxford. I felt for Bex being stuffed into this impossible situation with their relationship having to be kept secret. I wept for her when she had to deal with the truly horrible treatment from the press and 'The Firm'. I genuinely had no idea how it would end, how it could possibly all work out, and I loved that suspense. My only frustration was that the timeline becomes a little hard to follow in places. I frequently found myself becoming confused as to how much time had passed when suddenly there was a Christmas that had happened when I wasn't looking, or it was summer and last I'd realised it was autumn. It was very hard to keep up and work out precise timings, but it didn't impair my enjoyment, it just made me a little confused from time to time. It's the perfect mix of fairytale romance and real life problems - both for those in the glare of the media and more average everyday relationships. Add in a brilliant cast of characters and this was a truly wonderful read. I loved losing myself in this story and falling in love with Bex and Nick. If you're put off by the similarities to real life know that yes ok, it does borrow heavily from the real life story of William and Kate, but it also blends in enough fiction to create a truly fantastic story. Definitely a favourite and one I'm going to come back to again and again.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Whilst I was reading 'The Shepherd's Crown' I ended up talking about it with my lovely friend Sarah who also happened to be reading it at the same time, and I had to admit that whilst I have read many Discworld books, I tend to pick a character thread and read along that for a while when I pick up a Pratchett, and horror of horrors, I had not actually read a Witches thread book before. To which Sarah responded STOP READING THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN NOW, PUT IT DOWN THIS INSTANT AND GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING. And she started telling me about how awesome the beginning was and ended up getting all nostalgic, so we came to a compromise. I would be allowed to finish TSC with the acknowledgement that it wasn't the best in the Witches thread, and then we would both go back to the beginning and start reading them together. So I finished, and I read, and I loved. It has all the incredible weird hilarity that is so typical of Pratchett's work. The ridiculous names, the oddball collection of characters, the utterly bizarre plots, it's all there and all at its sparkling brilliance. There isn't yet the sense of complete ease that comes in later novels when Pratchett has established exactly what he's doing, but the trademark brilliance is there in abundance. I love the meandering of the plot as it flows along collecting seemingly random characters and moments until suddenly you hit the final stretch of the novel and everything kicks off and it all comes together into one explosive whole. It's an art form and a thing of beauty to see done so well. One thing I particularly love about Pratchett's novels is his ability to take issues that we're experiencing in the world now and twist them into these utterly absurd parallel situations in the Discworld - a kind of skewed mirror held up so we can see exactly how insane these issues really are. In Equal Rites he tackles sexism and the definition of male and female roles, and he does so spectacularly. I adored the dismissiveness on both sides of how women could only ever be witches and men only ever be wizards and never the two shall meet. I loved how it came out in ridiculously brilliant dialogue and action packed moments, and you know, I think Granny Weatherwax is definitely a new favourite. And that's just from her first novel, I think when I get back to 'The Shepherd's Crown' at the end of this I'm going to be a wreck re-reading that. It's a fantastic start to the witches thread, and has left me incredibly eager to get straight onto the next one and fill in all the gaps in my knowledge. So expect a fair amount of Pratchett here over the next few weeks as I fill in the woeful holes in my Discworld reading.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Spencer Hill Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review You know when you emerge from the final page of a book and feel like you've just wasted your time? Yeah, that. I love stories told from the villain's perspective. Done right they can offer a nuanced character that always has more to them than the black and white evil/good character stereotypes, and they can often result in some of my favourite stories. Done wrong and sadly, you end up with something like this. The story telling style is very reminiscent of Barrie's original Peter Pan story - points for continuity - but sadly it just doesn't fit with the actual story being told. The result is everything being told to the reader, never shown anything. You're told that Pan is bad, that Hook is upset, that the world is a terrible place. You just never really see it and as a result that's the first thing that disconnects the reader. The second thing is the character's, who never really feel like real functioning people. Yeah sure I could see Pan was bad, I felt for Hook being in this terrible situation, but I didn't care. It comes back to the issue of telling the reader everything instead of showing them and allowing them to spend time connecting to the characters. It also doesn't help that all of them are one note characters with no real depth to them. Pan is always awful, Hook is always betrayed and angry. There's no depth no nuance, and as a result no real feeling, Then you have the plot, which is virtually non-existent. The first section of the novel is taken up with James prior to Neverland and then going to Neverland and discovering he can't leave. Then there is a whole host of nothing for the majority of the novel. There are a couple of standoffs between Pan and Hook, there's a lot of Hook being abominable to everyone and sulking in his cabin, and then suddenly in the last 20% of the novel Wendy and her brothers arrive and we have a very condensed version of the original Peter Pan story smushed into that last section. There is no real drive to the story, I frequently found myself skim reading and skipping through the story because there was so much that was completely unnecessary. It also doesn't help that it can't really decide what sort of book it wants to be and who it's aimed at. To start with James is twelve and it has a distinct MG feel. Then he starts growing up until we reach some decidedly adult scenes where he's discovering some of the delights of being a pirate captain which really wouldn't be appropriate for a younger reader - it's like it can't work out quite who should be reading it. The relationships depicted are more than a little unhealthy, and I was actually horrified reading some of the scenes that are meant to be romantic. There was so much potential for a really nuanced look at Hook, at this boy who grows up but not at a normal pace and in a normal environment. In fact with some of the descriptions of how quickly he ages it could have been a fascinating look at a fifteen year old boy trapped in a body of an adult with the mentality still of a child. It's so bleak. I like my stories with a little bit of hope and there was nothing in this. I finished the book, looked at the last page a few more times and honestly wondered why I'd just wasted my time on this. It was depressing and frustrating and I didn't connect with anyone. The only reasons that this was not a one star read is that the writing was quite good in places, plus the inclusion of so many little details from the original story and the versions since then was a really great touch. Those are the only things that kept me reading, otherwise I would have DNF this one at around a third of the way through. So if you're expecting a fascinating look at the villain of Peter Pan, trust me when I say the book you'll get is not what you're expecting and sadly in this case, that isn't a good thing.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgally and Macmillan Children's Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This is a very complex mix of a novel. It isn't what I was expecting and in some ways that's a very good thing and in others not so great. I'm feeling a little conflicted because it's fascinating and interesting and very well written and with some beautiful twisty elements, but at the same time I didn't enjoy it. I didn't like any of the characters, so that kinda dampens any enthusiasm I would otherwise have. Arden is a complex and intriguing character that I really didn't like, but she was still fascinating to follow. Her 'thing' is being 'recklessly loyal'. She is labelled this when she was young and she thinks this is all she is, the sum total of all of her parts and that shapes everything she does, every decision, every conversation. Some people will identify and love her character for the way she goes out of her way to look after others and how that leaves her feeling, and I could identify with her to a certain extent, but there were decisions and elements that I really struggled with because she really takes it to extremes. Add in her attitude and thought process and she comes across as someone who enjoys being a martyr, who likes feeling hard done by that no one loves her as much as she loves them, because she never really allows anyone else to have any autonomy. Basically she's a control freak, which becomes increasingly obvious with every interaction she is with others, particularly with Lindsay. She doesn't ever actually consider whether the people she being recklessly loyal to actually want that. She just keeps on sacrificing herself over and over again without discussion, without allowing the people to be people. They are just a means to her being her 'recklessly loyal' label. It's complicated and messy and fascinating. The rest of the characters were all layers of 'what the hell' awfulness, but also kinda relatable characteristics. Her Mum who walks out on the family because she can't deal with the lack of support from her husband and children. On the one hand it is incredibly selfish, particularly putting it on the kids in part for her not having the space to fulfil her dreams. But on the other, I completely got where she was coming from. The lack of support from those we love when we go out of our way to care for them can be soul destroying, so whilst I couldn't get behind how her storyline plays out, I could fully understand it as what happened emerges. The same cannot be said for Arden's Father who I loathed all the way through. The sort of man who has the family dog put down because he can't deal with the hassle? No. Not even a little bit. The same goes for Chris, who really frustrated me all the way through. He was awful towards Arden, expecting her to just be a passive 'thing' that he could say was his. No hassle, no drama, no sort of inclination to be there and support her. It makes the reader hate him from the start which then begs the question, is that done purely so we are on Arden's side when she rushes off to find Peter? And Peter. Oh boy, let's talk about Peter. I really didn't like him, right from the start. His blog just grated. He was so creepy and kinda overblown romantic but most definitely not in a good way. And he pursues a girl he knows is taken and shows no remorse. Just, no boy. I find his blog posts frustrating and then we meet him and he's so much worse because he's so full of himself and his own importance and I wanted to smack him. I get incoherently angry just thinking about him. Some of the decisions that drive this story are as side eye worthy as the characters. I've already touched on Dad putting the dog down and Mum leaving, but the big one is always going to be Arden's decision that what Peter most needs when his girlfriend breaks up with him, is her. It's weird and terrifying and stalkerish and frankly Peter should have run the other direction, but it's also fascinating. It takes a good long look at how the internet allows us to build up relationships with people that are entirely one sided. Because whilst Peter had no idea who on earth Arden was, she had built up this entire persona of him based on the pieces he was choosing to portray. She had turned to his blog when she needed comfort and distraction and this facet of Peter had become a major part of her life so for her, he was damn near perfect (because hey, when you're shading in the gaps in someone you don't really know but you also kinda do, of course they're going to be perfect) and it made perfect sense that what he needed was her. It's such a strange phenomenon these internet relationships we form. Some of them go both ways, some are one way, and it's intriguing and complex and scary in places but this aspect is really well explored in the novel. And to see that relationship form on Arden's side and then have her go and seek out the reality and see how that plays is really well done. Other than characters and plot there's just the pacing to talk about, because it gets a little bit strange in the middle. When Arden is discovering Peter's blog we stop hearing anything very much about her life other than the odd 'hey, bored, going to look at his blog again' so you suddenly have an influx of Peter's story and none of Arden's and when you're invested in Arden's it can be very frustrating until it balances out again. I did however love the time jumps all over the place, both with Arden reading Peter's blog out of order to start with, but also with Arden herself. We have anecdotes about her childhood, her past, her and Chris, and it's fascinating to piece it all together into one narrative and works really well. So as I said, this one was mixed. I really didn't get along well with the characters, yet they were fascinating and intrigued me. I found a lot of the decisions really hard to process, but the results were complex and I found myself becoming increasingly invested. I loved the reveals and the twists as everything unfurled and we see the full picture, and I loved how the book explores relationships. And all sorts of relationships at that. Parents, siblings, partners, friends, random people on the internet. It's a book of many layers and sifting through them is half the fun. It's a book that isn't afraid to make the point that we can never know the full story, we only see what other people allow us to see and what we allow ourselves to see. It's not a book I particularly enjoyed, but it's a book that I think is done well, and one that I'm curious to see responses from other people when it comes out at the end of the month.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House/Doubleday Children's Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. This is a really hard review to write, because on the one hand there is a part of me feeling devastated this is Terry Pratchett's last novel and the bittersweet melancholy and love of Discworld part of me wants to give it a full five stars. But there is another part of me that (reading it objectively) knows that this just isn't as good as some of his other novels. It states in the afterword that this book isn't in the fully finished state that we have come to expect from Pratchett's works. He had finished writing it, in that it is a complete story with 'a beginning, a middle, and an end' but it is not finished finished. Not polished and honed and fully explored. And that shows. There is something missing from this book, some spark or sharpness that I have loved in all of Pratchett's other works, where yes it is a good story, but it isn't brilliant. The writing wavers intermittently between the brilliance we have all come to expect, and something less focused. There were whole swathes where I felt (I hate to say this) a little bored reading it, where the writing ambled at a much slower pace and with less focus or purpose. Which is partly why it was so hard to rate because there were those dreaded parts where I wasn't enjoying the story so much that it dropped to a three, and other parts where the story picked up and I was laughing and thrilled and loving it where it was a solid four. Those are the sections where it is abundantly clear that this was not the finished story that Pratchett wanted to tell. They read like an outline of scenes and ideas with little character, and so it is a strange read this mix of Pratchett genius with Pratchett thoughts combined into a 'finished' piece. There are also several subplots that appear and then disappear randomly and would obviously have had a lot more to them had he had the time he wanted to finish it. As a result the ending feels a little rushed and haphazard, but it is no less satisfying to read. I don't want to discuss the plot because I don't want to spoil anything, but it is very well done. It was bittersweet and a fitting last novel - I'm not ashamed to admit that I was in tears at several parts. It felt at points, as though Pratchett knew this would be the last and is infusing the story with that knowledge. If you haven't read any Pratchett novels before I don't recommend starting with this one. 'The Shepherd's Crown' is not his best novel, and you are far better off starting with one of his earlier ones and coming to it at a later point. However for returning fans of Discworld, of the Witches, of Tiffany Aching, this book (whilst not quite on a par with his usual brilliance) will be a must read. It's bittersweet with moments of brilliance, and still an incredibly good novel. Just be aware going in that whilst it 'has a beginning, a middle and an end' this is not the finished novel that Pratchett most likely would have wanted readers to find. Enjoy it simply, for what it is - the last new outing in Discworld we will have.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Headline Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This was an oddball of a book for me, that ultimately wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I think will appeal to a lot of other people. The biggest problem for me was the lack of connection with any of the characters. By the end I had begun to care about Mim, but it was too little too late by that point. She is a very abrasive character, and sometimes that works for me and sometimes it doesn't. In this case, I didn't really care for her as I had with some other more caustic heroines, and her voice and personality will definitely divide readers.However she really leaps off the page, full of life and opinions and flaws, and that is a wonderful thing to read. Mim is most definitely an unreliable narrator. She leaves things out until the end, quite pertinent information so that you are forced to comply with her world view until the truth comes tumbling out and both she and the reader realise that not everything is as it seems. I did enjoy watching all the pieces start to click into place towards the end of the book, but like with caring about Mim herself, it kinda felt like too little too late. On the whole the rest of the plot fell into place in a rather predictable fashion with some insta love for added fun and a fair few moments where I gave the book the side eye due to Mim's actions and thoughts. Her 'war paint' was problematic, but at least she recognised that it was, but her and Beck talking about Walt (their Down Syndrome friend) being their pet dog, was a little much. It also felt a little bit too episodic with the detours. Sure we get some interesting characters making appearances, but the arcs felt a little bit too much like they were only in the book to show Mim's growth. Zany and exciting new people who pop up, make a brief impression and then leave. Something about the construction of the detours just didn't quite work for me - add it to the list of many things that sadly didn't. It was a book that felt as though it were trying too hard to be another 'HEY LOOK MENTAL ILLNESS' book, and it didn't feel like it tackled it particularly well. Certain elements were done well, but there were quite a few that either didn't work or made me look squinty eyed at the book to make sure I was reading it right. However it does tackle a lot of pertinent issues - the disillusion of her parent's relationship, the grey areas of discovering that your parents are people in their own right who makes mistakes and have problems of their own and a lot of that was really interesting to read. It's just a shame that it was buried in amongst so much else that didn't work for me. I just felt kinda apathetic about the book by the time I finished. That's most likely all on me, I wasn't in the mood for a contemporary, or maybe I was too tired and should have gone to bed already. But for me personally, this book just wasn't really my thing.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I was very excited to get stuck into this one, and whilst I did really enjoy this fresh take on the Cinderella story (strong independent woman!) there were a few problems that stopped it being the favourite I had been hoping it would turn into. Nick is a fantastic protagonist. I did have a couple of issues with her and the romance which I will discuss in a moment, but first I want to talk about what I loved. She's intelligent, she's feisty and determined, she's incredibly clever and talented. And the best part? Unlike the original story where she has to rely on her fairy godmother and the Prince to rescue her from her life of drudgery, in 'Mechanica' she rescues herself. Yes she has friends and support, but she pulls herself up, she rolls up her sleeves and gets stuff done and turns her own situation around which I really loved. I loved the steampunk elements - it's not traditional full steampunk, and anyone worrying that it will be too similar to 'Cinder' your fears are unfounded, these are two very different books. The mechanical inventions and magic are worked in beautifully and I loved seeing Nick at work and the little titbits we're shown of her relationship with her mother. They're both incredible inventors and I thought that was a truly gorgeous new twist - particularly when we see the attitude towards women and their inventions in this world. I loved how they subvert expectations to create these stunning pieces and the transition from Nick's mother having to pretend that her inventions are made by her husband, to Nick standing proud beside her inventions. It's definitely a female empowerment story, and it's done brilliantly. However, one of my biggest issues was the romance. Nick meets Fin twice, maybe three times, and yeah ok he's ridiculously hot and he's actually been nice to her which at this point in her life is a rarity - crush away dear girl, I completely understand. But then she stars having imaginary conversations with him. She freely admits that she spends most of her time imagining conversations and situations and builds up this entire person in her head that she later says she doesn't think she could have survived without. This is up there with insta-love for me - a love built up out of nothing. Of imaginings. It really didn't work for me and I found any of their interactions following that to be really uncomfortable as a result. The romance and relationships as a whole are handled quite poorly, so if you're after the traditional happily ever after you'll be sorely disappointed. Similarly whilst some elements of the friendships worked really well, there were other parts that really didn't and left me feeling frustrated by various actions and conversations. The pacing is also a little off so the story lags quite terribly in several places, but the imagination that infuses it definitely helps to pick up the slack and kept me interested. So whilst I loved a lot of this fresh reinvention of Cinderella, there were enough niggles and problems for it not to quite hit favourite status. However I really recommend picking it up, if only for the magical inventions and the empowered self sufficient Cinderella.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I adored Jenny's first book. I frequently had to go out to my car to read it on my lunch break because I was laughing so hard I was 'disturbing my co-workers'. I have never laughed so hard whilst reading before, and it was truly a glorious experience and an amazing read. So it was a no brainer that I would, of course, be picking up any further books Jenny wrote, and as soon as I saw the cover and title I knew I would be in for a treat. Note to self: Don't read this whilst in public. I got odd looks from laughing so hard and then nearly crying on the metro, in an airport (whilst reading the section about flying and airports, it was fortuitous timing and made everything ten times funnier) on the plane and then on a train. Several trains in fact. I had odd looks from strangers and my husband, who got increasingly irate everytime I tried to share another funny bit, because, let's face it, that was most of the book, and ended up yelling that NO MORE, HE WANTED TO READ THE BOOK FOR HIMSELF. (Spoilsport) Don't be fooled though, because yes, there is plenty of laughter and merriment and general insanity (raccoon rodeo anyone?) but there are also much more serious sections which in turns punched me straight in the feels, made me nod along and go YES, SOMEONE ELSE UNDERSTANDS and sob, and also pass the book over to Husband with the instructions to read this because Jenny explains it so much better than I ever could. It is outrageous and funny and heartfelt and full of poignant moments and good advice. In short, Jenny has done the impossible and created a truly brilliant blend of humour and seriousness tackling life with mental illness. It's still so much of a taboo to discuss mental illness and Jenny throws all of that out the window and does a truly spectacular job of talking about it in ways that will both appeal to sufferers and those hoping to understand more. I'm bulk ordering many copies of this book to go to various people for Christmas because it is brilliant. If you want an amazingly wacky and hilarious book - read this. If you want a book that talks honestly and openly about mental illness - read this. If you fancy some non-fiction - read this. If you're not sure you like non-fiction books - read this. It is for everyone (apart from minors, because some of the language used isn't appropriate but is utterly brilliant. Save a copy for them for when they're older.) and everyone should be reading it. Plus look at that cover. That cover alone should be giving you a good idea of what's waiting for you inside - insanity and hilarity written by a truly incredible writer.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster UK Children's Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I love some good super powers and this blurb had me thoroughly excited to get stuck into a new series by some authors that I've loved. Unfortunately the book never quite lives up to the expectations set by the blurb. There are six point of view characters, all with code names all with different stories and abilities. That's a lot of points of view to get used to, particularly when they're skipping between them every few pages. I never really felt like I got change to get to know one before we were off with someone else. Sadly I only ever really connected with two of the characters, which of six is a bit worrying. The other four were filled with padding, useless exposition and frustrating inner dialogues that never really moved the story forward. I frequently found myself skim reading those four and only properly reading Flicker and Anon, the two I found most interesting. Add to that the other four being thoroughly unlikeable or uninteresting and I found myself feeling thoroughly bored for the majority of the book. That is a symptom of the entire book, there's so much set up and then nothing much happens. You just end up skimming back and forth between all these different characters whilst nothing actually drives the plot forward. There are one or two moments where everything kicks up a gear and it gets interesting, but on the whole not really enough to keep my interest. There's a lot of referencing to events that happened before the start of the book which leads to a lot of confusion and frustration. I was almost more interested in the events prior to the book than in the events in this book. So whilst it felt like a sequel, it also felt like a prequel, one to introduce these characters and put them all in place for the proper start to the series. So perhaps the second book in the series will go infinitely better than this one. This had so much potential, and it does shine through at a few points, but if you're after an exciting and fast paced new set of super powered teenagers this is not the place to look. Slow, boring and sadly lacking in interesting characters, zeroes sadly lives up to its name.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This was a heartbreakingly beautiful book. The kind where I had to go back and re-read whole paragraphs because of how lyrically beautiful they were and I knew I hadn't fully appreciated them the first time. The kind stuffed with lines and quotes that resonate deep inside whilst you're reading. It's a gorgeous book about friendship and family and the ties between all of them. The heart and soul of the book for me, without question, was the relationship between Olivia and Jamie. I loved the descriptions, the way they interacted with each other and the relationship that was both there at the beginning of the novel and evolved throughout. I also adored the relationship between Olivia and the memory of her mother, and her relationship with her father. They were such interesting concepts and they were explored in such beautiful ways. Despite everything that happens within the book, it remains a quiet story, one suffused with longing, for the past, for the future, for people both there and not, and for an elusive idea of a life that can never be. In short, it's beautiful. However despite how much I loved the relationship between the four of them, and particularly the relationship between Olivia and Jamie, I never really connected with Max and Maggie in the same way. Max particularly just didn't work for me - probably because he walks the fine line between loving and terrifying and just slightly abusive and I have known Max's in my life and characters like him just don't appeal to me anymore as romantic leads. I also felt like we never really got to know him or Maggie in the same way, they felt almost like superfluous padding to the group, which was a shame. I wanted to know them they intrigued me, and I felt cheated that we didn't get to see more of them. So whilst this was a haunting and beautiful book, it didn't quite fully immerse me in the story as I'd been hoping it would. It is still one of the top contemporaries I've read this year and if you enjoy quietly lyrical stories suffused with sadness and hope then this is a definite must read.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Walker Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This book has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year. That cover first caught my eye way back in the spring, and then the blurb followed and I was absolutely desperate to get my little mitts on it. And it definitely lived up to expectations. It's a wonderful story with (despite being about the same people) remarkably varied characters. You could immediately tell which time frame and which versions of Kate and Matt you were with, without any prodding from the time line headings, simply because of how unique they were. Lauren does a fantastic job of bringing different character facets to the fore for each so that they are in essence the same characters, but you see so many different sides to them. I loved seeing the different challenges each variant couple faced, and seeing how the time period played into that. Whilst I loved all of them, my favourites were definitely 2019 Matt and Kate, simply because you got to know them so much better than any of the others. You really saw the bulk of their relationship, the quirks, the humour and how much they loved each other shining through in that time line above all the others. It's an engrossing story, and one that I couldn't put down once I'd started. I loved the different periods, the different elements of the relationships, the slow unveiling of the twists. It's a beautiful slow burn of a book and it was wonderful to see how the different threads played into each other and interlinked. It's a fascinating, well written and original book. It's a wonderful mix of historical, contemporary and dystopian fiction all rolled up into one story and really does have a bit of something for everyone. I did however have a couple of niggles which stopped this being a full five star read for me. The first may well be resolved in the finished copy, something I am very eager to nab a copy once it hits the shelves so I can see. Towards the end of the book both Kate and Matt start to reference another time thread at Bletchley Park. Obviously it's clear that there are numerous more time threads than the four depicted in the novel, but it seemed strange that Bletchley Park is referenced numerous times with no reference to any other time lines that we haven't seen. It made it feel almost as though in a previous draft Bletchley Park was one of the threads, so it was quite a strange jolt to suddenly start having these references to it out of the blue. My second niggle was with the end, and in the interest of spoilers I'm not going to mention it here. However if you've read the book and want to talk about it feel free to message me! I'm hoping that since there is a second book titled 'The Last Beginning' listed on Goodreads, that my ending related niggles will all be resolved, but until that point that end just left me feeling a bit strange. It was a bit abrupt and I needed a little bit more of a resolution. My third niggle (regular readers will have guessed this one already...) was that some of the language and dialogue in the historical time lines felt very modern. It wasn't too jarring, and it wasn't nearly as bad as some other historical books I've read, but it was still there, and it still bothered me. However, those points aside, I really loved this book. It's a beautiful love story, incredibly tense and with wonderful variants of the same people so that each thread genuinely felt like it housed its own people, which I loved. It's a very engrossing read, and a truly wonderful debut, and has left me desperate for Lauren's next novel which is FAR TOO FAR AWAY RIGHT NOW.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Allison & Busby Publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This book was terrifyingly brilliant. In an alternate world where the Great Library of Alexandria still stands, the library rules all. It controls knowledge in ways that were both outlandish and magical, but also not that far removed from what we experience today. The book offered a seamless blend of that - things magical and extreme and things that struck remarkably close to home and made reading this even more alarming in places. I took my time reading this because I loved being immersed in this world, I loved letting the story unfold in small pieces rather than storming through it all in one go. However my restraint broke around two thirds of the way through and I ended up not moving between then and the final page. It was addictive, it was brutal, it was incredibly well written and utterly compelling. It grabs you right from the first page with one of the most intense and adrenaline filled openings I've read in a while, and whilst the tension eases off at points it never fully releases you from its grip. The story grabs you by the hand and demands you pay attention to it. I loved that the story was led by a male protagonist. I adore my female protagonists like you wouldn't believe, but it's refreshing to read a book with a male lead every now and again and this was a truly fantastic one. The characters were complex, varied and so diverse. I loved that the characters unfurled piece by piece as we got to know them. No one was black and white, everyone was complex with shades of grey, and you never fully understood or knew the characters. Like people they were always shifting, changing and had backstory and secrets that crept in to tease and tantalise. There are echoes of Harry Potter - accepted to an elite school, sent off by train, almost magic like moments - so if you're a Potter fan you are going to love this one. Plus if you like books in general you're going to be utterly smitten, they are treated with the love and reverence they deserve. It's a truly fantastic book. Alarming and twisty, I loved this alternate view on the world and how everything changed as a result. It's a brilliantly crafted story filled with complex and wonderful characters, heart breaking moments, brutal and terrifying moments, books, love, fights. It is stuffed with magic and wonder, and marks the start of a truly addictive series.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Avon for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review As a first foray into Tessa Dare's writing this book has certainly set the bar high and made me fall in love with another Scottish Highlander to boot. I'd been feeling a pang for more books set in Scotland ever since reading 'Outlander' by Diana Gabaldon earlier this year. And whilst I knew that this book would be an entirely different kettle of fish, I was also mightily intrigued by the blurb and kept hearing good things about a) this particular book and b) Tessa's writing in general. So I went to investigate. And loved it. It's that rare and brilliant mix of butterfly inducing romance, historical detailing, humour and downright sexy shenanigans, where everything comes together seamlessly and I found myself sighing and sniggering from page to page. Within the first few chapters I knew I was onto a winner, with Maddie's clear and amusing voice and the ridiculous letters she sends to her fictional Captain. Maddie is just such a likeable heroine (and hooray for a heroine who has social anxiety and suffers from panic attacks and isn't miraculously fixed by love!) She's kind and generous and self-deprecating and funny and I absolutely adored her. "Madeline Eloise Gracechurch: Stealth Cuddler." And then there's surly with a secret squishy centre Logan MacKenzie who is the perfect foil for Maddie. I loved watching the two of them spark off each other, come to terms with their feelings and their faults and start to build up a genuine relationship. There are some truly hilarious moments countered by some sentimental and moving ones, and I really loved watching these two start to care for each other. Plus it's been a while since I've had genuine stomach swoopage when reading, and oh boy did these two have it in spades. Particularly when they stop being idiots and actually admit to each other how they feel - Tessa certainly knows how to create some breathlessly wonderful declarations and make out scenes. There are some slightly more modern turns of phrase that were a little jarring and frustrating, but nothing too large to really throw me out of the story and irritate me. However once I got going I couldn't put the book down, it was exactly what I needed. Light hearted, fun, with some deeper subjects and heartfelt moments, this book has cemented Tessa Dare as a new favourite for historical romances, and I cannot wait to read more from her.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Children's Books UK for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review So this book guys, I need to hug it, and stroke it, and generally just not let it out of my sight for a while because I loved it so much. It's definitely one of my top books of the year with a host of brilliant characters, swoon-worthy romance and an interesting and surprising plot. I fell in love with Bex and Jack, they were such fresh and original characters - engaging, interesting and so desperately real. They do not come across as your average YA romance types - Bex is an artist determined to make it drawing anatomical studies and Jack is a rockabilly graffiti artist creating stunning yet odd pieces of art across the city. They meet by chance and from that first amusing conversation and heated staring match across the bus aisle, I was hooked. Whilst there is so much more to the story, the romance really drives it. It's a gorgeous romance and is portrayed so brilliantly and realistically - all the aspects, rather than just the early smushy stuff. Whilst we have much easier access to Bex's thoughts and emotions as the story is given to us through her, I loved that we got to see fleshed out characters, situations and families for both Jack and Bex. They were such vivid characters, unique, fascinating and complex. I don't want to spoil anything for the story, so I'm going to stay vague, but suffice to say I loved it. I loved them and I'm having a hard time putting it into words how much. This is so much more than a teen romance. As with all of my favourite YA romances it is packed with incredibly real characters and issues that make this a really engrossing read, with the romance adding extra squishy feelings on top. I loved how much time is spent looking at family, as both Bex and Jack have very different family lives and situations and it was interesting seeing them tackle the problems that arose, learning how to be their own people as well as a part of a family unit. There were even several emotional moments where I got a little bit teary eyed when it came to the resolutions of the family storylines. The writing is gorgeous and down to earth with Bex's clear voice, her humour, her hopes and fears, all shining through in some truly gorgeous turns of phrase. "And then he was kissing me like we were both on fire and he was trying to put the flames out, and I kissed him back like an arsonist with a pocketful of matches." This is an awesome book, one that took me by surprise and swept me off my feet. It's funny, it's unique and it's now a firm favourite. If you like your romances with a bit of hidden depths, this is a must read.

I'm in tears. This book is brutal and beautiful, filled with hope and grief and devastation. It is a stunning book and I cannot recommend it enough. Full review to come.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I've tried a few of David Levithan's short stories and 'Will Grayson, Will Grayson' and hadn't gotten along with them at all, which meant that I wasn't in any rush to pick up any other books by him. But then I got talking to a very good friend about how she absolutely adores some of his books and I thought I really ought to give him another go - enter 'Two Boys Kissing'. There is no way I'm actually going to be able to adequately put into words just how much I loved this book. It's told in one of the most unique ways I've ever seen a story narrated - by a Greek chorus of the gay men lost to AIDS. It's quite an odd storytelling style to get used to, but it didn't take me long to fall into the style and I now can't imagine it being told in any other way. It meant that you were able to glimpse all of the characters' lives easily, skipping from one to the next as easy as thought, and to be granted little pieces of wisdom and thoughts that otherwise would never have found their way into the story. "Love is so painful, how could you ever wish it on anybody? And love is so essential, how could you ever stand in its way?" It also has a wonderfully diverse cast of characters. Whilst from the blurb you would assume the story would focus on Harry & Craig, I loved that actually all of the boys are given time to develop and we see a very equal amount of all of them. This is a beautiful story, a tough story, a story that made me cry and filled me with love and hope. It is a story I think everyone should read, that should be studied in school and given to friends and family for Christmas. It is a story that utterly wrecked me emotionally, but left me feeling so, so glad that I read it. It is a book that I know I'm going to need to go back and re-visit. It was so incredibly written that I kept finding passages I want to go back and re-read, sections that I know would have even more impact the second time around, and whole swathes that were just so beautifully written it brought me to tears. It is a book that demands attention - that demands to be felt. Stunning, unique and utterly brilliant. "We do not start as dust. We do not end as dust. We make more than dust. That's all we ask of you. Make more than dust."

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review So that blurb left me pretty eager to get stuck into this one, time travel, a feisty heroine and a murder mystery? I was definitely intrigued. Which is why it was such a shame that the first half of the novel (for me) didn't live up to the promise of the blurb (it's an entirely different kettle of fish for the second half though). The pacing was a little off, there was too much extraneous detail, too many plot threads that weren't going anywhere fast enough and were building up to several twists and reveals that were unfortunately obvious for me. I kept putting the book down and having to really push myself to pick it back up again - my motivation was shot. There was so much attempting to be crammed into this 400 page novel. As soon as I started to become invested in one story line, we'd skip to another one (either a new one or a previously introduced one) and there was just so much happening without enough time given to develop it thoroughly. But then at around the halfway point everything starts to pick up and I found myself becoming more invested in the story and enjoying it immensely. It was wonderful seeing all the characters converge and the threads start to make more sense as they tie together and provide a much more cohesive whole. I began to care more about the characters and I loved seeing how the time paradox kicked in and watching events from the first half of the book play out again from different angles with different pieces of fore knowledge in the second. The pacing also works much better in the second half - I found myself desperate to know how it would end, what would happen and breathlessly awaiting the final showdown as the baddies close in on our heroes. There were even a few gasp out loud moments of twists that I hadn't seen coming which were very well played. It was a strange mix of things, both good and bad, that luckily picked up so that I really enjoyed the second half and ended up thinking about the story several days after finishing the book. I've found myself feeling melancholy and wanting to go back and revisit the quiet of Annie's kitchen and the solitude that accompanies El's cabin and her back forty. Given that the story and I started on such a wrong foot it's surprising how much I ended up loving the second half. But I did, and it's one that I'm sure I'll come back to. Be warned though, the first half hides the brilliant story that emerges in the second, so if you find yourself growing tired and disenchanted, stick with it, Annie is a fascinating character that you'll grow to love and root for.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Orion for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review So the first Rainbow Rowell book I ever read was 'Eleanor & Park' and whilst I enjoyed it, it didn't hit me in quite the same way as a lot of other people I know who loved it. So I wasn't in any huge rush to pick up any of her other books, they were always on the 'yeah, I'll get to it at some point' pile. And then I had a long train journey back home and Landline was on my kindle and I thought I should really try it and see. Reading Landline was like being hit by a truck in the feels. On finishing it I was actually glad that I hadn't read it before now, as I don't think that it would have resonated with me in quite the same way. Having waited until now, when I'm coming up to my first wedding anniversary, it struck a lot of chords inside me. I may not have kids yet, or a high pressure job in tv and been married for 17 years, but I do have that fear. That worry that maybe love isn't enough, and it was both heart-breaking and uplifting to read Georgie and Neal's story and to see them battle through the little things and the big things together, because they loved each other and couldn't imagine life without the other. The writing is poetic and beautiful and orchestrated to perfection to provide maximum impact when reading. I fell into the story, into their lives and their memories and their love for each other and at times felt like I was buoyed by it and others like I was drowning. It is gut wrenching and stunning. Funny and tragic. Magical and utterly mundane. It gives you the insights into young Georgie who is full of certainty and love and determination and juxtaposes her against older Georgie who is worn and tired and desperately trying to juggle all of the balls at once and keeps missing. "You don't know when you are twenty-three. You don't know what it really means to crawl into someone else's life and stay there. You can't see all the ways you're going to get tangled, how you're going to bond skin to skin. How the idea of separating will feel in five years, in ten--in fifteen. When Georgie thought about divorce now, she imagined lying side by side with Neal on two operating tables while a team of doctors tried to unthread their vascular systems." I genuinely couldn't see how this could end. Obviously I was hoping for hope and happiness, but I just wasn't sure. I was filled with as much desperation, bewilderment and uncertainty as Georgie was as she remembered and re-remembered and tried to work out what to do. I stumbled off the train after reading and fell into my Husband's arms, desperate for comfort and reassurance, I was so invested into Georgie's story. In short, this book is beautiful. A gorgeous melding of magic and reality, of hope and loss, but most importantly of love in all its many shapes and guises. I fell in love with Georgie and I fell in love with Landline and I think I may have just fallen for Rainbow. Now I'm itching to get into every other book she's written, but I think Landline will always hold a special place in my heart, and be a book that I come back to over and over again for the little pieces of humour and wisdom and hope folded delicately into the prose.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Hot Key Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honst review This is an incredibly tough book to read, and also a very triggering book if you've ever suffered from or are currently suffering from an eating disorder. However it was also a really important book to read, so despite how hard and triggering I was finding it, I persevered because Stevie and her story was something that needed to be heard. Stevie is not a likeable person. She's hard and aggressive and not meant to be likeable, but despite all that you feel for her. In some cases you'll be able to understand, to empathise with the things she's doing and the ways she is feeling. She is not meant to be a cuddly person you instantly get on with, she is meant to be someone who has had terrible things happen and is suffering and lashing out in the only way that she knows how. Her arc and growth is tremendous, you can watch the shifts start to happen as she begins to talk to people, to refer to them by name, to understand what has happened, to let go of the guilt and to start to want to get better. It's definitely a story driven by character, there isn't much in the way of plot, and for some people that will be frustrating, but for me it worked really well. I may not have liked Stevie a lot of the time, but I was definitely invested and engaged. I wanted to learn more, to see how she would respond in these situations, to see her perception of herself and the world begin to change. The girls surrounding Stevie are just as fascinating. We don't learn a huge amount about them, because Stevie herself is not interested or doesn't feel like she can ask or talk, but what glimpses we do get help to paint a vivid picture of life with an eating disorder and the struggle to recovery. I absolutely loved Stevie's relationship with Shrink/Anna. I loved that it was a portrayal of a psychologist that was actually good and helpful, rather than making her out to be unfeeling or horrid, or any of the other usual portrayals in YA fiction. It was a breath of fresh air to see such a human person in this position and I loved this book for daring to allow Anna to be human. The one thing that I was frustrated about is that whilst it is touched upon briefly, the majority of the focus is left on people who develop an eating disorder due to traumatic circumstances or events. Only one of the girls has an eating disorder for no discernible reason, and whilst it was really good that it is brought up and touched upon that it is almost worse in some ways to not be able to label and understand why you have this problem and how you're not sure how to get better from it, I could have done with more time being spent on that issue. We see a lot from the other girls who have had trauma that has resulted in the disorder, but not really enough from the flip side. "But we are a group of girls so overwhelmed by our mere existence that it's almost paralyzing, the idea of dealing with the 'big picture' issues. It's the reason we got this way to begin with. The reason a single caloric unit takes on such importance, the reason the pound becomes our currency of worth. These are things we can manage." This is a hard book, but an important one. One that casts an unflinching gaze on eating disorders - the hierarchy, the rituals, the warped sense of self. It is a book that needs to be read, needs to have more people understanding, and one that offers a mirror for those who have suffered, or are suffering from an eating disorder. One that shows that you are not alone. That you do not need to let it consume you. That there is hope.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Disney Hyperion for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review Serafina and the Black Cloak has a gorgeous cover, an intriguing premise and a lot of hype surrounding it already, so it's been on my to read list for a while and I was thrilled to be offered a chance to read it early by Disney Hyperion. There were a lot of things I loved about this book, but unfortunately there were quite a few that really didn't work for me too. I loved Serafina, she's a refreshing and engaging heroine, full of determination and courage and oddities that only serve to make her more intriguing. I loved watching the story play out and her discover her history, her family and herself. I also loved seeing her relationship with Braedan develop. I know that it was in part because it's a book aimed at younger readers that there was no romance, but it was really lovely to see an honest friendship develop between the two rather than any romantic undertones. I particularly loved them exploring Biltmore together and trying to gather clues to work out the mystery. The magic elements were really well used. I loved Serafina's emerging backstory, just as I was chilled by any scenes involving the Black Cloak. It was genuinely terrifying, and I shouldn't have been reading this one at night! The introduction of the Black Cloak was a particularly frightening scene to read, and it really sets the tone of perilous terror against Serafina's plucky determination and light. The magic is brilliantly different, horrifying and well used so that the story comes together cleverly and neatly by the end, offering a fun ride with a satisfying conclusion. The things that didn't work out so well were (as always) the lack of period appropriate language. It would be all fine for a while and then suddenly Serafina and co would be using modern language and slang and it's just so frustrating when a book has been deliberately set in a specific time period and the language used then doesn't match up. You could argue that it's aimed at a middle grade readership, but then that doesn't match up with some of the very adult language being used in places. I was actually really surprised at the level of language - in some places suitable for a twelve year old heroine and a middle grade reader, and then in others it would suddenly switch to a much more adult lexicon and it didn't quite work with such a young protagonist. I also found it frustrating how easy it was to spot who the culprit was. Maybe I've just read too many mystery books and I need to take a break for a while, because the culprit always seems blindingly obvious to me. There were some good attempts to throw the reader off with various shady characters, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to distract me. The pacing was also rather off in places. There were some really great, tense scenes where I was tearing through the story, and then it would all slow down whilst Serafina described something, or mused on the world and her place in it for five or so pages, and I would find myself wanting to skim read to get through the overly verbose descriptions. Those things aside though it was still a good book. It was engaging, and a fresh concept that worked really well, plus it had some truly terrifying and scary moments thrown in too. I think younger readers will enjoy this one much more than older readers, although be warned that it may cause fear of the dark and nightmares!

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I've tried to write this review for going on a week now, not because it's a bad book or I didn't want to so I've been dodging it, but more because it was such a wonderful, poignant and brilliant book that I don't quite know (even now) how to adequately express my feelings and love for it. Emmy, Oliver and I got along like a house on fire and it was one of the best contemporary fiction novels I have read this year. It quickly shot up to favourite status with the brilliantly real and flawed characters, amusing dialogue and deeper issues lying just beneath the surface of this wonderful book that's masquerading behind that cover pretending it's nothing more than a sweet romance. Basically it had everything I love in a book. Sure it had the cute, fluffy romance (which was adorable by the way) but it was so much more than that and tackled some really hard issues head on and in a fantastically relatable way. This book was all about change - it's a coming of age story, about family and friendships and growing up to be your own person. To just label this book as a romance is to do it a disservice, because it is so much more than that. The star of the show is most definitely Emmy. Told from her point of view, she's sarcastic and funny and kind and wonderful and I loved her. It was a brilliant idea to see the outside perspective on the kidnapping so instead of dealing with Oliver's thoughts and emotions as he tries to come to terms with it all, we see how the event effected those left behind and how they try and put themselves back together upon Oliver's return. It's a unique and fascinating view, because it offered us a glimpse into how Oliver's dealing with via Emmy, but I loved seeing how the other parents and kids reacted in the wake of the event, and how those reactions have had repercussions rippling in the decade since. Benway tackles a difficult subject at a curved angle, approaching from the side so you're already drawn in by Emmy and her witty sarcastic outlook on life before she blindsides you with the emotional curveballs. It's a rollercoaster of emotions which might be too much in some books, but because Benway has created such a wonderful, loveable and realistic cast of characters, it ends up working beautifully gifting you with sweet, touching and vulnerable moments before sucker punching you with some heavy emotional scenes. It's raw, it's brilliant, and it's wrapped up in such a brilliant package that it works seamlessly. Emmy & Oliver is a new favourite, a book that I will come to again and again, and has kickstarted my burning need to get hold of all of Robin Benway's books immediately, because if they are anything like this one, I'm going to have a whole host of favourites on my hands.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review I haven't read a huge number of Jennifer Lynn Barnes books, but every single one I have picked up I have loved, and 'The Fixer' was no exception. In fact I would go so far as to say that this is the best book Barnes has written. It's fast paced, tense, brilliantly plotted and filled with a whole host of intriguing characters. I was complaining recently that I can't seem to find a book where I don't see the twists coming, so it was a breath of fresh air to be constantly kept on my toes with this story. I genuinely wasn't sure who to trust, whose motives were pure, who could have done the terrible deeds, and actually gasped aloud at a couple of the reveals. It was deliciously sneaky and I loved the surprises and twists and being constantly kept guessing. It also helps that the plot is brilliantly constructed. You're given just enough time to get to know Tess, to begin to understand her and want to give her a massive hug, and then you're thrown right in at the deep end with her, desperately trying to work out what's happening and who you can trust. It's relentless, giving a few lighter moments throughout, but on the whole really putting you through the wringer. I didn't have the usual slump in the middle of the book, I burned through it, desperate to see how it would all end. Tess is a fantastic protagonist, I really felt for her right from the first page. She's grounded and practical and whilst she's headstrong she isn't an idiot - the perfect combination of a heroine who wants to get stuff done, but also realises that other people may be better equipped to deal with some situations. She's surrounded by a brilliant cast of characters, even those we didn't get to spend much time with didn't feel superfluous, they felt like real people who had lives away from Tess and her problems, but who were able to come in and help. I can't wait to get to know some of them better and see how these relationships progress. It was refreshing though to see a plot that wasn't hinged upon romance, in fact apart from a couple of brief glances, romance didn't even play a tiny part in the story. So if you're after a fast paced contemporary that isn't bogged down in longing looks and will they won't they moments, this is definitely a must read. Add to that the fact that the dialogue was also brilliant and the entire book was a winning combination. I am a rather huge fan of Asher and Tess and would quite happily have read a book entirely filled with their witty repartee. I frequently found myself laughing out loud, and they offered some great lighter moments in amongst the darkness of the rest of the plot. This is by far the best book I've read by Barnes - fast paced, brilliantly written full of twists and turns and compelling characters, this is a great summer read, perfect for getting lost in the intrigues and politics of Washington D.C. and trying to work out who, if anyone, you can trust.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review BE WARNED FOR MINOR SPOILERS I was crazily excited about this book, and then I started to hear rumblings that the end suddenly went very different from the rest of the book and was this contemporary or was it sci-fi? So I went warily into this one, unsure of quite what to expect. Unfortunately I didn't get along with it. For starters I didn't connect with or like Ollie at all. His letters were amusing to start with but quickly degenerated into mind numbing exposition that I had to really work to get through. Nothing really happened, he was incredibly self centred and utterly hung up over Liz (who I also didn't particularly like.) and as a result most of his letters felt like upbeat whinging. Who knew that could be a thing? He comes across as very young, I know he's meant to be fourteen, but he seemed even younger than that. And his obsession with Liz never really made complete sense to me. Ok sure, he doesn't see many people and his only friend stops coming to visit him after a traumatic experience. But the traumatic experience, whilst a little traumatic, was not quite the crisis situation that Ollie was making it out to be. There was so much build up, so much dragging of his heels when writing to Moritz, so much procrastination where he doesn't want to tell him about it. And then it happens and I kinda felt, well, is that it? Liz doesn't strike me as a particularly good friend, I'm with Moritz on this one. She seemed determined to 'fix' Ollie, and anyone who feels that people with disabilities or illnesses need to be 'fixed' to be 'normal' automatically gets me incredibly irate. So Ollie didn't really interest or appeal to me, which left me with Moritz. Moritz and I actually got along a lot better. I still found him to be ridiculously verbose and depressive, but I found his story to be much more engaging. I still found his 'disability' frustrating. I'm blind! But I can see everything! So really I'm actually fine! I felt like the set up had been 'hey look, two disabled teenagers' and then the rug was being pulled from under as the author went 'ha ha, not really!' It was a mixed bag, I struggled to continue reading, to persuade myself to even care about some of Ollie's letters, and then suddenly out of the blue at 75%, the ridiculous happened. What had been a perfectly ok contemporary novel with a couple of interesting tweaks, suddenly turned into full on sci-fi with no warning. There was no build up, no sly clues along the way, just suddenly an info dump in one of Moritz's letters that completely upended everything and made me do a double take. What was this novel? What had just happened? Had I missed something? And then the end! Why oh why did Ollie suddenly have to be 'fixed', why did it suddenly have to become this thing that he'd grow into?! This goes back to my earlier point about 'fixing' people with illnesses or disabilities. It makes me feel like the rest of the book was obsolete, like I've been cheated somehow. That this novel that promised it would be about two teenage boys with disabilities had suddenly changed its mind and didn't follow through at the end. That really frustrated me and left me with a bitter taste. So this novel that I was crazily excited for felt like it wasn't anything like the novel I was hoping for or expecting. I felt bored, frustrated and cheated and ended up not really feeling any sort of attachment to any of the characters. I know plenty of people have loved it, have loved the characters and the writing style and the sudden change of pace at the end, but for me personally, this just wasn't my cup of tea.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. This was an intriguing book, one that I have had my eye on for some time and was looking forward to exploring. It was a spellbinding read, one that sucked me under and kept me guessing and wondering, filled me with anger and hurt and desperation, and was suffused with a quiet magic. It's a story told through two timelines, Simon, desperately trying to piece together his family history and protect his sister. And Amos, from the 1700s, deftly weaving the stories origin point so that as Simon uncovers more clues about this strange book he has been sent and his families tragic past, we see it unfold through Amos as well. It had elements of both 'The Snow Child' and 'The Night Circus' - two books I loved. The same lilting magic and quiet depths. The story takes its time, ambling between the two storylines at a sometimes frustrating pace. But rather than wanting to skip one timeline to get to the other as so often happens with these split books, I found myself enjoying both tales equally. There were points where one took precedence to the detriment of the other, forcing the narrative stream down to a dribble, but on the whole it moved along at a solid pace to reach a quite tense and dramatic climax. The writing is quiet, beautiful at times and filled with memorable passages. There are several quotes that I know I will take with me. Swyler most definitely has a way with words, of twisting language into this wondrous thing, even when her characters could not speak at all, the ways of communication were filled with surprising depths and double meanings. "We would bury ourselves in books until flesh and paper became one and ink and blood at last ran together." The odd thing was that whilst the book was good, and I am glad I read it, I didn't enjoy it exactly. It was too melancholy, and had too many threads of lies, sadness and betrayal for me to fully immerse myself in the story in an enjoyable fashion. It pulled me in, made me want to unravel the mystery and see it through to its breath-taking climax, but once I finished, I was glad to close the book. It is a fascinating story, one I wasn't sure how it would end. It had so many tangled threads and possibilities that snarl together as Simon attempts to piece the history together, only to emerge as a solid braid in the last few pages. It's beautiful and wretched and filled with sorrow, not necessarily a good summer book, but definitely one to pick up if you enjoyed 'The Snow Child' or 'The Night Circus'. "We carry our families like anchors, rooting us in storms, making sure we never drift from where and who we are. We carry our families within us the way we carry our breath underwater, keeping us afloat, keeping us alive. I've been lifting anchors since I was eighteen. I've been holding my breath since before I was born.">

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Corgi Books/Penguin Random House for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review There has been so much buzz around this book, and with a blurb like that who's surprised? So I was more than a little curious and definitely had some high expectations when I started reading, and on the most part, those expectations were met. There are some truly brilliant and gasp out loud moments and twists, which I really don't want to ruin, so I'm going to come back and do a more in depth review at a later point when everyone has had more of a chance to read it. However in the mean-time, there is so much to love about this book, but also a few things that I think will be quite polarizing for some readers. I adored Maddy, she was such a bright and determined protagonist, and I couldn't help but love her right from the start. She's a bookworm! She writes fun and crazy rewards inside her books if they're found by someone else! Plus, diversity for the win, she's half African-American and half Japanese! I also loved the relationship between her and her Mum for the first three quarters of the novel, because so often in young adult fiction we see parent/child relationships that really aren't good. They don't talk, or they ignore them, or there's abuse or addiction of some kind, of they just are apathetic full stop. Which, ok, fair enough, not every relationship is perfect, but for once it was nice to see a mother and daughter getting along, for her to feel guilty about keeping secrets, for them to have movie nights and games nights and to actually communicate and talk. Yes ok, things happen towards the end which put a whole different spin on everything, but for the first three quarters of the novel I loved seeing this relationship between the two of them. I loved Maddy having to get to grips with how she felt about keeping things from her Mum, and to see the relationship play out. Plus they play phonetic scrabble which is just AWESOME. Then there is Olly and the relationship between the two of them, which is brilliant. I fell in love with Olly and Maddy from the first glance out of the window, though all the crazy interactions that follow. I found myself frequently laughing out loud and getting the warm fuzzies as they got to know each other. I absolutely loved those first few weeks of communication through mime and insanity through the window, they were brilliant! However, as wonderful as all those things were, there were still quite a few issues that meant that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was expecting to, and left me feeling quite conflicted at the end about how I actually felt about it. One of my biggest frustrations is when books leave gaping plot holes and things that make no sense as you're reading it, and then suddenly you reach the end and everything clicks into place and makes sense again. I appreciate the need for the holes then, but past me did not appreciate the holes at the time that I was reading them. It's a fine line that authors have to navigate, plot holes to make the end make sense vs. not so gaping plot holes so the reader doesn't have a break down over said plot holes whilst they're reading. And this book was full of holes. We never learn anything about SCID really, which is a shame because I was looking forward to being given a small piece of education about something I know nothing about. I was expecting an experience akin to when I read 'Extraordinary Means' by Robyn Schneider and suddenly learned a lot more about TB than when I'd started. But apart from a brief, hey I have this thing! at the start of the novel, that's it. Maddy doesn't even explain it to Olly, which I found highly bizarre. Then there's the food. For someone who is allergic to everything, Maddy sure does eat whatever she fancies (apart from one brief mention of a meal where she can only eat a couple of the original ingredients) which I found really weird to read. I have allergies, and it affects everything. I have to be so insanely careful about what I eat, but Maddy's allergies seemed to be totally random - she could eat chicken but not duck or sausage, huh? The events in the last third of the novel also presented some problems for me, but as I said, I'm going to wait and do a more in depth post when people have had a chance to read the book as I don't want to spoil anything. All in all this is going to be a novel that gets people talking. There are things people will love and things they'll hate, and some people won't be bothered by the plot holes at all. Regardless I cannot wait to see the reaction when this book hits the shelves. It's a fascinating book, full of sweet, funny and beautiful moments, and a lot of plot points that will get people talking. So I highly recommend picking it up and giving the story a chance - I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Egmont Publishing/Electric Monkey for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review There is one thing guaranteed to make me feel frustrated with a book after reading, and that is if the by the end of the story, the book has made me feel stupid. I read a lot, I'm a reasonably intelligent person, and I can usually see twists in plots coming from quite a distance, so it's always a strange feeling when I finish a book and don't actually really understand what happened at the end. Let's go back to the start for a moment. The book is a fast paced, intense read that had me racing through the pages to find out what was going to happen next. Did I see the big 'twists' coming? Sure. But I wasn't too bothered about that, because I was caught up in the intensity and pace of the story. I don't want to give too much away - even the blurb is trying not to give anything away - because I think that the less you know going in the more you will enjoy the story and become engrossed in the twisting tale unfolding around you as June tries to disentangle the truth. Like I said, I saw the 'twists' coming, but on the whole I enjoyed it. June was a bit flat for a protagonist, and there were several moments of lapsed judgement - for example when she goes to confront Tig - where I really wanted to shake her. Despite the flaws in the creation of her character she is likeable enough, and offers a way in to the story that steamrollers onward, sweeping everything up with it. It's a hard book to put down, and is a very intense read as clues and distractions are unearthed. If you're after a fast paced and intense murder mystery then this is definitely a book you should pick up. However there were two big things detracting from my enjoyment. The first is the snippets of Delia and June's relationship that we're offered through flashbacks. I think it was supposed to offer an idea of a wonderful friendship of kindred souls. However it comes across as toxic and with Delia not being particularly likeable. I never warmed to Delia, nor to any of the characters really. They were all the worst versions of themselves with little to no redeeming qualities. Reading a book as intense as this can be exhausting, if you then add in that there are no truly likeable characters it becomes an exercise in frustration. The second thing was the ending. Now like I said, I kept up with the rest of the story no problem, but I really have very little idea of what happened at the end. I get the basic premise, but other than that, it doesn't make any sense. I've been back and read the final few chapters several times thinking that maybe I missed something, that I just wasn't being clever enough to work it out. So if you read this book and can enlighten me as to what I've missed in the comments, that would be awesome. As it stands all that hard work the book did throughout the rest of the story came crashing down in those final few pages, because a book that makes the reader feel stupid is never going to end favourably for the reader. It was an intense read, gripping and at times terrifying, but the characters were unlikeable and the twists (for me personally) a little predictable. All of that could have been forgiven if not for the ending, so whilst I know some people will love this story, it didn't quite work for me.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I am incredibly picky about my audiobooks. The narrator has to be right and it has to be a book I know otherwise I can't focus. I can't ever seem to listen to a new book the first time around, I need to know a story before I can start to listen. So I tend to end up with a few staple favourites that I return to when I have a migraine and can't read, or when I can't sleep. The good thing about a book that you know inside and out is that if you drift off and wake up several chapters later, you still know what's going on... Which means that adding to my audiobook collection is a rare occasion indeed, but there are some times when the stars align and an audiobook is perfect, such as now with 'An Ember in the Ashes'. My all time favourite audiobook (and probably if you forced me on pain of torture to choose just one book, my favourite book as well) is The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. It is perfect. There is nothing like escaping back to Thisby with Puck and Sean and George Holly as narrated by Steve West and Fiona Hardingham. So when I discovered that not only was 'An Ember in the Ashes' available in audio format, but that it was narrated by none other than Steve West and Fiona Hardingham, I actually whooped with joy. They are a dream to listen to. Quite frankly I could listen to Steve West narrate shopping lists I love listening to him read aloud so much, and Fiona brings such a vibrancy to her characters. Together they bring an audiobook to life in such vivid clarity that listening to the book gives an extra depth that isn't accessible when reading. I've already detailed just how much and why I love 'An Ember in the Ashes' in my review, and the audiobook offers all that I loved and more. Steve and Fiona are the perfect people to voice this story and these characters and I've found myself retreating frequently for 'just one more chapter...' ever since I first discovered the audiobook a few days ago. They are both such incredibly skilled narrators and give each character such distinctive voices that you immediately know who's speaking and where you are. You become invested in the story, the stakes seem higher, the cost and fear more real. It's a rare gift to not just read a story, but to bring it to life in such vibrant clarity. It's a brutal, heartbreaking and beautiful book and Steve and Fiona more than do it justice as they lovingly bring it to life. I cannot recommend it enough. So if you enjoyed the book I highly recommend trying the audio. Or if you haven't yet had chance to pick up a copy but can fit in audiobooks on your commute then Steve and Fiona can transport you to the brutal world of the Scholars and the Empire.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Corgi/Random House Children's Publishing for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review You know when you loved a book so much you just want to hug it, and then press it on everyone and tell them they should read it? Yeah, that. So I loved 'The Accident Season', far more than I expected to, and it sky rocketed up into one of my favourite books for this year, and indeed one of my favourite books ever. I knew very little about the book, aside from the increasing buzz from the book world about it, and assumed that it would be a straightforward contemporary YA, and I was right... up to a point. If you're a fan of Maggie Stiefvater's novels (particularly The Raven Cycle, and Lament and Ballad) then you have to pick up this book. It has the same sliding sense of gravity not being where it should be, the same feeling of magic and breathless anticipation. In short, it was breathtaking. This book crept up on me and drew me in completely. It's a gorgeous, lilting tale set in Ireland where you're not quite sure how real the magic is, until it has infused every page and you realise that it's been real all along. You can feel the world slipping away and the further in you get, the more unsure you are about what's real and what isn't. How much magic there is and how much there are rational explanations for. It's a haunting tale about secrets, how they can twist and take on identities of their own. How you can forget what they were to begin with as they warp and change until they're a thing unleashed. It's a tale about family and the lies we tell ourselves. It's a beautiful, hungry book that will pull you in and leave you aching to go back when you reach the end. In short this book is not what I expected, but it ended up being so much more than that. I fell in love with it, the magic and the lies and the secrets and the ties that bound the characters together. It's a quiet story that gains in momentum as the accident season grows and gains power, screeching to a climax at the end of October with the revelations that tear the world apart and restructure it anew. It is a beautiful book. A surprising book. At times terrifying and magical. I had no idea how it would end, where the journey would take Cara and Alice and Sam and Bea, but I am so glad that I took a chance and picked this one up.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Children's Books/Hodder Children's Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I absolutely adored 'The DUFF' when I read it for the first time earlier this year, Bianca was sassy and brilliant and I loved the relationship between her and Wesley. So I was insanely excited to find out this was a companion novel with Amy, Wesley's little sister as one of the main characters - plus there would be cameos from Bianca and Wesley themselves. However the idea and the actuality were two very different things. Whilst I was a huge fan of Bianca I really didn't gel so well with Sonny, she was so destructive and her compulsive lying and constant bragging about her lying abilities were frustrating and stopped me from really connecting with her as a character. The further into the story I got the clearer it became that whilst Sonny thought she was fooling everyone, and yes she did manage it with a few people, on the whole the only person she was successfully lying to was herself. Everyone else just saw straight through it. Without that connection to Sonny the book never lifted beyond 'okay' for me. Keplinger has a talent for writing very polarizing characters. Bianca split people's opinions just as much, only I fell in the loving her camp rather than finding her abrasive. This time I'm on the other side of the fence and so whilst it was a quick and at points enjoyable read, I never recaptured the same enjoyment I experienced whilst reading 'The DUFF'. That then coloured all of my other feelings for the story. I didn't find Wesley and Bianca as interesting in their brief cameos, I never really connected with Amy and she felt like a criminally underused character that I was looking forward to getting to know, and Ryder never captivated me the same way that Wesley did. I love that Keplinger writes flawed characters - it was one of the reasons I loved 'The DUFF' so much but I didn't find Ryder and Sonny as easy to relate to. So whilst my enjoyment of the book was marred by these, they were personal preferences. The story had all the elements that I loved in 'The DUFF' it was just a shame that I didn't connect with the characters. I know a lot of people will love this story and the characters as they did with Bianca. But for me personally I'm going to stick with 'The Duff'.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Spencer Hill Contemporary for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review If you're after a contemporary romance this summer but you're bored of all the cliche, boy meets girl and butterflies and tingles ensue, then this is the book for you. It's the second in the Daylight Falls books, but don't let that put you off as I didn't even realise there was a preceding book until I was well into the story. It works really well either as a standalone or as a sequel and you won't have to play catch up to get into the story. Going into the story both point of view characters, Josh and Vanessa were incredibly unlikeable and hard to connect with. Josh particularly is a grade A horror - think Chuck Bass, but worse. But the story was compelling, it swept me up and pulled me in and so despite the fact that I wasn't sold on either of the characters who were showing me their world, I wanted to know more. And I am so glad I did. The further into the story you get the more you begin to warm to the characters and to relate to them. Vanessa is such a wonderful character once you get past her self absorbed superficial act in the first few chapters. Josh takes infinitely more time and patience to reach a point where you genuinely care about him, but he too is worth the wait. Like I said this isn't your stereotypical boy meets girl story, so whilst there is some attraction between these two, it is only a tiny side part of the whole. It is more two viewpoints into these two very different people's lives and all the confusions and messed up things they're going through. Both of them are stuck in situations they don't know how to deal with, and whilst we may not all be actors in Hollywood, they are situations that everyone can relate to. The book tackles friendship, family, sexuality, emancipation and trying to find your place in the world. It's an incredible book, one that doesn't shy away from tough subjects and flags up so many things. I wanted to weep and hug this book at times for giving such an honest and realistic portrayal of these problems. Whilst Josh was a fascinating character and I did even come to like him by the end, this book was, for me, all about Vanessa. She's determined, she loves her job, she wants to succeed and please her parents and satisfy her agent/fans/public. She works insanely hard and never really does anything for herself. And as well as all that she is Korean and has a major part in a tv show, and she never forgets how lucky she is to have a major role. As well as all her difficulties as a young adult trying to find her way in the world and balance everything in her life she is going in with her eyes wide open about the difficulties placed on her in her chosen profession because of her skin colour and ethnicity. She's type cast in minor roles and desperately afraid that her career will end with the role on the show. It is a brutally honest look at the acting business and how girls, particularly girls who aren't straight, white and skinny, have everything stacked against them. But not only all of that, which is awesome just on its own, she is also coming to terms with her feelings for another girl and her own sexuality. And this isn't just a book that glosses over the subject and the feelings, Adler refuses to compromise and makes this a wonderfully honest and frank portrayal of the relationship Vanessa begins to build. She gives it as much time and development and detail as you would find in any straight romance book, and I love that. This book is awesome on so many levels, and it is so bold and brilliant and honest and I flew through it in a matter of hours. I became so invested with the story and characters and I was desperate to see how it would all turn out. The only reason that this wasn't a full five star read was because of the unlikeability of both characters in the first few chapters, that was the only thing that knocked down what is otherwise a fantastic book. If you're after a diverse read, a book that deals with a female same sex relationship and a whole host of other awesome, read this, read this now. I can't wait to get my hands on everything else Adler has written now, I'm definitely a fan of someone who has the gumption to write a book like this and to pull it off with such style.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Whilst the first two books in the Magician trilogy had their problems, I really enjoyed reading them. The magic was fresh and interesting and I loved getting lost in the world the books offered up. So I was curious and a little bit excited to see how the final installment brought the story to a close. The close to the series brought with it everything I'd loved about the first two novels (and some of the things I didn't) as well as a whole heap more. A lovely romance that had truly blossomed and some fantastic magic. This is a series that I have loved escaping into. The stories, despite the action and peril, have always felt quiet and idyllic and sometimes that is exactly the sort of story that I need to while away a sunny afternoon. There were still a few frustrations: the relationship between Ceony and Emery being the first. I did enjoy their interactions and relationship much more than in the first two books as Ceony came across as a much more mature character (as I'll talk about in a moment) and even got a little mushy at points! However in the first two books I found their relationship decidedly squicky. Their age gap has always felt a little too big and Ceony a little too much like a besotted teen. As a result the teacher/pupil relationship and her feelings make for some quite uncomfortable reading at points. However she did come across as infinitely more mature in this final installment and Emery a lot more expressive in his own feelings so it felt much more equal and less like a one sided infatuation. The language is stuffed full of modern Americanisms, and if you're going to set a book in turn of the century London that really frustrates me. Really basic things like Mom instead of Mother - I'm picky about my language! So whilst I was expecting the language to be like that after the first two books, it still really irritated me, particularly as it would have been such a simple fix and would have had such an impact on the book. The final problem was pacing. The first two books felt like light, quick reads and as a result the speed with which I worked through the story was not a problem. This book however felt like it had more to it - or should have more to it, and I was left feeling a little wanting. I wanted the story to take its time. I wanted to see more time devoted to the magician's test and to really get lost in this world. There was so much on offer with it and I wanted a bit more rather than the same light and quick read that I enjoyed with the first two. However that was really a personal preference thing and I know some people will enjoy that this book maintains the precedents set by the first two. However despite those frustrations I really enjoyed coming back to this series and having the stories all tied up. The magic has always been the biggest draw for me as it is so imaginative and brilliantly conceived, so I particularly loved getting to see a little more of the different types of magic as Ceony experimented. It's something I would love to see translated to screen actually as it's such an innovative and brilliant idea for magic and it would be incredible to see if come to life. Whilst I struggled with the relationship between Ceony and Emery in the first two books it really felt like it began to take shape fully in this book and I loved seeing them together and how they worked together. I would've loved more time devoted to that and exploring that relationship, but I felt much more comfortable with them as a romantic pairing than I have done in the past. Now that I'd grown comfortable with the characters, the magic and the world, I really loved being given the chance to settle back into it and explore a little further with Ceony. It was like pulling on a much loved jumper and whilst I would have loved more time to be spent over the story, the couple of hours spent reading this were definitely enjoyable. I found myself feeling nostalgic for the cottage and Fennel long after I'd finished reading. It is definitely not a perfect series for me, as I've explained, but it is definitely one that I've enjoyed reading and one that I will most certainly return to again in the future.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here here Huge thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This is such a stunningly beautiful book, one that I've been excited about for most of the year. It has it all - lyrical prose, subtle magic weaving its way through the narrative, and star crossed lovers. I didn't quite know what to expect when I started reading, and I liked having no expectations or preconceived ideas of what I might find. It was like unpacking a present, being surprised and enthralled by all the little pieces of plot sliding together to create a beautiful story, the characters evolving and growing into real people. It's a story about magic, unexplained raw and fascinating magic in the form of Sirenas - the Paloma girls who swim through water as mermaids in their travelling act, blessed with a love of water and swimming and the ability to stay under until the tourists watching truly believe they might be mermaids. And the Corbeaus, no fear of heights, a love of being up in the highest branches of the trees tumbling and dancing with the feathered wings of their costumes rippling in the wind. Just those two families and their acts are stunning, but once you start adding in the family feuds, the secrets, the lies and the history it evolves into something complex and fascinating. I loved Lace and Cluck, the views into their families and their fascinating lives they offered. The history, the traditions, the beliefs and hierarchy that comes with each family. The melding of their cultures with their family histories and attitudes. They were such gentle people, enfolded into this aggressive feud and desperately trying to find themselves and their own ways in life. The only reason that this wasn't a full five star read is that whilst it was beautiful and lovely, I never felt like I was truly connected to the characters. I felt like I was watching this magical spectacle unfold from a distance, when I wanted to be right in the middle of it with the smell of the makeup and feathers tangling in my hair. However despite that one bump in the reading experience, I really love it. It's a beautiful story, diverse, magical and completely unique to anything else I've read. A stunning debut novel, and one of my must read novels for September. If you liked 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern then this is a must read. It has the same magical quality to the writing, lyrical and soft, subtly creating a truly engrossing and moving narrative that weaves around you until you are thoroughly ensnared.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here here That blurb has had me all kinds of excited since the start of the year, and this has been one of my most eagerly anticipated reads, so you can imagine my disappointment when the blurb turned out to be filled with over exagerations. Steeped in Chinese folklore? I'm sorry, where is this? If you change the names of the characters there is literally nothing that makes this stand out as being particularly Chinese. I was so excited about having a diverse and interesting new read for the autumn, filled with folklore that I couldn't wait to learn more about. What I got was a poorly constructed story that had very little drive to it and lacked any real links to China or its folklore except in the names. It's a short book to begin with so I really shouldn't have found my interest lagging at any point, but that's precisely what happens. The story meanders along at its own pace with a very basic plot that never really explores its full potential. There are a couple of interesting darker aspects but I never really felt though they were given enough weight or depth of exploration, and as a result the parts that intrigued me the most were mostly swept under the rug. Then the final climax takes on a thoroughly different approach and feel to the rest of the book, suddenly throwing in bizarre fantasy elements that have been absent up to that point. It's a really strange and surprisingly unsatisfying ending. With a slow and basic story you really need an interesting and engaging central character to drive the story and keep the reader focussed, but again 'Soundless' came up short. Fei was nice enough and very brave, but I never connected with her. I think that may be in part due to the narrative style, but it meant that I never really fell in love with her, never rooted for her or feared for her. I felt merely mild interest in her plight and didn't feel any emotional connection to her relationships. The relationship between her and her sister was particularly puzzling as it never felt fully formed, and Fei never comes across as the younger sibling, more like an older sibling desperately playing the care taker. The narrative style keeps you emotionally distant and whilst on the whole it's quite formal and stilted, presumably to try and keep the traditional storytelling/fable feel, there are quite a few instances where bizarrely modern language and phrases creep in which are quite jarring. All in all this was not the book I was hoping to read, and it didn't even remotely live up to my expectations. It was a decent enough story, competently told, but lacking any of the diversity and excitement that had been promised in the blurb. Thrown in the frustrating narrative style that keeps you at arms length from the characters and the slow moving plot and I was left feeling more than a little grumpy on finishing this one.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review I was all set to get along famously with this book, after all I've enjoyed Jessica Day George's books in the past, it's got an historical setting, plus shapeshifting society ladies! What more could one want! However it ended up being quite a problematic book, so whilst by the time I reached the final page I had quite enjoyed the story, I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. The first half of the story drags, like at a seriously glacial pace. If you're going to reveal something to the reader in the blurb, don't then drag out the reveal to the heroines for half of the book. It does not inspire tension or mystery, it just peeves the reader to no end because they know what's going on and there is no reason for everyone to be acting so ridiculously mysteriously all the time. Then you're faced with the sheer un-likeability of all of the adult characters. They flip from vaguely likeable right at the start to downright nasty within a few chapters, and with no reason. None of the motivations make any sort of sense with the adults, and I refuse to believe that previously caring parents and parental figures would cease to care about their children like that. But the most problematic thing for me, the point from which this book didn't stand a hope of recovery was where Mihai threatens to and attempts to rape Dacia. It was handled so badly, and Dacia's response to it was dealt with appallingly. Mihai himself was a very poorly constructed character, he made little to no sense and his motivations were bizarre. His actions where he starts trying to force himself on Dacia didn't fit with the rest of his character, and seemed so utterly out of place. Add into that that we don't get to understand any of Dacia's thought process or feelings after the event and the whole storyline ended up feeling like a bit of a train wreck and left me feeling thoroughly put off the story. The two girls were interesting, and I enjoyed the alternating chapters headed by diary entries, letters and telegrams. It gave little additional insights into the characters and the story and were a lovely touch. However the character development was poor. Dacia was unlikeable for the first half, then she suffers a huge trauma through the knowledge of her shapeshifting, followed by the near rape and basically shuts down. But instead of understanding what's happened and being able to deal with her trauma or allowing the reader into her thought process, she's quiet and withdrawn before suddenly poof she's decided she's all fixed. I'm sorry but trauma doesn't work like that, and the way that storyline was dealt with was shocking. Then Lou is a timid and mostly unmemorable girl until poof suddenly she's decided everything is peachy and she's going to stop acting like a doormat. I get that they both had a huge shift through their experiences and this is what led to their changes in attitude, but we aren't really allowed into their characters enough that we can understand and experience that shift in emotions. We're just told 'hey look this has changed' and expected to get on board with it. And the 'heroes' - what kind of hero, or even father or uncle, leaves these girls in a situation they know is that bad? Where was the reasoning behind this? None of the character motivations or reasoning made sense and it made my head hurt to try and make it make sense. So whilst I was excited after reading Jessica Day George's previous novels, this one really didn't work for me. The pacing was off, the character arcs didn't work particularly well and that attempted rape was the proverbial death knell for any sort of enjoyment. The second half of the book is infinitely better paced and more interesting than the first half, but unfortunately it was too little far too late.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I had heard so many amazing things about this book before I started, and they were all absolutely true. This book was fantastic - certainly one of the best books I've read this year. The writing is gorgeous, this is a masterclass in world-building and stunning prose. I fell in love with the writing from the first page and tried to draw out my time reading over as many days as possible to prolong my time spent between these pages. It is quiet and dreamy, dramatic and full of fire, filled with gorgeous moments and descriptions as Ahdieh brings to life this story filled with exquisite depths. At its heart is Shazi, a fiery, flawed and intelligent heroine. I couldn't help but love her, to feel for her as she tries to reconcile the warring parts of her heart. The guilt and love and hurt all lingering and twisting into this complex thing. She is a wonderful heroine to persuade the reader to invest in the story, to draw them into her vibrant and determined world as she attempts to stay alive and unravel the mystery. I loved the relationships interwoven in the narrative, Despina and Shazi, Shazi and Khalid, Kahlid and Jalal. They are complex and raw and filled with desperation and love as well as lighter moments and humour. Despina particularly infuses all of her scenes with a much needed lightness and I adored the friendship that grows between the two girls independent of any love interests. The world-building is fantastic. I felt as though I were there, everything from the clothes to the food to the silk cushions and curtains, the dawn light gilding the blades of grass and the perfect heady perfume of the roses. The novel is laid out in glorious detail, a feast for the senses. One thing guaranteed to make me fall head over heels in love with a book is when things aren't spelled out piecemeal to the reader. If the book is set in a particular culture with characters that have grown up with names and customs and sayings then it's completely ridiculous for the narrative to pause whilst whatever it is is being explained to the reader so they can keep up. So when "The Wrath & the Dawn" gave me a glossary at the back of the book and expected me to keep up with the terminology, I practically swooned. It's details like that that make the book such an immersive experience to read. I felt as though I were there, the descriptions were so vivid, the emotions so strong, the characters so life like. The only element of this book that I really didn't get along with was Tariq, he and I just didn't hit it off. His scenes felt as though they slowed the rest of the story down and I resented any time away from Shazi - hardly surprising when you've got such a wonderful heroine as she. Add to that that he basically cannot explain why he needs to save her, that he feels that it's wrong that she should do what she wants, that what she wants is wrong, and he was really getting on my bad side. He came across as possessive and naive and irritating. I never felt a connection between him and Shazi, and his possessiveness really rankled. Yet despite my irritations with Tariq, this book is still incredible and gets a full five stars. It is a stunning book and a beautiful and fresh look at the tale of 1001 nights. If you're after a sumptuously brilliant fantasy novel filled with gorgeous prose and incredible characters, what are you waiting for? Go and read this one now!

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Children's Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. When you put comparisons to Game of Thrones and Graceling on the blurb for a book, I'm going to go in with very high and excited expectations. Unfortunately comparisons like that tend to end up as reader bait, rather than because the books bear any sort of resemblance, and 'Witch Hunter' is just such an example. The blurb (plus the comparisons) had me very excited going in, but unfortunately the book really didn't live up to any expectations I had and I ended up feeling incredibly disappointed and frustrated and nearly gave up on the book half way through. This was due to terrible pacing, truly awful dialogue and a protagonist who suffers from a terrible case of one dimensionalism. There was nothing that made Elizabeth feel like a real person, I never got a real sense of who she was, what she wanted, anything that made her into anything more than a cardboard cut-out. She supposedly has these extraordinary fighting skills - she's supposed to be the best Witch Hunter there is - but she never shows that. We see her in two fights, one where she accidentally kills someone and the second she just ends up hair pulling and slapping. Not exactly living up to the hype. She let's herself be pushed around and manipulated and never seems to possess anything remotely resembling a spine. Where are the strong heroines I was promised? Don't make comparisons to two novels with incredibly strong female characters if you then can't deliver. In fact all of the characters were cardboard stereotypes, none of whom had enough going for them to lift the novel up into something readable. The dialogue is awkward and cringe worthy, and we never learn anything much about any of the other characters. They're just there to provide background decoration, fluttering sensations in the stomach area and occasional pieces of information. The plot wasn't much better. The ban on the magic is unexplained and that leaves a lot of gaping plot holes all over the place so that the story trips over itself several times. As a result the story is clunky and frustrating and never feels remotely believable. The pacing also leaves a lot to be desired as nothing really happens for the first three quarters, other than Elizabeth mooning over two different boys and a lot of wandering around the countryside, hair pulling and pretty dresses. None of that is enough to lift the novel up into something interesting to read and when the climax hits, it is too little too late. All in all this was an incredibly disappointing read. All of the promise in that blurb and none of it is delivered. Terrible pacing, awful characters and dialogue, I was left feeling sorely disappointed by this one.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review Sometimes a book comes along that is so incredibly written with such a beautiful story contained within its pages, that it is almost impossible to write a review that does more than say 'read this, you must read this'. 'One' is one of those books. It's written in free-verse, an art that I have never seen used so well and to such great effect. Crossan is a master of the simplistic prose, writing a tale that is pared down to the very bare bones. It is raw, it is eloquent and it is beautiful - unencumbered by the usual padding and backstory. She allows the story to breathe, allows the emotion and elegant prose to do all the hard work and it pays off beautifully. The writing is lyrical, sure and resolute with a crisp precision that is utterly captivating to read. Crossan captures the feelings and emotions, the humanity and characters with a handful of words and spins an utterly engrossing story filled with love, beauty, desperation and heartbreak. I was sucked into Grace's head, her narrative, her hopes and dreams and fears. She was such an engaging character and I loved seeing the world through her eyes. The picture she paints of life with Tippi is fascinating. It is both extraordinary and completely ordinary. It is everything she has ever known and so different to how almost all readers will live, and yet she makes it accessible. Her thoughts and feelings are easy to relate to. She helps us to understand and to see both her and Tippi as individuals as well as a unit. This is a gorgeous book. I cannot recommend it enough. Fans of Sarah's other works will know what an extraordinarily beautiful story they will find within the pages, and for those who haven't yet picked up one of her books, start with 'One'. Let Grace inside your head to tell her story. It's one of love and joy, sadness and grief, and above all else, hope.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Check out my #FantasyIRL video for the book on Bookish Brits Huge thanks to Harper Collins for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. One of the most perfect books to find as a reader is one that sweeps you away. That immerses you so fully that you live and breathe the story. You laugh and weep with the characters and rage on their behalf as you tear through the pages, desperate to see how it ends. This is one of those books. I loved Elias and Laia for very different reasons. Elias' chapters are packed with action and fraught with the dangers and horrors of the trials and Blackcliff. As a result some people will lean more towards favouring his chapters as they push the story along at a breath taking pace and catch you easily in his twisted world and the terrible decisions he must constantly face. However Laia holds her own, just in a much quieter way. She is no hero, no super spy, no assassin trained for vengeance. She is just a girl who has lost too much and desperately craves safety and comfort. She is terrified and wants to run away from the danger. This is no chosen one, no lioness rampant. And yet. Her character growth and arc are incredible. She comes to terms with the life she has been forced into, she tries desperately to find her way through this impossible situation and as a result you feel for her. You want to protect her and help her. You cheer for her as she gradually finds her courage and pieces it together to form something she can use. Yes her chapters are quieter, the action less dizzying, but they are still fraught and full of fear and you come to know her character better in those stolen moments of fear in the darkness better than you could in any other situation. I also loved the characters surrounding them, even those I loathed and feared. Fierce and wonderful Helene, Izzi and Cook - I loved these strong and clever woman, all fighting for the things they love and believe in. The female friendships in this book were a breath of fresh air, and I found them so compelling to read. The world building was also incredibly strong. There was just the right amount of information, with enough gaps and holes to be filled in in later books. You got the feeling that this was only a small slice of the world. Admittedly an incredibly brutal one, but still only a piece. Because Laia and Elias are so enmeshed in this piece of the world it makes complete sense that we only see this, but I loved the whispers of a world outside of the corner we are shown, of the other places we might see. It made it clear that this is not a small world, that there are larger pieces at stake than just this, but that this part of the world is important, vital even to these two particularly. It was a brutal world, filled with horror and bloodshed, but whilst it was overwhelming it points it never felt ridiculous. Everything felt like it had roots in our own worlds history, whilst then subverting and twisting it and adding in some dark fantastical elements. You get the sense that there is something inherently wrong, a darkness, a tipping balance that has reached the crucial point. It leaves the reader feeling a sense of wrongness, a prickling that all is now ok, a tension that is reaching the breaking point. We never find out the true picture and scale of what that is, but I love this slow build. It is a novel that takes its time whilst never dragging at all. It is brutal and non-stop, but it left me desperately wanting more - more of the characters, more of this world and answers, above all, answers. Not as with some novels, out of frustration and irritation, but simply because I have been pulled so thoroughly into this world and I want to know everything.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Atom for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. Sometimes a book will get a huge amount of love and you can see what everyone's talking about. Sometimes everyone seems to hate it and yet you yourself absolutely loved it. And sometimes, everyone loves a book but when you read it you cannot understand what they saw in it. This is what happened when I read 'This is Not a Love Story'. I had heard so many good things about it, and yes there were quite a few elements of the story that I did really enjoy, but on the whole I found it a really frustrating read. Where was the story that everyone was raving about? Had I just picked up the wrong book? Let's split it up into what I did and didn't like. First off, I loved the setting. Ever since I moved abroad I've been finding myself drawn more frequently to books set aside the UK and the US, and 'This is Not a Love Story' focusing on a group of expats in Amsterdam was wonderful. I loved seeing the community, the exploration of a new city and the brief mentions about how an expat community forms - you never know who you might meet where, and you tend to become friends very quickly with those people who are also fish out of water in this new country. Amsterdam was described beautifully and it was just so refreshing to have such a different culture, setting and outlook for a book simply from a change of location. I also loved that sexuality was explored and that the love triangle trope was turned on its head. This was definitely a novel that didn't explore the stereotypical route - as it says in the title, this is not a love story - and it was definitely a refreshing change to see. As well as sexuality, it was also wonderful to see a book that explored religion, with both the point of view characters coming from very different Jewish backgrounds. Religion is so often something that is ignored in YA, so it was great to have it be so smoothly interwoven with the plot, without taking over. It was also great to see social media play an active role in the plot. So many books these days try to ignore social media, I think mostly in fear of it dating the story. But social media plays such a huge part in so many people's lives that to ignore it is frustrating. It was wonderful to see Kitty's Instagram and the way that reflects her outlook on the world, how she feels everything needs to be perfect and sharable was so relatable and it was great how she started to examine her social media presence. However, despite all the things that I loved, there were still things that didn't work for me and that's what dragged it down in rating. The first section of the novel 'Now' left me feeling incredibly confused, it was a bizarre opening section because it was attempting to create tension for the rest of the story but instead it just left me feeling bewildered. I didn't know who these people were, I wasn't connecting to them, and it felt like they were in their twenties which was very strange to then go back and realise that they were in fact 16/17. The pacing was really off for me. The opening is a strange lead in and then we go back and find out all the backstory that leads up to that point and I found myself getting further and further into the novel and feeling like nothing was happening. Where was it going? These characters were interesting, sure, but not enough to really keep me hooked. They all come across as incredibly immature. Of them all Ethan was probably the most interesting, along with Kitty, but even they had their moments. I really couldn't stand Theo and his storyline with Sophie. The age ranges of the characters felt like it was all over the place - feeling like they were in their 20s in the opening, then learning they're 16/17, but then there are sections of the book where they all start acting so immaturely that it feels as though they are 12 or 13. There were whole swathes of dialogue and thought processes that my mind boggled over. Yes it's been a while since I was 16, but I'm fairly sure neither I nor my friends did/said/thought like this. So whilst there were a lot of positives and reasons why I loved this book, there were also a lot of things that frustrated me and made reading it quite a laborious process.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I knew very little about this book when I came to it, it was a case of a truly beautiful cover catching my eye and launching straight in, but from the outset I was hooked. I loved the concept - a sanatorium for modern teens struck down by Total Drug Resistant Tuberculosis. It was an idea I haven't seen before and Schneider tackles the idea with a brilliant mix of humour and grace. You know from the outset that not everyone is going to make it out alive and that leaves a bitter-sweet and poignant feeling as you read that reminds you that life is for living in the moment, not for a possible someday, and this group of teenagers do everything they can to seize the little moments that raise life out of the depressive state that can so easily be sunk into with a long term illness. The dual narratives were wonderfully handled, offering two very distinct voices to two very different characters. Lane is a driven grade A student is a living life for the future and doesn't know how to deal with the 'setback' of his illness. Whilst Sadie has been ill for so long that she can only live one day at a time, the future is an unknown thing that cannot be planned for. They come together to teach each other about seizing each day and living life in a series of moments, rather than planning for a someday future. My only frustration was that Lane didn't ever seem particularly 'sick' he pushes it a little too far at one point and you do see a decline in his health, but compared to the other characters he never seemed to struggle, never really had off days and points where he had to rest. I wanted to see more of that, otherwise it didn't feel real that he was in this place. It's not just about Sadie and Lane though, they are surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters. I could have done with a little more backstory and time on the rest of the friendship group, it felt more as though they were there to act as a background group rather than an actual set of people with hopes and dreams and wishes. I loved that the novel had an 'invisible illness' at its heart and that it looked not only at how it was to live with this on a day to day basis, but also how hard it was to look to the future with the illness constantly lurking in the back of their minds, how that would hinder some plans for the future. But also how others treated those with TB. How some exploited it, others didn't know how to deal with it or relate to those stuck in Latham. It was such a refreshing change to have a YA novel tackle something like this, and to do it so well.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I've loved reading Sophie Kinsella's adult books for several years now, but I admit I was a little bit sceptical to see that she was now branching out and writing a young adult book. However I wanted to reserve judgement until after I'd read the book and I am so glad that I did. This book was fantastic. It was poignant, funny, and tackled the subject matter incredibly well. You don't find a vast number of books about mental illnesses on the shelves, and few of those manage to combine such brilliant wit and empathy, creating a wonderful cast of characters and allow the reader an insight into social anxiety, general anxiety and depression. I've never seen social anxiety in particular handled so well and so accurately in fiction. Kinsella hits all of the points - what it's like for the sufferer as well as those around them. The misconceptions, the 'well why aren't you better, can't you just snap out of it' comments. The way some people will try and make it about them. She brings all of these into the tale and weaves them into a truly brilliant story. It's a very odd mixture of writing styles. Most of the tale is told from Audrey's point of view, but when she takes on a documentary style project as part of her therapy you get odd pieces of script to better convey what's being recorded by Audrey's camera. An odd style choice but one that works incredibly well for the story. It was wonderful watching the change in these film pieces from the first one to the last one. Audrey herself is a fantastic character. Kinsella makes a choice to never tell the reader what events actually happened to put Audrey in this position, but we get enough vague facts to have a rough outlin. It's a great choice because each reader will have a different interpretation of that outline and will allow more people to be able to empathise with Audrey's situation. Audrey is bitingly funny - some of the dialogue and situations had me laughing out loud - and slowly comes to grips with her problems, her past and her future. Her determination to forge a more complete life for herself rather than sinking further into her anxiety and depression was tackled wonderfully. Her family and Linus are a great supporting cast, equal parts realistic and caricatures, the combination works brilliantly and to sometimes hilarious effect. I also loved that as Audrey starts to get better she begins to take more notice of those around her and you begin to see the effect that her illness has had on her family. Everyone has handled it differently, but they are all so supportive of Audrey, and that is a wonderful thing to see.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the review here Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This blurb had me incredibly excited and envisaging something close to The Curse Workers trilogy by Holly Black but with less magic and more body parts, but alas, it was not to be. The problems with this one all came down to pacing and character. In that there wasn't really any and it was all over the place. It felt almost as though it were two different stories. The first one, Penelope Landlow, crushing on a guy, never allowed to be touched, daughter to the boss of the family. The second one, Penelope Landlow, girl living in New York, never allowed to be touched but doesn't care about it, who is finding her own way in the world and falls in love. Sadly the two different plots don't really mesh and what you're left with is this incredibly bizarre mix of ideas and frustrations. Penelope is an incredibly weak character. She comes across as much younger than she actually is, whines about how no-one tells her anything and ends up being one of the most dense characters I've come across in fiction. She doesn't put anything together until it's pretty much too late and you're left feeling incredibly frustrated and wanting to shake her. In part because the plot twists are no real twists at all and are in fact incredibly obvious right from the start. The characters are all under developed, motives are squiffy at best, and nothing really makes a whole heap of sense. None of the characters felt real or particularly likeable, the dialogue was awkward - particularly anything involving Carter, Penelope and Garret, and decision making felt like it was being made by pulling random nonsensical ideas out of a hat at points. Penelope's decision making skills were that bad. Then of course there's the crime family element, which had me so hooked from the blurb. Only we don't really get anything to do with the family. There are some odd moments of boredom and statistics, and a few menacing guys with guns, but it didn't feel real. It didn't really make any impact on the story, it felt more as though it was a plot twist thrown in to make the story cool. It felt at times that Penelope's illness was used as a get out clause so that everything could remain underdeveloped and just be a background idea. Penelope is kept away from the business and never really makes any effort to change that. It feels like life just happens to her and she expects the men around her to protect her - an ideal that changes a little as she experiences some character growth towards the end of the book, but not enough to redeem her. The romance was not really a romance at all. It starts as a straightforward boy and girl, but then of course half way through there has to be a second boy introduced to make things more complicated. Oh for the love of all that's good will someone give me a young adult novel without a love triangle being thrown in? Romance with the first boy is awkward and cringey at best, with words like marriage being thrown about when they haven't even kissed. Then second boy comes along and literally stalks her. Repeatedly. Twenty four hours with him though and she's in love. It was so unbelievably frustrating and aggravating to have such awkward and instalove romances being thrown about. This could have been a really fantastic story. Penelope had all the makings of a great character and combine that with the crime family, being the boss's daughter, plus her auto immune disorder and this could have been something amazing. Instead we're given a whiney heroine who is perfectly ok to let the men around her rule her life and wait for them to come and save her, despite the odd temper tantrum that she isn't allowed to do anything. She never actually tries to seize control or act, or in some cases even think and put the pieces together. She is someone who seems to just let life happen to her. We're then also given a brilliant idea of this crime family who deal in organ transplants and it's all shoved aside in favour of the awkward romances. I wanted to love this, I was so excited for it, but instead it ended up being a frustrating story that didn't even come close to the potential set up in that blurb.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Atom for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I have heard a huge amount of buzz for this book since January, so when it came up on Netgalley I jumped at the chance to read it. After all, that blurb just screams read me and it had me intrigued in all the right ways. Let's start with the superficial - that blurb and that cover. (Both the US and UK covers are gorgeous for this one.) Admittedly some of the most gorgeous covers hide terrible books, but this one lived up to all the promise the exterior provides. And then some. This is a stunning debut novel from Grey, weaving a fast paced and brilliant story with a fantastic heroine at its heart. I fell in love with Echo; her sass, her vulnerability, her determination, and her independence. I felt a fierce need to love and protect her that I haven't felt since reading 'Scarlet' by A. C. Gaughen. The writing is beautiful. At times quiet and haunting and others fast paced and filled with wit. The dialogue is fantastic and the way the characters banter with each other is brilliant. I felt like I was sitting eating pastries with old friends and drinking tea - there is a feeling of being allowed into an exclusive gang of awesome people and I loved watching Rowan, Echo and Ivy interact with each other. The romances were deftly handled. There is a tendency to sigh and roll your eyes when you see another eons old being falling for a teenage girl, but whilst that frustrates me in most books I felt that here it was handled well. I believed the attraction and the feelings and I got goosebumps right along with Echo. There are also some intriguing secondary romances which I cheered about and am eagerly waiting to see how they unfold in the second book. There are comparisons that can be made to any number of YA novels, but particularly the 'Daughter of Smoke & Bone' trilogy by Laini Taylor. However Grey takes those similarities and puts her own mark on the story and makes it entirely her own. If you went down a checklist and marked them off then they would sound similar in some ways, but I really recommend reading the book before passing judgement. I adored Taylor's series and I adore Grey's - there is no either or, and it is definitely not so similar as to be frustrating. I saw a couple of the twists coming, but then Grey puts her own spin on it and suddenly you're back in unfamiliar territory and I love being surprised by a book.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel was one I was incredible excited about ever since it first cropped up on Goodreads. However it ended up being a slightly mixed read for me. There were elements that I loved, but sadly there were also parts that really didn't work, so whilst I did enjoy the book it didn't rate as highly as I was hoping it would. I enjoyed the fantasy world, and on the whole the world building was really good although there are a lot of gaps to be filled in as the series progresses. The idea of the royal witches, the shake up to the court, the intrigue and underhand dealings in a royal setting are all things I love in novels and I thought were brought into the plot to heighten the tension incredibly well. I also loved elements of the romance, although there were aspects that were not quite as strong that I will go into further detail on in a moment. It was a quick read, drawing me into the story and immediately shaking things up and launching into a rapidly thickening plot, and as a light romance book with magical undertones and a side serving of court life I really loved it. However I was expecting more from the blurb and this is where the problems start to creep in. The novel felt like it was trying to be too many things, and go in too many directions at once, and as a result feels as though none of the aspects are more than touched upon. It couldn't quite decide if it wanted to be a romance, or a court intrigue, or a tale about witches and as a result feels like it touches on each aspect but doesn't fully develop them. It doesn't really feel like the stakes are particularly high or the emotional impact or consequences are particularly real. The pacing is a little off in places, particularly for the first third of the novel. Whilst it is important that Sophie and Cam are separated from the castle for the events that shape the story to unfold, it feels implausible and slows the tempo of the novel right down. Their travels round the countryside sadly do not make for the most fascinating reading. The romance as well was slightly mixed. There was no real development of feeling between Cam and Sophie. They go from near strangers to acting as though they have been together for years with no real in-between. I would have loved to see more of a build-up and development between them. However their feelings towards each other really drove the latter part of the novel and I am looking forward to seeing more of them as a partnership in the second novel. However do be wary of some of the language used, particularly in the sex scenes, as it isn't language readers would normally expect in a fantasy novel. If you're familiar with modern romances it won't be quite as jarring, but I was quite surprised at some of the language as it really threw me out of the fantasy setting and wasn't in keeping with the language used in the rest of the novel.

This review was written for The Review Diaries To read the full review please click here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Gollancz for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This book and I almost didn't hit it off with the prologue, the slightly odd narrative style and over explanation/rambling details about staircases and windows and where doors were was incredibly off putting and I very nearly put the book down just a few pages in. However that felt like I wasn't giving it a fair chance and I decided to at least see how the first few chapters went - at which point I was hooked... This is my first foray into Harris' writing, although I have watched a good deal of the TV show 'True Blood' and I was really caught off guard by it. The omnipresent narrative voice was something I haven't found in a book in some time and it was fascinating. It really felt like it was almost the town itself telling the story, adding in odd little details about what people were doing on the other side of town. Fascinating, strange and a little jarring to get used to at first the writing style had moments of clunkiness, but on the whole it worked really well at sucking me in and hooking me into the story. The real brilliance is in the sense of the town and the characters that Harris has created. She captures that small town atmosphere perfectly and I loved getting to know these people and the secrets they've been hiding - although it feels like there are still many more secrets left to uncover. I feel in love with these characters without even realising it. They were such an odd and eclectic mix of people yet they make a truly amazing group. Whilst we got snippets from a lot of different residents there are still plenty of people left to find out more about and I genuinely cannot wait to get back to Midnight with the next book. I also really loved that on the whole things weren't spelled out for the reader. The people living here had known each other (and this world) for some time so things like vampires didn't need explaining exactly. The reader was left to use their brain and keep up with the world as it unfolded without being spoonfed every detail, which I loved. So often you have unrealistic exposition so that the reader knows everything easily and it becomes jarring and irritating when the characters would have no real reason to do that. This meant my brain had to do some leg work and I had a couple of moments where my perception of the town had to shift to accommodate new information, but I loved that.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here The hardest reviews for me to write are for books that I absolutely loved, because in some cases I find myself reduced to near incoherency out of sheer love and there is only so much READ THIS BOOK NOW, SO GOOD that I can put in a review... So this review has been incredibly hard. I've sat down to write it several times and am only now beginning to be able to string sentences together. This book is stunning. It is a work of art. It forces you to feel in a way that I have not encountered in a book in a very long time. I was completely immersed in this story within the first few pages and once I had begun, I found it very difficult (near impossible) to separate myself from the story for longer than simple things like having a sandwich. It is all consuming. I loved Henry and Flora fiercely. I found myself wanting to protect Flora from the horrible things she had to face, being a young black girl in 1930s America. I have never had such a visceral sense of anger and injustice reading as I did during some of the scenes where the colour of her skin denotes how people respond and communicate with her. She and Henry are such a wonderful pair. Their sense of selves with each other, the ease and banter, the magnetic attraction and feeling that the world was sliding away and falling out from under them. I don't think I've ever rooted so fully for a pair to have a slice of happiness as I did with them. The book is desperately sad, full of joy, passion, heartbreak and anger. It is a novel teeming with life and emotion, courage and the possibilities of life. It's hauntingly beautiful and woven together with the genius of Martha's writing. Lyrical, almost poetical in places it captures the essence of young love in a dangerous and fraught time. The emotions and tensions bubbling beneath the surface until the incredible and climactic final chapters. Fans of 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern will love this game between Love and Death, who are such wonderful complex characters and who really drive the novel to new depths - ones you wouldn't normally expect with a book about two people falling in love. They add a sense of urgency, of the unknown and make the events feel as though they are poised on the brink of a knife, ready to tumble either way. It is rare for me to genuinely have no idea how a novel will end, but 'The Game of Love & Death' not only kept me on my toes, but surprised me again and again, and I was crying by the final page.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here here Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review This has been one of my most anticipated books of the year, so I was incredibly eager to get stuck in, but unfortunately what could have been a fantastic book ends up tying itself up in knots. That blurb looks awesome, and yes there is a lot going for this book, but there are a few big stumbling blocks which mean that you're either really going to get along with it, or end up hating it and unfortunately I fell into the latter camp. The biggest issue for me is that the entire story is told in third person present tense, not a style you see used often, and for good reason. Done well it can be used to great effect, but unfortunately in this instance it just ends up slowing the story down dramatically, and not allowing the reader to connect with any of the characters. You're told how they feel and what they think, you're not really able to experience anything with them and that stunts any sort of connection that would otherwise be built. Add to that the fact that every tiny minute detail is strung out in excruciating detail and I ended up skimming and skipping a lot because nothing was happening. For example, a character is walking to the stables, we don't just get a brief 'hey look, walking to the stables' we get a whole page of left turn, right turn, walking through some archways, round the back of a building, past the blacksmiths, through another door and down some steps and then we're there, and it doesn't add anything to the story. It just slows it down, frustrates the reader and left me wishing someone had edited this a little. Then there's the pacing, like I've said the writing style slows everything down and I found myself growing increasingly bored. No real action happens until around 85% of the way through. You get odd little side plots, but there's nothing driving the story, it's all stagnant. Stretch that over so many different character points of view and you end up running into major problems. All but one of the characters can all be found in roughly the same place, so it isn't so jarring skipping back and forth between them all. Zo on the other hand has no real ties to anyone or anything and I found her plot thread to not add anything and just left me feeling frustrated (again) at the lack of any real purpose behind her story. I'm sure there will be a purpose emerge in the next book, but that isn't good enough. If you're going to have that many characters, either make their stories compelling all the way through the series, or condense their stories and introduce them later. This whole book was an exercise in frustration. I didn't connect to the characters, the pacing was terrible, odd modern phrases crept through with alarming regularity and nothing really happens. I had to force myself to keep reading, which is a terrible state of affairs for a book that I had been so excited about reading. The premise is great, and there is a lot of potential with all those characters and story threads for this to really pick up in the next book, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to make me want to find out what happens to any of them. I wanted to feel, I wanted to get swept up in this epic plot I was promised, I wanted to care about these characters and instead I just felt bored and grumpy that I'd wasted my time.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. This is one of the occasions where my stubborn determination to finish reading a book really irritates me. This book was terrible and is one of the examples of where a good blurb and cover can really hook you and the story within really doesn't live up to the expectations set. Whilst the premise sounded great nothing about this book actually worked. The characters are all supposed to be sixteen, and yet they come across as eleven or twelve. The motivations are haphazard at best and nothing really hangs together with any sort of coherence. There are so many things touched on in this, but they're glossed over and nothing is really given any emotional depth. Harley is an abusive relationship, but it isn't given any weight. It felt thrown in there as an added piece of drama and isn't handled appropriately. Her parents are cardboard cut-outs and none of the interactions or relationships feel real. The duel narrative points were completely unnecessary and Teaghan's was very poorly written. It went over some of the same things that were already covered in Harley's parts and added nothing more to the story. There were no real motives for anything, none of the decisions made any sense. And then there is the complete lack of plot. Nothing really strings together - there's a prologue that has no bearing on anything else in the story. It probably holds slightly more relevance to something later in the series, but for this book it is completely pointless. As is the epilogue. A character who was mentioned briefly half way through suddenly appears and starts dishing out wisdom, for no real reason, and in a way that again makes no sense. The rest of the story opens lots of possible plot threads and then doesn't tie any of them up by the end. It all hangs on the reader wanting to read the next book in the series which is terrible plotting and means that the book feels like you've just wasted a lot of time reading it. It needs to be a full and complete story in and of itself with some hooks to make you want to go and read the next book, not a prelude that makes very little sense without the rest of the series.

This review was written for The Review Diaries To read the full review please click here Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review With the movie about to be released 'The Duff' is suddenly on everyone's radar again, and after missing it the first time around I was curious to see what this book everyone was talking about was like. So I started reading, expecting to read the first couple of chapters and then put it down, but I couldn't. I finished it in one sitting, desperately trying to shield the light so Husband wouldn't wake up and tell me it was three in the morning and I really should turn the light off and go to sleep. I just couldn't leave Bianca's story once I'd started. She is a bit of a marmite character as she's abrasive, cynical, sarcastic, and could quite easily rub readers up the wrong way. However I loved her. She was exactly my cup of tea. I loved her thought process and her angry determination to be her own person and do what she wanted, regardless of the labels and conceptions that others would have. I wanted to hug her and high five her all at the same time, she's one of the best and lively heroines I've read for some time and I adored following her story. Her interactions with Wesley are pure gold. She refuses to fall for his charms and speaks her mind and the banter between them had me laughing out loud. Wesley walks the fine line between being a truly awful person and a fleshed out self-confessed womanizer with a backstory, personality and history. He was such a refreshing change to the usual hero type and he complimented Bianca fantastically. She never once stepped over into annoyingly quirky Mary Sue territory, and instead stayed fresh and real and bitingly funny without being irritating. She knows she's making mistakes, she's entering into these situations with her eyes wide open and her motives and rationale make complete sense. I loved her viewpoint on love - that at that age no one really knows what love is and you cannot be in love, but maybe in like. I loved that she slowly comes round to the idea that maybe you can find love at that age, but I also loved that she isn't blinded and following along with the crowd that relationships at that age will be forever. It was definitely refreshing to see that view being portrayed. The novel tackles so many relevant topics, touching on alcoholism, divorce, body image, self-worth and judgement of others and comes out with a wonderful message. Everyone is different but everyone is also the same - we all have insecurities, bad days when we feel ugly and horrid, and we are all guilty of judging others based on stereotypes we've been taught without really looking at their life or what they're going through and how easily it could be us instead.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Thanks to Netgalley and Hachette Children's Books for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. It is rare that I finish a book and feel like I've just wasted my time. And it's not a particularly great feeling, because even if I haven't enjoyed a book I usually end up taking something away from it - even if it's just a feeling of rage at the misuse of punctuation. However I finished Mind Games and didn't really feel anything other than frustration. It's a great premise, a standalone book with an exciting world and idea that really grabbed me and made me desperate to read. The writing itself is not that bad, and there were points where I genuinely felt interested, but on the whole it didn't work for me for these reasons. First the lack of plot and the terrible pacing. This book was far too long for what it was. It dragged. I had to force myself to keep going with it because it wasn't engaging me and nothing was really happening. You think everything is about to kick off half way through (finally) but then Luna has her memories and realisations taken away and we're back to square one with Luna being entirely useless and ignoring what is staring her in the face, and the reader just becoming more and more frustrated as she prances around in different virtual worlds ignoring all the warning signs that this is a terrible idea. I was left at the end wondering why I'd bothered. There were so many plot holes that if you'd tried to float this, it would have sunk. The world wasn't constructed in a believable fashion, there were problems left right and centre with character decisions. There were no real limits placed on the S'hackers and what they could do. Well, there were some but then one of them reveals she can turn back time and I face-palmed. You need rules for worlds, you need to have some sort of believable structure otherwise the reader just ends up frustrated and irate at the end of the book. You can't just have random get out clauses to fix and/or break things as you fancy. And what little we get shown about the S'hackers and their abilities just didn't make sense. There is no rhyme or reason to it, just a vague hey it's due to genes and uh, well we don't know... The whole concept needed laying out and editing and fixing together into some sort of coherent whole.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. As you are all well aware by now, I love Deanna Raybourn's books. They are beautifully written, fantastically researched and filled with glorious settings and characters. They tick all of my internal boxes for what makes a great read. My heart will always truly lie with the Lady Julia series, so whilst I loved the first two standalone books Raybourn released set in the 1920s, they couldn't quite compete with my love for Julia. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when I sat down to read this book and discovered that Raybourn had very slyly been setting up a beautiful interweaving of stories. The three standalone 1920s books were carefully slotted together with appearances from characters in different books, and at the end of 'City of Jasmine' a very interesting appearance of the Vespiary. Which then linked back to the Lady Julia novellas. And then came full circle with this third book where Poppy (our plucky and feisty heroine) turns out to be Plum's daughter. I could have cried. It was so wonderful to have that little glimpse of the characters from Lady Julia, through Plum's scenes and Poppy discovering her Aunt Julia's diaries that we ourselves know and love. It was wonderful and made this book incredibly special having that link. The characters were brilliantly written as always, and I think Poppy is my second favourite heroine only to Julia. She was so wonderful. Funny and snarky and brave and determined and so full of life and stubbornness. (I wonder where she gets it from...) I was quite sad to know that we wouldn't see any more of her story beyond this book, because by the end of the story I'd become rather attached. Raybourn has a fantastic way of writing characters that just makes them work. They feel real, their struggles and hopes and journeys and I love being given the chance to peek in on that.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site:http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... The full list of authors is impressive: Rainbow Rowell, Kelly Link, Matt de la Pena, Jenny Han, Stephanie Perkins, David Levithan, Holly Black, Gayle Forman, Myra McEntire, Kiersten White, Ally Carter and Laini Taylor. A smorgasbord of incredible Young Adult authors from across a multitude of genres. With every anthology you end up with a bit of a mixed bag of stories with some that you wish were much longer and had their own books, and others that you end up skimming or skipping entirely. Due to the incredible array of authors you also end up with fantasy stories getting cosy next to contemporary which can end up as more than a little confusing to change mindsets so quickly for each story. It might have worked slightly better had the order been rearranged, but that is a minor quibble and something that may not even bother most people. That said, having such a diverse range of authors with their individual styles, meant that there were a truly wonderful collection of stories filled with people of all races, ethnicities, religions and sexualities. It's bookended with two of the best stories, starting with Rainbow Rowell's "Midnights" which tells a love story set on New Years Eve over several years and several midnights which just melted my heart into a pile of goo right from the start. It was a fantastic start to the book, but it also set the bar stupidly high which not all of the other stories lived up to. And then that ending with Laini Taylor's "The Girl who Woke the Dreamer". Oh my. I mean I love Taylor's book so I was expecting something good, but this one completely blew me away. It was haunting and gorgeous and so completely different to anything else in the anthology. It sends you away on a truly incredible high.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I absolutely loved Heather Dixon's debut novel 'Entwined' a retelling of the tale of the twelve dancing princesses, and have been eagerly awaiting her next novel since then. Which meant there were an awful lot of expectations to live up to before I even opened the book. Jonathan is a wonderful protagonist. With so many female protagonists it was great to see such an incredible book with a boy at its heart. He's proper and polite (some of the dialogue and exclamations had me laughing out loud) and funny - best use of footnotes I've seen since Jonathan Stroud and Jasper Fforde. And he's an all around kind and determined young man. He never stops trying to fight to save those he loves, even if that does mean his compass goes a little off course at points. The supporting characters are also amazing - I loved Lockwood particularly. I kind of want another book that is just Lockwood and Jonathan fighting and bantering. He is genius, and I want to give him hugs, all the hugs. I had forgotten, as it has been a while since I read 'Entwined' just how terrifying Dixon can make things. Illusionarium is definitely very dark and twisted, but it's done in quite a light way - it's hard to explain! But I definitely wasn't expecting to be as terrified reading this as I was. It felt like quite an exciting, colourful journey to start with but the further enmeshed in the story you became the more it tilted into some terrifying carnival of horrors. I had no real idea what the story would be about going in, and I'm not going to spoil it for you here because it's quite an exciting story that takes you places that you would never expect. Just know that it is brilliantly written, hugely imaginative, fantasy, dystopia and steampunk all rolled up into one, with a wonderful hero at its heart. Plus, there is very minimal romance, which in the current trend of romance! Love triangles! Is a different and wonderful choice. It meant that there was much more focus on the story without the distraction element of a romance subplot, and it made quite a refreshing change. There's lots of other love though, most notably sibling love and family love and it is so awesome to see a novel only looking at that. The other refreshing change? It appears to be a standalone. I love that Dixon has created two such wildly different stand alone stories in a world where we are being inundated with series. This is something very different from what you are probably imagining from the blurb, and also from everything else I've read this year. A uniquely brilliant and imaginative story that gets incredibly dark and twisted at points and had me feverishly reading to find out how on earth it all ended.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Bantam Press for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I'm still feeling really conflicted about this book, even several days after finishing it. I adored the first book in the series 'Queen of the Tearling'. It had a determined, likeable and relatable heroine at its heart. A fascinating world (although it did leave you with a lot of questions about how the world came to be) and an engaging and interesting plot. All in all, 'Queen' was one of the best books of 2014 for me. So I was really excited to get stuck into 'Invasion' but instead of the all-consuming brilliance and love I felt for the first one, I was left feeling mixed and at odds with the story. Some people will prefer this story to the first as it offers far more insight into how the Tearling came to be, but be warned that it is a very different beast. Whilst the first book in the series had vague dystopian undertones, it felt like it fell very firmly into the fantasy category on reading. However the dystopian undertones are back, this time front and centre and we end up with two stories rather than one. We still have Kelsea, but she's having visions from a pre-crossing American woman, Lily Mayhew, who gives us an insight into the world that prompted Tear to break off and form this 'better world'. It's jarring having these two stories because whilst they will eventually intersect, for the majority of the book it is like reading two books. Imagine reading a book that is alternate chapters of 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth 'Game of Thrones' by George R R Martin and you'll have a fairly good idea of what to expect from this one. It's strange and doesn't particularly work. Yes both stories are engaging, but we slip from one to the next at the most inopportune moments and end up not connecting with the characters in the same way, and having very halting and slowed pacing on both stories. It takes a while for either of them to gain any momentum, and by the time I found myself fully invested in both I was around three quarters of the way through the book. Lily's storyline, whilst interesting, wasn't the sort of story I had expected to find. It was much harsher, filled with rape, abuse and violence - not things I had been expecting when starting the book, and I found myself having to put the book down and take a step back on a fairly frequent basis. These story elements felt a little gratuitous, as though they were there to hammer a point home and really make it clear that Greg was a Bad Man and that women were effectively breeding machines and property. I think highlighting issues that are often swept under the rug or glamourised is important, but a lot of it didn't feel like it fell on the right side of that line, as though the same effect could have been achieved with less triggering scenes. We pinballed between Lily and Kelsea not really having a chance to connect fully with either of them. Kelsea has changed hugely between the first book and this one. She's matured, she's become crueller, and I didn't recognise her throughout a lot of the book. She's become shallow and vain, as though her integrity has been compromised. I'm trying to reserve judgement until I can read the final book and see the story in its complete form, but I found it much harder to relate to and understand Kelsea in this story, and that meant that the story lost a lot of its appeal. Despite these problems there was still a huge amount that did work for me. A whole host of characters that I loved getting back to and fleshing out further. I love the world and the relationships, and Johansen's writing style is still as addictive and engrossing as ever. I made quick work of the book, but really stormed through the final quarter when the stakes get higher and everything starts to rush towards the final crescendo. I think it will take time for me to truly formulate my thoughts on this book, and probably not until the final book is in my hands and I can see how the story works as a complete piece. It's full of surprises and twists, jigsaw pieces slotting together to create a compelling tale, but definitely one that was a world away from my expectations from the first book. That could be either a good thing or a bad thing, only time will tell. EDIT: I wrote this review immediately after reading the book, when I was still incredibly caught up in all of my frustrations and feelings on finishing. In the days since I haven't been able to stop thinking about the book. I loved seeing Kelsea and the Mace and Pen and all the other guards, seeing how their relationships have changed over time and how they respect and trust Kelsea so much more than in the first book. I adored the scenes set in Tear, despite my issues with Kelsea's characterization in this book, and I think that the fact that I keep thinking about them and coming back to them is a good sign and says a lot about the book. I still have issues with a lot of elements, and I still feel conflicted about a lot of things, but the lasting power of the book and my continuing thoughts on the story mean that this is near to a four star read, rather than a straight three star. One of the few times I wish I gave half star ratings!

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I have been a huge fan and champion of 'Scarlet' ever since it first popped up on Netgalley all those years ago. I devoured it in one sitting, I made everyone I know read it, I pestered A.C. Gaughen to know if there would be a sequel and was devastated at the time to know that there wouldn't. And then a truly marvellous thing happened, Gaughen announced on twitter that there would be two more books turning the original standalone into a trilogy. There were tears, happy tears. 'Lady Thief' was then approached with caution. I loved Scarlet so much I was terrified that in my head the bar was too high and that the second book could never live up to the expectations I'd set for it. It was blissfully wrong and Lady Thief was a superb and beautiful continuation to the story, bringing new depths to the characters I'd come to love and setting up for a truly incredible finale with this the final book. I didn't even bother being nervous about 'Lion Heart', I knew that whatever bat I had in my head Gaughen would smash it to pieces with brilliance. So it was with a more bittersweet enthusiasm that I approached reading this book, because whilst I desperately needed to know how the story would end, I didn't want to leave these characters. These three slim volumes did not give me all the time I wanted in Scarlet's world. I dragged my feet, I picked up other books instead, but in the end I caved and I settled in for an afternoon of tea and the culmination of Scarlet's journey. It was perfect. Really that's all that needs to be said, but I will go into a little more detail. Scarlet has grown, evolved and matured over the course of these books and nowhere is it more apparent than in the pages of this final volume here. It's in her speech, the proper grammatically correct speech that was missing for the first book and a half. She's embracing who she is, who she was born to be and it is only when she is back with Rob that she slips back into the patterns she has always used before. It was so wonderful to watch her take control, use the weapons at her disposal and turn into a truly formidable woman. There is a part about a third into the novel where she has a truly fantastic speech and I wept reading that, to witness how the surly girl pretending to be a boy and tied scarlet ribbons to her knives and turned into this truly incredible force to be reckoned with. This novel gifts us with more Scarlet, but also with more of Rob, Much, Bess, Eleanor, and a whole array of other faces. It was so wonderful to see how all of them have matured and changed since we first met them in that first book. Gaughen has a true gift of deftly bringing her characters to life with a complexity and depth that make them feel more vivid and real than most characters confined to the pages in a book. It is the perfect end to this trilogy. It is full of joy and anger, fear and sadness. I cried repeatedly at the emotion welling up and spilling out of the pages. At the beautiful rich and evocative language Gaughen uses to tell her tale. And at the snapshots of pure blinding happiness and hope that peak through the misery and horror that has been unleashed on these people over the course of the story.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin/Mira for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review I adored Rachel Vincent's Soul Screamers series, but when I tried her Bound series I found them a little too dark and tough to fully enjoy so I was a little hesitant coming into this one as to what I should expect - something like the Soul Screamers or something more adult? What I got was a brilliant mix of the two. All of the elements that I loved about the Soul Screamers series but ever so slightly darker and more twisted. 'The Stars Never Rise' is a terrifying and action packed book filled with wonderful characters, an intriguing premise and a story that will have you racing through the pages. Once I'd started reading I could not put the book down, I was hooked. I remembered all over again just how much I loved the Soul Screamers series and why. This had all the elements that I loved but Rachel has gifted readers with a much darker and more terrifying world with this story. Nina made a fantastic heroine. The lengths that she was willing to go to to protect her sister were incredible. She is determined, unfailingly loyal, tough and flawed. I love believable heroines that I can get behind and root for, and Nina is definitely one of those. She is surrounded by a brilliant cast of characters each of whom were interesting in their own right and none of them simply 'there' in the background to provide a group. I was interested in each of them and wanted to know more - Rachel has created a really fantastic group that worked well together. I cannot wait to find out more about each of them in future books. There is just enough about each character to give you an idea of who they are and how they work together without giving too much away. The plot was so fast paced that there wasn't really time for any more than that, but it was enough to get me invested. Rachel is also brilliant when it comes to romance. There will always be romance but it won't be how you expect. She puts unique and genius spins on it creating characters and situations that you won't have seen before and makes them compelling and brilliant. I loved Nina and Finn, I loved the complications and the softer moments. They are a pair that I cannot wait to see more of, I am definitely on team Fina? Ninn? Regardless, I cannot wait to see how their relationship develops over future books. Like I said the plot is non-stop. I barely had time to breathe as I raced towards the conclusion. It was nail biting and had so many brilliant twists and turns that I was kept on my toes and never quite sure what might happen next. It also felt must darker than the Soul Screamers books, it never felt like there was a truly light moment, everything was dark and hushed and paranoid which I think if the book had been any longer might have felt too much, but as it was it really worked. My only issue that stopped it from being a five star read was that the length did prevent some relationships fully forming. I didn't feel the relationship between Mellie and Nina quite thoroughly enough, I wanted to see more of them and to really be on Mellie's side as well as Nina's. As it was I definitely felt for her but I wasn't quite as invested in her as I was with Nina. Something that I'm sure will be remedied with more time spent with the character. On the whole though this was a fantastic read. I stormed through it and can't wait for more from this series. It reminded me of all the reasons why I loved the Soul Screamers and made me desperate to go back for a re-read.

** spoiler alert ** This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I absolutely adored 'Seraphina' when it was first released. It was the one and only time I have actually marked down pages in a book because the quotes were so unbearably beautiful and I wanted to go back to them. It was a truly stunning debut, with a fresh and incredibly imaginative story at its heart, filled with prose that was so lyrical and beautiful that at points it reduced me to tears. I could not wait to get my hands on the sequel, and I waited (bereft and impatient) for the next few years until finally, in March this year it was released. However whilst the last quarter of the novel lifted the story up to virtually a three star read, the first three quarters were not anything like the standard I was expecting. Maybe I went in with unattainable standards having loved the first book so much, but I ended up feeling sorely disappointed by this second part of the duology. I feel that a lot could have been resolved by turning it into a trilogy and allowing more space for the story to breathe. It felt like too many storylines were being rushed through and not enough time spent developing them, and too many characters that we knew and loved from the first book were pushed to the side-lines and were mere bit players in this conclusion. The biggest problem for me was the pacing of this novel. As I've said it felt like it could have easily been two books and allowed the story to fully breathe. As it was, parts that really could have been culled were allowed to strangle the interesting plot points and the first three quarters of the novel dragged terribly. The dragon war that was about to kick off at the end of Seraphina was pushed to the side in favour of Seraphina travelling the lands and trying to gather together the other half dragon's she has seen in her mind. Whilst it was wonderful meeting them all, to flesh out these characters and see how they responded to this idea of there being more of them, to see how the different cultures treated them and their individual gifts, far too much time was spent in a very samey pattern. Seraphina would travel, she would search, she would find them (remarkably easily) something would go wrong, they wouldn't come with her. Whilst this wasn't always the case, that pattern was very much a staple for a good portion of the book, and whilst the different cultures and lands were fascinating there was too much of Seraphina's own self-pity and wallowing for the reader to fully enjoy it. The novel felt so bleak and depressing - a stark contrast to the high stakes and tension of the first book. Everything felt like it was going wrong, they didn't seem able to catch any luck at all, and that was in part due to Seraphina's own attitude. It was great to watch her develop and attempt to come to terms with her unrealistic expectations and the actual reality, but too much of the book was spent with her despairing and not taking action when she could do. She didn't seem to have any agency, she couldn't work out any problem without help and whilst help is always a good thing it became a little too unrealistic when she (and everyone else) is suddenly saved by (view spoiler)[Pandowdy (hide spoiler)] at the end. I didn't feel like she learned anything, like she was able to take control of her life in any real way. I kept waiting for her to piece things together and to find a way to save everyone, but she didn't. It felt thoroughly disappointing. Which I hated given how much I was looking forward to this book. So much of what made Seraphina herself was missing - the music that made up so much of the first book was barely present. The strong, independent and fearless woman was gone, replaced with a hollow shell filled with misery and loneliness. The romance was also a big problem for me. I loved the intense yearning and build up that was achieved between Seraphina and Kiggs in the first book, and I was expecting more of it, but instead I ended up hating the relationship. Where was the subdued and quiet passion? Where was the intensity of feeling and meeting of like minds that made me fall in love with these two in the first place? It was lacking in so many ways. There wasn't enough time devoted to them, the relationship and Kiggs himself was swept under the rug, and what moments the two stole together made me turn on the relationship. It stopped being a sweeping love and felt as though Kiggs was hiding Seraphina and she in turn was a jealous mistress. It soured the relationship for me and made me feel like I couldn't want them to be together. (view spoiler)[That is resolved somewhat with the revelation at the end about Selda's own feelings, and that could have switched things into something truly glorious and brilliant, but it lacked conviction. All the important discussions and scenes where the three of them try and work out this tangled relationship were kept from the reader, we were supposed to just take it that they were making it work, which felt cheap and frustrating. I wanted Selda's feelings to be made clearer throughout, for both her and Kiggs to play a bigger role in the novel instead of being relegated to the side-lines and for the conversations where they build this relationship between them to be open to the reader. (hide spoiler)] There were also a lot of incongruous elements that really didn't work with the world building that had already occurred. I loved the Quig and Dragon devices we were introduced to in the first book, but suddenly there were new devices all over the place doing increasingly modern things, particularly once Seraphina reached Lab Four. They were out of place - GPS, phone and computer technology that didn't fit in with the rest of the world and jarred me straight out of the story. These things aside there were a lot of things that I did love about the book. The meeting of all of the half dragons, although it felt that what they endured was really horrific and not adequately dealt with in the story. It was painful to see Seraphina's dream of being with them all shattered so horribly. I also loved the different cultures, the quirks, the dress, the foods, the religion, I thought the world building was fantastic. When Seraphina returns home however the story seems to really pull into its own and whilst there are still issues, it felt infinitely more like the story I had been anticipating to follow the first book. I also really loved the revelations about the saints and how that threw so many things into question, it was a brilliant twist and I found that whole story thread really fascinating. I missed the lyrical prose that I fell in love with in the first book, and I missed the characters that were barely graced with any time at all. This is sadly an example of a book that could not live up to the brilliance of its predecessor. I'm glad I read it, it's wonderful to have some closure on the story and to see where Hartman wanted to take these characters for the second half of their journey. However I feel bereft for the story this might have been. It felt like it was pushed and forced to fit this ideal of a single other book, and unfortunately that stifled a lot of what I loved about the first one, leaving me with a pale imitation of the world and characters that I fell in love with in 'Seraphina'. It truly felt as though Hartman lost the focus and path that she laid out in the first book, and the second book is an odd tangled mess of stories and ideas, some carried through, others discarded, leaving the reader feeling utterly heart sick over the book they never read.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I'm going to be upfront and say that in my eyes, The Selection was not a good trilogy. It was littered with problems, yet despite all that it was like crack. I wanted to know what happened next. So in some ways you could say it was a very good series in that despite my better judgement I kept on shelling out for the next book no matter how dirty it made me feel. Then it was announced that there would be a new duology of books to turn this trilogy into a five book series, this time with Maxon and America's daughter as the heroine and she would be doing a selection of her own, this time with thirty five boys. Against my better judgement I was intrigued. After all, turning the tables like this and making the boys do all the things that America and the girls had to do? Putting the woman in a position of power? All of these things sounded good to me. I was just incredibly wary about the execution. And it turns out that was justified. I'm still feeling a little incoherent after reading this one and doing anything other than face palming is a little hard, but I'm going to try and articulate what went so terribly wrong with this one. The biggest thing? Eadlyn herself. She was a truly terrible protagonist. I mean if Cass was aiming for one of the most unlikeable heroines in fiction then she was doing brilliantly, but really you need to have a protagonist that the reader can get behind and identify with, someone that the reader wants to know their story and their thoughts and feelings, and that really didn't happen with Eadlyn. She was self-centred, spoiled, insulting to everyone, manipulative and plain awful. I was hoping that she would experience some sort of growth and character arc and that by the end of the novel we might begin to see a change, to see how she could begin to grow as a person throughout the next book, but sadly that didn't occur. She spends the entire book being downright awful to people, feeling sorry for herself whenever anyone calls her out on it and going on about how she is the Queen and there is no-one more powerful than her. I dearly wanted someone, anyone to give her a slap. She has a serious power complex and a lot of control issues. I am all for independent women and Eadlyn not needing a man to help her rule, but actually her response wasn't anything related to that. She was convinced she was god's gift to the masses, and as a result was utterly awful to everyone. She goes on and on about all the work that she has to do but we never see her doing anything other than complaining, sketching and reading newspapers. I mean if her and her father rely on the newspapers to get their information then it's no wonder the entire country is going downhill. There was no logic to this. Maxon and America got rid of the castes but didn't put anything in place to deal with the inevitable problems?! They don't have advisors and, oh I don't know, some sort of council and information from somewhere other than their newspapers?!?!? I mean you can see the state I'm in just thinking about it, overuse of punctuation and the italics function... So there are all of the gaping holes in the country structure and running, the fact that Eadlyn is terrible and unlikeable and manipulative and then we have the boys... Whilst in The Selection trilogy we got to see America and the girls take on tasks and lessons to help prepare them for the role of future Queen, the boys seem to end up doing nothing at all. I know Eadlyn doesn't want to end up with any of them and wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible at the start, but it seems a little implausible that the boys wouldn't have to go through any sort of training. Then we have the obligatory awful boys. I mean there were some pretty awful girls in America's selection but nothing on the scale of this. It felt unrealistic when more and more ended up being awful. And we don't really get to know any of the boys, there are a couple of vaguely stand out ones that I can just about recall their names, but on the whole they just blur into one big mush of terrible. So it's a bit like watching a train wreck. And yet. There it is again, that against my better judgement that I want to know what happens - and no that isn't because of that awful cliffhanger. The series is like crack. Terrible characters, awful plot, so full of problems it should sink. But I want to know what happens. Admittedly a peering through my fingers and wincing kind of want to know, but there you have it.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I am a huge fan of the Throne of Glass series, so like every other fan of Maas' writing I couldn't wait to get stuck into this new and intriguing tale. Sarah Maas is a genius at fantasy. She blends fantastical elements with wonderful characters and her books are always bursting with imagination - I love them. This particular story takes elements from beauty and the beast and weaves them into a different tale to the one we know. It still has the framework of the traditional tale but Maas takes it in a new direction and makes it entirely her own. The mythology, the ideas, the courts of the High Fae were fantastic. I loved Feyre as a person. She was so determined and feisty and never afraid to speak her mind or do her own thing. Lucien and Tamlin were brilliant too - I think the three of them made a wonderful team and my favourite scenes were when all three were together and bantering. There were two things that stopped this being a five star read for me. Firstly the pacing. The first half of the book is incredibly slow - I mean borderline glacial at points. I loved the time that Feyre got to spend at Tamlin's house and the secrecy and withholding of information makes complete sense by the time you reach the end of the book, but without that foreknowledge the pacing of the first half may be enough to put some people off. I wasn't tempted to put the book down at any point, but I did become a little frustrated with how little seemed to be happening at points. However all of that really pays off by the final third where the tension ratchets up, the excitement kicks off and everything becomes a lot more terrifying. Secondly the romance. I may be stoned to death for this, but the romance didn't quite work for me. I loved Feyre and Tamlin, I thought they were great together and definitely steamy, but whilst Feyre was spending months in Tamlin's company the reader is just getting a few lines about how she's spending weeks with him - talking and riding and picnicking. I wanted to see that, to witness the depth of affection growing between them, not just have it happen off page and then get to the steamy points. I would have loved to see more of Lucien, and with a sequel due out next year I'm really hoping we get more of him. Tamlin made a wonderful hero, but I'm always slightly more smitten with the snarky boys and I really want to learn more about Lucien and see him get a bit of happiness. This is a really fantastic book and I loved falling into Feyre's world. Maas has a talent for creating magical and wonderful worlds and I really cannot wait to get back into it and see some more in the second book.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here I am CONFLICTED right now, because I genuinely don't know how to rate this one. On the one hand, I barely slept for the three days I was reading it, I couldn't physically put the book down. It was tense and incredible and SO STRESSFUL TO READ, but IMENSELY AWESOME. (And yes, all of these caps locks are warranted.) But then there were parts that didn't work as well for me that make me feel like it can't be a full spectacular five star read. So I'm gonna try and reason it all out and see if I have a clearer idea at the end of the review. Ready? I loved this book. I was caught from the first page and I really couldn't put it down. There were a couple of (ill-timed) moments where real life intruded and I was forced to leave the book to go out, but whenever I had a spare moment, it was back in my hands. I was in a near constant state of stress and tense panic (seriously, just go look at my Goodreads status updates) and it was GLORIOUS. I was so invested, so immersed in the story and it was so wonderful to just fall into it and escape real life for a while. It doesn't happen with every book where I actually just forget everything else, and the books it does are my favourites, because I love getting lost in a book. I love being so desperate to return that I shove aside all other life and responsibilities and just burrow down with the story in my armchair. I have loved seeing how Aelin has matured and grown over the course of the series, it's been such a transformation and so good to watch, and see both her and those around her develop. Nowhere was that more apparent in this book than with her relationship with Lysandra which was pure gold. Their interactions, the friendship, and Lysandra herself. I have a new favourite, and boy is she sassy. Lysandra heaved a sigh. "Oh, thank the gods. Now I can talk to someone about clothes without being asked how so-and-so would approve of it, or gobble down a box of chocolates without someone telling me I'd better watch my figure -- tell me you like chocolates. You do, right? I remember stealing a box from your room once when you were out killing someone. They were delicious." Aelin waved a hand toward the boxes of goodies on the table. "You brought chocolate -- as far as I'm concerned, you're my new favourite person." I also really love Manon. I know her sections have divided people - some love her, some really don't and begrudge her the time she takes away from Aelin and co. But I happen to fall into the former camp. She's fascinated me right from the start, so the additional time spent with her in this book made me extremely happy. Admittedly her sections were a lot slower and did drag the pacing down a bit, which was a shame, but I still really enjoyed this fresh perspective from such a different corner of the war and world. Sure ok there were a few issues with pacing, which I will be addressing more in a moment when I talk about the issues, but on the whole OH WOW. Like I said, this book was tense, I could not put it down. Particularly in several of the really big everything is kicking off and how on earth can anyone survive any of this?! scenes. The writing was like a well oiled machine, flipping from character to character together to create one breath taking whole. I was manically tearing through pages to find out what would happen, and that is a sign of a truly incredible book. Now let's talk issues. First off, the one that is making an appearance in a lot of reviews at the moment, Chaol. What even happened?! Did he have a personality transplant between 'Heir of Fire' and this book?! The Chaol that appeared within these pages was not the Chaol of the last three books that I fell in love with, and I spent most of the book wanting to either smack him or shake him. He was an absolute arse, awful and horrible and mean and yeah sure he went through some bad things at the end of the last book, but REALLY, could he have been any different and worse?! So anytime he showed up and started snarking at Aelin, the book dropped down to a four star read. It was also such a shame to see Chaol and Dorian reduced to such bit parts. I could understand it to a certain extent with Dorian, but they were both characters I really love in this series, so to see them reduced and butchered like that was really upsetting. And for what? To try and persuade people that this new shiny romance is the way to go? I was on board with this romance already, I didn't need this character assassination to persuade me, and in fact I'm grumpier now as a result of that than I was before. And the boys territorial, over protective attitude towards Aelin?! WHAT EVEN? Boys, she's done just fine without you before now, and yes ok you'll be very useful now but stop trying to restrict her and being complete and utter poops in the process. Sit in the corner and think about your attitudes! My final issue was Elide. She was interesting, yes, but not interesting enough to warrant that much time being spent on her. It really dragged some of the story down and reduced the pace to a snails crawl, which considering how well paced I found the rest of the book was a shame. I think she has potential to be a really interesting player in the next instalment, but her introduction here was handled badly and proved to be a bit of a dead weight on the rest of the story. So lots of truly brilliant awesome things, but then a handful of giant grumposaurus problems that really threw a spanner in my joy, adoration, and feverish reading. On the one hand, this book was amazing, on the other hand WHAT EVEN HAPPENED IN SOME OF THAT. You see my problem and conflict? I think I'm just going to have to put this as a four star read and consider it to be four and a half really. This is a truly incredible instalment in the series. It won't be for everyone, and the problems I've talked about, whilst grumps for me, will probably be enough to put some people off this series for good. However I still loved the book, it was a fantastic read, brilliantly written on the whole and more than satisfying. My love for this series is alive and well and I cannot wait for the next book - it's going to be a long year. Now I just need to not spoil anything whilst Husband finishes reading it...

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... I hate it when a blurb does not do a book justice. It happened with 'The Raven Boys' by Maggie Stiefvater, and it has happened again here. You guys, this book is so good. It was everything I wanted, everything I didn't dare to hope for, and everything that I had hoped for when I read 'The Jewel' by Amy Ewing, 'Red Queen' by Victoria Aveyard and even The Selection trilogy by Keira Cass. It took all of the elements that I loved and wanted to see properly in those books and created a wonderful, original and incredibly compelling tale. The story is so beautifully handled, and so full of twists and turns. This isn't your stereotypical YA romance, it is so much more than that. The characters are incredibly written, the story is wonderfully paced building up to a tense and climactic end and the prose is divine. And let's talk about that prose. I could gush about Rotkoski's prose. It is a thing of beauty. She has a rare skill of being able to weave a tale and make it so incredibly realistic, to draw you in until you can feel the sun and see the villas. Everything becomes heightened and real, but in amongst that is a beautiful lyrical quality to the prose. It's the sort of prose that made me fall in love with 'The Night Circus' but instead of wandering and relying on the imagery to do the work, this prose is a sharp and finely honed as a blade. It is exquisite to read and leaves you breathless to find out where the story will go.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To see the full review please visit the site: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I want to say upfront that I love the TV show 'The Originals', I think it's fantastic, so I was curious to see how this book expanded on the most messed up family we know. However there is always a danger with books based off movies and TV shows that things are going to go horribly wrong, and sadly this book continued that trend. Luckily it wasn't quite as dire as 'Stefan's Diaries' who were obviously written by someone who had never seen The Vampire Diaries or read the original books and felt like making up some bad backstory that didn't correlate to anything in the slightest. There was a lot going for this first instalment in 'The Originals' backstory, but sadly there were enough cons to deny it a higher rating. For fans of the tv show no real introduction or character building is necessary, we're coming into this with a working knowledge of these characters and everything about them. However this book relies far too heavily on that early knowledge and as a result does no work at all to build the characters or make the story remotely readable for someone who has never seen the show. Without the show we would have very little character development or even any idea about who these people are and what they're doing. It's sloppy and something that could have been easily remedied. Then there are the irritations. The instalove, which occurs with both Klaus and Rebekah. The characters are all so flat and the narrative glosses over so much of the story that there is no depth, no real development and no emotion. We are told they are in love, so much so that they will overturn their lives, and after what? A dance? A conversation? It is so laughable and so terrible and yet that is what the majority of the plot hinges upon.

This review was written for The Review Diaries You can read the full review here Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. There were a lot of things I liked about the first book in this series 'The Paper Magician' although it didn't follow the route I expected, I thought that it was fantastic unique idea that echoed a lot of the things that I loved about 'The Night Circus'. So I was really excited to see where Holmberg took this second instalment. There was a lot that really worked for me in 'The Glass Magician' but there were some things that left me feeling a little cold and sadly the relationship between Emery and Ceony was one of those. I wanted to love them and individually I do, but there is something about the set up of the relationship that really doesn't work for me. I think it's a combination of the age difference and that he is in a position of power as her teacher. Whilst nothing is really happening so far and it feels very one sided on Ceony's side, there are so many little things that Emery does that buoy Ceony's hope and devotion to him and it feels cruel and unfair. It makes the whole thing feel as though it is an infatuation on her side that is ultimately making their relationship strained and Emery feel uncomfortable - which is not a great state of affairs for a romance plot. In its current state it really doesn't work for me, which is a shame because I want to love them. However I'm willing to wait and see how things play out in the third instalment before judging it fully. The same issue that I had with the first book is sadly present again here, with modern language and Americanisms creeping into the characters speech which ruins the setting of turn of the century London. The last thing is that Ceony's actions made perfect sense in the first book, whereas here they don't. She needlessly throws herself into danger and ultimately seems to make things worse and a whole lot of bad things happen, instead of working with the people who actually know what they're doing. I know they are excluding her which is frustrating and makes her want to take matters into her own hands, but she is so woefully underprepared in every encounter that it just made it painful to read.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I thought I was going to get one kind of novel and then it turned into something quite unexpected. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just took me a while to shift gears and get into the new part of the story. The premise is fantastic and I loved the idea and the different types of magic - I could have quite happily read a book entirely about that. However getting to know Thane through the exploration of his heart was an intriguing twist, and once I became used to it, one I quite liked. I loved the characters, I loved the world, the whole imagination and the thought process behind the magics was brilliant. It was a quick novel that gave me an insight into this reality and left me wanting to go back for more. I'm looking forward to seeing and exploring more of Ceony's London in the next book as so much of this book was taken up with the exploration of Thane's heart. The exploration was fascinating and really gave me a chance to get to know him as a character and also made Ceony's attraction to him much more believable, but it did also contain the story into a very rigid set of parameters, and I really want to branch out and see more of this reality and the different types of magic and what they can do.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site:http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. There is a huge amount to love in this exciting new debut. Dystopian future where the colour of your blood segregates you? X-Men style powers and a whole lot of throw downs? Oh yes please.I thought this was a great debut, fast paced and full of brilliant ideas. There were a couple of stumbling blocks, but on the whole this was fantastic. I loved Mare. She was a resourceful and determined and unfailingly brave. She has a few moments later in the novel where I wanted to shake her for not thinking things through, but on the whole she was a great heroine. I also loved the boys. Thankfully this isn't your typical love triangle (for reasons I won't spoil here) so if the idea of the love triangle is putting you off, I highly advise trying the book anyway, you will be pleasantly surprised. But most of all I loved the abilities, the range and breadth and how much they added to the story. Seriously, any type of abilities, be it X-Men or Graceling or anything inbetween, and I am sold. They were woven into the story brilliantly and added a whole other element of danger and intrigue. I would almost have liked to see them used more, but on the whole I think it was fantastic. Some of the secondary characters could have done with a little more development, we weren't really given enough time or space to get to know them so their actions sometimes felt a little forced whereas with a bit more development everything would have flowed much more smoothly. But whilst I would have liked that, the pacing was really good with the right level of tension to keep you storming through the story. However, three things stopped it from being a five star read for me.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. Please visit the site for the full review: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... I wanted to like this book, it had such a great cover and blurb and really sounded like it could be something quite exciting. It was being compared to 'The DaVinci Code' (which, shush, don't tell anyone but I kinda enjoyed...) and had a wonderful array of masked balls, international travel and conspiracies. Plus a gorgeous cover. I couldn't wait to read it. I'm wondering now I'm on the other side whether it was just the wrong time for me to read it, because sometimes I come back and re-read a book I disliked and really enjoy it the second time around. However, this time it really wasn't my cup of tea. There were so many illogical choices and moments, starting with Avery deciding to run off with absolute strangers out of the blue because they said they knew her family (always trust random strangers kids!) and continuing right through wearing her contact lenses for three/four days straight, to hey you have to get married even though you're not willing and it's not legal without permission from your parent or guardian! I know that it was supposed to be a young adult book and therefore we need characters who fit into that age bracket, but the idea that these big powerful secret society families would employ sixteen year olds to organise security/kill people/tote guns around seemed completely ridiculous. If the characters had been aged up to 18 - 20 then a lot of the issues would have been dealt with. As it was it was just irritating. The other big issue for me was that it really wasn't compelling. Given the high stakes, the racing around trying not to be murdered, you would think that I would have been racing through the pages to find out what happened, but instead I had to really push myself to keep reading. I was bored. It was a quick read, and once I sat down and got on with it I was through it very quickly, but there wasn't any hook to keep me interested.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries' You can read the full review here: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... I absolutely love Ally Carter's previous series, both Gallagher Girls and the Heist books, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on her latest offering and get to know a whole new world. Unfortunately my anticipated love affair with 'All Fall Down' didn't quite go as I'd anticipated. The concept is great, the world is wonderful, the writing is up to Carter's brilliant standard, but sadly there were problems. The biggest one being Grace herself. I never really felt like I connected with Grace, which is I think due in part to the fact that Grace is the most unreliable narrator I have ever come across in fiction. By about a third of the way through the book I just didn't trust her at all, which meant that my enjoyment of the book became severely compromised. It comes across as for a much younger audience, perhaps on that transition line for those just coming into young adult fiction. In part due to the style, but mostly again due to Grace. She never struck me as a sixteen year old teenager, she felt as though she'd gotten stuck at age thirteen. Understandable given the circumstances, but a little bit frustrating to read.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries'. You can read the full review here: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Holly Black is the Queen of revealing the true terrifying natures of the Fae. Every book she writes plays host to a whole array of strange and fantastical creatures that are the darkest versions of faeries imaginable, and they are utterly spellbindingly beautiful books. It is an incredible book, showcasing that Holly Black becomes even more talented with each book she writes. It showcases everything she has become known for - flowing prose, strong female characters, and a warping of the world around us until anything seems possible and even the most frightening things are real. 'The Coldest Girl in Coldtown' ushered in a new age of Black's books, and an even more engrossing series of novels. Standalones featuring heady and terrifying new worlds, 'The Darkest Part of the Forest' isn't quite as chilling (no pun intended) as 'Coldtown' but it branches out to give us a peak at Fairfold and the fae terrorizing its citizens.

Originally reviewed for The Review Diaries'. Please visit the site to read the full review: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... So after my truly terrible experience with 'Jackaby', I was back to square one in my search for books like the 'Lady Julia' series by Deanna Raybourn. Until that is, I came across Angie's review of 'The Anatomist'sWife' and without further ado I ordered it for the next day. It is a very rare and utterly wonderful feeling to sink into a book and adore everything about it. To actually want to slow down your reading and savour the words. And then to discover that the book is the first in a series and there are several already published so you can continue to enjoy them at your leisure instead of the torturous wait of a year that new releases leave us with. 'The Anatomist's Wife' gave me that feeling spades. I haven't felt so absorbed, captivated and enthralled by a book and savoured every page since I discovered 'Silent in the Grave' - and my love of that is well documented. Everything about this book was perfection. I loved Kiera from the start. I loved her backstory that slowly came out - piece by terrible piece. I loved the setting, her family, the atmosphere of fear and terror that seeped into everything, and most of all I loved her tempestuous relationship with Gage. There are so many similarities with the 'Lady Julia' series, but not in a bad way, merely the time period, the subject matter and the intriguing and wonderful relationship between the heroine and the investigator involved.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. You can read the full review here:http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Oh Jackaby, you had so much promise and you really didn't live up to it. But then, maybe I'm just a picky customer. Feeling decidedly in need of something close to Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia series, Jackaby seemed like a pretty good bet. Mysteries! Deaths! Crime! Supernatural! Sleuthing! Victorian! Sherlock meets Dr Who? Oh yes please to all of the above! So I dove straight in expecting to be blown away, but instead was mildly put out by the most ridiculous of things. Abigail Rook is supposed to be an English girl - admittedly she has been travelling for some time by the time the story begins, but still, she is a well bred English woman. So why does she insist on narrating and speaking with so many Americanisms? And not only that, but modern ones too? It was enough to make me weep with despair and my poor husband try and wrench the book from my hands. That one very idiotically simple thing virtually ruined the book for me. It put me in such a rubbishly grumpy frame of mind that enjoyment was pretty much squashed. Which is tragic because it could have been so very, very good.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely adored the original Study trilogy, particularly 'Poison Study' so when I heard that there were going to be more books in the series I, like most other fans of the books, was thrilled. And whilst it was fantastic to be back with Yelena and Valek and co. sadly the book didn't quite live up to the very high expectations I had. It's become a worrying trend with the last few Snyder books that I will tear into them eagerly, my interest will wane and then at around the half way mark I will put them down and go and read something else, which is tragic. They are such good stories, but the first half of each of the latest books is so slow and weighed down with story and exposition that isn't needed that nothing really happens. Eventually I come back to them, and the second half is so much better, everything picks up the stakes get higher, the tension is raised and I am reminded of all the reasons that I love Snyder's books. Shadow Study is no exception to this new trend. The first half was so slow, so much back and forth and no one really knowing what's going on or what to do and a lot of that leads from Yelena's feeling of being adrift and lost, but the story shouldn't be impacted this heavily by that. There should still be action, forward progress and a level of interest retained by the reader. So I took weeks to read the first half and eventually took a break from the book altogether. The second half was so much better though. The storylines started coming together, and whilst everyone's individual journeys were important, everything works so much better when everyone is together. The tension is amped, everything felt more terrifying and real and I was flying through the end of the book.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries'. You can read the full review here: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... I am a rather huge fan of The Princess Bride. I've been watching it ever since I was seven and my sister brought home a copy of it on video and I watched it on repeat. It has everything, it is a classic, it is utter genius and pure brilliance and if you haven't seen this film or read the book, you need to remedy this immediately. As brilliant as the book is, I highly recommend watching the film first. So when it was announced about a year ago that Cary Elwes would be releasing a behind the scenes making of book extravaganza, I was one of the people whose shrieks of joy could be heard the world over. The book is beautiful, lovingly created with some gorgeous photographs and a wonderful piece of art hidden inside the dust-jacket. The whole thing reflects the film itself, it's a labour of love with everyone involved coming together to provide stories, musings and recollections about the process and filming of The Princess Bride. It's like putting on a favourite sweater and slippers and drinking a hot mug of tea - warm and comforting, familiar and wonderful. I laughed, I got a little teary eyed, and the whole thing was a magical experience, a beautiful way to go back and revisit the film and to hear from the team that brought it to us so many little tales from behind the scenes that helped make it even more brilliant.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries'. You can read the full review here: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... This book appears to be quite the marmite book with people swearing up and down either that this is an awesome new fantasy, or it's a big pile of garbage. Luckily I'd managed to steer clear of any reviews prior to reading, so I went in knowing only that there was a lot of buzz surrounding it, and that Emma Watson is attached to a film version currently in the works. Let's start by talking about the cover. I love it. It's one of the best covers I've seen this year. Incredibly simple, powerful and effective. And whilst the plot contained within isn't exactly simple, it certainly gives you a good indication of what you're going to find. This is a novel on quite a fantastic scope. It's a mixture of so many different things - dystopian, fantasy, both young adult and adult, with a fantastic set of characters led by Kelsea. It took me a little while to warm up to Kelsea, she comes across as a little arrogant, a little bit spiky to start with, but the longer I read the more I loved her. She's bright and intelligent and determined and so overwhelmed by everything. She's human, but she's desperate to try and protect her people, to fix the wrongs that have been going on in her kingdom and be a good leader. However despite all her good intentions she is hampered because no one will talk to her, she has no real knowledge of the kingdom as it is now or during her mother's reign, which leaves her blind and hobbled and trying to plug all the gaps in a sinking ship. I loved her fierce and wonderful she was, and I loved how insecure and unsure of everything she was as well. She is fiercely human, and you can ask no more from a character than that.

I am officially broken in the best possible way. Full review to come soon.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries' and the full review can be read here: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... This book was intriguing, with a brilliant premise, but unfortunately the execution was lacking and turned the concept into something more problematic. With such a brilliant and horrifying idea at the heart, it was incredibly frustrating that half way through a love interest was brought in for Violet which then became the focus. The love interest itself was problematic - there was no build up of the relationship, no real relationship to speak of that the reader can see develop. Just a few stolen moments and then suddenly, 'we're in love!' which has been done to death in fiction, particularly at the moment. It then provides a truly ridiculous springboard for a climactic end to the book, another cliff hanger for the sake of trying to keep readers hooked rather than a natural end to the book with a lead into the next one. The romance really slows down the story and takes away from the focus of the story which could be brilliant with a bit of work.

This review was written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site:http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I was very curious to see how the book would turn out, coming from two such well known and prolific authors as Clare and Black, but also because of the comparisons being made to Harry Potter. Yes there are a lot of comparisons, but there are also a lot of differences too which helps once you get into it. There's the school for magic, the trio of friends who band together, the sneaking around and general hijinks happening behind people's backs, the prophecy, the Dumbledore and Snape like teacher figures, but there's an awful lot in there that sets it apart from the Potter series. The series is always going to divide opinion, and there will always be people who can't get into it or don't want to read it because of the comparisons. For me personally it was like looking into a slightly skewed mirror until I got far enough into the story that it stopped being quite so obvious. It was a bit unsettling though because I did always have Potter in the back of my head. And whilst every effort was being made to make magic school cool and exciting, I couldn't get beyond some aspects of it. It was underground and cold and dark and no one ever really saw the outside world and the food, no matter how delicious it was described to be, sounded weird... I missed Hogwarts. And if it hadn't been so similar in so many ways, that comparison wouldn't have been there. Comparisons aside, it is still a very good book. Black and Clare make a great writing team and I really enjoyed the story. There were some great twists, some wonderful characters, and some really intriguing elements.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries'. You can read the full review here: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... When anything tries to compare itself to 'The Night Circus' I am hesitant. 'The Night Circus' is such a hauntingly beautiful novel that holds such a special place in my heart that nothing ever seems to come close to touching it. 'The Magician's Lie' comes incredibly close though. The novel is split, between the night when Arden's husband is found dead and she goes on the run, only to be caught by Virgil, a police officer, and her retelling of her life story whilst in custody. One night and one incredible story later, Virgil must try and untangle what has really happened. It's an intriguing premise - a female magician in a period when Arden is the only one, a touring magic show, a desperate and breathless backstory with true love tangled up in it all. The novel is beautifully written and brilliantly executed. The only places where it stumbles are when we are brought back to reality and Arden trying to persuade Virgil of her innocence. The pace slows and I found myself desperate for them to stop talking and for Arden to get back to re-telling her own story. The novel has been thoroughly researched and it shows, the characters and setting peel off the page and immerse the reader in the tale. It is brilliantly constructed and stitched together and I found myself coming to care about Arden and her story very quickly. She is a wonderful heroine with a fascinating life and I loved her from the start.

You can read the rest of the review at The Review Diaries: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... Huge thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review This review is spoiler free! Published: 11th September 2014 When I got my hands on an early copy of 'Heir of Fire' I couldn't wait to get started. It was just a shame that around five pages in I realized that most of the events of the previous book was nothing but a hazy memory and if I wanted any clue what was happening I needed to go back and start at the beginning. So I've spent and otherwise stressful few weeks happily ensconced in Celaena's world, reliving her battle to become the King's Champion, her slow uncovering of the rebels plots, the devastation and loss and the shock of revelations at the end of 'Crown of Midnight'. It was quite the emotional rollercoaster, and I was expecting that pace to be maintained, thinking that this was the last book in the series. Thankfully I was wrong, and there are plenty of stories waiting for another book to tell them, but it meant that I spent a good portion of the book waiting for the pace to kick up a notch as it would in the final book in a series, and being disappointed. Once I got around the fact that I was being an idiot and doing myself out of more books (Sarah has stated on her website that she's always seen the series as a 6 book one.) I settled in and enjoyed the book.

This review was written for 'The Review Diaries' To see the full review please follow the link: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... I should probably be upfront that Sarah is in fact a very dear friend of mine, so whilst I would be gushing about this book already simply on its own merit, the fact that it was written by Sarah just makes it even more awesome. There is a big surge of diverse young adult fiction hitting the shelves which is a welcome breath of fresh air, and Sora's tale set in modern Japan is no exception. Add to it that the story itself tackles death, euthanasia and features a disabled protagonist and 'The Last Leaves Falling' quickly sets itself apart as something other than your average YA fiction. The truth is it is so much more. Sora is a tragic and compelling protagonist, at times buoyed up by those around him, sometimes sinking underneath the weight of inevitability, but his narrative had me racing through the book. It is a quiet, raw tale full of the tragic sense of time crashing too fast that comes with such a story, but that in no way hinders the storytelling, or makes it feel like a waste of a book. The prose is so beautifully constructed that you are at once struck with the inevitable end, desperate for any way to alleviate it, but knowing that there is nothing that can be done except to be with Sora through his journey and listen to his story.

Read the full review on 'The Review Diaries': http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... Thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review. I am a sucker for road trip stories so I was really excited about 'Let's Get Lost' - it's just a shame that it didn't live up to the hype. The entire novel is centred around Leila, who breezes through four strangers lives at just the right time to magically fix all their troubles and woes. This could have been brilliant, but unfortunately Leila was nothing more than an attractive plot device. She had no substance, no depth, and whilst we do find out a little more about her in the final section and some of this lack of character is explained, it is not enough to redeem her.

Written for 'The Review Diaries': http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2014... Thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. "For all you hardworking history teachers who want to hit me with a book after reading this. The line forms here. No pushing. Everyone will get a turn." Any historical fiction book that begins with an author's note like this should immediately ring alarm bells. I appreciate messing around with historical timelines to make a more thrilling story for the reader, so long as it is clearly stated that historical tampering has happened. However, 'Queen of Someday' not only doesn't follow any sort of historical timeline for Catherine/Sophie, any sort of research of the period and dialogue appears to have been cursory at best. When I pick up an historical novel, I expect realistic dialogue for the time period and realistic characters. I do not expect modern throwaway conversations or characters that are attempting to fill the 'feisty heroine' cut out and therefore act in ways that would never have been lauded and celebrated in this particular time period. It immediately throws me from the story and stops me from enjoying the book. Trying to jam several different parts of Catherine's life into this one short book causes even more problems. All historical accuracy is thrown over for unbelievable romances and one dimensional characters. Which is tragic because this could have been something brilliant. With a clearer cut plot and with fewer romances that have no spark to speak of, there could have been more time spent on character development which could have saved this novel. I wanted to love this book. I love historical novels and when they are done well they can be some of the best form of escapism. But sadly there were just too many pitfalls for me to take any sort of enjoyment from it. Badly researched with too many aspects of Catherine's life smushed into one small chunk of her life to try and provide more of an action packed storyline, and with one dimensional characters that never grabbed me or really came alive.

This review was originally written for The Review Diaries. To read the full review please visit the site: http://reviewdiaries.blogspot.fr/2015... Scarlet was one of the best books I have ever read. It was incredible and I loved it. I couldn't bear the idea that we wouldn't have any more opportunities to find out what happened next, as originally it seemed that Scarlet would be a standalone. Then Ms Gaughen announced that there would be more to Scarlet's story, and I (and everyone else who read it and fell in love with her) were thrilled. In fact I was so nervous about how good Scarlet had been and how high my expectations now were that I took a very long time to eventually let myself read this book. But I really shouldn't have worried, this book was just as good as the first, and it was so wonderful to be back with Scarlet and the others. The characters are beautifully written. I love seeing the world through Scarlet's eyes. I love slipping into her dialect as she blends in with the boys and how the lady pushes through at other points. Her voice is so fantastically real and that makes the story even more special to read. I love her view of Robin, how she is able to see his flaws, not to put him up on a pedestal, but to love every broken and strong part of him equally with all the broken and strong parts of herself. She went through hell for him at the end of the last book, and again throughout this one, and at no point does she lose herself or diminish herself for the love of him. It is such a wonderful healthy view of love.