Let’s Wrap: September

Is it just me, or did September go really quick? I can’t quite remember what I did for the entirety of September except read, go to training at Lush, and visit my boyfriend. And that’s it. What else even happened?

However, I am officially halfway through writing my novel which is amaaazing. I’m hoping to have the first draft done by Christmas and it’ll be the first novel I have ever completed, despite writing the beginnings of dozens of novels for years. Fingers crossed!

I’m also at 239 followers overall (WordPress and Bloglovin combined) which I am so happy about so thank you everyone who has followed this little blog of mine, it means a lot!

• Review: The Fireman by Joe Hill
• YA Series I Haven’t Finished (And Probably Never Will)
• The Sunday Post #13
• Review: Soundless by Richelle Mead
• Entertainer Blogger Award
• Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent
• The Willoughby Book Club Unboxing #2
• The Sunday Post #14
• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten ALL TIME Favourite Books of the Sci-Fi Genre
• Why Diversity Is A Good Thing
• Stacking the Shelves | YA Fantasy
• Review: The City of Mirrors (Passage #3) by Justin Cronin
• The Sunday Post #15
• Waiting On Wednesday: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
• Diversity Spotlight Thursday #1
• The Sunday Post #16
• ARC Review: Goldenhand (Old Kingdom #5) by Garth Nix
• Review: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
• Film Review: The Girl With All the Gifts

I’m currently reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff and I’m about two thirds of the way through. I am really really enjoying it. However, at the moment I’m thinking of a 4.5/5 rating rather than the full 5/5. Why? I hate to say it, but the protagonist of Mia annoys me a little. I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t connect to her as much as I’d like to; she kinda gets on my nerves and I prefer some of the side characters to her. Anyone else found this or am I in the minority? From what I’ve seen, I’m thinking it’s just me with this problem.

I still have the likes of these YA Fantasy bad boys to read which you can see above, so I’m excited to get my teeth into them.

However, I’m considering taking part in a Halloween Read-a-thon towards the end of October so I may be bypassing the Fantasy and reading some Horror instead. I’ve read a lot of Fantasy recently so a change would be good I think, as well as maybe some Historical fiction I’ve had sitting in my TBR for a while.

How was your September? Have you read any of the books above? Let me know in the comments below!

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ARC Review: Goldenhand (Old Kingdom #5) by Garth Nix

Goldenhand by Garth Nix

Genre: Fantasy / Young Adult

Publisher: Hot Key

My Rating: 5/5

Synopsis: Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. When Lirael saves Nicholas Sayre after he is attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she finds he is deeply tainted with Free Magic. Lirael must seek help for him at the Clayr’s Glacier – her childhood home.

But even as she returns to the Clayr, clouds are gathering. A messenger is trying to reach Lirael with a dire warning from her long-dead mother about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning?

Once more a great danger threatens the Old Kingdom, and it must be forestalled not only in the living world, but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

My Review

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinion of the book in any way.

This review will contain no spoilers for Goldenhand and only contains very minor spoilers from the previous books, so if you’re new to the series, read on if you want to!

As I have said so many times on this blog, the Old Kingdom series is my absolute favourite. I was extremely lucky to get an ARC of Goldenhand, seemingly turning up at the right time and place at YALC to get my hands on a copy. So, after all the excitement, I had high hopes of this novel. And, of course, I wasn’t disappointed.

Let me just start by saying that to get the most out of this book, you need to have read both The Creature in the Case from the Across the Wall anthology and Clariel. It’s not absolutely necessary, but it does overlap with The Creature in the Case, so read that first if you don’t want Goldenhand to spoil the events of that novella. As for Clariel, Goldenhand doesn’t really spoil any plot points from Clariel, but it well better your understanding and enjoyment of Goldenhand if you’ve read Clariel first. And, of course, you will need to have read Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen. 

So, what did I love about Goldenhand? Everything! Garth Nix once again weaves a dark, lyrical tale of magic and intrigue. The novel centres mostly around Lirael and Nicholas Sayre, but old favourites Sabriel and Touchstone appear, as well as Sam and Ellimere, and a few more… It was great to be back with these characters again after a few years away from them. I found myself easily slipping back into the world, only needing to refresh my memory a little around the events of Abhorsen.

The story is gritty and very fast-paced, but is injected with a good amount of humour that made me laugh out loud at some points. I laughed, I cried, I worried, but I loved it all. This book will definitely please old fans, like me, but is also something for new fans to look forward to; they can rest assured that the series doesn’t falter after Abhorsen.

Goldenhand also introduces us to parts of the Old Kingdom we have previously never explored. We travel to the lands north of the Clayr’s Glacier – the steppe where the horse-nomads roam, and the Great Rift beyond. From these nomad clans comes a young girl named Ferin, desperate to deliver a message to Lirael from her dead mother, Arielle. I really loved Ferin and her journey. We got to learn so much more about the northern reaches of the Old Kingdom and the people who inhabit it. There is also clearly a lot more still to be discovered so I hope Garth Nix will take us to these places and people in future novels.

This mix of new with old was excellent. We get chapters centred around previously unexplored lands, and then chapters filled with well-loved places, like the Clayr’s Glacier and The Wall. And don’t worry, there are plenty of battles with the Dead and Free Magic creatures. Also, the plot is original in terms of the series; it doesn’t feel like Nix has just regurgitated the plot from Sabriel or one of the others.

What’s more, there’s just so much scope in these novels and it’s all written so convincingly. The pacing is fast, the prose is tight, the characters are complex and likeable; I hope to be reading these books for years to come! It’s a very unique Fantasy series and I can’t compare it to any others. It doesn’t have to borrow heavily from other Fantasy novels or rework old tropes, instead each installment, as well as the world and characters themselves, feels fresh and original.

So, I don’t really want to mention much more as I’ve tried not to reveal too much about the previous novels, in case any people who are new to the series read this, or to give too much away about the plot of Goldenhand. However, it is a deeply satisfying read and I promise it won’t disappoint.

Goldenhand will be released 4th October in the UK.

Have you read the Old Kingdom series? Did you enjoy it? Are you excited for Goldenhand? Let me know in the comments below!

The Sunday Post #11

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer in which book bloggers recap their week and look at what’s to come.

My Weekly Recap

It’s been a quieter week for me so I’ve had more time to post and get on with all the tags. Thanks to anyone who’s tagged me and, if I haven’t done yours yet, I’ll get round to it next week!

And now, the posts this week:

• Review: The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien
• The Books With a Purpose Tag
• Waiting On Wednesday: The Burning World (Warm Bodies #3) by Isaac Marion
• Review: Nightfall by Jake Halpern and Peter Kujawinski
• Beauty and the Beast Book Tag
• Stacking the Shelves |Fantasy & WW2 Lit | YA & Adult

Coming Up

I’m currently reading an ARC of Girl Detached by Manuela Salvi and I’m enjoying it! It was banned in Italy and honestly I can’t see why. Manuela is handling the issues of the book carefully and sensitively. I’ll talk more about why it was banned and what the book deals with when I review it next week.

After that will be an ARC of the next installment in the Old Kingdom series, Goldenhand, and I am so so excited. I feel very lucky to have an ARC from my favourite series, although I’m still gonna buy the finished copy in October! I love the covers to this series. The UK hardback cover is going to be similar to the Clariel hardcover in that it’s pretty much a plain background (with some Charter Marks floating about) and a big embossed Charter Mark in the middle, but I also really want a copy of the usual paperback art because those painted covers are so gorgeous. The ARC cover, on the other hand, is blue with images of the bells on it (and my copy is signed!). But something tells me having three copies of Goldenhand may be a little excessive…

I still have some more tags to do, like the Pokemon Go tag and I’ve been nominated for a couple of awards which is amazing! So thanks again to everyone who’s tagged or nominated me.

Like I said last week, I have some discussion kind of posts planned but I’m trying to work my way through the tags! Once I’ve done those, I’ll get onto some lists and discussions.

And Finally

I am still all about The Temper Trap’s new album. It makes for really good writing music!

Waiting On Wednesday: Goldenhand by Garth Nix

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Breaking the Spine where you showcase which books you’re looking forward to being released.

Words cannot describe how excited I am for this week’s featured Waiting on Wednesday novel.

It’s the long-awaited fourth (or rather fifth) installment of Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series. This is my all-time favourite series of books. I’ve re-read all three novels, Sabriel, Lirael and Abhorsen, and the novella The Creature in the Case (hence me referring to this upcoming novel as the fifth installment), so many times. I hate books to be creased or dog-eared but my copy of Sabriel is just that and I don’t mind, because it shows how much I’ve loved the book since I bought it a decade ago.

UK Release Date: 4th October 2016

As you can see, the cover is only a draft, but I’m glad it’s in the style of the previous novels.

I read Clariel, a kind of prequel that depicted the life of Chlorr of the Mask as a young girl, a year or so ago. I really did enjoy it, but it wasn’t as good as the original novels. Hopefully Goldenhand lives up to its predecessors. I’m so excited to delve back into this world again and see what’s next in store for characters like Lirael, Nicholas and Sam (who, along with Mogget, just pipped everyone else to the post as my favourite character in the novels), as well as maybe Sabriel and Touchstone. The blurb doesn’t mention the latter two, but seeing as Lirael is still the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, Sabriel at least must still be alive.

Synopsis for Goldenhand: 

Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. She’s also a Remembrancer, and wielder of the Dark Mirror. When Lirael finds Nicholas Sayre lying unconscious after being attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she uses her powers to save him. But Nicholas is deeply tainted with Free magic and Lirael must seek help for him at her childhood home, the Clayr’s Glacier. But even as she returns to the Clayr, a messenger is trying to reach Lirael with a dire warning from her long-dead mother, Arielle, about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning? Once more a great danger threatens the Old Kingdom, and it must be forestalled not only in the living world, but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

Are you excited for the fifth installment in the Old Kingdom series? And if not, why aren’t you?! Let me know in the comments below!