Let’s Wrap: October

Now that it’s been a few months since I graduated, all the months are kind of blurring into one because I don’t have a lot of structure. I’m still trying to work out what I want to do as a career (besides write books), but I’m taking my time as I want to be sure.

Other than that, not much happened, because I lead an exceedingly boring life, as you can see. I won a few competitions on Twitter, one to get a copy of Morning Star by Pierce Brown, the final book in the Red Rising trilogy which I’ve adored so far! The book arrived today and I’m so excited to read it. The other book I won was an ARC of dystopian crime thriller Yesterday by Felicia Map, which I featured here in Stacking the Shelves.

I also signed up for NaNoWriMo this November for my third try, but I’m just not feeling it. I love the community of NaNoWriMo – it’s so welcoming and helpful – yet I’ve never managed to come close to even hitting the 50,000 words. It’s just too much pressure and I’m not the fastest writer. I’ve been writing fine without NaNoWriMo the past few months so I think I’ll just do it at my own pace.

Anyway, let’s get started with the wrap-up.

• The Willoughby Book Club Unboxing #3
• Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff
• Halloween Read-A-Thon
• It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #1
• Waiting On Wednesday: Scythe by Neal Shusterman
• Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
• The Sunday Post #17
• Halloween Read-A-Thon Review: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
• It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #2 + Update On My Week-Long Absence
• Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Horror Novels On My Wishlist
• Halloween Read-A-Thon Review: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich
• Stacking the Shelves | Sequels and ARCs
• The Sunday Post #18

I haven’t been nearly as active this month, mainly because I’ve been ill, but I’ll try and pick it up this November!

I’m nearly halfway through my ARC of Gilded Cage by Vic James and I’m really enjoying it. The characterisation is great, with a few of the characters being some of the best and most interesting I’ve read about in a while. The plot as a whole is also very intriguing. I’m now just hoping it doesn’t suddenly bomb or have a terrible ending. Fingers crossed!

After that, I think I’m going to try A Darker Shade of Magic, followed by An Ember in the Ashes. I’ve been talking about reading these two for sooooo long so I promise I’m going to get to them soon! After that, I’m thinking either a Historical novel or a Contemporary. Or Sci-Fi; I don’t know how long I can hold off from reading Gemina or even Morning Star. 

I have a few posts planned for this month and perhaps some discussions on writing, so keep your eyes peeled!

How has your October been? Have you read any of the books I’ve talked about? Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo? Let me know in the comments below!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #1

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted at The Book Date where bloggers look at what they’re currently reading and what’s up next in their TBR!

I decided to find a Monday meme I can get into and this one looks the most interesting and seems a great way to discover new books.

So, anyway, what am I reading?

What I Read Last Week

Technically I read Radio Silence the week before but hey, I’m including it anyway.

Whilst Radio Silence was a bit hit and miss for me, Nevernight was amazing. Check out my reviews for them here:

Radio Silence: 

Nevernight: 

What I’m Currently Reading

At the moment I’m about halfway through Six of Crows and I’m reeeeally enjoying it. It definitely lives up to its hype!

Also, there are some pretty big similarities between Kaz Brekker and Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders. Whenever Kaz talks I’m having trouble not reading it in a Brummy accent. I mean, Kaz is a ruthless gangster but very good with words like Tommy, wears a sharp suit like Tommy, and even has dark hair shaved at the sides just like Tommy, and all the Peaky Blinders to boot. If Leigh Bardugo wasn’t watching Peaky Blinders when writing Six of Crows then these are some really uncanny similarities. However, it’s not a problem, because I love Peaky Blinders and these similarities make me enjoy Six of Crows even more.

Up Next

I’m taking part in the Halloween Read-A-Thon so my next books are horror classic I Am Legend and YA psychological horror The Dead House. For more details on the Read-A-Thon check out my post here.

After that, I’m thinking of reading A Darker Shade of Magic. I’ve seen a lot of love for this series and V.E. Schwab so I think it’s finally time I start it.

Have you read any of these books? What are you reading this week? Let me know in the comments below!

Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Harper Voyager

My Rating: 

Synopsis:

Destined to destroy empires, Mia Corvere is only ten years old when she is given her first lesson in death.

Six years later, the child raised in shadows takes her first steps towards keeping the promise she made the day that she lost everything.

But the chance to strike against such powerful enemies will be fleeting, so if she is to have her revenge, Mia must become a weapon without equal. She must prove herself against the deadliest of friends and enemies, and survive the tutelage of murderers, liars and daemons at the heart of a murder cult.

The Red Church is no ordinary school, but Mia is no ordinary student. The shadows love her. And they drink her fear.

My Review

I was so excited to start Nevernight. I’d read some really good reviews and had high hopes after the brilliance that was Illuminae. Let me just say, Amie Kaufman clearly reigns in Jay Kristoff. If you thought Illuminae was gory, then wait till you read Nevernight.

I really enjoyed this book. Truly and thoroughly enjoyed it. Great characters, intrigue, wit, gore, it had it all. One thing I especially loved was the world-building. I’ve seen in some reviews that people didn’t really like the footnotes, but I actually liked them! After studying English at uni and reading books with tons of footnotes and asterisks, I’m pretty used to them now, and they’re often full of interesting information. The footnotes here in Nevernight really added to the depth of the world Kristoff has created and they were often just funny anecdotes too. I didn’t feel like they detracted from the flow of the story at all.

I actually found a lot of comparisons with Garth Nix’s Old Kingdom series in this book. I don’t mean comparisons in the sense of Nevernight stole ideas from Sabriel etc. or just regurgitated them, but there were definite similarities. A cult living in a mountain? Yep. A labyrinthine library that is home to some things much more unsavoury than just books? Yes. A smart-arse cat? Definitely. However, there are of course differences here too. Whilst the Clayr’s Glacier in Nix’s series is home to a benevolent clan of clairvoyant women, the Red Church is home to some very deadly assassins. Whilst the Red Church library has its dangers, it’s not quite as dangerous as some of the Free Magic entities lurking within the depths of the Clayr’s library. And whilst Mister Kindly from Nevernight is sarky and made of darkness, his allegiances are much clearer than those of the Old Kingdom’s Mogget. I actually enjoyed finding these comparisons. Like I said, they’re just similarities, not blatant plagiarism, but it definitely helped my enjoyment. So, if you like Nix’s series, you may like Nevernight. 

Another thing I enjoyed here was the plot and the pacing. The story itself was, overall, original and a very fun read. I would often be reading and think “right, I’m gonna stop at the end of this chapter” and then some massive cliff-hanger would arise and I’d have to keep reading, desperate to know what happens next with all the twists and turns. Some people mentioned it lagged a little at the beginning, and I can see that, but because I enjoyed the world-building I didn’t mind, and it didn’t move slowly for very long. I’m not going to spoil too much about the world because I think it’ll be more fun to read about it yourself, but there was a definite Roman/Greek undertone to it that I loved.

So, why only 4.5/5? Well, as I mentioned in my September wrap-up, Mia annoyed me a little. I failed to fully connect with her and I’m not too sure why. I think perhaps it was because her confidence sometimes slipped over into the realm of cockiness. I did warm to her much more by the end – I think she definitely matured – but for a large portion of the book I found myself struggling to feel much for her, which was a shame. However, I did enjoy other characters, such as Tric, Mercurio, a few of the Shahiid’s and Mister Kindly. Tric certainly had his flaws (he was a sulker) and there was sometimes something a little sinister about Mister Kindly, but I did really like them.

Yet, being a Jay Kristoff book, I knew there was going to be a fair bit of death. Why oh why does Kristoff insist on killing off my favourite characters all the time?! I’m not going to mention who, of course, but don’t get too attached to anyone, I’m warning you now; Kristoff is the George R. R. Martin of the young adult world. Not that this book is young adult. It may feature teenage protagonists, but this book contains a lot of gore, swearing and sex. You won’t find this book in the YA section. However, I wouldn’t warn teenagers away from it. It’s definitely a 16+ book and, after all, Mia is only 16 and she engages in many of the aforementioned activities.

So, overall, I loved this book. Whilst my inability to fully connect with Mia meant the rating came down slightly, I still highly recommend it as an enjoyable and twisted fantasy. I’m excited to see where the story goes next.

Have you read Nevernight? What did you think? Or are you hoping to read it in the future? Let me know in the comments below!

 

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!