Waiting On Wednesday: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

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

Hello! So I haven’t done a Waiting on Wednesday in a while and I thought it’s time I updated you on one of the books I’m eagerly awaiting.

Recently, I’ve been trying to find more diverse and #ownvoices books, and the novel I’ve picked for this week definitely hits both targets: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon.

UK Release Date: 30th May 2017

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the Ideal Indian Husband. Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers right?

Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him wherein he’ll have to woo her he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.

The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this suggested arrangement so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

I think this sounds like such an interesting book. In the Western world, the idea of an ‘arranged marriage’ sounds archaic and controlling to most. However, we have to understand that other cultures do things differently; and just because it’s different it doesn’t mean it’s inherently wrong. After all, we were arranging marriages not that long ago in the 1800s.

It’s also a subject I’d love to educate myself more on. I remember when I was younger, I had a friend called Kavita who was Sikh. Her parents’ marriage had been arranged and at first that totally baffled me as a 10 year old. But it had worked out great for them – they got on really well and clearly loved each other, so I remember learning about Kavita’s culture in a really positive light.

Also, Dimple Shah reminds me of my friend. She’s Indian but living abroad, her surname is Shah and she’s always moaning about how her mum wants her to find a nice Indian boy. I imagine Dimple is going to be a lot like my friend and I am determined to make her read this book and for this to be the first book she’ll actually finish and enjoy.

So yes, I’m pretty excited for When Dimple Met Rishi. 

Are you looking forward to this book? Any other diverse 2017 releases you can recommend? Let me know in the comments below!

Diversity Spotlight Thursday #1

This is my first time participating in Diversity Spotlight Thursday, a meme created by Aimal @ Bookshelves and Paperbacks, and I think it’s a great idea. Each week you come up with a book for these three categories:

1. A diverse book you have read and enjoyed
2. A diverse book that has already been released but you have not yet read
3. A diverse book that has not yet been released

So this week, my books are:

1. A diverse book I have read and enjoyed: The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

This was the very first novel I studied at university and it definitely got things off to a good start. It’s an amazing book, beautifully written, with twists and turns, truths and ambiguity, and an excellent protagonist.

It depicts the life of Changez, a Pakistani man who moves to America to study, hoping to make a better life for himself. Then 9/11 happens and, suddenly, the place Changez has always associated with freedom and riches shuns him. People no longer see a successful young man, but a potential terrorist.

It’s a really brilliant book and was also made into a film starring the excellent Riz Ahmed. He’s also been in some other great things centred around racism, such as the amazingly witty and sharp Four Lions, and is currently the star of US drama The Night Of. Definitely check the two films and the TV series out, they’re great.

2. A diverse book that has already been released but I haven’t yet read: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This one is sitting in my TBR pile and I’m so excited to read it. From what I’ve heard, it deals with many diverse aspects, including race and disability. I’m not sure if it deals with any topics around sexuality so, if someone wants to enlighten me, please do! Just no spoilers!

3. A diverse book that has not yet been released: The Last Beginning by Lauren James

This is the sequel to The Next Together which I reviewed here. The sequel features a lesbian romance and I think different races too, but don’t quote me on that one. The first book wasn’t without a few faults, but it was still really enjoyable so I’m looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Have you read any of these books, or hoping to read them? Let me know in the comments below!

The Sunday Post #14

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.

I read two books this week, one bad, one good. In fact, I gave my first 2 star review on this blog. I’ve been pretty lucky managing to read books no lower than a 3 star since I started blogging in March. However, that lucky streak had to end sometime.

In terms of my life, the only notable thing really is that I finished Stranger Things and I desperately need series 2. I think my parents are struggling with the wait even more than me!

The posts this week:

• Review: Soundless by Richelle Mead
• Entertainer Blogger Award
• Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent
• The Willoughby Book Club Unboxing #2

I’m currently reading the final book in Justin Cronin’s The Passage trilogy, The City of Mirrors. I’m really enjoying it so far; I just love Cronin’s writing style and world-building. If you haven’t read this series yet, get on it now! It’s amazing and being made into films by Ridley Scott. This is probably one of the few times I’m not worried about a book-to-screen adaptation because, well, it’s Ridley Scott, the man can do no wrong when it comes to horror sci-fi.

I have a couple of other posts planned so look out for those, most notably one on why I think diversity is needed in books. I’ve seen arguments about it on Twitter, some good and some bad, and there was a lot of nasty fallout from that video. So, I’m going to try and give a convincing argument around why diversity is a good thing.

This week I pre-ordered Kings of Leon’s new album which I am sooooo excited for. I’ve been a big fan of KoL for years and seen them live a couple of times. My favourite album is Because of the Times. So, here’s their new song they released recently:

Review: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

Genre: Young Adult / Dystopian / Urban Fantasy

Publisher:  Mira Ink, 2015

My Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: In the town of New Temperance, souls are in short supply and Nina should be worrying about protecting hers. Yet she’s too busy trying to keep her sister Mellie safe.

When Nina discovers that Mellie is keeping a secret that threatens their existence, she’ll do anything to protect her. Because in New Temperance sins are prosecuted as crimes by the brutal church.

To keep them both alive, Nina will need to trust Finn, a mysterious fugitive who has already saved her life once. Wanted by the church and hunted by dark forces, Nina knows she needs Finn and his group of rogue friends.

But what do they need from her in return?

My Review

This is the second book my boyfriend bought me and, whilst Soundless was a flop, The Stars Never Rise was not. This was a thoroughly enjoyable and fast-paced read. There were some flaws, hence the 4/5 rating instead of 5/5, but it was still a fun, and surprisingly mature, book.

This novel is set in the future, 100 years after a war between humans and demons, and the occurrence of stillbirths due to there not being enough pure ‘souls’ to go around. The vast majority of America was ravaged by the war, but big towns and cities survived, protected by high walls and the authority of the Church. The rules of society are strictly upheld and sins severely punished. Sins include anything from blasphemy to fornication. And as if that wasn’t enough to contend with, ‘degenerates’ also roam the badlands, demons occupying decaying human bodies, searching for human flesh and a new human vessel to occupy.

The world-building was really interesting and unique, and I’m excited to learn even more in the sequel. The author doesn’t info-dump all this information either. It’s given to us in drips and drabs, mainly through clever dialogue.

In addition to this, there was thankfully no preaching. Of course, this novel deals with Christianity, yet it doesn’t force any ideas down your throat. There’s no preaching or mention of Biblical stories and figures, or even God for that matter. There’s nothing wrong with having religion in a book, but I was worried this novel might go on and on about the power of God or something like that. However, it also doesn’t insult religion, so people of any faith, or no faith at all, can read this without feeling offended or preached to.

Also, the novel doesn’t gloss over sex and swearing like some YA does. It’s silly to think teenagers don’t engage in these activities or don’t know anything about them, because they do. Nothing is gratuitous and any mention of sex is referred to vaguely, but it’s at least mentioned.

Our story follows the life of Nina. Neglected by a sinful mother, she’s forced to steal in order to care for her sister Mellie. Nina is headstrong and practical; she knows what she needs to do to survive, until the night she meets Finn. One thing I did enjoy about Nina is that she wasn’t overly trusting. Too often, the female protagonist is swept off to safety by a handsome boy and she falls madly in love within about five seconds. Nina, however, after being helped by Finn, keeps trying to bolt. She doesn’t fall straight into his arms and believe every word that comes out of his mouth, which was really refreshing to read. If I was in some dire situation and a boy saved my life, I’d be very grateful, but I certainly wouldn’t fully trust him. I know a character being trusting, or not trusting enough, can be a personality trait, but too often these girls are more trusting than is normal.

Finn himself is an interesting character. He has a particular ‘quirk’ that makes him stand out from other love interests, but I won’t spoil it. At first, this quirk of his was strange to get my head around and put me off a little, just like it does Nina, yet I eventually got my head around it, especially because he’s a very likable character. Witty, caring and confident, he was a love interest I genuinely liked. Too often the male love interests are just as formulaic as the female protagonists. Finn was certainly his own person. However, the romance itself was a little strange, mostly due to Finn’s quirk, but also because of its progression. Yes, Nina wasn’t entirely trusting at the start, yet I did feel like the romance suddenly progressed quickly over the span of about two days. Still, there was no insta-love, with no “I love you’s” being thrown around.

The plot is fast-paced with twists and turns. Some of the twists I worked out early on, others took me by surprise, and the twists keep coming right until the very end. This was definitely a plus point; the plot is never stagnant and neither is the ending, with action going on right to the very last page. Sometimes, endings can just fizzle out, with the action pretty anti-climactic, but here it was done well.

Lastly, the writing was good, successfully building up the tension. The emotion of it didn’t feel forced and it was poetic at times and, as a result, I enjoyed reading from Nina’s POV.

So, overall, it was a quick read with an abundance of action and a refreshing take on the Dystopian genre. The oppressive government being the church made for an interesting spin and there were also multiple layers to the oppression and deceit. This is a book I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys the Dystopian genre but is perhaps fed up of a lot of the current books feeling too similar, especially because this series has the added element of Urban Fantasy.

Have you read The Stars Never Rise? Or any other of Rachel Vincent’s novels? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments below!

 

Review: Soundless by Richelle Mead

Soundless by Richelle Mead

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy

Publisher: Puffin, 2015

My Rating: 2/5

Synopsis: For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village. Her people are at the mercy of a mysterious faraway kingdom, which delivers food in return for precious metals mined from the treacherous cliffs surrounding them.

When villagers begin to lose their sight, their rations shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the boy she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation.

Then Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon . . .

My Review

I feel bad that I gave this book 2/5, not because it doesn’t deserve that score (it does, unfortunately), but because my boyfriend bought it for me as a present and I feel bad for not enjoying it more! So sorry Mark, you bought me a dud, but you weren’t to know.

But anyway, yes, this book does deserve a 2/5 rating. This was my first Richelle Mead book and I’d heard a lot of good things about her writing. Sadly, this novel has put me off reading any more of her work. In a nutshell, Soundless was clunky, predictable and lacking emotion.

The premise of the novel is great. An isolated village atop a mountain, populated by people who have lost their hearing and are gradually losing their sight. With arable lands cut off behind an ancient avalanche, a town at the base of the mountain ships goods via zip-line up to the village in return for the precious metals the village mines. But with blindness overtaking the villagers, mining has become exceedingly slower and more dangerous. Less food comes up the zip-line as less metals go down. Then, one day, our protagonist Fei awakes to find she can hear. And so begins a journey to save her village from starvation.

It started off alright. I wasn’t immediately hooked, but the world-building was at least interesting. Then came the pivotal moment of Fei regaining her hearing… and it was anticlimactic. There was a page or two of “oh, what’s this? What’s going on?” and then Fei seemed to forget all about the fact she could actually hear and got on with her daily duties. Perhaps Mead was trying to convey the idea that Fei’s hearing was coming back gradually, but instead it felt more like Fei just had selective hearing.

The story progressed, yet the action and emotion did not. There were perhaps one or two moments of action that made me tense a little. One such moment resulted in a cliffhanger at the end of the chapter, however, instead of eagerly turning the page, desperate to know the fate of this one character, I closed my book and went off to get something to drink. I just didn’t really care. I knew this character wasn’t going to die and oh, lo and behold, they were fine! No life-threatening injuries, not even concussion. It was all too formulaic and the writing lacked any feeling.

As a result, I didn’t care for the characters or the romance between Fei and old flame Li Wei. Mead tried to capture the tension between the two, but I felt nothing. The sentences weren’t original and nor was the romance itself. By the end of the novel, Mead clearly expected the reader to be totally wrapped up in the romance between the two characters. The rhetoric and the repeated motifs fell flat. Fei would repeat a sentence Li Wei had apparently said earlier about the two of them being good at the impossible, but I couldn’t even remember when he’d said that. In fact, I’d spent some parts of the book daydreaming, my eyes still reading a paragraph, and I’d realise I had no idea what I’d just read.

There were also some parts that needed to be elaborated upon. I felt 260 or so pages was not enough to convey the story and that’s why the emotion and the action was lacking. It’s strange to say a short book lacked action because normally shorter books are nothing but action. However, the action itself was too rushed, with no build up of tension. This meant things often went over my head, particularly Fei mentioning in passing how she also felt some kind of ‘connection’ to do with her hearing. I was halfway through the book by this point and couldn’t remember a time when this had previously been explained.

In addition, the plot was often too convenient and unbelievable to be true. MILD SPOILER AHEAD. DOESN’T SPOIL ANY MAJOR PLOT POINTS DIRECTLY BUT DOES HINT AT ONE:

Fei pulling herself up the zip-line, anyone? How on earth could a teenage girl pull herself hand-over-hand for hours up a zip-line that travelled the height of a mountain? Totally ridiculous!

SPOILER ENDED.

So overall, this book was pretty predictable and lacking any real feeling. The parents were conveniently out of the way (aka dead), the first person POV had no special voice, and the romance barely even fizzled. I really wanted to love this book as I enjoy Fantasy settings inspired by China and Japan etc., but it was just a bit of a disappointment.

Have you read Soundless? Or any other books by Richelle Mead? What did you think?

I’ve now started the second book my boyfriend ordered me, The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent, and it’s much better. So, Mark, you didn’t fail completely. 😉

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

The Sunday Post #13

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 pretty uneventful week in terms of my life! But next week I’m starting my part-time job to bring in a little money whilst I work out my career after uni, so that’ll actually be a reason to stop lazing about the house!

However, I’m almost at 200 followers on WordPress and Bloglovin, so a huge thank you to everyone who’s followed me! I’ve only had this blog since March so it’s amazing to be so close to such a milestone.

Anyway, this week’s posts were:

• The Versatile Blogger Award
• Let’s Wrap: August
• Review: The Fireman by Joe Hill
• YA Series I Haven’t Finished (And Probably Never Will)

Coming Up

I’m currently about halfway through Soundless by Richelle Mead but it isn’t really living up to my expectations. I love the premise but the execution is lacking. However, I’m hoping it’ll pick up. My review should be up next week!

After that, I’m onto The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent which I have higher hopes for. And then after that I’m going to read the final novel in Justin Cronin’s The Passage series. It’ll be sad to finish it as this series has been with me for quite a few years, but I’m excited to see all the loose ends tied up.

I haven’t done Waiting On Wednesday in a few weeks so I’ll try and get back into it. Other than that, I have no specific posts planned right now, I’m having a little bit of blog writer’s block, but I’m sure I’ll come up with things to discuss next week.

And Finally

I haven’t been listening to anything really new recently so here, have some Foals. (Who make great writing music, by the way).

YA Series I Haven’t Finished (And Probably Never Will)

I was looking at my bookcase recently. I mostly have everything in order of when I read it, and I realised there are quite a few YA series I’ve started and never completed. Some I only had the first book, others I even made it to the second, but all were unfinished.

Because it’s been about ten billion years since I started some of these series, I’m probably never going to finish them now. In truth, they clearly didn’t capture me enough to make me eager to buy the next installment. Maybe one day, I’ll pick these series up again, but for now here’s a list of some YA series I just never finished and why:

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

I’ve said this once before on this blog and I’ll say it again: I’m just not really a fan of The Mortal Instruments. I managed to get to City of Glass but DNFed halfway through. Sure, I enjoyed the writing and the world-building was pretty good, but there was something about this series that just never really captured or gripped me.

Since then, I’ve never totally understood the hype around these books, although I have heard The Infernal Devices series is supposed to be better. But something tells me that I won’t ever be picking those books up if I can’t even finish the original series. I know they overlap and it would just get too confusing.

Divergent series by Veronica Roth

Now, I did enjoy the first book. Tris did really get on my nerves, but I liked the world and most of the other characters (even if that ending was totally OTT if I’m honest). I read Insurgent too and was actually pretty eager to find out what would happen next after another bombshell ending.

However, I left it quite a while before I even considered picking up Allegiant and by then the reviews started flooding in and oh… Yeah, all those reviews totally killed any faith I’d had in the series. And after I read a spoiler for the finale of Allegiant, just no. I’ve never bought the final book and I don’t really plan on doing so. There’s nothing worse than an unsatisfactory ending, especially in a series.

Penryn and the End of Days series by Susan Ee

This is actually a series I may continue with. Someone in the blogosphere, I can’t remember who it was, was raving about the character of Penryn and how she isn’t all about saving the world but instead about just protecting her family. I admit, it’s been quite a while since I read Angelfall and I don’t remember a lot except for Penryn’s very unstable mother and some kind of angel nightclub. But what this blogger said kinda made me want to give this series another go.

I only read Angelfall and planned to continue but just never got round to it. I think I did enjoy it, yet I have a feeling the romance annoyed me a bit. I was getting tired of normal human girls falling in love with supernatural beings at this point. Thankfully, that’s all died down now so maybe I’ll give this series another go.

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

I actually bought Shadow and Bone as soon as it was released because it sounded so promising. Because of this, I have one of those copies called The Gathering Dark and when it got renamed it was all quite confusing. But anyway, I did actually enjoy that book! Some of it annoyed me a bit, I can’t actually remember what, it’s been so long, but when I think of the book I have a nagging feeling that something about it got on my nerves. Still, I know I enjoyed it overall and loved the world-building.

I was never so invested in the story though that I wanted to get Siege and Storm upon it’s release, so this was another trilogy that I just put off continuing and by then I’d moved onto other books and series.

Saying that, I really want to read Six of Crows as I’ve heard so much about it and, to me, it sounds better than the original Grisha trilogy. I know having read that trilogy enhances your reading of Six of Crows but I also know it isn’t necessary, so who knows if I’ll continue with the trilogy. I do, at least, already know a bit about the world. So, we’ll just have to see!

Crewel World series by Gennifer Albin

This was a really strange novel. I only read the first in the series and all I can remember was that it was just a bit complicated and baffling. I think I enjoyed it but can’t quite remember. However, that ending! I wasn’t too sure about the book until the ending which totally shocked me. Not because it was bad, but because it was really unexpected and intriguing!

So, I think one day I’d like to pick this series up again to find out what the hell was going on. For now though I’m not too bothered. I haven’t actually heard much about this series in the blogosphere, so I’m presuming it wasn’t overly popular, or was just average.

Newsoul series by Jodi Meadows

This, like Crewel, was another book that was just a whole load of what is even going on?! Seriously though, what was this book? It was really quite strange and didn’t ever really capture me. I don’t think I’ll be continuing with it, although it was a unique (and wacky) idea.

The Other Life duology by Susanne Winnacker

The Other Life was pretty creepy. I did enjoy it (it’s apocalyptic with monsters, of course I’d like it) but, if my brain is working correctly, I think what I didn’t like was the romance. However, the world-building and monsters were good and I think the writing was fine. I had 100% planned on continuing this series but the sequel took aaaaages to be released and by then I’d lost interest. Maybe I’ll finish it one day as it’s only a duology.

Starters series by Lissa Price

I think this book was pretty much a no from me. Interesting concept but a clumsy plot and romance. (Can you tell I’m very picky about romances in YA? It’s because too many are insta-love!). I knew after finishing this that I was probably never gonna pick up the sequel.

Partials Sequence trilogy by Dan Wells

I actually liked this series and have the final book waiting to be read. The problem was actually me: I took way too long to get round to each book and so my interest and understanding waned. However, I will finish this one day because I did like the first two books. And, guess what, no insta-love!

And there you have it! Do you think I should continue with any of these series? Or should I stay clear? Let me know in the comments below!

Pokemon Go Book Tag

I was tagged by both Aimal @ Bookshelves and Paperbacks and Arianne @ Beyond Chapters, so thank you! If you don’t already follow these two then check out their blogs!

The tag was created by Aentee @ Read At Midnight and I am so jealous of her graphic making skills.

So, let’s get started:

This is actually quite difficult because I can’t remember a time I wasn’t reading. Even before I could read words, I’d take my picture books from my parents and make up stories using the drawings inside, because I was a cute child and all that.

However, when I progressed to reading kids novels, one book that stands out for me as a favourite was Kitty by William Corlett. It’s about a stray puppy in Spain called Kitty and recounts her adventures and misfortunes. I actually got rid of a lot of books from my bookshelf recently but I made sure to keep this one because it holds a special place in my heart.

Anything by Virginia Woolf, but especially The Years, To the Lighthouse and The Waves. And Mrs Dalloway, of course.

She’s just such an amazing writer and has this incredible talent to write stories where pretty much nothing ever happens but you never get bored. I will forever be in awe of the novels she has produced.

If you want to get into Woolf, definitely read Mrs Dalloway or To the Lighthouse first to ease yourself in gently. The Waves isn’t to everyone’s taste as its form is very experimental, but I love it. Just read it all!

This novel was just so over-hyped. I read it when it first came out and thought it was pretty mediocre. I still enjoyed the story, but I haven’t felt the need to pick up the sequel. The characters just didn’t do a lot for me and neither did the plot.

Maybe I’ll grab the sequel one day just to see where it goes, but for now I’m saving my money for other things.

 

 

 

I might be cheating a little here as this isn’t one book but I couldn’t think of anything else. This series was pretty YA formulaic in the love triangles and the rebellious girl doing it all for love, but I still really enjoyed this series when it came out. I’m tempted to give it a re-read because, from what I can remember, the writing was good and lyrical and the setting was very interesting.

This is a bit of a lie because I’ve read the first two novels in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but I’ve given up for now because the books are just so big and there’s so many of them. I do, however, love the TV adaptation.

 

 

 

 

I’ve said before that this book traumatised me and I’ll say it again:

THIS BOOK TRAUMATISED ME.

Whilst it had a little bit of a lull in the middle, the first third of the book and the final third definitely kept me awake at night.

And because of that, I really need to read more of Adam Nevill’s work because I haven’t read a good horror in a while.

 

I don’t think I obsess over couples in books as much as some people but if there’s one couple that I want to never ever break up then it’s R and Julie.

I never thought I’d say a zombie book contains the sweetest love story of all time but it totally does.

Oh, and Love, Rosie too! It was originally published as Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern but I prefer what they renamed it for the film adaptation. That book and film gave me a lot of feelings.

 

I stormed through this book and actually tried to slow myself down so it wouldn’t end!

This was definitely a fast-paced read with lots of action and I’m so excited for the sequel.

Check out my review for Rebel of the Sands here.

 

 

 

This is a plea to Garth Nix to never ever stop writing stories set in the Old Kingdom. I will never ever get bored of this series and its novellas.

I’m currently reading an ARC of Goldenhand which is just all my dreams come true. I still have the novella of To Hold the Bridge waiting on my bookshelf for me to read and I really don’t know why I haven’t got round to it earlier because I am so happy to be back in the world of the Abhorsen and the Dead in Goldenhand.

Seriously, I’ve said this so many times, but if you haven’t read these books you are totally missing out.

I’ve said this before too but I was surprised by how much I liked Throne of Glass. Even after seeing people rave about this series, I was never keen to try it. I don’t like the covers and the blurb’s never caught my eye. But then I gave in and turns out I loved Throne of Glass! Hopefully I can get my hands on the second novel some time soon.

Check out my review for Throne of Glass here.

 

 

These are three different series I’m all excited to start. They’ve all garnered a lot of attention and I hope I like them, but I really hope it isn’t a case of ‘over-hyping’.

Probably some first editions of Virginia Woolf’s works but, other than that, I’m not bothered about collector’s editions.

I know this has already been out for a while, however, it is a debut novel and I still haven’t read it! I want to so bad!

I’ve heard mostly positive things about it, with a few mixed reviews thrown in, but it hasn’t put me off trying it.

Apparently the purple prose can be a bit too purple but I’m not really averse to it.

 

 

 

There are a few but definitely Garth Nix, David Mitchell and Jenny Downham. Otherwise, I read whatever, no matter who the author is.

I talked about this during Waiting On Wednesday. It feels like I’ve been waiting for most of my life for the sequel to Warm Bodies and it’s finally within my sights!

January, please hurry up!

 

 

 

 

I Tag

• Monique @ That Wild Soul
• Asiya and Marcela @ Georgiana Darcy’s Reading Lists
• Bookish Afterthoughts

If you don’t do tags, or you’ve already been tagged in this, then please ignore me! Otherwise, have fun!

Beauty and the Beast Book Tag

Thanks to icebreaker694 who tagged me for this a little while back, I’m finally getting round to it! Go check out her blog if you don’t follow her! And thanks to the creator of the tag,  Kristy and the Cat Read too!

Questions

1. TALE AS OLD AS TIME – A popular theme, trope or setting you will never get bored of reading

Okay, this has to be dystopian for me. Everyone is saying “oh it’s so overdone now”, but I totally disagree. As long as the society and plot are unique then I’m happy! I love the idea of different societies and what life might be like under a regime where kids kill each other for entertainment in arenas (The Hunger Games) or where a child hasn’t been born in decades ( The Children of Men). There are endless possibilities in this genre, so I don’t appreciate it when some books are clearly a rip-off of another and are just trying to jump on the bandwagon.

2. BELLE- A book you bought for its beautiful cover that’s just as beautiful inside too

All the Birds in the Sky was definitely an immediate cover-buy, although the blurb sounded really interesting too. It mentions the word ‘apocalypse’ after all so I was totally sold! However, I try not to buy books simply because I like their covers. A book could have some amazing cover art, but if it sounds boring or isn’t really my cup of tea, I won’t get it.

You can check out my review for All the Birds in the Sky here. It was a really magical and fantastical book, with some great characterisation too.

3. BEAST – A book you didn’t expect much from but that pleasantly surprised you

This has to be Throne of Glass. I hate the covers to this series. I know I just said I try not to judge a book by it’s cover but I just really don’t like the covers! I think they’re very kiddy and a bit corny. It definitely put me off when I first saw Throne of Glass, but then I also thought the blurb sounded pretty cliche too, so I steered clear. Like I said, if the synopsis had sounded great I might have tried it a bit earlier and not been such a snob. But when I joined the blogosphere and saw everyone raving about this series, I decided to finally give it a shot. And lo and behold, I was proven entirely wrong; I loved the first book! I’ve only read the one but I hope to get my hands on the second book sometime in the near future. Check out my review of Throne of Glass here.

4. GASTON – A book everyone loves that you don’t

Sorry guys, but I just can’t get into these books. I’ve read City of Bones and attempted City of Ashes but they’re just not for me. Actually, I think I even got as far as City of Glass but never finished it. I don’t even know. As you can tell, these books haven’t really stuck with me. I’m not a massive fan of all this urban fantasy/paranormal romance stuff. I can’t deny they’re pretty well written, but I never became obsessed like a lot of people.

5. LEFOU – A loyal sidekick that you can’t help but love more than their counterpart

I was 100% more of a fan of El Capitan than I was of Bradwell. I loved all the characters, but there was something just that little bit more special about El Capitan. He’s a really troubled soul and he’s ruthless, but he’s also exceptionally caring.

If you haven’t read this series, you are missing out on some of the best world-building, writing and characterisation I’ve ever read. This series is flawless.

6. MRS POTTS, CHIP, LUMIER & COGSWORTH – A book that helped you through a difficult time or that taught you something valuable

Do I even need to say why?

7. SOMETHING THERE – A book or a series that you weren’t into at first but picked up towards the end

Can I just start by saying there are so many different covers for this series and they’re all amazing. I love them.

But anyway, my love for the series as a whole didn’t quite start in the same fashion. In fact, I loved the opening chapter and the world; I was totally hooked. Aaaaand then the romance started and my interest went from 100 to 0. I just didn’t feel invested in the romance at all. But then the pace picked up again by the end of the first book (however, that motorcycle chase… what on earth?!) and continued on throughout the series. I preferred Julian to Alex, as you can probably tell, and was rooting for Julian throughout the series. By the final book, I had really come to love this trilogy, it’s just a shame it had a bit of a shaky start.

It’s odd really, because normally the first book in a trilogy is amazing, the second feels like a pointless filler, and the third picks up the pace and can either be amazing or a disaster. For me, I felt like the first book was a bit of a filler and the plots of the second and third novels were much more interesting.

8. BE OUR GUEST – A fictional character you’d love to have over for dinner

Anyone from the Old Kingdom series. Please come and love me and be my best friend. Especially Mogget. And Dog. And Sabriel and Lirael and Touchstone and Sameth and Nicholas. Everyone please. My ARC copy of Goldenhand is up next in my TBR and I’m practically salivating in anticipation of reading it.

I Tag

• Demi @ bookstraveller
• Arianne @ Beyond Chapters
• Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks

If you don’t do tags or you’ve already done this one, then please ignore me! If not, then have fun!

Waiting On Wednesday: The Burning World (Warm Bodies #3) by Isaac Marion

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

This week (or rather, for about the past ten billion years) I’m waiting on The Burning World, the sequel to Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion, one of my favourite books of all time!

UK Release Date: 7th February 2017

Now, like I said, it feels like I’ve been waiting on this sequel for the vast majority of my 21 years. In fact, I still haven’t read the prequel novel, The New Hunger, because I’m too worried that it will get me so engrossed in the Warm Bodies world again and then I won’t have anything to read after it for quite a few months. However, now that the release date of The Burning World finally seems within reach, I’m going to give The New Hunger a go sometime soon. It’s only been sitting on my bookshelf for about a year!

Anyway, Warm Bodies is one of my favourite novels. It’s witty, hopeful, heartbreaking and philosophical. The characters are amazing and, in fact, the whole concept is just brilliant. I read it not long after its release back in 2010, 6 years ago now! I then had the film adaptation to sate my hunger for a while and I was pleasantly surprised by how well they adapted it. It took the more lighthearted elements from the novel, and missed out Perry’s monologues with R, which were one of my favourite aspects of the book, but I can’t deny I still really enjoyed the film.

So, obviously Isaac Marion has been working on The Burning World for quite some time, and I’ve witnessed him practically tearing his hair out over it on Twitter, but apparently it’s going to be quite a long book, so there’ll be a lot to appease the fans with after the wait. Fingers crossed it’s just as good as the first book!

Synopsis for The Burning World: 

Being alive is hard. Being human is harder. But since his recent recovery from death, R is making progress. He’s learning how to read, how to speak, maybe even how to love, and the city’s undead population is showing signs of life. R can almost imagine a future with Julie, this girl who restarted his heart—building a new world from the ashes of the old one.

And then helicopters appear on the horizon. Someone is coming to restore order. To silence all this noise. To return things to the way they were, the good old days of stability and control and the strong eating the weak. The plague is ancient and ambitious, and the Dead were never its only weapon.

How do you fight an enemy that’s in everyone? Can the world ever really change? With their home overrun by madmen, R, Julie, and their ragged group of refugees plunge into the otherworldly wastelands of America in search of answers. But there are some answers R doesn’t want to find. A past life, an old shadow, crawling up from the basement.

Have you read Warm Bodies? Did you enjoy it? Are you excited for the sequel? Anyone else think that synopsis just couldn’t get any better?! Let me know in the comments!