Let’s Wrap: November

November was a bit of a weird month. Or rather, a stressful one. I’ve just been a bit overwhelmed with trying to sort out my life and then trying to nurse a sick animal – my hamster Cookie – and then he passed away. As you can expect, I’m still pretty upset about the whole thing and I really miss him; he was like a tiny dog! But he led a great life and definitely improved mine, which is all that matters. Some people don’t understand just how much personality these little animals can have, and how attached you become to each other!

So it hasn’t really been a fun month and, as a result, my blog went totally on the back burner. However, I’m now back (mostly) and have some ideas for new posts. So bear with me!

There were some plus points, I have to admit, like getting published for what I think was the seventh (???) time, which was pretty mind-blowing! It was for the HG Wells Short Story Competition and, whilst I didn’t win, just to be published was amazing.

And we also adopted a cat! She’s settled in really well and three days ago we decided to finally let her outside (she was getting very grumpy and taking it out on the furniture). Thankfully, she clearly knows her way back to the house and she seems much happier (so does the sofa).

• My Most Anticipated November Book Releases
• The Sunday Post #19
• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I’ve Added To My Wishlist Lately
• Stacking the Shelves | I’m On a Book Winning Streak!
• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favourite Sci-Fi Films
• ARC Review: Gilded Cage by Vic James
• The Sunday Post #20
• An Unfortunate Update
• It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #3 + Update

As you can see, this month wasn’t good for my blog, for reading, or for me in general, but thanks for sticking with me!

None! I only finished reading one novel and, whilst I started A Darker Shade of Magic in November, I finished it this month, so it doesn’t count. But if you want to check out the review, then you can find it here.

I’m currently reading Gemina and loving it! I’m about a quarter of the way through and I’m totally hooked, just like I was with Illuminae. I got a little bit confused at the beginning as to what was going on, mainly because I couldn’t quite remember all the events from Illuminae, but I’ve got a grip on it now and wow this series is just too good. So many interweaving plots yet it never feels confusing, with larger than life characters and an amazing format that really ramps up the tension.

So far, I like the two leads, especially Nik, who I probably like as much as Ezra. However, I think I prefer Kady as a lead to Hanna. I’m now just counting down the hours till the Hypatia turns up…

But what to read after? I’m thinking maybe An Ember In the Ashes as I’ve heard such great things about it. Or to change it up a bit from Sci-Fi and Fantasy and go for a YA Contemporary instead, a la How Not To Disappear by Clare Furniss. I’ll have to see what I’m feeling closer to the time. I have so many good books in my TBR pile at the moment it’s just so hard to choose!

Also, just as a little warning now, I probably won’t be posting from this Saturday to next Tuesday as my boyfriend is coming to visit and we haven’t seen each other in a few months, seeing as I bailed on him twice. But with good reason, I might add, aka a very sick me followed by a very sick hamster.

And that’s my strange and depressing month over and done with. Bring on Christmas.

How was your November? Any opinions on what book I should read next? Have you read Gilded Cage, A Darker Shade of Magic or Gemina? Let me know in the comments below!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #3 + Update

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!

Hello! So after a week out, I’m back! Of course, I’m still pretty upset about Cookie passing away, but he led a great life and brought me so much happiness that it would be unfair to him to mope around.

So thanks to this little one. I’ll always miss you!

Also, on Sunday I went all the way down to Folkestone for the award ceremony of the HG Wells Short Story Competition. I was a shortlisted author for the Junior Prize which was extremely exciting. However, I didn’t win, but I don’t mind too much because hey I’ve been published again in a great anthology! If you’re at all interested, you can actually buy the anthology already on Amazon. So if you want to (no pressure), then check it out here: http://amzn.eu/dK97Uzu

So, anyway, what have I been reading?

What I Read Last Week

Just over a week ago, I finally finished my ARC of Gilded Cage by Vic James. I actually really enjoyed it, more than I thought I would, especially the characters and overall world-building. I found it really engaging, however, looking back there definitely was a lack of diversity.

It was very white, upper-class Britain, which is fair enough because the upper-class here are pretty much stuffy white people, but not every character in the book was an aristocrat. Plus the ruling elite in Gilded Cage wasn’t so much an age-old wealthy family thing, but a ‘who has magic and who is the most magical’ thing, so magic wouldn’t just be exclusive to white people. But anyway, maybe that’ll be rectified in the next book; it would be good to possibly see characters from other parts of the world and how magic (known as ‘Skill’) is handled in their country.

Check out my review here.

What I’m Currently Reading

I’m currently about halfway through A Darker Shade of Magic and I’ve been struggling to put it down! I’m really enjoying it so far, especially the world-building, which is just mind-blowing. However, I do have a few issues, which I’ll be talking about in my review soon.

Up Next

After A Darker Shade of Magic will be Gemina, which I am unbelievably excited for. I’ve heard that it’s even better than Illuminae, something I thought totally impossible, so fingers crossed I love Gemina!

Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments below!

 

 

The Sunday Post #20

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.

Another very busy week! Last week, I mentioned that I hadn’t posted because my hamster had fallen seriously ill with pneumonia. However, he’s made a miraculous recovery and is pretty much back to normal. In fact, he seems to have even more energy than he’s had for the past few months! He’s got his final injection of antibiotics tomorrow and then the course is complete. Fingers crossed the pneumonia never rears its head again.

Also, we adopted our cat on Thursday! She’s settled in surprisingly well and has already found her favourite spot on one of the sofas. Hopefully she’ll begin to see this as home and understand she’s not going to be neglected again.

As far as posts go this week, I only managed to post twice as I’ve been busy with animals. Because I didn’t find the time to post a Sunday Post last week, I’ll include the posts from the week just gone too:

• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I’ve Added To My Wishlist Lately
• Stacking the Shelves | I’m On a Book Winning Streak!
• Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Favourite Sci-Fi Films
• ARC Review: Gilded Cage by Vic James

So, after nearly three very busy weeks where it was almost impossible to find the time to read, I finally finished my ARC of Gilded Cage! I really enjoyed it and was actually surprised by how complex the characters were. You can check out my review above.

I’ve now started on A Darker Shade of Magic, like I’ve been saying I would for weeks. I’m about eight chapters in and really enjoying it so far. It’s my first V.E. Schwab book and, if this book continues well, it definitely won’t be my last.

Once I’ve finished A Darker Shade of Magic, I have to read Gemina. I adored Illuminae and I can’t wait any longer; the only reason I’m not reading it this second is because I’ve been promising to read ADSOM for so long! Plus, I’ve heard that it’s somehow better than Illuminae which I didn’t think could actually be possible!

My song of the week has to be ‘Dancing In The Dark’ by Rihanna. I’m not normally much of a Rihanna fan but this has been playing nonstop where I work in Lush and it’s from the soundtrack for a Dreamworks cartoon, so it’s quite cute. Have a listen here:

ARC Review: Gilded Cage by Vic James

Gilded Cage by Vic James

Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Dystopian

Publisher: Pan Macmillan

My Rating: 

Synopsis: Our world belongs to the Equals — aristocrats with magical gifts — and all commoners must serve them for ten years. But behind the gates of England’s grandest estate lies a power that could break the world.

A girl thirsts for love and knowledge.

Abi is a servant to England’s most powerful family, but her spirit is free. So when she falls for one of the noble-born sons, Abi faces a terrible choice. Uncovering the family’s secrets might win her liberty, but will her heart pay the price?

A boy dreams of revolution.

Abi’s brother, Luke, is enslaved in a brutal factory town. Far from his family and cruelly oppressed, he makes friends whose ideals could cost him everything. Now Luke has discovered there may be a power even greater than magic: revolution.

And an aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

He is a shadow in the glittering world of the Equals, with mysterious powers no one else understands. But will he liberate—or destroy?

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.

It’s taken me nearly three weeks to read Gilded Cage. However, that isn’t because I didn’t enjoy it. On the contrary, I loved it, but life just kept getting in the way! This isn’t a book that’s easy to put down, yet I will say that if you do have to put it down for a few days, it’s not difficult to get back into the story and reorient yourself.

That’s all down to the fact that this book is seamlessly written, with an intriguing, fresh plot, a richly woven world, and complex characters. I’d heard great things about Gilded Cage before I started, so I was eager to begin. I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

Let’s start with the plot. In an alternative universe where some members of the population possess the power of magic, these people with ‘Skill’ have mostly ascended to the higher ranks of society. In some parts of the world, they’re shunned, but in Europe they rule over the Skilless masses as a magical elite. The Skilless must serve the elite, known as ‘Equals’, for ten years as slaves.

The story is written from the third person POV of a number of characters, each chapter focussing on a different one, and this gave a great feel for the world, allowing us to see this society from different perspectives, as well as learning more about the motivations of the main characters.

Mostly, the chapters centre on Abi and Luke Hadley, brother and sister. The Hadley family have all signed up to get their slavedays over and done with together. However, the family find themselves split up, with Luke carted off to the slave town of Millmoor, a large, almost Victorian slum-like industrial complex, and the rest of the family – Abi, little sister Daisy, and Mum and Dad – are sent to work for the most powerful Equal family in the country – the Parva-Jardine’s.

I found the chapters in the two locations of Millmoor and Kyneston (the Jardine estate) equally interesting, although perhaps Kyneston piqued my interest a little more. However, the two settings provide a great contrast and really set two different tones. You have the dirty Millmoor, with rumblings of rebellion, and the picturesque Kyneston, where everything isn’t quite as perfect as it seems.

I liked both Abi and Luke as the two most central characters, but I really did enjoy the entire cast as a whole. It’s quite a large cast of characters, all complex and clearly drawn. There are no characters that feel like stereotypes, or like the author just has a check list of stock characters she’s ticking her way through. Instead, even a character such as Bouda Matravers, engaged to Gavar Jardine (Heir to the Jardine estate), could easily have fallen prey to the ‘bitchy girl’ stock character, but she didn’t. Whilst she certainly was bitchy, she had much more depth to her. She was motivated, headstrong and very intelligent. I really enjoyed the couple of chapters from her perspective as, even though I didn’t particularly like her, I admired her ambition.

My favourite characters as a whole though, I would say, are the three Jardine brothers: Gavar, Jenner and Silyen. I liked the complexities of Gavar’s character; initially, he just seems very brutish, when in reality there’s much more to him and he does have a soft side. Silyen, however, was my favourite. The youngest brother, Silyen possesses the most Skill. He’s dark, mysterious and very cunning. Not always likeable, I’ll admit, but I was hanging on his every word and looked forward to scenes involving him. He was definitely one of the best characters I’ve read about this year.

In terms of the writing, I enjoyed the style. It was fresh and didn’t seem like Vic James was trying to emulate any other author. It was often detailed, yet not boring. However, my one small gripe with this novel, though not big enough to affect the rating, is that some events were kind of glossed over. We’d learn about them in passing rather than get to see them. There were a few times where I was a little disappointed I wasn’t privy to this conversation or that event, and would have liked them to be included. However, it may have been that there was a strict word count that Vic James needed to adhere to; YA books aren’t often allowed to be quite long.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Gilded Cage. This is definitely one of my favourite YA books of the year and I’m really excited to continue with the series, especially because of the climactic ending that, thankfully, didn’t fall flat, and the character of Silyen. Also, as you can see from the blurb, there is a romance, but it didn’t overpower the plot. If, like me, you’re sick of insta-love and cringe-worthy ‘swooning’, you’ll be glad to know that there’s none of that here.

So, if you’re looking for a new YA series to sink your teeth into, especially an interesting, unique dystopian filled with magical realism, then I highly recommend this series. You seriously don’t want to miss out.

Gilded Cage will be released 1st Dec in e-book format, with the paperback out 26th Jan.

Have you read an ARC of Gilded Cage? Are you excited for the release? Let me know in the comments below!

The Sunday Post #19

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’m sorry that it’s been another week where I’ve been pretty absent. However, I’m here to update you.

The last two weeks I was busy due to being horrendously ill, my boyfriend visiting, my Dad’s birthday and my job at Lush.

But this week? Well, my room is being completely redone now that I’ve moved home again permanently from uni. Last time I had my room done I was about 5 so it’s in desperate need of a makeover. So I’ve been busy with that, but also…

We’re adopting a cat!

She’s only a year old but has had a very rough start in life. Her owner neglected her and pretty much left her to fend for herself. She’s also had one litter of kittens already and miscarried a second litter. But now she’s hopefully going to have a much better life with us! We’re picking her up on the 15th and I am so excited!

So yes, I’ve been busy with my room and a cat. And because I don’t want my hamster to feel like he’s not getting any love, here’s an autumnal photo shoot of him (he’s a poser):

Anyway, enough about my animal obsession, here’s the posts from this week:

• Let’s Wrap: October
• My Most Anticipated November Book Releases

I’m still reading my ARC of Gilded Cage by Vic James. I haven’t read since Tuesday and I’m having withdrawal symptoms! But this book is really great so far.

And for the last billion years, I’ve been telling you all that oh I’m definitely going to read A Darker Shade of Magic next… But Gemina is calling my name. I even had a dream about it. A dream about a book I haven’t read. I think it’s a sign.

Anyway, we’ll see.

I also have a few posts planned! It’s just about finding the time to write them at the moment as next week is going to be even busier, especially since I’m visiting my boyfriend at the weekend. So please just bear with me! Normal service will resume in a couple of weeks, I promise.

INHEAVEN are a band I’ve been keeping tabs on for a little while now. I really like their sound – it’s a little punky – and I’m hoping they release something full-length in the near future. ‘Bitter Town’ is my favourite song. Check them out here:

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!

The Sunday Post #18

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 boyfriend came to visit on Friday and just went home today so I was busy all this weekend and haven’t done any blog hopping. I’ll try and catch up next week! However, it was lovely seeing Mark as we’re currently doing long-distance after uni ended. It’s difficult but we’re managing it!

Anyway, that’s my little update. Here were the posts this week:

• 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

I finished my last book in the Halloween Read-A-Thon, The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich, which was sadly a bit of a disappointment. After that, I started my ARC of Gilded Cage by Vic James. I’m only a few chapters in but I’m really liking it. The atmosphere is great and the characters are intriguing, not to mention the opening was especially good.

After that, I was planning to start A Darker Shade of Magic but An Ember In the Ashes has been looking at me from the bookshelf. I’m really tempted to start that instead. However, I’ve had A Darker Shade of Magic longer.

I also got Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2) this week and whilst I’m itching to read it, I’m going to be patient and read some books I’ve had for longer first. Whether I can actually be that patient is another thing entirely!

Instead of music this week, I’m going to post a film trailer! Specifically, the new teaser for Guardians of the Galaxy 2. I am so so excited for this film, and even more excited for the Avengers Infinity War films when the Guardians will meet up with the Avengers. That’s going to be one strange encounter.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!