The Month in Books: July

Hey guys! 

Soooo I did a lot better this month at reading! Last month was horrific and I was all reading slumpy and it was such a slog to read anything, even good books. This month I'm right back at it again, and I'm working my way through the backlog my reading slump gifted me. I'm making speedy progress because I have a lot of reading time on my hands, thanks to being on set! Although there was more talking going on than reading, which is unusual! 

All of these have been reviewed right here on my blog, or will be in the near future! Scheduling is a nightmare right now because I'm trying to get all of them out as fast as possible! Which is why there's none of my other usual blog posts up, but TBR Bites, and Bookshelf Tours will be coming back shortly when I've calmed down with the reviewing! :) 

The Master and Margarita 

I'm doing quite well with Classics these days and it's not taking me as long to get in to the writing style of some of the older ones as it has before! While I was a bit iffy at the beginning, I did find myself being drawn in to the story, at one point it felt a bit like Alice in Wonderland but more adult, and I'm probably the only one who thinks this but at some points it felt a bit Terry Pratchett as well! 

This Savage Song 

Boy oh boy was I glad to finally get to this and I can't believe how long I've been missing out! I read the first two thirds of this in one sitting and had zero regrets! I got completely drawn in to the world that had been created, and Schwab always manages to get me hooked! Brilliant characters, plenty of originality and some amazing scenes. The opening for instance...this book definitely starts with a bang! (This post is scheduled because I'M TOTALLY MEETING HER TODAY! LIKE POSSIBLY RIGHT NOW IF YOU'RE READING THIS AT 7ISH!)

Soldier 

The third installment in Kagawa's Talon series and boy was it a doozy. The title of the book...the added POV...I knew it was leading to something and I had a bad feeling the more and more I read this. I loved Ember's character development, her very real struggles with everything that's happened, I briefly rooted for Dante to come to his senses, the romance is resolved. Ember makes her choice. But then the end comes in to completely ruin your life. I'm basically still in denial so don't get me started on it. 

King Slayer 

One of my most anticipated reads! Witch Hunter was an instant favourite of mine and I completely loved it! I'm forever sad that this is only a duology, but hopeful that there might be books with other characters! I rated this a 5 because for all intents and purposes it was a cracking sequel and conclusion. Giant bloody battle? Check! Romance? Check! Obstacles so the romance isn't too unrealistically easy considering the fallout from the last book? Check! Elizabeth struggling now she's changed? Check! I totally loved seeing Elizabeth struggling with no longer having her stigma...no longer being able to do what she did before, feeling that her entire value was placed on that stigma by others, the conflict it caused with John. Everything wrapped up nicely? Check! Although I still need more Elizabeth and John and Fifer and Schuyler There is one issue with this. One. Malcolm. I had an extensive conversation with Naz about this and I won't get in to it too much but he ended up being quite the...hero in this book. But at the same time after what he did to Elizabeth he didn't get any punishment and I felt like we where supposed to feel sorry for him? I didn't know what to make of him, and I would have liked him quite a lot if not for his actions in Witch Hunter. 

Prudence

This was a re-read for me, because I wanted to re-fresh my memory and because I think The Custard Protocol may just be my favourite of all Carriger's series. I just love Rue and Quesnel so much and I ship them so hard, so I re-read this super fast, it actually helped to pull me out of my slump enormously! It's such a great continuation of the main series, but with new characters and their own story, with the occasional appearance from our favourite characters. This book is genuinely a lot of fun and one of the best Steampunk books I have ever read! Or I should say series with lots of mini series. 

Imprudence 

The sequel to Prudence and...as I was devastated to find out...the final book in the Custard Protocol. Turns out it's a duology *ugly sobbing* It perfectly wraps everything up not just with Rue and co but with her parents as well. There's an ongoing plot thread that hints of where mentioned in PP, and in this book you see it finally come to fruition and get dealt with. Everything feels like it's been finished well, but I'm still hoping Carriger might change her mind because I need more Rue and Quesnel! I read this book so fast it was ridiculous and the romance is adorable, and the world is captivating and it's just perfection. 

The Dragon Lords

I enjoyed this book immensely. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect but I was sold on the whole "Guardians of the Galaxy meets the Hobbit" description. Now this book is huge, it's like 500 pages or something and even I struggle with that many pages sometimes, but I breezed through this thanks to the writing style, the action and how freaking hilarious it was. It's genuinely laugh out loud funny and the Dragon's POVs where just brilliant it has to be said. The characters are memorable and interesting and really bring the world of the book to life for you. 

Red's Untold Tale 

Perfect for any fans of OUAT who also happen to have Red as one of their favourite characters! It's a quick, easy, and fun read, with an adorable romance that makes the show and the scenes to do with Peter and Red all the more heartbreaking. You get to learn more about Red and her life and what she's been through before we meet her in the show and FYI there's a character who is the most vilest girl I've come across in a while! 

Sing

Sing is the perfect summer read. Genuinely, it's got a cute romance, a relatable character and a beautiful setting that's described vividly so you feel like you're there. It also has its surprises, especially the ending, I wasn't expecting that ending I have to admit! But it did make a nice change to the usual. 

New Pompeii

New Pompeii had some serious Jurassic Park vibes but with Romans instead of dinosaurs, like personally I'd take the dinosaurs because they aren't gonna toy with you first and make you fight people. They'll just eat you straight out. Probably. Maybe. New Pompeii starts out slow but soon reels you in with an intriguing narrative told from two different people, I was nerding out a little bit it has to be said! 

Who's Afraid? 

I took part in the blog tour for this book and it completely blew me away. I read it in one sitting and was surprised at every single turn. Even the bad guys weren't who I was expecting! The ending though...that was the biggest shock of all! I loved our MC, I loved our supporting cast and it was an original take on werewolves that had you glued to the page to see what would happen next! 

How did you guys do for reading this month? 

Review: Red's Untold Tale

Red's Untold Tale 
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher, Titan! 

It's Wolfstime, the foreboding period around each full moon when villagers must protect their homes and families against the giant, ferocious wolves that roam the forest. On the day Red turned thirteen, Granny gave her a special red cloak upon which a spell had been cast to protect Red from wolves.Red is now sixteen and is desperately trying to fit in among her peers, save Granny's failing bakery business, and, of course, protect herself from wolves. Her crush on Peter and her determination not to let the mean girls sabotage her blossoming romance cause Red to make some questionable choices.Will these choices let the wolves in? Will Red pick the right battle? Will her skills be strong enough to keep her alive?

Once Upon a Time is one of my favourite shows okay. It cheers me up, it makes my day, it has stunning costumes and I'm not gonna lie, I would trade a spare organ to get to be in it. Red is one of my favourite characters from the show, she's not in it enough in my opinion, and so getting to read this...to learn more about her and her background? Amazing. 

Red's Untold Tale is a fast paced, quick and easy read, that's also kind of heartbreaking if you've watched the show and know what happens to Peter. Honestly I loved the romance and friendship between he and Red and it makes the scenes from the show so much more heartbreaking and it made reading the book a little bit of a sad experience at points! They where so adorable together and it gave me the warm and fuzzies when I was watching it all play out. 

I felt for Red a great deal. She's lost her parents and it's just her and Granny. They're struggling to pay taxes, to bring in money, to get the business back to being a success and Red is doing everything she can to help Granny. She's also being bullied by the nastiest character I've met, Violet. Her and her friends are not only messing with Red but they're messing with Granny's business too and Red hasn't told anyone and no-one notices, I was a bit disappointed in Peter for that actually! I came to dislike Violet with a burning passion, but Red did the right thing in the end, although I was disappointed there was no apology to her. 

The narrative smoothly switches between time periods taking us from Red's present to different periods of her past...when she received her cloak for example. You end up getting a lot of glimpses in to Red's background and childhood. We also get glimpses of some of Red's Wolfstime dreams, and if you've watched the show...they're mighty interesting too. I loved seeing Red become the hero of the book, seeing everything she faced and her struggles. It was brilliant to see how she got to the place she is in the show, to see her become more fleshed out. 

Red's Untold Tale is a fantastic addition to the OUAT world, it takes a fan favourite character, and gives you more information on her, brings her more to life, and expands on her past and her relationship with Peter, both making the show more interesting and more heartbreaking if you watch it again after having read this. After reading this, I need to get my hands on the other OUAT companion books, if they're as good as this one is! 

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Review: After Alice

After Alice 
Rating: 3/5 
Buy or Borrow: Borrow
Source: Copy courtesy of BookBridgr! 

When Alice fell down the rabbit-hole, she found Wonderland as rife with inconsistent rules and abrasive egos as the world she left behind. But how did Victorian Oxford react to Alice's disappearance? Gregory Maguire turns his imagination to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings -and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll's enduring tale. Ada, a friend mentioned briefly in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, sets out to visit Alice but, arriving a moment too late, tumbles down the rabbit-hole herself. Ada brings to Wonderland her own imperfect apprehension of cause and effect as she embarks on an odyssey to find Alice and bring her safely home from this surreal world below the world. The White Rabbit, the Cheshire Cat and the bloodthirsty Queen of Hearts interrupt their mad tea party to suggest a conundrum: if Eurydice can ever be returned to the arms of Orpheus, or if Lazarus can be raised from the tomb, perhaps Alice can be returned to life. Either way, everything that happens next is After Alice.

I completely and utterly loved Wicked so when I spotted this on BookBridgr, I HAD to request it! Aside from the stunning cover....it's a brand new Gregory Maguire book and I had a burning need. I love his writing style, the writing is just so beautiful, "Spires and domes like so much barnacled spindrift poke through first", I'm just so in love with the writing style. Yes, it's hard to read sometimes because it's so wordy, so it's hard to get in to. There are words mentioned that I haven't come across before and have no idea what they mean so I have to look them up. But despite that, the writing is brilliant. I love it. In the Victorian setting of the book, it's perfect. It fits so perfectly with the setting pulling you in to the book and the story, but it can take a few pages to get used to. 

There are a lot of Alice in Wonderland re-tellings out there, and this one is interesting don't get me wrong. We follow Ada, a character briefly mentioned in the original books, as she follows Alice down the rabbit hole and is trying to locate her in Wonderland. She meets many of the same characters as Alice so we see a lot of familiar faces, Queen of Hearts, Chesire Cat etc, which was fun. I actually liked Ada. She was interesting and had an entertaining narrative. She's been forced in to wearing this metal brace thing, and with the arrival of a new baby in the family she's pushed aside. As you read the book you watch Ada move further and further away from her smothering family life and she was a character you could root for. 

In alternating chapters we also follow Alice's sister Lydia who was supposed to be looking after her sister but has managed to lose her. Alice is missing, merrily wandering through Wonderland, and Lydia is socialising with Darwin...yep. That Darwin. An American gentleman and the boy he freed from slavery, Siam. She's sent out to find her sister with the help of Mr. Winters, Siam and Ada's governess who is also searching for Ada herself, and I wasn't sure I liked Lydia all that much. She didn't seemed bothered that her sister was missing, she acted like she was older than she was, but I came to like her quite a lot and towards the end you could see she cared for her sister. The more I read the more of her character I understood. She's just lost her mother and she's trying to deal with that, she acts like she's older than she is because she's having to grow up faster. She's trying to make sense of what happened, to understand it all and she has to make all of these decisions that she's not ready to make and she no longer has a mother to turn to for help and advice. 

Ada's POV was interesting and full of adventure. Lydia's not so much. There was a kind of adventure to it, but not as fantastical as Ada's. There's none of the action, and it's more character based. This book isn't a light read, there's a lot of historical study going on here, the author examines family and society at the time of the book, it's quite sombre and not by any means an easy read. The book wasn't really what I was expecting. I love Wicked. But this isn't in the same ballpark. I feel like there's a lot of bits and pieces taken from the original and turned around to suit this book and it felt like I'd read some of it before. There was none of the originality that I was expecting and I found my attention wandering once or twice. 

I'm conflicted about After Alice. I loved Maguire's writing style and his beautiful imagery, I enjoyed the characters, but the actual Wonderland aspects fell a bit short for me. I was more interested in the scenes in the real world, and seeing what life was like for the characters there. Which rather defeats the point of an Alice in Wonderland retelling doesn't it? I just found the characters and their Victorian struggles so interesting to read about and had little to no interest in the Wonderland scenes as it all felt a bit  deja vu. 

Wishing For Wednesday #96

Happy Wednesday guys! 
Hope you're all having a good one! I've got two exciting books for you this week, but then....don't I always!? 
First up is the fourth book in the Arcana Chronicles series, a unique and really original series that I LOVE. When I finally read the third book...I could not believe that ending. Like...no. HELL NO. You can't just end a book like that, so I've been waiting for this with way too much anticipation than is probably healthy! 
Second up is the first book in a brand new series and it sounds phenomenal. It's set in the 1800's but there's lots of magic and myth, intrigue and adventure. It also sounds original and fun and I have so much NEED for this book! 

Arcana Rising

Losses mount and deadly new threats converge in this next action-packed tale of the Arcana Chronicles by #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole. 

When the battle is done . . .
The Emperor unleashes hell and annihilates an army, jeopardizing the future of mankind--but Circe strikes back. The epic clash between them devastates the Arcana world and nearly kills Evie, separating her from her allies.

And all hope is lost . . .
With Aric missing and no sign that Jack and Selena escaped Richter's reach, Evie turns more and more to the darkness lurking inside her. Two Arcana emerge as game changers: one who could be her salvation, the other her worst nightmare.

Vengeance becomes everything.
To take on Richter, Evie must reunite with Death and mend their broken bond. But as she learns more about her role in the future--and her chilling past--will she become a monster like the Emperor? Or can Evie and her allies rise up from Richter's ashes, stronger than ever before?

Arcana Rising is out August 15th, pre-order your copy....here! 
Add it to your TBR....here!

The Midnight Queen

Gray Marshall's Britain is a fragmented kingdom of many tongues, many gods and many magics. But all that concerns Gray is returning as soon as possible to his studies at Merlin College, Oxford and setting right the nightmare that has seen him disgraced and banished to his tutor's home.Sophie Callender may not have magic herself and a father who forbids his daughters a magical education, but her bookish rebellion and growing friendship with Gray are the first steps of a journey. A journey that will involve them in a conspiracy at the heart of the kingdom and into the legend of a young queen who vanished without a trace years before.Sylvia Hunter has created a world that is both only slightly different and a far cry from the England we know of the 1800s, teeming with depth in language, myth and religion that defies easy categorization.

The Midnight Queen is out August 18th, pre-order your copy...here! 

Add it to your TBR...here!

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Classics: The Master & Margarita

The Master and Margarita 
Rating: 4/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

In Soviet Moscow, God is dead, but the devil - to say nothing of his retinue of demons, from a loudmouthed, gun-toting tomcat, to the fanged fallen angel Koroviev - is very much alive. As death and destruction spread through the city like wildfire, condemning Moscow's cultural elite to prison cells and body bags, only a madman, the Master, and Margarita, his beautiful, courageous lover, can hope to end the chaos. Written in secret during the darkest days of Stalin's reign and circulated in samizdat form for decades, when The Master and the Margaritawas finally published it became an overnight literary phenomenon, signalling artistic freedom for Russians everywhere.

I am completely in love with the old Penguin covers, the ones that are Orange or Green etc. I don't know why I think I just like the simple colours and layout! They're super hard to get hold of these days so I was really excited by the release of the Pocket Penguins! Not to mention the upcoming release of Penguins Orange Classics! I was kindly sent a copy of Master and Margarita to review and it's not a classic I've read before and I was intrigued to start! 

First of all, this edition has a stunningly simple cover, and it's SO easy to read! I have an issue with some books....a spine issue. I never want to crack spines, really I don't. But sometimes a book is so tightly bound it has to happen...accidentally or otherwise. This book has a nice loose spine, so you can easily read it...easily put it down..without damaging it and I loved that! There's a nice large and memorable quote at the front of the book, intriguing and it caused much excitement when I spotted it in the book! There was also an extensive notes list at the back of the book, and they provided a lot of useful and interesting background information to the time period, and a lot of context. 

I found this book to be oddly fascinating. I was compelled to keep reading. It was witty, an interesting take on the early days of Stalinist Russia. People would disappear and it became commonplace. No eyebrows would be raised and you see that in this book. The ending...I don't want to spoil it but the ending had me a little choked up...smiling sadly as he realised his visitor had died. There's fantasy in this book, in fact....I'm kind of worried to say this, but...the scene with Margarita at the ball...it kind of reminded me of Alice in Wonderland...that strangeness. That magical quality to the scene. 

There is a lot of different elements to the book that make it a fascinating read, not just for the historical importance. The romance between the two rather lonely characters. The realism that managed to be humorous. The magical/fantastical elements. It's an intriguing read. Don't get me wrong...it's not a cakewalk. It is a bit of a slog in parts. In the beginning I was a bit iffy but I became more invested in it as I got used to the writing and found my intrigue outweighing my difficulty reading. 

You can feel the atmosphere of the time when the book was written in the pages. The fear. It's not hidden. It's there. Accusations. People disappearing in the night. Pointless arrests and so on. The people causing the fear don't need to be named. You know. It was an atmosphere that came off the page and infected you as you read. The book is amusing. It's witty at times, slapstick at others, and there's observations scattered throughout. Along with the humour the book can be quite saddening at other parts. There's a lot of emotion and humanity in this book if you can get in to it. 

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Review: The King Slayer

The King Slayer
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Former witch hunter Elizabeth Grey is hiding within the magically protected village of Harrow, evading the price put on her head by Lord Blackwell, the usurper king of Anglia. Their last encounter left Blackwell ruined, but his thirst for power grows stronger every day. He's readying for a war against those who would resist his rule--namely Elizabeth and the witches, wizards, pirates, and healers she now calls her friends.

Having lost her stigma, a magical source of protection and healing, Elizabeth's strength is tested both physically and emotionally. War always means sacrifice, and as the lines between good and evil blur once more, Elizabeth must decide just how far she'll go to save those she loves.

Okay so I read Witch Hunter not too long ago and I've been eagerly awaiting this sequel to see what happens next, WH made me feel all the feels but this was so much worse. SO MUCH. So many feels. I can't even. I read the majority of this in one sitting, I only stopped because it was like 4am and I needed to sleep and I had like 50 pages left or something. I couldn't put it down. The book picks up a couple of months later, and there's a council meeting to decide what to do with Elizabeth and my lord Gareth took the piss. I really disliked his character! Anyway, there's that and there's the whole 'we need to deal with Blackwell' thing. This book as a complete rollercoaster of emotions. It made you laugh, cry, it broke your heart, the camaraderie warmed your heart. You legit feel all the feels. 

I liked seeing this new Elizabeth. She wasn't as strong as she was in book one, obviously without her stigma she doesn't heal super fast and she's lost some of her strength and at points she's struggling to deal with that because she feels like everyone placed her value on her stigma. Elizabeth has to learn to fight all over again with the help of Schuyler and Fifer. This added such an interesting dynamic with John. John now has her stigma and he's all super healing and super badass. He's more protective of Elizabeth and it was kind of sweet. There was an odd tension between them because of it all and it was really well done and created an interesting struggle with the romance, or obstacle rather. It was all fine and good until John started acting super shady, and you see his darker side and I wanted to slap him more than once. My adorable romance was being spoiled and my ship was sinking fast with no happy ending in sight! Honestly, I was glued to the book like NO....NO WHAT IS HAPPENING!? MAKE IT STOP! 

The romance had kind of come together in the last book and it was all cute and adorable in this book I was expecting more of it but I think this added tension and this struggle with the romance added a nice layer to the story. It wasn't all smooth sailing and at points it was quite realistic. But then I can say that now because everything worked out fine, when I was reading I did briefly wonder if this was it, if the romance was done and I was unable to carry on reading a couple of times, having to put the book down to digest everything and calm down! 

I completely loved the cast of characters in the first book and in this book we get to see more of them! I love Fifer's friendship with Elizabeth and her relationship with Schuyler. We didn't get to see much of Fifer actually, or George, but he was there at the end! I'd missed him! We get lots of Schuyler in this book and I love him, I genuinely do. He cracks me up. You can see his friendship with Elizabeth, he helps her train, he's there for her when everything goes wrong, he goes with her on her mission, he's so sweet to Fifer, and you kind of see his softer side in this book a little bit. Chime's back and I wanted to like her this book because I hated her last book, and I did kind of like her momentarily she was united with Elizabeth in trying to help John but then she was back to her regular self. I loved seeing Peter and Nicholas and ugh. So many feels. 

We get some new characters in this book. Keagan who completely cracked me up, I loved her and I'm hoping to see more of her if the author writes more books! She was completely brilliant! She understood Elizabeth quite a bit I think and didn't immediately judge her badly for being a former Witch Hunter. We also get a lot of Malcolm. Now I know he's not a new character, but like...we didn't really see much of him in the first book and I had a certain image of him in my mind, I thought he was a bit useless and rubbish, and a complete idiot. In this book we see him a lot and I wasn't sure what to make of him after everything with Elizabeth. He had kind of had his illusions shattered regarding her and realised what kind of person he had been. It was interesting to see the two of them interact as their merry band go off on their little mission. I actually ended up quite liking him. He apologised to Elizabeth sincerely, and he wasn't the useless pansy I thought he was. Don't worry there's no love triangle or anything! There's just love troubles haha. 

The King Slayer was a brilliant sequel and I'm so gutted there are only two books in the series. It's fast paced, with a vivid and authentic feeling setting, there's an epic battle scene, more magic, more romance, more action and more feels. This book is so easy to sit and read in one go because you don't want to put it down and it genuinely makes you feel all the feels. We see all of our favourite characters and get to see a few more and I think things ended well with everything wrapped up smoothly. This is definitely one of my favourite books and Virginia Boecker has become an auto-buy author of mine! I'm hoping she'll write more books for this series but for now I'll have to settle for novellas and re-reading!