Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J . Maas

So, I bought this book very soon after I read and reviewed the last book (see my review of ACOTAR HERE) but I had so many other books to read that I'd bought, that I decided to wait and review this later on.

However, it didn't take me long before I was itching to read this, especially with my little talks with a few people on Twitter, who kept giving me little hints of things to come that I wouldn't understand until I'd read the book!

Here's the book!

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas's masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

So, this book starts off a little while after the last book, in the Spring Court, with Feyre and Tamlin planning their wedding together (yes they actually ended up together, "yay" I hear you Tamlin and Feyre shippers yelling). However, it isn't long until Rhysand comes barging in and takes Feyre from the Spring Court to his Night Court to fulfil her bargain that she made during the time under the mountain ("yay" I hear the Rhysand and Feyre shippers shout - including me).

Yes, even I, the one who said she loved the romance between Tamlin and Feyre in the first book, am now a Rhysand and Feyre shipper. I just felt very early in the book that Tamlin was not the right person for Feyre after all that happened, and that he was too controlling to help Feyre through her transition from Human to High Fae. This book shows you just how hard a time Feyre is having with this transition, and all that happened Under the Mountain, and even though you wouldn't think it Rhysand really does help her get through it all, hence, I started to love him even more than I did (I've always liked a bad boy with a soft side, and in the last book he hit that perfectly).

But, rambling about fictional guys is not what this review is for (unfortunately) so I'll get onto discussing the book!

This book really gets you the insights into the Night Court, and oh my is it beautiful! You wouldn't have thought it with all the little things you had heard about it in the last book, but it is. I think I actually prefer it to the Spring Court! Though, I admit, I really do miss Lucien, even if in this book the few times you see him he is a massive annoyance, always following Tamlin's orders instead of actually helping Feyre through her hard times (but she does call him out on that in the book, and I love her for that).

This book though will really stick with me, as it shows Feyre starting to come out and accept her new life as a High Fae, and dealing with the horrors she was forced to endure Under the Mountain. It's such a powerful transformation and you can just see her learning to adapt, with the help of Rhysand and his inner court.

And the characters in this book that you meet! The characters! They are amazing. I love them all and I can't wait to see more of them.

I could ramble forever about this book, and I'm not sure I put into words how much I adore it, but all I can say is it is a powerful book with amazing characters, and I definitely recommend it, and the series so far. This book was a bit more serious than the last, but no less beautiful, and I'm not sure Sarah can make the next book better than this.

Though I will say, it isn't all PG so I wouldn't say younger readers should pick up this book!

Definitely rating this as 5 cats!

Have you read this book, and do you agree with me? Are you a Tamlin lover, or like me have you been converted from Tamlin to Rhysand? Comment below!

ARC Review: Blackbird by N. D. Gomes

I received this book from Netgalley in an e-book form, in exchange for an honest review.

Of course, the beautiful cover was what originally drew me in on this book, the gold against the black was striking and immediately caught my eye.

But as I've recently started to branch out in my book genres, I thought I would request this book, as it looked so intriguing, and I've always been interested in mystery shows, so why not try the mystery book genre. I generally stick to YA though, so this book definitely ticked the box for both a YA book, as well as being something different than usual.

This book is out November 16th!

Anyways, here it is:

Olivia disappeared the night the blackbird died.

It was New Years Eve the night that dead blackbirds descended, hours before fifteen year old Alex McCarthy’s sister Olivia went missing from a party.

Committed to finding out what happened to her sister, within the previously safe walls of their subarctic Orkney village, Alex knows that dishevelled, sometimes intoxicated Detective Inspector Birkens is her best shot.

Yet as they uncover the secrets behind Olivia’s last night, Alex starts to find things she may be better off never knowing…

So, this book has been on my TBR list for quite a while, in the list of slowly piling up Netgalley acceptances, and my lovely twitter followers decided in a poll that this should be my next read, as it is out in November.

This book definitely didn't disappoint as a mystery book. It had me guessing throughout as to just what happened to Olivia, and I definitely didn't expect to find out what we did, it was a great reveal near to the end of the book.

But when watching, or now reading I guess, a mystery, isn't it just great when it keeps you guessing, and it turns out all of your guesses are wrong? This especially pleases me, as usually I am quite good at guessing what will happen in movies or books, but with this one I didn't get anywhere near guessing what happened to Olivia.

The book is narrated by fifteen year old Alex, and describes the time she spends trying to figure out what happened to her sister, after she goes missing. As well as that though, throughout the story you see just what it is like for a family who loses someone, as we see Alex and her parents struggling to deal with everyday life after Olivia is reported missing, and suspected to be murdered.

All I can really say is that this book is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, and you definitely connect with Alex as a character when you read the book. I loved how it showed that different people grieve in different ways, as it shows you little windows into other peoples grief over Olivia's disappearance as well as Alex's, such as her parents', her friends, and her ex boyfriends.

This is definitely an interesting read, and I don't think I've done it justice when describing how emotional it is, but it has really made me want to read some other mystery books in the future, so I would definitely recommend it.

I give this book: 4 cats.

Blackbird is out November 16th, are you planning on reading it? Comment below!

Review: It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne

So, as you may have known if you follow me on Twitter, I went to the launch event of this book at Waterstones Piccadilly on the 20th of September. It was my first book event as a blogger (and really just my first book event) and it was amazing.

From this, I got my copy of this lovely book, a week(ish) before release, and I loved it so much I read it in less than a day.

Now, it's been a while since I've loved a book so much I've read it in a day, and I admit I've really missed that feeling, I don't know about you guys but I feel like reading a book in less than a day really means something. But, I'm rambling, so here's the book!

Bad boys turned good, kisses in the rain, climbing through bedroom windows... It only happens in the movies.

When Audrey meets Harry, it's the start of a truly cinematic romance - or is it?

Audrey knows that Harry is every movie cliché rolled into one. But she still chooses to let him into her heart...

So, this hasn't been my usual read for a few years now, I used to read all types of YA books, including romances and contemporary like these when in college, but I then focused more on fantasy books coming into university. However, I saw the description for this and I was pulled in, and decided to go for it and go to this event, and I am glad I did.

This book made me remember why I used to read these types of book, it was hilarious, and I could relate to certain points in it so much that I couldn't put the book down once I started it. I even almost missed my train stop on the way home from the event because I was busy reading it.

The main thing I loved about this book was how it made me rethink romance movies. I've always been a bit of a secret romantic at heart, and I've always loved a little bit of a rom-com, but this book had little tidbits throughout, and at the beginning of each chapter, that really made me think about the way romance movies are done, and how they are all pretty much similar.

These tidbits about romance movies, and the whole book, is narrated by Audrey, who is a teenage girl in her final year of college. I found it so refreshing to read a MC like Audrey, and I really connected with her. I laughed with her, I cried with her, and I cringed along with her when things went wrong, and I think connecting with a MC is what really makes you love a book.

But, I could go on for ages about this book, mainly because it's so different to what I usually read it was so refreshing, and I'll definitely be reading Holly's other books if they're as good as this one!

I give this book: 5 cats!

Review: The Witch's Tears by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr

Guys! The lovely Corr sisters sent me the second book in this series (and because they're so amazing it was even a signed copy!!), and so even though I had multiple other books to read I just knew I HAD to read this book as soon as I could. So, because I can always choose what I want to read, of course I read it.

One word: wow.

(If you haven't read the first book then my review can be found for that HERE)

Anyways, here's the book!

Can true love's kiss break your heart...?

It's not easy being a teenage witch. Just ask Merry. She's drowning in textbooks and rules set by the coven, drowning in heartbreak after the loss of Jack. But Merry is not the only one whose fairytale is over.

Big brother Leo is falling apart and everything Merry does seems to push him further to the brink. And everything that happens to Leo makes her ache for revenge. So, when strangers offering friendship show them a different path, they'd be mad not to take it...

Some rules were made to be broken, right?

Oh guys, this book was just as good as the last one, if not better. It got a bit darker in this book, especially towards the end, and for some reason I love it when that happens in books (am I weird for saying that?). But, you may have guessed it would get a bit darker by the fact that both Merry and Leo were trying to deal with their heartbreaks that happened in the last book.

The main part of this book is centred around the fact that someone, or something, is killing witches across the UK, and Merry's coven is trying to find out why, and figure out how to stop it from happening again. We also learn slightly more about the coven's ways and also there's a slight insight into the lives of wizards in this book, which I found extremely interesting and I hope to see more tidbits into the lives of both witches and wizards in the next book.

Talking about wizards brings me to the two new characters we meet, Ronan (AKA Leo's love interest) and Finn (Merry's love interest). Both wizards, both hiding things, it really makes you wonder throughout the book if, like most of the Coven keeps telling Merry, all wizards are not to be trusted, or if some of them can be good. It also makes you wonder if one of these two wizards are in on the bad things happenings in Tillingham or not! It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the book guessing just what was happening.

We got to see a bit less of Leo in this book, as he was all loved up with his new love interest, but I still love him! He is my favourite character, and I really did like that he was starting to get over his heartbreak and found another person, he deserves to be happy, and I really hope to see him happy again in the next book! It was a shame that he started to lose touch with Merry as he went through the book, but you do find out why nearer to the end (I won't spoil it by telling you why!).

And the ending of this book! The ending!!! Guys I cannot explain my love for the ending, even if it was a giant cliffhanger! It made me want the next book (but unfortunately it's not out until March!). All I know is that you will all be blown away by the ending of this book! Totally blown away!

So much to say about this book, but I can't keep going or this will be a book in itself instead of a review.

But, I give this book: 5 cats!

Have you read this book yet? Are you like me and itching for March to come around for the next book? Comment below!