June Wrap-Up!

Yet another wrap-up for a busy travel-reads month! Some great things have been read and reviewed, and these are just a few of them with some mini-reviews attached.

Ruins (Sentinel #2) by Joshua Winning

I loved the first book in this series, but with so much to do it took me a while to get round to reading this which was a shame as it was even more action packed than the last book was, and kept me hooked when I had time to read.

I loved meeting all the new characters - my favourite being Nale with his faithful dog Zeus - and it was definitely interesting to see a few new POVs too - specifically Rae and Dawn (though Dawn's POV didn't last too long). I always think it's nice to get some back stories - and this book done that perfectly, which really helped me to connect to the characters a bit more. Though, I admit I still would have loved to see more of Malika's backstory!

Plus, I think this book was left in the most enticing way possible - it made me want to read the next one ASAP - but I'll be saving it for a little while longer. I give this book 5 cats!



Ariadnis By Josh Martin

I got this book when I went to Drink YA in one of the goodybags, and it looked so interesting that I picked it up relatively quickly considering my TBR pile is getting larger and larger. I loved the premise, and the plot kept me hooked wondering just where this would turn out.

I think the one downside I could find was the short chapters, switching between the two MCs did confuse me a bit at first because I got a bit confused as to who was who and trying to figure out the two different cities, but I got over that and then I got sucked in.

I think one of the cutest things were the illustrations of the MCs on the back inside cover, they really helped me to imagine everything, that and the illustration of the two cities before the book started. Overall, definitely an interesting read, and I saw there was another book in the series which I will definitely be picking up! I give this book 4 cats!

Ascension by Victor Dixon

So, I got this on Netgalley, and then won a finished copy in a competition on twitter, but I was a bit late to read it. Which is such a shame because it was amazing.

I've not read many space books, but it seems to be something that's coming back, and I kinda love it because there are so many takes on space to go for, and this was just one amazing take on space travel. Speed dating has always interested me - how can you possibly meet someone and decide so quickly on if you like them or not? - and add in a bit of space this made this such an interesting read!

I already want the next book, even though this has just come out, and I can't wait to see what will happen to everyone after the crazy conclusion! I give this: 5 cats!



Under a Sardinian Sky by Sara Alexander

I got invited to a HQ event, where they showed off some upcoming books. A lot of them weren't my usual (AKA they were adult fiction not YA) but I picked up lots of new books including this one.

I adored it. That's all that I can say really. It was such a nice refreshing read, just what I needed when I was in a bit of a YA slump, and it made me really just want to go to Sardinia to see if it's as beautiful as the author described it.

I think what I liked most about this book was the fact that it was a mix of historical and modern day, which is something I do love in books, and it also had a tiny bit of mystery so I was left guessing what would have happened to the MC throughout. Plus, it was so nice to go back to a romance read, I used to read them a lot more a few years ago, but got into Fantasy after a while instead.

Overall, I give this 5 cats! I'll definitely be reading more like it (and I picked up the authors next book so that will be interesting!)

May Wrap-Up!

So, I've been super busy this month starting a new job, but I get loads of travel reading time, so I guess my wrap-ups are becoming a regular thing now!

As before, these aren't all the books I've read this month, some get a full review but will be posted whenever I get around to it.

Mini review time!

The Beasts Heart by Leife Shallcross

I got this book as an ARC from Netgalley, but finished it so close to the release date that I thought I'd just do a mini review in my wrap up instead. As you should know, I adore re-tellings - of any form usually, all the writers differences in plot always fascinate me, and this was definitely an interesting take on Beauty and the Beast!

I loved seeing a book telling us of the Beasts POV. I've only seen one other take on it, and both are so different that it was great. I loved the history of the Beast - the backstory was filled out nicely and it was one of my favourite bits. I also liked the way the mirror was used in this book - to only see Isabeau's family, and only when the magic allowed it. In fact - the magic of this story was what drew me in the most - it was so intriguing!

4.5 Cats to this book (only because it took me so long to get into it)

The Extinction Trials by S. M. Wilson

I got this in a bookbox a while ago, and only just got round to reading it. There's been a big hype about this book, and it left me wondering if it could live up to it - it could and it did. This was my first dinosaur based book, as I've never really been a big fan of dinosaur based things, but this changed my way of thinking and I'll definitely be reading more in the future.

I admit, I always take a long look at maps before, so I saw Blaine's shack on the map and wondered about him - and where he might come in, so I wasn't as shocked as I probably should have been when he was introduced, but it did have me trying to guess about his origins which was fun.

Overall, I give this 5 cats, and I can't wait to see where it goes in the next book after everything that happened.

Carnivore by Jonathan Lyon

I got this book from the publisher, because I saw the cover and thought it was beautiful, and then the description had me intrigued. It's not often that I go out of my zone and read adult fiction, but sometimes I do and so far it's all been good.

This book was quite hard to read - not in a bad way, but because it was so intense and you had no idea where it would go. I've never read something as intense as this - and I warn you this is definitely not a book for those faint of heart and it has quite a lot of trigger warnings. But it was beautifully written - the descriptions in this were amazing, even if it was hard to keep up with the main character at times.


I give this book 3.5/4 cats. It was enthralling but totally not what I expected, and maybe a bit more intense than I thought. If I knew what I was going in to, I probably would have rated it much higher.

An Almond for a Parrot by Wray Delaney

I picked this book up for it's beautiful cover, and was slightly intrigued by the thought of a biography-like historical fiction so I bought it. I wasn't sure how much I would like it, but as soon as I started reading I got sucked right in to Tully's story - I especially liked how it went from her time in prison to her recollection - or 'memoir' of her time before she was imprisoned. In fact, I got so sucked in I almost missed my train stop because I couldn't tear myself away one morning!

There is one thing I will admit though, I wasn't expecting it to go into as much detail on her sex life as it did, and I definitely had a laugh at the terms Tully used during the more intimate scenes (I don't know if that's what they were called back then but wow they were weird) but other than that I had no complaints.

I give this book 4 cats. It is an adult historical fiction though, so maybe not for everyone!

April Wrap-Up!

So, because April was such a busy reading month for me, I thought I would jump onto the wrap-up bandwagon and show you some of the books I've read, and give them each a mini review.

These aren't all my books I've read in April of course, I've written a few full reviews too, but these are just some of the other books that I thought you'd like to see my thoughts on! (and you can click the link in the name to find the Goodreads page if you're interested in the blurbs)

The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury:

This was a re-read of mine, that I finished at the beginning of April. I've read the first 2 books in this series before but I decided to re-read this because I went to the launch of Mel's new book Sorrow last month. This was my train read, and I forgot just how great the book was.

Reading this a second time just made me love it more, although I admit because I knew what happened it did make me dislike Leif this time round, and I had a lot more sympathy for Merek than I did the first time round.

I love the world building in this series and I loved the idea of different sins and what would be eaten - I'd love a longer list! Overall though this book gets 4.5 cats!

                  

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas:

So, the third in this series I decided to read it after having it a little while because of there is another book being released soon, and I wanted to be ready for it.

As with the other two books I adored it, as I think that Rhysand is one of my favourite characters out there, and I love the way he interacts with his court and Feyre. I was especially interested to see how Nesta and Elain's plots played out in this book after how it ended, and I really wanted to see if the Hybern situation would be resolved or not.


Definitely an action packed book, and I definitely loved it like the rest, but my favourite in the series is still the second book. However, I did like meeting all the new people in this one, and I can't wait to see where it goes. This book gets 5 cats!

I am Thunder by Muhammad Khan

I won this book in a competition, and I decided to read it because I was meeting the author at YAShot this month. Definitely glad I won it, it was such a good book! (But it did leave me feeling old because when reading it did take a while to get used to the teenager speak!).

It did take me a while to get into it, but when I did I was definitely sucked in, it was so different to see the POV of someone that was a Muslim, I've only ever read one book like that - and this one trumped that by miles.

I think my favourite bit about the book was the name - and the quote used - I am thunder and I won't keep quiet. It definitely resonated with me and I think it's one of my new favourite quotes - and something I need to live by I think. Overall, I give this 4 cats. It's definitely a thought provoking book.

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth

I decided to re-read this book because I got sent the second in the duology for a review, and I wanted to refresh my mind. My original read of this book was reviewed on goodreads before I started blogging, and I laughed a bit when I read my review. 

My opinion has changed from the first time - I loved it more than I did then. I think the re-read helped me to understand things a bit better and really helped me to get into the plot more and connect with the characters more too. It's definitely going to be one of the books I'll re-read again in the future, and my review of the second book will come soon in a separate post.

Also I've had a lot of people comment on the beauty of the cover, and yes that was the main reason I bought it from Costco's, the deep blue with slashes really caught my eye, and then the description intrigued me too. I give this book 5 cats (one more than last years review)

A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke

Although I have so many other books on my TBR pile I started on this as soon as I got it in the DrinkYA goodybag as I've wated to read it so much. It did take me a little while to get into it, maybe I was going in with too many expectations and it put me off? But when I did get into it I can see why it's such a popular book, some of the descriptions in this book definitely caught my eye throughout - they were so beautiful.

I adored Osa as a character - she was so strong throughout the book despite how she was brought up being blamed for her mothers death. I think her character development was amazing, especially at the end, and I think it was so great how her development was like a big circle - she learnt that it wasn't her fault and also really came into herself.

I also think the world building in this was great - I can't wait to see what the author will do in any future books if its as great as this one, it will definitely be a surprise as I can't guess where it may go at all. 4 cats for this book!