When the World Tips Over - Review and Inspired Playlist

I don’t want to write a long review for When The World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson. Mainly because I fell in love with this. I knew I would within the first few pages of read that this was going to be a 5 star read and am so happy that I was proven right (I remember a few years I read another Jandy Nelson novel, I’ll Give You the Sun, and I gave it three stars but I think, if I reread it, I would change my thoughts on it). 

But When the World Tips Over, I fell in love with. I think it helped that I didn’t rush reading this (the original plan was the read it over September, but it spilt into October [very similar to last year when I read Cassandra Clare’s Sword Catcher. I didn’t rush reading it and I need to do this more!) and I savoured. 

Anyway, let me tell you a little about the book and this post as it’s different from my normal. 

Title and Author: When The World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson

Publisher: Walker Books

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by the UK publisher in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): https://uk.bookshop.org/

The Fall siblings live in the town of Paradise Springs, where you can get drunk on the air, the devil winds blow so hard that it can blow sense out of the head, and the Fall family is a family divided. 

The eldest, Wynton, is a powerhouse on the violin and is on track for fame or self-destruction of himself and his family. His brother, Miles, is smart, beautiful, perfect, but he feels lost and alone, and not even his dog whispering gift can pull him out of his darkness. And the youngest, Dizzy, can see ghosts, bakes beautiful soufflés and wishes to be a lead in her own romance. 

But when a mysterious girl with rainbow-coloured hair saves Dizzy from a car accident, the Fall family finds their world tipping over. Is the mystery girl an angel? A normal girl? Whoever she is, she becomes important to each of them and soon, her stories of family curses, betrayals, love stories within love stories within love stories might bring the Fall together.

Audiobook Review - The Man In Black

Collection of short stories, all written by one author, can go one of two ways: really well or really bad?

But when I heard of The Man in Black and Other Stories by Elly Griffiths, I got ver excited. She's a crime author I keep saying I will try and she seemed to explode during the COVID lockdown, but I've only read one of her books - The Postscript Murders - and I had plans to do more. But life got in the way and I kept putting it off. Until Man in Black was up for preorder... 

Title and Author: The Man in Black And Other Stories by Elly Griffiths

Publisher: Quercus

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Audiobook Bought

Buy From (Affilate): uk.bookshop.org

In this collection of 19 short stories, Elly dips her toes into crime short stories, following a mix of characters her readers know and love (Ruth Galloway, DS Harbinder Kaur, Max Mesphisto, even a grown-up Justice Jones and Ruth Galloway's cat, Flint).

Audiobook Review - The Last Murder at the End of the World

I’m gonna be honest with you: I have no idea how this got on my radar. It just appeared one day and, after picking it up and down several times, I went “Sod it!” and bought the audiobook. And what I got was something I wasn’t expecting (something I now discover the author does with every book he’s released). 

Title and Author: The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton
Publisher: Raven Books & Bloomsbury
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

The world is ravaged by a fog that will kill all in its path. The only safe place is a small Greece island where 122 villagers and 3 scientists live, where all live in harmony, all overseen by ABI, an artificial intelligence who keeps the security fields up and the fog at bay. 

But one morning, the island wakes up to one of the scientists is brutally stabbed, which triggers the security fields to lower, meaning that the fog will be on the island within 92 hours. 

What makes the situation worse is that ABI has wiped everyone’s memories so no one can remember what happened the previous night, and even they don’t know what happened or who gave the order to erase the night’s events. 

Meaning someone on the island is a killer and they don’t even know it. And the only way to put the security fields back up is to find the killer and figure out what happened last night…

eBook Review - My Sister’s Keeper

This is one of those books where it feels like every one has either read or know the vague outline of. And the author of this is one of those authors that I have been meaning to read for YEARS, but I keep putting off due to the Hype Monster that surround them and their novels. 

Yes, I am talking about My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. 

Title and Author: My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughtin
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought
Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Anna was born a Saviour Sibling for her older sister, Kate, who has acute leukaemia. When she was born, doctors took blood from umbilical cord. As she’s grown up, she has given her blood, blood marrow and now, at the end of 13, her parents want her to donate a kidney. But Anna decides to sue her parents for medical emancipation. 

Now, from the little I wrote above, you would expect this book to be really heavy and quite dark. We have a saviour sibling storyline, illness and how it affects everyone around the people who is ill (and how those in need to help can slip through the cracks), messy family relationships, a messy relationship between Anna’s lawyer and the court appointed guardian ad litem.

Audiobook Reread - A Discovery of Witches

I am going to be honest: this was meant to be one of the series I wanted to reread this year. And I wanted to do it before the release of the newest installation of the All Souls world, The Black Bird Oracle, which is coming out in mid-July. Now, I don’t think I’m going to be able to binge-reread the rest of the All Souls trilogy (Shadow of Night and Book of Life) as well as the companion novel, Time’s Convert, before it’s release. 

But I am going to try and reread (all via audio) before the end of the year. I do think I am going to attempt Time’s Convert next month (I read this originally and was very middle of the road about it, but I got the audiobook on sale so am doing to attempt it this way as see if my opinion changes as I really like the leads in this). 

Anyway, like I said, I really wanted to reread this, which means I needed to start from the beginning. 

Title and Author: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Publisher: Headline

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Audiobook Bought

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Diana Bishop is a scholar and descendant of a line of powerful witches, though she tries very hard not to use her magic. When she discovered a strange manuscript at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, she returns it to its archives due to the strange enchantments around it. But this manuscript - Ashmole 782 - was thought long lost and deeply enchanted and now, vampires, witches and daemons, are coming to Oxford, watching Diana. In the hopes she recalls it. 

For this book has its own secrets and it looks like Diana is right in the middle of it…

eProof Review - Missing White Woman

Sometimes, you crave a book as soon as you seen the cover online. It’s almost a physical reaction. This is what happened when I saw Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett. I saw someone tweet about it with the UK cover and I became obsessed with it. I mean, LOOK AT IT! And 24 hours later, it appeared on NetGalley so, of course, I had to request and hope that I would be approved. 

Which I was (hooray!) and once I finished Kate Atkinson’s Normal Rules Don’t Apply, I jumped straight into this. 

Title and Author: Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett

Publisher: Simon and Schuster UK

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

It was meant to be a romantic getaway in New York City. Just Breanna and her new boyfriend, Ty. They hired out an airbnb four-story house with a beautiful view of the skyline. Until Bree wakes up one morning to discover a dead woman in her foyer and Ty’s missing. Is the dead woman Janelle Becker, a recently missing dog walker that the media is reporting on and social media is a buzz over? 

A Black woman stranded in a strange city, Bree is scared. A black person involved in the white person’s disappearance/murder isn’t a good look. And she knows how the Police sees her. And until she can find Ty, the only person who can help her is an ex-best friend, a lawyer who Bree shares a complicated history with. 

But as the Police and the social media mob close in, Bree realises that the only way to stay out of jail is to discover what happened that night. But is she going to like what she finds…?

Audiobook Review - The Familiar

Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it, dear reader? I didn’t plan to be away for so long. Real life kept getting in the way and the last thing I read (Normal Rules Don’t Apply by Kate Atkinson), I left it so long to write a full-on review on the blog, I wanted to try and see if I could write a review/mini-write up on Instagram.

 
Note to self: if I do this again, MAKE NOTES while you reading using Goodreads and StoryGraph. 
But we’re not here to talk about that, are we? We’re here to talk about The Familiar.

Title and Author: The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Viking/Penguin

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Audiobook Bought

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Set in Spanish Golden Age, we follow Luzia, a scullion. She tries not to be seen, but she uses scraps of magic to make life a little easier. But when her mistress discovers that Luzia can perform  little miracles, she demands that Luzia uses them to better the family’s social position. But what begins as simple amusements for the bored nobility takes a dark turn when  disgraced secretary of the Spanish King, Antonio Pérez, and his familiar, Guillén Santángel, sees her and takes a dark interest in her. 

Luzia seizes the chance to better her self, but as her notoriety grows, the danger of her Jewish blood grows as, if she gets found out, the Inquisition’s wrath will be unspeakable. She has to stay several steps ahead. But the rules are always changing in the Spanish court and not everyone gets out alive.

eProof Review - The Mystery Guest

Oh boy, where do I start with The Mystery Guest? I liked the first outing with Molly, The Maid, but when I discovered that there was going to be a sequel, I was very hesitant over the announcement. To me, The Maid felt really good and fairly solid as a stand-alone and, because of this, I couldn’t see how the sequel would work.

Title and Author: The Mystery Guest by Nita Prose

Publisher: HarperCollins

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Set around four years after the events of The Maid, Molly is now Head Maid at the Regency Hotel and the hotel is about to open its new Tearoom with a reclusive author doing a press conference. But when the author falls dead before he could announce his news, Molly finds her trying to figure out what is happening at the hotel.

Book Review - The Fury

Like I said in my previous post this week (The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen), I bought this after a job interview as a treat to self. I thought I did really well in the interview (I get really nervous in interviews) and went into Foyles and got a signed copy. Now, I wouldn’t have picked this up if it wasn’t for an interview did on a podcast I listen to call All About Agatha, and I was so intrigued by one or two of the details, I knew I would have to buy it. 

I, sadly, didn’t the job, in case you were wondering. 

Title and Author: The Fury by Alex Michaelides

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Seven guests go to a private Greek island. One of them being the former movie star, Lana Ferrar. Here, she hopes that she and her guests can unwind and enjoy themselves. 

But when the island gets suddenly cut off by violent winds, something awful happens. One of them is murdered and one of them is the killer… 

Audiobook Review - The Spy Coast

Normally, I usually like a post up on here once a week. Otherwise, the blogger anxiety kicks in and I feel like I have failed as a book blogger (even though, compared to other cooler blogosphere [on booksagram, booktube or booktok and other places], my little corner of the Internet is tiny!) and I know I shouldn’t worry so much, but I do. I should practice what I preach over doing this your way and no one else. 

Anyway, no blog posts last week and two this week. One audiobook that I preordered and one physical that I treated self to after I did a job interview that I thought I did really well (I didn’t get the job so can’t of gone that well). Now, getting sidetracked so let me get the details of this preordered audiobook up and then we can have a chat. 

Title and Author: The Spy Coast by Tess Gerritsen

Publisher: Penguin

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

The first in the Martini Club series, The Spy Coast follows Maggie Bird in Purity, Maine. She’s a nice neighbour, loves her chickens and is a good shot with a gun. She, also, doesn’t talk about her past. 

So, when an unidentified body is dumped on her drive while she was at “book club”, Maggie realises that the past is coming for her. 

She and her fellow book club members (former spies for US government) must find out what is going on and why quickly is Maggie wants to keep her new, peaceful life. But the past is a tricky thing and Maggie’s past might get her killed…

Book Review - Goddess Crown

You know that feeling when you randomly discover a book and you go “I need to read this as soon as I can”? It’s almost a physical reaction. Well, that was me when I first heard of Goddess Crown by Shade Lapite. It just ticked all the boxes for me: a standalone fantasy with deep inspiration of Nigerian mythology. And as soon as I got an Advance Reader Proof copy front the publisher, I practically dropped what I was reading and started this. 

Title and Author: Goddess Crown by Shade Lapite

Publisher: Walker Books

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

Kalothia has grown up in the shadow of the her kingdom, hidden away after her parents were outed as enemies of the king. But when assassins attack her home and kill her guardians on her sixteenth birthday, Kalothia is forced to flee and finds herself in the king’s court.

But the king’s court is no safer. Men think they are entitled and someone is plotting against her. How far will Kalothia be willing to go to keep herself and the kingdom safe?

Audiobook Blog Tour - We Play Games

My first blog tour of 2024! Feels like I’ve not done one of these in a while, and we start with a domestic thriller with a twist. 

Title and Author: We Play Games by Sarah A Denzil

Publisher: Audible

Bought, Gifted or Borrowed: Gifted by Midas Campaigns on behalf of Audible for review in exchange for an honest review/reaction. 

Listen from (Non-Affiliate): Audible 

Ben and Effie have moved to the beautiful yet exclusive Ivy Oaks and they look like there are the perfect couple. Beautiful, wealthy, friendly. But behind the smiles, both Ben and Effie are dark hearted and like to play games. Games that will hurt other people and rip communities apart. And Ivy Oaks seems like the perfect place to do one of their games. 

The couple has two rules: no lies, no ties. But Ben has broken these rules and Effie is beginning to realise that. Soon, not only are the pair scheme and manipulate the people around them, but they are doing it to each other. 

For this game is their final. Losing isn’t an option for either of them. Let the games begin…

eProof Review - Ink Blood Sister Scribe

One of my bookish resolution of 2024 is to try and get my eProof backlog under control. I do have a lot of books and audiobooks gifted to me very kindly by publishers and authors, and I would like to try and tackle this backlog.

One of the titles that have been on my backlog radar is Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs, It’s one of those titles that tickled my fancy for quite a while, but, for one reason or another, I’ve kept putting it off. But, with everything that has happened to my reading over the past few months, I decided to audiobook this from my local library and hope I will fly through it.

Title and Author: Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

Publisher: Penguin

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction & library audiobook.

Buy from (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In this fantasy thriller debut, we follow estranged sisters Joanna and Esther. Joanna lives alone in Vermont, the sole protector of a collection of rare magical books. One of these books killed their father.

Esther moves every few months. Different country, different jobs, staying no longer than a year, desperate to avoid the magic that her father and stepmother warned her about. But she’s found love on a research base in Antarctica and she wants to stay… then she discovers blood on the mirrors and she knows someone on the base is using blood magic and they are coming after her and her sister’s collection.

Esther and Joanna are in danger. But from who and where? And how is this connected to a young man in London who's uncle won’t let him out of his sight?

Audiobook Review - Lord Edgware Dies

Because of the events of the last few months with my employment and, because of this, falling into a bit of a reading/audiobook slump, I had no plans to do a library audiobook for a while. I am desperate to get my TBR piles of books/audiobooks publishers have kindly gifted me (in exchange for an honest review/reaction) under some control (remember last April when my Amazon was hacked/deleted and all my proofs were wiped off my kindle? I am still affected by that!). 

But I couldn’t bring myself to start audiobooking one of my many audiobooks that I have got from publishers or bought myself. I just wasn’t in that headspace. I needed something short, something I can listen to really quickly and that would kick me out of my audiobook slump. 

Then this became available on my library’s audiobook app. And who doesn’t love a classic murder mystery? 

Title and Author: Lord Edgware Dies by Agatha Christie

Publisher: HarperCollins

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Borrowed via library’s audiobook app

Buy from (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In Poirot’s ninth outing, after seeing an impressionist performance of Carlotta Adams, Poirot is approached by the actress Jane Wilkinson. She is currently married to Lord Edgware and, according to her, he will not give her a divorce and asks Poirot for help. Though Poirot doesn’t get involved, he agrees and visits Lord Edgware where he discovers that Lord Edgware is happy to give a divorce and wrote a letter to let Jane know. 

Poirot tells Jane Wilkinson and she is thrilled over the news, and Poirot thinks that is that. Except the following day, Poirot discovers that Lord Edgware has been murdered. Stabbed at the base of the skull, and witnesses say that they saw Jane Wilkinson at the family home at the time of the murder. But that can’t be possible as she had been at a party and there are twelve witnesses that can testify to that. 

Is it possible for a woman to be in two places at once? Who murdered Lord Edgware? How is it connected to a drugs overdose of Carlotta Adams? And how did a chance remark from a stranger help Poirot come to the truth?

eProof Review - The Butcher Of The Forest

Happy First Read of 2024! Fingers crossed all your have been fun and great. 

Mine? Not so much. You’ll see why in the moment in gif form and for that, I do apologise. 

Anyway, let me get all the details for you and we can get this party started!

Title and Author: The Butcher Of The Forest by Premee Mohamed

Publisher: Titan Books

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction.

Buy from (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In the dark, fairytale-like novella, a ruthless Tyrant forces an ordinary woman into an enchanted forest to retrieve his two missing children. The enchanted forest is full of dark things and won’t let the heirs go easily. And the woman isn’t as ordinary as she’s the only person known to have gone into the forest and to have come out again, all to save a child. 

If the woman fails, all she lives will be destroyed. So, she must step carefully as one misstep could be the end of everything…