All Hallows Read - Wicked Lovely

I keep saying that I am not a fan of books featuring fairies or the fey, and yet, here I am, reading another book featuring the Fair Folk. I thought that this might be a good read for Halloween for those among us that aren’t the biggest fan of horror. So, here we are. 

Title and Author: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

Publisher: HaarperCollins

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Bought

Buy from (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org 

Aislinn has seen faeries all her life. She hides this secret as she knows what will happen to her if the fae discover this truth. So, she lives by three simple rules: don’t stare at the invisible faeries, don’t speak to an invisible fae and don’t attract their attention.

She thought these rules would keep her safe. But now powerful and dangerous faerie are stalking her, including Keenan, who is positive she is important to his and the Summer Court’s survival. But Aislinn isn’t going to give her humanity so easily… but it might already be too late.

All Hallows Reads - Lords And Ladies

What’s Halloween and spooky reading without some witches to cause havoc? And what witches are best suitable for havoc and mischief than the Witches of the Discworld…

Title and Author: Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Publisher: Transworld

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Audiobook borrowed from local library & BorrowBox app

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

After the events of Witches Aboard, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Margat have returned to Lancre from their holidays and discover that things aren’t quite right. Margat finds herself engaged and to be married to the King at Midsummer, Granny seems distracted lately and the someone has been dancing round the stone Dancers and crop circles have beginning to appear. And last time those happened, the Lords and Ladies came…

All Hallows Reads - Sword Catcher

This post is a long time coming. Why, I hear you ask? Because I have been reading my limited edition Advance Reader Copy of Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare for approximately FOUR MONTHS!

Ok, a bit of backstory is needed. But at the start of Summer this year, the lovely people at Black Crow PR emailed if I fancied going to a limited edition event for Cassandra Clare’s upcoming novel, Sword Catcher, her first adult fantasy novel. I replied very quickly saying yes, and thought nothing of it. I just thought it would be the publisher chatting about the book and meeting up for other bloggers who I haven’t seen in years (investigation only been to one book blogger event this year and I think that was the first time in a while due to work and COVID). And I knew Cassandra Clare would be at the event, but I thought that she was only there to say hi and have a quick chat as even well-known authors need a holiday. So, off I went after work, feeling sudden very anxious and very old (everyone at the event was SO YOUNG! I felt like a fossil in blogging) and, out of nowhere, I was gifted a beautiful, limited edition hardback proof and then, Cassandra Clare did a signing!

I knew that I was going to read this very slowly. I wasn’t going to rush. I was going to savour, but I hoped this would hold my attention. I thought this would take me a month or two. Maybe even the whole summer. Not well into autumn (though have you seen the UK weather lately?!). But, ha-ho! We’re here so let’s get chatting!

Title and Author: Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Tor/Pan MacMillan

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by UK publisher and PR Company, Black Crow PR, in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In the city-state of Castellane, young orphan Kel is taken from his old life in the vibrant, lush world of royalty and peril. He becomes the young prince, Conor’s, guard and body-double: his Sword Catcher. He has one purpose: to die protecting the Prince. 

Lin Caster is an Ashkar physician, part of a community ostracised for its rare magical abilities. But soon, her path and Kel crossed and get pulled together by events outside of their control via the ruler of Castellane’s criminal underworld, the Ragpicker King. 

But things are happening in Castellane. The Ragpicker King is losing his grip on the criminal underworld, whispers of an attack on the royals and the Charter families and people are beginning to double cross each other. If everyone isn’t careful, things will spiritless out of control and will end in fire and blood…

All Hallows Reads - Spooky TBR

I know I should have planned my Halloween reading/TBR lists in advance. But am a mood reader, so when have I ever done that?!

But I do have titles on my radar that I know I would like to read over the course of the month. Highly unlikely, truth be told, but these titles feel like PERFECT reads and listens so I thought a little post to shout a few titles out would be a good idea. Plus, you might think that there would be good reads for you as the nights draw in for us lot in the Northern Hemisphere (there will be affiliate links in this post when referencing titles in this post.

All Hallows Reads - Grishaverse Fairy Tales

Let’s start the spookiness with some fairy tales, shall we?

Well, I say fairy tales. They’re folktales from the world of Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse . Now, I only done two (and not the whole collection from The Language of Thorns), which were released individually – The Too-Clever Fox and Little Knife. Both I did via audiobook from local library and both have the same feel to it so merging their write-ups together.

Companion folk tales to novels Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, The Too-Clever Fox is about a fox who has escaped traps all his life. But just because you avoid one trap, doesn’t mean you will escape the next. While Little Knife is about a young woman whose beauty causes discord in her town that her family makes plans to have her wed. But plans will go awry, like the turning of the current in a river…

All Hallows Reads

My brain decided this back in August, but I wanted to make my future reading months fun. And Halloween and spookiness jumped to mind (as well as something linked to Jay’s Virtual Pub Quiz - but that idea needs more thinking over). 

I am not a summer person. The other seasons are more me, but I do like Halloween. In theory. In practice, not so much. But this year, I wanted to add some spookiness to the reading. Sorry. SpoooOOOOOOoookiness (see what I did there? Ghostly). 

But I am not much of a horror fan. I love a good creepy read, but I am not a fan of horror. Plus, there is something really creepy about the depths of evil and darkness we human beings have. So, yes, I want to spooky reads, both normal and paranormal. Join me for the next few weeks as I decide to try and creep myself out. 

Oh, you want to know what stories I have in mind? Maybe these clues will give you a clue…

SpoOOoky Halloween 2021

HAPPY OCTOBER TO YOU ALL! Ok, to most of you, it's YOUR month! The month of Halloween! 

Now, normally, I am not a Halloween person. Ok, let me rephrase that as I like Halloween. I like autumn and a level of spooky. But I don't like some elements of Halloween (trick or treat is a good example). 

So I am a weird contraducton when it comes to Halloween. And, normally, I read books that are, normally, aren't very Halloween. You know, horror in tone. I'm not a horror fan (yes, I am a wuss!), but I do like reading fantasy and magic, so while I do read something themed to the season, I normally read something opposite. A romance or something super light. 

You might have, also, noticed that the past few months that I do themed reading. Romance for August, crime/thriller for last month and I thought I might continue with this month and have Halloween my theme. Now, I am not going to go full-on horror, but I thought spooky/magical reads might be a good port of call. So, that's what am thinking. A spoOOoky Halloween (see what I did there, ghosts?). 

Now, I have one or two other reading commitments this month (planned in early summer before I came up with this!), so this month isn't going to be full on Halloween, but I want this month's reading to be autumn and bump or two in the night... 

At the time of writing this, I have no idea what I'm going to read this month (maybe one title that I read/audiobook back in August), so no spoiler/teasers, but I do hope this month will be shiver up your spine or will bring a magical chill in the air... 

GoodRead - Lake Thirteen

I'm not sure what made me request this from NetGalley. I can't honestly remember. I think I read the synopsis and it either made me laugh or I went "we have a gay lead" (something rare, I feel, in YA). So when I was accepted, I knew I wanted to read this near Halloween.

So, now we're in the month of October, it's safe to take about this. So, here we go:

Scotty is dreading this holiday. Every year, his family go on holiday with two other families (friends of his parents). Scotty, who has just come out, is scared of how his friends will react and is worried about leaving his boyfriend behind. So when the five teens decide to make a late night visit to a graveyard close to their cabins, they don't realise that something might awaken and takes an interest in Scotty...

*takes deep breath* I am in going to write the pros to this book first before I go onto the negatives as I have a few and I think you should read the pros first.  It was a fast read (just checked on Amazon, is over 160 pages long) and there were moments in the book that was tense and spooky. And seeing as it is Halloween, spooky is the name of the game.

However, I have faults. There are several faults I have with this book, but it really comes under one umbrella: execution. While the story had interesting potential, the execution wasn't up to scratch. Some of the language used felt "off" and it would grate on me and, because of that, it would throw me out of the story. We, also, have information overload problems.  For example, we spend several pages in chapter one getting to know a character - his name, he's doing an internship with a TV ghost hunting show, his dad runs a TV company, the fact his parents have given him a personal trainer [for reasons Scotty's mom guesses] - and yet, most of this information ISN'T NEEDED! And all this information is in the FIRST CHAPTER! This isn't needed, if it was, then spread it out throughout the entire story. Us readers prefer this rather than one huge info-dump.

And now I come to think of it, I wanna talk quickly about Scotty and him being gay. I want to read more books with gay characters being the main character, being the lead. I think this is needed in YA and in New Adult. But I feel like I never knew Scotty that well, and when I did, all I know about him is that Scotty is gay. That's it. His family and friends tell him throughout the book that him being gay isn't a big deal - but it feels like it does as we're constantly being told that Scotty is gay and it's not a big deal. And with the ghost story, I was reading it as "Scotty is being haunted by a ghost", so why do I get the feeling that it was meant to be "Scotty, the gay teen, is being haunted by a gay ghost"? YOUR SEXUALITY DOESN'T DEFINE YOU AS A PERSON! So why do I feel like the lead in this book was being defined by his sexuality?

Maybe I'm reading too much into this.

Because of all the faults, I feel that if the book was longer, it might not have been a problem. I mean, it's a 160-odd pages long. If there was an extra hundred pages, I could have got character development. I could have got to know the characters and the situation better. Issues that were bought up could have been addressed.

Because of all the faults, I can't enjoy or like this book as much as I want to. Which is a shame as there was potential here.

GoodRead - Tainted

I have been holding out writing this review. I know most book blogger pals have been getting ARCs and NetGalley editions a few weeks ago. But I read Tainted before then. You see, I was one of Tainted's beta-readers. Which, basically means, I read it with some other people and we, not only read the story, but see if we can see any mistakes. And I think/fear, out of all the beta-readers, I was probably the worst. When I read a chapter and sent it back to AE Rought, I would ALWAYS have something in red. Whether that was a grammar, a question, a comment of "I like this paragraph" or basically stating "If you kill this character off, I will never forgive you".

So, why am I telling you this: Well, I am reviewing this book from what I read while beta-reading earlier in the year. So, while I am pretty certain the big events in the book have stayed the same, you will have to forgive me if I make a mistake. (Plus, I want a real book version of Tainted so it goes with Broken.)

Alex Franks believe that the madness and horror he and his girlfriend, Emma, faced in Broken is over. He hopes that he could try and live a normal life. Have a girlfriend, have friends, have a life, have the dark secrets of what his father did to him and countless others. Shame he's ex, the criminally brilliant (yet criminally unhinged) Hailey Westmore, doesn't want to let Alex go and is determined to get him back. 

And then something shocking happens that changes everything... 

Ok, I really enjoyed this book. If I didn't, I don't think AE Rought would have asked me to beta-read this. But I enjoyed the changes AE Rought made with this book. While Broken was told from Emma's point of her, Tainted is told from Alex's point of view. While Emma was trying to find out what was going on with Alex in Broken, Alex knew most of the dark secrets in Tainted and, because of this, the reader instantly knows that something's not quite right with this book and when things really hit the fan, Alex and the readers were on the same level with "What the heck!"

I wanna talk one big thing. Very early on within the book, there is about 5 chapters that I read with me going "No. No! NoNoNoNo! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!". It really shocked me as I didn't see these chapters coming so I have to praise AE Rought for not only pulling the twist off but suddenly making the book unpredictable, unsafe and addictive. I had to know what happened next once I got over the shock of these chapters. 

I have only two small negatives and they both come from the ending. AE Rought knows this and has explained why both of these happen. Both of which I get, I do. But one of these negatives is the fate of a character that I loved and the other... well... I can sense some of you guys getting really angry over it. If you've read Cassandra Clare's City of Glass, it's very similar to something that happens in that (and that's all I'm going to say). 

I really enjoyed reading this book. I liked the fact that this was an re-imagining of two classics (one I was told as The Mysterious Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the other is a guess on my part) and I kinda want a sequel, even though I am pretty certain this is a duology (don't hold me to this), and me sending little hints that I want a re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera isn't gonna happen (if it is, that would rock!). But I really enjoy AE Rought's writing and I can't wait to see what she writes next. 

October And November Plans

Pinch punch, first day of the month!

I have been thinking about if I should write this post down or not over what I'm thinking of doing in the next 2 months as I do change my mind or push an idea back a month or two. But I hope that, if I actually write it down and tell you guys about my plans, I might actually stick to it! 

So, here we go. 

This October, I was planning to stories that have a scare/creepy factor. Yeah, see the word WAS. Well, last week, after reading a NetGalley book that fitted this theme well, I hit a wall. I felt on the edge of a reading slump. I still think I'm on the verge of one so this themed idea has gone flying out of the window. It just makes it easier for me. So, I decided to just scrap this themed month and just read or try to read books and stories that excited me. If that means all I read are #re3 books, so be it. If this means I scare my NetGalley, so be it. I'm just going to try and NOT READ DULL!

Also, I am taking a week break (which I now think is perfectly timed!) so you have a week long RSM. I'll warn you guys a day before I go away I won't suddenly go silent. I'll warn you. 

And now, November's plans. I planned this idea earlier in the year but then pushed it back to September. But then I pushed it back to now as... well, all the yummy books that I got my hands on (with the aid of the lovely and awesome UK publishers/The Works stores/charity shops/competitions). So, this November, I am planning to hold a Read Your Own Month. Which, is basically me reading books that I have bought (or won/given by friends & family) as... well... I have a book buying addiction and I don't read nearly enough of these books. So, I just want to attack a few books I've bought/won/etc. So, November will probably have books that you guys read YEARS ago and I'm playing catch up! Hope you don't mind! 

So, basically, I am still going to be reading or trying to. You guys don't have to worry! I thought I would give you guys a heads-up, just in case you fancy knowing. So I will still be reacting like one of the following gifs:

You have been warned. Have fun reading, you guys!