I love Monster High! I have a bunch of the dolls and really loved the whole concept when I first discovered MH in 2012. Maddie read the books a few months ago and said they were definitely worth reading for fans of MH and I have to agree! Also, it helps that each book in only around 230 pages long so I zipped through the series in, like, two days!
Continue reading “Review: The Monster High Series by Lisi Harrison”
The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 272
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
I read ‘Pretty Little Liars’ in order to prepare myself for ‘The Perfectionists’ and get a little taste for Sara Shepard’s writing. For me, this was another hit, a book I enjoyed more than PLL…but that’s probably because I loved a good murder mystery. Bring out the body, girls, let’s see what you’ve got. Continue reading “Review: The Perfectionists by Sara Shepard”
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Genre: Mystery, Contemporary
Published by: Harper Collins
Pages: 286
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
I really wanted to dive into a new series. If I’d have known PLL was about 16 books long, then maybe I’d have reconsidered my decision. Knowing nothing about the TV show and therefore the plot, I was pleasantly surprised by my reaction to ‘Pretty Little Liars’ and it’s ability to draw you in and wrap you up in the lies, just as much as the characters. Continue reading “Review: Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard”
Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Published by: Entangled
Pages: 500
Format: E-Book
Series: Obsidian (Lux #1)
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
Thank goodness! This book wasn’t a replica of ‘New Moon’ as I had previously imagined. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of content within the book, moving more towards originality. I appreciated this more than the last book, but it was still filled with tropes set to annoy me and at 500 pages long, I contemplated not finishing. But I did, so here are my thoughts. Continue reading “Review: Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout”
Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Published by: Entangled
Pages: 335
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
So many people on BookTube rave about the writing and books of Jennifer L. Armentrout. I was super intrigued to pick up the first in the Lux series, ‘Obsidian’, to get a taste of the author and see what all the fuss is about. As is usually the case with hyped books, I was disappointed. Continue reading “Review: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout”
Trouble by Non Pratt
Genre: Contemporary
Published by:
Pages:
Format: E-Book
Rating:
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
Trouble, as you can probably tell from the excellently designed cover, is about pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy. I’ve only ever read one book that deals with this topic before, ‘Someone Like You’ by Sarah Dessen, and I think I was a little too young to appreciate it. So, I was really excited to read about this new and interesting topic and how it would be dealt with, especially since on the blurb it says the pregnant girl, Hannah, is only 15. Note: In the UK it is illegal to have sex before the age of 16. If sex occurs with a minor, this is statutory rape and a criminal offense. PRISON WORTHY. Non Pratt, therefore, was writing about a difficult situation. How did it play off? Well… Continue reading “Review: Trouble by Non Pratt”
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Genre: Paranormal, Apocalyptic
Published by: Hodder and Stoughton
Pages: 289
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I was sold on the idea that this book would be ‘unlike any angels I’ve read before’, it certainly had something I’d never read before – and it wasn’t the angel apocalypse. Angelfall was a lot slower than I was expecting and even though I’d heard a lot of reviews mentioning the horror element I was still surprised by how revolting and vivid the description was. I should have taken my great apathy towards horror movies – the scariest film I’ve ever seen probably being The Black Cauldron, I mean, come on! The Horned King is too creepy for the under tens. – as an indication that I should stay clear. However, I gave it a go and here are my thoughts!
Lorali by Laura Dockrill
Genre: Mermaid
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 208
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
Mermaid fiction + Summer = The perfect read. I was beyond excited to read another YA about mermaids, as ‘Deep Blue’ by Jennifer Donnelly fell a little below the mark. I knew what I wanted from this book, and Dockrill certainly delivered, I couldn’t put it down! Warning: there will be an excess of exclamation points in this review! (!!!)
Continue reading “Review: Lorali by Laura Dockrill”
The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa
Genre: Paranormal, Dystopian
Published by: Harlequin
Pages: 443
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I haven’t read a vampire book since Vampire Academy, and I thought I’d read it all. Oh boy, was I wrong! The Immortal Rules is an incredible dystopian/ paranormal blend that introduces vampires as you’ve never read them before. At first I was hesitant, but I’m so glad I gave it a change. I loved the world building and all of the characters. This book went in so many different directions that you never could have predicted the ending from how it started.
Continue reading “Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa”
Bee and I attempted, and that’s the key word, to participate in WhittyNovels’ Cramathon this summer, which happened from the 10th-13th July! There were a number of challenges to complete, but the main goal is to read as many books as possible to contribute to your Goodreads Reading Challenge.
Without further ado, here’s how we did. Spoiler alert: it’s not great!
Read a…:
1. Children’s Book
Bee: ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’ by C.S. Lewis (and half of ‘The Horse and His Boy’.) We own all of the books, but I only remember having ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ read to my class in Year 4. About time to read the whole series, nearly ten years later?
Maddie: ‘Tales of Beedle the Bard’ by J. K. Rowling. I’ve never actually read the whole thing through, with all Dumbles’ annotations too, because I hadn’t finished the HP series during my first read. It was lovely to get to appreciate it again, and seeing how much I love fairy tales, this one was perfect!
2. Hardback
Bee: Attempted to read some of the stories in ‘My True Love Gave to Me’, edited by Stephanie Perkins, but the book is kind of huge (and pink, therefore, cute.)
Maddie: Sneakily, I used ‘Tales of Beedle the Bard’ for this as well! Haha! There wasn’t a rule against doubling up!
3. Two Books in 24 Hours
Bee: Narnia books and my graphic novel choice. Short books = easy win!
Maddie: ‘Pretty Little Liars’ by Sara Shepard and Beedle again. (Gosh, that guy just keeps popping up!) I really enjoyed PLL, it was the perfect book to read because it was relatively short and the storyline was so addictive, I couldn’t stop! This is definitely a series I’ll continue this year.
4. Graphic Novel
Bee and Maddie: The only graphic novel we own and haven’t read was ‘Marceline and the Scream Queens’, so we both read that one! It was really lovely for Marce and PB to be the main characters for a change. The art style was super simple and the colour palette was adorable. If you like ‘Adventure Time’, would totally recommend!
5. Book in Verse
Ooh, neither of us managed to do this one because we don’t own any. Definitely going to have to look into it though! It sounds so unique!
6. Novella
Maddie: After reading ‘These Broken Stars’, I decided to read ‘This Night So Dark’, which is the prequel to the series, before the Icarus crash. Overall, I was a little disappointed at the ‘extra information’ we were given, or the lack of it! Hopefully, the next book in the series will impress me more!
7. At least 5 books
Unfortunately, I only got to read 4 books over the Cramathon because I only started on the 11th, so was a day behind, and then on Monday was with friends on a day trip, so didn’t have much time to read. However, I really enjoyed the challenges and the Cramathon I did get to participate in, so I hope to participate again fully in the Christmas season.
Heart Full of Books 