These beautiful, glittery pink books have been on Bee’s shelves for as long as I can remember. They were some of the first YA books she read, and mark the genesis of her love for faery fiction. This year, I made it my mission to read more of Bee’s books, and the Wings series is possibly my favourite thing so far.
The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
Genre: Dystopian, Aliens
Published by: Penguin Books
Pages: 316
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Series: The 5th Wave (#1)
The Infinite Sea has been sat on our shelves since it’s release, and finally one of us has gotten round to reading it! After finishing The 5th Wave I was really interested to see how this series would progress, as we didn’t get an awful lot of answers. You may remember that in my review of The 5th Wave I said I wanted more Ringer, and what d’ya know? Ringer’s POV makes up at least 1/2 of the book!
Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins
Genre: Supernatural, Romance
Published by: HarperTeen
Pages: 379
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Sweet Evil (#1), Sweet Peril (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
P L O T
As Anna and Kai’s story draws to a close, the two have to deal with a civil war between their race. What if you don’t want to do the Devil’s work, anymore? Is a happily ever after still possible? In Sweet Reckoning, the world begins to unravel as Anna realises love is stronger than any other emotion. Continue reading “Review: Sweet Reckoning by Wendy Higgins”
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Published by: Macmillan Children’s Books
Pages: 522
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Author | Amazon
P L O T
For those that loved the fan fiction elements of Fangirl, this is a must. But, if you’re expecting the same story Cath was writing that we got lucky snippets of, you’re in for a bit of a shock.
Carry On is a completely new story. It’s not what the fictional author Gemma T. Leslie created. It’s not what Cath wrote on her beloved laptop. It’s 100% Rainbow Rowell’s creation, though Rainbow and Cath harbour the same homoerotic tendencies when it comes to Simon and Baz.
Continue reading “(Mild Spoiler) Review: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell”
One of the main criteria for a book to be part of my favourites list is for it to be set in a boarding school. It’s my favourite setting to read about, probably because it’s so unusual, and on the surface, seems fun. Books set in boarding schools are usually fantasy or contemporary and I really like how the setting is so adaptable to any genre.
The origin of my love comes from the Secrets at St. Jude’s series, My Sister Jodie and Ottoline Goes To School. Why all these books are purple, I don’t know. New Girl was about four friends navigating their teenage lives, Ottoline seeks to find her hidden talent and Jodie…well, she gets up to some mischief.
Magical ones are normally the best. The School For Good and Evil is The Best, because it combines boarding schools and fairy tales, which is downright perfect for me. I always loved any section on the curriculum – it’s so different from anything I’ll ever get to do. I used to hate it in Harry Potter when he had to go and battle evil, because it took him away from studying.(That sounds super geeky, but if I got to study potion making and transfiguration, I wouldn’t leave the library!) A whole set of books from Hermione’s perspective would be absolute heaven! But Fearsome Dreamer’s main plot point isn’t about magic school. It’s about a technological revolution, BUT for fifty sweet, sweet pages, Rue and White are studying their powers together in a sort of boarding school, complete with Yule Ball-esque dance sequence. Seriously, if the setting only came up for a few pages in a book, I’d be pleased.
So, I fangirl about boarding schools a lot. I think the epitome of this obsession, though, can be rooted to one book series in particular. The Gallagher Girls by Ally Carter. Six books of spy-socialite heaven. It’s become a dream of mine to write something in this setting, because I love it so much, and any research I had to do would be done willingly. What about you? Do you have a particular favourite when it comes to settings?
I have a full and stand-alone review of Clockwork Angel, but today, I thought I would give my general thoughts and opinions on the series as a whole after completing Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess. Upon finishing this series I can happily say that I enjoyed The Mortal Instruments series a whole lot more. The Infernal Devices series is, at its core, a romance, and I don’t think I can forgive the fact that Tessa somehow managed to have her cake and eat it too – absolutely ridiculous!
Continue reading “Spoiler Review: The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare”
Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers
Genre: Historical, Romance
Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 440
Format: e-book
Rating:
Series: Grave Mercy (#1) | Dark Triumph (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I have loved the rest of the His Fair Assassin trilogy and I absolutely could not wait to start reading Mortal Heart, where we’d finally hear Annith’s side of things! However, I hate to say it, but I was bitterly disappointed with this as a conclusion! I can’t believe I didn’t enjoy this after loving the first two so much. Maybe it was because of how long it took me to get round to reading it, but I think its problems lie somewhere in these three things:
The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Published by: HarperTeen
Pages: 352
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
I absolutely love Kasie West, and can honestly say that I’ve enjoyed everything she’s written. I am beyond excited for her next contemporary story PS. I Like You, and am desperately anticipating the time when I can read The Distance Between Us. I read On The Fence, a few months ago and liked it, but this one blew me away. I literally could not put it down. Continue reading “Review: The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West”
It’s that time of year again to recommend books that are perfect to read this season!
‘Love, Lies and Mince Pies’ by Katy Cannon
This is a companion short story to ‘Love, Lies and Lemon Pies’ which was one of my top 14 books of 2014! The story focuses on Jasper, a secondary character in the both ‘Love, Lies…’ and ‘Secrets, Schemes and Sewing Machines’. I absolutely love that another story has been added to this series, and think it’s the perfect book to get you in the Christmassy mood! Sign up to Katy Cannon’s newsletter to receive the story for FREE on the 8th of December: here
‘Murder On The Orient Express’ by Agatha Christie
A good old murder mystery is great for this time of year – you can snuggle up and get enthralled by an intriguing crime. This mystery in particular is especially Christmassy because the murder takes place on a train that’s been snowed in. Talk about a chilling atmosphere!
‘The Fifth Wave’ by Rick Yancey
During the Christmas season, it’s easy to get caught reading a lot of cute contemporaries, but something we love to do is dip into a completely different genre. Over Christmas last year we were reading ‘Divergent’ and this year, the two books in ‘The Fifth Wave’ really caught our attention. It’s also perfect prep for the movie’s release in January 2016!
‘My True Love Gave to Me’ edited by Stephanie Perkins
But speaking of cute contemporaries, nothing can quite beat them at this time of year. What’s great about short stories is they can be read in one sitting, and having twelve different romances to read really is a gift this Christmas!
‘All Wrapped Up’ by Holly Smale
Geek girl? Check. Romance? Check. Christmas themed? Check. ‘All Wrapped Up’ has it all, so much so that Bee and I couldn’t wait until December to read it! Get to experience the beautiful and funny first date of Nick and Harriet, a couple ready to take the modelling industry by storm!
‘Sweetly’ by Jackson Pearce
And, because I couldn’t help it, I’m going to throw a fairy tale retelling in there! ‘Sweetly’ retells Hansel and Gretel in a slightly ominous and mysterious way. Twins Ansel and Gretchen go and live with a sweet-shop owner, Sophia, out in the woods, in a town where girls go missing, and not everything is as it seems…
Rite of Revelation by Sarah Negovetich
Genre: Dystopian, Romance
Pages: 393
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★★
Series: Rite of Rejection (#1)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon
We were approached by Sarah to review the second book in her series, after reading Rite Of Rejection around this time last year. The first book in the series ends on a huge cliffhanger, and originally we didn’t think there was going to be a sequel, but there was more of Rebecca’s story to be told, so of course, we were delighted to be able to read the next instalment!
Continue reading “Review: Rite of Revelation by Sarah Negovetich”
Heart Full of Books 