Review: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

12396528Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Genre: Supernatural, Historical Fiction
Published by: Quirk Books
Pages: 400
Format: Hardback
Rating: ★★★
Series: Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children (#1)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

Hollow City is the second instalment to the Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series, and it follows seamlessly on from the first book, with the same blend of fiction, real-life events, and of course, the photography. I thought this was an engaging sequel, but it was slow paced and dragged out in some places and so I didn’t think it was either better or worse than the first book.

Continue reading “Review: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs”

Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

16096824A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Published by: Bloomsbury
Pages: 400
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

We will preface this review by saying that we were really excited to read a A Court of Thorns and Roses, because we knew that it was a cross over of a Beauty and the Beast retelling and faery fiction, and unfortunately hype can sometimes heighten expectations, which can be a bad thing. Something we weren’t expecting was how easily this book fits into the New Adult genre so is definitely unsuitable for younger readers that may just want to read whatever else Sarah J. Maas has written.

Continue reading “Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas”

Review: We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach

we all looked upWe All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach
Genre: Contemporary, Apocalypse
Published by: Simon and Schuster
Pages: 384
Format: ARC E-Book
Rating: ★★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

When I first read the blurb, it sounded like a mixture of ‘The Breakfast Club’ and ‘Earth to Echo’, two of my very favourite movies. I started reading it right away, and was surprised with the end result! It met my expectations, but took a slightly different turn with its content.

Continue reading “Review: We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach”

Review: Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson

22449950Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson
Genre: Thriller, Action, Romance, Contemporary
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 320
Format: e-book
Rating: ★★
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

I’d previously read The Sound by Sarah Alderson, so when I saw Conspiracy Girl on NetGalley I thought, “Why not?” However, it’s safe to say that I haven’t found my new favourite Sarah Alderson, and I even found the ending a little predictable given the plot twists in The Sound. It had the same basic structure: conspiracy, bad boy love interest, the ‘big’ reveal – none of that was problematic, it was just that I felt I’d read the book before.

Continue reading “Review: Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson”

Review: Half Wild by Sally Green

22429853Half Wild by Sally Green
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary, UKYA
Published by: Penguin UK
Pages: 400
Format: ARC e-book
Rating: ★★.5
Series: Half Bad (#1) | Half Lies (#0.5)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

It’s been quite a while since I read Half Bad, and originally I didn’t think I was interested enough to finish the series. Then I read the novella, Half Lies, and realised I needed to keep going because of Gabriel. I wasn’t disappointed by Half Wild, but it was certainly a lot darker than the first book in the series, and pacing wise it was extremely slow and the action was condensed to, I’d say, the last 15% or so.

Continue reading “Review: Half Wild by Sally Green”

Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

blue lily lily blueBlue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adventure, Supernatural
Published by: Scholastic Press
Pages: 391
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

For once with this series, I feel I know what’s going on! I decided to pick up ‘Blue Lily, Lily Blue’ quickly after ‘The Dream Thieves’ so the plot didn’t go missing while my head was filled with so many other stories.
Continue reading “Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater”

Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

20810072If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch
Genre: Contemporary, mystery
Published by: Indigo
Pages: 314
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★★.5
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

If You Find Me is a heart-breaking, beautiful debut by Emily Murdoch. It follows the story of Carey and her sister, Janessa, when  their father comes to take them away from the woods they’ve called home for the last nine years. The novel is more about Carey’s slow recovery and adjustment to the contemporary society, that she left behind when she ran away from home, than the mystery thriller the blurb makes it out to be. If You Find Me took a lot of turns that I wasn’t expecting, yet Carey’s ‘secret’ wasn’t very hard to guess and was almost predictable if you’ve watched Gone starring Amanda Seyfried. Nonetheless, it was a wonderful read, and definitely worth the hype it has received.

Continue reading “Review: If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch”

Review: The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

the retribution of mara dyerThe Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Romance
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 470
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★★
Series:
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (#1) | The Evolution of Mara Dyer (#2)
Where to Find: Goodreads Amazon

This was probably my favourite book in the trilogy. It started out gross. I never thought I’d get to read about someone cutting out another person’s eye. (You can guess I haven’t read A Song of Ice and Fire!) Mara is no longer just troubled but bordering on insane. Everything that’s happening to her is unbelievable and that’s why it’s so interesting to read.

Continue reading “Review: The Retribution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin”

Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

evolution of mara dyerThe Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Romance
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 528
Format: E-Book
Rating: ★★★★
Series: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (#1) | The Retribution of Mara Dyer (#3)
Where to Find: Goodreads | Amazon

If I thought the first book was serious, then this took Mara’s story to a whole new level. It’s difficult to write reviews about this series because if I say too much then the whole thing will be spoiled, and I think this is the perfect book series to go into knowing nothing about them, in order to really appreciate the plot twists and darkness.

Continue reading “Review: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin”

Review: Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

22717418Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Genre: contemporary, romance, LGBT
Published by: Electric Monkey (Egmont)
Pages: 238
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★
Where to find: Goodreads | Amazon

I’ve already read Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares and Naomi and Ely’s story was probably my least favourite of the three. I couldn’t connect with the characters as much, and I just din’t really like them. What I did like, that was different to their other co-written works, was the added perspectives of the eponymous character’s friends. If you liked A Little Something Different you would probably like this style of writing!

Continue reading “Review: Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan”