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The End and Other Beginnings 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date January 10, 2020
1 Comment on The End and Other Beginnings 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Title: The End and Other Beginnings
Author: Veronica Roth
Genre: YA SciFi Short Story Collection
Publication Date: October 1st, 2019
Pages: 352
Publishers: HarperCollins
Rating: See individual stories

Goodreads Synopsis

Bestselling Divergent and Carve the Mark author Veronica Roth delivers a stunning collection of novella-length stories set in the future, illustrated with startling black-and-white artwork.

No world is like the other. Within this masterful collection, each setting is more strange and wonderful than the last, brimming with new technologies and beings. And yet, for all the advances in these futuristic lands, the people still must confront deeply human problems.

In these six stories, Veronica Roth reaches into the unknown and draws forth something startlingly familiar and profoundly beautiful.

With tales of friendship and revenge, plus two new stories from the Carve the Mark universe, this collection has something for new and old fans alike. Each story begins with a hope for a better end, but always end with a better understanding of the beginning.

With beautifully intricate black-and-white interior illustrations and a uniquely designed package, this is the perfect gift for book lovers.

Inertia

This one was a tad lacking. I know it’s a short story but we got basically no world building & no character development. The story is mainly about this friendship/romance and that’s really it. I like the idea of the world but would of much preferred a different story in this world than the basic romance we got. I did like the rep for depression though. I thought that was quite well done but that was the only real upside of this story. So far not a great start to the short story collection

The Spinners

This one was a bit more promising. I quite enjoyed this one, including the world, the characters and the scheme of it. I would definitely continue reading if this story was longer. The concept of the world is also super unique, which was the case for most of these stories. There is a lot of originality in the concepts.

Hearken

This one is definitely the best of the 6 I think. The world was super interesting and unique, I loved the whole idea of the world and we got a decent amount of world building even though it was a short story. The MC and other characters also felt more fleshed out and full in this one compared to the other stories. Would continue reading this one for sure.

Vim and Vigor

Vim & Vigor was a pretty good story too. I really liked the technology that was mentioned, it sounds super interesting. I also enjoyed that this had a theme of friendship which was prominent. The world & characters were a little lacking though. So not my favourite.

Armored Ones

This was easily the worst of the collection. There was no world building and the characters were extremely flat. This one was also confusing too, which made it impossible to follow. I found myself thinking ‘what was the point of that?!’ when I got to the end. Just overall meh.

The Transformationist

This was also not fabulous. I was left confused and underwhelmed with this one. Just an overall lack of development throughout.

Overall

Overall this short story collection was all over the place for me. I had 2 good stories, 2 okay stories and 2 just meh stories. I can’t say I would recommend this one as there were just too many average or below average books for me to say ‘YES! You need to read this!’… I think my enjoyment for Veronica Roth books started and finished with the Divergent series unfortunately because everything else I have read from her has been either disappointing or just straight out confusion.

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Tags Book, Book Blog, Book Blogger, Book Review, Bookish, Books, Review, Spoiler Free Review

Reviews

Nyxia Unleashed 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date January 8, 2020

Title: Nyxia Unleashed
Author: Scott Reintgen
Series: The Nyxia Triad
Genre: YA SciFi
Publication Date: July 17th, 2018
Pages: 390
Publishers: Penguin (Michael Joseph)
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis

Scott Reintgen’s sensational dystopian series is back!

Emmett Atwater has bravely survived the voyage through space but his troubles have only just begun. As he resists the power of Babel he realises that he’s found himself in a game far more dangerous than he could ever imagine . . .

This series is just getting better and better with each book! I absolutely love how chaotic these books are. I can honestly say that I did not guess a single twist before it happens in this book. It is super unpredictable which is exactly what you want in a SciFi adventure story. The book is very well written and extremely gripping. You just don’t want to put it down. This one also ends on a cliff hanger which I do enjoy, but am now impatiently waiting to get my hands on Nyxia Uprising.

I also love the world of this story. Nyxia had some basis for the world building but in book 2 we are actually on a new world & learning a tonne about it. It was worked in well and not info dumpy. We were learning as the characters were learning, so that made it flow nicely and never felt too much or confusing. Also learning about a new species was super fun too. There is obviously more to learn in Nyxia Uprising about both the world & the species but we got a good amount of info in Nyxia Unleased.

The characters are also very well developed and grow throughout both Nyxia & Nyxia Unleashed. This book contains a lot of hardships and bad experiences for the characters but it is amazing seeing them develop because of those experiences. I also really enjoy the dual perspective of this book! It’s not often but it’s always super interesting when we get a peak at someone else’s POV.

Overall, I really enjoyed Nyxia Unleashed and I can thankfully say that I think it got me out of my reading slump, which is what I was hoping for! Some fast paced, SciFi & action is exactly what I needed to break the slump. I highly recommend this series so far & I can’t wait to get my hands on Nyxia Uprising. I’m just waiting for the release of it in the edition I own the others in which seems to be releasing in 2020, after the US editions released in 2019. I can’t even find an eBook for it or I would of purchased it straight away and kept reading!

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End of the Year series!

My 2019 Reading Stats & 2020 Reading Goals!

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date January 3, 2020
6 Comments on My 2019 Reading Stats & 2020 Reading Goals!

Hi all, so today we are talking about my 2019 Reading Statistics & my goals for 2020! Firstly I wanted to start with talking about how I track all these stats. Basically towards the end of 2018 I created a Reading Tracker on Excel. I wanted to learn a bit more of how to utilise Excel and this was the perfect excuse. I definitely got inspiration from a couple other Reading Trackers out there but I did all the formulas and such myself. Which was a long process but now that I have it, it’s super handy.

2019 Reading Stats!

So firstly, let’s talk about my overall type statistics!

In 2019 I read a total of 124 books! Which is awesome as I beat my goal of reading 150 books. I Reread a total of 35 books & DNFd 4 which is actually really good as that isn’t very many DNFs and there also wasn’t too many books I finished that I hated. So good reading choices for 2019!

Next we have my pages read, which was a total of 55,639 pages! Averaging 4,637 a month and 339 pages per book! I also track my Total Spent on books fo the year & monthly but I have blanked those out as I don’t think they were really necessary. That is more a personal thing, so I can see how I’m spending my money.

Now for the fun stuff! I rated a total of 22 books 5 stars. This also DOES NOT include Rereads. I have a seperate section for tracking rereads. This is mainly because rereads affect the average ratings & rating numbers so much as all the books I reread are favourites, so of course I will nearly always rate them 4.5 or 5 stars. For the Rereads I rated 30 of them 5 stars!
I also read 10 eARCs/ARCs and 48 of the books I read were 2019 releases, which was one of my goals for 2019. I wanted to try and keep up to date with more recent releases, which I feel like I did pretty well.
Then my overall average rating was 4.2 stars & 4.9 stars for Rereads.

Now for my Monthly Stats! I won’t go through this one in detail as it’s self explanatory. It is interesting to see that July was my best month with a total of 31 books read & 7,986 pages!

Let’s jump into the more detailed break downs!

So, firstly we have my Genres Read. Of course Fantasy is at the top with 81 books read but it is super surprising that Contemporary is my second highest with 28 books! As y’all know, I’m not a contemporary reader but in 2019 I read 12 volumes of a Contemporary Graphic Novel. So that pushed those numbers up for sure. My least read was of course Non-Fiction & Anthology as I only read 1 of each. It does have 0 for horror as well but I did read a few books that had horror as a sub genre but the main genre was either Sci-Fi or Fantasy. It’s slightly difficult to track that aspect but I generally just go with the main genre.

Next we have the age group which is mostly YA at 131 books. I read very few MG this year but I read more Adult books than in previous years.

Now onto formats. My most read is Audiobooks at 73 and followed by Graphic Novels at 32. This does however include my rereads and I generally reread via audiobook. out of my 35 rereads 19 of those were via audio. So not including rereads I read 54 books via audio. Physical ARCs were my least read at 2. That was more to do with me now requesting them than anything else. Just after I began requesting & receiving physical ARCs from Aussie publishers I fell into a reading slump. So I stopped requesting. I have received a few unsolicited but they have all been books I have no interest in reading.. So yep, they didn’t get read.

This is an interesting one that I like tracking! So my most read is between the 301 – 400 page mark followed by the 401 – 500 which I feel like is most YA books page range. Least read was between 701 – 800 pages which is fair as I don’t pick up too many big books and as I said, majority of YA is between 300 & 500, so I’m less likely to pickup the bigger books as they tend to be Adult. I didn’t read any 800+ page books in 2019, which I think needs to be one of my goals for 2020.

Now we have publication year! We already know I read 48 2019 releases but it’s surprising that my next highest is the range between 2011 – 2016. Followed by 2018, which makes more sense as I had a fair few 2018 releases that I didn’t get a chance to get to in 2018, so they followed over into 2019.

Star ratings! I read more 4 Star rated books than anything else, followed by 4.5 stars and then 5 stars, So I had a pretty damn good reading year. Again this one doesn’t include rereads.

This is a simple one. I DNFd 4 books this year. Again, this is awesome as I usually DNF way more than this.

This one is actually surprising to me. I thought I read more books by new authors than not but apparently not. This one also doesn’t count Rereads as of course they aren’t new to me authors if it’s a reread. So I don’t include them in this.

Another simple one. I reread 35 books this year.

Lastly for the stats is my reread star rating! Of course these are all 4 stars and up with majority being 5 stars.

2020 Reading Goals

Now for my reading goals for 2020! I don’t have too many but I wanted to put them out there to try and make myself accountable. 😂
Of course I will be doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge and I have set my goal at 100 for now as I always do. If I hit that goal then I will increase it to 150.

20 Books to Read in 2020

Firstly I have my 20 books to read in 2020! This list will be in a future post, so I won’t go into it here.

Big Book Reading Challenge

Next is my goal to read big books! So, based on my reading stats I didn’t read any books over 801 pages in 2019. So, my goal is to read at least 1 book from each of the categories I haven’t read any of.
801 – 900
901 – 1000
1001+
I’m allowing myself to use audiobooks or physical/eBook for this challenge but I just need at least 1 in each category.

Always Fully Booked Challenges

Then I’m doing the A to Z Challenge, Little Inklings 2020 Reading Challenge, Reading Rainbow Challenge & On the Cover Challenge which are all in the front of the Little Inkling Designs’s Always Fully Booked 2020 Planner.

The A to Z Challenge was in last years planner too but the others are all new & I thought it would be fun to join them! The A to Z Challenge is pretty simply, you read a book starting with every letter of the alphabet.

The Little Inkling 2020 Reading Challenge is a list of challenges.

The Reading Rainbow Challenge means you need to try and read a book with each colour on the cover.
Red
Orange
Yellow
Green
Blue
Purple
Pink
White
Black
Gold
Silver
Bronze

The On the Cover Challenge is where you try and read a book with each of the prompts on the cover
A Tree
A Sword
2 or more People
An animal
Mountains
Fire
Water
Mythical Creature
Wings
Moon or Stars

What book can’t you wait to release this year? Are you keen for any of these books?!

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Monthly Releases

Most Anticipated Releases 💫 January & February 2020

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date December 29, 2019
2 Comments on Most Anticipated Releases 💫 January & February 2020

Today we will be chatting about the books I am looking forward to for Jan & Feb 2020!

January 2020 Releases

Firstly we have A Heart so Fierce and Broken which releases Jan 7th! This is of course the sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely which I read towards the beginning of 2019 and really enjoyed. There were a couple things that weren’t my fave but I’m super keen to see where this story goes and I’m keen to read from Grey’s POV in A Heart so Fierce and Broken as that wasn’t in Book 1!

Next we have One of us is Next which also releases Jan 7th! This is the sequel to One of Us is Lying which was a really good YA Mystery book! I also enjoyed Two can keep a Secret by the same author. So I super keen to see what she rights next and how she introduces a sequel to One of us is Lying.

Lastly for Jan 7th releases we have Come Tumbling Down which is book 5 in the Wayward Children series. So far I have loved 3 of the 4 books in the series I have read. So I can’t wait to see what unusual and awesome world Seanan McGuire creates in Come Tumbling Down!

Then we have This Vicious Cure which releases Jan 21st! This is the final book in the This Mortal Coil series! I absolutely loved This Mortal Coil & This Cruel Design, so I can’t wait for this book! This is just such a well written book with a unique and super interesting dystopian world! So freaking keen!

Lastly for February we have The Hand on the Wall which also releases Jan 21st! This is my most anticipated book in this list for sure! This is the finale for the Truly Devious series. I absolutely adored Truly Devious & The Vanishing Stair. It is such a good YA Mystery series that is full of twists & turns. This is one of the books that I will probably pick up AS SOON as it arrives at my door! I am so keen to know how these mysteries are solved but I also don’t want this series to end.

February 2020 Releases

Now for some books that aren’t actually sequels! Firstly, we have Belle Révolte which releases Feb 1st. A LGBT YA Fantasy by a freaking awesome author with possibly a badass female main character? Sounds freaking awesome to me! I have read Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller, which I really enjoyed, so I’m keen to see what else this author can do!

Then we have All the Stars and Teeth which releases Feb 4th. Not going to lie, I hadn’t heard of this book before making this list. This cover came up and the name really intrigued me. So I had a look at the synopsis and it sounds freaking awesome. A YA adventure type fantasy with pirates & mermaids???? Count me in! This is a debut, so also super keen to see how this one goes.

Next we hav the last sequel on this list, Heartstopper Vol 3 which releases Feb 6th. This is obviously the sequel to Heartstopper Vol 1 & Vol 2 which is just a super easy, quick & cute romance graphic novel. I also loved Radio Silence & I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman which are both super unique & interesting contemporary novels.

Second last we have The Shadows Between Us which releases Feb 25th. This is Tricia Levenseller’s new Standalone by the looks of it. Which I’m keen for because there really isn’t enough YA Fantasy standalones out there. I read and enjoyed the Daughter of the Pirate King duology but I wasn’t the biggest fan of Warrior of the Wild, her previous standalone. Either way, I’m super keen to see what she does next!

Lastly we have Red Hood which releases also on Feb 25th. This is another YA Fantasy standalone but this one is also a Red Riding Hood retelling that sounds dark and so interesting! I haven’t read anything by this author just yet but I’m keen to give them a go! This one also sounds really good and I love a good retelling!

What book can’t you wait to release this year? Are you keen for any of these books?!

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End of the Year series!

👎🏻 Most Disappointing/Worst Books of 2019 😬

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date December 27, 2019
6 Comments on 👎🏻 Most Disappointing/Worst Books of 2019 😬

It’s nearly the end of the year! So it’s time to discuss the best & worst of 2019 as well as my stats and some anticipated books of 2020! For todays post we are going to be chatting about the Most Disappointing/Worst Books I read in 2019! So let’s jump in.

End of the Year series!

19 Best Books of 2019

The Mistletoe Murders & Other Stories is a collection of short mysteries. While a couple of the stories weren’t completely horrible they definitely weren’t good. This is one that falls under the ‘Worst’ category rather than disappointing. Of course it’s disappointing that I didn’t like it but this is just badly written. The mysteries were super predictable and obvious as well as being kinda dull & boring. It also annoyed me that the author a couple of times said things along the lines of these mysteries being worthy of Agatha Christie. No where near it.. Agatha Christie would not feature mysteries where it was obvious from the first 100 words who the murderer was.. Just overall dull, predictable & annoying. Definitely don’t recommend.

Immunity is probably my most disappointing read of 2019! Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book but it was disappointing to me. If you saw my last post you may have seen that I read Contagion in 2019 & it was on my Best Books of 2019 list! I absolutely loved Contagion and simply couldn’t put it down. It was the perfect mix of creepy horror in a SciFi setting and it was just amazing! Immunity on the other hand completely lost that Horror/Creepy feel, which was one of the best things about Contagion! It felt like a completely unrelated book and that was a huge disappointing for me. I also wasn’t super happy with the conclusion of Immunity. It felt rushed & unsatisfying. As I said, I still liked Immunity. I gave is 4 stars and you can check out all the good things about it in my review but it was still disappointing compared to the amazingness that was Contagion.
Check out my Review!

Next we have Wicked Saints which is a YA Fantasy novel in a new series called Something Dark & Holy. This one was a disappointment because I thought I was going to love it but it was just average for me. I think the main weakness of the book was the writing. It was just overall lacking in many aspects. The world was under developed the magic system wasn’t explained, the characters, especially Nadya, were very flat & it was just underwhelming. It was also advertised as a villain romance, which it wasn’t. They met, were a bit iffy about each-other & then BOOM, there is a romance happening. The conclusion was also average.. Nadya has this chosen one kinda trope happening and there is all this build up & then she doesn’t really do anything and next minute it was also happily every after.. This book definitely did no live up the hype for me.
Check out my Review!

Then is The Sword of Summer which is the first book in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asguard series. This is a YA Fantasy series based on Norse Mythology. So I went into this with not overly high expectations but not low ones either. I had read the first book in the Percy Jackson series and just didn’t love it. So I thought I would give a different series from Rick Riordan a go and a couple people recommended Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asguard. Well, I shouldn’t of bothered. This book was slow, boring, predictable and also just felt immature. I have got nothing against books that are written as Middle Grade but I usually go into them knowing its Middle Grade and expecting the type of writing & characters that are usually in Middle Grade books. This book however is labelled at YA & has YA aged characters but it reads straight up like a Middle Grade. The characters acted more childish than YA aged characters & people generally would which also means that childish decisions were made. This was just an annoying aspect of the book. I spent half my time wondering why the hell they did something when there was literally no good reason to do so. Anyway, this one was just overly disappointing and also just badly written.
Check out my Mini Review!

Next we have Wicked Fox which is the first book in a new YA Fantasy series based on Korean Mythology. This book sounded awesome but it well and truly did not live up to that. There was a big deal made about this YA book that features KOREAN MYTHOLOGY but the author mostly brushed over that part. I didn’t learn anything really and the world just felt flat to me. Then there was the romance which full on takes over the plot part way through the book. It was also straight up InstaLove and I didn’t see any kind of connection between the 2 characters at all. That could of been because of Miyoung’s lack of personality in the story. Jihoon wasn’t too bad but Miyoung was just a cardboard cut out of a YA female MC. This one was definitely disappointing, especially compared to the hype & the premise of this story!
Check out my Review!

Lastly we have Wilder Girls which is a YA Fantasy Mystery with a dystopian hint that sounded amazing! It did not live up to this expectation. The synopsis sounds freaking amazing but the books just overall fell flat for me. I LOVED this world. It was fairly well developed & the setting was super creepy and atmospheric. It had the base for an awesome story but unfortunately the characters & the rest of the writing didn’t follow through. The writing was slow & kind of dull and the characters were very flat, which lead me to not care about the characters or what happened to them. The plot twists were unexpected but they weren’t ‘holy shit, I didn’t see that coming’… Also that absolutely pointless romance? As I said in my review I feel like the romance was thrown in there half heartedly just to ensure the reader believed these 2 characters were in-fact queer. It added nothing to the story and the characters were like two fence posts trying to have a connection there was just nothing there to form a romance on. This one was so disappointing! It sounds awesome but the execution was just not there. Can we have another author take the premise and do this please! I need this story, but just not how it was written.
Check out my Review!

Well that is all the books on my Most Disappointing/Worst books of 2019 list! I’m just glad there is my on my Best books list than there is on the this one!
Have you read any of these books and agree or disagree with my thoughts? Let me know in the comments, I would love to have a chat.

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End of the Year series!

💜 19 Best Books of 2019 💙

It’s nearly the end of the year! So it’s time to discuss the best & worst of 2019 as well as my stats and some anticipated books of 2020! For todays post we are going to be chatting about the Best 19 Books that I read in 2019! So let’s jump in.

Graphic Novels

Firstly we has Misfit City: Vol 1 which is a super fun action/adventure graphic novel. I had so much fun reading this Graphic Novel and I really need to grab the second volume!
Check out my Review!

Next is Mooncakes, which I feel like nearly everyone by now should of at least heard of! This is a SUPER diverse YA paranormal Graphic Novel. It has a tonne of diversity in it including a character that wears a hearing aid, which is something I’m pretty sure I have not read the POV of before. The art is also just stunning in this graphic novel! I really hope we get a second book in this world at some point.
Check out my Review!

Lastly for Graphic Novels I have Volume 1 & 2 of Heartstopper! This is a cute YA LGBT+ contemporary Graphic Novel. You guys should know by now that I am not a romance or contemporary reader but you also may know that for some reason I just love Alice Osemans’ writing and stories! It was the same for these graphic novels. They are cute and I enjoyed my self reading them. They are also the perfect in between book to break up the heavy fantasies and such that I am normally reading. I also like the simplistic Black & White art style.
Checkout my Review!

Thriller & Horror & Mystery

Firstly for Thriller/Horror/Mystery we have Dare You To Lie which is an YA Mystery Thriller. I listened to this one on Audiobook and absolutely devoured it. It gripped me from the very beginning and basically listened to it all in 2 sittings. If you are looking for a YA thriller that will hook you in, is unpredictable and fast paced, then this is the one for you.

Then we have The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle which is an adult Thriller Mystery. This one I read very recently and it just absolutely hooked me. It has such an interesting premise and it’s one of those books that you need to go into knowing very little. Amazingly written, extremely unpredictable and very unique! Loved it.
I am in the process of writing my review, so hopefully it will be up soon. So keep an eye out.

Next is Contagion which is an incredible YA SciFi Horror. I read this book in under 24 hours! I devoured it and just could not put it down! I had a break for a feed but that’s about it. This is a super creepy atmospheric book that will keep you guessing the entire time. It’s one of those books where you have no idea who to trust and it will keep you on the edge of your seat! Highly, highly recommend this book for SciFi fans.
Check out my Review!

Lastly in this section we have goodreads.com/book/show/39893545-the-vanishing-stair which is a YA Contemporary Mystery. This is the second book to Truly Devious which I read twice last year and absolutely loved! This is a book that follows 2 mysteries, one that happened years ago & one current and is set in a remote boarding school. The mysteries intertwine and leave you guessing at every turn. I also love the MC of this story, Stevie, who is a true crime addict & also a fellow reader! I cannot wait for book 3, The Hand on the Wall, to release in January! You can bet I already have it pre-ordered.
Check out my Review!

Dystopian

In this category we only have one book, The Song Rising which is a YA Dystopian Fantasy/SciFi novel. This is the third book to The Bone Season & The Mime Order which are books that I have read twice now and absolutely love. This world is so complex and detailed that it will just suck you in. Everything from the Characters to the Magic system is so well thought out and developed. It’s just such a well written book with a badass female main character and gripping plots! Highly recommend!
I haven’t reviewed The Song Rising but I did review The Bone Season & The Mime Order back in 2017 if you wished to check those out.

Fantasy

This is a big section of course as fantasy is my main genre. So let’s jump into the first book, Crown of Coral and Pearl which is a YA Fantasy. This is a book that I hadn’t heard of before seeing it on NetGalley and it sounded super interesting so I requested it and got approved. I ended up absolutely loving this book! It’s another one that I just devoured! Reading late into the night because I didn’t want to put it down. It incorporates a really interesting setting, a chosen one/saving the town type trope and a really realistic main character. I also loved the mystery aspect that was thrown in towards the end. Both the characters & the world were very detailed and developed as well which was awesome. My only negative for this book was the InstaLove that happened but I was able to ignore that because the rest of the book was just so good!
Check out my Review!

Next we have King of Fools which is the sequel to Ace of Shades in The Shadow Game series. This series & Amanda Foody’s works in general are just amazing! She has the ability to create such unique and detailed worlds and highly intricate magic systems. She is overall just an amazing writer and I have loved everything I have read by her! I cannot wait for Book 3, Queen of Volts to release September 2020!
Check out my Review!

Then we have The Bone Charmer which is another book that I barely hear people talking about and hadn’t heard of until seeing it on NetGalley. Which is such a shame as it’s an amazing book! The Bone Charmer is another book with a super unique world & magic system. This one features bone magic and the magic system is very well developed & interesting. I also love that we follow parallel possible futures of the main character. It’s such an interesting concept & it was written SO WELL! I even noticed the MC was written differently in the 2 plot lines as she develops because of the things that she goes through in that specific plot. It is just so well written and I can’t wait for book 2, The Bone Thief which releases May 2020!
Check out my Review!

Blood Heir is the first book in a new YA Fantasy trilogy and I absolutely can’t wait for the next 2 books! Book 2, Red Tigress currently doesn’t have a release date but I’m hoping we get info soon! This book is an Asian inspired fantasy that has awesome characters, interesting magic systems and is not afraid to be absolutely brutal! If you are looking for a light easy fantasy, then this is not the book for you! This book features a lot of death and has a main focus of indentured servitude in Asia. This book is incredibly written & very interesting. I enjoyed learning throughout this book & makes me keen to want to know more about this part of asian culture. I highly recommend checking out this book!
Check out my Review!

Next we have Vardaesia which is the 5th book in The Medoran Chronicles. In 2019 I actually read Vardaesia twice, that’s how much I loved it. I read Vardaesia & then reread the entire series via audiobook when they released as Audible Exclusives earlier in the year. I absolutely adore this series and it’s one of my favourites of all time! This book features an amazing group of characters, a very fleshed out unique world & a plot that keeps you guessing. The series has everything from time travel to dragons and I just love it all so much!
I haven’t reviewed Vardaesia but you can check out my reviews of the first 3 books in the series, Akarnae, Raelia & Draekora!

Now we have In an Absent Dream which is the 4th book in the Wayward Children series. This is part of a series but these books also can be read as standalones. This one follows a different character in a new portal fantasy world. In an Absent Dream wasn’t quite as good as Beneath the Sugar Sky which I read last year but it’s definitely up there. I just love learning about these unique magical worlds! The books are also super short which makes them quick easy reads but the author packs a tonne into those 200 pages! There is never much lacking when it comes to world building & character development even with the books being so short. Seanan McGuire is just an awesome writer and I can’t wait for book 5, Come Tumbling Down, which releases early January!

Finally in this category we have 3 books from the same series! Beastly Bones, Ghostly Echoes & The Dire King are books 2, 3 & 4 of the Jackaby series which is a YA Fantasy/Paranormal Mystery series. I love both mystery and fantasy so this series is a perfect combination for me. The characters are awesome, the plot is so unpredictable and sometimes the story is just so ridiculous but amazing. Just so well written, so fun and I just love it.
I haven’t reviewed these 3 but I did review Book 1, Jackaby!

Contemporary

Onto the last category! Contemporary is a genre I don’t often read but when I do it’s because the book is dealing with a specific topic. Both of these books are extremely empowering & important books that deal with serious topics. They are also both very different.

On the Come Up deals with a black female character loves to rap and just wants to make enough to get out of the bad situation her family is in. I absolutely love Angie Thomas’s writing! She creates vivid worlds with amazing characters, tonnes of diversity & is not afraid to bring up topics that aren’t generally discussed. If you enjoyed The Hate U Give then you need to give On The Come Up a go!
Check out my full Review!

I am Change is set in Uganda and features the struggles a teenage girls faces in that society. This book was eye opening and incredibly written. I highly recommend reading this book! It’s such an important topic that is not discussed often enough.
Check out my full Review!

Finally! That is all the books on my 19 Best Books of 2019 list! I will be posting my Most Disappointing/Worst books of 2019 very soon! So keep an eye out.

Let me know what some of your favourite books of 2019 were! Or if you loved any of the books I listed.

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Reviews

House of Salt and Sorrow 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date December 3, 2019
6 Comments on House of Salt and Sorrow 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Title: House of Salt and Sorrow
Author: Erin A Craig
Genre: YA Fantasy/Mystery/Horror
Publication Date: August 6th, 2019
Pages: 416
Publishers: Delacorte
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis

In a manor by the sea, twelve sisters are cursed.

Annaleigh lives a sheltered life at Highmoor, a manor by the sea, with her sisters, their father, and stepmother. Once they were twelve, but loneliness fills the grand halls now that four of the girls’ lives have been cut short. Each death was more tragic than the last—the plague, a plummeting fall, a drowning, a slippery plunge—and there are whispers throughout the surrounding villages that the family is cursed by the gods.

Disturbed by a series of ghostly visions, Annaleigh becomes increasingly suspicious that the deaths were no accidents. Her sisters have been sneaking out every night to attend glittering balls, dancing until dawn in silk gowns and shimmering slippers, and Annaleigh isn’t sure whether to try to stop them or to join their forbidden trysts. Because who—or what—are they really dancing with?

When Annaleigh’s involvement with a mysterious stranger who has secrets of his own intensifies, it’s a race to unravel the darkness that has fallen over her family—before it claims her next.

Firstly, this was the first book I have finished in ages! Not only have I been super busy but I’ve also been in a reading slump. I’m still not out but this book was helpful as it was super gripping! I also haven’t written a review since the end of September. So please bare with me.

Let’s start with the negatives and get those out of the road. I had one main issue with House of Salt and Sorrow which was that certain parts felt a bit rushed. There were parts throughout that felt rushed and were hard to follow. I found myself having to reread sections to really understand what was going on. The ending also felt a bit rushed. There was all this build up and then it ends pretty quickly with not a tonne of problems.. The book still ended fine and it all made sense, but it could have been executed a bit better.

Now for the good stuff! This book is SUPER atmospheric and creepy. I loved the feel and setting of the book however, I would have enjoyed a map just so I could figure out the placement of certain places like Highmoor, the Mausoleum & the lighthouse. I also loved the premise and whole idea of this book. It was very unique and also really well developed, especially considering it is a standalone. This one actually worked really well as a standalone with everything wrapping up in the end. It was also mostly unpredictable. There were a couple little things I guessed but for the most part I was kept on my toes wanting to know what happens next.
The characters were also really well done! All the sisters and step mother were very fleshed out. They all had their own feel and personalities that shown through. It did throw me off a couple times with the triplets. I kept thinking they were younger than they were because of how the other sisters referred to them and how they acted sometimes. Then we would get a reminder that they are actually like 15 or something like that. It just threw me off a couple times. I also really didn’t like Camille. I’m not sure if she was meant to be unlikable but she just rubbed me the wrong way..

So overall, I enjoyed House of Salt and Sorrow but it did have a few issues for me. I’m keen to see what Erin A. Craig comes out with next though! I’ll definitely be grabbing that one if it sounds interesting.
Recommend if you’re a mystery, fantasy & horror fan as this book combines those 3 beautifully.

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Did you enjoy it or are you keen to pick it up? Let me know in the comments!

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Challenges/Readathons TBR

SimsAThon/October TBR

This month I am participating in 2 ReadAThons! SimsAThon is a month long ReadAThon themed around the Sims game which takes place for the entirety of October & I’m also participating in MateAThon but I will have a dedicated TBR for that one coming soon.
So let’s jump into the SimsAThon TBR first!

Choose A Household: Read a book from later in a series

This is the 28th book in the Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie, so it’s definitely later in the series!

Build a House: Read something set in another world

This is a YA standalone fantasy set in the Kingdom of Achra!

Perfect the Layout: Read a book with an interesting format

I plan to reread the whole The Illuminae Files series via audiobook this month. I have read the whole series & also reread Illuminae & Gemina via audiobook but I want to reread Obsidio via audiobook. So I am rereading the whole series. Illuminae is also written as a dossier of documents, so it fits the challenge well!

Interior Design: Read a book with a pretty cover

I love this cover and I have been meaning to read it for a while! This one I will be listening to as an audiobook.

Live Mode

Fall in Love: Read a book with a romance element

I don’t usually deliberately choose romance books but this one sounds like an interesting Sci-Fi book but also has romance. So hopefully it isn’t too over the top!

Reach the top of your Career Track: Read a finale

This is the last book in the Fallen Isles Trilogy and I can’t wait to get to this one!

Take a bubble bath: Read a book over 400 pages

This is the last book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series and I can’t wait for this one either! I’m a little nervous as I didn’t love an element in Escaping the Houdini but I’m hoping I will love this one as much as I love Stalking Jack the Ripper & Hunting Prince Dracula.

Get Married: Read a book with an established couple

This one features a couple that is established in one of the previous books and I already wanted to read it, so it fits perfectly!

Pay Bills: Read your most recent purchase

My most recent purchase was of the 3 Exclusive Collector’s Editions of the US Shades of Magic series. So out of those 3 I only have A Conjuring of Light left to read, so that is the one I will be reading for this challenge!

Astronaut: Read a book set in space

This is set on another planet, so close enough to space. This is Volume 4 of The Woods.

Athlete: Read a book featuring sports

This one is pretty self explanatory. A graphic novel featuring fencing.

Business: Read a book with a number in the title

The Woods: Vol 5! Another self explanatory one as the number 5 is in the title.

Criminal: Read a Thriller

This is a Thriller that was being hyped up around release and I have been curious about since! So I’m keen to get to the audiobook of this one.

Painter: Read a book with a colourful cover

This is another Graphic Novel that I have been keen to get to and it has a colourful cover, so it fits the challenge!

Secret Agent: Read a mystery book

For this challenge I will just be listening to the next book in the Hercule Poirot series by Agatha Christie. Whichever one that is!

Style Influencer: Read a hyped book

When everyone was hyping this book I said to myself that I would not read it as I was quite frankly just sick of hearing about it. Then when I was looking for books for my TBR I was scrolling down my saved audiobooks on Scribd and this one was there, so I decided to give it a go.

Tech Guru: Read a futuristic book

Wildcard is the sequel to Warcross which is a futuristic sci-fi gaming type book and I’m keen to get to it except that I really hope the romance that was present in Warcross does not come up in this one.

Writer: Read a book by a new-to-you author

This is another audiobook I want to listen to and I can’t wait to get to it.

Then there was also these challenges but I haven’t chosen any books for these just yet.

Other books on my TBR!

Are you participating in SimsAThon?
What are you most looking forward to read in October?

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Reviews

Immunity by Erin Bowman 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date September 30, 2019

Title: Immunity
Series: Contagion
Author: Erin Bowman
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Publication Date: July 2nd, 2019
Pages: 434
Publishers: Harper Teen
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis

Survivors of a deadly planetary outbreak take on a new, sinister adversary in the sequel to Contagion.

They thought their nightmare was over, but Thea, Coen, and Nova’s rescue was only the beginning. After being imprisoned on a ship they thought was their ticket to safety, it’s clear that the threat they left behind isn’t as distant as they’d hoped—and this time the entire galaxy is at risk.

Now that threat is about to be unleashed as an act of political warfare. To prevent an interstellar catastrophe, the survivors must harness the evil they faced on the planet Achlys and learn to wield the only weapon they have left: themselves.

So let’s start with the positives this time as I usually get the negatives out of the road first.

So to begin with there is just something about Erin Bowman’s writing that I find extremely gripping! I just couldn’t put the book down! Contagion I read in 1 day! While it took me a couple days for Immunity, that was more because I’m (hopefully) coming out of a reading slump and I was busy, so didn’t have a day to just dedicate to reading!
Immunity was also fast paced and action packed, just as Contagion was! It was also unpredictable and I think those 3 things are what adds up to the book being very gripping! There is always something going on and there is always the anxious wait to find out what is going to happen next!
I also really enjoyed the POV in Immunity. The multi POV is done very well. Each of the characters have their own unique voice within the writing of their sections. There was also a different POV that was separated from the main 4 which I really enjoyed. I won’t say who because that’s spoilers!

Now for the negatives. Which my main one is the genre! Contagion was a YA Horror with a Sci-Fi setting. It was creepy and atmospheric which just bought the story to life! Immunity on the other hand it just a Sci-Fi. It lost that Horror element which just gave it that push from a good book to a great book in Contagion! So that was disappointing.
Then there was the ending which I just felt was unsatisfying. There was a bit of a big action scene but it felt slightly flat and then it was all over and the happily ever after part was happening. I just feel like there could of been so much more to the conclusion but as it is it just felt too easy!

So overall I still enjoyed Immunity but it definitely didn’t live up to Contagion! If this was a book on it’s own it probably would of worked well but as a conclusion to Contagion it just wasn’t on the right level. I’m super curious to see what Erin Bowman releases next and hopefully they live up to the level of Contagion.

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Do you think it lives up to Contagion?

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Tags Book, Book Blog, Book Blogger, Book Review, Bookish, Books, Contagion, Erin Bowman, Immunity, Review, Spoiler Free Review

Reviews

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab 💫 Spoiler Free Review

Post author By Eliza Eames
Post date September 28, 2019

Title: A Gathering of Shadows
Series: Shades of Magic
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publication Date: February 23rd, 2016
Pages: 512
Publishers: Tor Books
Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis

It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift–back into Black London.

Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games–an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighboring countries–a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port.

And while Red London is caught up in the pageantry and thrills of the Games, another London is coming back to life. After all, a shadow that was gone in the night will reappear in the morning. But the balance of magic is ever perilous, and for one city to flourish, another London must fall.

So I may as well get my negative out of the road first and then we can look at the positives. The pacing & not being as action packed as expected was my 2 negatives. This book was fairly slow reading which was impacted by not only the pacing but with the minimal actual fast paced action.

Now as for the things I liked, firstly the word & the world development! The Shades of Magic world is very vivid & fleshed out. V.E. Schwab has a way of describing worlds that just come alive on the page and it’s one of my favourite things about her writing!

Then there was the POV. In this book we follow many POVs which is more than book 1 I believe. It’s been a long time since I read book 1 but I think it was only from 2 POV, I could be wrong though. Anyways, the multi POV in this one was done very well. The characters that we had many chapters from had a distinctive voice to the writing. They felt individual and the characters personality came through. I also just enjoyed that we had so many points of view. It added an interesting twist to the story line that we wouldn’t of gotten with just 1 or 2 POVs.

Next I really enjoyed the plot of this one! I hadn’t read a synopsis going in and I just loved this game/challenge aspect that was introduced. It was very different from book 1 but also had that underlying plot which has continued from book 1 which I enjoyed. Even though it didn’t fell super action packed the story itself was intriguing and I’m super keen to find out where this is all going!

Lastly we have the characters! Much like the world all the characters are very fleshed out and well developed. This was helped with having the multi POV as you get to learn about the characters from their own view point as well as the views of others. My favourite character is definitely Lila. She is just super interesting and stubborn and kinda badass and I love her! I do also of course love Kell but Lila is my fave.

So overall I really enjoyed this one and I’m keen to get to book 3, which I hoping will be a bit more action packed! Now I just need to read it soon rather than waiting a couple years like I did between books 1 & 2!

You can order a copy for yourself at any of the links below. There is an alternate cover and. they are marked by a * next to the format. See the alternate cover below!

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