latest on the blog
Hello Readers & Friends,
We are in this weird time right now where we are all stuck indoors and while some people may be reading more than ever, some people (like me) may be struggling to feel the motivation to do anything. Even picking a book seems like a huge chore. So I have put together a huge list of **nearly** all the books I have rated 5 stars on Goodreads (that are currently out) to share with you all, so you can maybe download them on Kindle and find something to get you through this time. (I haven't included Harry Potter because, well, it goes without saying.)
So, without any more delay, these are all my top-rated GoodReads books.
YA Fantasy
One Line Summary: A mortal girl discovers she is part angel, and is thrust into the world of Shadowhunters.
Favourite Quote: 'The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.'
Personal Note: Don't base any opinions of this on the crappy tv show.
One Line Summary: A mortal girl living in Faerie struggles through the deceptions and trickery of the fey to try to find a place in court.
Favourite Quote: 'Faeries make up for their inability to lie with a panoply of deceptions and cruelties. Twisted words, pranks, omissions, riddles, scandals, not to mention their revenges upon one another for ancient, half-remembered slights. Storms are less fickle than they are, seas less capricious.'
Personal Note: The best modern depiction of fairy folk, in my opinion.
One Line Summary: A mismatched gang of criminals and oddballs are brought together and paid to perform a break-in into the world's most guarded prison.
Favourite Quote: 'No mourners, no funerals.'
Personal Note: My all-time favourite. Bardugo is a mastermind of flawed and lovable characters.
Dystopia / Sci Fi
One Line Summary: Historical race is turned on its head in a world where those with dark skin are privileged and whites are oppressed. Whites begin to fight back, and a young couple find themselves caught amidst it all.
Favourite Quote: 'The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.'
Personal Note: Now on BBC as an adaption! I've only started it, but enjoying so far.
One Line Summary: In a world where everybody's thoughts can be heard and there are no women, one boy and his dog are on the run after discovering a dark secret their hometown has been hiding from them...
Favourite Quote: 'Todd??'
Personal Note: A magical way of writing that brings all the emotions you didn't know you had to surface, with barely any words at all.
One Line Summary: Civilisation lives in a huge tower, controlled by AI, Scipio. Everyone is ranked in numbers related to their positive thoughts, and when Lianna drops to a Three and is forced treatment, she makes a horrifying discovery about what is happening to Ones. And she has no idea how to stop it.
Favourite Quote: 'Death or blind obedience? I wasn't sure there was a difference.'
Personal Note: I wish they would make this series into a film.
One Line Summary: A world where you were either on Matrus, where women rule, or Patrus, where men rule. And one woman is sent to live in Patrus in an undercover mission, and discovers more than she bargained for.
Favourite Quote: 'Self-reliance means you're in control. Don't ever think you need a man for happiness.'
Personal Note: If you read this one before The Girl Who Dared to Think you'll enjoy The Girl series more, as the worlds overlap.
One Line Summary: The USA is split into 12 districts, and every district must offer up two children to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games.
Favourite Quote: 'May the odds be ever in your favour.'
Personal Note: Film is great, too.
One Line Summary: Everyone is escaping reality and living in the AI world, Oasis. When the founder dies, he hides an easter egg within the game, and whoever finds it wins all his life work and riches. But evil corporations want to find it first...
Favourite Quote: 'People who live in glass houses should shut the f*ck up.'
Personal Note: The master of modern sci-fi. Filled with amazing 80s references.
One Line Summary: In a world where you have to fit into a set faction, or find yourself factionless and left to die, one girl with a test result of 'divergent' must find a way to hide her secret and blend into her new faction - or face the consequences.
Favourite Quote: 'Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up.'
Personal Note: It's possible I prefer the film to the book, but both are great.
Books That Will Stay With You
One Line Summary: We follow two teenagers from middle-class Britain who run away and find themselves hooked on heroin.
Favourite Quote: 'It was a love story. Me, Gemma, and junk.'
Personal Note: Utterly controversial for its time, and still shocking now. I think its US title is Smack.
One Line Summary: The story of four friends from teenagers through to old-age, as we try to discover what is wrong with quiet Jude and how their stories intertwine.
Favourite Quote: 'Friendship, companionship: it so often defied logic, so often eluded the deserving, so often settled itself on the odd, the bad, the peculiar, the damaged.'
Personal Note: This book will break you.
One Line Summary: The animals take over a farm, kicking out the farmer, and begin running things their own way.. a strange political satire.
Favourite Quote: 'All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.'
Personal Note: This ending is everything.
One Line Summary: A pedophile is on the run with his stepdaughter, Lolita.
Favourite Quote: 'Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.'
Personal Note: Obviously a controversial one, but the writing is everything. I mean, just look at that quote.
One Line Summary: Another controversial one, about a brother and sister who fall in love.
Favourite Quote: 'You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.'
Personal Note: I read this ten years ago and it's still stuck with me! It's not very well known, so I always recommend it.
Crime and Thriller
One Line Summary: Fresh from a psychiatric hospital, a reporter is sent back to her hometown to work on the case of two young girls, murdered.
Favourite Quote: 'The face you give tells the world how to treat you.'
One Line Summary: A group of old school friends reuniting in a Scottish cabin are all suspects when one of them is found dead...and old secrets keep on surfacing.
Favourite Quote: 'Some people, given just the right amount of pressure, taken out of their usual, comfortable environments, don't need much encouragement at all to become monsters.'
Modern Classics
One Line Summary: A little girl and her family hide a jewish man in their basement during Nazi Germany. The story is told with Death as the narrator.
Favourite Quote: 'One was a book thief, the other stole the sky.'
Personal Note: I cried like a baby at the end. The characters were wonderful in this story.
The Hate u Give by Angie Thomas
One Line Summary: A teenage girl witnesses her black friend shot and killed by white police in an act of brutality and murder. Set in the USA and very relevant for today, will she find the courage to speak out?
Favourite Quote: 'Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug.'
Personal Note: Also a film! Though I've not watched it
One Line Summary: A woman ends up in a motel for the night, but manager Norman Bates is not as normal as he may seem.
Favourite Quote: 'We're all not quite as sane as we pretend to be.'
Non Fiction
One Line Summary: The King of wordsmithery and storytelling shares part-memoir, part-writing guide.
Favourite Quote: 'Books are a uniquely portable magic.'
Personal Note: The book that made me want to write!
One Line Summary: The hilarious memoirs of the forever-anguished Buzzfeed writer on the difficulties of being an adult.
Favourite Quote: '"Is everything all right in there?" (A question that someone only asks when everything is not all right in there.)'
Personal Note: I just love this guy.
One Line Summary: The hilarious memoirs about the triumphs and trials of finding love, by journalist Dolly.
Favourite Quote: 'The Death of Hackney tastes like a sort of fizzy Marmite and smells like a urinary tract infection and is yours for £13 a bottle. Enjoy.'
Personal Note: I am using parts of this in my wedding! Very relatable for any Londonites in particular.
YA Romance
One Line Summary: A coming-of-age story about a group of friends at boarding school in Southern America.
Favourite Quote: 'Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.'
One Line Summary: A girl gets stuck out in the woods with her ex-best friend. A cosy romance.
Favourite Quote: 'Lennon is the moon: often dark and hidden, but closer than any star. Always there.'
One Line Summary: A girl falls in love with a boy at the cinema, and begin making a zombie film together. But love isn't as it is in the movies...
Favourite Quote: 'It was immediately obvious that Harry had hints of f*ckboy about him.'
Personal Note: I have a full review of this book available here :)
Chick Lit
One Line Summary: A high-flying lawyer makes a career-ending mistake and runs away, only to find herself working as a housekeeper for a rich couple.
Favourite Quote: 'My life has changed, and I'm changing with it.'
One Line Summary: A girl having a freakout during a plane accident tells the man sitting next to her every single secret and admission she has. When he turns up in her life unexpectedly later, she wonders how long he will keep her secrets.
Favourite Quote: 'Is it such a disaster for people to know the truth about you?'
Hello Readers & Friends,
We are in this weird time right now where we are all stuck indoors and while some people may be reading more than ever, some people (like me) may be struggling to feel the motivation to do anything. Even picking a book seems like a huge chore. So I have put together a huge list of **nearly** all the books I have rated 5 stars on Goodreads (that are currently out) to share with you all, so you can maybe download them on Kindle and find something to get you through this time. (I haven't included Harry Potter because, well, it goes without saying.)
So, without any more delay, these are all my top-rated GoodReads books.
YA Fantasy
One Line Summary: A mortal girl discovers she is part angel, and is thrust into the world of Shadowhunters.
Favourite Quote: 'The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.'
Personal Note: Don't base any opinions of this on the crappy tv show.
One Line Summary: A mortal girl living in Faerie struggles through the deceptions and trickery of the fey to try to find a place in court.
Favourite Quote: 'Faeries make up for their inability to lie with a panoply of deceptions and cruelties. Twisted words, pranks, omissions, riddles, scandals, not to mention their revenges upon one another for ancient, half-remembered slights. Storms are less fickle than they are, seas less capricious.'
Personal Note: The best modern depiction of fairy folk, in my opinion.
One Line Summary: A mismatched gang of criminals and oddballs are brought together and paid to perform a break-in into the world's most guarded prison.
Favourite Quote: 'No mourners, no funerals.'
Personal Note: My all-time favourite. Bardugo is a mastermind of flawed and lovable characters.
Dystopia / Sci Fi
One Line Summary: Historical race is turned on its head in a world where those with dark skin are privileged and whites are oppressed. Whites begin to fight back, and a young couple find themselves caught amidst it all.
Favourite Quote: 'The higher you climb, the further you have to fall.'
Personal Note: Now on BBC as an adaption! I've only started it, but enjoying so far.
One Line Summary: In a world where everybody's thoughts can be heard and there are no women, one boy and his dog are on the run after discovering a dark secret their hometown has been hiding from them...
Favourite Quote: 'Todd??'
Personal Note: A magical way of writing that brings all the emotions you didn't know you had to surface, with barely any words at all.
One Line Summary: Civilisation lives in a huge tower, controlled by AI, Scipio. Everyone is ranked in numbers related to their positive thoughts, and when Lianna drops to a Three and is forced treatment, she makes a horrifying discovery about what is happening to Ones. And she has no idea how to stop it.
Favourite Quote: 'Death or blind obedience? I wasn't sure there was a difference.'
Personal Note: I wish they would make this series into a film.
One Line Summary: A world where you were either on Matrus, where women rule, or Patrus, where men rule. And one woman is sent to live in Patrus in an undercover mission, and discovers more than she bargained for.
Favourite Quote: 'Self-reliance means you're in control. Don't ever think you need a man for happiness.'
Personal Note: If you read this one before The Girl Who Dared to Think you'll enjoy The Girl series more, as the worlds overlap.
One Line Summary: The USA is split into 12 districts, and every district must offer up two children to fight to the death in the annual Hunger Games.
Favourite Quote: 'May the odds be ever in your favour.'
Personal Note: Film is great, too.
One Line Summary: Everyone is escaping reality and living in the AI world, Oasis. When the founder dies, he hides an easter egg within the game, and whoever finds it wins all his life work and riches. But evil corporations want to find it first...
Favourite Quote: 'People who live in glass houses should shut the f*ck up.'
Personal Note: The master of modern sci-fi. Filled with amazing 80s references.
One Line Summary: In a world where you have to fit into a set faction, or find yourself factionless and left to die, one girl with a test result of 'divergent' must find a way to hide her secret and blend into her new faction - or face the consequences.
Favourite Quote: 'Fear doesn't shut you down, it wakes you up.'
Personal Note: It's possible I prefer the film to the book, but both are great.
Books That Will Stay With You
One Line Summary: We follow two teenagers from middle-class Britain who run away and find themselves hooked on heroin.
Favourite Quote: 'It was a love story. Me, Gemma, and junk.'
Personal Note: Utterly controversial for its time, and still shocking now. I think its US title is Smack.
One Line Summary: The story of four friends from teenagers through to old-age, as we try to discover what is wrong with quiet Jude and how their stories intertwine.
Favourite Quote: 'Friendship, companionship: it so often defied logic, so often eluded the deserving, so often settled itself on the odd, the bad, the peculiar, the damaged.'
Personal Note: This book will break you.
One Line Summary: The animals take over a farm, kicking out the farmer, and begin running things their own way.. a strange political satire.
Favourite Quote: 'All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.'
Personal Note: This ending is everything.
One Line Summary: A pedophile is on the run with his stepdaughter, Lolita.
Favourite Quote: 'Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.'
Personal Note: Obviously a controversial one, but the writing is everything. I mean, just look at that quote.
One Line Summary: Another controversial one, about a brother and sister who fall in love.
Favourite Quote: 'You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.'
Personal Note: I read this ten years ago and it's still stuck with me! It's not very well known, so I always recommend it.
Crime and Thriller
One Line Summary: Fresh from a psychiatric hospital, a reporter is sent back to her hometown to work on the case of two young girls, murdered.
Favourite Quote: 'The face you give tells the world how to treat you.'
One Line Summary: A group of old school friends reuniting in a Scottish cabin are all suspects when one of them is found dead...and old secrets keep on surfacing.
Favourite Quote: 'Some people, given just the right amount of pressure, taken out of their usual, comfortable environments, don't need much encouragement at all to become monsters.'
Modern Classics
One Line Summary: A little girl and her family hide a jewish man in their basement during Nazi Germany. The story is told with Death as the narrator.
Favourite Quote: 'One was a book thief, the other stole the sky.'
Personal Note: I cried like a baby at the end. The characters were wonderful in this story.
The Hate u Give by Angie Thomas
One Line Summary: A teenage girl witnesses her black friend shot and killed by white police in an act of brutality and murder. Set in the USA and very relevant for today, will she find the courage to speak out?
Favourite Quote: 'Once upon a time there was a hazel-eyed boy with dimples. I called him Khalil. The world called him a thug.'
Personal Note: Also a film! Though I've not watched it
One Line Summary: A woman ends up in a motel for the night, but manager Norman Bates is not as normal as he may seem.
Favourite Quote: 'We're all not quite as sane as we pretend to be.'
Non Fiction
One Line Summary: The King of wordsmithery and storytelling shares part-memoir, part-writing guide.
Favourite Quote: 'Books are a uniquely portable magic.'
Personal Note: The book that made me want to write!
One Line Summary: The hilarious memoirs of the forever-anguished Buzzfeed writer on the difficulties of being an adult.
Favourite Quote: '"Is everything all right in there?" (A question that someone only asks when everything is not all right in there.)'
Personal Note: I just love this guy.
One Line Summary: The hilarious memoirs about the triumphs and trials of finding love, by journalist Dolly.
Favourite Quote: 'The Death of Hackney tastes like a sort of fizzy Marmite and smells like a urinary tract infection and is yours for £13 a bottle. Enjoy.'
Personal Note: I am using parts of this in my wedding! Very relatable for any Londonites in particular.
YA Romance
One Line Summary: A coming-of-age story about a group of friends at boarding school in Southern America.
Favourite Quote: 'Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die.'
One Line Summary: A girl gets stuck out in the woods with her ex-best friend. A cosy romance.
Favourite Quote: 'Lennon is the moon: often dark and hidden, but closer than any star. Always there.'
One Line Summary: A girl falls in love with a boy at the cinema, and begin making a zombie film together. But love isn't as it is in the movies...
Favourite Quote: 'It was immediately obvious that Harry had hints of f*ckboy about him.'
Personal Note: I have a full review of this book available here :)
Chick Lit
One Line Summary: A high-flying lawyer makes a career-ending mistake and runs away, only to find herself working as a housekeeper for a rich couple.
Favourite Quote: 'My life has changed, and I'm changing with it.'
One Line Summary: A girl having a freakout during a plane accident tells the man sitting next to her every single secret and admission she has. When he turns up in her life unexpectedly later, she wonders how long he will keep her secrets.
Favourite Quote: 'Is it such a disaster for people to know the truth about you?'
Hello Readers & Friends,
I should have known I would be writing this post! I have seen Donna Tart raved about everywhere. People love to say they've read A Secret History, or The Goldfinch, and to be honest, the paperbacks are very instagrammable.
I had my concerns, but I got my copy second hand and it wasn't a big investment so I figured I'd get round to it. I put it off for a year. Something about just looking at it and reading the blurb put me off. I wrote a post on Instagram and a few people suggested the audiobook as an easier option, so I downloaded that and off we went.
I DNF at chapter 6. Why? Because, just like I suspected, I am 6 chapters deep and don't know anybodies name and nothing is happening. And this isn't a problem with Tart, it's a genre issue. I just really, really hate literary fiction. I've tried to love it, I want to sound intelligent and find deeper meanings in the book I read, but I just fall asleep trying to get there.
I asked a girl at my work who specialises in literary fiction to describe it as a genre and she replied, "Books where nothing happens but the character develops."
That. Is. Spot. On.
But there's the problem - I don't like books where nothing happens! I want drama and action and romance and heartbreak and twists and turns and world building is a bonus! I don't want to read a book as fat as The Goldfinch and come out thinking, what a waste of time.
There are only two literary fiction books I have ever enjoyed. The first was Catcher in the Rye, which I enjoyed so much because it's the most goddamn depressing book I've ever read (and it's short), and A Little Life, which is also the most depressing thing ever written.
But would I read either of them again? No.
I feel like literary fiction is just like olives. I try one a year and every year I remember why I hate them.
Sorry, I guess I'm just not high-brow enough! (But we all knew that anyway because I gave a Wattpad book called The QB Bad Boy and Me 4 stars.)
Love,
C x
Hello Readers & Friends,
I should have known I would be writing this post! I have seen Donna Tart raved about everywhere. People love to say they've read A Secret History, or The Goldfinch, and to be honest, the paperbacks are very instagrammable.
I had my concerns, but I got my copy second hand and it wasn't a big investment so I figured I'd get round to it. I put it off for a year. Something about just looking at it and reading the blurb put me off. I wrote a post on Instagram and a few people suggested the audiobook as an easier option, so I downloaded that and off we went.
I DNF at chapter 6. Why? Because, just like I suspected, I am 6 chapters deep and don't know anybodies name and nothing is happening. And this isn't a problem with Tart, it's a genre issue. I just really, really hate literary fiction. I've tried to love it, I want to sound intelligent and find deeper meanings in the book I read, but I just fall asleep trying to get there.
I asked a girl at my work who specialises in literary fiction to describe it as a genre and she replied, "Books where nothing happens but the character develops."
That. Is. Spot. On.
But there's the problem - I don't like books where nothing happens! I want drama and action and romance and heartbreak and twists and turns and world building is a bonus! I don't want to read a book as fat as The Goldfinch and come out thinking, what a waste of time.
There are only two literary fiction books I have ever enjoyed. The first was Catcher in the Rye, which I enjoyed so much because it's the most goddamn depressing book I've ever read (and it's short), and A Little Life, which is also the most depressing thing ever written.
But would I read either of them again? No.
I feel like literary fiction is just like olives. I try one a year and every year I remember why I hate them.
Sorry, I guess I'm just not high-brow enough! (But we all knew that anyway because I gave a Wattpad book called The QB Bad Boy and Me 4 stars.)
Love,
C x
Hello Readers & Friends,
I have a bit of a ranty review today. I have such a love-hate relationship with Cassandra Clare. I absolutely love and would die for The Mortal Instruments series. I enjoyed The Infernal Devices series, but hated Tessa and Will and the romance there, which kind of ruined it for me a bit. The thing with Cassandra Clare's books is that her characters are all so utterly loveable and relatable. Fan favourites such as Magnus Bane feature across all her series thanks to his warlock immortality, which keeps us all coming back again and again. (Bane even got his own spin-off, which I am yet to read but have on my shelf!)
I am extremely excited to read her newest venture, Chain of Gold. The world of Shadowhunters is so intricate and well-built, all the magic and politics of it is so well thought-out you can really lose yourself in it.
SO, onto the actual review.
I read Lady Midnight a while ago and enjoyed it, reviewing it here. Lord of Shadows is the sequel, and is just as meaty as the first, and it took me quite a lot longer than anticipated for me to finish.
I had concerns about where Emma and Julien's romance was going to go in this second book, and am relieved that it wasn't as annoying and frustrating to get through as I thought it would be. In fact, it was really nicely played out, and we had romance stories of other characters that got just as much spotlight so Emma & Julien weren't as overbearing or tiring as I found Will and Tessa to be in TID. In particular, I loved Mark and Kieran's romance and the complexity of their relationship. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I want a spin-off of their time in The Wild Hunt!
But ultimately I only gave this book 3 stars. It dragged on and on and on with not a lot happening, and when things were happening it was confusing and complicated. I found the plot extremely messy, and we are being told the story from so many different points of view that it's difficult to keep track of where everyone is and why. I found myself going, 'why are they there again?' a few too many times.
But ultimately I only gave this book 3 stars. It dragged on and on and on with not a lot happening, and when things were happening it was confusing and complicated. I found the plot extremely messy, and we are being told the story from so many different points of view that it's difficult to keep track of where everyone is and why. I found myself going, 'why are they there again?' a few too many times.
The way the book wrapped up didn't leave me dying to read the third, and I felt like there were a lot of dramas happening for the sake of keeping the story dragging out rather than that they needed to happen. Dru was pretty much exiled from the entire book until one super weird part where it's as though Clare went, 'oh, I forgot about Dru, let's give her something to do', and it was dragged out for a few chapters with no real reason or need.
I felt like this about a lot of the book. 90% of the issues were resolved without the characters needing to do very much. I think writing a book with such a huge host of main characters will always be difficult, but in the end I just got really lost in this plot and found myself wondering what the point of any of it was at the end. It was one of my least favourite Clare books, and I think my 'neither here nor there' attitude about Emma and Julien as the protagonists doesn't help.
I'll read the last one eventually, but I'll save it for a very dull and rainy day. Until then, I'm excited to tuck into Chain of Gold and hope for a tidier plot and better characters akin to her Clary and Jace group.
Love,
C x
Hello Readers & Friends,
I have a bit of a ranty review today. I have such a love-hate relationship with Cassandra Clare. I absolutely love and would die for The Mortal Instruments series. I enjoyed The Infernal Devices series, but hated Tessa and Will and the romance there, which kind of ruined it for me a bit. The thing with Cassandra Clare's books is that her characters are all so utterly loveable and relatable. Fan favourites such as Magnus Bane feature across all her series thanks to his warlock immortality, which keeps us all coming back again and again. (Bane even got his own spin-off, which I am yet to read but have on my shelf!)
I am extremely excited to read her newest venture, Chain of Gold. The world of Shadowhunters is so intricate and well-built, all the magic and politics of it is so well thought-out you can really lose yourself in it.
SO, onto the actual review.
I read Lady Midnight a while ago and enjoyed it, reviewing it here. Lord of Shadows is the sequel, and is just as meaty as the first, and it took me quite a lot longer than anticipated for me to finish.
I had concerns about where Emma and Julien's romance was going to go in this second book, and am relieved that it wasn't as annoying and frustrating to get through as I thought it would be. In fact, it was really nicely played out, and we had romance stories of other characters that got just as much spotlight so Emma & Julien weren't as overbearing or tiring as I found Will and Tessa to be in TID. In particular, I loved Mark and Kieran's romance and the complexity of their relationship. I've said it before and I'll say it again - I want a spin-off of their time in The Wild Hunt!
But ultimately I only gave this book 3 stars. It dragged on and on and on with not a lot happening, and when things were happening it was confusing and complicated. I found the plot extremely messy, and we are being told the story from so many different points of view that it's difficult to keep track of where everyone is and why. I found myself going, 'why are they there again?' a few too many times.
But ultimately I only gave this book 3 stars. It dragged on and on and on with not a lot happening, and when things were happening it was confusing and complicated. I found the plot extremely messy, and we are being told the story from so many different points of view that it's difficult to keep track of where everyone is and why. I found myself going, 'why are they there again?' a few too many times.
The way the book wrapped up didn't leave me dying to read the third, and I felt like there were a lot of dramas happening for the sake of keeping the story dragging out rather than that they needed to happen. Dru was pretty much exiled from the entire book until one super weird part where it's as though Clare went, 'oh, I forgot about Dru, let's give her something to do', and it was dragged out for a few chapters with no real reason or need.
I felt like this about a lot of the book. 90% of the issues were resolved without the characters needing to do very much. I think writing a book with such a huge host of main characters will always be difficult, but in the end I just got really lost in this plot and found myself wondering what the point of any of it was at the end. It was one of my least favourite Clare books, and I think my 'neither here nor there' attitude about Emma and Julien as the protagonists doesn't help.
I'll read the last one eventually, but I'll save it for a very dull and rainy day. Until then, I'm excited to tuck into Chain of Gold and hope for a tidier plot and better characters akin to her Clary and Jace group.
Love,
C x
Hello Readers & Friends,
I'm very excited to be able to announce that I was shortlisted for Book Blogger of the Year! I wasn't able to share this news sooner and then the cancellation of the London Book Fair due to coronavirus meant that I wasn't sure what was happening, but I got the final press announcement today!
The winner was the lovely Julia from Julias Bookcase, and I do recommend going to check her blog out - it's different to mine in that she travels around wonderful bookshops so there's lots of great travel imagery there to enjoy!
And the only other shortlister was Bluebird Reviews, who focuses on children's book reviews.
This has come at a great time for me, as I have been feeling quite down-trodden and unmotivated for my instagram account.
I started this blog off-handedly, not expecting any industry notice and am very touched and proud that it has grown into something people enjoy! I hope you will all share in my excitement about this!
C x
Hello Readers & Friends,
I'm very excited to be able to announce that I was shortlisted for Book Blogger of the Year! I wasn't able to share this news sooner and then the cancellation of the London Book Fair due to coronavirus meant that I wasn't sure what was happening, but I got the final press announcement today!
The winner was the lovely Julia from Julias Bookcase, and I do recommend going to check her blog out - it's different to mine in that she travels around wonderful bookshops so there's lots of great travel imagery there to enjoy!
And the only other shortlister was Bluebird Reviews, who focuses on children's book reviews.
This has come at a great time for me, as I have been feeling quite down-trodden and unmotivated for my instagram account.
I started this blog off-handedly, not expecting any industry notice and am very touched and proud that it has grown into something people enjoy! I hope you will all share in my excitement about this!
C x
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