BOOK THOUGHTS || Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Strong friendship, witchery, and an overwhelming sense of togetherness!”

SYNOPSIS

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch

MY OPINIONS

I was a little apprehensive going into this novel as I had heard mixed things, but I had no reason to be concerned. This book really surpassed my expectations and blew me away! I absolutely loved the friendship between Safi and Iseult, and the way they were portrayed through the writing in this novel hit the spot. I felt myself getting frustrated, upset, happy, angry and at one point I even cried over their actions. If an author can make me feel this way, they have definitely done their job.

The storlyline kept me hooked and wanting more, I'm so excited to read the second in the sereies when I can get my hands on it.

MY RATING

Overall I am giving this book an amazing four out of five stars. The friendship, world building and storyline had me hooked, and I'm really looking forward to the next adventure!

BOOK THOUGHTS || Vicious by V E Schwab

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "I wish I'd picked this up sooner!”

SYNOPSIS

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. 

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

MY OPINIONS

This is my first read from the much-loved author V E Schwab. After following Victor and Eli, and actually loving them both (not even sorry), I now know why everyone enjoys her writing so much. The novel has you hooked from pretty much page one, leaving you constantly wanting more. I found myself reading this quite quickly, and completed this within a week on my commutes to work.

I absolutely adored both Victor and Eli, even though they went from being inseperable, to wanting to kill eachother. The difference between them being that Eli will go out of his way to find super-powered humans to kill, whereas Victor wants to find them to ally.

The scenes unfolded quickly, with detail and a storyline that kept me wanting more. Naturally, when the book finished, I was devastated, and just wanted more.

MY RATING

Overall, I am giving this book an amazing five out of five stars. I am definitely going to re-read this in the near future, and hopefully the rest of the novels I read by Schwab will follow suit,

BOOK REVIEW || On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? " A heartwarming tale of love, friendship and secrecy" 

SYNOPSIS

Your soul is too heavy to pass through this door, Leave the weight of the world in the world from before.

Evie Snow is eighty-two when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It's the way most people wish to leave the world but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she's become her twenty-seven-year-old self and the door won't open.

Evie's soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making her soul heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets that have weighed her down for over fifty years, so she must find a way to reveal them before it's too late.

As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever thought possible, and somehow, some way, she may also find her way back to the only man she ever truly loved ...

MY OPINIONS

After following Carrie's YouTube, Twitter and Instagram feeds for some time, I knew I wanted to read her first fiction novel. She's previously published a non-fiction work called All I Know Now, which was almost auto-biographical in providing advice for teens growing up. When she released the news that she was going to be releasing fiction novels, I knew I needed to get in on that. And I am so pleased I did.

Evie is such a loveable character, who we find at the beginning of the novel struggling to understand why she, a dead woman, cannot get into her 27 year old self's apartment. We learn at this point that she has a couple of things weighing her down, which are preventing her getting to her 'happy place', or her heaven, which is behind the door of her old flat.

Carrie has managed to create a story that warms the heart, and makes you wish you could just squeeze her characters until everything is better for them. I followed Evie as she relived her youth, and went through each of the three secrets to try and reveal them before it was too late. I laughed with her, cried with her and most of all, felt relieved when things went her way.

MY RATING

Overall, I am rating this book 4.5 out of five stars. I absolutely adored this book, and cannot wait to get my hands on her second novel! Definitely a must-read for fans of YA romance, or possibly even contemporary fans!

BOOK THOUGHTS || The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Gripping, almost too close to home, an excellent creation”

SYNOPSIS

They wanted the same things. Death - and an audience.

Eve Singer makes her living from death. As a TV crime reporter, she'll go to any length to get the latest scoop.

But when a twisted serial killer starts using her to gain the publicity he craves, Eve must decide how far she's willing to go - and how close she'll let him get . . .

MY OPINIONS

This book had me constantly worrying that it was going to end too soon! The characters, particularly our main character, Eve, are very easy to either love or hate. They've been developed in such a way that you find each individual character suited to their own category fairly soon into the novel. Typically, this is something easily loathed by myself. However, in this instance, I found it brilliant to have a stereotypical thought about a character, as it kept me guessing as to who the real killer was.

The way the author goes between Eve's story and the killers' allows us to see two very different methods of thinking. On the one hand, we have Eve, who would pretty much do anything to secure her job and continue reporting, even if it means putting friendships and relationships on the line. But on the other hand, we have the killer, who has a systematic plan in place for each of the murders he wants to have published on the news. These contrasting methods kept me intrigued in the way the novel was going to go, and constantly hoping that Eve would catch up with the killer, and kinda secretly hoping that she didn't, so I could have the mystery for just a little bit longer.

MY RATING

Overall, I'm rating this book 5 out of 5 stars, I absolutely adored this novel and the flow of the story was easy to keep up with. I felt I could understand Eve's character and her development was well carried out. She was incredibly relatable as a character, which is what was needed with the development of the story in my eyes. I'll definitely re-read this one soon!

BOOK THOUGHTS || Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Another dark yet enticing novel in the Strike series!”

SYNOPSIS

Cormoran Strike is back, with his assistant Robin Ellacott, in a mystery based around soldiers returning from war.

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…

Career of Evil is the third in the series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A mystery and also a story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives. 

MY OPINIONS

With this being the third in a series, I knew what to expect in regards to character development and the running of the novel. However, I was not expecting what I actually got! I was expecting nitty gritty, and a troublesome relationship between Strike and Robin, but what I got instead was actually so much more!

First of all, can I just point out that there is some scenes that are kind of graphic. As in, severed leg, missing body parts kind of graphic. At some points I didnt want to continue, but the graphic parts were swift and were infrequent enough to not put me off too much.

Jumping between Strike, Robin and the culprit was a technique well carried out by Galbraith, as it allowed us to see just what was going through each characters head. This is particularly helpful when trying to build a profile for the killer as well.

One of the things that stood out to me was Robins character development. Throughout this book we see her struggle to come to terms with her relationship, and the fact that it feels to her like it is no longer worth it. This is something I really felt made Robin more relatable as a character, as she has previously been seen as someone who tends to have it pretty good (in my eyes anyway).

Personally I love the series and the development of the characters over the series. I would love to see Robin get with Strike but that is definitely off the cards after Career of Evil, which is a little sad, but the prospect would always have been unrealistic anyway!

MY RATING

Overall I am giving this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars. The only reason it wasnt a 5 star rating is because some aspects of the novel were a bit too graphic for me. However, this didnt put me off in the end, as these bits were infrequent enough to work through.

BOOK THOUGHTS || Sing by Vivi Greene

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "a pleasant, quick read!”

I received this book in exchange for an honest review through NetGalley, an eARC publishing site. This is no way reflects my views.

SYNOPSIS

America’s most famous pop star flees the spotlight to recover from her latest break-up in Maine—only to fall for a local boy and be faced with an impossible choice at the end of the summer: her new guy, or her music.

Multiplatinum pop icon Lily Ross’s biggest hits and biggest heartbreaks (because they are one and the same):

1. AGONY. (That feeling when her ex ripped her heart out of her chest and she never saw it coming.)

2. GHOSTS. (Because even famous people are ghosted by guys sometimes. And it sucks just as much.) 

3. ONCE BITTEN. (As in: twice shy. Also, she’s never dating an actor or a musician ever again.)

But this summer’s going to be different. After getting her heart shattered, Lily is taking herself out of the spotlight and heading to a small island in middle-of-nowhere Maine with her closest friends. She has three months until her fall tour starts-three months to focus on herself, her music, her new album. Anything but guys.

That is . . . until Lily meets sweet, down-to-earth local Noel Bradley, who is so different from anyone she’s ever dated. Suddenly, Lily’s “summer of me” takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself falling deeper and harder than ever before. But Noel isn’t interested in the limelight. She loves Noel-but she loves her fans, too. And come August, she may be forced to choose. 

MY OPINIONS

Okay, so on first glance, I thought this may be a little bit corny. At the time of applying for the book on NetGalley, I felt I really needed something fast-paced that I didn't need to put too much thought into reading. And this was just that.

Whilst I was reading this, I couldn't help but think that this just screamed “Taylor Swift” (if I'm even allowed to say that) at me. That doesnt mean it was all bad, it just means that a lot of it was incredibly cliché. I just had to keep telling myself that the idea behind the book, and the writing style, wasn't meant to be designed for readers of my age, but rather for a younger audience.

The plot had enough substance to keep me interested, and I really did enjoy the blossoming relationship between Lily and the islanders. They didn't see her as some sort of celebrity, which really helped her develop her sense of character and development. Again, this was cliché and actually quite cheesy in some aspects.

MY RATING

Overall I've given this book three out of five stars. Had I been younger when reading this, I dont believe my feelings would have differed at all. Yes, this read was incredibly quick, and had some lovely moments, but I just didnt think this was right for me. I can see it having a bright future down the line, but personally, it wasn't something I could see myself re-reading in the future.

BOOK THOUGHTS || Me Before You, JoJo Moyes

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Tear-jerker, if only I'd finished it!”

SYNOPSIS

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

A love story for this generation, Me Before You brings to life two people who couldn’t have less in common—a heartbreakingly romantic novel that asks, What do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart ?

MY OPINIONS

I didnt finish it.

I know, I know, I'm a terrible person for not finishing THE novel of 2016, but my heart just couldnt take it. Due to the film release and such a big hype around it, I thought I had better pick it up to see what it was like. I knew that it would be emotional and knew all about the letter, but I just couldn't find it in my heart to finish it.

I got to a certain point (in the airport scene) and just thought, you know what, if it ends here, then I'll be happy. Everyone is alive, everything seems okay, no sign of death etc, but I knew it just wasn't to be. I knew that the airport scene was most likely the start of a downward spiral and knew it wasnt something I wanted to read.

Now I totally understand just how powerful a book this is. The plot-line, the writing, the captivating characters. But the more I read it, the more I just felt myself getting more and more upset at the prospect of the ending that was before me. I know I should have just finished the book, I was so close to the end, but I just couldnt. I didn't have it in me to continue reading a novel where I knew the main character would severely deteriorate, and as I am currently in a similar family situation (sort of), I just did not want to continue.

What I did read of the book however was remarkable. Seeing this bright young girl with hopes and ambitions take on a task she had never even considered before, and tackling everything that comes with it, was something I felt would relate to pretty much any type of reader. I also adored the relationship between Lou and Will, as well as the relationship between Lou and Wills' parents. They understandably have a lot to deal with, as well as bringing in someone new to care for Will, that also just wants to let him see the world in a way that he perhaps once knew, without all the backstory his parents had known. One issue I had with this however, was the way in which they deceived Lou into believing this was a position of care, rather than a position of persuasion. Obviously if she knew from the beginning what her role really was, then she would most likely have not taken the job. Maybe I am just being picky now, but I just had to get that off my chest!

To be fair to JoJo Moyes, the part of the book that I did complete, I absolutely lapped up. Her writing style kept me wanting more after each chapter. The way she developed her characters throughout the story was also interesting. I found myself becoming more and more attached to the characters and their “realness”, to the point where sadly I had to stop reading. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the novel and writing style, because I did, I just wasn't emotionally prepared for the books ending.

MY RATING

Overall, I feel this book deserves to be finished by me eventually. I'm rating it three out of five stars. Whilst I did enjoy the writing style, and the progression of characters, along with the reality of the backstories, I felt the direction in which the novel was heading was set up for heartbreak, and I just could not face that. It is most definitely a tear-jerker, if only I'd finished it.