Spotlight: The Fall – Tracy Townsend
About the book: Eight months ago, Rowena Downshire was a half-starved black market courier darting through the shadows of Corma’s underside. Today, she’s a (mostly) respectable clerk in the Alchemist’s infamous apothecary shop, the Stone Scales, and certainly the last girl one would think qualified to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders a second time. Looks can be deceiving. When Anselm Meteron and the Alchemist receive an invitation to an old acquaintance’s ball–the Greatduke who financed their final, disastrous mercenary mission fourteen years earlier–they’re expecting blackmail, graft, or veiled threats related to the plot to steal the secrets of the Creator’s Grand Experiment. They aren’t expecting a…
Best Reads of 2018
The end of 2018 has come and gone and it’s again time to look back on the year and list the best book I read. A lot happened in 2018! I moved back to the UK after two years in Australia and started the last year of my PhD. I was able to spend the Holidays at home again for the first time in three year. I’m starting up my own little homemade business and I’m moving in to a flat by myself. So many exciting events and so many promising things for the future. What seems to be a theme since I started my PhD, is that I haven’t…
The Light Between Worlds – Laura Weymouth
Five years ago, Evelyn and Philippa Hapwell cowered from air strikes in a London bomb shelter. But that night took a turn when the sisters were transported to another realm called the Woodlands. In a forest kingdom populated by creatures out of myth and legend, they found temporary refuge. When they finally returned to London, nothing had changed at all—nothing, except themselves. Now, Ev spends her days sneaking into the woods outside her boarding school, wishing for the Woodlands. Overcome with longing, she is desperate to return no matter what it takes. Philippa, on the other hand, is determined to find a place in this world. She shields herself behind…
Fall Into Fantasy Readathon: End Result
As I could have predicted, I didn’t manage to read 4 books in the 8-day Fall Into Fantasy Readathon organised by Penguin Teen. I did manage to finish half as many books and I loved them both. The first book I finished is Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. This is what it’s about: Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for…and the most cruel. But this year, there’s a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire. In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the…
Spotlight: Skyward – Brandon Sanderson
About the book: Spensa’s world has been under alien attack for decades. Pilots are the heroes of what’s left of humanity, and becoming a pilot is Spensa’s dream. Ever since she was a little girl, Spensa has dreamed of soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her father’s legacy stands in the way—he was a pilot who was killed for desertion years ago, branding Spensa the daughter of a coward, and making her chances of attending flight school slim to none. Spensa is still determined to fly—even if it means she must be as resilient in the face of long odds as humanity itself has had to be against the…
Fall Into Fantasy Readathon (Penguin Teen)
Yikes, I’ve committed to something again that is probably not going to work out… But that doesn’t make me any less excited to tell you that I’m joining the people at Penguin Teen for their Fall Into Fantasy Readathon. It starts today (18/11/2018) and ends the 25th of November. In that time we’ll be reading at least 4(!) books off our TBR pile. People who have followed my pace of reading in the past know that this is a major stretch for me. With everything going on in my life, I barely read one book a week sometimes! But anyway, here are the 4 books I’ve chosen to…
A Kiss Before Doomsday – Dru Jasper #2 – Laurence MacNaughton
When an undead motorcycle gang attacks Denver’s sorcerers, only one person can decipher the cryptic clues left behind—Dru Jasper, proprietor of the Crystal Connection and newly minted sorceress. Though Dru has learned how to harness the powers of her crystals, she’s in over her head. A necromancer is using forbidden sorcery to fulfill the prophecy of the apocalypse and bring about the end of the world. Dru’s only chance to stop him requires tracking down her would-be boyfriend, hot rod mechanic and half-demon Greyson. Everyone thinks he’s dead, but Dru believes he’s still alive, and finding him is the key to unraveling this evil. To learn the truth behind the…
Friday Firsts: Girls of Paper and Fire – Natasha Ngan
Friday Firsts is a meme that runs every Friday on Tenacious Reader. It will feature the first few sentences/paragraph of the book I’m currently reading and my first impressions. I first spotted this meme when it was first launched and it has taken me way too long to finally join in, but here it is! Enjoy! The book: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Published: November 6th, 2018 Pages: 380 ARC? No There is a tradition in our kingdom, one all castes of demon and human follow. We call it the Birth-blessing. It is such an old, deep-rooted custom that it’s said even our gods…
Friday Firsts: The Last Sun – K.D. Edwards
Friday Firsts is a meme that runs every Friday on Tenacious Reader. It will feature the first few sentences/paragraph of the book I’m currently reading and my first impressions. I first spotted this meme when it was first launched and it has taken me way too long to finally join in, but here it is! My very first one. The book: The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards Publisher: Pyr Published: June 12th, 2018 Pages: 368 ARC? Yes, so keep in mind this is part of an uncorrected advance reading copy! Prologue My name is Rune Saint John. I am, before anything else, a survivor; of a fallen House, of…
City of Ghosts – Cassidy Blake #1 – Victoria Schwab
Cassidy Blake’s parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one. When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn’t sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn’t belong in her world.…
