Book Review - Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1) by Richelle Mead

I wasn't free of my past, not yet.

Sydney's blood is special. That's because she's an alchemist - one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiences in question, her future is on the line.

When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places: a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside - and within - the school grounds. Now that they're in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.

My Rating: 3.5/5

I read this book back in 2011 but I decided to read it again because I recently re-read the entire Vampire Academy series and thought it was the perfect time to finish the Bloodlines series as back in 2011 I never read past this first book. My original review of the book can be found here. 

First of all I loved how Vampire Academy seems to be aging well. I found I loved the series just as much as I did when I first read it before I even started this blog.

Whilst I wasn't quite convinced at first at having the alchemist Sydney as the narrator, there were enough familiar characters from Vampire Academy (like Jill, Eddie and of course Adrian) to keep me reading until I started to warm up to her.

I'm still not Sydney's biggest fan. I find her rather stuck up but I do like a having a human perspective in this world of unique vampires.

For the most part I found the school drama a little boring and this was largely due to the fact we were seeing all this through Sydney's mature eyes.

I loved the greater insight we got into the strigois as most strigoi activity is told via third person however Sydney witnesses a moroi attempt to become strigoi which was something that was hinted at in Vampire Academy but never in the great detail it was in this book.

Overall, whilst I don't think this series is going to be anywhere near the quality of Vampire Academy, I am really excited to be back in this world.

Book Review #738 - Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

Tess is an innocent young girl until the day she goes to visit her rich 'relatives', the D'Urbervilles, in hope that they might help her alleviate her own family's poverty. Her encounter with her manipulative cousin, Alec, leads her onto a path that is beset with suffering and betrayal. When she falls in love with another man, Angel Clare, Tess sees a potential escape from her past, but only if she can tell him her shameful secret...

 

 

My Rating: 5/5

 

 

I knew absolutely nothing about this book prior to reading it other than it was included in my copy of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. 

The book is split into 7 sections and so my goal was to read a section a day as I usually get overwhelmed reading classics but I ended up finishing it within 2 days. 

From the first page Thomas Hardy's writing style immediately sucked me into the book. I found he has a very descriptive style but does it in such a way that does not disturb the pacing of the story.

I absolutely loved Tess and the things she went through in the book had me on a rollercoaster of emotions.

The main thing that intrigued me with this book was the timing of every little event throughout that sent Tess continually on a fateful path of misery.

There were 2 main guys in Tess' life and this book is the ultimate example of a decent love triangle. Both of these guys are pivotal in the paths Tess takes. Both of them had more negative attributes that positive.

Alec d'Urberville first encounters Tess when she is young and naive and takes advantage of that. We meet him again later in the novel and discover he has not changed. He is opportunistic in a very sinister and depraving way.

Angel Clare at first appears to be the hero that Tess needs but he ultimately is just a spineless, immature young man who should have treated Tess better.

It might be because I have a 21st century way of thinking and obviously have no idea of the customs of the 19th century but the way society treated Tess throughout the novel was shameful especially as she is the victim.

The main theme of the book is Tess' loyalty and sense of duty towards her family. I found her family (her parents) were completely unworthy of her loyalty given the way they treated her throughout (even before "the thing" happened). 

The only negative comment I can make about this book is that Hardy is vague (purposely I believe) on 2 occasions at pivotal moments in the book so much that I had to look up on sparknotes to figure out what had occurred. Although this could potentially just be because I am not a big reader of classics and so the 19th century language can be quite enigmatic at times for me.

This was my very first Thomas Hardy book, but it certainly will not be my last.

Book Review #737 - Raising Demons (Hex Hall 2) by Rachel Hawkins

Sophie Mercer's first term at Hex Hall turned out to be quite eventful. First the ghost of her evil grandmother haunted her every move, then her best friend was accused of murder and of course there was the discovery that Archer Cross, aka the boy of her dreams, was actually an undercover demon hunter - which would probably be something she could have worked on, if she hadn't also discovered that she was actually the demon Archer was hunting…

 
So, despite their issues, Sophie is actually relieved to be spending the summer in London with her father. But when your father is Head of The Council of Prodigium and your summer is being spent at the headquarters of everything magical, then a quiet holiday isn't really that likely. And, as Sophie struggles to come to terms with her new found demon powers, she finds herself thrust once again into a world of dark magic and conspiracies. The only thing that could possibly make things more complicated would be for Archer Cross to show up again, which of course he wouldn't, would he?

 

 

My Rating:  2.5/5

Having read Hex Hall back in 2011 its sequel Raising Demons is one of the oldest books on my TBR and so it was really satisfying to finally get around to reading it. 

I feel like I would have enjoyed this book a lot more had I read it back in 2011. I reread Hex Hall in preparation for finishing this series and did not like it anywhere near as much as I did back then. 

The amount of tropes this book contained showed just how much the YA genre has developed and matured over the last 7 years. I found I was a lot more aware of these than I had been in the past. 

Seeing as this book is somewhat oldish now it was fantastic to see LGBT representation in this book and this was given more attention than the first book.

The main issue I had with this book was Sophie's relationship with Archer. Sophie claims to be in love with him even though they have barely had any interactions with one another, he had a girlfriend for the whole of the first book and he tried to kill her. It was all a little to insta-love for me to believe. 

Sophie developed quite a lot in this book. She not only met her father for the first time but she also started to learn how to harness her powers that come with being a powerful demon.

 

I did find Sophie annoying at times though as she pined over Archer. I can see a dreaded love triangle forming in the third book which I am not looking forward to at all. 

I really liked the setting of Hex Hall in the first book but I liked the setting of the counsel headquarters especially as it was in England and we got to see a wider view of this world.

Book Review #736 - Unbecoming by Jenny Downham

Three women - three secrets - one heart-stopping story. Katie, seventeen, in love with someone whose identity she can't reveal. Her mother Caroline, uptight, worn out and about to find the past catching up with her. Katie's grandmother, Mary, back with the family after years of mysterious absence and 'capable of anything', despite suffering from Alzheimers. As Katie cares for an elderly woman who brings daily chaos to her life, she finds herself drawn to her. Rules get broken as allegiances shift. Is Mary contagious? Is 'badness' genetic? In confronting the past, Katie is forced to seize the present. As Mary slowly unravels and family secrets are revealed, Katie learns to live and finally dares to love. Funny, sad, honest and wise, Unbecoming is a celebration of life, and learning to honour your own stories.

 

 

My Rating: 3/5

I have read Jenny Downham's previous 2 novels and enjoyed both of them so I was grateful that Scholastic Australia sent me a copy of her newest book for review. 

In her previous works, Jenny Downham did not shy away from heavy and sensitive topics such as terminal illness and sexual assault and this book was no different. 

I found this book to be beautifully written although a little too slowly paced for my liking. I also thought that too much was tried to convey in a book so slowly paced. It took me quite a while to get into it as the beginning is especially slow. 

 

I really enjoyed the multi generation concept and the relationships between similar to Gilmore Girls and Looking for Alibrandi.

 

The book mainly focused on Kate, the teenager and her relationship with her grandmother Mary who Kate never knew existed and who has alzheimers. Even though I (thankfully) have no experience with the topic, I felt like Alzheimers was accurately portrayed. 

 

I feel like had Kate's mother (and Mary's daughter) Caroline been more heavily involved the book could have been even better as without her as a significant character, it felt like part of the story was missing.

Book Review #735 - The Fandom by Anna Day

Cosplay ready, Violet and her friends are at Comic-Con.

They can’t wait to meet the fandom of mega movie, The Gallows Dance. What they’re not expecting is to be catapulted by freak accident into their favourite world – for real. Fuelled by love, guilt and fear, can the friends put the plot back on track and get out? The fate of the story is in their hands ...

My Rating: 2.5/5

I received this book for review from Scholastic Australia. 

This book sounded so interesting and definitely something I would enjoy. 

I predicted the way this book would end extremely early and from then on I felt like the book dragged immensely. 

The book was just over 400 pages long, felt about 1200 pages long and probably should have been 200 pages long. 

I loved all the pop culture references from things like Divergent, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones to thing like The Beatles.

The book begins with our protagonist Violet giving a class presentation about her favourite book The Gallows Dance. Through this she basically tells us the whole synopsis of that book so it removed all the possibilities for potential plot twists because from the first chapter we have a good idea of what is to come.

A thing that bothered me throughout was Violet's relationship with her brother Nate. Like Violet, I have a brother who is a few years younger than me. Unlike Violet, however I have never once felt the need to baby him like she did to Nate. I felt like for their relationship to be realistic the siblings should either have been friends or Nate should have been around 6 years old rather than 14. 

Another issue I had was Violet's relationship with her so called friends. I felt like she was only friends with Alice because they were in the same fandom because there was a constant rivalry between the two of them. 

Once Violet and her friends were transported to the world of The Gallows Dance I felt like there could have been more world building. I didn't like that I was constantly told information through Violet discussing 'canon' rather than being shown.

I did really like the world and characters with the world of The Gallows Dance and how there was a lot of detail considering the length of time actually spent there as well as the fact that it was essentially a book within a book.

Overall, I really struggled with this one. I had high expectations for it as it sounded so interesting but ultimately it fell a little flat for me. 

Book Signing - Jay Kristoff [14 May 2018]

Two days ago I got to meet Jay Kristoff on his Likel1k3 tour. He took time to talk to every single person in line even though that meant it took me 90 minutes to get to the front of the line!

 

 

Anyway, here are the books I got signed:

 

 

 

And here is a picture of the bookmarks that were given out:

 

Book Review #734 - If I Tell You by Alicia Tuckerman

Life and love don’t wait until you’re ready, but what if finding yourself means losing everything you’ve ever known?

Seventeen-year-old Alex Summers lives with a secret and the constant fear someone will find out. But when a new family moves to town, they bring with them their teenage daughter Phoenix Stone. When Alex falls for Phoenix, there is no warning. In a small town with small minds, girls don’t go out with other girls, even if they want to.

In fear there is bravery – you can either cling to the edge or have the courage to jump. But what do you do when you’re left spiralling through the free fall?

 

 

My Rating: 5.5/10

 

 

This is not a book that I would typically read but I was required to read it for a book club. I am happy that I read it though as I have been meaning to read more diverse books.

 

This book follows a girl called Alex who lives in a small, conservative Australian  country town.

 

A new girl named Phoenix arrives in town with her family and the town are horrified to discover that Phoenix is openly gay. This however awakens something in Alex who commences a secret relationship with Phoenix.

 

I never really felt the romantic connection between the two. They just felt more like friends to me and that Alex was only interested in Phoenix because she was the first lesbian she had met. Not to mention how fast their relationship progressed.

 

I predicted the ending about 100 pages from the end and I was so mad at myself for this because I felt like the ending did not impact me as much as it should have because I saw it coming.

 

I did not like Phoenix at all. Without spoiling anyone, I thought she was extremely selfish in the way she treated Alex throughout.

 

I thought that the reactions to Alex coming out were realistic for the narrow minded town that she lived in.

 

Overall, I feel like this book tried to accomplish a little too much. It is hard to elaborate on that opinion much without spoilers though and that was also the general view everyone had at my book club when we discussed this book. 

Book Review #733 - Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter

 

Maddie thought she and Logan would be friends forever. But when your dad is a Secret Service agent and your best friend is the president's son, sometimes life has other plans. Before she knows it, Maddie's dad is dragging her to a cabin in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness.

No phone.
No Internet.
And not a single word from Logan.

Maddie tells herself it's okay. After all, she's the most popular girl for twenty miles in any direction. (She’s also the only girl for twenty miles in any direction.) She has wood to cut and weapons to bedazzle. Her life is full.
Until Logan shows up six years later . . .
And Maddie wants to kill him.

But before that can happen, an assailant appears out of nowhere, knocking Maddie off a cliff and dragging Logan to some unknown fate. Maddie knows she could turn back- and get help. But the weather is turning and the terrain will only get more treacherous, the animals more deadly.

Maddie still really wants to kill Logan.
But she has to save him first. 

 

 

My Rating: 7/10

 

 

I received this book for review from Scholastic Australia.

 

I have previously read two books by Ally Carter, neither of which really impressed me but I did end up enjoying this one much more than I thought I would.

 

The only issue I had overall with this book is that the blurb does not accurately describe the book.

 

I loved the fact that the book starts with Maddie and Logan as children where they are best friends as it made it impossible to not want them to end up together.

 

I found this book really fast paced with a lot of plot twists throughout that helped speed up the reading process.

 

The book was also a lot lighter and cheesy for a thriller novel but that again helped me read it as fast as I did so that was an unexpected positive.

 

I loved that this book was set primarily in Alaska as I am pretty sure I have never read a book set there before and the scale of isolation endured there by the characters added to the overall thriller element in the story.

 

Maddie was an extremely smart and resourceful character who took no nonsense from anybody whilst Lucas grew up and matured over the course of the book.

 

 

Book Review #732 - Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

 

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha's past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall, and hearts will be broken.

 

 

My Rating: 8/10

 

 

This is the third and final book in the Illuminae Files series and is the sequel to Illuminae and Gemina.

 

This book follows the same method in joining the characters we already know in Kady, Ezra, Hanna and Nik whilst also introducing us to new characters in Asha and Rhys.

 

I felt like we spent too much time with already established characters and not enough with the new ones causing Asha and Rhys to feel a little under developed.

 

The book was as fast paced and action packed as the previous two and struggled to put it down throughout.

 

I loved that AIDAN played a larger role than he did in Gemina as I find him the most fascinating aspect of this entire trilogy.

 

Whilst I found I didn't like this book as much as the previous two, I still thought it was a really solid and satisfying end to a remarkable series.

 

I will be attending Jay Kristoff's Likel1k3 book tour next week so look out for my post sharing my pictures of my signed books in this series!

Book Review #731 - Ten Big Ones (Stephanie Plum #10) by Janet Evanovich

"I'm Stephanie Plum. My mother says that I'm famous and have to set a good example. She's right, but I'm from Jersey and truth is, I have a hard time getting a grip on the good example thing."

Swing off the Jersey Turnpike and you'll be in bounty hunter Stephanie Plum's neighbourhood. You'll know it because all hell will be breaking loose. Not that she looks for trouble - it just seems to follow her. In Ten Big Ones it explodes at a deli, and when Stephanie pegs a robber as a member of a vicious Trenton gang, they peg her as dead. Vice cop Joe Morelli fears she's in way too deep - even with the help of crime-solving, cross-dressing, bus driver Sally Sweet, and Stephanie's friend Lula riding shotgun as backup. With a notorious killer on her tail, Stephanie figures the best hideout is Ranger's secret lair...

 

 

My Rating: 7/10

 

 

Whenever I am unsure of what to read or unsure of what kind of reading mood I am in, I always pick up the next Stephanie Plum novel and so far I am yet to have been disappointed.

 

I've never really been a big fan of the romantic element to these books even though I find it is done in a very low key way, but in this book I started to find the love triangle started to take stronger focus and this bothered me.

 

Stephanie always puts herself first ahead of any love interest and in this book this causes problems with her 'boyfriend' Morelli. I can see Morelli's side of it as a gang was after Stephanie and she didn't seem to care but at the same time expecting her to become a stereotypical housewife was not something I could ever picture Stephanie becoming.

 

On the other side of the love triangle is Ranger. I still feel like he is too much of an enigma for Stephanie to choose given she is already in a relationship with Morelli.

 

The bounty hunting aspect has always been my favourite part of these books because even after 10 books, Stephanie is still completely terrible at it.

Book Review #730 - Model Misfit (Geek Girl #2) by Holly Smale

“My name is Harriet Manners, and I am still a geek.”

Harriet knows that modelling won’t transform you. She knows that being as uniquely odd as a polar bear isn’t necessarily a bad thing (even in a rainforest). And that the average person eats a ton of food a year, though her pregnant stepmother is doing her best to beat this.

What Harriet doesn’t know is where she’s going to fit in once the new baby arrives.

With summer plans ruined, modelling in Japan seems the perfect chance to get as far away from home as possible. But nothing can prepare Harriet for the craziness of Tokyo, her competitive model flatmates and her errant grandmother’s ‘chaperoning’. Or seeing gorgeous Nick everywhere she goes.

Because, this time, Harriet knows what a broken heart feels like.

Can geek girl find her place on the other side of the world or is Harriet lost for good?

 

 

My Rating: 6.5/10

 

 

The first book Geek Girl was so much fun and easy to read so of course I decided to pick up the sequel.

 

The modelling side of things really expanded a lot in this book as Harriet travels to Japan for a series of photo shoots.

 

Harriet's step-grandmother Bunty gets introduced in this book. She is a really eccentric character who is tasked with accompanying Harriet to Japan as Annabel is pregnant. 

 

However once they arrive in Japan, Bunty disappears leaving Harriet on her own in a shared apartment with a bunch of other models.

 

There are a limited amount of characters in these books and so the introduction of a number of other models was really refreshing.

 

Bunty's abandonment of Harriet enabled Harriet to mature and become more independent. She grew up a lot in this book.

 

I really enjoyed the photo shoots and how fun and unique they were all presented, but also because of all the situations Harriet somehow gets herself in.

 

The setting of Japan was interesting. I loved the random geeky facts Harriet drops throughout and just simply seeing Japan through Harriet's eyes was an adventure.