#81 One Day in December

One Day in December by Josie Silver

One Day in December follows the story of Laurie a twenty something girl living in London chasing down her dreams of working at a magazine. She lives with her best friend Sarah and they have been inseparable since becoming roommates at university. One night on her way home from work Laurie locks eyes with a handsome strange who is sat at a bus stop whilst she is on a bus. She feels an instant connection and likens it to love at first sight, when the bus pulls away she thinks she will never see this mystery man again and she spends the next year of her life obsessing over him and searching every nook and cranny in London to find him.

Just when Laurie is ready to give up she is invited to meet Sarahs new boyfriend, Jack. You can pretty much see where this is going, Jack is the guy from the bus stop and Laurie immediately recognises him. She struggles with whether she should tell Sarah or not but decides not to as Sarah has strong feelings for him and told Laurie that it was the man she was going to marry.

This story is made up of snippets of ten years worth of Lauries life. I found is to be incredibly heartwarming and really struggled to put the book down, i think it took me a day to finish this one, i was so immersed in the characters and what was going to happen. I must admit i didnt love the ending and i did bump it down a star as it was a bit rushed. This book has a very Bridget Jones style to it, parts are very funny but ultimately its very relatable and you can really put yourself in Lauries shoes.

There are many multi layered characters and complex story lines that merge so well even when they are years apart in timeline. I struggled with the male characters in this book as i didnt like any of them! i know im in the minority saying that though. The whole big reads as very human, the characters make terrible decisions but you seem them struggle and try to live with those decisions which made for an interesting read. I dont often enjoy Christmas books but this book is definitely an exception to the rule. Dont get me wrong bits of it like any romance novel are a bit cringey and a bit predictable but all in all its a lovely read.

#80 Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Little Fires Everywhere is a fiercely character driven novel, if you aren't into that then this might not be for you. I used to be one of those people that was more of a plot reader but i don't mind character driven novels occasionally if they are executed well and this was.

The book follows the story of the Richardson's, in the beginning chapter their house burns to the ground. The fire department immediately rule out an accidental fire and rule the tragedy as arson due to multiple accelerant points or 'little fires everywhere'. The book follows the stories of the characters involved in the run up to the fire.

The Richardson's are a well to do upper class family in suburban Ohio. Mrs Richardson is a reporter for a local Shaker Heights newspaper and Mr Richardson is a partner at a law firm. Together they have four children, Trip the lacrosse star, Lexie the potential ivy league attendee, Moody the quiet one and Izzy the unpredictable black sheep. When Mia Warren and her young daughter Pearl move into the Richardson's rental property the story begins to unfold and takes the reader in directions i did not see coming.

There is a few side plots in this novel, it felt like the story of the fire was firmly on the back burner (excuse the pun!) but i promise it all comes together in the end. We have the addition of Mrs Richardson (lets refer to her as Elena from now on as that's her name :P) best friend and her husband as they attempt to adopt an abandoned Chinese baby, when the babies mother who also happens to be Mia's work colleague a custody battle ensues which divides the community. Another side plot that is explored is Mia's back story, she is a travelling artist and never stays in the same city twice, her mother embarks on an artistic mission and when she finishes they typically move on but this time Mia has vowed to Pearl that they will make Shaker Heights their permanent residence, will she uphold this promise? will her past come back to bite her in the ass?

The Richardson kids are a particularly important and interesting part of this story. Mainly the two girls Lexie and Izzy, Lexie is the popular pretty girl at school whereas Izzy is misunderstood and sticks to her guns. Izzy develops a friendship with Mia when she offers to be her assistant. Through this friendship it solidifies Izzys idea that she needs to break away from her family as soon as she is able.

All is all i thoroughly enjoyed this story, fantastic plot twists and side story lines that all came together in the end.  I enjoyed this book more that Celeste Ng's fire novel 'Everything i Never Told You' but it was also very good. Cant fault her writing and the characters have a real feel to them. Oh and a final note i must admit i much prefer the US cover which is not a statement i can say very often!

#79 Turn of the Key

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware 

The Turn of the Key is Ruth Wares 5th novel, ive read them all. Im a massive fan of her work and i must say this one was fantastic. Her writing style is simple yet effective and i enjoy her plot twists, this book was no exception. Ruth Ware has been described as 'The Agatha Christie of our time' which i whole heartily agree with. I could sing her praises all day.

The book follows Rowan Caine, a Londoner living pay check to pay check and working in a baby room of a nursery. When she comes across a job advertisement for a live in nanny position in remote Scotland she is instantly intrigued, when she sees the salary she decides to stop at nothing to secure the position. When Rowan arrives at Heatherbrae House she is swept away by the beautiful scenery and its remoteness. The house itself is high tech- a refurbished smart home with round the clock surveillance, in which all of the appliances are controlled via an app. Rowan is immediately informed by Mrs Elincourt the lady of the house, that a few of their previous nannies had left due to the history of the house and it is implied that they 'scared too easily'. Rowan will become the nanny to the 4 Elincourt children, three problem children and a baby. Rowan becomes their sole carer within a few hours of accepting the position and is immediately thrown into the deep end when both the parents leave for work projects. With the nearest house miles away and only the groundskeeper/handyman to rely on this novel becomes very dark, very quickly.

The book is told in letter form to a lawyer that Rowan is seeking representation from which is interesting in itself and very unique in thrillers. There is a constant creepy vibe to it, Rowan wakes in the night to footsteps on the floorboards and strange noises, she also feels constantly watched not only by the cameras that cover the majority of the house but also whilst she is on the grounds. The children are also problematic and dont exactly warm to Rowan straight away. Maddie, one of the middle childrens behaviour is unpredictable and some what volatile towards Rowan, she hints that the house is haunted and that 'the ghosts wont like her being there'. When one of the children is found dead Rowan maintains her innocence but is charged with the murder and is awaiting her trial, the book is her account of what really happened told in a letter to a potential solicitor. Will we find out what really happened at Heatherbrae House?

My only gripe with this book was the ending. It felt very rushed and not satisfying after all the build up, i was heavily invested in the story and then left it feeling a bit of an anti-climax. Dont get me wrong this was still a solid 4 star read but if the ending was better executed it would have been a 5 star read for me. The twist was enjoyable but was hinted at a few times throughout so was easily worked out but still executed fairly well. I eagerly await Ruth Wares next book.

#78 Starsight

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson 

(Skyward Book 2)

Spoiler free

Skyward was my joint favourite book of 2018, joint top with Evelyn Hugo so its pretty safe to say ive been waiting ALL year for this and it was one of it not my most anticipated book of 2019. Slight spoiler alert, it did not disappoint! whilst i must admit i did prefer Skyward i still thought this sequel was a fantastic continuation and my favourite YA sci-fi series. 

A little synopsis of the first book: Skyward follows Spensa a young girl with big dreams of becoming a pilot, her father defected from a battle and was deemed a coward, he was shot down and his legacy as a coward was moved onto Spensa which made her dreams of attending pilot school almost impossible. Almost ;) 

Starsight continues on directly from Skyward which i enjoyed as i dont care for massive time jumps. The book opens with the continuing fight against the krell. With Spensas unique ability to sense the Krells controls and direction of their spaceships the last remaining humans are therefore able to push the battle farther out from Detritus. When a small single unknown spaceship appears Spensa is sent to intercept it, when she find the pilot injured, the pilot gives Spensa a warning and pleads with her to go to Starsight, a krell space station and then she slips into a coma.  Spensa is subsquently presented with a unique opportunity in this book to imitate an alien from a different planet and to infiltrate their space station to steal their hyper drive technology in the hopes they will figure out how the krell are winning the fight, the risks are high but it may be the humans only chance.

Whilst on Starsight Spensa takes on a new pilot training challenge and must help to train a new crew which was a nice throwback to Skyward. With this there is an introduction of a range of new characters. The new crew comprises of many different races of aliens and a human defector character. Spensa is able to disguise herself as the alien that is currently in a coma using M-bots technology whilst wearing a bracelet on her wrist. Will Spensa complete her mission to steal the krell hyperdrive and make it back to Detritus alive?

So like ive mentioned previously i didnt enjoy this as much as Skyward but i still gave it a full 5 stars as i still thought it was a great story. I enjoyed the characters more in Skyward but i did appreciate the varied characters in Starsight and found that each of them had a unique and interesting backstory. The world building was also bumped up a level in this continuation and i really enjoyed learning more about the other side and found myself warming to the krell and feeling sorry for them. 

Some stand out characters for me were Spensa (obviously) her character growth was fantastic whilst at the same time shes the same impulsive, fiery gal. I enjoyed how the cytonic side of her is developed. I also loved development of Jorgens character towards the end as he has his own developments in this book, wont say anymore as i want to keep this as spoiler free as possible. The alien characters were an interesting addition too. 

I was also very glad that like Skyward this book was pretty much romance free and thats probably why i loved it so much, i love that Sanderson can write an action packed story but doesnt feel the need to focus on a romance storyline. His writing really is second to none. I was very pleased when not only a book 3 was announced but a book 4 too! Shame we have to wait until Spring 2021 for it but im sure it will be worth the wait! 

#77 The Beautiful

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh 

The Beautiful in set in the 1870's in New Orleans, i should preface this by saying ive never read any Anne Rice so i had zero expectations going into this, i just wanted it to be better than the shit show that was Twilight and thankfully it was. The book follows our main protagonist Celine who has fled Paris after something happens to her and moves to New Orleans for a fresh start and a new life. Celine moves into a convent with a group of other girls, their main aim is to find a husband and move out of the nunnery.

When Celine meets the mysterious Odette who asks her to make a dress for an upcoming masquerade party Celine then becomes involved with the wrong crowd known as 'The Court of Lions' and within the opening few chapters a body is found in the restaurant that they frequent and thus the story begins. The killings dont stop and people around Celine begin to die, she begins to become suspicious that she may be in danger. Through The Court of Lions Celine meets Sebastian, a mysterious handsome figure who in true YA tropey fashion she falls head over heels for even though she shouldnt because hes 'bad news'.

I was a bit worried about the hype surrounding this book. Renee Ahdieh is highly loved within the book community and this is the first book of hers i have read. The writing is very atmospheric and Gothic, two things i really appreciated. I was hoping this book would be a fresh start for vampire fiction but alas my main problem with all YA fantasy at the minute occurred, there was too much focus on the sodding romance. Well this book had a fantastic start, i thought the writing was stunning and the first half had me completely enthralled but then it just sort of veered off. I feel bad saying this but there wasnt enough vampires for me and i dont think i will bother with the sequel. There was a lot of aspects i enjoyed, mainly the writing. I didnt care for the characters much, i thought they were a bit unrealistic and not very true to the time period. There wasnt enough information about The Court of Lions and i thought that could have been explored a bit more. I dont really care for hate to love tropes in YA and this felt a bit too insta-lovey for me and that was the main reason i couldnt give this more than 3 stars. I usually love historical books but i didnt think this was very true to the time which was annoying to me.

All in all this wasnt for me really. Yet another YA fantasy 2019 release book that i havent really liked. Im beginning to think the problem is me. Maybe at the ripe old age of 29 i should probably stick to more adult titles (i definitely wont cos i never learn). This book from my extensive google research will be a 4 book series so i believe thats why there isnt too much vampire action as she may be delaying that for the later books, i would recommend this book to people who like a YA murder mystery type storyline with some vampire action thrown in at the end.

#76 Educated

Educated by Tara Westover

Educated is the true story of Tara Westover and her family. She grew up in Bucks Peak, rural Idaho and is raised as a strict Mormon. Her father has very extreme views and doesnt believe in modern medicine or anything that is even remotely government run so much so that not only was Tara not born in a hospital, she had never set foot in one for the majority of her childhood. Tar's birth was never registered either. Her mother is a kind of herbal 'medicine woman' and heals using tinctures and essential oils mixtures and with the 'grace of god' thrown in. She is also a local midwife and helps women give birth in their own homes without the help of medicine or doctors.

The Westover family is made up of the mum and dad (i dont believe their names are ever mentioned?) and children, Tony, Tyler, Shawn, Richard, Luke, Audrey and Tara. The elder boys were born in hospital and all attended school for a few years before their father developed these extreme views and pulled them out to be 'home schooled'.

Her childhood is full of strange stories and some memories that made for very difficult reading. Her father is a difficult man to live with and is very much a 'what i say goes' type of parent. He has his own 'business' scrapping metal and building huts in which he enlists the help of his children from a very young age they are expected to operate machinery and get stuck in to help out. The children are never properly home schooled as their mother only teaches them to read and very basic maths skills, the rest is up to them, if they want to learn something they are expected to pick up a text book and read it themselves.

When Tara is 17 she sets foot in a classroom for the first time. She is accepted to BYU (Brigham Young University) which is located in Provo, Utah and run by The Church of Latter-Day Saints. Tara was encouraged to study for the entrance test by her brother Tyler and teaches herself trigonometry, grammar, algebra as well as many other things in order to pass and gain entrance. Tara is floored by the classes she takes and how little she knows about the world for example she believes that Europe in a country and not a continent and gets very confused in her geography classes. She was also never taught about the holocaust and has to look this up on the library computers.

Throughout her time at college Tara struggles to keep up with classes whilst also paying rent and basic living. She spends many hours of the day studying the basics and trying to keep up. At the end of her first semester she has achieved good grades and is granted a partial scholarship. Every summer when she returns home from college her father makes her work in the junkyard which she hates but needs the money to return to BYU so she never argues with him.

It is ultimately her time in college and being away from her family that makes her realise how backward their life and teachings are. Throughout this time Tara begins to question things and step away from that way of thinking.

Tara overcomes so much in her childhood, it really does make for an extraordinary read. Her older siblings leave home early to get away from their father. Tony works on long haul rigs in Vegas, Tyler leaves to go to college which is extremely frowned upon by their father, Audrey gets married and moves out leaving just Shawn, Richard and Luke with Tara. Shawn is extremely physically abusive and takes most of this anger out on Tara which made for some very difficult reading.

I have used a lot of inverted commas in this review and that is mainly down to the fact that her life is so strange and using words to describe events arent really accurate like 'home schooled' for example, she isnt actually properly home schooled so you cant really use that word to describe it.

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 5 stars, it was so thoughtfully written and at times you feel as if you are there. I highly recommend to any non fiction lovers.

#75 The Luminous Dead

The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling 

The Luminous Dead is an adult debut atmospheric/sci-fi/horror 2019 release. This story follows Gyre Price who lies on a job application and fakes her experience level to bag a caving job that pays a lot of money. Her motivation for this is that she is searching for her missing mother and needs to make a lot of money to travel to other garden planets to find her mum. The cave job is offering an extortionate pay out as its a very difficult expedition that many others have died attempting before.

Gyre undergoes surgery to have a suit fitted that will protect her from the elements of the cave and ultimately protect her from the 'tunnellers' which are monster type creatures that dwell in the caves and are attracted by human voices, they are highly dangerous as they can cause the cave to disintegrate and can also create new tunnels making it difficult to follow a map. Gyre must avoid them at all cost. The suit she is fitted into has built into speakers and microphones to the helmet so that Gyre can stay in contact with her handler, Em. It is Ems job to externally control the suit and ensure Gyre completes the excavation successfully.

The book takes a twist when Em doesnt seem to want to help Gyre and is cold towards her. She leaves Gyre for long periods of time without speaking to her and slowly begins to manipulate and blackmail her to conform to Ems agenda.

The book is highly atmospheric and has a really creepy vibe to it, i listened to this on audio book and i think that really added to the overall tone. The tension really builds throughout and the writing is fantastic. I enjoyed this book a lot, its highly underrated in my opinion. I enjoyed the high tech elements to this story, it was really interesting to read about the advancements and what the suit was capable of.

Gyre as a character was really well fleshed out, shes strong and knows what she wants but shes also extremely vulnerable and the cave and isolation really takes its toll on her. Em is also very interesting, her character is very mysterious and in the beginning you dont know why she is so frosty towards Gyre and why she isnt doing her best to help her through this mission but all begins to unravel as the story goes on. In the beginning few chapters i thought it was such a risk to only have two characters throughout the entire book but it really played to the books strengths and helped me as a reader get so invested in both characters mind sets.

I ended up giving this one 3.5 stars as it is a great October/fall read but i felt like some sections were overly long and certain bits felt really repetitive. I think this would have been easier to read physically as there is a map with the excavation site at the beginning and it was quite difficult to visualise when listening to the book. I was shocked that this was a debut as it was really well done and highly original, one of the better 2019 releases ive read this year and i really want to pick up a physical copy now.

#74 Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir 

Gideon the Ninth is a 2019 debut adult sci fi/fantasy and one of my most anticipated reads of the year, i was so pumped for this and i hate to say it but i didn't love it, it was very much not my cup of tea at all. Its a really difficult book to write a review of because even though ive read it i find it very difficult to not only describe but also to summarise. This book is pitched as 'lesbian necromancers in space' which sounds perfect, that tagline had me hook, line and sinker and then i picked it up only to find that it has little to no world building, no explanation of the magic system, very little background or lore and the writing comes off as overly pretentious with overly descriptive sections. The best thing about this book IMO is the cover.

Gideon the Ninth has very little plot hence why it is so hard to describe. So Gideon lives in the ninth house and has been trying to escape since she was 4 years old but she is bound there as she was taken in and raised as a baby and it is deemed that she knows too much so they will not allow her to leave. She is kept in a cell like a prisoner and spends her days planning her escape. At the beginning of this book Gideon has spent months planning what she believe to be a full proof escape plan to finally leave but when she is discovered by her arch nemesis who offers her a way out. She is to act as a body guard and if she succeeds her master will set her free.

I found that absolutely nothing happened for the majority of this book which was really frustrating as i kept waiting for the story to kick off and for me to be sucked in, it wasnt until i got about 65% of the way through did i realise that it probably wasnt going to happen for me. There was a semi interesting mystery plot towards the end but i found it was wrapped up all too quickly for my liking considering it was one of the only things that happened. I found the characters to be a but meh, i didnt take a liking to anyone which i found odd.

It read to me like the author had tried to replicate the success of The Nevernight Chronicles and The Book of the Ancestor trilogy but it just fell so short of both of those trilogies. I dont want to hate on this book too much as 1) i hate doing that as i know the author worked damn hard on this book 2) id never want other people to not read it based on my opinions and 3) i always try to find the positives in things.

Gideon is compared to Mia Corvere a lot especially on Twitter as they are both quite stabby and queer but thats where the similarities end im afraid. Gideon had the potential to be an amazing kick ass female character but the plot really lets her down unfortunately.  I like my adult fantasy to have extensive world building, rich characters and an interesting plot, thats not too much to ask for? am i right?

All in all i just felt a bit lost with this one, i was confused for a lot of the time and couldnt really work out what was happening. I think this book had the potential to be great if it cut out all the fancy adjective and adverbs and worked on world building a bit more. As i was reading i remember constantly thinking 'where are they?' 'why are they here?' 'who are these people?', little to no explanation for anything really. Having said all that im still not ruling Tamsyn Muir out at all as i think id like to try more of her writing in the future but ultimately this really wasnt for me.

#73 Serpent & Dove

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin 

Septembers Fairyloot book <3 ascetically it is beautiful, has gorgeous bronze shimmery sprayed edges, the cover is slightly embossed and there is exclusive art on the inside of the dust jacket. I am in love with it.

I haven't been enjoying YA fantasy lately which is really worrying as im worried that im outgrowing YA *cries* so i was dubious to start this to say the least.

Serpent and Dove is a 2019 debut fantasy YA novel set in the city of Cesarine that follows our two main characters from opposite sides of the track so to speak:

• Lou- a witch who had fled her coven. Lou is sassy, says and does what she pleases and answers to no one. I like a sassy character but Lou could be a bit over the top at times even for me. Lous is being hunted by the witches for fleeing and is carrying many secrets from her past 

• Reid- an orphan raised as a chasseur and sworn to the church, he has never known any other life and has dedicated his life to one of morals and following the rules. A chasseurs role in the society of Cesarine is to keep the public safe and to hunt witches and burn them at the stake. 

When Lou and Reid are forced into an arranged marriage they must learn to deal with each other and each others flaws. At first it did seem like an unlikely match but as time goes on the reader slowly realises that they are made for each other. The slow burn hate to love romance is done so well as well. The church is at war with the witches and Lou must hide who she really is from Reid in the fear of him handing her over to be burned at the stake.

The plot was interesting, i havent read many books like this so props for originality. Theres always something that seems to be happening so there arent many dull or boring moments. I did listen to the audio for this and found the 2 narrators did a great job. The male character is the same narrator as Nevernight and that made me love it even more!

The things i didnt like about this book mainly was the setting, i really dont dig French books, i dont speak much French and found myself forever googling chapter names or the names of places in order to not get to lost with what was happening, although this may be endearing to some i really didnt care for it.  The aspects of magic werent the most original as ive seen it done in many YA fantasy books especially the blood magic elements but hey theres only so much creativity you can bring to a magic system i guess, it didnt affect my overall rating. A few side characters could have been developed a little more as it felt like they were only used for the action scenes, they were rarely in the background unless they needed to be, they didnt feel very real for me. More background to Lou would have been nice and Reid also, the big reveal of their secrets felt ever so slightly anti climatic.

Overall i though the writing was good and the story was well plotted especially for a debut novel. I enjoyed the characters and their relationship dynamic as well as their dialogue and witty banter. I found a few of the side characters to be a bit of a let down in places but really enjoyed Coco and Hansel and hope they are included in the sequel. I am really glad i got to this book especially in October as it has such a spooky vibe but is still light, fun and engaging.

#72 The Crowns Game

The Crowns Game by Evelyn Skye 

The Crowns Game is the first book in the The Crowns Game duology. It follows two young enchanters Nikolai and Vika who are competing to be the imperial enchanter which is basically a personal magician. Vika and Nikolai have been training for this role since they were young children but were not aware that they would be pitted against each other in a duel where they each get a turn and have to try and best each other in order to win. Nikolai's best friend is the Tsarovitch meaning he is the next in line to be the Tsar. Pasha does not know that Nikolai is an enchanter or that he is about to take part in the Crowns Game. Only one enchanter will come out of the Crowns Game victorious whilst the other will be executed.

This is a debut novel and the story is inspired by Russian folklore which i have been really into lately after finally completing the Grishaverse in August, i found it was very well researched and believable. The writing is good which i hate to say i found really surprising, i read Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye a few months ago and was really disappointed in both the story and the writing. So going into this book i was hesitant but it took me by surprise. I listened to the audiobook for this one and found it to be really engaging, the voices were changed for each character and had a bit of a Russian lilt to them which made it sound much more authentic. The world building was stunning and you really felt like you were there they way everything is so beautifully described, there wasnt too much explanation regarding the magic system and why there only seemed to be a few characters that had magic, i would have liked this to have been explained more and an explanation for why there could only been one imperial enchanter would have been nice as that was the entire plot yet it wasnt really explained.

I found it to be a but tropey in parts like a standard YA fantasy novel, the romance was predictable and a little cheesy. I thought i knew where the ending was going from about midway through but it surprised me and went a different way which i did enjoy.

I loved Nikolai's character a lot, his storyline of 'boy who comes from nothing' was really well done and i enjoyed reading about how he started from the bottom but worked hard to hone his magic skills. His friendship with Pasha was really endearing to read too. He has a strong sense of self and really cares about other people and their feelings.

Vika has elemental magic. I found her to be a bit dumb, i couldnt really click with her character as i found her not to be very relatable. Shes written as a 'fiesty' girl character which i think is SO overdone in YA. The introduction of the love triangle element was the main reason i gave this book 3 stars. I really hate love triangles as it always reminds me of Twilight *rolls eyes* it made the story really juvenile in my eyes. When will authors learn that love triangles are not a good plot device!

Pasha was my favourite character, he is such a complex character. He is kind natured and you can tell that he doesnt have what it takes to become the leader of Imperial Russia even though he is destined to do so. He often wears disguises and goes into the market to be among his people but not be recognised. He craves adventure and was really fun to read about.

I think in terms of writing style i would have much preferred a split perspective chapters with Nikolai, Vika and maybe Pasha too. Instead it was told in a third person style that i dont overly care for but it didnt take anything away from the story, i just personally prefer a bit more structure.

I am keen to read the next and final instalment to see where the story goes. Ultimately i enjoyed this, there was a lot of good plot twists and i enjoyed the political intrigue towards the end. The duel was well done and i enjoyed them trying to out do each other. There were parts in the middle that dragged and the love triangle was not great but otherwise it was enjoyable and i gave this a 3 stars overall.

#71 Four Dead Queens

Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte 

Four Dead Queens is a debut fantasy/mystery stand alone. This book has been on my radar for a while and i was delighted when it was picked as the group read for September for the online book club that im part of!

The story opens with seventeen year old thief Keralie who lives in the nation of Quadara. Quadara is made up of four quadrants which are each ruled by a separate queen. The four queens all live within the same palace and are not allowed to leave as they would need to forfeit their crown. Each queen is required to produce a female heir in order to pass the crown on through death or if they choose to abdicate. Each queen is required to be raised in the quadrant that they will rule in order to grow up in the society and follow the traditions and rules of that quadrant. The story is told in a split perspective of inside the palace following the queens and also outside the palace following Keralie. At the beginning of the story Keralie steals something from a messenger that sets off a series of events which will result in the the queens deaths so she tries to go to the palace with the messenger to stop the murders taking place. I cant say much more than that as it will ruin the story.

The main things i liked were the murder mystery and light sci-fi/tech references, i have never read a YA fantasy that has mystery elements before so it felt very refreshing. This is really well structured and thought out which is very surprising for a debut novel. I liked the quadrants and that they were very different and stood for different things. I loved the LGBT relationship in this but wish it had been explored a bit more. A novella for each of the queens back stories would be perfect. Parts of this were very female empowering in the fact that Quadara is ran completely by women and there are no chance for a male to become king.

A few things i felt it lacked which made it a 4 star instead of a 5 star read was the sheer lack of world building, the quadrants sounded really interesting but its not as explained as well as it could have been. I would have liked a lot more back story from each of the queens, its explored a little but not enough for you to really invest in each character. I get that this is a stand alone novel so the above things took a back seat to the actual story but personally i would have liked to have seen a lot more exploration and world building. Keralie is a little annoying in parts but i did enjoy the romance elements as it didnt feel like insta love.

Astrid Scholte is very engaging with her readers on social media and i personally think thats really important. I cant wait to see what she comes out with next and i will definitely be reading it.

#70 The Kingdom

The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

'Welcome to the Kingdom, where 'Happily Ever After' isnt just a promise, but a rule' 



Before i begin i genuinely think this book has my favourite cover of 2019, both the US & UK editions are stunning but the US version is just gorgeous, i dont think ive ever seen a book where i have loved both covers so much even though they are very different.

This book is very light sci-fi but has mystery/thriller aspects which i found very unique.

Lets begin, so the Kingdom is a Disney inspired futuristic theme park, its basically like a very high tech Disneyland but instead of human Disney princesses you have cyborg 'fantasists'. We follow our main character Ana who is one of seven fantasists, she is an artificial intelligence programmed to entertain, guide and look after the theme park guests. There is a dual timeline in this story so you get both past and present events. From the beginning of the story we learn that Ana is on trial for murder so the past events tell us what happened leading up to the murder and the present events are leading up to and during the trial. There are quite a lot of mixed media included in this book which in my opinion really adds to the story, i loved the interview transcripts as it made the story flow really well. The story is basically about whether Ana committed the murder and if she did can she be held accountable for it as the creators state that she is not programmed to be capable of violence.

I loved the themes of this book mainly the 'what is it to be human' theme and the exploration of AI evolving by experiencing feelings, dreaming and making choices. It also lightly explores rape culture and how women are treated within society as well as masculinity issues. The fantasists are regularly sexually harassed in this story so you may want to be aware of that as it could be quite triggering for some people. There are also a lot of mentions about the environment and how many animals have become extinct so the creators have had to develop hybrids of some animals which i loved as it really modernised the futuristic element to the story. There are a few scenes regarding animal cruelty that can make for difficult reading so please be mindful of that if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.

I couldnt put this down, it reminded me so much of Irobot, it was really intricate and well written. I would love to see some novellas in this world maybe following Owen and his sister on their original visits to the Kingdom or the back story of the fantasists and how they were created, i think that would be really interesting. I loved that this was a stand alone as it was rounded off very well and left me satisfied and i felt complete at the ending, having said that i would love to read a sequel to this.

#69 Nevernight

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

HOLY SHIT BALLS, let me just begin by saying this book was amazing. It reminded me of why i love reading so much (not that i had forgotten) but sometimes you need a book to come along and kick you up the ass and this book did that for me. It has reignited my love for adult fantasy books and i am dying to read Godsgrave, i have it on my bed side table but cant fit it in until the beginning of next month.

Ok, onto the book Rachel and stop gushing! Nevernight is the first book in the Nevernight Chronicles which is a trilogy. I am a little late jumping on this band wagon as the final book is due to be released next month. I guess one good thing about being late to read it is that i already have Godsgrave (book 2) as mentioned earlier and will be able to pick up a copy of the final book next month. I am ashamed that it took me so long to read this as ive even read Aurora Rising which Jay co-authored and it came out earlier this year. I had a bit of a rocky start with this one, i took it out from the library a few months ago and couldnt even get past the first page, the writing wasnt for me. It read like a poem that kept repeating itself and i put it down thinking the whole book would be like that, how simple minded of me! Fast forward a few months and my amazing bookish friend on IG (Steffimariareads, hit her up cos shes awesome) had bought and started it. She convinced me to give it another chance which i did and the rest is history.

This book follows Mia Covere who at the beginning of the story (no spoilers of course) she witnesses her father being hanged for treason, her lifes goal from that point onwards is to find the men responsible for his death and kill them. She then joins the Red Church which is basically a school that trains the pupils on how to be deadly assassins known as the Blades. Mia also has the added ability to control shadows which is pretty badass IMO. Along with Mias ability she has a shadow cat called Mr Kindly who was easily one of my favourite parts of the book, he is so snarky but the way he protects and looks after Mia is very endearing. The banter between them was genuinely hilarious for the most part.

This book gave me serious Red Sister by Mark Lawrence vibes which i read in June/July as it also has a school for badass assassins. The writing is very close to flawless, it was so descriptive but in the best way as you can really imagine the world and the characters in your mind as you are reading. Nevernight has joined the ranks as one of favourite books that ive read this year (out of 109 so far) and not only that it is one of my favourite books of all time. I loved how the footnotes added an element of comedy to this serious natured book, after following Jays twitter i can confirm the man is a comedic genius.

I have seen quite a few people shelve this book as young adult of goodreads, it is very much an adult book. This book has some of the best sex scenes ever written in a fantasy novel and Kristoff certainly didnt shy away from that kind of content, man can he write! Theres also a lot of gory scenes, some scenes really shocked me and i dont shock easily!

Overall this was a fantastic read and one that will stay with me a long time, i can imagine myself rereading this a lot and thats not something i say so soon after finishing a book which i can only take as a positive sign. I am now a fully fledged member of the Jay Kristoff fan club and i will auto buy anything he writes in the future.

#68 Holy Sister

Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Well here it is! The much anticipated third and final book in the 'Book of the Ancestor' trilogy.

This trilogy is fantastically written and so intricate, there are so many details that at first seem irrelevant to the plot but then become relevant 2 books later. Mark Lawrence's world building is second only to Sanderson, everything he writes is so deliberate and masterfully done. He uses a great mix of character driven writing along with dynamic world building- whats not to love?

Holy Sister continues on from Grey Sister, it is told in two timelines, one in the present and one 3 years previous. Present day follows Nona and her friends as they strive to become full sisters in their chosen specialisation: Red, Grey or Holy sister. In the past timeline the story follows where Grey Sister left off, which i appreciated as i had so many unanswered questions. The ending of Grey Sister was rushed and dare i say ever so slightly sloppy. The nuns had just escaped the Emperors sister, Sherzal and her infamous Noi-Guin assassins and were trying to flee back to the safety of the convent whilst being chased, my biggest question was 'did everyone make it?' 'did anyone die?', the abruptness annoyed me as these questions plagued my mind until i was able to pick the conclusion up.

This trilogy has been an epic journey chronicling Nona's life from a peasant girl to becoming a novice at Sweet Mercy Convent. This instalment sees Nona face the final challenges she must overcome if she is to become a full sister to pave the way for her and her friends pick a speciality and finally graduate.

This was a highly thrilling conclusion. We have spent two books seeing Nona come into her own and hone her many many skills. Nona has made friends and enemies at Sweet Mercy and they honestly read as so real, i was so fond of them all (except Jolie, she is the worst) I love how the central focus of this series is female friendship, it was so refreshing to read. One of the most interesting aspects was delving into the paths laid out by Abbess Glass for Nona, it was extremley confusing at first but really came together the longer the story went on, a tribute to Lawrences writing really.

My only real criticism would be Jolie. The absolute witch that is Jolie deserved death in the end and it annoyed me that Nona chose mercy, that is possibly the only thing i would change. I know this was written as part of Nona's character development as a more mature and merciful sister but STILL she could have at least had her whipped or something!

In the end this is a highly entertaining and suspenseful read. I will 100% be reading Mark Lawrences back list books and anything new he brings out too. I am ashamed that it took me this long to discover his wonderful writing.

#67 The Priory of the Orange Tree

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

This was my most anticipated book of 2019 and oh boy it didn't let me down! It took me 12 days to read (which im really proud of considering it was 804 pages) i was a bit nervous going into this one as its been hyped so much so i had high expectations but luckily it really lived up to the hype.

So the book is basically about 2 divided sides, East and West:

The West storyline focuses on Queen Sabran who must produce a female heir to become queen and keep 'the nameless one' in exile. The nameless one is decribed as a beastly creature that almost took over the world one thousand years prior to our current storyline but was exiled. Queen Sabran is guided along her way by Ead Duryan who is sent by the priory in the south to look after and protect the queen. She uses her magic and skills to keep Queen Sabran safe from the constant threat of assassination. 

In the East we follow the story of Tane who has been nurtured and trained since birth to be a dragon rider but one night she is forced to make an impossible choice when she finds a man washed up on the shore the night before her ceremony to become a dragon rider when she is meant to be in seclusion. She cannot decide whether to turn the man into the authorities whilst simultaneously outing
herself for breaking seclusion and jeopardising her chances of becoming a dragon rider. Tane at the beginning goes through trials to be selected as a dragon rider which makes for really good reading.

The characters from East & West must come together to face the threat of the nameless one together, if they do not civilisation will be under his rule.

Things i liked:

This was a stand.alone.adult.fantasy :O need i say more?

I love dragons in fantasy books, there isnt enough dragons in my opinion. What i loved about this book is that dragons where explored in a new way, there was the element of water dragons as well as the standard fire dragons which was really interesting to read about. I havent read a good dragon book since Game of Thrones.

I flew through this and i was so committed to the characters and each of their story arcs. Its not often that you feel a connection to every single character and you root for them so deeply. Each character is in a completely different situation that is so interesting to follow, they are so flawed and real and i really appreciated how relevant each characters storyline was to the overall story. My favourite character i think was Ead, she was a really well thought out character.

I adored the LGBT elements as we had 2 main characters in same sex relationships. One of the romances was very slow burn and actually surprised me when it happened as it is super abrupt and there wasnt very many hints before then that they even liked each other, i think this could have been done a lot better.

The world building was so well done, its very intricate and detailed and you get a good sense of the differences and the politics on both sides of the Queendom. The book is so interesting and engaging and each chapter is so relevant, i expected for 800+ pages that some of it would be a bit filler but nope! every single thing is relevant to the overall story. I can honestly say that at no point was i bored.

This book has made me want to read everything that Samantha Shannon has wrote and is yet to write! I would put this on a par with Sanderson.

Things i didn't like:

i really disliked Niclays as a character, he pissed me off to no end. At one point he maims a dragon and i wanted him dead for it. I did understand how he was relevant to the story and just how important his input was but i still hated him

The ending was very very rushed, i felt that the pacing was well done throughout until the end. The last 50 pages or so were so sudden and quick. I liked the ending itself but it was abrupt as hell.

The East and the South felt very undeveloped, there wasnt too much of their history, culture or politics. I thought the West was done fantastically well, it felt so well written and researched.

Overall i gave this 5 stars, amazing book.

#66 Aurora Rising

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

'They are not the heroes we deserve, they are just the ones we could find' 

Aurora Rising is the beginning of a new sci-fi series by the dynamic duo that is Kaufman & Kristoff. I was really glad when picking this one up that it followed a more traditional format instead of the mixed media they do in their Illuminae Files, which i also enjoyed but my fear was that the mixed media would have felt over done if they had carried it into their new series.

Aurora Rising follows a fleet of misfits from the Aurora Academy in the year 2380. The book opens with the star pupil of the Aurora Academy Tyler, on his way to the draft in which he gets to pick his fleet, he has the first pick but has to rescue a survivor from an abandoned ship in which the passengers have been cryrogenically frozen and have been floating in the 'fold' for two thousand years but a scan of the ship shows one survivor who Tyler rescues and brings back to the academy also missing the draft and leaving him with the pupils that no one else picked.

I fell in love with the characters pretty quickly especially Zila, i found her character to be well developed and the most complex. It felt a little like Guardians of the Galaxy mixed with Six of Crows as they were a bunch of ragtags thrown together for an adventure. The world building is very subtly placed throughout the story and can be found at the end of most chapters and gives the reader an insight into the background of the society and the civilisation.

The main players in this story are:

• Tyler Jones- The star pupil/golden boy of Aurora Academy and the alpha of the fleet
• Scarlett Jones- The twin sister of Tyler who is in charge of diplomacy and negiotiation and fierce af
• Cat- The pilot who may or may not be in love with Tyler
• Finnian- the sciencey guy who is hilarious yet impulsive and very dry, possible bisexual rep? 
• Zila- The misunderstood tech hacker girl who is dubbed the smartest 
• Kal- the fearless alien warrior of the bunch 
• Auri- The girl who was found by Tyler floating in space

This story was heavy on the sci-fi and not so heavy on the romance which i heavily appreciated, there are a few hints of romance here and there but nothing that will make you roll your eyes. I found this story in the beginning to be quite similar to Skyward by Brandon Sanderson as it starts out in a space school type setting but it really found its own after this first quarter. Parts were very thrilling and edge of your seat which made for a very fun read. I read this physically but have heard amazing reviews of the audiobook as its read by a full cast. I really enjoyed this story and ultimately gave it 4 stars. 

My hopes for the next book in the series are more character development and a bit of back story for each specifically Fin, i need to know the full story behind the exo suit. A back story for Zila would be great too. 

#65 Red, White & Royal Blue

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins press for this arc that came out on May 14th, i really had planned to read and review this before release date but life got in the way :(

'I dont know, man. I was in high school, and i touched a boob. It wasnt very profound. Nobody's gonna write an Off-Broadway play about it'

Before i begin im just going to point out that i dont read contemporary, i dont like contemporary and i havent reviewed a contemporary here in a really long time. Having said that- this was bloody fantastic!

This book follows the story of Alex who is the first son of the USA, his mum is president and Henry who is the prince of England. They fall in love (in short) and its beautiful and exactly what i needed to read without knowing it. Alex is involved in politics and is a bit of a loner, he hangs out with his sister June and the VP's granddaughter Nora, he dreams of getting involved in politics and following in his mothers footsteps. He is mixed race and his parents are divorced so he comes from a blended family which seems so unlikely in 2019 that this would happen in America but it NEEDS to (especially a female president)! Henry is the grandson of the queen, his dad was a movie star and passed away when Henry was younger, his mum isnt overly involved as she is swallowed by her grief. Henry is close with his younger sister Bea but not so much his older brother Philip.

Alex really dislikes Henry and after a PR disaster it is agreed in the interest of both nations that they appear to be friends at events and on social media, as they are pushed together they begin to realise that they do have feelings for each other. Henry has always known that he is gay but struggles with what that means in terms of the monarchy and him not fulfilling his duties. Alex has always believed he was straight until he starts reflecting on past events that lead him to the realisation that he is bisexual.

What i enjoyed most about this book is that its not one of those tropey annoying reads that they meet, fall in love, break up and then ultimately get back together as those stories have been done time and time again! This was fresh and interesting, a new take on what it means to be in a same sex relationship whilst being in a power position. The topics discussed were so important, the role the tabloids play in these peoples lives and social media and how harmful it can be but also the pure side of two people being so utterly obsessed with each other whilst not only being long distance but it also being forbidden. Gahhhh it was just everything.

i am in absolute awe that this is a debut novel, it reads so refined and it really well put together. Typically this isnt a book i would enjoy, i dont enjoy romance or anything about royalty, i dont like 'fake friendships or relationships' but i LOVED this! It made me laugh constantly, made me angry and weepy. Honestly it was a rollercoaster of emotions but ultimately so so good.

My only issues with this were that some characters were a bit flat. I like a strong friendship group in a book but this was mainly focused on Alex & Henry. The development of their relationship wasnt as slow burn for me, it wasnt insta love either somewhere in between but i think i would have liked it to take a bit longer. The transition from enemies to lovers was so so fast for me.

#64 Red Sister

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence 

This book follows the story of Nona Grey, a young girl who from the first chapter is sentenced to death by hanging, she has the noose around her neck when an abbess from a nearby convent comes to her rescue and steals her away from her fatal fate. The abbess takes her to The Convent of Sweet Mercy and its there that the story unfolds.

Nona becomes a novice in the red class of the convent. The convent is training the novices to be bad ass magical fighting nuns. There's a range of classes that teach them things from blade training to spiritual magic in the form of paths.

I adored Nona as a character, i love her mysterious past and how she does everything she can to hide it from everyone around her. Nona lies several times about her past so its left to the reader to try and piece things together which i very much enjoyed. I loved how angry Nona was and how this fuelled the majority of her decisions.

A few other notable characters are: The abbess, shes such a sass queen and a bad ass female character. Shes logical and takes no shit, i love that. Clera, Clera becomes Nonas first friend at the convent and is the main reason that Nona starts to open up and let her many walls down. Ara, Ara is one of my favourite side characters she is brought into the convent as 'the chosen one' and is exceptionally skilled at path magic. Sister Apple, although shes not a very integral character i thought she was amazing, she was so shady and was known as 'the poisoner' as she has a knack for poisoning the new students.

Another thing i loved was the world building, it is so amazing and well done. You really feel like you are there as everything is described so well. Parts of this book are really slow burn and you feel as if you haven't a clue what is happening but if anything i think that really adds to its charm!

The magic system is so interesting too. There are 4 main 'tribes' that the magic came from, the gerant who are said to be the strongest, the hunska whose magic makes them really fast as they can slow time around them, the marjal who mainly use shadow magic and the quantal people who use path magic. Nona is believed to be from the hunska tribe as she is very quick in her fighting style and is able to anticipate the blows and block them.

Something i usually dont care for in books generally is 'the chosen one' trope (obviously HP is not included in this :P) but in this book i really enjoyed it. There are many characters that could be 'the chosen one' and you are constantly guessing who it could be. This was a solid 4 star read for me and im really keen to pick up the next books. (ive already requested them at my local library #keen)

#63 Daisy Jones & The Six

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I read Evelyn Hugo last year when it took the world by storm and i loved it, one of my favourite books on 2018 so naturally i was both excited and nervous for her new book Daisy Jones & The Six. I received it as a Mothers Day Present from my little cherub. I heard from my delightful friends on Discord that this was loosely based on Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac who i absolutely adore so it immediately made me very excited to pick this one up. 

The story is made up entirely of interviews and starts off with Daisy Jones as a young teenager, neglected by her rich parents that pay little to no attention to her. Daisy begins sneaking out and singing in clubs and bars, she soon becomes a regular on the club scene and becomes influenced by alcohol and drugs. Daisy writes her own music and dreams of performing her own songs but she struggles as she cant seem to find anyone to take her seriously as a song writer.

The other main story line is how The Six came to be. The Six started with brothers Billy and Graham Dunne who learned how to play the guitar as young kids and started a band as teenagers. Billy quickly settles down with Camila and works hard to be a family man but he too like Daisy becomes caught up in drugs and alcohol and slowly spirals.

When Daisy is signed to the same record company as The Six the record company suggest that Daisy features on one of The Six' song. The song quickly becomes the bands biggest hit and Daisy becomes the bands opening act when they go on tour. When one night Daisy gets into a fight with her manager he leaves the tour and takes her backing band with him. Daisy then becomes a fully fledged member of The Six.

The story is so intricate and as you are reading you really cannot believe that this is fiction and that none of the characters even exist! This book reminded me of one of my favourite films 'Almost Famous' which made me only love it more. In true TJR style the ending really packed a bunch and was gut wrenching in parts.

Although i loved Evelyn Hugo more i still think this was a great read in its own right.

5 stars

#62 The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Right, no idea where to start with this. Ive read a few Holly Black books, shes a well loved author in the YA community. So far she hasnt been for me so when i saw this book being released early last year i didnt bother picking it up. The hype took over though and it was pretty cheap for kindle so i picked it up. 

The story follows Jude, a mortal girl whose mother and father are murdered (literally happens on the first page, not a spoiler!) she is then taken by her parents murderer Madoc to the fairy world. Jude finds out that Madoc is her older sisters real father so they live with and are raised by him along with her twin sister Taryn. 

The fairy world is ruled by a king who is coming to the end of his reign and will be passing the throne to one of his children. One of his youngest children is Prince Cardan who is 'the cruel prince'. Cardan goes to school lessons with both Jude and Taryn and he tortues them for being mortals as he thinks they are not equal to the fey people. 

As the story progresses there are many twists and turns as we follow Jude try to navigate her way through fairy land as shes constantly viewed upon as weak, shes bullied and has to watch over her shoulder the entire story as she cant trust any of the fey people. Many characters try to kill her as they view it as fun. Throughout all this torture Jude longs to be one of them, she wants to be respected and loved within this society. Jude is amidst a difficult relationship with her siblings, her older sister Vivi refuses to let go to her links to the mortal world even though she is half fey and everything that Judes wants and Taryn is so content to keep her head down and not bother the fey even when they kick dirt into their lunch and berate them constantly she believes its better to ignore them. Jude is unable to do so as she is strong willed and wishes to fight back against Cardan and his troupe. 

The fairy world and books about fairies has never been something that ive been into. I tried so hard to get into The Iron Fey series but couldnt :( but this was different, it was a very dark take on a YA fairy story and the characters are written to be unlikable which is so unusual that it really added to the overall effect. I really enjoyed the politics behind the story, the writing was very lyrical and the descriptions were spot on. As a reader you really root for Jude as she is so badass but you also enjoy the love to hate relationship with Cardan, i hated him so much. I enjoyed Judes narrative of loving Madoc but also hating him for ruining her life, it was interesting watching her internal struggle with despising the world so much but also doing anything possible to fit in. 

i really disliked Taryn as a character as she was so weak compared to Jude and she didnt stand by her sister at all. I thought the writing was quite clever in the fact that she faced the same internal struggles as Jude but she dealt with it in the complete opposite way to Jude. She was more than happy to put her head down and get on with it. She wants to fall in love and marry a fey boy whereas Jude wants to become a knight and yield and sword and learn more about strategy and defence. The sibling rivalry was written so well and was so believable. 

The plot was fantastic, the fey are so unpredictable and it was so hard to predict what Cardan would do next. Jude is so strong willed and admirable as a character but shes also a hot mess who has no idea what shes doing the majority of the time. Her struggles with decision making was so interesting to read about and she really does make some poor choices at times. The plot is jammed back with the political side of the fey world and who will be the next king which was really interesting throughout. I loved the fact that the next in line to the throne wasnt the eldest as is traditional in these types of stories and also throughout history. That made it slightly easier to have my own theories of how it would be. I did figure it out as the second book just came out before i read this and i could figure out the ending from the title of the second and last book in this duology but oh well.   

I will be reading the second book for sure!

4/5 stars 

#61 An Anonymous Girl

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

So last year i read 'The Wife Between Us' it was one of most anticipated books of the year and after i saw it was nominated in the Goodreads choice awards i picked it up straight away. Alas i was SO disappointed by it, dont get me wrong it was an ok read but nowhere near the 5 star read that i was anticipating. Saying that i was a little nervous to pick this one up but im glad i did, it was such a thrilling read.

The story begins with Jess a young makeup artist living in New York, she inadvertently finds herself amidst a morality and ethics anonymous study held by a renowned professor Dr Shields. The study offers substantial financial reward which is very appealing to Jess as she is struggling to pay her rent monthly and worries about her family back in Philadelphia.

Jess arrives at the study and faces some questions on a laptop in an empty clinical style room. The questions are not what Jess was expecting, questions that make her admit doing things that she has regretted. Jess continues with the study as shes being paid $500+ for each session. When Dr Shields gets in touch with Jess to see if she is interested in continuing the study and meeting for face to face sessions Jess agrees. Boyyyy does she not know what shes getting herself into. In the weeks that follow Dr Shields manipulates scenarios for Jess to 'accidentally' bump into her husband Thomas, to see if he will cheat on his wife. As Jess gets closer to Thomas she immediately realises the link that he is married to Dr Shields but she is unaware of the danger she is in.

Dr Shields continues to manipulate Jess into going along with her plot to see if her husband is cheating but supplying her with unlimited money and gifts picked out specifically for her. What ensues is an absolute shit show, i couldnt stop reading, it was so cleverly written. When Jess tries to pull back from the study and Dr Shields and Thomas' life Dr Shie
lds begins to interfere in every aspect of Jess' life.

The characters were so believable and the back stories were well constructed which is sometimes a down fall with these types of books.

My favourite thriller of 2019 so far! I dont want to say too much more about the plot of side characters as i dont want to give anything else away. I love domestic thrillers over the last 2 years they have become my favourite book genres. I get so obsessed with the stories and cant put them down and this was so exception. I will be more willing to pick up their next book now for sure!

#60 An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

This book is about April May, a 23 year old design graduate who accidentally stumbles across a metal statue in the middle of a New Year street at 3am. April calls her best friend Andy who has been failing at becoming a viral sensation. They make a gimmicky video in which April pretends to interview the statue that she names Carl. Overnight the video goes viral and they wake to discover that there is a Carl in every major city worldwide.

At first when i read the premise i thought 'hmmm great idea but how will that span over 300 pages', but there were so many twists to this tale. This book massively took me by surprise. It was SO Hank Green, i even in parts read some of it in his voice. At first i was afraid to pick this book up as ive been so invested in John Greens books for years and if i didnt like Hanks then id be letting not only myself but my favourite vlogbrothers down. Im so glad that this wasnt the case. This read as so realistic, you can tell Hank is writing it as he knows what its like to be internet famous and for your videos to go viral. He probably knows a thing or two about trolls and people hating you for no reason also so it really added another dimension to this already fantastic story.

I have noticed a correlation to my some of my favourite books specifically sci-fi type books and that is that they need to have a few pop culture references to it, if a book mentions something geeky that i like it automatically has me on side and unsurprisingly Hank really delivered in this area. A few things that were mentioned in this book that made me fan girl it even more:

• NaNoWriMo
• Reddit
• Pokemon
• A female president! (off topic but still!)
• Pokemon
• Pop Tarts
• Queen

I thought John Green was the king of writing a relatable, realistic quirky geek girl but April May was just perfect! Way to go Hank! 

The dream sequence reminded me a little of Black Mirror Bandersnatch, it has similar vibes to a chhose your own adventure story which was really cool, I loved the idea that everyone was having the dream and were trying to figure out the sequences. it was so clever and well done. 

I loved the idea that the Carls were alien life forms that were on a mission to get humans to work together to figure it all out. It left me with so many questions though which i really hope he touches on in the next book! Is this book a metaphor for how the world responds to things we dont understand? Is this Hanks interpretation of humanity? One of my favourite quotes from the book is 'This is what humanity is, solidarity in the face of fear', I think he was verbalising (through April May) that we shouldnt be so quick to assume that something is evil just because we cannot understand it. It is a very strong and beautiful message.   

5 stars from me and i can already see this book making my top books i read in 2019 list and its still only January! Oh and dont worry Hank, i forgive you for getting a Carly Rae Jepsen song stuck in my head for days! Can we discuss that ending cliffhanger? I need the next book now! So far we have no title or release date *cries*

#59 Beartown

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

So i heard a LOT about this book towards the end of 2018, everyone that read it on my GR seemed to give it 5 stars. All i knew was that it was about a rape that happens in a small hockey town and how everyone in the town deals with it.

I was very pumped to start this and 150 pages in and NOTHING had happened except a bunch of teens played hockey, which at this point i should mention i know literally nothing about. There is a lot of characters introduced and some have more back story than others but it was quite tricky to remember who was who and how they were relevant, in the end i had to do a bit of a 'family tree' type drawing as i was so confused.


So the main players (excuse the pun) in this story are:

• Kevin- 17 year old star player on the junior hockey team, probably the best hockey player that Beartown has ever seen. He is an only child, has grown up in an affluent home but his parents really dont know how to be parents
• Peter & Kira- Peter is the GM of the hockey team and is so very invested in getting Beartown back on the hockey map. Kira his wife is a lawyer, they have 2 children together Maya and Leo.
• Maya- 15 year old who nearly died as a little girl, she is close with her parents and her best friend Ana
• Amat- also 15 years old, he is on the younger hockey team but is put on the junior team before the semi-final as he is the fastest player on the younger team. His mother is a cleaner at the ice rink and raised him alone. He is also in love with Maya.
• Benji- Kevins best friend. His father committed suicide in the forest of Beartown when he was younger. He is an aggressive player on the junior team. He is very close to his 3 sisters and mum. Also has a drug problem.

The story kicks off around the 184 page mark which is ridiculous that it took that amount of pages for something to happen but wow did it pack a punch. It made for very difficult reading. One thing i will say is that Backman has handled this topic very very well and a massive kudos to his translator Neil Smith as this was written in Swedish originally i believe and was translated impeccably.

This was really difficult to read as a mother of a daughter. I was so conflicted as i understood a lot of view points, some wrong and some right. The characters were written so perfectly, they were so real and you could imagine Beartown existing. A stand out character for me was Amat, hes impoverished but he loves hockey. He has to choose between doing whats right and hockey and for the majority of the second half of the book i really didnt know what he would choose.

Benji is also an amazingly complex character that i fell in love with, he was so rough around the edges but possibly the only character in this whole book that did the right thing from the very beginning regardless of what it cost him.

I honestly could gush about this book all day, it was just so well done. The ending is beautifully wrapped up, i was actually very shocked to find that it had a sequel (which ive already downloaded) but i can only hope that it follows a few of the characters 10 years later but we will see.

My first 5 star read of 2019!