synopsis

In a world where women have no rights, two sisters Serina and Nomi have two very different opinions about their society. Serina is ready to fulfil society’s expectation and to become one of the Heir’s Graces, for which she had been training her whole life. Nomi, on the other hand, thinks that the whole idea of Graces is ridiculous and is a firm believer that women should have equal rights. Nomi is to aid her sister if she was to become a Grace. However, Serina is not the one that catches the Heir’s eye – Nomi is. Nomi has no choice, but to become a Grace. But what’s even worse, Serina is sent to prison after taking the fall for Nomi’s dangerous secret.

review

At first, I was so engaged in ‘Grace and Fury’. I have thought it would be another one of my favourite books, full of feminism and strong female characters. Could have I been more wrong? The beginning was amazing, both mysterious and promising. The first plot twist was also incredible – I was not anticipating it at all. But from there everything went downhill. The part of the story dedicated to the king’s sons reminded me of Victoria Aveyard’s ‘Red Queen’, but the execution wasn’t even half as good. That part felt copied from ‘Red Queen’ and from the first moments I was introduced to Asa I knew what would happen. The idea for the story was genius, truly. The world where women have no rights and are treated as objects? That was an instant buy for me. I just wish that execution was much better.

The characters were promising at first. Two sisters, different as fire and water. One obedient, the other one rebellious. The more chapters I have read, the more flat the main heroines were becoming. Nomi lost her rebelliousness which only left her with being rude and reckless. The author was clearly planning to reverse their roles – she wanted Nomi to be more obedient and level-headed, and and Serina to be the rebellious one. In my opinion, she failed. Nomi did not become more reasonable, she has only became more reckless. Serina, however, lost her cleverness and replaced it with plain rebelliousness when she should have been more level-headed. The heir to the throne was supposed to be a mysterious character – one you cannot figure out. Instead, he seemed like a spoiled prince who changes his mind with just a flick of his fingers. I won’t say anything more since I do not want to spoil anything. I will just add that this story had such a potential for amazing and complex characters, but in the end they were just plain.

I think that a book that was supposed to be about feminism and women fighting for their rights, there shouldn’t be so many parts of the plot dedicated to love. I don’t mind that Nomi and Serina had a bit of romance in the book, but I have felt that it was too much. That they did not have time to be their own heroes, but instead they dependent on their significant others. I just think that in a book that is advertised as a feminist book love should not be one of the main themes. I’m not saying that love is not feministic, because that is bulls**t ,but I was expecting more action from Serina and Nomi.

In conclusion, I was so disappointed by this book! I know that OwlCrate has an amazing taste in books, so I was surprised to find out that this one was also a part of their box. I also noticed that a lot of people love this book so, if you are one of them, please tell me your opinion about ‘Grace & Fury’.

October was such a good reading month for me! Honestly! I have managed to read 10 books which, compared to September, is a lot. My favourite read of this month was ‘Everless’ (I don’t include ‘Harry Potter’ in that, because ‘Harry Potter’ is ‘Harry Potter’). Here is my October wrap-up!

‘Catwoman’ Sarah J. Maas
★★★★★

I was so excited to finally get my hands on one of the books from the DC Icons series. The authors that feature in this series are incredible – Marie Lu, Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo are among my favourite authors in the world. I stumbled upon ‘Catwoman’ in a small bookstore in Malta and I knew I had to have it instantly. I have read in one day, before and after classes, and I have loved it so much. The plot is incredible and all the decisions come to a perfect conclusion in the end. The characters are well-done and intriguing, especially the female ones – Selina, Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. I adore this book and I will definitely order the rest of DC Icons books.

‘Daughter of the Siren Queen’ Tricia Levenseller
★★★★

I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed by this one. I love the first part of the duology, ‘The Daughter of the Pirate King’, and was anticipating the second part for weeks until it finally arrived. The plot felt forced and not very well-planned. The characters I have loved so much in the first book – Alosa and Riden – were so flat in the second one. They always seem to create problems where there were none. If ‘Daughter of the Siren Queen’ was a standalone, it would be a much better book. But as a continuation of ‘The Daughter of the Pirate King’ I have felt like it was missing something important.

‘Grace and Fury’ Tracy Banghart
★★

Ugh, I was so disappointed by this book. I’ve seen people fuss over it on bookstagram and I had great expectations of ‘Grace and Fury’. The plot was too simple, besides the plot twist at the beginning. The characters were too plain and I couldn’t help to think that the idea of two princes was taken from Victoria Aveyard’s ‘Red Queen’. The book was supposed to be very feministic, but I had an impression that Nomi and Serina, the main characters, were only depending on men.

‘A Whole New World’ Liz Braswell
★★★★

At first, I was excited for this retelling. After the first few chapters, I was disappointed – everything seemed to be written down from the Disney’s movie. And then, everything changed – the characters were different from the fairy-tale and I liked the storyline with the rebellion of Agrabah. Also, I think that writing the book from Aladdin’s point of view was a great decision. Now, I’m on to read the retelling of Mulan by Liz Braswell and I hope it will be as good as ‘A Whole New World’ was.

‘The Last Wish’ (‘The Witcher’) Andrzej Sapkowski
★★★★★

I love this book – I have read it four before so technically it is a reread of a reread of a reread. Or something like that. It is probably one of the few books written by Polish authors that I like. It is also my sister’s favourite book. The main hero is perfectly written and, even though I don’t usually like this form, this time the form of short stories was fitting. I strongly recommend reading this book, even if you are not Polish – I can guarantee that you will love it.

‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

There is no better month than October for a ‘Harry Potter’ reread. Well, every month is good for that, but there is something about October and fall that just screams ‘Harry Potter’. I am a big Potterhead and it felt amazing to read the first book again – I have to admit I cried every time James and Lily were mentioned. And when Sirius was mentioned. I’m so emotional when it comes to ‘Harry Potter’. Well, now I need to watch the movie, don’t I?

‘Descendants of War and Magic’ Ruby Fitzgerald
★★★★

I’m torn whether this book should get three or four stars – I think I would settle on 3,5 ★. It was a good book and I liked it, yet it was nothing outstanding. It did not make me wanna cry, laugh or scream (maybe a bit scream when some people were mean to Xenos). The magic realm was well-written and organized, which I liked a lot. The characters were fine, but there were too many of them, and the book was too short for me to get attached to them. It is not a book to obsess about, but it is a good one to read in a tram.

‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ J.K. Rowling
★★★★★

It is my least favourite of all ‘Harry Potter’ books. But it still gets five stars, because it is Harry Potter. I do not know what to write here, because if I start discussing the book it would turn from being a ‘wrap-up’ to my monologue about ‘Harry Potter’. I have to admit though that my heart skipped a beat when Ginny was taken into the chamber, even though I knew the ending. ‘Harry Potter’ does make me emotional. Also, that Slytherin hate is breaking my heart.

‘Everless’ Sara Holland
★★★★★

I love this book so much and I cannot wait for continuation! It had me turning pages since the first chapter, and I have read it in two sittings! I was on my toes the whole time – I could never predict what is going to happen next. Jules is an amazing main character and I loved her nerve and wit. ‘Everless’ had me crying, smiling, putting down the book to stare into space blankly – basically it had everything one needs from the book.

‘True Fire’ Gary Meehan
★★★★

At the beginning I was sceptical about ‘True Fire’, but I appreciate a book that can surprise me, especially if it surprises me multiple times. And this one definitely did. Megan is not a heroine I had expected, since she is sixteen and pregnant. The plot twist that occurs at the end (I’m not going to say anything more, not to spoil the book) made me put this book down for a moment and stare at the wall. It missed a kind of swiftness which made it not easy to read, but other than that I recommend it strongly.

synopsis

A long time ago Ancients had given chosen humans the ability to do magic, known as Nine Energies of Magic. After the battle of Venom, the kingdom of Thurnadan returned to the peaceful times. Or so it was thought. Suddenly, people had started dying because of an illness called the Jinx. The Jinx started killing the population of Thurnadan on a massive scale. The group of people is chosen to lead the mission in order to find the cure to the horrible disease. But does the cure even exist? And if it does, will they manage to find it in time to stop the Jinx from killing everyone?

review

First of all, I want to thank Ruby Fitzgerald and Solider Bear Entertainment for the free e-book copy.

I am a bit surprised that I have not heard about Ruby Fitzgerald before I got this book – her world seems to me like the kind of magical realm that should be wildly popular. When I have started reading this book and I have read the prologue, my first thought was literally ‘That’s going to be confusing as hell’. The prologue confused me and, quite frankly, it discouraged me from reading this book. But the story got better as I read on, and the last hundred pages I could not wait to read. My problem with the plot is that fact that I have not read the first book so I had some plot gaps. The topic of this book reminded me of ‘The Plauge’ by Albert Camus – it also involved a deadly disease that indicated the end of the world and the behaviour of the people that were faced with death. The style of writing seemed kind of off to me, but I guess that is the mater of one’s taste.

What I really liked, was the magic element of the book – Shifters, Grounders, Whisperers – it was a well-written and thought-out magical realm. The book felt like a continuation, but I have liked that about it. I have liked the mystery and slowly getting to know what happened to each of the characters. I have to admit that the book was pretty feministic to me. There is a queendom (a kingdom ruled by a queen), and the main protagonists are mainly women.

There were too many characters for my taste. I think the idea was to do it like George Martin in ‘Game of Thrones’, but the amount of characters was not good for only 242 pages. If the book was longer, I would have time to bond with characters, learn their history, traits. In this book. I have found out bits of their personalities, but not enough to feel emotional towards them. Obviously, my favourite character was one of questionable morals – Xenos. The queen, Eleanor, was a terrible women in my opinion, and a moody one. She acted royally, yet she did not care for her subject the way the queen should. Ryder was too absorbed with Aurora and his hatred for Xenos to be likeable to me. Characters had potential for being great, however the book was just too short for that.

In conclusion, the main problem I had with this book that it was too short for this number of characters and storylines. I’m still torn whether this book should get three or four stars, so if I could, I would give it 3,5 stars.

It was a terrible reading month for me, really. I wasn’t home for the most time and I didn’t take any books with me. Then, I was on my holidays where I was too busy sightseeing, resting and bonding with my family. But I still wanted to share the books I have read this month with the world. I managed to find two interesting books when I was staying over at my aunt’s. Also, I bought ten books on my holidays and so far I have read two of them. So here is my September wrap-up and hopefully October will a better reading month for me.

‘The Girl on the Train’ Paula Hawkins
★★★

I am not a big fan of thrillers or criminals, but I was really bored and needed something to read. That was the only interesting book on my aunt’s bookshelf. The beginning was too dull for me and I felt I had been waiting forever for something to finally happen. The whole plot had unsolved in the last forty pages which was irritating and felt a bit forced – like the book was supposed to be longer. The only thing I liked was the turnout – the denouement of the plot was thought out and the clues left throughout the whole book all match up. I liked this book, but it was nothing special. Shame since I heard so much buzz around this book and I expected great things from it.

‘Fablehaven’ Brandon Mull
★★★★

I know, I know – ‘Fablehaven’ is a children book, but theoretically also Rick Riordan’s books are and they are freakin’ awesome. And so was ‘Fablehaven’. It was a perfect read for a rainy day with a perfectly thought-out and planned secret world. Kendra and Seth are exact oppositions of each other and with a traditional sibling bond. Seth was a bit irritating for my taste – his every mistake had terrible consequences for him and his sister, and for Fablehaven.

‘Lost Boy: The True Story of Captain Hook’ Christina Henry
★★★★★

It was my favourite read out of all four books I have read this month. It was incredible and it stayed in my thoughts for days after I have finished it. ‘Peter Pan’ is my favourite fairy tale and even though it’s a untraditional look at the story. It shows Peter Pan as a childish and narcissistic villain and James Hook as one of Peter’s victims. The only drawback of this book is how bloody it is – it was a little bit like a ‘Game of Thrones’ meets ‘Peter Pan’ without the sex parts. I quite liked how brutal it was – that made it more real – but considering that the cover suggests it’s a children’s book it might be an unpleasant surprise for a reader.

‘The Belles’ Dhonielle Clayton 
★★★★★

What an interesting idea for a book and, at the same time, what an important topic. I completely fell in love with the main character, Camellia. She wasn’t perfect, she had her own ambitions and she was driven. With all of her traits she was more appealing to me. Camellia was beautiful, but she was also imperfect, confused and had a lot of different dilemmas that she didn’t always handle right.

It was so difficult to choose whether I liked ‘Lost Boy’ or ‘The Belles’ more. In the end, I chose ‘Lost Boy’, because it stayed with me days after I have finished it. Seriously, I was walking around the beach and I just thinking about this book. I’m definitely going to read more books by Christina Henry – I saw that she has a book about ‘Alice in Wonderland’. Hopefully October would be a better reading month for me and I hope I will find the book I love as much as I have loved ‘Lost Boy.’

Synopsis

Alosa, a daughter of the pirate king and a pirate herself, is send on a mission. She allows herself to be kidnapped by a hostile pirate crew in order to retreat an ancient map. But that task seems to be more difficult than she expected it to be. Especially when the first mate, Riden, seems to be as witty as Alosa. But can anyone stop the daughter of the pirate king?

Intro

This book is amazing. Honestly. I was not expecting it to be so good and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I was expecting a book for children, but it turned out to be a proper young-adult book. It had an amazing plot – at first it sounded a bit cheesy, but it turned out to be well-planned and it was clear that an author had a good idea for a story. The daughter of a pirate king on a mission to steal a map? Sounds so cliché and, to be honest, so simple. But it was anything but simple. The story kept getting more and more complicated and I was getting more and more intrigued.

Characters

Tricia Levenseller created a badass female character, Alosa, who stole my heart within a first chapter. She is one of the wittiest characters I have ever encountered in a book. Even when she doesn’t seem to have a plan, she actually does which is incredible even for a book character. I love an intelligent character who can also fight well and has a smart mouth. To be honest, I’m not sure what are the intentions of any of characters which keeps me on my toes. Riden is such a complicated character which instantly made him one of my favourite ones (I have a thing for troubled guys in books). My least favourite part of this book was the villain, Draxen, who in my opinion was a bit blunt and, let’s be honest, stupid. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he is unable to do anything without his first mate and brother, Riden. As any booklover I love a good villain (especially one with a good history and a witty character), and sadly Draxen wasn’t one. If I had to say I think Riden makes a better villain than his brother does, which makes a story a bit complicated. But I loved it because of its complex plot and constant plot twists. I just wish that the villain could be better built.

Narration

At first, I was wary about the first-person narration – I’m not usually a fan of it. But in this case it turned out to fit just right into the story, especially with Alosa’s sassy character. First-person narration is what helps to keep the reader on their toes – the reader has only the access to Alosa’s scheming which allows them to think that everyone is just following her plan.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I really loved this book and I read in one sitting. Ordering a sequel was the first thing I did after finishing ‘Daughter of the Pirate King’ and I cannot wait to read the continuation of Alosa’s history. I think this book is going to be one of my favourite books I’ve read in 2018 and I honestly would love to read more books from Tricia Levenseller.

August was not a good month for my reading since I’ve started working and it was all new to me. Honestly, I mostly came home, ate and went right to sleep. But I managed to read a few books I’ve liked. I’ve wanted to read ‘Grishaverse’ for a while now and, while I ordered it in July, it only arrived at the beginning of August. The covers are incredible – they are so shiny and the map that came with them was just so cute. ‘Throne of Glass” has been on my “to be read” list since I first read ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ and I finally gave it a try.

‘Shadow and Bone’ Leigh Bardugo
★★★★★

Honestly I wasn’t expecting it to be so good. I’ve read “Six of Crows” before and I’ve loved it – I never thought that Grishaverse can even compete with it. Well, it can compete with “Six of Crows”, but it can’t win. Nevertheless, “Shadow and Bone” was amazing – it had amazing characters, a perfect villain and a good plot.

‘Siege and Storm’ Leigh Bardugo
★★★★★

I might had given it four stars had it not been for Nikolai’s character which is incredible. I will never know how Leigh Bardugo manages to write such amazing and complicated characters that make me fall in love with them. Also, I liked that Alina got to return to the Little Palace.

‘Ruin and Rising’ Leigh Bardugo
★★★★☆

It wasn’t as good as the first two parts, but it was still fun to read (expect the part when I cried and the other part when I cried). I think the story with the third amplifier was a bit too confusing, but I have to admit that I loved the ending – it was just perfect.

‘Throne of Glass’ Sarah J. Maas
★★★★☆

The thing about reading a book by one of your favourite authors is that you have high expectations. And, after reading “A Court of Thorns and Roses” series I definitely had high expectations when I bought “Throne of Glass”. I really liked it – Celaena’s character was just perfect (an assassin who loves both clothes and reading? Can you have a better combo?), but something just didn’t click for me.

‘Hannibal: Enemy of Rome’ Ben Kane
★★★☆☆

I love Ben Kane’s books, mostly because he writes historical fiction about ancient Rome. His books always have a great plot and are historically adequate. ‘Hannibal: Enemy of Rome’ was good, but something just didn’t click for me. I didn’t love it as much as I loved ‘The Forgotten Legion’. Overall, Hanno’s history didn’t convince me and I’ve found Quintus annoying.

‘The Daughter of the Pirate King’ Tricia Levenseller
★★★★★

I honestly wasn’t expected it to be so good. I was pleasantly surprised by it and it took me about ten pages to absolutely fall in love with Alosa who is another badass female character. Before I started reading this book I’ve thought that the plot sounds a bit cheesy, but it ended up being well-written and perfectly thought-out. Basically, I love it and I immediately ordered the sequel, ‘The Daughter of the Siren Queen’.

Hello, lovely people!

This is my first post ever! Unless you count that one blog I had when I was twelve, but we don’t talk about it. Anyway, as you probably figured out from my blog title, I love books. But I also love writing so I thought that maybe writing about books would be a great idea and here we are!

Let’s start with introduction, shall we?
I’m a 20 year old student living in Poland. I’m currently studying English Studies, but I’m switching into International Economic Relations in October.
I don’t remember what book got me into reading (it was probably Winnie the Pooh), but I like to think that it was ‘Harry Potter’. Probably most of the world loves Harry Potter, I mean, how could someone not?

My favourite book genres include Young-Adult, fantasy and historical fiction. Currently my favourite author is Leigh Bardugo (I’m sorry, but ‘Six of Crows’ is a masterpiece) and my favourite book of 2018 so far has been Alexandra Christo’s ‘To Kill a Kingdom’.

I intend on posting book reviews, recommendations in addition to my photos which probably appeared on my Instagram at one point. But most of all, I cannot wait to interact with other booklovers!