The Beautiful - Review

Book Review:
Title: The Beautiful
Author: Renee Ahdieh
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“Don’t fall in love with me,” she warned again, her words breathless. “You’re not good for me. And I’m not good for you.”

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

Wayward Son - Review

Book Review:
Title: Wayward Son
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Publisher: Macmillan

“I'd give him all that I am.
I'd give him all that I was.
I'd open up a vein.
I'd tie our hearts together, chamber by chamber.”

The story is supposed to be over.
Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after…  
So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?
What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light…
That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West.
They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place...

Serpent & Dove - Review

Book Review:
Title: Serpent & Dove
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Publisher: HarperCollins
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“A witch and a witch hunter bound in holy matrimony. There was only one way such a story could end–a stake and a match.”

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made. 
And love makes fools of us all.

The Kingdom - Review (Blog Tour)

Book Review (Blog Tour):
Title: The Kingdom
Author: Jess Rothenberg
Publisher: Macmillan
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“In the end, it does not matter what a story is about. It only matters who gets to tell it.”

Welcome to the Kingdom... where 'Happily Ever After' isn't just a promise, but a rule.  
Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species--formerly extinct--roam free.
Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful "princesses" engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time... love.
But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana's memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty--and what it truly means to be human.

Vicious - Review

Book Review:
Title: Vicious
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Titan Books

“Plenty of humans were monstrous, and plenty of monsters knew how to play at being human.”

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. 
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

Aurora Rising - Review

Book Review:
Title: Aurora Rising
Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Publisher: Rock The Boat
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“We the Legion. We the light. Burning bright against the night.”

The year is 2380, and the graduating cadets of Aurora Academy are being assigned their first missions. Star pupil Tyler Jones is ready to recruit the squad of his dreams, but his own boneheaded heroism sees him stuck with the dregs nobody else in the Academy would touch…
A cocky diplomat with a black belt in sarcasm
A sociopath scientist with a fondness for shooting her bunkmates
A smart-ass techwiz with the galaxy’s biggest chip on his shoulder
An alien warrior with anger management issues
A tomboy pilot who’s totally not into him, in case you were wondering
And Ty’s squad isn’t even his biggest problem—that’d be Aurora Jie-Lin O’Malley, the girl he’s just rescued from interdimensional space. Trapped in cryo-sleep for two centuries, Auri is a girl out of time and out of her depth. But she could be the catalyst that starts a war millions of years in the making, and Tyler’s squad of losers, discipline-cases and misfits might just be the last hope for the entire galaxy.

FINALE - Review

Book Review:
Title: Finale
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Hodder and Stoughton
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

"Only those who persevere can find their true ending."

Welcome, welcome to Caraval...all games must come to an end.
It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own. Now, Legend is preparing for his official coronation and Tella is determined to stop it. She believes her own mother, who still remains in an enchanted sleep, is the rightful heir to the throne.
Meanwhile, Scarlett has started a game of her own. She’s challenged Julian and her former fiancé, Count Nicolas d’Arcy, to a competition where the winner will receive her hand in marriage. Finaly, Scarlett feels as if she is in complete control over her life and future. She is unaware that her mother’s past has put her in the greatest danger of all. 
Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win...and those who will lose everything. . .  

A Curse So Dark & Lonely - Review

Book Review:
Title: A Curse so Dark and Lonely
Author: Brigid Kemmerer
Publisher: Bloomsbury
I received an early copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.”

Fall in love, break the curse. 
It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
  Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she’s instead somehow sucked into Rhen’s cursed world. 
Break the curse, save the kingdom. 
  A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn’t know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what’s at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall...and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

King Of Scars - Review

Book Review:
Title: King Of Scars
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Orion Children's Book

“Nikolai had been told hope was dangerous, had been warned of it many times. But he’d never believed that. Hope was the wind that came from nowhere to fill your sails and carry you home.”

Nikolai Lantsov has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war—and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, the young king must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army.
   Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threatening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha Squaller, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible legacy inside him. He will risk everything to save his country and himself. But some secrets aren’t meant to stay buried—and some wounds aren’t meant to heal. 

Favourite Reads of 2018

I can't believe we've reached the end of 2018 already!
I can vividly remember sitting down an writing my Favourite Reads of 2017 post...and here we are again a WHOLE year later.
I was quite disappointed with my 2017 reading year, having read 40 books less that the previous year. FORTY. I was adamant of making 2018 better - but I did not succeed.
In 2018 I only managed to read 52 books, which by no means is terrible, but I just wanted more. Once again, the main culprit for this is University - it's a real time sucker. The work never ends, so I feel like I get barely any time to just sit and read and write up blog posts. It sucks, but that's life!

HOWEVER, even though it hasn't been the greatest reading year, I did achieve some blogger goals that I'm completely over the moon about:

1.) I got a personalised ARC with my name *printed* on the cover. OMG!

2.) I was quoted in a book for the first time, but not just any book, one of my favourite books of all time... STRANGE THE DREAMER! Again, OMG!

I'm forever grateful to work with amazing publishers and I can't wait to see what 2019 holds for me (probably just more university work, but a girl can dream)

But before I focus too much on the future, lets reflect on my favourite books of 2018!