Wednesday 19 March 2014

W..W..W.. Wednesdays #30


W.W.W Wednesdays is a weekly event bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading 

It's Wednesday and that means its time to let the world know what I've been reading. When I say the world, I mean this tiny corner of the internet that I call my blog. Hope everyone is having a good week.

What are you currently reading?
At the moment I am reading The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas. I love The Thorne of Glass books and the novellas provide so much insight into Celaena's past.  I absolutely love everything about this series.

What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished reading Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick. This book was amazing. Mystics, Romanov's and a revolution. What more could you want?

What do you think you'll read next?
Up next for me will probably be  Half Bad by Sally Green and Dragonfly by Julia Golding.

Thats all for me. Let me know what you guys are reading.

Wednesday 12 March 2014

W..W..W.. Wednesdays #29



W.W.W Wednesdays is a weekly event bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading 

It's Wednesday and that means its time to let the world know what I've been reading. When I say the world, I mean this tiny corner of the internet that I call my blog. Hope everyone is having a good week.

What are you currently reading?
At the moment I am reading Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick. I'm a tiny bit obsessed with the Imperial Russia and the Romanov's, so I have been eagerly waiting to read this. I've just started so we will see.

What did you recently finish reading?
I just finished reading Let the Storm Break by Shannon Messenger.  It was a good sequel but not as good as Let the Sky Fall.

What do you think you'll read next?
Up next for me will probably be  Half Bad by Sally Green and The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas.

Thats all for me. Let me know what you guys are reading.

Monday 10 March 2014

Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge


Title: Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Release Date: 28th January 2013
Source: Bought
Rating: 4 out of 5

Description: Since birth, Nyx has been betrothed to the evil ruler of her kingdom-all because of a foolish bargain struck by her father. And since birth, she has been in training to kill him. With no choice but to fulfill her duty, Nyx resents her family for never trying to save her and hates herself for wanting to escape her fate. Still, on her seventeenth birthday, Nyx abandons everything she's ever known to marry the all-powerful, immortal Ignifex. Her plan? Seduce him, destroy his enchanted castle, and break the nine-hundred-year-old curse he put on her people. But Ignifex is not at all what Nyx expected. The strangely charming lord beguiles her, and his castle-a shifting maze of magical rooms-enthralls her. As Nyx searches for a way to free her homeland by uncovering Ignifex's secrets, she finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. Even if she could bring herself to love her sworn enemy, how can she refuse her duty to kill him? With time running out, Nyx must decide what is more important: the future of her kingdom, or the man she was never supposed to love

Cruel Beauty is dark, elegant and enticing.  Combining a wonderful mix of Greek myth and Beauty and the Beast, this slow seductive romance and its perfectly imperfect characters are riveting. Rosamund Hodge’s debut is everything it boasts to be. An intricate story about finding love in the darkest of places, when you least expect it. It’s a murderous love sort of a book and I loved every minute of the “I’m going to kill you but I love you aspect”.

Nyx’s future was inescapable the minute her father made a deal with the Demon Lord promising him wife. Nyx is the chosen one. She is chosen to be the evil rulers wife and tasked with the mission of killing him in order to obtain freedom for her people who have been oppressed by demons. However Ignifix, the Demon Lord is not who he seems and Nyx runs the risk of falling in love with him. The story and mythology are intricate. This isn’t a happy romantic story. it’s a story that walks the fine line between evil and good and black and white. 

The sitting is gothic and beautiful. The house of The Demon Lord keeps changing with rooms that can be beautiful or cruel. It truly captures your imagination. Cruel Beauty is filled with complex characters that are in my opinion imperfectly perfect. Nyx is not your typical heroine. She isn’t the supportive, loving and caring type. She is not a shining beacon of goodness. She’s more the antihero. Nyx is bitter, vengeful and mean. She has a bit of darkness in her and it’s easy to understand why.  She is basically put on a platter and handed to the devil but she learns to find happiness and love in the most unexpected place.

Nyx’s task of killing her husband and saving everyone is a big burden to carry and one she struggles with when her feelings for her husband and duty are tested. Nyx has to make a heartbreaking decision and you can’t but admire her for her strength.  Nyx was also a refreshing as she has no illusions about her situation and what she’s capable of. She acknowledges the worst parts of her and tries to be a better person. It’s her struggle of becoming the person she thinks she should be compared to who she really is that makes her relatable.

Ignifex is a mystery. Right from his introduction it is difficult to figure out who he is and what he wants. He has a bad side but is also cheeky and loving. I loved all the banter and the slow romance that develops between Nyx and Ignifex. These two are nothing but honest with each other. They never pretend to be something they are not. Nyx is always trying to kill him and defeat him. I loved all her plans to take him down; in fact there were some of my favourite scenes.  

Hodge also plays with perceptions. Perceptions of humanity and love are challenged. The book gives meaning to the old saying that things not always what they seem. Nyx falls in love with a demon who does not exactly act like a demon and trusts someone she should not trust. There is always more to the story. Hodge also discusses the consequences of one’s actions. As Nyx learns, no one person is to blame and there are always consequences, which are brilliantly discussed in the book’s mythology and stories about various deals made with demons. Nyx’s story is not black or white but complicated and painted with many shades of grey.

A dark romantic tale of true love. If you like Greek myth and Beauty and the Beast, then this book is worth checking out. 

Wednesday 5 March 2014

W..W..W.. Wednesdays #28


W.W.W Wednesdays is a weekly event bought to you by MizB from Should Be Reading 

It's Wednesday and that means its time to let the world know what I've been reading. When I say the world, I mean this tiny corner of the internet that I call my blog. Hope everyone is having a good week.

What are you currently reading?
At the moment I am reading White Hot Kiss by Jennifer Armentrout. Nearly done, just a few more chapters to go. I love Layla's snark and the premise of gargoyles.

What did you recently finish reading?
I recently finished reading Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart by Sarah MacLean. I love reading anything by Sarah MacLean. Her books are always humours and swoon.

What do you think you'll read next?
Up next for me will probably be Tsarina by J. Nelle Patrick and Half Bad by Sally Green.

Thats all for me. Let me know what you guys are reading.

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Review: Tandem by Anna Jarzab


Title: Tandem
Author: Anna Jarzab
Publisher: Random House Australia
Release Date: 1st November 2013
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 out of 5

Description:

Everything repeats.
You. Your best friend. Every person you know.
Many worlds. Many lives - infinite possibilities.
Welcome to the multiverse.

Sixteen-year-old Sasha Lawson has only ever known one small, ordinary life. When she was young, she loved her grandfather's stories of parallel worlds inhabited by girls who looked like her but led totally different lives. Sasha never believed such worlds were real - until now, when she finds herself thrust into one against her will. To prevent imminent war, Sasha must slip into the life of an alternate version of herself, a princess who has vanished on the eve of her arranged marriage. If Sasha succeeds in fooling everyone, she will be returned home; if she fails, she'll be trapped in another girl's life forever. As time runs out, Sasha finds herself torn between two worlds, two lives, and two young men vying for her love - one who knows her secret, and one who thinks she's someone she's not. Tandem is a riveting saga of love and betrayal set in parallel universes in which nothing - and no one - is what it seems


Tandem is an interesting book. It’s not a bad book by any means but it’s not the best book as well. It’s a book that falls squarely in the middle of the scale.  Tandem is a book that has a fantastic premise encompassing parallel universes. It’s also well written and the world building is detailed and captivating.  But on the whole where Tandem falls short is its characters and the romance.

Tandem is about parallel universes where people who look exactly like you can lead totally different lives. Sasha Lawson is your typically high school student. One day she gets kidnapped and dragged into the parallel universe of Aurora because she is the exact copy of their Princess Julianna. Princess Julianna has gone missing and Sasha is forced to pretend to be her in order to save her life.

Tandem’s concept of the multiverse is fantastic. The world building is really well done. Right from the start the parallel universes and all the rules that go with them are very easy to understand.  The rules are not far fetched and like the plot are quite simple to follow. The universe of Aurora is similar to earth but different in its own way. I love all the historical and tiny details Anna Jarzab has woven into the universe to give it authenticity.  Jarzab ensures the plot keeps moving with well-timed twists and turns. There is also political drama, numerous secrets, and wavering loyalties.  It makes for an interesting read with various alliances forming and breaking.

The characters did not work for me. I just did not feel a connection to them and was apathetic towards them. Sasha is just an average girl and I enjoyed her at the beginning but then her feelings toward her situation kept constantly changing. In the beginning when Sasha is kidnapped into the tandem she fights back against her kidnappers and tries to find a way to escape but somewhere along the way Sasha tries to help the very people who bought her here and are using her. She wanted to protect people that she had no obligation towards. She also falls in love with the enemy. It felt Stockholm syndrome-y. Also the romance was a little instalovish.

Thomas is a solider. He is loyal towards the republic and there are times where he puts duty before all else and Sasha is a victim to his actions but she still ignores all the things he’s done and the lies he’s told her. I just couldn’t get behind how Sasha seemed to forget her goals to escape and go back to earth. Julianna also just came across as selfish and a bit uptight. I didn’t understand or like her actions.

Overall Tandem is an okay book. It has good world building and a great premise.

Monday 3 March 2014

Monthly Wrap Up - February 2014



This last month has been very very quite around here. There has just been a lot happening so there hasn't been a lot of blog activity. Hopefully next month should be better. How did your month go?

Book of the Month:




My book of the month is The Unbound by Victoria Schwab. There is nothing quite like The Achieved with its haunting setting, dark corners, memorable characters and beautiful prose. It's a book that you should read if you haven't already.


Books Reviewed in the Month of February:

The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen
Defy by Sara B. Larson
Unbound by Victoria Schwab