Author: IndiaReadsALot

The Decagon House Murders Review

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The members of a university mystery club decide to visit an island which was the site of a grisly, unsolved multiple murder the year before. They’re looking forward to investigating the crime, putting their passion for solving mysteries to practical use, but before long there is a fresh murder, and soon the club-members realise they are being picked off one-by-one. The remaining amateur sleuths will have to use all of their murder-mystery expertise to find the killer before they end up dead too.

April 2021 Wrap Up

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A very mixed bag this month. I gave my first 1 star book of the year, some more 5 stars and another DNF. Plus some ARCs, some manga and a whole range of other things. I also have come to the conclusion that I will not be continuing the ONTD Reading Challenge as I have a whole load of books I want to prioritise more! More on that decision later next month.

  • I read 7 books this month.
  • I DNFed 1 book.
  • I didn’t complete my ONTD reading challenge this month.
  • Genre: 5 fantasy, 1 murder mystery and 1 romance.
  • Gender of authors: 4 women and 3 men.
  • Race of authors: 5 white, 1 black and 1 asian.
  • Age range: 5 adult, 1 YA and 1 middle grade.
  • Format: 3 paperback, 2 hardcover and 2 ebooks.

Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo (2 stars)

This book was a major miss for me and I had read it in preparation for the Netflix show. I had heard mixed things about this trilogy before going in but I wanted to make opinions for myself and sadly I wasn’t a fan. I think it came down to execution for me, I loved the idea but I didn’t enjoy the writing. I have heard the show is great though.

The Plague Letters – V.L. Valentine (1 star)

My first one star of the year. I don’t normally give out one stars as I tend to just DNF the books I really don’t like but I had got so far and I did want some questions answered but it ended up being that I just skimmed it until the end. I felt that the characters were really under-developed, it took ages for the mystery to actually get going and so many other things that I just can’t list here. Read my review to find out more.

Ariadne – Jennifer Saint (4 stars)

This is when things started looking up. I love a greek mythology re-telling so I was super excited to get the chance to read this. I thought the writing was beautiful and Ariadne was a great character. But it did start to lose momentum in the last quarter of the book, I will be honest.

Orange: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 – Ichigo Takano (5 stars)

So, this was a pleasant surprise. I really liked the premise of this manga series and when it was on sale I decided to give it a go and I’m glad I did. It follows a young girl called Naho who receives a letter from her future self telling her to be-friend the new boy in school as he’s going through a tough time.

The friendships in this book are just so incredibly beautiful. The characters in this book couldn’t be any more different from one another but they stick by and support each other no matter what. The plot was super fun and I thought the art was beautiful. The author managed a great balance of funny moments with the more somber moments as well.

Beasts Made of Night – Tochi Onyebuchi (DNF)

Sadly, this book didn’t work out for me. This was another case of great idea, not the best execution. I wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style and the plot structure confused me a bit.

The Battle of the Labyrinth – Rick Riordan (5 stars)

This book still maintains the title of best book in the series for me. I enjoyed the blossoming relationship between Annabeth and Percy getting stronger, I loved how you can start to feel these characters get older as the end of the series arrives, Percy was, as per, a great protagonist and the ominous elements of the novel with the Big Bad trying to gain power was done really well.

What was super satisfying to me was re-reading this after so many years and still loving it just as much!

Breach of Peace – Daniel B. Greene (2 stars)

This was disappointing sadly. I am a massive fan of the author so I really wanted to like this book. I just felt that the novella, as a whole, was really under-developed. I needed more detail about the characters, the world and the plot.

Breach of Peace Review

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When an imperial family is found butchered, Officers of God are called to investigate. Evidence points to a rebel group trying to stab fear into the very heart of the empire. Inspector Khlid begins a harrowing hunt for those responsible, but when a larger conspiracy comes to light, she struggles to trust even the officers around her.

Ariadne Review

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As Princesses of Crete and daughters of the fearsome King Minos, Ariadne and her sister Phaedra grow up hearing the hoofbeats and bellows of the Minotaur echo from the Labyrinth beneath the palace. The Minotaur – Minos’s greatest shame and Ariadne’s brother – demands blood every year. When Theseus, Prince of Athens, arrives in Crete as a sacrifice to the beast, Ariadne falls in love with him. But helping Theseus kill the monster means betraying her family and country, and Ariadne knows only too well that in a world ruled by mercurial gods – drawing their attention can cost you everything. In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?

The Plague Letters Review

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London, 1665. Hidden within a growing pile of corpses, one victim of the pestilence stands out: a young woman with a shorn head and pieces of twine delicately tied around each ankle.

Symon Patrick, rector of St. Paul’s Covent Garden, cannot say exactly why this corpse amongst the many in his churchyard should give him pause. Longing to do good, he joins a group of medical men who have gathered to find a cure for the plague, each man more peculiar and splenetic than the next. But there is another – unknown to The Society for the Prevention and Cure of Plague – who is performing his own terrible experiments upon unwilling plague-ridden subjects.

It is Penelope – Symon’s unwanted yet unremovable addition to his household – who may yet shed light on the matter. Far more than what she appears, she is already on the hunt. But the dark presence that enters the houses of the sick will not stop, and has no mercy…

Shadow and Bone Review

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Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling. Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.