Tag: fantasybooks

Neverwhere Review

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Under the streets of London lies a world most people could never dream of. When Richard Mayhew helps a mysterious girl he finds bleeding on the pavement, his boring life changes in an instant. Her name is Door, she’s on the run from two assassins in black suits and she comes from London Below. His act of kindness leads him to a place filled with monsters and angels, a Beast in a labyrinth and an Earl who holds Court in a Tube train. It is strangely familiar yet utterly bizarre.

The Winter of the Witch Review

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Moscow is in flames, leaving its people searching for answers – and someone to blame. Vasilisa, a girl with extraordinary gifts, must flee for her life, pursued by those who blame their misfortune on her magic. Then a vengeful demon returns, stronger than ever. Determined to engulf the world in chaos, he finds allies among men and spirits. Mankind and magical creatures alike find their fates resting on Vasya’s shoulders. But she may not be able to save them all.

Dead Man in a Ditch Review

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The name’s Fetch Phillips — what do you need? Cover a Gnome with a crossbow while he does a dodgy deal? Sure. Find out who killed Lance Niles, the big-shot businessman who just arrived in town? I’ll give it shot. Help an old-lady Elf track down her husband’s murderer? That’s right up my alley. What I don’t do, because it’s impossible, is search for a way to bring the goddamn magic back. Rumors got out about what happened with the Professor, so now people keep asking me to fix the world. But there’s no magic in this story. Just dead friends, twisted miracles, and a secret machine made to deliver a single shot of murder.

August Wrap-Up 2020

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So it was my birthday month last month and I always look forward to the books that I am going to read that month. I don’t know why, August just has a special place in my heart. But let me tell you. August was disappointing!

  • I read 6 books this month.
  • I dnfed 1 book this month.
  • I read 1 book for my second chance challenge and ONTD challenge and 1 book for my sequels challenge.
  • For genre: 2 fantasy, 2 sci-fi, 1 murder mystery and 1 book which I can’t pinpoint the genre.
  • For age range: 5 adult and 1 young adult
  • I read 3 paperbacks and 3 eBooks

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (DNF)

So this book was for my ONTD and my second chance challenge and sadly I didn’t enjoy it as much as I remembered I did. I remember enjoying it a lot but never actually finishing it due to prioritizing other books so I was super excited to get back into it. It just didn’t grab my attention at all and I had no desire to keep picking it back up.

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant (2 stars)

This was also disappointing. I couldn’t really pinpoint the genre for this book but it was sort-of a re-telling of Les Mis or an alternate history of the French Revolution where the revolution failed and she is just chucking in Les Mis characters. But it wasn’t a great, there needed to be more world-building, it felt very rushed and the romance was not set up that well.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (3 stars)

This was disappointing to me despite the star rating due to the amount of hype I saw around the book. I felt that there was a big message that I was just not smart enough to realise so I just couldn’t connect to the story. It was really slow-paced and I am not the biggest fan of character focused stories so I struggled to get through it.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (4 stars)

The beacon of hope after a dreary month, I really enjoyed this book and it’s eclectic characters. This was just a really fun and easy read that had me fully engaged from the beginning! I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (4 stars)

Thank god for this book. I was losing hope in this series after the last couple of books I had read had been disappointing to say the least. There is no review for this book as apart from me saying how I’m happy its better than the other books I had read, there was nothing to new to say about this book. Great characters, world-building and very funny!

The Phlebotomist by Chris Panatier (3 stars)

This was an enjoyable book but had of a lot of potential to be better. I enjoyed the main character and the plot as a whole but around the 60% mark I started to lose interest. I did like the book as a whole I just think there needed to be some structuring in terms of how early you reveal big information.

The Court of Miracles Review

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Liberty, 1828 and the citizens of Paris still mourn in the wake of their failed revolution. Among them, in the dark alleys and crumbling cathedrals of the city, the most wretched have gathered into guilds of thieves, assassins – and worse. Together they are known as The Court of Miracles. Family, Eponine has lost more than most. When her father, Thénardier, sells her sister to the Guild of Flesh she makes a promise to do anything she can to get her sister back, even if that means joining the Court of Miracles, the very people keeping her sister a slave. Treachery, Eponine becomes perhaps the greatest thief the Court has ever known, finding a place among them and gaining another sister, Cosette. But she has never forgotten the promise she made, and if she’s to have any hope of saving one sister, she will have to betray the other.

July Wrap Up 2020

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I had a very varied month this time round with some high highs and some pretty low lows. What I did learn last month was to not binge read a series as I lose interest very quick!

  • I read 4 books this month. Technically one book at 3 stories in it as it was a bind up but I read the first 2 in June.
  • I read 3 books for my ONTD challenge, 1 book for my sequels challenge and 1 book for my Second Chance Challenge.
  • For genre: 1 murder mystery, 2 fantasy and 1 science fiction.
  • For the age range: All were adult.
  • All the books this month were physical paperbacks.

Introducing the Honourable Phryne Fisher by Kerry Greenwood (3 stars)

So this book was a bind up of the first 3 novels in the Phryne Fisher series.

  • Cocaine Blues
  • Flying Too High
  • Murder on the Ballarat Train

I read the first two books in June and the final book in July. I personally count these books as individual books towards my goal. One thing I did take away from this was that I cannot binge read series as I lose interest fast. So much to the point that I don’t plan on continuing this series going forward. I felt like I read enough.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch (4 stars)

This was an amazing book. I read this a couple of years ago and DNFed it early on because I couldn’t connect to the story. I think this was mainly due to the fact that I wasn’t ready to be tackling adult fantasy yet. I was so happy that I re-read this, great characters, great relationships. My only criticism was the lack of major female characters.

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (5 stars)

Another amazing story. I was worried that this book was not going to match how great the first book was but I was proven wrong. I have to do a disclaimer though… normally my reviews are concise and easy to follow but my review for this book was all over the place because the book left me mind blown! I couldn’t think straight! That ending was powerful!

The Girl in Red by Christina Henry (2 stars)

What must come up, must inevitably come down and that is how the month went for me. Sadly, I was disappointed again by Christina Henry. I was hoping after reading her book The Mermaid and not enjoying it that things would suddenly work out. But no! This story felt very flat to me and there was way to much walking!