Tag: scifi

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.

Station Eleven Review

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Set in the days of civilization’s collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity. One snowy night a famous Hollywood actor slumps over and dies onstage during a production of King Lear. Hours later, the world as we know it begins to dissolve. Moving back and forth in time—from the actor’s early days as a film star to fifteen years in the future, when a theater troupe known as the Traveling Symphony roams the wasteland of what remains—this suspenseful, elegiac, spellbinding novel charts the strange twists of fate that connect five people: the actor, the man who tried to save him, the actor’s first wife, his oldest friend, and a young actress with the Traveling Symphony, caught in the crosshairs of a dangerous self-proclaimed prophet.

The Girl in Red Review

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It’s not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn’t look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago. There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there’s something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined. Red doesn’t like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn’t about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods…

May Wrap Up 2020

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The month started off pretty successful, I have a new 5 stars to the list but sadly in the latter half of the month it started to dwindle.

  • I read 6 books this month.
  • I continued with my challenge by reading 1 ONTD Challenge books, 2 sequels and 1 from my physical TBR.
  • For genre: 2 fantasy, 2 murder mystery and 2 sci-fi books.
  • For age range: 1 middle grade, 3 adult and 2 YA.
  • I read 1 ARC, 3 ebooks and 2 paperbacks.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman (3 stars)

I didn’t review this one despite reading the book in its entirety. This was down to the fact that while I enjoyed it I didn’t have enough strong opinions on this story to warrant a review. I personally preferred the movie over the book.

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

This was a really nostalgic read despite the fact I had never read it before. Reading Agatha Christie novels just makes me feel like I am on holiday soaking up the sun. This book was a massive improvement over her previous book and was a fun read though I wasn’t so sure on the ending.

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (5 stars and FAVOURITE)

A brilliant 5 stars! I have only read one Japanese novel and 6 volumes of manga so I was super excited to read more fiction by Japanese authors and Yokomizo did not disappoint! I am not sitting and waiting for the next book in this series to be translated and sold in England!

The Last by Hanna Jameson (3 stars)

This book gave me very mixed feelings. Some parts of it I loved and was hooked in straight away and then other elements of the story bored me and made me consider DNFing it. One thing I will say is Jameson knows how to write scenes of panic.

Finale by Stephanie Garber (2 stars)

This was a disappointing ending for what could have been a great trilogy! The writing style and the romance were good but I felt that a lot was either missing or not set up properly for a satisfying ending.

Predator’s Gold by Phillip Reeve (3 stars)

This was a very low 3 stars. Sadly, I don’t think I will continue with this series as I was quite disappointed by this novel. Unnecessary girl on girl hate, a bland protagonist and emphasis on Hester’s ugly appearance to much for my liking.

The Last Review

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Jon Keller was on a trip to Switzerland when the world ended. More than anything he wishes he hadn’t ignored his wife Nadia’s last message. Twenty people remain in Jon’s hotel. Far from the nearest city, they wait, they survive. Then one day, the body of a girl is found. It’s clear she has been murdered. Which means that someone in the hotel is a killer… As paranoia descends, Jon decides to investigate. But how far is he willing to go in pursuit of justice? And what happens if the killer doesn’t want to be found?