Many thanks to NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and the author for letting me have an E-ARC of this book. Al opinions expressed down below aMany thanks to NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and the author for letting me have an E-ARC of this book. Al opinions expressed down below are what I think of the novel. Many thanks for the opportunity to give my honest review of this book. Rating- 5 stars (E-ARC) As soon as I saw the cover and the blurb of this book, I knew I had to apply on Netgalley for the book. On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn is a dark fantasy romance book with bully elements (check additional trigger warnings) which follows a half-fae called Medra Pendragon who falls into another world. Medra is told that she has dragon blood and is quickly made to marry Blake Drakhallow. A family who everyone looks towards. Medra is then forced to study at Bloodwing Academy- a school full of vampires where the vampires rule everything and the blightborns (humans) are just the pawns. But there are no dragons left. Not even a single one.
This book was everything. This book was rich with world building throughout and really explored the history and the way the world worked. I really enjoyed learning about the different houses, the classes they took and the history behind how the world came to be. The amount of notes and theories I made about whilst reading was great. I really was able to get my teeth into this book and I can not wait to read more in the series. I can not wait for it to be expanded on in future books.
As this was my first book by this author, I did find at times that I was confused about the main character. She had came from another world and I quickly established that the author had done a series called Queen of Roses. I learnt quite a lot about what had happened in the previous world. I felt confident that I could read this book without knowing what happened in that series. I did also feel like I was spoiled way too much for the series beforehand. It was not mentioned when applying for the book- so please be aware that the character is from a previous series but can be read if you haven't read it.
The banter between Medra and Blake was so funny at times. Before getting properly in the book, the first few scenes they both had I just knew that I would come to love both of them. The banter and the way they just spoke to each other. He was so whipped throughout the novel and I was so happy that we got to see his POV at times. It did only feel like a sprinkle but I wish we had more and poteinally other characters such as Theo and Visha. The way he had a little nickname called little dragon made me melt so much.. I was not expecting the twist at the arena and vouch never to trust the quiet ones ever again. The emotions that went through me at that scene and the way I felt so sorry for Blake. He is so misunderstood by so many people.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I am super excited for book 2. From the world building, relationships and friendships, from vampires and other supernatural elements I am excited to jump back into this world. I am already obsessed and need more of this world....more
Many thanks to Harper Collins, Lindsey Kelk and NetGalley for letting me have access to this ARC. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review anMany thanks to Harper Collins, Lindsey Kelk and NetGalley for letting me have access to this ARC. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review and read this. Rating- 3.5 stars (E-ARC) The Bell Witches is a coming of age story filled with magic, witches and suspense. When Emily's father tragically dies, she is forced to go and live with the only remaining family she has. Her auntie and grandmother who are both as mysterious as each other. But it is not all that it seems and Emily realises that the Bell family is hiding secrets. A lot of secrets. However, Emily soon makes a connection with a boy called Wyn and believes that she has found the one as an instant connection is formed. As the sparks and the love grows between them, Emily's life begins to take an exhilarating and terrifying turn where secrets began to unravel and new secrets form. But as she grows to love him more, it begins to take her further away from her family....
I did have fun with this gothic fantasy book. The Bell Witches really engrossed me from the beginning of the book and loved to see what secrets the family was keeping away from her. As someone who loves to guess things in books, this kept me on my toes and I really enjoyed trying to guess what was going on throughout the novel. However as I got through the novel, I had already guessed the plot and knew what was going on as it was highly predictable what was going on. You could really tell from a mile where the story was going to go.
At times, I did relate to Emily at times where she talked about her romantic experience only coming from Kindles which did make me chuckle a bit whilst reading this on holiday. However, there were times where I felt the writing was quite cringey and felt like there were too many references throughout eg Taylor Swift. The Taylor Swift references were relentless and I just wish they could have been toned down a bit. I also felt like the love between Wren and Emily was too easy and felt like there was no challenges between them and was just instant
As much as I enjoyed this book to a certain extent, I really wish that there were more challenges to Emily's and Wren's relationship as a whole and was not as predictable as to what was going on.. ...more
Rating- 3.5/4 stars (E-ARC)- Also available on Kindle Unlimited Many thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Marie Page and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for lettiRating- 3.5/4 stars (E-ARC)- Also available on Kindle Unlimited Many thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Marie Page and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for letting me have an ARC of this book. Thank you for letting me give my honest opinion of this book.
Illusions of Stars is a debut novel by Sarah Marie Page which is a adult enemies to lovers romantasy with a spy and an enemy general on different sides of the war. This novel has also has a slow burn element to it as well. This book also includes no spice. I feel like this book was a good debut novel for the author, however it did fall quite short for me and did not feel like the target audience for this book. This book was adversited as being adult however I felt like the writing was more aimed to young adult and not adult. Some of the conversations between the spy and the general often felt childish instead of adult conversations.
However this book did have great plot which got stronger as the book went on. The book did take quite a while for the plot to start but once it was established, the plot just got better and better as it went on. I also really relate to Isabel- the spy throughout the book. The quotes she said and the way she lost all hope. There was many times in the book where I felt so sorry for Isabel and had to stop because I related so much. Isabel was a character that will stay with me from this book.
I really wanted to enjoy this book a lot more, but it did fall flat for me. I did feel confused with it at times when the plot was not established. where multiple times I nearly did DNF. It also felt more like romance than fantasy. I felt like I would enjoy this more if there was more fantasy because there was not enough for me. That being said, I did feel the book had great plot and was able to connect with the characters and relate to them. ...more
Rating- 3.5 stars (E-ARC) I would like to say a huge thank you to the publisher Penguin General Uk, the author and Netgalley for letting me have the oppRating- 3.5 stars (E-ARC) I would like to say a huge thank you to the publisher Penguin General Uk, the author and Netgalley for letting me have the opportunity to be able to review this book and to give my honest opinion of this book.
As much as I love historical fiction books, I really struggled with this book which was a huge shame. I struggled with the amount of characters that were present throughout- there were far too many for me in my opinion to be able to keep up. I am aware that this would be based on true events but I did feel there were too many characters for this whole story.
There were times where I did feel sorry for the characters and could really relate to them as they felt real. There were times that I could really relate to the main character. The tension and the way she was scared she was going to be found out- you could really feel it throughout the chapters. However, I did sometimes get confused as I would lose track of the story. The story jumped a lot from the first to third person and has a lot of jumps in time. I do believe that the story could have been set out a lot better to be able to follow as it was all the same events but different point of views.
As the book went on, it did become quite tedious and boring. Towards the end of the novel, I skipped the last chapter and the prologue as I did not really think that it would provide me with any more information. This book was not for me which is a shame as I was really looking forward to this novel. ...more
Rating- 5 stars (E-ARC) Also on Kindle Unlimited Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for letting me have a proof of this book. Thanks fRating- 5 stars (E-ARC) Also on Kindle Unlimited Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for letting me have a proof of this book. Thanks for letting me give my honest opinion of this book.
This book was set in World War 2 which had flashbacks of when Germany became occupied by the Nazis to the end of World War Two when America stopped it. This focused on 4 friends who grew up together in the same neighbourhood but later goes to focus on mainly three of them- Emilie, Otto and Danner. As they all grow up, the world they know began to change and Germany is never the same again. When the Jewish laws are enforced, Danner is ripped away from his friends and Emilie- the one he had loved since they were children. Danner pushes Emilie away in order to protect her and asks Otto to marry her and keep her safe. Little does he know that Otto would be working in the concentration camp where he is murdering innocent victims and has also lied to his wife about the things she would be doing there. But when she hears a familiar phrase and sees Danner she know she will do everything she can do to save him.
This book was super emotional and made me cry so much. Usually romances can be hit and miss for me but the relationship that Danner and Emilie had was beautiful and so romantic. From the flashback scenes to the current scenes, you could really show the love and appreciation they had for each other. The things that Danner went through was just heart-breaking and you really felt for him throughout this novel. The dual povs between Emilie and Danner was great but I would have really liked to see a few povs of Otto's in the book too. I am still thinking about them both now.
As much as Otto made the wrong choices and was heavily influenced by his uncle, he did not deserve what happened to him. The scene where he was punishing himself for what he did was awful to read. In fact, the whole chapter was a hard read and I did end up putting it down due to how distressing and emotional it was. A few trigger warnings could be useful for people who could struggle. I also really enjoyed the flashbacks but sometimes felt like they did not fit at times or were not needed. For example, the prologue was found in Chapter 17 which made me skip as it was the same.
Furthermore, this book was really addicting and emotional but I could not put this down and constantly wanted to know what was going to happen. This was my first book by the author and I am really impressed and have now found another author to add to the ongoing list of historical fiction authors. I am really excited to pick up another book by this author which follows a side character in this novel.
During this book there was two songs which really related to this book: Labour by Paris Paloma Enchanted by Taylor Swift...more
Rating- 3 Stars (E-ARC) I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Many thanks to NetGalley,Rating- 3 Stars (E-ARC) I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Many thanks to NetGalley, the author and Harper Muse for letting me have a early copy of this book and for letting me give my honest review of this book.
The Forgotten Names is a World War 2 historical fiction book that has been inspired by true events where in August 1942, French parents were faced to either watch their children die or to give them their parental rights to let these children have a chance at life. 108 children managed to escape deportation and death from the German concentration camps. It shows the results of a number of individuals such as clergy, civilians and humanitarian organisations and the French Resistance who risked their lives to save these children. This book shows what these individuals did to save these children where their lives were often on the line. Furthermore, this book also focuses on a law student called Valeire Portheret who looks into these children for her thesis five years after the trial of Klaus Barbie. Valerie strived to help find these children to reclaim their heritage and remember their forgotten names.
When I first started this book, I had no idea about this in World War 2 and was super interested to learn what happened to these children. It is always things like this that are left out of history and are something everyone should know. This book was really hard to put down as you really want to find out what happened to the children. This book really brought some many emotions especially the things that the children and adults did to escape from the work camp. The way the Red Cross allowed this to happen made me so mad but at the same time the French Resistance were only able to do so much themselves.
Unfornately despite it being an interesting topic for the story, it did fall flat for me. The short chapters really kept you engaged but there were so many characters that it was really hard to keep up with. It would have been helpful if the author had labelled who's point of view it was instead of including multiple ones. Multiple times, there were a lot of children being introduced in one chapter. I feel like if a few of the children were focused on it would have made it less confusing. The short chapters also meant that you were not able to connect with the characters. As a result, it felt quite choppy and abrupt because as soon as you finished one point of view you were quickly whisked to another after three pages. In some cases, personally I did not feel that some of the points of views were needed.
Some of the characters did not feel as important and were only mentioned maybe once or twice in the book. Despite them not being important, the author included a lot of history about characters which really felt journalistic. It felt like it was a history lesson. It could have been a lot less and made it flow a lot better. This was especially the case for the ones who helped the children. Despite Valerie helping to locate these children, she is only seen in the book a handful of times to do some research and seminars. I really felt like you do not get to know this character at all despite being the main character. This made the ending super disappointing and out of the many characters introduced you only knew what happened to a few of them....more
Rating- 4.5 stars (E-ARC) Many thanks to the publisher Hodder and Stoughton, NetGalley and the author for letting me have an ARC of this month. (Will incRating- 4.5 stars (E-ARC) Many thanks to the publisher Hodder and Stoughton, NetGalley and the author for letting me have an ARC of this month. (Will include Minor Spoilers from These Hollow Vows)
Happy publication day!
When I received this ARC, I was so excited to dive into the book. Having read the previous duology, I was excited to see Aribella's sister Jaslyn take centre stage in her own spin off series. As it had been a while since I had been in this word, I did initially struggled with getting into the world and what was going on. Ideally, I would have loved a recap of the previous duology on what had happened before this book. At the start, It was really confusing and often felt like I was missing a lot of things. In addition, personally I felt like this could not be read as a standalone or before These Hollow Vows Duology as the duology beforehand really set up the worldbuilding and characters. When I hit the 20% mark, things became a lot clearer where things began to make sense and answered quite a lot of questions I had.
Three years after These Hollow Vows duology takes place, this book focuses on Jaslyn and the effects of her being a prisoner in Mordeus dungeons. The trauma and the torture has left Jasalyn unable to hug others and open up to those close around her and talk about what she has gone through. But Jasalyn is also keeping a secret. Jasalyn has a enchanted ring that gives her death's kiss that she has been using to assassinate the guards and supporters of Mordeus. Meanwhile, a fae shifter called Felicity need a miracle. Fated to kill her magical father, Felicity has been using her unique ability to avoid the prophecy.
When Jaslyn hears of Mordeus ressecution, Jasalyn wants to end him once and for all. Felicity offers to go in the form of the shadow princess allowing Jasalyn to hunt Mordeus while Felicity uses this oppournity as Jasalyn to get closer to Misha (the Wild Fae King). Jaslyn is reunited with Kendrick, a boy who helped her in the dungeons. Despite the roles being reversed, both girls are able to feel something- Misha helps Felicity to wish for a world where she can be her true self while Kendrick helps Jas to feel something other than anger for the first time in three years.
I honestly really enjoyed this book. It was such a super addicting and fun read. This made me lose track of time due to how good this book was and was really impossible to put down. I honestly loved the Found Family with Kendrick, Skylar, Remme and Natan. I can not wait to see more of them especially Remme who kept interrupting every single time Kendrick and Jas had a moment. However, the frustration I felt for Misha throughout this book. He did not deserve to be fooled like that and deserves to find love just like everyone else too. Honestly justice for Misha. I really hope he finds love in the next book. Furthermore, I really liked Jaslyn a lot more as a main character. I felt like it was nice to see her development from the start and felt like she was not making bad decisions all the time.
This was a super enjoyable book and the ending blew me away. I was not expecting the plot twist and left me reeling for a few hours after finishing this book. I seriously need Book 2 like now because wow. Many thanks again to Hodder and Stoughton for letting me have an E-ARC of this book. I had such a great time....more
DNF at 20% (E-ARC) Many thanks to NetGalley, Leah Mercer and Bookouture for letting me have an E-ARC of this book before publication date. Thanks for leDNF at 20% (E-ARC) Many thanks to NetGalley, Leah Mercer and Bookouture for letting me have an E-ARC of this book before publication date. Thanks for letting me give my honest review of this book.
I have always wanted to get into thrillers so when I saw this on NetGalley this piqued my interest and was excited to see that my request had been approved by Bookouture. I did not know what to expect, but was intrigued that this was about a nursery. Unfortunately I had to dnf around the 20% mark. for many reasons which I am going to highlight down below.
This book was about a place that was welcoming to mothers who needed a fresh start called the Nest. This was where mothers came together to run this place along with nursery staff. But everyone one of them had secrets. Until one day the main character called Lenore goes to pick up her daughter from nursery only to see her pink jumper slide into focus. She watches as her little daughter runs into the road and there is nothing she can do other than watch her daughter get run over. Little does she know that her worst day is going to be the day everyone blames her for what happened.
From the very start, I had problems with this book. From the introduction of the nursery the fact that there were volunteers that went into the nursery on a rota screamed alarm bells. I know this is fictional but how did they know who was coming in and out of the building? It could have been anyone who knows? Furthermore, there WERE huge safeguarding issues in this book. Even before the incident there were major issues such as using the phones in the nursery (even when children have left they are not to be in the room at all), CCTV forgetting to be switched on by a member of staff etc. Codes and keys were not even remembered too so who knows if they were being used at all.
When the incident happened, I was confused and angry on why it happened but then with the things I saw I was not surprised at all. For the child to get out onto the main road, it looked like the child was not looked after or they were vigilant. After the incident, the two nursery staff were adamant it was not them and that they were in the garden.. They had no idea how she got out. As someone who has worked in nurseries and in different settings, this made me so mad. No matter what you do you always do headcounts in the building, outside the building and making sure they get safely to the garden and to keep an eye on the children. Children's safety is paramount. After the incident, I expected the nursery to close and the rest of the children to be sent home but they were not. It did not feel right.
When the manager came to the nursery after getting a phone call off one of the staff, I thought that the manager would be mortified and would want to know the truth. Instead she wanted to hide the truth because she wanted to hide a huge secret about the nursery that nobody knew. At that point I had enough and dnf it because I felt it was messed up. She also told one of the workers that it was okay to slip up and she was doing amazing. That is so messed up and NO WAY should a nursery manager be saying that. That was my last straw.
Although this book was fast paced and full of twists and turns, this book had problems and I would not recommend this to anyone in my opinion. This book definitely needs trigger warnings which were not present in this book at all. This left me feeling uncomfortable even after 20% in. I really wish the author had done more research on this. With this being my first thriller, I have been left feeling very disappointed....more
Rating- 4 Stars Many thanks to NetGalley, S.E. Babin and Xpresso Book Tours for letting me have a copy of this book and allowing me to give my honest rRating- 4 Stars Many thanks to NetGalley, S.E. Babin and Xpresso Book Tours for letting me have a copy of this book and allowing me to give my honest review of this book. (Kindle Unlimited) Trigger Warning -Please be mindful I have mentioned of SA in this review- be cautious
After the destruction and terror the kingdom of Thornwood has done in order to seize power, Nova flees the village with a baby called Harlow where she is surrounded by dead bodies. A little baby who is someone that needs to be protected. The girl who can save them all. Harlow and Nova makes a life together before Nova finds a village where they move in with a couple who can not have children. The couple adopted them as their own. Thirteen years later, Nova has disappeared and her foster parents have died of fever. With nobody left in the village, Harlow leaves the village clutching a note that her sister has left for her. A note to tell Harlow to go to the castle and find work there. At the castle, Harlow finds work as a maid but a oppournity arises where she is asked to become part of the Virago. Will she find her sister? Will she find out why she disappeared so many years ago?
This book was a enjoyable fantasy read. It was full of plot twists- some of which I was not expecting at all. As the first book in the trilogy, this definitely started the series off strong. This book is marked at YA which I do feel is a bit low for this book. Granted that the female main character is fifteen years old, I do think some of the themes are quite explicit for YA. They do not go into details but SA was mentioned quite a lot throughout from threats and history. I am aware that this can happened in real life but I feel uncomfortable with this being recommend as YA. I would rather say this is upper YA or NA.
I also really liked the side characters through this novel too. I really enjoyed Bloom and can not wait to see her in future books. The way they all worked together and then came at the end. At the end it came together and feels like there is going to be a found family that will carry on the future books. I am looking forward to seeing this. Furthermore, I am also looking forward to the sapphic romance between Desminda and Harlow as well in the future book.
This book was fast-paced and full of twists and turns. I did feel there was issues with the way the chapters were set out.. I was often confused on how the chapter was about and had to check many times. It would have been easier if the characters name was at the top of the chapters. It would have been a lot easier to understand.. Flashbacks would also have been easier if they were made clear.. With that being said, this was a enjoyable fantasy read and I can not wait for Book 2 at the end of the year.....more
The War Orphan by Anna Stuart (E-ARC) Rating- 5 Stars
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!
To start off, I would like to say a huge thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley The War Orphan by Anna Stuart (E-ARC) Rating- 5 Stars
HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!
To start off, I would like to say a huge thank you to Bookouture, NetGalley and Anna Stuart for letting me have an early copy of this book. Thank you for letting me give my honest review of this book. This book releases on 7th March so definitely go and check it out. It is also on kindle unlimited.
This book heavily focuses on trauma/experiences that children faced during the concentration camps in WW2. This book also has children talking about their experiences openly which is quite harrowing and heart-breaking. Grief and loss is also mentioned a lot in this book too. If any of these things upset you or make you uncomfortable, this book is not for you.
Tasha was torn away from her mother’s arms by a SS guard days before Auschwitz gates were opened. Tasha is desperate to be reunited with her mother and yearns to find her. But in the chaotic aftermath of a war it is not as easy to find her as Tasha thought it would be. Will Tasha find her mother? Or will Tasha never find her mother again?
I absolutely adored this book. For someone who has studied children’s psychology and children’s theorists for children’s development and wellbeing, this book was super informative and useful and allowed me to see it in a different context. From the moment the children went to Windermere or what the children referred to as ‘Wondemere’ it was really eye opening to see the effects and the long lasting traumas the concentration camps had on the children. It was nice to see a book mainly focused on the children and how they dealt and began to cope with the trauma. Although it was painful to see the children going through painful and traumatic flashbacks and reliving the horrors they had been exposed to, it really showed you the havoc of trauma/adverse childhood experiences and how this can greatly impact on children’s minds. The scene where the children drew what they had experienced and even the scene where the children thought what the Nazis were doing was normal. It broke my heart but it shows that children were conditioned to believe that this was normal behavior because this is what they have experienced.
With that being said, the bonds that Alice made with the children was the whole highlight of the book. She cared so much about the children and would do anything for them. One quote in particular stood out to me where she talked about not getting too attached to the children as they were not her children but could not stop herself. Alice resonated so much with me as someone who has worked with children from birth to sixteen years old, the bonds you make with children are so precious and you can not help but get attached to the children. I also totally feel so sorry for Alice when she had to say goodbye to some of the children. The bond between her and Tasha was so precious. A beautiful and heart-warming bond that Tasha definitely needed as she continued to search for her mother.
I was not ready for Chapter 19 at all. The chapter destroyed me emotionally and I had to take a minute to breathe. I was NOT ready for it to happen and did not see it. The fact that it was loosely based on a true story(happened a lot later than the date in the novel) broke my heart even more reading the historical notes at the end. The conversation that follows after this particular event really showed once again the trauma and the beliefs that the children had after the concentration camps. Please be aware that children talked openly about the traumas and the experiences they faced later in the book. Please be mindful of this when you are reading. This was such a hard chapter and the tears were crazy. Considering I was only 47% in, I knew this book was amazing.
I also have to applaud the author for her emotional scenes. Throughout this novel, I was a mess throughout and had to constantly put down my book due to the tears. The author really made you go through all the emotions all at once. Furthermore, the author also made this as historically accurate as she could, which is another thing I love to see. At the end of this novel, she included historical notes which were full of information that was not included in the novel and ways you could research more. The level of detail was fabulous. It has made me really want to research and learn more about what they did for the Holocaust.
I did not know that this was part of a series and read this as a standalone book but did not feel that it impacted me that I had not read the other books in the series. I am so glad that I have now found another historical fiction author that I like and I can not wait to go back and read the other two books before this one....more
Rating- 4.5 Stars Thank you so much to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK and the author for letting me have a E-ARC to give my honest review of this book.
I hRating- 4.5 Stars Thank you so much to NetGalley, Bonnier Books UK and the author for letting me have a E-ARC to give my honest review of this book.
I honestly love the author’s work and when I saw this advertised on NetGalley I knew I needed to request this book. I honestly feel so honoured that I was able to get an ARC of this book. As with any of the books that the author has written, the author did not disappoint with this book. I think this book is honestly her best book yet.
The Household is a novel that follows Urania Cottage, a cottage that has been set up for women who have fallen on hard times. The cottage is set up to give these women a second chance at life- a chance to be able to become part of society. But how badly do women want a second chance? The cottage is based on a real place that was set up by Charles Dickens that was benfacted by Angela-Burdett-Coutts. This novel is historically accurate and has real historical figures and events.
In this book, you get to see many different points of views throughout. You get to see a lot of views and thoughts from the girls who live there who all have different problems and issues. You also get to see Angela’s point of view throughout the story, who is dealing with a male who has been stalking her for ten years.
I especially felt like this book highlighted the way women were treated back in 1846 and how many women resorted to stealing and other crimes to be able to suivre in a world where they had nothing or were viewed as nothing. The cottage gave the girls a second chance at life- whereas if these girls were not offered this opportunity they would not be known to society. Charles Dickens believed that these girls could be saved and redeem themselves by learning skills before emigrating to a new country for a fresh start. For these girls, they had given up on themselves and did not feel that they were worth saving.
It also highlighted the way in which women’s opinions were not valued in Angela’s point of view. Often she was left out of important decisions and not told about things ahead of time. She often found out after the decision had been made despite being the class she was in. Even with the money and class she was, she still was not viewed as equal to men.
I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great historical fiction book. Yet another amazing book by Stacey Halls which I recommended for anyone who is a fan of Charles Dickens or historical fiction books....more
Rating- 4.5 Stars I would like to say a huge thank you to S.T. Gibson, Little Brown Books and NetGalley for allowing me to have an E-ARC of this book. Rating- 4.5 Stars I would like to say a huge thank you to S.T. Gibson, Little Brown Books and NetGalley for allowing me to have an E-ARC of this book. Thank you for letting me have the opportunity to allow me to review and give my honest opinion of this book.
This book includes: If you are looking for: Sapphic romance Vampires Academic Rivals to Lovers Dark Academic Gothic
Set in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts is Saint Perpetua’s College, a boarding school for girls, where sizzling tension and secrets lie. This story follows two girls- Carmilla and Laura who become intense academic rivals from day one. Both of them become drawn to their academically demanding teacher De Lafontaine who has her dark obsession with Carmilla. But Laura soon learns that the rivalry blossoms into something far more. Laura has to comfort her strange feelings herself.
As someone who has only read a handful of dark academic books, this has to be one of my favourite ones so far. The writing was beautiful and poetic and flowed beautifully that I often lost track of time reading this novel. Both characters- Laura and Carmilla were two characters you could get attached to. The book had dual pov’s which made me super happy as you were able to find out what both girls were thinking or feeling throughout different scenes throughout the book. This book was such a beautifully poetic written academic rivals to lovers with vampires that it makes me want to read this book all over again. I honestly can not wait for publication date- only two weeks left to go!...more
Rating- 5 stars (E-ARC) First off, I would like to say a huge thank you to Iris Costello, Penguin General UK and NetGalley for allowing me to have my veRating- 5 stars (E-ARC) First off, I would like to say a huge thank you to Iris Costello, Penguin General UK and NetGalley for allowing me to have my very first E-ARC. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to give my honest review of this book.
This story follows three women from World War One to the present day where a long intertwined secret ties all of them together. I especially loved the multiple POVS throughout the book which made me become quite invested towards these characters. The characters were so well-developed and at times it made me feel for them with the things they were going through. The story about the mute prisoner and the researcher was my favourite POV throughout the whole book. It was so emotional and heart-breaking that I could not help but shed a few tears during this part. Even months on, I still think about this book to this day.
Historical Fiction is not always the sort of book I go towards on a daily basis but I was so glad to have picked up this book. This book was very historically accurate and you could clearly tell the author had done her research throughout. I loved seeing the suffragettes through Kitty's story. Although Sylvia Pankhurst was added fictional into the story, it was lovely to see the work that she had done to improve the lives of working class women during the First World War. I really devoured this book in two days as I was unable to put it down due to how beautifully written it was. I would 100% reread this book over and over again. It has honestly become one of my favourite books that I have read this year. I will definitely be picking up a physical copy of this book once it is released in February. With one week left until the publication date, I urge you to go and pick up a copy of this book. This book has easily become one of my favourites of all times. ...more
Many thanks to Katy Morgan, Aria and Aries publisher and NetGalley for letting me give my honest review of this book. Rating- 1 Stars (E-ARC)
UnfornatelyMany thanks to Katy Morgan, Aria and Aries publisher and NetGalley for letting me give my honest review of this book. Rating- 1 Stars (E-ARC)
Unfornately I had to DNF this book 35% in. This book was quite confusing and I could not keep up with the amount of names and was getting confused and thought there was more characters when they just was the same ones. At the start of the book, you were completely put into the action without it being explained which also throwed me.
I would have loved to enjoy this book as the cover is absolutely gorgeous and the description made me super excited to read this book. However, I was unable to get into this book....more
Rating- 4.5 stars Many thanks to Caitlin Deman, Victory Editing and NetGalley for giving me the oppournity to read and to give my honest review of thisRating- 4.5 stars Many thanks to Caitlin Deman, Victory Editing and NetGalley for giving me the oppournity to read and to give my honest review of this book.
Blood Queen follows Layla, a queen who's kingdom has been plagued by murders. The whispers of rebellion and dissent grows daily and Layla will do anything for her kingdom to be peaceful. Layla agrees to marry a foreign prince to bring stability back to the kingdom. But on the eve of her marriage, Layla goes and enjoy one last passionate night with a stranger. But doing so has consequences.
Blood Queen was such a fast-paced book that made it super hard for me to put it down. It was filled with so many twists and turns which I was unable to guess at times. I especially loved the animals companions and thought they were quite unique. It was especially interesting to learn that royalty had animals companions which were known as soul shards.
The tension, the mystery and the suspense really made this a great dark fantasy romance. Although, I knew where the story was going in the last couple of chapters or so, I still really enjoyed it and I can not wait for the next book. I would definitely check this out if you're looking for a strong female character, animal companions and a morally grey MC. If you like: Touch her and die Arranged Marriage Lovers to Enemies to Allies Morally Grey MC Cliff-hanger ending Then you will love this book. (Uploading again because I can't see this review on my feed)...more
Many thanks to Jennifer Anne Davis, Xpresso Book Tour and NetGalley for letting me have this opportunity to review this eBook and to giRating- 4 stars
Many thanks to Jennifer Anne Davis, Xpresso Book Tour and NetGalley for letting me have this opportunity to review this eBook and to give my honest review.
The Queen's Crown follows Princess Sabine Ludwig who thought that she would never have any claim to any throne and spend her days drinking tea and knitting. However, tragedy strikes when her sister is brutally murdered in a foreign kingdom. Sabine's world is turned upside down. Sabine decides to take her sister's place and marry King Rainer. Sabine believes this will be the only way to save her kingdom and to find out her sister's killer. But once Sabine gets to the kingdom, not everything as it seems.
This book was quite plot-driven and there was a lot going on which kept me really intrigued throughout the book. It did get annoying the more times the MC was left in the dark or lied to over and over again. Most of the time, I was screaming at the characters because I wanted to know what was going on. I am still not sure if I trusted any of the characters with the amount of lies and deception they put her through. I would love to see more world building in the next book to learn more about the world.
After this book, I am left with more questions than answers and I can not wait for the second book. I am hoping that we get the answers that we were waiting for it in this book. I am also intrigued to see where this book is going to go....more
Many thanks to the author, NetGalley and to the publishing company for letting me have the opportunity to review this book and to provide my honest reMany thanks to the author, NetGalley and to the publishing company for letting me have the opportunity to review this book and to provide my honest review.
I was really hooked in by the cover and the description of the book. I really enjoyed retellings of the Little Mermaid and could not wait to get started on this book.
Unfortunately I was unable to get into this story. This story was long and very descriptive with hardly any conversations between the characters. For most of the story I was skipping past the dialogue as most of it did not add towards the story. I unfortunately DNF this at 30%. The plot was non-existent as there was so much description. With what I did read, it also felt like the author had used certain scenes from the Little Mermaid and altered them slightly.
This book really disappointed me however I did enjoy finding out more about Arias mother. I really wish I could have read more of this but I was just skimming and missing parts out....more
First off, I would like to say a huge thank you to Xpresso Book Tours, Lorelei Jackson, Hailey Jade and Netgalley for letting me have the opportunity First off, I would like to say a huge thank you to Xpresso Book Tours, Lorelei Jackson, Hailey Jade and Netgalley for letting me have the opportunity to review this ebook and to give my honest review.
Prince of Never follows a librarian called Imogen who works at a university delivering lectures and seminars. Twelve years, Imogen was attacked by a vampire and recalls being bitten. Unfortunately for Imogen, nobody believes her and believes that she is losing her mind. Despite being called crazy, Imogen knows that the things she is seeing are real. Why is she the only person who can see them?
Meanwhile, in the Unseelie Court, there lives an Unseelie Prince called Tarian, who is heir to the throne of the Unseelie Court and is due to marry. However, prophecies and orcales plagued Tarians' minds. He learns that a particular person is going to be the downfall of the Unseelie Court.
Who do you think the prophecy is about?
I really enjoyed this book. The tension, politics, and the suspense made it so exciting to read. I was especially hooked at the first few couple of chapters where I was unable to put this book down.
It was also really refreshing to see Dual POV throughout the entire book to see what both of them were thinking. It was super interesting to see a male point of view as a mated couple. In many fantasy books, you often do not get to see the males' thoughts and feelings about a mate bond.
I did, however, feel that the prophecy was not clear enough throughout the book. I often felt I was guessing at the prophecy before it was revealed halfway through. It would have been nice to see the prophecy at the start or much earlier through the story. Furthermore, I would have liked to see more communication between Tarian and Imogen and to develop more of a friendship before they both accepted the bond. For me, I felt like it was too soon for them to both accept it as I did not feel they knew each other well enough.
Overall, I really enjoyed this ebook and found it very interesting and can not wait to read Queen of Ever. If you're looking for ✅️Enemies to Lovers ✅️Fated Males ✅️Fae (Unseelie and Seelie) ✅️ Morally Grey Male Prince Then this book is for you....more
Rating-4 Stars A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik completely captive me from start to finish. Set in a British magic school, this coming-of age story isRating-4 Stars A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik completely captive me from start to finish. Set in a British magic school, this coming-of age story is perfect for fans who love Harry Potter but wanted something more darker and more sinister.
A Deadly Education is set at the Scholomance, a place where monsters lurked everywhere. A place where death is always around the corridor. Instead of a male protagonist, this story follows a female protagonist called Galadriel who slowly starts to unravel the secrets of the Scholomance. The main aim of the Scholomance is to survive. Survive and graduate out of the Scholomance.
Starting this book, I was really sceptical about A Deadly Education. On many times, I had tried to read the other authors books but have been unable to get into them. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and really enjoyed it. At first, I felt very overwhelmed by the amount of world building but soon grew to be fascinated by the school history, I grew more fascinated by the world building as I move more into the book.
Throughout the book, Galadriel had a love/hate friendship with majority of the characters through A Deadly Education. It was lovely to see the reluctance Galadriel had about these friendships and the way she swayed between love and hate. I really enjoyed the dynamics between Galadriel and Orion- the heroine who saved her multiple times throughout the story despite her saying she did not need it. It was refreshing to see how this friendship bloomed throughout the story and was lovely to see the meaning why Orion stayed with her.
This book is more aimed at YA but progresses to adult the further you get into the book. This is perfect for people who loved Dark Academic books who are looking for their next magic school read. I was sucked into the Scholomance and I am now really excited to pick up the next one in the series. It had also made me really excited to try again to read other books by Naomi Novik.
Many thanks to Net Galley and Random House Publishing Group and the author Naomi Novik for letting me have the opportunity to read this book and post a honest review....more