The Language of Ghosts|Book Review

Title: The Language of Ghosts

Author: Heather Fawcett

Rating: ★★★★

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy

Synopsis: Forced into exile on an enchanted, moving island, ex-princess Noa Marchena has two missions: reclaim her family’s stolen throne and ensure that the dark powers her older brother, Julian, possesses don’t go to his head in the process. But between babysitting her annoying little sister, Mite, and keeping an eye on the cake-loving sea monster that guards the moving island, Noa has her hands full.

When the siblings learn that their enemies are searching for a weapon capable of defeating Julian—whose legendary spell weaving is feared throughout the kingdom—once and for all, they vow to get to it first. To everyone’s surprise, the key to victory turns out to be a long-lost magical language—and only Noa can speak it.

But what if by helping her brother, Noa ends up losing him?

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the author to read and review but all thoughts are my own

Spoiler Free Review

I read and loved Fawcett’s young adult series, Even the Darkest Stars, and I was looking forward to reading a middle grade book by her. I am happy to say that I enjoyed this! I feel like with fantasy books, having them being a stand alone can be a hit or a miss and this was definitely a hit.

Noa is our main character and she’s an enjoyable character. Noa is the middle child and the only one without magic but she doesn’t let that stop her from helping. Something Noa desperately wants is her ideas and plans to be heard and the lack of being heard by her older brother Julian leads her into trouble. I think those aspects of her make her a more round of a character, add on top that she’s a bit stubborn and she makes for quite the fun main character.

The world in this book was quite fun. Noa, her family, and everyone else helping to get Julian back on the throne live on an island. But not just any island, a moving island with a people eating seamster below. Beauty is the name of the sea monster and I loved her addition to the story, I don’t think it would quite be the same if she wasn’t in it. I like the uniqueness Fawcett added to the story with the moving island, it’s not something you find commonly amongst a story.

One thing that I found a bit confusing was the magic system and I think part of that has to do with the fact that this is a standalone book. I think if this was a series there would of been more of a chance to further the magic system and get more familiar with it. But with this being a standalone and not that long of one, it didn’t allow for much depth of the magic system.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more of Fawcett’s books!

The Betrothed|Book Review

Title: The Betrothed

Author: Kiera Cass

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Rating: ★★.5

Synopsis: When King Jameson declares his love for Lady Hollis Brite, Hollis is shocked—and thrilled. After all, she’s grown up at Keresken Castle, vying for the king’s attention alongside other daughters of the nobility. Capturing his heart is a dream come true.

But Hollis soon realizes that falling in love with a king and being crowned queen may not be the happily ever after she thought it would be. And when she meets a commoner with the mysterious power to see right into her heart, she finds that the future she really wants is one that she never thought to imagine.

Spoiler Free Review

I went into this book with low expectations and I think its the best thing I could of done. Before reading this I knew most of the reviews were low, so I went in not expecting much. I enjoyed the beginning of this book, only because of how low my expectations were. I think this book was alright up until the 60-70% mark, after that I think this book just went down. I was not a fan of how it ended and I think it should of ended sooner than it did.

The characters. Not a fan. I do not think there was one character I actually enjoyed. Hollis is the main character and she is boring. It feels like all she does during a good chunk of the book is give the King compliments and makes him laugh. When Hollis and Silas meet, the insta love trope just smacks you in the face. I am not a giant fan of insta love, when its done right I don’t mind it, that wasn’t the case for this book. Hollis changes her mind about who she feels for very fast, but I guess thats insta love for ya.

Delia Grace is such a fake friend to Hollis. I felt a little bad for Hollis when the nature of Delia Grace’s character was revealed. I sorta liked her in the beginning, felt a bit bad about how people treated her and all the rumors that spread about. But that quickly changed. Now I could care less about her, but that can also be said for basically all the characters.

Silas, I don’t really have many opinions on him. I guess he was alright. I don’t like any of the characters that much but I’ll say that I dislike Silas the least.

The ending was a big no from me. Like I said above, I think the book should of ended sooner than it did. Cass tried to give the ending some shock factor but I think she missed the mark on that. The ending felt a little rushed and was a bit of a mess.

The only reason I am giving this a 2.5 and not a 2 or lower is because I didn’t outright hate the beginning. It wasn’t a horrible beginning and it was an easy read. If you are planning on reading this, go in with low expectations, you may enjoy it a bit if you do. Not sure if I will continue with this series, I guess it will depend on the book cover and how pretty it is😂

The Hating Game|Book Review

Title: The Hating Game

Author: Sally Thorne

Genre: Romance, Contemporary

Rating: ★★★★★

Synopsis: Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome.
2) A person’s undoing
3) Joshua Templeman

Lucy Hutton has always been certain that the nice girl can get the corner office. She’s charming and accommodating and prides herself on being loved by everyone at Bexley & Gamin. Everyone except for coldly efficient, impeccably attired, physically intimidating Joshua Templeman. And the feeling is mutual.

Trapped in a shared office together 40 (OK, 50 or 60) hours a week, they’ve become entrenched in an addictive, ridiculous never-ending game of one-upmanship. There’s the Staring Game. The Mirror Game. The HR Game. Lucy can’t let Joshua beat her at anything—especially when a huge new promotion goes up for the taking.

If Lucy wins this game, she’ll be Joshua’s boss. If she loses, she’ll resign. So why is she suddenly having steamy dreams about Joshua, and dressing for work like she’s got a hot date? After a perfectly innocent elevator ride ends with an earth-shattering kiss, Lucy starts to wonder whether she’s got Joshua Templeman all wrong.

Maybe Lucy Hutton doesn’t hate Joshua Templeman. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

Spoiler Free Review

I loved this book so so much! I am such a fan of the hate to love trope so I already had a bit of a feeling I was going to enjoy this book, and I am so glad I did. I have heard nothing but good things about this book so I had some high expectations and its safe to say this book met them.

The romance in this book was definitely my favorite part. I loved seeing the development of Josh and Lucy, watching them go from hating each other to not so much hating each other. I was really rooting for them so with each scene that showed one of them not being hateful toward the other was a win. My favorite part of the hate to love trope is waiting for that moment when they no longer hate each other, you go through the whole book just waiting for that moment and when it comes, you’re like

One thing I liked about this book was the amount of smut scenes there were. I have to say I was expecting a lot of smut scenes and I can’t say I am disappointed with how many there are. The previous adult romance book I read was The Kiss Quotient and that had a good amount of scenes, more than The Hating Game in my opinion, and I was expecting The Hating Game to follow along the same lines. Since there weren’t many steamy parts in the book I felt like we got to see more of Lucy and Josh’s relationship and its development. To me, even though its a romance book, I rather have more scenes that contribute to the characters relationship/personal development than have more smut scenes.

I found the beginning to be a little slow but once I got around 50%, maybe a little less, I just didn’t want to put it down! I also really liked Thorne’s writing.

Overall I just loved this book. It was light, cute, fluffy, and all around enjoyable! This book is definitely going on my list for favorite books I’ve read this year!

Book Series I Haven’t Finished Yet

Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well! Today’s post is going to focus on 5 book series I’ve started but haven’t finished yet. I am so horrible at finishing series, I’ll either buy the books and read the first but take forever to read the others, or buy and read the first book and then take forever to buy and read the other books. Basically, I take forever to finish series which is why I had to limit this list to 5 book series.

1. A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro

I read A Study in Charlotte I think back in 2017… maybe 2018, I can’t remember, but I did really enjoy it! So I got the second book and read it and also enjoyed it and I didn’t pick the third book up because I was waiting for it to come out in paperback so all my books can match. Well… the book came out in paperback, then the fourth book, and I still haven’t bought either of them. I really do want to continue with this series, I’ve just been horrible at buying the books to read.

2. Scythe by Neal Shusterman

I read the first book in this series only just year so this one isn’t as bad, but I also read it in December or January. I really liked this book, it was a little slow for my taste but I enjoyed the plot of this book a ton. I want to continue with this series but its also not one high on my list because I have series that its taken me longer to finish.

Check out! – Book Review of Scythe

3. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

I bought the first two books in the series back in 2017 I believe and read An Ember in the Ashes that year. However, it wasn’t until this year that I finally read A Torch Against the Night. Yes, it took me about four years to read the second book in this series, I told you I am horrible at continuing and finishing series! I haven’t bought the third book yet but I do want to try to soon because the fourth book I think it coming out this year or next year.

4. Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown

So the Robert Langdon series consists of all of Dan Brown’s books except Digital Fortress and Deception Point, and I have read all of the books in the series except one, which is Origin. Dan Brown is one of my favorite books, I’ve read all but two of his books(Deception Point and Origin). I bought Origin right when it came out which in was 2017. So, I bring to you, another book that has been unread on my shelf for about 4 years. I am not sure when I will get to this book, but I will eventually!

5. Seafire by Natalie C. Parker

I really enjoyed this book and I knew as soon as I finished it that I wanted to continue with the series! The second book came out and I didn’t realize it until I think a month later, so already I am not off to a great start. I have yet to buy the second book and when I do who knows how long it will sit on my shelf until I read it, but like all the other series on this list, I do want to continue with it. When I’ll read it? Well thats the million dollar question haha.

Some honorable mentions of other series I have yet to finish but want to are: Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody, Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller, and The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Bottom line is, I suck a continuing with series but it is something I want to get better at!

 

Friday Favorites|Fiction Tropes

Hey guys, Friday Favorites is hosted by Lorraine over at Geeky Galaxy. And this tag is just a fun way to share some of your favorite things every Friday 🙂

Today’s prompt is about favorite tropes! I’m usually not opposed to many tropes like I won’t not pick up a book because it has a certain trope. I will, however, pick up a book without giving it much thought if it has some of my favorite tropes. And my favorite tropes are…

1. Hate to Love

I love love love the hate to love trope. I blame Wattpad for this aha because so many books on there are hate to love and I used to read a ton on Wattpad. If I know of a book that has this trope I won’t even read the synopsis I’ll just pick it up or put it on my to-buy list. One of the reasons I love this trope is because of the tension usually between the characters and then watching it slowly turn to romance. One of my favorite couples from this trope is Damon and Elena from The Vampire Diaries🙌🏻

2. Fake Dating

I feel like this is one of the lesser done tropes which makes me kind of sad because it is probably my second favorite one. Because I feel like its one of the lesser done ones, I’ll usually pick up the book because it has this trope. I just love watching the lines blur for the characters when they fake date and then theres usually the break up between the two and it hurts but you also know they are going to get back together so you aren’t too worried aha. One of my favorite couples from this trope is none other than Peter K and Lara Jean!

So those are my top two favorite tropes! Some other tropes that I love are arranged marriage, there is only one bed, hidden power/royalty, and found family!

What are some of your favorite tropes, lets talk in the comments!

My Social Distancing TBR

So like many people around the world, I am staying in my house which means I have lots of time to read and knock out my TBR. I’m not a huge TBR setter but during this time there are definitely books I want to get to which are…

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Anyone else still not call this book by its actual title? Anyways, I’m about 38% through with this book and I cannot wait to finish it! I am looving it and I’m pretty sure SJM just gave me a new book bf lol. Hoping it won’t be such a long wait till book 2 comes out.

Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare

I have yet to read this book but now that I know I need to read it before Chain of Gold I am planning to read it next!

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

I am so very much looking forward to seeing Will and Tessa all grown up and with kids! Very interested to see Will and his parenting techniques aha

Crave by Tracy Wolff

As soon as I got this in the mail I have just been looking forward to reading it!

So as of now, those are the books I am planning to read. After I get through these I’m not sure what I’ll read next but after all these big books I’m planning to read I bet it will be a short contemporary book.

Time After Time|Cover Reveal

 

Happy Hump Day everyone! Hope everyone is having a good week so far, hang in there its almost the weekend!

I’ve teamed up with The Parliament Press to reveal the cover for Sara Crawford’s book Time After Time!! So, the reason you are all reading this post, the cover reveal!!

 This cover is pretty cool! Definitely getting some 80s vibes(I hope I got the decade right) which I am here for!!!!

Anticipated Releases|2020

Hello everyone! With a new years comes new book releases! So I am writing this a bit later than I would have preferred considering most of the January books are already out, but I am just going to pretend that they are not out while I am writing this!

January

Adam Silvera is coming out with a new book but it is not contemporary, it is fantasy! His book Infinity Son has such pretty cover which is just part of the reason I am so excited for it! I have only read one of this books but I greatly enjoyed it and I am excited to read his newest book! This came out on January 14th. Synopsis

February

Of Curse and Kisses by Sandhya Menon is set to release on February the 18th! I read When Dimple Met Rishi a year or two ago and super enjoyed it! I love how it is a contemporary retelling of beauty and the beast because I feel like most retellings are fantasy. Synopsis

So I haven’t even heard of this book or really the author too but this title just caught my attention. How to Love Your Elf by Kerrelyn Sparks is set to release on the 25th. The plot does sound interesting as well and the cover is pretty. But I am mainly excited about this because of the title lol. I also feel like this might have the hate to love trope but I am totally pulling at straws on this. Synopsis

Straight On Till Morning is by Liz Braswell and is part of the Twisted Tales series. I have not read any of the other books apart of this series but Peter Pan is my favorite Disney movie of all time and since this is a retelling of Peter Pan I can’t not read it! This is set to be published on the 4th! Synopsis

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa is set to release on the 4th as well! This year adult romance is a genre I want to read more of and this also has my favorite trope, hate to love, so I am excited for this! I’m definitely going to have to check out Sosa’s other books if I end up liking this one! Synopsis

March

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare is coming out on the 3rd and I am so excited! I love this cover and think it might be my favorite out of all the shadowhunter covers so far! I am so excited for a book in the perspective of Will and Tessa’s kids and to also see them as parents! Synopsis

Crescent City by Sarah J Maas is also coming out in March! This is set to be published on the 3rd as well! Also I’ve been calling it Crescent City this whole time but apparently the title is House of Earth and Blood… oops lol. Anyways, I am super excited to read this! Synopsis

Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi is set to be published on the 31st! I wasn’t a fan of the last book in the series and I am just hoping that this will be better because its the last book in the series and I just don’t want to be left on a feeling of disappointment. Synopsis

Hearts, Heroes, and Heath Hall by Kasie West is set to be published on the 3rd as well! I wouldn’t say I am a fan of the title, however the main character is a swimmer(like me!) which is what makes me excited for this book! Synopsis

28 Days by David Safier is set to be published on the 10th. I am super excited for this book because it takes place during an event in the Holocaust that I feel like not many people know about even though it shows something important, that the Jews did not act like lambs to the slaughterhouse(I think I phrased that correctly). I definitely think this is a book everyone should add to their TBRs. Synopsis

April

N/A

May

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins is set to release on the 19th. I have mixed feelings about this but ultimately I am looking forward to it! I’m just a little worried about the writing style of the book and just the overall composition of it and the story it tells because it has been so long since the last Hunger Games book was published.  Synopsis

The Betrothed by Kiera Cass is set to release on the 5th! I super enjoyed the first three books in the selection series like I binge read those so I am looking forward to this book. My expectations will not be high for this because of some reviews I’ve read/heard and also just because of The Selection Series so I think with keeping my expectations low I will enjoy this book. Synopsis

June

So last year The Beautiful was on my most anticipated list and this year The Damned by Renée Ahdieh is on my list! I must confess though I haven’t read The Beautiful yet but I just have a feeling that I am going to love it which is why the second book is on this list! This is set to be published on the 9th. Synopsis

The Court of Miracles by Kester Grant is set to release on the 2nd. This has to do with the French Revolution and that is all that I needed to be sold! Also I’m pretty sure this is a Les Miserables retelling and I’ve been listening to the musical lately so hopefully by the time this comes out I will have a good understanding of the musical which in turn will help me with the story. Synopsis

July

N/A

August

The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks by Mackenzi Lee is set to be published on the 18th. I was so excited when Lee announced that this book was going to be published! I loved Monty and Felicity’s adventures and story and also who they are as a character. I am excited to get a glimpse of them in their 30s(I think that is what Lee said in an instagram story) and also get a story in the Goblin’s point of view. Synopsis

September

Queen of Vaults by Amanda Foody is set to release on the 1st. So I haven’t read King of Fools yet but I really want to!!! I am planning on buying it soon and then I am going to immediately read it so I can be prepared for what I believe is the last book in the series. I loved Ace of Shades so I am looking forward to reading the second and third book! Synopsis

October

N/A

November

N/A

December

N/A

So those are all my most anticipated releases given that I didn’t forget any lol!

What are some of your anticipated releases for 2020?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anticipated Releases I Actually Read|2019

Hello everyone! So in the beginning of 2019 I did an anticipated release blog post. I thought it would be fun to do a post on the anticipated releases I actually read in 2019! So if you want to look at the post of all my 2019 anticipated releases just click here!

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

I am very happy King of Scars is one that I got to! I loved this book although I wasn’t a huge fan of the ending, I am excited for the rest of the sequel! I also have a book review  here if you want to read it!

The Wicked King by Holly Black

I enjoyed this. I wouldn’t say this is my favorite book out of the trilogy but I do love the cover of it! It also doesn’t feel like this came out only last year, I feel like it came out in 2018 lol.

Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi

I enjoyed this novella. I love Kenji and he is by far one of my favorite characters, in this series and in general. It was fun to get to experience this book through Kenji’s point of view and I think it painted him in another light and not just as the super funny and comedy relief character that he is portrayed as in the series.

Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan

I fell into the category of people who did not like this book. I didn’t love the world building and felt I was just thrown into it and I was hoping for more clarity on it throughout the book but for me that didn’t happen. I liked the twits in the book and thought the ending provided a good twist. I’m still unsure on if I will continue with the second book or not.

Defy Me by Tahereh Mafi

I was sadly disappointed by this book. I did not like it and it is probably my least favorite out of all the books so far. I’m really hoping the last book isn’t like this one because I will be sad if it was mostly because it is the last book.

Finale by Stephanie Garber

I so enjoyed this book and thought it was a great series finale. I liked how the book was in both Tella and Scarlette’s point of view. One thing I wish in this book was we got more of the saints. I feel like such a huge part of the book revolves around them but we don’t get much of them.

Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart

This series is so underrated and it needs more love! I super enjoyed this book and loved all the girl power in it! Also the character developments for the two main characters not only in this book but through the whole series

So on my original list I had 20 anticipated releases and I ended up reading only 7 of them lol. Wow this was a lot lower than I though, especially since I read like 96 books in 2019. Hopefully I get to all the ones that were on my list this year as well as the ones from this year🤞🏻

 

Top 5 Worst Books|2019

So awhile back I did a post of my top 5 favorite books of 2019. Today’s post at the other end of the spectrum, my top 5 worst books of 2019. The list will be in no particular order.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions and if there is a book on here that you like/love then thats awesome, these books just weren’t for me.

One Bad Idea by Sabrina Stark

I was torn between a 2.5 and a 3 but ultimately went with a 2.5. My main issue was the writing, it just felt like the writing I did and middle school and even my friend agreed with it. I just felt that the writing style took away from the story and if the writing style was better maybe I would of bumped it to a 3. Also, the characters, reading this book I didn’t mind them but after reading reviews, I realized that they were a bit childish in some ways. Also, the ending for me was just, too soon and I don’t really think it should of happened um yeah, didn’t really love it.

Prisoner of Silk by Lidiya Foxglove

This book had potential. A dark twist on a fairytale, faeries, and a life based off of Marie Antoinette, sounds like a pretty good book right? Wrong. This book was just full of smut. In the 100 something pages of this book, I counted 7 smut scenes and each one was about 2 pages plus. Also, I think someone needs to put up a missing persons ad for the plot because it was MIA in this book. The plot was so weak I’m not sure it was even apart of the book to begin with. This book could of been something really good but it fell so flat.

I hate the court in the books so much. I mean the rules they have and the expectations they have of their king and queen is disgusting in my opinion. The main character in this book prepares to take on the role of the Queen Who Bowed and I find this role so demeaning. I mean her whole role is basically to pleasure her husband whenever and wherever and to basically bow and submit to her husband. And that just didn’t really sit well with me.

My overall feeling of this book was disappointment. I was really hoping for something more than just a book full of smut. I gave this 1 star.

Never-Contended Things by Sarah Porter

This was a book that just didn’t click with me. There were some aspects that I enjoyed but overall this book was just not for me. Also I found the synopsis for this book to be a bit misleading. The synopsis gives off the vibe that it is going to be fairy centered and even have Prince as a main character. The fairies didn’t amount for much in the book. Unselle(who is on the cover) is really the only fairy that we get to know, though even we don’t get to know much about her. I wish the fairies played a bit of a bigger role in the story. I have a full review here if you wish to see my full thoughts on the book. I gave this 3 stars.

Defiance Falls by Ali Dean

Not my favorite book of Ali Dean. I didn’t love the main characters or the plot. The plot was messy and I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on half of the time. The pacing of this book didn’t work for this book in my opinion, everything happened back to back and it made everything seem rushed. The characters also didn’t work for me and I was not a fan of them. I gave this 2 stars.

The Heir by Kiera Cass

I loved the first three books in the Selection series. This one did not have the same feelings for me. I did not like Eadlyn at all. I found her annoying and such an entitled brat. I wanted to like her because she was America and Maxon’s daughter but I just couldn’t. She is selfish too and doesn’t really think for anyone beside herself. Don’t have much to say about the plot because it was the same as the first three books. Eadlyn was really the only reason I did not like this book. I gave this 3 stars.

So overall I didn’t read too many bad books in 2019. I hope the same continues on for 2020 *fingers crossed*

What are some books you didn’t love in 2019?