Book Reviews

Book Review: Take A Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you another book review of a book that is outside of my usual genre – Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review!

Take A Hint, Dani Brown Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I read the first book in the Brown Sisters trilogy, Get A Life, Chloe Brown, earlier this year and I was surprised how much I ended up enjoying it. It is rare for me to enjoy a romance book, I sometimes don’t mind romance in books but a romance book isn’t a genre I gravitate towards. However, as I said I enjoyed Get A Life Chloe Brown and so I was excited to continue the series. I have to be honest, after reading the synopsis of Take A Hint Dani Brown, I wasn’t sure if I would like the book because it features fake dating and that isn’t a trope I usually like. In this book, I didn’t love the fake dating aspect but I understood why it was there and it did add to the overall book. I enjoyed the story, less than the first in the series, but I still enjoyed it.

One thing I would like to mention that I liked a lot about this book was how anxiety and panic attacks were portrayed. I don’t talk a lot about my own mental health on here but I do have panic attacks and anxiety, I had two years where every time I tried to sleep I would have panic attacks and it took a lot to get through them, I’m not free of them now, I still get them daily, but I am much better at dealing with them. It was something that I struggled to see that I didn’t need to go through them alone and seeing one of the main characters in this book struggle with it too and see them start to accept help and support was a really nice thing for me.

I didn’t really like the end of the book, I can’t say too much without spoiling what happens but the way the end scene goes didn’t sit very well with me. It isn’t the last last scene of the book but it is near the end.

Take A Hint Dani Brown Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I loved Dani as a main character. I liked how confident in herself she is, which is completely the opposite to the way I am. I also liked how the character grows throughout the book and she becomes a great character, she has strong family values and I liked the way she interacted with other characters.

Zaf is the very charming love interest in this book. I really liked that this book switches around the stereotypical ideas of a romance. In this book the man is the overly romantic one and I thought this fit Zaf so well.

Take A Hint Dani Brown Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I already knew I liked Talia Hibbert’s effortless writing style from reading Get A Life Chloe Brown and reading Take A Hint Dani Brown only reinforced my opinion that I love her writing.

Take A Hint Dani Brown Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because although I liked it less than the first book I still was surprised by how much I did enjoy this book. I think it is down to the way that Talia Hibbert writes her books, both the writing style and the plot.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him “rescuing” her from their office building goes viral…

Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown, and an occasional roll in the hay to relieve all that career-driven tension. But romance? Been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Romantic partners, whatever their gender, are a distraction at best and a drain at worst. So Dani asks the universe for the perfect friend-with-benefits—someone who knows the score and knows their way around the bedroom.

When brooding security guard Zafir Ansari rescues Dani from a workplace fire drill gone wrong, it’s an obvious sign: PhD student Dani and ex-rugby player Zaf are destined to sleep together. But before she can explain that fact, a video of the heroic rescue goes viral. Now half the internet is shipping #DrRugbae—and Zaf is begging Dani to play along. Turns out, his sports charity for kids could really use the publicity. Lying to help children? Who on earth would refuse?

Dani’s plan is simple: fake a relationship in public, seduce Zaf behind the scenes. The trouble is, grumpy Zaf’s secretly a hopeless romantic—and he’s determined to corrupt Dani’s stone-cold realism. Before long, he’s tackling her fears into the dirt. But the former sports star has issues of his own, and the walls around his heart are as thick as his… um, thighs.

Suddenly, the easy lay Dani dreamed of is more complex than her thesis. Has her wish backfired? Is her focus being tested? Or is the universe just waiting for her to take a hint?

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? What did you think of it?

Uncategorized

My 5* Predictions

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all good. Today I am bringing you a blog post about all the books I own and haven’t read yet that I think will be a five star rating. I believe there are nineteen books I think I will give five stars which in comparison to the 300+ books I own and haven’t read is not that many.

Up first is…

Assassins Apprentice by Robin Hobb

I am excited to get around to reading this book because I have seen so many people read it and love it recently which makes me really want to read it soon. Also, it is my first proper adult fantasy, as I am trying to branch out of YA. I will still be reading that genre just not as much.

Up next is…

Sabriel by Garth Nix

I bought the rest of this series after I read Lireal earlier this year. My partner persuaded me to read it, he even bought it for me that’s how much he wanted me to read it, and I ended up loving it so I think I will have the same reaction to the rest of the series including Sabriel and the book up next…

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

I also anticipate the next two books in a series will be a five star read…

The Girl in the Tower and The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

The Bear and the Nightingale is a very dark fantasy read but I loved it! And I gave it five stars so I am excited to read the rest of the series and I have high hopes that I will enjoy them just as much as the first book.

Now the next group of books is also a series – this is a common theme for me, if I read the first book and give it five stars immediately I anticipate the rest of the series getting five stars too..

Queenslayer, Crownbreaker, Way of the Argosi and Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell

I absolutely love this series, I have read Spellslinger, Shadowblack, Charmcaster and Soulbinder so far and every single one of them has been so enjoyable. I haven’t actually given any of this series five stars so far but I really think the rest of these books are going to push me to giving that five star rating.

Finale by Stephanie Garber

This is the last book in the Caraval series, I love the first book. I gave Caraval five stars and it is one of my favourite books I have read. I didn’t like Legendary as much but I still liked it and I can’t wait to finish this series.

Kingdom of the Cursed by Kerri Maniscalco

I loved reading Kingdom of the Wicked, the first book in the series, and the main characters are some of my favourites in all the books I’ve read. I can’t wait to be back in that world and see what happens next with Emilia and Wrath.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

I loved both her other books and something I really like is that they are all standalones and I get a full story all in one, it gives me a good feeling when I finish the book and so I am excited to read this one as well. I think it’s about nuns which sounds pretty interesting.

The Box in the Woods by Maureen Johnson

The Truly Devious series is a great mystery series with plenty of twists to keep you guessing and I am hoping this next segment of that series is going to be just like that.

Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett

I am highly anticipating this book because to me it has the same structure as six of crows, with a heist and a group of misfits being forced together. This is the type of fantasy adventure I really enjoy.

Blood and Honey and Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

I loved Serpent and Dove and the whole premise of the story so I definitely think that the next two in the series will also be five star reads just like the first one.

and finally…

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The Tudors is my favourite period of history and I love any book that is about them and I have heard such good things about the Wolf Hall series so I am excited to try it.

That’s it for all of my five star predictions, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly Wrap Ups

October Wrap-Up!

Happy Monday bookish people! It is the first of November and that means it is time to share with you my wrap up for the month of October.

October was once again a really busy month for me, I officially started my PhD course and I have had to sort lots of things out in preparation for my Masters graduation while also dealing with some issues with my health. It has been a long feeling month that is for sure, but we are now in November and I am feeling great about reading and the books I have chosen (my November TBR post will be going up later today!).

So, in October I was planning on reading lots of spooky books and mysteries and… well, I didn’t do as well with my TBR as I’d hoped. I wasn’t feeling the books I had on my TBR when it came time to read them and then now – the first day of November I am really in the mood to read them. That is very annoying.

Anyway, let’s get into what I did and didn’t read in the month of October!

October TBR and Thoughts:

  • A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik – I did not read, I was very excited this book was finally on my TBR but I just didn’t get a chance to pick it up.
  • Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody – another book I was so excited for but didn’t get around to.
  • Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert – I didn’t read this one but it has been moved to this month’s TBR…
  • Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – I NEED to get around to reading this soon but I didn’t manage it in October
  • City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab – I did read this one, I actually read this entire trilogy this month
  • Cream Buns and Crime by Robin Stevens – I also read this one
  • The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton – I did not read this one
  • Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff – I’ve heard such good things about this one but I haven’t read it yet
  • Good Girl Bad Blood by Holly Jackson – I didn’t get to this one
  • Legendborn by Tracey Deonn – I’m disappointed I didn’t get to this one it was the perfect month for it
  • Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T A Willberg – This is the one I’m now really in the mood to read so I’m just going to do it, I’m going to read it in November
  • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – I am so scared to read this because I heard it’s classed as a horror so I didn’t read it in Ocotber
  • Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – I did not read this one
  • Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens – I did read this one
  • One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M McManus – I did not read this one
  • People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield – I didn’t get around to this one but I am very excited to read it soon
  • Pride and Premeditation by Tirzah Price – I did not read this one
  • Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch – I didn’t read this one
  • Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert – I didn’t read this one
  • The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino – Another book I was too scared to read
  • The Painted Dragon by Katherine Woodfine – it turns out this book is from a series and I don’t have the first ones in it and I’m not sure if I need to read them first
  • The Winterhouse Mysteries by Ben Guterson – another book that it turns out is in a series and I didn’t read because I don’t have the first few to read before this one
  • The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava reid – I did not read this one

So, out of my TBR I read five of the books which isn’t great but it isn’t awful either. Outside of my TBR I also read the first three books in the Araminta Spook series by Angie sage which takes my October total to eight books. Considering everything that has happened this month I’m pretty happy with that total. Although I definitely plan to read more in November so we will see how that goes.

That’s it for my October wrap-up I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know how you all did with your October reading.

friday first and lasts

Friday First and Lasts Round 3

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day so far. Today I am bringing you the third round of my Friday First and Lasts segment. For today’s round I will be giving you three first and lasts which I hope you will enjoy!

Up first is:

No Number Nine by F J Campbell and The Secrets of the Stars by Maria Kuzniar

“Philippa Mitchell was eighteen when she left England/ it was her home” – This one actually works really well together, which surprised me but I like the sentence that it created.

Next is:

As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson and Modern Faerie Tales by Holly Black

“Dead-eyed that’s what they said wasn’t it?/ Consider it done” – ooh now this one works so well together! It gives me a very strong murder mystery from the POV of the murderer vibe, that’s probably a little strange but there you go. And both books were written by a Holly which shouldn’t make me as happy as it does.

My final one for today is:

Last Chance Books by Kelsey Rodkey and Get A Life Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

“There’s a bird in the store/ with a wry smile he said seriously “I know”” – okay. There’s so much to say about this one. It does work, grammatically but honestly, if there was a bird in a shop that I was in just flying around and someone with me just said ‘I know’ I would be so irritated with them… although maybe that does work for this one..I’m not sure, let me know what you all think.

That’s it for this week, I hope you all enjoyed it!

friday first and lasts

Friday First and Lasts Round 2

Happy Friday bookish people! Today I am bringing you the second round of my newest series Friday First and Lasts. The series in which I take the first sentence of one book and combine it with the last series of another book to see what we get.

For this round I will be giving you three sets of first and lasts, the books up first are:

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T A Willberg

“I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life/ however long it took” – This sentence actually turned out really well. It creates a very dramatic line.

Up next are the books:

Capturing The Devil by Kerri Maniscalco and Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson

“A blast of frigid air greeted me as I unlatched the carriage door and stumbled onto the street/filled with thoughtless joy I turned Priestbane to follow” – this one doesn’t work quite as well as the first set, but it still works and has a good flow to it.

The final set for today are from the books:

The Christmas Murder Game by Alexandra Benedict and The Gilded Cage by Lynette Noni

“Snow is falling/and then she would be dead” – This is the one that probably works the least out of the three sets but it has an intense and sinister ring to it that I quite like.

That’s it for today, I hope you all enjoyed it! If you’ve got any good ones, please leave them in the comments below, on my Instagram @the_blind_scribe or on Twitter @oliviatempleto6.

Book Reviews

Book Review: My Haunted House – Araminta Spook by Angie Sage

Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you a book review of one of the books in a series that I loved when I was a child. I thought I had owned the entire set but it turns out that I didn’t and two more were released after I stopped getting them. However, I recently re-read the first few books in the series and now I am uploading my review of the first book.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

My Haunted House Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I think this book touches on a lot of important themes for children in a very interesting way that will help children, and others, to enjoy the book. The main plot is that Araminta Spook lives with her Aunt and Uncle and her Aunt decides they are going to sell the house, but Araminta doesn’t want to leave. This is something that happens to a lot of children and I think it is good to see it feature in more books. It is a great set-up for the rest of the series because it introduces the house, the characters and their personalities very well.

My Haunted House Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Araminta Spook is the main character in this book. She is very strong-willed and I enjoy her character because the book is written as though from her perspective, she sees herself as the leader and that comes across. One of the characters who arrives in the first book is wanda, and she is set up to become Araminta’s friend/sidekick. She has a less strong personality and often comes across as younger than Araminta but I like their dynamic together. I also love Uncle Drac, he’s a vampire who is either sleeping or talking about his favourite bat.

My Haunted House Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

There’s not much I can say about this category, the writing was clear and although it felt a little young for me, as it is a book aimed at children, I still enjoyed it.

My Haunted House Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars because I enjoyed it as a child and I enjoyed it still as an adult.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Araminta Spookie lives in a wonderful old haunted house, but her crabby aunt Tabby wants to move. Aunt Tabby is determined to sell their house—Araminta “has” to stop her!

With the help of a haunted suit of armor named Sir Horace, a ghost named Edmund, and a lot of imagination, Araminta hatches a plot for an Awful Ambush that is so ghoulish, it just might work!

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Where'd I Leave It Wednesday

Where’d I Leave It Wednesday: Passagers

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope you’re all having a good day today. My story today is about my trip to the Theatre last night. It wasn’t quite what I expected.

My mum and I decided to go and see this show called ‘Passagers’ at the Theatre after seeing a poster advertising it. On the poster the show reminded me of the circus, with the aerial acts and the acrobatics. So I went in expecting an exciting circus acrobatic performance.

The first thing I thought when I sat in my seat was thank goodness I was on a corner. Usually, because of how limited my sight is, I have to sit front row but this time I was sat in the second row and because I was on the corner there was a gap between the two chairs in front of me. There is nothing worse than being sat in the second row and having a six foot something person sat in front of you. Yes, this has happened to me before.

Then the show started.

Now, the show itself started with an interesting dance number. I knew it would be hard for me to see but there was so much going on, multiple people dancing in different parts of the stage and it felt like my eye was pacing the amount of back and forth it was doing.

When the acrobatic elements started I realised the show was going to be more difficult than I thought. The aerial acts were beautiful and I think my mouth was open the entire time I was watching their outlines. I say outlines because they were so far away I couldn’t see any more of them. It was like watching stick figures dancing in the air.

Then there was the juggler. My Mum said he was talented and with the amount of cheering the audience were doing they must have been great. The things he was juggling, they looked like bowling pins and as soon as they left his hands – poof! They disappeared in midair. Then they were suddenly in his hands again.

The music of the show was beautiful and kept me entertained as much as the parts of the show I could see.

That’s it for this post I hope you all enjoyed it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens

Happy Monday bookish people! It’s time for another book review and the one I am bringing you today is for Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens. This book is a collection of short stories from the world of the Murder Most Unladylike series by Robin Stevens and I got it so that I could have a taster of the series before going out and buying them all.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep it as spoiler free as possible. I hope you enjoy my book review.

Once Upon A Crime Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I was intrigued to see how the short stories would all be plotted and I ended up really enjoying most of them. I felt some of them were a little long for a short story but they were filled with subtle details that made the world come to life. One of my favourite short stories in the collection was May Wong and the deadly flat because it was different to the others both in character and in plot. Reading this collection made me excited to pick up the main series.

Once Upon A Crime Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

The two main characters in this series is Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong. I think the characters are written beautifully and are very distinct. Personally I liked Hazel more because she is the quieter intelligent type and I can relate to the quietness of her character more than I can to the character of Daisy who is a lot more outgoing.

Once Upon A Crime Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I really liked the writing in this book. Although it is a middle grade novel the writing didn’t feel too young. I felt comfortable reading it and enjoying it.

Once Upon A Crime Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars because I thought it was a great introduction to the characters and the world and I’m looking forward to starting the main series.

Blurb/Synopsis:

A thrilling new short story collection in the number-one bestselling, award-winning Murder Most Unladylike series.

Featuring six marvellous mini-mysteries, including four original, brand-new and never-seen-before stories:

The Case of the Second Scream
: set aboard the ship carrying Daisy and Hazel back from Hong Kong

The Case of the Uninvited Guest: Uncle Felix and Aunt Lucy’s wedding is the target for an unlikely threat

The Hound of Weston School: the Junior Pinkertons investigate a mysterious arrival

The Case of the Deadly Flat: introducing Hazel’s little sister May, who’s determined to be the greatest spy ever

The Case of the Missing Treasure: the detectives crack fiendish codes to catch a daring thief who is targeting London’s famous museums

The Case of the Drowned Pearl: murder follows the Detective Society wherever they go, even on holiday…

The perfect book for all Detective Society fans and avid readers of the Murder Most Unladylike series.

That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Where'd I Leave It Wednesday

Where’d I Leave It Wednesday: Braille Lessons

Happy Wednesday everyone! I am back with a new Where’d I Leave It Wednesday post and today it is all about the braille lessons that I’ve started taking.

So, a little bit of background might be helpful to you. I am registered as Severely Sight Impaired (Blind) but I still have a little bit of sight. Then September 2020 I was sitting in my living room and I got a pain in my left eye, a few minutes later I could only see colours out of that eye. Which is rather terrifying but I’m used to how that eye is now. As this blog is mainly a book blog I’m sure it is pretty obvious that I love to read, and I struggle sometimes with e-books because of looking at a screen for any length of time so I read physical books mainly and I have worried about if I might lose the sight in the right eye as well so I decided it was time to learn braille, just in case.

The day of the first session it absolutely poured it down with rain, the lovely British weather, I had my umbrella with me but it didn’t give me that much protection. Mainly because I’m useless with umbrellas and it was swaying above me without the help of any wind. One half of me would be under the umbrella and the next second the other side of me would be. It was a nightmare. I turned up at the place leaving a trail of raindrops on the carpet. If I’d worn white or grey I could have looked like one of those ghosts of drowned people that I’ve seen on television. But I didn’t.

I went up to the reception, trying to peer underneath my hood. My head is so small that if I wasn’t wearing my glasses the hood would cover up to the bottom of my nose. I was wearing my glasses so my hood perched precariously on the top of those. I had to wait there, rainwater still dripping off me, for the receptionist to notice me before being told to wait in one of the chairs. I sat in the chair with my cane in one hand and my umbrella in the other. This is all before I’d even started the session.

Then I did start the session and it was like I had walked into another world and growing back down a couple of years – and by a couple I mean a lot.

We started by talking about why I wanted to do braille and then she got me to trace patterns on strips of wallpaper…. I assure you it felt as strange as it sounds. And my finger got lost, or I got lost with my finger, I’m not sure which but I got confused anyway. Then the session got weirder.

The woman took out an egg carton from a box she had beside her. At this point I had no idea what was happening but I did assume it was empty. It wasn’t. It was full of ping pong balls. I had to use them to create the braille shapes for some of the letters of the alphabet. I felt like I was inside the memory game of the brain training game my sister used to have for her Nintendo. If it secretly was a game like that – I passed.

Then the real work started. I learnt I’m a left handed braille reader. The fingertips on my left hand are more sensitive than the fingertips of my right hand. Did anyone else ever realise that one hand would be more sensitive to things it touches than the other? I certainly didn’t. It’s also pretty hard to read braille with your left hand, other than the obvious learning a new language thing I also have to take my hand across a piece of paper in a line – but I’m used to using my right hand for everything because I’m right handed so it feels like retraining my own hands.

I enjoy the sessions, as I said I’ve only had two so far but they are very good and I’m learning quickly. The amount of concentration it takes though makes my head hurt. The funniest thing is the sessions are an hour long, and about halfway through that some of the dots of the braille just stop being felt. Fingertips stop feeling things if they’ve been used too long that’s what I was told and it is a very unusual feeling.

That’s the end of this Where’d I Leave It Wednesday, I hope you all enjoyed it!

Monthly TBRs

October TBR

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a lovely day! It is finally time to share my October Tbr! It is the month for all things spooky and I thought I might as well join in with that and get out all the books that fit the season.

So, this month my TBR game was horrible to me and I got so many doubles. I always start by doing twelve rolls and after all my doubles I ended up with 25 books on my TBR. Yes, I’m worried about this too.

Onto the books I will be reading in October!

October TBR:

  • Once Upon A Crime by Robin Stevens – I found this in a charity shop and I’m excited to read it
  • Cream Buns and Crime by Robin Stevens
  • The Winterhouse Mysteries by Ben Guterson
  • The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino
  • The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
  • Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco – I’m so excited to read the final installment of this series
  • Marion Lane and the Midnight Murder by T A Willberg
  • A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
  • Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff
  • The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
  • City of Ghosts series by V E Schwaab
  • Take A Hint Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
  • Act Your Age Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
  • Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
  • The Painted Dragon by Katharine Woodfine
  • Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
  • One of us is Lying by Karen M McManus
  • Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
  • Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody
  • Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
  • Legendborn by Tracey Deonne
  • People of Abandoned Character by Claire Whitfield

So that’s my TBR for the month of October and I’m excited but scared to start on it. I hope you all enjoyed reading about it!