Tag: four star review

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

Book Review: Phantasma by Kaylie Smith

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Happy Monday bookish people! How are you all doing today? I hope you are all well. As promised in my April Wrap Up post, today I am bringing you my full thoughts about Phantasma by Kaylie Smith. This book has got so many good reviews and I couldn’t stop hearing about it and everyone seemed to love it, then I saw it marketed as an older version of Caraval meets Throne of the Fallen which are two of my favourite books so I needed to read it.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Caraval meets Throne of the Fallen in this spicy dark romantasy where a necromancer needs help from a dangerous phantom to win a deadly competition, only to find their partnership puts her at risk of breaking the game’s most vital rule: don’t fall in love.

When Ophelia and her sister discovers their mother brutally murdered, there is no time to grieve: Ophelia has inherited both her powerful death-driven magic and enormous debt on their home. Circumstances go from dire to deadly, however, when Ophelia’s sister decides to pay off the loan by entering Phantasma—a competition where most contestants don’t make it out alive and the winner is granted a single wish.

The only way to save her sister is to compete. But Phantasma is a cursed manor, with twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, and filled with enticing demons and fatal temptations. Ophelia will need to face nine floors of challenges to win… if her fears don’t overtake her first.

When a charming, arrogant stranger claims he can protect and guide Ophelia, she knows she shouldn’t trust him. While Blackwell may not seem dangerous, appearances can be deceptive. But with her sister’s life on the line, Ophelia can’t afford to turn him away. She just needs to ignore the overwhelming, dark attraction drawing them closer and closer together.

Because in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart.

My Review:

Phantasma follows our main female character called Ophelia, at the beginning of the novel Ophelia and her Sister are dealing with the loss of their mother and after her sister disappears Ophelia in a bid to find her ends up becoming entangled in the dangerous trials of Phantasma. As I mentioned, before going into this book I had heard all of the hype and I was anticipating a five star (which I didn’t get) but at the minimum I was hoping to have a fun time reading it. I’d also heard so many people talk about Blackwell and how he was their new book boyfriend. I have to say that for me, although I enjoyed his character, he wasn’t consistent. There were many times where he’d completely change his actions from what had been said and, although this could work for his character and the plot points, this just confused me. I also struggled with his name which is a silly complaint to have but I kept tripping over it when reading which was taking me out of the story. I also thought that the trials element was there in a way that was intriguing but I wish there was more to them, and to the search that was happening in between the trials we barely got any of that because the space was given to the romantic plotline instead. Overall, I enjoyed this book but it didn’t live up to the expectations I had of it from what I’d seen others say about it.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Have you read Phantasma? Let me know what you thought of it!

Book Reviews

Book Review: Way of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell

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Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. Today I am bringing you my book review for Way of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell.

Have any of you read this series? Or the Spellslinger series? Let me know what you thought of it if you have. The Spellslinger series is one of my all time favourite series’.

Blurb/Synopsis:

A MERCILESS BAND OF MAGES MURDERED HER PARENTS, MASSACRED HER TRIBE AND BRANDED HER WITH MYSTICAL SIGILS THAT LEFT HER A REVILED OUTCAST. THEY SHOULD’VE KILLED HER INSTEAD.

Stealing, swindling, and gambling with her own life just to survive, Ferius will risk anything to avenge herself on the zealous young mage who haunts her
every waking hour.

But then she meets the incomparable Durral Brown, a wandering philosopher gifted in the arts of violence who instead overcomes his opponents with shrewdness and compassion. Does this charismatic and infuriating man hold the key to defeating her enemies, or will he lead her down a path that will destroy
her very soul?

Through this outstanding tale of swashbuckling action, magical intrigue, and dazzling wit, follow Ferius along the Way of the Argosi and enter a world of magic and mystery unlike any other.

My Review:

This book is a prequel novel to the Spellslinger series, following Ferrius Parfax when she was younger and what events made her the way she is. Usually I am not the biggest fan of a prequel but this one I loved.
To begin with I didn’t like young Ferrius, she was a bit silly and fueled by her anger, rightfully so in the circumstances. But I enjoyed getting to follow her on her journey to being a different person and all the people she met along the way.
One thing I really loved about this book was seeing the parallels between Ferrius and her relationship with Durell compared to Kellen and his relationship to Ferrius in the Spellslinger books. It was like a mirror image and it’s those kind of touches that made this book brilliant.

Book Reviews

Book Review: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a good day today. I am bringing you a book review today for one of the oldest books on my TBR. Honestly, it has been on my shelf for years and I finally read it. The book is An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Every enchantment has a price.

With a flick of her paintbrush, Isobel creates stunning portraits for a dangerous set of clients: the fair folk. These immortal creatures cannot bake bread or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and they trade valuable enchantments for Isobel’s paintings. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—Isobel makes a deadly mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes, a weakness that could cost him his throne, and even his life.

Furious, Rook spirits Isobel away to his kingdom to stand trial for her crime. But something is seriously amiss in his world, and they are attacked from every side. With Isobel and Rook depending upon each other for survival, their alliance blossoms into trust, perhaps even love . . . a forbidden emotion that would violate the fair folks’ ruthless laws, rendering both their lives forfeit. What force could Isobel’s paintings conjure that is powerful enough to defy the ancient malice of the fairy courts?

Isobel and Rook journey along a knife-edge in a lush world where beauty masks corruption and the cost of survival might be more frightening than death itself.

My Review:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

An Enchantment of Ravens is a beautiful story following our main female character Isobel, a painter of the fair folk, who accidentally paints an emotion on the face of the Autumn Prince, Rook.

I enjoyed the way the world formed within this book, with seperate courts for spring, summer, autumn winter. I also particularly liked the character of Isobel. In the beginning she does not trust the fair folk and this does continue throughout the book which I liked, she had strong principles which was good to see. I have to see this is a short book and I felt like there were parts that could have been developed better, like Isobel’s sisters and her backstory is never gone into even though it is a standalone book and those things are what her character was created by. I also thought it was a bit insta love for my taste, I enjoyed it overall I just thought it could have been built up to better.

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

Monthly Wrap Ups

January Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. It is time to bring you my January wrap up.

How was your reading in January? Any new favourite books?

I had a pretty good month, as I am writing this it’s only the 16th of January so I have some more time to read more, and there’s one book I am planning on reading by the end of the month that I think might be five stars.

From my TBR:

  • Way of the Argosi by Sebastien de Castell – I read this FOUR STARS
  • An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson – I read this FOUR STARS
  • Murder at the Belltower by Helena Dixon – I read this FOUR STARS
  • A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S Olson – I read this FIVE STARS
  • A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas – I am currently reading this but I already know it is going to be FIVE STARS
  • Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas – I did not read this one and only because I don’t want to read two Sarah J Maas books in a row so I am going to finish the ACOTAR series and then continue with the Throne of Glass series.

Outside of my TBR I have also read Murder at Elm House by Helena Dixon and… I plan on reading Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros before the month is over.

Book Reviews

Book Review: The Dog Sitter Detective Takes the Lead by Antony Johnson

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Happy Monday Bookish people! How are you all doing today? I hope you are doing well.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Gwinny Tuffel is preparing for her first acting role in a decade in the West End, but she is dog-sitting on the side to keep the wolf from the door. So, when ageing rock star Crash Double needs help with his Border Collie, she jumps at the chance. After all, looking after the charming Ace on Crash’s Little Venice houseboat shouldn’t be an onerous task. But that’s before the singer’s dead body surfaces during the annual Canal Carnival festivities.

While the police dismiss the death as an accident, Gwinny suspects murder most foul. With a medley of suspects and some far-fetched motives to make heads or tails of, it is up to Gwinny, with Ace’s on-the-ground knowledge, to make sure the killer faces the music.

My Review:

Okay, so first off, I didn’t realise that this book was the second in a series and I did not read the first one before reading this one. I have since bought it but I haven’t read it yet. I am looking forward to reading it.

In this book we follow Gwinny, she is an actress who has returned to performing but is passed over because of her age. In her spare time she looks after dogs for people and in this novel she ends up looking after the dog of a singer from a band while he goes on tour. Except, he didn’t go on tour because his body appears in the middle of a festival in Little Venice London, with all the canal boats.

I liked the unique set up of the canal boats and the rock star being murdered. I did think the dog kept being forgotten about, Gwinny goes about investigating but its not said where she leaves the dog while doing this. It was a nice, simple, cosy mystery and I enjoyed it. Gwinny is a good character, she takes no rubbish from anyone and I liked that. Her partner in crime though, I can’t remember his name off the top of my head, I didn’t warm to, I would have had a few choice words for him if I had met him. However, it was a good time and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series, starting with book number one!

Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Book Reviews

Book Review: The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.

Today I am bringing you my book review for The Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese, a very short romance novel that I read at the beginning of December.

He loathes the holidays. She loves them. She’s full of festive cheer. He’s brimming with Bah, Humbugs. Besides unreasonably seasonable names, the only thing Jonathan Frost and Gabriella Di Natale have in common is a healthy dose of mutual contempt. Well, that and the same place of employment at the city’s most beloved independent bookstore, Bailey’s Bookshop. But when the store’s owners confess its dire financial state, Jonathan and Gabby discover another unfortunate commonality: the imminent threat of unemployment.

With the Baileys’ requests to minimize expenses, win new customers, and make record sales dancing in their heads, Jonathan and Gabby conclude—barring a financial Christmas miracle—one of them will soon be cut from the payroll. Neither are willing to step down from their position, so they strike a bargain: whoever has more sales in December gets to stay on in the new year; the loser will resign. With a lifetime’s worth of festive tricks up her sleeve, Gabby should easily outsell her nemesis, except the unreadable Mr. Frost’s every move seems purely designed to throw her off her game.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Gabby’s deceptive ex won’t quit pursuing her, and her anonymous online friend suggests they take a break. Worst of all, as the pressure mounts to save the bookshop and her job, Gabby meets a new, tender side of Jonathan. Is this the same man she’s called her cold-hearted enemy?

Maybe he’s got a motive she just can’t figure out—or maybe Jonathan Frost isn’t as chilly as she once thought. Maybe Jonathan and Gabby already know—and love—each other in ways they never thought possible.

This is an #OwnVoices story for its portrayal of autism by an autistic author.

My Review

If you have seen most of the reviews on this blog you will know that I don’t usually pick up a romance by choice and if I do, it is unlikely I am going to enjoy it. Not because of any bad reason, just because I find them quite predictable and yes, you can say that about this book too. After all it follows the romance plot that they all do really, BUT I did enjoy this book. It was short which I think was a big help in making me enjoy it, it had a lot of plot but didn’t feel too drawn out because it was short.

I love an enemies to lovers, if I am going to read a book with romance in it then that is what I want. Give me some tension. This book had a ton of that, which I very much enjoyed. Plus it was set in a bookstore and I can relate to both the characters being desperate to keep their jobs working in the bookshop. I really can’t say much about this book without spoiling anything but if you are looking for a short, festive romance then I would recommend this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Book Reviews

Book Review: Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. Today I am bringing you my book review of Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry. I was kindly sent a copy of this book by Harper Voyager quite a while ago I’m embarrassed to say but I kept putting off reading it because I was interested in the plot but it leans more Young Adult to me than Adult and I haven’t been enjoying YA mysteries as much anymore. So, I kept putting it off but finally in November I read this book and I regret putting off reading it because I enjoyed it a lot.

As usual I will be giving star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will try to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

Gideon Green in Black and White Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry follows a boy named Gideon, he is a high school student (right now I can’t remember what exact age he is) who before the novel begins you realise something happened where he and his best friend, Lily, are no longer speaking. Gideon has an interest in everything Noir, films, books, Detectives, everything in that genre is his passion. He even wears his trench coat to school. Then suddenly Lily turns up on his doorstep and tells him she needs his help with a mystery. That’s all I am going to tell you about the plot because I highly reccomend any mystery lovers read it and I don’t want to ruin the experience for you.

I thought this plot was very intriguing, the mystery is weaved in with a lot of other things like the backstory of the characters, high school drama and a few other themes that to be honest I wasn’t expecting to appear in this book. Overall, I liked the mystery part of it more than the inclusion of the other themes but that is my personal opinion.

Gideon Green in Black and White Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Gideon is the main character in this book and as I said above, his character is mainly defined by his love of old mysteries and black and white films but what I really liked about his character is the growth you see. As a character Gideon has a few flaws and the author does not shy away from the reader seeing them, the person who doesn’t see them is Gideon and that’s what I mean when I say growth, if you read this book you will see what I mean.

The other main character is Lily, Gideon’s ex-best friend. To me I think she could have had more character development, it’s there but it’s not as punchy as it is for Gideon and sometimes I actually forgot you were meant to be feeling things for Lily too.

Gideon Green in Black and White Writing and Dialogue:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Gideon Green in Black and White Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because I enjoyed my reading experience. I couldn’t give it five stars because there were a few things I would change, like I said, Lily wasn’t developed as much as I would have liked her to be and there were some themes that distracted from the mystery for me in a negative way. They made sense for the plot but weren’t to my taste.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Gideon’s short-lived run as a locally-famous boy detective ended when middle school started, and everyone else–including his best friend, Lily–moved on while Gideon kept holding on to his trench coat, fedora, and his treasured film noir collection. Now, he’s sixteen and officially retired. That is, until Lily shows up suddenly at Gideon’s door, needing his help.

He might be mad at her for cutting him off with no explanation, but Gideon can’t turn down a case. As a cover, Gideon joins Lily on the school paper. Surprisingly, he finds himself warming up to the welcoming, close-knit staff . . . especially Tess, the cute, witty editor-in-chief.

But as the case gets bigger than Gideon or Lily could have anticipated, Gideon must balance his black-and-white quest for the truth with the full colours of real-life–or risk a permanent fade to black.

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

Book Review: Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today.

Today I am bringing you my book review for Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens. A big thank you to Harper Collins for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

As usual I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will do my best to not include any spoilers but there may be parts that come across that way, if you prefer to read a book with no idea before going I would highly recommend reading this review after you have read the book instead.

Last Girl Breathing Plot: 4 stars

In Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens you follow the people of a small town who are still reeling from a tragedy that happened eight years prior to the novel beginning. When a murder is committed Lucy Michaels starts investigating.

my first thought when I started reading this book was “wow, this is darker and more intense than I thought it would be” and usually that type of book doesn’t appeal to me, I prefer the cosier mystery. However, I was surprised by this book. Yes, it is dark and yes it’s got incredible twists and a very fast pace but also it felt real and I felt completely immersed in the story.
It sounds cliche to say I couldn’t put this book down but I honestly couldn’t, I read it on a car trip to wales and when I had to stop reading I couldn’t stop thinking about the book and what was happening in it. I also have to say, I did not guess the identity of the killer.

Last Girl Breathing Characters: 4 stars

The main character in this novel is Lucy Michaels, she is a young girl still struggling with the grief of losing her brother during a dam break 8 years ago. She us at the centre of this book, she knows everyone in the town and has deep connections with many of the people connected with both events. Sweat I liked most about her character was the rawness and realness behind her. She wasn’t perfect, and she didn’t pretend to be. Court Stevens wrote her as a believably flawed character and I liked that. There are many other characters in this book but I don’t want to go into discussing them here because it would definitely reveal some spoilers.

Last Girl Breathing Writing and Dialogue: 4 stars

As I said before this book fully immersed me in its story and I believe that is a testament to an excellent writer. This is the first Court Stevens book I have read but I enjoyed her balance between tension and mystery combined with building strong community connections and separating their good features from the mystery.

Last Girl Breathing Overall: 4 stars

I gave this book four stars overall because I really enjoyed this novel and it surprised me how much I enjoyed it.

Blurb/Synopsis:

When the answers to a present-day murder lie in the past, one teen girl must examine a tragic event to prevent more lives from being lost. No one expected it to rain that much. But the rain kept coming, the dam broke, and lives were lost. One was Lucy Michaels’s little brother. She was there and while she saved the lives of many young boy scouts, despite being a child herself, she couldn’t save him.

Now eight years later, Lucy is preparing to graduate from high school and compete in the air rifle competition at the Olympics when her stepbrother goes missing right before his most important football game. The search is focused on the same plot of land where her younger brother died, and she can’t help but draw parallels.

When the search for a missing person becomes a murder investigation, Lucy knows the secrets she holds about what her stepbrother was up to that day could help find the murderer. The clues quickly connect Lucy’s ex-boyfriend to the murders, but he couldn’t be guilty… could he?

Everyone involved has their own secrets and revealing hers to the wrong person could put her life—and her whole town—at risk. Last Girl Breathing is a page-turning hunt for the truth as Court Stevens once again creates nonstop suspense with characters who will break your heart.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today.

I am bringing you my book review for Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett, the third in the Queen Investigates series.

In this book review I will give star ratings to four categories and I will write a little bit about each one. I will do my best to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

I hope you all enjoy! Let me know in the comments if you have read this book and what you thought of it.

Murder Most Royal Plot:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Murder Most Royal is the third book in the Queen Investigates series of murder mystery books. In this one Queen Elizabeth II gets involved in a murder investigation after the hand of a wealthy man, known to the Queen, is found washed up on a beach.

I have read all of the books in this series so far, and I absolutely plan to continue with it, but this was probably my least favourite of them so far. The second one, A Three Dog Problem, is my favourite. I enjoy the series because of it’s unique premise but for me this one, although it threw you straight into the action with the discovery of the hand, was the most complicated and confusing. This was good in the fact that it was fun trying to work out all the threads and I’m not ashamed to admit I didn’t manage to guess what happened before it was revealed.

I liked that this book took a different route than the first two, in the first two of the series it is revealed very early on who was murdered and how but this book was more complicated because you had the who but there was no actual body.

Murder Most Royal Characters:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

There are two main characters in this series, the first being Queen Elizabeth II and the other being her assistant Rozie.

In the first and second books Rozie is the one who the narration focuses on, she is the main investigator with some input from the Queen. However, what I liked about this third book in the series was that Rozie took a backseat on the investigation while the Queen was more actively investigating. It made the book stand out and feel fresh while still keeping the overall cosy feel of the series.

Murder Most Royal Writing and Dialogue

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Murder Most Royal Overall:

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I gave this book four stars overall because it was a very enjoyable read in a very quirky series that fits very well in the cosy crime genre.

Blurb/Synopsis:

December 2016 – A severed hand is found washed up on a beach next to the Queen’s estate at Sandringham. Elizabeth has become quite accustomed to solving even the most complex of murders. And though she quickly identifies the 70-year-old victim, Edward St Cyr, from his signet ring, the search for his killer is not so straightforward. St Cyr led an unconventional, often controversial life, making many enemies along the way in the quiet, rural world of North Norfolk, where everyone knows each other’s business.

But when a second man is found dead, and a prominent local woman is nearly killed in a hit-and-run, the mystery takes an even darker turn. With the Christmas break coming to an end, the Queen and her trusted assistant Rozie must race to discover how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Or the next victim may be found even closer to home.

Agatha Christie meets The Crown in MURDER MOST ROYAL, the much-anticipated third book in the ‘Her Majesty The Queen Investigates’ mystery series by SJ Bennett – for fans of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, Agatha Christie and M.C. Beaton’s Agatha Raisin.

Monthly Wrap Ups

September Wrap Up!

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Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all doing well. Today I am bringing you my wrap up for September. I will tell you all now, my reading has taken a backseat because I have now started my final year of my PhD and that is what is taking precedence over everything else at the moment. I was still happy with everything that I got read this month, it wasn’t much but the books I did read I enjoyed more than I have been recently.

Wrap up!

  • Love On The Brain by Ali Hazelwood – I did not read, I have to say I was really feeling big fantasy reads this month and as this book is definitely not one of those I wasn’t at all interested in reading it right now.
  • As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson – I did not read – I really want to finish this series but I didn’t get enough time this month!
  • Belladonna by Adalyn Grace – I did not read, I have seen mixed reviews for this book. I am still very interested in reading it thought.
  • From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – I did not read this. I hoped I would get to this one, I am drawn to it at the moment (spoiler for my October TBR) hence why I am keeping it on my TBR and I will hopefully read it next month instead
  • Well Met by Jen De Luca – I did not read, another romance and I was not feeling this genre this month
  • Finale by Stephanie Garber – I did read this! I have finally finished this series and I LOVED it. My review of this book is coming in October so look out for that.
  • Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman – I did not read
  • The Luminaries by Susan Dennard – I did not read this either
  • The It Girl by Ruth Ware – I did not read this, actually I did a huge unhaul where I got rid of 107 books and this was one of them.
  • A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft – I did not read
  • Book Lovers by Emily Henry – I did not read
  • Murder Most Royal by S J Bennett – I did read this book, another series I am now up to date with

I hope you enjoyed my wrap up, what was your favourite read in September?