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Halloween Book Tag

October 24, 2025September 24, 2025 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I am bringing you my answers to a Halloween Book Tag, I found it last year and I was curious to see if any of my answers would have changed between now and then.

1. carving pumpkins: what book would you carve up and light on fire – A Novel Murder by E C Nevin

I did not enjoy this book, actually I DNF’d it after only a couple of chapters, honestly I could not do a cosy crime novel with a main character who is so self deprecating, I couldn’t continue.

2. trick or treat: a character who is a treat and one who is a trick – Adena in Powerless, Eli from Vicious

Adena is one of the sweetest characters in any books I have read and she did not deserve her ending, on the other hand Eli from vicious started my obsession with morally grey characters and he did deserve the ending he got.

3. candy corn: what book is always sweet – What Would Jane Austen Do?

This book is one of few romance novels that I have actually enjoyed. It merged classic romance of Jane Austen with a light, fluffy, funny, romance plot.

4. ghosts: a character you would like to visit you as a ghost – Ferrius Parfax from Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

She takes no nonsense and she will give you the harsh truths that you need to hear.

5. Dressing in costume: a character you would want to be for a day – Violet Sorrengail from Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

I had a stall at London Film and Comic Con July 2025, and I dressed as Violet Sorrengail for that. First time ever wearing leather trousers – they’re not the easiest to wear! But I thought it was great fun to dress as a favourite character for a day or two.

6. blood and gore: a book so creepy you had to take a break – A Gift of Poison by Bella Ellis

This book has a big focus on the dead coming back to take revenge on the living and I made the mistake of reading it at night, I thought the book was excellent but it was creepy.

Book Tags

The Book Boyfriends Book Tag

February 14, 2025January 16, 2025 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well today. Seeing as it is Valentine’s Day today, what else could I bring you except a post celebrating some of my favourite book boyfriends. I have to say, it was hard to choose. I made a list of them all and then picked the best ones for the questions and it was a long list.

I found this Tag on Got Meghan’s Blog if you want to check out how they answered the tag.

The Most Romantic Boyfriend: LORD PHILLIP STANTON from The Lady in the Tower by Marie Louise Jenson. Phillip is a bit of a rogue for most of the book but by far out of my fave book boyfriends he would be the most romantic. He is a Lord in the Tudor period brought up on chivalry and how he should treat a lady.
A Dark and Moody Bad Boy With A Good Side: KAI from Powerless by Lauren Roberts. He is the epitome of dark and moody especially for the first half of the book but deep down he’s a softie, he just doesn’t want everyone to know that.
Paranormal Boyfriend: WRATH from Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco. I wasn’t sure who to put to start with then I remembered, he’s a prince of hell so a demon of sorts. Which I am saying counts, okay.
Boy You’d Be Friends With Benefits With: JULIAN SANTOS from Caraval by Stephanie Garber. Now, I wouldn’t be friends with benefits at all but for the purpose of this tag it would be Julian. I love him and he had to make it onto this list somewhere, so I put him here because he dresses like a cross between a circus performer and a pirate.
Your Soul Mate: THOMAS CRESSWELL from Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri maniscalco. You can’t convince me otherwise. He is my favourite book boyfriend by a mile.
Boyfriend You’d Venture Anywhere with: NATHANIAL HAWTHORNE from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson. He’s magic, it would make life interesting.
Boyfriend You Want to be Stranded on a Desert Island With: KELLEN ARGOSI from Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell. He literally spends most of the series trekking across a desert trying to survive so he must have picked up some skills from all of that which could help us.
Most Badass Boyfriend: RHYSAND from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas. I don’t think I need to explain this one, if you’ve read the series then I am sure you will understand.

That’s my answers! Who are some of your favourite book boyfriends?

Uncategorized

Top Five Favourite Books of 2024!

December 27, 2024November 25, 2024 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! How are you all today? I hope you are all good. This is the big one everyone. Today I will be sharing my favourite books that I have read this year.

Share with down in the comments what some of your favourite books have been this year, I could easily have done a top ten with almost all five star books that I have read this year but I decided to stick only with a top five, the best books I have read this year.

In at number five is…

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I was torn on this decision, actually until I was writing this list down to make this post I had a different book in this spot but I have just read Powerless and I gave it a 4.5 stars to begin with and then I just could not stop thinking about it. I had to change it to a five star and put it in spot number five.

In number four is…

Murder At The Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

This is a series I have discovered this year, this book is the first in the series, and I absolutely adore it. If you love cosy mysteries set in the 1930s then I am sure you would love these as much as I do.

In number three is…

Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco

Kerri Maniscalco is now definitely one of my favourite authors, I loved her Stalking Jack the Ripper series and then her Kingdom of the Wicked series and now this is the first in the spin off series and this one follows Prince Envy. It is a brilliant book, I loved it.

In number two is…

The King’s Mother by Annie Garthwaite

This novel is a follow up to her first novel, Cecily, it follows Cecily Neville – the mother of King Edward IV, his wife Elizabeth Woodville and Margaret Beaufort – the mother of Henry VII as they navigate the royal court as women. It is powerful and beautiful and emotional and it will always be one of my favourite books I have ever read. Especially as I got to visit the Neville’s family Castle the day after I read this book.

And finally, in my number one spot is…..

A Study In Drowning by Ava Reid

This novel is gothic and enchanting and just everything I hoped it would be. I know some people don’t love this book but I honestly can’t think of one thing that I did not like about it.

Book Reviews

Book Review: Powerless by Lauren Roberts

December 16, 2024November 25, 2024 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I am bringing you a book review today of Powerless by Lauren Roberts. If you have read this book, what did you think of it?

Blurb/Synopsis:

She is the very thing he’s spent his whole life hunting.
He is the very thing she’s spent her whole life pretending to be.

Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

My Review:

Let’s just start by saying I think this book was fantastic. I loved the premise of the kingdom turning against those who are ordinary and wanting everyone to have powers. Usually it is the other way around in the books I have read so this was quite refreshing. The main thing that I think I loved was the character dynamics, Paedyn was a great female lead character and the two princes with their own motivations and limitations and how they all interacted I found fascinating, I never quite knew where this book would go next. I will say, for the people who have read it, I did not like the character if Adana, when I was reading her I was reading her as a young child character but I later found out she was older and that did not work for me, I also think that she could have been utilized better as a character. I finished this a few days ago and I haven’t stopped thinking about it, I want to pick up the next one immediately.

Monthly Wrap Ups

November Wrap Up!

December 2, 2024November 25, 2024 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! How are you all today? It is December, the final month of 2024 but before that we need to talk about how November went.

As a month in general, not the best honestly. It seemed to be a month of one bad thing after another, but hopefully we are past all of that now. Onwards and upwards. In terms of reading, it was actually one of my best months of the year. I have started doing an hour or two of reading every evening instead of watching something on TV and it has made me feel much better, not only in terms of loving what I am reading but also I just feel better within myself, most of the time. Reading has been a great escape from everything this month.

How was your reading this month? Any new favourite books?

My November TBR was:

Murder At The Playhouse by Helena Dixon – the third book in the Miss Underhay cosy mystery series – I did read this and LOVED it, it might be my favourite one in the series so far.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett – I did not get to this one, I really wanted to and still do but it wasn’t at the top of my priorities for this month.
Curtain Calls to Murder by Julian Clary – I did read this book. It looked like something i would love from the description and I didn’t hate it but it also wasn’t something I loved. If you’re interested in knowing why I will be writing a review soon.
Powerless by Lauren Roberts – I finally read this and again, I loved it. I will be putting up my review for this in December so look out for that if you are interested.
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannon – I am currently reading this book and honestly, I’m not sure at the moment if this is going to be a soft DNF and I will come back to it later or if I am going to push through and see if I like it. I am 100 pages ish in and I have no idea what is going on so we will see.
People of Abandoned Character by Clare Whitfield – I did not read this. I just was not in the mood this month for a gothic feeling book.
The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton – I did not get to this either which was a shame because I was hoping to get a series finished and crossed off my list.
Queen B by Juno Dawson – I did read this, I love anything Anne Boleyn so I wanted to make sure that I gave this book a go.
Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis – I did not get around to this book either unfortunately.
Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman – This was one book that I really wanted to get around to but it just didn’t happen this month.

So, from my TBR I read five books this month which I am pretty happy with but, I also read two books outside of my TBR. I finished Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco and then I also read The League of Lady Poisoners.

So, overall I read seven books this month. Which is a great amount in my opinion. I am happy with it and excited to get started on my December TBR.

Monthly TBRs

November TBR

November 4, 2024October 22, 2024 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today! Today I am sharing with you the books that I hope to get to in November. I have been a little ambitious this month, my TBR is long but I wanted to give myself a lot of choice so I could also sort of mood read at the same time.

What are you planning to read in November?

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

People of Abandoned Character by Claire Whitfield

Queen B by Juno Dawson

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett

Pandora by Susan Stokes Chapman

Curtain Calls to Murder by Julian Clary

Murder at the Playhouse by Helena Dixon

Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis

Monthly Wrap Ups

May Wrap Up!

June 3, 2024May 24, 2024 theblindscribe

Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you are all doing well. What a month May has been. I have been almost completely locked into research mode with my PhD draft, it is getting there slowly but surely and in a way that us completely unlike me, the more I am writing it the more I am enjoying it. The worst part now is that I can see the end in sight and not only will I have to do my exam but then it will be time to start sending the novel off to agents which I didn’t think would scare me but it fills me with a mixture of excitement and dread. I have spent so long working on it, it has become very dear to me so sending it off for critiquing is terrifying!

Anyway, you’re not here to listen to me blab on about that, we are here to discuss the books I read, or did not read which is more like it.

The Trial by Robert Rinder

I am currently reading this book and loving it by the way, I am hoping to meet Rob Rinder at Crime Fest next week and I am very excited about that.

Helle and Death by Oskar Jensen

I have not read this. Unfortunately, I have to read this book for my PhD thesis and its gotten to be one of those situations where I know I have to read it so the more I think about reading it the less I want to which is unfair to the book and the author because it sounds good.

What Would Jane Austen Do by Linda Corbett

I did read this book, I thought okay you have been reading a lot of fantasy and msytery novels so you need to break it up with something a bit lighter so I decided to pick up this romance book, it has a crime writer in it as the love interest which create a nice dynamic – I will tell you more of my thoughts in a review coming soon!

Powerless by Lauren Roberts

I have not read this book but I am still very excited to get around to it soon.

I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan

Again, like Helle and Death, I have to read this for my PhD and I stayed it a while ago but I couldn’t get into it so I put it down and I haven’t managed to get back to it yet.

Murder At The Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon

I did not get the chance to read this book yet.

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I have heard such good things about this book and I wished I could have gotten to it this month but unfortunately I didn’t manage it.

So, I read two books this month which isn’t great but I have been enjoying the reading I have been doing which is a good thing. I actually didn’t start my first book until halfway through the month as I was finishing Kingdom of the Wicked so two books in 15 days is quite good for me.

How was your reading in the month of may? What was the best book you read?