Six of Crows

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

Today I am bringing you my answers to the Totally Should’ve book tag!

Gotten a sequel – Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

This book was left on an unacceptable cliffhanger! I was so annoyed when I read the end, I needed a sequel immediately and of course there wasn’t one. I think there is definitely more to explore with these characters that could fill a sequel.

Had a spin off series – The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

I loved this book and for me I thought there was a lot of room to go back and share more stories, maybe in a spin off series, from the apothecary when it was being used by women looking for ways to be rid of their husbands, like a series that would come before this book.

Author who should write more books – Erin Morgenstern

Erin Morgenstern is one of my favourite authors and I would love to get more books by this author.

Should have ended differently – Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Only because of that one character’s death, I personally feel that was out of place and I would have liked the ending better if it hadn’t happened.

Been a movie franchise/Had a TV series

These are two separate questions but because I am giving the same answer for both I put them together. That answer is pretty simple: all of them!

Only had one point of view

I am honestly struggling to think of an answer for this on so I’ll unfortunately have to pass on this question

Had a cover change – The Left Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

I love this book, I love this author, I do not like the cover on the one that I own. It just doesn’t fit the weird, whimsical story.

Should have kept the original cover – The A Court of Thorns and Roses series

I did not like the changed covers and now my editions don’t match because of the cover of A Court of Silver Flames!

Stopped at one book – Spin the Dawn

Without giving away any spoilers, I enjoyed Spin the Dawn a lot with the competition and magic plotline, even the little bit of romance in it but I didn’t like the plot twist event that happened near the end and is consequently the main plot in the second book, I just don’t think it needed it at all.

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

Uncategorized

Books with LGBTQ+ Representation

February 12, 2022February 12, 2022 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I am bringing you a list of books that I have either read, want to read or have seen recommended that have LGBTQ+ representation.

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Six of Crows: Book 1: Amazon.co.uk: Bardugo, Leigh: 9781780622286: Books

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

The Merciful Crow (The Merciful Crow Series Book 1) eBook : Owen, Margaret: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

The Upside of Unrequited : Albertalli, Becky: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Dangerous Remedy by Kat Dunn

Dangerous Remedy (Battalion of the Dead #1) by Kat Dunn

Girl Serpent Thorn by Melissa Basherdoust

Girl, Serpent, Thorn : Bashardoust, Melissa: Amazon.co.uk: Books

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Starless Sea: TIKTOK MADE ME BUY IT! The spellbinding Sunday Times bestseller.: Amazon.co.uk: Morgenstern, Erin: 9781784702861: Books

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M Danforth

Plain Bad Heroines Review – But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire: Natasha Ngan: Amazon.co.uk: Ngan, Natasha: 9781473692206: Books

A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

A Dark and Hollow Star Audiobook | Ashley Shuttleworth | Audible.co.uk

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

The Midnight Lie: Amazon.co.uk: Rutkoski, Marie: 9781529357479: Books

Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel: Amazon.co.uk: Casey McQuiston: 9781250316776: Books

You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson

That’s it for this post, I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know some of your recommendations in the comments below!

Uncategorized

Rip It or Ship It!

August 20, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! It’s a bit miserable where I am this morning but luckily I get to spend the next three days reading for a readathon challenge – hosted by MegWithBooks on YouTube, so I’ll be happy.

Today I’ll be doing the Rip it or Ship it challenge, I’ve seen a lot of people do it on YouTube and I thought why not try and do it on my blog. So I wrote down the names of two or three characters from each book I’ve read that I thought would work, put them all in a bowl and picked out two each time until there were none left…. I ended up with 40 pairs. Now, that’s quite a few so I’m only putting fifteen up today and maybe if you all enjoy it I’ll put up some more rounds later.

Onto the pairings!

1. Kellen (Spellslinger series) and Sameth (Lirael)

I would have to Rip this pairing (just imagine I’m tearing up the names..) because they are both quite similar characters, both find themselves in the middle of nowhere, in danger, with an animal sidekick who’s there to help but doesn’t do much helping.

2. Nathanial (Sorcery of Thorns) and Alina Starkov (Shadow and Bone)

I have chosen to ship this couple. Because Nathanial can be quite snarky especially when you’re first getting to know him and Aline would be having none of that which I think he’d like, plus both of them technically have a form of magic which I think would be nice for their pairing.

3. Jaren (The Prison Healer) and Mary Jekyll (The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Duaghter)

Definitely not. This wouldn’t work at all. Mary Jekyll, although she does many unladylike things, sees herself as a Victorian lady and considering her opinions in the books Jaren would not be gentlemanly enough for her, she’d probably end up slapping him and goodness knows she wouldn’t be found in a prison – which is the only way they’d meet because that’s where he is..

4. Cardan Greenbriar (The Cruel Prince) and Cecelia Bassingthwaite (The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels)

This is an interesting one. I think I’m leaning more towards shipping it because their personalities probably would work well together, he would definitely be surprised by her and the fact that she goes wherever her mind takes her.

5. Nesta Archeron (A Court of Thorns and Roses series) and Thomas Cresswell (Stalking Jack the Ripper)

Yes! I ship this. Nesta could well be a bit much for him to handle but they both have very fierce personalities and their wits would battle well I think.

6. Emilia (Kingdom of the Wicked) and Blue Sergeant (The Raven Boys)

Absolutely not. Rip it. Emilia has gone through a lot so far (and I think she’s got a lot more hardship coming her way too) and I don’t think that her and Blue would mesh together, their opinions on things would be too different.

7.Julain Santos (Caraval) and Sherlock Holmes (The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter)

Hmm….. I love Julian but he is very mischievous and kind of lies a lot which I don’t think would go down well with Sherlock Holmes so rip it.

8. Eli Ever (Vicious) and The Darkling (Shadow and Bone)

I have to ship this simply because can you imagine these two together? They’d destroy the world.

9. Scarlett Dragna (Caraval) and Dorian (The Starless Sea)

If I didn’t ship Dorian with the person in the Starless Sea that is perfect for him I would probably ship him with Scarlett, she can be fiery and I think he could calm her when needed.

10. Lirael (Lirael) and Mal (Shadow and Bone)

Okay, ignoring the age difference here for a minute I think their personalities would go well together and they have a similar upbringing in that they don’t know their parents and they’ve been brought up in communities that have shaped them into the people they are.

11. Irene (The Invisible Library) and Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows)

Yes, I ship this. A librarian spy and a sharpshooter? Of course I’m going to ship this.

12. Cath (Fangirl) and Zachary (The Starless Sea)

I could see this working. They both really like books and are both quite introverted.

13. Kai (The Invisible Library) and Wrath (Kingdom of the Wicked)

I love a bit of chaos, I’d ship this. A dragon and a demon – what could go wrong…

14. Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows) and Reid Diggory (Serpent and Dove)

I think this would work. He would want to try and be over protective of her but I can’t see her liking that but I can see them working it out. If she doesn’t just stab him first.

15. Feyre Archeron (A Court of Thorns and Roses) and Jude Duarte (The Cruel Prince)

I could see these two being friends, and being a bit of a force if they worked together, they are quite similar.

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

Book Quotes

Favourite Book Quotes: Top 100: 10 – 1

August 6, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! It’s finally time to reveal my top ten favourite quotes! I have been having so much fun getting the quotes together and deciding which order I’d place them in and getting to tell everyone about them. I hope you’ve all been enjoying it too.

So, without further ado let’s get to my top ten favourite book quotes!

At number ten is a quote from a duology…

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

10. “No mourners, no funerals” – this being said to show that the characters are a group is something that I really liked about this quote.

Next is a quote from my favourite book….

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

9. “We are all stardust and stories” – this is so whimsical and beautiful, as the whole book is and it reminds me why I love the book.

At number 8 is a quote from a book recently turned into a TV series…

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

8. “Fine, make me your villain” – I think I gasped when I read this line in the book, and it was so good that they kept it in the TV series.

At 7 is a quote from a classic…

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

7. “I am a free bird and no net ensnares me” – this has always been one of my favourite quotes.

Next, is a quote from a book with a beautiful green cover…

A Heart so Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer

6. “The most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sat alone with a book” – yes, I can imagine that this is true, I don’t go to parties but if I did I would take a book.

At the halfway point, the next quote is from a historical fiction novel…

White Princess by Philippa Gregory

5. “The white rose of York has been stabbed in it’s pure white heart and is bleeding scarlet red”

At number 4 is a quote from a book I read this year…

Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin

4. “Love makes fools of us all darling” – I love this quote, there’s just something about it.

At number 3 is a quote from a huge book..

Crescent City by Sarah J Maas

3. “Through love all is possible” – this would be a lovely quote to live by, and on top of that to know what this quote means to the characters in the book makes it even better.

At number 2 is a quote from a book I am excited to read soon…

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

2. “Hello, Feyre darling” – Yes! I want this on everything, t-shirts, blankets, EVERYTHING.

Finally, we are at number one….

My favourite book quote is from the second book in a four book series…

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

“catch me if I fall alright? A smile curved his lips in a most delightful manner “I’ve already fallen hard Wadsworth, perhaps you should have warned me sooner” – of course this had to be top, Thomas Cresswell has so many brilliant lines.

So, that’s it – This is my top ten favourite book quotes, and if you go back through my blog you can see my top 100 book quotes. I hope you have all enjoyed reading these!

Book Tags

Three Bookish Things Book Tag

August 4, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Wednesday bookish people! I am very excited to be doing this tag today, I was tagged by JenJenReviews and it really made me think, I thought it was going to be easy but I needed to have a long look at my books to answer some of them (not that I mind staring at my beautiful books).

Let’s get to the questions!

Three read once and loved authors

Kester Grant – I read her novel Court of Miracles and absolutely loved it, I can’t wait for the next book to be released.
Elly Griffiths – I picked up The Postscript Murders on a whim because it sounded interesting and I ended up reading it in one evening so I’m definitely looking to get the rest of her books at some point soon.
Deanna Raybourn – I read A Curious Beginning last week and now I need to know what happens in the rest of the series.

Three titles I’ve watched but haven’t read

The Vampire Diaries – I didn’t technically watch this one… my sister loved it and would always have it on the TV so I pretty much watched it all without intending to.
Shadowhunters – I have seen and loved the TV series on Netflix but I haven’t finished the book series, I did read the first one and I own them all but I haven’t continued them yet.
Game of Thrones – again I have watched all the seasons but I haven’t picked up the book series yet.

Three Characters you love

Audrey Rose Wadsworth from the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco – she’s a very strong female lead and I just absolutely love her (and Thomas Cresswell, in my mind they come as a pair so they only count as one here)
Scarlet Dragna from Caraval by Stephanie Garber – one of my favourite books ever I had to pick the main protagonist from this series.
Wrath from Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco – can you tell I love this author? She writes amazing books, and well her fictional men are pretty great too. I am excited to see wrath again in Kingdom of the Cursed which comes out in October.

Three series binged

The Cruel Prince series by Holly Black – what can I say, the second one ended on a cliffhanger so I had to pick up the third book straightaway.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – I read these while in secondary school and loved them and the spin off series.

Three favourite book covers

Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angelles
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
The Betrayals by Bridget Collins

Three Goals for this year

To get more followers and friends – I only started a few months ago and the bookish community is so welcoming and friendly, I’d love to get more bookish friends in the next year.
Hopefully start a PhD – I’ve sent in my applications it’s just the waiting
To be less stressed – this is the most unlikely one, I’m always busy and I’m always stressed. I’d love to learn to relax a bit more.

Thank you for reading that’s the end of this tag!

Book Quotes

Favourite Book Quotes – top 100, 20 – 11

July 30, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Friday bookish people! I’m back with the next set of ten in my top 100 favourite book quotes series. We are getting so close to the end of this! I don’t know about anyone else but I’ve been enjoying making the lists (I LOVE lists, anyone else? No? Just me, okay…) and talking through my choices for my top 100. So, today’s is numbers 20 – 11 so when I said we are close to the end, we are really really close, as in next week will be the top ten….

But first, at number 20 is a book I got a special edition of…

A Darker Shade of Magic by V E Schwaab

20. “I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still” – this is a very well known quote I think and every time I hear it I wish I was a more adventurous person, although that will never happen because I quite like being in my comfort zone and alive.

Up next is a quote from a book I only rated three stars…

Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu

19. “We’re goddamn witches, don’t tell us we can’t”

At 18 is a quote from a sequel….

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

18. “Fear is a pheonix, you can watch it burn a thousand times and still it will return”

At 17, is the first book in a duology…

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

17. “The heart is an arrow, it demands aim to land true”

Up next is a quote from a book I haven’t read yet but I love the series….

Queenslayer by Sebastien De Castell

16. “I’ve discovered that a death sentence can be some what liberating for someone who’s spent their life curtsying”

At 15 is the finale in a trilogy..

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

15. “I have plucked snowdrops at midwinter, died at my own choosing and wept for a nightingale, now I am beyond prophecy”

Next is a quote from a book I do not own yet…

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout

14. “You’re an absolutely stunning murderous little creature”

At 13 is a quote from one of my favourite books…

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

13. “Roses have both petals and thorns”

At 12 is a book from one of my favourite series’…

Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

12. “You are yours to give” – just yes.

And finally for this list of ten, a book with a library in it…

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

11. “It was always wise to be polite to books whether or not they could hear you”

That’s it for this weeks ten, I cannot wait to bring you my top ten next week!

blog tours, Cover reveals, Fan Casting Books

Netflix Shadow and Bone/Six of Crows Blog Tour

May 13, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Thursday bookish people! I’m so excited for my post today. By now I’m sure most of you have seen that the very popular book series’ Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo have been turned into a TV series which is currently on Netflix. If you haven’t watched it yet I’d really recommend it!

As happens often with shows based on books, new tie in covers have been released for the series and they are beautiful! I usually don’t like tie in covers but these ones I do like – I already have two copies of both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows I really shouldn’t buy another version of them… but I probably will.

I’m very lucky to be part of the tour with Terminal Tours and as part of my stop I will be showing you my mood board for the series and also doing a little dream cast at the end!

Shadow and Bone

Synopsis:

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2QFGU6B

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone. . . .

A convict with a thirst for revenge

A sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager

A runaway with a privileged past

A spy known as the Wraith

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes

Kaz’s crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don’t kill each other first.

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3ntukn5

Mood Board:

Here is a small collection of the images on my mood board for this series, if you are interested in seeing the complete mood board you can see it here: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/olivia2534/sabsoc/

Dream Cast:

If I had done this before watching the show then I probably would have cast different people for all of them – except Ben Barnes, I was pretty excited about ben Barnes playing The Darkling.. anyway, now that I’m making a dream cast after I have seen the show I can say that Ben Barnes as General Kirigan, Amita Suman as Inej Ghafa, Kit Young as Jesper and Jessie Mei Li as Alina Starkov were brilliant casting choices for their characters. I enjoyed all of the characters in the show but these were some of the people that were in my head when I pictured the characters:

Toby Regbo as Matthias – he is known for playing Frances on Reign.

Cameron Monaghan as Kaz Brekker – he is known for many things but I know him for playing Jerome Valaska on Gotham. I saw somebody else fan cast him as Kaz Brekker and then I couldn’t get it out of my head – although I do love Freddie Carter’s portrayal in the show.

I was also going to show my dream casting for the roles of Nina Zenik and Mal Oretsyev however, I didn’t find anyone that I felt matched how I was viewing them in my head and the way the books described them so, I’m going to leave it here.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!

Book Reviews, Uncategorized

Book Review: Lives of Saints by Leigh Bardugo

April 5, 2021 theblindscribe

Happy Easter Monday bookish people! I hope everyone is having a great day. Today I’m bringing you another book review. I think by now I have every book by Leigh Bardugo because I very much enjoy her writing and her characters, so of course when Lives of Saints came out I had to buy it.

In this book review I will give star ratings for 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.

Plot:

This book being a collection of short stories about each of the different saints in the world of the Grisha there isn’t a particular plot to give a star rating to. So for this category I’ve given it an average three stars because some of the stories I enjoyed more than others, as is normal with short story collections.

Characters:

The same with this category, each story has different characters so I couldn’t give it more than three stars because some of them I liked better than others. However, every story had clearly defined and interesting characters that I thoroughly enjoyed reading about.

Writing and Dialogue:

I can’t comment much on the dialogue other than it fit the stories it was included in very well. The writing style was excellent, and I expected it to be because of how much I always enjoy Leigh Bardugo’s writing.

Overall:

I gave this book four stars overall because of the enjoyment I had reading it. As a collection of short stories that are a companion to the Grisha Trilogy and the Six of Crows duology it is well written and gives useful background to the stories. I was glad that it lived up to my expectations that I have for anything Leigh Bardugo. It is not essential reading for the series but if you enjoy the world Leigh Bardugo has created then this may be a great read for you.

Blurb/Synopsis:

Enter the world of the Grishaverse and Shadow and Bone, soon to be a Netflix original series!

Dive into the epic world of international bestselling author Leigh Bardugo with this beautifully illustrated replica of The Lives of Saints, the Istorii Sankt’ya, featuring tales of saints drawn from the beloved novels and beyond. Out of the pages of the Shadow and Bone trilogy, from the hands of Alina Starkov to yours, the Istorii Sankt’ya is a magical keepsake from the Grishaverse.

These tales include miracles and martyrdoms from familiar saints like Sankta Lizabeta of the Roses and Sankt Ilya in Chains, to the strange and obscure stories of Sankta Ursula, Sankta Maradi, and the Starless Saint.

This beautiful collection includes stunning full-color illustrations of each story.

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