Happy Tuesday bookish people! Merry Bookmas day 7. Today I am going to be showing you what I think are the best book covers of 2021, now I’m not just showing books that were published in 2021, I’m not even sure if there are any published in 2021 on my list, but the books that I have read in 2021. I have chosen my top ten and it’s a collection of books I wanted to read and books I was on a book tour for.
Up first is…
House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A Craig
This book is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses and it has one of the most beautiful covers of all the books I own.
How The King of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories by Holly Black
This is a companion to the Cruel Prince series by Holly Black and depending on the version there are white, black and purple covers that I’ve seen.
Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu
This is an interesting books about witches and the power of women
The Hatmakers by Tamzin Merchant
This is a middle grade book that has a beautiful dust jacket and a beautiful cover under the dust jacket
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
The colours on this cover are fantastic
Instructions For Dancing by Nicola Yoon
This cover fits the book perfectly – I have posted a book review for this book on this site this year as part of a blog tour
Secrets of the Stars by Maria Kuzniar
Charmcaster by Sebastien De Castell
The illustrations on these covers are so detailed
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holt
and finally…
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain
That’s it for my favourite book covers of the books that I have read so far this year, I hope you all enjoyed it.
Happy Monday bookish people! Today I am bringing you my book review of The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton. I read this book this weekend just passed while I was down at my Partner’s Dad’s. My Partner always sleeps in a lot later than I do so I went down to the kitchen, got myself a cup of tea and read this 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.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels Plot:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I really enjoyed the uniqueness of this book. Although it was set as if in Victorian England and mentioned places such as Bath and Devon, it also included elements of magical realism like houses that could fly with pirate flags on top of them. It felt both serious and witty throughout the novel and I mostly liked this but some times I was hoping it would focus on one at a time. I felt that this book focused more on it’s characters rather than the plot.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels Characters:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
In this book there are many characters and for the most part they have distinct personalities but I wish some of them had been more fleshed out, and more useful to the story. The main protagonist, Cecelia, is very adventurous and very determined to prove herself to the society so that she can be moved up from Junior to Senior and I felt that this was her motivation for most of the book (except for the end where I really feel her character was lost because of the decisions she made although I sort of expected them). I also felt Cecelia came across much younger than her age and a little whingy. The male love interest character was Ned, I liked his charm and his wit and the way he and Cecelia conversed. Also, he’s a pirate and I’m a sucker for a good pirate. Oh, and there’s also the only one bed trope for anyone who’s interested in that…
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels Writing and Dialogue:
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
There’s not much to say here, I think the writing fit the universe very well and I thought the dialogue presented all the characters to the reader – also the dialogue between Cecelia and ned were my favourite parts of this book.
The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels Overall:
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I gave this book three stars overall because it was an enjoyable read, it had pirates in it but it just wasn’t quite enough for me. I plan on picking up the next book in the series though.
Blurb/Synopsis:
A prim and proper lady thief must save her aunt from a crazed pirate and his dangerously charming henchman in this fantastical historical romance.
Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up.
Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, that happens to be while he’s under direct orders to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possesses a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world, intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. Ned has plans of his own. But both men have made one grave mistake. Never underestimate a woman.
When Morvath imperils the Wisteria Society, Cecilia is forced to team up with her handsome would-be assassin to save the women who raised her–hopefully proving, once and for all, that she’s as much of a scoundrel as the rest of them.
That’s it for this book review, I hope you all enjoyed it!