Happy Monday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a wonderful day today.
I am here to share with you my top five books of the year, I have to say it was a difficult choice. I read a lot of books this year that I enjoyed, and a lot of them were books that were surprising.
Finale by Stephanie Garber
Vera Wong’s unsolicited advice for murderers
A Very Lively Murder by Katy Watson
London Seance Society by Sarah Penner
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
What were your favourite books you read this year?
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.
happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today. Today I am doing the End of Year Book Tag, how would you answer these questions? Let me know in the comments.
Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish? At least two, but only two I can remember the names of which are A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas, which I wanted to finish but it’s a long book and I wasn’t feeling fantasy right then. The second book is Assistant to the Villain and I didn’t finish this book because I wanted to love it but there wasn’t enough plot in it to keep me captivated and for me personally romance gets boring after 100 or so pages if the plots not there.
Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year? I would have to say not really I tend to read a lot of mysteries towards the end of the year and I don’t feel they are very autumnal most of the time.
Is there a new release you are still waiting for? so many! All because I wrote my list of book early September for my mum to use as my Christmas list so I haven’t been able to buy any since then.
Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite of the year? I am going to say the Murder on the Christmas Express because I love a good murder mystery so we shall see. As I am writing this I am starting this book tonight, fingers crossed.
Have you already started making reading plans for 2023? Not really, I have my eye on a few books releasing next year and if you’d like to see what those are I am posting a top ten most anticipated releases.
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a wonderful day today. it has reached the end of November and so it is time again to do my monthly wrap up. November was a pretty good reading month for me, I technically read four books this month which I was pleased with considering I have so much else going on.
In my November TBR I was meant to read:
The Box In The Woods by Maureen Johnson – I did not read. I was trying to prioritise books this month that I could reference within my PhD work which unfortunately was not this one.
Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano- I did not read this one either, same as the box in the woods, there wasn’t anything in this book blurb I could see that would work for my thesis so I had to prioritise other books but I am very excited to get to this one still, hopefully before the next book in the series comes out.
Nothing More To Tell by Karen M McManus – I did not read this book. Honestly, when I was choosing what to read next I spooked myself reading the blurb of this book. Don’t ask me why, my mind is a strange place.
Marlow Murder Club by Robert Thorogood – I did read this one, it was a reread for me, I knew it was one I planned on discussing in my thesis so I went through my second read, which I loved just as much as the first time I read it, and marked all the points I could use.
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman – same as the marlow murder club, I also read this one and it was a reread. For exactly the same reason as above.
Gideon Green in Black and White by Katie Henry – the third book I read this month. I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to and I will be putting up my review of it this month so check back soon for that.
on top of my TBR books I also read the Mistletoe Motive by Chloe Liese, which is actually on my December TBR but I felt in a romance mood which is not like me at all. It was a good book, the romance was pretty swoon worthy and it was set in a bookshop, enemies to lovers. I enjoyed the ride and the change of reading such a short book.
have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you are all having a good day today. I realise this post is quite a bit later in the month than it usually is but today I am bringing you what I want to read in the month of November!
Happy Friday bookish people! I hope you’re all having a wonderful day today.
October was quite the month for me, I had a stall at Cardiff Comic Con and I got some really good progress done on my PhD, I am exhausted but it is going to be worth it – I think!
Anyway, so my reading went down this month because all my free time is taken up with work but I still enjoyed a couple of books this month.
Once Upon A Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber – starting off good, I managed to read this one and I enjoyed it, if there isn’t a book review up by now there will be one soon.
Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco – I did not manage to read this one.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout – I didn’t manage to read this one either.
Assistant to the Villain – I am currently reading this one so I have started it in October and I should, should, be able to finish it before the end of the month.
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid – I didn’t own this one at the time and so I couldn’t read it because I didn’t get it and I can’t get it on my library app at the moment.
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo – I did not read
Mrs Death Misses Death – I did read this one!
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi – I did not read
Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovilano – I did not read this
Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller – I did not read this
So, off my TBR I managed to read three books: Once Upon A Broken Heart, Mrs Death Misses Death and Assistant to the Villain. Outside of my TBR I have also read an ARC this month – Last Girl Breathing by Court Stevens which I will be posting a review for on the 6th November.
What did you guys read in October? And what did you think of them?
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