BOOK REVIEW - Nevernight

Title: Nevernight
Author: Jay Kristoff
Published by: Harper Collins
Publication date: 11th August 2016
Format: Hardback
Source: Illumicrate subscription box.

“The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks on us. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. You're a daughter of the words. A girl with a story to tell.”

I wish I hadn't read any reviews before I'd read this book.
Not because of spoilers and hints at plot, but because they completely put me off reading it for weeks.
I was so hesitant and sure that I wouldn't like it that I put it on a shelf and politely ignored it for a while.

How wrong I was!

“You've got the look of a girl who's no stranger to the page. I can tell. You've got words in your soul.”

Firstly.
The book itself is absolutely gorgeous.
I was lucky enough to receive a signed hardback copy in my recent Illumicrate subscription box, and it is a thing to behold!
The dust jacket has a beautiful and detailed crow illustration and hidden underneath is another crow, this time embossed in black on the actual hard cover. The end pages are made to look like a black sky filled with stars, and there are three amazingly stunning maps that I could stare at for ages.
Its a truly lovely book.



Now onto the story itself.
A lot of reviewers on here disliked it because of the style of writing, and this is initially what put me off too. From peoples reviews of it I was sure that I wouldn't like the writing style either.
People claimed it was overly descriptive. Using weird and strange metaphor after metaphor.
And this is true to some extent.
I spent a good couple of chapters being annoyed, confused and baffled by some of the descriptions used. They just didn't made sense and were often laughable or just plain frustrating.
Here is one of my favourites:

"But if the inn were a man and you stumbled on him in a bar, you'd be forgiven for assuming he had - after agreeing enthusiastically to his wife's request to bring another woman into their marriage bed - discovered his bride making up a pallet for him in the guest room."

??!!?!?!
If the inn were a man?!
What the what?

I think this part was trying to describe a particularly awful building? But who knows!

However, with that said, this style of writing does seem to calm down after a few chapters (the very first one probably being the worst). Almost as if even the author became bored of wading through all the confusing and pointless waffle!

And then it gets really good.

The story really gets a flow to it and I found myself happily carried along, unwilling to put it down even for a second.
Desperate to find out what was going to happen next!

The setting of a school for assassins was just amazing.
It was like a deadly and dangerous Hogwarts where the students learn about poisons, weapons, stealth and seduction instead of spells.
I felt like there was danger and death lurking at every [page] turn.
And I loved it!!

The twists and turns were hidden so well I never saw them coming! So much shock and suspense.
This really was a hard book to put down.

The characters were also wonderful.
I wasn't sure if I was going to warm to Mia at the start. 'Angsty' characters aren't usually my favourite as a rule. But she became so much more than just angst as the story went along and I ended up really liking her and caring about what was going to happen to her. 
Though I wasn't the biggest fan of the romance.
It wasn't awful, but nothing would really be lost from the story if it wasn't there.

I loved all of the teachers at the school.
(and was terrified of them in equal measure)
They were all wonderfully fleshed out with completely different personalities to match the lessons that they each taught.

Overall, I was really surprised by this book and wish I had of given it a chance as soon as i got it instead of letting myself be put off it.

So yes, while some of the writing is over-the-top and a bit annoying at the start, if you can get past that you will find a truly amazing story.

One you really should try for yourselves!

“Too many books. Too few centuries.”

Confessions Of A Bookworm

I have a confession.
I am guilty of serial adultery. With books that is.

I just can't help myself. They stand there ruffling their pages seductively, twirling their titles and presenting their covers in a most alluring manner. I find myself picking them up and reading the first few pages before I even know whats happening. Since becoming a Librarian its gotten even worse! I can string along hundreds of books without the worry of spending money or long-term commitment.

I don't find it hard to remember their names or whats going on in their lives, but it is sometimes difficult to decide who to spend time with each night. Do I want the adventurous one? The cheeky one? The old and distinguished one? It can be a tough choice.

Of course, I finish with them all eventually. I either send them on their way to find new lovers or keep them to one side - to be called upon again someday, whenever I feel like it. I can be a demanding reader.

I don't feel guilty about my adultery. On the contrary! I would shout it from the rooftops if I could. I recommend it to everyone. Being able to pick and choose the adventures I take depending on my mood is wonderful. I never feel tied down to one book - slogging my way through it, even when the going is tough - I can simply put it down and pick up another who better suits me at the time. Its freeing, fun and makes reading even more enjoyable.

So get up, go out and pick up as many books as you fancy! Use all your best lines on them and woo them all back to your place for a steamy night of literary adventure! I guarantee you won't regret it!

Happy Adventuring! 

BOOK REVIEW - The Gender Game

Title: The Gender Game
Author: Bella Forrest
Published by: NightLight Press
Publication date: 24th September 2016
Genres: Teens, YA, Dystopia 
Format: Kindle
Source: Advanced reading copy from the publisher.

It isn't that this book is terrible... oh wait, yes it is. 

[watch out, spoilers ahead!]

The Gender Game puts us into a dystopian world where two cities are divided by gender and a toxic river; In Patrus it's the males who rule the city, with females having about as many rights as dogs, whereas in Matrus the females are in charge and weed out any males who they think show "undesirable" traits and send them to work in the mines.
The story focuses on Violet, a juvenile delinquent who ends up in a detention centre in the Matrus city after her brother fails their all-important test and gets taken away.

Right from the start I disliked Violet immensely. We're meant to connect to this extremely angry, aggressive, self-centred and violent teenage girl, and I just couldn't do it. She gets into fight after fight putting herself in danger and her future at stake all because she's so pigheaded and stupid.
We find out that Violet was originally sent to the detention centre after she committed "womanslaughter" and accidentally killed another girl with a fork during a fight. 
What?!

"In many ways, being imprisoned had been the best thing that could have happened to me."

And everyone bloody else by the sounds of it, you psycho!

Violent... ooops, I meant Violet then gets moved to a new detention centre and vowes to finally keep her head down and stay out of trouble. Yet what happens on her very first morning? 
Yup, she only goes and accidentally kills yet another girl (this time with some braces?!). 
Of course she does.
Seriously, I have no sympathy for this character! 

This latest teensy-snafoo lands poor Violet with a death sentence.
But luckily for our heroine the Queen of Matrus has been waiting for the perfect teenage psychopath to send on a very special mission on which their whole future rides! 
She is offered the chance to take on this important task and in exchange all of her previous, horrible acts will be forgotten.

Hooray! 

At no point in the book is it explained why this task was given to an imprisoned orphan with a history of violence rather than a trained professional.
The mind boggles. 

"...a convict who had no experience in matters of robbery or espionage."

Exactly!
Why?!

The story then follows our intrepid traveller as she makes her way over to male-ruled Patrus with the task of stealing back a precious item that they previously stole from Matrus.

We get to follow Violet around as she makes mistakes, does stupid things and continuously puts herself in danger.
At one point she comes extremely close to being either beaten up, killed or raped by a group of Patrus men who think she's a "stray" (a female with no husband). All she would have to do to get out of this situation would be to hold up her hand and show them she was wearing a ring, but noooooo.
Not our Violet!
Because she "never backs down to bully's!"
Oh, come on girl! Stop being a stubborn moron all the time.

Other than precious Violet, the other characters of note were the cliché love interest Viggo - a ruggedly handsome cage fighter with a soft side. *yawn* and the extremely one dimensional Lee, who does, admittedly, get a little more interesting towards the end. 

From about 60% I could bear it no longer and skim-read the rest of this.
Though, to be honest, most of it was just lengthy descriptions of fights (I'm talking pages and pages of it), so I doubt I missed out on much there.

The most interesting part of this book for me was 'The Green'. 
A huge toxic forest, where the air is poisonous and the wildlife is extremely dangerous and strange.
This, however, was the thing least mentioned in The Gender Game. We only got to spend a few pages there and no explanation was given about the place.
Pity.

I guess we might get to learn more about it in the next instalment, but as I definitely won't be carrying on with this series I shall always be left wondering...

Old Wives' Tales.

• If a black cat walks towards you then it brings good luck, but if it walks away then it takes the luck with it.

• If you spill pepper you will very soon have a serious argument with a close friend.

• If a child is sick you should tie a red ribbon on them to stop the disease from spreading.

• A swarm of bees settling on your roof is a sign that your house will burn down.

• A bird getting into your house is a sign of death.

• Ivy growing on a house protects those who live there from evil.

• Pulling out a grey/white hair will cause 10 more to grow in its place.

• Warts come from washing your hands in water which has been used to boil eggs.

• Always leave a house by the same door you used to enter it, otherwise you will have bad luck.

• It is bad luck to cut your finger nails on a Friday or Sunday.

• If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of Autumn then you won't catch a cold all winter.

BOOK REVIEW - The Bone Witch

Title: The Bone Witch
Author: Rin Chupeco
Published by: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication date: 7th March 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Teens, YA
Format: Kindle
Source: Advanced reading copy from the publisher.
Amazon UK ** Amzon US ** Goodreads

Oh my gosh, this book!
This book!

With a description that contains the phrase "Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Name of the Wind" I went into this book with such high expectations, but fully expecting it to be nothing close to either of them. 
When a book is compared to two of my all time favourites I'm going to be on my guard.

"Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves how bitterness tastes."- Tea

How wrong I was.

Rin Chupeco takes the best bits from each and combines them into something new and magically thrilling to form The Bone Witch.
I was honestly sighing in contentment the whole way through this!

This book tells the tale of Tea; a newly discovered Bone Witch (or Dark asha to be more polite). Her powers are realised by all, including herself, when she accidentally raises her dead brother back to life in the middle of his funeral.
Ooops!
Tea is then swept off far from home by a fellow Dark asha to The Willows, where all asha live, are trained and entertain with their vast range of skills (dancing, singing, music playing). Asha are much like traditional Geisha, except that they are gifted with magic, allowing them to use runes in order to access elemental magic. 
Asha are respected and admired by all, except if you're a Dark asha that is.
Dark asha are tasked with fighting the monstrous Daeva, which no one else are able to kill. But despite this they are generally hated and reviled by all. 

The world building in this book was truly excellent, with descriptions that managed to paint fully formed images in my mind. I could almost believe that the Willows were a real place and am now desperate to visit and witness the beautiful asha dances for myself!

The characters were equally as brilliant.
Despite Tea suffering from "special snowflake" syndrome, I really warmed to her as a character. I loved the way the story was told by her looking back on her life and the chapters alternated between present day where she's telling her story to a bard (and she seems like a total badass by the way!), and looking back at her past and how she got to where she is now.
I loved the relationship between Tea and her brother, and am really looking forward to reading more about it after the hints that were given towards the end of the book.

Other favourite characters include, the wise Mykaela:

"There is no greater strength then the ability to understand and accept your flaws".

And another standout for me was the loud, boisterous, larger-than-life character of Rahim the hua maker (traditional asha clothes). He was just so much fun!

"...In Tresea, the men wear fur, but not in the fashionable ways. We kill the bears, the possums, the beavers, and then we stick them on the head, like so." He gestured. "Boring and unappealing. So I move here to Kion, where the clothes have shape and the hats do not stare back."

More Rahim please!

From going into this book with such high expectations, I was not let down in the slightest and enjoyed every last page!

I don't know how I'm going to cope waiting so long for the next instalment!