BOOK REVIEW: Red Sister

Title: Red Sister
Author: Mark Lawrence
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication date: 6th April 2017
Format: Kindle
Source: Netgalley ARC

"A book is as dangerous as any journey you might take. The person who closes the back cover may not be the same one that opened the front one."

Oh my gosh guys!
This book is immense. 

It has danger and fighting and adventure and magic and mystery and intrigue and swords and poisons and ice and powers and friendship and bravery and nuns. 

What more could you ask for?!

Nothing. 
You could ask for nothing more. 

The story follows Nona as she is given away by her mother and eventually ends up at the Sweet Mercy convent training to become a Red Sister. 
But Red Sisters aren't your average type of nun. 
Oh no!

While at Sweet Mercy Nona and her friends learn how to fight with fist, blade, arrow and spear. 
They learn about the world and all its mysteries. 
They learn how to brew poisons and create the antidotes all while trying to avoid being sneakily poisoned themselves by their teacher. 
They learn how to connect to the Ancestor and in turn learn patience, clarity and serenity. 
They learn how to weave shadows and pull the threads that connect all things. 
And they learn about The Path. 

I want to become a Red Sister. 
Please?!

Nona and her friends face many trials and dangers throughout this story and it never once got boring. 
The whole book sped along in one big heap of awesome!
The story and world were completely fascinating; I was hooked from the very first page. 

All of the characters we meet are so varied and interesting. 
Nona herself is incredibly likeable and easy to empathise with. She's brave, fierce, wild, and a true friend. Yet she's also scared, untrusting, secretive and violent. 
I loved her. 
In this story we have fierce friends, kindly teachers, terrifying enemies, sneaky liars and everything in between. 

You'll find no catty girl-girl hate here. Which is so refreshing! 
We see a flicker of some towards the start, but both parties quickly realise they're being stupid and decide to be friends instead.
YAS! Thank you Mark Lawrence!
There are also no signs of any heterosexual relationships. Though there are plenty of lesbian ones (a convent full of lonely girls? Yes, this would definitely be the case) and also some hints that our main character Nona may also be gay. Which I desperately hope to be the case! 

The world we are thrown into felt so real and fleshed out. 
From the cities and convent buildings where lessons took place, to the freezing wilds of the Corridor and dark underground tunnels. It was written amazingly well and now my life's goal is to gain admittance to the Sweet Mercy convent. 
I want to learn from the Sisters, have warm steamy baths, try to walk the whole of the blade path, visit the library with Sister Kettle, and go out on a ranging in the icy winds. 
Why is this world not real?!

"They're my babies. My old leathery babies. And I have a very unpleasant poison from Sister Apple for anyone who so much as folds a page." - Sister Kettle

I love my old leathery babies too Sister Kettle. 
And my new papery babies as well. 
I would totally poison anyone who harmed my books!
Sister Kettle knows what's up!

I am desperate to dive back into this world again as soon as possible. 
The sequel can't come soon enough!

"Your death has not been waiting for your arrival at the appointed hour: it has, for all the years of your life, been racing towards you with the fierce velocity of time's arrow. It cannot be evaded, it cannot be bargained with, deflected or placated. All that is given to you is the choice: meet it with open eyes and peace in your heart, go gentle to your reward. Or burn bright, take up arms, and fight the bitch."

BOOK REVIEW: Bone Gap

Title: Bone Gap
Author: Laura Ruby
Published by: Faber & Faber
Publication date: 29th December 2016
Format: Paperback
Source: Library

** spoiler alert ** 

I was ultimately and unfortunately a bit disappointed with this book. 

I love a bit of magical realism but this example just fell a bit flat in my opinion. 

The "magic" seemed to serve no real overall point. 
It was just shoved in here and there to pad out the plot a bit. 

Roza could quite easily have been kidnapped by a normal man who prized her for her beauty and kept prisoner in a normal house instead of a confusing magical realm. 

A lot of the "magic" was confusing to be honest. 

What was the corn about?

I thought they said that scarecrows were used to scare the corn instead of crows. 
So why was the the kidnapper called The Scarecrow?
Did he scare the corn?
And what about the crows?
Were they magic?
Why did they help de-toilet paper Finns yard?
Who gave Charlie Valentine the horse?
How come Charlie Valentine is like 500 years old?
WHAT is he?! 
What's going on?!?! 

I did enjoy the parts about face-blindness though. 
I thought those parts were very cleverly written. 
After it was revealed I flicked back to earlier sections about Finn and how he saw the world and said "oh yeah!" to myself a lot. 

I also quite liked the message that women are more than just their appearance. 
It would have been even nicer if there were more girl-girl friendships/relationships (or even conversations!) going on. 
WAY better if Roza had been allowed to save herself and if Petey had realised she didn't need ANYONE to think she was pretty to be happy. 

Can we have a new ending where Roza escapes by herself and runs off back to Poland taking Petey with her, and they become BFF's growing vegetables and keeping bees?

BOOK REVIEW: Geekerella

Title: Geekerella
Author: Ashley Poston
Published by: Quirk Books
Publication date: 7th April 2017
Format: Kindle
Source: ARC

I went into this book honestly not expecting very much at all. 
In fact, I was pretty sure that I was going to hate it if I'm being honest. 

Retellings of fairytales can often fall kind of flat. 
And I don't tend to enjoy romance as a genre. 

But I was actually very pleasantly surprised!

This geeky, modern-day, reimagined telling of Cinderella was actually pretty fraking good!

Sure, it has its fair share of silly, over the top, eye-rolling moments. 
But it more than makes up for those with its cosy charm, cute diverse characters and heapings upon heapings of awesome nerdy references! 

The story alternates between Ella and Darien, each telling their side of the story. And I think it's this choice of telling which keeps the pace of the story interesting. 
Though I was always much more interested in Darien's side of the story. 
Elle came across rather judgemental and superior in my opinion, at least at the start of the story - she does become more likeable as the tale unfolds. 

This is actually a romance which I enjoyed following!
And that a HUGE deal for me.
I am shook. 

Read and rejoice, fellow geeky bookworms!

BOOK REVIEW: Frogkisser!

Title: Frogkisser!
Author: Garth Nix
Published by: Piccadilly Press
Publication date: 28th February 2017
Format: Kindle
Source: ARC

This was such a magical, fun, romp of a book!
It reminded me of the most wonderful Diana Wynne Jones (and she did receive an honourable mention at the end), and that can never be a bad thing!

This book follows princess Anya and her trusty Royal dog Ardent as they embark on a quest to turn a frog back into a (kind of dumb) prince. 
But their quest somehow keeps managing to get bigger and bigger until Anya has taken on a whole host of other quests and promises too. 

I absolutely LOVED how many strong, awesome female characters there were in this book!

First we have Anya herself, who starts out as a kind of typical selfish princess who would much rather stay home and curl up in the library all day rather than help people. 
(I would totally be this type of princess!)
Yet as we go through the story she grows so much as a person and learns many valuable life lessons and ends up as a pretty damn awesome princess!

We also have a female Good Wizard (sometimes complete with long, white beard), an evil female sorcerer, female members of The Seven Dwarves, a group of tricksy witches, a totally badass female Knight and many more!

YAS!!

The only problem I had with this book was that I wish our questing group had visited more places in this magical world. 
I did feel a bit disappointed that most (though not all) of the objects they were questing for were conveniently obtained in one place. 
I wanted them to have to have an adventure to get each one separately!
I wanted MORE questing!

But other than that small, kind of greedy complaint on my part, this was a very fun, magical read. 

I hope we get to see what happens to Anya and the kingdom of Trallonia next! 

BOOK REVIEW: Sea: The Huntress Trilogy #1

Title: Sea
Author: Sarah Driver
Published by: Egmont
Publication date: 6th April 2017
Format: Kindle
Source: ARC

Do you enjoy dangerous adventures on perilous, icy seas? 


Do you like tales of tribes, beasts, tradition and magic?


Do you like reading about epic quests seeped in folklore and myth?

If you do, then you should definitely read this book!

Reading this was like a welcome flashback to my days of reading Philip Pullman. It definitely has the same feel to it.
Maybe it's all the ice, subtle magic and the fact that our main character, Mouse, sort of has her own 'daemon' in the form of her brave sea hawk Thaw-Wielder?

Maybe it's the fact that Mouse is a totally independent, fierce, loyal and brave character?
(How are 13 years olds always this awesome in books?! I'm pretty sure I was pathetic at that age!) 

Whatever it is, this book is wonderful. 

I felt like I was really there and experiencing everything alongside Mouse. 

I got to sail on The Huntress, dive with merwraiths, cross the seas in the belly of a whale and fight fearsome terrodyls!

As the first book in a trilogy I'm so excited to know that soon I'll be able to travel across the land again with Mouse and her friends. 
I can't wait for more adventures!

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!