Saturday, August 31, 2019

In My Mailbox #408

I am exhausted. I had the longest hospital day on Thursday; stayed all the way until late at night. It was a great day, though, as I had my mom, grandma and nephew with me too, and we went to a new swimming pool in town there and did a bunch of shopping. But gosh, it ruined my body. Everything still hurts. Aack. And so I'm even more behind, as always. Ugh. But I'm trying. I made myself read a book this week, and so I have read a total of 5 books this month. Not a lot, but more than I have in months, haha :) I have my next reads planned still, and I'm hoping to finally have more time this coming week. Fingers crossed. This week was so busy because of family time. Which is still every day, all day long. Oops. But I love it so. But yeah. So exhausted. A few new blog posts this week :) I took part in the blog tour for The Jumbie God's Revenge :D This week I'm waiting on Wayward Son. <3 And I shared my review of The Grace Year, ahh :D I got some gorgeous mail too, eee. Some pre-orders, and my Lover editions, finally :D I love them so very much. Sigh. <3 The album is so good. I've had a busy week but doing good despite that. Somewhat.



Shadow School: Archimancy. I adored this book a whole lot, months ago, and love the finished copy :D
The Star Shepherd. This book was so cute. I loved it. Hardcover arrived super early; and it is gorgeous.
Pumpkinheads. I cannot wait to read this one, eee :D I have peeked, haha. This book seems so adorable.
Pop Figures. Eee. They are all gorgeous. More Stranger Things :D I love my Owen with baby dinosaur.
Lover. Yesss. Look at all these gorgeous things :D So expensive in Norway. But so very worth it. I love the different deluxe versions with the journals. And my special box with goodies inside :D All so stunning.


More Instagram photos here. <3

Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

I did not expect this book to completely mess with my head. I knew I would most likely enjoy a whole lot. Which I did. But gosh, how it ruined me too. This book was all kinds of exciting and thrilling and beyond rude as well. I'm giving it four stars as it was almost perfect to me. I stayed up until two am to finish as I could not stop reading.

There is so much I wish to share about this one. Yet I have no idea how to write down most of my feelings. This story ruined me a little. The writing was all kinds of good, which I am so happy about. This world was interesting to learn about. The customs the people had in their small village was the worst but very exciting to read about.

The Grace Year tells the story of sixteen year old Tierney. She lives in a village where men control pretty much everything. The women aren't allowed to do much at all. There are rules for how they must wear their hair. There are rules for what they can and cannot speak about. They are not even allowed to dream. They are not allowed to spend time with each other. All they are to the men are breeding machines giving them sons. If any of the women break these rules, they are hanged. All of these rules killed me. The way these people lived was the very worst thing. But so very interesting to read about. I loved that. But gosh, how I wanted better for them all. These women had the most depressing lives. But most were used to this, accepted it. There was nothing else they could do.

But Tierney did not want this life. She did not want to be a wife and have children. Women were made to work if they were not chosen to get married. Which the men chose, the women had no choice at all if they were to get married or not. The year the girls of this village turns sixteen they are sent away for a whole year. The Grace year. Before they get sent away, the boys that are not married chooses a girl they want to marry when they come back again. The girls get no say in this. Which was all kinds of heartbreaking.

This book tells the story of Tierney. How she is preparing for her Grace year, sure she will not have to be a wife, as she have kept everyone at a distance her whole life. But when the day comes before the girls leave for their Grace year, she's chosen by a boy. And she is not happy about it at all. Honestly, though, I liked this boy a whole lot. But I also understand how betrayed she felt. This was how things were in this world. And so I did not blame this boy for choosing her to be his bride, if she were to return a year later.

Which was not certain at all. Because the Grace year is the worst year for the girls. Many of them never makes it home. Unless it's in a bottle, being sold for their magic. The men believes every girl has magic. That they need to be sent away for a year to rid themselves of this magic so they are ready to be married and start their life with the men. All the girls believe this to be true. That when they go away they will all finally learn their magic, and how to get rid of it before returning home. This was all kinds of complicated.

There is so much going on in this book. I do not know how to describe it. And so I will not say too much more about it all. But gosh this book was exciting. It was all about surviving and trying to be better, braver, stronger. The girls arrive at the place they must stay for a year. Two girls already dead before they arrive there after two days of walking. They are being hunted by poachers who will skin them alive for days, to sell their body parts for money. But these poachers were not the worst thing they had to fear in this year.

The scariest thing were the girls themselves. And how they treated each other. It was so heartbreaking to read about. Yet kind of exciting too. But gosh, how angry it made me. And how sad it made me too. There was the mean girl, hurting everyone around her, yet she was still the most popular girl there. There was another girl, Gertie, who was all kinds of sweet, yet so broken. Her story pretty much killed me. It was so good. But the scenes near the end. Gosh. My poor heart. This poor girl. I adored her so very much. Sigh.

This book is filled with death. It starts with thirty three girls going away for their Grace year. So many of them die. And so many of those deaths were included in this book. Shudders. It was fully interesting to read about, but so very sad as well. I feel like my review is all kinds of messy. And too long. But gosh. I'm blaming the book for that, haha. It messed with my head. I loved reading about Tierney and her journey. Getting to know the girls was so good. They were horrible at times but could be better too. Complicated.

There was one thing about this book that I did not really like, which is why this is a four star for me. The romance. Tierney ends up being rescued by a poacher, one of the men trying to kill all the girls. Ryker makes sure she doesn't die from wounds she has. And time is moving so fast, it's suddenly been many weeks, and they are supposed to be in love with each other. But we did not get to read about this. At all. How it happened, anything. So much was missing. And so I did not believe in this romance at all. Sigh.

Though, honestly, it might also be because I very much wanted her to be with Michael, which she was supposed to be when she got home from the Grace year. Michael seemed like he was a great boy and I adored him so much. Sigh. He had some faults, but those were not really his fault. This whole romance thing was tricky and a little complicated too. But yeah. I did not like her with Ryker. I wish I had, but there was no spark there at all. Not to me. The story was so interesting, though. And how it all ended killed me.

Because that ending was the rudest thing of all. I'm not even fully sure what happened on the last page. Okay, it seemed clear what happened, but I'm hoping that I read it wrong. Sigh. Because I was not okay with that final page, haha. The rest of it was pretty amazing, though. But the resistance did not take place in this book. At all. And it seemed like it would be many years until it would finally happen. I'm so beyond desperate for another book after this. As I would very much love to read about the real resistance as well.

One thing I was thinking about while reading this book was how I would have loved to see it as a movie too. And it will be a movie, eee. I am so excited about it. It will be all kinds of brutal and horrifying. But I cannot wait. This book was made to be a movie. And it will be so good. The Grace Year was everything I wanted it to be, and everything I did not know I wanted. It was brutal and heartbreaking and full of fierce characters. It ruined my mind and my heart. And I could not help but love every piece of it. Even the pain.

This is a book that I think everyone should read. And I am so thrilled that I had the chance to read it early. Cannot wait to own the finished copies of it too. This is a book I would read again, despite knowing how much it hurt me. Because this book is painful. Painful because of the torture and killing but also so painful because of the way girls and women were treated. It was not okay. But it was so good and interesting to read about. Huge thank you to Ebury publishing for sending me a gorgeous free ARC to read and review.


Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday #411

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

WAYWARD SON (Simon Snow #2) BY RAINBOW ROWELL

Goodreads Description:

The story is supposed to be over.

Simon Snow did everything he was supposed to do. He beat the villain. He won the war. He even fell in love. Now comes the good part, right? Now comes the happily ever after…

So why can’t Simon Snow get off the couch?

What he needs, according to his best friend, is a change of scenery. He just needs to see himself in a new light…

That’s how Simon and Penny and Baz end up in a vintage convertible, tearing across the American West.

They find trouble, of course. (Dragons, vampires, skunk-headed things with shotguns.) And they get lost. They get so lost, they start to wonder whether they ever knew where they were headed in the first place…

With Wayward Son, Rainbow Rowell has written a book for everyone who ever wondered what happened to the Chosen One after he saved the day. And a book for everyone who was ever more curious about the second kiss than the first. It’s another helping of sour cherry scones with an absolutely decadent amount of butter.

Come on, Simon Snow. Your hero’s journey might be over – but your life has just begun.


Hardcover, 368 pages
Expected publication: September 24th 2019 by Wednesday Books
Pre-Order here and here

Eee. This book is almost here, finally. Feels like I have waited forever for this sequel to Carry On, haha :D It's been ages since I read book one. But gosh, I loved it so very much. I'm so excited to re-read it before reading this one. This book is going to be so good and I am beyond excited for it. And a little nervous too.
What are you waiting for on this wayward Wednesday?

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Jumbie God's Revenge Blog Tour: Spotlight

Today I am taking part in the blog tour for The Jumbie God's Revenge by Tracey Baptiste, hosted by the awesome Algonquin Young Readers :D Thank you for letting me take part in this tour. I have only had the chance to read book one, but it was pretty great. And now book three is almost out :D Today I'm sharing a spotlight post of the series, with a general Q&A with the author. These middle grade books have the most gorgeous covers. I love them so. And the story seems so very good too. If you have not read these books yet, you really should do so. I'm hoping to read all three one day :) As they all seem thrilling and exciting.

General Q&A with Tracey Baptiste.

How did you write THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE? All at once, or did you outline the story?
I didn't think I had a 3rd jumbies book in me when Elise Howard asked me for one. And I was working on two other books at the time. So I started writing down little ideas on post-it notes and sticking them on the wall in my office. Eventually I had enough little ideas that I could see how the whole thing would come together. I outlined the story, something I usually don't do, and then I started writing.
What were some surprises (good or bad) in creating a trilogy?
This wasn't intended to be a trilogy. It has expanded by single books every time. Who knows where it will end at this point? The great part was that people wanted more and more jumbies, and if I had thought of a series at the beginning, I definitely would not have come up with the ideas that I did under pressure. The difficult part was that because I didn't intended for it to be a series there were things I didn't set up in the first novel which made things hard in book 2 and then book 3.
What gave you the idea for the series, and for how the story develops in THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE in particular?
I originally thought I wanted a series, but then it wasn't bought as a series, so every book has had to develop on its own. The good news with that is that a reader could pick up any book in the series and start there. The idea for the jumbie god came while I was watching the awful hurricane season in 2017 and how it was devastating Caribbean nations. The Weather Channel mentioned a Carib god called Huracan. The Caribs are the indigenous people in Trinidad where I grew up. That was the very first thing I wrote on a post-it that went on my wall.
Do you have a favorite scene, quote, or moment from THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE?
The moment that Corinne comes into her full jumbie powers when she is up in the mountains and goes to the fire to have a chat with Papa Bois is easily my favorite. It's powerful and surprising and also a little bit gross.
If you could tell your younger self anything about writing, what would it be?
That it has to be treated like any other skill. It takes time and patience and courage, but it also needs to be nurtured. I'd remind myself to be gentle. I went to Catholic all girl schools my whole life, so being gentle was never on the menu.
What are you currently reading? What’s in your TBR pile?
Reality is Not What it Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity by Carlo Rovelli (I read at least one physics book a year), Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly, Hurricane Season by Nicole Melleby, Ancient West African Kingdoms: Ghana, Mali, & Songhai by Mary Quigley (for research for a nonfiction book I'm writing), An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, and quite a few others for both research and pleasure.
Do you write to music? If so, what were you listening to while you wrote THE JUMBIE GOD’S REVENGE?
I find it too distracting to write to music, but I often take dance breaks where my assistant Barkley and I, let off steam in between long writing sessions. My music choices for dance sessions are pretty eclectic. It could be anything from classical to pop to rock. Barkley is quite fond of Motown, but he is a terrible dancer. Two left feet. Two right ones, too.
Book Three.

In book three of the popular Jumbies series, Corinne must use her emerging supernatural powers to battle the angry god who would destroy her Caribbean island home.

When an out-of-season hurricane sweeps through Corinne’s seaside village, Corinne knows it’s not a typical storm. At first Corinne believes Mama D’Leau—the powerful and cruel jumbie who rules the ocean—has caused the hurricane. Then a second, even more ferocious storm wrecks the island, sending villagers fleeing their houses for shelter in the mountains, and Corinne discovers the storms weren’t caused by a jumbie, but by the angry god Huracan.

Now Corinne, with the help of her friends and even some of her enemies, must race against time to find out what has angered Huracan and try to fix it before her island home is destroyed forever.




Book Two.

Corinne LaMer defeated the wicked jumbie Severine months ago, but things haven’t exactly gone back to normal in her Caribbean island home. Everyone knows Corinne is half-jumbie, and many of her neighbors treat her with mistrust. When local children begin to go missing, snatched from the beach and vanishing into wells, suspicious eyes turn to Corinne.

To rescue the missing children and clear her own name, Corinne goes deep into the ocean to find Mama D’Leau, the dangerous jumbie who rules the sea. But Mama D’Leau’s help comes with a price. Corinne and her friends Dru, Bouki, and Malik must travel with mermaids across the ocean to the shores of Ghana to fetch a powerful object for Mama D’Leau. The only thing more perilous than Corinne’s adventures across the sea is the foe that waits for her back home.

With its action-packed storytelling, diverse characters, and inventive twists on Caribbean and West African mythology and fairy tales, Rise of the Jumbies will appeal to readers of A Snicker of Magic, Breadcrumbs, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.



Book One.

A spine-tingling tale rooted in Caribbean folklore that will have readers holding their breath as they fly through its pages.

Corinne La Mer isn't afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They're just tricksters parents make up to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest. Those shining yellow eyes that followed her to the edge of the trees, they couldn't belong to a jumbie. Or could they?

When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger speaking to the town witch at the market the next day, she knows something unexpected is about to happen. And when this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne's house, cooking dinner for Corinne's father, Corinne is sure that danger is in the air. She soon finds out that bewitching her father, Pierre, is only the first step in Severine's plan to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn't know she possessed to stop Severine and save her island home.

With its able and gutsy heroine, lyrical narration, and inventive twist on the classic Haitian folktale "The Magic Orange Tree," The Jumbies will be a favorite of fans of Breadcrumbs, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.




Tracey Baptiste is a New York Times bestselling author who grew up in Trinidad and Tobago on jumbie stories and fairy tales. Moving to the United States at fifteen was one of the hardest and most exciting times of her life. Tracey is a former elementary teacher and editor. She writes everything from picture books to middle grade and young adult novels, both fiction and nonfiction. She currently teaches at Lesley University's MFA program in Creative Writing. You can find her online at traceybaptiste.wordpress.com and on Twitter: @TraceyBaptiste

Where to find Tracey Baptiste:

The Jumbie God’s Revenge
By Tracey Baptiste
Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: September 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-61620-891-2
$16.95
272 pages 5.5 x 8.2 inches

Saturday, August 24, 2019

In My Mailbox #407

This past week have been good and bad. I got so much mail this week, eee. I love my trade very much. Sigh. And I read a good book this week too, so yay for that. But my health completely sucks. Ugh. Have had a few days with a killing headache. It's been bad. But hoping it's over with now. Fingers crossed. And ahhh! New Taylor Swift album, finally, eeee :D I AM SO IN LOVE WITH IT. All the songs are perfect. Sigh. So good. Waiting on all my super expensive special editions, oops. But they may take some time before they arrive. Rude. Anyway. Two new blog posts. This week I'm waiting on The Beautiful :) And shared my review of The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street. <3 I have my next read planned, The Grace Year, and hoping to start it today :) I'm in a bunch of pain lately, but moving through it. Hope you are all well :)



Midnight Beauties. Oops. Hardcover and international paperback :D I must read this book soon. Nervous.
House of Salt and Sorrows. Needed to buy the gorgeous international paperback too :D Loved this book.
As She Ascends. Could not resist adding the paperback edition to my collection, lol. I own them all, haha.
The Thickety: The Last Spell. Finally out in paperback, eee. This series is SO GOOD. Must re-read soon.
Pip Bartlett. Bookdepo tricked me to think this was a paperback I did not own. They sent me a hardcover.
Pop Figures. Eee. These were expensive, but worth it. Ripley with the cat :D Ahh. And King Triton. Love.
ALL THE ARCs. Oh. My. Gosh. Ahh! Biggest thank you to GodofWax for this amazing trade, eee :D And thank you to Becky for always being so kind and helping me get these to Norway. <3 I just. What. Look at all these ARCs, ahhh :D I'm SO excited and thrilled to own all. Eee. Song of the Crimson Flower was SO GOOD and I needed the ARC so badly. Cannot wait to read The Beautiful and so many of the others :D


More Instagram photos here. <3

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Review: The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street by Lauren Oliver

The moment I saw this book on Edelweiss I had to download it. Still months until it is out in the world, but I had to read it as soon as possible. I am so glad I did so. Because this was just my kind of book. Full of magic and monsters. With great characters and such a good writing. I pretty much adored every part of this story.

I'm giving it four stars, as it was almost perfect to me. I had some small issues but nothing big. Found this book to be fast and easy to read. The story was exciting and fun and a little sad too. It was a book filled with interesting monsters that I loved reading about. This book was also an epic adventure with amazing friendships.

There was a monster guide included. Which I did like a whole lot. But will admit that having it before the book started was not good for me, haha. I was not able to focus as much as I needed while reading through it. Would have fit better at the end of the book, I think. Still. It was so interesting to read a little about the monsters included in this book. I will not write too much about this story, as it was not all that long, and because right now all I wish to say is how adorable this book and how much I enjoyed it. It tells the story of twelve year old Cordelia. She lives alone with her father and their monsters. She does not go to school. She do not have any friends. Except for all the monsters in her house. Yet she love living with the monsters and keeping them secret and safe.

Because this is not a world that would accept knowing about the monsters and letting them live alone. It takes place in the past and the book focus a little on that. About how horrible some people were towards others. It was sad to read about yet so important too. I love that it was included. Cordelia does not have any friends. Not since her best friend suddenly stopped talking to hear a few years ago. But then a boy shows up at her door, looking for her father to help his dog. Except it isn't truly a dog at all, but a zuppy.

One of the monsters that Cordelia knows all about. She helps the dog for the boy and they get to know each other a little. But the very same day her father goes missing while she sleeps. And all the monsters are gone too, except for two. Which were the most adorable. A tiny dragon and another creature that was so sweet. Cordelia and her father have lived with monsters in their huge house for years now. He helps them when they are sick and they decide to stay there. All kinds of different monsters. None of them evil.

This book tells the story of Cordelia having to search for her missing father and all the missing monsters. She goes looking with her new friend, Gregory, and their three monsters. It's not an easy journey. Though it takes place in only a few days. But these two children go through so much in those days. They meet a whole bunch of horrible people. There is a circus. With the most horrible man. They are close to death so many times. And every moment was all kinds of exciting and interesting to read about. I enjoyed it a lot.

There is so much to learn in this book. Getting to know Cordelia was the best thing. She was such an adorable girl and I loved her to pieces. I loved learning about her dead mom and how that happened. I loved reading about her and her dad and how they took care of the hurt monsters. I loved reading about their life. Wish there had been even more about it all, though. I also very much adored Gregory. He is an orphan living in the streets. And his story was all kinds of rude and heartbreaking. And I adored him tons.

I very much enjoyed reading about all the different monsters in this book and all that they did. I so loved reading about Cordelia and her adventure to find her missing father. But I also wish this book had been longer. Felt like it ended too soon, haha. But it had everything it needed, despite that. I feel like my review is kind of a mess. But finding the right words for this book have been fully impossible. Simply because I enjoyed it so very much and I do not know how else to say that. I would not have minded a second book.

The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street was every bit as magical as I had hoped it would be. It was filled with monsters and amazing characters. The writing was stunning and the story was exciting. I loved reading about Cordelia and her monsters. You all need to read this gorgeous book when it comes out in February next year. I cannot wait to own a print copy of this book too. Huge thank you to the publisher for the auto-approval on Edelweiss, so that I could read and review this one early. I'm so thrilled that I did so.


Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday #410

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

THE BEAUTIFUL BY RENEE AHDIEH

Goodreads Description:

New York Times bestselling author Renée Ahdieh returns with a sumptuous, sultry and romantic new series set in 19th century New Orleans where vampires hide in plain sight.

In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.

At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.


Hardcover, 448 pages
Expected publication: October 8th 2019 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Pre-Order here and here

I have been lucky enough to trade for this gorgeous thing, and so I'm hoping to read it very soon, eee :D It sounds all kinds of awesome. Been way too long since I read a vampire book. And so I'm hoping that this one will end up being amazing and thrilling and have some great romance. Excited about this one :)
What are you waiting for on this thrilling Wednesday?

Saturday, August 17, 2019

In My Mailbox #406

Oops. Another week gone by already, and I have still not gotten anything done on my laptop. Ahh. So so very far behind on every single thing. Sigh. I'm working on it, though. Only managed to read one book this week, which took ages, as it was so bad, ahh. But my current reading list is the best, and I am so excited to read them all, eee :D Cannot wait. I took a new profile picture today, ack, going up shortly. I have been spending so much time with my family. Love taking my small daily walk; my health is not better, but I love my walks even so. I also got some very gorgeous mail this week, ahh :D I love it all so very much. Sigh. And getting the best box of trades next week, gosh. Cannot wait to share about all of it :D Only two new posts this week, ack. This week I'm waiting on The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street :D And shared my review of After the Flood :) Ack. Hope you are all doing well :D I'm doing pretty good; and I'm happy.


Sea Witch Rising. Oops. I haven't read book one yet. But now I have them both :D Hope they're good, lol.
House of Salt and Sorrows. I loved this book a whole bunch, eee. And oh my gosh, it's beyond gorgeous.
Furyborn. Oops. I couldn't stop myself from ordering the Spanish version, haha :D Think it's half the book.
DEV1AT3. The stunning international paperback finally arrived, yay :D So gorgeous. Must read this soon.
Legend. Ahhh! Look at that gorgeous little thing, eee :D I love it so. So small, so gorgeous. Great book :)
The Grace Year. EEE! Thank you so much lovely UK publisher for sending me this :D Can't wait to read.
Pop Figures. Ahh. My most precious The Little Mermaid pop figures are finally starting to arrive :D Love.


More Instagram photos here. <3

Friday, August 16, 2019

Review: After the Flood by Kassandra Montag

When I saw the gorgeous early proof copy of this book I could not stop myself from requesting a copy of it from the publisher. Although this is normally not a book I would choose to read by myself, as I pretty much never read any adult books, I wanted to give it a try. Because it seemed like it would be exciting too.

I was wrong. And I can't help but truly regret reading this book. Which makes my heart hurt a little. But gosh, how bad this one was. It almost killed me to finish it. But finish it I did. Felt like it lasted forever. Sigh. Giving it two stars, though, because even though I disliked it so, I did not feel that much hate towards it.

There is so much I wish to share about this book. And so much I'm not going to mention at all. But sadly, this review will not be very positive. At all. Because I did not like it. I so didn't like the characters. I very much did not like them. This story bothered me so many times. And the writing was so awful it was torture to read through the rest of it. But I read it all. Because it was a gorgeous print copy that I had gotten to read and review. And also because I wanted to know how everything would end. Because although I did not like the characters at all, I did like the world building. I liked that it took place in a future world, where the world has flooded. There is water almost everywhere. It was also so much like the movie Waterworld and the book Pacifica.

And because of that I was expecting this book to be pretty amazing too. I ended up being every kind of disappointed. I will try not to post too many spoilers. But I have so many feelings about this book, all of them negative, and I need to share it all. I wish I could have loved this book. But it was so very much not a book for me at all. Which probably means I should say that it was me, not the book, but ha. That is not how I work. I did not like the book, because to me, this book was all kinds of terrible. Will write about it all.

This story is told from the point of view of Myra. She is a thirty-something mother of two. She grew up in this world of flooding, although for at least twenty years of her life she lived pretty good, going to school, having internet, having all of it. But then another flood came and destroyed pretty much everything. I liked reading about this world, as I found it to be interesting and somewhat exciting at times. But there was too little of it all, honestly. This book focused way too much on Myra and her thoughts. And not in a good way.

Myra have two children. But one of them is not with her. Because years ago, when her daughter was five years old and Myra was pregnant with girl number two, their baby father stole Row and went away on a boat, leaving pregnant Myra alone with her grandfather. It has now been, I think, six or seven years since then. It was hard to tell, because times are barely mentioned. Myra went on a boat her grandfather was building for them, to stay safe. She had her baby, Pearl. And she never saw the rest of her family again.

And I did feel for her because of this. It must have been so painful to have your child taken away by your husband, losing them both. But my gosh, I did not care for this woman at all. She was not a nice person. It seemed like she had been taking so so badly care of her other daughter ever since she was born. Not caring for her the way she should have. And I did not like it one bit. I also did not like Myra as a person, when they finally met other people after years of them being alone. She was so not great to read about.

This book tells a story on the water. In the beginning Myra finds out that her missing child is still alive, but way across the ocean from her. And she will do anything to find her again. I found the reason for why she found this out to be way too convenient, to be honest. A raider finds them, he is going to take them in, but he is wearing the girl's necklace. Whom Myra has heart nothing about since she disappeared. There was also mention of this guy having raped the girl, probably aged eleven at the time. Yeah. It was so not good.

And so this book is about Myra taking her living six year old girl with her across the ocean for months to search for her missing child. The child she seems to care much more about. Which was a little painful to read about. They are able to join a crew on their boat, which was somewhat interesting to read about. But I did not care for this crew at all. Myra starts sleeping with the captain right away, for stupid reasons. Sigh. While she had gotten to know a different man for weeks before, that she has some real feelings for. Ugh.

The crew of the boat was simply there. They weren't really interesting to read about at all. The captain is a drunk and a former raider. It was beyond boring. Yet Myra feels so bad for them all, though at the same time she is lying to them about where they are going. Which I thought was silly, honestly. There was not really that much happening in this book. Although it lasted forever and ever. This was about Myra and her daughter taking a journey to look for her other daughter. They see some things on the way, nothing huge.

And then the ending of the book. I just. What. It was beyond silly and rushed and just full of wishful things that came true. It was not realistic at all. There is a fighting scene. It was not written well; was all kinds of messy. People died. I did not care one bit. Myra is a mess in the whole book. She was supposedly getting better and better. I did not agree or see that. She was always a mess. I so wish I had loved this one. But it was impossible. The ending was too much, ha. And not good at all, despite this book thinking that it was.

Although most of my dislike for this book was because of the characters and the bad writing, it was also because of how messy I felt like this book was. I really truly did not like the writing at all. It described way too much, and not in a good way. Myra was always comparing every single thing to certain types of fish. Even while having sex. Yuck. And my god, the two sex scenes that were written down. They were so bad. No heat, no passion, only bad writing. It bothered me. The writing of this whole book was simply so awful.

I really wish I could have had better things to say about this book. But I don't have that. As there was not much about this story that I cared for. It is only a two star because I managed to finish it. Because of the world that I somewhat enjoyed. The rest of the book was a solid one star for me. It do make me sad, but yeah. After the Flood was not a good book. Not for me. I'm sure there are others who will enjoy it as there always is. Huge thank you to Natasha at the UK publisher for sending me a free copy to read and review.


Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday #409

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

THE MAGNIFICENT MONSTERS OF CEDAR STREET 
BY LAUREN OLIVER

Goodreads Description:

From the bestselling author of E. B. White Read-Aloud Honor Book Liesl & Po comes a timely and relevant adventure story about monsters of all kinds—and a girl brave enough to save them.

Cordelia Clay loves the work she and her father do together: saving and healing the remarkable creatures around Boston at the end of the nineteenth century. Their home on Cedar Street is full to the brim with dragons, squelches, and diggles, and Cordelia loves every one of them.

But their work must be kept secret—others aren’t welcoming to outsiders and immigrants, so what would the people of Boston do to the creatures they call “monsters”?

One morning, Cordelia awakens to discover that her father has disappeared—along with nearly all the monsters.

With only a handful of clues and a cryptic note to guide her, Cordelia must set off to find out what happened to her father, with the help of her new friend Gregory, Iggy the farting filch, a baby dragon, and a small zuppy (zombie puppy, that is).


Hardcover, 384 pages
Expected publication: February 11th 2020 by HarperCollins
Pre-Order here and here

Eee. I got this book via Edelweiss, and I am beyond excited :D Ahh! I cannot wait until I finally have time to read it, haha. It looks so pretty. And sounds all kinds of adorable too. I think that I will love this book a whole bunch. At least, I very much hope that I will. Sounds epic and all kinds of fun too. I cannot wait :)
What are you waiting for on this magnificent Wednesday?

Saturday, August 10, 2019

In My Mailbox #405

Eee! One million page views :D Thank you all so very much. <3 You guys are the best. Thank you for visiting my blog and reading my posts. And for commenting. Please do leave a comment if you have the time :) It means so much to me. Anyway. This week have gone by so fast. But I have finally read a little, and I am so happy about that, eee. Hoping to read even more this coming week. I have so so much I'm behind on. Ack. But getting there. Somewhat. Oops. And so behind on everything else too. Ahh. But I'm trying. Just so busy and tired and exhausted and hurting. Ugh. But at least I'm taking a small daily walk each day, which should be good for my health. Probably. Not much mail this week, but love it all so much. And a few new blog posts. I shared my second review of Monstrous Beauty :D This week I'm waiting on The Empire of Dreams. <3 And I shared my review of The Star Shepherd :D Hope you are all doing well.


Soul of Stars. Eee. I'm pretty excited about this gorgeous second book :D I think it will be so very perfect.
Swag. Ahh! I traded for all of this gorgeous with Erica. <3 Thank you so much lovely. I am in love with all of it. Ahh. The Marissa Meyer pins are beyond perfect :D So much love. I love it all. So so very precious.





The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street. When I saw this on Edelweiss, I had to download it right away. Oops. It looks SO CUTE. And sounds great too. I remember loving the first middle grade book by Lauren Oliver so very much; Liesl & Po. And so I cannot wait to read this gorgeous thing. I shall love it so much.


More Instagram photos here. <3

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Review: The Star Shepherd by Dan Haring & MarcyKate Connolly

I knew this book would be all kinds of adorable. And it very much was so. I have been waiting and wanting to read it for so long, as I have adored MarcyKate and her books for years. It is the first I have heard of Dan, but he seems amazing too. I simply adored this story they created together. And it was all kinds of incredible.

I have decided to give it four stars, even though I pretty much loved every part of this book. The writing was perfection. The artwork included so very beautiful and fitting with the story. All the characters were so very cute and great to read about. But four stars as I loved the first half more than I loved the second.

But this is not a bad thing. Because I found the ending of this book to be the most perfect thing. Happy and a little sad too. I truly wouldn't mind even more books about these too precious characters. There is so much I enjoyed about this book. It was such a great read and I adored these characters beyond words. The book is told from the point of view of eleven year old Kyro. Whom I loved the very most. He was way too adorable and so very loving and brave. But so sad too. And I loved that more than anything. For the past five years Kyro have been helping his father to save the stars. His mother was a star shepherd, but then she died. And now his father is doing it. But gosh, how I disliked his father. He should have taken better care of Kyro.

This book is a story about stars and stories and friendships and family. I loved reading about the history of everything. Kyro is a star shepherd with his father, rushing to save the stars when they fall down. They take them, put them in new castings and shoot them up in the sky again. There is a story about it all and it was so fun to read about and learn more about. I loved everything about the stars and how special they were and loved the work that Kyro had to do to save them. He was so good at it all too. I so loved his job.

He has been living a mostly quiet life with his father for years. With no friends, no other family. Except for Andra. She is the only person in the village that is nice to him, the only one that want to be his friend. Oh. Which was all kinds of heartbreaking to read about. As the other people in the village treat him so badly. It hurt my heart. Because Kyro was the sweetest person and deserved all the best. Sigh. But he had Andra. And that was the very best thing. She was sweet and kind and the very best friend. I adored her the most.

Reading about the friendship between Kyro and Andra was so good. They were mostly just so adorable together, haha. And I loved it so. I loved how she helped him with so much in this book. I loved how they were together, working together, talking together. It was the cutest. Kyro also had the most adorable little dog, Cypher. He was in the book the whole time and it was the very best thing. There are also a few other characters in this book, some that I adored, others that I did not. Hmph. But all interesting to read about.

There is so much going on in this book, even though it was not all that long. I will not be writing too much about it. But gosh, this story was all kinds of fun. I simply loved reading about Kyro and getting to know him more. He and Andra were the best. And everything about the stars were so interesting and exciting too. Different, and so well written. It was magical and so perfect to read about too. The only thing that I wanted more of in the second half of the book was the main characters, but I adored it all, despite that.

There were not only magical stars in this book. There were also some magical creatures. Some of them all kinds of horrible. It was so much fun to read about. I loved how Kyro dealt with everything, in the best way that he could. I'm having trouble finding the words to describe this book. Simply because I enjoyed it so much. And had such fun while reading it. It was so sad and a little heartbreaking at times, and I loved those moments so much. There was a small mystery too and it was written so good. I enjoyed everything.

The Star Shepherd was everything that I wanted it to be. This was such a fun and adorable middle grade story. Filled with stunning characters and an exciting plot. I loved the stars and the magic. I so adored the cute little dog. I'm so glad that I had the chance to read this book early, thanks to a trade. I cannot wait to get my hardcover copy of this book too. It's simply stunning. You all need to buy this book too. Because it was so adorable and sad at times too. I pretty much loved all of it and I need you all to read this one too.


Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Waiting on Wednesday #408

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

THE EMPIRE OF DREAMS BY RAE CARSON

Goodreads Description:

New York Times-bestselling author Rae Carson makes a triumphant return to the world of her award-winning Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy in this extraordinary stand-alone novel. With action, adventure, and a heroine set on destroying the patriarchal limits meant to keep her in her place, The Empire of Dreams once again proves that Rae Carson is a master of epic fantasy.

Even though Red Sparkle Stone is a foundling orphan with an odd name and a veiled past, she's about to be adopted into the royal family—by Empress Elisa herself. Sixteen-year-old Red can hardly believe her luck. Then, in a stunning political masterstroke, the empress's greatest rival blocks the adoption, and Red is left with no family and no future.

Grieving and lost, but determined to find her place, Red hatches a daring plan: she will prove herself as a recruit for the world's most elite fighting force, the legendary Royal Guard—something no woman has done before. But it's no coincidence that someone wanted her to fail as a princess, someone whose shadowy agenda puts everything she loves at risk. As danger closes in, it will be up to Red and her new friends—and maybe some new enemies—to save the empire. If they can survive recruitment year.


Hardcover, 432 pages
Expected publication: April 7th 2020 by Greenwillow Books
Pre-Order here and here

Eee! I am SO excited about this book :D I adore Rae. And I so loved her Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy. Though, gosh, it has been so long since I read it. Hmm. Must do a re-read soon :D Anyway. I cannot wait for this book set in the same world, a little after the trilogy. Ahh. It sounds so good :D I shall love it most.
What are you waiting for on this dreaming Wednesday?

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

Review: Monstrous Beauty by Elizabeth Fama

I have been meaning to re-read this book for years now. I cannot believe that it has already been more than seven years since this came out and I first read it. It turns out that I did not remember a single thing from this book. What. I remember loving it. But I had forgotten everything that happened. Which is so very rude of me.

Because having now read this book again I cannot even imagine forgetting parts of it. Not ever. This book disturbed me. In mostly good ways. It ruined my heart. And so this time I am giving it four stars, and not five, as I did all those years ago. And I have many thoughts to share about this book. I shall try to share all of them.

This book tells the story of Hester and Syrenka. It takes place in present day and one hundred and forty years in the past. They are connected in ways that Hester does not know yet. This is a story about mermaids and humans and monsters. Often it was the humans that were monsters, in my eyes. I found the writing in this one to be all kinds of good, which I loved. Had no trouble at all with focusing on things and imagining everything. Which was kind of a curse with all the dark things that happened in this book, haha. But oh, I couldn't help but love it too. But yes. My gosh. This book was dark. I had completely forgotten just how very dark it went. Which disturbed me a whole lot. Yet I mostly loved reading about it as well. Sigh. But yes. My poor heart.

Hester is a mostly normal seventeen year old girl that lives in the present. She is pretty sure her family is cursed, though. Her mother and her grandmother died just moments after giving birth to a baby girl. And it seems to have been going on for years before them too. Hester does not know why. She spends her day with school and working for tourists in a pretty fun sounding job. There is a boy, Peter, whom have been her best friend her whole life. They could become more, but she has sworn off love for the rest of her life.

Until a day at the beach. Where she meets a stranger in a cave. And feels such a pull towards him. This starts her story. Her quest of finding out the truth about her family and all their deaths. If there truly is a curse. Because this stranger is not a normal person. He is a ghost. Which she does not know for a long time. Hester and her story was pretty exciting. I loved reading about her trying to figure things out. Of her trying to figure out old murders and how they connect to her. For the most part I very much loved Hester.

She was pretty amazing. I just did not like how she snapped at Peter all the time after she met the boy in the cave. But I do not blame her either, because there was a reason for why she felt such a pull towards him. Still. Poor Peter. He was such a good friend to Hester. And I simply adored their friendship. Also, her brother was pretty great too. So anyway. There is so much going on with Hester. With her trying to figure everything out. And I adored her story. Though, oh, I wish she had known this one detail by the end. Sigh.

Then there was Syrenka. The mermaid. Her story takes place a hundred and forty years before Hester's. And it is the most heartbreaking story. I loved this mermaid so very much. She has lived for a thousand years. She knows most things. But she is still innocent in a lot of ways, in the ways of humans. She falls in love. First hundreds of years earlier, which ends with the boy drowning. Then again now, she falls in love with Ezra. The beautiful boy who sees her by the ocean. This ended up being her doom. My heart.

I very much adored Syrenka. But oh my god her story killed me. I loved reading about everything with the mermaids. They were pretty dark and mysterious. Not much to know about them, yet enough. They were all kinds of interesting. Though Syrenka spends most of her story as a human, to be with Ezra. Though to become human is no easy thing. A murder happens. And now I must spoil some things. Early in the book Syrenka is captured by a fisherman. He ties her up. And then he rapes her. Which fully ruined my heart.

I'm not sure I will ever be able to forget that. It was heartbreaking and sad and horrible too. Thankfully not too graphic, but graphic enough. She end up killing this fisherman to become human and to be with Ezra. Except she is now pregnant. And that ruined my heart even more. She stays with some woman until birth and then she gives her baby away, so she can be with Ezra, her love. All of this was a little bit too much for me. It hurt to read about. Yet it was so good too. But gosh, completely sad and depressing and rude.

Syrenka does not get to be happy with Ezra for long. So much happens. And all of it horrible. Yet it was all so interesting and exciting too. The one thing that bothered me more than anything, though, was that no one ever knew what had happened to Syrenka. No one knew she had been raped by the dead man. No one knew how she had been hurt by him. That ruined my heart even more. Sigh. Okay, fine, they did not truly need to know any of it. But I wish they had known. I wish Ezra had known what happened to her.

This is not a love story, though. I wish it had been. It is more of a horror mermaid story, haha. Yet not only that. The story of Hester was interesting. And reading about Syrenka was the very best, despite the pain it brought me. This book was full of pain and heartbreak. But not only that. There were happy moments too. And I loved those moments the most. But my gosh, so much bad happens. There are other murders. There are ghosts. There is a mystery about what happened to them all. It was so exciting to read about.

I have already written way too much about this book. Yet I feel like I could still write so much more. I still can't believe that I had forgotten everything that happened in this book when I read it seven years ago. I have not read my old review, not yet, as I did not write them good enough back then. But gosh. I'm happy that I chose to re-read this book right now. It hurt every part of me, but I loved it. And I adore this author. Elizabeth is all kinds of awesome. I really hope she will be writing more books soon. She's the sweetest.

If you have not read Monstrous Beauty yet then you really must do so. This book is so very painful. But so very worth reading too. It's an important story. Oh gosh. I forgot to mention the queen of the mermaids. She was beyond terrifying. I hated her. And learning of her having abused this person for all those years ruined me. I wanted her dead. I didn't get that wish. I'm upset, haha. But she was so well written. Anyway. You all need to read this book already. So very painful. But so very good. And I am glad I read this again.


Saturday, August 3, 2019

In My Mailbox #404

Oops. This week I did not blog much at all. Ahh. And only got one book. But I'm okay with that :) I also only just started reading a book, halfway done. Been way too exhausted for anything. And too busy too, with summer and life and family. Hoping everything will be easier this coming week. I have so so so many books I need to read shortly. Ack. I'll try my hardest :) Anyway. I'm sort of doing good. My days are good, but my health still pretty much sucks. Ugh. I shall survive, though, ha. Only one blog post; this week I am waiting on The Kingdom of Back :) Currently less than a thousand page views away from hitting a million, eee. Hoping to reach it by next weekend :D Not much mail this week, but eee, got the most gorgeous pop figures. So much love. Hope you are all doing well :) I'm beyond exhausted, but I'm doing mostly okay :)



Gemina. I couldn't resist getting this new AUS paperback version too :D Must have them all, haha. Love.
Pop Figures. Ahh! Look at all these awesome ones :D And my Jaws sharks. They are so big. Love them.


More Instagram photos here. <3