Can't-Wait Wednesday: Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting On Wednesday hosted at Breaking the Spine.

The highly anticipated, thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer, from National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.

She believed she knew every horror, and was beyond surprise.

She was wrong.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.

Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice--save the woman he loves, or everyone else?--while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer.

-- Goodreads.com description --

This is the sequel to Strange the Dreamer and probably my most anticipated book this year. I love Laini Taylor's writing style, she creates amazing fantastical worlds and characters. Can't wait to read everything she reads next!

Have you read this series or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below! 

If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Sunday Post #9

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. 

Life

I have to wait until May to start teaching again in my school but I have been making the most of my spare time. I am now taking driver's lessons and I will have to practice for our adult puppetry show soon! Can't wait to finally participate as an actual marionet player!

On the Blog 

Since my last Sunday post I have posted reviews of the manga Perfect World and the young adult novel My Lady Jane. I also post a new Can't Wait Wednesday and Stacking the Shelves posts. 

Links:

Review: Perfect World by Rie Aruga 
Review: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows
Can't-Wait Wednesday: Only Human (Themis Files #3) by Sylvain Neuvel

Stacking the Shelves: February E-book Haul

Books

I have read 4 books this week, most of them science fiction! My copy of Obsidio finally arrived and I just couldn't resist reading it immediately!

TV Shows

I haven't watched any movies this week but I did watch an episode of Chicago P.D. and Victoria. Additionally, I finished watching the second season of Quantico.



What did you watch or read this week? Leave your thoughts down below!


If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Stacking the Shelves: February E-book Haul

Stacking the Shelves is a meme co-hosted by Reading Reality and Tynga's Reviews. Each week bloggers share the books they got. This is the second part of my February book haul is all about e-books. So here are the e-books I got in the month of February!

1. The Wendy (Tales of The Wendy #1) by Erin Michelle Sky and Steven Brown 

This was recommended to me on Twitter but I still have to read it. I believe it's a Peter Pan retelling.

2. The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband (Rokesbys #2) by Julia Quinn

I already read and enjoyed this historical romance.

3. Because of Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys, #1) by Julia Quinn

Same with this Julia Quinn novel.

4. A Night to Surrender (Spindle Cove #1) by Tessa Dare 

I started this but I somehow am not interested enough to continue.

5. Blood and Sand (Blood and Sand #1) by C.V. Wyk 

I already read and enjoyed this! You can find my review here.

6. Horimiya Vol. 1 by Hero and artist Daisuke Hagiwara

I read the first two volumes of this manga and I'm really enjoying it!

7. Horimiya Vol. 2 by Hero, Daisuke Hagiwara

8. Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1) by Kendare Blake

This was less than one euro on Kobo.com, so I couldn't resist!

9. The Belles (The Belles #1) by Dhonielle Clayton

I'm hoping to read this one soon!

10. Bentwhistle and the Dragon trilogy by Paul Cude

The author of this trilogy contacted me with the question of whether or not I wanted to review his books and I said yes, please. 


Which books did you recently get? Have you read any of the books mentioned above or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below!

If you liked this post please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I really appreciate it! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Only Human (Themis Files #3) by Sylvain Neuvel

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting On Wednesday hosted at Breaking the Spine.

We always thought the biggest threat to humanity would come from the outside.

We were wrong.

As the human race picks up the pieces of destruction left behind, a new world order emerges. New alliances are formed. Old divisions are strengthened. And, with a power struggle fuelled by the threat of mutually assured destruction, nothing is certain.

At a time when the world's nations should have been coming together, they have never been more divided.

With the human race teetering on the brink of total war, Rose, Vincent and Eva must choose sides. But doing the right thing might mean making the ultimate sacrifice.

-- Goodreads.com description --







I had some issues with the first book Sleeping Giants, but I read the sequel, Waking Gods this week and really enjoyed it! Now, I'm really excited to read the third and final book! Another thing I love about this science fiction series are the stunning covers! This one might even be my favourite so far!

Have you read this series or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below! 

If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Review: My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows

Edward (long live the king) is the King of England. He’s also dying, which is inconvenient, as he’s only sixteen and he’d much rather be planning for his first kiss than considering who will inherit his crown…

Jane (reads too many books) is Edward’s cousin, and far more interested in books than romance. Unfortunately for Jane, Edward has arranged to marry her off to secure the line of succession. And there’s something a little odd about her intended…

Gifford (call him G) is a horse. That is, he’s an Eðian (eth-y-un, for the uninitiated). Every day at dawn he becomes a noble chestnut steed—but then he wakes at dusk with a mouthful of hay. It’s all very undignified.

The plot thickens as Edward, Jane, and G are drawn into a dangerous conspiracy. With the fate of the kingdom at stake, our heroes will have to engage in some conspiring of their own. But can they pull off their plan before it’s off with their heads?

-- Goodreads.com description -- 

I picked this book up in part because I love the movie with Helena Bonham Carter, Lady Jane, and because I want to know more about this historical figure. This is where it went wrong for me. I love the slowly developed hate-to-love romance in the movie but the romance in this book felt so different to me. To me it kept revolving about the same angsty feelings because the two main characters hardly talked about themselves and their feelings to each other. I believe the book would have been a lot more interesting if the characters were more open to each other earlier on. (As you can tell, I'm not a huge fan of angsty romances).

This brings us to the movie itself, there were some obvious parallels between the movie and the book. At one point, the narrator says that Jane and G had discussed what they would do if they were king and queen at length. This true for the movie as that is an entire and pivotal scene which establishes a connection between Jane and Gifford. In the novel, despite saying otherwise, the similar scene is barely a page while they mention it has been discussed at length. This did not sit right with me.

There were some random quotes from famous movies and Shakespeare thrown in that really irked me. For example, "Your mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries!" which is obviously from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Another example is "Frying pans, who knew?" which is from the Disney movie Tangled (or Rapunzel depending on where you are in the world). I simply did not feel like these quotes added anything to the story and I just wish they were left out.

My Lady Jane is divided into two parts, one part that is more or less based on historical events and the second part that moves away from history in its entirety. I liked the second part much better than the first because it's not based on history (or the movie). The magical elements like Gifford turning into a horse during the day did not bother me as much because now it became just a story. I believe I would have liked the first part better if there had been no magic.

If you are expecting a fluffy historical romance with magical elements you will probably enjoy this. My main issues are actually to be explained by my expectations, so don't expect to learn anything of value about Lady Jane and just read it like a historical fantasy not based on anything in particular. I would definitely have enjoyed it more like this. All in all, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars but that is me being generous. It took me such a long time to get through the first part of the book but I liked the second part so much better.


Have you read this book or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below!

If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!

Also, if you have any historical fiction books about Lady Jane that you can recommend me, let me know in the comments!

Review: Perfect World by Rie Aruga

Perfect World is Rie Aruga’s touching drama about the romance that develops between an abled interior designer and her first love, whom she reencounters one day only to find he is wheelchair-bound.


26-year-old Tsugumi Kawana reunites with her first crush from high school, Itsuki Ayukawa, at a get-together between an architecture firm and the interior design company she works at. He sends her heart aflutter, until she realizes he’s now disabled, and in a wheelchair. At first she feels she couldn’t date a guy in a wheelchair, but then her feelings begin to change …

-- Netgalley description --






I got this manga as an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Therefore, I would like to thank the publishers and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this manga in advance.

I'm not a huge manga reader, I've only read 5 others so far (Death Note and Horimiya). I want to read more manga and when I saw this title on Netgalley, I didn't hesitate.

Perfect World is a cute romance story about a girl falling in love with her former high school crush, only now he's in a wheelchair. He has issues accepting that he'll never walk again and how that affects his life.  

I really enjoyed this manga, it was a fast and entertaining read and if I could I would immediately continue to read the sequel. My only problem with Perfect World is a problem I have with manga in general, sometimes I find it confusing to determine who is talking or what exactly is happening and I would love it if the story had more depth, but then I would be comparing the genre to actual novels, which I shouldn't do.

If you like manga or if you want to try it out for the first time, this is a nice choice that will leave you wanting for more! I gave this manga 4 stars and I hope to read more in the future! Very cute but at times thought-provoking read.

Sunday Post #8

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news ~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. 

Life

So, my first four weeks as a teacher have ended and that makes me incredibly sad. I started to miss the pupils from the minute I came home. I did receive some great news, the school asked me to return in May to substitute a retired teacher halftime. I accepted because I feel really good in that school and maybe I can stay next year too, this is a gamble but this school is an ideal choice regarding my location as well. I can't wait until I return. It's nice knowing I did well enough to be asked back too.

In other news, I am also picking up my driver's lessons while I have a break in teaching and I might do some volunteering as well, we'll see.

On the blog

I planned on blogging more this week but I only posted my review of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black which you can find here.

Books

I read three books this week and one comic. Two were backlist books and two were new releases. I hope to review some of them next week but I don't seem to be able to keep up with reviewing as much as I want to but otherwise you'll definitely find out my thoughts during my wrap up!

What I watched this week

I finished binge-watching Jessica Jones, I liked it but I much prefer the first season. The first part of season 2 started building up a lot of tension and action but the second part did not deliver on that part (at least not as much as I come to expect from Netflix Marvel shows).

I was sad to learn that Stephen Hawking passed away this week and that's why my family and I decided to watch The Theory of Everything and it's such an incredible movie. I highly recommend it! I also watched Inception again, one of my favourite films but my father loathed it.

I also finished watching Call the Midwife and I watched two episodes of Chicago P. D. 

What did you watch or read this week? Leave your thoughts down below!


If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!


Have a wonderful day everyone!

Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

-- Goodreads.com description --

This is probably one of the most anticipated and hyped books of 2018. I have never read a Holly Black book before but Fae stories intrigue me.

When I hear the word Fae, I immediately think about pointy ears, magic, tricks, cruelty and Shakespeare. In The Cruel Prince all of these (except Shakespeare) are present and this is something I really enjoyed about this book.

The characters both intrigued and annoyed me. My favourite character is Vivi but I liked Cardan well enough too. I was at times annoyed by Jude but I understood her most of the time. The charachter I really disliked was Jude's sister Taryn. Her inaction was worse than the actual bullying.

As the title suggests, there is a lot of cruelty in this book. Especially when the highborn Fae bully Jude. I didn't have a problem with the inclusion of the bullying scenes, however, I do have problems with how they were handled. I can understand that Jude wants to keep it secret but the bullying should have been addressed by her teacher and family members. We get it, the Fae are cruel, but seeing as a lot of young adults have to deal with bullying, I feel that this topic should have been handled differently.

Aside from that, I did like the second part of the book more, the bullying was not as present and the action picked up too.

The plot twist at the end made me decide to give this book four stars after all. I'm looking forward to reading the sequel, which will likely be different than the first book concerning the issues I have addressed.

Have you read this book or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below.

Sunday Post #7

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. 

Life

I've had a very busy week and on top of that I had a terrible throat ache since Wednesday. However, I'm happy with everything I did and I am terribly sad that next week will be my last in the school I'm currently teaching. I'm hoping I will be asked to return in May, fingers crossed!

On the Blog

I did not get around to posting the second part of my Stacking the Shelves book haul yesterday, but I hope to do so next Saturday. I did post a Can't-Wait Wednesday post, which you can find here.

Books

Due to a very exhausting week, I haven't finished a single book since Sunday. I did start two, which I hope to finish next week: My Lady Jane and The Seafarer's Kiss. The magical elements in My Lady Jane are annoying me and that's why I started The Seafarer's Kiss, which is a book I'm borrowing from a friend and I hope to return it to her soon.

I also just realized this book has tentacles on the cover too!

What I watched this week

I did not watch any movies but I did watch an extremely sad episode of Call the Midwife. I feel like this season has been such an emotional rollercoaster. The show used to be so uplifting and upbeat and that's probably why I had such an extreme reaction to the last episode.

I also started watching Jessica Jones on Netflix and it's amazing! I'm on episode 4 now and on the one hand I want to binge watch it and on the other hand I want to savour it and pace myself. But who am I kidding, I'm going to finish it soon :)



What have you been up to this week? What are you currently reading? Have you read any of the books mentioned above? What did you watch last week? Leave your thoughts down below!

If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Can't-Wait Wednesday: LIFEL1K3 by Jay Kristoff

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and talk about the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting On Wednesday hosted at Breaking the Spine.

On an island junkyard beneath a sky that glows with radiation, a deadly secret lies buried in the scrap.

Seventeen-year-old Eve isn't looking for trouble--she's too busy looking over her shoulder. The robot gladiator she spent months building has been reduced to a smoking wreck, she's on the local gangster's wanted list, and the only thing keeping her grandpa alive is the money she just lost to the bookies. Worst of all, she's discovered she can somehow destroy machines with the power of her mind, and a bunch of puritanical fanatics are building a coffin her size because of it. 

If she's ever had a worse day, Eve can't remember it. The problem is, Eve has had a worse day--one that lingers in her nightmares and the cybernetic implant where her memories used to be. Her discovery of a handsome android named Ezekiel--called a "Lifelike" because they resemble humans--will bring her world crashing down and make her question whether her entire life is a lie. 


With her best friend Lemon Fresh and her robotic sidekick Cricket in tow, Eve will trek across deserts of glass, battle unkillable bots, and infiltrate towering megacities to save the ones she loves... and learn the truth about the bloody secrets of her past.

-- Goodreads.com description --

I love The Illuminae Files and Nevernight series by Jay Kristoff, so I'm definitely excited to read more of his work! LIFEL1K3 will be released at the end of May, if Goodreads is to be believed. This author is quickly becoming one of my favourites and I can't wait to read his newest science fiction story!


Have you read this book or are you planning to? Which books are you highly anticipating? Leave your thoughts down below!

Sunday Post #6

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. 

Life

So my second teaching week was a lot shorter but still went well. I'm posting this quite late on Sunday evening because this morning I had to record my part in our new puppetry show. It sounds good so far! Next week I unexpectedly have to attend a school trip as an extra supervisor, which is something new to me.

Also, Nicholas Eames, the author of Kings of the Wyld, liked one of my Twitter and Goodreads posts, so life is good. :)

This week on the blog

This week I posted my February wrap up and the first part of my February book haul. Sadly, I did not have the time to post a Waiting on Wednesday post. Hope to do so the coming week, though!

February Wrap Up
Stacking the Shelves: February Book Haul Part 1

Currently reading

I read two books and a manga this week and I enjoyed all of them! Hoping to review some of them soon! Two were backlist books and one was a January release.

I hope to read Idaho or Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine this month, let's see if that will happen. As you know, I'm not that great with sticking to my TBR.

What I watched this week

I watched two movies this week North Country and Boyhood. I liked North Country best, hard-hitting script and amazing acting performances. Sadly, Boyhood disappointed me a little, I believe it was just too long. 


What have you been up to this week? What are you currently reading? Have you read any of the books mentioned above? Leave your thoughts down below!

If you enjoyed this review, please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I would really appreciate it!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Stacking the Shelves: February Book Haul Part 1

Stacking the Shelves is a meme co-hosted by Reading Reality and Tynga's Reviews. Each week bloggers share the books they got. As you know, I only bought three e-books in January, which is probably why I felt the need to buy so many books this month.

1. Paper Girls, Vol. 1 (Paper Girls #1) by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang and Matthew Wilson 

I a huge Stranger Things fan and somehow this comic gives me the same vibes, can't wait to read it!

2. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black

I simply had to get this one, it's been everywhere!

3. Artemis by Andy Weir 

I love The Martian and even though I've heard very mixed things about this book, I still want to read it.

4. Lonesome Dove (Lonesome Dove #1) by Larry McMurtry

A literary fiction book about cowboys that has won the Pulitzer Prize? Count me in!

5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

I really want to read this classic and this edition is gorgeous!

6. Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames 

Loved this book! Review to come soon!


The next books are all new editions to my Penguin English library collection!

7. Silas Marner by George Eliot

8. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells

9. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells

10. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

11. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne


Which books did you recently get? Have you read any of the books mentioned above or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below!

If you liked this post please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I really appreciate it! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

February Wrap Up

I read 10 books this month and I'm very happy with what I have read! Three of them were physical books and 7 were e-books. 

1. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

I read and loved The Goldfinch years ago and I received The Secret History as a Christmas present two years ago. It was one of my personal goals to read it this year and I'm so glad I did! It was fantastic! I love Donna Tartt's writing style and I did not have any other choice than to give this gem 5 stars! Highly recommend it!

2. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

I've been wanting to read this for so long and I finally did! It is a fantastic book and now one of my favourite classics! I know Holden Caulfield divides people in the book community but I loved him and he made perfect sense to me. Looking forward to reading more Salinger in the future! 5 stars! Again, highly recommend this one!


After reading these fantastic books and the events in my personal life put me into a bit of a reading slump and that's when I started to read e-books and novella's.

3. Criminal Enchantment (Enchanted, Inc. 0.5) by Shanna Swendson

I have read and loved the first five books in the series and I really want to continue it soon! When I got this novella as a free e-book, I couldn't resist. This is a lovely introduction to the characters from Sam's perspective, short but entertaining. 4 stars!

4. Someone to Wed (Westcott #3) by Mary Balogh

This was entertaining enough but the writing style and the repetitive emotions of the characters did annoy me at times. 3 stars.

5. The Girl with the Make-Believe Husband (Rokesbys, #2)
by Julia Quinn

This was quite a fun romance novel, ridiculous but entertaining. 3,5 stars!

6. Because of Miss Bridgerton (Rokesbys, #1) by Julia Quinn

After realizing this book featured love to hate romance I just had to pick it up and I enjoyed it! 3,5 stars! Looking forward to reading more books in this series!

7. Blood and Sand by C.V. Wyk

I already reviewed this book, you can find my thoughts here. 4 stars!

8. Binti (Binti, #1) by Nnedi Okorafor

This was so different from what I expected. It was entertaining enough but I do not get all the hype. I am probably going to continue but I did find it confusing at times. My main problem was that it was too short to be a well-developed story. 3 stars. Still might change it to 2,5 stars.

9. Horimiya volume 1 by Hero, Daisuke Hagiwara 

I saw this one Missemmareadsalot booktube channel and I immediately wanted to pick it up, luckily I found the first volume as an e-book for only 1,99 euros. Really enjoyed this volume and I will definitely continue this manga series! It's so cute! 4 stars!

10. Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames 

Absolutely loved this book! It's an adult fantasy adventure novel and the character are incredible! I got attached to all of them immediately and I can't wait to read the sequel! If you're looking for an adult fantasy book with lots of humour, this is the book for you! 5 stars!


My favourite books last month were The Secret History, The Catcher in the Rye and Kings of the Wyld! Highly recommend them all!


Which books did you read in February? Have you read any of the books mentioned above or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below!

If you liked this post please follow me on Bloglovin', Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads! I really appreciate it! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!