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!