tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35151993764053245692024-03-13T15:24:58.099+00:00An Awful Lot Of ReadingAnyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.comBlogger762125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-61343555846486008332021-07-09T10:31:00.002+01:002021-07-09T10:31:15.773+01:00Reputation by Lex Croucher<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KKSrH8MM0fI/YOgXDu6UShI/AAAAAAAAD4U/bl02UysHSlYPkZDaxHGQ15UabHZ75fnJQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KKSrH8MM0fI/YOgXDu6UShI/AAAAAAAAD4U/bl02UysHSlYPkZDaxHGQ15UabHZ75fnJQCLcBGAsYHQ/w208-h320/image.png" width="208" /></a></div>Abandoned by her parents, middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who lives a life Georgiana couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br />Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana falls in with Frances and her unfathomably rich, deeply improper friends. Georgiana is introduced to a new world: drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely arresting hands, and the upper echelons of Regency society.<br /><br />But the price of entry to high society might just be higher than Georgiana is willing to pay... </i><br /><br />Marketed as Gossip Girl meets Jane Austen, Lex Croucher’s debut novel certainly is that and more! Highly entertaining, it tells of Georgiana, who has recently moved in with her aunt and uncle, and she is bored. Until Frances appears, like dramatic whirlwind, and pulls Georgiana into her fun-filled frenzy of unchaperoned parties, indecent conversations and cocktails of drinks and drugs. <br /><br />Georgiana was a perfectly flawed protagonist; she was sweet-natured but also desperate to be liked and to have adventure, and this made her naïve and cruel to others, just to impress Frances. I spent a lot of the book trying to shake Georgiana out of her self-destructive behaviour! Pulled into Frances’s friendship group with the lure of drama and booze-soaked fun, Georgiana nearly loses herself in the thick of all the excitement and attention. <br /><br /> Croucher does an excellent job of blending the timeless troubles of young adults finding themselves and testing boundaries, with the Georgian backdrop of societal expectations. Nothing feels forced or modernised, or indeed modern conversation pushed into historical settings, it all felt very realistic and almost classical. The issues of friendship and family are timeless, and the lengths Georgiana goes to, to change and almost lose herself, in order to impress people, as well as peeling back the shiny façade of popularity, is something we recognise from today.<br /><br /><i>Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-5258233613165106822021-05-28T13:59:00.004+01:002021-05-28T13:59:53.286+01:00The Couple by Helly Acton<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SwXM8pVTd0o/YLDo-ytPiDI/AAAAAAAAD3M/ChaKOqFOssULo6eSUTlYL08mnnxRZbgdACLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SwXM8pVTd0o/YLDo-ytPiDI/AAAAAAAAD3M/ChaKOqFOssULo6eSUTlYL08mnnxRZbgdACLcBGAsYHQ/w209-h320/image.png" width="209" /></a></div>Millie is a perfectionist. She's happy, she's successful and, with a great support network of friends and family (and a very grumpy cat), she's never lonely. She loves working at a big tech firm and is on track be promoted to her dream role. The last thing she needs is romance messing up her perfectly organised world.</i></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><br />Besides, normal people just don't have romantic relationships. Everyone knows that being in a couple is a bit . . . well, odd. You know, like having a pet snake or referring to yourself in the third person. Why rely on another person for your own happiness? Why risk the humiliation of unrequited love or the agony of a break-up? No, Millie is more than happy with her conventional single life.<br /><br />So, when Millie lands a new project at work, launching a pill that prevents you falling in love, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. That is, until she starts working with Ben. He's charming and funny, and Millie feels an instant connection to him.<br /><br />Will Millie sacrifice everything she believes in for love?</i><br /><br />After reading and loving Helly Acton’s first novel “The Shelf” last year, I knew I’d be in for a treat with her new story: discovering an antidote for love. In this world, couples are treated the way we do singletons – oh, don’t worry, relationships don’t last forever, you should be focussing on you and your dreams, how to even make decisions when you always have to check with someone else? Everything was flipped, from the reality shows focussing on breaking couples up, to people’s attitudes towards parents staying together to raise their kid, even the meal deals for a single plate! And when you look at it backwards, you realise how weird our own society is in the way we treat relationships, singletons and co-parenting. <br /><br />We follow Millie, a creative manager working at one of the fastest growing hook-up apps, as she first meets Ben, a chaotic new member of the team who has very different ideas about love. As they work together on a marketing pitch for a new pill that will stop you from falling in love, they prove that old adage: opposites attract. They were super cute together, balancing each other out and learning new perspectives on the (dare I say it?) benefits of relationships. <br /><br />The whole thing was pretty bizarre but very fun. The friendships especially made it for me; the network of friends Millie has around her all bring some balance to her need for control and, in Ruth’s case, shows that you don’t lose your identity or your friendships by being in a healthy relationship. It might have been a bit corny in places but it was a fascinating new spin on a romantic novel, brought to us by Acton’s brilliant writing style. <br /><br /><i>Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span><div><b style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"></b></div></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-44524672751824962792021-05-11T11:40:00.002+01:002021-05-11T11:40:13.472+01:00You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry<i><span style="font-family: georgia;">TWO FRIENDS</span></i><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6DAy4SGLw84/YJpem_tDcXI/AAAAAAAAD28/V03s6tiFvR4GAwbs6yQVVThOGn8vqKg6wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><img alt="" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6DAy4SGLw84/YJpem_tDcXI/AAAAAAAAD28/V03s6tiFvR4GAwbs6yQVVThOGn8vqKg6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w209-h320/image.png" width="209" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>TEN SUMMER TRIPS<br />THEIR LAST CHANCE TO FALL IN LOVE<br /><br />12 SUMMERS AGO: Poppy and Alex meet. They hate each other, and are pretty confident they'll never speak again.<br /><br />11 SUMMERS AGO: They're forced to share a ride home from college and by the end of it a friendship is formed. And a pact: every year, one vacation together.<br /><br />10 SUMMERS AGO: Alex discovers his fear of flying on the way to Vancouver. Poppy holds his hand the whole way.<br /><br />7 SUMMERS AGO: They get far too drunk and narrowly avoid getting matching tattoos in New Orleans.<br /><br />2 SUMMERS AGO: It all goes wrong.<br /><br />THIS SUMMER: Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives.</i><br /><br />It would be an understatement to say that Poppy is a traveller at heart. She yearns to see the world and for the last 10 summers, she has been able to branch out and explore more and more of it. Mostly with her best friend Alex, who is not a traveller. While Poppy wants the freedom of the open road, Alex wants the white picket fence and the steady job. But somehow, their friendship works and every summer, they travel together and discover somewhere new. <br /><br />Told across various time periods, all based around that summer holiday, we see Poppy and Alex’s friendship in college blossom and span different jobs, financial situations and romantic partners, all the way to the present where they have some serious soul-searching to do. <br /><br />It is a total “opposites attract” type of love story, because on paper, Poppy and Alex do not work together at all. But in reality, they just… get each other, in a way no one else in their lives do. It is also an adorable take on the friends to lovers trope, as they circle each other, wary of crossing that invisible line that would potentially ruin things forever. <br /><br />With the world being what it is right now, I lived vicariously through Poppy’s travelling – imagine being able to travel? Leave the country, just because? Imagine being in a bar?! Anyway, the settings, the tension, the weird tourist traps, just all of it was so good and I fell head over heels for Poppy and Alex.</span><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"></span></span></i></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</span></i></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-40949659885281689412021-04-01T14:12:00.004+01:002021-04-01T14:12:50.729+01:00The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne by Jonathan Stroud<span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qDIIsXZIx_c/YGXGhBI0TvI/AAAAAAAAD2c/AsqHpBrQpuMCXZRzpFnsBcdqDq_S6c94wCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="307" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qDIIsXZIx_c/YGXGhBI0TvI/AAAAAAAAD2c/AsqHpBrQpuMCXZRzpFnsBcdqDq_S6c94wCLcBGAsYHQ/w208-h320/image.png" width="208" /></a></div>Set in a fragmented future England, The Outlaws Scarlett and Browne introduces us to a world where gunfights and monsters collide, and where the formidable outlaw Scarlett McCain fights daily against the odds. When she discovers a wrecked coach on a lonely road, there is only one survivor – the seemingly hapless youth, Albert Browne. Against her instincts, Scarlett agrees to escort him to safety. This is a mistake. Soon, new and implacable enemies are on her heels. As a relentless pursuit continues across the broken landscape of England, Scarlett must fight to uncover the secrets of Albert’s past – and come to terms with the implications of her own.</i></span><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyone who knows me will know both how much I love Stroud’s Lockwood and Co series and how much I adore a good dystopian. So, this was a no-brainer to me! Set in an apocalyptic future, where Britain has divided itself into seven “kingdoms”, we follow Scarlett and Albert travels through Wessex, the wilds of the Cotswolds! As I live in that area, it was weird to see town names that I recognised but twisted to survive in this future. <br /><br />Scarlett is a bank robber, primarily, although she also travels, sells dubious “religious artifacts” and, only as a last resort of course, kills. After a job goes very nearly wrong, Scarlett is forced to run to avoid being caught by the town’s militia and discovers a bus crash. Against all odds, amid this bus crash is Albert, a stringy-looking boy who is uncharacteristically bright and chatty for such a bleak world. They form an unlikely and sometimes dangerous alliance to travel together to Stow. Obviously, things go wrong, people get killed, they need to change plans and rob more banks… you know, the usual. As they are chased across Wessex, we learn more about them, and they discover secrets about each other – especially the reason they are being chased in the first place. <br /><br />Stroud has an excellent way of telling a story without revealing too much; the reader ever so slowly puts the pieces together about Scarlett’s past, about the way this world works (or doesn’t, depending on the point of view) and most importantly, about Albert. Not only was it about unlikely friendships but it had strong themes of family, trust and survival. Another winner from Stroud, as far as I’m concerned, and a world and set of characters that I’d love to hear more about.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-19999879530390371242021-03-08T11:50:00.004+00:002021-03-08T11:51:45.652+00:00Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOeLHmcrgUw/YEYPAZnVqRI/AAAAAAAAD2A/wkFS7Dg-zqA200l_aHpRxNm05mf3ZnVUACLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Perfect.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="307" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOeLHmcrgUw/YEYPAZnVqRI/AAAAAAAAD2A/wkFS7Dg-zqA200l_aHpRxNm05mf3ZnVUACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Perfect.jpg" /></a></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Everyone in school knows about Locker 89. If you slip a letter in outlining your relationship woes, along with a fiver, an anonymous source will email you with the best advice you've ever gotten.</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Darcy Phillips, a quiet, sweet junior, is safe in the knowledge no one knows she's the genius behind locker 89. Until Brougham, a senior, catches her.</span></i><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">The deal Brougham offers is tempting: in exchange for his silence--and a generous coach's fee to sweeten the deal--Darcy can become Brougham's personal dating coach to help him get his ex-girlfriend back.<br /><br />And as for Darcy, well, she has a fairly good reason to want to keep her anonymity. Because she has another secret. Not too long ago, she abused locker 89 to sabotage the budding romance of her best friend, Brooke. Brooke, who Darcy's been in love with for a year now.<br /><br />Yeah. Brooke can't find out about that. No matter what.</span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Known only as “Locker 89”, Darcy has been providing advice to anyone in her school who asks for it, through an anonymous dead drop and email. This has worked very well for her for more than two years, until a new student waits by the locker, hoping to pay for her services in person. Though Brougham effectively blackmails her, Darcy agrees and thus begins a strange partnership to get him back his girlfriend.<br /><br />I loved the premise of this: agony aunt-style advice, relationships issues, secret loves, and bi rep. I was especially impressed with the psychological take on how Darcy gives advice; she researched and learned about different attachment styles, the needs and wants for different relationships and followed other advice gurus online. Honestly, she knew her stuff!<br /><br />The story focuses on two main themes: Locker 89 and the advice service, and sexuality, especially as a teenager. The advice, both wanted and unwarranted, flowed throughout and Darcy, although she knew her stuff, did mess up when it involved her friends, especially her best friend Brooke. As for the sexuality, I was thoroughly impressed with the bi rep. I have a few friends and people I follow online that identity as bisexual and I recognised some of the issues that Darcy faced with her sexuality: feeling like she didn’t quite fit in a queer space, like she’s not “queer enough”. It was very respectively written, I think – although apart from appreciating the diversity and the issues it discussed, as a cis-woman, I don’t feel I can have a proper opinion, so I’ll just say I really liked it, both as a storyline and portrayed through Darcy’s character.<br /><br />Speaking of: Darcy was all kinds of adorable. And Brougham was her opposite; closed where she was open, a little stilted where Darcy was emotional. I liked them together, though, they had very good banter and played off each other really well. By the end, I could see how they complemented and bought out the best in each other.<br /><br />All in all, the kind of love/coming of age story that the genre needs and one that I thoroughly enjoyed.</span><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</span></i></div></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-65010071349243388282020-11-05T10:19:00.001+00:002020-11-05T10:19:17.424+00:00Zeus Is A Dick by Susie Donkin<i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-82cD7pBhWZ4/X6PRaBPpGTI/AAAAAAAAD0M/RGRKWb2Hiagatw4UTVZWeYktxAX0rQdIQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-82cD7pBhWZ4/X6PRaBPpGTI/AAAAAAAAD0M/RGRKWb2Hiagatw4UTVZWeYktxAX0rQdIQCLcBGAsYHQ/w263-h400/image.png" width="263" /></a></div>In the beginning, everything was fine.* And then along came Zeus.<br />*more or less<br /><br />Ahh Greek myths. Those glorious tales of heroism, honour and... petty squabbles, soap-opera drama and more weird sex than Fifty Shades of Grey could shake a stick at!<br /><br />It's about time we stopped respecting myths and started laughing at them - because they're really very weird. Did you know Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, was born of some discarded genitals? Or that Hera threw her own son off a mountain because he was ugly? Or that Apollo once kidnapped a boat full of people while pretending to be a dolphin?<br /><br />And let's not even get started on Zeus - king of the gods, ruler of the skies and a man who's never heard of self-control. In fact, if there's one thing most Greek myths have in common, it's that all the drama could have been avoided if SOMEONE could keep it in their toga...<br /><br />Horrible Histories writer Susie Donkin takes us on a hilarious romp through mythology and the many times the gods (literally) screwed everything up! Stephen Fry's Mythos by way of Drunk History, Zeus is a Dick is perfect for those who like their myths with a heavy dollop of satire.</span></i><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">You can tell that Susie Donkin writes for Horrible Histories – the narrative style was very informal, crude and honestly like a soap opera. If the ancient Greek gods mingled with the cast of “Geordie Shore”, I wouldn’t be surprised, or be able to tell the difference! <br /><br />This was a quickfire rundown of Greek mythology, giving a brief and speedy recap to the major players and how they related to each other – spoiler, they are all in fact literally related to each other! I really appreciated this format; it was nice to have a timeline to the random myths I’d always been aware of. And like the cast of “Geordie Shore”, the Greek gods were insane, horny and irresponsible. Donkin did an OK job of highlighting the wrongness of many of their actions, although I did tire of the writing style quite quickly. This is definitely a book to dip in and out of. <br /><br />My understanding of the origin of myths is that ancient society used the stories to explain the world around them; the sea, the land, our relationships, even death, are controlled by the gods and that is who we need to appease so we don’t die from disease or famine. This is also why, I believe, so many myths are misogynistic and often involve rape: because the society that created them viewed women as lesser, so the gods did too. <br /><br />Of course, this is my understanding and may be entirely wrong, but from my perspective, I can somewhat understand why Donkin wanted to write in this style: because the gods did do weird and stupid things and the subject matter lends itself to campfire stories. I can also understand why some readers didn’t appreciate Donkin’s assumptions of ancient Greeks’ motivation, because obviously there is no way to know why these myths were created. <br /><br />Anyway, although the writing style took some getting used to, I actually liked this collection of myths. It was quite simplistic, assumed too many things and definitely brushed over a lot of details, but for an overall history of the Greek gods and goddesses, I thought it was good.</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-size: 14px;"></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: georgia;">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</span></i></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-36999847305380465222020-10-19T10:12:00.008+01:002020-10-19T10:12:56.043+01:00Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i></i></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YYT4hKRH3Lg/X41YLnfrS3I/AAAAAAAADzs/s152evKOvzgf6s7DGdxJN2CMvYVBp0sZwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="317" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YYT4hKRH3Lg/X41YLnfrS3I/AAAAAAAADzs/s152evKOvzgf6s7DGdxJN2CMvYVBp0sZwCLcBGAsYHQ/w267-h400/image.png" width="267" /></a></i></span></div><i style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia;">Snow White's stepmother wanted to get rid of the beautiful stepdaughter who was challenging her title of 'most beautiful' - by any means necessary. Was Snow White poisoned? What happens to the poisoned, and the poisoner?</i><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;"><i>Jennifer Donnelly turns her feminist eye to this most delicious of fairy tales and shows Snow White as she's never been seen before.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Sophie is Snow White, with hair
black as coal and lips red as apples. You all know the story, but Donnelly has
put a fantastic feminist twist on this retelling, focussing on the importance
of kindness and the strength needed in a male-dominated world.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">You know that saying: history is
written by the winners? Well in this case, it has been written by the men. The
wicked queen wasn’t all that wicked, she had to be extra strong to keep the
throne in a world where men didn’t like women in charge; and she wasn’t vain,
asking the mirror who was the fairest of them all, but rather asking how to
keep herself in power; Snow White herself was kind but that didn’t make her
passive or weak, it was how she persevered and cared for her kingdom.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">I really enjoyed this; as a fan of the Brothers
Grimm tales and of all fairy tale retellings, I greatly appreciated the new
spin and the little hints to the original, like the three attempts of murder
that the stepmother tried: the laces, the hair comb and finally the poisoned
apple. While it almost felt slow-paced, Sophie traversed most of her kingdom
and met a lot of people, some friendly and some foes, on her quest to topple the
queen and get her heart back from the King of Crows. Speaking of whom, the personification
of fear and pain was fascinating and very clever, especially mixed with the
metaphor of cutting out Sophie’s heart – which would not only kill her but also
remove her kindness and goodness. It was only the quick thinking of the “seven brothers”
that saved Sophie’s soul and allowed her some extra time to make a plan and discover
her own strength. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></p>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-2818359226072094402020-08-21T13:44:00.000+01:002020-08-21T13:47:38.061+01:00Mini Reviews: Cinderella Is Dead and Chasing Lucky<div class="separator"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ksDpbmifIA/Xz_AJHGlL5I/AAAAAAAADyk/54cJr-MVeuotpd9yfns1YYT4ALky4wPpACLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Cinderella.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6ksDpbmifIA/Xz_AJHGlL5I/AAAAAAAADyk/54cJr-MVeuotpd9yfns1YYT4ALky4wPpACLcBGAsYHQ/w210-h320/Cinderella.jpg" width="210" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron</b><br /><i>It's 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over.<br /><br />Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she's tiny until the night she's sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball are forfeited.<br /></i><i><br />But Sophia doesn't want to be chosen – she's in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia's night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella's tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world.</i><br /><br />The premise of this was fascinating and well executed: women have been manipulated into believing the sugar-coated version of Cinderella’s love story and anyone who doesn’t fit the strict male-dominated values is imprisoned. Sophia is terrified of the ball, of being pawed and leered at, of being a pawn in a man’s game, so she flees. In the hidden mausoleum of Cinderella’s final resting place, she meets Constance, who is like her and wants to topple the unfair system and the lies surrounding Cinderella’s so-called “happily ever after”. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, I didn’t quite believe the romance between Sophia and Constance. Between Sophia still having feelings for her best friend and the pace of overthrowing the patriarchy, the romance kind of fell by the wayside. Not to say that it was badly written or anything, I just wanted to be swept up in it. But the plot? That was incredible, especially the subtle hints to the original tale and then subverting them, making the women of this story take centre stage, as is right.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br />There were lots of twists and turns, it was very fast paced and full of secrets waiting to be uncovered. I even gasped a few times with surprise! All in all, a solid read for me, maybe could have benefited from a bit more world-building but the message and the story were great.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><i style="font-family: georgia;">Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x0tKWxjSTuQ/Xz_BZw4d_KI/AAAAAAAADy0/I-FfQoqm9FgpJtQ7FiPl_wRB8nHpNoqvwCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Lucky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="312" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-x0tKWxjSTuQ/Xz_BZw4d_KI/AAAAAAAADy0/I-FfQoqm9FgpJtQ7FiPl_wRB8nHpNoqvwCLcBGAsYHQ/w210-h320/Lucky.jpg" width="210" /></a></div></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Chasing Lucky by Jenn Bennett</b></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Budding photographer Josie Saint-Martin has spent half her life with her single mother, moving from city to city. When they return to her historical New England hometown to run the family bookstore, Josie knows it's not forever, so there's no reason to change her modus operandi—keeping to herself, dreaming of the day she can leave.<br /><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>But after a disastrous summer party, a poorly executed act of revenge lands her in big-time trouble. As in, jail...alongside the last person with whom she’d want to share a mugshot: the son of the boat mechanic across the street, Lucky Karras. Outsider, rebel…and her former childhood best friend.<br /><br />Josie and Lucky become the talk of their coastal small town. But during a summer of secrets, everything changes, and </i></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>the easy friendship they once shared grows into something deeper and more complicated. Can Josie and Lucky swim past obstacles that come with rough waters, or will they both go down together?</i><br /><br />Jenn Bennett is on my auto-buy list, she is a brilliant author and her stories always just wrap me up and break me a little bit, and “Chasing Lucky” was no different. Josie is a budding photographer and wants this next year to go as smoothly as possible, so she can graduate high school and intern with her estranged father, a famous photographer, in Los Angeles. Problems ensue, because of course, the main one being Lucky, her childhood best friend whom she hasn’t spoken to since she and her mum left town. Josie’s been on the run with her mother since a big fight with her grandmother five years ago. She was too young to really understand what the fight was about but for the last five years, Josie and her mum have moved from town to town, never really settling, until her grandmother asks them both to come back to man the family bookshop while she’s away. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">While this was a story about Josie getting to know her childhood best friend again, about them falling in love (which they did and it was freaking adorable), it’s also about family and secrets and communication. The reason that Josie and her mum didn’t return to Beauty for five years was because Winona didn’t know how to communicate with Josie, and because she didn’t communicate well with her own mother, Deidre. Secrets and white lies and “didn’t tell you to protect you” can’t stay hidden forever, and it is a horrible way to teach your daughter about honesty and communication between family. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i>Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-4553108724292009362020-07-13T15:43:00.001+01:002020-07-13T15:43:45.704+01:00Mini reviews: Beach Read and The Shelf<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f1QRVnR_l18/Xwxyw4qdxnI/AAAAAAAADyA/UVwOWtYIjaY0nYXnlHcMcItbXKsaNzwBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s475/Beach%2BRead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f1QRVnR_l18/Xwxyw4qdxnI/AAAAAAAADyA/UVwOWtYIjaY0nYXnlHcMcItbXKsaNzwBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Beach%2BRead.jpg" /></a></div><b style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="font-family: georgia;">Beach Read</b></div></div><div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><font face="georgia"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">He doesn't believe in happy endings.<br />She's lost her faith that they exist.<br />But could they find one together?</span></font></i><i><font face="georgia"><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">January is a hopeless romantic who likes narrati</span></font></i><i><font face="georgia"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">ng her life as if she's the heroine in a blockbuster movie.</span></font></i></div><div><i><font face="georgia"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Augustus is a serious literary type who thinks true love is a fairy-tale.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">January and Augustus are not going to get on.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">But they actually have more in common than you'd think:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They're both broke.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They've got crippling writer's block.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">They need to write bestsellers before the end of the summer.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The result? A bet to see who can get their book published first.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The catch? They have to swap genres.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">The risk? In telling each other's stories, their worlds might be changed entirely...</span></font><br /></i></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;">January is
reluctantly spending the summer at her dad’s secret second home, a year after
he died and she met his mistress at his funeral. She is hoping to finish her
new novel and get the house ready to sell, while still grappling with the
confusing medley of missing and being angry with her father and being unable to
get answers from him now.</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font face="georgia">Meanwhile, her
new neighbour is none other than Gus Everett, literary fiction writer and rival
since college. Hilarity ensues as they make a bet to write in each other’s
genres, including research trips, with the promise for the loser to promote the
winner’s next novel.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font face="georgia">Secrets can be
confusing, destructive and all-consuming. January is still trying to understand
her dad’s and what his secrets did to her belief in happily ever after’s. This
book was equal parts the warm fuzzies and harsh truths. I laughed, I cried, my
heart melted, and all the while, the romantic tropes were cleverly hiding the
importance of trusting each other and coming to understand that people are
complicated but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a happily ever after.</font></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font face="georgia">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</font></p><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YzECq9ofZyc/Xwxy1qiGVTI/AAAAAAAADyE/DBNecwgihbE_XPZMOqLhwIGLuwgYi6W0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s383/The%2BShelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="255" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YzECq9ofZyc/Xwxy1qiGVTI/AAAAAAAADyE/DBNecwgihbE_XPZMOqLhwIGLuwgYi6W0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/The%2BShelf.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><font face="georgia"><b>The Shelf</b></font></div><div><i><font face="georgia"><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Everyone in Amy's life seems to be getting married (or so Instagram tells her), and she feels like she's falling behind.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">So, when her boyfriend surprises her with a dream holiday to a mystery destination, she thinks this is it — he's going to finally pop the Big Question. But the dream turns into a nightmare when she finds herself on the set of a Big Brother-style reality television show, The Shelf.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Along with five other women, Amy is dumped live on TV and must compete in a series of humiliating and obnoxious tasks in the hope of being crowned 'The Keeper'.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">Will Amy's time on the show make her realise there are worse things in life than being left on the shelf?</span></font></i></div><div><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><font face="georgia"><br /></font></span></i></div><div><font face="georgia"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The </span></i><span><i>Shelf</i> started out quite
awkward and cringy: a lot of fat-shaming, body image issues, a seriously
unhealthy relationship being glossed over…. But then, as the women get to know
each other, bond over the stupid and insane reaction the show is getting, and
from the ridiculous behaviour of the host, the deeper and more complex issues
are addressed. And very well, I might add!</span></font></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span><font face="georgia">From such a
mix of women, we see a mix of attitudes; Jackie and Gemma are unabashedly
themselves and labelled bitch because of it, Lauren doesn’t hide that she likes
sex, Kathy is an older woman and heaven forbid we see one of those on TV!
Hattie and Amy have various body and self-esteem issues, and Flick seems to set
feminism back about sixty years with her desire to be a 1950’s housewife. But
as we learn about them, as we hear about their backgrounds, about what they
want and why they want it, the understanding comes that all of their versions
of feminism and femininity are valid.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span><font face="georgia">Hilarious and
stupid tasks they are set, in order to prove themselves worthy of a man: taking
care of a doll baby, planning a perfect garden party, and learning how to take
care of your man’s needs. The whole thing made me equal parts growl with anger
and giggle from the absurdity but it did make me think about double-standards,
the pressures of living our lives online and the sheer performance of being “perfect
for a man”, as if that’s the most important thing a woman can achieve.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span><font face="georgia">I wasn’t sure
I’d like it at the beginning; it was brash and weirdly terrifying in the way Acton
held a magnifying glass to our society’s need to document our “picture perfect”
lives online. But underneath all the gloss of Instagram and the dangers of reality
television, it was about female friendship.</font></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span><font face="georgia">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</font></span></p><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: merriweather, georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"></span></i></div></div></div>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-6110645288239374742020-05-18T13:16:00.001+01:002020-05-18T13:16:38.907+01:00Mini reviews: Only Mostly Devastated and The First Date<br />
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<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558716772l/45046743.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Only Mostly Devastated" border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1558716772l/45046743.jpg" width="208" /></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Only Mostly
Devastated by Sophie Gonzales</b><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ollie is out.
Will is not. In fact, he is beyond terrified of being outed. So when Ollie, his
summer fling, transfers to his school, Will turns up the jock jokes, the mask,
in an effort to deflect any possibility of their secret coming out. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was a
super cute story of falling in love with a side story of family grief. The way
the warm fuzzies of Ollie and Will are intertwined with the gut-wrenching
ordeal of a family member with cancer was incredibly and carefully written. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I adored this
story; the “Grease” influence was subtle and adorable, everyone’s feelings were
equally valid – even when Will was a right idiot – and the friendships were
spot-on. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The trio of girls that Ollie befriends were all amazing in their own
right, and Will’s basketball buddies weren’t just meathead jocks. I mean, there
were moments but the whole toxic masculinity in sports thing was handled and
then dismantled, as it turns out that men have feelings too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584372890l/52869723._SX318_SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The First Date" border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1584372890l/52869723._SX318_SY475_.jpg" width="209" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b>The First Date by Zara Stoneley</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rosie needs
help. After a long term relationship ends, Rosie finds herself in the
mysterious and dangerous world of dating but ends up being ghosted. Noah
rescues her ego and she agrees to allow him to teach her the ways of men. Fun and
witty, this book delves headfirst into the realms of online dating, the different
expectations of men and women, and loving yourself before expecting someone
else to love you too. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I expected a
lot from this and unfortunately it didn’t quite deliver. Rosie and Noah were
entertaining to read but I didn’t root for them, nor did I really learn
anything about them. The one trait that Rosie had were some major daddy issues,
which was constantly bought up, which might make her somewhat relatable but it
was very annoying and when that’s the most interesting thing about you? That
you’re constantly comparing men, especially Noah, to her dirt bag of a father? No
thanks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Also, Noah’s “teaching”:
I found some of his advice sexist and also just non-existent; how is it helpful
to push a friend to ask out a guy, without any hints of any kind? And then, to
be angry with her for agreeing to a date! Sure, he likes her and is pettily
jealous but don’t go all passive-aggressive on her for it! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite the
lack of proper character development, I did enjoy this. It didn’t quite live up
to the promise of the synopsis but a cutesy, fun read nonetheless.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></span></div>
Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-31567191157548807972020-03-11T06:00:00.000+00:002020-03-11T06:00:05.158+00:00Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon<i style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Will the princess save the beast?</i><br />
<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564596749l/43985469._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Of Curses and Kisses (St. Rosetta's Academy, #1)" border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564596749l/43985469._SY475_.jpg" width="211" /></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">no way </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’s doomed once he turns eighteen. Sequestered away in the mountains at St. Rosetta’s International Academy, he’s lived an isolated existence—until Jaya Rao bursts into his life, but he can't shake the feeling that she’s hiding something. Something that might just have to do with the rose-shaped ruby pendant around her neck…</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #181818;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818;">As the stars conspire to keep them apart, Jaya and Grey grapple with questions of love, loyalty, and whether it’s possible to write your own happy ending.</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">A re-telling of Beauty and
The Beast but set in a boarding school – what’s not to love? The premise is
that Jaya and her sister have been sent to an elite school for the rich and
famous (and/or their offspring) to wait out the media storm surrounding the
younger sister (whose name escapes me). But while there, Jaya has a plan to
break the heart of the person she holds responsible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I loved the originality of
the retelling: the princess seeking out the beast to break his heart in
retribution for his family ruining her sister’s reputation. But Grey isn’t easy
to get close to, as he believes in the family lore that Jaya’s family cursed
his for stealing a priceless jewel centuries ago. The whole thing had a very
Romeo and Juliet feel to it, with family feuds and old curses and no-one really
remembering why it all started in the first place!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I did not understand the
whole “curse” thing – it was really secretive for a long time then revealed to
only be that his mother died in childbirth! Says more about his father blaming
him for it, than it does about Grey “killing” his mother. Plus, from Jaya’s
point of view, her family doesn’t really believe in the old story that one of
her ancestors cursed Grey’s. It all seemed to have been blown out of proportion,
plus it wasn’t explained very well. It involved a lot of telling rather than
showing, with a lot of inner monologue, especially from Jaya.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I appreciated the dual perspective,
although I’m not sure it added a whole lot, as much of Grey’s chapters were him
brooding and Jaya’s were complaining about the strict traditions she had to
follow. Both characters had their very real flaws that only added to their
characters: Jaya was the older, responsibly sister and so followed the rules to
the letter, which became very annoying as she put the rules above her own
feelings. And Grey had Lord Byron-level of brooding and had a very angsty aura
that, unfortunately, got old quickly – at least for me. Having said that, I
liked that once they got to know each other, they balanced each other out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">All in all, I enjoyed this
story but too much of it was disappointing. It’s not like I wanted Grey to turn
into a werewolf or anything (although that would have been awesome!) but to
discover a third of the way through that the reason he avoided people was that
his jerk father had let him believe he had killed his mother when really, she
had died in childbirth. I couldn’t really get other that, as on the one hand it
made me feel sorry for Grey but on the other, it was a crappy reason to believe
that he deserved to be alone and to die on his eighteenth birthday.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</i></span></div>
Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-56243651407947706772020-01-28T09:00:00.000+00:002020-01-28T09:00:09.485+00:00If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlane<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/48691788-if-i-never-met-you" itemprop="image" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If I Never Met You" height="400" id="coverImage" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1572858693l/48691788._SY475_.jpg" width="258" /></a><span id="freeText8261519034325810869"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>When her partner of over a decade suddenly ends things, Laurie is left reeling—not only because they work at the same law firm and she has to see him every day. Her once perfect life is in shambles and the thought of dating again in the age of Tinder is nothing short of horrifying. When news of her ex’s pregnant girlfriend hits the office grapevine, taking the humiliation lying down is not an option. Then a chance encounter in a broken-down elevator with the office playboy opens up a new possibility.<br /><br />Jamie Carter doesn’t believe in love, but he needs a respectable, steady girlfriend to impress their bosses. Laurie wants a hot new man to give the rumour mill something else to talk about. It’s the perfect proposition: a fauxmance played out on social media, with strategically staged photographs and a specific end date in mind. With the plan hatched, Laurie and Jamie begin to flaunt their new couple status, to the astonishment—and jealousy—of their friends and colleagues. But there’s a fine line between pretending to be in love and actually falling for your charming, handsome fake boyfriend...</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is my first Mhairi McFarlane
novel and I can see why she’s a favourite of the rom-com genre! Basically,
Laurie gets dumped by her long-term boyfriend, who thinks he’s stuck in a rut,
and sends her spiralling into an existential crisis about where she should be
at this point in her life. Enter Jamie, who needs a way to improve his
reputation at the law firm they all work at and has a crazy idea for them to
fake-date. It kills two birds with one stone, you see, it will improve his
image and make Dan jealous – win-win! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What I especially loved
about this story was that it was realistic. Jamie was always a gentleman and
proved to not be the man-whore everyone made him out to be, and Laurie wasn’t
all career-oriented or baby-crazy, she was a nice mix of both, plus super smart
and incredibly witty. Their relationship was a proper slow-burner as well, not
falling into any of clichés of shoving two characters together but rather
letting them get to know each other outside of work, away from the distractions
and gossip and the surprisingly toxic environment of their office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All in all, it was a
lovely page-turner, both romantic and dramatic, with dashes of feminism,
important friendships and the perfectly imperfect love interest.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review. </i></span></div>
<span></span>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-73926709758765487712019-12-16T16:26:00.003+00:002019-12-16T16:26:54.872+00:00Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan<a href="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567875204l/48073637._SY475_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Unpregnant (Unpregnant #1)" border="0" height="320" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567875204l/48073637._SY475_.jpg" width="212" /></a><i style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Veronica is top of her class - and somehow she's found herself gazing in disbelief at a positive pregnancy test. Even worse, her ex-best friend and the high school's legendary malcontent, Bailey, is the only one there to help. In this warm and darkly funny road trip story, Veronica and Bailey drive a thousand miles to an out-of-state abortion clinic - rediscovering their friendship in the process.</i><br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Hooked by the premise of a bonding-style road trip and the emotional roller-coaster of seeking an abortion, I was surprised at how much I loved and laughed at this book. Basically, Ronnie discovers she’s pregnant and her dreams of Ivy League university crash and burn, along with her parents’ and friends’ image of perfect Veronica. After her boyfriend tries to propose, spilling that he already suspected she was pregnant, Ronnie needs to go to another state to get an abortion as she is under 18 and can only turn to her ex-best friend Bailey to drive her nearly 1000 miles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">I thought I knew what to expect: tough emotional moments debating an abortion, telling (or not telling) the parents, the boyfriend’s reaction, and cute bonding moments on a cross-state road trip with old friends. Instead, I got a creepy-as-all-hell boyfriend who poked holes in the condom and followed them to try and convince Ronnie to not go through with it; I got Bailey in all of her Gothic, sarcastic, trespassing glory; and I got a ridiculous and hilarious journey involving a stolen car, a strip club, pro-life fanatics and a giant statue of an elephant. To name but a few!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I absolutely adored this, it was funny and insane but also raised great questions about consent, growing up, relationships and responsibilities. Plus forgiveness and the importance of true friendships, as Ronnie and Bailey grow closer after years of separation while Ronnie developed her “perfect” image. The whole story was just brilliantly written, heartfelt with insane laugh-out-loud moments. Highly recommended. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</span></div>
Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-37549732393369611372019-12-03T09:00:00.000+00:002019-12-03T09:00:04.806+00:00Dangerous Alliance by Jennieke Cohen<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Lady Victoria Aston has everything she could want: an older sister happily wed, the future of her family estate secure, and ample opportunity to while her time away in the fields around her home.<br /><br />But now Vicky must marry—or find herself and her family destitute. Armed only with the wisdom she has gained from her beloved novels by Jane Austen, she enters society’s treacherous season.<br /><br />Sadly, Miss Austen has little to say about Vicky’s exact circumstances: whether the roguish Mr. Carmichael is indeed a scoundrel, if her former best friend, Tom Sherborne, is out for her dowry or for her heart, or even how to fend off the attentions of the foppish Mr. Silby, he of the unfortunate fashion sensibility.<br /><br />Most unfortunately of all, Vicky’s books are silent on the topic of the mysterious accidents cropping up around her…ones that could prevent her from surviving until her wedding day. </span></i><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Set in one of my absolute favourite periods of history, Georgian England: the finery, the manners, the drama! I adored this, it was a great mix of romance and mystery. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Vicky was a pretty cool heroine – considering the limitations of the period, all she wanted to do was help run her family’s estate. She was headstrong and romantic and had learned all her life lessons so far from Jane Austen novels, which isn’t necessarily helpful when life proves to be far more difficult than Miss Austen had suggested. Between her older sister returning home from an abusive husband and a mysterious person trying to take over her family’s estate, Vicky suddenly has more on her plate than looking after the flock of sheep. Now, she must navigate the season and find an eligible gentleman to help her save the house and grounds, but that is surprisingly difficult. Apparently, even two hundred years ago, bachelors were a terrifying mix of trustworthy and absolute monsters! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The characterisation and the setting was just incredible, and I completely fell into Vicky’s world of dances, trying to find love and surprising fisticuffs. It was really easy to read and I immensely enjoyed the tension and the stakes of Vicky needing to find a husband. Plus, it showed a side of the era that we rarely see, one with fighting for divorce and the intricacies of running an estate, especially as a woman. It was a lot of fun and I highly recommend it for fans of historical romance, duels at dawn and love in surprising places.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</span><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"></span></div>
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Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-1729235923462998832019-11-08T13:47:00.000+00:002019-11-08T13:47:22.171+00:00Friday Reads: Dating You/Hating You by Christina Lauren<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Christina Lauren is quickly becoming one of my favourite contemporary adult romance authors (although it is a duo!). So when one from their back catalogue was offer for 99p on Kindle, I snapped it up and started it almost immediately. <br /><br />Although it hasn’t been exactly what I thought in terms of the story set-up, it’s been really interesting reading so far. Set in an agents office in LA, there’s loads of fascinating boys-club/feminist talk about the dynamics of the industry, especially as the romantic leads are practically pitted against each other after their two companies merge. Plus I'm really enjoying the fact that the female lead is a successful thirty-something year old - not seen very often!<br /><br /> I’m almost certainly going to finish this tonight and enjoy the final drama and hot romance that I’ve come to expect from Christina Lauren’s books!</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reading plans for the rest of the weekend are the other ebook I picked up on offer: Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey. What are you planning on reading this weekend?</span></div>
Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-75195782140812337282019-10-15T11:16:00.000+01:002019-10-15T11:16:42.530+01:00The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone has been talking about this book! Renee’s latest novel is set in the 1870’s, in New Orleans, the city full of secrets, both human and mythical. Setting the scene for a new series, The Beautiful tells of Celine, a young woman fresh off the boat, hoping to find a new start in a new city, where no-one will know what she’s running from. Somewhat ironic, because it seems just about everyone in New Orleans is not what they appear.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A hunter is stalking the citizens of New Orleans, leaving young women with their throats mutilated. The police are baffled but Celine is starting to suspect that this so-called Court of Lions knows something. Part crime thriller, part swooping romance, this was stunningly gorgeous to read but honestly… it took me a while to get into. I don’t like to admit that, because everyone else has spoken so highly of it but I think that lyrical language, while amazing, didn’t suit my style of reading which is typically dipping in and out. Having said that, the ending massively picked up and I read the last 20 or so percent in one evening. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What made it for me was the characters and the setting. New Orleans is a fascinating city and Renee’s style of writing made it seem so magical and mysterious, and the Court of Lions was just as mysterious as the city they inhabited. A group of not-quite-humans have sought refuge in the city and their leader was the charming and handsome Sebastian. Trouble was, he knew it, and pulls Celine into their tangled web, despite everyone’s better judgement. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although I had some trouble getting into the flow of the writing (which is entirely my fault, not the book’s), it was gripping and thrilling and darkly lyrical, perfectly encapsulating the feel of the magic of the city and all of its enigmatic inhabitants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.</span></div>
Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-61500145231590739652019-10-11T13:09:00.001+01:002019-10-11T13:09:43.534+01:00The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I’ve come to expect from Holly’s novels, this was a moving, poignant and highly topical story about an emotionally abusive relationship and how easy it is to lose yourself in that drug-like high called love. Told in two intermingling timelines, we see Amelie meet and fall for Reece, a cute and charming boy in a band, and six months later, Amelie retracing their steps to figure out why it hurts so much after the broke up. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The premise was fascinating and oddly hilarious, as Amelie butts in on herself, warning us of the red flags that she should have seen at the time, like the casual claim Reece laid on her when they first met or the way he systematically removed her from her friends. All the romantic gesture that had Amelie swooning at the time, made her to angry months later. Even I was practically screaming at the book at times – for example, Reece gate crashes Amelie’s first gig to sing her a song and tell her he loves her. Um, rude! But most of the girls at school, Amelie included, thought it was the sweetest thing. No! But, of course, it’s easy to see in hindsight the terribly manipulative things he did. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I saw Holly at the Bath Children’s Literature Festival at the end of September and she spoke about her writing process for this book. Holly knew it was going to be an ambitious project but wanted to book to be a rite of passage, a safe place for girls to understand the importance of healthy relationships, while remaining hopeful. Apparently, it was originally in second person and Holly had to re-write all the pronouns when she wanted to create the two timelines, which made the whole thing all the more complicated! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Holly also talked about Reece, how a psychology student noticed that he has classic traits of narcissistic attachment disorder, and how she wrote him to be douche gift-wrapped in charismatic coolness. Reece is one of those characters that you love to hate, that you can’t quite put your finger on what makes your skin crawl about him. Holly wanted to prove that abusers blend in, that abuse itself transcends class and doesn’t discriminate to any particular “type” of victim. And Amelie doesn’t read as stupid or naïve, just caught up in a dramatic relationship and thinking its love. It highlighted the grey areas, especially in teenage relationships, where love can burn fast, and behaviours learned from rom-coms aren’t always healthy. It also emphasised the importance of listening to your gut, about recognising the red flags and being comfortable and confident enough in your relationship to speak up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I adored Holly’s latest. Maybe a bit different to her other novels, it still highlighted the important issue recognising and having healthy relationships, romantic or platonic, young or old. I wanted to bundle Amelie in a hug and smack Reece in the face for most of the book, and even though I finished it a few weeks back, it’s still swirling around my head: how Reece could behave like that, how I wish Amelie was stronger in the first place to voice her worries, how emotion trauma is just as significant as physical and just as difficult to move on from. Definitely a winner of a book and one that all teenagers should read.</span></div>
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Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-16733003406532878252019-09-24T09:00:00.000+01:002019-09-24T09:00:02.793+01:00Books On My Autumn TBR<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by <a href="http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/" target="_blank">That Artsy Reader Girl</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right, er... hello. So, between moving house, furnishing and re-decorating said house, having our first house guest and then starting work again for the new school year, blogging was unfortunately left by the wayside. But! I do not want to let this blog die a quiet death and so, here we go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Books I want to read this autumn - well, there's quite a few and most of them aren't out yet so this is more of a 'books I want to buy this autumn'-type list. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">1 - How to Stop Time by Matt Haig - the last book for my Hogwartsathon TBR (hosted by Georgi at niffler_reads, if you're interested)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">2 - The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne - picked this up at the weekend, planning on reading this ASAP, because my friend Alyce and I are going to see Holly this Sunday at the Bath Children's Literature Festival!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">3 - Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell - due out early October, I pre-ordered the Waterstones fancy colourful edition months ago and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">4 - The Toll by Neal Shusterman - the finale to the Scythe trilogy, this also featured on my 'Most Anticipated Reads of the rest of 2019'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">5 - The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black - what can I say apart from argh? I'm hoping/planning on re-reading books one and two before this comes out, to really appreciated Jude and Carden (mostly Carden) so fingers crossed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">6 - The Prenup by Lauren Layne - picked this up on kindle recently, looked cute, easy to read and I'm a sucker for a good romance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">7 - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman - another e-book, sounds like a fluffy and funny read about my kind of people: bookish people!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And that is actually it! My TBR is looking kind of sparse at the moment, especially while I'm waiting for all the books to come out, so my last few are sneaking on there, as I'm asking for them for my birthday in mid-October.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">8 and 9 - Vicious and Vengeful by VE Schwab - after reading and completely adoring her Shade of Magic trilogy, I'm in need for some more of her stories and these sound amazing!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">10 - Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston - I know, I am so late to the party on this one! So looking forward to it though, everyone has said great things and I can't wait to get stuck in!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me know if we share any TBR goals and what books you're looking forward to this autumn?</span>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-87961102153502294242019-06-18T09:00:00.000+01:002019-06-18T09:00:10.308+01:00Top Ten Most Anticipated Reads of (the rest of) 2019<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and now lives at That Artsy Reader Girl.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Below is a list of the books I am most excited for but still have to wait months before I can hold them. I've done them in date order because there's enough complications narrowing it down to 10 without trying to put them in order of preference!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">1 - Storm and Fury by Jennifer L Armentrout - 11 June - I know this is already out but I have just this second (yesterday to you lot) heard about it and now I am equally desperate to have it as the rest! Pity I have to buy for, you know, my house first.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">2 - Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart - 11 July - book two following the amazing "Grace and Fury", I am very intrigued to how this story will unfold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">3 - The Kingdom by Jess Rothenburg - 11 July - I heard about this on booktube and it sounds incredible, all about post-humanity and what makes us human.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">4 - A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby - 8 August - I'd seen this around but after speaking to Aisha at Lucy Powrie's book launch, I'm all the more excited to read her debut.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">5 - Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee - 3 September - anyone who knows me will be aware that I am a huge Marvel fan, especially Loki, so a prequel exploring his teen years? I am all over that!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">6 - Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff - 5 September - I might not have read book two yet but I am desperate to get my hands on the full trilogy and to see the finale of Mia's journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">7 - Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell - 24 Sept - need I say anything more that: argh!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">8 - The Places I've Cried in Public by Holly Bourne - 3 October - again: argh! New Holly Bourne!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">9 - The Toll by Neal Shusterman - 7 November - the finale to the Scythe trilogy, I am beyond excited and might have done a squeal when the cover was released.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;">10 - The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black - November - another again: argh! The full-on howls I sounded at the cliffhanger ending of "The Wicked King" annoyed everyone around me and I need to know what happens to Jude and Carden!</span></span><br />Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-46501934563696899272019-05-07T11:08:00.000+01:002019-05-07T11:08:09.938+01:00Top Ten Characters That Remind Me of MyselfTop Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and now lives at <a href="http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/" target="_blank">The Artsy Reader Girl</a><br />
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It's been a while since I did one of these but this week's prompt is rather interesting. I do tend to see little traits of myself in lots of characters, but I struggled to come up with ten that I really identified with, as an introvert that adores books but won't stop talking and wishes to be braver than she acts sometimes. Anyway, here's my list of characters that remind me of myself, at various points in my life.<br />
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1 and 2 - Claire and Eve in Morganville Vampires by Rachel Caine - off to a good (cheating) start with two very different girls on the surface but are not only great friends in the books but also remind me of myself; Claire for her smarts, although mine was literature and hers is Physics, and Eve for her Gothic wardrobe (which I have grown out of) and mindset (which I have not).<br />
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3 - Daisy in Giant Days by John Allison - although Esther's fashion sense is incredible, Daisy, with her randomness, her love for the environment, her shyness until she's drunk, is much more similar to me!<br />
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4 - Cress in Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer - not the super-long hair, it's the overactive imagination and terrible shyness that I relate to in Cress, especially in my teenage years.<br />
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5 - Posy in The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts by Annie Darling - definitely her hardcore love of books!<br />
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6 - Romy in The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James - for her fangirl habits, not her engineering smarts!<br />
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7 - Phoebe (and friends) in Freshers by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison - Phoebe and gang is quite similar to my group of friends at university. Although I didn't live in halls, we totally got up to a bit of mischief and bonded over our mutual weirdness.<br />
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8 - Cath in Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - another similar experience to mine at university, it also took me a while to find my place. I also relate hard to Cath's fangirl tendencies. <br />
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9 - Kizzy in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - I am all about Kizzy's strange outbursts and constant hunt for snacks.<br />
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10 - Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen - again with the Gothic mindset, Catherine's habit of letting her imagination get away from her is also one of my more annoying traits.<br />
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So there you have it! Do we share any similar character traits? Or do you relate to completely different characters - I do tend to see myself in the heroines rather than villains. Let me know in the comments!Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-15825753444357697232019-05-03T15:49:00.000+01:002019-05-03T15:49:23.000+01:00Friday Reads: The Flatshare and The One Who's Not The One<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Hello and merry Friday, everyone! Apologises for my absence (did anyone even notice?) but work and life just got on top of me. Plus, I've only just finished my re-reads of the Morganville Vampires series so I didn't really have much to update you on! Speaking of: Morganville just as amazing as I remember!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">This week I've been reading The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary - yes, the book that everyone's on about at the moment - and The One Who's Not The One by Keris Stainton. Both are contemporary romances, Keris is of course a favourite author of mine and The Flatshare is Beth's debut. I'm enjoying them both immensely, although barely started one and about a third of the way through the other. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Last week I read The Quiet at the End of the World by Lauren James and I cannot stop thinking about it! How I wish this book had been around a year ago, I could have written a (hopefully) amazing essay discussing the post-human condition in comparison to "Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep?" Yes, I am well aware how much of a nerd I sound.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">I also read Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren, finished that in two days, and that was incredibly adorable. And, great plus side: I have their whole back catalogue to work through!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Plan for this bank holiday weekend: finish The Flatshare and I'm sure I'm going to have lots of thoughts when I finish it, so look forward to that (maybe)!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">What are you reading this long weekend? Let me know!</span>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-51487272955332915012019-03-01T10:38:00.000+00:002019-03-01T10:38:20.920+00:00Friday Reads: Morganville Vampires<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Happy Friday and happy March, everyone! Can’t quite believe that, February passed in no time at all, didn’t it? So, here’s my not-really-regular reading update for you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I’ve been re-reading the Morganville series by Rachel Caine, one of my all-time favourite series of books. I haven’t read the first books in the series since university, so at least 7 years ago – jeez, that makes me feel old! – and I’d forgotten a lot of the details and the order of events. Right now, I’m on book five of fifteen and I am falling in love with them all over again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Possible spoilers ahead</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is a long series, like I said fifteen books total, but so much is jammed in there and I just fly through them – they are un-put-down-able in a way that not many books are for me. Plus, I adore meeting these characters again, humans and vampires. The Glass House four are so freaking cute, and I had forgotten how tough Claire is from the beginning: she has a ridiculous learning curve! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As for the vampires, it is fascinating that in a genre where vamps are usually the love interest, these are the bad guys but complicated and not really humanised because they are monsters in disguise. Especially with the main three, Amelie, Oliver and Myrnin – they are terrifying, no doubt, but also are used to playing the long game so when humans like Claire come along and make them feel things, they appear and act eerily human. Then there’s vamps like Sam and Michael and you forget that they are supposed to be the enemy, right up until they’re hungry and you’re a walking buffet. Every character is so rich and complex, and I love learning about them and seeing them blur the lines between good and bad. Can you tell I love these books?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Apart from that, no reading or book-related news to report. My professional life is plodding along nicely with the new job, and personal is getting interesting: my fiancé and I are looking to buy a house! It’s all very scary and confusing and adulting is hard! Wish us luck, we’ve got a while to go until we are ready to move out and I’m already exhausted. </span>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-18975004047624967072019-02-01T07:00:00.000+00:002019-02-01T07:00:02.516+00:00Mini reviews: The Plus One, Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow and Genuine Fraud<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>The Plus One by Sophia Money-Coutts</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/38733836-the-plus-one" itemprop="image" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The Plus One" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1530519376l/38733836.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span id="freeText1940093336419556658"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>The Plus One [n] informal a person who accompanies an invited person to a wedding or a reminder of being single, alone and absolutely plus none<br /><br />Polly’s not looking for ‘the one’, just the plus one…<br />Polly Spencer is fine. She’s single, turning thirty and only managed to have sex twice last year (both times with a Swedish banker called Fred), but seriously, she’s fine. Even if she’s still stuck at Posh! magazine writing about royal babies and the chances of finding a plus one to her best friend’s summer wedding are looking worryingly slim.<br /><br />But it’s a New Year, a new leaf and all that. Polly’s determined that over the next 365 days she’ll remember to shave her legs, drink less wine and generally get her s**t together. Her latest piece is on the infamous Jasper, Marquess of Milton, undoubtedly neither a plus one nor ‘the one’. She’s heard the stories, there’s no way she’ll succumb to his charms…</em></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I expected a quick and funny read from this book, but I didn’t quite enjoy it like I’d hoped. It tells of Polly, a young woman who works for a gossip magazine, who is unhappy with her job and her life in general. Fed up of waiting around for the guys she likes to text her back, she goes out on a job to interview Jasper, the Marquess of Milton, and gets that tingly feeling. I’m going to be honest – I read this a good six months ago and apart from being very underwhelmed by it, I can barely remember a thing! Which says a lot about the book itself. Very light-hearted, Polly doesn’t really take herself too seriously and neither did I – I just couldn’t, not with the way she behaved, made a slight fool of herself and bared her heart to a guy who probably didn’t deserve it. The romance was alright but the sex scenes were eh. The fat-shaming made me cringe and there was no real development, not from Polly and her non-existent career plans, and minimal from Jasper who needed to give up his bad-boy ways and commit to an actual adult relationship. A very quick but not entirely enjoyable read.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review [gifted]</span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/40183321-don-t-stop-thinking-about-tomorrow" itemprop="image" rel="nofollow" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1526845721l/40183321.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow by Siobhan Curham</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span id="freeText12630644872042098985"><em>Fourteen-year-old Stevie lives in Lewes with her beloved vinyl collection, her mum... and her mum's depression. When Stevie's mum's disability benefits are cut, Stevie and her mother are plunged into a life of poverty. But irrepressible Stevie is determined not to be beaten and she takes inspiration from the lyrics of her father's 1980s record collection and dreams of a life as a musician. Then she meets Hafiz, a talented footballer and a Syrian refugee. Hafiz's parents gave their life savings to buy Hafiz a safe passage to Europe; his journey has been anything but easy. Then he meets Stevie... As Stevie and Hafiz's friendship grows, they encourage each other to believe in themselves and follow their dreams.</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Although probably too young for me, as the protagonists were early teens, I really enjoyed this. It tells of Stevie, struggling to keep up with school and juggle her mum’s depression, and her budding friendship with Hafiz, a Syrian refugee with a love of football. They bond over wanting to escape the harsh realities of life and despite the big cultural differences, it was a heartfelt story about friendship and overcoming those differences and realising that we are all just human. It was such a joy to read, bringing together the dramatic realities of refugees and war with mental illness and the meaning of family, bridging the gaps between cultures with the love of food or friends or music. Like I said, it was a little young for me but I still really appreciated the very important message Siobhan was trying to accomplish: people are worth it.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thank you to the publisher for my copy in exchange for an honest review [gifted]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong>Genuine Fraud by E Lockhart</strong></span><br />
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/33843362-genuine-fraud" itemprop="image" rel="nofollow" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Genuine Fraud" height="200" id="coverImage" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1503003099l/33843362.jpg" width="131" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><em>Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.<br />Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete. <br />An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two. <br />A bad romance, or maybe three.<br />Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains. <br />A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.<br />A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Typical of E Lockhart, this is a teen psychological thriller told backwards. That took some getting used to, piecing the threads together the wrong way! While I did like this story, it was a little predictable – which is either a comment on Lockhart’s writing or my detective skills, I’m not sure which! Saying that, there were still a couple of shockers and the overall story of Jules and who she really is was very interesting to read and unpick. Jules was a fascinating character – so obviously a psychopath, she cleverly adapted to any social situation and used disguises and accents to get what she wanted. She was also truly horrible, but also had a pretty good reason for acting as such, which we discovered near the end of the book. As for Imogen – well, yet another spoilt rich kid who wants to discover who she is by lying to her parents and running away. Their dynamic was quite toxic and I really must applaud Lockhart for writing characters that I simultaneously love reading about but hate as people. Another knockout from Lockhart, as far as I’m concerned.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review [gifted]</span><br /> Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-38263594020073384092019-01-18T17:02:00.001+00:002019-01-18T17:02:31.666+00:00Friday Reads: Kingdom of Ash and Theatrical<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In some ways, I can't believe it's already halfway through January. In others, that first week back to work after Christmas doesn't half drag, does it? Anyway, I'm here with a little reading update.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This morning I finally finished Kingdom of Ash, the finale to the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas. I started the mammoth of a book on the 1st of the month if you can believe it! I know it's nearly 1000 pages but that is a long time for me to be reading one book. Part of that was because I couldn't take it to work with me - no way was I carting that to and from work every day! So, finally finished it and I'm... conflicted. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now, despite all the gossip and drama with SJM's books, I do like them. But because it has been so long since I read the book before, and I just point-blanked refused to buy/read the Chaol spin-off book, I couldn't remember a lot. And I mean a lot! Names, places, shared histories - pfft, gone from my brain. So I don't think I got max enjoyment because of that. The other thing was, of course, the length of the book. I did enjoy the last 100 pages or so, that last big battle and the happy-ever-after wrap-up, but the toing and froing between all these groups of people, sometimes overlapping, sometimes not even really doing anything, that got boring quickly. All in all, glad I read it and completed the series but it wasn't the grand finale I expected, I think.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The other book I'm reading is Theatrical by Maggie Harcourt. I started this last week and I'm halfway through, just reading it on my kindle in my lunch breaks. Really loving it so far, I love the theatre and would so love to know more about the goings-on backstage, plus I've been looking forward to this book since the summer and I needed a contemporary story to break up Kingdom of Ash and my next read, which is going to be The Wicked King by Holly Black.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me know what you've been reading and enjoying so far this month and see you next time!</span>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3515199376405324569.post-66818141167917960092019-01-01T09:00:00.000+00:002019-01-01T09:00:06.802+00:00New Year, New Blogging Strategy?<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hello! As you may already be aware, this blog has very nearly died a death and I accept complete blame for that. I really haven't been putting in the effort - life didn't exactly snap back to normal after I finished university like I thought it would and honestly, blogging has been the last thing on my mind. But I don't want to abandon this blog (although, honestly, I'm a little tempted)! However, things are going to change around here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Obviously, I haven't really been around much and that's because I went back to work in September to a major regime change and general re-structure. That means for a while, I was at risk of losing my job, the rest of my team and I had to apply for our jobs and the whole department got a reshuffle. It was all very confusing for about 3 months. But then, good news! I was interviewed and offered a job in a different department for full-time hours!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Note for the confused: for three years, I have worked part-time in a college library. Starting in the new term, i.e. next week, I will be working in the Learning Support section of the same college.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What this means, apart from more money, is that I'll be working a lot more than I've been used to and therefore am unlikely to be blogging or even reading or checking book-twitter as often as I do now. But I have a plan! I think. I'm going to write more relaxed, reading-update-style posts and have a monthly mini-review round up. That way, I still write formal reviews but also you guys, if you care, can stay up to date with my reading progress - and probably prod me if I'm getting behind! How does that sound?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see happen on this blog, and if you have any reading resolutions for the new year?</span>Anyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08782012259870311268noreply@blogger.com0