Tuesday 13 December 2016

My 10 Most Anticipated 2017 Book Releases: January to June Edition



I think I say this every year, but where the heck has the past 12 months gone!? I swear it feels like only a few weeks ago since I was planning for last Christmas and New Year! One of my favourite things about this time of year – apart from Christmas and the colder weather – is knowing that dozens of my most anticipated releases are a little closer to me reading them. There are SO MANY new releases I could have chosen for this list, and it was really hard narrowing it down to only 10. The list isn’t in any particular order, and all links below the book covers are to Goodreads.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish.


Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton The Fallen Kingdom by Elizabeth May Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Now I Rise by Kiersten White RoseBlood by A.G. Howard

Traitor to the Throne by Alwyn Hamilton
The Fallen Kingdom by Elizabeth May
Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh
Now I Rise by Kiersten White
RoseBlood by A.G. Howard

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco Hunted by Meagan Spooner Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones Roar by Cora Carmack

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Hunted by Meagan Spooner
Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer
Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Roar by Cora Carmack


Do we share any most anticipated releases?? And, what are some of your other most anticipated 2017 releases?


Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!




Thursday 8 December 2016

#ReadIndie Review: Possess by Sarah Dalton


 Possess by Sarah Dalton book cover

Title: Possess
Author: Sarah Dalton
Series: Mary Hades, #2
Format: Kindle; bought
Publisher: Createspace
My rating: 4 / 5

Add to Goodreads


Mary Hades is drawn back into the world of the macabre as she moves with her family into the mysterious old house, Ravenswood. The mere mention of Ravenswood induces terror among the locals, and when strange things begin to occur, Mary and Lacey decide to get to the bottom of the secret hidden in the historic house once and for all.

As a dark power gathers, Mary finds her life becomes interconnected with the disturbing events that transpired in 1847 to eleven year old Liza Blair. The more Mary is drawn into Liza’s story, the more she realises someone close to her is in grave danger from the sinister energy at Ravenswood.

Set in the backdrop of an unsettling forest, and with strange neighbour Emmaline Delacroix obsessed with death and séances, Possess will take you even deeper into the murky depths of Mary Hades’s unusual life.

-- As seen on Goodreads


My Thoughts


I bought Possess quite a while ago, and I had intended to read it long before now. I loved the first book in the series, but as with so many of my reading plans I only got around to continuing the series this Halloween past. Better late than never, I guess??


Possess continues on shortly after the family returns home from their holidays in Yorkshire where the first book ended. Mary’s parents soon announce that they are moving to an old manor house on the outskirts of a village close to her father’s workplace to cut down on his commute time. It’s a very quick move, and Mary and her mother begin the process while her father is away on a business trip. Right from the outset Mary is drawn to their new house, Ravenswood, and into the past and the mysteries and hauntings that surround it.


I loved that this book has a more sinister atmosphere than the first book. It still has all the creepiness that you expect from a ghost story, but I loved that it took a completely fresh approach, rather than sticking very closely to the first book in the series. The atmosphere that was created was fabulous, and without giving too much away, I loved how the diary entries were incorporated into the story. The parallels between what happened in the past and what was happening in the present was awesome, and kept me glued to the pages throughout.


Mary Hades is the main character and narrator, and I like both her and her best friend, Lacey, equally. Mary and Lacey met when they were both patients in a mental institution, and while Mary walked out of the hospital alive and well, Lacey wasn’t quite so lucky. She decided against crossing over after her death and has remained as a ghost by Mary’s side ever since. I absolutely adore their friendship, and it’s fabulous to see just how much both characters have grown in the space of two books and a couple of novellas.


For those that like their spooky stories romance-free, there is no romance in this book. And I really liked this! The focus was purely on the hauntings and creepy occurrences that happened in spades throughout the story, and to be perfectly honest, it was lovely to read a book where the main character wasn’t floating along with heart eyes after the nearest pretty face!


I was under the impression that this was going to be a trilogy and everything would be wrapped up in the next book, and it was only a couple of weeks ago that I found out that there will be two more books after this one! And I’m so glad about this, as with the amount of things that have been revealed about certain characters toward the end of Possess, I can’t wait to continue on and find out how the series continues. Overall, I really enjoyed Possess, and if you love creepy and atmospheric ghostly haunting stories, then I highly recommend giving the Mary Hades series a chance.



4 Stars Really Liked



Tuesday 6 December 2016

10 New-to-Me Authors I Read in 2016



After a few reading challenge filled (and stress filled!) reading years, I wanted 2016 to be as stress and plan free as it could possibly be. And I think it helped! I didn't read as much as other years, but what I did read I enjoyed a lot more. Also, I reread quite a bit, which is something I've really missed doing over the past few years. (I'm currently three books in to my first ever Harry Potter reread, and it's awesome!) Combining lots of rereading and being determined to continue on with series I've already started, I didn't read quite as many new-to-me authors as previous years. But of those new authors, there were quite a few that I really loved and I can't wait to read more of their works. So, I've created a list and these are my 10 favourite new-to-me authors that I read for the first time in 2016.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish.


Kiersten White – And I Darken Alwyn Hamilton – Rebel of the Sands Jessica Khoury – The Forbidden Wish

Rin Chupeco – The Girl from the Well 
Christina Henry – Alice

Kiersten White – And I Darken
Alwyn Hamilton – Rebel of the Sands
Jessica Khoury – The Forbidden Wish
Rin Chupeco – The Girl from the Well
Christina Henry – Alice


Sarah Fine – Of Metal and Wishes Erika Johansen – The Queen of the Tearling Laini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Melina Marchetta – Finnikin of the Rock Pierce Brown - Red Rising

Sarah Fine – Of Metal and Wishes
Erika Johansen – The Queen of the Tearling
Laini Taylor – Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Melina Marchetta – Finnikin of the Rock
Pierce Brown - Red Rising


Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Reading!




Friday 2 December 2016

#ReadIndie Review: Veiled by Karina Halle


Veiled by Karina Halle book cover

Title: Veiled
Author: Karina Halle
Format: Kindle, bought
My rating: 4 / 5
Publisher: Metal Blonde Books

Add to Goodreads


Death.

It's something that Ada Palomino has always known so well, having grown up in a house of horrors, surrounded by a family plagued by ghosts and demons and things that go bump in the night. But after the sudden and tragic death of her mother two years ago, death has never felt so personal. Or so close.

Now eighteen, Ada is trying to move on with her life and the last month of summer holds nothing but sunshine and promises with her first year at a Portland design school just around the bend.

That is until her increasingly violent and realistic dreams, dreams of other worlds, of portals and veils where her mother is tortured and souls bleed for mercy, start to blend into reality. Ada has to lean on her older sister, Perry, to try and make sense of it all but even then, she's never felt more alone.

Then there's Jay. Tall, handsome and deeply mysterious, Jay would be just another stranger, a familiar face on the bus, if it wasn't for the fact that Ada has met him before.

Every night.
In every single dream.

And the more that Ada is drawn to him in both worlds, the more she's in danger of losing everything.

Including her heart.
And her very soul.

-- As seen on Goodreads


My Thoughts


As you may know, the Experiment in Terror series is one of my all-time favourite series and when I found out that Perry Palomino’s little sister, Ada, was going to get her own spin-off series, I was SO HAPPY! It’s been a long time coming, but it’s finally here, and it was worth the wait.


Veiled takes place in the same urban-fantasy style world as the Experiment in Terror series two years after the conclusion of Dust to Dust. Technically, yes, you can read this book without having read the original series and you’ll have absolutely no problems being caught up in the world. Buuuuut… okay, this will be bias-me talking, but if you have even a teeny tiny plan on reading the EIT series in the future, then I’d personally recommend reading those books first as you will be spoiled for the endings of both Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust in Veiled. Both of those books are crazy creepy emotional rollercoasters in their own rights, and I’d love everyone who chooses to read them to experience them as I did – with no spoilers or preconceived notions of what’ll happen – and to get the full impact of the horrors of the original series.


The best way I can sum up my feelings on Veiled is that it felt like an impromptu family reunion with of all your favourite relatives that you love and get along with really well. Perry and Dex do make an appearance, (YEEESSSS!) and I may have been grinning like a complete idiot when they showed up. Also, a few characters from The Devil’s Metal duology show up which was a complete surprise and I was completely in heaven! Yes, okay, I may have been fangirling and reminiscing like crazy for quite a huge chunk of this book, but it was so worth it.


And this brings me onto the main characters of Veiled: Ada and Jay. I adored Ada in the original series and I still really liked her here, but she didn’t quite manage to emerge from her big sisters shadow and stand out on her own merit. To be honest, as unfair as this may sound, I think she will always be Little Fifteen to me. Jay, well, his character didn’t really work for me. Uber alpha male tendencies don’t do anything for me, so some parts of his attitude and mannerisms weren’t winning any favours with me.


I hate to say this, but the romance between Ada and Jay was a bit too quick. The chemistry didn’t feel that strong or believable, and as I mentioned above, Jay isn’t the kind of character I’m particularly drawn to. Now, take my feelings on this with a grain of salt: the EIT series has one of the slowest-burning and most rewarding romances I’ve ever read, so with those HUGE expectations already floating around in my head for any developing romance in this book, having those expectations met over the span of one book isn’t really going to happen.


The story itself was just as creepy as I was expecting. Paranormal and creepy horror stories are, in my opinion, what Karina Halle does best and she manages to create so many genuinely creepy moments throughout the book that are so much fun to read. Ovarall, I really enjoyed Veiled, and it was so nice to be back in the Experiment in Terror world again. While I didn’t connect with Ada as much as I did with her sister, I still loved seeing her story and the aftermath of what happened at the end of Dust to Dust. Also, reading this book has reminded me why Perry and Dex are two of my all-time favourite characters, and I have a feeling I’ll be trying to reread the original series as soon as I possibly can!


4 Stars Really Liked


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