Call It What You Want – Brigid Kemmerer

Hello everyone! Today I am reviewing Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer. Thank you to Bloomsbury publishing for a lovely gifted review copy. I have been so excited to read and review this book and be able to feature the book over on my Instagram page @ladybugbooks

P l o t 

When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.

Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.

When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship . . .

In her compulsively readable storytelling, Brigid Kemmerer pens another captivating, heartfelt novel that asks the question: Is it okay to do something wrong for the right reasons?

T h o u g h t s

I have always enjoyed Bridid Kemmerer’s writing style and I must admit I delved into this book at a rate of knots.  

“Other people don’t have the challenges we have, Owen. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own.”

I have previously read and enjoyed A Curse So Dark and Lonely and rated it one of my

highest reads so far of 2019. Call It What You Want follows a real life people in a real life setting.

There were many moral dilemmas in this story following the concept of guilt by association, teenage pregnancy and more. This story really makes you think and questions what you would do in certain situations.

The two protagonists are seen as pariah in their schools. 

Maegan cheated on her test which caused uproar due to the fact that all the class mates had to re take the exam. Rob is not popular because of his father’s fraud scheme against the town’s inhabitants.

We get to know them through their family lives and how they are struggling through due to the consequences of their actions.

Meagan and Rob come together in a class project and their paths cross in more ways than one.

This was such an interesting connection that was developed over time. This book really delved into personal relationships and overcoming hard ship.

Overall, this was a solid read for me which I will be re reading again. Definitely pick this up for a contemporary read with amazing moral underlay. 

Let me know your thoughts!

Blog Tour – The Girl in Red

Hello everyone! It is my stop on the blog tour for The Girl in Red by Christina Henry. This incredible book is published by Titan Books and is out TODAY!!! Thank you very much to Titan Books for my review copy.

This book is the latest release by the Queen of fairy tale retellings – Christina Henry.

D e t a i l s

Title: The Girl in Red

Author: Christina Henry

Release Date: 18/06/2019

Publisher: Titan Books

ISBN: 1785659774 (ISBN13: 9781785659775)

P l o t

It’s not safe for anyone alone in the woods. There are predators that come out at night: critters and coyotes, snakes and wolves. But the woman in the red jacket has no choice. Not since the Crisis came, decimated the population, and sent those who survived fleeing into quarantine camps that serve as breeding grounds for death, destruction, and disease. She is just a woman trying not to get killed in a world that doesn’t look anything like the one she grew up in, the one that was perfectly sane and normal and boring until three months ago.

There are worse threats in the woods than the things that stalk their prey at night. Sometimes, there are men. Men with dark desires, weak wills, and evil intents. Men in uniform with classified information, deadly secrets, and unforgiving orders. And sometimes, just sometimes, there’s something worse than all of the horrible people and vicious beasts combined.

Red doesn’t like to think of herself as a killer, but she isn’t about to let herself get eaten up just because she is a woman alone in the woods….

T h o u g h t s

I have previously read a few of Christina Henry’s books, including The Mermaid, Alice and Red Queen. I enjoy reading fairy tale retellings so I could not wait to read this book. The format of this book was interesting in the sense that there was a lot of narrative sections due to the classic scenario of Red travelling along through the woods. This is set in a post apocalyptic world due to a plague that has wiped out a lot of the population. There are also flash back scenes to before the plague that involve other family members who are dealing with trying to survive

This read was well paced and was easy to follow, I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style, which follow on from previous companion novels.

I would love to hear your thoughts about the book – if you have read it please comment below!

 

F

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Review – The Opposite of Always

 

Hello everyone! Today I am excited to bring you my review of The Opposite of Always by Justin A Reynolds. This book was one of my highly anticipated reads of 2019. Thank you very much to the lovely people over at Macmillan publishing for my copy. I bought my finished copy myself.

 

 

 

PLOT

Jack Ellison King. King of Almost.

He almost made valedictorian.

He almost made varsity.

He almost got the girl . . .

When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. Jack’s curse of almost is finally over.

But this love story is . . . complicated. It is an almost happily ever after. Because Kate dies. And their story should end there. Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Beautiful, radiant Kate. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do—and let go—to save the people he loves (GOODREADS plot – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35380157-opposite-of-always)

THOUGHTS

As soon as I saw this book and read the synopsis, I knew it was a book that was meant for me. The cover instantly drew me in on a very exterior based point of view. I finished this book in a very short space of time, it was addictive and brilliant. This book was poignantly written when dealing with hard topics. There was a lot of humour developing throughout the story which made this book a real tearjerker.

The groundhog day theme was fascinating to follow, it really made me root for the characters and what was to come. Jack King is the King of Almosts. He almost gets the girl, he almost had a breakthrough in something successful. Sadly until now he has not succeeded fully.
When Kate, Jack’s love, dies from sickle cell disease – he is repeating the same several months over and over again and determines what happens with each decision.
I found the fact that sickle cell disease was part of the story very educating and interesting, as it is a condition we rarely come across in young adult literature.

The diversity in this book is pivotal and essential. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. let me know your thoughts below as I would love to discuss!

 

Check out my instagram post here –> https://www.instagram.com/p/BxSg4Mknn9d/

REVIEW – The Wicked King – Holly Black

Hello everyone! I hope you are all having a lovely and sunny spring day. Over the last week I have jumped onto the hype train and read The Wicked King by Holly Black. Some background: I read The Cruel Prince as soon as it came out in January 2018. After finishing the book I was in a book hangover for a long time as I enjoyed it so much. I was craving the second book. Then, when The Wicked King finally came out in January 2019, I was so excited. However, I did not want to wait a whole year to find out what happens. The good news is that the follow up book, The Queen of Nothing is due out THIS YEAR in November 2019. Therefore I only have to wait 5 months to find out what happens. This ramble explains why I have left it until now to read The Wicked King.

PLOT

From now on there may be some spoilers, so if you have not read The Cruel Prince or The Wicked King, I would come back when you have.

 

The Wicked King follows on from the events of The Cruel Prince. Cardan is now High King of Faerie and Jude is his . Effectively, Jude is in control of Cardan, who has to do everything she says. Five months have passed. There is a plot from the Undersea and Queen Orlagh to take over the faerie land and get rid of Cardan (via murder) in favour of his older brother Balekin. What follows is the twists and turns as each kingdom try to assert their power.

THOUGHTS

I personally thoroughly enjoyed The Wicked King. The first 50% to me seemed a little bit on the slow side and covered life in the Kingdom under Cardan’s rule. There were a lot of new side characters introduced which was a nice edition. The book for me started to get very interesting and fast paced in the last quarter. At this point I could not put the book down. The ending left me shook, I am now in dire need of The Queen of Nothing.

I adore the world that Holly Black has created in this series. There are so many wonderful descriptions of the land which portrays it in a magical and mystical way. Another thing is that there is major character attitude. No one is as they say they are and you cannot trust anyone.

I would thorougly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy, mystical characters and morally grey situations.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments of this book if you have read it!

 

{May TBR}

Happy May everyone! Hopefully this month will bring us sunshine and warm long spring like evenings. I am going to try and set myself a challenge this month to keep to my TBR. I would love to know what is on yours, so please comment below.

B O O K S

** Furyborn by Claire Legrand. This book released in the UK in May 2018 and I have just picked it up now. There has been a lot of hype around this fantasy book since its release. The sequel Kingsbane is due to be released this month so I really want to keep up!

**Animals Eat Each Other by Elle Nash. This book was kindly sent to me by the lovely publishers over at 404ink. This is a short book which focuses on dark themes. It is not the normal book I pick up, but I am so excited to feature a review on this blog later on in the month.

**Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas. I have not come across many people who haven’t delved into the throne of glass series. I read the whole series last summer up until the release of Kingdom of Ash, yet I did not get around to it… This month is the month to tackle this beast of a book *cries*.

** The last book on my list is Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff. This book has been much anticipated for a long time and it is releasing very soon. Watch this space!

How do you tackle your TBR? Do you have a separate list for each month or do you have a rolling schedule?!

Thank you for reading!

F

 

The Devouring Gray – BLOG TOUR

The Devouring Gray – Christine Lynn Herman. Releasing April 2nd 2019.

I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy of this book by the kind people over at Titan Books. All opinions are my own! I am so happy to be part of the blog and instagram tour and have a read of everyone else’s lovely opinions and pictures.

Can I just say how hyped I was for this release? I have been anticipating this release for at least a year now. I have followed updates from the author on

her twitter page since that time and I have tracked the progress of the book ever since. WELL. This book did not disappoint.

S Y N O P S I S

On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening…

Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.

When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36535913-the-devouring-gray?from_search=true

From reading the synopsis all of those months ago, I knew that I would read this book as soon as it came out. Incidently, I was lucky enough to receive an early finished copy of the book. I must admit that I may have scared the postman when I squealed with delight when I opened the door and saw the TITAN books logo on the envelope.

T H O U G H T S

The atmosphere of this story gave me chills. Actual chills! I initially heard how comparisons had been made between TDG and riverdale, stranger things and the raven boys. I adored Riverdale so this was another reason why I wanted to read this book so much.

There were a few different points of view throughout the story. This kept the story flowing well because you never knew what was coming next. There were points when I wanted to continue the story in that specific POV but this kept me reading the whole book. My favourite character was Violet, who is one of the four founding families. There were also Justin, Harper and Isaac who also had their own stories.

Another enjoyable factor for me personally was that the story took place in a small town, which gave very moody and dark atmospheric vibes to the story. Be prepared for some lengthy world building at the beginning: this ensures a fabulous set up for the main plot.

Overall, for a debut novel I was very impressed. I will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out, as I am not ready to be finished with this world. I cannot say a lot more without spoiling the story – do let me know your thoughts below.

 

Thankyou for reading!

F

 

 

Sky In The Deep – Adrienne Young

Hello everyone! I have an exciting post today. I was lucky enough to be asked to be part of the blog tour for the newly UK released Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young. Thank you to Titan Books for sending me a copy for review. Read on for more information regarding the book and an extract!

Details

Sky in the Deep was originally Published April 24th 2018 by Wednesday Books in the USA. Released in paperback March 2019 in the UK.

ISBN1250168457 (ISBN13: 9781250168450)

Edition Language: English

Literary Awards: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction and for Debut Author (2018)

Synopsis

Eelyn is a seventeen-year-old warrior, trained to fight fiercely alongside her Aska
clansmen in an ancient, god-decreed rivalry against the Riki clan, her life is brutal but
uncomplicated. Until the day she witnesses the impossible on the battlefield – her brother,
fighting alongside the enemy – the brother she watched die five years ago…

Extract

“I reached into my pocket and pulled my idol of Iri free. The wood
was smooth and shining where I’d held it in prayer under every
moon that rose in the sky. I carried it against my heart as I fought. I
slept with it beside me. We became warriors together. And long
before that, we were friends.
It was Iri who’d wrapped his arms around me in the dark when I
dreamed of the white-eyed Herja who’d slit our mother’s throat. It
was Iri who’d held me together when I was cracked down to the
bone with the pain of losing her. I ran into my first battle with my
brother at my side. I washed the blood of his first kill from his hands
and pretended not to see the gleam of tears in his eyes. He’d been
stronger than me in every way, but we had taken care of each
other. And honoring him had been where I’d found my own
strength after he was gone.
I dropped the idol into the flames, tears catching in my chest.
I let him go. I erased him. Every memory. Every small hope.
Because the Iri I loved was gone. The boy who had once known
every shadowed corner of my life was dead the moment he spilled
the blood of our people. That boy was gone just as our mother
was, but his soul was lost.
I watched the charred black catch the edge of the wood, eating its
way across until the idol was just a part of the fire. Turning to
smoke and gathering up above me. It stretched and curled around
itself, reaching out into the air.
Until it was nothing.

This book was incredible. The setting was atmospheric, the characters were exciting and endearing and the pacing was great. I read this book within a couple of sittings which for me is very fast! I enjoyed reading as if I were truly there, Eelyn was a fantastic female protagonist and was well developed throughout the story. One of the other characters Fiske was a great edition to the story and brought a more calming personality to the story to balance out Eelyn’s fiery traits. I did enjoy the fact that there were quite a few characters to get to know throughout the book – so the interest never fades. I loved this Viking inspired story and would encourage you all to read this book.

Please have a look at the featured image at the top of the page, and follow more of the blog tour! There are many fellow book bloggers and bookstagrammers who are taking part! We would love to answer your comments and questions on our blogs. Check out my instagram page over at @ladybugbooks to see another picture of the book.

The Devouring Gray – REVIEW

The Devouring Gray – Christine Lynn Herman. Releasing April 2nd 2019.

I was lucky enough to be sent a review copy of this book by the kind people over at Titan Books. All opinions are my own!

Can I just say how hyped I was for this release? I have been anticipating this release for at least a year now. I have followed updates from the author on her twitter page since that time and I have tracked the progress of the book ever since. WELL. This book did not disappoint.

S Y N O P S I S

On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening…

Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.

When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36535913-the-devouring-gray?from_search=true

From reading the synopsis all of those months ago, I knew that I would read this book as soon as it came out. Incidently, I was lucky enough to receive an early finished copy of the book. I must admit that I may have scared the postman when I squealed with delight when I opened the door and saw the TITAN books logo on the envelope.

T H O U G H T S

The atmosphere of this story gave me chills. Actual chills! I initially heard how comparisons had been made between TDG and riverdale, stranger things and the raven boys. I adored Riverdale so this was another reason why I wanted to read this book so much.

There were a few different points of view throughout the story. This kept the story flowing well because you never knew what was coming next. There were points when I wanted to continue the story in that specific POV but this kept me reading the whole book. My favourite character was Violet, who is one of the four founding families. There were also Justin, Harper and Isaac who also had their own stories.

Another enjoyable factor for me personally was that the story took place in a small town, which gave very moody and dark atmospheric vibes to the story. Be prepared for some lengthy world building at the beginning: this ensures a fabulous set up for the main plot.

Overall, for a debut novel I was very impressed. I will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out, as I am not ready to be finished with this world. I cannot say a lot more without spoiling the story – do let me know your thoughts below.

 

Thankyou for reading!

F

 

 

Instagram – Bookstagram Essentials

Hello everyone! Today’s post is going to be around the topic of Instagram and more specifically – bookstagram.

I joined bookstagram in the Summer of 2017 and have never looked back. It is for me one of my more enjoyable hobbies. It is a buzzing and active community of book lovers, reviewers and people who just enjoy books and following people for their content.

One of the things I enjoy about bookstagram is the interaction with the members of the community. Everyone has been so friendly, you rarely come across any drama which is lovely. People are just so happy just to chat, and ping up in your DM’s at all times of day and night. This is just great, you can start a conversation with someone just by saying “OMG did you read this book” or “what did you think of this character?”. The community feel is profound.

You would be very surprised to find out how many people there are in this community. There are thousands of people who have joined the bookstagram train! There are always people to welcome into the community.

Before I joined, I actually had no idea about how many books their were available to me. I have always loved the library and this has encouraged me to visit the library at least once per fortnight. I also love supporting independent bookstores and visit regularly. Also, I do tend to buy some books from amazon for convenience. Lucky for me, I have a lot of charity shops to buy and donate books to when I have finished them for someone else to enjoy.

Another big part of bookstagram is coming up with your own theme. This means that your feed flows and has the same flowing colours and background throughout. This opens the door to a torrent of creativity. There are multiple shout out sessions where you can promote your own account but also find lots of lovely other accounts too.

There are many giveaways on this platform to keep you entertained! I have won quite a few giveaways over the past two years which is always so exciting.

Overall, I am so grateful to be part of this community. The only way is up!

Comment your bookish instagram accounts below and I will make sure to follow you :).

F

Shadow and Bone – REVIEW

Hello everyone!

I must be one of the last people who have started The Grisha Trilogy. There has been a lot of hype recently regarding Leigh Bardugo’s work. This is especially considering the release of King of Scars at the end of last month. I must admit, I was experiencing severe FOMO (fear of missing out) when I could not get excited about this book because I had no idea what it was about!

I was perusing through another fellow bookstagrammer’s story and found that they are reading the whole of Leigh Bardugo’s works over the month of February. Therefore I have decided to join in so I can be finally fully immersed in the Grishaverse.

PLOT:

“Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling”

• Summary from Goodreads.com https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10194157-shadow-and-bone

THOUGHTS:

As soon as I started the book, I was instantly drawn into the story. It flowed so easily for me and I read this in a matter of days which is very quick for me. The character development was interesting and there were multiple sides to each personality. My favourite character was Genya, who had a very interesting back story.

The magic system is interesting and unique, something that I have never come across before. I love the idea of the sun summoners and the dark that lies within.

I will be continuing on with the Grisha Trilogy with the sequel: Siege and Storm, so stay tuned for my thoughts.

 

F