Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (#2)

On August 11, 2021August 8, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escaping meant he would get his life back. But no one knew what sort of a life they were going back to…
Burned and baked, the earth is a wasteland, its people driven mad by an infection known as the Flare.
Instead of freedom, Thomas must face another trial. He must cross the Scorch to once again save himself and his friends.

Well, that was darker than expected. Reading this book made me realise how I often recommend this series to young teens at the bookshop I work in, and even I was slightly creeped out. There is definitely some scenes in here that weren’t included in the movies (at least not that I remember) and I can fully see why they were left out, because they were very dark. The earlier scenes also reminded me of some parts from Terminator 2: Judgement Day and I think if you’ve read this one and watched the films you will know what I mean!

In some ways this book did have a bit of second book syndrome and felt a little like a bridge book between the first and third books. I think this was partly because this book features a journey across a hot, flat desert…which made it feel like a journey bridging the two books and also made it feel a little flat. Which might sound stupid, but I honestly think it gave me some strange symbolism.

i felt her absence. it was like waking up one day with no teeth in your mouth.

I also felt a little bit of a disconnect to the characters and I just wish I felt more for the horrific things these characters go through. This book was quite dark in places and the characters have some incredibly traumatic times – however I just didn’t feel enough sympathy for them in my opinion.

One of the most positive parts of this book for me was the plot. The chapters were super short and I found this so easy to read because I didn’t want to put it down! I found this slightly quicker and easier to read than The Maze Runner (despite me reading that over a fewer amount of days). I just thought this one was slightly easier to pick up and felt a little more compelling than the first.

you wouldn’t need to run to the mirror to know they were gone

Overall this one was a little mediocre in comparison to my pleasant surprise of the first one in the series! However, I’m excited to read The Death Cure soon as I haven’t seen the film of that one so I have no idea what to expect there.

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

On August 8, 2021August 4, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun…
10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03: The auditorium doors won’t open.
10:05: Someone starts shooting.
In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.

I’ve had this book for a while and I’m so glad it came up on my August TBR so I finally had a reason to pick it up. I love the idea of this being set of 54 minutes and books set over a time period of a day or even an hour really intrigues me. I admire authors so much who can fill a whole book with such a short amount of time and still make it fast paced and full of action.

This book felt so important and a crucial read, but wasn’t without heartbreak and sadness. I read this over a couple of days where I had little time to read, and I still got through it so quickly and never wanted to put it down. It is the kind of book that would be super easy to read in one sitting as despite the heavy topics, it was very easy to read and hard to put down.

You can’t always keep your loved ones with you. You can’t always settle your life in one place. The world was made to change.

I liked the characters and I also enjoyed the fact this had 4 points of view. However, I felt like the execution of this wasn’t perfect. This book is fairly short at 280 pages and I just feel like we didn’t quite have enough time for the characters to build distinct personalities. I just didn’t feel as connected to the characters as I wanted to, and I feel like this one was crucial to have a connection to the characters in such a harrowing situation. I didn’t dislike the characters, I just didn’t feel they were as distinct from one another as I wanted them to be.

I really liked the atmosphere of this book and I feel like the writing captured the action really well. I felt like I was right there with the characters as they went through this horrific event. The writing was also so easy to read and created a great balance of being compelling without taking away from the nature of the difficult discussions throughout.

But as long as you cherish the memories and make new ones along on the way, no matter where you are, you’ll always be at home.

Overall, although this wasn’t perfect I did find this really enjoyable and would make a perfect one-sitting read!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Maze Runner (#1) by James Dashner

On August 6, 2021August 4, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he’s not alone. He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there – or what’s happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything – even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrol its corridors, to try and find out …

These books have been on my radar for over 10 years. I think the box set I am reading from has been in my family home for around 10 years too, and I never picked them up for some reason. I read The Hunger Games around the time of popularity, but I only picked up Divergent last year and I’m only picking up The Maze Runner now. My brother read the first book years ago (which is why I own the set) and I have actually seen the films of the first two. I always struggle when I watch the films before reading the book (which very, very rarely happens!) as I never know quite how to make my thoughts distinct on them both.

I have to say, this book was a real pleasant surprise. I thought I would find this a bit young for me and therefore not find it too enjoyable, which is how I felt about Divergent when I read it last year. But I must say I really liked this book. I read it in just over 24 hours and found it such an easy and fast paced read.

Just follow me and run like your life depends on it.

I liked the cast of characters and I really like how this focuses on male friendship rather than a relationship (not yet at least!). It felt unique for YA to not jump on a relationship and I liked having something a bit different. Even though I have watched the film adaptation for this first book, I found myself on the edge of my seat and wondering where the book was going to go (it’s worth knowing it has been years since I saw the film last!).

I definitely feel like this premise is super unique and although falls into dystopian themes and tropes now, feels unique of it’s time. I’m intrigued to see how the plot will develop over the books as I haven’t seen the film adaptation for The Death Cure and therefore will have no idea where the book goes.

Because it does.

Despite this one being a little difficult to judge, I can confidently say I really enjoyed reading this one more than expected and I’ll be starting The Scorch Trials very soon!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

On August 5, 2021August 3, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Far from fading with time, Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale of fantasy has attracted a growing audience in each generation. Rat, Mole, Badger and the preposterous Mr Toad (with his ‘Poop-poop-poop’ road-hogging new motor-car), have brought delight to many through the years with their odd adventures on and by the river, and at the imposing residence of Toad Hall. Grahame’s book was later dramatised by A. A. Milne, and became a perennial Christmas favourite, as Toad of Toad Hall. It continues to enchant and, above all perhaps, inspire great affection.

I had a lot of nostalgia going into this book, which was unexpected actually. I must have read some kind of version of this story as a child as I remembered certain aspects of it really clearly. I don’t remember reading a specific version or watching a film adaptation, but I have clear memories of the characters and setting.

I really loved the setting of the book and it felt so vivid and beautiful. The river felt very reminiscent of spring and captured the atmosphere perfectly. Although I really liked the setting and houses of the characters, some of it did feel slightly nonsensical to me. Much like a lot of children’s classics I’ve read, I feel like this kind of silliness is the kind that really grabs children’s attention but feels a little lost on me now.

Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing –

I really enjoyed reading about the friendship between these characters, but I ended up disliking Toad a lot. He is narcissistic and pretentious throughout the second half of the book, and any redemption is too little, too late for me. Sadly this made me lose interest in a lot of the second half of the story and miss the cozy companionship of Mole and Badger.

I listened to the audiobook of this from Recorded Books on Scribd, and I really liked the version I listened to. Not only was the narrator brilliant and gave a lovely tone to the story, but he also sang some of the songs. This may seem like a tiny thing to notice, but I often find myself disappointed when songs and poems are read out in monotone, so this stood out to me as something extra special.

absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

Overall, this definitely wasn’t my favourite classic but also wasn’t unlikable. I wouldn’t go into it expecting a wild ride, but more a slow meander down the river in spring.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Lore by Alexandra Bracken

On August 3, 2021August 2, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man–now a god–responsible for their deaths.
Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.
The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost–and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

It’s time for another review where I get confused about Greek Mythology! I think at this point I need to face the fact that I probably need to teach myself a little bit before reading more Greek Mythology inspired books, purely because this is the second book I’ve read in 2021 that I have been highly confused over (the first being Circe). I thought with this one being a YA book rather than adult it may have held my hand a little more, but it did still leave me feeling confused.

I feel like I left this book with not much more knowledge than when I went in, honestly. I really liked the idea of this book and the premise sounded brilliant – it sounds like it should have been fast paced and action packed. Instead, I found this boring and confusing at the same time. It took me so much longer to get through than I wanted to because it just felt so long and I didn’t want to pick it up when I wasn’t reading it.

I was born knowing how to do three things –

I liked the characters and the kind of found family element to it, but I didn’t feel connected to them at all. They all felt a little flat and I couldn’t tell you any defining feature about any of the characters less than a week after finishing this book. The plot also felt super slow even though technically a lot happens, I couldn’t pinpoint anything in partiular.

I know that part of my problem with this book was my lack of understanding of Greek Mythology, but I feel like I can’t blame everything on myself here. Partly because there were sections of this book (namely the flashbacks) that I actually really enjoyed. I’m so glad I enjoyed these parts because I do have hope for Alexandra Bracken’s writing. These sections personally felt so different to the rest of the book and I felt so much more connected to them.

how to breathe, how to dream, and how to love you.

It’s really hard to tell how much of this book’s problems is mine and how much is the book, but I really want to read the Passenger series by the same author so it will be interesting to see how I find that one!

★★★
2.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

On August 2, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Blackwells

Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.

This was one of the books I’ve had on my TBR for the longest, and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it. For a while, I’ve had it in the back of my mind that this was a fantasy book, but it was actually a contemporary. Once I realised this, I absolutely stormed through this book and read it in a day. I just couldn’t put it down and needed to know what was going to happen to Naila.

This book certainly wasn’t a light one – Naila goes through a lot throughout this story and parts of it were utterly heartbreaking and left me horrified. But this was also such an important story as it shows something people go through in real life, which made it all the more horrific but also crucial to read.

My mother always says when you fight destiny, destiny fights back. Some things, they’re just written in the stars.

I really sympathised with Naila as a main character but I didn’t quite feel as connected to the characters as much as I wanted to. I think mainly because this book is quite short and feels full of action, leaving not much room for character development. As much as I did feel sympathetic for what Naila was going through, I never felt as emotional as I expected or wanted to.

The plot was very fast paced and I honestly didn’t want to put this book down (which is why I read it in a day!). I felt so sucked into this story and I am still thinking about it over a week later. I did find some of the plot points quite predictable and I didn’t find any of it surprising, but I did still enjoy the journey.

You can try but you can never escape what’s meant to be.

Although I did feel like this book was a narrow (and quite negative) look at Islam and Pakistani culture, as the author pointed out in the Author’s Note, this is unfortunately something that happens to a very small amount of people across race, culture and religions. I was so glad to have such an insight into Naila’s story and even though this book was hard hitting, it felt like a very important read and I really enjoyed it.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The 24-Hour Cafe by Libby Page

On July 26, 2021July 23, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book ReviewLeave a comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Welcome to the cafe that never sleeps.
Day and night, Stella’s Cafe opens its doors to the lonely and the lost, the morning people and the night owls. It’s a place where everyone is always welcome, where life can wait at the door.
Meet Hannah and Mona: best friends, waitresses, dreamers. They love working at Stella’s – the different people they meet, the small kindnesses exchanged. But is it time to step outside and make their own way in life?
Come inside and spend twenty-four hours at Stella’s Cafe, where one day might just be enough to change your life …

Libby Page really doesn’t let me down! I loved, loved The Lido by her when I read it last year and I’ve been putting this one off for a while for some reason. I actually picked this one out in my first ever TBR game on my BookTube channel – my TBR mini golf game! You can check the video out here for my July TBR. I’m so glad this one came up in the video because I think the reason I have been putting this off is because I liked The Lido so much and I didn’t want to not like this one as much. And I have to admit, I didn’t quite love this one as much as The Lido, but I did still really love it.

Although this one follows two waitresses in a 24 hour diner opposite Liverpool Street station, it was the customers that really captured my heart. Working in retail, I completely understood the way the customers were portrayed and I find it fascinating knowing someone you have a very brief interaction with has their own complicated life. This book looks individually at these characters, their passions, problems and relationships. The way these people were interwoven in the story felt so graceful and effortless.

I also loved how this book followed the friendship of two women rather than a relationship, which felt like a bit of a change! Their friendship becomes messy and complicated but felt authentic and I could completely understand why their pathways were heading in the way they were. I also loved how this book was set over 24 hours – I always find books set over a few days are so masterful (I don’t know how you can write a whole 400 page book over just 24 hours and it still be entertaining!) and fast paced.

My only small complaints are the fact it took me a while to get into this one and that I did mix up the two main characters (waitresses) initially, as they have similar interests. However, once I got over halfway through I really didn’t want to put it down. I read the second half in just over a day and I quickly fell in love with all of the people in this one. Some of the scenes were so heartfelt and heartwarming, I ended up so emotional. I admire Libby Page so much for being able to make me cry from a scene with characters we only met a few pages previously. I was properly crying while reading a certain scene with a couple, tears falling off my face and onto my chest. It was just so wholesome and lovely.

Although this may not have lived up to The Lido, I still really, really loved this one and I can’t wait to read her newest release, The Island Home!

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Bright & the Pale by Jessica Rubinkowski

On July 25, 2021July 23, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Seventeen-year-old Valeria is one of the only survivors of the freeze, a dark magical hold Knnot Mountain unleashed over her village. Everyone, including her family, is trapped in an unbreakable sheet of ice. Ever since, she’s been on the run from the Czar, who is determined to imprison any who managed to escape. Valeria finds refuge with the Thieves Guild, doing odd jobs with her best friend Alik, the only piece of home she has left.
That is, until he is brutally murdered.
A year later, she discovers Alik is alive and being held against his will. To buy his freedom, she must lead a group of cutthroats and thieves on a perilous expedition to the very mountain that claimed her family. Only something sinister slumbers in the heart of Knnot.
And it has waited years for release.

Firstly a big thank you to Amy for the gorgeous Fairyloot copy I own! I adore the edition and I’m glad I got around to reading this quickly – although it felt strange reading a polar fantasy in the middle of the hot weather we are having right now in the UK. I actually read this one on audio as I didn’t have many books left on Scrib’d and this one captured my interest!

Sadly, I actually ended up having quite mixed feelings about this one in the end. Although I can safely say I quite enjoyed it, there was just something there that didn’t quite click for me. There was a lot to like about this one, but I also found myself not caring about the story and characters as much as I wanted to – even in the most emotional scenes in the book.

Fear the mountain, my dear. Fear the dark depths and the cold halls. Fear the call.

I did like the plot of this one, but I found some of it a little predictable. Some of it did feel quite unique, including the Russian folklore aspect, which I feel like we don’t see much of in YA fantasy. I have heard this may be a retelling, although it felt more generally inspired than a full retelling. I also felt like the atmosphere was one of my favourite parts and I really liked the general feel of the setting and surroundings.

I liked the characters, but as with a lot of this book, I just liked them. I did root for the main characters and I enjoyed the found-family aspect of the group. However, I honestly feel like I’m running out of things to say because I just…didn’t feel as much for any of this book than I wanted to.

For when the mountain sinks its teeth into you, it will never let you go.

So overall, this definitely wasn’t a bad read, and I certainly enjoyed it – it just also fell flat and felt really disappointing in some ways. I’ve recently found out this is a going to be a duology, and I think I may re-read the physical version of this when the second one comes out.

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Furies by Katie Lowe

On July 22, 2021July 23, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on school property, dressed in white and posed on a swing, with no known cause of death. The novel opens with this image, as related to us by the narrator, Violet, looking back on the night it happened from the present day, before returning to relate the series of events leading up to the girl’s murder.
After an accident involving her Dad and sister, Violet joins Elm Hollow Academy, a private girls school in a quiet coastal town, which has an unpleasant history as the site of famous 17th century witch trials. Violet quickly finds herself invited to become the fourth member of an advanced study group, alongside Robin, Grace, and Alex – led by their charismatic art teacher, Annabel.
While Annabel claims her classes aren’t related to ancient rites and rituals – warning the girls off the topic, describing it as little more than mythology – the girls start to believe that magic is real, and that they can harness it. But when the body of a former member of the society – Robin’s best friend, with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance – is found dead on campus nine months after she disappeared, Violet begins to wonder whether she can trust her friends, teachers, or even herself.

Okay, wow. I didn’t have many expectations going into this, but I didn’t expect it to be quite so dark or graphic as it turned out to be. I listened to the audiobook of this, which I actually really liked and felt the narrator fit the story really well – but did leave me completely enveloped in the darker scenes.

This book is the darkest of dark academia I have read. It takes all of the murder mystery elements and makes them more visceral and gruesome than I ever expected. The best part of this book, in my opinion, was the writing. I loved the writing, and I think it was probably the only part of this book I truly fell for. It almost read like a modern classic, lilting and atmospheric and perfect for the story. The writing just worked for me, and I feel like the audiobook only enhanced this with the narrator.

Every breath, every moment, possessed with an illusion of glamor, of filthy decadence, purely because it was ours,

Everything else, however, I have a lot of mixed feelings about. Our main character, Violet, left me feeling infuriated for most of the story. She never learns how to say no, how to take control of her own situation or how to stand up for herself. But I couldn’t stay mad at her forever – I was more frustrated with the fact it was so easy for her to fall into this trap of impressing the popular, enthralling group of girls known as The Furies. I didn’t appreciate the decisions she made, but I also felt angry at the fact her naivety left her exposed and vulnerable.

The plot felt a bit all over the place, and I never quite knew where the end goal of the story quite fell. Even when I did figure out the next ‘goal’ to the story, it came and went in a blink and I felt like I’d been left to wonder where we were heading. It was a bit like being left to feel around in the dark, grabbing strings and hoping they would develop into a real narrative.

we two our own radical world, a star collapsing inward and bursting, gorgeous, in the dark.

This book was twisted and honestly, screwed up. But I can see the message it was trying to portray and I loved the writing, it was just sadly let down by the plot and characters in a lot of ways. It’s the kind of book I can definitely understand why people like it, but I wouldn’t want to necessarily recommend it to anybody due to the dark nature of the topics.

CW (just some off the top of my head, this book was very graphic overall so beware!): sex, sexual assault, drug use, alcohol use, murder, gore

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Last Beginning (#2) by Lauren James

On July 20, 2021July 15, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Sixteen years ago, after a scandal that rocked the world, teenagers Katherine and Matthew vanished without a trace. Now Clove Sutcliffe is determined to find her long lost relatives.
But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again? And who is the mysterious Ella, who keeps appearing at every turn in Clove’s investigation?
For Clove, there is a mystery to solve in the past and a love to find in the future, and failure could cost the world everything.

Not only does this book complete my reading of Lauren’s entire collection of novels (until Green Rising is released very soon!), it is also my 100th read of the year! 100 books was my Goodreads goal for 2021 and is also way more than I have ever managed to read in a year (I think my highest is around 85 in 2020). The fact I have reached this goal in the middle of July astounds me and I wanted to mention it here – my boyfriend also mentioned the irony of this book being called The Last Beginning and being the one to make me hit my goal.

It’s been years since I read The Next Together and I was a little worried going into this one without having read the first one recently. However, this one follows the main characters from The Next Together’s daughter, 16 years on. And luckily for me, she has an entirely different story allowing me to pretty seamlessly carry on.

I can remember thinking I’d been turned inside out.

Every Lauren James book I read astounds me with the sheer creativity of it. I could never even begin to think up the kind of worlds she seems to – worlds that are so different from our own but also have such a lovely familiarity to them. In this book, we follow Clove as she tries to find out why her birth parents appear over and over again throughout history. Her adopted parents are working on a time machine, which she uses to meet all of these variants of her parents. I really love the time travel theme and felt like it allowed us to explore different time periods really well, with all of them feeling authentic and believable.

The writing was so quick to read and once I picked this up, I found it hard to put down. I love how easy the writing was and this is definitely something I find across all of Lauren James’s work. The characters were also really likable and I love the family element and the relationship was so sweet and had such a lovely moral. The only problem I was how immature Clove could be, especially at the start of the book, and it made the whole book feel a little too young for me.

Kind of like the first time I saw you.

Once again, big up Lauren James for writing about women in STEM, having powerful female leads and a sapphic relationship! I really enjoyed this one and it got better and better as it went on.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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The Books are Everywhere

Category: Book Review

Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (#2)

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Review: The Maze Runner (#1) by James Dashner

Review: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Review: Lore by Alexandra Bracken

Review: Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

Review: The 24-Hour Cafe by Libby Page

Review: The Bright & the Pale by Jessica Rubinkowski

Review: The Furies by Katie Lowe

Review: The Last Beginning (#2) by Lauren James