Tag: book review

Review: Tunnel of Bones (#2) by V.E. Schwab

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment
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Trouble is haunting Cassidy Blake . . . even more than usual.
She (plus her ghost best friend, Jacob, of course) are in Paris, where Cass’s parents are filming their TV show about the world’s most haunted cities. Sure, it’s fun eating croissants and seeing the Eiffel Tower, but there’s true ghostly danger lurking beneath Paris, in the creepy underground Catacombs.
When Cass accidentally awakens a frighteningly strong spirit, she must rely on her still-growing skills as a ghosthunter — and turn to friends both old and new to help her unravel a mystery. But time is running out, and the spirit is only growing stronger.
And if Cass fails, the force she’s unleashed could haunt the city forever. 

I’m reading this series alongside Alex as part of the readalong we’re currently hosting, #ghostsalong. If you want to find out more, our announcement video is linked below and we’ll be starting the last book, Bridge of Souls on Monday!

Although I’d read City of Ghosts before, it was my first time reading Tunnel of Bones and this book is such a great addition to the series. We continue following 12 year old Cassidy Blake and her parents as they travel around the world filming a paranormal TV show. But there’s a bit of a twist – Cassidy can see ghosts and draw back the veil to the other side. Her best friend, Jacob, is also a ghost and travels with them.

In this book, we visit Paris, which I loved and made for such an amazing atmospheric setting. One of my favourite aspects of these books is the atmosphere, which make you feel so involved and enveloped in the story. I once again listened to most of this book on audio and read the end in physical format, and loved it all.

What you can’t see is always scarier than what you can. 

Cassidy is such a fun character to follow but isn’t without her own moral dilemmas which I find so interesting and gives a great dynamic to the story. Considering these books are middle grade/young YA, there is so much depth to these stories. This book is even creepier than the first story and the poltergeist we follow seriously gave me chills. While listening to this while I was running, I couldn’t help but looking behind me a couple of times.

The writing is so easy to read and compelling but doesn’t feel shallow at all. Schwab does such an amazing job of keeping you on the edge of your seat and making you want to read more. I continued to love the characters and enjoyed finding out more about them. I was also happy to see some of the characters returning from Edinburgh in book 1.

Your eyes play tricks on you, filling in the shadows, making shapes.

This was such an enjoyable addition to the series and I’m so excited to read Bridge of Souls!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Vampires Never Get Old by Various Authors

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment
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In this delicious new collection, you’ll find stories about lurking vampires of social media, rebellious vampires hungry for more than just blood, eager vampires coming out―and going out for their first kill―and other bold, breathtaking, dangerous, dreamy, eerie, iconic, powerful creatures of the night.
Welcome to the evolution of the vampire―and a revolution on the page.
Vampires Never Get Old includes stories by authors both bestselling and acclaimed, including Samira Ahmed, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Julie Murphy, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, Victoria “V. E.” Schwab, and Kayla Whaley. 

Overall, this was a brilliantly diverse collection of short stories about vampires, tackling the fact most popular vampire stories follow cis, white, male, able-bodied, heterosexual vampires. It takes everything we know and expect from vampire myth and folklore and turns it on its head. I read this an audiobook and I really enjoyed the whole experience. It had a brilliant cast of narrators that changed with the stories and fit the whole book well. I really liked how the editors of this book wrote a short follow up of each of the stories that explained the folklore behind each one.

As this book contains many different stories, I’m going to go through them all separately, but overall I was super impressed with this book!

Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton ★★★★

This one was such a strong start to the book and I really enjoyed it. We follow a young girl being lured into the world of vampirism and it tackled some super interesting topics. It was sex positive and followed a character who is bi/pan, and also discussed grief, belonging, loss and anger. We follow the main character as she tries to make a decision about whether she wants to become a vampire or not, which also fit the short story well as it focuses on 7 days. I liked the family aspect and if I remember rightly we had a really positive family relationship featuring a single parent!

The Boys From Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse ★★★

The second story was also strong and I did enjoy it, just not quite as much as the first one. I loved the setting as we follow our main character late at night in a diner where he works, and the whole story reminded me a little bit of The Lost Boys. In this story, there is a legend surrounding a song which mysteriously begins playing on the jukebox at the diner. The legend being that vampires come when the song is sung, and the person who sang the song will then disappear. Again, this story has some really important discussions about grief, loss, race and sexuality, and the only reason I haven’t rated it higher is because I honestly can’t remember as much as I would like about it!

Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy ★★★★

I’ve read Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy and really enjoyed it, and I feel like her contemporary approach to a vampire story worked so well in this one. We follow Jolene, who is a fat vampire slayer and I loved her! I really liked that this one was fat positive and sapphic, and also that it followed a vampire slayer rather than the vampire themselves. Again, this one fit the short story narrative really well and left me wanting tor read more by Julie Murphy.

The Boy and The Bell by Heidi Heilig ★★★

I sadly can’t remember this story so well, which is why it has a lower rating. This one, as with many of the other stories, is steeped in vampire folklore and follows a trans boy and the idea of people being buried before they are supposed to. We follow our main character, who is a grave digger trying to learn from the corpses he is digging up, when he starts to hear a bell ringing. I would say that I won’t say more because of spoilers, but honestly I can’t remember much more about the story sadly!

A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed ★★★★★

This story was absolutely brilliant and is no doubt my favourite of the entire collection. It was so well written and creative, and is written in second person addressing ‘you’ as the reader. The idea behind this story is it’s written as a guidebook for newly sired Desi vampires who have been turned against their will by British tourists. It was so funny which is what I loved the most and the writing was so witty. It also has some really interesting and important discussions about Colonial India and taught me a lot! I’ll definitely be checking out more books by this author.

In Kind by Kayla Whaley ★★★★★

Yet another story that I really enjoyed and is a close second favourite after Ahmed’s! This story follows a girl who has been murdered by her father, who believes he killed her out of ‘mercy’. Her body goes missing and instead of being buried, she is turned into a vampire and wants to enact revenge on her father for what happened. I love how this book talked about the main character’s degenerative neuromuscular disorder and that she still uses a wheelchair as a vampire. She talks about how much her disorder is inherent to her identity, and I really liked the discussions broached by this story. I loved it a lot.

Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker ★★★★

Although this one didn’t quite reach the 5 star level of the previous two, I found it super interesting and really enjoyed it too! This one follows vampires who use Instagram and hide the fact they are vampires. One of these vampires has befriended a human on social media and the human girl decides to throw her a surprise party, but doesn’t know her friend is a vampire. Although I felt a little uncomfortable with the fact the human girl is 15 at the start of this story, I did still really enjoy it and it worked well as a short story.

Bestiary by Laura Ruby ★★1/2

Unfortunately, the stories took a bit of a dip for me as we get towards the end. In this one, we follow a girl who lives in a zoo and has a bond with the animals who live there. This one really fell flat for me and overall, just felt like it wasn’t really going anywhere or that anything really happened. Some of it was entertaining and I liked the themes of capitalism, but I just found there wasn’t as much to enjoy.

Mirrors, Windows and Selfies by Mark Oshiro ★★1/2

I found this one also fell a little flat and was by far the longest story. It honestly felt like it went on forever, but simultaneously had little to no real focus. We follow a young Latino man who is born as a vampire and has been controlled by his parents all his life. Throughout the story, he is trying to find out more about himself, including what he looks like. Although again, we follow some interesting themes of control, isolation and loneliness, and I did find the format (Tumblr posts) interesting, it fell flat. I also had a slight problem with the narrator or tone of writing (hard to pinpoint as I listened to the audio!) sounding very overenthusiastic and therefore inauthentic.

The House of Black Sapphires by Dhonielle Clayton ★★★

Things did start to look up again here with the final two stories, and even though this was far from perfect I definitely enjoyed it more than the previous two. In this story, we follow a Black family who are forced to move around and run an apothecary shop. This one is definitely 10 points for atmosphere and I really enjoyed reading about the relationship of the sisters, but I still found the plot disappointing and something didn’t quite click.

First Kill by V.E. Schwab ★★★★

The final story and one I was most looking forward to was First Kill by V.E. Schwab. And although this one didn’t make it to 5 stars or become my favourite, I did really enjoy it and can definitely see the potential for the Netflix adaptation that is in the making! Without saying too much and spoiling the story, we have two teenage girls who have crushes on one another and there is some real sapphic angst. I really enjoyed it!

Overall….

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment
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In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.
But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.
There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be. 

Thank you to the publisher, Orbit, for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I’ve been looking forward to this one for so long and I’ve been saving it for autumn to be able to read it. However, this one did really let me down and I just didn’t click with it in the way I wanted to. I quickly realised when I started reading that something was just off for me. I buddy read this one with Alex and she pointed out that this one is told in third person present tense and was struggling with it too, which I think was my problem. It just made me feel disconnected from the story.

We follow 3 sisters who join the suffragists of New Salem and are also witches themselves. This one just sounds great – feminist and witchy, what more could I want? But I actually found myself being constantly mixed up between the sisters and found kind of lost throughout the story.

Every woman draws a circle around herself.

I did enjoy aspects of this book and found it better once I sat down to read big chunks of it at a time. I think part of my problem is that I couldn’t help but compare this to other books which I love, such as Erin Morgenstern’s books. I just couldn’t connect to the writing and it felt like such a long book at just over 500 pages. I constantly felt like the story was too long and I could summarise a lot of the plot in much less than I would want to.

I liked the idea and themes behind this so much and really wanted to like it – the themes of feminism and women’s rights made for an interesting plot. The fact we have women claiming their power is amazing and I loved the historical context too. Parts of the plot were also really entertaining and page turning, but most of it fell flat.

Sometimes she has to be the only thing inside it.

It’s so upsetting when you just really want to love a book but it doesn’t quite live up to expectations and that’s sadly exactly what happened with this book for me! I would definitely say if it sounds like something you’d like then please do give it a go as it has a lot of 5 star reviews, it just wasn’t quite for me.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: City of Ghosts (#1) by V.E. Schwab

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review4 Comments
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Cass can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead.
When Cass’s parents start hosting a TV show about the world’s most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh. Here, graveyards, castles and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms.
But when Cass meets a girl who shares her “gift”, she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil—and herself. And she’ll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined. 

This is my second time reading this book as me and Alex are hosting a readalong of all 3 of these books throughout the next few weeks! You can join us on Twitter by using the hashtag #ghostsalong, and you can find more information in the YouTube video below.

On a second read, this book was just as much fun as the first time. I decided to read most of this on audio format and I absolutely loved it – it was such a great way to reread this one. The first time I read this, it made me want to visit Edinburgh, and I’m sad to say I still haven’t made it to Scotland. Yet again, this book drew me to the city once more with the atmosphere and adventure.

”Stories have power,” she says.

Cassidy makes for such an interesting main character and I love her friendships. She has such entertaining dynamics between the ghosts she can communicate with and her best friend Jacob. There are some interesting moral discussions raised by her surroundings and story, which I liked.

I really liked the writing, and found it super entertaining for an older reader. Although parts of the plot were slightly predictable, there is definitely enough for any age to enjoy and I found myself shocked at parts even re-reading this one.

”So long as you believe them.”

Overall, this is such an entertaining and fun start to the series and I can’t wait to carry on following Cassidy Blake on her adventures!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Emma by Jane Austen

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments
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Although described by Jane Austen as a character ‘whom no one but myself will much like’, the irrepressible Emma Woodhouse is one of her most beloved heroines. Clever, rich and beautiful, she sees no need for marriage, but loves interfering in the romantic lives of others, until her matchmaking plans unravel, with consequences that she never expected. Jane Austen’s novel of youthful exuberance and gradual self-knowledge is a brilliant, sparkling comic masterpiece. 

I’m slowly making my way through Austen’s books this autumn, and I’ve been mainly doing that through audio. This one is no different, and I decided to pick it as my first October audiobook. I love reading Austen on audio and the narrator of this one was brilliant. The voices really reflected each character and the story shone through well.

I cannot make speeches, Emma…If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. 

However, this is sadly probably my least favourite Austen so far. I believe this is one of her longest books and I’m so glad I read it on audio because it did feel quite long and drawn out. I feel like this one has the least plot and most nonsense out of all of the Austen books I’ve read so far. I was never quite sure where this book was going and felt like there was not much of an end point to strive for.

Although Emma as a main character could be unlikable at times, I did enjoy the idea of her being a female heroine and not necessarily looking for love. However, some of the other characters were highly annoying (I’m looking at you, Miss Bates!) and let me tell you, the narrator did a great job as portraying them as such.

You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.

Overall, I feel like this one is going to be quite forgettable for me and feels very…scatterbrained. I’m still excited to read more from Austen and I didn’t dislike this book, just my least favourite so far!

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Tea Dragon Trilogy by Kay O’Neill

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments
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From the award-winning author of Princess Princess Ever After comes The Tea Dragon Society, a charming all-ages book that follows the story of Greta, a blacksmith apprentice, and the people she meets as she becomes entwined in the enchanting world of tea dragons.
After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon care-taking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own. 

This review will be for the entire Tea Dragon trilogy.

I’ve heard so many amazing things about this graphic novel series and I honestly fell in love with it. We follow Greta, who learns about the art of caring for tea dragons. She meets so many beautiful people along the way and some gorgeous tea dragons too.

I absolutely adored the tea dragons in these books. They all have their own personalities and their stories allow for some really important discussions about grief and loss.

The illustrations in this are absolutely to die for, and the panels are so creatively drawn. I absolutely love the colour palettes, especially in The Tea Dragon Tapestry, which is the latest book and the most autumnal. Although the books all follow a variety of seasons, but the last one definitely feels the most autumnal and the entire series is perfect to read at this time of year!

The diversity throughout these books was incredible and felt so natural. We have a character who uses a wheelchair, a character who uses sign language (and this was so seamlessly woven into the story!), a non-binary character, a range of sexualities and identities!

Overall, I just absolutely loved these books so much and I would highly recommend them to anyone who feels like they may enjoy reading them. It felt like such a big and warm hug and is so easy to fall in love with.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: On a Night Like This by Lindsey Kelk

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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Within days of wishing she could change her life, Fran Cooper is acting assistant to a celebrity, on a yacht in the Mediterranean, and en route to a tiny Italian island and the glittering Crystal Ball, along with the world’s rich and famous.
When she – quite literally – bumps into a handsome American called Evan, a man able to keep his cool in the face of chaos, the magic really begins.
Evan makes her a promise: no last names, no life stories, just one unforgettable night. Yet Evan belongs at the Crystal Ball and Fran is a gatecrasher. They may be soulmates, but their homes are an ocean apart, and their lives a world apart. They’ll never meet again – unless, on a night like this, everything can change forever…

Thank you to Harper for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

It has taken me way too long to finally pick up a Lindsey Kelk book, but I jumped on the chance to read and review her upcoming release, On a Night Like This! In this book we follow Fran, who accepts a mysterious job as a personal assistant to megastar singer Juliette. Fran is thrown into a world of stardom and ends up reconsidering everything about her life back home because of it.

This book was so funny. I was immediately thrown into witty writing and laugh-out-loud one liners. I don’t often laugh out lout at books, but this one really did make me chuckle over and over again. The writing was so easy and felt less predictable than I expected. Once I picked this one up, I didn’t want to put it down. I was so absorbed in Fran’s story and just wanted to find out more about her life and how it would change as the book went on.

Fran made such a lovely main character and I clicked with her almost immediately. I sympathised so much with her and her situation, and it was so amazing to see how she learned about herself and grew as a person. Her friendship with Juliette was so entertaining to read about but also had some really heartfelt moments.

Overall, this book had such a beautiful mixture of self love, friendship and romance. It was both cliched in the best way put unpredictable at the same time. I really enjoyed reading it and I’m so glad I’ve finally picked up a Lindsey Kelk book!

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (#2) by Hank Green

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment
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The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While they were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction without ever lifting a finger. Well, that’s not exactly true. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories.
Months later, the world is as confused as ever. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online about the world post-Carl; Maya, ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string of mysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda infiltrates a new scientific operation . . . one that might have repercussions beyond anyone’s comprehension.
As they each get further down their own paths, a series of clues arrive—mysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers; unexplained internet outages; and more—which seem to suggest April may be very much alive. In the midst of the gang’s possible reunion is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality.

I was a little concerned this second book wouldn’t live up to the first one. I read An Absolutely Remarkable Thing earlier this year and I absolutely fell in love with it and read it in one afternoon. However, I went into the first book with little to no expectation, and had much higher expectations. But as soon as I picked up this one I knew I was going to just fall in love with it. The narrative is so, so unique and I don’t think I will ever find a series quite like this one.

I had no idea where this series would go, but I love where we ended up. This is told from quite a few different points of view, but it really worked. I feel like multiple POV is hard to get right when there is more than just two, but this one got it just right. The chapters were quite short and I really didn’t want to put this one down. I constantly wanted to get to the next chapter and find out what was happening in different parts of the story.

You will always struggle with not feeling productive until you accept that your own joy can be something you produce.

I loved reading about these characters, who aren’t entirely likeable as such but I feel like these books really feel like you are inside their heads and relate very closely to them. Because the characters felt so familiar from the first book, I very smoothly dived into this one even though it’s been 6 months since I read the first book.

Without giving too much away about the plot, these books are kind of sci-fi contemporary, which makes it super intriguing and easy to read. This book follows the characters trying to find out more information about what happened to April-May at the end of book one, and also so much more. There are so many levels to these books and I found each of them easy to follow but equally intriguing.

It is not the only thing you will make, nor should it be, but it is something valuable and beautiful.

Overall, this series is just incredible and I couldn’t not rate this one 5 stars. I absolutely loved both books and I’m so glad I carried on with this series!

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments
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Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.
When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.
However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave. 

Ahh, this book was so good. I’m a bit late to the party with this one and I’ve already heard so much about it, as soon as I spotted a beautiful hardback I knew I wanted to pick it up. Even though I bought the hardback, I actually read this as an audiobook and I would highly recommend it – it was read by a trans, Latinx narrator and their passion really shone through in the narration. There is also an interview between the narrator and Aiden Thomas at the end of the audiobook, which I would highly recommend giving a listen if you have access!

This book follows Yadriel, who is a trans Latinx boy who wants to prove to his community that he is a real brujo by summoning the ghost of his cousin, Miguel. Instead, he summons the resident bad boy of the school, Julian, who doesn’t want to go quietly into death before finding out what happened to him.

No, it wasn’t the end. 

I loved the narration of this so much and I connected to the characters and the story almost instantly. Yadriel being trans gave such an interesting extra layer and depth to this story and I really loved how this wasn’t a coming-out story necessarily and was about a trans character in a fantasy genre with a completely different focus. Despite that, this book still includes some very important discussions about being trans and deadnaming.

I loved the entire concept of this book and it was such a perfect time of the year to read it! Reading about Latinx culture and particularly finding out more about Latinx folklore was so interesting and evoking. I loved the magic system, the food and the family/friendship/community aspects. The entirety of the world-building was so clever and vivid, really drawing me into the story. I loved it.

It was a better beginning.

My only tiny criticism of this book is that I found the plot a little predictable at times, but I still enjoyed the ride a lot and I’m so glad I picked this one up!

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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Review: The Death Cure (#3) by James Dashner

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment
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The trials are over. WICKED is planning to restore the survivors’ memories and complete the final cure for the Flare.
But Thomas has already remembered more than they think. And he knows WICKED can’t be trusted.
The time for lies is over. But the truth is more dangerous than Thomas could ever imagine. Will anyone survive the Death Cure?

It’s been almost ten years since this book came out and I finally finished this book and the original trilogy! It’s taken me long enough.

I have to say, this series has been gradually getting worse with each book if I’m honest. I actually liked the first one a lot more than I expected, The Scorch Trials was a little bit of a disappointment, and this one was definitely my least favourite one.

Minho looked at Thomas, a serious expression on his face. “If I don’t see you on the other side,”

I just felt like the author didn’t know where to go with this book. Having read other reviews, there is definitely a lot more that could have been done and a lot of other places this book could have gone. In reality, I could have summed up this book in a couple of sentences. It felt a little all over the place and I never felt much connection to the characters. Considering how emotional this book should have been, I just kind of didn’t….care, or really relate to the characters at all.

However, I must say this was once again super easy to read and the writing was compelling enough for me to get through this in just a couple of days. Each one of these books has only taken me a couple of days to get through each time and I’m so glad I’ve finally finished the first three. I will be reading one of the prequels, The Kill Order because I own it, but I won’t be picking up The Fever Code I don’t think!

he said in a sappy voice, “remember that I love you.

Overall, this one was okay and I wouldn’t say I disliked it as such, but it was definitely the one I’ve been least impressed with while making my way through this series.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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