Tag: books

February Wrap-Up

On By Beth JonesIn Wrap-Ups + TBRs2 Comments

Hi all! It’s time for my February wrap-up, and even though I still didn’t do amazingly in February with my reading, I did manage to read 12 books. That means I’m only 1 book behind my Goodreads goal now, and I’m definitely feeling like I can catch up! I also read some really good books in February and had a lot of 4.5 star and even 5 star reads.

If you fancy watching this as a video, it’s available below on my BookTube channel!

Books I read in February

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Two sisters. One throne. Who will ultimately rise to power and wear the crown?
Wren Greenrock has always known that one day she would steal her sister’s place in the palace. Trained from birth to avenge her parents’ murder and usurp the princess, she will do anything to rise to power and protect the community of witches she loves.
Princess Rose Valhart knows that with power comes responsibility including marriage into a brutal kingdom. Life outside the palace walls is a place to be feared and she is soon to discover that it’s wilder than she ever imagined.
Twin sisters separated at birth and raised into entirely different worlds are about to get to know each other’s lives a whole lot better… 

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.
Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Ariza’s impassioned advances and married Dr Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half-century, Flornetino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again.
When Fermina’s husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives?

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Witty, intelligent Elizabeth Bennet has no desire for a marriage of convenience. And when she meets the handsome, wealthy Mr Darcy, her opinion of him is quickly set: he is aloof, selfish and proud – the last man in the world she would ever marry.
Until their paths cross again, and again, and the pair begin to realise that first impressions can be flawed… But as Elizabeth and Darcy become entangled in a dance through the strict hierarchies of society, will there be space for true love to bloom?

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Torn from the world of ‘Vicious’, where death is not the end, only the beginning of extraordinary powers… Three new “EO”s must grapple with their new abilities… and with those who would hunt them down! Featuring unseen character design galleries from Andrea Olimpieri and story commentary from V.E. Schwab!

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with.
She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she’s never met, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don’t go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate’s western edge.
Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There’s only one problem: His conservative parents won’t accept that he’s transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won’t transition.
August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends.
But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

There is something strange about Coraline’s new home. It’s not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It’s the other house – the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Remember a time before cell phones could be found in every pocket? Or when even accessing the world wide web was something only readily available in a library? Back then letters still filled up postboxes and moments just felt so much more precious when captured on Polaroid film. Now life seems to move at the speed of light. Our memories are captured and shared with the world on social media platforms. And love, which is already capricious, can feel like it is moving at terminal velocity.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back – and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California’s Salinas Valley, but their hopes are dashed as Lennie – struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy – becomes a victim of his own strength. Tackling universal themes of friendship and shared vision, and giving a voice to America’s lonely and dispossessed, Of Mice and Men remains Steinbeck’s most popular work, achieving success as a novel, Broadway play and three acclaimed films. 

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

Review | Goodreads | Waterstones

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

It’s difficult to pick a favourite for February as I really enjoyed a lot of the books I read – but If I had to choose it’d probably end up as a tie between Vicious and 5 Centimeters Per Second. My least favourite was sadly Love in the Time of Cholera.

How many books did you read in February? Which was your favourite?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back – and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California’s Salinas Valley, but their hopes are dashed as Lennie – struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy – becomes a victim of his own strength. Tackling universal themes of friendship and shared vision, and giving a voice to America’s lonely and dispossessed, Of Mice and Men remains Steinbeck’s most popular work, achieving success as a novel, Broadway play and three acclaimed films. 

Yes, I’ve never read Of Mice and Men. I have read East of Eden though, and I loved it when I read it a couple of years ago. I’m so glad Mark gifted me this book, because I’m not sure if I’d have been drawn to this otherwise, having forgotten by love for Steinbeck’s writing.

I read this in less than 24 hours, as it’s quite a short book at just over 100 pages. My edition also included a 15ish page introduction about this book and Steinbeck himself and his other work, which was super interesting and also gave some background information about this story and the inspiration for it.

As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment.

As I said above, I’d forgotten how much I loved Steinbeck’s writing, but I really enjoyed the prose in this one. Although this one is only short, it’s so heartbreaking and beautifully composed. I felt so sad for the characters and the only way I can describe this story is it felt so emotionally weighted. It just felt so heavy. And although it was painful to read, I also loved it.

As I’m sure you all know, this book covers some very difficult topics including racism and following a guy who I would say has learning difficulties. Although this was obviously hard to read, it was also handled so well in my opinion, and packed so much into such a short story.

And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.

Overall, I loved this story and although it was painful to read and made very emotional, it reminded me of how much I enjoy Steinbeck’s writing.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

There is something strange about Coraline’s new home. It’s not the mist, or the cat that always seems to be watching her, nor the signs of danger that Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, her new neighbours, read in the tea leaves. It’s the other house – the one behind the old door in the drawing room. Another mother and father with black-button eyes and papery skin are waiting for Coraline to join them there. And they want her to stay with them. For ever. She knows that if she ventures through that door, she may never come back.

Thank you to Mark for buying me this book! I loved The Ocean at the End of the Lane when I read it last year and I’ve been excited to read other books by him. Mark picked this one up for me, and although I was really hesitant going into this book because I do have a fear of dolls, I did still enjoy it a lot (I don’t think I’ll be watching the film anytime soon though!).

This book follows Coraline, who moves into a new house with her family that has a door in one of the rooms that goes to nowhere. However, one day, Coraline walks through the door into an alternate life and universe, where her parents have black-button eyes and papery skin and want her to stay.

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist,

This story was so entertaining and very whimsical, in true Neil Gaiman style. I loved the atmosphere of this book and the alternate universe, and I could picture the world very well. This one reads like a middle grade fantasy for me, but I do think all of his stories have a very similar feeling in that sense and they all feel so whimsical.

There’s a beautiful author’s note at the start of this book which I loved, and it talks about how the story portrays bravery and courage through Coraline’s journey. I definitely felt this which I really enjoyed, and I can see why this book stays with people throughout their lives, as I’m sure it will stay with me throughout my life.

but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

Although this didn’t blow me away enough to be a 5 star read, I did still really enjoy it and I can’t wait to dive into more of Neil Gaiman’s adult releases!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Stacking the Shelves #74

On By Beth JonesIn Stacking the ShelvesLeave a comment

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga where we share books we’ve bought or received this week. Find out more and join in here!

Hi all! It’s time for a Stacking the Shelves post to catch up on the past few weeks when I haven’t been keeping up to date. I’ve acquired a few books over the past few weeks and a few of them have been gifts from publishers!

Gifted

Goodreads | Waterstones

Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…

I already had a pre-ordered copy of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea which I received this week, but I also received a hardback copy from the publisher! My friend Sophie wanted a copy though, so I gave her one of mine that I had spare.

Goodreads | Waterstones

Growing up in Ember Grove, Bitsy Clark knows better than to mess with the long-held traditions of her hometown. Until her best friend, Amy, persuades her to sneak into the Revelry – the end of school party in the woods, to which only those leaving are invited.
When she wakes the next day, Bitsy can’t remember anything from the night before. Weirder still, whenever she tries to speak about the Revelry, Bitsy chokes on the words. But this is just the beginning, and what starts out as a run of bad luck starts to feel like a curse. As Bitsy’s life goes from bad to worse, things only get better and better for her best friend. It’s as if there’s only so much luck to go round and Amy’s getting all of it… 

I also received a copy of The Revelry, which is very exciting because I’ve read all of Katherine Webber’s books and I’ve loved them all! Thank you to Walker Books for my copy.

Bought

Goodreads

In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she’s a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere’, she has never understood Brimstone’s dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn’t whole.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.

I stumbled across this beautiful hardback first edition of Daughter of Smoke and Bone at a charity book swap in a supermarket, which felt like such a good find! I haven’t read the series yet but I really want to and I love this edition.

Goodreads | Waterstones

I also picked up the second Poppy War book to continue buddy reading this series.

Goodreads | Waterstones

I also bought the second book in the All Our Hidden Gifts series as I found a signed edition at work! I buddy read the first book with my friends Amy and Jo, and we’re hoping to buddy read the second one together soon too.

Which books did you buy or receive this week?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: 5 Centimeters Per Second by Makoto Shinkai

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Remember a time before cell phones could be found in every pocket? Or when even accessing the world wide web was something only readily available in a library? Back then letters still filled up postboxes and moments just felt so much more precious when captured on Polaroid film. Now life seems to move at the speed of light. Our memories are captured and shared with the world on social media platforms. And love, which is already capricious, can feel like it is moving at terminal velocity.

I’ve read a lot of Makoto Shinkai’s work and I just fall in love with it every time. I’ve read the light novels and manga for both Your Name and Weathering With You by him and loved them, but I always knew I was biased because of my love for the original films. With 5 Centimeters Per Second, I decided to read the manga before the film and see how I felt the other way around. And I loved it.

This manga is about love. It’s a love story, and that’s kind of it. But I really loved that so much. I fell into this story so easily, and when I picked it up just to read the first 20ish pages, I ended up reading the entire thing in one go.

The writing in this made me so emotional and I was crying at around 150 pages in, with many other parts making me teary. I just loved the characters and the conversations they were having with one another, and the first section I related to so much.

The drawings were beautiful and I could picture the story so well. I don’t know how to describe how I felt about this manga, I just really loved it. I can’t wait to watch the film!

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Act Cool by Tobly McSmith

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Aspiring actor August Greene just landed a coveted spot at the prestigious School of Performing Arts in New York. There’s only one problem: His conservative parents won’t accept that he’s transgender. And to stay with his aunt in the city, August must promise them he won’t transition.
August is convinced he can play the part his parents want while acting cool and confident in the company of his talented new friends.
But who is August when the lights go down? And where will he turn when the roles start hitting a little too close to home?

Thank you to Harper 360 for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Harper 360 has a knack of managing to blow me away with stories when I really didn’t expect it. I’ve had this on my tbr for a while, and I wanted to pick up an audiobook last week. I noticed this one was available on Scribd (as many Harper books are which I love!), so I decided to pick it up and I really enjoyed it.

This book follows August, a trans boy who has run away from his unaccepting parents to live with his aunt in New York City and attend the School of Performing Arts. I loved August as a character and even though he wasn’t always 100 percent genuine or likeable, I did completely understand where he was coming from with a lot of his actions.

The main part of this book that I really loved was that it just hooked me. I really wanted to know what was happening and I became so hooked in August’s life. I kept thinking about this book when I wasn’t reading it, and I just love when that happens with books. There are so many aspects of this story that were difficult to read but so important to read about.

My only complaint is the plot felt a little off at times, and I don’t know if it quite balanced throughout the story. There was so much of this book that talked about the importance of trans characters having happy stories, so to see that not reflected in this story was an odd kind of irony and made me really sad.

Overall, this book was really enjoyable to read and I’ll definitely be picking up Stay Gold by the same author at some point!

TW: suicidal ideation, transphobia, homophobia, dead-naming, misgendering.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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ARC Review: Gallant by V.E. Schwab

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Pre-order on Waterstones

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with.
She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she’s never met, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant. But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don’t go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate’s western edge.
Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…

Thank you so much to Titan for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As I’m sure many of you know, Addie Larue is my favourite book ever and I was so excited and honoured to receive a proof copy of this book! I was a little hesitant going into this one as the next book after Addie Larue, but I’ve read a few Schwab books since and I’ve definitely enjoyed them all for different reasons.

Schwab does an incredible job of writing such different plots but including the same feel and atmosphere in the writing itself. I can always feel when I’m reading a Schwab book, if that makes sense. Gallant is a YA story following Olivia, an orphan who only has a journal left of her mother. She then receives a letter from her uncle, inviting her to his estate, Gallant. When she arrives, she finds her uncle has died and the house is occupied by her cousin and the servants of the house. She remains at the estate, but is warned not cross the wall on the outskirts of the estate.

This book is kind of a mystery, kind of a horror, kind of a paranormal. It is a beautiful mixture of genres and I loved the atmosphere. It creeped me out in ways that I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I was reading it, and I definitely had chills. It also reads kind of like a fairytale, and was reminiscent of The Secret Garden with darker undertones.

This book was very character driven and has a slow plot, but I still found it very quick and easy to read. It’s full of illustrations and extracts from Olivia’s mother’s journal, which I loved and were so beautifully complimentary to the story.

I really loved this book and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read it, and my only complaint is I wanted more. This book just didn’t feel long enough to me in places, and I wanted more detail, more emotional connection to the characters and more of the book overall. Although I don’t think anything will beat Addie Larue, or will be difficult to beat, I did still really enjoy this one.

★★★★★
4.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Fifty-one years, nine months and four days have passed since Fermina Daza rebuffed hopeless romantic Florentino Ariza’s impassioned advances and married Dr Juvenal Urbino instead. During that half-century, Flornetino has fallen into the arms of many delighted women, but has loved none but Fermina. Having sworn his eternal love to her, he lives for the day when he can court her again.
When Fermina’s husband is killed trying to retrieve his pet parrot from a mango tree, Florentino seizes his chance to declare his enduring love. But can young love find new life in the twilight of their lives?

Okay. This one is going to be a difficult review to write. But this book has sat with me for a few days now, so I’m going to try and finally write it. Let me start by saying my boyfriend Mark bought me this book, and when talking to him about why he bought me this book, he told me even though he wouldn’t say he ‘enjoyed’ it or even ‘liked’ it, this book has stayed with him for a very long time.

And that is probably the easiest way to describe this book – in a lot of ways, it is difficult to enjoy. But it will stay with you for a long time. And it will make you think about love, and passion, and sex, and life, and age, and death. It will force you to sit with and face all of these aspects of life.

Tell him yes. Even if you are dying of fear, even if you are sorry later,

One of the things I absolutely adored about this book is you can pretty much open it on any page and it will read beautifully. Here’s a page of quotes if you want to have a read through and see how truly gorgeous the writing is. The writing honestly held this book up for me, and even though it took me a long time to read (in comparison to how much I normally read), it didn’t feel slow in any way. In fact, when I was reading this book, I felt so enveloped and involved in the story. It felt visceral. I was right there.

But the reason why this book is getting 3 stars rather than 4 or 5 is because there is a few problems I had with it. For a start, this book begins focusing on Florentino and Fermina when they first meet. I believe Fermina is 14 in this (or at least, she is still in high school), and Florentino is 3 years older, which would make him 17. I found this creepy, and it only got worse throughout the book. There was one sentence later on in the story that I really didn’t appreciate – I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was but it followed along the lines of ‘when a woman tells yes once [to sex], she only needs persuading to do it again’. There are so many issues surrounding consent here that I don’t think I need to discuss here.

There is a later aspect of this book that plays along the same lines and is again, incredibly problematic, and I think if you’ve read this book you’ll know exactly which part I mean. I think the problem I had here is you are probably not meant to like Florentino. Which is fine, but I will admit I really struggle when the main character of a book is not easy to like. I can usually put this aside if there is another character to root for, but I just didn’t feel like we saw enough of other characters for me to do that.

because whatever you do, you will be sorry all the rest of your life if you say no.

As you can probably tell, I had a lot of mixed feelings about this one. I loved it and I also loathed it. But there is one thing I can say for sure – it made me think, and it will stay with me for a very long time.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Extraordinary (#1.5) by V.E. Schwab

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Torn from the world of ‘Vicious’, where death is not the end, only the beginning of extraordinary powers… Three new “EO”s must grapple with their new abilities… and with those who would hunt them down! Featuring unseen character design galleries from Andrea Olimpieri and story commentary from V.E. Schwab! 

Although this book is 1.5 in the Villains series (setting it between Vicious and Vengeful), this book can be read before, during or after the series. My boyfriend Mark read this without having read any other books in the series and actually really enjoyed it, but it will give you minor spoilers for the other two books.

I read this book a couple of days after finishing the two main novels in this series, and in a way I think this was a bit of a mistake. Still being super connected to the original story did leave me feeling disconnected and disappointed with this story. The story of Extraordinary not only shows Victor and Eli, but also introduces 3 new characters. I have no problems with this at all, but I do have a problem with how much these three new characters (Charlotte, Felix and Marshall) reflect Victor, Mitch and Sydney from the main series. I just couldn’t separate their characters in my head and couldn’t help but feel disappointed I wasn’t reading about them.

I do wish I’d waited a little to read this, as I definitely feel like I’d have a different experience if I didn’t have the emotional connection to the found family character group in the original story. But I’d definitely like to re-read this in the future as I did really like this story as a standalone and it feels like a great balance of a new story that still reflects the original.

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Stacking the Shelves #73

On By Beth JonesIn Stacking the ShelvesLeave a comment

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga where we share books we’ve bought or received this week. Find out more and join in here!

Hi all! This week has been a very exciting one in the fantasy world, and I’m sure most of you know why. I received two different copies of a very exciting release this week! I also received a proof copy of something I’m super excited for.

Goodreads | Waterstones

Sixteen-year-old Olivia Prior is missing three things: a mother, a father, and a voice. Her mother vanished all at once, and her father by degrees, and her voice was a thing she never had to start with. She grew up at Merilance School for Girls. Now, nearing the end of her time there, Olivia receives a letter from an uncle she’s never met, her father’s older brother, summoning her to his estate, a place called Gallant.
But when she arrives, she discovers that the letter she received was several years old. Her uncle is dead. The estate is empty, save for the servants. Olivia is permitted to remain, but must follow two rules: don’t go out after dusk, and always stay on the right side of a wall that runs along the estate’s western edge. Beyond it is another realm, ancient and magical, which calls to Olivia through her blood…

I honestly couldn’t believe it when I opened a parcel the other day and found a proof of Gallant inside. It’s my most anticipated release of the year and I started reading it straight away!

Goodreads | Waterstones

Goodreads

I was lucky enough to be able to pre-order both the Waterstones exclusive and tour edition of this book, and I’m so excited to hopefully read it soon.

Which books did you buy or receive this week?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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www.etsy.com/uk/shop/thebooksareverywhere