Tag: fantasy

Review: My Neighbor Totoro by Tsugiko Kubo

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review6 Comments

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The beloved animation classic by legendary Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki, My Neighbor Totoro is now retold in novel form. This prestige, hardcover edition features original illustrations by Miyazaki himself, accompanying a story written by veteran children’s book author Tsugiko Kubo. Sure to delight both existing fans and new readers! Eleven-year-old Satsuki and her sassy little sister Mei have moved to the country to be closer to their ailing mother. While their father is working, the girls explore their sprawling old house and the forest and fields that surround it. Soon, Satsuki and Mei discover Totoro, a magical forest spirit who takes them on fantastic adventures through the trees and the clouds–and teaches them a lesson about trusting one another.

I can’t even begin to tell you how lovely this book was. I found it so comforting! I started watching Studio Ghibli movies a few years ago, and they really hold a special place in my heart. I’ve come to love the franchise, and when I saw this book I knew I’d want to pick it up. I wasn’t wrong in adding it to my TBR, I got through it in just a day and I adored it!

“The rain kept falling, falling, falling….”

If you’re a fan of the movie like I am, this book is definitely worth the read. Told mostly from the view of 11 year old Satsuki, it explores the challenges of moving to a new house and having an ill family member. It’s lighthearted and extremely gentle, but still nostalgic of the more emotional undertones of the beautiful movie.

This book is extremely cute as a physical item, and is scattered with beautiful watercolour illustrations that are reminiscent of the animation. The story reminded me of Enid Blyton, who I adored as a kid! It really made me think how much I would have loved this book if I’d had it read to me as a child.

“The sound of rain was everywhere.”

I read this in bed, with fairy lights on, while I wasn’t feeling well one rainy day. The countryside setting is described beautifully, and overall the narrative is sweet and calming. If you like the movie/Studio Ghibli in general, this book is definitely worth the read.

★★★★★
5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review6 Comments

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Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

Before I begin, thank you to the lovely Anna for pushing me to read this book! An old friend gave it to me for my birthday almost 2 years ago and it’s taken me until now to finally pick it up. But I’m glad I did, because I enjoyed it so much that it took me under 2 days to complete.

“Raindrops are my only reminder that clouds have a heartbeat.”

I think the thing I found most enjoyable about this book is it’s so easy to read. The pages literally fly by, because after the first couple of chapters the pacing is steadfast. The short chapters left me wanting to just read another one, making Shatter Me a book I just couldn’t put down. I also loved the cast of characters, from our clever villain to Adam’s sweet little brother. Although Juliette was whiny and cliche, I couldn’t help but understand her situation.

This book kind of reminded me of The Selection series in the ways it made me feel. The insta-love annoyed me a little as it was cringy, but I still couldn’t help but enjoy reading about their story. I just wish I’d read this one a couple of years ago instead, because I would have loved it even more!

“That I have one, too.”

Alongside some of the cringe, I had a few small issues I want to address. For one, why does Mafi not know about commas? I understand that this pushed forward the whole diary/notebook written aspect, but some sentences just really needed breaking up. It didn’t bother me too much after a while, but if I didn’t think it was intentional, it would have just looked unprofessional.

But niggles aside, I couldn’t help but enjoy it. I’ve already ordered the second book and I can’t wait to carry on with the series soon!

★★★★
4 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Blue Lily, Lily Blue (#3) by Maggie Stiefvater

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments

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Blue Sargent has found things. For the first time in her life, she has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost.

I just saw on Amazon that I bought this book in May 2016, over 2 years ago. So why the hell did it take me so long to get round to actually reading this series? I’ve got to a point where I can’t imagine my world without these beautiful Raven Boys, and I’m dreading finishing The Raven King and being without this series.

I feel like each of these books teaches us more about the individuals that make up this quirky little group. We had an introduction, we had Ronan and in Blue Lily, Lily Blue, I developed a deep understanding of Adam. There is a passage in this book where Blue explains that the Raven Boys all fall a little bit in love with each other, and I think I can include myself in this. Because the characters are by far the best thing about this book.

“”Don’t tell the others,” Gansey said.”

Although we really needed more Noah in this book, because his cold little self warms my heart with some scenes, my favourite of which is in The Dream Thieves with Blue, and always will be. We also find ourselves with a number of awesome characters added in this book, one of which is Jesse Dittley, who I have to say I just found awesome.

Leaving the characters aside for a moment, I have to force myself to focus on other things. Like the plot, which actually wasn’t half-boring in this book! I feel like this is where it clicked for Maggie, and became more action-packed and paced better. Thank god. Let’s hope she keeps it up for The Raven King.

“”I’m dead,” Noah replied, “not stupid.””

I only have two minor complaints, once again. For one, I want more Gansey please? He is meant to be the main focus of this entire book, but I need more description of him and his life outside Glendower. Or maybe the point is that he doesn’t have one.

For two, Adam’s court scene? Is entirely missed out? I’m presuming it all turned out okay, but I also feel like someone ripped some very important pages out of my book or something.

But these two very minor feelings can’t impact on my love for this series, which burns brighter than it ever has, if you can believe it.

★★★★★
5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Dream Thieves (#2) by Maggie Stiefvater

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review5 Comments

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Now that the ley lines around Cabeswater have been woken, nothing for Ronan, Gansey, Blue, and Adam will be the same. Ronan, for one, is falling more and more deeply into his dreams, and his dreams are intruding more and more into waking life. Meanwhile, some very sinister people are looking for some of the same pieces of the Cabeswater puzzle that Gansey is after…

I am adoring this series. It’s taking up so much space in my head at the moment because I literally can’t stop thinking about these books and these characters and this story. I can’t even function because these books are so compelling and I couldn’t put this one down. I mean this very literally, because I was looking so hard at the page while reaching for a cup of tea that the tea ended up spilled on the bed. Oops.

“In that moment, Blue was a little in love with all of them.”

But despite all the love and fangirling, I have got to admit I had a few very minor problems.

  1. I genuinely think Maggie has a little bit of a problem with pacing. Like, I started this book a little slow but the second half arrived and BAM. I couldn’t put it down.
  2. I still don’t love Ronan. Sure, I understand more about his inner demons but he’s still a bit of a pr*ck to me, and not much of a likeable character.

But oh well, because the other boys (especially Noah HELLO), I loved. There is a scene in this book which features him and Blue (I’m sure you know which one I mean if you’ve read this book), that made me adore his spooky little self. Also, I loved the villain and the focus on every single character in this beautiful story and how they work together. They all seemed to be drawn together in this book and I really enjoyed the focus on each of them.

“Their magic. Their quest. Their awfulness and strangeness.
Her raven boys.”

I’m still very much in love with Maggie’s writing. She comes out with so many beautiful sentences, it makes me want to stop and just breathe it all in for a moment. In conclusion, I wanted to knock half a star off this for the bad pacing, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I love this series.

★★★★★
5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review6 Comments

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Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s manoeuvrings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit – and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.
As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords – and hunt for allies in unexpected places. 

Can I please just take a second to mention soapgate? Because even though there is so much wrong with it (*cough* fanfic for profit *cough*), it has amused me highly and could not be more appropriate to this review.

I’m so glad that I’m leaving this book with tears in my eyes and love in my heart. Because I was daunted. Tiny letters and 700 pages and bad pacing? I doubted whether I would get through it at all, let alone as quickly. But Sarah J Maas has done it again, she took my heart and ripped it to shreds, but still made me fall in love.

“I would have waited five hundred more years for you.”

As mentioned above, let’s start with the bad pacing. My only downside of this book would have to be the slow pacing at the start. I spent so long having to push through the dreadfully slow parts before hitting the turn-paging last bits of the book. But I have to say, it was worth it to get to the good, turn-paging parts.

Also, the characters! I found it great having Feyre’s sisters in the family and I loved all of their different personalities. So many deeply personal scenes (shoutout to Mor and that scene between Feyre and her in the camp which I loved!), had me rooting for each and every character.

“A thousand years. And if this was all the time we were allowed to have… the wait was worth it.”

There is no other way to describe it, but everything in these books feels so alive. The characters, the land, the politics, the love…everything is vivid and real and crammed with emotion. The only thing I have to say is that I don’t know if I quite need another 3 books. I’m happy about the novella, but I’m also happy where this book left off. Although I loved them so much that I’m sure I’ll continue reading when the time comes, so who am I to complain?

Also, I cried.

★★★★★
5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Crown (#5) by Kiera Cass

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review10 Comments

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When Eadlyn became the first princess of Illéa to hold her own Selection, she didn’t think she would fall in love with any of her thirty-five suitors. She spent the first few weeks of the competition counting down the days until she could send them all home. But as events at the palace force Eadlyn even further into the spotlight, she realizes that she might not be content remaining alone.
Eadlyn still isn’t sure she’ll find the fairytale ending her parents did twenty years ago. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you…and soon Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more impossible—and more important—than she ever imagined.

So yay, this book is better? This series improved? I mean, looking back on my review of The Heir, not much could have been worse, but I’m very happy to say some of the better parts of The Selection series shone through once again in this book.

I’m very glad to say Eadlyn does improve, thank goodness. She loses at least some of her selfishness even though there were still many times when I rolled my eyes at her somewhat bratty statements that still pop up.

“He smiled. “You are always just Eadlyn. And you are always the queen.”

I guess I could say there was an element of surprise in this book, at least in some more ways than in The One. But saying this, I did know exactly how the book would end. Having spent 4 books getting used to how Cass writes, I kind of guessed what would happen even though the romance just wasn’t really developed. And that’s the disappointing thing, I shouldn’t have known what was going to happen. But it was so damn obvious anyway.

“You are everything to everyone. And infinitely more to me.””

But I have to say it, when Cass goes for the romance, she does it well. There was a few passages that touched my stupid romantic heart so much that I actually shed a few tears. And I couldn’t help but going back to how I felt with the first 3 books in some aspects…because this book is entertaining, easy to read and somewhat enjoyable. I wouldn’t say I liked it like the first 3, but it’s definitely better than The Heir!

★★★
3 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Heir (#4) by Kiera Cass

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review9 Comments

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Princess Eadlyn has grown up hearing endless stories about how her mother and father met. Twenty years ago, America Singer entered the Selection and won the heart of Prince Maxon—and they lived happily ever after. Eadlyn has always found their fairy-tale story romantic, but she has no interest in trying to repeat it. If it were up to her, she’d put off marriage for as long as possible.
But a princess’s life is never entirely her own, and Eadlyn can’t escape her very own Selection—no matter how fervently she protests.
Eadlyn doesn’t expect her story to end in romance. But as the competition begins, one entry may just capture Eadlyn’s heart, showing her all the possibilities that lie in front of her . . . and proving that finding her own happily ever after isn’t as impossible as she’s always thought.

Oh my god. Why oh why did this series carry on? I was so happy with the end of The One. I cried for gods sake! We really didn’t need to see 20 years on with America and Maxon’s bratty daughter. Okay, I’ve always heard people complain about narrators being annoying etc, but Eadlyn was another level. She is SUCH A BRAT. She spends most of her time complaining, getting massages, and sitting at a desk. I say sitting at a desk because although this book repeatedly says she is ‘working’, all I know her to do is sit in her room looking through forms from the Selected. All of these books have been about the Caste system and how important abolishing it was, yet all Eadlyn does is talk about how beneath her everyone else is, and how she is the best person in the whole world.

“You can be brave and still be feminine. You can lead and still love flowers.”

She’s selfish, self-centred and she even tries to get her brother to choose between her and the love of his life because she doesn’t want him to go. And SHE IS OBSESSED WITH TIARAS. She’s a princess, she can have all the tiaras in the world, and yet she throws a stupid baby hissy fit when a little girl in the palace (someone who claims is like a sister to Eadlyn), borrows one. When this book claimed Eadlyn’s obsession is like a hobby, I actually snorted with laughter. It really sounded so bratty.

“Most importantly, you can be queen and still be a bride.”

So Eadlyn was definitely the worst part about this book, on top of the fact it wasn’t needed. But at least she kind of gets better, I guess. I mean I started seeing tiny spurts of her good side towards the end of this book, and I’m just hoping the next one will be better and more hopeful.

★★
2 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The One (#3) by Kiera Cass

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review7 Comments

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The time has come for one winner to be crowned.
When she was chosen to compete in the Selection, America never dreamed she would find herself anywhere close to the crown—or to Prince Maxon’s heart. But as the end of the competition approaches, and the threats outside the palace walls grow more vicious, America realizes just how much she stands to lose—and how hard she’ll have to fight for the future she wants.

I started this book rolling my eyes, and I ended it with tears slowly leaking out of them. I found the first half of this book completely different to the second half, as knowing there was five books I didn’t know how much more I could take.

All I could think of reading those first pages, was I can’t have this repeated for another 3 books. I can’t keep reading about the bitchiness and the indecisiveness. Whenever Celeste was bitchy or the girls fought I just wanted it to all be over.

“Break my heart. Break it a thousand times if you like.”

But the fact I hated this book at the start made the turn-around even bigger than I thought it would be! And when I did fall in love, I fell hard. It turns out, this book turned out so perfect. It wrapped up all the loose ends, it endlessly surprised me, and it had a great ending overall. This book really sounds like the last one of a series right? More on that in my review of The Heir.

“It was only ever yours to break anyway.”

I can’t help it, this series ended up stealing my heart. Of course it wasn’t without it’s faults, which were many at times, but the faults were outweighed by my love. Yes, these books are predictable in a way, but I did end up surprised. And even though these can be a little trashy, they’re so poetic. And I’m embarrassed to say this, but I actually cried a bit when I finished it.

So that proves that even though I didn’t enjoy all of this book, the hopeless romantic in me can’t help but loving it a hell of a lot

★★★★
4 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Elite (#2) by Kiera Cass

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review2 Comments

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The Selection began with thirty-five girls.
Now with the group narrowed down to the six Elite, the competition to win Prince Maxon’s heart is fiercer than ever—and America is still struggling to decide where her heart truly lies. Is it with Maxon, who could make her life a fairy tale? Or with her first love, Aspen?
America is desperate for more time. But the rest of the Elite know exactly what they want—and America’s chance to choose is about to slip away.

What can I say? I finished this book in a day. I might have been sick and in bed resting at the time, but it’s still rare for me to get through books this quickly! I can’t help it or control myself, these books are so addictive even though I can still see the problems with them.

For one, not much happened? Which sounds weird to say because I got through it so quick, but even though not much happened I still enjoyed the slight plot. If I’m right in saying, this book started with 6 girls in the Selection and ended with 5. But I have to say, I did enjoy the other details, even if they seemed a little absurd sometimes.

“You know you’ve found something amazing, and you want to hold on to it forever;”

As with book one, America did kind of annoy me but I still can’t help but like her sometimes! But I have to say, predictability has officially gone out the window…yay! I can’t believe that I honestly didn’t know where this book was going, and I think that’s why I wanted to carry on reading so much.

“and every second after you have it, you fear the moment you might lose it.”

The love triangle thing does get a little old, I’m not going to lie. There were some times when I kind of wanted to push America off a cliff at points for not being able to decide what she wants. But even though America does annoy me, I can’t help but relate to her struggles sometimes. I’m a hopeless romantic and I couldn’t help but understand why she was confused sometimes.

So again, this series continues to win my heart in the end. I can’t help but love this book and I can’t wait to start the next one!

★★★
3 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: The Selection (#1) by Kiera Cass

On By Beth JonesIn Book Review17 Comments

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For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in a palace and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon.
But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn’t want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.
Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she’s made for herself—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

I just saw a review on Goodreads that sounds exactly how I’m feeling about these books. They’re like cookies that are really bad for you – you know you shouldn’t like them because they’re full of trash but you just can’t help yourself by eating a whole packet in one sitting. Credit to Taneika for that one!

So right now, I’m feeling incredibly torn over this book. For one, I never thought I would like a book with a girl called America Singer. America. And talking of America, this girl tears me in half too. On one hand, she is so damn indecisive and I know it’s going to annoy me a tiny bit throughout the whole series. But on the other hand, she has a kind and sensitive soul which shines through above all.

“I hope you find someone you can’t live without. I really do.”

I actually really enjoyed the caste system and world. It only has a small touch of fantasy and the palace and it’s grounds are pretty well described. I actually enjoyed how the world and history was described. I would have loved a map in the front of the book, but the history lessons were through dialogue and actual lessons the Selected took part in. I didn’t mind this, because it kept the lessons short and informative, rather than just long pieces of information.

“And I hope you never have to know what it’s like to have to try and live without them.”

Sure, this book was absolutely and utterly far from perfect. It should really be easy for me to say it was bad. But I can’t help it, it was so trashy I loved it. It was the kind of TV you know you shouldn’t watch but can’t help it. It was so predictable, cheesy, fluffy and other wrong things that I should be hating on it. But I can’t help it, these books are fun and quick to read and I have already read half of the second book.

Help me.

★★★
3 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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