Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: September 6, 2016
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781408872895
Pages: 694
Read in: August 2016
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While this review is spoiler-free for Empire of Storms, it does contain minor spoilers for the previous books in the series, so I highly suggest you read those before reading this review. Continue reading
Publisher: Alma Books
Release Date: July 19, 2016
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781846883927
Pages: 300
Read in: July/August 2016
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Liv Bloom’s life is even more complicated than that of your average fourteen-year-old: her father walked out on the family when she was young, her mother is in a recovery centre for alcoholics, and her older sister is struggling to step into Mum’s shoes. The only person she can turn to is her best friend Sarah, who gets out of scrapes at school and is a constant source of advice and companionship. One day Liv discovers a book of recipes written in her mum’s handwriting, which sets her off on a journey towards self-discovery and reconciliation – but a theft, a love rivalry and a school bully are just some of the many obstacles on the way.
Structured around real cake recipes, Caramel Hearts is a coming-of-age novel about love, disappointment and hope, and discovering the true value of friends and family, no matter how dysfunctional they are.
I received a copy from the publisher. In no way has this affect any of my thoughts and opinions I express below.
Before I start, I want to point out that previously, E.R. Murray was very kind and did a guest post on her favourite foodie fiction, so if you want to see that, you can check it out here!
To be honest, I didn’t think much of this book at first. I loved the cover, because of how aesthetically pleasing it was. However, it took me forever to get through the first half of the book, and I was getting a little bored in first 100 pages. However, the more I read, the more hooked I got and overall, I’m so glad I continued reading because it was good coming of age story that really melts your heart. Continue reading
Publisher: Walkers Childrens
Release Date: April 15, 2014
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9780802736109
Pages: 352
Read in: July 2016
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After breaking up with her bad-news boyfriend, Reagan O’Neill is ready to leave her rebellious ways behind. . . and her best friend, country superstar Lilah Montgomery, is nursing a broken heart of her own.
Fortunately, Lilah’s 24-city tour is about to kick off, offering a perfect opportunity for a girls-only summer of break-up ballads and healing hearts. But when Matt Finch joins the tour as its opening act, his boy-next-door charm proves difficult for Reagan to resist, despite her vow to live a drama-free existence.
This summer, Reagan and Lilah will navigate the ups and downs of fame and friendship as they come to see that giving your heart to the right person is always a risk worth taking.
A fresh new voice in contemporary romance, Emery Lord’s gorgeous writing hits all the right notes.
This is by far my favourite contemporary read of 2016. I’m astounded by Emery Lord’s capability to hit all the right notes, and it leaves you wanting the book to never end, wanting there to be more after you’ve finished reading. I was in love from page one; it made my heart race, made me laugh, cry and feel all the joys and sorrows the characters experiences as I was reading. It was everything I ever wanted from a book and perhaps even more. Continue reading
Publisher: Blink
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780310755166
Pages: 272
Read in: June 2016
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Most teens dream of visiting the City of Lights, but it feels more like a nightmare for Sophie Brooks. She and her brother are sent to Paris to spend the summer with their father, who left home a year ago without any explanation. As if his sudden abandonment weren’t betrayal enough, he’s about to remarry, and they’re expected to play nice with his soon-to-be wife and stepdaughter. The stepdaughter, Camille, agrees to show them around the city, but she makes it clear that she will do everything in her power to make Sophie miserable.
Sophie could deal with all the pain and humiliation if only she could practice piano. Her dream is to become a pianist, and she was supposed to spend the summer preparing for a scholarship competition. Even though her father moved to Paris to pursue his own dream, he clearly doesn’t support hers. His promise to provide her with a piano goes unfulfilled.
Still, no one is immune to Paris’s charm. After a few encounters with a gorgeous French boy, Sophie finds herself warming to the city, particularly when she discovers that he can help her practice piano. There’s just one hitch—he’s a friend of Camille’s, and Camille hates Sophie. While the summer Sophie dreaded promises to become best summer of her life, one person could ruin it all.
I remember seeing this book pop up on my Goodreads feed, and as soon as I read the synopsis, I had to read it. It was two words that really drew me to this book: Paris and piano. As someone who is a massive music nerd and loves Paris, this was pretty much the ideal contemporary book. Continue reading
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Release Date: June 22, 2016 (First released 2015)
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781471405174
Pages: 496
Read in: June 2016
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A wealthy family. A deadly secret. A young woman with more to lose than she knows.
Josephine Montfort is from one of New York’s oldest, most respected, and wealthiest families. Like most well-off girls of the Gilded Age, her future looks set – after a finishing school education, she will be favourably married off to a handsome gentleman, after which she’ll want for nothing. But Jo has other dreams and desires that make her long for a very different kind of future. She wants a more meaningful and exciting life: she wants to be an investigative journalist like her heroine Nellie Bly.
But when Jo’s father is found dead in his study after an alleged accident, her life becomes far more exciting than even Jo would wish. Unable to accept that her father could have been so careless, she begins to investigate his death with the help of a young reporter, Eddie Gallagher. It quickly becomes clear he was murdered, and in their race against time to discover the culprit and his motive, Jo and Eddie find themselves not only battling dark characters on the violent and gritty streets of New York, but also their growing feelings for each other.
I was sent a copy of this book by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
Whatever I was expecting from this book, it was not this.
These Shallow Graves is a historical thriller that’s set in Victorian New York. To be honest, the first 20 pages or so wasn’t very exciting, but there was a certain point where I was hooked onto the plot [and the book]. I ended up flying through this in 2 sittings because it was so addictive. If it weren’t for the fact it was 2am when I had to force myself to stop reading, I would’ve read it in one go. Continue reading
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: June 12, 2016
Format: Ebook
Read in: June 2016
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“You’re off-limits, so why can’t I stop thinking about you?”
Fay Whitaker, sixteen years old and yearning for adventure, is excited to spend the summer with her fearless cousin Celia in small-town Juniper, Indiana.
But Fay soon discovers that her summer home is not what she expected. She is alarmed by her uncle’s temper, and learns of the grudge he holds against the Dearing family. Celia handles the tension at home by escaping with her boyfriend, leaving Fay with time on her hands—time that leads her straight to Malcolm Dearing, off-limits because of his last name. Fay is captivated by Malcolm’s warmth and intensity. She finds that trying to stay away from him only makes her think of him more.
Fay and Celia are launched on a journey, and each must attempt to navigate the thrilling and unpredictable world of love. Everything Fay thinks she knows about love is put to the test, as relationships unfold and reveal themselves in ways she never before dreamed.
I received an advanced ebook copy from the author. In no way has this affected my review; all thoughts and opinions are mine.
The Edge of Juniper was a really satisfying story. It has all these elements which I really enjoyed, including coming of age and romance, but I think it also explores issues such as divorce and alcoholism in a really good and respectful way. It was also a really well written story, which I was pleasantly pleased by. The characters were also well developed, and they each have distinguishing attributes which they can be identified by. While I really enjoyed the story as a whole, I have a few minor criticisms, which I’ll just talk about now. Continue reading
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780062458865
Pages: 288
Read in: May 2016
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Kiera Cass’s bestselling Selection series has enchanted readers from the very first page. Now the end of the journey is here, in a wonderfully romantic series finale that will sweep you off your feet.
Twenty years have passed since the events of The One, and America and Maxon’s daughter is the first princess to hold a Selection of her own. Princess Eadlyn didn’t think she would find a real partner among the Selection’s thirty-five suitors, let alone true love. But sometimes the heart has a way of surprising you… and now Eadlyn must make a choice that feels more difficult—and more important—than she ever expected.
The Selection series has sold more than 3 million copies and captured the hearts of fans around the world. This swoon-worthy final installment is the happily ever after they’ve all been waiting for.
This is the final, concluding book to The Selection series, so while there won’t be spoilers for The Crown, there will be spoilers for the previous books in the series.
Despite my doubts about Eadlyn and The Heir, I found that this, in my opinion was quite a satisfactory ending to The Selection series.
Yes, I know that The One is technically the end of the Selection Series, but for these purposes, lets just call the second half of the series The Selection Part II. Continue reading
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: March 8, 2016
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 9781471147012)
Pages: 669
Read in: March 2016
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While this review won’t contain spoilers for Lady Midnight, it will contain minor spoilers for the entire Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series. Continue reading at your own risk, but I highly recommend you read those first, along with Tales of Shadowhunter Academy before you come back and read my thoughts on this book.
In a kingdom by the sea…
In a secret world where half-angel warriors are sworn to fight demons, parabatai is a sacred word.
A parabatai is your partner in battle. A parabatai is your best friend. Parabatai can be everything to each other—but they can never fall in love.
Emma Carstairs is a warrior, a Shadowhunter, and the best in her generation. She lives for battle. Shoulder to shoulder with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, she patrols the streets of Los Angeles, where vampires party on the Sunset Strip, and faeries—the most powerful of supernatural creatures—teeter on the edge of open war with Shadowhunters. When the bodies of humans and faeries turn up murdered in the same way Emma’s parents were when she was a child, an uneasy alliance is formed. This is Emma’s chance for revenge—and Julian’s chance to get back his brother Mark, who is being held prisoner by the faerie Courts. All Emma, Mark, and Julian have to do is solve the murders within two weeks…and before the murderer targets them.
Their search takes Emma from sea caves full of sorcery to a dark lottery where death is dispensed. And each clue she unravels uncovers more secrets. What has Julian been hiding from her all these years? Why does Shadowhunter Law forbid parabatai to fall in love? Who really killed her parents—and can she bear to know the truth?
The darkly magical world of Shadowhunters has captured the imaginations of millions of readers across the globe. Join the adventure in Lady Midnight, the long-awaited first volume of a new trilogy from Cassandra Clare.
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: January 28, 2016 (Originally published July 1, 2009)
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780008157937
Pages: 327
Read in: February 2016
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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Selection series comes this sweeping standalone fantasy romance. A girl with a secret. The boy of her dreams. An ocean between them.
Throughout the ages, the Ocean has occasionally rescued young women from drowning. To repay their debt, these young women must serve for 100 years as Sirens, remaining young and beautiful and using their deadly voices to lure strangers into watery graves. To keep their true nature secret, Sirens must never speak to humans, and must be careful never to stay in the same place for too long. But once her century of service is over, each Siren gets a chance to start over – a chance to live the mortal life that was almost stolen from her.Kahlen became a Siren after her family died in a terrible shipwreck, decades ago. And though a single word from her can kill, she can’t resist spending her days on land, watching ordinary people and longing for the day when she will be able to speak and laugh and live freely among them again.
Kahlen is resigned to finishing her sentence in solitude…until she meets Akinli. Handsome, caring, and kind, Akinli is everything Kahlen ever dreamed of. And though she can’t talk to him, they soon forge a connection neither of them can deny… and Kahlen doesn’t want to.
Falling in love with a human breaks all of the Ocean’s rules, and if the Ocean discovers Kahlen’s feelings, she’ll be forced to leave Akinli for good. But for the first time in a lifetime of following the rules, Kahlen is determined to follow her heart.
This is the 5th book in the Study Series so I’m just going to put it out there now that this contains spoilers for both the Study Series and the Glass series both by Maria V. Snyder. If you haven’t read any of the prior books, I highly recommend you do that first before reading this review. However, this is a spolier free review of Night Study.
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: January 25, 2016
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760371784
Pages: 448
Read in: January 2016
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Kaleidoscope of Books 