Review: The Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles #1)

'' The good ones don't run away, Lia.''

★★★★★

 Holy moly, what did I just read?! I was expecting a really good book with a great plot twist, but what I got was something else. Something awesome. Something that is titled greatly.
The Kiss of Deception lives up to its name.

The protagonist, Princess Arabella Celestine Idris Jezelia, the first daughter of the House of Morrighan, is a seventeen-year-old girl from the kingdom of Morrighan. She possesses the gift, which every first daughter possesses, but what is the gift, we know not. The book starts on her wedding day when she is wed to an unknown prince from the land of Dalbreck. Not wanting to be married to a stranger she escapes with her maid Pauline and together they make a journey to Pauline's childhood town. Where they start new lives and work as waitresses in an inn. Little they know what consequences their escape has caused.
After the wedding's been called off, the Prince of Dalbreck packs his saddlebags and tracks Lia down. But he doesn't reveal himself to Lia, and Lia has no idea she has befriended her ex-fiancee.
The same time, from the land of Venda, an assassin has been sent on a mission to kill Lia. To prevent a much-needed alliance between Dalbreck and Morrighan.

When the three collide, Lia unaware of the men and the men knowing Lia's true identity, the race towards the inevitable end starts. Who ends up falling in love with who? And more importantly, is the calling of duty worth of betraying your love?

Personally, I loved this book! I'm so glad to have picked this one up. I've been slumping for a while and before this, I haven't really read anything after September. But this one, oh this one, Wow.

First of all: the base on which Pearson has created the book is just great. All the stories and legends and songs and traditions, they make the book come alive, they make it feel real. I really liked the endings of chapters. Most of them had few verses or short stories that really might not have made sense at the time they are presented them but in the end the realisation strikes, and hard.

The characters were awesome. Not much development happened during the book, Lia might have grown harder and lost the edge of her stubbornness. I can't tell any more of the character's because they are the root of this story and the ingredients to your heart attack.

Seriously. I almost had to call an ambulance when I got to the plot twist. When you read this book, make sure you actually read it and not just thumb through it, because if you're not careful you might miss it. It comes out of nowhere, strikes you hard and leaves you gasping for air and clasping your chest as if your heart would jump out.

So read it! :)

Review: The Raven Boys

            
                                     ★★★☆☆

Couldn't come up with a great catch phrase like they do in the back covers, so straight to the actual review.

Our protagonist Blue is the only child in a family of psychics. With father gone from birth and weird aunts living under the roof her life is far from normal. She also has a curse. When she kisses her true love, he will die. Blue has sworn off boyfriends, and the boys from Aglionby Academy, the Raven Boys, are the absolute no.

Until Blue sees one of the Raven Boy's ghost on a St. Mark's Eve. After that coincidences lead together and the Raven Boys end up solving a mystery of a disappeared Welsh King with the help of Blue.

Starting from the Raven Boys. There is a great group dynamic, it's carefully planned and set and it makes the book a whole lot of better. There are four boys: Gansey, the leader, Ronan, the irresponsible, Noah, the shy creep, and Adam, the poor one. Since coming to Aglionby Academy you need to be filthy rich, Adam has gotten a partial scholarship. Though his brightness and will to study to have his own life made, he has to endure his violent father. So the group has the invincible one, Ronan, and the vulnerable, Adam.

Then there's also the down-shifted Latin teacher and his will to revenge his unfortunates in life.

There were two things that bothered me very much while reading The Raven Boys. The first was the dropping and picking up the subjects too randomly. First you read of one thing and then suddenly the chapter ends and you think it continues in the next one, but no. You need to wait around hundred pages until it's picked up again, if it will be picked.

The second irritating thing was the ending. It didn't feel like an ending to a book. It felt like an ending to a chapter. There was no resolving of ''the puxxle'' or anything. It didn't make me feel that I need to run to the book store to get the next part. For someones this kind of ending might work but I was expecting more.

Bookish person's (Christmas) presents and where to get them

We all have the Christmas present problem. What to buy for a friend, mom, sister, mister, cousin or cat. We don't simply know! But if that person is a book lover or a bookish person here are some recommendations to make your Christmas shopping a bit easier.

1. A book

Really? Yep. A book. If a person happens to like books then you should buy him or her a book. The only problem is that if you buy a book he or she already owns or doesn't like or someone else is going to buy the same book for him or her.

Another way is to reveal that you're buying a book and you need to ask. So if you're not 100% sure of the book and you don't want to reveal your intentions, maybe the book is not the option for you.

2. Bookmarks
If you are a DIY person, this totally is your thing. Bookmarks can be bought nearly anywhere where paper is sold and most people don't even use an ''official'' bookmark, just a slip of paper or something to mark their place.
Making your own bookmark and doing another for your buddy is a great idea for a Christmas present or an extra for your main gift. Just Google 'bookmark' and you get so many awesome ideas for your own personal bookmark. (Or if you're lazy, you can also just print them.)

3. A Candle

Dark and cold nights in the middle of winter beg for light. Book people love candles since they are one of the most dangerous things in the world. One wrong move and poof, all your books have been turned into ashes.
But scented candles are The Thing. With scents like fairy dust, old books or Mr. Darcy's office you can set the perfect mood for reading. And the options are limitless.
Many small companies produce bookish candles and they get so busy during holiday season so if you want to ensure your shipping is going to be delivered before Christmas is over. So, order in November to be sure, to be absolutely sure, order during September of October!

4. Mugs

Tea (or other) + books = Pure perfection.
Mugs can be found anywhere. Bookstores, grocery stores, granny's jam-cellar... Everywhere.
''I didn't choose mug life, mug life chose me.'' -is probably the most commonly heard expression among the mug hoarders. Most bookworm's cabinets are full of mugs, every size and colour, so by adding a mug with a bookish print is going to make the bookworm's Christmas so much better.




5. Other merchandise: clothing, bags, phone and laptop cases etc.

Anything you need in basic, everyday life can be found in some bookish form. Pillows, check, beds, check, rugs, check, clothing, check. Everything, check.
Just buy anything bookish to the book-lover and you have succeeded in the task of Christmas present buying.







Where can we find these things?

Online is probably the best choice.
Many online stores have so much more to offer than a physical store, since they're all in boxes in huge warehouses. And usually they're a bit cheaper. Just remember to order them early enough, so they have time to ship your order and it gets delivered before the Christmas Eve.

Here are few suggestions if you don't know where to start searching from:

https://society6.com/bookwormboutique
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BookishCandles

Then our best friend: Google.


And if you're really late, DIY is your best friend along Google!

November Wrap-Up and December TBR

Shame. That's the only word I can describe what I'm feeling right now. It feels so bad that I haven't accomplished anything during November.

I only read three books and one novella. Three. Books. What I have done if not read? And those books weren't even long ones. The average 350 pages. What I have been doing this whole month?

Here's what I read during November:

I'm planning on finishing all the books I started in November. And that's work already.

Here's my December TBR:

 And this month I WILL read more than these four. Because it's Christmas!

Review: The Carnelian Legacy

My first thoughts were ''Oh, I already know what's going to happen.'' But in the end I was wrong. Not awfully wrong, but wrong nonetheless.

★★★★☆

Our protagonist is Marisa MacCallum. She lives with her uncle and brother. The book starts after Marisa's father has died.

It happens when Marisa is riding with her horse Siena in the woods that are rumoured to be cursed. People go missing there and they are never seen again. And that's what happens to Marisa. She sees three lightning strikes with no thunder and sucked into another dimension.

In this part I was super excited, because time and dimension travel stories are the best!

Marisa wakes up in a world called Carnelian with two strangers by her side: Lord Arrigo Macario and Ambassador Darian Fiore. Arrie and Darian take Marisa with them on their journey. Since the world is not the same as Earth is, Marisa is most of them a damsel in distress.

But Darian is not who he claims to be. He is not an ambassador, but a prince on the line to the throne. Though there's one teenie tiny 'if'. If he doesn't marry a Fiore princess, he can't ascend the throne and his evil cousin Savigno gets it. And with only one Fiore princess left, Savigno's sister Matilda, Darian's options are quite limited.

But Darian notices something that no one else notices and together with Lord Arrigo they plot and mischievous plan. A plan that the reader doesn't know they were plotting before the end of the book.

There are glimpses, that can't be explained, in the book. Glimpses of things that shouldn't be there and don't make sense before the end. And I think that this book should be read until the last letter to understand its magnificence.

The experience of reading The Carnelian Legacy can only be described as re watching a movie and knowing what happens, and still being surprised.

And I must add my favourite quote here!
''Deciding that he seemed more like a Tarzan than a prince.''

Review: I Was Here

It's been two weeks since I finished I Was Here. I know, shame on me.

★★★★☆

Four stars out of five. It was really good but its tempo was a bit too slow.

We follow Cody, Meg's best friend and other half through the book. The book starts after Meg has killed herself and Cody tries to find who she is without Meg.

To Cody, Meg has always been the daring, cheerful and perfect friend, but the reality is another one. So much different that Cody needs to take an emotional road to get through the grief that Meg's death has caused. The truth reveals itself after few wrong turns and a pair of kittens.

If you wait for a huge, mind blowing, soul destroying plot-twist, there ain't one coming. The story keeps on steady pace from the beginning to the end. Only the packed emotion behind every sentence keeps the reader so hooked that it's a one-night-read.

What bothered me though, was the ending. Having read If I Stay and Where She Went I was expecting some emotional wrecking and ocean full of crying, but it didn't happen. And I am the easiest crier in the world. When something is pretty or happy or someone dies or anything even slightly sad, I'll cry. Just imagine me reading The Fault in Our Stars...

Back to business. In my opinion the plot might have been a bit more quick going than it was, but after reading it the steady pace felt right. Since the book is so full of packed emotions and rough subjects it was really nice the digest the things read, while still reading.

Recommending it!

Review: Queen of the Deep

★☆☆☆☆

Got to say I don't remember when was the last time I've given just one star to a book.

If I start from the beginning I got every good thing covered very fast.
The only thing I liked was the beginning. I really liked the picture Kay Kenyon had written of Jane's childhood. Her childhood was not picture perfect but still she found comfort from her plays in the basement. She felt safe with Starling and trusted him.

Then I'd say everything went south.

Many things sounded too childish to come from twenty some year old's mouth. Also I didn't have almost any backgrounf information about anything besides Jane's childhood at the beginning of the book and some scraps here and there. Really annoying.

Also to me it seemed that when this book was written it had not been entirely planned or something because sometimes it felt just too impossible to fit in the story line. For example at some parts something happens and it results a dead end. How do we get out of this dead end? Well, let's do something more impossible which leads up to snother dead end. And there we go again.

Most of the characters were shallow and were not entirely full charcters. Some parts of every character was missing. I would love to read the book again if the characters were changed to be better suitable for the story.

I could summarize the whole book in one sentence: A book with adult themes and content written in alanguage suitable for little kids.
Honestly sometimes I couldn't say if the book was for little kids or to adults.

Nanowrimo15

I finally decided to do it.

I've been writing a little this and that for a few years and now it's time to finish what I started. I'm writing the full draft of a novel I've been working on this Autumn. I actually got a block after I showed the first 500 words to my friend and she said she didn't like it. Now I'm not making the same mistake! I hope my sis is ready to read the full draft when it's ready. :p

3667 words now and more coming out as fast as I can write. 

If you don't know what Nanowrimo is, here it is in a nutshell:
                                            The month of November is the National Novel Writing Month, which means if you participate you're going to write a draft or the full book in just a month. Target word count is 50,000. You update your word count and, if you want, your author profile to nanowrimo.org. Through the site you can read pep talks, get writing-tips and have writing buddies. Some regions organise writing or plotting events which you can participate. Basically it's about inspiring people to write their novel and not to think too much, so it gets done before another decade has passed because of procrastination.

Are any of you participating?

Review: A Court of Thorns And Roses

I love retellings. I love Beauty and the Beast. So I was bound to love A Court of Thorns And Roses.

★★★★★

I've loved every Sarah J. Maas' book I've read this far and this one did not disappoint me.

We follow a human girl named Feyre. Her mother died, her father is depressed and her two sisters are demanding and not suited for rough living. And since they lost their fortune and moved to a little cottage Feyre has had to look after her family. She does it to honour her vow to her mother on her deathbed. But harder times come, they have no food and no money to spare. Feyre hunts farther away in the woods to find any game in the dead of winter. She faces a huge wolf which she kills. But the wolf was Fae, or rather High Fae. She has to pay for the kill with her own life or by living her life in Prythian, the Fae lands.

Feyre is such an amazing character that truly feels alive. She knows what it is to be hungry and what it is to wealthy. She knows neither of them come without costs. She knows what it is to be desperate and to act out of desperation, still feeling the fear it inflicts. During the book she grows more courage and independency and a lot more stubborn she was at the beginning. And maybe she has been very stubborn and courageous originally but the turns in her lifer have made her subside those qualities and put fear and desperation into their places.
The thing that really caught my attention was Feyre's feeling toward her family. To me it seemed that she cared about her family, that she wanted to take care of them but she didn't love them. It's unusual because usually all heroines are so in love with their families and they don't want to leave them at any cost. But Feyre merely argued against the idea of leaving just save her life. Not her family's. I admire Ms. Maas for that.

There's Tamlin, you fall in love with. He is adorable. A bit awkward and doesn't know how to act around Feyre. Some might think that is he truly is awkward, wouldn't he then be badly written character? No. Not at all. It's really adorable to follow his clumsiness and it suits perfectly in contrast with other characters. Tamlin is a High Lord, but we find this out later. It doesn't come out as a huge surprise given it's a retelling from Beauty and the Beast. He suffers along with his court of a curse that is a huge spoiler, but it binds them to wear masks that don't come off. The curse is broken by a mortal, but how is too a huge spoiler.
 Then there's the Tamlin behind the awkward outer shell. The Tamlin who has teeth and attitude. A will and desire to protect his Kingdom and those he cares about.

The other two main Fae are Lucien, who's part of Tamlin's court and then there is Rhysand. Rhysand the Mysterious I would call him. I don't know what he wants of Feyre and what his intentions and motives are. I hope these we will find out in the next book, A Court of Mist and Fury.

My thoughts went from basic emotionless reading to 'holy what's going on?' to 'Oh my God I'm dying' to 'Just stop you killing me'. And that went over and over again. I know that Maas' books are intense and full of emotions that really make you feel something but this. Really. Hurt. And. Made. Me. Happy. The whole experience made me crave for the next book. I had two sentences scribbled to my notebook of reviews:
''Am I supposed to live through this?'' and ''Really, you expect me to breathe?''
You can make your own conclusions of how awesome those feelings are during the book.

It really is a page-turner and actually quite fast to read. I would recommend to pick it up now, so it's over and you can mope until the next book comes out!

And if you haven't read the book yet, check the pronunciation guide in the end.

November TBR

Usually when I'm doing TBR's for the month I fail miserably. It's like when I list something I definitely won't read it, but then I read ten other books outside the list.

The solution to my problem: I am going to list only few books and then all the others I choose during the month depending how I feel.

Those few lucky (or unlucky) books on my list are:

 

Rest of November's reads will be seen throughout the month.

Happy November Eeverybody!

October Wrap-Up!

I'm kind of disappointed to this month's score. Only six books! I don't know what I have done during this month to earn a score this low. Usually I read at least eight books a month.

But nontheless, here they are:

Lumière
Jacqueline E. Garlick

★★★★☆

 Wendy Darling
Colleen Oakes

★★★★★

 Queen of Shadows
Sarah J. Maas

★★★★★

He Found Me
Whitney Barbetti

★★★★★

 A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas

★★★★★






 
Ashes to Ashes
Melissa Walker

★★★★☆

It has been a good-book month for me. Four out of six got full five stars and the two got four stars!

New feature!

Hey guys!

I have added a new feature to my blog. If you don't want to sign up as a reader or comment, don't worry; there's now another way that you can make me know what you thought of the post!

Under the comment section there's three boxes labeled 'read', 'liked' and 'disliked'. You can just click the 'read' button, and if you want to share your opinion click 'like' or 'dislike'. I won't see who clicked those, but it would be awsome to know that people actually do read my posts!

It means a lot to me to know what you think!

Also check out my Instagram @bookstoldmeso

Thanks,

-Salla (Bookstoldmeso)

Review: Lumière

I recieved this title through NetGalley some time ago and decided to read it now.

★★★★☆

At first I was confused about evertyhing in the book. I wasn't sure was it based on our world, was in the future or in the past or what. That feelin did vanish when I fully got into the plot.

We follow a girl named Eyelet. She is a student at an academy where usually only men are allowed but occasionally some women. Her father passed away years ago, and he broke his promise to save Eyelet with his machine. His machine was called Illuminator, because it was illuminated things within. It was an X-ray machine, though at that time, it was freakingly dangerous to picture yourself with it.

In the world where two things that are punishable are wickedry and simply going mad. So when her mother is accused of being a shape-shifter a Valkyrie, Eyelet is forced to flee from her city. Then she meets Urlick. A man who tries to steal her father's machine just when she had located it. She jumps into his carriage and wakes up in the middle of the woods, when they arrive to Urlick's house.

Urlick has his own secrets, his past is dark and all he wants from the Illuminator is to heal the ugly, purple birthmarks on his face and neck. Though he doesn't tell it to Eylet. And Eyelet doesn't tell Urlick that she wants to stop her seizures with it. Both of them unaware of the consequenses of using the Illuminator. And why Professor Smrt wants the machine.

''How much do you trust me?'' is the book summarized in six words. Full of crazy stunts that don't leave you cold, the book redefines the word trust, and maybe uses it too easily.

The charcaters were suitable for the book, but not particulary strong or otherwise extremely noticeable. I liked them alright, but someting about them was still a bit too muted. I loved the world though and the Vapours and how they affect all those who expose to it.

Summary
Positive: Plot, the inventous nature of the book
Negative: Characters could've been a bit stronger

Review: Queen of Shadows

 Huh. It's over, for now. She did it again. She wrote an amazingly wonderfully great book, again. I've been a fan of the Throne of Glass series from the beginning and this one, whoa. Every chapter blew my mind and I have shouted and cried and laughed at public places and I've gotten some very judging looks, but who cares? This book makes me endure every single weird stare.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
Only five stars are allowed? What a pity.
 If I could, I would give it an infinite number of stars!


From here on SPOILERS!

  

 The book was full of things that I loved, so full of them that this is going to be a very long review.

The transformation from Celaena Sardothien, the Kings Champion, to Aelin Ashryver Galathynius was a ling journey. It started from the first book and is not completed yet. It has been amazing to follow how Aelin has grown from a girl to the woman she is now. At the beginning of the series she was more afraid of eveverything, more like a teen ager but after the Queen of Shadows she is a woman. A powerful, lethal, sarcastic, loving woman. She now knows the consequences of doing certain things, the value of life and most importantly how to love and who. I have to say that she is in my all-time-favourite-character list on the very top. Although Aelin is part Fae, she still is vulnerable and she is not ashamed of it. Actually she knows how to use it for her advantage. She knows that sometimes you have to grieve and sometimes it's okay to lie down and rest.

The Blackbeak witches were a mystery for me in the earlier books. I resented them and I thought their story did not make any sense but in this book it made. It's amazing how two different stories meet up, how the characters react to each other and what is the result of their interaction. Or if you can call an attempt to kill interaction. But hey, that's what Queen of Shadows mostly is, killing every single one who crosses you! :P Also I learned to like Manon. And mostly because she started to defy the orders and think with her own brains. Her compassion towards Asterin and the slow warming for Elide were great to follow, because those two were the significant events that made Manon really take the reins of her own life.

The lies and the secrets. I think that every single one of you who has read the book can agree with the following: Sarah J. Maas can trick you into believing anything. The way she has written the whole Throne of Glass series is a proof of it. First you get to know that Calaena is an assassin, then you get to know of the Wyrdkeys. Then, boom, guess what, the girl you thought you knew, and let me say: for two books, ain't really real. She is the rightful Queen of Terrasen, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius. Then you think that the revelations are over. But no. You learn that she is Fae. Like with canines and pointy ears and all. And then there's suddenly some demon prince's all around and whoa, your ex-lover and friend is one. And wait, she's got a cousin too. Then you think you know it all, but you are so wrong. There's her former Master, the King of Assassin's, Arobynn who thinks he can play with her and he is winning the game, and whoops, he ends up dead, his will re-written by Aelin, and another whoops, suddenly she owns every single thing Arobynn has ever owned. And then she sells it just to give it to her cousin, who actually is not a human but half-Fae, to spend it on the army they don't have yet. There's more, just wait for it. Then they decide to blow up a tower inside the King's court and get deceived by another Fae and then saved by him because Aedion is half-Fae, and they almost die, but by some wonder they all live. Happily ever after? Who knows there is still two books coming.

The heart-attacks you get. I think in some books there needs to be warning labels like 'This book might almost kill you with a plot-twist' or 'Beware of the deadly emotions caused by this book'. If I had a weaker heart, I think I could've died. Some of the twists were so unexpected and heart-stopping that my pulse rocketed hammered for the speed of 300. I made some notes during reading this book and on the lines 18 and 19 it reads:

+ The holy sh*t on page 538

+ The holier sh*t on page 542

 Creative and exceptionally wonderful notes I know, but I couldn't describe the events better.

Then at last, but one of the greatest elements of the book was the sarcasm and the snarky comments that everyone showered around all the time. Few examples (and few of my favourites):

''Should I thank you for putting on pants?''

'' 'You look like-'
   'A queen?'
   'The fire-breathing bitch-queen those bastards claim you are.' ''

''Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing you three gutted and hanging from the chandeliers by your insides, but I think it would ruin these very beautiful carpets that I'm now the owner of.''

'' 'You can't toss us out. What will we do? Where will we go?'
   'I hear hell is particularly nice at this time of year.' ''

  And these are just the few I marked up, but there is a big bunch of them more. 

If you haven't read the book and just read the review, thank you! But now you kinda have to read it, because you read the spoilers and all, so... Go pick it up! 

The whole series (published this far) goes like this:
0. Assassin's Blade (A collection of five novellas that have happened before Throne of Glass)
1. Throne of Glass
2. Crown of Midnight
3. Heir of Fire
4. Queen of Shadows 

Not finishing a book

I'm having trouble with finishing the Queen of Shadows. You know the feeling when you want to finish a book but you still want to finish it. That book is tormenting me. I'm loving it so far, but I don't want to know how it ends.
I know that there will be the next book, so the story won't end, but still I know that I have to wait for another year for it.

Review: Wendy Darling

First of all, just look at the cover! It's just so beautiful.

I had been hearing about Wendy Darling for so long and it was always popping up everywhere I went. And the summary of it is so good that I immediately decided to read it. At that time the only problem was that it hadn't been published yet. So I decided to wait until one day it was up for a request on NetGalley. And I got it!

★★★★★

Just amazing.

What struck me first was the description of the surroundings. I loved them. I loved the admiration and wonder that Wendy experienced. I loved how Colleen Oakes has been able to write the book so well that the reader actually becomes Wendy. I forgot where I lived and who my mother was and everything at the same time Wendy did. At some part Wendy tries to remember how long had she been on Pan Island and she couldn't. She had no idea had it been days or weeks. That's where I woke up. I had no idea how long time had gone. The Neverland just enchants you, so you forget everything while you're there.

But everything that is beautiful on the outside, has something dark on the inside. So Neverland's dangers lied in the form of Mermaids and people. What could be more dangerous than the charming hero, a boy that you adored and kept as a perfect leader? Peter Pan is so complicated character all the while he is just a simple teen age boy. The thing that shines right through Peter is the fact that he has practically grown up without parents, so he has the urge to control other people. He thinks that he can own something and then just throw it away. Like Tink, the last fairy of Neverland, according to her, Peter loved her before Wendy came and now Peter just throws Tink away just because he got a new shinier toy. Also his willingness to kill the Pirates, just because they kill everybody who steals from them. Peter Pan is so twisted that he has to black-mail people into loving and liking him by telling them lies and stories. 

When I think of Wendy, my mind brings up a single description of her: British. Okay, she is from London, but her manners, way of speaking and everything is just so stereotypical British. And I loved it! Wendy is very strong spirited lady, who believes strongly in everything she does. She obeys and is very proper on behaving, even on the Pan Island, she won't go out without her hair tied up with a ribbon. It's just so amazing how she is described and how she, in a way, doesn't change her beliefs while in Neverland. She is lead astray by Neverlands wonders and Peter, but she discovers the truth and fights, so she can reunite her family once again.

I can't tell how much I loved Wendy Darling. Sometimes it made my smile and laugh. Sometimes I had to stop and breathe, because it got too emotionally powerful to read. Like the scene this one is from.  

'' He kissed her forehead.

            ''Life is for the living, Wendy. And I plan on living a very, very long time.''''

.(Typos corrected  17.10.2015)

Review: He Found Me

When I was seventeen, I disappeared. I walked out the door of my apartment with a backpack and never looked back. I left the life of Cora Mitchell behind, seeking freedom from my real-life nightmare. But my freedom came with a cost. I lived a fictitious life for the next six years, never letting anyone close enough to see underneath the facade that was Andra Walker. I was content with my simple little life. Until I met Julian. And the moment I started allowing myself to open up, allowing someone to see through the superficial, was the very same moment the Monster from my past would return to find me.
 (Summary from Goodreads)

I couldn't do a better summary for the book.

I picked this book, because Amazon recmmended it for me. I didn't even read the back or mark it on Goodreads when I started it. It was a leap of faith when I turned the first page.

I have to say, I was not disappointed. Not at all. The story of Cora, or Andra which ever you prefer), was captivating from the beginning and I read it in one sitting. I loved the story and hownit revealed itself during the course of the book. There was no over load of information in part, which was just perfect.  

It was funny and tragic, loving and hurting, it was everything at the same time. Whitney Barbetti has been abel to catch so many emotions on the paper, that sometimes you just have to close the book, so you can breathe. Truly an amazing book.

He Found Me deserves every single one of its stars.

★★★★★

Review: Ashes to Ashes

First it makes you think what is going on. At the beginning it doesn't reveal much, it might feel slow and a bit frustrating.

Then you're captivated, you actually know nothing about the characters and happenings but still you want to read faster and faster.

In the end, your heart stops. You didn't expect it. It came out of the blue. You might cry, or as I did, just stare the page for a long, long time.

Then you inhale the rest of the book and stare at the wall.

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Ashes to Ashes truly is slow in the beginning, but the more you read, the more you love it. The story itself is quite mysterious and at some parts frustrating, but it pays back in the end. It definetly is a 'read in one sitting' book. It took me longer because of my ever nearing deadlines of everything else, but I am greatful that I read 90% of it in one sitting.

The author doesn't reveal much of the characters, so there is the feeling of secrets all the time. The characters and the world seem to have their own ones that they can't reveal. That, I think, was the part I really loved about the book. The feeling that you need to know more, that you can't stop if you don't.

I can't talk about the book more, because it reveals so much if I do. Just go and read it, it really is very quick, only about 3-4 hours, depending your speed.

All in all, I gave it ★★★★☆.

October TBR

This month's TBR consists mostly of books I've recieved via Netgalley, but there's also some others like Ashes to Ashes and Queen of Shadows.

I'm getting my copy of Queen of Shadows in about 12 hours and I can't wait. Like, can't-sleep-can't-think-can't-do-anything-normal - can't wait.

September Wrap-Up

 

I had time to read few books this month... Most of them has a review posted earlier, so if you're interested in reading go check them out!