CHADD JAVIER

If you are a fan of Harry Potter and want to magic to live on, you should read this. Though the story lacked a bit of originality because some parts greatly reminded me of Harry Potter, it still felt different and I still enjoyed the book a lot.

The introduction showed great world building. We were introduced to Ivy, the main character and the magical world in a way that piques our imagination. Dragons, dwarves, cabby drivers, castles, porcupines, potions, quills – all so creative and imaginative in setting up this Town and magical school. Although I felt like we were missing a few pages because the story started out slow with the world building and then suddenly she is breaking the rules and doing adventures. While I was reading it, I felt like missed something because all of a sudden Ivy is this daring girl.

The magic system is really interesting. I especially enjoyed the part with the Hollow Shaft. I would've loved to see more of what the royals and what the scrivenists could do. But, maybe in the next books there'd be more details.

This book is the first in a series, even though I enjoyed it, I don't think I will carry on with the rest. This isn't just the kind of books for me now, maybe if I was younger I would've enjoyed it more. This is perfect for kids at heart!

*I was given a copy of this book for free, to review. All thoughts are mine and not influenced by the publisher.

“Life could injure you, but you could get up again if you were strong enough, and especially of you had the right person to help you out.”

This is the first book I read in part of the 12/12 challenge. Thank you @rnlgrace for recommending this book

When I first started reading this book, it reminded me a bit of Nicholas Sparks. But, as the story went on, it took a different route.

This might be the first story I read that has a good representation of what it's like being poor. It felt realistic and I felt sympathy and heartbreak for the characters. Also, the mental health aspect rang true and not overdone.

I liked all the characters in this book. I think Kyland might be my first “book crush”

This book might be in my top 10 favourite books!

Fun fact: I am a nurse. That's why reading about what it was like being a nurse in the olden days was so fascinating. A lot of research must have gone into writing this. It must have been so hard being a nurse during a pandemic while in the middle of a war. If you think we are struggling now, how much more back then.

There was a time when mix your own saline solution, whiskey and chloroform were used to treat patients! How medicine has changed!!

This book is so gripping. I couldn't put it down, I wanted to know what will happen to the mothers in the ward. The story is set up in a span of 2 days but you wouldn't think that as there is a lot happening. It was well written, however, Emma Donoghue does not use quotation marks so it's a bit confusing to read at first.

“I like your kind of quiet. Your heart isn't quiet.”

What is it about?
It's a friends to lovers, second chance romance trope. Elliott and Macy found their way back to each other's lives after eleven years. They have a lot of baggage to unpack now. It is told from two timelines, then and now, how their love started and what they would do now.

What did I think about it?
Well, I like the friends to lovers trope rather than the enemies to lovers. This book made me feel like I was falling in love the same time as the characters. I loved how Elliott is written, he is the best example of a book boyfriend. This is a slow burn romance and I think it went on a bit too slow for me that's why I knocked a star off. It's still a good rating considering I don't really like romance. 

My heart broke when everything wrapped up. I won't put any spoilers bit if you've read this I think you know what I mean. 

“It's disconcerting, like someone stuck the whole world on pause.”

This book is following 5 sets of people who got stuck with each other because of lockdown. The first one is Isla who is stuck with her new boyfriend, Imogen who has no choice but to stay with a one night stand, Serena who is spending her time with a boyfriend who she realises likes pineapples on pizza, Ethan whose girlfriend got locked out so he is by himself in the flat, and Olivia who was forced to sleepover with 3 other girlfriends after a bachelorette party.

It is interesting to look back at what it was like when covid first started, when we were all uncertain on what would happen when everything went into lockdown. When we were all struggling to get food, when everything needs to be sanitised.

This books showed different relationship dynamics and how everyone deals with being stuck with someone you like and/or don't like. I enjoyed all the stories particularly Ethan's, Olivia's was the one I didn't really love just because I thought the characters were immature.

“But not too much pain, am I right? Not too much, never too much. If it was too much, you wouldn't know what to do with me, would you? Too much would make you uncomfortable. Bored. My crying would leave a bad taste. That would just be bad theater, wouldn't it? A bad show. You want a good show. They all do. A few pretty tears on my cheeks that you can brush away.”

This is my first Mona Awad book. I heard a lot of good things about Bunny, but because I got this free copy from NetGalley, I decided to start with this.

I love her writing style! I flew through the first half of the book. I enjoyed the dark thoughts of the main character, because who doesn't think ill at times? Buttt... she lost me when witchcraft/ dark magic got involved, just because I don't really enjoy reading about said topic.

I felt like the way she wrote about chronic pain
Is accurate and believable. It made me feel sympathy for Miranda especially when she hit her rock bottom because no one really believed her and nothing could make it better.

I didn't really enjoy the opening night. It just got a bit confusing to me. Weird and confusing and not in a good way. There were too many questions left unanswered, and I don't really like it when books do that. I'm here for answers, not more questions. Overall, an interesting read though.

“Life doesn't give you many of these opportunities. My advice? Seize it, mold it, and make it everything you want it to be.”
This is an enemies to lovers book, but not really. It's only the female protagonist who hates the male protagonist. Though, her reason for hating him seemed legit at first, once she got the reason why he did what he did, she still hated him and that was just stupid. 
I didn't like Henley, she is judgmental and selfish. She never takes any blame but it is her who is always at fault. 
I loved the setting for this book! It's set in a cruise ship in Galapagos. It's giving me tropical holiday vibes! I've always wanted to go on a cruise and this just have me more reason to!
The ending was too perfect but it's fine. Happy endings is what most people look for after all. 

” Darby preferred to live her life wide-eyed, tormented, running, because nothing can catch you if you never stop.”

What is the book about?
 On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she's forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside, are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.

Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate. (copied from storygraph) 

What did I think of the book?
I was expecting this to be a mystery thriller, I was thinking that the kidnapper would not be revealed early on in the book but I was wrong. It's fine though, this book felt more like an action movie. The perfect gif that would describe this book is the “that escalated quickly” gif. 

I read this quite quickly because of all the tension. Darby is a badass, if I were to get kidnapped, I would like her to find me. I don't know how I would have reacted and if I would still be alive if I were in her situation.

This book was written in a way that makes it feel like you're eavesdropping on someone else's conversation, and I am living for it. I am nosey so yeah; I enjoyed the writing style.

It is so well done. I wasn't bored at all while reading it. It really felt like I was part of the ongoing investigation. I was living my dream of becoming a detective. The person who was murdered wasn't mentioned until about halfway through, but it didn't feel slow at all.

I feared that it would become repetitive and confusing as the story went on, but I was proven wrong. This was a fun and different reading experience overall.

”It turns out the real you is a quilt, made up of the light and the dark. The life you've lived in sunshine and your shadow life, stretching underneath the surface of your mind like a deep underwater world, exerting invisible power. You are a living, breathing story made up of the moments in time you cherish, all strung together, and those you hide. The moments that seem lost. Until the day they're not.” This book is about six friends returning to their university after 10 years for homecoming. On their senior year one of their closest friend(the seventh member of the friend group) dies, the boyfriend of the victim was accused and released. Now, they are trying to piece together who really killed their friend. Wow. I love this. It's been awhile since I read a thriller that surprised me. The ending was not something that I expected. Jessica, one of the friends who is narrating the story, is unlikeable well to me she is. She is insecure and not a good friend/person overall. She always has to be number one but does not really succeed. The rest of the friend group are all flawed but I enjoyed reading their backstory to piece together what really happened that night. If you want to read a fast paced, whodunnit thriller you should pick this up!

“She didn't expect life to be fair, but did it have to be so relentless?”

Something sinister was happening at Orsk, so the m,anager decided to get 2 of his employees to work after hours so that they could check if someone is breaking in at the store at night. Turns out, it's something supernatural.

When I was a child, I would have fantasies of hiding somewhere inside the mall so I could stay out of hours so yeah, this sounded really interesting to me. Anyone else did that?

This book gave me Scary Movie vibes. It's a horror book that's not too creepy and it's sometimes funny. I didn't really feel frightened while I was reading this. It didn't feel atmospheric enough for me, maybe the scene setting was not as dramatic. 

I liked the ending, it didn't have proper closure but it's fine. If there was a book 2, I might pick it up because I want to know what will happen next. 

BTW, I also loved the book itself! It's unique and creative. It looked like an Ikea catalogue!

BOOK REVIEW 4/5

What is the book about?
Maggie and Nina have dinner together every other night. However, after their meal, Nina helps Maggie up to the attic to be tied to a chain until their next dinnertime.

What did I think of the book?
Well, it's John Marrs so I can expect the writing to be fast paced and intriguing. Almost every chapter is left with a cliff hanger so you keep wanting to read more. This book has a few twists and turns, some I saw coming and some I was completely caught unaware. It's the kind of story where you don't know who to root for. 

This is quite different from the John Marrs I usually read but it's a welcome change.

This book is told in two different perpectives, Maggie's and her father's. It is about a haunted house that she lived in when she was younger but she has now need to revisit because she inherited it.

I've had this book for so long, I am a fan of Riley Sager and I can say I enjoyed this one too. It's nothing phenomenal but I did get scared while reading this, which I think was the point of the story.

“You are sixteen, going on seventeen” now seems so creepy to me. I don't think I'll ever hear that song the same way again.

Throughout the book, I was always kept guessing about what is really happening, is it really something supernatural, a product of imagination or is there really a murderer. You have to read to find out.