The ten thousand doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Arc set for review by the publishers at orbit and little brown publishing

Review below

for me this was a 3 star book for me. this book for me is a little hard for me to review as for me I loved the start of the book so much, it was so fascinating and captivating, a story about a girl who finds magical doors dn get transported to different worlds sounded so fascinating to me and for the first half it was so good and really loved the main character who has so many flaws in herself but can be so relatable in many situations throughout this book. but sadly for me as the book was continuing on I felt like I was getting distracted every time I was reading and then I wouldn’t understand some parts of the book, I know that is of course my own fault but sadly I couldn’t connect to the story fully.
sadly for me this book was too slow-paced for me and it seemed like it took ages in the story to really learn about the doors. what I did love though was the writing of the story, this book was written so beautifully and the author has such magical/whimsical writing abilities which was one of my most favourite things about this book.

overall such a great story, beautiful writing and really enjoyed some of the characters in this story, and this will definitely be for so many people and I would recommend it to anyone as I know a lot of people will enjoy their story but sadly for me this wasn’t the book for me, which is a shame but thats the way it goes sometimes.

thank you to the Publishing at little brown publishing and orbit uk for sending me a physical copy of this book in exchange for a honest review

There will come a darkness by Katy rose pool Review

Review

Oh damn what a debut this book was, the magical elements throughout this world, the diversity in the characters throughout this story and the whole crew setting was amazing.

There will come a darkness is the start of a

Epic YA fantasy series, it follows Multiple characters in a world that is starting to corrupt and follows an array of characters from all types of backgrounds and learning about each individuals own lives and the trials and tribulations they are facing was so amazing to read about. The world in which this book is set is absolutely amazing from its very old styled kind of buildings with a mix of modern twist weaved in between it all.

There will come a darkness needs to be on everyones TBR piles and also needs to become a very well known fantasy for all readers.

One of my favourite parts about this book were the characters. The way we meet some of these characters is awesome and even from the first sentenced you are hooked instantly. as I said before the characters are so diverse and its wonderful to read about, even the secondary characters in which we meet are all written about wonderfully aswell and its very cool to see the added bonus of learning about their lives too which I think adds and makes fantasy books better.

when I was reading this book I came attached to some of the characters. my fav character even though they all are amazing in their own ways, has got to be Anton, oh I would love for him to be a friend in real life. His story arc through this book 😦 you feel for him in so many ways and just want to give him a hug in certain situations.

The only thing I’ve got to say that is a little negative Is that in some parts of the story I had a incline where the story was going and predicted a few things that would happen before they happened. but that was only on a few occasions. mosts of the twists I didn’t see coming which makes the book even better.

overall there will come a darkness is took over and is now my fav fantasy book of the year so far. As I’ve said the world, characters and the beautiful writing just makes this book what it is and I’m so excited for the next book in the series and very excited to have a new author to love. Congratulations Katy Rose Pool on this absolutely amazing first novel.

4.5/5 stars

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ✨

American royals by Katharine Mcgee

Arc sent to me for review by penguin random house in exchange for a honest review.

Where to buy American royals

Amazon – https://www.amazon.co.uk/American-Royals-Katharine-McGee/dp/0241365953/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=american+royals&qid=1567499018&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Barnes and Nobel – https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-royals-katharine-mcgee/1130400712?ean=9781984830173

Book depository- https://www.bookdepository.com/American-Royals-Katharine-Mcgee/9780241365953?ref=grid-view&qid=1567499195706&sr=1-1

Book synopsis

What if America had a royal family? If you can’t get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha. Perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Royal We!

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown.
Two girls vying for the prince’s heart.
This is the story of the American royals.

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren’t just any royals. They’re American.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

Review below

this was a very enjoyable read, with a lot of drama and such a fascinating take on what it would be like if America had a royal family ruling instead of a president. before going into this book I was so interested as I loved the concept of the book and I love reading about royalty.

so in this book we follow the lives of the royal children and their personal engagements with the family and friends and how flawed and unroyally they all are behind closed doors. from the first chapter we already see the drama building within the family and as for some people that can be a turn off in books to have too much drama I quite enjoyed it. yes throughout this book there are moments where this book has many flaws and not liking the characters but overall this book is such a great book about a dysfunctional family and the trials and tribulations of royal life and how many different rules they have to partake to and stand by so their reputation is ruined.

the issues I had about this book were some of the characters were naive and some of their actions against each other throughout this book were a bit too dramatic for me.

but one thing I did enjoy was the relationships throughout the book and how more developed I hope they become in the next book (which I didn’t even know this was gonna be more than one book ).

overall this is a very quick and fun contemporary that if u need a book that gives you royalty,drama, flawed characters and a dysfunctional family this book Is one for you. I’m very intrigued for the next book and excited to see where the next book will go.

3.75/5 stars 🌟🌟🌟✨

Summer of 69 by Elin Hilderbrand – Review (spoilers below)

TW: Depression,Alcoholism, domestic violence, a character suicide, grooming

This is my first book by Elin Hilderbrand and what a great first book to read, I have also found out that this is her first historical fiction novel, and that all/most of her books are set in Nantucket. i would have to say that Elin is a natural in the historical fiction genre after just reading this book. It was just that good.

This book is set in the backend of the 60’s and follows the lives of one family, the levins who in this book go through so many emotions, dilemmas and lots of family drama.

Every summer the Levin’s always go to Nantucket and everyone usually are excited and happy to be going. But this year so many scenarios have played out and the family are not really excited anymore.

As we follow the lives of this family we see the ups and downs of this at times dysfunctional family. Such as Blair the oldest daughter has found out she is pregnant with twins and is mainly at home on her own most of the time as her husband Angus who is working with NASA is out most of the time either busy at work or is he keeping a secret ?

The middle daughter Kirby who is all about brining unity and rights to America to ensure everyone lives freely. Kirby has also not came to Nantucket this year as she has found at job working at Marthas vineyard then eventually a hotel.

The youngest daughter Jessie who is the only one going to Nantucket with her mother and grandmother is not really feeling up for it but has to go anyway but while she is there we see her character develop and see her be put in a very horrible situation. But also through this she meets a boy who is staying at the house called pick and we see this relationship unfold and many truths start to come out of the woodworks.

We also see a little bit of Tiger the only son in the family who has gone into the army to serve for a America in Vietnam and through the book we see the worry that the family face in wether they will see their son/brother/grandson ever again and the when we see letters get delivered in the book you can just fell the emotions and nervousness of the letter and the family not trying to fear the worst just before they see the letter.

i really loved the whole historical aspect of this book aswell and 1969 has got to be one of the perfect years to write about. From the clothes described to the many monumental occasions that are legendary to this day and also the classic bands and singers that get put throughout the book is just amazing to read about it definitely transports u back to the year of 1969.

Overall this book was such an amazing read and for Elin Hilderbrand’s first historical fiction this was soooooo good and like I just said being able to be transported back to 1969 was so cool and a very cool and the 60’s a very cool time to read about. The perfect summer read and if u haven’t picked this book up yet you sure need to.

4.5/5 stars

Summer of salt by Katrina Leno (spoiler warning)

Review

TW – sexual assault,rape, animals death, drug use

I picked this book up on a whim as I have been interested in this book for a long while now, and I needed something either quick or fast paced for me to read. as this was under 300 pages It was a super fast read but the book inside is definitely full of happy times but also some very emotional and upsetting times as well.

this book is a magical realism story which follows Georgina and Mary two twin sisters who live in a small town called by the sea which is set on a island, this island holds the legacy of the fernweh family who Mary and Georgina are apart of and they all have a reputation of possessing magical powers such as, telepathy, flying, floating and so much more. every summer by the sea becomes a tourist attraction for a lot of people as 300 years ago a woman named Annabelle who is also from the feenweh ancestry line turned into a bird and every year people called birdseeds come and visit the Island to find Annabelle and to make sure the rumours are true. This year however something strange has happened and for some unknown reason Annabelle hasn’t turned up, so after a few days of lots of people worrying and birdseeds becoming impatient they go out on the hunt to try ad find Annabelle all over the island. until one night Georgina is told that they have found Annabelle but dead.

as everyone sees the body over the next couple of days the birdheads/ most of the island turn the accustorary finger onto Mary one of the Fernweh twins, but Georgina deep down knows that Mary could never harm a bird or even one as legendary as Annabelle. Georgina starts to second guess herself though because when Annabelle’s corpse was found Mary all of a sudden started to act strange and hide a secret that Mary would not tell anyone about. so Georgina makes it her mission to find out the whole truth.

in the background of this story we see a beautiful romantic relationship start to take shape with Georgina and Prue who arrived on the island with her brother Harrison at the start of the summer. Prue is also a birdied and is very fascinated about the bird as most of the island. Prue and Georgina I really just loved the dynamic of these two together and as it was not the forefront of the story would love to have seen even. more scenes with these two together if the book was longer but overall it was so cute.

Overall this book was such a fantastic read and for me very fast paced. I loved the atmosphere, the magical abilities of the women and the friendships and F/F romance that were really great. my only little bit of criticism is that I wish the book was longer because I could read about these characters for a while or even if Justin a whim if Katrina Leno brought back this story and make a second book that would be amazing. at parts near the end I did feel like everything happened very quickly but overall thumbs up for and I would definitely recommend to people.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Mooncakes by Wendy Xiu and Suzanne Walker

Review below

This Arc was provided by the publishers via net galley in exchange for a fun and honest review..

This Graphic novel was such a fantastic and amazing story, the story has so many aspects that I really enjoyed very much such as. The.magic and family relationships that were so supportive all the time. It was amazing to see rep of a Female/Non binary relationship.(which was the cutest in the world).

This Graphic novel follows Nova a Chinese-American witch who sadly lost her parents and is still trying to grief in the best way she can. Nova lives with her Grandmas ( the best couple alert). All three of them work and look after Rare and special witch books which sometimes people come and and ask to rent them for a couple of days.

We also follow Tam a Non-Binary werewolf, who has come back to New England after leaving many years ago. Before they moved away Tam and Nova were really great friends and grew up together. Tam has came back because where they lived before he was having some issues with their family and they were not very kind at all to them.

I really enjoyed the underlay of the story of trying to find yourself in a world that can be very intimidating and tough at times, I Love how Nova and Tam always stuck together through everything and made sure that the other person was okay. Even though they both have their struggles individually they have that loving bond that can last a lifetime.

I just got to say that the Grandmas in this graphic novel are some of my fav people, they were so supportive, always wanting what was best for Nova and also welcomed Tam in with open arms and loving care.

Overall this Graphic novel was a Queer,Magical read that everyone needs to read when it is released and to meet these amazing characters. The rep in this I loved so much, the characters were amazing and finally the illustrations were gorgeous. Im definitely going to pick up a finished copy once it has been released just

so I can digest these visuals once again they are just the best.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book review: Lock every door – Riley Sager

Firstly before go into review just want to say sorry I haven’t posted for a few day but back now 🙂

Review below (spoilers)

This book was my first Riley Sager book and wow why haven’t I read any from this author before now, after seeing quite a few people talk about this book and seeing some really good reviews on the book I though I would try it out myself to see if I like it seeing as its my first book by this author. Before going into this book the concept alone was what got me interested. House sitting a well known place, creepy things starting to happen. what’s not to love about that in a thriller/mystery novel.

Jules larsen has not have the best time for the past few weeks in her life, catching her boyfriend cheating on her with another woman and also finding out later he was doing it the whole relationship, not just that Jules has been having lots of money troubles lately and just doesn’t know where her life is heading. So when Jules sees a advert for someone needed to house sit for three months at one of the grandest apartment buildings the Bartholomew in New York she takes up the offer and thinks why not its the perfect time to do it, nothing could go wrong…

as we delve deeper into the book and as Jules is settling into the Apartment we get introduced to some very mysterious and intriguing characters who live in the apartment all the time and we meet Ingrid who is an Apartment sitter on the floor below Jules. Jules start to confide in Ingrid as they are both new to staying in the residency of the Bartholomew, but Ingrid starts saying quite a few Mysterious things to Jules about the creepy happenings of what has happened in this building many years ago and the many going ons that continue to happen day to day. Jules just doesn’t really make anything of it but when she and Ingrid set up a day in Central Park for the next day when she arrives Ingrid is no where to be seen and doesn’t come back to the Bartholomew for the days after…

Jules makes it her life mission to find out what’s happened to Ingrid and start to find clues all through the apartment she’s staying in and all through the Apartment, delving deeper and deeper Jules finds out so much more that she starts to feel scared and doesn’t want to stay in the apartment anymore. Jules wants to find out what has happened and be done with the place and leave.

will that happen…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

A very large expanse of sea – Tahereh Mafi

4.25 stars

TW : Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, bullying

this book is set in 2002 the year after 9/11 and is about Shirin a muslim hijabi teenager girl who just wants to get on with her life without everyone giving her dirty looks, nasty remarks and calling her names when she is out in the streets and all through school every day by her peers, strangers and even teachers.

Shirin deals with everything by herself and keeps everything bottled inside her, feeling alone and no one to talk to because her parents just shrug off everything that she says if she has/had a incident at school with a pupil so because of that doesn’t feel like she needs to tell her parents and goes down a spiral of locking everything up and just struggle on her own. soon though her brother tells her of a breakdancing group he has put together and wants her to join and also meet the other guys. when she meets the guys she feels like she belongs and doesn’t feel alone anymore which surprises her. I really enjoyed the breakdancing aspect of this book because I have never read a book with breakdancing as a hobby before and I really wanted even more scenes with that and the crew.

Shirin then meets Ocean one of the popular boys around school when they are paired together in a science class and from their we see a connection start to brew from the first time they meet and start chatting to the final page. this relationship definitely has an abundance of ups and downs with Shirin second guessing their relationship and wondering about why Ocean would want to be with her and so many other aspects to the story.

This story is such an emotional and important story that on one page could be happy to the next page where ur moved to tears just in a few seconds, Tahereh Mafi’s writing is just so magical and just from reading this book you can just tell how much this story is so important and close to Tahereh Mafi.

this book is 4.25/5 stars overall was just an amazing book, one thing I would loved to seen more would of been the breakdancing aspect as never read anything about that in a book before and also at times I just thought the romantic relationship went a little quick at points but apart from that it was a beautifully emotional read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Reading Rush TBR

Who else is participating in the reading rush this year ? Hosted by @arielbissett and @raeleenlemay and it will be from July 22 – July 28 👍🏻👍🏻 This is my TBR for the week of the readathon ☺️☺️ 1. Purple on the cover – Wicked Fox
2. Read in one sitting in the same place – Heartstopper Volume Two
3. Read a book meant to last year – Everything Leads to You
4. Read a authors first book – A Girl Like That
5. Non human main character – Sea Witch
6. Book that has five or more words In the title – The Girl the Sea Gave Back (EARC)
7. Read and watch a book to movie adaptation – Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (reread and rewatch)

No Ivy League – Hazel Newlevant

Firstly would like to thank netgalley for a arc of this graphic novel In exchange for a honest review.

This graphic novel follows Hazel who all their life has been homeschooled and sheltered from the real world, so doesn’t really understand much about how much white privilege they has.

So when they get a summer job to work with a bunch of other teenagers around their age who are not homeschooled as they are and sees the diverse group of people with different backgrounds,races and so on. This really wakes up Hazel to a world they has never really seen or endured so is very interested to educate themselves.

Through this book we do see Hazel come into situations where they really do see their white privilege when one point of this book we see one of Hazel’s co workers who is black says something disrespectful about Hazel, they report it and he gets punished and chucked out of the job. But when someone else said something to a black girl It was pushed u set the rug and went unpunished.

This book definitely delved a little into a topic that is very major problem and has been a problem in society for years and years and which continue to keep happening everyday.

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book I liked the images and because I read a arc copy a few pages were missing fully drawn art but was still great to see/ read and will be cool to see how it has been drawn in the finished copies.

Overall this graphic novel was a 3 stars for me, it’s definitely has important issues raised all through this that everyone should read but some parts of this graphic novel were a little bit like meh.