WWW Wednesday: 5th February 2020

February 5, 2020February 4, 2020 Ali@abookishlife14 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Things are still busy at work (hopefully only another week or so to go) so I’m sticking with slightly lighter reads and currently reading Deep Down Dead by Steph Broadribb. I have tickets for the Orenda roadshow at the end of the month and thought I should probably try and read some of the books by the authors Orenda publish. It was only after I started reading this and got quite into the story that I realized Steph Broadribb wasn’t on the tour… oops. I am however absolutely loving this story of a single mom/bounty hunter so it’s all good. It’s been an age since I read this kind of story and I’d forgotten how much I enjoy them.

On audio I’ve had to put Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray on hold for the moment as my library hold on Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire came in so I had to bump it to the top of the list. I probably would have done this anyway as I absolutely love the Wayward Children series. It’s a really short book, around 4 hours, so I’m making great progress with it. Only around 1 hr 30 mins to go.

Recently Finished

I’ve managed to sneak in quite a bit of reading over the last week, the weather’s been bad, so I managed to finish three books. The first of these was a NetGalley ARC of Dark Waters by G.R. Halliday. This is the second in the DI Monica Kennedy series and I would say it’s better than the first. It’s just as dark and creepy, but a lot of the things that were irritating me in the first book seem to have been sorted out and it feels like we’re getting some real character development.

Second book finished this week was American Royals by Katharine McGee. I also received this from NetGalley but just never seemed to be in the mood to read it. I very much enjoyed her other series The Thousandth Floor, a futuristic sci fi teen drama, and this was a lot of fun too. While it’s an alternate history type story rather than a sci fi there are definitely a lot of similarities between the two series and it reads like an American soap opera with all of the clichés and relationship drama. If you don’t take it too seriously and accept it as it is it’s fantastic.

The final book finished this week was Jeaniene Frost’s latest Wicked Bite. Frost is my go to author when I’m in the mood for a paranormal romance and this book doesn’t disappoint. Not my absolute favourite of her books but it’s enjoyable and main character Ian is growing on me.

Reading Next

I know I had it on my reading next list last week and didn’t read it next but I’m keeping The Switch by Beth O’Leary close to the top of the pile for the moment. It’s one I’ve been really looking forward to so I don’t want to read it when I’m tired and stressed. I have a lot of books on my NetGalley shelf at the moment so I think I’m going to try and make a bit of progress with that. Yes No Maybe So and Wranglestone are both out this week so I should really be picking them up.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

WWW Wednesday: 29th January 2020

January 29, 2020January 28, 2020 Ali@abookishlife12 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m back… well kind of. I’m still working long hours at the moment so haven’t had much time to read but I have actually been reading which is an improvement on last week when I think I had a touch of eye strain. But, I’ve switched to my ancient kindle and have been managing to read without the headaches, dizziness and floating black dots.

At the moment I’m working my way through Dark Waters by G.R. Halliday, which I stumbled across on NetGalley and couldn’t resist. It’s the second in the Monica Kennedy series and is a police procedural/murder mystery set in the Highlands of Scotland. I’m around two thirds of the way through as I write this and very much enjoying. It’s definitely stronger than the first book and I think even darker and creepier.

Speaking of dark and creepy, on audio I’m still listening to Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray, the third book in the Diviners series. I have to confess I haven’t made a huge amount of progress in the last week which means the gang are still stuck in an asylum with darkness and some not so happy ghosts moving in 😮

Recently Finished

Only one book finished again this week, The New Guy by Kathryn Freeman. The publisher very kindly sent me a widget for an advance copy of this and as I’d been considering requesting it anyway I couldn’t resist despite a heaving NetGalley shelf. This turned out to be a very wise decision as I ended up kind of loving it. It’s a romcom about a man and woman who meet in a bar and have a “one night stand” only to discover the following day that he’s the new guy they’ve hired to work in the company she owns.

I wasn’t sure about this at the start as the male lead Ryan does not come across as a particularly likeable guy but he definitely grows on you as you get to know him. I loved the role reversal, with the woman in the position of power and the guy the insecure mess. It’s funny and sweet and there’s plenty of chemistry between the leads so overall a very enjoyable and addictive read.

Reading Next

The publishers actually granted my wish on NetGalley for a copy of Beth O’Leary’s new book The Switch so I suspect that will be moving to the top of my list. It’s one of my most anticipated books of the year so won’t be able to resist for long. My library hold on the audiobook of Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire also came in during the week so will be picking it up soon.

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

TTT: Choosing Books by their Covers

January 28, 2020 Ali@abookishlife21 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is a bookish meme that was started by The Broke and Bookish and moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists (something I share) and each week participants come up with a list of ten(ish) things based on a theme.

The theme for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday is a Book Cover Freebie which has totally sent me into an indecisive mess (and is the reason why I’m so late with this week’s post). I’d much prefer if someone just told me what to post but anyway I’ve decided to put a little bit of a twist on it and have come up with a list of the things I want/ or don’t want on my book covers. What will put me off buying a book or tempt me into splashing the cash. Let’s start with the negative

5 THINGS I DON’T WANT

TV/Movie tie in covers

I do get it, they want people who love the show/movie or who have even just heard everyone rave over it to rush out and buy the book but seeing the actors and the huge big sticker with “Now a hit TV show starring…” plastered all over the front really puts me off. I’m pretty sure if people really want to find the book the show is based on they will, and don’t even get me started when they change the title of the book to the name of the show…

What really winds me up too is when you buy an ebook from Amazon with the original cover and all of a sudden Amazon decide to change it to the tie in version… grrr!!

The authors name is the biggest thing

Yes if an author is successful and has lots of readers make sure their name is prominent but when the name is more prominent than the title of the book, or pretty much anything else on the cover it just makes me think they’re trying to sell you it purely based on the author. The story seems to be treated as some kind of secondary, less important factor, it’s sort of assumed that you’ll buy it regardless of what it’s about because the author is just sooo awesome. It seems a little disrespectful to readers to me.

(I haven’t read this book btw, it was just one I spotted that kind of fit)

People on covers

I know, I’m a weirdo but I really don’t like when covers have real people i.e. not illustrations on them. It’s probably part of the reason I don’t like tie in covers with the actors on the cover. I don’t want anyone showing me what the characters look like, I want to imagine them for myself. When I read I actually struggle to take in descriptions of people (or places) so I have a tendency to make up my own image of them, which usually bears no resemblance to how the author intended. If there’s a picture on the front of the character it kind of forces me to imagine them that way, and I don’t want to.

The “standard genre” cover

There seems to be this thing where if a book is a certain genre it has to have the same thing on the cover. Crime books have the dark alley (possibly with a sinister figure), domestic thrillers a house or a door, romances have the bare chested guy and YA fantasy has that snake that seems to be doing the rounds at the moment. It’s all just obvious and kind of boring. I think I may have a couple of books which have literally the same cover (the guy in this cover is on at least four different books).

It’s just ugly or doesn’t fit

I won’t be mean and put an example for this one but there have certainly been a few times where the cover of the book has put me off buying it. It’s either really unprofessional looking (I feel like I could come up with a better one myself using my phone) or it just seems to have absolutely no real connection to the story. This sort of links to the standard genre point as well, just because a book is a certain genre you are not obliged to have certain things on the cover if they have nothing to do with the story . I do understand that a lot of self published authors don’t have money to spend on covers but I’m sorry they do matter.

5 THINGS I DO WANT

All the pretty, sparkly things ❤

I am a sucker for a pretty cover and will admit to having bought more than one book based on the cover alone, didn’t even read the synopsis.

I love intricate designs, flowers, possibly some foil or sprayed edges. I know that a gorgeous cover doesn’t always translate exactly into a gorgeous story but I am seriously struggling to think of a book with a pretty cover that I haven’t enjoyed.

Little references to the story

I don’t like covers that are too obvious but I do love when the cover images have little clues or references to some of the things that pop up in the story. I haven’t come across many of these but the most recent was the UK version of Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff. I love how if you look closely there are lots of little images within the main one which link to certain scenes or characters in the story. I had a lot of fun after I finished the book fitting all of the little parts of the story to the images on the cover.

A little bit of mystery

There’s a lot to be said for a cover that’s simple, stylish and doesn’t give much away about the story, especially if you add in a little bit of foil or a nice border. The 7 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was one of those books for me. There are a few little clues in those diamonds in the corner but the big draw for this book is definitely the title and the story. It doesn’t need a fancy cover and honestly I can’t think of anything you could put on the cover that would fit the story (although I am aware the paperback version has a staircase on it).

Less can be more.

Contemporary design with strong colours and illustrations

I read a lot of romcoms and contemporary fiction and am absolutely loving the trend at the moment for illustrations on the cover. Bright colours, big loopy writing, something that literally jumps of the shelf and says go on you know you want to read me. There’s just something fun about them that appeals to me and you can usually trust that if the cover is contemporary the story will be too.

It’s quirky or funny

I love a quirky or different story so it stands to reason that I’m drawn to books with slightly quirky or just downright weird covers (anyone for a lobster or a pink flamingo?). And, if it happens to have a slightly out there title that’s a bonus. I find that there are a lot of covers that are just variations of the same thing, but books like this just jump out at you. I may not necessarily buy it but I’ll definitely pick it up and read what it’s about.

So that’s what I look for (or avoid) in my book covers. Is there anything in particular you look for on the cover when choosing a book or do you share any of my cover pet peeves?

Feel free to leave comments below and links to your top ten’s.

Review: This is How You Lose the Time War

January 26, 2020 Ali@abookishlife3 Comments

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone did not make for the easiest reading but there is certainly something very engaging about it. I loved the creativity and imagination that went into it. It’s a very unique story and one I think I’ll be re reading at some point.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

And thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more.

Except discovery of their bond would be death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

MY REVIEW

I loved the originality in this story but while the writing was wonderfully descriptive and imaginative I must admit I did not find this the easiest book to read. This was in part my own fault as I picked absolutely the wrong time to read this, work was busy, I was tired, stressed and having difficulty focusing on anything for any length of time, but both the concepts and the language made this a feel like a challenge rather than a pleasure at times.

From the very start you’re thrown in to the deep end of this story, no explanation, no scene setting and very little in the way of background. It quickly becomes clear that there are two factions in a war across time (yes the clue is in the title). One faction is seeking to influence the timeline to promote technology and progress, the other is looking for a return to nature. Each employs agents who hop back and forward in time, trying to influence the various different strands of time to their own ends by whatever means available.

Two of these agents are Red and Blue from whose points of view the story is told. They operate for rival factions but begin a correspondence which begins with a sort of taunting, challenging tone but quickly becomes something more. Given they come from opposing sides of the war however can they really trust each other, is a relationship of any kind possible or is it doomed to end in tragedy?

I really loved the creativity and imagination that went into the story. I loved the very different ways Red and Blue found to correspond with each other in the different times and places they visit. I loved the contents of the letters themselves and how the tone of them changes over the course of the book as they start to realize their feelings for each other. I loved the relationship that develops between them, there’s something very Romeo and Juliet about two people from warring factions who develop a bond despite their differences.

I even loved the little snippets of what they’re doing to subtly alter the timeline to their own ends, one through sudden force and violence, the other through slower more invasive means. I’ve always been fascinated by the notion of time travel and the various theories surrounding (paradox theory, the multiverse etc) so I find pretty much every story featuring it intriguing. I just wish we’d gotten a little more of this. More of the background to these two factions, who are they, what are they and how do they do what they do? Over the course of the story there are more and more details revealed about the societies Red and Blue come from but it wasn’t enough and somehow seemed to raise more questions than it answered. Even by the end I couldn’t figure out what Red and Blue were, they certainly didn’t seem to be human. I spent a lot of the story just sort of going with it.

I also felt like the voices of the two leads were lacking distinctiveness, it sometimes took me a few pages to figure out whose story I was in. This was no doubt in part due to the complexity of the language used by both authors which took up most of my concentration. It’s very flowery and very deliberately plays with words and phrases, something I’m really not sure I liked. I could certainly appreciate it but I did feel like it took something away from the underlying story and I spent more time trying to understand the words used than the underlying meaning and emotion behind them. This was not helped by the occasional wandering off on tangents within the letters themselves as I found my concentration wandering off on a tangent all of it’s own.

As I say though I was very tired and having difficulty focusing on pretty much anything for any length of time when reading this. It is however a fairly short book at only 200 odd pages so it didn’t take me too long to read it. I was left with a slight feeling of confusion at the end though and I do think it’s one I may re read at some point (when I’m less tired) as I feel like I’ve missed some things that I’ll pick up on a second reading.

Overall therefore a wonderfully unique read that I’m glad I’ve read even if I found it a challenging read at times. I would recommend this to anyone but maybe wait till you can give it your full focus.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WWW Wednesday: 22nd January 2020

January 22, 2020January 19, 2020 Ali@abookishlife14 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’ve been working long hours over the last week and as I sit at a computer all day I’m finding my eyes are really struggling. I’ve therefore decided to try and take a bit of a break from reading to give them a rest. We’ll see how long that lasts… I’m writing this on Sunday so chances are I’ll already have caved and picked something up by Wednesday 😉

On audio I’m listening to Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray, the third book in the Diviners series. I went for a long walk on Saturday so that gave me the chance to listen to it for a big long stretch. I think I’m around the halfway point now.

Recently Finished

As I’ve had to take a bit of a break from reading I’ve only managed to finish one book this week, My Sister The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. I’ve been hearing a lot of good things (and a few not so good things) about this for a while so it was one I couldn’t resist and yep I liked it a lot. The writing style is a little unusual, lots of short choppy chapters and it seems to jump from one scene to the next, but that really worked for me. I liked the main character Korede a lot and found her pretty relatable. Not sure I would help a sibling dispose of a body or cover up a murder but it does make for a unique and engaging story. My only gripe is the ending… I am not happy with that.

Reading Next

I think the next couple of weeks are going to be just as busy for me as the past one has been so not sure if or what I’ll be reading. I did however just get my hands on the following so maybe one of these:-

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

TTT: Ten Most Recent Additions to my Bookshelf

January 21, 2020January 19, 2020 Ali@abookishlife15 Comments

The theme for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday is Ten Most Recent Additions to my Bookshelf. I kind of read this as the last ten books you bought physical copies of but as I mostly use my ereader I’m going to go with the ten most recent books I bought whether it was a physical copy or ebook. Most of these are the first book in a series or a standalone but where it’s a sequel I’ve noted it in the title so you can skip over the synopsis and avoid spoilers.

Inborn by Thomas Enger

Inborn When the high school in the small Norwegian village of Fredheim becomes a murder scene, the finger is soon pointed at seventeen-year-old Even. As the investigation closes in, social media is ablaze with accusations, rumours and even threats, and Even finds himself the subject of an online trial as well as being in the dock… for murder?

Even pores over his memories of the months leading up to the crime, and it becomes clear that more than one villager was acting suspiciously… and secrets are simmering beneath the calm surface of this close-knit community.

As events from the past play tag with the present, he’s forced to question everything he thought he knew. Was the death of his father in a car crash a decade earlier really accidental? Has his relationship stirred up something that someone is prepared to kill to protect? It seems that there may be no one that Even can trust. But can we trust him? A taut, moving and chilling thriller, Inborn examines the very nature of evil, and asks the questions: How well do we really know our families? How well do we know ourselves?

Deep Down Dead by Steph Broadribb

Deep Down Dead (Lori Anderson, #1) Lori Anderson is as tough as they come, managing to keep her career as a fearless Florida bounty hunter separate from her role as single mother to nine-year-old Dakota, who suffers from leukaemia. But when the hospital bills start to rack up, she has no choice but to take her daughter along on a job that will make her a fast buck. And that’s when things start to go wrong. The fugitive she’s assigned to haul back to court is none other than JT, Lori’s former mentor – the man who taught her everything she knows … the man who also knows the secrets of her murky past.

Not only is JT fighting a child exploitation racket operating out of one of Florida’s biggest theme parks, Winter Wonderland, a place where ‘bad things never happen’, but he’s also mixed up with the powerful Miami Mob. With two fearsome foes on their tails, just three days to get JT back to Florida, and her daughter to protect, Lori has her work cut out for her. When they’re ambushed at a gas station, the stakes go from high to stratospheric, and things become personal.

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1) Betrayed by his family and left for dead, prince Yarvi, reluctant heir to a divided kingdom, has vowed to reclaim a throne he never wanted. But first he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter waters of the shattered sea itself – all with only one good hand.

Born a weakling in the eyes of a hard, cold world, he cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so has sharpened his mind to a deadly edge. Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast, he finds they can help him more than any noble could. Even so, Yarvi’s path may end as it began – in twists, traps and tragedy.

A Heart so Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers 2) by Brigid Kemmerer

A Heart So Fierce and Broken (Cursebreakers, #2) Find the heir, win the crown.

The curse is finally broken, but Prince Rhen of Emberfall faces darker troubles still. Rumors circulate that he is not the true heir and that forbidden magic has been unleashed in Emberfall. Although Rhen has Harper by his side, his guardsman Grey is missing, leaving more questions than answers.

Win the crown, save the kingdom.

Rumored to be the heir, Grey has been on the run since he destroyed Lilith. He has no desire to challenge Rhen–until Karis Luran once again threatens to take Emberfall by force. Her own daughter Lia Mara sees the flaws in her mother’s violent plan, but can she convince Grey to stand against Rhen, even for the good of Emberfall?

The heart-pounding, compulsively readable saga continues as loyalties are tested and new love blooms in a kingdom on the brink of war.

Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Serpent & Dove (Serpent & Dove, #1) Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

84k by Claire North

84K What if your life were defined by a number?

What if any crime could be committed without punishment, so long as you could afford to pay the fee assigned to that crime?

Theo works in the Criminal Audit Office. He assesses each crime that crosses his desk and makes sure the correct debt to society is paid in full.

But when Theo’s ex-lover Dani is killed, it’s different. This is one death he can’t let become merely an entry on a balance sheet.

Because when the richest in the world are getting away with murder, sometimes the numbers just don’t add up.

Violet by SJ Halliday

Violet When two strangers end up sharing a cabin on the Trans-Siberian Express, an intense friendship develops, one that can only have one ending … a nerve-shattering psychological thriller from bestselling author SJI Holliday

Carrie’s best friend has an accident and can no longer make the round-the-world trip they’d planned together, so Carrie decides to go it alone.

Violet is also travelling alone, after splitting up with her boyfriend in Thailand. She is also desperate for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Express, but there is nothing available.

When the two women meet in a Beijing Hotel, Carrie makes the impulsive decision to invite Violet to take her best friend’s place.

Thrown together in a strange country, and the cramped cabin of the train, the women soon form a bond. But as the journey continues, through Mongolia and into Russia, things start to unravel – because one of these women is not who she claims to be…

A tense and twisted psychological thriller about obsession, manipulation and toxic friendships, Violet also reminds us that there’s a reason why mother told us not to talk to strangers…

Starsight (Skyward 2) by Brandon Sanderson

Starsight (Skyward, #2) All her life, Spensa has dreamed of becoming a pilot. Of proving she’s a hero like her father. She made it to the sky, but the truths she learned about her father were crushing.

Spensa is sure there’s more to the story. And she’s sure that whatever happened to her father in his starship could happen to her. When she made it outside the protective shell of her planet, she heard the stars–and it was terrifying. Everything Spensa has been taught about her world is a lie.

But Spensa also discovered a few other things about herself–and she’ll travel to the end of the galaxy to save humankind if she needs to.

Sacrificing Sapphire (Stalking Sapphire 4) by Mia Thompson

Sacrificing Sapphire: A Sapphire Dubois Mystery (Sapphire Dubois Mystery Four) Sapphire Dubois is about to celebrate her first Christmas in Beverly Hills with her new husband, Detective Aston Ridder. She has assured him that her days of defying death to save victims from serial killers are over. But after three months of marriage, she hasn’t kicked the habit. Sapphire feels compelled to check out a lead—two to women with similar descriptions have vanished from the same location. After breaking her promise, the daring crime fighter gets abducted by the very killer she was hunting.

While a distraught Aston scrambles to find his missing wife, Sapphire wakes up in a bizarre reality where she is now the victim, forced to play a part in her abductor’s sick ritualistic game. Soon she realizes she’s not alone; a little girl is imprisoned with her, and Sapphire is her only chance of escape.

Sacrificing Sapphire combines rich L.A. sass and smarts with thrilling psychological suspense

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

An Enchantment of Ravens Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.

Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

I think it’s pretty safe to say from this that my reading tastes are diverse. I bought more or less all of these in the last couple of weeks (proof if anyone needs it that book bloggers do buy books) so haven’t read them as yet. Have you read any of these, any you recommend I read asap?

Feel free to leave comments below and links to your top ten’s.

Review: Just a Boyfriend by Sariah Wilson

January 20, 2020 Ali@abookishlife4 Comments

Just a Boyfriend by Sariah Wilson was a sweet and fun read but probably not the most memorable of stories. The characters are likeable and there are some heavier themes which add a little depth but while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it as much as I hoped.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Ian “Bash” Sebastian and Ember Carlson were high school sweethearts…until their single parents got married. With one thorny twist of fate, a secret young crush went from on fire to off-limits. What could a new stepbrother do but bail? Now, after almost four years, Bash has returned to Seattle, and he’s back in Ember’s orbit at End of the Line. EOL is the go-to college for second-chance scholarships. But what about love?

Sure, the old hurts are there. So is the attraction—and it’s more magnetic than ever. Still, they’re adults now, levelheaded and just fine with the friend thing. If only to make family dinners less awkward. But when they agree to start dating other people, moving on threatens to bring them closer together than ever.

Is it time to admit their past to their parents? Even trickier, their hope for the future? Because Ember and Bash deserve a love story of their own. With all their defenses down, can they make it a happy ever after?

MY REVIEW

Sariah Wilson’s books are a fairly recent discovery for me and while this is only the second one I’ve read I will definitely be checking out her others as I very much enjoyed it.

This probably falls under the category of stepbrother romance although if you’re uncomfortable with that type of story I’d argue that it’s more of a second chance at love story as the main characters were in a relationship before their parents even met each other let alone got married. It was only as a result of their parent’s whirlwind romance that Bash and Ember went their separate ways, not seeing or speaking to each other for over three years until they’re reunited at EOL college.

Ember and Bash are very likeable characters and I love how the story (including the flashbacks to when they first met) are told from both points of view. It really gives you a chance to get to know them and how they feel. It is a little frustrating at times knowing how crazy they are about each other and how one honest conversation about how they feel could solve a whole lot of confusion and angst but given their family situation they’re doing the best they can with what they know.

It is quite a sweet and funny read and I did love the relationship between Bash and Ember. There is lots of funny banter and teasing (they’re both very competitive) but what I loved most is how well they know each other and how they’re there when the other needs them and neither of them has it easy. As well as the light and the fun there are also some heavier themes running through the story including drug addiction, abandonment, depression and cancer. I’m not entirely convinced the author covers them the way she should (and I would argue not all are necessary) but it does give the story a little more depth.

Given the characters are in college this probably fits into the new adult category but it reads a little on the young side. There is plenty of chemistry between Ember and Bash, and more than one heavy make out session but there’s no actual sex or for that matter bad language (I’ll leave it up to you to decide if that’s a good or bad thing). I also felt the character sometimes acted younger (and more inexperienced) than their age particularly when you consider everything they’ve gone through.

As far as secondary characters go, these were a bit of a mixed bag. Some of them were central to the story and I thought were very well rounded and believable, others I thought we could have done without as their role seemed to be to make a very obvious point. My biggest gripe however was probably with the parents. I’m not sure if it’s what the author intended but wow they really annoyed me with how selfish and controlling they were. Ember’s mother uses the cancer card to guilt trip Ember into doing whatever she wants and she’s completely oblivious to how she really feels. Bash’s father puts way too much responsibility on Bash and seems to completely completely reverse his opinion on Bash’s mother at one point. It did not make sense to me although I think I was mostly just annoyed that they put a stop to Bash and Ember’s relationship by running off and getting married after three weeks of dating and deciding they wanted everyone to be a big happy family.

Overall therefore I’d rate this as an enjoyable read but I’m not sure I’d consider it to be a memorable one. If you’re looking for a cute contemporary romance without an R Rating this may be right up your street.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy. This has in no way influenced my review.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

WWW Wednesday: 15th January 2020

January 15, 2020January 14, 2020 Ali@abookishlife22 Comments

The WWW Wednesday meme is hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words and is a great way to do a weekly update on what you’ve been reading and what you have planned.

To take part all you have to do is answer the following three questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

I’m having some trouble deciding on my next read so have been rereading bits of my fave books until I do.

On audio I’m still making steady progress on Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray, Think I listened to a good three or four hours. I do still have quite a way to go though and with the fourth book sitting waiting on my kindle I do feel like I need to get a shift on.

Recently Finished

Last week was my first week back at work after the Christmas break and wow, that was a shock to the system. I did however manage to finish three books, all from my backlist, the first of which was Shades of Wicked by Jeaniene Frost. I do love Jeaniene Frost’s books and her writing but I am a little on the fence about this new spinoff series. Main character Ian has never really been my favourite in the other books and it really took a while for me to warm up to him in this. It does have an absolutely stunning ending and I’m totally going to read on but I miss my Vlad.

Despite saying last week that I would have zero concentration for books and would probably be best sticking to romcoms I did for some reason decide to read This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It’s been sitting on my TBR for a while and I was very much looking forward to it but it was definitely not the right time to read it. It is a wonderful book, original, unique and if you can give it your full attention incredibly engaging and beautiful. But, as someone who was tired, stressed and whose brain was all over the place this was a difficult read. The language is flowery and if I’m honest difficult for me (I had to look up a few words) and the concept not the easiest to get your head around particularly as there’s little explanation and you have to just pick it up as you go. I did like it but I think I’m going to have to read it again at some point in the future when I can give it the attention it deserves.

As you can probably imagine after that book I needed something much, much easier so went for The Bromance Bookclub by Lyssa Kay Adams and boy this book was everything I needed. Funny, cute and very, very sweet. I loved the whole idea of this group of successful men reading regency romances to sort out the problems with the women in their lives.

Reading Next

I made the mistake of going to a bookstore on Saturday where I noticed that quite a few of the books sitting on my NetGalley shelf are actually out in the world already. I feel like I need to maybe make some progress with my ARCs over the next couple of weeks. I’m therefore hoping to pick up the following:-

Have you read any of the books on my list this week? Any others you’d recommend? As always please feel free to leave comments and links below.

Happy Reading ❤

TTT: Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2019

January 14, 2020January 14, 2020 Ali@abookishlife20 Comments

The theme for this weeks Top Ten Tuesday is Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2019. I have to admit I seriously struggled with this week’s topic. There were just too many things to choose from, authors, books, blogs, publishers, bookish merch… I’ve therefore gone with a sort of scattergun approach of slightly random stuff that caught my attention during 2019. I apologize in advance…

Authors

Skyward (Skyward, #1) I could quite easily fill the whole top ten with author’s I discovered during 2019 but I really wanted to include some other stuff so I’ll just go with the standouts. 2019 was the year when I finally picked up books by Jay Kristoff and Brandon Sanderson. I’ve had their books on my shelf for ages but with the hype around them kept putting them off. Having now finally read them I can confirm that all of the hype is 100% justified. Both Skyward and the Nevernight trilogy were in my fave books of the year.

Samantha Downing and Beth O’Leary also seriously impressed me with their debut books My Lovely Wife and The Flatshare putting them very squarely on my “must look out for books by” list. Also on that list are Will Carver, Antti Tuomainen, Doug Johnstone and pretty much every author on Orenda Book’s list. Their books are just so original and different.

Genres

The End We Start From Every year I make a half hearted attempt at the Popsugar Challenge and every year I probably only manage to fill around half the prompts but it does almost always lead to some kind of discovery and a broadening of my reading. In 2019 that discover was new genres. I seriously had no idea that cli-fi and LitRPG were even a thing but apparently they are. I will admit to not being so keen on LitRPG (I found Ready Player One kind of boring) but I am liking cli-fi (probably due to my love of dystopians and post apocalypse stories)

New Book Festivals

I love a good bookish event, particularly when it’s genre fiction so was very excited for the very first Cymera festival in Edinburgh in June 2019. Over the weekend there were around 70 science fiction, fantasy and horror writers including Victoria Schwab, Claire North, Ben Aaronovitch and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

shoe (2) I was volunteering at the event so I didn’t get to see a huge number of authors (I was selling tickets in the box office) but the events I did make it to were brilliant and with it being the first year it wasn’t too crazy. I did get to chat to a few authors, publicists etc as they stopped into reception, and had a fantastic if somewhat stressful time (why do printers hate me). I also discovered that Anna Smith Spark has the best shoes ever.

Also last year was the first ever Capital Crime festival in London. I didn’t manage to make it as it was a little too close to the Bloody Scotland Festival but the programme looked incredible. There’s a strong possibility I’ll be wandering my way down there this year.

CYOA

When I was younger I used to absolutely love Choose Your Own Adventure books so I was very excited to see them making something of a comeback in 2019 with some adult versions. I read a couple of them during the year, mostly would you survive a zombie apocalypse style stories (I would not), and had a lot of fun. The absolute highlight of the year CYOA wise however was Susan Dennard’s Twitter CYOA, the Luminaries. Every day for 6 months hive mind Winnie (aka around 2000 followers) made some incredibly poor decisions in a story full of magic, romance and adventure. It was hands down the best thing on Twitter even if we did spend around a fortnight in a garage trying to decide whether to take a dirt bike or a car.

On the morning of your sixteenth birthday, you awaken to a "tap-tap-tap" against the window. It's dawn; the world outside is foggy, sun-pinked gray.

After rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you blink…and find a crow at your window.

You…

— 🐙 Susan Dennard 🏳️‍🌈 (@stdennard) June 3, 2019

Footnotes

I finally picked up the Nevernight trilogy by Jay Kristoff this year and discovered the joy and horror of reading books with extensive footnotes. The footnotes were brilliant and definitely had a lot of the funniest moments but trying to read them in an ebook was just hell. I did manage better with a physical copy of the book but to be honest I had to resort to the audiobook to make it through Darkdawn.

Full Cast Audiobooks

I’ve always been a little anti full cast audiobooks, I tried to listen to one a year or so ago and hated it, but this year after listening to Illuminae and Daisy Jones and the Six discovered just how good they can be. Illuminae in particularly completely blew me away with how fantastic it was (I did not think that book could ever work on audio) and I can’t wait to read the other books in the series.

So that’s my discoveries from 2019. Did you make any discoveries last year that you think everyone should know about?

Feel free to leave comments below and links to your top ten’s.

ARC Review: Highfire by Eoin Colfer

January 13, 2020 Ali@abookishlife2 Comments

Highfire by Eoin Colfer was definitely an original read but despite a very promising premise and some wonderful writing I’m afraid this just wasn’t for me.

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

From the internationally bestselling author of the Artemis Fowl series: Eoin Colfer’s first adult fantasy novel is a hilarious, high-octane adventure about a vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who’s been hiding out from the world – and potential torch-carrying mobs – in a Louisiana bayou . . . until his peaceful world’s turned upside down by a well-intentioned but wild Cajun tearaway and the crooked (and heavily armed) law officer who wants him dead.

Squib Moreau may be swamp-wild, but his intentions are (generally) good: he really wants to be a supportive son to his hard-working momma Elodie. But sometimes life gets in the way – like when Fake Daddy walked out on them leaving a ton of debt, or when crooked Constable Regence Hooke got to thinking pretty Elodie Moreau was just the gal for him…

An apprenticeship with the local moonshine runner, servicing the bayou, looks like the only way to pay off the family debts and maybe get Squib and his momma a place in town, far from Constable Hooke’s unwanted courtship and Fake Daddy’s reputation.

Unfortunately for Squib, Hooke has his own eye on that very same stretch of bayou – and neither of them have taken into account the fire-breathing dragon hiding out in the Louisiana swamp…

For Squib Moreau, Regence Hooke and Vern, aka Lord Highfire of Highfire Eyrie, life is never going to be the same again.

Highfire is a genre-bending tour-de-force of comedy and action by the million-copy-selling master storyteller.

MY REVIEW

I have to confess I’m at a little bit of a loss on what to say about this so am really struggling to review. I didn’t dislike anything about it but there was nothing I especially liked either. I seem to have found myself in the position of having literally no feelings about it which is probably not a good sign for me but doesn’t mean others won’t love it.

I did love the sound of it, I mean it’s dragons who doesn’t love the sound of any book with a dragon, it just seemed so weird and quirky and while I hadn’t read a book by Colfer before he does seem to be highly regarded. Hopes were therefore high.

And… the story is unique, the writing can’t be faulted and the characters are interesting but I’m afraid I just never connected with any of it. I kept reading out of curiosity about where it would go but never really became emotionally involved.

I do have the feeling it’s maybe supposed to be funny? But honestly I’m not sure and if it is it wasn’t my sense of humour.

It was an easy and quick read and the story flows along quite nicely. There’s plenty of action (and I should probably say violence and swearing) and it’s certainly not predictable.

I think a lot of people will like it but I’m afraid I don’t think it was for me.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC. All views are my own.