Month: January 2019

Book Lists

5 Fantasy Series I Want to Start in 2019

by amyleighreads2 Comments on 5 Fantasy Series I Want to Start in 2019

These are 5 series that I have had on my TBR for the longest time now and I definitely want to try to get to them this year. I love epic/high fantasy series that span multiple books and I think these books are everything that I love to read so I’m hoping I’m potentially finding some new all-time favourites!

The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima

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The Falling Kingdom Series by Morgan Rhodes

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The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard

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The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks

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The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

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Reviews

To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before Review

by amyleighreads3 Comments on To all the Boys I’ve Loved Before Review

item_xl_8917056_9117895I liked it, I didn’t love it….

This book follows the story of Lara Jean, she is a quiet, shy girl who wrote a letter for each of the guys that she had crush on. Unfortunately somehow the letters got mailed and she now has to face the consequences.

For the first half of the book Lara Jean kind of got on my nerves. She read a little younger than what I was expecting to be quite honest and she was a little too naïve for my liking. She kind of grew on me the second half of the story though, when obstacles started propping up and she was finding herself in the middle of various problems she has never had to deal with before I thought she worked her way out of things well and stood her ground.

I loved Chris. I thought her character contrasted with Lara Jean perfectly. The fact that they has so much in common back in middle school yet Chris evolved and rebelled and they somehow still remained friends was a nice element to the plot. I liked the fact that she wasn’t always around all the time but she still made an appearance at crucial moments in the plot to have Lara Jean’s back, which made me really like her. She is unaffected by what people think of her and she is true to herself which I think are pretty decent characteristics.

Peter and Josh I haven’t quite made up my mind yet between the two. I like the separate relationships they share with Lara Jean and how the counteract. I like that we see so many different sides to the two characters and I felt they differed enough from each other to be distinguishable. I just don’t have a distinct favourite of the two though, they both had there cute and obnoxious moments so I’m not convinced on either just yet.

I love the relationship that Lara Jean has with her family though. I thought they were very supportive and open with one another. Her father in particular I really liked! I thought he was present in her life without being too overbearing and really wants her to experience high school, which I found super endearing.

It was a cute, light, fluffy contemporary with just the right amount of conflict and cringe to keep me entertained.

⭐️3.75 I just need Lara Jean to be a little bit more self-assertive!

Book Lists

Highly Anticipated Book Releases 2019

by amyleighreads3 Comments on Highly Anticipated Book Releases 2019

These are four of my most anticipated book releases for the first half of 2019!

26032887The Wicked King by Holly Black – just want to put it out there I did not like The Cruel Prince. I tried very much to like it because everyone absolutely loves it, but I just didn’t gel to the book. I found Jude to be incredibly unlikeable and naïve and the storyline was a little slow paced and all over the place. But because of that ending I do want to continue on with The Wicked King and give this series one more chance. Release date 8th January 2019

y648The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson – Truly Devious made it to my favourite books of 2018 lists. I was completely taken by surprise by that book as I kind of picked it up on a whim without really knowing too much about it. I was highly entertained throughout the course of the book and plot was woven in such a way that had you second guessing every single character and their motives! Release Date 22nd January 2019

KingofscarsKing of Scars by Leigh Bardugo – I marathoned the Grisha Series and the Six of Crows duology a few years ago and I was obsessed! I believe this is going to be a new series in the same world as the previous books, which makes me very happy! I love Leigh Bardugo’s characters and her plots are always amazing! Release date 29th January 2019

9781509899456Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – Children of Blood and Bone was I think one of the most hyped books of 2018 when it was released. So hyped in fact that I had to pick it up immediately and give it a read. I will say that I liked it but I didn’t really love it as much as everyone else does. It was very fast paced with a very unique magic system that kept me invested throughout the story. I can’t wait to see where Tomi Adeyemi will take the storyline next. Release date 5th March 2019

 

Reviews

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Review

11194970I loved this!

We follow Mara Dyer after she has woken up in the hospital. She was involved in an accident that killed her best friend, her boyfriend and another girl in her year but she doesn’t remember anything about that night. Eager to move on her family agree to relocate to give her the space to heal.

I really liked Mara as a character. She was deeply flawed, yet still so persistent and dedicated to trying to pick up and continue on with her life. She hasn’t lost touch and completely succumbed to her condition, she is still trying to maintain some form of normality, which I thought was commendable. I thought she was witty and the banter she has with Noah and Jamie was fun to read.

I loved Noah… I found his surety and his arrogance very appealing. I think he was written in a way where you can’t help but find him likeable, even when he’s kind of being duchey. I like that we get such a thorough backstory and we see that there is this completely different side of him that he doesn’t show.

I also really liked Jamie. I thought that he was a great friend to Mara and I think it was purely the fact that he only wanted to be friends with her. There were no strings attached, he just seen a kind of awkward, new girl in his year and was nice to her. He gave her some pretty sound advice based on his personal experience but he still let her make her own decisions and still supported her regardless. You don’t really see a lot of these characters and I appreciated him a lot in this book. It kind of sucks how his arc sort of ended abruptly but hopefully he makes a reappearance in the rest of the series.

I also really enjoyed the relationship Mara has with her brothers, especially Daniel. I thought he was so supportive of Mara and didn’t judge her in any way. They still had the typical big brother little sister dynamic but there was a protectiveness that he has for her that I found very endearing.

I was very much sucked into the book from the start! I liked how it was paced; it started off pretty slowly but gave me enough information that I still needed more and that really kept me turning the pages. That paranormal element to the story I felt was executed very well. That aspect of the story was always kind of floating around the edges and then finally when Mara came to the realisation of her powers it was thrilling.

I think this a highly entertaining read and honestly after that plot twist at the end it just made me want to pick up the next book and start reading it right now!

⭐️4.5/5 I loved my experience reading this!

Updates

2019 Reading/Blogging Goals

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 2019 Reading/Blogging Goals

I wanted to start off my year right and set a few goals for myself for 2019!

I want to continue blogging every weekday! I have been really enjoying my blogging journey and reading, writing and posting have become the norm for me now. In a way it’s helped me put a lot more structure into my time and sort of forced me to be more productive. I would like to grow my blog a bit more and produce even more fun, detailed, bookish content that you all will enjoy!

I would like to read more books that I actually interest me. I’ve made a bit of a habit of just buying and reading books because they are super hyped and popular even though the actual book doesn’t interest me. I could be a genre that I don’t usually read from or the premise doesn’t intrigue me but because everyone is talking/raving about it I still pick it up and read it anyway and I usually don’t enjoy it. I just think it’s a waste of time and I could be reading a book that I actually want to read.

I’ve set my Goodreads goal for 2019 at 100 books. Last year my goal was 70 books and I surpassed that with a few months left over so I thought I would extend it a little and see how I go. I usually read around 9-10 books every month so if I continue my progress throughout the year I should make it!

Find a balance between reading/blogging and life. I find that currently my life isn’t as balanced as what it should be. I tend to sacrifice my health and fitness to kind of sit around and read and blog. So for 2019 I would really like to find a way to balance out my life in a way that ensures I am healthy and happy.

The last goal I wish to set for myself this year is to just be happy. I think if I accomplish the rest of my goals it will make for a great year and that will definitely make me happy!

Happy Reading📚