This week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt is my favourite places to read. The only places that I read is when I’m in bed or on my couch which wouldn’t make for a fun list so I browsed Pinterest and these are the top 10 reading nooks that I would love to recreate and read in one day.
*A Bit Spoilery*
Big Little Lies is about a group of mums with kids starting kindergarten together and the dangerous little lies they tell themselves every day and what really goes on behind closed suburban doors.
I really enjoyed Madeline’s character probably the most out of all of them. She is just so relatable and is fiercely loyal to her friends and demonstrates that continually throughout the book. She knows she is rocking the boat most of the time and isn’t sticking to the status quo which makes her a very entertaining and unpredictable character. We get to know a lot about her relationship with her husband and kids and her ex-husband and his new family. I think she definitely had a right to her feelings and it was fun to see her get petty and hate on Bonny.
I knew that there was more to Jane’s story about Ziggy that we weren’t told, especially the reason behind the move to Perriwillee. She chose the town for a reason and that was always at the back of my mind when we are given more information about who the father of Ziggy is and what he did to her, I just didn’t quite connect the dots. I just wish we would of had a chance to delve more into the ramifications of what happened to her that night and how it has developed into her personality. Like Madeleine confides in her friends about what is happening with her and has her husband to vent to and Celeste goes to therapy but Jane gets a haircut and suddenly she’s fine??
I really feel for Celeste throughout the course of the book and what she has to endure. I can’t fathom how hard being in that kind of relationship would be and how she has to reason with herself as to why it’s happening and what she could of done to prevent it. I liked that she made the conscientious decision to go to therapy and try to gain that confidence to leave Perry and when it was revealed that it was affecting her kids she immediately made up her mind to go.
I really enjoyed the format of the book with the countdown to the trivia night. Knowing that one of these characters is now dead and trying to figure out who did it and who died really built up the anticipation. The mystery behind who was the school bully was intriguing and it was entertaining to see these mothers going around gossiping about their lives. This was definitely better than what I was expecting and it was nice to read a book with the setting here in Australia, I don’t get many of those.
⭐️4/5 stars Captivating and unexpected!
In the past I’ve done my favourite fantasy series and standalones but I don’t think I’ve done my favourite duologies! I think duologies are vey underappreciated and I personally love them, so these are my current favourites!
Dance of Thieves duology by Mary E. Pearson
Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo
Warcross duology by Marie Lu
This Savage Song duology by V.E. Schwab
Flame in the Mist duology by Renee Ahdieh
The Crown’s Game duology by Evelyn Skye
The Wrath and the Dawn duology by Renee Ahdieh
The Devouring Gray duology by Christine Lynn Herman
Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor
Fable duology by Adrienne Young
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Through blood and sacrifice, Amora Montara has conquered a rebellion and taken her rightful place as queen of Visidia. Now, with the islands in turmoil and the people questioning her authority, Amora cannot allow anyone to see her weaknesses. No one can know about the curse in her bloodline. No one can know that she’s lost her magic. No one can know the truth about the boy who holds the missing half of her soul.
I honestly didn’t think Amora really went through any growth from the first book to now. Sure she is now the Queen of Visidia but other than that title she now holds she is pretty much the same. She still comes across as unrelatable and naïve and won’t let anyone in her crew in on what’s going on with her and has way to many secrets. She will play the friendship card with them but as soon as they have an opinion or idea that contradicts with her plans she will order them to submit. She’s a tad too reckless and just overall not likeable to me.
Bastian remains one of my favourites out of all the characters. He will challenge Amara regularly and the banter between them is still so entertaining to read. I like that his communication with her is always open and honest and he will express how he is feeling to her consistently. Amara was blinded by what effects the curse had on him because she was so concerned about herself and he exposed that to her which I appreciated.
Ferrick was always a stable and consistent character throughout the course of the series. He was a great friend and advisor to Amara and would give her sound advice often that she continually chose to ignore. I didn’t appreciate how he ultimately chose Amara over himself and made that sacrifice. I think his character’s arc deserved a better ending, even just being remembered would be better than what we got. I liked the fact that Vataea stood up for herself and had that blow up with Amara. She didn’t just accept the apology and continued on being one of her crew mates. I didn’t think it was the right decision for Amara to keep that secret from Vataea and I felt justified when she left.
Overall this was a highly entertaining and thrilling read. There were several plot twists that kept me wanting to read more and had me guessing what was going to happen next. I like how Amara decided to end the reign of the Montara’s and allow everyone to learn soul magic. I think it was the right decision and gave her the freedom she was yearning for.
⭐️3/5 stars A few things I didn’t like, overall a good duology!!
I thought I would catch up with last week’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt and do books I bought purely because of the covers without knowing too much about what the books were actually about. Hype definitely played a lot into most of these decisions, if a book has been super hyped on booktube or bookstagram and I see the cover in a bookstore I will most likely buy the book straight away.
Amy Leigh Reads 