☀️ Summer TBR ☀️

So I’m a week early for Top 10 Tuesday but it is time again for our seasonal TBR’s. I have been going pretty well with these over the year, I usually end up reading at least 50% of the books I pick over the course of the three months. So for this summer, I am not really buying many new books I am going to try and get to my physical TBR which are:

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto

Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling

The Girl and the Stars by Mark Lawrence

Queen of Volts by Amanda Foody

The Deck of Omens by Christine Lynn Herman

Hold Back the Tide Review

Everyone knows what happened to Alva’s mother, all those years ago. But when dark forces begin to stir in Ormscaula, Alva has to face a very different future – and question everything she thought she knew about her past.

I was pleasantly surprised about this book. Right from the start I intrigued and eager to find out what was happening. I thought it was just going to be like this familial psychological thriller but it quickly took a turn I was not expecting and became quite fantastical and otherworldly.

Alva’s character at times acted a little older than her age. I think because she was so sheltered in the mountains and constantly trying to maintain her helpfulness to her father so he wouldn’t kill her might of accelerated her maturity. But we also see some of the naivety of her age come out when she is talking to any of the boys from the village, Ren especially.

The overarching storyline about her mother’s death and these creatures was very well done and wove together seamlessly. I like that its based upon the myths and legends of this town and the loch and how it resurfaces and comes to life, that’s definitely one of my favourite literary devices for sure.

There was a great amount of detail and also action and mystery that really kept me entertained and eager to read on. The pacing at times though felt a little stagnant and there were periods where I felt like it dragged.

I honestly picked this up randomly and I was quickly taken with the story and Alva. It felt highly original and was overall a pretty fast read that I was unable to predict anything that was going to happen. The ending I can appreciate although I am not that much of a fan of. I don’t want to spoil anything but I was left feeling unfulfilled I guess.

⭐️3/5 overall entertaining, gory & creepy!

Most Surprising Books of 2020

These are the 5 books that I either picked up on a whim or had heard some bad things about and I was surprised I actually ended up really liking them!

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Picked this up on a whim and LOVED it!

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Surprised it affected me the way it did!

Into the Drowing Deep by Mira Grant

Hadn’t heard much about this book but I highly enjoyed it!

A Winters Promise by Christelle Dabos

For some reason I had low expectations about this book but again I really liked it!

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

Another super hyped book that I didn’t think I would like.

Goodreads Awards Update

So I made the conscientious decision to try and read the nominees in the YA Fantasy Goodreads Awards for 2020 and I figured I would do a little update! There were 10 books in the final round and I wanted to give my thoughts on the ones I were able to finish. I am still going to try and finish all ten books before the end of the year, fingers crossed!

Books I finished:

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron – Overall I just think the novel as a whole read a little younger. The characters are all pretty juvenile and one dimensional. The twists that were thrown in were entertaining but still predictable. There was nothing in there that really took me by surprise and shocked me in any way. I appreciated the diversity in the characters and the topics that were discussed but I wasn’t wowed in any way by this story. ⭐️2/5 stars

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi – I have to admit I wasn’t as enthralled with this instalment as I was with Children of Blood and Bone. It was a lot shorter than the previous book but I felt like it just wasn’t as immersive, which is mostly to do with the characters. Miscommunication was the main source of conflict in this book and that frustrated me. If Amari and Zélie had just sat down and worked through their issues I feel they could of probably come up with a fool proof plan that would have saved a lot of lives. ⭐️3/5 stars

Starsight by Brandon Sanderson – It boggles my mind how Brandon Sanderson is able to piece together such intricate storylines that still manages to surprise me at every turn. Characters and interactions that I dismissed as trivial and unimportant turn out to be vital to the continuation of the plot. You really need to pay attention to every little detail he puts in because somehow it will be revealed as a key piece of information that the whole story is revolving around. ⭐️4.5/5 stars

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – The pacing was a lot better in my opinion in this book than the rest of the series. I feel like everything has already been established and we just jumped straight into the action which I enjoyed! It kept me engaged and wanting to read on to see what will happen next. It got a little too political and not quite fantastical for me at times. All of the strategy talk and the movements of the armies bore me , if it would of cut out a lot of the planning and extending the schemes and action I think I would of liked this book a whole lot more! ⭐️3.5/5 stars

Books I didn’t get to:

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