Tag: books

Book Lists

5 Quotes from last 5 Books I’ve Read

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on 5 Quotes from last 5 Books I’ve Read

These are five quotes that stuck with me from the last 5 books that I’ve read! I believe this was a prompt for Top 10 Tuesday and I thought it was a fun idea so I figured I would give it a go!

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

“Every evil overlord needs a fluffy cat to stroke.”

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Never World Wake by Marisha Pessl

“We are all anthologies. We are each thousands of pages long, filled with fairy tales and poetry, mysteries and tragedy, forgotten stories in the back no one will ever read.”

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If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

“For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me.”

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Pride by Ibi Zoboi

“never let the streets know when you’re upset. Don’t let any strangers see you cry. Hold your head up and look as if you’re ready to destroy the world if you have to.”

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Final Girls by Riley Sager

“That’s not your choice. It’s already been decided for you. You can’t change what’s happened. The only thing you can control is how you deal with it.”

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Reviews

Pride Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Pride Review

35068632Pride is retelling of the classic tale Pride and Prejudice but with a modern twist. Zuri Benitez is a proud resident of her neighbourhood of Bushwick in Brooklyn. She has lived there her entire life and knows everyone on her block, but one day a new very wealthy family moves across the street and now it seems like change is inevitable.

Zuri kind of got on my nerves a little at the start of the book. She was a little too judgemental for my liking. She was just so passionate in her dislike for the Darcy’s that I almost found her to be a little juvenile and immature. She didn’t really come across as being seventeen in my eyes. However, as the plot progressed we did see her evolve as she grew closer to Darius and learnt more about his family and why we did see her let go of her preconceptions.

Darius at the start as well was a little too standoffish for my liking. He was almost too unlikeable for me to warm to him towards the end of the book when he did open up more and explain his situation. I get that the author wanted to stay true to the original concept but I feel the introductions happened too fast and they hated each other too quickly that it almost didn’t make sense to me.

Towards the end of the book I did come around and enjoyed the plot and how it progressed. I like that we see Zuri’s neighbourhood start to get gentrified and how she realises this throughout the course of the book and what her feelings are towards this. She really has to come around to the fact that change really is inevitable and there isn’t anything that you can do about it.  

It was a very fast paced book; I did eventually enjoy all the characters and their arcs. Zuri’s younger sisters especially were very entertaining and brought a source of amusement and light-heartedness to the novel. If the start of the book was a little more lengthened and had time to really establish the characters and why they didn’t like each other I may have been able to really engage with the story a lot more.  

⭐️3.5/5 Good book, just didn’t do enough for me personally.

Updates

Library Books Update

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Library Books Update

I am still really trying to utilize me local library and have at least have 1-2 library books on my TBR each month from now on. This month I still have Save the Date by Morgan Matson and Red Sister by Mark Lawrence left over from my last library haul to read and all I needed to pick up was Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. It’s been a few months now since I’ve read a Brandon Sanderson novel and I am definitely excited to get into Warbreaker to see what else he has up his sleeve!

Happy Reading📚

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Reviews

Never World Wake Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Never World Wake Review

91tzv+xgsslIt’s been a year since Bee has spoken to any of her friends since the mysterious death of her boyfriend. Now after a whirlwind night that leaves them all walking away from a near fatal car crash something strange has happened. They are stuck in a sort of time-lapse called the Never World Wake where they have to vote for only one person to make it out alive.

This book was super obscure and very interesting! I liked the slow build up of tension throughout the plot and how things started unraveling as the storyline progressed. I didn’t really know what to expect from the premise but I enjoyed the direction the book went with. The mystery surrounding Jim’s death and what happened that night, as well as trying to figure out what the Never World Wake is and how they are going to get out of it.

I was definitely intrigued by Bee. She comes across as so innocent and nice and the other characters even mention it about her. No one would ever suspect her of any wrong doing ever and she is always immediately dismissed as decent and pure. But I had a feeling throughout that she was not as guiltless as everyone perceived.

I thought the way that information was discovered through the use of the Wake was fascinating. Especially one Martha figured out how to jump to different Wakes and how that affected the times. I was very engaged and was eager to read on to figure out how it was all happened and what their connections to the Wake were. The twist at the end as well I thought was very well executed, the doubt that is plied consistently throughout the course of the book really helped to completely blind side me when we eventually find out what really happened and everyone’s motivations for what they have done.

I thoroughly enjoyed my read of this. Again I didn’t know what to expect and I was actually pleasantly surprised that I liked it as much as I did. For some reason I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to enjoy the book because it was so hyped but this was another instance that I feel like the hype was justified!

⭐️4/5 A wild ride from beginning to end!

Reviews

If We Were Villains Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on If We Were Villains Review

*SPOILERS*

91Sh4g2DW4LThis story follows Oliver who is one of 7 fourth year students at a highly prestigious and very competitive Shakespearean Arts College. They each have their niche and the status quo has remained unchanged the last 3 years. However, when the castings change and the stars have to take a step back, the plays start to spill dangerously over into real life.

All of the characters are very distinguishable and unique; they each have their own voices and traits. I found Oliver to be a little bit dull at the start of the book but he shows a lot of growth over the course of the plot. He goes from really blending in the background to being right at the forefront of the story. I think out of the seven of them I would have to say that Alexander and Phillipa are my favourites. They were each so interesting and had me intrigued. We don’t get a lot of information about Phillipa’s background and where she comes from but she is very vital in the story and I liked how she still visited Oliver whilst he was in jail which really warmed me to her and kind of made me trust her. Alexander was just kind of a train wreck and that always endears me to a character. He speaks his mind and tells it like it is and I really appreciated his candour.

I thought it was really unique how the story was formatted like a play and how it blended with the overall tone and premise of the plotline. The pacing was kind of up and down for me. Some passages were a little slow and then there would be a lot of frantic, suspenseful scenes and then it would be a bit slower again. The start was a little difficult to get into as well with all of Shakespearean language to deal with but you kind of get used to it as the plot progresses. The characters are so immersed into that world that this is really how they communicate and evoke their emotions.

Again I really like how we know how the ending is going to turn out without really spoiling any of the real major twists if that makes sense. We know Oliver ends up in prison but we know he didn’t kill Richard so why is he is prison or did he really kill him but he doesn’t remember? It kept me invested and eager to read on to see how that outcome came about.

The premise of the book I thought was fantastic and something I’ve never really read before. The mystery elements were very well done; I definitely couldn’t predict what was going to happen next. I also thought it was very believable as well. The way that each of the characters reacted and how emotionally unstable they were after enduring Richard’s anger and then his death I thought was very well done and realistic.

I really enjoyed this! Granted at times I was a little confused but all in all I thought it was highly entertaining and that open ending makes me want more!

⭐️4/5 Unlike anything I’ve read before!