Leah on the Offbeat

IMG_2124Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda was definitely one of my more liked contemporary reads of the year. I found Simon to be very effervescent and witty, Leah on the other hand kind of got on my nerves a little bit throughout the storyline. I just felt like she was a bit moody and sulky and didn’t really act like a best friend should. But then she does have her own story and I’m sure there was a reason behind her behaviour that will be shed in this book. I think she’s also struggling with her own sexuality during the same time Simon was so that will be interesting to dive into! I flew through Simon vs. the Homosapiens Agenda in I think one sitting; it was a very quick, easy read so I’m looking forward to the same from Leah on the Offbeat!

Happy Reading📚

They Both Die at the End Review

*Spoilers Obviously*

they both dieThis was so tragically beautiful, I definitely got emotional.

I really enjoyed this book. I was a little sceptical and hesitant going in because when a book is just super hyped for me I find myself not wanting to like it for some reason. But lo and behold I loved it! It was witty and effervescent and even though you have this event looming over their head it doesn’t become too dark and macabre.

We follow the perspectives of Mateo and Rufus and they live in a near futuristic world where they are able to pinpoint the day that someone is going to die. Mateo and Rufus have both just received their calls that they are going to die sometime within the next 24 hours and we join them as they make their way through their final day.

Mateo and Rufus as the two main protagonists in the book were wonderful. I like how they complement each other and grow this bond over the course of the day and finally bloom into this relationship they both needed. I like that we are given a backstory for each of them and we see how they eventually make contact through the app, I thought it was very up to date and connected to the present.

I also enjoyed that we get a multitude of small different perspectives from people throughout the book and we see little by little how they all link back to Mateo and Rufus. I thought it was very well done and it really helped to expand the world outside of the two boys and how everything seemed destined to happen the way it did.

The concept of the book is so unique and interesting; it did have me invested from the start. It was also a very fast paced book that I found quite easy to read. Knowing what was going to eventually happen really kept the stakes high and kept me turning the pages. I found myself towards the end trying to predict how they were going to die. The foreshadowing was definitely there but it was subtle enough that you didn’t notice until the very end and then everything comes flooding back to you. It was not pandering in any way and kept true to the concept. I thought for a second one of them might get miraculously saved and I’m happy that wasn’t the case.

⭐️4.5/5 stars I loved it, it was different, it was unique and the fact that we are not given a happy ending really topped it off for me.

They Both Die at the End

IMG_2067I’ve been hearing about this book a lot over the last year or so and because I’m not really focused on reading a lot of contemporary books I never really gave it much thought. But I figure I need to broaden my horizons out of fantasy and give some other genres a go and see how I like them. So I guess since They Both Die at the End is so popular I would pick it up and give it a read. I also haven’t read any of Adam Silvera’s books either so I’m afraid I am woefully behind the times. It’s also quite refreshing I find to read something so completely different to anything I’ve been reading lately and it sort of clears my mind and refocuses my attention. I don’t really know what happens in this book but by the title I can kind of guess lol.

Happy Reading📚

November TBR

This month will be a bit of a mish mash again of new releases and series that I’ve been meaning to get around to for the longest time now. I’ve been having some really good reading months since I’ve started blogging and I’m hoping to continue on and finish some great books!

The Darkest Minds, Never Fade and In the Afterlight by Alexander Bracken

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They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

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Shatter Me, Unravel Me, Ignite Me and Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake

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Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

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My lowest rated book of 2018 so far

I double checked all the books I’ve read this year and the lowest rating I gave was a 3/5 stars which is kind of like an ok rating for me. There are actually quite a lot that I gave a 3/5 to but I’ll mostly be bringing up those I haven’t yet spoke about on my blog and I’ll give you like a brief overview of why I didn’t particularly like these books. I didn’t hate any of them at all, there could be varying factors about why I gave them a 3 star rating but I will get into all that below.

$_57__78189.1510015120The first 3/5 star rating was the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan. I felt that Magnus was a little bit too juvenile for me at the start of this series; I didn’t quite gel with him as a character in the first book and most of the second. I took me like 2 weeks to finish the Sword of Summer as I couldn’t get into the plot and Magnus just felt like a second rate version of Percy to me. That being said he did redeem himself in the Hammer of Thor and the plot definitely picked up and was more action packed and that was more entertaining as the series continued.

32320661The next book I gave a 3/5 rating was Everless by Sarah Holland. There wasn’t anything inherently bad about this book. I thought the premise was definitely interesting; the thought of time being a currency that you could trade and ingest was highly original. It had a lot of twists and turns and the magic system was nicely detailed and described. It really only got a 3/5 from me because I wasn’t blown away at the end of the book.

220px-TheNightCircusThe 3rd book on my list is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. The Night Circus was just kind of ok for me. The plot wasn’t action packed enough, it was very slow paced. The setting was beautiful and the prose was lyrical and detailed, it wasn’t capturing my attention whilst I was reading it. The ending as well was a bit underwhelming for me and that really influenced my decision to give it a 3/5 stars.

29283884The next book on my list is The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. The plot was entertaining and fast paced and it was a quick easy read, the only reason I gave it a 3/5 was because I thought Monty to be a bit pretentious. I found him to not be too likeable for me, however, I thought Felicity was quite quirky and enjoyable, Percy also didn’t really leave an impression on me. Although I did enjoy the representation of diversity of characters.

remnant-chronicles-collageThe last series I will be speaking about on my list that I gave all books a 3/5 stars was The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E Pearson. This series includes The Kiss of Deception, The Heart of Betrayal and The Beauty of Darkness. I think at the time I read these books I wasn’t in the mood to read them. I’m the kind of reader where if I start a series and I have all the books in the series in my possession I like to marathon them and get through it as soon as I can. I don’t like to leave them too long because I either end up forgetting half the series or I never get around to finishing. I started the Kiss of Deception and I was like alright not too bad and I pushed through and read the next two books and at the end of them I just didn’t really have any overwhelming feelings. I didn’t really love them, I didn’t really hate them so I averaged my rating out and gave them all a 3/5.