My New Layout!

So my new layout is now complete! I may tweak a few things or add some gadgets but it will more or less be staying like this for a while.

I must thank my best friend Katie for creating the header for me and finding the layout. I'm really bad at these kind of things. She also runs a book blog so you should all go check it out by clicking HERE!

My contact details and review policy are once again in a place where they can be easily located, so make sure to check those out! In the meantime I shall get back to what I do best which is reading and reviewing books.

Site under construction!

So my old layout messed up for some reason and I am currently searching for a new one. This is going to mean that the site is probably going to look strange for a little while but bare with me while I try to find the perfect layout! I will be functioning as normal however, but contact information etc may not be available until I've figured this out so if you need to contact me for review requests etc then email me at rachelsreallyrandomreviews@gmail.com

Hopefully the site will be back to 100% functionality soon!

Review on 'The Covenant #1 Last Light Falling'

Fifteen year old Arena and her twin brother Gabriel are orphans. After they survived the car crash that killed their parents when they were just nine years old, they were taken into foster care, and have been living with their foster parents ever since. However, everything changes when Arena receives a letter, seemingly from their uncle Finnegan. After learning about her fate, Arena must use the combat skills she has been taught to fight against the corrupt government and bring justice to the thousands of innocent citizens that are being abused, beaten and raped.

I loved the idea of this book and found the idea of a post apocalyptic America with a corrupted government to be quite similar to the Hunger Games which is one of my favourite book series. Arena is a very strong female protagonist, and has had years of combat training, along with the use of bow and arrows, guns and knives. She has no problem in taking out armed soldiers, and it destroys the age old idea of females being weaker than men and not being able to fight as efficiently. I thought the biblical element was interesting, but as I am not religious myself I found it slightly strange that these characters were putting so much of their faith into a God. I also found it hard to believe that everyone Arena and Gabriel came across believed in God, and therefore it felt as if they were forcing their own beliefs on others, as they often tell them to pray for forgiveness. The book is action packed, and although I loved the fight scenes I felt that it would have been more exciting if there were more breaks from the action, as towards the middle of the book, almost every chapter contained blood shed. I felt that characters such as Juliana could have had more input, as I would have loved to have seen characters with no combat training also making more o a difference. There are quite a few disturbing scenes including strong violence and rape, so I would recommend it to older teenagers. I would love to continue reading this series, as there are a few plot points left hanging, such as what happened to Arena's step sister.

Last Light Falling can be purchased HERE

Review on 'The Witch and the Baby Princess'

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Mirabelle is born into the life of a Witch, meaning her only purpose in life is to make others miserable. She is able to perform spells that Witches double her age can not, and her parents, Antipathy and Gorgon have high hopes for her. However, Mirabelles life is set to cross with another, a girl named Claudette who was born on the same day as Mirabelle. As Mirabelle is commanded to make this girls life full of misery, she is drawn towards her simple life, and after years of torturing her, they finally speak. Will Mirabelle be able to continue doing her parents bidding, or will her new found friendship with Claudette change her life path?

I thought this was an interesting prequel to Cinderella, and I always love reading interpretations of what happened before a story took place. I thought it was quite similar to Wicked with the two girls becoming friends when everything went against that happening. I loved Mirabelle's progression from being a witch and obeying her mothers orders to disobeying and deciding what she wanted to do for herself. Although this wasn't entirely original, it was well written and the character development was well thought out. Some of the characters that we know from Cinderella were given their own back story and I thought this was brilliantly done and the continuity into the Cinderella story made sense, making it easy to believe that the story was really what happened prior to the Cinderella story taking place. Mirabelle is a likable character, and there is a good moral to the story, as it gives the message that anyone can set their own life paths even if someone is trying to lead you down a certain one. I recommend this book to anyone who likes Cinderella, or fairytales in general.


You can purchase The Witch and the Baby Princess HERE

Review on 'Ascension series #1 Impervious'

Fifteen year old Fran has lived her whole life in Impervious, an underground city build for the survivors of the War. Although the residents have everything they could ever need, a sickness lies in the shadows, known only as The Beast. With each generation, the citizens of Impervious are living shorter and shorter lives as the illness takes over. But what is causing this illness, and how can it be stopped? Promises of the Epoch seem like empty words, and the outside world as inaccesible as ever. Fran sets out along with her friend Pete to find out the truth about Impervious, and if the world outside really is inhabitable.

I have been reading quite a lot of Dystopian novels lately and thought Impervious was definitely on the higher end of the spectrum. I loved the idea of humans surviving the post apocalyptic world by living underground, and not knowing if it was safe to go back outside. I thought Fran was a brilliant protagonist and loved that she was trying to figure out her world rather than going along with what the leaders told her. I thought their advanced technology was interesting, particularly that the majority of shops and food chains were ran by holograms rather than humans. I wasn't too keen on the romantic aspects, as I thought that the romance between Fran and Pete seemed slightly awkward and I would have preferred if they had just stayed friends, as I would love to see a friendship like theirs without the romance in a YA novel. I loved the idea of real people stuck inside a video game, but I thought that this seemed quite random and didn't fit in well with the rest of the story. I liked the idea overall, but I did not feel that it was the right way to progress the story. Finding out what happened to the members of the community after they got sick was really interesting and surprising, and I found myself wanting to carry on reading to find out the truth about the outside world. I would love to continue reading this series and find out what happens to Fran, Pete and the rest of the Impervious community.

You can purchase Impervious HERE

Review on 'Toto's Adventures with Dorothy'

In this retelling of the classic story The Wizard of Oz, Toto guides his fellow companions through the land, guiding them away from peril. At least that is what Toto thinks. In this humorous retelling from the point of view of Toto, journey once again through the land of Oz, but this time with a lot more input from Dorothy's doggy companion.

I thought that retelling the story through Toto's point of view was an interesting idea. I have not come across many novels that are told from the point of view of an animal, and the few that I have read have been really interesting. I found this book hilarious throughout, and it was a really fun and light hearted read. I loved that Toto believed that he was the leader and the brains of the company, and that everyone was following his orders. As a dog owner, I thought that captured the mind of a dog perfectly, and I had no trouble in believing that Toto's thoughts were what a dog in his position would be thinking. I loved the interpretations of the characters I have come to love, and I thought there was a good mixture of content from both the movie version and the original book. I had no sympathy with Dorothy in this version however, as she was quite selfish. All the characters were also portrayed as to be quite dumb, but I found it ironic that apart from Toto, Scarecrow seemed to be the smartest character even though he lacked a brain. One thing that I think could have improved the story would have been if Toto had some extra information to tell that was not shown in the original stories, and that only he knew about. The story more or less follows what fans of The Wizard Oz already know, so I think some new information would have improved the story, as although the story from Toto's point of view was funny, there was not much addition to the plot from the original story and therefore was quite predictable. I liked the story overall, and it is quite a short read so if you are a fan of The Wizard of Oz, or just like books told from the point of view of an animal then give this one a go.

The book is available now in both ebook and paperback formats