Pride Month TBR

 

 

 

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE!! For this month, I have decided to only read and blog about LGBTQ+ books. Even though I love reading LGBTQ+ books, I tend to not read as many as I would like to, so this month I’m going to try to get through as many as possible! I’m probably going to add to my TBR if I can read quickly enough, but for now, I thought I’d share four books that I’m definitely planning on reading and reviewing this month.

Heartstopper 

So I keep collecting these graphic novels but am yet to start them! I think everyone already knows about these books as they’re pretty popular and are soon to be turned into a series, but in case you don’t, they follow Nick and Charlie, two boys who we first meet in Alice’s novel Solitaire. Although they weren’t main characters in Solitaire, I still loved reading about them so I’m looking forward to finding out more about them, and seeing what happened to them before Solitaire. These graphic novels seem so sweet and I actually haven’t read a graphic novel in a while, so I’m looking forward to finally getting round to reading it! I do own up to volume 3 of these books, so I might possibly read more than just the first volume this month.

 Loveless

I did want to read books from a variety of authors, but honestly, I’m just going to have to read Loveless. As I’m asexual myself, I was so excited when I found out about this book! There really isn’t enough ace representation in YA, so I’m looking forward to reading about a character who is like me. I feel as if I’ll really relate to Georgia, as like her, I love reading romance fanfics, but don’t really want a relationship of my own. I’m honestly still questioning if I’m aroace, as I’ve had crushes on people of all genders but feel awkward in an actual romantic relationship. As I’ve only ever read a couple of books with ace rep, I’m looking forward to reading this one!

 You’re the One That I Want

 I’m so excited to read this one! Simon is one of my favourite authors and his books never fail to make me laugh, and this one sounds amazing. It follows Freddie, a boy who has a reputation of being the “nice guy”. Freddie is tired of being constantly left out. He wants to attend all the parties his peers go to and find a boyfriend. Freddie decides to turn his social life around by joining in with his school production of Grease. Freddie finally has the attention he was craving, but is changing your whole personality really the best thing to do? As this book isn’t being published for a couple more days I’ll probably choose this as my second read so I have time to go buy it. Thanks past me for not spending the whole of your Waterstones gift card! 

 Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating

Fake dating is an overdone trope, but it’s a trope that I always love. I loved To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Hani and Ishu is giving me similar vibes! This one follows Hani, a girl who is popular, but who is invalidated by her friends who don’t believe her when she comes out as bisexual. To try to prove her sexuality, she pretends she is dating Ishu, a smart unpopular girl who is hoping to become head girl. The problem is the head girl must be elected, and Ishu’s lack of popularity means she won’t have a chance without Hani’s help. Despite doing this for their own personal gains, the two girls end up developing feelings for each other. This books honestly sounds adorable, and I love that it has both Asian and bi girl rep! I’m looking forward to diving into this one. 

 

As I’m quite a slow reader, these are all the books I’m putting on my “definitely will read this month” list, but there are so many more I want to read! I’d love to find the time to read a book focusing on a transgender character too, as I realise my current TBR doesn’t cover a trans story, so if you have any recommendations I would love to hear them! I’d love to know what LGBTQ+ you’re planning on reading this month. Feel free to leave a comment or tweet me with any recommendations you have. 

 I hope you all have a wonderful pride month! 

Review on Boy in a White Room

 

 

 

When fifteen year old Manuel wakes up in an empty white room, he has no idea where he is, who he is, or how he got there. He remembers nothing about his past life and has no idea how to escape. Manuel soon discovers he has internet access, and it doesn’t take him long to figure out the truth, or at least what the people who put him here want him to believe is the truth. After being told one lie after another, Manuel eventually comes close to learning who he really is, and what he must do to escape both the white room and those trying to use him.

I got sent this book from Chicken House a little while ago, and as I was looking for an interesting and quick read I thought I’d pick it up! The book follows Manuel, a boy who wakes up in a white room with his memories wiped. Manuel soon discovers that he is actually trapped in a simulation, as his body had been severely damaged after an attempted murder which resulted in the death of his mother. A man who claims to be Manuel’s father informs him that his body will never recover, and he has built a simulation of Middle Earth for Manuel to live in, but Manuel is determined to stay in reality. 

I thought the Middle Earth simulation was interesting and although I realise copyright issues probably meant only a tiny portion of the book was able to be set there, I was interested in how vast it was, as we end up seeing only The Shire and Rivendell. As a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, I would actually love to escape reality and live in this world, so I honestly don’t think I’d have the willpower to remain in the real world like Manuel did! This part of the book reminded me of Sword Art Online, as Manuel being trapped inside a simulated world reminded me of the SAO kids being trapped inside a video game with no way to escape. I loved all the different locations inside the simulation and how they were so advanced that Manuel had no way to tell if it was a simulation or the real world.

 Manuel discovers eyestream, a social media platform where users stream their daily lives. While browsing Manuel notices a girl who he thinks he recognises, which sends him on a whole journey of finding out the truth. I actually loved eyestream, as although it’s meant to come across as futuristic, it’s actually quite similar to TikTok streamers. It’s pretty easy to come across these types of streams on TikTok, as I’ve come across all sorts of things from truck drivers driving through the night to people filming as they walk around Disneyworld. As the book was first published in 2017 before TikTok existed, I found it interesting that this kind of thing had become normal just a few years later.

 I loved how we were kept guessing about what was real and what was a lie. The truth starts to slowly unravel when Manuel gets the opportunity to talk to Julia, the girl who he recognised from eyestream. I love that we slowly start to see that something isn’t right, and that Manuel’s “dad” is actually lying to him. We learn everything as Manuel learns it, and are kept guessing as to what the truth actually is. I really wasn’t expecting the plot twist at the end of the book at all, and was taken completely by surprise! It also made me wonder if this was the real truth, as there were so many layers of deception it was impossible to trust anything by the end!

 This was an exciting and action-packed book that had me guessing until the very end! I’ve been taking quite a long time to get through books lately, but I flew through this one in just two days. I’m hoping the sequel will eventually be translated and published in English, as I would love to know what happens to Manuel next. I recommend this book to all lovers of Sci-Fi and thrillers!

Review on The Nightsilver Promise

 

 

Everyone is given a track they must follow shortly after being born. However, thirteen year old Paisley is still trackless and has no idea what she is meant to be doing with her life. On the day Paisley finally gets her track, she discovers the horrible truth. She is destined to die before she reaches her fourteenth birthday. Paisley is desperate to find a way to change her track, and a machine created by her mother may be the answer to her problems. Then everything changes when Paisley’s mother goes missing, with everyone presuming she is dead. With the help of her younger brother Dax, Paisley must find a way to get her mother back and avoid the clutches of the Dark Dragon.

When I saw that this book involved dragons I knew I just had to read it! Dragons are honestly one of my favourite things to read about, and this book had an interesting take on them. But before I start ranting about dragons I should probably talk about everything else first!

 The book follows Paisley, a young girl who has recently learned her track is leading her towards death. I loved how Paisley was immediately thrown into a difficult situation, as it made me become invested in the story right away. I feel like a lot of books tend to drag at the start, but The Nightsilver Promise has an immediate problem that needs to be solved. Even though Paisley has been told her whole life she must follow her track, she refuses to just accept her fate. I loved the message that we can decide our own future and nothing is ever set in stone. It’s easy to feel trapped in what you’re doing and like there’s no escape. I thought this was the perfect message for a middle-grade book to give, as it lets kids know they can be like Paisley and decide their own track

. I loved the characters in this book, especially Dax, Paisley’s younger brother. Dax is dragon touched, which means he has a body part of a dragon and the power to go with it. In Dax’s case, he has a dragon leg, but others who are dragon touched range from having dragon wings, claws, and even the power to breath fire. It wasn’t clearly explained how people came to be dragon touched as it didn’t seem to be in their track, but as dragons are seen as evil creatures in the south, those who are dragon touched are treated horribly. As there is a prophecy about a dragon touched boy, Dax has no choice but to conceal his leg by wearing a brace that causes him pain. I felt sorry for Dax as he just seemed like a normal kid but he was expected to do so much.

 The Dark Dragon was an interesting character, a seemingly young girl who is actually ancient and part of four sisters who were each meant to protect a piece of dragon soul. The Dark Dragon has one goal, to open the veil between the worlds and bring back the Great Dragons, who before they were killed were the most powerful dragons on earth. I loved how despite seeming small and innocent, the Dark Dragon was pretty terrifying! I also found Roach interesting, a boy around Paisley’s age who works for the Dark Dragon. Although he was one of the villains of the story, we learn that he had a sister who got taken away, not unlike Paisley’s mum. I loved how Roach slowly started to see that what he was doing was wrong, and came to resent the Dark Dragon. I feel like Roach will get a proper redemption arc in future books, and I would love to eventually see him team up with Paisley.

 Okay so I’m going to talk about the dragons! I loved how the dragons came in all shapes and sizes, from the huge Great Dragons to the tiny papillon dragons. We learn that Londoners are afraid of dragons and keep them away, while in the North, they are used by people for various tasks. It made me want to learn more about how things worked in the North, and I’m hoping that Paisley’s journey will take her further North in future books! We did also learn briefly about dragon riders. As dragons only trust children to ride them, the dragon riders seem to be rare and are spoken about almost as if they are a myth. I do feel as if Dax will become a dragon rider in the future, as he encountered them briefly towards the end of the book and explained it was something he wanted to do. As the dragons didn’t show up too frequently in this book I’m hoping they will have a bigger part to play in the next one! 

 The nightsilver was super interesting and I loved finding out how it worked! Unlike regular metal, nightsilver is a special type of metal that can be bonded to it’s owner. Whereas nightsilver bonded to someone who has died is brittle and cold, it is strong and warm when bonded to someone still living. I loved how this was how Paisley was able to realise her mum was still alive. I also loved seeing all the things nightsilver could be used to make, and how it reacted in unique ways.

 I adored this book and could honestly keep talking about it for hours! There’s so much that happened that I just haven’t been able to cover in this review, so I definitely recommend reading it for yourselves. There are a few things that I remained confused about, but I'm hoping these things will be covered in the sequel. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens with Dax, as his story was left on a huge cliffhanger. I'd also love to learn more about Odelia, a girl who, like Dax is dragon touched. I found her to be an interesting character throughout the book, but I felt like I knew barely anything about her. I recommend this book to all lovers of fantasy, and I'm looking forward to finding out where Paisley and Dax's journey will lead them next!

What I Miss About Libraries

 

As the UK has been in lockdown for a while I’m sure we all can agree we’re missing certain things we used to take for granted. I’m personally missing visiting my best friend, going to concerts, going round museums and of course, the library. My library will soon be opening its click and collect service again, but it’s just not the same as being able to go in, so I thought I’d go on a rant about what I miss about libraries!

 Browsing the shelves

As much as I appreciate click and collect, it just isn’t the same as going inside to browse. Sometimes I have no idea what book I want until I see it on the shelf, so the click and collect service doesn’t really work for me unless I already know what I want to read. Nothing really beats picking up a book you’ve never heard of before and taking it home to read! My library hasn’t been open to do this since the first lockdown over a year ago, so I’m really missing this.

 Writing in the library

One of the reasons I decided not to participate in nanowrimo last year was not being able to write in the library. I often get too distracted writing at home, and the library was a brilliant environment for sitting down to write with few distractions. Every time I’ve participated in nano I’ve written at least half of it in the library, and I just felt like I wouldn’t have the motivation to write a whole novel in my house. As much as I love staying at home, I tend to focus better in a less distracting environment. My local library is great for this, as it’s usually quiet and has tables set up for people to work at. It even has little rooms you can use away from others!

New books!

For some reason my library has stopped ordering in new books. It used to be pretty good with this, and you could even request books for free if the library didn’t have it. Now new books are never added and there doesn’t seem to be a way to request books. This is pretty disappointing as it’ll mean less people use the library. The library was how I used to read new releases, but as they’re not available now and I can’t afford to buy every book I want to read, I’m missing out on a lot of new releases. I’m trying not to let this bother me and just focus on reading books on my shelves, but I do feel like I’m missing out when I can’t afford the latest book everyone is talking about. I really want to read more diverse books, but unfortunately that isn’t possible when they just aren’t available at the library.

 Due dates 

 Okay this seems a little weird but hear me out. Since the first lockdown, my library has stopped having due dates, which makes sense as many people are shielding, but it has made me lose motivation to actually read the books I check out. Usually, I’ll make sure to read the books before returning them, but not having a date to return them by has meant I’ve kept books for months just because I could. As everyone seems to be doing the same thing, most books I want to read aren’t available as people aren’t returning them. I also just miss the process of handing over my library card and having the librarian stamp the book with the due date. It was nice to have a goal to finish the books I’d checked out before they had to go back!

 I think once everything gets back to normal I’m going to start using and appreciating the library more. I really miss being able to read books for free, and I hope that the library will once again start to stock new books so I can catch up with all the amazing new releases I can’t afford to buy. I’d love to know what things you took for granted before the pandemic that you miss now! Feel free to let me know in the comments or tweet me so we can think wistfully of times gone by.

Blog Tour- A Casino for Gods

 Page Count: 395

Genre: YA fantasy, Historial

Publisher: Clink Street

                                                                                    Goodreads Summary:

 It was a glorious time for the two teens, Glenda and

Traveler! At home in their magical sanctuary, hidden

in downtown Chicago, they immersed themselves in

 the city's festive winter holiday season. Sadly, their

 holiday celebrations are cut short. Theo, the sanctuary's

 protective god, tells them of an approaching great

 threat. The demigod jinn host is preparing to enter

 our world. They seek to defeat Theo.

The malevolent fire creatures will arrive in the

isolated Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania.

They chose the fifth century, a chaotic, brutal

time. Rampaging Hun armies battle Germanic

 tribes for control of the vast region. The host

uses this turbulence to mask its presence as it

plots the ambush of Theo. The teens arrive feeling

 like unarmed gladiators entering the high-walled

arena of the Transylvanian Mountains.

                                                      Death surrounds them. Armed only with their invisibility

                                                      skill and their trust in each other, they proceed into

                                                      the Carpathian abyss, echo across Europe. 

                   Magic, wits, and youthful courage must combine to face the                                                       fire creature. Survival, much less winning,is up for grabs.

Today is my stop on the blog tour for A Casino for God’s, the third book in the Allies of Theo series. As I’ve really enjoyed this series so far I was happy to be able to participate in the blog tour and share my thoughts on the book!

 So firstly I have to admit that I didn’t remember many details about the first two books. As I read then im 2019 and have read countless of books since then the most I could remember was that it focused on two teenagers who were given missions by a cat god and went back in time. I didn’t have time to reread the first two books so I was a little anxious that I’d be completely confused, but luckily some of the previous adventures were cleverly included in the narrative to jog my memory and I was soon caught up again!

 Something that I loved about this book was how it expanded on Theo. As Theo is a god who helped create the universe I’ve been naturally curious about him throughout this series, so I loved how we saw some of his past and how the threat of the jinn all started. I loved the idea of the randomness generator and how everything in the universe was created by chance. I did hope that the book would focus on this a little more, but unfortunately, my hopes for having Theo and M included more in this book went unfulfilled, as after the first 100 pages we only see them again briefly at the end of the book. I was a little disappointed in this as being ancient, both Theo and M have huge potential, but I honestly don’t think they’ll be explored in this series which is a shame. 

 The book started off a little slow and lagged in places throughout the book, but once the action picked up it was impossible to put down! I particularly loved the battle scene towards the end of the book between the Huns and the Gepids . As this battle was based on real history I loved the idea of it being put into this world full of magic and demons. I did however think there was a bit of a plot hole with Traveller having no idea of the outcome of the battle. Traveller seems to have a vast knowledge of historical events and battles, so it seemed a little strange to me that he didn’t know about this one. As he seemed to have knowledge of different time periods, I would have thought he would have come across this battle at some point. Apart from this I really enjoyed the battle and this time period, as it’s not really one I’ve learned about before. It took me a while to get through this book just because I keep researching everything.

 I felt that this book had a little more going on than the first two which I loved. Traveller and Glenda had to deal with everything from Wolves to Huns, along with having to find food and shelter. I loved their journey in this familiar but different world and how they cleverly got themselves out of danger. The friendship between the two teens is one of my favourite things about this series as I love how they’re constantly making fun of each other. Although I do feel like a romance will form between them I think I would be content with them remaining best friends. 

 Although we don’t see many characters returning from the previous book, I was happy that the giant Olaf was still around! I was a little disappointed that he came into it so close to the end of the book, as I think he would have been a good ally for Traveller and Glenda earlier on. I’m hoping that if Traveller and Glenda go back to the same time period in the next book, he will be around more, as I do find it a little boring at times with the story following only Traveller and Glenda. To me the book suffers from a lack of characters at times, as a lot of it is the two of them travelling together. Having characters such as Olaf, Theo and M in the story would probably make it a little more interesting! 

 I felt like this book was an improvement on the first two, and although I did have a few issues with it I enjoyed it. As the threat of the jinn is still far from over, I’m looking forward to the next book and seeing if the threat to Theo’s existence can be stopped once and for all.

A Casino for Gods is now available to purchase! 

  | Amazon | Book Depository 

Review on Morgana Mage in the Robotic Age

 

Morgana’s magic doesn’t seem to work like everyone elses. In fact, Morgana’s magic doesn’t seem to work at all! Unsatisfied with her life in the woods, she decides she wants to explore the city, where technology is extremely advanced and robots roam the streets. However the city people hate witches and magic, and when Morgana starts school in the city, she is immediately shunned. Things go from bad to worse when Morgana discovers a secret that could threaten not only the city, but her family too. Morgana will need to use both magic and technology if she is defeat this most deadly of foes.

I entered this year in a bit of a reading slump so I’m really happy the first book I read this year was so good! I want to rant about everything I loved about this book, but I’m going to start with the plot which I thought was really unique! Usually, we come across books where technology doesn’t work around magic, so I found it really interesting that magic and technology were combined. When we think about having magic powers, we assume that everything can be achieved through magic, making technology obsolete, but what if the two could actually complement each other instead? I loved this approach and as someone who loves both fantasy and Sci-Fi, I loved how the two genres were cleverly combined.

 The book follows eleven year old Morgana Mage, a witch who hasn’t found her niche yet. The witches reminded me of the benders in Avatar, as their spell casting revolved around the elements, and every witch and warlock was expected to master one before moving onto the others. I don’t want to compare it to Avatar too much, but Morgana really reminded me of the Earth bender Toph, as like Toph she seemed to be the only person with the ability to manipulate metal. I loved that Morgana’s ability was unique, and although she couldn’t do what everyone else could, she was able to do something they couldn’t. I loved how it showed we don’t have to be good at everything, and it’s ok to manifest our talents in different ways to others.

 I wasn’t really attached to the characters, but I did love Morgana’s best friend Jonathan. Even though everyone shunned Morgana for being different, Jonathan was quick to befriend her and help her get started at her new school. I found it sad that none of the teachers were willing to help her, as it really shouldn’t have been up to Jonathan to provide Morgana with school supplies. For the majority of the book there isn’t really an adult Morgana feels she can turn to and rely on, and although I did love Jonathan’s role, I don’t think that every adult being against Morgana was a great message to give to readers. I think it’s important for children to have an adult they can trust, so I didn’t really like that Morgana didn’t seem to have that.

 I loved the idea of Morgana’s magic being able to change the robots. “What if robots were sentient beings” is a plot in a lot of Sci-Fi, but I loved how this question was approached a little differently in this book. We have a typical robot uprising which wasn’t all that unique, but what I loved about this was Proto, the robot Morgana and Jonathan built together. Proto somehow managed to go against his programming to help Morgana and her friends despite knowing what it will cost him. I loved how Morgana’s magic made the robots seem more human, and how they had their own thoughts and feelings. 

 I loved this book overall and thought it was really interesting and unique! The combination of magic and technology was brilliant and I loved the positive messages, especially the message that it’s ok to be different. Kids could worry that they’re not as good at certain things as their friends are, so I loved how it showed we don’t all have to be good at the same things, and often we’ll find something we enjoy that others find strange. Even book blogging seems strange to my family but it’s comforting knowing there’s a bunch of other people who enjoy doing the same thing! I would definitely recommend this book to fans of fantasy and Sci-Fi a there really is a bit of everything.

Morgana Mage in the Robotic Age is now available to purchase! 

  | Amazon | Book Depository