This is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!
I received a book from Pajama Press:
The Egyptian Mirror by Michael Bedard
I was approved for two books on NetGalley from Arcturus Publishing:
Twisted Fairy Tales: The Ninjabread Man by Stewart Ross
Twisted Fairy Tales: Snow White and the Seven Robots by Stewart Ross
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Blackstone Publishing:
Iphigenia Murphy by Sara Hosey
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Simon and Schuster Canada:
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
I was approved for a book on NetGalley from Abrams Kids:
Once Upon an Eid: Stories of Hope and Joy by 15 Muslim Voices edited by S.K. Ali and Aisha Saeed
I was approved for two books on NetGalley from Quarto Publishing Group:
Work it, Girl: Become a Leader Like Michelle Obama by Caroline Moss, Sinem Erkas
Vivienne Westwood: My First Vivienne Westwood by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara
Thank you Pajama Press, Arcturus Publishing, Blackstone Publishing, Simon and Schuster Canada, Abrams Kids, and Quarto Publishing Group for this book!
Lacey Chu has big dreams of becoming a companioneer for MONCHA, the largest tech firm in North America and the company behind the “baku” – a customisable smart pet that functions as a phone but makes the perfect companion too. When Lacey finds out she hasn’t been accepted into Profectus – the elite academy for cutting edge tech – it seems her dreams are over. Worst of all, rather than getting to choose one of the advanced bakus, she’s stuck with a rubbish insect one.
Then, one night, Lacey comes across the remains of an advanced baku. Once it might’ve been in the shape of a cat but it’s now mangled and broken, no sign of electronic life behind its eyes. Days of work later and the baku opens its eyes. Lacey calls him Jinx – and Jinx opens up a world for her that she never even knew existed, including entry to the hallowed halls of Profecus. Slowly but surely, Jinx becomes more than just a baku to Lacey – he becomes her perfect companion. But what is Jinx, really? His abilities far surpass anything written into his code or built into his motherboard. He seems to be more than just a robotic pet. He seems … real.
Review:
This is an amazing new middle grade novel! I really enjoyed it.
This story is set in a futuristic Toronto. It was a pleasant surprise that it was set in the city where I live. In this future, people have “bakus” which do everything that our phones do and more. The bakus come in different levels, depending on how skilled the person is and how much money they can afford to spend on one. The students who are the best of their class get sent to a special school where they can then get a job at the company that makes the bakus when they graduate.
There were a couple of mysteries in this story surrounding the disappearance of some people. Monica Chan, who created the baku, disappeared. Lacey’s father also abruptly left his job and disappeared, and no one knows what happened to him.
This story was fast paced and unpredictable. I was hooked on it right away. I’m so curious to find out what happens in the next book!
Thank you Sourcebooks Young Readers for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Upside-Down Magic (Upside-Down Magic #1) by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, Emily Jenkins
This is a weekly meme hosted by Wandering Words, where you give the first few lines of a book to hook your readers before introducing the book.
Here are my first lines:
“Night fell as death rode into the Great Library of Summershall. It arrived within a carriage. Elisabeth stood in the courtyard and watched the horses thunder wild-eyed through the gates, throwing froth from their mouths.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson.
Goodreads synopsis:
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.
As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.
Have you read Sorcery of Thorns? What did you think of it?
Title: The Tenant Author: Katrine Engberg Genre: Thriller, Crime Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: January 14, 2020 Rating: ★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
When a young woman is discovered brutally murdered in her own apartment, with an intricate pattern of lines carved into her face, Copenhagen police detectives Jeppe Korner and Anette Werner are assigned to the case. In short order, they establish a link between the victim, Julie Stender, and her landlady, Esther de Laurenti, who’s a bit too fond of drink and the host of raucous dinner parties with her artist friends. Esther also turns out to be a budding novelist—and when Julie turns up as a murder victim in the still-unfinished mystery she’s writing, the link between fiction and real life grows both more urgent and more dangerous.
But Esther’s role in this twisted scenario is not quite as clear as it first seems. Is she the culprit—or just another victim, trapped in a twisted game of vengeance? Anette and Jeppe must dig more deeply into the two women’s pasts to discover the identity of the brutal puppet-master pulling the strings in this electrifying literary thriller.
Review:
This was a fast paced thriller, but it had some loose ends.
Some of the plot lines weren’t completed at the end. I won’t share which ones, but they were just dismissed as not being important to the case once it was solved. I was disappointed because these parts started out as good twists, but they didn’t turn out to mean anything.
There were also unnecessary parallels between characters. I thought it would connect the characters who had been through similar experiences, but it ended up being meaningless. It was confusing, since multiple characters had the same backstory and it didn’t have anything to do with the plot.
The murder mystery was intriguing, but the lack of answers at the end was disappointing.
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
The Child by Fiona Barton
Have you read The Tenant? What did you think of it?
TBR Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads, where you post a title from your shelf or e-reader and find out what others think about it.
My pick this week is Queen of Ruin (Grace and Fury #2) by Tracy Banghart.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Banished by Asa at the end of Grace and Fury, Nomi and Malachi find themselves powerless and headed towards their all-but-certain deaths. Now that Asa sits on the throne, he will stop at nothing to make sure Malachi never sets foot in the palace again. Their only hope is to find Nomi’s sister, Serina, on the prison island of Mount Ruin. But when Nomi and Malachi arrive, it is not the island of conquered, broken women that they expected. It is an island in the grip of revolution, and Serina–polite, submissive Serina–is its leader.
Betrayal, grief, and violence have changed both sisters, and the women of Mount Ruin have their sights set on revenge beyond the confines of their island prison. They plan to sweep across the entire kingdom, issuing in a new age of freedom for all. But first they’ll have to get rid of Asa, and only Nomi knows how.
Separated once again, this time by choice, Nomi and Serina must forge their own paths as they aim to tear down the world they know, and build something better in its place.
The stakes are higher and the battles bolder in Tracy Banghart’s unputdownable sequel to Grace and Fury.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
Title: Gudetama Love for the Lazy Author: Wook-Jin Clark Genre: Graphic Novel, Humour Publisher: Oni Press Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: January 14, 2020 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Gudetama: Love for the Lazy is inspired by the worldwide hit Sanrio character and animated series star!
Dating is exhausting, so let’s take a lighthearted approach to exploring it with Gudetama, everyone’s favorite grumpy egg! From navigating first-date smalltalk to recovering from being dumped, Gudetama is your guide to finding love…even when you’re lazy.
Sanrio is the global lifestyle brand best known for pop icon Hello Kitty®, and home to many other beloved character brands including Chococat, My Melody, Badtz-Maru, Keroppi, Gudetama and Aggretsuko.
Review:
Gudetama is a character that was created by Sanrio, the company who created Hello Kitty. Gudetama is an egg yolk, who is extremely lazy. He doesn’t want to get up and he often doesn’t even want to speak. He would like to just go to sleep.
In this story, Gudetama gives relationship advice to people who need help. They all have different problems with finding love. Gudetama often accompanied these people on their dates, but he wasn’t much help. He is quite lazy and uninterested in life, so his advice didn’t always help.
This was an entertaining book. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you Oni Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Gudetama’s Guide to Life by Brian D. Clark
Have you read Gudetama: Love for the Lazy? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. In this post we highlight a book that’s highly anticipated.
The book that I’m waiting on this Wednesday is Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales. The expected publication date is March 3, 2020.
Goodreads Synopsis:
SIMON VS. THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA meets CLUELESS in this boy-meets-boy spin on Grease
Summer love…gone so fast.
Ollie and Will were meant to be a summer fling—casual, fun, and done. But when Ollie’s aunt’s health takes a turn for the worse and his family decides to stay in North Carolina to take care of her, Ollie lets himself hope this fling can grow to something more. Dreams that are crushed when he sees Will at a school party and finds that the sweet and affectionate (and comfortably queer) guy he knew from summer isn’t the same one attending Collinswood High.
Will is more than a little shocked to see Ollie the evening of that first day of school. While his summer was spent being very much himself, back at school he’s simply known as one of the varsity basketball guys. Now Will is faced with the biggest challenge of his life: follow his heart and risk his friendships, or stay firmly in the closet and lose what he loves most.
Title: Every Other Weekend Author: Abigail Johnson Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Publisher: Inkyard Press Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: January 7, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Can life begin again…every other weekend?
Adam Moynihan’s life used to be awesome. Straight As, close friends and a home life so perfect that it could have been a TV show straight out of the 50s. Then his oldest brother died. Now his fun-loving mom cries constantly, he and his remaining brother can’t talk without fighting, and the father he always admired proved himself a coward by moving out when they needed him most.
Jolene Timber’s life is nothing like the movies she loves—not the happy ones anyway. As an aspiring director, she should know, because she’s been reimagining her life as a film ever since she was a kid. With her divorced parents at each other’s throats and using her as a pawn, no amount of mental reediting will give her the love she’s starving for.
Forced to spend every other weekend in the same apartment building, the boy who thinks forgiveness makes him weak and the girl who thinks love is for fools begin an unlikely friendship. The weekends he dreaded and she endured soon become the best part of their lives. But when one’s life begins to mend while the other’s spirals out of control, they realize that falling in love while surrounded by its demise means nothing is ever guaranteed.
Review:
Adam and Jolene both have separated parents. They meet when Adam visits his dad on the weekends at his new apartment. Adam escapes from his unpleasant situation to be with Jolene, who also has a complicated family life. She stays with her dad’s new girlfriend on the weekends because he stays at work all the time to avoid her. She is used as a pawn in her parents’ divorce.
Though both Adam and Jolene spend time at the same building every other weekend in their fathers’ apartments, they have very different situations. Adam’s parents are separated but they still love each other. Jolene’s parents trade her back and forth, but don’t actually care about her. Though Adam’s father wants to give him attention, Adam pushes him away. At the same time, Jolene craves love but can’t get it from either of her parents. I liked that though they were similar, there were also drastic differences in their lives.
There was also an uncomfortable relationship between Jolene and another neighbour at the apartment. I won’t spoil what happens, because I don’t like to give spoilers, but there was an inappropriate incident that occurred. It was kind of predictable that it would happen because there were warning signs leading up to it, but Jolene didn’t notice them. It was a scary moment, but it made sense that Jolene would find herself in that situation.
I really liked the ending of this story. It was a great book!
Thank you Inkyard Press for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What to read next:
Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson
A Love Hate Thing by Whitney D. Grandison
Have you read Every Other Weekend? What did you think of it?
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it is now hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2019. These are the new-to-me authors I read in 2019. Here’s my list:
1. Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo
2. Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
3. The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce #10) by Alan Bradley
4. A Wedding in December by Sarah Morgan
5. The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson
6. Shatter Me (Shatter Me #1) by Tahereh Mafi
7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
8. American Royals (American Royals #1) by Katharine McGee
9. Wherever She Goes by K.L. Armstrong
10. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
(All photos taken from Goodreads)
What’s your list of books on your Top Ten Tuesday?
Title: One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying #2) Author: Karen M. McManus Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Contemporary Publisher: Delacorte Press Source: Publisher Format: Paperback Release Date: January 7, 2020 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
The highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling thriller everyone is talking about, One of Us Is Lying! There’s a new mystery to solve at Bayview High, and there’s a whole new set of rules.
Come on, Bayview, you know you’ve missed this.
A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one’s been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts.
Until now.
This time it’s not an app, though—it’s a game.
Truth or Dare.
Phoebe’s the first target. If you choose not to play, it’s a truth. And hers is dark.
Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare.
But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it’s that they can’t count on the police for help. Or protection.
Simon’s gone, but someone’s determined to keep his legacy at Bayview High alive. And this time, there’s a whole new set of rules.
Review:
This is another great thriller from Karen M. McManus.
The cliffhangers at the end of the chapters were great. I found it really difficult to put the book down, even when I was reading before bed. The big plot twists, like who was getting a “Truth or Dare” text from the mysterious person, were set up for a few chapters before happening, so I was kept guessing.
This is the first book by Karen M. McManus that I’ve read that I didn’t guess the ending before I finished it. Some of the clues to who is responsible for the “Truth or Dare” texts isn’t given until after they were revealed, so I don’t think you could figure it out before the end. However, there was a huge reveal in the final pages, which really shocked me. I hope there will be a third book in the series!
I loved this book!
Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Jill's Book Blog 