Happy Pub Day to all of these new books!
What books are you most excited for this week?
Title: A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1)
Author: V.E. Schwab
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books
Source: Purchased
Format: Hardcover
Release Date: February 24, 2015
Rating: ★★★★★
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
Kell is an Antari, a magician who can travel between the parallel Londons: Red, Grey, White, and Black. Kell acts as a messenger between the different leaders of the parallel worlds, but he also collects items that he smuggles between the worlds. After making a bad deal, Kell meets Lila Bard, a wanted pick pocket. Together, they have to battle against a dangerous magic that is not from their worlds.
I read this book a few years ago, but I loved it so much, I wanted to read it again. I read it as a buddy read over a few weeks. I got so much more out of the story reading it all at once.
I love V.E. Schwab’s poetic language in this story. She has so many memorable quotes. One of my favourites is “I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.” Schwab is such an amazing world builder, and her beautiful phrases make the story a work of art.
This book is an exciting introduction to the Shades of Magic series!
Have you read A Darker Shade of Magic? What did you think of it?
This blog meme is hosted by Book Date. It is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It’s a great post to organize yourself. It’s an opportunity to visit and comment, and er… add to that ever growing TBR pile!
This weekend I finished A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab.
I’m currently reading Christmas from the Heart by Sheila Roberts.
Next I will be reading The Last to See Her by Courtney Evan Tate.
What are you guys reading this week? Have you read any of these books?
Here are my reviews for the week with my ratings:
I did 9 weekly blogging memes:
How was your week? What did you guys read?
The meme that dares to ask what book has been in your bed this morning? Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed, or which book you wish you had time to read today! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
This Sunday I’m reading A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab.
Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.
Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.
Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.
After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.
Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.
What book are you in bed with today?
This meme is hosted by Steph at A little but a lot. The weekly prompts for 2019 can be found here.
This week’s prompt is Red and White Books. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
Did you make a Six for Sunday list?
Title: All I Want for Christmas
Author: Wendy Loggia
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Publisher: Underlined
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: November 3, 2020
Rating: ★★★★
This sweet and magical romance about a girl who has just one wish–someone to kiss under the mistletoe–is the perfect holiday escape!
Bailey Briggs is counting down the days to Christmas: she lives for holiday music, baking cookies, going on snowy sleigh rides, and wearing her light-up reindeer ears to work at Winslow’s bookstore. But all she really wants this year is the one thing she doesn’t have: someone special to kiss under the mistletoe. And she’s 100 percent certain that that someone isn’t Jacob Marley–athlete, player, and of questionable taste in girlfriends–and that Charlie, the mysterious stranger with the British accent, is the romantic lead of her dreams. Is she right? This will be a December to remember, filled with real-life Christmas magic . . . and, if she stays on Santa’s nice list, a wish that just might come true.
All that Bailey Briggs wants for Christmas is a kiss under the mistletoe. Christmas is her favourite holiday, so she goes all out with baking, decorating, and shopping. One night, she meets Jacob, a boy from school, while she’s working at a bookstore. He doesn’t seem like her type but they start hanging out. Then she meets Charlie, a hot British guy, who seems to be exactly what she’s looking for. Jacob makes an effort to spend time with Bailey, but she thinks she’s meant to be with Charlie. Bailey has to figure out which guy will fulfill her Christmas wish.
This is a fun holiday romance. Bailey and her family love the holidays, so they have lots of Christmas traditions. There were some classic Christmas scenes, such as cookie decorating, going to a tree farm, and lots of shopping.
Even though Charlie seemed like the man of Bailey’s dreams, I found him creepy at first. He appeared just when Bailey needed help many times. Everything made sense in the end, though. It turned out to be a clever holiday story, even if it was a little cheesy at the end.
This is a great holiday story to put you in the Christmas spirit.
Have you read All I Want for Christmas? What did you think of it?
This is a weekly meme hosted Devouring Books. This week’s prompt is Apocalyptic Books. Here’s my list:
(All book covers from Goodreads)
If you’d like to do this list too, consider yourself tagged!
Did you make a Top 5 Saturday list?
Title: Howl’s Moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Publisher: HarperCollins
Source: Purchased
Format: Paperback
Release Date: March 5, 2009 (first published April 1986)
Rating: ★★★
“How about making a bargain with me?” said the demon. “I’ll break your spell if you agree to break this contract I’m under.”
In the land of Ingary, where seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, Sophie Hatter attracts the unwelcome attention of the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her. Determined to make the best of things, Sophie travels to the one place where she might get help – the moving castle which hovers on the nearby hills.
But the castle belongs to the dreaded Wizard Howl whose appetite, they say, is satisfied only by the hearts of young girls…
Sophie Hatter’s family runs a hat shop. When her father dies, her stepmother makes plans for Sophie and her sisters. Her sisters are sent away to apprenticeships, but Sophie is kept at home to run the hat store. One day, Sophie encounters the Witch of the Waste, who puts a curse on her which makes Sophie look like an old woman. Sophie runs away from home so her family doesn’t see what happens to her. She goes to the castle that moves around town and belongs to the wizard named Howl. Sophie makes a deal with a captured demon in Howl’s castle to release him from his curse if he can release her from hers.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this story, and I really wanted to love it, but I just didn’t like it. I found the story complicated and confusing with lots of similar characters. One thing that I noticed from the beginning was that I wished the story was about Sophie’s sisters instead. They seemed to have an interesting story to tell. When they were sent away to their apprenticeships, they made a spell to switch places. I kept hoping more of their story would be told, but they only made brief appearances in the story.
Unfortunately, this story didn’t work for me.
Have you read Howl’s Moving Castle? What did you think of it?
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:
“The forest had become a labyrinth of snow and ice.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… A Court of Thorns and Roses (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) by Sarah J. Maas.
Feyre’s survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price …
Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.
Check out my review of A Court of Thorns and Roses here.
Have you read A Court of Thorns and Roses? What did you think of it?
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