Jill lives in Toronto, Canada. She has studied English, Creative Writing, and Publishing. Jill is the creator and content producer of Jill’s Book Blog, where she has published a blog post every day for the last four years, including 5-7 book reviews a week. She can usually be found with her nose in a book.
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 Chicken Girl by Heather Smith.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Everybody has a story that will break your heart; a poignant coming-of-age YA for fans of David Arnold, from the author of the acclaimed The Agony of Bun O’Keefe, a Kirkus Best of the Year selection.
Poppy used to be an optimist. But after a photo of her dressed as Rosie the Riveter is mocked online, she’s having trouble seeing the good in the world. As a result, Poppy trades her beloved vintage clothes for a feathered chicken costume and accepts a job as an anonymous sign waver outside a restaurant. There, Poppy meets six-year-old girl Miracle, who helps Poppy see beyond her own pain, opening her eyes to the people around her: Cam, her twin brother, who is adjusting to life as an openly gay teen; Buck, a charming photographer with a cute British accent and a not-so-cute mean-streak; and Lewis a teen caring for an ailing parent, while struggling to reach the final stages of his gender transition. As the summer unfolds, Poppy stops glorifying the past and starts focusing on the present. But just as she comes to terms with the fact that there is good and bad in everyone, she is tested by a deep betrayal.
Title: The Homecoming Author: Andrew Pyper Genre: Thriller Publisher: Simon and Schuster Canada Source: Publisher via NetGalley Format: Ebook Release Date: February 26, 2019 Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Bestselling author Andrew Pyper returns with a riveting psychological thriller about how the people you’ve known your whole life can suddenly become strangers.
What if everything you knew about the people you loved was a lie?
After the death of their absentee father, Aaron and Bridge Quinlan travel to a vast rainforest property in the Pacific Northwest to hear the reading of his will. There, they meet up with their mother and troubled sister, Franny, and are shocked to discover the will’s terms: in order to claim their inheritance they must remain at the estate for thirty days without any contact with the outside world. Despite their concerns, they agree.
The Quinlans soon come to learn their family has more secrets than they ever imagined—revelations that at first inspire curiosity, then fear. Why does Bridge have faint memories of the estate? Why did their father want them to be sequestered there together? And what is out there they feel pulling them into the dark heart of the woods?
The Homecoming is at once a gripping mystery, a chilling exploration of how our memories can both define and betray us, and a riveting page-turner that will have you questioning your very existence.
Review:
This book was a mix of suspenseful thriller and horror. It was a wild roller coaster ride!
There was a lot of suspense in the story, because we don’t know much about the events that lead to the beginning of the story, including the characters’ backgrounds. The characters all find themselves at an isolated house, and are forced to stay there to inherit millions from their father. However, we don’t know how they got there or even much of their relationship with their father. He remains a mysterious figure until the end of the story.
There were actually some fairytale elements to the story. They compare the house to the witch’s house from Hansel and Gretel. There are even a couple of monsters in the woods. It’s a twisted fairytale. It was getting so gruesome that I had to stop reading it before bed one night!
Right away, I made a prediction of what would happen at the end. I was only half right, and I was glad because I was hoping it would be a more complicated ending than I predicted. I liked that I still had some questions at the end, so I can just imagine what some of the answers would be.
I couldn’t put this book down! It’s a great thriller!
What to read next:
The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Have you read The Homecoming? What did you think of it?
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!
This week, my parents bought me a Kindle eReader as a birthday gift! It is amazing. I like it so much better than using the Kindle app on my tablet. It is a lot easier to read, so I am getting through books even faster than before. Thanks Mom and Dad!
I bought a boxed set at Indigo:
Shatter Me Series Box Set by Tahereh Mafi
I received three books from the Frenzy Presents event with HarperCollins Canada:
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson
The Wise and the Wicked by Rebecca Podos
Ordinary Girls by Blair Thornburgh
Thank you HarperCollins Canada for these books!
I was approved for one book on NetGalley from ABRAMS Kids:
The Boy Next Story (Bookish Boyfriends #2) by Tiffany Schmidt
Title: Riverdale: The Day Before Author: Micol Ostow Genre: Young Adult Publisher: Scholastic Inc. Source: Purchased Format: Paperback Release Date: December 26, 2018 Rating: ★★★★★
Goodreads Synopsis:
Based on the massively successful CW show, Riverdale, this prequel novel explores what the gang was doing before Season One.
Why did Jughead and Archie have a falling out? What did Veronica’s life look like in the Big Apple? And how long has Betty really been in love with Archie?
Told from multiple POVs, your favorite characters tell their story their way.
Review:
I was so excited to read this book! It’s super fast-paced. I read most of it in one sitting!
Each chapter is narrated by a different character, either Archie, Jughead, Betty, or Veronica. This story takes place the day before the Riverdale TV series begins. That means that Betty is in LA doing an internship (which I don’t remember being in the show) and Veronica is in New York City, because she hasn’t moved to Riverdale yet. Archie and Jughead are in Riverdale, but they have drifted apart.
This story does some foreshadowing for what’s to come in the series. Though there is the mystery of the murder that happens at end of the book, fans of the show will already know what happened. Between chapters, there were other forms of narratives, such as texts and emails between other characters.
I loved this book! It is a must read for fans of Riverdale!
What to read next:
Road to Riverdale, Vol. 1 by Mark Waid
Have you read Riverdale: The Day Before? 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:
“I had just come to accept that my life would be ordinary when extraordinary things began to happen. The first of these came as a terrible shock and, like anything that changes you forever, split my life into halves: Before and After. Like many of the extraordinary things to come, it involved my grandfather, Abraham Portman.”
Do you recognize these first lines?
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And the book is… Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
Goodreads synopsis:
A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of very curious photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow-impossible though it seems-they may still be alive. A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.
Have you read Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children? What did you think of it?
This is my unboxing of the Litjoy January 2019 box.
I love the new charm bracelets that are going to be included in quarterly Litjoy boxes! There is a banner to hold pins and buttons. There is also a sheet to make a fortune teller!
I love these pirate themed coasters. The shot glass is amazing too!
We got two books in this box! The first book is Ship of Smoke and Steel. The extra book is Brightly Burning, because the book in the previous box wasn’t the printed the way they wanted.
The trading cards in this crate are characters from Throne of Glass. I also ordered the Harry Potter trading cards as an add-on!
Jill's Book Blog 