Tuesday 30 January 2018

Clare Reviews: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1)Title: The Hazel Wood
Author: Melissa Albert
Series:
The Hazel Wood #1
Format: ARC
Source: Received at YALC
Pages: 357
Rating: 5/5
Blurb: Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.”

Alice has long steered clear of her grandmother’s cultish fans. But now she has no choice but to ally with classmate Ellery Finch, a Hinterland superfan who may have his own reasons for wanting to help her. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began―and where she might find out how her own story went so wrong.

My thoughts on The Hazel Wood are mostly excited capital letters and a bunch of exclamation marks so I wasn't initially sure how I'd ever manage to write a review for it. I've always loved fairy tales so the premise of this book appealed to me a lot, and what I got was even better (and darker) than I had expected. The writing is gorgeous and evocative. There were so many times when a sentence demanded to be read aloud because it just sounded so damn good. I got lost in this story in a way I very rarely do and it was a wonderful feeling. 

Alice was an amazing, multi-layered main character. She was so normal and relatable but had this dark undertone the whole way through the book. I loved reading about her in the Hinterlands the most, perhaps because it was here that she truly began to show her darker fairy-tale-esque attitude. Finch was a lovely side character, he felt like a real person in so many ways and as angry as I was at him sometimes for his obsession with the stories - he was still utterly lovable. There are also a whole host of deliciously dark side characters ripped from the fairy tales. I'm a sucker for the darker fairy tales (less happy ever after more whole lotta murder and dark powers) and The Hazel Wood had these in spades.

I loved the story of the book and, whilst I did see one of the twists coming, it was such a brilliant and surprising read. The story is equal parts road trip and fairy tale (which also sums up Alice's entire life) and I loved both parts. The fairy tale elements definitely stuck with me more, which is fairly predictable. But I was surprised by how much I loved the first half of the book as well.

The relationships between characters were fascinating. Ella and Alice had a dysfunctional but loving mother-daughter relationship whilst Alice's relationships with everyone else tended to be more volatile. She says herself that Ella is the only person she really cares about (later expanding this to include Finch) and by the end of the book she has opened up a lot. The last paragraph was probably my favourite part of the book because it hints at so much darkness still uncovered woven into the "normal" world. 

I have learned that the Tales from the Hinterland will be an actual book at some point and I am super excited to read some new, dark fairy tales. I also desperately want more of Melissa Albert's writing. 

Monday 29 January 2018

Monday Highlights #40

The idea is to just link your favourite blog post from the past week (for example a post you're very proud of or just had a lot of fun making) and then I, and hopefully others, can discover new blogs to follow and interact with and discover more posts from blogs we may already follow!

Sunday 28 January 2018

Sunday Post 28th January 2018

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, it's a chance to post a recap on the past week, show the books we have received and share what we plan for the coming week. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality and the aim is to show our newest books and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops or downloaded on to their e-reader.

Last Week on the Blog:


Books We Got This Week:

Cinder & Ella (Cinder & Ella, #1)The Girl in The Tower (The Bear and the Nightingale #2)Storm Raven (Storm Raven, #1)The Darkest Magic (Spirits and Thieves, #2)
Cinder & Ella by Kelly Oram: Sent to me by Vera @ Regal Critiques! She recommended this book to me once and I've wanted it ever since so I am super excited to read it!
The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden: I haven't actually read the first book yet but had this pre-ordered. Hopefully I can read both books soon! 
Storm Raven by K. Hanson: Thank you so much to the author for sending me a copy of this! I love all things piratical so this is high on my list!
The Darkest Magic by Morgan Rhodes: I somehow never read A Book of Spirits and Thieves even though I love the Falling Kingdoms series. The last book is coming out soon so I'd like the read this spin-off series before then! 



Reading Update:

The Sacrifice BoxWaR: Wizards and RobotsI Hunt Killers (Jasper Dent, #1)The Light Between Oceans
The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart: 4.5 stars, This was really, really good! I have a review up for it here if you're interested. It's a super creepy, fun read and I am so excited for whatever Martin Stewart writes next!
Wizards and Robots by Will.I.Am and Brian David Johnson: 4 stars, This was so, so much fun! My review has gone up and you can check it out here
I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga: 4 stars, Really enjoyed how brutal this book got. It definitely wasn't stingy with the details which made the whole thing feel more realistic. Continuing the series wont be a priority for me but I would like to at some point.
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman: 4.5 stars, OMG did I cry. The last few chapters of this book were just a total sob-fest for me. There were bits toward the beginning that were a little slow but by the end they served to feed into all the feels. Definitely a super emotional read.



Next Week on the Blog:

  • Monday Highlights #40
  • Clare Reviews: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
  • February Releases I'm Excited About
  • Clare's January Wrap Up and February TBR

Thursday 25 January 2018

Clare Reviews: Wizards and Robots by will.i.am and Brian David Johnson

WaR: Wizards and RobotsTitle: Wizards and Robots
Author: will.i.am and Brian David Johnson
Format: ARC 
Source: Received from publisher at YALC
Pages: 311
Rating:
4/5
Blurb: When a young man breaks into her home claiming her life is in danger, Ada Luring's world changes forever. Geller is a wizard, on the run from his father's hidden clan who want to kill Ada and her mother. Sara Luring is the scientist who will create the first robot, the wizards' age-old foes.
But a robot has travelled back in time to find Ada, and will lay everything on the line to protect her, as she may just be the key to preventing the earth's destruction in the future.
Ada, Geller and the robots must learn to work together to change the past and secure the future. But they don't have much time before a mysterious enemy launches its attack on Earth...





This was just the most fun. You need to suspend disbelief a little going into this book because there is a lot going on and if you think too hard about it, it may stop making sense. But honestly I was so pleasantly surprised by how well put together this story was. And besides - I actually love reading something wacky and out there with everything happening because I read to escape to other worlds and this was a very different world!!

There are quite a few jumps in time, parts of the story are set in the past, or the present or the future but they all felt distinct and never got confusing. It felt almost cinematic in that I could picture every setting as it was written. The majority of the book takes place in the present - the main character's present anyway (2052) and I thought this was really well developed. I definitely got a good sense of the technology of the time and it even felt achievable, as if this could very well be our future (I don't know about the wizards but robots definitely seems feasible).

Ada and Geller were strong main characters. I did find I was more attached to Ada than to Geller but that is, perhaps, because she had the more relatable life. I don't have a home AI or a robot little brother but I did go to school and have friend drama. I have not, so far in my life, had to fight a magical duel or had a tyrannical wizard for a father so Geller's life definitely felt less relatable. He was however a good person and had a strong voice which made his sections just as great to read.

The plot jumps around a little. As I said there is a lot going on and some of it doesn't get a full explanation here - still waiting to learn what the heck is up with the Malum?? But for the most part it made sense and I even managed to wrap my head around the time travel which is a pretty good sign since that usually messes me up. The drama and action was pretty much nonstop throughout so there wasn't as much of a build as I would have liked and the final confrontation was over relatively quickly when I would've loved to have seen more of that. 

Overall though, this was a really fun, unique and exciting read and I am very much impressed by it. According to Goodreads this is a standalone novel but I'm really hoping that changes. Not only would I like more of these characters - I would also really, really like to learn more about the wizard side of things since this book was focused more on robots. 

Wednesday 24 January 2018

Clare Reviews: The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart

The Sacrifice BoxTitle: The Sacrifice Box
Author: Martin Stewart
Format: ARC
Source: Received at YALC from Publisher
Pages: 387
Rating: 4.5/5
Blurb: Sep, Arkle, Mack, Lamb and Hadley: five friends thrown together one hot, sultry summer. When they discover an ancient stone box hidden in the forest, they decide to each make a sacrifice: something special to them, committed to the box for ever. And they make a pact: they will never return to the box at night; they'll never visit it alone; and they'll never take back their offerings.
Four years later, the gang have drifted apart. Then a series of strange and terrifying events take place, and Sep and his friends understand that one of them has broken the pact.
As their sacrifices haunt them with increased violence and hunger, they realise that they are not the first children to have found the box in their town's history. And ultimately, the box may want the greatest sacrifice of all: one of them.

This was so, so intense. There were moments of humour and lightness but there were also moments that made me tense up - and some that were outright scary. This has been compared to Stranger Things and Stephen King - which is a big comparison. I haven't seen Stranger Things and I've read nothing by King, but I get why the comparison was made. There's a sort of quirky horror in this book that feels utterly unique and hugely memorable.

The pop culture references made me so happy - it's set in the 80s and the nostalgia kick for anyone who was a teen then is going to be huge. For me it was just before I was born (I missed out on a lot apparently) but references to Zelda and Hall & Oates still excited me! Each character was very realistic and relatable in various ways. I think my favourite would have to be Arkle but I did love all of them. Even if it took me a little longer to warm up to Mack. Sep is the protagonist and is a great one, he is intelligent and loyal and so seeing the story through his eyes added a lot of emotional kick.

I wouldn't expect teddy bears or dolls to be as outright terrifying as they are in this book. And I'll admit when "Barnaby" first appeared I laughed. The idea of an animated toy feels way too Toy Story for me. But after he has gone on a violent rampage he becomes considerably less cute and funny and just a little bit more scary. There's one scene towards the end that has made me very wary of my childhood toys. 

The one thing I didn't love was the ending. For a book that so perfectly ratcheted up the tension and the action all the way through, the ending felt... anti-climactic. I just wish there had been more there, or maybe I just wanted more character deaths (am I a bad person??). Other than that though, this book was hugely satisfying and exciting. I would love to see it as a movie and I am very much looking forward to seeing what Stewart writes next!!

Monday 22 January 2018

Monday Highlights #39

The idea is to just link your favourite blog post from the past week (for example a post you're very proud of or just had a lot of fun making) and then I, and hopefully others, can discover new blogs to follow and interact with and discover more posts from blogs we may already follow!

Sunday 21 January 2018

Sunday Post 21st January 2018


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, it's a chance to post a recap on the past week, show the books we have received and share what we plan for the coming week. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality and the aim is to show our newest books and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops or downloaded on to their e-reader.


Books We Got This Week:

Gunslinger GirlSpare and Found PartsThe Naturals (The Naturals, #1)The Wages of SinDragon Age: Knight Errant
Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely: I am so excited for this one! It looks exciting and the main character seems like a total badass! 
Spare and Found Parts by Sarah Maria Griffin: I was sent this by Titan Books for review and I'm so excited for it! It's one of my most anticipated for the year and it has beautiful sprayed pages!
The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes: I was sent this by Vera @ Regal Critiques who is enjoying this series at the moment. I have read some of Barnes' books before and enjoyed them so I am looking forward to this one.
The Wages of Sin by Kaite Welsh: Sent by Tinder Press. I love historical murder mysteries so I cannot wait to read this!!
Dragon Age Knight Errant: As you probably know I adore the Dragon Age games so I was super excited for this. I've already read it (and loved it).




Reading Update:

Hostage to Pleasure (Psy-Changeling, #5)Branded by Fire (Psy-Changeling, #6)TimeRiders (TimeRiders, #1)Day of the Predator (TimeRiders, #2)Weightless
Hostage to Pleasure by Nalini Singh: 4 stars, Dorian wasn't my favourite love interest of the series so far but it was a great book nonetheless. I am so glad to get back into this series!
Branded By Fire by Nalini Singh: 4.5 stars, This was probably my favourite couple of the series so far. The plot line wasn't as engaging as some of the others but was still enough for me! 
Time Riders by Alex Scarrow: 4 stars, A solid start to a series. The first half was a little slow but the second half was packed with excitement and got surprisingly dark which I loved!
Day of the Predator by Alex Scarrow: 4 stars, I love anything dinosaur related so this was the book in the series I was most excited for. It was definitely fun but I didn't get as absorbed in it as I expected to and I didn't love seeing inside the mind of the "predator" it removed some of the suspense for me. 
Weightless by Sarah Bannan: 3.5 stars, This was such a unique read. It was sometimes super uncomfortable reading from the "we" perspective but it made the whole thing more tense and felt more accurate. 
A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles, #1)The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1)Dragon Age: Knight Errant
A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet: 4 stars, I was pleasantly surprised to find this was a good mix of fantasy and romance. I was expecting something romance heavy but got a fairly well developed world and magic system. I loved the main character and I think I definitely want to continue the series. 
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert: 5 stars, OMG SO GOOD. Honestly just incredible, I will have a full review up on it's release date (30th January).
Dragon Age Knight Errant: 5 stars, This gave me so many feels. If you love the Dragon Age games then I guarantee you'll adore it. And if you haven't played them - this is still a great graphic novel with some amazing characters. I'm hoping Vaea will be appearing in the next game because I loved her!

Next Week on the Blog:

  • Monday Highlights #39
  • Clare Reviews: The Sacrifice Box by Martin Stewart
  • Clare Reviews: Wizards and Robots by Will.I.Am
  • Clare Reviews: The Truth and Lies of Ella Black by Emily Barr

Monday 15 January 2018

Monday Highlights #38


The idea is to just link your favourite blog post from the past week (for example a post you're very proud of or just had a lot of fun making) and then I, and hopefully others, can discover new blogs to follow and interact with and discover more posts from blogs we may already follow!

Monday 8 January 2018

Monday Highlights #37

The idea is to just link your favourite blog post from the past week (for example a post you're very proud of or just had a lot of fun making) and then I, and hopefully others, can discover new blogs to follow and interact with and discover more posts from blogs we may already follow!

Saturday 6 January 2018

Sunday Post 7th January 2018


The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer, it's a chance to post a recap on the past week, show the books we have received and share what we plan for the coming week. Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality and the aim is to show our newest books and to see what everyone else received for review, borrowed from libraries, bought in bookshops or downloaded on to their e-reader.


Last Week on the Blog:

  • New Year's Resolutions
  • Academy Award Tag

Books We Got This Week:

Batman: Nightwalker (DC Icons, #2)Cloaked in Shadow (The Dragori, #1)Wilde in Love (The Wildes of Lindow Castle, #1)Sister Assassin (Sister Assassin, #1)
Batman Nightwalker by Marie Lu: This is the second in the DC series. I'm not as excited for this as I was for Wonder Woman but it still sounds good. 
Cloaked In Shadow by Ben Alderson: I love Ben's videos and this book sounds great!
Wilde in Love by Eloisa James: I've been feeling like reading romances lately so thought I'd pick this up.
Sister Assassin by Kiersten White: Any book about sisters automatically goes on my "yes please" pile and when you add in assassins its almost certainly a win.

Reading Update:

The FandomSophia's Secret (Slains, #1)The Plague Charmer
The Fandom by Anna Day: 3.5 stars, I loved the concept for this but struggled with some of the aspects, like the romance. Still was a fun read though. 
Sophia's Secret by Susanna Kearsley: 5 stars, This was a re-read of an old favourite because I unpacked it and then immediately wanted to read it! 
The Plague Charmer by Karen Maitland: 4.5 stars, OMG this was dark. And fairly historically accurate. Which the history student in me totally adored. This was just really good and I'm not sure why I haven't picked up any of her books before.

Friday 5 January 2018

Academy Award Tag

The Academy Award Tag is probably my favourite tag to do! It's a lot of fun and it's a great way of summarising the best of the year. Ann couldn't take part this year because she is overloaded with school work.

Best Actor (Best Male Protagonist):
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (Guide, #1)
Clare: Monty from The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue was incredible!! Such a lovely head to read from. 

Best Actress (Best Female Protagonist):
Daughter of the Burning City
Clare: Sorina from Daughter of the Burning City. I loved this book so so much and Sorina was such an amazing character. 

Best Cinematography (Best Plot Twist):
Crimson and Bone
Clare: Crimson and Bone by Marina Fiorato was so twisty and dark and wonderful!

Best Costume Design (Best Book Cover):
Caraval (Caraval, #1)
Clare: Caraval. I loved the dust jacket but even more than that I loved the embossed cover underneath! This is such an insanely beautiful book and there are different covers to get so I want to collect them all.

Best Supporting Actress and Actor (Best Female and Male Sidekick):
Dreamfall (Dreamfall #1)
Clare: I'm cheating ever so slightly here. But the whole team in Dreamfall by Amy Plum. Cata is (kind of) the main character but every one of the kids is so individual and intriguing.

Best Original Screenplay (Most Original Plot or World):
This is Not a Test (This is Not a Test #1)
Clare: This Is Not a Test by Courtney Summers. I've read a lot of zombie books but I can't remember one as unique as this. The focus was on the human relationships and the zombies themselves barely made an appearance which made the book feel original and exciting. 

Best Adapted Screenplay (Best Book to Movie Adaption):
The Martian
Clare: The only book to movie adaptation I've seen this year was The Martian but it was a really good one so I'm going with that!

Best Animated Feature (A Book That Would Work Well in Animated Form):
La Belle Sauvage (The Book of Dust, #1)
Clare: This is always the hardest category for me. But I think The Book of Dust would have to be it. It would make such a beautiful animated movie. 

Best Director (A Writer You Discovered For the First Time This Year):
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Clare: Shirley Jackson. I read We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House this year and they were both incredible. WHALitC may be one of my new favourite books of all time. I can't wait to read more of her books.

Best Visual Effects (Best Action in a Book):
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
Clare: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo. EVERY bit of action in this book felt super satisfying.

Best Musical Score (Best Music in a Book to Movie Adaptation):
Clare: I'm going to really, really cheat here and say Beauty and the Beast. It was a book. It counts. Shh.

Best Short Film (Best Novella or Short Book):
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (Grisha Verse, #0.5, #2.5, #2.6)
Clare: The Language of Thorns was filled with the most beautiful stories!! Definitely read it whether you're a fan of the Grishaverse or not.

Best Picture (Best Stand-Alone):
Under Rose-Tainted Skies
Clare: Under Rose-Tainted Skies was perfect and beautiful and just the best representation of anxiety I've read (Becoming Miss Nobody is also amazing - read them both). 

Best Documentary (Best Historical or Non-Fiction):
The Smoke Hunter
Clare: The Smoke Hunter was one of my favourite books of the year. It's like Victorian Lara Croft and it was fun and interesting and believable and I NEED a sequel. 

Monday 1 January 2018

New Year's Resolutions!!!

Clare:

I didn't do massively well on my 2017 Resolutions. But I'm gonna try again in 2018, with hope that I can do better!

  • Read 200 books. This year I managed 242 somehow but I'm going to set the bar slightly lower this year to avoid stressing myself out.
  • Go to YALC again!! YALC was some of the best fun I've ever had and I met so many amazing people so I'm looking forward to (hopefully) going again in 2018!
  • Beat the Backlist!!! I will be takin part in Novel Knight's Beat the Backlist challenge (I'm team Story Sorcerers - let me know if you're also taking part!!


I will be taking a break this week from doing Monday Highlights but it will be back next week!!