REVIEW: War of the Cards (#3) - Colleen Oakes*

The War of the Cards (#3) - Colleen Oakes*
Series: Queen of Hearts Saga
Publisher: HarperTeen
Format: E-Book
Pages: 352 Pages
Rating: ✭✭✭✭✭

*Received fromNetGalley for an honest review*

Goodreads Blurb

Dinah has lost everyone she ever loved. Her brother was brutally murdered. The wicked man she believed was her father betrayed her. Her loyal subjects have been devastated by war. And the boy she gave her heart to broke it completely.

Now a dark queen has risen out of the ashes of her former life. Fury is blooming inside Dinah, poisoning her soul and twisting her mind. All she has left is Wonderland and her crown, and her obsession to fight for both. But the war rages on, and Dinah could inherit a bloodstained throne. Can a leader filled with love and rage ever be the ruler her kingdom needs? Or will her all-consuming wrath bring Wonderland to its knees?

This is not a story of happily ever after.

This is the story of the Queen of Hearts.

REVIEW: Blood of Wonderland (#2) - Colleen Oakes

Blood of Wonderland (#2) - Colleen Oakes
Series: Queen of Hearts
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 322 Pages
Rating: ✮✮✮

Goodreads Blurb

Dinah has been exiled from Wonderland. The vicious father she always feared has framed her for the brutal murder of her brother and turned the kingdom against her.

Now hiding in the lush and mysterious Twisted Wood with only her war steed at her side, Dinah is faced with a choice. She could leave Wonderland forever or return and fight her father for her throne—a fight she knows would only result in bloodshed.

When a chance encounter with one of her father’s long-lost enemies brings Dinah more allies than she ever could have imagined, war starts to feel inevitable. But before Dinah can lead her people into combat, she must confront certain truths about her heart and her destiny—no matter how dark those truths may be.

Revolution is rising in Wonderland.

Dinah’s battle has begun.

REVIEW: Cell 7 (#1) - Kerry Drewery

Cell 7 (#1) - Kerry Drewery
Series: Cell 7
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Format: Kindle
Pages: 400 Pages
Rating: ✮✮✮✮✮

Goodreads Blurb

Should she live or die? You decide An adored celebrity has been killed. Sixteen-year-old Martha Honeydew was found holding a gun, standing over the body.

Now Justice must prevail.

The general public will decide whether Martha is innocent or guilty by viewing daily episodes of the hugely popular TV show Death is Justice, the only TV show that gives the power of life and death decisions - all for the price of a phone call.

Martha has admitted to the crime. But is she guilty? Or is reality sometimes more complicated than the images we are shown on TV?

REVIEW: Queen of Hearts (#1) - Colleen Oakes

Queen of Hearts (#1) - Colleen Oakes
Series: Queen of Hearts Saga
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 306 Pages
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Dinah is the princess who will one day reign over Wonderland. She has not yet seen the dark depths of her kingdom; she longs only for her father’s approval and a future with the boy she loves. But when a betrayal breaks her heart and threatens her throne, she is launched into Wonderland’s dangerous political game. Dinah must stay one step ahead of her cunning enemies or she’ll lose not just the crown but her head.

Evil is brewing in Wonderland and maybe, most frighteningly, in Dinah herself.

This is not a story of happily ever after.

This is the story of the Queen of Hearts.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Hi Everyone,

If you haven't noticed there hasn't been much content this month, that is because on the 1st December 2017 I had my baby. A little boy named Fletcher, who weighed 7lbs 2oz, so as you can gather things have been hectic and the days have merged into one.

I am going to try and get back to book blogging in January as I have a load of NetGalley books that are due for review so need to get them read and up ASAP.

REVIEW: Ross Poldark (#1) - Winston Graham

Ross Poldark (#1) - Winston Graham
Series: The Poldark Saga
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Format: Kindle
Pages: 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

A weary Ross Poldark returns to England from war, looking forward to a joyful homecoming with his beloved Elizabeth. But instead he discovers his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth—believing Ross to be dead—is now engaged to his cousin. Ross has no choice but to start his life anew.

REVIEW: All The Wrong Chords - Christine Hurley Deriso*

All The Wrong Chords - Christine Hurley Deriso*
Publisher: Flux
Format: E-Book
Pages: 288 Pages
Rating: ★★

*Received from NetGalley for an honest review*

Goodreads Blurb

Scarlett Stiles is desperate for a change of scenery after her older brother, Liam, dies of a drug overdose. But spending the summer with her grandfather wasn't exactly what she had in mind. Luckily, Scarlett finds something to keep her busy--a local rock band looking for a guitarist. Even though playing guitar has been hard since Liam died, Scarlett can't pass on an opportunity like this, and she can't take her eyes off the band's hot lead singer either. Is real happiness just around the corner? Or will she always be haunted by her brother's death?

REVIEW: American Gods - Neil Gaiman

American Gods - Neil Gaiman
Series: American Gods
Publisher: Headline Publishing Group
Format: Paperback
Pages: 736 Pages
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Days before his release from prison, Shadow’s wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

REVIEW: A Court of Thorns and Roses (#1) - Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses (#1) - Sarah J. Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

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.

REVIEW: Stalking Jack the Ripper (#1) - Kerri Maniscalco

Stalking Jack the Ripper (#1) - Kerri Maniscalco
Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Format: Audiobook
Time: 9Hrs 26Mins
Narrator: Nicola Barber
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

REVIEW: The Dazzling Heights (#2) - Katharine McGee

The Dazzling Heights (#2) - Katharine McGee
Series: The Thousandth Floor
Publisher: HaperCollins Publishers
Format: Paperback
Pages: 320 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

New York City, 2118. Manhattan is home to a thousand-story supertower, a breathtaking marvel that touches the sky. But amid high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, five teenagers are keeping dangerous secrets…

Leda is haunted by memories of what happened on the worst night of her life. She’ll do anything to make sure the truth stays hidden—even if it means trusting her enemy.

Watt just wants to put everything behind him…until Leda forces him to start hacking again. Will he do what it takes to be free of her for good?

When Rylin wins a scholarship to an upper-floor school, her life transforms overnight. But being there also means seeing the boy whose heart she broke, and who broke hers in return.

Avery is tormented by her love for the one person in the world she can never have. She’s desperate to be with him…no matter the cost.

And then there’s Calliope, the mysterious, bohemian beauty who arrives in New York determined to cause a stir. And she knows exactly where to begin.

But unbeknownst to them all, someone is watching their every move, someone with revenge in mind. After all, in a world of such dazzling heights, just one wrong step can mean a devastating fall.

REVIEW: Just Like Heaven (#1) - Julia Quinn

Just Like Heaven (#1) - Julia Quinn
Series: Smith-Smythe Quartet
Publisher:  Little Brown Book Group
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Honoria Smythe-Smith is a bad violinist in a traditional family performance she does not look forward to but will smile through for kinship. She trailed around after her brother and Marcus his best friend since childhood. Now the Earl of Chatteris, Marcus sprains his ankle in Honoria's own carefully dug hole. After they tease, they may fall in love.

REVIEW: Crown of Midnight (#2) - Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight (#2) - Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.

Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.

Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

REVIEW: City of Ashes (#2) - Cassandra Clare

City of Ashes (#2) - Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Publisher: Walker
Format: Kindle
Pages: 476 Pages
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Clary Fray just wishes that her life would go back to normal. But what's normal when you're a demon-slaying Shadowhunter, your mother is in a magically induced coma, and you can suddenly see Downworlders like werewolves, vampires, and faeries? If Clary left the world of the Shadowhunters behind, it would mean more time with her best friend, Simon, who's becoming more than a friend. But the Shadowhunting world isn't ready to let her go — especially her handsome, infuriating, newfound brother, Jace. And Clary's only chance to help her mother is to track down rogue Shadowhunter Valentine, who is probably insane, certainly evil — and also her father.

To complicate matters, someone in New York City is murdering Downworlder children. Is Valentine behind the killings — and if he is, what is he trying to do? When the second of the Mortal Instruments, the Soul-Sword, is stolen, the terrifying Inquisitor arrives to investigate and zooms right in on Jace. How can Clary stop Valentine if Jace is willing to betray everything he believes in to help their father?

REVIEW: Glass Sword (#2) - Victoria Aveyard

Glass Sword (#2) - Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Paperback
Pages: 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the colour of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

REVIEW: A Husband's Regret (#2) - Natasha Anders

A Husband's Regret (#2) - Natasha Anders
Series: Unwanted
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Format: Kindle
Pages: 337 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Tall and thin, twenty-eight-year-old Bronwyn Palmer has become positively gaunt, a ghost of her former self. That self was? and still is? the wife of a rich, handsome executive with an ocean-view house and his own security staff.

It was in that house, two years ago, that Bryce Palmer learned Bronwyn was pregnant with their first child. But Bryce's rage over his impending fatherhood touched off a chain reaction of emotional and physical traumas that wounded them both. For Bronwyn, it meant fleeing the perfect marriage to start over with nothing but a precocious daughter named Kayla to care for. For Bryce, it meant a tortuous two years spent blaming his wife for deserting him, and living with the pain of not knowing his child. Now a chance encounter has brought Bronwyn back into Bryce's life, both bearing scars? and neither knowing the whole truth of that fateful night that drove them apart.

REVIEW: The Source (#2) - J.D. Horn

The Source (#2) - J. D. Horn
Series: Witching Savannah
Publisher:  Brillaince Audio
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Shannon McManus
Time: 10hrs 56mins
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Savannah resident Mercy Taylor may now be in control of the South's most powerful family of witches, but she's struggling to master her newfound magic. Pregnant with her first child and still reeling from a heartbreaking betrayal, she just wants to be able to use her supernatural abilities without accidentally destroying dishes or blasting the doors off buildings.

But when Mercy's long-presumed-dead mother suddenly returns, begging Mercy to keep her presence under wraps, the witch wonders how many secrets her family is hiding...and who she can really trust. And when the danger around her intensifies to deadly levels, Mercy knows she must discover the truth behind her family's magic—before it destroys her.

REVIEW: Daughter of the Burning City - Amanda Foody*

Daughter of the Burning City - Amanda Foody*

*I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review

Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Format: EBook
Pages: 384 Pages
Rating: 3/5 (liked it) ★★★

Blurb from Amazon:

Even among the many unusual members of the travelling circus that has always been her home sixteen year old Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years.

This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all of their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival's Freak Show.

But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real.

Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.

Now she must unravel the horrifying truth before all her loved ones disappear.

REVIEW: James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
Publisher: Puffin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 176 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

James Henry Trotter lives with two ghastly hags. Aunt Sponge is enormously fat with a face that looks boiled and Aunt Spiker is bony and screeching. He's very lonely until one day something peculiar happens. At the end of the garden a peach starts to grow and GROW AND GROW. Inside that peach are seven very unusual insects - all waiting to take James on a magical adventure. But where will they go in their GIANT PEACH and what will happen to the horrible aunts if they stand in their way? There's only one way to find out . .

REVIEW: Front Lines (#1) - Michael Grant

Front Lines (#1) - Michael Grant
Series: Front Lines
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Format: Paperback
Pages: 462 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

1942. The fate of the world rests on a knife’s edge. And the soldiers who can tip the balance . . . are girls.

Set in an alternate World War II where young women are called up to fight alongside men, this is the story of Rio Richlin and her friends as they go into battle against Hitler’s forces. 

But not everyone believes that they should be on the front lines. Now Rio and her friends must fight not only to survive, but to prove their courage and ingenuity. Because the fate of the world is in the hands of the soldier girls.

REVIEW: Illuminae (#1) - Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman

Illuminae (#1) - Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman
Series: The Illuminae Files
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Format: Paperback
Pages: 608 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do. This afternoon, her planet was invaded.

The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.

REVIEW: Bonfire - Krysten Ritter*

Bonfire - Krysten Ritter*
Publisher: Cornerstone
Format:  E-Book
Pages: 288 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

*Received from NetGalley for an honest review*

Goodreads Blurb

It has been ten years since Abby Williams left home and scrubbed away all visible evidence of her small town roots. Now working as an environmental lawyer in Chicago, she has a thriving career, a modern apartment, and her pick of meaningless one-night stands.

But when a new case takes her back home to Barrens, Indiana, the life Abby painstakingly created begins to crack. Tasked with investigating Optimal Plastics, the town's most high-profile company and economic heart, Abby begins to find strange connections to Barrens’ biggest scandal from more than a decade ago involving the popular Kaycee Mitchell and her closest friends—just before Kaycee disappeared for good.

Abby knows the key to solving any case lies in the weak spots, the unanswered questions. But as Abby tries to find out what really happened to Kaycee, she unearths an even more disturbing secret—a ritual called “The Game,” which will threaten the reputations, and lives, of the community and risk exposing a darkness that may consume her.

REVIEW: Tap (#1) - Georgia Cates

Tap (#1) - Georgia Cates
Series: Lovibond
Publisher: Georgia Cates Books
Format: Kindle
Pages: 294 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

A faceless name. That’s all she was when I agreed to play a part in deceiving her. But then the unplanned happened.

We met. And all I wanted from her was a dirty weekend . . . until that wasn’t enough and I longed for so much more.

Lawrence Thorn suddenly means the world to me. And that’s a problem. She’s my business partner’s sister. Forbidden fruit. Pursuing her can mean trouble for me at Lovibond Brewery. But I don’t care.

I yearn for her skin against mine.
I crave her smell on my body.
I want to make her laugh and then hear her moan my name.
And she does for a brief moment in time.

But Lawrence wants more than I’m able to give. And it’s a damn shame because there’s no one on earth I want more than her.

REVIEW: Wolf by Wolf (#1) - Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf (#1) - Ryan Graudin
Series: Wolf by Wolf
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s Ball in Tokyo.

Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has witnessed too much suffering, and the five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year’s only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin’s brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael’s every move.

But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?

REVIEW: Passenger (#1) - Alexandra Bracken

Passenger (#1) - Alexandra Bracken
Series: Passenger
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

In one devastating night, violin prodigy Etta Spencer loses everything she knows and loves. Thrust into an unfamiliar world by a stranger with a dangerous agenda, Etta is certain of only one thing: she has traveled not just miles but years from home. And she’s inherited a legacy she knows nothing about from a family whose existence she’s never heard of. Until now.

Nicholas Carter is content with his life at sea, free from the Ironwoods—a powerful family in the colonies—and the servitude he’s known at their hands. But with the arrival of an unusual passenger on his ship comes the insistent pull of the past that he can’t escape and the family that won’t let him go so easily. Now the Ironwoods are searching for a stolen object of untold value, one they believe only Etta, Nicholas’ passenger, can find. In order to protect her, he must ensure she brings it back to them—whether she wants to or not.

Together, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the traveler who will do anything to keep the object out of the Ironwoods’ grasp. But as they get closer to the truth of their search, and the deadly game the Ironwoods are playing, treacherous forces threaten to separate Etta not only from Nicholas but from her path home... forever.

REVIEW: Gnomon - Nick Harkaway*

Gnomon - Nick Harkaway*
Publisher:  Cornerstone
Format: E-Book
Pages: 704 Pages
Rating: DNF

*Received from NetGalley for an honest review*

Goodreads Blurb

Gnomon, which took Harkaway more than three years to complete, is set in a world of ubiquitous surveillance. Pitched as "a mind-bending Borgesian puzzle box of identity, meaning and reality in which the solution steps sideways as you approach it", it features: a detective who finds herself investigating the very society she believes in, urged on by a suspect who may be an assassin or an ally, hunting through the dreams of a torture victim in search of the key to something she does not yet understand; a banker who is pursued by a shark that swallows Fortune 500 companies; Saint Augustine’s jilted mistress who reshapes the world with miracles; a refugee grandfather turned games designer who must remember how to walk through walls or be burned alive by fascists; and a sociopath who falls backwards through time in order to commit a murder.

REVIEW: The New Dark (#1) - Lorraine Thomson*

The New Dark (#1) - Lorraine Thomson*
Series: The Dark Times
Publisher: Bastei Entertainment
Format: E-Book
Pages: 221 Pages
Rating: ★★★

*Received from NetGalley for an honest review*

Goodreads Blurb

There is no "Before", there is only "Now". Because now there’s no internet, no TV, no power grid. Food is scarce, and the world’s a hostile place. But Sorrel lives a quiet life in the tiny settlement of Amat. It’s all she’s ever known ...

Until a gang of marauding mutants destroys the village, snatching her brother Eli, and David, her boyfriend. Sorrel sets out after them, embarking on a journey fraught with danger. Can she survive? The only thing that keeps her going is Eli and David. They are out there somewhere. They must be alive. And if she has her way, she will find them.

REVIEW: The Cuckoo's Calling (#1) - Robert Galbraith

The Cuckoo's Calling (#1) - Robert Galbraith
Series: Cormoron Strike
Publisher: Hachette Audio UK
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Robert Glenister
Time: 15hrs 53mins
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, the legendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

REVIEW: The Line (#1) - J. D. Horn

The Line (#1) - J. D. Horn
Series: Witching Savannah
Publisher:  Brilliance Audio
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Shannon McManus
Time: 9hrs 6mins
Rating: ★★★★★ (It was Amazing)

Goodreads Blurb

To the uninitiated, Savannah shows only her bright face and genteel manner. Those who know her well, though, can see beyond her colonial trappings and small-city charm to a world where witchcraft is respected, Hoodoo is feared, and spirits linger. Mercy Taylor is all too familiar with the supernatural side of Savannah, being a member of the most powerful family of witches in the South.
Despite being powerless herself, of course.

Having grown up without magic of her own, in the shadow of her talented and charismatic twin sister, Mercy has always thought herself content. But when a series of mishaps—culminating in the death of the Taylor matriarch—leaves a vacuum in the mystical underpinnings of Savannah, she finds herself thrust into a mystery that could shake her family apart…and unleash a darkness the line of Taylor witches has been keeping at bay for generations.

REVIEW: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving
Publisher: Perfection Learning
Format: Paperback
Pages: 61 Pages
Rating: ★★

Goodreads Blurb

Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher, came to Tarry Town in the glen of Sleepy Hollow to ply his trade in educating young minds. He was a gullible and excitable fellow, often so terrified by locals' stories of ghosts that he would hurry through the woods on his way home, singing to keep from hysterics. Among these stories was the legend of the Galloping Hessian, the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

REVIEW: Flesh and Blood (#4) - Simon Cheshire

Flesh and Blood (#4) - Simon Cheshire
Series: Red Eye
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

I must record the facts that have led me to where I am now. So that, when someone reads this, they understand. Sam Hunter's neighbours are pillars of the community, the most influential people in town. But they're liars too. The Greenhills are hiding something and Sam's determined to find out what it is. As his investigation unfolds, he realizes the lies reach further than he ever imagined - is there anyone he can trust? Uncovering the horror is one thing ...escaping is another.

REVIEW: Midnight Alley (#3) - Rachel Caine

Midnight Alley (#3) - Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Format: Paperback
Pages: 365 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ (It was Amazing)

Goodreads Blurb

When Claire Danvers learnt that her college town was run by vampires, she did what any intelligent, self-preserving student would do: she applied for a transfer and stocked up on garlic. The transfer is no longer an option, but the garlic may come in handy.
Now Claire has pledged herself to Amelie, the most powerful vampire in town. The protection her contract secures does little to reassure her friends. All of a sudden people are turning up dead, a stalker resurfaces from Claire's past, and an ancient bloodsucker extends a chilling invitation for private lessons in his secluded home.

REVIEW: Trial by Fire (#1) - Josephine Angelini

Trial by Fire (#1) - Josephine Angelini
Series: Worldwalker
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ (It was Amazing)

Goodreads Blurb

This world is trying to kill Lily Proctor. Her life-threatening allergies keep her from enjoying experiences that others in her hometown of Salem take for granted, which is why she is determined to enjoy her first high school party with her best friend and longtime crush, Tristan. But after a humiliating incident in front of half her graduating class, Lily wishes she could just disappear.

Suddenly, Lily is in a different Salem—one overrun with horrifying creatures and ruled by powerful women called Crucibles. Strongest and cruelest of them all is Lillian . . . Lily's other self in this alternate universe.

What makes Lily weak at home is what makes her extraordinary in New Salem. In this confusing world, Lily is torn between responsibilities she can't hope to shoulder alone and a love she never expected.

REVIEW: Bad Bones (#3) - Graham Marks

Bad Bones (#3)- Graham Marks
Series: Red Eye
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 336 Pages
Rating: ★★★ (Liked It)

Goodreads Blurb

Some things are best left buried. Gabe is feeling the pressure. His family has money troubles, he's hardly talking to his dad, plus lowlife Benny is on his case. Needing some space to think, he heads off into the hills surrounding LA. And he suddenly stumbles across a secret that will change everything. A shallow grave. Gabe doesn't think twice about taking the gold bracelet he finds buried there. Even from the clutches of skeletal hands. But he has no idea what he's awakening

REVIEW: The Dead Girls' Dance (#2) - Rachel Caine

The Dead Girls' Dance (#2) - Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Format: Paperback
Pages: 380 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Claire has her share of challenges. Like being a genius in a school that favours beauty over brains; homicidal girls in her dorm, and finding out that her college town is overrun with the living dead. On the up side, she has a new boyfriend with a vampire-hunting dad. But when a local fraternity throws the Dead Girls' Dance, hell is really going to break loose.

REVIEW: Rivers of London (#1) - Ben Aaronovitch

Rivers of London (#1) - Ben Aaronovitch
Series: Peter Grant
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Kindle
Pages: 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ (It Was Amazing)

Goodreads Blurb

My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit - we do paperwork so real coppers don't have to - and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluble, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.

REVIEW: Glass Houses (#1) - Rachel Caine

Glass Houses (#1) - Rachel Caine
Series: Morganville Vampires
Publisher: Allison & Busby
Format: Paperback
Pages: 348 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ (It Was Amazing)

Goodreads Blurb

College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life, but they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood. Will she be able to face the town's terror or will she drown like everyone else?

REVIEW: The Dark Day's Club (#1) - Alison Goodman

The Dark Day's Club (#1) - Alison Goodman
Series: Lady Helen
Publisher: Walker Books
Format: Kindle
Pages: 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★ (It was Amazing)

Goodreads Blurb

London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?

Sleepless (#2) - Lou Morgan

Sleepless (#2) - Lou Morgan
Series: Red Eye
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 352 Pages
Rating: ★★ (It was OK)

Goodreads Blurb

Young, rich and good-looking, Izzy and her friends lead seemingly perfect lives. But exams are looming and at a school like Clerkenwell, failure is not an option. Luckily, Tigs has a solution. A small pill that will make revision a breeze and help them get the results they need. Desperate to succeed, the group begin taking the study drug. It doesn't take long before they realize there are far worse things than failing a few exams.

Frozen Charlotte (#1) - Alex Bell

Frozen Charlotte (#1) - Alex Bell
Series: Red Eye
Publisher: Stripes Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

We're waiting for you to come and play. Dunvegan School for Girls has been closed for many years. Converted into a family home, the teachers and students are long gone. But they left something behind...Sophie arrives at the old schoolhouse to spend the summer with her cousins. Brooding Cameron with his scarred hand, strange Lilias with a fear of bones and Piper, who seems just a bit too good to be true. And then there's her other cousin. The girl with a room full of antique dolls. The girl that shouldn't be there. The girl that died.

REVIEW: Clockwork Angel (#1) - Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel (#1) - Cassandra Clare
Series: The Infernal Devices
Publisher: Walker Books Ltd
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496 Pages
Rating: ★★★★ (Really Liked It)

Goodreads Blurb

In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them... 

REVIEW: This Savage Song (#1) - V. E. Schwab

This Savage Song (#1) - V. E. Schwab
Series: Monsters of Verity
Publisher: Titan Books Ltd
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400 pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

There’s no such thing as safe in a city at war, a city overrun with monsters. In this dark urban fantasy from author Victoria Schwab, a young woman and a young man must choose whether to become heroes or villains—and friends or enemies—with the future of their home at stake. The first of two books.

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters. One who can steal a soul with a simple strain of music. When the chance arises to keep an eye on Kate, who’s just been kicked out of her sixth boarding school and returned home, August jumps at it. But Kate discovers August’s secret, and after a failed assassination attempt the pair must flee for their lives.

REVIEW: City of Bones (#1) - Cassandra Clare

City of Bones (#1) - Cassandra Clare
Series: The Mortal Instruments
Publisher: Walker
Format: Kindle
Pages: 503 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder― much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing―not even a smear of blood―to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know...

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

REVIEW: Red Queen (#1) - Victoria Aveyard

Red Queen (#1) - Victoria Aveyard
Series: Red Queen
Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

This is a world divided by blood – red or silver.

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change.

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare’s potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance – Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

REVIEW: Invictus - Ryan Graudin*

Invictus - Ryan Graudin
Publisher: Hachette Children's Group    
Format: E-Book
Pages: 464 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
UK Release Date: 21st September 2017

*I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review

Goodreads Blurb

Time flies when you're plundering history.

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far's birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he's ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past.

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with knowledge that will bring Far's very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.

REVIEW: Throne of Glass (#1) - Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass (#1) - Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC    
Format: Paperback
Pages: 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

After serving out a year of hard labour in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her, her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.

Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.

Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

REVIEW: Twisted Palace (#3) - Erin Watt

Twisted Palace (#3) - Erin Watt
Series: Paper Princess
Publisher: Ever After Romance
Format: Kindle
Pages: 370 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

These Royals will ruin you…

From mortal enemies to unexpected allies, two teenagers try to protect everything that matters most.

Ella Harper has met every challenge that life has thrown her way. She’s tough, resilient, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend the people she loves, but the challenge of a long-lost father and a boyfriend whose life is on the line might be too much for even Ella to overcome.

Reed Royal has a quick temper and even faster fists. But his tendency to meet every obstacle with violence has finally caught up with him. If he wants to save himself and the girl he loves, he’ll need to rise above his tortured past and tarnished reputation.

No one believes Ella can survive the Royals. Everyone is sure Reed will destroy them all.
They may be right.

With everything and everyone conspiring to keep them apart, Ella and Reed must find a way to beat the law, save their families, and unravel all the secrets in their Twisted Palace.

REVIEW: Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
Publisher: Audible Studios
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Thandie Newton
Time: 19hrs 10mins
Rating: ★★

Goodreads Blurb

Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead and subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed.

REVIEW: The Bone Season (#1) - Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season (#1) - Samantha Shannon
Series: The Bone Season
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Format: Paperback
Pages: 452 Pages
Rating: ★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

REVIEW: A Darker Shade of Magic (#1) - V. E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic (#1) - V.E. Schwab
Series: Shades of Magic
Publisher: Titan Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 384 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★

Goodreads Blurb

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel London's; 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 London's, 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.