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Ghosts of the Shadow Market by Cassandra Clare (Ft. Short Stories If You Miss Your Old Faves!)

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It’s always a satisfying pleasure to be back in my favourite Shadowhunter world.

I just adore it all so much, ok? I’m in deep. I love that we get backstory and extra time with favourite characters. I love the indulgence of seeing characters grow up over the course of all the series and get married and have kids. Like, ok sometimes it’s totally sappy. But I don’t CARE. I am a soft leaf of grass these days. Let me be happy with my kids.

This is a collection of 10 short stories.

They’re set from the 1900s to 2012 and all sort of incorporate the Shadow Market. Most are through Jem Carstair’s eyes (when he’s a Silent Brother and when he’s free) and dude is a miserable eloquent mop and I love him so much. I was #TeamJem the whole way ok (he deserved better), so this was just nice to be back with him as he searches for the lost Herondale line as a tribute to Will.

TL;DR version of my feels

  • love love love because it’s Shadowhunters ok
  • the Shadowhunter family tree is convoluted and exhausting
  • I resent everyone in TID growing up to name their children all after each other. I cannot tell anyone apart or know who belongs to who.
  • I really don’t like the Thule!Jace storyline I just…thought I’d get onboard but I am not. That’s my only criticism for the whole series oops.
  • Freaking HERE for a certain couple having a baby at the end.😍
  • Magnus/Alec are a GIFT; eternally.
  • I’m so glad Clare keeps gifting us with little in-between moments and giving these domestic scenes + action and relaying important info. (But the domestic scenes make me heart eyes.)
  • I really loved the art starting each story!!

Cast Long Shadows

This was the hardest to follow because we have like ALL the TID kids here and holy heck I could not keep them straight. Fairchilds and Herondales and Lightwoods galore. They all had so many kids hahah. Anyway it was sad? But rather made me think Matthew was an idiot for trusting a faerie potion instead of talking to his parents.

Every Exquisite Thing

Butch lesbian appreciation. We stan. I also just loved this quiet love and acceptance of queerness by Anna’s parents!! Also Jem being badass and solving Shadow Market mysteries.

Learn About Loss

Brother Zachariah (cough*Jem*cough) and Sister Emilia go to a carnival to discover more about the Lost Herondale line. And look, Jem has a dream where he and Will run hand-in-hand across a moonlight rooftops and u tell me that’s very heterosexual.

A Deeper Love

Oh wow this one was STRESSFUL. Jem gets hurt and Tessa freaks out and it’s set in WWII and also features Catrina Loss! I really liked this one. Nothing like some good wretched feels.

The Wicked Ones

This was like…ugh [throws up a little] a 17yo shadowhunter crushing on Stephan Herondale (23yo and married) so much that she’ll do anything to make him fall in love with her. These are Jace’s parents! And it shows more how Valentine controlled his inner circle.

Son of the Dawn

ok this one made me laugh because it has Raphael in it (LOVE Raphael) and Lily Chen, who ends up calling Jem “Brother Snackeriah” which ya know. She is not wrong. They also go pick up baby!Jace (he’s like 10 or something, but a baby) from being shipped to the Lightwoods on a boat loaded with drugs. Also Jace is so deeply damaged. Also BABY ISABELLE AND ALEC. They’re adorable.

The Land I Lost

100000% my favourite story of the book. Laughed out LOUD. Wanted to cry. Omg. This is when Alec finds and adopts little Rafe and I just!!! Ok I am a mess for Alec/Magnus domestic scenes and while this was mostly Alec being badass alone in Buenos Aires and finding the Institute there is super corrupt…it still had the most ADORABLE scenes in it. Also Rafe was such a feral little thing and every time Alec was just holding him comfortingly. 😫💛 Also Magnus’ line of “you left for 3 days and adopted a child…imagine if we let you roam for a week.” I LOVE THEM.

Through Blood, Through Fire

Jem and Tessa are still looking for that Lost Herondale kid. They are not good at this hide and seek. This one is angsty but I appreciate Jem/Tessa together. Aw.

The Lost World

Finally we get some BLACKTHORNS. This is mostly by Livvy, but some of Ty’s POV. I really miss Ty and I’m crying…he is so sad. He refuses to acknowledge he has a hole in his life without Kit. Shows more of what Livy can do now…I liked it but made me SAD that we don’t get Wicked Powers for so so long….I want it now.

Forever Fallen

Ok this was soft sweetness with Baby Carstairs and Kit stopping being an abandoned orphan. LOVE the Carstairs family 100%. Also more of Thule!Jace who I do not understand and do not want to see ever again 🤗 I assume this is warning that there will be lots of Thule storyline in Wicked Power and bleh. Do not want. But I do want Ty and Kit and will die for them. So. (Yes, I’m chill about it.)

Also the last sentence is: “This evening, the whole sky was bronze, as though to summon wicked powers.”

SCREEEEAMING

Thank you to Walker Books AUS for the review-copy! It released June, 2019.

Goodreads | Booktopia | Walker Books | Book Depository | Amazon

The Shadow Market is a meeting point for faeries, werewolves, warlocks and vampires. There the Downworlders buy and sell magical objects, make dark bargains, and whisper secrets they do not want the Nephilim to know. Through two centuries, however, there has been a frequent visitor to the Shadow Market from the City of Bones, the very heart of the Shadowhunters. As a Silent Brother, Brother Zachariah is sworn keeper of the laws and lore of the Nephilim. But once he was a Shadowhunter called Jem Carstairs, and his love, then and always, is the warlock Tessa Gray.
Follow Brother Zachariah and see, against the backdrop of the Shadow Market’s dark dealings and festive celebrations, Anna Lightwood’s first romance, Matthew Fairchild’s great sin and Tessa Gray plunged into a world war. Valentine Morgenstern buys a soul at the Market and a young Jace Wayland’s soul finds safe harbor. In the Market is hidden a lost heir and a beloved ghost, and no one can save you once you have traded away your heart. Not even Brother Zachariah…

| what do you think? |

tell me your favourite Shadowhunter series! and have you read these short stories yet? are they on your TBR?

 

Heartstream by Tom Pollock (ft. Twisted Social Media Thriller)

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Heartstream is super twisted and disturbingly addictive.

It’s a story full of unreliable narrators and convoluted secrets and the lengths people will go to get what they want. Basically let’s talk about ✨obsession✨ and how it makes humans into terrifying things. It’s the type of thriller you can’t put down because you need answers and you need them n o w.

// the story follows a split timeline and two narrators: Cat and Amy

📖 Amy’s storyline is in the near-future, and starts at her mother’s funeral. We get introduced us to the concept of “heartstreaming” — basically people connect up to a network and share their emotions. Anyone can download and feel what you feel. It was an intriguing concept even if I cannot for the life of me understand WHY this is a thing. Amy has this massive cultish following who basically believe they have rights to every inch of her life due to living through the trauma of her mum’s death with her. And yes??? It sort of feels like Amy was profiting off her mum’s death to broadcast her pain which was weird. But she was trying to cope, I guess? When she gets back from her mum’s funeral, she finds one of her fans in her house wtih a bomb strapped to her chest. She just wants to talk…

📖 Cat’s storyline is set in the present(ish) time, and she’s at in wild boyband fandom where shipping the two lead singers is a literal cutthroat CULT. It’s kind of terrifying?! People have dedicated their lives to shipping these guys (Ryan and Nick = aka “Rick”) and Cat’s BFF Evie is like the leader and a viral sensation. The secret: Cat is actually sleeping with Ryan and she’s too terrified to tell Evie who literally destroys people for even suggesting the boys aren’t in love. ALSO 🙌🏻 Ryan is an insipid jerk.

How do the storylines connect?

You don’t get to know for AGES and it’s really wild when they do. My eyes might have bugged out. It’s cleverly done and pretty wild…especially wondering if people would actually do that.

 

// it felt like a creative and unique story (but i was also weirded out)

Obsessive fandom culture, creepy online followers, and technology that is an exaggeration of what we have today are all intensely interesting topics to explore — but not my favourite to read, personally. I didn’t understand why anyone would “heartstream” suffering or obsess over a boyband to a vindictive degree. (I know the latter happens!! Peoples lives get ruined when a band breaks up and shipping can get aggressive ugh. But *I* don’t get it.) The book is well written and unputdownable (shh that’s totally a word) though and I’d definitely recommend it if you like thrillers! 👀

thanks to Walker Books for the ARC! Heartstream by Tom Pollock came out July 5th, 2019.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia | Walker Books

I just wanted to see you. Before the end. A taut psychological thriller about obsession, fame and betrayal, for fans of Black Mirror. Cat is in love. Always the sensible one, she can’t believe that she’s actually dating, not to mention dating a star. But the fandom can’t know. They would eat her alive. And first at the buffet would definitely be her best friend, Evie. Amy uses Heartstream, a social media app that allows others to feel your emotions. She broadcasted every moment of her mother’s degenerative illness, and her grief following her death. It’s the realest, rawest reality TV imaginable. But on the day of Amy’s mother’s funeral, Amy finds a strange woman in her kitchen. She’s rigged herself and the house with explosives – and she’s been waiting to talk to Amy for a long time. Who is she? A crazed fan? What does she want? Amy and Cat are about to discover how far true obsession can go.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE ➢ my review of the author’s book: White Rabbit Red Wolf

| what do you think? |

would you want to like…livestream feelings?! good ones maybe? obviously fandom culture CAN be super toxic, but how far do you think people would go? and is this book on your TBR?

 

Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst & Paula Garner (Ft. Friendship and Your Heart, Over There, Breaking)

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This whole book is so deeply about friendship, heartaches, and imaginary escapes.

And oops, yes that would be my heart flinging itself into the void while weeping all the way. 😭 Honestly — I’m still processing how I feel about this. It’s been a few days, and my heart feels sore. But I still also understand that this was a small glimpse through a messy cracked window into two girls’ lives. I appreciate that.

It’s a soft book, slow and quiet and thoughtful. Absolutely funny at times too! It has families with problematic dynamics, intimate friendships, stolen moments for escapism into fantasy worlds, messages about loss and growing up. And it kinda broke me at the end.

*:·ﾟ✧ THE STORY IT TOLD *:·ﾟ✧

Basically this is the story of two girls, Sam and Zoe, who seem to be totally different sorts of people — but the accidentally connect and end up becoming each other’s safe space. Particularly through their (basically roleplay) fantasyworld: STARWORLD. Aka let’s talk about escapism. 🤗I really appreciated the book tackling that because I feel like so so many teens rely heavily on escapism, especially during highschool. My way of escaping was always writing my own fantasy stories. So like, is this book relatable content??? Yes. Yes it is.

Zoe and Sam text each other these silly, fun things about flying to the stars on a dragon who loves eating hot sauce. They go back and forth. They accidentally tumble into telling secrets to each other. When their lives crumble, they have their unlikely friendship. And they have Starworld.

And I think the core of the book was that: it’s ok to need a safe place, a safe person, while you gather the strength to climb your own mountains. You don’t have to be alone.

 

*:·ﾟ✧ FRIENDSHIP VS ROMANCE *:·ﾟ✧

Ok so truly this book is about friendship. Don’t go in expecting a focus on f/f romance (there is queer content though and Sam is questioning). And while I kiiinda wanted more romance, I also think it’s important for YA to emphasis and value friendships.

SPOILERS HERE -- Beware
I am disappointed with the ending. Like Sam had a crush, she didn’t really talk about it before she kissed Zoe…who was very very straight. And Zoe’s reaction WOULD have been absolutely devastating (she was so shocked, it would’ve been easy to translate that to “horror” or “repulsion” even though it wasn’t for Zoe. And then that was it? It took them years to speak again. So while the book built up friendship as such a solid and important thing — I almost felt the takeaway was “but it can be broken and dissolve to nothing if you mess it up”😫.

 

*:·ﾟ✧ SAM & ZOE *:·ﾟ✧

Ahh I loved them BOTH and how they clicked in such unexpected ways. They are fierce and wonderful girls!

➢ SAM: She’s the antisocial geek the loner, an incredible artist and mathematician with a cynical outlook on life. She has exactly one friend (Will) and she wants to design rocks after she finishes highschool. She’s queer-questioning too. But she feels like she’ll never be able to leave home because her mum has severe OCD, and Sam is trying to help her, protect her, and cover for her all at once. Sam’s basically taken on the burden of her mum’s illness and it’s ruining them both.

➢ ZOE: Basically Miss Perfect, who is the sweetheart of school. So kind! So nice! Just…nice! But inside Zoe is a hot MESS because she has severe rejection issues she’s working through from being adopted and she has zero self-worth and is swallowed by her guilt of loving her adopted family…but wanting to know about her birth mother. And her life is cracking to pieces because her adopted-mum has cancer and then Zoe’s 15yo extremely disabled brother is being considered for a disability-needs-home. Aka, he will be leaving. Aka, Zoe is freaked out that they’re “tossing him out” because he’s too much work. It’s triggering all her anxiety AND she’s so upset and worried about her brother.

And Sam and her friendship just becomes this no-judgement safe zone. They have messy families, uncertain futures, and they both ache to be seen for who they truly are.

 

*:·ﾟ✧ THE WRITING *:·ﾟ✧

Just want to shout out to the writing for being a thorough DELIGHT. The dialogue had a wondrous flow and the whole book just made me want to keep devouring chapter after chapter. Sam and Zoe had really different voices, personalities, and reactions to things and…they were just so *clenches fist* so so relatable and loveable despite being utter disasters.

 

*:·ﾟ✧ MENTAL HEALTH & DISABILITY REP *:·ﾟ✧

Ok YES I was nervous about reading potentially bad rep (which is common in books grr) but I think, overall, Starworld did a good job. I can’t speak from personal experiences of having OCD or a very severe nonverbal disability — but I do fit at different places on the mental illness/disability spectrum, hence I had a deep interest in reading this. 👀

I definitely broke for the disability rep — it was loving! It was hard to read about a family giving up their son, but their mum had cancer (not in remission) and they were breaking apart and not giving their disabled son the best quality life they could. It destroyed them to feel like the “failed” him. So there’s no “oh he’s too hard, we’re tossing him out” feels here. It was really well handled, I felt. Still made me WANNA CRY.

The OCD rep…gahhh. I had problems with it, particularly how it felt Sam blamed her mum for being OCD. But a kid shouldn’t have to take care of their parents’ burdens (the mum needed help/counselling), but I do find it tough reading about neurotypicals being all “I’m shouldering this burden 🙄of my mentally ill family member.” Because just…can we not.

 

*:·ﾟ✧ OVERALL WHAT DID I THINK? *:·ﾟ✧

I really liked it and it made me super emotional so many times!! The ending left me unevenly frustrated, but, after thinking about it, I do think the story it told was important still. It’s a tale that’s equally soft and sad, but also whimsical and special. It felt so real, with all the family issues and the school-stresses and the intricacies of newly formed, but super strong, friendships.

It’s about friends who teach each other to be brave.

 

thank you to Walker Books AUS for the ARC. Starworld is out July 1st!

GOODREADS | BOOK DEPOSITORY | AMAZON | BOOKTOPIA | Walker Books | ★★★★☆

Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?

 

| WHAT DO YOU THINK |

tell me another YA book you love that has a focus on friendship? is this one on your TBR? do you read a lot of contemporary?

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas || This Is All Sorts Of Bri(lliance)

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Well, we all knew the Queen of YA, Angie Thomas, would gift us with another incredible story.

So brb, I am just feeling so many things about On The Come Up. I also really love Angie Thomas’ style and her passion and love that you can absolutely feel in every single page of the book. This one is about Bri who is a rapper and her family is facing possible homelessness and she’s trying to be herself…but she doesn’t know who that is yet. Her murdered dad was this Big Rapper Legend and everyone expects her to be him.

The story is about finding where you fit.

It’s not as dark as The Hate U Give, but that doesn’t make it any less powerful or needed. (I did like THUG more, but I also don’t want to compare them, because they’re different!)

 

Thank you Walker Books AUS for the review-copy! On The Come Up by Angie Thomas came out Feb 5th, 2019

 

➸ so first things first: it’s about rapping.

Bri’s #1 dream is to be a rapper and she’s super good at it. Her dad was a rapper and could’ve been really famous…except he was murdered when she was really little. Bri loves him, but doesn’t really remember him…but also doesn’t want to be him. She wants to make it as a rapper on her own talent.

So she writes a song that gets misconstrued and everything takes off from there. Kiiiind of out of her control.

There are so many powerful lyrics in what Bri raps and how she thinks up lyrics all the time. I noticed when she was particularly happy or stressed, she found a way to mentally put it in a rap. Also I think Angie Thomas herself is a rapper? So I can imagine the heart and talent that went into this part of crafting the book. (Also the movie is going to be EPIC.)

All these folks I’ve never met became gods over my life. Now I gotta take the power back.

➸ Bri and her family were my favourite thing in the book!!

Bri is amazing and so loving and protective of her family. She’s also a total geek (and so tired of how nobody gets her references) and finds school exhausting and is really done with people treating her badly because of her neighbourhood and being black. She absolutely takes NO shenanigans and has a really sharp temper…which lands her in a lot of (unfair) trouble too. And she’s flawed…I loved that about her. YA is all about teens who are learning what is to be themselves while they tumble through decisions and grow up. This had the heart of YA so so well.

Also…

➸ I love her realtionship with her family!! Her brother Trey is a total softie and takes such good care of her. And her mum lost herself to drugs for years and basically had to give up Bri and Trey to their grandparents and it took forever to get custody back. Their family is fractured but so close. I love them!! The banter was A+!! That uno game was WILD.
➸ And Bri’s friend squad of Sonny (who is gay and a graffiti artist) and Malik (a budding documentary maker and Bri’s long time crush…which goes badly) are EPIC together. They’re not perfect and they have some bitter fights. But I love tight-knit friend groups.

Jay’s a people person. I’m more of a “yes, people exist, but that doesn’t mean I need to talk to them” person.

➸ the romance was so smol but so cute

It was a tiny side-dish, which I appreciated, because Bri has a heck of a lot going on here. And it’s not the ship you originally think it will be….I just liked it a lot!!

 

➸ the themes are so so good.

This book arrived to raise its voice, which is something we’re all grateful for. It unpacks discussions on racial profiling and prejudice, it talks about what it really means to be poor, and it’s about defining yourself even despite others assuming things about you. It’s also about consequences: whether earned or not. Agh, so much unfairness hits Bri’s life, so you end up aching with her.

 

➸ I adore the writing in Angie Thomas’ books!

It’s always immediately captivating and Bri’s voice was just THE BEST. I also laughed out luod and got twisted up in anxious nerves, so like: get you a book that can do it all. (Although, unlike in THUG, I didn’t feel wrecked reading this…but it still had so much emotion.) Also for a 450 page book…it went by fast!


Obviously this is one you don’t want to miss! I loved it so much and seriously cannot wait for Thomas’ next book announcement. (pls be soon…) It’s a complex story with so many layers and it wraps a tight hug around family, friends, dreams, and fears. It’s about defining yourself and speaking up with art and passion and talent.

 

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.
On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.

Goodreads | Walker Books | Book Depository | Booktopia

 

➸ similar titles to try…

   

have you read The Hate U Give or On The Come Up?!? do you compare authors’ secondary books to their first or try to view them separately?

Dry by Neal & Jarrod Shusterman || Reading This Causes Dehydration

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I just want to thank Dry right up front for making me the most hydrated person I have ever been.

I have never been so freaking thirsty in my life — and then I read this book and suddenly I consumed like 40 gallons of water in 350pages. I’M NOT JOKING. 10/10 this book will remind you to HYDRATE. Forget all those “drink 6 glasses a day” challenges, just read Dry and you will start crying over a tiny cup of water in gratitude.

Also I want to say a special thank you from my anxiety and I to Neal Shusterman, who makes me so traumatised in every. single. book. of. his. I. read. (I LOVE IT, NEVER CHANGE.)

I find it pretty awesome that this is a father-and-son collab novel too! It’s great to raise your children as writers! Although if I ever had kids I would 100% raise them as chefs so they could feed me while I write. But this is a tangent excuse me.

SOME THINGS YOU CAN EXPECT

★ your mouth being weirdly dry all of a sudden ok wow
★ an apocalyptic road trip with a bunch of teens who are NOT FRIENDS
★ you can imagine the shenanigans that are coming
★ such a realistic setting and plot…you can imagine it happening to you
★ people being severely messed up
★ america being a problem (usual tho)
★ no romance actually
★ a plot that’s constantly go go go

I really enjoyed this! In a…traumatic kind of way. The stakes are super high (find water vs die) and it throws us into a world where you can’t turn the tap on and take a drink. In fact, there is no water anywhere. Obviously humans need water to survive more than anything, so watching the universe spiral out of control so fast and viciously was both terrifying and absolutely realistic. This book is dedicated to climate change and, woahhhhh, it is such a slap in the face.We all need this slap. why did we break our planet

 

It has quite a lot of perspectives to capture the scope of the tragedy.

This is good because –> we see how WIDESPREAD it is. But it’s also bad because –> I never really connected to anyone?? I feel like the book was all about the plot/premise, and…not the characters.

But anyway! We have:

  • Alyssa ~ her personality was honestly “being trustworthy” and while I liked her, I don’t feel like I knew her.
  • Kelton ~ he’s the next-door-neighbour-kid that Alyssa always thought was creepy because his dad is an Apocayplse Prepper (before it even happened! cue their house being a fortress and they have generators/stocks of food and water and weapons etc). I reeeally liked Kelton. He’s very earnest and super awkward.
  • Garret ~ he’s Alyssa’s 10yo little brother and kind of annoying because little siblings are ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 
  • Jacqui ~ I swear she is the best thing ever. She gets tangled up in their journey due to circumstances, but she is TERRIFYING and will bite things. She has bitten, will bite again. And is secretly so soft™ so basically my favourite.
  • Henry ~ he is a nasty little cunning piece of Slytherin. The actual slimiest. But I loved how he shook up the others’ story line and messed their dynamics up. He is intriguing and I hate him ahaha.

The plot was basically freak out –> travel –> lose hope –> keep travelling. 

It’s very much action/adventure focused and it keeps things moving at a fearsome pace! I admit journey-plots aren’t my true love (I just wanna get there already) it kept my attention! It was so so taut. Is everyone going to die??? Is the world going to end??? I had no idea how to predict the ending! Shout out to how stressy the finale was! WOW.

It’s a good social commentary on how the world is today…and what it could become. And seeing it explore how depraved humanity can cave to so so fast is chilling. Like what would YOU DO FOR WATER if you were about to die?! There were so many chilling scenes too.

Basically this is the book will make you think and I love that about it. 

AND IT MADE ME SO THIRSTY. That’s how vivid it was! It is more about the desperate race to get water and live as opposed to really developing the characters (it reminded me of the Gone series too) but it’s captivating and STRESSFUL and would recommend thoroughly!!

THANK YOU TO WALKER BOOKS AUSTRALIA FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman is out October 2018!

★★★★☆

The drought—or the Tap-Out, as everyone calls it—has been going on for a while now. Everyone’s lives have become an endless list of don’ts: don’t water the lawn, don’t fill up your pool, don’t take long showers.
Until the taps run dry.
Suddenly, Alyssa’s quiet suburban street spirals into a warzone of desperation; neighbours and families turned against each other on the hunt for water. And when her parents don’t return and her life—and the life of her brother—is threatened, Alyssa has to make impossible choices if she’s going to survive.

Goodreads  Book Depository  Booktopia  Walker Books

 

  

do you actively think about what would happen if society collapsed?! and tell me your favourite end-of-the-world novels!! will you read this one???

White Rabbit Red Wolf by Tom Pollock || Mind Bending Conspiracy Adventure With Side Dish of Anxiety

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White Rabbit Red Wolf was very good and also such a wild ride your entire mind is going to get whiplash.

I did go in thinking this was a contemporary about an anxious mathematician. And it is. But it’s also a twisty spy-conspiracy thriller with a little bit of Xmen thrown in at some corners and so much math. Peter is literally trying to find the formula that will calculate his anxiety so he can understand why he’s always so scared. The kid counts in square roots to calm down!!

Sometimes if I try to do maths, my eyeballs bleed. I actually stayed playing music for such a long time because you really only have to count up to four. I don’t even count page numbers of books, ok, I let Goodreads do that for me.

So I really admired the math and (will confess) I got totally lost several times. I don’t think that is a problem for the enjoyment, but THERE’S MATH, OK PEOPLES. FAIR WARNING.

It’s such a mind bendy book!

One minute you’re reading about Peter, who lives with his twin sister and super intelligent scientist mother, and then the next — GUNS. BLOOD. KIDNAPPINGS. ATTEMPTED MURDER. REAL MURDER. RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE. CONSPIRACIES. DOUBLE-CROSSING-AGENTS. ANXIETY.

Confusion? I know it. Sometimes it was all I knew ha ha ha…ahem. But honestly the wildness really captivated me too! I wasn’t actually expecting this kind of book, but I was thrilled and addicted and trying desperately to work out the good vs badies. Who is who?! Or is everyone morally grey?!

It’s best not to go in with TOO much knowledge of the plot! But basically Peter’s scientist mother is shot and kidnapped and he and his twin are being rounded up by the British super secret intelligence. For their “own safety”. His twin sister has vanished though…and seriously who the heckkkk do they trust.

The whole book screws with Peter’s head — aka it screws with ours. And by the end?! I have so. many. questions. Open ending, hi, just hit me why don’t you.

Peter is the kind of narrator you fall in love with: total gangly, anxious, super genius and dork.

Peter is an Anxious Wreck On Two Legs™. He has a panic disorder (he’s not autistic) and an eating disorder (which I believe is #ownvoices rep from the author note). He’s a genius but bullied, and he’s always being beaten up and faking he’s not smart in class just to survive. His twin sister, Bel, absolutely DESTROYS anyone who touches him and I love that kind of relationship.

  • There are so many epic intelligent women in this book!!
  • Also Peter’s best-friend is a girl with OCD
  • Peter is very self-depreciating about his issues and adorably funny
  • ALSO DON’T TRUST ANYONE EVER

  • really heartfelt and good mental health rep
  • I don’t think it encourages cures or “fixes” (apart from wanting to just cope better with life)
  • SPY CONSPIRACY MIND TWISTY PLOT
  • maths, more than 2+2 actually
  • a really adorkable character you want to protect
  • epic sibling relationships
  • lies lies lies lies lies
  • actual hilarious lines that will make you bust up laughing
  • British setting
  • being on the run and screaming into the void about it
  • basically imagine someone REALLY UNPREPARED to cope with their adventure? Meet Peter Blankman, ok. This poor kid.

I’d definitely recommend this for anyone who loves their minds twisted and to have a REALLY wild ride. It’s a bit improbable and sometimes confusing, but it has deeply flawed and loveable characters. It cares about diversity. And it’s FUNNY.

 

THANK YOU TO WALKER BOOKS FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. White Rabbit Red Wolf by Tom Pollock was published July 2018.

Peter Blankman is afraid of everything and must confront unimaginable terror when his mother is attacked.
Seventeen-year-old Peter Blankman is a maths prodigy. He also suffers from severe panic attacks. Afraid of everything, he finds solace in the orderly and logical world of mathematics and in the love of his family: his scientist mum and his tough twin sister Bel, as well as Ingrid, his only friend.
However, when his mother is found stabbed before an award ceremony and his sister is nowhere to be found, Pete is dragged into a world of espionage and violence where state and family secrets intertwine. Armed only with his extraordinary analytical skills, Peter may just discover that his biggest weakness is his greatest strength.

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what’s the weirdest/wildest book you’ve read?! and have you heard of this one? is it on your TBR? do you think more action/adventure books should feature mental illnesses?

And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness || Upside Down Moby Dick! Also Illustrated! We’ve Been Blessed

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And The Ocean Was Our Sky is an extremely beautiful and somewhat odd story.

I do like how Patrick Ness’ books are rarely “the usual” because it’s fresh and different and unpredictable! And the illustrations of this one were just !!! That’s how you write a good review, kids. You say your opinion is “!!!” and pretend to be eloquent. I’VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR YEARS TRUST ME.

This is definitely not like any of the other Ness books. I thought it’d be like A Monster Calls, considering it’s illustrated too, but…not really. It’s extremely metaphorical and basically a fable that talks about war turning people into monsters, and how sometimes you make monsters by forever pursuing justice through violence instead of choosing peace.

So good stuff. I like.

It’s also an upside-down retelling of Moby Dick!

I have nOT read Moby Dick and all I know is that there’s a whale. I’m…I’m a little ashamed of me too. (I actually looked up the wikipedia synopsis about this and gUESS WHAT IT IS ABOUT A WHALE.) However you need to know the original to appreciate this one! But it is upside-down so it’s (a) narrated by the whales, and (b) the whales are harpooning the men now. Which quite frankly makes sense. Men…I can’t even with them. So it was weird but I was onboard (LOL LOL SHIP PUN) for a bit of oddity. Although I’m still confused about how the whales had ships? I couldn’t visualise it and there wasn’t an illustration for it.

Also Toby Wick (VERY CLEVER) was on the evil-human side but I am still 0% sure as to what he was. A man? An actual monster???

As a black-and-white sort of person, I did struggle to read between the lines of all the allegories. 

It feels like an Aesop Fable in style really and the writing has an old-fashion voice so I had to really focus to stay engaged. But the illustrations were GORGEOUS. And they got super dark (so um, yes, this is not middle-grade ok). I also want to raise my hands and just say: “THANK YOU. ADULTS DESERVE ILLUSTRATIONS TOO.” 10/10 would like all books to have more illustrations.

And The Ocean Was Our Sky feels like it’s full of questions and meanings and leaves you thinking. It’s beautifully put together too! Even if I was a bit confused how a whale had a narrator…my imagination got a work out haa ha ha.

THANK YOU TO WALKER BOOKS FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness is published September 2018.

With harpoons strapped to their backs, the proud whales of Bathsheba’s pod live for the hunt, fighting in the ongoing war against the world of men. When they attack a ship bobbing on the surface of the Abyss, they expect to find easy prey. Instead, they find the trail of a myth, a monster, perhaps the devil himself…
As their relentless Captain leads the chase, they embark on a final, vengeful hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of both whales and men.

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alright tell me a YA book you WISH was illustrated?! and do you read much Patrick Ness? What’s your favourite? Will you try this one?

Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein || New Favourite #LoveOZYA Thriller?!

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Okay WOW, I absolutely glued my face to Small Spaces! It was so good!

I started off reading last Sunday afternoon thinking, “Eh I’ll read a few chapters before working” and then it’s an hour later and I’m flipping pages anxiously after shouting at the sun and checking under my bed 57 times and saying, “whAt iS GoING ONNNN.”

Solid stuff here. Am a fan.

Also three things to note: (1) I literally can’t check under my bed because my bed is on the floor?!??!!? So look what this book has done to me. And (2) I don’t actually usually like thrillers (I’m never thrilled #sob) but I enjoyed this one so so much!! My thriller-opinion is CHANGED. And lastly (3) I actually read an ARC so the first picture of this post is badly photoshopped. Enjoy my skills ah ha ha.


✓ The amazingly created characters is what made this one stand out for me! I do like a good solid twisty plot, but charactesr who are complex, diverse, dimensional and LEAVE ME FEELING THINGS?!? Heck yes I’m more here for that. Tash is an anxious (and slightly neglected) wreck. Morgan is like an over-excited puppy of love. Sadie is here to be so fabulous you can see her glorious light shining from the moons. Mallory is soft™ and must be protected at all costs. I!! love!! them!! Books that focus on characters first always make me care —> which makes the plot way more compelling.

 

 

✓ The plot was also frikkin’ fine. It’s about Tash, now 17, still trying to recover from her traumatic childhood where she (a) had a creeptastic imaginary friend named Sparrow WHO WAS LIKE AN EVIL SPLOT YOU’D FIND IN THE BASEMENT, and (b) she witnessed a 6 year old little girl get kidnapped. But obviously when an 8-year-old says “My imaginary friend kidnapped her!” everyone just writes her off as an attention-seeking brat.

My heart really broke for Tash and the way her mental health was treated. It was infuriating who everyone diminished her as “attention seeking” when she was obviously anxious, even as a kid. And her mother was awful and condescending (argghh) and I think the book really highlighted how isolated you can feel with mental illness and not being believed.

 

 

✓ So is the imaginary friend real or not?! It keeps you guessing and second-guessing yourself the entire time! Is it paranormal? Is Tash really seriously seeing things? Is someone mucking up her life? IS THIS THE BROTHER OF STEPHAN KING’S IT OR SOMETHING??? Obviously I give no spoilers. (Mwhahaha.) But I LOVED how it was handled. Sparrow was so flipping creepy. I was genuinely CREEPED. If I say “creep” one more time you can creep over and turn me into a crepe or something. I mean.

#CREEPIFIED

 

 

✓ The whole plot tied together reeeeeally well at the end. Possibly it was a bit tight/clean/tidy, but more importantly I’m sitting here lowkey wishing for a sequel from this fantastic-friendship-squad, who are all slightly damaged but super adorable little boxes of trauma! Aww.

 

✗ My only quibble is that it was slow to warm up. But we also know I have the attention span of a refried gnat, so take that onboard! I just felt it dragged a little too much at the beginning (although I get it was to build tension and set the scene) and some of Tash’s decisions were like: “WHYYY TASH WHYYYY.” I mean she literally had a traumatic experience at her aunt’s creepy house as a kid and now, at 17 is like, “I’M SURE IT’LL BE FINE TO REVISIT.” aGhighajfffsss Look once I ate a piece of lettuce and it had a grasshopper near it, so now I can never eat lettuce again. Be like me. Be safe. Learn.

Small Spaces is one of my new favourite thrillers! A+ characters who had me invested within mere pages and the type of creeptastic imaginary friend that will make you ban yourself from imaginary games forever! Such fun! I will take 9 more!

THANKS TO WALKER BOOKS AUS FOR THE ARC! Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein was published April 2018!

Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing.
As disturbing memories resurface, Tash starts to see Sparrow again. And she realises Mallory is the key to unlocking the truth about a dark secret connecting them. Does Sparrow exist after all? Or is Tash more dangerous to others than she thinks?

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alrighty do you read many thrillers?!? and did you ever have an imaginary friend as a kid?? and tell me what you think of Small Spaces!!

Chaos Walking 10th Anniversary Edition #Giveaway + 7 Reasons You Should Be Obsessed With This Trilogy

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I just want to give a warm and happy CONGRATS to the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness for its 10th anniversary of destroy hearts!

Bless it.

Sometimes bookworms joke around and say they want happy books, but NO. What they really want are trilogies like this one that are complex and emotional and full of heart-wrenching moments and characters you love and die with that will ultimately change your life. And make you cry a little. Ha ha. Or a lot! It’s flexible. So nice of it!

I’m teaming up with Walker Books Australia to giveaway a complete set of the 10th anniversary editions which have pages stained as black as our hearts probably. It’s SO gorgeous.

But before we get to that, I’m listing 7 reasons you absolutely need to start reading these books! I mean, obviously I should just say “READ IT” and you all will. But in case you need convincing…

 

1. I THINK IT’S WORTH NOTING IT HAS THE BEST TITLES EVER.

Look sometimes I just fall a little bit in love with titles. And I find it especially cool as, the more I read, the more the titles make sense until they’re absolutely freaking clever and I just have such admiration for them. And I really really love saying “CHAOS WALKING” which is basically how I announce myself in the mornings anyway.

So just trust me that (A) the titles mean something big for EACH BOOK, (B) they’re so so epic, and (C) they gradually get shorter as the trilogy goes on to be symbolic of how much of your heart there is left to break. *

 

* I’M JOKING…but really…

2. IT’S A SCI-FI TRILOGY ABOUT SETTLERS OF A NEW WORLD AND HOW THAT ALL GOES SOUR SUPER FAST.

Which gives it this nearly Western vibe at times because everyone speaks slang and education is nobody’s priority and everything is about farms (!) survival (!) settling (!) destroying natives (!…) and doing all that other fun stuff that men do when they enter a new place.

I also think it critiques white men’s way of “conquering” because heck, they do a bad job. There’s some alien natives on this planet they’ve taken over and it’s war —> slavery basically. UGH PEOPLE.

3. IT HAS UNIQUE FORMATTING WHICH IS MY FAVOURITE THING RIGHT AFTER BREAD.

Bread is great. But UNIQUE FORMATTING!! I’m not going to lie, I absolutely adore when books think outside the box. And I feel this trilogy doesn’t so much think outside the box, as frikkin’ kicks the box over. It’s great.

The people in New World are affected by this alien-germ that makes all the men’s thoughts be heard. They call it Noise and the book often uses like this wild font to demonstrate how overwhelming and intense it can be.

4. OKAY BUT SPEAKING OF THE “NOISE” HOW HORRIBLE WOULD IT BE TO HAVE ALL YOUR THOUGHTS OUT IN THE OPEN????

I am so…not a fan. Ahem. But only the men are affected by this, and I kind of wonder if this is a subtle point at how men say “oh women are impossible to understand and read”…and in this book it’s exploded 100 x over. Plus Todd, when he meets his first girl and can’t read her Noise, acts like she’s dead and dumb inside because he doesn’t understand her. And I just feel like that’s a parallel of that to how we, in today’s society, treat people who communicate differently to us and then use it as an excuse to be horrible to them.

Or maybe I’m reading way too much into it ah hahaha, but I’m having fun, don’t stop me. I feel like this story has so so many deep layers.

5. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE TODD, OUR NARRATOR, AND HIS VOICE IS SO STRONG AND EMOTIONAL.

It’s in 1st person and it’s so personal and close. You aren’t reading Todd, YOU ARE TODD. He narrates the first book solo, and then Viola co-narrates the second. But TODD. I really love him. The emotion and the panic are all splattered across the page as he and Viola take this cross-country run to get away from an army and warn a town that they’re about to be destroyed.

Also Todd is a Hufflepuff and you can fite me on this but I won’t back down.

Plus Todd + Viola’s relationship is so thick and complex and emotional…it just fills my heart and guts me all at the same time. I love love love how it’s written.

6. IT WILL KEEP YOU ABSOLUTELY GLUED TO THE PAGE AT ALL TIMES UNTIL YOU ARE ONE WITH THE PAGE.

Honestly, they’re just that addictive. The plots! The running! The terror! The questions! It is like MASTER of unanswered questions. Todd is basically thrown into his speedy journey at the beginning by his adopted-dads with 0% information because they couldn’t have people reading it out of his Noise. So the whole time: Todd is asking questions, WE are asking questions, tHE WORLD IS ASKING QUESTIONS.

And when you get some answers? You get more questions.

The book is master of half-stories and lies and twists. And when it comes clear, ohhhh it packs such a punch.

I’m also so impressed at the amount of psychological subplots?! There’s mind control and manipulation and the badies are SO BAD and the goodies are BAD too and, yes, everyone is morally grey. Everyone. Trust only Todd and Viola, I tell you.

War makes monsters out of men.

7. IT DOES NOT GO EASY ON YOUR FEELS. IT IS HERE TO DESTROY YOU AND YOU WILL BE GLAD.

Honestly this trilogy HURTS. And I think that’s really special and perfect?! Books that get an emotional response, that stick to your bones, that make you think and think??? Those are the kind of books I want in my life. This trilogy is one of my utter new favourites. Everything from the raw writing to the storyline to the heart winning characters, to the terrible terrible things it discusses?! It just hits me so much.

PAIN IS NOT SPARED HERE, OK, YOU MAY CRY. GOOD LUCK.

OPEN TO AUSTRALIA ONLY

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okay tell me a series/book that’s made you really emotional over the characters?!? and have you read The Knife of Never Letting Go or any other Patrick Ness books??

Scythe by Neal Shusterman || Dystopian of Perfect Murders Because “Thou Shalt Kill”

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So Scythe is basically about murder and death and deathly murder. Exciting!

I feel like everyone and their dog and their aunt and their friend’s semi-literate fish has been begging me to read this…and look I finally did! It’s definitely worth all the rave reviews (although I confess to loving the author’s Challenger Deep and Unwind more).

And look, I keep whingeing on about how “I’m just not into dystopians anymore” but for two weeks in a row I’ve enjoyed them. So there we go! The world is full of murder and surprises.

+ In this dystopian universe, it’s a perfect world with no death. So people become scythes to keep the balance.
If you think that sounds like a terrifically flawed idea. WELL DONE! YOU ARE RIGHT! Humans are so good at mucking everything up. I do so love this world (it reminded me of The Giver) and amongst the perfectness, the scythes still h ave the ability to be cruel and warped. Although I confess even giving the scythes an opportunity to be violently cruel (with guns and flamethrowers and knives etc.)…kiiiind of lost me. Why even give them the option?! shouldn’t everyone get pacifist deaths?! Like a murder-pill or something??? If humanity is supposedly  “perfect”???

 


+ But hello look at the cover. The scythes had freaking awesome robes and I want one.
No no, I don’t want to be a scythe. Just the robe. I NEED ONE. I mean I MIGHT JOIN THE SCYTHEDOM FOR ONE. I DON’T KNOW. GIVE ME THE OPTION AND WE’LL SEE.

 

+ It’s dual narrated by Citra and Rowan.
The story is split between them (plus little journal excerpts from other scythes between their chapters). Both have been basically forced into apprenticeships to Scythe Faraday and at the end, one has to glean the other. I enjoyed both their perspectives! Citra is a bit of a Slytherin go-getter and Rowan is a self confessed “lettuce” (aka: unimportant and forgettable). And if you put a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff together…I just ship it. I do. However, I did feel their narration was distant (which is weird as I generally adore 3rd person the best) but I was super keen to see how their story would unfold. Their relationship was also marvellous. SO CUTE. But if you don’t like romance, this actually has very very little.

ALSO THE BOOK IS VERY MEAN TO ROWAN AND MY POOR HEART.❤💔

 

+ It is kind of long though.
I felt it was a teeny tiny bit rambly, and it took me a while to get invested because there wasn’t much plot besides Citra and Rowan training to be scythes. However it was still enjoyable to read. I just…am not so big on the “now we FIGHT AND TRAIN” narratives that are everywhere.

 

+ AND THEN THE TWISTS CAME.
Like hit me in the face with a brick, why don’t you. One of the twists had me kind of going “OH. OH. I DIDN’T WANT THAT” which is a masterfully great feeling. Who needs happiness?! Not bookworms!

 


+ And I really appreciated the detail of the world building.
It’s a “perfect” society and everyone can reset their ages and live in comfort (although they still had to work/strive). The whole world just felt so CHILL. Apart from, you know, rogue scythes doing mass murders due to corruption. But what can we say. These things happen. The details of the world just really made it so easy to get lost in.

I was late to the Scythedom highway-to-hell but I’m HAPPY I’M HERE NOW. It wasn’t a “perfect” read for me as I wasn’t emotionally invested, but it was full of questions and things to make you think. There is death, corruption, feels and knives. Yes please and thank you.

THANK  YOU WALKER BOOKS FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. Scythe by Neal Shusterman was published February 2018.

★★★★☆

Thou shalt kill.
A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.
Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

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okay tell me a book people keep telling YOU to read?!? (and are you going to read it?) also what do you think of Scythe?!? ?