Rating: 5 STARS! Genre: LGBT/YA/Contemporary Series/Standalone: Standalone How I got this book: Bought Freddie has a reputation as a ‘nice guy’ – inoffensive, sweet, kind – and therefore completely un-dateable. As he starts sixth form, Freddie decides that this nice guy isn’t going to finish last any more. No more missing out on parties because he’s got to do his homework. No more saying no when he really wants to say yes. And most of all no more lusting after unobtainable straight boys who enjoy the attention but ultimately break his heart. Freddie embarks on a series of changes designed to transform his social and romantic life, and suddenly he’s a drama darling, getting invited to all the popular kids’ parties, and hot new boy Zach is showing an interest. Life couldn’t be better! But the path to love is never smooth – and Freddie’s about to learn that changing everything about yourself isn’t necessarily a foolproof way of finding the right person… It's summer, which means a new YA novel from Simon James Green!!
“Kissed a boy, nearly had a date, told lies, screwed it up, died lonely and bitter.” Simon is one of my favourite writers, his books never fail to entertain and I was so excited when I heard about his latest project that centres around Freddie, a complete wallflower with a 'nice guy' persona and a healthy appetite for cheese and doughnuts. After being mistaken for a waiter at the launch party for his mum's new tv show, and getting off on the wrong foot with the (very cute) star of the show, Freddie decides it's time to start putting himself out there and getting noticed. With the help of his hilarious (and amazing) friends, he finds himself auditioning for the school production of Grease and catching the eye of hot new guy, Zach. Yes, before you ask, I'm writing this while listening to the Grease soundtrack...why not! "It's Grease." Why does everything need a "gruesome underbelly" these days to be considered worthy? Why can't people just have a laugh and enjoy stuff - is the world not shit enough?" - Honestly, I bloody love this quote! Simon honestly writes the BEST British humour. I love how effortlessly funny his writing is, and You're the One That I Want is no different. Freddie is awkward, sweet and hilarious, his friends are amazing and his story is guaranteed to make you laugh. It's a little bit High School Music meets Yes Man, but set in a British public school...if that makes any sense at all! Urging each other out of their comfort zones, Freddie and his two best-friends find new love, the wrong love, and more importantly, learn that loving who they are is the most important thing of all. Simon deserves an award, if he hasn't won one already! He hits it out of the park with every single book he writes. So, if you're looking for drama (of the theatre variety), plenty of cheese (the best kind) and a love triangle with a twist, add You're the One That I Want to your TBR, or better yet, grab a copy and read it! “Because, sure, being a spectator may be safer, and by playing you might get hurt. But you might also feel the soaring high of a massive win - and for that, you really have gotta be in it." I haven't done a blog meme in forever but I saw this one over on Becky's Book Blog and figured it'd be fun to do. WWW is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. The Three Ws are: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next? What are you currently reading?I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of When Sparks Fly by Helena Hunting from St. Martin's Press. I read Shacking Up and I Flipping Love You, by Helena Hunting a couple of years ago, which I really enjoyed, and When Sparks Fly sounded like a flirty, fun read, perfect for summer. Sadly though, while the plot is interesting, I'm still waiting for the characters to show any chemistry. So far, they're a bit two-dimensional and the connection between them is only just there. However, saying that, there's definitely something about this book that's forcing me to keep turning pages, I'm just not sure what it is yet... What did you recently finish reading? I just finished reading Flash Fire by TJ Klune a few days ago and it blew me away. Nicky is just as fantastically sweet, clueless and brilliant as I remember, and he and Seth have great chemistry. This book is diverse, action-packed and a complete riot from start to finish. TJ also manages to deal with some pretty big issues, while still maintaining a fun, unique storyline. The only thing I didn't like was the ending FOR REASONS! I just have everything crossed that Klune can pull it off in the next instalment, which I don't really doubt! What do you think you’ll read next?I am SO, SO excited to read Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. I was over the moon when I received an eARC from the lovely people at Hodder & Stoughton. I love Stepahnie's magical, immersive writing style and this definitely sounds like a book that's going to sweep me away on a new adventure. And that's it for this week! What are you reading?
THE JUNE BOX FINALLY ARRIVED!!!
I'm not going to waste any time jumping into this one because I am very excited! So, let's just have a quick recap of the June theme: Have you ever felt a connection to an animal friend? Or wished for your own magic creature to accompany you on an epic quest? Whether that be a fire-spitting dragon or a talking cat, for many readers animals are the perfect companions! If you could have an animal companion, what would it be and why? 🖤 In this box you can expect items inspired by The Raven Boys, Crescent City, The Priory of the Orange Tree, Kiki's Delivery Service and Kingdom of the Wicked. We are thrilled to reveal that this box will include TWO items that we have never featured before — one of which is a Crescent City flower pot! 🖤 Our featured book of the month is a contemporary fantasy filled with sarcastic characters, dragons, action and a dash of romance. This FairyLoot exclusive edition will have an EXCLUSIVE COVER, SPRAYED EDGES, ARTWORK ON THE REVERSE OF THE DUST JACKET by @icandrawthingz, FOIL EMBOSSING ON THE CASE by @icandrawthingz and will be SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. Okay, let's jump in! As always, there will be spoilers beyond this point so look away now if you don't want to see what's inside this box. I wrote this unboxing AGES ago but completely blanked and forgot to post it. Since it's been so long, I've forgone with the usual spoiler warnings!
I'm so excited to open this box, especially after how much I loved last month's box, and the book, which was fantastic! Okay, so before we get to the unboxing, two things: 1. This unboxing is super late because work has been insane the past couple of weeks. 2. I am so, so grateful to Illumicrate for choosing me as one of the April photo competition winners, and I'm really excited to be receiving my June box for free! Let's just have a quick recap of the May theme: We all love those characters who see their fate and refuse to accept it. Who forge their own path through life, no matter how hard. Who never give up the pursuit of their goals and dreams. 💛 Our book this month is an epic fantasy set in an Indian-inspired world. A princess, held captive in an abandoned, ancient temple plots revenge on the brother who banished her there. When the princess witnesses the hidden powers of one of the maids sent to clean the temple, she forces her into an uneasy alliance in order to escape and overthrow her brother. Together, they will set an empire ablaze. We loved the gorgeous prose and the dynamics between our two morally grey main characters! 💛 Our Illumicrate edition will have exclusive stencilled edges and embossing on the hardback and come with a signed bookplate! Both the full box and book only option also come with the matching pin designed by @Stacey.McEvoy.Caunt 💛 Our items this month are inspired by Girls of Paper and Fire, Spinning Silver, Skyward, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and City of Brass! This month we'll be including one of our @pauhami booksleeves in the box! 💛 The book at a glance: 📚 Adult fantasy, first book in a series 💡Stencilled edges, embossing on the hardback, signed bookplate 💫 Indian-inspired characters & setting written by Indian author, F/F relationship between main characters Okay, I'm so excited. Let's get into this! As always, there will be spoilers beyond this point so look away now if you don't want to see what's inside this box. Rating: 4.5 STARS! Genre: YA/SciFi/LGBT Series/Standalone: The Extraordinaries #2 How I got this book: eARC via NetGalley and TorTeen Flash Fire is the explosive sequel to The Extraordinaries by USA Today bestselling author TJ Klune! Nick landed himself the superhero boyfriend of his dreams, but with new heroes arriving in Nova City it’s up to Nick and his friends to determine who is virtuous and who is villainous. Which is a lot to handle for a guy who just wants to finish his self-insert bakery AU fanfic. ARGHHHHH!
This book was AMAZING! The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune (book one in this series) was one of our Turn The Page book club selections last year and it was fantastic. Ever since finishing it and processing that cliffhanger of an ending, I've been desperate to get back to Nick and his friends and to find out what would happen next. If you haven't read book one yet, please note that there are spoilers for book one below. Flash Fire completely pulled me out of my recent reading slump, plunging me back into Nova City and the world of The Extraordinaries. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed these characters, but instantly fell back under TJ Klune's spell from page one as we're reunited with loveable, relatable Nick who's still coming to terms with the fact that his boyfriend is a famous superhero who can create fire, while also dealing with new revelations about his dad. TJ addresses a lot of big issues in this book, centring mainly around Nick's dad, a police officer demoted for violence, and how police brutality is affecting his perception of his dad and how he can reconcile that with the man who raised him and who he loves. It's a continuing theme and a deeply explored message throughout the entire book as Nick deals with how other people react to his dad, and what his dad has done. As always, I love the inherent queerness of this book, and all of TJ's books. Acceptance just shines throughout and makes the story more powerful. I love the action in this book, which feels a bit more intense than in book one, as the danger and tension builds around Nick and his friends. While Nick deals with things in his unique, often hilarious, way we have a fantastic, realistic portrayal of what it might be like to date someone with superpowers. We're also introduced to new characters in the book, and for those familiar with Klune's adult series', you might find a certain new character familiar. Honestly, though, as great as the plot and pacing and world-building of this story is, it'd be nothing without Nicky. He's such a refreshing, honest, sex-positive character who you can really root for and is so real he practically jumps from the pages. Prepare yourself for some epic reveals in this book, some things I saw coming, some I didn't, homages and Easter eggs to Klune's other works, edge of your seat, heart in your throat, tears in your eyes moments, and another GD cliffhanger that has me itching to read the next instalment!! A very-close to perfect read for me, so I'm going to leave you with my favourite quote: "It wasn't perfect, but then, Nick thought beautiful things didn't always have to be." I've had such a rough month! A book slump hit me HARD a couple of weeks into June and I've been sort of miserable ever since, hence the lack of posts here, Instagram, and pretty much everywhere.
My mental health isn't fantastic right now so I'm taking it slow with a June wrap up and seeing how I get on. All things considered, June was a pretty good month for me, I read 6 books, all but one of them queer and enjoyed discovering some new LGBT+ authors. As always, just click on the book title to head over to my full review, if there is one. Rating: 3.5 STARS Genre: YA/Paranormal/Fantasy Series/Standalone: Kingdom of the Wicked #1 How I got this book: Bought Two sisters. One brutal murder. A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself… And an intoxicating romance. Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe—witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin… desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost—even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden. Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked Princes of Hell that she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems… Review by Sophie.
TW: Murder, grief, self-harm (for spells), loss of a loved one, magical compulsion. “Whatever you do, you must never speak to the wicked. If you see them, hide. Once you’ve caught a demon princes’ attention, he’ll stop at nothing to claim you” I’m so glad that I finally got around to reading this beautiful book! We’re first introduced to Emilia and Vittoria – twins who are also witches, living in secret amongst humans. They’ve been told stories of The Wicked since they were young - a constant warning and reminder of the danger posed by Demons and the underworld. The girls live in Italy with their family and also work at their parent’s restaurant ‘Sea & Vine’. The food described in this book sounded delicious and literally had my mouth watering more than once! One-night, Vittoria is late for work at the restaurant, and Emilia is sadly the one who discovers her sisters mutilated body. I thought the author did an incredible job here of describing the grief of losing a loved one, and how truly consuming it is, the darkness and weight of it, especially when dealing with it alone. “Grief Carved me in half. And fury honed the pieces into a weapon”. Emilia sets out on a hate fuelled mission of revenge to find her sisters killer and deliver the justice they deserve. Unknowingly, she accidentally summons a demon prince. Wrath – the god of war himself, and together they agree to find the killer together. Now, I must say, I’ve never had whiplash from a book like I did this one. The Constant bickering and love/hate relationship going on here is unreal and truly comical in places. “I wanted to offer a twig of trust”. “You mean an olive branch”. “Same concept, Witch” Wrath was by far my favourite character, and I really wish we had even more of him the story, I found him totally compelling, wrapped in all his mystery and darkness. Emilia’s character as we progressed was kind of a downfall for me. There were times where I questioned why she did certain things, and she would lose it and completely flip out over the strangest of things, to the point where I almost found her too annoying. The plot was easily guessable – not something I’m normally good at doing, I just wish Emilia had figured it out sooner too. The ending was a completely horrifying cliffhanger, and I’m now at the point where I can’t stop thinking about it, or the need to start reading the sequel. There are a lot of unanswered questions in here which I’m hoping the second book will shed some light on, and also hoping that Emilia’s character is able to grow into the badass we all know she’s capable of being. The style of writing was easy to read and I jumped straight into the story. Most of the time I absolutely couldn’t put this book down. The mystery and suspense had me gripped from the off, and I loved the whole Demons, Witches and dark magic setting. I'll definitely be reading the sequel to find out what happens next when its released in October this year! “Magic is a living, breathing entity, it thrives on the energy you give it. Like all forces of nature, it is neither good nor bad – but it simply becomes based on the user’s intent. Feed it love and it blossoms and grows. Nourish it with hate and it will deliver hate back to you tenfold. I think this book is perfect for fans of The Underworld Saga – by Chani Lynn Feener. Rating: 4.5 STARS Genre: LGBT/Fantasy/Paranormal Series/Standalone: Standalone How I got this book: April 2021 Illumicrate Box! A pansexual bloodmage reluctantly teams up with an undead spirit to start a rebellion among the living and the dead. In Thanopolis, those gifted with magic are assigned undead spirits to guard them—and control them. Ever since Rovan’s father died trying to keep her from this fate, she’s hidden her magic. But when she accidentally reveals her powers, she’s bound to a spirit and thrust into a world of palace intrigue and deception. Desperate to escape, Rovan finds herself falling for two people she can’t fully trust: Lydea, a beguiling, rebellious princess; and Ivrilos, the handsome spirit with the ability to control Rovan, body and soul. Together, they uncover a secret that will destroy Thanopolis. To save them all, Rovan will have to start a rebellion in both the mortal world and the underworld, and find a way to trust the princess and spirit battling for her heart—if she doesn’t betray them first. TW: Murder, death of loved ones, violence, blood, gore, body horror, alcoholism, forced marriage, threat of rape/abuse, enforced gender roles.
A note before I get started: I always try to include TW/CW for any books that I read as I know they're really crucial for a lot of people BUT I know if I'd seen the warnings above before opening this book, I might not have read it and honestly, that would have been awful since this book turned out to be fantastic. So, without trying to spoil the book, I just want to say that this book doesn't have a tragic ending and 'murder/death aside' a lot of the warnings above are quite mild and just made the story more powerful. I've also seen several people commenting on the fact that queer characters die in this book, but pretty much all the main characters are queer, and things happen in a way that I don't for a second think this is an attack on queer identity. Okay, on to the review. ------------- I LOVED THIS BOOK! At the moment, standalone books are really my thing. I'm really tired of series, especially really long series which are feeling a bit tedious right now as I'm swamped with work and don't have as much time to read as I used to. So, I love that this book is a standalone. The ending was perfect and while I'd really enjoy a novella, I think things wrapped up pretty well. In the Ravenous Dark starts with a pretty epic prologue, where we're introduced to our main character, Rovan, as a young girl, forced to hide and watch as her father is captured and killed by the blood mages who serve the king. This opening scene was truly epic, bloody and a perfect way to open this book. We then jump forward in time to see Rovan at nineteen years old, passed out from drinking too much on top of a building after fooling around with a girl from the village, when an accident leads to her magic being revealed for all to see. I think Rovan is a really fun character. She's feisty, unashamed and reckless to a fault. She adds a lot of humour and spice to the book, and she's realistic in that she's a complete mess. She's pansexual and openly queer (as are most of the main characters), which was a refreshing take, and this book has a ton of great representation incl. lesbian relationships, pansexual characters, polyamory, and non-binary characters. The pacing of the book was great, if almost a little too fast, as certain things felt a bit rushed, mainly the relationships, but I'm so glad the author didn't drag things out unnecessarily and turn it into a series. I basically couldn't put it down once I started and read it in a few sittings. When Rovan is captured and taken to the palace, we meet a variety of characters incl. the lovely and friendly Japha, the beguiling Lydea (a princess trapped in a life she doesn't want), and dangerous Ivrilos (a centuries-dead spirit bound to Rovan against her will). The palace is a dangerous place, full of dark secrets, and Rovan must work out who she can trust. Overall, this is a really dark, gripping book. I love how the author blends blood magic, ghosts, found family, and a really great and unique queer relationship to create a blood-thirsty, darkly funny and tense fantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I personally feel that this book would be better suited to an older YA/adult audience. It feels like, if it were a film, it'd be rated either 15 or 18 as it does contain some gore and heavier themes, but I loved it and will definitely be on the lookout for other work by this author. Happy June book lovers!
June is one of my favourite months of the year, because it's PRIDE MONTH!! I have SO MANY books on my TBR this month, I feel a little overwhelmed, but first, I want to wrap-up all the fun stuff I read in May. This was a great reading month as I had absolutely no DNF's or books I rated less than 3-stars! As always, just click on the book title to head over to my full review, if there is one. Rating: 4 STARS Genre: LGBT/Contemporary/Romance Series/Standalone: Standalone How I got this book: Bought What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse. Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through? Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic. TW: Addiction/drug abuse (mentioned), terminal illness/cancer (mentioned), homophobia, racism
I just KNEW I was going to love this book! I've been meaning to read it for ages and finally made a start last week. The writing was really easy to get into and I love the characters. I won't lie, I wasn't a huge fan of all the politics (but I knew it was going to be a big part of the book), it's just not my thing, but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story at all as the characters, character development, and the nemesis-to-lovers storyline completely won me over. Alex is an immediately lovable character. He's fun and sweet, with plenty of sass, but he's also loyal to a fault, hardworking and he loves with his entire being, which was both a joy and heartbreaking at times. Henry is fantastic. He's the perfect mixture of haughty royal with the sweetest, loving centre, and he's the perfect match for Alex's personality. Together, they bring heaps of chemistry, heated looks and enough wit to keep me chuckling from start to finish. “Um,” he says. “How do you get a turkey to gobble?” “Try gobbling,” Henry says, “and see if he gobbles back.” Alex blinks. “Are you serious?” OMG! The turkey scene was hilarious. It had me in stitches! I hadn't expected this book to make me emotional. It was funny, and there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, but I honestly never expected it would make me cry, but it did. What happens to Alex and Henry is awful and there's a particular scene with Alex and his family towards the end of the book that just broke my heart. I was sobbing at this point. "A sound escapes his throat uninvited, something that he barely even recognizes, and June has him first, then the rest of them, arms and arms and hands and hands, pulling him close..." Overall, I loved this book. It was a great introduction to Casey McQuiston's writing, which I'm looking forward to reading more of. Red, White & Royal Blue checked all the boxes for me. It kept me gripped from start to finish, gave me lovable, contrasting characters who clash until then mesh and the character development was beautifully done. “History, huh? Bet we could make some.” |
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About Kay (She/Her)
Book addict, film mad, music lover, business owner, writer and mum (not necessarily in that order), living in the UK. About Sophie (She/Her)
Sophie loves books (obviously). She has a passion for photography and spotting wildlife, and is interested in anything made with passion and creativity. THIS BLOG IS SPOILER FREE!
Rating system: 5 Stars - AMAZING!! 4.5 Stars - Almost perfect! 4 Stars - I really loved it 3.5 Stars - I liked it alot 3 Stars - I liked it (I don't typically review books that I rate below 3 stars)
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