Book Creatures of the Night TAG

In honour of Halloween, I decided to this Book Tag (because it's very fitting, I would say).


1. Vampire
Damon Salvatore- The Vampire Diaries
Any question that involves vampires I will always- always- pick Damon Salvatore. The Vampire Diaries is my favourite TV show (I don't like the books, though) and Damon is my first pick for everything.

2. Werewolf
Remus Lupin- Harry Potter
Lupin is one of my favourite HP characters, anyway so, when picking a my favourite werewolf (sorry, Jacob) I have to go with Lupin.

October Wrap Up 2016

October has been a very busy month for me so I haven't read as much as I'd hoped I would... we're all allowed an off month.



Chasing Truth- Julie Cross (ARC)
****
I received Chasing Truth in order to review it for a Book Tour (of which I'll link here) and I honestly loved it so much more than I thought I would. I would describe it as a murder investigation/secret spy novel where anyone- anyone- could be the killer. I loved the characters, the slow-burning romance and the action sequences. I'd definitely recommend it.




Carry On- Rainbow Rowell
****
Carry On was October's 'Book of the Month' and I got straight into it. I read this book over a very busy week so it was all a bit stuttered but I enjoyed the story a lot- it even gave me a mini book-hangover because, after finishing it, all I wanted to do was read more of Simon and Baz. You don't have to read Fangirl before Carry On- they're completely different stories. It makes no difference what order you read them in. I have a BOOK TALK on this book which I'll link here in case you missed it.

October Book Haul 2016

I only bought one book in October!!! I did get sent quite a few books from publishers for review so that has been taking up a lot of my time (I enjoy them immensely, though).

Blood by Blood- Ryan Graudin
Of course I was going to get this book as soon as it came out. This book is the second book in the Wolf By Wolf series (BOOK TALK here) and I can't wait to read this. I've talked about this series a lot but if you still don't know what it's about.... It's basically an alternate history novel with fantasy elements weaved through. It's set ten years after World War 2 but, in this reality, Hitler and the Nazis won the war. This story follows Yael- a shape-shifter who's mission is to assassinate Hitler. But she needs to get close enough to do it...
I cannot rave about this book enough and if you haven't read it... go read it!



Thank you for reading this very short haul! Feel free to comment any books you bought this month! Stay amazing!
Chloe

Empire of Storms- Sarah J. Maas BOOK TALK

*****
Is it really a surprise that this book is 5 stars....is it?
Empire of Storms is the fifth book in the Throne of Glass series and it. Was. Phenomenal! (Not that I was expecting any different...)
There isn't much I can say without spoiling you but I urge you to read it. The last book isn't out yet so there's still time to jump on this bandwagon! In one word, I would describe this series as 'epic'.
If you haven't read any of the books yet (!!!!!) Throne of Glass follows the infamous Celaena Sardothian- Adarlan's most notorious assassin. (And, yes, Celaena puts the 'sass' in 'assassin'). In order to regain freedom Celaena has win the Kings' Champion competition, fighting against a number of others thieves, assassin's and criminals. She has to win this as the Crown Prince's champion or she'll be sent back to Endovier- a death camp for criminals exactly like her.
This series is stunning and I'd definitely recommend it.
I have a BOOK TALK on Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) which I'll link here for you to check out!
I also have some crack theories at the end of this post (some more extreme than others) so be sure to check them out- and I'd love to hear some of yours too!

GOODREADS

AMAZON

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
When I first started reading- heart in my chest and smiling like a hyper kid- all I wanted to do was jump straight into Aelin's perspective and see her kick ass. That's what everyone wanted, right? Sarah knows this so purposefully starts with Elide!!! It was painful in the best kind of way.
To get my little complaint out of the way to begin with....Chaol. Or lack thereof.

All Laced Up- Erin Fletcher BOOK TOUR REVIEW

(4.5 stars)
This book felt like it was made for me. Romance? Ice hockey? Hamilton references? It was like a one way ticket to my heart.
This book was such a feel-good and adorable read. I melted right into it and it gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings. Personally, I love ice hockey so this book immediately identified with me. Ice hockey is a hobby of mine (watching...not playing) that people wouldn't really expect from someone like me. But this book truly made me happy (and made me want to watch an ice hockey match).
The book was very well written and it was so realistic that I felt like I was there. I wouldn't say you particularly need to have a love of ice hockey to love this book (but having one makes it ten times better). I loved this book so much and would definitely recommend it. The book synopsis, links and author info are all at the end of this post so you can check the book out for yourselves!!

GOODREADS

AMAZON

 

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
This story was just too freaking cute. I loved every word and my heart melted (...ice pun?) through every moment.
The characters were so easy too love (especially Pierce...) and that made the book so much easier to get into. It was a super quick book and I read it within a day.

Subject Book Recommendations (Part 1)

I had a thought the other day and it led me to thinking... If I had to recommend one book to my school teachers, what would it be? Then I thought that it'd probably be different depending what subject they taught. And this gave me the idea for this post! I'm going to recommend five books according to what subject I think they work well with. Think of your favourite subject and I'll have a book recommendation for it.
(This is only Part 1, so if your favourite subject isn't here, just comment it and I'll add it in the next one!)

English
Fangirl- Rainbow Rowell
I struggled to think of an English subject book because... well, 'reading' is an English thing to do. Anyhow, I picked this book because it centres around the love of reading and writing.
This story follows Cath- a shy, introverted booklover that writes fanfiction for the one and only Simon Snow novels. Cath moves to college with her polar-opposite, identical twin Wren and the book follows her experiences and struggles when trying to become an individual when all she wants to do is stay out the limelight.
I loved Fangirl because it's a very relatable read- everyone can identify with the anxiety that Cath feels. It's full of cutsie moments, relatable situations and funny lines.

Carry On- Rainbow Rowell BOOK TALK

****
Carry On was October's 'Book of the Month' and, boy, was it a good one! It reminded me of a Harry Potter fanfic but I really enjoyed that. It made me feel sort of nostalgic even though it was brand new story with a whole set of new characters.
Carry On is a spin-off book from Rainbow Rowell's book Fangirl but you don't necessarily have to read Fangirl first. It's perfectly fine to jump straight into Carry On- it will still make perfect sense. If anything, Carry On has just made me want to re-read Fangirl as I want to read all the Simon Snow sections from it (that, if I'm honest, I skim-read when I read Fangirl).
Carry On follows Simon Snow- the worst 'Chosen One' who's ever been chosen. The book had a great and...original...world of magic and was fun, easy and enjoyable to read.

GOODREADS

AMAZON  

SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD- SPOILERS AHEAD
From the very beginning, I aligned Harry Potter characters to characters from Carry On (while also aligning my ships as so). I couldn't help but sort everyone into Hogwarts houses as well...
Simon=Harry  Baz=Draco   Penelope=Hermione   The Mage=Dumbledore   Ebb=Hagrid
Obviously though, as I read on, I could see the differences and the characters became their own for me. (Dumbledore would never be so evil).

My Hogwarts Identity!!!

I thought an interesting way for you to get to know me would be to share my Hogwarts identity with you. I'll share my house, Patronus, Ilvermorny house and wand. I feel like someone's house gives you a big insight to their personality, so, here we go!




                             Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw
                                 if you've a ready mind.
                           Where those of wit and learning,
                                Will always find their kind.








                       

                                 Patronus: Thestral

Chasing Truth- Julie Cross (Non-spoiler) BOOK TOUR REVIEW

 

**** (4 stars)
I enjoyed this book so much! I have a guilty/ not-so-guilty pleasure of crime and mystery novels and this satisfied every need for it. All the book links, synopsis and author info are below this review so you check out the book!
The characters were likable- lovable, even- and the plot was nicely intricate and kept me guessing through the whole thing. Yes, a few things were a tad bit predictable but the aspects that really counted in the long run were executed beautifully.
Ellie was a great protagonist which really made the story easy to read and Miles was always going to be that swoon-worthy love interest- it was meant to be!
I like how the romance wasn't rushed and didn't overshadow the main storyline. It was slow-burning and didn't resemble the dreaded 'insta-love' in the slightest- it was quite the opposite!
I found the whole concept incredibly interesting and all the twists and turns had me utterly gripped in a way that resulted in my lack of sleep. (And, no, I didn't regret it in the morning).
It was well thought-out and each small detailed added up so nicely by the end.

Spindle- Shonna Slayton (Non-spoiler) BOOK TOUR REVIEW

*** (3 stars)
This was an interesting book- something very original within this genre. It stemmed from a fairy-tale but took a twisted turn and played on the story very well. All the book links, synopsis and author links are below this review so that you can check the book out for yourselves.
I have to say, the second half is way better than the first because it's more gripping and less stuttered. Especially since all the intense and interesting things happen. From the very beginning, an inevitable situation was introduced- with this type of story, it's obvious to see what will happen- especially with a cursed spindle involved. Even though this makes it quite predictable, I liked it because through the whole book we build up to this moment and suddenly you just want to know what will happen next and how the characters will resolve the issue.
Suddenly when this issue is instigated, it's more fast-paced and the pages begin to turn themselves.
There was a swoon-worthy and sweet love interest that I immediately fell in love with but was a bit annoyed by the lack of them within the main story- they should've been involved more as he's so funny and such a sweetheart.

The Good Girl- Fiona Neill (Non-spoiler) BOOK TALK

**
The Good Girl was September's 'Book of the Month' but, unfortunately, it didn't meet any expectations. None. Zilch. Nada.
I had a lot of issues with it, mainly revolving around how boring and hard to read it was. I understand it was hard to follow after having just finished Empire of Storms but.... I just didn't like it.
This BOOK TALK will be non-spoiler because there's not much I can say about it- not enough to write a full spoiler section and my complaints are pretty general and won't spoil you.
My first complaint is that the book had no personality. There was no charisma or humour to the writing. It was one, huge, dull and monotonous story. I found the characters to be a bit bland and dull and I was constantly wishing for it to lighten up a bit. I understand it dealt with serious issues but even a small amount of humour and joking would have made it so much more entertaining and easier to read. A joke here or there would've definitely have broken up the tension, I think.
Ben and Luke were the only ones in the family that I liked. Scratch that; they were the only characters in the entire book that I liked. The rest were an uncomfortable mixture of strange, manipulative and mind-numbingly stupid people. Half of the characters in this book are clever, intellectual, eggheads who, I'm convinced, can't actually use their brain. They can explain any scientific process but... when it comes to basic logic, they are incredibly stupid.
The story didn't grip me until the very end when the aforementioned favourite characters were in jeopardy. The gripping scale went up a bit at that section but, throughout the rest, it stayed at a low and levelled droop.
That was a bit of a downer book talk but... that's just my personal opinion. Obviously, try not to take my opinion as yours if you haven't read this book yet: you could end up loving it!!!! It's just my personal view on the book. If you enjoyed it more- great! I wish I did.

Thank you for reading! I'd be super interested to hear your thoughts! Stay amazing!
Chloe

October Releases and TBR 2016

October has some amazing YA releases which I'm super excited to hopefully get to! Without further adieu...

Releases:
A lot of releases this month!!!! Better catch up quickly!!!

Blood For Blood (Wolf By Wolf #2)- Ryan Graudin
I'm so super excited for this book!! This is the much anticipated sequel to Wolf By Wolf- an amazing alternate history story. Wolf By Wolf has been one of my favourite books this year (BOOK TALK here) and I can't wait to read the next instalment! I've been waiting patiently for so long!!!

Spindle- Shonna Slayton
I'll be doing a BOOK TOUR REVIEW on the 6th October, so stay tuned!!!
Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2)- Amie Kaufman
The Midnight Star (The Young Elites #3)- Marie Lu
The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase #2)- Rick Riordan
Scythe- Neal Shusterman
Replica- Lauren Oliver
Holding Up the Universe- Jennifer Niven
Stealing Snow- Danielle Paige



TBR:
Carry On- Rainbow Rowell
Carry On is October's 'Book of the Month' and it's a spin-off book to the much loved Fangirl. You don't have to read Fangirl before this one but it's simply nice to read Fangirl beforehand as you get a quick peak at the characters and storyline of this book.