June Wrap Up

I feel like although I bought a disgusting amount of books this month the amount I read compensates for it..slightly.

1. Is it Wrong to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? Volume One 4/5

This I really enjoyed but didn't have as much information as I would've wanted. The questions I have will most likely be answered in subsequent volumes though. The mythology in this novel suited me down to a tea, I really like how it humanised them. In fact it was entirely brilliant with regards to how the Gods were a part of the story. I'm excited to see where this goes.

2. Black Bird Volume One 3.5/5

Somewhat bizarre but I liked it nonetheless. It was fun to learn about the different clans of demons all after Misao. I enjoyed the story but in some parts felt a little uncomfortable, the relationship Kyo keeps trying to force was Misao was odd to say the least. A little 50 shades of grey at times. I understand it in relation to the story but still. Ew. I do intend to continue on with the series.

3. A Midsummer's Nightmare by Kody Keplinger 3/5

I've never read a Kody Kiplinger novel before but I would like to read more. It wasn't groundbreaking or insightful but I read it in one sitting. Her writing was so easy to follow and straightforward. Almost addicting.

4. The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

I'll be posting a review for this soon.

5. Tales from the Kingdom by Sarah Pinborough

I think Beauty was my favourite story from this collection but I enjoyed all of them. I will say be warned they are rather 'sexy'. Not for younger readers. The way she changed aspects of the traditional fairytales was brilliant. I really liked how certain characters spanned all three stories.

6. Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1-7

I'll have a review up for this series soon.

7. Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman 3.5/5

I regret not re-reading Seraphina before I started this one. I think I would've enjoyed and understood this more if I had done. It took me a while to get into this but once I did I couldn't put it down. I didn't see any of the twists coming that happened and the new characters that were introduced were brilliant.

8. The Wicked and the Divine Volume One: The Faust Act 3/5

The 3/5 is only for the artwork really, I didn't understand the story. It was so difficult to follow. The only part I enjoyed was Lucifer. Best character by far.

9. Saga Volume 5 5/5

Finally! Saga is back on track and even more fabulous. I loved how this volume went, what hours happened to the characters.

10. I Hate Fairyland Volume One: Madly Ever After 5/5

If you haven't read this yet then what are you doing?! Bright murderous colours. A creepy old woman  trapped in a childs body. Just read it.

Those are all the novels, manga and graphic novels that I read this month.

What did you read?

Katie x

June Manga Haul

So I've recently started reading Manga and I'm loving it. It's such a unique reading experience with some amazing stories.

1. Is it Wrong to try to Pick up Girls in a Dungeon? Volume One

Bell Cranell has just become an adventurer, someone who fights monsters in a dungeon to help pay for his Familia. People that are loyal to one particular God or Goddess. Unfortunately he's the only person in his Familia and is infatuated with a girl he thinks he can never have.

2. Noragami Volume One

Yato is a God without a shrine or really any worshippers. To fix this he's set up a service to help the people that need it in exchange for a small fee that he hopes you use to build his own temple.

3. Noragami Stray Stories

Short stories set in the Norogami universe.

4. Blue Exorcist Volume One

This is one of my absolute favourite Animes. To fill in the wait for the next season I figured I'd give the manga a go. Rin was adopted at a young age along with his brother by a group of priests who moonlight as exorcists. Banishing evil from the world. Turns out Rin is half demon, the son of Satan and he's either going to be a help or a rather large hinderance.

5. Deadman Wonderland Volume One

After being framed for his classmates murder Ganta Igarashi has been sent to the bizarre prison/themepark Deadman Wonderland. The inmates of this hell hole fight on a daily basis for survival and to entertain the public.

6. Demon Love Spell Volume One

Miko is a shrine maiden thats no good at banishing spirits. Enter Kagura, a demon that lives off women's passion and love leaving many a heartbreak in his wake. Mike has managed to seal his power but now he's after her!

7. Black Bird Volume One

Misao Harada can see demons. She's been able to for as long as she could remember and wishes for a normal life. One where she ins't an outcast. The only person who ever treated her normally was Kyo, her childhood friend who left. Now she's in high school and he returns in the nick of time to save her from a demon. Someone who wanted to eat her to gain her power for their clan. Turns out Misao is the bride of prophecy, and demons either want to eat her or marry her. Did I mention Kyo is a demon too, only he wants to marry her...

8. Tokyo Ghoul Volume 2-7

My favourite manga/anime. Its amazing. In a freak turn of events Ken Kaneki has become a half ghoul. The organs of the one who tried to eat him and now keeping his body alive and are making him hunger for human flesh. Feeling like he has no place in the world he asks the Ghoul of Anteiku for help. Chaos ensues.

Did you pick up any manga this month?

Katie x

June Graphic Novel Haul

My graphic novel collection has been growing at an alarming rate of late.

1. ODY-C Volume One: Off to Far Ithicaa

This has distinct Greek influences which I think is what drew me to it. It sounds amazing. Rather than Odysseus being a person it seems to be a ship that its crew are sailing back to Ithicaa on.

2. Rat Queens Volume Three: Demons

A group of badass ladies that drink and fight to their hearts content.

3. Daredevil Back in Black: Chinatown (1)

Daredevil has become one of my favourite characters in the Marvel Universe since watching the Netflix Original show. I figured it would probably be a good idea to read some more about him in preparation for season 3.

4. I Hate Fairyland Volume One: Madly Ever After

Think Orphan meets Sugar Rush Kingdom from Wreck it Ralph. Gert has been trapped in Fairyland for 30 years trapped in a 6 year olds body. That can make some people rather unhappy. Gert has gone on a rampage trying to finish this quest.

5. Wolf Volume one: Blood and Magic

Antoine Wolf is a reckless paranormal detective. The man with a death wish then has to cope with the responsibility of an orphaned teenage girl who might be the key to the impending apocalypse.

6. Paper Girls Volume One

Halloween 1988. Four girls on the cusp of Teenagehood deliver a story of the upmost importance.

7. Sex Criminals Volume One: One Weird Trick.

Two people meet who share a strange gift. When they have sex time literally stops. What could you do if time stopped but you kept moving?

8. Pretty Deadly Volume One: The Shrike

The story of the daughter of death.

What graphic novels did you get this month?

Katie x

June Book Haul

Working in a book store is both a blessing and a curse. Well, it's a curse for my TBR pile mountain.

1. John Dies at the End by David Wong

Basically Soy sauce is a drug in this world, there is an 'eye' and now I've touched this book I'm in the game. I know nothing about this book except its been something I look at over and over again. I think its the title that gets me. Either way I'm interested to see why soy sauce is now a drug.

2. Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Earth is dying and a resolution is needed fast. Then its found, a planet hidden among the stars already terraformed and able to sustain life. However, humans aren't the first species to inhabit this planet, there was already someone there and they don't want to give up their planet.

3. A Thousand Nights by E.K Johnston

I'm pretty sure this has some links with Arabian Nights. When a King comes to the desert with the intention to take one girl as his next wife one of them will stop at nothing to save her sister even if it means sacrificing herself.

4. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

To Kill A Mockingbird will forever be one of my favourite books. I simply adore it. In this novel we see Jean-Lousie (Scout) Finch as a grown woman. Originally this was the novel Lee attempted to publish but people wanted to hear about Scout's childhood instead.

5. Alice by Christina Henry

Alice isn't in wonderland anymore. She's in a hospital trying to remember what happened to her, why she's in hospital. All she can remember is a tea party, long ears and blood. A fire gives her the chance to escape this hell hole but as they say its from the frying pan and into the fire. Alice needs to go back to the Old City.

6. Slade House by David Mitchell

On one side of a high wall lies a narrow, dank alley; on the other, a sunlit garden; and between them, a small black iron door. This novel started out as a twitter story David Mitchell wrote in 2014 inhabiting the same world as the bone clock.

7. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Lou Clark knows a lot of things, most of them don't seem all that useful. She doesn't know that she's about to lose her job nor does she know she's about to meet Will Traynor. A man whose desire to live has ebbed away ever since a motorcycle incident paralysed him.

8. Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

The book of before. Prior to the 'off with her head' the Queen of Hearts was a girl, a Princess. A Princess that longed for her fathers praise, the boy she loved but all that is jeopardised when a betrayal changes everything. The making of the Queen of Hearts.

9. Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

The second novel of the Great Library Series. No-one has original books anymore, the Great Library of Alexandria doesn't allow it. Anyone caught with an original book is to be punished, with extreme force. Jess Brightwell was a book smuggler, someone who carried books and delivered them. Basically like a mule, after all words can be as much a drug as anything else.

10. Red's Untold Tale by Wendy Toliver

Basically this is a story from the hit tv show Once Upon a Time telling 'Reds' (Little red riding hood) backstory.

11. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Maddy hasn't left her house in seventeen years. Olly is the guy next door and he's determined to find a way to reach her.

12. Stranger of Tempest by Tom Lloyd

I read the first page of this and knew I needed it. "For a damsel in distress, she was rather more spattered with someone else's blood than Lynx had expected. And naked. Very naked."

13. The Fall of Lucifer by Wendy Alec

A war between three angelic brothers for the human race.

14. The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

A retelling of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale.

15. Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler.

A retelling of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.

16. Shylock is my Name by Howard Jacobson

A retelling of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice.

17. The Fireman by Jose Hill

A disease is spreading, it's name Dragonscale. Culminating is spontaneous human combustion.

What books did you get this month?

Katie x

Review: When We Collide by Emery Lord

Name: When We Collided
Author: Emery Lord
Pages:337
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978-1-4088-7008-2
Rating: 4/5

**I requested this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own**

Jonah Daniels lives in Verona cove and is trying to cope with the crushing weight of his Dad's passing. He and his older brother and sister have become default heads of the house now that his mother has locked herself in her room unable to cope. Vivi has come to Verona Cove with her mother and is charmed by everything it has to offer including a new beginning where the events of the past few months can be filed away, if only for a little time. Then their worlds collide and sparks fly.

I'm always interested to read books about mental illnesses/ emotional difficulties. Going into this novel I thought only one character struggled with this but I was very much mistaken. I liked reading about how these two characters interacted and helped each other with their struggles and make things worse in some cases. I related more to Jonah's side of the story having experienced loss for myself. I thought that grief in this book was handled very well. It showed an entire spectrum of how people deal with it. I also liked how the other mental illness was demonstrated (I won't mention what it actually was for slight spoilers) but I have no real experiences of it so I can't say whether it was accurate. The way Vivi was written and spoke really conveyed how hyper she could be.

The actual story was great. You could clearly see how each character progressed for the better and sometimes for the worse. I was very happy with how the novel ended, it felt like the right conclusion for this kind of story. Vivi to me, is the kind of person you meet but once in your life and you're never quite the same as a result.

While reading this novel you got to learn about untranslatable words which I'm now fascinated by. I love it when books have information like that. It adds to the entire reading experience.

I'd definitely recommend this for fans of All The Bright Places or Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Katie x

Review: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Name: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Pages: 624
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 978-1-4088-5788-5
Rating: 5/5 (But let's be serious, there isn't a number high enough)

This is the second book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. My review for the first book is here.

Sarah J. Maas is the queen of angsty love and apparently steamy romances. Oh my.

So this book virtually carries straight on from the first novel with Feyre struggling to come to terms with what happened Under the Mountain. Completely understandable. The novel from there takes a completely different direction but I couldn't be more happy with it. This was absolutely amazing. Looking back on the novel I feel that this instalment has even more Beauty and the Beast elements than the first one. Getting to see more of the different Courts in Pyrthian was so interesting.  They all sound so beautiful. The vastness of the land is unbelievable, I don't know how Sarah manages it.

Rhysand is my favourite. He's such a complex character. That is all.

The shape the story is taking really intrigues me. How the two lands come together in the novel is done so well. I'm so excited to see how everything plays out in the next novel(s). OH. The fight scenes and magic wielding is amazing. A good action scene makes me very happy and this book is full of them. FULL OF THEM.

Can we take a brief moment for this cover.... Thank you.

Have you read this? No? WHY THE HELL NOT?

Katie x


Now for the spoiler discussion.




** SPOLIERS**

**FINAL WARNING**

I was very much ready to throat punch Tamlin. How could he not see that Feyre was wasting away both physically and mentally before him? Because he treated her like a butterfly to delicate to do anything and nearly suffocated her. Enter Rhysand. The glorious, wonderful, complex Rhysand. I adore him and Feyre together. Feysand FTW.

Velaris. It sounds like such a beautiful place, I need to go but I can't which makes me so sad. Also the Summer Court sounds awesome. Even if they now hate the Night Court.

Rhys' inner circle is wonderful. Mor, I want her to be my best friend and I want Cassian and Azriel to be my older brothers. The new characters introduced were absolutely fantastic, I can't wait to read more about them.

How this book ended reminded me so much of the cliffhanger of Throne of Glass. We get this massive revelation and then have to wait..

Why so long?!

Anyway.

Tell me what you thought of A Court of Mist and Fury.

Review: The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig

Name: The Fire Sermon
Author: Francesca Haig
Pages: 416
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Voyager
ISBN: 9780007563081
Rating: 4/5

Ever since the blast only twins were born. One perfect and pristine, the Alpha and one that had some form of deformity. Sometimes it isn't always visible, Cass knows this. She's an Omega, a seer. Someone who has visions. For years no-one could tell if Cass was the Omega or if her twin Zach was. Something that he resented massively and led him down a path of destruction.

This seemed to take an age to get going but once it did I was hooked. I stayed up until 1:30 to finish this. So worth it. The latter half of the novel was amazing. So action packed with so many twists and turns. I didn't cry but I was very close to doing so. The premise is amazing. I love the idea of only twins being born, so clever.

Cass is great. She's such a different character in comparison to the others in the novel. She has such a unique perspective. Its great how she isn't infallible even though she's a seer. We learn things as she does which makes the novel really enjoyable to read. Her relationship with Kip is adorable, they work together as a unit so well.

Have you read this?

Katie x