Showing posts with label book reviews. Show all posts

Book Review: Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan

Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks review and it is of Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. 
Title: Pigeon Blood Red
Author: Ed E. Duncan
Genre: Crime Thriller
Publication Date: February 25th 2016
Publisher: Zharmae
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 238
Rating:4 stars
Goodreads SummaryFor underworld enforcer Richard "Rico" Sanders, it seemed like an ordinary job. Retrieve his gangster boss's priceless pigeon-blood red ruby necklace and teach the double-dealing cheat who stole it a lesson. A job like a hundred before it. But the chase quickly goes sideways and takes Rico from the mean streets of Chicago to sunny Honolulu, where the hardened hit man finds himself in uncharted territory when a couple of innocent bystanders are accidentally embroiled in the crime.


As Rico pursues his new targets, the hunter and his prey develop an unlikely respect for one another and Rico is faced with a momentous decision: follow his orders to kill the couple whose courage and character have won his admiration, or refuse and endanger the life of the woman he loves?


Overview

You might be reading the title and thinking Pigeon Blood Red? What on earth is that about? Well it's actually about the consequences of  when rubies go missing and the domino effect that this one act has on others. Well that's my take on the story anyway. With a healthy dose of murder, affairs and hot weather thrown in there too. I'm not typically a fan of adult thriller books that aren't 'who dunnits?' but this was a refreshing change of pace for me and I actually enjoyed it.

Pigeon Blood Red has multiple point of views from the four main characters. 

Writing

At the beginning of the book I thought it was quite slow, but then gradually warmed up, causing me to be well in to the book by around 50 pages. A lot of the book did rely on internal monologue and there was also quite a few flashbacks chucked in there too. 

Characters

Evelyn is one of our main characters, she is a middle aged woman trapped in a loveless marriage, so her way to to make it or break it for her and her husband is a trip to Hawaii. She then gets wrapped up in a situation that she had no business in and gets swept into a world that she never even realised existed, let alone one where she is wanted dead. Evelyn is not the most interesting of characters, even her flashbacks seemed a bit limp for me, she chose Robert because he was the 'bad boy' and that didn't pan out, now only realising at middle aged how unhappy she is, sort of mid life crisis anyone?

The next main character is Robert, Evelyn's husband, whose an excessive gambler and alcoholic, who owes lots of various people money. Robert is basically to cut it short, an idiot, who I have no sympathy for. He makes stupid decisions and when push comes to shove he doesn't have the backbone, when then the threats start coming in. 

Unlike Rico, our next main character, Rico is an assassin working for Litvak a renowned loan shark. Ricoc is probably the most complex character, with his murderous ways, which we found out more about in the flashbacks. 

The fourth main character (I'm calling these main characters, because each of these have a point of view in the book) is Paul, to me, he was a bit of a wet wipe, I wasn't a huge fan of him until the end, when he finally started coming out of his shell more. 
And finally we have Litvak who is the loan shark with a missing stash of pigeon blood red rubies. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, I really enjoyed it and Rico was my favourite point of view by far. To me this was mainly setting up the series for the rest of the trilogy, as it did have action in it, but I expect it to really kick off in the next couple of books. A huge thanks to Ed E. Duncan and Kelsey and Taylor at Book Publicity Services. 

Recommend...

I would recommend this to anybody who likes adult thrillers with hints of organised crime. 

 Book Links


Author Links


Author Bio

Ed Duncan is a graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University Law School. He was a partner at a national law firm in Cleveland, Ohio for many years. He currently lives outside of Cleveland, OH and is at work on the second installment in the Pigeon-Blood Red trilogy.

Previous Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
Previous Bookish Post: Emma Recommends... books to read on holiday
Next Book Review: Landline by Rainbow Rowell
Next Bookish Post: Battle of the Book covers (UK vs US)

EnglishBlonde
x

Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks book review and it is The Midnight Star by Marie Lu. Last week I reviewed The Rose Society, so if you haven't read that yet, I recommend you do now. As this book review will contain spoilers for The Young Elite and The Rose Society (and very minor spoilers for The Midnight Star). I'm sorry if this review turns more into a series review, but this is the only place I can appropriately describe my thoughts and feelings of the series as a whole.


Title: The Midnight Star
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin 
Pub. Date: October 11th 2016
Date Read: 12th April 2017
Pages:  316
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary
There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained. When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.

Overview


The Midnight Star kicks off a while after Rose Society, in a world where Adelina is still not speaking to her sister, and is ruling Kenettra with an iron fist. She is soon forced to help her old allies turned enemies to save the rest of their kind, as all of the characters are in some way turning against themselves, some mentally and some physically. And due to this have to band together, much to Adelinas disgust. 
The only real downside I have about this series is that even though I really enjoyed The Midnight Star, for me The Young Elites and The Rose Society could have been a duology, as a lot of this book was Adelina realising the wrong to her ways and her getting a redemption arc, although I may just  be feeling this way because I really have a thing for villains. 

Writing

The Midnight Star appropriately finishes off Adelina's character arc, with the Young Elites have her discovering and developing herself, the Rose Society is when the villain is made and The Midnight Star, is her realising that her actions have consequences and learning about what good and bad truly is.
I also really liked how Marie Lu pulled all of the world building together from the first two books, with the myths and fables told and how they all came together, which made the book very satisfying to read, well for me anyway. I love it when books have little Easter eggs hidden in there.

Characters

 Something I really liked about this series is that we saw what was going on from a variety of different point of views. And this way we see the light and dark side of all of the characters, which truly makes the reader see them more as human and enables you, as a reader, to see them more as human and enables you to find out what is truly going on from a wider perspective.  

As mentioned in my previous reviews of the rest of the trilogy, I have never been interested in the Raffaele chapters, and I was still uninterested reading this, instead I much preferred Adelina's, as well as Magiano and Violetta's one off point of views. Although Adelina has got to be one of the best anti-heroes I have ever read, and even though objectively I knew what she was doing was bad, I still felt myself rooting for her.

Conclusion

 In conclusion, I really enjoyed this series, and Adelina is probably one of my all time favourite book characters. The ending wasn't quite what I expected, but I enjoyed it nether the less and will be recommending it to my friends and family for them to read. However, one of my absolute favourite things of this series was each of the characters individual character development, whether they were becoming better people, or worse. 

Recommend...

I recommend this to fans of YA fantasy, and of cause fans of the first and second novel, because in my opinion the series just got better and better. As I said in my last review I would recommend this series to fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas and And I Darken by Kiersten White. And I Darken due to Adelina being a strong anti- hero. Red Queen due to the magical powers aspect and Throne of Glass because of the violence and the magic aspect again.

Book Links

Author Links

Marie Lu | Goodreads | Twitter

Thank you for reading my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed this weeks review, do you know of any good books with a strong antihero? If so please let me know in the comments, as that is the exact type of book I am looking for at the moment. 

Next Book Review: Pigeon Blood Red by Ed E. Duncan
Next Bookish Post: May/June Wrap Up & July TBR
EnglishBlonde
x

Book Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu

Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks book review and it is The Rose Society by Marie Lu. Last week I reviewed The Young Elites, so if you haven't read that yet, I recommend you do now. As this book review will contain spoilers for The Young Elite.

Title: The Rose Society
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin 
Pub. Date: October 13th 2015
Date Read: 11th April 2017
Pages:  397
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary
Once upon a time, a girl had a father, a prince, a society of friends. Then they betrayed her, and she destroyed them all. Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she flees Kenettra with her sister to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers who nearly killed her. But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good when her very existence depends on darkness?

Overview

The Rose Society picks up with Adelina and Violetta escaping Kenettra and traveling in an attempt to find more malfettos and get their own version of the Young Elites.
Rose Society is the perfect example of a tumblr post I once read for a writing prompt. You follow the hero, only to find out at the end that they are in fact the villain. 

Writing


I do wonder if Marie Lu decided to do three point of views in order to do the whole "Three sides to every story. Their side. Your side. The truth' sort of thing.  
The only thing that I kind of feel after reading both this and the final book in the trilogy is I honestly feel like we could have finished the book there and kept it a duology, rather than the expansion into the next book. 

Characters

  
Adelina began to embrace her dark side a lot more in this novel. From the beginning you could just tell there was going to be a lot of conflict between the sisters from the very beginning of the book. Because honestly Violetta is so self righteous. She says that she is only looking out for Adelina but everything she does has some sort of detrimental effect on her sister. 

Teren is such a love struck fool, like what an idiot. Has he honestly still not realised that the reason for Guilettas obsession for malfettos is because of her brother, and the weird hierarchy for the throne. Although he did start going against his dear beloved, and growing a back bone, even if it wasn't necessarily in the way I wanted him too, but at least he stood for his values.

Even though of cause The Rose Society has three main characters, but I don't really have anything to say about Rafaelle, I didn't really enjoy him as a character and I don't really care for him. 
A lot of new characters were introduced in the Rose Society and some that I liked a lot more than others. As we met Magiano (my personal favourite), Sergio and of cause Queen Maeve, who we met mildly in book one. **Spoiler ahead** I found it really interesting that they added Sergio 'the weather manipulator' into the mix. As the Young Elite did say that they had killed him due to him not being in control. **End of spoiler**

Conclusion

 In conclusion, I really enjoyed the Rose Society, only wishing that we delved into Guiletta's character a bit more. But after finishing reading this I am ready to move on to the next book, The Midnight Star. 

Recommend...

I recommend this to fans of YA fantasy, and of cause fans of the first novel, because in my opinion it got better. As I said in my last review I would recommend this series to fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas and And I Darken by Kiersten White. And I Darken due to Adelina being a strong anti- hero. Red Queen due to the magical powers aspect and Throne of Glass because of the violence and the magic aspect again. 

Book Links

Author Links


Previous Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Next Book Review: The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
Next Bookish Post: 2017 Anticipated Releases (Part 2)
EnglishBlonde
x

Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Hey my lovelies, welcome to my first book review of the month of May and it is, drum roll please, The Young Elites by Marie Lu. I first read the Young Elites, when it first came out and even though I did enjoy it, I probably wouldn't put it down as one of my favourite books. But after reading it a second time, I definitely found it a lot better. 


Title: The Young Elites
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: Penguin 
Pub. Date: October 7th 2014
Date Read: 9th April 2017
Pages:  356
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary
I am tired of being used, hurt, and cast aside. 
Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination, ruining their family’s good name and standing in the way of their fortune. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.
Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation. He believes the Young Elites to be dangerous and vengeful, but it’s Teren who may possess the darkest secret of all. 
Enzo Valenciano is a member of the Dagger Society. This secret sect of Young Elites seeks out others like them before the Inquisition Axis can. But when the Daggers find Adelina, they discover someone with powers like they’ve never seen. 
Adelina wants to believe Enzo is on her side, and that Teren is the true enemy. But the lives of these three will collide in unexpected ways, as each fights a very different and personal battle. But of one thing they are all certain: Adelina has abilities that shouldn’t belong in this world. A vengeful blackness in her heart. And a desire to destroy all who dare to cross her.
It is my turn to use. My turn to hurt.

Overview

The Young Elites opens up with a kingdom still recovering from the scarlet plague, which took place years previous. Leaving the adults who contracted it to die and the children marked with the scarlet mark. With these children being known as malfettos, with few being shown to have extraordinary power, with a select few going against the patriarchy and naming themselves the Young Elites. 

Writing

It is beautifully written, for such a short 356 page novel, and the world building is exquisite. Making me really feel as if I am in Kenettra. It was just the little things that I loved, such as the weird royalty laws. Like them not allowing female heirs in Kenettra, unless the female heirs were to marry (like the old British monarchy), whereas in Beldain, they have to have a Queen, with female heirs.

Characters

It is split into three main points of view; Terin, Adelina and Rafaelle. This creates a diverse atmosphere, as it ensures that we are finding out what is going on from all angles. And considering The Young Elites is a fantasy story, I really enjoyed how real some of the characters seemed, and that all of the characters had flaws. 

Adelina was such an amazing character, I love a good antihero, and with the exception of 'And I Darken' by Kiersten White, I don't think I've really read any other books with a female anti-hero, so that was an amazing character she is. I felt anger, when she felt anger, I felt upset, when she felt upset, and I think that is amazing for an author to do, as I don't tend to feel sympathy for characters that often anymore. Adelina's main flaw was probably her jealousy and contempt for her younger sister Violetta, and I truly loved their relationship, in both flashback and when they were together, because their was just something so raw about the pair. Violetta herself, is a great and complex character hiding herself behind naivety and kindness, even if that kindness has a detrimental effect on others. Teren was another complex character, from his love for his Queen, to his insecurities and how they effect him. 

Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed The Young Elites, much more than I did the last time I read it anyway. However, it did take me around 2 hours and a half hours to finish it, due to my awful reading slump, which isn't really the best for me. I do have high hopes for The Rose Society now though, which I plan to read as soon as I finish this review. As I really want to learn much more about Queen Guiletta, as I feel like she has the potential to become a much more complex and deeper character. 

Recommend...

I recommend this to fans of YA fantasy, and specifically fans of the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas and And I Darken by Kiersten White. And I Darken due to Adelina being a strong anti- hero. Red Queen due to the magical powers aspect and Throne of Glass because of the violence and the magic aspect again. 

Book Links

Author Links


Next Book Review: The Rose Society by Marie Lu
Next Bookish Post: Battle of the Bookcovers
EnglishBlonde
x

Book Review: The F Student by Xyla Turner

Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks book review and it is The F Student by Xyla Turner, this week I am taking part in 'The F Student' blog tour hosted by Xpresso Blog Tours. So a huge thank you to them for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The F Student
Author: Xyla Turner
Publisher: Azina Media
Pub. Date: January 10th 2017
Date Read: 6th February 2017
Pages:  92
Rating:3.6/5 stars
SummaryCassius Rice, A.K.A., Cash has not been doing well in his classes for over a year. With one semester to go, his father cut him off, leaving Cash out of luck. With no other options, he took up an offer that he later regretted. Sleep with his professor and record it, then he would have the money to obtain his college degree. 
Simple enough for Cash. 
What he did not expect was the Professor’s Teaching Assistant to block his efforts nor did he expect the underground fighting world to be so lucrative. All he wanted was to accomplish his quest and graduate. 


The F Student wasn't exactly what I expected. When I first read the blurb I was interested (hence the reason for requesting to be put on the tour), however it wasn't really what I wanted the book to be. The book is from a male point of view, which I have never read a NA book from before, so I'm not really sure if it was just that, but then I wasn't really a big fan of the writing style to be honest. And especially with it being such a short novella really, I expected more, especially because of all the high class short novella's I have read in the last year.

The book follows Cash, an average student at college, however when his brother dies, his life completely changes, causing his only real passion to be his love of older women. And when his father see's his grades dropping, he cuts him off, causing him to have to find a quick way to pay the rest of $20,000 owed before the end of term in order to graduate. Whilst looking for ways to get this income, he is the offered the chance to receive all of the money in return for sleeping with one of his professors and filming it. However, he soon finds the professor's TA is exactly what he needs in his life.

Conclusion

Overall, I believe The F Sudent was an okay read, and if it was slightly longer, I believe it would have allowed us to  connect with the characters a lot more, and given them added depth. 

Recommend?

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading short NA novels, from a male point of view. Who enjoys incredibly short reads. 

Author Bio

Xyla Turner is a USA Today Bestselling and award-winning romance author. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and is a dedicated educator. Outside of reading, Xyla likes to spend time with her family and travel as much as her schedule permits. 
As a teenager, Xyla started to write short stories and essays that won awards and nation-wide competitions. She is from Brooklyn, NY, where she is an educator, innovator and entrepreneur.

Book Links



Another huge thank you to Xpresso Book Tours for sending me The F Student in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on Goodreads,and Twitter


Previous Bookish Post: T5W: Book trends I'm tired off
Next Bookish Post: Favourite Non-Written Novels
EnglishBlonde
x

Book Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

Hey my lovelies, welcome to this weeks review and it is... Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. If you follow my reading wrap ups, then you will know that I read this book a long time ago (around 6 months), however I never got round to reviewing it, so here we go...

Title: Wintergirls
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Pub. Date: March 19th 2009
Date Read: June 28th 2016
Pages:  278
Rating:4/5 stars
Summary"Dead girl walking”, the boys say in the halls.
"Tell us your secret”, the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

Lia and Cassie are best friends, wintergirls frozen in matchstick bodies, competitors in a deadly contest to see who can be the skinniest. But what comes after size zero and size double-zero? When Cassie succumbs to the demons within, Lia feels she is being haunted by her friend’s restless spirit.
Laurie Halse Anderson explores Lia’s descent into the powerful vortex of anorexia, and her painful path toward recovery

Before reading this book, I must say this book has various triggers, which may give spoilers to the book. however I would prefer you to be spoiled, and know if the book is suitable for you then, instead of being triggered because of me.  TRIGGER Warning: Selfharm, Attempted Suicide, Mental Illness, Anorexia and Bulimia. 

Wintergirls, was not at all what I expected, but I did definitely enjoy reading it. As I liked the ammount of internal monologue there was with Lia, and how the crossed out words effect on her thoughts, as it shows what she knows as the truth, and what society expects her to see. 

This may be a completely inaccurate interpretation of anorexia, however it has made me feel as if i have a better understanding of the mental state of people who have this illness.However, this entire book makes me feel incredibly conflicted as I know that Lia should go to the hospital, as she has a serious problem, however a part of me is still rooting for Lia, as I feel a lot of sympathy for her.

***Spoiler***Elijah was very wishy washy as he encouraged Lia's visions and then stole her money and pretty much left her there to die. The arse.***End of Spoiler***

Wintergirls, has a very interesting way of having the chapter numbers, with having it shown as a weight scale. Also, if the calorie for each of the items is correct in this book, I believe a huge round of applause should be given to the author, as you can tell a huge amount of research went into this book. 

Conclusion
Overall, I believe Wintergirls was a very powerful and thought provoking book, due to the strong and important issues of the book, which is why it took me quite a while (for me anyway) to get through it. 

Would I recommend this?
I would recommend this to anyone, who wishes to understand the mentality of someone going through the eating disorder illnesses, such as anorexia or bulimia. However, apart from that I really enjoyed it, from the way that it is written and the extra tidbits, which are in there. 

Book Links

Author Links

Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on GoodreadsInstagram and Twitter

Previous Book Review: 
Next Book Review: 
EnglishBlonde
x

Book Review: Famous Last Words by Katie Alender

Hey my lovelies, this weeks book review is of Famous Last Words by Katie Alender, to be honest this has been at the bottom of my tbr pile for a long time, and it was there when I needed a book to read, so I read it, however I can't say I was impressed.

Title: Famous Last Words
Author: Katie Alender
Publisher: Point
Pub. Date: 30th September 2014
Date Read: 23rd December 2016
Pages: 320
Rating: 3/5 stars
Summary: Hollywood history, mystery, murder, mayhem, and delicious romance collide in this unputdownable thriller from master storyteller Katie Alender. Willa is freaking out. It seems like she's seeing things. Like a dead body in her swimming pool. Frantic messages on her walls. A reflection that is not her own. It's almost as if someone -- or something -- is trying to send her a message. Meanwhile, a killer is stalking Los Angeles -- a killer who reenacts famous movie murder scenes. Could Willa's strange visions have to do with these unsolved murders? Or is she going crazy? And who can she confide in? There's Marnie, her new friend who may not be totally trustworthy. And there's Reed, who's ridiculously handsome and seems to get Willa. There's also Wyatt, who's super smart but unhealthily obsessed with the Hollywood Killer.  All Willa knows is, she has to confront the possible-ghost in her house, or she just might lose her mind . . . or her life.

Overview

As mentioned above,  I was not a big fan of Famous Last Words, as to me, it read more like a middle grade novel than a young adult. By both the characters dialogue and the way that certain scenes were written. The characters were also not as well written or developed as I would like, especially considering it has a 4.2+ rating on goodreads.

Willa was also quite annoying, as for most of the novel you could tell she did not know what she was doing for most of the novel, but not in the traditional sense, of a naive character, in a annoying, not written well character. I also didn't feel attached any of the characters and was not that affected or shocked when we found out who the killer was. 

However, there were good aspects of the book, such as the way it builds tension at the crucial points of the novel, causing you to wonder if you are sure who the killer is. Although it was who I expected it to be by the way.

The last time I read a Katie Alender book, it was Bad Girls Don't Die, and even though this was quite a few years ago, I remember enjoying it, and after not enjoying this, it makes me want to reread that to find out if it really was as good as i remember. Famous Last Words reminds me heavily of that Nancy Drew film with Emma Roberts, from the moving into a famous dead starlets home, to the mystery solving the possibly supernatural. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, I found this to be an alright read, as I didn;t find it anything special, and did not enjoy it that much. I just found it was another one to knock of my tbr and to helps me reach my 2016 Reading Challenge Goal. 

Would I recommend this?

As you have probably gathered, this book was not my cup of tea, however if you are in the 11-13 age range wanting to read a paranormal read similar to the Nancy Drew film then this is probably the book for you. 

Book Links


Author Links


Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on GoodreadsInstagram and Twitter

Previous Book Review: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson
Next Book Review: Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
EnglishBlonde
x