City of Ghosts Spoiler Free Review

City of Ghosts
Victoria Schwab

Synopsis:

Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspectres, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspectres head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn't sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn't belong in her world. Cassidy's powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 4.5 stars. It was like a cross between Casper the Friendly Ghost and Tim Burton films. It was the perfect spooky children’s book. Highly recommend reading it in preparation of Halloween.

The story follows a young girl who can see ghosts. Cassidy had an encounter with death that left her with the ability to see ghosts However no one believes her, not even her parents who write about the paranormal.

The book starts off with Cassidy finding out that her parents are going to be filming a tv show about the most haunted places on earth. This first book took place in Edinburgh, Scotland and I can only assume that each book in this series will be in a different haunted place. I’m into it. 

Cass pretty much only has one consistent friend throughout the book, Jacob. Jacob is the ghost of a young boy who intertwines himself into Cassidy’s life. He provides stability considering no one seems to believe that she can see ghosts. I enjoy their friendship, it goes both ways, it isn’t just one of them taking more from the other. 

I can’t help but compare this to Vicious, also written by Victoria Schwab. It had a bit of a similar premise to Sydney from Vicious, so if you liked Vicious and want to read a children’s version of that I would recommend this. I would suggest reading it anyway because it was really fun, but if you weren’t already sold, then I hope this does it for you.

Overall, if you are looking for a book that’s mature with complicated plots and heavy character development, this may not be for you. It’s very simple and good for its target audience: children. But if you are looking for something more simplistic and still has that spooky vibe then this may be for you.

Books I Have Preordered

I was sitting here thinking to myself "What kind of post can I make that isn't just a repetition of everything else I've done?" and I realized that I recently preordered a whole bunch of books and thought, why not make a post about that? So if you're interested in seeing which books I have preordered right now then keep reading! Also, in case you're wondering I have them all preordered with Chapters Indigo.

Kingdom of Ash

I've been waiting years to finally read this book and obviously, I want to get my hands on it as soon as possible. Also, I know that with Sarah J. Maas books there is usually a cool preorder gift that you can apply for so if there is one for this book I definitely want to get in on it.

The Darkest Star

I didn't realize I wanted a book about Luc until Jennifer released all the information on it. It sounds so good and I can't wait to see what has become of all my favorite Lux characters after the end of the series. Also, I've heard rumors that Luc might even be better than Daemon which I don't think is possible, but I'm excited to see.

The Golden Tower

The final book in the Magisterium series and I am so pumped! All the books in this series have such beautiful hardcovers and I can't wait to have the full hardcover set. Also, I can't wait to see how it ends. 

Two Dark Reigns

I wanted the signed edition of this so I preordered it when I preordered The Golden Tower. I'm gonna have an aesthetically pleasing row of black hardcovers and I can't wait.

Queen of Air and Darkness

Do I need to explain this one? I'm gonna lose my mind because I still have to wait 4 months for this to come out. The only way I could keep myself from just dying was to preorder it.

Catwoman: Soulstealer

I have the first two books in this series and I wanted the third one. I thought I would be able to get the preorder gift for this one, but I don't live in the UK or US so I get nothing which is sad. However, all the books have cool little posters in the back so at least there's that.

The Reckoning of Noah Shaw

I got really excited when I saw some cool things on Michelle Hodkin's Instagram page. And I swooped in and ordered a signed copy because I love Mara and Noah. 

Do you guys have any books preordered? Would you be interested in a preorder giveaway?

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Waiting On Wednesday

The Golden Tower
by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Release Date: September 11th, 2018

Synopsis:

The final, thrilling instalment in this extraordinary series from bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.

A generation ago, powerful mage Constantine Madden came close to achieving what no magician had ever achieved: the ability to bring back the dead. He didn't succeed... but he did find a way to keep himself alive, inside a young child named Callum Hunt.

Facing up to what he is, Callum has battled chaos and evil across four years of magical training at the Magisterium, eventually defeating the armies of chaos in an epic battle.

It came at a cost.

Now, triumphant and heartbroken, Callum Hunt has just about had enough, and is ready to complete his training. But the evil Callum faced has not given up just yet... 

My Thoughts:

Why is it that every time a cover and synopsis for this series is revealed I never hear about it right away? I was scrolling through Goodreads trying to figure out which book to do for this week's Waiting On Wednesday when I saw a beautiful golden sight which just so happened to be The Golden Tower. I don't know about you but I think I've waited long enough for this book and it better be as good as I found the first and second books.

Top 10 Books I Wish I Could Read for the First Time Again

I'm pretty excited for this one. It's something I hadn't thought of before and once I did the list made itself.

10. Throne of Glass

This series was exactly what I needed at the time. I didn’t realize that female characters could be like that before reading this book. It opened my eyes to all these different possibilities that I want that to happen again.

9. The Vampire Academy

I binge read this series, I stayed up to 1 am to read Blood Promise and then woke up at 6am so I could finish it. This series was a great time in my life and I would love to be that invested in something again.

8. I’ll Give You the Sun

The smile that this book left me with the first time I read it is something I would love to have again. That initial happiness I felt will never be matched again and that does make me sad.

7. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

This is one of those series’ that I’ve read over and over again, but I will never again get the satisfaction I felt the first time I read this book. It was creepy and I loved the chemistry between Mara and Noah so much and I’m sad I won’t be able to experience that for the first time again.

6. The Hunger Games

This was the first dystopian I ever read and so it set the bar for every other dystopian I read after it. I wish I could feel those same feelings I had when I first read this series. 

5. Obsidian

I want the pleasure of meeting Daemon Black again and not knowing anything about him. I want to get to know Katy and relate to her and go through everything all over again without knowing anything.

4. The Gallagher Girls series

One of the first YA series’ I read. It’s probably the series to thank for getting me into YA in the first place. Nothing will ever take the place of my young self, getting into books about girl spies again. 

3. Wolfsong

I can’t express to you the emotional rollercoaster this book took me on. Not knowing what would happen next and how anything would turn out. Now that I know what happens it won’t be the same reading it. I would love to read this book over an do over as if it was my first time.

2. Ruby Red Trilogy

This is actually the trilogy that inspired this list. I was at work thinking about how much I wanted to read this series again and how amazing it was the first time I read it.

1. Harry Potter

It would be like living my childhood all over again if I could read this series over as if it were the first time. It was probably the most magical time in my life.

What are some books you guys would love to reread?

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The Silver Mask Review

The Silver Mask

by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare

Spoilers

Synopsis:

A generation ago, Constantine Madden came close to achieving what no magician had ever achieved: the ability to bring back the dead. He didn't succeed . . . but he did find a way to keep himself alive, inside a young child named Callum Hunt. Now Call is one of the most feared and reviled students in the history of the Magisterium, thought to be responsible for a devastating death and an ever-present threat of war. As a result, Call has been imprisoned and interrogated. Everyone wants to know what Constantine was up to and how he lives on. But Call has no idea. It is only when he's broken out of prison that the full potential of Constantine's plan is suddenly in his hands . . . and he must decide what to do with his power. In this spellbinding fourth book of Magisterium, bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare take us beyond the realm of the living and into the dangers of the dead. 

My Thoughts:

I gave this book 4 stars. Since I read this book all on my own, no one asked me to review it, it’s not from Netgalley, that means this is going to be my first spoiler review in a billion years. I honestly don’t remember what the last spoiler review I did was. I have a lot of things to say about this one.

I don’t recall if this was ever an issue in the past three books, but this book felt very middle grade with the writing. Now I know it is middle grade, but it never really felt this level of middle grade before. I just feel like the writing has been simplified a lot and the characters act a lot more immaturely. I mean in the earlier books it felt justified that they were really immature because they were a lot younger, but now they’re about 16 and I feel like the characters should have reached a higher level of maturity, but I don’t feel like anything has changed.

I could almost forgive the lack of growth, what I can’t forgive is what they did to my precious Aaron. If you haven't read the first three books then you shouldn’t read this book and you most certainly shouldn’t be reading this review. Anyway, if you are unaware that in the third book in this series, one of the main characters, Aaron, died tragically. Well, in this one they brought him back. It was beautiful I was so happy and I couldn’t wait for them to fix him and everything would be okay again. That was not the case, he came back all angsty and all Maddison Montgomery from American Horror Story, he just wasn’t right. We all think, “oh it’s fine, they’ll figure something out”. That didn’t happen. These cruel, cruel authors decided to kill him again!!!!!!!!! I was so completely upset by this I wanted to scream. Now I was in the middle of a crowded room when I finished this so I couldn’t actually scream, but the sentiment was there.

Call and Tamara are actually so cute together. It’s funny seeing Call trying to rationalize everything that is happening between them even though Tamara is obvious with her crush on him. It’s cute. 

Call basically lost most of the leverage he had from the first three books and I have to say that it was so completely frustrating I just wanted to throw the book at the wall. While it makes for a good plot line, it is not so good for my stress levels. 

Also, this has nothing to actually do with this book but is anyone else having fun watching the title for the last book constantly changing. I think it was originally The Golden Boy or something like that; Then it was the Enemy of Death and now it’s the Golden Tower. Honestly, I'm interested to see if this third title will stick

Overall, I love this series. I love everything even though there are definitely problems with it at times and I’m just going to keep reading them and suggesting them. I love that the hero is also the villain, I love the friendship dynamic, and I love the magic.

Teasers:


1.

Master Joseph only laughed, though. "I have a proposal for you, how about that? Callum, once you complete the task I set for you, you can leave the island with your friends if that's what you still want.""A task?" Call asked. "Is this some kind of trick thing where I have to tame an impossible elemental or separate dirt from sand on an entire beach?"Master Joseph smiled. "Nothing like that." He flung open the doors at the far end of the room. After a moment, Call and the others joined him at the entryway.Inside was a large, white-painted room. There was nothing in it but a metal table. On top of the table lay a body that was perfectly preserved, covered to the neck by a thin white sheet. "The task," he said. "Is to raise Aaron Stewart from the dead."

2.

"I'll kill you—" There were tears on Call's face as he flung himself at Alex. "I'll kill you—""Stop him," said Alex lazily, and seconds later, Call felt himself seized by a dozen Chaos-ridden, their grips like iron.Alex's eyes danced. "I made these, Makar," he said, gesturing toward the Chaos-ridden in the clearing. "I am their creator, not you, not Constantine. They belong to me. They're obedient to me."

Adventures in Farland Spoiler Free Review

Adventures in Farland
by Moshank Relia

Synopsis:

Mira Rawat has heard tales of Farland all her life from her mother, who has described the magical place of gnomes, fairies, mermaids and animals, and especially its wondrous festival, the New Moon Party. Now, Mira has been informed by a man named Bushy that she has been invited by Princess Harmonica to attend the party. Bushy also uses a spell to turn her two friends, the mischievous and vexing boys, Bira and Vira, into rats so that they will not disturb the other party guests with their constant fighting and misbehaviour. At midnight, Mira, with Bira and Vira snuggled in her pocket, climbs Gunhill and is picked up by the pilot Starhead and flown in his plane to the party. However, the flight is cut short by a terrible wind, and Starhead is forced to land his plane near the Lost Forest. There, Mira discovers that Farland is in great jeopardy. Another Farland resident, Windman, has been generating great windstorms to prevent the Queen of Witches from reaching Dragon Hill. She intends to release the Dragon of Underhill, chained in its den beneath Dragon Hill, so that Farland will be burned and completely destroyed.

My Thoughts:

This book was hard to rate. My enjoyment level wasn’t all that high as I am not much of a middle grade reader. Looking at it as a children’s book, it had a bit of a higher rating, but only reading it as a child. It was hard to pinpoint where exactly it sat on the spectrum. I finally decided on 2.5 stars. 

I was told this book was for ages 6-15 but I feel like it would be more along the lines of 5-12. It just feels a bit young for 15 year olds. As I was 15 a few years ago I can say that I was definitely not reading books like this, I was more into the older YA books and I feel like a lot of 15 year olds would agree with that. This is definitely a good book for children though.

I’m a fan of middle grade, but this book felt even younger than middle grade and I’m just not sure if it was my cup of tea. If I had a small child I would definitely read this one to them as a bedtime story.

The illustrations in this book were also very cute and it was nice to see them every few pages, it gives a bit more of picture. It was also fun, books with little illustrations always add a bit of life to the story.

Waiting On Wednesday

Whichwood
by Taherah Mafi

Release Date: November 14th, 2017

Synopsis:

A new adventure about a girl who is fated to wash the bodies of the dead in this companion to Furthermore.

Our story begins on a frosty night…

Laylee can barely remember the happier times before her beloved mother died. Before her father, driven by grief, lost his wits (and his way). Before she was left as the sole remaining mordeshoor in the village of Whichwood, destined to spend her days washing the bodies of the dead and preparing their souls for the afterlife. It’s become easy to forget and easier still to ignore the way her hands are stiffening and turning silver, just like her hair, and her own ever-increasing loneliness and fear.

But soon, a pair of familiar strangers appears, and Laylee’s world is turned upside down as she rediscovers color, magic, and the healing power of friendship.

My Thoughts:

Furthermore was so fun and I had such an amazing time reading it, so I can't wait to get to read this new instalment in that series. The world is just so fresh and unique and I can't see how this could possibly go wrong.