Top Ten Tuesday - Books on My Winter 2021 To-Read List

 

 Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week the topic is 

Books on My Winter 2021 To-Read List

 

 

 

Here are my picks . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What books do you want to read?

 

 

Review - You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

 

Title: You and Me on Vacation

Author: Emily Henry

Pages: 368

Publisher: Penguin UK

Release Date: 11th May 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

TWO FRIENDS
TEN SUMMER TRIPS
THEIR LAST CHANCE TO FALL IN LOVE

12 SUMMERS AGO: Poppy and Alex meet. They hate each other, and are pretty confident they'll never speak again.

11 SUMMERS AGO: They're forced to share a ride home from college and by the end of it a friendship is formed. And a pact: every year, one vacation together.

10 SUMMERS AGO: Alex discovers his fear of flying on the way to Vancouver.
Poppy holds his hand the whole way.

7 SUMMERS AGO: They get far too drunk and narrowly avoid getting matching tattoos in New Orleans.

2 SUMMERS AGO: It all goes wrong.

THIS SUMMER: Poppy asks Alex to join her on one last trip. A trip that will determine the rest of their lives.

You and Me on Vacation is a love story for fans of When Harry Met Sally and One Day. Get ready to travel the world, snort with laughter and - most of all - lose your heart to Poppy and Alex.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Penguin General UK and NetGalley*

When Poppy met Alex twelve years ago, she was sure that they'd never speak to each other again, but one year later the two find themselves driving home together. A drive that would lead to the duo becoming friends and going on holiday together every summer.

Until two years ago when everything went wrong.

This summer, Poppy is determined to give Alex the best holiday yet in order to rekindle their friendship.

Can Poppy and Alex's friendship return to the way it was?

What happened two years ago?

While contemporary/romance novels are not usually among my favourites, I liked the sound of this book and decided to give it a go.

I found both Poppy and Alex to be likeable and relatable protagonists. The duo were complete opposites personality-wise, but they got on really well and I enjoyed reading as their friendship developed. I liked that neither Poppy nor Alex were perfect - they both had past experiences that still affected them and they needed to work through.

The plot was enjoyable and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped and nothing happened that shocked or surprised me. However, I did find myself smiling several times while reading this and I liked Poppy and Alex's banter.

The writing style was easy to follow and at one point I thought the plot was going to go in a direction that I didn't want it to, but luckily it didn't.

I am a little disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more, but I would still recommend it.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

December TBR

 

 Here are the books I'm hoping to read in December . . .

 

 

Antigoddess (Goddess War, #1) by Kendare Blake

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost, #1) by C.L. Clark

What are you planning to read in December?

November Wrap-Up

*Contains spoilers for the October FairyLoot book*

 

WHAT I READ

 

 

This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria - eARC - 2.5/5 stars - read my review here.

Knife Edge by Simon Mayo - hardback - DNF (1/5 stars).

 

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan - eARC - 2.5/5 stars - read my review here.

Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicles, #2) by Jay Kristoff - audiobook - 4/5 stars.

 

 

 Hawkeye, Volume 1: My Life as a Weapon by Matt Fraction - paperback - 3/5 stars.

Hawkeye, Volume 2: Little Hits - paperback - 2.5/5 stars.

The Sandman, Volume 1: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman - paperback - 3/5 stars.

HAULED BOOKS

 

Physical books:

NetGalley ARCs:

My thanks to the publishers!

CURRENTLY READING

You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry 

Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicles, #3) by Jay Kristoff

Review - She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan

 

Title: She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)

Author: Shelley Parker-Chan

Pages: 417

Publisher: Tor UK

Release Date: 27th July 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 

Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley*

A boy and girl live with their father in a village in China in 1345. They barely have enough food to survive, but the boy is destined to become great despite his circumstances.

Then one day bandits arrive in the village and the girl finds herself the only living member of her family. Taking up her brother's name of Zhu Chongba, the girl is determined to claim her brother's fate of greatness for herself. As Zhu Chongba, she becomes a novice at a monastery where she is educated and has a home as well as friends, but must hide who and what she really is.

Will Zhu Chongba become great?

How far is she willing to go in order to get what she wants?

Going into this book I was excited to read it, having heard only overwhelmingly positive things about it. However, I was also hesitant to read it as I tend to have unpopular opinions when it comes to hyped books. Unfortunately, this was one of the books that I didn't enjoy as much as everyone else.

From the blurb, I thought that Zhu Chongba would be the only protagonist, and while I would say she was definitely the main character, there were four points of view - Zhu Chongba, General Ouyang, Esen and Ma. Of the four, Ma was probably the character that I felt for the most and liked the most. While Zhu Chongba was a likeable protagonist overall, apart from her ambition I didn't feel that there was much personality to her, but I did find it interesting to read how far she was willing to go to get what she wanted. I liked that we never found out her real name, but I also found it a little sad.

For me, General Ouyang was the most interesting character. A eunuch, Ouyang was best friends with Esen, the son of the man who murdered his family. Ouyang served Esen and his family as a general in their army, but he had originally been Esen's slave. Ouyang's mixed and conflicted feelings for Esen were intriguing.

My favourite aspect of the book was the way it questioned gender identity. Zhu Chongba was a girl pretending to be a boy, and General Ouyang was a man who was also considered not to be a man, who people said was as pretty as a woman. They both struggled with who they were, which I found interesting. However, the duo also had a special connection because of this, which I found to be a bit random and would have liked it to be elaborated on.

The plot was mixed, but it was the pacing what ruined the book for me - I found it to be all over the place, leading to me flip-flopping from enjoying what I was reading to becoming bored. Because of this I didn't feel invested in the characters and the events that happened which should have shocked me didn't. Despite there being several battles in the book there wasn't much action and the battles felt like they were mostly skipped over.

Unfortunately, this ended up being a disappointing read for me. I wish I'd enjoyed it as much everyone else seems to.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

 

Review - This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria

 

 

 Title: This Golden Flame

Author: Emily Victoria

Pages: 417

 Publisher: 2nd February 2021

Release Date: Hodder & Stoughton

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

Flee across the sun-and-shadow islands of Eratia, where runes have the power to unleash monsters…

Seven years ago, Karis was forced to become an acolyte for the Scriptorium, the rune scholars who rule Eratia. For centuries, these Scriptmasters have sought the key to reanimating the country’s fearsome automaton army, and anyone they deem unable to help them achieve their goal is sent away…including Karis’s brother, Matthias.

Then Karis discovers a unique human-sized automaton and unintentionally wakes him up. Intelligent, with a conscience of his own, Alix has no idea why he was created. Or why his father—Eratia’s greatest traitor—once tried to destroy the automatons.

Upon learning Matthias is being held by the Scriptorium’s sinister leader, Alix and Karis set out to rescue him and uncover the truth about Alix’s past. But when Karis is faced with an unthinkable choice, betraying everyone she cares about may be her only desperate chance to save their world.

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley*

Eratia is ruled by the Scriptorium, a group of scholars who are obsessed with bringing the once unstoppable automaton army back to life.

Karis is a reluctant acolyte of the Scriptorium who tore Karis and her brother apart.

Then Karis comes across a human-sized automaton one day and reanimates him.

Together with the automaton who is called Alix, Karis sets off to find her brother and help Alix to remember his past.

How far is Karis willing to go to save the people she loves?

Fantasy is my favourite genre, so I was excited to read this novel. However, I ended up being a bit disappointed.

Karis and Alix were both likeable and relatable protagonists, but I don't feel that I really connected with either of them. None of the other characters particularly stood out to me, but I did like the diversity.

The setting was interesting and gave me Roman/Greece vibes. I liked the concept of the automatons and the runes that brought them to life and controlled them.

The plot was enjoyable to begin with, but after a while I did find myself losing interest. However, I did keep on reading, wanting to find out what happened at the end. Nothing that happened really shocked me and I wasn't gripped. I also didn't feel very invested in what happened.

The writing style was easy to follow.

I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more, and as a YA fantasy it doesn't stand out for me.

Overall, this was an okay, mixed read.

 

 

November TBR

 

 

This month I am hoping to read . . .

 

 

 

This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Knife Edge by Simon Mayo

What are you hoping to read in November?