May Wrap-Up

 

 

*Contains spoilers for the May YA and adult FairyLoot books*

WHAT I READ

For the Wolf (Wilderwood, #1) by Hannah Whitten - eARC - 2.5/5 stars - read my review here.

Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples - 3/5 stars

Lifel1k3 (Lifel1k3, #1) by Jay Kristoff - audiobooks - 4/5 stars

You've Reached Sam by Duston Thao - eARC - 2.5 stars - read my review here.

Lore by Alexandra Bracken - FairyLoot hardback - 3.5/5 stars

The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms, #1) by Tasha Suri - eARC - 2.5/5 stars - read my review here.

HAULED BOOKS

 

Physical books:

Book of Night was the May FairyLoot adult book and The Stardust Thief was the YA FairyLoot book.

NetGalley ARCS:

My thanks to the publisher!

CURRENTLY READING

Get a Life, Chloe Brown (The Brown Sisters, #1) by Talia Hibbert

What did you read in May?

Review - The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms, #1) by Tasha Suri

 

 

 Title: The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms, #1)

Author: Tasha Suri

Pages: 512

Publisher: Orbit

Release Date: 8th June 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 Author of Empire of Sand and Realm of Ash Tasha Suri's The Jasmine Throne, beginning a new trilogy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, in which a captive princess and a maidservant in possession of forbidden magic become unlikely allies on a dark journey to save their empire from the princess's traitor brother.

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

 

 

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

 

 

 

 

 

My Review:

  

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley*

 

 

Priya is a maidservant for the Regent's wife and lives in the shadow of the Hirana, an ancient temple where she once lived until the priests and other children there were burned.

Princess Malini is the sister of the emperor, a ruthless man who locks Malini away in the Hirana.

Priya and Malini's paths cross one day when Priya is at the Hirana, and the Malini witnesses Priya doing something extraordinary.

Malini is determined to remove her brother from the throne and is willing to use anyone to get what she wants, even Priya, who has secrets of her own.

Will Malini escape from the Hirana?

Will Priya's memories of the day of the fire return?

 

Having read one of the author's previous books and enjoyed it, I was excited to read this book.

Priya and Malini were both likeable and relatable protagonists, but I felt like I connected to Priya more. Both Priya and Malini were interesting to get to know and I enjoyed seeing how they reacted in different situations, as well as how they interacted. I appreciated that Malini in particular wasn't afraid not to conform to how she was expected to act as a woman.

The concepts of the yaksa, the deathless waters, and the rot were all interesting and I enjoyed learning more about them.

The plot was enjoyable, but I did find the pacing a little off, and the book did drag a bit for me - I felt that the book could have been shorter in this regard, but liked that the author didn't rush to get to the end. However, reading the relationships between the characters was one of my favourite parts and I thought the author did a good job of setting up the plot and different characters.

The writing style was easy to follow.

While I did enjoy this overall, I did lose interest, unfortunately.

 

Overall, this was a mixed read.

 

 

Review - You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

 

 

 Title: You've Reached Sam

Author: Dustin Thao

Pages: 298

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: 9th November 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

If I Stay meets Your Name in this heartfelt novel about love and loss and what it means to say goodbye.

How do you move forward when everything you love is on the line?

Seventeen-year-old Julie has her future all planned out—move out of her small town with her boyfriend Sam, attend college in the city, spend a summer in Japan. But then Sam dies. And everything changes. Desperate to hear his voice one more time, Julie calls Sam’s cellphone just to listen to his voicemail. And Sam picks up the phone.

What would you do if you had a second chance at goodbye?

Filled with a diverse cast of characters, the heartache of first love and loss, and the kind of friends that can get you through anything, plus a touch of magic, You've Reached Sam will make an instant connection with anyone looking for a big emotional romance of a read.

 

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

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

 

 

Julie can't wait to leave the small town she lives in and go to college with her boyfriend Sam. However, her plans are derailed when Sam dies unexpectedly.

Grief-stricken, Julie shuts herself away from everyone. Then when she calls Sam's phone desperate to hear his voice, the last thing she expects is for Sam to answer.

Julie has the chance to speak to Sam again, but can she let him go?

 

Going into this book, I was looking forward to reading it as both the cover and blurb intrigued me.

I found Julie quite frustrating at times. While I did feel sorry for her at the beginning, as time went on, I felt less and less sorry for her and instead found her to be selfish and thoughtless.

There were some flashbacks that showed how Julie and Sam's relationship developed, but I couldn't really feel the connection between the two of them, so didn't feel particularly invested or emotional in what happened.

While this was a fast read, the plot didn't grip or surprise me.

My favourite part of the book was probably Julie's character development, but it was too little too late for me.

The writing style wasn't one of my favourites and I found some of the dialogue to be odd and clunky.

This book didn't end up meeting my expectations, unfortunately, despite having a promising premise. But while I found this book underwhelming, I can definitely see other people enjoying it more.

 

Overall, this was a mixed read.