July Wrap-Up

 

 

 WHAT I READ

 
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - paperback - 3.5/5 stars

Truelife (Lifelike, #3) by Jay Kristoff - audiobook - 3/5 stars

This Poison Heart (This Poison Heart, #1) by Kalynn Bayron - eARC - 3/5 stars - read my review here

Sistersong by Lucy Holland - hardback - 3.5/5 stars

 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - audiobook - 4/5 stars

Little Thieves (Little Thieves, #1) by Margaret Owen - eARC - 3.5/5 stars - read my review here

  

Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper, #1) by Kerri Maniscalco - hardback - 3/5 stars

The Magnificent Nine (Firefly, #2) by James Lovegrove - hardback - 4/5 stars

 

 

HAULED BOOKS

 

It was my birthday this month, and I got several of the below as presents.

Physical books:

 

 

 

Kindle copy:

 NetGalley ARCs:

 

My thanks to the publishers.

BLOG POSTS

 

June Wrap-Up

July TBR

Top Ten Tuesday - Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven't Read

CURRENTLY READING

The Project by Courtney Summers

What did you read in July?

Top Ten Tuesday - Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read

 

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

This week the topic is 

Books From My Past Seasonal TBR Posts I STILL Haven’t Read

 

 

I was actually pleasantly surprised that I've read most of the books from my past seasonal TBR posts, and there were only FIVE books that I haven't read yet!

 

Here they are . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have any books from your past seasonal TBRs that you haven't read yet?

 

 

 

 

Review - Little Thieves (Little Thieves, #1) by Margaret Owen

 

 

Title: Little Thieves (Little Thieves, #1)

Author: Margaret Owen

Pages: 512

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: 19th October 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

A scrappy maid must outsmart both palace nobles and Low Gods in a new YA fantasy by Margaret Owen, author of the Merciful Crow series.

Once upon a time, there was a horrible girl...

Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love?and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life.

 

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

 

 

 

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

 

 

Vanja Schmidt is the goddaughter of Death and Fortune, both of whom she is trying to escape from.

After years of being Princess Gisele's maid, Vanja took over her life, and uses the princess's standing to steal from the nobility to fund her escape.

But after a heist, Vanja finds herself cursed by a Low God, with only two weeks to break the curse to stop herself being turned into jewels because of her greed.

Can Vanja stop the curse?

Can she escape a future of serving either Death or Fortune?

 

The blurb for this book really intrigued me, and I decided to give it a chance despite not loving the previous book I read by the author.

Vanja was a likeable, morally grey protagonist. I felt sorry for her and enjoyed seeing how she reacted in different situations and with other characters.

Ragne was my favourite character, but I also liked most of the other characters such as Emeric, Vanja, Gisele, Death, and Fortune.

The romance was sweet and didn't feel rushed.

The concepts of the Low Gods, and things like the nightmares and Vanja being able to see good and bad fortune were interesting.

The plot was enjoyable and held my attention throughout. While I wasn't gripped, I did want to keep reading to find out what happened.

I really liked the writing style of Vanja's voice.

 

Overall, this was an enjoyable, unique read.

Review - This Poison Heart (This Poison Heart, #1) by Kalynn Bayron

 

 

  

Title: This Poison Heart (This Poison Heart, #1)

Author: Kalynn Bayron

Pages: 400

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA

Release Date: 9th June 2021

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 Darkness blooms in bestselling author Kalynn Bayron's new contemporary fantasy about a girl with a unique and deadly power.

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.

When Briseis's aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined--it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri's unique family lineage.

When strangers begin to arrive on their doorstep, asking for tinctures and elixirs, Bri learns she has a surprising talent for creating them. One of the visitors is Marie, a mysterious young woman who Bri befriends, only to find that Marie is keeping dark secrets about the history of the estate and its surrounding community. There is more to Bri's sudden inheritance than she could have imagined, and she is determined to uncover it . . . until a nefarious group comes after her in search of a rare and dangerous immortality elixir. Up against a centuries-old curse and the deadliest plant on earth, Bri must harness her gift to protect herself and her family.

From the bestselling author of Cinderella Is Dead comes another inspiring and deeply compelling story about a young woman with the power to conquer the dark forces descending around her.

 

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley*

 

 

Teenager Briseis lives in Brooklyn with her parents, helping them with their flower shop.

Bri is no ordinary teenager - she has the ability to affect the plants around her and can transform them from seeds to fully grown in seconds.

One day Bri receives the news that an aunt she didn't know she had has died and left her estate to Bri.

Bri and her parents decide to swap Brooklyn with the run-down estate for the summer.

It doesn't take long for Bri to discover that there's more to the house and her family history than she could ever have imagined as she finds herself being hunted by a group of people searching for a deadly poisonous plant that can be used to make an elixir for immortality.

Can Bri learn to control her power and use it to protect her loved ones?

 

I was a little hesitant going into this book as I had mixed feelings about the previous book I read by the author, however, I ended up enjoying this one more.

Bri was a likeable and relatable protagonist, but I did find her to be too trusting and a bit of a hypocrite at times. However, I also felt sorry for her as she didn't really have any friends in Brooklyn and was struggling with her powers.

None of the characters really stood out for me, but I did really like the relationship Bri had with her parents, when she wasn't lying to them.

The setting of the house and gardens were interesting, and I liked the concepts in the book.

My favourite thing about the book was the diversity.

The plot was interesting and held my attention throughout, but there were some plot points that I didn't like, and I wasn't gripped or invested in what happened.

 

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.