Blog Tour | All The Murmuring Bones

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All The Murmuring Bones

A.G. Slatter

⭐⭐⭐⭐

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UK Publisher | Titan Books

UK Release Date | April 8th, 2021

Format | Paperback

Page Count | 368

RRP | £8.99

Thank you to Titan Books for this Netgalley arc, in exchange for an honest review; and thank you for the opportunity of this blog tour. All opinions that you'll read here are my own. 

Review | Heartless (ARC)

Heartless

Marissa Meyer

⭐⭐

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UK Publisher | Macmillan's Childrens Books

UK Release Date | February 9th, 2017

Format | Paperback

Page Count | 462

RRP | £7.99

DISCLAIMER: I received this book from the publisher for free. All views and opinions remain my own. 

Long before she was the Queen of Hearts, Catherine Pinkerton was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

I'm not sure what I was expecting going into this one, but I don't think villain origin stories are for me. 

The main struggle I had trying to read Heartless was it's pacing. It's slow to start; perhaps it could be argued that it's to help build a connection between character and reader. To build a bridge of empathy between myself and Catherine as her hopes for the future are explored and then cut short. Yet, I found myself slogging through it to get to the more interesting parts of the narrative ... and was still left disappointed.

Catherine, as a character, was one that I found myself getting frustrated over. A lot of her inner monologue was spent in this spiral of whining, moaning, and scrabbling to hang on to her dream of owning a bakery. I'm not someone who is typically bothered with naive protagonists, as long as they grow and learn as the novel progresses. I didn't get that with Catherine. A lot of the time we spend with Catherine at the start of the novel could have been better spent in the last act, and really make sense of her decisions and the consequences of her actions. Which I think would've really helped flesh out this interpretation of the Queen of Hearts' character.

The one (okay, there's two) saving grace was that I really enjoyed the romance aspect of the plot and Marissa Meyer's writing style. If you're struggling to stop snacking during the lockdown, this really isn't the book to be reading. Meyer's descriptions of scrumptious bakery delights were the real joy of reading this one. Just thinking of them is making me hungry.

REVIEW| Windwitch [ARC]

Windwitch (The Witchlands #2)
Susan Dennard

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

12th January, 2017
Tor UK

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Synopsis for Truthwitch:

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

Review:

The Cover:

I have gone from preferring the US cover to the UK one. Tor has got this one just... right. 

Unlike the quick cut and paste job they did for Truthwitch (sorry, but it's kind of true) they managed to blend the woodlands and Scott Grimando's final artwork into an overall appealing piece. It's calming. Like the eye of the storm, before all hell breaks loose. 

The palette is softer, earthier and green. It makes me question whether the covers are going to continue on with this softer tone or not. Or, is Bloodwitch going to be bolder?

The Content:

I'd describe these books like a turning wheel, Dennard's protagonists shifting to focus and have drive via another character. Windwitch moves from Safiya as our leading character to Merik and his journey.

Dennard set out to play with perspective, to show how there is no clean line between good and bad, between villain and hero. And she pulls it off. By introducing new points of views, our judgments are balanced- everyone has a perspective. No villain believes they are the bad guy.

And I may or may not like Vivia more than Merik... My little misunderstood bean.

Windwitch stands as a book that showcases an author who keeps pushing, keeps moving to make what they write to be the best that they can write. This book, for me, never slumped. It kept momentum, kept me turning the page and had me rethinking about my views.

I just want to put this out there, but not only does this have one of my favourite angsty romances going it also may have slipped in some hints at a fantastic lesbian romance and a character who is trans. I shall mention no more, seeing as I could talk all day about this. 

I think something that really keeps me thinking about this book and coming back to every sequel, giving it my love and time is the feminine power that ripples throughout the book series. Every female character never gets jealous of those more powerful then them, They acknowledge it and respect their power, in fact it is often the men who seek the power. It's empowering to women readers.

Thank you, Sooz.

TBR| Tome Topple 2.0

If you missed the it Sam, over at ThoughtsonTomes, made the announcement that TomeTopple will be coming back for a 2.0. 

YES! 

That's right- from the 18th Nov til the 1st Dec get those big books ready because it's time to tackle those monsters!

During the debut round, I was unable to participate due to it being the time of year where ALL my coursework deadlines decide to play ball so, naturally, I had no time to actually read.

This time: I am in Wales "studying", and have more free time then I would like.

Here is my list of possible maybe's that I will be reading from this upcoming Friday. If you see any here that interest you and you want to read too- TRACK ME DOWN OVER ON TWITTER! @ACityofBooks

Anyway, let's begin:

The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1)
James Islington

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Page Count: 602

I requested this to review from the publisher and after receiving it all I have done is put it off. ITS HUGE?!

This one is definetly what I am starting this read-a-thon with. I feel guilty for not having read and reviewed it yet. 

It is already out in all good bookshop and online retailers. 





If and when I finish this beast of a book, these are my options to move on to. 

I will say that if anyone wants to buddy read any of these, please let me know and we can set it up. I can read two books at once.

The Red Knight (The Traitor Son Cycle #1)
Miles Cameron

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Page Count: 764

I've noticed that a lot of people are reading books that are around the 500-600 page mark. 

Pfft. When I got over 500 pages, I seem to go to the extreme.

Twelve Kings in Sharakhai (The Song of the Shattered Sands #1)
Bradley Beaulieu

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Page Count: 580

Starting to notice how so many of these books I have accumulated within the past couple of months. 

It's like Sam knew what I've been buying and that I would need help in actually motivating myself to read these giants.

Man. 

Elantris (Elantris #1)
Brandon Sanderson

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Page Count: 608

I'm holding off from finishing the Mistborn Trilogy until I am back in the home comforts of London with my cats.

So this is the next best thing. Was sent this by the publisher in celebration of the recent news about a certain movie deal. 






And that's all my choices. I'm on a mild book buying ban so I wouldn't be able to read any Scott Lynch books because I still don't own any. Or of Brent Weeks' work. First World Problems- I know!

What are all ya'll be reading during the #TomeTopple read-a-thon?

Follow the official Twitter page and join the Goodreads page if you want to get in on this. (HINT: You would want to, trust me,)

BOOK HAUL| Sept-Oct '16

I haven't done a book haul since June?! How? remains the question I pose to myself to answer.

A lot of things have changed.  For example, if you haven't heard I'm 300 miles away from my usually comfy bed, cats and bookshops in order to go and study creative and professional writing in the grandeur that is Bangor.

Since being here I have felt low at times and others extremely happy, books have had a great input in that:

As you can see this is the stack at a current moment of writing this entry is pretty huge!

So I thought I would do a quick little haul from September to mid-October.

EDIT: Since I originally wrote this sentence I have yet received a lot more books. Thanks to my suffering bank account and the generosity of publishers who are willing to send me books and let me review them to you lovely people!

The very first book that came out in September was:

Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5)
Sarah J. Maas

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At this point, I have finished this book and all I'm going to say is I thought I was going to hate it in its entirety after reading 400 pages and feeling it was predictable. Then those final 150 pages hit me.

I will be writing a review and will be included in my Sept/Oct wrap-up at the end of this month. Stay tuned.

City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments #1)
Cassandra Clare

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I know. I know. I already own way too many copies of CoB, but I found this in a charity shop for 50p. AND it is a first edition. This cover is DISGUSTING and depicts how far these have gone in terms of marketing and publicity at both Walker Books and S&S.

Good job guys.

The Magic Toyshop
Angela Carter

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This is one of my required reading texts for my Studying Literature class, Thankfully I have already done Carter's The Bloody Chamber short story collection for my A-Levels and rather enjoyed Carter's spin of forms of fairy tales.

This is going to be rather interesting.

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad

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Aaaaaand another one that I had to buy for my one module of Literature on my Creative and Professional Writing. I think I will be doing some sort of Post-colonial criticism of this one.

We'll see how I'll feel about this one.

Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1)
Kendare Blake

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This one is being hyped up quite a bit. It was doing it's rounds within the book community. It sounded so dark and something that I may enjoy, I managed to get a copy for like £4 out of Morrisons (there are other supermarkets out there).

Twelve Kings (The Song of Shattered Sands #1)
Bradley Beaulieu

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I remember seeing this in Waterstones a while back and being so intrigued by the premise of the story. But, alas I was poor and couldn't afford to be buying books in general.

Then the first week of Uni happened and I needed a pick me up. So I splurged a bit and now it's sat on myself for all of time.

Falling Kingdom (Falling Kingdom #1)
Morgan Rhodes

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I have heard nothing but great things from this series. Then I buy a copy after a constant stream of recommendations- and now I hear a lot of mixed things.

I still would really like to try and read this series in order to make up my own mind on how I feel, as it gets better as time goes on?

Lirael (Abhorsen #2)

Garth Nix

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My mum bought me a copy of Sabriel for my 18th birthday- and like a good crazed book buying fanatic I am, I bought these in a charity shop.

Stop judging me. I can feel you all judging me.

Abhorsen (Abhorsen #3)

Garth Nix

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Found this one in a similar fashion. Now I can just binge read this trilogy, before I move on to the prequel and sequel?

Of Sands and Malice (The Song of the Shattered Plains 0.5)

Bradley Beaulieu

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I request this one from the publisher as it has been recently been released.

They were kind enough to send me a copy.

I may read this as a prequel to Twelve Kings, just as a nice way into the world building and our main character.

Siege and Storm (The Grisha Trilogy #2)

Leigh Bardugo

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This book series was on my Summer TBR, I would really like to be able to just binge the rest of the series so that I can say I read them and move on to the Six of Crows duology.

Ruin and Rising (The Grisha Trilogy #3)

Leigh Bardugo

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Why buy one when you can buy both?

RoseBlood 

A.G. Howard

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I read the first two books of A.G. Howards splintered trilogy and never finished them due to being spoiled for the ending-- just, like the ending of Allegiant. Damn the internet.

Abrams books were very generous and sent me an ARC ahead of the January release of Howard's Phantom of the Opera retelling.

(I totally don't have a signed and dedicated book plate from A.G. Howard to stick in it when I'm back for Christmas.)

EEEEEEEEK?!

Heartless

Marissa Meyer

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Remember I highlighted this a few weeks back on one of my Waiting on Wednesday and said that it wasn't coming out til the beginning of November.

WELL.

The UK have it in even worse because all you British folks may need to wait 'til February if you can't afford the US hardback.

I managed to snag myself a GORGEOUS ARC from Macmillan Children's.
Thank you so much to the team over there!!

The Red Knight (The Traitor Song Cycle #1)

Miles Cameron

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I heard this book has dragons in it and I'm already sold.

The fourth book to this series "A Plague of Swords" has been released this month. And because I asked kindly, Gollancz sent me the first book in the series in exchange for a review.

Bless you.

The Shadow of What was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy #1)

James Islington

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This one has been getting a lot of love as a book that fans of Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan would enjoy.

Orbit books, amazingly, sent me both a review copy and a finished copy to read a review- I want to get to it during the next round of Tome Topple happening next month.

Gemina (The Illuminae Files 0_2)
Amie Kaufman, Jay Kristoff

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October wouldn't be complete if I didn't haul Gemina.

I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to get a copy due to my poor back statements. Turns out I pre-ordered this book months ago. It just took an age to get to me.

I can't get enough.

Is it 2017 yet?

I want book three, now, please?

REVIEW| A Torch Against the Night

A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2)
Sabaa Tahir

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

DISCLAIMER: I received this book as an ARC from HarperVoyagerUK in exchange for an honest review.
All views expressed are my own.

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Synopsis:

Elias and Laia are running for their lives. After the events of the Fourth Trial, Martial soldiers hunt the two fugitives as they flee the city of Serra and undertake a perilous journey through the heart of the Empire.

Laia is determined to break into Kauf—the Empire’s most secure and dangerous prison—to save her brother, who is the key to the Scholars’ survival. And Elias is determined to help Laia succeed, even if it means giving up his last chance at freedom.

But dark forces, human and otherworldly, work against Laia and Elias. The pair must fight every step of the way to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene—Elias’s former friend and the Empire’s newest Blood Shrike.

Bound to Marcus’s will, Helene faces a torturous mission of her own—one that might destroy her: find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape…and kill them both. 

Review:

The Cover:

COVER CHANGE!

Well for us over here, in the UK, there is. I can here all you OCD book buyers crying your metaphorical river of tears as the steam comes pouring out of your ears. I'm just hoping that they cover doesn't sway and we get a similar format as the UK paperback.

Thank the heavens HarperVoyagerUK sent me an ARC of ATATN otherwise I  would've been reading and reviewing sometime in the summer of next year. 

The Content:

Second-Book-Syndrome is often the case in novels such as this, where there is a MASSIVE fan base and everyone is just really expectant for the greatness of the first novel and so it's incredibly hard to top that. Sabaa Tahir, you, my sweet are a wonder!

A Torch Against the Night starts swiftly after the ending of Ember, Laia and Elias are running through the catacombs trying to escape the Empire. It definitely sets your heart racing. 

Tahir has introduced the POV of Helene in this second novel, which I remember a lot of people feeling sceptical in terms of what she had to bring to the table. I admire Helene, and this was definitely due to the addition of her P.O.V- even if, you didn't like her during An Ember I would get you to give her another shot. Tahir knows the best way to take your heart and make it ache and bleed it out. A slow and steady fangirling mess. 

I remember that one wish that I had with this sequel was that the world would be equally expanded and as it would be fleshed out and it was delivered. I was just intrigued by the multitude of cultures that we were introduced to, that we met only in passing through the first book. Furthermore, this expansion fled into the fantasy sub-genre that this book is slowly growing into. 

These pair of sandals will hopefully fit "him" after book three.


For the whole note:

This Ember has finally caught flames.

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