Taylor Swift Book Tag

Taylor Swift Book Tag

As a huge Swiftie, I couldn't not do the Taylor Swift Book Tag. Since I'm currently friendless I'm not tagging anyone but feel free to do it yourselves if you enjoy it. I saw this tag originally here on Katytastic's Youtube channel (amazing channel btw, I love it) so I'm doing her version. So, lets get started.

1. We are never ever getting back together - pick a book or series that you were pretty sure you were in love with but then wanted to break up withThis is quite a hard one but I think it might have to be Mockingjay. I love the Hunger Games series - both books and movies - but for me, Mockingjay was the worst book out of all of them. It was confusing and rushed and it just kind of ruined the series for me. Mockingjay Part 1 is great though so I'm hoping the movies change my mindset but the book was definitely awful and, as such, I haven't read it since I first finished it.
2. Red - pick a book with a red coverFor this one I'm going to pick Evernight by Claudia Gray which is the first book in a paranormal series about a half-human half-vampire Bianca who starts school at the mysterious Evernight which is a boarding school for vampires - hence the red cover I guess.
3. The best day - pick a book that makes you feel nostalgicThe Smuggler's Cove by Enid Blyton is a huge bind up of a collection of short stories that my dad used to read to me at night before I went to sleep when I was little and, although I don't read them anymore, I still have the book tucked away in my room.
4. Love story - pick a book with a forbidden loveThere are a couple of series that are going to be repeated in this tag I can tell. Meghan and Ash's love is definitely not problem free. There's no getting away from the fact that she's a Summer and he's a Winter which is going to cause a few issues...
5. I knew you were trouble - pick a book with a bad character you just couldn't help but loveSo while Daemon Black isn't a bad character - he is kind of a jerk, especially in Obsidian. But, despite that, I did fall in love with him - he's hilarious and sweet and, once you get past the whole being a jerk to protect my sister side of him, he's kind of the perfect guy and Katy is a lucky girl.
6. Innocent - pick a book that someone ruined the ending forBy the time I got my hands on Allegiant by Veronica Roth, I already knew what happened at the end which, while it didn't spoil it for me, it did put a damper on it because I knew what happened.
7. Everything has changed - pick a character that has gone through extensive character developmentI think for me, Meghan Chase from the Iron Fey series goes through a big character development, especially in the first two books. By the time we reach the Iron Queen, Meghan has changed from the naive 16 year old who cautiously entered the Nevernever, into a bad ass Queen who is completely ready to rule her court.
8. You belong with me - pick your most anticipated book releaseI did a post on this a couple of weeks ago but I think my most anticipated release is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. The premise of this book sounds so interesting and since I'm planning on reading Throne of Glass at some point in the near future, I'm definitely looking forward to this book.
9. Forever and Always - pick your favourite book coupleAt the minute, probably Daemon and Katy (I'm obsessed can you tell?). Their relationship is just so sweet and neither one holds out on the other when it comes to arguments and just generally irritating each other which means there are plenty of hilarious moments to read about. I need more...
10. Come back, be here - pick a book you would least like to lend out, for fear of missing it too muchCan I say all of them because I'm very protective? I can? Oh good...
11. Teardrops on my guitar - pick a book that made you cry a lotI don't really cry at books or movies but I did cry at If I Stay - both the book and the movie. It's just so sweet and sad and all you want is for Mia to decide to stay.
12. Shake it off - pick a book that you love so much, you just shake off the hatersI did really like Twilight - back before it was slated and before the movies, I still have a place in my heart for the series and, more specifically, one certain werewolf that Bella (stupidly) turned down.

So, that was my Taylor Swift Book Tag. What books would you have chosen?

Top Ten Tuesday...On Saturday

This is a new thing that I'm starting - Top Ten Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish blog. Every week (hopefully Tuesday but my laptop's broken so it'll be whenever I can get to a computer) there will be a new top 10 bookish list of things. This week's list is Top 10 characters you'd like to check in with, so, in no particular order, here's my list...

1. Sean and Puck - The Scorpio Races by Maggie StiefvaterThis book was so good and, while I probably wouldn't want an entire book about them because it's so good as a standalone; I would like maybe a novella or short story about them and their families. Are they still racing? Did Puck keep her family together? Lots of questions that I would like answered at some point in some form.
2. Daemon and Katy - The Lux series by Jennifer L. ArmentroutThis is my favourite series at the moment. Kat and Daemon's relationship is so perfect and I think I've read the series at least ten thousand times since February this year (which is when I first found it). There are some extra bits about their life dotted around the Internet which I love reading but I could honestly read another ten books about these characters I just love them so much.
3. Gabriel and Kaitlin - The Dark Visions series by L.J.SmithL.J. Smith's books are a bit hit and miss for me but I loved this series so much. Gabriel is such a...tricky character to like but once you get to know him he's a sweetheart. Apparently there is another book coming in the series but that rumour has been going around for a few years now so I don't know whether we will or not but again, I'd really like to see what these characters are up to now.
4. Ash and Meghan (and Puck) - The Iron Fey series by Julie KagawaYou all knew this was coming. What can I say - I need more Ash in my life. Like with the Lux series, I could read hundreds of books about these characters and not get bored. I would love to see the wedding and the birth of their son and just generally know what life is like for them as rulers now. I'm sure wherever Puck is, trouble isn't far behind anyway...
5. Bianca and Lucas - Evernight series by Claudia GrayA paranormal series with a difference. I'd really want to know how they've managed to get around the whole human-ghost issue they've got going on and whether they've returned to Evernight or whether Lucas and his mom have made up. Lots of questions but few answers, which seems to be a common theme in this post
6. Sarah and Natasha - The Horse Dancer by JoJo MoyesNot really a YA book but I fell in love with this story none the less. It's a beautiful and magical story that has stayed with me since I turned the last page. We get a brief look at life after the story at the end of the book but I'd love to know more about Sarah's life training and whether she thinks her grandfather would have been proud of her for following in his footsteps.
7. Gavriel and Tana - The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly BlackI need more! Does Tana go cold? Does she stay together with Gavriel in the Coldtown or do they escape and leave the confines of the town? What happens?!?! I love it as a standalone yes BUT there are so many things I need to know that isn't answered in the book. Pray with me for a sequel...
8. Four/Tobias - Divergent by Veronica RothBecause after that ending I need to make sure my baby is okay. Veronica cannot leave me hanging like that without knowing he's doing okay. Plus I kind of want to know how he's getting on with his parents and without the factions.
9. Willow and Alex - Angel trilogy by L.A WeatherlyI thought this series ended well so I don't think another book is needed, but again, maybe a novella, just to let us know how Willow and Alex are doing after the war with the angels. Did they travel anywhere or did they just stay at the cabin?
10. Jace and Clary - the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra ClareAgain, probably an obvious choice and again, a novella is probably only needed but I want to know whether Clary got her best friend back, how Luke and Jocelyn are getting on now they're married and how Jace and Clary are. Does she live at the Institute now? Taking bets on how many arguments the pair of them have had over something stupid...

So there you have it - my top ten list of characters that I would most like to check in with because I'm a nosey person like that. Plus, most of these are book boyfriends and who wouldn't want to spend more time in their pleasant company? Like I said - hopefully these will be every Tuesday but it depends on when I can get to a computer that actually works.



The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson

The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson

Rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis: St Petersburg, 1917. Anna's world is under threat. The eighteen-year-old countess has lived in luxury all her life, but revolution is coming - and her family must escape.
London, 1919. Now penniless, Anna is working as a servant for the aristocratic Westerholmes. But as she falls in love with the young earl, it becomes harder to keep her true identity a secret.

Review: First off, I want to take a moment to appreciate that cover. You can't see it on a computer screen but those gold dragonflies in the top left corner are so sparkly and glittery and the effect is beautiful. Honestly, buy it for the cover! Plus, the model is gorgeous as well and is a perfect Anna for me. Anyway...

This is a really light hearted and fast paced read. I love Eva Ibbotson's writing style and how she effortlessly creates these stunning plot lines in places that I both know and don't know. Anna is a Russian countess so there's little bits of Russian mingled in throughout the book and it's very detailed on it's history. A lot of authors would struggle with this - incorporating history and so many characters (because there are a lot) into one story is intimidating but Eva really makes it work. This is a story that doesn't really require a lot of thinking on your part, which makes a nice change from the overwhelming number of books that now incorporate mysteries or murders or something that means you have to stay awake in order to follow along. This book is definitely perfect for a lazy summer read - the most taxing thing is keeping track of who's who and it gets easier after a few chapters.

Anna is a really strong female protagonist for me. She is willing to do anything to keep her family safe and secure, even if it means degrading herself by working as a maid in someone else's house. This is how her family view her decision to work for Rupert but Anna loves it. She's an inquisitive child growing up and that innocence in the world never leaves her, even after having to flee from her home in Russia and losing her father. There are lots of humorous moments that involve Anna, specifically her use of 'Selina Strickland's Domestic Compendium.' As a countess, Anna obviously knows very little about life as a maid and so, to help her in her new life, she uses this book - all two thousand and three pages of it - in order to help her. Unfortunately, it's very old fashioned even in 1919 and this leads to lots of comedic moments in which Anna drives the other servants mad asking for things which she doesn't actually need.

Muriel is actually a really good antagonist. She's two faced and sly and is willing to do whatever it takes to take over Mersham. As the book progresses and you find out more about Muriel, you really begin to dislike Muriel and her underhand methods and you really feel for Rupert who tries so hard to make his fiance happy but never quite manages it. When he buys her the most expensive horse for example, despite not being able to afford it, and she turns it down straight away just makes you feel so sorry for Rupert and leaves you screaming at him that she's no good for him and he should leave now while he still can. Of course he doesn't, and so the drama continues, and Muriel systematically makes enemies of every single person in the neighbourhood in some way, either by insulting their religion or by choosing to have her wedding dress made in a posh boutique rather than the local dressmaker. This book just proves that you don't need to have a murder or a big mystery to solve to have a good antagonist.

I love Rupert. He's so kind and he really does love his family and wants to do right by them. He's a war hero and was a scholar before that and, despite not wanting to take over Mersham, he honours his promise to his older brother George and does it anyway, marrying Muriel after she promises to help him do that. You get the feeling that he's never really had a girlfriend - especially when you see Muriel's behaviour - and that just makes you feel even worse for him. I could write a whole post just on the characters who are so well rounded and believable but I won't, even though there are plenty of them to write about!

The romance. Ah, finally a good romance. Good romances seem to be few and far between recently but this book does it perfectly. It's not an insta-connection per se but there is definitely an attraction between Rupert and Anna that just gets stronger as the book goes along. You know they're going to get together eventually, but that doesn't make it any less interesting to see how they develop and how they overcome the barrier of them being earl and maid. Or countess - whatever. It's just a really sweet relationship which leaves you yelling at both of them to just get together already - forget the Wicked Witch of the West and your duties - kiss already! Or, at least I was. (I get very emotionally attached to characters, can you tell?)

The plot itself isn't anything special but it doesn't need to be. It doesn't matter that it's quite predictable because it's not meant to be something you have to solve. You're meant to just sit back and relax and enjoy the book and I think that Eva has really pulled off something that is quite tricky to do. Normally, having a predictable plot is a bad thing but sometimes, if it's the right genre and the characters are good, it can be just what you need.

This book is the perfect lazy summer read, and if you haven't read anything from Eva Ibbotson, brace yourself to fall in love with her work just like I have.

Image from http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Secret-Countess-Eva-Ibbotson/dp/0230014860 - no Copyright intended 

Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Dark Parties by Sara Grant

Rating: 2.5 stars

Synopsis: Neva keeps a list of The Missing - people like her grandmother who were part of her life but who have now vanished. The people who everyone else pretends never existed. In a nation isolated beneath the dome of the Protectosphere - which is supposed to protect but also imprisons - Neva and her friends dream of freedom. But life is becoming complicated for Neva. She's falling for her best friend's boyfriend - and she's learning more than she ever wanted to know about what might be happening to The Missing...

Review: Dystopian novels seem to be really taking a turn for the worse lately. This book sounds promising. Essentially a separate world, protected by the aptly (and somewhat arrogantly) named Protectosphere, where the good old government is keeping secrets from it's citizens. The actual story itself was a huge let down. The plot itself reminded me of Delirium except to me it wasn't written as well as Delirium was. The list of The Missing had the most potential for me. This is what would have separated Dark Parties from other dystopian's, but it was a very hit and miss thing to me. We'd have the list explained and then it wouldn't be mentioned for a while and, eventually, by the end of the book, the list was almost being added in as an afterthought. We moved away from Neva finding out about what happens to The Missing and, instead dwell more on her 'feelings' for her best friends boyfriend.

Oh God. In the opening chapter we see this 'romance' bloom in the dark party and it infuriated me throughout the entire book. It's essentially what I talked about in my last post about insta-connections. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for the insta-connection if it's done well. In my next post, the connection between the two characters was really well done and wasn't too in your face. To me, that's a well done insta-connection romance. Where it's obvious they both like each other but they don't think about each other 24/7. To me, so many YA books overdo the insta-connection and don't do it well enough to properly convey the characters feelings. Here, Neva is constantly thinking about Braydon. Constantly. Half the book is taken up with her wanting to be with him but not wanting to destroy her relationship with her best friend. So, we all know what happens there then. It was just irritating and to me, ruined the book. Instead of spending so much time obsessing over Braydon, Neva could have become a really strong heroine but she didn't, and so it almost seemed a waste of time visiting these characters and spending time in their world.

It's not just Neva who wasn't a strong character. None of the characters in the book were particularly strong. Ethan, for example is such a strange character. He doesn't add anything to the story at all. The whole reason he's there is that he was Neva's boyfriend previously but he got arrested doing something stupid and became dull and boring and Neva has decided she doesn't love him anymore. She refers to him like he's not my Ethan - like there are two different people which was a little strange to me. To me (and maybe it's just me) if you loved someone as intensely as Neva and Ethan seemed to, surely that wouldn't fade away after just six months of him 'changing'. I'd have tried a lot harder to find out what happened to him, rather than just letting him be which is what Neva seemed to do. He was just a dead weight - put into the story at random moments so that the reader doesn't forget about him but his whole 'quest to prove his love to Neva' was a little ridiculous and didn't fit into the story.

Neva herself wasn't as kickass as she needed to be. A dystopian heroine for me needs to be able to kick ass. Katniss does, Tris does - they develop over the course of the books so that, while they're strong characters in Chapter 1, they're even stronger at the end of the book. Neva didn't make that transition. She tried to but it didn't really work. She reluctantly takes part in one act of 'rebellion' and suddenly she feels like she can do anything? Really? That's not how these things work. When you think about Tris and Katniss, they don't know how important they are until everything's been set in motion. They're just normal girls trying to survive in their world and it's only through a series of actions that changes that. Tris is told she's Divergent and so her only focus is staying alive in the one faction that checks for Divergents. Katniss volunteers for Prim in the Hunger Games and so her focus is staying alive for her. Point is, even before these actions, you get the idea that there's a history to the world. A long and complex history and you get a feel for other characters without having to see them or hear from them and I think that's why these series are so successful. The authors have created an entire world and crafted it in a way that makes the actions of the protagonist seem normal. Tris and Katniss are so focused on survival that they don't consider rebellion until the last minute, unlike Neva whose entire being seems to be focused on rebelling against this mysterious government that we don't really get much information about. Neva seems to ping from being timid and afraid of getting in trouble, to being unafraid and ready to start a fight. It's confusing and exhausting and it doesn't make for a believable character.

Running on that theme of  having important information inferred, Sara seems to rely too much on that. There are a lot of things that we're told that isn't ever explained to us. For example, Neva is afraid of the dark. We don't know why and we don't find out, she just has an inexplicable fear of the dark. Maybe if this interfered in the plot in some way it would be okay but it doesn't. Like Ethan, it's just there for no apparent reason and isn't explained and I was left wondering what the point of including it actually was. We don't know why Neva doesn't like Braydon to begin with. She hates him in Chapter 1 but again we don't know why. Then we launch into the whole but he's my best friends boyfriend debacle and I was lost. It's little details like this that the author has left to the reader to interpret but are things that we might actually need to know. Especially in the case of Braydon - why doesn't she trust him? What did he do to her that was so awful? If you're not going to explain it, don't put it in!

In short, this book had potential to be amazing. Unfortunately, there were just too many things that didn't add up or weren't thought out about the plot, the characters and the world itself and the plot had no real substance to it. Although it's a fast read, it was really disappointing. Looks like I'll just have to re-read Divergent again. Poor me...

Image from http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Parties-Sara-Grant/dp/B008W31IJY - no Copyright intended

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Rating: 3.5 stars

Synopsis: Countless teenage girls have been murdered...and Scarlett and Roise March know how they died; torn apart by werewolves. For Scarlett, the memories of a similar attack have left not just emotional scars but physical ones. The sisters fight side by side to save others from the same fate.

When the mysterious and brooding Silas arrives he inadvertantly causes a series of events that could endanger them all. As passion grows between Rosie and Silas, Scarlett uncovers some shocking secrets about Silas' family history that could tear the sisters apart - one way or the other...

Review: I really wanted to like this book. Really, really wanted to. The cover is gorgeous - on the image here the colours are matt but my copy is amazing and shiny and is completely gorgeous. I also love fairy tale retellings and after writing my own take on Little Red Riding Hood earlier this year, I really wanted to see how a 'professional' writer put their spin on the classic. And it was okay. Nothing amazing but okay.

The story is told in a dual POV from the two March sisters Scarlett and Rosie who dedicate their lives to hunting the Fenris (or wolves to you and me) to avenge their grandmother's murder seven years earlier. Both girls are quite strong characters but Scarlett definitely. As the oldest, Scarlett definitely carries around the whole I'm older and so you do as I say thing and Rosie just succumbs to it. During the murder of their grandmother, Scarlett saves her little sisters life and ends up losing an eye for her trouble and so Rosie feels insanely guilty and feels like she has to do whatever her sister says, which did get slightly irritating. Enter Silas, the family friend who moved away for a year and has just come back to town. He tries to get Rosie to live her life on her own terms and so she takes his advice and realises hey, this living my own life thing is actually great. The whole way through the book, all I kept thinking was, if Scarlett loves her sister so much, surely she'd understand if she wanted a small break from hunting? Apparently not. Normally, headstrong and dominating female protagonists work really well in fiction. They're able to make the hard decisions that move the plot forward but there is a fine line between being strong and being overbearingly strong which, for me, is what Scarlett is and it's a little annoying because she's always in everyone's face and making decisions for them.

On the other end of the scale is Rosie, who is desperately trying to prove to her sister that she can hunt alone and is as strong as she is but Scarlett is wary of letting her go. Out of the two sisters, I think I preferred Rosie more - she seemed more human as a character. Scarlett is completely fixated on the hunt which meant that, as a reader, I couldn't really connect with her as a character. Rosie on the other hand, can be a little overly sweet sometimes, but, on the whole, I was a lot more interested in her characters than Scarlett's. I feel like there's more of a character development throughout the book in terms of Rosie's character - she does become strong and capable and proves this to herself and Scarlett. I didn't feel Scarlett grew much as a character. This maybe came from the fact that the main plot point focuses around Rosie and Silas more than Scarlett but on the whole I don't think she changed too much. By the end of the book I was rooting for Rosie and was really pleased with how she managed to get herself out of a sticky situation alone and, clueless as to why she ended up in said situation.

The romance aspect of it was again, okay. Silas turns up and Rosie realises he's quite hot and Silas realises that she's quite hot and then it takes 200 pages of them holding themselves back from touching each other and speaking to each other just in case they make a fool out of themselves. Yet it's so obvious that they both like each other. One they are together it's a really sweet relationship. I love a sweet relationship I just hated the build up and the whole insta-connection that seems to appear in so many novels at the moment. Does anyone look at someone and realise they're completely head over heels for them? Maybe in Disney (which is fine because it's Disney and Disney can do no wrong) but in actual real life? It doesn't happen as far as I can tell. So when it happens in a book I'm instantly sceptical.

What really lowered the rating for me though was that the plot was predictable. I'm the easiest person to fool I swear - when everyone else is saying that they knew who committed the murder, it comes as a complete surprise for me, but 50 pages in and I already guessed what was going to happen. Especially since it's pretty much laid out for you in the synopsis. I thought that maybe, since it was laid out in the synopsis, something would happen to change it up and throw you completely but it didn't. Everything that I expected to happen, happened and it really let me down.

Overall, it's not a completely awful book but I had really high expectations going into reading it and it did leave me disappointed at the end of it. If you want a quick read, you can probably get through this in a couple of days if you're a fast reader but it doesn't really leave you wanting a sequel or wanting to spend more time with the characters.

Image from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6357708-sisters-red - no Copyright intended

Anticipated YA Books for (the remainder) of 2015

A different post today - I'm only 3 months late to the party but these are some of the new YA releases of 2015 that I'm really looking forward to. I got the dates, synopsis and expected publication dates from the Goodreads link at the bottom of this post, so, the info may change closer to publication but, as of right now, this is what the books look and sound like.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Expected publication: 19th May 2015

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.

This sounds like such an intriguing book. I love the idea of the main character having a mental illness such as schizophrenia and I can't wait to see how the author twists it. It just sounds like a really interesting debut novel.


A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Expected publication: 5th May 2015

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

I haven't read 'Throne of Glass' yet (it's on my Kindle waiting for my holidays lol) but I've heard amazing things about that series and I'm really interested to see how this story plays out. As I'm sure you've realised, I love myself a little bit of fey lore.


The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Expected publication: 29th September 2015

All we really have for this book is the expected release date because the book cover is going to change. This one is just to tease us, but I'm so excited for this book. The fourth and final installment in 'The Raven Boys' series, I devoured Blue Lily, Lily Blue in a day and a half I think. I swear I only put it down when I fell asleep. If you haven't picked up this series yet, it should definitely make your TBR list this year! Only 6 more months!

*Update: the release date for The Raven King has been moved to February 2016 because Maggie wants to spend longer editing the manuscript which means publication is going to take longer. Which I'm mostly okay with because it means the conclusion is likely to be just amazing but there is still a part of me that is disappointed because I need more Gansey and Blue in my life. Oh well, they say time flies right.

From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan

Expected publication: 4th August 2015

Sixteen-year-old Kara McKinley is about to realize her dream of becoming a professional baker. Beautifully designed and piped, her cookies are masterpieces, but also her ticket out of rainy Seattle—if she wins the upcoming national baking competition and its scholarship prize to culinary school in California. Kara can no longer stand the home where her family lived, laughed, and ultimately imploded after her mean-spirited big sister Kellen died in a drowning accident. Kara’s dad has since fled, and her mom has turned from a high-powered attorney into a nutty holy-rolling Christian fundamentalist peddling “Soul Soup” in the family café. All Kara has left are memories of better times.

But the past holds many secrets, and they come to light as Kara faces a secret terror. Someone is leaving her handwritten notes. Someone who knows exactly where she is and what’s she’s doing. As they lead her to piece together the events that preceded Kellen’s terrible, life-changing betrayal years before, she starts to catch glimpses of her dead sister: an unwelcome ghost in filthy Ugg boots. If Kara doesn’t figure out who her stalker is, and soon, she could lose everything. Her chance of escape. The boy she’s beginning to love and trust. Even her life.

This sounds so good. I love anything to do with baking so that instantly got my attention and the idea of a stalker type mystery within that is really interesting. Plus the cover is insanely pretty.

What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi

Expected publication: 4th August 2015

It’s all Ryden’s fault. If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.

The one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate. Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he can’t let go of the past?

This sounds really interesting and it's different to the kind of books I normally read. I don't usually read books like this because all too often they aren't done very well, BUT this sounds promising and there seems to be some mystery to the plot as well so we'll have to wait and see.

Where the Staircase Ends by Stacey Stokes

Expected publication: 14th April 2015

After her best friend orchestrates the lie that destroys her reputation, Taylor wants more than anything to disappear from her life. But when an accident turns this unspoken wish into reality, instead of an angel-filled afterlife, Taylor must climb a seemingly endless staircase into the sky.

Instead of going up, the journey plunges her into the past. As she unravels the mystery behind her friend’s betrayal, she must face the truth about life and find the strength to forgive the unforgivable -- unless the staircase breaks her first.

This seems to have a Lovely Bones kind of feel to it but, according to the couple of reviews posted by readers who've got a copy before release (I need to be one of those people, seriously!) it's an amazing book. It's intriguing anyway.

The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke

Expected publication: 7th May 2015

LOST.

When six-year-old Laurel Logan was abducted, the only witness was her younger sister. Faith’s childhood was dominated by Laurel’s disappearance – from her parents’ broken marriage and the constant media attention to dealing with so-called friends who only ever wanted to talk about her sister.

FOUND.

Thirteen years later, a young woman is found in the garden of the Logans’ old house, disorientated and clutching the teddy bear Laurel was last seen with. Laurel is home at last, safe and sound. Faith always dreamed of getting her sister back, without ever truly believing it would happen. But a disturbing series of events leaves Faith increasingly isolated and paranoid, and before long she begins to wonder if everything that’s lost can be found again…

This is either going to be amazing or awful. I think with these kind of books there's a very fine line between an amazing storyline and an awful storyline but I'm interested to see where this one falls.

The Secret Fire by C.J Daugherty

Expected Publication: 3rd September 2015

French teen Sacha Winters can't die. He can throw himself off a roof, be stabbed, even shot, and he will always survive. Until the day when history and ancient enmities dictate that he must die. Worse still, his death will trigger something awful. Something deadly. And that day is closing in.

Taylor Montclair is a normal English girl, hanging out with her friends and studying for exams, until she starts shorting out the lights with her brain. She’s also the only person on earth who can save Sacha.

There’s only one problem: the two of them have never met. They live hundreds of miles apart and powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.

They have eight weeks to find each other.

Will they survive long enough to save the world?

This sounds really interesting (I'm really oveer-using that adjective in this post but oh well). I love L.J. Smith's Dark Visions trilogy and this seems to have some of the psychic element going on. I also smell a romance brewing between Sacha and Taylor :) There isn't a cover yet but this is one I'm going to keep my eye on.

City of Halves by Lucy Inglis

City of Halves by Lucy Inglis

Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis: London. Girls are disappearing. They've all got one thing in common; they just don't know it yet. Sixteen-year-old Lily was supposed to be next, but she's saved by a stranger; a half-human boy with gold flecked eyes. Regan is from an unseen world hidden within our own, where legendary creatures hide in plain sight. But now both worlds are under threat, and Lily and Regan must race to find the girls, and save their divided city.

Review: This was such a good book. I was a little sceptical about it as the tag line of the book is 'a must read for fans of The Mortal Instruments' and, since I loved that series I was a little unsure about how it would stand out from the series. It is similar in the fact that there are a lot of 'monsters' throughout but they're not the traditional demons and monsters of folklore that Cassandra Clare used in her series and that made it really interesting for me and made it stand out from her series.

The plot is so good in this book. The idea of blood type being the key to everything was really intriguing and is something I haven't seen before. This aspect of the plot was started off really early on in the book which was really nice. I've kind of got used to having twenty pages of minimal action and lots of set-up so to find a book that has action within the first few pages that sets up the rest of the book nicely. There are lots of little plot points as well that lead you along - like the mysterious person tracking Lily's online movements for example. That plot point is thrown up early on and you kind of forget about it until the person behind it is revealed which is a sign of a good writer in my eyes. If you can drop the hints and clues and still leave your readers in the dark, you're on to a winner.

I love the characters. Lily is so strong and stubborn and just a bad-ass! She is so focused on helping other people - whether it's the people in her father's latest court case or Regan; she wants to help them and will do anything to accomplish that. She's not weak willed and takes all the strangeness of Regan's world in her stride which is a really nice characteristic to see in a character. I love also love the fact that she's a hacker and that ability is prominent throughout the book and is something a little different and so was really interesting to read and see how Inglis used it throughout the book. Regan is so sweet. He's also got that stubborn and head strong personality trait which means the two clash quite a bit because of their desire to protect each other, so you get the arguments but you also get little fluffy moments which are really sweet. I loved Regan's protective streak. You could really see the relationship between Regan and Lily developing over the course of the book and, from quite a rocky beginning where Regan didn't really trust her, you can see him really trying to protect her and almost make up for the fact that her life has pretty much been derailed, despite Lily not seeing it like that.

This is another book that uses London as it's setting which I love. Being from the UK, it's not very often that you get a book set in the UK, most are set in America so it's quite different for me to find a book that's set in the UK. It was really interesting how Lucy Inglis used London and it's transport system to create a world for all these mystical creatures to live in, drawing on historical knowledge and mixing them with familiar landmarks made it really interesting for me to read, especially since I live in the UK and so know many of these landmarks and I could really see how these creatures would appear in the places mentioned in the book.

The 'family' that has been created for Regan was really sweet and needs a mention. Regan doesn't initially view them as a family because his job means that he's likely to lose them in some way, but Lily really helps him to see that that's not the case. Lucas and Elijah are almost Regan's parents - looking out for him in their own special way and he's always checking in with them and so it's a really interesting dynamic to see between the three characters. I loved Mickey the diviner - he seems so much fun and nothing really fazes him, he just makes a joke out of it. He's the kind of person I'd want as a friend. I think all the characters in this book are really well developed and believable and I loved all of them.

This book was only released last year and I think it's her debut. It's such a good book with an intriguing plot and amazing characters. If you love The Mortal Instruments series then you need to read this book.

Image from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18523130-city-of-halves ~ no Copyright intended