Sandy

What I love about Sophie Kinsella's writing is that her heroines are always full of life and spark. Their thoughts tend to run wild but never off on tangents and they always seem to get themselves into hilarious situations. It's always a fun adventure when I pick up a Sophie Kinsella book, whether it is Lexi Smart who can't remember the past 3 years of her life or Lara Lington who thinks she gone mad because she's being haunted by her Great Aunt Sadie. Read More

I listened to the audiobook which was read by the author and definitely added to the experience as she was able to inflect the right tone to match the text.

This was such a fun, adventurous read. My first venture into the steampunk genre and it did not disappoint, of course, Leviathan is written by Scott Westerfeld so I had little doubt that I would not enjoy this book and enjoy it I did. Like a well written high fantasy I was completely mesmerized by the sci-fi world of the book as I read through the pages of Leviathan and eyed the wonderfully detailed illustrations by Keith Thompson. And what was more fantastic in my opinion was that this wasn't a high fantasy world completely made up by the author but a world that was melded into an already existing history. An altered history filled with fantastic creations made of either machinery or fabricated animal.



It's the Summer of 1914 in a world where countries are divided into Darwinists, who have war machines created from genetically engineered animals and Clankers whose machines run on oil and steam. Each side opposes the choices of the other but none of this posed a problem until the murder of Alek's parents, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie plunges the world into World War I and Alek is on the run for his own life. And while he tries to escapes from Austria to neutral territory with the chosen men Alek's father trusted with his safety, across the sea ready to take her Midshipman test is the nervous Deryn Sharp, the test isn't what has Deryn nervous however. While Alek has to keep himself hidden like a secret, Deryn has to keep her own gender a secret from the Royal Air Service just so she can fly through the skies like her brother.

Both of these characters were such great reads, both were unique in their voices and situations but both were also so wonderfully alike in their ability to adapt and react in tough situations, their ingenuity, and their young wild hearts. Deryn who was advised by her brother to “not stand out” does everything but this because she really is a brilliant airman and it's just unfair that she has to hide who she really is to do what she loves but that doesn't get her down. In fact she hardly even thinks about it and I was happy this book wasn't filled with “almost being caught” moments but showed us all what Deryn was capable of. From her abilities to her colourful dialogue and voice Deryn quickly made her way onto my favourite female MCs list.



Alek, I didn't love him as instantly and I was afraid in the beginning that I wouldn't love him as much as Deryn because he really does come off as spoiled prince but a quarter of the way through the book I quickly grew to love him too. As I said, he knows how to adapt in a tough situation even if he can't stop himself from acting like a young prince, throughout Leviathan Alek really grows and develops into his own person and changes from the boy playing with his toys on the first page. And it's not just these two who were great there were so many wonderful secondary characters that talking about them all would take too long but let me just say that they are all fleshed out and add such vibrancy and depth to this book. Mr. Westerfeld really did a great job of voicing the people to tell his version of World War I.

Also, if you don't know the history of what happened in the war it's laid out for you with ease and without horrid info dumps so you will be neither bored nor lost. In fact there wasn't a dull moment to be found in this read and I am sorry to be joining the fandom so late in the game.



**Images by Keith Thompson. A couple of the illustrations found inside Leviathan.

Loved it. It really is a gentle approach to cleaning and organising. This is the best self help book i've read. It's short and it has a lot of actionable steps. it really focuses on you doing what is best for you to make your space functional. There are no hard set rules to cleaning and organising there is no shame or morality tied to doing chores. You do not live to serve your home, your home is there to serve you.

Entertaining and enjoyable to listen to.

I recommend this for fans of urban fantasy, if you like Kelley Armstrong, Rachel Vincent, Patricia Briggs i think you would like Book of Night. Also i don't think the cover fits the book definitely gives a different feel.

Unfortunately I did not finish this book, I think I made it to chapter 6 placed it down tried to pick it back up again and couldn't concentrate. The first four chapters that I had read online was the reason I decided to read the book. The Main Character was funny and the writing was light and entertaining and I thought this book would be a fun comedic chick-lit but unfortunately the “evil stepmother”, the spoiled two-dimensional rich kids and the bad-boy that wasn't really bad didn't hold my interest.

Loved this completely. I loved the characters, the story and the world of the story.

Phil was a nice addition to the group but I missed Ollie. Book 3 Didn't grip me like the first two books did but it was still a good read and I definitely need to read the next book.

Such a lovely graphic novel and funny at times! It hit me with all the feels, I could relate to Nao's character so much of feeling like an imposter in your own culture and the struggle to find the right words to cross that divide. Late last year I started to try to learn Spanish (again) and I continued in January but feeling hard on yourself when you make mistakes is something i need to overcome.

I thought it was going good up until The Queen's POV. I felt the tension deflate once her perspective was shown and plans revealed and then around the 60 % mark I started to get bored and then around 70% I started skimming until the end. I lost interest in the plot and did not care what became of the characters I just wanted to be done with the story. I think this would have worked better as a novella without all the extra filler at the end. A love interest pops up in the last 20% of the book along with a double pregnancy...this was not the book for me.

This novel was a refreshing read; it wasn't full of shocking plot twists, but it kept me wondering where the story would take us next. A fairytale for adults, it had many horror elements without being scary. It has more tense and creepy scenarios. I had no intention of reading it because I am a Halloweenie, but then I saw the trailer for the TV show adaptation and became more interested. And then someone said it's not scary, so I gave it a shot, and I am happy I did. Except for one slow moment in the book where I was impatient for the plot to pick up. This book was a solid, good read, and I'll check out Victor Lavelle's other works.

This was so lovely

This was a lovely and beautiful graphic novel about first love. Figuring out how to be your most authentic and vulnerable self with those you love the most. It really got me in the feels, felt the old dust in the eyes at a few parts. But in the end it made my heart happy.

Adapted from the Evil Spirits series by Fuyumi Ono Ghost Hunt is an enjoyable delightful read with enough spook factor to keep me in suspense without keeping me up at night with nightmares.

After she accidentally causes his assistant injury Shibuya employs Mai Taniyama as his temporary assistant while he investigates a supposedly haunted old school building. Shibuya or Naru-chan as Mai calls him due to his narcissism has been hired by Mai's school principal along with a Buddhist monk, Catholic priest, Shinto priestess and psychic medium to figure out why accidents keep happening around the old building. But it seems that all of these professionals might be in over their head when their exorcisms turn out to have no effect and Naru-chan's equipment along with the medium detect that there are no spirits in the building. Still how do you explain the strange noises and violent activity that seem to point fingers to a poltergeist?

Filled with a cast of colourful characters Ghost Hunt is different from the usual manga I tend to read, not necessarily shoujo or shounen I think both genders would enjoy this series greatly. Mai is a heroine with a subtle strength, she's not terribly brilliant but she asks questions , is observant and sympathetic and kind. Naru isn't your typical male manga MC as he's narcissistic and mean most of the time but he's also intelligent and knows what he is doing. And he does give respect where it is due but don't expect him to be nice to you if your a nuisance.

What I also liked about Ghost Hunt was that an entire story was finished in one volume as opposed to other mangas where one story is dragged over a course of many volumes. It didn't feel rushed and it didn't feel like anything was missing and this volume was also a great set up for the next volumes to come because it introduced us to the characters without delving out too much information on them. I want to know what other adventures these guys will have and I want to know how the relationship between all of them will develop.

Points to the publisher (DelRey): I appreciated the explanation on honorifics and the translation notes at the front and back of the book.

A solid and lovely read. The writing is great, I can only dream to write half as good as this this. I loved all of the characters, August, Jane, August's roommates, coworkers, and her neighbor (her found family). And I loved the story, its such a fun and wild premise. This was funny, dramatic, and romantic. I didn't give it a full 5 stars because there were many points where I felt the book was going on for too long, some parts I skimmed because it didn't interest me but that's just a “it's me not you thing”. Casey McQuinston is a good writer and story teller, I hope this book becomes a graphic novel, it just feels like it would be beautiful to look in a visual medium.

Aww this comic makes my heart happy

Both Charlie and Nick are so sweet together. This series is such a comfort read we definitely need more of these kinds of books in this crazy world.

Continues to be super cute and heartwarming

This series just continues to warm up my cold dead heart with its cuteness. It should come as no surprise that love in many forms happens on a trip to Paris.

I breezed through this one

It was cute, i loved the disability and the lgbtq+ representation. This was a cozy fantasy and i need more of these

I did not love this one nearly as much as Gideon the Ninth. The first book is in my top books I read this year and this book gave me such a headache. I'll admit it was what the author intended and I believe she executed the book how she wanted to but I did not like it. And normally when something isn't for me but is still well done I'll give it a 4 but I was so confused through the majority of the book that I was seriously considering skimming to the end. It wasn't until 72% when I got an explanation and things were clear and happening that I enjoyed the book. I think the mystery should have been revealed a lot sooner and this book should have been shorter. That being said I will be reading the final book Alecto the Ninth because the last 28% was good.

I am not a fan a horror so I am not the target audience of the book but I loved the author's other book Gods of Jade and Shadow and wanted to one support her work and two I loved the premise of a Gothic horror set in 1950s Mexico where the main character is a young socialite. Just to let you know this book is nothing like Gods of Jade and Shadow (i didn't expect it to be knowing the author likes to write very different types of stand-alones but just letting you know in case you have different expectations they are not the same at all!)

I thought this book was going to be the spooky/scary type of horror considering it takes place in an old dilapidated house set in the mountain and far removed from the small town but it was the more grotesque and weird kind of horror.

The book builds slowly setting the scene and introducing the characters making things feel as if they are just normal enough but you can tell things aren't quite right but its not enough to cause a fuss or to heed the strange superstitions of the locals. This is how our poor main character despite her intelligence gets steadily sunk in and then when she knows things aren't right its too late for her to do anything.

The writing was excellent, the characters all stood out uniquely from each other. I loved the pattern that ran throughout the book that despite women being forced into situations because of their circumstances they still managed to have a kind of agency and strength. I also enjoyed that all though this has the trappings of a “trashy” old style horror novel it also explores topics of colonialism, racism, white supremacy, eugenics and misogyny.

Content Warning for: sexual assault, child death, incest, cannibalism, domestic abuse

I have to say what I loved most about Immortal by Gillian Shields was the way the story was told, the way it was written and that if Ms. Shields were to write a new story or series I would not hesitate to pick it up because I know not only will the writing be beautiful but the story engaging. However, when I think about continuing on to read Betrayal, the sequel to Immortal, I can't help but hesitate because even though Immortal was a haunting magical story about gaining and losing love I couldn't truly believe in the love between Evie and Sebastian because I couldn't believe in either of these two characters. Read more

This is so cuute

This story and art is so cuuute. It makes my heart happy. Protect Nick and Charlie and Nellie. I will be continuing the series

For me this started off interesting and I wanted to know where the story was going but then as I got further into it my interest in the characters started to wane and by the last third of the book I didn't care what happened so I was just reading to end it. I will say it's an interesting world.

If you like high fantasy and heroines that are both strong and intelligent. As well as male counterparts who aren't there just to be the one to rescue the heroine every second or be her love interest, but an actual companion and friend to fight along with then I am positive you will enjoy Doppelganger. Read More.

I was really enjoying this book I thought it was going to be a solid end to the series but then we got to what I thought was going to be the climax and the book kind of just resolved. I thought there was going to be a reveal that this scene was just a trick or a dream but no it was the ending. So I am disappointed with the way the series wrapped up because it felt rushed and incomplete.