DB

This was an entire... ride and experience to read and finish this book. I should've just gone and marked it as dnf. I rolled my eyes so hard throughout this novel

Link to blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/oh-arc-my-arc-alice-the-wanderland-chronicles/

This is actually my first ARC I was approved for and I'm so glad that it was a good read, because if I had to have a bad read for my first approved ARC, that would have bad memories, but anyway, let's carry on.

So this book is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland and it has bloody zombies, what more could you want from a story? I love retellings, or at least good retellings, and this one was definitely well done. From the amazing characters to all the wonderful references and then of course the best: the gruesome parts – which I loved as spoiler alert the first sentence of the book was literally someone's head exploding – like, hello, could we get more books with someone's head exploding?

As much as I did love the inclusion of Dinah, as most Alice retellings do not really have Alice's sister in them (or at least the ones I've read, which aren't actually a lot, so that reminds me to read more of them – but actually, I shouldn't, because then I'll probably start having ideas for an Alice in Wonderland retelling, and really DB, you have more than enough book ideas). But I'm pretty sure that Dinah is Alice's cat. I can't exactly check in my copy as my sister stole it when she went over to America (how rude), but I did check the movie and apparently the cat's name is Dinah – and on that note I'm sad that the cat doesn't go with Alice to Wonderland.

The characters were amazingly written. They were real and made you care for them. And I loved all the Wanderland names – mostly Chess, for obvious reasons.

So one obvious reason for reading this book is all the references – so definitely read it in order to catch all of them (which I love to do). Even if there were some unintentional references or references that the author chose to put in, hoping that someone would catch the very small reference – I got them – or at least I hope.

So is momerath the singular term or is it like moose?

Quotes:

Always protect your queen

Please let's have this on a t-shirt because I would sell a family member (I have thousands of cousins, it's super easy) to buy this.


The Max Recovery overrides the desire for frivolity and refocuses the brain on what basic instinct requires.

OK but I've studied the basic needs and things (thanks, Maslow) in communication and psychology and know that the bottom of the hierarchy is, yes, hunger, but there's also water, warmth, rest etc. – so if the Max Recovery does put the focus on the basic needs, then the momerath should not only focus on the hunger, but also on their other basic needs.

Yes - the book is spelt True Colors, but I live in South Africa where we like the u's so I write Colours with a u (like it's meant to be).

I probably fell in love with these characters from the get-go. I'm going to the Town Hall to adopt them, anyone coming with? If we all pool our money together, we can buy McDonalds.

It was such a good read. I loved basically every scene of it, especially anything to do with Marco and Oskar (who are my babies and I love them with all my heart). I really wanted to give it a 4-and-a-half, but stupid Goodreads doesn't offer that. tumblr_nposxnAqnw1uu93c8o4_250

I love the whole friends-to-lovers trope, but it's also the worst because they're friends, which means there's the possibility of them growing up, which means they know each other, so they'll be used to each other and know everything and probably have inside jokes and touch each other like real friends do and as much as I love that, it's also the absolute worst, as it makes you slam the table or whatever is near you - please let it not be an animal - and cry out in anguish because these characters that should be together are not.

I love how Marco sees in colours like come here and let me hug you and bring Oskar as well and then I can just hug both of you 24/7. It reminded of Percy Jackson - with the titles in a specific way. It seems like Chapter Titles are either Chapter 1 and so on or like in Harry Potter - The Deathday Party and so on; but I'm also happy to find a book where the titles are different.

They live in Germany, yet I never see any indication of that other than the landmarks? Where's the language and slang?

It's all very good and well that Marco's learning to love his body and all, but he basically goes from zero to a hundred in a heartbeat, to ‘I can barely look at myself' to ‘draw me, Elena.' Not that much realistic. It takes some time to love yourself and be able to let someone else look at you in that way.

There was this confusing part in the beginning of the book where the boys were 13 and the one narrating it (Marco) used words like ‘lurched', ‘slanted' and ‘protruded'. I look after a 12 year old and she's never used any of those words – and she's smart.

I was wondering on how to pronounce Marco, as I know three ways to pronounce it:

English version – as in Marco Polo
Afrikaans version – pronounced Mar-coh
Italian version – pronounced Mar-koh
- Just wondering which pronunciation I should use. Though considering the book is set in Germany, it's probably the Afrikaans version.

So, they never speak of what happened to Marco the entire book. I was wondering and speculating and thought they would tell me and the scene would end with Marco and Oskar kissing or whatever, but I'm happy that they didn't tell us.

I love how every chapter's title is a colour.

So yes, I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! It's amazing, cute, gay, what more can you want?

Quotes:

“Two swashbuckling enemy pirates race over high seas searching for Lord Large's lost treasure. Nothing and no one can stop them except their hearts – or lack thereof.”

- I'm down for that. Anybody with me?


“Bodies – nakedness – it's nothing to be ashamed of.”

- PREACH IT – let's just print this quote out and pin it out on every wall and shop window..

The character's aren't interesting and the dialogue isn't either. So the study is basically ask each other a bunch of questions and you'll fall in love? Isn't that a bit of instalove or whatever the psychology equvilant to it? (though I should know - I just studied for a dev psych rewrite).

All in all - I didn't enjoy the characters or the dialogue. There were also quite a few areas I found problematic - one in particular being a comment that asexuals can't date or fall in love - that just put me off...

Read this review on my blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2019/09/17/game-of-secrets/

I didn't finish this book. I really wanted to, as I've heard good things about the representation, but I honestly couldn't get past how Adam sees Dez - yeah, sorry, not into that.

Reason I chose the book:

Goblins, need I say more? I love fantasy and the darker the better. I started this book and it looked really good. Until it didn't.

Reason why I'm not finishing it:

The way the depression was written is the main reason why I'm not finishing the book. Livy, Skye's sister keeps on mentioning how Skye was such a happy person, like happy people can't become depressed? Depression comes in all shapes and sizes and happy people can just as easily have depression as sad people – even if they ‘don't show it' in the way that ‘sad' people do.

The title is Goblins, right? Except the goblins don't really feature much in the story (I stopped reading around the 50% mark, so I don't know if they appear more heavily in the second half of the book). But I would expect there to be a lot more scenes involving the goblins rather than the people. It's called Goblins of Bellwater not People of Bellwater.

Any thoughts I had while reading the book:

The goblins lure people in by planting the scent of coffee and baked goods. And let me just tell you that that will MOST DEFINITELY get me there. Like I would dive head in if I smell coffee and scones. Especially if the scones have whipped cream on it.

I admit, I had high expectation for this novel because it was set in Cape Town - which is close to where I live and I am always up for reading books set in my province (similar to a state). After reading a bit of this, I should have lowered my expectations. 
It wasn't necessarily a bad book and I did like the main character most of the time, I just couldn't deal with her actions and emotions. 
Like a lot of the plot (or at least I'm guessing, since I didn't even finish it), revolves around Ebba and this guy - who she thinks is THE MOST PERFECT AND WONDERFUL AND BEAUTIFUL GUY SHE'S EVER SEEN whenever he does something like open a door or smile and that's when a little big part of me went because honestly, I thought we were past the whole his eyes looked at me and I just decided that even if he killed my whole family and my dog I would still marry him. 
There was also a lot of sexism - ‘oh, you're a girl, you can't do this or you only need to worry about this' blah blah blah, another reason for not finishing it. Like there was literally this quote of: All you've got to do is learn how to be a good wife and catch a husband and my reaction was: Not to be dramatic or anything but I'd rather die. Why yes, I did have fun reacting to the quotes. 

There was also the trope of ‘seemingly plain girl gets a makeover and suddenly everyone, including her crush loves her', which I'm very much not for (though some stuff do get it right).

Apparently I got to 22 % percent while reading this, which probably meant I was a little bit bored reading this. Again, I'm sorry if you read this book and you really liked it, and once again, as mentioned earlier, that's totally fine. But I didn't enjoy it.

I'm that kind of reader where I pay attention to the characters, plot, and worldbuilding (if it's a fantasy-type novel). But more often than not, I'll focus on the characters. I want to like the characters I read, I want to root for them. I want see them achieve the goals they set for themselves. But for these characters, I could see they had goals and wanted to achieve them; I just didn't feel the need to root for them.

Do I recommend this: If you're interested in reading about pirates, f/f relationships or long hauls on the sea, then you might want to pick this up. Also remember that as I didn't finish this book, I don't know how the book ends or how specific events unfold.

Link to blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/oh-arc-my-arc-leo-loves-aries/

Stars: 5

This is my second Anyta Sunday book (the first being True Colours – click the link to go to my review of that). And wow, she just gets better with every book (even though Leo Loves Aries was written before True Colours).

I just loved this book. I read it in one sitting – lying in my bed with my tablet slowly draining its battery. Everything was just fantastic and I just love everything in the book.

Now I've read other reviews and some people are unhappy about the fact that Theo's sexuality was never mentioned. I for one didn't have much of an issue with it, as fluidity of sexuality is a very real thing and Theo might not even know what he's feeling – if he's gay, bi, pan etc. and he might not want to know – which is fine, as you don't have to label yourself with whichever sexuality – meaning you can be bicurious or questioning or even just not straight – and that's okay.

So it's an absolutely gorgeous fluffy m/m romance book that you have to read – and will probably be the book that I'll go to after reading a bad one.

The characters are fantastic. They're funny and real and lovable and I just want to eat them all up – in a loving way, okay? Well, all except the exes. They can go die in a hole. I loved that Leone was blind and that was represented well, not made fun and she was still treated like a person. I loved the minor characters – can we get a whoot-whoot for the demisexual minor character – whom I think is Ben - but don't quote me on it or shoot me. Just tell me if I'm wrong and I'll edit the review.

And yessss for the relationship. I shipped it all the way and was groaning at my tablet because slow burn is the best and worst of the bloody tropes.

I would kill for Adam

I went into this thinking, ‘F/F The Little Mermaid retelling? Perfect! I'll love it!' and then...I didn't love it so much. The plot didn't have much meat on it and barely built up to anything – like when the climax came up I was like ‘Is this it?'

It was the whole thing of the summary sounding good and then the story turned out to be less than good. All the characters had their motivations and plans, but they had no fire to do so and when the characters have no interest in their motivations and/or plans, neither do I. And that's where I begin to force myself to finish books.

There were also some parts where something happened and it just didn't make sense, like SPOILER*when the little mermaid kills a deer, how did she know how to kill the deer? I'm pretty sure sea animals have different anatomy to land animals.

And another thing, maybe a bit of a spoiler – I didn't find the romance between the sea-witch's sister and the little mermaid to be believable. What, the sea-witch just sees the little mermaid and likes the way she looks and decides to add a clause to her (the sea-witch's) deal? And the little mermaid only realised she also ‘loved' the sister in like the last few hours... Yeah, sorry, not that believable to me.


There was this really weird quote so here you go:
The Prince moored his pleasure craft and walked up the pier to the so-called beach...
- Me: His what now?

And this quote really made me laugh:
The prince had not realised he was holding his breath.
- It's the quote!!!

Technically it's 3-and-a-half but they don't give half stars *cue sobbing and rage and angry emails.

Received this book in exchange for an honest review. I actually read it a few days after I received the finished book, wrote a review for it and promised myself I would put it on Goodreads. Obviously that did not happen. But here is the review.

IT'S SET IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Sorry, it's just that there are heaps and heaps of books set in America and wherever else in the world and then you get South Africa with it's extremely stupid stereotypes. Like please come and tell me your stereotypes and let me laugh at them and tell you why you are wrong and why that stereotype was created. Anyway, so I went and read everyone else's reviews to see if they said anything about SA. One reviewer said she went and YouTubed our accents to hear how it sounded and then she said that it takes a while getting used to. Which is kinda calling the kettle black. And also a Durbanite's accent is miles different from a Cape Tonian's and everything.

So I was trying to figure out what year the novel is set in – as they don't really give a specific year or any indication. So I went and looked at the whole slang and tried to figure out from there. And so I was thinking that this has to be set a few years back because we don't use those swear words anymore. But then I remembered that I live in a different part of South Africa than the book and thus my regional dialect is different than the book's. Though it is interesting to see that the author made the characters use many Afrikaans slang. Now I'm all for that because representation and all that but Durban and Toti are more known for being English. But I'd still like to know what time this book is set in.

I love the different relationships between Wayne and Travis and Jess. Obviously the two relationships are different but the both are equally important and Wayne knows that they are both important – which he does.

The narration of the book is very good. It makes the reader want to carry on reading.

I love how Wayne's anxiety and depression or whatever is shown. It shows that teenagers feel very deeply and it shows a side of him that many readers could probably identify with.

I expected the ending to be different and to have an actual ending and then the ending just kind of made me confused but I suppose I'll have to wait for the next book to read it.

Review coming soon. Prepare for gifs and fangirling.

Like I already know this because I've read further in the series but why does every book need to end with Zoey getting super special marks

You don't NEED to be TOLD you're special every 5 pages!!

Only watched the movie before and that was stunning and now the book too is so stunning

A copy of this book was sent to me in exchange of an honest review.

That cover, though, that cover is wonderful.

Ok, so this book is about two very unlikely characters who have to help save the world (Evident by the title). There's cases of mistaken identity, mishaps and a humouristic way to see the world.

The plot develops quite nicely for an apocalyptic novel. There's everything that's usually in an apocalyptic novel. There's the start-up, then where the main characters team up with other survivors, begin to develop and the big war. This novel has all of this, and more - the humour, the interesting characters, the captivating dialogue.

The dialogue's an important part of the novel. Dialogue (and characters) are a big determinator in deciding in what kind of genre the novel is and who would be more likely to pick the book up. In this novel, the novel is more directed to guys (snarky humour and typical ‘guy' jokes and the characters and their personality is more directed at guys). And it works. Some girls are able to read these types of novels and enjoy them. And I do. I enjoy these types of novels because they show that humour in life and that shitty things happen to everyone.

Characters are another thing. Characters sell a novel. They make the readers want to turn the page. They make them invest in their lives and root for them. They make a novel better because the characters try to save the world, or themselves. Dan and Frankie are most definitely not the typical characters you'll find in an apocalyptic novel. They are more the characters you'll find wasting their lives in the bar – but they find themselves in the middle of this intergalactic war or something and they develop enough to begin a journey that only the jocks have taken up before.

And it's interesting, because Dan and Frankie aren't the typical heroes. They aren't physically and they'll probably never be regarded as the perfect heroes, but it works because they represent the average American and shows the readers they can be heroes even if they're ordinary.

All in all, it was a great read. It had a sense of humour you'd only see rarely (mostly because no one seems to care for it). Yes, this type of novel is written with a remotely specific audience in mind, but the great thing is that it can be for any audience (if you just read with enough interest- and this novel definitely made me do this).

So technically, I didn't finish it. I think I got to about 50 or something percent, according to my Kindle, but I should have stopped long ago.

Found it boring, too much religion, instalove, characters were annoying - need I go on?

So yeah, was sad that I didn't like it, because I love the crusades and thought I would as it had the added element of demons, but most of the characters annoyed me - I think I only like Mattias - is that the spelling?

Forgot when I started it, so just made it to today.

Fantastic. Absolutely wonderful.

Review along with gifs coming soon.

This book is an amazing book, filled with fantasy. The characters are amazing and I cannot wait to watch the movie.

Link to the blog: https://dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/seriesly-a-question-of-counsel/

Received from the publishers (as I was approved for the 3rd book - Blood Borne).

All opinions expressed are my own.

3 and a half stars

The summary made the book out to be more interesting than the actual story. I mean I was expecting this adorable f/f romance and instead I get a story that's plot isn't fully developed, its dialogue felt a bit forced, and the action and subplot that should've been the main plot were half-formed. Which makes me upset. As now (as I'm writing this review, I'm about halfway through the second book, Four - which I was going to update on my Goodreads account, but then the onnosel thing decided to be down. And I stilll have the 3rd book to read).

I mean, sure, I liked the book, but I didn't really enjoy it, understand? It took me a while to get through it (ok, mostly because I was going through some things), but also because it was a case of me literally forcing myself to read the book. Like read a half of a chapter and then you can watch some Avatar: TLA. And I didn't want to dnf because it's the first in a trilogy, and who knows which characters are introduced will feature in the 2nd and 3rd and what background ontent will become important later on.

Although the characters were easy to like and hate,  they could have done with a bit more fleshing out. It's like their hearts weren't in their motivations and it felt like they were just going through the motions. Yeah, they probably thought about what they were doing, and maybe why, but they didn't motivate me to want to them go through the motions.

I understand she's a Steward, which brings to mind Denethor, so I don't know how I feel about Aeley's job. And thinkin of Denethor makes me think of a certain gif, so I'm super glad that Aeley did not pull a Denethor. 

It's not that there were too many characters, it's that not enough time was spent on them so I never really knew what their job was and their purpose in the story. I mean I barely remember any of the minor characters, or their jobs, or even their names.

So summed up, not that good as I thought it would be. Do I recommend it? Yes, as it gives you background information on several characters, but that's it.

Afrikaans:

onnosel - stupid

I absolutely loved this book. Granted, I did watch the movie first, but then found out that there was a book first. Recommend it to anybody looking for a page-turner.

Definitely gets a star taken off for the unnecessary girl-on-girl hate or something. Maybe more. I'll see.

Review coming soon.