OWLs Week 1 & 2 Wrapup

Hey Readers … 

I am going to do a quick little update for week 1 and 2 of the OWLs Readathon. As everyone is well aware the UK and most of the world at this point are on lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus. I am currently working from home and only leaving the house when absolutely necessary. This lockdown is taking its toll on motivation to do anything at the moment except play Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I can’t seem to be able to concentrate on any reading. 

I have finished one book in these two weeks and I have started another three. 

The first book I finished is The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson, I have mainly been listening to this whilst I have been working to help me to concentrate as both myself and my husband are working from home in the same office – we do the same job for the same company. I have given this book a 5 star and the review will be up on Wednesday. 

I have started Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, this is a good story so far. This is something I don’t usually read so it’s slow going as I can only read so much at one time. I also tried to read The Magic of the Magdalene Key by Patrica Iris Kerrins, this book just wasn’t for me and I DNF’d it after 10 pages. The writing wasn’t for me at all, descriptions on one page were repeated with a slightly different word order 2 pages later. I was really looking forward to this one it sounded like something I would have really liked. 

The last book I have started is Deeplight by Frances Hardinge, I am only 25 pages into this one so far but I am really enjoying what I read and will continue on reading this over the next week. 

well… that’s everything for now. 

I hope everyone is staying safe and following the lockdown rules. I also want to thank all health care professionals all over the world, who are putting themselves at risk to look after the sick during this time. 

Let me know if the comments, what you have read recently this month, also let me know how you are holding up during this difficult time. 

Keep Reading
XOXO

 

Review: House of Earth and Blood

Author: Sarah J Maas
Pages: 804
Star Rating: ✪✪✪✪✪

| Synopsis |

Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. Every night is a party and Bryce is going to savour all the pleasures Lunathion – also known as Crescent City – has to offer. But then a brutal murder shakes the very foundations of the city and brings Bryce’s world crashing down.
Two years later, Bryce still haunts the city’s most notorious nightclubs – but seeking only oblivion now. Then the murderer attacks again. And when an infamous Fallen angel, Hunt Athalar, is assigned to watch her every footstep, Bryce knows she can’t forget any longer.
As Bryce and Hunt fight to unravel the mystery and their own dark pasts, the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents, and down to the deepest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir …
With unforgettable characters and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom – and the power of love.

| My Thoughts |

I haven’t read much by Sarah J Maas, I have read ACOTAR and Throne of Glass, but I haven’t carried on with either of those series. I absolutely loved this book. There were some slow parts but when the action happened I couldn’t put it down.

I love the friendships and the relationships in this book. I loved how some topics were dealt with. The relationships were a slow burn, not a love at first sight type of relationship and I appreciated that.

I really enjoyed the world that Sarah J Maas wrote and I really enjoy the way that she writes. I rarely get emotional when reading books, but I started tearing up in places, this is how I know this book was a good book for me.

It is quite a big book but I don’t think it was too big, everything in there made the story, for me and added to the reading experience.

As far as I am aware, this is going to be a series so I will definitely be carrying on with future books.

Weekend updates

Hey Readers.

It is that time of the week again, where I give an update on my weekend plans.

From my last updates, I have finished reading Uprooted and Daughter of the forest by Juliet Marillier. I did discuss these in my WWW Wednesday post.

I am currently reading Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb, which is a re-read for me so I can continue with the series. I wont to finish this by the beginning of next week.

I have also started Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde, this was received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So far I am enjoying it. This is about Addie who suffers from OCD and Fitz who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The story starts with them meeting in a psychiatric ward. This is as far as I have gotten in the story. I am enjoying it, it is a little bit repetitive, with regards to describing Addie’s OCD rituals. We get a rundown of what she goes through at the beginning and then we end up getting a similar but smaller run down each time a ritual occurs.

I am not sure how I am feeling about this book at the moment I am 25% into it.

I have started using an app called Bookly, so far I am really enjoying it and it is really helping me keep a tab on my reading and my page count for the day.

I am going to do a review of this once I have used it a little more, so keep an eye out for that.

Life plans

Today is the Eurovision song contest, so I am getting some reading and house tidying done, then it’s off to a friends house for a Eurovision get together.

I will be taking my Kindle with me to possibly get some reading done.

what are you plans for this weekend? Let me know in the comments below.

Weekend updates

Hey Readers.

How is everyone? I thought I would do a random discussion on here about my weekend plans/updates. 

Just a little update on what I am reading and what I hope to have finished before Monday comes around again.

Well, I am still reading, The Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier for #MythTakeReads and my view is starting to slowly change. I am enjoying it a little more, still not fully loving it but I am not thinking about putting it on my DNF pile. I was seriously considering this when I started it. The plot has started to pick up and it is getting a little more interesting. I am around 46% into the book on my kindle so if I finish Uprooted, I may try and get a considerable amount of this read.

I am also still reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik. I am getting through this quite quickly, I have around 256 pages left, because I am getting through the pages pretty quickly I think I might, just might be able to finish this one today.

&& the final book is The Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. I don’t have much to say on this one I am 100 pages in and I think I will finish it eventually, maybe the end of the month, but I am in no rush. These do take me a while to get through and I know I could spend months reading it.

life plans

I do not have much planned this weekend, I never do, I DO NOT like being social. I am very much a house person, BUT we do have our little nephews birthday party on Sunday at a play centre so I probably won’t get that much reading done on Sunday. 

so that is it, my little weekend update to have a little chat/update about the books I am reading and to discuss plans.

What are your weekend plans? Have you planned to get any books finished this weekend, let me know in the comments below?

– Happy Reading
xoxo

Review: The Crimson Campaign

Author: Brian McClellan
Date Started: 12/01/2019
Date Finished: 14/04/2019
Pages: 593
Genre: Fantasy
Star Rating:✪✪✪✪.5

 

Synopsis (for the first book):

IT’S A BLOODY BUSINESS, OVERTHROWING A KING
Field Marshal Tamas’s coup against his king brings bread to the starving, but it also provokes war in the Nine Nations, internal attacks by royalist fanatics and a greedy scramble for money and power by Tamas’s supposed allies.
Stretched to his limit, Tamas relies on his few remaining powder mages to keep the peace. But amid the chaos, a whispered rumour is spreading. A rumour of a broken promise, omens of death and the gods returning to walk the earth.
Surely nobody really believes those old legends.
Perhaps they should.

My Thoughts: 

Following on from the 1st book, Tamas is war obsessed making this way through enemy territory. Adamat is hell-bent on getting his family back after they were kidnapped. Taniel is doped up in a mala den, caring about nothing and Ka-Poel is always by Taniel’s side trying to get him to make him see his way.  

I really love this series so far and it keeps on getting better and better! Brian McClellan is a good writer and I really enjoy his writing style. 

I really liked the way that the characters develop in this book. I especially like the development of Taniel and Ka-Poel throughout this book and the way that their relationship develops. 

This has so much more action and development than the first book. 

The way the storylines are intertwined throughout the books allowed me to be speed through both books I have read so far in this series. I think the female characters are actually done pretty well in this story but I do think that they should be in the story a little bit more. 

I can not wait to carry on with this series and see how it develops.