Review: The Smoke Thieves

It continually surprises me, actually, how much of a little fantasy fan I’ve become. I can remember when I was growing up and my Dad used to read all these sci-fi and fantasy novels and I was all WHY WOULD I WANT TO READ BOOKS ABOUT DRAGONS AND MAGIC AND PLACES THAT AREN’T REAL AND THINGS THAT COULD NEVER EXIST and now I am all grabby hands for all of those things.

Anyhow. In that vein, let us talk today about the first in Sally Green’s new series The Smoke Thieves.

Sidenote: you may have heard of Sally from her Half Bad trilogy, and if you haven’t, well, you should get on that. S’good.

So The Smoke Thieves is new, and it’s about a princess preparing for a political marriage, the guard she’s in love with,  a servant hungry for revenge, a boy who isn’t sure what he wants to do with his life and steals things just because he can, and a thirteen year old girl who spends her life being bait for a demon hunter.

I KNOW, RIGHT? ALL THE GOOD THINGS.

Quickfire Reviews

Quickfire Reviews is a thing I do very sporadically when there are books to talk about that I should have reviewed but haven’t. Sometimes I didn’t like these books enough to want to review them; sometimes I loved them but time got away from me; and sometimes, less is just more. Also it’s something a bit different which is what I am all about this year – being more than just review after review.

So here we have it, grab a KitKat and settle down.

Things I've Spent My Money on in May

Here is a new post which is a little twist on my things that I have seen and liked series (those are one of my fave kinds of post to do because it’s like shopping without the spending. Or without actually owning the thing so not like shopping at all but you know what I mean). This is different in in that this post, which may become a regular  thing*, is only things that I have actually put my hand into my pocket and purchased and which I think you should propbably purchase also.

*when I say ‘a regular thing’ I obviously mean as regular as anything ever is on this blog. Also, don’t hold your breath because I’m also trying to be thrifty which makes this the most ill-timed post in the history of posts.

So, here we are, 5 things I have spent my money on in May.

Repeal the 8th. #Together4Yes

Oh here I go, about to get not-bookish and a little bit opinionated. It happens sometimes but it’s fine – it helps keep things fresh and I kind of had to make this post because I’ve seen a lot in recent weeks about the Irish Referendum to repeal the 8^th amendment and it’s really got me thinking because actually, it continually baffles me that this is even a thing.

I mean, having a baby changes your entire life, carrying a baby changes you in ways you cannot imagine and so the decision to become a parent or not is perhaps one of – if not the most – defining decisions a person can make don’t you think? How can it be fine to take that decision away? To make the making of that decision a criminal offence?

Review: A Thousand Perfect Notes

Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music - because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence.
When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?

Well then.

Here’s the thing and I’m going to be honest about it: I mainly wanted to read this book because I follow C.G Drews on Instagram and her page is the prettiest and that led me to her blog which is one of my faves, actually and that is that -  I wanted to read her book because I enjoy her online presence. That said, I was pretty sure she would be able to write – you can tell from her blog that she can write, I just didn’t quite expect…this.

Wow. This is not eloquent. This is why I have not written a book.

Review: I Was Born For This

This book fascinated me. Like actually. I was so invested and so interested, perhaps because parts of it felt really relatable and perhaps because it felt really relevant and was a really interesting take on a really interesting story. To be honest, anything to do with fandom always peaks my interest because it’s something that, to a degree, I am familiar with.

Review: Cross Her Heart

Promises only last if you trust each other, but what if one of you is hiding something?
A secret no one could ever guess.
Someone is living a lie.
Is it Lisa?
Maybe it’s her daughter, Ava.
Or could it be her best friend, Marilyn?

Cross Her Heart publishes 17th May 2018. You’ll just have to wait to find out…

Blog Tour: If He Wakes

I love a book that I can pick up and that has me turn turn turning the pages til I’m done, especially when, like over the last couple of months, I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. If He Wakes, the debut novel from Zoe Lea is that book. I read it a while ago but I’ve been holding off on reviewing because, well, because today is my spot on the blog tour and it would have been a little but counter-productive to post about it before then.

Quick April Wrap Up

Well. This bank holiday weekend has just been brill and marv. There are no words to express quite how much I love it when the sun is shining.

However, I am not here to talk about that today. I am here to talk about April.

The Wrong Man: Author Visit

Guess what guys! Today I’ve got the lovely Kate White here to talk about her new novel The Wrong Man and all things writing! Grab a cup of tea and get cosy!