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Blog Tour | Q&A with Holly Jackson

blog tour holly jackson

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to interview best-selling author Holly Jackson, author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. She’s now the author of Good Girl, Bad Blood which is the sequel to AGGGTM and will be publishing later this week.

To celebrate the publication of Good Girl, Bad Blood, I’m kickstarting the blog tour by sharing my Q&A with Holly Jackson below. Enjoy!

Thank you so much Holly for taking the time to answer some questions!

And thank you very much for taking the time to ask them!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was recommended to me by a friend after I’d been eyeing it in Waterstones for a few months. I truly kicked myself for waiting for so long! What would you say to someone to entice them to start reading your series now that Good Girl, Bad Blood is about to be released?

I would say that if you have ever day-dreamed about solving a murder, or have ever attempted to solve any kind of mystery on social media (aka less murder – more
investigating friends’ potentially cheating boyfriends) then these are the books for you! A chance to truly step into your detective shoes and see if you can work out what really happened to Andie Bell, before Pip does.

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Book Review | ‘Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood’ by Sarah J Maas

Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas

Title: Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: 3rd March 2020
Genre/Age Group: Adult, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance
Format: Hardcover (816pages)
Source:  Finished copy, gifted from Bloomsbury
Rating: 

(Disclaimer: This review is spoiler free!)

 

Synopsis

“Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.”

Review

From beginning to end, this book was a real page turner, it grips you tight and won’t let go till you finish all 816 wonderful pages. There’s not one boring moment throughout this behemoth book, and I cannot stress that enough. It’s slow but entertaining at first and then quickly snowballs into something absolutely epic. By the end you will be left with your jaw dropping. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read, it blew my mind in ways that no Maas book has done before, and it’s a book that’ll stick with me for a long long time.

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My Favourite Books of 2019

favourite books of 2019

It’s almost the end of 2019, you know what that means! It’s time to list my top 10 reads of the year.

I didn’t read as much as I hoped I would, but enjoyed everything I read and I consider that a hard win!

I highly recommend you checking out any of these books below if you haven’t read them yet. Each one successfully absorbed me into the story (even the graphic novels and the audiobook) and some of them have even made it to my favourite books of all time list.

Without further ado and in no particular order, here are my favourite books of 2019…

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Make your own fictional Christmas squad | Book Tag

fictional christmas squad

You can’t deny that it’d be cool to have a group of fictional characters around to help you to prepare for the fast approaching Christmas holidays.

Now this is your chance to create your own Christmas squad out of your favourite fictional characters. You can tell us who you think would be the perfect gift giver, tree decorator, Santa impersonator, etc.

Be sure to check out the rules, and my own answers below!

Rules

Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their post!

Link to both creators’ blogs (booksnest.co.uk & fictiontea.co.uk) in your post.

ENJOY THE TAG AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Questions

The Gift Giver
The Scrooge
The Tree Decorator
The Excitable Christmas Enthusiast
The Games Master
The One Who’s Been in their Pyjamas All Day
The One Who Dressed up as Santa

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Book Review | ‘Serpent & Dove’ by Shelby Mahurin

Title: Serpent & Dove
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Publisher: Harper 360
Release Date: 3rd September 2019
Genre / Age Group: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Format: Hardcover (528 pages)
Source: ARC / Advanced Proof
Rating: 

(This review is spoiler free!)

 

Synopsis

“Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.”

Review

‘Serpent & Dove‘ by Shelby Mahurin is one of the most anticipated books of 2019, and for very good reason. This without a doubt one of the best books I’ve read this year, it completely took me by surprise. It follows Lou, a witch who has fled her coven to the the city of Cesarine. However, she’s not safe in a city filled with Chasseurs; men sworn to the church to hunt and burn Witches at the stake.

Reid Diggory is one of the finest Chasseurs in the city, until one day an ‘unfortunate incident’ leads him and Lou into the most unthinkable situation for them both. Marriage. Lou has no choice to keep her true nature hidden from her new husband, however this becomes harder for her when true feelings become involved.

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Book Review: ‘Finale’ by Stephanie Garber

Title: Finale
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 9th May 2019
Genre/Age Group:  Fantasy, Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Format:  Paperback (400 pages)
Source: Uncorrected Proof (Sent by publisher in exchange for an honest review)
Rating:

(This review is spoiler free, however, will contain spoilers for other books in the series)

Synopsis

It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own. Now, Legend is preparing for his official coronation and Tella is determined to stop it. She believes her own mother, who still remains in an enchanted sleep, is the rightful heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, Scarlett has started a game of her own. She’s challenged Julian and her former fiancé, Count Nicolas d’Arcy, to a competition where the winner will receive her hand in marriage. Finally, Scarlett feels as if she is in complete control over her life and future. She is unaware that her mother’s past has put her in the greatest danger of all.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win…and those who will lose everything.

Review

It’s been two months since Empress Elantine passed and the kingdom of Valenda fell in need of a new heir to the throne. Tella and Scarlett have left the palace and relocated to a small apartment in the Satine district as they await their mother Paloma waking from her deep sleep. Whilst they wait, chaos ensues now that the Fates are free to do as they please, and the sisters must do what they can to protect each other and the ones they love from harm.

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Book Review: ‘Legendary’ by Stephanie Garber

Title: Legendary
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Release Date: 9th May 2019
Genre/Age Group:  Fantasy, Young Adult, Mystery, Romance
Format:  Paperback (432 pages)
Source: Uncorrected Proof (Sent by publisher in exchange for an honest review)
Rating:

(This review is spoiler free, however, may contain spoilers for first book in the series!)

 

Synopsis

It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own. Now, Legend is preparing for his official coronation and Tella is determined to stop it. She believes her own mother, who still remains in an enchanted sleep, is the rightful heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, Scarlett has started a game of her own. She’s challenged Julian and her former fiancé, Count Nicolas d’Arcy, to a competition where the winner will receive her hand in marriage. Finaly, Scarlett feels as if she is in complete control over her life and future. She is unaware that her mother’s past has put her in the greatest danger of all.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win…and those who will lose everything.

Review

Throughout ‘Caraval’ our focus was on Scarlett Dragna. The elder of two sisters. By the end, we switched to Tella’s POV which lead perfectly into the start of ‘Legendary‘ as book two of this trilogy focuses on Tella. The book begins the night after ‘Caraval’ ends, Tella finds herself waking up next to Dante, a returning character who had quite the reputation in book one. When she runs off, she finds Scarlett and Julian, who invite her along to a very special Caraval performance for Empress Elantine.

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Five Authors I’d Love To Meet

Over the past few years, I have gotten the chance to meet authors such as; Samantha Shannon, VE Schwab, Laini Taylor, Pierce Brown, Maggie Stiefvater, Holly Black, and Cassandra Clare amongst many others. I love to meet authors who’s books I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, or who’s books I’m eager to pick up in the future. However, there are some I’ve never met or, they’ve been to the UK before and I’ve not been able to attend. Usually this is because it’s a “UK tour” meaning, England tour stops only.

I made a list of top five authors (in no particular order) that I’d like to meet in the future. I hope that at least some of them come to/return to the UK at some point, because I’m positive that there are many other readers within the UK who would love to attend their events.

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World Book Day | My Top 5 Childhood Books

It’s World Book Day!

Which means, it’s basically Christmas for all bookworms out there.

So, what is World Book Day?

“World Book Day is a registered charity on a mission to give every child and young person a book of their own. It’s also a celebration of authors, illustrators, books and (most importantly) it’s a celebration of reading. In fact, it’s the biggest celebration of its kind, designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and marked in over 100 countries all over the world.” – worldbookday.com

The theme for this year is Share A Story. Myself and a whole bunch of other lovely and talented UK book bloggers have decided to celebrate by posting our top 5 childhood reads. The graphic at the bottom of this post illustrates all the bloggers who will be participating and posting every half hour throughout the day.. The lovely blogger before me was Olivia from StageyBookish!

Choosing only 5 was particularly hard for me, because when I was a child, all I did was read. Every waking moment I had, if I wasn’t at school, I was reading a book. My Gran always encouraged me to fit in at least an hour or two of reading before bed every night as well, so it’s fair to say that I read a lot of books when I was little.

But of course, I always had a couple of books that I always gravitated towards if I wasn’t sure what to read. That’s what I’ll be sharing today, my top 5 childhood books. Without further ado, let’s get started!

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My Top Ten Books of 2016

In 2016, I was a very busy bee. I did the second half of my final design project for University (which is the equivalent to a dissertation), I travelled a lot and I returned to College to pursue Graphic Design. Being this busy hasn’t allowed me to read as much as I wanted to. I actually lost count of the books I read, but I’m pretty sure its somewhere in the low 40’s. Two years ago, I managed to read almost 100 books, so I would love to try reach that amount again in the future. I’m not usually one to set Goodreads Goals, because I feel like that’s too much pressure. As in, everyone can see if you’ve failed your goal. Which tends to happen to me…a lot.

Despite all that, I had a really good reading year, I loved most of the books I read. I don’t think I rated anything below 3 stars! Which, in my opinion, is pretty damn awesome. I only really had one reading slump back in May, and I managed to branch into a few New Adult books, which I ended up absolutely loving.

So, without further ado, here is my top 10 books (in no particular order) from 2016!

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