Duty Bound (Angelbound Origins 0.5) by Christina Bauer Review

Duty Bound by Christina Bauer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
By popular demand! A prequel novella to the best-selling Angebound, told from Prince Lincoln’s point of view!

As the High Prince of the demon-fighting thrax, Lincoln knows he must marry for political gain. Not that he minds. For all of his eighteen years, Lincoln’s been bound to his duty. Fighting demons is his life, and he’s never given romance a second thought. Instead, the High Prince lives for the days when he leaves his hidden realm to fight demons on Earth.

Then, everything changes.

Lincoln and his nobles become forced to visit Purgatory, the home of quasi-demons (who are mostly human with a bit of demonic DNA). Here Lincoln spies Myla Lewis, a lady warrior who enflames his heart, ignites his interest, and inspires his respect. Trouble is, Myla’s also a quasi. By thrax law, Lincoln must kill anything demonic—not date them. For the first time in his life, Lincoln wonders if he’ll follow his duty…or heed the demands of his heart.

My Review:
Yes I’m reading another installment of the Angelbound series, and yes I like the cover. This one, however, is a little different than the others. This is a prequel, set before the first book. The cover is really pretty, and it fits well with the other books in the series. Yet another story about Lincoln and Myla, and I’m not disappointed by it. They’ve been the same characters we know and love through the story, and that doesn’t change in this book.

A little different than the others, this book is from the point of view of Lincoln, the High Prince of the Thrax, otherwise known as demon hunters. It begins with him stating how many demons he’s killed to date, one thousand four hundred and thirty-seven, but he has troubles connecting with his mother. Especially when she’s interrogating him about Adair, from the Acca house. Even worse, Adair’s father is killing off his own army just to spite Lincoln. To top it all off he can’t stop thinking about a certain quasi-demon that he saw.

I really enjoyed this book and it was a nice addition to the series. I liked seeing things from Lincolns point of view, and getting to know Walker better too. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s a link to the authors Twitter, and another link to the book on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/cb_bauer?lang=en

https://www.amazon.ca/Bound-Angelboun…

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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Child of Nod (The Balance #1) by C.W. Snyder Review

Child of Nod by C.W. Snyder
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Alice wakes one day to find herself on the other side of death, in the corrupted fairy tale land of Nod. Unable to remember much of the events leading to her demise, she sets out on a journey to discover her memory and the reason for her presence in Nod. Unknown to her, the man responsible for her death, Jack, is on a mission to find her spirit and end her second life.

Alice takes flight, only to find herself drawn into the lives of those around her and the mystery permeating that place. From the humble streets of Elysium to the mirrored spires of Memoria, her journey takes her on a path that leads to a decision that will affect the fate of Nod.

Along the way, she meets a cast of characters that include a madman with a dark secret, her faithful companion, Dog, and woman made of memory. Together, they help her on her journey as she uncovers the truth of Nod and the woman behind it all, the Red Queen.

My Review:

Let me start of by saying, this book is a slow burn. This book reminds me of one big long creepy and otherworldly dream. It’s scary at times, and I really enjoyed reading it. The viewpoint is mostly from a young dead girl named Alice, but it changes to whoever it needs to be throughout the story. I really liked the chapter title font, and the cover, and they stood out to me.

Basically, this is one big adventure of a girl through a strange world. She picks up friends along the way, she helps people who need to be helped, and most of all she tries to stay alive. Well, as alive as she can be, in her afterlife. She’s being hunted by a man named Jack, who also picks up friends along the way, although a much different kind. Her memories come to her in flashes, along with other peoples memories when they touch her. Sometimes it’s hard for her to tell between real and fake memories. A crazy naked man chases her through the sand for a single coin, the water is filled with creepy bodies, a man turned into beast. What else can I say? It’s exciting to say the least.

Overall the characters, as well as the world they’re in, seem really well thought out. My favourite character probably would be either John or Alice, just because of the history in their stories. It’s interesting to learn about, and I’m glad I got the chance to read it. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon, and another link to the authors Twitter.

https://www.amazon.ca/Child-Nod-Balan…

https://twitter.com/claytonsnyder2?la…

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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💉🔪Vampires 😱🍷

So I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I thought it would make an interesting blog post.

Why is it, when there’s vampires in young adult fiction, they’re mostly hundreds of years old and the person they choose to date is like sixteen?

That’s like a really old person dating a child in my opinion, even if they look the same age. Which seems kind of creepy. Why wouldn’t they just bump up the other characters age to atleast 18? And why do these old vampires want to go back to high school so bad? There’s much better things to do.

I know just for the sake of the story they’re trying to make it seem like a normal thing but it seems so weird thinking about it as an adult. Just as an example I’ve added a screenshot of me using Google to find out how old Edward Cullen from Twilight really is.

While the King of Prussia Was Waging War Who Do You Think Was Darning His Socks ? by Zidrou Review

While the King of Prussia Was Waging War Who Do You Yhink Was Darning His Socks ? by Zidrou
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Mrs. Hubeau looks after her 40-year-old handicapped son, Michel. Despite many happy moments, her daily life is far from easy, but she faces it with unparalleled courage and generosity. This is a beautiful homage to all the admirable people fighting in the shadows.

My Review:
I wasn’t too sure what to think of this book at first, but I knew it would be interesting either way. At only sixty two pages, I breezed through this story but it’s a lot different than any other graphic novel I’ve read. It begins with an old lady having a long trip to visit her son. She takes care of him, and does everything for him. It’s a really kind of sad story that I didn’t expect from the cover and description. It’s a real thing that happens to people and you never really know about it, but I feel like this story depicted it really well. She does it because she loves him. There’s really only one thing I wish I could change and that would be that I wish there wasn’t so many cartoon junk shots. Other than that, definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon!
https://www.amazon.ca/Prussia-darning…\

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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Annihilation (Southern Reach #1) by Jeff VanderMeer Review

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.

This is the twelfth expedition.

Their group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them, and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another, that change everything.

My Review:
Now a major motion picture, I saw the trailer and immediately knew I needed to see it. Then I found out it was a book, and knew I needed to read it before the movie came out. At almost two hundred pages, it’s not a long book, but it is filled with amazing, scary and otherworldly things.

A group of four women; a biologist, an anthropologist, a surveyor and a psychologist are sent into Area X two years after the last group went in. The narrator is the Biologist, and all she knows about the trip is that it could last anywhere from a few days to a few years. They have a kind of measuring device strapped to each of them that’s supposed to alert them to something unknown, and if it turns red they have half an hour to get out. The group had to be put under hypnosis by the psychologist to cross the border to avoid any strange hallucinations caused by the border itself. No one seems to know anything about Area X itself, and the only thing that the biologist knows is that her husband went in two years ago, and came back different.

The land is filled with weird things like black water, strange animals and abandoned towns along with a weird moaning sound at dawn, and a tower/tunnel that you can’t get a straight answer for. It has also has English words printed along the side of the stairwell. The world around the characters is well established and I really liked getting to learn about it, as did the biologist. Although we never get to know her name, I feel like I got to know her pretty well through the story. The trailer for the movie version of this book looks a lot different, but still exciting. The biologist had developed a lot at the book, and the story itself was thrilling and mysterious at the same time.

Overall this book is completely different than anything else I’ve read lately, and I’m really glad I got the chance to read it. I can’t wait for the movie to come out so I can watch that as well. At almost two hundred pages it’s not a super long read, but you can read it in a single sitting if you have the time. I definitely recommend checking it out if you haven’t already, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Here’s a link to the authors twitter, and another link to the book on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/jeffvandermeer

https://www.amazon.ca/Annihilation-Je…

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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🎶

Do you like to listen to music while you read? That troll is the cutest speaker I own.

Personally I can’t pay attention to a book if there’s a song on that I want to listen to, so I try to read with no sound around me. A lot of other people I know, though, like to blast music while they read and although I used to, I don’t like it anymore. What do you think?

Memento (Harmony #1) by Mathieu Reynès Review

Memento by Mathieu Reynès
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
One day, Harmony wakes up in an unfamiliar basement having completely lost her memory. All she now knows of the world is the name of her “host,” the mysterious voices in her head and a newly discovered talent for telekinesis. She’s going to have to get her memory back pretty quickly in order to face the dangers that await her. There are so many unanswered questions, and the fight has only just begun…

My Review:
Let me say first that I really like the cover of this book. It really stood out from everything else around it and made me want to read the description. A girl named Harmony with mysterious powers and glowing eyes has lost all recollection of her life, and finds herself locked in a basement with a man she doesn’t know taking care of her. He says he hasn’t done anything to her, but she finds needle marks on her arms and her head feels different. Can she really trust him? She also has been having weird dreams. What is going on? I wanted to read this as soon as I got it, but had to put it on the back burner while I finished up other things. Although only sixty two pages, this book sucks you in and really gets you wondering what happened, and what’s going to happen. It’s exciting and different. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon, and another link to the authors twitter.

https://www.amazon.ca/Harmony-1-Memen…

https://twitter.com/MathieuReyns

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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How to Stop Time by Matt Haig Review

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
“The first rule is that you don’t fall in love, ‘ he said… ‘There are other rules too, but that is the main one. No falling in love. No staying in love. No daydreaming of love. If you stick to this you will just about be okay.'”

A love story across the ages – and for the ages – about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he’s been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history–performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.

So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher–the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city’s history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society’s watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can’t have just happens to be the one thing that might save him. Tom will have to decide once and for all whether to remain stuck in the past, or finally begin living in the present.

How to Stop Time is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we just might find happiness.

My Review:
I received a copy of How to Stop Time from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts out describing the main character’s condition. It’s one that isn’t quite an illness or a disease, but one that affects the day to day well being of his life regardless. Basically he ages like everyone else, but at a much slower rate. About one year every fifteen for everyone else. This has led him to live a live longer than four hundred years, but only look about forty or so. He wants a new life. He wants a normal life. After his mother was killed, he wasn’t sure he should get close to anyone because of the danger it could cause. After the love of his life is taken from him, he decides he will never love again, but he always feels a longing for the girl he loved. So he moves back to London to become a high school history teacher. And he finds a girl he likes.

Honestly I usually don’t like stories about the past. This book is different, though. It’s a mix between Tom’s memories, and his present day life in the same location. It’s really unique and unlike anything I’ve read lately. I loved it, and I didn’t expect to. The characters are so put together, and they’re so broken at the same time. I honestly feel like the main character could be a real person who’s actually lived this story, that’s how much into this book I was. A person who knew Shakespeare, but still a person. I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t like this book, and I’m glad I got the chance to read it. The thing I learned the most from this book was to not worry so much about the future. Just live. No matter how long your life is. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

Here’s a link to the authors twitter, and another link to the book on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/matthaig1

https://www.amazon.ca/How-Stop-Time-M…

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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By a Charm and a Curse by Jaime Questell Review

By a Charm and a Curse by Jaime Questell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis:
Le Grand’s Carnival Fantastic isn’t like other traveling circuses. It’s bound by a charm, held together by a centuries-old curse, that protects its members from ever growing older or getting hurt. Emmaline King is drawn to the circus like a moth to a flame…and unwittingly recruited into its folds by a mysterious teen boy whose kiss is as cold as ice.

Forced to travel through Texas as the new Girl in the Box, Emmaline is completely trapped. Breaking the curse seems like her only chance at freedom, but with no curse, there’s no charm, either—dooming everyone who calls the Carnival Fantastic home. Including the boy she’s afraid she’s falling for.

Everything—including his life—could end with just one kiss.

My Review:
I received a copy of By a Charm and a Curse from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a completely unique and I loved every bit of it. Switching viewpoints between Emma, someone who desperately wants to go to the carnival, and Benjamin, who desperately wants to get out of the carnival. Emma and her siblings have been ditched by their mom at their dads house while she goes on a work vacation. Benjamin, on the other hand, knows nothing outside the carnival.

Emma and her friend Jules go to the carnival for a night they never forget. Their lives are changed forever, and she learns of the supernatural curse that has been put on the carnival. She’s forced into it and all too quickly everything she knows is taken away. It takes a new turn to running away to join the circus.

This book is exciting and different than any other book I’ve read lately. The characters are interesting and all fit together well with the story. They react to situations like anyone would, really, and the world is just like ours. Another thing I liked was the cover. It caught my eye as soon as I saw it in the catalog, and after reading description I knew it would be something I would like. I definitely recommend you check this book out.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon, and another link to the authors twitter.

https://www.amazon.ca/Charm-Curse-Jai…

https://twitter.com/JaimeQuestell

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
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Mini Pillow Fight

Yes the title is completely unrelated.

Out of all the formats of books to read, ebook, paperback, hardcover and audio book, everyone has a different preference. Mine is probably hardcovers, if I’d have to choose.

There’s just something about it, the feel of the book and the feel of the pages and just everything about it I like. I love dust covers, and always take them off and put them somewhere safe when I’m reading them. Paperbacks are good too. Ebooks are just as good and great when you’re out, although I read mostly ebooks and I really just like reading, I definitely prefer paper copies.

I don’t really like audio books but that’s just my personal feelings.

What is your favourite format of book?