Review - Heir of Fire (Throne of Glass #3) by Sarah J Maas

Title: Heir of Fire

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Release Date: Already released

Goodreads Summary:

Celaena Sardothien has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak—but at an unspeakable cost. Now she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth...a truth about her heritage that could change her life—and her future—forever.

Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. To defeat them, Celaena must find the strength to not only fight her inner demons but to battle the evil that is about to be unleashed.

The king's assassin takes on an even greater destiny and burns brighter than ever before in this follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Crown of Midnight.

My Review:

I know I'm in the minority here but this was my least favorite book in the series. I gave the Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight both 5 stars and I really wanted to enjoy this book. I however was not a fan of the multiple perspectives especially Manon's which I just skimmed through because I was not invested in Manon's story at all. I however did enjoy the other two perspectives probably because I knew these characters from the previous two books and was invested in them. 

Part one of the book really fell flat for me. I had to really push myself to get through it. I was so invested in these characters that I did not just want to give up on the story even though I considered DNFing several times.  I do however understand why the first part had to be as we needed to learn about the new world that Celaena was now in. I would give this part of the book 2 stars.

Part 2 however did pick up and I did really enjoy the second half of the book especially the last 100 or so pages. I wish the whole book was like this. Part two I would give a 4 -4.5 Star rating as I still didn't enjoy Manon's point of view but loved the rest of the story. The ending hooked me enough for me to want to continue with the rest of the series. So I will definitely be picking up Queen of Shadows when it comes out in September.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Book Review: Confessions of a Once Fashionable Mum by Georgia Madden

Title: Confessions of a Once Fashionable Mum
Author: Georgia Madden
Publisher: Nero
How I acquired book: I purchased it
Release date: Already released

Goodreads summary:

Successful hubbie? Tick. Facebook-worthy baby? Tick. Bikini-body six weeks after giving birth? Um … not so much.

Fashion PR exec Ally Bloom got her happy ending. Okay, her marriage might be showing the odd crack, her battleaxe mother-in-law might have come to stay, and she might not be the yummy mummy she'd imagined, but it's nothing a decent night's sleep and a firm commitment to a no-carb diet won't fix.

But when Ally returns to work and finds she'll be reporting to a 22-year-old airhead, she decides to turn her back on life as a professional fashionista and embrace her inner earth mama instead.

So it's out with the Louboutins and champagne and in with the sensible flats and coffee mornings with the Mummy Mafia. From attending her first grown-up dinner party only to discover that placenta is top of the menu to controlling her monster crush on local playgroup hottie Cameron, Ally must find her feet in the brave new world of the stay-at-home mum.

Review:

This book is a light fun read all about marriage, the challenges of motherhood and forming friendships.

Ally gets replaced at her job by a 22 year old airhead and decides to join a playgroup and become an earth mum instead. Through this we get to see her relationships grow with these mothers and get to see a sneak peak into their lives as well.

I was surprised to find that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This book had been sitting on my TBR shelf for months and I was honestly thinking about donating it as I didn't have any inclination to read it. When I got into my reading slump I decided to try something different and picked up this book.

From the 1st page I was hooked and could not put this book down. Being an Australian mum myself and attending playgroups when my daughter was younger I could totally relate to that aspect of the book and how you just want to feel accepted by these people but you are feeling judged at the same time. I could also relate (and im sure most mums can) to the struggle of deciding what to do whether to return to work or stay home and all the guilt that comes with each decision. Which made me really relate to this character.

Though this book was a little over the top I felt this was its intention and is what made it such a fun and enjoyable read.  I loved Ally Blooms sarcasm and witty comebacks and just overall her as a character. I also loved seeing the relationship between her and her mother in law and how it grew throughout the book.

Overall I would recommend this to anyone looking a fun, enjoyable read that's not looking for anything to serious. Mums would be able to relate to relate to this book but I am sure other women will also enjoy it.

Rating: 5 stars

Book Mail

Stone Cold Touch by Jennifer L. Armentrout arrived in the mail today which is the 2nd book in The Dark Elements series.

I cant wait to continue with this series and find out what happens next. Will do full review once I have read the book.

Goodreads Summary:

Layla Shaw is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life—no easy task for a seventeen-year-old who’s pretty sure things can’t get worse. Her impossibly gorgeous best friend, Zayne, is forever off-limits thanks to the mysterious powers of her soul-stealing kiss. The Warden clan that has always protected her is suddenly keeping dangerous secrets. And she can barely think about Roth, the wickedly hot demon prince who understood her in ways no one else could.

But sometimes rock bottom is only the beginning. Because suddenly Layla’s powers begin to evolve, and she’s offered a tantalizing taste of what has always been forbidden. Then, when she least expects it, Roth returns, bringing news that could change her world forever. She’s finally getting what she always wanted, but with hell literally breaking loose and the body count adding up, the price may be higher than Layla is willing to pay…  

Review: I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Title: I'll Give You the Sun

Author: Jandy Nelson

Publisher: Dial Books

Release Date: Already Released

Goodreads Summary:

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.

This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.

My Review:

I went into this story not really knowing much about it except that it was a story about two twins that have had a falling out and the story is told from both their perspectives one when they are younger the other when they are older.

This book follows two twins Noah and Jude and their life growing up. The book is told from both their point of views where Noah's point of view is told from when they are 13 years old and Jude's is told when they older at 16 years age and we see how these two stories come together.

I started out this book after the first chapter thinking I was going to DNF the book. The first chapter had all these crazy metaphors and I could not really get into the story. I however decided to continue with it because of all the great reviews I read and I am so glad I did.

By about page 116 I was totally in love with the story and the writing style. I was so invested in the story by this point that I could not put it down and just needed to know what was going to happen next. So if you start out thinking this story is weird and not wanting to continue with it I say at least give it a chance to around here as I thought it really picked up from this point.

I really enjoyed the dynamic and relationship between the two siblings and how their relationship changed throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the coming of age story of these two siblings and the struggles they went through as I think they were handled in a realistic way.

The only thing I did not like is there was instalove situations for both the characters.  I don't understand why young adult books do this. The characters see someone for the first time and all of the sudden they are in love with them. That just seems a little unrealistic. I did however enjoy the two relationships in this book.

Summing up I would recommend this book to anyone that's looking for a great coming of age story that will pull at your emotions. A beautifully written story that will leave you wanting more.

Star rating: 4.5 Stars

Bout of Books Wrap Up

Bout of Books is officially finished here in Australia and I just thought I would do a wrap up for the week as well as the seventh day in one blog post.

On Sunday I had a christening to attend to that finished rather late so unfortunately did not get any reading done. I am also in a somewhat reading slump at the moment which doesn't help the situation. I currently have 3 books going and not feeling any of them which is making me not want to read.

Okay now for the weekly wrap up. I ended up finishing two books this week plus getting 169 pages into a third book. The 3 books I read are:
- Ill Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson - review will be up tomorrow
- Fairest by Marissa Meyer - review : http://ausbooklover.blogspot.com.au/2015/08/review-fairest-lunar-chronicles-35-by.html
- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (read 169 pages)

Total page count: 818

Overall I am happy with the progress as I went into this readathon in a reading slump and I ended up reading 2 books and starting another that have been on my shelves for a while.

How did you guys do?

Bout of Books Day 6 Wrap up

Today being Saturday was a really busy day for me especially since I had a dinner party during the night. I normally do most of my reading at night once the children are in bed but the dinner party did not finish till late so I just went to bed once it was all over.

So yesterday I ended up reading a grand total of 28 pages of All the Bright Places. I was hoping to finish this book by the end of the week forgetting I had a christening to attend to tonight so once again not sure how much ill get read today.

Good luck to everyone that is participating in the readathon.

Review - Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles #3.5) by Marissa Meyer

Title: Fairest

Author: Marissa Meyer

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Release date: Already released

Goodreads Summary:

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story—a story that has never been told … until now.

Review:

This is a prequel to The Lunar Chronicles series told by Queen Levana's point of view. It follows her story from when she was younger to now and shows us the life events that lead her to be the way she is now.

The story also gives us details about Cinder and Winter and how they came to be in Queen Levana's care. This part of the story I really enjoyed as I loved seeing Cinder and Winter as younger children and the relationship between them.

Going into this story I thought that I would end up feeling sorry for Queen Levana but this book definitely did not make this feel this way. Yes bad things happened her but she also used and manipulated people to get what she wanted. She had opportunities to be a different person but she always made the choice that benefited her the most and didn't take other people into consideration.

This book was a light and enjoyable read and I would definitely recommend it to people who are fans of the series. While this book is not essential to the story it was an entertaining read.

Rating: 4 stars

Bout of Books Day 3 Wrap 3

Day 3 of Bout of Books is over for me and I started reading Fairest by Marissa Meyer. I read up to page 105 yesterday and hoping to finish it today. I normally don't like prequels but so far really enjoying this book so far.

If you are also participating in Bout of Books ill be interested to see your wrap ups so link your channels/blogs in the comments and ill check them out.

Currently Reading

I have been known to read multiple books at once. I normally read a physical book, an ebook (for when I am out and about) and sometimes listen to an audiobook. The last couple of weeks I have been in a reading slump which has left me not really enjoying what I am reading. This has caused me to have 3 books on my currently reading shelf as I keep picking one up not really enjoying it and then picking up another one.

So at the moment Im currently reading:

Shadow Kiss is the third book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. I have this on my kindle so mostly read this when I am out and about and wanting something to read. At the moment I am 43% done with this book and overall enjoying it so far.

The next book on my list is The Assassins Blade by Sarah J Maas. This is a prequel to the Throne of Glass Series with 5 novellas bound up in one book. The novellas are based on Celeana's experiences/life before Throne on Glass and how she came to be the assassin that she is. I have been taking this book slowly and just reading a novella whenever I feel like it. So far I have read 3 out of the 5 novellas and given each of them 3 stars.

Finally I picked up I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson today after finishing White Hot Kiss by Jennifer L Armentrout last night (full review to come). This will now be my main read. I am so far 37 pages and have finished the first chapter which is from Noah's perspective when they were 13 years old. Not sure about this book at the moment as I am not really enjoying the writing  style but I am going to continue with it and see if I change I mind as everyone I know really loves this book so I want to give it a chance.

This concludes my first blog post thanks for reading and hope you enjoy my blog. More blogs to come in the future.