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Word Revel

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May 9, 2019

STEPSISTER by Jennifer Donnelly

May 9, 2019

Book cover & and 4.5-star rating for STEPSISTER by Jennifer DonnellyThe first time I heard the term “retelling,” I expected it to refer to reimagined fairytales. I didn’t exactly expect these to be simply be stories inspired by fairytales. Stepsister, however, is exactly that which I had originally expected of a retelling. It builds upon the well-loved fairytale of Ashputtel, blood and all. It was entertaining with its dark humour as it continued to tell the story of how it might have continued. Stepsister was more detailed since it’s a novel rather than a short story but stylistically, it still very much read like a fairytale.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abuse, ambition, american authors, betrayal, bravery, death, despair, fairies, family problems, fate, feminism, forgiveness, friendship, gender, grief, hardship, hope, horses, jealousy, life, loss, magic, on love, poverty, relationships, retellings, romance, royalty, self discovery, self-esteem, single parenthood, sisters, stepsiblings, villains, war

February 14, 2018

SUNFLOWERS IN FEBRUARY by Phyllida Shrimpton

February 14, 2018

Book cover & rating - SUNFLOWERS IN FEBRUARY by Phyllida ShrimptonSunflowers in February is at its core a morbid book. Lily was in a car accident and woke up dead. Death is never an easy topic to face. What comes after death though, is a question I’m sure many of us do wonder about. Sunflowers in February grappled with exactly that, as Lily was in limbo, unable to move on.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: accidents, alcoholism, british authors, bullying, car accident, conduct of life, dating, death, despair, dreams, drink-driving, drug abuse, drugs, dysfunctional families, existentialism, family, family life, family problems, forgiveness, friendship, funerals, gratitude, grief, guilt, high school, hit-and-run, hope, life, life-after-death, on love, relationships, remorse, siblinghood

January 11, 2018

THE CRUEL PRINCE by Holly Black

January 11, 2018

Book cover & rating - The Cruel Prince by Holly BlackThe year has just begun and I’ve only finished three books so far, The Cruel Prince being the first, but I think I’m ready to declare it among my top 10 of 2018. Hah. I mean, only two books I read last year exceeded my rating of 4.883 that I gave The Cruel Prince, so yes I’m confident this book will be among my favourites. In other words, the hype pulled through for me, and I think it’s absolutely justified!

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abuse, adoption, affairs, assault, betrayal, choices, corruption, dating, death, deceit, despair, diverse books, domestic violence, drugs, faeries, half-siblings, infidelity, jealousy, lgbtq characters, lies, loyalty, mind control, murder, orphans, royalty, siblinghood, sisters, suicide, twins

April 22, 2017

THE BONE SEASON by Samantha Shannon

April 22, 2017

Book cover & rating - The Bone Season by Samantha ShannonOriginally I had planned to post a different book review today but I finished The Bone Season this afternoon and am brimming with thoughts. Even though I enjoyed most of my time reading the book, I walked away with conflicting feelings. The more I think about the things that bothered me, the more I feel like I need to get them off my chest. While I can’t say I hated the book, there are parts that made me uncomfortable and I wish I had known about these things before buying the The Bone Season. As it is, I already bought the next two sequels before starting the series (I should’ve learnt my lesson by now), and I do plan to read The Mime Order next.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abduction, abuse, alternate universe, british authors, clairvoyants, corruption, crime, death, demons, despair, friendship, ghosts, insurgency, jealousy, loyalty, mind control, mind-reading, monsters, murder, on love, oppression, paranoia, relationships, rituals, romance, sacrifice, secrets, sense-of-belonging, single parenthood, slavery, suffering

February 2, 2017

THE SPECIAL ONES by Em Bailey

February 2, 2017

Book cover & rating - THE SPECIAL ONES by Em BaileyThrillers are books I rarely pick up because I’m not fond of scaring myself for the sake of it. Besides, there’s enough in the news to keep me up all night. When it came to The Special Ones however, I decided the genre didn’t matter because it was set in a cult. I’ve always been fascinated by religion, cults, beliefs, etc, so my curiosity got the better of me.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: abduction, abuse, crime, cults, despair, friendship, secrets, social media, survival, violence

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About

Joséphine. Word reveller. Loves books. Reads books. Talks about books. Photographs books. When she’s not blogging, she can be found on Instagram under @wordrevel.

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