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January 13, 2021

A DEADLY EDUCATION by Naomi Novik

January 13, 2021

Book cover & 2-star rating - A Deadly Education by Naomi NovikA Deadly Education left me with very mixed feelings. The opening line held so much promise. It offered conflict and an intriguing dichotomy right from the get-go. Such as, why would anyone want to kill the very person who’d saved their life? What more when they had saved them more than once? I wanted answers but didn’t feel like I got much by the end of the book. Is this one premise supposed to span across the entire series? Evidently, but the opening of the story arc for it didn’t turn out as solidly as I had hoped.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: american authors, audiobooks, bi- or multiracial characters, boarding school, class struggle, death, discrimination, diverse books, friendship, language, learning process, loyalty, magic, monsters, mothers and daughters, murder, paranormal, romance, rumours, secrets, single parenthood, survival, wealth, witches, wizards

December 24, 2018

CHRISTMAS CAKES AND MISTLETOE NIGHTS by Carole Matthews

December 24, 2018

Book cover & 3.5-star rating - CHRISTMAS CAKES AND MISTLETOE NIGHTS by Carole MatthewsTechnically, Christmas Cakes and Mistletoe Nights is a sequel to Cake Shop in the Garden but it stands quite well on its own. I actually only realised that it’s a sequel due to the summarised info dump during the first couple of chapters — think throwback highlight reel at the start of new seasons of TV shows. Once that’s done and dusted, it’s back to regular writing and storytelling.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: baking, british authors, cafes, cheating, christmas, food and drink, friendship, half-siblings, hardship, holidays, illnesses, inheritance, poverty, pregnancy, survival, weddings, winter, work life

January 21, 2018

A CLOSED AND COMMON ORBIT by Becky Chambers

January 21, 2018

Book cover & rating -A CLOSED AND COMMON ORBIT by Becky ChambersAs a standalone sequel, A Closed and Common Orbit did well to outline the setting. I think new readers would be able to understand things just fine. At the same time, it further expanded the world building for those who’ve read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. The characters remained central to the plot of A Closed and Common Orbit as well, thereby justifying the slow pacing.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: aliens, american authors, androids, artificial-intelligence, coding, diverse books, friendship, lgbtq characters, social commentary, space opera, space travel, survival, technology

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

October 6, 2016

THE CALL by Peadar Ó Guilín

October 6, 2016

Book cover & rating - THE CALL by Peadar Ó GuilínBefore receiving a review copy of The Call, I hadn’t heard of it. Reviews on Goodreads were few and vague. The synopsis didn’t give much away either. All I knew was that this would be a book of horror — a genre I generally avoid. In any case, with Halloween around the bend, I thought I should at least read one creepy book this month.

· Categories: Fiction Keywords: betrayal, boarding school, bullying, death, disability, friendship, hope, irish authors, lgbtq characters, loyalty, monsters, murder, mythology, survival

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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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