Weekly Book Round Up #55

Kelley Armstrong is one of my favourite supernatural authors. Her young adult stuff can be a bit hit and miss but I always love her adult novels. This is the second book in her new Cainsville series, and if you were left with lots of questions after the first book (Omens), then Visions goes someway to explaining all of the strange goings on in Cainsville. Olivia and Gabriel are back, and when the dead body of a girl who looks very similar to Olivia is left in her car, it can only be a threat. Meanwhile, Olivia has issues in her personal life to deal with, following the reappearance of her ex-fiance, James. I was hooked from start to finish by this book, I'm really hoping that this series isn't just going to be a trilogy!


Nicola's rating: 5/5

Weekly Book Round Up #44

So this was meant to be last Friday's weekly book round up, but I've been really ill with Tonsillitis so today is my first day back to blogging! I'll hopefully have some beauty box posts later this week for y'all!

This book is the second in the Blackwell Pages series, written by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong. The books are aimed at young adults, and follow a group of teens who are the chosen champions of Norse gods and face the challenge of trying to prevent Ragnarok. With all the hype surrounding Norse mythology at the moment (partly in thanks to Chris Hemsworth's Thor) these books could not have come out at a better time. I do find them a bit childish in places, but the adventures are fun and the quest has kept me immersed in the story. I don't know a lot about Norse mythology, but these books have made me interested to learn a bit more about it.


Nicola's rating: 3.5/5

This was a bit of an impulse purchase for my kindle before we went on holiday. We saw the film last year and I liked it, so I decided to give the book a try. The book is very different to the film, and I found it quite hard to get through in places. There are a couple of quite long winded chapters that go on about various American football games the main character goes to see, and while I can understand why they were included, I just found them a bit boring. The main story is about Pat, who has mental health issues for undisclosed reasons (at the beginning of the story). He is introduced to Tiffany through friends who are clearly trying to get the two of them together. Even with the boring football chapters, I really enjoyed this book. It was definitely interesting to read about the different ways people react to mental health issues, especially one scene in particular when a football player is being derided by the crowd at a game for supposedly attempting suicide. Pat's brother is among those who are jeering, even though he has a close member of his family who has struggled with serious depression, and other issues. 



Nicola's rating: 4/5

Weekly Book Round Up #40

This is the first book in Kelley Armstrong's newest trilogy. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting, and is a bit of a departure from her usual style. This was much more of a fantasy novel than anything I've read from her before, following the main characters (twin sisters Ashyn and Moria) who are the Keeper and Seeker. The Seeker's job is to calm the spirits of the exiles that are sent into the forest, and the Keeper's job is to protect the Seeker and villagers. There were a few elements in this book that reminded me of Game of Thrones (shadow stalkers, white walkers?) and Sabriel (the spirit calming), but the story didn't really grab me as much as Kelley Armstrong's novels usually do. Hopefully the second book will be an improvement!


Nicola's rating: 3/5



This is my last post for a week, as I am off on my honeymoon to Corfu! I haven't scheduled anything for next week (because I'm lazy) but I will be back to regular blogging on Monday 26th May, hopefully with some outfit posts and lovely holiday pictures to share! In the meantime, please keep entering my giveaway to win TheBalm's How 'bout them Apples? palette which you can find HERE! 

See you soon!

Weekly Book Round Up #22

 

This is the final book in the Healer series. It follows Avry and her band of followers on their final quest to defeat Tohon and win the war. This series has been a bit hit and miss for me, as these are very much fantasy books (which isn't normally a genre I get on well with, other than Game of Thrones), and in places I felt that they were pretty poorly written. The premise of the books is that there were once people with the ability to heal the injuries of others through magic. But a plague began which wiped out much of the kingdom, and couldn't be healed by the healers. The surviving population blamed the healers for meddling and creating the plague, and all out war began. If you've read Maria Snyder's other books, you'll probably enjoy this series.

 

 

 

Nicola's rating: 3/5

 

 

 



 

 

Clealrly this is just one of those weeks for finishing trilogies. This is the final Nadia Stafford book. Nadia Stafford is an ex-cop turned hit woman who works for a mafia family. She's also got a lot of issues, which are brought up and worked through in this novel. I feel like this one has been a long time coming (the second book in this series was published in 2009), but was definitely worth the wait! Nadia finally manages to sort out her feelings for Jack and Quinn, and all the loose ends are nicely tied up. I know that Kelley Armstrong has been sticking with her supernatural stuff for a while, but I'd definitely like to see some more crime/thriller writing from her in the future!

Nicola's rating: 4/5

 

 



 

I've just finished reading this one, and it's left me feeling a bit emotionally drained. I spotted this on Goodreads a while ago and decided to get it from the library. This is two stories from before Charlaine Harris became super famous for the True Blood books, set (as far as I can tell) in the eighties, or just before. The first story is your standard Charlaine Harris murder mystery, if you've read the Aurora Teagarden or Lily Bard mysteries you'll know where I'm coming from. The second book I was expecting to follow in the same vein, except it doesn't. In this short story, women in a small college town are being attacked and brutally raped, and the main character is also raped. This was really quite harrowing to read, and I would definitely warn people that could be triggered by this sort of thing to steer clear. Also, because this book is set in the deep south in America, and I'm thinking it was set in the late 70's/ early 80's, there's quite a bit of casual racism. I found it pretty difficult to stomach, on top of the graphic rape scene. I would still recommend the book to people, as the mysteries themselves are intriguing and she does keep you guessing until the end, but anyone sensitive to the issues mentioned should probably steer clear.

 

 

Nicola's rating: Sweet and Deadly: 3.5/5

A Secret Rage: 2/5



Weekly Book Round Up #4

So has anyone reading this been watching the BBC's adaptation of The White Queen? It was brilliant, I thought they did a fantastic job. This book was released just as the series ended, and it picks up neatly from where The White Queen finished. It follows Elizabeth into her marriage with Henry VII to ally York and Lancaster and end the cousin's war. I really enjoyed this book, sometimes Philippa Gregory can be a bit hit and miss, but this is definitely one of her best books for a while. If historical fiction is your thing, I'd recommend this!

Nicola's rating: 5/5

I was so excited to read this book. I'm a massive Kelley Armstrong fan, and as her Otherworld series has just finished, I was really keen to see what her new series would be like. I was not disappointed! This story follows a 24 year old woman who discovers that she is adopted, and that her biological parents are serial killers. OR ARE THEY?! It's sort of a crime/thriller, with supernatural elements thrown in, which is very much my cup of tea. I can't wait to see where this series is heading! 

Nicola's rating: 4/5



Still only two books this week, I have nearly finished the one I'm reading at the moment though, so maybe I can get three in for next week!

Thanks for reading :) xxx