The Firsts of 2024 Book Tag

 Hello!

This is the first time I have done the 'Firsts of 2024 book tag' but it sounds really fun and is a good way to round up the first 3 months of the year! It was originally started by Tanya @girlxoxo.

Here are my firsts of 2024:

First Book Read This Year

My first book of 2024 was Yellowface by Rebecca F. Kuang and what a start to the year this was! This is a book about the harsh realities in the world of publishing, and covers topics such as racism, plagiarism, cancel culture and much more. I devoured this and it will definitely be up there as one of my favourite books of the year.

NetGalley November Check In

 Hello!

In November, it is the annual NetGalley November which is a fun month filled with trying to read as many books from your shelf as possible. There are fun prompts, a competition and group chats to help encourage you to read your highly anticipated books as well as the ones you have been avoiding!

My NetGalley shelf currently has 67 unread! Ranging from 2024 releases all the way back to 2020, I have a lot to read.

My feedback ratio is at 67% so I am hoping to get that back up into the 70s this month too.

These are some of the books I am most looking forward to reading:

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree Book Review

Book Title: Legends & Lattes

Author: Travis Baldree

My Rating: 5*

Publisher: Tor

Publication Date: 22/02/22

Genres: Cosy fantasy, romance, LGBT

Pages: 318

Format read: Ebook

Goodreads: After decades of adventuring, Viv the orc barbarian is finally hanging up her sword for good. Now she sets her sights on a new dream – for she plans to open the first coffee shop in the city of Thune. Even though no one there knows what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the past behind her, she can’t go it alone. And help might arrive from unexpected quarters. Yet old rivals and new stand in the way of success. And Thune’s shady underbelly could make it all too easy for Viv to take up the blade once more.

But the true reward of the uncharted path is the travellers you meet along the way. Whether bound by ancient magic, delicious pastries or a freshly brewed cup, they may become something deeper than Viv ever could have imagined.

You're Not Supposed To Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron Book Review

 Hello!

After 18 months of silence, I am back with another book review!

Book Title: You're Not Supposed To Die Tonight

Author: Kalynn Bayron

My Rating: 3*

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Publication Date: 20/06/23

Genre: Horror, YA, LGBT, Mystery

Pages: 228

Format read: Paperback

Goodreads: At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game... but can you survive the night?

Charity Curtis has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.

But the last weekend of the season, Charity's co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity's role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they'll need figure out what this killer is after. Is there is more to the story of Mirror Lake and its dangerous past than Charity ever suspected?

Malice by Heather Walter Book Review

Book Title: Malice

Author: Heather Walter

My Rating: 5*

Publisher: Del Rey

Publication Date: 13/04/21

Genre(s): Fairy tale retelling. Fantasy, LGBT

Pages: 496

Format Read: Ebook

Goodreads: A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” true love is more than a simple fairy tale.

Once upon a time, there was a wicked fairy who, in an act of vengeance, cursed a line of princesses to die. A curse that could only be broken by true love’s kiss.

You’ve heard this before, haven’t you? The handsome prince. The happily-ever-after.

Utter nonsense.

Let me tell you, no one in Briar actually cares about what happens to its princesses. Not the way they care about their jewels and elaborate parties and charm-granting elixirs. I thought I didn’t care, either.

Until I met her.

Princess Aurora. The last heir to Briar’s throne. Kind. Gracious. The future queen her realm needs. One who isn’t bothered that I am Alyce, the Dark Grace, abhorred and feared for the mysterious dark magic that runs in my veins. Humiliated and shamed by the same nobles who pay me to bottle hexes and then brand me a monster. Aurora says I should be proud of my gifts. That she . . . cares for me. Even though it was a power like mine that was responsible for her curse.

But with less than a year until that curse will kill her, any future I might see with Aurora is swiftly disintegrating—and she can’t stand to kiss yet another insipid prince. I want to help her. If my power began her curse, perhaps it’s what can lift it. Perhaps, together, we could forge a new world.

Nonsense again.

Because we all know how this story ends, don’t we? Aurora is the beautiful princess. And I—

I am the villain.

#TsundokuSquad BOTM - April - Circus of Wonders by Elizabeth Macneal

 

Book Title: Circus of Wonders

Author: Elizabeth Macneal

Publisher: Picador

Publication Date: 13/05/21

Genre(s): Historical, Fantasy

Pages: 336

Format Read: E-book

Goodreads: 1866. In a coastal village in southern England, Nell picks violets for a living. Set apart by her community because of the birthmarks that speckle her skin, Nell’s world is her beloved brother and devotion to the sea.

But when Jasper Jupiter’s Circus of Wonders arrives in the village, Nell is kidnapped. Her father has sold her, promising Jasper Jupiter his very own leopard girl. It is the greatest betrayal of Nell's life, but as her fame grows, and she finds friendship with the other performers and Jasper’s gentle brother Toby, she begins to wonder if joining the show is the best thing that has ever happened to her.

In London, newspapers describe Nell as the eighth wonder of the world. Figurines are cast in her image, and crowds rush to watch her soar through the air. But who gets to tell Nell’s story? What happens when her fame threatens to eclipse that of the showman who bought her? And as she falls in love with Toby, can he detach himself from his past and the terrible secret that binds him to his brother?

Moving from the pleasure gardens of Victorian London to the battle-scarred plains of the Crimea, Circus of Wonders is an astonishing story about power and ownership, fame and the threat of invisibility. 

Group rating: 4.5*

My rating: 4.5*

Most Anticipated Books on my TBR!

 Hello!

Do you ever buy a book that you have heard lots about and know it's going to be amazing so you just leave it on your shelf for a long time never being read?? Or you buy a book for the hype but then don't want to pick it up in case it disappoints you? This is me! For this post I am going to go through some of my most anticipated reads (new and old) that are on my bookshelf that will probably take me a very long time to pick up!

1. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Obviously The Hunger Games are a very big franchise that many people loved, me included, and once I heard about this prequel that focuses on Snow as a young mentor for someone in the games, I was concerned but also curious. I have no idea when I will eventually get around to this but I'm pretty sure it won't be for a while!

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed Book Review

Book Title: Yes No Maybe So

Author: Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

My Rating: 5*

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: 04/02/20

Genre(s): Young adult, Contemporary, Romance

Pages: 436

Format Read: Paperback

Goodreads: Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state candidate - as long as he’s behind the scenes. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya.
Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is cancelled, her parents are separating and now her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing - with some awkward guy she hardly knows...
Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer - and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural crush of the century is another thing entirely.