Book description (from Goodreads)
In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer. Surprise - more cover lust here today!
I loved this book, and had already started recommending it to friends with still a quarter or so to read! It was my perfect YA high fantasy (and, bonus, no love shapes!)
Here are a few of my favourite things about it...

• Fierce female protagonist - think GoT's Daenerys, or ToG's Manon Blackbeak, because...
• Dragons!!!
• A revolution
• A celebration of stories and storytelling

I just had one problem with it.... how to wait until next year for the sequel?!!


Four big strong sparkly stars for this one!


The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli is out now from Hachette Australia.

** I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own**
Here's another book I picked up on NetGalley on a whim due to a beautiful cover!
Usually I would share the book description at this point, but sometimes I really enjoy going in blind, and this is one of those instances where I feel like the book summary can give you just a bit too much info. So instead, a few bullet points about this one:

• It's YA speculative fiction (closer to sci-fi than fantasy), with a cult-ish twist and a pretty good romance.
• I found the community situation/setting for the book quite mysterious  (what is going on with this family? IS this a cult?), and I really enjoyed this ambiguity.
• I also liked the way this book looked at the struggle of figuring out where you fit in - which is one of my favourite themes in YA. There was some great family loyalty vs 'outsiders' stuff in here. 
• I understand that this is the first book in a series, but I thought it also worked pretty well as a standalone.

I gave this 3.5 stars.


Select by Marit Weisenberg is out now from Charlesbridge Teen.

** I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own**


Book description (from Goodreads)


It's 1919, and Louisa Cannon dreams of escaping her life of poverty in London, and most of all her oppressive and dangerous uncle.

Louisa's salvation is a position within the Mitford household at Asthall Manor, in the Oxfordshire countryside. There she will become nurserymaid, chaperone and confidante to the Mitford sisters, especially sixteen-year-old Nancy - an acerbic, bright young woman in love with stories.

But then a nurse - Florence Nightingale Shore, goddaughter of her famous namesake - is killed on a train in broad daylight, and Louisa and Nancy find themselves entangled in the crimes of a murderer who will do anything to hide their secret . . .  



I really enjoyed the murder mystery  side of this book, but I felt a bit disappointed by the fact that the Mitford connection being completely incidental and really of no consequence in the story at all. I feel like the cover/blurb built it up a bit, but really Nancy was the only Mitford involved in the story and she could have been anyone, which, for me, made having the Mitford name on it really quite gimmicky. However, I do acknowledge that this is the first book in a new series, so maybe the Mitford connection will be built on in future stories.


So, back to the mystery side of things. This had a great cosy-ish mystery feel, and the way the story is told really makes you look at how women fit in society in those days - which gave it a bit of a Phryne Fisher vibe (if Phryne's housemaid was the one doing the 'detective-ing'). The characters were pretty fun, and I liked getting the perspective from the police officer too. The whodunit aspect had me guessing until the very end.


My verdict overall? If you're after a great mystery read then definitely pick this up. But if you're just in it for the Mitfords then maybe think again. I gave this three stars and will be keeping an eye out for the sequel (with somewhat altered expectations).


The Mitford Murders by Jessica Fellowes is out now from Hachette Australia.

** I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own**


So, this time I'm sharing just part of the book description from Goodreads - by all means pop on over and check it out if you want to see more =)


Most people have no idea goblins live in the woods around the small town of Bellwater, Washington. But some are about to find out.

Skye, a young barista and artist, falls victim to a goblin curse in the forest one winter night, rendering her depressed and silenced, unable to speak of what happened. Her older sister, Livy, is at wit’s end trying to understand what’s wrong with her. Local mechanic Kit would know, but he doesn’t talk of such things: he’s the human liaison for the goblin tribe, a job he keeps secret and never wanted, thrust on him by an ancient family contract.






Not to sound like a broken record but, this cover! I feel like there are so many amazing covers this year! I might have to do a blog post in January of my favourite covers of 2017 (assuming I can narrow it down!)


This is a new adult paranormal romance - which in this case means there is sex and a lot of it! In fact, sometimes it felt like the goblin curse was there largely so the characters would get sexy. This was a bit of a surprised to me, since I was expecting YA (totally my fault - I have no idea what I even based this assumption on!)


The world/mythology building was pretty brief, but enough to satisfy me - and I really liked this imagining of goblins and other fae, which was a bit different from others I've read lately. There is also a great 'quest' aspect to the story, which  felt was really well done.


Overall an entertaining read, I gave this one three stars.


The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle is out now from Central Avenue Publishing.

** I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own**
A Jigsaw of Fire and Stars by Yaba Badoe is out now from Head of Zeus.

If you've read a couple of my reviews already you probably know I'm a sucker for a great cover (especially if there's a cat!) - and the same goes for a good pun. Seriously. Assaulted Caramel? How could I say no?!Assaulted Caramel by Amanda Flower is out now from Kensington Books. I received an e-book copy in exchange for an honest review, but only chose to read it because it sounded like something I would enjoy (life's too short to read books we don't think we'll enjoy). All opinions on my blog are my own, and I wouldn't tell you it was good if I didn't really think so. =)

So, you know you know I totally believe in only picking up books I think I will enjoy? This was kind of an exception to that. I really wasn't entirely sure that it was going to be my thing, but one of the tasks on the Read Harder Challenge  is to read a travel memoir, and I hadn't found anything I fancied yet. Then I saw this on NetGalley, and despite my reservations decided to give it a try.

This was a perfectly enjoyable fantasy read, but somehow it just didn't make it past enjoyable. It had a lot in common with The Blood of Gods and Royals  series, in terms of the types of character, alternating POV with characters' stories converging, but it just didn't grab me in the same way.Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell is out now from Meerkat Press. I received an e-book copy in exchange for an honest review, but only chose to read it because it sounded like something I would enjoy (life's too short to read books we don't think we'll enjoy). All opinions on my blog are my own, and I wouldn't tell you it was good if I didn't really think so. =)

I think I've written before about how I've read a few WW2 books this year, after reading one for the Read Harder Challenge. I was intrigued to see a bit of information about how this historical fiction novel came about - it was inspired by a true story after the author found letters etc belonging to her German grandmother. I loved this one, and here are a few of my thoughts on it...



- Despite the subject matter, I felt kind of a sense of peace reading this - it felt a bit removed from the action, as if the story is being told by the protagonist reminiscing many years after it all happened rather than being in the thick of it.

- After reading a few WW2 books already this year it was interesting to get a story from another perspective - this time a young woman who believed 100% in supporting the war effort and who had really no idea what was actually going on. It was interesting to read about what it was like (I have no idea how accurate it is) after the war.

- It was completely heartbreaking to see the characters go through all of the trials of war and occupation and rations and losing friends and family, and trials/detention after the war, and malnutrition and illness and EVERYTHING and then to have to leave the country they loved enough to go to war for.

- I have read that the author is working on a sequel, set in 1950's Australia, which  I'm super excited about. The writing felt thoughtful and sympathetic, and I'm looking forward to experiencing the post-war immigrant experience through her grandmother's eyes.
The Girl from Munich by Tania Blanchard is out now from Simon and Schuster. I received an e-book copy in exchange for an honest review, but only chose to read it because it sounded like something I would enjoy (life's too short to read books we don't think we'll enjoy). All opinions on my blog are my own, and I wouldn't tell you it was good if I didn't really think so. =)

Hello everyone! Welcome to October!