Top 5 Wednesday: Brighter Days

Hey guys! Today, I have another Top 5 Wednesday post and this week’s topic is brighter days, which is definitely something we could all do with! I’ll be discussing books that made me smile, laugh out loud and just really brightened my mood. I hope you enjoy!

A Study in Brimstone by G.S. Denning

This is a great opportunity to talk about G.S. Denning’s Warlock Holmes series because it’s absolutely hilarious and it definitely put a smile on my face. There was so many times I was crying with laughter or snicking away while I was on the train to work. It’s a very hilarious take on the original Sherlock Holmes stories. A Study in Brimstone is the first book in the series and each book consists of short stories. Sherlock is actually called Warlock and he has supernatural powers. Watson is more of the detective in this story and is closer to Sherlock as he can make sound observations just by looking at someone. Watson and Warlock solve the cases together like they do in the originals but because pretty much all of them are supernatural, Watson has to scrabble around trying to come up with a perfectly mundane explanation for what has occurred. Warlock is by far the funniest character, everything he does is hilarious and genuinely had me in stitches. I loved this series so much!

Top 5 Wednesday: Incorrect Ratings

Hey guys! Today I am taking part in Top 5 Wednesday and this week’s topic is Incorrect Ratings, which is where your rating of a book is completely different to the average rating on Goodreads. I thought this was a great topic to explore and I’m looking forward to seeing what books other people pick. Here’s the ones I have chosen:

Half Moon Bay by Alice LaPlante:

First up we have Half Moon Bay and I rated this four stars. I really enjoyed it, but I must be among the minority because this book only has a 2.64 rating and 15% of those ratings are one star. The story follows Jane O’Malley who loses everything when her teenage daughter is killed. She moves to the tiny seaside town of Half Moon Bay, but when children begin to disappear, fingers of suspicion all begin to point at her. The main issue with this book seems to be the writing style. I personally really enjoyed the writing style and found it absolutely fascinating, but I can see how it wasn’t for everyone. Since Jane is enveloped in grief and unable to think coherently, the narrative is very disjointed and her thoughts jump from one thing to another. You really have to concentrate on the story to piece it together, so it’s all very convoluted. You’ll probably agree with Goodreads on this one, but I liked this book and found it to be very engaging.

Top 5 Wednesday: Well That Dragged

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you my first Top 5 Wednesday post of 2021 (yes, it has really been that long!) and the topic is well that dragged. Pretty self-explanatory, but I’m going to be discussing books that had a strange pacing and/or went on for longer than was necessary. I hope you enjoy!

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

I feel bad including this one because I do like Leigh Bardugo’s books for the most part, but the plot in this was all over the place. It has a great premise, but it needed more work. The first half of the story definitely dragged because there was so much worldbuilding going on, which resulted in a lot of info dumping and a lot of skim reading on my part. There really wasn’t a lot happening in the first half and we were just being told what the differences are between each society. Then there’s the really confusing timeline, which is indicated by the chapter headings. I could not get my head around that and honestly didn’t know what was happening half the time. It just resulted in this book being a bit boring and underwhelming considering it had been sold as creepy and disturbing.

Top 5 Wednesday: Best Villains

Hey everyone! I’m bringing back Top 5 Wednesday after not doing it for a while as I couldn’t resist this topic. I love talking about villains and I think the last post I did about my favourite villains was in 2016! That post was very much about TV villains and I’ve read a lot more books since then so I’ll be focusing more on book villains. So let’s get into it!

The Darkling (Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo)

The Darkling is an old villain, but one that I only discovered last year. Out of the entire trilogy, he was definitely the most interesting character and he brought a lot of excitement to the story. When we’re first introduced to him, he’s very dark and mysterious and he draws you right in. As the story progresses, I thought that he had the best villain characteristics as he truly believes that what he’s doing is right despite all the people he’s going to kill or injure in the process. He felt like a very integral part of the story and I remember being disappointed when he wasn’t around that much. Despite how evil he was, I liked how he seemed to be the only one who understood Alina’s power and he didn’t make her feel bad about the entire situation. He wanted her to embrace her power and he didn’t wish she was any different because of it. I wish we got to see more of him and get more of his background story. He was such a fascinating villain and we definitely could have had so much more of him.

Top 5 Wednesday: BookTube Didn’t Make Me Read It

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you another Top 5 Wednesday post! I’ve been skipping a lot of the topics lately but this one sounded like fun. A lot of the books I read come from BookTube – it’s inevitable given how much time I spend watching book hauls, TBR and wrap up videos! – so I’m curious to see out of my read books which of them were influenced by other factors.

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You by Caroline Kepnes: Netflix actually made me read this book! I’d never heard of it until the TV show was announced and I immediately added it to my wish list. My friend ended up buying me a copy as she really enjoyed it. Sadly, I wish it was the same for me! I found the book really boring and as I’ve heard the second book doesn’t get better, I won’t be continuing this series. The TV show, on the other hand, was much more interesting and complex and the characters were more engaging, Joe especially was a lot more deceiving. I liked seeing how charming and misleading he was with others. I also liked the relationship he built with Paco and the significance it had at the end of the season. I didn’t enjoy season two as much and struggled to finish each episode, but I’ll definitely be watching the third season. I’m curious to see what happens next with Joe and Love!

Top 5 Wednesday: Unanswered Questions

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you another Top 5 Wednesday post about unanswered questions. Basically I’m going to have a mini rant about some of my most annoying unanswered questions in certain books and I hope you enjoy! Just so you are aware, there’s potential spoilers.

Unresolved plot line: What happened to Kellen’s shadowblack?

As much as I love this series, I’m still annoyed that the plot line I was most invested in and mentioned in every review, never got resolved! Sure, we got a book about it and that was great, but Kellen doesn’t find a cure in the end and he doesn’t even seem to have a view on his shadowblack. Does he care that it will drive him mad eventually? I suppose it would have been a downer with it being the last book but some clarification about his shadowblack would have been appreciated! For me, this will forever be the one plot line that sounded exciting, but ended up being the most underwhelming.

Top 5 Wednesday: Top of the TBR

Hey guys! So today I’m bringing back a post that I haven’t done in a really long time because I thought this group was dead in the water, but it turns out someone revived it last month and I had no idea! I hope this group does return for good because I had a lot of fun participating when it was active. This week showcases those books that you wanted to read in the first half of the year but never got round to. So let’s get into it!

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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas: I want to say I bought this book last year and regretfully I have yet to actually pick it up. Given everything that is going on in the world right now, this book is more relevant than ever and I shouldn’t continue to let it sit there on my shelf unread. It does not deserve that and I will be reading it soon.

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater: Please someone shout at me if I don’t read this book by the end of the year! It was one of my most anticipated and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it so I honestly don’t know why I haven’t read it yet. Ronan was one of my favourite characters and I’m so excited that he has his own trilogy. I definitely think his story isn’t over yet.

Favourite Series I’d Like to Revisit!

Hey guys! Today I thought I’d take a look at some of my favourite series that I’d like to reread. With my massive TBR pile I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to reread these but I hope to one day!

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Shades of Magic by V.E. Schwab

I started this series in 2017 and finished it last year so it’s not too long ago that I read this and I already want to reread it! I absolutely adored these characters and this fantastic world V.E. Schwab created. It was fast paced and utterly unforgettable! One of my favourite fantasy series and Schwab is easily one of my favourite authors now.

Top 5 Wednesday: Books featuring Mental Health

Hey guys! Today I am bringing you a post about books featuring mental health. Admittedly, I haven’t read many books that revolve around mental health but the few I’ve read I’ve really enjoyed and they have been some of my favourite reads. So I definitely need to find more books with this topic. Here’s my picks:

A World Without You by Beth Revis:

This was the first YA book I read about mental illness and I completely fell in love with the story. I thought it was such a captivating read and was told beautifully. I loved how the author combined mental illness with time travel and if you didn’t know Bo had a mental illness, you’d actually believe he really was a time traveller. That’s probably one thing I’d changed about this book because I think it would have had a bigger impact if it was revealed at the end that he is actually seriously ill and suffers from delusions. It’s heartbreaking how the girl he loves suffered from severe depression and committed suicide but he’s acting like she is still alive because he couldn’t live in a world without her. We also got to see how Bo’s illness affects his family, his sister in particular. Her whole life becomes overshadowed by her brother and everything revolves around him. But then his parents shut out his illness pretend he’s fine. It’s an incredibly moving story and I really can’t recommend it enough.