Top 5 Books of 2019 (So far!)

Hey guys! Since I recently did the mid-year freak out book tag, I thought I’d have a look at what some of my favourite reads have been for the first half of 2019. So far I’ve read 51 books and I’ve only rated 5 of them 5 stars so I haven’t had many that have blown my socks off. You probably already know what these are since I’ve gushed about them a fair bit.

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab: V.E. Schwab deserves so much love. She has easily become one of my favourite authors and I haven’t even read all of her books yet! The ones I have read I have fallen in love with her writing, her characters and her worlds. I thought her Shades of Magic series was fantastic and nothing could beat it but then I read her Villains series and what can I say? It became my new favourite. Vengeful was such an exciting read. I know Victor and Eli are very evil characters but I love them – they are really fascinating characters! I just love how they started out wanting to be heroes and had completely good intentions but then it all went quickly downhill. I can’t say a lot about this one since it’s the sequel but please know that it was the easiest 5 stars I’ve ever given!

The Red Scrolls of Magic by Cassandra Clare: As soon as this book was announced I knew it would be 5 stars, come on. A book about Alec and Magnus? Two of my absolute favourite characters? Hell yes. This was a surprisingly short book for Cassie – I guess you could say it was short but sweet. I loved being able to see their tentative first steps in their relationship and watching it grow throughout. I desperately wanted more of these two in The Mortal Instruments so I was very pleased with this one. I can’t wait for the next book!

FairyLoot Finale Collector’s Edition Unboxing!

Hey guys! I’m late to the party with this unboxing but I am really excited about all the items so I thought it was still worth sharing! My box shipped really late and then took four days to arrive which means that I, unfortunately, was spoiled for EVERYTHING. Very sad times but I think FairyLoot did a fantastic job with this box — there’s so many gorgeous items!

Thankfully I have better pictures this time because it’s actually light outside when I get home from work now, yay!

Marvel Avengers Book Tag!

Hey guys! I’m super late to this tag but I’ve been wanting to do it for months and since Avengers: Endgame comes out this week I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to do it! I’m seeing it on Friday and I am definitely not prepared even though we’ve been waiting a year for it! If anyone else is seeing it, I hope you are more prepared for it than I am! Anyway, here’s the video I used for this tag and here’s my take on it!

Iron Man: Favourite first book in a series

I loved this book so incredibly much. I’ve read many series but I don’t think any of them have blown me away quite like Vicious did. It was such an awesome story with very fleshed out characters and I loved how Eli and Victor both set out with the intention of doing good but then they both become so drunk on power they lose themselves completely. It was definitely one of my favourite character driven books and I loved how there was also so many shocking twists throughout as well.

REVIEW: Shades of Magic Volume 1: The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab

Title: Shades of Magic Volume 1: The Steel Prince by V.E. Schwab
Pages: 112
Published by: Titan Comics
Publication date: 6th March 2019
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis:

Delve into the thrilling, epic tale of the young and arrogant prince Maxim Maresh, long before he became the king of Red London and adoptive father to Kell, the lead of A Darker Shade of Magic!

The youthful Maresh is sent to a violent and unmanageable port city on the Blood Coast of Verose, on strict orders from his father, King Nokil Maresh, to cut his military teeth in this lawless landscape.

There, he encounters an unruly band of soldiers, a lawless landscape, and the intoxicatingly deadly presence of the newly returned pirate queen, Arisa…

Fantasy Book Series Recommendations!

Hey guys! It has been way too long since I did a recommended reads post so today I thought I would share with you some of my favourite fantasy series! I absolutely love fantasy books and I love talking about them. Some of these I just talk about so much on my blog anyway, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they are on this list! Here’s my top recommendations:

Spellslinger by Sebastien De Castell:

I cannot stop recommending this series! It’s one of my top fantasy series at the moment, it’s fantastic! It’s a very interesting story as it’s filled with both magic and non-magic. Every child has six tattooed bands on their arm for Iron, Silk, Sand, Breath, Blood, and Ember. Depending on which band they spark, they will then be able to wield that type of magic. Then there is a seventh called Shadow that is the deadly kind of magic and is supposedly cursed! Kellen, the main character, struggles to spark any of his bands. Instead of being given an incredibly rare magical gift, he ends up with none of those six bands and thus has to rely on cheap tricks to best his magical foes. He meets some pretty cool people who give him tips and tricks to avoid him instantly dying in fights with powerful magicians. It’s a series that is filled with many entertaining scenes and lots of twists! It’s pretty much a series of unfortunate events for Kellen! If you’re looking for a series that has magic with a twist, I highly recommend this one!

REVIEW: Shadowblack by Sebastien De Castell (Spellslinger #2)

Title: Shadowblack by Sebastien De Castell
Pages: 352
Published by: Hot Key Books
Publication date: 5th October 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Hardback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis: 

Four months after fleeing his own people, Kellen has discovered he’s an even worse outlaw than he was a mage. It doesn’t help that his only allies are a swaggering card player and a thieving squirrel cat.

Then he meets Seneira, a blindfolded girl who isn’t blind, and whose secrets pull them into a conspiracy of magic, blackmail and murder. Kellen must find the mage responsible before the entire frontier falls victim to the mystical plague known as the shadowblack.

REVIEW: A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic #3)

Title: A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab
Pages: 666
Published by: Titan Books
Publication date: 1st February 2017
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones – Book Depository

Synopsis: 

The precarious equilibrium among the four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise. Kell–once assumed to be the last surviving Antari–begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. Lila Bard, once a commonplace–but never common–thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry.

Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery and the Night Spire crew are attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible, as an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown and a fallen hero is desperate to save a decaying world…

REVIEW: A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab (Shades of Magic #2)

Title: A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab
Pages: 508
Published by: Titan Books
Publication date: 23rd February 2018
Genre: Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Amazon UK – Waterstones – Book Depository

Synopsis: 

Kell is one of the last magicians with the ability to travel between parallel universes, linked by the magical city of London. It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into his possession and he met Delilah Bard. Four months since the Dane twins of White London fell, and the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body back into Black London.

Now Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila. And as Red London prepares for the Element Games–an international competition of magic–a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life. The balance of magic is perilous, and for one city to flourish, another must fall…

REVIEW: Spellslinger by Sebastien De Castell (Spellslinger #1)

Title: Spellslinger by Sebastien De Castell Pages: 416
Published by: Hot Key Books
Publication date: 4th May 2017
Genre: Fantasy/Magic
Format: Hardback
Amazon UK – Waterstones

Synopsis: 

MAGIC IS A CON GAME.

Kellen is moments away from facing his first mage’s duel and the start of four trials that will make him a spellcaster. There’s just one problem: his magic is gone.

As his sixteenth birthday approaches, Kellen falls back on his cunning in a bid to avoid total disgrace. But when a daring stranger arrives in town, she challenges Kellen to take a different path.

Ferius Parfax is one of the mysterious Argosi – a traveller who lives by her wits and the three decks of cards she carries. She’s difficult and unpredictable, but she may be Kellen’s only hope.