Beware of the book dragon!

To celebrate the release of The Mall, here's my stop on the Wednesday Books tour! Here's a brief synopsis: New York Times bestselling author Megan McCafferty returns to her roots with this YA coming of age story set in a New Jersey mall. The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after. But you know what they say about the best laid plans... Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. Megan McCafferty, beloved New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, takes readers on an epic trip back in time to The Mall. My review: Content warnings: there are mentions of sex and revenge sex in the book. Th...

Ever wanted to meet an old-time author? How about meeting someone who’s time-traveled? Looking for a contemporary romance with a science fiction twist? Jane in Love by Rachel Givney has all three!  A twenty-eight year old Jane Austen finds herself in twenty-first century London, and is quite frankly lost, with the only thing she knows is that she was sent here by a witch. Luckily, she finds herself in good company of an actress of an upcoming Jane Austen-based film, Sofia Wentworth, after she was spotted in a pile of curtains. Not that Jane herself knew what she meant at the time by the actress saying that her name was associated with books, given she didn’t know that she was much of an author. That is, until she finds one of her books in the classics section of a bookshop. The reactions that Jane is given when this happens seems so natural and just right, given that someone from the nineteenth century couldn’t even begin to imagine the types of technology present in the future wor...

Shyla Sun-Kissed is back, and is just as bad-assed as ever in The City of Zirdai. Starting off where The Eyes of Tamburah finished, this sequel from Maria V. Snyder is not something to be missed! I had super high expectations for this sequel, given that I absolutely loved (and devoured, honestly) Tamburah, and I wasn’t let down at all! Full of the action, magic, and Snyder’s style I know and love, it firmly has a place in my 2020 favourites, for sure! In this sequel, Shyla barters with both the Invisible Sword, as well as the monks and the communes to help her protect the seemingly precious ‘Eyes of Tamburah’ from the likes of the Water Prince and the Heliacal Priestess. This quest often leads to Shyla and her merry band of bandits to resort to mischievously use magic (of sorts) to hide from the Priestess’ Archdeacons as well as the overbearing Captain Yates. Each of these encounters were super fast paced, however, had a bunch of detail which made the scene super three dimensiona...

Imagine a world where dragons exist! Think that's impossible? Well with Patrick Ness' Burn, it comes to life! I found this one bizarre and I honestly had to sit on this one for a few days and think about how I felt about it. I listened to this one on audio and I felt immersed in the world, but I found myself not connecting to the characters as much I would've liked too. I adored how unique the storyline was, and I enjoyed listening to the tale unfolding, and I want more of this in the future! Rating: 3.5/5

I found The Dark Tide to being filled with lyrical fantasy, in a way that reminded me of The Night Circus. I enjoyed it for the most part, but there were some parts that I felt were missing some elements- which I just can't put my finger on. I enjoyed reading about all the characters, and the world, but I feel like I just wanted more about each of the characters, given that I'm a character kind of girl. The plot and premise of the story was well thoughout though, and I did enjoy the book nonetheless. I loved the atmospheric writing, and it really felt like I was drawn into the world that was built with it. Even though I wanted that little bit more from the book, I really really enjoyed the world and would love to see more of Alicia's works in the future! Rating: 3.5/5

I found this a compelling coming-of-age dark academia novel, and I was very much in the mood for it. It was snappy, dark, and utterly page turning. I loved how the author focused on Jewish traditions and differences between the 'factions' of Jews. I also appreciated how the cultural aspects were very intertwined into the general story itself. The characters made it super realistic and highly relatable to other teens.  The depth of some characters was deep, and it made you understand the story a little more, whereas some characters are shallow- some of which I felt like they deserved a little more, but maybe because they intrigued me. Overall, I enjoyed the crispy writing, and the dark nature of this title and I recommend it to those looking for a YA dark academia, or those who are fans of The Secret History or Ninth House. Rating: 4/5 I received a copy of this title from the publisher, via Edelweiss+, in exchange for a review.

I listened to this one on audio, and I was obsessed from the first chapter!  It's got aliens, LGBTQ+ rep, and appreciation of art and music. All things that made this book one of the best YA books I have listened to date! I loved the dynamic between the human, Ellie, and the Ilori alien M0Rr1S, and how Ellie risked it all for him. Not only that, but I just adored how they valued the secret library and just sobbed a little when M0Rr1S fell in love with it. I'm glad that even though M0Rris was supposed to be emotionless, but tbh isn't! It was also good to read about the social and sometimes super political commentary.  This one is full of twists and stories about the characters- and I'm honestly struggling to put it all into words! Rating: 4.5/5

If you’re looking for a modern mystery book, set in England- When the Dead Come Calling is sure to be right up your alley! This first of this new series is sure to delight mystery and crime lovers- both new and old. Opening up in a cave scene that definitely sets the mood very quickly, I was definitely transported into the setting super quickly! I loved how this moodiness was there right from the get go, it helped me settle into the story quicker than I expected it to. I also enjoyed how this then led to me meeting DI Georgie Strachan, and the discovery of a string of murders with many questions to be answered. Whilst the story itself is rich and atmospheric, I really wished that I enjoyed it more than I did. I’m sure if I gave it a second or third read, I’d be a lot more satisfied with this one, but after this first read (and a lot of internal debating on my end), I just felt like something was just missing in it for me, I’m not entirely sure what was though. I felt like this story ha...