"to suffer is as human as to breathe"

I met Marissa Meyer last month on her Archenemies book tour- she was so sweet, she signed all my books and she gave me lovely writing advice. ❤️💙

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Book: The Ruinous Sweep by Time Wynn-Jones | My Rating:  ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:  On the night Donovan Turner is thrown out of a car on a highway in the middle of nowhere, he can barely remember his own name, let alone the past twenty-four hours. Where is he? Where is his girlfriend, Bee? In an attempt to flag down the next passing car, he startles the driver, causing a fatal accident. With sirens in the distance and the lingering feeling that he’s running from something — or someone — Donovan grabs the dead driver’s briefcase and flees. Meanwhile, Bee is fighting for Dono’s life every bit as much as he is. But when the police show up and hint that he is the prime suspect in a murder, Bee is determined to put together the pieces of what happened and clear his name. With echoes of Dante’s Divine Comedy, this harrowing journey through hell and back is a page-turning tale of guilt, retribution, love, and redemption.

My Review: I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review!

I was very curious throughout this book, a boy who’s lost his memories, who may be a possible murder suspect? YES. I am really interested in crim and unsolved mysteries, so this type of story is certainly appealing to me. I think my main problem with this book was Donovan’s POVs. In the beginning I was pretty invested in his chapters, but as they went on I started thinking ‘WHY do we need this aspect?’. Everything did link up in the end, but in particular I felt like his scenes with who I presume was Kali in his room and as he was leaving was unnecessary and had me rolling my eyes. I assume that Donovan’s experiences are the Divine Comedy-esque part of the story, and I feel like if I had read the Divine Comedy I would’ve appreciated this aspect more. I understood what was happening, but honestly after about 120 pages in I was just much more interested in Bee’s POV.

I did really like the second half of this novel, it was what I was wanting it to be from the beginning- full of mystery solving, tense emotions, and action. This story was face-paced, which I really liked, and full of suspenseful, action-filled scenes. Overall, I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either- the second half of the novel bumped my rating from a 2/2.5 stars to a 3 stars.

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Book: Heartless by Marissa Meyer | My Rating:  ★ ★ ★ ★ 

Synopsis: Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

My Review: As someone who has always loved Alice in Wonderland since they were young, I thought Marissa Meyer did a really good job writing this. Heartless acts as a sort of prequel to Alice in Wonderland about how the Queen of Hearts became the way she is.

Cath is brave, kind, and hopeful. Cath loves baking, she wants to become more independent and run a bakery with her maid, Mary Ann, creating wonderful desserts for the entire kingdom to enjoy. Unfortunately for her, the king has a fondness for her and wishes for her to become his Queen, which is the last thing she wants. All she wants is to move forward with her bakery and to spend more time with the mysterious and swoon-worthy Jest- the King’s new Court Jester.

“Ah- I almost forgot!” Releasing her hand, Jest removed his hat, bells clinking, and reached inside. He produced a bundle of long white cording. “These belong to you.”
Cath uncertainly took the ropes. “What are-” She gasped. Her hand flew to her back, feeling around the fabric of her dress, detecting the boning of the corset, yes, but… not it’s laces. The back of the corset was split open the full width of her hand.
Heat rushed into her cheeks. “How?”

Cath and Mary Ann’s friendship was so sweet in this book, I loved that even though Mary Ann was her family’s maid, Cath never cared or even thought about the fact that Mary Ann wasn’t in the same social/economic class as her- she was always considered her her best friend no matter what, even if her mother didn’t fully approve of it and their friendship was beautiful.

Cath and Jest’s relationship was adorable and I loved them together. I loved the scene with the two of them by the well, it was so sweet. These two gave me all the fuzzy feelings and their relationship just made me really happy. I think Jest was a great character and I loved all his scenes, whenever he wasn’t there I was just impatiently waiting for him to show up. Something about him was just very sexy, whenever he appeared on the page I didn’t want him to leave. Also can more men, fictional and real life, wear eyeliner please?!

“I can’t stop thinking about you, Lady Catherine Pinkerton of Rock Turtle Cove. I’ve been trying, but it’s useless. You’ve had me mesmerized from the moment I saw you in that red dress, and I don’t know what to do about it, other than to use every skill at my disposal to try and mesmerize you back.”

I’ve seen people saying that Meyer relied too much on Lewis Carroll’s original story, but I have to disagree entirely. She does a great job of creating a clear retelling, but keeping it her own at the same time. The setting is clearly Wonderland and there are many characters (including the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit, and my personal favourite the Cheshire Cat) and references to the world we already know, but the story stands on it’s own and I believe that even if someone who didn’t care for the story of Alice in Wonderland read this, they could still enjoy it- in fact, this is exactly the case with my best friend.

Cheshire had started to purr, already ignoring her. Cath cupped her chin with her free hand while Cheshire flopped deliriously onto one side and her strokes moved down to his belly. “Besides, if you ever did eat some bad food, I could still find use for you. I’ve always wanted a cat-drawn carriage.”
Cheshire opened one eye, his pupil stilted and unamused.
“I would dangle balls of yarn and fish bones out in front of you to keep you moving.”
He stopped purring long enough to say, “You are not as cute as you think you are, Lady Pinkerton.”

I re-read Alice in Wonderland shortly after reading this book, and reading it while having the events of this book in my mind made it so interesting, and a little heartbreaking. Seeing the Queen of Hearts so angry about the roses being white and about treacle broke my heart! I think she did a great job of taking ideas from the original story and creating her own twist on them or making them an important, intricate part of her own story when in the original they were just something mentioned in passing, such as the Lobster Quadrille and the Mock Turtle’s origins. After reading this, reading certain parts of the original have some more meaning to them, even if it obviously is not an official prequel as it is not written by Lewis Carroll.

The reason I gave this four stars rather than five was due to the beginning being rather slow- do not get me wrong, it did not bore me, however had it not be set in a world I knew and loved it may have. Also, there was a predictable event that occurred, though it didn’t really bother me that it was predictable and I didn’t know exactly how it would go down, just that it would happen. If you’ve already read this, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Overall though, this was a really enjoyable read and one that I’m sure that I will be reading again in the future!

“When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”

Snow is my favourite kind of weather 💙

I love the snow ❄️

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Book: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven | My Rating:  ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

TRIGGER WARNINGS: depression, suicide

Synopsis: Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death. 

When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself—a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.

My Review:  This book is now one of my all time favourite books, and the only contemporary novel on that list. I LOVED this book so much, I know it’s one of those books that I’m going to hold close to my heart for the rest of my life.

For me to like a contemporary novel, it has to be REALLY good or else I tend to get bored. For me to say a contemporary is one of my favourite books I’ve ever read? I’m genuinely shocked and over the moon. This book is better than I had hoped for, and I already had high expectations for it.

The characters felt SO real, I adored Finch and Violet both together and as separate characters. I believed they were in love; it didn’t feel forced or like insta-love, which I always hate, this was genuine love for each other and it was paced perfectly. Finch is one of those characters that is never going to leave me, he has such a memorable voice and I love him.

The writing and the story was, as Finch would put it, lovely. I felt myself relating to both Finch and Violet, they were both amazing, distinct characters. I was concerned at first because this book is in two perspectives written in the first person and I was worried I might mix them up, but Niven did a fantastic job of making them sound different from each other, I always knew who was speaking even if I forgot to look at whose perspective the chapter was in. Their relationship reminded me at times of a relationship I had, so their story together feels quite personal and relatable to me.

I think this book is an important read, it looks at mental health issues and the stigma surrounding it. It discusses how physical diseases/problems are more socially acceptable than mental illnesses such as depression, and does this by actually STATING it, not even just a metaphor or anything. Niven didn’t romanticize mental illness, and shows us that loving someone cannot “cure” their illness, which is something so many authors do, especially when discussing depression and I’m SO thankful that she kept this real.

I would highly recommend this book, but be ready to bawl your eyes out! I know I certainly did and when I rered it in the future I’m sure I’ll sob all over again. But that’s how you know a book is great; when it makes you feel.

“When you consider things like the stars, our affairs don’t seem to matter very much, do they?”

Book Photo Challenge- January: Warm and Cosy

“Why do we write fiction?” Professor Piper asked.
Cath looked down at her notebook.
To disappear.

Book Photo Challenge- January: Walking In A Winter Wonderland

They flew across forests and lakes, across the sea and land. Under them the cold winds whistled, the wolves howled and the snow crackled, while above them flew the black casing crows. The moon, large and bright, shone down upon all, and there Kay sat and gazed through the long winter’s night; the day he slept at the feet of the Snow Queen.

A little book rainbow on a cloudy day 🌈