2016 is Nearly Over...And I Still Haven't Read These Books!

Hi all!

So somehow it is already nearly September, and I am woefully behind on my Goodreads challenge.

Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration; I've read 33 books this year, and my goal is to read 50. But the reason why I'm on track is because I read the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy novellas which count as separate books, and there are so many books I want to read but haven't done yet!

My Mid-Year Book Freak Out tag is coming out soon, but I thought I would tell you the 8 books I am desperate to read before the year is out!

1. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas - I have been determined to catch up on this series this year,
 and so far I'm doing well! I finished Heir of Fire a few weeks ago, and while I'm not loving the direction the series is going in I do love the world and want to carry on with the story. I also want to read it before Empire of Storms comes out and be up to date for once!

2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - Everyone adores this book. It's all over Instagram and booktube, and I love love love the sound of it - thieves stealing something dangerous? Yes please! - but for some reason I've never picked it up. I have read Shadow and Bone and didn't mind it, but I think I was worried that I had to finish that trilogy to read Six of Crows. Now that I know I don't, I badly want to pick it up and find out why everyone loves Kaz so much!

3. The Crown's Game by Evelyn Skye - Fantasy Russia? Two players in a game where one will die? What's not to love about the premise of this book? I've heard people compare it to The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern which is my FAVOURITE books (review can be found here) so obviously I need to read The Crown's Game.

4. Nevernight by Jay Kristoff - This was in my Illumicrate box (unboxing can be found here) and it looks STUNNING. The cover is so detailed, and there are two maps in it. As well as that, the story sounds amazing and various Instagrammers have raved about it! I feel like it's going to be a good winter fantasy read too, so I'm very excited to read it.

5. A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab - How have I not read this yet?! I loved A Darker Shade of Magic, it was one of my favourite books of 2015 and I loved every part of it (mostly Kell <3 My thoughts on ADSOM can be found here!). I want to find out what happens to Kell and Lila and Rhys, and I've heard that there's a new character that people love introduced in this book, too.

6. This Savage Song by VE Schwab - Another probably marvellous VE Schwab book that I have yet to read! This Savage Song sounds incredible, and I think it has something to do with music and monsters which should be a great combination.

7. Unrivalled by Alyson Noel - Unrivalled is blurbed as being similar to Pretty Little Liars and
Gossip Girl, two of my favourite TV shows. I love scandal-filled contemporary books, they're my guilty pleasure, so I am super excited to see how Unrivalled plays out.

8. Summer Days & Summer Nights, an anthology - Summer is nearly over, so I need to get my skates on if I want to read this soon! I read my True Love Gave to Me at Christmastime and I love how the season plays such an important part in the stories. Also some of my favourite authors - Cassandra Clare, Libba Bray, Stephanie Perkins - have contributed to the collection.

These are the eight books I'll hopefully read before 2016 ends, but this next school year is going to be absolutely manic, so I don't know how successful I'll be! As well as this I would like to reread The Infernal Devices as I read them in winter last year and think it would be a nice tradition.

Do you see a book on this list that I need to read tomorrow? What book are you hoping to read before the year is over?
Thanks for reading (:

August Bookhaul!

Once again, I have accumulated too many books for my bookhaul and wrap-up to be in the same post (unless you want an extremely long post). In one month I managed to buy 22 books. 22! I'm 100% going on a book-buying ban in September.

Books for school:

I start school again in September and in English Literature we're studying four texts, so I went out and bought the ones that I could, only for one of my friends to tell me that I didn't need to buy two of them! They were:

• 1984 by George Orwell - This is featured in my August wrap-up post, which can be found here.
• A Streetcar Named Desire - I don't know if you've ever seen a copy of this, but it's the size of one chapter of a normal book. Why did it cost £9.99??? (This was one of the books I didn't need to buy, so I'm a bit annoyed about it!).
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare

I don't really have an excuse for the other nineteen...I did find out my exam results and they were really good, so some of them were yay-I-passed purchases. And then one of my best friends and I went shopping, and we both have out of control TBR piles, and we both bought loads of books (and now we both are on bans!)
Anyway, here are the many, many books I've acquired in August:

• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
• Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray
• Get Even by Gretchen McNeil
• Darkmere by Helen Maslin
• The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
• The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
• The Glass Sentence by S.E. Grove
• Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid
• Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
• The Improbable Theory of Ana and Zak by Brian Katcher
• The Archived by Victoria Schwab
• Fairest by Marissa Meyer
• Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender
• Famous Last Words by Katie Alender
• Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
• For Real by Alison Cherry
• The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
• Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke by Anne Blankman

I won't do summaries of each book as otherwise this post could last forever! But if you want to know what a book is about, tell me in the comments and I'll reply.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think (no spoilers please!)? Let me know in the comments.
Thanks for reading(:

A Darker Shade Of Magic - Review

Title: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: VE Schwab
Part of a series? Yes, the first book in the A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy.
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Kell is one of the last Travelers—rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.
Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.
Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.
But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — trickier than they hoped.
Rating: 4.75 stars.




This was the first book by V.E. Schwab I have read, and I absolutely LOVED it. Do you ever have moments when you're reading a book and suddenly realise that it's exactly what you wanted to read at that time? Well, I had that during this book. Quite a bit. Her writing is wonderful and the story is fast-paced as the chapters are short but detailed, and I am so glad that ADSOM lived up to the hype surrounding it!




*SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON*






So, where to start with ADSOM? The world(s) were interesting, distinctive, and it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into making them. I liked how Grey London was our London, as it made it feel like the possibility of Red, White, and Black London existing was not as far-fetched as it sounds. The magic system was interesting and different to most I've read, too, although at times it was slightly confusing (having said that, my head is a bit fried at the moment from exams, so maybe that's why I struggled to keep up!).




Another part of the novel that I loved was the characters. They were so well-developed, and Kell was a great protagonist. Admittedly, it took me some time to like Lila, but by the end of the book I thought she was pretty kick-ass and amazing. Athos and Astrid were excellent villains,  which was good because I love it when you can really hate the villains! My favourite character was definitely Rhy; I may have fallen a little in love with him, and I hope there's more of him in the second book. V.E. Schwab also blurred the lines between good and bad with Holland fantastically, and I just know that he's going to come back in the second book, maybe in charge of Black London with that creepy stone? That's my theory, anyway.




A Darker Shade of Magic was refreshing, because there was little romance in it! We got to see Kell and Lila's friendship develop, and, while I love romance books, it made a nice change to just focus on the adventure and action (of which there is lots, some quite gruesome), and not the couple (although Kell and Lila were a cute pair).




I would recommend this book to lovers of fantasy or historical fiction (or amazing books!), and to people who want to try an adult book and who aren't opposed to the odd swear word and bloody battle. I only just found out that A Darker Shade of Magic is an adult novel, not a YA, and unlike the Mysterious Affair at Castaway House, I found it quite easy to read.  I'm actually glad ADSOM is an adult novel; after reading TMAACH, I was feeling a bit apprehensive of reading other adult novels, but now I'm more excited to read some of the books I've got waiting for me, like The Miniaturist and Gone Girl. One of my favourite books this year so far!


Have you read ADSOM? What did you think? Let me know!
Thanks for reading(: