Bowlerhatgirl Recommends...Historical Fiction!

Hi everyone!
My recommendation post will be about historical fiction, because I think that it's one of my favourite genres, and I was looking at my bookcase today and realised that I have a lot of historical books! Quite a few of these I read a few years ago so some of them may not be YA, but they're still really good!

1. Any historical book by Mary Hooper. Mary Hooper has written so many books set in the past, from At the Sign of the Sugared Plum, which takes place in 1665 during the Plague, to Fallen Grace, which takes place in Victorian London. Her books really got me into reading historical fiction, and while the writing is kind of aimed at the lower end of YA, some of the subjects covered are quite dark. She doesn't sugar-coat the past, and has realistic, likeable main characters.

2. The Cat Royal series by Julia Golding. This series follows a girl called Cat Royal (surprisingly), who was left on the doorstep of the Drury Lane theatre when she was a baby. Throughout the books, Cat gets into various different adventures, having to evade the police, becoming a - reluctant - member of the Royal Navy, and pretending to be a ballerina. Cat is so feisty and brave that you can't not like her, and you learn quite a bit about the events that were happening in the late 1700s, like the French Revolution, slavery, and life in a mill. There isn't a lot of romance in these books (although I ship Cat and Frank), but the adventures Cat has are fun and exciting. You also experience what society was like just before 1800.

3. The Jane Austen duology by Cora Harrison. I'm not sure what this set of two books is called, but it consists of I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend and Jane Austen Stole My Boyfriend, and they're so sweet. It centres around a fictional character called Jenny - although she was apparently based on a real person - and Jane Austen when she was a teenager. Together, Jenny and Jane try to navigate the tricky waters that is society in Regency England. These books are written in the form of Jenny's diary and come complete with illustrations. Jenny is a lovely narrator, and it was really fun to read about a young Jane Austen (even if it is a fictional account). If you love Jane Austen, or a lighter historical read, I would definitely recommend these two books.

4. The Red Necklace duology by Sally Gardner. These two books - The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade - are set in the French Revolution and centre around Yann, a boy who possesses magical abilities, and Sido, who is trying to keep herself and her father, the Marque de Villeduval. I remember absolutely loving these books when I read them; there's just the right balance between magic and history, and I loved Yann, Sido, and Tetu the dwarf. It's also set in France, and I love books set in France. If you like your historical books to have a bit of fantasy in them, I would read these!

5. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Oh hey, Libby managed to include The Night Circus in a post! She's never done that before! Anyway, The Night Circus is set in the 1800s, and though it doesn't focus on the historical side of the story much, it wouldn't feel as magical as it does. And it's just a good book...I would put it in any recommendation video to be honest! My review is here.

6. The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. By far one of my favourite series ever, the Infernal Devices is set in Victorian London and focusses on Tessa Gray as she arrives in the city and begins to realise that she may not be all that she seems. It features rich settings, Shadowhunter awesomeness, and WILLIAM HERONDALE AND JEM CARSTAIRS AKA BEST FRIENDS IN THE UNIVERSE EVER. The characters are so strong, and the plot will ultimately break your heart in an amazing way. Like The Night Circus, this series wouldn't be the same if it was set in present day.

7. In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters. If you didn't know, I love Cat Winters' books, and this was just amazing. Set at the end of World War 1 during the Spanish Flu epidemic, Mary Shelley Black begins to question if the paranormal really doesn't exist after she does something desperate. There are pictures in the book, which adds to the atmospheric story, and I think Cat Winters' writing is great. As it is about ghosts, it's actually quite creepy and a little scary at times! My review for her book The Cure for Dreaming is here.

8. The Diviners by Libba Bray. I love all things 1920s; there's just something about that decade that makes me adore it, and if I could time travel I would go back to 1920s New York. So when I found The Diviners, which is set in the 1920s and contains paranormal aspects and people who can do cool stuff, it was bound to become one of my favourites. If you didn't know, The Diviners is about Evie O'Neill, a girl with supernatural abilities who is sent to New York, where she has to stop an evil that threatens the city. It's true that Evie is quite selfish and can be annoying, but there is such a wonderful cast of characters - Memphis, Theta, Henry (I love Henry and he was literally in about three scenes), JERICHO - and there are quite a few moments when Evie is endearing that you stop minding. With the sequel Lair of Dreams coming out soon, you have the perfect excuse to start reading The Diviners!

9. The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough. I recently just finished this book, but it's amazing. I won't say much about it because I've just done a review, but if you like strong independent female leads, the perfect fictional boyfriend, romance, angst, the 1930s, and books which personify Love and Death, this is the book for you. My review is here.

10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. An obvious choice, but rightly so. It was so interesting to read about World War 2 from someone living in Germany's point of view, and Liesel and Rudy and Max's story is wonderful.

11. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. This is such a heart-breaking but good book. It follows Verity, an agent who gets trapped in Germany during World War 2, and Maddie, her best friend who was flying the plane they were both on when it crashed. With a massive plot twist and a sad, shocking ending, Code Name Verity is wonderful. Cross My Heart by Carmen Reid is also about spies in World War 2 and another very good book.

Those are my historical fiction recommendations! And of course there would be eleven instead of ten, because why have a nice rounded number? Have you read any of these? What did you think?
Thanks for reading(:

April Book Haul & Wrap Up!

The end of April is upon us, and I have sadly only read 3 books (well, technically three and a half). But I gained lots of books (about 10 or 11), so yay for that!


The first part of this post will be my book haul. As it was April, I was allowed to buy books, which was good because it meant I didn't have to feel guilty when I splurged in Waterstones! These were the books I bought:

• Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver - I have managed to almost buy this book quite a few times, and I finally decided to give in and get it!
• The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson - I've already read this, but I didn't have a physical copy, until now!
• The 100: Homecoming by Kass Morgan - It annoys me how none of The 100's covers match, but I want to see how the series ends.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker - Having read The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters, I really wanted to read Dracula so I could understand the references, and the copy I have is the gorgeous Vintage one!
• The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough - I found this book watching Katytastic's video on April Releases, and the synopsis sounded like The Night Circus. Therefore, I had to buy it, because The Night Circus is amazing and seems to appear in every post I do (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not).
• The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey - because why do you need to have read the first book to buy the sequel?
• We All Looked Up by Tommy Wallach - The summary of this with all the labels of people was what made me want to pick this up. I think it'll be different to what I originally thought it would be like, but I'm still excited to read it!

And now for the three books that my dear mum gave me for Easter:

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - There have been so many good reviews of this. I kept seeing graphics of it on Tumblr and I wanted to be a part of the fandom!
• The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House by Stephanie Lam - It's set in 1924 and 1965, which immediately intrigued me.
• A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab - I've seen this everywhere, and I loved the idea of parallel worlds. This also seemed like a good VE Schwab book to start with, as I've never read anything by this author before.

Onto my April wrap up! This month has not been particularly fruitful reading-wise, but the books I read were:

• The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters.This was as strong as Cat Winter's debut (In the Shadow of Blackbirds) and the world-building was once again powerful. I loved the characters (Henri especially), but didn't like the ending as much as I wanted to. For a full review, click here). 4.5 stars.
• A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. This was partly a cover buy, and for the most part it didn't disappoint! While Gemma and the others were not initially likeable, they eventually grew on me. The magical elements felt unique to me and there were no weak points in the plot in my opinion. I'm looking forward to reading Rebel Angels, whenever I buy it! 3.75 stars.
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater. It took me a while to adjust to Maggie Stiefvater's writing style, as it's more descriptive than other books I've read, but once I had done that I enjoyed it. The parts about ley lines were a bit confusing, but I was ill when I read it so not everything will have sunk in! The characters were what made this book; each was individual and interesting. My favourite was Noah or Ronan (every moment with that bird was sweet, and that is a hard thing to achieve when said bird is called Chainsaw and it's Ronan Lynch). 4 stars.
• 1/2 of The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House by Stephanie Lam. Now, this was the first adult book I tried to read, so that could have been why I didn't like it. There were certainly points where I felt it was a bit too...graphic, shall we say, which made me feel uncomfortable, but there was also a few plotlines that I felt were unnecessary and pointless. The whole book felt like two stories shoved into one, and while the central plotline was interesting and made me want to continue, every time something was revealed in one of the time periods, it would dart back to the other, which was really annoying. I put this down at about 51 % (I worked it out because my Goodreads doesn't seem to do it anymore). There's a chance I may pick this up again later on now that I know what to expect, but for now it felt better to put it to one side and start another book that I'm looking forward to reading, which is Cinder by Marissa Meyer!

Those were the books I read and the books I bought in April! Have you read any of the books featured in this post? What did you think?
Thanks for reading(:

Book Courtship Tag

This tag has been floating around the booktube community for a few months, and as I don't have a booktube account - yet! - I thought I'd do it on here! I'm afraid I don't know who created this tag, so credit goes to whoever did.


1. Initial attraction - A book that you bought because of the cover.
While a lot of my books could be classed as cover buys, this has to go to The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal. I actually have no idea what this book is about, but I bought it for two reasons: the cover and the fact that it's set in Scandinavia (because how many books have you heard about that are set in Scandinavia?). (Side note: I've just looked at the reviews on Goodread and am now less excited to read it...)


2. First Impressions - A book that you bought because of the summary.
That would be Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I went to see Wicked a few years ago and kind of became a little obsessed with all things Oz, so when I read that Amy gets transported to Oz and everything is messed up, I had to buy it! I have to say it was a bit of a jolt going from Fiyero to the Scarecrow in Dorothy Must Die, though.


3. Sweet Talk - A book with great writing.
I want to say The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, but that is being used for another question, so I'll pick In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters. It's moving, spooky, creepy and amazing, and the lead character, Mary Shelley (yes, that is her name) is great.


4. First Date - A first book of a series which made you want to pick up the rest of the series.
Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian. That cliffhanger made it impossible to not pick up the rest...although I haven't technically done that yet...soon!


5. Late Night Phone Calls - A book that kept you up all night.
Probably the Pretty Little Liars series by Sara Shepard. I used to get one every Christmas, and whenever I woke up (generally five in the morning...I get excited over Christmas, ok?) I would read it instead of going back to sleep.


6. Always on my mind - A book you could not stop thinking about.
The Ruby Red trilogy by Kerstin Gier. Just the whole idea of time travel and the chronograph was so interesting that I constantly thought about it for ages after I finished Emerald Green a few months ago...and still do now, really!


7. Getting physical - A book which you love the way it feels.
This is another book by Cat Winters: The Cure for Dreaming! The hardcover has little circles on the jacket and it feels so cool.


8. Meeting the parents - A book which you would recommend to friends and family.
This will obviously be a big surprise, but...The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern! This is one of my favourite books ever, and whenever I hear that someone might be reading it I have to control my inner fangirl. The writing is wonderful and dream-like, and it's just so good! (See my full review for more adjectives).


9. Thinking about the future - A book or series you know you will re-read many times in the future.
The Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare. I plan on reading The Mortal Instruments again this Summer, and I know that I'll keep re-reading them; the plot is exciting and the characters are fab (especially Izzy...and Simon...and Alec...oh, and not forgetting a certain gorgeous Herondale in Victorian times).


10. Share the love - Who do you tag?
You, if you want to do it!


Thanks for reading(:

The Cure for Dreaming - Review

Title: The Cure for Dreaming
Author: Cat Winters
Series/ Standalone: Standalone
Rating: 4.5 stars


*There will be spoilers for The Cure for Dreaming, so read it then read this!*

Another amazing gothic story from Cat Winters! I picked this up with high expectations, having read In The Shadow of Blackbirds previously and loved it, and I think for the most part it lived up to my hopes!



First of all, the many good parts. I loved all of the references to Dracula, despite never reading it, and The Cure for Dreaming has made me want to pick up Bram Stoker's novel! I also loved the descriptions of various people; the image of a woman fading as a man nears her is such a powerful image, as was the sharp teeth of Dr Mead. And it was wonderful to see how Olivia grew as a character, how she became braver and braver as more people pushed her back.



The characters were excellent! Not a single one felt under-developed or one-dimensional. I was especially pleased with how we left Sadie: a budding Suffragist no longer content with being silenced (by not voting or hypnotists). Even the characters we weren't meant to like (Dr Mead, Percy etc.) were well-developed. And the love interest...Henry was amazing and caring and a pretty cool hypnotist (Henri Reverie is an awesome stage name), and if I was Olivia, I would not have left him at the station!



Which brings me on to the ending. I felt like the book needed an epilogue, just a really short one, as it didn't feel completely satisfying. Even a one or two page scene where Olivia is walking through the college and finds that Henry is waiting for her would have sufficed, as it wasn't a solid ending and left me heart-broken because of the Henry/Olivia feels. Their relationship was so beautiful - especially the scene on the bicycle, oh, and in the theatre! - and it was mean to end it like that. We never even got to meet Olivia's mother, which we could have done in an epilogue.


I'm really interested in Suffragettes/gists and how women gained the vote, but I didn't really know much about American Suffragists, so I enjoyed reading about that, although some parts were quite shocking and made me think about how lucky we are now. I also liked how there were quite a few female characters that didn't want the right to vote, so we got most viewpoints of the time. As with In The Shadow of Blackbirds, Cat Winters mixes the historical features in with the plot brilliantly.


The Cure for Dreaming is a great book, especially if you're interested in women's suffrage, and the cover is just gorgeous (although a spider died in mine...It's less pretty now...but that's another post). Anyway, let me know if you've read this! Did you like it? Are you excited for The Uninvited or The Steep and Thorny Way (Because I am!)?
Thanks for reading(: