Royal Blood - Una McCormack

Royal Blood by Una McCormack 
Series: Doctor Who: The Glamour Chronicles
Published on September 10, 2015  by BBC Books
[This book was given to me by the Publisher but this in no way affected my opinion]

The city-state of Varuz is failing. Duke Aurelian is the last of his line, his capital is crumbling, and the armies of his enemy, Duke Conrad, are poised beyond the mountains to invade. Aurelian is preparing to gamble everything on one last battle. So when a holy man, the Doctor, comes to Varuz from beyond the mountains, Aurelian asks for his blessing in the war.

But all is not what it seems in Varuz. The city-guard have lasers for swords, and the halls are lit by electric candlelight. Aurelian’s beloved wife, Guena, and his most trusted knight, Bernhardt, seem to be plotting to overthrow their Duke, and Clara finds herself drawn into their intrigue...

Will the Doctor stop Aurelian from going to war? Will Clara’s involvement in the plot against the Duke be discovered? Why is Conrad’s ambassador so nervous? And who are the ancient and weary knights who arrive in Varuz claiming to be on a quest for the Holy Grail…?

Before Royal Blood I had never read any of the DW books published, so I was a bit weary of how well the characters would translate to the writing format and if it would be possible to have the same feel as the tv show. After reading it I think that it isn't possible to translate the tone of the show entirely BUT it still is an enjoyable experience. The Doctor and Clara didn't translated exactly for me - there was just times where they would say or do something that I would scratch my head and be like "hmm, I don't think they would actually do that this way and/or say this".

What did bothered me was the start, this book has more than one POV. One is on third person and it usually follows Clara, the other is on first person and follows a character that we don't know who it's at the start and until I figure that out these passages didn't made any sense. Even so I did laughed at some passages and found the overall plot pretty doctor-ish, on its crazyness and twists.

I found this city, Varuz, so interesting. They are kind of a medieval setting but also have the most star-wars like weapons and other magical objects that we have to figure out how ended up being develop on that society and the reveal on this subject was really cool and interesting. We also have, about half into the book, the Holy Grail plot when that happened I couldn't help but remember of episodes as the one with Robin Hood, but these knights aren't as fun as Robin so be warmed - still, at first I thought "what the hell" but they ended up tying nicely with the rest of the story and giving sense to the plot on the most unusual way, as it always is with the Doctor.

If you have a curiosity to check the DW books as well as I had I would definitely recommend to start from here, for me it worked and I can't wait to pick up the next book on the Glamour Chronicles series.

Looking for Alibrandi - Melina Marchetta

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta 
Published on October 5, 1992 by E-Penguin

For as long as Josephine Alibrandi can remember, it’s just been her, her mom, and her grandmother. Now it’s her final year at a wealthy Catholic high school. The nuns couldn’t be any stricter—but that doesn’t seem to stop all kinds of men from coming into her life.

Caught between the old-world values of her Italian grandmother, the nononsense wisdom of her mom, and the boys who continue to mystify her, Josephine is on the ride of her life. This will be the year she falls in love, the year she discovers the secrets of her family’s past—and the year she sets herself free.

Told with unmatched depth and humor, this novel—which swept the pool of Australian literary awards and became a major motion picture—is one to laugh through and cry with, to cherish and remember.

So I finally gave in and read a Marchetta book, usually when I start reading a new author I try to read by publication year, from the oldest to the newest, I think this is a safe method because obviously authors grow and  if I read their latest works there is a bigger chance that when I get to their first works it will be underwhelming. Anyways, about Looking for Alibrandi, so, this one was a mixed one for me.

On one side I really get why people obsess over Marchetta, this is her first work and the writing is already so beautiful - I highlighted so many quotes on my Kobo! It has that way of just putting philosophical thoughts on life, growing up and finding yourself in such a natural way that is also very truthful which made me really emotional at some parts. It was incredible to get to know Jose and I was so proud of her on the end, like seriously this is a coming of age story where we actual see, REALLY see the main character change and grow so much.

But at the same time this book kind of... surprised me, maybe, I don't know, at times. Jose and her family and the characters of this book shout and cry and fight a lot, like they will be talking something completely ordinary and suddenly someone will start shouting and there is some big fight and I was like "what". I get that this was on purpose because Jose Italian family and stuff but still, I mean I know this happens, this happens on my family all the time, still, it was weird.

In the end I enjoyed this book more than got bothered by its explosions of feelings. I think that if you enjoy a funny but also meaningful story you will love this one, Jose kind of reminded me of Georgia Nicholson and Ruby Oliver so if you liked those main characters highly recommend this one too and of course to every lover of contemporary and coming of age fiction.

Jackaby series by William Ritter

Jackaby by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #1
Published on September 16, 2014 by Algonquin Young Readers

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.

My overall feeling with this book was "meh", it wasn't a bad book in any way but it also never really blew my mind as I was expecting. I tried to keep away from the hype and not compare it too much with DW and Sherlock (both of which are favorites of mine) but still it took me forever to read this one and I kept being distracted by other books to read or series to watch.

But on to the better stuff. I really enjoyed the narrative overall since I laughed a lot of times while reading and I always enjoy when a story can make me laugh. I was a little afraid of the misture of paranormal with a detective novel and at first I wasn't sure it would work for me, but things ended up falling into place and I got used to the weirdness of this world. What did surprised me was the fact that, so far, my favorite character isn't Jackaby but Abigail.

Beastly Bones by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #2 
Published on September 22, 2015 by Algonquin Young Readers

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer R. F. Jackaby are called upon to investigate the supernatural.

First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, now home to the exiled New Fiddleham police detective Charlie Cane, dinosaur bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Charlie calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

I'm pleased to say that I enjoyed Beastly Bones a whole lot more than Jackaby! I think one of the main factors for that was the fact that I was already used to all the weirdness of this world Ritter created, we have all kinds of fantastical creatures and at first it can be a lot to digest but once you get used to it, is a very fun ride. As usual this one made me laugh out loud a lot of times and I read it overnight.

The mystery on this is much more weirder than on the first book, at least it was for me and I really liked to see that we are having an overarching plot - I don't know if this series is supposed to be a trilogy or if doesn't have a set number yet, so it was nice seeing that there is yes a connecting between all these cases and that we will probably be finding out more about it soon. Also the way this one ended was mean, it isn't a cliffhanger exactly but we already have the mystery for next volume set and oh my god I need the next book now!

Abigail remains to be my favorite character of the series, this time around even more so - she is determined to not bow to her time costumes and go after the job that she wants to practice despite what the society says, it was great to see her growth through this book and to see her finding herself. But I did enjoyed Jackaby a whole lot more on this one, he shows a more soft side this time around and we can get to see that he does care about other things than his mysteries.

I recommend this series to everyone that loves fantasy and detective novels that were dying to see something with the two genders together.

You Can't Sit With Us

Hey guys, so today's post isn't gonna be a review as per usual but rather something a little more personal, I'll talk a little bit about a feeling that I have been having for some time already - about friendships and belonging. 

I'm a person of very few close friends. For me to get to know someone and get interest on talking with them is a hard work, I honestly can't have mindless talks with acquaintances - you know, that kind of talk where you talk about nothing personal and maybe nothing at all, when you're talking just to pass the boredom. I usually only talk with people that I consider my friends, this year with only my closest friends. But lately I've a feeling like I don't belong with them. And that is a shit thing.

Lately there has been more and more times where I just feel completely unnecessary when talking or going out with these people. Lately I've been feeling like if I'm there or not the talks will be the same because I'm not an actively part of them. Lately I've been feeling like I'm excluded time and time again about the new secrets or really personal things, like I'm not a trusted confident anymore. I've been feeling like I'm being left out, and not even on purpose - but just these people don't really feel the need to talk to me, to tell me things, for me to be a part of their lives. 

The worst part of this is that I'm a big coward when it comes to confronting people and telling them what I really feel, so probably these people will never know how much they're hurting me and will never notice that we're drifting apart - at least not until we don't even speak anymore. My way of dealing with feelings is basically just suit up and pretend nothing is happening, it's already really hard and took me years to admit things for myself so speaking my mind to others isn't easy. I can do it just fine here, it's the internet, it's not personal but even them I have an irrational fear that someway someone that knows me is gonna find this out and understand to who I'm directing this. I really do wish that I could came face to face with these friends and say to them how I'm feeling and hear they side of the story and understand and have a happy ending but I know this isn't gonna happen, if I try to say anything I'll cry, feel humiliated and like I'm asking for attention, asking people to love me and care about me or even worse, feel embarrassed when they don't know what the hell I'm talking about  and starting doubting myself. So I'll just shrug off and keep going. 

Anyway, this was different from the regular reviews but I needed to put this out of me and this is my personal blog, so it's gonna be here. Peace out.

Vengeance Road - Erin Bowman

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman 
Published on September 1, 2015 by HMH Books for Young Readers
[This book was given to me by the Publisher but this in no way affected my opinion.]

When Kate Thompson’s father is killed by the notorious Rose Riders for a mysterious journal that reveals the secret location of a gold mine, the eighteen-year-old disguises herself as a boy and takes to the gritty plains looking for answers and justice. What she finds are devious strangers, dust storms, and a pair of brothers who refuse to quit riding in her shadow. But as Kate gets closer to the secrets about her family, she gets closer to the truth about herself and must decide if there's room for love in a heart so full of hate.

In the spirit of True Grit, the cutthroat days of the Wild West come to life for a new generation.

When I first picked up Vengeance Road I didn't knew what to expect, I'm not big into historical fiction and had never tried a Western book but I had nothing to worry about. This book turned out to be a page turner for me and I was captivate by its characters since the beginning.

Kate is an amazing lead to this book, she starts the story searching for vengeance but the good thing is that she is talking seriously about revenge - you know how there is some books where the MC is gonna be like "I want to kill them all" but will actually not do anything, well Kate doesn't thinks about killing people she goes and shot them straight in the head (or hearth, she isn't picky) - I loved her determination and strength since chapter one and getting to know her more through the book made me like her more and more.

Other characters that won my heart were Will and Jesse, these stubborn brothers that ride with Kate and made the story lighter a lot of times making me laugh, but also adding a more emotional tone to the story at a lot of times. We do have a romance between Jesse and Kate but it was a slow burn, full of a funny banter between them before they released they didn't actual hate each other (yes, it is a kind of hate-to-love thing) and it was a welcome thing in the middle of all the killings and quests and desert roughness.

We also have an Apalache girl, Liluye, that rides with their group for a time and let's say the relationship of her with the others was hard. Liluye comes from a different culture, a culture that Kate, Will and Jesse do not understand and it's show on the book a lot of the prejudices there was at that time between these two races. One thing that really bothered me on this front was the fact that Kate keeps calling Liluye as Lil', even thought Liluye keeps asking her to not call her that way - this bothered me so much because it was such a lack of respect from Kate's part! I guess it was supposed to seem that way to show their differences maybe, I don't know, but each time Kate said Lil' I would cringe.

But taking that away Vengeance Road was a compulsive read for me right from the start, the vengeance quest and the later on mysteries kept me wanting to read more and more, its characters were complex and well developed and that ending, guys I think I said about 1 gazillion of "shits" and "what" on the last 30% or so of this book, it happens so much stuff and god the action scenes!

So yeah, you should definitely check this one out, it's an great read if you like adventure or historical fiction.

The Heartbreakers - Ali Novak

The Heartbreakers by Ali Novak 
Series: The Heartbreakers Chronicles #1
Published on August 4, 2015 by Sourcebooks

"When I met Oliver Perry, I had no clue he was the lead singer for The Heartbreakers. Unbeknownst to him, I was the only girl in the world who hated his music."

Stella will do anything for her sister—even stand in line for an autographed Heartbreakers CD... for three hours. At least she met a cute boy at the Starbucks beforehand. A blue-eyed boy who looks an awful lot like...

Oliver Perry. Of course Starbucks guy is the lead singer for her least favorite band. Thanks, universe. But there may be more to Oliver than his world-famous charm, because even after she insults his music—to his face—he still gives her his number. Seriously, what is her life?

But how can Stella even think about being with Oliver—dating and laughing and pulling pranks with the band—when her sister could be dying of cancer?

I started The Heartbreakers expecting a cute romance, full of cheese (yes, I wanted the cheese) and even tropes I wouldn't mind, I wanted a brain candy read - a book to just read on the weekend, that didn't made me think about anything and just enjoy myself. At first I thought this would fill the spot but them things started going down hill and they never came back up.

First on the good stuff, I did enjoyed the bones of this story and the banter of the characters. This book has a unreal plot, that's true and we get in expecting it but still the things that led to Stella and Oliver to met are... If not real, at least believable on a romantic comedy kind of sense. And also at the start I was whiling to play along with the story because Stella does have other interests besides the new cute and famous boy and because the banter between Stella and all The Heartbreakers and The Heartbreakers with The Heartbreakers were great, I laughed out loud so many times that I can't count.

But them small things started to bug me and start to build up, and them something happened and this book was basically over to me. One thing that bothered is that this story is like a feverish fangirl dream and I'm not talking about the celebrity falls in love with a regular girl - this is definitely the least of my peeves. At start I was rolling with the unbelievable circumstances but it came to a point where I couldn't just overlook it - each problem that Stella had were easily resolved, the story goes kind of like this Problem 1 happens, them someone magically appears with Solution 1 and them we get Problem 2 and them so on ALL. THE. BOOK. IS. LIKE. THAT. This made the pace weird and resulted on my second problem.

For the sake of focusing on let's say Problem 2 we would ignore Problem 1 or at least the aftermath feelings with Problem 1 for a good chunk of the book, this really bothered because there would be parts of the book that Stella was like really focused on her family but them she would get closer to Oliver and them we would pass times and times with very little focus on the family and them after we would get back to it being the focus - it just no, it felt weird and made the narrative irregular.

Now, let's talk about my third and probably biggest problem with it - the romance. I was super into getting along with it at first, it instalove but okay. Them started being the kind of hot and cold, full of drama romance, I wasn't shipping it like WHOA but I was okay, they had some cute moments to make me keed reading. But them the cold stuff went to far and *something* happened and I started unshipping like there was no tomorrow and yeah, this book is heavily focused on the romance so this basically ruined any chance of salvation this book could have with me.

Sigh. I'm still on the hunt for the a romance between a celebrity and a regular girl (or boy) that makes me feel head over heels, unfortunately this wasn't the one. Recommended, maybe, to readers who really, really like this trope and don't mind angst on their plots.

Hello, Goodbye and Everything In Between - Jennifer E. Smith

Hello, Goodbye and Everything In Between  by Jennifer E. Smith
Published by Poppy on September 1, 2015
[This book was given to me from the Publisher and in no way this affected my opinion.] 

On the night before they leave for college, Clare and Aidan only have one thing left to do: figure out whether they should stay together or break up. Over the course of twelve hours, they'll retrace the steps of their relationship, trying to find something in their past that might help them decide what their future should be. The night will lead them to friends and family, familiar landmarks and unexpected places, hard truths and surprising revelations. But as the clock winds down and morning approaches, so does their inevitable goodbye. The question is, will it be goodbye for now or goodbye forever?

This new must-read novel from Jennifer E. Smith, author of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight, explores the difficult choices that must be made when life and love lead in different directions.

It was a no brainer to download this book when was up on Edelweiss as it is a Jennifer E. Smith and I know she can always give a cute couple to swoon over (or at least like), also I was on a contemporary streak at the time and this sounded like the perfect cute read to continue with my streak. I was right, after reading this on a night and a half I can assure you that this brings a lot of what I like most on Smith books.

The only pet peeve that I have is the fact that Aidan and Clare didn't really stands out for me as separated characters, this is a book all about the romance but still it wouldn't have bothered me to get a little bit more of a glimpse on their lives, without the romance involved. They do have distinct personalities, and friends and family but yet all this was such a small part and all the parts that were show had also a big role on their own involvement and problems as a couple, so it kind of made everything feel like it was all about the romance.

And it truly was, since we get to spend only 12 hours with the two main characters and figure out with them what is the best decision to make: stay together or separate during college. I really liked the construction of this part, Clare made a "scavenger hunt" of all the important places for they relationship and at first I was like "why these two are even thinking on break up?? They are perfect together!" but then we get to know more and more about their relationship and see that not everything is perfect and all that. The romance was so well handled, it really is a big deal to decide whether you stay together with a boyfriend when leaving for college, even if you're not going to so far apart colleges like Aidan and Clare it is a difficult decision to make, and I liked the way Smith dealt with it showing that they both had to take that time apart to grown and change, and how they still were able to come back to each other, as different people but still loving each other. Also it wouldn't have hurt to the epilogue to be a little bigger.

Recommended to all lovers of contemporary romance and who already loves/likes/enjoy Smith other books.