#BookReview THE THOUSAND EYES by A.K.LARKWOOD #TheThousandEyes

ABOUT THE BOOK

The sequel to A. K. Larkwood’s stunning debut fantasy, The Unspoken Name, The Thousand Eyes continues The Serpent Gates series–perfect for fans of Jenn Lyons, Joe Abercrombie, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Two years ago, Csorwe and Shuthmili defied the wizard Belthandros Sethennai and stole his gauntlets. The gauntlets have made Shuthmili extraordinarily powerful, but they’re beginning to take a sinister toll on her. She and Csorwe travel to a distant world to discover how to use the gauntlets safely, but when an old enemy arrives on the scene, Shuthmili finds herself torn between clinging to her humanity and embracing eldritch power.

Meanwhile, Tal Charossa returns to Tlaanthothe to find that Sethennai has gone missing. As well as being a wizard of unimaginable power, Sethennai is Tal’s old boss and former lover, and Tal wants nothing to do with him. When a magical catastrophe befalls the city, Tal tries to run rather than face his past, but soon learns that something even worse may lurk in the future. Throughout the worlds of the Echo Maze, fragments of an undead goddess begin to awaken, and not all confrontations can be put off forever…

 PUBLISHED BY TOR BOOKS

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon

Blackwell’s  £12.99

MY REVIEW

This was a fitting end to an exciting duology and what a journey we’ve been on in the 2 books!! Thankfully there was a little refresh at the start of this book to help me get back on track with the characters, so it all came back to me and the story hits the ground running and doesn’t really let up until that final page!It’s 2 years on since the last book and life for Csorwe and Shuthmili still finding ways to earn a living with tomb raiding being their favourite way! but that also throws up a discovery that changes their lives – yet again! – and lets the story take you on a completely different journey to what you were expecting. The twists and turns again are epic and that’s all I can say about them! But they work! They don’t take away from the character dynamics, but allows growth and because you grow so attached to these characters it also becomes quite emotional, especially with all the drama they are to face.

Tal was great again in this book especially the banter with Csorwe and you just felt like you were among friends as the characters have been so well fleshed out over these 2 books.

It flows really well, never lulls in action or snark, and I will miss the world created and the characters that inhabit it!!

★★★★

my thanks to Tor Books and Black Crow PR for the advanced copy in return for a fair and honest review.

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#BookReview A MARVELLOUS LIGHT by FREYA MARSKE

ABOUT THE BOOK

Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.

Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

PUBLISHED BY TOR

PURCHASE LINK

AMAZON

MY REVIEW

This was a really enjoyable introduction to a series that promises to fully involve the readers in a magical world full of intrigue and romance!! And with such strong characters being allowed to develop in front of our eyes in book one, I am already eagerly anticipating the next installment in The Last Binding series trilogy!

Robin finds himself taking up a job he knows nothing about! Why has he been put in this position?! And what is this magical world he now finds himself faced with?! He wants answers and the man to give him them is Edwin. Very different in personality to Robin, but equally intrigued by this new addition to the team, the more time they spend together the more the friendship, and then the romantic feelings develop! It’s a touching and warm bond they share that soon turns very steamy!! If you don’t like explicit scenes, then you may want to skip a few pages!! But it never distracts from the world building and the humour is also on point as it really sets a feel for the time of Edwardian society.

Their quest to find out what Robins’ predecessor was involved in often takes second place against their relationship, but the mystery is always there and plays out quite nicely and gives you a as the reader plenty to take on board and want to know more about in this magical world!

I think we’re in for something special with this series if this starting point is anything to go by! Hurry up Book 2!!

★★★★

My thanks to the team at Black Crow PR for the advanced copy of the book in return for a fair and honest review.

#BlogTour FIREBORN by AISLING FOWLER #BookReview #Fireborn #UltimateBlogTour @The_WriteReads @HarperCollinsCh @fowler_aisling

Delighted to be with you today as part of the wonderful Blog Tour for the fabulous FIREBORN by AISLING FOWLER.  My thanks to the author, publisher and The Write Reads for putting the tour together and letting me be part of it all!!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Lyra. Lucy. Percy. Once in a generation, a hero emerges whose story enthralls readers worldwide.

Fireborn is an epic quest, perfect for fans of the His Dark Materials and The School for Good and Evil series, that will spin readers into a magical world like no other–and introduce them to an unforgettable new heroine named Twelve.

Ember is full of monsters.

Twelve gave up her name and identity to train in the art of hunting them–so she says. The truth is much more deadly: she trains to take revenge on those who took her family from her.

But when Twelve’s new home is attacked, she’ll find herself on an unexpected journey, where her hidden past is inescapably intertwined with her destiny–and the very fate of her world.

published by HarperCollins

PURCHASE LINK

Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aisling was born in 1985 and wishes that she had grown up in a magical, mountainous kingdom, but was actually raised in Surrey on a diet of books and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Her early ‘adventure’ stories involved surprisingly little action and her first novel (3 pages long) was politely declined by publishers at age 11.

After earning a BSc in Biology and working as a support worker and then a nurse, the idea for her debut novel, Fireborn, came to her as she moved back and forth between London and the US. Now based in Hackney, when she is not reading or writing, Aisling loves cooking and plotting adventures (for herself as well as her fictional characters). Fireborn will be published by HarperCollins in 2021.

MY REVIEW

If a book is inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, then I want to read it!! And it’s been a total blast of a reading experience and I’m eagerly awaiting more of the series if they’re all going to be like this!

At the heart of the story is Twelve, an inspiring female character who is full of rage and anger, but uses that to fight monsters and to right the wrongs of the world she finds herself living in.  She’s a bit of an outsider, seen as a weirdo by some of her classmates, but she just doesn’t care! With her pet squirrel, Widge, by her side, she soon finds herself setting off to save a friend.  I really got the Lyra (His Dark Materials) vibes about her as a character – she’s determined, loyal and very stubborn!

This story has a good mix of the dark and light, it does sometimes get a bit bleak but that really gets you on side with Twelve and understands why she is doing what she’s doing. Her journey is mixed with flashbacks to happier times with her family, and you wonder what messages she is meant to take from these dreams she keeps getting.

It’s a story of magic and monsters, adventure and adversity, battles and betrayals and I loved it!  Bring on the next installment!! 

★★★★

#20BooksOfSummer A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White #bookreview #wtfbcthu

And on to Book 15!! Another one not on my original list – I think this a theme now!! – but one that covers the #large element of my reading challenge at 480 pages long!  Was prompted to pick this one up as the lovely author EliAllison has started a little twitter book club called #What The Fuck Book Club’ that will focus each month on weird science fiction and fantasy books so can highly recommend checking that out if it’s your thing! And if the first pick of book is anything to go by, then we’re in for some fun reads as I really enjoyed this one! What is it about a group of people in space that captures my imagination so much!!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter in another life, but now she’s washed up. She makes her meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder, but this time she might have stumbled on something real–the story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction.

Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing world–until she witnesses the murder of a fellow racer. Framed for the murder and on the hunt to clear her name, Nilah only has one lead: the killer also hunts a woman named Boots.

On the wrong side of the law, the two women board a smuggler’s ship that will take them on a quest for fame, for riches, and for justice.

Published by Orbit Books

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon UK

hive.co.uk

whsmith

MY REVIEW

Fun, feisty and frenetic! I think that sums this book up well! And though it’s not perfect, it still has a really interesting blend of characters fighting battles with themselves as well as those they meet along their way.

Nilah, is the race car driver who seems to be caught up in a conspiracy to frame her for the death of a fellow racer and she finds herself on the ship the Capricious against her will, alongside Boots who is a bit of a loner and fraudster – not someone you’d want to mess with! Boots also used to be part of the Capricious crew so when she finds herself amongst her old ‘friends’ that stirs up a few memories and it was really interesting to find out her back story. 

Boots and Nilah are very different characters but both are flawed and it’s good to see how the dynamics of their ‘relationship’ changes over time. They all soon find themselves being chased by ‘mother’ who is hellbent on destruction, and also trying to track down The Harrow ship to get answers as to what is going on!

Full of diverse characters and strong female leads, I found there to be plenty to keep me intrigued and entertained throughout – if you liked A long Way to small angry planet, or A chain across the dawn, then this will appeal to you as well as it had all the elements of a space soap opera with a bit of magic thrown in, and I’m interested in seeing how this series pans out!

★★★★

#BookReview The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons #fantasy #bookblogger

About the book

What if you weren’t the hero?

Kihrin grew up on tales of long-lost princes and grand quests – despite being raised in a brothel, making money as a musician and street thief. One day he overreaches by targeting an absent noble’s mansion, hunting for jewels. There he witnesses a prince performing a terrifying dark-magic ritual. Kihrin flees but he’s marked by a demon and his life will never be the same again.

That night also leads to him being claimed as a lost son of that prince’s royal house. But far from living the dream, Kihrin finds himself practically a prisoner, at the mercy of his new family’s power plays and ambitions. He must also discover why his murderous father finds Kihrin more valuable alive than dead. Soon Kihrin attempts to escape his relative’s dangerous schemes, but finds himself in far deeper waters.

He becomes tangled in a plot to kill the Emperor, rob the Imperial Vaults, claim a god-slaying sword and free bound demons to wreak havoc across the land. Kihrin also discovers the old tales lied about many things: dragons, demons, gods, prophecies, true love – and the hero always winning. But maybe Kihrin isn’t fated to save the empire. He’s destined to destroy it.

The Ruin of Kings is the first book in Jenn Lyons’s epic new series.

Published by Tor UK

Purchase Links

Goldsboro Books – signed first edition  £24.99

hive.co.uk  £12.59

waterstones  £16.99

MY REVIEW

An epic fantasy read!! There’s magic, dragons, prophecies, feuding families, demons, secrets, lies – even zombies! You name it, you’ll find it here and I loved every single minute of it, even if my brain did get a little scrambled and overwhelmed at times by the sheer scale of it all. But to be fair, my brain feels like that with most fantasy books so this was no different!

I was a little apprehensive before starting this as I’d seen a few reviews saying how confused they’d been by the way the story was told – for me, this way worked really well and I loved the different perspectives of timelines in alternating chapters. The stories feature Kihrin -one from his point of view as he remembers it – and the other from a different starting point in the timeline leading up to the final chapters – and despite his bravado, you soon find out that Kihrin is a scared little lonely boy, unsure of his role in the world he finds himself part of. And that insecurity is only played on as he travels along his journey from petty thief to royal households. He’s been lied to by so many that he often fails to see who he should trust – and there’s many he shouldn’t trust who he comes into contact along the way and it was fun as a reader trying to work out who you should be rooting for. I was often proved very wrong in my judgement!

It’s often a complex web of a storyline – with flashbacks, characters pretending to be others, shifting universes to name but a few – but the strength of the main protaganists keep you on track and it just all added to the fun and darkness!

There are a number of footnotes that added extra background to various points and I loved the escapism of the whole story and am eagerly awaiting the next installment to see how the character of Kihrin adapts and changes with all he has learned over this adventure.

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#BookReview One Magical Christmas by Berni Stevens #PublicationDay @ChocLituk

About the book

Christmas magic doesn’t really exist – does it? 
When Annie Berry collides with Nik Knoll in a car park on the day of her sister’s wedding, it feels like all of Nik’s Christmases have come at once. Annie seems like just the sort of woman he’d like to get to know, and the chance nature of their encounter is almost like, well … Christmas magic. 

But Nik has a secret, and he has to be sure that he can trust Annie before he tells her. The problem is that this secret has a Christmas deadline, and time is running out … 

Published by Choc Lit

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Kobo

Author Website http://bernistevensdesign.com/

Author on Twitter – @Berni_Stevens1

MY REVIEW

Look no further if you’re after a Christmas story that is truly magical and has all the feels!! I found myself smiling throughout this book and fell totally in love with Annie and Nick!

They meet in rather strange circumstances and the moment Nick lays eyes on Annie he is smitten! For Annie her pressing concern is that the wedding of her sister goes off without a hitch! The build up has driven them all seemingly insane so everyone is just hoping for a perfect day!

For Nick he is feeling  lonely! He’s tried online dating and that’s not gone well, and there seems to be some urgency to his quest to find ‘the one’.  Annie is also looking for someone to share her life with, and when their paths cross again they soon realise there is something between them so decide to see how things play out. 

Any characters that name their dogs after characters in Buffy is fine by me ,and I just found the cast in this story were just so endearing, with a few secrets to hide as well which added to the intrigue as the story played out!  You find yourself desperate to find out the secrets of Nick and his family and wonder how Annie will react to what he is hiding!

I loved my time with these characters and this book was a magical treat from start to finish!

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A Spell in the Country by Heide Goody #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

Hello!  Delighted to be taking part in this magic blog tour today, hosted by Rachel at rachelsrandomresources! So thank you for stopping by!  Am posting a review and a giveaway today  – you lucky people!!!

THE BLURB

Dee is a Good Witch but she wonders if she could be a better witch.

She wonders if there’s more to life than Disney movie marathons, eating a whole box of chocolates for dinner and brewing up potions in her bathtub. So when she’s offered a chance to go on a personal development course in the English countryside, she packs her bags, says goodbye to the Shelter for Unloved Animals charity shop and sets a course for self-improvement.

Caroline isn’t just a Good Witch, she’s a fricking awesome witch.

She likes to find the easy path through life: what her good looks can’t get for her, a few magic charms can. But she’s bored of being a waitress and needs something different in her life. So when a one night stand offers her a place on an all-expenses-paid residential course in a big old country house, she figures she’s got nothing to lose.

Jenny is a Wicked Witch. She just wishes she wasn’t.

On her fifteenth birthday, she got her first wart, her own imp and a Celine Dion CD. She still has the imp. She also has a barely controllable urge to eat human children which is socially awkward to say the least and not made any easier when a teenager on the run turns to her for help. With gangsters and bent cops on their trail, Jenny needs to find a place outside the city where they can lay low for a while.

For very different reasons, three very different witches end up on the same training course and land in a whole lot of trouble when they discover that there’s a reason why their free country break sounds too good to be true. Foul-mouthed imps, wererats, naked gardeners, tree monsters, ghosts and stampeding donkeys abound in a tale about discovering your inner witch.

Purchase Links

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078NRFL93/

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078NRFL93/

 

Heide Goody is the stupid one in the writing partnership and Iain Grant is the sensible one. Together, they are the authors of seven novels, two short story collections and a novella.

The ‘Clovenhoof’ series (in which Satan loses his job and has to move to Birmingham) has recently been optioned by a Hollywood production company. Their latest novel, Oddjobs 2: this time it’s personnel, was published in August 2017.

Heide and Iain are both married, but not to each other.

Facebook

Pigeon Park Press Website

Twitter: @HeideGoody and @IainMGrant

MY REVIEW

I found this to be such a fun read, full of crazy capers and a full cast of wonderful characters!  It doesn’t take long before you take the group of sassy witches to your heart as you follow their stories from the ‘real’ world where they each work in a variety of jobs and they find themselves all brought together on a course in the middle of nowhere but they aren’t sure why they’ve been chosen!  It doesn’t take long for the true reasons to be revealed!

I found myself chuckling along at many points and the character of Jizzimus is full of hilarious one-liners – he was definitely my favourite! I just couldn’t wait to find out what he would come out with next!!  The witches all learn so much about themselves and the others while they are away and how they need to pool their ‘witchy’ resources together to fight those plotting against them!  Dee, Caroline and Jenny aren’t your normal kind of witches – is there ever a normal kind?! – and when they all realise what they have in common you start to see the bonds between them strengthen, despite their reluctance in the beginning.

Highly recommended for all those looking for a funny, spellbinding read!!

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And then there’s more!  A fabulous giveaway!! 

Giveaway – Win a Witch’s Pamper Package (Open Internationally)

The package, worth over £100 contains…

• A lacy gothic bracelet
•   A witch’s hat fascinator
• A pair of green and black stripy tights
• A Yankee candle in “Forbidden Apple”
• A set of wand-shaped makeup brushes

• A gothic notebook (for spells!)
• A bookmark featuring a squashed witch (with just the legs sticking out!)
• A gemstone ring
• A gorgeous coffin-shaped vegan eyeshadow palette from Lunatick Cosmetic labs (with a bat-shaped mirror!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO ENTER!!

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor #bookreview

THE BLURB

The author of The Girl Who Came Home turns the clock back one hundred years to a time when two young girls from Cottingley, Yorkshire, convinced the world that they had done the impossible and photographed fairies in their garden. Now, in her newest novel, international bestseller Hazel Gaynor reimagines their story.

1917… It was inexplicable, impossible, but it had to be true—didn’t it? When two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright from Cottingley, England, claim to have photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden, their parents are astonished. But when one of the great novelists of the time, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, becomes convinced of the photographs’ authenticity, the girls become a national sensation, their discovery offering hope to those longing for something to believe in amid a world ravaged by war. Frances and Elsie will hide their secret for many decades. But Frances longs for the truth to be told.

One hundred years later… When Olivia Kavanagh finds an old manuscript in her late grandfather’s bookshop she becomes fascinated by the story it tells of two young girls who mystified the world. But it is the discovery of an old photograph that leads her to realize how the fairy girls’ lives intertwine with hers, connecting past to present, and blurring her understanding of what is real and what is imagined. As she begins to understand why a nation once believed in fairies, can Olivia find a way to believe in herself?

Shopping Links

Amazon UK

Hive.co.uk – buy online and support your local bookstore

Book Depository

 

 

MY REVIEW

I believe!!

I found this to be a magical, charming and wonderful story that mixes fact with fiction in a delightful story that kept me enthralled from start to finish!

It mixes the ‘then’ storyline of 1917 when 2 girls, Frances and Elsie, fooled the world with their photographs of the fairies they saw playing at the beck in Cottingley, and how it consumed their lives and often left them feeling they hadn’t let the world know of their secret!

And in the present day we follow Olivia who is struggling to connect with her life as she loses close relatives, is struggling to keep her beloved bookshop open and is facing her wedding day with major doubts over her relationship with the odious Jack. As she is decluttering she stumbles across a manuscript written by Frances and details her life and she is enthralled by what she finds and sets about trying to find the truth behind the story she reads and how it connects to her family.

The characters were a major strength in this book. The young girls and their story was fascinating as their lives weren’t easy, but they found comfort in spending time with each other and the garden visitors and it helped them make sense of the world. And Olivia was delightful in her devotion to her family, especially her grandparents, after her tragic youth and her inquisitive mind was perfect to let the story develop while she discovered more about herself – both of her past and for her own personal decisions she needed to make. The fairy magic begins to creep into the bookshop too and maybe life is about to be transformed for Olivia!

I found this really easy to read and can highly recommend it to those who love history and a story full of magic!

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