REVIEW: Little Monsters by Kara Thomas // YA – Mystery – Thriller – July 2017 Release

Little Monsters by Kara ThomasSeries: 

Published: 25 July 2017

Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller

Pages: 336

Language read: English

Format read: eArc, ebook

Rating: weak 3 stars 3stjerner

-SYNOPSIS-

Little Monsters Synopsis: For fans of Pretty Little LiarsLittle Monsters is a new psychological thriller, from the author of The Darkest Corners, about appearances versus reality and the power of manipulation amongst teenage girls.

Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.

Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.

Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.

But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.

Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone. –Goodreads

-MY THOUGHTS-

I wanted to read this book because I have been in the mood for thrillers this summer. The synopsis sounded intriguing, and anything that says for fans of Pretty Little Liars and psychological thriller really peaks my interests.

I struggled with this book in the beginning. It took me awhile to get into, since I found it a bit slow. I had mixed feelings towards the beginning. I was so eager to jump right into the mystery, but the book took its time with building up the story, the world and the characters. At this point I didn’t even care that much for the characters. I later on appreciated that the book took its time with the character development, because it is very important for the rest of the story. I also had some problems with telling the characters apart in the beginning. I especially got confused when the book jumped into the diary. I thought it was the main character’s for a while. I’m not sure if this was intentional, or if I am really dumb and it went over my head? All of this got better as the book went on though.

This was just some minor problems and not necessary a big reason for disliking the book. Now I’m going to talk about why my feelings for the book really soured. 7% and 13% into the story I found some things I thought was problematic and harmful, especially for younger readers. Now I’m going to talk a bit about what I found.

I hated how the book tried to make fun of people with allergy or intolerance to gluten. It is, and can be, very dangerous for some people to eat gluten. Even just a little bit can be fatal. Eating gluten free food for health reasons are already stigmatized, and a lot of people thinks that it is just some bogus thing that people are making up. The comment in this book enhances that problem. The comment can especially be hurtful for younger readers that are eating a gluten free diet. People who eat gluten free should be taken serious and be believed, especially by sales personnel and cafe waiters.

The other thing I found to be problematic in this could also be harmful to young readers. I wasn’t sure if I overreacted to this so I asked my boyfriend what he thought, and he agrees with me.

In writing that a person can be the town gossip because they struggle with an eating disorder, can be very dangerous for a young person that struggles with the same to hear. It can strike fear of getting sent away if someone finds out into readers with similar problems. The paragraph also insinuates that it is wrong to get professional help, or if the parents are making the child get help. A good parent will help their child with eating disorders, or other problems, this is not something that should be talked down on. The whole page just made me feel sick. Please let me know what you think?

The version of the book I read was an eArc and not the final copy. If anything has changed in the final release, and the things I’m mentioning are gone or changed, please let me know.

The sad thing about this is that these two paragraphs wasn’t necessary for the book at all. I would have liked that the author didn’t include them, because the book would be so much better without.

Two thirds into the story the book flipped 180° and went from meh to I CAN’T PUT IT DOWN. The mystery got real intense and addictive. It wasn’t just the story that grew on me, but I also started liking the characters a bit more.

The book’s strongest feature was the last part. It got real intense and addictive. Plot twists after plot twists shocked me because I didn’t see any of it coming. All in all the mystery was very interesting. I actually ended up liking the book at the end.

Would I recommend this book? Hmm, I’m not sure. I liked the mystery, It was addictive and intense. But the book took its time before it became interesting. Plus it’s the whole problem with the things I found in the beginning that I didn’t like. I don’t want younger readers, or other readers that can be hurt from it, to read anything like that. I was planning to give this book 2 stars, but the ending was so good that I gave it a weak 3 stars.

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I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Children’s & Kara Thomas for giving me a copy of this book.


❤ -Rakel

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TOME TOPPLE READATHON // To Be Read

I’m going to participate in the Tome Topple Readathon. Since I just did the Summer Biannual Bibliothon and the Booktube A Thon, I’m not going to force myself to read a lot in this readathon. I have three books on my list, but I don’t think I’ll be able to finish all of them. It’s ok if I only read one or two, I will be happy with that. 

This readathon is all about reading books over 500+ pages, and it runs from August 4th (starts today, sorry for late TBR) to August 17th. If you wan’t to know more HERE is the link to Thoughts on Tomes announcment video. 

Challenges:
1. Read more than 1 tome
2. Read a graphic novel (still over 500 pages!)
3. Read a tome that is part of a series
4. Buddy read a tome
5. Read an adult novel

MY TBR

1. Read more than 1 tome

I’ll try!! Wish me luck.

Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2) by Michael J. Sullivan – This will be my audiobook for this readathon.

The Fourth Monkey (A 4MK Thriller #1) by J.D. Barker

2. Read a graphic novel (still over 500 pages!)

Not going to do this challenge.

3. Read a tome that is part of a series

The Fourth Monkey (A 4MK Thriller #1) by J.D. Barker

4. Buddy read a tome

If anyone wants to buddy read, let me know.

5. Read an adult novel

Fever by Deon Meyer


-Are you participating in this readathons? Let me know. I would love to read your TBR. And if you want to buddy read, leave a comment. 

❤ -Rakel

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Mid Year update – All The Books I Have Read So Far In 2017

In December last year I did a post on every book I have read in 2016. I thought it would be fun to do a mid year post about all the books I have read so far in 2017. As of 30. May I have read 41 books, that is 17 books ahead of my Goodreads goal of 50 books. I will finish my goal way before the end of the year, so I might have to bump it up a bit.

Goodreads Challenge July 2017

Here are some stats on the books I have read:

Favorite Books Read:

The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Longest Book Read:

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch – 650 pages

Shortest book Read:

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 49 pages

2017 Releases Read:

7 books

Big Books Read:

10

Audiobooks:

21 books

Books DNF:

3 books

Books Bought:

Physical books: 11

Ebooks: 15

Star rating:

5stjerner3 books rated 5 stars

4-5stjerner4 books rated 4.5 stars

4stjerner8 books rated 4 stars

3-5stjerner7 books rated 3.5 stars 

3stjerner11 books rated 3 stars 

2-5stjerner1 book rated 2.5 stars 

2stjerner3 books rated 2 stars 

1-5stjerner1 book rated 1.5 stars  

1stjerner2 books rated 1 star 


January – LINK TO WRAP UP

REVIEW – Deadlight Jack (The Faceless One #2) by Mark Onspaugh – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

REVIEW – We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 5 stars 5stjerner

Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalco – 3 stars 3stjerner

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – 1.5 stars – DNF 1-5stjerner

Heartless by Marissa Meyer – 4 stars 4stjerner


February – LINK TO WRAP UP

The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events #4) by Lemony Snicket – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #5) by Lemony Snicket – 4 stars 4stjerner

The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #6) by Lemony Snicket – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #7) by Lemony Snicket – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

The Girl From Old Nichol by Betty Annand – 2 stars DNF 2stjerner

The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch – 5 stars 5stjerner

Final Girls by Riley Sager – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

Morning Star (Red Rising, #3) by Pierce Brown – 4 stars 4stjerner

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner


March – LINK TO WRAP UP

The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events #8) by Lemony Snicket – 2.5 stars 2-5stjerner

The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events #9) by Lemony Snicket – 3 stars 3stjerner

Starflight (Starflight #1) by Melissa Landers – 3 stars 3stjerner

REVIEW – One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1) by Tahereh Mafi – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Magicians (The Magicians #1) by Lev Grossman – 3 stars 3stjerner


April – LINK TO WRAP UP

#famous by Jilly Gagnon – 2 stars 2stjerner

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) by Jim Butcher – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

Blankets by Craig Thompson – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō – 4 stars 4stjerner

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – 1 star DNF 1stjerner


May

MINI REVIEW – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – 3 stars 3stjerner

MINI REVIEW – American Street by Ibi Zoboi – 4 stars 4stjerner

MINI REVIEW – Stalker (Joona Linna #5) by Lars Kepler – 4 stars 4stjerner

A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1) by Darren Shan – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Vampire’s Assistant (Cirque du Freak #2) by Darren Shan – 3 stars 3stjerner

Tunnels of Blood (Cirque du Freak #3) by Darren Shan – 3 stars 3stjerner

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner


June

To Søstre by Åsne Seierstad – 4 stars 4stjerner

I Am Pilgrim (Pilgrim #1) by Terry Hayes – 1 star 1stjerner

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli – 4 stars 4stjerner

An Introduction to the Lightning Process by Phil Parker

The Thief (The Queen’s Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner – 2 stars 2stjerner

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami – 5 stars 5stjerner


-Tell me your favorite reads so far this year. I would love to know! 

❤ -Rakel

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3 IN 1 MINI REVIEWS books #29-31 – Station Eleven, American Street, Stalker

This is the first post in my new category 3 in 1 mini reviews. Instead of doing a monthly wrap up with thoughts on all the books I have read that month, I’ll write a blog post every 3 books read. I will still do a monthly wrap up, but it will be more like a overview and not a big post with all my thoughts. I hope you enjoy this new idea, and I hope it will be easier for both you and me. 


station-eleven-by-emily-st-john-mandelStation Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I had really high hopes for this book, since I have heard great thing about it and the synopsis sounded intriguing. I really thought this would be a great book for me. Unfortunately this book wasn’t what I thought it would be. I liked some part of it and found them interesting, but overall it wasn’t my favorite. What really throw me off was all the different point of views and stories. It just felt messy at times and not cohesive, even though everything connects at the end. I wished we got to see more of The Traveling Symphony and The Museum of Civilizations, and not all of the focus on Arthur and his life. 3 stars

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American Street by Ibi ZoboiAmerican Street by Ibi Zoboi

This is a great diverse 2017 release that I think every YA contemporary reader should read, or at least know about.

17 year old Fabiola is moving with her mom from Haiti to Detroit USA to live with her aunt and her cousins. The move doesn’t go as planned when her mom is detained in the airport, and isn’t allowed into the country. Fabiola is now on her own without her mom and it cause a lot of stress. She has to get used to living in a new country, with family she doesn’t know well. This book is a really good book about immigration, family, race, a community full of drugs and violent, and the journey to get settled in to a new place far from home. I love this book, and I fell in love with all the characters. It definitely made my emotions rise in me. 4 stars

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Stalker (Joona Linna #5) by Lars KeplerStalker by Lars Kepler

Book 5 in the Joona Linna series

This is the 5 book in a popular Scandinavian crime series. I don’t read a lot of Scandinavian crime books, this was the first in many years. One day I randomly wanted to pick one up, so I choose the most popular one on a list, and this was it. I have previously read the first book in this series many years ago, and I wasn’t over the moon with it. So my expectations wasn’t the highest. To my surprise I really liked this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I devoured the 14h long audiobook in under one week. If you are looking for a Scandinavian crime book, I recommend this one. I will read other books by the author in the future.

Even though this is book 5 in the series, you don’t have to read the previous ones to read this. I have only read book 1 and 5. 4 stars

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-How do you like my new idea?

❤ -Rakel

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Review: One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus |YA – Mystery – New Release June 1st 2017|

one-of-us-is-lying-by-karen-m-mcmanusSeries: 

Published: June 1st 2017

Genre: YA, Mystery

Pages: 368

Language read: English

Format read: eArc, ebook

Rating: 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

-SYNOPSIS-.png

One of Us Is Lying Synopsis:One of Us Is Lying is the story of what happens when five strangers walk into detention and only four walk out alive. Everyone is a suspect, and everyone has something to hide.

Pay close attention and you might solve this.
On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention.
Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule.
Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess.
Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing.
Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher.
And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them. –Goodreads

-MY THOUGHTS-

I wanted to read this book from the first time I found out about it from another book blog. The whole premise and the synopsis sounded really interesting and exciting. Who doesn’t find The Breakfast Club mixed with a murder mystery interesting? I certainly did. I immediately went and asked for the book on Netgalley, and when I got approved I was really happy.

This book is the Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars (not the part of PLL where they drag out everything and you lose interest before you find out who big A is). It follows the 4 teenagers that was in detention, when Simon, a fellow peer drops to the floor dying from a deadly allergy shock. The death of Simon is suspicious and the four witness becomes the key suspects in the investigation. Who killed Simon? And why?

There is so many things I loved about this book, and it is one of my favorite reads so far this year. This book started of with an explosion of questions that I had to get the answer to asap, why and who? And what are they hiding? This book sucked me in from the first page. The writing was engaging and easy to follow, and the mystery was really interesting. I also really liked the story and the characters, they were amazing. Overall I loved this book and I highly recommend it if you are looking for an addictive read.

There is something I just have to mention that is not negative, but I just have to comment on. As I said above, I really loved The Breakfast Club premise, so I went into the book thinking it was going to be more of a retelling of the movie where one of the characters die at the end of the story. So to my surprise the victim dies at the start of the book, within a couple of pages. The death was just the beginning of the book. So don’t go into the book and think that it is going to be a close retelling. You can see that the author has taken inspiration from the movie, especially when it comes to the characters.

In this book you follow four main characters, two girls and two boys;

Bronwyn the Brain

Addy the beauty

Nate the criminal

Cooper the athlete

(Here you clearly see the inspiration from the Breakfast Club).

I just loved all of the four main characters. They all had their own personal secrets and struggles, and everybody had a great character growth through the book. The story is written in first person, and I think that worked really well. We got to know the characters and the story through their eyes.

As the title of the book says; One Of us Is Lying. They all have their own secrets and reasons to lie, and anyone of them can be the murderer. I couldn’t picture anyone of them to be the murderer, and the thought that one of them had killed Simon broke my heart. I’m not going to say who did it, because spoilers, so I’m not going to say if my heart broke or not. You have to find that out yourself!

My favorite characters was Bronwyn and Nate. Bronwyn is the brain with straight A’s and Nate is the low life criminal. Their relationship was very interesting, and I love their interaction with each other (cute! Hint hint romance). P.S. I have never heard the name Bronwyn before, I always read it as Brownyn, haha.

I also found the character Simon very interesting. I really want to read the story from his perspective, I want to be inside his brain. Karen M. Mcmanus, can you write a short story from Simon’s perspective? Please. Maybe not the whole story from his perspective but perhaps the days leading up to his death? Or some of the other incidents that we got to hear about in the book? That would be AWESOME!

I can’t write this review without talking about the mystery, who murdered Simon? The mystery unravels at the end, and we get to know who the killer is, just like most thriller books. I always try to figure out who the killer is before the book gives it away, and I make up many different theories. Probably not the only one who does that, it is half of the fun of reading murder mysteries. I had one theory of who the killer was, and in the end I was partly right, so it didn’t come as a shock to me.

This was a well written, incredibly engaging and interesting YA mystery novel. I loved so many things about this book. It sucked me in and I couldn’t put it down, I just had to know who killed Simon. I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

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I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House UK & Karen M. McManus for giving me a copy of this book.

❤ -Rakel

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Mini Review: Final Girls by Riley Sager

final-girls-by-riley-sagerSeries: –

Published: Expected publication: July 11th 2017

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Pages: 352

Language read: English

Format read: Earc

Rating: 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

 

synopsis

Final Girls Synopsis: Ten years ago, college student Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the only survivor of a horror movie–scale massacre. In an instant, she became a member of a club no one wants to belong to—a group of similar survivors known in the press as the Final Girls. Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a college dropout’s knife; Sam, who went up against the Sack Man during her shift at the Nightlight Inn; and now Quincy, who ran bleeding through the woods to escape Pine Cottage and the man she refers to only as Him. The three girls are all attempting to put their nightmares behind them, and, with that, one another. Despite the media’s attempts, they never meet….longer synopsis on Goodreads

Goodreads

My Thoughts.png

I enjoyed this book for the most parts. I found the first 100 pages a bit slow, but not boring. The story took its time to build up to the latter half of the book. I also had no idea what direction the story would go. Is it a thriller or is the story just about what happened to the three girls, Quincy, Sam and Lisa, and their life after they became the Final Girls? I was very curious about what would happen later in the story, so I kept on reading.

Halfway through the book I started really liking it. It was very intense and nerve wracking, and the book totally sucked me in. I couldn’t put it down, and I was eager to know what would happen at the end.

Even though the start was a bit slow, the book wasn’t bad and I really liked the ending. All in all I liked this book, and I gave it 3.5 stars.

I also want to mention that the whole premise with the Final Girls was very interesting. I have never heard someone use The Final Girls before, I’m not sure if this is something the author has made up or is something that is used in the real world.3-5stjerner

I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House UK, Ebury Publishing & Riley Sager for giving me a copy of this book.

❤ -Rakel

-Have You Read This Book?

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March 2017 To Be Read – Huge TBR

I have a huge TBR for this month because I couldn’t contain myself, all of these books just sounds so amazing. I don’t know how I will manage to finish all of these books in only 31 days. I don’t understand how some people can read 15+ books in just one month. 

2 of the books I have received from Netgalley

4 of the books fits the Beat The Backlist Challenge

1 of the books first the Dystopian Bingo


BOOKS I WANT TO CONTINUE READING


The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

I just about managed to start this in February. The premise of this books sound really interesting.


The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

I’m 43% into this book. I find this book a bit Boring, the story just don’t grab me. There is something about it though that makes me want to continue reading. It’s very easy to read, so I think I might just skim through it.


BOOKS I WANT TO START


Grave Peril by Jim Butcher

Book 3 in The Dresden Files

Every month I’m going to randomly pick one book from my Beat The Backlist Challenge list, that I have to read. This month I randomly generated the letter B, and I picked Grave Peril – book 3 in The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher to read.

Oh, I don’t know, I’m not in the mood for this book. I have to at least start it this month.


Starflight by Melissa Landers

Book 1 in Starflight

This is the new book club Underrated Book Club’s first book. I have had my eye on this book for a while, so I choose to join the book club. It is fun to read books with other. I’m also buddy reading this book with Rine from RineReads.wordpress.com, go check her out!

 

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Book 1 in Shatter Me

I have owned this on my Kindle for probably over a year now. It was very popular a couple of years ago, but I never picked it up. This will be my pick for a girl with a dress on the cover, for the Dystopian Bingo.

 

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

I received a review copy from Netgalley, and I’m so happy about that. I’m really pumped for this book, and can’t wait to read it. I LOVED Simon v.s the Homo Sapiens Agenda when I read it last summer. Since I loved her fist book, I have really high hopes for this one.


One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

This is also a review copy I received from Netgalley. This premise of this book sounds amazing, and I can’t wait to read it. I don’t think I have ever read a ya mystery novel before.

 

The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket

Book 8 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket

Book 9 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket

Book 10 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket

Book 11 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

Last month I read book 4-7 in this series. I want to finish all of the books this month, or at least read book 8-11. 

❤ -Rakel

-What Are You Planning To Read This Month?

-And Have You Read Any Of These Books?

February 2017 To Be Read

The plan was to not pick too many books for this month, because of my reading/blog pause in January. But guess what this TBR is on the larger side for me. I always over estimate myself with these TBR lists haha, but it is great to have different options. 


Books I Want To Continue Reading


The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Book 3 in The Gentleman Bastards

80% read. I am almost finished with this book. It is the last one in The Gentleman Bastards series that is currently out. I’m in LOVE with this series and this book, and I don’t want it to end. This book series, especially book 1 and 3 is incredible and have become my all time favorite books.


Morning Star by Pierce Brown

Book 3 in Red Rising

28% read. I took a break from this book because of the Biannual Bibliothon, and didn’t pick it up again. Now I want to continue reading this book and hopefully finish it in February. I really enjoy this series, and so far this book is really exciting.


Final Girls by Riley Sager

16% read. I received this book as an eArc from Netgalley. I don’t know what I feel about it yet, but I want to continue reading it.


Books I Want To Start


The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber

Every month I’m going to randomly pick one book from my Beat The Backlist Challenge list that I have to read. This month I randomly generated the letter F, and I picked The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber to read.


The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan 

Book 3 in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians

I need to have some books that is easy and fun to read this month. I really like this middle grade fantasy series and I bet a lot of you do too.


The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Book 4 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket

Book 5 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket

Book 6 in A Series of Unfortunate Events

The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket

Book 7 A Series of Unfortunate Events

I have so much fun reading this children’s series, even though I’m an adult and not the target audience for it. I really like the humor and the narrator in this series, and that the story often gets really dark. I wish I had read the books as a kid, I would probably be shit scared of Count Olaf and his companions. The books are really short so I’m planning on reading 4 of the books in February. I want to read all of the books in the series before I watch the new Netflix show.  


The Girl From Old Nichol by Betty Annand

I received this book as an eArc from Netgalley. I have started it (because this post is a bit late). I don’t know if I like it so far.


THE SNOW CHILD BY EOWYN IVEY

This book was on my TBR last month, but I didn’t pick it up. I hope to get to it this month. I really want to read it before the winter is over.


❤ -Rakel

-What Are You Planning To Read This Month?

-And Have You Read Any Of These Books?

Deadlight Jack – The Faceless One #2 by Mark Onspaugh

Deadlight Jack by Mark Onspaugh.jpgSeries: Book 2 in the The Faceless One

Expected publication: January 3rd 2017 by Hydra

Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Thriller, Suspense

Pages: 264

Language read: English

Format read: Earc

Rating: 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

Deadlight Jack synopsis: Worse things than gators lurk in the Louisiana swamp. . . . The author of The Faceless One fuses the twisted imagination of Fritz Leiber with the razor-sharp plotting of Joe Hill in this rollicking horror thriller.

Appearances can be deceiving. Take Jimmy Kalmaku. Anyone passing him on the streets of Lake Nisqually, Washington, would merely see an elderly man. But Jimmy is actually a powerful Tlingit shaman, with a link to the god Raven and a résumé that includes saving the world.

Or take his friend and roommate, George Watters. Another ordinary retiree, right? Wrong. Like Jimmy, George is more than he seems to be. He too has a link to the supernatural. He too has saved the world.

Then there’s Professor Foxfire—also known as Deadlight Jack. Dressed in the garb of a stage magician, he seems a figure of magic and fun. But he isn’t fun at all. He isn’t even human. And his magic is of the darkest and bloodiest kind.

When George’s grandson vanishes on a family vacation to the Louisiana bayou, George and Jimmy fly across the country to aid in the search. Once they arrive, family feuds and buried secrets bring George face-to-face with the ghosts of a forgotten past; Jimmy finds his powers wilting under the humid Southern sun; and deep in the swamp, Deadlight Jack prepares his long-awaited revenge.

-Penguinrandomhouse.com


My Thoughts


When I asked for this book on Netgalley I didn’t know it was a second book in a duology. But after reading a few reviews on Goodreads that said this book can be read as a standalone, I choose to read it because the synopsis sounded very interesting. They were right, you can read this book without reading book 1.

This Book Can Be Read As A Standalone!

In this book we read about the two best friends George and Jimmy. They are two men in their 70, living together and fighting supernatural cases. How awesome isn’t that? In this book George’s grandson goes missing, and the two old men goes on an adventure to find the missing boy.

For me the characters are the strength of this book, even though I also really like the story. The story is scary and interesting with lots of supernatural elements and characters. It also has a great atmosphere, especially at the ending. Spoiler Strike-through: How good was the part in the run down house at the ending, the atmosphere and setting was amazing.

I was so much fun reading about protagonists that is elderly, because I usually read books with younger characters.

I love the character George and Jimmy. George is African American and Jimmy is Native American. I love their chemistry and the interactions between them. It is so funny how much they argue and bicker, even though you know they have a great friendship and care for each other.

This book had some great character development, especially George. I wanted more character development on Jimmy, but I have the feeling that he had his parts in book one. I’m very curious about his past though especially because he is native American, so maybe I’ll read book one some time.

I really enjoyed the talk/story George had with Jimmy about his life. In this talk and throughout the book, racism was a theme that came up.

There is also two women who are married to each other and have children together, which I really liked. This book had some great diverse characters.

I rate this book 3.5 stars

3-5stjerner

I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

❤ -Rakel

Life Update #3

Life Update are personal posts I do once in awhile to update you on what’s been going on in my life recently. What I have been doing, my interests and what is currently happening in my life. You can find the other Life Update posts under “Personal” in the archives.

-My mom and dad is on a business trip to China with my dad’s brewery. They are there for over a week. Finally I got some alone time with my boyfriend, we have had some nice days for ourselves in the house.

-A little update on the blog design. I have made some new buttons for my social media. You can find them on the right side of the blog. Let me know if you like them.

-As you guys might know, I love The Sims games. The new expansion pack to the game City Living came out November 3rd, and I have been obsessed. Sims 4 now has apartments and a whole new beautiful world, the city San Mayshuno. It is so much fun to play! My sims has now moved to the big city and is renting an apartment. 

Mika’s apartment, the love interest for one of my sims. 

I also made an Indian inspired restaurant on one of the rooftops that came with the expansion

Wow this was a lot of Sims, but as you can see I have been playing it a lot lately.

-I made a profile on Netgalley to test it out. I have read my first book, Digital Idols. I didn’t really like the book though, but you can find the review here. I’m thinking about maybe reading one Netgalley book each month or something, I don’t know yet.

-It has been snowing a lot here in Norway this week. I really need some warm shoes and a new winter jacket. I think it’s weird that we always are shocked when the first snow is coming, like it happens every year. People haven’t changed the tires on their cars, even some police cars got stuck because of that.

-My grandfather’s funeral is today, he died earlier this week. I’m very sad he is gone and I can’t attend his funeral, It’s impossible for me to go. My grandparents live on the other side of the country and it is a 9 hour drive. I’ll be thinking about him a lot today.

-It was my birthday yesterday, I’m 24 now. I got a few books as presents, from my parents I got Gemina and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and a vegetable cooking book. Plus some other small things. From my boyfriend I got two notebooks, flowers and the book The Romanovs: 1613-1918. I also got some other things from friends etc. Thank you so much everyone for all the gifts.

-I’m having a little “party” tomorrow with some girlfriends. We are going to eat some good food and cake. I feel a bit weird about celebrating but I have been looking forward to it for so long because I haven’t celebrated my birthday in years.

-One last random thing. I fell in love with this blue bookcase from IKEA. The bookcase I’m using now is my parents and it is crammed full of books. I don’t know where to put this bookcase but I really want it. Actually I want it to be in my boyfriend’s apartment so I can have some of my things there. He doesn’t have the biggest apartment so I don’t think it will fit anywhere.

-What has happened in your life recently?