Reading The Riot Act

Monday, 11 May 2015

Cover Reveal: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she's at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . .

She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen's triumphant return.
Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

I mean look at it. It's beautiful. Celaena looks fierce and like a Queen. This entire book and it's cover has me so excited! I love that this series actually incorporates a face as well. Most books cut off the face but this works. The red! Oh my god the red! Like blood and destruction and ...love?

TEAM CHAOL TIL I DIE!

Celaena has stolen my heart and I don't know what I could possibly say to explain my excitement.

Do you like it?

Happy Reading.

Sunday, 10 May 2015

sarah j maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Louise Wilkes 12:06:00 2

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

In the aftermath of a Fae vs Human deathmatch war, the world has gotten heavily into segregation. With Fae on their side of the wall and humans on theirs, co-existing together is never going to happen. Living in this world is human Feyre (Fay-ruh) a young woman who hunts in order to provide for her impoverish family. After finding a doe, Feyre sees a wolf after her catch and quickly takes its life in order to claim the doe for herself. Afterwards a beast shows up and demands retribution, a life for a life and without spoiling anything good for you, what follows is an enthralling love story based on Beauty and The Beast.

Feyre is our typical Sarah J. Maas heroine, which is a compliment I promise. Selflessness and strength paired with human imperfections but a desire to do whats right, yet with many entertaining opportunities to do wrong. Much Like Celaena (Like Selena but with an A) from Throne of Glass, Feyre is a badass, although doesn't seem like it at first. For the introductory half of the book, most is world and relationship building. The audience does get a sense that their is something being unsaid - or that just doesn't add up logically, which is down to the fantastic writing skill of Maas. She is ace as preemptive writing, she can suggest something and you won't even realise it until its to late, but back to Feyre. Feyre is a delight to read, she comes into herself and stands with such courage at the end of the novel that it is hard not to love her. Much like her TOG counterpart she also has to endure the terrible and inflict the terrible upon others and not only does she do it with dignity, she does it with remorse and a heaviness that I can imagine will run throughout the trilogy.

This book was far more romance based than I originally expected. The second half was primarily what I thought the entire book would be like but then it worked. ACOTAR doesn't follow typical fantasy techniques as it takes out INSTA-LOVE which permeates through YA literature these days. The reason the first half is slower and less action packed is because it is about the journey of falling in love, we know they will and it will be crucial to the story but pulling it out slowly and gently to a natural fall is such a beautiful and realistic way to write.

Not to mention Maas' romantic Acknowledgement to her husband:

As a girl also in love with a Josh, this is giving me all sorts of swoony.

In conclusion I didn't enjoy this as much as TOG, but I didn't expect to. I mean I connected with TOG so incredibly I tattooed words on my body. But this book is good in it's own right. Even if TOG never existed, this would still be a great book and worthy of a 4.5 star recommendation.

Happy Reading

Monday, 20 April 2015

review

Mind Games by Teri Terry

Louise Wilkes 13:23:00 0

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

Luna is a no-hoper with a secret: in a world of illusion, she can see what is real. But can she see the truth before it is too late?

Luna has always been able to exist in virtual and real worlds at the same time, a secret she is warned to keep. She hides her ability by being a Refuser: excluded by choice from the virtual spheres others inhabit. But when she is singled out for testing, she can’t hide any longer.

The safest thing to do would be to fail, to go back to a dead-end life, no future. But Luna is starting to hope for something better, and hope is a dangerous thing...

It's safe to say that after the impressive Slated series, Teri Terry holds some regard over me. I did in fact purchase this book with very little thought, I assumed, well it's her - I'll adore it. Won't i?

I'll paint you a picture, we are flung - FLUNG! into this dystopian, high-tech world where people no longer enjoy real life but more virtual reality from implants in their brains. Think Googleglass but more intrusive. Not the most original idea, but a sound one. Our protagonist is a Refuser. She has no implants nor goes around in the virtual world, making her a pariah of sorts. There's a whole lot of hacking and s'hacking mojo I'm not going to get into that is once again flung on you, but it kinda works. Terry doesn't ease you in - she throws you overboard without a life jacket and expects you to keep up. It's refreshing to have an author not patronise by over explaining. Terry assumes you can keep up and you will.

We've seen a painful amount of horrific dystopian/science fiction YA of late, everybody wants to be the next Hunger Games. This equals to publishers choking us with terrible rushed fiction aiming to make a few bucks from a trend, this in itself leaves reader with an unsettling dislike for certain genres that can take years to out wait. I still can't read anything with vampires- thanks Twilight! But Teri Terry has succeeded in making dystopian cool again, I remember why I was into it, the tension, the drama, the teenager taking down the mean adults. When this genre is done well it is DONE WELL! And I feel like I'm an excited child who just read Divergent for the first time and forgot why I enjoyed it so much. This book reminded me of that. It's about heading somewhere, being selfless and wanting to make the world better and more fair. Maybe adults and politicians should read YA dystopian fiction more, they'd learn a thing or two.

Overall I was into it, I didn't care that logically things didn't make scientific sense because the book was sure it made sense, it told me it did and I believed it. Luna is a delightful heroine who takes down even with a compassion and grace that would generally have her classed as an anti-feminist role or a weak woman but I wholeheartedly disagree. She is loved change from constant bloodbaths (speaking of which TOG4? Amiright?!) and girls depicted of being against each other. The love that doesn't work out and particularly the mother and daughter dynamic is very nice to read. I gave this book a full five stars and I highly recommend to anyone who's feeling a bit lost whenever they go in Waterstones and have no idea who all these new people are.

P.S It's a standalone. I can't begin to describe my sadness at this news.

Happy Reading.

Friday, 13 March 2015

review

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Louise Wilkes 11:26:00 0

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "the Duff," she throws her Coke in his face.
But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.
Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. And eventually, through this realization, Bianca begins to see how harmful her unhealthy way of dealing with her problems has been, and finds a way to confront them head on.

This book was a bit of a surprise for me. I initially picked it up due to the movie trailer looking delightfully fun, safe to say the plot is completely different to the movie adaptation. The DUFF follows Bianca, an interesting and refreshing teenager who begins having casual sex with the most popular boy in school.

It was a lot darker than I thought it would be. The story lines about divorce and sexually abusive relationships and alcoholism was really stunning to read about. I felt very well represented. I was a teenager once (I can't believe I just said that) and it took me right back to how it felt, and how you just do things without thinking. It was so realistic and really truthful, shockingly so. You can tell Keplinger wrote this during her senior year, it reeks of real life experience. It isn't an author remembering or pretending, it is pure, unadulterated adolescence and that's really refreshing.

I loved all the characters, I loved Bianca's friends though I did get them mixed up. I loved the random little tid bits and the ease of the reconciliation between Bianca and Wesley. It wasn't a ridiculous romantic gesture or even a self-conscious 'it's been a week so he's over me' kind of scenario, it was grown up and it was real.

The style flowed and was so easy to read. I engulfed it within one day. I meant to read a chapter or two and before I knew it, I had devoured 300 pages. I just had to know what was coming next. Every chapter ended on the perfect moment to make me start the next chapter. It was so easy to digest.

I don't know what else I can say. Do not get your hopes for an honest adaptation but read the book. Even when I didn't agree with what the characters were doing, I was still dying to know how it all ended. A stunner, I can't believe I waited this long to read it.

Happy Reading

Monday, 9 March 2015

I am a terrible writer

Louise Wilkes 12:32:00 0

So... hi.

I hope this isn't too awkward, me after almost a month, checking back in.
Safe to say I've been a little worse for wear recently. I don't mean to get serious or make excuses but life is hard. Books are escapism and I need them now more than ever.
I've been lost.
I still am I suppose.

I don't know where I'm going with this. Honestly I don't. I'm a shitty writer. I try to convey tone but who knows if it works. But this blog, this tiny little thing I've created and loved and sometimes even endured - I care about it. I'm finding it hard to care about anything, to not be swallowed up and drift away like I'm George Clooney in that space film.
I care about this page, this site, my books and thoughts and other peoples.
Maybe one person listens, maybe two, but as long as one person is willing to suffer through my ramblings and lets admit it, depressing posts, well then I'm gonna do it. I think I'd do it without anyone listening.

You don't care. I know that. I show up after how many weeks and at best you are mildly entertained by my posts. This page will go on and so will I. I will continue to mildly amuse you and maybe even embarrass myself a little. But if you take anything from anything I've written, it should be that I hope you've had a great day. I hope tomorrow is even kinder and I hope you marry someone you can't live without and everyday is like listening to your favorite song on a long sunlit drive.

Like I said, I am a terrible writer. And probably even a terrible reviewer.
But I'll still be here.
Over and out.

Wednesday, 11 February 2015

review

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Louise Wilkes 04:47:00 0

Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Imagine if she hadn’t forgotten the book. Or if there hadn’t been traffic on the expressway. Or if she hadn’t fumbled the coins for the toll. What if she’d run just that little bit faster and caught the flight she was supposed to be on. Would it have been something else - the weather over the Atlantic or a fault with the plane?

Hadley isn’t sure if she believes in destiny or fate but, on what is potentially the worst day of each of their lives, it’s the quirks of timing and chance events that mean Hadley meets Oliver...

Set over a 24-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver’s story will make you believe that true love finds you when you’re least expecting it.

Having previously published two young adults novels in the US (The Comeback Season and You Are Here) as well as working as an editor in New York City, it is without a doubt that Smith has the credentials to be an excellent YA author. Her latest novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight is a heartwarming and charming story that's title does not do it justice.

Seventeen year old protagonist Hadley misses her flight with four minutes to spare and is then thrust into an adorably meet-cute that does not stop being cute throughout the novel. For this story the title is perfect, sweet and romantic but with any excellent rating worthy YA novel there are underlying plots and issues that give this book a beautiful new dimension. Hadley is travelling to her estranged Father's wedding to the women he left her mother for (that was a mouthful) and Oliver is on the way to his semi- abusive Father's funeral.

This is what makes this story so captivating, watching a closed off couple lost and scared fill a six hour flight with banter and laughter and joy and find comfort in one another. Both characters learn the importance of love and seeing Hadley make her peace with her Father's choices is far more beautiful and important to me than if she ends up with the boy. This book is about opening up, in the most innocent, enchanting way of opening to another person even after you've been hurt and realising that the hurt isn't worth holding onto.

As I said, the title does not do this book justice.

Happy Reading.