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Showing posts with the label YA

[book-review] Adrienne Young - Namesake

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  After finishing Fable I was eager to get book two. Thankfully I ordered it when I started book one so it arrived earlier than expected and only about a week after I had finished the first book in the duology by Adrienne Young. Because you and I have cursed ourselves, Fable. We will always have something to lose. I knew it that day in Tempest Snare when I kissed you. I knew it in Dern when I told you that I loved you. Here's the official synopsis and then tell me that it doesn't sound good and you don't want to grab it and read it. With the Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and the rest of the crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when Fable becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination, she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems. As Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and deception, she learns that the secrets her mother took to he...

[book-review] Adrienne Young - Fable

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Two days ago I finished this marvelous book.  Two days ago I finished Fable by Adrienne Young. “My father had always told me that seabirds were the souls of lost traders. To turn them away or not give them a place to land or nest was bad luck.” I brought this ages ago because I heard so many good things about it. Well I read something else entirely and was just sick of this and grabbed something different. My choice was Fable . And it manged to pull me out of my reading slump I was stuck in for weeks now. “Nothing was what it seemed. Every truth was twisted. Every lie carefully constructed.” The story starts at Jeval - an island with smugglers and thieves - and 17 year old Fable who stranded there four years ago. Stranded there after her father - famous trader - Saint, left here there because "she wasn't made for this life". The life at sea. But Fable does everything  to survive and go back to her father to prove him wrong. To claim a spot at his side.  She trades wit...

[book-review] Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé - Ace of Spades

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1st June 2021 was the day! The day this masterpiece  (and I really can't think of another word for it) was finally released into the world. First let me give you the official synopsis...  When two Niveus Private Academy students, Devon Richards and Chiamaka Adebayo, are selected to be part of the elite school’s senior class prefects, it looks like their year is off to an amazing start. After all, not only does it look great on college applications, but it officially puts each of them in the running for valedictorian, too. Shortly after the announcement is made, though, someone who goes by Aces begins using anonymous text messages to reveal secrets about the two of them that turn their lives upside down and threaten every aspect of their carefully planned futures. As Aces shows no sign of stopping, what seemed like a sick prank quickly turns into a dangerous game, with all the cards stacked against them. Can Devon and Chiamaka stop Aces before things become incredibly deadly? L...

[book-review] R.F.Kuang - The Poppy War (The Poppy War Series 1)

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I brought The Poppy War  by R.F. Kuang last year in autumn. I saw it on Instagram and did some research on it and thought "this sounds interesting, let's order it". Only to read it over the last three weeks and to finish it on Monday. I've one word for it: brilliant! “If there is a divine creator, some ultimate moral authority, then why do bad things happen to good people? And why would this deity create people at all, since people are such imperfect beings?”  The story starts with a young girl, Rin, who's living in the south of Nikan with abusive foster parents. She's a war orphan and supposed to marry an opium dealer. She's out of the way with this and the Fangs - her foster parents, who are also dealers - will have full control over their opium business in their village with this arranged marriage. But Rin has own plans. She manages to convince the Fangs to try taking part in the Keju to study at one of the Academies in the country to get away. Her goal...

[book-review] Chloe Gong - These Violent Delights

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  “The stars incline us, they do not bind us.” I finished this book about an hour ago and I'm once more ruined. My feelings are ruined by a book. Probably my fav so far this year.  Definitely 5/5 stars!  But let me tell you how it came to this...  I brought this book last November for myself as a birthday present (yes I do that). It sat in my shelve for ages, never coming around to read it, although I just heard good things and the cover is just stunning, it sat there and waited. Waited for the moment I'd pick it up. The moment was this Tuesday, shortly before my parents arrived for lunch. I didn't really get around to read it that day, only the prologue and it intrigued me. Since I had a massive headache on Wednesday, I didn't even picked it up for two days an the madness started on Friday when I finally picked it up again. And I couldn't put it down! It took me a few chapters to get into Chloe Gong's writing style but I absolutely loved it! She's really go...

[book review] Carolyn Denman - Songlines

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. After a month I finally finished Songlines by Carolyn Denman. And I've one word: brilliant! But let me first tell you how it came to me reading this.  Big shoutout to the wonderful @OdysseyBooks on Twitter for sending me the e-book to read. They are a small publishing house in New Zealand and support new and unknown authors. If you want please visit their Twitter under mentioned @ above, or their website odysseybooks.com.au .  I started to read it and loved it immediately but you all know that I truly struggle with time at the moment since I'm working 7-days a week now. Luckily I'm sick for the second week (back problems) and I finally managed to continue with some books I had started. Also Songlines . I read it in one sitting yesterday and I'm curious of how the story will continue since there are 3 more books at the moment of "The Sentinels of Eden" series by Carolyn Denman.  Carolyn Denman grew up in Melbourne and completed  a Bachelor of Science at the U...