The Book Hour

As summer is coming to an end (*snivels into a tissue*) and I have a week left until I start college (*grabs twenty more tissues and bawls*), I thought it would be fun to do a kind of summer wrap-up and also mention a few of the books I have on my TBR for September. I had the longest summer of my life this year - two and a half months - and that meant SO MUCH READING TIME which made me a very happy bunny indeed (and also probably the most lazy/unproductive/detached from reality I’ve ever been but it’s totally excusable because who needs to go outside and interact with actual people when you have fictional worlds and coffee to fuel your life).

Rather than talk about all of the 33 books I read in the months of June, July and August, I’ve decided to just pick out my 7 favourites. I loved so many of the books I read over the summer but these few definitely stood out above the rest and are all now favourites of all-time.

So, in no particular order...


🥀  The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows …

✨ My rating:★★★

Published: 30 August 2018
Publisher:Gollancz (Orion Publishing Group)
Page count: 448
Recommended age: 13+
Genres: young adult, fantasy, historical✨




Synopsis ➹
Aranthur is a student. He showed a little magical talent, is studying at the local academy and is nothing particularly special. Others are smarter. Others are more talented. Others are quicker to pick up techniques. But none of them are with him when he breaks his journey home for the holidays in an inn. None of them step in to help when a young woman is thrown off a passing stage coach into the deep snow at the side of the road. And none of them are drawn into a fight to protect her. One of the others might have realised she was manipulating him all along...



❥ My Review
Cold Iron was one of those books that I wanted to be blown away by - the idea of dark magic and bloodthirst and violence in gloomy, candle-lit inns nestled in an epic historical fantasy world, all packaged nicely into a lovely thick paperback was music t…

✨ My rating: ★★★★
Publisher:Barrington Stoke
Published: 15 August 2018
Page count: 125
Reading age: 8 • Interest age: Teen
Genres: young adult, contemporary✨



Synopsis ➹
Ruby has had a lot of foster siblings over the years, but none of them have been anything like Clara. After growing up in almost complete isolation, Clara is distraught at being separated from her mother and overwhelmed by life in a world she doesn't understand. But the more Ruby tries to help Clara fit in, the more she realises she has to face up to some struggles of her own.

❥ My Review 
Wow, this book was so precious.

I was honestly really surprised by how much I enjoyed True Sisters - I rarely read novellas as I always feel like there’s a barrier between myself and the story, primarily because I just can’t form a strong connection with characters whose journey is over in under 200 pages. But while I wouldn’t necessarily say I was totally immersed and invested in this particularly story, there was something about it tha…

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor: My ReviewRating: 5/5 starsAs for fairy tales, he understood that they were reflections of the people who had spun them, and were flecked with little truths - intrusions of reality into fantasy, like toast crumbs on a wizard's beard. 
It's very rare for me to find a book that I just want to infuse into my soul and wrap around me like a warm blanket and makes me consider purchasing a second heart that functions only to love the characters and the universe of the story because my current heart can't contain it all. 
But guess what? I found one.  
I think it's relevant for me to point out that I dedicated entire days to reading this in bed, and I can confidently confirm that the best possible way this book can be read is while sipping a hot drink in soft candle lighting with rain pitter-pattering on the windows, and just utterly submerging yourself inside this world of blue-skinned goddesses and lost cities and dreamsmiths that just comple…

Caraval by Stephanie Garber: My ReviewRating: 2/5 starsEvery person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything. 
Caraval is probably my biggest disappointment of 2018 so far. With all the hype surrounding its release and the promise of similarities to The Night Circus, I was expecting great things - a dark whimsical circus-like setting, ambitious romantic characters, opulent prose - but unfortunately none of this was delivered and I'm not even going to waste my time picking up the sequel. 
I think a good word to describe how this "high fantasy" felt for me is juvenile, because nothing about the story was really defined. Most noticeably, the magic system was painfully underdeveloped and confusing; there was no explanations as to how or why these characters were able to use magic to overcome problems, or any limitations present, and although for me this isn't usually the biggest factor in a fantasy novel i…