Hawk : review

Hawk by James Patterson

*ARC kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!*

SUMMARY
A story for a new generation of Maximum Ride fans! Max's 17-year-old daughter Hawk is growing up hard and fast in post-apocalyptic New York City . . . until a perilous destiny forces her to take flight.

Goodreads' link to the book!

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Firstly I've never read any maximum ride books before, but wanted to give this a go. So if you want to know how it compares, or if it makes justice to the original - read someone else's review.

I think that there would've been plenty of Easter eggs for readers of the original series, but I wasn't confused - even though some things were written as if the reader already knew about it.

In the beginning I really wondered about the target audience and age group, and since the main character, Hawk, is a teen I went with that. When I started reading I agreed, with some "obvs" and even an emoji, in at least the ARC (advanced review copy), but as the book progressed I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe it has to do with the murders and swearing (at least insinuated swearing) - or maybe I'm getting old.

Stars: ✦✦✦✦✧

So as usual, I'll tell 4.0 things I liked about the book and 1.0 thing I didn't like.

+/- 0.5 | Believe-ability, but again taking into consideration the target audience.

+/- 0.5 | Characters, a whole variety (and lots!) of them.
And not to say I was overwhelmed with the amount of characters, but maybe if I'd read the previous books I wouldn't have felt like I needed more from some of them?

+1 | World and world building. Especially since it was a new one to me, I found it quite fascinating.

+1 | Writing, story arch and speed 

+1 | Plot and basically entertainment value. I can definitely see why his books are so popular, I feel like I just flew through it!

Read on lovelies,

S

Turn of the Key : Review

Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

SUMMARY

When she stumbles across the advert, she's looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss: a live-in nanny position, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten by the luxurious 'smart' home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn't know is that she's stepping into a nightmare - one that will end with a child dead and her in a cell awaiting trial for murder.

She knows she's made mistakes. But, she maintains, she's not guilty - at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Goodreads' link to the book!
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I heard about it from Kayla @BooksAndLala, and was immediately intrigued when I heard what it's about!
So what did I think?

Stars: ✦✦✦✦.5

So as usual, I'll tell 4.5 things I liked about the book and 0.5 thing I didn't like.

+1 | The writing. Though done through letters to a lawyer,  I kept forgetting it. That's how immersed I was in the story telling. Also everything written is intertwined and for a reason, like a classic Agatha Christie

+0.75/-0.25 | The characters, an array of different characters. Keep in mind that the main character isn't exactly one you'd root for

+1 | The atmosphere. Partly due to writing, partly characters, but mostly the way things are planned out and happen. The pacing was also so well executed

+1 | Plot twists galore. And not just the basic who-done-it, but also even the fact that we don't know who dies for so long. Then there's the characters, reasons, meanings...

+0.75/-0.25 | The ending. It was wonderfully done, and I also think what happened was told brilliantly. But I would've loved to know a bit more after the end. Then again I enjoyed speculating myself.
Also the feeling of realization and thinking back with the thoughts of how did I not see that - that's the good one.

Read on lovelies,

S

Read This Quarter I

What I read this quarter, Quarter I

January, February and March

- - -
1. Book Love          Non-fiction graphic novel ✦✦✦✦✧
2. Meremaid's Voice Returns in This One          poetry REVIEWED ✦✦✦✧✧
3. Paddingtonista 16.50 (16:50 From Paddington)          audiobook ✦✦✦✧✧
- - -
4. Kuolema niilillä (Death on the Nile)          audiobook ✦✦✦.75✧
5. Lukitut ovet (Turn of the Key)          audiobook REVIEWED ✦✦✦✦.5

Statistics:

Author:

         100 % female

Genre:

         20 % graphic novel,

         20 % poetry,

         60 % crime

Pages:

       1 193 p

Format:

         60 % audio books,

         40 % physical books

Average:

         3.65

*For more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

Ultimate YA books Tier List Maker

The "Ultimate YA books Tier List Maker" has been going around the internet for a while now, and as a list lover, I just want to jump on the bandwagon.

I changed the tiers around a bit for my liking, and wanted to do this in three steps:

1st round: rank them based on how you feel

2nd round: rank them based on your star ratings

3rd round: compare to the cumulative average rankings

Because the thing is, some of these books I've read ages ago - and even if I loved them then, maybe I don't think so highly of them anymore when compared to others? I guess we shall see

ROUND 1:
>> It looks more like a linear growth than the bell curve I was hoping for

 >> Starting from the bottom:
- In bad tier everything is 1-2 stars except Eleanor and Park, Every Day, All the Bright Places and Looking for Alaska are 3 stars
- In okay tier everything is from 3,5-4 stars with Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Shatter Me and The Book Thief being 3 stars and Three Dark Crowns being 2,5
- In good tier everything is again between 3,5-4
- In great tier everything is between 4-4,5
- In best tier everything is between 4,5-5

ROUND 2:
 >> Actually quite a bit of moving things around with everything staying put or shifting up or down by 1, except ACoTaR by 2

ROUND 3:

  >> Now this is different with Anna and the French Kiss, The Wrath and the Dawn, Percy Jackson moving the most
And then all the other books I haven't read, from which Cruel Prince, Darker Shade of Magic and Simon vs the Homosapien Agenda are the top rated ones

Link to the TierMaker list here: https://tiermaker.com/create/ultimate-ya-books-series-155444

Not sure who the creator is, but here's the first one I saw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfmCUZVRLMA

Read on lovelies,

S

The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One : Review

The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One by Amanda Lovelace

SUMMARY
The third and final installment in her "women are some kind of magic" series.

Goodreads' link to the book!

My review of the first two: link

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Stars: ✦✦✦✧✧

So what did I think?

It's no secret that I don't tend to read poetry - that is I think I've ever read a handful. And even though I didn't love the first two, I wanted to continue on to the third installment - which even though I didn't love either I'm glad I read.

Maybe I don't read poetry because only a few within the book really get to me, but the ones that do are really impactful. This is why I feel funny giving this a star rating, because there were some hits and some misses. And poetry as a whole is so dependent of the reader, so even though I didn't give it the best rating I'd still recommend you to try it.

For my favorite poems (and quotes) you can check my Goodreads quote list (link)

+1 | It also included poetry from other guest authors!


> I would caution you when reading them, there are some trigger warnings on the very first page.

Read on lovelies,

S

THE BIRTHDAY BOOK TAG

My birthday was this week, so I thought I'd answer this tag even though last week I also posted one. But hey, my birthday!

1 – BIRTHDAY CAKE – a book with a plot that seems cliche but you adore it anyway

The Selection: The one series that honestly isn't that good, but I still enjoy rereading

2 – PARTY GUESTS – your most anticipated book release this year

My Calamity Jane: And side note, also super excited about the "Mary" series the authors are also going to start doing!

3 – BIRTHDAY PRESENTS – a book that surprised you with how much you loved it

A Natural History of Dragons: Something about it intrigued me, even though overall it didn't exactly feel like a book for me, but I am so happy I ended up reading

4 – THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY SONG – a book that certainly deserved all the hype it got

Harry Potter: I don't think I need to explain myself further

5 – HAPPY MUSIC – a book with some very beautiful and truly memorable quotes

Divergent: This was a hard question, and I'm not exactly sure about my answer either

6 – GETTING OLDER – a book that you read a long time ago, but you think that you would appreciate it more if you read it as a more mature reader

Classics: There are some books that I used to love and think that if I read them now I'd really dislike, but this one I think I'd appreciate more classics now

7 – SWEET BIRTHDAY MEMORIES – a book that kept you incredibly happy during a sad or demanding period of your life

Harry Potter: I feel like this is the only answer I could give, since jumping into that world is just nostalgic and can take me back and away

- - -

And just as an added fun fact, I make my own cake every year. And pretty much every year it's something different. This year I went with red velvet.

Read on lovelies,

S

History of My Bookshelf TAG

History of My Bookshelf TAG

For this tag I went with books I own, most as physical books and some as ebooks. For questions 2-8 the first one title is a book I read which was published that particular year, and the second a book I read that year, but wasn't published that year.

1. The oldest book on your shelf Owned the longest: Elli

2. A book you read in 2013 United We Spy, Graceling

3. A book you read in 2014 Isla and the Happily Ever After, Emma

4. A book you read in 2015 The Fill-In Boyfriend, Assassin's Curse

5. A book you read in 2016 The Rose and the Dagger, Cinder and Ella

6. A book you read in 2017 Geekerella, My Lady Jane

7. A book you read in 2018 The Kiss Quotient, Renegades

8. A book you read in 2019 Humble Pi, A Natural History of Dragons

9. A book you’ve read more than once Babe

10. A book you waited over a year to be published My Plain Jane (and I'm eagerly waiting for the next one!)

11. A book you read on vacation/away from home Crazy Rich Asians

12. A book you got from someplace special (anything that’s not your local bookstore/online retailer) Torch Against the Night (signed copy from a store in the US)

13. A book you that made you cry If I Stay

14. A book you read in one sitting Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

15. A book that was a gift Andersen Classic Fairy Tales collection

16. A book you read before owning (library, borrowed from a friend)
If I Stay

17. A book you lent to someone else
Snow Like Ashes

18. A book that has been damaged Dear John

19. A book you got on sale/discounted Illustrated Harry Potter

20. A book you read with someone else (buddy read/read with a book club) Some John Green books for the #TurtlesAlltheWayCountDown by Penguin Random House, though I never ended up reading Turtles All the Way Down...

21. A book you associate with a song The Hunger Games

22. A book you associate with a food This was the hardest one! Heartless would be a good one with all it's baking creations, but I don't own that anymore. Something else would be Harry Potter with it's magical treats, or maybe the first Gallagher Girls book and tea?

23. A book you got years ago that you probably wouldn’t buy now The Assassin's Blade

24. A book you associate with a specific time in your life The Infernal Devices

25. A book you used to like, but don’t anymore I make it a point to not own them!

26. The newest book on your shelf
A Natural History of Dragons, but I also have the fourth illustrated Harry Potter on its way

Read on lovelies,

S