Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins
Series: Rebel Belle #1
Publisher: Speak
Publication Date: March 3rd 2015
Source: Gifted

Harper Price, peerless Southern belle, was born ready for a Homecoming tiara. But after a strange run-in at the dance imbues her with incredible abilities, Harper's destiny takes a turn for the seriously weird. She becomes a Paladin, one of an ancient line of guardians with agility, super strength and lethal fighting instincts.

Just when life can't get any more disastrously crazy, Harper finds out who she's charged to protect: David Stark, school reporter, subject of a mysterious prophecy and possibly Harper's least favorite person. But things get complicated when Harper starts falling for him—and discovers that David's own fate could very well be to destroy Earth.

Brittany was lovely enough to send me a signed copy of Rebel Belle when Rachel Hawkins did a signing near her, and we decided to buddy read it since we hadn't done one of them in a while. I failed at the buddy read and finished two days later than Brittany due to my iZombie obsession (I freaking LOVE that show!). Anyways, Rebel Belle follows Harper Price. Harper is a perfectionist and has been looking forward to being crowned Homecoming Queen. But after she finds herself in the middle of a fight in the school bathroom, she becomes a Paladin - an ancient guardian with awesome fighting skills. And, on top of being an ancient guardian, it turns out her task is to protect David Stark - Harper's least favourite person ever.

Rebel Belle was a really funny, light and enjoyable read. I really liked Harper. Even though she could be very over the top sometimes when it came to being perfect, she was an extremely likeable character. She doesn't really want to accept her role as a Paladin to begin with - but who would? - and she struggles with the fact that if she does, she'll basically have to give up her life and her plans to protect David. She's also struggling with people comparing her to her sister, and she's desperate to do something that will make people see her as herself.

I really love the story-line in Rebel Belle. I loved getting to see Harper train to become a Paladin. She could be so fierce when she wanted to be! I also actually just loved getting a glimpse into Cotillion and all that kind of stuff. I never really understood Cotillion, but I did love reading about it and seeing how much it meant to Harper. Getting into the whole Paladin/Oracle story was extremely interesting. Hearing from David's aunt about how it all came about and why male oracles are hunted was intriguing and I loved seeing them uncovering more about themselves.

Romance-wise, Harper's boyfriend Ryan has to be one of the most patient guys ever. Harper was constantly disappearing and lying to him, and at one point, she actually attacked him (not entirely her fault). But if I'd been him, I'd have given up on Harper loooong before he did. However, I did really love her relationship with David. It was obvious the had chemistry, but they were so focused on hating each other and then sorting out the Paladin/Oracle thing that it took a while for them, but I did really love them together.

The ending was slightly predictable, but also extremely intriguing as it left off in a situation that is probably going to be super awkward! I really need to get my hands on Miss Mayhem!

Head Over Heels by Holly Smale

Head Over Heels by Holly Smale
Series: Geek Girl #5
Publisher: Harper Collins Children's Books
Publication Date: April 7th 2016
Source: Netgalley [Publisher]

Harriet Manners knows almost every fact there is.

She knows duck-billed platypuses don’t have stomachs. 
She knows that fourteen squirrels were once detained as spies. 
She knows that both chess and snakes and ladders were invented in the same country.

And for once, Harriet knows exactly how her life should go.She’s got it ALL planned out. So her friends seem less than happy, Harriet is determined to Make Things Happen! If only everyone else would stick to the script…

But is following the rules going to break hearts for GEEK GIRL?

Head Over Heels was another fantastic installment in the Geek Girl series. Ever since I read the first book back in 2013, it became one of my favourite series and I'm always dying to get my hand son the next book to see what Harriet is up to next!

Oh how I adore Harriet! She's so funny and awkward, and she just makes these books so easy to read and love. Again, I loved her constantly spouting facts and just being her general geeky self. She just makes these books so funny and I adore her.

Harriet is a serial planner, and she decides to take it into her own hands to plan all of the meetings with her friends. She has everything mapped out and tries to make all of her friends follow her plans, but her friends are less than happy with her. Also, Harriet finally does something unselfish for once! Go Harriet! Wilbur is in a bad place and Harriet does whatever she can to help him out.

Harriet is still getting over 'Lion Boy' - who I was hoping would appear - but there's also a new relationship brewing that Harriet can't see. She was so oblivious and it was so obvious to the reader and I just wanted her to figure it out!

I adore all of Harriet's friends, and I loved that Rin made an appearance in this one too! She was brilliant in Model Misfit, so I loved getting to see more of them together.

I need the sixth book like now! Harriet is going to have an amazing time in Australia, and I'm anticipating a Nick appearance? Yes? GIVE IT TO ME NOW.

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Series: No
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens
Publication Date: May 5th 2016
Source: Bought

Andie has a plan. And she always sticks to her plan.

Future? A top-tier medical school. Dad? Avoid him as much as possible (which isn’t that hard considering he’s a Congressman and he’s never around). Friends? Palmer, Bri, and Toby—pretty much the most awesome people on the planet, who needs anyone else? Relationships? No one’s worth more than three weeks.

So it’s no surprise that Andie’s got her summer all planned out too.

Until a political scandal costs Andie her summer pre-med internship, and lands both she and Dad back in the same house together for the first time in years. Suddenly she’s doing things that aren’t Andie at all—working as a dog walker, doing an epic scavenger hunt with her dad, and maybe, just maybe, letting the super cute Clark get closer than she expected. Palmer, Bri, and Toby tell her to embrace all the chaos, but can she really let go of her control?

Morgan Matson very quickly became one of my favourite authors after I read Amy & Roger. It's still one of my all time favourite books, so whenever she has a new book coming out, I need to get a hold of it ASAP. So I picked this one up in London and read a third of it on my flight back up to Glasgow. It's the perfect summer read, and I completely adored it.

The Unexpected Everything follows Andie. Andie has her whole summer planned out. She's heading off to do her pre-med internship to get herself away from her dad and all of his political business. But when a political scandal costs Andie her internship, both her and her dad will be spending summer in their house together for the first time in years. Andie is determined to find something to do with her summer, she comes across a vague job advert which leads to her walking dogs for the summer. After a run in with a super cute guy and his dog, Andie begins to let herself go and finally start to loosen up. 

The Unexpected Everything is the perfect summer read. Andie doesn't like to get too attached to any guy she dates. She keeps everything low key and doesn't get too personal with them. She was struggling with putting on a perfect front around her father when she hasn't spent quality time with him in years. She's harboring a lot of hate towards her father and isn't looking forward to spending the summer with him, I really liked Andie, although she did have her moments when I'd have loved to shake some sense into her. She's been struggling ever since her mothers death and because her father was absent, she built up a lot of resentment towards him. 

I completely adored Andie and her best friends: Palmer, Bri and Toby. I adored getting to see the four of them together. They were so close and I just loved getting to see them hang out. Their text conversations were hilarious! Especially Toby with her emojis! 

So obviously it's never a contemporary without a bit of romance - enter Clark (cute guy with dog). Andie runs into him a couple of times when he's out walking his dog and he calls the dog walking company that Andie works for in the hopes of seeing her again. They don't get off on the right foot during their first date because of all of Andie's rules, but as the summer goes on, Andie begins to loosen up and their relationship blossomed. I completely adored Clark. He was slightly older than Andie, and he was a published fantasy novel author! He was just so adorable and awkward, and super sweet. I loved them together.

I also loved getting to see Andie and her dad rebuilding their relationship. At first, it was very strained between them and neither of them knew what they were doing. But as the book progressed and they began spending more time with each other, their relationship began to rebuild itself. Her dad was determined to do whatever he could to get to know his daughter, and he realised how much his political career had been affecting them both.

The bromance between Tom (Palmer's boyfriend) and Clark was brilliant. They hit it off straight away - mainly because Tom is a totally fanboy and loves Clark's books - but also because they had so much in common. It was really nice to see Tom with a friend since he's around the girls so much. He finally had someone he could goof around with.

The scavenger hunt was probably one of my favourite parts of the whole book. It was just a lot of fun and it made me want to get all of my friends together and do something like that. It just looked so amazing.

The Unexpected Everything was an amazing summer read. Matson did it again! I'll probably re-read this one every summer along with Amy & Roger. I completely adored it.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #2
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens
Publication Date: May 3rd 2016
Source: Bought 

Feyre survived Amarantha's clutches to return to the Spring Court – but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can't forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms – and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future – and the future of a world cleaved in two.

A Court of Mist and Fury was probably my most anticipated release of 2016. I read ACOTAR waaaay back in November 2014 and I have been DYING to get my hands on it for quite a while. 

So, ACOMAF picks up after Feyre has defeated Amarantha and headed back to the Spring Court with Tamlin. She is determined to show her people her strength, but Tamlin wants to protect her and keep her safe.

My feelings towards Tamlin began to very quickly change. He was being extremely controlling and was suffocating Feyre. The minute he blew up and destroyed the study was the moment my feelings did a complete 180 and I ended up hating him. I couldn't believe how he was treating her, and no matter how many time she tried to explain how she felt/get him to allow her some freedom, he locked her down again. And the ward to keep her in the house? Don't even get me started.

Now Feyre on the other hand, to begin with she had completely changed. She was becoming complacent with how Tamlin was treating her and I couldn't believe this was the same girl who had taken down Amarantha. She had completely lost her badassness and I wanted to shake some sense into her. However, once she had managed to escape from Tamlin, she started to blossom. She became the badass Feyre I knew and loved.

Now Rhys was the character I was most looking forward to getting to know. He was so mysterious in ACOTAR, and his very abrupt disappearance at the end left me extremely intrigued and I couldn't wait to find out more about him. Rhys uses his deal with Feyre to get her out of difficult situations and give her some breathing space, but when it really matters, Rhys gets her out for good. I completely adore Rhys. He's alluring, confident and a bit of a jackass, but he's just totally amazing. He's got a sweet side to him that he hides as it allows him to appear fierce and be feared, so that he can keep people from finding out his secret.

So Feyre and Rhys's relationship was my favourite part of the book. The chemistry between them was unbelievable. Their banter was basically what I lived for. I adored how they complimented each other and how Rhys wouldn't take any of Feyre's shit and made her see she didn't need to be a wallflower. He gave her opportunities and allowed her to embrace her power instead of hiding it. 

I also adored the rest of Rhys's Night Court. Cassian, Azriel, Mor and Amren were all amazing. I loved their dynamic and how they just accepted Feyre as one of their own, and I just loved them all.

The whole "trying to stop the bad guy from taking over the world" storyline was done extremely well. There was a hell of a lot of action, and I just adored going on adventures with Feyre, Rhys and the rest of the Night Court. 

And then there was the ending... OH MY GOD. OH MY GOOOOOOD. Like, I did not see any of that coming AT ALL. Not only was it an extremely shocking ending, it left me completely bawling my eyes out. It ending in such a cruel and heartbreaking way, and I just desperately NEED to get my hands on book 3!

May-July Wrap Up

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've had a post on this blog. So this seems to be the month that I've started to get out of my slump. I've got reviews written and scheduled for the whole of August and I'm getting there with September as well, so fingers crossed this is me on my way back!

So this is probably going to be a pretty big post. I haven't done a wrap up since the end of April, so there's a lot to catch up on.

May

In May I celebrated my 23rd Birthday, had two weeks off from work and headed off to London for the 3rd time. I completely adore London and of course, while I was there, I couldn't not revisit the Harry Potter Studio Tour due to the addition of the Hogwarts Express! I also went up to tour The Tower of London for the first time, visited the Natural History museum and did a couple of football stadium tours because that's what the fiance wanted to do. And then on the final day we happened across the BAFTA's and I met the lovely Katherine Ryan. I also got to see Busted live twice in Glasgow! Busted were my favourite band when I was younger, so I was super excited to see them back together. 

May was a good month for reading as well. In May I read 10 books.

1. Tangled by Emma Chase

2. Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

3. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

4. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

5. Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

6. The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout

7. Wrong Number, Right Guy by Elle Casey

8. Do You Remember the First Time? by Jenny Colgan

9. Charged by Jay Crownover

10. Addicted After All by Becca and Krista Ritchie

A Court of Mist and Fury was by far my favourite book in May.

June

June was a bit of a quieter month. Back to work and all that. I saw some pretty good movies in June as well: Nice Guys - brilliant, hilarous, and Matt Bomber as a villain <3; Me Before You - I sobbed my heart out; The Boss - extremely funny! I managed to read 9 books in June which I was pretty happy with. 

1. Fuel the Fire by Becca and Krista Ritchie

2. Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

3. Christmas with Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

4. Always with Love by Giovanna Fletcher

5. Sunny Side Up by Holly Smale

6. The Summer After You and Me by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

7. On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

8. Settling the Score by R. S. Grey

9. He Will Be My Ruin by K. A. Tucker

He Will Be My Ruin just had to be my faourite book. Nothing else I read in June came anywhere close to this one.

July

July was a quieter month again. Didn't really do much. Spent more of the time inside due to the awful weather here. I got completely addicted to Pokemon Go because I was determined to beat my fiance at it - which I did! Haha! I saw quite a few movies this month: Absolutely Fabulous - which was hilarious; Central Intelligence - another one that was hilarous; The Neon Demon - very strange and weird, I may be scarred for life after it; Now You See Me 2 - AMAZING; Ghostbusters - really enjoyed it, a lot better than I thought it would be and Jason Bourne - boring, too much action not enough story, fell asleep. In July I read 9 books (3 of which were re-reads). I also kicked off my full series re-read of Rachel Caine's Morganville Vampires which I can't wait to work my way through again!

1. Trust in Me by Sophie McKenzie

2. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick (re-read)

3. Truly, Madly, Deadly by Hannah Jayne

4. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

5. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (re-read)

6. Did I Mention I Miss You? by Estelle Maskame

7. Glass Houses by Rachel Caine (re-read)

8. Torn by Jennifer L. Armentrout

9. Game by Barry Lyga

Game was by far my favorite book of the month. I Hunt Killers was really good, but Game took Jasper's story to the next level and it was fantastic! I need to get book 3 right now since this ended on a pretty big cliffhanger!

Let me know how you got on in July and what your favourite book of the month was!

April Wrap Up

Hello everyone! I know it's been quite a while since I've posted, but this year has just been a terrible year for me so far and I just lost all motivation to blog and read. But today marks the first day of my two week holiday from work and I'm planning to get quite a lot of reviews written and scheduled - because I have A LOT to catch up on.

Anyways, in April I met Cassandra Clare - which wasn't as great as I'd been expecting. I'm not going to get into it, but she lives up to her reputation. I also saw 3 movies in the cinema this month: The Boy - good, not scary, but did have a unexpected twist at the end; Eye in the Sky - amazing. Totally and utterly amazing; The Jungle Book - considering I never really liked The Jungle Book as a child, the live action version is really good. 

Book-wise, I managed to read 9 books in April. I'm pretty happy with that considering I got off to a very slow start and couldn't get into anything.

My favourite book of the month would have to be Undecided by Julianna Keyes. I was debating between this and TPWF, but ultimately, I liked the relationship more in Undecided, so it came out on top.

So, on Thursday I'm heading back to London for a couple of days, so hopefully I'll managed to get some posts written before I go. And I'll be spending the rest of my two weeks off relaxing. 

So, that's my April wrap up! Let me know in the comments what you're favourite book you read in April was!

The Fable of Us by Nicole Williams

The Fable of Us by Nicole Williams
Series: No
Publisher: Nicole Williams
Publication Date: February 2nd 2016
Source: Bought

Her heart can’t be destroyed by the same person twice. At least that’s what Clara Abbot finds herself hoping when she runs into Boone Cavanaugh less than an hour after returning to Charleston.

As kids, Clara and Boone had been each other’s firsts, and no one or nothing could stand in the way of their forever. But all kids have to grow up sometime. The troubled son of the town drunk winding up with the firstborn daughter of the local royalty was a happy ending even the most imaginative of fairy tales couldn’t make believable.

Their fable came to an end as most do: tragically. Boone might have done the leaving, but it was Clara who got away and made a new life for herself in California. But after seven years of dodging her hometown, she’s only back in Charleston for seven days to celebrate her sister’s wedding. She won’t let her overbearing family or her run-in with Boone rattle her—though rattling her is obviously Boone’s primary objective.

Boone is her past and her past is behind her, a mere speck in the rearview. So why does she feel it coming back every time she looks at him? Why does she see it every time he looks back?

Just when Clara’s life can’t possibly get more complicated, the ground shifts, and she discovers just how far her family was willing to go to keep the wrong boy out of her life. Was it really Boone who left her? Or was it Clara who left him?

The truth will be hard to face. Especially when she discovers most of her life has been built on lies.

The Fable of Us was a huge disappointment. I've read two of Nicole Williams series - Lost & Found and Crash - both of which I loved, so when I heard she had a new book coming out, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it! But unfortunately, this book turned out to be a major disappointment.

The Fable of Us follows Clara and Boone. Clara escaped from Charleston years ago and had no intention of returning. But as her sister is getting married, Clara has to step into her past once again and is dreading every second of it. And as soon as she turns up in Charleston, she runs into her old sweetheart Boone. Things with Boone were left on a bad note, and he clearly dislikes Clara. But Clara offers him a deal he can't resist - pretend to be her plus one for the wedding and she'll give him $10,000. 

I didn't like Clara or Boone, or any of the characters in the book really. Clara comes across all high and mighty, thinking she's better than her family because she's the only 'normal' one. Boone is just a complete ass. Both of them are terrible people and they both have awful families, Clara's is definitely the worst, and there's nothing redeeming about any of them.

Clara and Boone's relationship basically fell apart due to them being told things by other people, believing said things and never actually speaking to one another about anything. It was completely frustrating hearing about their past and what happened between them, and I honestly couldn't believe how stupid they both were for not even speaking to each other. It was ridiculous.

Overall, The Fable of Us was a major disappointment, and I'm actually pretty sad about writing this review because I was so convinced I was going to love this book. But unfortunately not.