Books. Cats. Nonsense.
Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Steven Erikson's newest book, Rejoice, a Knife to the Heart. This thrilling sci-fi novel is out in UK stores today! I'm so pleased to be able to share an extract from the book on publication day -- take a peek below.
In the blogging community, we talk about books all the time. But sometimes we get caught up in reading and reviewing the same books as everyone else, and great books can slip beneath our radar. I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about a few books I really loved, but I think are underrated in the blogging community.
Sadie is a book that is getting a whole lot of buzz right now. A dark contemporary YA novel centered around a sister going after her sister’s suspected killer and the true crime podcast inspired by Sadie and Mattie, this book is the perfect 2018 novel. I absolutely love true crime podcasts and was really interested to see how this would translate into a printed format. I heard about the incredible audiobook after I purchased the hardcover edition. While I liked Sadie a lot, I feel like the audiobook is going to give the reader a different, and perhaps better, experience.
Horror is a genre that I just don't read very often. I never know where to start, what books I'll like, and what wont scare me half to death. Sawkill Girls caught my eye way back at YALC in July because of its fantastic cover and intriguing premise. Billed as a YA horror novel filled with girl power, I was immediately interested but didn’t really know what to expect. Having finished the book, this is really one that you should try for yourself -- I can see so many readers having dramatically different opinions on it. I’m not sure how helpful my review will be for others -- it’s one of those books that will appeal to one’s personal tastes so strongly.
I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have gotten my hands on an early copy of Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix! I read Forest of a Thousand Lanterns earlier this year and absolutely adored it. Xifeng is easily one of my favourite fantasy villains because of her callousness, her calculated choices, and her cutthroat attitude. She rises to the throne and becomes Empress of Feng Lu at the end of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns, but what happens next? Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix takes place 15 years later just before Jade, the daughter of the former Empress Lihua and sole heir to the throne, comes of age.
I love a good pirate story, but I find that they’re not too common. I was certainly intrigued by Daughter of the Pirate King when I first heard about it, but didn’t pick it up until my pal Asha lent it to me. She said it had pirates, adventures, and kissing -- what more do you need?
I was so thrilled to get my hands on a copy of The Caged Queen. I liked Ciccarelli’s debut, The Last Namsara, but had some trouble with the romance. The sequel picks up the story where The Last Namsara left off, but follows a new character and a new love interest, so I was definitely intrigued. The book features some of my favourite tropes: a marriage of convenience, a hate-to-love relationship, and a whole lot of political scheming and backstabbing. I expected to adore The Caged Queen, and while there were aspects that I really liked, I ended up feeling disappointed for a couple of reasons.
