UNBOXING ¦ Fairyloot: Starcrossed Swoons - September 2018

If you know me, you probably know that I love both stars and romance, so when I saw that Fairyloot's theme for their September box was Starcrossed Swoons, I knew I had to treat myself. I can definitely say I wasn't disappointed by this box, which included plenty of beautifully unique items, as well as a book that I am very excited to read! I've listed each item below, with a picture and link to the designer or shop that each item came from (although quite a lot of the items were exclusive to the box which was great to see!).

Angelic Fire Candle Matches designed by Fictiontea Designs, Bella and Edward candle from Nerd Poured Candles.

Prythian Shoelaces designed by Fictiontea Designs.

Dreamer Apron designed by Literary Life Co.

Love Rune Enamel Pin by Fictiontea Designs.

Mal and Alina Cocoa & Shea Butter from Little Heart Gifts.

Constellation Notebook designed by Read At Midnight.

Postcard Set created by Taratjah.

The book of the month, Mirage by Somaiya Daud, with exclusive cover and sprayed edges, and signed by the author!

Exclusive character art by Gabriella Bujdoso of Amani and Idris from Mirage, with letter from the author on the back.

There was also a sampler of Queen of Air and Darkness, a Tempest and Slaughter bookmark, and a Muse of Nightmares postcard, which I thought were lovely little extras! Overall I'm really happy with this box and glad I bought it. Everything was designed so beautifully and the book sounds so fascinating and unique, hopefully I'll be able to read it soon. If you want to find out more about Fairyloot, you can go to their website here, and you can find Mirage on Goodreads here.

UNBOXING ¦ Illumicrate: Magic & Mayhem - The V.E. Schwab Edition

When I saw that Illumicrate were selling a special edition V.E. Schwab box, I debated for myself for a while before I gave in and decided to treat myself to it. I decided it was definitely not a box to be missed out on, especially since I adore everything I've read by V.E. Schwab so far, and I am very glad that I decided to make this purchase. This was such a perfect, gorgeous selection of items, including a very lovely edition of V.E. Schwab's new book, Vengeful. I've listed each item below, with a picture and link to the designer or shop that each item came from (although quite a lot of the items were exclusive to the box which was very exciting!).

Signed copy of Vengeful with a cover exclusive to the box, along with an Illumicrate designed sleeve featuring quotes from Vicious and Vengeful.

Mug drawn by Temporary Places, bottle lettered by Crini.

Pin designed by Fable & Black.

Keyring, also designed by Fable & Black.

Candle from Amelia's Kitchen Candles.

Bookmarks with exclusive character artwork by Merwild, illustration of Lila and Kell by Victoria Ying, tarot style cards featuring artwork from Lorena Lammer.

Tote bag featuring artwork from Rowa Tree, pouch/make-up bag designed by Stella Bookish Art.

Postcards of the four Londons by Moledro Craft Co, scarf featuring the four Londons by Fable & Black.

There was also a letter from V.E. Schwab, and I think overall this box was brilliant and a worthwhile purchase for any fan of the author, and I would definitely consider buying another box from Illumicrate in the future. Everything was so beautifully designed and really good quality! If you want to find out more about Illumicrate, you can find their website here! V.E. Schwab's website is here, and you can find Vengeful on Goodreads here.

BOOKS ¦ Review: An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Name: An Enchantment of Ravens

Author: Margaret Rogerson
Publisher: McElderry Books
Date Published: 2017
Rating: 5/5

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous debut novel.
Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.
Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

- From Goodreads.

This is the first book I have read in quite a while that I read in almost one day. I kept picking it up whenever I put it down because I kept wanting to know what happened next. And because I kept wanting to know what happened between the two main characters, Isobel and Rook. I really loved reading them, both as individual and together. They made very intriguing characters in their own rights and also worked well with each other, creating an enjoyable dynamic that kept me invested in the book.
I was also invested in the world of the story, it felt very creative and imaginative. The idea of the different seasonal faerie courts was made unique with the descriptions of each and both the settings and the magic system seemed very inventive. I would have liked to see the Autumn court, since that was the court Rook was prince of (and because Autumn is my favourite season) but I can see how that might have been difficult to fit into the story. I didn't know what the actual enchantment of ravens would be when I was going into the book, but I thought that was a very inventive detail too and I liked how it became involved in the story.
The writing style was very enjoyable to me, I don't always like the first person, but I found in this case it was well-written and I didn't really notice it most of the time. I also enjoyed that it was quite descriptive and almost poetic, which I know not everyone likes but I found it suited the story, and suited Isobel's narrative voice. I also found it quite a funny style, it was definitely and entertaining story and the humorous moments, especially those between Rook and Isobel, made it even more enjoyable.
I think it would have been nice to have a slightly longer ending to see how Isobel and Rook adjusted to everything after the events of the novel, but I think I mostly want that so I can see more of the characters together, as the ending itself is still good and the book did not necessarily need more to it to feel like a well-rounded story.

BOOKS | Mid-Year Update: What I'm Excited To Read

Since it's been a while since I last posted, I thought an interesting post to come back with would be a list of books I'm looking forward to reading. These are all books I'm either aiming to read by the end of the year, or just as soon as possible. I've been struggling to find the motivation to read lately so hopefully writing this will help me feel more inspired to get some reading done!

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson 

A skilled painter must stand up to the ancient power of the faerie courts—even as she falls in love with a faerie prince—in this gorgeous debut novel.
Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes—a weakness that could cost him his life.
Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

I've been curious about this book since I first heard about it, I've always loved fantasy and romance and I've been meaning to read more books about the fair folk, an area of mythology that really intrigues me. I bought this book this week in my renewed desire to get back into reading, as I think that the fact that I'm so excited to see what it's like will help keep up my motivation. I've also heard some mixed reviews of it so I'm curious to see what my own take on it will be. 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.
Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.
Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

This is one that I actually started reading back in December, I was really intrigued by it and ended up reading a large portion of it in one day as I really enjoyed it, but after I put it down I experienced a period of time where I couldn't make myself read, and now that period is over, it's been so long that I think I'll start from the beginning again when I go back to it. But I am really excited to finally finish it, and to hopefully finish the trilogy and the other books that Leigh Bardugo has set in this world.

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor 

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.
Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice--save the woman he loves, or everyone else?--while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.
As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?

This is the sequel to Strange the Dreamer, which you can tell from my review that I really adored, so obviously I'm very excited to find out what happens next. It doesn't come out until October but I've already preordered the hardback with the fancy sprayed edges so that it can match my edition of Strange the Dreamer.

Stealing Snow by Danielle Page 

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent her life locked in Whittaker Psychiatric—but she isn’t crazy. And that’s not the worst of it. Her very first kiss proves anything but innocent…when Bale, her only love, turns violent.
Despite Snow knowing that Bale would never truly hurt her, he is taken away—dashing her last hope for any sort of future in the mental ward she calls home. With nowhere else to turn, Snow finds herself drawn to a strange new orderly who whispers secrets in the night about a mysterious past and a kingdom that’s hers for the taking—if only she can find her way past the iron gates to the Tree that has been haunting her dreams.
Beyond the Tree lies Algid, a land far away from the real world, frozen by a ruthless king. And there too await the River Witch, a village boy named Kai, the charming thief Jagger, and a prophecy that Snow will save them all.

I've had this book for a while now and I think it just ended up getting put aside when I had books to read for my university course. I'm looking forward to finally getting around to it and seeing what it's like!

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 
But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 
True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus performers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

This, I think, is a well-known and well-loved one that's been out for quite a few years now. I bought it back in October and I'm really eager to finally find out what makes it so popular. 

Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch 

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

Another one that's been out for a while now, I think I actually bought this over a year ago with a gift card because I was intrigued by the description. Hopefully it won't take me much longer to pick it up and see what it's like.

Mort by Terry Pratchett

In this Discworld instalment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse - especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory. As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life.

This is another one I bought back in October, I always love Terry Pratchett and I'm actually reading Good Omens at the moment and of course really enjoying it. I'm sure Mort will be another one that I adore, especially since it features Death, one of my favourite Discworld characters.

So that's everything I'm currently aiming to read soon, thank you for reading and if you've got any books you're excited about then let me know in the comments!

Review: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Name: Strange the Dreamer
Author: Laini Taylor
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
Date Published: 2017
Rating: 5/5

The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?

The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?

Welcome to Weep.

- From Goodreads.

I had such high expectations for this book because it looked beautiful and it sounded incredible and I couldn't stop myself from having high expectations, and the brilliant thing is it met and exceeded all of them. Every moment was amazing and I adored it all.
The language was exquisite, the descriptions of feelings, people, the landscape, the witty, intriguing dialogue between the characters, all of it was captivating.
As was the imagination that could be found in the book, the whole idea of the world and its history. It was everything that I love about fantasy, it looked at the potential of the genre and flew away with it. Reading this book was like having the most magical, well-plotted, intense dream.
I would apologise for the fact that this review is really just me praising this book, but I'm not really sorry because I have absolutely fallen in love with the whole thing.
Lazlo and Sarai were the most wonderful, compelling, kindhearted characters and I really, really need to know what happens to them next. The ending ruined me. I need the sequel.

Blog Tour: Literary Facts with a QI Elf

I am very excited to bring to you today the last stop on the blog tour for 1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted! To celebrate the release of the book, Anne Miller, one of the QI Elves, has written us a list of some of her favourite literary facts, so take it away, Anne!

At QI we all have our favourite topics. One of my all-time favourite QI facts is that a baby puffin is called a puffling but I will have to wait until 2018’s Series P to lobby for a show entirely about those brilliant birds. However, I also love literary facts and in Series L, I had the chance to write a whole show about books in the form of the ‘Literature’ episode of QI.

In that episode we covered the fact that T.S. Eliot was one of the publishers to turn down George Orwell’s 1984. 1984 is also the book that people are most likely to lie about having read. There was also the fact that the phrase  ‘Elementary, my dear Watson’ did not come from the Sherlock Holmes canon but instead from P.G. Wodehouse’s 1915 novel Psmith, Journalist.

This year’s QI book 1,342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted contains our favourite facts discovered in the last year. Some of my favourite literary ones include:

• Charles Dickens
 helped stop P. T. Barnum from moving Shakespeare’s house, brick by brick, to New York. 
• Pope John Paul II drew his own comic books. 
• The French for ‘airport novel’ is roman de gare, or ‘railway station 
novel’. 
• Thomas Jefferson kept a flock of geese to supply quills for his pens. 
• The Pencil Sharpener Museum in Logan, Ohio, has 3,400 pencil sharpeners. 
• Harper Lee, 
author of To Kill a Mockingbird, was an airline booking agent. 
• Woody Allen writes his film scripts on a typewriter he bought in the 1950s. 
• On a QWERTY keyboard
 a typist’s fingers cover 20 miles a day; on a Dvorak keyboard 
it’s only one mile. 
• Roald Dahl, Noël Coward, Greta Garbo, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Harry Houdini and Christopher Lee all 
worked as spies. 
• H. G. Wells was A. A. Milne’s maths teacher. 

Thank you for sharing this with us, Anne! If you're interested in finding out more about the QI Elves, you can follow them on Twitter here, and 1,342 QI Facts to Leave You Flabbergasted is out now!

Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Name: A Darker Shade of Magic
Author: V.E. Schwab
Publisher: Titan Books
Date published: February 2015
Rating: 5/5

Kell is one of the last Travelers - rare magicians who choose a parallel universe to visit.

Grey London is dirty, boring, lacks magic, ruled by mad King George. Red London is where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire. White London is ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne. People fight to control magic, and the magic fights back, draining the city to its very bones. Once there was Black London - but no one speaks of that now.

Officially, Kell is the Red Traveler, personal ambassador and Prince of Red London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they'll never see. This dangerous hobby sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to another world for her 'proper adventure'.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive - trickier than they hoped.

- From Goodreads.

When I finished reading A Darker Shade of Magic, I actually felt sad because it was over and I had really enjoyed reading it and had become so attached to the characters and the worlds. I just loved it all so much. The idea of the book is such a unique and inventive one that really captured your attention. It created so many intriguing possibilities, and it had such a fascinating past and background. The worlds were all well thought-out and it was obvious a lot of time and effort had gone into creating them.
Kell and Lila were amazing characters who I now love so, so much. They seemed so much like real, living people, they were well-rounded and developed, and they had flaws and made mistakes, but that only endeared them to you. They were so good, and strong, and, oh my gosh, I just want to hold them close to my heart and not let them get hurt.
There were so many little things in this book that I loved and that radiated with attention to detail. There was Kell's many-sided coat, which was completely and utterly brilliant, and which I now really want in my own life, as well as some other very stylish outfits, including Lila's fantastic masquerade ball costume, which was incredibly awesome. There was also the brilliant magical fights, the action of which was described  clearly and which were easy to follow, while at the same time remaining impressive and epic and everything you could want from a fantasy and adventure novel.
This was an excellent and marvellous story, and I am immensely excited for when I read the next one in the series, because from what I have read so far, it seems like it will be amazing!