June Whimsify Unboxing and Book Review

I'm trying something new with my unboxing post this month - including a review of the book. Let me know what you think of it. I'm hoping that it will get me to actually read the books in the boxes and not just take pictures of them.

You can find my June Owlcrate unboxing on our Instagram. 

The Whimsify box includes a candle every month which is awesome. This month for the first time it also includes a signed book plate. Here's what's in the June Magic and Misfits box:

"I Believe in Unicorns" candle from Nerd Wicks. This purple glittery candle is exclusive for the box and is supposed to smell like cotton candy. I would have called it jelly beans or gummy bears because it's fruity as well as sweet, and because the top layer is translucent.

Six of Crows magnetic bookmark from Jane's Tiny Things. There were six different ones - mine is Nina. Jane's Tiny Things puts a quote on the back of all of their bookmarks which makes them a little different from all the others I've seen. This one says, "She was the Queen of Mourning, and in its depths she would never drown."

Dragon scale bobby pins from Lexi's Doll House. These are the cutest things ever so I'm hiding them from my kid.

Mischief Managed coaster from Wayward Apple Gifts. This might be my favorite thing in the box. Pro tip: it can also be a mouse pad!

Notecard from Catherine's Cards CC. It features a quote from Roald Dahl: "Those who do not believe in magic will never find it."

"This is a magic wand' pencil by The Carbon Crusader. That could be either playful or really profound.

And the book that inspired the theme is Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts. 

Royal Bastards
Andrew Shvarts
Release: May 30, 2017
Goodreads Amazon

Being a bastard blows. Tilla would know. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children.

At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stablehand half brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax’s floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father’s side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who’s been in love with Tilla since they were children.

Then, at a feast honoring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards’ Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.

Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana’s uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead—with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery.

The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart—if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey . . .

Review:

Ever wonder what The Breakfast Club would be like as a YA Fantasy? Me either, but I'm glad that someone did. Royal Bastards is a fun, fast-paced road trip story featuring five teens, a princess, a stable hand, a nerd, a barbarian, and Tilla the narrator - she's kind of hard to describe in a single word.

This book has been on my radar since last December when I was researching my 2017 Most Anticipated list so I was happy to see it included in the box. The comparisons to Six of Crows and Harry Potter inspired by the other items only made me more excited to read it.

I was shipping Tilla and Zell right from the beginning, which is kind of unusual for me. There's still the obligatory YA love triangle, but it was well done. And there's a twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

This book is so much fun! Though it's also heartbreaking at times, it's ultimately hopeful. And I'm hoping that there's going to be a sequel. I feel like it would take two books to tell Tilla's story.

Recommended for fans of: The Clockwork Dagger, Frostblood

    

4  stars

As always, I paid for this subscription box and am not sponsored by the company.

Release Day Review: Drakon's Plunder by N.J. Walters

Drakon's Plunder
(Blood of the Drakon #3)
N.J. Walters
Release: July 3, 2017
Goodreads Amazon
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Life is not going well for archaeologist Sam Bellamy. She's stuck in the middle of the ocean on a salvage boat with people who want her dead. It wasn't her gift for being able to sense objects of power that got her here, rather her need to make a secret society called the Knights of the Dragon pay for killing her mentor. Sam doesn't believe in dragons, but the Knights do, and if she can get one of the sacred artifacts they're searching for away from them, she'll consider it payback.

Ezra Easton is content to run his marine salvage company and live alone on his private island. He may be a four-thousand-year-old water drakon, but he's civilized enough to know just because he pulls an injured woman from the ocean, doesn't mean he gets to keep her...

When she wakes up, she has a few tall tales to share, and it seems the Knights are after her. But this drakon won't give up his treasure.

Review:

This is the second time in as many weeks I've picked up a book three in a series because, "ooh, dragons!" I must be in a mood. Drakon's Plunder worked out a little bit better for me than the other book, but watch for that review in a few weeks.

I loved the idea of an archaeologist hunting mystical artifacts and being hunted in turn by a secret society. And a dragon salvager gathering treasure for his horde - love! Those parts of the plot did not disappoint and I didn't feel like I missed too much by starting in the middle of the series.

I was surprised by how little action (outside the bedroom) there was given those elements though. And I thought it was odd that Sam and Ezra interact with so few other characters. The couples from previous books do appear, but only on the phone.

Still I enjoyed Drakon's Plunder. It reminds me of Julie Ann Walker's Deep Six series, which I love, but with dragons. (That connection may be what had me expecting a more action packed story.) I'm interested enough in the series story line that I'll probably check out the earlier books. I'll definitely pick up the next one which looks to feature Ezra's brother Nic.

Recommended for fans of: dragon and shifter romances

   1/2 

3.5  stars

Review and Book Talk: Heir of Fire by Sarah J.Maas

Heir of Fire
(Throne of Glass #3)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Narrator: Elizabeth Evans
Release: September 2, 2014
Goodreads  Amazon
Book Depository

Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak―but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth . . . a truth about her heritage that could change her life―and her future―forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?
The bestselling series that has captured readers all over the world reaches new heights in this sequel to the New York Timesbest-selling Crown of Midnight. Packed with heart-pounding action, fierce new characters, and swoon-worthy romance, this third book will enthrall readers from start to finish.

Review: 

I just cannot get over how much more fantastic each book in this series is than the books before it. Every book in this series that I've read so far I've loved and thought it would be the best in the series, but then I read the next book and it blows my mind. The plotting and planning author Sarah J. Maas does must consume every second of her day because she's constructed such a well thought out series with secrets spilled at just the right time and plot twists you never see coming.

In Heir of Fire, we see our feisty heroine Celeana travel to the other side of the ocean from Chaol and Dorian and meet all new characters. We get Celeana's POV as well as those of all of the other characters whose POV we've read from so far, even though they are separated by a continent. Even with our main characters so far apart, in no way did I feel that the story was lacking. If anything, this allowed for a lot of character growth for everyone. In this one we also meet some very important new characters on both continents that are extremely vital to this book and, I would imagine, the rest of this series. I absolutely adored Heir of Fire!

Check out my full review and then book talk in the video below!

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

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  5 / 5 stars

Review: Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

Crown of Midnight
(Throne of Glass #2)
Sarah J. Maas
Release: August 27, 2013
Goodreads Amazon
Book Depository

From the throne of glass rules a king with a fist of iron and a soul as black as pitch. Assassin Celaena Sardothien won a brutal contest to become his Champion. Yet Celaena is far from loyal to the crown. She hides her secret vigilantly; she knows that the man she serves is bent on evil.
Keeping up the deadly charade becomes increasingly difficult when Celaena realizes she is not the only one seeking justice. As she tries to untangle the mysteries buried deep within the glass castle, her closest relationships suffer. It seems no one is above questioning her allegiances—not the Crown Prince Dorian; not Chaol, the Captain of the Guard; not even her best friend, Nehemia, a foreign princess with a rebel heart.
Then one terrible night, the secrets they have all been keeping lead to an unspeakable tragedy. As Celaena's world shatters, she will be forced to give up the very thing most precious to her and decide once and for all where her true loyalties lie... and whom she is ultimately willing to fight for.

Review: 

I'm just loving this series. I'm so happy that I decided to read these books this summer and fall. Crown of Midnight is the second book in the Throne of Glass series and it builds tremendously upon all the set up in book one. I enjoyed this book immensely...it sucked me in with a faster pace and better story line than the first book and was filled with action, romance, and heartbreak. DEVASTATING HEARTBREAK IN SO MANY WAYS. And so many secrets revealed!

Below, I'm reviewing Crown of Midnight spoiler-free for those curious about this series. BUT I just had to talk about all the things that take place in this one! So, after my review is a spoilery book talk at the end of the video for those of you that have read the book. Don't worry, there's a big transition and I make you aware before I start talking about any spoilers! Check it out below!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

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  5 / 5 stars

Review + Giveaway: A World Without You by Beth Revis

A World Without You
Beth Revis
Release: July 19, 2016
Goodreads Amazon
Book Depository

Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at fifteen, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his worried parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have “superpowers.”

At Berkshire, Bo falls in love with Sofía, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the superpower of invisibility. Soíia helps Bo open up in a way he never has before. In turn, Bo provides comfort to Sofía, who lost her mother and two sisters at a very young age.

But even the strength of their love isn’t enough to help Sofia escape her deep depression. After she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she’s not actually dead. He believes that she’s stuck somewhere in time—that he somehow left her in the past, and that now it’s his job to save her. And as Bo becomes more and more determined to save Sofía, he must decide whether to face his demons head-on or succumb to a psychosis that will let him be with the girl he loves.

Review: 

There are some books that you start with the intention of reading a chapter or two and then going on to whatever else you have to do for that day. And then there are books like A World Without You by Beth Revis, which you open up and never put back down again until you're finished.

This book falls into a genre I don't read a lot of, young adult contemporary, but also manages to bridge between contemporary and fantasy through the main character's delusions of super abilities. I absolutely adored this book and can comfortably say its one of my favorite reads of 2016 so far. I was so excited about how much I loved it, that I decided to give away a copy from The Book Depository!

Check out my thoughts (spoiler-free) on A World Without You by Beth Revis and then enter to win your own copy on the Rafflecopter form below!

A World Without You by Beth Revis

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  5 / 5 stars

In a combination of being excited to share my love for this book AND trying to grow the number of viewers at the new youtube book review channel, I thought I'd give away a copy of A World Without You by Beth Revis! 

You must be 13 or older and live somewhere The Book Depository ships to be eligible. 

(Also, this will be a regular copy of the book, not the annotated copy.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

Nevernight
(The Nevernight Chronicle #1)
Jay Kristoff
Release: August 9, 2016
Goodreads Amazon
Book Depository

The first in a new fantasy series from the New York Times bestselling author.

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.

Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.

Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.

Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

Review: 

My good blogger buddy Laura, from the blog Little Read Riding Hood joined me via Skype to review Nevernight collaboratively so that we could both share our thoughts on this highly anticipated August release!

Nevernight is the first in a new series by author Jay Kristoff, who is known for making young adult that is dark, mysterious, and unique. It's technically a YA book, but I would highly recommend it to older teens and adults as that's certainly the audience it seems to be intended for. Nevernight is a spectacular combination of murder, mystery, murder, personal growth, murder, facing a tumultuous past, and murder! The main character, Mia, is complex and sometimes even unlikable...but I still liked her. What?

Also, Skype is the biggest hassle of both of our lives AND we battled thunder!

Check out more thoughts that Laura and I had on Nevernight in our spoiler-free video below!

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

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  4 / 5 stars

Review: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

The Wrath and the Dawn
(The Wrath and the Dawn #1))
Renee Ahdieh
Release: May 12, 2015
Goodreads Amazon
Book Depository

One Life to One Dawn.
In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all.
Night after night, Shahrzad beguiles Khalid, weaving stories that enchant, ensuring her survival, though she knows each dawn could be her last. But something she never expected begins to happen: Khalid is nothing like what she'd imagined him to be. This monster is a boy with a tormented heart. Incredibly, Shahrzad finds herself falling in love. How is this possible? It's an unforgivable betrayal. Still, Shahrzad has come to understand all is not as it seems in this palace of marble and stone. She resolves to uncover whatever secrets lurk and, despite her love, be ready to take Khalid's life as retribution for the many lives he's stolen. Can their love survive this world of stories and secrets?
Inspired by A Thousand and One Nights, The Wrath and the Dawn is a sumptuous and enthralling read from beginning to end.

Review: 

Let's just start out by saying that I loved The Wrath and the Dawn SO MUCH! I have been on a big young adult fantasy kick lately and this book, while completely being just that - a YA fantasy - felt unique and refreshing. Renee Ahdieh is a debut author and man did she hit it out of the park with this one. The Persian-like desert setting, the mystery, the non-typical YA romance - LOVED IT!

Check out more of my thoughts on The Wrath and the Dawn in my spoiler-free video review below!

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

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Audiobook Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

The Assassin's Blade
(Throne of Glass #0.1 - 0.5)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Narrator: Elizabeth Evans
Release: March 4, 2014
Goodreads Amazon
Audible

Contains all five novellas.

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.

Audiobook Review: The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. M

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Recommended for fans of: origin stories, young love, and sassy teenage assassins

  

Audiobook Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Throne of Glass
(Throne of Glass #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Narrator: Elizabeth Evans
Release: August 7, 2012
Goodreads Amazon
Audible

After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilirating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.

Review:

I loved this start to the Throne of Glass series, even if it had some problems. This young adult fantasy book, that has neither young adult characters or many fantasy elements, had fantastic world building and a wonderfully complicated, if sometimes bratty, heroine. I've even picked my Team...but you'll have to watch my review of Throne of Glass below to know who I'm rooting for. Do I love the charming and confident Prince Dorian? Or am I swooning for the grumpy but kind Captain Chaol Westfall? Either way, I'm so happy I started the series. Check out my spoiler-free thoughts on Throne of Glass below! Not sure why the video review? Check out my post where I explain Goldilox and the Three Weres' new booktube channel for all things bookish HERE.

Audiobook Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

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Recommended for fans of: kickass heroines, minor fantasy, new adult fantasy, strong world building, slow building romance, love triangles

    

  4 / 5 stars