Happy Friday book lovers! We’re back with another First Lines Friday, a weekly featurefor book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?Here are the rules:
Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!
First lines:
“For a time Vidya had not had a mother or a brother, she only had the idea of a mother and a brother: they were imaginary but real in the same way god was. For a time she had not a mother but an aunt and not a brother but two cousins who lived with her in the one room flat she shared with her father.”
Do you recognise the book these first lines come from?
Special thanks to Algonquin Books for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review 😊
Hello, friends! I’m happy to shine a spotlight today on The Archer by Shruti Swamy.
“This is a singular work, a story of a dancer, and of a hungry self seated at the table of womanness and desire and art, told with unparalleled originality and elegance. Swamy writes with a thrilling clarity of vision that wakes the sleepwalker right into joyful consciousness. Every word is intimate, honest, ecstatic—utterly alive. I will hold this novel close, and return to it for companionship, for instruction, and for pure pleasure. I love and treasure this book.”
—Meng Jin, author of Little Gods
Goodreads: The Archer Publisher: Algonquin Books Publish Date: 07 September 2021 Genre: Literary Cultural Fiction
As a child, Vidya exists to serve her family, watch over her younger brother, and make sense of a motherless world. One day she catches sight of a class where the students are learning Kathak, a precise, dazzling form of dance that requires the utmost discipline and focus. Kathak quickly becomes the organizing principle of Vidya’s life, even as she leaves home for college, falls in love with her best friend, and battles demands on her time, her future, and her body. Can Vidya give herself over to her art and also be a wife in Bombay’s carefully delineated society? Can she shed the legacy of her own imperfect, unknowable mother? Must she, herself, also become a mother?
Intensely lyrical and deeply sensual, with writing as rhythmically mesmerizing as Kathak itself, The Archer is about the transformative power of art and the possibilities that love can open when we’re ready.
The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.
But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?
Hello, hello and welcome back to another episode of WWW Wednesday, a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On A World of Words, which means I’ll be answering these questions:
What did you read last?
What are you currently reading?
What will you read next?
Since last week, I’ve managed to finish five books, though sadly only one was an ARC!
Dark and Shallow Lies by Ginny Myers Sain ★★★☆☆ This was another entertaining and fast addition to the Xivery Mates series. Lemora might be my favourite alien planet so far because the city was a giant melting pot of alien races and cultures, and it felt so vibrant and alive! Everyone was extremely friendly, helpful and accepting of others and it just served pleasant and happy vibes that I was totally here for. Raingar and Essmira were great but I especially loved Essmira because Stephens does a great job writing smart and headstrong heroines! Read my full review.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #1) by Holly Jackson ★★★★☆ I’m gonna be honest, I read this for the smut and it definitely delivered! This is an age-gap romance, which is not something that I normally ever read but I wasn’t bothered by it in this story. There’s not much in the way of character development or a strong plot, and their relationship to each other is already an established thing, but I liked both the Duke and Victoria. I thought they were both interesting characters and that the author handled the emotional and moral struggle (especially on his part) well! Obviously, I liked the steamy bits and it did get quite steamy pretty quickly. The Duke ticked that dirty-talking hero box and so if that (and historical romance) is your thing, I would recommend checking this out (especially if you have KU)! RTC.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Zealous Quill Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads: Impassioned (The Phoenix Club #2) Publisher: Zealous Quill Press Publish Date: 24 August 2021 Genre: Historical Regency Romance
Panda Rating: (3.5 pandas)
In nearly two years of marriage, Sabrina Westbrook has barely spoken to her husband and shared a bed even less. Both activities would require they actually live together. As it is, the Earl of Aldington attends to his seat in the House of Commons, while she and her crippling social anxiety tend to his country house and gardens.
Their arrangement is quite civilized, and their letters are painfully polite. Their twice-yearly visits are…awkward. But, if Sabrina can muster the necessary courage, all of that is about to change. Starting tonight.
Heir to a dukedom, Constantine Westbrook knows his duty: to country, to family, and to the shy, retiring wife whose beauty stole his breath the moment they met. Whose arousing, enticing body he’s never seen in the light of day. Or any light at all.
However, there’s something different about the woman who shows up in London unannounced. For the first time in their marriage, Sabrina has a request. No, a demand. But wanting and having are two different things. And to give Sabrina her heart’s desire, they’ll both need a few lessons in love…
Note: The quotes below are taken from an advanced/unfinished copy and are subject to change in the final version.
TL;DR: Despite this book relying on tropes I’m not overly fond of in romance (miscommunication and deception), I found myself liking the characters enough that I wanted to get to their HEA. I enjoyed seeing Sabrina and Constantine deal with their insecurities and issues that stemmed from their upbringing and troubled family relationships. I loved seeing them come out of their shells, stand up to their bullies and find confidence to pursue their wants outside of society’s expectations. The sexual tension between these two was also surprisingly steamy and it was built up in a nice slow burn fashion, complete with swoon-worthy courting, too!
It’s been a while since I read a Darcy Burke romance but it was nice to come back to her regency romance world. I enjoy her writing and the era comes alive through her descriptions and the words/phrases from this period. It feels authentic, although I can’t really comment so much on the accuracy of it, just that it feels realistic to me.
This one had a bit of a rough start and our H/H took a while to understand the real problem between them and their arranged marriage (hint: it wasn’t sex). This does lean heavily on the miscommunication trope, plus there’s also a fair bit of deception that lasts until the conflict at the end, so if these are two things you don’t like in romance, this book might not be for you. While I normally also don’t like these tropes, and they did frustrate me when I was reading, I liked both characters enough to want to continue and see them get their HEA.
Sabrina and Constantine each have their own issues to overcome that stem from their upbringing and troubled family relationships. Sabrina suffers from extreme social anxiety and that isn’t helped by her horrible parents who belittle and demean her and treat her anxiety as a joke, which causes her to retreat into herself and become a ‘wallflower‘. Constantine has been raised to be the perfectly rational, unfeeling and coldhearted Duke by his father who is more of a domineering dictator rather than a parent, and who expects his favourite son to be just like him. These personal issues have led to misunderstandings and constant miscommunication between our H/H, but both want desperately to change that and as they break down the walls in their marriage, they also learn to stand up for what they want. I enjoyed seeing them break out of their shells, find their voices and finally stand up to their bullies, though I wish we did get more details specifically about how Sabrina overcame her anxiety. It felt overly simplistic as if she decided to get over it and that was that; however, it wasn’t a “magic cure” whereby the end she didn’t feel anxiety at all because she continued to suffer from her nerves, she just got better at managing it.
There’s also a delicious tension that builds up between these two. What starts out as Sabrina boldly demanding her marital rights to get with a child, turns into a tentative and swoon-worthy courting between husband and wife, and it’s not only very sweet but also delightfully steamy—the sexual tension developed so nicely and it’s well worth the slow(ish) burn when they finally give in to their desires and get together! That said, I wish it didn’t take them so long to realise that lies and miscommunication were what made their relationship so awful in the first place and that the deception they participated in to get to their marriage on more stable ground didn’t aid in that. But you can say the journey to get there was definitely sexy and fun! 😉
Overall, despite the use of tropes I’m not very fond of, I liked our H/H and I’m glad I read this book! I’m definitely excited for the next book in the Phoenix Club series, but I’ll also go back and read the first one, too.
So, we’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is: Books Guaranteed to Put a Smile On Your Face
As an emotional reader it doesn’t take much for a book to make me smile/laugh/cry so there were quite a lot of books to choose from for this prompt! I’m not much of a re-reader but even thinking about my reading experience with these books puts a smile on my face and manages to fill me up with warmth and it’s safe to say that I really enjoyed them! 🥰
Hello, everybody! Today I’m back with a special post for The Magical Readathon 2021. If you didn’t know about this readathon, check out G @ Book Roast’s video below. G has done an incredible job of bringing us this new world full of fantastic characters, magic and so much adventure! I’m honestly blown away by the amount of detail G has put into this readathon and while I’m not the best at actually completing readathons 99% of the time, I couldn’t resist taking part in this because it’s too amazing to pass up!
As a mood reader, I’m not one for fixed TBRs so if I make any kind of reading list, I much prefer calling it a possibility pile as it gives me a bit more freedom to choose what book I read without feeling guilty about not sticking to a TBR. Now without further ado, let’s get right down to it!
In this readathon, we are characters set in the world of Aeldia and we are setting out on The Novice Path to get to our new magical school, the Orilium Academy. On this path we must showcase exceptional skill and wit on at least two occasions, which technically means we only need to complete two prompts to successfully reach the academy but since I’m already being ambitious by joining this readathon, I thought I might as well try going all the way and fulfil all the prompts! *insert determined face*
The Novice Path Entrance: a book with a map
Why did I have a surprisingly difficult time coming up with two books for this prompt? It took a while… But I finally found two possibilities that I wouldn’t mind completing this month! #1 has been on my TBR for way too long as it is (what’s new there though lol)…
ASHTHORN TREE: A BOOK THAT KEEPS TEMPTING YOU (OR TOP OF YOUR TBR)
Contrary to the one above, there’s an endless number of books that would be tempting possibilities for this particularly prompt. These two are the top contenders though because for some reason, no matter what book I read last, these appear on the front page of my Kindle Library each time! Guess it’s a sign?
Again, so many tempting possibilities but these two titles have been on my mind a lot recently. Not sure why but I’m not particularly mad about it cos both look like they’ll break my heart and patch it back up again by the end!
RUIN OF THE SKYE: A BOOK FT. GHOSTS/HAUNTED HOUSE OR OTHER SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS
As The Ultimate Chicken™️, me and ghosts? No, thank you if I can help it! That said, I do have a MG that has been sitting on my TBR for a very long time (#1) and I think it’s the level of ghost-creepy that I can actually handle. The alternative is to read something supernatural so, naturally, it’s vampires for me!
I’ve actually been in a bit of a thriller mood lately so I think both of these books will probably get read this month (I’m probably jinxing myself saying that though LOL)!
This is a difficult one actually because it’s been a while since I’ve had a 5-star read and I thought a few of the books I’ve read recently would’ve been 5-stars but I was wrong. Hopefully, I’m not wrong about these two though—especially for #2 because I love Mog and want more Nevermoor adventures!
I don’t actually have a lot of books with a school setting on my TBR (at least none that come to mind as I made this list) but I am looking forward to reading these two so either of these possibilities are good for this month!
I read this book as part of The Write Reads blog tour. Special thanks to NetGalley and Aria Fiction for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Goodreads: The Meeting Point Publisher: Aria Fiction Publish Date: 02 September 2021 Genre: Contemporary Romance
Panda Rating: (2.5 pandas)
What if the Lift driver who finds your cheating boyfriend’s phone holds the directions to true love?
‘Who are you and why do you have my boyfriend’s phone?’
‘He left it in my car. You must be the blonde in the red dress? I’m the Lift driver who dropped you two off earlier.’
And with these words, the life of the brunette and t-shirt wearing Maya Maas is turned upside down. Having planned to surprise her boyfriend, she finds herself single and stranded in an unknown city on her birthday.
So when the mystery driver rescues Maya with the suggestion that she cheers herself up at a nearby beach town, she jumps at the chance to get things back on track. She wasn’t expecting a personalised itinerary or the easy companionship that comes from opening up to a stranger via text, let alone the possibility it might grow into something more…
Come on this 5* journey to love, laughter and back again, perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Josie Silver and Sally Thorne.
TL;DR: I read Olivia Lara’s debut last year and I enjoyed it well enough to want to read more of her books, and I think I had very high expectations, especially after seeing how much everyone has loved this. Sadly, it really didn’t work for me! There was a lot of telling and not enough showing and as a result I couldn’t connect with the characters and I actually found it difficult to like the heroine. I’m definitely in the minority with my unpopular opinion though so I would encourage you to check out other reviews and to try the book for yourself because it does have a cute concept!
The majority of the book is set in Carmel by the Sea, which sounds like a really charming and picturesque little coast town and reading this book made me want to visit it ASAP! I would love to retrace Maya’s steps in the town and of course, to Big Sur and all the other places in between. It wasn’t hard to picture the story and locations come to life! I wouldn’t necessarily say this was a small town romance but it had the vibes and it leant the story some comfort and charm that I think (generally) worked well with the concept.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a romance involving a Lyft driver and I thought that it was quite a romantic and serendipitous sort of idea that, as a hopeless romantic, I was completely sold on! They also played a game of 50 questions, which I love the idea of and it reminded me of the experiment where couples ask 36 questions that can potentially lead to love. I thought there were some really sweet and funny moments in their banter while they played the game and Maya explored Carmel by the Sea for the first time. That said, even though this started well, it only took a few questions for Maya to already start feeling strongly for our mysterious driver and it rapidly became ‘instalove‘— a trope that I’m not fond of. It just never feels realistic to me and sadly, it was no different here. I also thought the romance itself wasn’t helped by the characters or the somewhat plodding storyline.
Despite being almost 400 pages, not a lot happens and the story moves along at a crawl because of the repetitive nature of Maya’s monologue. I often found myself feeling bored and I started skimming pages towards the middle of the book. Having read the author’s debut last year, I found that the same issues I had then were also the same now. There’s a lot of telling and not enough showing and that made it harder to connect to the characters and their emotions, and to feel invested in the romance. Ultimately though, it was the characters themselves that I had the most trouble with, and particularly with our heroine, Maya.
I don’t like to say negative things about heroines in romances because they’re always judged the harshest, and over the years I’ve come to appreciate flawed but realistic characters. However, I really struggled to like Maya! She’s judgmental, entitled and so bitter. She didn’t have the smoothest path over the last few years but I just didn’t understand her thought process and reaction to things. She hated Ethan before even meeting him because he wrote a story that she felt was hers. As he’s a popular romance author this story got published and she’s extremely bitter about it because it was “her story first”. Her reaction to the whole thing was so petty and immature and… W H Y? I also didn’t like how she refused to take responsibility for the decisions she made whether that was in her past and her present. She also becomes a ‘fairy godmother/saviour’ type of character as she pushes people together through various situations and credits herself for giving them a ‘happy ever after’ that she has created in her head. It was a bit much? Suffice to say, her character made it very difficult for me to enjoy the story.
While I wish I could say that our hero was a lot better, we didn’t really get to know him. He’s a famous author, twin to Celine and is divorced but we don’t get much depth from him. I guess he seemed like a nice enough bloke, but what we do learn of him is from Maya’s POV and again it’s a lot of telling and not showing. We’re told “he can be silly and funny” but his expressions are always blank or severe, and Maya can’t even tell what he’s thinking or feeling 90% of the time. It made it difficult to care about him and to understand his motives or what drives him.
Overall, I guess you can say I was pretty disappointed that I didn’t enjoy this as much as I thought I would! The idea sounded really fun and cute, plus, I loved the coastal small town setting, but the writing wasn’t compelling and I cared very little for the characters, and as a result, I wasn’t sold on their romance.
Have you read The Meeting Point or is it on your TBR?
We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent time curled up reading in bed with, or which book you wish you had time to read today!
This book has so much hype around it and I’m happy to say that I can totally see why. It was well-paced and Jackson kept me on the edge of my seat wondering whodunit because this story is full of shady AF characters and had some delightful twisty turns! 😂 Pippa is such a great character and her family and friends were so entertaining, too. This was so unputdownable that I read it in the span of a few hours, and I can’t wait to read the next two books in this series very soon!
The case is closed. Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by Sal Singh. The police know he did it. Everyone in town knows he did it.
But having grown up in the same small town that was consumed by the crime, Pippa Fitz-Amobi isn’t so sure. When she chooses the case as the topic for her final project, she starts to uncover secrets that someone in town desperately wants to stay hidden. And if the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth … ?
Welcome back to another Top 5 Saturday! Just in case you don’t know Top 5 Saturday is a weekly meme created by Mandy @ Devouring Books and it’s where we list the top five books (they can be books on your TBR, favourite books, books you loved/hated) based on the week’s topic. You can see the upcoming schedule at the end of my post 🙂 This week’s topic is actually: Intimidating Books.
I’m pretty sure I’ve done a similar topic to this quite a few times on the blog already but I always focused on chunky books that intimidated me. So for today’s post I’m going to look at books that I’m intimidated by because of the hype surrounding them. Some of these are classics that I have heard so many good things about and that are often referenced in modern texts, and the others are more recent releases in the fantasy genre that have been so hyped up that I’m a little afraid to pick them up! 😂 Now without further ado, let’s get into it!
A classic that has had several remakes now and that has influenced many art forms, whether it’s movies, books and/or songs. This book intimidates me on various levels but one of the main reasons is because it’s so well-lauded and I’m worried I won’t like it as much?
On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband’s home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs de Winter walks in her shadow.
dinipandareads 