Books, General

Our Dark Duet | Review

Liz Whitehouse

Title: Our Dark Duet

Author: V E Schwab

Rating: 4 Stars

Dates read: 02 Mar 19 – 14 Mar 19

Publication date: 26 Feb 2019

Publisher: Titan Books

Genre(s): YA, Dystopian/Fantasy

Description:

Kate Harker is a girl who isn’t afraid of the dark. She’s a girl who hunts monsters. And she’s good at it. August Flynn is a monster who can never be human. No matter how much he once yearned for it. He has a part to play. And he will play it, no matter the cost.

Nearly six months after Kate and August were first thrown together, the war between the monsters and the humans is a terrifying reality. In Verity, August has become the leader he never wished to be, and in Prosperity, Kate has become the ruthless hunter she knew she could be. When a new monster emerges from the shadows—one who feeds on chaos and brings out its victim’s inner demons—it lures Kate home, where she finds more than she bargained for. She’ll face a monster she thought she killed, a boy she thought she knew, and a demon all her own.

Which will be harder to conquer: the monsters they face, or the monsters within? Continue reading “Our Dark Duet | Review” →

Books, General

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Audiobooks

Liz Whitehouse

There are so many ways to consume stories. Books are different when they’re read and when they’re heard and audiobooks hold a special place in bringing books to life. Whether it’s a story you wouldn’t have otherwise experienced or finished, a story that was brought to life in a new and interesting way, or a character embodied by the voice and personality of the narrator, audiobooks are and important part of my reading life and an under-appreciated reading format. Yes, audiobooks count!

I read a lot of audiobooks, I commute upwards of 1hr per working day, so I can listen to a few books a month in the car and while I am cleaning, and have discovered some hems over the last couple of years that I couldn’t wait to share.

For all of you who don’t know what Top Ten Tuesday is, or don’t know how to get involved, click here. The lovely folks at Broke and Bookish teamed together to create this awesome weekly prompt, which is now hosted by the wonderful Jana @ The Artsy Reader Girl. Then you simply get listing!
Continue reading “Top Ten Tuesday: Best Audiobooks” →

Books, General

This Savage Song | Review

Liz Whitehouse

Title: This Savage Song

Author: V E Schwab

Rating: 5 Stars

Dates read: 24 Aug 18 – 25 Aug 18

Publication date: 07 Jun 2016

Publisher: Titan Books

Genre(s): YA, Dystopian/Fantasy

Description:

Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city, a grisly metropolis where the violence has begun to create real and deadly monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets monsters roam free and makes the inhabitants pay for his protection. August just wants to be human, as good-hearted as his own father – but his curse is to be what the humans fear. the thin truce that keeps the Harker and Flynn families at peace is crumbling, and an assassination attempt forces Kate and August into a tenuous alliance. But how long will they survive in a city where no one is safe and monsters are real …

Continue reading “This Savage Song | Review” →

Books, General

The Priory of the Orange Tree | Review

Liz Whitehouse

Title: The Priory of the Orange Tree

Author: Samantha Shannon

Rating: 5 Stars

Dates read: 26 Jan 19 – 02 Mar 19

Publication date: 26 Feb 2019

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre(s): Fantasy

Description:

An enthralling, epic fantasy about a world on the brink of war with dragons – and the women who must lead the fight to save it.

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

*THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW* Continue reading “The Priory of the Orange Tree | Review” →

Books, General

Down the TBR Hole #6

Liz Whitehouse

Welcome back to this actually quite regular and cathartic feature one my blog! I am really enjoying culling my TBR list down to books I actually have an interest in reading and want to keep on my list. It’s fascinating to see what past Liz thought would be good to add on my list, and trying to understand why added books that I don’t actually remember ever seeing or clicking on! Down the TBR Hole #5 saw series bite the bullet, and classics saved from the TBR bin. Much like last week, it is a mixed bag of books. Today we start at 223, let’s see what happens!

So, how does it work?

  • Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
  • Order on ascending date added.
  • Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books
  • Read the synopses of the books
  • Decide: keep it or should it go?

Continue reading “Down the TBR Hole #6” →

Books, General

January | Wrap Up

Liz Whitehouse

I know, I know, it’s March and I am only just getting around to writing a January wrap post. In my defence, I was immersed in read and seeing friends and I kinda forgot that I hadn’t done one until I started to write one for February. Yes, I could probably have linked them together in one, but I didn’t and so here we are, over a month late. It’s a shame really, because I took part in Bout of Books and 24in48 readathon and actually managed to read a lot of books that covered a lot of challenges and broadened my horizons some what.

I have already posted my wrap for February, which you can check out here!

Continue reading “January | Wrap Up” →

Books, General

Born to Run | Review

Liz Whitehouse

Title: Born to Run

Author: Bruce Springsteen

Rating: 5 Stars

Dates read: 30 Jan 19 – 14 Feb 19

Publication date: 27 Sep 2016

Publisher: Simon Schuster

Genre(s): Non Fiction, Memoir/Autobiography

Description:

‘Writing about yourself is a funny business…But in a project like this, the writer has made one promise, to show the reader his mind. In these pages, I’ve tried to do this.’ —Bruce Springsteen, from the pages of Born to Run.

In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That’s how this extraordinary autobiography began. Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humour and originality found in his songs.

He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid the poetry, danger and darkness that fuelled his imagination, leading up to the moment he refers to as ‘The Big Bang’: seeing Elvis Presley’s debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. He vividly recounts his relentless drive to become a musician, his early days as a bar band king in Asbury Park, and the rise of the E Street Band. With disarming candour, he also tells for the first time the story of the personal struggles that inspired his best work, and shows us why the song ‘Born to Run’ reveals more than we previously realized.

Born to Run will be revelatory for anyone who has ever enjoyed Bruce Springsteen, but this book is much more than a legendary rock star’s memoir. This is a book for workers and dreamers, parents and children, lovers and loners, artists, freaks or anyone who has ever wanted to be baptized in the holy river of rock and roll. Rarely has a performer told his own story with such force and sweep. Like many of his songs (‘Thunder Road’, ‘Badlands’, ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’, ‘The River’, ‘Born in the U.S.A.’, ‘The Rising’, and ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’, to name just a few), Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography is written with the lyricism of a singular songwriter and the wisdom of a man who has thought deeply about his experiences. Continue reading “Born to Run | Review” →