The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker |Telling a tale long lost in time

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker - greek myth retelling

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The ancient stories are always male dominated, with women’s voices being pushed aside in favour of those “heroes” instead. Although let’s be real, my idea of what defines a hero definitely isn’t the type you find in many Greek myths. So imagine my excitement when finding out this book exists, giving another perspective – the women’s perspective – of the stories I’d read and loved before. Combining Homer’s The Iliad and The Trojan Women by Euripides, my anticipation for this book was REAL.

Probably more real than some of these guys’ “heroic” status.

Ohhh she said it. Continue reading The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker |Telling a tale long lost in time

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Fantasy & Myths | My favourite books of 2018 so far

High angle showing an assortment of my favourite books of 2018 so far - the covers hidden - and my travel journal for decoration

Apparently, I’ve become a harsher reviewer in 2018. I say this because now we’re in the 7th month of the year, and I haven’t rated any books 5 stars yet. None. Zero. Zilch. Why?? It’s true, I’m reluctant to give anything less than a newfound all-time fave 5 stars, but you’d figure that somewhere in the 35 books I’ve read so far this year, I’d have found one. It seems not.

Despite this, there are a few that have still stood out to me this year and have gotten close to those treasured 5 stars. I don’t think anyone will be surprised to see there’s a theme of fantasy and ancient history. But these four books are the ones currently in the running for my favourites of 2018…unless I miraculously discover a whole suitcase full of new favourites in the next 5 months between now and the end of the year. But here, (a little over) halfway through, we have my current highlights!

Continue reading Fantasy & Myths | My favourite books of 2018 so far

Blue Sun by Tracy Abrey | The story of a stubborn science girl being forced to believe in folklore

blue-sun

A folklore story set in the Isle of Man? Count me in!

And that was probably about as far as my thoughts went when considering whether to accept this review or not. And here we are today 🙂

You know the drill by now…

spoiler-free

Let’s talk about Blue Sun!

blue-sun

Title: Blue Sun

Author: Tracy Abrey

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Series Status: The 1st in a series

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

Number of Pages:  360

Continue reading Blue Sun by Tracy Abrey | The story of a stubborn science girl being forced to believe in folklore

Let’s Talk: Which do you prefer – booktube or book blogs?

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The bookish community has taken over social media. WE WILL RIIIIISSSEEEE. We’re everywhere.

But where is it most people go? Well, usually it’s either book blogs or booktube. If a bookworm wants to start their own little bookish corner on the internet, it’s usually one or the other – or both.

Aimee over at lovelybookloves inspired this discussion, when she ran this poll on twitter:

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Because when I went to vote, I actually had to stop and think for a moment. Think about what I love about each, compare them to each other, and how often I spend on each. So here’s the discussion!

Do you prefer book blogs or booktube more?

Continue reading Let’s Talk: Which do you prefer – booktube or book blogs?

A slow but enjoyable trundle through Anne Elliot’s life in…Persuasion by Jane Austen

persuasion

Another classic!

I don’t know why I said that as if it were surprising. I’m part of a Jane Austen book club. I’ll be reading a classic every month 😆

But yes! This was the September book for the Austentatious Book Club. I’m actually so thrilled I managed to finish this on Friday night, considering the movie night for the TV film adaptation was on Saturday – I didn’t want to be spoiled! But I did it! *throws confetti*

spoiler-free 

So let’s talk about Persuasion!

persuasion

Title: Persuasion

Author: Jane Austen

Publisher: Wordsworth Classics

Series Status: Standalone

Genre: Classic

Number of Pages:  199

Continue reading A slow but enjoyable trundle through Anne Elliot’s life in…Persuasion by Jane Austen

Blogger Tips: Helping you frolic through your blogging life [Writing Edition]

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Remember the blogger tips from last week? Well, here’s round 2!

So for this week, I decided to make it about the actual writing of blogs. Because like everything when it comes to blogging, that stuff can be hard.

But never fear. I’ll be acting as your li’l fae friend today, frolicking around and sprinkling words of advice in an attempt to make your task that little bit easier.

So let’s get on with the “writing” tips!

Continue reading Blogger Tips: Helping you frolic through your blogging life [Writing Edition]

Not quite knowing how to handle the sheer strangeness of…Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

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I feel like this review is just going to be all over the place. So many mixed feelings. So much confusion on how to word them.

spoiler-free

Let’s talk about Kids of Appetite!

kids-of-appetite

Title: Kids of Appetite

Author: David Arnold

Publisher: Headline

Series Status: Standalone

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Number of Pages:  331

Continue reading Not quite knowing how to handle the sheer strangeness of…Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

Let’s Talk: Is there a sense of pressure on book bloggers?

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If you’re sat reading this, then there’s probably a 50% chance (or maybe higher) that you’re also a book blogger. So ladies and gentlemen, this one is about us.

Blogging is hard. There so much that comes with it. But…is there a sort of added pressure? Is there something making blogging just that little bit harder?

Is there a sense of pressure on book bloggers?

Continue reading Let’s Talk: Is there a sense of pressure on book bloggers?

Blogger Tips: Helping you frolic through your blogging life [Personal Edition]

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Hi guys! 

This week, I’m bringing you the start of something new *cue singing to High School Musical*

No, but really. So in recent days, I’ve had quite a few people asking me for blogging tips, or just for general help with their blogs, and when Christine @ WeeReader specifically asked me if I’d write a blog post about it, she gave me the inspiration to create a mini-series of blogging tips (thanks Christine!).

Now, I’ve done blogging tips before. In fact, I wrote this roundup of tips as a guest post on Emmi @ BookWithEms’ blog not too long ago. Now, those tips will be included in this mini-series too, but I’ve thought up a whole lot more since then, and figured it would only be right to share.

So far, I plan for this mini-series to be four posts, with sections on Personal tips (todays), Writing tips, Design tips, and Miscellaneous tips that don’t quite fit into the other categories.

By doing this series, I’m by no means claiming I’m a great blogger. Hell – I’ve been blogging for less than a year! I’m rubbish at technical skills…but I’ve learnt. And now I want to pass on some of the things I’ve learnt from my own experience, because you guys asked for it. And I listen.

So let’s get on with the “personal” tips!

Continue reading Blogger Tips: Helping you frolic through your blogging life [Personal Edition]

Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas | The story of how Sarah never fails to trap my heart and CRUSH IT (no spoilers – as always!)

empire-of-storms

You knew this review was coming.

And you probably know how big a fan I am of everything Sarah J Maas writes, so you can probably guess which side of the love/hate scale this review is on.

But either way. Here’s my review!

spoiler free

Let’s talk about Empire of Storms!

Title: Empire of Storms

Author: Sarah J Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Series Status: The 5th book in the Throne of Glass series

Genre: Young/New Adult, Fantasy

Number of Pages:   689

Continue reading Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas | The story of how Sarah never fails to trap my heart and CRUSH IT (no spoilers – as always!)