Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

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? (Goodreads) 

Nevernight isn't for new fantasy readers. If you want to dip your toes into fantasy, Nevernight isn't the place to start.  This is the sort of story for experienced high fantasy readers, who enjoy dense world building information. Even I struggled a bit at the very beginning, getting through the footnotes and info dumps but I wanted to persevere because I was sure that this would be a story I would love. I'm so glad I was right. If you're in doubt as to whether to continue at the beginning, DO. Your work will pay off. 

I'm torn over the footnotes that are added in, while I liked the interesting information we learned from them, I still don't like the use of them. I think they pull you out of the story and the characters mind and then you have to find your place again and try to slip back in, which is hard. 


The world of Nevernight is SO unique. I've never read anything like it. From its suns to its streets its completely entrancing. Jay has really built something amazing here. I could see ( and hope) for multiple series from this world. 

I like Jay Kristoff's style of writing. The only book I've read by him is Illuminae, which he wrote with Amie Kaufman and is written in an odd style so I couldn't really judge him from that. I'm a person who enjoys long winded and flowery writing so I really enjoyed Jay's unique way of describing things. 

Mia is a great main character. Despite the book being about assassins, Mia manages to keep me rooting for her. She's brutal and deadly which on its own would make me not connect with her but she's also humble and caring. She's still a young woman with the feelings and urges of a young woman. And I love her for it. 

Nevernight reminds me a bit of Throne of Glass as in both books were the first in big high fantasy series and they started off with a simple competition story line, letting you get to know the world, the history and the characters but dropping hints started to develop the main plot for the series. 

P.S the ending will give you a dangerous amount of feels. 

4 Stars! 

I'M A BONE SEASON ADVOCATE!!

I have THE MOST EXCITING news to share. Some of the best news ever. EVER. I am officially an advocate for The Bone Season aka one of my favourite series in the entire world.

If you haven't yet read The Bone Season, I highly recommend you go pick it up because your life just isn't complete without it. True story. And if you pick up both The Bone Season and the sequel The Mime Order you should be finished them by the time the third book, The Song Rising is released early next year.

I found out I was going to be an advocate yesterday. I'd gotten home from a hard days work, and of course went to check Twitter. There I saw a few people tweeting about their own excitement at being chosen to be an advocate. My heart both started beating extra fast and dropped to my feet. People had started being chosen?! I was so nervous that I wouldn't have been picked, but I hadn't checked my email yet. But just waiting for me was that oh so special email, blessing me with it's presence. I may have squealed, I may have half cried a little. I'm certainly going to keep that email forever, It's now precious to me.

I also get to share something awesome with you: THE PRELUDE FOR THE SONG RISING. You can read below... (spoilers, obviously...)

 HOW EXCITING RIGHT? What a way to start off! It always feels a little surreal when you get something new from one of your favourite series of books after you've been rereading the previous books for so long. I JUST WANT MORE NOWWW.

What did you think?
Jaxon makes me so conflicted. He's so horrible and things would be so much easier if he were removed from the plot...by death. But he's somehow become the only 'evil' character that I don't want to die. I LOVE every scene he's in. He's such an amazingly crafted character. I'm so excited to see what he gets up to in The Song Rising!

Laura x

Sing to Silent Stones - Violet's War By David Snell

When 19-year-old Violet falls in love with Frank, a clerk in the family firm, her father refuses to allow their relationship. The year is 1913 and the world is spiraling into war.  After Frank goes off to the Front, the unintended consequences of their romance catch up with Violet and her family. 
The dramatic events in Violet's life before, during and after the First World War are exhilarating, emotional and deeply affecting. Sing to Silent Stones: Violet's War is a story of love, illegitimacy and changing social attitudes. 
This epic family saga offers a view into the lives of girls and women who served as nurses in the Great War faced with struggles that are almost inconceivable to us today. (From the blurb)

I haven't read a lot of World War I novels and now David Snell has made me definitely want to read more. I've seen many films and TV shows/documentaries about the war but being able to read and get inside the characters head to experience it through their eyes I think is better. I feel the emotion a lot deeper and connect a lot more with the characters by seeing events solely through their eyes. 

Being a young adult myself, the same age as Violet. It was so interesting to read about what my life could have been like if I'd been born 100 years earlier. I loved that the book's main character was a woman. Often war novels focus on men, as men were the ones on the front line in the thick of the war but as this novel shows, women also faced hardships and had to adapt and harden. It's wonderful to learn more about women's roles.

Usually, the end of the war marks the end of the book. End of the war = end of the struggles. I liked that David didn't do this. Instead we got to carry on for over 10 years after the war ends and experience what happened afterwards, what the lasting effects were. This was great as its something that isn't talked of/ written about much. 

The size of the book might put  people off, it's a large book, coming in at 563 pages. I enjoy big  books but I know a lot of people don't. However, reading other reviews of the book, SO many say they were completely put off by the size but then couldn't put it down once they tried it. It might be big but it reads so easily, never having a drop in keeping your attention.

Everything feels so real while reading, the language and descriptions makes everything feel so authentic. David clearly did his research and makes it very easy for you to imagine the struggles faced by people during the war.
It was interesting to learn that both Davids parents were wartime pilots so a lot of the details in the novel are probably stories and facts they've told him which makes the story come alive and seem even more real. 

I would read this book again, and I'll definitely be picking up Volume Two.

4 Stars! 

Asking for It by Louise O'Neill

It's the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. 

The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can't remember what happened, she doesn't know how she got there. She doesn't know why she's in pain. But everyone else does. 

Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don't want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town's heroes... (Goodreads)

I've been meaning to read Asking for It ever since I heard it was coming out. I remember discussing the synopsis with my friends and talking about how we wanted to read it but knowing it would probably make us mad. So, I picked up a copy from YALC and now I've read it, rather than being mad, i'm just sad. Asking for It isn't an easy book - which it shouldn't be. 

Emma was the perfect main character for the novel, because she really tested your opinions. Was she a nice person? No. Was she a good friend? No. Did she deserve what happened to her? NO. Was what happened to her her fault? No. Louise could've wrote a rape story about a girl who didn't have a lot of sexual partners or like to get drunk but that's not what she wanted to make a point about. I'm so glad she wrote it the way she did because the opinion that it's the woman's fault for being raped if she's drunk or dresses provocatively  or just looked at a man suggestively (that shes asking for it) NEEDS to end. 

It's my first novel I've read by Louise and I enjoyed her writing style. You need some skill to write such a hard-hitting story and make it really hit you and she has it. The only thing I wasn't a fan of is  how some of the flash backs were inserted. Often there'd be no warning of a jump forwards or back and it could be confusing. 

The ending Louise wrote was exactly the right ending the book needed. We all wanted it to end with justice for Emma, but then it wouldn't have been as true to life and the nightmare that rape victims can face every day. It also makes you angry that people still suffer through this every day and want to do something to change it. 

Asking for It should be read by everyone. It needs to be discussed. 

4 Stars.