Hundreds & Thousands of Books

ARC Review: Secrets Of the Starcrossed

I – wow

Name: The Once And Future Queen: Secrets Of the Starcrossed

Author: Clara O’Connor

Publish Date: 21st January 2021

It just happens to be published tomorrow! Not cutting this short at all 🙂

Synopsis:

In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, two starcrossed lovers fight to ignite the spark of rebellion…

Londinium, the last stronghold of the Romans left in Britannia, remains in a delicate state of peace with the ancient kingdoms that surround it. As the only daughter of a powerful merchant, Cassandra is betrothed to Marcus, the most eligible bachelor in the city. But then she meets Devyn, the boy with the strange midnight eyes searching for a girl with magic in her blood. A boy who will make her believe in soulmates…

When a mysterious sickness starts to leech the life from citizens with Celtic power lying dormant in their veins, the imperial council sets their schemes in motion. And so Cassandra must make a choice: the Code or Chaos, science or sorcery, Marcus or Devyn?

Panem meets the Grishaverse in this explosive new YA trilogy perfect for readers of Marie Lu, Bella Forrest, and Cassandra Clare.

Thanks to the publishers for an ARC copy through Netgalley in return for an honest review. And whilst I enjoyed some parts of the book, I think comparing it to The Hunger Games and the Grishaverse seems a few steps too far. More than a few.

I was first drawn to the book because of the fantasy world its set in – what would have happened if Rome never fell? It’s a brilliant premise and I enjoyed the blend of modern technology and state-controlled Roman life. However, most of how the reader discovers how the world works was through information dumps that read almost like a textbook. That’s often the easiest way to convey information to the reader, but they got a little tiresome. Sadly, there just wasn’t enough time spent on world building; so much of it was overshadowed by Cassandra’s love life.

Ahhhh, Cassandra. She might come across differently if you physically read the book (I don’t often do audiobooks), but Cassandra was irritating. Honestly, I think her perspective would have worked better in was in third person – because the author was really set on describing Cassandra in almost every scene. Describing your beauty in a really descriptive way is always going to come across as vain, slightly obnoxious, unlikeable. Other than that, as a heroine she felt flat; a little generic.

Also, I thought it was a Young Adult book! I can now confirm… it’s not quite (I was a little confused why the main characters were 21 and 26 if it’s targeted at teens). More similar Of Blood And Ash, if you get what I mean 😉 And whilst I have nothing against a bit of romance, the consent was a little hazy – and that’s something you need to be absolutely concrete on, especially in this day and age.

In a lot of sections, the plot was intriguing. I wanted to know where it was going, I was interested to know where it was going. There was a decent plot twist to the end of the book that almost made me want to Sid over what happens next (almost).

To sum up, Secrets Of The Starcrossed is an interesting blend of fantasy, historical fiction and romance. I ended up upping my rating because of the world and the plot intrigue and the history. Clara O’Conner has certainly done her research; although you might struggle to understand a few places and references if you’re not British. I won’t be reading the rest of the series but if you enjoy Secrets Of The Starcrossed, you’ll be glad to know that the next books are coming out in quick succession.

And the first book comes out tomorrow!

Mystery Blogger Award

A big thanks to Laura over at The Corner Of Laura for nominating me! I’ve linked her site, check it out 🙂

Rules:

Display the award logo on your blog.
Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
Mention Okoto Enigma, the creator of the award.
Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.
Answer 5 questions from the blogger who nominated you.
Nominate 10 – 20 bloggers.
Notify your nominees by leaving a comment on their blog.
Ask your nominees 5 questions of your choice, including 1 weird or funny question.
Share the link to your best post.

Three Things About Me

This is a lot harder than you might think! I’m trying to say reasonably anonymous on here – so I guess that’s something about me?
I’m part of the Alphabet Mafia 😉
Apart from books, I’m into loud music, Stranger Things and procrastinating

Laura’s Questions

What is your secret talent?
I play the violin? It’s a bit too loud ~~and scratchy~~ to be a secret but I’ve been playing for a long time so it doesn’t sound too bad. Any more.

Did you make any New Years Resolutions? Are you sticking to them?
The only one I’m that serious about sticking to this year is my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I’m going for 80 books – are you taking part? How many are you doing?

What was your last DNF book?
I got The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Codds for my birthday and I’m a pretty big Hamilton fan so was interested to see where it went. But it was pretty obvious from the first couple of chapters that it was aimed at Hamilton fans (just look at the cover!) and I got bored of the plot that I knew and the uncomfortable descriptions.

X-Ray vision or telescopic vision (i.e. able to zoom in and see things far away)?
I guess it would be handy to have telescopic vision during exams haha

If the planets in the solar system became habitable, which one would you want to live on?
It would be pretty cool to live on the sun (get it get it because it would be really hot). I guess I could get a nice tan 😎

My questions:

What’s a series/standalone that you really enjoyed and think needs more hype?
What’s your favourite book dedication?
Ugliest cover you’ve ever seen?
A character you’d love to meet in real life?
If you could have a minor character as the main character of a new book, who would you pick?

I nominate:

Can you see a trend?

YOU!

If you want to have a go, consider yourself nominated! Let me know in the comments and I’ll add your site to the list 🙂

‘More Than We Can Tell’: Book Review

It was like… a less depressing All The Bright Places

Name: More Than We Can Tell

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Published: 2018

Every day, Rev Fletcher struggles with the memories and demons of the time before he was adopted. He’s always managed just fine, until a letter from his birth father brings the hellfire, fear and danger back into his life. Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage. She can solve any problem with the right code, but when an online troll’s harassment escalates, she’s truly afraid.

When Rev and Emma meet, they both long to lift the burden of their secrets and bond instantly over their shared turmoil. But when their situations turn dangerous, their trust in each other will be tested in ways they never expected.

This was a very very good book 🙂 For background, it’s a YA standalone novel set in the same world as Letters To The Lost about this character, Declan. Similar to the Anna and the French Kiss series or some of the Love Creekwood stuff, characters from Letters To The Lost popped up in this – the main character was Declan’s best friend, Rev. Check out my review for Letters To The Lost here! Probably one of the best male friendships I’ve ever read, I loved Declan and Rev’s relationship in this book. They talked out loads of their problems together. Although, especially at the start, a lot of the problems could have been solved if the characters just talked to their parents/friends (it was *that* kind of book). But I guess their unwillingness to do so… was the entire plot.

This book is quite heavy in religion which I’m not normally a fan of, but it’s not too weighty and all tied in with these ideas of trauma and forgiveness. So much time was spent building up Emma and Rev separately that they’re not physically together that much. It meant strong characters and the interactions they do have are brilliant, but I was trying to think if getting together was realistic. Some of the dialogue between Emma and Rev was a bit unrealistic to how teens talk – I think Brigid Kemmerer is better at writing email/text messages. Thats how quite a lot of it was structured, in both this and letters between Declan and Juliet in Letters To The Lost. So I think she thinks it too!

“We all push sometimes, just to make sure someone is on the other side, pushing back.”
– More than we can tell

Fast paced writing style kept me really engaged, whilst flicking between Emma and Rev’s pespectives. I think more time was spent on Rev than Emma but I guess it was building onto his character from Letters To The Lost. But whilst Declan was a featured character (his girlfriend not as much) but you could 1000% read this without reading any of Kemmerer’s other books. Speaking of her other ones, I kind of want to read the A Curse So Dark And Lonely books because of how much I’ve enjoyed these ones. Have you read them? Let me know in the comments!

To finish, I really like how the author wrote grief and trauma. There’s no iM bRoKeN moments, it felt like a realistic and not romantising approach. Surprisingly, the book addressed some pretty dark stuff. I wasn’t expecting the turn that it took (I SHOULD HAVE SEEN THE SIGN ON THE BACK. oops) but Rev’s adopted family were gorgeously written. I really enjoyed it.

Definitely not the right word to describe the plot, but the overall feel of the book was… sweet. The themes addressed were anything but; however, it was a brilliant romance. A gripping, gritty story combined with a dareIsay… cute couple. I’d thoroughly recommend it for fans of Jennifer Niven

because it was like… a less depressing All The Bright Places 🙂

#TTT 12/1: Top Ten Albums

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Hey everyone! As always, this great tag was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish but is now hosted over at That Artsy Reader Girl. Today’s prompt was ‘resolutions for 2021’, but since I’ve already done that, I thought I’d try something a bit different. (find my top 20 books for 2020 and New Years Resolutions here 🙂 ). Not to get too cringey, but music was honestly one of the things that got me through 2020. So, I thought I’d share some of my favourite albums 🙂 It was pretty hard to narrow it down to ten, so some notable mentions include Animal Kingdom by Cavetown, Fine Line by Harry Styles and every Queen album ever.

What are your favourite albums? Do you like any of these ones? I’d love to know in the comments 🙂

10. Dookie – Green Day

There’s a lot of great songs to play very loudly

9. Different Class – Pulp

My life will be complete if I can recreate that album cover at my wedding

8. Either/Or – Elliott Smith

Do you know when you love a book so much that you end up finding all the songs in it and listening to them when you read it and you can just imagine the characters listening to them too? Yeah. Yeah.

( Simon vs the Homosapiens Agenda woo)
(I love it when authors are friends, and how Becky Albertalli and Adam Silverra even wrote a book together and Elliott Smith is mentioned in all their books 🙂 )

7. Hunky Dory – David Bowie

AH this album is so GOOD

(go read Rebel Rebel)

Cover has a small, marching parade skeleton figure along with the lettering.

6. The Black Parade – My Chemical Romance

What can I say – most of my music isn’t from this century (oh god when I put it like that), but I am an angsty teenager at heart

#bOrN iN tHe wRoNg gEnErAtiOn

5. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars – David Bowie

The kids were just crass
He was the nazz
With God-given ass
He took it all too far
But, boy, could he play guitar

(I really love David Bowie)

4. Hot Fuss – The Killers

iconic.

3. Kid Krow – Conan Gray

I have listened to this album so many times (a good one to have in the background but kinda deppressing if you listen to the words too much)

2. Word Gets Around – Stereophonics

Every song on this album is an absolute bop

And number one goes to…

1. Sam’s Town – The Killers

Honestly, there were so many other bands I could have included (and the top three are very close) but I really really love this album.

I was supposed to go and see The Killers but, you know, Corona 😦

This was the post! I know this tag is generally about books, but I thought this was a fun change. Happy TTT 🙂

💀 Gideon the Ninth Cross-stitch 💀

I’m back with more cross-stitch! In case you missed my earlier posts, I got into cross stitching in Lockdown, and have been at stitching some of my favourite characters and quotes.

Honestly, I can’t draw haha so I guess this is my way of doing fan art. Or fan sewing. I’ve wanted to do Harrow and Gideon for a while – I love their relationship and can’t wait for the third book…

What do you think? Do you have any ideas for ideas for quotes/characters to try next? Any tips would also be excitedly accepted haha.

Find my reviews of these badass bone nuns here 😎

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Most Powerful Quotes From ‘Pet’ by Awaeke Emezi

This is a book that needs to be heard.

Name: Pet

Author: Awaeke Emezi

Published: 2019

Pet is here to hunt a monster.
Are you brave enough to look?

There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption’s house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question — How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
Image and description from Goodreads

Such a powerful message. Pet is the story of a young trans girl, Jam, who has to question everything she’s been taught when a creature appears in her house. It’s set in a post-rebellion world where Jam’s parents’ generation cleansed a corrupt government and she’s living in the aftermath. ie, IT WAS WRITTEN FOR 2020. The poetic nature of it all made me physically grin; I thoroughly enjoyed it. This is my headcanon, but Jam’s mum is called Bitter… and she calls her daughter ‘sweetness’ sometimes… and it could be like her mother’s generation was sour, but her daughter’s generation is sweet with new beginnings… It was a good book! Just little senteces I felt I could relate to on an intermolecular level. Every other sentence was a quote I want on my wall.

“The painting was so fresh. Maybe it would be better to let it settle a little. Maybe it was too soon, it had just left her mother’s heands, it seemed wrong to expose it to her own eyes without letting it have some time to itself. Just to exist, you know, to be. Everyone, everything deserved some time to be. To figure out what they were. Even a painting.”
PET

I have to say, it felt like some sections were so deep that I wasn’t on the same level as it. And other times were a little too on the nose, a bit preachy. This is a personal taste, but I prefer books with correct punctuation. Some people enjoy books with no speech marks whatsoever (*shivers*) and indeed there was no speech marks when Jam talked to Pet in her head. But, I thought it was an interesting way of showing how Pet could read her thoughts (as if this wasn’t speech, it was thought-speaking). However, sometimes Pet would say words like ‘wing’ or biking’ as a verb and it felt a bit discordant to the othe fancy description. Also, I think it would have to be a bit longer to be 5 stars. Pet was only 200ish pages and you need a lot longer to fall in love with characters – and for stuff to actually happen?

“The truth does not change whether it is seen or unseen,” it whispered in her mind. “A thing that is happening happens whether you look at it or not. And yes, maybe it is easier not to look. Maybe it is easier to say because you do not see it, it is not happening.”
wow

And the CHARACTERS. Jam’s a trans POC, and her best friend Redeption (because why not) is a guy… and its totally platonic! This shouldn’t be something I have to point out: I need more guys and girls who can be best friends without falling in love (Cassandra Clare take notes). Redmption had three parents, there was a non-binary character… I loved the diversity. And the important message it carried throguhout. This isn’t a story about a trans girl. It’s a story about monsters in society, the ways we can deal with monsters in our lives and an thought-provoking take on how to deal with them – from the pov of a girl whose trans. Especially with news at the moment, it felt extremely prevalent.

“Am I a terrible person? she asked Pet.
There is no such thing it replied. There’s only what you do.
You know what I mean… is what I’m doing terrible?
You humans and your binaries, Pet said. It is not a good thing or a band thing it is just a thing.”
THIS WAS THE QUOTE THAT MADE ME UP MY RATING

You’re here to push me into the black, away from the eyes. I am too loud, saying too loud things, too looking loud. Your parents think if you wipe me away, you can wipe away the inside of my mouth, the things I came with that live there. They don’t even know, they know enough to want me gone, they know the shape of the thing from the edges. What do you think, little girl?

“I am made of things you have no names for,” said Pet.
ITS SHORT BUT I REALLY LIKE IT (like my friends ha)

#WWW Wednesday – 6/1/21

Hey everyone! This is one of my favourite weekly tags, so many people so it it’s really fun. Anyway, WWW Wednesday is hosted over at Taking On A World Of Words, check out their site 🙂 If you’ve had a go at this tag, feel free to link in your post in the comments. And without further adieu, here’s what I’ve been up to this week!

A Book I Finished Recently

I’d only first picked up Pet at the end of the year as a quick read to boost up my books read (it’s not cheating!) and was expecting a solid three star read but it was REALLY GOOD!

I love it when that happens.

I have so many thoughts on Pet that I’m going to do a full review of it later this week, keep an eye out for it 🙂

A Book I’m Currently Reading

Ahhh, the shadow hunters. I just…. this is talking after just finishing The City Of The Lost (still don’t understand why all the books are named after cities?) but Sebastian makes me extremely uncomfortable. I think he’s supposed to ( I can’t tell if that makes it good writing?); I’m just not that big a fan of the whole incest plot haha. I’m loving Magnus and Alec but I’m not 100% sure about the other LGBT+ rep, or how it’s talked about. It’s a tricky one!

To be honest, I don’t think I’m going to review (any more) of these books. So many people adore them and I probably would have a few years ago – although there are a few scenes I wouldn’t want 12 year old me reading… It makes me kind of sad that I’ve become too cynical to enjoy these sort of books.

However, I’ve heard that City Of Heavenly Fire is the best one (and the longest omg) so I’m interested to see where it’s all going. Plus all the spines look really nice on my shelf, so it’s not all a loss 🙂

What are your opinions on this series? I’m genuinely interested in people’s favourite parts of these books so I can maybe learn to like them more. I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments!

A Book I Want To Read Next

You dont understand how flipping excited I am to read this.

LOOK AT IT!

READ THE BLURB!

I had a sneaky look inside and THE DEDICATION!

Yes I’m very excited can you tell

What are you reading at the moment? Have you read any of these? Let me know in the comments!

New Years Reading Challenge

Hey there! Today’s post is ‘The New Year’s Reading Challange’ – a big thanks to Sabrina from Notes From A Paper Plane Nomad for tagging me.5 I think its a great way to make sure I actually keep to my New Years reading resolutions for once…

Rules:

Link back to the original creator (The Corner of Laura) and link back to the challenge page or the original creator won’t get a notification.
Thank whoever tagged you and link back to their post
Tag 5 or more other people.
Read books that fit the description. There are some recommendations in the original post to help you pick but you can read anything that fits the brief!
The deadline for the challenge is six weeks after you were originally tagged (which, statistically, is the point when 80% of people give up their New Year’s Resolutions) e.g. if you were tagged in the original tag, the deadline is 12th February.
Post a wrap-up when you’re done to show how you got on.

The Challenge:

The Books I’m Thinking Of Reading

Usually with these challenges I end up just fitting my TBR pile around them instead of picking books to match the options oops, but I can’t wait to give this a go! Happy New Year 🙂

EXERCISE MORE: Book with 500 pages or more. Bonus challenge – read a book with 800 pages or more.
My version of From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout is 612 pages…

LEARN A NEW SKILL: Book from a genre you never usually read. Bonus challenge – book from a genre outside your comfort zone that was published in 2020/21
I just bought the Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, and whilst Adult Fantasy isn’t what I normally read but I’m SO excited to read it. The Starless Sea was brilliant and I have high expectations!

TRAVEL MORE: Book set in a foreign country (or even world!). Bonus challenge – book that was originally published in another language.
Right now, I’m reading The City Of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. The most infuriating heroine, her questionnable brother and dodgy boyfriend are currently travelling via magical apartment around the world. Can you tell I’m loving it?

SAVE MONEY: Read a second-hand book or any book you didn’t pay full price for. Bonus challenge – read a library book.
Extremely recently, I opened a Netgalley account and have some ARCs in mind to read for this one (a sentence I’m pretty thrilled to say ha)

STOP PROCRASTINATING: Book that’s been on your TBR for over a year. Bonus challenge – the book at the very bottom of your TBR.
Ummm, I’d like to think that I’m a little more thorough than leaving a book on my shelf for a year – although I’ve come close in the past! Other than the Shadowhunters series that I’m trudging through currently, Crier’s War by Nina Varela has been on my shelf for a while (but it’s pretty so its all good).

SPEND TIME WITH FRIENDS: Read a book recommended by your IRL/online family or friends. Bonus challenge – read a book you wouldn’t have picked up otherwise.
Me and my friend have been looking to read You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson for…forever.

REDUCE STRESS: Read a happy book or anything that leaves a smile on your face. Bonus challenge – read a happy book about reducing stress/tackling mental health problems.
Two words: Love Creekwood (by Becky Albertalli. Okay five words).

FOCUS ON SELF CARE: Book where mental health is central. Bonus challenge – read a self-help book and try out one of the pieces of advice it gives. Let us know how it went in your wrap-up post!
I’m not one for self help books, but from what I’ve heard More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer focuses on mental health. The first book, Letters to the Lost, did. It was also pretty good, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the charatcers develop further.

SCREW RESOLUTIONS, I QUIT!: Re-read an old favourite. Bonus challenge – re-read an entire series
I haven’t read the Maze Runner for something like two years… which really messes with my head. I remember really enjoying it and recently bought the newest book in the series so I’m going to reread the whole series. Because all I can remeber is a bunch of weiurd spiders and a dystopian future uncomfortably similar to 2020…

We’ll have to see how many of these I get through haha, but I’m excited to give it a go 🙂

Tagging (no pressure though!):

Check out these sites, not only are their posts good but they’re all lovely people 🙂

That was the tag! Do you have any resolutions for this year, bookish or otherwise? Let me know in the comments 🙂

Feminist Fairytales: ‘The Language Of Thorns’ Review

Some of the stories were dark

Name: The Language Of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Illustrator: Sara Kipin

Published: 2017

Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.

A collection of six lavishly illustrated stories filled with betrayals, romance and revenge. Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid’s voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy’s bidding but only for a terrible price.
Blurb from Goodreads

I thought I’d start a new year of reviews on a high – this book solidified Leigh Bardugo as one of my favourite authors. I don’t normally read novellas because they’re so expensive; ‘The Language Of Thorns’ had on my radar for a while before I saw some of the artwork and thought ‘I need this’! It was worth it – it’s gorgeous inside and out. I might have to buy some novellas… what are your favourites?

The best part was the illustrations. For every page, an item was added around the sides of the page, so by the end of the book there was a thick border around the story… It’s difficult to explain! (You’ll just have to buy it 😉). Each story was from a different country in the Grishaverse, which was a great detail. It was interesting how the story style actually did change for each country. And, here are my thoughts on them!

ZEMINI
Ayama and the Thorn Wood
This story reminded me of the romance of King Of Scars and Six Of Crows. It had a great heroine: a Cinderella-esque girl who has to face a monster (in the thorn wood…) in order to win the approval of the King. There was a repitition about it that reminded me of fairytales, but it also challenged common tropes found in fairytales, which was cool.

RAVKAN
The Too-Clever Fox
This story really showcased how good Leigh Bardugo is at dialogue (very good!). Like all of them, the pictures were beautiful and I loved the way they followed the story. Similar to the tale before, it had a feminist plot twist I didn’t see coming.

The Witch of Duva
This was almost DISTURBING. It was a ‘Hansel and Gretel’ style story… except without Hansel and young girls disappearing from Gretel’s village. Pretty horrible. By this point, I was expecting the build up of images around the story but it didn’t fail to impress me. This was a feat of great storytelling; it gave me chills.

Little Knife
For most of this story, I was dissapointed. The others had been so great but I thought that retelling traditional fairytales seemed to have reached its maximum potential. Because all (I think?) fairytales are, they began to feel a little too… heteronormative? And that’s okay. Prince sees princess, servant girl goes to the ball with the king, peasant man falls in love with the duke’s daughter (after only seeing her once from a distance, may I add). It gets a bit too similar. I expected that some of that could be changed when you’re rewriting these stories – I was hoping for a bit more diversity, especially from Leigh Bardugo. How hard is it to have the servant girl marry the queen? Just once. Butttt thennn (this is taken directly from my notes after reading):

“LEIGH HITS US WITH A FEMINIST PLOT TWIST YAAASSSS FINALLYYYYYY”

What can I say. The story had a great message.

KERCH
The Soldier Prince
When reading this, I was just a bit confused. It was a version of ‘The Nutcracker’ – it seems weird you can rewrite stories that have a definite author… is that plagiarism? Maybe you can when the author is long dead. Bit of a tenuous plot and no plot twist to turn it around like the other ones. I’m not that scared of dolls like nutcrackers (any more…) but it was a creepy idea.

FJERDAN
When Water Sang Fire
I liked this take on the Little Mermaid. It’s probably been done before (Disney Twisted Tales who?), but it was the story of how Ursula came to be so evil. It was a bit long for a short story but I enjoyed it! I was shipping the main characters and was dissapointed they didn’t get together… but the characters I’m rooting for never seem to 🙄.

This was one of the best books I’ve read for a while. The illustrations and the stories worked beautifully together; if you love the Girshaverse or are looking for dark, femenists fairytales then look no futher.

Also, buy if you’re looking for a book that can double as a weapon because this thing is HEAVY

2020 Was Terrible But The Books Weren’t

We’ve nearly done it! 2020 is nearly over… and I’m as excited as Kermit there. Not to get too deep, but it’s been a difficult year for lots of people in lots of ways and hopefully 2021 can be a year of new beginnings. I was going to do a post talking about how my Goodreads Reading Challenge went but all I can really give you is the number, so please congratulate me on my…

88

books read this year! I’m proud of it (had a lot of time to read in all the lockdown). How many books did you read in 2020? This was also going to be another post, but here are my New Years Goals for this blog. If you could help me reach them by liking, following or sharing I’d be very grateful 🙂

500 followers by the end of 2021
50 likes on one post
Read 80 books, with more indie and queer authors
Read some ARCs? (Still working on how to do that haha).
More interaction with you guys!

Without further ado, here’s my top 20 books from 2020! I’ve been accumulating this list since January so my reviews are linked to the images. How many have you read? What were your favourite books from this year? Let me know in the comments 🙂

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER

OCTOBER

It Only Happens in the Movies: Amazon.co.uk: Holly Bourne: 9781474921329: Books

SEPTEMBER

Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb Trilogy) (Locked Tomb Trilogy, 2): Amazon.co.uk: Tamsyn Muir: 9781250313225: Books

Pumpkinheads: Amazon.co.uk: Rowell, Rainbow, Hicks, Faith Erin: Books

AUGUST

JULY

Leah on the Offbeat: Amazon.co.uk: Albertalli, Becky: Books

JUNE

MAY

APRIL

MARCH

FEBRUARY

JANUARY

That’s it from me this year! Have a good one 🙂