Monday, August 31, 2015

August Wrap Up 2015!

Hey everyone, I'm back to blogging again! Wooo! I said earlier in one of my posts that my A Court of Thorns and Roses review was coming well that is still true but I really am struggling to write a review (I really loved it!), also my Queen of Shadows review will be coming out soon. This will probably happen when I am stressing out over my assignment that is due this Friday, my prac exam next Tuesday and also my online test next week. Woo uni...

So this month I got to meet Cassandra Clare and Holly Black which you can read about right here. I talked about my top Aussie TBR which you can find here and I even wrote a review about Trouble from the Start which is found here! This month I have a lot of uni work to do and I am going to uni games but I think I might manage to do a couple of reviews and posts because there are some good books sitting on my TBR!

Also I made an instagram account for my blog... basically so I can do book tags and not piss off all my friends it is @myspinonbooks 

Review books:

  • Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas
  • Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer
  • In The Skin of a Monster by Kathryn Barker
Thank you very much Bloomsbury AU, Penguin Teen Au and Allen & Unwin!

Event books:
  • Lying Out Loud by Kody Keplinger
  • Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
  • All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher
  • Running Like China by Sophie Hardcastle
  • This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
  • Pompidou Posse by Sarah Lotz
Thank you very much Hachette AU for the Date A Book YA night!

Swapped books:
  • Searching for Somebody by Jennifer Probst 
  • Wallbanger by Alice Clayton
  • Screwdrivered by Alice Clayton
Thank you very much to Jaz (@pixelski) and Jeann (@happyindulgence) for these books!

Bought books:
  • The Queen of the Tearling and The Invasion of the Tearling by Erkia Johansen
  • Mai Tai'd Up by Alice Clayton
  • Wildlife by Fiona Wood
  • Ophelia by Jackie French 
  • The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
So that is it for my wrap up! Make sure you comment below with what you got this month/week so I can check it out!

Keelyxx

Friday, August 28, 2015

Review Time #83

Trouble From The Start by Rachel Hawthorne


Avery knows better than to fall for Fletcher, the local bad boy who can’t seem to outrun his reputation. Fletcher knows he shouldn’t bother with college-bound, daughter-of-a-cop Avery. But when their paths cross, neither can deny the spark. Are they willing to go against everything and let their hearts lead the way? Or are they just flirting with disaster? 

Trouble from the Start releases simultaneously with companion novel The Boyfriend Project. These heartwarming paperback originals are the perfect summer reads, great for fans of Jennifer Echols, Lauren Barnholdt, and Susane Colasanti.


Trouble from the start,  is a companion novel to The boyfriend project (which I haven't read) and it follows Avery, the classic good girl, and Fletcher, the classic bad boy. 

Avery's father is a cop and every summer he fosters an at-risk kid or in this summers case; Fletcher. After a party the previous night where Avery drank a bit too much because she realised that all throughout high school she didn't really do what everyone else did, the occasional party and a boyfriend wasn't on her list of priorities. Getting a ride home on the back of Fletcher's bike wasn't something that she would normally do (also why let a drunk girl on the back of a bike?) and it may of totally ruined her reputation at school (honestly who cares about this you have a week of school left and will never see most of these people again!?!?!).

Turns out Fletcher isn't all that bad and makes sure everyone knows what really happened that night. After an incident which Avery handles (because she is kinda badass and her dad is also a cop) Fletcher (who was on his way to help out) kind of ends up hanging out with Avery, Kendall and Jeremy.

As summer goes on so does the flirting between Avery and Fletcher until they finally give in, it's cute. The relationship between these two is cute and fun just like a first love should be. I enjoyed that they were friends at first and there was no insta-love because 9/10 that doesn't happen!

The ending was a bit fast paced with a few loose ends coming together and working out what they each want to now that summer is over with colleges which is what every person who finishes high school is like! I really enjoyed the story while it was slightly predicable and eye-rolling at places it was an enjoyable contemporary novel and those who love Jennifer Echols and Kasie West like me will really enjoy it!

Thank you very much for Harper Collins for sending this copy my way!
You can buy Trouble from the start from bookworld, booktopia, dymocks, amazon!

Rating: 4/5

Keelyxx

Thursday, August 20, 2015

My Top Aussie Books TBR

Hey everyone, with the recent #LoveOzYA movement on twitter I thought that I would share some Aussie books that are on my TBR since I have previously done this post about what Aussie books I recommend.


1. Ophelia by Jackie French
Okay I bought this in Sydney on the weekend and I cannot wait to start it! I loved Jackie French in high school and this book is an adaption of Shakespeare's Hamlet which I had to read for my HSC and I bloody loved (okay I really love Shakespeare, okay?) 

2. One True Thing by Nicole Hayes
I have started this one, but I got sick and then had to catch up on so much uni work that I haven't gotten back to it yet, but I will soon!

3. Cloudwish by Fiona Wood
I loved, loved, loved Wildlife by Fiona Wood and I cannot wait until September 1st when Cloudwish is published!

4. Risk by Fleur Ferris
This book is such an intriguing looking thriller, I am a sucker for a thriller book especially Aussie thrillers are reading Tara Moss's books.

5. Pretend... by Stacey Nash
I love Stacy Nash's Oxley College series (see Ssh! and Wait!) yes this could be because I live where this series is set but I also love Aussie NA and being able to relate to it so much makes me love it even more.

6. Every series by Ellie Marney
Sherlock Holmes. Enough said. Well Watts & Mycroft that is. 

7. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
I love These Broken Stars and when I heard that Kaufman had a new series out with another Aussie author I got really excited! 

8. Running Like China by Sophie Hardcastle
Usually I am not one for memoirs but after hearing Sophie speak about her troubles with mental illness on Monday night I cannot help but look forward to reading about her story and struggles that she has had. 



So that is it for my Aussie TBR be sure to comment below some more fantastic Aussie books for me to read!!

Keely xx

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Meeting Cassandra Clare and Holly Black and the Date a Book YA Night!

Hey everyone! I'm back (hopefully) and this past weekend I was super lucky enough to go to the Cassandra Clare and Holly Black Q&A/Signing at Kinokuniya Sydney as well as going to the Hachette blogger night last night which I meet Holly again as well as new Australian author Sophie Hardcastle!

So Saturday my friend and I caught the train down to Sydney for the event and met up with Pavan (@_PavanH) to have lunch and get our seats for the event. We RSVP'd fast enough to be lucky enough to get seats and priority for the signing as well. The Q&A was hilarious and the stories that were told were fantastic. 

Cassandra Clare & Holly Black Q&A!




My signed Clockwork Angel












So I got my 3 infernal devices books signed by Cassandra and I waited for Monday night to get my Holly Black book signed.

So last night was Hachette's Bloggers night, I missed last years night because I had just gone back to university but this year it fell in my holidays so I was able to make it! We got to meet Sophie Hardcastle who has a memoir Running Like China  releasing on the 25th August it is about her struggles with bipolar and finding out that she had the mental illness, really looking forward to reading this one!

We also got an overview of what books are releasing later this year and early next year with some great titles to look out for! I am super excited for Glass Sword which is the sequel to Red Queen, a thriller called The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong and Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin which is a story about what would of happened if the Axis powers won WWII (my love of modern history is making me excited for it!). 
Wildlife & Ophelia!

Since I cleaned out my bookcases recently (and mum is making me get rid of some) I took to twitter to see if people wanted some of the books since I did have complete series to get rid of and well I ended up taking 25 books with me to Sydney so enjoy everyone! I also grabbed a book off the wonderful Jaz (@pixelski) which was Searching for Somebody by Jennifer Probst because it was recently announced that she would be at the Sydney Author Event in 2016 which I plan on going to again! I was in Sydney so I couldn't help but pick up some books while I was at the bookshops, I finally got my own copy of Wildlife by Fiona Wood aka one of my favourite books ever and Ophelia by Jackie French which is also signed because 1) I love Jackie French and 2) I love Shakespeare and Shakespeare retelling's! 

My signed The Darkest Part of the Forest & Holly Black bookmarks from the lovely Gina from @Behindthe_Pages
Book Haul!
Some goodie bag goodies!
Hearing Holly talk for the second time in three days was amazing and this time her talk involved strange pictures (there is a troll under a bridge in Seattle, I wanna go!), fairytales and how her books have changed since she first started writing her first book in the mid 90's. I also happened to be sitting in the lucky chair and I won a Ruin & Rising tote bag, a copy of Lying Out Loud and an ARC of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardvgo (when I won this I felt like everyone was gonna jump me for this book!). In our little gift bag at the end I got All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher, Pompidou Posse by Sarah Lotz and The Raging Light by Estelle Laure as well as a Date A Book mug, makeup and other little bits and bobs. 

My ACOTAR review should be up this week considering I have had 3/4 of it done since May... damn uni getting in the way all the time!
Keely xx