The Jestivan (Erafeen, book 1)

By David F. Farris

Blurb: 
When birthed into the world as the son of the great Mendac LeAnce, miraculous feats are expected. Mendac was the Fifth of Five, making him the final hero in the Of Five—a five-part series of fairy tales that stretches over 1,500 years.

Bryson, unfortunately, was given the impossible task of following in his dead father's footsteps. And after sixteen years of mediocrity, the only time people notice him is to ridicule his existence. The world has given up on Mendac's son.

But there are two people on Bryson's side: a stone-faced, lifelong best friend who's never expressed an emotion in her life, and a secret-riddled man who has taken care of Bryson since his father's death. They're his rocks. He has learned to appreciate and lean on their friendship, regardless of their more mysterious side … even if those mysteries put Bryson's life in jeopardy.

Things are looking up for the young LeAnce as the new school year at Phesaw begins. He receives a letter informing him of his induction into the recreation of the Jestivan, an elite group of students that had only existed once in the school's history. Its formation presents the opportunity of new friends for Bryson. But when ten highly talented students come together, there is bound to be conflict.

Warring personalities and competitive attitudes are minor hurdles, however; considering the fact that warring kingdoms are more pressing. A 1,500-year war boils over as a traitor turns his back on his realm, threats of a dangerous king rising from the ashes begin to surface, one of the Jestivan goes missing, and someone close to Bryson is hiding something with more regard for the thing being protected than Bryson’s life.

The Jestivan must develop camaraderie, and do it fast. Otherwise, they’re going to have to force it. And that can end in devastation.

Review:
This book and author had been popping up on my Facebook feed for quite a while and the books sounded really interesting. So I started following the author, after book 4 was released I decided that I really needed to add this book to my to be read list. And finally I've got round to reading it, but sadly I was in my reading slump so it took me longer than usual.

The actual story-line of this book is totally unique, and I've never actually come across something like this before. Basically there is a group of young adults/teenagers from different realms that are learning to develop their powers and abilities. But this year they have decided to bring back the Jestivan's traditions which is the strongest male and female students from each realm. They are then split into groups to train and bring out the best in one another and develop in their characters.

Within this book we face many problems with these Jestivan and their past lives are mentioned and we come face to face with some of their past fears and bad consequences happen. It is quite nice to get a background of the majority of the characters and seeing where they came from. It is also really nice to see that several of the characters have a close relationship already and seeing other relationships develop is quite sweet. We also have a hint of a romantic relationship within these main characters which I love and I really hope that they get together in later books.

There is quite a lot of action, adventure and twists within this book too which makes it more interesting and enticing. It is a reasonable paced book that is well written. It is not a usual style of writing for a young adult book, but it is really good. I think this what makes this book even more unique and special.

I really like the different character personalities, there is a mixture of shy, outgoing, classy and sassy. Which makes this book funny at times just with the actions and words that are associated with the characters. While reading this book you don't get lost with which characters point of view you are in because they are distinctive which is really good as most young adult books point of views are really similar.

The whole plot and background of this book is just pure perfection and amazing. I think the only reason why I rated it 4 stars was because I was in a reading slump and it was taking me a long time to read it because it wasn't as fast paced as I am used to and like. But that may have just been purely down to my reading slump, so I'd definitely recommend this book if you are wanting a unique and special book that enhances your reading experience.

Favourite Character: Bryson

Read: 31/03/19 - 29/04/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

The Jestivan (Erafeen, book 1)

By David F. Farris

Blurb: 
When birthed into the world as the son of the great Mendac LeAnce, miraculous feats are expected. Mendac was the Fifth of Five, making him the final hero in the Of Five—a five-part series of fairy tales that stretches over 1,500 years.

Bryson, unfortunately, was given the impossible task of following in his dead father's footsteps. And after sixteen years of mediocrity, the only time people notice him is to ridicule his existence. The world has given up on Mendac's son.

But there are two people on Bryson's side: a stone-faced, lifelong best friend who's never expressed an emotion in her life, and a secret-riddled man who has taken care of Bryson since his father's death. They're his rocks. He has learned to appreciate and lean on their friendship, regardless of their more mysterious side … even if those mysteries put Bryson's life in jeopardy.

Things are looking up for the young LeAnce as the new school year at Phesaw begins. He receives a letter informing him of his induction into the recreation of the Jestivan, an elite group of students that had only existed once in the school's history. Its formation presents the opportunity of new friends for Bryson. But when ten highly talented students come together, there is bound to be conflict.

Warring personalities and competitive attitudes are minor hurdles, however; considering the fact that warring kingdoms are more pressing. A 1,500-year war boils over as a traitor turns his back on his realm, threats of a dangerous king rising from the ashes begin to surface, one of the Jestivan goes missing, and someone close to Bryson is hiding something with more regard for the thing being protected than Bryson’s life.

The Jestivan must develop camaraderie, and do it fast. Otherwise, they’re going to have to force it. And that can end in devastation.

Review:
This book and author had been popping up on my Facebook feed for quite a while and the books sounded really interesting. So I started following the author, after book 4 was released I decided that I really needed to add this book to my to be read list. And finally I've got round to reading it, but sadly I was in my reading slump so it took me longer than usual.

The actual story-line of this book is totally unique, and I've never actually come across something like this before. Basically there is a group of young adults/teenagers from different realms that are learning to develop their powers and abilities. But this year they have decided to bring back the Jestivan's traditions which is the strongest male and female students from each realm. They are then split into groups to train and bring out the best in one another and develop in their characters.

Within this book we face many problems with these Jestivan and their past lives are mentioned and we come face to face with some of their past fears and bad consequences happen. It is quite nice to get a background of the majority of the characters and seeing where they came from. It is also really nice to see that several of the characters have a close relationship already and seeing other relationships develop is quite sweet. We also have a hint of a romantic relationship within these main characters which I love and I really hope that they get together in later books.

There is quite a lot of action, adventure and twists within this book too which makes it more interesting and enticing. It is a reasonable paced book that is well written. It is not a usual style of writing for a young adult book, but it is really good. I think this what makes this book even more unique and special.

I really like the different character personalities, there is a mixture of shy, outgoing, classy and sassy. Which makes this book funny at times just with the actions and words that are associated with the characters. While reading this book you don't get lost with which characters point of view you are in because they are distinctive which is really good as most young adult books point of views are really similar.

The whole plot and background of this book is just pure perfection and amazing. I think the only reason why I rated it 4 stars was because I was in a reading slump and it was taking me a long time to read it because it wasn't as fast paced as I am used to and like. But that may have just been purely down to my reading slump, so I'd definitely recommend this book if you are wanting a unique and special book that enhances your reading experience.

Favourite Character: Bryson

Read: 31/03/19 - 29/04/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, book 1)

By Cassandra Clare

Blurb: 
All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Review: 
I preordered this book and was so excited to receive it. I was slightly wary because I wasn't a fan of The Bane Chronicles but I was going in with an open mind.

This story is based on Alec and Magnus' relationship and their first trip away after Alec declared his love for Magnus in front of his parents and the consul. It is quite a nice story because you see how their love develops, and it is really nice to see how other relationships develop that we have come across in the Dark Artifices trilogy. 

This book starts of when they are in Paris on their adventure, Magnus tries to be romantic with a hot air balloon, and it goes wrong. While they are on this hot air balloon they realise 2 shadowhunters are being attacked by demons, so Alec helps them out with his bow and arrow. We discover these characters later on in the book so I won't say who they are but we have met one of them in a past series.

While they are on this romantic trip away together, there is a rumor going round that Magnus had started a demon worshiping cult, and all the rules for this cult are in The Red Scrolls. So they go on an adventure to find them so they can discover the true leader of the cult and stop them worshiping demons.

Throughout this book we get to understand the true feelings Alec has for Magnus and know that he is quite nervous as this is his first boyfriend so he is quite enclosed with his feelings. Towards the end of the book though he starts to open up as he is becoming more relaxed.

I found that this book was lacking in a story line that was enticing, I found that it was quite a simple story-line for Cassandra Clare and nothing complex was actually included. There was a few story plot twists which did help with the reading experience and make you want to read a bit more, but I did find that it was an extremely slow read for one of Cassandra's books sadly. I still rate it higher than The Bane Chronicles as it is an improvement on that but only just.

The romance within this book is obviously LGBT so if you are not into this stuff don't really bother trying to read it, there isn't anything to saucy but there are a few hot scenes.

Meeting characters in this book that we have met in older series was quite a nice input so you know where about the book is actually based among them all. I was so happy to have old characters back that I had missed quite a bit, so I may reread her other series at some point when I'm out of this stupid reading slump.

The way this book was wrote is just like her old writing style so I did like it a lot compared to The Dark Artifices, the only thing it was lacking which I mentioned before was a complex story-line. Which is the main reason why this book only got 4 stars as I thought the length that it was, it would have been more complex, but oh well that's my opinion. I look forward to the second book in this series to see if it is any improvement, either way I'll finish this trilogy, I will always read any new books from Cassandra Clare no matter how much I dislike them.

So I'd totally recommend this book if you are into your LGBT, adventure, sight seeing and small plot twists.

Favourite Character: Helen

Read: 10/04/19 - 22/04/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, book 1)

By Cassandra Clare

Blurb: 
All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke.

Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand and its elusive new leader before the cult can cause any more damage. As if it wasn’t bad enough that their romantic getaway has been sidetracked, demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping.

Review: 
I preordered this book and was so excited to receive it. I was slightly wary because I wasn't a fan of The Bane Chronicles but I was going in with an open mind.

This story is based on Alec and Magnus' relationship and their first trip away after Alec declared his love for Magnus in front of his parents and the consul. It is quite a nice story because you see how their love develops, and it is really nice to see how other relationships develop that we have come across in the Dark Artifices trilogy. 

This book starts of when they are in Paris on their adventure, Magnus tries to be romantic with a hot air balloon, and it goes wrong. While they are on this hot air balloon they realise 2 shadowhunters are being attacked by demons, so Alec helps them out with his bow and arrow. We discover these characters later on in the book so I won't say who they are but we have met one of them in a past series.

While they are on this romantic trip away together, there is a rumor going round that Magnus had started a demon worshiping cult, and all the rules for this cult are in The Red Scrolls. So they go on an adventure to find them so they can discover the true leader of the cult and stop them worshiping demons.

Throughout this book we get to understand the true feelings Alec has for Magnus and know that he is quite nervous as this is his first boyfriend so he is quite enclosed with his feelings. Towards the end of the book though he starts to open up as he is becoming more relaxed.

I found that this book was lacking in a story line that was enticing, I found that it was quite a simple story-line for Cassandra Clare and nothing complex was actually included. There was a few story plot twists which did help with the reading experience and make you want to read a bit more, but I did find that it was an extremely slow read for one of Cassandra's books sadly. I still rate it higher than The Bane Chronicles as it is an improvement on that but only just.

The romance within this book is obviously LGBT so if you are not into this stuff don't really bother trying to read it, there isn't anything to saucy but there are a few hot scenes.

Meeting characters in this book that we have met in older series was quite a nice input so you know where about the book is actually based among them all. I was so happy to have old characters back that I had missed quite a bit, so I may reread her other series at some point when I'm out of this stupid reading slump.

The way this book was wrote is just like her old writing style so I did like it a lot compared to The Dark Artifices, the only thing it was lacking which I mentioned before was a complex story-line. Which is the main reason why this book only got 4 stars as I thought the length that it was, it would have been more complex, but oh well that's my opinion. I look forward to the second book in this series to see if it is any improvement, either way I'll finish this trilogy, I will always read any new books from Cassandra Clare no matter how much I dislike them.

So I'd totally recommend this book if you are into your LGBT, adventure, sight seeing and small plot twists.

Favourite Character: Helen

Read: 10/04/19 - 22/04/19

4 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

To Best the Boys

By Mary Weber

Blurb: 
Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port receive a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. Every year, the poorer residents look to see that their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.

In the province of Caldon, where women are trained in wifely duties and men are encouraged into collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her Mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.

With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone’s ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the maze.

Review: 
I received this book in March's FairyLoot box, I wouldn't have personally chosen this book for myself but since I got it in the box I read it. The synopsis of the book seemed quite interesting and different so I went in with an open mind.

The principle of this book is that women should just stay at home and look after the house and that they shouldn't have an education, but this one girl (Rhen the main character) wants to go to the university so she can have all the equipment to allow her to complete her research on finding a cure for the disease that is spreading through the village.

The first scene within this book is where she is showing one of her friends how to dissect a dead body so that he can pass this trial/game. This scene is actually quite funny and it did actually entice me into reading this book. There was also that slight hint of romance there which was quite cheesy but also cute at the same time.

After the first 2 chapters we have near enough met every character that is within the book, which is quite surprising and it would have been quite nice to have less mentioned at the start and meet them along the way. These characters don't actually develop much throughout the book which is quite disappointing, the relationships between characters also doesn't really develop much. Which is why this book lost a star.

The other reason why this book lost a star was because I felt story didn't develop much for the actual size of the book, but I'm so pleased that it is just a stand alone book because I really would not have read the second book. I felt that this story was also quite slow paced but the writing style of the book was fast paced, if that makes sense.

There is also a concept of hierarchy status within this book and how the higher status gets more than the poor. There is also a case of fighting for what you want, I thought this was a decent concept as it is happening in the real world. With Rhen and Seleni being cousins their family situation is quite complicated especially when Rhen's mother and father married as this is what separated them from Seleni's side of the family. But it is quite nice that these two cousins are quite close and support each other in their life decisions.

I can't really think of much else to say about this book because like I said, I felt nothing much really happened throughout. The trial within the book had different tasks but they were nothing too extraordinary so it was quite disappointing, the only interesting thing was the mystery of who Mr Holm was which we do discover in the book, but it still wasn't really interesting to me but that's my opinion. Other people may have enjoyed this book a lot more than me but I think this was the book that caused me to go into my reading slump sadly.

I'd only recommend this book if you are a fan of slow stories, and not much action happening within the book. To be honest the style of writing and story really reminds me of Melinda Sailsbury. So if you are a fan of hers then I'd read this book. The actual concept and history of this book is quite interesting but that is all that I actually liked.

Favourite Character: Seleni

Read: 31/03/19 - 01/04/19

3 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Check out Sammie's review of FairyLoot - March 2019.

To Best the Boys

By Mary Weber

Blurb: 
Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port receive a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. Every year, the poorer residents look to see that their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.

In the province of Caldon, where women are trained in wifely duties and men are encouraged into collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her Mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.

With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone’s ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the maze.

Review: 
I received this book in March's FairyLoot box, I wouldn't have personally chosen this book for myself but since I got it in the box I read it. The synopsis of the book seemed quite interesting and different so I went in with an open mind.

The principle of this book is that women should just stay at home and look after the house and that they shouldn't have an education, but this one girl (Rhen the main character) wants to go to the university so she can have all the equipment to allow her to complete her research on finding a cure for the disease that is spreading through the village.

The first scene within this book is where she is showing one of her friends how to dissect a dead body so that he can pass this trial/game. This scene is actually quite funny and it did actually entice me into reading this book. There was also that slight hint of romance there which was quite cheesy but also cute at the same time.

After the first 2 chapters we have near enough met every character that is within the book, which is quite surprising and it would have been quite nice to have less mentioned at the start and meet them along the way. These characters don't actually develop much throughout the book which is quite disappointing, the relationships between characters also doesn't really develop much. Which is why this book lost a star.

The other reason why this book lost a star was because I felt story didn't develop much for the actual size of the book, but I'm so pleased that it is just a stand alone book because I really would not have read the second book. I felt that this story was also quite slow paced but the writing style of the book was fast paced, if that makes sense.

There is also a concept of hierarchy status within this book and how the higher status gets more than the poor. There is also a case of fighting for what you want, I thought this was a decent concept as it is happening in the real world. With Rhen and Seleni being cousins their family situation is quite complicated especially when Rhen's mother and father married as this is what separated them from Seleni's side of the family. But it is quite nice that these two cousins are quite close and support each other in their life decisions.

I can't really think of much else to say about this book because like I said, I felt nothing much really happened throughout. The trial within the book had different tasks but they were nothing too extraordinary so it was quite disappointing, the only interesting thing was the mystery of who Mr Holm was which we do discover in the book, but it still wasn't really interesting to me but that's my opinion. Other people may have enjoyed this book a lot more than me but I think this was the book that caused me to go into my reading slump sadly.

I'd only recommend this book if you are a fan of slow stories, and not much action happening within the book. To be honest the style of writing and story really reminds me of Melinda Sailsbury. So if you are a fan of hers then I'd read this book. The actual concept and history of this book is quite interesting but that is all that I actually liked.

Favourite Character: Seleni

Read: 31/03/19 - 01/04/19

3 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Check out Sammie's review of FairyLoot - March 2019.

Five Feet Apart 

By Rachael Lippincott, Mikki Daughtry, and Tobias Iaconis

Blurb: 
Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

Review: 
I've watched the Netflix original for this book and I cried my eyes out to it I loved it, so when I discovered there was a book I added it to my to be read list straight away. Then my next trip into Waterstones I saw it on the table with the books buy one get one half price so guess what I done. I bought it, read it and now I'm reviewing it.

This book was generally sweet and I did love the actual concept of the story. But I felt that it had too much of A Fault in Our Stars vibe, which I also didn't mind but I didn't love and I would never read again. Much like this book but don't let that stop you from reading this book because it was well written, and by this point if you've been reading my reviews, I am quite strict and biased so read it and make your own opinion.

So this book is about a girl who suffers with cystic fibrosis and she has a friend on the same ward that suffers the same condition as her called Poe. They have known each other since she was 6 years old so it has been quite a long friendship and they see each other every time they require treatment and FaceTime each other for breakfast and before bed.

Stella is an app developer and a web designer, while she is in for this round of treatment she is finishing of an app that she developed to help other people with life threatening conditions to remind them to take their tablets at set times of day. Which I find is pretty cool and making it a fun thing out of a life condition.

Stella is supposed to be going on a school holiday with her best friends that she planned but she has turned ill hence why she has ended up in hospital going through another course of antibiotics and treatment. This works out quite well for her because she meets a new guy called Will who she finds quite cute and he suffers from the same condition as well as another one which I can't remember the name of. Maybe it's Hepatitis B but couldn't be 100% on that.

Stella and Will soon start getting to know each other and start to slowly fall in love as is expected. And is also very similar to The Fault in Our Stars again, but oh well.

Okay so this situation with cystic fibrosis is that you are supposed to go to all these precautions to protect yourself from infection which will in theory extend your life, but because her lungs aren't getting any better she starts taking risks and reduced the distance down to 5 feet. Stella also manages to get Will to start taking his tablets so he has a better chance of surviving.

What really annoys me with this is that they keep this distance to prevent infection and all that malarkey but then they go in the swimming pool together! So does that not defeat the object? Like they're technically putting all the germs in the water which is touching each other so I really don't understand this. *Throws hands up in the air*

But that aside it is a sweet story and it does contain some romance, which wasn't too cheesy and I survived it. So that is saying that the romance is definitely on a low. The situations they face as well are quite realistic to an extent, feeling pressure from parents and friends to do certain tasks or to get better when they may actually not feel up to doing it.

Within this book there is also a death which was quite scary, I'm not sure why I found it scary but I just found it quite upsetting. So be prepared for this, I think it was generally how this person died and what the other 2 people tried to do to help this person. It soon changed the other 2 people's actions which was a good thing.

I'd recommend this book if you liked The Fault in Our Stars, or romance. But those are the only reasons I'd recommend it. It was generally a good book it was well wrote and fast paced, but it just wasn't for me.

The reason I gave it 3 stars was because the pool situation really annoyed me, and then cause it was too much of The Fault in Our Stars vibe. But other than those things that was all I could fault.

Favourite Character: Poe

Read: 29/03/19 - 30/03/19

3 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Five Feet Apart 

By Rachael Lippincott, Mikki Daughtry, and Tobias Iaconis

Blurb: 
Can you love someone you can never touch?

Stella Grant likes to be in control—even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. At this point, what Stella needs to control most is keeping herself away from anyone or anything that might pass along an infection and jeopardize the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.

The only thing Will Newman wants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. He couldn’t care less about his treatments, or a fancy new clinical drug trial. Soon, he’ll turn eighteen and then he’ll be able to unplug all these machines and actually go see the world, not just its hospitals.

Will’s exactly what Stella needs to stay away from. If he so much as breathes on Stella she could lose her spot on the transplant list. Either one of them could die. The only way to stay alive is to stay apart. But suddenly six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment.

What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?

Review: 
I've watched the Netflix original for this book and I cried my eyes out to it I loved it, so when I discovered there was a book I added it to my to be read list straight away. Then my next trip into Waterstones I saw it on the table with the books buy one get one half price so guess what I done. I bought it, read it and now I'm reviewing it.

This book was generally sweet and I did love the actual concept of the story. But I felt that it had too much of A Fault in Our Stars vibe, which I also didn't mind but I didn't love and I would never read again. Much like this book but don't let that stop you from reading this book because it was well written, and by this point if you've been reading my reviews, I am quite strict and biased so read it and make your own opinion.

So this book is about a girl who suffers with cystic fibrosis and she has a friend on the same ward that suffers the same condition as her called Poe. They have known each other since she was 6 years old so it has been quite a long friendship and they see each other every time they require treatment and FaceTime each other for breakfast and before bed.

Stella is an app developer and a web designer, while she is in for this round of treatment she is finishing of an app that she developed to help other people with life threatening conditions to remind them to take their tablets at set times of day. Which I find is pretty cool and making it a fun thing out of a life condition.

Stella is supposed to be going on a school holiday with her best friends that she planned but she has turned ill hence why she has ended up in hospital going through another course of antibiotics and treatment. This works out quite well for her because she meets a new guy called Will who she finds quite cute and he suffers from the same condition as well as another one which I can't remember the name of. Maybe it's Hepatitis B but couldn't be 100% on that.

Stella and Will soon start getting to know each other and start to slowly fall in love as is expected. And is also very similar to The Fault in Our Stars again, but oh well.

Okay so this situation with cystic fibrosis is that you are supposed to go to all these precautions to protect yourself from infection which will in theory extend your life, but because her lungs aren't getting any better she starts taking risks and reduced the distance down to 5 feet. Stella also manages to get Will to start taking his tablets so he has a better chance of surviving.

What really annoys me with this is that they keep this distance to prevent infection and all that malarkey but then they go in the swimming pool together! So does that not defeat the object? Like they're technically putting all the germs in the water which is touching each other so I really don't understand this. *Throws hands up in the air*

But that aside it is a sweet story and it does contain some romance, which wasn't too cheesy and I survived it. So that is saying that the romance is definitely on a low. The situations they face as well are quite realistic to an extent, feeling pressure from parents and friends to do certain tasks or to get better when they may actually not feel up to doing it.

Within this book there is also a death which was quite scary, I'm not sure why I found it scary but I just found it quite upsetting. So be prepared for this, I think it was generally how this person died and what the other 2 people tried to do to help this person. It soon changed the other 2 people's actions which was a good thing.

I'd recommend this book if you liked The Fault in Our Stars, or romance. But those are the only reasons I'd recommend it. It was generally a good book it was well wrote and fast paced, but it just wasn't for me.

The reason I gave it 3 stars was because the pool situation really annoyed me, and then cause it was too much of The Fault in Our Stars vibe. But other than those things that was all I could fault.

Favourite Character: Poe

Read: 29/03/19 - 30/03/19

3 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Onyx Elixir (Mixologists and Pirates Series, book 5)

By Frost Kay

Blurb: 
Fact 752 - Karma was a vindictive wench, and Luck, no lady.

Allie never believed in Karma, but after the week she'd had, she was prone to believe that if such an entity existed, it had to be a woman. Only a woman could hold such an ugly, nasty grudge, and make Allie's life so impossibly miserable. If spying for the enemy and a broken heart wasn't enough, someone had even stolen her favorite heels. Classy, right? Bad luck strikes again.

Fact 689 - Southern girls were supposed to be graceful losers.

Spying for Sloven wasn't the plan, but every attempt she made to escape his clutches only entrenched her deeper into a war Allie never wanted to be part of. Good thing her mama taught her how to fight dirty. Allie would play his game, and do the one thing he didn't think possible. She'd win.

Fact 521 - Never play a player, or in this case, a southern belle.

It was just one compromise...

Review: 
OMG! This book is just next level. 

This book follows on from after Allie Sae has been abused by the King and is asked to spy for him. She is struggling mentally (possible PTSD) with the actual memory of it and is anxious every time she is out or at work even though her friends are watching her back every minute.

During this book we find that the king is still spying on her and has had cameras installed in to her and Jer's house which creeps her. Allie is asked to wear contacts which act as a camera for the King by someone, I won't mention who because it's the most shocking moment through out the book apart from the end.

The plot of the book is really good and is fast paced for how short it is. This is what I love most about Frost's books they are so fast, so much action and they are really small, which annoys me at times because I want more and don't want to wait for the next book but I suppose that's what keeps me reading them. I feel that Allie's character has developed a lot from the very first book and now she is a totally different person in a good way she is acting more like a woman and actually thinks of the consequences of her actions now, where as at the start of the series she really wasn't like this. Where as Jer's character hasn't developed much, she still supports her best friend and is always there for her but she hasn't really changed much. I guess this is expected as she is just a side character and I've heard we will get more onto Jer in the later books, which is so exciting because it would be really nice to see how she has actually developed.

The relationship between Allie and Blade is just ahhh! Perfect, I love them so much. I'm so pleased Allie has come to terms with him and just OMG it's perfection. Sorry I couldn't fan anymore about them. I love how after Allie uses the distortion band he still wants to be with her and protect her, it's just so romantic. I can tell that Allie's feelings for him have definitely developed.

I found that her friends have developed quite a lot too and they are a lot more cheeky and their true personalities are starting to show now, so I'm pleased about that.

But overall, this book is just perfect. I love it so much and the series is just captivating and unbelievable. I totally recommend this book if you love plot twists, developing  love stories, character development and excellent/shocking story twists.

Favourite Character: Allie Sae

Read: 01/04/19

5 stars out of 5

Written by Sammie

Check out Sammie's review of Book 6: Indigo Alloy