Bookworm Ramblings

KISS MY CUPCAKE BY HELENA HUNTING       Publisher:   Forever       Date:  August 11th 2020        Rating: 3.5 “Making the world a better place, one cupcake at a time.” Whenever I take a break from reading for a while, it is always easy to come back to reading with a romance book.  This contemporary enemies to lovers romance will leave you smiling and craving for a cupcake. It is a story about  two passionate people Blaire and Ronan following their dreams to leave a mark in the world. Sparks are sure to fly while one dabbles with cupcakes and the other with beer that to in neighbouring  cafes! What begins as a competition ends up being so much more than that.  Along the way we see a beautiful romance evolve which is sweet, sexy and heartwarming! This book particularly was effortless and comfortable to  read. Once the story got going I could not stop reading the book. I loved the  character developme...

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron   Publisher:  Bloomsbury YA Date:    July 7th 2020  Ratings: 4.0 “I think sometimes we make the mistake of thinking monsters are abhorrent aberrations, lurking in the darkest recesses when the truth is far more disturbing. The most monstrous men are those who sit in plain sight, daring you to challenge them.” Synopsis: It’s 200 years after Cinderella found her prince, but the fairy tale is over. Teen girls are now required to appear at the Annual Ball, where the men of the kingdom select wives based on a girl’s display of finery. If a suitable match is not found, the girls not chosen are never heard from again. This fresh take on a classic story will make readers question the tales they’ve been told, and root for girls to break down the constructs of the world around them. Thoughts: This book was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and it did not disappoint me! I am a huge fan of fairytale retellings and this book capture...

Mary: The Adventures of Mary Shelley's Great-   Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter by  Brea Grant and Yishan Li   (Illustrator) Publisher: Six Foot Press Date: October 6th 2020  Ratings: 4.0 I have to start by saying that the artwork by Yishan Li is wonderful. Its fun, quirky, gothic and gives a spooky vibe to the novel which makes the reading experience more amazing! This is a paranormal graphic novel which is based on the famous  author Mary Shelly's( author of Frankenstein ) five times great-granddaughter who is named after her! All the women in the family are famous authors with bestselling books under their belt. We get to see if the protagonist will follow the family footsteps or choose her own path with a magical twist! We follow Mary who is trying to live under the pressure of such a massive legacy as well as handling the difficult relationship she has with her mother. Mary's character as a moody teenager is very well developed and her inter...

No Ordinary Boy: Dragons, Magic and King Arthur by Tracey Mayhew  Publisher: Sweet Cherry Publishing Date: September 17th 2020 (Expected) Ratings: 4.0 This is the first book in the series which is a retelling of the adventures of Merlin and King Arthur written for children with amazing illustrations for greater understanding and it also provides a great introduction to these legends.  We start our journey with Merlin's backstory and the path he took before meeting Arthur. Merlin is just a sweet young boy with supernatural powers who tries to help the villagers but is still feared by them due to his extraordinary powers. He is taking away from the village by the knights of the King thus beginning his magical journey of transforming into a powerful magician. The book is a short, sweet and a fun read which I am sure will keep the kids entertained as the story is quite engaging. As it is told from Merlin's point of view we get to see the world through his eyes and it fee...

 ACROSS THE BRIDGE OF ICE by RUTH FOX Publisher:  Hague Publishing Date:  January 31st 2015   Rating: 3.0 The book starts with a visit to the doctor's office as Keira's ankle was injured during a wild snowstorm after which she had started to get strange dreams. Moving on, she finds a strange telescope in her best friend Jake's house leads her on an exciting journey to the city of Shar with Jake's younger brother Daniel.  The book is quite small so it was a quick and easy read. We see how the people of Shar fear humans and how according to them these two kids could lead to their destruction. The world-building is good, the city of Shar seems like a beautiful place to live but it has its own dangers and mysteries. The characters in the book were not developed a lot and sometimes did quite unexpected things for weird reasons which did not make sense. The ending felt very rushed but it successfully set the stage for the next book where all the charact...

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by ERIN MORGENSTERN Publisher:  Doubleday Date:    September 13th 2011 by Doubleday Pages: 391 Ratings: 5.0 " The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there when yesterday it was not. The towering tents are striped in white and black, no golds and crimsons to be seen." The basic summary of this book is that two magicians who have different styles of practising magic set their two best pupils against each other to find out which among them is superior. Their arena for this fight is the magical night circus. But the twist in the tale is that the competitors don't know who they are fighting against and how long the completion is supposed to last. I was completely absorbed into the world of magic and romance. Marco and Celia are our two lead protagonists whose journey we follow. The story is like a web everyone and everyth...

TRULY DEVIOUS by MAUREEN JOHNSON Publisher:  HarperCollins Date: January 16th 2018 Pages: 416 Rating: 5.0 A classic mystery that leaves you wanting more in the end. We enter the world of Ellingham Academy, a private school in Vermont that invites geniuses from all fields to study what they are most passionate about.  We follow Stevie Bell a true crime lover who begins her journey at Ellingham with a strong desire to solve the crime that occurred at Ellingham in the year 1986 when the wife and daughter of school founder Albert Ellingham went missing. The only clue was a poem signed “Truly, Devious.”Stevie is obsessed with solving this cold case, and the case becomes more real when one of her housemates is murdered and “Truly Devious ” takes the responsibility. We join Stevie on her journey and along the way meet several quirky but amazing characters who help and guide her. We see how she deals with various issues like anxiety, depression and her re...