Book Haul | October 2016

Every month I spend all the money all the books.

This is what sent me broke this month:

1. Every Move You Make: Chilling True Stories of Stalkers and their Victims | Victoria Heywood
2. Deadly Games: Kids Who Kill Kids | Gabrielle O’Reilly and Liz Frame

fotor_147717532466161

I have recently gone into this True Crime Binge that is creepy as f*** and there are so few people in my circle of friends that I can fangirl over this stuff with. But to quote the great T-Swizzle, “Haters gonna hate!” You only need one true crime true friend who really understands you to get through this.

3. The Last Beginning | Lauren James
4. Gemina | Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
5. Crooked Kingdom | Leigh Bardugo
6. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Illustrated edition) | JK Rowling
7. The Four Legendary Kingdoms | Matthew Reilly

fotor_147717538929465

This was a month of sequels – ones that I have been highly anticipating!

The Last Beginning is part of The Next Together duology (I screamed when I found out this was a duology) and the first book made me so ridiculously happy. It’s not quite like anything else I have read before and it is about the reincarnations of these two people who are, for lack of a better term, soul mates.

GEMINA! Do I really need to talk about this? Surely you are just as excited as I when it comes to the Illuminae Files by these beautiful Australian authors. I will never not be proud that they are Australian and have written one of the most badass books (and I assume series) in the world. In case you have just abandoned your hermit life and the first thing you did was check out my blog then Illuminae is a story told in report style – about two people who escaped their destroyed planet and are now dealing with a plague aboard their spacecraft that is doing some real nasty shit to people. Gemina picks up minutes after the end of Illuminae and I can’t wait to devour this book (by the time this is released I may have read it already *spooky*)

Crooked Kingdom is my life. This is the book I am going to read for my really huge Goodreads event – my 1000th “read” book!! *and the crowd goes wild*

nobody-cares

This is another duology, one that I am desperate for. I took a while to read Six of Crows because I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Grisha trilogy – I only ended up reading the first two books :\ But SoC was beyond epic, the characters were intriguing and different, the story was badass AND IT ENDED ON THE BIGGEST CLIFFHANGER WHICH IS THE WORST THING YOU CAN DO TO A HUMAN BEAN!

The Four Legendary Kingdoms is something I read almost immediately after buying because I couldn’t hold out any longer.

i-did

You can find my review here.

8. Three Dark Crowns | Kendare Blake
9. Vassa in the Night | Sarah Porter
10. Holding Up The Universe | Jennifer Niven

Three Dark Crowns was The YA Chronicles’ September book (as well as Owlcrate’s), so now I have two delicious copies of the book. I didn’t know that Kendare Blake had started another series until I opened up my Owlcrate and it was sitting there winking at me. It was a scream of excitement for the ages. This is a story about three sisters – triplets – that must fight to the death for the position of Queen. Oh, and they are sixteen…

Vassa in the Night is the book I prayed for in Owlcrate’s October box AND I GOT IT! It is a Russian folklore retelling, and I heart me some retellings.

11. Lumberjanes Volume 1 | Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis & Brooke A Allen
12. The First Third | Will Kostakis
13. Bright Smoke, Cold Fire | Rosamund Hodge

fotor_147717544555171

Lumberjanes is by Noelle Stevenson. That’s all I needed to know before I made the snap decision to buy it. I don’t know what it is about apart from 5 kickass ladies doing their thing. I am sure it is going to be perfect.

The First Third is the second book by Kostakis. I have read his most recent novel “The Sidekicks” and adored it with every fibre of my being. A friend told me they liked TFT even more than the The Sidekicks so not buying it wasn’t even an option. The ‘thirds’ are described like this: “Life is made up of three parts: in the first third, you’re embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you’ve made.” I can already tell that this book is going to make me laugh and cry so hard.

Rosamund Hodge has easily become one of auto-buy authors. Her books aren’t perfect, but they are always interesting and I never regret reading them. There is always a unique universe that I am diving into and the female characters are always strong but vulnerable, flawed but enviable. She is one of my Queens of Retellings and this latest book is a Romeo and Juliet retelling. With necromancers.

glee

Unboxing | The YA Chronicles | September 2016 | You Win Or You Die

Hi everyone! How was your Monday? Mine was extremely … Mondayish.

I am going to show you last month’s YA Chronicles unboxing today AND I IS SO EXCITE!

September’s box arrived a bit late because they were having supply issues, but the ladies handled it gracefully. As soon as they could get the boxes out they did.

Here are all the goodies that they got for us **GET PUMPED**

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

fotor_147670260340095

I am very excited about this book. I got the same book in my Owlcrate box, but I absolutely don’t mind having two copies – a hardback and paperback. Both covers are stunning but I secretly prefer the Aussie cover.

Blurb: “Every generation on the island of Fennbirn, a set of triplets is born: three queens, all equal heirs to the crown and each possessor of a coveted magic. Mirabella is a fierce elemental, able to spark hungry flames or vicious storms at the snap of her fingers. Katharine is a poisoner, one who can ingest the deadliest poisons without so much as a stomachache. Arsinoe, a naturalist, is said to have the ability to bloom the reddest rose and control the fiercest of lions.

But becoming the Queen Crowned isn’t solely a matter of royal birth. Each sister has to fight for it. And it’s not just a game of win or lose…it’s life or death. The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.”

If that doesn’t excite you then I am afraid that there is just no hope for you.

Tealights and Funko Pop

fotor_147670264391012

These “Queens of YA” tealights are PERF! They were created by a brand new Etsy store called The Book Hangover, which is run by one of the YA Chronicles owners. Go check them out and prepare to spend all your money  😀

The four scents are:

  • Cinder – white tea, peony and smoke (this is probably my favourite as it’s light and refreshing and slays all my feels)
  • Aelin – lemon verbena, jasmine and embers
  • Meira – cold, rain and cherries – SWEET CHEESUS I still need to read Snow Like Ashes
  • Sharzhad – sandalwood, lilac and spices

My room smells so delicious right now and I can’t deal.

The mini Funko Pop key ring is of Jon Snow from Game of Thrones. That TV show that I am two seasons behind on. I already have this key ring as well, but I think I might keep this for my 2k giveaway on my Instagram account or something *shrugs*

Either way, it is an excellent addition to the box.

Prints

fotor_147670273415114

The first print is the “Dementor and Stag” by ColorfulPrint on Etsy (eugh! Typing “colour” without the ‘u’ makes me want to vom.)

It’s absolutely stunning and dark and magical. Gosh darn you talented people!

The second print is a Game of Thrones quote print – “You Win or You Die”. Quite a cheery motto, wouldn’t you say?

This print is by IdaShopBoutique, but both of these prints have very similar looks and vibes.

Crown Ring

fotor_147670270203755

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when jewellery is included in a sub box! And this crown ring is no exception. No idea where it comes from, but I adore it. It is extendable so it should fit most people’s fingers.

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with September’s box. I am a bit sad that I already have a couple of items, but I only have myself to blame for getting more than one sub box. A small sacrifice to make to enjoy boxes of love every month.