Wee Shubba's World: Book Reviews

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#BookReview: The Witch's Kiss by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr

Receiving books free in exchange for reviews will never sway the outcome of my reviews. All my reviews are own my personal thoughts and opinions whether they for review or bought. While I may feel a certain way, others may feel differently. So sit back and relax and check out my thoughts on this book. Don't forget to share your thoughts (no spoilers) on the books or reviews on this blog in comments.

Title: The Witch's Kiss (The Witch's Kiss #1)

Format: Paperback

Pages: 424

Published: 30th June 2016

Publisher: Harpercollins

Source: Bought

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Paranormal

Shelfability: Borrow/Acquire

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Can true love’s kiss save the day…?

Electrifying dark magic debut by authors and sisters, Katharine and Elizabeth Corr.

Sixteeen-year-old Meredith is fed-up with her feuding family and feeling invisible at school – not to mention the witch magic that shoots out of her fingernails when she’s stressed. Then sweet, sensitive Jack comes into her life and she falls for him hard. The only problem is that he is periodically possessed by a destructive centuries-old curse.

Meredith has lost her heart, but will she also lose her life? Or in true fairytale tradition, can true love’s kiss save the day?

I grabbed this trilogy when The Works had them on offer for £6. I was intrigued by the covers because they are stunning. The thrones, the blood, the tag line? I was sucked in. I knew I needed them. I had real high hopes based solely on the first glance and maybe the old saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" came into play. The Witch's Kiss is a OK read. However, it just didn't grip me. It took me over a month to finish the book which is a long time even for me. I wanted to really love it but it was just missing the WOW factor.

I usually really love a good witch read but I actually found a lot of this slightly boring. Merry is a sixteen year old witch. She has been trying to not use her magic after an "incident" that we don't find out until a good bit into the story. She is a little selfish and irritating but I have to remember she is only 16. When it's revealed that there is a curse/destiny on her, she doesn't want anything to do with at first. It was passed down through her witch ancestors. Which I have to admit I don't think I would want that either. She is untrained and her magic is very powerful and dangerous. However, the bond she has with her brother Leo helps her through it. He is always there for her and ready help.

As I mentioned it was the cover and that tag line that had got my attention. "Some fairytales are darker than others...." This one line got me way too excited! I love dark story. The darker the story the more I will enjoy. This has so much potential to be a truly dark tale. And in a way it was. The story has flashbacks that explains the "curse" more. It was these flashbacks that had kept me reading. In the flashbacks we see Gwydion and how he can control Jack. This is what I wanted more of. And I don't know if it's just my old cynical age but I actually connected with evil Gwydion than any other character.

This is just a short review because I feel like if I talk about too much I will end up giving spoilers and quite simply I just really struggled to write this one at all. If you are looking for a witchy read then give it a try. There are so many amazing reviews on this title it was just sadly not as amazing as I hoped it would. Although, I will read the next one because I am curious to see what happens next. Hopefully it will get darker with each book.

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#BookReview: The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

Title: The Sisters of the Winter Wood

Format: Hardback

Pages: 464

Published: 27th Sept 2018

Publisher: Orbit

Source: Publisher

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Magical Realism

Shelfability: Acquire/Covet

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

A magical tale of secrets, family ties and fairy tales weaving through history.

Raised in a small village surrounded by vast forests, Liba and Laya have lived a peaceful sheltered life - even if they've heard of troubling times for Jews elsewhere. When their parents travel to visit their dying grandfather, the sisters are left behind in their home in the woods.

But before they leave, Liba discovers the secret that their Tati can transform into a bear, and their Mami into a swan. Perhaps, Liba realizes, the old fairy tales are true. She must guard this secret carefully, even from her beloved sister.

Soon a troupe of mysterious men appear in town and Laya falls under their spell-despite their mother's warning to be wary of strangers. And these are not the only dangers lurking in the woods...

The sisters will need each other if they are to become the women they need to be - and save their people from the dark forces that draw closer.

Captivating and boldly imaginative, with a tale of sisterhood at its heart, Rena Rossner's debut invites you to enter a world filled with magic, folklore and the dangers of the woods

The Sisters of the Winter Wood came through my door as a complete surprise and I gushed over the pretty cover. I ooohed and aaahed over it. I am a sucker for a nice looking cover. The details are beautiful and eye catching. And it really captures the essence of the story. Did I mention it was shiny?!?!?!? Well...it's shiny!!!! However, you don't want to read about the cover right? You want to know if they book was as good as the cover. And the simple answer is, YES!

The Sisters of the Winter Wood is unique and so beautifully written. I felt like I was transported right into the story. I went into this with no background knowledge at all. I only knew it was a retelling of a poem called "The Goblin Market" written by Christina Rossetti which I have never read so I may need to look that up aswell.

The author draws on her Jewish heritage and Incorporated that into her own verison of "The Goblin Market" story. As well as using Russian and Ukrainian folklore which was all new to me. So I was completely fascinated by it all. But only issue was not understanding a lot of the words and phrases so I had to keep stopping and going to the glossary at the back of the book to get the meaning. For me that ruined the flow a little.

The story is written from both Liba and Laya point of views and just like two sisters who are so different, their voices are written very differently. Liba is someone who I think we don't get enough of in YA books. She is a curvy girl! I don't think there is enough curvy main characters so I applaud the author. I am a curvy lass myself so I was like "YASS". Laya is the complete opposite to her sister. To me there is something so "otherworldly" about her. I was enthralled by her and I think that is because of the way the author has written Laya. I loved both sisters. I loved the details in Liba's chapters but I also loved the simplicity in Laya's. I could go on forever about it but I don't want to say too much. There just needs to be some surprise right?

The Sisters of the Winter Wood is one the best books I have read in 2018 so far. It is magical, enchanting, exciting with a little danger with the bond of sisterhood running through it's core.

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#BookReview: The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

Title: The Price Guide to the Occult

Format: Paperback

Pages: 288

Published: 6th Sept 2018

Publisher: Walker Books

Source: Publisher

Genre: YA, Magical Realism

Shelfability: Borrow/Acquire

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

From the author of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender comes a haunting tale of magic and murder.

When Rona Blackburn landed on Anathema Island more than a century ago, her otherworldly skills might have benefited friendlier neighbors. Instead, guilt and fear led the island’s original eight settlers to burn “the witch” out of her home. So Rona invoked the privileges of a witch; she cursed them. But such a spell always comes with a terrible price, and in punishing the island's residents, Rona also bound her family ever tighter to them.

Fast-forward to the present day and all Nor Blackburn wants is to live an unremarkable teenage life. And she has reason to hope that she may have escaped the thorny side-effects of the family matriach's curse. But then a mysterious book comes out, promising to cast any spell for the right price. The author – Nor’s own mother – seems capable of performing magic that should be far beyond her capabilities. And such magic always requires a sacrifice.

A storm is coming. It's coming for Nor

I rarely request a physical copy book for review because I struggle to read print (I blame getting old lol). However, after reading the blurb and seeing the cover I knew I had to have it. The Price Guide to the Occult is on the slightly darker side of YA and is a great Halloween read.

Nora is an eighth generation Blackburn daughter. Descendant of Rona Blackburn. The witch who cursed future generations of Blackburns by taking their magic and only allowing each daughter one "burden". Nora wants nothing more than to escape the family curse. She wants to go through live invisible. However, things are about to change which a book falls into her lap and the author is her estranged mother. Soon Nora is force to accept her burden as she may be only one who can save her family and friends from something dark and twisted.

I really wanted to love this. I do love a good darker read. Especially one that involves witches and creepy island settings and this has both. Sadly, I just couldn't love it. That's not to say I didn't like it. I did. I enjoyed the Prologue and the last 80 pages or so. The rest for me was just too slow. I am not a fan of slow burning books. I need to a book to really grip me and keep me gripped. I actually found my mind wandering with this. At parts I was actually bored because I felt like nothing was really happening. Usually I give up on books after 50 pages but I was determined to stick it out because I liked the characters and wanted to know what happened next and by the end I was left wanting more.

Nora likes to blend in and not stand out. Always wearing black she doesn't like attention. But her best friend Savvy was like a fireball of colour. She was a character I wanted to know. One of those people who it's hard not to noticed with her every changing hair colour and electric energy. Nora and Savvy has two complete opposites but their friendship works because they are so different. So many of characters in this story are unique and interesting making the reader want know more about them. However, some you can easily forget and I think were only there to fill paper.

Apart from the magical element to the story, the author also touches upon a subject that is very real and needs to be talked about. Self harm and mental health. I don't want to go into details because it will spoil some parts of the story but I am giving you a trigger warning right now. The author also has a list in the back of the book of websites etc that can help people.

The Price Guide of the Occult may be a slow burner but if you are looking for a good read that has witches, curses and is a little darker than your usual YA fiction then give this one a try.

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#BookReview: Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge

Title: Dreaming Darkly

Format: ebook

Pages: 368

Published:9th April 2019

Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books

Source: Edelweiss

Genre: YA, Gothic, Thriller

Shelfability: Borrow

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Ivy Bloodgood’s mother is dead, and she should probably be sad about it. But she isn’t. Myra Bloodgood was a manipulative personality who never told the truth—about where she came from, who Ivy’s father was, or why they were living their lives on the run.

Now that Ivy has been sent to the family estate on Darkhaven, an island off the New England coast, she is forced to reckon with her mother’s past. Ivy can tell right away there are long-held family secrets buried within these walls, but when she wakes up from one of her nightmares covered in someone else’s blood, Ivy fears that whatever demons her mother battled while she was alive have come to roost in her own mind.

Scared that she can no longer trust what she sees, Ivy seeks the help of a boy who thinks her episodes are connected to the sordid history of Darkhaven—but what they don’t know might kill them both.

I grabbed this from Edelweiss because the cover caught my eye. When reading the blurb I thought it sounded like my kind of read. I love a good dark and gothic story. The darker the better if I am being honest. And while this did have that dark elements and the gothic setting the story itself just fell fall for me.

Ivy has spent her life moving around with her mum. She never settles in one place. However, when tragedy strikes, she is forced to go live with an uncle she never knew existed. Right away she knew something was off about Darkhaven. And to help with her own demons she goes digging into her family history and uncovers and dark and twisted secrets.

Is "Meh" really a feeling? Can you describe a plot to a book as Meh? Because that is just how I felt. I went into this with high hopes because it sounded fantastic. It started out a very slow. It wasn't really gripping my interest like I hoped it would. However, I keep reading because I did quite liked Ivy and the connection she had with Doyle. Ivy is very independent and a strong character. You can see how much she is struggling throughout the story. I think Doyle kept her from going right over the edge at times. The banter they had was quite funny and natural.

The plot was a slow one. I found myself sitting at around 70% mark wondering if something mind blowing was going to happen. And sadly for me it just didn't. Everything was rather predictable. The last part of the book was probably the only part that any sort of speed to it. But you know what was going to happen. I like a good plot twist and I saw this one a mile off which was rather disappointing.

I will say the setting of Darkhaven was amazing. I love gothic settings. The old fashion manor on the island that you can only get to by boat. It gave me the creeps which is always a good thing in a gothic story. The back story of her family and the back story of Doyle's family was very intriguing I would have loved for that to be explored a lot more than it did.

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One of the big positives about Dreaming Darkly is how it doesn't shy away from mental health. Mental health issues still in this day and age seems to be such a stigma around it. People still don't talk about it and we need to talk about them. The more books that deal with mental health in them of any kind the better in my opinion.

If you like books that have that gothic setting then please give this a try. Just because this wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean it won't be yours.

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#BookReview: There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

Title: There's Someone Inside Your House

Format: ebook

Pages: 306

Published: 26th Sept 2017

Publisher: Macmillan's Children's Books

Source: Bought

Genre: YA Horror, Mystery

Shelfability: Borrow

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US

Over a year after her parents sent her away from Hawaii to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, Makani Young is still adjusting to her new life. She's made a small group of close friends and even flirted with romance, but her past in Hawaii is still hard to forget.

And then . . . one by one the students of her new high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders. Makani doesn't know who's next on the list. Between this, and a secret scorching relationship with the school weirdo, this school year may turn out to be one to die for . . . literally.

There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins will have you swooning with fear and romance, and is the perfect page-turner for fans of Scream Queens and I Know What You Did Last Summer.

I am a bit rusty on writing reviews so please bare with me. It's been a while since I even attempted writing one as you can see from the lack of blog posts. However, here goes nothing!!

There's Someone Inside Your House is a YA horror novel about teenager Makani. Who is forced to go live with her grandmother in Nebraska. She has a dark secret that she thought no one would have to find out. However, when her fellow classmates start getting murdered, will she be able to keep hiding her secret? And will she be safe from the killer?

Having read some of the author's work before I was familiar with her style of writing. The story itself is really quick read and you can easily get lost in it. There is no denying that the author knows how to write. However, it was the plot itself that I struggled with. It was an ok read don't get me wrong. I read it in a day. I just didn't love the story.

I was expecting it to be a really good YA slasher book. I am a big baby when comes to horror movies and books. So it doesn't take much to freak me out. Sadly this one didn't have that scare factor that I was looking for. The mystery aspect of the killer was interesting at first. You want to know who and why. Sadly, the killer is revealed way too early for my liking and the motive just felt a bit................meh.

Now the characters themselves, they didn't really stand out for me. Usually when reading a book you can connect with at least one character. I couldn't with any of them. Maybe Ollie a little for his pink hair because I used to have pink hair but that's about it. Makani is the main character with a dark secret. Now when you are teased with this from the beginning of the book you are wanting something dark, something juicy right? Makani made a mistake. Was it super dark? Not really. I was really disappointed with the big reveal. A huge let down.

As I said the story is a fast paced read. It's a good book just to escape into a for while. Just for me personally it didn't have the fear factor a good horror should have.

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#BookReview: The Witch's Kiss by Katharine & Elizabeth Corr

#BookReview: The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

#BookReview: The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

#BookReview: Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge

#BookReview: There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins

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