REVIEW: The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith

Hello?

Did I really finish reading another book? The second book this month? WTF REALLY

My life is such a misery, lol. I said to myself that I’d be reading more, but all I did was excessively fangirling over k-pop on twitter. I’m really sorry if that bothered your twitter timeline so much…

But anyways, a review! For a detective book which is not my usual reading genre (although I’m such a Sherlock Holmes trash…)

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The Cuckoo’s Calling
by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

Rating: 
Goodreads | Amazon
Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Published: April 18th, 2013
(Russian version: February 13th, 2014)
Format: Paperback

Synopsis: A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: Detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel’s suicide.
After losing his leg to a land mine in Afghanistan, Cormoran Strike is barely scraping by as a private investigator. Strike is down to one client, and creditors are calling. He has also just broken up with his longtime girlfriend and is living in his office.

Then John Bristow walks through his door with an amazing story: His sister, thelegendary supermodel Lula Landry, known to her friends as the Cuckoo, famously fell to her death a few months earlier. The police ruled it a suicide, but John refuses to believe that. The case plunges Strike into the world of multimillionaire beauties, rock-star boyfriends, and desperate designers, and it introduces him to every variety of pleasure, enticement, seduction, and delusion known to man.

You may think you know detectives, but you’ve never met one quite like Strike. You may think you know about the wealthy and famous, but you’ve never seen them under an investigation like this. (cr.: Goodreads)

REVIEW: My Trip to Adele by R.I. Alyaseer & A.I. Alyaseer

First book finished in July!

Also my first contemporary book ever since… ever since forever? You know my preferences are fantasy, and that I rarely pick contemporaries… But I couldn’t get past this one because it features one of my favorite Western artists that is Adele.

My most favorite song from Adele will always be Someone Like You, because it’s too close to me and what happened in my life 5 years ago, and this song always triggers the memories of my past whenever I hear it, so, actually despite being the most favorite song, I try to listen to it as less as possible because I’ve overcome my initial pain and I wouldn’t like to have myself drown in that depression ever again.

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My Trip to Adele
by R.I. Alyaseer & A.I. Alyaseer

Rating: 
Goodreads | Amazon
Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Published: September 12th, 2016
Format: eBook (borrowed
with Amazon Kindle Unlimited)

Synopsis: An Adele concert held in Verona becomes the focus for an unhappy married couple, a divorced mother and a devoted lover from three different countries and cultures.
This is the story of three flawed but likeable people. First up is Elias, a Moroccan man living in Rome. He discovers that a black magic spell was cast upon him but starts to doubt whether it was the real cause of the break-up between him and his long-lost love Malika. He decides to search for her in the shadows of Marrakesh after eight years of separation.
Nadia, a single mother from Jordan, is battling her ex-husband in the courts and doing all she can to secure freedom for herself and her only son. Her dream is to take her son to see his idol, Adele, live.
Finally, Yaser, a married man living in Las Vegas, realizes that his marriage is crawling all over him like a slow, painful death, so he starts to rebel against his wife. While faith initially brought them together, it is now causing them to drift apart.
These three characters are on a journey to break free of everything that has haunted them, learning harsh truths about fate, religion, courage, desire and guilt along the way.

REVIEW: A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Guess what?

I started Shades of Magic trilogy! But…

The other two parts are yet to be released in Russian, so I’ll probably wait until it happens (which is soon, if we talk about A Gathering of Shadows), and I will be patiently waiting, because I’m 100% snatching a physical copy of the trilogy in Russian! Also same thing goes to ACOTAR series (and The Lunar Chronicles as well, if a re-print takes place in Russian publishing)

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A Darker Shade of Magic
by V.E. Schwab

Rating:
Goodreads | Amazon
Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Published: February 24th, 2015
(May 15th, 2017 for Russian edition)
Format: eBook

Synopsis: Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive. (cr.: Goodreads)

REVIEW: Silhouette by Justin Richards (WOOW, any Whovians here??)

WOW, LILIANA, A BOOK REVIEW? I’M SHOOOOOOKED~

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha It’s been a while, right?

Anyways, YES, IT’S A FREAKING BOOK REVIEW. Been a while lol~
Although it’s not A Darker Shade of Magic yet, but I’m completely okay with reading several books at the same time and finishing in different order hahahahahahaha

Yeah, this is exactly how I read and review books

 

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Doctor Who: Silhouette
by Justin Richards

Rating:
Goodreads | Amazon
Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Published: September 9th, 2014
(February 17th, 2016 for Russian edition)
Format: Hardcover

Synopsis: “Vastra and Strax and Jenny? Oh no, we don’t need to bother them. Trust me.”

Marlowe Hapworth is found dead in his locked study, killed by an unknown assailant. This is a case for the Great Detective, Madame Vastra.

Rick Bellamy, bare-knuckle boxer, has the life drawn out of him by a figure dressed as an undertaker. This angers Strax the Sontaran.

The Carnival of Curiosities, a collection of bizarre and fascinating sideshows and performers. This is where Jenny Flint looks for answers.

How are these things connected? And what does Orestes Milton, rich industrialist, have to do with it all? This is where the Doctor and Clara come in. The Doctor and his friends find themselves thrust into a world where nothing and no one are what they seem. Can they unravel the truth before the most dangerous weapon ever developed is unleashed on London? (cr.: Goodreads)

eARC REVIEW: Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles by J.M. Sullivan

Yes, finally, another book review which happens to be the first one in June! And guess which book I finally started reading?? The answer is hidden in my instagram bio lol

Okay, remember I mentioned that I’m a sucker for anything Alice in Wonderland? Well, this is exactly a review for another retelling of Alice in Wonderland, featuring a wild mix of elements from some very popular YA dystopian series. Want to know more? Let’s get down to the review here!

Warning: This review contains minor spoilers.
If you don’t wish to be spoiled at any costs, feel free to skip this post.

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Alice: The Wanderland Chronicles
by J.M. Sullivan

Rating: 
Goodreads | Amazon |
Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Published: May 16th, 2017
Format: eARC

I received an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Pen Name Publishing, and J.M. Sullivan for given opportunity.

Synopsis: #AlwaysProtectYourQueen

Ever since the outbreak of the Plague, life hasn’t been easy, and for seventeen-year-old Alice Carroll, it just got worse. Her sister, Dinah, has contracted the ‘un-deadly’ Momerath Virus and without a cure, will soon be worse than dead. She’ll be momerath.

Alice must leave the safety of the Sector and venture into Momerath Territory to find the antidote – if it exists. Chasing a rumor about a mysterious doctor with the cure, Alice falls down the rabbit hole into Wanderland, where ravenous momerath aren’t the only danger lurking. (cr.: Goodreads)

REVIEW: Pax by Sara Pennypacker (or my first ever review for a DNFed book)

Hello!

Two book reviews in a row, doesn’t it sound so surprising? But, unfortunately, this is another somewhat negative review. Moreover, it’f for a book I eventually DNFed, and I’m slightly concerned on whether should I actually review it.

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Pax
by Sarah Pennypacker

Rating: 
Status: DNFed at page 109 of 278
Goodreads
Amazon | Book Depository | B&N
Published: February 2nd, 2016
Format: Hardcover

Synopsis: Pax was only a kit when his family was killed, and “his boy” Peter rescued him from abandonment and certain death. Now the war front approaches, and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter has to move in with his grandpa. Far worse than being forced to leave home is the fact that Pax can’t go. Peter listens to his stern father—as he usually does—and throws Pax’s favorite toy soldier into the woods. When the fox runs to retrieve it, Peter and his dad get back in the car and leave him there—alone. But before Peter makes it through even one night under his grandfather’s roof, regret and duty spur him to action; he packs for a trek to get his best friend back and sneaks into the night. This is the story of Peter, Pax, and their independent struggles to return to one another against all odds. Told from the alternating viewpoints of Peter and Pax.

REVIEW: Wintersong by S.Jae-Jones (Spoilers!)

Hello!

Finally, another book review! Another anticipated 2017 release that is also a debut! But, don’t be too flattered by my happy sounding notes, I have lots to complain about the book of this post. So, let’s move onto the actual review?

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Wintersong
by S. Jae-Jones

Rating:
Goodreads | Amazon
Book Depository | B&N
Published: February 7th, 2017
Format: Hardcover

Synopsis: Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world. (cr.: Goodreads)

Quote Hunting: A Court of Wings and Ruin

So hiiii, it’s time for another quote hunting!

As you can wildly guess, it’s A Court of Wings and Ruin quote hunting, and I should confess to you that I didn’t focus myself much on finding quotes when I was reading the book. I was so immersed into the plot I probably lost some. Nonetheless, let’s do it!

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As usual, this is a spoiler alert. If you haven’t read ACOWAR yet, feel free to skip this post.

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REVIEW: A Court of Wings and Ruin (SPOILERS!)

I think I was forced to ride an even crazier roller coaster than before. Like, right when you see the end of the ride, a sudden loop just takes you over. Yes, that’s what Mrs. Maas did at the end of ACOWAR.

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Warning: Massive spoilers are inevitable in this review, so if you haven’t read the book series as a whole, or ACOWAR in particular, please feel free to skip the review to avoid being mindblown!

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A Court of Wings and Ruin
by Sarah J. Maas

Rating:
Goodreads
Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble
Published: May 2nd, 2017
Format: eBook | Soon-to-arrive Paperback

Synopsis: Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all. (cr.: Goodreads)

Quote Hunting: A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Remember people: I love quoooootes.

Therefore, we’ll have a Quote Hunting with A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas!

Warning: SPOILERS detected, so read at your own risk!