Winter's Curse

The Winter's Curse
author: April L. Wood
published: October 31st 2016 by Bellatrix Press
pages: 268
my rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I got sent an advanced readers copy of this book in return for an honest review. Thank you so much!

Before the light is reborn within the womb of darkness and the Sun returns, will Winter reverse the curse? 

When High Priestess Iris Rose-Thorne bets her granddaughter’s womb in a broom flying contest–and loses, Winter wonders where the real danger lies: from the Witch Hunters she fled from the far North or her shady grandmother. 

She finds safety with Turmeric of the Wormwood clan. His eagerness to protect her warms her frozen heart. But her love for him defies the Segregation Curse of Old, cast by the Elders to preserve ancient clan bloodlines. 

Can they find a way around the Segregation Curse of Old to be together? 

And with time running out as the Winter Solstice nears, will Winter be able to reverse the curse on her womb? Or will she agree to her fate and remain barren?

Winter Rose-Thorn is a real life witch and after fleeing from Witch Hunters in the North she is confronted with the modern world. Not only that but soon she is in the middle of conspiracies, lies, lots of danger and on top of that she is falling in love.

The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus #2)

The Son of Neptune 
author: Rick Riordan
published: October 4th 2011 by Disney-Hyperion Books
pages: 521
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Contains spoilers for the first book The Lost Hero!
The Lost Hero review

Percy is confused. When he awoke from his long sleep, he didn't know much more than his name. His brain fuzz is lingering, even after the wolf Lupa told him he is a demigod and trained him to fight with the pen/sword in his pocket. Somehow Percy manages to make it to a camp for half-bloods, despite the fact that he has to keep killing monsters along the way. But the camp doesn't ring any bells with him. The only thing he can recall from his past is another name: Annabeth 

Hazel is supposed to be dead. When she lived before, she didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, she was an obedient daughter, even when her mother was possessed by greed. But that was the problem — when the Voice took over her mother and commanded Hazel to use her "gift" for an evil purpose, Hazel couldn't say no. Now because of her mistake, the future of the world is at risk. Hazel wished she could ride away from it all on the stallion that appears in her dreams. 

Frank is a klutz. His grandmother says he is descended from heroes and can be anything he wants to be, but he doesn't see it. He doesn't even know who his father is. He keeps hoping Apollo will claim him, because the only thing he is good at is archery — although not good enough to win camp war games. His bulky physique makes him feel like an ox, especially infront of Hazel, his closest friend at camp. He trusts her completely — enough to share the secret he holds close to his heart. 

Beginning at the "other" camp for half-bloods and extending as far as the land beyond the gods, this breathtaking second installment of the Heroes of Olympus series introduces new demigods, revives fearsome monsters, and features other remarkable creatures, all destined to play a part in the Prophesy of Seven.

When I first started reading this book just reading the first couple of sentences made me extremely happy. Percy is back and so is his humor!

The Assassin's Blade
author: Sarah J. Maas
published: March 4th 2014 by Bloomsbury Childrens
pages: 448
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.


This book is a collection of five novellas about Calaena Sardothien's life before Throne of Glass. I personally read it after reading Queen of Shadows and kind of regret not reading it sooner. Sarah J Mass said you can even read it before Throne of Glass but really you can't ruin the reading experience either way.The stories all explain a lot about her character and how she ended up being the way she was in Throne of Glass.

Since Calaena goes through so much character development in the Throne of Glass series, reading this book kind of threw me back to the beginning and I know have the urge to reread the entire series from start to finish (I'll probably read Empire of Storms first though).
I really love how badass and powerful she is, she's basically the definition of a strong female character.

Her relationship with Sam truly broke my heart. She obviously loves Sam and he loves her. Reading it after Queen of Shadows made it so much harder to read *cough*. Especially the last story – The Assassin and the Empire – crushed me.

“My name is Celaena Sardothien," she whispered, "and I will not be afraid.”
That quote became so much more meaningful after reading these novellas.

The other stories were great as well and I really hope some of the people she meets come up in Empire of Storms or later books again. I also have the feeling that some people or situations were already mentioned in the earlier books which is why I wish I'd read this book sooner.

If you like Throne of Glass I highly recommend you read this. They might only be novellas but they can make you excactly as emotional as any other Sarah J Mass book can.

The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus #1)

The Lost Hero – Heroes of Olympus #1

author: Rick Riordan

published: October 12th 2010 by Disney-Hyperion Books

pages: 557

my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Jason has a problem.

He doesn’t remember anything before waking up in a bus full of kids on a field trip. Apparently he has a girlfriend named Piper, and a best friend named Leo. They’re all students at a boarding school for “bad kids.” What did Jason do to end up here? And where is here, exactly?

Piper has a secret.

Her father has been missing for three days, ever since she had that terrifying nightmare about his being in trouble. Piper doesn’t understand her dream, or why her boyfriend suddenly doesn’t recognize her. When a freak storm hits during the school trip, unleashing strange creatures and whisking her, Jason, and Leo away to someplace called Camp Half-Blood, she has a feeling she’s going to find out.

Leo has a way with tools.

When he sees his cabin at Camp Half-Blood, filled with power tools and machine parts, he feels right at home. But there’s weird stuff, too—like the curse everyone keeps talking about, and some camper who;s gone missing. Weirdest of all, his bunkmates insist that each of them—including Leo—is related to a god. Does this have anything to do with Jason's amnesia, or the fact that Leo keeps seeing ghosts?

This is the first book in the series and it takes place after Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian. 

The start immediately drew me in, it's captivating from the start. 

Demon Road

Demon Road 
author: Derek Landy
published: January 1st 2015 by HarperCollins Children's Books
pages: 507
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars


Full of Landy’s trademark wit, action and razor sharp dialogue, DEMON ROAD kicks off with a shocking opener and never lets up the pace in an epic road-trip across the supernatural landscape of America. Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in...Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves.

Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travellers, who are not at all what they appear to be… 

When I saw this book on the shelf I couldn't resist buying it. I love Derek Landy's series Skulduggery Pleasant and I just knew that I would love this book as well. Spoiler alert: I did.

As Dead As It Gets

As Dead As It Gets
author: Katie Alender
published: May 15th 2012 by Disney-Hyperion
pages: 442
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is the third book of a trilogy. There will be spoilers.
Bad Girls Don't Die review
From Bad To Cursed review

It's been three months since Alexis helplessly witnessed Lydia Small's violent death, and all she wants is for her life to return to normal. 
But normal people don't see decaying bodies haunting photographs. Normal people don't have to deal with regular intrusions from Lydia's angry ghost, sometimes escalating to terrifying attacks.

At first, it seems that Lydia wants revenge on Alexis alone. But a girl from school disappears one night, and Alexis spots one of Lydia's signature yellow roses lying on the girl's dresser the next day. Soon, it becomes clear that several of Alexis's friends are in danger, and that she's the only person who can save them. But as she tries to intervene, Alexis realizes that her enemy is a much more powerful ghost than she's ever faced before... and that its fate is tied to hers in ways she couldn't possibly imagine.

Not even in her worst nightmares.

Prior to reading this book, I was wondering how Katie Alender could possibly write a third creepy ghost book without it being repetitive. I can confidently tell you that somehow she pulled it of perfectly and I might actually like this more than the first book.

From Bad to Cursed

From Bad to Cursed
author: Katie Alender
published: June 14th 2011 by Hyperion
pages: 442
my rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

This review will contain spoilers for the first book in the series. If you haven't read it yet, check out the review here:
Bad Girls Don't Die review

Alexis is the last girl you'd expect to sell her soul. She already has everything she needs--an adorable boyfriend, the perfect best friend, and a little sister who's finally recovering after being possessed by an evil spirit, then institutionalized. 
Alexis is thrilled when her sister joins a club; new friends are just what Kasey needs. It's strange, though, to see how fast the girls in The Sunshine Club go from dorky and antisocial to gorgeous and popular. Soon Alexis learns that the girls have pledged an oath to a seemingly benevolent spirit named Aralt. Worried that Kasey's in over her head again, Alexis and her best friend Megan decide to investigate by joining the club themselves. At first, their connection with Aralt seems harmless. Alexis trades in her pink hair and punky clothes for a mainstream look, and quickly finds herself reveling in her newfound elegance and success. 
Instead of fighting off the supernatural, Alexis can hardly remember why she joined in the first place. Surely it wasn't to destroy Aralt...why would she hurt someone who has given her so much, and asked for so little in return?

This is the second book of Katie Alender's Bad Girls Don't Die series and even though it's probably my least favourite in the series I still enjoyed it a lot.

Bad Girls Don't Die

Bad Girls Don't Die
author: Katie Alender
published: April 21st 2009 by Disney-Hyperion
pages: 346
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Alexis thought she led a typically dysfunctional high school existence. Dysfunctional like her parents' marriage; her doll-crazy twelve-year-old sister, Kasey; and even her own anti-social, anti-cheerleader attitude. When a family fight results in some tearful sisterly bonding, Alexis realizes that her life is creeping from dysfunction into danger. Kasey is acting stranger than ever: her blue eyes go green sometimes; she uses old-fashioned language; and she even loses track of chunks of time, claiming to know nothing about her strange behavior. Their old house is changing, too. Doors open and close by themselves; water boils on the unlit stove; and an unplugged air conditioner turns the house cold enough to see their breath in.

Alexis wants to think that it's all in her head, but soon, what she liked to think of as silly parlor tricks are becoming life-threatening--to her, her family, and to her budding relationship with the class president. Alexis knows she's the only person who can stop Kasey -- but what if that green-eyed girl isn't even Kasey anymore?

I read this book twice now and can confidently say that the Bad Girls Don't Die series is my favorite of Katie Alender's works so far. Even the covers are absolutely gorgeous!

The Art of Getting Stared At

The Art of Getting Stared At
author: Laura Langston
published: August 1st 2014 by Razorbill
pages: 293
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars

After a school video she produced goes viral, sixteen-year-old Sloane Kendrick is given a chance at a film school scholarship. She has less than two weeks to produce a second video, and she’s determined to do it. Unfortunately, she must work with Isaac Alexander, an irresponsible charmer with whom she shares an uneasy history.

On the heels of this opportunity comes a horrifying discovery: a bald spot on her head. No bigger than a quarter, the patch shouldn't be there. Neither should the bald spots that follow. Horror gives way to devastation when Sloane is diagnosed with alopecia areata. The auto-immune disease has no cause, no cure, and no definitive outcome. The spots might grow over tomorrow or Sloane might become completely bald. No one knows.

Determined to produce her video, hide her condition, and resist Isaac's easy charm, Sloane finds herself turning into the kind of person she has always mocked: someone obsessed with her looks. And just when she thinks things can't get any worse, Sloane is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life.

This is a relatively short but surprisingly emotional book about beauty and appearance and what impact they can have on everyone, even those who don't want to care about how they look.

Fangirl

Fangirl 
author: Rainbow Rowell
published: September 10th 2013 by St. Martin's Press
pages: 461
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?

Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?


For someone who loves reading and writing and is pretty shy this book was perfect. Lots of people love this book and now I can finally say I do too.

The Raven Boys

The Raven Boys
author: Maggie Stiefvater
published September 18th 2012 by Scholastic Press
pages: 409
my rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

This book took me by surprise. I didn't really expect to like it that much and didn't really understand all the hype around it but now I get it completely.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

To All the Boys I've Loved Before
author: Jenny Han
published: April 15th 2014
pages: 355
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars


To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is the story of Lara Jean, who has never openly admitted her crushes, but instead wrote each boy a letter about how she felt, sealed it, and hid it in a box under her bed. But one day Lara Jean discovers that somehow her secret box of letters has been mailed, causing all her crushes from her past to confront her about the letters: her first kiss, the boy from summer camp, even her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh. As she learns to deal with her past loves face to face, Lara Jean discovers that something good may come out of these letters after all. 


When I first heard about this book I didn't immediately want to read it but since a lot of people really love it I became more curious and decided to pick it up. I'm so glad I did!

Warm Bodies

Warm Bodies
author: Isaac Marion
published: October 28th 2010
pages: 240
my rating: 3.5 stars


'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...


Zombie books aren't usually my thing but I made an exception with this one. I don't think there are many books written from a zombies point of view out there and certainly even less love stories from a zombies point of view.

The Alpha Drive

The Alpha Drive

author: Kristen Martin

published: November 14th 2015

pages: 322

my rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Thanks netgalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review!

It's the year 2055 and an anarchist organization has taken control with the aim to create a world-class society. Half of humankind is unknowingly living in an alternate reality called Dormance . . . and there are no plans to wake them up.

Sixteen-year-old introvert Emery Parker is one such dormant. An academic scholar who avoids ruffling feathers at all costs, Emery finds herself being transferred to a boarding school on the outskirts of Arizona. Little does she know, a family secret has the power to change the course of the future. When she's approached with an opportunity to free the dormants, she sees no other choice but to accept, even though failure could mean having her memory wiped clean.

But when tech-savvy Torin Porter reaches out to her from the other side, Emery begins to question everything she was told about Dormance. If her family's secret falls into the wrong hands, the world as she knows it will be faced with irreversible consequences. Now Emery must play both sides to uncover the truth about her family's past or risk leaving mankind to live in an unconscious reality.

I picked up this book because it sounded like something original and fun and even though I didn't understand everything on the summary I hoped to get more explanations while I was reading it. Unfortunately though, this book wasn't for me at all. 

Sapphire Blue (book + movie review)

Sapphire Blue
author: Kerstin Gier
published: January 5th 2010
pages: 357
my rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Warning: this review may contain spoilers for ruby red (the first book)

Gwen’s life has been a rollercoaster since she discovered she was the Ruby, the final member of the secret time-traveling Circle of Twelve. In between searching through history for the other time-travelers and asking for a bit of their blood (gross!), she’s been trying to figure out what all the mysteries and prophecies surrounding the Circle really mean.

At least Gwen has plenty of help. Her best friend Lesley follows every lead diligently on the Internet. James the ghost teaches Gwen how to fit in at an eighteenth century party. And Xemerius, the gargoyle demon who has been following Gwen since he caught her kissing Gideon in a church, offers advice on everything. Oh, yes. And of course there is Gideon, the Diamond. One minute he’s very warm indeed; the next he’s freezing cold. Gwen’s not sure what’s going on there, but she’s pretty much destined to find out.


This was a reread for me and exactly like the other times I read it, I really loved this book. I also read this book in German since that's it's original language.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Tales of Beedle the Bard
author: J.K. Rowling
published: December 4th 2008
pages: 109
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars


The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore. Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.


I obviously love Harry Potter and so I was more than excited to read this companion book that is introduced as a story book for children in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And it did not let me down. Of course it's not comparable to Harry Potter at all but I still love everything that takes place in the wizarding world.

Highly Illogical Behavior

Highly Illogical Behavior
author: John Corey Whaley
published: May 10th 2016
pages: 256
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.

Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?

Enter Lisa.

Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.


Yay, I read book one of the BookTube-A-Thon Challenge! And I really liked this book too! I haven't read many books about mental health but this was definitely a good start.

The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10
author: Ruth Ware
published: June 30th 2016
pages: 352
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Thanks netgalley for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was meant to be the perfect trip.
The Northern Lights. A luxury press launch on a boutique cruise ship.
A chance for travel journalist Lo Blackwood to recover from a traumatic break-in that has left her on the verge of collapse, and to work out what she wants from her relationship.
Except things don’t go as planned.
Woken in the night by screams, Lo rushes to her window to see a body thrown overboard from the next door cabin. But the records show that no-one ever checked into that cabin, and no passengers are missing from the boat.
Exhausted, emotional and increasingly desperate, Lo has to face the fact that her sleep problems might be driving her mad or she is trapped on a boat with a murderer – and she is the sole witness..

I liked this book from the very beginning I started reading it. Before reading it, I had no idea what it was about but I had heard some good things about the author so I really wanted to read it.

The Institute

The Institute
author: Kayla Howarth
published: January 7th 2015
pages: 280
my rating: 2 out of 5 stars


Living in constant fear. Always looking over your shoulder. The source of your fear? The Institute.

Allira Daniels will do anything to keep her Defective brother safe from the Institute. They claim to protect Defectives, but it’s human nature to fear the unknown. Defectives are dangerous, they possess abilities that no human should be able to. To Allira and the rest of her family, the Institute seems more like a prison than the safe-haven they promote themselves to be. Protecting Shilah from that fate is their number one priority.

When Allira stumbles across a car crash involving two of her school classmates, she ignores all of her father’s warnings of laying low and not drawing attention to herself. By doing so, she may have just caught the eye of the Institute. She’s not Defective, but what seventeen-year-old girl has the ability to pull two teenage boys away from a fiery rubble and walk away without a scratch? It would definitely be seen as suspicious.

Allira and her family need to make decisions. Do they stay, or do they flee again? Will they be coming for her? Will her whole family come under investigation? Will they discover Shilah and his ability to predict the future?

Are you Defective? The Institute is coming for you. 

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane
author: Neil Gaiman
published: June 18th 2013
pages: 178
my rating: 4 out of 5 stars


Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

"I'm going to tell you something important. Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. The truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one in the whole wide world."