SPOILER-FREE BOOK REVIEW

Title: Goodbye Perfect
Author: Sara Barnard
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Publication date: 13 February 2018
RRP: $16.99

Synopsis:
Eden McKinley knows she can't count on much in this world, but she can depend on Bonnie, her solid, steady, straight-A best friend. So it's a bit of a surprise when Bonnie runs away with the boyfriend Eden knows nothing about five days before the start of their GCSEs. Especially when the police arrive on her doorstep and Eden finds out that the boyfriend is actually their music teacher, Mr Cohn.
Sworn to secrecy and bound by loyalty, only Eden knows Bonnie's location, and that's the way it has to stay, There's no way she's betraying her best friend. Not even when she's faced with police questioning, suspicious parents and her own growing doubts.
As the days pass and things begin to unravel, Eden is forced to question everything she thought she knew about the world, her best friend and herself.

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After reading A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard, I wanted to jump on the opportunity to read Goodbye, Perfect, eager to read more from the author. The synopsis had me very intrigued, having not read a story much like this before.

The plot itself was an interesting one and likely to some, a sensitive or taboo topic. I think Barnard delivered this incredibly well so the reader doesn't accidentally romanticise student-teacher relationships. While I don't have a lot of experience in knowing much about the subject, I felt that it came across quite realistic how all the characters involved treated it.

The story, for the most of it, was easy to read and I felt very involved. It unfortunately fell short for me towards the end - I felt the build up was leading to a crazy and intense moment however, I felt kind of 'meh' about it. In saying that, it was only the end and I thought the rest of story was actually pretty good.

Our main character, for me particularly, was easy to read from the perspective of. I'm always wary of reading from a character of that age (15-16 years), simply because of my own age but I really enjoyed reading from Eden's point of view. And her boyfriend?! He (Connor) was my absolute favourite (sorry Eden!) He was such a great addition to the story and I honestly cannot see the story without him. I also really loved Eden's older sister, Valerie, too, so I was really happy that we got to know her a bit more - maybe because she was closer to my age and also a university student??

Barnard's writing is to die for, so I would highly recommend this book based simply on that. How she includes diversity into her story is perfect; there is a flow about it that makes it smooth but also known - I hope this makes sense but essentially I think some readers will relate with some of the characters and it'll make them feel good rather than judged.


If you're into Sara Barnard's style (and who isn't?!) then I definitely recommend this book. I think this is a great read for teenage readers and lovers of young adult fiction - I think my little sister will love it! Overall, an awesomely written book with a mostly great story, enjoy it!

Rating: 4/5

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*This book was sent to me by Pan Macmillan Australia in exchange


. All opinions are my own.


WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
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Twitter: @erenareads
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SPOILER FREE REVIEW


Title: Reign the Earth
Author: A. C Gaughen
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: 30th January 2018
RRP: 

Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence

Synopsis:

Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for peace. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands.
But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.

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I hadn't heard of this book until I saw other book bloggers receiving this in the mail and upon reading the synopsis I was desperate to read this book. When it showed in my mail box I was stoked so firstly, thank you to Bloomsbury for sending it my way to read.

As you may have seen above (or skipped over), I'm giving this book a trigger warning for domestic violence. It shows a lot of emotional and mental abuse and small bit of physical abuse so read with care. These parts of the story are very heavy but necessary to the story.


I was really wanting to enjoy this book so with each page I was nervous however, those nerves were slowly put at ease as I finished each chapter. There were so many different elements to love in the book, the first being the main character Shalia. She was so likeable in so many ways; I loved how much she loved her family and how involved she was with her beliefs. She is a very strong character and doesn't break easily, she thinks about her words and actions yet isn't afraid to voice her opinions when she deems necessary. If you didn't get it by now, I adored her character and hope to see more characters like Shalia in 2018 across young adult fiction.

One of my other favourite characters was one of Shalia's many brothers, Kairos. He has this air of mystery about him but still very playful and his love for his sister and family is admirable.
Pretty much every other character (except the awful tosser that is the king - more on that soon) is likeable. Some of them we didn't get too much about in this book but as the series goes on, I am very certain we will.

Something that made me so dang happy was that there was no female/female 'catty-ness'. There was one instance when I thought it would happen but the main character being ever so great, played the situation cool and developed the relationship to make it pleasant to read.


So I was talking about domestic violence and the king; as many King and Queen relationships go, the king in this story - Calix, makes the decisions on everything and despises to be contradicted and shown up. After only a couple of Shalia's and Calix's encounters you will either see the emotional abuse or you won't (but you'll realise later) - and that is how, in my own knowledge, how a lot of victims experience emotional and mental abuse from their partner. Even though Calix is a complete asshat, he is very necessary to the story, not only for it to develop but perhaps also to take note of how domestic abuse can play out.

The story itself was such a pleasure to read. It had fantasy elements - which I'm so excited to see more in the next book and I love books that are part set in deserts (unsure as to why though). And while I had some inkling of what would happen in the end (you'll probably know too about a third of the way through), it still surprised me when certain events took place and it literally had me SHOOK.

I highly recommend this novel especially if you're into dark fantasies but just as another warning: there is a lot of abuse in this story (majority emotional and mental but also physical).

My rating: 5/5

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*This book was sent to me unsolicited by Bloomsbury Australia. All opinions are my own.


WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: My Life As Erena or click here

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Hello,

How have you all been? It's been an age since I last did a wrap up/TBR blog post - I prefer to do them all on YouTube but it's kind of nice to have a written alternative don't you think?

I have my video for my November Wrap Up linked here however, I'm going to have a TBR video separately this time and a little bit later because at this point in time, I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to put on there. So I'm gonna do some thinking and you'll be able to get a sneak peek at the end ;)

I read a total of six books this month which I'm happy with, I think I could've read more if I managed my time a bit better but I'm still happy with six. I also loved every single book I read this month which makes me the most happy - it's always a plus when that happens.

NOVEMBER WRAP UP


1. Tower of Dawn - Sarah J Maas
I finally got back into this after not being in the right mood for it for a little while and holy heck, did I love it!! While I had some kind of expectations, I felt like I was - for the most part, going to enjoy this book but never did I anticipate loving this so immensely. All the characters were A plus and the story was fantastic. I have a full review here and this is 100% a favourite of the year.
5/5

2. A Quiet Kind of Thunder - Sara Barnard
A perfect contemporary. Our main character Steffi who has selective mutism meets Rhys, a boy who is deaf. Whilst this was written in what I think was a very realistic way for teenagers, I also thought it was written in a mature way so that older readers can still enjoy without it being 'teenagers'. The sign language details in the book were so damn brilliant and such a great and diverse addition to the book.
5/5

3. This is Where it Ends - Marieke Nijkamp
This fast paced novel was a great book to read during a 24 hour readathon (video here!) This follows a few characters point of views during a school shooting and was one of those books that you kind of need to keep reading until you're done - totally doable since it's quite a short book. I thought that some of the storyline could've been altered slightly to make the story make a little more sense at times but as a sensitive topic, I thought it was done quite well (though I have no kind of experience).
4/5

4. The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer - Michelle Hodkin
I bought this book solely because it was one of Kristie's (@bookwormkristie) fave books and my interest was peaked, I then picked it up in the readathon because leading up to it, Kristie did not stop going on about it SO I NEEDED TO KNOW. At first I thought the book was gonna be a little cringe at times due to the high school-ness of it however, I highly enjoyed it. It was way more mature than I originally thought and the teen angst was FANTASTIC. The story was really great though there were times when I was much like the character and didn't know what was real and what was not (I still don't either). Overall, it was a thrilling novel that I thoroughly enjoyed and am very much looking forward to the next two books.
4/5



5. A Court of Wings and Ruin - Sarah J Maas
I fell into a little bit of a slump after the readathon and decided to pick this up as I was very keen to reread it after getting all the feels a few months ago and I think I enjoyed it even more the second time round because I was able to look into a few things more that I had paid less attention to last time. I won't go any further but I have a full review here if you'd like to know my thoughts from May.
5/5

6. One of Us is Lying - Karen M McManus (that's a lot of M's)
This book was part of the @badwitchesread bookclub and I was very excited to read it. This follows four students/now murder suspects as five students went into detention and one of them died during it. I thought both the story and the characters developed very well and I enjoyed the end of it - I did try and play detective and one of my theories ended up being correct (though I had a lot of theories).
4/5



DECEMBER TBR

1. Gemina - Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman (finally)

2. Empress of a Thousand Skies - Rhoda Belleza (maybe)

3. Godsgrave - Jay Kristoff (have to keep reading after I put it down, oops)

4. Wonder Woman Warbringer - Leigh Bardugo (also have to keep reading after I put it down)

5. The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas (yes, I haven't read it yet!!)


And there you have it friends. I was happy with my reading month but am hoping for more in December since it's the end of the year. My TBR is still a little so-so but we'll see what happens!

That is all I have for you today, make sure to head over to my YouTube channel for more content.

Until next time,

xx


WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

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SPOILER FREE REVIEW
*Please note that while my review is spoiler free, the synopsis will give things away if you haven't read up to at least Queen of Shadows (book four). You can skip over it though if you still want to read my review.

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Title: Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6)
Author: Sarah J Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: September 5 2017
RRP: AUD 17.99 (paperback)

Synopsis:
Chaol has always defined himself by his loyalty, his strength, and his position as the Captain of the Guard. But all of that has changed since Aelin shattered the glass castle, since Chaol's men were slaughtered, since the King of Adarlan spared him from a killing blow, but left his body broken. Now he and Nesryn sail for Antica - the stronghold of the southern continent's mighty empire and of the legendary healers of the Torre Cesme. It's Chaol's one shot at recovery, and with war looming back home, Dorian and Aelin's survival could depend on Chaol and Nesryn convincing Antica's rulers to ally with them. But what they discover there will change them both - and be more vital to saving Erilea than they could have imagined.

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At first, I wasn't crazy excited for this book - not because of Chaol but because I was simply desperate to know what happened after Empire of Storms. The ending of book five left me face down on the couch wondering what to do with my life so I kind of really wanted that next story (now book seven in the series). Alas, when it came closer to the release date, I found I was SO DAMN EXCITED for it and especially the special edition I had pre-ordered (it's beautiful by the way!)

Tower of Dawn is classic Sarah J Maas writing and I've loved all of these Throne of Glass books however, this book blew me away and it deserves a standing ovation. The story was just so riveting and once you got stuck in, you were powering through it.

I adored Yrene immediately, she almost rivals Manon for my favourite character in the series but she'll have to settle for second. Yrene is smart and thinks about her actions and consequences and if you know me well, you'll know I love those kind of characteristics. Along with those though, she is all round badass and also lovely and like I said, I adore her.

I freaking loved Chaol in the first two Throne of Glass novels but as we had more and more point of views and more Dorian development, he seemed to fall off my radar a little bit. I still liked him, I just wasn't as obsessed HOWEVER, Tower of Dawn does wonders for him and he's just shot straight up to being next to Dorian as my fave males of the series (not in love with Rowan, soz). Sarah wrote him so well in this story and I've started imagining him with his shirt off, ok bye.

I honestly was not interested in Nesryn in the beginning of this story and I actually think that was the aim. When she ventures out in the city and starts spending time with other characters her character develops beautifully and I found myself craving her chapters as much as the others.

The story has the classic character frustrations, relationship developments, a little bit of angst, crazy shit that happens, cool shit that happens, scary shit that happens, you know... that kinda story. It made me happy and then I would honestly be scared shitless, sometimes I cried a little bit but at the end of the book, I was so delighted with the entire story.

This could possibly be my favourite book of the Throne of Glass series, I know, CRAZY! The only reason I don't know is because Manon and Dorian give me life (especially in Empire of Storms). I actually voted for Tower of Dawn in the Goodreads Choice Awards because it's a damn WINNER.

Anyway, I felt like I kind of spewed my emotions for this book on the screen *laughs to self* but I hope you enjoyed this review and if you haven't read it, I hope you do! It is brilliantly written and such a phenomenal story.

My rating: 5/5 (duh)



*This book was sent to me unsolicited by Bloomsbury Australia. All opinions are my own.


WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

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Spoiler free review

Title: Because You Love to Hate Me
Author: Multiple; edited by Ameriie
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: September 2017
RRP: $14.99 AUD

Synopsis:
In this collection each booktuber gives one author a writing prompt, from which the author has created a story, written from the point of view of a famous villain. They may be stories of vengeance, of defiance, of rage. They might be stories of pain, of heartbreak, of sorrow. But they will definitely not be stories about do-gooders doing good. Leave it to the heroes to help the world; villains just want to rule the world. We love to hate them and they hate to be loved.

I was so excited to receive this in the mail despite not always loving short stories - they're too short! However, a bunch of short stories about villains, YES PLEASE.

I've been putting off writing this review because I had no idea how to write it. I didn't want to talk about every single story and I didn't want it to be too short - it might be though, so here goes...

A few of the stories were average, some were below average. For some of the them, the story was simply too... bland and repetitive? Others had a great idea to them but there was too much time spent on the beginnings of the story and the middle and/or ending was therefore rushed.

I felt that some of the stories were done pretty well. My favourites were The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer, Shirley & Jim by Susan Dennard, Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon and Death Knell by Victoria Schwab. The stories were brilliant and I felt they were executed beautifully as a short story.


I also enjoyed Jack by Ameriie, Marigold by Samantha Shannon (a great message!) and Sera by Nicola Yoon.

I wasn't at all interested in the booktuber commentary part - I'm sorry! I tried to start reading it but I'm not into a lot of the booktubers that were in there so it was hard for me to read it and then I just ended up skipping all of them.

Overall, if you like short stories - more so if they are told in a villain's perspective, then I think you'll enjoy this book.



Rating: 3/5


*This book was sent to me unsolicited by Bloomsbury Australia. All opinions are my own.


WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

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Spoiler free review

Title: Moonrise
Author: Sarah Crossan
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: September 2017
RRP: $16.99

Synopsis:
Joe hasn't seen his brother for ten years, and it's for the most brutal of reasons. Ed is on death row.
But now Ed's execution date has been set, and Joe is determined to spend those last weeks with him, no matter what other people think...


Firstly, let me thank the book gods for another floppy paperback - I enjoy these. Secondly (another thanks), this cover is damn beautiful and I could have it forever on display.

Moonrise is written in what I think is a poetry layout - it isn't poetry but at a glance, it looks like it, does that make sense? It's from the perspective of Joe and flips between the present and the past as his memories which made for a more well developed and insightful story.

I've never read a fictional story like this before and it was interesting to read about a boy who has a brother on death row. This was an emotional read and I found myself crying towards the end. It makes me even more emotional that people actually go through this kind of situation on a daily basis - it's heartbreaking. Our main character, Joe, was a well developed character and I enjoyed reading from his point of view. The other characters in Moonrise were a great addition that helped the story continue.


The writing seemed simple but compelling and beautiful. I loved the structure of the book, it made it so easy to read and to be drawn in and to never want to put it down. I finished this in about 24 hours and wish I could rewind and read it all again for the first time - something only a few books have made me feel.

I highly recommend Moonrise, more so if you're looking for a quick read - though you may want to try and devour this as slowly as you can.

Rating: 4/5


*This book was sent to me by Bloomsbury unsolicited. All opinions are my own.




WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

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Title: Take Three Girls
Authors: Cath Crowley, Simmone Howell and Fiona Wood
Publisher: Pan MacMillan
Publication date: September 2017
RRP: $18.99

Synopsis:
Ady - not the confident A-lister she appears to be.
Kate - brainy boarder taking risks to pursue the music she loves.
Clem - disenchanted swim-star losing her heart to the wrong boy.
All are targeted by PSST, a toxic website that deals in gossip and lies. St Hilda's antidote to cyber-bullying? The Year 10 Wellness program. Nice try - but sometimes all it takes is three girls.
Exploring friendship, feminism, identity and belonging, Take Three Girls is honest, raw and funny.

I'm part of the blog tour hosted by Pan MacMillan (thank you!) for Take Three Girls and I'm very excited to tell you my thoughts on this book. Whenever I get contacted about #loveozya books I almost immediately say yes however, I make sure I read the synopsis first and then I can say 'yes' to my heart's content.

As you may (or may not) have noticed, this book has three authors and is told in the perspective of three different 16-year-old girls all attending the same school (in Australia!). Each author wrote a character each which I felt was smart even if it seemed like the normal thing to do anyway. Either way, it was written really well. I would say a downside though was that sometimes it would be in the present and suddenly switch to the past so fast and abruptly that I had to read the paragraph again (this happened a few times).
This book is centred around bullying, in particular, cyber bullying and how these characters deal with it and just you know, their lives really.

 This book took almost 300 pages for me to get really into it which was unfortunate BUT, I felt that it was worth it because after I reached that point, I didn't stop reading until I was finished and it honestly made me so happy (so happy that at one point, I had watery eyes from happiness).

I felt that the characters and situations were so realistic (I was that age 10 years ago - wow, am I old? -  and can tell you now, that most of this happened either to me or around me). I loved how some of the characters, mainly Clem I think, were so naive, even if it seems annoying, it was so damn real.

My favourite character was Ady, I simply adored her and she was who I had tears of joy for that I mentioned earlier. Though I felt like I related to each main character in a little way somehow, whether something relevant now or in my past - it was nice.

There was a little insta-love in the story but I didn't spend much time worrying about it because so much other stuff made up for it. I loved the message this book gave me and how important and relevant it is (fat-shaming, slut-shaming).
This might be a little random but I just wanted to emphasise something in the book how females are in a way, punished for who we are and choose to be. I am not one to usually say something like that but this book made me realise that with certain aspects in life, many women are degraded in a way that most men will never experience in their lifetime.

Okay, anyways... Overall, this book while it started slow, ended up being a good story and had a great message and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 4/5

*This book was sent to me by Pan MacMillan as part of the blog tour and

in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.




WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME:

Contact: erenabennett@hotmail.com
Instagram: @erenareads & @erena_b
Goodreads: @erenareads
Twitter: @erenareads
YouTube: Erena Reads or click here

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