Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2018

There are so many great books coming out in the second half of this year, so I thought I'd list some of the ones I'm most excited for.

Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels books 10) by Ilona Andrews  

Wildcard (Warcross book 2) by Marie Lu

Impostors by Scott Westerfeld

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Reign of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles book 2) by Helen Scheuerer

What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli

Archangel's Prophecy (Guild Hunter book 11) by Nalini Singh

Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices book 3) by Cassandra Clare

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft - Anthology edited by Tess Sharpe and Jessica Spotswood

Shadow of The Fox by Julie Kagawa

Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass book 7) by Sarah J Maas

I can't wait to these books get released so I can read them all but I'm also kind of sad because some of them are finales to series' which will be bittersweet to read. What books coming out in the second half of this year are you most excited for?

Top Ten Tuesday- My Summer TBR 2018

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: My Summer TBR.

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe book 1) by Neal Shusterman

Clean by Juno Dawson

Vicious (The Villains book 1) by V.E Schwab

Spill Zone by Scott Westerfeld

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Thief (Black Dagger Brotherhood book 16) by J.R Ward

I'm so excited to read these books over summer, what books are on your Summer TBR?

Aesthetically Pleasing Books

The Aesthetically Pleasing Book Tag is a tag I seen going around on Booktube.  The original video can be found here.  This book tag is all about the physical aspects of books and it seemed fun so I thought I'd join in.

The Questions:

1. Best colour combo on a book cover: I love the colour combos of all the Paper Girls volumes, they all look so eye catching. 

2. Best typography/font on a book cover: There are a lot of pretty fonts on books but I really liked the look of the font on Proof of Forever.

3. Best simple cover: I chose Beautiful Broken Things for this question because I think the cover is simple but still very striking.

4. Best endpages: I like the colour and patterns on the end pages of Sylvia Plath's Ariel.

5. Best map: It's hard to chose just one map because there are so many beautiful ones out there so I chose a book I read this year and enjoyed, which was The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.

6. Best naked hardback: I think Rainbow Rowell has some of the best covers and naked hardcovers of her books, they're all so pretty.

7. Best back cover: I chose the Puffin Chalk edition of Peter Pan for this.  I love the typography and the quote. 

8. Best chapter headers: I like these cute but kind of sinister smileys chapter headers in More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera.

9. Best illustrations: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick has some of the best illustrations I've seen in books.

10. Best spine: Landline by Rainbow Rowell has such a pretty book spine.

11. Favourite cover on your shelves:  For this I chose two books.  I chose Wither by Lauren Destefano which has been one of my favourite covers for years, it very beautiful and suits the book so well. And I also chose We Are Okay by Nina LaCour because I love the artwork and colours used on the cover.

What do you think of my choices? What would be some of your answers for this tag? 

Book Review: To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Book: To Kill a Kingdom

Author: Alexandra Christo

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever. 

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

My Rating: 3/5 STARS

My Review:

To Kill a Kingdom is about Lira, a blood thirsty siren who kills a prince every year and takes his heart and Elian, a prince who is also a pirate that hunts down sirens.  It's about the two of them being thrown together and each seeking their own revenge.

I really liked the beginning of the book.  I liked the atmosphere and how the author described Lira and the rest of the sirens and mermaids.  I found that part of the story really interesting and because of that I thought Lira's chapters were intriguing at the beginning of the book and I was interested in where her character arc was going to go.  

Without going into spoilers, I was disappointed at how her character changed into who she became.  It felt like she lost a lot of originality as a character.  I felt the main reason for her loss of originality was because of the romance angle of the story which was another thing that disappointed me about this book.  

I really wish there hadn't been a romance, it felt forced.  There was hardly any chemistry between the characters and because of the nature of both their backstories I found the romance to be unbelievable.  When the romance angle of the storyline came more to the forefront, I felt, that the characters own characteristics and what defined them took a backseat whereas I would've preferred there to be no romance and have the characters actually explore their own morals and reasoning's.

Elian was an okay character but he didn't really stand out.  I did like his relationship with his crew.

Overall I was disappointed by this book.  Although I did like and enjoy some parts of the story I also found the ending to be anti-climatic.

May 2018 Wrap Up

What I read in May:

The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven - 5/5 STARS

I loved this book so much, definitely one of my favourites of the year! It has a powerful message and the main character is hilarious.  You can find my full review of it here.

A Court of Frost and Starlight (ACOTAR novella) by Sarah J Maas - 3/5 STARS

I was really disappointed in this book.  I thought I would love it but I didn't.  It's hard to say why I didn't like it without spoiling it but it felt like this book backtracked on some of the character development that had happened throughout the series.

Omens (Cainsville book 1) by Kelley Armstrong - 4/5 STARS

This was a reread and although I did like Omens just as much as I first read it I realised I wasn't as invested into the story as I hoped.  I know that sounds confusing because I still rated it 4 stars.  What I mean is although it was an interesting read I don't really feel that inclined to continue with the rest of the series.

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo - 3/5 STARS

I really enjoyed the beginning of this book but as the story progressed I grew disappointed with it.  I wasn't a fan of the romance in this book as I felt it didn't suit the characters personalities.  I plan to have a full review of it up within the next few days.

Here are some of my bookstagram pictures for May.  You can find me at: xo_reader_kyla

The 100 started back in the UK in May (we're currently on episode 4) and I really feel that this is one of the best shows on TV.  I'm also currently watching an anime called Violet Evergarden and I really like it as well, I'm only halfway through it.  Also in May was BTS' comeback, which was amazing! I'm really loving the new album.  Fake Love was great and I can't stop watching their live stages especially Anpanman.  I can't wait for the Festa in a few days!

What books did you read in May? What did you watch and listen to?