Top Ten Tuesday- Sister Relationships in Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Platonic Relationships (friends, siblings, family).  I thought I'd do Sister Relationships in Books.  

I always find family relationships in books interesting to read and sister relationships can be very complex and complicated.  Not all the sister dynamics I mention in this post are good ones but they were all interesting to read.   

A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood - This is probably one of my favourite sister relationships I've read about, it felt so real and I loved that about it. 

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children book 2) by Seanan McGuire - I found this sister bond interesting because of how the parents of the sisters in this book really drove a wedge between them.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - It's been a while since I've read this book but I really liked how the two sisters led different lives during the war but were always thought of by the other. 

The Young Elites by Marie Lu - I thought it so intriguing to read about Adelina and her relationship with her sister.  It was very up and down and I really liked that.

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant - The sister of Tory (the main character) was the reason she started her journey in the book and I like that that was her main motivation.

*Edited to add* - The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - I can't believe I actually forgot to add this to the list but this is also one of my favourite sister relationships in books.

I would really like to read about more sisterly bonds in books.  Do you have any recommendations? Or have you read any of these?

Winter 2018 New Releases I'm Most Excited For

There are so many great releases in the next few months so I decided to share all the books I'm most excited to be released during the winter months (Dec 18, Jan 19, Feb 19).  

The Girl King by Mimi Yu

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

In An Absent Dream (Wayward Children book 4) by Seanan McGuire

Evermore (Everless book 2) by Sara Holland 

King of Scars (Nikolai Duology book 1)by Leigh Bardugo

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air book 2) by Holly Black 

The Afterward by E.K. Johnston

Courting Darkness (Courting Darkness book 1) by Robin LaFevers

I'm probably forgetting some obvious ones.  What winter new releases are you most excited for?

Friday Excerpts: Eliza and Her Monsters Francesca Zappia

Today I'll be sharing some book excerpts with these bookish features:

➢ Book Beginnings is a weekly feature (hosted by Rose City Reader) where you post the first sentence of the book you're currently reading. 

➢ The Friday 56 is a weekly feature (hosted by Freda's Voice) where you get a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on ereader) then post a interesting sentence from that page with no spoilers. 

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Blurb:

Her story is a phenomenon. Her life is a disaster. 

In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. 

Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. 

But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

Beginning:

CHAPTER 1 -

The origin post is open on my computer when I shuffle over to it in the morning.  Overnight, another three hundred comments have cropped up.  I don't know what they say anymore— I haven't checked in months.  I know some are from fans.  A lot are from trolls.  I don't look at the post for the comments.  I look because it is my daily reminder that all of this— all of my life— is a real thing.

My beginning is time-stamped in history.  

Friday 56 (page 56):

If I could live there instead of on Earth, I would do it in a heartbeat.  I would build an airship and fly over the monster-filled oceans, and I'd visit all the places I've only ever seen in my head.

My Thoughts:

I'm sixty or so pages into this book and I like it so far.  I like the focus on fandom and being online and I think these excerpts really reflect that part of the book.

Have you read Eliza and Her Monsters? 

What are your thoughts on the quotes from it? 

Top Ten Tuesday- Items on Book Covers

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Bookish Items I'd Like To Own.  I decided to change the topic to: Items on Book Covers.  I picked ten book covers that mainly focus on an item.  

The Hollow (The Hollow book 1)by Jessica Verday

Landline by Rainbow Rowell

A Promise of Fire (Kingmaker Chronicles book 1) by Amanda Bouchet 

Eclipse (Twilight book 3) by Stephenie Meyer

Paper Towns by John Green

We Are Young by Cat Clarke

Rebel Belle by Rachael Hawkins

Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass book 6) by Sarah J Maas

The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles book 2) by Marissa Meyer

What other book covers can you think of that only feature an item?

Quote Sunday #5

Quote Sunday is a post I do every two week's where I post one of my favourite quotes. This week's quote is from:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter #7) by J.K Rowling

'Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?'

What are some of your favourite quotes?

Top Ten Tuesday- Backlist Books I Want To Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  

This week's topic is: Backlist Books I Want To Read.

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge

Marked in Flesh (The Others book 4) by Anne Bishop

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall  

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

City of the Lost (Rockton book 1) by Kelley Armstrong

What backlist books do you want to read?

Book Review: Ice Massacre (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai #1) by Tiana Warner

Book: Ice Massacre

Series: Mermaids of Eriana Kwai book 1 

Author: Tiana Warner

Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal

A mermaid’s supernatural beauty serves one purpose: to lure a sailor to his death. 

The Massacre is supposed to bring peace to Eriana Kwai. Every year, the island sends its warriors to battle these hostile sea demons. Every year, the warriors fail to return. Desperate for survival, the island must decide on a new strategy. Now, the fate of Eriana Kwai lies in the hands of twenty battle-trained girls and their resistance to a mermaid’s allure. 

Eighteen-year-old Meela has already lost her brother to the Massacre, and she has lived with a secret that’s haunted her since childhood. For any hope of survival, she must overcome the demons of her past and become a ruthless mermaid killer. 

For the first time, Eriana Kwai’s Massacre warriors are female, and Meela must fight for her people’s freedom on the Pacific Ocean’s deadliest battleground.

My Rating: 4 STARS

My Review:

Ice Massacre was a surprising read.  I hadn't heard many people talk of it but this year I've found myself drawn to a lot of mermaid/siren stories and so when I stumbled upon the blurb of this book I knew I wanted to read it.

Ice Massacre is set on an island called Eriana that has been at war with mermaids for years.  Each year the islanders send twenty boys out to fight against the mermaids but at the start of the book they've decided to change their strategy and send twenty girls out to fight instead since they are immune to the mermaids allure.

I liked the beginning of the book and I liked how the book flashed back to show you the history of the main character, Meela, and how she came to be where she was in the present.  I liked reading about the beginning of her friendship with Lysi.  I liked all of this but I felt more excited at around 30% way through the book, this is where things really ramped up for me.  This is where the girls sail away on their 'massacre'.

I liked the characters.  There are around twenty girls that depart on the ship including Meela and at first I thought that because there were so many I wouldn't be able to remember or even care about any of them but I was very surprised because I ended up growing attached to a lot of the characters.  I really liked the friendships between the characters on the ship and how they got tested as the book went on.

I felt the last half of the book was very thrilling and interesting.  We find out more about the mermaids and the way they run their society.

Overall I thought Ice Massacre was really exciting and the hostilities between the islanders and the mermaids were very interesting to read about.  The characters were great and I'm excited to see what happens in the next book.

October Wrap Up 2018

What I Read:

Ice Massacre (Mermaids of Eriana Kwai book 1) by Tiana Warner - 4/5 STARS

Ice Massacre was a book I hadn't heard a lot about before going into it but I ended up really liking it.  I thought the story was very exciting, I'll be doing a full review of it soon. 

A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe (The Salvagers book 1) by Alex White - 4/5 STARS

This was another exciting read of the month.  The story was just as thrilling as the blurb made it seem and I thought the characters were all very interesting and had a lot of depth to them.   

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw - 2/5 STARS

I was really disappointed in this book, I felt the plot and characters were very cliche and nothing really stood out.  I thought the three witch sisters didn't have much of a personality besides talking of the boys they liked.  I did think the ending was more interesting than the rest of the book but it still didn't make the story stand out to me. 

The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle - 3/5 STARS

I loved Spellbook of the Lost and Found which I read earlier this year by the same author so I was excited to read this book but I ended up not enjoying it as much as that.  I did like the writing and the mysterious atmospheric vibe of the book but I felt the overall storyline fell a bit flat and I wasn't overly keen on the characters.  

My October Bookstagram pictures (xo_reader_kyla):

I had a bit of a mixed reading bag in October, I really liked two and was disappointed in the other two and I also ended up DNFing Toil & Trouble.  I did try to participate in the Spookathon but I didn't read as much as I planned to and I didn't really enjoy the books I did read for it.  But on the plus side I did have a productive month blogging wise in October.  I done a lot of spooky centric blog posts like: Scary Creatures in Books, Spooky Book Titles, Halloween Creatures 2.0 Book Tag and even did a DIY Spooky Harry Potter Themed Bookmarks post.  I also posted my review for What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli as well. 

MUSIC - There were also a lot of great comebacks in October. Some of my favourites were: iKON - Goodbye Road, MONSTA X - Shoot Out, The Rose - She's In the Rain, RM - MONO, Stray Kids - I am YOU.    

TV - I also recently watched The Haunting of Hill House which was really good, it had a really great blend of scary and emotional aspects to it. 

What did you read, listen to or watch in October?