Top Ten Tuesday- Characters I'd Love to Meet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Authors I'd Love To Meet.  I changed my list to Characters I'd Love To Meet instead.  

Mercy Thompson (Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs)

Evelyn Hugo (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid)

Magnus Bane (Shadowhunter Chronicles by Cassandra Clare)

Celaena Sardothien (Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas)

Izzy O'Neill (The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven)

Will Herondale (The Infernal Devices trilogy by Cassandra Clare)

Jamie Fraser (Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon)

Kate Daniels (Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews)

What characters would you want to meet?

September Wrap Up 2018

Magic Triumphs (Kate Daniels #10) by Ilona Andrews - 5/5 STARS

This is the last book in the Kate Daniels series and I loved it! I can't believe this series is over although I'm glad the authors are going to be continuing to do more books in the world.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire - 4/5 STARS

I really liked this book, it was much more dark and creepier than the first book in the series. You can find my full review of it here.

Reign of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles #2) by Helen Scheuerer - 5/5 STARS

This was such an amazing sequel to Heart of Mist and I'm loving this series, it's became one of my favourite YA Fantasy series. The characters and storyline are written so well, you can find my full review of it here.

What If It's Us by Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli - 3.5/5 STARS

I won a book proof of this on my Twitter. This book is hard to rate for me because I enjoyed some of the book but I also disliked a lot of things about it. I'll be doing a book review of this book closer to the release date.

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) by Seanan McGuire - 4/5 STARS

I heard a lot of people say this book was their least favourite of the series but I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as dark as the previous books but it felt very whimsical and the writing was as great as the first two books.

My Bookstagram picture from September. You can find me at: xo_reader_kyla

September was a really good reading month for me, I liked a lot of the books I read. I'm excited for October because I'm planning on doing a lot of Halloween themed blog posts and I also have a Halloween themed tbr for October!

I'm a huge fan of KPOP and one of my favourite groups, GOT7, had a comeback in September. I loved their album and all of their individual songs on the album are amazing. One of my favourite songs on the album is 'I Am Me', it's so good! Another of my favourite groups is BTS and they had a comeback near the end of August which I forgot to include in my August wrap up but that was also an amazing comeback! Also I'm so addicted to SHINee's 'Countless'. I've been listening to it every day, I'm so obsessed with it!

What books did you read in September?

Quote Sunday #4

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:

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I spent my life folded between the pages of books.  In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association.

What are some of your favourite quotes?

Book Review: Reign of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles #2) by Helen Scheuerer

Book: Reign of Mist

Series: The Oremere Chronicles book 2

Author: Helen Scheuerer

Genre: YA Fantasy

The realm’s darkest secret is out. 

The cruelty of the capital and the power-hungry King Arden have scattered Bleak and her companions across the continents. 

On the run in a foreign land, Bleak finds herself tied to some unexpected strangers. When the answers she yearns for are finally within reach, she must face the hard truths of her past, and take her fate into her own hands before it’s too late. 

Meanwhile, secrets and magic unravel as a dark power corrupts the realm. Bleak’s friends are forced to decide where their loyalties lie, and who, if anyone, they can trust. 

But one thing is certain: war is coming, and they must all be ready when it does.

My Rating: 5/5 STARS

My Review:

I loved Heart of Mist so I had high expectations for Reign of Mist and it still surpassed them, Reign of Mist was amazing.

Reign of Mist picks up exactly where Heart of Mist leaves off.  Bleak ends up washing up on the shores of Oremere, half dead and fighting for her life while a mysterious stranger looks on.  After escaping the King's castle Henri starts a journey to a potential ally for her Valian and Swinton is guarding princess Olena.

This book (like Heart of Mist) never failed to surprise me.  The characters grew so much from the first book especially Bleak.  In Reign of Mist she really grew into herself and became more confident and it was done in such a natural way.  Her character progression from Heart of Mist to who she was at the end of Reign of Mist was an exciting journey to witness.  We also see more sides to Henri in this book, we get to see a softer side to her and find out what brings that out.  I was also surprised that some characters showed more of a darker side to them in Reign of Mist.  

A lot of new characters were introduced and I liked how each one added to the story and had their own background with different characters.  They were all interesting in their own way and I'm excited to read more about them.  There were also some animals added to the story and I liked how important they were.  I loved reading about Bleak and Rion, a teerah panther, and the close bond they had.

The storyline was even more epic than the first and there were a lot of twists that happened.  The story was action packed and I really liked the pacing of the book.  I loved the descriptive writing and how the new places the characters went to were described.

Overall I loved Reign of Mist, it was an amazing sequel to Heart of Mist.  The character journeys and the epic story made me wish the book didn't end.  If you loved the first book, you'll definitely love this one.

Friday Excerpts: Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire

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. 

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children book 3) by Seanan McGuire

Blurb:

Beneath the Sugar Sky, the third book in McGuire's Wayward Children series, returns to Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children in a standalone contemporary fantasy for fans of all ages. At this magical boarding school, children who have experienced fantasy adventures are reintroduced to the "real" world. 

When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest – not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.) 

If she can't find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests... 

A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do.

Beginning:

Children have always tumbled down rabbit holes, fallen through mirrors, been swept away by unseasonal floods or carried off by tornadoes.  Children have always traveled, and because they are young and bright and full of contradictions, they haven't always restricted their travel to the possible.

Friday 56 (5-6% on my ereader):

Maybe here, though...maybe here she could be.  Maybe here she was allowed.  Everyone else was fighting toward their own sense of safety, of beauty, of belonging.  Maybe she could do that, too.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and I've only just started this one which was why I chose my Friday 56 line from 5 to 6 percent way through the book instead on 56 percent through.  I've heard that this is a lot of people's least favourite is the series so I've lowered my expectations of it but I'm still excited to read it.

Have you read Beneath the Sugar Sky? 
What are your thoughts on the quotes from it? 

Top Ten Tuesday- Books By My Favourite Authors I Still Haven't Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week's topic is: Books By My Favourite Authors That I Still Haven’t Read. 

The Glass Spare (The Glass Spare book 1) by Lauren DeStefano - 

I love Lauren DeStefano's writing, her writing is so quotable and The Glass Spare sounds great.

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

I've read a lot of Kelley Armstrong books, she's probably my most read author so I really want to read City of The Lost.

Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children book 3) by Seanan McGuire - 

I read Into the Drowning Deep and the first two books in the Wayward Children series this year and enjoyed all of them so Seanan McGuire has only recently became a favourite of mine but I'm excited to read more of her books.

Wildcard (Warcross book 2) by Marie Lu - 

This one has only recently came out so I have an excuse for not reading it yet but I've loved all of Marie Lu's books that she has written so I can't wait to read Wildcard.

What books by your favourite authors have you not read yet?

Book Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire

Book: Down Among the Sticks and Bones
Series: Wayward Children book 2
Author: Seanan McGuire
Genre: YA Fantasy, Horror

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. 

This is the story of what happened first… 

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline. 

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you've got. 

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted. 

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

My Rating: 4/5 STARS

My Review:

Down Among the Sticks and Bones is about Jack and Jill and shows their journey of how they became lost in their world and what happened to them while they were there.

I liked this book just as much as the first.  I really enjoyed seeing how Jack and Jill became the way they were.  I felt more connected to Jack and Jill than Nancy (the mc of the first book) and I think the reason for that was mainly because we got to see Jack and Jill in their world and got to see it from their eyes, from the moment they entered it until the moment they left.  We really got to experience just how creepy the world was.

While I was reading I kept picturing the Halloween town from The Nightmare Before Christmas movie because that was the atmospheric vibe it gave off.  I liked a lot of the new characters introduced and I really wanted to read more about them especially Dr Bleak.

It was interesting to read about the different lives each girl lived, both in the real world and in the world they stumbled upon.  The way their parents treated them throughout their childhood was sad to read.  The writing was still as captivating and I loved it, you just can't help but get sucked into a story with this kind of writing.  

Overall I really liked Down Among the Sticks and Bones.  Even though the first book was dark, I really felt the storyline of this book had an even more dark and creepier edge to it than the first.