Hey everyone! This is going to be short and sweet. :)

I won't be posting for the next week or so as I'm going away on holiday! Unfortunetly I won't be able to post until I come back, and I'm not sure yet whether or not there will be internet access so as I can comment on other blogs! I'll check! :) So if I don't comment on your blog, don't worry, I'll catch up on everything I've missed when I get back!

Anyway. I hope you're all having a fantastic summer (or winter, depending where you're from)! For now though, cheerio! ;D


Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

PS: I've only scheduled the one post and that's a blog tour stop on August 3rd! Just saying so you don't think I'm back and deserting your commenting box! ;)

Review: To Ride A Púca

Author: Heather McCorkle
Edition: Compass Press eBook
Released: May 7th 2012
Pages: 330 approx.

Goodreads, Author's Blog, Amazon UK/US

Invaders are coming to take what isn't theirs, again.

Neala wants to stand and fight for her homeland, but as one of the last druids, she may be standing alone.

Persecuted, hunted down, forced to live in obscurity, the druids have all but given up. Can the determination of a girl who has barely come into her power bring them together? Or, just when she finally finds her place among her kind, will they end up losing a homeland their very magic is tied to?

MY REVIEW:

When it comes to fantasy books, I'm a pretty hard critic. The one thing that I absolutely need to have in these sort-of books is to be able to lose myself in a completely new and unusual world. That's a big thing to ask from an author, I know. But now that I've read To Ride a Púca and it met my criteria, I can fully recommend both this book and the wonderful author behind it!

What else can I say but I absolutely LOVED Neala's world! The world-building was, put simply, exquisite! I was in awe. In awe. All I can do now is thank the amazing author who created it! I literally did not resurface the whole time I was reading. I was just completely caught up in the whole world and never wanted to leave. Can you blame me? Would you like to leave a world full of faeries, brownies and magic? And by brownies, I mean the magical creatures, not the treats. ;)

The main character, Neala was very admirable in the way she was always ready to stand up and fight for what she believed in. Multiple times throughout the book she showed her bravery and I loved her for it. She was a strong heroine, not one who constantly needed to be rescued which, by my standards, make the best female leads.

The only slight criticism I have with this book is the romance. It started off with Bren. First impressions: I loved him. But as everything progressed and he started changing, I started going off him. Enter Tyr. I LOVED Tyr. He was so sweet. Then came the next suitor. It wasn't quite a love square... but it was. I know I just contradicted myself but I really can't describe it any other way. I just felt like too many possible love interests were introduced only to be knocked down at the end.

Overall, I really enjoyed To Ride a Púca. I adored the world-building and the main character. Only the romance let me down a little. It wasn't that the love interests were terrible characters, it just felt a bit too much. However, that didn't affect anything that badly! So overall, yes, I highly recommend this book. How can you resist such a beautiful cover anyway?!

FOUR STARS! :D
I'd like to thank the author for providing me with a eCopy of this book!
Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Feature and Follow #6

Feature & Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee. Every week there are two featured blogs and a fun question to answer, so head on over to join in!

Qu: Summer Reading. What was your favorite book that you were REQUIRED to read when you were in school?

My school doesn't actually give us books to read over the summer. But my favourite book that we've had to read during English class would probably be Goodnight Mister Tom.

What about you?

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

PS: If you follow (and comment with your link ;D), I will happily stop by and do the same! :)

Review: Crusher

Author: Niall Leonard
Edition: Doubleday Proof
Release: September 13th 2012
Series: No, standalone
Notes: Use of mild language
Pages: 329

The day Finn Maguire discovers his father bludgeoned to death in a pool of blood, his dreary life is turned upside down. Prime suspect in the murder, Finn must race against time to clear his name and find out who hated his dad enough to kill him.

Trawling the sordid, brutal London underworld for answers, Finn exposes dark family secrets and faces danger at every turn. But he's about to learn that it's the people you trust who can hit you the hardest. . .

MY REVIEW:

This book has a great concept. A murder mystery? A bad-ass teenager out for vengeance? Pretty enticing, huh? Well as much as I wanted to love this book, in all honesty, it just fell a little short of my expectations.

The main character, Finn is almost like a male version of Grace in Entangled. He's broken and troubled. His mother walked out on him when he was only a young boy, he dropped out of school early and was bullied because he's dyslexic. Overall, I got on fine with him. He had the usual characteristics as a typical boy of his age. The one thing that sort-of threw me with him was his relationship with Zoe. It's not that I didn't like them as characters, they were OK, it was just rather sudden. I just don't really know how I feel about it.

Since this was a thriller I was very excited to see what it was going to be like. Unfortunetly, it wasn't as...thrilling as I would have liked. Don't get me wrong; it was still quite a page-turner. There was just something so gripping about the writing style that wouldn't let me look away. Needless to say I finished reading it pretty fast!

There was also a lot of action incorporated in this novel. I especially liked the 'house' scene. I don't really want to give too much away, but that was definitely where the fighting kicked off. Side note: Finn's a boxer. ;) Now the ending. I just need to mention the ending. It was a little bit too abrupt for my liking. I was left with the wh-what? that's it? feeling that I wasn't quite sure about.

So overall, Crusher, with it's OK characters, not-as-thrilling-as-I-hoped mystery and strangely gripping writing style leaves me with a question mark. What to rate it? I think I'll go for between 2.5 to 3 stars, leaning slightly more towards 3. I still would recommend this to readers who like the sound of it though! It's just a pity I didn't love it as much as I would have liked.


LET'S JUST PRETEND THIS IS 2.75 STARS! ;D
Copy provided by Doubleday, Random House in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Review: Time Between Us

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Edition: Doubleday ARC
Release: October 25th 2012
Series: No, standalone
Pages: 368

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett’s unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna’s life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility.

As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together.

MY REVIEW:

The last time travel book I read was over a year ago and I didn't enjoy it. From then on, I had always dismissed time travel books simply because of that experience alone. But I'm so glad I gave Time Between Us a go, as it proved to me that not all time travel books are like that - it was great!

Admittedly, it did take me a while to settle in to the book. I wasn't that glued at the beginning and was starting to think that maybe it would be a bit too slow-paced for my liking, but after the first one hundred pages everything picked up and I enjoyed every minute of it! And you'll be glad to know that that's all the criticism for this book that you'll be hearing from me! ;)

I really liked both Anna and Bennett as main characters and found I could empathise with both of them. I also really related to how much Anna wanted to travel the world. I have the same passion and especially loved the way she had a map in her room where she marked all the places she had been (I'm actually thinking about doing that)! Now on to Bennett. If you like sweet, cute and smouldering love interests, well this boy's for you! I adored him! He was just so... sweet and cute and loveable! And yes, I understand I just repeated myself but seriously, there's just no other words for him - he's adorable!

Unlike some time travel books where you can get confused quite a lot, this one was really easy to follow! Everything made sense and was tied up perfectly. I also liked how the beginning was incorporated near the end (you'll just have to read this to find out what I'm talking about! ;D). So yeah, you can safely say that when the last page was turned, I was left satisfied and a little sad that I had to say goodbye to the characters.

Overall, Time Between Us turned out to be a great read that even included a couple action scenes! I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking out for this author again. Characters you can empathise and love? Check. An awesome storyline? Check. A cute romance? Check. Should you get this book? Check.

FOUR AND A HALF STARS!
A big thank you to Random House, Doubleday for sending me out this review book!
Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Showcase Sunday #10

Showcase Sunday is a meme hosted by Vicky over at Books, Biscuits & Tea where we showcase all of our recent book grabs.


Now is Good (Before I Die) by Jenny Downham - This book arrived in a surprise package from Random House a couple days ago and since I hadn't heard all too much about it, I logged on to Goodreads. It's had some great ratings so I do hope to get on to it sometime soon! I think I'll also be needing some tissues! Oh, and in case you're wondering; this is the new movie cover edition of Before I Die.

This is Not Forgiveness by Celia Rees - I won this book over at The Book Addicted Girl and am really intrigued to see whether or not I'll enjoy this book. It looks really different and emotional, so I hope I will! :)

To Ride a Puca by Heather McCorkle - I received an ebook copy of this book by the author and am also really excited about getting started on this! It looks really good and the excerpt I read definitely promises just that! Plus, gorgeous horse on cover (and I <3 horses)!

Crusher by Niall Leonard (ARC) - Ohmygoodness, this looks amazing! This is another review book that came through from the publishers (Random House) and it's a murder thriller! And I absolutely adore the cover! I'm actually going to get started on it today, I can't wait!

Thorn signed bookmark (swag) - I also won this signed bookmark over at Page-turner! :D

So that's all for me this week! What about you? Leave a link to your haul below and I'll stop by as soon as I can - promise! ^.^

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo

Review: The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket

Author: John Boyne
Edition: Doubleday Hardback (early finished copy)
Release: August 2nd 2012
Series: No, standalone
Pages: 278

Barnaby Brocket is an ordinary 8-year-old boy in most ways, but he was born different in one important way: he floats. Unlike everyone else, Barnaby does not obey the law of gravity. His parents, who have a horror of being noticed, want desperately for Barnaby to be normal, but he can't help who he is. And when the unthinkable happens, Barnaby finds himself on a journey that takes him all over the world. From Brazil to New York, Canada to Ireland, and even to space, the floating boy meets all sorts of different people--and discovers who he really is along the way.

I don't really know what else to say apart from, I LOVE this book! It's just one of those rare novels that's heart-warming and sweet in every way possible. You really shouldn't be put off by the almost childish cover (in my opinion, it's so cute!) because this book shouldn't be missed by anybody! It's definitely a book that can be enjoyed by all ages!

One thing I adored about this book, is that it reminded me so much of Roald Dahl's books! And who doesn't love Roald Dahl?! Yet again just let me stress out, THIS CAN BE ENJOYED BY ALL AGES! Please, oh please, oh please don't dismiss this just because you think it's childish! It's such a unique, one-off story that leaves you with such a warm, fuzzy feeling inside! I literally feel priviledged to have read it!

I felt like I was right there with Barnaby, exploring the world with him during the time when I was reading this! He went to so many places and met so many wonderful people who taught him that being yourself is much better than being someone your not. Each person affected Barnaby and vice versa. Whenever I was reading this book, I was smiling to myself. And when Barnaby started to devolp and grow as a character, well that was just the cherry on top!

Overall, Barnaby was a very sweet character with a very good heart. It's almost like he saw everything in black and white. He spoke what he felt when he felt like saying it. When your eight years old that's just what you do. You see everything in the most simplest of ways and don't understand how anything could be more complex that that. I adored him and for some reason I really wanted to be the one to keep him safe. Not only did he affect everyone else he met when on his adventures, he also taught me a valuable lesson.

To conclude, The Terrible Thing That Happened To Barnaby Brocket is a heart-warming, adorable read that stuck in my head long after the final page was turned. I recommend it to anyone and everyone! Whether you read it to yourself or your family, just make sure you READ IT! I also want to add that there are some beautiful illustrations throughout (by Oliver Jeffers) that you won't want to miss either! GET THIS BOOK! *cue puppy eyes*

A warm, whimsical and imaginative tale of an unusual little boy struggling to be accepted for his differences, by the bestselling author of The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas.


Thank you so, so, so much to Doubleday for sending me out this book! :D

Happy Reading,
Rachel xoxo