February Wrap-Up! Hi Guys! In January, I managed to work my through quite a few books and February was just the same. In total I managed to read 6 books as well as 1 Wattpad story and today I'm here to talk about each one. So, let's get into my February wrap up! My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece by Annabel Pitcher Date Started - 29/1/2017 Date Finished - 4/2/2017 Synopsis: Ten-year-old Jamie hasn't cried since it happened. He knows he should have - Jasmine cried, Mum cried, Dad still cries. Roger didn't, but then he is just a cat and didn't know Rose that well, really. Everyone kept saying it would get better with time, but that's just one of those lies that grown-ups tell in awkward situations. Five years on, it's worse than ever: Dad drinks, Mum's gone and Jamie's left with questions that he must answer for himself. This is his story, an unflinchingly real yet heart-warming account of a young boy's struggle to make sense of the loss that tore his family apart. This book had been on my TBR for such a long time and after hearing so many great things about it I finally decided to pick it up in February. It really didn't disappoint and I loved how it featured so many different issues. I've included the synopsis above incase you want to read a bit about it. One of the things I loved about the story is how much depth there is to each character. Each character has something that changed them in some sort of way and it's interesting to see how the members of the family cope in their different ways with grief. I don't really know how to explain some of the things in this book correctly, so if you are interested in reading this then I recommend that you read some of the reviews that are on Goodreads. I'll have a link to the Goodreads page below where you can find more information out about the book as well as read some (much better explained) reviews. Rate - 5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9429895-my-sister-lives-on-the-mantelpiece?ac=1&from_search=true BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/My-Sister-Lives-on-the-Mantelpiece/9781780621869 A Magical Venice Story: The Girl of Glass by Holly Webb Date Started - 4/2/2017 Date Finished - 6/12/2017 Synopsis:An enchanting tale of magic, friendship and adventure for readers aged 9 and up - from bestselling author, Holly Webb. Mariana lives with her family on the Venetian island of Murano - famed for its artists who create masterpieces from glass. But when Mariana's little sister, Eliza, dies their father decides to use his glassmaking skill - and a dash of magic - to create a girl of glass in Eliza's image. The remarkable glass doll, who sings, dances and talks, draws attention wherever she goes, and soon Mariana is famous for having the magical glass sister. But as the glass girl takes on more and more of Eliza's personality, Mariana begins to suspect that there is more than just magic at play. Could the girl of glass be her sister's ghost made real? The Magical Venice books are all share the same beautiful setting, but can be read as standalone stories. The series includes: The Water Horse, The Mermaid's Sister, The Maskmasker's Daughter, and The Girl of Glass. *I was sent a copy for review via NetGalley* I do already have my review up for The Girl of Glass (which I will link below), so I'm going to keep this very brief. I really enjoyed this book! It's full of such magical and creative ideas that I forgot about everything around me whilst reading it and that's my favourite thing that a book can do. I was completely submerged in the story, hence why I seemed to read it quite quickly. This book also talks about grief and once again you get to see how each characters deals with it. There's so much more to the story that I just can't explain. I'd really recommend this book! Rate - 4.5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34516855-a-magical-venice-story BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Girl-of-Glass--Book-4/9781408327685 MY REVIEW - http://sprinkleofbooks.weebly.com/blog/spoiler-free-review-a-magical-venice-story-the-girl-of-glass-by-holly-webb Confessions of a Queen B* by Crista McHugh Date Started - 8/2/2017 Date Finished - 9/2/2017 Synopsis: Alexis Wyndham is the other type of Queen B—the Queen Bitch. After years of being the subject of ridicule, she revels in her ability to make the in-crowd cower via the exposés on her blog, The Eastline Spy. Now that she's carved out her place in the high school hierarchy, she uses her position to help the unpopular kids walking the hallways. Saving a freshman from bullies? Check. Swapping insults with the head cheerleader? Check. Falling for the star quarterback? So not a part of her plan. But when Brett offers to help her solve the mystery of who’s posting X-rated videos from the girls’ locker room, she’ll have to swallow her pride and learn to see past the high school stereotypes she’s never questioned—until now. Just going to start this off by saying I'm a bit of an ebook hoarder. If I see YA or Childrens' ebooks for free, I just have to download them because I think that I'll read them eventually, when I know full well that I won't but I can't bring myself to delete them. A bit unusual, but the other week I just didn't want to read something off my TBR shelf so I decided to choose an ebook. I clicked on this one and pretty much went in blind and I loved it! I really didn't think I'd enjoy it. I even thought that if I don't like it then I can just try another ebook out, but instead I sat immersed in the story for hours until I finally had to go get some sleep. Basically, I thoroughly enjoyed it and am really looking forward to reading the sequels when I can get my hands on them. I'm definitely going to work on picking an ebook to read every once in a while and go in blind and just see what happens, because I found it to be quite refreshing. Rate - 4/5 GR -https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25124193-confessions-of-a-queen-b?ac=1&from_search=true BD - Can't find a link. AMAZON - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confessions-Queen-Book-Crista-McHugh-ebook/dp/B00X734R10/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489685171&sr=8-1&keywords=Confessions+of+a+Queen+B+by+Crista+McHugh Doctor Who: The Deviant Strain (#4) by Justin Richards Date Started - 11/2/2017 Date Finished - 16/2/2017 Synopsis: The Novrosk Peninsula: the Soviet naval base has been abandoned, the nuclear submarines are rusting and rotting. Cold, isolated, forgotten. Until the Russian Special Forces arrive and discover that the Doctor and his companions are here too. But there is something else in Novrosk. Something that predates even the stone circle on the cliff top. Something that is at last waking, hunting, killing. Can the Doctor and his friends stay alive long enough to learn the truth? With time running out, they must discover who is really responsible for the Deviant Strain... I read the first book in this series, The Clockwise Man by Justin Richards, last year and absolutely loved it and it ended up being one of my favourite books of the year. Therefore, I was really disappointed when I started The Deviant Strain and just couldn't seem to get into it. I just found it so much harder and found that I was actually having to push myself through it so I could start another book because I was bored of this one. I don't really know why I struggled so much with this one but I did. It could be down to the fact that I thought this was the 2nd book but it's actually the 4th because they got muddled up on my shelf and couldn't be bothered to check. I'm really not sure but I'm hoping the other books in the series are better. Rate - 2.5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/308622.Doctor_Who?ac=1&from_search=true BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/Doctor-Who--The-Deviant-Strain/9781849907101 Geek Girl: Sunny Side Up by Holly Smale Date Started - 17/02/2017 Date Finished - 18/02/2017 I brought this book when it first came out, but ended up in a reading slump quite soon after, so I never ended up starting it. I finally decided to pick it up because in March, Forever Geek, which is the last book in the Geek Girl series, was released. I'd been lucky enough to get an early copy via Netgalley, so I wanted to read Sunny Side Up before so I could get straight into Forever Geek. There hasn't been a single Geek Girl book that I haven't enjoyed and Sunny Side Up was no exception. I loved how it was set in Paris Fashion Week and how Harriet was involved with that and how she sort of had to venture out by herself. Obviously it wouldn't be a Geek Girl book if Harriet didn't embarrass herself once or twice and she definitely did in this book but most of the time Wilbur was there to save her. There were some people from the past books mentioned and overall, it was just another great Geek Girl adventure. Rate - 5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27209626-sunny-side-up?ac=1&from_search=true BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/Sunny-Side-Up--Geek-Girl-Special--Book-2-/9780008163457 American Monsters (Demon Road #3) by Derek Landy Date Started - 24/2/2017 Date Finished - 26/2/2017 Synopsis: Bigger, meaner, stronger. Amber closes in on her murderous parents as they make one last desperate play for power. Her own last hopes of salvation, however, rest beyond vengeance, beyond the abominable killers - living and dead - that she and Milo will have to face. For Amber's future lies in her family's past, in the brother and sister she never knew, and the horrors beyond imagining that befell them. If you didn't know, this is the conclusion to the Demon Road trilogy, which I absolutely love. It such an adventure filled with humour, violence and murdering demons. I am a huge fan of the first two books, so I was excited to see how the conclusion would play out. I ended up really loving it and liked how it ended a lot. It was a great ending (well, not for all the characters), and I'm sad to see such a great trilogy come to an end. If you haven't yet read this series, but you're into this sort of thing, I'd really recommend it. However, if you are a bit squeamish, I'd recommend giving it a pass. I'm looking forward to trying out some of Landy's other books in the future. Rate - 4.5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29564630-american-monsters?ac=1&from_search=true BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/American-Monsters/9780008157104 Forever Geek (Geek Girl #6) by Holly Smale Date Started - 19/2/2017 Date Finished - 21/2/2017 Synopsis: My name is Harriet Manners and I’ll be a geek forever… Harriet Manners knows almost every fact there is. Modelling isn’t a sure-fire route to popularity. Neither is making endless lists. The people you love don’t expect you to transform into someone else. Statistically, you are more likely to not meet your Australian ex-boyfriend in Australia than bump into him there. So on the trip of a lifetime Down Under Harriet’s to-do lists are gone and it’s Nat’s time to shine! Yet with nearly-not-quite-boyfriend Jasper back home, Harriet’s completely unprepared to see supermodel ex Nick. Is the fashion world about to turn ugly for GEEK GIRL? It’s time for Harriet to face the future. Time to work out where her heart lies. To learn how to let go… As I said previously, I requested a copy for review on Netglley, so I do already have a review up on my blog. I will be linking it below, so I'm going to try and be as brief as I can here. As some of you will know from previous posts, I'm a huge fan of this series, so I am sad to see the series end in this books, but luckily it turned out to be just as amazing as the other book sin the series. Forever Geek may actually be my favourite of the series. So much happens in this finale and I seriously couldn't have asked for a better ending. There are obviously some sad things that happened, but I feel like they had to happen to achieve that same ending. If you want to hear more of my thoughts you'll have to check out my full review. Rate - 5/5 GR - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32288152-forever-geek?from_search=true BD - https://www.bookdepository.com/Forever-Geek/9780007574698 REVIEW - http://sprinkleofbooks.weebly.com/blog/spoiler-free-forever-geek-6-by-holly-smale This month I also started reading another Wattpad story, which is Fred and George and the Toilers of Trouble by MCliffordauthor. I caught up on the whole story this month, so I am now just reading the updates as they come out. I'm really loving it and it gets updated every day I think, so I don't have to wait too long for another update.
I will be reading it until it ends, but I'm just going to include it in this wrap-up as this is the month when I started reading it. I would totally recommend this to any Harry Potter fans, who want to hear more about Fred and George and the mischief they get up to. It follows them from the day they were born throughout their first year at Hogwarts. It involves information from the Harry Potter series, so most of the stuff mentioned you'll know a bit about. I think it's really accurate and I'm just loving reading it. Definitely one to read! Anyway, that was my February Wrap-Up. Let me know what you read in February and I am really sorry about this being so late! BYE!
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AuthorHello and welcome to Books With Beth! I'm Beth and on this blog I share a mix of all my bookish thoughts through reviews, book tours and hauls. Have fun! Categories
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