Illumicrate Unboxing May 2017

So this post is the unboxing of the May 2017 Illumicrate box (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

Illumicrate is a quarterly subscription box. Within each box you receive a newly released book along with various bookish items. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

GeekyClean Unboxing - May 2017

So today I am going to be unboxing the May 2017 GeekyClean crate. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

Geeky Clean crate is a monthly box containing 5 products pertaining to a theme. The crate will always contain 1 x soap, 1 x bath product, 1 x candle and 2 x mystery items which could be bath or body products or related fandom items.

The theme this month was By the Angel (Shadowhunters). (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #30 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Details:

Title: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Author: JK Rowling

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-0747532699

Synopsis:

Harry Potter is an ordinary boy who lives in a cupboard under the stairs at his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon's house, which he thinks is normal for someone like him who's parents have been killed in a 'car crash'. He is bullied by them and his fat, spoilt cousin Dudley, and lives a very unremarkable life with only the odd hiccup (like his hair growing back overnight!) to cause him much to think about. That is until an owl turns up with a letter addressed to Harry and all hell breaks loose! He is literally rescued by a world where nothing is as it seems and magic lessons are the order of the day. Read and find out how Harry discovers his true heritage at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the reason behind his parents mysterious death, who is out to kill him, and how he uncovers the most amazing secret of all time, the fabled Philosopher's Stone! All this and muggles too. Now, what are they?

Review:

Fairyloot Unboxing - May 2017

This is the unboxing of the May 2017 FairyLoot box. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

FairyLoot is a monthly book subscription box mainly focusing on fantasy YA and YA crossovers. Each month you receive a new release book, mostly hardback and 4-6 bookish items which fit in with the theme.

The theme this month was Myths and Legends. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #29 - The Bone Season

Details:

Title: The Bone Season

Author: Samantha Shannon

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-1408836422

Synopsis:

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

Review:

Book Box Club May 2017 Unboxing

In this post I am going to be unboxing the May 2017 Book Box Club box. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

Book Box Club is a monthly book subscription box. Each month you receive a specially selected YA book release and 2-4 hand picked goodies which fit in with the theme. Book Box Club also hosts a members only online book club where subscribers get a chance to chat to each other as well as the author about the book.

The theme this month was Wizards at War. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #28 - The Mermaid's Daughter by Ann Claycomb

Details:

Title: The Mermaid's Daughter

Author: Ann Claycomb

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

ISBN 13: 978-0062560681

Synopsis:

Kathleen has always been dramatic. She suffers from the bizarre malady of experiencing stabbing pain in her feet. On her sixteenth birthday, she woke screaming from the sensation that her tongue had been cut out. No doctor can find a medical explanation for her pain, and even the most powerful drugs have proven useless. Only the touch of seawater can ease her pain, and just temporarily at that.

Now Kathleen is a twenty-five-year-old opera student in Boston and shows immense promise as a soprano. Her girlfriend Harry, a mezzo in the same program, worries endlessly about Kathleen's phantom pain and obsession with the sea. Kathleen's mother and grandmother both committed suicide as young women, and Harry worries they suffered from the same symptoms. When Kathleen suffers yet another dangerous breakdown, Harry convinces Kathleen to visit her hometown in Ireland to learn more about her family history.

In Ireland, they discover that the mystery—and the tragedy—of Kathleen’s family history is far older and stranger than they could have imagined.  Kathleen’s fate seems sealed, and the only way out is a terrible choice between a mermaid’s two sirens—the sea, and her lover. But both choices mean death… 

Review:

Review #27 - A Court of Wings and Ruin

Details:

Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Author: Sarah J Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-1408857908

Synopsis:

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's manoeuvrings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit - and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords - and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

Review:

Book and Nook May 2017

So this post is going to be an unboxing of the May 2017 Book & Nook box (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

The Book and Nook box is a monthly subscription box which contains 5 4oz tin candles, 1 exclusive bookish item and 1 exclusive bookmark all pertaining to the theme of the month.

The theme for the month of May was To the stars who listen (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Fairyloot Unboxing - April 2017

This is my April 2017 FairyLoot unboxing, the box finally got to me after some unexplained delays by the courier. (What follows will contain spoilers so please do not read if you don't want to know what is in the box)

FairyLoot is a monthly book subscription box mainly focusing on fantasy YA and YA crossovers. Each month you receive a new release book, mostly hardback, and 4-6 bookish items which fit in with the theme.

The theme this month was Dreams and Wishes (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

All About April 2017

So this is going to be a bit different to my usual kind of posts - I'm going to do a review of April in General and everything I got up to.

Review #26 - Brother's Ruin by Emma Newman

Details:

Title: Brothers Ruin

Author: Emma Newman

Publisher: St Martin's Press

ISBN 13: 978-0765393968

Synopsis:

The year is 1850 and Great Britain is flourishing, thanks to the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts. When a new mage is discovered, Royal Society elites descend like buzzards to snatch up a new apprentice. Talented mages are bought from their families at a tremendous price, while weak mages are snapped up for a pittance.

For a lower middle class family like the Gunns, the loss of a son can be disastrous, so when seemingly magical incidents begin cropping up at home, they fear for their Archie's life and their own livelihoods. But Archie Gunn isn't a talented mage. His sister Charlotte is, and to prevent her brother from being imprisoned for false reporting she combines her powers with his to make him seem a better prospect. 

However, maintaining the charade will mean masquerading as Archie's assistant, and delaying or destroying her own plans for marriage. When she discovers a nefarious plot by the sinister Doctor Ledbetter, Charlotte must use all her cunning and guile to protect her family, her secret and her city.

Review:

Review #25 - Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Details:

Title: Hunted

Author: Meagan Spooner

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN 13: 978-0062422286

Synopsis:

Beauty knows the Beast's forest in her bones—and in her blood. After all, her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering its secrets. So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters out of their comfortable home among the aristocracy and back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance. The Beast.

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange creature back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of magical creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin, or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

Review:

April Wrap Up and May TBR

So in April 2017 I managed to read a total of 7 books. I also managed to read 4 out of the 5 books I put on my April TBR which was pretty good going.

In order of reading I completed Star Wars: Bloodline by Claudia Gray, The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, Gemina by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman, The One Memory of Flora Banks by Emily Barr, Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh and Hunted by Meagan Spooner.

The Chemist and The One Memory of Flora Banks were audiobooks borrowed from my local library and Flame in the Mist was an ebook ARC sent to me by Netgalley.

I enjoyed Bloodline a lot because Leia is one of my favourite characters and this is also added canon for the Force Awakens timeline so it was nice to get a little more background in that sense too. Strange the Dreamer made me fall in love with Laini Taylor's writing and I absolutely adore Lazlo Strange who was the main character in this story.  Of the two audiobooks I listened to I definitely preferred The Chemist, the narrators voice was good and the story was something different for me.

So in May I am going to aim for 5 books, 2 of which are new releases and 3 will be re-reads as I am taking part in the Harry Potter readathon. The two new releases this month which I have pre-ordered are A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas which is released on 2nd May and Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare released on 23rd May. For the Harry Potter readathon the books I need to read are Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone (15-21 May), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (22-28 May) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (29 May-4 June) by JK Rowling.