Book Box Club September 2017 Unboxing

In this post I am going to be unboxing the September 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 Outlaws. (Spoiler filled post under the cut)

Review #59 - Royal Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

Details:

Title: Royal Bastards

Author: Andrew Shvarts

Publisher: Hyperion

ISBN 13: 978-1484767658

Synopsis:

Tilla knows this all too well. Her father, Lord Kent of the Western Province, loved her as a child, but cast her aside as soon as he had trueborn children. At sixteen, Tilla spends her days exploring long-forgotten tunnels beneath the castle with her stable hand half-brother, Jax, and her nights drinking with the servants, passing out on Jax's floor while her castle bedroom collects dust. Tilla secretly longs to sit by her father's side, resplendent in a sparkling gown, enjoying feasts with the rest of the family. Instead, she sits with the other bastards, like Miles of House Hampstedt, an awkward scholar who's been in love with Tilla since they were children. Then, at a feast honouring the visiting princess Lyriana, the royal shocks everyone by choosing to sit at the Bastards' Table. Before she knows it, Tilla is leading the sheltered princess on a late-night escapade. Along with Jax, Miles, and fellow bastard Zell, a Zitochi warrior from the north, they stumble upon a crime they were never meant to witness.

Rebellion is brewing in the west, and a brutal coup leaves Lyriana's uncle, the Royal Archmagus, dead - with Lyriana next on the list. The group flees for their lives, relentlessly pursued by murderous mercenaries; their own parents have put a price on their heads to prevent the king and his powerful Royal Mages from discovering their treachery. The bastards band together, realizing they alone have the power to prevent a civil war that will tear their kingdom apart - if they can warn the king in time. And if they can survive the journey...

Review:

Review #58 - Prisoner of Ice and Snow by Ruth Lauren

Details:

Title: Prisoner of Ice and Snow

Author: Ruth Lauren

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN 13: 978-1681195902

Synopsis:

When thirteen-year-old Valor is sent to jail, she couldn't be happier. Demidova's prison for criminal children is exactly where she wants to be. Valor's twin sister, Sasha, is serving a life sentence for stealing from the royal family, and Valor is going to help her escape . . . from the inside.

Never mind that no one has escaped the prison in centuries. Valor has a master plan and resources most people could only dream about. But she didn't count on having to outsmart both the guards and her fellow prisoners. If Valor's plan is to succeed, she'll need to make some unlikely allies. And if the plan fails, she and Sasha could end up with fates worse than prison.

Review:

Review #57 - Wonder Woman Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo

Details:

Title: Wonder Woman Warbringer 

Author: Leigh Bardugo

Publisher: Penguin

ISBN 13: 978-0141387376

Synopsis:

She will become a legend but first she is Diana, Princess of the Amazons. And her fight is just beginning . . .

Diana is desperate to prove herself to her warrior sisters. But when the opportunity comes, she throws away her chance at glory and breaks Amazon law to save a mere mortal, Alia Keralis. With this single heroic act, Diana may have just doomed the world.

Alia is a Warbringer - a descendant of the infamous Helen of Troy, fated to bring about an age of bloodshed and misery. Diana and Alia will face an army of enemies, mortal and divine, determined to destroy or possess the Warbringer.

To save the world, they must stand side by side against the tide of war.

Review:

The Reading Quest Week 4/Final Wrap Up

The Reading Quest

Week 4/Final - Wrap Up

Review #56 - Roar by Cora Carmack

Details:

Title: Roar

Author: Cora Carmack

Publisher: Tor Teen

ISBN 13: 978-0765386311

Synopsis:

Aurora Pavan comes from one of the oldest Stormling families in existence. Long ago, the ungifted pledged fealty and service to her family in exchange for safe haven, and a kingdom was carved out from the wildlands and sustained by magic capable of repelling the world's deadliest foes. As the sole heir of Pavan, Aurora's been groomed to be the perfect queen. But she's yet to show any trace of the magic she'll need to protect her people. To keep her secret and save her crown, Aurora's mother arranges for her to marry a dark and brooding Stormling prince from another kingdom. At first, the prince seems like the perfect solution to all her problems. He'll guarantee her spot as the next queen and be the champion her people need to remain safe. But the more secrets Aurora uncovers about him, the more a future with him frightens her. When she dons a disguise and sneaks out of the palace one night to spy on him, she stumbles upon a black market dealing in the very thing she lacks - storm magic. And the people selling it?They're not Stormlings. They're storm hunters. Legend says that her ancestors

Review:

Review #55 - Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell

Details:

Title: Shadowblack

Author: Sebastien de Castell

Publisher: Hot Key Books

ISBN 13: 978-1471406676

Synopsis:

Four months after fleeing his own people, Kellen has discovered he's an even worse outlaw than he was mage. It doesn't help that his only allies are a swaggering card player and a thieving squirrel cat.

Then he meets Seneira, a blindfolded girl who isn't blind, and whose secrets get them caught up in a conspiracy of magic, blackmail and murder. Now Kellen must find the mage responsible before the entire frontier falls victim to the mystical plague known as the shadowblack.

Review:

Review #54 - The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Details:

Title: The Girl of Ink and Stars

Author: Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Publisher: Chicken House

ISBN 13: 978-1910002742

Synopsis:

Forbidden to leave her island, Isabella dreams of the faraway lands her cartographer father once mapped. When her friend disappears, she volunteers to guide the search. The world beyond the walls is a monster-filled wasteland - and beneath the dry rivers and smoking mountains, a fire demon is stirring from its sleep. Soon, following her map, her heart and an ancient myth, Isabella discovers the true end of her journey: to save the island itself.

Review:

Review #53 - The Gentlemans Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Details:

Title: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue

Author: Mackenzi Lee

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN 13: 978-0062382801

Synopsis:

Henry “Monty” Montague doesn’t care that his roguish passions are far from suitable for the gentleman he was born to be. But as Monty embarks on his grand tour of Europe, his quests for pleasure and vice are in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

So Monty vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Review:

August Wrap Up and September TBR

So in August 2017 I managed to read a total of 12 books. Which was ridiculously good for me. I only read 11 in the entirety of 2016 so this was crazy.

In order of reading I completed The Invasion by Peadar O'Guilin, Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell, The Martian by Andy Weir, Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody, Frostblood by Elly Blake, Poe Dameron vol 1 by Various, Dark Tower: Gunslinger by Stephen King, The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James, The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy, The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell.

  

 

 

I adored The Invasion and am very grateful to have been able to read it in advance of it's release in March 2018. I enjoyed The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue a lot and it's definitely gone into my top 10 books of the year. I took part in (and will not complete until September 10th) The Reading Quest readathon which I am so happy I did as it seems to have motivated me this month. I also buddy read Daughter of the Burning City with my best friend and listened to two of the books as audiobooks. I am hoping to continue this good reading streak into next month.

So in September I have the last 10 days of the Reading Quest challenge and other than that I am fairly free for the month. So my somewhat provisional TBR for September is as follows; Roar by Cora Carmack, Wonderwoman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo, Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls, Wicked like a Wildfire by Lana Popovic and Fireblood by Elly Blake. I will probably read more than this but I don't want to set too much for myself.

 

  

 

The Reading Quest Week 3 Wrap Up

The Reading Quest

Week 3 - Wrap Up

Disney Wonders - August 2017 Unboxing

So this post is going to be an unboxing of the August 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 August was Disney Wonders (Spoiler filled post under the cut)