Lets talk The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland

*I was gifted an advanced reading copy by Hot Key Books in exchange for an honest review*

Hey lovelies, welcome back!

You guys know how much I love Krystal Sutherland's books, she's one of my favourite YA authors. So, when Hot Key Books kindly gifted me an arc of her new book, The Invocations, I was beyond excited and grateful. 

Five women are dead. The killer leaves no fingerprints, no DNA and the Police are utterly stumped. In a world where only women can use magic and the men who know about it seek to eradicate them, three damaged young women - one cursed, one hunted, one out for revenge - will team up to track down and take out a brutal supernatural killer.

OMG, Krystal has outdone herself this time! This book possessed me!

Sutherland's writing is descriptive as always; making you gag at the gruesome gangrenous leg wound and decomposing corpses, but also salivate at the champagne and strawberries.

The plot is fast-paced, action-packed and full of surprises, making it an enthralling read. Sutherland has a knack for keeping the reader guessing and building suspense so that the reveal at the end shocks you to your core.

Similarly to House of Hollow, I wouldn't recommend this to readers under 14 as Sutherland acknowledges some quite mature topics such as grooming, sexual assault and domestic abuse, all of which are relevant to the topic she is highlighting in this book – patriarchal power.

Dark, twisted, gruesome and addictive, this is YA horror at it's finest!

Until next time, lovelies!

Lets talk House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

 Hey lovelies, welcome back! 

Krystal Sutherland debut, Our Chemical Hearts, is one of my favourite accidental discoveries, and her new novel, House of Hollow, is no different! 

10 years ago, the Hollow sisters disappeared without a trace. A month later they reappeared with no memory of what had happened to them. Ever since, eerie, inexplainable occurrences happen around them, and girls are always at the centre. When Grey, the eldest, goes missing, Vivi and Iris are left behind to figure it out - but they aren't the only ones looking for her... Suddenly, they realise Grey's disappearance is related to what happened 10 years ago, and only by confronting it can they save Grey, but do they really want to know...  

As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew this book would be right up my street, and from the very first page, I was hooked! Supernatural, magical, horror? YES PLEASE!!! 

Everything about Sutherland's writing, from the characters names (Grey, Vivi, Iris, Adelaide), to the intricate descriptions of wisteria snaking in through the window, is hauntingly beautiful and fits the aesthetic perfectly.

The plot is gripping, and culminates in such an unexpected, disturbing twist that you don't expect but would be disappointed with anything else. Narrated by Iris, the youngest sister, you become fully immersed in her perspective and share her thoughts, fears, and feelings as if they were your own.  

Although there is no sexual content, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone under 15yrs. The themes and climax are quite dark and twisted that even I was shocked. Think of the original Grimm's fairy tales where the ugly sisters cut off their feet to fit in the glass slipper - it's very reminiscent.

Intoxicating, hauntingly beautiful, folklore-ish, Grimm's fairytale-esque, that vibrates magic-realism, House of Hollow had me gripped till the very last sentence! 

Until next time, lovelies!  

  

Let's talk The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Hey lovelies, welcome back!

 

I, just like everyone else, have been horrified by recent events and have wanted to do my bit to help. I decided the first step was to educate myself, for me the best way to do that is through reading. So, after reading some reviews and a quick browse of the Waterstones website later I compiled a list of books I want to read this summer as the first step to educating myself on the BLM movement. 

 First up is The Hate U Give (THUG) by Angie Thomas. This one I'd started reading when it first published and won the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018 but had to put it down as book club reads and blog tours took priority and I never got around to picking it back up, until now. 

Starr moves between two worlds and even identifies as two separate people – “Garden Height’s Starr” who lives in the poor, “ghetto” neighbourhood and works at the store and “Williamson Starr” who attends the private schools in the rich, preppy neighbourhood a few miles away. Starr doesn’t really mind, just as long as the two worlds never meet! That all changes one night when Starr witnesses her friend Kahlil get shot by a cop on their way home from a party. Shaken too her core, Starr is determined not to let it happen again. What follows is a journey full of self-discovery and an agenda - Get justice for Kahlil, challenge and change the system, and above everything else make sure that she too doesn't wind up getting shot, even if that means merging her two worlds...

 This is an extremely powerful read! Within the first few pages I was hooked - captivated by Thomas' candour and realism.

At times, it felt quite disorientating to read - the action resembles that of a dystopian novel, and it’s easy to get caught up in it. However, it quickly dawns on you that reality of the action. This is happening, right now, and for me that brought the novel closer to home and heightened my reading experience.

What stood out the most for me was how thought provoking it was. All throughout it had me thinking and unintentionally asking myself questions. Of course, it contains the usual tropes of YA fiction, friendships, relationships and the struggles that go along with those, but Thomas uses them as a plot device and as a way to further the over-arching message rather than for the sake of it. It is through these tropes that the questions are posed - Starr’s relationship with Chris explores the struggles of an interracial relationship and his interactions with her family encourage you to think more broadly about racial stereotypes. Hayley, one of Starr’s best friends, is the embodiment of white privilege! Thomas has written her so well that it got me wondering if I picked up on this purely because of the context I was reading her in, and if I’d even notice this if the character featured in another book.

Amongst all the grit, Thomas keeps it accessible for her intended audience while creating an appeal for older readers. As previously mentioned, this is a powerful read and an important one too! The Hate U Give should be one everyone reads. Whether you are a young adult, someone who enjoys reading YA fiction, or, like me, is looking to educate yourself, this book should be top of your TBR pile.

Let's talk The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

Hey lovelies, welcome back!

My gosh it has been a long wait for this one! Originally due to be published next year, but thankfully brought forward, The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black is the thrilling conclusion to her 'The Folk of the Air' series. *WARNING! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST TWO BOOKS THEN THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS!*. 

Jude has been exiled to the mortal world mere hours after marrying The High King, Cardan, and becoming The Queen of Faerie. Struggling to come to terms with her sentence, and Cardan's betrayal, she vows to reclaim everything she lost and enact revenge on those who wronged her...  Opportunity presents itself in the form of her twin, Taryn, whose life is in danger and desperately needs Jude's help. Braving to return to Faeire, upon pain of death, Jude finds her kingdom on the brink of war and must do everything she can to stop it, including confronting Cardan...

Oh, how I devoured this book! I loved everything from beginning to end! Everything I have been waiting two years for finally came about and I don't think Black could have written a better conclusion if she'd tried. My heart was full to bursting by the time I read the last sentence! 

As always Black's writing was effortless. She conveys the surreal, ethereal quality of Faerie in a way that heightens not only your imagination but your senses too, something only this "Faerie Queen" can! 

Everyone's character arc comes full circle and I was stunned at a few character’s fates... Black sure knows how to throw a plot twist in doesn’t she!

For me the two who developed most were Taryn and Cardan. Taryn has grown from the trivial, frivolous girl into a strong independent women “who don’t need no Locke”… She was one of my favourites by the end. And of course, I'm still hopelessly in love with Cardan! His character development was unsurpassed. Watching him grow throughout the series from the nasty, spiteful boy we meet in TCP to the scheming, methodical young man we say goodbye to in TQoN. It was refreshing to see a different side to our Wicked King.

If I had to choose, TWK would be my favourite out of the trilogy. Although I loved TQoN, it felt lacklustre in comparison to the previous book. Maybe I was expecting too much… It’s still a dazzling read nonetheless that will hold an eternal place on my bookshelf.   

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