August Wrap Up

Late again Molly ! What is wrong with me these days ! I am just not finding the time to write these posts and when I do I am just not in the mood. I thought once uni was over I’d have it all sorted, but I don’t. Turns out I can’t just read books for the rest of my life which would’ve been ideal. All I know is that I want to be with hen pen and what’s wrong if that’s all I want ? I say nothing ! I read two books in August, which is less than anticipated for a summer month but ah well as all is not lost ! I went to Disney with Henry and it was the best holiday ever ! We went on all the rides and had some really lovely food. I cannot wait to go on so many more holidays together ! Anywho, back to the books …



And I Darken – Kiersten White
I actually picked up the sequel before I realised there was one before it. What drew me to it was the cover, oh my god I love it. It’s so striking I think the lady on the front is staring into my soul ! I was like she means business, I have to get it. Obviously it was the sequel so I couldn’t but I ordered this book and it came the next day so yay ! I wasn’t really sure what I was expecting from this book when I started reading it. I had no idea about the history behind this period and I’d only ever heard of Wallachia from the TV show Castlevania. I’m not saying this book is purely historical as it has fantasy elements to it as well, so it’s more of an alternate universe history? Does that make sense? I don’t think it does, but anyways. I’m not usually one to go for a historical piece but I did really enjoy it. The basic premise is that Lada, our main character tries in earnest to impress her father, but he however cannot get over the fact that she is a girl and therefore cares very little about her. Lada and her brother Radu are sent to the Ottoman Empire as a sort of bargaining chip. They are left here and have to navigate the many paths of enemies, friendships and themselves in order to survive. I loved Lada as a character, she truly subverts the whole princess archetype and is totally aggressive and vicious and I love it. The only parts of the book I found less enjoyable were the chapters that solely focussed on Radu. They were fine but I was missing me some Lada ! There was a lull in the middle with the separation of the characters but it picked up nicely at the end, brought everything together and bam ! I want to read more. Simple as. Get me the sequel.
My Book Rating – 4*

Good Me, Bad Me – Ali Land
The only reason I picked this up was because the character is called Annie and that’s my sisters name. I read the back, thought it sounded good so I bought it. It was not really my cup of tea but I still thought it to be alright. Annie is the daughter of a serial killer. For years she watched her mother kill, and the only way to make it stop was to go to the police herself. Under her new name Milly, she tries to start a new life with a foster family, her secrets however are struggling to stay buried. Milly is constantly feeling her mothers presence with the bad thoughts that are in her head. But can she truly start a new life, or she more like her mother than she knows? I thought the story had a great premise and the ending is a real punch in the gut, but I didn’t find it to be particularly thriller-like. Yes the ending was good but I thought you could see it coming and nothing really surprised me. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style. I think it was supposed to be what Milly is thinking/what’s going on in her head, so it’s all a bit like he said she said, which isn’t my personal favourite. I enjoyed reading the flashbacks as you got more into Milly’s childhood and upbringing, and I think that was necessary to read about. I think if you are into your crime books you’ll like it but it’s definitely more psychological than thriller.
My Book Rating – 3*

So that’s two very different books for August. Thinking back on it now maybe more similar than at first they seem. Since this is so late in the month I doubt I’ll read anything else this month, so I’ll have two books to review again and fingers crossed it’ll be up sooner than this one !
TTFN