So I was recently gifted a new Kindle Paperwhite by my partner (thank you <3) and with it, Amazon gave me 3 months of Kindle unlimited! I’ve never had kindle unlimited before so this was a fun way to explore books I was curious about and give them a read. One that’s been on my radar and highly recommended by a few people was Boy Parts. I didn’t know much about this book – only that it had a lot of funny cultural comments and name-drops that were relevant to the last few years as it was published in 2020. I did not realise how dark, how violent, depraved and…
Some Recent 5 Star Reads | Mini Reviews
It’s crazy how much I’ve read in the last 3 months alone, especially since I started working in publishing (and have mostly forgone any gaming or streaming for reading as it’s been bringing my heart the most joy). It’s been so fun acquiring and reading more books and I’ve found a few 5-star reads that are definitely worth mentioning. Disclaimer: I am currently working at Hachette Australia, so some of these books, which I received through work will likely be a bit more biased, but I still loved these books regardless! The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab I read this book during the Breath of the Wildathon…
Babel by R.F. Kuang Book Review
R.F Kuang has been a very popular author in the book community for years now since she wrote The Poppy War trilogy – many friends have read it and absolutely loved it. Although The Poppy War wasn’t a book I wanted to pick up, Babel quickly took the community by storm the second it was announced and I couldn’t escape this book myself because of the hype. I tried really hard to keep my expectations neutral – I knew little about the book going in other than it was a dark academic fantasy read and that it involved languages. I’m not impartial to the dark academia trend and I’ve had…
Everything Feels Like the End of the World by Else Fitzgerald Book Review
When this book arrived at my doorstep, I was immediately intrigued – not because I had recently been struggling with my mental health and everything did feel like the end of the world for a hot minute, but because I rarely get sent books from publishers and the cover looked so cheerful despite its slightly grim title. A huge thanks to Allen & Unwin Australia for sending a review copy of this novel my way – let’s get onto the review! Book Description: Everything Feels Like the End of the World is a collection of short speculative fiction exploring possible futures from an Australia not so different from our present day…
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutanto Book Review
A recent release from this year, this book jumped out at me at the book store because of its funky pop-art inspired cover and it had an interesting blurb that sounded like a light read I might enjoy so I started reading it – but then put it down at 50 pages for another book. Fast track a month or so, I picked it up again and managed to finish it in like 2 days! Thought I’d write a little review to explain my thoughts. Goodreads Blurb: When Meddelin Chan ends up accidentally killing her blind date, her meddlesome mother calls for her even more meddlesome aunties to help get…
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang Book Review
If you’ve read my previous reviews of books by Helen Hoang like The Kiss Quotient and The Bride Test, you’ll know that I absolutely love this series. I’m not sure if you could really call it a series but all the books are in the same world and we see previous book characters in sequels and it’s just so wholesome! I love books that do this and I’ve absolutely loved Helen’s writing so far so I was super excited to get my hands on this book. Truth be told, I actually completely forgot about it until the week before the release date but then Amazon took 3 weeks to deliver…
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Book Review
Apparently, this book has been taking BookTok by storm lately and it has actually been on my shelves for years now so I’m glad that I finally got to reading this! I previously read Circe by Madeline Miller and absolutely loved it (see review here), so I tried not to set my expectations too high even though 99% of others seem to LOVE this book and tell me that they cried while reading it. Did this book live up to the hype? Let’s get onto the review! Goodreads Blurb: Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong,…
The Shut Ins by Katherine Brabon Book Review
I have been slumping so hard lately but little by little, I managed to finish this book! I read a little on my lunch breaks, in between games, before bed; in an attempt to integrate reading back into my life and I think this book resonated with me quite well despite a rough start. Huge thanks to Allen & Unwin Australia who sent me a review copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel came out on July 2nd, so this is a tidbit late but well worth it in my opinion. First up, what is The Shut Ins about: Goodreads Blurb Mai and Hikaru went to school together…
The Summer Job by Lizzy Dent Book Review
I don’t know about you but when I’m feeling kind of slumpy – nothing is better to get me out than a good contemporary and this new adult rom-com was exactly what I was looking for! Huge thanks to Penguin Australia through The Nerd Daily for providing me with an advanced reading copy in exchange for a review. This review was first published on The Nerd Daily here and now I have the pleasure of sharing it with you all on the blog 🙂 Content warning: alcoholism, toxic parenting. (this is not discussed in the review but an FYI). Goodreads Blurb: Have you ever imagined running away from your life?…
Helena by Claire L. Smith Book Mini-Review | Short & Spooky Novella
I haven’t done a mini-review in a while and I thought it would be perfect to bring it back to chat about a gothic horror novella written by my friend and now debut author, Claire L. Smith. We actually went to University together and I have been feeling so proud of her and this achievement. It was even better when I picked up her book and absolutely loved it! It was a perfect spooky pick for October. Goodreads Blurb: On the outskirts of London, 1855, mortician and funeral director Helena Morrigan struggles with her limited finances and the heavy burdens of her past. Desperate to secure herself, she takes up…
