Tag: biblioshelf

Biblioshelf Musings – Good Omens

The Biblioshelf2 Comments

Yoohoo Bibliofriends,

After reading Atomic Habits by James Clear [review here] and deciding that I needed to try and listen to Audiobooks more, part of my new, determined habit-goals-self decided to listen to them each morning as I was getting ready to go to work. One of the first ones I started with was Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

I have been a long-time fan of Neil Gaiman and read a majority of his works but Terry Pratchett is totally new to me. As a massive fantasy fan, I know I should be trying to read more of his works as he is a large part of the genre. After listening to Good Omens, I’m definitely going to be investing more of my interest into his writing! It was so much fun!

Book: Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett (Audiobook) / Martin Jarvis (Narrator)
Genre: Fantasy
Publication Date: (First Published) May 1st 1990
Publisher: Harper Audio
Duration: 12 hours 33 minutes (approx.)
Rating: 📚📚📚📚📖

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

The world will end on Saturday. Next Saturday. Just before dinner, according to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies written in 1655. The armies of Good and Evil are amassing and everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except that a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.

My Musings

Wow, wasn’t this one go the greatest audiobooks to get me back into the habit of listening to them?! First up, Martin Jarvis is an exceptional narrator. He gets so into the characters and his accents and voices were on-point! I definitely could have rated his part as 5 stars!

The in-jokes and humour that poured out of every chapter were hilarious. There were some really witty one-liners about politics or pop-culture and also some long-running jokes throughout the whole story – the Queen mix-tape and all of their equivalents was one of my favourites! In fact, I was so intrigued about all of the Queen references in the book that I did my own digging and found a new appreciation for it based on this article on Cinemablend (book spoilers if you click the link!).

I didn’t think I would really appreciate the humour in a fantasy-style book as there aren’t many books that I actually do find funny – perhaps I’m just not reading the right ones or perhaps it was the joys of this as an audiobook that made some of those jokes and quips stand out a lot more. It was definitely an interesting mix to have fantasy and comedy but I couldn’t think of two better authors who are well-equipped to bring that off.

The characters were well thought-out and created. For me Crowley and Aziraphale really steal he show as they bring the most action and quirkiness to the dialogue. Anathema Device also had a brilliant role to play in communicating the the prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, to the reader – I’m officially adding that book to my TBR by the way! 😉

Favourite Quotes:

Just a selection as there are waaaaayyyy too many!

“DON’T THINK OF IT AS DYING,” said Death. “JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.”

Aziraphale collected books. If he were totally honest with himself he would have to have admitted that his bookshop was simply somewhere to store them. He was not unusual in this. In order to maintain his cover as a typical second-hand book seller, he used every means short of actual physical violence to prevent customers from making a purchase. Unpleasant damp smells, glowering looks, erratic opening hours – he was incredibly good at it.

Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.

“It’s like you said the other day,” said Adam. “You grow up readin’ about pirates and cowboys and spacemen and stuff, and jus’ when you think the world’s full of amazin’ things, they tell you it’s really all dead whales and chopped-down forests and nucular waste hangin’ about for millions of years. ‘Snot worth growin’ up for, if you ask my opinion.” 

Why Should I Read This?

For the witty characters and their quips.
For a fresh uplift on the classic fantasy tale of angels, demons and the antichrist.
For the excellent audio skills of superb narrator, Martin Jarvis.

Have you read Good Omens? What is your favourite Neil Gaiman or Terry Pratchett book? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings – Esme’s Wish

The Biblioshelf4 Comments

Hi Bibliofriends,

One of my bookish blogging goals this year was to try and get started on taking author/publisher requests and also start investing some time into improving my NetGalley feedback score.

It was such a thrill when Elizabeth Foster contacted me after reading one of my reviews for Odyssey Books and asked me if I would also be interested in reading her novel Esme’s Wish in exchange for an honest review. I’m so pleased that I did, this was a wonderful fantasy series starter to lose myself in during the last few weeks of what was a really crazy school year! Huge thanks to Elizabeth for getting in touch and sending me her e-book.

Book: Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster
Genre: Middle Grade/YA Fantasy
Publication Date: October 30th 2017
Publisher: Odyssey Books
Pages: 252
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

When fifteen-year-old Esme Silver objects at her father’s wedding, her protest is dismissed as the action of a stubborn, selfish teenager. Everyone else has accepted the loss of Esme’s mother, Ariane – so why can’t she?
But Esme is suspicious. She is sure that others are covering up the real reason for her mother’s disappearance – that ‘lost at sea’ is code for something more terrible, something she has a right to know.
After Esme is accidentally swept into the enchanted world of Aeolia, the truth begins to unfold. With her newfound friends, Daniel and Lillian, Esme retraces her mother’s steps in the glittering canal city of Esperance, untangling the threads of Ariane’s double life. But the more Esme discovers about her mother, the more she questions whether she really knew her at all. 
Winner of a Purple Dragonfly Book Award for best fantasy.
“A fresh new fantasy of an enchanting world.” – Wendy Orr, New York Times best selling author of Nim’s Island.

My Musings

Esperance is such a beautifully crafted world to lose my bookish mind in. The waterways and canals winding through the city instantly made me reminisce about one of my favourite holidays spent in Venice, Italy. I’m also a huge fan of any worlds where water is a feature (seriously, I think I must have been a fish in a former life!). The frequent references to fountains, sea portals, caves, sirens and sea hawks made me put this world firmly on my fictional travels bucket list.

Esme is quite a young character and her emotions are clearly laid out for the reader to see. You witness her turmoil over the loss of her mother and also her anger at her father for remarrying and beginning a new life. As the story progresses, Esme’s determination and resilience grow alongside the plot and it was nice to see those rites of passage elements in the story as Esme branches off on her mission to discover what happened to her mother. I enjoyed the way her friendships and personality grew throughout the story as she left her world and travelled into the magical world of Esperance.

Mythology and magic run strongly throughout the whole story and I loved picking out those mythology-inspired references which were woven throughout. The book features brilliant creatures such as sirens, stygians and (woohoo!) dragons! I really enjoyed the character Augustine who is a keeper of magic – he added a quirky wizard-like dimension to the story with a diviner rod named Willow which reminded me of Dr. Strange’s Cape in some crazy way that the keeper and his diviner are pretty much a team but the objects are sentient and have a mind of their own.

The story itself is pretty much a quest which is based on a number of clues leading from one to the next, gradually unravelling the story. Whilst in my adult head I was expecting and predicting that some of these would happen, my teacher head was thinking about how perfect this book would be for some of my more reluctant readers and students. Descriptions and vocabulary are on point in this. Vocabulary is such a buzz-word in the teaching world now as children are exposed to fewer words and this has a massive impact upon their reading and writing progress. Esme’s Wish is such a brilliant book to try and inspire this love of words as it is littered with so many wonderful ones and as a logophile myself, this was one of my favourite aspects of the writing. 

Favourite Quotes:

‘The pool settled back into peaceful somnolence, winking at her in the sunlight.’

‘Life is such a fragile thing. Like butterfly wings.’

‘Water has a memory of its own. It stores within itself the history of all it sees.’

‘She was the thread that ran through all things, unravelling the world at will. She could create, or destroy, at her whim. Time had no meaning here. Death was merely an abstraction.’

Why Should I Read This?

For the vocabulary and the writing.
For the sirens, waterways and dragons.
For the amazing world of Esperance.

Esme’s Wish is perfect for the Middle Grade age range and those who are starting out to explore the fantasy genre. Equally, if you’re an adult who loves your mythological references or fantasy islands filled with fountains, seas, magical portals and dragons then this could also be the perfect book for you to escape into a light yet welcoming fantasy world.

Find out more about this book here:

Amazon | Odyssey Books | Waterstones | Elizabeth Foster on Twitter

#BookTag – Taylor Swift Lover Book Tag

The Biblioshelf6 Comments

Hey Bibliofriends,

Not gonna lie, Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore has been playing on repeat ever since it’s extremely welcome release so I thought it would be a brilliant time to tackle the Taylor Swift ‘Lover’ Book Tag which I found over on Chocolate’n’Waffles blog here.

You can find the original post here on Nish & Ngoc’s Book Nook.

The Rules:

  • Link back to the original creator of the book tag (Nish & Ngoc).
  • Thank the person that tagged you and link to their post (above).
  • 3. TAG AS MANY SWIFTIES AS YOU WANT! (Or non-Swifties, maybe inspire them to listen to our Queen)

I Forgot That You Existed – A book that you want to forget you ever read

I can’t actually think of a book that I hated so much that I want to forget I ever read it so perhaps I wish I could forget ever reading Harry Potter or the Throne of Glass series just so that I can experience them again with fresh eyes.

2. Cruel Summer – A book you turn to when the going gets rough

To be honest, I have so many books on my shelves that I rarely get chance to reread many novels but whenever I head into a little bit of a slump I tend to pick up something either something by Erica James as I love her stories or a chick-lit style romance set in Italy – it’s my favourite city and always makes me feel happy to reminisce about my trip there. 

3. Lover – Your book OTP

I come back to Rhysand and Feyre every…single…damn…time! 

4. The Man – Your fave kick-ass female protagonist

This one is so tough – I think Kady Grant and Hannah Donnelly from the Illuminae series really lay their gauntlets down. Failing that, I wouldn’t mess with Manon from Throne of Glass either!

5. The Archer – A book with good mental health representation

I’m struggling to find any fiction novel that I have read that could fit this brief… Maybe the Six of Crows duology as the characters have to each overcome their various burdens and the way they all pull together as a team shows how important good friendships are in overcoming your demons and accepting people for who they are.

Non-fiction-wise: Remember This When You’re Sad by Maggie Van Eijk really helped me out during a dark time. 

6. I Think He Knows – Your fave fictional crush

Dare I admit this but… Snape?! Of course, Alan Rickman playing him in the movies helped me to see and hear him in my head when reading the later HP books. There’s just something about that voice! 😂🙈

7. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince – Fave angsty romance

Alessandra and the Shadow King in The Shadows Between Us – just get it together already!!

8. Paper Rings – Book with an ugly cover that you absolutely adored

The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault by Angela Carter – to be in-keeping with Carter’s retellings of the stories inside the cover features a really grubby foot inside a stiletto slingback. Feet are a big no-no for me, but Angela Carter is one of my all-time favourite storytellers and I wrote my dissertation about fairytales so it’s just the cover on this one putting me off!

9. Cornelia Street– A book or series you never want(ed) to end

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – that book skyrocketed to God tier on my favourites shelf that I could have lived in it forever – it was recently announced that the sequel is being released later this year and I am SUPER excited!

10. Death By A Thousand Cuts– A book or series that deserved a better ending

Evermore by Sara Holland – the first novel blew me away but I didn’t feel that the sequel lived up to its predecessor which was gutting.

11. London Boy– Your fave British male protagonist

So without drifting back into HP territory I’d probably have to say Cormoran Strike or James Bond – keeping my head up in the fantasy crowds I don’t tend to read many stories with solidly British characters anymore. 

12. Soon You’ll Get Better– A book that your heart will never recover from

I’m such a baby and always seem to cry sad stories or at ‘ends of things’ – be it a book series, tv show, people saying goodbye – even the end of term sometimes gets me (I have no idea why?!).
In that respect I could easily pick any of the following:

One Day by David Nicholls
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas

13. False God– A character you would leap into the burning pits of hell to save

Snape again… he needs a proper redemption in my head! 

14. You Need To Calm Down– A book with a powerful message

Lord of the Rings by Tolkien for its fellowship and finding inner strength to overcome barriers for the greater good.

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott for its message about the importance of looking after our natural world and not taking excessively from it or destroying it for personal greed/power.

15. Afterglow – A book you want to give a second chance

Thorn by Intisar Khanani – it’s been sat on my ‘currently reading pile’ since about March?!

16. ME! – Best character development

Don Tilman in The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion – such a brilliantly written character.

17. It’s Nice To Have A Friend – Fave friends-to-lovers story

One Day by David Nicholls or The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary

18. Daylight – If you could only read one book or series again and again, what would it be?

I’m the person whose holiday carry on weight is mostly books so I couldn’t possibly pick just one.

A few faves:

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

I had forgotten just how many tracks Swift puts on her albums! 😂 This seemed fairly long. Apologies if the formatting is slightly out, it’s my first time trying to get my head around this block editor and it’s frying my brain slightly!

Feel free to tag yourself if you are a fellow Swifty fan and fancy like giving this a go. Have you listened to Folklore yet? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

Have a good week everyone,
T xx

#BookTag – Coffee Book Tag

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Hi everyone,

It’s Tag Tuesday time again. This week I’m hitting up the caffeine shots and doing the Coffee Book Tag which I found on Nen and Jen’s Book Blog so huge thanks to them for posting it! I’m not sure on the original tag creator but thank you to whoever you are! 🙂

Coffee is the absolute fuel for my working life – I definitely wouldn’t get through my teaching day without it. When I’m out and about in the summer my favourite thing to order is the Java-Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks (I’ve really been missing those during Lockdown!) otherwise it’s definitely a toffee/caramel latte for me!

LONG BLACK

Name a series that’s tough to get into, but has hardcore fans.

Game of Thrones – the sheer size of these books and the number of different perspectives always puts me off but I’m determined to get through them.

PEPPERMINT MOCHA

Name a book that gets more popular during the winter or festive time of the year.

A Christmas Carol, that’s definitely festive right?! Or anything by Charles Dickens really.

HOT CHOCOLATE

Name your favourite children’s book.

There’s a series by Geraldine McCaughrean about a witch called Wizziwig which I loved as a child. Other than that, anything by Roald Dahl – he’s one of my childhood staples!

DOUBLE SHOT ESPRESSO

Name a book that kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – the way the book is written just kept me flipping page after page dying to find out what was going on.

STARBUCKS

Name a book you see everywhere.

Recently, Percy Jackson – I really have to read this series… and then watch the movies… and then hopefully the new Disney + series will be out!

THE HIPSTER COFFEE SHOP

Give a book by an indie author a shout-out.

Mark Newman’s Short Stories Anthology: My Fence is Electric: and Other Stories – breathtaking!
Rebecca Crunden: Outlands Pentalogy – gripping, dystopian-edge sci-fi
Amy Kuivalainen: The Immortal City – historical Italian fantasy

OOPS! ACCIDENTALLY GOT DECAF

Name a book you were expecting more from.

The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo – especially considering how much the series was hyped and how amazing both Six of Crows and Language of Thorns were.

THE PERFECT BLEND

Name a book or series that’s bitter sweet yet satisfying.

One Day by David Nicholls – for me this is such a good way to write a novel with an unhappy ending, I hated it but loved it at the same time!

Have a go if you feel like tagging yourself for some coffee bookish love!

What’s your favourite brew? Have you done the Coffee Book Tag yet? Leave you links below and I’ll be sure to check your posts out! ☕️🤗

T xx

#BookTag – Book Festival Book Tag

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Hey Bibliofriends!

How are we all doing now that things are gradually getting back to a “new normal”? I’m starting to really resent that phrase and just want to be able to spend time with my friends again doing things I enjoy! 😫

I found this Book Tag on Alice and her Bookshelf’s blog. She has some amazing content so do stop by and see her post!

Rules:

  • Pingback to the creator of the tag @bookprincessreview
  • Tag the person who tagged you
  • Find an answer to match each prompt

My book festival:

Author Lineup – name your top three authors:

Living on the doorstep of the Cheltenham Literature Festival I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many amazing authors including Salman Rushdie, Sarah J Maas and Ian McEwan but there are definitely some authors that are still at the top of the ‘want to meet’ list:

J.K. Rowling – I would just love to meet the person behind the phenomenon that is Harry Potter
Neil Gaiman – I bet he is really funny and would be quite quirky and entertaining
Carlos Ruiz Zafon – just because I absolutely love his writing and would really like to hear where the inspirations for his stories come from

The Official Schedule – how do you determine what books you are going to read next?

To be honest, my books are pretty much stacked up and my shelves are overflowing so I normally just go through the stack in the order that I want. The exceptions to this rule are if I have to read something for an author request or through NetGalley; alternatively, at the minute I’m trying to clear some of my backlist books that have been on my shelves for years so I’ll alternate a newer book with an older one. It’s kind of all random to be honest!

ARC Drops – what ARC would you wait hours in line for?

The new Cormoran Strike novel Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith and the last in the Cursebreakers series by Brigid Kemmerer, A Vow So Bold and Deadly.

The Swag – what bookish merch/pre-order incentives/etc. is your favourite?

I have a pretty stationery addiction so any kind of stationery or notebooks; something practical that I can use! Not a big fan of the pins as I never know what to do with them.

The Panels – what topic would you love to see some of your favourite authors talk about?

Conservationism in literature: how our stories could influence a greener planet. I’m not necessarily talking about climate change and global warming etc. as they are bigger headlines and often talked about, but ways in which we can save our endangered animals and ecological systems so that Mother Nature can be sustained for our future generations.

Yallfest, Yallwest, BookCon/BookExpo, YALC, Etc – what book festival/con would you go to if you had the choice?

I go to Cheltenham Literature Festival every year as it’s so amazing and right on my doorstep. I’d like to visit the Hay-on-Wye Book Festival as I’ve heard it is very good and also YALC in London.

Have you ever been to any book festivals yourself? Where would you go if you had the opportunity? Feel free to tag yourself and as always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#SixforSunday – Heart Wrenching Series Endings

The Biblioshelf4 Comments

Merry Sunday Bibliofriends!

How has your weekend been? I have spent mine reading, reading, reading! I have shocked myself into reading 3 books so far this month and we’re little over a week through May. I think I’m finally getting the hang of this lockdown malarky which is typical as we’ll probably be coming out of it soon. My mother always says that I manage to start doing something well by the time it gets to the end! 🙈😂

Anyway, this week’s Six For Sunday is based on heart-wrenching endings to a series. Obviously there were some that immediately came to mind and others which took a little more consideration. I’m also in that reading phase at the minute where I’ve stopped reading any new series because there’s so many that I haven’t finished yet! Heading links should go to the series page on Goodreads.
For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is a weekly list-based meme created by Steph @ALittleButALot and has a different weekly prompt based on a monthly theme.

Harry Potter

Now, a little bad habit that I tend to do when reading is that I skip to the end to see how many chapters the book has… so obviously skipping to the end of Harry Potter and seeing ‘that’ epilogue title shocked me into wanting to quit my bad habit it didn’t work. Regardless, this is still the series that has given me my biggest book-hangover to date. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it to be honest!

Throne of Glass

Whereas the Harry Potter ending was like the soul-shattering end of a world/era… Kingdom of Ash rendered me utterly distraught in a completely different way. I’m surprised the pages of my book didn’t disintegrate due to me crying through nearly the entire 900+ pages. The chapter with the Thirteen 😭, the bit with the ACOTAR link 😉,  and then just the sheer scope of that ending with my most beloved characters and the journey that they endured… I am definitely going to do a reread of this whole series in the very near future!

ACOTAR

Chapter 55 of Court of Wings and Ruin I remember distinctly. I had to shut the book, wait for everyone else to leave my house and then I had to be alone with that finale. Now I know SJM isn’t for everyone, but there’s just something about the worlds and characters that she creates which keeps my little bookish heart hanging on every last letter.

Six of Crows Duology

It’s almost impossible to say why I found this so heart wrenching without using any spoilers but for one of my favourite ships in this book, the thing that happened to them left me in denial right until I closed the last page. I then had to check the Grishaverse Wikia just to confirm it in my brain. They’d fought against all the odds and I’d been championing them the whole way through the series… devastated!

The Illuminae Files

This series is so wonderful and unique, I’ve never read anything like it before. I included it in this list as it felt that there was so much that became resolved at the end of the third book. What with all of the memos, video transcripts, email messages and all of the different mediums through which this story is told, I really shared in the victory of the characters. And then the ending with the bit in the restaurant Vitalys and then the very very final twist… it was just a brilliant ending to the series!

Ok so my 6th choice I had noted down The Languedoc series by Kate Mosse purely because it was a really meaty series and I felt a sense of achievement at reaching the end… but now I’m here I just can’t explain why I would have found it heart wrenching – therefore, I’m going to sub it for a non-series novel (don’t tell that I cheated)!

One Day by David Nicholls

I can’t quite remember what exact assignment it was but I definitely had a piece of work that was desperately due in, but I’d made the coincidental mistake of reading One Day at the exact same time and it came to the part where I just could not put the book down! I remember sitting at my laptop (essay open on screen) and just bawling my eyes out at what happened. It was such a sorrowful and almost cruel ending to the story but then I guess that’s what Nicholls was going for. The film never did quite convey that scene as well as the novel. A definite ‘heart wrenching’ pick despite not being a series!

Any surprise choices here for you? Drop me a comment, leave me your link and let me know what books ripped your heart out or made you bawl into the pages. Happy Sunday team!

T xx

 

Biblioshelf Musings – The Carpet Cipher

The Biblioshelf1 Comment

Hey Biblioshelf Friends!

Ever since I started reading more books in Lockdown and getting involved with BookTwitter, that little need to start requesting books on Netgalley resurfaced again! Being approved for a more popular arc still seems like a distant dream, however after scrolling through the Read Now section I came across The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornley which sang out to my inner historical-mystery soul. Big thanks to Netgalley and the publishers BooksGoSocial / Riverflow Press for my free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

Book: The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornley
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Publication Date: 12th March 2020
Publisher: BooksGoSocial / Riverflow Press
Pages: 258 (from paperback edition)
Rating: 📚📚

Synopsis

Can a painting hold a secret safe in plain sight across seven centuries? The murder of the last member of an old Venetian family peels back the rug on a shocking truth that draws art historian and textile expert Phoebe McCabe into the fray. 

What she sees in the missing Renaissance symbology will shake the foundations of religious and cultural assumptions across two continents and point the way to a priceless hoard. It’s a secret potent enough to pitch rival factions against Phoebe and her team while destroying history as collateral damage along the way.

By the time Phoebe tracks down the truth to its final destination, she’ll need to face her greatest enemy armed with nothing but wry wit, an indomitable spirit, and what’s left of a broken heart. But nothing will stop this warrior of the ancient lost and found.

From the dark misty canals of Venice to the vivid souks of Marrakech, Phoebe and her friends are pitched against the desperate and the entitled. Who owns a treasure buried on foreign soil? Can the poor ever win against the rich? And most importantly, can love conquer religious persecution and even time itself?

If you love twisty, action-packed mysteries driven by engaging characters set in vividly drawn locales rich in historical detail, then you’ll love this first book in the Ancient Lost and Found series. Think Robert Langdon meets Lara Croft with a side of textiles.

Why Did I Want To Read This Book?

First tick: Anything set in Italy, especially with reference to the Renaissance immediately grabs my attention and makes me read the blurb.
Second tick: Symbology, secrets, mysteries, histories and my little nerdish senses get really tingly.
Third tick: “Think Robert Langdon meets Lara Croft with a side of textiles.” Are you kidding me? To me, this would be one of the greatest pairings since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers sang Islands in the Stream! This is the bit that made me hit that ‘read now’ button! I was expecting BIG things from this pairing/strapline and reader… I was fooled.

Am I Missing Something…?

To start with, there’s the usual murder in the prologue. This I can cope with – it happens. Except here, we get told exactly what time and place the murder happens, then all of a sudden in chapter one, we are left wondering whether we are still in the same time and place of the aforementioned murder. Turns out…we weren’t – cue: head scratching.

We are also rapidly introduced to a whole bank of characters (including the protagonist Phoebe McCabe) and what feels like an entire spider web of backstories and events at how all of these people seem to know each other. For what is supposedly the first book in this new Agency of the Ancient Lost and Found Series, I feel like I’ve stumbled in halfway through. As it turns out, I actually did – cue: more head scratching.

Going back to do a quick Goodreads search and it turns out that Phoebe McCabe & Co. have been in 5-book series before which is why I felt like there was a bit of reliance on my prior knowledge of these characters’ escapades and a lot of info-dumping in the first few chapters. Whilst this awareness of the characters’ histories is not essential to the plot of The Carpet Cipher, the continuous references to past events from a different time/series made my reading experience feel a little disjointed, as if I couldn’t fully invest myself in all of the characters.

Phoebe McCabe & Co.

Phoebe herself, has a remarkable passion for textiles which bounces off the page. The references to carpets and clothing throughout the book is well-researched and clearly evident of the writer’s enthusiasm for this subject.

When I was still trying to work out what nationality Phoebe is (she works at a gallery in the UK), some of the vocabulary she used only sought to make me think she was American. Phrases like, “stuck in my craw”, “Crud, Phoebe, stop it.” and talk of ‘phyllo’ instead of filo didn’t marry up with what I would expect a British person to be saying, so is she British or is she American? Cue: even more head scratching.

She also has an over-reliance on calling the bad-guys ‘bastards’ which did grate on me towards the end. This very male-bashing attitude that radiates through her narration felt quite passive aggressive as if she has a chip on her shoulder and I found it difficult to warm to her as a character overall [from further text deduction, previous boyfriend from previous series ‘Noel’ definitely has something to do with this].

There are a whole host of other characters who feature in this story (Max, Evan, Serena, Noel, Nicolina, Seraphina, Zara, Agent Walker, Foxy, the ‘bastards’, June & Joe) but a special mention must go to Peaches. Her comedic quips and zesty attitude breathed some much-needed humour into the dialogue towards the end of the novel. I loved her Jamaicanese speech and all-around eccentricity. “Muscle Man’s coming here with Hottie on the roof?” was one of her defining moments.

The History Behind the Mystery

The plot behind this story is based around two real-life pieces of artwork; the main piece by Bartolo becoming a painting for the purposes of this story, rather than the fresco that it really is. Having looked into the real representations of these pieces of art, the author admits to taking artistic liberties with some of the elements and symbology within the pictures. The passionate historian in me was left slightly longing. Nevertheless, the conspiracy and mystery at the heart of The Carpet Cipher and the puzzle which needed to be unlocked was engaging enough to just about keep my attention span going to the end.

Notes Whilst Reading

Lastly, my e-book notes are crammed with 39(!) highlights containing grammatical/spelling errors, alongside my own utterances of questions, queries and all of the head-scratching moments that made me shout ‘huh?’ or ‘why would you do that?’ so often that I had to check whether there was a bald-patch forming on the back of my head. Here are some of my favourites:

  • “That alone was enough to induce conniptions.” – I had to use a dictionary for the word conniptions.
  • At 37% of the book it’s finally carpet time!
  • “I changed into my only non-jeans pants – leather,” – Why does everyone wear leather ‘pant-suits’ in this book?
  • “Let’s assume that everybody is innocent until proven guilty and discuss what we know together.” – Phoebe McCabe channels her inner Poirot.
  • “Seemed like a bad time to mention my mold allergy so I just coughed for effect.” – Are you kidding me, someone who works with mouldy old textiles is allergic to mould?!

And my personal favourite:

IMG_1603

Final Thoughts

Overall, it is abundantly clear through the writing that The Carpet Cipher is a work of fiction. References to real historical facts and attitudes are minimally skimmed across the surface of the text. If you’re looking for a thrill-ride full of the common tropes found in historical mystery/thrillers then this could very well be the book for you; however, if you’re looking for a narrative that is so deeply entrenched with historical accuracy that you could genuinely believe that the conspiracy is real, then perhaps this may not quite capture your imagination for long enough.

Are you a fan of historical mysteries and thrillers or a carpet addict à la Phoebe McCabe? Feel free to recommend me a conspiracy novel that is so damned good I’ll believe it’s real!  

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings: A Heart So Fierce and Broken

The Biblioshelf8 Comments

Howdy y’all!

I’m starting off with what may be a slight ‘unpopular opinion alert’ but after reading A Heart So Dark and Lonely last year, I was not 100% sure whether I wanted to continue with the Cursebreakers series. The first book had so much hype surrounding it and was hailed as one of the best Beauty and the Beast retellings of all time. As much as I enjoyed reading ACSDAL, I clearly wasn’t as blown away by it as everyone else. Don’t get me wrong it was a highly enjoyable read but perhaps I just love the original tales too much.

That being said, when I saw the sequel advertised on Amazon as part of their 2 for £7 deal (a steal!) I could not resist buying it to see what happened to Rhen and Harper!
The narrative and focus of the tale moving away from Rharper/Harpen onto Grey and a completely new character called Lia Mara didn’t entirely appeal to me at first (another thing which stopped me from putting it on auto pre-order), but when the prompts for the OWLs Magical Readathon 2020 were revealed and Ancient Runes was to read something with a heart in the title or on the cover then this was my immediate pick. 💚

Book: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Publication Date: 7th January 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Pages: 450
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Whilst there are no major plot spoilers ahead for AHSFAB, there will need to be a little bit of discussion as to my thoughts on where this story is going so bear that in mind if you haven’t already read this book or series (which tbh I think you should!!).

The Unanswered Story Strands
From the off it felt so good to be back in the world of Emberfall and pick up essentially where the story left off. The curveball twist of an ending from book 1 needed to be played out as many strands had been left unanswered: Lilith, the mystery heir, Syl Shallow’s forces descending on Emberfall, the ‘Disi/D.C.’ sham…
I really like Brigid’s writing style and feel that she has hit the balance between detail, pace and storytelling so that I could allow myself to get lost in the vortex of the story without having to overthink or reread paragraphs just to keep up with what was going on.

New Character Alert
Usually, I’m not a fan of main character introductions part way through a series; I like to see a full, well-developed character arc, however I was pleasantly surprised by Lia Mara. She is smart, clever and definitely no wallflower. She added a really down-to-earth yet vibrant dynamic which counterbalanced Grey’s personality really well. Although the ‘main plot’ thread of the story seemed to move a little slowly to make room for this, I did not mind in the slightest as it enabled us to fully understand these main characters’ backgrounds and motivations. As Lia Mara’s story unfolded alongside Grey’s, my initial worries went out the window and I became totally invested in their relationship; in fact, I think I even prefer them to Rhen and Harper! [Side-note: I know the ages don’t match up at all, but I can’t help but visualise Grey as Michael Fassbender…anyone else?!]

Is It Really That Complicated?
As I touched on above, the whole point of this novel seems to revolve around Rhen trying to discover the identity of the mysterious other heir to Emberfall and Grey trying to hide the fact that it’s him. In my head, surely their relationship wasn’t that bad that they couldn’t have chatted about this and worked it out between them…? They could have been co-rulers or Rhen could politically shape the kingdom and Grey could focus on the military side of things…? My brain just doesn’t see why this had to be the massive problem that it turned out to be; it’s like when you’re watching a TV programme and you think to yourself ‘there’s no way that would happen like that” – anyway that’s how it did happen yet I was hooked with my reading and carried on with the plot regardless.

If anyone is interested, my prediction theory for Cursebreakers #3 is: (aside from any shockingly twisty main character deaths) Rhen and Harper rule Emberfall, Grey and Lia Mara rule over Syl Shallow; together they unite their countries in some sort of alliance then everyone has world peace and lives happily ever after…!

We Need To Talk About Scravers
Can we just take a minute to talk about the incredible creature creation ‘scravers’?! For me these are the coolest things to come out of this book. I really enjoyed Isaak’s character and loved his little curiosities and mysteriousness. It feels like there is a whole other backstory here that we need to explore and I really really hope that this comes out in Cursebreakers #3 otherwise I’m going to need a novella or a side-series or something!

And finally…
All in all, I am so glad that I took a punt and carried on with this series. Despite the epilogue, which is a little ‘trope-y’ for my liking although I see why it had to happen, I thoroughly enjoy Brigid’s writing style, characters and the world she’s created. They really got me invested into the series again. Cursebreakers #3 – A Vow So Bold and Deadly is definitely going to be on auto-preorder because I need to find out if my theory about how this resolves itself is correct – and I need to find out what happens to Isaak!

My finishing thought is a little insight into how this series fits into my brain…
It’s like the two separated sides of a Victoria Sponge – A Curse So Dark and Lonely was half the sponge and cream; A Heart So Fierce and Broken was the other half of sponge and the jam. Each yummy on their own but… hopefully A Vow So Bold and Deadly is going to put the whole damn scrumptious cake together! Bring it on!

If you have read AHSFAB or wanted to chat about any part of the series or characters, as always drop me a comment below! 🙂

Txx