Top 5 Favourite Bookstore Names

Hey everyone! I've come across lots of awesome bookstore names and I wanted to share five of my favourites with you. Unfortunately, I haven't actually been to every bookstore on the list, but I hope to visit them all someday!

1. Murder By The Book

2. Carpe Librum Books

3.  Indigo

4. Shakespeare and Company  

5. Novel Idea 

What are some of the awesome bookstore names you've come across? 

Marked by P.C. and Kristin Cast

 

 Series: House of Night
Author: P.C. and Kristin Cast
Page Count: 306
Published: May 1st, 2007
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
  3 Stars ★★★

 Zoey is a normal teenage girl dealing with family issues, school, and her (almost) ex-boyfriend. That is, until she is Marked to become a vampyre, and moves into the House of Night, a school and home for fledgling vampyres. There, she quickly makes friends, but also makes enemies.

With her unique Mark and an invitation to join the Dark Daughters, Zoey looks to her grandmother and the goddess, Nyx, for guidance. In order to take down Aphrodite, the shallow, selfish leader of the Dark Daughters, she'll need to use her goddess-given gifts.

I recently found this book at a thrift store and decided to pick it up and give it a re-read. I read it a few years ago, and I had enjoyed it quite a bit during my first reading, but this time I saw things a bit differently.

Zoey, the main character, is surprisingly shallow and judgemental, in my opinion. You'd think that after dealing with her own issues, including her unique Mark, she might take a step back when it comes to making generalizations or assumptions about others. This wasn't really the case, and her friends at the House of Night were also shallow, judgemental, and even immature at times. These characters reminded me more of preteens than of actual teenagers.

I did like how the characters came from different backgrounds and had diverse identities. Unfortunately, I felt like sometimes stereotypes were overused concerning these characters, or that the characters shamed people who did fit the stereotypes. For example, we have Zoey kind of throwing feminine gay guys under the bus, so to speak, making sure to explain that the gay male character was cute, but certainly not in an "overly girly" way, or a "swishy girly-guy" (pg 82 in my edition). Things like this were present throughout the book, in many different contexts, and contributed to Zoey's shallow side. However while things like this were annoying, they didn't take away from the overall plot.

I really enjoyed the unique way that the authors approached the idea of vampyres. Instead of being bitten, one is Marked, and even then there is no guarantee that one would survive long enough to become a full-fledged vampyre. Adding the question of whether or not Zoey, or those close to her, would die from the Change made the book suspenseful and created an extra layer of problems for Zoey to deal with. Mixing real life problems such as relationship issues along with paranormal worries made this book all the more interesting.

I am planning to continue reading this series as I hope to see the characters mature, and to read more of this unique take on vampyres! I recommend this book to fans of YA and of vampire stories.

Find Marked on Goodreads

Ash by Malinda Lo

 

Series: N/A
Author: Malinda Lo
Page Count: 264
Published: September 1st, 2009
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
 5 Stars ★★★★★

Ash's mother dies, and soon after her father marries Lady Isobel. But when her father falls ill and dies as well, she is left in her stepmother's care. They move away from her childhood home to a new one, where Ash lives her life as a servant. 

 She becomes acquainted with a fairy, Sidhean, and later meets the king's huntress, Kaisa. While she's grateful for their company, she longs to attend the various events taking place around her home, including dances and hunts. But while her wishes may be granted, they come at a price.

 I don't read many fairy tale retellings but this one was worth reading. I was worried that it would be exactly the same as the story, Cinderella, which it was based on, but the author changed things up a bit in interesting and enjoyable ways. I liked the way that fairy stories played a part in this book, and the way that Sidhean was portrayed. He wasn't open and generous as the fairy godmother in the Cinderella stories that I've read, instead everything had a price and this added some tension and a bit of suspense. However, I do wish that the author had added more scenes with Sidhean because I wanted to know more about him. 

I thought Ash was a great main character, she tried to make the best of her situation and she never truly gave up, even when things seemed impossible. She was strong and determined, and at times a little bit impulsive, but she was overall very likeable. Kaisa was also a great character and a good love interest, however I wish the author had added more dialogue between her and Ash. I wanted to know more about Kaisa's life!

The world-building was incredible, I felt like I was there with Ash throughout the whole book and I could picture the settings vividly. The descriptions were amazing, the author describing everything in detail so that I could see everything as Ash did. I usually get bored when there is too much description but I was completely entranced by the way everything seemed to come alive like a movie in my mind. 

I do feel like the ending was a bit rushed and almost convenient. While this didn't take away from the quality of the book overall, it irked me a bit that everything was resolved so easily. If the curses or spells that had been cast upon Sidhean were really so strong as to make him feel emotions as intense as love, it shouldn't have been so easy for Ash to get out of paying the price for her wishes. 

This was a great retelling of Cinderella, with a few twists and amazing world-building. I recommend this to those looking for books with LGBTQ characters without a focus on coming out, fans of fairy tale retellings and those who enjoy fantasy novels.

Find Ash on Goodreads

Unnatural Deeds by Cyn Balog

Series: N/A 

Author: Cyn Balog
Page Count: 288
Published: November 1st, 2016

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

  5 Stars ★★★★★

I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley.

Victoria has anxiety, is a bit of a loner and attends St. Ann's school. As a new student, she doesn't have many friends, but she's happy to have her sweet, agoraphobic boyfriend Andrew in her life. She's fairly satisfied with her seemingly uneventful life when Zachary, called 'Z', arrives at St. Ann's and find himself in the spotlight. Everybody likes Z, and to Victoria's surprise, they become friends.

Friendship quickly turns into obsession and infatuation, eventually going sour. Manipulation and mind games accompany rumors and rising tensions, until the unthinkable happens.

This is a story about murder and obsession, which is right up my alley. When I saw this on Netgalley I requested a copy and I was thrilled to find that I had been selected to read and review this book! I'm so grateful that I was given this opportunity because this has become yet another book on my ever-growing "favourites" list.

First, there is the writing style and tone. While the first part of the book isn't exactly filled with death and darkness and all that good stuff, there is definitely a grim undertone behind every word. I could tell that things were going to get incredibly ugly later on in the book and this kept me reading because I just had to know what would happen. I haven't read many books with this kind of writing style but this one had me on the edge of my seat from the very start. Mixed within Victoria's narration are news reports, cell phone records and other clues about the murder which added to the mysterious feel of the book overall.

Then there are the characters. Victoria with her anxiety and love for her boyfriend, and later her obsession with Z, was the main character and narrator. I have mixed feelings about her, as I connected with her over her anxiety and her love for those close to her, but she did things that made me so angry! Her careless betrayals and reckless actions cost her a lot within her own relationships and negatively affected others. While I was often disappointed with her, I feel that her flaws and indiscretions were important characterization and made her more interesting as a character.

Then there was Z. He's mysterious and secretive, yet friendly, and because of this people are drawn to him. At first I didn't really understand his appeal but as I read on it was as if I felt his presence in the same way that the characters did, and that I better understood the way he was perceived by others. Along with the rumors surrounding him, it makes sense that he'd be popular and even sought after by other students at St. Ann's. He was nearly the opposite of Victoria in this way. As with Victoria, he definitely had his flaws and he often made me disappointed or even angry. However, I appreciated his flaws because, along with his secrets, it made him seem more real or believable.

Andrew, Victoria's boyfriend, was my favourite character. I liked him because he was sweet, forgiving, and because I connected with a lot of his experiences. Unfortunately he was a bit too meek and let others hurt him, which added to the emotional aspect of the novel. His relationship with Victoria was put under a lot of strain, and she treated him less than nicely a few times, but he seemed to keep it together which I found admirable. Between Victoria and Andrew, I was happy to see some representation of anxiety disorders in YA fiction.

Considering the ending, I can say that I was absolutely shocked. With other books I can often guess what's going to happen and be at least partly right, but besides knowing that there was going to be a murder, I was completely wrong with my guesses. The ending was simultaneously emotional and terrifying, and was one of the best conclusions to a YA novel I have read in a long time. I had to go back and re-read a few pages to really grasp what was going on. I feel like twist endings can sometimes be predictable themselves, but not this one.

This is a very dark book with memorable characters and an ending that tore me to pieces! I absolutely recommend it! If you prefer light-hearted books then I'd say to steer clear of this one, but if you're looking for dark YA books with emotional and shocking endings then this is a must read.



Find Unnatural Deeds on Goodreads

Unique & Intriguing Titles

Hey everyone! I'm trying out a new feature showcasing some of the most unique and/or intriguing book titles I have come across. I hope you all enjoy.

"Utsukushii Kuro" by David Gerald King

The title of this book translates to "Beautiful Black". I was intrigued to find an English book with a Japanese title. I also have to mention that I love the font used for the title on the cover!


The blurb:

"My name is Jessika Kendell, but please, call me Jess. There are only a few things you need to know. I'm an American. I'm a student of Japanese. And I'm very much in love with an amazing woman I met on my year studying abroad. These are the memories of our relationship, how it began at least, and a lot of the madness that followed. I'm trusting you with my journal, here, so no jokes about how dated my references are.

Our first year together was...hectic, to say the least. We all know how bad relationship drama can be, not to mention an international relationship, not to mention a lesbian international relationship, not to mention a lesbian international relationship with a vampire.

Had I not mentioned that?

Yes, this is a story about loving a vampire. About seeing things humans usually aren't allowed to see. About learning what's true and what's not. What changes and what's always the same. And you're being trusted with it."

Find Utsukushii Kuro on Amazon and Goodreads

What book titles do you find unique and intriguing?