International Women's Day

March 10, 2022

Hello lovelies!

Not only is today International Women’s Day, but its Women’s History Month — it’s a time dedicated to highlighting the contributions and achievements women have made in history and around the world, and to remember that there is so much further to go when it comes to women’s safety and gender equality. I am lucky to be surrounded by women who are driven, motivated and work hard to achieve their goals and every day I am proud and honoured to be a part of their lives.

This year’s International Women’s Day Theme is #breakthebias —

Imagine a gender equal world.
A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.
A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
A world where difference is valued and celebrated.
Together we can forge women's equality.
Collectively we can all #BreakTheBias.

Thank you to all of the women before me that broke down barriers and thankyou to those women around me who inspire me and challenge me. May we keep rising, supporting one another and challenging each other to reach greater heights.

In honour of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, here are some books recommendations that feature strong female characters and that I personally loved ✨

The Covenant Series by Jennifer L. Armentrout is a young adult fantasy-esq series that follows the incredibly badass Alex, a half blood (half descended from the Greek Gods) in a world full of daimons, politics, and hunky guys. A must read!

The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper is a book I can’t stop raving about and you should all definitely read! The Wolf Den follows Amara, a girl brown to a middle class Greek family who finds herself as a prostitute in the brothel of Pompeii. This book is full of female friendships and women supporting women, as well as a look into the lives of women in Ancient Rome.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a story loosely based off the life of Elizabeth Taylor, and recounts the life of Evelyn Hugo and her seven marriages. Hugo is such a strong, determined protagonist, this book really took me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it.

Swallow’s Dance by Wendy Orr is a middle grace novel set during the volcanic eruption of Thera in the Bronze Age Aegean. The story follows Leira who was beginning her Learnings to become a woman before her life was thrown into chaos. This is truly a coming of age story, and an incredibly heartwarming one set during my favourite time period!

The Darker Shade of Magic series by V.E. Schawb is one of my favourite series, and a lot of that is to do with Delilah Bard, one of the main protagonists of the series — an aspiring pirate and professional pick pocket. Her growth throughout the series is a pleasure to read, and hearing that this series is getting more books makes me so happy!

As you all should know by now, the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan is one of my all time favourite series and is genuinely an important part of my personality. Much of my love for the series has something to do with Annabeth Chase, one of my favourite female literary characters of all time — working hard to inspire young girls to be incredible badasses every. damn. day.

The last female character I want to highlight in this post is Alex Jennings from Lynette Noni’s Akarnae series. Alex is thrust into a brand new world and faces all sorts of challenges both physical and emotional, and honestly, she growth throughout this series makes me so proud. Such an enjoyable young adult series that I cannot recommend enough!

So, that’s probably enough from me! Let me know your favourite female literary characters in the comments below, or on my International Women’s Day post over on Instagram ✨✨

June Wrap Up and July Hopefuls 2021

June 30, 2021

I cannot believe I am actually writing this right now, I swear I still have two more weeks left of June?? Honestly, this month has passed me by so fast, I thought I had more time to get things done. Sorry it’s been a bit quiet over here, apparently, I was really busy in June? With all that being said, I still read some books this month (yay!) so let’s get into the wrap up for this month, and what I am hoping to read in July.

June Wrap Up

*Audiobook not pictured, it doesn’t deserve to be in the company of these two beauties*

This month I finished 3 books (yay me!) and started about 10 AHAH. So, standard Kelly reading habits pretty much. The first book I finished was the audiobook of The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L Armentrout, and boy was it a letdown. This book simply was not good. It was too long, the plot (if you can find it), was poorly executed, and I am literally only invested in, like, one character. Apparently, Jennifer didn't have a proper editor work on this book, and boy can you tell! There was so much repetition in this book, it honestly felt like I was listening to the same page over and over again. The audiobook went for over 25 hours which is TOO LONG for a book that is a part of a 6 book series. And, if it had to be that long, why couldn’t something exciting actually happen? There was definitely not enough action and interesting events in this book to keep me interested. Poppy was actually less annoying in this book, but in saying that, I literally could not care less about what happens to any of these characters (apart from Kieran, ily). I usually get VERY attached to the main character and especially the main couple of books, but BOY do I simply not care about Poppy and Casteel. Anyway, I wouldn't be wasting my time with this series, and would recommend you pick up JLA’s Covenant Series. THAT is an MC and main couple I will stan for the rest of my days. I gave The Crown of Gilded Bones ★★☆☆☆.

The next book I finished was Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, which I am pretty sure I read in less than 2 days. This book was exquisitely written, and so unique I couldn't put it down. Once you get used to the layout of this book (it’s in journal entries), it absolutely draws you into the story and doesn’t let you go until the last page. From the beginning of this book, you get the weirdest sensation that there is something off about the House, which is the world that Piranesi and the Other live in. The story progresses, and as it does, the sense of eeriness increases. It was honestly, one of the best books I have read this year. The whole concept of the book was fascinating, and the underlying whisper of cultures, people and beliefs long past is subtle yet essential to the entire aesthetic of the story. Honestly, do yourself a favour and read this book (and I would recommend sitting down and reading the whole thing in one sitting, to get the full effect).

The final book that I have finished this month was another brilliant read, and the was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Another spellbinding read, but in a completely different way. The entire time you’re reading it, you know that Evelyn Hugo is going to drop a bomb that will turn Monique against her. You find this out in, like, the first 5% of the book. And so, as Evelyn is telling Monique every detail of her life from her first husband to her seventh, you’re equally enthralled, fascinated and slightly judgmental about the life Evelyn has led, and you just want to know the secret she has been hiding. I never wanted to put it down, and the way you get to hear about her life as she is telling it after the fact, you get both the story, and Evelyn’s thoughts and feelings in the current moment which added another layer of complexity to her character. Honestly, it was a bit of a surprise that I loved it so much, but I will definitely be recommending this book to everyone.

July Hopefuls (and books I started in June)

As I mentioned, I started a BUNCH of books in June that I am taking my time with. These include The Poems of Catullus, Tragedy, the Greeks and Us by Simon Critchley, Venus & Aphrodite: History of a Goddess by Bettany Hughes, A Game of Fate (audiobook) by Scarlett St. Clair and an uncorrected early edition of THE REAL VALKYRIE: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women by Nancy Marie Brown. I am slowly taking my time with The Poems of Catullus as well as Tragedy, the Greeks and Us. I am picking up The Poems of Catullus and reading a couple alongside a guide whenever I feel like it, and Tragedy, the Greeks and Us is an incredibly dense read, so I have a feeling I’ll be reading it for a while. I’m loving Venus & Aphrodite: History of a Goddess, it is a much lighter read than I was anticipating. Bettany has started at the very beginning of the development of the goddess that is probably best known today as Venus, and she is moving through time and using archaeological evidence, as well as literature from antiquity to track the goddesses development and movement through the ancient world. I am really, really enjoying it. A Game of Fate has been a really enjoyable read so far (although it took me a while to get used to the narrator. The story is the same as A Touch of Darkness which is the first in Scarletts Persephone x Hades series, except this one, is from Hades point of view. I love that we are getting SO much more information on the way the gods live in this urban world, and we get to see a lot more of the gods in this one which has been wonderful. I also love getting to know what was going through his head. Would definitely recommend to anyone who has read Persephone’s point of view but not Hades’ to definitely pick this one up! Finally, I have started reading THE REAL VALKYRIE: The Hidden History of Viking Warrior Women which I am reading for work, and will be reviewing here and over on World History Encyclopedia, as well as hopefully interviewing the author which will be wonderful! Another book I have popped onto my hopefuls (since I’d like to finish a couple of these this month) is House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland. I have a feeling I will probably pick up if not this book (which sounds so intriguing), but another fiction or two books to break up the non-fiction!. What has been your favourite read of June? What are you most excited to read in July? Let me know down below or find me over on Instagram @kell_read ✨

Review: The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L Armentrout

June 6, 2021

★★☆☆☆ Poor performance from A Crown of Gilded Bones…

The Crown of Gilded Bones is the third book in the From Blood and Ash series (which I have just found out is going to be six books long????) by Jennifer L Armentrout.

What’s the book about?

As the third book in a series, this will spoil the first two so ~ be warned. ~ So basically, this story is still only from the point of view of Poppy (I still feel like this book would have benefitted from multiple POVs), and she has just realised that she has a whole lotta power in her. She’s met her in-laws in the most awkward and non-conventional way possible, and she’s finally reached Atlantia for the first time. That’s about all I can say from the cliffhanger ending of A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire.

My ~ chaotic ~ thoughts (as per usual)

Poppy wasn’t nearly as annoying as the previous two books, but the book itself was just not great. It started positively, resolving the cliffhanger which the previous book (A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire) left off. But from there, nothing. happens. This book could have done with some SERIOUS editing. I didn’t even read the physical book, I listened to the audiobook which I ended up ramping to 1.4x speed because, and I repeat, nothing was happening. JLA has made this book so, incredibly long, and it honestly was like… a boring history book about all these people and different species and bloodlines and ugh, that is like 50% of the book and it killed me.

I have to say that I still love Kieran (fave), Delano and Emil, Naill and Vonetta. Their banter and comradeship (and the fact that most if not all of them turn into wolves, I literally cannot remember if any of them are Atlantian), kept me listening to this book. To make up for the LACK OF PLOT and any interesting events or developments in the plot or characters or relationships, JLA absolutely used sex scenes to fill out this book instead. I honestly think that the ratio of interesting events and development to sex scenes was WAY OFF. As a side note, everything is spelled so weird I am SO GLAD I’m listening to this book. Honestly, the spelling of the names would have absolutely put me off reading this book in physical form.

The info-dumping, unnecessarily pointless details no one asked for, the comments on Poppy asking questions, Casteel finding her hot when she talks about stabbing things and the all-round general repetitiveness of this book is all exactly the same as the previous one. The fact that there is meant to be THREE more of these books absolutely astounds me. This book was not as addictive in a guilty pleasure sort of was as the first one was, and at least in AKOFAF, things happened? New and interesting characters were introduced? This one felt like such an unplanned, and unedited mess of words. It’s like JLA had no idea any of this was going to happen when she was writing the first two books and then added all this stuff in that she needed to drive her plot for the next three. I honestly have absolutely no idea what she is going to fill those books with. The amount of ~plot twists~ JLA has added to this godforsaken novel has literally taken the fun out of plot twists to begin with. It’s almost like, the reader knows nothing has happened for the last 200 pages so there’s probably gonna be a plot twist… and there it is. Another side note, apparently Poppy has lots of ‘…’ in her inner monologues which makes me SO THANKFUL that I am listening to the audiobooks of this series LOL.

I actually still don’t like Cas that much??? People are absolutely fawning over him, but he is such a basic ‘guy grows up rich and royal, has bad thing happen to him, is so strong he moves past it, does dumb shit and gets the girl.’ That’s obviously an oversimplification, but he is just boring???? Give me more KIERAN THANKS. I still haven’t gotten over the way he treated Poppy at the end of book one and the start of book two. I don’t know. I just do not see his appeal.

So to summarise, this book was not good (in my opinion). It was too long for not enough action or character development. I don’t mind books that are slow on the action if they give me a whole lot of character and relationship development, but in this case, we LITERALLY get neither of these things. It’s a 25-hour audiobook (and a 600+ page book) in which NOTHING HAPPENS and I was so bored. If you’re going to read these books then I absolutely recommend listening to the audio book! The narrator is fantastic and you can speed the bad boy up to get it finished quicker, you don’t have to deal with the random ellipses AND you don’t have to look at the unnecessary out-there spelling of things. Would love to hear your opinions on this book, and the series as a whole, whether you lived the book or felt a bit like I did!! Chuck us a comment or find me on Instagram @kell_read ✨

Review: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L. Armentrout

March 27, 2021

★★★☆☆.5

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire is the second book in the Blood and Ash series by Jennifer L. Armentrout. This is going to be a spoiler-free review for this book, but will definitely spoil the first book in the series so if you haven’t read the first one, then pls don’t read this if you don’t want to be spoiled!

Okay! On to the review! So at the ending of the previous book, we found out that Hawke isn’t just Hawke, but is actually Casteel Da’Neer, the Prince of Atlantia, also known as the Dark One. If you haven’t already read my review for From Blood and Ash which explains my chaotic thoughts about that book, you can find it here. Honestly, this one started off just as problematic. There were a few things I liked about this book, and a few things that really, really bugged me. The way Casteel acted, his manipulative behaviour was toxic and made me feel so uncomfortable, and a lot of those feelings followed me throughout the first third of this book too. The way he acts is possessive in a way that isn’t hot and broody but uncomfortable and NOT my vibe. He definitely grew on me as the book continued past the first third and we actually learnt more about him, but I can’t forget the way he acted in the way that apparently Poppy can.

“You can’t spell dysfunctional without fun, now can you?”

— Jennifer L. Armentrout

This takes me to the utter lack of communication between Cas and Poppy for LITERALLY 90% of this book. It took them SO LONG to deal with their OBVIOUS attraction and it really bugged me. I definitely understand why it would be a serious conflict for Poppy, this man literally lied about who he was for months, but really. Poppy’s internal monologues were too frequent and so incredibly pointless. They were all so repetitive, and at the end of it all, nothing is ever resolved for her. It bugged me, and she bugged me. Plus, their constant referencing to ‘pretending’ was so frustrating.

A common theme in this review is that, after the first 60%, everything about this book got better. Since in the first 60% literally, nothing happened and the dialogue was so repetitive. There were significantly fewer internal monologues, things actually happened, and the introduction of more characters which really improved this book. I loved learning more about Atlantia, the history of the world in this book and the Atlantians in general. But, I would have LOVED to have learnt this information another way, rather than a massive info dump question and answer. It wasn’t at all engaging, and I feel like there was SO much potential and it just fell flat.

Make me feel incompetent and kill more than me, Princess.
Jennifer L. Armentrout

One of the saving graces in the book was Kieran and the dynamic between him, Casteel, and Poppy. I honestly wanted more Kieran! I better get more Kieran in the next book. Their relationship really developed as the book went on, and I was SO here for it. Poppy became so comfortable with the two boys, and the banter between them was honestly a lifesaver in some of the more dull sections of this book, since, and I STRESS, barely ANYTHING happens in this book. The major events that did happen were brilliant, the fight scenes were well written and the dialogue that wasn’t about Poppy and how special or violent she is was so entertaining. We get to see more of the world, learn more of the history of both the world and the characters, but Poppy’s inability to work through anything, the lack of action, events, and literally anything of importance happening in the first 60% is the reason I had to dock off 1 1/2 stars.

Not as good as the first book, but still enjoyable. The last 20% of the book and the cliffhanger have made it impossible for me to not read the next book! I’d love to know what you thought of this! Let me know in the comments, or you can always find me on insta at @kell_read!