Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Hi again! Two posts in a month?! I think I might be getting back into the swing of things with this blogging and YouTube malarky!

So to kick things off (sorta) I thought that it would be nice to just share a few bits and pieces about what I've been up to in my time off from the internet - I've made this sound like a job!

1. I completed 17 books in 2017.

Now, this doesn't sound like much, but for someone who went between two jobs, had a wedding to plan (albeit very slowly) and just life in general, I think this is pretty good going, as I always aim to try and complete one book a month.

2. Christmas in our first home together!

So if you follow my YouTube videos, or subscribe to my channel - firstly thank you so so much! - you will know that we had Christmas decorations up in our house from mid-November until about 8th January. I'm now over the Christmas hype and the tree will go up in December from now on! All kidding aside, we had a wonderful first Christmas actually living together, full of love, and in hindsight, it was a little bittersweet.

3. I bought a wedding dress!

I say I did, my parents did. Our wedding date is looming ever closer and the excitement is building slowly but surely.

4. I got a new job

I guess this should have been number 2, as it follows nicely from point number one, but one of the reasons my reading slowed right down again is because of my new job. Is it still a new job if you've been in the role 8 months?
I'm absolutely loving the job and really have been lucky with my colleague and team, they're all so wonderful and supportive of eachother!

5. I began reading again

So although technically I never stopped reading (if you see my Goodreads page you will know that I've been reading), it feels like forever since I picked up a book, read it, and then reviewed it almost straight away or in front of a camera. I definitely feel that right now I'm gradually getting back into reading, as I'm constantly carrying a book with me wherever I go, and I've got that feeling back of excitement and wanting to pick up a book and see where it goes.


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Okay, I think that's enough for now, This post is something I've just sat and written, without giving any thought to it at all, just to see what I can come up with. Hopefully it's enough and will prompt me to write more posts like this one!


Rebecca x

I guess I should explain myself.

Hi.

Long time no see. Longer than the time I took off YouTube. Sorry about that.

I've been taking more time away from my blog since the last post in November, I have had a lot going on in my personal life that meant not only did I not have a lot of time to write blog posts for you all, but I barely had time to read. Whilst I did continue to post videos, these were mainly bulk-filmed making them easier to film and then edit and upload where I could.

Now that I feel a little bit more "normal" after everything that went on between November and May, I am starting to get back into the swing of things in terms of videos and blog posts - I have a number of reviews to post considering I havent posted anything this year!

So far this year I've read:

Everless by Sara Holland
Saga Vol 2.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Wolf by wolf by Ryan Graudin
The Sun and her flowers by Rupi Kaur
Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Aimi Kaufman
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.

If you follow me on Instagram (username @rebeccareadsyt), you have no doubt seen my updates either on my story or in my posts, as I have been trying to stay "in the loop" with booktube and bookstagram as much as possible whilst having a break, but it's harder than it seems, particularly when I'm not reading as much!

Now that I'm reading more and being more active in general with social media, I'll hopefully be able to get some reviews up for the books I've read this year, as I definitely have some interesting opinions!


Speak to you all soon! x

BOOK THOUGHTS || Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Strong friendship, witchery, and an overwhelming sense of togetherness!”

SYNOPSIS

In a continent on the edge of war, two witches hold its fate in their hands.

Young witches Safiya and Iseult have a habit of finding trouble. After clashing with a powerful Guildmaster and his ruthless Bloodwitch bodyguard, the friends are forced to flee their home.

Safi must avoid capture at all costs as she's a rare Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lies. Many would kill for her magic, so Safi must keep it hidden - lest she be used in the struggle between empires. And Iseult's true powers are hidden even from herself.

In a chance encounter at Court, Safi meets Prince Merik and makes him a reluctant ally. However, his help may not slow down the Bloodwitch now hot on the girls' heels. All Safi and Iseult want is their freedom, but danger lies ahead. With war coming, treaties breaking and a magical contagion sweeping the land, the friends will have to fight emperors and mercenaries alike. For some will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch

MY OPINIONS

I was a little apprehensive going into this novel as I had heard mixed things, but I had no reason to be concerned. This book really surpassed my expectations and blew me away! I absolutely loved the friendship between Safi and Iseult, and the way they were portrayed through the writing in this novel hit the spot. I felt myself getting frustrated, upset, happy, angry and at one point I even cried over their actions. If an author can make me feel this way, they have definitely done their job.

The storlyline kept me hooked and wanting more, I'm so excited to read the second in the sereies when I can get my hands on it.

MY RATING

Overall I am giving this book an amazing four out of five stars. The friendship, world building and storyline had me hooked, and I'm really looking forward to the next adventure!

BOOK THOUGHTS || Vicious by V E Schwab

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "I wish I'd picked this up sooner!”

SYNOPSIS

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. 

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

MY OPINIONS

This is my first read from the much-loved author V E Schwab. After following Victor and Eli, and actually loving them both (not even sorry), I now know why everyone enjoys her writing so much. The novel has you hooked from pretty much page one, leaving you constantly wanting more. I found myself reading this quite quickly, and completed this within a week on my commutes to work.

I absolutely adored both Victor and Eli, even though they went from being inseperable, to wanting to kill eachother. The difference between them being that Eli will go out of his way to find super-powered humans to kill, whereas Victor wants to find them to ally.

The scenes unfolded quickly, with detail and a storyline that kept me wanting more. Naturally, when the book finished, I was devastated, and just wanted more.

MY RATING

Overall, I am giving this book an amazing five out of five stars. I am definitely going to re-read this in the near future, and hopefully the rest of the novels I read by Schwab will follow suit,

BOOK REVIEW || On The Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? " A heartwarming tale of love, friendship and secrecy" 

SYNOPSIS

Your soul is too heavy to pass through this door, Leave the weight of the world in the world from before.

Evie Snow is eighty-two when she quietly passes away in her sleep, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. It's the way most people wish to leave the world but when Evie reaches the door of her own private heaven, she finds that she's become her twenty-seven-year-old self and the door won't open.

Evie's soul must be light enough to pass through so she needs to get rid of whatever is making her soul heavy. For Evie, this means unburdening herself of the three secrets that have weighed her down for over fifty years, so she must find a way to reveal them before it's too late.

As Evie begins the journey of a lifetime, she learns more about life and love than she ever thought possible, and somehow, some way, she may also find her way back to the only man she ever truly loved ...

MY OPINIONS

After following Carrie's YouTube, Twitter and Instagram feeds for some time, I knew I wanted to read her first fiction novel. She's previously published a non-fiction work called All I Know Now, which was almost auto-biographical in providing advice for teens growing up. When she released the news that she was going to be releasing fiction novels, I knew I needed to get in on that. And I am so pleased I did.

Evie is such a loveable character, who we find at the beginning of the novel struggling to understand why she, a dead woman, cannot get into her 27 year old self's apartment. We learn at this point that she has a couple of things weighing her down, which are preventing her getting to her 'happy place', or her heaven, which is behind the door of her old flat.

Carrie has managed to create a story that warms the heart, and makes you wish you could just squeeze her characters until everything is better for them. I followed Evie as she relived her youth, and went through each of the three secrets to try and reveal them before it was too late. I laughed with her, cried with her and most of all, felt relieved when things went her way.

MY RATING

Overall, I am rating this book 4.5 out of five stars. I absolutely adored this book, and cannot wait to get my hands on her second novel! Definitely a must-read for fans of YA romance, or possibly even contemporary fans!

BOOK THOUGHTS || The Beautiful Dead by Belinda Bauer

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Gripping, almost too close to home, an excellent creation”

SYNOPSIS

They wanted the same things. Death - and an audience.

Eve Singer makes her living from death. As a TV crime reporter, she'll go to any length to get the latest scoop.

But when a twisted serial killer starts using her to gain the publicity he craves, Eve must decide how far she's willing to go - and how close she'll let him get . . .

MY OPINIONS

This book had me constantly worrying that it was going to end too soon! The characters, particularly our main character, Eve, are very easy to either love or hate. They've been developed in such a way that you find each individual character suited to their own category fairly soon into the novel. Typically, this is something easily loathed by myself. However, in this instance, I found it brilliant to have a stereotypical thought about a character, as it kept me guessing as to who the real killer was.

The way the author goes between Eve's story and the killers' allows us to see two very different methods of thinking. On the one hand, we have Eve, who would pretty much do anything to secure her job and continue reporting, even if it means putting friendships and relationships on the line. But on the other hand, we have the killer, who has a systematic plan in place for each of the murders he wants to have published on the news. These contrasting methods kept me intrigued in the way the novel was going to go, and constantly hoping that Eve would catch up with the killer, and kinda secretly hoping that she didn't, so I could have the mystery for just a little bit longer.

MY RATING

Overall, I'm rating this book 5 out of 5 stars, I absolutely adored this novel and the flow of the story was easy to keep up with. I felt I could understand Eve's character and her development was well carried out. She was incredibly relatable as a character, which is what was needed with the development of the story in my eyes. I'll definitely re-read this one soon!

BOOK THOUGHTS || Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

*** please note, this review may contain spoilers***

Summed up in a sentence? "Another dark yet enticing novel in the Strike series!”

SYNOPSIS

Cormoran Strike is back, with his assistant Robin Ellacott, in a mystery based around soldiers returning from war.

When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.

Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible – and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.

With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…

Career of Evil is the third in the series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A mystery and also a story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives. 

MY OPINIONS

With this being the third in a series, I knew what to expect in regards to character development and the running of the novel. However, I was not expecting what I actually got! I was expecting nitty gritty, and a troublesome relationship between Strike and Robin, but what I got instead was actually so much more!

First of all, can I just point out that there is some scenes that are kind of graphic. As in, severed leg, missing body parts kind of graphic. At some points I didnt want to continue, but the graphic parts were swift and were infrequent enough to not put me off too much.

Jumping between Strike, Robin and the culprit was a technique well carried out by Galbraith, as it allowed us to see just what was going through each characters head. This is particularly helpful when trying to build a profile for the killer as well.

One of the things that stood out to me was Robins character development. Throughout this book we see her struggle to come to terms with her relationship, and the fact that it feels to her like it is no longer worth it. This is something I really felt made Robin more relatable as a character, as she has previously been seen as someone who tends to have it pretty good (in my eyes anyway).

Personally I love the series and the development of the characters over the series. I would love to see Robin get with Strike but that is definitely off the cards after Career of Evil, which is a little sad, but the prospect would always have been unrealistic anyway!

MY RATING

Overall I am giving this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars. The only reason it wasnt a 5 star rating is because some aspects of the novel were a bit too graphic for me. However, this didnt put me off in the end, as these bits were infrequent enough to work through.