Trees of Reverie Read-a-thon - Day 4

Create some book spine cover poetry!

I came up with a poem, but I don't own one of these books in English, therefore I'll take liberties here and handle the challenge a bit differently than how I'm supposed to.

Here is my poem: 

 

 
Where angels fear to tread I capture the castle.
Night of the humans – the end of the affair.

Teaser Tuesday #3

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

The rules:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week's teaser is from Ophelia by Lisa Klein

Blurb:

He is Hamlet, Prince of Denmark; she is simply Ophelia. If you think you know their story, think again.

In this reimagining of Shakespeare's famous tragedy, it is Ophelia who takes center stage. A rowdy, motherless girl, she grows up at Elsinore Castle to become the queen's most trusted lady-in-waiting.  Ambitious for knowledge and witty as well as beautiful, Ophelia learns the ways of power in a court where nothing is as it seems. When she catches the attention of the captivating, dark-haired Prince Hamlet, their love blossoms in secret. But bloody deeds soon turn Denmark into a place of madness, and Ophelia's happiness is shattered. Ultimately, she must choose between her love for Hamlet and her own life. In desperation, Ophelia devises a treacherous plan to escape from Elsinore forever . . . with one very dangerous secret. 

My Teaser:

'The touch of his lips somewhat banished my fears. I realised that Elsinore was for Hamlet, as it was for me, a gilded cage.'

Do you like Shakespeare? What's your favourite play of his? Have you ever read a Shakespeare retelling? Please, comment below!

Also, don't forget to leave a link to your Teaser Tuesday post, so I can check out your teasers!

Review - Stone Faced Angel by Marie McKean

Title: Stone Faced Angel

Author: Marie McKean

Rating: 2/5 stars

Blurb:

There are some things I know for sure:

1. I died … a long time ago
2. Even in death I was always aware of him.
3. Love has a way of making even angels choose to leave their heaven above.

I received a free ebook copy of this book by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts:

To jump in the middle of it: I expected more from this book.

A stone angel turning into a flesh and blood girl; that is an idea I like.  However, the execution wasn’t that grand. There were parts I really enjoyed (mostly the parts that involved more action), and then there were those chapters where Maura and Brandon were ’bonding’… to be honest, I was a little bored with their high school romance.

Marie McKean understands her characters and writes them well. I especially liked Brandon and Leona. Maura was neutral to me though. As for her way of speech, sometimes I was wondering: would a girl who came from the first half of the 19th century use words that she used? She was going to school and taking up slang from her mates, alright, but still, it was odd for me in a way.

I really wanted to read more about Maura’s past life. For me the most interesting bits were the flashbacks (I’m too much into historical fiction, I guess), but unfortunately there were only a few of them.

I don’t know if I’m going to read the second installment. If it comes in my way, I might, because the ending was unexpected for me and I wouldn’t mind to know what happened later, but since the first book in the series wasn’t very convincing, it’s unlikely I’ll run to the bookshop when the second book comes out.

Goodreads link

Trees of Reverie Read-a-thon - Day 2

What's on your book wishlist for the holidays?

• A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
• Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore
• The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
• Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
• Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon
• Across the Unviverse by Beth Revis
• Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
• Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Burnt
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard
• A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
• The World of Ice & Fire by George R. R. Martin...................

...the list is infinite, really. And I'll only get a few even of these. But hey, I own a lot of books I haven't read yet so it's not like I don't have anything to read :)

In My Mailbox #2

This week I have four books to show you, two of which are giveaway prizes, and two that I purchased for myself.

These books arrived in the last two weeks. I think I'm most excited for The Lies of Locke Lamora, but of course I can't wait to read the others too. Ophelia is on the top of my TBR list at the moment. I'm going to start it once I finish Stone Faced Angel.

Goodreads links:

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Because It Is My Blood (Birthright #2) by Gabrielle Zevin

Ophelia by Lisa Klein

City of Ashes by Casandra Clare

Trees of Reverie Read-a-thon - Day 1

I'm participating in treesofriverie's read-a-thon this week.

There are challenges every day that the participants may or may not complete.

First day's challenge is the following:

Introduce us to your bookish world!

I made a shelfie for you, so you can see my collection of books. (Sorry for the quality, I have to use my dad's computer, because mine is being repaired at the moment and dad doesn't have any photo editing software...) These are not all of my books, but you can see all of my English books here. I've got two other shelves for Hungarian books in my room and there are also a ton of books in the living room and other parts of the house (all Hungarian ones of course). I'm the only one in the family who reads in English, hence I own all the books in this language. 

My shelves are a mess at the moment, I don't have much space left for books, but I guess all of us are having this problem, right?? On the top and middle shelves are the books I've already read (top shelves - Hungarian ones, middle shelves - English ones). The bottom left shelf is a place for my DVDs, the bottom right contains books I haven't read yet (left to the TARDIS) and more books I've finished (on the right side of the TARDIS). As you can see I've got quite a collection of Torchwood and Doctor Who books, I'm a big fan of both of these series.

I own a lot of of classics and YA books as well. I'm a big fan of the fantasy and sci fi genre, I love historical fiction and I'm a huge Shakespeare geek.

That's it, that's me, these are my books.

Have you written a post about your bookish world? Do you like the the same books/genres I do? Please leave a link to your post or leave a comment if you have anything to say!

Happ reading! :)

Review - Arwen Elys Dayton

Title: Seeker

Author: Arwen Elys Dayton

Rating: 5/5 stars

Synopsis: The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor. As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world. And she'll be with the boy she loves--who's also her best friend.

But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes. Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.

And now it's too late to walk away.
 

I received a free ebook copy of this book by the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


[Warning: This review contains possible mild spoilers!]

My thoughts: Seeker is a tale of betrayal, love, fate and self-discovery. Its blurb promised me adventure and the promise was kept; it was an adventure and it was so much more.

Before reading it I thought this book was going to have a medieval setting and Quin was going to be a lady knight of some kind (the synopsis suggests that), but I was wrong – well, partly. The book is set mostly in our time, but there is a strong medieval feeling to it at some parts, and in a flashback we in fact go back to the 15^th century one time. I loved how ancient, medieval and modern elements were mixed in Seeker.

I enjoyed the variety of modern settings (Hong Kong, the airship in London), but my favourite place in the book remains the estate which is located in Scotland. Somehow books set in Scotland lure me in these days… And I don’t mind, because that country is beautiful and a place of myths and legends. It was a perfect setting for the beginning of the novel.

What truly gripped me in Seeker was the question of villains. What made this book really unique for me and made it stand out among many of the YA books was that the villains emerged from the protagonist(s) own people. A family member. A lover. Turning against you. Now that can shatter your whole world. Now that is something that makes things complicated – and not only for Quin, but for the reader as well. Because the question arises: is John really a villain? Who can tell what is right and what is wrong in the situation they are in?

Let me tell you, I usually don’t enjoy love triangles, but in Seeker it’s not annoying. Or at least it wasn’t for me. Both John and Shinobu were interesting characters and there wasn’t a pink cloud anywhere near in sight.

No pink cloud and no sugarcoating either when it came to gruesome parts. Yes, it is a book for young adults, but don’t read it if you are squeamish, because there’s quite a lot of injuries, blood and death in it.

All in all, it was an amazing read and…………. GIVE ME THE SECOND BOOK! NOW! Please!?