stitchesandpages811's reviews
657 reviews

Format: Print 

A few quick notes to start: 

And on to the review: 

I love love LOVED this. Honestly, I was hooked. I pretty much fell asleep on the sofa reading at midnight last night and then had to finish it on my lunch break today because I couldn’t wait to find out what happened. I was looking for a fast-paced romantasy, ideally with some kind of dragon element and wow did this deliver. 

So firstly, Elowen our FMC. I loved how much strength she showed, and yet she learned to be vulnerable with Cayden. And Cayden, our MMC. Talk about intense! In fact, their entire relationship was intense but I was here for it. Yes, you can argue there is some insta-love but for the way their relationship developed, it worked. They needed that intensity of feeling. And their interactions were somehow this combination of sweet and yet charged (in a fair few different ways). I loved the way they were with each other. 

The relationships generally were incredibly well done. The friendship between Elowen and Finnian was great – siblings by experience and feeling, even if not by blood. And that between Cayden, Ryder and Saskia – and that’s a friendship I think we needed to see as a counterpoint to his ruthlessness as Commander (as was his treatment of Elowen). 

I will say we didn’t get that much dragon content but again I thought the way we did get it suited the storyline so well. And we got to explore and understand the bond between Elowen and the dragons because we experienced it in the same way that she did. I also loved that each dragon has their own personality and I can’t wait to learn more about them in future books. 

I really enjoyed the plot and that ending has me on tenterhooks for what will happen next.

And yet, it wasn’t a cliffhanger. You have no idea how much I love the fact that Elowen and Cayden are together at the end of the book. Yes, they have some issues to sort but it’s so common to see our characters separated. That’s not to say they won’t be at the start of book two but they aren’t now and I am so grateful for it.

I am both incredibly satisfied by the end of the book and completely unsure on how I am supposed to wait for book two, which I really hope isn’t too far away. 

It may have been right book right time, but I was so engrossed in this. It’s absolutely one of my favourite books of the year and I am already considering reading it again! 

Format: Print/eBook combined 

The first thing to say about this is that it starts slowly. There is a lot of information in the early pages to help us understand the world, and while this is important, it did feel like there wasn’t much plot as a result. After the 30+ page epilogue I will admit to being concerned that I’d be dnfing this very early on. 

We follow two main characters – Kel an orphan who looks remarkably similar to the crown prince and is brought to court as a child to be his Sword Catcher (basically protector and stand in if required), and Lin, a physician and member of the Ashkar (a small community who retain some magical power and by law are restricted to living within a set area). These two characters don’t actually meet until a significant way through the book, and it does feel like we are reading two separate stories until this point, although once they do meet, their connections grows and their lives become intertwined very quickly. I really liked Kel as a character in particular – he was well fleshed out and I think Clare did an amazing job of showing us his internal conflicts and decisions in a way that we truly understood his character. 

Outside of Lin and Kel, we are introduced to a whole host of supporting characters, which could be a bit confusing at times (particularly the twelve charter families – I finished this morning and I can only name one house and charter). I would perhaps have liked to see fewer but explored in more depth – particularly Prince Conor and the Ragpicker King (although given this is the title of book 2, I do hope we will see more of him in the next book). 

Once we got through the initial slowness as we were introduced to the world, this really did pick up. There was a lot going on and while some elements reached a satisfying conclusion (or at least a conclusion even if not satisfying) there are still so many mysteries I am looking forward to unpicking in the next book. And there was nothing slow about the ending – the tension and action really increased and it will be interesting to see the aftermath. I am very much looking forward to seeing what comes next for these characters/in this world. A very solid 4 stars after getting through the beginning. 

Format: Audio 

Firstly, just to say I’ve never watched the TikTok series this derives from so I am basing this review purely on my experience of listening to it over the last few days, and honestly, I’ve had the best time. 

I completely understand some of the more critical reviews. And I will say that at times it does feel a bit cartoony or fan fictiony, but it was exactly what I needed. The, at times, frankly ridiculous plot had me laughing out loud, but it also didn’t shy away from some darker themes (and I would recommend checking trigger warnings if you need them). 

This is most definitely a grumpy/sunshine book. There was just something about Evie and ‘The Villain’s’ relationship that had me hooked. I loved that she was never afraid to stand up to him, no matter what he was doing or saying. And it was so interesting to see the conflicts he experienced in trying to understand his feelings in the chapters from his point of view (and yes, I have fully accepted that multi-POV books are now apparently my thing). 

It's also clearly a slow burn and if there’s something I’ve learned this year, it’s that I’m a sucker for slow burn. I can’t wait to see how their relationship continues to develop in book 2, which is lined up and ready to go asap. 

Throughout the few days I was reading this, I was constantly looking for excuses to put my headphones in and keep listening, and if that isn’t a sign of an enjoyable book I don’t know what is. I cannot wait to continue. 

Format: Print 

I might need to stop saying that I don’t think multi-POV books are my thing because having just finished this, I have to say I loved another one. 

It is impossible to read this book without least vaguely thinking about the Great British Bake Off, but actually I did find the format of ‘Bake Week’ different enough that it didn’t overpower my reading of the story. 

The story starts off by shocking the reader with the discovery of what we assume is a body in the tent, but we then immediately step back in time to meet our contestants and witness the first few days of the competition. This felt like quite a dramatic change for me – from shocking event to actually quite cosy character study. Of course, it didn’t stay cosy, with the tension, drama and mystery increasing throughout. 

Something that really stood out to me was the characterisation. Considering we had seven POVs in the book (six contestants plus one of the hosts) and therefore very few pages with each character at a time, the author did a great job and fleshing them out – we really got a sense of their character and motivations. I particularly liked the duo of Lottie and Pradyumna, but I liked the full range of personalities we got. 

Yes, at times it was a bit predictable, but I had a fun time and thought it was well done. I’d definitely pick up more from the author in the future. 

Format: Print 

I genuinely don’t think I am going to be able to do this book justice in my review. It was fantastic and it’s a book I can see myself returning to again and again in the future, but I actually have no idea how to describe it. Things that I loved: 

Overall, this was a beautiful, atmospheric and yet easy to follow read. I cannot wait to see what this author does next – given their debut, I am sure it will be incredible. 

Format: Print 

I’ve had this book for years by this point and finally sat down to read it in the run up to Bonfire Night as it’s inspired by the events of the Gunpowder Plot. I was initially concerned that my time for this had passed, but I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. 

I like the slightly fantastical approach to a true historical event, and the colours concept was intriguing, although I will say that it was slightly confusing and could perhaps have been explained better. I got the general concept but I couldn’t see it 100% clearly in my mind. So maybe a bit more worldbuilding was needed. Although I’m not entirely sure how you’d have done that – all our characters after all have grown up in this word so it’s not as if we could learn alongside them. 

I also appreciated that it stayed true to real events and generally included real conspirators in the plot, albeit adapted to the fantastical context. There were certain things about the Gunpowder Plot that I either didn’t know or had forgotten and it gave me a nudge to go back and look a few things up after reading which I appreciated as a history fan. 

I wasn’t a massive fan of our main character, Thomas, but I really liked both Guy Fawkes and Emma. I thought they were well fleshed out and I like the relationship dynamics that were explored between them and Thomas (although I’m not sure we needed a romantic subplot). Overall, I had a good time reading this, and I’m really glad I finally picked it up.

Format: Audio 

This is actually a really hard book to review and I think a lot of this stems from the format in which I read it which I’ll go into in more depth shortly. But first, I loved: 

The atmosphere: There is something hauntingly beautiful about Rachel Greenlaw’s writing and descriptions, in general but particularly of the mountains. They felt almost like a character themselves. 

The mystery: I had so many questions while reading this. Were the mountains actually alive? Who is the man that appears with the frost and disappears with the thaw? Just where did Mathieu come from? What happened between Carrie and her friends? We do get answers to a lot of these (let’s be honest, I’m still questioning the mountains) but the mystery kept me guessing throughout. 

The relationships: There were so many interesting relationship dynamics to unpick: Carrie and Jess; Carrie and Tom; Carrie, Tom and Jess; Carrie and Cora; Cora and Ivy; Cora and Howard; the Morgans and the rest of the town. It was so impressive how the author managed to explore all of these in such a satisfactory way. 

But I wasn’t as invested in this story as I expected to be and while I can appreciate the plot and the writing, I didn’t feel for the characters and their storylines as much as I wanted to. I do think a lot of this stems from listening to the audiobook. As an audiobook this just didn’t work for me. I have no doubt it works for a lot of people, but I really struggled to distinguish between the characters when listening and it required a lot more concentration as a result. This wasn’t the easy listen I gravitate towards and the need to really concentrate meant I couldn’t appreciate the storyline as much as I normally would. 

So, a really well done, atmospheric story that I’m sorry I didn’t love more. 

Format: Ebook 

I picked this up for my work book club and had a fun time but it didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting (where was the terror?). 

It was quirky and different and had a lot of potential, but the musical theatre references were maybe a bit overdone and the twists were predictable. I would have liked to have seen our FMC questioning things more and at times it was frankly a bit ridiculous. But overall it was a decent, easy read and I had a good time. 

Format: Ebook 

I picked this up for my book group and while I don’t think I’d ever have read it otherwise, it was a great opportunity to read this book beloved by so many. 

I struggled with this quite a lot initially. It was very clear when reading that I was not the target market for this book. I found the sentences quite short, choppy and simple – perfect for the middle grade age range but very different to my previous read. Because it felt quite young to me when reading, I also had a few issues picturing our main characters who, on reflection and after talking it out with my book group, I probably read as quite different ages to those they were intended to be – making it a slightly uncomfortable read. 

However, as I got more invested in the story, these initial concerns lessened a lot and I found myself truly caught up in the stories, rooting for certain characters and (figuratively) booing when others appeared. And I think that’s a mark of what makes this book special – while I had those concerns going in, they didn’t overshadow my overall enjoyment of the book and I found myself willing to suspect belief where needed for the story. I am sure I would have left this if I’d read it when I was the target audience. 

Overall, a fun book I did enjoy but quite a bit later than I needed to read it really. 

Format: Ebook 

Rather surprisingly having read the title and blurb, this book follows three main characters: Joanna, living isolated alone in the woods, the sole protector of a rare book collection; her older half-sister, Esther, who left home at eighteen and has been running every since; and Nicholas, a Scribe writing magical books for a secret library organisation under the watchful eye of his uncle. While his presence was a surprise, I was incredibly grateful for it as it’s fair to say a lot of our understanding of this world comes from him. 

Törzs has developed a magic system built on books, and who wouldn’t love that? The magical world is made up of two types of people: Scribes who can write them and those who can sense them. This was such an interesting magic system and it’s a key element of the book so we can fully immerse ourselves within it. 

The book also contains plenty of mystery, and I found myself constantly questioning what I was learning and pulling the different threads together in my mind as I read. These mysteries kept me hooked throughout as I was keen to see whether my understanding of the world translated to being able to solve them before we reached that point in the plot. 

Everything built beautifully towards a tension-filled and dramatic ending and, while I can understand the calls for more in this world, I found myself very satisfied with how the book concluded. I think this was a great standalone fantasy. At a time when we have so many series out, it’s really nice to find a self-contained story that is so well-rounded and thought out in a single book.