Stacking The Shelves #7

Stacking The Shelves was originally created by Tynga's Reviews. The idea is for everyone to show the books they are adding to their shelves (physical copies or virtual) 

Since the last time I did one of these I joined a book exchange website...so I have quite a few new beauties to parade! So, what I got was this:

Angels & Demons - Dan Brown

Digital Fortress - Dan Brown

Ecstasy - Irvine Welsh

The Exorcist - William Peter Blatty

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (I'm going to try and read some more classic books from now on!)

Master of the Moor - Ruth Rendell

One-hit Wonder - Lisa Jewell

The Sea Sisters - Lucy Clarke

The White Queen - Philippa Gregory (I don't read much historical romance, but I'll give it a try!)

The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

Hollow City (Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #2) - Ransom Riggs (this one is a hard-back copy which was never read...it's in perfect conditions! Just as if I bought it from TBD, I'm so happy! :D)

I've also gotten two books for review:

Miss Mabel's School for Girls - Katie Cross    Biggest Flirts - Jennifer Echols
(review here)

And finally, I decided to give audiobooks a chance and I got two from Audible!

Winger - Andrew Smith
To All The Boys I've Loved Before - Jenny Han

What did you get this week? :)

Review: Miss Mabel's School for Girls - Katie Cross

Miss Mabel's School for Girls (Network Series, #1) by Katie Cross

Publication Date: March 27th, 2014

Pages: 308

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Got it from the author

Synopsis

Never underestimate the power of a determined witch.
Letum Wood is a forest of fog and deadfall, home to the quietly famous Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, a place where young witches learn the art of magic.
Sixteen-year-old Bianca Monroe has inherited a deadly curse. Determined to break free before it kills her, she enrolls in the respected school to confront the cunning witch who cast the curse: Miss Mabel.
Bianca finds herself faced with dark magic she didn’t expect, with lessons more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Will Bianca have the courage to save herself from the curse, or will Miss Mabel’s sinister plan be too powerful?

Miss Mabel’s School for Girls is the first novel in The Network Series, an exciting new fantasy collection. A gripping tale about the struggle to survive, it will take you to a new place and time, one you’ll never want to leave.

If there was only one word I could use to describe this novel, it would be "WOW"!

This book is absolutely action packed from beginning to end! There are no dull moments and there are so many twists and turns that you just have to keep turning the pages. It's definitely one of those books that you only want to put down when you finish it. I have to say that I don't remember the last time a book surprised me, but this one sure did! When I thought I knew what was going to happen, there was some sort of twist...which made this story incredibly interesting.

I also loved how different all the female characters were. Usually when people talk about "strong female characters" they are talking about the heroine who fights everyone; I liked how Katie challenged that notion: we have Bianca who is indeed the heroine who fights back but we also have Miss Mabel, for example who is probably one of the smartest and most cunning women in fiction...and absolutely evil too! 

The secondary characters were very dynamic and were an important part of the plot of the story.

I don't know if there is coming on the next books or not but there was absolutely no romance in this novel, which, in a way, I thought was quite refreshing and different from everything that is out there at the moment.

Katie was able to create an original and magical world like no other I've ever read about. Plus, places were described beautifully and almost made it seem like we were there. 

This was a great beginning of a series and I'm sure to keep up with it! Definitely recommed it! 

"Fear is an ally. It tells you something is wrong, like pain." is definitely one of my favourite quotes ever!

Buy it from Amazon

Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Publication Date: September 27th, 2011

Pages: 418

Age Group: Young Adult

Source: Bought it

Synopsis

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hairactually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

After seeing many great reviews for this book, I finally decided to pick it up. The blurb sounded really interesting but there was so much hype around this series that I was a bit scared that I wasn't going to enjoy it as much as others...luckily that wasn't the case!

I think that one of my favourite things about this book was the way places were described, especially Prague...I've never been there but it sounded almost magical (and I would be lying if I said I didn't look up flights to Prague while reading the book!). 

As for characters, Karou is an amazing main character. She is this really unique, artistic blue-haired girl who lives in Prague and has a group of chimaera as a sort of adoptive family. I found it really easy to connect with Karou and to understand her actions. Plus, I liked how she cared about the other characters and always tried to do the right thing (even if they didn't fully deserve it). Zuzana, Karou's tiny, "rabid" best friend was absolutely hillarious and deffinitely someone I would want to be friends with. Her sarcastic nature truly brought a great energy to the book.

Akiva, the seraph was also quite intriguing. Even though he was brought up in a world consumed by war, he finds it in himself to try to be better. I hope we get more from him in the next book.

Even though I deeply enjoyed this book, I have to say that for me, the last third/quarter of this story was what I least enjoyed. One the one hand I liked the description we got of the other worlds and how the seraph and chimaera societies were organized. It was also interesting to get a bit of backstory on the war and on Brimstone's magic and what exactly he did with the teeth...that part was very imaginative. On the other hand, I didn't care very much for Madrigal's whole story even though I realize why it was necessary to be told.

All in all it was a great book that I deffinitely recommed. And I can't wait to start the sequel!

Buy this book at The Book Depository