June 2019 – Dee’s Reading Tree

Monday Cleaning Day

June 30, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

It’s Monday again, and the only good thing about my Mondays is that I get to clean up my TBR. As always I ordered by TBR on Goodreads in reverse chronological order, and I skipped the books I have already decided to keep in my past posts. I then took a look at the next ten books and decided to keep them or delete them.

the lightning thief by rick riordan — Picture from Goodreads

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)

I feel like this is a right of passage book, and I’m totally ashamed I have not read it. I believe I’ve seen a few of the movies. I definitely need to read this series.

Keep 🙂

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

I’ve never read a book set in Alaska before, and like I said on my previous post I’m trying to expand my horizons. This book has pretty good ratings on Goodreads and has been talked about a lot on Bookstagram. I will give it a try.

Keep 🙂

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Many people on my Goodreads are saying this book should get more than five stars so I’m really intrigued. It reminds me of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins which I also loved.

Keep 🙂

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

I must’ve been in one of those peppy/ inspirational moods when I added this to my TBR, but honestly now I’m rolling my eyes at it so…

Delete 😦

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

I really liked the movie, and in my experience the book is always better. So I’m keeping this one, and I’ll just imagine Brad Pitt the whole time.

Keep 🙂

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

What an interesting and unique concept. People are born “gray and damned” and only with the help of a “belle” can they become beautiful.

Keep 🙂

Scythe by Neal Shusterman (Arc of a Scythe, #1)

This one is really famous amongst the bookstagrammer community and I see it everywhere. It has great reviews on Goodreads as well. I will definitely give it a try.

Keep 🙂

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Such a pretty cover. Great reviews as well. This one is a keeper.

Keep 🙂

The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski

I recently found this book while reading Call it What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer. In her book one of the main characters talks about enjoying books like Harry Potter, An Ember in the Ashes and he also mentioned this one. It looks like there are several of these books out and I’m very behind the times.

Keep 🙂

The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t With Her Mind by Jackson Ford

I may or may not have added this book to my TBR solely because of the cover. It has mixed reviews and it doesn’t have a lot of them, so I might just wait until there is a more solid opinion on this one. I’m being very selective of what I keep on my TBR lately, and this one is not covering it.

Delete 😦

This time I only deleted two out of ten books, which can only mean I’m getting really good at only adding books I will actually read to my TBR. Would you have done anything different?

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June Wrap-up

June 29, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

Books I read this month

📖A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (hardback) review here

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖The Raven Boys (audio) review here

⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Call it What you want by Brigid Kemmerer (e-Arc) review here

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Shadow and Bone (paperback) -mini review coming soon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff (audio) -mini review coming soon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa (e-Arc) review here

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (audio) review here

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

the book of dust by phillip pullman — My Bookstagram

June Bookhaul

For my shelves

📖Cinder by Marissa Meyer

📖An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

📖Rest of Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi (excluding last book released)

📖Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

From book subscription boxes (TBR)

📖 Birthday by Meredith Russo

📖This time will be different by Misa Sugiura

Bought

📖The book of dust by Phillip Pullman

E-books (from kindle first reads)

📖False step by Victoria Helen Stone

Wrap-up

I don’t feel like I made good progress on my TBR this month, maybe because I barely read any physical books; they were mostly audio and e-books. But I do feel like a read good quality books, so maybe quality over quantity is a good thing. I definitely want to get to more of my real books in July. Especially Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman. After having read Aurora Rising by them I’m really excited to read the Illuminae series.

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Rapid Fire Book Tag

June 27, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

I saw this tag on the For Book s’ Sake page and it looked like so much fun. So without anything further here are the questions and my answers.

E-book or physical Book?

Here is the thing, there’s nothing like holding a physical book in my hands, being able to turn the pages and seeing how far I’ve come, and the smell of a book is one of my favorite scents. BUT, I do have two kids under four and it’s much easier for me to read an e-book while I watch them than to read a real book.

Paperback or hardback?

This is a hard one. Paperbacks are so much easier for me to hold and carry around everywhere. Hardbacks are so pretty and look much better on my shelves. I always have to remove the dust cover so that I don’t damage it while I take it everywhere, and then when I’m done with the book I put the dust cover back on and put it on my shelf. If I really had to choose, I think I would choose paperbacks.

Online or in-store book shopping?

Books are so much cheaper online, but there’s nothing like walking through a bookstore for me. It’s actually one of my favorite things to do in the world. This year for mother’s day that was actually my only wish, going to the bookstore. My husband was such a trooper, he handled the kids while I spent some uninterrupted time browsing for books. As you can see on this picture, I really spoiled myself.

Trilogies or series?

As long as the book is good, I don’t really care if it’s a trilogy or a series. As long as I like the author and the story still holds my interest I will read all the books they write, even if it’s an 18 book long one (Black Dagger Brotherhood anyone?).

Heroes or villains?

Heroes all the way. Give me heroes I can root for the whole time. Once I start liking the villains and wishing they would kill the hero already, that’s when I know I’m hating the book.

harry potter and the sorcerer's stone book, jk rowling — My bookstagram

A book you want everyone to read?

Hands down the Harry Potter series. I could read those books over and over. I’m in love with that whole world, and I always hope I can pass my love on to others. You can read all about how I grew up with this series here.

Recommend an underrated author?

Is Julie Kagawa considered underrated? I’m not sure, but her Immortal Rules series was one of the best I’ve read and I never see it talked about anywhere. You all already know I loved her Shadow of the Fox and Soul of the Sword books.

The last book you finished?

Call it What you Want by Brigid Kemmerer. It was a four star out of five for me, and you can read my review here.

Weirdest thing you’ve used as a bookmark?

*Cringes* …a banana? Okay, hear me out. I was really busy at work multi-tasking, I was reading and eating, and then I got a phone call…so what do I do? I stick my banana in my book to hold my page. Don’t judge me.

Used books: Yes or no?

I love all books, definitely yes. I like imagining where the book has been and how many people have read it. I don’t sniff them like I do new books, but still used books are great.

Top 3 favorite genres?

Fantasy, YA, and does New Adult count? I occasionally delve into Contemporary, but I really try to avoid it because it makes me cry.

Borrow or buy?

I try not to borrow books, when I do I warn the owners that it might not come back in the same condition. Like I said, I have two kids. I love buying books. My bank account not so much though.

Character or plot?

Plot. If the plot goes downhill, then it doesn’t matter how good your characters are. For example, I really loved the Divergent series, an I loved the characters, but once the plot started slipping I hated the whole thing. Also, I hate bad endings.

Long or short books?

Size doesn’t matter! Okay, but for real if you can tell me everything you need to tell me, if the characters are well developed, and so is the plot, then I don’t really care what the size of the book is.

Name the first three books you think of?

Throne of Glass

Lunar Chronicles

Shatter Me

Three of my favorites 🙂

Books that make you laugh or books that make you cry?

I hate crying, I love books that make me laugh. I’m currently listening to an audio of Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff, and I love the humor they use.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — Picture taken by Me

Our world or fictional worlds?

Depends on the world. I would love to live in the Harry Potter world, but would not like to live in the post Apocalyptic Shatter Me world.

Audiobooks: Yes or no?

A month ago this would’ve been a no, but recently I have developed a liking for audio books. I only listen to them on my work commute, in the shower, and while I’m doing chores around the house. It has been a good way for me to stay productive. I always listen to a sample first before I get the book though, because if I don’t like the narrator’s voice then the whole thing is ruined.

Do you ever judge a book by its cover?

Too many times to count, although I have learned from my mistakes. I now read the reviews and usually a sample before I commit to buying a book now. I’m a sucker for pretty covers, and thanks to Bookstagram my TBR is full them.

Game of thrones series, books, George rr martin — Picture form Goodreads

Book to movie or book to TV adaptation?

It depends on the book? I recently was so disappointed by the Game of Thrones TV show 😦 But I did love most of the Harry Potter movies, they really made the whole world come alive with only a few minor flaws and omissions.

A movie or TV adaptation you preferred instead of the book?

None, I always like the book better.

Series or stand alone?

I like series. Stand alone books always leave me feeling empty and with no purpose after. At least with a series I can delay that feeling until the last book 🙂

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Five Star Reads

June 25, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

We’re half-way through the year already, so I thought I would summarize all the five star reads I’ve had up to now. I’ve either been very generous this year with my ratings, or I’ve just been reading a lot of fantastic books. I’ve read a total of eleven five star books this year. For me these are books that I’ve absolutely loved and I would re-read them again. Also, these tend to become my auto-buy authors, and I will buy anything they write forever and ever.

Fairest Lunar Chronicles by Merissa Meyer — Picture from Goodreads

Fairest (The Lunar Chronicles, #3.5) by Marissa Meyer

I loved the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer, and this was Queen Levana’s story. I haven’t read many stories from the villain’s point of view, and this was a very interesting read. In reality I just really missed this world and even a small mention of the main characters made me happy. I enjoyed finding out exactly what happened to Cinder and Snow when they were children at the hands of Queen Levana. I liked reading about the events that made her into the evil Queen. After reading this novella I had to go and reread the whole series of course. I’m planning to write a full review on the whole Lunar Chronicles soon.

The Space Between Time by Charlie Laidlaw

This story was profoundly real. It delves into hard topics such as depression, anxiety and suicide, while also throwing some humor into the mix. I would recommend it to anyone wishing to learn more about the human condition and what it means to be alive. Read my full review here.

A Very Large Expanse of the Sea by Tahereh Mafi

I love Mafi’s Shatter Me series, and this stand alone totally unrelated book was amazing as well. The characters felt so real. It had a diary kind of feel to it that kept me glued to the pages wanting to find out what was next. You can read my full review here.

The red scrolls of magic by Cassandra clare, shadowhunters, the eldest curses — Picture from Goodreads

The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses, #1) by Cassandra Clare

I had been looking forward to The Red Scrolls of Magic for almost a year. One of my favorite characters from her other Shadowhunter books is Magnus Bane, and when I saw the book was mostly about him I was super excited. On the other hand, one of my least favorite characters is Alexander Lightwood, but this book was exactly what I needed in order to understand his personality more. You can read my full review here.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

I found the plot to be fast paced and gripping, but without feeling too rushed. I’ve read a lot of fairy tale retellings, and this one was different enough to be entertaining yet it still kept many of the familiar concepts I associate with Beauty and the Beast. It included the beast (of course), a girl taken against her will, and an enchanted castle. I also thought the romance aspect of the story was very realistic, especially the fact that at a young age it’s hard to identify what love feels like. You can read the rest of my review here.

Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

The women in this book are strong, and many of them are leaders. The men worship their women, and fight to protect their people. I liked that both sexes are seen as warriors and providers. I heard her next book The Girl the Sea Gave Back is in part about him. I recently got approved to read it on Netgalley and I cannot wait to get started. I loved everything about this book, and I will definitely be reading anything else she writes. Come read the rest of my review here.

shadow of the fox by Julie kagawa — Picture from Goodreads

Shadow of the Fox (Shadow of the Fox, #1) by Julie Kagawa

This was my first audio book. I never thought I would get into audio books but I really needed something productive to do while on the way to and from work, and I thought listening to an audio book was a great idea. I liked the fact that Yumeko and Tatsumi were voiced by a female and a male respectively. They each changed their voices when another character was involved, and I thought it was well done. I did have the e-book as well, and that was nice to have for any down time, and to check the correct spelling of names and places. It also had a handy glossary at the end. The story, the characters, and the scenery were described in great detail, and at the time I could not wait for the second book. You can read the rest of my review here.

soul of the sword by Julie kagawa — Picture from Goodreads

Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox, #2) by Julie Kagawa

**Some spoilers for Shadow of the Fox, the first book in the series**

Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa transported me to a warm campfire under a starry night, while a bearded old man told this mythical tale in between puffs of smoke from his old wooden pipe. Suddenly, I was in a world in which emotions like grief and despair had smells, and everything from the scenery to the food was described in poetic detail. I particularly found the Forest of a Thousand Eyes terrifying, even when described from Hakaimono’s demon perspective, who tried to make everything sound amusing. Read the rest of my review here.

catwoman soulstealer by sarah j maas — Picture from Goodreads

Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons, #3) by Sarah J. Maas

Catwoman: Soulstealer was written by Sarah J. Maas, and the audio book was narrated by Julia Whelan. I read it in my down time, and listened to it on my work commute, as well as in the shower and while doing house-work. Honestly, I found myself looking for any possible excuse to listen to this book. This narrator was the best I’ve heard yet, she did all the male and female voices perfectly and even did their accents. Read my full review here.

the wicked king by holly black — Picture from Goodreads

The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2) by Holly Black

In this sequel to “The Cruel Prince” by Holly Black. We continue the story of Jude Duarte, a human in the realm of Elfhame, who is struggling to hold on to her newly acquired power over its high King Cardan and his subjects. The graphics on this cover were amazing, and I loved the little drawings of dragonflies throughout the book along with the drawings at the beginning of each chapter. The dialogue between Jude and Cardan was so entertaining to read. I could just read about those two talking forever. Read my full review here.

crooked kingdom by leigh bardugo — Picture from Goodreads

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo

I loved this band of misfits. This was a super fast paced book packed with action, even more so than the first book in the series. If you love stories with a good heist in them, then this is the book for you. It is told from six different points of views, but Leigh Bardugo does it seamlessly so that it never becomes an issue. Each character is unique and fleshed out, even if their names weren’t at the top of each chapter, you could still probably tell who was narrating every time. Come read my full review here.

What were some of your five star reads this year?

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Call It What You Want

June 24, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

call it what you want by brigid Kemmerer book review — My Bookstagram

Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer is a Contemporary/ YA novel involving two teenagers Rob and Meagan. Rob is living with the consequences of his dad’s actions, while Meagan is dealing with the repercussions of her own mistakes and those of her sister Sam.

People love finding the weak link that makes them feel superior.”
Sam

I usually try to avoid Contemporary, because good Contemporary fiction always ends up making me cry. But Kemmerer wrote this one so I just had to read it. Kemmerer paints such a vivid picture of what it’s like to a be a High Schooler that it brought back all my horrible High School memories. I hated High School. Emotions are so real in this story, and by real I mean not described in flowery detail, but in basic and deeply relatable terms.

My life has collapsed to the point where a ninety-nine-cent cup of coffee with a stranger is meaningful”
Rob

Another thing I liked about this story was Kemmerer’s inclusion of other books I love, like An Ember in the Ashes and Harry Potter. Call It What You Want is the only book that has ever made me add another book to my “to be read” list. She kept mentioning all these books I love, so when she mentioned Winner’s Curse I had to add it.

One choice doesn’t determine your whole future.”
Sam

I appreciate authors who can branch out into other genres and still write amazing stories. I loved A Curse so Dark and Lonely by her, which was Fantasy/ YA, and Call It What You Want definitely lived up to all my expectations as well. I would recommend this book to all Contemporary/ YA fans. This book delves into hard topics such as suicide, underage drinking, and abortion, amongst others. Overall, the main lesson I took from this story was that everyone is fighting their own battles and not everything is black and white. Real people live in the gray areas.

Sometimes when we’re trying to protect the people closest to us, doing the right thing doesn’t always look so clear.”
Maegan’s dad

This book released today June 25th. I hope you guys have time to check it out.

Many thanks to Bloomsburry and Netgalley for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Monday Cleaning Day

June 23, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

Lately, I’ve really been trying to expand my reading horizons and come out of my YA/Fantasy shell a bit. This has led to adding all sorts of random books to my TBR, books I never would’ve read before. But, the time has come to clean up by TBR a bit I order to soothe by OCD and make it more manageable.

As always, I’ve organized my Goodreads TBR in reverse chronological order of when I added the books, I skipped the books I already decided to keep in my other Monday posts, and then I selected the first nine books and decided whether to keep them or delete them.

The smell of other people's houses book — Picture from Goodreads

The Smell of Other People’s Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

Like I said…expanding my horizons. But…my friends on Goodreads gave this one really bad reviews, and one of them didn’t even finish it *gasp*

Delete 😦

how it feels to float book — Picture from Goodreads

How it feels to float by Helena Fox

This is a YA/Contemporary, so it still counts as expanding my reading material. It has great reviews from all my friends on Goodreads. It deals with loss, so I might have to wait until I’m in a mood to read it. But it seems like a wholesome read that I might enjoy. Terrible cover though.

Keep 🙂

the forgetting book — Picture from Goodreads

The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron

I’m 99.9% sure I added this book to my TBR merely because of the pretty cover. It has terrible reviews by both my like-minded friends on Goodreads and the people I follow. Some are even calling it a waste of their time, and goodness knows I don’t have any time to waste on bad books.

Delete 😦

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

This seems interesting and I really like the cover. It was published back in 2017, but I must’ve somehow missed it. It has great reviews, a 4.18/5 on Goodreads. I can’t wait to read it.

Keep 🙂

Red, White and Royal Blue book by Caey McQuiston Contemporary — Picture from Goodreads

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

I don’t think I’ve ever read a Contemporary Romantic Comedy before, but this looks like a good first one to read. It also looks like it would make a great movie someday.

Keep 🙂

On Earth we're briefly gorgeous book by ocean vuong — Picture from Goodreads

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

First thing I thought when I first saw this book was “what a terrible cover.” Are they hugging? Is one person holding the other one down? Why are they so dirty? The reviews are good, but the synopsis doesn’t sound very interesting.

Delete 😦

five feet apart by rachael Lippincott mikki Daughtry tobias iaconis — Picture from Goodreads

Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott, Mikki Daughtry, and Tobias Iaconis

Do I want to do this to myself? Are they both going to die at the end? I don’t think I can take another book like The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and this one reminds me a lot of that one. I think I’ll just have to be in a certain mood for this one. I also always like to read the book before I watch the movie.

Keep 🙂

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

This is another one that seems like it might make a great movie one day, seems like a nice read. I always liked the friends to enemy plot. The cover is so great too. I think I need a vacation now.

Keep 🙂

The Werewolf Queen by Brandi Elledge

Sometimes I wonder if I’ve been drunk adding random books to my TBR or something, I think it has just been really tired and overworked late night TBR adding. This doesn’t seem like something I would enjoy at all.

Delete 😦

I ended up deleting four out of nine books. Would you have done anything different? Let me know in the comments!

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How I Save Money on Books

June 21, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

Reading can become an expensive hobby. There are a few tricks that I use in order to save myself some money, and I thought I would share them with you guys. Many of these you might already be doing. But who knows, maybe I can actually help some of you?

Disclaimer: None of these websites or apps paid me in any way to advertise for them. I won’t benefit if you actually end up using any of my tips.

This Savage song audio book on Libby app — Picture form my Libby App

Overdrive and Libby

If you live somewhere with a public Library system, and have access to a smart phone or tablet in which you can download applications, these two applications have been great when it comes to saving me money. You simply download the app, connect to it with your library card, and voila you have access to all the Library books, but on your phone. They also have audio books as well. Granted, the more popular books and the new releases you have to put a “hold” on while other people are reading them. There is also a 14 day limit that the book can be checked out to you, after that it gets automatically returned whether you’re done with it or not. I read most of my e-books from here, and I’ve enjoying many of my audio books here as well.

Netgalley

If you don’t mind taking some time to leave a review after you’re done with a book, I would suggest signing up on the Netgalley site. You can read thousands of e-books for free, many of them are available before the release date. You have to wish for them, or request to read them, and your request doesn’t always get granted but it’s worth a try. When I started out I asked for five books, and I got approved for three out of the five.

Amazon sales

If you don’t have an Amazon account you need to make one. Once you connect it to your kindle app, or you purchase a few books and follow a few authors, Amazon will start sending you email suggestions for sales they have on books you might be interested in. Just this past month I got three books from my TBR list for only $1.99 on Amazon.

Barnes and Noble newsletter

If you absolutely must have a real book in your hands, and I totally understand if you do, then I would suggest singing up for the Barnes and Noble newsletter. Almost every week I get a 10%, 15% or even 20% off coupon from them. They also have new release sales every week, as well as buy 2 get one free sales, which are great.

Ebay

I myself have sold a few of my most expensive books on Ebay. These were books that I either did not want, or were part of an incomplete series. I sold them for a margin of the original price and they were in great condition. Sometimes you can get lucky on Ebay and find great books in amazing condition for a good price. I would suggest checking there the next time you really want to buy a real book.

Any other money saving tips I did not mention?

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Harry Potter Booktag

June 20, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

I came across this tag in a blog called Right Writing Words and it looked like a lot of fun, so I decided to give it a try. I personally love the Harry Potter series, they were the books which sparked my love for reading. I even wrote about them on this post.

Harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone book — My bookstagram

What house are you in?

“Their daring, nerve and chivalry set Gryffindors apart.” I was surprised when I took the test on Pottermore and I got Gryffindor, I always thought I would be a Ravenclaw because I’m a big nerd. Gryffindor values courage and bravery, and our mascot is the lion.

What is your patronus?

So I really wish my patronus was a panther or a tiger, but it’s a stout *rolls eyes.* I actually had to google what a stout was, it turns out it’s a type of weasel/ferret. I had a ferret once, they’re really annoying.

My wand specifications from pottermore — Picture from Pottermore.com

What is your wand?

Fir wood with dragon core, 12 3/4″ and reasonably supple flexibility. Dragon core, now that sounds more like it. According to Ollivander, wands of fir wood come from the most resilient of trees, which produce wands that demand staying power and strength of purpose in their true owners, and that they are poor tools in the hands of the changeable and indecisive. Fir wands are particularly suited to Transfiguration, and favor owners of focused, strong minded and, occasionally, intimidating demeanor. (from Pottermore.com)

What would your bogart be?

Probably a swarm of very small insects, doesn’t matter what type, only thing that matters is that they might crawl all over me at once. I can take any insect if it’s alone, I cannot handle them in a group. *shudders*

What would your position in Quidditch be?

I’m not sporty at all, but I’m observant and patient which are good attributes for a seeker, so seeker it is.

Would you be pure blood, half-blood or muggle-born?

I spent my whole eleventh year of my life wishing I was muggle-born and my owl would arrive with my letter to take me to Hogwarts, but it never happened.

My daughter holding the order of the phoenix book — My daughter when she was 7 months

What job would you want after graduating Hogwarts?

I would love to write bizarre relevant stories for the Quibbler.

Which of the Deathly Hollows would you choose?

I know the good choice is the invisibility cloak, but could I break into a bank with it? Because I’m really broke right this minute. If not, then the elder wand just for a bit and then I swear I would destroy it.

Harry potter and the order of the phoenix book — Picture taken by me

Favorite book?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, because I feel it’s the book where Harry really grows and comes into his own, and it’s where things start to get darker. Also, Umbridge totally gets what she deserves.

Least favorite book?

Nope, I love all the books.

Favorite film?

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, because of the Yule Ball, the tournament, the other different schools, and a million other reasons that made this movie so action packed… also dragons.

Least favorite film

Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, because they really messed up the ending. It’s one of the only films that was not very consistent with the book, they made up a few things and really changed others.

My blue bookshelf full of my favorite books — Picture taken by me

Favorite character

This is so hard, but I really loved Snape, both in the books and on the films. I loved his snarky comments and dark humor. Always.

Least favorite character

Lavender Brown, to me she was super annoying both in the books and the films.

Favorite teacher at Hogwarts

I’m split between Professor Lupin and Professor Slughorn. I thought both of them had really good hands on teaching methods, and interesting approaches to teaching.

Least favorite teacher at Hogwarts

Umbridge, enough said.

Do you have any unpopular opinions about the series?

I get a little annoyed when people who have never read the books call themselves Harry Potter fans. Read the books people!

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Soul of the Sword

June 19, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis:

Yumeko is a kitsune shapeshifter who has been entrusted with a sacred scroll. Her mission is to take this scroll to the Steel Feather temple in order to prevent the great Kami Dragon from being summoned. The dragon is the Harbinger of change, and it will grant one wish to whomever summons it. Hakaimono is a demon that has just been released from a sword called Kamigoroshi after being trapped in it for hundreds of years. He is still wearing the human body of Tatsumi, the Kage demon slayer who had been escorting Yumeko to the temple before the demon broke free. Hakaimono wants to destroy the sword so he can never be put back in it. He has teamed up with he Master of Demons and has promised to get him the scrolls in exchange for destroying the sword. The story ensues as the paths of Yumeko and Hakaimono cross once again, and the fate of the empire hangs in the balance.

True beauty is rare, hidden and often overlooked by others. And it can appear at the strangest times.”
Daisuke

Around them, the shadowy forest stood frozen, tall shaggy pines drooping under the weight of snow and ice. It was an oppressive weight…cold and domineering, as if the snow was a cruel master, demanding silence and respect from everything it touched.”
SUKI

I liked the different points of views in each Chapter, and the fact we had a glimpse into the mind of the demon Hakaimono. We got to see what the human condition is like from a demon’s perspective, and how living inside humans for hundreds of years has changed him. The demon catches himself missing his “home” in Jigoku (a version of the underworld or hell), and wondering if his fellow demons have missed him as well.

I had spent too much time in the heads of these weak-willed humans.”
Hakaimono

I really enjoyed Yumeko’s humor and wit, but I especially loved her determination to complete her quest and to offer a helping hand to all who needed it along the way. As always, Yumeko’s point of view was full of mischief, true to her fox or “kitsune” nature. The dialogue between Yumeko and the band of misfits she has acquired in her journey was very entertaining. One of my favorite side characters continues to be Okame, who despite being a ronin, or disgraced samurai, has shown to be a very honest and loyal companion to Yumeko on her journey.

A small group who stand against insurmountable odds, who give their lives for the glory of the empire? It is what Bushido is built on.”
Daisuke

The story had a nice feeling of adventure, as our group of unlikely heroes, each with their own special skills, are taken from one predicament into the next. The plot was action packed, and the characters were all spurred into action by a single unifying quest to save the empire from certain doom. I adored the first book in this series, Shadow of the Fox, and this second installment was no exception. I recommend this story to all YA/Fantasy fans, and to all those who enjoy adventure and quest driven tales.

‪Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen for the opportunity to review this title in exchange for my honest opinion‬

Have you guys read Soul of the Sword? What did you think?

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WWW Wednesday

June 18, 2019February 8, 2022 Dee’s Reading Tree

This is a meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words where you answer three questions: What are you reading now? What did you just read? What will you be reading next?

What I’m reading now:

I’m currently reading an e-ARC of Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa which is the second book to Shadow of the Fox. I couldn’t believe it when I first got approved for this on Netgalley, and I’m loving it just like I thought I would. I had to put Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo on hold, so that I could finish Soul of the Sword and post my review before release day on June 27th.

I’ve also been listening to Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman, and so far I really like the humor they use. The audio book has a full cast of characters and it’s almost like listening to a movie, it’s amazing.

What I just read:

My only accomplishment this past week was finishing This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab. It was a four star read for me. You can see my review here.

What I will read next:

My plan is to finish Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, which I actually own a physical copy of. I also received an e-book called Radioactive Evolution by Richard Hummel which I also plan to read.

What are is your current read?