REVIEW: Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

Title: Rivers of London (Peter Grant #1)
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Crime.
Publication Date: August 2011
Publisher: Gollancz
Format: Paperback
Pages: 390
Challenge: YALC
Rating: 4/5

 "I used to be probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service, and to everyone else as the Filth…"

Meet DC Peter Grant. He will show you his city. But it's not the capital that you see as you make your way from tube to bus, from Elephant to Castle. It's a city that under its dark surface is packed full of crime. And of magic. A city that you never suspected…

Gran't story starts when he tries to take a witness statement from a man who was already dead. And take him down a twisting, turning centuries' old mystery that reckons to set London on fire...

Rivers of London is another one of those books that has been on my radar for a while, but I was never really desperate to read. I honestly knew nothing about it, apart from the fact it was set in London. I probably never would have read it, but then I found it for $5 brand new in a bookstore and thought I might as well pick it up. I was a little more interested in reading it after that, but then I found out Ben Aaronovitch was going to be at YALC and now I had to read it.

I’m really glad that I did pick it up eventually because this is a great book. It has three of my favourite elements in a book—magic, detectives and London. Is there anything better in this world? I’ve never actually read anything that had all three things together—it’s usually magic in London or detectives in London, so having all three was kind of all sorts of amazing. I really liked how each thing was dealt with. The magic system was really interesting and unique. The detectives read like actual detectives—I think Ben Aaronovitch must have had some experience with the police because it was just written so believably. London was just brilliant. There were so many little facts and the way in which everything was described just made me feel like I was running around with Peter.

Speaking of Peter, he was a great character. In fact, he didn’t even feel like a character but rather like a real person instead. He was funny and realistic and I just really enjoyed reading about him. I really liked the other characters too—Nightingale is amazing and I absolutely adored Beverly. I’m really, really excited to see how they’ll all grow in the rest of the series.

Finally, the plot. Oh my god, I loved the plot. There’s a couple of different plotlines going on at the same time which don’t really seem connected until towards the end where everything just clicks. They were really well thought out and I absolutely loved how it all came together. I’m very, very interested to see where the rest of the series is going to go from here.

* This is also published under the title 'Midnight Riot'. 

REVIEW: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Title: The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1)
Author: Samantha Shannon
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance.
Publication Date: August 20th 2013
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Format: Paperback
Pages: 452
Rating: 4/5

 The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people’s minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die.

The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Ah, The Bone Season. I saw this book absolutely everywhere in 2014 — it was all over Goodreads, Booktube and Blogs and I would see it every time I walked into a bookstore. It was about this time last year that I managed to pick it up second-hand. Then, as usual, it sat on my shelves for a year until Michelle eventually convinced me to pick it up.

I was incredibly intimidated by the size of this book. Not only is my copy one of those really tall editions, it’s also just a really heavy book for some reason — it’s like the publishers thought to themselves ‘How do we make this book even more intimidating? Let’s make it weigh the same as a small child!’ Luckily, the story inside was so good that I pushed through the fact that it actually hurt my hands to read this book.

I’m not really a big of fan of the ‘fans of insert book here will love The Bone Season’ but I’m going to make an exception for that today. Other people who have read this might not agree but I kind of got a The Darkest Minds meets Angelfall meets Daughter of Smoke and Bone vibe. Don’t get me wrong, this is completely unique but there were just moments or elements that reminded me of those books. Again, you might disagree but that’s what I felt. I should mention that I adored those three books, so you can imagine my feels about this.

I think my favourite thing was the world, because oh my god how? Like honestly, Samantha Shannon — how did you manage this? What even is this? I admit that bits of this were confusing but I have a feeling that those things are going to be solved and explained later in the series. Did you know that this a seven book series? Can you imagine the development that is going to happen by the end of this series? Does that make you as excited as it does me? (Probably not.)

Characters. Okay, characters. Wow. I really like Paige — she’s amazing, and she’s my age and I just feel like despite how shit her life is, she’s still doing better than me. Yes, I am so terrible at life that someone living in a weird dystopian/fantasy world is doing better than me. It’s something I’ve come to terms with. Anyway, Warden. What even are you? How can you be this amazing? I don’t even have proper words to describe you.

So yes, this is an amazing start to a series and you can better that I’m already looking up prices for the second book and trying to work out exactly where I can fit a seven book series on my shelves.

Oh, and Michelle — you were right, again.

REVIEW: Poison Princess by Kresley Cole

Title: Poison Princess (The Arcana Chronicles #1)
Author: Kresley Cole
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Post Apocalypse.
Publication Date: October 2nd 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Paperback
Pages: 369
Rating: 4/5

She could save the world—or destroy it.

Sixteen-year-old Evangeline "Evie" Greene leads a charmed life, until she begins experiencing horrifying hallucinations. When an apocalyptic event decimates her Louisiana hometown, Evie realizes her hallucinations were actually visions of the future—and they're still happening. Fighting for her life and desperate for answers, she must turn to her wrong-side-of-the-bayou classmate: Jack Deveaux.

But she can't do either alone.

With his mile-long rap sheet, wicked grin, and bad attitude, Jack is like no boy Evie has ever known. Even though he once scorned her and everything she represented, he agrees to protect Evie on her quest. She knows she can't totally depend on Jack. If he ever cast that wicked grin her way, could she possibly resist him?

Who can Evie trust?

As Jack and Evie race to find the source of her visions, they meet others who have gotten the same call. An ancient prophesy is being played out, and Evie is not the only one with special powers. A group of twenty-two teens has been chosen to reenact the ultimate battle between good and evil. But it's not always clear who is on which side.

Poison Princess has been on my radar for a couple of years now but I had absolutely no idea what it was about. I saw a book trailer for it earlier this year (which I can no longer find) and it looked awesome, so I bumped it up on my wishlist. I was lucky enough to find it this past weekend, secondhand for $5 and I couldn’t resist.

I’ve seen very mixed reviews about it – some people I know really liked it and then others didn’t. I wasn’t sure where I was going to sit on that spectrum, even 200 pages I didn’t know what I thought about it. The first part of the book was kind of boring and I probably would have stopped if I hadn’t ahd Michelle sitting across from me and telling me it got better. She was right.

There were still parts I didn’t like. Some of the characters I felt very meh about, and there were others that I wish we’d gotten to see more of. I think one of the most surprising characters was Evie, herself. For ages I hated her, I thought she was weak and pathetic and whiny but the end completely changed my opinion of her. I hope we get to see more of that Evie.

I thought the plot was absolutely great. I love post apocalyptic things anyway but the paranormal twist just made it for me. It was such an interesting world and I can’t wait to see where Kresley Cole is going to go with the rest of the series. I also really liked the French/Cajun element within the book. It’s not very often that you see that done in YA and so it was a nice little addition to the story.

All in all, I would definitely recommend them if you’re interested in post apocalypse or paranormal novels, or if, like me, you really like fictional boys on motorbikes.

REVIEW: The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige

Title: The Wicked Will Rise (Dorothy Must Die #2)
Author: Danielle Paige
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy.
Publication Date: March 31st 2015
Publisher: HarperCollins Australia
Format: Paperback
Pages: 293
Rating: 4/5

In this dark, high-octane sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dorothy Must Die, Amy Gumm must do everything in her power to kill Dorothy and free Oz.


To make Oz a free land again, Amy Gumm was given a mission: remove the Tin Woodman’s heart, steal the Scarecrow’s brain, take the Lion’s courage, and then Dorothy must die....

But Dorothy still lives. Now the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked has vanished, and mysterious Princess Ozma might be Amy’s only ally. As Amy learns the truth about her mission, she realizes that she’s only just scratched the surface of Oz’s past—and that Kansas, the home she couldn't wait to leave behind, may also be in danger. In a place where the line between good and evil shifts with just a strong gust of wind, who can Amy trust—and who is really Wicked? 

This was sent to me for review by the publisher, but this is no way changes my opinions on the book.

I wasn’t a massive fan of Dorothy Must Die. I enjoyed it, but I read it at the wrong time in my life. It’s a very dark book and I read it right after books about the Holocaust and suicide…I’m great at planning ahead, clearly. I knew I wanted to read The Wicked Will Rise anyway to give this series another chance. I’m so glad I did.

Originally I was shocked when I opened the package to see how thin this is. The first one was so big and this one just wasn’t. As it turns out, that was actually a good thing. This one had much more action and much better pacing – I read it in a matter of hours because I just couldn’t tear myself away from it.

I liked Amy a little better in this one. There are moments where I really, really loved here and then there were parts in which she kind of annoyed me. There were a lot of new characters in here that I absolutely loved as well as a few old favourites. I’m very interested to see where some of the characters are going to develop from here.

I wasn’t so bothered by the darkness in this one – I suppose I sort of expected it this time around. I have to say, there were still a few parts in which the level of violence still kind of surprised me. This is definitely not a book for the faint hearted.

I think the only thing I really dislike about this series is the synopsis. I think the whole ‘mission’ thing is cool, but the missions never have any relevance until the end of the book. It’s kind of spoiling what the next book is going to be about.

All in all though, I did really like this and I’m glad that I can the series another chance. I can’t wait to see where the next book is going to go after that ending.

Thank you to Harper Collins Australia for sending me a copy of this for review!