REVIEW: Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Title: Who Could That Be At This Hour? (All the Wrong Questions #1)
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery, Humour.
Publication Date: October 2012
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Format: Hardback
Pages: 258
Rating: 4/5

Before you consider reading "Who Could That Be at This Hour?" Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you curious about what is happening in a seaside town that is no longer by the sea?

2. Do you want to know more about a stolen item that wasn't stolen at all?

3. Do you really think that's any of your business? Why? What kind of person are you? Really?

4. Who is standing behind you?

Lemony Snicket is kind of my life. I’m sure you’re pretty much all aware of the love I have for A Series of Unfortunate Events and the Baudelaire children, so this probably doesn’t surprise you. It’s so hard not to break into a rant about how much I love Snicket and those books, but let’s just focus on this one. (Would anyone be interested in a post in which I actually try and explain why I love this series so much?)

Firstly, this is a kind of prequel to the original series. I didn’t know that going into it, which is kind of sad because I would have read this a long time ago if I’d known that. It could be read as a standalone series too, I think, if you don’t want to go through 13 books of pain and distrust of everything and everyone. (But you totally should.)

Anyway, this was sort of a strange book for me. I loved it because it’s Lemony Snicket and it’s a prequel to my absolute favourite book series ever (sorry HP!), but at the same time, I didn’t care about the story as much. The characters weren’t as interesting as the Baudelaires (Violet beats everyone), and the plot was even more confusing than the original, which is seriously saying something. I know quite a few people who were disappointed in this so I didn’t really go in with high hopes, but I don’t think that I was disappointed but I expected more. I’m really interested to see where this is going to go and I’m hoping to re-read the original series again once I’ve finished this to see how it all clicks together.

 

If I wasn’t so in love with ASoUE, I don’t know that I’d continue this series. That being said, I do adore Snicket’s writing because its sort of ridiculous, and serious and witty, and dark, and intelligent all in one. I’m so excited to be back in his world, though I'm not entirely sure that I ever really left.

The Millicent Effect

The other day, I was reading this amazing post by Millicent in which she talks about a lot of stuff. One of which was supporting friends and other bloggers – I’ve been kind of terrible at this lately, but I’m working on it. I don’t often get the time (or have the energy) to talk about every single amazing blog post I read, but I have taken to sharing posts on the A Book SoFathomless Facebook page that I really enjoyed so if you’re interested in seeing what I’m interested in then I’ve linked that. We don’t really share our own stuff there, but I suppose we probably should start that.

Anyway, in her post Millicent also talked about blogging niches. We are quite obviously a book blog with some other stuff thrown on the side. Now, we’re still going to be a book blog but we’re hopefully going to be branching out a little.

We’ve been running this blog for almost three years, and we’ve talked pretty much exclusively about Young Adult books. We still love YA and we’ll still being blogging about it, but we’ll be talking about some other stuff too and by we, I mean pretty much just me.

I don’t think this is something I’ve ever mentioned but I’m one of those weird people who actually really enjoys in depth responses to book. Not so much a review, but sort of like a cross between an essay and an article. I’m studying two literature units at University this semester and I want to be able to share with you some of the interesting things I’m learning about. By this I mean, I will be sharing stuff with you. These will be sort of like a mixture between a review/opinion thing and a sort of informal essay.

I understand that not everyone will be interested in this and I totally understand if you don’t want to read them, I just thought I’d give you all a bit of a warning.

Basically, Millicent’s post always make me feel really inspired to bring more of what I’m passionate about to the blog and to not worry about what anyone else thinks. Hence the title of this post. With that, I’m going to return to the three million readings I was doing before this post distracted me.

PRE-RELEASE BLITZ: Bound by Spells by Stormy Smith

We're getting excited about the release of BOUND BY SPELLS by Stormy Smith! Check out the teasers and giveaway below!

BOUND BY SPELLS (Bound 2) by Stormy Smith

Mature YA Paranormal Romance

Release: March 19, 2015

Goodreads

Blurb:

Aidan Montgomery hadn’t been prepared for Amelia Bradbury to walk in and then out of his life. He also hadn’t expected to find the powerful magic hidden deep within him for the last nineteen years, but he’s embracing it — finding more control and more answers every day. Now, with the help of Amelia’s best friend, Bethany, Aidan is on a quest to understand his destiny and find Amelia.

Amelia decided to stand by her duty, which meant walking away from her first chance at love. Trapped in Cresthaven at the Queen’s mercy, she spends her days with Micah — an ally she still holds at arm’s length — struggling to manage her heartbreak while keeping her mind focused on the task at hand. As she continues to unlock the secrets of the Keeper power, Queen Julia’s true motives reveal themselves, forcing Amelia to decide, yet again, how much she’s willing to sacrifice.

Will Aidan get to Amelia before it's too late, or will the very power that sustains them keep them apart?

"Featuring a cast of mages and shapeshifters with unique magical abilities, one destiny-shaping prophecy, a genocidal megalomaniac, and a budding, heated romance (or two!), this book is paranormal gold! Read the first book in the series first, of course, but once you finish this one you're sure to be salivating for the next release in this not-to-be-missed romantic paranormal series." ~Serena Chase, USA Today's Happy Ever After blog, author of The Ryn

Amazon

JOIN THE LAUNCH PARTY ON MARCH 19TH!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1580542118898977/

SEE STORMY AND HER FANS SHAKE IT OFF IN THIS FUN VIDEO!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naVJoEaE2_0

Music Playlist direct link: http://open.spotify.com/user/1263978134/playlist/2RmVxxP3aCpZyotxOu5CEg

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NGE1MDEyNTkzNmEzMjcwYWY1N2NlODA1YWVlMmE3OjUwMA==/?

BOUND BY DUTY IS ON SALE FOR $.99 FOR A LIMITED TIME (beginning 3/12)!!!

Amazon 

GoodReads

Music Playlist direct link: http://open.spotify.com/user/1263978134/playlist/1I3xaUQnG2oV1SRsbdp8oe

About the Author:

Stormy Smith calls Iowa's capital home now, but was raised in a tiny town in the Southeast corner of the state. She grew to love books honestly, having a mom that read voraciously and instilled that same love in her. She knew quickly that stories of fantasy were her favorite, and even as an adult gravitates toward paranormal stories in any form.



Writing a book had never been an aspiration, but suddenly the story was there and couldn't be stopped. When she isn't working on, or thinking about, her books, Stormy's favorite places include bar patios, live music shows, her yoga mat or anywhere she can relax with her husband or girlfriends.



Connect with Stormy

On her website

On Facebook

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On Amazon

On GoodReads

REVIEW: The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Title: The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Author: Emily M. Danforth
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQ+
Publication Date: February 7th 2012
Publisher: Balzer and Bray
Format: Paperback
Pages: 470
Rating: 4/5

When Cameron Post's parents die suddenly in a car crash, her shocking first thought is relief. Relief they'll never know that, hours earlier, she had been kissing a girl.

But that relief doesn't last, and Cam is soon forced to move in with her conservative aunt Ruth and her well-intentioned but hopelessly old-fashioned grandmother. She knows that from this point on, her life will forever be different. Survival in Miles City, Montana, means blending in and leaving well enough alone (as her grandmother might say), and Cam becomes an expert at both.

Then Coley Taylor moves to town. Beautiful, pickup-driving Coley is a perfect cowgirl with the perfect boyfriend to match. She and Cam forge an unexpected and intense friendship--one that seems to leave room for something more to emerge. But just as that starts to seem like a real possibility, ultrareligious Aunt Ruth takes drastic action to "fix" her niece, bringing Cam face-to-face with the cost of denying her true self--even if she's not exactly sure who that is.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post is a stunning and unforgettable literary debut about discovering who you are and finding the courage to live life according to your own rules. 

* I read this book and wrote this review in mid February, but I'm a little delayed in putting it up.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post had been on my radar for a while. Originally, I’d be drawn to the cover because I thought it looked so serene and beautiful. I didn’t really know anything about it, and until one day I watching a booktube video and this was mentioned as having a lesbian protagonist, which sounded interesting. I almost picked it up in the bookstore so many times after that but I always put it down for something else. I probably wouldn’t have picked this up if it wasn’t for the Bookentine read-a-thon that I hosted with Michelle. I needed a book with an LGBTQ+ character, and this seemed like a good choice.

I didn’t really enjoy the first half of this. The first seventy pages take place when Cameron Post is eleven or twelve which was a little weird to read about, by part two she has gotten older, which made this easier to read. The thing I originally found difficult about this book was the fact I had nothing in common with Cameron. She’s a lesbian girl living with her grandmother and aunt in Montana in the early 1990’s. I’m a straight girl living with my dad and brother in Melbourne in 2015. We’re kind of different.  I think the hardest thing were the religious parts of the story. I knew that this was going to be somewhat religious when I started, but I still found it hard to understand and relate to that aspect having grown up in a non-religious family. I should clarify, religion is a major aspect of this book but it’s not shoved down your throat in a ‘you must believe in this’ kind of way.

Moving on to the things I liked. This isn’t a spoiler as it is mentioned in the blurb, but I was more interested in the story once Cameron was sent away to be ‘fixed’. I’ve never read anything where a character has been sent away but I learnt about those sorts of camps and programs in high school. Still, it was interesting to see it being portrayed in fiction rather than a documentary. I think I learnt more about it this way, and I also came to realise how truly horrible that would have been. It affected me a lot more than I thought it would.

The story is about more than just Cameron’s sexuality. It deals with family issues, friends, self-discovery and to an extent, guilt and grief. I might not have much in common in Cameron on the surface, but I could connect to her on a deeper level.

I think this is a very important book, and I really think that it deserves more attention than what it gets. I definitely recommend it.

FICTIONAL BOYFRIEND TAG

Now I'm sure that all of you lovely blog viewers would like to know all about Ely and I's multiple real boyfriends. Oh wait, did I say real? I meant to say *FICTIONALBUTBASICALLYREAL . Anyway, if you are curious, check out both our Fictional Boyfriend Tags on Booktube down below!

February Wrap-Up: In Which I Am Insanely Busy

Welcome to my February wrap-up. We've got a lot to get through so let's get started!

BOOKS

So I read a staggering 21 books this month. Unfortunately, a lot of them were three stars. My favourite was most definitely Maybe Someday. 

CHALLENGES

I set myself a lot of challenges this year and I've been very slowly making progress with them. My biggest challenge this year is #ProjectTBR and I've taken quite a few books off that but I'll be updating you all on that very soon. I've been loving the Around the World challenge the most - look at that map!

TV/FILM
I continued watching Agent Carter this month and that was literally it. Actually I lied, on the 28th I watched the first episode of this show called Grantchester - I loved it.

WRITING
Eeep. This...wellllll. I haven't really written much. I'm now at a total of 47,000 words so I've written about 3,000. Not as much I wanted but...

VIDEOS
I only posted four videos this month but I do have quite a few lined up for March so I'm not too disappointed. Here are those four: January Book Haul, Favourites #1, Fictional Boyfriend Tag and Bookentine Wrap Up.

ON THE BLOG
We were kind of lazy on the blog in February (and you'll find out why in the next section) but we still had some interesting posts. Firstly, we had Hilary Thompson and a friend of mine - Sky, visit us as part of Fathomless Females. We celebrated Harry Potter Book Night, I talked about my dream book collection and was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award by my dear friend Rachel. But most importantly...CHAMI POSTED A REVIEW. This hasn't happened for a year or something!!!

OTHER THINGS
Phew, it's been a busy month! Chami and I started the month off by attending the Ruby Circle Launch Party with a bunch of other awesome bloggers. I finally got to meet the lovely Millicent and if you want to know more about that event, definitely read her recap because it's amazing. Saturday the 14th saw the beginning of the read-a-thon I was co-hosting with one of my best friends Michelle. We had a lot of fun hosting it and I've made some new friends out of it including the marvellous Lori who you should all check out immediately! I also started a new short online course with the Australian Writers Centre that I'm really enjoying so far. I caught up with Michelle the day after Bookentine finished and we chilled in the city, ate some really good food, covered our hands in lipstick testers and somehow...didn't buy anything. On the 24th, I went and saw McBusted live. I've been a fan of McFly since I was about 14/15 so I jumped at the chance to see them live. I also did a meet and greet and spent the entire night shaking afterwards because OH MY GOD. Finally, I spent the last weekend away with my dad. He was going up for a conference so I tagged along and read some books and hung out in the beautiful town of Ballarat. That area - Ballarat, Daylesford, Clunes, Castlemaine and Bendigo, is probably my second favourite area in all of Australia, only beaten by the seaside town I spent my childhood summers in. I really love spending time there, especially with my dad.

Did you think I was joking when I said I had a busy month? Tell me about your February!