Sunday 14 June 2015

Seeker Review

Happy Sunday, book friends! Once again I’m here with a review, this time of Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton. This is a recently released fantasy that I picked up whilst on holiday to read in between the fifty thousand contemporaries I’ve been reading recently. It was an interesting book, and so if it sounds like your sort of thing, I would recommend you grab yourself a copy. Here’s the synopsis;

Quin Kincaid has been put through years of brutal training for what she thinks is the noble purpose of becoming a revered ‘Seeker’.
Only when it’s too late does she discover she will be using her new-found knowledge and training to become an assassin. Quin's new role will take her around the globe, from a remote estate in Scotland to a bustling, futuristic Hong Kong where the past she thought she had escaped will finally catch up with her.

It was well written and different from a lot of the fantasies I've been reading lately. It does, however, putter along at a leisurely pace. At times, the book feels like it's dragging, and you have to persevere through some bits. It's a bit scary when you buy a book without consulting goodreads and then go home and check the reviews to find out that lots of really popular and respected YA reviewers DNF'd the book! But I was able to finish it and still like it quite a bit, so if you're okay with that sort of pacing there's lots of potential that you will really enjoy this book.

So go read Seeker and then head back here to discuss and compare our thoughts!

***SPOILERS***

Seeker is a book I am really conflicted over. I have so many feelings and I'm not quite sure what my overall thoughts are, so I am sorry if this is a bit rambly.

First of all, this was a high fantasy, no doubt about it. The writing, the story, the mythology, everything about it was undoubtedly high fantasy. However, and I'm sure I've said this before, personally, I don't get high fantasies that are set in modern day time with technology and etc. I find that rarely do they work and they are extremely hard to execute well, for example, Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. Both Red Queen and Seeker had these electronic elements but were written as high fantasies, and it creates this hybrid of a story that I find hard to categorize in my mind. It feels like a high fantasy, but then it feels like a dystopian, and then it slowly morphs into an odd sort of urban-but-still-high fantasy that doesn't flow nicely.

I didn't feel that this particular phenomenon effected Seeker as much as it did Red Queen, but certainly when touch screens, phones, cameras and TV was mentioned in Seeker, I was thrown out of the story and had to remember that this must be set in today's time, or in the future. Though these moments were few, it made the story less magical and special, for sure. It would've worked better, in my opinion, if the story had been set in a timeless, fantasy Scotland. I'd love to know your thoughts on this... and if you've ever read a fantasy like this that you thought worked really well. Let me know through any of my socials or my email which will be at the end of this post.

The characters in this book were interesting, to say the least. I felt like we needed more time with Quin, seeing as though she was the main character. I finished the story wanting more of her POV, and I for sure preferred her chapters to any other character's. It was so interesting to see her character change and develop from the blindly-following daughter she was at the start to the independent fighter she was at the end. It was especially interesting to see this in comparison to John's character development.

John was a really exciting character to read about. At the start, he seemed to just be a young, naive teenage boy, a little bit angsty but other than that, fairly normal. We slowly saw deeper into his character as he unraveled, turning more and more selfish, vengeful and all around sociopathic throughout the book. Another clever thing about John's character was that he hated Briac, but the parallels between him and Briac became increasingly clear as the story went on. Quin told him he would turn out like Briac, but he was so convinced he was doing the right thing, fulfilling his promise to his mother and restoring his house that he didn't see what he was becoming. Seeing him try to rationalize these violent acts was terrifying but so satisfying as a reader and reviewer, because it was such wonderful characterization. I am extremely keen to see where John's character goes in the next book.

It took me some time to start caring about Shinobu, because, truthfully, I didn't expect him to be as important as he turned out to be. His character wasn't really developed all that much until the second half of the book, once they got to Hong Kong. The things we did know about him, however, were pretty interesting and came into play rather significantly towards the end of the book. His relationship with his father was really realistic and painful to read. In comparison to the dynamic between Quin and Briac, Alistair and Shinobu had a really fun, playful father-son relationship, and when Alistair tried to warn Shinobu about what seekers really did, my heart broke a little. Alistair was always the good cop to Briac's bad cop. He was, of course, ruthless, but at least he genuinely cared about Quin and Shinobu.

When Alistair died, and Shinobu let him, I felt horrible for the both of them, because they were both so terribly stuck in the dangerous, destructive seeker web constructed by Briac that they were emotionally drained and confused. It was one of the most painful moments, along with Quin and her unraveling relationship with John.

Quin and John's relationship was always a little bit questionable, but even more so considering what we learn about John throughout the book. It was sad to see Quin and the way she realized that what she had with John was never going to be able to be salvaged. In comparison, it was chilling to see John try to convince himself that Quin still loved him and that, even though he was forcing her into teaching him something that seriously hurt her and made her incredibly self-destructive, she would come back to him and always love him. It was just another part of John's character that was terrifying and positively sent chills down my spine.

Despite all this, I seriously thought Quin and John would be endgame (at least in this book, if not at the end of the series as well) but apparently not. I assumed that Shinobu's affections for Quin would remain unrequited indefinitely. Especially considering the fact that they're cousins... well, half third cousins, as they so frequently reminded us. I did not expect Quin/Shinobu to be endgame, for sure. It was quite a shock and I will be interested to see whether they continue to be together throughout the rest of the series, and how everyone else will react to the slightly incesty themes there.

In the actual story, it's true to say that not that much actually happened, and the plot was quite straightforward, meaning the story doesn't really go very fast. It is more slow and steady than that. Most of the story was spent with John trying to get the athame and Quin trying to either keep it from him or forget what she'd done as a seeker. Personally, I would've preferred a little more development on what they thought seekers actually did, and why they so desperately wanted to be seekers. Of course there was all the 'evildoers beware' stuff, but besides that, they didn't actually know all that much about being seekers, which is what Briac and the other sworn seekers wanted. But there was no real incentive for Quin to want to be a seeker, considering she didn't even like her father all that much.

The storyline with the Dreads was interesting and I enjoyed reading from Maud's point of view, but it did feel a little out of place sometimes, considering it was a very ancient-magic sort of thing and the story was set in modern day. I felt like there was a lot of focus on the Dreads and they didn't really have all that much of an impact on the story.

Overall, I did actually enjoy the story, despite the things I've brought up in this review. I loved the setting and the mythology, but I wish there had been no technology or other modern elements! I'd love to know your thoughts on Seeker and whether you're going to read the second book, Traveler, when it comes out, because I'm undecided as of yet.

If you want to share your thoughts, leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @lilypherondale or a tumblr ask to sherlockcrumpets. You can also email me for business, questions, thoughts or just to say hi at mywordsarearrows@gmail.com. If you want to keep updated with what I'm reading and reviewing, like my facebook page or friend me on goodreads, @lilypherondale.

Have a wonderful week and I'll see you soon with another post!

Lily xoxo

Sunday 7 June 2015

Upcoming Releases To Watch

So this week my book was released! You can buy the paperback here, the ebook here, or check it out further on goodreads here.

But this momentous occasion has not delayed my weekly post! And so today I will be discussing books that are coming out in the following months that will definitely make their way into my shopping cart.

The Boy Most Likely To by Huntley Fitzpatrick — August 18
If you've been hanging around my blog over the past year or so, you'd know that last year, I fell in love with My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. And so naturally, when I found out she was writing a spin-off contemporary about some of the characters from MLND, I freaked out. I'm so, so, so excited for this book. Check it out on goodreads here.

Queen Of Shadows by Sarah J Maas — September 1
I lovelovelovelovelove Throne Of Glass. It's probably my favourite series, and my tumblr is a testament to that. This is the forth book in the series and I want it, like, yesterday. You can bet that as soon as this book drops, I will have bought it. I would highly recommend this series. It's a fantasy story following a female assassin (who is AMAZING) and so you should all go check out the Throne Of Glass series now.

Anne And Henry by Dawn Ius — September 1
I found this book on goodreads and I automatically knew it was written for me. I am a huge history geek, and I spent a long time looking at the Tudors and that sort of time period. So when I read that this book was a retelling of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, I clicked the to-read button. In this book, it appears Henry is the good-boy, and Anne is the bad-girl he falls in love with. I'm really hoping this book isn't too cheesy, or that Anne isn't a "manic-pixie-dream-girl" type. I have such high expectations, and I really hope this book lives up to them. Check it out on goodreads here.



Lock And Mori by Heather W. Petty — September 15
We all know how much of a Sherlock nerd I am. So of course I'm looking forward to a modern retelling where Moriarty is a teenage girl and Sherlock is a teenage boy. I'm looking forward to the rivalry to solve a murder, like the goodreads description says. I'm looking forward to the Lock/Mori ship (platonic or otherwise). It seems just like the type of thing I'll love and so I will definitely be buying it as soon as it comes out. Check it out on goodreads here.

Tonight The Streets Are Ours by Leila Sales — September 15
To be perfectly honest, I hit the to-read button because of the cover. Despite the age-old saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" everyone does. Despite this, the book seems like something I'll love, anyways. It sounds a bit like Amy And Roger-cross-Just One Day, and we all know I have a soft spot for road trips and New York City. It's a contemporary, and if for no other reason, I'd recommend it just for the cover. Check it out on goodreads here (no seriously, look at that cover. dayummm).

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell — October 6
For those who don't know, Rainbow Rowell wrote Fangirl, that book everyone talks about. I didn't love Fangirl as much as everyone else appeared to, but when I found out Rainbow was writing and releasing Cath's fanfiction which she writes throughout the plotline of Fangirl, I got very excited. I have no idea what's in store from this book, but I'm super excited to read it. You can check out Fangirl here and Carry On here.



The Revolution Of Ivy by Amy Engel — November 3
This is the sequel to The Book Of Ivy, which I read earlier this year in January. I loved TBOI and it left me on such a cliffhanger, so I'm super excited to pick up where I left off! TBOI is about a futuristic society where one girl is forced to marry her enemy's son... and now she's caught in the middle of something huge. From what I believe this is a duology, and so this book is the last in the series. You can check out the series here, and my review for TBOI here.

The Trouble With Destiny by Lauren Morrill — December 1
I to-readed this book on a bit of an impulse. It looks to me like a Titanic-musical-sort-of-thingy, and the cover is beautiful so I will probably end up buying it. Also, it's a contemporary and we all know how I adore my contemporaries. I'm not sure whether I will love this or not, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go. Check it out here.

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater — February 23
I love the Raven Cycle series, and so unsurprisingly, I'm super excited for the final book in the quartet. The series is sort of an urban-fantasy, sort of a mystery, sort of a combination of lots of genres. I literally cannot even describe it, the series is so good. I'm super duper excited for this book! I know February 2016 is ages away (it doesn't even have a cover yet!), but I couldn't resist putting it on the list... and I'm optimistic that the release will be shoved forward... well, not really, but I'm really hoping it does! Check out the series here.

So those are my most anticipated releases for the next few months, and I'm so so so excited for them. I hope you guys have found some new books to look forward to! What books are you stoked about that are being released soon? Let me know in the comments below, to my Twitter (@lilypherondale) or to my tumblr.

If you want to get in contact with me, feel free to send me an email to
mywordsarearrows@gmail.com. You can also like my Facebook page to keep up with my posts, what I'm reading, bookish news and more. And finally, friend me on goodreads so I can see what you guys are reading!

Have a lovely week, and I'll see you soon with another post!
Lily xoxo

Wednesday 3 June 2015

My Book Is For Sale!

Hey guys... you read the title right. My book is now for sale! I just thought I'd make this little post to let you guys know that the paperback is available for purchase on Amazon right now, and if you'd like to buy it, it's only $5.50.

Writing and publishing this book has been the most fun and most stressful thing I've ever done, and I'm so proud of it and all the people who've helped me. Thank you to my editor, Lian, who works tirelessly even though I pay her with nothing but my praise and adoration; my title-developer and romance-watcher Tyler; my friends Chantelle, Renee, Cassie, Garcia, Cristen, Annaliese, Jacqui and more. Also, my family — Mum, Dad, Charlotte Mabel — you guys are the best.

Anyways I hope you all love the book, if you buy it I will be ECSTATIC BECAUSE OH MY JACE PEOPLE WANT TO BUY AND READ MY BOOK and I would love to know what you thought, so please hit it up on goodreads or shoot me an email (mywordsarearrows@gmail.com) with your feels if you do read it.

Keep an eye out for the ebook release, which will be soon... keep waiting my little nerds...

Thank you all so much, I love you all for reading my blog content and making my day better with every pageview you give me.

See you all on Sunday!

Monday 1 June 2015

Just One Day Review

I'm so sorry it's been a while! I've been so busy with work (and publishing my book... eep!) but I'm back again with another splendid post! And today, I am going to be
reviewing a book you've most likely heard of. Just One Day by Gayle Forman. And as someone who spends a lot of time on goodreads, in the YA blogosphere and on booktube accounts, I have heard many, many things about Just One Day. So, in an effort to find a book that would entertain me from finishing The Darkest Part Of The Forest, which was fantastic, to when In Honor arrived in the mail, I picked up Just One Day from my library in the hope that it'd give me something to do in between. And boy, did it ever!

I had been skeptical about this book for a while, particularly as I didn't really enjoy If I Stay all that much and also because I thought that the entire book was set over the course of one day. 360 pages and one day. And so I shoved it at the bottom of my TBR list. But as per usual, the books I think I won't enjoy are the ones I do. It's always the way.

If you did enjoy If I Stay, you will definitely love this. I would also recommend it to fans of Anna And The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and fans of Rainbow Rowell.

Here's the synopsis;
Allyson Healey's life is exactly like her suitcase—packed, planned, ordered. Then on the last day of her three-week post-graduation European tour, she meets Willem. A free-spirited, roving actor, Willem is everything she’s not, and when he invites her to abandon her plans and come to Paris with him, Allyson says yes. This uncharacteristic decision leads to a day of risk and romance, liberation and intimacy: 24 hours that will transform Allyson’s life.
If you're into travel-finding-yourself-romances, this is right up your alley. I would certainly recommend to lovers of a good young adult contemporary. For me, it had some issues but definitely a solid four out of five stars.

 So if you haven't read Just One Day and you'd like to, go find yourself a copy and check it out, then come back to check out my spoiler review!

***SPOILERS***

Where to start? My feelings for this book are so conflicted. I have some major issues that really kept me from totally loving this book but I also tore through it at a rate I haven't in a while.

Let's discuss the plot. The plot drove this book, I think, as the characters were fairly weak. I really loved the way the plot moved so fluidly, like when Jacques, that guy Willem and Allyson met in Paris, said that time was fluid. I also felt like the themes in this book were carried through really well and none of them (and let's be real, there was a lot of them) were left behind and forgotten. The central themes, of course, being Willem's idea of love, and his "stain" analogy, and of course the whole accidents idea. I was so glad that these themes, in addition to all the others (like Allyson's scar on her neck, the things Willem and Allyson said to one another, the whole idea of "Lulu" and the symbolism of time and Allyson's watch), were continued nicely.

And yes, being wrong about the entire book being set on one day was entirely my fault. I need to stop jumping to conclusions. The start of the book, this One Day Allyson spent with Willem, was a total of 142 pages. These pages did not drag at any point. The entire day was fast-paced and I was constantly intrigued. There wasn't one point during this first part where I wanted to put the book down, and so I didn't. The book did, however, come to a lull in the first part of the one year later half. And I think the reason this bit was so hard to read was that Allyson was just such a sad sack, and such a boring character to have narrating.

Allyson Heady was not in any way shape or form an overly interesting character. At the start of the book, she was mopey, average and following around in the footsteps of her prettier, more adventurous best friend. She was your typical YA protagonist. Constantly commenting on how "unpretty" she is, but somehow also manages to be "strikingly beautiful" later on, boxed in, pressured by her ambitious parents, constantly jealous of the more socially competent, prettier girls around her. I don't think there was one girl in the One Day part and the start of the One Year part she narrated in a positive light. Maybe except her grandmother. It wasn't until she met up with the "Oz gang" and Wren in her return to Paris where she actually stopped comparing herself to the girls around her and just settled.

Allyson was just very, very average. And also rather childish, I found. She often overreacted and jumped to conclusions and had zero motivation, which made me sometimes forget that her character was meant to be eighteen/nineteen. And maybe it's because I'm a cynic and I've never been "in love", but really, this girl was seriously hung up on a one-day fling, a day that ended badly because she didn't actually think that morning through. Logically, though, when Willem wasn't there in the morning, she didn't think things through and wait for him, but totally flipped. This made her character really annoying to deal with eighty percent of the time.

Despite this, I think Gayle Forman meant to make Allyson annoying. I think she wanted us to see the stark difference between Lulu and Allyson, and wanted us to realize that Allyson wasn't just pining for Willem, but also for Lulu. The part of her that she lost. And when you look at it in this light, the way Allyson was written does make sense. But honestly, I wanted to slap her in the face a lot during this book.

Willem was interesting and adorable but also very average. He was interesting, because he clearly liked Allyson a lot, but he still seemed like a total player. I, like Allyson, was constantly confused by his messages. He was a bit like Adam from If I Stay, in that I just couldn't figure him out and therefore it made him harder to care about.

In addition to this, he was also kind of a jerk. Throughout the book it seems like he had no less than seven girlfriends either closely before Allyson or in the year in between. And although I had a feeling Allyson had misunderstood the morning where he left, it still made me angry that he never seemed to put in a lot of effort to find her. Like, really, in the internet era we live in, finding someone really isn't that hard. We all Facebook stalk and google our crushes, and often with results that lead to more information and more information, so I really don't think he put in much of an effort.

But don't let these rants about characters lead you to think I didn't enjoy the book, because I did, I really did. For me, however, as you probably already know, characters are the most important part of any story. And in this book, I felt like I didn't connect with any of the characters.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the way that the Allyson/Lulu dynamic played out. I thought it was so interesting watching Allyson realize she not only wanted to see Willem again, but Lulu. It was so awesome to see just how different she was when she spent that day with Willem, like before and after she was just a shell of who she wanted to be. It reminded me a little of the mythology behind eating faerie food. Once you try it, everything else tastes like ash and dust. I felt like once Allyson had tried being Lulu, she sunk into depression in the way she did because she realized she hated Allyson and loved Lulu.

I was so glad we were able to see Allyson return to Lulu, and without Willem's help. Although it annoyed me to no end that it took so long to find Willem again, I must say!

Although I didn't love Allyson and Willem separately, the time they were together was certainty the most enjoyable as a reader. They clearly brought out the best in one another and were better off together than alone, and I think that's a good indicator of how well a relationship is working out. I definitely hoped that Willem had some sort of explanation for why he'd (seemingly) been such a jerk and I did hope they'd get back together, for the benefit of them both.

Fate plays a big part in this book, and as someone who doesn't quite believe in the sort of fate or "accidents" portrayed in the story, it was both hard to relate to but also refreshing. It was nice seeing this idea of fate through much more positive eyes, but at the same time I found the events in the book to be impossible and completely fictitious. But then again, isn't that what makes books so enjoyable?

And wow, that cliffhanger is the motivation I needed to be sure of reading the next book. I understand Just One Year is the year in between the One Day Allyson and Willem spent together and the day they meet again from Willem's point of view. I am very curious to see this from Willem's point of view and start decoding him as a character a bit more.

I would love to know your thoughts on this book or the series (although no spoilers, please!!!) in the comments below. If you would rather tweet me your thoughts, send a tweet to @lilypherondale and if you're more of a tumblr sort of person, I love getting asks on my tumblr, sherlockcrumpets. You can also like my facebook page to keep up to date with what I'm reading and posting!

If you want to talk business or just say hi more privately, feel free to send me an email at mywordsarearrows@gmail.com.

See you next week with another post!

Lily xoxo