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Book Review: The Last Days of Us by Beck Nicholas

Jan 7, 2018

The Last Days of Us by Beck Nicholas

Pages: 260
Publish date: January 1st 2018
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 9781489220493
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Five teens, one derelict Kombi and an unforgettable road trip…

Six months ago, Zoey’s life went off the rails. After the tragic loss of her brother, she partied her way to oblivion, estranged her best friend, Cass, and pushed away her now ex, Finn. But when her destructive behaviour reaches dangerous heights, Zoey realises she needs to pull herself together and get her old life back, including her ex. There’s just one complication: Finn is now dating Cass.

Now, it’s the last week of summer and Zoey, Cass and Finn are setting out on the road trip of a lifetime to see their favourite musician, Gray, perform live, joined by Finn’s infuriatingly attractive bad-boy cousin Luc and his vibrant younger sister Jolie. Zoey thinks this is her chance to put things to rights and convince Finn they should get back together. But she wasn’t counting on her friends’ lingering resentment, Luc’s disarming sincerity, and Jolie’s infectious love for life to turn her plans upside down.

This emotional coming-of-age story will resonate with anyone who’s ever messed up, fallen in love, or taken off on an adventure.

The Last Days of Us:

I received an arc The Last Days of Us by Beck Nicholas from Harlequin Teen Australia for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

When I picked The Last Days of Us up I was expecting it to be a fun summer read. What I wasn’t expecting was to be pulled on an adventure, have my heart torn to threads and really enjoy this #LoveOzYA.

Six months before the book started, Zoey’s life was turned upside down. With the sudden death of her brother, she pulled away from her friend Cass, and now ex Finn. Zoey let alcohol and parties take over her life. But when she finally hits the point of no going back – Zoey knows she needs to stop. She needs to pull herself and her life together.

But now Cass and Finn are dating and all three are about to go on a road trip of a lifetime. Along with Finn’s cousin Luc and Jolie, well it’s about to get interesting.

Overall, I enjoyed Zoey as a protagonist in The Last Days of Us. She has been through a lot and I understood why she let alcohol and parties take over. She just lost her brother and hell that would hurt. But, I also liked how she is now trying to fix her mistakes. But sometimes that can’t happen.

Seeing Zoey try so hard to fix things and it just not work out really did break my heart. However, I didn’t like Zoey’s attitude towards a lot of this. I felt that she thought she was entitled to be forgiven and that just didn’t sit right with me. Also at times, Zoey’s voice felt much younger than she was and again that made her sound winey and like she was complaining all the time.

Cass and Finn – were pretty crap friends. I know that Zoey pushed them away, but she had just lost her brother. And the fact that her best friend and boyfriend found comfort in one another instead of trying to help her as much as they could. It wasn’t just then though. Throughout the whole of The Last Days of Us, I felt that they just resented Zoey and put so much pressure on her.

While her friendship with Cass and Finn weren’t partially great. I loved the friendships that she does build between Luc and Jolie. While the book wasn’t set over a great amount of time – I really enjoyed seeing the bond between Jolie and Zoey. But then it was also heartbreaking.

While there were aspects of characters that I didn’t really like – the emotions that The Last Days of Us carries was wow. While the whole book was emotional, the last half or so really torn at me. It was heartbreaking, heartwrenching and made me cry like a baby. I loved the raw emotions that The Last Days of Us and Beck Nicholas brought to the table.

Although I really enjoyed the book as a whole. I felt that the ending was kind of rushed and wrapped up too quickly.

Overall, The Last Days of Us was a raw and emotional read. It tells a story of death and grief. What it’s like to lose someone at a young age and have your whole life change. It’s about friendship, family, and the good and bad. The Last Days of Us explores life at it’s best and worse.

Have you read The Last Days of Us by Beck Nicholas? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? Have you read anything else by Beck Nicholas? Let’s Chat!

Book Review: Magnus Chase and The Ship of the Dead

Nov 9, 2017

The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan

Pages: 456
Publish date: October 3rd, 2017
Publisher: Penguin Australia
ISBN: 9780141342597
Purchase: Book Depository– Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Loki the trickster god is free from his chains. Now he’s readying Naglfar, the Ship of the Dead, armed with a host of giants and zombies, to sail against the Norse gods and begin the final battle of Ragnarok. It’s up to Magnus Chase and his friends to stop Loki’s plans, but to do so they will have to sail across the oceans of Midgard, Jotunheim and Niflheim in a desperate race to reach Naglfar before it’s ready to sail on Midsummer’s Day.

Along the way, they will face angry sea gods, hostile giants, and an evil fire-breathing dragon who happens to be a former acquaintance. But Magnus’s biggest challenge will be facing his own inner demons. To defeat Loki, Magnus will need to use words, not force. This will require finding a magical elixir so deadly that it will either make Magnus Chase powerful enough to out-talk the silver-tongued Loki, or destroy Magnus utterly

The Ship of the Dead

I received a free copy of The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan for review from Penguin Teen Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This review will contain spoilers from The Sword of Summer and The Hammer of Thor.

I’ve loved reading Rich Riordan’s books for years – and now because I work in a bookshop I try and recommend it as much as I can. The Magnus Chase series has to be one of my favourites – it’s full of diversity, adventure and breaks my heart at the same time. You can check out my reviews of The Sword of Summer and The Hammer of Thor. I loved them both, so when I started reading The Ship of the Dead, I was excited and I wasn’t disappointed.

The Ship of the Dead made my heart fill up so much. I loved seeing how much the characters have grown throughout the whole series. I loved seeing characters find themselves – find out who they are. It’s one of my favourite aspects of young adult books – characters finding themselves. Going on that journey as a young adult when life seems shit – but in the end, you find out things that you never knew.

The Ship of the Dead follows Magnus Chase and his fellow crew on a journey to save the world from Loki and Ragnarok. Everyone comes together to travel the seas and try to attempt to stop Loki – again. It’s really nice seeing everyone come together – sort of their differences and save the world.

The Sword of Summer – is the classic Hero’s Journey arc and I really loved seeing it in the setting that is based on myths. It’s very different to other YA books hero journey’s and I loved it. This series also sparked my interest in Norse Mythology, which I didn’t know a lot about before.

I loved Magnus in The Ship of the Dead. Like I said before he really finds himself in this one and I loved seeing it. Throughout the whole series, the reader is able to see Magnus struggle with finding himself, coming to terms with his death and many other elements of his life. It was hard to see him struggle, but it was also realistic. The reader is able to see a character in fantasy esq world – struggle with who they are.

Again Alex was fantastic in The Ship of the Dead. Like Magnus, Alex sometimes struggles with who they are and it hurts my heart. Alex uses this front to hide away from that and we see it fall in The Ship of the Dead. The reader is really able to see Alex in this last book – before they were hidden away and throughout the whole book, the mask falls.

I could talk about this book for some time – but I’ll stop here. If you haven’t picked up a Rick Riordan book, please do. They are fantastic and you can really see him grow both as an author and as a person throughout all of his books

Overall, I loved this ending to another fantastic series from Rick Riordan. The Ship fo the Dead was intense, a little crazy at times and put a smile on my face. I let a few tears fall at the ending because my heart is weak okay. It was just really nice to see. The Ship of the Dead explores the notion of family and finding yourself. It’s about more than blood and loyalty at it’s highest. If you love mythology, diversity, and an adventure of a lifetime – this series is for you.

Book Tour: Ride Wild by Laura Kaye | Book Review

Nov 3, 2017

Ride Wild by Laura Wild

Pages: 384
Publish date: October 31st 2017
Publisher: Avon
ISBN: 9780062403407
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Wild with grief over the death of his wife, Sam “Slider” Evans merely lives for his two sons. Nothing holds his interest anymore—not even riding his bike or his membership in the Raven Riders Motorcycle Club. But that all changes when he hires a new babysitter.

Recently freed from a bad situation by the Ravens, Cora Campbell is determined to bury the past. When Slider offers her a nanny position, she accepts, needing the security and time to figure out what she wants from life. Cora adores his sweet boys, but never expected the red-hot attraction to their brooding, sexy father. If only he would notice her…

Slider does see the beautiful, fun-loving woman he invited into his home. She makes him feel too much, and he both hates it and yearns for it. But when Cora witnesses something she shouldn’t have, the new lives they’ve only just discovered are threatened. Now Slider must claim—and protect—what’s his before it’s too late.

Ride Wild:

I received an e-arc of Ride Wild by Laura Wild from InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

Last week I shared my thoughts on Ride Hard and Ride Rough, the first two books in the Raven Riders series. Overall I really enjoyed both books, and I was so excited to pick up Ride Wild for many reasons. I’ve wanted to hear Cora’s story since we meet her in Ride Hard, then I wanted to hear Sliders story whom we really didn’t know much about. And finally – Slider has two young boys and that always warms my heart.

Ride Wild follows Cora as begins to bury her past and find a new life with the Raven Riders. She has a job looking after Slider’s boys and she wants to find a volunteer position at the local pet rescue. And when she has the opportunity to become a nanny full-time, she wants to take it.

Slider grief over the death of his wife has taken over his life. He wants to do nothing but look after his boys. He is trapped in this cycle, but when Cora comes to stay, his walls start to break. Not only is she changing his boys, but also himself. And then Cora gets into trouble, and Slider will stop at nothing to protect her and his boys.

I loved this story so much that I was able to read it in a couple of hours. The storyline was intriguing and the romance was adorable and steamy at the same time. And let’s not forget how much I love Slider and his boys; Sam and Bean…I mean Ben.

Cora was such an interesting protagonist. The reader has known her for a couple of books now – but we only know her as others see her. So it was really nice to see her in a different light. As a protagonist of Ride Wild – she is very closed off. She keeps a lot to herself and the past that she lived is very hidden. But as the novel goes on and Slider and boys break down her walls – we see a different side of her. One of my favourite things about Cora was how good she was with Sam and Ben. They adore her and I think that she adores them as well.

Slider was a hard shell to uncover, even for Cora. It was really hard being in his head at times because of all the grief, guilt and anger that he holds. But like Cora, as the novel goes on, his walls are broken. And the reader is able to see a side of Slider that only his brothers; the Raven Riders know. My heart was filled was so much happiness when Slider interacted with Sam and Bean – like oh gosh, so damn cute.

Slider and Cora together are just a match made for me. They are both dealing with personal things and keep it to themselves. But, as they come together and get to know each other, they both start to break down. They both share secrets with one another and the reader is able to see them bond. Plus they do have one more thing in common – they both care deeply for Sam and Ben. It was really nice seeing the different perspectives of each other when they were looking after the little ones.

There were so many adorable moments throughout the whole book that I was unable to keep the smile off my face. The way that Sam and Ben adored Cora and their father just hit me in the right spots. But, also the moments between Cora and Haven, as well as Slider and the Raven Riders. They were just one big happy family.

And continuing with that, they will do anything for each other. So when Cora falls into trouble, they are all there. Ride Wild was probably one of the most intense books out of the series, but it worked so well. And man that ending!

Overall, Ride Wild was such a good read. It may not be the best book out there, but over the last couple of months, I have been reading more romance. And I loved it. I adored the relationship between Slider and Cora. And I couldn’t forget about the boys. It’s an intense, sexy and adorable read that you can sit down and enjoy. There are times you might cry and want to hug everyone. But, Ride Wild also puts a smile on your face.

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About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty books in contemporary and paranormal romance and romantic suspense, including the Hard Ink and upcoming Raven Riders series. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.