Angel Reads

30 Apr

Books I Loved In April

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I have been in a little reading slump the last month or so. I think because I have just been so busy that when I have a break I want to sleep or rest. Between uni, my new internship, work and my health, life is a little crazy. But I have had a couple of weeks left of uni and the internship and then I can have a nice break and hopefully catch up on reading.

In saying that I thought I would share some of the books that I loved reading in April. I only read 2 books in April and I loved them both! So that’s good right. I am hoping to read a couple more books in May then I did this month. I am still way ahead of my Goodreads goal and I hope that it stays that way.

The Birthday List by Devney Perry: My list of read romance books is getting quite big now. I really enjoyed The Birthday List, it was an emotional read by far. There were so many times that I just crying, but it was also really beautiful. I loved that the romance was slow burning and just worked so well. My full review will be up soon.

Lie to Me by Natasha Preston: Such a different from The Birthday List, but still bought out so many emotions. Lie to Me explores the notion of what it’s like to be family and shows that blood isn’t everything. another romance that I really enjoyed and while it was much more fast-paced, it still was really beautiful. The protagonists are very different to one another, but they seem to balance each other nicely. My full review will be up very soon.

And that is it for April! What are some of the books that you loved reading in April? What is your most anticipated book for May? Let’s Chat!

21 Apr

Book Review: The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews 1 Comment

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Pages: 434
Publish date: February 8, 2018
Publisher: Hachette
ISBN: 9781473223967
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful.

But it’s not enough for Camellia to be just a Belle. She wants to be the favorite—the Belle chosen by the Queen of Orléans to live in the royal palace, to tend to the royal family and their court, to be recognized as the most talented Belle in the land. But once Camellia and her Belle sisters arrive at court, it becomes clear that being the favourite is not everything she always dreamed it would be. Behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that the very essence of her existence is a lie—that her powers are far greater, and could be more dangerous than she ever imagined. And when the queen asks Camellia to risk her own life and help the ailing princess by using Belle powers in unintended ways, Camellia now faces an impossible decision.

With the future of Orléans and its people at stake, Camellia must decide—save herself and her sisters and the way of the Belles—or resuscitate the princess, risk her own life, and change the ways of her world forever.

The Belles:

I received a copy of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton from Hachette in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I wasn’t really sure what if I was going to enjoy this one. I heard very different things, but after I received I decided to why not pick it up? And I am really glad I did.

In a world where everyone is grey and made beautiful only by the belles, it’s bound to get a little crazy. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton follows Camellia Beauregard who has been trained from birth to be a Belle. But Camellia doesn’t want to be just any Belle, just wants to be the favourite. The one that the Queen of Orléans chooses to live with the royal family.

But when Camellia and her sisters arrive at court, it’s nothing like they expected. The dark, power hunger nature of court-life starts to unravel and everything that Camellia seems to know is a lie. She must decide if being the favourite is worth the risk. If everything that she ever wanted to worth her life, her sisters and the kingdoms.

I didn’t love Camellia at the start. I really did hate her. She was arrogant, thought that she was the best and the way that she spoke about people. It really didn’t sit well with me, but I was enjoying the plot so I pushed on. However, as the novel went on and Camellia started to grow, she did become a more likeable protagonist. I felt that Camellia not only started to understand herself but those around her as well, including the world that she lived in.

The world building in The Belles was a weird one. For the most part, I really enjoyed it. But there were some hiccups on the way. I thought the concept was really interesting. Everyone born the same and then they can choose how they look and can change it all the time. It brought out the best and worst in people. However, it also made a lot of the characters very vain. And that made it hard to like any of the characters.

Also, while I normally hate when an author info dumps about the world, I think that Dhonielle Clayton excelled in it. She did it in a way that just worked so well! I didn’t feel that everything was thrown at me, but I also feel that I had a good idea of the world before the book really started.

The plot is what really kept me going with The Belles. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Some parts were predictable and there was heaps of foreshadowing, but it worked for this novel. It worked with the characters and the world. Everything just blended together nicely. The ending definitely left me hanging and wanting more. And I will pick up the sequel for sure.

The romance aspect of The Belles – I don’t want to talk about it much and ruined a lot of the book. But I didn’t really like it. I couldn’t tell from the start that something was off and just wanted to yell at Camellia. However, I also see something else brewing and I hope that it works out.

Overall, I enjoyed The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. It was an interesting read where the world is full of people that are vain to the core. I really enjoyed the plot and that is what really kept me going. Camellia isn’t my favourite protagonist, but as the novel went on, she did become more bearable. I am really excited to see where the story is taken and what’s going to happen next.

Have you read The Belles? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading the rest of the series? Let’s Chat!

12 Apr

TV Review | Shadowhunters 3×03 & 3×04

Posted by angelreads Season 3, Shadowhunters, TV Series Reviews No Comments

Shadowhunters: Season 3 Episode 3

Episode Name: What Lies Within
Release date: 03 April 2018
Running Time: 42 minutes
Starring Katherine McNamara, Dominic Sherwood, Alberto Rosende, Matthew Daddario, Emeraude Toubia, Isaiah Mustafa, Harry Shum Jr.
Directed By: Amanda Row
Watch: Freeform (US) – Netflix (Worldwide)
Episode Reviews: Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3

The Shadowhunters try to track down the new imposing threat, while Jace has a suspicion that Jonathan is back and behind the mundane attacks.

Simon tries to figure out what The Seelie Queen did to him during his time in the glade.

Alec decides to host a Lightwood family dinner at Magnus’ house after a surprising visit from Maryse.

What Lies Within:

I was too sick last week to get my review up for episode 3, so today I thought I would share my review of episodes 3 and 4.

What Lies Within brought a lot of secrets both out in the open and some left answered. It was filled with highs and lows for many of our characters and really got the ball rolling for Jace this week.

Clary, Jace and Izzy all try to track down The Owl who is taking mundanes and the cause of deaths of more. It was really great to see some more Shadowhunter fight scenes in action. Especially with Clary and Izzy. I love how they work together and bring some women power to the action scenes.

It’s one of the best things that Shadowhunters has done well. Female empowerment. I love seeing the girls standing up for themselves. Not getting a man to save. And when Clary and Izzy team up – hell it’s a scene.

Jace had some trouble in this episode – he is still not sleeping, he thinks that Jonathan is still alive and is The Owl. It was really hard seeing Jace struggle through this episode. I know and understand what is happening to him, but it still hurts right?

Meanwhile, Simon is still trying to figure out what the Seelie Queen has done to him. I can’t remember if I said it before, but I am still not sure how I feel about how they have done everything with the Mark of Cain. But, I am going along with it. I am sure they have changed things for a reason and I cannot wait to know why. It’s the Seelie Queen we are talking about, she doesn’t do things for people for no reason.

Also, Alec decides to hold the Lightwood family dinner at Magnus’ house. It was different to see Alec ‘domestic’ in this episode. We are so used to him being a Shadowhunter, head of the institute. So it was nice to see him act nervous and shy at times. Again I adored the banter and relationship between Alec and Magnus.

It was nice to see Maryse again, even though she didn’t have great news. But it was nice like Alec to see a different side of Maryse, especially with Alec and Magnus.

Overall, What Lies Within was an entertaining episode, at times I was waiting for more and it didn’t really happen. Probably my least favourite episode of the season so far. In saying that, the last couple of seconds! It’s going down.

Shadowhunters: Season 3 Episode 4

Episode Name: Thy Soul Instructed
Release date: 10 April 2018
Running Time: 42 minutes
Starring Katherine McNamara, Dominic Sherwood, Alberto Rosende, Matthew Daddario, Emeraude Toubia, Isaiah Mustafa, Harry Shum Jr.
Directed By: Emile Levisetti
Watch: Freeform (US) – Netflix (Worldwide)
Episode Reviews: Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3

Jace’s concerns grow about his mental state and turns to Luke for information on his family’s past.

Clary and Izzy go after a rogue vampire, while Raphel lands himself in trouble.

While Simon hunts for a new apartment. And Alec doubles his efforts to find the Owl.

Thy Soul Instructed:

Now, this was an interesting episode. Throughout the whole episode, I was kept on the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. Especially cause of how episode 3 ended.

Thy Soul Instructed was a really interesting episode, they again gave us answer to questions, but then left the audience hanging for more. Jace thinks he is going crazy, Clary and Izzy try and find a Vampire on the loose while Simon tries to find a new place to live.

This week Jace knew that he was struggling. He hadn’t had the faintest clue of where he had been and can’t remember what he was doing. When Alec reminds Jace of a family history with mental illness, Jace goes to Luke for both support and some insight on what really happened.

It was nice to see Luke and Jace talk about the past. And for Jace to know a little bit more about his birth parents. He doesn’t know much about them so it was great to see Luke reminisce and for Jace to take in.

It’s a wired thing, we know what is happening to Jace, the audience is the only one. And it’s so interesting to see the hints, the little things that could help Jace or anyone figure it out, and it goes unnoticed.

After some incidents with the werewolves, Simon is in need of somewhere to live and it’s going to be hard. He’s a vampire that needs blood to survive, he doesn’t really have much money and he can’t get a job. But then he runs into a familiar character.

Episode 4 is when we first meet Kyle – or by another name if you have read the books 😉 – It was really cool to see him and while I don’t particularly like him as a character, things are about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Alec is also doing everything that he can to catch The Owl, but it’s always one step ahead of him and when he doesn’t even know what it is or what it wants – it’s going to be hard. Lucky he has Magnus to help him out.

Overall, I really enjoyed episode 4. It’s really starting to bring things together and everything is getting even more interesting. Have no idea what’s going to happen next.

Have you watched the last 2 episodes? What did you think? Are you ready for what is going to happnen next? Let’s Chat!