Angel Reads

22 Jan

Book Review: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews 3 Comments

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Pages: 384
Publish date: January 2, 2018
Publisher: Hot Key Books (Allen and Unwin)
ISBN: 9781471407031
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

The Cruel Prince:

I received an arc of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black from Allen and Unwin in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I’ve only read a couple of Holly Black’s books before picking up The Cruel Prince and while I enjoy the books before, I adored The Cruel Prince. From the very first page, I was entranced with the fae world that Holly created. Second, guessing everything and not knowing what was going to happen next. I’m not sure if my review will do this book justice.

The Cruel Prince follows protagonist Jude ten years after she and her sisters witness their parents murder, kidnapped and taken to the fae world. Now they live in the High Court of Faerie and in a world that doesn’t accept them. Jude doesn’t fit into the fae world and the fey don’t let her forget it. With the current King ready to step down, things are about to get more dangerous in the world that Jude lives.

One of my favourite things about The Cruel Prince was Jude. While she isn’t the most likeable protagonist out there, her voice and perseverance – just made the book. Jude is such an interesting protagonist and like most characters in the book, you don’t know what to believe. She has gone through a lot. Her parents were murdered in front of her, she lives with the murdered and is taken to a foreign world.

Her strength was a really big theme of the whole book. I loved seeing Jude stand up and be strong, no matter what was throw at her. And gosh she was pushed hard. At times it was really hard to read some of the things that Jude went through. What got me through it was Jude herself. I loved seeing another strong female character not only be challenged physically but mentally.

Jude’s family. There isn’t much I can say here without spoiling anything. But what I hoped wouldn’t happen did and that broke my heart. You can see that Jude does care for her sisters and what went down was so damn hard. It’s also a really interesting concept of family. She has her sisters, yes. However, she also lives with the man that killed her parents. It was intriguing to see the dynamic of this.

The Cruel Prince is filled with unreliable characters and it was fantastic! Seriously, I didn’t know what was going to happen next, because I didn’t know who to trust. Holly Black made her characters do things that I thought she would never do. You think one character is your friend and then bam! It’s not something that you get in YA and it was different to see.

Another thing that I loved about The Cruel Prince was the world. It’s fantastic and pulls your right in. Holly Black created a lot of layers in this world, with the basics of fae laws. I really enjoy that as it’s a great way to compare and contrast to other fae worlds. While at the start of The Cruel Prince it took me a little to get into the world, it wasn’t long before I was in love.

As I’ve said before, I had no idea what was going to happen throughout The Cruel Prince. You think something is going to happen and then it doesn’t. Then you think ‘oh she won’t do this’ and it does. It takes you on a world wind of emotions.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Cruel Prince. It’s addicting, dark and messes with your emotions. It’s a world of court intrigue and the conflict between fae and humans. It explores the notion of being human and the emotions that come with it. It’s fast-paced with many twists and turns that throw you off. The Cruel Prince has set up a fantastic new series for Holly Black.

16 Jan

2018 Bookish and Blogging Goals

Posted by angelreads Features, Top Ten Tuesday 5 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. Each week they post a new Top Ten list that members at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone join as you please. This week’s topic is Bookish Resolutions/Goals.

While I don’t like setting major goals for myself. Little goals are great. They keep me motivated and wanting to strive for more. So today I thought I would share my bookish and blogging goals for 2018.

Bookish Goals

Read More Adult: In 2017 I read a whole lot of romance. And I loved it. And in 2018 I really want to read more adult books, from fantasy to crime fiction. I love my YA – but I work in a bookstore and reading adult fiction would really help me a whole lot more.

Read More Widely: This is connected to the above goal. While I do want to read more adult, I also want to read more widely. I want to read more nonfiction, historical, and things that I would not normally turn to.

Read Over 100 books: In 2017 I read over 170 books, and I really hope that in 2018 I can reach over 100 again. I love reading so many books and it makes me so happy when I reach 100 books.

Finish More Series: Another thing that I would really love to do in 2018 is finish more series. Obviously not the ones that are still going. But those that I have started and have been completed. The Darker Shade of Magic trilogy for example.

Reduce my TBR: This is probably the one that’s most likely not going to happen. Or it will and then I will buy more books. I was doing really well book buying last year, and then I started my job and it went out the window. So I would really love to create a dint in the books that I have this year.

Blogging Goals

Be Consistent: One of the things that I really struggled with, in 2017 on the blog was consistency. And while it wasn’t my fault as health and life got in the way. I really want to be more consistent in 2018. I want to have 2-3 posts a week, every week. I’ve been pretty good so far this year and I want to stand by that.

Interact More: At the end of 2017, I really lacked in both blogging and interacting with readers. But I really want to build that again this year. Not only does it help my blog, but I will also find out about new books, and read about others’ thoughts on books I love and dislike.

Take More Photos: Another thing I lacked in 2017 was photos. While I did take a lot of photos of my books. It wasn’t enough. My Instagram lacked and I just want it to look nice and pretty. Hopefully, I can take more in 2018.

Find New Bloggers: Along with interacting more with blogs, I really want to find new bloggers this year. And that’s why I love things like TTT. It’s a way to find new blogs that might become my favourite.

And that is it for this post! What are your bookish goals for 2018? Do we share any that’s the same? Let’s Chat!

13 Jan

Book Review: The Treatment by C.L. Taylor

Posted by angelreads Book Reviews No Comments

The Treatment by C.L. Taylor

Pages: 299
Publish date: October 22, 2017
Publisher: HQ Australia Teen
ISBN: 9780008240561
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – QBD

“You have to help me. We’re not being reformed. We’re being brainwashed.”
All sixteen-year-old Drew Finch wants is to be left alone. She’s not interested in spending time with her mum and stepdad and when her disruptive fifteen-year-old brother Mason is expelled from school for the third time and sent to a residential reform academy she’s almost relieved.Everything changes when she’s followed home from school by the mysterious Dr Cobey, who claims to have a message from Mason. There is something sinister about the ‘treatment’ he is undergoing. The school is changing people.Determined to help her brother, Drew must infiltrate the Academy and unearth its deepest, darkest secrets.Before it’s too late.

The Treatment:

I received an arc of The Treatment by C.L. Taylor from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

I am always up for reading a crime/mystery novel. I love the thrill of reading, not knowing what is going to happen next. Where something new could happen right around the corner. There aren’t many of those types of books in YA. And while The Treatment by C.L. Taylor wasn’t my favourite book out there, I still really enjoyed it.

The Treatment follows sixteen-year-old Drew as she tries to live her life without her younger brother Mason, who’s been sent to a reform school. But when she receives a message from him saying his in trouble, she will stop at nothing to save him. But how could she save Mason, when she can’t even save herself.

Drew was a hard character to get along with. For the main part I enjoyed her, however, throughout the novel, it was hard to like her. Drew wore her emotions on her sleeve and while that not be bad, it did get her into trouble a lot. Because of this attitude and her stubbornest, I felt that she got herself into situations that could have been prevented.

In saying that, I loved that Drew cared so much about her brother – and she would stop at nothing to save him. C.L. Taylor was able to show this love and that Drew would do some crazy things to get Mason back.

One of the things that The Treatment does have is girl on girl hate. I know a lot of people don’t like it in books. And while I don’t love it, I do think it’s necessary at times. Bullying and hate are very much present in this world and to shy away from that in books aren’t right. Readers need to know behaviours that are wrong and how they can hurt others. It also showed how horrible girls can be to one another.

The Treatment was an intense book. I didn’t really know what was going to happen next and it kept me reading on. While there were parts that I did guess, I was shocked by other things that happened. So that was really enjoyable.

It’s really hard to review this book without giving so much away, plot-wise. But it was really interesting to see the inside of a ‘reform school.’ Who was in there, what they did to change these teens? I liked seeing the interaction between these kids. And while they didn’t actually do horrible life threating things, it was interesting to see why they were there.

While I did enjoy the plot of the book, I wasn’t a massive fan of the writing style. I’m not sure what it was. Maybe it was Drew’s voice that didn’t sit with me well. But it did put a damper on the book and my enjoyment of it.

The ending of The Treatment also felt very rushed to me. It was like the reader was getting into the thick of things and then bam it’s the end. And while I don’t mind open endings, because of how rushed the last part of the book was. It didn’t feel complete. There were so many things left unanswered or brushed by.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Treatment by C.L. Taylor. It was an interesting and kept me on edge throughout the novel. The plot was gripping and I wanted to always know what was going to happen next. The Treatment explores family and what you would do for them. Corrupt systems and how not everything is how it seems. If you like intense, mystery novels then The Treatment is for you.

Have you read The Treatment by C.L. Taylor? What did you think of it? Are you planning on reading it? What are some of your favourite crime YA novels? Let’s Chat!