Cindy

Review/ Miss Ellicott’s School for the Magically Minded

Posted on November 1, 2018October 25, 2018 by Cindy

Miss Ellicott's School for the Magically Minded by Sage Blackwood
Published by Katherine Tegen Books on March 21, 2017
Pages: 368
Goodreads

Chantel would much rather focus on her magic than on curtsying, which is why she often finds herself in trouble at Miss Ellicott’s School for Magical Maidens. But when Miss Ellicott mysteriously disappears along with all the other sorceresses in the city, Chantel’s behavior becomes the least of her problems.
Without any magic protecting the city, it is up to Chantel and her friends to save the Kingdom. On a dangerous mission, Chantel will discover a crossbow-wielding boy, a dragon, and a new, fiery magic that burns inside her—but can she find the sorceresses and transform Lightning Pass into the city it was meant to be?

I was looking forward to reading this novel for quite a while. I’d pick it up and place it back on my shelf. I wanted to bask in the delight I was expecting to feel when I read this story. However, my anticipation fell short.

I thought this story had the makings of something fantastic: a school for girls where magic is taught, kingdoms, snakes, and wizards to contend with. Yet, I couldn’t get into the story. Let me back track a little.

The story starts with a bang. It is fast paced and full of excitement, however, I felt like I was starting to read the story in the middle of a book rather than at the beginning of one. I checked twice to see if I was reading the sequel of this story, figuring that I had missed the ending of the first book. Frustrated with the opening, I read on.

The main character is a strong and bold young woman who stands up for herself. This is counter to the school’s training and causes many problems for her. However, her personality and gumption is what is needed to pass the tests and make it to the end of the book. As much as these qualities make for a great and powerful main character, I couldn’t relate to her. I also felt that too much was going on without really understanding what it is that was happening. I felt like I was reading in a whirlwind.

Perhaps, it is I who didn’t get the story. Maybe I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to read this adventure. I’d love to hear from anyone who has read it and let me know what you think. I do give books a second chance and I will be re-reading it. Maybe my opinion of it will change. Presently, I was disappointed with the story.

Hello November

Posted on November 1, 2018August 8, 2018 by Cindy

PicturesCafe

Can’t Wait Wednesday

Posted on October 31, 2018October 24, 2018 by Cindy

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here, at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

If you’d like to join in, you can use the image above, the one below, or make your own. Please link back to Wishful Endings in your post and also add it to the linky widget posted each week so we all can come see what you’re excited about. If you’re continuing with the Waiting on Wednesday feature, feel free to link those up as well!

ABOUT

A bold, heartfelt tale of life at Green Gables . . . before Anne: A marvelously entertaining and moving historical novel, set in rural Prince Edward Island in the nineteenth century, that imagines the young life of spinster Marilla Cuthbert, and the choices that will open her life to the possibility of heartbreak—and unimaginable greatness.

Plucky and ambitious, Marilla Cuthbert is thirteen years old when her world is turned upside down. Her beloved mother dies in childbirth, and Marilla suddenly must bear the responsibilities of a farm wife: cooking, sewing, keeping house, and overseeing the day-to-day life of Green Gables with her brother, Matthew and father, Hugh.

In Avonlea—a small, tight-knit farming town on a remote island—life holds few options for farm girls. Her one connection to the wider world is Aunt Elizabeth “Izzy” Johnson, her mother’s sister, who managed to escape from Avonlea to the bustling city of St. Catharines. An opinionated spinster, Aunt Izzy’s talent as a seamstress has allowed her to build a thriving business and make her own way in the world.

Emboldened by her aunt, Marilla dares to venture beyond the safety of Green Gables and discovers new friends and new opportunities. Joining the Ladies Aid Society, she raises funds for an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity in nearby Nova Scotia that secretly serves as a way station for runaway slaves from America. Her budding romance with John Blythe, the charming son of a neighbor, offers her a possibility of future happiness—Marilla is in no rush to trade one farm life for another. She soon finds herself caught up in the dangerous work of politics, and abolition—jeopardizing all she cherishes, including her bond with her dearest John Blythe. Now Marilla must face a reckoning between her dreams of making a difference in the wider world and the small-town reality of life at Green Gables.

Blog Tour/ Words We Don’t Say

Posted on October 30, 2018October 6, 2018 by Cindy

About the Book:

Title: WORDS WE DON’T SAY

Author: K.J. Reilly

Pub. Date: October 2, 2018

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Joel Higgins has 901 unsent text messages saved on his phone.

Ever since the thing that happened, there are certain people he hasn’t been able to talk to in person. Sure, he shows up at school, does his mandatory volunteer hours at the soup kitchen, and spends pretty much every moment thinking about Eli, the most amazing girl in the world. But that doesn’t mean he’s keeping it together, or even that he has any friends.

So instead of hanging out with people in real life, he drafts text messages. But he never presses send.

As dismal as sophomore year was for Joel, he doesn’t see how junior year will be any better. For starters, Eli doesn’t know how he feels about her, his best friend Andy’s gone, and he basically bombed the SATs. But as Joel spends more time at the soup kitchen with Eli and Benj, the new kid whose mouth seems to be unconnected to his brain, he forms bonds with the people they serve there-including a veteran they call Rooster-and begins to understand that the world is bigger than his own pain.

About K.J.:

I am the author of the (contemporary social issue) Young Adult book, Words We Don’t Say (Disney Hyperion Oct 2, 2018).

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a finished copy of WORDS WE DON’T SAY, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/8/2018- BookHounds YA– Excerpt

10/9/2018- Utopia State of Mind– Review

10/10/2018- Here’s to Happy Endings– Review

10/11/2018- Abellafairytale– Review

10/12/2018- Do You Dog-ear?– Review

Week Two:

10/15/2018- YA Books Central– Excerpt

10/16/2018- The Pages In-Between– Review

10/17/2018- A Dream Within A Dream– Excerpt

10/18/2018- Book-Keeping– Review

10/19/2018- Beware Of The Reader– Review

Week Three:

10/22/2018- Rainy Day Reviews– Excerpt

10/23/2018- Moonlight Rendezvous– Review

10/24/2018- The Cover Contessa– Review

10/25/2018- Jena Brown Writes– Review

10/26/2018- A Fictional Bookworm– Review

Week Four:

10/29/2018- PopTheButterfly Reads– Review

10/30/2018- Cindy’s Love of Books– Review

10/31/2018- The Desert Bibliophile– Review

11/1/2018- Trendy Simple Life– Review

11/2/2018- Patriotic Bookaholic– Review

Week Five:

11/5/2018- Coffee, Books and Cakes– Review

11/6/2018- Savings in Seconds– Review

11/7/2018- Novel Novice– Excerpt

11/8/2018- For the Love of KidLit– Spotlight

11/9/2018- Two points of interest– Review

Review/ Words We Don’t Say

Posted on October 30, 2018October 28, 2018 by Cindy

About the Book:

Title: WORDS WE DON’T SAY
Author: K.J. Reilly
Pub. Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Pages: 288

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD

Joel Higgins has 901 unsent text messages saved on his phone.

Ever since the thing that happened, there are certain people he hasn’t been able to talk to in person. Sure, he shows up at school, does his mandatory volunteer hours at the soup kitchen, and spends pretty much every moment thinking about Eli, the most amazing girl in the world. But that doesn’t mean he’s keeping it together, or even that he has any friends.

So instead of hanging out with people in real life, he drafts text messages. But he never presses send.

As dismal as sophomore year was for Joel, he doesn’t see how junior year will be any better. For starters, Eli doesn’t know how he feels about her, his best friend Andy’s gone, and he basically bombed the SATs. But as Joel spends more time at the soup kitchen with Eli and Benj, the new kid whose mouth seems to be unconnected to his brain, he forms bonds with the people they serve there-including a veteran they call Rooster-and begins to understand that the world is bigger than his own pain.

Before I begin my review I quickly have to thank Rockstar Book Tour for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour and to Disney Hyperion for sending me a eArc of the book to read for my review today.

Words We Don’t Say is a debut novel about a teenage boy named Joel who is struggling over an incident that happened to him. He is struggling to move on and to be open with people. As the story progress you begin to discover what happened as its told through his point of view.

On the advise of his psychiatrist to start keeping a journal he decides that he would rather use text messaging but instead of sending the text he saves them all. The texts are to Andy (his best friend), Eli (the girl he likes) and the principal of the school. Through these text messages you can see the struggles he is going through.

The story mostly takes place at a soup kitchen where Joel has to do mandatory volunteer hours for school with Eli. Its through this that Joel realizes so much about the people who have to use it such as Rooster who is a PTSD suffering veteran who doesn’t speak but Joel takes a liking to him. He realizes through is actions of kindness that he can get through to him with patience. Its when he gives Joel a gun and a badge that things get crazy and exciting to read.

From there on things get interesting and I had a hard time putting the book down and pretty much read it in one sitting.

This book covers so many things that are going on in the world today and its nice to see someone bring them to light. We definitely need more books like this for our young people to read.

A Few Upcoming Spring & Summer Titles to get Excited About

Posted on October 29, 2018October 26, 2018 by Cindy

This week I got a email from Sourcebooks Fire talking about some Spring/Summer 2019 books coming out that have got me really excited and I thought I would share a few of the titles that I have added to my ever growing TBR list.

The Last 8

Extinction was just the beginning in this thrilling, postapocalyptic debut, perfect for fans of the 5th Wave series

Clover Martinez has always been a survivor, which is the reason she isn’t among the dead when aliens invade and destroy Earth as she knows it.

Then, in the former Area 51, she finds signs of life: a band of misfits called the Last Teenagers on Earth.

Only they aren’t the ragtag group of heroes Clover was expecting. While they only try to survive, Clover is determined to fight back…

Available March 2019

The Lost

Saw meets Pretty Little Liars in the riveting new novel from the Queen of YA Thrillers, Natasha Preston

In the small town of Aurora, teens go missing all the time. Most people dismiss these as runaway cases, but Piper and Hazel know the reality is much more sinister, so they decide to uncover the truth.

While investigating, the girls are kidnapped and locked in a remote building where every room is a test in survival. And failure…means death.

Available April 2019

Kingsbane (The Empirium Trilogy)

In the follow-up to Furyborn, the instant New York Times bestseller, Rielle is tasked with proving to the people that she is unequivocally loyal to the crown. She’s also attempting to secretly close the gate to the angels and avoid the devious angel Corien, who haunts her dreams.

In the future, Eliana must figure out how to bring down the empire. But as she continues on her quest, she discovers truths about the past and the angels that will lead her down a dark and devastating path…perhaps to the Blood Queen herself.

Available May 2019

Sunday’s In Bed With…

Posted on October 28, 2018October 28, 2018 by Cindy

This is being hosted by two of the sweetest people I have the privilege of knowing in real life, Kate and Kim. Sadly we don’t talk like we use to because you know real life happens but there is not a day that goes by that I don’t think of them both.

Its hard to believe its that time of the week again. Where is the time going?

I am hoping that I am able to spend a little bit of time reading this morning before we have to head out to another CEGEP open house. This one is in down town Montreal and its a little but further then the one we went to last weekend.

I am currently reading The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig for a upcoming blog tour this week

Up next is the following books for book tours as well:

Read this past week:

What did you read this past week and what are you reading this week?