Bea Haunted by Joey Donaldson & Rachel "Tuna" Petrovicz Graphic Novel, Book Review

I first heard and actually bought this graphic novel on kickstarter (which I was quite fortunate this was funded completely and so the project actually came to fruition), I got a pin with it and was really happy to be able to support an indie work totally made and printed by the artists. 

It has a gorgeous cover and is filled with beautiful illustrations, the story begins with a flash back of events we aren't completely sure of what is happening she seems hurt and to have just gotten tattooed (is also containing a queer Sapphic romance), you follow Bea as she is an actress in theater. She works in a coffee shop and her bank account has just over 6 $ left in it, life isn't looking up for her so far and she is wondering what she is doing with her life. 

The story picks up when Bea falls on the ground due to slipping at work and a knife is about to kill her (as it is falling from the counter), at the same time she gets this beautiful vibrant woman as a costumer, as the knife is about to hit her a little blue ghost appears and saves her (the same ones as the ones on the cover of the graphic novel). As she hit her head, she believes she imagined it, she gets driven home and when she is alone after cooking, showering and doing her other daily stuff, she starts practicing for a play (theater play) and the ghost reappears, clapping for her. She is then followed around by the ghost and discovers, upon meeting the woman from the day before and seeing she has a bunch of varying colors of grey ghosts, that they appear and follow artists. She gets a tattoo that gathers them around faster, which makes her a better artist, but playing with forces that want to please you can sometimes become your nightmare as she discovers.

As her dreams start to come true and everything seems to be going perfectly, slowly things start to fall apart, she gets wrapped up in fame, forgetting those whom were there for her beforehand. This is a beautiful tale of what can happen when you forget to be thankful and want too much without putting the effort in as big consequences. 

I loved this graphic novel, though it unfortunately was not a five star. The only thing that made it not a five star was the fact that it felt like the ending got wrapped up too soon and it did not feel like a real ending. An amazing Halloween read ! I totally recommend it !!!

4/5 stars

Bookarina

Calypso's Heart by ARC Book Review

 

I received an ARC of the book and so thank you !

This was disappointing ? More so not everything I wanted exactly, a lot of the romance felt flat to me, it was not as captivating as I wished it had been. See I read a paranormal romance to be hooked on the main characters and their romance. This was not it...

I honestly preferred the side-characters, which is a big no-no in the romance world. The main characters should've been my favorite and the focus (with the storyline) of the book and they simply weren't. Rhyker the big bad, dark and handsome side-character was sooo captivating ! and Felix the cat soooo cute. BUT IT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO ( the cat I get, I love animals), but this is a paranormal romance, the main couple should've been my favorites !

It took me soooo long to actually get into the story, almost 50 % of the book, which is a tome by the way, over 600 pages ! so that was annoying and then it felt like the story was just going too slow, at least for me. I did enjoy the sex scenes they were pretty good, nicely written. I also feel that for such a ginormous paranormal romance, I did not get a lot of info overall about the world ? like where are the shifters ? where is THERE ? like I feel it could've benefited from more world building especially because it was so long !

Anyhow, not a bad book, but unfortunately not a series I will continue (maybe just Rhyker if he gets a book). Just an okay book.

3/5 stars

Bookarina

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab Book Review

 

This was one of my two Halloween day reads ! Second review at the end of the day !!!

I mostly read her adult work and so it was my first time reading her work that is targeted to a younger audience. 

It was nice and short, did I love it no, did I enjoy it YES. I am definitely a much bigger fan of her adult work, while I did enjoy this I can see younger kids loving and becoming obsessed with this. It felt like a detective paranormal unit type of adventure, haunted places/town and a girl who can see them. I really enjoyed the TV show aspect, because he parents started a TV show about haunted places and how she comes into her powers!   Cassidy was a lovely character to follow, this is the first book of a trilogy or series and so even at the end of this a lot is still left to be resolved and there are a lot of loose ends to tidy up in the next novels. Furthermore, in the novel we got a lot of funny moments, which made it extra amazing and as always great story telling from Schwab ! 

All in all this was a lovely book to read on Halloween and has all the spooky vibes I wanted without being scary. I highly recommend it for tweens and kids of 9 years old and older  !

3/5 stars

Bookarina

Vicious & Vengeful by V.E. Schwab Series Review

 

These are the first two novels in the Villains series. (These pictures are the UK hardcover ED.)

I am a huge fan of V.E. Schwab's adult work, I have not picked up the Songs of Verity duet, I loved the A Darker Shade of Magic Trilogy and so when I picked up these one's I was expecting great things, and I was not disappointed. 

For those who do not know, this story begins about Eli and Victor who are friends in university and decide to write a project about EO's (Extra Ordinaries) who they believe can be created by near death experiences. For example people getting strength as they were crushed by a car and moving it away by themselves. And so the story takes place on two timelines, the first as they are testing their theories on themselves and the second in the future years after the events when Victor escapes from prison for a crime we do not know. 

Personally I prefer the first book, Vicious, Victor and Eli are definitely two of my favourite characters ever. I loved to see how they went from friends to mortal enemies, the anti-heroes vibes and the way the story was told. I loved seeing them as friend and then reading about them in the future where we weren't exactly sure of what had happened between them. I love it when books have characters that are not just the good guy or the bad guy, I love the grey areas in characters and how the author manages to make sense and show the reasoning behind their actions. I love how this book felt like a puzzle. While the second installment was really entertaining it was missing that little something that made me addicted to the first one. 

Victor is definitely my favourite if I had to choose between him and Eli, he is cunning, not good but also doing good things that seem like bad things from an outside perspective. He feels like a reluctant hero, not a hero because of how he acts, but rather despite of it because his revenge will bring peace to the fake universe Eli has created this persona he shows people that makes them believe he is good when he is not. 

All in all, Vengeful was a good sequel to Vicious, not exactly as good as Vicious, but still an amazing work of art. These two novels are so beautifully written and complex. 

I cannot wait for the third book to come out, even though we have no idea when that will happen. 

Overall  from what is currently published in this series :  4.5/5 stars.

Vicious; 5/5 stars

Vengeful: 4.5/5 stars

Bookarina.

The Vicar and The Rake by Annabelle Greene ARC Book Review

Disclaimer : I received an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. 

                            This book was kindly sent to be by Harlequin: Carina Press ! 

This book is a MM romance between a Duke and a gentlemen who left his status in society behind him and taken a vow of celibacy even though he has never forgotten the pain of his first love who abandoned him. The story picks up when the gentlemen path crosses with the Duke who broke his heart and the flame that sparks between them has not dimmed at all. 

I love historical romances, there is something about certain era's, such as this one, that really tickle my fancy. Romances are always so proper in certain ways, the language is delightful and there is always this hidden banter and humor between the characters that have to be done in a particular manner as not to break the social class that the characters area part of. I love the primness of it all, the way a lot of things have a double meaning, and people are so passive aggressive because at the time, one always had to be so distinguished. 

Anyhow, let's get into the review. 

These books are normally some of my favourite the era is one of my most like romance periods with all the language used and the hidden meanings behind things. I wanted to love this, be obsessed with it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the case, the beginning was slow and then BAM it became too fast all in one page. Things never felt like they were progressing at the right pace, I did not care for the storyline, while the premise was good and I am a sucker for second chance romance. The main characters did not feel real, I did not feel one way or another towards what would and did happen to them... 

Anyhow, overall not a bad book just not an amazing book either. 

3/5⭐️

Bookarina

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (Stormlight Archive book 1) Book Review

 

This book was one of the most intimidating books on my TBR (to be read) pile, I have had it for years, the first two, then the third and now since the fourth book was coming out in November I decided to tackle it. 

I was not disappointed, I personally love slow fantasy when it is done the right way, like with Robin Hobb for example. To me the atmosphere and the world are just as important as the action, I love when I can truly see why a character is reacting certain ways, what motivated them to pursue certain course of actions, their thought process. What made them become who they are today. This is what I got in The Way of Kings and much more. 

My favorite character was definitely Kaladin, I loved his past and his point of view. I also loved Dalinar and Szeth, the two point of views which I did not enjoy the character but enjoyed learning more about the world were Jasnah and Shallan. I do hope that in the future we will learn something that will make me more empathetic towards them, but for now I really don't mind whether they live or die.   

The way this book is written is truly brilliant, at first a lot of information and point of views or excerpts from the past do not make sense. Little by little things are woven together in a seamless way, that doesn't make it as if it is impossible, but rather a logical conclusion based on the evidence they have uncovered. The world in this book is vast and complex, each region have their beliefs and way of acting everything feels natural rather info dumping which can often happen in such big fantasies with so many cultures in it. While there isn't much happening for the first half of the book as we discover the world, it isn't boring, it felt like learning about a new country nobody had discovered before, following people as they unravel things. 

I loved every second of this reading experience and I highly recommend this 1001 pages mammoth of a book. I cannot wait to read the rest of this series (even though they keep getting bigger) as the world gets richer and the plot more complex. 

5/5 stars 

Bookarina