Blog Tour: Dumplin Review

Dumplin'
Author: Julie Murphy
Publication Date: January 28th 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

Where do I even start with Dumplin’? WHERE DO I START, HUH BOOK? HUH?! So I guess firstly I’ll start with, OH DEAR LORD, I WANT A BO. Please? I’m not above begging. At all. Nope. Secondly, I have a confession to make, I love Dolly Parton, okay? Thirdly, you can probably tell I loved Dumplin by the crazy, yes? Because I did, and it is so much more than what you might think it is.

Cover Reveal: The Map of Bones by Francesca Haig #mapofbones

You've all seen the UK cover of The Fire Sermon, right? The hardcover looks a little something like this...

 And the paperback a little something like this...

Today I'm helping reveal the cover for the second in The Fire Sermon series, which looks a little something like....

THIS...

What do you think?

Leave all your love and your longing behind, you can't carry it with you if you want to survive.

 


 See How They Run
Author: Ally Carter
Publication Date: January 14th 2016
Publisher: Orchard Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Inside every secret, there's a world of trouble. Get ready for the second book in this new series of global proportions--from master of intrigue, New York Times bestselling author Ally Carter.

Grace's past has come back to hunt her . . . and if she doesn't stop it, Grace isn't the only one who will get hurt. Because on Embassy Row, the countries of the world stand like dominoes, and one wrong move can make them all fall down.

The twists get twistier and the turns get even more shocking in the second thrilling installment of Embassy Row.

OHMYGOD. THAT WAS THE MEANEST CLIFFHANGER ENDING. Continuing on from All Fall Down, See How They Run builds up the history of Adria, and the history of the founders. Believe it or not, See How They Run is a lot darker than its predecessor, there are so many more secrets about Grace and Adria and more things out of Graces control than she likes (and we know how she acts when it comes to secrets).

Grace is...I hate to say broken, but she is completely broken. And it's what you'd expect from what she found out about the mystery surrounding her mother’s death and the scarred man. At least when she didn't know she had this thing to hold onto, to know she wasn't crazy, when everybody acted like she was. But I love her, she isn't entirely likeable, but I connect more with her than any previous Ally Carter MC's (Cammie post Only the Good Spy Young and Kat, Uncommon Criminals). Alexei. Oh, bloody hell, Alexei. We get more of him (yay!) but we also get more depth from him, and get to see his darker side.

What I love about Ally Carter, is the emphasis she puts on family. Never are they standard or perfect, they're broken and dysfunctional but they're strong. They're family, and it doesn't stop at blood. And in See How They Run we get to meet Grace's older brother, Jamie. And she tries her damn hardest to push him away, but he's always there pushing her back. They really feel like siblings.

WE HAVE SOME ROMANCE, if you were disappointed by the lack of romance in All Fall Down, you still might be, because honestly, there's no outwardly romance between Grace and Alexei. But what I seriously adore about the way Ally Carter writes romance is how she builds their foundation first. How she can write intimate and sexy moments without the characters even kissing, is beyond me.

See How They Run is fast paced, packed with shocking twists that you won't see coming until just before it hits you, family ties, and uh, more Alexei.

Rating: 5/5

                             

I'm not ready to give up just yet, we could stay until we both forget, so baby, don't kill, don't kill the magic.

The Magic Thief
Author: Kendall Kulper
Publication Date: November 10th 2015 
Publisher: Orchard Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review~

Even witches fall in love...

Mal has an idylic childhood on Prince Island with Essie, the next witch of Salt and Storm. But all that changes when Essie, in a fit of anger, tells everyone what he really is.

With no choice but to leave his home, Mal becomes the magic thief, stealing magical items for the higest bidder. And when he steals the shar, a knife with the ability to cut the magic out of those it touches, he finally finds a way to get his revenge on the girl he once loved...

I loved The Witch of Salt and Storm last year, it was something different, the writing was gorgeous, the characters were strong, the plot so damn clever and an ending that was true to the story and its main character.

That being said, The Magic Thief is on a whole other level. Although it is centred and tied to Prince Island, we get to explore with Mal outside of the island and see the effect magic has and the way it's used in other parts of the world. We also get sneaky fun with Boone and Mal as hunters, their (and almost every other hunter out there) next job trying to find the Tsar and by doing so, establishing themselves and start a confederation, but to Mal, there's only one thing in sight: revenge. 

I went from serious highs and lows during reading The Magic Thief, and by that I mean, I really connected to Mal, he had a lot of highs and lows himself, mostly lows. Being a blank, Mal's immune to magic, but by being a blank means a monster, living on Prince Island surrounded by magic and charms, Mal had never felt more at home with Essie Roe at his side, but having to leave Prince Island with hate in his heart for everything Roe, it brings out his darker side. Working witch Boone gave him something back. When you rely on somebody as your home, it can be taken away, and when you rely on people as your home, you only see what they want you to see.

Once again, The Magic Thief is complicated and although not as twisty as its predecessor, it's not predictable and it has its own twists that play into The Witch of Salt and Storm.

The Magic Thief is darker than The Witch of Salt and Storm, broadens the world building and shows you a different side of it with a complicated character that you can't help but like, even when he's hard to like, and it tells the story of Essie (Avery's mother) and Mal, and both books tie into one another perfectly, and I love how it all comes full circle.

Rating: 4.5/5

       

 

There's not even a demon, in Heaven or Hell, is it all just human disguise, as I walk down the aisle

 The Dark Days Club
Author: Alison Goodman
Publication Date: January 21st 2016
Publisher: Walker Books
~A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

London, April 1812. Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation to the Queen. Her life should be about gowns and dancing, and securing a suitable marriage. Instead, when one of her family's housemaids goes missing, Lady Helen is drawn to the shadows of Regency London.

There, she finds William, the Earl of Carlston. He has noticed the disappearance, too, and is one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of powerful demons that has infiltrated every level of society. But Lady Helen’s curiosity is the last thing Carlston wants—especially when he sees the searching intelligence behind her fluttering fan. Should Helen trust a man whose reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her headstrong sense of justice lead them both into a death trap?

In The Dark Days Club, internationally best-selling author Alison Goodman introduces readers to a heroine who is just as remarkable as Eona—and yet again reinvents an establlished literary genre, making it her own.

Although The Dark Days Club isn't original in its concept, it's unique in its execution. Set in Regency England, Lady Helen's coming to terms with the fact her mother's traitorous legacy has more to it than what it seems, and that she herself is more like her than anyone would like.