booksare42's Reviews (608)

Thank you to BBNYA and The Write Reads for providing me with the material and book for this blog tour. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Templar Sword was one of the books I read for the final round of BBNYA 2023 and it was one of my favourite books of the year. It was full of fantastic characters and adventure and I loved every minute of it. I’m writing my review almost six months after reading it, and it turns out that my notes were not the greatest, so I apologize in advance if this review is a bit scattered.

My favourite thing about The Templar Sword was that it was an adventure story. I liked the journey from place to place, not knowing what would happen next. I liked the sense of danger and wondering how the main characters would get out of the sticky situations they found themselves in. I also enjoyed the questions surrounding the templar sword and if it was real and if they’d find it.

I also liked the characters in this book. Noah, the main character, was a great main character that I was able to root for. There were a few moments where I thought he was overstepping, but I understood that he wanted to prove himself to his father and his father’s crew. I also enjoyed the dynamics between the characters and I thought Viggo and Isabelle were quite fun. I also loved Noah’s father, Magnus. It was clear that Magnus was flawed, but he was trying to do the right thing.

Even though this book was a whirlwind of adventure, I thought it was well paced. It didn’t feel too jumpy, though there were some moments where I had to suspend my disbelief. Fortunately, the book was fun and enjoyable, so it was easy to suspend my disbelief and get sucked into the adventure. I also thought this book was unique and it was nice reading something that felt fresh and original.

One thing I want to note is that this is the second book featuring Noah, Magnus, and the rest of the characters, though it can be read as a standalone. I think it works okay as a standalone, but I think reading the first book might have given be a bit more background information on the secret Order that Magnus is a part of and Noah wants to join.

Overall, I thought The Templar Sword was a fun adventure and I’m looking forward to reading more books set in this universe.

 Thank you to the Write Reads for organizing this tour and for providing me with the materials for it. Thank you to the publisher (Aladdin Books) for providing me with a digital copy of this book for the blog tour. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you’re looking for a fun middle-grade book full of action and adventure, The Legendary Mo Seto is the book for you!

The Legendary Mo Seto follows Modesty (Mo) Seto as she tries to land a role in a martial arts movie. Unfortunately for Mo, there are quite a few obstacles in her way, including not meeting the minimum height requirement for the role. With help from her best friend Nacho, Mo perseveres and works hard to try to land the role.

The Legendary Mo Seto has some great messages in it about bravery, perseverance, believing in yourself, friendship, that size isn’t everything, and how things aren’t always what they seem. This book has some great character development and it was fun seeing Mo’s personal growth throughout the story.

This book had some very loveable characters that I was rooting for along the way. I wanted Mo to succeed. I loved her friendship with Nacho. I also loved learning more about some of the secondary character and how Mo’s relationship with them evolved throughout the book.

This book also had a bit of a fun mystery element to it. Something weird is going on with Mo’s dad and she doesn’t know what’s it is. She also found a mysterious book in her basement that outlines a mysterious martial art. When she asks her dad about it, he evades her questions and forbids her from learning more about it. On top of all of that, weird things keep on happening on the film set. These elements made me want to keep reading to find out how they were connected and to find out what was going on.

The Legendary Mo Seto was also full of lots of fun action scenes. I enjoyed the martial art scenes and how dedicated Mo was to learning and trying to be the best. This book had some adventure elements to it and they did not disappoint.

Overall, The Legendary Mo Seto is a fun middle-grade book. It’s full of lovable characters and it has plenty of action to keep readers on their toes, wondering what will happen next. 

Thank you to Neem Tree Press for providing me with a digital copy of Scareground. Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing this blog tour and providing me with the material for it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you’re looking for a fantastic spooky read, Scareground is definitely for you! Set in Victorian London, Scareground is full of fantastic characters and spooky fun.

My favourite thing about Scareground was the writing. The author did a fantastic job bringing the Scareground to life. The descriptions were creepy and eerie and it made thing book incredibly enjoyable. The word macabre comes up a lot in this book and I think it’s a great word to describe this book.

I loved the mystery aspect of this book. The main character, Nancy, was adopted by the Crumpets and she doesn’t know anything about her past. She does know that the Crumpets do not want her to go near any fairs and that the town is apprehensive about fairs in general. I enjoyed Nancy’s investigation into her past and why the town doesn’t like fairs. There were a lot of moments during her investigation that left me on the edge of my seat wondering what she was going to find.

I also loved the characters in this book. Nancy was a fantastic main character and I was rooting for her the entire book. I loved how creative and determined she was. I also loved how much she wanted to belong. I also loved Arthur and his sense of adventure. I thought he and Nancy balanced each other out well and that they made a fantastic team. I also liked Skelter Tombola. I thought he was an interesting character and I love learning about his backstory.

The super natural aspect of this book was also fun. There were mentions of ghosts, which added to the spooky atmosphere. There was also mentions of Nancy’s Sky Reader ability and how she was able to communicate with the sky. I thought this added an interesting layer to the book and I hope Nancy’s ability is explored more in the rest of the series.

Overall, I thought this was a very solid start to a series. I loved how spooky the book was and I can’t wait to see what Nancy and Arthur get up to in the future. 

 As some of you may know, I’ve been slowly reading my way through all of the Poirot book. This was my most recent read in that series and it’s the fourth book from the end. After reading a string of Poirot books that left me feeling disappointed, I’m happy to say that I quite enjoyed this one. 

What I liked most about Third Girl is that Poirot was at the center of the story. In the last few Poirot books I’ve read, Poirot was more of a secondary character who only popped up near the end of the book. As a fan of Hercule Poirot and his quirks and his use of his little grey cells, it was nice to see him front and center in the story. 

I also enjoyed that this mystery had quite a few moving parts. I enjoyed reading about Poirot trying to put all of the pieces together and trying to figure out how it would all come together at the end. There were a few clues that stood out to me as important, so I enjoyed seeing how Poirot used them to solve the entire case. 

I thought the premise of Third Girl was kind of unique. Usually these books have a clear crime that has been committed and Poirot is trying to solve it. In this book, a girl shows up at Poirot’s home and tells him she thinks she committed a murder and then disappears. This led to a lot of questions that made this mystery fun and unique. 

I also loved that Ariadne Oliver is a character in Third Girl. While I prefer Poirot books that feature Arthur Hastings, Ariadne Oliver is always a fun addition to the story. I was especially amused by the descriptions of her hair in this book. 

There were a few things that felt a bit too convenient, but they didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the mystery. 

Overall, I don’t think Third Girl will end up in my list of Top 10 Poirot books, but it was more of the more enjoyable Poirot books I’ve read recently. 

Thank you to Neem Tree Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book. Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing this blog tour and providing me with the material for it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon is different from what I’d normally read, but I’m glad I picked up this book because it was beautifully written and I ended up really enjoying it. Told from various perspectives, The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon tells a story of characters who are haunted by their past and facing an uncertain future.

Throughout The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon there is a tragedy that is being hinted at. The main characters are haunted by an event that happened in their past that forever changed their lives. This tragedy isn’t immediately revealed, but hints are left throughout the first part of the book. While the tragedy is revealed at the end of part one, the reader is left to wonder what the specific details are while they read part two.

I enjoyed the use of the changing perspectives in The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon. I liked that each chapter was only a few pages and then it would switch to a different character and a different location. I think this also did an excellent job of showing how different the lives of the main characters are.

The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon deals with some heavy topics. It deals with things like grief, anxiety, mental health, death, sexual harassment, poverty, and class divide. I thought this book did an excellent job portraying anxiety and the struggles that someone dealing with anxiety face. I also think this book did a good job showcasing the class divides, and I thought that the switching between Misha or Zohaib’s perspective to Nadia’s perspective did a great job of showing these divides.

As far as the characters go, I loved Nadia and Zohaib. I thought these two characters were well written and they were characters that I could root for. It was clear that they were haunted by their past and I was invested in finding out what happened. I also enjoyed Misha and some of her interactions with the other characters. I also liked that there were a few chapters told from the perspectives of secondary characters like Zohaib’s roommate or Nadia’s cousin.

One thing I didn’t love about this book was the ending. I thought that the ending was very open and I would have likes just a little bit more closure.

Overall, I thought The Idle Stance of the Tippler Pigeon was a great book full of memorable characters and a story that I will be left thinking about for a while.