For a children's chapter book, City of Ghosts is a spectacularly spooky trip to Edinburgh. Following Cassidy, an American kid on her summer holidays, who comes to Scotland with her parents as part of their work. Cassidy can see ghosts and can cross the Veil. She gets caught up in the ghosts of Edinburgh and chaos ensues.

- I liked the characters who are a great fit for a middle grade book and their interactions are great. I particularly like Jacob for the comic relief and Lara for her down-to-earth British common sense.

- The places they go to are real and are beautifully described. Schwab has lived in Edinburgh and her knowledge of the city is evident in the detail put in to the book.

- Atmospherically spooky enough to make a great ghost tale but still appropriate for the intended audience. This would be a great book to start getting into paranormal fiction.

A fun and mysterious read and quite different to the first Schwab book I read (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue). City of Ghosts will be going into the box of books I'm saving for my kids when they're big enough for chapter books. I personally plan to check out some more of her back catalogue as the more I hear about her books and the more I read, the more intruiged I become by this author.

Audiobook narrated by Tinashe Warikandwa. 

A short but creepy book set in an alternative timeline Edinburgh. We follow Ropa who is a Ghost-stalker (someone who can see and communicate with ghosts) and she is thrown into a mystery involving missing children and the dark underworld of magic within the city. 

- I really enjoyed Ropa as a character. Her heritage and situation accurately affected her choices and she often had to strike a balance between several options which would all have difficult consequences for her and those around her. 

- The creepy atmosphere of this alternative Edinburgh was great and it was fun to hear about familiar locations in this new light. 

- The story felt a little disjointed sometimes. This could be because a some of the places and events currently seem irrelevant or have little to do with the story. However, this is the first book of a series so these things may make more sense when other books are out. 

Overall a fun, creepy story that melds modern diystopian, folk tale and academic fantasy in a fresh way. I look forward to the second book when it comes out. 

For years I've put off reading Lord of the Rings. Before this I'd never read the books or seen the films. I wanted to. I adore the Hobbit and loved the world it was set in. But I was intimidated by the legend of the trilogy and by the "enthusiasm" of some of the fans. Luckily, I have friends who, upon learning the above, were utterly disgusted by this and insisted I start out with The Fellowship of the Ring immediately. I am so grateful they did.

- The entrancing, encompassing atmosphere of this book is incredible. It is slow and the environments and characters wash over you until you are surrounded and immersed. I loved wandering through Middle Earth with Frodo and co and never once felt lost.

- Some of the locations are so vividly described and have made homes in my mind forever. The Shire I was already familiar with and it was expanded and made deeper. Rivendell and the Old forest were beautiful and Lorien is now my favourite fictional place. Even the dark of Moria was beautiful in it's cold and chilling way.

- The songs and poems. I'd heard about the "song breaks" before and always thought I would find that really jarring in a story. Well reality could not be further from the truth and these were some of my favourite parts of the books and really added to the story and the feel of the book.

- The characters... Tolkien knows how to write them. From Frodo to Aragorn, Samwise, Legolas, Merry & Pippin and so many more were incredible.

I've already started The Two Towers because I'm not ready to leave Middle Earth yet. It is a comforting, deep, faceted place and I need to know more. For anyone who's put off reading these, I really urge you to try. You won't regret it.

A fun, quick little mystery from the Sixth house and a great look into the pasts of Palamedes and Camilla.

- The same, obscure and flamboyant language we all know and love from this series.

- The Sixth house is exactly how I imagined and I love it.

Whilst not necessary to enjoy the rest of the Locked Tomb books, an enjoyable read for fans. 

2.5/5

Audiobook narrated by Rory Kinnear.

The second book in the original Bond series and honestly a disappointment compared to Casino Royale. Some good camaraderie and atmosphere but otherwise a fairly dull story.

- The atmosphere created during certain sections of the book was excellent and really captured the fear and ambience. The scenes in the Boneyard and at the fish warehouse were particularly excellent. 

- The actual plot was pretty uninspiring and boring. At no point did I feel like the situation was dire or inescapable and it made the narrative uninteresting a lot.

- The racism. This book is spectacularly racist. It uses terms that are completely unacceptable in current times. There's also a reasonable dose of sexism and misogyny. 

Overall a below average Bond novel with limited appeal. Casino Royale had a better plot, narrative and intruige and I hope that Moonraker is more in this vein than Live and Let Die.

Audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.

After finishing the first three Bobiverse books, I was very happy when this one came on sale and I dived right it. The Bobiverse is definitely an interesting place to explore though it definitely took me a while to warm up to this one.

- The start is slow. Very slow. Almost to the point that I DNF'd it. Having finished now, I get why and I understand the level of information that needed to be given but it was pretty boring for a good third of the book. if you can push past that the story is actually really engaging and fun. 

- The Quinlans! I really enjoyed the sections set with then and learning about them and their predictment.

- The politics within the Bobiverse seemed to be very base level and I guessed quite early on what the twist would be. An important plot point, if not quite as exciting as another intelligent race, and I can see that it will play a big part in any further books.

Overall a good, if not excellent, addition to the Bobiverse series. Would recommend to big fans but if you're not invested in the Bobiverse after the first three, maybe give this one a miss.

4.5/5

I'll be honest, I ordered this book because of a bookstagram post that made me go "Oooh! Shiny! My precious!". The cover is gorgeous and, thankfully, the story very much lives up to that promise. A teenager called Briseis finds out she has inherited an old estate from her birth mother's family. Mystery ensues.

- I loved the aesthetic of this book: a mix of gothic mystery, modern mythology and plant-infused witchcraft.

- The plot was great and kept me guessing most of the way through, with only a few things I completely guessed right. The ending has left me eager for the next book to be released.

- Bayron has done a wonderful job with the LGBTQIA+ representation in this book. It's just there and that's a good thing. There's no big deal made out of any of it and it exists and is accepted completely within the narrative. 

- There were lots of little details that made me smile that felt just right in this book. Particularly one bit about appreciating the value of another person's time and expertise.

If you like any of the above aesthetic points or are looking for a gripping, inclusive and twisting YA urban fantasy, you could do much, much worse than this book and I would highly recommend checking it out.

This second entry of the "Lesbian Necromancers in Space" series (correctly known as the Locked Tomb trilogy) was a solid and interesting sequel but unfortunately did not enthral me the way Gideon the Ninth (GtN) did.

- Like GtN, this book had a large mystery essence to it and for a good 80% of the book I had very little idea what was happening. Unfortunately, unlike GtN, I never felt that click moment where all this tension and build up actually made complete sense. Some bits were resolved but a lot seemed more complicated.

- I love Harrow dearly but truthfully, her perspective was not nearly as entertaining as Gideon's. There was a lot of self pity and whining which, while making absolute sense, became grating.

- The pacing was bizarre and often irritating. I don't know whether this was intentional to mirror an in narrative plot point but I found myself skimming a lot of sections that just seemed to go on and on without anything actually changing.

- The climactic events were very well done and I am looking forward to the final book.

Overall I did enjoy Harrow the Ninth despite its flaws. I look forward to next year and experiencing more mind-bending writing in Alecto the Ninth.

"Lesbian Necromancers in Space" was literally all the encouragement I needed to pick this book up. Gideon the Ninth was not the book I expected, definitely a book I didn't even know I needed and the first book in a while to reduce me to tears.

- The prose is a bizarre combination of eloquent, superfluous and down-to-the-point sarcasm and it works beautifully. Muir's writing is immersive and funny.

- Gideon and Harrow are perfectly portrayed and you really get a feel for both of them, their motivations, their fears. The relationships within the book feel real and complex and it is obvious that Muir has taken her time to craft proper characters and dynamics that are believable.

- The tension! I had no idea how this would end until it happened. So mysterious and kept me guessing. And that ending...

I am moving straight on to Harrow the Ninth as I need to know what happens next. If you like the initial description, creepy house mysteries and intruiging writing styles and characters then this book is for you.

Audiobook narrated by Dan Stevens.

The Bond movies are world renowned and enjoyed by millions. About 10 years ago I read some of the original books and really enjoyed them. Recently I've had an urge to read them again and luckily they have been mega cheap on Audible over the last year or so so I picked them up bit by bit and have the full collection.

- The books focus differently to the movies. Yes, you still get the fast cars, the espionage and the glamorous women but there's more focus on Bond himself, his instincts and how he does what he's doing. Certainly in Casino Royale there's a lot of technical information relayed, such as how to play Baccarat. Tech fans may also be disappointed at the lack of quirky gadgets, instead replaced with Bond's ingenuity with the tools available.

-The tone is far more serious that a lot of the films. The plot and the mystery are the focus, not humour.

- The section with the casino was very well described and portrayed. I particularly enjoyed how the book describes Bond's thought process while gambling.

-Vesper Lynd always was and remains by favourite woman in the Bond series. She is believable and her backstory makes sense and gives her behaviour real motivations. 

- As you would expect with a book originally published in 1953, there are many sexist, misogynistic and outdated things said and done within this book. 

I enjoyed the story of this book and the idea of James Bond. There are issues with this book, some of which are related to the time it was written, but overall it was an interesting and exciting read.