⭐ 3.5/5 ⭐ 

Marigold is desperate to escape the high society life of balls and formal courting so when her grandmother arrives and shows she is descended from a line of honey witches, she jumps at the chance of a different life. This life comes with a caveat: Marigold is cursed to never find love. However, she becomes close with a young artist and begins to find the curse may be more of a problem than she first thought.

- The vibes of this book were superb for summer reading in the garden. Think cottagecore, wildflowers, beekeeping and honey and the slow life of a countryside witch plus the found family aspect. 

- The characters were alright but I never felt too connected. They were interesting on paper but in reality I found I didn't really care too much about them or their fates. That said, Mr Benny and Althea were so cute and we're my favourites, possibly due to their contribution to the vibes.

- The pacing felt off but not horrendously so. The plot twists were easy to guess (I think I guessed the major one about 100 pages in) so the story isn't exactly deep. It is sweet and enjoyable but if you're looking for high literature, this isn't it.

If you don't mind a slightly rougher plot and characters but adore a gentle and cosy cottagecore ambience, give The Honey Witch a try.

⭐ 3.5/5 ⭐ 

Audiobook narrated by Ariana Ii.

A café in Tokyo offers customers an opportunity to travel in time with some conditions: you have to remain in your seat, you can only meet with someone who's been to the cafe, you cannot change the present. However, the most important rule is you have to return to the present before the coffee gets cold.

- A book I recently read (The Kamogawa Food Detectives) is frequently compared to this book and I can. see the similarities. Similar vibes are involved and a sense of longing, bittersweet emotions and the processes of decisions and actions made. I personally preferred the way The Kamogawa Food Detectives handled this but Before the Coffee Gets Cold touched me too.

- The topics are sensitive. There are stories featuring lovers facing separation, a wife who's husband has dementia, a woman wanting a final chance to make amends with her dead sister and a pregnant woman facing a difficult situation. I liked how the book wasn't all happy endings but that the resolutions made sense and elicited feelings. I would recommend checking out content warnings if you are sensitive to themes of medical issues and/or grief.

- The cafe itself was fun to imagine. This basement space with a table almost exclusively occupied by a ghost and clocks showing different times. The staff made the cafe more alive, with different and interesting characters. I'm looking forward to hearing what happens to them in the rest of the series.

A sad but cosy book. If you want a book that feels bittersweet, can help you cry or to enjoy some magical realism, Before the Coffee Gets Cold may be for you.

⭐ 4/5 ⭐ 

A young British man goes to Japan to teach English and begins his journey living in a country with different language, customs and ways of life.

- As someone who has taught English abroad (not in Japan), the early part of this book was familiar. The sense of discovery, nervousness and feeling out of place was one I remember. It was enjoyable to follow Broad through his adaptation to his new life, teaching and learning Japanese.

- I love the travelogue style snippets about how Japan functions and day to day life along with the bits about more tourist focused locales. This variety was great and gave a good sense of what a foreigner could expect from different places in Japan.

- I was not familiar with Broad's YouTube channel but I don't feel I needed to be. He describes how he built this up and the events that boosted his vlogger career well and humourously. I have since watched some of his videos and they are good fun too.

A funny and enjoyable book giving insight to life in the Land of the Rising Sun. Would recommend to those who enjoy reading about other countries and the highs and lows of living abroad.

⭐ 3.25/5 ⭐ 

Audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.

Following on from the events of Outland, the Rivendell colony is facing new challenges in management, population and scientific advancement.

- The sci-fi parts of this book I really adored. If the entire book had been about the portals, parallel worlds and exploration of them I would have been a very happy bunny. I would say though only about a quarter of the book was dedicated to this.

- Which leads on to the more dystopian parts. As expected, a colony working to become self sufficient whilst also trying to keep all it's residence and incomers happy is basically impossible. There's political unrest, lone wolves causing violent issues and coups and a generational clash. All this happens in just under nine hours of audio and the lack of time means it comes across as bitty, skipping from one issue to the next with very intermittent flow.

-  The characters were okay. The original main characters from Outland featured less heavily and didn't actually get much development. New characters felt quite stereotyped and not fully dimensional sentient beings.

If you enjoyed Outland, you will likely enjoy this but it isn't the sequel I had hoped for. If you wish to sample the best of Taylor's work, I'd probably skip this and go with the Bobiverse series.

⭐ 3.5/5 ⭐ 

Lilith, first woman, made equal but cast out for refusing to be subservient. The reader is taken on a journey through biblical to modern times showing Lilith's journey and trials to overcome the toxic influence of Yahweh.

- So first, the good. This book passes the vibe check. Feminist, strong women featured heavily with a focus on how the feminine divine should be valued. We meet several well known biblical figures who influence and affect Lilith's journey to varying degrees and reinforced the fight for women's rights under an opressive patriarchy.

- From what I remember for my childhood being forced to read the bible, the interpretations of events were accurate enough but also contained enough creative licence to be new and interesting. One of my favourite aspects was the coverage of Asherah and other gods from other religions and how they were portrayed. I also appreciated that Yahweh is depicted how he always came across to me: vindictive, jealous and divisive.

- However and despite the above, this book was often just boring. I struggled through lots of sections because I wasn't interested. The prose was superfluous, Lilith's internal monologue often overdone. The subject matter deserved better writing.

Feminist and empowering if you can power through the writing style. I would recommend to those with and interest in strong women of mythology.

⭐ 4.75/5 ⭐ 

Dinosaur Empire is the first in a series of graphic novels about prehistoric life. Aimed at children (middle grade), it is a wonderfully fun and informative summary of the mesozoic era.

- The artwork is sublime and I loved how all the creatures were portrayed with both scientific accuracy (for 2017, the time of publication) and stunning visuals. It made the text more engaging and exciting.

- The science is great and the author consulted with well known paleontologists to make sure facts and information were as correct as could be.

- So of course dinosaurs are the biggest feature but I loved how all the mesozoic animals were covered including pseudosuchians, pterosaurs, mammals, marine life, plants and insects. Each time period covered explored all these groups and how they changed and evolved. I also really enjoyed how many lesser know species were included and given spot lights (along with each organism have its name shown phonetically).

A bright, very thorough for the age group and enjoyable book. I would recommend not just to children but to anyone who enjoys prehistoric life and paleoart.

4.75/5

Following the same characters as The Way of Kings, we see our protagonists develop in their powers whilst the world sets up for turmoil. The Parshendi are planning revenge against the Alethi troops which may have consequences for the whole of Roshar.

- The characters are excellent and I'm so glad we got to see them expand and develop. My favourites are Shallan and Adolin. I love Kaladin but did occasionally find him quite grating. Also Wit is just *chef's kiss*.

- As always with Mr Sanderson, the world building is insane! This world just continues sprouting details that make it so well fleshed out and beautiful. I think I said in my review of The Way of Kings that I'd like to just roam around this world and experience its eccentricities and that feeling remains.

- My only gripe with this book is that very occasionally, it could have been more succinct. Sanderson is very generous with his words, as evidenced by the 1310 pages of this book, but sometimes I just found myself skimming sections that were too detailed and getting in the way of the action.

An amazing second novel and I can't wait to continue with the next Stormlight Archive book.

Mood reader and just didn't feel in the right headspace

Outland by Dennis E. Taylor

⭐ 4/5 ⭐

Audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.

An interesting concept conveyed in a fun but mildly disjointed way. A bunch of American college students discover how to build portals to parallel dimensions which becomes unexpectedly handy when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts.

- I loved to concept of the portals and how the story as a whole was built around science and not just physics but  geology, zoology and engineering too.

- The characters were fun if occasionally a little one dimensional. I didn't feel overly attached to the main protagonists and none of them were very fleshed out.

- The story felt a little stuttered. The narrative would be following a particular chain of events and then would switch abruptly to something else. Whilst the story overall made sense, this was jarring and took me out of the story sometimes. I heard this was an updated version of Taylor's first novel and you can tell it's an early piece of work for an author.

- As with the Bobiverse, Ray Porter does an excellent job of narration, bringing to life the bravado, sarcasm and personalities of the characters well.

Despite a couple of issues, Outland was a fun and interesting sci-fi novel with its core idea having potential beyond this story. Perfect for portal sci-fi fans and those who enjoy a concept progressing the plot rather than the characters.

3.5/5

A Heartstopper universe novella. It is the summer before Nick goes to university and he and Charlie are grappling with mixed emotions. Will they be able to make things work?

- The gooey and relaxed vibes you expect from Heartstopper. It was good to see familiar characters and how much they've changed since the original series. 

- Probably a personal preference but I think I prefer the graphic novel format to novella. The artwork adds so much charm and whilst there's the odd illustration in this book, it's not the same. 

- I like how open and laid back this book is about topics and events from the graphic novels. It reflects the growth of the characters and how they've matured and changed over time.

Good for fans of Heartstopper and Oseman's other prose works. A poignant little YA romance.