Author: Zaheerah

A twenty-something reader. Slowly making her way through the endless pit that is her TBR pile.
Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1)

by Zaheerah2 Comments on Book Review: Labyrinth Lost (Brooklyn Brujas #1)

review_labyrinthlost

Rating: ★★★★☆

* I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.  This in no way affected my opinion of the book.

Labyrinth Lost follows Alex, born and raised in Brooklyn, in a family that’s not like many others. Alex descends from a long line of brujas or witches. Unlike her sisters, she doesn’t want to embrace her powers and all that comes with it. So she plans to stop it. On her Deathday, she attempts to eradicate it but ends up banishing her entire family to another realm – known as Los Lagos, a limbo-like dimension to save her family before it’s too late.

Labyrinth Lost has one of the best and most intriguing premises I’ve read this year. It was so fun to read! Cordova drew from Latin-American culture and created such a rich and imaginative world. The mysticism and the way the mythology was interwoven which was brilliant to read.  The magic system is also so interesting. From what I understand is that everyone has their own special abilities but there’s a recoil every time you use it. For example, one of Alex’s sister has healing capabilities but everything she uses it, it harms her. It’s that kind of balance that really adds to the story.

Overall, Labyrinth Lost was a great read. There’s amazing magical elements, creepy scenes, and characters I know loads of people will love. I definitely recommend this if you want a magical adventure in a pretty magical universe.

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Author’s site | Amazon | BookDepository

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: The Novice

by Zaheerah2 Comments on Book Review: The Novice

review_thenovice

Rating: ★★★★☆

Well, I actually quite liked The Novice. A lot. Considering I started this series with not the highest expectations possible. Recently I’ve taken a step back from YA high fantasy but since reading The Novice, I definitely want to come back in.

The Novice follows young blacksmith apprentice Fletcher when he learns how to summon demons and finds himself joining, by chance, the Adept Military Academy. At the academy, those with the gift to summon are trained in the art of summoning and become a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs.

The Novice was an exciting high fantasy novel that was really enjoyable! This series is basically a mix of LotR, GoT and HP, which felt more aimed towards the younger side of the YA book spectrum. I had so much fun reading this novel and its concept was so cool. It has politics, war, clashes between the commoners and nobles with orcs and elves. While the pacing slowed for me in the middle, the rest of the flow was great. All the characters were so wonderfully likeable. Ignatius was basically a mini-Toothless from HTTYD. All the demons just came across as adorable, even the large dangerous ones. It also has a great cast of characters, my favourite being Gen or Sylva.

The world-building is one of my favourite parts of this series. I was so hooked on learning about spells, demons and the Ether from which they originate from. There is so much creativity to it which made is so much more enjoyable. But that ending though… What a cliffhanger. It’s a promising start to a series I know I want to continue.

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Official site | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

book tags, Books, Other

The Great British Bake Off Book Tag!

by Zaheerah30 Comments on The Great British Bake Off Book Tag!

gbbo_bt.jpg

Everyone is probably most likely well aware of the British programme Great British Bake Off. If you’re not, The Great British Bake Off, often referred to as Bake Off or GBBO, is a television baking competition which selects from amongst its contestants the best amateur baker. And it’s one of the best things that have graced our screen here in the UK. This is my first attempt at a book tag. During my initial search, I hadn’t found a GBBO book tag and, therefore, created this one. But with a little more digging (well for me, clicking google page 2) I found out that ReadingWithJack on YouTube had already made one. I considered not to post my one but then I saw his and realised his ones are actually really different to mine. (And I didn’t want to let the graphics go to waste….)

Rules:

  • Link back to my blog is appreciated but optional. Feel free to use my graphics. TBH it is horrendous so I wouldn’t expect anyone to use them
  • Tag people, don’t tag people, whatever. Just have fun.
  • Ready, get set, Bake! (or tag)

Image result for ready get set bake gif

Continue reading “The Great British Bake Off Book Tag!” →

blog tour, Books

Blog Tour: Song of Princes by Janell Rhiannon

by Zaheerah2 Comments on Blog Tour: Song of Princes by Janell Rhiannon

SongOfPrincesTourBanner

Goodreads | Amazon |
Rating: ★★★★☆

The Song of Princes follows the myth of the Iliad, the fate of well-known characters such as Paris, Helen, Achilles and the Greek gods which all leads up to the battle of Troy The Song of Princes is book one of three which will chronicle the entire war and well into the adventure of Odysseus after. The Princes mentioned which the story follows are Paris, Hektor, Achilles and Odysseus, while I believe book one focuses more on Paris/Hekor.

Continue reading “Blog Tour: Song of Princes by Janell Rhiannon” →

Books, Contemporary

Book Review: Stained

by Zaheerah2 Comments on Book Review: Stained

review_stained

* I received an ARC of this book from the author.  This in no way affected my opinion of the book. Also, TW: Mentions of rape and abuse.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Stained is an upcoming debut novel by Abda Khan that follows Selina, a British-born Pakistani young woman who is raped by her close, well-respected family friend. Selina is eager to do well in school so she can get into University, but her grades in Economics are the only thing that’s stopping her from achieving her future.It is then when a trusted family friend offers to tutor her but he preys upon Selina’s trusting nature and sexually assault her. Not wanting to bring dishonour on her family and deceased father’s name, we follow Selina go to extreme length to avoid the imminent scandal.

I really appreciated this story. I loved the character of Selina and her story. Despite facing such awful adversity and horrible trauma, she remained strong. She did her best to keep moving forward and learning to find herself despite all she’s faced. And how everything leads to her not reporting the assault is all too realistic and extremely upsetting. There’s so much to like about this book. Khan’s writing style allows us to fully understand Selina’s action and her situation. I had some issues with the speech sometimes since it felt quite stiff and didn’t read well but that issue is quite minor compared to how much I enjoyed the rest of the novel. The ending is a happy one, well as happy as it could be, considering what happened. It showed great growth in Selina and how she survived everything ordeal. She was given the opportunity to love again, while she doesn’t outright decline it, she simply takes a step back to focus on herself rather than what everyone else thinks. And I enjoyed that.

As relevant this book is, I would be very specific in who I recommend it to. There are so many triggering topics that are brought up: rape, miscarriage, murder etc. It’s important to the mentality of the reader that you’re aware. Stained is short but in that time Khan has created a novel that is so important and addressed such an important issue. I am so grateful that I have been given a chance to read this.

you can find the books at:
GoodReads | Author’s website | Amazon |

Books, top ten tuesday

Need to be on TV

by Zaheerah1 Comment on Need to be on TV

ttt_tvweek.jpg

TOP TEN TUESDAY IS A WEEKLY FEATURE HOSTED BY THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH! EACH WEEK, A NEW TOPIC IS PUT INTO PLACE AND BLOGGERS SHARE THEIR TOP TEN (OR YOUR OWN AMOUNT) ACCORDINGLY.

Ink and Bone

I would literally give anything to see Ink and Bone as a T.V. show (for some reason, I would prefer it to be on Netflix) I have SO many ideas of who I would like to play each character. (Aside from Khalila, I don’t have a definitive FC for her yet)

The Song of Achilles

Out of all the books on my list, TSOA, I think, is the only one which has been optioned for a possible mini-series and I’m so excited!!  The producers of BBC’s Peaky Blinders has the rights to it and I so hope it happens soon because I love TSOA.

Demon Road

While I wasn’t a huge fan of book two, the whole concept and plot of Demon Road is something I would love to see on TV. Similar in the style of Supernatural, maybe?

The Name of the Star

I was super interested in Jack the Ripper when I was 15 for some reason and so TNOTS is something I could definitely see as a BBC programme.

Seven Ways We Lie

I wasn’t sure if this had rights for TV because I remember Riley mentioning something about. So I check and it does!!! It’s currently in development since June 2016. The producer has worked on a load of other films, Ella Enchanted being one of them.

7wwl.png

Radio Silence

PLEASE, I WANT RADIO SILENCE AS A SHOW SO BAD. I CAN TELL IT WOULD BE SO CUTE AND ADORABLE AND AMAZING.

The Foxhole Court

Someone, anyone, please send millions of copies of TFC to Netflix HQ, thank you.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there.

But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war.

ImAGINE THIS AS A SHOW. IMAGINE HOW BEAUTIFUL IT WOULD BE.

The Darren Shan Saga

I’m going to pretend that the mess that was the Cirque Du Freak movie didn’t happen. I had put myself all through that mess just for the story and Josh Hutcherson. And they completely ruined the story! So I would love to see a TV where they didn’t replace a Debbie with a silly monkey girl.

Thief

Thief is one of my favourite Malorie Blackman novels, but I’ve recently heard that Noughts & Crosses may become a show so I’m glad something of hers is coming to TV.