Author: Zaheerah

A twenty-something reader. Slowly making her way through the endless pit that is her TBR pile.
books, top ten tuesday

Top Ten Books I’ve Recently Added To My TBR

by Zaheerah2 Comments on Top Ten Books I’ve Recently Added To My TBR


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 accordingly.

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  1. Heartless I’m currently reading the Lunar Chronicles, and I love how Meyer retells the much-loved fairy tales and I CAN’T wait to see how she does this one.
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  2. Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2)
    I loved Ink and Bone so much. I think it’s one of my favourite books and I’m so pumped to see how Rachel will continue the series. I’m really excited to see the journey of Jess to find Morgan but I’m more excited to see Khalila Seif. She’s my favourite one out of the Postulant 6.
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  3. The Fever Code (The Maze Runner 0.6)
    The one person that instantly came to my mind when I saw this book was Newt. I’m dreading this release or excited about maybe getting some answers to loads of unanswered questions about the series. 25094215
  4. You’re Not Proper (Striker #1)
    I’m currently making a list of YA novels that include Muslims and I found this through my search on GoodReads.
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  5. NIOBE: She is Life
    Amandla Stenberg. That’s all.
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  6. Illuminae (The Illuminae Files #1)
    I’ve heard too much good stuff about this book not to ignore it!
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  7. The Way to Game the Walk of Shame
    I read a couple of chapters of this on SwoonReads before it was published and I think it’s going to be a good one!
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  8. The Map of Bones (The Fire Sermon #2)
    The Fire Sermon was really good – had its flaws but I’m really excited to see how the story progresses.22733608
  9. A Week of Mondays
    I feel like I’ve read/watched something similar, I’m not sure, but it looks like it could be enjoyable.
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  10. Laughing All The Way To The Mosque
    Honestly this line from the description had me slamming the To-Read button. “Flirting with the Walmart meat manager in a futile attempt to secure halal chicken the day before Eid.”
books, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Chasing Thunderclap by Kaylie Caswell

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Book Review: Chasing Thunderclap by Kaylie Caswell

28462769you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Author website

my review:

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

~Copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review~

Chasing Thunderclap haven’t had the best of luck when it comes to their band. With the death of  a former band mate and on the edge of losing their new lead guitar player to an Ivy League college, could Chasing Thunderclap be no more by the end of summer? Hell-bent on keeping Bryan, their lead guitarist, in the band, the remaining members will do anything to turn his mind away from college. But as their plans crumbles away, each member begins to question whether this dream is worth following?

I’m not going to lie: I hated this book for the first 75% of this book. The behaviour of these boys actually disgusted me and they were so irritating. But I had to give the Caswell some props for making some distinction between the boys. I literally thought I was going to be stuck with five POVs with no idea who was speaking when. But the story of each boy was clear and different, and when weaved together, the novel was enjoyable to an extent. I liked the storyline but hated the characters. Haha, is that even possible? I really liked how the band had different meanings to each member. And how important the band was to their fans and that fuelled the boys to keep going. There’s a scene where a fan comes up to Bryan and tells him how their music saved their life, and that scene was so cute!

I was actually going to not even finish this book but I’m glad I kept reading because the ending was good. I don’t say that often but I liked how realistic it was. And it was good to see each boy finally decide what their position was in the band, and I agreed with each decision they made.

Kindle Edition, 315 pages
Published December 30th 2015 by Berried Alive, LLC
ASIN: B01A1BSGHG

 

 

books, top ten tuesday

2015 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn’t (Yet)

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on 2015 Releases I Meant To Read But Didn’t (Yet)

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 accordingly.

22328546Red Queen
I saw this book on NetGalley but I was too late to request it, so I’ve been eyeing this book for sooo long. It sounds like a typical fantasy novel but I’ve heard such good things from Aveyard and this book. I was so swamped with reviews and exams last year I never got the time! Once I finish the Lunar Chronicles, I’m definitely going to read this next.

The Girl On The Train22557272
Whenever I passed the Waterstone’s in town last year, I ALWAYS saw this book on their shelves. And some of the reviews I’ve read said fans of Gone Girl will love it, and I loved GG, so I’m definitely going to try and read this book soon.

 

All The Bright Places18460392
I actually did start reading this book last year but, honestly, it reminded me a lot of TFIOS with the quirky characters but I just put on hold for now. I know I’ll probably get back to this book later on this year since there’s a film coming out soon.

23437156Six Of Crows
I’m so annoyed that I haven’t read this yet! I’ve been wanting to read Leigh Bardugo’s novels and I still have the Grisha novels on my Kindle.

 

 

 

23734628Carry On
I’m wasn’t the biggest fan of Fangirl but I did really like the excerpt of Simon Snow in the novel. However, it looks waay too similar to Harry Potter so I think that’s what put me off from reading it last year.

 

 

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The Wrath and the Dawn

Was 2015 the year of retellings in YA novels? I’ve read a couple of retellings last year and this one always seemed to pop up after I finished one.

 

 

 

Simon Vs the Homo Sapien Agenda19547856
I received a sample of this book from WHSmith when I was browsing about, and it seems pretty funny.

 

 

 

 

23395680Illuminae

I wasn’t actually considering reading this book but after I read The Sleeping Giant, the form of writing really interesting to read and this plot seems average but I think I’ll like it.

 

 

24388326The Heart Goes Last
I actually requested this book on NetGalley but, sadly, my request was denied :'(((( I’ve never actually read an Atwood book before but this sounds really good.

 

 

22465597Vanishing Girls

I’ve never read an Oliver book before- I started reading Delirium but I never finished the series but this sounds like it would be completely different to that series.

books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Book Review: Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine

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you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Author website

my review:

Rating: ★★★★★

“The truth was what the library wanted it to be.”

Set in an alternative world where the Great Library of Alexandria survived the fire that resulted in the destruction of the accumulated knowledge of the ancient world. The Great Library is now a separate country, protected by its own standing army, grown with vast power, with its own unquestioned and unrivalled supremacy. Jess Brightwell has been sent to the Great Library as a spy for his criminal family.

Continue reading “Book Review: Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) by Rachel Caine” →

books, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Book Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout

23961611you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Author website

my review:

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

In an attempt to escape her music royalty family, Grace Wilde transfers into a Korean boarding school and finds herself falling for a K-Pop star.

If you want a novel with proper representation of Korean culture mixed with likeable characters, I suggest you don’t even bother putting this book on your TBR list. Why? Because this has none of that.
Continue reading “Book Review: Hello, I Love You by Katie M. Stout” →

books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: The Awakened by Sara E. Santana

by ZaheerahLeave a Comment on Book Review: The Awakened by Sara E. Santana

26847637you can find the book at:
GoodReads
Amazon
Author website

my review:
NOTE: I’ve already posted this review when I was apart of The Awakened Blog Tour but I wanted to post it again because the review is buried underneath so much blog tour stuff.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

~ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review~

Zoey Valentine’s life revolves around avoiding her irritating next door neighbour, Ash, and surviving the constant self-defence classes her police officer father makes her take. That is until the zombie apocalypse hits the USA, and the entire country is thrown into a frenzy. What seemed like an unusual illness, is actually turning everyone into a zombie-like state. Except, they’re much faster than the usual. When Zoey learns that the US government decides to bomb every major city, including her home city NYC, she finds herself on the run with her father and Ash in a desperate dash for survival.

This book was really great, in some sense, was really guessable in certain scenes but the way Santana writes makes it a really interesting read with a great cast of characters, each different in their own unique way. I enjoyed the doses of humour and heart within the novel and alongside Sara’s writing style which is easy to follow and compelling to read. She has the makings of a decent storyteller with this fast-paced debut novel.

Anyone who actually read my reviews knows that no good book ever goes unscathed. What really dragged this down was mainly due to certain aspects I personally didn’t like.

I think I’m the only person so far that didn’t like Ash? No offence, but he’s so irritating! Despite he does change in the end, and he ends up with Zoey. But, honestly, I didn’t find it cute that Ash was just terrible to Zoe since she was little. And Zoey knows it but yet she was still attracted to him? If I was being bullied by a boy and would in no way have some sort of attraction to him. Honestly, I would have ditched him the minute the apocalypse started. Despite Zoey telling him explicitly, she doesn’t want to be near him, he continues to flirt with her despite having a girlfriend and she’s already said no? And then when another survivor lowkey flirts with her, he gets annoyed? I just thought that behaviour was problematic and he should’ve backed off a bit.

Also, what was going on with her dad? I honestly hate it when adults assume boys teasing girls means he likes her? Her dad wanted them to get together despite Zoey CONSTANTLY telling him he’s been bullying her at a young age and the way he puts Ash on a higher pedestal than his own daughter was extremely worrying. He does kind of admit it in the end and apologise, but overall, the only character I found myself rooting for was Zoe. The romance in this novel was a bit off to me. Ash and Zoey literally pick the worst moment to get all hot and steamy, especially towards the end.

Kindle Edition, 317 pages
Published by Oftomes Publishing (first published December 1st 2015)
ASIN: B017AD8K9W