rating 3 star – Page 10 – as told by zaheerah

Book Review: Written in the Stars

January 14, 2017March 29, 2018by Zaheerah3 Comments

Rating: ★★★ (3/5)

Written in the Stars is a familiar tale that goes unspoken. A story that is real life for thousands of women who find themselves facing it every day. Naila’s parents have always given her a choice, but when it came to marriage, it was simple: they will choose her husband. Naila’s already fallen in love, and when her parents find out, she is has whisked away to Pakistan under the pretence that they are visiting family. But the truth is darker, and Naila doesn’t have a say in the matter.

Written in the Stars was such an engaging and compelling read. From the very beginning to the very the end, everything goes high-speed for Naila and towards the end, you’re left thinking, will she make it?

Naila is a great protagonist. I loved her hopefulness, her love for Saif and her faith in believing she will make it back home. There are moments when you think there’s no going back for her, but she fights back. The writing style is simple, but it works here. It was straight and simple to the point, so we’re not distracted by everything that happens to Naila. We, as the reader, are aware of her marriage from the very beginning, but to Naila, she’s completely clueless, and the tension rose with ever clue that popped up, unknowingly to Naila. My favourite parts were descriptions of Pakistan and its culture. Its markets, food and the houses packed to the brim with visiting family.

However, it didn’t read entirely polished, with some scenes happening too quickly and the ending could’ve definitely been slowed down a bit, considering what happens. But, nonetheless, this is a good book.

Also, the author’s note was perfect. Saeed mentions that forced marriages can happen anywhere, regardless of culture, country or religion. And I believe Saeed even wrote an article between the distinction between an arranged marriage and a forced one that many people aren’t aware of.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | BARNES & NOBLE

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Young Adult/ Teen

Book Review: Initiate

November 20, 2016April 8, 2018by Zaheerah3 Comments

Rating: ★★★☆☆

* I received a proof of this book from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion of the book.

Initiate is set in a world where humanity has retreated below the ice sheets of Antarctica as the land above is completely inhabitable. Riga Garrison is a mere member of this restricted society until she sees a whale. An animal once thought to be extinct. She begins to question the very institute that controls her life and realises that everything isn’t as it seems.

I think a tricky thing is with books with these hidden societies underground is that there’s so many of them. You’d have to sift through a lot to get to the ones you’ll truly enjoy. I’m not saying Initiate is a bad book. I actually quite liked this. The premise of this story reminds me of our current environmental situation, a bit of a cautionary tale, it would seem to us.

“We were the people who had polluted our own planet so much through our persistent, never-satiated greed that we had caused irreversible and extensive damage to our planet’s climate through global warming. We were the people who had allowed our own waste emissions to consume us, to poison the very air we breathed and the water we drank until we had to build bigger machines to purify the water needed by an out-of control world population hungry for an ever-increasing demand of clean water, energy, and fuel. We were the people who had had decades of research to warn us of environmental collapse, yet who ignored it in the noisy distraction of political bargaining..”

Initiate is quite inventive in the world it’s created in. While I thought it was very stereotypical at first, it had my interest, especially when Rigs encounters the whale which triggers off a reaction she could’ve never expected. She finds herself on the run and having to a make a life-changing decision which could change everything. She handles things quite maturely and her development was enjoyable.

Her love interest is … okay, I guess. While I never found myself swooning over them, they made sense to be together but I think it would’ve worked much better if they were already together before the start of the novel.

When the big plot twist and the secret is revealed about the world above I was very confused. I think it may be due to the fact I had a very different impression of how this book was going to go because it’s a complete 180 to what I had expected. And I think because of that, I’m quite intrigued with how this story will carry on. Because I actually have no idea what to expect!

The biggest issue I had was pacing. I think the events happened quite quickly which meant there wasn’t much suspense, in my opinion. And there could’ve been better development of what the Initiate actually is because they didn’t really come across as threatening as they could’ve been.

Overall, as I said before, Initiate is imaginative and in a world which has captured my attention. Around 3/4 of the way, my interest did drop but the ending and the preview of Book Two have certainly made me want to keep track of this series.

GOODREADS | AMAZON | THE BOOK DEPOSITORY | BARNES & NOBLE

blog tour, Books

Blog Tour: Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall

August 22, 2016August 24, 2016by Zaheerah2 Comments

Been Here All Along
Sandy Hall
Publication date: August 30th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / iTunes

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Gideon has a plan for everything. Running for class president, becoming head of the yearbook committee, and having a plethora of choices for college. But he doesn’t account for falling in love with his best friend Kyle. Kyle, on the other hand, finds his spot on the sports team threatened, and when his girlfriend and best friend start acting up, Kyle doesn’t know what to do.

Told from four different perspectives, BEEN HERE ALL ALONG is an adorable story of best friends, first love, and unexpected love.

BEEN HERE ALL ALONG was super cute, despite lacking any real drama or suspense, it was quick and fun read. Props to Hall for explicitly stating that Kyle was bisexual. (I also got the feeling that Gideon is pansexual since he says he never had strong feelings for people until Kyle). The relationship between Kyle and Gideon is so sweet, they had their awkward and cute moments even if the realisation of their romantic feelings between them felt rushed. Personally, I preferred Kyle’s POV but Gideon was cute and quirky. If this book was longer, I would’ve loved to have been better development about Kyle’s predicament. If you’re looking for a quick, sweet romance books, then this one is for you.

I think what brought this book down was its length and the multiple POVs. For a book that can be read in one sitting, four POVs felt too extra. Cutting out Gideon’s brother, Ezra, would’ve been a good choice as I felt like he didn’t hold much importance to have his own chapters. Ezra and Ruby’s chapters could’ve easily moulded together.

Overall, this book was simple yet cute. There isn’t anything major that I didn’t like but I feel like the characters could have been more developed. But this was an extremely adorable read, though.

Author Bio:

I’m a teen librarian from New Jersey where I was born and raised. I have a BA in Communication and a Master of Library and Information Science from Rutgers University. When I’m not writing, or teen librarian-ing, I enjoy reading, slot machines, marathoning TV shows, and long scrolls through Tumblr. A LITTLE SOMETHING DIFFERENT is my first novel.

Website / Goodreads / Twitter

Follow the rest of the tour here!

August 22nd
–Books of Fascination
–books are love
–Fiction Dreams
–Feed Your Fiction Addiction
–Reading and Reviews

August 23rd
–A Southern Girls Bookshelf
–That Wild Soul
–The Heart of a Book Blogger
–Book Wish
–Quite The Novel Idea

August 24th
–Here’s to Happy Endings
–With Love for Books
–Comma Hangover
–blogs and coffee
–Awesome Book Assessment

August 25th
–Quartzfeather
–Literary Meanderings
–Bookish Escapes
–Rolling with the Moments
–The Reading Nook

August 26th
–The Fantastical World of Wonders
–Mara Was Here
–Brooke Blogs
–Dani Reviews Things

Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Thrillers

Book Review: Bloodwalker

August 19, 2016April 8, 2018by Zaheerah3 Comments

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Author’s website | Amazon | Bookdepository
my review:
Rating: ★★★☆☆

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

When the Zorka Circus comes into town, they leave the town population with fewer children than when they came to the town. Bloodwalker follows two different protagonists, Rurik and Sylvie. Rurik, the circus security guard, who suspects the killer is amidst the circus performers and despite their closed ranks, he knows he can find them before anymore child have to die. Sylvie descents from a group of people who teach the knowledge of the Bloodwalkers – who follow ancient techniques in preparations of dead bodies. She comes to the Circus to get married but, instead, finds a body. And the duo’s path soon converges to reveal a sinister plan within.

What I really enjoyed about Bloodwalker was the concept. Especially, the Skomori’s knowledge and teachings. It was interesting to read about the way they honour and prepare the dead and stay to their ancient techniques and charms despite living in the modern day. I really enjoyed the snippets the novel includes at the beginning of each chapter from “The Bloodwalkers Book” which delved into the ritual and culture of the Skomori. The location itself was quite sparse since the circus is moving a lot so we don’t settle into the place long enough to fully immerse ourselves into it. But it added to the tension as each new place meant they never had enough time to fit its blind spots and to stop the kidnapping and murder. The way the plot blends well the supernatural and murder mystery elements which made it interesting to read. The circus performers, murderous clowns and the close-knit community of the Skomori, Bloodwalker is a decent novel which had my interest throughout and greatly surprised me at many moments.

I believe a weakness of this novel was the Rurik had the stronger plot, while the bloodwalkers are important, its relevance was at its strongest towards the end. In the overall story, it just felt like something that was there but not really delved into enough so Sylvie’s place in the story was much weaker and when reading, I wasn’t very excited since the actual plot was with Rurik. Sylvie’s side of the novel felt like it was there to incorporate the Skomori elements and there were moments in the middle particularly where Sylvie’s chapters could be skipped and not impact the plot much which was disappointing because I really liked Sylvie. She is quite a determined main character. Once she realised how dangerous her situation was, she went and actually did something to change that. But, overall, I did enjoy Bloodwalker despite certain things that I didn’t like, it was a good read.

Paperback, 284 pages

Expected publication: October 4th 2016 by Freedom Fox Press

ISBN: 1939844258

Books, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Book Review: Aceldama

August 4, 2016April 8, 2018by Zaheerah1 Comment

you can find the book at:
GoodReads | Author’s website | Amazon | Bookdepository
my review:
Rating: ★★★☆☆
~e-copy provided by author in exchange for an honest review~

After purchasing a coin, Tim Harrington starts to have nightmares that become dangerously vivid. When he goes into a coma, his wife, Anna, embarks on a journey and soon learns that an ancient curse is what’s keeping her husband unconscious. She finds herself returning to Paris but her search for the truth goes much further in history. She has no choice but to follow her instinct, even if it means going against scientific logic, history and her own beliefs.

Aceldama has an intriguing premise. It was interesting reading this story as this coin is slowly passed through history, impacting the lives of all its bearers until it reached the hands of Tim Harrington. Hazen has created this intricate line of action with a variety of engaging characters. There were moments of great suspense and paranormal detail. I was intrigued by Anna as a protagonist and was attached to her from the beginning to the end as she did all that she could to save her husband.

However, for no one’s fault apart from my own, I found it difficult to start this book. I wasn’t at all captivated at the beginning but that did certainly change once everything started going. The mix of different perspectives was hard to follow at first, which was strange because I don’t usually struggle with that. For example, there are scenes set in Jerusalem around AD30 (I think) but the language used didn’t fit into the timeframe. The way some of the characters talked felt too modern for that time period and, to me, it felt jarring. There were moments, especially in the beginning, of info dumping which was a struggle to get through but, overall, it was an interesting read.

Kindle Edition, 285 pages

Published May 12th 2016 by Black Rose Writing (first published June 25th 2009)
ASIN: B01F7Q62M6

Tag: rating 3 star

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