[Review] The Special Ones by Em Bailey

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 01/06/2016

Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont

Pages: 319

Source: For review

Genre: YA {Contemporary}

#LoveOzYA

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ The Pierces - Three Wishes ♪

My Rating

5/5 stars

My thoughts

Dear A @ Hardie Grant Egmont (and everyone else),
I suck.
Sincerely, Cass

This book, guys! This book... *looks away and hides in the corner, curled up in foetal position*

Preface time! I actually requested this book for review, over a year ago before its publication, which the guys over at Hardie Grant Egmont graciously accepted and so I had a beautiful finished copy of my own to drool over! I don't receive any review copies anymore (which is good for my nerves), but even at that time I was barely communicating with publicists. It was only because an email had come in with a list of upcoming titles that I took the plunge and requested this book because I had previously read Em Bailey's Shift {my review} and wanted to try another book by her before casting her away entirely. And I'm so glad that I gave her another shot, but that's not the point here. The point is, I'm a terrible book blogger and I don't deserve new review copies until I've cleared out my to-be-reviewed and to-be-read (TBR 2x)! Please, all of you, just stay away for now. .__. I don't need you added more books to the madness that has consumed my room!

[Review] Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 14/12/2009

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 412

Source: Library

Genre: YA {Contemporary | Verse}

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Warning: suicide, death

Book Tunes

♪ Taylor Swift - Haunted (Acoustic) ♪*

Come on, Cass, really? You really don't even try to find creative songs anymore, do you?

My Rating

4.5/5 stars

My thoughts

*Sorry, this review is going to be all over the place! I really don't know why..can my being sick serve as an excuse? I seem to have lost the ability to speak coherently, succinctly and in an organised manner.*

When I pick up a verse book written by Lisa Schroeder I know that I'm going to read an emotionally turbulent and transcending book about grief, love and loss. Reading Chasing Brooklyn was no different - it was a quick read, full of beautifully written accounts of what grief feels like. I love Schroeder's written expression, and I think her poetry just flows so well! Chasing Brooklyn is beautiful and heart-achey and lovely, the carefully selected words tumbling down the pages.

Down the TBR Hole #3

Source: ♥

Down the TBR Hole is a meme/feature hosted by Lia (Lost in a Story). Hopefully this will remind me to read some of these long-lost, woeful books that have been sitting untouched, forgotten on these bookshelves of mine.

Rules

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 books
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Let's get started!

Current TBR count: 443

[Review + Giveaway] The Peony Lantern by Frances Watts

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Publication (dd/mm/yyyy): 01/07/2015

Publisher: ABC Books

Pages: 289

Source: Library (I have since bought a copy)

Genre: YA {Historical | Asian}

#LoveOzYA

Violence | Sexual Content | Profanity

Book Tunes

♪ Ai Otsuka - Planetarium ♪

My Rating

4/5 stars

My thoughts

I am in awe. The Peony Lantern was unlike anything I have previously read before, and while it started off quite slow I was glued to the pages by the end! Watts is sure to be an Aussie YA author I will need to follow closely from now on. If you're interested in reading a YA historical fiction set in Feudal Japan, you need to read The Peony Lantern!

The Peony Lantern is set in Japan in Ansei (安政) 4, 1857. Clumsy and outspoken 16-year-old Kasumi is selected by a respected samurai from Edo (now Tokyo), Lord Shimizu, to travel with him and his nephew back with them to be his wife's lady-in-waiting. His father agrees to the proposal, for there is no refusing a samurai. There, she quickly falls into a routine with her mistress Misaki, and they eventually become friendly. But there is something unusual about her behaviour, and when attacks by anti-Shogun rebels become increasingly frequent and deadly, Kasumi is worried that somehow she has fallen into unsafe territory. Will she ever live to see her family again?

Waiting on Wednesday (47)

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.