Books with magical elements are my favourites, and therefore I decided to share the best ones I’ve ever read with you. Hopefully, you’ll get some recommendations out of this post. Cover leads to Goodreads and title leads to Book Depository.
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Review: I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You (Gallagher Girls, #1) by Ally Carter
I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publication Date: April 25th 2006
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 10+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Espionage, Boarding School, Friendship, Action
BLURB:
Cammie Morgan is a student at the Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, a fairly typical all-girls school-that is, if every school taught advanced martial arts in PE and the latest in chemical warfare in science, and students received extra credit for breaking CIA codes in computer class. The Gallagher Academy might claim to be a school for geniuses but it’s really a school for spies. Even though Cammie is fluent in fourteen languages and capable of killing a man in seven different ways, she has no idea what to do when she meets an ordinary boy who thinks she’s an ordinary girl. Sure, she can tap his phone, hack into his computer, or track him through town with the skill of a real “pavement artist”-but can she maneuver a relationship with someone who can never know the truth about her?
Cammie Morgan may be an elite spy-in-training, but in her sophomore year, she’s on her most dangerous mission-falling in love. Continue reading
Review: Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publicatio Date: December 23rd 2008
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, High School
BLURB:
When “Perfect” Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter’s High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher’s pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?
Parker doesn’t want to talk about it. She’d just like to be left alone, to disappear, to be ignored. But her parents have placed her on suicide watch and her conselors are demanding the truth. Worse, there’s a nice guy falling in love with her and he’s making her feel things again when she’d really rather not be feeling anything at all.
Nobody would have guessed she’d turn out like this. But nobody knows the truth.
Something horrible has happened, and it just might be her fault. Continue reading
This or That Book Tag ft. Captain Jack Sparrow!
Dear folks, I am here to do the THIS OR THAT book tag, created by Ayunda @ Tea and Paperbacks. It has come to my attention that the last time I did a tag, I was a minor. I am now doing a tag as an adult. Thank you for thinking of me, Shanayah @ The Scarlet Bookkeeper.
I shall apologize in advance for the bad humour that will follow. You see, I am currently watching the whole PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN series. Indeed, I am contaminated with Jack’s wicked humour!
Again, apologies. Let’s proceed to the tag now. There are some rules involved, but Captain Jack Sparrow takes no orders! Continue reading
Review: Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer
Smart Girls Get What They Want by Sarah Strohmeyer
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Bought
Publicatio Date: March 26th 2013
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 11+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, High School, Sports, Friendship
BLURB:
Gigi, Bea, and Neerja are best friends and total overachievers. Even if they aren’t the most popular girls in school, they aren’t too worried. After all, real life will begin once they get to their Ivy League colleges. But when an unexpected event proves they’re missing out on the full high-school experience, it’s time to come out of the honors lounge and into the spotlight. The trio makes a pact: They will each take on their greatest challenge and totally rock it.
Gigi decides to run for student rep, but she’ll have to get over her fear of public speaking—and go head-to-head with gorgeous California Will. Bea used to be one of the best skiers around, until she was derailed; it could be time for her to take the plunge again. And Neerja loves the drama club but has always stayed behind the scenes—until now.
These friends are determined to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want—but that might mean getting way more attention than they ever bargained for. . . . Continue reading
Review: Paper and Fire (The Great Library, #2) by Rachel Caine
Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: NetGalley
Publication Date: July 5th 2016
Publisher: NAL
Point of View: 3rd Person
Recommended Age: 13+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Fantasy, Steampunk, Books about Books
BLURB:
In Ink and Bone, New York Times bestselling author Rachel Caine introduced a world where knowledge is power, and power corrupts absolutely. Now, she continues the story of those who dare to defy the Great Library—and rewrite history…
With an iron fist, The Great Library controls the knowledge of the world, ruthlessly stamping out all rebellion, forbidding the personal ownership of books in the name of the greater good.
Jess Brightwell has survived his introduction to the sinister, seductive world of the Library, but serving in its army is nothing like he envisioned. His life and the lives of those he cares for have been altered forever. His best friend is lost, and Morgan, the girl he loves, is locked away in the Iron Tower and doomed to a life apart.
Embarking on a mission to save one of their own, Jess and his band of allies make one wrong move and suddenly find themselves hunted by the Library’s deadly automata and forced to flee Alexandria, all the way to London.
But Jess’s home isn’t safe anymore. The Welsh army is coming, London is burning, and soon, Jess must choose between his friends, his family, or the Library willing to sacrifice anything and anyone in the search for ultimate control… Continue reading
Review: Dracula by Bram Stoker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Received: Library
Publication Date: first published 1897
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Point of View: 1st Person & Alternative
Recommended Age: 16+
Genres & Themes: Adult, Classics, Vampires, Gothic
BLURB:
The aristocratic vampire that haunts the Transylvanian countryside has captivated readers’ imaginations since it was first published in 1897. Hindle asserts that Dracula depicts an embattled man’s struggle to recover his “deepest sense of himself as a man”, making it the “ultimate terror myth”. Continue reading
Review: The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson
The Flip Side by Shawn Johnson
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Received: Edelweiss
Publication Date: June 7th 2016
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 10+
Genres & Themes: Young Adult, Sports, High School, Gymnastics, Romance, Friendship, Contemporary
BLURB:
From gold medalist and reality TV star Shawn Johnson comes a debut YA novel inspired by her own experiences as an elite teenage gymnast—just in time for the Summer 2016 Olympic games.
Charlie Ryland has a secret.
She may seem like your average high school sophomore—but she’s just really good at pretending.
Because outside of school Charlie spends all her waking hours training to become one of the best gymnasts in the world. And it’s not easy flying under the radar when you’re aiming for Olympic gold…especially when an irresistible guy comes along and threatens to throw your whole world off balance.
Inspired by her own experiences as a fifteen-year-old Olympic gymnast, gold medalist Shawn Johnson writes a delightfully entertaining novel about chasing big dreams and falling in love, all while trying to keep it real. Continue reading
Review: The Stranger by Albert Camus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Received: Borrowed
Publication Date: 1942
Publisher: Vintage International
Point of View: 1st Person & Masculine
Recommended Age: 16+
Genres & Themes: Adulr, Classic, Life, Psychological
BLURB:
Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed “the nakedness of man faced with the absurd.”
Continue reading
Hit or Miss Books 