lifeonasofa's reviews
226 reviews

The Girl Who Saved Christmas by Matt Haig

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

“You can always tell if someone is kind because kindness is the sparkle inside their eyes” - Matt Haig ✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 Stars

As expected, another cozy Christmas read for adults and children alike. I like that this followed on from A Boy Called Christmas. We got more of Nikolas and Blitzen as well as some new characters - Charles Dickens?! 👀💕

Whilst this book follows a similar storyline to book 1, miserable opening, lots of hope and a festive happy ending - it didn’t give me the same magically feeling. 🎅🏼

It was funny at times. But I just felt sad, until maybe the last 30 mins of the book? I don’t think the narrator was as emotive with their voice as Stephen Fry either which made it harder to pay attention 🙈

Still a good festive pick - book 3 could be everything I’m looking for? 🤞🏻

Underneath the Christmas Tree by Heidi Swain

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 Stars

My first festive read of the year! I still have an ever growing list that inevitably will be left until next year AGAIN. I saw this one EVERYWHERE on booksta last year so I jumped on it when I saw it on BorrowBox. 📚

So this novel takes place on a Christmas tree farm - SO FESTIVE AND COZY! Lots of snow, lights and nostalgia. The setting was lovely, the small town folk were a delight. 🎄

As expected, this book is very predictable but I feel like all Xmas movies/book are right? This story obviously has a bit of luke warm romance at the heart of it, just to make it all the more heartwarming. 💕

Whilst I loved most of the characters, I wasn’t a huge fan of our main girly. I’m not a fan of miscommunication in a relationship so I wasn’t completely into the love interest side of the story. 🙈

Im not sure I would’ve seen this book through had it not been an audiobook. I struggle with slow paced reads but it was great for a relaxing wind down which I know many people love this time of year. 📖

Content Warnings

The Curfew by T.M. Logan

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Protect our beautiful boy, whatever it takes” - T M Logan 💕

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 Stars

I was nervous going into this, as I found a previous book, The Holiday, such a let down. But I enjoyed this more than expected! 😁

I love how straight off the bat, we were questioning everyone and everything thing going on. I was pretty confident that Connor was innocent but didn’t have a Scooby what had happened. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The family were pretty likeable in the sense that they had faith in their son. Harriett was a stand out character, I wish we’d had more of her, she deserves the world. 🥰

I really enjoyed how the plot unraveled in the last few chapters. It wasn’t mind blowing but it all fell into place pretty well. I felt it should’ve all happened sooner, it’s a pretty long book - but as least we had short chapters. 🙏🏻

Content Warnings

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

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adventurous hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Queen of Nothing 👑 Review

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“My sweet nemesis, how glad I am that you returned.” - Holly Black 💕

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A big thank you to @ for sending across this trilogy for the readalong. The group chat and prompts were truly engaging! 📚

What a trilogy! I cannot believe it’s taken me this long to get around to this series. Safe to say, I get the hype. If you’re new to fantasy - I highly recommend, you’re in safe hands. ✨

Jude was back at it again with all her badass behaviour. I really liked her power in this book, I just wish she’d had a little more confidence in herself. Cardan was top tier, I’m just sad we didn’t get more of him/them. He is a clever cookie 🍪

I really enjoyed the sheer amount of action in this book. But I cannot fathom why this book was the shortest. It definitely felt a little too fast for my liking, I wanted a little more explanation as well as time with our characters. Maybe I’m being greedy? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Madoc was on top form - what an arse! I liked that we still got a bit of trickery going on. Jude was smart with the punishments, even if he did get off lightly. I have to say, nothing in this book went the way I expected, but it was a nice round up to the trilogy. 🥰

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Undoctored: The Story of a Medic Who Ran Out of Patients by Adam Kay

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

Undoctored 👨🏽‍⚕️ Review

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.25 stars

Adam Kay‘s ‘This is Going to Hurt’ is one of my all time favourite books, I always recommend it. I also really enjoyed ‘The Nightshift Before Christmas’. Safe to say, I was SO EXCITED about this new release. 🤩

Undoctored opens with the same humourous but infuriating accounts of working in the NHS. Our nurses and doctors deserve better! This book was more about Kay after leaving medical and building his comedic profession, it felt quite personal. 🩺

Whilst I can’t say anything negative about Kay writing about his life experiences (it’s brave) - this book wasn’t a stand out for me this time. I appreciate his openness, I couldn’t help but feel for him. I’m sure a lot of people will enjoy reading about his journey but this was just very different to his previous books. 🩻

The humour felt forced at the start and almost disappears as the rest of the book gets quite heavy. Looking back, I enjoyed this book more than I did whilst actually reading it - if that makes sense? I found the audiobook a little difficult to get into, I’d recommend reading his memoirs physically. 🎧

There are several TWs so please check. For me, I didn’t expect the r*pe and the e*ting d*sorder sections so I had to mention those - it was hard to read. 📖

Content Warnings

The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

“But that’s the thing about almost: you can be ninety-nine per cent there, you can be an inch away from doing it, but if you stop yourself from stepping over that line, nobody will ever know how close you were” - Beth O’Leary 🚶🏻‍♀️

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.25 stars

I adore Beth O’Learys writing, I find her books so easy to pick up. The Flatshare was actually the reason I got into chick lit reads. I just love how she combines fluffy and cozy with funny and real characters. 💕

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t my favourite but that’s okay! I’m not big on second chance romance anyway and this particular pairing didn’t win me over. I enjoyed Addie and her sister, wish the other female characters got their chance to shine ✨

The males in this book were all toxic! Don’t get me wrong, it added to the plot and some parts were SO FUNNY but it wasn’t the perfect set up for a romance. Dylan was such a wet wipe, Marcus was so predictably dickish, and Rodney well I’m not against him being inserted for some extra drama but it was random 😂

I understand why the use of ‘then’ and ‘now’ was needed to unravel the story. I felt O’Leary was trying to mix up her style with a deeper plot, but personally I think it took away from her usual loveable style. The beginning was pretty fun but as the book went on, I could’ve done without flashbacks. TW: Sexual Assault ⚠️

I’m still an O’Leary fan but this one didn’t hit the mark for me 💍

Content Warnings

The Wicked King by Holly Black

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adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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“For a moment,” he says, “I wondered if it wasn’t you shooting bolts at me.”
I make a face at him. “And what made you decide it wasn’t?”
He grins up at me. “They missed.” - Holly Black 🏹

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5 Stars

Thank you hotkeysya for sending this copy of The Wicked King as part of the second tandemcollectiveuk The Folk of the Air Readalong! 💝

An applause for Holly Black for making the sequel better than the first! I’m always weary of the second book in a trilogy, they can often be slow but THE DRAMA in this book! 👏🏻

Jude really grew as a character in this, I love her even more! I love that we got to understand the way she thinks before she carried out her plans. I’m glad we got to see more of the spies - still my favs. The scenes between her and Cardan were SO much better too. 💕

Cardan really came into his own by the end of the book and I’m LIVING for it! I was waiting for him to really take his king role seriously. Don’t get me wrong - I’m fuming with that ending but he’s smart right? I feel he has a long term plan. 👀

Loved how we had danger and deceit coming from all sides! I still do not trust ANYONE in this whole damn book - Taryn and Madoc being the worst imo. But it just made it all the more exciting, I had no idea what twists were coming! BOOK 3 READALONG END OF NOV!🤯

Content Warnings

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The Cruel Prince 👑 Review
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“What do you think about stealing a crown? Right in front of the kings and queens of Faerie?” Her grin curls up at the corners. “Just tell me what I get to blow up.” - 💥 Holly Black

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.25 Stars

A big thank you to @tandemcollectiveuk @hotkeybooksya and @blackholly for sending The Folk of the Air series across as part of the readalong. It was one of the most enjoyable readalong chats - we were all very immersed! 💬

I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to read The Cruel Prince 🙈 and whilst I wasn’t feeling it the first 60 pages or so - wow did I get sucked in! I found it hard to close the book and save the next section. 📖

Minor Spoilers ⚠️
I really enjoyed Jude, she’s so badass and so clever, I loved her one liners and I didn’t know what she was going to do next. Taryn, I’m sad she accepted feeling weak but I think I see where her character is going - and I’m here for the chaos! Also Vivi, what a gem, I love that she was completely in on that ending 💪🏻

All the men in this book are trash - honestly, I knew they were not to be trusted. I’m unsure how I feel about Cardan, I’m glad it wasn’t a quick “oh suddenly I’m nice” switch but I’m still on the fence about who he is. 👑

My favourite characters were hands down the spies - love their dynamic. I found myself really looking forward to their banter, so I hope we get more of them in book 2! I’m excited to see how they run the kingdom 👀

Within the first 100 pages, we really had a good plot. I wasn’t a fan of the bullying but it kinda makes sense given the girls are human. I did NOT see the ending coming at all - I was shocked alongside everyone else 😂 I like how it’s been left wide open for the rest of the trilogy.

Buzzing for next month - which book so your favourite?! 📚

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Content Warnings

The Guilty Couple by C.L. Taylor

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

My first C L Taylor read, and I must say, I’m impressed. I went in blind and was HOOKED on the first page. The premise was different and I had NOT A SCOOBY where it was heading. 📖

The twists and turns and all the individual plans going on were so unpredictable. I found it hard to put the book down. I love how it made me question all the friendships and family members. 🙋🏻‍♀️

Whilst all the characters were unlikeable on the surface, I really enjoyed getting deeper into them as the book went on. I HATED Dom and Dani, like WOW. Also, that ending 👏🏻 both satisfying and infuriating.

Content Warnings

The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

“It’s not exactly as I remembered, but that’s the thing with memory: it makes up its own stories. They harden and calcify in just the same way as facts, and most of the time we have no idea which is which” - Rosie Walsh 🧠

⭐️⭐️💫 2.5 Stars

I was a big fan of Rosie Walsh’s ‘The Man Who Didn’t Call’ so I was so excited to find a her newest thriller! The book started with a similar light vibe. Walsh is brilliant at writing couples and family units. 🥰

As expected the story slowly became more confusing as it took some twisty turns. Walsh doesn’t write fast past thrillers, you definitely have to be patient and read carefully but the reveals are often unexpected. 😮

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t quite as surprising for me. I imagine it’s hit or miss for readers which is risky. I did start to get a little impatient and didn’t feel like it paid off this time. The last section turned into a different genre again! It was jarring. 📖

I’m not sure I’ll be jumping at the chance to read the next release. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Content Warnings

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lifeonasofa's reviews 226 reviews

lifeonasofa's reviews
226 reviews