Book Review; A Court of Throne and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Synopsis

A thrilling, seductive new series from New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas, blending Beauty and the Beast with faerie lore.

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows about from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin—one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled their world.

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it . . . or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

My Musings

The Deliciously decadent new fantasy series from Sarah J Maas weaves a seductive spell over her fans again.

Based on Beauty and the Beast and aimed for a slightly older audience we are introduced to a new fantasy world where humans and faeries live uncomfortably side by side after a great war but evil is still lurking. Feyre lives in poverty with her family and when out hunting for them kills what she thinks is a wolf but in fact is a faery in disguise. In retribution a warrior faery Lord named Tamlin, in his 'beast' form demands she give her life and return with him to his home or her family dies. Maas cleverly paints a bleak barren picture of Fayre's life so when she arrives at the Tamlin's home both the reader and Feyre delight in the beauty and colour of , what we find out, is The Spring Court. The contrast is striking.

When he is home Tamlin, turns from beast to man but still  has to forever wear a golden mask due to a curse on his court by the evil queen Amarantha. The mystery of the man behind the mask hangs in the air between them. Their clash of wills  as Feyre refuses to be intimidated by Tamlin and their fight for survival and love is captivating and their chemistry grows powerfully throughout the book. I should also mention Tamlin's best friend Lucien who adds quite a bit of spice!

The book really starts to twist and turn when Spring Court is attacked and both Feyre and Tamlin become prisoners to Amarantha, Queen of Prithian. It is here we are introduced to the darkly addictive Rhysand, Faery Lord of the Night Court. The plot weaves a deliciously complex plot, where bad characters turn good , or do they? The end still leaves many questions unanswered frustratingly. Will Fayre save Tamlin? Is Rhysand to be trusted? And what of the bargain he has made with Feyre. Shadows of the myth Hades and Persephone spring to mind. You hold your breath as their lives hang in the balance.

Marr has created an hedonistic world full of sensual and decadent heroes and a fiercely passionate and  beautiful heroine that will carve their names into your memory for a long time after finishing this awesome book.  I didn't realise I was so fully hooked until the last page when I felt quite desolate it had finished and I would have to wait a full year until the next one! Definitely one of my favourite books this year!!

If you can try and catch Sarah J. Maas on her UK Tour. ON NOW

If you like this you might like
The Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas


Follow Sarah J Maas on
www.sarahjmaas.com
Twitter https://twitter.com/SJMaas/
 Facebook Sarah J. Maas

Book Review; Summer at Tiffanys by Karen Swan

Summer At Tiffany's by Karen Swan

Synopsis

A return to the characters from the bestselling Christmas at Tiffany's. With a wedding to plan and a wedding to stop, what could go wrong?

My Musings 

So lucky to get a proof thanks to Cover to Cover Book Shop in Mumbles! Thankyou x



 This book is a welcome return to the amazing characters of Karen Swan's Christmas in Tiffanys but what lies in store for them in the sequel?

Certainly all that glitters is not gold. I was dying to know what happened to Cassie, Henry and her best friends so many of us fell in love with and Karen certainly takes her readers on a rollercoaster ride. We left Cassie and Henry in a perfect place as they just got engaged at the end of the last book. But sometimes life can be too perfect and Cassie seems to want to deliberately sabotage her own chance of happiness. Cassie will not or cannot commit to a wedding much to Henry's obvious frustration. What I like about Karen Swan books is she makes her character flawed, thereby relatable and Cassie is certainly that. You want to shake her sometimes but also recognize we all carry baggage that can influence future decisions and not always in a good way. 

This book also sends out some curve balls. When a husband of one of Cassie's friends has a heart attack it sets in motion a set of events that will change their lives and highlight unresolved issues. My heart was in my mouth for some parts and I was hoping Karen wasn't going to be too cruel to her readers!

The second part of the book is set in Cornwall which sounds divine, especially to someone who's never been. Karen's scene building of the gorgeous beach house,  interiors, the fashion is fabulous and you are transported there with the characters. Its in Cornwall things come to a head as while Henry is away an old lover of Cassie's appears. Its at this point you really want to scream at her! Surely Cassie can't be that stupid ? Well you'll have to read the book to find out as I don't do Spoilers!

Really LOVED this book. I was feeling a bit poorly when I started it and it really provided some much need escapism. I was totally smitten. The overriding message in this book is the importance of friendship, living in the moment and grabbing happiness while you can. Definately something to remember!

ENJOY!!

If you like this you will love
Christmas At Tiffany's by Karen Swan. (You don't have to read this first but I would)
The Summer Without You by Karen Swan

If you want to follow Karen Swan find her on
Twitter @KarenSwan1
Facebook Karen Swan

Cornwall

Book Review: The Grisha Series by Leigh Bardugo

Book Review: The Grisha Series by Leigh Bardugo

Synopsis

Book 1: Shadow and Bone

 Lonely orphan Alina discovers she has a power that could save her kingdom. But with power comes a choice - between the seductive, powerful Darkling and her childhood friend, Mal.

Book 2: Siege and Storm

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and he needs Alina to realise his dangerous plan. Somehow, she must choose between her country, her power, and her love - or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

Book 3: Ruin and Rising 

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne. But as Alina begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction - but claiming it could cost Alina the very future she is fighting for.

My Musings

Epic is the word that comes to  mind trying to describe this series. Leigh Bardugo has infused Russian culture and mysticism into a rich fantastical world then thrown in some ill fated love and a huge cast of the blessed and the outsiders. 

This monumental story centers around two unlikely heroes, their doomed love and their fight for the very survival of their world. Their enemy, The Darkling, is their Machiavellian nemesis of mythic proportions. whose quest for his own brand of redemption embroils Alina, Mal and their friends and foes in a fight which will leave many on the battle field. But who survives in the end? 

This has a definite touch of Game of Thrones as Bardugo is clearly not shy of killing  or maiming favourite characters unlike Meyer in The Twilight series which gave that particular series such a weak ending. You are drawn into an amazingly rich world where is always a new twist, new plot, new character or another side to the coin. The characters all have depth and none are perfect or infact truelly evil. They all have a story to tell and crosses to bear. 

The first book sees Alina who is skinny and sickly , find her formidable magical powers and being taught how to use them in the face of opposition from various factions. The second sees the introduction of one of my favourite characters, Nickolai, the prince/privateer.  But is he friend of foe? The Darkling is the most complex character, as at times you feel sympathy for him as does Alina and giving him a hint of humanity makes him a truelly powerful and memorable character.  In the third installment, Ruin and Rising the world is in dire turmoil as Alina, Mal and an ever shrinking band of friends are still desperate to fight the Darkling and save their world. 

I was kept guessing until the end and I wasn't disappointed although you may have a tear in your eye. Absorbing escapism at its best for true fantasy and adventure lovers.

Ps, Excited to hear the film rights have been bought so we will have to wait and see if it makes it onto the big screen. Hope so as this series has it all.

If you like this you may like
Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini
Game of Thrones by Martin
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas
Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan. 
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Film Review Furious 7 ( Fast and Furious Series)

Film Review: Furious 7

Synopsis

Deckard Shaw seeks revenge against Dominic Toretto and his family for his comatose brother.

My Musings

 Furious 7. Where to begin. I am a big fan of the series surprisingly! And a bigger fan of Paul Walker. So it was bittersweet going to see his last film before his untimely death. The hype has been HUGE and I really hoped it was not exaggerated. Honestly, it didn't start well with a random car race but past that we then really get into the story line. Jason Stratham is coming for the whole crew to avenge his baby brother from Fast and Furious 6. What follows is a mind blowing roller coaster ride of action adventure. This film gives you a white knuckle ride that blows all competition this year out of the water. There is so much in this film to comment on its mind boggling.

The cast is AMAZING. The original cast has great chemistry and the baddies are suitably kick ass. The driving stunts, well is should go without saying, are AWESOME. Paul Walker's stunts and nearly going of a cliff was classic edge of your seat stuff. Also Shout out for Tony Jaa, who's martial arts stunts are extraordinarly wild. There is also a great fun fight sequence between Michelle Rodriguez and Ronda Rousey in evening dress no less. Love seeing femail actresses been given feisty roles and Michelle really gives it her all. Stratham does his growly thing and is an excellent foil to Vin Diesal even more gravelly voice. Must mention The Rock and Kurt Russell who played smaller roles but both relished the screen time by hamming it up with a straight face. (I have to say I giggled throughout at the sheer outrageousness of it all.Just loved all the humour and insane lines!)  What is so clever and on the money is that it is so tongue in cheek they get away with it. Also must mention, I have never seen so many cars fly before!! Out of planes, from building to building. You have to see it to believe it! Its all totally bonkers and over the top and I loved every minute of it. If you want escapism this it the film for you.

On a poignant note I liked it gave each of the main cast a chance to shine with some great repartee and quieter emotive scenes which add really pathos when they are with Paul Walker. I was astonished that the team managed to put Paul Walker throughout the film which was absolutely necessary.  The wonders of technology is scarily good although James Wan, the director did say he had to use every trick in the book. James Wan handles this film with a light but firm touch while giving the film a great message about the importance of sticking by family and friends.

 Full credit to the commitment of cast and crew, especially Vin Diesel who is the lynch pin of the film, for finishing a wonderfully entertaining film under horrendous circumstances of not only losing a main character but also a friend. They have given Paul Walker a truly fitting send off. The last scenes are extremely poignant and sensitively handled. Not mawkish or treacly. Seeing Paul Walker and Vin Diesel in the last scenes reminiscent of how their great partnership had started 7 films ago left a a tear, Ok more than one : ( , in my eye for the loss of a truly beautiful and talented actor.

Book Review Gorsky by Vesna Goldsworthy

Synopsis

**Book at Bedtime on Radio 4**

'Written with such narrative elegance that you're led irrestistibly on, as with some exquisite dish, from one perfect melting mouthful to the next' Michael Frayn 

London dances to the tune of Gorsky’s billions. The most enigmatic of oligarchs, Gorsky has been led to the city by his love for Natalia, whom he first knew in Russia. That she is now married to an Englishman is an inconvenient detail. 

Gorsky desires and gets the best of everything. His mansion by the Thames is set to make Buckingham Palace look like an ungainly box by a roundabout. At its heart will be a grand library, denoting taste and breeding. Now he just needs the books. 

When Gorsky’s armour-plated car halts in front of a down-at-heel bookshop, the startled young man behind the till receives the commission of a lifetime. The bookseller suddenly gains privileged access to the wealthy and the beautiful; a world filled with delectable books but fraught with danger...

My Musings

All that glitters is not gold.
I found this a deeply frustrating book. The author Goldsworthy has a beautiful, descriptive lyrical style which I found myself totally absorbed in. It was her skill that kept me going and surpassed my irritation with certain aspects of it.

This really is an ode to London, the super rich and the melting pot of colourful people who flock there. Goldsworthy has used The Great Gatsby as , I thought in the beginning,  a template for her story. Fine so far. The similarities are clearly referenced. I loved the premise of this enigmatic billionaire swooping into a quirky bookshop and ordering the young bookseller to put together a rare library, no expense spared. The description of Gorsky weaves a mythological person in the readers mind. Then Natalia ( who's daughter is Daisy) is introduced and I suddenly realised that Gatsby wasn't being used to inspire it actually was being retold but in a different time frame.

 I have a love hate relationship with the original. I love the character of Gatsby but am always irritated at his one woman blindness that leads to his downfall. It always felt such a waste. Then there is the shallowness of this world, the superficiality. People with too much money allowed to be self indulgent and nasty. This world is absolutely mirrored in this book and maybe this is why I found difficulty with it. This world is presented as attractive and something to aspire to but the people are so ghastly you find yourself not caring.

Goldsworthy seems so enamored with this world it becomes off putting. You start to see it for what is its even if she doesn't Maybe that was her aim? When I realised I was actually reading Gatsby in a different time frame I did wonder what was the point. I already know the ending. There is no surprise. I know they do this with films a lot. The equivalent of this would be the remake of Great Expectations with Gwyneth Paltrow, which was brilliant. Did I like this because I like the story better?

I truelly feel Goldsworthy missed an amazing opportunity here to put her own spin on it. Maybe she could have told the story of Daisy(the daughter) grown up. She could have still had echoes of Gatsby but given us an original take. She could have given it more depth. I just found it a waste of talent. Would I have enjoyed it more if I loved The Great Gatsby? I don't think so because there were no surprises. She has written it scene by scene the same as the original. Sometimes it works for films but I don't get this at all. I hope this isn't going to become fashionable. I know Jane Austens novels are being rewritten by authors such as McCall Smith so who knows maybe its just me. Maybe if someone really loves a novel they get to read it again but from a different angle. I thought, this would be from a different perspective but there is no originality of thought here regarding plot. I don't know if this was a commission  or Miss Goldsworthy is in love with this book but I truely urge her to take some of these characters and trust herself to imagine her own plot.

I think her next book should be what happens to Natalia's Daisy? I would read it.

You should try this book if you like glamour, London, mysterious characters, doomed love I would love to know what others have to say about this book. Am still in two minds which is why my review is so mixed.

If you like this you may like
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

Book Review: Daily Rituals, How Artists Work by Mason Currey

Synopsis

How is a novel written? A masterpiece painted? A symphony composed?

Benjamin Franklin took daily naked air baths and Toulouse-Lautrec painted in brothels. Edith Sitwell worked in bed, and George Gershwin composed at the piano in pyjamas. Freud worked sixteen hours a day, but Gertrude Stein could never write for more than thirty minutes, and F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in gin-fuelled bursts - he believed alcohol was essential to his creative process.

Here are the working routines of more than a hundred and sixty of the greatest philosophers, writers, composers and artists ever to have lived, who, whether by amphetamines or alcohol, headstands or boxing, made time and got to work.

A chance to see what great lives look like when the triumphs, dramas, disruptions and divorces have been all but boiled away. It will fascinate anyone who wonders how a day might best be spent, especially those who have wondered of their artistic heroes, as a baffled Colette once did of George Sand: how the devil did they manage? (Guardian)

An utterly fascinating compendium . . . This book is the ultimate retort to the flaneurs who dream about the novel/screenplay/painting they would create if only they had the time. Its message is that serious artists make the time, and most of them make it at the same time every day (Daisy Goodwin Sunday Times)

My Musings

A fascinating  little jewel of a book. These 'amuse-bouche' is a riveting insight into the lives of many of our greatest writers, artists and musicians and their daily rituals. What comes across in these tiny tales is that if you have a passion to create you will make the time and not let life get in the way. As an artist you have to be selfish, determined and have a one track mind.

There is someone for everyone in this from Picasso to Steven King, Georgia O Keefe to Beethoven giving it a broad appeal. I absolutely loved reading about the lives of the great and the good of our cultural giants. It is like spying through a keyhole into their lives for a few seconds. Each artist is given no longer than a page or two depending I suppose on the amount of facts Currey was able to gleen but that is enough.

What you take from the book, (or I did as an artist) is that there is no magic formula to create. Everybody has their own idiosyncrasies. The majority did have very disciplined (and quirky) rituals that they kept to rigorously. However there were some real eccentrics and undisciplined artists and writers who still produced masterpieces. What you take away from this treasure trove is listen to what works for you. We are all individuals and we all work in different ways BUT if you can find the daily rituals that work for you then the world is your oyster.

A great gift for culture vultures and artists alike. Perfect to dip in and out of or read at a stretch. 

Film Review: The Second Exotic Marigold Hotel

Synopsis

As the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has only a single remaining vacancy - posing a rooming predicament for two fresh arrivals - Sonny pursues his expansionist dream of opening a second hotel

My Musings

Poignant feel good movie with a twist of lemon. Romance has no barriers when it comes to age.

A stella cast just managed to pull this sequel off to bring us another hit. We return to The Exotic Marigold Hotel where Sonny wishes to expand his hotel with the help of Maggie Smith. Dev Patel and Maggie Smith have a genuine chemistry going with Maggie having to curb his youthful inexperience and impetuous with her wisdom and experience. Her sharp withering comments are never far away. I had hoped that the writers would still make it as cuttingly witty as it was before and non PC and even though it is not as dramatic or as shocking as the first it is still there very much evident.

 We return to the ongoing storylines in the first. Judi and Bill Nighy are still dithering over their relationship. When Judy says to a friend about Bill, " I just want him to give me time". Her friend asks but how much time do you have? This is a film that says to us all what ever age Carpe Diem. Seize The Day.What I really like is that it is not patronising to older people at all. They are all living full lives with jobs, social and romance. It does have a strong message for us all. Especially to the other film reviewers of this film who's ageist and insulting remarks i have found absolutely shocking.

Getting back to the rest of the cast Celia Imrie flits between two suitors but one of her last scenes is especially poignant and subtle and rescues her from a silly storyline. Ronald Pickup had the silliest storyline where he thought he had unintentionally put out a hit on his girlfriend. I just wish this hadn't been given so much time although necessary for laughs. Two new residents included Richard Gere and Tamsin Grieg who I felt both were miscast. Gere was clearly put in to attract the american audience but looked like  he felt he shouldn't be there and slept walked through the film.

 I must put a shout out for the magnificent Penelope Wilton who made a fleeting visit but seriously made the most of it. Talking of fleeting visits David Strathairn plays the hotel investor very briefly. At the end he and Maggie have one scene together which positively crackles. I fervently wish they had given them both more time together.

 The overlaying storyline which linked everyone was Sonny's upcoming wedding. It all concluded after a few hiccups to a wonderful Indian wedding scene with a healthy dose of brilliant Bollywood dancing thrown in. It was truelly uplifting but as in the last tempered with a dose of reality. I won't give any spoilers but Maggie Smith closed the film with a speech which will melt your heart. One of our finest actresses she was truelly spellbinding and you felt privileged to watch her.

Absolutely Recommended. This second helping is definitely worth the wait. A few hiccups in the middle but the stella performances from most of the cast, especially Maggie Smith and Judi Dench with their ageless coquettishness is worth the ticket alone.