books
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A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab
A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab is the first in an adult fantasy trilogy. We follow two main characters: Kell, who is a blood magician and can travel between the four parallel London’s; Grey, Red, White and Black, as an ambassador to the Red Empire, and Lila, a common thief, with no home or family, who wants nothing more than to be a pirate. This was the first adult fantasy I have read, and fell quickly in love. This series has been compared to Harry Potter. I feel like probably because it’s set in London, and involves magic. I don’t really see a lot similarities between the…
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne is the eighth installment in the Harry Potter series, and the first to be done on stage. This play follows Harry Potter’s youngest son, Albus Potter, as he struggles to live in his father’s shadow. “As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.” – Goodreads. Unpopular opinion? I actually quite liked it! I wish it was not in play format. I feel it should have been rewritten into a novel, which I don’t imagine would have been to difficult. I would have enjoyed it more that way. I don’t…
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The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson was exactly the lighthearted book I need to break up all my sci-fi and fantasy reads. Following her dad’s political scandal, Andie’s summer plans are in ruin. A letter of recommendation pulled, and no summer job. Andie’s dad was never around much, he was always working, but this summer he’s home. I loved the family dynamic development throughout this book. Andie has been on her own a lot of the time, and it’s clear that her dad really doesn’t know much about his daughter. Their father-daughter relationship evolves over the course of the summer that hasn’t gone to plan for either of them.There were…
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Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a sci-fi retelling of the classic Cinderella. Cinder is a mechanic in New Beijing. She is also a cyborg. Hated by her step-mother, and soon blamed for the sickness killing her step-sister, Cinder becomes entwined with Prince Kai and messy intergalactic politics with the Moon. While I did enjoy this, it didn’t blow my socks off. As with most retellings, the plot is quite predictable. I loved the characters and the world building. Being set after World War IV in a rebuilt China? Super fascinating! I’m excited to continue the series. I give this 3.5 stars. ★★★☆☆
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We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart is a YA Suspense novel following a group of four friends on a private island with their distinguished family throughout the summer. Our main character cannot seem to remember what her and her friends got up to the summer before. She knows her mother is keeping secrets from her. She’s hoping to figure it out this summer when they meet at the family island again. At times, this was hard to follow. You can’t tell what’s the truth, and what’s I lie That ending!! This was a 2 star read for me until the ending, which bumped it up to a 3 stars! I…
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Scythe by Neal Shusterman
Scythe by Neal Shusterman is set in a utopian/distopian world where humans are essentially immortal. Disease, hunger, fatal accidents, war, etc. have all been eradicated. Do you feel as though you are too old? You can turn back your clock to an age you feel comfortable. Did you fall and suffer a fatal brain injury? You can be revived. Scythes are necessary to control the ever increasing world population. They are a sanctioned group of trained killers with a conscience, at least most of them are. Once killed by a scythe, you will not be revived. We are following two main characters, Citra and Rowan who are apprentices to become…
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The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight
Cosmopolitan said The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight was a “genius” national bestseller on not giving a f*ck and getting more out of life. Goodreads claims, “This brilliant, hilarious, and practical parody of Marie Kondo’s bestseller The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, and guilt–and give your f*cks instead to people and things that make you happy.” I however, couldn’t even finish this. Although supposedly a parody, I did not find this book funny at all. I found the writing to be narcissistic, condescending and “a-hole-like” (yes, that’s a technical term). Not giving a sh*t about dying…
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Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson is such a fun read. Emily’s best friend, Sloane, left suddenly at the beginning of summer without a word. One day, Emily receives a list in the mail from Sloane – a summer bucket list. This wasn’t your standard list, it was full of things to push Emily outside of her comfort zone. It’s always been Emily and Sloane, a pair, never apart. We follow Emily’s journey of self discovery throughout the summer as she learns to be just ‘Emily’, as she checks off items on the list. She hopes completing all the challenges will bring her closer to finding out what has…
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A New Era
Welcome to (another) new era of ’emilynmax’! I know I have relaunched this blog a number of times but, as always, I hope this time will be different. I haven’t been posting on here consistently for years and I’ve missed it. With this new era; this relaunched, new and improved ’emilynmax’, the content is going to be a bit different than before. I have rekindled my love affair with books. I started sharing this love on my family YouTube channel, ‘emilynfamily‘ and have had so much support. Therefore, there will be a lot of bookish content featured here, but also beauty, as in the past, and motherhood topics. Hence, the…
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Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella is about a 14 year old girl named Audrey, who wears her dark glasses all the time. Audrey is dealing with some major mental health struggles. That is, until she meets Linus, her brothers friend. With his help, Audrey begins making major progress in her recovery. I loved that this book brought up some important mental health topics. However, it is incredibly unhealthy to portray to impressionable teens (target audience) that their mental health issues can be resolved if only you can find a cute, understanding boy to help you through it. The only reason I continued to read it was to find out what…
