My N.E.W.Ts Wrap Up!

This is a quick post to report my progress on the N.E.W.Ts portion of the Magical Readathon because I did the impossible and read every challenge for all three of the careers I wanted! That means I qualified to be a Mind Medic, Magical Zoologist and a Librarian. Here are the prompts and what I read for all of them:

Ancient Runes:
Recommended by a friend: The Test
Written in the past tense: The Third Mrs. Durst
TBR veteran: Broken Bay

Care of Magical Creatures:
Book starts with A: A Blade so Black
Under 300 pages: Kill River 2
Bird on the cover: Monsters

Charms:
Gorgeous cover: Once Upon a Rainbow volume one
Graphic novel: Mooncakes
Paperback: Sea Change

DADA:
Black under the dust jacket: The Favourite Sister
First remembered from TBR: What We Saw at Night
Set in England/English author: I, Partridge

Herbology:
Audiobook: Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
350-390 pages: The Perfect Wife

History of Magic:
Fantasy: Tangleweed & Brine
Has a map: Truly Devious

Muggle Studies:
Cover with a photo element: Diving In
Set in the real world: Hello, Goodbye & Everything Inbetween

Potions:
Friend's favourite book: Sleep
Cover the colour of your house: The Flower Girls

Transfiguration:
Queer book: I'm a Gay Wizard
Not the first in a series: Please Send Help
~

That's all of them! To see what I thought of them, check out my August wrap up videos at my Youtube channel here

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review.

I am LIVING for this wave of cute fantasy graphic novels with great representation in them. Mooncakes is the story of Tam, a non-binary werewolf who comes back to their old town and reconnects with their old childhood friend, Nova. Nova is a deaf witch who has been investigating some mysterious demon activity in her town and, when Tam gets dragged into the demon activity, it's up to the both of them to put a stop to it.

Firstly, this graphic novel has a great art style. It's cute but not so much that older readers would be put off by it. The colours and particularly the way the magic is shown in the universe creates a lovely atmosphere that sets the tone for this world. Secondly, I fell in love with pretty much all of the characters. They aren't the most developed in the world (which to be fair, is standard for a graphic novel) but they're so likeable and every character has a key role to play in the narrative which was a neat touch. I adore Nova and Tam and could honestly read a good dozen or so stories about them.

Overall, Mooncakes is the perfect read for anyone who loves cute fantasy stories with great art and lovable characters. It joins a proud group of witch-themed graphic novels which makes it a fantastic Halloween read for those who aren't necessarily into horror. It is definitely worth checking out.

Overall Rating:

See All the Stars by Kit Frick

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Simon and Schuster UK Children's in exchange for an honest review.

See All the Stars is a book that is very evocative of other books. I don't necessarily mean that as a negative but throughout reading this, I was sort of waiting for the magical thing that would make it stand out to me. I'm not sure that ever happened but this is still a very strong read.

This is the story of Ellory, a girl who a year ago had a strong friendship group and a boyfriend and, in the present day, has neither. It's told in chapters which alternate between the present day and the past and this is how the mystery unfolds. I thought this might be more of a thriller than it really is but it's closer to a contemporary in both tone and writing style. The book it most reminds me of is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, although I did find the plot of See All the Stars more relatable and the characters more compelling. It has the same dreamy narration peppered with metaphors and deeper meanings.

My only real criticism of this book is that it lacked something, though I find it hard to place what. Near the end I began to suspect that the big reveal would in fact be a minor highschool problem and I began to worry, although thankfully this wasn't the case. Ultimately I did really like this book and I'm excited to read more from the author. The writing style and characters are the strongest elements, it's just a shame that the plot wasn't a bit more standout.

Overall Rating:

.5

The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Quercus Books in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly never thought I would rate a thriller 5 stars. I gave If We Were Villains 5 stars at the start of the year and that is indeed a thriller but it is quite differently tonally than most I read. The Perfect Wife on the other hand is pretty much a traditional thriller, albeit with a neat sci-fi twist. And I absolutely adored it.

This is the story of Abbie, a woman who wakes up only to be told that she's not a woman at all. In fact Abbie is now a robot, built by her husband to replace his dead wife. As she tries to resume her life five years on, she realises that her memory is not quite complete and there are some things that her husband isn't telling her.

I wouldn't dream of spoiling anything else about this book. I wasn't sure what to expect but I was completely gripped by both the basic plot and the execution. Fascinating questions about AI and what it means to be a person are raised and, while this is nothing new in sci-fi, it is wonderful to see it explored within a thriller setting. I was not only surprised by the plot but I was surprised multiple times, and each one made me more excited to find out what happened next. This rarely happens for me with thrillers and so I was delighted to experience it here. I hesitate to mention twists in my reviews because I feel like if you expect them then they have less of an impact, but fans of thrillers won't be disappointed here.

The writing and characters are another strength. The story is told in dual perspective, with the chapters from robot Abbie's POV being told in the second person (an unusual choice but one that works really well) and the alternating chapters being told from the POV of an unknown narrator back when human Abbie first met Tim at his workplace. Every character is nuanced and I particularly love how Abbie is explored in such detail.

Overall, I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this thriller. It's unusual, gripping and has a plot I found really satisfying. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you like the genre and I'm so happy to have found a new favourite.

Overall Rating:

Fabulous Monsters by Alberto Manguel

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Yale University Press in exchange for an honest review.

This is an interesting little collection of discussions about literary characters, for want of a better description. The title 'Fabulous Monsters' is meant to represent all of them but I find it a little confusing on the whole given that many of them are heroic characters. Each discussion is accompanied by a doodle of the character and I really liked these. They added a layer of charm and really helped linked the discussions together. The content of the discussions were sometimes interesting but there seemed very little link in terms of what Manguel chose to discuss about each character. I guess there doesn't need to be but for some of them, the character themselves was barely mentioned. This was particularly baffling with Alice in Wonderland for example, whose discussion was a lengthy comment on Wonderland rather than anything to do with Alice herself, who is actually a pretty interesting character given her origins. I did enjoy this and found it very charming but a few of the literary references were lost on me. A great gift for a fan of literature though.

Overall Rating:

I'm a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Wattpad Books in exchange for an honest review.

This books is a whole ton of fun. I wasn't really sure what to expect from I'm a Gay Wizard given that it is a Wattpad book and I couldn't really remember the plot when I started reading it. This is the story of Johnny and his friend Alison, two young people who are kidnapped by an institute when it's revealed they can do magic. Their powers mean that they must now attend school at this institute, although the plot focuses more on the shadowy goings-on of this world. There is also a lot of teen romance and tons of representation in here (gay Latinx main character with a trans best friend).

One of this book's greatest strengths is its creativity. To be honest, I was kind of expecting a Harry Potter rip-off but this has nothing in common with that series at all. The institute is not a fun magical school but a place of imprisonment, and the bulk of the magic system focuses on the use of a dream world. The characters are also pretty good. Some of the side characters suffer from being a little one-dimensional but Johnny was very likeable and I was rooting for him.

Sadly, I could not make it all the way through this book. This is more down to my own personal tastes than any real criticism. This book introduces a LOT of new terms that exist in this magical world and I just couldn't keep track of any of them. At the halfway point I realised I wasn't following it very well and so I just skim-read the rest. I'm not a fan of fantasy books that have lots of new terms or really convoluted plots, and sadly this one was just a bit too much.

If you can read books with those elements though, then I'm a Gay Wizard could be a good book to check out. It is definitely Young Adult and some of the elements (especially at the start) betray its origins as a Wattpad book. There are a couple of high school cliches and other small details which maybe should have been ironed out in the editing process. Overall though, I was pleasantly surprised by this book and it definitely deserves kudos for having such creativity and representation in it.

Overall Rating:

The Third Mrs. Durst by Ann Aguirre

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Midnight Ink in exchange for an honest review.

Oh wow. Now I read A LOT of thrillers and sadly, most of the thriller ARCs I request end up disappointing me. I was not prepared to be blown away by this book the way I was. The Third Mrs. Durst is the story of Marlena, a poor girl with big dreams. At the start of the novel, she has sought out a modelling career with the hopes of catching the eye of Michael Durst, a wealthy and powerful man. However, Michael Durst has been married twice before and both of his wives have met unpleasant ends. Marlena is well aware of this but she has a plan of her own...

There isn't much more to be said about the plot of this book without spoiling anything. For a thriller, it doesn't focus on incorporating a lot of twists but this is absolutely not a weakness. Where this book shines is its fantastic writing. I was utterly consumed by the story and I almost read it entirely within a day because I simply didn't want to put it down. There is this brilliant sense of tension woven into the book and you never quite know what Marlena is planning despite her being the main character. This is a genius stroke because while the plot isn't necessarily surprising most of the time, the uncertainty about Marlena means that you are constantly on the edge of your seat anyway and you never become complacent. It also feeds off the popularity of other thrillers in that at times, you start to wonder if it will mirror the plot of other famous thrillers. This might sound like a negative but again, it's done really well to keep the reader on their toes. As an avid reader of thrillers, I love it when I genuinely can't guess where a book is going. And when you get there, it's still so good!

Honestly I am delighted to have found this book and this author. I cannot wait for her to write more and I know the plot of this one will stick with me for a long time. If you enjoy thrillers, I strongly recommend checking this one out.

Overall Rating:

.5