Tuesday 28 June 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #10

Top Ten Tuesday #10

FREEBIE - The Last Ten Books Added To My Goodreads Wishlist

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and consists of them picking a topic each week for us bloggers to list our Top Ten.

So for this freebie week I'm going to let yu all know the last ten books that I've added as To-Read on Goodreads which is essentially my Wishlist for books that I wish to get and read!

1. The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey
I just saw the movie trailer just a few days ago and instantly had to add this to my wishlist. No one told me this book was about zombies? Why didn't anyone tell me this book was about zombies??

2. Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas
I've seen this book get a lot of hype recently on BookTube so decided to add it my wishlist. I actually thought this book was a new release but it came out a few years ago so I'm super excited to get it and see why the hype is only coming around now.

3. Crescent City by Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas has anther WIP. So of course I had to add it.

The Girl with All the GiftsDangerous GirlsBlank 133x176


4. Twilight of the Gods by Sarah J. Maas
Same as above. Sarah J. Maas. Enough said!

5. Emperor of the Eight Islands by Lian Hearn
I actually just saw this book in the book shop when I was browsing through the shelves and it looked very interesting. So I snapped a pic to google it on Goodreads when I got home and added it to my wishlist.

6. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Jodi Meadows & Brodi Ashton
This book has been everywhere! So following the hype like a sheep I've added it to my Goodreads wishlist.

Blank 133x176Emperor of the Eight Islands (Tale of Shikanoko, #1)My Lady Jane

7. Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire
I really want to read this book. I loved both starting books in this authors other series that she wrote as Mira Grant so now I just really want to try out this book to.

8. Dark Horses by Cecily von Ziegesar
It's a Black Beauty retelling!!!

9. Firstlife by Gena Showalter
Another book that got me intrigued from the cover alone. So yes it is a cover add but I'm hoping it is just as good as it's cover!

Every Heart a DoorwayDark HorsesFirstlife (Everlife, #1)

10. Untitled (Magnus Bane Adult Trilogy) by Cassandra Clare
Ahhhhh Magnus Bane adult trilogy!!! Need I say more?? Nope!


Blank 133x176


What topic did you guys pick for this week? Let me know down below!

Saturday 25 June 2016

Book Review - Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar

Hour of the BeesHour of the Bees

Author: Lindsay Eagar

Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism. 

Published: March 8 2016

Pages: 360 pages (Paperback) (ARC)

Read: June 20 - June 24 2016

Rating: 3 Stars

June 2016 TBR Jar Pick!




Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . .

While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina — Carol — is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she’s never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years of drought. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible — and what it means to be true to her roots. Readers who dream that there’s something more out there will be enchanted by this captivating novel of family, renewal, and discovering the wonder of the world.

Book 20/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

Hour of the Bees was a book I received in a goody bag back in October 2015 and I was excited by the premise f this book and continuously said that I should be this open solely for the reason that this is a magical realism book. Magical Realism is a new, exciting genre that I have gotten myself into and loved each book I've read from that genre which is mainly just The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and The Accident Season. So I was expecting to go into a marvelous, whimsical, confusing, yet beautiful story, but I was highly disappointed. 

As I started the beginning of this book I realised I couldn't connect with out 12 year old protagonist, Carol. Must of the times I usually have this problem when reading from a younger protagonists point of view so I let this slide and continued on with the story. 

But even as I reached that halfway point, I was considering giving up on this book. I, honestly, highly contemplated DNFing this book because I just couldn't get into it. It bored me. Instead of finding a beautiful whimsical writing style and story I found that the writing in this book was for a younger audience. It just didn't click with me in the way writing styles should. One thing about the book that I found to be quite awkward especially at the beginning was the way that Serge's story was told. I felt like it could have been told in such a more unique and better way than it was presented in this book but alas that might be just my nitty picky feelings. 

So even though I  was highly considering DNFing this book I soldiered on and I found a story that really made me feel. It was towards the end of the book where things really turned around. Where events started happening, where characters developed, where there was this feeling that just kept me going. I nearly cried so many times while reading the end of this book and the characters really did change for me. 

Serge would have had to be my favourite character in this book and of course his little dog Ines. He had just so much character and I really cared about him. Carol was ok, I did start to like her more as the story progressed, The other characters in the book were just annoying and I honestly didn't like them even if they did turn around in the end, There was the big sister who did some horrible things and just turned around saying 'I'm a teenager, what do you expect?' Eh no, and then the father. he did some awful, horrible things to Serge. I don't care if you hate the guy, there is literally a moral line you do not cross and he crossed it and I was shocked. 

But in the end, I really enjoyed the latter quarter - half of this book. I really liked the way that the two stories that were being told entwined with each other at the end. And this book does leave you to think about life and death in a whole new light and I will still be lingering with those questions in my mind for a long time to come. 

Friday 24 June 2016

Friday Reads #2

Friday Reads #2 (June 24 2016)

Here is my second Friday reads post! One thing I'm really ashamed to say is that I'm still reading the two books that I featured in my previous Friday Reads on June 3.

I actually, on Goodreads, have 11 books that I'm currently reading.
Those are:

(By order of most read)


  1. Hour of the Bees - 54%
  2. Beautiful Broken Things - 47%
  3. Forest of Ruin - 23%
  4. Dreams of Gods and Monsters - 22%
  5. The Lies of Locke Lamora  13%
  6. A Clash of Kings - 12%
  7. A Court of Mist and Fury - 8%
  8. Poison Study - 7%
  9. The Appearance of Annie van Sinderen - 5%
  10. The Sin Eater's Daughter - 5%
  11. Ten Thousand Skies Above You - 2%

Next week I hope there will be at least 1 or 2 of these books of this list and no more added until I have cleared this one. That is if all goes to plan but we will see... !!


Thursday 23 June 2016

Book Review - The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Unexpected EverythingThe Unexpected Everything

Author: Morgan Matson

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction. 

Published: May 5 2016

Pages: 528 pages (Paperback) (Simon & Schuster Children's)

Read: June 6 - June 19 2016

Rating: 5 Stars





From Morgan Matson, the bestselling author of Since You’ve Been Gone comes a feel-good story of friendship, finding yourself, and all the joys in life that happen while you’re busy making other plans.

Andie has a plan. And she always sticks to her plan.

Future? A top-tier medical school.
Dad? Avoid him as much as possible (which isn’t that hard considering he’s a Congressman and he’s never around).
Friends? Palmer, Bri, and Toby—pretty much the most awesome people on the planet, who needs anyone else?
Relationships? No one’s worth more than three weeks.

So it’s no surprise that Andie’s got her summer all planned out too.

Until a political scandal costs Andie her summer pre-med internship, and lands both she and Dad back in the same house together for the first time in years. Suddenly she’s doing things that aren’t Andie at all—working as a dog walker, doing an epic scavenger hunt with her dad, and maybe, just maybe, letting the super cute Clark get closer than she expected. Palmer, Bri, and Toby tell her to embrace all the chaos, but can she really let go of her control?

Book 19/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

I think everyone has heard the story that it was Morgan Matson who made me read contemporary books so I won't bore everyone and go into that long tuned story. But because of this it was a given that I would be reading her new novel.

And when I heard what that novel was going to be about and then when I saw the cover I was hooked, A dog walking summer job in a Morgan Matson book. I am an animal lover so of course this just appealed to me even more.

And boy did I love it! Of course I did! I felt like this book was right on par with Since You've Been Gone which was one of my absolute favourites on 2015. I really enjoyed this contemporary novel, because Morgan Matson does a marvelous job of writing a summer romance into such a bigger topic. All of Morgan Matson's books seem to focus on the main character finding herself, but around all different situations and I just love them for that.

With Since You've Been Gone, I instantly connected with Emily as she was so much like me. I saw myself in everything that she did because she was inevitably like me personality wise. This was not the case with Andie but I really enjoyed her as a character. I found her to be such a complex character and she has so much to go through in the space between this book and I found that she grew so much in this book. 

All the characters were so realistic in this novel. I loved the fact that everyone was so different and that Morgan Matson did incorporate a writer along with characters mentioned in previous books in The Unexpected Everything. 

Above all, the story was amazing, It made me happy. It made me sad. It made me angry, It made me laugh. It made me cry. This book inevitably made me feel so much while I was reading it. It was a book that I was hooked to, a story I didn't want to see finish but I found the way Morgan Matson wrote this book was just incredible. I enjoyed the ending just as much as the beginning and I really hope that possibly just like we saw previous characters in this novel that we may see these characters in another book especially Bertie! The dogs in this book just made the story all that more enjoyable for me. 

Now I have read a total of 3 of Morgan Matson's work under her own name - Second Chance Summer, Since You've Been Gone and The Unexpected Everything. I just got myself Amy and Roger's Epic Detour and seriously cannot wait to read it.

Tuesday 21 June 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #9

Top Ten Tuesday #9

Top Ten Favourite 2016 Releases So Far.


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and consists of them picking a topic each week for us bloggers to list our Top Ten.

2016 releases that I have read that I loved... hmmm.... let me think. Honestly I don't think I've read many 2016 releases so far yet... so, in no particular order:

1. Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
I think this was pretty obvious that Lady Midnight was going to be on this list. I loved this book so much as you have seen from my review and I actually cannot wait for the next book to come out.

2. Stars Above by Marissa Meyer
I was highly anticipating this release and of course I loved it! Of course I did, it is Marissa Meyer and The Lunar Chronicles.

3. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys.
I fellin love with Ruta Sepetys after reading her second published novel, Out of the Easy, then I went back and read her debut and I of course read her new release, Salt to the Sea, which I absolutely adored. Such a fabulous book!

Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices, #1)Stars AboveSalt to the Sea


4. The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Finally the last 2016 book that I completed and loved was The Unexpected Everything. I just finished this book a few days ago and it was just an awesome summer read. Sunshine, summer, dogs, first love, finding yourself, what more could you want from a book?


The Unexpected Everything



What 2016 releases have you read and loved?

Monday 20 June 2016

Book Review - Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the SeaSalt to the Sea

Author: Ruta Sepetys

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction. 

Published: February 4 2016

Pages: 391 pages (Paperback) (Penguin)

Read: May 12 2016 - May 21 2016

Rating: 5 Stars





It's early 1945 and a group of people trek across Germany, bound together by their desperation to reach the ship that can take them away from the war-ravaged land. Four young people, each haunted by their own dark secret, narrate their unforgettable stories. Fans of The Book Thief or Helen Dunmore's The Siege will be totally absorbed.

This inspirational novel is based on a true story from the Second World War. When the German ship the Wilhelm Gustloff was sunk in port in early 1945 it had over 9000 civilian refugees, including children, on board. Nearly all were drowned. Ruta Sepetys, acclaimed author of Between Shades of Grey, brilliantly imagines their story.

Book 18/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

What can I truly say about Salt to the Sea, other than that it left me in a blubbering mess in a heap on the floor. Ruta Sepetys is just amazing when it comes to writing historical fiction novels that are just heartbreaking. After reading her previous two works I just knew that I was going to love this book just as much as I did the others.

One thing I love about Ruta Sepetys is that she picks the topics that are less well known. I studied history all through primary school and then for three years in secondary school and it was a subject that I loved but in all of that time spent learning different facts and stories from history, not once did I ever hear of the tragedy that was the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff. This was the greatest sinking of that time period and not once had I heard about it only when I read the blurb for Salt to the Sea. So of course I let Ruta Sepetys tell me the story.

And what a marvelous storyteller she was. This book had me gripped to each page. I was in an in-between state where I didn't want to put it down and I didn't want to read it for I knew it wasn't going to end well for everyone. That was a given. But I absolutely adored how Ruta Sepetys told this story, through the lives of four very different teenagers who were all going to come together under the horrendous conditions that they were all facing. I loved the fast, short, alternating chapters, I loved how she associated each character with a feeling; guilt, fate, shame, fear. 

I loved how we didn't know everything about each character straight away. I loved how we found out little, impacting pieces about them throughout the whole story, I loved how Ruta Sepetys made these characters so real that it was like they were just sitting beside you. I loved that these characters grew, held and kept a place in my heart even after I finished that last page. I loved that this book made me feel so much. I just loved this book. 

Which you could have probably figured out by the amount of times I used the work love or any of its variations in the above two characters. But going back to a more serious note, this book was like nothing that I've read before. I would rank this book high up on my favourites shelf, right beside The Book Thief by Markus Zusack and I know it will stay there. I know that I'm going to be picking up this book again and again and each time I will feel the exact same feelings as I did the first time because that is just how powerful this book is. It is a definite read for everyone. 

And I honestly can not wait for Ruta Sepetys next book, whatever it will be about, I know I will love it. 




Sunday 19 June 2016

Book Review - Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Stars AboveStars Above

(The Lunar Chronicles Novellas)

Author: Marissa Meyer

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fairytale Retellings. 

Published: February 3 2016

Pages: 369 pages (Paperback) (Feiwel & Friends)

Read: May 2 2016 - May 11 2016

Rating: 5 Stars



The Keeper: A prequel to the Lunar Chronicles, showing a young Scarlet and how Princess Selene came into the care of Michelle Benoit.

Glitches: In this prequel to Cinder, we see the results of the plague play out, and the emotional toll it takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch….

The Queen’s Army: In this prequel to Scarlet, we’re introduced to the army Queen Levana is building, and one soldier in particular who will do anything to keep from becoming the monster they want him to be.

Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky: Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.

After Sunshine Passes By: In this prequel to Cress, we see how a nine-year-old Cress ended up alone on a satellite, spying on Earth for Luna.

The Princess and the Guard: In this prequel to Winter, we see a young Winter and Jacin playing a game called the Princess and the Guard…

The Little Android: A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.

The Mechanic: In this prequel to Cinder, we see Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s perspective.

Something Old, Something New: In this epilogue to Winter, friends gather for the wedding of the century…

Book 13 - 17/65 - 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge

Stars Above! I loved this little book of novellas! Usually, to be honest I'm not a fan of novellas except when they add extra to a series such as with The Assassian's Blade by Sarah J. Maas and I can really say the same for these novellas. Even though they didn't match up to tell a story like The Assassian's Blade, they were still so amazingly good. I'm just going to go through my individual thoughts for each novella:

BEWARE OF SPOILERS!

The Keeper -
I loved seeing Michelle again in this novella. Seriously her death was just so sad in Scarlet and I was really interested to get a bit of the story of how she became the caretaker of Cinder/Selene and I finnaly got to see this here. I really enjoyed this little novella. Not my favourite but really enjoyable.

Glitches -
Another story that I feel added a lot to the series especially since we saw the family ties and tension that was there with Cinder and her adopted family and Iko. Aww Iko! I enjoyed this novella too.

The Queen's Army -
This has got to be one of my all time favourites in this little book of novellas. I loved seeing Wolf, how he was recruited, wha happened to him, his relationship with his brother and of course how he became alpha. I really, really enjoyed this novella. It was just simply amazing. 

Carswell's Guide To Being Lucky -
I enjoyed seeing this side of Carswell and his robotic cat. I loved how he was still such a quirky character even at a young age but I believe I would have perferred to see a different story of Carswell's. Maybe how he was arrested or just some of those criminal adventures that he had had. But I still ejoyed this little story. 

After Sunshine Passes By -
Oh Cress. This one just made me feel so sorry for Cress. I liked seeing how she got to be living alone in a satelite but I just felt so bad for her. She's such a lovely character too. 

The Princess And The Guard -
Another absolute favourite story of mine in this little book of novellas. I loved seeing Winter's and Jacin's relationship as they grew up and how it slightly changed after that fundemental decision for Jacin to join The Guard rather than becoming a doctor just to keep Winter safe. Absolutely loved this story.

The Little Android -
Aww I loved this little story. A Little Mermaid retelling as androids? Yes please! And I just really enjoyed it.

The Mechanic -
Kai! Kai! Kai! I loved seeing Kai's perspective when he first meets Cinder and I just found it unbelievably cute, and awwwww....

Something Old, Something New -
Another favourite again! I loved seeing what has happened after the events of Winter and that wedding was just so cute and again awww....

Wednesday 15 June 2016

Top Ten Tuesday #8

Top Ten Tuesday #8

Top Ten Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of The Year.


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and consists of them picking a topic each week for us bloggers to list our Top Ten.

Second half of the year releases! There are actually so many books that I can't wait to come out and honestly my can't wait to release shelf has just exploded! My list here is going to be ordered by publication date starting with the sooniest to the furthest away...

1. Paper Butterflies by Lisa Heathfield
June 30 2016 - This book is supposed to be so sad and dark that it has just intrigued me for that and yup I can't wait for it.

2. The Thousand Floor by Katharine McGee
August 30 2016 - This is supposed to be a Pretty Little Liars / Sci-Fi type reead so that is something that I find very interesting!

3. Dark Horses by Cecily von Ziegesar
September 13 2016 - Speaking of Pretty Little Liars, Cecily has a new Black Beauty retelling type book coming out and I just really want to read it!.

Paper ButterfliesThe Thousandth Floor (The Thousandth Floor, #1)Dark Horses


4. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
September 20 2016 - Since seeing this book when it was first unveiled, I have been craving it! I actually want to read all of Mindy McGinnis books but haven't got around to it yet...

5. Strange The Dreamer by Laini Taylor
September 27 2016 - Another Laini Taylor book, I seriously can't wait!

6. Replica by Lauren Oliver
October 4 2016 - Since seeing this book in BEA hauls I am seriously intrigued!

The Female of the SpeciesStrange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer, #1)Replica (Replica, #1)

7. The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
October 11 2016 - Can not wait for this ending! I need to know what happens. I just love Marie Lu for her twists so I can't even begin to imagine what will happen in this last book....

8. Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
October 18 2016 - Hello!! I was addicted to Illuminae and I just need this book right now!

9. The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
November 1 2016 - I saw this book in BEA and it just intrigued me so much that I just can't wait for it now!

The Midnight Star (The Young Elites, #3)Gemina (The Illuminae Files, #2)The Sun Is Also a Star

10. Heartless by Marissa Meyer
November 8 2016 - Do I really need to say anything about this book? Marissa Meyer is queen and I just really need an Queen of Hearts retelling from her!


Heartless


I totally missed the boat on this one even though I had it done... I just didn't know what day I had..
What books are you looking forward to?

Friday 3 June 2016

Read-A-Thon's I'm Taking Part In

Read-A-Thon's I'm Taking Part In

I've decided to take part in some upcoming read-a-thons and I am just really excited for them to start and yay! 

The first read-a-thon that I'm taking part in begins on Sunday June 5 and runs until June 19th. It is the TOME TOPPLE READ-A-THON hosted by Thoughtsontomes and is all about reading big books! Books that are over 500 pages long!! 
I already have my tbr chosen and you can expect that post tomorrow!! Let's just say I'm really excited to read all the books that I've picked out and well my tbr may be slightly ambitious. (just slightly)....

The next read-a-thon that I'm participating in is the FANTASY FAVOURITES READ-A-THON. This is hosted by Olivia @ Olivia's Catastrophe and Inge and Aly @ Of Wonderland. I will again be posting my participation post with my tbr closer to the date which is July 10th - July 18th. I can't wait. 

Finally the last event I'm participating in is a read-a-long! It's a read-a-long for the series A Song Of Ice And Fire by George R. R. Martin! This read-a-long has a ton of hosts and so you all should check out the Goodreads Group or follow the hashtag on twitter #readasoiaf What happens is that each month starting in June all the participants will be reading one book from the series per month. So for June, everyone is reading A Game of Thrones, I won't be starting with this as I've just read it last year or the beginning of this year and instead I'll be beginning in July with A Clash Of Kings and you guys can be sure you'll be hearing updates from me on this read-a-long!

And that guys, are the read-a-thons / read-a-longs that I'm going to participating in in the near future, 

Friday Reads #1 (June 3 2016)

Friday Reads #1 (June 3 2016)

I've just seen this so much around BookTube and blogs and have decided what the heck, let's go for it! This is just an awesome way of updating people on what you're reading.

Ok guys my reading has suffered greatly since March and I feel so bad.... I have a load of books that I just want to read now and I haven't even been able to have the time to read. Because of this I have started a lot of books where I have just gotten a small bit into but haven't yet finished which is crazy. I really need to finish all these books!

But for my Friday Reads, I'm just going to tell you about the two books that I'm currently, actively reading and those are:


  • Beautiful Broken Things by Sara Barnard 
I'm currently on pg 96 for this book and really enjoying it so far!

Beautiful Broken Things

I was brave
She was reckless
We were trouble

Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realises, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own.


  • Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini
Again another book that I have started and yet to finish, But I'm so scared to actually finish this series because I have loved this series so much. I am on page 132 of this book and again loving it!

Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, #3)

By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her, if there can even be a future for the chimaera in war-ravaged Eretz.

Common enemy, common cause.

When Jael's brutal seraph army trespasses into the human world, the unthinkable becomes essential, and Karou and Akiva must ally their enemy armies against the threat. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people.

And, perhaps, for themselves. Toward a new way of living, and maybe even love.

But there are bigger threats than Jael in the offing. A vicious queen is hunting Akiva, and, in the skies of Eretz ... something is happening. Massive stains are spreading like bruises from horizon to horizon; the great winged stormhunters are gathering as if summoned, ceaselessly circling, and a deep sense of wrong pervades the world.

What power can bruise the sky?

From the streets of Rome to the caves of the Kirin and beyond, humans, chimaera and seraphim will fight, strive, love, and die in an epic theater that transcends good and evil, right and wrong, friend and enemy. 

At the very barriers of space and time, what do gods and monsters dream of? And does anything else matter?





TBR Jar Pick #1

TBR Jar Pick #1

June 2016

TBR Jar Pick is a new little meme / feature / whatever you want to call this thing, where I pick one book a month from my TBR jar that I have to read during the month. This is the first time that I'm doing this and my first time with a proper TBR jar too! 

So the book that was picked this month, by my little brother, is......

Hour of The Bees by Lindsay Eagar

Hour of the Bees

Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . .

While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina — Carol — is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she’s never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a dore hundred years of drought. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible — and what it means to be true to her roots. Readers who dream that there’s something more out there will be enchanted by this captivating novel of family, renewal, and discovering the wonder of the world.

Hour of the Bees is a book I received as an arc at a book festival back in October 2015. I know that I should have read this a long time before now, especially since this book did officially release back in March. I am excited to read this book as I really, really wanted to get more in the magical realism genre after reading both The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and The Accident Season and enjoying them both. Honestly, I don't think this would have been a book that I would have picked up on my own mainly because of the really young age of the protagonist but I'm hoping that I will be proved wrong and absolutely adore this book. 
You shall all find out what I think in my review of this book later on this month. 

Let me know below if you've read this book or whether you've heard anything or if you're interested in reading this book. Or even if you want to join in and tell me what your TBR Jar Pick is, just let me know below!