Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Taken from Google Images

Title- Lair of Dreams
Author- Libba Bray
Series- The Diviners
Published- 2015
Page Count- 613 pages 
Publishing House- Little Brown Books
Rating- 4/5 stars

About the Author

Libba Bray is the New York Times bestselling author of The Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing); the Michael L. Printz Award-winning Going Bovine; Beauty Queens, an L.A. Times Book Prize finalist; and The Diviners series. She is originally from Texas but makes her home in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, son, and two sociopathic cats.  You can find her at…oh, wait. You already did. Nevermind—you are a genius!

Taken from Libba's website. 

The Plot

After a supernatural showdown with a serial killer, Evie O'Neill has outed herself as a Diviner. Now that the world knows of her ability to "read" objects, and therefore, read the past, she has become a media darling, earning the title, "America's Sweetheart Seer." But not everyone is so accepting of the Diviners' abilities...

Meanwhile, mysterious deaths have been turning up in the city, victims of an unknown sleeping sickness. Can the Diviners descend into the dreamworld and catch a killer?

Taken from Goodreads.

Opinions

If for some reason you haven't read my review of The Diviners, then click here to read it. 

After finishing The Diviners and being totally swept away by it, I had to get my hands on the remaining books in the series. I would say that I picked the best time to read this series as there are no more agonising waits for books to come out. This book is a beast of a book at 613 pages yet I read it in three days. Why? Because I love this world and these characters so much. It was so good to be back with them, even though I had only just finished the first book. Libba's writing just invites you to keep on reading and to want to know what happens next. 

In this book, compared to the first one, the main perspective shifts away from Evie. Evie was one of the reasons I fell in love with this series and at first I was sad that we weren't getting as much page time from her as we had been. Then I realised that the main character in this book was Henry and I totally fell for him. He is the sweetest little bean ever and I will protect him at all costs. If anything bad happens to him, I will be very angry at Libba (though not really). It was also finally confirmed that Henry is gay and why he had ended up in New York. Learning about his backstory made me want to crawl into the book and give him the biggest hug. He's just so nice and to have had all these things happen to him made me very sad. I think I've expressed enough how much I adore Henry DuBois IV. He's the best. He's in a league of his own now. 

A bit of a pet peeve of mine is the love square developing between Sam, Jericho, Evie and Mabel in this book. At the end of the last book, Evie kissed Jericho and I was okay with it as they did make a good if unlikely couple. But now Evie and Sam are fake dating but also might be falling in love? That just didn't sit well with me. I feel sorry for Mabel, even though she does annoy me at times. I'm hoping it resolves itself soon as I'm now torn about who Evie should end up with. It also bothered me a bit as Sam and Jericho have a great dynamic and they do not need a girl ruining that. The banter between the two of them is top notch. 

Something I've spotted with this series is that it does take quite a while to get to the central mystery. I didn't mind it as much when I was listening to The Diviners on audiobook, but I really wanted to get to the central mystery quicker this time. It felt like it took half of the book to get there and then it wasn't until the last quarter that all the pieces fell into place. Maybe I'm just very impatient and can't wait for things, but it could have been a little bit quicker. It's the only reason I took my rating down from 4.5 to 4 stars as I just wanted to get to the mystery element straight away. 

One of the things I did love about this book was finally seeing the "squad", for want of a better word, coming together. They all knew each other in various ways but seeing them come together as one big group was so satisfying. I also really enjoyed the new addition of Ling to the group. She does not take any nonsense from the group and is 100% the sensible one to put them all in their place. Her relationship with Henry is so sweet and wholesome. The character relationships and dynamics that have been built up in this series are some of the best I've read about. Normally I hate this many perspectives in a book, but this cast of characters is the berries, to use a term of endearment from the book. 

I'm halfway through the third book as I write this and I can't wait to see what Libba does with the story. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to one of my favourites and I will be devastated if it does. No doubt I will be writing reviews for the third and fourth books once I've read them. If you're a fan of The Diviners series, then stick around for more content about them.

Carenza :) x  

Why I've Abandoned My New Years Resolutions for 2020| Carenza Bramwell

2020 was going to be the year I stuck to my New Years Resolutions. It was going to be the year that I told myself I'd change and commit to something. 2020 ended up being the year from hell quite frankly and we've still got four months left. In today's blog post, I will be sharing with you why I have decided to abandon my New Years Resolutions. 

Putting it frankly, 2020 has gone to shit. We all thought this was going to be a great year and then COVID happened. I don't know about you, but living through a global pandemic was not on my to do list for this year. I had told myself at the end of 2019 that I would make some positive changes in my life. 2019 had ended up being a pretty good year for me, but the last few months were quite difficult. I was looking forward to a chance at taking control of my life again. I've spoken about how I've been struggling with a few health issues over the past year and how it has taken a toll on my everyday life. I went into 2020 relatively healthy, but ended up becoming sick again. This obviously disrupted my plans to turn over a new leaf. 

My goals for 2020 involved trying something new (drawing), reading lots of books, working on one non-uni writing project, spending less time on my phone and setting time aside to relax. Let's break down how I've been doing with each of those goals. I was doing really well at drawing. I was doing a little doodle every day up until early February when I fell ill again. I was quite enjoying it and I could see a little bit of improvement in my skills. I tried picking it up again but I quickly forgot again. I've realised that it is something I'd like to try again but once I have a bit of free time on my hands, something I very rarely have. 

Reading lots of books has been something that I have been easily able to achieve. I've read almost 50 at this point which I am very happy about. I did have some slow reading months and I have been reading more three star books than normal. I haven't read a book that I would say that I've adored which is quite sad for 2020. Reading is something I'll always make time for so this goal is still one I'm going to consider. Writing on the other hand, well that's taken a back seat. Here's why. I do a Creative Writing degree. I run a blog. I'm also the editor in chief of my unis student magazine. I always have some sort of writing to be doing that I have to prioritise. I never have time to actually sit down and work on my own projects. I spend 90% of my time writing. This means when I have a chance to do something else, I'll take it. I've been reading lots and watching new things. I miss that I don't have the time to pursue my own projects but once I've graduated next summer, I will have the time to focus fully on my own projects. It was over ambitious of me to assume I'd have the time and energy to work on my own stuff this year. 

Another goal I will be backing out of is less screen time. Spending lots of time on my phone does depress me a bit, but I have a reason for scrapping this goal. I've decided that I want to start putting more effort into my social media accounts. Due to COVID, I was unable to get an internship or work experience. I will be most likely unable to do so for some time. This means I am going to be graduating with nothing, which is very stressful. So I am using the wonderful gift that is the internet to showcase my "talents". By constantly creating content, it shows that I can do something. I also want to do it because it's fun. With the new addition of Instagram reels, I am going to be trying my hand at video making again. I do miss making video content and I've been toying with the idea of restarting my YouTube channel. These are all creative outlets I can use to my advantage and still have fun. However, by constantly working and essentially having an unpaid job, I do need time to relax. I have been trying to set time aside for reading and relaxing everyday. If I didn't I think I would have cracked under the pressure. It's something that I've gotten better at in the past few months and something I wouldn't have tried if COVID hadn't happened. 

So going forward to the rest of 2020, what are my goals? Well I still want to read lots, that's just a given. I've been really enjoying tackling my TBR. I've also been loving creating content online, so that's something I'm going to be working towards. But the big change is that I'm going to be more flexible to my approach to life. COVID has shown me that my plans can suddenly be changed overnight. I need to adapt to the situations life throws at me. I don't have a plan for this time next year, so I'm going to focus on the now. Work hard for my degree. Manage the uni magazine and create content for that. Learn and grow my online platforms. My interests in general have changed this year. I've fallen head over heels for film and TV, it's eventually where I'd like to work. My motto is going to be work hard, play hard. It isn't original but it is something that I've truly come to believe in. 

Carenza :)x   

Avatar the Last Airbender Book Tag| Carenza Bramwell

Avatar is one of my favourite TV shows. I remember adoring it as a kid and all the times I've watched it since. I saw a lot of people tweeting about it so I just had to rewatch it. I've almost finished Season Two and as I'm deep into my Avatar feels, I wanted to do a Book Tag based on it. I found this one, created by BookTuber A Clockwork Reader. This tag is split into the four nations and each section has three questions.

Water

1) Katara and Sokka: Best sibling relationship

The only sibling relationship that comes to mind when I think of siblings are the Weasley Twins from the Harry Potter series. I am going to try and not use HP that much as everyone adores it. But you can't deny that the Weasley twins have the best sibling relationship. They're just iconic.

2) Yue: Favorite star crossed lovers

I'm not sure if they count by Lazlo and Sarai from Strange the Dreamer have an amazing relationship. They meet under such beautiful yet unusual circumstances and the relationship that grows from their is incredible. They are one of my favourite literary couples.

3) Blood Bending: A book with a disturbing/unsettling concept

I would have to say that Beautiful Boy by David Sheff tackles some disturbing themes. It is a non-fiction book about his sons journey through drug addiction. It doesn't shy away from the utterly horrifying parts of drug addiction. It was a very difficult book to read, but has a valuable and interesting portrayal of drug addiction.

Earth

4) Toph - A character who's strength surprised you/or surprised the other characters in the book

I know I've already mentioned Strange the Dreamer but Minya really took me by surprise. Externally she is a child of around 8, but she's actually in her mid twenties. Some the things she did really took me by surprise and took the characters by surprise. She was a very morally interesting character in the end.

5) The Tales of Ba Sing Se - best short story/poetry collection

This is technically cheating as it isn't a collection of short stories but the only thing that comes to mind for this prompt is Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge. This is a non-fiction book by British journalist Gary Younge, writing about gun crime in America. Through it, Younge tells the stories of ten young men who all died on the same day due to gun related deaths. It's a very hard hitting book, but one I think more people should read.

6) Kyoshi Warriors: Best warrior character

I would have to say that Witchers from The Witcher count as warriors as I can't think of many others that I've read about. I've read the first three books in the Witcher series and I can say that the Withcers are warriors of a kind. They certainly know how to put up a good fight and kill monsters.

Fire

7) Zuko: Best redemption arc/a redemption arc that should have happened

Everyone who answers this question always says that Zuko has the best redemption arc and rightly so. It is very difficult to think of an equally good redemption arc when Zuko's exists. I'm not sure this comes close to being a redemption arc, but Jessamine from The Infernal Devices goes through some series character development. Especially in later books, she actually starts doing good deeds and makes up for some of her poor choices in the first two books.

8) Iroh: Wisest character

Again, Iroh is a character that is in a league of his own and no one can come close to him. That being said I'd say Starr from The Hate U Give is one of the wisest characters I've read from. She goes through so much yet comes so far. She also knows when to fight and when to back down. She is an incredible main character.

9) Azula: Best downfall

One of the most satisfying downfalls I've read in a while has to be the villain from The Diviners. I won't go into details as it is quite spoiler-y but it was so good to watch the characters tear him down. It was one of the few times I've felt scared by a villain and was thankful he had an epic downfall.

Air

10) Appa: Favorite fictional animal/pet

I have to pick the two cats from the Shadowhunter Chronicles, Church and Chairman Meow. Any cat will always be the best fictional pet, but these two are pretty great.

11) Aang: Purest cinnamon roll

No one can change my mind by Reed from Serpent and Dove is the purest cinnamon roll ever. He is so sweet and I adore him. I also adore Lou from S&D. Basically that entire cast of characters is pretty great and they deserve happiest as they're so sweet.

12) Avatar state: A stubborn character/a character that struggles with letting go

I'm going to cheat and pick two characters, but June and Day from the Legend series were so stubborn. They were both so fixed in their ways. I still think they were pretty great characters but could have been a tad less stubborn.

So that concludes my answers to the Avatar the Last Airbender Book Tag! If this looks interesting, then I tag you.

Carenza :) x

My Favourite Authors- 2020 Edition| Carenza Bramwell

If you scroll into the depths of my blog, you will find an ancient blog post from 2016-17 (oh those were to good days, can we go back to then?) which lists some of my favourite authors from the time. Three to four years later, it's safe to say that my reading tastes have changed a lot, so I am making an updated reading list which includes my current favourite authors. Quite a few authors have been removed from that list for various reasons and lots of new authors have been added. 

Cassandra Clare

Cassandra Clare made the cut in 2016/7 and she makes it again this year. Cassie's books will always hold a special place in my heart as they were the books that led me to discovering YA books. I've always been a bookworm, but these books opened the door for me and made me want to read all the time. I am always excited for the latest release from Cassie and what she's going to do with my precious babies next. The Infernal Devices will always be my favourite series from her and I am enjoying being back in that world so much with The Last Hours. Cassie creates easy to read, yet highly engaging books. She has some of the most diverse book casts out there and there is a book and character for everyone.  

Adam Silvera

Another writer who made the cut on the original list and makes it again is Adam Silvera. Despite the fact that I didn't enjoy his most recent release, Adam is still the king of contemporary novels. I've read all of his contemporary releases to date and each one punches me in the gut harder than the last one, which is just rude. Adam always tackles incredibly important issues, especially LGBT ones and being Latino. He has a way of creating characters that makes you fall for them and get emotionally devastated when he ruins their lives. Just once can't he write a happy contemporary where they have a happy life?   

Laini Taylor

For the first new to this list author, I had to choose Laini Taylor. Exactly a year ago, I read Strange the Dreamer and fell in love with her writing style. She has such a beautifully descriptive style, yet the story and meaning never get lost in the words. Her characters are also so layered that you can't help but fall for them. I had the pleasure of meeting Laini in 2017, after the release of Strange the Dreamer and I was ashamed that I had never read one of her books before. The Strange the Dreamer duology is amongst some of my favourite all time books, from the exterior to the interior, these books are some of the most beautiful I own. I am slowly making my way through the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series and thoroughly enjoying it.  

Shelby Mahurin 

A little book called Serpent and Dove dropped last year and changed my life. It had been a very long time since I had fallen head over heels in love with a book. I am desperate for the sequel to come out in about a months time in the UK. It was a book that I couldn't put down. It was a book I didn't want to put down. I was desperate to find out what would happen to Lou and Reed next. They had one of the best hate to love relationships I have ever seen. The characters were sassy and funny. I hope nothing too bad happens to my little beans in Blood and Honey but knowing what authors are like, they do like to torture their characters and readers.  

Taylor Jenkins Reid 

I remember everyone raving about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and saying how great it was. For once, they hype was aptly deserved. That book was incredible. It was another one that I couldn't put down and I read it in about two days. I loved how the story moved from the present day to Evelyn's life. The title draws you in, you want to know why she had seven husbands. But ultimately you want to know who was the true love of her life. The characters felt so real and the way it was written, you felt as though you had been dragged into the book. You were going along on this journey with the two main characters. I did also enjoy Daisy Jones and the Six, but not as much as Evelyn. I look forward to what Taylor releases next and to catch up on some of her books that are currently released. 

Alice Oseman 

Finally on this list is one of my new favourite contemporary authors, Alice Oseman. Alice writes the best UK based YA Contemporary novels. I have loved pretty much everything she has released. All her books tackle LGBT themes, which is something you don't see that often in UK based novels. She is also the only British author to make it on this list. The Heartstopper series is so wholesome while tackling quite series issues. She just knows how to craft a story and how to make you care. I will automatically buy anything she releases. She also happens to be an exceptionally talented artist and I am desperate to get my hands on some of her artwork.

So that concludes my new favourite authors list. I imagine I'll update this in about five years time with new favourite authors. Who is your favourite author?

Carenza :) x

What I Love In Books| Carenza Bramwell

A couple of weeks ago, emmmabooks, a BookTuber I admire, posted a video about what she loves in books. In that video, linked here, she talks about the different components that make her love books. I wanted to write my own response to that video and share with you what makes me fall for a book. 

As this is mostly a book based blog, it won't come as a surprise that I adore books. But like anything in life, there are certain elements that make me fall for a book. The first is setting and world building. These are two crucial elements in a story to me. If I can get a taste for what the world is like, then I am going to be hooked into your story. It never fails to impress me when you can tell an author has spent a lot of time thinking about every little detail of their world. It has to be richly detailed and feel real. If I can't get a grasp of what the world is like, then I am not going to enjoy the book as much. An example of world building I adore is the Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor. I read this about a year ago and I can still remember how immersive the world felt. I think listening to the audiobook helped as I was fully absorbed. It is a high fantasy with a complex world. I learned everything that I wanted to through these books. I mentioned in my reviews that I would kill for a behind the scenes fact book with even more details about this world. 

Another vital element to make me love a book are the characters. I love a good cast of characters. I am very picky with the type of character I like. I'm not sure I could put it into words. I have to want to care for them as people. Again, like the world they inhabit, I want them to feel real. They have to have likeable qualities, which doesn't mean they can't be a villain. Villain's can be great characters too. A great set of characters is the cast of The Diviners books by Libba Bray. I've just started reading the third one and I care so much about them. You get to learn a lot of backstory about them and it's an amazing feeling when all these loose threads come together at last. 

Probably the element I am the most picky about is the writing style. As a writer myself, I've found that I am now very VERY picky with the type of writing I like. I want the writing to feel developed and well thought out. I am both a fan of the more simplistic story telling and the poetic style of writers. Two of my favourite writers, Laini Taylor and Cassandra Clare have very different writing styles. I am not a fan of purple prose, but some descriptive writing can be truly beautiful. I don't want to get lost in the words. I want to be able to follow the story while appreciating that this is good writing. The quality of writing has become more and more important to me in the past few years. It can be a huge turn off to read what I consider to be underdeveloped writing. 

Finally, the thing that ties all of these together, is the plot. Without this, you have no story. The plot is a journey and we go along on it with the characters. I've spotted that as I grow up, if I cannot become invested in the plot, then I often do not like the story. I want it to move along at a good pace. I cannot stand it when a story is drawn out for no reason. Yet I also enjoy the low action moments of character development. A book I could not put down because of the plot was Sadie by Courtney Summers. I listened to this as an audiobook and it was the fastest I have ever listened to an audiobook. It moves the story along at a good pace, while allowing for high and low moments. 

Combine all of these together, or at least a good combination of the above, and you have a story I adore. 

Carenza :) x    

Biggest Surprises of 2020- Books and TV| Carenza Bramwell

Aside from the biggest surprise of 2020 being that we are in a global pandemic and this year just keeps on getting worse, there have been some surprises in my life. I'm always finding new books and TV shows/films that I love, there are always some that take me surprise. Here are some of the biggest surprises- both good and bad- of 2020. 

A big surprise of 2020 has been how much I've gotten into film and TV shows. I've always enjoyed them, but I've been taking more time watch them this year. It's probably not good as a bookworm that I've watched almost double the amount of books I've read. 

A film I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did was 1917. I wanted to see it after hearing friends rave about it. War films aren't usually my cup of tea. They all tell very similar stories, in my opinion, but I ended up really enjoying 1917. The story was compelling and the cinematography was breathtaking. The acting was also amazing. My favourite part was probably the music. I adore film soundtracks. I can't wait to add this one to my collection. I've watched a lot of behind the scenes features on 1917 as I'm a sucker for behind the scene stuff. 1917 pleasantly took me by surprise and ended up being the second and last film I saw in the cinema this year. 

Birdman had been on my radar for a while, so my family and I finally watched it. Again, it was a film I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did. The cast were superb, but the story was incredible. As it was a "one-shot" film, the story kept moving at the right pace. I'm very glad that I've finally watched it. I highly recommend it.

A TV show that also took me by surprise was Fresh Meat. It's a 2011 sitcom about a group of uni students living together. It looked good fun and stars Jack Whitehall, a comedian I quite like. I didn't expect to be fully sucked into the story the way I was. I was invested in these characters lives fully and felt like I was going on this journey with them. It could be as I'm about to go in my third year of uni. I haven't watched any UK university shows so this was a really good one to watch.

However, a book I ended up being quite disappointed with was Infinity Son by Adam Silvera. Adam is one of my favourite authors and I adore his contemporary novels. But his first foray into fantasy just didn't sit well with me. I found the characters very annoying and I did not understand the magic system at all. I hope he releases more contemporary novels as I think I'll be sticking to those in the future.

Some books that I enjoyed that I didn't expect to enjoy were the Legend trilogy by Marie Lu and Crescent City by Sarah J Maas. I had owned the Legend series for years but I finally read it. It was a fun and easy to read. It was nowhere near the most highbrow series I've read. I flew through the series in the space of a week. I have no intentions of reading the new books coming out, but Marie Lu is a good author and writes fun, easy to read books. Crescent City was a book I was not interested in at first, but seeing everyone read it, I had to pick it up. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. After ACOWAR in 2017, I thought I was done with Sarah's books, but this has restored my faith a bit. I will be continuing with this series.

So those are some stories I've consumed that surprised me in one way or another!

Carenza :) x

The Diviners by Libba Bray Book Review (Contains Spoilers)| Carenza Bramwell

Title- The Diviners
Author- Libba Bray
Series- The Diviners
Published- 2012
Page Count- 578 (18 hours audiobook time)
Publishing House- Little Brown Books
Rating- 4.5/5 stars
Note- I listened to this on audiobook so the stats are for the audiobook

About the Author

Libba Bray is the New York Times bestselling author of The Gemma Doyle trilogy (A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing); the Michael L. Printz Award-winning Going Bovine; Beauty Queens, an L.A. Times Book Prize finalist; and The Diviners series. She is originally from Texas but makes her home in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband, son, and two sociopathic cats.  You can find her at…oh, wait. You already did. Nevermind—you are a genius!

Taken from Libba's website

Plot

SOMETHING DARK AND EVIL HAS AWAKENED… Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult. Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer. As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho is hiding a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened…

Taken from Goodreads

Opinions

Just before I cancelled my audible subscription in November/December 2019, I decided to get a copy of the Diviners. I kept on forgetting that I had to listen to it. I started going on a lot more walks than normal during lockdown, so to fill the half an hour I was outside, I would listen to it. I would recommend the audiobooks as the bits that are about music or sung are actually sung by the audiobook narrator. I decided to get this because I had seen emmmabooks rave about it for several years and it did sound really interesting. 

At first, it was quite slow to get into. I knew that it was supposed to be about some kind of murder mystery and the first few hours were about getting to know the characters. It wasn't until I had listened to maybe a quarter of the book that the characters started to investigate the murders. While it was a slowish start, I did quite like trying to figure out how these characters were all connected. It was like I was trying to solve my own little mystery. 

One of the things that made me fall in love with this series was the cast of characters. It has one of the best set of characters I've encountered. Evie was a character I fell for instantly. She has that quality that I really like in female characters of them being no nonsense. She was fierce and fun. Theta was also another character I adored. Each character had something unique about them and they all felt very real. Asides from the characters you weren't supposed to like, there wasn't a character I didn't adore. 

The other thing that made me really enjoy this book was the detailed world building. Libba clearly researched the hell out of 1920s New York. The world felt so well developed. The backstory of every character was explored, but it never felt like you were being told random things that derailed the story. The "magic" system of the Diviners was well explained and you believed these individuals had these incredible powers.  

Since finishing the audiobook of The Diviners, I have bought all the other books in the series in physical format. I am so excited to continue with this series. There have been very few books like this that I've felt like this about in the past year or so. It had great characters and an amazing setting. I am very excited to see where this series goes. If you enjoy YA Paranormal books, then I would recommend this one. 

Carenza :) x 

Books I'd Like To Give A Second Chance| Carenza Bramwell

Normally, I have a very clear sense of when a book is for me. However, there have been a few books that I've read that haven't quite been for me. In this post I will be sharing some books I would like to give a second chance to. 

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

I read Caraval the year it came out (2017?) and I loved it. I fully intended on carrying on with the series, but for some reason I never did. I'd like to give this book a second chance to see if I did actually enjoy it and to hopefully continue with the series. I know a lot of people adore this series. It sounds like something I would enjoy. I did really enjoy The Night Circus, which was recommended alongside this book. 

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

I read this in 2016 and gave it four out of five stars. I think if I was to read it as an adult, I would enjoy it a lot more. Plus, I've watched Piera Forde's adaptation on YouTube and it makes me want to continue with this series. I've heard it has a bisexual main character. Again, this sounds like something I would enjoy, especially now I'm a bit older and have a more refined taste in books.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I did enjoy the Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo, but I just found the Six of Crows duology to be overhpyed. I could see why people enjoyed it. I found the story a bit slow for my liking. I'm also not a fan of multiple POV books and this had six POVS. I'd heard a lot about Kaz and Inej before I read it, but I didn't end up caring for them. My favourite characters were Jesper and Wylan. I know it's being made into a Netflix show and I want to give it another shot as I think I'd enjoy the TV adaptation. 

A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

Another popular YA series I should have enjoyed was ADSOM. I read them all as eBooks through my library app which I think was a mistake. At some point, I will pick up copies of the first two books (I own the third one for some reason). I've had a bit of hit and miss with VE Schwab's books so far, so I'm hoping this is the series that makes her into an author I really enjoy. 

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

As I've already mentioned, I adored The Night Circus. I was really excited for this book, but I just think I rushed my reading of it. As it's quite a heavy book, I think I need to read it again and take my time with it. I could easily see myself loving it as I adore Erin's writing style. 

So those are some books that I would like to give a second chance to at some point in the feature.

Carenza :) x

What I've Been Watching Recently- Spring Edition| Carenza Bramwell

It's that time again to share with you the insane amount of TV and films I have watched recently. I've mentioned before that I've really gotten into watching stuff recently as it's what I want to go into once I've finished my degree. Without any further delay, here is a list of all the things I've been watching lately.

Taken from Google Images

TV

Torchwood

My family and I are huge fans of Doctor Who, so I watched the "adult" spin off series Torchwood. It follows the adventures of Captain Jack and his crew. Ianto was my favourite character. It was a bit cheesy in places, but a good laugh. 

Primeval

Primeval was a favourite show of mine as a child and I hadn't watched it since it finished in 2011, so we rewatched it. If you've never seen it, I would recommend it. It's about a group of people investigating why dinosaurs have appeared in the modern day. Again, it's a bit cheesy and very early noughties, but I still really enjoyed it. 

The Salisbury Poisonings 

We binged the latest mini series from the BBC in a day. It's subject matter, which is a real event, is very heavy hitting and even though you know the outcome, it was one you had to keep watching. It only has three episodes and is very well written. 

The Politician

I discovered the Politician at the end of last year and really enjoyed the first series. I rewatched the first series in preparation for the second one that came out in June. I have to say that the first series was a lot better. I was a bit disappointed in this new series. I'm unsure how I feel about a third one.

Final Space

My friends had been nagging me to watch this for a while and I had gotten through the first series twice without finishing it, so I finally bit the bullet and committed to watching it. I liked the first series a lot more than the second one. I think if there was a third series I would watch it as they are funny the plot lines. 

Hollywood

Hollywood was a mini series by the same creator of the Politician. The trailer looked really good, but it just didn't quite work. It was supposed to be a diverse retelling of Hollywood in the 1930/40s. The cast was really strong but the story just didn't work for me. 

Criminal UK

I had wanted to watch this for a while and finally had an excuse as I needed to watch it for uni. Even though it had three episodes, each was very strong. It had good writing and a good cast. I know it's part of a series of shows based in different countries, so I might also have to watch those as well. 

The Good Place

I had been meaning to watch The Good Place for a while after seeing stuff about it online. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I think my favourite series were the first and the final one. It had one of the best, most solid endings to a show. Even though it is sad when a show decides to end, it is best when it goes out with a great ending rather than dragging it out forever. 

Fresh Meat

This was on my lockdown watch list. Again, it was another show that pleasantly took me by surprise. I could relate to it a lot as I'm going into my final year of university. It was also another show that had a great ending. 

The Mandalorian

My family have taken out a months subscription to Disney+ to watch various things. The Mandalorian was one of them. I had seen "baby yoda" everywhere and I wanted to watch it. It was really good and I also liked the character of the Mandalorian. I think it has a second series coming out some point later this year, so we'll have to take out another months subscription to watch it. And yes, baby yoda is as cute as everyone says.

Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father

Jack Whitehall stared in Fresh Meat and is a comedian I really like. This show was a solid reality show. I think Jack and his father have a great dynamic. It was nice at the end of each season seeing them sitting down and talking about their relationship with each other. It made me desperate to travel.

I May Destroy You

Another show I had seen everyone raving about was I May Destroy You. Michalea Coel took something that happened to her and turned it into an incredible TV show. My only critique is that I wasn't the biggest fan of the last episode. I now really want to watch her other show, Chewing Gum. 

What We Do In The Shadows (Season Two)

I hadn't realised there was a second series of What We Do In The Shadows until a friend told me. I really enjoyed the first season and the second was just as good. The film is also a great bit of comedy. I really hope for a third series.

Films

Pitch Perfect

After watching A Simple Favour, which Anna Kendrick stared in, I was in the mood for some more Anna Kendrick film. I have a bit of a soft spot for the first Pitch Perfect film. I still think this is the best one out of the two I've seen, I still haven't seen the third one. It's just got girl power and good music, what's not to love?

Love Wedding Repeat

This was one I had stumbled across a trailer for and thought it looked good. It was a solid rom-com. Parts of it were a bit odd, but it had a solid cast. I'd probably watch it again at some point in the future. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

I watched this with my mum one day when it was like 30 degrees in the UK because it was two hot but to do anything other than watch a movie. I know a lot of people don't like the Hobbit films, but I enjoy them. 

The Personal History of David Copperfield

I had wanted to see this but I just missed seeing this in the cinema. It had a great cast and a great retelling of a classic story. It was very funny and I am glad I watched it. It's by the same guy who wrote The Death of Stalin, a film I really enjoyed, and The Thick Of It.

Fight Club

Another film I watched for uni was Fight Club. I've been watching this for a while but I finally had an excuse to watch it. I did like it, especially with the twist at the end. 

Melancholia 

As I've mentioned before, my family has a subscription to Curzon Home Cinema, which has a lot of unusual films. This was a very unusual film about the end of the world. It was a very miserable film. I probably won't ever watch it again. 

Birdman

Another film I've been meaning to watch is Birdman. I ended up really enjoying it. I wasn't sure of the direction it was going in at first, but it ended up being a solid film. It's hard to put into words how I feel about it. I would recommend it. 

Life of Crime

Yet another Curzon film, was Life of Crime. The trailer ended up being a lot better than the actual film. It just flopped for me. 

Eurovision: The Story of Fire Saga

Critics don't like it, but audiences do. It is a very cheesy film with some Eurovision worthy songs. Rachel McAdams and Dan Stevens stole this film. Ja Ja Ding Dong has been played non-stop in my house. I'd watch it again. 

Finding Dory

I loved Finding Nemo so much as a child that I was banned from watching it. I watched it on repeat and drove my family crazy. I was never that bothered about watching Finding Dory, but I'm glad I did. It was a really good film. I loved the sea otters!

Coco

Another Disney-Pixar film I had really wanted to see but had never. A good friend of mine spoiled this film for me (I've just about forgiven her for it), but I still enjoyed it even though I knew the big twist. The animation was beautiful and the story was great. The songs were also solid. Very glad I finally watched it.

Inside Out

The same goes for Inside Out except I wasn't spoiled for this one. I think out of the two I preferred Coco as Inside Out was quite deep and dark for a Disney film.

Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

I've grown up watching Wallace and Gromit films. I just fancied rewatching it when I couldn't decide what to watch one night before bed. There are some jokes that are a lot funnier now that I'm an adult. They'll always be great films.

Pitch Perfect 2

Since I watched Pitch Perfect, I randomly decided to watch Pitch Perfect 2. I still think the first one is the best one and I didn't enjoy this one as much. At some point I will watch the third one, but I'm not sure why the decided to make this into a trilogy. 

Mamma Mia

In March, I watched Mamma Mia Here We Go Again! I then realised I couldn't remember much of what happened in the first film and as I had just watched Pitch Perfect 2, I was in the mood for another musical. It is a solid film, even with the questionable singing from some of the actors. I do think I prefer this one to the second film.

Into the Woods

I have one reason for watching Into the Woods- the "Agony" scene. The two princes being overly dramatic. It is the best scene in the film. 

Frozen

While we have Disney+, I really wanted to watch Frozen 2. It had been many years since I saw the first film, so my mum and I rewatched it. There were jokes that I understood a bit better now that I am an adult. 

Booksmart

I had wanted to watch this for a while as coming age comedies are some of my favourites. I did end up really enjoying this, but it could have been a bit shorter. The two main actresses were amazing in their roles. 

Brooklyn

Saoirse Ronan is my favourite actress so I've been watching as many of her performances as I can. Brooklyn was a really good film. I was a bit confused when it was set, so I had to Google it. It was nice to see Saoirse use her Irish accent.

Star Trek

When I say Star Trek, I mean that I have actually watched four Star Trek films. I watched the most recent trilogy- Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. I also watched a 1980s one, Star Trek The Wrath of Kahn. These are fun and easy moments. It also has a great cast. I hope there is a fourth film, but at this point I don't think there will be.

12 Years A Slave

I decided to watch this for university. It was an incredibly difficult watch, but a great film. I'm glad that I've finally watched it. It was another film that benefited from an amazing cast. It's so sad that this was based on a true story. 

This Beautiful Fantastic

I stumbled across this on Amazon Prime and originally I thought it was a French film. It's been called the British "Amelie". I did enjoy it, but I had a few issues with it. The plot was a bit flimsy. The other thing was that the main character's mental illness was shown to be more of a quirk than an actual illness. That just didn't sit well with me. 

Frozen 2

Lastly, I watched Frozen 2. In all truthfulness, this was a good film, but I prefer the first one. The animation on this one was incredible, you can see just how much they've improved in the past few years. My favourite moment was Kristoff's overly dramatic song.

So that concludes my list of things I've watched over the past couple of months.

Carenza :) x