Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish

This week on Top Ten Tuesday is top ten books you're looking forward to for the first half of 2017. Because I'm currently short on time and I've not yet created my book releases calender for 2017 (which means I don't know which books will be released on the first half of the year), I've decided that it's easier to show you the ten books I can't wait for to be released in 2017. Here are they:

Hunted, Meagan Spooner. I love retellings (as you all are tired to know by now), but Beauty and the Beast retellings hold a special place in my heart. Because of such, I can't wait to put my hands on this novel which has been written by the co-writer of one of my favourite series, Starbound.  

Always and Forever, Lara Jean, Jenny Han. I started reading contemporaries because of To All The Boys I've Loved Before. So, I couldn't be more excited when Always and Forever, Lara Jean was announced. However, I'm terrified of the future of Lara Jean and Peter (please, don't break them up, Jenny). Because, let's face it, high school relationships don't last forever and the tittle kinda suggests a break up... Am I the only one who fears this?

A Crown of Wishes, Roshani Chokshi. The Star-Touched Queen was one of a my favourite readings of this year. The world created by Roshani Chokshi was mythical and enchanting and I can't wait to reconnect with it. You can read the first chapter here.    

 

Empress of a Thousand Skies, Rhoda Belleza. The genre sci-fi/fantasy has been growing on me eand the Starbound trilogy just made me love the genre a lot more. So, when I read the summary of this one, I just added it right way to my wishlist. And, the cover is beautiful. *.*

 

Sillence Fallen, Patricia Briggs. I've not yet read Fire Touched, but it's Patricia Briggs. I'm going to love it (Patricia Briggs never disappoints) and I'll keep following the series.

Caraval, Stephanie Garber. Apart from the Hunted ARCs that have been sent to some bloggers, this is the other ARC that is making me jealous. Why can't I read it now too?! Games of love, heartbreak, and magic? I want to read it too!

Leigh Bardugo's new Duology. I don't know it the first book of this new duology will be released in 2017, but my fingers are crossed. I'll still have books from her to read, but I currently addicted to Leigh Bardugo and I need my fix. =P

The Wish Granter, C.J. Redwine. I read The Shadow Queen this summer and it was a nice Snow White retelling. C.J. Redwine created an alluring and harsh world and I must say that I can't wait to read this one that is inspired by Rumplestiltskin. It may not be a sequel, but is set in the same world. 

 

Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, Lisa Jensen. This is another Beauty and the Beast retelling. Of course, it had to make my list. Now, can the cover be released? 

Dawn Study, Maria V. Snyder. Last, but not least. Did you really think Dawn Study wouldn't make this list? I love Yelena and Valek and their adventures too much to forget about them. I need to know how everything ends - but does it really need to end?

Which books can't you wait for to be released in 2017?

Review 22. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo [Twelve Days of Reviews]

Title: Shadow and Bone
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Published: June 5th 2012
Pages: 358 pages

"Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart."

Dear Leigh Bardugo,

I met you for the first time this year and you just became one of my favourite writers. I felt ashamed of not having read your beautiful stories before. After reading Six of Crows, I plunged into the Grisha world and I fell in love with it. Shadow and Bone is the beginning of Alina's adventures and can't wait to know how her story ends.

Writing: Maybe I shouldn't be comparing the writing style, but I can't avoid it. I read Six of Crows back in January (I know, I always do everything backwards) and I confess it took me sometime to go through the pages of Shadow and Bone because the writing was not as fluid as in Six of Crows. But it's a good thing, right? Because Leigh Bardugo's writing evolved a lot since her debut novel. 

Characters: I may have had a love-hate relationship with Alina. Why? Sometimes she was strong and not afraid of speaking her mind, but sometimes she acted as a damsel in distress for no reason whatsoever (I understand she had jut learned she was Grisha, but she was a powerful Grisha that could kick ass without anyone's help). Sometimes Alina was able to see what was right in front of her, but then she doubted herself (and this is probably what annoyed me the most). But, at the end, Alina was relatable. Her little imperfections (such as, the dark circles under her eyes) and her search to find a where she belongs, made Alina a lot more real to me.

“I'm sorry it took me so long to see you, Alina. But I see you now.”

Now, about the love interests ([LOVE TRIANGLE ALERT] yes, sadly there is a love triangle, but by the ending of the story I felt the triangle came to a closure and maybe, just maybe, it will be over by the next novel). The Darkling, the most powerful Grisha, was very mysterious and it was never easy to understand what his intentions were. One moment he was viciously murdering someone, but then all of the sudden he was all soft words and kind smiles. Mal was Alina´s best friend. They met in the orphanage and then they joined the Second Army (allof this made their friendship a lot more credible). He was loyal and would do anything for her - but now that I think of it, the Darkling would also go through hell to protect Alina; but both of them had very different reasons to do so...

Worldbuilding: I loved the world created by Bardugo, but I must say I felt disappointed when I finished reading the final page. I wanted to know more about Ravka (Six of Crows mentions Ravka, but it's a lot more about Ketterdam and the Ice Court). Apart from the Little Palace and the Shadow Fold there wasn't much more worldbuiling. Hopefully, the following sequels will weave this a world to a little more detail because I felt there were so many possibilities and I got stuck between a court intrigues and a terrifying and full of secrets dark sea.

PS: The killing of the stag was very heartbreaking. I'd rather a thousand humans to die than the poor innocent stag. Can it now happen again, Leigh Bardugo? 

Challenge. Twelve Days of Reviews

The end of the year is quickly approaching and if you are like me, you read more books than those you reviewed. In an attempt to change it, I decided to create this challenge where all you have to do is write and share reviews. From December 13th to December 24th, I'll be hosting Twelve Days of Reviews (if there is something alike out there, I apologize in advance). Inspired by  the song Twelve Days of Christmas, to participate you have to publish a review (on blogger, wordspress, goodreads, Instagram... wherever you usually share your reviews) per day for twelve days, catching up with all those missed opinions. The more reviews you write the better are your chances of winning, because there's going to be a giveaway. The winner will be chosen on December 25th and will get a book of her/his choice up to 15 euros. 

Who wants to join me for Twelve Days of Reviews? You can share your sign up post and reviews on the comments section.

Rules to enter the giveaway: You must be a participant (add the link to your sign-up post). You must be older than 18 or have your parents permission. Open internationally, so long as The Book Depository ships to you. Also, the reviews must be published between the 13th and the 24th (I'll be checking the dates).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Waiting on Wednesday. Frostblood

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week on WoW is Frostblood by Elly Blake. I always love fantasy (any kind of fantasy) and this one called my name and I couldn't resist adding it to my wishlist. I know the summary is similar to so many other books, but Elly Blake loves fairytales and owls, so I need to giver her an opportunity. The book will be released on January 10th 2017.

"Seventeen-year-old Ruby is a fireblood who must hide her powers of heat and flame from the cruel frostblood ruling class that wants to destroy all that are left of her kind. So when her mother is killed for protecting her and rebel frostbloods demand her help to kill their rampaging king, she agrees. But Ruby's powers are unpredictable, and she's not sure she's willing to let the rebels and an infuriating (yet irresistible) young man called Arcus use her as their weapon.

All she wants is revenge, but before they can take action, Ruby is captured and forced to take part in the king's tournaments that pit fireblood prisoners against frostblood champions. Now she has only one chance to destroy the maniacal ruler who has taken everything from her and from the icy young man she has come to love.

Fast-paced and compelling, Frostblood is the first in a page-turning new young adult three-book series about a world where flame and ice are mortal enemies—but together create a power that could change everything. "

From Goodreads

Monthly Recap. November 2016

"Santa Claus is comin' to town." Happy belated December (uni is killing me; I barely have time to breath, but I refuse to let my blog die). Can you believe December is already here?! Not too long ago 2016 was beginning full of promise (mine was not full of it and it seems my karma is getting worse) and now it's *finally* coming to an end. It seems it's time to start making the list of my favourite readings of 2016 and which books I can't wait to be released next year and see if I can reach my Retelling Challenge goal (which is something I certainly won't be able to).

How awful was this month when it comes to reading? Very awful! 😿 [since when does blogger have emojis?] I'll more than certainly have to change my Goodreads reading goal...

• Shadow and Bone, Leigh Bardugo
• Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell [read for my masters]
• The Tempest, William Shakespeare [read for my masters]
• The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald [read for my masters]
• The Giver, Lois Lowry [read for one of my masters final essays]

I know, I read five books and I should be happy, but let's remember that two of them I started them back in October. And, then four books I read were for my masters - The Great Gatsby was a re-reading. Oh, and I started reading Crooked Kingdom (which I'm slowly getting through because between tiredness and hyper-active cats, it's difficult to read more than twenty pages before feeling sleepy).

November was not a bad month for my bookshelf and wallet. Well, I did buy some books for Christmas, but those will only be part of December's haul. So, these are the books that arrived at my shelf (the pictures seem to be blurry, but that is not how they look on my Instagram account):

• Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier 😻
• The Giver by Lois Lowry 
• Heartless by Marissa Meyer [Owlcrate]
• Moon Chosen by P.C. Cast [Nerdy Bookworm Box]

Random & Randomness, as the name indicates, is about random bookish stuff. Inspired by a few blogs, I decided to create this little space where I share some bookish love.

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Premiere - When will I be able to watch it? 😿
• Beauty and the Beast Trailer - OMG! I need it now! 😻  
• Pokemon Sun and Moon Release - I don't know if you already know, but I'm a Pokemon fan since the beginning, so a new game is always reason of happiness - even though this one is kinda childish. I like they tried to do something new, but what happened to the PokéGyms?!

Probably a few more things marked the month of November, but I can't remember them now. =P

TTT. I'm Thankful For...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by  The Broke and the Bookish

This week on Top Ten Tuesday is what are you thankful for. I know Thanksgiving is an American tradition/holiday and I don't have much to thank for this year (as many of you know, this year has been terrible to me). However, I'd like to share the bookish moments that warmed my cold heart.  

I'm thankful for...

The release of A Torch Against the Night. Thank you Sabaa Tahir for creating such an amazing world. Thank you for making me dream. Thank you for making me count the days until I finally had my copy. Thank you for Elias and Laia (I'll go down with this ship).

Discovering Leigh Bardugo. This year was the first time I plunged into the Grisha World. I loved Six of Crows, I finally read Shadow and Bone last month (or was it this month?) and I'm currently reading Crooked Kingdom [slowly reading it because of uni :´( ]. Leigh Bardugo is an extraordinary writer and I'm thankful for having her novels on my bookshelf.

The announcement of Always and Forever, Lara Jean. I'm a huge fan of Lara Jean. And Peter. *.* I started reading contemporaries because of this series. So, I couldn't be more excited when a third book was announced. However, I'm terrified of the future of Lara Jean and Peter (please, don't break them up, Jenny). Because, let's face it, high school relationships don't last forever and the tittle kinda suggests a break up...

Being reached by authors to review their books. I may not be reached by well-known publishers or authors and my email are ignored because I'm from Portugal, but I get to know wonderful and touching stories that many people don't. And, I get the opportunity to help promoting them. And, this is something I really love doing. <3

Becoming a #bookstagrammer. If you aren't following me yet, here it's my account, @mybookishsecret. I've meet so many wonderful people and I've so much fun taking bookish photos.

Finally having a bookshelf!

And I must cut my list short because it seems I've uni work to do. =P However, you can check my Monthly Recap post and take a look at the Random & Randomness section to know which news made me super excited this year.   

Cover Reveal. Umberland

Yesterday, Owlcrate revealed the cover of Umberland by Wendy Spinale, the sequel of Everland, which I do have on my shelf, but I haven't read it yet *hides in a corner ashamed* I confess that even though I haven't read the first book yet, I'm already excited for this one. Peter Pan meets Alice in Wonderland? You can count me in!

Umberland is expected to be released in May 9th 2017.

"Gwen, Pete, and the others have escaped from Everland. But the safe haven they hoped to find at Alnwick Castle doesn't exist. With the Queen of England on her deathbed, Duchess Alyssa has stepped in to lead, but things have gotten worse as the cure Doc created for the Horologia virus has mutated, accelerating the disease. The only possible solution he can think of is to go back to the virus's origin: an extinct poisonous apple. Legend has it a tree bearing the apple might be found at the center of a deadly labyrinth hidden deep within Germany. A place that no one in their right mind enters. Leaving Pete in charge of the survivors, Alyssa sets out with only her sword, her wits, and the help of Maddox Hadder, a wild boy who oversees the castle gardens. To get to the center of the maze, she'll be forced to battle monsters more terrifying than her darkest nightmares. But can anyone truly survive the madness of the maze? And what if there's no apple to be found there?"