Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

 

5/5 stars

Beautiful, perfection. This series now ranks in my favourite favourites.

We have the same cast of characters but in a more sort of way because they have grown so much, especially Sal! The one who has been through the most trauma and was the most timid but he's now taking charge, having big ideas and challenging the adults on his own terms, my heart 🥹

And little Lucy, it's so much harder for him to make the right choices but he does and he's lovely and I want to give him a hug! I LOVED Talia's comments about her beard and I love her confidence in herself and her appearance!

This book went more in depth about trauma and how it can influence a person and how the government is still totally shit and ignorant and unwilling to accept when they've done wrong.

The ending was perfection and I want an infinite number of these books.

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

 

5/5 stars

So this was a re-read before reading the sequel. I first read it back in 2022 and it was a 5 then and it's still a 5 now.

Linus works for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth and he's been sent to investigate a rather unorthodox orphanage based on Marsyas Island. Unorthodox in the sense that it houses several children considered especially dangerous including Lucy, son of the antichrist, and Sal, a dog shifter who can pass his condition on with a bite, plus Chauncey so rare his species is completely unknown, there are also concerns about the master himself one Arthur Parnassus.

Overall I love this book, the characters are so well-written and the way the relationships develop and they grow into a family are so heart-warming. Found family at it's best 💕

Steff Out x

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

2/5 stars

This book felt confused as to what it wanted to be. It read a lot like a crime thriller, especially in the sections from the cop's point of view (also either refer to her as Jo/Joanna or pick a surname that isn't a common first name, I would get confused whenever her first name was mentioned because Harper so often is a first name) but then there's all this stuff about changelings at the beginning of most chapters.

As for Lauren I really wanted her to officially ditch her useless, unsupportive husband. He was definitely having an affair even if he didn't admit it.

The changeling stuff would have been better if they'd gone into more detail about it and done more research, it was just there and barely. It all felt very vague and incomplete and even the ending wasn't really an ending, it just stopped and it didn't feel like much had changed.

Steff Out x

A Pirate's Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you!

4/5 stars

This was super cute and fun and I still really enjoyed it but slightly less than book one.

For a start I missed their friends back at the tea shop. For another although I was glad the thing with the dragons was solved, at the same time it kind of wasn't. I also thought that the "dethroning" of a certain ruler was a little abrupt in the end. And I wasn't entirely sold on the "meet your heroes" part of the storyline. I don't know if they added enough value as a character.

All that being said, I loved Bobbie and Serina's relationship and their growth as characters. I eagerly await the next book. Also 5/5 for the anniversary short! IYKYK 👀🫦🥵

The book comes out next month! October 3rd to be specific. Go buy it!

Steff Out x 

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you!

5/5 stars

This is super cute and I loved it! The acknowledgements state that she was inspired by "Legends and Lattes" and I can see it and I am here for it!

Reyna is sick of her Queensguard life so decides to follow her secret Mage girlfriend's wishes to abscond to the middle of nowhere and set up a combined tea room and bookshop.

Life isn't simple though. Kianth is basically the boss of the Mages, the most powerful one, and some feel that she's shirking her responsibilities. Their new town also has problems: bandits,dragons and town leaders at loggerheads.

I loved the characters in this and the way everything developed, the pacing was perfect as well.

Steff Out x 

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell

 

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

3/5 stars

Like the title this book was very slow paced and at one point I did debate whether to continue. I was really not a fan of Shiloh initially, her attitude in the younger sections annoyed me and I hated the way she kept messing with Cary and that part didn't quit.

Cary himself was bland. He had a fairly well-developed family. I really wanted a big blow-out fight between him and his "sister" about all the lies, and a proper conversation with his "mum" about it all. Otherwise his personality was the Navy, he had no interests.

Despite all that something drew me in to their story and I was rooting for them as a couple. I liked the flashbacks but it was a little annoying the way they jumped around time so much. It also felt like not enough time was dedicated to certain parts like Shiloh's first marriage. On the whole I felt that the ending was very rushed. There was no mention of navigating the new relationship within the context of Shiloh's ex and the book just stopped. It felt very anti-climactic.

Steff Out x 

Sing Like No-One's Listening by Vanessa Jones

Ebook provided by NetGalley for review. Thank you.

4/5 stars 

Nettie Delaney is the daughter of a star ballerina, however her mum has recently died and she's due to audition at Duke's Performing Arts school, the same one her mum attended. But then a bizarre technical glitch on the day throws her off and she flunks her audition.

Miraculously she manages to get in but Nettie has lost her voice and must rediscover it before she's kicked out of school. All under the watchful eye of headmistress Mrs Duke herself who was a friend of her mother, and whilst trying to avoid her cruel ballet teacher who was apparently an enemy, creating a new mystery for Nettie about her mother's past, something she never spoke about.

This was an easy super cute read. I can't say personally how accurate it was to the real life performing arts school experience but it read well although content warning for disordered eating which is depressingly predictable for this sort of setting.

I loved the characters but I was disappointed that we didn't get the story about Nettie's mum although apparently there is a sequel so hopefully that covers it.

Steff Out x