Book Recommendations

**HAS SPOILERS**

A Gathering of Shadows brings us back to the magical Londons to once again join Kell, Lila, and Rhy on their adventures.

I got my hands on this book as fast as I could after reading A Darker Shade of Magic. Honestly though, it was nowhere near as good as A Darker Shade of Magic, or A Conjuring of Light. In A Gathering of Shadows, there is a magical tournament that only the best of magicians compete in. Enter Lila, who of course manages to weasel her way in, disguised as a competitor who she sent on a ship headed far away. Lila, who has made her way once again back to London on the ship she intended to steal, but ended up being part of the crew. However, Lila isn’t the only one of our familiar faces we’ll see in this tournament. Kell too is disguised and competing. 

I found the new adventure of the tournament an interesting tale, where I learnt more about the world that Victoria Schwab has created. 

However, being completely honest, I found Lila a bit annoying in this book, due to her arrogance, and the the fact that “she’s not like most girls” was brought up so. many. times. It’s even directly said, by Lila herself “I’m not most girls”.  Kell, as always, is my precious favourite. I didn’t warm to Alucard in this book, but he’s an interesting character. 

Unlike the usual pattern of reading the book and then watching the film, I read this book because of the film. My mum and I watched the movie together and I thought it was adorable, so I read the book.

I loved the book, but I prefer to treat the book and the film as two separate works. If you've watched thee movie and are wondering if you should read the book, it's a solid YES, but be warned that they are EXTREMELY different. They follow the same path of Juliet going to Guernsey and wanting to write about the Society, but many of the details have been changed. Oddly enough, this does not take away from either. So if you've read it and want to watch it, or if you've watched it and want to read it, definitely do that! Just know that they're different.

And now onto the review! The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is written entirely in the form of letters, notes, and telegrams. The POV changes depending on who is writing the letters, but don't worry, each letter says above it who it is from and who it is addressed to (i.e. Sidney to Juliet). Juliet first learns of the Society through a letter from Dawsey Adams, who is looking for more works by Charles Lamb. Juliet writes him back, and they begin a correspondence. Through Dawsey ,Juliet learns of the Society, and yearns to learn more. After a long correspondence with multiple members of the Society, Juliet picks up and travels to Guernsey.

On Guernsey, Juliet explores and becomes close friends with all of the Society members. The journey of Juliet and the other members is one full of love and merriness, and leaves you feeling warm and loved by the end.

This was a fantastic book. Filled to the brim with adventure, humour, and wit. 

It had been recommended to me long ago, and I finally got around to reading it. I am so glad that I did. In A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E. Schwab creates an entirely new take on the magic universe. Four different Londons, yet each one vastly different from each other and the one that we know. 

The books are written in the third-person, mainly split between the two main protagonists; Lila and Kell. 

A Darker Shade of Magic falls in more of the classic fantasy genre, with the creation of the language, characters, world, and the focus on the royals/politics. But using ‘classic’ fantasy doesn’t really work in this case, due to the fact that it’s unlike anything ever written before. 

We have Kell, who is a loveable yet strong character with many different sides--just like his magical coat! Personally, he’s my favourite, and I liked him right from the get-go and did throughout the trilogy. 

Next in our cast of characters is Lila, a cross-dressing thief from Grey London with a sharp wit, who is tough and brash, super badass, and loveable all the same. 

There are many more, and each one is just as unique and brand new. 

As this is the second of only two posts on this blog, both being historical fiction, it’s probably evident that I like historical fiction. Love, historical fiction. 

I remember when I saw this book. I was at Indigo, and browsing the YA section. What fist caught my eye was the cover. Three different pairs of shoes. A man’s, a woman’s, and a child. I remember thinking “Hm, that looks cool. Huh, those are old shoes. I wonder if it’s a historical fiction novel. Salt to the Sea, that sounds cool.” So I read the back cover. It was WWII historical fiction, but this time a story I hadn’t heard of before. So, once again expressing my lack of self-control, I bought it and went home. I read it in two days, and afterwards I sat and just kind of stared into space. 

Salt to the Sea covers four different perspectives, three travelling together and then a Nazi sailor onboard the Wilhelm Gustloff. My favourite perspectives were Florian and Joana, because I found their stories the most interesting. Emilia’s chapters were nice, I just didn’t find them as interesting--in the beginning. 

Not only did I get to read in their perspectives, through Florian, Joana, and Emilia, I got to learn the stories of the other’s that we travelling with them. This I found a nice touch, since they fleshed out the story so that it wasn’t just ‘we’re evacuating’ in three different perspectives. 

My opinion changes a bit with Alfred. I found his chapters whiny and annoying, as well as him going on and on about how incredible he was and how anyone who didn’t fit Hitl*r’s ideals deserved to be terminated. For the most part, until all four perspectives collided, I skimmed his chapters. However, do not let Alfred frighten you off from this masterpiece of a book. 

Salt to the Sea is a historical fiction work of art, and I encourage you to immediately borrow or purchase a copy. 

Bonus: if you’ve read her earlier work Between Shades of Grey, this is the Joana mentioned by Lina in that novel.  

My God. Where to begin?

Elizabeth Wein has created a literary masterpiece with Code Name Verity. I originally borrow this book from my local library, intending it as a weekend read. I read it three times over that weekend. No exaggeration. Immediately after, I ordered a copy of my own.

I originally started off with thinking “okay, this is a cool WWII spy story. This will be fun.” Wow. I Seriously underestimated the work of art that is CNV.

I was already into aviation, and had studied the WWII RAF planes used before, but this book made me long even more for the skies like Maddie does, as well as the beautiful country as Queenie does. 

The only problem with this book is that I can’t really write a review without spoiling it, other than to say how incredible it is and that you should definitely read it. The writing is exquisite, and it made me laugh out loud, shake with anger, and sob and sob as it felt as though my heart was being ripped out and stomped on. 

There isn’t much more I can say without spoiling this book for you, other than recommend that you immediately either purchase or loan a copy.