My Expanding Bookshelf

Title: The Last Tale of the Flower Bride Author: Roshani Chokshi Published: 14th February 2023, Hodder Pages: 289 Source: Bought (FairyLoot) Format: Hardback Rating: 4/5 Once upon a time, a man who believed in fairy tales married a beautiful, mysterious woman named Indigo Maxwell-Castenada. He was a scholar of myths. She was heiress to a fortune. They exchanged gifts and stories and believed they would live happily ever after - and in exchange for her love, Indigo extracted a promise: that her bridegroom would never pry into her past. But when Indigo learns that her estranged aunt is dying and the couple if forced to return to her childhood home, the House of Dreams, the bridegroom will soon find himself unable to resist. For within the crumbling manor's extravagant rooms and musty wipes, there lurks the shadow of another girl: Azure, Indigo's dearest childhood friend who suddenly disappeared. As the house slowly reveals his wife's secrets, the bridegroom will be fo...

Title: Elektra Author: Jennifer Saint Published: 26th April 2022, Wildfire Pages: 341 Source: Bought/Netgalley Format: Hardback/eARC Rating: 5/5 The House of Atreus is cursed. A bloodline tainted by a generational cycle of violence and vengeance. This si the story of three women, their fates inextricably tied to this curse, and the fickle nature of men and gods. Clytemnestra The sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon - her hopes of averting the curse are dashed when her sister is taken to Troy by the feckless Paris. Her husband raises a great army against them, and determines to win, whatever the cost. Cassandra Princess of Troy, and cursed by Apollo to see the future but never to be believed when she speaks of it. She is powerless in her knowledge that the city will fall. Elektra The youngest daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, Elektra is horrified by the bloodletting of her kin. But, can she escape the curse, or is her own destiny also bound by violence.

Title: A Lesson in Vengeance Author: Victoria Lee Published: 22nd February 2022, Titan Books Pages: 400 Source: Netgalley Format: eARC Rating: 3/5 Felicity Morrow is back at Dalloway School. Perched in the Catskill mountains, the centuries-old, ivy-covered campus was home until the tragic death of her girlfriend. Now, after a year away, she's returned to graduate. She even has her old room in Godwin House, the exclusive dormitory rumoured to be haunted by the spirits of five Dalloway students - girls some say were witches. The Dalloway Five all died mysteriously, one after another, right on Godwin grounds. Witchcraft is woven into Dalloway's history. The School doesn't talk about it, but the students do. In secret rooms and shadowy corners, girls convene. And before her girlfriend died, Felicity was drawn to the dark. She's determined to leave that behind her now; all Felicity wants is to focus on her senior thesis and graduate. But it's hard when Dalloway...

Title: Daughter of the Moon Goddess Author: Sue Lynn Tan Published: 20th January 2022, HarperCollins Pages: 512 Source: Bought Format: Hardback Rating: 5/5 A fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e, in which a young woman's quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm and sets her on a dangerous path - where choices come with deadly consequences, and she risks losing more than her heart. Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the powerful Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin's magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind. Alone, untrained, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the Crown Prince, mastering archery ...

Title: Gallant Author: VE Schwab Published: 8th March 2022, Titan Books Pages: 310 Source: Bought Format: Hardback Rating: 5/5 Everything casts a shadow. Even the world we live in. And as with every shadow, there is a place where it must touch. A seam, where the shadow meets its source. Olivia Prior has grown up in Merilance Schools for girls, and all she has of her past is her mother's journal - which seems to unravel into madness. Then, a letter invites Olivia to come home - to Gallant. Yet when Olivia arrives, no one is expecting her. But Olivia is not about to leave the first place that feels like home, it doesn't matter if her cousin Matthew is hostile or if she sees half-formed ghouls haunting the hallways. Olivia knows that Gallant is hiding secrets, and she is determined to uncover them. When she crosses a ruined wall at just the right moment, Olivia finds herself in a place that is Gallant - but not. The manor is crumbling, the ghouls are solid, and a mysteriou...

Title: Only A Monster Author: Vanessa Len Published: 17th February 2022, Hodder & Stoughton Pages: 356 Source: FairyLoot Format: Hardback Rating: 4/5 It should have been the perfect summer. Sent to stay with her late mother's eccentric family in London, sixteen-year-old Joan is determined to enjoy herself. She loves her nerdy job at the historic Holland House, and when her super cute co-worker Nick asks her on a date, it feels like everything is falling into place. But she soon learns the truth. Her family aren't just eccentric: they're monsters, with terrifying, hidden powers. And Nick isn't just a cute boy: he's a legendary monster slayer, who will do anything to bring them down. As she battles Nick, Joan is forced to work with the beautiful and ruthless Aaron Oliver, heir to a monster family that hates her own. She'll have to embrace her own monstrousness if she is to save herself, and her family. Because in this story... ...she is not the hero.

Title: Safety in Numbers Author: Sophie Penhaligon Published: 3rd January 2022, BooksGoSocial Pages: 230 Source: Netgalley Format: ARC Rating: 3.5/5 When a tragic accident leaves mathematician Seraphina Ellis broken and despairing, she is convinced that she will live out the remainder of her life in lonely solitude. Determined to conceal her disability from her co-workers, she hides away in her desolate cubicle, crossing off the days of her life, unfulfilled and defeated. A chance meeting with irascible but mesmerizing billionaire scientist and CEO Milo Grant provides her with the job of her dreams, and the chance of escape from cubicle land. But Grant is haunted by his own monsters and is increasingly interested in more than just her mathematic magic. In this touching and sexually charged contemporary romance, Sophie Penhaligon manages to deliver a novel that is lighthearted and fun whilst dealing with the difficult topics of loss and disability.

Title: The Leviathan Author: Rosie Andrews Published: 17th February 2022, Raven Books Pages: 320 Source: Netgalley/Bought Format: ARC/Hardback Rating: 4.5/5 Norfolk, 1643. With civil war tearing England apart, reluctant soldier Thomas Treadwater is summoned home by his sister, who accuses a new servant of improper conduct with their widowed father. By the time Thomas returns home, his father is insensible, felled by a stroke, and their new servant is in prison, facing charges of witchcraft. Thomas prides himself on being a rational, modern man, but as he unravels the mystery of what has happened, he uncovers not a tale of superstition but something dark and ancient, linked to a shipwreck years before. Something has awoken, and now it will not rest. richly researched, incredibly atmospheric, and deliciously unsettling, The Leviathan is set in England during a time of political turbulence and religious zealotry. It is a tale of family and loyalty, superstition and sacrifice, but ...

Title: Blood Scion Series: Blood Scion #1 Author: Deborah Falaye Published: 8th March 2022, HarperTeen Pages: 432 Source: Sent for review by publisher Format: ARC Rating: 4.5/5 This is what they deserve. They wanted me to be a monster. I will be the worst monster they ever created. Fifteen-year-old Sloane can incinerate an enemy at will - she is a Scion, a descendant of the ancient Orisha gods. Under the Lucis' brutal rule, her identity means her death if her powers are discovered. But when she is forcibly conscripted into the Lucis army on her fifteenth birthday, Sloane sees a new opportunity: to overcome the bloody challenges of Lucis training, and destroy them from within. Sloan rises through the ranks and gains strength but, in doing so, risks something greater: losing herself entirely, and becoming the very monster that she abhors.

Title: Talk Bookish to Me Author: Kate Bromley Published: 31st August 2021, Zaffre Pages: 376 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 4.5/5 Inspiration can come from the most unlikely - and inconvenient - sources. Kara Sullivan's life is full of love - albeit fictional. As a best-selling romance novelist and influential Bookstagrammer, she's fine with getting her happily-ever-after fix between the covers of a book. But right now? Not only is Kara's best friend getting married next week - which means big wedding stress - but the deadline for her next novel is looming, and she hasn't written a single word. The last thing she needs is for her infuriating first love, Ryan Thompson, to suddenly appear in the wedding party. But Ryan's unexpected arrival sparks a creative awakening in Kara that inspires the steamy historical romance she desperately needs to deliver. With her wedding duties intensifying, her deadline getting closer by the second and her bills not p...

Title: Windswept & Interesting Author: Billy Connolly Published: 12th October 2021, Two Roads Pages: 389 Source: Bought Format: Hardback Rating: 5/5 In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life. Born in a tenement flat in Glasgow in 1942, orphaned by the age of 4, and a survivor of appalling abuse at the hands of his own family, Billy's life is a remarkable story of success against all odds. Windswept and Interesting is Billy's story in his own words. It is joyfully funny - stuffed full of hard-earned wisdom as well as countless digressions on fishing, farting and the joys of dancing naked. It is an unforgettable, life-affirming story of a true comedy legend.

Title: My Dear Hamilton Author: Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie Published: 10th April 2018, Little Brown Pages: 641 Source: Bought Format: Hardback Rating: 4/5 A novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton A general's daughter... Coming of age on the perilous frontier of revolutionary New York, Elizabeth Schuyler champions the fight for independence. And when she meets Alexander Hamilton, Washington's penniless but passionate aide-de-camp, she's captivated by the young officer's charisma and brilliance. They fall in love, despite Hamilton's bastard birth and the uncertainties of war. A founding father's wife... But the union they create - in their marriage and the new nation - is far from perfect. From glittering inaugural balls to bloody street riots, the Hamiltons are at the center of it all - including the political treachery of America's first sex scandal, which forces Eliza to struggle through heartbreak and betrayal to find forgiveness. The last survivi...

Title: Year of the Reaper Author: Makiia Lucier Published: 9th November 2021, Hodder & Stoughton Pages: 321 Source: Bought Format: Hardback Rating: 3.5/5 The past never forgets... Before an ambush by enemy soldiers, Lord Cassia was an engineer's apprentice on a mission entrusted by the king. But when plague sweeps over the land, leaving countless dead and devastating the kingdom, even Cas' title cannot save him from a rotting prison cell and merciless sickness. Three years later, Cas wants only to return to his home in the mountains and forget past horrors. But home is not what he remembers. His castle has become a refuge for the royal court. And they have brought their enemies with them. When an assassin targets those closest to the queen, Cas is drawn into a search for a killer... one that leads him to form an unexpected bond with a brilliant young historian named Lena. Cas and Lena soon realize that who is behind the attacks is far less important than why. They m...

Title: The Storyteller Author: Dave Grohl Published: 5th October 2021, Simon & Schuster UK Pages: 376 Source: Gifted Format: Hardback Rating: 5/5 So, I've written a book. having entertained the idea for years, and even offered a few questionable opportunities ("It's a piece of cake! Just do 4 hours of interviews, find someone else to write it, put your face on the cover, and voila!") I have decided to write these stories just as I have always done, in my own hand. The joy that I have felt from chronicling these tales is not unlike listening back to a song that I've recorded and can't wait to share with the world, or reading a primitive journal entry from a stained notebook, or even hearing my voice bounce between the Kiss posters on my wall as a child. This certainly doesn't mean that I'm quitting my day job, but it does give me a place to shed a little light on what it's like to be a kid from Springfield, Virginia, walking through life...

Title: Obsidio Series: The Illuminae Files #3 Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Published: 13th March 2018, Rock the Boat Pages: 620 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 4/5 Kady, Ezra, Hanna and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza - but who knows what they'll find seven months after the invasion? Meanwhile, Kady's cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza's ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys - an old flame from Asha's past - reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heroes will fall and hearts will be broken.

Title: Gemina Series: The Illuminae Files #2 Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff Published: 20th October 2016, Rock the Boat Pages: 659 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 4/5 Hanna Donnelly is the station captain's pampered daughter and Nik Malikov is the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. Together they struggle with the realities of life aboard the galaxy's most boring space station, blissfully unaware that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall with news of the Kerenza invasion.

Title: The Love Hypothesis Series: The Love Hypothesis Author: Ali Hazelwood Published: 14th November 2021, Berkley Pages: 373 Source: Bought Format: Paperback Rating: 5/5 As a third-year PhD candidate. Olive Smith doesn't believe in lasting romantic relationships - but her best friend does, and that's what got her into this situation. Convincing Anh that Olive is dating and well on her way to happily ever after was always going to take more than hand-wavy Jedi mind tricks: Scientists require proof. So, like any self-respecting biologist, Olive panics and kisses the first man she sees. That man is none other than Adam Carlsen, a young hotshot professor - and well-known ass. Which is why Olive is positively floored when Stanford's reigning lab tyrant agrees to keep her charade a secret and be her fake boyfriend. But when a big science conference goes haywire, putting Olive's career on the Bunsen burner, Adma surprised her again with his unyielding support and eve...

Title: Gilded Series: Gilded Author: Marissa Meyer Published: 2nd November 2021, Faber & Faber Pages: 512 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 4/5 All magic comes at a price, but love was never part of the bargain... The look he was giving her. Serilda had never been looked at like that before... The intensity. The heat. The raw astonishment. He was going to kiss her. Cursed by the god of lies, a miller's daughter has developed a talent for storytelling - but are all of her tales as false as they appear? When one of Serilda's stories draws the attention of the devastating Erlking, she finds herself swept away into a world of enchantment, where ghouls prowl the earth, and ravens track her every move. The king locks Serilda in a castle dungeon and orders her to spin straw into gold, or be killed for lying. In despair, Serilda unwittingly summons a mysterious young man to her aid. And he agrees to help her, for a price. But love wasn't meant to be part of the ba...

Title: How to Stop Time Author: Matt Haig Published: 6th July 2017, Canongate Books Pages: 325 Source: Library Format: Hardback Rating: 5/5 A love story across the ages - and for the ages - about a man lost in time, the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to live. Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history - performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.  So Tom moves back to London, his old home, to become a high school history teacher - the perfect job for someone who has witnessed the city's history first hand. Better yet, a captivating French teacher at his school seems fascinated by him. But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: never fall in love. As painful memories...

Title: Final Girls Author: Riley Sager Published: 13th July 2017, Ebury Digital Pages: 354 Source: Netgalley Format: Ebook Rating: 4/5 FIRST THERE WERE THREE. The media calls them the Final Girls - Quincy, Sam, Lisa - the infamous group that no one wants to be part of. The sole survivors of three separate killing sprees, they are linked by their shared trauma. THEN THERE WERE TWO. But when Lisa dies in mysterious circumstances and Sam shows up unannounced on her doorstep, Quincy must admit that she doesn't really know anything about the other Final Girls. Can she trust them? Or... CAN THERE ONLY EVER BE ONE? All Quincy knows is one thing: she is next.