Author: M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left

July & August 2023 Wrap Up

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I’ve taken a bit of a break from blogging for the last few weeks as things have been a bit tough with my health and at work, so I decided to take a step back from other things like blogging. But I’m back to wrap up July and August. I might continue with bimonthly rather than monthly wrap ups for the time being and see how things go. I don’t want to give up blogging completely since I love it, but want to write and post at my own pace.

Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall ⭐⭐⭐ – This was a really well narrated audiobook with an interesting narrative device – the story is told from the perspective of a hobgoblin narrator observing the events. However, the book was a little darker than I was expecting from the description and bright, pretty cover. The plot felt meandering and I wasn’t keen on the love interest’s persistent nastiness.

A Conjuring of Light by V. E. Schwab ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I finally finished the Shades of Magic series! This was a great conclusion to a brilliant series, though I did enjoy the second book more. I’m really glad I managed to finish this before the sequel series – Threads of Power – comes out later this year.

The Comeback by Lily Chu ⭐⭐⭐.5 – Lily Chu’s first book, The Stand-In was one of my favourite books from last year. It was such a fun, entertaining read with a great story. Sadly, I just didn’t click with The Comeback. It felt slow and I found the main character quite annoying a lot of the time, and didn’t like her attitude and choices in places. It wasn’t a bad book, but I didn’t love it either. The audiobook narration was great though.

I was really disappointed to miss out on Fairyloot’s Legendborn set so was excited when they did a reprint and managed to get them! They arrived recently and they are so gorgeous.

I wrote quite a lot in July and managed to hit 30,000 words which felt like a big achievement! I’ve been writing a lot slower because of my health so getting to 30k was very exciting.

What books have you enjoyed this month? Chat with me in the comments!

Audiobook Review: Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

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Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall

Genre: Romance, Historical Fantasy

Publishing Info: Audiobook by Gollancz, narrated by Nneka Okoye

Star Rating: 3/5

Back Cover Summary:

A young noblewoman must join forces with a rumoured witch to conquer an ancient curse in this devilishly funny and heartwarming sapphic Regency romantasy from TikTok titan and bestselling author of Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall – unmissable for fans of Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, Sophie Irwin’s A Lady’s Guide to Fortune Hunting, and Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light.

It is the year 1814 and Miss Maelys Mitchelmore finds her entry into the highest society of Bath hindered by an irritating curse. It begins innocuously enough, with her dress slowly unmaking itself over the course of an evening at the ball of the season, a scandal she only narrowly manages to escape.

However, as the curse progresses to more fatal proportions, she realises she must seek out urgent assistance, even if that means mixing with the most undesirable company – and there are few less desirable allies than the brooding Lady Georgiana Landrake – who may or may not have murdered her own father and brothers to inherit their fortune.

If one is to believe the gossip, she might be some kind of malign enchantress.

Then again, a malign enchantress might be exactly what Miss Mitchelmore needs.

Having seen mixed reviews for this book, I was unsure whether to give it a go. However, when I listened to the audiobook sample, I found myself completely drawn in by the author’s writing style and the audio narration, so when it came to the end of the sample, I was eager to continue reading.

The novel is narrated from the perspective of Robin, a hobgoblin who decides to follow Maelys in the hopes of collecting a good story. This is an unusual narrative device that will definitely not click with all readers. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I ended up really enjoying this aspect of the story and think it worked very well. The only time I didn’t enjoy the magical narrator, was during spicy scenes. It felt a little strange, intrusive almost, to be seeing these intimate moments from the perspective of a third-party observer.

Although I was never bored, the pacing was slow at times, and for reasons I can’t quite put my finger on, I just wasn’t keen on a lot of the plot choices. It felt meandering. There are also a lot of similar scenes in the second half which made it drag a little. If this book had been shorter, it would have been a much more engaging read. While I was happy enough to continue reading, I was never excited to. Apart from, perhaps, the midpoint which did provide some suspense and tension.

While I liked Lady Georgiana when we first meet her character, her continued meanness and mockery of the protagonist began to grate. Reasons for her to push Maelys away of course come to light, but even so, there was something about her attitude and treatment of Maelys which, rather than being attractive or sexy, was just nasty most of the time.

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Audiobook Review: City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn  

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City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn  

Genre: Young Adult, Science-Fiction  

Publishing Info: Audiobook by Tantor Audio, narrated by Sarah Beth Pfeifer

Star Rating: 4/5

Back Cover Summary:

As heiress to a powerful tech empire, 17-year-old Asa Almeida strives to prove she’s more than her manipulative father’s shadow. But when he uploads her rebellious sister’s mind to an experimental brain, Asa will do anything to save her sister from reprogramming – including fleeing her predetermined future with her sister’s digitized mind in tow. With a bounty on her head and a rogue AI hunting her, Asa’s getaway ship crash-lands in the worst possible place: the neon-drenched outlaw paradise Requiem.

Gunslinging smuggler Riven Hawthorne is determined to claw her way up Requiem’s underworld hierarchy. A runaway rich girl is exactly what the bounty Riven needs – until a nasty computer virus spreads in Asa’s wake, causing a citywide blackout and tech quarantine. To get the payout for Asa and save Requiem from the monster in its circuits, Riven must team up with her captive.

Riven breaks skulls the way Asa breaks circuits, but their opponent is unlike anything they’ve ever seen. The AI exploits the girls’ darkest memories and deepest secrets, threatening to shatter the fragile alliance they’re both depending on. As one of Requiem’s 154-hour nights grows darker, the girls must decide whether to fend for themselves or fight for each other before Riven’s city and Asa’s sister are snuffed out forever.

City of Shattered Light is a strong debut with a fast pace and plenty of action, treading down the cyberpunk branch of science-fiction with cybernetics, tech, artificial intelligence and a world of crime syndicates and organ pirates. The bright and dramatic cover is what drew me to this book and it really does capture the novel’s essence so well. Claire Winn does an excellent job of bringing the dark yet vibrant world of Requiem to life with descriptions that paint a vivid picture. The writing flows well, making this book very readable.  

I was drawn in by this book right from the start, and the pacing was so fast that I was hooked all the way through. The main plot is exciting with twists and turns aplenty, and it doesn’t leave character development by the wayside. The plot and characters interweave, each impacting the other and making a very strong web. Some twists were predictable, but I didn’t mind because there was plenty of drama and intrigue. 

Asa and Riven make good protagonists. With quite contrasting backstories and personalities, I enjoyed seeing how they interacted and how they progressed throughout the novel. A bisexual love triangle adds a romance element but it doesn’t overshadow the plot. While Asa, Riven and Ty were all really strong characters, I felt Samir and Diego weren’t quite so well developed and I’d have liked a bit more time to get to know them. I do enjoy the found family trope though so I did like the dynamics of the crew.

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Audiobook Review: Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left2 Comments

Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery  

Publishing Info: Audiobook by HarperCollins, narrated by David Suchet

Star Rating: 3/5

Back Cover Summary:

Sir George and Lady Stubbs, the hosts of a village fête, hit upon the novel idea of staging a mock murder mystery. In good faith, Ariadne Oliver, the well known crime writer, agrees to organise their murder hunt. Despite weeks of meticulous planning, at the last minute Ariadne calls her friend Hercule Poirot for his expert assistance. Instinctively, she senses that something sinister is about to happen. Beware: nobody is quite what they seem!

Last month I went on holiday to Devon and visited Greenway, Agatha Christie’s former holiday home and now a National Trust property. Since Agatha Christie based the setting of Dead Man’s Folly on Greenway, I decided this would be a great read for my holiday. The house is beautifully situated near a river, with zigzag paths through trees leading to the boathouse where the murder in Dead Man’s Folly takes place. It was fun to read the book at the same time as visiting and be able to visualise the places Poirot visited – walking in both Poirot and Agatha Christie’s footsteps!

The concept behind this novel is an interesting one – the mock murder mystery designed by a crime author which turns into a real murder. Despite the intriguing premise, however, this novel failed to captivate me as well as other Agatha Christie novels I have read. The story felt slow and a lot of information and details seemed to be repeated a lot.

There was a satisfyingly unpredictable solution to the murder, but it just felt like a bit of a drag to get there. For some reason it just didn’t hold my interest as much as, for example, The Mysterious Affair at Styles which I read earlier this year. Poirot was absent from the story at many points and I also would have liked to have seen more of Ariadne Oliver (the novelist and planner of the murder hunt), who is a great character.

Overall, this was not one of the best Agatha Christie novels I have read, however it was an interesting experience visiting the place the book is inspired by and I’m glad I decided to coincide reading it with my visit to Greenway.

Audiobook Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Publishing Info: Audiobook by Recorded Books, narrated by Rebecca Soler

Star Rating: 4.5/5

Back Cover Summary:

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

It’s been hard not to see Fourth Wing on Bookstagram and everywhere else for the last couple of months as it’s been riding a massive wave of hype. I’m not someone who usually picks up a book because everyone else is reading it. On this occasion though, I did. Specifically, because chronically ill Bookstagrammers were giving it glowing reviews. Also, the dragons had something to do with it since I’ve been obsessed with dragons since I was a kid.

Fourth Wing is a fantasy romance set in a brutal war college for dragon riders. The romance is a slow burn enemies-to-lovers and although the romance aspect wasn’t what drew me to this book, I ended up loving the slow build. The slow burn gave plenty of time for the characters feelings for each other to evolve and was paced really well, and the author does an amazing job of slowly changing my perception of the love interest. The romance didn’t dominate this book either, leaving plenty of room for plot and character development.

Speaking of character development, Rebecca Yarros nailed Violet’s progression. Fourth Wing is set over a year so that’s a lot of time to cover, but the pacing is done really well. We see Violet grow from the scribe-in-training to a reluctant cadet to a dragon rider.

The chronic illness representation is based on the author’s own experiences of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. While I don’t have EDS, I have lived with chronic illness since childhood and found Violet’s experiences and feelings so relatable. Chronic illness rep in all genres is really important, but I find it especially emotional seeing it in fantasy stories. I’ve loved fantasy since I was young but I’ve so rarely seen anyone like me actually living those adventures. And here we have someone who is chronically ill being completely badass and riding dragons. It really does mean so much and I hope we get to see more rep like this in fantasy. Violet has to adapt, train and build her strength in order to be able to complete the college’s various challenges and obstacles. And although her body gets stronger, she is never cured of her condition.

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June 2023 Wrap Up

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left2 Comments

June ended up being a great reading month. I also visited my grandparents in Devon, which was nice to take a break and have some time to relax on the coast.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – So, this book has been everywhere and hyped so much that I was a little afraid to read it. But when I heard it had chronic illness rep, I just knew I had to. I’m so glad I did. This book has action, twists and turns, romance and dragons. Getting to see chronic illness rep in a book like this just meant so much to me.

Dead Man’s Folly by Agatha Christie ⭐⭐⭐ – While in Devon, we visited Agatha Christie’s holiday home, Greenway. The setting for Dead Man’s Folly was inspired by the home so it was great to visit and then read the book and be able to visualise it. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as other Agatha Christie books I’ve read.

City of Shattered Light by Claire Winn ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – It’s been a while since I read any sci-fi and I really enjoyed taking a break from my usual fantasy reads. The dark, neon cyberpunk world of this book is brought to life so vividly by Claire Winn’s writing. Plus, it’s fast paced with great protagonists and plenty of action.

As it was my birthday in June, I broke my sort of booking buying ban. I got a hardback copy of The Councillor which is one of my favourites, and Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou. I also went into Waterstones to buy Fourth Wing. It was so amazing to see it had its own table in the fantasy section, and I got a bit emotional seeing a book by a chronically ill author with a chronically ill character displayed like that.

I took some time away from writing while I was on holiday but managed to do some more when I got back, though not as much as I would have liked. Writing with chronic illness can be really hard sometimes.

What books have you enjoyed this month? Chat with me in the comments!

Top 10 Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2023

M.T.Wilson @ The Last Book on the Left10 Comments

This week’s Top 10 Tuesday is all about anticipated releases! Here are 10 of the books I’m most looking forward to which are releasing in the second half of this year.

Top 10 Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish, but has now moved to That Artsy Reader Girl. If you’re interested in taking part click here.

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon

Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs

House of Marionne by J. Elle

A Lady’s Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin

This Dark Descent by Kalyn Josephson

Nightbreaker by Coco Ma

The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin

All of these sound so good and I can’t wait to read them! What books are you anticipating this year?

Audiobook Review: A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

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A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab

Genre: Fantasy  

Publishing Info: Audiobook by QUEST from W. F. Howes Ltd, narrated by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer

Star Rating: 4.5/5

Back Cover Summary:

Kell is plagued by his guilt. Restless, and having given up smuggling, he is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila.

As Red London prepares for the Element Games – an extravagant international competition of magic – a certain pirate ship draws closer. But another London is coming back to life, a shadow that was gone in the night reappears in the morning.

Black London has risen again – and so to keep magic’s balance, another London must fall.

It’s been nearly two years since I read the first Shades of Magic book, and I’m not entirely sure why it took me so long to pick up the sequel, but I’m very glad I did. I didn’t write a review of A Darker Shade of Magic, so can’t remember how I felt about it at the time, but I have the feeling that A Gathering of Shadows has left a greater impression. This is quite unusual, as I often find sequels don’t quite hit the same note as the first in a series. I liked the first book, but I loved this one.

As soon as I stepped back into the world of Shades of Magic, with its multiple Londons and intriguing magic system, I remembered why I found the imaginative world building of A Darker Shade of Magic so captivating. This book felt magical, and I was happy to be swept up in it. As Lila learns to use magic, we also learn more about how the magic in this world works, and getting to see it used for combat in the element games was great fun. I love competition stories and though this one did feel a little random, I think it worked well as part of Lila, Kell and Rhy’s development.    

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May 2023 Wrap Up

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Despite having a bad cold at the start of May, things picked up in the latter half of the month and I managed to do more reading and writing. I only finished one book this month but I have also very nearly finished Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, which has amazing chronic illness rep (and dragons!).  

A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5 – I just love V. E. Schwab’s writing. She always manages to draw me into a story. The Shades of Magic world is so magical and imaginative. This is the sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic and I actually think I enjoyed it even more than the first. We get to delve deeper into the characters in this book. There’s also a magical competition which is very cool. I’m off on holiday soon so will post my full review when I am back!  

As I was ill, I didn’t get to write as much this month as I had hoped. I did manage to write in the second half of the month though and am now at 27k. I’m working on a chapter from the perspective of the antagonist which is always fun and interesting to write.

What books have you enjoyed this month? Chat with me in the comments!

Audiobook Review: Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

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Violet Made of Thorns by Gina Chen

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Publishing Info: Audiobook by Hodder & Stoughton, narrated by Jasmine Bayes  

Star Rating: 2/5

Back Cover Summary:

The first in a darkly enchanting fairytale-tinged fantasy duology about a morally grey witch, a cursed prince and a prophecy that ignites their fate-twisted destinies, perfect for fans of The Cruel Prince and Serpent & Dove.

There’s always a price for defying destiny.

Violet is a prophet and a liar, influencing the court as Seer with her cleverly phrased—and not always true—divinations. Honesty is for suckers, like the oh-so-not-charming Prince Cyrus, who plans to strip her of her title once he’s crowned.

After the king asks her to falsely prophesy Cyrus’s love story for an upcoming ball, Violet awakens a dreaded curse about the prince’s future bride. Her wits may protect her in the cutthroat court, but they can’t protect her against fate—nor the doomed attraction growing between her and the prince….

Violet Made of Thorns has a promising premise but the execution of the elements doesn’t gel in a satisfactory way. At the start, I felt slightly baffled, as what I was reading didn’t seem to fit with the book’s description. There was much more banter, humour and over-the-top situations than I would have expected to find in a dark fantasy.

The writing style is a conversationalist first person that would feel more at home in a contemporary novel. This isn’t necessarily an issue, and many readers may enjoy this style, but it didn’t work for me in this case. It can feel slightly jarring when high fantasy novels have a more modern style, but it could have really worked here with the fairy tale aspect of the book if it had been packaged differently. The large amount of inner monologue also makes the pacing of the book feel very slow for such a short novel.

While the opening parts of the book were almost cartoonish and slightly ridiculous at times, the story does get darker as the book progresses. That slow descent to a darker story could have worked really well, but I didn’t feel it. I wasn’t drawn in and didn’t feel that dawning horror as events progress ever more darkly. Something was just missing.

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