[Blog Tour + Giveaway] NICOLE'S REVIEW: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J.Maas

Title: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: May 5 2015

Publishing House:  Bloomsbury

ISBN: 1619634449

Source of Copy: Blog Tour

Summary:

When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a beast-like creature arrives to demand retribution for it. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she only knows from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not an animal, but Tamlin - one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled the world. 

As she dwells on his estate, her feelings for Tamlin transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie and warning she's been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But an ancient, wicked shadow grows over the faerie lands, and Feyre must find a way to stop it...or doom Tamling  and his world - forever.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

A Court of Thorns and Roses took me by surprise. Truth be had, you guys, I wasn't Maas' biggest fan but thanks to this book I'm now a convert. I cannot wait to get my hands on an actual copy of this seriously rocking book. Seriously. Seriously.

It's winter and Feyre's family is running low on food. Times are hard so she heads deep into the forest to go hunting. She comes upon a wolf and, because she's totally desperate, she shoots it down with her arrows not knowing that the wolf was faerie. Soon this beast-like fae comes knocking on her door demanding restitution and sweeps her away to his castle in the woods. Okay maybe there was more of the threatening and the roaring as there was the sweeping and there wasn't much knocking either. Feyre soon realizes that an ancient evil is enroaching on fae territory and might, if not stopped, creep into human lands soon.

Can I just say that Feyre is the luckiest girl? I mean she has all these beautiful men to look at. There's Tamlin and Rhys and Lucien and ohmygosh how is a girl to choose? But hot men is not all this book has to offer, it's got Feyre who is a kickass heroine in her own right. She's fearless and bold and cares deeply. She's probably got a better heart than I do despite her rough exterior. 

I loved the relationships in the book. Feyre and her sisters, Tamlin and Lucien, and even Rhys. Maas has such interesting characters I just want to find out more about them, peel them back layer by layer so I can understand them and fall deeper into love with them. And the romance? It does not fail to titillate (it seemed appropriate) and I just want to smoosh Tamlin and Feyre together all the time. 

I do have a bone to pick with Amarantha, the villain, she seemed to be so textbook villainess for me. Doesn't mean she wasn't scary and slightly disturbing but she just felt a little one dimensional for me. Impossible challenges? A riddle to solve? I even felt a little cheated when Fayre had a little help with the tasks. But you know, I enjoyed myself so much so I'm not gonna complain. Much. And another thing, this is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast, yes? So why wasn't Tamlin more...beast-like? Oh sure he has a mask stuck to half of his face and he can shift into some sort of lupine creature but come on, I thought he would be more physically monstrous. 

ACOTAR is a retelling of beauty and the beast, a wonderful, fearless, fierce retelling of the classic with amazing imagery and world building. I might still be a little cautious of Maas' Throne of Glass series but this one is definitely on my favorites list. Definitely recommend this for people who're fans of fantasy. And NA! This is definitely NA I could get into. 

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

How pretty is the cover for A Court of Thorns and Roses? I couldn't resist doing nails. 

Not sure if you guys can tell but that's a wolf. On the middle finger. I had to make my own sheer black polish to tint my index and ring fingers. 

I think this is pretty obvious. Haha. 

You can check out more of my nail art over on instagram. Just search theunicolenicorn.

CLICK THIS FOR THE GIVEAWAY LINK

                        

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #20: Winterspell by Claire Legrand

Title: Winterspell

Author: Claire Legrand

Format Acquired: Hardcover

Publication Date: September 30 2014

Publishing House:  Simon & Schuster

ISBN: 9781442465985

Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary: 

New York City, 1899, Clara Stole, the mayor's ever-perfect daughter, leads a double life. Since her mother's murder, she has secretly trained in self-defense with the mysterious Drosselmeyer.

Then, on Christmas Eve, disaster strikes.

Her home is destroyed, and her father is abducted - by beings distinctly not human. To find him, Clara journeys to the war-ravaged land of Cane. Her only companion is the dethroned prince Nicholas, bound by a wicked curse. If they're to surive Clara has no choice but to trust him, but his haunted eyes burn with secrets - and a need she can't define. With the dangerous, seductive fairy queen Anise hunting them, Clara soon realizes she won't leave Cane unscathed - if she leaves at all.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

I know this book got a lot of rather low ratings over on goodreads, and while normally that would dissuade me from buying a book I was feeling rather adventurous and thought why the hell not? Luckily I didn't hate the book and that little issue with the statue that a lot of people commented on? I found that I was oddly okay with it. It was a good looking statue.

It's not easy leading a double life. On one hand Clara is the mayor's daughter; prim, proper and perfect as can be on the other she's training to fight under the odd Drosselmeyer's tutelage. Little does she know that she's going to be putting all the skills she's learned to the test when strange creatures enter her home and abduct her father on Christmas eve forcing her to put her trust in Nicholas as they travel to the lands of Cane to save her father.

Clara starts of a little wimpy but it was great to see her grow as a character as the book progressed. I also liked how Legrand explored Clara's sexuality in the book because while it's obvious that she had a thing for Nicholas I'm also pretty sure she was into Anise which makes her bisexual. I haven't seen a lot of LGBT characters in fantasy so this was a surprise.

Okay, so about that statue issue. Clara might have had a thing going on for a good looking statue and maybe that might be uncomfortable for people because it is an inanimate object, I couldn't blame her. As I said, dude was hunky and turned out to be Nicholas. No big surprise there. His relationship with Clara was kind of rocky at first and he might be a little crazy but thank goodness he managed to fix himself and their relationship.

I also liked how deliciously dark the book actually was. There's a lot of misery and death and depravity and a whole bunch of sick and crazy people in it. Also drugs and a faery war. And the world building was quite detailed and highly imaginative. 

Truthfully, I'm not that familiar with the Nutcracker story so I don't know how true this stayed to the original and what aspects of it Legrand kept in this retelling. What I can say is that I liked the story and I'm glad that this book ended well and is a stand alone.

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Finally! Another Novel Nails feature. I did this set a few weeks back and you can find it on my Tumblr in case anyone is interested. I'll place the links down below.

The cover was way too pretty to pass so I thought I'd do a set inspired by it. 

Nail polish used:
OPI Haven't the Foggiest
OPI Miss You-niverse

The pretty book.

I made a gradient using the purple and silver on three nails.

Close up of the hand drawn art. A raven, thorns and the gate (I have no idea what it is) on the cover.

Added a few jewels too.

The thumb.

Hope you like this set and if you want to check out my Instagram click HERE. For my Tumble, HERE.

                         

MICHELLE'S REVIEW: Madly, Deeply by Erica Crouch

Title: Madly, Deeply

Author: Erica Crouch

Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: June 17, 2014

Publishing House: Patchwork Press

ISBN: 9781927940051

Source of Copy: Requested from publisher via NetGalley

Summary: 

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea...

Annaleigh Wells and William Calloway had a love even the angels envied. It was as if the universe spun them toward one another, like the stars crafted their souls to fit perfectly together.

With a wedding on the horizon, fate had a change of heart. Whispered warnings from phantoms and morbid nightmares darkened every night - but even visions of the future couldn't save Annaleigh.

(Image, summary, and information courtesy of GoodReads)

Review: 

When I saw Madly, Deeply on NetGalley, I didn't know what I was getting into. The cover was lovely, the blurb even more so, and my expectations were spiraling upwards faster than I can scream, "Stop, it could be a TRAP!!!" as lots of books with gorgeous covers and equally arresting blurbs are wont to do. But before I knew it, the green button touted the words PENDING, and my request was sent. Fast forward a few days, and a copy pops up on my dashboard. And because I want to prolong the delicious suspense that is just killing me, I finish off the other new books first. (Yep, selecting which book to read first - and last - is this dramatic for me.) When I finished those, I sprawled on my bed, just because I have had enough of draping myself in my mother's chaise lounge earlier, and read.

And read.

And read, and made pitiful moaning sounds read, and made more wounded, dying animal sounds read.

Until it was The End. 

Ladies and gents, Madly Deeply, is a short book, but it has also got to be the up there with the most gutting, let-me-splash-some-alcohol-on-your-wounds-and-sucker-punch-said-wounds book I've ever read.

My dear Ms Crouch, do you have poetry book-protein shakes for breakfast? Grilled poetry books for lunch? A light poetry book salad for dinner? No? ARE YOU SURE? Everything in this book is just pure poetry - the kind that is just obviously effortless, and sounds like it just comes naturally to the author. The narrative is lush, evocative, and all sorts of wonderful that it just is very fitting for the novel, which is a derivation of Poe's Annabel Lee.

I LOVED it because it has just the right amount of length to it - effectively without overstretching the story and overdramatizing the plot that some books are wont to do. It's short, but it's incredibly bittersweet because you have these two amazing characters who are so in love with each other and who are just about to start an amazing life together, only to have Fate intervene and crush everyone's dreams.

Madly, Deeply inevitably cuts readers where it hurts the most, but it will slowly soothe you, and at the end of the book, the reader will inevitably subconsciously touch the gash, only to find healed, yet puckered skin. 

I cannot recommend Madly, Deeply enough to Poe fans and bittersweet romance aficionados alike.

"'Tis better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all" indeed.

Rating: 

             

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #16: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

Title: Dorothy Must Die

Author: Danielle Paige

Format Acquired: Paperback

Publication Date: April 1 2014

Publishing House: HarperCollins

ISBN: 0062280678

Source of Copy: Purchased from National Bookstore

Summary: 

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.

But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know?

Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. But I never expected Oz to look like this. A place where Good Witches can't be trusted and Wicked Witches may just be the good guys. A place where even the yellow brick road is crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.

My name is Amy Gumm -  and I'm the other girl from Kansas.

I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked and I've been given a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman's heart. Steal the Scarecrow's brain. Take the Lion's courage.

        (Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review: 

I could not resist buying this book. A retelling of The Wizard of Oz that puts a totally new spin on the characters? Yeah, dude. Count me in. 

Amy's spent her whole life stuck in a trailer with her alcoholic mom, stuck in a school where she gets teased all the time and where everyone is against her. She just wants to leave it all behind her. Little does she know that her yearnings would all by answered in the form of a tornado that sweeps through town, lifts her trailer up and dumps her in the middle of nowhere where she's faced with an odd, crumbling yellow brick road. 

I love how Paige took the original story and warped it into something wicked. Dorothy who's now the power hungry monarch ruling Oz in her tiny cleavage-bearing dresses and high heels? A little disturbing. The Tin Man's got a crush on Dorothy and acts as her bodyguard, the Lion's been turned into a gruesome beast who sucks the soul out of hapless munchkins and the like. And the Scarecrow? He performs despicable experiments on flying monkeys and turns people into walking weapons. Literally. 

Amy, the heroine, is incredibly real. She doesn't want to be the hero, doesn't want to be the one to kill Dorothy. But what choice does she have when the witches who saved her from Dorothy's clutches claim she's the only one who can? Her emotions are all over the place but really, mine would be too if I were in her place. She can be nasty sometimes, and kind of whiny and maybe a little stupid but that's what endeared her to me. She's genuine.

Going up against Dorothy and her magical red heels and clothes in that awful blue and white checker pattern? No thank you. Imagine that pattern on leather and try not to cringe and shudder in despair. (Has turning evil somehow screwed with Dorothy's fashion sense?) She's forced to train with the witches and earn her magic but she also has to deal with Nox; infuriating, handsome, standoffish Nox who teaches her combat skills and takes her to mountain tops to look at the stars. Nox who looks at her like he sees her and tells her he likes her hair. I couldn't exactly get a read on him and I'm pretty sure there's more to Nox than his combat skills and dedication to the cause.

Dorothy Must Die is an incredibly imaginative retelling of the original Oz but you don't have to be familiar with the original story to follow this. It's dark and dreary and gory but wholly entertaining. Oh and did I mention that this is Danielle Paige's debut book? So rad. If you're a fan of Oz, of retellings, or maybe just on the lookout for your next read why not pick this book up? 

Rating: 

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

It's nail art time! This week's feature is Dorothy Must Die. I loved this book, you guys should totes read it.

Anyway, this is an easy bookish manicure too. I initially wanted to do the blue and white gingham check pattern but it didn't suit the feel of the set I had in mind. I tossed that idea. Blue and white gingham will never be the same after this book. Imagine a gown in that pattern. I might cry.

Here's the nail polish I used:
MAC Flaming Rose
Orly Liquid Vinyl

Nails Inc. Covent Garden Market

Freehand designs done in acrylic.

I just love this set. Look how sassy my nails are. 

Matchy matchy with the book. You can see how adding the gingham pattern would have thrown this mani for a loop.

I'm assuming that that's the symbol for the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I copied it onto my nail. 

Isn't that red just gorgeous? Reminds me of Dorothy's ruby heels.

Hope you liked this mani and if you're interested feel free to check out my instagram HERE for more bookish manicures or my tumblr HERE. Feel free to message me and let's talk nail polish and books.

                       

MICHELLE'S REVIEW: The Stepsister's Tale by Tracy Barrett

Title: The Stepsister's Tale
Author: Tracy Barrett
Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: June 24, 2014

Publishing House: Harlequin Teen

ISBN: 9780373211210
Source of Copy: Netgalley

Summary:

Jane Montjoy is tired of being a lady. She's tired of pretending to live up to the standards of her mother's noble family - especially now that the family's wealth is gone and their stately mansion has fallen to ruin. It's hard enough that she must tend to the animals and find a way to feed her mother and her little sister each day. Jane's burden only gets worse after her mother returns from a trip to town with a new stepfather and stepsister in tow. Despite the family's struggle to prepare for the long winter ahead, Jane's stepfather remains determined to give his beautiful but spoiled child her every desire.

When her stepfather suddenly dies, leaving nothing but debts and a bereaved daughter behind, it seems to Jane that her family is destined for eternal unhappiness. But a mysterious boy from the woods and an invitation to the royal ball are certain to change her fate...

(Image, summary and information courtesy of Goodreads)

Review:

While her mother may still have her delusions of grandeur, Jane Montjoy knows that her crumbling estate is now reduced to a has-been. Jane and her sister Maud milk the cow, mend and repair their own now too-tight dresses, and clean the place up to the best of their abilities while their mother pretends that servants are still doing the work for them. But Jane's mother remarries and not too soon, her new husband dies, leaving debt and his own daughter to the care of the Montjoys. 

Jane Montjoy and her sister Maude are used to a life of scrubbing floors, and making do with what meager things they have. I like both sisters because while others might moan and complain about having to have a difficult childhood amidst a once-glorious setting, they both take it all in stride and try to survive a day at a time. Their mother, however, is unaccustomed to the hard life, having been born to affluent parents and a place in society. While I surmised that the mother is embarrassed of having to stoop down from her pedestal to do anything around the house, I really felt bad for the sisters for having a mother who instead of contributing anything to their survival, only thought that they might have a better life if she remarried.

And thus, we meet Ella - and she is not the angel we all pictured in our heads when we were five years old. This Ella is selfish and a total brat, but I'm guessing that this is stemming from the fact that she is uprooted and suddenly has to call a bunch of strangers her family. Ella, who knows nothing but to make herself look pretty and presentable to society, has to share an apple with other members of the family, because as it turns out, her father is good at keeping up airs. I won't go into the details anymore, as this is a retelling of Cinderella, but I did like how Barrett handled a slew of characters who had minds and personalities of their own. It's quite uncanny how very humanlike they are, as they exhibit flaws and traits that both endear and irk the reader - a huge factor, I think, why this retelling worked out so well. 

Forget Grimm's version of Cinderella. Forget Disney's version as well. Barrett's version is much, much better, and it satisfactorily fills in the holes that any skeptical audience of the other versions poked at.

Rating:

          

MICHELLE'S REVIEW: Queen of Hearts by Colleen Oakes

Title: Queen of Hearts
Author: Colleen Oakes
Format Acquired: eARC

Publication Date: February 14, 2014

Publishing House: SparkPress

ISBN: 9781940716039
Source of Copy: Requested from publisher via NetGalley

Summary:

As Princess of Wonderland Palace and the future Queen of Hearts, Dinah's days are an endless monotony of tea, tarts, and a stream of vicious humiliations at the hands of her father, the King of Hearts. The only highlight of her days is visiting Wardley, her childhood best friend, the future Knave of Hearts - and the love of her life.

When an enchanting stranger arrives as the Palace, Dinah watches as everything she's ever wanted threatens to crumble. As her coronation date approaches, a series of suspicious and bloody events suggests that something sinister stirs in the whimsical halls of Wonderland. It's up to Dinah to unravel the mysteries that lurk both inside and under the Palace before she loses her own head to a clever and faceless foe.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary courtesy of NetGalley)

Review:

Before she was known as the wicked, devious Queen of Hearts who wanted the world's love, she was just a girl. She only dreams of having Wardley as her husband, and of the day her father finally treats her with love and adoration. But as the countdown begins for Dinah's coronation as the Queen of Hearts, when her father will have no choice but to accept her as the rightful queen of Wonderland, an illegitimate sibling shows up and garners the love and attention from her father and the whole of Wonderland, and a series of unfortunate events seem to have it in for the royal family, and now it looks like the next blood to be spilled is hers.

What I love about this retelling of the Queen of Hearts is that it gives her a character that we cannot derive simply from either the Carroll books, or the Disney movie. Oakes writes Dinah in a way that one can't help but want to comfort her when she is feeling down, especially since her own father seems to disdain her. Dinah's brother Charles, who is also known as the brilliant, but dangerously erratic Mad Hatter, is the only one of her family she can turn to for comfort, even when it's hard to watch him when he's having one of his days. Charles is one of the most fascinating characters, and it did sadden me that he was misunderstood, simply because the people did not even bother to understand him. Her illegitimate sibling, Vittoire, is the newest addition to their "family". While Vittoire is only trying to fit in and get along with Dinah, even I couldn't help but dislike her because she almost always ended up showing Dinah up, albeit purely unintentionally. And I do want Dinah to be loved and cherished, because it's something that she's lived without for almost all her life, save for the very kindly Harris, her butler.

Oakes' Queen of Hearts is lovely, lovely, lovely, because it has an interesting and varied slew of characters, and she makes them come alive with their own personalities. I did wonder why it took quite a bit of time to get to the story itself, so impatient readers might not do so well with this one - that is if you aren't almost immediately sucked in to the story, of course! I did shave off half a rainbow, if only because the ending seriously tripped me up. It honestly like the music stopped in the middle of some pretty seriously awesome dancing, and I felt so bad I just had to take off points for that.

Colleen Oakes' Queen of Hearts is highly recommended to anyone and everyone - Alice and Wonderland fan or no. Now all that's left for me is to twiddle my thumbs until the next book is announced and released.

Rating:

       

NICOLE'S REVIEW + Novel Nails #10: Of Beast and Beauty by Stacey Jay

Title: Of Beast and Beauty
Author: Stacey Jay
Format Acquired: Hardcover

Publication Date: July 23 2013

Publishing House: Delacorte Press

ISBN: 9780385743204
Source of Copy: Purchased from Fully Booked

Summary:

In the beginning was the darkness, and in the darkness was a girl, and in the girl was a secret...

In the domed city of Yuan, the blind Princess Isra, a Smooth Skin, is raised to be a human sacrifice whose death will ensure her city's vitality. In the desert outside Yuan, Gem, a mutant beast, fights to save his people, the Monstrous, from starvation. Neither dreams that together, they could return balance to both their worlds.

Isra wants to help the city's Banished people. second-class citizens despised for possessing Monstrous traits. But after she enlists the aid of her prisoner, Gem, who has been captured while trying to steal Yuan's enchanted roses, she begins to care for him, and to question everything she has been brought up to believe.

As secrets are revealed and Isra's sight, which vanished during her childhood, returned, Isra will have to choose between duty to her people and the beast she has come to love.

(Image and information courtesy of Goodreads; Summary lifted from actual book)

Review:

Of Beast and Beauty is one of those fairytale retellings that I actually like, next to Unhinged by A.G. Howard. 

Isra is a princess locked in a tower, blinded at birth by a fire and sees herself a freak, a monster; counting down the days till she becomes a willing sacrifice for the roses - can I just say that I totally love what Jay did with the roses? so cool - that provide her city with a dome of protection from the harsh outside world.

Gem is a beast, a Monstrous, with scales and claws supposedly tipped with poison. He needs the roses that Isra's people depend on and sneaks into the city in the dead of the night because his people are dying and desperately need the magic the roses give. But he gets caught and is forced to interact with Isra, a smooth skin, and the more they interact the more their view on each others change making them wonder if the things they were brought up to believe were true.

Stacey Jay's writing is beautiful, it's really lyrical but it didn't come off as pretentious and holier-than-thou. Her characters were wonderful and when they were sad, so was I. Happy? Frustrated? Angry? I was as well. In short, her characters were wonderfully crafted and I loved each and every one of them. 

Of Beauty and Beast starts off a little slow but it picks up along the way and I couldn't help but wish Gem and Isra would just get on with the kissing. It's mainly romance but somehow it just still enough for me. I wanted more, more, more, more. Because Gem and Isra are the bomb and they deserve a happily ever after. 

Since Isra is a princess in a trapped tower doesn't she resemble Rapunzel more? Kept in the dark and all that.

But anyway, Of Beast and Beauty is one retelling you don't want to miss. Action, evil roses with a taste for blood and a love that could change the world? YES PLEASE. Go read it now.

Rating:

"Novel Nails" is a feature of the blog that showcases nail art inspired by books and their covers. Nail art will be created by either Michelle or Nicole and will be featured alongside their reviews.

Guys, I am so glad to be able to paint my nails again. After slaving over my thesis and everything, this feels so great. So anyway, I have a new nail shape, they're now like tiny claws and I love them.

Nails are obviously inspired by of Beast and Beauty and I hope you guys like them!

As for the colors, here's the list of nail polish I used.

Blue: OPI Incognito in Sausalito

Cream: Zoya Jacqueline

Red: China Glaze Salsa

It's not really obvious but the gradient I made doesn't have an opaque base coat. I just layered them over Zoya Anchor.

I tried to copy the city on my nails, hence the silhouette of buildings.

Shaped them into claws because Gem has claws.

Sorry, I kind of rushed on the clean-up since I was a little busy that day. I made these using red acrylic under China Glaze Salsa to make it seem like fire or orange scales which you guys will get if you've read the book. Hint hint. This pattern is on my thumb and pinkie plus my right hand.

You like? I hope you do.