Hi guys! It has been a while but I am back to review the novel “The School For Good And Evil: A World Without Princes” by Soman Chainani. It is book #2 in the “The School For Good And Evil” series. It is about Sophie and Agatha who return to Gavaldon after their adventure in the School For Good And Evil only for Agatha to wish for Tedros and they are whisked to The School For Good And Evil again, only this time it’s very different as it is now rebranded as The School For Girls 👩🦰 and Boys. 👦🏻
Warning: SPOILERS UP AHEAD! (IF YOU’VE READ IT, GREAT! BUT IF NOT THEN DON’T SCROLL UP OR IF YOU JUST WANT TO SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF THEN GO AHEAD)
⚠️TRIGGER WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF BLOOD ETC, ⚠️
My book review:
Book itself:
The title gives you an idea of what’s happening in The Woods 🌲 and how it’s changed since Sophie and Agatha left it.
Characters:
I really hate it when one character is content with current day-to-day life and the other is wishing for something more.
It’s kinda funny that Agatha is berating herself for wishing for Tedros when in the last book, she didn’t care for princes 🫅, especially Tedros himself.
It is nice that Sophie is now loyal to Agatha for a change.
Plot:
Now we have Agatha trying to figure out if Sophie’s still a witch, 🧙 which isn’t good at all.
A lot happens. That’s it.
Moments:
I felt really bad that Sophie had this secret loneliness as her father was with his sons and his new wife and getting ready for the wedding. But it was nice to see her vulnerable this time around and hear what happened to her mother when she was still around.
Overall this was another good book!
Comment down below which part of the book was your favourite!
Also, comment below any parts, characters and plotlines I missed!
Hi guys! It has been a while but I am back to review the novel “One Of Us Is Lying” by Karen M. McManus. It is book #1 in the “One Of Us Is Lying” series. It is about 5 students who get into detention but only 4 come out alive. It also shows the events that ensue from it.
Warning: SPOILERS UP AHEAD! (IF YOU’VE READ IT, GREAT! BUT IF NOT THEN DON’T SCROLL UP OR IF YOU JUST WANT TO SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF THEN GO AHEAD)
⚠️TRIGGER WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF THEMES RELATING TO SUICIDE, DEPRESSION, ETC ⚠️
My book review:
Book itself:
The title does give you a sense of suspense as to who could have possibly caused the death of the deceased student…
I liked the bold red heading of the title as it draws your attention towards the book and I like the little subheadings beneath each bolded heading. It’s short and snappy.
I also liked the 4 illustrations of the characters shown in the book. Simple but effective.
Characters:
I liked reading each character’s point of view (POV) as it fleshes them out more and gives you an idea of their hidden thoughts.
The back of the book gives you a very simplistic idea of who each person is but the book gives you more insight into how the characters are shaped that way and how it develops further when reading the book.
First up is Bronwyn, a nerd 🤓 who plays by the rules but as we get closer to the climax at the beginning of the book, we see that she’s not as innocent as she seems and has secrets of her own. One of them was that she cheated on her chemistry 🧪 tests by looking for other tests that the teacher 👩🏫 had.
Next up is Adelaide ‘Addy’ Prentiss. She’s one of Bayview High’s cheerleaders 📣 and a renowned prom queen 👑. Like Bronwyn, she has a secret of her own: she slept with her boyfriend Jake’s best friend TJ and never told him for a long time, (which was during the summer, I think).
Cooper Clay is a baseball ⚾ player and a great one. Initially his “secret” was that he used steroids to enhance his sports performance. However, this wasn’t true. His real secret is that he is gay and in a secret relationship with a German 🇩🇪 underwear 🩲 model named Kris. The first secret was untrue because Jake, who was an accomplice to Simon, didn’t want to say that he had a gay friend.
We then meet Nate Macaulay. A loner and an ex-drug dealer. His secret was that he got charged or arrested for dealing drugs and was put on probation. (I might be wrong on this though).
We meet Bronwyn’s sister Maeve who I liked. She was a cool hacker 💻 and helped Bronwyn a lot during the whole murder situation.
I love Cooper’s grandma 👵🏿 Nonny. She noticed that he wasn’t interested in having a relationship with Keeley and encouraged him to pursue the one that he loves ♥️. I also liked that when he came out to his family, his grandma still supported him.
Addy’s mom was complicated, to say the least. She insisted that Addy dress 👗 and be a certain way so that Jake would still be interested in having a relationship with her.
It was heartbreaking 💔 reading about Nate’s situation with his dad and mum. I’m glad he has Stan 🦎.
I did feel bad for Janae. She didn’t deserve the huge spotlight from the press on Simon’s murder/suicide. It was too much for her and she really did like him.
Simon was a really complicated person, being on disturbing chat forums and all. But honestly, if people took the time to really understand him like Janae did and help him with his mental health, he wouldn’t have to resort to suicide in the 1st place.
Plot:
The beginning is interesting. Bronwyn starts by giving us an insight into the atmosphere in the high school 🏫 and the presence of Simon’s gossip blog 🧑💻 About That. Everyone is terrified about what Simon could post about them, yet they are still glued to his blog, waiting for what he is going to post next.
It was amusing reading Simon’s little speech on how they are all stereotypical high school archetypes: Bronwyn the Brains 🧠, Cooper the Jock ⚾, Addy the Princess/Beauty 👑, and Nate the Rebel 😒. Aka the characters from “The Breakfast Club”
It was true though. They were all in labelled boxes 🏷️📦.
However, it was interesting that Simon regarded himself as the ‘Omnipresent Narrator’ watching 👀 all of them.
It’s fascinating seeing all of them breaking out of their shells 🐚 throughout the book:
Bronwyn slowly begins a relationship with Nate and starts their late-night calls 🌃📱 and movie 🎬 nights.
Cooper becomes more comfortable with himself and his sexuality e.g. going out with Kris in public and being affectionate with him
Nate starts hanging out with them as they band together to try and find out who the murderer is.
Addy changes her appearance and becomes true to herself, not caring what Jake or anyone else says and putting herself first.
The fact that no one was the murderer and Simon died by killing himself was really sad. He was depressed because he was ostracised by people at his high school and he got revenge by posting his gossip and planning an elaborate death to try and pin it on his classmates.
I liked at the end that Addy and Ashton live together in Ashton’s apartment 🏘️ in San Diego and Addy is free from her mother and able to live her life her way.
I felt bad for Nate when he was falsely charged with the murder of Simon and Bronwyn spent all her time ⏳and energy 🔋🪫 trying to get Nate acquitted.
Moments:
I liked that Addy, throughout the book, became fiercer, assertive and became her own person, and shredded her label 🏷️ of just being ‘Jake’s girlfriend’ who didn’t have her own opinion 💭.
I also liked that Addy and her sister Ashton became closer during the book.
It was cute and funny that Nate had a pet lizard 🦎 named Stan.
I didn’t like Jake at the beginning because he was controlling what Addy wore and controlled different aspects of their relationship but I hated Jake more when we discovered that he was in on Simon’s plans and he was about to kill Addy before Cooper knocked 😵 him out fortunately.
It was kinda cute when Ashton started flirting with Eli and they ended up dating each other 👩❤️👨.
It was also cute when all of them started hanging out with Kris, Maeve and Ashton being involved as well.
When Cooper was in the cafeteria and being taunted by people in the cafeteria, Nate stood up for him and it was really sweet when all 4 started to sit together and dubbed themselves “The Murder Club”
It was shocking when Nate’s mom came back all of a sudden and read them rebuilding their relationship again albeit it was rocky at first.
Overall this was an intriguing book and I’m really excited to read the rest!
Comment down below which part of the book was your favourite!
Also, comment below any parts, characters and plotlines I missed!
Hi guys! I am back after quite a while to review the 4th and final installment of The Magic Misfits series- “The Magic Misfits 4 The Fourth Suit” written by Neil Patrick Harris.
In this thrilling finale, we get 2 plots- another glimpse of another misfit named Ridley Larsen and the other is the appearance of Kalagan, a villain they come face to face with finally.
Whole Summary:
1st plot- Kalagan’s Appearance In Mineral Wells (finally!)
The misfits encounter trouble from Kalagan in the form of mesmerised attacks, specifically from the townspeople and who has been moving in the shadows in Mineral Wells.
2nd plot- A glimpse into Ridley Larsen’s life
In this book, we get to see a sneak peek into what Ridley Larsen’s life is like from her personality to her parents.
WARNING: SPOILERS UP AHEAD! (IF YOU’VE READ IT, GREAT! BUT IF NOT THEN DON’T SCROLL UP OR IF YOU JUST WANT TO SPOIL IT FOR YOURSELF THEN GO AHEAD)
WARNING: I AM GOING TO SAY LOVE A LOT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED 🙂
My book review:
1st plot–
I love that we now get to see more of Kalagan’s appearance and his motivations in his attacks.
I was intrigued by his method of attack- using people’s darkest secrets to manipulate them in order to attack the misfits or specifically coerce them into joining him.
It was interesting that each misfit got attacked in a way that was different and that it corresponds with their lives.
I love the dads. That’s it. I just love their relationship. It’s healthy and wholesome and they support each other. And the way they hold each other. It is beautiful. 🥰🥺
Oh. My. God. The plot twists in this one. It’s surprising how I didn’t figure this out.
Like Kalagan is actually Carter’s Uncle Sly?? That is just. Wow.
I was as surprised as Carter and the misfits. 😱😱
I was kinda surprised that the uncle followed Carter to Mineral Wells. And he looked different than I expected.
A nice and neat ending to Kalagan’s reign of terror.
2nd plot–
It’s amusing how Ridley shows her teacher Ms. Parkly a magic trick and she’s amazed like a little kid.
I was surprised when I found out that Ms. Parkly was a secret guardian of Ridley and that each of the Misfit’s guardians was someone they knew as a friend.
It was interesting to know about Mrs. Larsen’s profession
I love how the book includes all forms of schooling such as traditional and non-traditional like Carter and Ridley go to a public school, Theo goes to a private school, Olly and Izzy go to school at the Grand Oak and Ridley does homeschooling.
It was terrible when that librarian who was supposedly “mesmerised” ruined her invention which took her a long time to build.
I admire Ridley’s knack for invention building and I wish I could stand up for myself the way Ridley does for herself when talking to the misfits.
I did get suspicious at Ms. Parkly like how Ridley did because she knew nothing much about her except that she was her new teacher.
I loved that the Misfits had a private welcome back/congrats show for Ridley’s invention fair.
It’s intriguing how Ridley manages to stay calm when talking or arguing with the misfits. She’s trying to see their perspectives. I get it.
It’s cool how she has a lab of her own to do her inventions in and it’s kinda like her own personal space.
I love that she customised her wheelchair to include gadgets to defend herself, etc.
I really love that the story includes people who are disabled but still be able to have a story of their own that doesn’t always revolve around their disability.
It’s interesting how every time one of the misfits suggests they go to the adults, Ridley’s like nah we shouldn’t
I also love how Ridley’s personal arc in the story is something you can relate to as a kid.
It was really sweet and personal the way the story wrapped up Ridley and her mum’s understanding of each other.
I love their mother-daughter relationship at the end and that they bonded a lot over the course of the story. ❤️
Overall this was a great book and it created a fantastic ending for the Magic Misfits. It had a nice family aspect to it as well as the main plot.
Comment down below which part of the book was your favourite!
Hey guys! Back again, today I am going to give you a book review of the next part of The Magic Misfits series- The Magic Misfits 2 The Second Story. In this one, we get Leila’s backstory before The Magic Misfits happened and it introduces another Emerald Ring member, Madame Esmeralda, or aka Sandra Santos.
WHOLE SUMMARY:
1st Plot-Madame Esmeralda
The Magic Misfits get a mysterious visit from a Madame Esmeralda, also known as Sandra Santos who is a stage psychic. They learn that Sandra was one of Dante’s friends and that she was a member of the Emerald Ring which was Leila’s dad Dante Vernon’s childhood magical club along with Lyle Locke (Carter’s dad), Bobby Boscowitz (B.B Bosso) and other members.
She claims to be a clairvoyant, which The Magic Misfits are intrigued by, but Ridley isn’t as fascinated as them as she repeatedly tries to prove that she isn’t a real psychic but a fraud. She claims to be in Mineral Wells for a show in the hotel and The Magic Misfits want to watch her but they also want to investigate an incident in the hotel that they overhear from Mr. Vernon.
They discover a few memories of the Emerald Ring such as etchings of initials and the incident that was caused by one of the members, Kalagan. By discovering this, they now realise that Kalagan, is getting dangerous and may be coming after them soon.
^I like these kinds of plot tropes where there is a group of people with a special trait and there is one person who gets a bit extreme about it and is then cast off from the group and the whole group goes off in their separate directions before an event in the future puts the extreme person back into the group.
2nd plot- Leila’s past
Another plot that occurs in this book is Leila trying to remember her past before she was in Mother Margaret’s Home for Children. A flashback back to her life in the home starts at the beginning of the book. Her name wasn’t always Leila Vernon and she didn’t always live in Mineral Wells. In fact, she was first named Leila Doe because nobody knew who her family was before Dante Vernon and The Other Mr. Vernon adopted her.
My book review for this is that this second part was really good at explaining Leila’s past before she became a Magic Misfit and telling more background on the members of the Emerald Ring especially the introduction of Madame Esmeralda. I love that they gave a description of Madame Esmeralda which gave the viewers a sense of who she was as a person and her mysterious personality. I also love her magic skill which is claimed to be clairvoyance, as it adds to her mystical personality.
Some parts of the book that I elaborated on –
I was, however, sad that she was apart of B.B Bosso’s gang but she did seem guilty about it afterward which is relieving because she knew what she did was wrong and didn’t want to do it at times, for example at her show itself when they wanted her to say something she didn’t want to, she had to ask for several audience members to come up on stage, which was the frown clowns themselves and, she uses her magical skill to present the spirits of the audience members’ families which was all fake at the end.
^When Sandra ‘claimed’ that Leila’s parents were here looking for her, at first I was shocked that they came to Mineral Wells to look for Leila but I was kinda suspicious because after all this time they suddenly want to look for her, but I went along with it and then when we got introduced to the parents, I was glad that Leila wasn’t as gullible to believe that her parents had come to see her, after all this time, and she was still close to her current family, The Vernons.
She knew that the only way to check if the people were her real birth parents, she would ask them if they know anything about the key that she wore as a necklace around her neck. Unfortunately, when the birth parents want Leila, Carter and The Vernons to come to a meeting with 2 lawyers to finalise decisions about getting her back, it’s revealed that the birth parents don’t know anything about Leila’s key necklace and suspiciously Carter recognises the song that 1 of the lawyers was humming to be the song that the frown clowns used to sing in the first book.
^I was shocked by this but not too shocked as I kinda thought that the frown clowns from the first book would come back for them but this was a good twist in the book.
He discusses his suspicions with Leila who agrees with him through morse code and their suspicions are confirmed when The Vernons disagree with Leila going back to her birth family and want to leave the meeting. They are stopped by the lawyers and birth parents who are all revealed to be the frown clowns. I wasn’t surprised but it was cruel to make Leila think that her birth parents would come to see her. When they lock Leila, Carter and The Vernons up in a basement cellar room, they see a similar door that they found back at the hotel with the other Misfits but still couldn’t figure how to open it, Dante gives them a hint and they finally open the door to a tunnel.
^I loved this part of the book as it surprised me but not too much. It was captivating when we got an insight into Leila’s mind about her struggle between choosing to get back with her birth parents or her current parents now.
That’s it for the second book.
Comment down below who do you want to see more of and/or who do you want to see from the Emerald Ring that hasn’t appeared yet?
Also, comment on what were your favourite parts of the book?
Hi guys, back again! Today I’m going to tell you about a book series called The Magic Misfits by Neil Patrick Harris, who you probably know from movies and tv shows. The recap of the 1st book is that this boy named Carter who’s a street magician who lives with his greedy and mean uncle, Uncle Sly who cons people with his tricks but then Carter runs away and discovers a circus where he meets a great magician named Mr. Dante Vernon but also discovers that an evil ringleader named B.B Bosso is planning to steal anything and everything that he and his crew can get their hands on. Carter then takes a trip to a town called Mineral Wells and meets 5 kids who are like him and through teamwork, friendship and magic they work together to stop B.B Bosso for good. In the end, they defeat him, they stay good friends and Carter realises that he and another misfit named Leila are cousins and her new father is Dante Vernon himself and her other poppa, another Mr. Vernon.
My review for this is that it’s a really entertaining book, there are puzzles that you can solve and magic tricks that you can try out right in this book alongside reading. It teaches you valuable lessons that are implied in the story such as friendship but also taught by Mr. Vernon and the other Mr. Vernon themselves.
The pictures are amazing and they show the story well. The plot to me is the perfect way to introduce the characters one by one and when they’re interacting with each other.
As for the characters, I think it’s interesting that each character has a unique personality and a magic persona that resonates with their personality for example- Theo Stein-Meyer is an impeccably dressed person and his magical skill is using his violin to levitate objects and using his pet doves in magic shows. His skill reflects his personality as a neatly dressed and intellectual person in the group because, in my opinion, the violin is a classical instrument and is considered a fancy instrument and he is usually seen in his fancy tuxedo.
I like how at the end of the first book they create their own hideout in Mr. Vernon’s magic shop by locating it in a hidden bookcase and Carter and Leila themselves have rooms of their own besides Mr. Vernon and the other Mr. Vernon.
The parrot Presto is a hilarious character in the book and throughout the series. The fact that he is a talking parrot and he shouts out peculiar outbursts or phrases makes the story have a sense of goofiness and fun.
The magic shop itself is a wonderful aspect of the story and is considered home by all the Misfits. The atmosphere is magical like the shop itself. When you see it by reading it through the misfit’s eyes you can tell that there a lot of fun tricks and toys lying around and you can feel how the misfits’ get a sense of warmth every time they walk into the shop and this contributes perfectly to the story.
This is my recap for the first book.
Comment which character is your favourite!! Mine’s Leila- I love her style and her magic skills.
Also, comment on what was your favourite parts of the book?
Hi guys! Today I’m going to talk about a recently released book and movie called Five Feet Apart aka FFA and its amazing! The basic synopsis (on the internet) is about this seventeen-year-old named Stella who spends most of her time in the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of strict routines, boundaries and self-control – all of which get put to the test when she meets Will, an impossibly charming teen who has the same illness. There’s an instant flirtation, though restrictions dictate that they must maintain a safe distance between them. As their connection intensifies, so does the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction.
This is the book version- “Stella Grant likes to be in control – even though her totally out of control lungs have sent her in and out of the hospital most of her life. What Stella needs to control most is her distance from anyone or anything thatmight pass along an infection and jeopardise the possibility of a lung transplant. Six feet apart. No exceptions.
The only thing Will Newmanwants to be in control of is getting out of this hospital. In one week he’ll turn eighteen, and then he’ll be able to unplug himself from all these machines and actually go see the world.
Wills exactlywhat Stella needs to stay away from. But now six feet doesn’t feel like safety. It feels like punishment. What if they could steal back just a little bit of the space their broken lungs have stolen from them? Would five feet apart really be so dangerous if it stops their hearts from breaking too?
I found the paperback copy of this book, but if you find the hardback, good for you but if you prefer the paperback then that’s fine too.
The design for the book cover is amazing. It’s got a plain black background and an illustration of lungs decorated with different kinds of flowers and leaves. In the middle of the lungs there are two people- a girl and a boy and they are apart from each other and the title “Five Feet Apart” is between them suggesting the barrier that separates them. It is written by Rachael Lippincott with Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis.
I believe this is based on a true story.
My review for this book is that it’s light and funny, it doesn’t romanticise the illness it actually informs you what the illness is, the conditions of it and many other stuff. The characters are fun to read and have their own personalities which are kinda opposite from each other. Also from the book each characters personality rubs off on the other person and it’s interesting.
My review for the movie is that it’s amazing. The girl Stella played by Haley Lu Richardson plays the character perfectly. A phenomenal actress! The boy played by Cole Sprouse also plays the character perfectly. A phenomenal actor! The other characters played the other actors and actresses are amazing also. The soundtrack for the movie is so good. I listen to it on my Spotify playlist and added the whole track from the movie. Although I wish we could see the whole movie with the deleted scenes and ending. It’s just amazing.
Okay that’s all I’m gonna say for this book and movie review because I don’t wanna spoil too much if you haven’t read or watched it yet. Thx guys for reading!
See you guys on my next post!
Comment down below which scenes from the book or movie you liked the most!
Also comment down how much you love it and if you have read or seen it yet.
Thebookaholic 