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The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin

The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin

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The Girl Who Kept the Castle by Ryan Graudin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the publisher, Quill Tree Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Girl Who Kept the Castle is the epitome of cozy fantasy, especially for middle grade to young adult readers. It feels like being dropped into a Studio Ghibli movie — in fact, one of the regions of the kingdom is called Ghibli. (And the capital city is Retnec, an anagram of center. Can you guess where on the map that city might reside?) There are lots of tiny nods to other classic fantasy stories, like the works of Tolkien and Diana Wynne Jones. But even outside of the fun little Easter eggs, this is a delightful book in its own right. (I stated above that it’s cozy fantasy, but it might be more fitting to call this cozy-adjacent. Because while the setting and storytelling feel very cozy, there are definite stakes to this tale.) …

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Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

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Cover art illustrated by Dave McKean

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Pages: 201 pages (Lyra’s Books Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 31,000 words

Published: 2nd July 2002 by Harper Collins

Coraline is the best book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read. And maybe, all this time, I might have picked the wrong Neil Gaiman books to read.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Oct 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Oct 2022

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Hello all, and welcome to my Spooky October monthly wrap-up where I had been reading books within the horror genre.   I did make a couple of changes to my reading list for the month, and was also not able to read as many titles as I wanted to as one of these changes resulted in chonker of a story which surprisingly turned out to be much better than I’ve anticipated.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Sept 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Sept 2022

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Hello all, and welcome back to my monthly wrap-up.  As real-life work pressures crank up for the final quarter of year, I found myself reading a bit slower for the month of September.   It’s also getting harder and harder for me to even come up with short reviews.  Thankfully, I was still able to write a bit more for the Book of the Months, as it felt right to do so.  And yes, it’s Books of the Month as there were two which both scored 5-stars and earned a spot amongst my favourite books.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Aug 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : Aug 2022

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Hi everyone!  The month of August had been incredible, and not only from the perspective of the great reads that I had as you will see from the ratings of the books below.

What made this month phenomenal for me was The Sandman TV adaptation on Netflix, which is now one of my all favourite adaptations of all-time.  It’s been almost a full month since its release on 5th August, and I’m still obsessed with the show ( and especially with Morpheus, Dream of the Endless, King of Dreams and Nightmares, etc etc).  I loved the audiobook which came out a couple of years ago, but I’ve to say TV show was better.   It was as faithful an adaptation as it could be to fit the medium, and I personally found that the changes that were made served the story better in current times.  I also couldn’t believe that I would ever say I found a better Morpheus than James McAvoy, but Tom Sturridge was simply sublime and beyond perfect for this role.  I’ve rewatched the entire show at least once, and Morpheus’ scenes countless times.

I could keep rambling on and on about The Sandman, and perhaps I might write a post about it later this year.  For now, let’s get back to my bookish monthly wrap-up shall we?

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : July 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : July 2022

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Hi everyone, can’t believe that I’m back for another monthly wrap-up so soon.  I’ve been getting back in the groove with some high/epic fantasy books in July, although I did feel a need to switch gears a bit after reading a pretty darn big one, which was none other than the massive sixth book in the Wheel of Time series.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

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Hello everyone!   I did wonder if I should keep up with my monthly wrap-up for June or do a half-year recap of best books read so far.   I decided with stick with the wrap-up in the end as I thought my Books of the Month will end up being on the half-year list anyway.

I can’t believe half of 2022 had passed by already.  Hope that all of you have been reading great books so far this year.    Before I start, can I just say that Stranger Things Season 4 was absolutely phenomenal!  I still can’t stop thinking about it, and that ending.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : May 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : May 2022

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Hello all!  Welcome back to my monthly wrap-up.

Amazingly, I found my Book of the Month for May right at the very beginning of the month, but that’s not to say that the books that came after that were not good.  Most of them were great reads (in fact, only one book disappointed me), and I’m happy to say that the series conclusion that I was looking forward to delivered very satisfactorily.   I did start to feel a slight burn-out from reading almost non-stop fantasy (albeit mostly Middle Grade) and ended the month with two crime/mystery thrillers.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : April 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : April 2022

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Hello all!  Welcome back to my monthly wrap-up.  I can’t believe that four months had already gone by this year.   One positive development so far in 2022 is that international borders are opening up and I’m looking forward to be able to travel again, one of my other favourite things to do besides reading.

April was another great month of reading, as we continued our Middle Grade series reads and started the epic reread of all the Mistborn books in preparation for the release of The Lost Metal in November this year.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : March 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : March 2022

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Hi everyone!  Wow, Middle Grade March was a very full month of reading for me.  Aside from the fact that that MG books tend to be easy and fast to read, most of the ones that we’ve chosen to buddy read for the month of March were very enjoyable as well.  In total, I’ve managed to complete 11 novels this month, which was quite a record.

I didn’t only read Middle Grade this month, as I was working towards finishing two adult series – The Winternight Trilogy and The Riyria Revelations, as well as continuing with some classic (horror) short stories from Edgar Allan Poe and Ray Bradbury.  I also couldn’t resist picking up a self-published stand-alone fantasy novel which everyone was raving about on social media, and I’m so glad that I’ve done so because it was definitely one of my Books of the Month.  Yups, I couldn’t pick between two novels for BotM.

So let’s get the show on the road shall we?

NB. Books are rated within its genre.

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