Friday Reads: The Case of The Blue Violet by Robin Stevens!!

Hello there guys!

Today I have only a lil novella up for review because I couldn't get myself to write a review for I'll Give You The Sun that I finished at 3 am... hopefully I'll have it up tomorrow!

But I found out about this delightful novella on my favourite Middle Grade series, The Wells& Wong Mystery Series, and I read it and loved it, so it is my Friday Reads!


The Case of the Blue Violet: A Murder Most Unladylike Mini Mystery by Robin  Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Another delightful story from Robin Stevens and the Deepdean girls! Of course I wish it would have been longer, but I wouldn't mind having a lil story like this one once a month in the wait in between the full length books!

This one was written by Daisy instead of Hazel as usual, and our Daisy might be frightfully clever, but she doesn't have the same eye for describing setting or characters as Hazel does! ;) It was a rather cute and short case and I cannot believe after all the whodunit books I've read, I'm still so little observant! I guessed the case quite later than the Detectives, as soon as a certain telegram was received, but still... too late! *shakes head*

Very excited also about the small sampler for the next Wells & Wong Agency case! Next month! Soon, but not soon enough!



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Tell Me Tuesdays #30!!

Tell Me Tuesdays is a meme/feature created by the awesome ladies of Please Feed The Bookworm and La La In The Library, where we can share how we choose the book we are currently reading from our TBR pile!

I'm always curious about that, cause as much as I tend to make myself a rough schedule for books to read and the like, I'm quite a mood reader and sometimes I just HAVE to ignore my schedule and read something else!

Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman

Imagine a time when the gods turn a blind eye to the agony of men, when the last of the hellions roam the plains and evil stirs beyond the edges of the map. A time when cities burn, and in their ashes, empires rise.

Alexander, Macedonia’s sixteen-year-old heir, is on the brink of discovering his fated role in conquering the known world but finds himself drawn to newcomer Katerina, who must navigate the dark secrets of court life while hiding her own mission: kill the Queen. But Kat’s first love, Jacob, will go to unthinkable lengths to win her, even if it means competing for her heart with Hephaestion, a murderer sheltered by the prince. And far across the sea, Zofia, a Persian princess and Alexander’s unmet fiancée, wants to alter her destiny by seeking the famed and deadly Spirit Eaters.

Weaving fantasy with the salacious and fascinating details of real history, New York Times bestselling author Eleanor Herman reimagines the greatest emperor the world has ever known: Alexander the Great, in the first book of the Blood of Gods and Royals series.

 Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

 First Class Murder by Robin Stevens

Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are taking a holiday through Europe on the world-famous Orient Express. From the moment the girls step aboard, it's clear that each of their fellow first-class passengers has something to hide. Even more intriguing: rumour has it that there is a spy in their midst.

Then, during dinner, there is a bloodcurdling scream from inside one of the cabins. When the door is broken down, a passenger is found murdered, her stunning ruby necklace gone. But the killer is nowhere to be seen - almost as if they had vanished into thin air.
 
Daisy and Hazel are faced with their first ever locked-room mystery - and with competition from several other sleuths, who are just as determined to crack the case as they are.



First Class Murder is my reward read right now to motivate myself between ARCs reading and writing reviews. It's a MG murder mystery and I'm loving it so much!

Legacy of Kings... I am quite disappointed with it right now, I'm at 43% and I stopped reading it for a few days because it was feeling too slow and with the 7 POVs, the plot didn't seem to be going anywhere and GAH! I might end up DNFing this one...

Cinder is a re-read! I joined the #TLCReadAlong organized by Brittany from Books Addicts Guide because I want to have the books fresh for reading Winter! Cinder is August book and I've just started it last Sunday. I'm already loving re-reading it!


So what are you all guys reading and how and why did you decide to pick up that book? Shiny new ARC? Comfort read? Scheduled for review? Must have new release? Tell me!! 

Friday Reads: Arsenic For Tea by Robin Stevens!!

Hello there guys!

Friday has arrived here and with it another going-back-to-work-for-the-weekend for me, but it's still a pretty good day because I have a quite delightful book with you all as this week's Friday Reads. It might seem odd to some of you calling a murder mystery delightful, but that's the very first word that comes to mind when I think of this book!

As a middle grade book it is part of my 105 Challenge, as one of my categories includes reading more MG this year! And with a third book from this series coming out later this year, I think it won't be as hard reaching my goal! I also got this as an ARC from Netgalley but I decided to add it as MG and not review copy. I cannot wait for my preordered copy to arrive because I feel like I'll end up re-reading it!

Arsenic For Tea: A Wells and Wong Mystery by Robin  Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am a big Agatha Christie fan and so when I discovered this series, I was elated to have something in her style but MG and with diverse characters. I loved the first book in the series, and although I guessed who the murderer was (did I mention I've read A LOT of Agatha Christie?) it was close to the final reveal so it didn't bother me, and the same thing happened here, I guessed before the reveal (that makes me feel clever) but not too early (which ends up being annoying).

In book 2 we have a change of scenery, Daisy & Hazel aren't at school but at Daisy's house to celebrate her birthday during the holidays. Hazel meets some odd members of the Wells family, a suspicious character wrecks some havoc on the family and then all of a sudden there's a murder, and everyone's a suspect!

I loved how the author managed to make us suspect everyone in turn, with a few red herrings here and there, some suspicious activity and incriminating conversations between different characters. Everyone seems to have a motive and opportunity and it's quite a tough investigation for Daisy to handle, so Hazel has to step up from her role of vice president to call on Daisy when she refuses to accept what seems to be the reality of it.

It's great how the friendship between Hazel and Daisy continues to develop, how they trust each other even when they're being pushed into something they don't like, even if it's more often than not Daisy pushing Hazel. They balance each other very well and they have loads to learn from each other, even if they don't seem to change much at first.

Hazel herself is a fantastic character and I love reading from her POV, she can sometimes be biased on her opinions, but with her think first and run later (unlike Daisy) she usually manages to reflect on clues and come up with the truth, even if she doesn't always have to like it. I loved how she was trying to put a brave face even when she was treated different, when she was feeling homesick and scared, and how she was always there for Daisy.

My hope is that Robin will continue to write many more books in this series, hopefully as many as Agatha Christie wrote, because I plan to read them all! Enchanting, thrilling and with plenty of food for thought. A delightful murder mystery, if you can call it that! Well deserved 4 stars!



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Waiting On Wednesday #75!!

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted at Breaking The Spine  that spotlights those can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on-them books that we are eagerly awaiting!

This week I'm highly anticipating and dying for my preordered copy to arrive early and crossing my fingers so it doesn't take long in the mail for a copy of the sequel in a new middle grade series that I discovered this year and loved! And what book is that one? Arsenic For Tea by Robin Stevens!

Goodreads Summary:

"Schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy's home, Fallingford, for the holidays. Daisy's glamorous mother is throwing a tea party for Daisy's birthday, and the whole family is invited, from eccentric Aunt Saskia to dashing Uncle Felix. But it soon becomes clear that this party isn't really about Daisy at all. Naturally, Daisy is furious.

Then one of their party falls seriously, mysteriously ill - and everything points to poison.

With wild storms preventing anyone from leaving, or the police from arriving, Fallingford suddenly feels like a very dangerous place to be. Not a single person present is what they seem - and everyone has a secret or two. And when someone very close to Daisy looks suspicious, the Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth . . . no matter the consequences."
 

Why am I eagerly awaiting Arsenic For Tea? Well, I loved the first book in this series that I discovered through one of my fave blogs, The Midnight Garden, and I fell back in love with middle grade books! Now I cannot wait to read more about Daisy and Hazel and see what whodonit are they getting into solving this time!


What are you all (im)patiently awaiting this week?

Saturday Pages: Murder Most Unladylike by Robin Stevens!!

Hello there! Saturday is here and working morning shift is no fun! I wake up thinking of nap time!

For Saturday Pages this week I have a wonderful middle grade book that the lovely Wendy from The Midnight Garden put on my radar when she did a cover reveal for the US version of the book on the blog. I read the summary, ordered the UK version since it's the one that's out now and started reading as soon as it arrived!



Murder Most Unladylike by Robin  Stevens

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I don't usually read that much MG (middle grade) but when I do, it usually wonderful and delightful stories that make me want to read more.

I first heard about this lil gem thanks to Wendy from The Midnight Garden, when they did a reveal of the US cover and title (Murder is Bad Manners) and when I read what this book was about, I knew wouldn't wait till 2015 for the US edition and upon checking TBD, I quickly grabbed the UK edition (my anglophilia might be showing, cause I think I like this cover and title even more than the US one).

If I had to describe this book in short, I'd say it's Harry Potter (sans magic) meets Miss Marple. We have girls in a boarding school and a murder mystery! I've always loved whonuits and English/British settings, so this one was a must have for me!

The year is 1934 and we're at Deepdean School for Girls, where Hazel and Daisy have formed an unlikely alliance, friendship and Detective Society. Unlikely cause Daisy is the perfect English girl, with a rich family and the girl everyone loves. Haze is from Hong Kong and therefore none of the things that Daisy is. 1934 means after the Big War and before WWII and so there's a certain mistrust of the different and coming from Russia and Germany and the Orient, even as they're still exerting colonial influence.

The setting of the book is fantastic, feels so realistic, and you immerse yourself so well in this world! We go through the story from Hazel's POV, which is helpful since none of us are English girls from the 1930's and we'd need some help to understand the intrincacies of a boarding school and the unspoken rules and hierarchies within.

Hazel finds the boy of one of the mistresses one night at the Gym and when she returns with help (Daisy and one of the older girls) the body has disappeared. That's when the Detective Society decides to take their first real case, Daisy completely enthusiastic, Hazel still in shock and more than a lil frightened.

Then starts the detecting, the alibi setting, the motives ascertaining and you keep on turning page after page to see what else Daisy will cook up, and what new clue one of leading ladies will discover. Both of them favour some of the suspects over another due to personal likes and dislikes, and it's quite a lesson both girls will have to learn, as well as a better way to work together.

All in all a most delightful read, including when the real villain being revealed and upon having guessed right a 5 am fist pump happened! I'm quite looking forward for more books in this series now. Very well deserved 4.5 stars.



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