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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Friday Reads: #TMGReadAlong - The Witches by Roald Dahl!

Hello there again!

As my second review for this week's Friday Reads I have this month's book for The Midnight Garden Classic YA & MG challenge and readalong!

This month's book it was a very apt & Halloweenie book that I think I would have enjoyed more as a child than I did as an adult.

The Witches by Roald Dahl

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I ended up really enjoying this book but I was so very put off by the beginning and the insistence on the evil of witches and them being ONLY women... It rubbed me the wrong way and it really took me a while to get into the story!

Once I managed to get past my irritation and dislike of the insistence on the evilness of women as witches (I think this is an issue of me reading this one for the first time as an adult and not as a kid) I found this one a really endearing and creepy book!

I loved the relationship between our main character and his Norwegian grandmamma and how they both found comfort in each other and how she tells him about the witches and how they become partners in crime in both adventures and fights against the witches!

The creepy factor in this book is quite high and I liked it, making it perfect as a Halloween read and as October's book for the #TMGReadAlong! The description of the witches, the presence and evil from the High Witch herself, little boys turned into mice!

I also enjoyed how the ending was hopeful and full of planning and plotting and fighting the evil witches for our boy and his grandmamma, even if it is a very open ending, since we don't know what will happen despite their plans.

All in all, I give it 3 stars because I ended up enjoying it, I loved the grandmamma but I really hated the characterization of witches and women-witches from the very beginning.



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Mark This Book Monday: A Curious Tale of the In-Between and The Copper Gauntlet!!

Hello there guys!

Welcome to what I've decided to call the Middle Grade edition of this week's Mark This Book Monday!

Today I have two of my BEA ARCs that I read for ARC August up for review and for are MG books, so both count towards my MG reads category on the 105 Challenge!

 

A Curious Tale of the In-Between by Lauren DeStefano

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'm not the biggest middle grade reader ever, but I do enjoy some MG books now and then. After reading my BEA ARC of A Curious Tale of the In-Between I know I'll read any and all MG that Lauren DeStefano will write!

Pram is a lil girl that lives with her aunts at the home for the elderly that they run. She's always been special as she can see ghosts, but her aunts think that she's just peculiar and has imaginary friends, which is easier than to think she sees ghosts.

Once I started reading the book I wasn't sure what to expect because I had not re-read the summary since I added the book to my TBR GR list and my BEA list.

But I really enjoyed reading about Pram and how despite being peculiar and not wanting to be someone that she isn't she makes a friend when she goes to school, but she also tries to keep her friendship with ghostly Felix. Clarence and Pram help each other with their own issues that they feel adults can't or won't help.

I was quite intrigued when I saw where the book went with the ghosts storyline and how it was great in terms of world building but also character development, not just for Pram. Villains are not just black and white, even if their actions are despicable enough.

I really don't want to say much about that part, because it is heartbreaking and kept me quite on my toes and turning the pages fast, it's my fave part of the book and I think I enjoyed it as much as I did because I had no idea what to expect from it!

The ending of the book had enough closure to make it a story unto itself but it also left enough open for more of Pram and Clarence and Felix adventures and I cannot wait to read the sequel, which I hope it'll be equally as creepy, disquieting, heartwarming and endearing as this one! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!




The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I enjoyed reading the first Magisterium book last year, so when I had the chance to grab an ARC of The Copper Gauntlet at BEA this year I didn't hesitate!

As in The Iron Trial we find ourselves with characters and situations that might remind us of other stories at first sight, three friends, a magic school, a connection between the bad guy and one of our heroes... does it ring a bell? Well, this book did it again, and took things in the most unexpected and unfamiliar direction you could expect.

Callum finds himself in an even worse situation than he did in the first book, because he has a big secret to keep about himself, one that makes hum doubt his every choice, and not only that but he suspects his dad is no longer on his corner.

Aaron and Tamara continue to be his friends and partners in crime (and escaping from home and the Magisterium and fighting unexpected Elementals... you know, the usual!) but they find themselves facing a few issues about trust and priorities that end up with Cal and Tamara butting heads.

I was quite surprised about the final showdown and how it was resolved, but also glad for how the auhors once again went for the less expected course of action. I might have not connected with this book as much as I would have liked, but I really enjoyed it nonetheless and will be looking forward to the sequel. 3 to 3.5 stars.



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Saturday Pages: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett!!!

Hi there everyone!

The weekend is here and I have to work, but I had a lovely lazy and full of reading day off yesterday, so I will not complain!

Today as my first Saturday Pages review I have The Midnight Garden's Classic YA & MG challenge book for March! As per usual (except for last month) it was a book I had not read before and as per usual, I thoroughly loved and enjoyed it! As usual I will be taking part in their discussion post and writing my usual looong babbling novel of a comment, and I have my own review up here!

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another gem of a book discovered via the #tmgreadalong. I really am extremely happy that I decided to join the ladies at The Midnight Garden in their classic middle grade & young adult challenge last year, and I do plan to continue to be part of as it as long as they have it!

I was intrigued by the beginning and despite our lil Mary being quite contrary I felt immensely bad for her. She was ignored and spoiled and unloved and she didn't even know what she was missing, which is the worst part of the whole thing.

Then she is taken to England and gets stuck in another grand house where she might not lack anything except love again, but thankfully for her she doesn't have the same kind of servants attending her, but a young pure Yorkshire girl that takes no nonsense from her. I simply loved the change in Mary as she was first a lil forced and then allowed to play on her own and explore and be a child outside!

And I absolutely loved her determination to find the Secret Garden and to make sure it was kept alive! I adored how she was so different with Dickon and Martha and how she loved everything about them and their family and how she stopped thinking herself as above them and never acted like she would have before. She might have been acting out of selfish reasons, but she was kinder that you could have expected her to be!

I was quite surprised when we got introduced to Colin, the small Rajah, and the biggest tyrant you could imagine. I could barely conjure any sorry feelings for him at first, and I was beyond happy when in one of his "fits" Mary came to him and confronted him with her own "spoiled girl" manners! Who would have thought that Mary could be such a great influence, along with Dickon, the red breasted robin, Dickon's menagerie and loads of fresh air!

I just loved how important family was in this book, and how it showed the influence of good examples and encouragement can be. It's also quite a tongue in cheek dig at the way children in afluent families were raised, primed & pampered but without real affection, and it's a wonder how those kids grew to be even half functioning adults!

And I love how doing something with your hands, making things grow and watching and interacting with others that are different from you can be both eye opening and sobering. It's not like planting a flower or two and interacting with someone with a different upbringing will solved every problem for spoiled kids... but it will make them confront themselves with different realities and with some luck make them think about what they have and what other's have and not.

I adored the descriptions of the moor, the gardens, the secret garden and all the food that they were getting! It made long for some warm oatmeal and buns and scones and tea time... *sigh*. It was a wonderfully visual book! I could clearly picture myself in every room and every part of the gardens, and even at the cottage in the moor!

If I had to pick a favourite character it would be Susan Sowerby, even if we don't get to have her in the flesh in the pages till the last part of the book, she's very much present at every turn of the page, with her advice, her observations and her considerable common sense wisdom! She is the archetype of a mother figure and I loved when we finally got her to interact directly with Mary and Colin!

A wonderful book that made me long to visit the moor, skip around the secret garden, have some buns and scones with my tea and made me long for the Magic. Well deserved 4.5 stars!



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Friday Reads: Mrs Frisby and The Rats of NIMH!!

Hey there guys!

Happy Friday! This week's Friday Reads is once again this month's The Midnight Garden Classic MG & YA book! I'm so very happy to continue with this challenge and even more since this month for the first time, it was a re-read for me too!

Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I continue to take part of the Classic MG & YA challenge hosted by the ladies of The Midnight Garden and this month's book was for the first time since I joined, a re-read!

I read Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH when I was still in primary school and I think it was one of the first books I got from the public library as opposed to getting it from my school's library.

To be perfectly honest I didn't remember all that much about the book, to my shame, even if of course I knew I had read it and a very general idea. But once I started reading it I kept remembering the feelings that the book evoked in me, all those years ago!

Our main character is Mrs Frisby, a widowed mouse that is taken care of her four children on her own, and finds herself in a very tough position, where she needs to find a way to move to her summer house without it costing her the life of her younger & frail and sick child, Timothy. She finds herself getting help from unexpected allies, like a crow and an owl and finally the most unique and intelligent rats.

I remember being extremely fascinated by the rats and their past and I was equally fascinated this time around! It's fantastic how based on reality the whole labs of NIMH were, with the trials of different serums, the control group, the learning techniques with the mazes. How they were rather smart animals to begin with and how they began to improve and become more and more intelligent, plotting and planning and learning to read. I have a serious soft spot for characters in books that love reading!

I loved how strong a character our Mrs Frisby was! She was tough and kind and brave and knew how to get over her fear to do what she felt was right! The book was full of wonderful lessons like how kidness can be returned to you tenfold, how you need to make something of your own instead of simply taking the easiest way out, and it never felt preachy, which is quite an achievement!

This book really made me cheer for the rodents and hope for an alternative society of intelligent beings that were not humans. I must say that thinking about it now, this book is plenty dark and scary with the themes it deals with, but the main feelings I remember were of fascination and wonder!

A great book that was a lovely re-read for me! 4 well deserved stars!



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Friday Reads: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt!!

Hello there guys!

It's Friday and I have the day off and the weekend off!! *does happy dance*

To celebrate the long weekend off I'm having my review of Tuck Everlasting for Friday Reads, since I'm very happy to continue taking part of the Classic MG & YA challenge from The Midnight Garden ladies and their readalong and discussion!

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had not read or even heard of this book before it was chosen as part of The Midnight Garden's Classic MG & YA Challenge for January. After that I started seeing more about it everywhere given that its 40th anniversary was coming.

I had planned to start reading the book last night at work, but I ended reading it start to finish. It was a fast and endearing read, but also one with plenty of food for thought.

This is the story of Winnie Foster and the Tucks and the choice of what to do to defend what you think was right. And also what would your choice be if you had immortality within your grasp? We see almost everything develop from Winnie's POV, although we also get a few other POVs.

Winnie is an only child that feels smothered at her house and one morning decides to go on a small adventure that turns into the biggest adventure of her life. One that gets her to meet a most interesting family, the Tucks, and that makes her grow quite a bit in a lil over 24 hours, making her change her opinions about the world and what she thought she wanted.

I found really sweet how the Tucks dealt with their immortality, each one of them in a different way, but how none of them were turned into something different by greed or ambition, they remained essentially who they were, even if not all were unhappy about their unlimited time.

Winnie showed a certain amount of both childish choice and wisdom beyond her years. Her toad was her first friend outside the house, the one that made her take a step outside and into a larger world, and she wanted to make sure her friend was safe. That way she once again gave power to someone/something that was not likely to misuse it!

This is one of those books that can be read by children and adults alike, and that will provide food for thought for both and that can spark many interesting debates and conversations. Very well deserved 4 stars to this one!



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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: Animorphs by Katherine Applegate - Invasion, Visitor and Encounter!!

Hello guys!!

Returning from vacation, dealing with a small case of jet lag (I'm back to being my night owl self though) means that the blog is still in a bit of a not really up to date case, and give all the drama that went on during the past week, I'm surprised at how motivated I am to keep blogging, even if I'm not at my most productive!

Today I'm starting with three mini reviews for the 3 books that were the Classic Middle Grade & YA readalong this past month of October at The Midnight Garden! I love discovering amazing books that I love now and that I know I would have loved in my younger years!

The Invasion by Katherine Applegate

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Another series that I missed in my youth and that I got to read thanks to the ladies at The Midnight Garden Classic Middle Grade readlong!

I've always been a big fan of science fiction and this is classic science fiction with aliens and spaceships and a war between good and evil that spans galaxies and ends up at our doorstep.

The first book follows Jake's POV, he's one of the group of five kids that decide to take a shortcut through an abandoned construction area and end up being the first to establish contact with an alien, being warned of the invasion going on in Earth by another race of aliens and give special powers to try and fight them.

I loved how the kids' reactions were extremely believeable, they were scared and intrigued and fascinated and then even more scared. But they decide that whatever they witnessed can't be ignored and do whatever is in their power to help fight! Marco isn't very keen on the idea, Tobias is the most determined of them all, his past probably given him more reason to fight for something that will seem more worthy than what he has, Jake at first doesn't want to fight either but feels that it cannot be ignored and the same goes with Rachel and Cassie.

The aliens are insidiously taking over human hosts under the cover of a group/association called The Sharing, that just my name gives a "body snatchers" vibe to me, and the group decides that they need to free as many unwilling hosts as possible, once they discover a place where aliens can be vulnerable. They try to prepare as best as they can, but even with their morphing... they just cannot fight all the aliens and fail at rescuing people & barely make it out of there alive. And not only that, there's quite a tough consequence to their trying to do the right thing and that I wasn't expecting so early in the series!

A really intriguing first book, with characters that are flawed but likeable and that I think would be a perfect introduction to science fiction! 3.5 stars for this one!



The Visitor by Katherine Applegate

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


After the events in book one we have the 5 Animorphs reeling with Tobias plight and with the revelations of who all are working with the Yeerks, voluntarily or not. This one is on Rachel's POV and it made me love her character even more!

She's one strong and determined girl and one that doesn't like that anyone think that she can't do what others can do because she's a girl, and she's got quite some awesome sass in her.

The mission now for the Animorphs is trying to get intel and find out the new location of the Yeerks pool and to do so they need to spy on Mr Chapman, a human Controller, and the best way to do so in for Rachel to morph into the family's cat: Fluffy McKitty.

This book deals with the voluntarity of sacrifice and how not all hosts were passively accepting their Yeerk masters, and also details a lot more on the effects of morphing, not only during the experience and how you feel what the animal is feeling by instict and emotion but also how that affects you and how there's a fight for control between the animal mind and the human mind. I loved the descriptions of being a cat and how essential they're the most awesome animals, because even when scared, they take no crap from anyone!

I really liked that parents are shown in this book, trying their best to protect their kids as is within their limited means, and not simply be absent or dismissive. I understand that all the kids are unsure about talking to their parents or any other adults, cause you don't know who could be a host to a Yeerk.

Another really fast and gripping read with quite complex themes being addressed but with no preachy feel to it, well deserved 3.5 stars.



The Encounter by Katherine Applegate

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This third book has Tobias as main POV and it was the most heartbreaking of the lot so far for sure!

This review will probably have a few spoilers for book 1 and 2 so please be aware of that, and read at your own risk!

The animorphs have survived another battle and have eluded Visser Three for the second time, but things are becoming more and more dangerous with every interaction, even more because they're suspected of being Andalites warriors and not human kids that can morph.

This one not only deals with being odds as the kids find some weaknesses about the Yeerks and how they depend on Earth to provision the mother ship but also with the consequences of not being able to come out of morphing in time and living as an animal permanently, since Tobias finds himself wondering if he's human anymore and gives into his hawk instict and mind. Reading about his struggles and how the relationships between the gang help him realize he's human not matter what his exterior shape might be was quite heartbreaking! He loves flying, he loves being free but it's like a case of "careful what you wish for" cause he misses all the things that he took for granted before.

The confrontation with Visser Three here is in an even bigger scale and the Animorphs really dealt with some close calls. I really loved this one and I cannot wait to read book 4 now! Well deserved 4 stars for this one!



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Friday Reads: All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor!!

Hello everyone! Happy Friday! This Friday is a particularly happy one for me since I'm gonna be leaving for my parents cottage and gonna be there till Monday, spending my time relaxing, reading, playing with the puppies and sleeeeping!!

As my first entry for this week's Friday Reads I have yet another of the Classic Middle Grade books from The Midnight Garden monthly read-alongs! Today is also the day we're having the read-along discussion there, so drop by! I'm loving taking part of these read-alongs and discovering such lovely books that I had missed originally on my childhood!

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is yet another book that I've read and loved thanks to the very awesome ladies at The Midnight Garden. As another of their middle grade challenge read-along books, this is a new discovery for me and yet again, a lovely lil gem!

All-of-a-kind family is the kind of lil story that would really help children see how different things were quite a few years back, and it works the same way with adults. Every description felt so genuine, so well done, and nothing in the narrative, not the descriptions of how the girls had to save their pennies for the dad's birthday or how the way some meals were reserved only as treats for certain days, nothing was written in the "woe is me" kinda way, but simply as a fact that it was like that. A family of limited means making the most of everything they had!

I knew I was going to love the book since it started with the five sisters going to the library! I could relate with Sarah's anguish of not finding her book! That has been a recurring nightmare for me, and it's been a looong time since I've taken books from the library! But as a young girl the library was one of my most favourite places to go, roam around and find my next read!

I loved the every day happenings of the family and the wonderful descriptions on the book. How each of the girls were their own person but never felt like they were too much of a stereotype! I loved their joy at finding books and at buying and making the most delightful games of eating their penny candy at night!

One of the episodes I felt that rang more closely to my own childhood was the one about Mama's rules about the food and how when Sarah refused to eat her soup, she wouldn't be given anything else to eat. That was pretty much my mother's rule, "if you don't eat this for lunch, you'll have it for dinner and if not, for breakfast". Only once I refused to eat my lentils for lunch, and let me tell you, lumpy re-heat lentils for dinner, I do not recommend! I loved how it portrayed the view from both the obstinate child that wants to give in but doesn't and the mother that worries but can't back down!

Another wonderful thing about this book is the descriptions of all the Jewish traditions and holidays and how the family included other non-Jewish people in their life and included them in their celebrations, like the library lady and Charlie! Every reference to them as gentiles seemed casual and never implied as a good or bad thing, simply what it was and that it was okay.

I might have been a lil bothered with some tiny things, like the importance of the girls learning to be good housewives, but I cannot fault the book given its age! It compensated with the immense love of the girls for books, so I forgave that.

A most delightful read, even after all these years since it was written! Very well deserved 4 stars!!



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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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Saturday Pages: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin!!!

Hey guys!

This week has been a bit complicated and with two weddings, baking, events and work... my reading and my motivation has suffered a bit. And let's not talk about my messed up emotional state. I hoping to pick up my reading and be able to schedule a bit more in advance so I don't feel like I'm running around like a headless chicken.

After a massive book hangover when I finished Ruin & Rising, I wasn't even sure what to read, but then I remembered that I still hadn't read the middle grade classic chosen for The Midnight Garden's Classic's Read-a-long for June, so I decided to give it a try! So happy that I did, cause it was the right book to get me off that massive hangover! Thank you Wendy for suggesting this one! And after talking about it yesterday on the discussion post, today I have is as my Saturday Pages entry!

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The Westing Game is one of those classics that I hadn't heard of before the ladies at The Midnight Garden chose it as June's book for the read-a-long. And now that I've read it, I want to quick myself for not having read it a long time back! This is a book that I've loved and that I know a younger me would have adored too!

This is a delightful book, a murder mystery middle grade that is full of social comentary but that never once sounds preachy. That's one of the things that I don't seem to get over too easily on classic books like these, they sound way too preachy for the adult me.

The Westing Game starts with a bunch of new tenants taking their new houses in a new building, and right from the start we see something more is going on. There's a clear Agatha Christie feel to certain parts of the book, but not in a way to feel like it was bothersome and felt like a copy. Not at all, but it just gave you that feel of clever mystery and deep understanding of human nature.

It's a bit hard for most of the book to think of one character as the main character although I'd consider Turtle the main character. She's a young girl, very clever, very brave and with a big tendency to kick shins and to treat her braid as her defining point. She knows about the stock market and deals with lack of emotional connections.

All characters are somehow connected with each other and with Sam Westing, the man that is found dead and that wants his heirs to discover who killed him to claim their inheritance, and there starts the Westing Game. The game not only has us going after red herrings and suspecting people left, right and centre but also serves as a way to show us what makes each character tick and who are these people and what's going on in their lives.

I found myself turning the pages faster and faster, making new theories and throwing them away as some new details were revealed here and there, and I was right suspecting the right guy but I wasn't even close to discovering all that was behind everything!

The ending was great and that little epilogue was the right way to tie everything together and I loved knowing what happened with everyone.

A wonderful classic that I hightly recommend if you haven't read it yet! 5 well deserved stars!



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Saturday Pages: A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle!!!

Welcome everyone to this week's Saturday Pages! Today both the books I will be reviewing are both part of group readings, but both were books I really wanted to read and just needed a lil push to do so!

The first one is the book chosen for May at The Midnight Garden for their monthly read-along! I had been wanting to read this one for a long time, since I had heard great reviews, so I thought it was the right time to finally dive into the book!

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A Wrinkle in Time is one of those books that I had heard about many times and have been wanting to read for a while, but never seemed to find the time for it. It all changed when the ladies at The Midnight Garden chose it as their May read-along! I jumped at it and am I glad that I did.

This can be considered more middle grade than young adult I guess, but it was a joy to read and I think it can be enjoyed by anyone of any age. Some ages will feel the message hit closer to home than others, and some of its messages made me wish I had read it when I was 13-17...

Meg Murray is a girl that doesn't fit it too well at school. She's impatient, very intelligent but selective with the subjects she enjoy. She doesn't fit the mold too well, so she keeps on being chastised and laughed at. She has two twin brothers that do fit in at school and a younger one that is even more peculiar than she is. Her parents are scientists and her dad is away involved in a secret project.

Everything takes a turn for the wondrous when three odd new characters are introduced and Meg, her little brother Charles and their newly made friend Calvin end up going on a journey that they didn't expect and that changed their lives in many ways.

This book is full of science and it's addressed in a way that is magical but also vivid and understandable and solid and wondrous. Seeing science woven this way into the story and presenting the different and alien as new and positive and making us look at how we react at what's different was a joy to read.

I just adored this book and I keep on hoping I could just make my younger self read it! Well deserved 5 stars for this classic but ultimately, timeless book!



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