Top 10 Tuesday – Books With Single Word Titles

Hey booknerds! I’m taking part in another week of Top Ten Tuesday!

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was created out of a love of lists and books. You can find more information here

I thought that I wouldn’t be able to think of enough books for this post but turns out there is a lot more than I thought!

I’m going to share books that I have read and loved that have single word titles in this post.

1 Viper by Bex Hogan – Pirate assassins! What do you need?!

2 Nocturna by Maya Motayne – Love the magic system and the characters so much and I cannot wait for the second book!

3 Stepsister by Jennifer Donnelly – This book actually made me root for the stepsister.

4 Highfire by Eoin Colfer – This book will take you on a wild ride and there’s a vodka drinking, Netflix watching grumpy dragon too!

5 Postscript by Cecelia Ahern – PS. I Love You was one of my favourite books as a teen and this book was just as amazing! Be warned you will sob reading it.

6 Jinxed by Amy McCulloch – Girls in STEM kicking ass. I love it!

7 Otherworld by Jason Segal & Kirsten Miller – This took VR games to a whole new level.

8 Flashfall by Jenny Moyer – I read this book because it was in a FL box and loved it so much!

9 Sanctuary by V.V James – This book is dark and absolutely terrifying at times and I loved it.

10 Spellhacker by M.K. England – Tech combined with magic and a group of misfits. Such a fun book!

Have you read any of these? Tell me some of your favourite books with single word title.

Otherlife by Jason Segal and Kirsten Miller – ARC Review

Thank you to Netgalley and One World Publications for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the last book in the Last Reality trilogy and I loved it! You can read my review of Otherearth here

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Simon, Kat, Busara, and Elvis are on the run with the tech super-villains at the Company hot on their heels. The new VR gaming experience the Company created, OtherEarth, is set to change how the world experiences video games. Paired with the hardware the Company developed, it has the potential to change the world as we know it, altering our reality forever.
The Company is on its way to becoming the world’s newest superpower. And Simon is determined to shut them down forever. But to do that, he’ll have to survive OtherLife – the next phase of gaming, and a complete reality reboot.

This trilogy will take you on a wild ride and honestly you won’t know who or what to believe. I completely fell in love with this trilogy and the world that they created, even though it was a little scary and dark at times. The world building was incredible and each book they eexpanded and built upon the world and it was all so vivid it felt like you were right there. They discussed such important and relevant issues in the books so well too.

I really loved seeing the characters grow throughout the trilogy but I also really loved that they still behaved like teenagers at times. They were scared when their lives were in danger and they were impulsive at times, making mistakes but they were also courageous and smart and witty.

Both Busara and Kat were great female main characters, they weren’t just love interests and played important roles in helping take down the company. They were smart and total badasses, and Kat was often the voice of reason in the group. She would rein in the impulsiveness of Busara and Simon and Busara was often the reason that Simon was able to succeed.

Again this book builds on and discusses the ethical side of the gaming world and virtual reality, how far can we take it, and how corporations can be ruthless in their greed to gain wealth and power. But that we can all do something to prevent that, no matter how young or insignificant you think you are. You can make a difference. It parallels real life where it is often the youth who are the ones who stand up and fight for a better and safer world.

This book is action packed and fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. Once I started I could not put it down, I read it in two evenings. The ending was really satisfying too. There is so many secrets throughout the story and we find the answers and Simon is successful. Loose ends are tied up nicely yet it is still left open in a way that we know that they are not yet done with everything they want to achieve. We are left imagining them doing so much more in the world.

September Monthly Wrap Up

Well September has been a weird month reading wise, I have been in a weird slump where I want to read but I don’t want to read or I haven’t found the book I want to read. Anyways I have had a mixed reading month.

Here are the books I read this month:

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow – I really loved the writing, it’s beautifully written but the story moved too slowly for me, which made me bored so I didn’t enjoy it as much as I had hoped

Rating: 3/5

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett – I was so excited for this book and it started off really well. It was fast paced and intense and quite terrifying at times but I did feel it start to drag for me in the second half. Overall I did enjoy it though.

Rating: 3/5

Aurora Rising by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kaufman – This book is one of my biggest disappoints of the year. How has the authors who wrote the mind blowing Illuminae Files written this?! From the boring, obvious plot to the two dimensional characters and the token diversity it’s a mess. I almost DNFd this book several times.

Rating: 1/5

It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne – I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.

Rating: 3/5

Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa – I was a little disappointed with this sequel. I had really enjoyed Shadow of the Fox and unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this as much.

Rating: 3/5

Highfire by Eoin Colfer – Having adored the Artemis Fowl books I knew I had to read Eoin’s adult fantasy book and I was not disappointed! I have not read a book quite like this before and it took me on a wild ride!

Rating: 4.5/5

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson – Wow this book was mind blowing! I had not expected to love this book as much as I did. I was completely hooked from the first chapter and I could not put it down, reading well into the night.

Rating: 5/5

Otherlife by Jason Segal & Kirsten Miller – The last book in an amazing trilogy that had me completely hooked and kept blowing my mind. This book was as amazing as the rest of the books and I really loved how it ended.

Rating: 5/5

Boys Will Be Boys by Clementine Ford – I absolutely loved Fight Like A Girl so I was really looking forward to reading this and it did not disappoint! I had to read it in small sections though as I would get so mad reading it. Not in a bad way, in a ‘I need to tear down the patriarchy’ way. Highly recommend reading this!

Rating: 5/5

The Nightjar by Deborah Hewitt – This book sounded really interesting so when I saw it in the library I just had to borrow it. I really loved the first half, it was really interesting but I did feel it dragged in the second half.

Rating: 3/5

PS. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern – I have not read this book since I was a teen and oh my god I forgot how much I love this book and how much it made me sob.

Rating: 5/5

Furious Thing by Jenny Downham – I was sent this as part of an Instagram tour and I really enjoyed it. It made me so mad for Lexi and how she is manipulated and the emotional and psychological abuse she suffers but I love how much she grows throughout the story

Rating: 3.5/5

Unleashed by Amy McCulloch – I loved the sequel as much as Jinxed. I was completely hooked and could not put it down!

Rating: 5/5

So that’s all the books I read this month. I read some really great ones and some really disappointing ones.

Here are books I reviewed this month:

A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Romanov by Nadine Brandes

I have created a book tag for the Daevabad trilogy that you can all take part in. You can find it here

I also wrote about why I love the Daevabad trilogy and why you should all read it. You can read the blog post here.

So that’s everything this month. I am hoping to go to several book events next month so I am really looking forward to going to them!

October Monthly Wrap Up

This month wasn’t the best reading month for me. I didn’t read as many books as I wanted as I wasn’t well and I had decided to take part in blogtober but I found it really stressful to have posts up everyday and it meant I barely had time to read. So I decided to stop halfway through which really helped with my anxiety. But it meant I was able to review a lot more books I’ve read in the previous months.

But back to the books I read this month. I have read some great books and some not so great ones.

Forest of a Thousand Lanterns – I can’t believe that I didn’t read this before! I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to reading the next book.

The Kiss of Deception – I was gifted this book and it came highly recommended and I’m glad it did not disappoint! You can read my full spoiler free review here

If Cats Disappeared from the World – any books that feature cats are automatically added to my tbr and this one was really interesting and thought provoking. You can read my full spoiler free review here

Stars Above – the last book in The Lunar Chronicles and a reread. I am so glad to have been back in this world and I’m sad that this is the last book. I hope we get more in this world!

Damsel – I just couldn’t get into this book at all.

OtherEarth – I really loved the first book and this one was even better! I was hooked right from the beginning! You can read my full spoiler free review here

Vengeful – I really enjoyed this book! I loved seeing more of Victor and Eli and Sydney. Though I think I may be one of the few who didn’t love it as much as the first book.

Love and Happiness – this is the second book by Yasmin Mogahed and I loved it! It’s full of reflections and short reminders and it was the perfect book for me to read right now

City of Ghosts – I’m not usually someone who reads books with ghosts but as it’s a V.E. Schwab book I thought I would give it a try. And I really did enjoy it more than I thought I would

Kingdom of Ash – I am dead. That is all.

I really loved most of the books I read this month even if I didn’t read as many as I wanted to read.

I also reviewed these books this month:

The Mime Order

Vicious

Miss Peregrene’s Home for Peculiar Children

No Fixed Address

Our Stories, Our Voices

So that’s all from me! How was your reading month? What was your favourite book this month?

OtherEarth by Jason Segal and Kirsten Miller – Book Review

I really loved Otherworld so when I saw OtherEarth on netgalley I just had to request it and I’m so glad I was approved! Thank you to OneWorld publications and Rock the Boat for providing me with an eARC.

OtherEarth releases on October 30th

Rating: 4.5/5

Here is the synopsis for OtherEarth from Goodreads:

Simon saved his best friend, Kat, from the clutches of the Company and their high-tech VR gaming experience, Otherworld. But it was at a steep price. Now he, Kat, and their friend Busara are on the run. They know too much. About the Company’s dark secrets. About the real-life consequences of playing Otherworld. And about Kat’s stepfather’s involvement in everything. The group is headed to New Mexico to find Simon’s old roommate, who is a tech genius and possibly the only person who can help them reveal the truth about the Company before it’s too late and the line between what’s real and what’s fantasy is erased . . . forever.

Imagine a future in which you can leave reality behind and give in to your greatest desires. That future is now. And the future is terrifying.

So OtherEarth picks up right where OtherWorld ended and although it had been a while since I had read OtherWorld and was worried I wouldn’t remember what happened but as I started reading everything came rushing back to me. Like OtherWorld, this book was also fast paced and even more action packed and I loved it!

This book was intense and once I started reading I could not put it down and was reading well into the night. It’s full of intrigue and the story is even more complex than the first book. We spend a lot more time outside of OtherWorld and get a lot more backstory about the company and how and why OtherWorld was created. But we are left with even more questions too! I just wanted to keep reading to find all the answers.

I just have to say that the technology and the game that has been described in these books are absolutely terrifying and I am so glad that this technology does not actually exist and hope it never does! Even though it was made with good intentions, it never ceases to amaze me how inhumane humans can be. Like the first book, there were players who hunted the beings created in the game for sport. As a result of the technology they are actually sentient beings yet they were hunted and killed in horrifying ways. I’m so glad this side of gaming was discussed in books as it’s something I feel strongly about but I feel like it’s not something that is generally discussed.

I really liked Simon a lot more in this book than I did in OtherWorld. He was a lot more fleshed out and complex and generally more likeable. I also loved his relationship with Kat, they were adorable! Kat was a really great character and I do wish we could have seen more of her.

I also loved the addition of Simon’s friend, Elvis. He was fun and sassy but also kind and caring and smart. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him in the next book. The only person I still can’t decide what to think of is Busara. She is secretive and mysterious and I couldn’t figure out what she was hiding. I hope we learn more about her in the next book. Also that ending made me even more curious to know more about her.

I’m also intrigued by Simon’s hallucinations. Are they a form of PTSD? What is real? What’s his hallucinations? Especially that ending left me reeling and shocked and even more confused as to what Simon was seeing and what was real or not real! I won’t say anymore because I don’t want to spoil anyone but oh my god, I was not expecting that ending at all and I just desperately need the next book because I need all the answers!

I highly recommend reading this book especially if you enjoy gaming or sci-fi books. I’m not even a gamer and I loved it!

Let me know if you’ve read the book and what you thought!