Weekly Recap: I'm a Stressed Human This Week

In all honesty, I have had such a stressful week and I am so looking forward to this long weekend... I need it! My work week has been pretty shitty and it's hard to really pinpoint exactly why. Some of the people I work with are getting on my last nerve, to the point where I just dread having to spend the day with them. I'm also not happy there in general as it doesn't challenge me enough. I love to be busy at work, but here I am just struggling to find something to do. I know I'd be a lot happier if there was more work to do.

My spirit animal!

The other big stress for me this week is that my fiance's brother has moved in with us. He used to live here but moved out about two years ago. He quit his job, that gave him a free flat, and so had to move back in. AND I HATE IT! I absolutely hate it. It's been two days and I am already sick of it. He's fine, like it's not because of him. It's just the suddenly having to share space with another person again. Nope. It's not for me. No more running around the flat, singing Hamilton songs at the top of my lungs. Living with people is not fun. I feel like I wasn't made to interact with other human beings. Animals, sure, but not humans!

The Crown's Game: A Magic Imperial Russia Makes Me Happy

Title: The Crown's Game
Author: Evelyn Skye
Publisher: Harper Collins
Buy this book: Amazon / Book Depository

Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs a powerful enchanter by his side.And so he initiates the Crown’s Game, an ancient duel of magical skill—the greatest test an enchanter will ever know. The victor becomes the Imperial Enchanter and the Tsar’s most respected adviser. The defeated is sentenced to death.Raised on tiny Ovchinin Island her whole life, Vika is eager for the chance to show off her talent in the grand capital of Saint Petersburg. But can she kill another enchanter—even when his magic calls to her like nothing else ever has?For Nikolai, an orphan, the Crown’s Game is the chance of a lifetime. But his deadly opponent is a force to be reckoned with—beautiful, whip smart, imaginative—and he can’t stop thinking about her.And when Pasha, Nikolai’s best friend and heir to the throne, also starts to fall for the mysterious enchantress, Nikolai must defeat the girl they both love... or be killed himself.As long-buried secrets emerge, threatening the future of the empire, it becomes dangerously clear... the Crown’s Game is not one to lose.

The moment I heard that The Crown's Game was set in an alternate Imperial Russia where magic exists, I knew I had to read it! You may not know this about me, I have a lot of love/huge obsession with Imperial Russia. That was started from an early age because the children's film Anastasia was one of my absolute favourites. That movie made me fall completely in love with Russia, and has made me desperate to go to Russia and see the Winter Palace for myself. So the fact that this was set in a similar setting, with the bonus of a magically fight between two enchanters to work for the Tsar, it completely sold me on this book. I am so happy to say that I wasn't disappointed, even if I have to admit that the book wasn't exactly what I had been expecting.

Weekly Recap: I'm Trying To Be A Good Blogger

It's been a few weeks since my last recap, so I have a few things to catch up on. I've been trying hard to get back into my blogging, as a lot of my time has gone in to my Instagram instead. It is going well so far, I have been posting more frequently and I also have plans for a lot more posts, including a bunch of discussion and tip posts that I am super excited about. I feel I have done very well in the last few weeks of balancing out everything. I have done a lot of reading, I've drafted up a bunch of reviews and posts, I've also been able to take part in four challenges on Instagram, it has been a good week for me!

I don't know if you guys have heard but it was recently announced that Dan Brown is writing a YA version of The Da Vinci Code. That's right, he is rewriting one of his novels to try and make it 'easier' for YA readers to understand. 'Cause YA readers are clearly fucking invalids with zero grasp on the English language. I have never heard anything more insulting to young adults. I read The Da Vinci Code back when it first released and I was 14 years old, I was a young adult. I had zero struggles with this book, it wasn't exactly hard to read. And then he expects YA readers to act totally grateful and not insulted by his obvious attempts to make some quick cash.

A Court of Mist & Fury: Beware, Flailing and Fangirling Ahead

Title: A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury 
Buy this book: Amazon / Book Depository

Feyre is immortal.After rescuing her lover Tamlin from a wicked Faerie Queen, she returns to the Spring Court possessing the powers of the High Fae. But Feyre cannot forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin's people - nor the bargain she made with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court.As Feyre is drawn ever deeper into Rhysand's dark web of politics and passion, war is looming and an evil far greater than any queen threatens to destroy everything Feyre has fought for. She must confront her past, embrace her gifts and decide her fate.She must surrender her heart to heal a world torn in two.

I hope you're ready people, this review is going to get pretty lengthy. It might also get rambly as hell. I'm not even a little bit sorry. This book actually blew my freaking mind, I wasn't expecting it to be the pure work of fucking genius that it turned out to be. I'll admit, Queen of Shadows had left me doubting Maas's ability a little, as that book was a little all over the place and left me completely unsure how I even felt about it. This book erased all that from my mind and once again reminded me why I love Sarah J. Maas and her books. She is one incredibly talented lady.

I Knew Absolutely Nothing About These Books I Ended Up Loving

It's time for Top Ten Tuesday and this weeks topic is:

Best Books I Picked Up On a Whim

So these are all those books I picked up without knowing anything about the book. A lot of the books I read are ones I have heard so much about or seen everywhere, so this is a lot harder now. But before I was a blogger, especially as a kid, I found some of my favourite reads by just picking up a book in a book store at random and buying it.

    

Northern Lights by Philip Pullman: This book is such a classic now that it is hard to imagine a time where I wouldn't have known about this book. But child me had never heard of it. And I received it in a bag of books from my nan one year. I was intrigued by the cover - mine at the time had a girl on it, a polar bear and it just looked really cool to seven year old me. So I picked this up and ended up completely falling in love with it. I'd found a new favourite series and I still count this as one of my top favourite series of all time.