Gillyweed'sReads

  January Wrap Up: Part Two! ⚬   ✨  ⚬  ✨   ⚬   ✨   ⚬ Small Spaces by Katherine Arden ⭐⭐⭐ .5 𑁋𑁋𑁋𑁋𑁋 As someone who grew up reading the Goosebumps books I was looking forward to starting a new, creepy middle grade series.  And I got just what I was looking for.  This is a story about Ollie, who lost her mom and isn't really fitting in at school.  She doesn't seem to care about anything anymore but getting lost in a book.  Suddenly, she comes across an old diary with a mysterious past and some creepy entries about a Smiling Man.  When her dad sends her on a school field trip to a local farm, she starts to see similarities between the diary she found and the history of the farm.  The legends say that two brothers mysteriously vanished at this farm and were never seen again.  Things start to get weird and her and her classmates might just be in more danger than Ollie realizes.  Definitely chec...

  January Wrap Up: Part One 🟆🟆🟆  ❆  🟆🟆🟆 A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik I started out 2021 on a not so good note...  Sad day... 😔  I haven't picked up a Naomi Novik book yet but I've been dying to read one!  I maaaaaaay have picked the wrong one to start with...  This book has been getting all the hype and it sounded like it deserved it!  School setting, magical studies, strange creatures, school that tries to kill off it's students.  Many who enter don't come out alive.  dun dunnn DUNNNNNNN!!!  How's that for an amazing premise?!  But seriously?  I couldn't get past the awful, whiny, annoying, cocky, jerk of a main character.  I absolutely could not stand her. 😭😭😭  I thought I could just get through it but I couldn't.  Not only was there that.. but the pacing of the story was off and the writing was just mega clunky.  Meh.  What a way to start off my reading year!  Oh well. ...

⛄ ❅ 🔔   D e c e m b e r   W r a p   U p   🔔 ❅ ⛄ Part Two The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer ⭐⭐⭐⭐ What with this being the sixth book in the series this review contains some major spoilers!   Be ye forewarned! Artemis Fowl is back after having been gone for three years from his family's lives.  After his last adventures take him away from home for these three years a lot has changed!  He now has twin brothers!  Unfortunately, we don't get to see a lot of them in this book, but I have a feeling they will be popping up a lot more in the next few books, which makes me excited.  All seems to be going well until Artemis's mother contracts a very rare illness that is life-threatening.  Now he must find the cure, and quickly, if he wants to save her in time.  The only problem?  Artemis made the mistake of, in his past, killing off the last lemur that has the antidote.  So, now what???  Well, obviously, time travel of cour...

🎅 ❄ 🎄D e c e m b e r W r a p U p ! ! !🎄 ❄ 🎅 Part One Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐   What a way to start the month out reading!!!!!  I started reading the Nevermoor series in October and fell head over heels for it.  To say I was ecstatic to pick up this next book would be an understatement.  Have I already ordered the third book?  Uhhhhh yaaaaaa!!!!!!  And it's just sitting on my bookshelf looking all pretty and begging me to read it..... 💗💗💗  So back to Wundersmith ... 😉  In this second installment things are, for real, going down.  It's Morrigan's first week of being in the Wundrous Society, and it's not going the way she thought it would.  A family she could be herself around, friends she could count on, a school where you can learn to harness your talents, a place where she can belong..  All things that were promised her when she entered. But, unfortunately, that's not what she find...

 ★✦ November Wrap Up ✦★ Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I've decided to start up another re-read of Harry Potter!  It's that time of year again. 💗  I absolutely love this series.  But then again... Who doesn't?  And what better way to start off this re-read than to read the new MinaLima edition!?  If you haven't picked this edition up yet I can't implore you enough to do so.  The detail that went into it, and the interactive sections, are superb!  I have to say.. This is my all-time favorite edition that has come out yet.  Wow.  Legit.  I can't even. 😅  Go pick up a copy!!!!  You seriously won't regret it.  Oh, and I suppose I should talk about my feelings on the book...  It's Harry Potter.  I loved every second of reading it.  End of story. Finale ⭐⭐⭐ Ok, so this book... It's not super memorable.  Not gonna go into too much detail as it's the ending of a series, but this last b...

 October Wrap up #2 The Queen of Attolia ⭐⭐⭐ I gave this book three stars because I'm kind of in the middle of the road about it.  I didn't love it.  I didn't hate it.  It was just ok for me.  The first book, The Thief , was such a fun adventure and this second one felt like a totally different book entirely.  The first half of the book was just about Gen moping around, (which is understandable given the circumstances...) but I got a little bored with it.  Then we get into the wars between the kingdoms and I felt like we were only being given the facts, and I just wasn't able to be as immersed in the story.  It started picking up a little after that but not enough for me to give it that extra star.  Also... That ending?  With the romance thing?  Did not even see that coming...  My feelings on that are a little iffy to say the least. 😬  Overall, not super impressed but I do want to continue on and see if this story gets be...

The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket Hmmmm... Well, a lot went down in this next installation to the series.  I'm still not even sure if I really liked this one or not.  It definitely wasn't a favorite.  In this second to last book we come across so many different characters from all the previous books.  I really enjoyed having everyone cross paths and seeing some of these crazy people back again.  However, I felt like this book kind of dragged on a bit.  Maybe I just wasn't in the mood to read it or something... (Don't judge me.  I really can't help being a mood reader. 😉)  I usually find myself laughing out loud in every single one of his books, but this one just didn't make the cut... unfortunately. (No pun intended hehe. Okay okay. It may have been kinda sorta intended.)  Following the Baudelaire orphans, we see them start their new jobs as concierges at the Hotel Denouement.  A place where you reeeeeally have to know the Dewey D...

  October Wrap Up #1     Legendary    ⭐⭐⭐ I had originally listened to the audio book for this one and didn't like it.  The narrator's voice just kinda grated on me...  I had all but given up on this series and then I remembered how much I loved the first book, Caraval .  So I decided to do a re-read, but this time I picked up the physical book.  The rating went up, but not by too much.  Legendary  takes us to the next event of Caraval with Tella, Scarlett's little sister, playing the game this time instead of Scarlett.  Tella has to win the game and find out the true name of Legend for a mysterious stranger before she runs out of time and loses her life.  I never really liked Tella in the first book so that didn't really help with my enjoyment of reading it.  Overall, this book was just ok for me.  I still want to pick up the final book and find out what happens, but it's not on my priority list. Which is unfort...

Broken Wish by Julie C. Dao Shout-out to NetGalley and Disney-Hyperion for the advance copy! 😊😊😊 I want to say I loved this book so much.  Middle-grade, fairy-tale retelling, rich, dark world, not to mention that GORGEOUS cover...  But unfortunately it just didn't resonate with me.  We follow Elva as she struggles to keep her magic a secret from the town she lives in who don't approve of magic.  When one day she  accidentally uses her powers and sees the future, it's looking pretty grim.  Her parent's farm they've worked so hard to maintain and make a living off of is completely destroyed by an awful storm.  Elva then decides to get help from the only person who might understand her powers and help her change the future, the Witch of the North Woods.  The only problem is that people say she has been cursing any who venture too close to her home and that she has been stealing children who stray too far into the depths of the woods. This premise ...

Keeper of the Lost Cities Neverseen by Shannon Messenger It's safe to say that this series is one of my all-time favorites.  Each book raises the stakes even higher than the last.  If you haven't picked up the first book yet here's a synopsis.  In the first Keeper of the Lost Cities book we meet Sophie.  A girl who is different than the rest of the kids her age.  She is advancing in her studies so much quicker than is normal and is having trouble fitting in and making friends.  She's also been having terrible head aches because for some reason she can hear other people's thoughts.  When she goes on a field trip with the rest of her classmates she meets a mysterious boy that tells her she doesn't belong to this world.  She's an elf.  And from there Sophie enters a whole new world.  One with people just like her.  We follow her as she embarks on an adventure where she learns about magic and how to live in this fantastical, new place ...

The Slippery Slope and The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket I have to say, I always re-read the first few books in this series for nostalgia's sake, but upon continuing through the series this time I am absolutely loving it!  Lemony Snicket's writing had me laughing out loud so many times and the descriptions he uses are so enjoyable to read.  It's crazy how such depressing books can put a smile on your face even while your heart is breaking for the Baudelaire children the whole time. The Slippery Slope starts out with the Baudelaire siblings getting separated and each having their own perilous journey.  Fighting to survive and to get away from the evil Count Olaf, they are determined to get back to each other.   Growing up, maturing, learning new interests, and maybe even a little romance, 😉 this book gave me all the feels.  Be prepared to want to rid the world of Count Olaf (one of my top villains of all time), and to feel so sorry for the three sibli...

Peter Pan By J. M. Barrie What an adorable story!  I had such a fun time reading this one.  Not only was the story heartwarming but reading the MinaLima edition was such a neat experience!  With interactive elements it really made the story come to life.  Peter Pan flies through the window and invites Wendy Darling to come to Neverland with him to be his 'mother'.  Wendy's two younger brothers insist on coming and it all starts from there!  Entering Neverland, the three siblings have many adventures.  From battling pirates, to swimming with mermaids, to meeting all of Peter's friends, and then living with a snooty fairy.  Personally, I loved the beginning and ending the best.  The Darling parents were my absolute favorite characters (that ending was a tear-jerker 😭).  But, of course, Neverland was a joy to read about.  Reading this as an adult, sometimes Peter was pretty annoying to me (I feel ya, Hook. I feel ya.....), and he was ...

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner I super duper enjoyed this book.  Gen, our main character, is one of my most favorite personalities to be able to enjoy seeing everything from his perspective.  Cocky, funny, arrogant, and altogether lovable for it.  We find Gen starting out in prison for stealing the king's seal ring and bragging loudly about it to anyone who will listen.  Aaaaaand, of course, who should hear it but the king's guards.  Then, as is another favorite trope of mine, a mysterious visitor comes knocking on the cell door to ask him if he would like to be released from prison to go on an adventure, all expenses paid, and when he completes the task set for him he will be freed.  All he has to do is steal something for him.   Adventure, friendship, hilarious banter, and mystery.  This book had me loving every second I was reading it.  Not too much happens in this first book, but in the end it sets this series up for a much la...