Never Say Never - Justine Manzano

What is it about: Brynn is done with love. 
After she walks in on her mom doing the horizontal mambo with a man that’s decidedly not her dad, Brynn Stark swears to NEVER fall in love. One of her friends--Val-- reveals her true identity--Aphrodite, goddess of love, and promises to show Brynn why she shouldn’t lose faith.
But when Brynn realizes she’s beginning to fall for Adam, Aphrodite's boyfriend, Brynn’s forced to decide if she’ll choose her goddess-given fate, or risk it all for the wrong-but-right guy.
One thing’s for sure.
Love sucks.
And it's all about to blow up in their faces.

My Thoughts: I have mixed feelings about this one.
Let's start with the positives.
I would have loved to read this book when I was a teenager. It has mythology, it has a hurt teenager who doesn't believe in love, it's a fantasy and it's easy to read. I most definitely found some elements of myself - mostly my younger self - in the main character, Brynn.
"True love is a relationship unicorn. You either find it, or you spend your entire life searching for it", this has been my view of love my entire life.
And... All this talk about mythology, made me want to read Stephen Fry's 'Mythos' again - which I think I will! Now, for the parts I didn't like.
At times is a bit too dramatic. I know Greek mythology is supposed to be dramatic, but I found it overly so. Like the arrival of Val's real father - I won't spoil it -... was not keen on that part.
Quite a few times, Nina's asthma took over the story, I think there was way too much of it. Overall, I enjoyed it. I wouldn't read it again, it is one of those books I would read on holiday but nothing more.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sword and Silk Books for providing me with an e-ARC for an exchange of an honest review.

Foretold - Violet Lumani

What is it about: Cassandra sees death and devastation all around her. In vivid detail.
It’s the price of living with her OCD and extreme anxiety. In every situation, Cass imagines the worst possible fate for everyone in her life. Her dad in a pool of blood after a break-in. Her beloved older neighbour, homeless. A splinter in her finger turned to gangrene.

But this time, it’s not her imagination. The boy next door, Colin, is destined to die. Cass has foretold a real death before; she knows this is a true vision.
Desperate to save Colin's life, Cass immerses herself in a secret organization of soothsayers that promises to teach her how to change the future she foresees. But as she descends into their hidden world of divinatory magic and predictive technology, she discovers there's always a price to pay for unravelling fate's strands. And cheating death will cost her everything.

My Thoughts: First things first, the cover is just beautiful - look at it!! I got attracted by it and made me read the synopsis - which then drew me to read the book.

I gave this 4* just because there were only a couple of things I struggled with. It has a bit of a messy plot at the beginning, it was slow to start with but I wanted to see where it was going and towards 60% of the book, it became better and better. So now I am looking forward to reading the second one, specially after the ending! OMG that ending. I did not see it coming at all, had to re-read that part a couple of times to make sure I read it correctly the first time.

Said so, I really enjoyed the concept of this book. The trilogy has great potential and it looks like in this first book, we only discovered a small part of what can be a wonderful new world. 
Some elements were based on mythology - which is always a plus for me; some parts made me chuckle and others made me gasp. 
I liked how the characters were built, except for Noah, which I am still struggling with and hope to have some sort of closure in the next book. 

Thank so much to NetGalley and Uproar Books for the ARC of this book.
Foretold is the first book of 'The Scryers' trilogy by Violet Lumani and will be published on 20/07/21 - will definitely get the physical copy of this.

Exciting Times - Naoise Dolan

What is it about: When you leave Ireland to spend your parent's money, it's called a gap year. When Ava leaves Ireland to make her own money, she's not sure what to call it, but it involves:

• A badly paid job in Hong Kong, teaching grammar to rich children

• Julian, who likes to spend money on Ava and lets her move into his guest room

• Edith, who Ava meets while Julian is out of town and actually listens to her when she talks

• Money, love, cynicism, unspoken feelings and unlikely connections

Exciting times ensue.

My Thoughts: I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't. It'll be such an unpopular opinion, but it dragged for me. I couldn't get into it. All the characters were unlikable.
Ava is moving to a new country and all she does is spending her time with a man she barely knows who just controls her because he can. Even Ava herself refers to Julian as "her owner" at some point. How sad.
She leaves home for a new adventure, for something exciting, like the title would suggest, but she ends up in this relationship that's not even a relationship.

Then she meets Edith and once again, she is constantly seeking her approval. She has a crush on her and she doesn't know how to deal with it, she starts questioning her sexuality. Probably the Edith's chapters are the most likeable part of this book. Ava becomes a little more human and relatable. Although I still don't like her, she's another person with Edith.

When Julian comes back from London, the old Ava appears again and now she has to choose between Julian and Edith. Needless to say she made a mess out of it.
All of them were such annoying characters.
The writing was flowing at least.
But I'm really sorry to say, this book did not bring me joy.

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton

What is it about: At a party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed - again.
She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. The only way to break this cycle is to identify Evelyn's killer. But every time the day begins again, Aiden wakes in the body of a different guest. And someone is desperate to stop him ever escaping Blackheath...

My Thoughts: Wow! I have no other words but wow! This is definitely not the book I thought it was going to be. It is better.
I was expecting just this guy waking up every morning in a different guest and reliving the same day over and over watching Evelyn's death and trying to catch the murderer.
Boy I was wrong! This was much more. The party is set the same day as Evelyn's brother's death many years earlier, with the same set of guests. 
Is this a hunt to catch Evelyn's killer or find the truth about Thomas' death?
The story is such a labyrinth of different point of views and mind-games that you definitely do not see the ending coming. It was such a shock! My reaction when reading the last line was "WTF did just happen?!"

I definitely recommend this to everyone who enjoys a bit of adrenaline and  mystery.

The 24-Hour Cafe - Libby Page

First book finished in April 😊
Once again, it left me a bit torn.
I did enjoy it, and I enjoyed the concept behind it, but I thought it would be slightly different.
The story is set in Stella's cafe, which is open 24-hours, where the early workers and the night owls go.
Hannah and Mona work at the cafe, they are best friends and have a much bigger dream than working at a cafe.
The book tells the story of some of the clients at the cafe, mostly new clients, as well as Hannah's and Mona's.
I have to admit, I much preferred the stories of all the other people but not Hannah's and Mona's, I felt they were a bit dull and predictable.
I wish there was more of other people's stories.
What I liked, though is that there was a proper ending to the book, so you get to see what happens to everyone at the end. Writing was very fluid and easy to read.
Overall not a bad book, but not in my top 10 either. I have not read The Lido yet, and I have read it was good, so I might still give it a go.

Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi

Firstly, I have to admit I bought this book just for the cover. I hadn't read the synopsis. I bought it because it looked pretty and I kept seeing it everywhere.
My thoughts on this book are torn. I enjoyed it but I struggled finishing it. Even though it was only 250 pages - usually a breeze for me! - I had to force myself to read it.
The topics written here are not easy, it's not one of those books you can read just before bed time with all your lights switched off but one. You have to pay attention, to focus, to have all your lights on.
I wouldn't have read it if it wasn't for the cover.
It talks about spirituality, drug addiction, depression and dealing with loss. Some heavy stuff.
I didn't enjoy the type of writing to be honest. It keeps passing from one thing to the other without warning and it is a bit unnerving.
I'm glad I read it, though because I finally read something different.

The Authenticity Project - Clare Pooley

Title: The Authenticity Project

Author: Clare Pooley

Pages: 352

First Published: 2020

My Thoughts: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Such an uplifting novel that forces 6 strangers to face their own truth. And in doing so, it forces you to do that also. There were parts of the book that were obvious, and other that you didn't see coming.
I only gave 4⭐ simply because there was so much hype around it and I was expecting something even bigger and better. I suppose that's the risk in reading popular books.
Said so, I loved it and I would highly recommend it to everyone.