Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai

𝐼𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓁 𝒹𝒶𝓎𝓈 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒱𝒾ệ𝓉 𝒩𝒶𝓂 𝒲𝒶𝓇, 𝐻ằ𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓈 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝒽, 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉, 𝒹𝑒𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓂𝒾𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒶 𝓌𝒶𝓎 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝒻𝑒𝓉𝓎 𝒾𝓃 𝒜𝓂𝑒𝓇𝒾𝒸𝒶. 𝐼𝓃 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝓁𝒾𝓉 𝓈𝑒𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒹, 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝒽 𝒾𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝓅𝓅𝑒𝒹 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓇𝓂𝓈—𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐻ằ𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓇-𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓃 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉𝓇𝓎.

𝒮𝒾𝓍 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝐻ằ𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝓊𝓉𝒶𝓁 𝒿𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓃𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒱𝒾ệ𝓉 𝒩𝒶𝓂 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒾𝓃 𝒯𝑒𝓍𝒶𝓈 𝒶𝓈 𝒶 𝓇𝑒𝒻𝓊𝑔𝑒𝑒. 𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓉𝓁𝑒 𝒷𝓇𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓂 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓊𝓃𝓉𝒾𝓁 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑒𝑒𝓉𝓈 𝐿𝑒𝑒𝑅𝑜𝓎, 𝒶 𝒸𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝒷𝑜𝓎 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒷𝒾𝑔 𝓇𝑜𝒹𝑒𝑜 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒹𝑒𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓁𝓅 𝒽𝑒𝓇.

𝐻ằ𝓃𝑔 𝒾𝓈 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝒿𝑜𝓎𝑒𝒹 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝓊𝓃𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓈 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝒽. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓏𝑒𝓈 𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝑒𝓈𝓃’𝓉 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓎, 𝑜𝓇 𝒱𝒾ệ𝓉 𝒩𝒶𝓂, 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒽𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒸𝓇𝓊𝓈𝒽𝑒𝒹. 𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓌𝑒𝑒𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝓈 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝐻ằ𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝒶𝓈 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓈𝑜 𝒻𝒶𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒹𝑜 𝒶𝓃𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝓇𝒾𝒹𝑔𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝒶𝓅.

***Synopsis copied from amazon.ca

Genre: Young Adult | Historical Fiction

3 out of 5 stars

Butterfly yellow is a heavy story about the awful kidnappings that happened during the Vietnam War and sits close to home for Thanhha Lai herself. She fled Vietnam during the war with her family and ended up in Alabama, USA.

Knowing the concept of Butterfly Yellow sat so close to her personal life story, right away I thought I was going to be raving about this read.

Although the story is heart wrenching I didn’t enjoy it near as much as I thought I would. Which honestly breaks my heart to say and makes me feel awful, especially being such a raw look into true moments from the past and touching on awful moments that still happen to this day in some countries.

Butterfly Yellow had huge potential to be an extremely powerful story.

The first 70-80 pages of this book started off amazing with Hang finally reaching the US to find her brother, who she believed to still be in danger. But as Hang met LeeRoy a wonderful young man willing to help Hang in her desperate travels. The story started to fall apart. I found it very choppy and as if details were left out. I was finding myself having a hard time following what was happening, almost as if the plot needed more context. There were also added moments of drama that I felt didn’t need to be in this already overwhelming sad story.

I have heard raving reviews on Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out & Back Again, which is written in verse. There were moments while reading Butterfly Yellow that I felt Lai was almost heading toward writing in that format. Maybe that would have brought this read to life for me….. I don’t know.

All this being said, Butterfly Yellow is not an awful novel and many would connect with it on a different level than I have.

I am not upset by any means that I read Butterfly Yellow. It brings attention to events that shouldn’t be ignored or forgotten and if history is an interest of yours at all, than I do suggest you give this one a go.

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Canada & HCC Frenzy for sending this arc my way for review.

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release date: September 3, 2019

And of course thank you all for reading.

Your Heart Felt Book Worm

-Nichole

Kill River & Kill River 2 by Cameron Roubique

𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 & 𝙆𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙍𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧 2

ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ᴏꜰ 1983, ᴛʜɪʀᴛᴇᴇɴ-ʏᴇᴀʀ-ᴏʟᴅ ᴄʏɴᴅɪ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ɴᴇᴡ-ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ, ꜱᴛᴀᴄʏ, ᴢᴀᴄᴋ, ᴀɴᴅ ʙʀᴀᴅ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱɴᴇᴀᴋ ᴀᴡᴀʏ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ ᴄᴀᴍᴘ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅᴅʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ʙʏ ʀᴀꜰᴛɪɴɢ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴀʀʙʏ ʀɪᴠᴇʀꜱ. ᴀꜰᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴘᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴀ ᴛᴇɴꜱᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ʟᴏꜱᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴏᴅꜱ, ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴏᴜʀ ᴛᴇᴇɴᴀɢᴇʀꜱ ꜱᴛᴜᴍʙʟᴇ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴍʏꜱᴛᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ ᴘᴀʀᴋ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀꜱ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇʟʏ ᴇᴍᴘᴛʏ.

ᴀᴛ ꜰɪʀꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʜʀɪʟʟᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪᴅᴇꜱ ᴀʟʟ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇᴍꜱᴇʟᴠᴇꜱ, ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴅɪꜱᴀᴘᴘᴇᴀʀꜱ. ꜱᴏᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴀʀᴇ ᴛʀᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴋ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ꜰɪɢᴜʀᴇ ɪꜱ ꜱᴛᴀʟᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡꜱ, ᴘɪᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴏꜰꜰ ᴏɴᴇ ʙʏ ᴏɴᴇ. ᴏɴᴄᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ꜰᴀʟʟꜱ, ᴄʏɴᴅɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜰɪɢʜᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴇꜱᴄᴀᴘᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴋ, ᴀ ᴍᴀꜱᴋᴇᴅ ᴍᴀɴɪᴀᴄ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴀ ʟɪᴠɪɴɢ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ.

*** Synopsis copied from amazon.ca

5 out of 5 stars – for both

Cameron has done it! He is a new favourite author of mine.

I honestly had never read a 80’s slasher horror read before. To be honest I never even realised anything such as this existed within sub genres in horror. Until I took part in the BookTube’s: Bloody Beach Readatlong. Thank goodness for this readalong held by incredible BookTubers because I have now found one of my favourite type of reads within horror.

Kill River and Kill River 2 read exactly as 80’s slasher films. The first half is a slower paced read. Giving the perfect moment to introduce the characters, get a feel for their personalities and what they were all about. The plot was described in such perfect detail. I could really envision the scenes and where the characters where in each moment. It also gave me time to pick and choose my favourite characters and not so favourite.

I found myself even before the creepy moments started working around in my head who I thought was going to be killed first and potentially how they were going to die.

You know….just based on your typical slasher film rules. You know … those rules….If you don’t… than I don’t think you are a true slasher films lover!

Cameron’s description for both the characters and the settings were phenomenal and without being overly wordy. I felt as though I was seeing everything Cyndi and her friends where in the moment, right down to the beautifully landscaped water park decorated with the perfect wildflowers and other designs. Now this may become to hard for some to read when the murder scenes start. They did get extremely gruesome at times, so be sure you have a good strong stomach…. I can’t stress this enough.

These reads are not for everyone. But if you want to experience some of that 80’s slasher film nostalgic feels be sure to pick up both Kill River and its amazing sequel Kill River 2.

“𝕂𝕚𝕝𝕝 ℝ𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕣𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕, 𝕘𝕠𝕣𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 ‘𝟠𝟘𝕤 𝕟𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕘𝕚𝕒. 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕛𝕠𝕚𝕔𝕖, 𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕔𝕙𝕠𝕠𝕝 𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕒𝕔𝕜!”

And of course thank you all for reading.

Your Gruesome Book Worm

-Nichole

Fat Camp by James Sabata

𝐅𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏

𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝟏𝟗𝟖𝟓, 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝟓𝟎𝟎 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩 𝐖𝐚šíč𝐮, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝.𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝟒𝟎𝟎 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐜 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭… … 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐞.

*** Synopsis copied from amazon.ca

5 out of 5 stars

The slasher horror read with a deep underlining story.

Fat Camp was brilliant.

Phillip had lost so much in his close family life. Decides its time to do better by himself, runs off to camp Wasicu to lose weight. Only to lose much more than what he signed up for. Yet the strength that builds within Phillip is inspiring. He himself is a force to be reckoned with.

The slasher moments within Fat Camp were well done. They reminded me of a true slasher film. Quick, unexpected and shocking. Also not over the top, quiet realistic which only added to the chill factor.

I know the focus for most while reading this book is the murder scenes but I couldn’t help but get pulled right into the character growth as well. Existing relationships that flourished and new relationships launched. All while getting your quench of shocking, gory moments.

Moral of the story with Fat Camp. Don’t mess around with others, be careful how you wrong people. You never know who will decide to get an awful revenge!

Fat Camp was the perfect edition to my summer reads! Thank goodness my son was back from his summer camp long before I read this.

I would highly recommend this read. Sneak it in before our summer is completely gone.

“𝔽𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕚𝕝𝕞𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣, 𝔽𝕒𝕥 ℂ𝕒𝕞𝕡 𝕕𝕖𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣, 𝕙𝕦𝕞𝕠𝕣, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒 𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕥𝕝𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕓 𝕠𝕗 𝕟𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕘𝕚𝕒 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕨𝕙𝕠 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕨 𝕦𝕡 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕒𝕣𝕜.”

And of course thank you all for reading.

Your Gory Book Worm

-Nichole

The Nanny by Gilly Macmillan

𝒲𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒷𝑒𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝓃𝒶𝓃𝓃𝓎, 𝐻𝒶𝓃𝓃𝒶𝒽, 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒶 𝓉𝓇𝒶𝒸𝑒 𝒾𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝓂𝓂𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝟣𝟫𝟪𝟪, 𝓈𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃-𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇-𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝒥𝑜𝒸𝑒𝓁𝓎𝓃 𝐻𝑜𝓁𝓉 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝒶𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝑒𝒹. 𝐻𝒶𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑜𝓈𝓈, 𝒥𝑜 𝑔𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝓊𝓅 𝒷𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝒾𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓅𝒶𝓇𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝐿𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝐻𝒶𝓁𝓁, 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝒻𝒶𝒹𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝑜𝒸𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒾𝒸 𝒽𝑜𝓂𝑒, 𝒷𝑒𝒽𝒾𝓃𝒹.

𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝓎 𝓎𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓈 𝓁𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓇, 𝒥𝑜 𝓇𝑒𝓉𝓊𝓇𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝒻𝑜𝓇𝒸𝑒𝒹 𝓉𝑜 𝒸𝑜𝓃𝒻𝓇𝑜𝓃𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓊𝒷𝓁𝑒𝒹 𝓇𝑒𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇. 𝐵𝓊𝓉 𝓌𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒽𝓊𝓂𝒶𝓃 𝓇𝑒𝓂𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝒶𝒸𝒸𝒾𝒹𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒶 𝓁𝒶𝓀𝑒 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝑒, 𝒥𝑜 𝒷𝑒𝑔𝒾𝓃𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝑒𝓌.

𝒯𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓃 𝓊𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑒𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝓋𝒾𝓈𝒾𝓉𝑜𝓇 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝒸𝓀𝓈 𝑜𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝑜𝑜𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒥𝑜’𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓁𝒹 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝑒𝓈𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓎𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝒟𝑒𝓈𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝓅𝒾𝑒𝒸𝑒 𝓉𝑜𝑔𝑒𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑔𝒶𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒽𝑜𝓁𝑒𝓈 𝒾𝓃 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓂𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓎, 𝒥𝑜 𝓂𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝓊𝓃𝒸𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝓌𝒽𝑜 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝓃𝒶𝓃𝓃𝓎 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓌𝒶𝓈, 𝓌𝒽𝓎 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒻𝓉, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒾𝒻 𝓈𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝒶𝓃 𝓉𝓇𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝓌𝓃 𝓂𝑜𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇…

***Synopsis copied from amazon.ca

4 out of 5 stars

I was hooked from the very first sentence!

I have heard so many amazing things about Gilly’s writing. Personally this was my first read by her. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will for sure be check out more of her work in the near future.

Gilly had a fascinating concept, executed it perfectly and brought it to life.

Both the plot and character growth was brilliant throughout. Gilly knows exactly how to set an eerie vibe while keeping the characters completely relate-able. The moment I figured I knew exactly what was happening and who was to blame there was a shift causing me to question all of my original thoughts.

I found The Nanny extremely consumable, itching to know who the criminal was.

Now you may be wondering how I could love it so much but only have given it a 4 out of 5 stars. The Nanny was written from multiple perspectives and although I love reading novels written in this form. Moments within someones story line it would jump back and forth between the current time and the past, with a choppy transition. Not wanting to be confused, this caused me to go back and re-read a few times. Or I would keep reading in hopes that things would start to piece together, which of course it did and I was not disappointed.

A psychological thriller at its best!

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Canada for sending this arc my way for review.

Published by: William Morrow

Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers CA

The Nanny is set to release September 10, 2019. Mark your calendars, this is one you won’t want to miss out on.

And of course thank you all for reading.

Your Clever Book Worm

-Nichole

Book Cover Buys

I know every book lover has heard the term “don’t judge a book by its cover”.. right?

Can you honestly sit there and say you have never done it?

We all have, I am pretty sure of that. How can you not, some covers just pull you in with their beauty. Isn’t that what the cover is there for, to give some sort of preview of what’s on the inside.

Although I don’t always believe judging a book by its cover is a bad thing. A lot of books I picked up just for their beautiful covers became some of my all time favourite reads. I have also found new favourite authors this way as well.

I will say there are some types of covers that turn me away from the book, causing me not to pick it up. This I need to get over, who knows what amazing adventures I may be missing out on.

What are some cover buys you picked up? I would love to know, maybe I need to add them to my never-ending… slowly taking over the world list.

And of course thanks for reading

Your Fellow Book Worm

-Nichole

#backofthebookshelfbc

Why have I not thought about sharing this on here?!?!?!….

Mid January I reached out to my fellow Bookstagrammers to see if anyone was interested in taking part in a book club through Bookstagram (Instagram). I had such amazing feedback and now we are one large book club family!

Our name …Back Of The Bookshelf Book Club! — One heck of an awesome group, if I do say so myself.

The first book we chose was for February’s read. Giving everyone a chance to get their hands on the book if they didn’t already own it.

We are currently reading The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. This incredible read will be completed by the end of February.

Our group breaks the book up by chapters, reading so many chapters each week. Carrying the book throughout the full month. Each week we jump on Bookstagram together and discuss that weeks chapters.

The discussions sure can get heated, in the best way possible. Just shows how passionate we are about what we are reading.

We have already picked our read for March!!!… The Lost Girls of Paris by the amazing Pam Jenoff.

If you are interested in reading along… please do! And please let me know you are, so I can be sure to discuss the book with you as well. If you are interested in joining our group you can find me on Instagram. My handle is nichi.i_readpastmybedtime. You can also use the hashtag #backofthebookshelfbc on Instagram to find us.

Look forward to seeing you! And I will come on here each month and share our next read.

And of course thanks for reading!

Your Fellow Bookworm

-Nichole

Book Shopping

Who doesn’t love Book Shopping?

Oh how it warms my heart.

My most favourite place in the world is Chapters Indigo (It is the Canadian Barnes and Noble.. hehe).

As soon as I walk into Chapters it’s like walking into a warm hug! I know that sounds sappy but it’s true. All the gorgeous books, colors, cozy items. It truly is heaven on earth. Not to forget it is a great place for the whole family to enjoy AND the built-in Starbucks is A…MA…ZING.

Grab a delicious, nummy, HOT coffee and browse the world of books…. Mmmm. As I said HEAVEN.

Now Chapters is my favourite bookstore alive and I love the buzz of buying new books. But I am constantly on the hunt for amazing used bookstores as well. The nostalgia of walking around a store with all the used books that have been so well-loved and now will be passed on to another fellow book lover. I also personally love giving used books a new home. Don’t forget the smell, I love the smell of older books. Yes I will proudly admit I am a Book-sniffer. Don’t you hide, yes you out there! I know you do it too…. Yes I am looking at you!

So far one of my favourite used bookstores I have found in my area is called Wee Book Inn. So adorable, and each store has an adorable, cuddly, loving, fuzzy..CAT. Soooo sweet.

Online book shopping!…Eeeekkkkk.

Very exciting! The suspense while you wait for your order to come in. Sometimes even forgetting all that you purchased and being surprised all over again.

Doesn’t matter where you are buying from, being BookOutlet, Book Depository, Amazon, Chapters Online, etc…. as the list is never-ending. Online book shopping is a wonder.

I mean the books come right to your door. Which means you don’t even have the put the book you are currently reading down in order to get more BOOKS!

It is like Christmas with each package that comes in!

Now who are my library lovers out there?

I adore the library… unfortunately my local library has next to nothing on the shelves, they are just so bare. I rarely ever see a newer released book there either. BUT! that being said my boys and I still go, I still renew my card each year and I use their audiobook app as well. library’s are so important to have and it is critical in my eyes that we bring our children and show them the world of reading. Getting to pick up a book, reading the words on the page yet create a whole story in our minds. I would be lying if I didn’t say every now and then I don’t find a true hidden gem at my local library.

Where do you buy your books from?.. Maybe you don’t and you just use the library.

Share with me as I would love to hear!

And of course thank you all for reading

Your Fellow Book Worm

-Nichole

https://www.instagram.com/nichi.i_readpastmybedtime/

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

Advanced readers copy

“YOU’VE NEVER READ A LOVE STORY AS TWISTED AS THIS!”

Sweet Juliette loves Nate!

Nothing in the world will stop her from being with him. Not even Nate breaking up with her, 6 months ago….

I mean who does he think he is? Doesn’t he realise what he just gave up?

Juliette knows she has met the love of her life. She will go to any length to be as close as possible, at all times. She even started working as a flight attendant with the same airline Nate works for.

Nate is just clueless and Juliette will show him! He will be hers!

“Stick to the plan, fail to plan, plan to fail”.

5 out of 5 stars

Such an easy, brilliant read!

I cannot believe this is Karen’s fist novel. She was meant to write!

I know that Juliette is deranged and really you shouldn’t be rooting for her but Karen wrote her character so so well. I found at times I was feeling bad for her and the situation she was in. That is when you know you have discovered an amazing author, when they can make you feel, even for the “bad guys” in the story.

This book was so intense! Just when I thought I had figured out where the story was going a twist was thrown in. This happened multiple times throughout the novel. Karen’s writing constantly had me stretching my brain, so many incredible shifts in the story! Yet even with the fast pace, exciting story I kept up throughout. Karen’s writing was so smooth and flawless.

I am excited to see what Karen creates next!

“I don’t believe that opposites attract; I’m sure it’s a myth”.

Thank you so incredibly much to HarperCollins Canada for sending this riveting read my way.

Publisher: Graydon House

Release Date: December 31, 2018

“Revenge is a dish best served cold, and mine is going to be frozen”.

“If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they’re yours, If they don’t, make them”.

And of course thank you all for reading!

Your Fellow Book Worm

– Nichole

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”.

Stand-alone Books

Oh where or where are you?….

I recently uploaded a Bookish Thoughts video on my BookTube channel talking about stand-alone books.

Now please keep in mind these thoughts you are about to read are just my own. I may be completely off on my opinion. This is all in fun and I am just ranting my head off. Feel free to jump in with your opinion on the subject, perhaps you will make some strong points and will sway my opinion to the better. Maybe you agree?… Perhaps you will think I am crazy and just shake your head at me. It’s all good… as it’s all in fun!

Has anyone else noticed how so many books coming out are the 1st in a new series?… Is anyone else becoming over whelmed with their never-ending, slowly talking over the world TBR list?

I find myself searching more and more for stand-alone books. I don’t see them too often anymore especially when it comes to certain genres, such as Fantasy.

I understand that authors become passionate about the worlds they create and want to carry them on. Yet sometimes I just want to be able to consume a book, capturing the whole entire world and story line in just that one book, then hold it near and dear to my heart.

Now don’t get me wrong there are so many duology’s, trilogy’s and series that I love and can’t get enough of. Then there are some books I think one would have been enough… or why can’t more books that come out be just a stand-alone.

Now I honestly don’t know much of the author world or publishing world. Sometimes seeing so many new series being released makes me wonder if it’s the passion I talked about above with the world an author created or has it become more of a money hungry theme. Are authors pushing out books because they are excited to tell the whole story they have been building up in their head for years?, is it all about more money?, are they feeling pressure from publishing companies to carry on with it?…. Do you know? Because I don’t. Maybe it’s a mix of it all?….. Hmmm.

I also find a lot of books currently on my shelf that are the first in a new series are from book subscription boxes. Getting me hooked and wanting more, knowing I will need to pick up the second book. Where then the company will of course create a special edition box with the second book when it releases.

Just so many series to read!!!!!!…… Oh the anxiety … haha. Boy I sounds so dramatic.

Could it be the book community I am consumed in just doesn’t talk much about stand-alone’s and perhaps there are so many amazing ones out there I am missing out on?… Uh Oh .. I may be adding to that never-ending list again.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my crazy book nerd rant.

Your Fellow Book Worm

-Nichole

Belle’s Book Sleeves

What bookworm doesn’t travel with a book at all times?…Well most of the time anyhow.

A book sleeve is one of the best inventions created.

Travelling with your book and knowing it wont get damaged is the best feeling. Especially when you have taken the dust jacket off your hardcover wanting to keep it in great shape but then you worry about the books naked body!

I recently came across this new, up and coming Etsy shop that knows where it’s at when it comes to handmade book sleeves.

“Belle’s Book Sleeves”

Kelly is killing it left and right and selling out fast.

With new gorgeous, vibrant fabric patterns, FUR book sleeves (sooo plush!), liner color option on particular sleeves AND even starting “blind date with a book sleeve”. This is one shop you don’t want to miss out on.

I also can’t get over the theme. I mean correct me if I am wrong but Belle’s Book Sleeves gives me all the Beauty And The Beast vibes.

Shop name Belle and then the fur sleeves … come on that completely makes you think of the Beast… right?

Don’t take my word for it, go and check out her site. All I can say is —STUNNING!

Website:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/BellesBookSleeves?ref=shop_sugg

Instagram Account:

https://www.instagram.com/bellesbooksleeves/

Oh and while making your order.. because let’s be honest we all know your going to buy. You can use my code to save on your order.

Code: NICHI12 …You’re welcome!

And of course, thank you all for reading

Your Fellow Book Worm

-Nichole