Review: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman - Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life. From Goodreads.

First Class Post (80) & Monthly Recap

First Class Post - because this post is first class!


Check out Sunday mail memes:
Showcase Sunday on Books, Bisuits and Tea
The Sunday Post on Caffeinated Book Reviewer.
As I suggested at the beginning of the month, I'm going to try a monthly post rather than a weekly one. So here are the books I received in February.

For review:

• The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt (proof)
• Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton - LGBTQ YA
• The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhar
• Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World by Janet E. Cameron - LGBTQ YA
• How to Fly with Broken Wings by Jane Elson

NetGalley:

• Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton (not pictured)
• The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig (not pictured)
• Made For You by Melissa Marr (not pictured)

Reading Copies:

Reading copies are books I get from publishers via my job as a Children's Bookseller, to read and then write staff reviews for the shop. I also review them on my blog.

• Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten (proof)
• Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky - LGBTQ YA
• Love, Lucy by April Lindner

Bought:

• Fire with Fire by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
• Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian
• The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley by Shaun David Hutchinson - LGBTQ YA
• Starring Kitty by Keris Stainton - LGBTQ UKYA
• Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White
• Proxy by Alex London - LGBTQ YA
• Lullabies by Lang Leav (not pictured)
• Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost
• Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Thank you to Usborne, Atom, Chicken House, Hachette Ireland, Hachette Children's Books, Electric Monkey, Hyperion, Little Brown, and Corgi Children's, HarperVoyager and HarperCollins Children's Books via NetGalley for the review and reading copies.

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Inspired by Faye of A Daydreamer's Thoughts's Weekly Recap, and other bloggers' monthly wrap-ups, here is a recap of my posts over the last month, and anything else I found interesting.

Reviews:

• The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell - Unfortunately this wasn't my cup of tea. I found it quite lacking.
• Starring Kitty by Keris Stainton - A great LGBTQ YA story for younger readers, but not really my bag.
• We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen - This book is SO GOOD! I loved it, and the characters' voices! Just brilliant!
• Unspeakable by Abbie Rushton - This book sounded so promising, but was actually a bit of a let down for me.
• Lullabies by Lang Leav - A really beautiful book of poetry! I love Leav's words!
• Fire With Fire by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian - Oooh, how I love this trilogy! So excited to read the last book, Ashes to Ashes! 
• Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White - A good story, but quite lacking for me in a few areas. I expect more from high fantasy.
• Hunt by Rachel Vincent - A short story bridging the Shifters series with new paranormal romance new adult Wildcats series. Great short story! Really looking forward to the new series!
• I also read The Last Summer of Us by Maggie Harcourt. My review is scheduled for the end of April, just before it's released, but I read it this early as I had the opportunity to provide a quote to be printed in the finished copy. This book is really beautiful, and so moving! I loved it!

This month's A Novel Cover Up posts:

• Ness Wood & Alice Todd on The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

This month's Top Ten Tuesday posts:

• Top Ten LGBTQ YA Books I Can't Believe I Haven't Read 
• Top Ten Things I Like/Dislike When It Comes to Romance
• Top Ten Book Related Problems I Have

Other posts:

• My reaction to discovering I was shortlisted for the Champion of YA Award in the UKYA Blogger Awards

Review: Hunt by Rachel Vincent

Hunt by Rachel Vincent - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

It’s been more than four years since Abby Wade survived capture and torture by a quartet of rogue shifters. Back then she was a scared kid, just trying to survive.

Now Abby is all grown up, and if she’s learned anything from training with Faythe Sanders, the world’s first female Alpha, it’s that she can take care of herself—and anyone else who comes along. So when her college roommate is abducted from a campsite deep in the Appalachian woods, Abby knows exactly how to get her back…

The rules of the hunt are simple. Kill or be killed.

Abby Wade is not ready to die. From Goodreads.

Review: Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White - “I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him. From Goodreads.

Review: Fire With Fire by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian

Fire With Fire by Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian - WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Lillia, Kat and Mary had the perfect plan. Take down the people who had wronged them and leave no trace of their involvement. But everything blew up in their faces at the Homecoming Dance.

Now Lillia and Kat are starting to second-guess their plotting, but Mary is insistent that she finally gets the revenge she deserves - destroy Reeve like he destroyed her.

But as more secrets threaten to reveal themselves, the girls' pact becomes harder to maintain. Emotions are spiralling out of control, and there's too much at stake. Because once a fire is lit, sometimes the only thing you can do is let it burn. From the blurb.

Top Ten Book Related Problems I Have

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme run by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is Ten Book Related Problems I Have.
1. Working in a bookshop - I am surrounded by awesome YA novels all day. Most of the time, I am an example of brilliant self-control, but sometimes that self-control slips, and I go spending money I probably shouldn't.

Once Upon a Bookcase Has Been Shortlisted for a UKYA Blogger Award

Last month, I discovered I was longlisted for the UKYA Blogger Awards, and was so over the moon. How incredible that our UKYA blogging community has been noticed and is now being acknowledged by having publishers, publicists and authors want to give us awards for what we do, and that I was included with the 33 other bloggers on that list.

I'm finding this post very difficult to write, because I'm struggling to find the words. Finding myself on the longlist was such an unbelievable high, and I was so amazed. On Saturday, the shortlists for each category were announced, and I discovered I'm on the shortlist for the Champion of YA award. I am completely overwhelmed, I can't tell you. I really hoped I would be on a shortlist for something, but I never actually believed I would be.