Itās a bit of a short review today. Today Iām going to be reviewing Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. It will be sort of spoilery as it speaks about one of the end outcomes so if you donāt want spoilers, check out some of my non spoiler reviews for other books here, here, here or here.
Letās get onto the review!
Nimona is a short graphic novel about a shapeshifter called Nimona. She wants to be a villain and soon becomes the sidekick of evil villain Lord Ballister Blackheart. Their mission is simple: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin (yes, thatās his name o_o) and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics arenāt the good guys that everyone believes them to be. But as the mischief and small battles pile up, Lord Blackheart realised that Nimonaās powers are as mysterious as her past. And her unpredictability may be more dangerous than heād like to admitā¦
This book gave me so many feels. I literally read this in one sitting. It GRIPPED me.
First of all, Nimona is a mood. And sheās brutal at times but it was such a powerful moment when she reconnected with herself. She was also humorous though; a stark contrast to the gloomy and serious environment of the whole novel.
I loved the integration of science with magic and old period setting with new tech. It was shocking at first but I soon grew to like it.
Why canāt more novels do that type of mish-mash?
I will admit, this novel a little confusing at times. But that may have just been my struggle to interpret some of the images or dialogue in a situation. Like it would be following one way and suddenly turn a corner that I didnāt expect. Like walking down the yellow brick road to Oz but ending up in Hogwarts.
The ending was sweet but I sort of wished that Nimona had stayed with the villain and had a happier ending.
Alsoā¦
ā¦Iām a shark.
Which is a reference youāll only get if you read the book so go check it out now! XD
P.S. this book should be available on Amazon or Waterstones but donāt forget to support your local bookstore by buying it there, if available.
Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
LeafPages
If you liked this post, please consider following me or buying me a Ko-Fi to support this blog!
Hi everyone! So Iāve requested some books from Netgalley and also received some in giveaways and reviewing platforms so I thought Iād do a post to show you all. The ones that are from kindle were free! So take a look, you might find some great reads!
Netgalley
Kindle
Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
LeafPages
If you liked this post, please consider following me or buying me a Ko-Fi to support this blog!
Well this wouldāve been a while ago now but I believe the last book I bought was Daughter of the pirate king by Tricia levenseller. I wasnāt a big fan at first but itās alright as I get further into it.
Last Book I Re-Read:
The last book I re-read was, I believe, The Last Witch by M.J Lawrie. I get sucked into that book all the time.
Before that, I re-read Inherit the stars by Tessa Elwood. I love that book so much that I re-read it often.
Another one I re-read a lot is The Host by Stephanie Meyer. I absolutely love that book, itās my favourite. I really wish there was a sequel but I wouldnāt want anything less than the quality of The Host. š
Last Book I Gave Up On:
Ah. Well, thereās quite a few. I wonāt name any because I was given them to review but I felt I couldnāt get into the stories.
Last Book I Said I Read But Didnāt:
Uhm. I donāt think Iāve ever done this. Maybe with the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare but to be fair, I did skim read it.
Last Book I Wrote in the Margins Of:
NEVERRRRRRR.
Iām not counting A Christmas Carol or An Inspector Calls because that was for school.
Last Book I Lost:
Iāve never lost a book. Most of the time Iāve given them away and forgotten (I remember later on) but Iāve never lost a book.
Last Book That I Had Signed:
Iāve never been to a book signing to get a book signed but Iāve recieved signed review copies of books from some indie authors.
Dusting Down Alcudia and The Jacobites Share by D. A Nelson were sent to me signed. Cyprus Kiss and Map of the dead by Murray Bailey were also sent to me signed. Also, Finding Balance by Amanda April Walsh was sent to me signed. Thank you so much to those authors.
Iāve also recieved signed bookplates from Tara Grayce (which came with a Farrendell sticker) and Helen Hoang (which came with a happy new year card that had art prints from her books). I almost cried when I recieved these!
Last Book I Had to Replace:
The last book I had to replace was my copy of Inkheart that sort of fell apart. Although Iāve also replaced my copy of Order of the phoenix too!
Last Book I Argued Over:
Uh probablyā¦Zodiac academy? I really disliked one of the MCs and everything about him irritated me. I was rooting for his friend though (Caleb anyone?)
Last Book You Couldnāt Find:
Ive since put my books into storage so Iām always looking for books Iāve put away now. Along for the ride by Sarah Dessen is one of such books.
Look what came in the post! A signed bookplate from Helen Hoang! And she even sent a happy new year card (that she wrote) with her bookās art print!!!
Hi everyone! So I have wanted a kindle for the LONGEST TIME and now that Iāve been giving away most of my books, Iāve decided to take the leap and buy a Kindle. I remember having kindles in my school library but never got the chance to use them because they were always booked.
(Haha, booked)
The kindle I have today is the Kindle Paperwhite 7th Generation (a.k.a. The Kindle Paperwhite 3 – the line of kindles is so confusing). I bought it secondhand from eBay and in this post I will be reviewing it and telling you my thoughts on it. At the end, I will decide whether to keep it or not.
So for ebooks right now, I actually use the Kindle App on my phone and Iāve found this pretty easy to use (except for when it comes to buying books on iPhone -.-). I will be comparing the kindle e-reader to the app because I will go back to using the kindle app if things donāt work out with this e-reader.
Obviously there will be pros and cons of both – the kindle is black and white so it wonāt have the colour themes that the app has such as green, beige or black paper background. Some models of kindle has the black night mode but this particular model does not.
Before we start, some things to note about this kindle:
I bought this secondhand and so there is a crack in the screen (which wasnāt stated in the listing -.-). Itās a small crack but light leaks through so weāre going to see whether it bothers me enough that I return it
As I said before, it is black and white e-ink so there is no colour
This paperwhite 3 is a 2015 model so itās quite old but Amazon didnāt release the next generation until 2018. As tempting as it was to get a Paperwhite 4, I wasnāt so sure if I would like the flush screen so I went with this model instead.
At the end of this test, I will be comparing the pros and cons of both the kindle and the kindle app, as well as physical books.
Letās get to it!
Kindle type: Paperwhite (3)
Generation: 7th generation
Year: 2015
Storage: 4GB
Screen size: 6 inches
Resolution: 300 ppi
Features:
Touchscreen
built in adjustable light
Bookerly font
Lightweight
Long lasting battery (weeks!!)
Very little glare
Day One – Initial Thoughts
So the first thing I noticed about this ebook reader is that itās a little wider than my phone (obviously) which should mean itās a little easier to read the words. This particular series of kindle, the Paperwhite has 300 PPI – pixels per inch which means that the words are very clear.
When I turned the light down, the kindle looks scarily a lot like paper. Although, you donāt get that satisfying page turning feel. The crack in the screen is not visible when the light is on itās lower settings however itās quite visible when the light is on.
Without frontlight
With frontlight
The front light is very bright. Iād imagined that it wouldnāt be a good idea to be in a dark room with the brightness all the way up as it might damage your eyesight. So please do not do this!
Itās a bit laggy but I expected that as it has a slower processor than a phone, so that the charge lasts longer. It doesnāt bother me too much except for when Iām downloading a book from the kindle cloud – that can take a few minutes.
Iām hoping the e-ink can help reduce strain on my eyes as I use a lot of computers everyday as a student which can leave me with headaches and eye pain. And of course, the effects of blue light. Itās not always possible for me to read physical books at night and ebooks on my phone can sometimes strain my eyes.
Day 2 – Iām in love
Iāve not used it so much today but Iāve explored the layout of it. Iāve not properly read a book on it, just skimmed a few pages but I can say right now that I LOVE IT! Itās everything Iāve dreamed of and Iām so glad I got this one instead of the Paperwhite 4.
Iāve discovered that this particular one is with ads – which Iām so happy about because it means I can discover new books (Iām not so Amazon savvy so finding new books can be a pain).
You can upload PDFs to this as well which means I can read articles or ARCS that only have PDF format available here. Although, Iād recommend this for mainly reading books instead of big things like textbooks.
Day 3 – Reading š on my new kindle
So Iāve begun reading on the kindle. The book Iām reading is The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning.
I really love the size of this kindle. The words are big enough that I can see them (which is adjustable) and the actual screen is wide enough for me to read. I find that with the kindle app, my actually phone is too tall or too small and obviously physical books are non adjustable in both book and font size.
Obviously there is still something so satisfying about a physical book but Iām starting to love the adjustable fonts and sizes on the kindle and kindle app.
Iāve discovered that the lag during the download of books from my cloud is mainly due to my own rubbish Wi-Fi connection. So no worries here, people. As soon as I got a stronger signal, it downloaded way quicker.
The crack on the screen didnāt bother me so much while I was reading as itās only visible at a slight angle and only when the light was on. However with a dim light it was barely visible and Iām just grateful to have even this device. Itās looking like I may keep this device.
The crack sho
Day 4 – The Annoying Update
So today, I woke up to my kindle having a different interface. It seemed to have auto updated overnight which I find especially annoying as I had just got used to the old interface.
Now there is a big ugly arrow at the topā¦staring at you on both the home and the libraryā¦
Instead of the cute block display for brightness adjustment, we now have an ugly slider which I DETEST.
Especially because itās so similar to a phone and I want to escape my phone when I read.
Behold the laggy and unfavourable adjustment slider
Thereās also been changes to the settings menu but I canāt pinpoint what since I didnāt actually take pictures of it.
Anyway, Iāve not actually tried to connect my goodreads or explore the kindle store yet so I may do that tomorrow.
Day 5 – Shopping and Final Verdict
I found shopping for kindle books to be a little slow, mainly because Iām used to the fast speed of a phone. However I found the little interface really cute!
š
So Iām just going to list some pros and cons of the kindle, kindle app and physical books that I personally found on this experience.
Kindle
Pros
Adjustable light
Lightweight
Good size screen
Linked to goodreads
Good battery
Good screen size
Adjustable fonts and font size (and margins etc)
Access to the internet
Cons
Screen easily damaged
If you get one with ads, you may find the lack of a personalised screensaver annoying
Laggier than a phone (understandably – has a low processor)
The ugly slider thing (ok so itās a con just for me)
Have to have a good Wi-Fi connection
No colour so no pretty covers and no adjustable themed paper
No satisfying page turn
Is not a physical book
Kindle app
Pros
Fast
Adjustable font, themes and font size etc
COLOURRRR
Brilliant resolution
Obviously have access to your phones other capabilities (goodreads, social media, camera, internet, wordpress etc.)
Cons
If you crack your phone screen, that greatly affects the reading experience
Drains battery
Blue light
Is not a physical book
Physical books
Pros
SATISFYINGGG
Book smells
The fumble of the bookmark
Book in your hands
Looks pretty
Cons
Is not adjustable in any way
Can hurt to hold for a long time
Not an ebook reader
No link to goodreads
Losing bookmark
So the final verdict: Was this kindle worth it? Definitely. Will I be keeping it? Yup. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you find that you already read ebooks – if youāre strongly against ebooks then perhaps just give it a try?
Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
LeafPages
If you liked this post, please consider following me or buying me a Ko-Fi to support this blog!
Nightfall is a paranormal fantasy book about a human called Tegan and one day sheās at work in a grocery store when a stranger helps her fend off an armed robber. However it all gets strange when he looks at the robber with glowing eyes and convinces him to leave without a fight. He then tells Tegan to forget she ever saw anything.
But of course, she remembers. Then she sees the same stranger in the VIP section of the new club and her whole world turns upside downā¦
ššš
I loved this book. The premise of the story was what drew me in and I had no regrets reading this. It was thrilling and I love how it didnāt just focus on the main love interest but expanded to a whole world of supernatural creatures.
I liked the character of Tegan. Sheās hilarious and somewhat realistic. She doesnāt let anyone tell her what to think or how to feel and I personally love that. Thatās a big thing from me because I usually find some characters are unrealistically invincible or theyāre frustratingly weak but Tegan didnāt sway to any extreme.
I loved the character of Rita, sheās so headstrong and sarcastic but underneath that initial impression, sheās actually incredibly smart and talented. I absolutely loved that because characters that seem mean are usually only one sided, as in thereās no other aspect to their characters but I loved that Rita had something other than mean. She stands up for herself and also doesnāt let anyone tell her who she is. She had a strong sense of herself.
I loved the whole world and itās supernatural aspect, I really enjoyed this book and Iād definitely read the next book if I could.
Thanks for reading, my lovelies. I hope you check out this book. It DOES end on a cliffhanger though so be prepared to have the next book to hand.
Soā¦Iām a little dramatic. In all honesty, I probably didnāt need to make a whole post on this but I thought itād be interesting.
From today, I will be unhauling a lot of my physical books. This is mainly because of a lack of space. Physical books are beautiful but it turns out itās not useful to have them in stacks on the floor when youāre trying to set up a new desk.
Donāt worry, no books were harmed (much) in the installation of this desk.
Anyway, I realised that in this one section of the room where I stacked my books (I have a bookshelf but meh), I havenāt seen that part of the floor in months.
But thatās not all.
Iāve been super busy with university for a while and Iāve realised that Iāve stopped reading physical books for a while now for a lot of reasons:
Lack of time
Too lazy to pick one up and hold it
Too scared of bending my more expensive books
I donāt like some books but been forcing myself to read them
I usually read ebooks more because Iām always on my phone, it makes no noise, endless bookmarks without having to scout one out and I can highlight and write notes. Itās also where all the arcs I recieve are soā¦
So I decided that in order for me to make space to, you know, live, I would have to get rid of these books.
Now when I say get rid, I mean selling or donating. NOT BINNING (canāt do that to a book š). I want these to go to a nice home so someone else can enjoy them.
Iāve not actually read many of the books Iām selling but Iām hoping that means that I wonāt miss them so much. One of the hardest things Iāve ever had to do but I think it will personally benefit me at this moment in time.
Until I have the space, time and money to buy them all again š
If youāre in the UK and youāre interested in buying any of my books (the money will go towards getting an old cheap kindle so I can still review books for you guys), just let me know or check out my Depop page (link below). I need them gone as soon as possible so I can move on with my life so any little helps!
Hey everyone! So I wanted to add my favourite books and etc from 2021. This is part 2 of my last post, end of year wrap up 2021.
Favourite books of 2021
So Iād have to say that there was a LOT of favourites last year. I wonāt rank them but I will write a list of all the books I loved.
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
The mythology in this one was amazing, I love how bracken retells it and incorporates most of the Greek gods.
Like A Love Song by Gabriela Martins
I LOVED THIS ONE! For some reason, when I read it, it was just the perfect time to read it and I really felt swayed by the emotions of the MC. I love that sheās Brazilian and thereās lgbtq+ rep in one of the mcs. I vote this a MUST READ!
The Last Witch trilogy by M.J Lawrie
My all time favourite of 2021! HUGE trigger warning though, this book is dark and not for the faint of heart.
Inherit The Stars & Split the sun by Tessa Elwood
These were both wonderful books and Inherit the stars was just amazing. I devoured that book and was left thirsty for more.
Inherit the stars actually came from my box from A Box of Stories last year, you can find that blog post here. My discount code is still available so get it while you can!
When Iām back to blogging again properly, there will be a giveaway for Inherit the Stars made possible by the author, Tessa Elwood, so make sure you stay tuned to find out how to enter.
City Of Thorns by C.N Crawford
This one left me on an enormous cliffhanger that I just had to put it on this list. There were so many plot twists in it, it was amazing.
Fierce Heart by Tara Grayce
Ever dreamed of a human/elf marriage alliance?? Well this is it.
Raising Hell by Bryony Pearce
Ever wanted to take the p.o.v of a kickass lady security guard in a zombie apocalypse? Well now you can.
Youāre So Undead To Me by Stacey Jay
Another zombie oneā¦think I had a zombie phase going on. This oneās about people who help the zombies settle unfinished business and etc.
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
I wonāt lie, the main reason I liked this one wasnāt because of the romance – it was because of the academic setting. I liked that it was set in a university of sorts with lab research. It felt more relatable than high school academic settings.
Iāve been desperately searching for more fiction books in this type of setting so if anyone has any recommendations, please let me know in the comments!
Thatās all Iāve got for today. If youāve read any of these or end up reading these, let me know. Iād love to know what you think/thought!
Has it really been another year? 2021 flew by but I certainly donāt think it was any easier. I feel like this year was all about growth, adaptation and hope.
So, another year with LeafPages Blog! I want to thank all of you, readers and authors alike, for supporting this blog. Without you, Iād still be in a tiny pocket of the internet, talking to myself about books.
I was pretty much absent for most of this year due to life and exams but I will try even harder next year to fit blogging into my schedule.
There. Thatāsmy New Years resolution.
Itās been a year since Iāve done one of these posts so I canāt really remember what to include. Not to mention, I donāt have a lot of time to write this up as itās already New Years.
So without further ado, letās get to it!
Goodreads
So my goodreads goal was initially 50 books but I changed it 47 because thatās how many books I read and I canāt deal with failure (I joke).
So insert a bunch of images of my goodreads life:
Blog
Hereās some blog stats for this year:
So thatās all I got for now. Thanks for reading. Check out my last post for my December wrap up where I talk about the books Iāve read.
Hi everyone! Iāve been super busy with uni these past few months so thatās why Iāve been so inactive. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!
Once again, itās exam season so Iāll be studying a lot, like I have been for most of the year. So blog activities will be really slow, as you may have noticed. Iāll still be posting but at irregular times.
Iāve merged November and December in this post as the amount of books I read wasnāt a lot.
Anyway, letās get on to the wrap up!
Nightfall by L.H Cosway
I believe this is the only book I finished last month.
Nightfall is a paranormal fantasy book about a human called Tegan and one day sheās at work in a grocery store when a stranger helps her fend off an armed robber. However it all gets strange when he looks at the robber with glowing eyes and convinces him to leave without a fight. He then tells Tegan to forget she ever saw anything.
But of course, she remembers. Then she sees the same stranger in the VIP section of the new club and her whole world turns upside downā¦
ššš
I loved this book. The premise of the story was what drew me in and I had no regrets reading this. It was thrilling and I love how it didnāt just focus on the main love interest but expanded to a whole world of supernatural creatures.
Iām going to write a separate review for this book and link it here when itās up!
Lore by Alexandra Bracken
This book was FANTASTIC. I understand it may not be for everyone due to the gore and dark themes but this was exactly my type of thing. I love mythology, but mix it with a light romance and dark themes? Itās perfect. The gore was a little too much for me sometimes but I was pretty good atā¦not lingering on those images. I really loved the characters and although I found some bits predictable, there were still enough plot twists to keep me guessing.
I canāt really comment on this as Iāve only just started reading it but the plot seems interesting. Iām not a huge fan of the characters so far but I guess weāll see as Iām carrying this book on into 2022.
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
This is another one that Iāve only just started reading but Iām loving it so far. I like how tough the MC is.
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Again, Iāve just started this but Iām loving the plot. The MC is a bit too reckless in my opinion but I suppose I wouldnāt keep reading it if she wasnāt as not much would be happening as consequences of her reckless actions. I do like that sheās smart in a DIY, DT sort of way and she can fight.
Thatās it for this wrap up, have a lovely New Yearās Eve and Iāll be posting an end of year wrap up soon!
LeafšPages 