The Princess Saves Herself In This One, Amanda Lovelace

the story of a princess turned damsel turned queen

* * 

2/5

I picked this up because I'd been hearing a lot of chatter about it. This won the Goodreads award for poetry and, as some who occasionally reads volumes of poetry, I was interested. I have given this collection a rating of 2/5 because whilst the poems were evocative, they simply did not work for me. Through no fault of the author, as this is clearly a highly personal collection and appears to me to perhaps be part of a cathartic process for her, I found many of the poems to not be particularly relatable. 

The Princess Saves Herself In This One is a highly personal collection of poems divided into four parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, and you. It incorporates themes of family, love, grief, anger, growing up, and healing. It is a highly emotional and impacting read, and I am certain that many of these poems will resonate with a great many people. 

Carve the Mark, Veronica Roth

"don't you dare tell me what death is," she said. "I know."

* * *

3/5

Carve the Mark tells the story of Akos from the Thuvhe people, captured by the people of Shotet and given to Cyra, a woman whose "currentgift" brings her only pain and whose brother, Ryzek, is a murderous tyrant. On the whole I enjoyed the lyrical prose and the characters. It is certainly a character-driven novel which suffers heavily from a lack of thorough world-building and reliance on unpleasant racial/religious stereotypes.

I was also massively attracted by the beautiful hardcover. 

[article] My Five Most Anticipated Sequels Of 2017

I love a good sequel. More exploration of a world I have grown to love? Meeting my favourite characters again alongside some new ones? The answer to a cliffhanger the last book left me on, or the continuation of a nicely wrapped up standalone? Sign me up! Some sequels are excellent because they are the fifth book in a series I don't want to end (whereas some series ought to have ended long ago), others because they are a nice surprise addition to something I didn't think was going to get a sequel. 

Without further ado, in reverse order of I-just-can't-wait-edness, my five most anticipated sequels being published in 2017!

Five 

A Crown of Wishes, Roshani Chokshi

The Star-Touched Queen, #2

Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes.

The Sword of Summer, Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard

"I hate this plan." I said. "Let's do it"

* * 

2 / 5

I have read all 10 books of the main Percy Jackson series. I enjoyed them. So when Magnus Chase was part of a buy one get one half off deal at Waterstones I picked it up with the full expectations of reading another book in the vein of Percy Jackson, with a sparkly new setting. Which is what I got. 

I have far less knowledge and experience with reading stories of Norse mythology than I do with Ancient Greek, so that aspect intrigued me, alongside the fact that at 16, Magnus was an older and hopefully more mature character than Percy. 

The Good:

Magnus was likeable and seemed genuine - he cried, got angry, was suspicious and a little untrusting. I appreciated the choice of his godly parent who was not (I don't believe) a particularly major deity (I think after Percy & Poseidon it would have been rather repetitive to choose a god like Thor or Odin for Magnus' father) and his spheres of domain and the powers Magnus got were interesting. 

Reviews By Genre

Here you can find all of my book reviews, loosely grouped genre. Obviously, there is a little bit of personal discretion in how I have categorised these; sometimes there is a very thin line between YA and Adult, or Fantasy and High Fantasy, or a book might fit under several headings. 

I have done my best to group these intuitively. 

If you are looking for reviews ordered by title, click here.

Young Adult

Contemporary

Am I Normal Yet? (The Spinster Club #1), Holly Bourne
Castaways, The, Jessika Fleck
Female of the Species, The, Mindy McGinnis 
Final Draft, Riley Redgate
Genuine Fraud, E. Lockheart
Girlhood, Cat Clarke

Girls Can't Hit, Tom Easton

Girl Off The Grid, Jillian Dodd

Grendel's Guide To Love and War, A. E. Kaplan

Hit the Ground Running, Mark Burley
I Hate Everyone But You, Gaby Dunn
Lucy and Linh, Alice Pung

Manifesto On How To Be Interesting, The, Holly Bourne

Mountain, Ursula Pflug

More of Me, Kathryn Evans

Noteworthy, Riley Redgate
Nothing, Annie Barrows
One Of Us Is Lying, Karen McManus

Orchid Caper, The, Connie Dowell

Radio Silence, Alice Oseman
S.T.A.G.S, M. Bennett
Solitaire, Alice Oseman

Sucktown, Alaska, Craig Dirkes

Valley Girls, Sarah Nicole Lemon

Dystopian
All Rights Reserved (Word$ #1), Gregory Katsoulis
Body Parts, Jessica Kapp
Gilded Cage (Dark Gifts #1), Vic James
I Am Traitor, Sif Sigmarsdottir
Magpie's Song (IronHeart Chronicles #1), Allison Pang
Tarnished City (Dark Gifts #2), Vic James
This Body Won't Break (O-Negative #1), Lea McKee

Fantasy
Ariadnis, Josh Martin
Beasts Made of Night, Tochi Onyebuchi
Boy With The Porcelain Blade, The, Den Patrick
Carve the Mark, Veronica Roth
Den of Shadows, Christopher Byford
Descendants, Rae Else
Everless (#1), Sara Holland
Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2), Elly Blake
Fire Queen, The (The Hundredth Queen #2),  Emily R. King
Frostblood (Frostblood Saga #1), Elly Blake
Hundredth Queen, The, Emily King
Mask of Shadows, Linsey Miller
Tethered Mage, The (Swords and Fire #1), Melissa Caruso
Now I Rise, Kiersten White
One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2), Kendare Blake
Quests of the Kings, Robert Evert
Rebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton

Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard

Resurrection (Skulduggery Pleasant #10), Derek Landy
Rogue Queen, The (The Hundredth Queen #3), Emily R. King
Rosemarked (Rosemarked #1), Livia Blackburne
Ruined (Ruined #1), Amy Tintera
Scourge (Darkhurst #1), Gail Z. Martin

Scythe, Neal Shusterman
Sky In The Deep, Adrienne Young
Smoke Thieves, The, Sally Green
Thief, The (The Queen's Thief #1), Megan Whalen Turner
Three Dark Thrones (Three Dark Thrones #1), Kendare Blake

True Born (True Born Trilogy #1), L. E. Sterling

True North (True Born Trilogy #2), L. E. Sterling

High Fantasy 
Darker Shade of Magic, A, V. E. Schwab
Shadowblack (Spellslinger #2), Sebastien de Castell
Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1), Sebastien de Castell
Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor
Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Arcane Ascension #1), Andrew Rowe

The Last Namsara (Iskari #1), Kristen Ciccarelli

Historical
Blood and Sand, C. V. Wyk
Girl With The Red Balloon, The, (The Balloonmakers #1), Katherine Locke

Man Who Won The World, The, O. E. Boroni
Wolf By Wolf (Wolf By Wolf #1), Ryan Graudin

Magical Realism
All the Crooked Saints, Maggie Stiefvater
Caraval, Stephanie Garber
Crown's Game, The (The Crown's Game #1), Evelyn Skye
Daughter of the Burning City, Amanda Foody
Fallen Flame, J Miller
Hush, The, Skye Melki-Wegner
House of Mountfathom, The, Nigel McDowell
Trial By Fire, Lore Graham
Uncrossing, The, Melissa Eastlake
Witchtown, Cory Putnam Oakes

Mythology
Epic Crush of Genie Lo, The, F. Lee
Hammer of Thor, The (Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asgard #2), Rick Riordan
Hidden Oracle, The (Trials of Apollo #1), Rick Riordan
Sword of Summer, The (Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard #1), Rick Riordan

Novellas
A Tale of Two Ladies, Glenn Song
Brother's Ruin, Emma Newman

Retellings
Bull, David Elliott
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1), Marissa Meyer
Flame In The Mist, Renee Ahdieh
Heartless, Marissa Meyer
To Kill A Kingdom, Alexandra Christo

Romance
Definitions of Indefinable Things, Whitney Taylor
Elite, The (The Selection #2), Kiera Cass

Love and Vandalism, Laurie Crompton

One, The (The Selection #3), Kiera Cass

Selection, The (The Selection #1), Kiera Cass

Under Rose-Tainted Skies, Louise Gornall

When Dimple Met Rishi, Sandhya Menon

Winner's Curse, The, Marie Rutkoski

Romance LGBT
Antisocial, Heidi Cullinan
Autoboyography, Christina Lauren
In Ageless Sleep, Arden Ellis

Sci-Fi
Diabolic, The (The Diabolic #1), S. Kincaid
Defy the Stars, Claudia Gray
Digging in the Stars, Katherine Blakeney
Evaporation of Sofi Snow, The, Mary Weber
Invictus, Ryan Graudin
Mercury in Retrograde, Merethe Walther
My Side of the Diamond, Sally Gardner
Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1), Scott Reintgen
Satellite, Nick Lake
Unknown Horizons, C J Birch
Warcross (Warcross #1), Marie Lu

Adult

Contemporary
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
Release, Patrick Ness
Shock of the Fall, The, Nathan Filer
Ten Birthdays, Kerry Wilkinson

Fantasy
Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicles #2), Jay Kristoff
Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1), Jay Kristoff
Red Rising, Pierce Brown

Grimdark
Court of Broken Knives, The (Empires of Dust #1), Anna Smith Spark

High Fantasy
Assassin's Fate (Ftiz and the Fool #3), Robin Hobb

Magical Realism
Management Style of the Supreme Beings, The,  Tom Holt

Mythology

Novellas

Non-Fiction
Mandelbrot the Magnificient, Liz Ziemska
No Time To Spare, Ursula K. Le Guin
Princess Saves Herself In This One, The, Amanda Lovelace

Romance

Romance LGBT
Eyes Like Those, Melissa Brayden
Strawberry Summer, Melissa Brayden

Sci-Fi

Children

False prince, The, Jennifer Nielsen
Sea (The Huntress #1), Sarah Driver
Sorcery For Beginners (Codex Arcanum #1), Matt Harry

State of Grace, The, Rachael Lucas

White Hare, The, Michael Fishwick

Misc. 
Stuff that doesn't really fit anywhere else!

Big Mushy Happy Lump, Sarah Andersen

Elf Warfare, Chris Pramas

Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh
If My Dogs Were A Pair of Middle Aged Men, Matthew Inman

Joyride #1, Jackson Lanzing

Jungle Book, The: Manga Classics, Chrystal Chan
Random Illustrated Facts, Mike Lowery

Romeo And/Or Juliet, Ryan North

Welcome Back #1, Christopher Sebela

Reviews By Title

All my reviews, handily summarised in alphabetical order. I cross-post from Goodreads.

If the book you are looking for begins with "the", it's listed alphabetically by the second word!

A
A Tale of Two Ladies, Glenn Song
All Rights Reserved (Word$ #1), Gregory Katsoulis
All the Crooked Saints, Maggie Stiefvater
Am I Normal Yet? (The Spinster Club #1), Holly Bourne
Antisocial, Heidi Cullinan
Ariadnis, Josh Martin
Assassin's Fate (Ftiz and the Fool #3), Robin Hobb
Autoboyography, Christina Lauren

B
Beasts Made of Night, Tochi Onyebuchi
Big Mushy Happy Lump, Sarah Andersen
Blood and Sand, C. V. Wyk
Body Parts, Jessica Kapp
Boy With The Porcelain Blade, The, Den Patrick
Brother's Ruin, Emma Newman
Bull, David Elliott

C
Caraval, Stephanie Garber
Carve the Mark, Veronica Roth
Castaways, The, Jessika Fleck
Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1), Marissa Meyer
Court of Broken Knives, The (Empires of Dust #1), Anna Smith Spark
Crown's Game, The (The Crown's Game #1), Evelyn Skye

D
Darker Shade of Magic, A, V. E. Schwab
Daughter of the Burning City, Amanda Foody
Definitions of Indefinable Things, Whitney Taylor
Defy the Stars, Claudia Gray
Den of Shadows, Christopher Byford
Descendants, Rae Else
Diabolic, The (The Diabolic #1), S. Kincaid
Digging in the Stars, Katherine Blakeney

E
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman
Elf Warfare, Chris Pramas
Elite, The (The Selection #2), Kiera Cass
Epic Crush of Genie Lo, The, F. Lee
Evaporation of Sofi Snow, The, Mary Weber
Everless (#1), Sara Holland
Eyes Like Those, Melissa Brayden

F
Fallen Flame, J Miller
False Prince, The, Jennifer Nielsen
Female of the Species, The, Mindy McGinnis
Final Draft, Riley Redgate
Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2), Elly Blake
Fire Queen, The (The Hundredth Queen #2),  Emily R. King
Flame In The Mist, Renee Ahdieh
Frostblood (Frostblood Saga #1), Elly Blake

G
Genuine Fraud, E. Lockheart
Gilded Cage, Vic James
Girl With The Red Balloon, The, (The Balloonmakers #1), Katherine Locke
Girlhood, Cat Clarke
Girls Can't Hit, Tom Easton
Girl Off The Grid, Jillian Dodd
Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicles #2), Jay Kristoff
Grendel's Guide To Love and War, A. E. Kaplan

H
Hammer of Thor, The (Magnus Chase & the Gods of Asgard #2), Rick Riordan
Heartless, Marissa Meyer
Hidden Oracle, The (Trials of Apollo #1), Rick Riordan
Hit the Ground Running, Mark Burley
House of Mountfathom, The, Nigel McDowell
Hundredth Queen, The, Emily King
Hush, The, Skye Melki-Wegner
Hyperbole and a Half, Allie Brosh

I
I Am Traitor, Sif Sigmarsdottir
I Hate Everyone But You, Gaby Dunn
If My Dogs Were A Pair of Middle Aged Men, Matthew Inman
In Ageless Sleep, Arden Ellis
Invictus, Ryan Graudin

J
Joyride #1, Jackson Lanzing
Jungle Book, The: Manga Classics, Chrystal Chan

K

L
Last Namsara, The (Iskari #1), Kristen Ciccarelli
Lucy and Linh, Alice Pung
Love and Vandalism, Laurie Crompton

M
Magpie's Song (IronHeart Chronicles #1), Allison Pang
Mandelbrot the Magnificient, Liz Ziemska
Man Who Won The World, The, O. E. Boroni
Management Style of the Supreme Beings, The, Tom Holt
Manifesto On How To Be Interesting, The, Holly Bourne
Mask of Shadows, Linsey Miller
Mercury in Retrograde, Merethe Walther
Mountain, Ursula Pflug
More of Me, Kathryn Evans
My Side of the Diamond, Sally Gardner

N
Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1), Jay Kristoff
Noteworthy, Riley Redgate
Nothing, Annie Barrows
Now I Rise, Kiersten White
No Time To Spare, Ursula K. Le Guin
Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1), Scott Reintgen

O
One, The (The Selection #3), Kiera Cass
One Dark Throne (Three Dark Crowns #2), Kendare Blake
One of Us Is Lying, Karen McManus
Orchid Caper, The, Connie Dowell

P
Princess Saves Herself In This One, The, Amanda Lovelace

Q
Quests of the Kings, Robert Evert

R
Radio Silence, Alice Oseman
Random Illustrated Facts, Mike Lowery
Rebel of the Sands, Alwyn Hamilton
Red Rising, Pierce Brown
Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard
Release, Patrick Ness
Resurrection (Skulduggery Pleasant #10), Derek Landy
Rogue Queen, The (The Hundredth Queen #3), Emily R. King
Romeo And/Or Juliet, Ryan North
Rosemarked (Rosemarked #1), Livia Blackburne
Ruined (Ruined #1), Amy Tintera

S
Satellite, Nick Lake
Scourge (Darkhurst #1), Gail Z. Martin
Scythe, Neal Shusterman
Sea (The Huntress #1), Sarah Driver
Selection, The (The Selection #1), Kiera Cass
Shadowblack (Spellslinger #2), Sebastien de Castell
Shock of the Fall, The, Nathan Filer
Sky In The Deep, Adrienne Young
Smoke Thieves, The, Sally Green
Solitaire, Alice Oseman
Sorcery For Beginners (Codex Arcanum #1), Matt Harry
Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1), Sebastien de Castell
S.T.A.G.S,  M. Bennett
State of Grace, The, Rachael Lucas
Strange the Dreamer, Laini Taylor
Strawberry Summer, Melissa Brayden
Sucktown, Alaska, Craig Dirkes
Sufficiently Advanced Magic (Arcane Ascension #1), Andrew Rowe
Sword of Summer, The (Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard #1), Rick Riordan

T
Tarnished City (Dark Gifts #2),  Vic James
Ten Birthdays, Kerry Wilkinson
Tethered Mage, The (Swords and Fire #1), Melissa Caruso
Thief, The (The Queen's Thief #1), Megan Whalen Turner
This Body Won't Break (O-Negative #1), Lea McKee
Three Dark Crowns (Three Dark Crowns #1), Kendare Blake
To Kill A Kingdom, Alexandra Christo
Trial By Fire, Lore Graham
True Born (True Born Trilogy #1), L. E. Sterling
True North (True Born Trilogy #2), L. E. Sterling

U
Uncrossing, The, Melissa Eastlake
Under Rose-Tainted Skies, Louise Gornall
Unknown Horizons, C J Birch

V
Valley Girls, Sarah Nicole Lemon

W
Warcross (Warcross #1), Marie Lu
Welcome Back #1, Christopher Sebela
When Dimple Met Rishi, Sandhya Menon
White Hare, The, Michael Fishwick
Witchtown, Cory Putnam Oakes
Winner's Curse, The, Marie Rutkoski
Wolf By Wolf (Wolf By Wolf #1), Ryan Graudin

X

Y

Z

Review Policy

As of January 2017,

Emails may be sent to atlasrisings at gmail dot com

I accept eBooks & eARCs, self-published books, print copies & print ARCs. I do not accept audiobooks.

Genres

I prefer:

• YA
• Fantasy 
• Sci-Fi
• LGBT+
• Dystopian
• Steampunk/Victorian

I also occasionally read:

• Contemporary
• Historical fiction
• Philosophy & popular philosophy
• Popular science

With a particular interest in anything that is based on myths, dragons and involves swords. I withhold the right to decline any kind of novel, for any reason.

Reviews

If I accept a book, it does not guarantee a review, although I will do my absolute best to read and review every book I accept in a timely and acceptable fashion. I am dedicated to giving honest, and sometimes critical, reviews. This means they will not always be positive, in which case I will state clearly why - such a book, may after all, suit someone else far better. My writing manner will be professional yet casual, and never rude or derogatory towards an author. 

Each of my reviews includes: 

• Rating out of five
• Quotes
• Book photo
• Brief plot overview
• Initial impression
• Likes
• Dislikes
• Summary

Reviews

How would you like to see my reviews?

Alphabetically By Title

Alphabetically By Genre

Or, click here for posts about reading & blogging

Hello!

Hello all!

This is my blogspot blog, specifically for everything to do with books! Book reviews, pretty pictures, recommendations and general ramblings. I hope to engage much more with the book community than I have done before, having previously just been a devourer of books, then a passive book rater on GoodReads, then short reviews & comments, and now (my final stage), a book blogger.

A bit about me
I'm an undergraduate university student in England, studying mathematics and philosophy.

My absolute favourite novel is Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, and some of my favourite authors include Brandon Sanderson, Marie Brennan, Patrick Rothoss, Becky Chambers and Leigh Bardugo.

My top 5 books that I read in 2016 would be (in no particular order):

• Uprooted, Naomi Novik
• Illuminae (and Gemini), Amie Kaufman
• The Secret History, Donna Tartt
• The very long way to a small angry planet, Becky Chambers
• A Court of Mist and Fury, S. J. Maas

And a surprise number 6 (because who can really choose just 5?)

• In the Labyrinth of Drakes, Marie Brennan

I hope you enjoy my blog :)

You can find me on GoodReads, under AtlasRising, here!