Chuyển đến nội dung chính

South African books to add to your reading list this festive season - part 1

Hiya book lovers With Christmas being just around the corner, I thought I’d highlight some South African reads that should go on your TBR pile. We have so many phenomenal SA authors that deserve to be celebrated , and because this list will be an extensive one, I am splitting this post and making it a series. I know it won’t be possible to include every single South African author, but I am going to try to  highlight books from every genre and make it as diverse as possible (so, with respect, please don’t ask me why so and so isn’t on the list – there’s more to come).  First up:  1. Sing Down the Stars by Nerine Dorman A book I recently received for review ( thanks you NB publishers ) and am super excited about diving into is Sing Down the Stars. I was first introduced to Nerine’s writing years ago, when I read one of her first books, What Sweet Music They Make (Would 100% still love to see more of that). Over the years, I ’ve come to know Nerine as well and she’s not ...

The Secret

Book review: The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden (aka the book that surprised me in the best way possible)

Summary from Goodreads
Publisher: Skyscape
Source: Received by the publishers via netgalley
Publication date: 17 November 2015

Seven girls tied by time.
Five powers that bind.
One curse to lock the horror away.
One attic to keep the monsters at bay.


After the storm of the century rips apart New Orleans, sixteen-year-old Adele Le Moyne wants nothing more than her now silent city to return to normal. But with home resembling a war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal needs a new definition.

As the city murder rate soars, Adele finds herself tangled in a web of magic that weaves back to her own ancestors. Caught in a hurricane of myths and monsters, who can she trust when everyone has a secret and keeping them can mean life or death? Unless . . . you’re immortal

What I thought of the book:

The Casquette Girls is a book that has been described as “an epic love letter to New Orleans.”

Now I haven’t been to New Orleans, but the one thing I can do is recognise when an author imbues every part of her soul into giving the reader an Odyssey-like experience into the heart, soul and settings of a book.

Alys Arden?

She’s done all that and more in this unexpectedly lush and gloriously compelling paranormal fiction novel. Blending both the history of New Orleans, with myths, urban legends and modern day settings, The Casquette Girls is a smorgasbord filled with storytelling at its finest.

It’s not often that I’m caught off guard by books, but The Casquette Girls has managed to do so with its interesting and seemingly normal heroine, lore dedicated to the vampires of yonder (i.e. the not-so-benevolent kind) and detailed and incredibly interesting historical aspects that detail life in pre-colonial New Orleans.

Add voodoo, witchcraft and deliciously dark gothic and romantic undertones and you’ve got yourself a beautifully atmospheric read that will send shivers down your spine.

Read it and experience it for yourself.

There’s romance, there’s magic and diversity, but mostly, there’s a moody, beautiful city that’s positively brimming with life, both natural and supernatural.

Huge kudos to Alys for capturing the spirit of human survival and perseverance in the midst of the worst circumstances possible. This, above all, was probably my favourite aspect about the novel.

I can’t wait for the next book.

Nhận xét

Popular Posts

Book review: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Firstly, a huge apology for my absence. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, I know, but a number of factors have prevented me from getting around to updating - exhaustion being the primary reason for my silence.    I hope to get around to blogging more this month, but in the meantime, I thought I’d get back into the swing of things by posting up this short review of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, which, although not perfect, I quite enjoyed!     Source: Review copy from the publishers. You can purchase a copy of the book from Raru.co.za   Summary: Goodreads Publication date: 31 July 2016 Publisher: Little, Brown UK  publishers Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, ...

Book review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

Sometimes you don’t win the war, but you learn how to navigate the battleground. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (first published in 2017 by Penguin Random House) Disclaimer: A shortened version of this review originally appeared on W24.co.za . Click on the link at the bottom to purchase a copy of the book. If I could sum up John Green’s latest book -  which focuses on a young teen with severe obsessive compulsive disorder – in one sentence then this is what that sentence would be: Sometimes you don’t win the war but you learn how to navigate the battleground.   I say this because as someone with depression and social anxiety disorder, I’ve been around the bend a few times. I have as many good days as I have bad days and sometimes the one outdoes the other.  I hope to win the war some day, but for now, I do what I can to keep going. Like I said, navigating. John Green is a household name in the YA genre.  The bestselling author of hits like Paper Towns, Lookin...

South African books to add to your reading list this festive season - part 1

Hiya book lovers With Christmas being just around the corner, I thought I’d highlight some South African reads that should go on your TBR pile. We have so many phenomenal SA authors that deserve to be celebrated , and because this list will be an extensive one, I am splitting this post and making it a series. I know it won’t be possible to include every single South African author, but I am going to try to  highlight books from every genre and make it as diverse as possible (so, with respect, please don’t ask me why so and so isn’t on the list – there’s more to come).  First up:  1. Sing Down the Stars by Nerine Dorman A book I recently received for review ( thanks you NB publishers ) and am super excited about diving into is Sing Down the Stars. I was first introduced to Nerine’s writing years ago, when I read one of her first books, What Sweet Music They Make (Would 100% still love to see more of that). Over the years, I ’ve come to know Nerine as well and she’s not ...

Free $100