How crazy has this year been, so far?!? However normally March may have started it, it quickly decelerated into almost mass hysteria...

Luckily, South Africa was one of the last places for this pandemic to emerge and our government quickly initiated a lockdown policy, which happened about a week after we closed out borders and quarantined international arrivals. With the lockdown initially lasting for 3 weeks, we also had our share of panic buying - especially when they released the final version of the list of essential items at like the last minute.

The lockdown has now been extended by a further 2 weeks - hectic, I know - but we are showing a significant drop in confirmed cases, so we are still relatively positive about this ordeal; alcohol and cigarettes being on the banned list, notwithstanding...

I was already near the end of my chosen TBR foe March when the lockdown hit, so getting extra reading time is always a good thing!

Behind The Lens by Nasirah Kathrada

I was incredibly honored when (then) 15 year old Nasirah - we became acquainted on Instagram - asked me if I'd like to read her book and I am very grateful.

Just know, right off the bat, that when it comes to poetry I don't actually know Arthur from Martha...

All of her poems have been divided into parts or stories, each with a main theme; the poems themselves touch on all sorts of sub-themes, bringing the overall story to life - this actually made it easier for me to follow as a story, so that I don't feel overwhelmed by the poetry.

Evoking empathy and sympathy in the reader, Nasirah makes us think about what it would be like if we were in those situations instead of just hearing about it on the news. The images she weaves with her words are almost surreal and have the tendency to tug at your heartstrings.

The timing felt wrong in some places, for me, which confused me a lot, and I stumbled here and there - like I said, I'm no expert - but I ended up reading it as a story, rather, before I got too confused...

Overall, this is a story that needed to be told and more people should read it; Nasirah is such young and upcoming talent that I believe Behind The Lens is the first of many things to come and I think we can expect something great!

Rating: 3/5

Libertalia 2: Quest For Land by Mel Lewis

There is a lot of focus on friendship and family values in this series; I believe that these virtues are a quality that should be instilled and nurtured in the young people of today before these ideals, too, disappear in the murky greyness of ambiguity...

See my full review here.

Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence

Wow, just wow! A magnificent ending to a magnificent series.

The third book in a trilogy is meant to tie things all up nicely ad bring closure to everything; Holy Sister does all this yet leaves some things open-ended so that we all start to wish that Mark Lawrence will expand on this universe.

Highly reminiscent of the styles I've grown to love, from authors like Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan to name a few, I have become a fan of Mark Lawrence with this trilogy, seeing as it was the first of his works that I have read, and I certainly cannot wait to read more from him.

If you're a fan of fantasy and adventure, of kickass Femme Fatales or stories of transformation, self-preservation & all-round badassery, I highly recommend The Book Of The Ancestor trilogy.

Rating: 5/5

Outrush by Errin Stevens

It is always a comfort, like wrapping a warm blanket around myself, getting to read Errin's writing again since it has been a while since I've read Breakwater, and, likewise, Updrift; elegant yet not flowery and without all those unnecessary flourishes and I just adore it!

Errin continues the story of the siren community from a different characters' point of view in each book, characters that we have come to know and love in the previous books and I feel that this brings a fresh perspective to the story each time.

Cannot wait for book 4!

Full review coming soon; watch this space!!

Rating: 4/5

Teeth In The Mist by Dawn Kurtagich

Now here's a book that took me completely by surprise...and I absolutely loved it!

Having received this book as an ARC as part of a giveaway win on Instagram, I was a little wary as to its contents since I had never heard of the author before, either; but, sometimes, you just have to take the plunge.

This is a retelling of the classic German legend, Faust, the guy who was so dissatisfied with his life that he made a deal with the Devil for wealth and power, where centuries later, the place he settled in originally, became the source of unexplained disappearances and supernatural phenomena.

Told over two timelines, with letters and diary entries and documents from all around the timeline interspersed in between, this story takes the reader on a journey that is dark and fraught with danger; characters that are super well written, hidden plot twists and dark secrets, combined with the supernatural and fantastical, takes the reader on a roller coaster ride in an often humorous way.

My favorite part is how this story is brought to glorious life by the interactive aspect of this book; similar to the setup of Miss Peregrine, this book combines letters, diagrams, photo's, sketches, etc as part of the overall reading experience adding so much more depth to the characters and the story. Since I've only read the ARC, the work was unfinished, as you can expect, but I am actually dying to see the finished product - so, Little Brown, if you're one day feeling generous, I certainly wouldn't say no to a finished copy of TITM.... #WishfulThinking

Oh, and did I mention the LGBTQIA+ rep...?

Rating: 5/5

A Death In The Medina by James Von Leyden

Even though the story is based around death and murder, this book is beautiful in so many ways; the writing is simple yet evocative; the characters live and breath; the city comes to life in every nook and cranny; cinematic imagery in an atmospheric, breathtaking setting - just beautiful!

See my full review here.

The Pact by Amy Heydenrych

Many thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for sending me a review copy

Have you ever seen an episode of CSI? Any episode? Or, in fact, any episode of any spinoff, ever? Do you remember that annoying little soundbite that was used in between every single plot transition?

This story is told over numerous timelines; so many, in fact, that at the end of every single chapter I started hearing that annoying little soundbite - very annoying. It wasn't long after that that the story played out like an episode of CSI, exactly alike... so I put it aside.

I don't think there was anything wrong with the book - in fact, I was really starting to invest in some of the characters - it was more of a "wrong time, wrong mindset" kind of thing. And them COVID and the Lockdown...

Rating: Unrated

* PICK OF THE MONTH *

I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman

"Everyone needs someone to believe in."

This was my first experience of an Alice Oseman novel and it certainly was eye-opening; let me tell you, I'm SHOOK!!

Heavily punctuated with snippets from Joan Of Arc, the lessons in this book seem to relate to Joan in a way that she couldn't get the people of her own time to understand but which our MCs get to experience first hand. This was a plus for me (not that I know anything about JoA, just that I liked the aha moments).

First, there's Fareshteh, aka Angel in the online world, just graduated from high school with average grades, is more active online than in real life and is one of the biggest fans of boy band, The Ark - she loves them more than anything! But, being Muslim, her parents are constantly worrying about her and her grades and what does she want to make of her life, yet all Angel wants is to get away and see their concert and meet up with similar fans from "the fandom"; even if it means skipping out on her graduation ceremony.

Then we meet Jimmy; frontman/lead singer for The Ark and trans. Loved by his band members and adored by his fans, Jimmy's anxiety always gets the better of him (though you'd never really tell if you didn't really know him). But Jimmy, and the rest of the band, are compliant to the fans and followers, so much so that they lose their public identities entirely until they are who the fans say they are (because they wouldn't be anything without the fans, right?).

Both their lives get torn apart and rebuilt piecemeal when they are suddenly, and unexpectedly, thrown together and they will never ever be the same again.

Beautifully written, this book is a powerful reminder that you cannot love someone when you don't even know them; or if you cannot love yourself.

Once again, I participated in a GoodReads readathon - Monstrous March - and I find that a little push is always helpful. As always, I'd love to know you have been reading, so please share with me in the comments below. Until next time...

Stay home, stay safe, happy reading!

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