Monthly Wrap-Up | July 2015 | When in Rome...

I got up to quite a bit last month, so let's get on with it!

The Goblin Emperor

by Katherine Addison

Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

Skim

by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

White Trash Zombie Apocalypse

by Diana Rowland

July was a bit of a slower reading month for me as there was almost an entire week where I didn't read at all, but I still think it was a pretty decent month. I know there are so many other bloggers who usually read five books in a week, not a month, but I stopped making myself feel bad for 'not reading enough' a long time ago. All I care about is that I enjoy what I read, and that reading doesn't become a chore.

I enjoyed pretty much everything I read this month - especially The Goblin Emperor, which has quickly become one of my favourite books of all time - and I'm looking forward to reading more fantasy in August!

Darkhaven

by A.F.E. Smith

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee

The Goblin Emperor

by Katherine Addison

Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

Season 2 of Penny Dreadful came to an end in July, and what an ending it was! I'm so glad it's been renewed for a third season, because if that had been the end I would have been pretty devastated. Sadly I did find some aspects of this season a little problematic, primarily with the characters they chose to kill off, but I did enjoy the show as a whole and it's certainly not as terrible as some shows out there (*cough*Game of Thrones*cough*). I'm looking forward to seeing all these characters again, especially my beloved Ethan.

Look at this nerd

Hannibal is now back in full swing and it's so good! I'll be honest Season 3 did start out quite slow, but it was all building up to probably my favourite episode to date, S03E07. It's just fantastic and I really hope someone picks it up because I can't bear the thought of it being cancelled. How can Hannibal, an amazing show, be cancelled while every other mediocre show out there gets to keep returning with the same crappy storylines? It's not right, I tells ya!

And after I read Northanger Abbey I decided to watch the 2007 adaptation, too. I think it was a pretty decent adaptation, although I think they could have made General Tilney far more intimidating than they did. Felicity Jones was a lovely Catherine, though.

Strong hat game this month

Why I Love The Order of the Phoenix

Sexuality in Harry Potter

Upcoming Hiatus

I went to Rome!

My friend Elena and I decided to go to Rome for a long weekend, and it was fantastic! I've been wanting to go to Italy for years, and now that I'm back in the UK I've really missed being there. The people were so helpful and friendly, and the architecture was stunning and the food. The food might be what I miss most. Especially the ice cream.

Vanilla, lemon and apple ice cream

We flew to Rome on a Thursday afternoon which meant we got Thursday evening in Rome to have some dinner - I had a really, really yummy carbonara - and get acquainted with the city. We stayed at the beautiful Hotel Medici (called that because the building used to be owned by the Medici family!) which had the friendliest, most helpful staff and both of us fell in love with the place pretty quickly. Everywhere we went there was the most beautiful architecture, it really is an absolutely stunning city.

Me! This gorgeous fountain was just around the corner from our hotel.

We had three full days in Rome - Friday, Saturday and Sunday - and we were out and about on all three days. On Friday we went to the Vatican, which was amazing. We joined this tour group led by a lady who flitted from English to Italian to French to German like it was nothing, and the woman was an encyclopaedia of Vatican knowledge.

The Vatican and a pretty fountain. The sky was so blue.

We saw the Sistine Chapel and St Peter's Basilica while we were there too, and I still can't quite believe that I've seen them. The Sistine Chapel is just... unreal. You're not allowed to take pictures in there (a lot of people still did, which was annoying) and I liked that; you can't do it justice in a picture, you must see it for yourself. It's gorgeous.

We jumped onto a tour bus, too, to try and get an idea of where everything was. It's strange how small Rome seems when you're in a taxi or on a bus, nothing seems too far away from anything else, but when you try walking it... We got distracted by a lot of pretty side streets.

Elena and I on the bus. Such tourists.

On the Friday evening we found the Spanish Steps and had dinner in a lovely restaurant where I had the most amazing pizza. Seriously, it was so yummy. I miss Italian food so much.

World's tastiest pizza.

Me on the Spanish Steps

On Saturday we visited the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, which was equally as amazing as the day before. It's astounding that all these parts of ancient culture are still here; there's even a 2,000 year old door in one of the temples at the Forum, and the lock still works.

It sounds silly but the Colosseum was so much bigger than I imagined. Or rather, I hadn't really considered its presence until I saw it myself. I'm so used to seeing it in films and documentaries that when I first saw it - we stepped out of the metro station and it was right there - it was kind of jarring. There it is, this huge staple of Roman history, surrounded by 21st century roads filled with 21st century cars.

Me outside the Colosseum!

We had an audio tour of the Colosseum that was really interesting. One of the things I found most interesting was that there's a huge cross erected in the Colosseum to commemorate the Christians who were slaughtered there. However, there's no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Christians were ever thrown into the Colosseum. They were in danger - Nero started a fire in the city just so he could blame the Christians for it and massacre them - but not necessarily from gladiatorial combat. That doesn't mean they weren't thrown in there, because they may well have been, but any writings claiming such were written approximately 200 years after they were supposedly killed in the Colosseum. I thought it was an interesting fact, anyway!

The cross to commemorate the Christians

I think my favourite thing at the Colosseum, however, was this 2,000 year old mirror we found in one of the display cabinets. The glass itself is long gone, but the rest of it is in pretty amazing condition. We stood and stared at it for about 5 minutes wondering whose face it was that looked back the last time it was used.

After the Colosseum we had some lunch in a little cafe just across the road from where we'd just been.

Elena outside the Colosseum!

Then we were off to the Roman Forum! There was so much to see, and when we eventually left to go back to the hotel and shower and get ready for dinner I'm pretty sure we still hadn't seen it all.

I saw two things at the Forum that were my absolute favourites. Firstly, we found the Temple of Castor and Pollux.

Just look how blue that sky is

I got really excited about this because I love the story of Castor and Pollux, and I didn't even know they had a temple in Rome. Actually I didn't even know they'd have a temple in Italy at all because I associate them so strongly with Greece.

And I also loved this:

At first glance it might not look like much, but just look at what this was 2,000 years ago:

How beautiful does that sound?

We spent our third and final full day in Rome trying to see as much as possible that we hadn't already seen, including the Trevi Fountain, Villa Borghese and a bunch of museums. We did find the Trevi, but unfortunately there's no water in it and they were doing repairs on it, which was a real shame. I hope water leaving the Trevi isn't some kind of omen...

The Trevi minus water :(

But the lack of water didn't stop us from throwing a euro in - apparently if you throw a euro into the Trevi you're guaranteed to return to Rome! Also, fun fact: approximately 3,000 euros gets thrown into the Trevi each day.

Elena throwing her euro into the Trevi

We decided to check out Villa Borghese, which is basically a huge expanse of beautiful gardens, complete with museums, a casino and an open air cinema. It was very cute. We kept stumbling into authors, there!

First we found Victor Hugo...

... and then Elena was very pleased that we found Lord Byron.

Elena, AKA Mrs Byron

I also saw this statue outside one of the museums and I had to snap a picture of it because I thought it was lovely.

And in one of the museums we visited that day we found this statue, which I also loved:

One of my nieces loves faeries, so I had to take a picture of her, and I thought she was beautiful.

I'm going to wrap this up because I feel like this blog post is long enough already, but before I do I have to mention an absolutely stunning ice cream parlour that was just around the corner from our hotel. It was open from around 10pm to around 1am - yep, late night ice cream! - and sometimes people would be queuing around the corner to get in. For just 3 euros you could have 4 scoops of the most delicious ice cream I have ever tasted. Ever.

Just look at some of the cakes they sold:

Just

so

delicious.

Basically Elena and I had a fantastic holiday, and I can't wait to go back to Italy because I'll most certainly be going back!

Beth @ The Quiet People talked about the Importance of Big Issues in YA Fiction

Cait @ Paper Fury asked Does an Author's Behaviour Influence Your Opinion of Their Books?

Micheline @ Lunar Rainbows talked about Book Ginny vs. Movie Ginny for Harry Potter Month

Merin @ Read and Reviewed talked about Keeping Up with Series

Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight asked Does a Bad Ending Ruin a Series?

Faith @ GeekyZooGirl shared her Tips for a Harry Potter Movie Marathon for Harry Potter Month

Rinn @ Rinn Reads shared some Books Set in The Netherlands

Kaja @ Of Dragons and Hearts talked about Harry Potter and Sex for Harry Potter Month

Alex @ The Book Banner shared her recipe for Butterbeer Cupcakes

Cole @ Miss Cole Seeks Publisher shared some of her Publishing Advice from YALC

How was your July?

Review | Darkhaven by A.F.E. Smith

Darkhaven

by A.F.E. Smith

My Rating:

Ayla Nightshade never wanted to rule Darkhaven. But her half-brother Myrren – true heir to the throne – hasn’t inherited their family gift, forcing her to take his place.

When this gift leads to Ayla being accused of killing her father, Myrren is the only one to believe her innocent. Does something more sinister than the power to shapeshift lie at the heart of the Nightshade family line?

Now on the run, Ayla must fight to clear her name if she is ever to wear the crown she never wanted and be allowed to return to the home she has always loved.

I received a copy of Darkhaven from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest, it was Darkhaven's gorgeous cover that first drew me in. Just look at it. Isn't it beautiful?

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. It's been so long since I immersed myself in high fantasy that I've become a little intimidated by the genre; sometimes I find it difficult to grasp entire new worlds and remember everyone's strange names, but I've been eager to get back into high fantasy because I loved it so much when I was younger. In Darkhaven I found a good ol' fashioned high fantasy meets whodunnit, and the combination of the fantastical with a murder mystery is a lot of fun!

The Nightshades have ruled Darkhaven for years, for they possess the ability to transform into great and powerful creatures. Overlord Florentyn Nightshade has the ability to turn into a firedrake, and given that he can literally burn villages to the ground if he wants to it's no wonder than no one dares question his rule. No one, that is, aside from his daughter, Ayla. Though Ayla possesses the gift to change, the creature she transforms into is a peculiar hybrid of fantastical creatures due to her mother being only human. Her older, half-brother Myrren, on the other hand, cannot change at all despite being a full-blooded Nightshade. Florentyn is embarrassed by both his children, but as Ayla is the one child who can change it is she he intends to bestow the crown upon after his death. Ayla, however, cannot bear to take that away from her beloved brother.

Then Florentyn is brutally murdered by another Changer, and when all fingers point to Ayla it's only Myrren who believes she is innocent.

If I'm completely honest I've never really been a big fan of stories involving shapeshifters, but these I liked; I loved the idea of the royal family having this gift which meant they were literally lethal, and how the Nightshades' desperation for purity has led them to breed with another so much that now only Florentyn, Myrren and Ayla remain.

I would have liked to know a little more about how the people felt about the royals, though. I could never quite tell if the Nightshades were popular or not; many of the people seemed to dislike Ayla because she had a human mother, but I was surprised that so many of the population would have held that against her. Wouldn't they have been pleased to see someone a little more like them within the royal family?

There were a few things about Darkhaven that I found a little off, the tone being one of them. Parts of the story felt as though it was aimed at a YA or younger audience - there was quite a bit of blushing when people were accused of liking someone else - and then suddenly BAM! Sex scene. It was a little jarring, though I did appreciate that Smith didn't shy away from the darker aspects of her world and the people in it; particularly the scene in which the villainous Travers visits a brothel.

I also sometimes felt as though the narrative and the characters were at odds with one another. The narrative would say something about one of the characters, such as how strong and capable they are, and then the character would be... useless. The character I probably had the biggest problem with was Ayla herself; she had real gumption when she stood up to her father, but then as soon as she teamed up with Caraway she became nothing but a damsel in distress and lost a lot of her agency. In fact Ayla spent a lot of the novel, which I assumed was mainly going to be about her, just sitting around and waiting for other people to solve her problems. The woman could literally turn into a powerful, fantastical creature and I wanted to see her defend herself a little more.

I did quite like her brother, Myrren - particularly how he refused to believe his sister was guilty, even when so much of the evidence pointed at her - and I really enjoyed Sorrow and Elisse, two side characters who find themselves caught up in the world of the Nightshades. I was pleasantly surprised to find queer characters in this book, one of whom is a queer sellsword no less, and I loved that Smith didn't make a big deal about their sexuality. It was treated as perfectly ordinary which is wonderful, because so many queer characters' stories seem to revolve around the fact that they're queer. I hope Smith explores these two more in future. I'd love a story about the two of them wreaking havoc and becoming pirates together, or something along those lines.

All in all Darkhaven isn't the best fantasy I've ever read, but there's a lot of potential in this world that Smith has created; in fact this book as a whole almost felt like the prequel to a book that hasn't been written yet, if that makes any sense. If you're a fan of shapeshifters and books that follow an ensemble cast of characters then I recommend checking this one out, and I hope Smith decides to flesh this world out in future!

This Week in Books | 03/06/15

This Week in Books is a feature created by Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost and Found which gives bloggers an opportunity to share what they've read recently and what they're hoping to read next.

Last week I mentioned I was thinking about picking up The Goblin Emperor as I was in the mood to get back into high fantasy, but instead I decided to start Darkhaven by A.F.E. Smith. I received my review copy from Netgalley, and I wanted to start it so that I could rate and review it in plenty of time - it comes out next month and so far I'm enjoying it!

I finished Jane Eyre's Sisters: How Women Live and Write the Heroine's Story by Jody Gentian Bower last week and absolutely loved it. It reminded me I need to read more non-fiction, which is the reason why I'm also currently reading How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis.

I'm taking part in Shannon @ Leaning Lights's TBRTakedown Readathon which is running this week. There are a few challenges, but no rules, the aim is just to cross as many books off your TBR as you want to! I do love attempting challenges, though, and one of them is to read a book that's been on your TBR for over a year. I've owned Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli for at least two years, and it's super short, so I'd like to cross it off my TBR and I think its length makes it a great choice for a readathon.

What are you reading?