The Kiss of Deception | Book Talk | Spoiler Free

The Kiss of Deception is a YA fantasy story by Mary E Pearson. I was apprehensive with this read at first, despite overall ratings being relatively high for the book I found that it was a Marmite book and people either loved or hated it.

The story follows Lia, a Princess who flees on her wedding day from an arranged marriage to a prince from another kingdom. She settles in a small village and is shortly gifted with the arrival of two handsome young men, however these men know exactly who she is. Not to mention that one man is the prince she was intended to marry and the other an assassin from a rebel group who has been sent to kill her. Both men take affection to her but who will she choose?, will she be killed?, will she discover their true identities? 

What I found particularly interesting about this book is that although we get chapters from the perspective of the prince and the assassin, as the reader we don't know which of the men Lia meets (named Rafe and Kaden) is which. I personally loved trying to work out who was who and admittedly I guessed wrong!

When it comes to shipping in this book I honestly switched between the two guys, I thought I liked one and then after it is finally revealed who is the prince and who is the assassin I decided I liked the other more... I have since read the sequel to this book The Heart of Betrayal and I still ship the guy I liked second with Lia, however i'm sadly not sure that they are the endgame couple.

Overall I think this is an interesting read that i'd give a 3.5/5. It may start slow but the last half/third of the book is great. If you love a good love triangle or trying to puzzle out which character is which this is definitely the book for you. Not forgetting that this book has such a beautiful cover.

Red Queen | Book Talk | Spoiler Free

Red Queen has been such a hyped book for 2015 and being a hardcore YA fan I naturally had to pick up this series and start reading!

Red Queen is a dystopian/fantasy novel written by Victoria Aveyard and follows the story of Mare. The story takes place in a split society; the Silvers are the elite and literally have silver blood, as well as possessing insanely awesome special powers eg power over metal and mind control, then there are the Reds who are the bottom of society, they are essentially servants to the silvers and live in slums. The set up of the book is that Mare becomes a servant for the royal silvers and discovers that she has the power of electricity... but she is a Red and Reds don’t have powers. She must then hide her Red blood and is forced by the King to pose as a silver and get engaged to his youngest son Maven. Then of course throw in some hot guys, a mini love triangle and a dash of betrayal, and you’ve got yourself a killer story.

Character wise we have Mare, she is the main character within the story, she's ballsy and isn't afraid to speak her mind. Then we have the oh so handsome princes Maven and Cal. Cal being the elder of the two is heir to the silver palace and appears the ideal candidate to take over, he is a skilled soldier and loyal to the silvers. Maven is the younger prince and less valued in the eyes of his father, unlike Cal he doesn't know whether the current class system should be as it is. At the beginning of this book I was for sure team Cal, I wont tell what I felt at the end in case its a potential spoiler. There are some great 'baddies' within the story, for one the Queen, she is fierce, intimidating, and also has the power to read minds, which makes keeping secrets hard.    

I love everything about this book, the characters, the world, the powers. I was so immersed in this world, it was filled with romance, some action, tension, and a great big PLOT TWIST... which Oh my wow! This is another must read especially for any fans of dystopian stories.

As ever I highly highly recommend, this book lives up to its hype and won't disappoint. I give it a 8.5/10. 

5 Things You Will Read In Every YA Novel

If you couldn't tell already I am a  huge fangirl when it comes to YA fantasy/sci fi and whatever else. I am a self confessed bookworm and proud. That being so has meant I have read numerous of these books and found some themes appear on a regular basis in many of them.

So here are 5 things you will come across more often than not...

1) More often than not you will find some variation of the      phrase 'I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding'

2) I am almost positive you will come across a handsome          stranger with black hair and glistening blue eyes

3) The main character will likely mention their fondness for    reading and love of fantastical stories

4) The main protagonist will then more than likely stumble      across a magnificent library and be lost for words

5) You will come across a cold tortured soul who is extremely    misunderstood but good hearted deep down... also they will    be very very attractive 

By no means am I criticising any books that do this, these are things that I love about the books and can't get enough of... hence why I read so damn much! *cough* *cough* check out my Instagram if you don't believe me. 

If you've noticed any other recurring themes or have any book suggestions for me PLEASE let me know.