The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi

Publisher: Pushkin Press
Publication Date:
01/03/2018
Length: 512 pages
Genre:
Fantasy | Young Adult

CW: n/a

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Elin’s family has an important responsibility: caring for the fearsome water serpents that form the core of their kingdom’s army. So when some of the beasts mysteriously die, Elin’s mother is sentenced to death as punishment. With her last breath she manages to send her daughter to safety.

Alone, far from home, Elin soon discovers that she can talk to both the terrifying water serpents and the majestic flying beasts that guard her queen. This skill gives her great powers, but it also involves her in deadly plots that could cost her life. Can she save herself and prevent her beloved beasts from being used as tools of war? Or is there no way of escaping the terrible battles to come?

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Monthly Wrap Up – December 2020

I can’t believe tomorrow is the last day of 2020, it’s insane to think about when how long this year felt back in the Spring! I hope you all managed to enjoy the holiday period despite the pandemic. I haven’t read as much this month which was to be expected with Christmas and New Year, plus I have been working on getting blog content ready for 2021, however I did still manage to read some great novels this month!

Books read this month

This month I read a total of 6 books (6 physical and 0 ebooks)

  1. The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
  2. The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea
  3. The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
  4. Sorry It’s A Girl by A.A. Khan
  5. little scratch by Rebecca Watson
  6. Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Favourite books read this month

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
I doubt that this comes as a surprise as all as both of the instalments before this one have made it to this section in previous monthly wrap ups! As you can tell from my previous review, I could talk about this book for a while so I will keep this brief: this is a great end to the series. It was brilliant and bittersweet. I’m genuinely sad that this series is over but it has spurred me to read many more fantasy series in 2021!

The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi
This is one fantasy series that I will be continuing in 2021 after loving this first instalment. Although I’ve been reading more fantasy novels this year, I have been slightly disappointed with the lack of fantastical creatures in them (even if the novels were still great) so when I came across this novel all about fantastical beasts and caring for them I was thrilled. I loved the characters in this book and even though it is a title from Pushkin Children, it is one that I would encourage everyone to read no matter how old you are.

little scratch by Rebecca Watson
My full review of this novel will be coming out in a couple of weeks, so you’ll be able to see read my gushing then! Just know that this is a very challenging novel due to its content and the writing style and I loved every page of it. It’s a very raw and refreshing read that I’m still thinking about even now.

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
In 2020 I rediscovered my love for fantasy novels and my last book of the year became one of my favourites of the year when I read Brandon Sanderson for the first time, after his books have been recommended to me for quite some time. Filled with brilliant characters in an expertly crafted world with such fascinating lore. I’m very excited to read more of his work in 2021.

Did you manage to get much reading in December? Was it a race to meet your reading challenge goal or did you fit in reading time around what festivities you were able to have? Let me know in the comments!

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Book Haul – July 2020

My July 2020 book haul!

Every month since April, I decided to treat myself to a selection of books as I’m getting through my TBR pile relatively quickly this year! So, I don’t feel quite as guilty adding to my bookshelf. After reading Circe by Madeline Miller, you will see there is a bit of a theme amongst some of the books…

I can’t wait to get stuck into these! Keep an eye out on my reviews in the coming weeks. Have you read any of these novels? Let me know what you thought of them!