Blog Tour: The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy

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It’s my stop on the blog tour for The Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy, a YA fantasy debut that came out earlier in October. In this fantasy world, memories are used as a currency, and are bartered, traded, and sometimes stolen. I had a lot of fun reading this one, and I’m excited to share my thoughts (and a giveaway!) with you. You can view the full tour schedule here to check out posts from the other tour hosts! I obviously received The Memory Thief for free in exchange for an honest review.

Blog Tour: The Memory Thief by Lauren MansyThe Memory Thief by Lauren Mansy
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: 1st October 2019
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

In the city of Craewick, memories reign. The power-obsessed ruler of the city, Madame, has cultivated a society in which memories are currency, citizens are divided by ability, and Gifted individuals can take memories from others through touch as they please.

Seventeen-year-old Etta Lark is desperate to live outside of the corrupt culture, but grapples with the guilt of an accident that has left her mother bedridden in the city’s asylum. When Madame threatens to put her mother up for auction, a Craewick practice in which a “criminal's" memories are sold to the highest bidder before being killed, Etta will do whatever it takes to save her. Even if it means rejoining the Shadows, the rebel group she swore off in the wake of the accident years earlier.

To prove her allegiance to the Shadows and rescue her mother, Etta must steal a memorized map of the Maze, a formidable prison created by the bloodthirsty ruler of a neighboring Realm. So she sets out on a journey in which she faces startling attacks, unexpected romance, and, above all, her own past in order to set things right in her world. 

Apparently I’m a masive sucker for anything to do with weird currency or transactions, because as soon as I heard about The Memory Thief I was comparing to Everless and I was getting really excited. The concept of memories being sold, traded, and stolen is a fantastic idea, and also mildly terrifying.

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If You’re Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser

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If You’re Out There by Katy LoutzenhiserIf You're Out There by Katy Loutzenhiser
Genre: Contemporary
Release Date: 5th March 2019
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-half-stars

After Zan’s best friend moves to California, she is baffled and crushed when Priya suddenly ghosts. Worse, Priya’s social media has turned into a stream of ungrammatical posts chronicling a sunny, vapid new life that doesn’t sound like her at all.

Everyone tells Zan not to be an idiot: Let Priya do her reinvention thing and move on. But until Zan hears Priya say it, she won’t be able to admit that their friendship is finished.

It’s only when she meets Logan, the compelling new guy in Spanish class, that Zan begins to open up about her sadness, her insecurity, her sense of total betrayal. And he’s just as willing as she is to throw himself into the investigation when everyone else thinks her suspicions are crazy.

Then a clue hidden in Priya’s latest selfie introduces a new, deeply disturbing possibility:

Maybe Priya isn’t just not answering Zan’s emails.

Maybe she can’t.

If You’re Out There was kind of adorable! It was more of a low-key mystery than a full on thriller, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I’m really glad I decided to pick it up, which I did because the ghosting thing seemed relatable and I was intrigued.

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Fan the Fame by Anna Priemaza

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Fan the Fame by Anna PriemazaFan the Fame by Anna Premaza
Genre: Contemporary
Release Date: 20th August 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen
Source: Publisher
Add it: Goodreads
Rating: three-stars

Lainey wouldn’t mind lugging a camera around a video game convention for her brother, aka YouTube superstar Codemeister, except for one big problem. He’s funny and charming online, but behind closed doors, Cody is a sexist jerk.

SamTheBrave came to this year’s con with one mission: meeting Codemeister—because getting his idol’s attention could be the big break Sam needs.

ShadowWillow is already a successful streamer. But when her fans start shipping her with Code, Shadow concocts a plan to turn the rumors to her advantage.

The three teens’ paths collide when Lainey records one of Cody’s hateful rants on video. Because she’s determined to spill the truth to her brother’s fans—even if that means putting Sam and Shadow in the crosshairs.

I have some mixed feelings about Fan the Fame. On the one hand, I really enjoyed both the concept and the setting. On the other, one of the main characters was almost completely insufferable, and her character arc over the course of the book was less of an arc than a straight line.

In case you don’t know, I’m on Youtube. My channel is a Booktube channel, but I also watch a lot of gaming videos and I’ve been to quite a few conventions in my time. As such, I absolutely loved this concept. I loved that the characters were all going to a gaming convention, and that two of them had Youtube channels and wanted to make it on there. I could really relate to Sam and Shadow when they were talking about working hard on growing their channels and networking. I think a lot of bloggers and Bookstagrammers would be able to relate to this as well, so it’s not just Booktubers who would enjoy this part of the book.

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Monthly Wrap Up: September 2019 & BOTM Giveaway

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Life Stuff

September was a slightly quieter month than August in that the beginning was chill and relaxing and then everything kicked off at the end! Quill and I moved house right at the end of the month, and it was the busiest week I can remember having. It was stressful, I cried a bit, but we’re now in the new place and everything is looking wonderful.

The house move also took place during the week that Contemporary-a-thon was happening, so that was fun! I decided to daily vlog for the readathon, and while I didn’t exactly fail, I still need to upload my final video for the readathon. I fell a bit behind due to having to move all the big furniture on the Friday.

Other than that, September was mostly just spent doing life admin. How was your September? Did you have a lot to do?

Books Read

I “only” read 9 books in September, which is half of the massive 18 that I read in August, but that was also to be expected. To be honest, I’m shocked that I got to 9! I read some really good ones as well.

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1. Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron ★★★★
2. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware ★★★.5
3. The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware ★★★★
4. Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple ★★★
5. The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware ★★★★ .5
6. The Wall by John Lanchester ★★★
7. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson ★★★.5
8. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid ★★★★★
9. The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand ★★★★

Book of the Month & Giveaway

I read so many good books in September, so it was a lot more difficult to choose a book of the month. I eventually narrowed it down to two, so you can enter to win one of them in the Rafflecopter giveaway below! I decided last month that I wanted to spread the bookish love with you all, so I’ll be doing a Book of the Month giveaway every single month so you can experience my favourite books too!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Statistics

I read a total of 9 books in September, which added up to 3082 pages and 543 minutes. Eight of the books I read were physical or ebooks, and one was an audiobook. I wish I had been able to utilise audiobooks more while I was moving, but everything was so hectic that I couldn’t concentrate!

I read 1 fantasy, 3 thrillers, 3 contemporaries, 1 mystery, and 1 dystopia. I definitely felt more love for the contemporary books that I read, but overall every genre impressed me, bar the dystopia (it was boring).

My average rating was 3.8! YES! I read so many great books in September and I’m so happy with where my reading is right now. I’m feeling so motivated because I’ve been loving what I’ve been reading.

I only read from 1 male author this month, which means I read from 8 female authors. Only one of those was a diverse book in terms of race, but one of the books I read also tackled anxiety. Not my most diverse month, but not terrible either.

5 books were new releases, 3 books were YA, and 6 books were adult books. I’m reading a lot more adult books this year than in previous years, which I think is leading me to read a more diverse range of experiences. I also found that I’m slowly getting the hunger back for urban fantasy, which hasn’t hit me since about 2012. I’m excited to pick up some beloved authors (Nalini Singh! Rachel Vincent!) towards the end of this year or the beginning of next. I might do a whole post on this, actually.

Looking ahead

Quill and I promised each other that we’d relax in October, because September was so horribly stressful for both of us. We have GollanczFest to look forward to in the middle of the month, and I’ll be taking part in Spookathon and Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, but otherwise I refuse to make plans. November is going to be busy, so I deserve a month to focus on myself and on my blog!

As for things I’m looking forward to within the blogosphere, well, I’m looking forward to getting back into blog hopping and commenting on Booktube again! I slacked off during the last couple of weeks of September because of the move, but I’m feeling really motivated again and I’m looking forward to finding more bookish people.

What about you? What are your plans for October?

Top Ten Books On My Autumn TBR

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Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week we’re all sharing our Autumn/Fall TBR piles! I’ve got quite a big list, but I’ve managed to narrow it down to just ten books. This topic has also made me feel quite motivated to read them all, so I hope I don’t miss any!

1. Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

I’m reading this one this week for the Contemporary-a-thon, FINALLY. It’s been on my radar for ages, and I snatched up a copy at YALC for £5. Everyone raves about this series, and I think the final book comes out early next year, so I want to know what all the fuss is about.

2. Someone We Know by Shari Lapena

I am hooked by Lapena’s books. They’re not always my favourite thrillers, but I always get stuck into them really quickly, and I’m so pleased that she is releasing another one this year. I believe Someone We Know is about creepy neighbours, which is exactly what everyone wants from a domestic thriller.

3. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

I’ll admit, Sager’s books haven’t really wow’ed me so far. I liked his second book a lot more than his first, so I take that as a sign that his writing is improving. Lock Every Door is set in a fancy apartment block, and that sounds like something I would love to read about since home invasion and creepy house stories are the only things that can really creep me out.

4. The Whisper Man by Alex North

I’ll be reading this one (and Lock Every Door) for Friday Fright-a-thon and I am soooo excited because I found this staring at me at the library. It was completely unexpected, but finding a new release there made my day. I’ve been holding off on starting this one but it’s hard, because this is another thriller about a serial killer and I am HERE FOR IT.

5. A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

I requested this one as an ARC last year, and I didn’t get around to it due to various blogging slumps. Recently, everyone has been talking about it (and the sequel), and now I’m super hyped. Since I’m trying to reduce my ARC Mountain and catch up, this is a good chance to read the book since I think it sounds like something I will love.

6. Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Everyone I have spoken to has said this one is delightfully creepy. It’s apparently kind of like The Blair Witch Project. I’ll be picking this one up for Spookathon, and I almost cannot wait!

7. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

I have been meaning to reread this series for years so I can finally finish it off (I got up to Empire of Storms). I’m a bit worried that I won’t enjoy it as much as I used to, although I remember being incredibly bored by this first book so I will give it a chance. I’m also planning a special feature to do with this series on my Booktube channel, so look out for that next year!

8. Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

I’ve had this one on my shelf for ages, but I didn’t get around to it when I last had my time travel/parallel universe phase. I think I’m slowly getting back into that whole sub-genre, so I think this autumn will be the time to read Ruby Red!

9. The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

I have absolutely no idea what this book is about but I have a pretty hardcover and people have said good things.

10. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

I found this one at the library and I am dying to get to it. I think I might keep it for the Spookathon, because I’ve heard it’s creepy? I don’t really know what it’s about but I know that Crouch’s books are generally quite well received. Have any of you read this one?