S.C.R.E.A.M. book series: review

Title: S.C.R.E.A.M. The mummy’s revenge (#1)

Author: Andrew Beasley

Genre: Middle grade, historical fiction, mystery, supernatural

Pages: 240

Goodreads rating: 4.15

My rating: 5/5

Add on: Goodreads, Bookdepository.

Synopsis:

In the dark and winding streets of Edinburgh, a burglar is on the prowl. But this is no ordinary thief.

Three thousand years old and risen from the grave, this rampaging robber is a rotting Egyptian mummy – and he wants rubies and revenge!

There’s only one crime-fighting force who can deal with a menace like this: Billy Flint & Charley Steel aka S.C.R.E.A.M. – top-secret investigators of Supernatural Crimes, Rescues, Emergencies And Mysteries.

Title: S.C.R.E.A.M Carnival of Monsters (#2)

Author: Andrew Beasley

Genre: Middle grade, historical fiction, mystery, supernatural

Pages: 240

Goodreads rating: 4.23

My rating: 5/5

Add on: Goodreads, Bookdepository.

Sypnosis:

Roll up, roll up, if you dare, to Doctor Vindicta’s Carnival! Gasp at the dancing ghosts! Grimace at the creepy clowns! It’s all harmless fun and frights…until a young boy disappears and his sister swears he was snatched by a monster. Only the bravest detectives can detain a demon: send for supernatural investigators Billy Flint and Charley Steel!

Review:

I’ll write a general review for this duology. The S.C.R.E.A.M. series is a middle grade historical fiction featuring a main character with a disability, lots of action and the supernatural touch that I love in a book.

I found the first book casually, searching for “mummy” books on Amazon. I’m really happy to have found it and to have read it, it’s a really underrated series, but look at the amazing covers!! Aren’t they great? Have you seen the detail on the cover of Carnival of monsters? Isn’t funny? I laughed when I saw it!

As I said, this series features a main character with a disability: as you can see from the covers, Charley Steel, the female MC, is on a wheelchair, but this certainly doesn’t stop her from being intelligent, wise and incredibily brave, and I know children will love her, along with Billy, the boy with a troubled family and some paranormal powers.

Both of the books are really intense and historically interesting, the second one (Carnival of monsters) is a little darker than the first, because includes children abduction and evil demons, just to let you know.

My only regret with these books is that I want to know more about the S.C.R.E.A.M. department, how has begun for example and also that this is a duology (for now), because I want to read more books with Charley and Billy!!

For now, thanks to Andrew Beasley for writing such an amazing series.

How you read it? Do you like the covers? Tell me in the comments!

The curious Life and Death of: review

Hello readers, how are you? We are already in the middle of September, and I’m here to talk about a new series about life, death, homicides and blood.

So we can be prepared fo Halloween!!

In this new series on Smithsonian Channel, Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris, medical historian and author of The butchering art, explores with the help of detectives, weapon gurus and much more the mysterious death, and the life, of famous people.

The first episode, on air on September 6th, was dedicated to one of the most famous female killer of America, Lizzie Borden.

You can watch the first episode for free on the Smithsonian Youtube channel.

I’m a little obsessed with Lizzie Borden, thanks to the amazing mini tv series with Christina Ricci, so I devoured this first episode. It’s really well structured, Dr. Fitzharris talks with passion and competence, the experts are valid and I discovered a lot of new things about the murder. Obviously, pay attention because it shows also real photos of the crime scene, so it can be a little gruesome.

So, if you like the subject, go and watch it!

And tell me what you think about it in the comments below!

(Oh my, the new editor is awful -____-)

Wrap Up: August 2020

Hello readers, here’s my wrap up of all the books I’ve read during August. How was your month? I had a little vacation at the beginning of the month, but now I’m back at work.

I managed to read 11 books, only 1 DNF.

5 stars:

Exeunt demon king is a short story featuring Johannes Cabal, our favourite necromancer. It’s hilarious and totally in Cabal style. I suggest you read first the novel Johannes Cabal The Necromancer.

Why I waited so much to begin the Amelia Fang series??! I love her sooo much! Squashy is super cute, I’m planning on making her dress for Halloween!

4 stars:

The world’s most haunted places was very interesting, with photos, historic details and addresses. The author has worked for Ghost Adventures too.

Lady stuff was hilarious!!

I’m totally in love with the illustrations and the covers of the Sophie Mouse series.

3 stars:

Quiet girl in a noisy world was really relatable.

2 stars:

The year of shadows has an interesting plot, the cat is awesome, but oh my, I hated the main character.

Spork begins very well, but I didn’t like some of the illustrations.

1 star + DNF:

Bride of the sea is my DNF this month. I love the cover, but the genre is not for me.

Vincent: I’m super sensitive about Van Gogh, and I didn’t understand this graphic novel that has erase all the worst and the experience of Vincent, but has included s*x scenes.

Doctor Death is really bad: it’s cruel against children, against animals and women, the plot doesn’t make sense, and the main character is subjected by all the male characters.

 

And that’s all for my reading in August, have you read some great books?

Tell me in the comments!

 

 

Demonathon + ReadToBreath TBR

Hello readers, how are you?

Tomorrow will be September, I don’t know why but August has last like a week for me…

Anyway, today I’m here to present to you my TBR for the two readathons I’ll participate during September.

Demonathon, the Grand Hotel is the second round organized on Twitter by Yumi where you need to gain the contract with the demon of your choice.

Here you can find the website, I’m always impressed by the effort and the ideas behind this readathon.

The prompts are:

1. A book featuring the dead
2. A pretty book
3. Re-read a favourite/Confort read
4. Middle grade or children’s book
5. Intense love or friendship
6. An indulgent read

ReadToBreathe is a readathon created by Ash on Instagram. 

You can find the informations also on her website.

The prompts are:

• A book you’ve had longer than 6 months
• A book over 400 pages
• A stand-alone novel
• A book with a sidekick (this is a personal favourite)
• A novel with magic
• A book outside your comfort zone

Here’s my tentative TBR, do you see a title you’re interested in? Are you participating in some readathon this month?

Tell me in the comments!

Wrap Up: July 2020

Hello readers, how are you?

How’s your reading? I’m pretty satisfied with my readings, even in this hot summer days! I will take a brief holiday in the next two weeks, with extra attention to the Coronavirus emergency.

I managed to read 12 books during July (HOW??) and no DNF on the horizon!

5 stars:

Saiyuki reload blast 3: I need to say something?! It’s Saiyuki, you know? My favourite manga and anime ever, we have a new volume every 3 years, more or less.

The apple orchard is a short story I found for free on Amazon. It’s heartbreaking, so be prepared.

S.C.R.E.A.M. The mummy’s revenge is an amazing middle-grade historical fiction with a lot of action, monsters and a main character with a disability! This is my new favourite series!

4 stars:

The second book in the Hunchback Assignments series, The Dark Deeps has a strong steampunk setting and a lot of emotions involved.

3 stars:

Lost London is a non-fiction book really interesting, but sometimes too much fixated on pubs or shops, and less on historical places.

I received an E-ARC of The Candlelit menagerie: the cover is gorgeous, the story is tragic and full fo death, it’s not an easy book to love.

The wish tree is a lovely illustrated book for younger readers.

A horror novella about a blanket…Blanky was a little disappointing to me.

A deadly affection has a beautiful cover and an interesting main character, too modern for the setting of the book.

1 star:

I’ve loved the first series of Kill the granny, a comics about a cat who want revenge for his… against the granny, but this 2.0 volume it’s dull and not funny at all.

Another Italian book: Il diavolo ai giardini Cavour is a crime book set in my city, Turin, but all the characters are so negative and unbearable!

Helltown is definitely the worst volume of the world scariest places series. Sexist and ableist, please pay attention to all the trigger warning of this book.

And that’s all for my reading during July!

Have you read some 5 stars books this month? Tell me in the comments below.

Worst books I’ve read so far (2020)

Hello readers, how are you?

After the post about The Best books I’ve read so far this year, we need to talk about the boring, confusional, you_were_my_favorite_author_but_now_I’m_not_sure books!

Again, a lot of blue on these covers, it’s casual!

Ready player one was boring if you didn’t understand (like me) all the 80’s references, then we have 2 books of authors I liked (Winters and Grecian), but these works weren’t as good as the previous.

The confectioner’s guild is full of YA clichès, plus is fatphobic. Not good at all.

Mountain of the dead is gynophobic like all the other books by Bates.

 

And that’s all for my recap of the best and the worst of the first half of the year.

See you soon with the July wrap up!

Best books I’ve read so far (2020)

Hello readers! I began, a couple of weeks ago, to write the Mid-Year freak out book tag, but then I decided to change it to a simple best/worst books I’ve read so far, mostly because I’m not the tyoe of reader to know every single release of the year, and because I totally forgot nearly all the characters names of the books I’ve read.

So there you can find all the magnificent books I’ve read in the first half of 2020.

A lot of blue in those covers! We have historical fiction, middle grade, non-fiction. I’m gklad to have found new favorite authors (like Carl Ashmore) and to have the possibility to talk about these underrated titles.

And you, have you read great books during these months? Tell me in the comments!

Wrap Up: June 2020

Hello readers!

I’m a little late with wrap up post, I’m sorry, but I’m still in and out of the hospital, so life is a little complicated right now.

I managed to read 10 books in June!

4,5 Stars:

Stitch Head: a lovely gothic story, with a remarkable main character.

The Titanic detective agency: I’m obsessed with the Titanic, and this is a middle grade about a girl of the second class and a boy in the third class.

4 stars:

Big Mushy Happy lump: why it was so relatable? So funny!

3 stars:

Adulthood is a myth: a little less funny (for me) than the second one.

The medium: a historical m/m romance so cute. Attention to the trigger warnings about the supernatural aspect of the story.

2 stars:

The black country: The Yard, the first one in the series, was so good, but this second book not so much. The characters are flat, the mystery is really strange and unsettling.

The laughing cherub guide to past life regression: sooo bored!

Angelfall: the second book ever that I bought in English, many years ago. (The first one was Fangirl). I liked Raffe, but not Penryn.

Confessions of a funeral director: interesting for the first two chapters, then it became so religious and God centred. It’s also confusional when it talks about the family.

Ace, what asexuality reveals about desire, society and the meaning of sex: I received as an ARC via Edelweiss, but I don’t find it ispirational, only confusional or predictable.

 

And that’s was my reading month!

How was your reading month? Have you read some good books?

 

 

 

Wrap Up: May 2020

Hello readers, sorry for the late post!

How are you? I would have the time to post more during May, unfortunately I had severe illness coming back, and I’m still not feeling really well, so I don’t know how much I will posting during the next month.

Rest assured that I tried to read all your blog posts, even if I didn’t leave a comment so often.

In May I’ve read 10 books plus one DNF.

5 stars:

The time hunters and the box of eternity: the second volume in the Time Hunters saga is even better than the first one! A great group of characters, actions and really evil villains. And have you seen the cover?

The adventures of Sophie Mouse, a new friend: I’m totally in love with this series, the illustrations are beautiful!

4 Stars:

And then you’re dead:well, that was funny! Don’t read it if you’re hypochondriac or really anxious!

3 stars:

Real haunted cemeteries and graveyards: good to know just a little fact here and there, mostly American cemeteries, but without real information or names of the witness.

The heiress of Linn Hagh: it’s not worthy of Agatha Christie, I’m sorry. The mystery is good but not excellent, the characters are not likeable, especially the detective.

2 stars:

The clockwork crow: beautiful cover, poor and predictable plot, the crow is the only character that I liked.

All my friends are dead: I was expecting more. It wasn’t so funny.

1,5 star

Two gothic/supernatural historical fiction that both disappointing me. The seer of shadows is, in fact, a middle grade (and I love middle-grade books) with flat characters and a rush ending. Odd & True is my biggest disappointment of the year so far: Cat Winters is the best to write women in a historical context, but this book is just boring and the sisters are annoying.

DNF:

The honjin murders

 

And that was my reading month, how was yours?

Tell me in the comments!

Wrap Up: April 2020

Hello readers, we are back again with a recap of my reading this month.

How are you doing with the lockdown?

In April I participated in the Magical Readathon (O.W.L.s) so I managed to read 11 books!

Unfortunately, 4 of these are 1-star books.

5 stars:

The Hunchback assignments is a great historical fiction/steampunk with a really unusual main character. Modo is a hunchback rescued by a freak show who is also a shapeshifter. He became a spy, and this story is full of action.

3 stars:

The Romanovs: the final chapter is about the final days, the murder and the research of the bodies of the Romanov family. Is really gruesome at the beginning, but it became boring with the discussions about DNA and the investigations.

The transatlantic conspiracy has an amazing idea (a train who runs underwater between Europe and America!!), a beautiful cover and a really good description. The mystery is a little bland.

Goddess of the hunt is a collection of poetry, I enjoyed it because it’s about asexuality, even if poetry isn’t my cup of tea.

Clockwork gold is a short story set in Australia with a little bit of steampunk, but it’s a love story, in the end.

2 stars:

Il quarto fato (sorry, it’s only in Italian!) is a retelling inspired by One thousand and one nights, written really well, but I can’t stand the main character.

Unfortunately, I’ve read Greenglass house only months ago, and my rating is influenced by this. The last chance hotel is basically the same story, but less captivating.

1 star:

Mountain of the dead: fourth book (for me) of this series, it became more misogynist every book I read. But I made a promise to finish it, and there’s one last book.

Convenience store woman was interesting in the beginning, but I can’t stand the MC or her lifestyle during the story.

I had great expectations for Incarnation, a sort of retelling of Dracula where Lucy tries to find who transform her in a vampire, but as always, the author treats Bram Stoker very badly, and I can’t accept this.

Readers, I present you the most boring, the worse advertised, the most helpful if you suffer by insomnia book of all the time: Bellman & Black.

And that’s all for this month!

Have you read some good books in April?

Tell me in the comments!