Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Book Review | Gatsby-esque Horror Romance

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
(Between #1)
April Genevieve Tucholke
Genres: Paranormal, Horror, Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Publication Date: 3rd April 2014
Number of Pages: 360
Source: Netgalley

Add to your TBR shelf:    
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Goodreads Page
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery


You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town… until River West comes along. River rents the guest house behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard.

Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?

Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery... who makes you want to kiss back.

Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch.




Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a modern day Gatsby-esque drama including vintage mansions, wealthy families with the drama and infidelity all mixed together.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is narrated through Violet's perspective, a 17 year-old book-loving, intelligent teenage girl who's quirky and vintage style all stems from her grandmother Freddie. After Freddie's death a couple of years ago, Violet now likes to remember her grandmother by wearing her vintage clothes and imagining she's speaking to her in her head. But since Freddie's death, Violet's family has let their historic mansion turn to ruins and when Violet's parents run off to Europe to divulge themselves in art, Violet and her brother Luke are left to think of ways to earn money. Since they've never worked a day in their lives and their family is major part of small town, Echo's, heritage they post a flyer advising their guesthouse for rent. Cue River, the mysterious handsome 17 year-old stranger, who rides into town and rents Violet's guesthouse. But River is not to be trusted and as Violet starts to become interested in him, she learns that River is a compulsive liar and he's hiding a dark and horrific secret.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea was an addictive read to begin with, I loved the Gatsby-esque similarities and location, and the beginnings of Violet's and River's relationship was intoxicating. Unfortunately though, as the story progressed and River's secrets began unravelling, the story started to become very predictable and began to feel a little rushed. Overall, a gorgeously descriptive and imaginative story but I would have preferred the action and horror aspects of the story to be a little more rounded and un-rushed.

If you're looking for a story with a vintage flair and will-they-won't-they romanic storyline then this is definitely a book to check out!


City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare | This series just keeps getting better!

City of Lost Souls 
(The Mortal Instruments #5)
Cassandra Clare
Genres: Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Publication Date: 9th September 2012
Number of Pages: 544
Source: Bought

Add to your TBR shelf:    
City of Lost Souls Goodreads Page
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery

WARNING! This synopsis contains spoilers for the first 4 books in this series.
Jace is now a servant of evil, bound for all eternity to Sebastian. Only a small band of Shadowhunters believe he can be saved. To do this they must defy the Clave. And they must act without Clary. For Clary is playing a dangerous game utterly alone. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace's soul. Clary is willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost? What price is too high to pay, even for love?




This series has stepped up yet another gear, with City of Lost Souls possibly being my favourite book in the series so far!

I've had a love/like/sometimes bored relationship with The Moral Instruments series up until City of Lost Souls. I loved City of Bones, liked City of Ashes, found City of Glass a little boring in places but overall liked it - I thought I would have loved it if I hadn't been spoiled on a couple of things - and liked City of Fallen Angels. Therefore when I was starting of City of Lost Souls I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it - but I loved it!! Possibly my favourite or at least 2nd favourite book of the series so far. I'm so excited to wrap up the series with City of Heavenly Fire, any day now.

City of Lost Souls was a breeze to read from start to finish. I loved the further development of characters who aren't necessarily main characters e.g. Maia and Jordan,  as well as the continuing relationship between Simon and Isabelle, Jace and Clary, and of course Alec and Magnus. The wealth of characters and POVs is definitely a major reason why I love this series.

The travel locations in this book also added a lot of variety to what could have been a very repetitive storyline - Venice, Paris, New York as well as the small settings within these locations were all amazing!

Cannot wait for the final book - give me now!! :-)

Book Unhaul #1

Here's a collection of 10 books that I will be donating to my local charity bookstore. I've been busy spring-cleaning and clearing out aspects of my bedroom ready for my big move which is likely to be happening in June.

Thanks for watching :-)
Don't forget to let me know the ways you unhaul your books in the comments box below. Do you give them to friends and family? Do you donate them to charity book shops?

Splintered by A.G. Howard | Creepy and Spellbinding Fairytale Retelling Book Review

Splintered 
(Splintered #1)
A.G. Howard
Genres: Fairytale Retelling, Fantasy, Romance
Age Group: Young Adult
Publication Date: 1st January 2013
Number of Pages: 371
Source: Bought

Add to your TBR shelf:    
Splintered Goodreads Page
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery



This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now. When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.






Bout of Books 10.0 Read-a-thon TBR, Goals & Progress Updates | 12-18 May

The Bout of Books Read-a-thon returns for its 10th edition and is running Monday 12 May until Sunday 18 May.
For more information please visit http://boutofbooks.blogspot.co.uk.

Are you participating too?


My Goals
1) Read at least 1,000 pages during the week.
2) Read an average of at least 150 pages per day
3) Complete some more books of my Series Completion Challenge TBR - See my 2014 Challenge page for more details about this challenge as a whole.


My Progress
MONDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 148
Total number of pages I've read: 148
Book update: City of Lost Souls - finished

TUESDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 149
Total number of pages I've read: 297
Book update: The New World (Chaos Walking #0.5) - finished.
                         Currently reading The Ask and the Answer - page 113

WEDNESDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 26
Total number of pages I've read: 323
Book update: Currently reading The Ask and The Answer - page 139

THURSDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 51
Total number of pages I've read: 374
Book update: Currently reading The Ask and the Answer - page 190

FRIDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 49
Total number of pages I've read: 423
Book update: The Ask and the Answer - page 239 - putting down for the rest of the read-a-thon

SATURDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 25
Total number of pages I've read: 448
Book update: Currently reading The Elite - page 25

SUNDAY
Number of pages I've read today: 298
Total number of pages I've read: 746
Book update: The Elite - finished


The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler | Imaginative MG Fantasy Book Review

The Forbidden Library 
Django Wexler
Genres: Fantasy
Age Group: Middle Grade
Publication Date: 10th April 2014
Number of Pages: 336
Source: Netgalley

Add to your TBR shelf:    
The Forbidden Library Goodreads Page
buy the book from The Book Depository, free delivery



Do you remember the first time you climbed into the wardrobe with Lucy and emerged in Narnia? Flew on the back of Falkor the Luck Dragon with Bastian? Followed Alice down the rabbit hole? Welcome to your new favourite adventure.

Late one night Alice Creighton hears her father having an argument with a fairy - a snarling, bald beast with warts and needle-like teeth. It is threatening her father, insisting he accept a mysterious offer, or else.

When Alice's father goes down in a shipwreck, she is sent away to live with distant relative Mr Geryon, owner of a huge, dark library that is off limits to Alice. After meeting a talking cat who is willing to sneak her in, Alice opens a book and suddenly finds herself inside it - and the only way out is by conquering the dangerous creatures within. Alice has stumbled into a world where all of magic is controlled by Readers through books - she must open more books, face increasingly powerful foes, be the lead character in the quest to find a happy ending.



The Forbidden Library is an enthralling  adventurous story of a young girl discovering a magical world where reading is power. 

Alice is a 12 year old whose coming to terms with the disappearance of her father - but Alice knows the truth, her father was mixed up in some mysterious magical mayhem. Before his disappearance, Alice overheard a conversation between her father and a monstrous looking fairy which suggested that the fairy had a sinister plan which involved their family. Only days after this conversation, Alice's father disappeared and Alice makes it her mission to hunt down that fairy and find out what led to her father's disappearance!

Along the way, Alice discovers the magical world hidden to most humans which includes fairies, talking cats and dragons. She explores dark and dangerous worlds in order to discover the truth behind her father's disappearance and  consequently finds out that she has magical powers of her own as a 'Reader' - someone who can enter books and became part of the story just by reading a few words.

The Forbidden Library was a magically adventurous Middle Grade fantasy book which beautifully described the settings and monsters involved within the story. The illustrations add a lot of depth to the writings and further help imagine this magical world.

The Forbidden Library is one of those stories which can be enjoyed by both children, teenagers and adults alike.





1 Year | BookTube Birthday & Giveaway

Thank you all so much for all your support, book recommendations and comments over this last year. You've made BookTube so fun to be a part of. So in honour of my 1 Year BookTube Birthday I'm hosting a giveaway!

2 lucky winners will win a book of their choice from the book depository.com up to the value of £10.

Giveaway Rules
1) Must be subscribed to my YouTube channel - just click the widget below

2) The book depository.com must ship to your country - for a list of where they delivery click this link - http://www.bookdepository.com/help/topic/HelpId/3/Which-countries-do-you-deliver-to#helpContent
3) Must be 18 years old or have parental permission
4) Leave a comment on the video (http://youtu.be/jW_dP4CbfG0) saying which country you're from and your nearest big city - I'm going to be creating a subscriber map :-) yay!
5) For an extra entry - Tweet something including @ColdTeaCrumbs and #HappyBookTubeBirthday
e.g. 'Wishing @ColdTeaCrumbs a #HappyBookTubeBirthday. Congratulations for 1 year on BookTube!
6) Giveaway closes midnight Sunday 18th May (GMT)

Buy any book from the Book Depository and get FREE SHIPPING!
http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=ColdTeaAndCrumbs

April Wrap Up & May TBR + Viewers Choice Vote

Another month is over and its time to wrap up my April Reads and share with you my May To Be Read Pile. There's also another Viewers Choice Vote this month with a 'Book to Movie Adaptation' theme. Enjoy :-)

Don't forget to cast your votes for the Viewers Choice Vote in the comments below. Results will be posted on 11th May.

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