Posted on by Hermione · 5 Comments

The Fellowship of the Ring-A Book Review

Well, um, hi there! It took me around 4 days or more to read this book (it is so long!). Hemhem….it is like damn! A more than four hundred pages book! As soon as I finish this trilogy, I’ll probably start with a fantasy duology or a standalone fantasy novel. I should probably just start with the review! I am actually feeling a little like a hobbit right now. I feel like sitting by a fireplace and reading a book like Bilbo. Does Bilbo read books btw? Oh whatever I should be reviewing this book.

Title: The Fellowship of the Ring

Series: Lord of the Rings #1

Author: J.R.R Tolkien

Genre: Fantasy, Classics, Adventure

Publication Date/Publisher: September 18th 2012 by Mariner Books (first published July 29th 1954)

13356706
Source: Goodreads

Bilbo Baggins is back to The Shire, living in his nice and cozy hobbit-hole with his small cousin, Frodo Baggins who is also the heir of Bag End.

Bilbo Baggins and Frodo are celebrating their birthday party. Even though both of them aren’t of the same age, they share the birthday of September 22. What’s special is that Bilbo just reached his 111th birthday and Frodo is now an adult hobbit.

During the birthday party, Bilbo announces that he will go on a very long vacation and might probably never come back again, a permanent vacation (how cool this sounds!). He leaves Frodo in charge of the rest of the party and on Gandalf’s request, leaves his magic ring (a ring which makes the bearer invisible) to Frodo and then leaves Bag End.

When Gandalf visits Frodo, and when they discuss about the ring, Gandalf realizes that the ring is indeed the One Ring which was forged for Sauron the Dark Lord, as a Ring of power to control and rule everything. Gandalf tells Frodo that Sauron and his servants already know about the ring and he should leave as fast as possible to destroy it before it gets into the hands of the Enemy.

Some time later, Frodo leaves the Shire with three other companions, Sam, Merry and Pippin in the quest to destroy the Ring in one of the fires of Mordor where the ring was originally crafted, one of the most dangerous quests with dangerous roads and the Black Riders, servants of Sauron, to reach Mordor, where evil awaits.

About the Author:

J.R.R. Tolkien
Source of picture: Goodreads

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, WWI veteran, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings . It is also said that The Hobbit is a novel which was first written for his own children.

My ratings: 4.7/5

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This book was slightly better than The Hobbit but much complicated to understand. There are SO MANY PLACES! SO MANY PEOPLE! It wasn’t boring at all, not fast-paced either but something in the middle of fast-paced and slow-paced. My favourite character was Aragorn, also known as Strider and probably Legolas as well, and perhaps Sam or Pippin and Merry because they are just so lively and very loyal to Frodo.

Frodo is appointed as the Ring-Bearer and as soon as they leave the Elf-castle and bid farewell to Elrond the Elven King, Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Gimli the dwarf and Boromir along with Frodo leave all together in the quest to destroy Ring.

I love the element of friendship in the book, how all nine are willing to stick to each other even in the most dangerous of adventures on their way to Mordor to destroy the Ring.

Sam, Merry and Pippin as I mentioned above are one of my favourite characters because they are just so loyal. They know they can turn back and return to The Shire but they don’t. They are all so full of fierce courage and determination, I admire all of them for that. I feel like I am going to miss all those characters very much when I’ll finish the trilogy *sad face* but I guess this is how all books are. You are so eager to see what happens next, which means finishing the book but you don’t want to finish the book at the same time because suddenly, you realize that you aren’t sure what to do with your life next…

Well, hope you enjoyed this post! My computer should be exhausted after all this slamming and punching of the keys and I have to let it rest a little for now.

I also have so many things to do, like read The Two Towers next so I should probably go.

With 10 tired fingers and an annoyed computer,

Lots of love, Hermione

Posted on by Hermione · 4 Comments

The Hobbit-A Book Review

Hey people! Hope you all doing good! I have wanted to read THIS for so long and I am finally happy I picked it up. It reminds me so much of Harry Potter though because Gandalf looks just like Dumbledore in my imagination, saying that both of them are wizards and have very long beards and are equally very wise. Maybe, we’ll save all that for later at the end and begin with the review before I forget about this post. Oh, and I was actually wondering if Dumbledore is actually inspired by Gandalf but I’m not sure….

Title: The Hobbit or There and Back Again

Author: J.R.R Tolkien

Genre: Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Classics

Publication Date/Publisher: August 15th 2002/ Houghton Mifflin (first published September 21st 1937)

5907
Source: Goodreads

Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who lives in a very nice and cozy hobbit-hole, called Bad End found in Hobbiton. Not being a hobbit who is very fond of adventures he prefers staying comfortable in his home, listening to the kettle whistling or making smoke rings out from his pipe.

One day, he receives a visitor, Gandalf, the great wizard who offers an adventure. An adventure to steal back the treasures of the great dragon, Smaug, who had actually stole all those treasures from the dwarves and other people at the time when he used to terrorize the lands.

Bilbo refuses point blank and declines the offer right away only to find more than a dozen visitors entering his hobbit-hole the next day. Dwarves. Thorin of Oakenshield, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bombur, Bofur, Bifur, Balin and Dwalin. And Gandalf of course.

Finally, Bilbo reluctantly accepts to accompany the dwarves and Gandalf on the quest for the stolen treasure and off they go, to retrieve the treasure most guarded by Smaug, the great dragon.

About the Author:

J.R.R. Tolkien
Source of picture: Goodreads

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, WWI veteran, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the high fantasy classic works The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings . It is also said that The Hobbit is a novel which was first written for his own children.

My ratings: I’m still wondering if I should give this a 4.9 out of 5 or a 5 out of 5.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Reason I read this? Fantasy! It has a great fantasy and was quite fast-paced at times so you are totally hooked to the story and other times it was a little slow-paced so you read at ease. The world-building is breathtaking. I wish I could at least see the Misty Mountains, the Lonely Mauntains, the forest of the enchanted stream and the Elvenking. But it isn’t guaranteed you’ll be able to see it if you look out of the window or climb up on the roof and look on all sides though I’ll try that when I have time to see if I can see them from my house.

Bilbo Baggins is also a wierd character who has got two sides; his Baggins side and his Tookish side. The Tookish side of him takes over during his adventures because the Tooks are his family on his mother’s side who were always ready for some adventure of some kind.

Another thing I love about this book is the amount of songs and poems the dwarves make up on the spot and unfortunately, I won’t be able to write one of them down here because it would be too long. J.R.R Tolkien has a great mind, the way his characters are created, the world-building, the plot and his imagination in making songs for the dwarves are just so great.

A very enjoyable and fascinating read!

See ya soon!

-Hermione

P.S. I know this is absolutely irrelevant but I actually found my green ring yesterday and I am so happy! It was lost for 6 months and I found it in one of my pencil-cases. I mean I lost it twice (I don’t usually lose things) and both of the times I found it in very unexpected places! I mean like why!? I always find my things in wierd places and I bet the next thing I’ll lose and I find it back again will be in some place like my hair or my pocket. Well, nevermind about all those nonsense things, I’d better go now!!!

Oh and next post will probably be my June wrap up so stick around!

Posted on by Hermione · 1 Comment

The Wicked Deep-A Book Review

Hi! This post is about one of the books I have just recently read (and finished in one-sitting) and I have to say that this IS one of the best books I have read so far. I am amazed at Shea Ernshaw’s writing skills. Haha.

Well, let’s start.

Title: The Wicked Deep

Author: Shea Ernshaw

Genre: YA Fiction, Paranormal Fiction, Fantasy, Romance

Publishing Date/Publisher: March, 6, 2018/Simon & Schuster

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
Source: Goodreads

It has already been 200 years since the Swan sisters, Margeurite, Aurora and Hazel Swan were drowned in the sea with stones tied to their ankles, accused of witchcraft by the local people of Sparrow.

But, the legend still lives on and at the start of the Swan festival, which takes place of the 1st of June, every summer, the Swan sisters return to take their revenge. During the course of two weeks, the three sisters inhabit the bodies of three young girls. Things don’t end here either, nobody knows which girl is inhabited by the Swan sisters and and each of the Swan sisters pounce on their prey, boys of equal young age are called to the sea by the charming sisters and are drowned only to find their bodies by the police or the fishermen floating in the sea. Nobody really knows what happens during the night because once a Swan sister has her eyes on you, you certainly won’t live long.

Penny Talbot lives on the island and seems to have accepted the curse of the town. She lives with her mother in a lighthouse ever since her father walked away from them. Penny knows that her father would never leave them alone but he hasn’t returned yet.

Just before the Swan festival, Penny meets Bo, a handsome young boy, a year older than her and an outsider looking for work who clearly doesn’t know anything about the legend of the Swan sisters. Penny is instantly intrigued by Bo, and senses that he is hiding many things from her and Bo is also intrigued by Penny and has the same feeling that she has deep secrets.

Soon, Penny slowly falls for Bo and is determined to do anything to save Bo because she can see the Swan sisters and already saw that Marguerite will not stop at any cost to take Bo from her.

About the Author:

Shea Ernshaw | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

Shea Ernshaw an American author is the New York Times bestselling author of Winterwood, The Wicked Deep and A Wilderness of Stars. Her debut novel, The Wicked Deep was released in 2018 of March. She also has a debut adult fiction novel, A History of Wild Places which will soon be released this December 2021.

Source of picture: simonandschuster.com

My ratings: 4.9/5

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Definitely one of the most emotional books I have read. Probably the best book I have read in May. I ADORE the cover! I haven’t read many witchy witchy stories before but I absolutely LOVE this book. Penny and Bo’s relationship grew very quickly saying that they have just met each other but otherwise everything was great. The end still makes me smile sometimes and it surely will make you smile too. I definitely recommend this book to all people who like stories about witches, curses and bravery.

~Hermione

P.S. We are the 1st of June today…as a matter of fact.😉

Posted on by Hermione · 1 Comment

The Talisman-A Book Review

I read this book like AGES ago. Okay that’s not true, just kidding. But I did read this back in April and I was like, well, maybe I’ll just review it later or something…So here it is!

Here It Is Season 6 GIF by Friends - Find & Share on GIPHY
Source: Giphy

Title: The Talisman

Authors: Peter Straub, Stephen King

Genre: Fantasy

Publication Date: November, 1984

The Talisman: Amazon.co.uk: King, Stephen, Straub, Peter, Bettison, Edward: 9781409103868: Books
Source: Amazon.co.uk

Jack Sawyer is a boy of 12 years old. He lives with his mother, Lily Cavanaugh, a very famous actress who is suffering from cancer.

To Jack, life seems quite slow-paced since his mother and he have just recently moved to New Hampshire in a hotel called Alhambra. All there is to do is to stroll on the beach and watch the seagulls flying above the sea.

This is the place where Jack makes his second best-friend, Speedy and old black man who works as a janitor in an old amusement park. Jack and Speedy become very good friends that it looks like they have been friends for years.

One day, Speedy brings Jack to his office and apart from all the pictures of nude girls cut from men’s magazines, only one stands out, a picture of a place that sorta looks like Africa. Speedy tells Jack about this place, which he calls the Territories and Jack tells Speedy about his Daydreams. The Territories as Speedy describes is a place is a world parallel to our world but relatively smaller in size. Speedy tells Jack about what Twinners are and Lily Cavanaugh’s Twinner, Laura DeLoessian, the Queen of the Territories. Speedy tells Jack about a crystal, The Talisman which he will have to try to get in order to save his mother and if he does, well, the Queen will be saved too and all will be well. Jack knows that this task isn’t chocolate cake and it will be very difficult as he will have to go West… probably come face to face with Morgan of Orris himself, the ruler of the Outposts, cross the Blasted Lands and well if he ever got out of there alive maybe he will be able to get to the Talisman somehow.

My ratings: 4/7

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The fact that you can actually feel in the place of the characters makes it amazing. All the characters are well developed so you can picture them clearly. It is really amazing somehow how people can make a story so long, interesting and so magical with just a simple theme like a journey to save my mother! It is a must-read. I would recommend it to all people who love fantasy, strange worlds, daring adventures and of course magic.

I also learned that there is a sequel to this book, it is called Black House and still by Stephen King and Peter Straub. I would definitely read it someday!

Have you ever read this book? What do you think of it? Make sure to tell me in the comments below!

~Hermione🤍

Posted on by Hermione · 1 Comment

The Enchanted Castle-A Book Review

Name: The Enchanted Casle

Author: Edith Nesbit

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Magic

Kathleen, Gerald, and Jimmy were spending their holidays at Kathleen’s school with Mademoiselle (the French governess) and Eliza, the only caretaker present for the holidays.

Gerald, having been able to convince Mademoiselle, tells the good news to his siblings. They pack a picnic basket and three horns, hoping to see the enchanted castle.

On reaching the picnic spot, they discover a cave which leads them to the garden of the enchanted castle. They find themselves in the middle of a maze looking at a princess, who they think to be Sleeping Beauty. Kathleen convinces Jimmy to kiss the Princess to wake her up.

The Princess shows them to her treasure chambers and when she tries on a ring, she becomes invisible! Thinking that her friends were just pretending, she shakes them and asks them to stop. When she looks around the silver mirror, she cannot see herself.

Amidst all of that, the Princess reveals herself to be the housekeeper’s niece, Mabel. Thus, she stays invisible for 21 hours before the ring could finally get off. Gerald takes over and becomes invisible for 14 hours when Eliza discovers him. Eliza then becomes invisible for 7 hours and Gerald realises that the ring is decreasing by seven all the time.

For their Beauty and The Beast play, Gerald paints people to be their audience called Ugly-Wuglies. Mabel being Beauty and wearing the ring, wishes for the Ugly-Wuglies to be alive… Gerald and Mabel go out in the dark and trap the Ugly-Wuglies in a cave with the help of the bailiff whom they tell their whole story.

The next day, they find the bailiff green in the face sprawled on the floor and the Ugly-Wuglies broken with their painted faces and clothes every where and to their horror they find an Ugly-Wugly like a real person!

Jimmy wishes to be rich and he becomes older not even recognising his siblings and Mabel. Fortunately, Gerald fixes the mistake, but Kathleen turns into a statue and Mabel 4 yards long. Kathleen invites Mabel and her brothers, and they become statues too being able to move around like the other statues.

Lord Yalding, of Yalding Towers, the Enchanted Castle is expected to come to the castle to rent it to a rich American. Mabel gets invited to a picnic with the bailiff and when Jimmy and Kathleen come too, Jimmy asks the bailiff to make a wish and Mademoiselle and Gerald appear. Soon it is learnt that the bailiff was actually Lord Yalding and Mademoiselle was Lord Yalding’s lover.

All of them return to the castle where they scare away the American thinking that this was what Lord Yalding wanted and they show him the treasures in Mabel’s treasure chambers when pretended to be a Princess.

Lord Yalding did not believe in the magic of the ring and refuses to marry Mademoiselle. On the day predicted by the statues, the light fell directly at the centre of the Temple and Mademoiselle makes a wish. ’’I wish that the magic ring and all of its causes disappear.’’ And so, it was. Mademoiselle married Lord Yalding and Mabel, Kathleen, Jimmy, and Gerald become friends with Lord Yalding.

And every holiday is spent at Yalding Towers…

The End

My ratings:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

It was a very interesting book. The sort of Famous Five type. I loved it. It was the sort of book that gets you into it and I finished the whole book in one day!