Cova Reviews | The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater

Hello again! Today I bring to you a review of amazing YA, paranormal novel The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater. I'd heard some about it, and I found an awesome deal, so I just decided to buy it and only then asked if it was any good :P Luckily for me, I ended up really loving it! It is the first book to a series that has 4 books in it so far - The Raven Cycle. As I read it in audiobook format, it adds to the list of books I've listened to for my 2017 Audiobook Challenge! :D (surprisingly, I am 50% done with it and were're only half-way through March!). 

"“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore." (Goodreads)

Cova Reviews | Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng | 2017 Diverse Reads Challenge

Hi there! This post is a review for the 2017 Diverse Reads Challenge for the month of February. I know it's probably a bit late, but honestly I haven't had much time to sit and write blog posts for a while now - exams and family visits take up too much of my time! (yes, my scheduled post came in handy 😏) So sorry this one's coming slightly off time 😀 

So anyway. February's topic was POC main character / Biracial / Multiracial. I went for biracial with Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste NG. I was really excited to read this book because I'd read about it in so many different places and, although I didn't really know what it was about, it caught my attention. Sadly, it didn't quite lift up to my expectations :(

Lydia is a half-Chinese/half-American teenager who lives in the 70s. She lives with her family - Chinese dad, American mum, and an older brother and a younger sister. The book starts off telling you Lydia is dead. That we know. What we don't know is how, when or why. We will find out as we dive into Lydia's past and her family's, and we will see how difficult it is to be raised in a country that's just starting to accept people of other races. 

Cova Reviews | P.S. I Still Love You, by Jenny Han

Hi there! So here we are again. Hope you all had a great start of the year wherever you are in the world :) Back at reviewing you will see me, as should be. And for the first review of 2017, I shall write about the second novel to the YA, contemporary To All the Boys I've Loved Before trilogy by Jenny Han, P.S. I Still Love You. This review will be spoiler-free for both the second and first novels of the series, so don't worry if you haven't read To All the Boys I've Loved Before yet, although I'd advise you to go read the review for that one first? 😛 

I was literally dying to read this novel right after I finished the first part to the trilogy, but I had finals (why?! 😓), and I had to be good - so I left it to read at the end of the month. And, oh boy, was it worth the wait!