Books: The Gilded Ones ~ Namina Forna

 

 

Title:The Gilded Ones
Author: Namina Forna
Publisher: Usborne Exclusive Fairyloot Edition
Publishing date: June 2020
Number of pages: 412 p.
Series: Deathless #1
Age Category: Young Adult 
Other Books In This Series (currently):
Not yet announced

About The Gilded Ones

Are we girls or are we demons?
Are we going to die or are we going to survive?
Deka fears the blood ceremony that will determine whether she can become a member of her village.
If she bleeds red, she will belong. But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold - the colour of impurity, of a demon.
She has become what she has feared all her live. A mysterious woman can take her away, to join the an army. An purpose after becoming the unthinkable.

My thoughts on The Gilded Ones

After the first chapter, I didn't know what I was suppose to think, I wasn't sure where the story was going and here is an unpopular opinion I thought it was a little too obvious black girl in a white town being shunned. I wasn't sure that if the book turned out to be solely focused on this if I would have continued. I promise you the story takes on a whole different turn and I love that the author has chosen to pick a divers cast of chacters representing people from all corners of Otera.

After the first chapter, the story got really really dark, I was surprised at how dark it was. And I loved the book for it, I think it gave the reader perspective and explains a lot of the choice Deka will make during this story. Through out the story we she how Deka is process the trauma she has been through and she here grow as a character. There is a lot of character development, which makes this a character driven story. Seeing the world through Deka's eyes, whe get to see a lot of world building, we also she the hatred towards the Alakai, the religion printed on everybodies brain. I really hate the world Deka lives in, the religion in this world is brainwashing the people.

The elders bring out buckets, gold lust in their eyes.

I love the character White Hands, the mystery about her, the small hints she drops, which Deka can't seem to figure out. What is her end game, I have wondered this from the beginning and I tell you, I was really suprised about how the story unfolded. I think that from the large cast of side characters White Hands is one of my favorites, very unique, very strategic, and full of secrets.

Then we have not yet talked about Britta, she is descriped as someone from Scandinavia but in my head she has an Scottish accent. Britta is a likeable character from the beginning, even a little bubbly, which might seem odd in this cruel world. She is so much fun, but she has depth to her as well, she also has scars..

Going back to Deka, I really enjoyed her character, I understand the decicions she makes, all but one. When they are on a raid they enter an old underground temple, with a lake in it. From the waters comes a creature, which bites Deka. Instead of getting rid of the creature she decides to keep it. I don't understand why, and I thought is was a very naive choice. In the end the creature does proof it's loyaly.

In this world there are a lot of creatures that are unique, I haven't heard of any of them, the creature that Deka found in that temple is called Ixa, and it is some kind of shapeshifting being. Very interesting, it enjoys the form of a cat but can also turn in to some big ass lizzard/dragon? like creature. Very cool!

The final battle was really something, oh by the way you will get a proper battle, I promise, we are right there on the battle field slaying deathshrieks. It all is very well written. I think this book is a great introduction to the world Otera and I want more of it! Like right now! I know this is suppose to be a series, but a title for the second book is yet to be announced, I will be keeping an eye out for it!

Conlcusions

This book is an action packed, character driven story, set into a new world, we explore to the eyes of Deka. I love our main character, the worldbuilding, and the wide cast of side characters. This book is very well written and therefore I am giving it 5 stars!

Swinging Saturdays #91: We heart radio

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

Al we hear radio ga ga.. . Do you enjoy listening to the radio? Or is radio out of date and are you listening on your devices only? I must admit, I don't listen radio often, a simple reason for this is that there is always too much talking and not enough music, so I enjoy listening to my own music. I know it is sad but when you only listen radio when in the car, and that radio only gives you talking radio dj's or the news bulletin then you get annoyed. 

Artists disagree with me of course and some have written songs about radio. So here some well deserved radio support for you! I hope you will enjoy.

Queen ~ Radio GaGa

Let's start with the obvious and the best of the best, a song everybody knows. Because all we hear is radio ga ga, radio gu gu. And Radio we stil love you.. lol Need I say more? I can go on a rant if you wish.. But I rather you listen to Radio Ga Ga.

Manu Chao ~ Me Gustas Tu

Maybe this one is less obvious, but in the intro and outro it sounds like the radio dj is doing an introduction whatever he is saying. It is like some dj's do when you have a long introduction, or tell a story, until the moment the artist starts singing.
The live version of this song is very different, but I must say I enjoyed this so much that I decided that I would use it.

Blue October ~ Italian Radio

So apparently this is one of those songs, that is one of my favorites, but does not have any proper live performances for you to watch, there is not even a music video, oh well, you will have to just close your eyes and listen to it. It is very special to me, always puts a smile on my face. I had tickets to see them live, but my ex last minute decided that he did not want to go. There was know one who wanted to come, because I was the only one that knew the band. I wish I could tell my past self that it would have been fine to go alone. I am a different person now, now when know one wants to join me, I still go.

Biffy Clyro ~ Spanish Radio

Well look at that, we also have Spanish Radio! Can someone just write a song called "dutch radio"? That would be perfect and I will add it to the list I promise! Yeah I know this song but honestly not my favorite, but hey, very fitting with todays theme right? I am more an Mountains, Black Chandelier, Opposites kind of fan.

Queen Of The Stoneage ~ No One Knows

Oh goddamn it is so freaking good. The guitar, the noise, the amazing fans. Maybe this should go on my, want to watch list for after all this fucking shit is over. I am sick and tired of COVID, I miss going to concerts, restaurants or just simplely go for a drink somewhere, or stores that are open. I think a lot of people are feeling the same by now.

Any music for radio lovers missing? 
Let me know in the comments!

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 

Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com. 

I would love to hear what kind of music you like!

TBR Update

Hi everyone, 

So a little while ago I posted my physical TBR for this year. Consisting of 25 books I would like to read during 2021. Hopefully it will be a better reading year than 2020. I have found that I know have some more time to read, and I am currently reading 2 books. You can find my TBR post here. 

Currently reading

I am currently re-reading Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas. The second book in the Throne of Glass series. I am re-reading this because I actually don't remember any of the details, from this one, now that I am re-reading I am rembering some. I forgot about the magical door knob called Mort, I still enjoy this side character, eventhough he only has the role of messenger. The other reason I am re-visting this book is that I would like to continue the series, Heir of Fire is on my reading list for this year. By re-reading Crown of Midnight I hope to get back into the story and feel the urge to continue onwards with Heir of Fire. One can only hope! 

I am also reading Scythe, the boyfriend has been urging me to read this, he already finished the trilogy in record time I might add. And I am now starting with the first book, because he really enjoyed these books but can't talk about them because spoilers. So I decided when I finished The Gilded Ones I would continue with Scythe, just so we can discuss it.  By the way, the first 100 pages I was really struggling to get into the book, I like the world building, but I think I needed to get into the writing style, also I haven't read any science fiction for a while, so maybe I needed to get used to that as well.

Books I finished

I finished my first book of my TBR! 

I am really proud at myself because, 1 I finished something, and 2 it was on my TBR! I am usually the kind of person who says at the beginning of the year, I am going to read these books, and then abandon the TBR and read something random. So I am glad I already managed to finish a book in about a month, so I am all for it, it generally takes me a long time to finish anything so I am glad I managed this. 

The book I read during January is The Gilded Ones, which came out in February, and I own a beautiful Fairyloot paperback with beautiful green edges and a lot of gold.The book was amazing! I really loved it, the story is so unique I have not read anything like it. I can't wait for the second on to come out! I hope to have a review up for it somewhere this month. It is going to be a 5 star read for me. 

Swinging Saturdays #90 : Tram Sessions

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

So today we are doing Tram Sessions, I have come across these videos many times, mainly because I was looking for live video's of the Pierce Brothers. I thought this is a fun channel, I like the concept of playing on a tram. You can see it move and sometimes the artist playing need to keep themselves upright when taking a turn. Today I show you some of the videos, these will all be artists you might know as they have had international succes. 

Let's go for a ride on the Melbourn tram!

DeWolff ~ Don't Go Up In The Sky

So I had actually planned Will and the People, but for some reason I could not find the video anymore. So I started to search for something I know and found this, I was not even aware that they did this. Interesting to hear this song in this version.

Xavier Rudd ~ Follow The Sun

This song reminds me of summer, I very much enjoy it, I think it got famous here in the Netherlands because it was part of a commercial.

Passenger ~ Heart's On Fire

He only had one hit here in the Netherlands, then he dissapeared. Is he still making music? Yes it turns out, he just released a new album. I will give it a listen soon, I am curious if he changed from what he made back then. I hope you enjoy Heart's On Fire.

Vance Joy ~ Riptide

I know I have used this song on so many an occasion, also got famous due to a commercial, it is still very good. And very addictive.

Pierce Brothers ~ The Tallest Teepee In Town

We are ending this top 5 with my favorite Aussies Pierce Brothers, Jack and Patrick. I love their music, and the energy they bring to the stage is amazing. I hope you enjoy this last song, if you ever have the pleasure, go see them live, it will be worth it!

Have you watch any of the Tram Sessions? Anything I missed I should watch?
Let me know in the comments!

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 

Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com. 

I would love to hear what kind of music you like!

Swinging Saturdays #89: Spotify ABC ~ E

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

Hi Everyone, I am back again for a new Swinging Saturdays! 

It has been a bit quiet I know, I am still trying to find the balance between blogging, work, reading and family. And we have had some hectic weeks, Brexit is taking it's toll, I have been busy trying to get our orders to the Netherlands, finding ways to get anything out the UK, it has been a challenge. 

It feel good when after lots of phone calls and emails the goods finally got delivered to our warehouse late Friday last week. Saturday we sorted everything out, and by the time I got home I was to tired to do anything else. 

So yeah no Swinging Saturdays last week, I am hoping to get back to weekly posts on the blog, but I know I am not quiet there yet. Anyways, today we take a dive into my Spotify list again, this week it is going to be E's. Let's see what is there. We have Echosmith, Eaves, Evanescence, The Eskies, Epica, The Eagles of Death Metal. Wow, a small category. What will I choose?

Eagles of Death Metal ~ I Want You So Hard

I just came to the conclusion that Jack Black and David Grohl are in this video. So how could I not post this one, come on it is Jack Black and David Grohl. And as cherry on top Josh Homme. Goddamn, this video is hilarious and just what you would expect from the Eagles of Death Metal. I thought is was funny that in the comments of the this video on Youtube it says: They tricked me, this is no black metal. I thought that was really funny.

Ed Sheeran ~ Thinking Out Loud

So I guess we are doing videos today instead of live preformances, not only is this a beautiful song, but I absolutely love this video. It is breathtaking. I have nothing more to add to that I guess. By the way there is also a making off this video, if you are interested in that it's out there on Youtube.

Elliot Brood ~ Northern Air

The first concert I went to with the love of my live, before we were together. I loved this! And it has some amazing memories attached to it.

Evanescence ~ Good Enough

I lived the first 2 albums of Evanescence, I remember playing it in my room on repeat when it came out. I love the cover art of the album, and I knew every song by heart. This is the other side of Evanescence, this is a beautiful ballad. I had forgotten how beautiful it is.

The Eskies ~ Jesus Don't Save Me

I worked this show,that means I was behind the bar pooring drinks, these guys bring something great to the stage. On top of that they are very nice fellas. Not likely to forget that evening, hope they will visit with Hedon once this shit called Covid is finally over and we can get back to normalcy. So let's finish this on a funny note. Hope you enjoy this video.

Any artists starting with an E I should add to my list?
Let me know in the comments!

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 

Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com. 

I would love to hear what kind of music you like!

Swinging Saturdays #88: Ice Ice baby

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

It is cold in the Netherlands, we have snow, which is pretty unique, we don't get a whole lot of it. And it has been freezing, we have natural ice, which means everybody in the Netherlands has the skating fever.
For my family it definitely means we are going skating, I am part of a famous skating family here in the Netherlands, my uncle is very famous in the skating world, he won the 11 city race 2 years in a row. It is the biggest event we have an gives you fame forever if you win it. It is a race over 200 km through the province of Friesland. There hasn't been an 11 city race for a long time, last time it got that cold that it could proceed was in 1997. My other uncle placed fourth back then. Anyways yes today will be another skating day for me.   Below a video of me and my sister yesterday.

No for today,  we are staying with the cold, for an ice cold Swinging Saturdays.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Snow

Let start with the peppers, this guitar riff is very addictive. Stadium Arcadium is one of those albums I have listened to too many times to count. I still very much enjoy this song.

H.I.M. ~ Join Me In Death

Yes the title is very dramatic, and this may not seem like a choice to fit in to this top 5 of snow and winter but look at that music video! If the woman in this video isn't the perfect snow queen then I don't know what is. This is the thing with HIM they always have lovely music videos to go with the beautiful music. If you want to watch another snowy video by this band, Funeral of Hearts was my second option for this one. Again a very pretty video.

Snow Patrol - Run

Now for an obvious choice, Snow Patrol! My favorite song is not Chasing Cars nor is it Just Say Yes, my favorite one of Snow Patrol is Run. It gives me goose bumps every time, it is so beautiful, such a powerful song.

Within Temptation ~ Ice Queen

Yes this had to be here, Within Temptation's ice queen, it was their biggest hits, made it in the Dutch charts. A metal band in the Dutch charts that was very unique. I have seen them at least 5 or 6 times live, they are still around and kicking. All though I did not really keep up with their music.

Idina Menzel ~ Let It Go

How could I not end with this one! Ofcourse this has a place in my top 5. Yes for who have read this earlier, I was in a hury to get to skating and I forgot to post it, but it is here now! So enjoy!


Well that is it for today's top 5 I am going to change now and put on my skates! Enjoy your saturday, and for all Dutchies, enjoy the ice!

Any Ice cold suggestions for me? Let me know in the comments!

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 

Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com. 

I would love to hear what kind of music you like!

Books: Iron Kissed ~ Patricia Briggs

Title:Iron Kissed
Author: Patricia Briggs
Series: Mercy Thompson Series book #3
Publisher: ACE Books
Publishing date: January 2007
Number of pages: 292 p.
Language: English, Dutch a.o.
Age Category: Adult
Other Books In This Series (currently):
Moon Called #1
Blood Bound #2
Bone Crossed #4
Silver Borne #5
Rivermarked #6
Frost Burned #7
Night Broken #8
Fire Touched #9
Silence Fallen #10
Storm Cursed #11
Smoke Bitten #12

About Iron Kissed

Mechanic Mercy Thompson can shift her shape - but not her loyalty. When her former boss and mentor is arrested for murder and left to rot behind bars by his own kind, it's up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not.

My thoughts on Iron Kissed

The longer I think about this book, the more dissappointing it actually was. Don't get me wrong, I still very much enjoyed it but I have some issues with this one as well. When I saw the title I knew immediately that this would be about the fae, and I got really excited as I have been curious about Zee for a long long time, and would have expected that we would get his backstory, where he came from.

However as it turns out, the fae are far more secretive than I had expect and so we are still left guessing about the fae and their history. We get a little bit of insight into their world but it feels more like a teaser. We never really dive into deep in the fae history. I could ofcourse pretent that I was not dissapointed but honestly, it was.

Another disappointment was that Stefan was not present, allthough we get an explaination why he is not there, this also felt as a disappointment to me, he is one of my favorite side charaters so it is a pity that we don't get to see him in this story. This story has a large build-up than the other ones, I felt that it was a bit slower.

I enjoy the time we spend in the fae world, the walking stick, and most of all Fideal's true form, that was very impressive and he is now one of my favorite villans. The story itself is very well thought out, and as with every book we get around story, Zee was in the end released from prison, so the mystery got solved.

I liked the bit where Mercy see the ghost of Austin Summers, and the conversation Mercy has with his brother. I thought this was very well done, and thoughing. I don't want to spoil this for everyone so I will leave you with this today, what did you think of this 3rd book in the Mercy Thompson series? Is it your favorite? Or did you have such high expectations of this one as I had? I think my expectations let me down with this one, I will be continueing the series, as I really enjoy Mercy's character, I have no idea what the next book will hold and I am not going to read the synopsis before I will start reading, I am going to go in blind, curious how that will turn out, I will let you know when I have finished it.

Conclusions

My expectations of finding out everything there is about the fae got squashed, which left me a bit dissapointed. This book is centered around the fae world, we get a little peak into the reservation they live in, we get a litlle peak in Zee's history. And we are getting a mystery, a crime to solve. All in all not a bad story, I was just hoping for so much more, this is why the rating will be lower than the previous two, so three stars.

Swinging Saturdays #87: Amazing Covers

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

 Hi my lovely readers, 

How are you doing today? I am doing fine but I am actually dreading to write this post because it is going to be a long one. Today there will be 10 artists but only 5 songs, how does that work? Well you might have guessed it from the title but we are doing covers today. There are some really amazing covers here, I am a person that mostly hate this but these just stand out, and are very well done in my opinion. 

I think I will be doing another edition of this one, as I have more covers that I do enjoy then I thought there would be. There are also a lot of covers that I do hate, for example my sister listens often to a cover of the "House of the Rising Sun" and I hate it with a passion because I feel that no one can beat the original, no one can do it as well as the original band intended it to. The cover was done by Five Finger Death Punch, which is not a minor artist or anything but I just really do not like what they have done with the original. 

This is going to be very hard for me, as you can read it causes me to rant.. Sorry people I am very opinionated. Well let's get started.

Heroes: David Bowie versus Motorhead

In all honesty, I am not a big Bowie fan, I am sorry for the fans out there but it is just not for me, but I have to pick one song I do enjoy than it will be this one. Me and Martijn have a playlist on Spotify, it is called the Cruiser list, a list for when we are out and about in the car, and this list holds the cover of Bowie's Heroes, done by Motorhead. Please note that I am also not a big fan of Motorhead but still enjoy this one.

Smooth Criminal: Micheal Jackson versus Alien Ant Farm

The king of pop, and holy shit what an iconic performance, this video is truely amazing and shows how great a performer Michael Jackson really is. He will always be one of the most extraordernairy artists there are not many his high performances on stage, the shows are so well organized, the dance moves miticalously planned. Such an amazing thing to watch. I almost sound like a fan, which is not really the case but I am in awe of what he has pulled of on stage.
Years later there was this band from California that decided to make Smooth Criminal the hit single from their debut album. Add in some more guitars and there you have Smooth Criminal done by Alien Ant Farm. Is it bad? No not really, they did an okey version of the song, will it ever be as great as the original? No, I don't think anyone could do a better job than Micheal himself.

Sweet Dreams (Are Mad of This): Eurythmics versus Marilyn Manson

I actually always forget the name of the original band, allthough they play it quite often. I knew the original along time before the cover surfaced. I love this cover, I can't help it, but it just fits. Marilyn Manson's voice with these lyrics makes for a very fitting cover. It is defintily going to be the most disturbing thing you will ever watch, it gives a holy different dimension to the song. Hey and what better artist then Marilyn Manson to provide you with some awesome but disturbing music?

Wicked Games: Chris Isaak versus HIM

Oh people are going to hate me for saying this, but I never cared for the original, I always thought is was a bit whiney and very dramatic. So I will give you the music video I know so well, and this is also the most dramatic version there is of this song. Insert: electric guitars and a vocals to die for and there you have it, HIM's version of Wicked Games. This is such a guilty pleasure for me, HIM in general that is. I just love Ville Valo's voice, it is so dark and swoonworthy.

Kids In America: Kim Wilde versus Billie Joe Armstrong

This song has been covered by so many artists and bands it is not even funny anymore. I remember thta I once found at least 25 different versions of this song. What makes this song so special that everyone wants to cover it? It is a great song, don't get me wrong, I like the original it is so 80's. Got to love it for that. The cover I picked is one that I know the best, because well, Green Day ofcourse. I don't talk about Green Day often I think, but I still am a fan. And this has the very recognizable voice of Billie Joe Armstrong. Then there is this thing were almost every punk band has a cover or 2. Anyways I think this cover does justice to the original. I hope you enjoy.


That's is for the cover battle, I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know which versions you enjoy the most, the original or the cover? Let me know below in the comments.

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 

Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com. 

I would love to hear what kind of music you like!

Books: All Our Yesterdays ~ Cristin Terrill

Title: All Our Yesterdays
Author: Cristin Terrill
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publishing date: September 2013
Number of pages: 360 p.
Languages: English
Age Category: Young adult
Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel 

About All Our Yesterdays

Yesterday - Marina was safe, privileged, wealthy. She was falling for James - the super-brainy youngest son of a very powerful family. Yesterday ended badly.

Today - Em is in a cell she may never get out of alive. There's a flicker of hope when she talks to the boy in the cell next to hers - and when she remembers who she used to be... Yesterday.

Tomorrow - Em has a mission. She must escape and travel back in time. She must kill the boy Marina loved - to save her future.

My thoughts on All Our Yesterdays

Let me start of with a bit of a content warning: THIS REVIEW IS NOT SPOILER FREE, so if you don't want any spoilers please skip to my conclusions.

Oh this book, this book really tore me apart, what an amazing read this was.

All Our Yesterdays has been on my wishlist for many years, finally I found a copy I think it was at one of the Boekenfestijn events. They always had a very large English languages section on these events, which was the reason I went to these events. I always found very nicely priced books there. If you have any online suggestions of good webshops for English Fantasy and Science fiction that ship to the Netherlands, and are cheaper than the regular bookstores/online players, please let me know. I am a little stuck with Bookdepitory and Bol.com and I have recently noticed that the book prices are going up. I was so happy to have found this book, however it remained on my shelf for years and years. So I could not remember what it was about, I decided to go in blind.

I dove right into the story, our main character is lock up, we don't know where, we don't know why and we don't know what the prisoners are to each other. I was very intrigued that we did not get much information, but the author managed to keep me on my toes the entire time. The POV starts of with Em, who is the person that is locked up, after a couple of chapters the POV switches to Marina. Marina is a brat, spoiled, rich kid that is very very naive. You might have gathered from this that Marina was far from a favorite. We also find out that Finn is in both story lines so it must be Finn in different times.

It took me a much longer while to figure out that Em and Marina are actually the same person. You would not have guessed if it wasn't explained at some point, it was so interesting to see that one person can change so much that you would not even recgonize them, this was really smart writing, and it is one of the things that I really appreciate about this book. This not only goes for our main character but the same is true for the side characters. We see a lot of development between the future selves and past selves of our characters. Allthough I must say Finn remains relatively the same in any time line.

When Em & Finn manage to escape from the Doctor, they travel back in time to kill James. We see how they track James, prepare for attack, but also the hesitation on Em's part, as James was her friend, the friend she was so desparetly in love with. We see the contraversy this gives Em, the hesitation to kill him, as past James was relatively innocent. It is not easy for the old friends to try to kill someone they loved, that they trusted. This is what makes this book so realistic, it shows the struggles of the characters, and we get a well rounded story since the POV's switch between Em and Marina.

The end was really suprising, it took a turn that I did not see coming, a very daring thing to do. The ending was great, and I think what made this book so great is that it was not your straight forward, predictable YA book you would expect, it twists and turns, and you have to figure out all the details as you go along.

Conclusions

If you like time travel, then this is for you. If you are looking for a well-written suprising, not so predictable YA story, then go right ahead an pick this up. This book threw me out of my 5 year long reading slump, it was addictive, action packed, with amazing character development in a well rounded story. I can only say please read this, it is amazing, it is an older young adult book, and maybe even a bit underrated as I never really saw a lot of people talking about it, but damn, what a ride. 5 stars for this one!

 

Time travel isn't a wonder, it's an abomination. - Cristin Terrill

Swiniging Saturdays #86 : Spotify ABC ~ D

Swinging saturdays is a musical meme hosted by Ice Cold Passion, to share our passion for music. The goal is to make a top 5 (or Top 10) for whatever genre or artist you like or get creative and share a theme based music top 5. For example a bookish soundtrack, funny songs, song to listen to on a rainy day top 5.

I took a Saturday off, I spend the day, taking down all the Christmas decorations and cleaning the house. I can tell you it was needed. We made a typical Dutch dish (split pea soup) and we watched some Criminal Minds, our new addiction. 

I might not have told you this but I own a company with my sister Isabelle, we used to work every Saturday, we have our weekend personnel, they do all our production work for us. Saturdays I am usually printing labels, arrange the warehouse and other things we do not have time for during the week. We both used to be present on Saturdays. However this new year we are taking a different approach we are dividing the Saturdays between the two of us, which means last Saturday I was off, and this Saturday I am working. 

So that is a little bit about my personal live, lets get into a new round of Spotify artists, starting with a D. In the D category I have: Dana Sipos, Dananananaykroyd, Daniel Romano, Danny Vera, Dave House, The Dead South, The Deaf, Dean Lewis, Death Alley, Death Cab for Cutie, Declan McKenna, Des Rocs, Devil Electric, Dewolff, Distrubed, Donnerwetter, and last but not least the Dropkick Murphy's. Wow, that was a long list! So I am picking 5 of these and this week it is going to be my favorites, just because I can. 

Can you figure out which ones will be present below (before scrolling down, that is) ? 

Danny Vera ~ Roller Coaster

I fell in love with his music, when I saw him play on "Bevrijdingsfestival" in Zwolle, I was suprised by how good it was. Little did I know that he would become such a prominent name in the Dutch music scene. Roller Coaster is so big that it made it all the way to the number one position in the Top 2000, knocking down Bohemian Rapsody from it's throne, where it has been for years. I think that indicated how beloved this song already is by the people here in the Netherlands. For all my non Dutch readers, I am proud to present to you Danny Vera! Let me know if you enjoyed it!

DeWolff ~ Big Talk

Well let's get the other Dutch band out of the way before we move on to North America. I didn't know which song to pick, to showcase their talent, so let's go with one of the more recent ones, well recent, we are going back to 2018 they have released a new album in 2020 and I just saw another release is coming up soon, in February this year. We can definitely say that they have been using Covid to their advantage, 2 albums relatively shortly following each other up. If you like this band, I can suggest their vinyl for your collection, I have 3 albums all are very special, one is green transparent, the other gold, another has the band on printed on the vinyl, which is also very pretty. So if you want something special for your collection their albums are really a treat. I usually buy them at their shows but I am thinking of pre-ordering the new album since well, there are no live shows to go to.

The Dead South ~ In Hell I'll Be In Good Company

Hello, Canada, from the most boring province, sorry Saskatchewan, comes a great band, The Dead South, In Hell I'll Be In Good Company, if so simple but yet so effective in what it is. I love this song, I can put it on repeat and it will never be boring. Bonus that this is coming from my second home on this planet, Canada, I miss you.

Dave Hause ~ Wild Love

Well we are hopping across the border to to Philedelphia, USA. I am very fond of the LP "Bury Me In Philly" I bought the LP at the show I went to in Bitterzoet, Amsterdam. It was a great show, Wild Love is one of my favorite songs. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Devil Electric ~ Hypnotica

We are finishing this top 5 in warm and sunny Australia, all though I would not call their music warm and sunny to be honest. This music is dark and earily beautiful. I have a much love for female lead singers, iti is something I am always on the look out for. They have been working on a new album for a while I am very curious when it comes out. Devil Electric has released to singles of this album, both sound very good!

This was a really hard one, only picking five, out of a pool of great artists, but I made it once more, I hope you have a wonderful Saturday!  

What is in you D category?

Feel free to leave a comment! 

Want to host Swing Saturdays next week? 

Send me an email: icecoldpassions@gmail.com. 

I would love to hear what kind of music you like!