Review: Paris Hilton: The Memoir

Title: Paris Hilton: The Memoir

A MILLION MEANINGS IN A SINGLE NAME…

Heiress. Party girl. Problem child. Selfie taker. Model. Cover girl. Reality star.

These are labels that have been attached to Paris Hilton by others.

Founder. Entrepreneur. Pop Culture Maker. Innovator. Survivor. Activist. Daughter. Sister. Wife. Mom.

These are roles Paris Hilton embraces now as a fully realized woman.

Paris rose to prominence as an heiress to the Hilton Hotels empire, but cultivated her fame and fortune as the It Girl of the aughts, a time marked by the burgeoning twenty-four-hour entertainment news cycle and the advent of the celebrity blog. Using her celebrity brand, Paris set in motion her innovative business ventures, while being the constant target of tabloid culture that dismissively wrote her off as “famous for being famous.” With tenacity, sharp business acumen, and grit, she built a global empire and, in the process, became a truly modern icon beloved around the world.

Now, with courage, honesty, and humor, Paris Hilton is ready to take stock, place it all in context, and share her story with the world. Separating the creation from the creator, the brand from the ambassador, Paris: The Memoir strips away all we thought we knew about a celebrity icon, taking us back to a privileged childhood lived through the lens of undiagnosed ADHD and teenage rebellion that triggered a panicked–and perilous–decision by her parents. Led to believe they were saving their child’s life, Paris’s mother and father had her kidnapped and sent to a series of “emotional growth boarding schools,” where she survived almost two years of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse. In the midst of a hell we now call the “troubled teen industry,” Paris created a beautiful inner world where the ugliness couldn’t touch her. She came out, resolving to trust no one but herself as she transformed that fantasy world into a multibillion-dollar reality.

Recounting her perilous journey through pre-#MeToo sexual politics with grace, dignity, and just the right amount of sass, Paris: The Memoir tracks the evolution of celebrity culture through the story of the figure at its leading edge, full of defining moments and marquee names. Most important, Paris shows us her path to peace while she challenges us to question our role in her story and in our own. Welcome to Paris.

I didn’t quite know what to expect going into this but can assure you this was open and brutally honest.

I was so shocked at what this girl has been through, it was heartbreaking. I guess you just see the money, the name, the clothes, the outward image and make assumptions but she is so much more than that and I applaud her for being able to function now in life because I’m not sure I would be able to if I’d been through what she had!

Even though Paris said this book might jump around because of her ADHD, I never even noticed because I was so hooked!

I am so glad she has found her person now in Carter and wish her all the best for the future with little Phoenix.

Review: Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

Title: Thornhedge

Author: T Kingfisher

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

A loosely based Sleeping Beauty retelling, but oh so different!

And oh so good!

Toadling is stolen from the human world and lives in Faerie but is called upon to try and help right a wrong….but it doesn’t go exactly to plan! Years later a Knight comes knocking at the door and Toadlings tale unfolds!

This is a brilliant short story with some great themes, messages and basically found family….

‘She was theirs; they were hers . The love of monsters was uncomplicated.’

This book is a first for me from this author and now certainly won’t be the last but I do wonder if there will be more in this world?! I’d love that!

The Sunday Post – 13th August

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week?

I’m on holiday! We set off on Friday to a remote converted barn with 30 of my family members so I’ve scheduled this post in! Sorry if I’m late coming back on comments and posts- I have no idea what the internet is going to be like there!

Hope the week ahead treats you well!


New Arrivals

Nothing this week!


What I’ve Read

🎧 Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bride of the Shadow King by Sylvia Mercedes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my reviews soon!


You might have missed…..

Review – Ravensong by TJ Klune
Review – Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Feature – September releases


What have you read lately?

On holiday 🏖

I’m on holiday!

We are having a big family holiday (30 of us!) in a massive converted barn so I’m going to be off the grid from today until the 20th!

I have scheduled some posts in, but unless I can find some time (and internet!) then I won’t be blog hopping and commenting and will try my best to catch up when I get back!

Hope you have a great 10 days!

September releases!

Here’s what’s tantalising me that’s releasing in September (that I’ll probably buy or have already preordered!!)

Mindbreaker by Kate Dylan
The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin
The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young
A Fall of Wrath and Ruin by JLA
Fragile Threads of Power by VE Schwab
Cage of Dreams by Rebecca Schaeffer

Will you get any of these?

Review: Alone With You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

Title: Alone With You in the Ether

Author: Olivie Blake

CHICAGO, SOMETIME—

Two people meet in the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist, undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. By the end of the story, these things will still be true. But this is not a story about endings.

For Regan, people are predictable and tedious, including and perhaps especially herself. She copes with the dreariness of existence by living impulsively, imagining a new, alternate timeline being created in the wake of every rash decision.

To Aldo, the world feels disturbingly chaotic. He gets through his days by erecting a wall of routine: a backbeat of rules and formulas that keep him going. Without them, the entire framework of his existence would collapse.

For Regan and Aldo, life has been a matter of resigning themselves to the blueprints of inevitability—until the two meet. Could six conversations with a stranger be the variable that shakes up the entire simulation?

Gawd I felt out of breath listening to this!

For ages I listened to this and wondered if I liked it, if I got it, questioning myself! But then I realised I did get it, I liked it. So much so, l listened to it in one sitting!

Regan and Aldo find each other and have their own brand of love which basically borders obsession and sex but also of understanding and respect for each other, well that’s what I took away from this anyway!

Regan has a mental disorder and Aldo is a loner type genius but their journey made me feel breathless! There were some disturbing moments and some situations I didn’t really agree with but it was their journey.

If you read this, make sure to read the acknowledgements.

Review: Ravensong by TJ Klune

Title: Ravensong

Series: Green Creek #2

Author: TJ Klune

Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town, vowing never again to involve himself in the affairs of wolves.

It should have been enough.

And it was, until the wolves came back, and with them, Mark Bennett. In the end, they faced the beast together as a pack… and won.

Now, a year later, Gordo has found himself once again the witch of the Bennett pack. Green Creek has settled after the death of Richard Collins, and Gordo constantly struggles to ignore Mark and the song that howls between them.

But time is running out. Something is coming. And this time, it’s crawling from within.

Some bonds, no matter how strong, were made to be broken.

Oh wow! What an emotional rollercoaster!

I loved Gordo in Wolfsong, he’s brash, grumpy and not up for any tom foolery!

This book was filled with dark humour, drama, action and made me have a lump in my throat in a few places!

Also I loved:
~ The flashbacks
~ Gordos heartache after heartache
~ Found family
~ Bambi – she’s my new favourite person
~ Mark – my heart!
~ Ox – I still love him
~ The wooden raven
~ The moment when Gordo realises it’s time
~ The singing of the wolves
~ The hate/love romance

‘But the funny thing about hate is the razor-thin line that separates it from something else entirely.’

And lastly, the timber wolf and that ending, can’t wait to see what happens next! Oh and pack, pack, pack!

The Sunday Post – 6th August: a slow reading week but a busy one!

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week?

August has arrived, we’re back from holiday and I’m back to work! Now the countdown to our next holiday on Friday!

It’s school holidays here but it’s been a busy week of doctor appointments, blood tests, an office day and I got my hair cut, I even had some fancy highlights put in for the summer!

It’s been a slower reading week for me but that’s what I was aiming for. Dropping down a gear and get back that love of books instead of seeing it like a job to speed through!


New Arrivals

Yellowface by RF Kuang


What I’ve Read

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
Reread – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 Ravensong by TJ Klune
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🎧 Prince Philip Revealed by Ingrid Seward
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Look out for my reviews soon!


You might have missed…..

Feature – Christmas in July Review – Malice by Heather Walter
Review – Bryony and Roses by T Kingfisher


What have you read lately?

Mini Review: Bryony and Roses by T Kingfisher

Title: Bryony and Roses

Author: T Kingfisher

Bryony and her sisters have come down in the world. Their merchant father died trying to reclaim his fortune and left them to eke out a living in a village far from their home in the city.

But when Bryony is caught in a snowstorm and takes refuge in an abandoned manor, she stumbles into a house full of dark enchantments. Is the Beast that lives there her captor, or a fellow prisoner? Is the house her enemy or her ally? And why are roses blooming out of season in the courtyard?

Armed only with gardening shears and her wits, Bryony must untangle the secrets of the house before she—or the Beast—are swallowed by them.

A Beauty and the Beast retelling by one of my new fave authors!

It’s pretty faithful to the original tale: Bryony gets lost in a snow storm and stumbles into a large house where the beast lives and he gets her to stay and she tends the garden as a sort of hostage in a ruse to help him break the curse

I loved the poems, the dreams, the falling in love and the humorous and sarcastic comments!

That bit at the end was different….and I’m not sure how I feel about it! But I think I like it!