Fi from Midnight Fantasy Book Reviews (Celebrating British Bloggers)

It's Saturday, which means it's time to meet another brilliant British blogger! This week I have the pleasure to introduce you to Fi from Midnight Fantasy Book Reviews... Fi and her lovely blog are recent discoveries of mine, so it's possible that you haven't found her yet either!

If this is the case, please go and rectify that now!  Other ways to connect with Fi are below...

Midnight Fantasy Book Reviews ... Fi on Twitter ... Fi on GoodReads

First, can you tell me something about yourself and your blog?

My Name is Fiona Hadfield but I usually go by Fi in real life and on my blogs I have a cat obsession and am a book horder. My book review blog is actually the second blog I started. My first was a photography blog. I was already hooked on blogging before my book blog was born.

How did you begin being a book blogger?

I started working in a bookstore in August 2011 and I started to research on the internet more for other people who liked books and reviews. This is where I started to find other book bloggers. I thought to myself, 'Doing that might also help with my job' and it really has. It's pushed me to think more, to read different books and try to talk to others more.

When you're not reading or blogging, what do you do with yourself?

I work part-time in a bookstore but I also work part-time with an Animation and Story Concept Studio that is run by some old university friends of mine. I love to draw and I love to do photography when I have the time. I also spend a lot of my non-blogging time travelling to see my fiancée (but not my non-book time. I spend more of my time reading on trains)

What was the first book you reviewed on your blog?

Wow, that's going back a little bit. My first Review was Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. It was a short review because I got so frustrated with the book (took me a month and a half to read! Which is crazy) and I hadn't yet learnt how to arrange my reviews to make them look nice.

What has been the best experience of being a book blogger so far?

Meeting other bloggers and finding out what others are reading and just mainly getting involved more with books. It has opened up a whole new world to me.

You can do it, what is your absolute favourite book?

I have a few that I really love. If I had to pick my all time favourite book it would be Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. I have read it a few times over the years. I first read it when I was sort of 12-ish and my older sister had just finished it. Every time I re-read it I pick up something new from the book I can take away from it. It's just amazing.

If you could be best friends with any fictional character, who would you choose?

These questions are hard! I think I would like to be best friends with someone like Avry from A Touch of Power by Maria V. Synder. Just because she is a brilliant character and the world she lives in sounds so amazing. I love anything fantasy. Plus with Avry being a healer, that might come in handy too!

Name your top 5 UK book bloggers!

I only have found a couple of UK bloggers so far butI do love seeing what they are reading:

Jessica and Donna from Book Passion for Life are great bloggers and reviewers. I'm always seeing what they are reading and they always have interesting things to say. 

Amy from TeenyReader. I think Amy was the first book blogger I actually started talking to. We read similar books so it's always nice to read her reviews and compare with my own thoughts! 

Anstice (aka Tizzy)  from Creative Therapy. She is a lovely blogger who not only likes books but also other creative things which I love too!

Sam from Realm of Fiction. I honestly don't know how Sam finds time to do anything but read! She does great reviews though and I love reading them 

I wish I knew more UK bloggers but these are the only ones I follow! I do plan on hunting down some more!

If you could meet your favourite author, who would you like to meet?

Maggie Stiefvater. Ever since I started reading her books back in 2008/2009 I've wanted to meet her. She is such a funny author who just seems to be loved by people.

What would you like to see more of or less of in YA?

Less Vampires personally. I think they have been pretty much done from every angle. I want to see more thriller's for boys. This is partly for myself but also partly for the people I talk to at work. There is still a big gap in the YA/Teen market for boys books. They simply don't have the same amount of choice girls have and tend to struggle to find more books they life after reading the obvious authors (Grant, Muchamore etc) I'd also like to see more Paranormal books that aren't just a book about falling in love. I want thriller, I want action and adventure. As well as a little bit of romance.

And finally, who is your ultimate book crush? 

OOooo That's REALLY hard. I think it would be Sam from Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. He just breaks my heart and his emotions are so real. I just want to cuddle him all the time. I love him so.


Thank you so much Fiona!  I really loved having you.  I love that you've listed some UK blogs that I wasn't aware of and that makes me happy! Off to discover some new bloggers... I had the pleasure of meeting Maggie Stiefvater once and she is a delight! If you ever meet her, I'm sure you won't be disappointed! :) 

Now for the rest of you! Would you like to meet Maggie Stiefvater? Are you crushing on Sam? Have you read and loved Northern Lights? Let Fiona know in comments, we want to hear from YOU.