October in review

First off, Happy Halloween! Right.  2013 has been the WORST for reading slumps. And no month was as bad as October. I can't remember the last time I read as few books as I did this month. At least the books I did finish were really good, right? Here is a look at what I was reading and blogging about in October. Bring on November...

Books Read in October 2013:

Crash Into You by Katie McGarry
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve
Shadows by Paula Weston
This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales
Addicted To You by Krista and Becca Ritchie
Finding Your Inner Cherokee by Siobhan Curham
Haze by Paula Weston
Model Misfit by Holly Smale
   
Total: 9

Total for 2013:196

9 books. Wow. That's not very good by my own normal standards. But it has been sort of nice to ease up a little bit on the reading. Only picking up books that I desperately want to read and not feeling that pressure to finish a book you're only half enjoying because it was sent for review. Maybe I should challenge myself more to slow down on the reading. Maybe I'll enjoy it more and have fewer book slumps?

I honestly loved all of the books I read this month. 

What was the best of the bunch though?

September Book of the Month:

Far From You by Tess Sharpe


It could only have been Far From You by Tess Sharpe. Sadly not published in the UK for many, many months. It's a gorgeous book though. Filled with really great characters and messy, complicated relationships. I think you all will love it when you get a chance to read it.

Books reviewed in October:

Mini-reviews: Prisoner in Alcatraz by Theresa Breslin and The Fall by Anthony McGowan
Cover reveal and review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Far From You by Tess Sharpe
The Name on Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns
The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle
Shadows by Paula Weston
Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles


Guest Reviews

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
Arclight by Josein L. McQuein
Gloss by Marilyn Kaye

A very big thank you, as always, to (one of) my lovely guest reviewer, Kulsuma! Thank you for your consistent and interesting reviews! I really do appreciate it. Together, there have been more reviews on the blog this month than books I've finished! When was the last time that happened?!

Non-review posts during October:

Break-ups in YA
Introducing the Bookish Brits
NaNoWriMo

Bit sparse with non-review posts this month, sorry! I started the month strong and it all petered out over the last few weeks. I am hugely excited though about Bookish Brits, the new collab channel that I've started. Please do read that post, if nothing else.

UKYA in 2013

UKYA in October

Teaser: Trouble by Non Pratt

Sharon Jones (Celebrating British Authors)
Sita Brahmachari (Celebrating British Authors)

I really wanted to bring you more posts covering UKYA in 2013, but it just didn't happen this month (just as it didn't happen last month *hangs head*) Still! I'm trying. I really do love this series of posts I have planned, telling you about some of the new-to-me UKYA authors that I've read this year. Look out for more of those soon. 

If you are a UKYA author with a book published this year, please do get in touch about guest posting here on Fluttering Butterflies! I'd love to have you.

Waiting on Wednesday

No Waiting on Wednesday posts this month, I'm afraid. Perhaps next month if I have the energy!

Bookshelf Requirements

Marcus Segwick's Bookshelf Requirements
Melina Marchetta - Paula Weston's Bookshelf Requirements

This feature is sorely lacking participants. Please do get in touch either via comments, twitter or email if you'd like to take part in Bookshelf Requirements.

British Books Challenge update in October

Fearsome Dreamer by Laure Eve
Finding Your Inner Cherokee by Siobhan Curham
Model Misfit by Holly Smale

Total in October: 3
Total in 2013: 53

3 books this month! I can't complain: at least that was ONE THIRD of the books I read this month. *cries silently* Perhaps November is the month I'll find my reading mojo...

Personal challenge to read 10 non-review books a month:

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Total in October: 1
Total in 2013: 47/120

Why am I still bothering with this challenge?! One book?!

What was your favourite book that you read in October? 

REVIEW: Gloss by Marilyn Kaye

Guest review by Kulsuma

What I love about Gloss by Marilyn Kaye is that it’s set in sixties New York, a time period I haven’t come across much, if at all, in YA fiction. It follows the intertwining stories of four young girls as they start their summer internships at a magazine called Gloss. While some of them have their lives mapped out, others’ futures look hazy at best. None of them know that interning at Gloss will change them forever.

Sherry Ann is very much the typical good girl who follows all the rules. But after the future that looked so certain, crashes around her, she slowly but surely evolves into a strong woman. Pamela only wants to have a good time in New York, but she’s a young girl trying to act much older than she is. I really wanted to shake Allison. She seemed like a smart enough girl but she made a lot of wrong choices. Donna’s story was incredibly sad but a tale a lot of other girls would have also gone through and still do.

I enjoyed the details on the fashion industry, reading about typewriters and the working world. It’s interesting to compare then to now. Of course, there was a lot of sex discrimination and unfairness in the book. The four main characters are looked down on or used by at least one man. However, the girls learnt important lessons throughout the story.

Kaye’s writing style was great. It contained all the excitement of sixties New York. I felt the pace of the story could have been sped up as the middle section was slow. Overall, Gloss was an easy-to-read story about girls coming of age; discovering their identity for the first time. Obviously, there is a huge gap in the YA market because I would love to read more books set in this time period. I look forward to reading more books by Marilyn Kaye.

Brilliant review, thank you Kulsuma!

REVIEW: Arclight by Josin L. McQuein

Guest review by Kulsuma

I was really excited to read Arclight by Josin L. McQuein because I do love post-apocalyptic fiction and sci-fi. Arclight started with a bang; there was so much action that I was wrestling between a feeling of suspense and ‘What’s going on?’ Luckily, some questions are answered relatively quickly, but in another sense, I felt disconnected from the story.

Marina, the protagonist, has no memory of who she is, where she’s from, anything. She was found in the Grey; the boundary between the Arclight where it’s safe and the Dark which creatures called the Fade inhabit. When the story starts she’s been living in the Arclight for a few months and is alienated from the other students and detested in the case of one boy, Tobin, whose father was killed rescuing Marina.

After the fast-paced beginning, the action slowed down. The middle was sedentary but luckily, the ending was where it picked up. Besides Marina and the two love interests, none of the other characters were particularly memorable.

I really enjoyed McQuein’s writing style. I love reading stories in first person, present tense. However, apart from the great writing, I found it hard to connect with Marina. I never got to know anything substantial about her. I felt rather indifferent in the end. Even when she learns the truth about her past, she doesn’t find out about what she was like as a person, about those important to her and so on.

There are two love interests, but I didn’t know enough about either one to have a favourite. Finding out the truth about Marina and the Fade were the reasons I carried on reading the book. The Fade were an interesting and well-formed idea and should definitely have had more page time.

What disappointed me the most was the ‘twist’ towards the end because it could have been resolved much, much sooner and saved a lot of confusion, heartache and pages. Actually, I wouldn’t call it a twist as much as done for the sake of convenience. Also, I had some unresolved question about the villain. The ending was satisfactory but didn’t leave me with a feeling that I have to read the sequel, Meridian.

Thank you for that interesting review, Kulsuma!

NaNoWriMo!

Note: This is a sponsored blog post! I used Grammarly's website as a means of proofreading this blog post because I feel more at home abusing the rules of grammar and punctuation after spending a great deal of time on Twitter.

November is host to an amazing writing project called NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month.  It seems like such fun to take part in and I've always wanted to do it.  It's something a very large community of people does every year. I especially love the amount of support and cheer leading that goes on as participants band together to help each other to complete a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.

When I was in middle school and into the first years of high school, I was always writing stories. These stories were usually filled with lots of angst and drama and romance. Most were heavily influenced by other stories that I'd read that had left an emotional impact.  Then two things happened in a relatively short period of time. The first is that someone close to me read my stories without my permission. This impacted my writing for pleasure in two ways. The first is that this person was very judgemental of something that I did purely for fun. The other is that this person wanted to continue reading my stories even though I had never allowed it in the first place. I became very self-conscious about what I wrote and how this person would react to what I was writing. The second thing that happened is that the floppy disk that I had stored my stories on was left in a trouser pocket and went through the washing machine.  I had nearly 20 stories on that disk that was instantly lost. I'm sure many writers out there can imagine the utter hopelessness and loss that I felt.  It felt like recapturing my inspiration for those stories was too large of a mountain to climb. So with both of those instances occurring, I stopped writing altogether.

I occasionally (usually only half-heartedly) mention getting back into writing. Sometimes a character will pop into my head. Sometimes I want to capture a feeling with words.  Sometimes I feel the urge to let out my creative side now and again and might jot down some ideas.  If other bloggers, authors, or publicists ever ask if I'm a blogger as well as an aspiring writer, I usually just say no.  I say that I don't have the time. That I let other people with the ideas, and the creativity do their thing, and that leaves me to do mine.  But really, I think that I'm just lacking in confidence when it comes to writing.  But I get this silly, happy grin on my face  when I really think about what it would be like to sit down every day and to write. I love that daydream.

I might take part in NaNoWriMo this year. But if I do it will be done in secret. If I do, it just means I'm not yet ready to tell other people about it. Not yet anyway. If I do NaNo, it'll be for me. It will be to reclaim something that I lost when I was younger.

Good luck to everybody taking part this year!

REVIEW: Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles

I was hoping to enjoy Wild Cards by Simone Elkeles more than I did.  While I mostly enjoyed her previous books about the Fuentes brothers, I didn't love them as much as others seemed to.  The thing about Wild Cards that made me think that I might enjoy it better is that it is the first in a new series based around a football team that has a girl captain.  Girls playing sports in YA? Sign me up right now. There is something particularly addictive about the way in which Simone Elkeles writes. Once I started Wild Cards I really couldn't put it down until I'd finished. 

I think my problem with the book is that it sometimes feels as though the characters are trying too hard to be certain things. Like the Fuentes brothers being hardass gangsters - I didn't believe it.  And in this, I just didn't feel like Ashtyn was who Simone Elkeles made her out to be. I couldn't relate or emotionally connect to her because she didn't feel real to me.  I appreciated the fact that she's trying to do something that goes against what's considered gender normal but to me it didn't quite ring true.

It was a different story with Derek. Again, his pranks and couldn't-care-less attitude at the beginning didn't feel like it breached the surface of realness, but later on in the story with his relationship with his step-family, I felt like I was really seeing his truth. I think the grief that he felt over his mother was apparent but I was left feeling slightly bemused towards the end of the book when a secret of Derek's past is revealed. It came from nowhere.

Derek and Ashtyn were cute together and I liked seeing how their relationship progressed. They both had things to work through and I mostly enjoyed working through them together. I just wish that there had been more of an emotional connection to them both as characters. I liked Derek's relationships with his little brother and his step-mom and I'd have liked that to have been delved into more.  Same with Ashtyn's life on the football team and her involvement with the other football players who appeared loyal and devoted to her. We're told of these brilliant friendships between Ash and the team but I didn't quite feel or believe it.

All in all, Wild Cards was a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. It was a cute and sweet love story that I'm sure most readers will love more than I did.

Introducing the Bookish Brits

Hello everyone! I'm very excited today to tell you about my latest project. Some of you may remember that I posted a vlog in June about some books that I wanted to read over the summer. At the same time, I floated the idea that I'd love to set up a collab channel on YouTube about books.  I only had one person come forward to say she was interested and that was the end of that. But I never stopped thinking about it ... and now, finally, it is happening.  I'm so thrilled!

Bookish Brits! It's a collab books channel made up of 10 book bloggers around the UK and we'll be uploading videos every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.

It's me; Caroline from Big Book, Little Book; Faye from A Daydreamer's Thoughts, Kirsty from The Overflowing Library, Lucy from Queen of Contemporary, Julianne from this fleeting dream, Carly from Writing from the Tub, Daphne from Winged Reviews, Debbie from Snuggling on the Sofa and Jenny from Books That Spark. (Isn't that an amazing line-up?)

We'll be discussing every age range of books from children's, middle grade, young adult, new adult and adult though I'd say that our main focus will be YA. Expect reviews, discussions, tags and just a general bookish discussion over there on a regular basis. Don't worry though, all of us will continue to blog as normal. 



We're also very lucky that Faye took so much time and effort to make an introduction video about all of us together and designed our channel art and everything. Thanks Faye! I think it's a great bit of information of all of us. Can you say that you 'know' all 10 of the BookishBrits? I can't. Not yet anyway :)




I'm really, incredibly nervous about my BookishBrits debut. *bites fingernails*

Please do subscribe to our channel
Follow BookishBrits on Twitter

Let us know what you think of the idea, of the channel, of its members and thank you so much for the support so far!

Melina Marchetta (Paula Weston's Bookshelf Requirements)

Hello! And welcome to another Bookshelf Requirements post. Today I have the great pleasure of introducing you to Paula Weston, the Australian author of the Rephraim series, of which the first two titles are Shadows and Haze. Haze was published by Indigo on the 3rd of October.

Paula is here today not to talk about her own wonderful books, but of Melina Marchetta's and I absolutely love that she is! Melina Marchetta is one of my all-time favourite authors!

To find out more about Paula Weston or Shadows and Haze, please do visit the following places:

Paula Weston ... Shadows and Haze on Goodreads ... Paula Weston on Facebook ... Paula on Twitter

Thanks for the chance to visit and chat about books.

Ordinarily, I would have struggled to choose between Maggie Stiefvater and Melina Marchetta for this post. I’ve read everything both writers have published and hugely admire their work. But I see you covered Maggie very nicely in your inaugural Bookshelf Requirements post, so Melina it is!

Melina Marchetta

Melina’s novels are an auto-buy for me. Whether it’s her contemporary YA, fantasy YA or any other genre she’s drawn to, I’m in. Because no matter what the setting or genre, Melina always writes layered characters I care about. They get deep under my skin. They make me laugh, fret and cry, and stay with me long after I close their books. Melina’s prose is beautiful and her dialogue sharp. Her stories resonate with me on so many levels, not the least of which is the textured view she provides in her contemporary novels of Australia and Australians.

Looking for Alibrandi

This was Melina’s breakthrough novel back in 1992. I didn’t read it until 2008 (no excuses), although I saw and enjoyed the film when it first came out in 2000. It’s about discovering identity, appreciating cultural heritage and family ties, learning tough lessons about love, and recognising the realities and fallacies of class distinction. It’s also explores the consequences of choices – even those made with the best of intentions. Reading the book was, of course, a much richer experience and it made me hungry for more of Melina’s work.

On The Jellicoe Road

This is my favourite Melina Marchetta novel. It completely undid me. It’s bittersweet and heartbreaking, but also incredibly life affirming. It’s a beautiful story of family, friendship, redemption, forgiveness and hope. The characters were all compelling and I especially loved the dynamic between Taylor and Jonah. There's a breathtaking sense of place, cracking dialogue and a page-turning mystery about what's really going on. The story unfolds in rich layers - much like the characters. The reveals, when they come, are not so much bombshells as inevitable connections. And in the end, it's not the twists that are compelling, but the way the characters respond to them.

Saving Francesca

This is another example of how beautifully Melina builds characters – another story that made me laugh out loud and moved me to tears. Like her other YA novels, it touches on themes of family and self discovery and is populated with fantastic characters. Its told through the eyes of Francesca, who is tackling her final year of high school as one of the first enrolled girls in an all-boys school while also dealing with her mother’s sudden and acute depression. (I particularly enjoyed the rivalry/romance between Francesca and Will.)

The Piper’s Son

This book is set five years after Saving Francesca and focuses on Tom, a secondary character in the first novel. Tom is dealing – or, more to the point, not dealing – with the death of his favourite uncle and living with an aunt with her own emotional scars. The way grief spreads through this family and beyond is devastating and authentic. There are no easy fixes, but the story offers hope for healing and redemption. Yes, there were tears – but also tight writing, sharp dialogue and characters I didn’t want to let go of.


Lumatere Chronicles

I have so much love for this series.

Finnikin of the Rock is one of the most well-crafted, beautifully-told stories I've ever read. The world building is meticulous. The characters remarkably complex and real. The plot and twists enthralling. And the story of the Lumatere people is so heartbreaking that when hope finally comes, it's impossible not to be caught up in the moment.

Froi of the Exiles is a different, darker instalment, and – maybe because of that – is even more compelling and emotionally raw. Three years on from the end of the first novel, the recovering realm is struggling to rebuild after its years of exile and suffering. The scars run deep for the Lumaterans, and there are divisions between the exiles and those who were trapped all those years with enemy.

Quintana of Charyn

So many threads come together in this brilliant final book. There are resolutions for every character I’d come to care deeply about, and all of those resolutions were hard-earned. Important relationships are on the line (on several levels), but I must admit the one I cared about most (at least early on) was Finn and Froi's. Their friendship was one of my favourite things in this series and I seriously fretted for them. Two of my all-time favourite literary couples also feature heavily in the Lumatere Chronicles.

For me, what makes this series so exceptional are the characters and their relationships, and the way Melina manages to capture the best and worst of human nature. It's a story that, while set in a fantasy world, could easily be an analogy for any moment in human history when one group of people have de-humanised another. I know other well-written fantasy novels tackle themes of humanity, inhumanity, survival and hope. But it's not often you'll find this kind of mature approach in a YA series (although, honestly, the Lumatere Chronicles transcends the YA label on so many levels – as does all of Melina’s writing in my opinion).

Thank you so much, Paula! Have you guys read books by Melina Marchetta? Would they be amongst your bookshelf requirements? Let Paula and I know in comments!

REVIEW: Shadows by Paula Weston

Oooh! Shadows by Paula Weston was such an unexpected delight of a book.  I say 'unexpected' because angels in general are a parnormal/supernatural creature that I tend to avoid like the plague. And for that reason, I did pass over the opportunity to read it when it first came out.  ...And by the time of its publication I'd heard nothing but amazing things about it. So when I happened to see a copy of Shadows in my local library, I thought 'well, why not?' I sat down to read it on a particularly cold, miserable morning and I was completely swept away by it. I found Shadows to be very addictive reading, very exciting and by this point I'm absolutely gasping to know more. More about this story and more about these fantastic characters.

First off, I loved the Australian setting of this book. I'd definitely like to read more YA from Australian authors such as Paula Weston. As much as I was enjoying Gaby's story, I kind of also wish there had been a gap in the action for Gaby and Maggie to head down to the beach and hang out for awhile. An idea for a future book in the series, I'm sure!

I'm also very drawn to books involving memory. And in Shadows, Gaby is faced on all sides by people asking questions and making remarks about memories that she had lost following the death of her twin brother, Jude, the year before. It had to have been frustrating being confronted by and being put into situations in which other people know (or think they know!) more about you as a person, or about things that happened to you in your life that you no longer have access to. That is what it is like for Gaby and I really felt for her. She's already in a difficult position and these memory issues do not help things along. 

I loved Gaby as a character. She's chosen to live in a quiet town near the beach. She's got a great best friend, Maggie, and a job at the library. Her grief over the loss of her brother still eats away at her but she's trying her best. And then the man of her dreams (he actually appears regularly in her dreams) walks into the bar and everything that Gaby thought she knew about herself and her life begins to change.  I thought the change in name from Gabe (her previous life) and Gaby (her current life) was quite cleverly done.

Here's where we get into the angels part of the story. Usually I start rolling my eyes when it comes to the history and mythology of how the descendents of angels came about or what powers they have. But I didn't do that with this story. I found the information and world-building of these angels to be quite straight-forward and I was okay with the extra abilities. And Rafa is a fantastic character as well. There's plenty of swoon right from the beginning and I absolutely loved the tension between Gaby and Rafa. The chemistry between them was amazing.

Shadows is filled with plenty of action and mystery.  There are just enough fighting and heart-thumping moments to keep a very fast-pace. But there's also many questions raised that is making me feel a slight desperation for the sequel, Haze, in the hopes that some of my questions will be answered. I'm dying to know more about what happened to Gaby and Jude, who tampered with Gaby's memory, if Jason is hiding any more shocking secrets and oh my god, what will happen next with Gaby and Rafa?! I'm definitely hooked on this series.  Tell me again why it took me so long to pick up this book? 

Also, stay tuned! Tomorrow, the author of Shadows and Haze, Paula Weston will be here on the blog with a special guest post.

REVIEW: The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle

I read somewhere that The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle was being described as the modern day Forever by Judy Blume. Personally, I didn't see that when I was reading the book and the only conclusion that I could make as the story went along was that this was going to be a story of realistic expectations of a teenage love story like Forever was. And so for me, the comparison to Forever and the ending of this book is what takes The Infinite Moment of Us as being a 4 star story into 3 star territory.  This book could have been a book that I really enjoyed, but without spoiling the story it falls at the last hurdle. 

The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle is very simply, a love story between two individuals spanning the course of one momentous summer. Wren Gray is dealing with her parents expectations and trying to find common ground between what her parents want for her and what would make her happy. And at the same time, Charlie Parker is struggling with the expectations of those around him as well. He's grown up in foster care and has finally found a place where he can belong. My heart went out to Charlie for being in that situation, it can't have been easy. But also Charlie doesn't stand up for himself very much. He's lacking that confidence in himself that would have allowed him to make better choices within this book and in his relationship with Wren.

I felt at times that Wren and Charlie's romantic relationship could have been more straightforward than it is. There is a lot of extra drama that is thrown into it, possibly because it was so easy for them to begin their relationship? While I did find the beginnings of their love story to be quite sweet and I really did fall for them as a couple, I also wanted both of them to come to their decisions regarding their lives and their families and this relationship a little bit sooner than they do.  More communication from both Wren and Charlie about what they want out of life and with each other.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this story. The sticking point for me is that everything is leading to this big dramatic finale. I really wanted this book to end differently. My expectations of a realistic teen relationship does not coincide with the realities of Wren and Charlie's ending, I'm afraid.

REVIEW: The Name On Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns

I was very intrigued to read The Name on Your Wrist by Helen Hiorns after it was selected to be the first winner of the Sony Young Movellas award. Helen Hiorns is only 19 years old and a university student at Sheffield! I'm very impressed and in awe that so many young people are as creative and dedicated enough to have completed a novel and to have entered such a competition. So, well done Helen!

The Name on Your Wrist was certainly an interesting and original concept. It tells the story of this world in which everyone will have the name of their soul mate, or carpinomen, written on their wrists. This carpinomen is a big secret, you're not supposed to reveal your name to anyone. This guarded knowledge is power and people search their entire lives to find their soul mate. 

I think the thing that I found the most enjoyable about The Name On Your Wrist is the exploration of what happens when things go wrong in this area? Placing so much emphasis on happiness and fulfillment on another person can leave one open to unhappiness - for those people who never find their carpinomen, for those people who have found their soul mates but don't feel as strongly about them as they believe the should. Questions are definitely raised here about having a choice in who to love and about the consequences that go along with falling in love with someone who is not your carpinonem.

I was very surprised by this book. Especially because for me at least, the tone of this book felt a little bit bleak in parts and as much as Corin, the main character, tries to cut herself off from other people, I was expecting myself to feel detached from the story as well.  And while I was never fully engaged in Corin's story everything about the book and all of the questions that are raised managed to crawl under my skin.  Even days after reading The Name On Your Wrist I would suddenly recall some aspect of it and the impact of this story stayed with me for far longer than I expected.

This is a very strong and thought-provoking debut. I will definitely look out for more from Helen Hiorns and I eagerly await news of whether or not the Sony Young Movellas award will become a regular thing. I sure hope so! 

REVIEW: Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick

Guest review by Kulsuma

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick blew me away. This is one of the best books I have read this year. It was such an emotional and tear-jerking read. I had a constant lump in my throat. It was not just the story, but the unique and authentic way it was written as well as the vivid, memorable and graphic images evoked on every page.  Never Fall Down is a mix of fiction with non-fiction centred on a real character, eleven year old Arn, who is caught up in a war he doesn’t understand and must do anything to survive. 

When Khmer Rouge soldiers arrive in his hometown, Arn’s peaceful and happy life is thrown into sudden turmoil. Forced to march far from their home, they are made to work the fields all day and listen to political speeches about the ‘Angka’ at night. Things get even worse when the men are separated from the women and the boys from the girls; Arn’s whole family is torn apart.

Thinking of only surviving and reuniting with his family, Arn does whatever it takes to survive. However, in a world with no rules, where even the Khmer Rouge leader can be deposed of in a moment and replaced and where Arn is not sure of whom he is anymore and struggling to remember the reasons he is trying to survive, life is very fragile.

I loved Arn. He is such a real character, I felt like I knew him. What I loved about him most was how honest he was about everything. As he was narrating the story, it felt like he was telling me all his secrets. Even the ones that made him look bad. He didn’t cover up any of the grim realities and horrors of the war; didn’t soften any blow. Never Fall Down is gritty, complex and a reflection of the darker side of humanity. Some of the goriness might be too much for some readers, but I loved it. Even though I’d never heard of this war before reading Never Fall Down, it was a great introduction.Also, I liked that Never Fall Down wasn’t written in Standard English but reflected how Arn would actually have spoken.

All the characters were fantastic. I can’t think of one that wasn’t great and one who didn’t add something to the story. I particularly loved Sombo; his friendship with Arn was so complex and interesting. All in all, Never Fall Down was amazing from beginning to end and I whipped throughit. I loved reading up on Arn and finding out more about him. I look forward to reading more from Patricia McCormick.

So glad you enjoyed this one, Kulsuma! It sounds fantastic.

Sita Brahmachari (Celebrating British Authors)

Today and (hopefully!) every Sunday until the end of the year, I'm hoping to tell you a little bit about some of the amazing UKYA authors that I've discovered this year. They aren't all 2013 debuts but they are all authors that I've read for the first time this year. I hope that you'll become just as excited about them and their stories as I have been! Today the author I've chosen is Sita Brahmachari... 

Sita Brahmachari is the author of three books for teens: Artichoke Hearts, Jasmine Skies and Kite Spirit. I've heard amazing things about all three but it wasn't until this year that I picked up one of her books. It just happened to be Kite Spirit which I found incredibly lovely.

All three of her books are published by Macmillan and have very fun, colourful covers.

After I read (and loved!) Kite Spirit, I did write a blog post about suicide which is a topic that is covered in Kite Spirit. Kite, the main character, is suffering a great loss as her best friend, Dawn, has committed suicide. Her family make the decision to send Kite to the Lake District over the summer in order for her to grieve and help her to move forwards.

There are many things that I loved about this book.

1) I loved how such a tough subject as suicide or the loss of your best friend is told in such a gentle and comforting way. Things like depression and the suicide are discussed but in such a way that it never felt like it was in your face like other gritty or issues-based books are. I felt like I was in a safe environment when I was reading this book.

2) But at the same time, Kite is left to feel everything from anger to confusion to sadness to guilt and frustration over Dawn's choices. And as the reader, we experience those things alongside her. It is still a very emotionally impactful novel. And I thought it was written really beautifully.

3) Part of the comforting nature of this book is how much support Kite receives from her friends and family and from her community.  That's really special and I wish that for every teenager whether or not they are going through a crisis.  Also, there are some fantastic hobbies going on in Kite Spirit. From actual kites to acrobatics,  family history, owls, and the oboe. I felt almost inspired myself to take up some strange hobby alongside Kite and her artistic family...

4) I really loved the Lake District setting. I could picture the countryside that she visits and walking through it and soaking up some of that beauty and wide open space to heal some of what is broken inside of Kite. I'm a big fan of any story that brings in an English setting and especially in Kite Spirit where the location of the story - outside of London and away from certain pressures - is instrumental in Kite's recovery.

5) And finally, I loved seeing the memories and flashbacks of Dawn and Kite's friendship. I could tell quite clearly that they shared something special. This entire story is a celebration of their relationship. And at the same time, I really enjoyed the sweet nature of Kite's friendship with local boy, Garth. She needed someone outside of her normal circle to confide in and share her feelings with and how wonderful it was for her to have found that person in Garth.

I really enjoyed Kite Spirit. I loved the gentle tone of the story, the beautiful and evocative writing style, the Lake District setting and the amazing cast of characters.

And here is the book trailer for Kite Spirit.  I quite like the oboe music that accompanies it.

 I have no idea whatsoever why I haven't yet read Sita Brahmachari's previous two books. Especially as both Artichoke Hearts and Jasmine Skies have had such good praise and have been shortlisted and/or won awards.  After falling in love so wholeheartedly with Kite Spirit, I went out and bought myself a copy of Artichoke Hearts. It will not be sitting on my to be read pile for long, I'll make sure of it!

I really love the fact that after reading Sita's latest novel, I can now go to her backlist to enjoy as I wait for something else by her to come along... 

 To find out more about Sita Brahmachari or her books, please do visit the following websites:

Sita Brahmachari ... Sita on Twitter ... Add Sita's books to your Goodreads

Have you read anything by Sita Brahmachari as yet?

Marcus Sedgwick's Bookshelf Requirements

Hugely excited today to have Marcus Segwick on the blog. I love Marcus' stories and his latest, She Is Not Invisible has me particularly excited.  Here's the product description for it:

Laureth Peak's father is a writer. For years he's been trying, and failing, to write a novel about coincidence. His wife thinks he's obsessed, Laureth thinks he's on the verge of a breakdown.He's supposed to be doing research in Austria, so when his notebook shows up in New York, Laureth knows something is wrong.

On impulse she steals her mother's credit card and heads for the States, taking her strange little brother Benjamin with her. Reunited with the notebook, they begin to follow clues inside, trying to find their wayward father. Ahead lie challenges and threats, all of which are that much tougher for Laureth than they would be for any other 16-year old. Because Laureth Peak is blind.

Marcus is here today to share some of his bookshelf requirements and I quite like the diversity of his selection! If you'd like to know more about Marcus Sedgwick or his books, please do visit the following websites:

Marcus Sedgwick ... Marcus on Twitter ... Marcus's blog ... add She Is Not Invisible to Goodreads

Eeek! How does a writer ever answer that perennial question: what are your favourite books? It’s just too hard. I’m on record elsewhere with a list of some of my top authors, the ones I couldn’t live without; people like Mervyn Peake, Ernest Hemingway, Bram Stoker, Hermann Melville.

So instead, I thought I’d take a snap of one of my bookshelves – the one where I put treasures.

Here they are: from left to right:

Old Peter’s Russian Tales, by Arthur Ransome.
Casino Fleming, by Ian Fleming
Sweet, by Sylvie van Ommen
Sailor Twain, by Mark Siegel
Edgar Allan Poe, by Arthur Ransome
Ritual, by David Pinner.

A few words about each of them, then:

Old Peter’s Russian Tales, by Arthur Ransome.

Arthur Ransome is best known for his Swallows and Amazons series of books, but when I was a boy I not only read and re-read those books, I also did the same with his collection of Russian Fairy Tales. It was a book that inspired me heavily when I came to write my novel Blood Red, Snow White, which is the true story of Ransome’s adventures in the Russian Revolution, as a British spy and a Bolshevik double-agent. I treated myself to this first edition a few years ago, and, because Ransome is not that popular anymore, it was a bargain.

The next book on the shelf is another first edition: Casino Royale. I am a MASSIVE Fleming fan. Well, not the man perhaps, but of some of the finest thrillers ever written: the adventures of James Bond. It’s a beautiful book; and it’s true to say they don’t make them like that anymore. But I don’t treat this as a book not to be touched. It’s got to be read, or what’s the point?

Next along, one of the best picture books ever! It’s a Dutch book called Sweets, and it’s a beautiful snapshot of a day in the life of two friends, a rabbit and a cat, who text each other to meet in the park, and there they wonder whether there will be Sweets in Heaven… I don’t know anyone who doesn’t cry, happily, when they read this book.

A very recent addition to my shelf of treasures is this awesome graphic novel, Sailor Twain, written and illustrated by Mark Siegel.

The art in this book is stunning, the story clever, dark and divine. It’s a very sexy book, and I was thrilled to meet Mark earlier this year and get a copy signed. Mark knows what he’s doing when it comes to making graphic novels: he runs a superb list of graphic novels in the US called First Second:01

The next book is a weird one: Arthur Ransome again, this time with one of the biographies he wrote before he became a writer of fiction. This one is of another one of my heroes: Edgar Allan Poe. It was a pretty uncontroversial book, unlike Ransome’s biography of Oscar Wilde, which got him in trouble. He was sued by Lord Alfred Douglas, also known as Bosie: Wilde’s lover. Ransome survived the trial but it brought him to national attention long before revolutions or Swallows and Amazons.

Finally, a wonderful work of fiction. Ritual, by David Pinner. This book is the book that inspired one wonderful film version and one terrible one; both called The Wicker Man.

I LOVE this book, despite the fact that it has continually been derided by most critics, both at the time of publication and since. Partially it got caught up in the publicity machine of the (first) movie it spawned, who wished to distance it from their film. Whatever the truth, it’s a book that means a lot to me, because when I read it, it was the first book IN A VERY LONG TIME that excited me about what fiction can do, what it can be. It is, in short, a bookshelf requirement.

Thank you so much, Marcus! It was wonderful to see some of your favourite books.  

What would you pick for your bookshelf requirements?

Break-ups in YA

Are you bored yet of my ramblings on romance in teen literature? I hope not, because I still have more to say.  This time, I'm applauding authors for including break-ups into their storylines. This has mostly happened within a series mid-way through. I kind of like that. Shakes things up and is a surprise to the reader, especially if readers become overly emotionally attached to these two people as a couple and are rooting for them.

Other readers, I've seen, have had complaints about the believeability of a character liking more than one person in a story or questioning the fact that mulitple people are all vying for the affections of one person. I can definitely see how this causes eyerolls, especially when becomes something that we witness a lot in YA literature. Personally, I've never been that annoyed with those sort of things. Because I can think of very few instances during my teen years in which I *didn't* fancy more than one person at a time... I, like most teenagers I'm sure, was a raging ball of hormones and the array of love triangles and crushing on multiple boys was very common for me. In fact, I STILL have lingering feelings for one particular boy I went to high school. But moving on...

Here are a few of my favourite break-ups that I've come across recently during my travels in YA fiction. Please look away now if you don't want to see spoilers. 

Nash and Kaylee in the Soul Screamers series by Rachel Vincent

When Nash and Kaylee broke up I felt like the planet had shifted slightly on its axis. I read reviews afterwards and people were all 'I never believed in Nash and Kaylee's relationship to begin with' and I was surprised and taken aback. I believed in it! Sure, Kaylee always felt slightly insecure with where she stood with him, but I didn't think they'd break up. I thought they'd talk about it, I thought they'd reassure each other. And the reasons behind their break-up broke my heart. There was ugly crying going on when we learnt of Nash's addiction and the price that he paid for his addiction.  Excuse me while I go weep into my pillow.

P.S. The same thing happened when Willow and Oz broke up - I thought I would never recover and then Tara came along and everything felt like it'd happened for a reason because OMG Willow and Tara are so beautiful and perfect together. Just like my feelings for Kaylee and Tod. 

Carter and Allie in the Night School series by CJ Daugherty

This series is ongoing and has a huge Carter fanbase so I'm risking the wrath of fangirls worldwide by including Allie and Carter on this list. Don't hate on me! I actually really love the way in which Carter and Allie's relationship has progressed. There was that great build-up and chemistry between them in the first book. And then the people who they are kind of get in the way of their relationships. Insecurity and anxiousness led to this relationship not being quite as great as they both expected it to be. There was suffocation and unhappiness going on here and that does not make for a successful romantic relationship. I loved seeing the hurt feelings and jealousies that have happened as the series goes on both Allie and Carter have taken steps to forgive each other and move on. Mumblings from the author on Twitter suggest that this Allie and Carter story arc might not be quite finished as yet though... Ooer.

Tucker and Clara in the Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand

I'm in awe of Cynthia Hand her amazing YA trilogy. The Unearthly series is about *angels* you guys. I strongly dislike reading about angel creatures. And yet when Cynthia Hand does it, it makes me excited. Mostly because I've loved the way in which she has portrayed romantic feelings in the first two books. In Unearthly Clara forms this huuuuge crush on Christian but after spending time with Tucker, she begins to appreciate an actual relationship based on two people getting to know each other and spending time together and can see how unrealistic her crush on Christian is. For that alone I'd adore this series. But then she goes on in the sequel to show how even though Clara and Tucker care a great deal about each other, things just don't always work out. I applaud you, Cynthia Hand!

By the way, I've included a photo of the US covers of this series because *sobs* the third book in the series was not picked up to be published here in the UK and as such, I have not yet read it.

Do you have any favourite break-ups in young adult literature? I'd love to hear about them!

REVIEW: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Far From You by Tess Sharpe was combination of absolutely everything that I love about YA. The story felt real and emotional. The characters were wonderfully created and relateable. The relationships between the characters was messy and complicated which made it heartbreaking to read. There was a diversity of characters which I always enjoy reading about, an interesting look at a difficult subject and a thrilling mystery that had me at the edge of my seat. 

I really shouldn't have tead Far From You when I did. I was studying for an important exam and this book isn't being published until April of next year. I didn't even fully know what it was about due to the vagueness of the product description (which I do have issues with, more on this later!) But on a whim, I clicked on this one to read on my Kindle and I just couldn't put it down once I'd started. I don't always love stories that are told for differing timelines and Far From You is told from THREE. But everything fit together really well with no confusion and I came to really enjoy the emotional impact that came with telling Mina and Sophie's story split over three sections.

Sophie Winters has nearly died twice. The first was when she was 14 and she was involved in a car accident involving her best friend, Mina, and Mina's brother, Trev. That accident affected Sophie in many ways but two major consequences of that accident include... a limp that she'll have forever and an addiction to painkillers that will take years to kick.  Then, at 17, Sophie nearly dies again. This time she's attacked in the woods alongside Mina ... who does not survive that attack. The third section of this story relates to several months after the death of Mina in which Sophie is finally released from a forced stint in rehab. Nobody - Trev, Sophie's parents, the police - believes Sophie's version of events or the fact that Sophie did not relapse. So on top of battling an addiction that will stay with her forever, grieving for the loss of her best friend, and without the support of friends or family Sophie is on a mission to track down Mina's killer and finally put to rest what happened that night. This mystery while a very large portion of the story is very interesting and twisty turny but at the same time, for me anyway, take a backseat to the main thing in the story - Sophie and Mina's friendship.

Honestly, I went through so many feelings during the course of this book.  Sophie and Mina's relationship is so beautiful and complicated and messy. And Sophie's grief over her death is so palpable. I felt her grief on every single page of Far From You. I also felt her anger at how little belief that her parents or anybody place in her. While it is understandable to have a shattered sense of belief in Sophie after she lied for several years about her oxy addiction it is also quite horrible how badly treated she is from the people who she expected to love and support her. I loved that this is a story about the consequences of addiction. The lying and concealment of it, the battle to fight it, and the destruction that it has caused in Sophie's life and in her relationships.

And as Sophie recalls memories of her friendship with Mina, I experienced them too. I felt like I was part of this story, I felt like a member of this little trio between Sophie and Mina and Trev. I felt the heartrending betrayal and the grief and especially the different types of love. It was all in there. My only gripe with this story is that the product description is ambiguous about the secrets that Mina and Sophie share. I won't spoil it for you, but I don't believe this type of story needs to be misleading about what it is.

Far From You is a beautiful and emotional story about friendship and love. It's a story about honesty and addiction and the aftermath and grief of traumatic experiences. I'm so glad that I picked it up to read and I couldn't recommend it any more than I do. I will be looking out for more by Tess Sharpe.

REVIEW: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

I had to admit that the main reason that I requested These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is that I love the pretty cover. The sparkly stars, her red hair, that billowy green dress... I wouldn't normally think of science fiction as being my sort of thing but based on how much I've enjoyed this and other recent scifi YA books, I think it's time that I changed my mind. Because These Broken Stars was really interesting and quite romantic and very quickly I became quite emotionally invested in both main characters, their stories, their survival and this very strange planet that they've landed on. 

These Broken Stars is told with a dual-perspective between Lilac and Tarver, two characters from very different backgrounds and experiences. They meet aboard this swanky spacecraft shortly before some malfunction causes the Icarus to leave hyperspace and crash on a distant and very mysterious planet. Tarver and Lilac are forced into working together with the shared goal of surviving and of being rescued.

I think the large majority of the story - in which Tarver and Lilac have to switch quickly between haughty socialite and decorated war hero into two people stranded who need to gather food and supplies in order to survive - was one of my favourite aspects. Lilac in particular struggled to drop the social graces that she's grown up with and become less stuck-up and precious about every little thing but at the same time she was no wilting flower either. Kaufman and Spooner gave us two very wonderful and complex characters who were capable of rescuing one another.  I really, really love reading stories about survival. There's something about doing what needs to be done and pushing one's self to the limit to do these things that appeals to me. And I loved the strength both physically and mentally both Lilac and Tarver possessed to get through this ordeal.

I also loved how the authors developed both of the main characters. Both Tarver and Lilac felt real to me reading this book. They had personality and life experiences and I was really able to connect with both of them and cared about who they are as people. I also loved the way they interacted with each other. With disdain at first, mostly which turned into grudging respect and finally into more. I loved the gradual changes in their relationship and by say, mid-way through These Broken Stars I was fanatic about their relationship and that really took me by surprise. Another surprise is what lies at the heart of the mystery surrounding this empty planet and the amount of shocking twists and turns to this story.

These Broken Stars is a book that really grabbed my attention and I will certainly be looking out to read both more in this series and more YA scifi!

Cover reveal and review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

I was contacted recently by the lovely people over at Quercus about trying to make a big splash over the UK cover of this new book, The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes which is being published here on the 7th of November.  It's the first in a new series by the author of the Raised By Wolves series and I happen to adore it. All of the psychology that Jennifer Lynn Barnes writes into her stories absolutely appeals to my inner psychology-nerd!

What do you think of the cover? I like it. I love the font used especially.

Here is the official product description:

Cassie Hobbes is not like most teenagers. Most teenagers don’t lose their mother in a bloody, unsolved kidnapping. Most teenagers can’t tell who you are, where you’re from and how you’re likely to behave within moments of meeting you. And most teenagers don’t get chosen to join The Naturals.

Identified by the FBI as uniquely gifted, Cassie is recruited to an elite school where a small number of teens are trained to hone their exceptional abilites.

For Cassie, trying to make friends with the girls, and to figure out the two very different, very hot boys, is challenging enough. But when a serial killer begins recreating the details of her mother’s horrific crime scene, she realises just how dangerous life in The Naturals could be...

 My review:
 
When I was younger, there was a TV programme that my dad and I would watch together called The Profiler. I remember every week we'd watch it and then afterwards we'd sit and discuss the latest plot twists and story progression. I have a real fondness for that show. There have been other more recent crime shows that deal with profiling but that is still the show that has stuck with me. I find it all very fascinating. So with that in mind, when I heard that Jennifer Lynn Barnes was writing a new series involving young people solving crimes using different types of forensic psychology I really couln't request the book quick enough. I loved Jennifer Lynn Barne's previous YA series about werewolves and I loved how her background in psychology gave the story this added depth and another layer to the story that I found fascinating and I was sure that I would love The Naturals just as much. And you know what? I did. More so, even. 

The Naturals was a brilliant read for me. I was hooked right from the start, as we meet our main character, Cassie, as she's approached at her waitressing job by this young man with a strange offer. Cassie has this awful past that's left her with nothing but questions and she hopes that maybe by joining this special unit of 'Naturals' that some of those questions might just be answered... 

The Naturals refer to a group of people that have been gathered together because they have this innate skill of detecting emotion or truth or seeing patterns in numbers. Cassie's skill is that of a natural profiler, who can see the minor details of a person's appearance or behaviour and make a good guess about that person's psychological profile. Which is a real benefit for this new crime-fighting unit of special people that Cassie is recruited into. There's a bunch of talk of using the Naturals to work cold cases for the FBI for their own safety, but when Cassie's past catches up with her and intrudes on her present things start to become very different...

With an interest in psychology myself, I lapped up the different ideas and talents that surround the other characters that Cassie comes to live with.  She ends up meeting some very different and interesting people. I loved straight-talking and snarky Lia, and Sloane, the numbers/statistics girl who becomes Cassie's roommate. The relationships between the three girls was quite interesting to watch enfold, especially as it was a pretty rocky start with Cassie and Lia.  But I think the interactions between Michael, Cassie and Dean were my favourite. Yes, it is sort of a love triangle and some may groan and roll their eyes, but I enjoyed it. Especially when it came down to playing 'Truth or Dare' with people who can spot lies and/or can sense other people's emotions. 

My favourite aspect of The Naturals is, of course, all of the psychology, the characters and their relationships with each other but there is also a really surprising and thrilling mystery at play here as well. With snippets from the mind of a serial killer interspersed with Cassie's narrative, there is a steady build-up to very actiony finale. I was on the edge of my seat and really didn't see that coming! 

I am very much looking forward to reading more in this series! I love the idea of a teenage crime-fighting unit with special abilities. It fills me with excitement!

Sharon Jones (Celebrating British authors)

Today and (hopefully!) every Sunday until the end of the year, I'm hoping to tell you a little bit about some of the amazing UKYA authors that I've discovered this year. They aren't all 2013 debbuts but they are all authors that I've read for the first time this year. I hope that you'll become just as excited about them and their stories as I have been! First up, is Sharon Jones...

I don't remember how I heard of Sharon Jones before her debut book, Dead Jealous, was published (in July of this year by Orchard Books). But I know I've been following her on Twitter for ages... Sharon's absolutely lovely and I was always very excited to read her stories.

There's just something about YA psychological thrillers that has captured my attention of late. Those two words 'psychological thriller' send a little thrill through me.  And especially books like Dead Jealous, which I think was done incredibly well.  There's so many elements of Dead Jealous that I utterly adored. Let me count the ways...

1) I love that this book is about an atheist at a Pagan festival. A Pagan festival! I've never come across anything else like it in YA and it feels wonderfully different and refreshing to come across something original like that. I also enjoyed seeing how Poppy deals with and questions her (and those around her's) beliefs. Religion and spirituality are themes in YA books that I find particularly interesting to read about and again, I love that we're introduced to belief systems that myself and other readers may not know much about.

2) I've written before how much I like love stories involving best friends. I fell in love with my best friend so I'm drawn to similar stories. In this though while Poppy is in love with her best friend, Michael, he has a girlfriend who is not Poppy. Ah, unrequited love hurts like a bitch and all of those painful, jealous feelings are present in this book.

3) I loved the mystery element to this book. I loved trying to puzzle together what happened to Beth, this girl that Poppy meets and bonds over the fact that they're both in love with people who don't return the feeling, and then Beth ends up dead the following morning. There's an entire festival of people available as suspects in what Poppy feels is murder. And while the local police are ready to call it a day on the investigation, Poppy won't let it go. She goes out of her way to ask questions and place herself in some tricky situations. I'd love to have Poppy as a friend, I think that'd be ace. And I wasn't anywhere close to guessing beforehand what had happened to Beth. I had my suspicions and they were of course, all wrong. This book had great twists and reveals and I was on the edge of my seat!

4) In fact, all of the characters in this book are wonderful. I loved seeing all the complexity to each of the characters. This story is told with a dual-perspective between both Poppy and Michael and I kind of fell in love with them both. But so many of the other characters stole a bit of my heart too, especially Bob, Tariq and Kane.

5) And I think the final and most wonderful thing about this book is that it is the first in a series about Poppy Sinclair! The next book, Dead Silent, is being published in February of 2014 and I couldn't be looking forward to it any more than I already am! Even though *bites nails* I'm worried about what might happen to some of my favourite characters...

So, Sharon Jones and Dead Jealous. Definitely an author and book that I'm THRILLED to have discovered this year. Have you discovered Poppy Sinclair as yet?!

If you're interested in finding out more about Sharon Jones or Dead Jealous, please do visit the following websites:

Sharon Jones ... Sharon's Blog ... Sharon on Twitter ... Sharon on Facebook ... Dead Jealous on Amazon ... Dead Jealous on Goodreads

You can also read my review of Dead Jealous and read an interview with Sharon Jones on the Author Allsorts. 

And! Don't forget to watch the fab book trailer, which I've only just found: