REVIEW: Wishbones by Virginia Macgregor

Wishbones by Virginia Macgregor was a book that I wasn't expecting to be sent for review and that would normally mean that it isn't as high a priority to read as other books in my possession.  But something about this book intrigued me. I liked the idea of it being set in the UK, I'm all for supporting UKYA of course.  I also like the idea of a book exploring elements of mental health and the idea around the story of a very obese woman.  And while I had hoped to really like this book ... I felt that the idea of the book was better than the actuality of the story.  

Feather is our main character in this book.  She really wants two things out of life: for her mother to get better and to win the junior swim championships. The second goal is pretty straightforward, she needs to work hard and concentrate. However it's the first goal that really proves more challenging.  

On New Year's Eve, Feather comes home to find her mother in a diabetic coma.  This is obviously very traumatic for her and her parents.  Feather is determined to do whatever it takes to help her mother become healthier.  She thinks maybe it'll just take a better diet and some exercise to fix things, however, Feather soon realises that her mother's health, like most things in life, are so much more complicated and Feather begins this detective journey in order to unravel her mother's personal history and get to the root causes of her mom's obesity. 

My main problem with Wishbones ended up being two-fold.  The first is that Feather's voice felt very young.  She comes across as being really innocent and naive, much younger than one would imagine she would be respective of her age.  It wasn't that she was young or naive that was the problem, it was that she didn't feel believable for her age.  The second problem was that the author's voice is quite patronising throughout.  It really started to grate on my nerves but wasn't such a persistent problem that it made me quit reading but it did hamper my enjoyment of the story.  Which is a shame, as there was elements of the story that I were really intriguing. 

REVIEW: The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent

The Stars Never Rise by Rachel Vincent was so action-packed and fast-paced that in some ways I find it a little difficult to talk about it in any kind of meaningful way. I was reading this book and it felt like this mad dash towards the end in which I was furiously clicking for the next page on my Kindle and everything kind of whizzed by me.  It was an exciting read, that's for sure!

Without Rachel Vincent's name attached to this book, I'm not sure how excited I would have been. But it is Rachel Vincent and I loved her Soul Screamers series. They were emotional and surprising and every bit as fast-paced.  So these were my expectations coming into this first book in a new series. And The Stars Never Rise really managed to do everything I wanted it to do including set up this new story and world and populating it with interesting characters and relationships.

All right, so this new series. It's set in a future America in which there have been a plague of demons that have consumed many souls. And it was only with the help of an exorcist and a war waged by the Church that the war was won and the demons defeated.  Now the Church rules everything and there are few souls to go around.

Living in this world is our main character, Nina Kane. She is seriously struggling to keep afloat with bills and school and taking care of her younger sister, Melanie. The two girls live with her mostly absent mother, and are quite happy to do their own thing. Only doing her own thing has meant that 15 year old, Mellie, announces she is pregnant and it sets off this shocking turn of events that changes everything.

I don't want to tell you too much more of the story because that is really where everything switches gear into this fast-paced action-packed story in which Nina teams up with this band of bad-ass exorcists and wage their own battles against demons and the Church in order to protect both Nina and Mellie. There is a rather unconventional romance between Nina and one of the exorcists in this group who call themselves Anathema and I could not be more intrigued by how things will work out!

Speaking of the romance, ahhhhh! I loved Nina and Finn. But there is so much standing in the way of them being together. And the anticipation of all that drama coming our way in future books feels like delicious anticipation for me right now!

One of the very surprising elements of the story actually happens before Nina meets up with Finn and has all of these earth-shattering realisations about her family situation and the Church and everything she's ever known about demons and exorcists and the state of the media and the world in general. And the element of the story in which shows how far Nina will go to protect and feed her little sister was one of the things that surprised me about this book. Not the level of concern or love between the two sister but the lengths Nina went to. This book goes to some dark places, as witnessed with this scene early on and towards the end of the story in the final show-down!

I thought The Stars Never Rise was a fantastic, gripping and addictive story. Sort of like a demon, this book swept into my life and consumed me until I was finished and I loved every second of it. I love Nina's determination and her bond with Mellie. I loved all the members of Anathema from snarky Devi with an attitude to loyal Maddock. I can't wait to read more in this series.

MiraInk event and Interview with Maria V. Snyder

This past week I had the great pleasure of attending an event with MiraInk to celebrate the publication of Shadow Study and attending a blogger event with Maria V. Snyder.  It was absolutely wonderful, not only to meet Maria, but also other incredible new-to-me book bloggers and the lovely staff at MiraInk.  There was great conversation, food, wine, and goody bags!

And! I was able interview Maria V Snyder and we had a great chat about her new book, favourite characters, fangirling over authors, addictions and book bloggers! Check it out. And here is the information about Shadow Study...

Once, only her own life hung in the balance…

When Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. She survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia.

Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek.
Suddenly, though, dissent is rising. And Valek’s job—and his life—are in danger.
As Yelena tries to uncover her enemies, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked.And now she must find a way to keep not only herself but all that she holds dear alive.

Some events photos...

A huge thank you to Maria, Cara and everyone at MiraInk for hosting such a wonderful event!



Meteorologist turned novelist, Maria's been writing fantasy and science fiction since she was bored at work and needed something creative to do. A dozen novels and numerous short stories later, Maria's learned a thing or three about writing. She’s been on the New York Times bestseller list, won a half-dozen awards, and has earned her MA degree in Writing from Seton Hill University where she's been happily sharing her knowledge with the current crop of MFA students. She also enjoys creating new worlds where horses and swords rule, 'cause let's face it, they're cool, although she's been known to trap her poor characters in a giant metal cube and let them figure out how to get out. Readers are welcome to check out her website for book excerpts, free short stories, maps, blog, and her schedule at http://www.MariaVSnyder.com

REVIEW: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

I really enjoyed Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley.  I had been putting off reading it because I knew this book would cover some really serious and upsetting topics.  And while at times it was really difficult to read, I still think it was an incredibly important and thought-provoking read.

Lies We Tell Ourselves is a story set in a small-town in Alabama in 1959.  The first 10 black students will be integrating a formerly all-white high school and the story looks at the final four months of the senior year of two students: Sarah and Linda.

Sarah is one of the black students joining this high school and Linda is a white student and the daughter of a journalist who is very outspoken about maintaining segregation. Nobody wants Sarah or the other black students to attend Jefferson High School and Sarah's first day and every day up until graduation day is filled with name-calling and harassment from the other students. With no support from other students, the teachers or any adults, these ten black students are on their own facing all kinds of verbal, physical and sexual assaults from those students who are most upset by the changes taking place.

And while everything that happens to Sarah and the other students is really hard to read, what I loved the most about this book is that we see both Sarah's perspective but also that of Linda's.  And through Linda, we get a better look at how racist and bigoted attitudes spread and are maintained throughout families and communities.

I love the way in which Robin Talley addressed really serious topics in this story.  Stereotypes and general misconceptions of black people in particular but also victim-blaming and the way in which those that stand by and witness abuse and bullying without standing up are also complicit in the wider problems and crimes that occur.

At the same time as this story of integration is happening there's also another subplot to the story that includes this attraction between Sarah and Linda.  I thought this entire story line was quite cute and I really felt for both characters with their conflicted and how guilt-ridden their feelings are for one another. And by confronting their feelings Sarah and Linda both consider different futures and gender roles than to those laid out before them.

I love the way in which this book tells a horrific story of racism and abuse and the ways in which these students and families suffered for what they believed in without much hope of change but that this story is also a hopeful one.  Without trying to spoil the story in any way, this story ends happily despite the difficulties surrounding both Sarah and Linda and I loved that about this story.  I really loved Lies We Tell Ourselves and I really recommend it!

REVIEW: Take Me On by Katie McGarry

I am a huge fan of Katie McGarry's stories. I love her characters and their relationships together and I've always fallen hard her main characters and the love interests. I love how complicated and emotional everything feels and while I love some characters and relationships more than others, I've still also really enjoyed the character journeys and could feel strong things about where these stories were going.  ...And then I read Take Me On, her latest companion novel, this time focusing on the lives and loves of West and Hayley.  And for the first time, I've felt disappointed in the story and where it went.  And for that, I feel very sad.

Take Me On is told from both Hayley and West's perspective.  I believe the events of the story are told in tandem to other events in the same series.  Hayley and West are both going through some difficult times. West has been kicked out of his house by his parents and Hayley is also experiencing really difficult issues with her family.  She's living with a strict uncle who seems to bear some sort of grudge against her and her family and to be honest, none of Hayley's felt 'real' to me.  I just didn't connect to this aspect of the story and this emotional distance made it very hard to relate to Hayley and her story.

Hayley and West first meet as Hayley is on her way home and gets jumped by some neighbourhood kids and West jumps in to help not knowing that Hayley is in fact a kickboxing champion ranked nationally.  Soon after this, West feels slightly responsible for certain things and he ends up accepting a fight on Hayley's behalf. This fight is one West cannot win without help from Hayley and the two of them decide to join together, pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend and train together for this upcoming fight.

I think part of my issue with this book is that there was too much macho posturing for my liking and a lot of attitude and some mysterious code of conduct involving honour felt slightly outdated for me.  And West and Hayley both get wrapped up in this and also sort of wrapped up in what other people think they should be.  West feels the need to fight in order to prove how manly he is and Hayley seems intent on keeping everything hurting her to herself ... and I didn't especially enjoy reading about either scenario. I think a lot of the drama could have been avoided by both Hayley and West opening up to those closest to them and having an honest conversation in which questions are asked and confessions are made.  And for whatever reason, I just didn't have quite the patience or compassion for how difficult that is to do for these two characters. During the middle and the ending of this book I just wanted to shout 'get there quicker!' and be done with it.

I don't think that this is a bad story at all, it's just a story that didn't appeal to me specifically.  I do still adore Katie McGarry and will always eagerly look out for any new books by her, but unfortunately this time I just didn't fall in love like I was expecting.

Mini-reviews: Red At Night by Katie McGarry and The Snake Charm by Laura Lam

Today sees the return of my mini-reviews! Mini-reviews used to be a regular thing on Fluttering Butterflies but I haven't written any in awhile. As I recently read two short novellas/short stories by two of my favourite recent authors I thought that it would make sense to review both in the same post.  They are both very different but very interesting at the same time.

Red At Night by Katie McGarry

I really enjoy Katie McGarry stories.  I think she has a great skill for bringing her readers really interesting characters who have great relationships with each other.  Red At Night is no exception to this. It tells the story of Stella and Jonah, two teenagers who meet at the cemetery and forge this connection despite leading very different lives.

What I liked about this short story is that within a very short period of time I felt very emotional about both Stella's story and also about Jonah's.  Stella has dyed hair and has been bullied for years because she doesn't have much money and is just generally different to the other students at school. Whereas Jonah is popular at school and leads a privileged life where it's more possible to take things for granted. When Stella and Jonah meet at the beginning of this novella, it is in the cemetery after Jonah experiences this life-altering car accident and begins to question the direction he's taking in life.

While I would have liked to have explored more about these characters and their experiences and lives and friends and family before Red At Night, I do also appreciate that most things are resolved by the end. I thought this novella was hopeful and emotional and it re-confirmed my love of Katie McGarry's skill as a writer.

The Snake Charm by Laura Lam

When I first head about Laura Lam's decision to self-publish a collection of Vestigial Tales, I was incredibly excited. I love the world she created in Pantomime and Shadowplay. I loved the characters and Vestige and I couldn't wait to read more and find out every bit of new information about this world that I could...

And The Snake Charm did not disappoint. This story focuses on Drystan, the White Clown, before Micah Grey shows up at RH Ragona's Circus of Magic. It tells this story of unrest amongst the clowns and how Drystan finds himself in the middle of this fight between one of the other clowns and Bil, the ringmaster involving an incredibly powerful piece of Vestige.

I think what The Snake Charm does so well is that not only does it show us the dangers and consequences that come with owning this particular piece of Vestige but it also gives a bit fuller of a back story to a really well-loved character.  Drystan has always been one of my favourite characters from Pantomime and Shadowplay and I loved that he gets the full spotlight in this novella.  It was fun to see his role in the circus a little better and to see his perspective on some of the other key players in the circus before Micah Grey shows up.

I thought The Snake Charm was a wonderful addition to this world.  It was a fun adventure and I can't wait to read the other Vestigial Tales, The Fisherman's Net, The Tarot Reader and The Card Sharp.

REVIEW: Played by Liz Fichera

I enjoyed reading Played by Liz Fichera.  It's a companion novel to Hooked which I had read and also enjoyed last year.  Out of the two books, I think I preferred Hooked, but Played was quite sweet too.  I think Sam was a wonderful main character and I really do love that this series of books features Native Americans in such a prominent way. I'd have loved to have discovered these two books as a lonely, bookish Native American myself. 

While I don't think you necessarily need to have read Hooked before you read Played, I do think things would be slightly less confusing.  In case you haven't read Hooked (and look away now if you don't want spoilers) the main characters of that book were Fred and Ryan, who ended up in a romantic relationship despite not getting along at first. Fred had a good friend, Sam, another Native American who lives on a reservation with her who admitted that he loved Fred during Hooked. She lets him down easy but their friendship isn't quite the same afterwards.

Now Played tells the story of Sam (Fred's former best friend) and Ryan's little sister, Riley.  Sam and Riley are worlds apart until on a school trip Sam and Riley get separated from everyone else and Sam rescues Riley from falling off a cliff.  They talk and somewhere in between being rescued and getting to know Sam, Riley comes up with this crazy plan to win the heart of Fred despite being happily involved with Riley's brother. 

I really adored Sam, I thought he was lovely.  I thought his feelings for Fred came through really strongly and I loved the development those feelings took throughout the book.  Sam, when we first meet him, is kind of closed off from everyone else and he doesn't really do anything to let him connect with other people outside of his small circle. It was nice to see him grow as a character. It felt like he needed someone like Riley to shake things up and force him to expand his boundaries. He was the reason I liked this book as much as I did!

I couldn't quite connect with Riley as much, though. Mostly because she's hell-bent on breaking up a relationship that didn't need breaking up.  I think she lost sight of something in her quest to 'pay back' Sam and didn't quite realise how much she was hurting everyone involved.  I kind of got Riley's rebellious attitude and the fact that she does some things because of how her family react differently to her than to the behaviour of her older brother. I like that that plays into this story line but also at times I really didn't like Riley as a character.

Overall, an interesting story. It was sweet and heart-felt and I loved seeing how the relationships progressed throughout the story, both of the new characters and also the older characters we'd met in Hooked.  

REVIEW: Anything To Have You by Paige Harbison

Anything To Have You by Paige Harbison is not being published here in the UK until February of 2014, but I just couldn't wait to read it.  It sounded really good - the story of two friends who are torn apart over a boy.

And Anything To Have You started off really well.  I had high hopes that it would be a story with characters and relationships and situations that I'd really fall for.  I can't really work out where this book went wrong but I did finish it feeling a little bit flat. While it is an interesting concept, at times, I felt like the non-linear narrative and the lack emotional highs distracted me from really connecting to this story.

Natalie and Brooke have been friends forever. Brooke is the popular, party-going girl and Natalie is her quiet and studious friend who is more comfortable curled at home with a movie. When Brooke convinces Natalie to come to a party things start to unravel. Because Natalie wakes up having not remembered a large portion of the previous evening ... and she wakes up in bed next to Aide, Brooke's boyfriend. 

Two boys fighting over a boy isn't a new concept for a book and as it should be, a lot of the narrative is focused on the strength (and cracks that have appeared!) of the friendship between two girls. The story is told in five parts, alternating between Natalie and Brooke's point of view and jumping backwards and forwards in time in order to share key scenes in Brooke's relationship with Aiden and of the friendship between Natalie and Brooke.

I really liked Natalie and Aiden's characters. I thought they were nice and friendly and relateable and it is quite easy to tell how much they care for one another.  It took longer to warm to Brooke because of her sometimes selfish and self-obsessed behaviours. And I liked that the mystery of what happened between Aiden and Natalie took awhile to be revealed.  Like I said though, the jumps in time between junior and senior year and the change in perspective between Brooke and Natalie made me lose the flow and emotional build-up and that meant that big reveals that should have been more shocking or emotional didn't quite work.

I do love that Paige Harbison took things to a darker more mature place with this book - drugs, sex, alcohol, everything else. Even though I only rated this book three stars there is still quite a lot of promise there and I will still look out for future books by Paige Harbison!

REVIEW: My Sweetest Escape by Chelsea M. Cameron

My Sweetest Escape by Chelsea M. Cameron is a New Adult book following a similar cast of characters to that of My Favourite Mistake.  I remember having issues with My Favourite Mistake when I read it but nothing major enough for me to not read the sequel. Unfortunately, not many details of the My Favourite Mistake stayed with me and it took far longer than necessary for me to realise that the Hunter and Taylor being mentioned in this book were the two main characters from that book. Whoops. 

Let me start with the few niggles that I had with this book.  I'm not a huge fan of the 'New adult' label. I really don't think that the label or subcategory is needed at all. Especially in cases such as My Sweetest Escape. The big thing with new adult is supposedly this unique age range in which people are going off to university and making their way in the world that is somehow different and more mature than when younger teenagers find their own identities and so on in high school.  I felt like some minor aspects of My Sweetest Escape could have been changed and the entire story could have been told in a high school environment. There wasn't enough of university life or being independent that I felt warranted a new adult label other than mentions of sexual activity.

The second thing I slightly rolled my eyes at was this combination of virgin girl and experienced boy. Why is this ever necessary?! (answer: never.)

My Sweetest Escape tells the story of Jos, a freshman at university who has been forced into switching schools and living in a house with her older sister, Renee and Renee's flatmates - Hunter and Taylor, Paul, Darah and Mason, all characters (I'm assuming as I don't quite remember them all) from My Favourite Mistake. This forced move is down to Jos's partying and wild behaviour following some traumatic event that her friends and family know nothing about. This is another aspect of the story that I found slightly irritating. Jos is 18 and yet Renee treats her like she's ten years younger than she is and continues to treat her like a child even after Jos displays absolutely zero wild or bad behaviour. The mind boggles.

But don't feel as though I absolutely hated the book despite how many criticisms this review contains. There were definitely aspects of the book that I did enjoy. It was interesting to see Jos's friendship forming with a fellow classmate, Hannah and their Buffy watching marathons. I quite enjoyed Jos's relationship with her sister, Renee as well and how much Jos changes from being very closed off at the start and how living with a bunch of caring people who adopt Jos into their 'family' makes her more open.

And while I'd have much preferred to see how much Dusty had changed from his bad boy past to that of his present state, I did think he was quite sweet. There was definitely lots of likeability and personality coming from Dusty and it was nice to see Jos and Dusty trying to resist their attraction to each other.  My Sweetest Escape was a very cute and easy contemporary romance to read. I read it very quickly and while I did want it to be more it was still a satisfying read.

REVIEW: Pawn by Aimee Carter

I was fairly excited to read Pawn by Aimee Carter as I really enjoyed her previous series based around the retelling of a Greek myth.  I was hoping that Pawn would similarly be a really engaging and fast-paced story with great characters.  And while it is quite fast-paced and is very quick to read, I found myself not really connecting with any of the main characters. And that is a shame.  It is the first book in the series being published in January by MiraInk and perhaps some of the issues that I had with Pawn will be addressed in the sequels...

Pawn is a dystopian story set in a world that deals with a merit system.  Every person must take a test and the results of that test will determine the type of job you will have, how well you are treated and generally the type of life that you will lead.  The number that your test decides you are is then permanently marked on your skin.  This system sees 1s and 2s at the lowest spectrum and at the top we have the 7s.  The only people in this society with 7s are the ruling family, the Harts. Their 7s are passed down from generation to generation and really go against the meritocracy of the rest of this society. 

Kitty, our main character, is dyslexic and has grown up in an orphanage. She's told certain things about how the test will accommodate her extra needs but, of course, they don't and she ends up as a 3. In desperation she tries to run from her duties as a 3 and in the process catches the attention of some very powerful people.  She is offered a choice: be a 3 and leave everyone she knows and loves and do miserable, back-breaking work for the rest of her life OR join the Hart family and become a 7.  It seems a simple choice however joining forces with the Hart family comes with its own risks. 

There is plenty of secrets and twists in this story. And while I did enjoy the mystery of it all and I really liked the political intrigue I wish there had been one or two more reliable characters. Somebody that Kitty and the reader could trust and not really question.  There is only one person in the entire novel that remained honest and loyal to Kitty and frankly, there wasn't enough of this character in the book for my liking.  Because of all the twists and secrets, I felt like I wasn't able to properly connect with Knox or Celia or anyone else. And therefore I also wasn't in a position to fully understand their motives for all of the deceit and dishonesty or anything else. And without that emotional connection I felt very distanced from the action and emotion. 

I like the idea of this book.  It's an interesting story about sacrifice and social justice and equality and being true to yourself and fighting for what's right. But I feel like a lot of those messages were lost a little bit in all of the twists and turns. Perhaps things will be less muddled in future books!

Image and anxiety in Crash Into You by Katie McGarry

I absolutely love the novels by Katie McGarry that I've read: Pushing the Limits, Dare You To and Crash Into You.  I didn't think any book could top my love for Echo and Noah as I love them so much ... but I loved Crash Into You more. Something about Isaiah breaks and melts my heart simultaneously.

And one of the major things that I love the most about this book is the inclusion of Rachel's panic attacks. I do enjoy it when an author includes mental health issues into a storyline in such a way (like therapy was a big part of Pushing the Limits' storyline). Here is a vlog I did for Bookish Brits today:

Also, I included the US covers of Pushing the Limits, Dare You To and Crash Into You because those are the covers I prefer. The UK covers look very different! 

And please do follow Bookish Brits: on YouTube, on Twitter, on Facebook, on Tumblr. Thanks!

REVIEW: Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, Alice in Zombieland, so I was incredibly excited to start reading Through the Zombie Glass by Gena Showalter.  These are the only two books by Gena Showalter that I've read so far, but I'm quite looking forward to reading something else by her. I love the characters she's written and their relationships to each other.

Because of the fact that many sequels I've read this year have been disappointing, I was slightly nervous to read this book. I shouldn't have been and I hope that you don't remain hesitant either. I was able to dive straight back into this story without any confusion and I quickly fell under its spell. 

With Alice in Zombie Land, I really enjoyed seeing little glimpses of familiar things from Alice in Wonderland.  It was comforting to read a book involving zombies and families dying in which there is also fluffy white rabbits in the clouds that is sending a message because I knew that in some small way the overall structure of the novel was following a familiar theme. I didn't have any previous knowledge like that with Through The Zombie Glass. There is a storyline that involves Ali's reflection in the mirror that I imagine would also be a storyline in Through the Look Glass, but other than that everything in the story was a new discovery.

All the other people we met from book one are here - Ali, who's just found out about zombies and the slayers who kill them. Her Nana, who I love to bits with her wacky 'teen' vocabulary and overall awesome ways. Kat, the somewhat annoying but loyal best friend with relationship drama. Reeve, the clueless friend that everyone is trying to protect. The other slayers, Bronx and Frosty. And of course Cole the brooding, smoking hot slayer and Ali's boyfriend who shared all those steamy visions with Ali.

I think the two main things that are being dealt with in Through the Zombie Glass are trust and change - two very scary things and I loved how each of these things plays out throughout the novel.  Things are supposed to be great between Ali and Cole now.  Things went down at the end of Alice in Zombieland, sure. Ali learns she's got crazy-awesome powers but gets badly injured in a big battle and yes, Cole feels responsible for that.  But he isn't supposed to pull away from Ali and keep secrets from her.  So when two other slayers from Georgia, Veronia and Gavin, arrive they bring with them all kinds of drama.  Because Veronica is yet another of Cole's ex-girlfriends set to win Cole back and if things couldn't get any worse, Ali shares visions with Gavin! 

There's so much more to this story than just relationship drama though. There's plenty of zombie-killing action and new information to be learnt - about Anima, Ali's powers, the visions, a spy in the midst. Everything about Through the Zombie Glass had my heart-racing and I cried at several points. This book is filled with so much emotion - heartbreak, determination, loyalty, passion. I await the next book in the series with baited breath! 

English Summer Rain by Eleanor Wood, author of Gemini Rising

Hello! I'm currently away this week, very busily preparing a psychological experiment at Bath  University. 

But luckily for both you and me, there are lovely people out there in the world like Eleanor Wood, author of Gemini Rising who have really stepped up and are guest posting for me this week.  Thank you so much, Eleanor.  I particularly love this guest post about the British setting of Gemini Rising. It is always wonderful to see yourself or your world reflected in the stories we read.   So please give a warm welcome to Eleanor and if you'd like to know more about her or Gemini Rising, please do visit the following links:

Buy Gemini Rising on Amazon ... The Perfect Mixtape - Eleanor's blog ... Eleanor on Twitter ... Eleanor on Facebook

English Summer Rain

by Eleanor Wood

‘Take it!’ she whispers to me – but it’s not a soft whisper; it’s a mean, spitty whisper. ‘Just put it in your pocket.  We’ll take one each.’

She really wants that Miss Selfridge hairband with the daisies on it.  We’re going to Reading Festival together next month and it would be a great accessory.  We presume so, anyway – we’ve never been to a festival before.  We are planning on dressing like Gwen Stefani in baggy trousers and bikini tops, maybe the odd bindi.  The daisy hairband is very Gwen Stefani.

I glance around the shop before I stuff it up the sleeve of my blazer.  I don’t look to see what she’s done with hers; I don’t look back until we’ve both walked out of the shop, as fast as we can without running.

We collapse onto a plastic bench seat in McDonalds, across the road, where we share a portion of chips and eat four cheeseburgers each.  We grin at each other with our mouths full and I know it’s all worth it – I’ll have to hide the hairband from my mum but when we wear our matching daisies at Reading Festival, we’ll have a secret that no-one else knows.

In the original blurb for my novel, I quoted a Morrissey lyric – ‘spending warm summer days indoors’ (as opposed to, say, ‘you’re the one for me, fatty’).  From the classic Smiths song Ask, it conjures up for me the ideal teenage imagery.  It is also followed by the excellent lines ‘writing frightening verse, to a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg’.

This was exactly the picture I wanted to paint in my novel, Gemini Rising – the specific and peculiar experience of growing up in English suburbia.  I get strangely excited whenever I read a book or watch a film where I recognise the settings.  If ever I read a book set in Brighton, where I now live, I practically explode with joy.

It’s not something that has ever happened to me very much in YA literature. With a few great exceptions (hi, Sarra Manning!), I could never find many novels in which I recognised myself – geographically, as well as spiritually.

I grew up just outside west London and went to a very small girls’ school, much like the one in my book.  My main teenage memories are of: hanging around in parks; hanging around ‘in town’; the halcyon days of taking the train to Camden Market or gigs at the Shepherds Bush Empire; shoplifting from Boots and Miss Selfridge (sorry) and eating epic quantities of junk food after school with my best friend before going home for dinner.

It was so boring that it was the perfect setting for something to happen.  Just ask David Lynch.  I’m also a secret goth and love anything spooky.  I came to the conclusion that teenage girls are spooky enough; small towns are spooky enough.  This is a recipe that does not need fancy ingredients.

Perhaps to some of you, a book set in a tiny girls’ sixth form in an unnamed small town – complete with trips on the top deck of the bus, getting collected by your parents from gigs at midnight and skiving off school to hang out with boys on dodgy estates – might seem exotic.  Maybe you live in the most rural of countryside.  Maybe you grew up right in the middle of a big city, instead of watching from the fringes.  If so, when I was 17, I’d have envied you.

Now I think you’ve just got to know where to look – there is always magic and darkness on the edge of town.

REVIEW: Ink by Amanda Sun

I really wanted to love Ink by Amanda Sun. It's set in Japan, one of my favourite places to read about, it has a very interesting premise and a really gorgeous cover ... but in the end, I found Ink to be slightly disappointing. There's such potential here, and while I did really enjoy some parts, overall I found that it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Ink is the story of Katie, an American teenage girl who has recently suffered loss and is in Japan staying with an aunt until things are sorted out back home with her grandparents. Katie struggles at the beginning of this story to adjust to the many cultural and language differences and she's feeling a little bit isolated and alone.

This is a section of the story that I really loved. It was nice to see a glimpse into Japanese customs and culture with the descriptions of tea ceremonies and learning kendo and calligraphy and the cherry blossoms. I'm immensely attracted to Japanese culture so I'm glad that this book explores it a little bit.  Katie soon picks up the language quite quickly and begins to feel a little better within herself to learn more about her surroundings.  In doing so she makes several friends and meets the mysterious Yuu Tomohiro.

Ah, Tomohiro, boy with so many secrets.  The relationship between Katie and Tomo was a bit rocky. There are times when Tomohiro is purposefully nasty in order to drive people away and I didn't like Katie forgiving that so quickly. She's kind of a stalker about pursuing him, which did feel a bit uncomfortable at times. But there's also a sweetness about their relationship too. I especially loved the familiarity and sense of closeness that comes with calling somebody something different.

I also love the idea of ink coming to life and I especially love the idea of this power of Tomohiro's that is somehow connected to the Japanese legend. It starts off pretty small, with just small movements in a drawing but then Tomohiro goes a little bit crazy conjuring beautiful, magical things. I just wish the background of Japanese legend was explored a bit more by Katie. She's introduced to this crazy, paranormal thing and yet I found her a bit disconnected to it all. Yes, she does seek answers from her friend's brother on a holiday trip, but I'd have liked her to do a bit more digging. Find out more about the background, read some Japanese stories. In doing so, bring the reader more interesting information about what Katie is facing. I'm hoping that this is something that will be explored more in future books in this series.

The thing that keeps this book limited to just an okay read for me is that Katie doesn't feel like a real person. She only has meaningful interactions with Tomohiro and her relationship with her aunt and also with the friends that she makes at school feel only superficial at best. As much as I love a good love story, there needs to be more that populate the pages of a book than just the budding romance between two people. I'm also not entirely sure how much I loved the inclusion of the Yakuza into the story. I feel like it was throwing too much into the story when I didn't feel that added level was needed? Perhaps I'll proven wrong in the next book though. 

Overall, while I did have some issues with character depth and wanted more, there is the groundwork here for a really interesting series. There's so much potential created with a story set in Japan dealing with a mythology that I haven't come across before. I will still be on the lookout for more by Amanda Sun and this series.

Mini-Reviews (Wait For You, Fall Guy, My Favourite Mistake and Double Clutch)

Wait For You by J. Lynn

I was going through a pretty bad reading slump when Wait For You came along and dragged me out of it.  This book was really easy and escapist to read. And while I don't normally care for a book so focused on the romance without much other substance, there are times when a good love story is all you need.  I found this book, and Avery and Cam, at the perfect time.

I found it interesting that J. Lynn is a psedonym for Jennifer L. Armentrout, an author I've heard rave things about. I'm curious about her other stories now!  Wait For You is the story of Avery who goes off to a college far away in order to escape this terrible thing that has happened to her many years ago. She runs into Cam and he is unable to resist Avery and starts this campaign to win her heart...

I don't particularly enjoy it when an author takes something very serious like rape and its effects and includes it into the storyline as a means of conflict that separates the two love interests in getting together, but J. Lynn walks that line carefully in Wait For You.  Luckily there wasn't a huge dramatic reveal at any point during this story and Avery and Cam's relationship builds slowly from strangers who run into each other into friends and finally more...

It was sweet and I enjoyed their relationship. I liked the weird pets and Cam's supportive family and how he is very much into baking and cooking. I think I probably would look out for the next book in this series.

Fall Guy by Liz Reinhardt

I read two books by Liz Reinhardt in a very short amount of time and while I enjoyed Fall Guy and read the book very quickly, I did prefer Double Clutch to this book. While I really enjoyed this romance between Evan and Winch, I just didn't feel like the main conflict between the two was all that believable. 

Spoilers ahead, avert your gaze if you haven't yet read this book and would like to!

I'm not sure if I would have picked up this book if I'd known that Winch's family were involved in organised crime and that the 'fall guy' of the title is Winch himself.  It just seems too far out there for me to truly believe in these circumstances. 

And Winch apparently needs someone like Evan to come along and remind him that he deserves happiness and a future and shouldn't be risking his police record the way that he does to protect his older brother.  Somebody who has problems with drinking does not need the 'help' that Winch and his family has for him. 

While I probably will not continue to read this series, I am much more interested and enthusiastic about Liz Reinhardt's other series of books which begins with Double Clutch.

My Favourite Mistake by Chelsea Cameron

This book had a sort of Beautiful Disaster feel about it and that fact almost put me off reading the book.  Luckily I persevered with it because I ended up really enjoying it eventually.

This is the story of Taylor going off to college and sharing a place to live with some roommates. All is well and good until Hunter shows up and turns out to be a boy and not another girl.  Lo and behold, Hunter and Taylor end up rooming together and Taylor is taking it all very badly and the two of them end up making this pact. They're going to try out being roommates for awhile and if Taylor ends up either loving or hating Hunter by the end of it, he'll move out.

As you'd imagine, the two end up in this delicious relationship that really swings across the love/hate divide.  I don't remember warming to either Taylor or Hunter right off the bat, but over time I felt more sympathetic to both of them. Unlike most new adult books, in which the girl is the 'damaged property', in this both Taylor and Hunter have dark and secretive pasts that they wouldn't care to reveal to each other. And again, I'm not entirely sure with how I feel about attempted rape entering the storyline in the ways that it did.

This book is apparently the first book in a series but I feel as though the story ended where it needed to end and I am happy with that conclusion.

Double Clutch by Liz Reinhardt

Sometimes the label 'new adult' confuses me. Such as the case with Double Clutch, as this is a book set in high school with high school aged characters. And while it is very much a romance story, there isn't a great deal of sex scenes either which might lead it to becoming NA.  Either way, I really enjoyed Double Clutch.

Despite the angst-ridden love triangle going on here, I thought Liz Reinhardt was onto something interesting with the ways in which our main character, Brenna Blixen is torn between cultures having spent the previous year in Europe, torn between her decision to split her time between two different high schools and torn between two 'perfect' boys, Saxon and Jake. 

As the story goes on, it becomes more apparent that there is some history between Jake and Saxon that will play more of a major role in future books in the series, but I think it could have done without that. My only other niggle with this book is that as Brenna makes her choice between the two boys she fancies, the other one turns into a bit of an arse. I would have liked it better if that hadn't happened. The other guy doesn't need to be nasty and vindictive in order for Brenna's choice to be valid. 

Even so, I enjoyed reading this book and especially liked Brenna as a character. I liked reading about her running and cycling and also about Jake's motorcross. Brenna really grows over the course of the novel and makes choices that I didn't always agree with but I could understand. I liked how both Jake and Saxon are characters that aren't what I always expected.  I'm really interested to see where this story will go, even though I'm slightly worried about the overly-dramatic turns it may take...

What do you think about the recent popularity of 'new adult' titles?

REVIEW: Confessions of An Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett

Ooh, the Confessions series is quickly becoming one of my favourite series! I absolutely loved the first book, Confessions of An Angry Girl (in which I realised that I too was an angry girl!) but the sequel, Confessions of An Almost-Girlfriend by Louise Rozett was just more of everything that I loved about the first book! More complicated relationships between Rose and her friends, Rose and her mother and oh, especially Rose and Jamie Forta. 

Because this review is of the second book in the series, it may contain spoilers for Confessions of An Angry Girl and if you haven't yet read that book you might want to not read further. 

Honestly this book. It broke my heart in so many ways.  Rose Zarelli, you have my sympathies. Because really, you just can't catch a break, can you? 

At the end of the first book, there's sort-of-maybe a thing going on between Rose and long-time crush/bad boy, Jamie Forta. And there would be all kinds of confusion if that's all that's going on in Rose's life. But of course, it isn't.  Because Jamie is mixed up in this thing with the Deladdo family. There's obviously history there with the Deladdos taking in Jamie when he needed it the most and of course he had that thing with Regina which makes everything difficult for Rose as Regina is Rose's archnemesis... I found it interesting in this book how much more we learn about Regina Deladdo and about her little brother, Conrad. My heart goes out to the pair of them but I feel all conflicted about Regina and Conrad because of all the ways in which Rose gets dragged into their drama. 

And then of course there's Jamie Forta. There is so much drama between Rose and Jamie. They're just in two very different places right now. And that really makes things difficult for Rose to know where they are as a maybe-couple and she's just constantly confused about how he even feels about her. Theirs is a relationship that is so complicated and my heart definitely wants them to be together ... but ugh.

What I do love more than anything is the strength that Rose possesses. To do what's right and to stand up for others around her despite the negative consequences that she might have to put up with. It's the reason she called an ambulance to a high school party in the first book and it's the reason she stands up for a bullied freshman in this book. I do love that Louise Rozett brought in the story of Matthew Shephard and talked some about awareness and acceptance. The Laramie Project sounds like an amazing and moving thing to be part of. I'm glad of its place in this book.

But aside from that, I just love Rose. She decides to become Rose 2.0 in this book and do things that make her happy and question the things that aren't doing that and I applaud her for that. She messes up and says and does the wrong things sometimes but she tries to learn from those mistakes and make amends and move on and I really admire her for doing so.

I cannot wait to see more of Rose and Jamie Forta and my all-time favourite character, Angelo! My wait for the next book in this series is going to be agonising...

Mini-reviews (Game On, Through Dead Eyes, Dare You To)

I hope you don't mind mini-reviews today. I have fallen behind on my review-writing at the same time that I've been reading loads more than normal. Here are some of my thoughts on The Academy: Game On by Monica Seles, Through Dead Eyes by Chris Priestley and Dare You To by Katie McGarry!

The Academy: Game On by Monica Seles

I am a huge fan of YA books involving sports.  I really hope that there are more of them published because there's something utterly appealing to me about reading about athletes and sports.  And while I thought The Academy: Game On was a little bit lacking in character depth and storyline, it was still interesting enough to read and it sets up the series in such a way that I probably would continue to read the series to satisfy my curiosity about where things are headed...

Game On is this first book for teenagers by professional tennis player, Monica Seles. In it, she writes of this well-respected and hard to get into sports academy for young athletes of every kind. At the Academy, they will have the best equipment and training and coaches that money can buy. And they have plenty of opportunities to make a success of themselves, if only they can navigate the bitchiness and competitiveness of the other students there.

This first book in the series introduces us to some key players at the academy - Maya, a new tennis star who just wants to keep her head down and focus on tennis and making something of herself. Unfortunately along the way she always meets Nicole, already a hot-shot tennis player who feels threatened by Maya but also brothers Jake and Travis.  Throughout the course of the novel Maya makes bad decision after another in order to fit in and to be well-liked by people who don't have her best interest at her.  While Maya starts off with good intentions the allure of success and popularity seem to get the better of her.  I'd have liked to see a bit more emotion in the writing as things especially towards the end felt a little bit detached, this is still an interesting start to a new series...

Through Dead Eyes by Chris Priestley

I've never read a book by this author before but what really attracted me to Through Dead Eyes by Chris Priestley is this very creepy cover and also that the book is set in Amsterdam, a place that I very recently visited. I really enjoy it when an author presents a place like Chris Priestley does with Amsterdam in such an accessible way.  Alex describes his first impressions of Amsterdam in a way that felt believable to me. I loved viewing his brief attempts at tourism along the canals and through the Red Light District and seeing the flower market and some of the major museums in Amsterdam were similar to my own.  It gives a great overview of what it might be like to visit this city for the first time, which made me happy.

And then together with this, there's also the very creepy and slightly sinister aspect of Alex finding this mask in a flea market that has connections to the little girl who lived in Alex and his dad's hotel centuries beforehand. Suddenly, Alex is pulled into a different and much older Amsterdam in which this little girl lived in and Alex can't help but want to find out more about her and what happened to her based on the experiences of hers that he witnesses through putting on the mask.

I did find the first two thirds of the book to be slightly slow-going.  There seemed to be a lot of detail and build-up towards something dramatic happening but that doesn't happen until very near the end.  I did really enjoy the fact that the conclusion to this story was very unexpected and came as a bit of a surprise!

Dare You To by Katie McGarry

I really loved Dare You To by Katie McGarry. I had my doubts though! I didn't think it would possible to love another couple as much as I did Echo and Noah and I worried before picking up Dare You To that I might not warm to Beth as much as I did with Echo.  I needn't have worried. 

Dare You To is wonderfully romantic and addictive reading.  And while Beth does come across in Pushing the Limits has being a bit hard and intimidating, you can tell right from the start of Dare You To how vulnerable and a bit broken she really is.  This was a very emotional book for me to read, especially considering Beth's homelife. Protecting her mother's drunken behaviour and her relationship with an abusive boyfriend at all costs means that Beth suffers a great deal. And because of the latest horrifying and illegal espisode, Beth is sent off to live with Beth's estranged uncle and his wife. There's plenty of history between Beth and her uncle and I really loved exploring this complicated relationship.  

And then there's Ryan.  I have to say, I eye-rolled my way through the whole dare thing that weaves its way around this entire story but I did very much love Beth and Ryan together. Their relationship is super-charged with feeling and tension and when things finally did happen between them, I instantly cheered. Even though, like most of us Katie McGarry fans, we were still probably hoping that there may be some possible connection still between Beth and Isaiah... I'm really glad that Isaiah will be getting his own story because man, if ever there was a person who needed a happy ending, it's Isaiah!

What have been reading lately? Any of these three books? 

Blog Tour: Confessions of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

I'm very happy today to be today's stop on the blog tour for Confessions of an Angry Girl by debut author Louise Rozett.  

If you don't already know, here is the product description for the book and the book trailer:

This is a story about ROSE. About the occasional panic attack and being fourteen in the suburbs without a mobile phone. Read it and weep Rose's first year at Union High isn't exactly going to plan. Her family's broken, her supposed best friend's going boy crazy and Rose is so far behind socially that she might as well be moving backwards. Until her brother's friend Jamie offers her a ride home - and a way into the world of his popular clique - if only it weren't for his perfect cheerleader girlfriend. Now Rose is learning how to climb the wobbly high-school social ladder, while struggling to hang on to what matters the most...
 

What was the biggest challenge you faced when writing Confessions of An Angry Girl?

I really love our Angry Girl, so it was surprising (and informative!) when my editor very wisely pointed out that I needed to make sure that we get to see some positives with Rose, some moments of happiness and inspiration. I’m embarrassed to admit that it truly hadn’t occurred to me that she might be unlikable because she’s so angry all the time! But my editor’s comment really woke me up, and helped me make her more relatable. I find Rose’s sense of humor endearing—I think she’s pretty funny—and I also think her humor helps temper the anger and the darkness that she’s coping with.

What was the best piece of advice you received back when you were still an aspiring writer?

The best piece of advice I received was to READ. Read everything, not just the genre you are interested in writing. Read great works of literature, read best-sellers, read award-winners, read books that people recommend, read books whose covers catch your eye...just read. It’s a great and thoroughly enjoyable way to educate yourself about your craft.

Have you always wanted to be an author? If you weren't a writer what would you do?

I studied both acting and singing, and spent time in New York doing musical theatre, which I loved. But there are things about a performer’s life that I couldn’t live with, and I became more and more drawn to making my living as a writer. I started writing when I was a kid, and I wrote lots of short stories and several plays as I was growing up, but it wasn’t until I became disenchanted with my life as a performer that I realized how much I love writing, and how it feeds my soul.

I don’t act very much anymore, and I miss it—I’d like to get back to it someday. I still dream of working with Stephen Sondheim. (Find me a musical theatre performer who doesn’t!)

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Thank you so much to Louise Rozett and MiraInk for organising this wonderful blog tour! If you'd like to know more about Louise Rozett or Confessions of an Angry Girl, please do visit the following websites:

MiraInk on Facebook ... MiraInk on Twitter ... Louise Rozett

Louise Rozett’s debut novel Confessions of an Angry Girl is due out from MIRA Ink on the 4^th January 2013! Visit www.louiserozett.com for more. 

REVIEW: Confessions of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

I read Confessions of An Angry Girl by Louise Rozett recently and do you know what I came to realise?  It's rather ridiculous, because I'm more than a decade out of my teens, but I realised that much like Rose Zarelli, I too was an angry girl. I really related to a lot of Rose's feelings during this book and I read quite a bit of the novel thinking to myself 'when do we get to the 'angry girl' part?' and then it came to me ... oh.

I just accepted Rose for who she is and how angry she's feeling all the time because I felt like she was pretty justified in her anger. Her dad died, her mom shut down, her brother left town and is hardly there for her. Rose doesn't fit in well at school and her best friend has suddenly changed into somebody Rose doesn't quite recognise.  I think I could relate very well to how Rose is feeling, as could many other readers, I'm sure.

Things get pretty rough for poor Rose in this story. She calls an ambulance at a party in order to save somebody's life and in the process she gets turned into a social pariah.  Plus, she kisses Jamie Forta, an older 'bad boy' type with a girlfriend which does not help matters.  And while I found Rose to be quite a young 14 year old, I really loved her and loved digging into this story.

I really hated some aspects of the storyline, the mean girl routine from Jamie's girlfriend Regina could be quite painful to witness as was the abuse that Rose gets after breaking up this high school party.  Rose gets herself into some pretty embarassing situations and I really felt bad that her friendship with her best friend was deteriorating alongside everything else going on for her in her family life.

But I did love Jamie Forta.  Despite the bad reputation that he has, he seemed to be pretty okay guy to me.  Points to him for actually talking to Rose and listening to her.  Actual quality communication is pretty hot.  I really liked the few kissing scenes as well.  Very satisfyingly written! Plus, Jamie's friend Angelo was one of my favourite characters. Kind of a goofy guy, but genuinely nice and very friendly to Rose. I like that he finally calls Rose on her angry-girl behaviour. 

I find myself really surprised by how much I liked Confessions of An Angry Girl.  I really believed in Rose as a character and her struggles with her friendships, her family and her burgeoning romantic relationships all felt very real. I look forward to reading more of Rose's journey in the sequel, Confessions of An Almost-Girlfriend. Bring it on!

blogINK entry: Seeking best friend within the pages of YA...

Please visit miraink.tumblr.com for other great entries into MiraINK's fantastic competition, and you can look on their Facebook page for more information about blogInk. I've recently joined tumblr as well, and you can follow me here. Good luck to everybody who enters!

I've always been an avid reader.  There's just something very magical and amazing about reading and it fills a hole in my heart that sometimes I wasn't aware existed.  For instance, maybe it's because I moved around so much as a child, but I've never really had a best friend.  One who knows me so completely, someone who stands by me, sticks up for me and to whom I tell all my secrets.

So my favourite stories of late all contain one huge thing - strong friendships with characters who are there for each other and support one another.  Because with these strong friendships in books I feel as I am able to live vicariously through the main characters and experience these emotional connections in a way that I possibly don't get in real life.  I crave that.

So here are some of my favourite friendships in the books I've been reading. I'd love for you to share your own favourite literary friendships!


Harry, Ron and Hermione from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Some of my favourite scenes in Harry Potter, especially in the last two books are when Harry goes over all stoic and solitary believing that he'll bear the weight of this dangeous mission on his own and Hermione and Ron are there to tell him that he is not alone.  And while Harry Potter can sometimes feel apart from his friends and family in so many ways, I do so love his entire support network, from Hermione and the Weasleys to Hagrid and Dobby and everyone.  In a battle against the Dark Lord, I'd love to have these three at my back!



Jem and Will from The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare

While I do love the group of Shadowhunters in Cassandra Clare's previous series, The Mortal Instruments, it is with Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince in which she brings us my favourite aspect of the series -  this fabulous friendship between Will and Jem.  I love how each protects and defends the other and how Will holds the happiness of Jem over his own happiness.  Against the demons and evil that surround Victorian England, these two have got things covered.


Decker and Delaney from Fracture by Megan Miranda

I think it's fair to say that Megan Miranda is one of my favourite authors.  And this is because of the incredible friendships that she writes.  I love strong friendships but I also love when these friends fall in love, like with Decker and Delaney.  There is absolutely no hesitation at all when Decker dives into a frozen lake in order to save his friend and in that instant I fell in love wholly and completely with Fracture.  That level of commitment and loyalty to a friend will always win me over.


Applications are now open: Girl, seeking best friend to share secrets, have adventures and battle evil.  Or maybe just lounge about eating ice cream and talking boys and books!