When Books Inspire

Have you ever read a book and then felt so inspired by it that you feel you just have to do something about it?  I have.  Recently, on a whim, I picked up Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett.  I honestly don't think I knew very much about the book before I started reading, but I like going into a book blind.  And it isn't the story so much.  The book is about a girl, Bailey, who moves across the country to live with her dad and spends the summer trying to track down an online friend, Alex, that she's been flirting with, only to start having feelings for her 'archnemesis' and colleague, Porter.  It's pretty cute and there's a Vespa and surfers and an odd museum and it was just the sort of lovely, romantic reading that I've been craving lately.

BUT! And here's where we get to the good part.  Because Bailey and her online friend, Alex, are totally into classic film.  That's what they bond over. They talk about meeting at the end of the summer at a local film festival to watch North by Northwest together. They talk about classic film actors and actresses, Bailey mentions one of her favourite films is The Philadelphia Story and so much of the book is littered with talk of all these people or films I've heard about ...but know nothing about.  Until now. 

I so want to start watching some of these classic films.  I'm thinking if I can find the right place to find these films I might do at least one a week.  Perhaps more if I'm really enjoying them?  To broaden my horizon and to finally do a thing I've wanted to do for awhile. 

Some of the classic films I'm considering, but please feel free to suggest others in comments or on Twitter. Or in person if you are lucky enough to see me in person, ha.  I'm going for a broad range of films and not just the romantic stories as this idea started off as!

North by Northwest
The Philadelphia Story
It Happened One Night
The Maltese Falcon
Bringing Up Baby
The Birds
Rebel Without A Cause (technically seen once, but don't remember)
Some Like It Hot
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
His Girl Friday
The Big Sleep
Roman Holiday
The Grapes of Wrath
On the Waterfront
The 39 Steps
The African Queen
Rebecca
Citizen Kane
A Streetcar Named Desire
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Third Man

Have you ever been inspired by a book? Can you recommend a good place to start with classic films?!

REVIEW: History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

Oh this book absolutely broke me.  There's such a sense of intensity in this book, so much so that I ended up needing breaks to just recover from how very sad or beautiful or honest it all felt.  I love books like this that make me feel so entirely.  History Is All You Left by Adam Silvera was such a heart-breaker of a book about love and friendship and grief.  I loved every second of it.

History Is All You Left Me is told in two parts.  The first part is in the past where the main character, Griffin, tells us of the progression in his relationship with Theo: from best friend, to boyfriend and eventually to ex-boyfriend.  This part of the story was so sweet and romantic and is filled with so much adorableness.  The second part tells us Griffin's reactions to the tragic death of Theo and the ways in which he deals with his grief.  Obviously these sections made me feel like my heart was being forcibly ripped out of my chest as the reader ends up mourning this huge loss together with Griffin.

I think what I loved so much about this book is how much Adam Silvera made me feel about all of the characters.  I ended up falling in love with both Theo (through Griffin's perspective) and also with Griffin.  I felt really emotionally connected to both these characters right from the start and I thought it was really skillfully done.  So much of the book is about remembering the details of this past relationship but also trying to work out a way in which to move on and dealing with tremendous emotions, especially those of guilt that Griffin feels.

The introduction of Jackson, Theo's new (and current at the time of Theo's death) boyfriend complicates everything further.  Because Griffin is sort of lost in his own grief and the only person who he feels understands that specific feeling is Jackson.  So while there are elements of competition (who feels stronger for Theo, who might Theo have loved more, who knew Theo better than the other) they end forming this rather odd and very unlikely friendship.

This book says quite a lot about relationships and the ways in which friendships and relationships vary wildly from different people and how they really aren't comparable in any way.  I loved the nerdiness of the boys involved and I love the ways in which Griffin and Theo's relationship impacts on the friendship with their other best friend.  Also, major bonus points for including a main character who is both gay and suffers from OCD. Intersectional stories make my heart happy.

History Is All You Left Me was such an incredible story: sad, beautiful and emotional.  I can't wait to read more by Adam Silvera.

REVIEW: Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway

If I'm really honest, I requested Emmy and Oliver by Robin Benway for two reasons: the first, I've loved previous Robin Benway stories I'd read, and the second, the cover looks quite cute and romantic.  I didn't actually know that the story was about a kidnapping at all until I opened it in my Kindle and started reading.  (Because let's face it: that cover design is selling me romance, not child kidnapping!)

I'm not entirely sure if that knowledge would have made much of a difference.  It's still another great, emotional story from a wonderful writer. And while I'm not overly fond of the missing child story line, I think I still would have wanted to go on this journey.

Emmy and Oliver were two really wonderful characters. Though I flew through this story very quickly and it didn't feel very long, it felt like Robin Benway really packed a lot into this book.  I loved both Emmy and Oliver individually and also together. I loved their relationships with their respective families and I loved Emmy's relationships with her two best friends.

Emmy and Oliver is a story about two childhood best friends. But their paths separate when, after a messy divorce, Oliver's dad kidnaps him and Oliver doesn't return for another ten years.  I love that what this story does is tell both the titular characters' stories but also paints this picture of not only broken families but a fractured community.

All these years later, Emmy is a very different person. She still holds onto her memories of Oliver but she's also feeling very suffocated both by her parents over protection and about the expectations her family and friends make of her.  Emmy's dream is to move to San Diego and pursue her interest in surfing but she has had to hide both of these things from everyone she cares about.

And at the same time, Oliver returns and his whole life is different. For ten years, he's believed one thing only to be told that the opposite is true and he doesn't know how to fit into the missing shapes that his disappearance ten years ago caused. And it seems that Emmy and Oliver kind of need each other the most, to have someone they can both be honest about their feelings with.

I really loved this book.  I loved seeing both Emmy and Oliver develop throughout this story.  Not just their love story, but themselves as individuals. I loved seeing the different dynamics within both sets of families and the different ways everyone has reacted to trauma. I love how Emmy and Oliver both had to fight for their voices to be heard.  There was some absolutely amazing dialogue and it surprised me how very quickly I began to become so very emotionally invested in all of the characters who play a part in this story.

Emmy and Oliver was an amazing, emotional story and I'm so glad to have read it!

Interview with Sarah Alderson, author of Conspiracy Girl

I'm incredibly honoured today to be taking part in the blog tour for Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson! Sarah Alderson is definitely one of my favourite authors and I will always be excited to read her books.

To find out more about Sarah Alderson, her books or Conspiracy Girl, do visit the following webites:

Sarah's website ... Sarah on Twitter ... Sarah on Facebook ... Sarah on Goodreads

How would you describe Conspiracy Girl to new readers? 

Three years ago Nic Preston’s life was destroyed during a home invasion. She witnessed her mother and step-sister brutally murdered and overnight was thrown into the media spotlight. Three years on Nic is struggling to rebuild her life. But then her high-security apartment is broken into and it looks like the killers are back to finish the job. 

She is forced to hide out with Finn Carter - a hacker, rule-breaker and general player - and the same guy who testified for the defence against her mother’s killers allowing them to walk from court scot free. 

Together the two of them have to solve the conspiracy of who wants to kill Nic and why. 

It’s a really fast-paced book, taking place over just three days or so across New York and a snow-bound New England. There’s serious action, lots of tension (of the sexual and dramatic kind both) and a good old conspiracy at the heart (that’s based on a real life story).

We get to see both Nic and Finn's perspective, did one voice flow more naturally then the other? 

Strangely I always find it easier writing the male point of view. I guess with Finn I really enjoyed the slow reveal. He comes across as arrogant and rebellious and head strong at first, but then you strip back the layers and you realise that his whole story - his childhood, the trauma he’s lived through, his ideas that were formed about justice at a young age - have made him who he is. I think writers need huge amounts of empathy. It’s a pre-requisite. You have to be able to feel what your characters have or are going through and with Finn I felt huge compassion. For Nic too but I think with Finn I just wanted to reach into the pages of the book and hug him.



You've set previous stories in California, Nantucket and in New York and throughout New England. How important is setting to you and does it help shape the story?

I think very cinematically (I am also a screenwriter). My whole life is basically one big quest for adventure and discovery. I love living in different places. I grew up in London and have just returned from living for the last five years in tropical Bali. Now I am living for a while in a 17th century cottage in the English countryside and it’s like something from that film The Holiday. It’s so idyllic. We won’t be here that long though before we head off, possibly to spend some time in Africa and then California. I’m addicted to living lots of different lives in different environments. It thrills me no end. So yes, setting for me is everything, not just in my writing. 

I always tend to base my books in places I’ve lived or at least travelled to. New York is a particular favourite city of mine - it lends itself to story-telling because the landscapes are so vivid and so grand, and the sense of place is so fantastic. Everyone has NY as a reference even if they haven’t been there because it’s been so well depicted on film. And then there’s Nantucket - which is a little island off the East coast of America. I nannied there when I was 17 which is why I then based The Sound there (it’s about a British girl who nannies there one summer). California is my second home - it’s where I’m happiest, where I feel most relaxed and free. I love the light there and the ocean. It’s where I set Hunting Lila and Fated. 

There were some quite traumatic scenes in Conspiracy Girl including a home invasion. Was there any particular scene that you found really difficult to write or that you kept returning to?

I did rewrite the home invasion scene about four times as I was striving to get the right sense of terror without being too terrifying (it’s YA after all) and the most realistic depiction it as I could. I researched a lot. I read newspaper reports and other articles about real home invasions - one of which was so incredibly awful it scarred me mentally and I also did my homework on security systems.


It was great to see a mention of previous characters from Out of Control in Conspiracy Girl!  Is this interconnectivity new or had I missed it previously? Will we see glimpses of Nic and Finn in future projects? What IS next for you? 


I’m not sure! Possibly not. I’m moving away from Thrillers to more straight romance. In my short story Tormenting Lila the characters from The Sound appear. So sometimes I do like to cross check books. It makes me smile to myself to leave little traces and I hope fans pick them up too. 

In my new adult books which I write under the name Mila Gray I take a b character and then make them the main character of the next book - though the books are standalones. I think that’s a fun way of doing it as you don’t have to read a series but you get little teasers and to catch up with characters you’ve loved, albeit briefly.


Human trafficking in Out of Control and now the ethics behind diamond mining in Conspiracy Girl, what draws you to intertwine these social justice subjects into your stories? Is there a topic you would like to tackle next?

I am always scouring the news for interesting articles that I then bookmark and mull o. I’m a feminist! A fully paid up member of Fawcett (a charity that fights for gender equality) and I’m passionate about women’s rights among many other things. I used to work for a charity as a head of projects - and all our projects were designed to tackle some form of social injustice. I think writers have a responsibility to their readers and I love being able to slide issues into my books that my audience might not have come across or may not know much about. Not many people in their teens will probably pick up a hard hitting book about human trafficking but they might pick up a fast paced thriller romance, and then they might discover something about a topic they didn’t know much about. It’s my cunning attempt to help promote a cause I’m passionate about (ending human trafficking).

As for what’s next, my second Mila Gray book (out in August) is about a wounded Marine and the psychology student he meets at the hospital he’s in. It tackles mental health issues and war - but my next YA won’t be a thriller and I think I’ll tackle something more individual, more private. We’ll see! 

Conspiracy Girl was one of my most anticipated reads of 2015, what are you most looking forward to reading this year?

Oh my goodness! You should see the books on my bedside table. I’m really looking forward to reading Lena Dunham’s book Not That Kind of Girl and also Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend. I also just received a copy of Everyday Sexism from Simon & Schuster (one of the lovely perks of being an author is that I do get some lovely books sent to me when I ask nicely) which I can’t wait to get started on.

Thank you so much, Sarah! 

Author Bio:

Sarah is the author of Hunting Lila (winner of the Kingston Book Award), Losing Lila, Fated, The Sound, Out of Control and Conspiracy Girl (all Simon & Schuster).

Having spent most of her life in London, Sarah quit her job in the non profit sector in 2009 and took off on a round the world trip with her husband and daughter on a mission to find a new place to call home (a journey that was documented on this blog and which is shortly to be turned into a book).

After almost a year spent travelling the world, they settled in Bali where they lived for five beautiful years before the vagabonding urge became too great and they decided to embark on Can We Live Here part two. They are currently located somewhere between India, London, Canada and the US.

As well as writing young adult novels and screenplays, Sarah also writes adult fiction for Pan Macmillan (Simon & Schuster in the US) under the name Mila Gray.

Her first adult novel, Come Back To Me, was published in June 2014. The second, This One Moment, will be out in August 2015.

Sarah has co-written the Hunting Lila screenplay, which is currently in the early stages of production, and continues to blog about her life and travels.

REVIEW: Conspiracy Girl by Sarah Alderson

I am such a big fan of Sarah Alderson's, I really am. I think I'll always be incredibly excited to read a book by her.  So when I saw Conspiracy Girl was on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. And while there were a few glitches to the actual text, I persevered with it because every book by Sarah Alderson has this amazing combination of being really exciting and fast-paced and romantic. And Conspiracy Girl had my heart racing both because it's quite thrilling but also the chemistry between the two main characters.

Conspiracy Girl is a dual-perspective novel told both from the point of view of Nic and Finn.  Nic Preston is an 18 year old college student who is trying so hard to rebuild her life after a brutal home invasion several years ago meant that she was the only survivor. Both her mother and step-sister died and Nic has been quite understandably shaken up by the events and it's left her paranoid and safety-conscious. Especially because the two people who killed Nic's family were caught but then walked free.  And then there's Finn, a super-smart hacker and the person responsible for the killers to walk free.  When Nic's apartment building is broken into, and her security is compromised it's up to Finn to keep Nic safe and to delve into her case again and find out who is responsible.

As I said, I absolutely flew through the pages of this story.  I think Sarah Alderson has an incredible for writing really exciting and addictive stories. I couldn't pull myself away from these characters and this story.  I quite liked the twisty-turny plot and all of the dangerous situations Nic and Finn get into.  I thought Nic's paranoia and grief was portrayed very well and I loved seeing her vulnerability throughout and also seeing how much more confident she becomes throughout this story as her and Finn go on the offensive towards finding the people responsible for her family's deaths and this current attack. I did kind of want to see Nic saving herself and relying less on Finn, but I also got that Nic needed to progress more to get to that.

My only real criticism of this book is a surprising one to me.  For me, while the love story is usually my favourite aspects of a Sarah Alderson story, I felt like at times, it didn't feel quite right for there to be this burgeoning relationship between Finn and Nic.  I get that there's is a complicated relationship with all the baggage they both carry, but I actually didn't want the romantic build-up and chemistry to be occurring at the same time as some of the thrilling aspects of the story.  I really liked both characters and I loved that it felt like it was a bit of an obstacle for them to be together and while I did love how hot they were together, I just wanted more distance between the steamy kissing and the chase scenes in which bullets are flying.

All in all, I think Conspiracy Girl was an ace read - highly addictive and emotionally charged with great characters and relationships.  Plus, bonus points for including an adorable dog!

Interview with Sarah Naughton #UKYAExtravaganza

I am hugely excited today to be taking part in the amazing #UKYAExtravaganza blog tour to celebrate the massive author event that is taking part in Birmingham at the end of the month. Emma Pass and Kerry Drewery have done a wonderful job setting up the event and organising this great tour! Thank you so much for letting me take part in this :)

I'm so happy to be paired up with Sarah Naughton as well. She's super lovely and I've had a great time discovering a new author and to read books possibly outside of my normal comfort zone. I thought The Blood List was really great and I was fascinated throughout about the historical time period, the superstitions and the eventual witch hunt that occurs.

I hope you enjoy this interview with Sarah Naughton and if you'd like to know more about Sarah Naughton or her books, The Blood List and The Hanged Man Rises, do visit the following places:

Sarah Naughton on Facebook ... Sarah Naughton ... Sarah on Twitter

Hello and welcome to Fluttering Butterflies! Can you please introduce yourself and tell me a little something about your books?

I've written two books (not including the 300 or so languishing in my bottom drawer): The Hanged Man Rises, which was shortlisted for the 2013 Costa Children's Book award, and The Blood List, both published by Simon and Schuster. They are both concerned with the supernatural, which I’ve always been fascinated by, despite my noisy skepticism (just because I don’t believe in ghosts doesn't mean I’m not scared of them…)


Both of your books are historical thrillers, what compels you to write about these historical time periods?


The idea comes first. With the Hanged Man Rises it was the idea of the possessed policeman and the boy trying to save him from himself. The Victorian era was the obvious setting, because of the huge popularity of spiritualism at that time, and consequent rich vein of subject matter.

The idea for the Blood List came after watching a heart-breaking documentary about the fate of disabled children in the medieval era. In those credulous times parents would become convinced that an ‘imperfect’ child was actually a fairy imposter left in place of their own ‘perfect’ baby. They would set about trying to get the babies switched back by inflicting various tortures on the ‘changeling’. As the plot developed to involve accusations of witchcraft, it made sense to set it during the witch fever of the 17th century.

At the beginning of The Blood List, Barnaby mentions having a great deal of free time. If you had a whole bunch of extra time to yourself, what might you be doing or learning?


I've never been one for extreme sports but since having children I have felt increasingly hobbled by the imperative of keeping them safe and well and, consequently, have begun to have wild fantasies about donning a bandanna and taking up arms in the fight against IS. Or more realistically, becoming a lifeboatwoman. I’d probably just do crosswords.


Both The Hanged Man Rises and The Blood List delve into some dark things. Child murderers and witch hunts. Did you ever have to pull back from writing these darker things?


Nah. I love it. Not gory Darren Shan stuff, which I just find repellent. I love psychological horrors like ‘A Good and Happy Child’ by Justin Evans and ‘Dark Matter’ by Michelle Paver – the latter of which I had to read in a bustling café in broad daylight because it was so effing terrifying. Scary books are a way for children to exercise their need for extreme feelings without putting themselves in genuinely dangerous situations. We have a psychological and probably evolutionary need to scare ourselves pantless. If you've been taught to look for wolves in the darkness you might manage to avoid being eaten.

The Blood List is filled with so much superstition surrounding the identification of changelings and witches to other more everyday things. What were some of the strangest superstitions you came across when researching?

I actually loved researching witchcraft and was even considering joining a coven until a psychic I met while writing The Hanged Man Rises advised against it… We’re all programmed to believe in magic: faith that the sun will rise every morning predates the scientific facts, after all. But with faith comes insecurity and a desire to keep sweet whomever we think might be wheeling the sun out every day, just for us. Even skeptics like myself derive a certain irrational sense of protection from saluting magpies and touching wood. Following my research into 17th century superstitions I keep a hagstone over the threshold of my front door to repel witch ingression and wear a pendant with a silver acorn, whose magical reputation dates back to druid times. I think a very small and primitive part of me actually believes they might do some good. (I drew the line at putting iron nails in my son’s cot).

One of my favourite aspects of The Blood List is the complicated relationships and dynamic between the members of the Nightingale family. Were there any particularly difficult aspects of these relationships for you to write or to get right?


The main characters in the Nightingale Family are based on people I know quite well, so all I did was slot them into the situation and my own familiarity with their characters told me how they would react. The tricky bit was making handsome, spoiled, arrogant Barnaby sympathetic enough at the beginning for people to relate to him and want to read on.

For what it's worth, I think Barnaby's character development throughout The Blood List was really well done! 

I always find it interesting to read about the witch hunts during this period of time. It's a leap, but if a similar campaign were launched in modern times, who do you think would be targeted or be accused of being witches?


Muslims, Jews, Poles, working mothers, people on benefits. The Daily Mail will no doubt decide. The older I get the more I feel those nebulous concepts we have such confidence in, like equality and justice and freedom, are so very fragile. States assassinate their enemies on our shores with no repercussions, our politicians fawn to oppressive dictators, terrorists gleefully massacre children. Perhaps we’ve lived through our golden age of enlightenment, and are slipping back into intolerance and barbarism. Guantanamo Bay seems like an endless Inquisition without even the blessed release of death.



I don't read very much historical YA but I'd love to read more. Can you share any historical YA recommendations with me?

Patrick Ness: he is the man. Diana Wynne Jones and her protégé Neil Gaiman. Suzanne Collins, although she’s hardly undiscovered. Melvin Burgess, Eoin Colfer, Philip Reeve and my teenage favourites: Robert Westall, Judy Blume and SE Hinton.

All excellent suggestions! ...But not many historical YA authors :)

What are your thoughts about the UKYA community?

It’s a wonderfully passionate and vibrant community, and extremely valuable to writers who otherwise get very little publicity. Publishing budgets are entirely devoted to the big names in childrens’ books, like JK Rowling and David Walliams, and without the bloggers some truly wonderful books would have been completely ignored. There doesn’t seem much in the way of reward for all your hard work, but I hope this is just a training ground and that many of you will go on to become authors in your own right.



You'll be appearing at the UKYA Extravaganza in Birmingham this month. Which authors are you most looking forward to meeting?

I always like meeting authors. After I left advertising I thought I’d miss the acerbic wit and quick-mindedness that characterizes a creative department, but it turns out writers are just as funny (just rather more self-deprecating). I’m particularly looking forward to seeing Emma Pass again. We did the Derbyshire Bookbash together a couple of years ago, and since then she has scaled the heady peaks of success. I’m going to ask her to sign my forehead.


A huge thank you for being on Fluttering Butterflies today!

Thanks to you too. See you on the 28th!

REVIEW: The Blood List by Sarah Naughton

I found The Blood List by Sarah Naughton to be hugely interesting. I don't read a lot of historical stories and certainly none like The Blood List in which it felt like there was this dark combination of historical elements with the paranormal. I really wasn't sure where this story would go but I found it absolutely fascinating to be taken on this weird journey.

The main character of The Blood List is Barnaby Nightingale, a somewhat spoiled and privileged teenage boy in 1646. He spends a lot of his days napping and and generally having no responsibilities or obligations. But things begin to change after Barnaby meets Naomi and his perspective and attitude towards life and everything changes.

1646 is a time where superstition is rife and throughout this story, Barnaby and this community are just on the edge of a dark time in which darkness takes hold. It was really interesting to read of the practices and ideas surrounding fussy babies and 'proving' how a baby's behaviour means that he might actually be a changeling amongst other superstitions. What I loved about The Blood List is that Sarah Naughton provides both sides to the story - the superstions as well as science and logic.

I also really loved the family dynamic in the Nightingale family. Because of events surrounding Barnaby's birth, Barnaby's parents have very different attitudes towards their eldest son and it causes a major rift between Barnaby and his younger brother that really propel the events of the story.  I thought everything between brothers and parent and son were done really well.

One of my favourite aspects of this book though is witnessing Barnaby's development from spoiled and slightly bratty at the beginning into somebody very different, somebody who Naomi would be proud of. Another aspect of the novel that really appealed to me was Naomi constantly putting Barnaby in his place which is both amusing and also highlights some gender and economic differences of the time.

All in all, The Blood List was a hugely fascinating story. It had great historical detail, great characters and particularly great relationships. It made me think of things in different ways. I was horrified by so many different practices that happened at the time and there were bits of the ending that had me very close to tears! I was so surprised by this book and I will definitely be on the lookout for Sarah Naughton's previous book. I really recommend this book!

Author Spotlight: Sarah Alderson

I do really hope that you've been enjoying this new feature, Author Spotlight!  For today's spotlight, I'd like to shine it around Sarah Alderson, one of my favourite UKYA authors.

Sarah is an author that I've followed since the release of her debut book, Hunting Lila, back in 2011.  Since then she's published many more books than you'd think in just under 4 years. And I've loved them all.

She's written quite often of her family's travels around the world, living in Bali, and travelling more. She writes books incredibly quickly (like super-human quick!) and I think they're all very fast-paced, addictive and exciting reads. (And it says so on the back of most of her books!)

Do find out more about Sarah Alderson and her lovely books, by visiting her website or follow her on Twitter.

Hunting Lila and Losing Lila

Hunting Lila introduced me to Sarah Alderson! A lovely friend of mine sent this first book over for me to read and I very, very quickly fell in love with Sarah's writing style and her actiony scenes mixed together with some incredibly steamy interactions with hot Alex. These two books are all about people with extra-sensory powers and there's a road trip and explosions and it's all kinds of amazing. Sarah has also written and published several short stories/novellas surrounding the characters and story lines of these two books.

Fated, Severed, and Shadowed

These three books all center around demons and demon slayers and I've only actually read the first book in the series, Fated, so far. Though I do have both sequels on my Kindle waiting for me.  While I love the action and adventure of Sarah's stories, I do need to be in the right frame of mind for more paranormal-y stories!

Come Back To Me

Come Back To Me is a New Adult book that Sarah has written under the pseudonym, Mila Gray that follows a relationship between Jessa and Kit.  I loved how intense this book is and how much this book is also a story about friendship and family as well as a very emotional romantic book.

The Sound

I read The Sound early last year when I went home to visit my father who had been in the hospital. It was a very emotional time for me and all I really wanted to read were comforting stories by authors I knew and trusted.  And this book really fit the bill.  It's the story of a girl who becomes a nanny for a family in Nantucket at the time when there is a serial killer who is targeting foreign nannies.

Out of Control

Out of Control was so much fun.  I loved the added element of human trafficking to the story as well. Not only is it this fast-paced story with loads of chemistry between the two main characters, it also has this added bonus of bringing up a social justice story that I didn't realise was so prevalent. Plus, it's set in New York and I love New York based stories!

Conspiracy Girl

Conspiracy Girl is Sarah Alderson's latest YA book and it has been published by Simon and Schuster this month.  I'm incredibly excited to be taking part in the blog tour for this book. Look out for an interview with Sarah very soon!  This book was definitely an edge-of-my-seat read. About a girl who's family had died previously in a home invasion and who lives paranoid and constantly looking over her shoulder. She teams up with a hot hacker when her family's attackers come back to finish the job...

Have you read anything by Sarah Alderson? Will you be adding any of these books to your wish list?

YA Books About Suicide

I've noticed that there's quite the trend with books involving suicide. Especially being published at the beginning of this year.  I've read three of the four books pictured and the fourth is one that I'm really hoping to read soon.  I think that they all say something different about suicide and actually, I really like that this topic is one so prevalent in young adult fiction lately.  I think that a lot of teenagers struggle and that a lot of teens could benefit from reading and exploring the subject of suicide in a safe manner.  Different angles and takes on the subject are always good, I feel, and I'm glad that these books exist.

I Was Here is the latest offering from Gayle Forman, one of my favourite authors.  I didn't know anything about it before I picked it up to read because I requested it from NetGalley based on the author's name alone.  But it's the story of a girl whose best friend has committed suicide and she tries to uncover what happened in her friend's last few months as their friendship sort of drifted apart.  While it didn't reach the same emotional height, for me, as If I Stay or Where She Went, I still thought it was really interesting and emotional.  It kind of showed how messy and complicated things like family and friendships and relationships can be.  Plus, it also touches a bit on suicide support websites which is something that the other books on this list also do. Published 29 January from Simon and Schuster

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven is an incredibly beautiful book, one that absolutely broke my heart.  I was pulled instantly into this story and felt incredibly emotionally invested in the two main characters. This story is told from a dual perspective from both Violet and Finch. And as the story begins both characters are on the top of the school's bell tower considering jumping.  One talks the other from jumping and the rest of the story is of their friendship.  Published 8 January from Penguin.

The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell is my favourite book from this list. It's set in Japan and tells the story of Sora, a teenager who has a motor neurodegenerative disease that means his quality of life is being slowly compromised by his condition. What I loved about this book so much is how it discusses how suicide rates in Japan is much higher than the rest of the world and some of the reasons for that. This book is very much a book about friendship and family and about finding hope and strength in difficult times. It's a beautifully written debut book and I very highly recommend it. Published 29 January from Random House.

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Varga is the most recent book I've read being published early this year concerning suicide. This book was sent to me unsolicited so I didn't know that's what it was about when I sat down to read it. I was mostly just attracted to the unusual title and interesting cover. But this story is one of a suicide pact between two teenagers who meet via another suicide support website. They set a date in a month's time but then spend that month getting to know each other and finding out each other's stories and what led them both to wanting to commit suicide. It was quite a sweet book and while I wanted the ending to be slightly longer, I did really enjoy the story, the characters and the message portrayed in this book. Published 10 February by Hodder.


Other books involving suicide that you might want to look out for: This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales, Undone by Cat Clarke, Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari, Saving June by Hannah Harrington and Fall For Anything by Courtney Summers.

What do you think about books involving suicide?

REVIEW: Captive by AJ Grainger

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Captive by A. J. Grainger. It's a book by a debut author and I hadn't heard very much about it when I first read it.  I even requested it on NetGalley on an absolute whim ... and it turned out to be a whim that paid off.  I quite liked Captive and some of the events that happened really made me think.

This is the story about Robyn Knollys-Green, a teenage girl who is a bit different from most teenagers. That's because Robyn's father is the Prime Minister of the UK and in Captive, Robyn is taken hostage by a group of environmental activists and used as a pawn in order to make the Prime Minister own up to his involvement in dodgy dealings and to release a prisoner who they believe is being held unfairly.

I think what I most enjoyed about this book is the thriller aspect of the book.  The first half is so very addictive and exciting and I was on the edge of my seat about what would happen next and what Robyn and this group of terrorists would do next.  It has a great pace to it and I found myself feeling very engaged with Robyn's voice and also emotionally invested in her story and situation.

I quite like how throughout Robyn's captivity she begins to see her father and her father's position of political power in a different light. Especially when faced with the information provided by her captors. I think it's always difficult when somebody first sees their parents as being infallible, as people who make mistakes and aren't perfect. But it was particularly painful to watch Robyn come to these realisations as she really had put him on a sort of pedestal.

I also really loved this theme that runs throughout the book of taking responsibility for one's actions and of asking the difficult questions in order to get to the truth of things.  I really enjoyed that this book is about politics and environmental issues and that it made me think and question.  I hope that it gets teenagers to take an interest in politics and other social issues that mean something to them as well.

Unfortunately, I felt like the second half of the book wasn't quite as gripping for me as the first.  And this is mostly down to the romantic element of the story between Robyn and one of her captors.  I didn't quite feel or believe in their connection to each other and a lot of the events in the second half of this story rely on that belief.

But even with that small criticism aside, I did still really enjoy this one.  I felt like it was addictive, exciting and thought-provoking! I shall definitely be looking out for more by A. J. Grainger!

REVIEW: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I Was Here by Gayle Forman was a good read ... it would be surprising that a book by this amazing author wouldn't be ... I quite liked how messy and complicated the friendships, romantic relationships and the families are but at the same time, I didn't always feel as emotionally connected to the story as I would have expected.

I Was Here tells this story of Cody, an 18 year old girl, who has learned of the unexpected suicide of her best friend, Meg.  In an attempt to help Meg's parents out, Cody goes to clear out Meg's things at university and in the process tries to uncover what Meg's life has been like and piece together her motivation for suicide ...  which takes some turns for the dangerous.

I quite liked Cody as a character and this journey she goes on towards discovering Meg's secret life. Over the course of the novel, Cody seems to reconcile the guilt at not knowing and also the guilt that comes with the distance that appears in her friendship with Meg as Meg goes off to university and Cody is left behind unable to afford the same experiences.

Another aspect of the book that really worked for me was the romance element.  I love that everyone involved concedes that these two people are a great case of wrong time, wrong people together, but as I've already said, I quite liked how messy and complicated that relationship is.

There are parts of I Was Here that are really beautifully written and have a lot of honesty and emotion and insight to them. But for me, in some ways I felt a little bit disconnected from this story.  I think that this is in some parts because I felt like the second half felt a little bit strange.  It sort of veers off track of the grief and confusion of Meg's death and goes more into detail about suicide support websites and one person in particular who plays a helping hand in Meg's suicide.  I liked the road trip element of this part of the book but I wasn't quite sure about this hunt for justice that Cody goes on nor was I particularly thrilled with the eventual outcome of this mystery surrounding Meg's suicide.

I will always love Gayle Forman and be excited about her books.  I think even a book that I didn't love as much as her others is still an amazing book so again, I do highly recommend this book.

Blog Tour: Designing the Cover for The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss

 I'm so happy today to take part in a wonderful blog tour for a wonderful book.  It makes me really happy to share with you this amazing guest post by the S&S designers of the gorgeous cover for The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss.  The Year of the Rat is definitely one of my favourite books that I've read this year and I have really fallen in love with the cover.  I hope you'll find the below just as fascinating as I did!  

The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss is published by Simon and Schuster on the 24th of April. Do find yourselves a copy of it and do it quickly! It'll be worth it.

My review of The Year of the Rat
Add The Year of the Rat on Goodreads
Follow Clare Furniss on Twitter
Clare Furniss on Facebook
 

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When we came to design the cover for The Year of the Rat, we knew we had to create something that was as special as the book itself – a difficult task, especially when the whole children’s team was in love with the novel and everyone had an idea of what the cover should be!

We had come up with a few ideas around acquisition (yes, we were that excited!) 

But now none of our first mock-ups seemed quite right, we wanted something with more impact…

So, we started to think about exactly what we wanted the cover to convey, and we quickly realised that the same key elements kept coming up:

1)      We wanted to make the cover iconic, to make the book something that you would see in a bookshop or online and just want to own. 

2)      We needed it to be striking, beautiful and enticing. 

3)      The cover couldn’t be flippant because of the serious and emotional themes, but it also couldn’t look maudlin because there was a lot of humour and quirkiness to the novel too.

4)      We wanted to create a look that would appeal to teens and adults because of the huge cross-over potential of the novel.

5)      We also knew that the word “rat” in the title might put some readers off, so it was important to make a stunning cover to combat any negative connotations. And we also knew that there was a chance people would think the book was about the Chinese horoscope, so we needed to avoid anything linked to astrology!

But what other covers were doing this? Who would our competition be? We looked at a range of genres in both YA and adult novels and came up with a board of covers that stood out from the crowd...

Then it was all hands on deck as the whole design team just got going, trying out lots of different ideas from photographic to illustrative to typography. Here’s a selection of just a few of them to give you an idea of the types of approaches we looked at.

And finally, after developing a few of these ideas, the final cover emerged from the crowd and just wowed us all. It had the iconic and beautiful feel we’d discussed right at the start of the process, and felt like something that would be loved by teens and adults alike. And luckily we’ve had lots of positive feedback on the cover with retailers and reviewers, and (perhaps most importantly) Clare loves it too! 

I guess the key to the design is it's simplicity. There's something fragile and delicate about a mobile that really appeals. One moment a thing of beauty the next a tangled mess. It seemed like a fitting metaphor for the theme of the book. I just tried to keep it clean and graphic and avoided trying to 'tell the story' on the cover. Once the idea was there the aim was do it justice and not make a complete hash of it!

What do you think of the journey towards this final cover for The Year of the Rat? 

REVIEW: The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss

I was really looking forward to reading The Year of the Rat by Clare Furniss. I heard that it's a very emotional and beautiful story and I didn't want to let all of my expectations ruin my experience of reading this book... and The Year of the Rat was everything that I was hoping it to be. It is beautiful and emotional and I love that it's a debut book as well. It just means we have so much more amazing to come from Clare Furniss.

The Year of the Rat is such a simple and very fitting title for this book. It does span an entire year and the rat of the title refers to our main character, Pearl's little sister, Rose, who when she is born at the beginning of the story resembles (in Pearl's eyes) a shriveled little rat. And 'rat' as a nickname is pretty indicative of how Pearl really feels about her new little sister. And that is because Pearl's mother has died in childbirth and Pearl is so sad and angry about the loss of her mother that she needs someone to blame. If not the Rat herself then possibly her dad who she feels might have forced her mother into having another baby.

The thing that I loved the most about this book is how complicated Pearl's feelings are. She's dealing with so much during the course of the novel and it was hard not to really sympathise with her and want to give her a hug. She's 15 and suddenly, unexpectedly motherless. While she's never had any doubts about her relationship with her dad, it suddenly becomes painfully obvious that actually he is only her step-father and not biologically related to her and she starts questioning if he will love the new baby more than he loves her or he wants her around at all.  My heart broke for this entire family.

I love Pearl's anger and her attitude. You can tell that the death of her mother has changed Pearl in this major way and Pearl starts deciding that things that have mattered to her before like her school and her friendship with her best friend just aren't as important when she's so wrapped up in grief. One of my favourite scenes in the whole book is when Pearl is in the garden shouting obscenities at her dead mother. It felt really honest and raw and important.

Another one of my favourite things about this book is how Pearl relates to Rose in the beginning. There's this great bit in the book in which Pearl is left to babysit. And during this time Pearl is going through all these thoughts about how she's supposed to feel about a newborn - like she should love and protect her and have all these overwhelmingly positive feelings about her - and Pearl doesn't. She feels kind of a disconnect to her and finds it hugely overwhelming looking after a baby. And what I loved about this is how Clare Furniss has shown a little glimpse of another side to the story that a lot of women go through.

This year in Pearl's life is full of its ups and downs and I'm so glad to have read this book and experienced it with her.  There are some really wonderful and honest portrayals of families of different kinds, grief and bereavement, and coming to terms with loss but also about friendship and the first hint of falling in love. I really loved this book and I highly recommend that you pick it up!

REVIEW: Someone Else's Life by Katie Dale

Guest review by Kulsuma

Someone Else’s Life by Katie Dale was a really dramatic story. This was a really fast-paced story with a lot going on. It captured my attention from the very first page. When Rose’s mother dies after suffering from Huntington’s disease, Rose is obviously devastated by her mother’s death. Added to this, as Huntington’s disease is genetically inherited, Rose has a 50/50 chance of developing the disease herself. But then she finds out that her mother wasn’t really her mother... To make matters worse, she was switched at birth.

Someone Else’s Life was full of twists and turns. There was something happening on every page. I loved how rapid the action was and the revelations. Rose was a good character to start with. I did feel sorry for her because of all that she had to go through. When she finds out the truth, I could understand her anger, frustration and confusion.

Also, I understood her desire to find her real mother. However, when we meet the people whose lives she will affect, my feelings towards her changed. She could have acted smarter than she did, thought things through and made better decisions.

Of course at such a tumultuous time in your life, it’s easy to make wrong decisions but I thought Rose turned out to be naive. I saw plot twists coming. I didn’t like the way she treated her boyfriend Andy and also the way they kept fighting, making up and then fighting again. It got wearisome and repetitive.

I felt sorry for the other main character, Holly. I agreed with her point of view. She felt like Rose was taking everything away from her and I could understand her. I related more to Holly than to Rose. Many dramatic events happen throughout the book. It really is a rollercoaster ride. Dale’s writing was easy to read. The story is poured onto the page.

Overall, I liked the characters and could understand their motivations. What dampened my regard for the book was a few unneeded twists at the end which lessened the impact that the story had on me. Other than that, Someone Else’s Life is a good story.

Thank you very much for your great review, Kulsuma!