REVIEW: Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis

I have to be honest, it was the cover of Harrow Lake by Kat Ellis that had me intrigued.  I saw it on Netgalley and horror isn't really my jam but I was too tempted to pass this one by.  And you know what? It's become one of my biggest reading surprises of the year.

Harrow Lake has such a fantastic old-school horror film vibe to it.  Small town, old fashioned clothing, the creepiness in everyday items and places.  There's such a low-key creep factor to it that really builds throughout.  Despite it not being my usual reading material I found it really easy to fall into the story and into these characters.

Harrow Lake is a pretty unsettling place.  A small town that has been cut off from everything, not updated for decades and obsessed with the horror film that was filmed there and that made the town famous.  Our main character is Lola, who is the daughter of the film director who chose Harrow Lake as his film's setting and it's where her parents met, on set. 

But her mum has disappeared and when her dad is brutally attacked, Lola is sent to Harrow Lake to stay with her grandmother in this town that has not moved on.  I kind of loved how Lola doesn't really know who to trust or what to make of her grandmother and those she meets in Harrow Lake.  The jitterbugs in her mum's old room, the puppet in the town's museum, the abandoned sets used for the film all add different layers to how unsettling the book is.  I read bits of the Bone Tree out to my family and they were all suitably horrified.

I think my favourite thing about Harrow Lake, aside from how easily entertaining it is, is that it digs deeper than I was expecting into the buried secrets of their family, into those unanswered questions at the heart of Lola's and Harrow Lake's story.  And for that, I found this book utterly fascinating. 

Just, you know, keep an eye out - Mr. Jitters is coming.

REVIEW: Boy Queen by George Lester

Well, what a lot of fun book Boy Queen by George Lester is! Thoroughly entertaining from start to finish. And I really had Thoughts and Opinions on some of the characters (one in particular no spoilers, promise) and at times I really just wanted to shake Robin, our main character and be all, 'girl, what's with all the lies?' So Robin is just turning 18 and he is surrounded himself with an incredible assortment of supportive people. His mum, his drama teacher, his dance teacher and his friends. I love how much support Robin has in his life. Also, as an aside, I loved his relationship with his mum so much.

 Robin doesn't have it all figured out, but he has his besties and he has this secret boyfriend, and Robin plans to go to drama school in London. But when he faces rejection after rejection for everywhere he applies, he goes through a bit of a tailspin...

Honestly, I just loved poor Robin. He's so ...talented and lacking in confidence. He's so awkward and he keeps telling lies instead of just talking to the people who love and care about him! The dialogue in this is hilarious because all of the characters are full of SASS, but I wanted it all.. There was some great messages about the importance of treating the people in your life like they are important and finding those things that make you stupidly happy, about picking yourself up after set-backs.

 I wanted Robin to get there quicker with his interest in drag after seeing a local drag show with his friends, not going to lie. Loved every bit of make up and high heels and the transformation of all-singing, all-dancing theatre nerd into on fire, confident Drag Queen. It was a joy to behold, as were the drag queens themselves, especially Kay Bye who shines as Robin's drag mum. This was George Lester's debut book and I cannot wait to read more by him.

Preorder Boy Queen now, or add it to your wish lists: publishing on 6th August. 

Mini-Reviews: The Great Godden, The Gravity of Us and Giant Days

The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff

I was really looking forward to reading The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff. I've really enjoyed her books in the past and the description of this one sounded really appealing - a big family spends the summer at their holiday house by the sea - and they're joined by these two boys, one of whom is the mysterious and charming Kit Godden and what follows is this summer of love. Everything about that appeals to me.  Summer, beach house, love.

 I thought The Great Godden was written really beautifully written as is to be expected from Meg Rosoff, and I loved the lazy, summer days and the quirks of this family. But certain elements of the book just didn't work for me as well.

 1) We are never told the name or gender of the main character. The reader, I guess, is left to make any conclusions on their own (as I did) but I don't think this worked very well.

 2) I think maybe my expectations of this book based on the description versus what actually happens within the story were vastly different which hampered my enjoyment of the book. This is more of a problem with me and my own expectations rather than anything within the book? 

 I didn't feel emotionally connected to the characters, to the story or to the relationships throughout. I think I just wanted more.

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper was definitely an interesting read! I didn't know much about it going in besides the basics - a teenager with an online following is uprooted from NYC to Texas so that his dad can train as an astronaut for an upcoming mission to Mars and falls in love with another astronaut's son. But there was definitely a lot more to this one.

 There was a really interesting thread of science throughout this whole book and that was a really enjoyable aspect to the novel. Some of my favourite elements of The Gravity of Us included some background information that goes on behind the scenes at NASA.  I really wanted to know more about the dirt and how it's being analysed!

There was also the reality TV elements to the story which  showcased rather unfavourable sides to journalism but also explored some other types of media and attempted to make a point about what viewers want vs. what TV producers think viewers want. It was interesting though I wished the author had pulled back slightly on some of it. Some of it was a little heavy-handed and a subtler approach could possibly have worked better (for me).

On the whole I thought Cal and Leon's relationship was ADORABLE if slightly quick on the uptake. Cal was insufferably self-centred and messed up a lot but that felt realistic too and he at least owned up to his shitty behaviour and called himself on it within the text which I appreciated.

 More contemporary books with science-based themes, please! And more cute gay stories.

Giant Days by Non Pratt

I'm a huge fan of Non Pratt and I've loved everything by her that I've read. I always look forward to her books and as well as this e-book from Netgalley, I also own a signed paperback of this Giant Days. 

I've not read the graphic novels of which this book is based, but from this book it seems as though the graphic novels would be a lot of fun?

Giant Days tells this story of three friends, Esther, Susan and Daisy, as readers follow their adventures in university navigating school work, friendships, hobbies and relationships.

 I enjoyed Giant Days and really related to a lot of it - being unsure of mixing old friends with new, clinging to friendships that aren't as genuine as I'd like them to be, the uncertainty of new things, being away from home. It felt unusual to read a story like this one that explores this new world at university and was definitely a pleasant change from some of my usual reading. I absolutely wish there were more university-based stories.

I think the reason that I didn't enjoy this book as much as I'd have liked is that there seemed to be threads of story lines that were teased in this book (characters' sexuality, for example) that will probably be explored more in further volumes of the graphic novel and also the second half went into some territory that I didn't feel was relatable which felt jarring alongside all of the actual relatable university stuff.  Still, it was an enjoyable way to pass a few hours!

REVIEW: Here Is the Beehive by Sarah Crossan

Well. I really adore Sarah Crossan's verse novels from young adults and I was excited to read something from her aimed at an adult audience. I was intrigued by the title, Here is the Beehive, and the cover is gorgeous. I think by this point, I might just be tempted by every verse novel going. 

Sarah Crossan has such an incredible skill of creating relatable characters with interesting relationships. And Here is the Beehive was such an emotional journey for me. Already it takes such skill to write a novel in verse, but I was amazed by how many surprises there were in this book, how I really came to know Ana and understand her decisions. Here is the Beehive is about Ana, a solicitor who has been having a three year affair with (married) Connor but when the worst happens and Connor dies, Ana's grief is largely invisible because nobody knew that he meant anything more to her.

 This story is told in the present as Ana is struggling to come to terms with her own grief and complicated feelings about her relationship with Connor but it's also told in the past, so we can see Ana and Connor's relationship forming and the lines that are crossed and the decisions that are made, the justification. Everything is pretty messed up, the exploration of this relationship was all sorts of messy, with promises made, lines crossed, the emotional destruction, the lies, the secrecy, the neediness, the insecurity. 

One thing that really stood out for me with this book was that I loved that as soon as I thought I knew these characters something unexpected is revealed. It felt like there were plenty of surprises in this story even when things probably seem straightforward.

Here is the Beehive was one of the stories that creeped up on me. I hadn't realised how emotionally attached I was until that final quarter of the book where all the heartache just built into this crescendo. Beautiful.

REVIEW: Hideous Beauty by William Hussey

Hideous Beauty by William Hussey has been one of my favourite reads of 2020. The love between Dylan and Ellis was so beautiful and emotional and I felt absolutely wrung out after reading this book.

The main premise of the story is that because of a leaked viral sex video, Dylan is forced to come out to his parents about his and El's secret relationship. They decide to go to a school dance to get the awkwardness of seeing their classmates after the video is seen out of the way. Things seem to go well with Dylan's parents and everyone at school seems to accept Dylan and Ellis but even so El becomes distant and withdrawn and as they're driving home, Ellis loses control of the car, they end up in a lake and Dylan is pulled free with Ellis left to drown. When Dylan wakes up in hospital, he vows to find out all the mysteries of Ellis which boils down to the following:

1) Who released the video of Dylan and Ellis?
2) Why was Ellis acting so weird at the dance?
3) Who saved Dylan and left El to die?

Honestly, this book ripped my heart out. It was pretty impressive how quickly I fell for Dylan and El: their relationship is barely introduced in the pages of this book before the car accident but that entire scene had me crying my eyes out. The love between these two boys was so pure and absolute and what happens is devastating. And Dylan's grief is such an intense feeling that I completely believed and felt too. And there's just no let up - following the car accident itself led quickly on to El's funeral which was brutal. The depiction of grief in Hideous Beauty was so intense and palpable.

As Dylan gets more involved in exploring the mysteries that led up to Ellis's death, it was kind of interesting to see how and where the cracks appear in what seems to be acceptance of Dylan and El's relationship. Hideous Beauty is a reference to a special place the two boys go, but it also felt like an excellent description of this book - that the incredible love between these boys (Beauty) exists in a world where parents disown their children, where awful people prey on the vulnerable and where true acceptance is not met (Hideous).

This book was everything. Intense, romantic, emotional, heartbreaking. I urge you to read it and be as swept away in these characters as much as I was.

REVIEW: Flesh and Blood by Simon Cheshire

I really enjoyed Flesh and Blood by Simon Cheshire. It had just enough levels of creepiness and unease throughout for me to remain really hooked on the story and wondering what would happen next?

Flesh and Blood reads like a thriller as the main character, Sam, is this teenage boy who moves into a new neighbourhood and is keen to flex his burgeoning journalistic muscles by investigating and writing an article about the dead body that has appeared in the area.  As he begins to ask questions, he begins to piece together this rather odd and ...unsettling series of events that possibly relate back to his next door neighbour. 

Honestly, I really liked this book.  I like Sam and the ways in which he goes after this story, how he writes about his experiences with some measure of hindsight.  I found his new friends to be entertaining, his crush on the prettiest girl in school, Emma, was rather entertaining. 

But ultimately this is a horror story.  And as I was reading this, I feel like the levels of creepiness was rather subtle in the beginning and it just built over time.  Dead bodies, creepy old houses, strange sounds in the night.  But also this feeling of powerlessness as the adults in this story seem a little zombie-fied of no control of their own which leaves poor Sam and his friends fighting against something big and terrible and really rather scary. I loved the medical elements included in the horror and I'm really just pleasantly surprised by how much this story got under my skin. 

If you're looking for a creepy scary read around Halloween I really recommend this book and the entire series of Red Eye titles!

REVIEW: The Haunting by Alex Bell

The Haunting by Alex Bell has a really interesting concept.  I love the idea of a cursed Cornish inn, the idea that it ties into witches and a witch's curse and that the main character comes back into the story 7 years after being injured in an accident at the inn.  However, The Haunting never quite lived up the chills promised from such an intriguing premise.

The setting of this book is The Waterwitch, a Cornish inn that is made from the salvaged timber of a cursed shipwrecked boat.  Our main character is Emma, she's 17 and is in a wheelchair after an accident at the inn occurs when she's 10.  Her family moved away and she's never been back to The Waterwitch.  That is, until her nan, who owns the inn, falls ill and Emma chooses to spend her half term break visiting her grandmother and reacquainting herself with The Waterwitch and also with her old best friend, Jem, and his younger sister, Shell. Ghosts and hauntings ensue.

I think part of the problem for me with The Haunting is that we have a high level of creep factor already.  We've got this creepy inn, an interesting back story and characters with complicated relationships that should provide plenty of tension.  However, I was a bit let-down with the ways in which Emma and Jem interacted with each other.  In that, they barely interacted with each other, despite having what could have been an intense meeting fraught with guilt on Jem's part in his role in Emma's disability or with longing and nostalgia for what they had as a friendship as children? But they had very little to do with each other throughout the story and it was such a disappointment.  And while my expectations we're set that high for the horror or scary elements to the story, I didn't think it was ever realised for me.  I think perhaps the story and build-up towards a frightening ending were just a little bit too subtle for me.

What I did love about the book is Emma's relationship with her guide dog, Bailey and it's Emma and Bailey that I felt provided the emotional heart to the story. I just wish a little bit more was done with the relationships in the story and also with the elements of the paranormal.

REVIEW: Crongton Knights by Alex Wheatle

Oh why did it take me so long to read Crongton Knights by Alex Wheatle?! I loved Liccle Bit, the first in this companion trilogy, and was really excited to read more ...and it was only recently that I picked this one up.  It won't be as long until I read the third book, Straight Outta Crongton because I love these boys and their friendship and the ways in which Alex Wheatle brings this neighbour hood to life. 

If you haven't read Liccle Bit, you needn't worry. Crongton Knights brings you up to speed with the events that occurred that are of importance before getting into this story.  This trilogy by Alex Wheatle looks at life in South Crongton on a council estate with gang warfare and rife with crime.  Crongton Knights, which obviously features the other boys, is McKay's story. 

I adored McKay and getting to know him a little bit better in this book.  His mum has died and he's living with his dad who is working all the hours to try to keep the bailiffs away and his older brother, Nesta.  Meanwhile, Bit persuades McKay and Jonah on this heroic (knightly!) crusade into another neighbourhood in order to protect the dignity of Venetia, Bit's crush. While reluctant at the danger of such a mission, everyone does go ahead and, of course, things go badly wrong.  I adore these types of ...heroic journey-type stories.  It really puts pressure on McKay and the others to define who they are as people and what their friendship means to each other.  It was really quite sweet.

I think what I love so much about these books is that it really combines some great things together.  McKay is a wonderful main character, he's very relateable and I love his complicated family life with his dad struggling with former gambling debts and his older brother, prone to getting in trouble but very much looking for McKay so that he doesn't follow him down the wrong path.  I also think McKay's friendship with the other boys is lovely and the setting of Crongton is so well described that I feel like I'm there with McKay as I'm reading.  I'd say my only (slight) criticism is that all of the characters sounded roughly the same, even when it doesn't make much sense that a boy from private school and a refugee from another country both sound like the others who have grown up on the estate. But other than that, I fell in love with this book and these characters and I cannot wait to read the rest in Straight Outta Crongton!

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 Crash by Lisa Drakeford

The Crash by Lisa Drakeford has an interesting premise.  The unfolding of a car crash that was witnessed by several different people and how that eventually plays out.  In The Crash, we have two teenagers and best friends, Sophie and Tye, who are indoors watching a film when a car comes crashing into the house, with twins Harry and Gemma in the car.  The entire scene is also witnessed by next door neighbour, Issy. 

What was interesting about The Crash is the ways in which the different perspectives add layers to the story as we find out more about each of the characters and their relationships to each other or about what has gone on in their lives beforehand that lead to this rather unfortunate set of circumstances.  The ways in which Sophie and Tye's friendship had been changing subtly before the accident, Gemma's rather dark relationship history, Issy's home life.

I think, having read a previous book by the same author, I went into The Crash thinking I'd unravel the different strands to the story and it will end up being very different to the snap judgements I made at the very beginning. And that is true.  However, I ultimately found The Crash to be just a little bit too dark and a little too heavy on the details of some of the events that occur.  While I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, I found myself a little uneasy with several of the story lines and that hampered my enjoyment.  I didn't feel it was necessary to provide quite so many details of family violence and abuse amongst one strand to the story, nor did I fully believe in the actions and choices made by some of the characters, namely Harry and Gemma.  While I appreciated the elements of a toxic relationship amongst an impressionable teen I felt like the combination of everything together in this one story was just (for me anyway!) was too heavy. 

There were some more light-hearted moments to The Crash with the burgeoning relationship between Sophie and Harry, but even that is weighed down with Sophie's guilt of beginning a relationship with the person who caused her best friend to be in a coma.  I just wanted there to be ...something else.  It's hard to put my finger on what it is exactly that I wanted to be different. 

REVIEW: Truth or Dare by Non Pratt

I found Truth or Dare by Non Pratt to be really quite an intriguing book.  I've read and loved Non Pratt's previous books but still Truth or Dare seemed to be somewhat of a surprise.  Perhaps the element of surprise came with the dual perspective structure of the novel?  We get Claire's version first then flip the book to read Sef's perspective.  I think having this structure to the story made me feel a little bit more on edge towards whatever might be at the climax of the novel.  It worked for me for sure!

At the heart of Truth or Dare seems to be what limits there are when you love someone?  How far is too far?  Claire and Sef as main characters to this story are hugely relate able right from the start.  I really felt for them both and for what they're going through both individually and together. 

Claire has recently been made the centre of attention after a wardrobe malfunction was made public in her school and as a result she shies away from the limelight.  However, she still decides the risk to spend time with Sef and to help him and his brother is worth it.  Sef, meanwhile, is struggling to find a way to raise the money to help care for his recently disabled older brother.  He decides to play to his strengths and to start a YouTube channel.  Together with Claire, they dress up as superheroes and either answer embarrassing truths or do dares that range between silly and more dangerous.

As I already mentioned, the differing perspectives really add to the story.  Claire's view of events varies to Sef's and I found that really added depth to the story.  I loved reading about the many ways that social media play a role in teenagers' lives.  There's the good: finding a way to raise money for a good cause, like a neuro-disability charity; and the not so good: the sharing of a mishap with Claire's bikini that leads of bullying and sexual harassment. As someone who uploads to YouTube myself, I definitely loved that inclusion of this aspect to the story. 

I also just loved Claire and Sef. Just on the pages of this book, Sef oozes sex appeal and charm and I think I fell half in love with him same as Claire. But in Sef's part of the book you can tell that there really is more going on with him and in his life as his family struggles with their new situation and also Sef struggles in coming to terms with his brother's disability. 

I thought Truth or Dare was a lovely book.  A great look at teenage life, friendship, love, social media.  It was a book that kept me gripped all the way through and my eyes were stinging from the tears I shed by the end. 

REVIEW: Sawbones by Catherine Johnson

I absolutely adored Sawbones by Catherine Johnson.  It's historical fiction, which isn't an area of YA that I read extensively within so I can sometimes be a little bit wary of reading so very much outside of my comfort zone.  However, I really enjoyed another historical story by the same author so I thought I'd give Sawbones a chance as well.  And I'm so glad that I did.  When I read this book earlier this year it was definitely my favourite book I'd read all month and it's just one of those stories that I felt myself thinking about long after I'd finished it.  I'm really looking forward to the sequel.

The main story line in Sawbones follows Ezra McAdam, this teenage boy, who is a surgical apprentice in London in 1792. Ezra is a fantastic character.  He really pulled at my heartstrings.  He's a very knowledgeable and capable 16 year old who is set to have a great future ahead of him being the apprentice to a well-respected surgeon.  However, things end up going very badly wrong for him when a failed break-in attempt means that Ezra is caught up in a string of odd events and he is put into the path of Loveday Finch, who is after questions about the sudden death of her father.  What follows is a fast-paced detective story with some crazy twists and turns. 

There were so many elements to this story that I just absolutely adored.  I thought all of the characterisation was really strong: I loved both Ezra and Loveday as well as their fraught friendship.  I thought Ezra's relationship with the surgeon to whom he is apprenticed was very sweet, if at times to Ezra uncertain.   I loved the exploration of different areas of London during this time period, from operating theatres and markets.  But my all-time favourite is every gruesome and horrifying fact thrown in about surgical practices during 1792.  I couldn't tear my eyes away from the pages when the topic of dissections and amputations and just general medical practices of this time and the ways in which knowledge is imparted.  It was all utterly fascinating to me. 

I was so swept up in this story, in these characters and in this snapshot of what life would have been like.  I really cannot wait to read what happens next.  And as I own the sequel already, I won't have to wait! If you haven't already read Sawbones I really do highly recommend it!

REVIEW: Moonrise by Sarah Crossan

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan was an amazing story to read. I knew it would be.  I've loved everything by Crossan that I've read so far and there's just something about her verse novels that resonate with me on such a personal level.  Something about the way she writes and puts words together really manages to shred away at my heart.

Moonrise is the story of brothers, Ed and Joe Moon.  Only Joe hasn't seen his brother in years, not since he left in his aunt's car and got arrested.  He's now on death row in Texas and Moonrise is a heart-breaking look at how Ed's life and death will be remembered.  It's a book about saying goodbye.

There is such tenderness in Sarah Crossan's writing style. Even when the subject matter is a dusty prison and being on death row.  So even when my heart was cracking open and I felt myself close to sobbing and railing at the unfairness of the world and the justice system that has failed Ed and his family ...I was also deeply aware of the beauty of this bond between brothers and the fragility of life.  I loved going over Joe's memories of growing up with Ed as a big brother, seeing the ways in which his mother and sister and aunt reacts to the news of Ed's arrest.  I even enjoyed Joe's uncertainty of Ed's innocence.

I find this book is really hard to discuss in any meaningful way.  Because it's about so much.  About remembering the small stuff, the moments between family.  It was also about forgiveness and facing about to life and death and finding meaning and beauty amongst it all.  Moonrise was a truly emotional story for me and I very highly recommend it.

Mini-reviews: Mind the Gap by Phil Earle and Passing For White by Tanya Landman

I'm almost always excited to receive books for review from Barrington Stoke. Their author list is incredible and they publish such wonderful stories that not only appeal to dyslexic or struggling readers but also to those who just enjoy a good story. Here are two mini-reviews of books by Barrington Stoke that I have recently.

Mind the Gap by Phil Earle

I loved Mind the Gap by Phil Earle. I knew I would, I've loved everything of his that I've read so far.  I was very excited to read this book when it first arrived: I loved the cover art and the premise of the book. However, having lost my own father quite recently, I wasn't sure if it was the best time to dive into this one.

But I feel like I needn't have worried.  Because while this book is about a boy whose father has died it's more about friendship.  Phil Earle wrote this story with such warmth and heart.  Mikey's dad was one of those dads who didn't stay for very long but who left an impression when they were around.  And since he died, Mikey has gone off the rails a little bit.

When Mikey admits to his best mate that he just wants something to remember him by, his friend goes off on this journey across London trying to track down someone who worked with Mikey's dad.  He's looking for a video clip or a photo or anything that Mikey can hold onto and then maybe he'd stop antagonising the local hard-ass and get himself beaten up.

I really loved this story.  It's based on a true story about the man who recorded some 'Mind the Gap' messages on the London Underground and his wife who grieved his passing.  I can definitely relate to this story ... this need to hold onto little things in the people who are gone from our lives.

Passing For White by Tanya Landman

Passing For White by Tanya Landman was just an emotional read for me.  I thought that by reading the synopsis of this book that I knew how it would turn out but the plot description doesn't really take into account how nerve-wracking it is, how tense I felt worrying about Rosa and Benjamin on this absolutely perilous journey.

Rosa and Benjamin are both slaves. It's the Deep South and the year is 1848. Because Rosa's master is also her father, her light skin means that she is often confused for being white. Using this to their advantage, Rosa and Benjamin hatch this plan to escape slavery by having Rosa pose as a white man with Benjamin has her slave and travel a thousand miles north to freedom.

As I said, I found this book to be very emotional. It's amazing how much is packed into one short story.  I felt for Rosa and Benjamin immediately.  Their need for freedom and why they chose to make this escape plan when they did was rather heartbreaking.  The journey itself is fraught with so many near-misses and some really quick thinking on Rosa and Benjamin's parts.

Passing For White is based on a true story, on Ellen Craft who escaped slavery through disguise and who saved herself as well as her husband.  What I found almost as fascinating as the actual journey is what their lives are like (spoiler ahead) after their amazing escape.  I thought Passing For White was a really eye-opening, emotional story and I'm really glad to have read it.

Ferryman by Claire McFall Extract

Today I'm really happy to be taking part in the Claire McFall blog tour celebrating the re-release of Ferryman as well as the publication of the sequel, Trespassers. I remember I wasn't entirely sure if this book would be for me when Ferryman was first published but I'm so glad that I gave it a chance. If you too are unsure or on the fence about reading it then perhaps the extract below will help you decide! 

Ferryman extract

“Wait, stop! Where the hell are we going?” Dylan huffed to a standstill and cemented her feet to the ground, folding her arms across her chest. She ’d been blindly following him, but they had been marching for twenty minutes in total silence now, going in who knew which direction and he hadn ’t said a word since the curt “Come with me.” All of the questions, all reasons for staying at the tunnel mouth that had inexplicably vanished from her head when he ’d ordered her to follow had now returned with full force.

He continued on for a few strides, before turning and looking at her with his eyebrows raised. “What?”

“What?!” Dylan ’s voice rose an octave with incredulity. 

“We’ve just come out of a train crash where everybody else seems to have disappeared. I have no idea where we are, and you are marching us halfway across the middle of nowhere, away from the place where they are going to be looking for us!”

“Who do you imagine is looking for us?” That arrogant half-smirk snuck back onto his lips.

Dylan frowned for a moment, confused by the strange question, before launching into her argument once more. “Well, the police for one. My parents.” Dylan felt a little thrill at being able to say that in the plural for the first time. “When the train doesn ’t arrive at the next station, don ’t you think the train company might wonder where it is?”

She raised her eyebrows here, secretly pleased with the strength of her line of reasoning, and waited for him to respond.

He laughed. It was almost a musical sound, but underpinned with a hint of mockery. His reaction confounded and infuriated her again. Dylan pursed her lips, waiting for the punchline, but it didn’t come. Instead he smiled. It changed his entire face, warming his natural coldness. But there was still something not quite right about it. It looked sincere, but it didn’t stretch to his eyes. They remained icy and aloof.

He walked over to Dylan and ducked down slightly so that he could look into her eyes, shocking blue into startled green. His closeness made her a little uncomfortable, but she stood her ground.

“If I told you you weren’t where you thought you were, what would you say?” he asked.

“What?” Dylan was totally confused, and not a little bit intimidated. His arrogance was maddening, making fun of her at every turn and coming out with nonsense statements like that. What could be the point of his question except to bamboozle her and make her doubt herself?

“Never mind,” he chuckled, reading her expression. “Turn around. Could you find the tunnel again if you had to?”

Dylan looked over her shoulder. The landscape was empty and unfamiliar. Everything looked the same. Stark, windswept hills as far as the eye could see, dipping down into gullied valleys where vegetation revelled in the shelter from the constant gales. There was no sign of the tunnel entrance or even the train tracks. That was weird; they hadn’t gone very far. She felt a tightening in her chest as she realised that she had no idea what direction they had come from, that she would be completely lost if Tristan left her now.

“No,” she whispered, grasping how much trust she had put in this unfriendly stranger.

Tristan laughed as he watched the realisation trickle across her face. “Then I guess you ’re stuck with me.” 

Claire McFall is a writer and a teacher who lives and works in the Scottish Borders. She is the author of paranormal thriller Black Cairn Point, winner of the inaugural Scottish Teenage Book Prize 2017. Her debut novel Ferryman won a Scottish Children’s Book Award, and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Branford Boase award. Her other books include dystopian thriller Bombmaker.

Trespassers, the much-anticipated sequel to Ferryman, will be published on 14^th September 2017. 

REVIEW: The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas

The State of Grace by Rachael Lucas was a book that was talked about quite a lot a few months ago. I kept reading tweets or emails saying how much fun the main character is, how I'll fall in love with her, how others already had.  And I admit it, I fell for that hype. I wanted to meet Grace and see if she was everything I wanted her to be.

I think the thing that most drew me to The State of Grace is that this an #ownvoices book featuring autism representation and that was something that I was very excited about.  However, while I'm sure the representation of autism was pretty good ... I just didn't really connect with the story or with Grace as a character, unfortunately.  I wanted to love the story more than I did. But as disappointing as it is to admit, it was just okay for me.

This book follows the main character, Grace, during a rather chaotic time in her life.  Everything seems to be going well, until everything suddenly isn't.  Things are difficult at home with her father away on a business trip and her mum acting a little bit strangely. She ends up kissing a boy, Gabe, and her sister is going off the rails a little bit.  And Grace has Asperger's and sees the world differently to everyone else.

I think the author did a great job in letting us as readers know what Grace needs in terms of managing her autism with structure and routine because of how overwhelming life becomes for Grace. She also does a great job in depicting Grace's parents.  Her mum in particular bears the brunt of being the person responsible for making things better for Grace but that responsibility comes with its own price tag.  I also really liked Grace and Gabe as potential love interests. Both are a little bit sweet and awkward which makes them both all the more endearing.

I wish I could explain in words better why this book didn't work for me as I wanted it to? It was fairly quick to read, it had aspects of the story line that I really enjoyed. However, that spark that I was expecting from this book just wasn't there for me, personally. But that's just me.  Perhaps you'll love this book as much as the dozens of other readers and their reviews that I've seen.  I hope you do.

Ayisha Malik on A Refuge in A Change Is Gonna Come #ChangeBook

I'm so happy and honoured to be today's blog tour post for MY favourite book of the year so far, A Change Is Gonna Come. This is an anthology published by 12 BAME authors: 8 already established authors and 4 debut for a YA audience. I loved the mix of genres and topics that each author chose to cover and I really think there is something in this anthology for everyone.

I absolutely jumped at the chance to host a blog tour stop for this book, especially one from Ayisha Malik, author of Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged and The Other Half of Happiness. Her story, A Refuge, is a story of friendship and empathy and I adored it.  Over to you, Ayisha...

There are certain memories that linger more than others, evoking a rather strong feeling, capturing a part of the past you call upon when feeling reflective. I think often about my visit to the Calais refugee camp. I went a few times; the first time because I was in Paris for a month and it felt like an omission of conscience not to; the second time because, selfishly, I wanted to recreate the first experience. I went again a year later, this time taking a bunch of friends, because I wanted them to feel what I had felt.

The thing about volunteering is that you take away from it far more than you give. Because of this, sometimes people’s lack of empathy can confuse me – although it’s an emotional thing, it feels almost illogical. I wanted to write a story about how someone is changed through their experience at a refugee camp, not because of this condescending idea of helping others, but because of the impact it can have on you. Even volunteering is a selfish act, but my character, Sabrina, is forced to do so by her parents. I wanted to focus on the unexpected relationships that can be formed in places where there is tragedy; how intense they can be, yet how transient. Her relationship with Homa in some ways reflects the redeeming nature of friendship, however short-lived it might be. Sabrina, like so many of us, is lonely and suffers feelings of emotional displacement, not least because her parents are always at each other’s throat. So, it felt fitting that I should put my character in a situation where her life is mirrored by someone who is physically displaced.

It’s often in the worst of situations that you’ll be able to see the best of humanity. For me, visiting the camp and writing this story just reminded me of the lessons we can teach each other about resilience, defiance and, most importantly, hope.



Thank you, Ayisha! Do follow Ayisha on Twitter and check out the other #ChangeBook blog tour stops listed below! A Change Is Gonna Come is published by Stripes Publishing on 10th August. 

REVIEW: A Change Is Gonna Come by Various

A Change Is Gonna Come the anthology of short stories and poems written by 12 BAME authors and published by Stripes Publishing is my favourite book of the year so far.  I hoped it'd be great when I first heard of it and I had high expectations for it, for sure.  But I wasn't quite prepared for how important and inspiring it'd be until I finally sat down to read it.

I loved it so very much.

I think there was just something special about reading so many stories in one collection with people of colour as protagonists. Like, I didn't even realise how emotional that would make me.  Because it's so very much not what I'm used to.  Being mixed-race has meant that so often I don't see myself in the books that I read and it isn't until I come across a book like this that these strong feelings come out.  And this book is such a celebration. I felt weepy reading it. But also inspired. Each of the short stories and poems in this book were really well-written and providing such a wonderful emotional arc within not very many pages.  I love how empowering this book felt, how emotional it is, how important it is.

Aside from it being a collection of short stories and the occasional poem about people of colour, the first story is also about a girl with OCD and the story by Tanya Byrne is about lesbians.  And I cheered at this. Both mentally and probably literally when I read that. I want more intersectional stories in my life. I need them.

While a lot of the stories were contemporary there was also some magical realism in there, a story about time travel and kind of a dystopian read, Catherine Johnson's story is inspired by actual historical events. And I liked that things got changed up like that. That each of the authors had their own visions for 'change' and what that means.  Some of the stories centred around race issues: Nikesh Shukla's story is about a friendship falling apart after Brexit; Ayisha Malik's story is about visiting the Calais refugee camp.  I thought it was great that this book took into account such current events but also that the stories balanced out being serious and playful whilst all being hopeful at the same time.

There aren't that many books about or by people of colour in the UK right now.  So this book feels like such a necessity. Representation matters.  People of all ages need to see themselves in books.  I hope A Change Is Gonna Come signals actual change amongst publishing in this country. I, for one, read this absolutely amazing anthology and I felt utterly inspired.

#YALC Books On My Radar

This past weekend was YALC.  It's officially my Favourite Weekend of the Year. For good reason: it's the one weekend guaranteed to have all my favourite people in the one place and we can all get together and talk and enthuse about YA books and reading and just generally be very nerdy.  Plus, I hear about all sorts of new books and authors and end up being deeply inspired.  Both to do more reading and to do more writing.  So here are just five books that made an impression on me this past weekend.

Hottest Book Around

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James

It's already been reported that Lauren James was the best-selling author at YALC.  And I think it's amazing news, well done to her.  I've loved Lauren James' previous books and I'm very excited for her new one! It's so pretty too. Sparkly.

Book Buzz

The Fandom by Anna Day

I thought Chicken House did an amaaaaazing job whipping up plenty of buzz about The Fandom by Anna Day, especially so far forward of publication date. So many people I met were talking about needing to get a proof of this book and I noticed Anna Day's signing queue was incredibly long.  The book isn't out until January of next year! But I'm sold too, I'm dying to read this book already so the hype is catching.

Book I Added to My Wish List Because I Heard So Much About It

Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt

Unconventional by Maggie Harcourt was a book I'd heard of ... and had been on the fence about reading. Until I went to YALC and heard so many other people say such lovely things about it.  And I heard Maggie Harcourt in the Fandom panel and I was pretty convinced. I'll buy it soon and report back!

Book I'd Never Consider Reading Until I Went To YALC

Ariadnis by Josh Martin

I'd not heard of Ariadnis by Josh Martin before I attended YALC. But I ended up going to one of the New Voices panels right at the beginning of the day and Josh Martin was there talking about this book.  Something about rival cities and two girls fighting each other ... but also possibly falling in love made me very intrigued. I love that by going to YALC I was able to be introduced to books I'd never otherwise have heard of.

Book I'm Reading Next Because YALC Reminded Me 

Mind the Gap by Phil Earle

I've had Mind the Gap for awhile and I've really wanted to read it. It's a Barrington Stoke book (and I adore Barrington Stoke) but I haven't been reading much and I was worried that perhaps the subject matter would be too much for me.  But I ran into Phil Earle over the weekend and he's just so lovely. And having a brief conversation with him and catching some of the panel that he took part in reminded me how much I've enjoyed his previous books.  I really must get around to reading Mind the Gap already is what I've decided.

What books are you most excited to read after YALC? 

REVIEW: Girlhood by Cat Clarke

Cat Clarke is definitely one of my favourite authors. I love her characters and relationships and I'll always be excited to read more of her stories.  Just as I was excited to read Girlhood especially with the boarding school element to it.

While Girlhood didn't quite reach the emotional impact as some of the author's previous stories there is still so much emotion in this book and a lot to love about it.

My top five reasons to love this story include (but aren't limited to)

1) the boarding school element
2) an addition to the first reason is that this boarding school is set in this Scottish wilderness, which makes it that little bit more ...wild?
3) the friendships, which I think is what keeps drawing me back to Cat Clarke's stories
4) the issues that this book tackles including an eating disorder, grief, guilt and also ...gaslighting
5) the diversity of the characters including sexuality, race and differing economic backgrounds.

What even is it about boarding school stories that are such a pull to me and to so many other readers? They're just so addictive to read and the boarding school within Girlhood is no exception. Here are a bunch of girls all living together away from their parents, having this little bit of freedom and independence. And I think the fact that this is a boarding school in Scotland and in this particular location makes it even more fun.  Because of that there are secret caves and spooky nooks and crannies within the building, ghost stories that can be pulled out to scare.

The main character in Girldhood is Harper.  She's come to Duncraggan Academy for a new start.  She's still haunted by the death of her twin sister, Jenna and Harper still carries feelings of both grief and guilt for her part in Jenna's death. But she's found a great, close group of friends and things seem mostly okay ...until the arrival of new girl, Kirsty Connor, shakes things up.

As I said, one of my favourite elements to this story are the friendships.  Harper's friends are pretty amazing: supportive and togethery and you can tell immediately how much they mean to Harper. But you can see with the arrival of Kirsty that cracks start appearing in Harper's friendship group.  But can it be so easy to destroy a friendship?  I'd also not heard that much about gas-lighting before, the manipulative tricks that are employed to cause unease and self-doubt.  I thought it was interestingly done in Girlhood.  It kept me reading and wanting to know more. But I also loved that this is a book not only about the slow destruction of friendships but about building new ones and building on existing friendships.

And finally, thank you to Cat Clarke for writing diversity into this book without having it be a thing in the book.  There are bisexual characters in this book and people of colour but these things are secondary to the main plot line.  I love that.  The only bit I will mention specifically is that Harper does struggle in coming from a middle class background and adjusting into a community mostly made up of far wealthier classmates and friends even though her own circumstances had changed to match those of her friends.  And I found that particularly interesting.

I really enjoyed Girlhood.  It was tense and engaging and I really do recommend it!