Review! Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle

Spellbook of the Lost and Found is a wonderful and magical book about the havoc wreaked by the titular spellbook, found in an old oak tree. We follow the stories of Olive and her best friend Rose, who begin to lose their things following the summer party in their little Irish town; Hazel, her brother Rowan and their friend Ivy, who are running away from terrible parents; and friends Laurel, Holly, and Ash, who first find the spellbook and cast the spell within to return their lost diaries to them. 

As belongings begin to go missing all over town, the characters' paths cross leading them to discover more about the spellbook as items and loved ones of their own seem to be disappearing from right under their noses. The setting is wonderfully evocative, with all the closeness and tension of the small town, the dark and magical nooks and crannies of the old forest, and the eeriness of the abandoned housing estate. 

Spellbook has a similar feel to Laure Eve's The Graces, with some characters believing there is magic taking place and others questioning and refusing to believe. There's a real sense of the heightened emotion and stakes of a teenage summer with stormy weather, new friendships being formed, and romances being sparked much like in The Graces. 

There's a big cast of characters, but once you've got your head around which tree-named characters belong together it soon makes sense. There are twists and turns and magic and kissing and storms and hangovers and families and friendships and I had such a great time being immersed in this world. If you enjoy a bit of magical realism I'd definitely pick this book up. Bonus points for bisexual characters and same sex love making. 

I received a copy of Spellbook of the Lost and Found from Penguin Random House in return for an honest review:

which this is! 

Review! Everything Everything- Nicola Yoon

Nicola Yoon's Everything Everything is the story of a teenage girl, Madeline, who is allergic to absolutely everything. She can never leave her house, which was been carefully kitted out with state of the art air filtration systems, an air lock at the front door, clean white walls, even her books arrive decontaminated. Madeline is home schooled through online tutors, and her longterm nurse, Carla, checks her vitals several times through the day. The only people Madeline usually sees in person are her mum, who is a doctor, and Carla. When a new family moves in next door, she begins to speak with the son, Olly, through miming and notes held up at their windows, and then IM messages. Madeline is very wary of the dangers of the outside world due to her disease, but she is especially worried about the effects of falling in love. Narrated in first person by Madeline, this book is deals with love, trust, freedom and isolation perfectly. There were so many moments that gave me chills, and I was rooting for Madeline and any chance of freedom she could get, to live a 'normal' life.

Five things I loved about Everything Everything:

1- The references to books. Madeline reads The Little Prince over and over and gleans new meaning from it each time she does.

2- The 'reward if found' notices written in the front of each book, and the perfect way this is used in the books' ending.

3- Madeline's spoiler reviews were very funny. I think it maybe would've been cool to see a little more of her online life, as it's mentioned she has friends online, but I did love how these little snippets of her blogging were used.

4- The limitation of isolation. Having the main character unable to leave their location created this great limitation where, because things were kept simple, down to one setting, the author was able to fully explore this space and spend more time focussing on characters and development, which resulted in me really caring for the characters. Simplicity really is often the key.

5- The boy-next-door romance. Once you accept that this is in essence what the book is about, it becomes this brilliant play on a classic, where the characters do fall for each other very quickly, but through this carefully orchestrated series of interactions over various mediums.

Everywhere Everywhere is out on Sept 3 and is available for preorder on Amazon. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.