Review! Blame by Simon Mayo

Blame is a high concept dystopian novel set in a version of the UK where the idea of 'heritage crimes' has taken hold. Heritage crimes are crimes committed by your parents or grandparents that have gone unpunished due to their deaths or disappearances leaving you to serve their time. Ant and her little brother Mattie are siblings stuck in a family prison with their foster parents, all serving time for the crimes of their parents. These non criminals are kept in a separate, but connected prison from those serving time for their own crimes, but with tensions brewing across the London prisons Ant and Mattie realise they might have a chance to break out. 

This is an intense and thrilling novel, which carefully sets up the dystopian premise and then causes a riot for all hell to break lose. The relationship between Ant and Mattie is beautifully written, with their Haitian heritage shown through the little bits of creole language they speak to each other. The pace really picks up about half way through, just as you were getting comfortable in the prison setting, lurching you out on the run. 

The media elements were used in a really interesting way, with televised propaganda depicting the heritage crime inmates as deserving of their treatment, brainwashing the public into agreeing with the inhuman practice. This was definitely reminiscent of The Hunger Games for me. The drones used for surveillance and spying were an all too familiar concept too. The 'strap' heritage crime inmates must wear creates a heavy, uncomfortable physical burden and mark on the person to accompany the mental burden they must endure too. 

A powerful, face paced, thriller with an incredibly fierce, loyal, and moral protagonist. 

I received a review copy of Blame from Penguin Random House in return for an honest review. 

Books I read in August!: The Yellow Room, What's a Girl Gotta Do?, Lady Susan, Nina is Not OK, Blame.

After a prolific July full of reading, August was always going to struggle to keep up. But I did manage to read from crrrrackers! I was really looking forward to delving into Jess Vallance's The Yellow Room after enjoying the super creepy Birdy last year. I also read the third in Holly Bourne's Spinster Club trilogy, What's a Girl Gotta Do?, which did not disappoint. I greatly enjoyed a Jane Austen novella, Lady Susan, and my audiobook of the month was Shappi Khorsandi's Nina is Not OK. I can confirm Nina is definitely not OK, and neither am I after listening to her story! Lastly I read Blame by Simon Mayo, which has its very own review here!

The Yellow Room

I read Jess Vallance's Birdy last year, which was a great book and very creepy, so I was very much looking forward to reading The Yellow Room to see how sinister its plot would be. The story follows Anna, a sixteen-year-old, who receives a letter one day from her estranged father's girlfriend, informing her of his death. After meeting Edie, the girlfriend, to discuss her father's death Anna is soon spending more time with Edie than with her school friends, confiding in her secrets that she has not told anyone else. Anna's relationship with the creepy, blackmailing Leon is at the heart of her greatest secret and their fraught encounters are chilling. Anna is struggling to solve her problems by herself and turns to Edie for help, the answers in the end however seem to lie with the mothers. Definitely dark, creepy, and chilling, but with an awareness and respect for mental health and illness. Definite must read. Can't wait to see what Jess Vallance writes next!

What's Girl Gotta Do?

Part three in the Spinster Club series, this time from Lottie's point of view as she embarks on a major feminist project, calling out every instance of sexism she sees in daily life. Lottie documents the project with the help of film student Will, who does not identify as a feminist and who soon becomes the object of a very confusing crush for Lottie. Evie and Amber are there helping Lottie out of course, but as the project gains traction online and the trolls start getting under her skin, Lottie struggles with motives for putting herself through such a draining experience. Is it keeping quiet and following the rules that will get Lottie into Cambridge, as her parents are insisting, or is it being unapologetically herself and committing to the project. A brilliant conclusion to the Spinster Club series. I'm in denial that this is the last we'll hear of the Spinster Club and hoping and praying they'll be back for more soon! Tip top stuff from Holly Bourne once again.

Lady Susan

This little Jane Austen novella is part of the Penguin Little Black Classics and a very fun read. A short epistolary novel documenting a colourful cast of characters mostly concerning themselves with the behaviour of a one Lady Susan Vernon, a young widow looking to secure husbands for both herself and her 16-year-old daughter Frederica. It was recently adapted for film by Whit Stillman, starring Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan and Chloe Sevigny as Mrs Johnson, and definitely captures the fun and humour of the book. I might have to read some more of Jane Austen's juvenilia (new favourite word) as this was a very enjoyable read.




Nina is Not OK

I listened to Nina is Not Ok on audiobook, read by the author Shappi Khorsandi and wow it was an intense experience. 17-year-old Nina is in denial about her drinking problem, but her drunken exploits are becoming more and more dangerous. After her boyfriend Jamie goes off on his gap year and immediately gets a new girlfriend, Nina finds herself struggling to get through a day of college without having a drink. The wrong guys 'help' Nina home after she is thrown out of a club one night and the gap in her memory between leaving the club and finding herself in a cab home with her knickers in her hand soon weighs seriously heavy on her mind. There is this really unsettling mix of funny and light escapades with dark and harrowing trauma as Nina continues to make terrible decisions and spiral out of control, with her mum and step dad really helpfully deciding to move to Germany and leave her in London in the middle of her A Levels year. Poor Nina! Shappi Khorsandi's narration on audiobook was brilliant, and I'd definitely recommend experiencing the book this way, although I think it does up the intense and harrowing factor up by 100.

Don't forget to click through to my review of Simon Mayo's Blame here!

I received a copy of The Yellow Room from Hot Key Books in return for an honest review. All real opinions, promise!

Review! Mother Tongue by Julie Mayhew

I read The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew last year, the review of which you can read here, which was such a powerful and truly thought-provoking book. I was therefore awaiting her next book Mother Tongue with muuuch anticipation. 

Set in a small Russian town, the story follows Darya as she navigates the path to her future, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack at the local school, which leaves many young lives lost, including her little sister. Darya has spent the last six years essentially raising her sister Nika, with their mother bedridden since the birth, and so the loss of her life and her presence in Darya's life is monumental. The community is shaken and in recovery when foreign aid workers and journalists arrive to cover 'the story'. 

Darya's search for a way out of her hometown and the boring life that lies ahead of her, at first has you rooting for her to achieve her pencil-pot and secretary-friends dreams. But as she becomes more lost you begin to question her escape from grief and the importance of home. Darya is this stubborn, strong willed character, too big for her small town, but too naive for a big city like Moscow. 

Where The Big Lie had you calling for revolution, Mother Tongue leaves you at lot more introspective, asking questions of how to define identity, home, and grief. Mayhew is a brilliant author, and I can't wait to see what comes next.

I received a copy of Mother Tongue from Hot Key Books in return for an honest review. 

Books I read in July! Part 2: Uprooted, Passenger, Ctrl Alt Delete, On the Other Side

Helloo and welcome to part 2 of what I read in July! You can read part 1 here, where I reviewed The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Uncommoners, and Rooftoppers. Part 2 is much less middle grad fiction, much more young adult/ adult fiction. I read Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Alexanda Bracken's Passenger, listened to Ctrl Alt Delete by Emma Gannon on audiobook, and On the Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher. Some of these I loved, some of these I didn't really love... so without further ado here are my reviews!

Uprooted

I got this BEAUTIFUL book in hardback for my birthday. It's just so beautiful with shiny gold and with pretty blue and with the illustration of the tower casting a shadow over a little house. I was also very pleased to find the contents just as enjoyable. This book is so much more than its blurb, which focusses on the wizard known as the Dragon, who chooses one young woman every ten years to serve him in his tower. The main character Agnieszka becomes his unlikely choice and a much bigger story unfolds from there. This is a book about magic in its many forms, magic you can learn from spell books, and magic you can summon from within. The world building is wonderful and rich, drawing on folk stories and fairy tales. I loved watching Agnieska learn about her new found powers and navigate the courts as an outsider, and use her outsider knowledge to discover more about the true villain of the book, the enchanted and evil Wood, which is slowly but surely taking over the whole kingdom. So spellbinding. Wonderful world building. Great magic. So much more than its blurb. And I really liked the ending.

Passenger

So I found this book to be promising at first. It follows the stories of Etta Spencer and Nicholas Carter who are both travellers, able to travel through portals to different points in time and history. Etta has been raised unaware of this ability in New York, where she is a skilled violinist awaiting her debut. She gets thrust into the past and into the world of travellers one night after a performance and a tragic accident. She meets Nicholas aboard the ship he is captaining and learns she has been kidnapped by the Ironwood family, to whom Nicholas was previously a slave. Together they go on a hunt through history for a valuable time travel object that chief evil Ironwood patriarch wants to get his hands on. All this was very exciting and well paced, I loved the bits on board the boat and the race through history following clues left by Etta's mother. However, I was really majorly put off by the romance plot. It's a classic I-just-met-you-but-I-would-die-for-you insta-love and there are endless lengthy will-they-won't-they-have-sex scenes with detailed multi sensory descriptions. This really slowed the pace down considering they were in a life or death race against time. I think I would've absolutely loved this book if the whole romance plot had been entirely dropped. Nicholas is black and from past and I get that Etta wanting to have sex with him would be a big historical taboo. But ugh, I just found it so slowing for what was otherwise a very fast paced plot. He could've been gay, that would've been much more interesting, and Etta could've been focused on her mum not getting murdered. Overall, cool premise and great story, just could have done without the romance.

Ctrl Alt Delete

This book is wonderful! I now fully love Emma Gannon. I've been listening to Emma's podcast of the same name and really enjoying it. She's had some tip top great guests on so far. So the book chronicles Emma's life growing up online, going on chatrooms and photoshopping her holiday snaps in the dial up days and eventually finding a place for herself online as a successful blogger, with some pretty cool sounding internet-jobs along the way. We're the same age so I basically shared most of her online teenage experiences from MSN and bebo to Facebook and Twitter. She is an engaging storyteller, unafraid to give all the gruesome details of a life lived online. I particularly enjoyed her online dating stories; I have some very similar MSN romance escapades. I laughed and smiled and cringed along as I walked around listening to the audiobook, probably alarming passersby. Follow Emma on twitter, subscribe to her podcast and definitely download this audiobook because it's great and she's one cool lady. 

On the Other Side

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. I've watch Carrie on Youtube for years now and really like her. She's a talented, thoughtful lady. I've seen her talking about the writing of the book for ages so I was pretty interested to see how it turned out. I really liked the premise; waiting to get into the afterlife until you've let go of things holding you to earth. Our main character Evie Snow finds herself returned to her 27 year old form in the apartment building she inhabited at that time, unable to enter her old apartment, which contains her version of heaven, until she has let go of what is making her soul too heavy to move on. Much of the story is told through flash backs to Evie's life aged 27 living in a city, working at a newspaper, and falling in love with violinist Vincent Winters. There is no time or place setting at any point, something which has been done deliberately to make the story 'timeless', however I just found it very jarring with my brain skipping around trying to figure out if it was the 1900s, 1950s, 1980s, 2000s, so I could imagine the spaces and the characters within these spaces. There was also a lot of telling rather than showing, with characters introduced with full two page biographies and then sometimes not really seen again. It was strange. There is a school scene in the middle that felt so out of place, maybe because there was actually showing and not telling. Also in my hardback edition there are blank pages before each chapter, which really just felt like padding. Also also inexplicably there are moments of magical realism, which don't feel quite in tune with the story as a whole. However I have no doubt that Carrie will keep writing, this was a great premise and I reckon her future books will be way better. 

Books I read in July! Part 1: The Lives of Christopher Chant, The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence, Rooftoppers

Helloo! Here's part one of my July reading roundup. I read 9 books in July so I'm splitting the reviews up into chunks. I read three lovely middle grade/ children's books, which was such a nice, cosy, comforting thing to do. The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones, The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpenec by Jennifer Bell, and Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell.

The Lives of Christopher Chant

This wonderful prequel is set years before Charmed Life and follows Christopher Chant's childhood before his adult role of Chrestomanci begins. Christopher has the ability to travel between worlds, which he does at night in his sleep, unbeknownst to his parents visiting wonderful vivid lands. Upon his Uncle Ralph's discovery of this power, Christopher is sent to these lands to bring back magical objects and artefacts. These dangerous trips lead to several disastrous injuries and it isn't long before Christopher's nine lives are discovered. Now destined to be the next Chrestomanci (for whom having nine lives is very important), and down several of those lives already, Christopher is sent off to Chrestomanci Castle to receive his magical education, much to his dismay as he has ambitions of being a cricket player. If you've read Charmed Life, you'll see a lot of Cat in Christopher as he gets used to the grim loneliness and strange magic of the castle. The goddess he meets in one of the worlds is a brilliant character, as is the cat Throgmorton. Full of Diana Wynne Jones' wonderful world building, charming details, and the perfect grumpy little boy voice. Definitely read this, Charmed Life and Howl's Moving Castle. I'll be getting myself a copy of every other Diana Wynne Jones book asap!

The Uncommoners: The Crooked Sixpence

After their grandma Sylvie has a fall and is rushed to hospital, Ivy Sparrow and her big brother end up travelling through a suit case to a land beneath London, where everyday objects like colanders and belts have very Uncommon special usages in a very magical way. Their grandmother's past is intertwined with this underworld, but unfortunately that past is a big mystery as Sylvie lost her memory in a car crash years ago in 1969.  They have to figure out how their grandmother is linked to this uncommon world in order to ensure the safety of their family. The world building is vivid and wonderful creating one of my favourite alternate Londons. Ivy is a great lead character too. It really reminded me of Heap House by Edward Carey, with its uncommon objects, and had much of the charm of Diana Wynne Jones about it too!

Rooftoppers

This is a beautiful book. As a baby, Sophie is found floating in the sea in a cello case after a shipwreck in the English Channel, by a man named Charles. He raises her, but her place with him is threatened by the childcare authorities, who believe no young lady should be raised by a man alone. Sophie believes her mother was in that boat and has vivid memories of her playing the cello. She strongly believes her mother is still alive. So Charles and Sophie run away following a clue in her cello case to a Parisian music shop. With a fondness for high places, Sophie learns all about the city from its rooftops and along with some new rooftop dwelling friends, goes in search for clues to the possible whereabouts of her mother. It's a really magical-lovely-spellbinding-wonderful rooftop world, with a heartwarming and impossibly exciting story. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

That's it for part 1 of my July reading round up. Part 2 coming soon, featuring Passenger, Uprooted, On the Other Side and Ctlr, Alt; Delete!

Zoella Book Club Reviews: Everything Everything, We Were Liars, Fangirl

Helloo! When the Zoella Book Club books were announced I was very pleased to see three titles that I had already read and enjoyed immensely. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon, E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, are all excellent choices for the book club for sure. It's great that so many people will get to read them! I will definitely be reading through some of the other titles from the list too, but I reckon I've read the best ones! Here are my reviews for these wonderful books:

Everything Everything

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. 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. 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.

We Were Liars

I highly recommend reading this book. I felt completely drained after reading it, which has to be a sign of a well written book. Most reviews and recommendations I've seen on We Were Liars give absolutely nothing away, so I may follow suit on that. But essentially it is mostly set on a family's private island on the coast of Massachusetts, where 17-year-old Cady spends the summer with her cousins. What I will say is that from the beginning there is some great... experimentation with the creative writing. There are metaphors that you don't realise are metaphors until you're half way through them and figure the character's heart hasn't actually fallen out her body and rolled down the lawn. It turns to poetry at points, to great effect. It's really great to see this kind of clever writing in a young adult book, young adults definitely deserve to be seen as clever readers. The reader follows with Cady as she slowly regains her memory, the story slowly revealing itself to the reader through the same fog the character is experiencing. There's romance, friendship, family, tragedy, heartbreak, memory loss, the works. Go read it now! ...And then make sure you have somewhere to have a lie down when you finish it.

Fangirl

Fangirl is the story of Cath and her twin sister Wren, heading off to college for the first time and growing apart as they each find their place away from home: Wren being socially adventurous and outgoing, Cath being mostly afraid to leave her dorm room. Cath is deeply involved in the Simon Snow fandom and has a huge online following for her fanfic. I got right into the Simon Snow fanfic, (I really want the Simon Snow series to be real- there's room in this world for Harry and Simon), and I loved that it was about fandom, BUT I didn't really end up liking the main character Cath or main love interest Levi. I don't know what happened, I connected with her at the beginning when she was too scared to find the dining room and hiding in her dorm and eating tacos with her dad. I think I found her relationship with Levi a little off putting, he seemed sort of fatherly towards her... it was kind of icky. All that aside, I enjoyed reading it and I am kinda thrilled that the world of fandom has been so sensitively explored in the capable hands of Rainbow Rowell. If you haven't already, I really recommend reading Carry On, which is Rainbow Rowell's own exploration of the Simon Snow characters and is so much fun! 

Top 6: Boaty Books

This rainy summer, why not sail away on a sea of words/flood water with one of these wonderful boaty books!

The Gracekeepers- Kirsty Logan 

This book is set in a version of the world, which is now mostly underwater so some people live on islands, Landlockers, but most people, Damplings, live on boats. North lives and works on a circus boat, which travels around islands, where she performs with her bear as one of the acts. Callanish lives in a house in the middle of the ocean, where she conducts funerals for Damplings. Their paths cross and they are drawn back to each other because they share something special in common. I especially loved the book for its selkies/seal-people element, which may or may not be the special thing in common. I think it'd make for a good film, but only if it had a weird director to bring out the surreal-ness of the story. Perfect boaty reading!

The Girl From Everywhere- Heidi Heilig

Nix Song lives on a pirate ship with her father and their crew, spending their days using historical maps to time travel to those places and times collecting fantastical creatures and mythical objects from all around the world. Nix is sixteen, and is particularly good at finding the perfect maps for time travelling, as each map can only be used once. The story begins in India in 1774, travel to present day New York, and then to Honolulu 1883. Most of the story plays out in Hawaii, where Nix's late mother once lived, her father desperate to find a map to take him back to the time before her death. Definitely recommended reading for anyone who loves Pippi Longstocking, Lyra of Northern Lights fame, and pirates. Boaty AND summery! 

A Gathering of Shadows- V.E. Schwab

A Gathering of Shadows is the much anticipated sequel to A Darker Shade of Magic, so definitely read that one first, also SPOILERS ahead! This sequel takes place four months after the events of book one, and spans several months too, so we get a real feel for the wider world. Lila is the more central protagonist this time and she has essentially become a pirate and it's great. She has also been practicing magic under the tuition of her ship's captain, Alucard Emery, and learning as much as she can about Red London. Back in the city itself, Kell and Rhy are under much closer protection after both almost dying to defeat the Dane twins in White London, with Prince Rhy busy planning the massive international event, The Element Games, to be hosted in the city, and Kell essentially just pining after Lila. Perfectly piratey!

Riverkeep- Martin Stewart

The story follows fifteen-year-old Wulliam, who is about to inherit his father's role as Riverkeep, which involves tending to the river's ice in winter and a lot of fishing out corpses too. A dark spirit possesses his father one night, which sets Wulliam on a journey away from his one know corner of the river, to row down the river's mouth and hopefully find a cure in the belly of a giant sea creature called the mormorach. Wull picks up fellow travellers along the way, each on their own journeys, with their own problems to solve and wisdom to share. This book is so boaty that the main boat, Wull's bata, is essentially a character in itself. 

We Are Pirates- Daniel Handler

This is the first Daniel Handler book I've read, having of course read a lot of his work as Lemony Snicket. On the cover there is a quote from Neil Gaimen saying it is "the strangest, most brilliant offering yet" from Handler, and strange it truly is! It is dark, witty, weird, disturbing, charming all at once, which is fairly disconcerting, but it's an entertaining read throughout. Handler's quirks are ever present in his writing as they are when he's Lemony Snicket. It takes place in such a 'normal', mundane, modern setting that the story really takes you by surprise. It is certainly not piratey in the way you might expect, but definitely boaty!

The Summer Book- Tove Jansson

I read this in one sunny day, sitting in a particularly good spot in the park. I love Tove Jansson for both moomins and her novels, so I've been ticking off and rereading her adult fiction. It is beautiful, simple, witty (I was caught giggling a few times, the Study of Angleworms particularly tickled me), set on tiny holiday island in the gulf of Finland with the relationship between six-year-old Sophia and her grandmother the focus. It doesn't grip you with action and adventure, but instead enchants you with its humour and charm. The quote on the back from Esther Freud sums it up rather well: "Eccentric, funny, wise, full of joys and small adventures. This is a book for life." Plenty of lovely boaty island adventures to sail away on. 

Books I read in June!: The Girls, This Savage Song, Gotham Academy, Shrill, Harry Potter, And I Darken

I definitely began the month reading Emma Cline's The Girls in the glorious sunshine in the park, and ended it sheltering from the heavy winds and rain reading Kiesten White's And I Darken. Now I think about it, perfect settings in which to read each of these books! June in Scotland is just so autumnal, sigh. (So is July apparently, it has rained x1000000 today) In between these I read This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab, which was very enjoyable and monstery (full review of which can be found by clicking here), Gotham Academy for some Gotham meets Hogwarts vibes, listened to Lindy West's Shrill on audiobook, and finally got round to reading the illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone! So without further ado, it's review time!

The Girls

I saw The Girls recommended by Candice on YouTube in her review of the book, and was very intrigued- think dreamy California hippy summer vibes of 1969, murder cults included. The story is from the point of view of Evie, and is set partly in the present day reflecting on this pivotal summer of her life in 1969, where most of the story takes place- when she was 14 and drawn into a hippy cult. Based on, or drawing a lot of influence from the infamous Manson family murders, the cult in this story lives out on a ranch, with enigmatic wannabe songwriter Russell at its centre. There is sex, drugs, and petty crime, and eventually a horrific multiple murder, which Evie is thankfully not a part of. The focus of this story is not on Russell or really on the murders, but on Evie and the other girls in the cult, who she spends so much time with, especially Suzanne, who is so alluring to Evie and ultimately the reason she becomes drawn into the cult. It is fairly dark and grim in places, but so beautifully written. There is a real sense of reflection and almost remorse in the present day set chapters, with Evie clearly still struggling with how to come to terms with that summer. Certainly not a fluffy beach read, but if you are interested and intrigued by this period of recent history, I'd definitely recommend it.

This Savage Song

I love V. E. Schwab's writing, in particular her Shades of Magic series, and this book did not disappoint. Monsters! Reading the blurb, I had fully imagined another medieval-esque setting, but I was so wrong- we're deep in a future American but with whole new cities situation...

Read my full review here! It'll be worth it I promise! Just click here! Thank you!

Gotham Academy

This month's graphic novel read- a bind up of the first 4 volumes of Gotham Academy, which is essentially Batman's world meets Hogwarts. I was recommended this as Harry Potter fan, and indie comics reader, who doesn't usually love the artwork of traditional super hero comics. This is meant to be DC's attempt at indie-ing itself up and appealing to the Lumberjanes demographic of readers- and they're currently doing a Gotham Academy/Lumberjanes crossover- I approve! I'm totally sold on this, the story is great, with an awesome ensemble cast of Gotham Academy students. Olive is so cool and Maps is just great. Aesthetically it gets pretty close to a more indie-comics style, all it's missing is the 'quirk' of extra details you get in Lumberjanes bind ups, and also the physical paper quality and cover design you'd expect from a good indie comic or graphic novel. All they'd have to do is make the covers matte with some shiny bits, but pages a thicker more matte quality, and I'd be 100% sold. It would just make it feel more satisfying and like a more quality object. Buuuuuuut that's all physical- awesome story, which I'll deff be reading more of!

Shrill

I'd seen Louise O'Neil mention this book a couple times on twitter, and after Lindy featured on an episode of This American Life (and I recalled her previous appearance on the podcast, which I had super enjoyed), I was sold and got the audiobook, like immediately. Shrill is a memoir by writer, journalist and humorist Lindy West, covering her childhood as a shy, invisible fat girl to her adulthood as an outspoken, unashamed fat woman not afraid to Take. Up. Space. Her writing is at once eloquent, funny, raw, and unapologetic. I would definitely recommend this on audiobook, as it is read by Lindy herself, and she just lends such an ernest voice to her accounts of things like calling out her boss on his fat-shaming, and confronting twitter trolls head on. Great voice, great storytelling, solid message.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone- Illustrated

Ok so I'm not going to review Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone obviously, because everyone knows its a beautiful, wondering, precious masterpiece. But I can review the illustrated reading experience- Just beautiful! As expected it really brings the stories to life. The illustrations are lush, detailed, expressive pieces from full double page spreads to tiny paint splatters on pages of text. Jim Kay is an enviable illustrator and you may now see lots of Jim Kay inspired techniques in my work! When I read Harry Potter I usually have my own imagery in my head, interspersed with a bits of film imagery, and now I have these beautiful illustrations to add to all that. I am soooo looking forward to the illustrated Chamber of Secrets, and I am already slightly concerned with how much bookshelf space the whole series will eventually take up! 

And I Darken

I have loved the marketing surrounding the release of And I Darken in the UK- essentially drawing attention to lots of great fictional heroines from Buffy and Jessica Jones to Arya Stark and Hermione Granger. I absolutely loved this book and I've actually already lent it out to a pal. Set in the Ottoman empire, around the 1450s I believe, this story provides a sort of alternative history to Vlad the Impaler, creating instead Lada, born in Transylvania to a father nicknamed 'the dragon'. Lada is fierce, not beautiful, and ruthless, and along with her beautiful, sensitive, younger brother Radu, she is abandoned by her father in the Sultan's court, essentially as ransom to keep her father in line with the Sultan's rule. Together they are raised in the courts of the Sultan along with one of his sons, the eventual heir to the throne. In Lada we find a brilliant anti-princess, and an anti-prince in her brother Radu. Both use their own unique skills, be that brains or brawn, to work the royal system to their advantages. Themes of loyalty, sexuality, religion, strength and weakness are explored very artfully within this alternative historical fiction. If you love great female characters, this book is definitely for you- equally it provides a great sensitive male character.

Phew! Hopefully some of these have tickled your fancy! I'm currently finally reading Naomi Novik's Uprooted, and it is wonderful so far. Apologies for any typos or grammars issues- I may have had a couple of wines (a girl's gotta live!).

I received physical proof copies of This Savage Song and And I Darken, and an ebook copy of The Girls on NetGalley. All in exchange for honest reviews. 

Review! This Savage Song by V.E. Schwab

I love V.E. Schwab's writing, in particular her Shades of Magic series, so I was very excited to receive this book and it did not disappoint. Monsters! 

Reading the blurb, I had fully imagined another medieval-esque setting, but I was so wrong- we're deep in a version of a modern/future American but with whole new cities and real live monsters situation. Kate Harker is the daughter of the fearsome ruler of one side of the city, and August Flynn is the sort-of-son to the good-hearted leader of the other side. 

In this world, there are three types of monster who feed of human flesh/blood/souls, and each side of the city has its own ways of dealing with these monsters. Harker allows the monsters to run free under an agreement that the humans who pay for his protection will not be harmed. Flynn's side is more about keeping the monsters out entirely to keep the people safe- apart from August and his two 'siblings' who are the soul eating kind of monster (but only if those souls are bad/evil souls). 

Kate and August end up having to work together when the lines between the two ruling sides and good and evil become corrupted. Kate is an awesome character, trying to win favour with her father by being as cold-hearted as he is, whilst also dealing with some post-traumatic shock memory repression and battling with the timeless struggle of what is morally good or evil in war. August is such a vulnerable, sensitive, and morally strong character, who is battling with his own identity as a 'monster' and his loyalty to the questionable morals of his brother, while trying to figure out what his place is in their human and monster world. 

SO much identity and soul searching, all tangled up with questions of good and evil. A totally thrilling read, with very strong characters. Part one of the Monsters of Verity duology, and I have no idea where it's going, but I'm very excited. This Savage Song was out on 7th June in the UK and is out in the US 5th July.

Reviews of other books I read in June can be found HERE!

I received a copy of This Savage Song from the publisher in return for an honest review- which this is!

Top 6: Summer YA Reads

Helloo, I thought I'd share my recommendations for top summer YA reads today! It's definitely raining outside right now, but that doesn't mean you can't curl up with a summery book and pretend we're enjoying a proper sunny summer. Some of the following are sunny, fun beach reads, others sunny, deserty, or boaty with excellent heroines, and some pretty intense reads perfect for when you've got time on your holidays to read a whole book in a day. So, if you're wondering which YA reads should take up valuable flipflop room in your suitcase, look no further than:

1. Asking For It- Louise O'Neill

Right in at the deep end with Louise O'Neill's harrowing Asking For It, which tackles head on issues of rape culture, victim blaming, and slut shaming to name but a few. Asking For It is the story of Emma O'Donovan, a confident, pretty, popular girl in her last year of high school in a small Irish town. Emma is raped by several rising football stars at a drunken house party, remembers nothing, and learns of these events, along with the whole town, through explicit smartphone photos shared on social media. Emma's own refusal to believe the events occurred, and the town's fear for the boys 'ruined futures' chimes true with just about every campus rape victim blaming story you've heard of in recent years. Being inside Emma's narrative in the aftermath of this traumatising experience is harrowing, but also so compelling. Why am I recommending with super dark and intense book as a summer read? Well I reckon you'll want to read it in a oner, and then have several hours/days to reflect and recover, ideally with wine in easy reach and a swimming nearby. 

2. How Hard Can Love Be?- Holly Bourne

Lightening the mood a little is Holly Bourne's How Hard Can Love Be? the second book in the Spinster Club series! Am I Normal Yet? followed Evie, who was dealing with both sixth form college, making friends with Amber and Lottie, and keeping on top of her OCD. How Hard Can Love Be? is Amber's story of her summer holiday spent in California working at the summer camp where her mum now lives with her new husband. Hoping to rekindle a relationship with her recovering alcoholic mum, searching for the special bond that they maybe never even had, harbouring a crush for fellow camp councillor and former prom king Kyle, and keeping up feminist discussions with Evie and Lottie via Skype, Amber has a very full plate, and that's before you mention all the little American school children under her care. Holly Bourne is so good at making angst seem not angsty at all, making How Hard Can Love Be? a super engaging and fun summer read. 

3. The Rest of Us Just Live Here- Patrick Ness

Patrick Ness's The Rest of Us Just Live Here, is basically from the perspective everyone in town who wasn't in Buffy's scooby gang, or in Dumbledore's Army, or in Bella's coven. All the non-chosen ones, who have to deal with the mysterious mystical goings on, or the next end of the world, as bystanders. Mikey is a teenager, who just wants to go to prom with his friends and graduate before the high school is blown up again. Mikey's more ordinary issues, dealing with unrequited love, battling OCD, and navigating family life all play out against the backdrop of another epic mystery for the 'indie kids' to solve, with snippets of these absurd and melodramatic stories providing a juxtaposition to the main chapters. Perfect summer reading as it's in the run up to prom, with just the right amount of satire of hero stories and conviction in the heroism of everyday actions. Full of heart, humour, and warmth. 

4. Bullet Catcher- Joaquin Lowe

This one's on the summer list for its sandy desert setting. Bullet Catcher by Joaquin Lowe follows the story of Imma, who lives in a desert land populated by gunslingers and once great, but now died out bullet catchers, and who leaves the small town of Sand on the tail of a stranger she saw catch a bullet, in search for her possibly dead and definitely long lost brother, Nikko. Gungslingers and bullet catchers representing either good or evil, hero or monster, Imma has to work out which is which and therefore which path to take. I thought this was a great read, I really engaged with Imma and found the plot to be driven by plenty of action and momentum. A total page turner for poolside reading, and a potential new favourite gunslinging heroine. There may be another gunslinging heroine on this very list though so choose your fave!

5. The Girl From Everywhere- Heidi Heilig

Heidi Heilig's The Girl From Everywhere is a perfect Hawaii based, time travelling, summer read! Nix Song lives on a pirate ship with her father and their crew, spending their days using historical maps to time travel to places and times collecting fantastical creatures and mythical objects from all around the world. Nix is sixteen, and is particularly good at finding the perfect maps for time travelling, as each map can only be used once. The story begins in India in 1774, travelling to present day New York, and then to Honolulu 1883. Most of the story plays out in Hawaii, where Nix's late mother once lived, her father desperate to find a map to take him back to the time before her death. The story was exciting and compelling and I really like Nix and found her soul searching and life planning very relatable, even if her concerns were time travel based! Definitely recommended reading for anyone who loves Pippi Longstocking, Lyra of Northern Lights fame, and pirates!

6. Rebel of the Sands- Alwyn Hamilton

This beautiful shiny book will look great in the sunshine. Our second gunslinging heroine of the list: Set in a desert land with magical sand beasts and a Rebel Prince uprising against the king, Amani Al'Hiza is determined to leave her tiny dead-end town and head for the bright lights of the big city. Our heroine is particularly skilled with guns, and can definitely fend for herself, although it helps that she can pass for a boy. The world building is brilliant- I had amazing imagery in my head of this Middle Eastern meets cowboy Western land, especially appreciating the train scenes, there's just something about a desert train that I really love. Romance, adventure, mythology, and gun-slinging are all woven together beautifully, in what I was very pleased to learn is the first part of a trilogy. I reckon this one would be perfect for any summer train-based travel you may have planned!

Let me know your summer YA recs!