Hello everybody! Today, I’m so excited to be part of the blog tour for a Kind of Spark, which is the latest release from the fabulous inclusive indie publisher Knights Of, and one of my favourite books I’ve read all year. Onto the post!
Category: Reviews
Review Catch Up: Magical Middle Grade
Hello everybody! So, despite my good intentions back in March, I haven’t done very well with posting reviews since then, but I’ve finally got my act together and written some up for some of the magical middle grades I’ve read in the last few months, because I feel like magical worlds are excellent escapism at the moment and I really enjoyed all of these. And hopefully this time I’ll actually get better at this and start posting reviews again, because I’ve read so many AMAZING books recently and I really want to talk about them more. Onto the post!
Blog Tour Review: Gemma’s Not Sure
Hello everybody! Today, I’m incredibly excited to be sharing my review for Gemma’s Not Sure as part of the blog tour. Onto the post!
Milton the Megastar Blog Tour: Book Review
Hello everybody! Today I’m taking part in the blog tour for Milton the Megastar, by reviewing the book. Onto the post!
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Review Catch Up: 2020 Favourites So Far
Hello everybody! So, recently I’ve been utterly failing at writing reviews for all the AMAZING books I’ve read, and that’s been partly because once I was behind I felt buried under how many I had to write in order to put just one post up under my old system, and then I remembered that there was absolutely no rule to say I had to do it like that. So at least for now, I’m moving to a new system, where reviews will still be grouped, but not by the month when I read them and maybe instead by how I felt about them, or their genre or really just anything.
With that little disclaimer out of the way, I decided I wanted to kick off these posts quite out of order (I promise I do hope to talk about pretty much everything I haven’t yet!!) By talking about my favourite reads of 2020 so far, some of which which I am SO grateful I recieved for review, and all of . Onto the post!
Blog Tour Review: Demelza and the Spectre Detectors
Hello everybody! Today, I’m so excited to be part of the Demelza and the Spectre Detectors blog tour, and share my review for this fantastic new middle Grade mystery with a paranormal twist. Onto the post!
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I love middle grade mysteries so much, and I especially love when one does something unusual, which is what this does incredibly well. It’s about a girl named Demelza, who discovers that despite being a scientist with no belief in paranormal beings, she can in fact see ghosts and it is her family’s duty to help others communicate with the dead. Then her Grandma Maeve gets kidnapped by people who wish to use their ability for evil, and she must save her with the help of her best friend Percy. Demelza is an absolutely brilliant heroine; she’s funny and clever and I loved her determination, and I also really liked the way she tries to treat everyone with kindness so long as they are kind to her, and that she looks beyond first impressions and gives people a chance based on their true selves. I also thought Percy and Grandma Maeve were great characters, and while I don’t want to spoil the twist I was kicking myself for WEEKS after finishing this that I didn’t see it coming; it took me totally by surprise! The worldbuilding was another huge highlight, because it was all so well crafted and I feel like this gave me a really comprehensive idea of what Spectre detecting is and I’m so pleased this is a series so we can explore more elements of it because this is a fantastic debut, and I can’t wait to read more from Holly Rivers! 4.5/5
DEMELZA & THE SPECTRE DETECTORS by Holly Rivers out now in paperback (£6.99, Chicken House)
Have you read this book, or are you planning to? Do you have any recommendations for something similar? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Amy x
October Reviews 2019
Hello everybody! Today, I’m going to be sharing my very belated reviews of all the books I read in October (apart from one I read for a blog tour), which were all pretty fantastic, even though I didn’t get through as many as I’d have liked. Onto the post!
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The Conspiracy of Magic by Harriet Whitehorn (received from the publisher in exchange for my honest review)
In this thrilling sequel that was somehow even better than the Company’s of Eight, which I enjoyed immensely last year, we follow Cass as she is tasked with protecting the Queen of Minaris as she tours part of their world, and how things go very wrong due to a sinister plot that threatens not just them, but everyone in the Longest World. Cass is amazing, and I love how capable and clever she is, but also the fact that there are moments where she doesn’t quite know how to handle things yet always keeps going until she does. My other favourites in this book was Dacha, who was a new addition and just the absolute sweetest, and Arden, who was very different to what I had been expecting. I also love the world building in these because it’s such an interesting concept and I really like that this showed a completely different side of it to the Company of Eight; given she is with the queen for a lot of it there are some scenes in quite luxury places but we also see more of the darker side in different ways and it’s so well balanced and all so well described that it just forms a really brilliantly written world. The plot itself is pretty impossible to describe without giving anything away, so all I’ll say is that it was incredibly exciting and I thought the twists and shocks in various places were great. I’m very hopeful after the ending that this isnt the last I see of Cass! 4.5/5
Sealed with a Kiss by Rachael Lucas
After really enjoying Wildflower Bay the month before, I was desperate to read more Rachael Lucas, and I enjoyed this one even more. It takes place in Auchenmor, the same place, and is about the love story of Kate- who has just taken on a Girl Friday position on the island after being dumped by her dull as dishwater ex-boyfriend- and Roddy, the island`s Laird. I loved both Kate and Roddy hugely, and the way they complemented each other absolutely perfectly. I also enjoyed getting to see Finn`s backstory, because I already adored him and this just made me like his cheeky, charming ways even more than I did to start off with, and I thought Fiona was an incredibly well written antagonist. She`s Roddy`s ex-girlfriend who tries to sabotage his and Kate`s budding relationship, and I despised her so much I actually had to put the book down for a few minutes to calm down a couple of times. This is so engaging and lovely and full of funny moments, and it was a total joy to read. 5/5
The Somerset Tsunami by Emma Carroll
In her tenth novel, Emma Carroll tells the story of a girl named Fortune, who is sent away to work dressed as a boy amidst the terror of the witch trials, and the adventure that ensues after a tsunami hits and people believe that witchcraft is to blame. I loved Fortune a lot, and the secondary characters were also amazing- I was particularly fond of Susanna, but also really liked Ellis and Jem, and thought Dr Blood was a phenomenal villain (and WHAT a name!). I`ll be honest, I wasn`t quite sure how the plot of this would unfold, but I needn`t have worried because it was a perfectly paced and utterly engaging adventure- it`s a really hard book to talk about without spoilers but I just loved every second of reading it, and Emma`s writing style is still one of my favourites of all time. At this point, there just aren`t sufficiently gushy superlatives to do Emma Carroll justice to be honest; she really is one of the most talented authors writing in middle grade right now, and I can`t see myself ever not picking up a new release by her as soon as I possibly can! 5/5
The Pearl in the Ice by Cathryn Constable (received from the publisher in exchange for my honest review)
This is the story of a girl named Marina, who is deeply frustrated with her life due to the fact fact her father restricts it greatly on account of her being a girl, and what happens when instead of going off to boarding school she stows away on his ship and becomes involved in a rather thrilling adventure. Marina is absolutely amazing, first of all. She is so determined and I loved her outlook on life and the way that she is brave enough to tell the men around her that actually, she’s every bit as good as them and she’ll prove it too. I also had a soft spot for Jones, her closest ally on the ship, and Miss Smith is such a fascinating, multilayered character. The plot was really interesting too, particularly since I could never quite tell which direction things were going to go in at most points! This is definitely my favourite from Cathryn Constable so far, and I look forward to seeing what she does next 4.5/5
Tilly and the Lost Fairytales by Anna James
In the second instalment of the Pages and Co series, we see bookwanderers Tilly and Oskar travel to Paris amidst dangerous changes to the running of the Underlibrary, and their adventures in fairytales once they`re there. I still love the idea of this world a lot and I really liked Anna James` take on the fairy tale characters (particularly Rapunzel and Red Riding Hood!), but I didn`t find the bookwandering journeys quite so magical this time, for some reason, and I wasn`t quite as gripped by the pacing. I did really like the events of the climax and ending though, as there were some great reveals and I think they could lead to the third book being fantastic, as the overall series arc is really interesting. Overall, I sadly just didn`t enjoy this quite as much as the first book in the series, but I definitely plan to pick up the third in the trilogy once it`s out next year. 4/5
Shadows of Winterspell by Amy Wilson (received from the publisher in exchange for my honest review)
In her fourth book, Amy Wilson tells the story of Stella, who lives with her grandmother in a cottage on the outskirts of the magical forest, who has just decided to enrol in the local school. But of course, this is an Amy Wilson book so there is magic but also dark forces at play, and Stella becomes swept up in discovering who she really is and what she’s capable of when she begins to meet other magical people who live within the forest. Stella is a lovely character who I really enjoyed reading about, her new friends Yan and Zara are really loyal to her and interesting characters in their own right and Stella’s gran’s familiar Peg was the absolute star of the show for me, I loved him! Amy Wilson’s writing style is so distinctively gorgeous and I loved it as much as ever here, and I thought the magic system and the history of this place was intricate and so well explained and exemplified- I felt like I knew it inside out by the end, but still wanted to know even more. I absolutely can’t wait to dive into another of Amy’s worlds whenever her next book is out, because all of them so far have been amazing. 4.5/5
Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas by Adam Kay
Like I said when I reviewed This is Going to Hurt back in January, I find it quite difficult to write a lot about non-fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed this and I`m going to give describing it a decent shot. It`s more entries from former junior doctor Adam Kay`s diaries whilst he worked in the NHS, and this time they`re specifically themed around the festive period. As with the first book, this is incredibly funny for the most part- I`m laughing just remembering some of my favourite anecdotes- but there are also a few points that were so emotional that I cried. It`s an absolutely brilliant read, and I absolutely plan to read whatever Adam Kay decides to release next. 4.5/5
The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nirzana Farook (received from the publisher in exchange for my honest review)
This is the story of a girl called Chaya who must go on the run with her friends and Ananda the elephant after stealing the crown jewels, albeit for a very noble purpose, and the revolution she becomes part of in the process. My favourite thing about this was definitely the writing, because it`s fast paced and so exciting; things never let up for a moment and I was totally hooked the whole way through. The style was absolutely beautiful as well, though- it made the Serendib setting so vivid and three-dimensional. Another huge highlight were the characters. Chaya is an amazing heroine with so much bravery and I loved her. I also really liked her friends Neel and Nour, especially Nour, because her dynamic with Chaya was great and it was so fun seeing them go from enemies to friends. Also, I don`t want to give any spoilers since I didn`t really know how instrumental it was to the plot going in, but the revolution plotline is amazing. This is a brilliant adventure, and I`m so excited to pick up whatever Nirzana writes next, because this was fabulous. 4.5/5
Which books did you read in October? Do we have any in common? Are you planning to pick any of these up at some point? I’d love to hear in the comments!
Amy x
Blog Tour Review: Invisible in a Bright Light
Hello everybody! Today, I’m very excited to be part of the blog tour for Invisible in a Bright Light, which is Sally Gardner’s first MG book in 14 years. I have to admit I’ve mot actually read I, Coriander but I most definitely want to, particularly given that I read one of her other books just after my brain surgery and therefore have quite special memories of it. Anyway, onto the post!
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August Reviews 2019
Hello everybody! Today, I`m going to be sharing my reviews for the month of August, excluding my rereads of some of the Geek Girl and Murder Most Unladylike books, and one I was on the blog tour for. Onto the post!
Review: Gruffles and the Killer Sheep Blog Tour
Hello everybody! Today, I’m really excited to be part of the blog tour for the newest addition to the Ganster School series, Gruffles and the Killer Sheep, with my review! Onto the post!
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