Review: The Copper Witch by Jessica Dall

Publication Date: 13^th March 2015
Publisher: 5 Prince Publishing
Length: 390 pages

Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

"Ambition or Love" Adela Tilden has always been more ambitious than her station in life might allow. A minor nobleman's daughter on a failing barony, Adela's prospects seem dire outside of marrying well-off. When Adela catches the eye of the crown prince, Edward, however, well-off doesn't seem to be a problem. Thrown into a world of politics and intrigue, Adela might have found all the excitement she ever wanted-if she can manage to leave her past behind.

I am a huge fan of historical novels, particularly when they feature a strong female protagonist who isn’t afraid to use her wits/charms/any attributes whatsoever to get what she wants, so I was understandably excited when I started this one. However it all went downhill from the blurb and the pretty cover.

The biggest problem is Adela. Whilst it may be historically accurate that girls were married off young, reading about a fifteen year old girl who is so forward as to be almost obscene and delights in seducing men left, right and centre, does not make for good reading. It instead makes for highly uncomfortable and awkward reading and there were more than a few points where I nearly put the book down. If she was just a few years older or her character was approached in a slightly different way it would alleviate a lot of the problems. She also has no depth to her. There is nothing that makes her feel like a real person. She is a plot device and not a particularly well used one. She has nothing beyond her beauty that makes her an individual and as a result she becomes a very one note character and one that isn’t sympathetic in the slightest.

The second problem is the lack of setting and plot. It’s obvious that this is supposed to be an historical novel. However there is no real idea of setting – in fact nothing about what land it is is mentioned until a third of the way through the novel, and then only briefly before being forgotten about. It means that the reader assumes that this will be some sort of European setting given the titles and hierarchy, not to mention the clothing and royal family. However if that is the case then the dialogue is massively flawed as it is littered with colloquialisms, modernisms and general awkwardness. The lack of setting really doesn’t do the novel any favours and leaves the reader feeling confused and lost throughout most of the book.

Then there is the plot. Or lack thereof. The first quarter of the novel serves no purpose whatsoever and would put most readers off reading the entirety of the novel. It feels like it’s trying to be a period drama, focusing on Adela and her rise to power, but it has no driving force, no real pacing and you just drift through three years of Adela’s life without really feeling like you’ve gone on a journey as Adela herself has no real character growth or objective. Like I’ve said before, she is a flat character that cannot carry the story on her own.

And finally the dialogue. The novel is 85% dialogue. A bold choice and in some cases one that can really pay off and make the novel stand out. However in this case it really didn’t pay off. The dialogue was awkward and clunky and in some places didn’t even make a vast amount of sense. I was constantly reminded of the rule of thumb that if the dialogue isn’t giving the reader information or moving the plot forwards then it isn’t needed. Whole swathes of the dialogue in this weren’t needed. They bogged down what little momentum was achieved in the story and didn’t advance anything.

There is a section in the middle of the novel where things started to come together offering a glimmer of plot and forward motion. Adela didn’t come across as quite so terrible anymore and it felt like that there was the kernel of plot that could have been expanded and brought to life in re-writes. However it was short lived and the novel quickly dissolved back into its former state.

Ultimately this novel read like it was a first draft. One that had a lot of great ideas, but needed a lot of re-writes and edits to turn it into a novel that could have lived up to the promise of the ideas within.

Review: Shadow Study by Maria V Snyder

Publication Date: 24th February 2015

Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Once, only her own life hung in the balance.
Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands and protect her relationship with Valek.
Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job - and his life - are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret - or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is - while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers.
Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous.

I absolutely adored the original Study trilogy, particularly ‘Poison Study’ so when I heard that there were going to be more books in the series I, like most other fans of the books, was thrilled.
And whilst it was fantastic to be back with Yelena and Valek and co. sadly the book didn’t quite live up to the very high expectations I had.

It’s become a worrying trend with the last few Snyder books that I will tear into them eagerly, my interest will wane and then at around the half way mark I will put them down and go and read something else, which is tragic. They are such good stories, but the first half of each of the latest books is so slow and weighed down with story and exposition that isn’t needed that nothing really happens. Eventually I come back to them, and the second half is so much better, everything picks up the stakes get higher, the tension is raised and I am reminded of all the reasons that I love Snyder’s books. Shadow Study is no exception to this new trend. The first half was so slow, so much back and forth and no one really knowing what’s going on or what to do and a lot of that leads from Yelena’s feeling of being adrift and lost, but the story shouldn’t be impacted this heavily by that. There should still be action, forward progress and a level of interest retained by the reader. So I took weeks to read the first half and eventually took a break from the book altogether.

The second half was so much better though. The storylines started coming together, and whilst everyone’s individual journeys were important, everything works so much better when everyone is together. The tension is amped, everything felt more terrifying and real and I was flying through the end of the book. I just wish that the rest of it could have been the same.

I also had a few problems with how flat and one dimensional some of the characters seemed. The new introductions particularly, as well as Ari and Janco. This was most noticeable for Janco as we had some of the story from his point of view – important so that we could see more of the puzzle pieces come together, but by far some of the weakest bits of storytelling. It felt as though because they were characters we knew, nothing really had been done to flesh them out, and that was horribly evident once we started seeing the story through their eyes, instead of just through Yelena’s and Valek’s.

Other minor grumps come in the form of the heavy handed insertion of Valek’s back story, a fascinating story in its own right, but not handled particularly well as it was just dropped in from time to time in Valek’s chapters of the book. It felt random, yes it provided backstory and context, but it could have been its own novella (one I would have loved to read because it was fascinating seeing how Valek became who he is) and stopped weighing down the narrative with excursions into the past that only aided with some insight into the present.
Also with names – I’m sorry but there’s only so many times that I can read the words ‘Goo goo juice’ and not want to stop reading. There is so much imagination and creativity in this series and it’s let down by sloppy elements like this.

Despite the ranting there was a lot to love in this book. It was fantastic to be back in this world and to see where the characters were now. Once the pace picked up and we got into the story, it was truly brilliant. I loved the twists and turns and I am definitely left wanting to find out what happens next. There is so much to look forward to in the next book and hopefully now the ball is rolling, the pacing will be better in ‘Night Study.’ The second half is wonderful and reminded me just how much I love Snyder’s books, but unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to undo the damage wrought in the first half. Fans of the series will love this new instalment, but be warned it does take a while to get going. Newcomers, I highly recommend going back to the beginning and starting fresh, jumping straight in at this point wouldn’t do the series any favours, and all issues aside this is a brilliant fantasy series.

Review: Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Publication Date: 10^th February 2015

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

The poverty stricken Reds are commoners, living under the rule of the Silvers, elite warriors with god-like powers.
To Mare Barrow, a 17-year-old Red girl from The Stilts, it looks like nothing will ever change.
Mare finds herself working in the Silver Palace, at the centre of
those she hates the most. She quickly discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy Silver control.
But power is a dangerous game. And in this world divided by blood, who will win?

There is a huge amount to love in this exciting new debut. Dystopian future where the colour of your blood segregates you? X-Men style powers and a whole lot of throw downs? Oh yes please.I thought this was a great debut, fast paced and full of brilliant ideas. There were a couple of stumbling blocks, but on the whole this was fantastic.

I loved Mare. She was a resourceful and determined and unfailingly brave. She has a few moments later in the novel where I wanted to shake her for not thinking things through, but on the whole she was a great heroine.
I also loved the boys. Thankfully this isn’t your typical love triangle (for reasons I won’t spoil here) so if the idea of the love triangle is putting you off, I highly advise trying the book anyway, you will be pleasantly surprised.

But most of all I loved the abilities, the range and breadth and how much they added to the story. Seriously, any type of abilities, be it X-Men or Graceling or anything inbetween, and I am sold. They were woven into the story brilliantly and added a whole other element of danger and intrigue. I would almost have liked to see them used more, but on the whole I think it was fantastic.

Some of the secondary characters could have done with a little more development, we weren’t really given enough time or space to get to know them so their actions sometimes felt a little forced whereas with a bit more development everything would have flowed much more smoothly.
But whilst I would have liked that, the pacing was really good with the right level of tension to keep you storming through the story.

However, three things stopped it from being a five star read for me. Firstly how obvious the ‘twists’ were. I spent the majority of the book waiting for both of them to happen, which took away a lot of the tension. I was still on the edge of my seat for most of it, but I knew what was coming and it became more of an ‘I told you so’ than an ‘oh my god I did not see that coming’ which was a shame.

The second thing was how incredibly near sighted Mare was. This plays into the first point, but I found it really frustrating when she was sneaking around getting up to hijinks and turning off the cameras as she went. Random patterns of blank spots are going to be easy to track where the person is going and who it is. It just pushed the limits of my gullibility trying to swallow that part. She should have been caught out by that right at the start, and instead she ended up feeling virtually invincible which just made me want to shake her.

And finally the fact that so much time was spent on the angsty teen plots and not really enough on the rebellion and the war. It felt like that was just a late addition to up the stakes on everything else, which was a shame and I’m hoping that will be rectified in the next book. The rebellion itself just felt a little bit weak. There was no rhyme or reason to it, just random sneaking around, not particularly well thought out plans and arbitrary attacks that anyone with a modicum of sense could see were just going to make the problem worse and not help in the slightest.

These things aside, Red Queen was a really fantastic read. Everytime I put it down I wanted to pick it straight back up again. It was engaging and fast paced and full of some brilliant ideas that work into a great debut novel and a promising start to the series. 

Review: The Last Leaves Falling by Sarah Benwell

Publication Date: 29th January 2015

Huge thanks to Random House UK for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

And these are they. My final moments. They say a warrior must always be mindful of death, but I never imagined that it would find me like this…
Japanese teenager, Sora, is diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Lonely and isolated, Sora turns to the ancient wisdom of the samurai for guidance and comfort. But he also finds hope in the present; through the internet he finds friends that see him, not just his illness. This is a story of friendship and acceptance, and testing strength in an uncertain future.

I should probably be upfront that Sarah is in fact a very dear friend of mine, so whilst I would be gushing about this book already simply on its own merit, the fact that it was written by Sarah just makes it even more awesome.

There is a big surge of diverse young adult fiction hitting the shelves which is a welcome breath of fresh air, and Sora’s tale set in modern Japan is no exception. Add to it that the story itself tackles death, euthanasia and features a disabled protagonist and ‘The Last Leaves Falling’ quickly sets itself apart as something other than your average YA fiction. The truth is it is so much more.

Sora is a tragic and compelling protagonist, at times buoyed up by those around him, sometimes sinking underneath the weight of inevitability, but his narrative had me racing through the book. It is a quiet, raw tale full of the tragic sense of time crashing too fast that comes with such a story, but that in no way hinders the storytelling, or makes it feel like a waste of a book. The prose is so beautifully constructed that you are at once struck with the inevitable end, desperate for any way to alleviate it, but knowing that there is nothing that can be done except to be with Sora through his journey and listen to his story.

The cast of characters that surround him really lift the tale up, injecting it with moments of humour and lightness in amongst the dark. I loved watching Sora slowly begin to let his friends in, to allow them to see him and then to form such a strong support system with them. It truly turned the story from a quiet dirge into something filled with quiet beauty. I loved the additional threads of their own separate stories, each of the three trying to tackle their own problems and drawing strength from the others when it all became too much.

Yes it tackles hard issues, but Sarah handles them with a deft grace that leaves the reader enthralled by the story and utterly wrecked by the emotions within. It is tragic but underpinned with lightness and a feeling that all is not lost, no matter how dark things can get. Quiet hope and dignity suffuse the decisions and actions as Sora comes to terms with himself and the legacy that he will leave.

This book stayed with me well beyond turning the last page. I had questions and thoughts and took quite some time to process through all the issues raised and feelings brought into question by Sora’s tale.

Mixed into all of this, Sarah captures the everyday internet culture that almost all teens are used to these days – something that is strangely left untouched in most books. I loved watching with Sora these teens go about their daily lives, the issues and heartaches that all feel as though they are life and death at the time. It’s something that everyone can relate to, either because they themselves are going through it or they’ve been through it in the past. But at the same time the Japanese culture creeps in and it was so wonderful to see those little touches that marked this book out from so many generic UK and US teen stories. It was like looking in a slightly skewed mirror, the same but so many little differences that make it unique – the mythology and culture and little details that really brought this tale into full technicolour.

This book will destroy you. It will creep into your mind and your heart and your soul and it will slowly pull you apart piece by piece until by the time you reach the last page you are an uncontrollable sobbing wreck. I thought this might just be me, but just look at some of the reviews already springing up about Last Leaves and you’ll see that everyone is having this reaction. It is an incredible book, an important book, and the one book that I will be saying to everyone, if you only read one book this year, let it be this one.

You can read my interview with Sarah here

And find her on Twitter here!

Buy your copy from Amazon or The Book Depository now!

Other great reviews for 'The Last Leaves Falling':

Queen of Contemporary

Serendipity Reviews

Fluttering Butterflies

Thirst for Fiction

Release Day: Crusher by Niall Leonard

Today marks the release of the highly anticipated young adult crime/thriller novel 'Crusher' from Niall Leonard.
This book has been on my radar since earlier this summer and has caused quite a stir of excitement in the blogging world. Husband of E. L. James (of 50 Shades of Grey fame) Leonard's debut novel looks set to be a fantastic and fast paced book that will keep you on your toes right until the end!

Don't believe me? Just check out the trailer below! And then go and pick up your copy today! Review to come soon.

To catch a killer,Finn Maguire may have to become one....

Everything changed the day Finn found his father in a pool of blood, bludgeoned to death. His dull, dreary life is turned upside down as he become's the prime suspect. How can he clear his name and find out who hated his dad enough to kill him?

Facing danger at every turn, uncovering dark family secrets and braving the seedy London underworld,Finn is about to discover that only the people you trust can really hurt you...

Guest Post by John Lucas

Today marks the release of a fantastic new book 'TURF' by John Lucas. It's a gritty look at gang life and culture in London and the situations and pressures put on young people who get caught up in it. John has been kind enough to come and talk about the roots of the story and how it's developed into the novel released today.
TURF started as a short story called The Angels of Hackney, which I wrote as an exercise on the Creative Writing degree that I took at Middlesex University. I was intrigued by all the peculiar characters that I used to see around my area, and there was one guy in particular, who we nicknamed The Sheriff. The Sheriff used to patrol up and down Stoke Newington Church Street in Hackney, often wearing a black-brimmed hat. He walked with a slow swagger and would stop passers-by and wish them well and check to make sure they were
okay. He clearly wasn’t all there, but he was extremely good-natured and seemed to have taken it upon himself to be the unofficial guardian of the neighbourhood, even walking one of my female friends home late one night.

Once he came up to me in a shop, took my hand and shook it firmly, and in earnest fashion,in a thick cockney accent he said, ‘Gawd bless ya.’ Sure that I’d taken his greeting in good faith, he walked out again, as if his sole purpose for coming into the shop in the first place was to pass on those words of goodwill.


The Sheriff sparked off an idea for a story about a group of angels, disguised as local eccentrics and down-and-outs, who protected the borough of Hackney. The main narrative surrounded one angel in particular called Brian, who was about to retire and go up to heaven to tend to his allotment in the sky, but before he can do so he had one last task to perform – he needed to protect a young gang member (a character who later turned into Jay), and with the help of the other Hackney angels (each with a distinct part of the borough to watch over), they set about turning the boy’s life around and subsequently giving Brian a good send-off.

So far, so twee…

When I left University I thought my Angels of Hackney story had something in it that could be turned into a full-length novel, so I got to work. But I found angels very hard to write about. Angels are essentially everlasting, indestructible beings – how do you write a story about creatures with that lack of fallibility? How do you make it interesting? How do you make people care? Of course lots of writers have – but for me it felt restrictive.

As I was wrestling with this, the issue of gang violence and knife crime, especially amongst young people, was an ever-present in the media. It seemed to be spiralling out of control,and a lot of it resonated with experiences that I’d had growing up. I began to think less about angels and more about the gang kid they were assigned to protect. Jay became the story’s main character from that point, and as soon as I started to write it from his point of view, in the first-person, the story really began to take shape.

I still wanted to keep an air of fantasy and mysticism, and I felt it made a really interesting contrast with the edgy, gritty and more serious themes of the book. I’ve always lived in a bit of a dream world, with a fairly loose grip on reality. In fact, I kind of believe that to a large extent reality is what you make it. So much of the world is based on perception and often there’s no way of really telling if that perception is right or wrong. A lot of it is just guesswork. I find that idea really fascinating and actually pretty liberating too. I think people spend too much time and energy looking for definite answers and black and white explanations. Leo, Jay’s crazy, down-and-out friend who lives in the community centre, thinks along similar lines to me on this one, I think.

It’s funny to think of the journey that TURF went on from that very first short story idea. It’s almost as if the entire story was turned inside out. But that’s a big part of what I love about writing: I think a story will eventually turn into what it wants to be. Steve Jobs, the late founder of Apple computers, said, ‘Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition; they somehow already know what you truly want to become.’ I think the same is true of stories. I think there’s a part of a writer that knows what he/she wants the story to become, but that goal is not always clear to the part of the writer that’s tapping away on the keyboard, or scribbling in notebooks. Sometimes you have to take a back seat and just follow the material, follow your intuition. That’s what I did with TURF to a large degree. I wasn’t expecting it to turn out this dark, this heart-wrenching, but I’m glad I let it go down that path. It’s more powerful because of it, and I’m happy with how it’s ended up.


I would like to say a huge thank you to John for taking the time out to come and talk about his writing and development process. I am so excited about TURF it is a fantastic, heart breaking, emotional and gritty novel. Utterly realistic and completely devastating it was one of the best and hardest novels I've read this year. But if you're not convinced yet, I have exclusive access to an extract of the novel to tempt you - and after that, go out and get hold of your copy!

Happy Team Human Day!

Yes, it is finally here, after far too many months of build up 'Team Human' by the wonderful duo Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier is finally here!


This will without a doubt, be one of the best books you read this year, so get to your nearest bookstore and get your copy today!


You can read my spoiler free review here!


And you can read an interview with the fabulous Sarah Rees Brennan to celebrate the release of 'Team Human' here!


Just because Mel lives in New Whitby, a city founded by vampires, doesn't mean she knows any of the blood-drinking undead personally. They stay in their part of town; she says in hers. Until the day a vampire shows up at her high school. Worse yet, her best friend, Cathy, seems to be falling in love with him. It's up to Mel to save Cathy from a mistake she might regret for all eternity
On top of trying to help Cathy (whether she wants it or not), Mel is investigating a mysterious disappearance for another friend and discovering the attractions of a certain vampire wannabe. Combine all this with a cranky vampire cop, a number of unlikely romantic entanglements, and the occasional zombie, and soon Mel is hip-deep in an adventure that is equal parts hilarious and touching.
Acclaimed authors Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan team up to create a witty and poignant story of cool vampires, warm friendships, and the changes that test the bonds of love.

Review: Struck by Jennifer Bosworth

Huge thanks to Harriet at Random House for sending me a copy to review

Struck is released today!

Mia Price is a lightning addict. She's survived countless strikes, but her craving to connect to the energy in storms endangers her life and the lives of those around her.
Los Angeles, where lightning rarely strikes, is one of the few places Mia feels safe from her addiction. But when an earthquake devastates the city, her haven is transformed into a minefield of chaos and danger. The beaches become massive tent cities. Downtown is a crumbling wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the revelers drawn to the destruction by a force they cannot deny. Two warring cults rise to power, and both see Mia as the key to their opposing doomsday prophecies. They believe she has a connection to the freak electrical storm that caused the quake, and to the far more devastating storm that is yet to come.
Mia wants to trust the enigmatic and alluring Jeremy when he promises to protect her, but she fears he isn't who he claims to be. In the end, the passion and power that brought them together could be their downfall. When the final disaster strikes, Mia must risk unleashing the full horror of her strength to save the people she loves, or lose everything.

I have been so excited about this book ever since I first heard about it at the Random House bloggers brunch back in January. I immediately got excited (just look at that blurb, you can see why!) and it most definitely lived up to my expectations.

The writing is excellent, fast paced and completely engrossing. I literally couldn’t pick the book down once I’d started it. It drags you in from the first and keeps you hanging until the final page. Made up of short but fantastic chapters I kept convincing myself just one more chapter would be fine, and before I knew it, it was three in the morning and I was nearly finished. The action covers three days leading up to the ‘end of the world’ and the tension never once lets up. It’s fantastically written and really kept me on the edge of my seat and desperate to find out how on earth they could all get out of this alive.

Mia was a really great character – strong, independent, but fiercely loyal and protective of those she cared about I immediately felt for her and her situation. She was a character that I wanted to get to know, to find out what had happened to and to find out more about this crazy world she was trying to survive in.

The world was terrifyingly close to our own, a brilliant play on some of the horrific natural disasters we’ve seen and how the mob mentality can rise up out of that and set up one or two as saviours who will lead us all out of this mess. I really loved how Bosworth explored that idea and how something like that can grow exponentially and spiral out of control. The different factions that can rise and the different people desperate to gain power; it was fascinating.

I would have liked to see a bit more of Jeremy, to find out a little bit more about him. We do get a lot of history peppered throughout the book, but there were some moments where I didn’t feel entirely convinced by him. I wanted to see a little more of him and Mia interacting and getting to know each other – not just their fantastic chemistry. But on the other hand the fast pace of the novel doesn’t exactly leave room for soul searching and life stories – I just would have liked a little more slotted into the book with him and Mia. The same goes for some of the other secondary characters. They were really well constructed, and really leapt off the page right from the start, but there was so much more about them that I wanted to know, backstory and information and just more of them. It’s a mark of well written they were. I’m curious to see if this is a standalone or the start of something bigger, and if it is a series I’d love to see more of the secondary characters and get to know them a little better because there was so much more to them, backstory to the Seekers that I would love to know.

‘Struck’ is an absolutely fantastic debut novel and marks Jennifer as an author to watch. If this is the standard of her first outing I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next – I have a feeling that it is just going to get better and better.

Author Q & A with Melissa Darnell

Welcome to day five of the Crave Blog Tour!


Today marks the UK release of the first book 'Crave' in the fantastic new series 'The Clann'. A fantastic blend of the supernatural - vampires, witches and steamy romance, what more could you want?
To celebrate the lovely Melissa has been wonderful enough to answer some questions about her writing, getting published and what we can look forward to in the future...

"What drew you to writing? Was it something you always wanted to do?"

I've been creating stories in my mind ever since I taught myself how to read at the age of 4 (I was too impatient for kindergarden and my family couldn't afford to send me to preschool).  Later I learned how to write, and I've been writing down stories ever since.  There is nothing more thrilling than flying through a rough draft.  Every story I write begins as a movie inside my head.  By the time I finish plotting it all out and am ready to write the rough draft, I can see that movie so clearly, whether my eyes are open or closed, that writing the rough draft is simply an exercise in trying to describe that movie on paper well enough for others to hopefully experience too.

"How did you make that jump from writing for yourself to published author?"

My husband Tim gets all the credit here.  I started off writing stories as a kid just as a hobby, something to do for fun just for myself.  Tim was the one who encouraged me to finally submit one for publication.  I didn't believe my first adult romance novel would even be accepted, but then I received multiple contract offers for it.  That gave me the confidence to write another novel, and then another and another, and eventually to switch over from adult romances to YA romances.

Crave was my first YA novel, and I only submitted it to one publisher (Harlequin Teen).  When the editor turned it down at first with a long explanation of the many revisions it needed, it was my hubby who gave me the courage to make those revisions and resubmit Crave.  The end result was a 3 book deal, and it's all because of him and his unwavering support.  Tristan might be a pretty hot hero, but he'll never be as awesome as the real deal...my husband Tim!

"Do you have any habits or rituals that come with writing? For example music or times of day that are most productive for you?" 

When I write, I like to have a few key things...

-- I prefer to be in a closed room somewhere (part of the inspiration for Savannah's "supersonic" hearing ability is because I've always had extra sensitive ears and even the pressure changes in the air from room to room can distract me!).  I also need to be alone; otherwise I'm tempted to ask anyone who's there to give me feedback on what I've just written!

-- As a former dancer, I've always been nuts about music and really rely on it to help me mentally stay in the right mood for each scene in the story.  So before I begin to write any story's rough draft, I always start by creating a soundtrack specifically for that story.  This is why you'll always find a playlist on my websites for every story of mine that's published.

-- Since I have two young boys and a hubby who all love to be noisy, I listen to that soundtrack (set to loop for hours if necessary) on headphones to further help me focus.

-- While revisions are always done on a laptop, I prefer to write rough drafts longhand using pens and composition notebooks.  I worked for years as an editor, so when I'm on a computer it's hard for me to turn off my internal editor.  Writing longhand subconsciously tells that internal editor to "zip it for awhile already!" so my creative side can come out to play instead.

-- When both writing and revising, I've also been known to call upon the powers of Nacho Cheese Doritos, Crunch N Munch, and my new love of Snapple Peach Tea when flying through a rough draft.  I swear they're superfuel for the brain!

"What have you found to be the most exciting and the most challenging parts of the process?"

The most challenging used to be the revision stage, but now I'm growing to love this process as well.  Now the most challenging part of the process is waiting for each book's publication.  And of course the most exciting is walking into a store and discovering print copies of my books there on the shelves!

"And finally, what are you working on at the moment?"

I'll be working on the Clann Series through at least 2013, but in addition I'm also currently revising a YA magical realism/sci-fi romance called The Source as well as plotting several contemporary YA romances (all of which can be read about at www.melissadarnell.com andwww.TheClannSeries.com as they are completed and contracted).

Thank you for having me here on your blog!  Please feel free to visit my websites at www.TheClannSeries.com and www.melissadarnell.com for updates on the release of each Clann Series book, as well as to listen to each Clann Series book's playlist online, learn more about the Clann and Savannah's race of vampires, as well as to contact me anytime!


A huge thank you to Melissa for sharing with us. And check back later for my review of 'Crave'!

Review: Black Arts by Andrew Prentice & Jonathan Weil

Happy Release Day! This book is available from today, so go out and snag your copy!

A huge thank you to Harriet at Random House for sending me a copy and coaxing me past my cover aversion.

Elizabethan London: a teeming city of traders and thieves, courtiers and preachers, riff-raff and quality, cut-throats - and demons. When scrunty Jack the 'Judicious Nipper' picks the wrong pocket at the Globe Theatre, he finds himself mixed up in an altogether more dangerous London than he could have imagined - a city in which magic is real and deadly.

An outbreak of devil-worship has led to a wave of anti-witch fervor whipped up by the Elect, a mysterious group of Puritans recognizable from their red-stained right hands, led by the charismatic Nicholas Webb, a growing power at Court. Rumour has it that he wants to purge the city entirely and build a New Jerusalem. Jack has his own reason for hating him: he saw him kill his mother.

Helped by Beth Sharkwell the Thief Princess of Lambeth, Kit Morely the Intelligencer and Dr Dee the Queen's Wizard, Jack pits himself against Webb's Puritans. But this is no straightforward struggle. Things are not as they seem. In fact, ever since his encounter with Webb, there has been something wrong with Jack's vision. He keeps seeing things. Demons.

The phrase ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ should be used liberally around me. I’m terrible at it – it’s not the be all and end all on whether I’ll read the book, but it does usually form a fairly strong impression and guide me on whether I look further. Which is exactly what I did with this one. Sorry but I really, really dislike this cover. I took one look and decided I couldn’t possibly be interested. But then the lovely people at Random house started talking about the book, about the plot and the characters and the world and I grudgingly started to accept that actually yeah ok, it sounded like quite a good book. I would be a good girl, I would put my cover doubts aside and give it a shot.

And you know what? Best decision ever.

I absolutely loved this book. The prologue was a bit weird and mildly off putting (unless you’re into ritual sacrifices in which case you’ll love it…) but I carried on – three chapters then bust, that’s my motto. But I never really noticed where the three chapter mark came because I was so completely engrossed in the story.

Jack is a clever, amusing, highly intelligent pick-pocket, thief, lock picker – you name it, he could probably give it a go and rob you blind. His voice was clear and distinct and I immediately felt a connection with him. I wanted to find out what his test/interview was about. I wanted to know about this world he lived in. It was fascinating and engrossing and utterly brilliant.

Prentice and Weil are a dream team – rivalled only, in my eyes, by Sarah Rees Brennan and Justine Larbalestier who are utterly brilliant, but more on them in a later review… The writing is seamless, brilliant and so incredibly realistic for the time. There were bits I didn’t understand, language that was completely alien to me, but it was right for the time period, and where it was harder to interpret they manage to weave in a subtle hint to give modern readers a poke in the right direction. It made me feel like I was really there in London, with the muck and the smell and the poverty and the riches. Everything was so well researched, so well described, it put me down straight in the middle of Jack’s world and left me there for the next five hundred pages.

It’s a long novel, and at times I looked at it and wondered what on earth could be going to happen that it needed that much more book to get there. But it is a mark of just how good the writing is that I didn’t actually mind the length at all. Usually there’s a down period somewhere in the middle of long books where the reader’s interest isn’t held quite so attentively – not so for this book. It takes its time. It builds the world and the characters so that you really care about them when it all comes to a head. It sets everything up, slowly weaving a web and taking its time. And I loved that. I like a book that has the confidence to take its time and really sell the world and the plot to me.

And the plot… A seamless blend of realism and fantasy, of London in the Elizabethan era and a hell hole of demons and wizards. I loved the mystery of it as Jack tries to work out what on earth is going on. I love watching different character’s attitudes to the weird goings on – the hysteria that grips the city and whips it into a frenzy for the finale.

But most of all I loved Jack and Beth. Beth because she was strong, she was hard and determined and utterly fabulous. She could be anything she wanted, do anything she wanted and she was just such a fantastic character I would have read a whole book of just Beth.

And Jack because he was the heart and soul of the whole thing. A book of this length has to have a protagonist who can hold the reader, and Jack does it superbly. I loved his disbelief, his fear, his determination and pride and his selflessness when it came down to saving himself or saving others. I loved seeing how he grew from a young scared boy into a man and how the events and people shaped and changed him.

I would highly recommend this – a writing duo to watch out for as I believe this is the first book in a series… Both boys and girls will love it – it has a brilliant hero at its heart and a girl you can root for. Magic, demons, sorcery and thieves , one of the best books I’ve had the pleasure of reading this year.

Release Day Extravaganza!

So normally I do a post to celebrate the release day for each book I'm squeeing about, but today marks the release of several awesome books, so get your party hats on, and ready to buy books!

First up we have 'Timeless' by Gail Carriger
Alexia Tarabotti, Lady Maccon, has settled into domestic bliss. Of course, being Alexia, such bliss involves integrating werewolves into London High society, living in a vampire's second best closet, and coping with a precocious toddler who is prone to turning supernatural willy-nilly. Even Ivy Tunstell's acting troupe's latest play, disastrous to say the least, cannot put a damper on Alexia's enjoyment of her new London lifestyle. 
Until, that is, she receives a summons from Alexandria that cannot be ignored. With husband, child, and Tunstells in tow, Alexia boards a steamer to cross the Mediterranean. But Egypt may hold more mysteries than even the indomitable Lady Maccon can handle. What does the vampire Queen of the Alexandria Hive really want from her? Why is the God-Breaker Plague suddenly expanding? And how has Ivy Tunstell suddenly become the most popular actress in all the British Empire?


This series has been one of the very best random finds in a a bookstore EVER. Gail is a fantastic writer, with an incredibly witty sense of humour. This series has been an absolute ball to read, and I'm so sad that this is the final book in the series. But on the plus side it is guaranteed to be awesome, and now we can look forward to new projects from Gail in the future!

'The Flappers Book One: Vixen' by Jillian Larkin
Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?
 Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . . 
 Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. 


This book is fantastic, a fresh début author with a fantastic new trilogy set in the roaring twenties - I cannot recommend this book enough!

Itch by Simon Mayo
Meet Itch - an accidental, accident-prone hero. Science is his weapon. Elements are his gadgets. This is Alex Rider with Geek-Power! Itchingham Lofte - known as Itch - is fourteen, and loves science - especially chemistry. He's also an element-hunter: he's decided to collect all the elements in the periodic table. Which has some interesting and rather destructive results in his bedroom . . .Then, Itch makes a discovery. A new element, never seen before. At first no one believes him - but soon, someone hears about the strange new rock and wants it for himself. And Itch is in serious danger . . .


Another awesome début! We're being spoiled! Simon Mayo has created a fantastic character in Itch, a true science geek who gets embroiled in a fantastic adventure. Not just a book for boys, I absolutely loved this book, and my review will be up soon! In the mean time, go and check it out for yourself!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
I’m pushing aside the memory of my nightmare, 
pushing aside thoughts of Alex, 
pushing aside thoughts of Hana and my old school, 
push, 
push, 
push, 
like Raven taught me to do.
The old life is dead.
But the old Lena is dead too.
I buried her.
I left her beyond a fence,
behind a wall of smoke and flame.


The follow up to last years stunning Delirium, I cannot wait to get my mitts on this second book by Lauren Oliver. Her first one blew me away and I cannot wait to get swept up in her world of forbidden love again.


So there you have it! Happy release day to Gail Carriger, Jillian Larkin, Simon Mayo and Lauren Oliver! Some fantastic books to get the month off to a great start - they're certainly going to keep me busy at any rate!