Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Publication date: March 6th 2018
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
Pages: 531

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

I'll admit to putting off picking this one up because it was so adored when it first hit shelves that I was terrified it wouldn't live up to the hype. Not so. When I finally did start it I found myself immersed in an incredible, vivid, fantasy world.

The world building and character development is staggering, and really grounds the action and provides a solid base to build on. Quite often I become frustrated with fantasy books that have a base of prophecy to spring board the action from, but in this instance it worked incredibly well.

Adeyemi creates a truly complex world with deft strokes, drawing the reader into the story, flinging them headlong into a masterful narrative, and then keeping the pacing balanced on a knife edge. I flew through the novel. At no point does it become bogged down in exposition, instead the construction of the world is so vividly done that the story practically sings as it comes to life around you.

It's an astonishing debut. A staggeringly exciting story. It hums with life, with magic, and sweeps the reader up in the incredible story. I adored this book, and was on the edge of my seat for the climax. Now if it only it can be 2019 so I can get lost in the second book...

Review: A Thousand Perfect Notes by C G Drews

Publication date: June 7th 2018

Publisher: Orchard Books

Pages: 282

Beck hates his life. He hates his violent mother. He hates his home. Most of all, he hates the piano that his mother forces him to play hour after hour, day after day. He will never play as she did before illness ended her career and left her bitter and broken. But Beck is too scared to stand up to his mother, and tell her his true passion, which is composing his own music - because the least suggestion of rebellion on his part ends in violence.
When Beck meets August, a girl full of life, energy and laughter, love begins to awaken within him and he glimpses a way to escape his painful existence. But dare he reach for it?

Discovering one of your favourite social media bookstagrammer people is releasing their debut novel, is a bit like Christmas. But with more cake. I've followed Cait on her blog, twitter and instagram (go find her @paperfury) for some time, and her humour has always been absolutely glorious. So going into this novel I was expecting a lot. NO PRESSURE OR ANYTHING!

Luckily though, Cait's debut novel not only lived up to all my many expectations, it exceeded them thoroughly.

This is a stunningly beautiful debut novel. It's dark and beautiful, with moments of sharp humour and gut wrenching emotional punches. Her writing has a lyrical quality that weaves its spellbinding web around you, and then tightens throughout the story until at the climax I was feverishly ripping through the pages to find out how it would all end.

The characters are complex and fascinating to unravel. Beck's mother is a particular delight (read: dark and horrible but also incredibly nuanced and complex so you end up feeling super conflicted!) and I adored Joey and the relationship between her and Beck. A* for glorious sibling relationships.

This is an incredible debut, that shows a truly formidable talent at the start of what is sure to be an incredible journey. If this is the quality we get on Cait's first published work, I cannot wait to see what she gifts us with next. 

Top Ten Debut Authors Whose Second Books I Need Right This Second

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely folks over at 'The Broke & The Bookish' to join in simply follow the link!

There have been some truly incredible debut novels come into my little grabby hands that have made me pine deliriously for the authors to give me more of their words to consume. Listed below are eight authors whose second novels I cannot wait to read, and two authors whose debut trilogies have made me desperate to get hold of whatever they deign to gift me with next. 


Erin Morgenstern
Debut Novel: The Night Circus
It's been several years since this stunning novel hit our shelves and I'm still not over it. Some people weren't won over by the lyrical prose and slow paced story but I was swept away. I'm curious to see how Erin's writing style translates away from the Circus, and I cannot wait for her second novel.

Melissa Grey
Debut Novel: The Girl at Midnight
Midnight was a stunning debut, full of magic, mystery, romance and humour. I loved Melissa's writing style, her engaging characters and fascinating plot and I cannot wait to dive into the second book in the series when it releases next year.

Sabaa Tahir
Debut Novel: An Ember in the Ashes
Yes ok there were plot holes and problems galore if you started staring too hard at this novel, and some very valid concerns/problems raised by other reviewers, but the fact remains that I really loved this debut novel. It was exactly the book I needed when I needed it, full of fantasy, darkness, and a brutal world. It also left me desperate to get my hands on the sequel, partly for more and partly to see how some of the issues in the original are resolved.

Helen Maslin
Debut Novel: Darkmere
I'm not one for scary stories, so this novel was a departure for me but I am so glad that I followed my instinct on this one. Deliciously creepy, filled with unexpected twists and turns and compelling and engaging characters, I was sucked in completely. Helen has an incredible way with words, making me swoon and fall in love and then shriek in terror and have to put the book in the freezer a few chapters later. Any author who can skillfully elicit such emotions from the reader is one to watch, but from a debut it is doubly impressive.

Sarah Benwell
Debut Novel: The Last Leaves Falling
One of the strongest debuts I've ever read, Sarah's novel was heart breaking and filled with hope, strength and determination. A novel that defied conventions and moulds, this was a truly incredible and powerful story that swept me up and carried me away into Sora's world. Sarah has a natural talent for drawing out emotions in her readers and infusing her tale with humanity and feeling. I was crying by half way through and full on sobbing by the end of the story. It is one that has stayed with me throughout the year, one I return to repeatedly. With her determination not to be caged by expectations and to tell untold and overlooked stories, I am incredibly excited to see what story Sarah offers us next.

Lauren James
Debut Novel: The Next Together
A unique and fascinating story, I was captivated by Lauren's debut and the characters she created. I fell into the incredible lives and different versions of these characters and loved how each story interwove to create one beautiful book. I cannot wait to see both where the story goes and what she goes on to write next - with an imagination like that it's bound to be exciting!


Marieke Nijkamp
Debut Novel: This is Where it Ends
This debut doesn't hit shelves until January 2016 but oh boy is it incredible. I read This is Where it Ends in one gut wrenching and emotional sitting, and was left feeling hollow, drained and utterly wrecked by the sheer brilliance of Marieke's writing and the compelling story she'd written. If that is the state of me after reading her debut novel, what will I be like after her second? I cannot wait to find out.

Moira Fowley-Doyle
Debut Novel: The Accident Season
This book was divine. A slippery, magical book filled with secrets hidden and folded between the pages, I fell for this debut hard. It reminded me of Stiefvater's writing (definitely a good thing) but filled with its own unique wonder and darkness. It's one of the best novels I've read this year, a gorgeous debut and a brilliant portent of things to come from Moira. I cannot wait to see what she gifts us with next.


Plus two authors whose debut trilogies have made me stupidly excited for whatever they write next...

A. C. Gaughen
Debut Trilogy: Scarlet/Lady Thief/Lion Heart
This trilogy guys, be still my heart. I connected and fell in love with the Robin Hood tale in a way I never had before. I adore Scarlet, and Gaughen's writing is incredible. Scar is such a human, fallible and real heroine and I wanted to sweep her up and protect her. But she's also so brave, so determined and so committed to doing the right thing - she's one of my favourite heroines. This trilogy is a firm favourite, one I love re-visiting and I am so excited to see what she decides to write next.

Kristin Cashore
Debut Trilogy: Graceling/Fire/Bitterblue
When I read Graceling for the first time I wasn't that fussed. I put the book back on my shelf and forgot about it until Bitterblue was about to release and I figured I should re-read it and then catch up on Fire in preparation. I wasn't prepared for how much I ended up loving this series - proof that sometimes if you read a book at the wrong moment you end up disliking one that later becomes a favourite. Now I can't imagine not reading and loving this series (I listen to the audiobooks on a very frequent basis) and I cannot wait to see what Kristin releases next. It's going to be a wrench leaving the Seven Kingdoms, but if it's written by Kristin then I cannot wait to see where she takes me next.

So there you have ten authors whose debut outings were enough to make me squee, swoon and shriek with delight/terror. I adored their work and I cannot wait to see what delightful books they gift us with next.
Over to you - have you read any of these and do you agree with me? Or are there any authors you think I've overlooked? Let me know and link me to your own top tens in the comments below!

Review: Darkmere by Helen Maslin

Publication Date: August 6^th 2015
Publisher: Chicken House
Length: 368 pages

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

A castle. A curse. A dangerous summer. Leo has invited Kate and a few friends to spend the summer at his inheritance, Darkmere Castle: as wild and remote as it is beautiful. Kate thinks it will be the perfect place for her and Leo to get together - but instead, she's drawn into the dark story of a young nineteenth-century bride who haunts the tunnels and towers of the house. And whose curse now hangs over them all.

This book was delightfully creepy, and in some places downright terrifying. Seriously, I had to take Joey’s advice and put it in the freezer and take a time out at one point. (If you do not get that reference go and watch Friends, now.) (If you don’t believe me there is photographic evidence…)

I do not normally read scary books, I am a non-scary things kinda person. Don’t do horror films, don’t do scary books – so this was quite a departure for me, but it was so good that it was totally worth the nightmares. (Also true, ask my husband, I was jabbering about there being ghosts and creepy things in the house trying to kill me…)

It’s a dual narrative, one point of view with Kate who’s a very modern girl out for a summer adventure with a band of people from school including the enigmatic Leo who has just inherited this supposedly cursed castle. Then there’s Elinor, the original St Cloud bride, who finds herself trapped in an increasingly desperate and frightening situation. I found myself caring equally for both girls by the end, although during the story I would find myself favouring one over the other purely as the narrative fluxed over each high tension point and then relaxed again. I loved watching the two girls stories flesh out, seeing how they intertwined and watching events snowball out of control as all the pieces came crashing together for a truly nail biting climax.

This is a book that isn’t afraid to go all out and scare the pants off you. Some books will shy away from committing when there are ghostly elements involved, wanting to keep you guessing, but Helen decides firmly on her stance with this book and then brings out the big guns to weave an underlying tension that grows and tightens throughout, but also peaks into some truly chilling scenes along the way.

It’s an intriguing mix of characters, and I loved how you start out with a certain set of stereotypes in the modern thread, but those are gradually picked apart and evolve into three dimensional people. Every person starts out as the front they offer to the world, and I loved watching the castle, the isolation and the atmosphere chip away at each of them so that what you’re left with at the end are some very different people to those you thought were embarking on this summer holiday. Most notable is Kate, and I loved watching her start to embrace who she is, to come to terms with aspects of herself, and to start to break down some walls.

This is a fantastic book, a terrifying and brilliant debut from Helen, and I cannot wait to see what she writes next!

Review: The Wrath & The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

Publication Date: May 12^th 2015
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Length: 388 pages

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi's wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch… she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.
She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

I had heard so many amazing things about this book before I started, and they were all absolutely true. This book was fantastic – certainly one of the best books I’ve read this year.

The writing is gorgeous, this is a masterclass in world-building and stunning prose. I fell in love with the writing from the first page and tried to draw out my time reading over as many days as possible to prolong my time spent between these pages. It is quiet and dreamy, dramatic and full of fire, filled with gorgeous moments and descriptions as Ahdieh brings to life this story filled with exquisite depths.

At its heart is Shazi, a fiery, flawed and intelligent heroine. I couldn’t help but love her, to feel for her as she tries to reconcile the warring parts of her heart. The guilt and love and hurt all lingering and twisting into this complex thing. She is a wonderful heroine to persuade the reader to invest in the story, to draw them into her vibrant and determined world as she attempts to stay alive and unravel the mystery.

I loved the relationships interwoven in the narrative, Despina and Shazi, Shazi and Khalid, Kahlid and Jalal. They are complex and raw and filled with desperation and love as well as lighter moments and humour. Despina particularly infuses all of her scenes with a much needed lightness and I adored the friendship that grows between the two girls independent of any love interests.

The world-building is fantastic. I felt as though I were there, everything from the clothes to the food to the silk cushions and curtains, the dawn light gilding the blades of grass and the perfect heady perfume of the roses. The novel is laid out in glorious detail, a feast for the senses.

One thing guaranteed to make me fall head over heels in love with a book is when things aren’t spelled out piecemeal to the reader. If the book is set in a particular culture with characters that have grown up with names and customs and sayings then it’s completely ridiculous for the narrative to pause whilst whatever it is is being explained to the reader so they can keep up. So when "The Wrath & the Dawn” gave me a glossary at the back of the book and expected me to keep up with the terminology, I practically swooned. It’s details like that that make the book such an immersive experience to read. I felt as though I were there, the descriptions were so vivid, the emotions so strong, the characters so life like.

The only element of this book that I really didn’t get along with was Tariq, he and I just didn’t hit it off. His scenes felt as though they slowed the rest of the story down and I resented any time away from Shazi – hardly surprising when you’ve got such a wonderful heroine as she. Add to that that he basically cannot explain why he needs to save her, that he feels that it’s wrong that she should do what she wants, that what she wants is wrong, and he was really getting on my bad side. He came across as possessive and naïve and irritating. I never felt a connection between him and Shazi, and his possessiveness really rankled. Yet despite my irritations with Tariq, this book is still incredible and gets a full five stars. It is a stunning book and a beautiful and fresh look at the tale of 1001 nights. If you’re after a sumptuously brilliant fantasy novel filled with gorgeous prose and incredible characters, what are you waiting for? Go and read this one now!

Review: An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Publication Date: June 4^th 2015
Publisher: Harper Collins
Length: 446 pages

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

Laia is a slave. Elias is a soldier. Neither is free.
Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.
It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.
But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.
There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

One of the most perfect books to find as a reader is one that sweeps you away. That immerses you so fully that you live and breathe the story. You laugh and weep with the characters and rage on their behalf as you tear through the pages, desperate to see how it ends.
This is one of those books.

I loved Elias and Laia for very different reasons. Elias’ chapters are packed with action and fraught with the dangers and horrors of the trials and Blackcliff. As a result some people will lean more towards favouring his chapters as they push the story along at a breath taking pace and catch you easily in his twisted world and the terrible decisions he must constantly face.
However Laia holds her own, just in a much quieter way. She is no hero, no super spy, no assassin trained for vengeance. She is just a girl who has lost too much and desperately craves safety and comfort. She is terrified and wants to run away from the danger. This is no chosen one, no lioness rampant. And yet. Her character growth and arc are incredible. She comes to terms with the life she has been forced into, she tries desperately to find her way through this impossible situation and as a result you feel for her. You want to protect her and help her. You cheer for her as she gradually finds her courage and pieces it together to form something she can use. Yes her chapters are quieter, the action less dizzying, but they are still fraught and full of fear and you come to know her character better in those stolen moments of fear in the darkness better than you could in any other situation.

I also loved the characters surrounding them, even those I loathed and feared. Fierce and wonderful Helene, Izzi and Cook – I loved these strong and clever woman, all fighting for the things they love and believe in. The female friendships in this book were a breath of fresh air, and I found them so compelling to read.

The world building was also incredibly strong. There was just the right amount of information, with enough gaps and holes to be filled in in later books. You got the feeling that this was only a small slice of the world. Admittedly an incredibly brutal one, but still only a piece. Because Laia and Elias are so enmeshed in this piece of the world it makes complete sense that we only see this, but I loved the whispers of a world outside of the corner we are shown, of the other places we might see. It made it clear that this is not a small world, that there are larger pieces at stake than just this, but that this part of the world is important, vital even to these two particularly. It was a brutal world, filled with horror and bloodshed, but whilst it was overwhelming it points it never felt ridiculous. 

Everything felt like it had roots in our own worlds history, whilst then subverting and twisting it and adding in some dark fantastical elements. You get the sense that there is something inherently wrong, a darkness, a tipping balance that has reached the crucial point. It leaves the reader feeling a sense of wrongness, a prickling that all is now ok, a tension that is reaching the breaking point. We never find out the true picture and scale of what that is, but I love this slow build. It is a novel that takes its time whilst never dragging at all. It is brutal and non-stop, but it left me desperately wanting more – more of the characters, more of this world and answers, above all, answers. Not as with some novels, out of frustration and irritation, but simply because I have been pulled so thoroughly into this world and I want to know everything.

This novel was fantastic. A beautiful and horrifying start to what is sure to be an incredible series. It’s very dark, very twisted, but filled with gorgeous prose, electrifying action and complex characters. I loved it.

Catch up with the Harper Collins 'An Ember in the Ashes' tag #FantasyIRL in the first of two videos I'm doing for Bookish Brits here

Review: The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

Publication Date: 28^th April 2015
Publisher: Atom
Length: 361 pages

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

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.
Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.
Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.
But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

I have heard a huge amount of buzz for this book since January, so when it came up on Netgalley I jumped at the chance to read it. After all, that blurb just screams read me and it had me intrigued in all the right ways. Let’s start with the superficial – that blurb and that cover. (Both the US and UK covers are gorgeous for this one.) Admittedly some of the most gorgeous covers hide terrible books, but this one lived up to all the promise the exterior provides. And then some.

This is a stunning debut novel from Grey, weaving a fast paced and brilliant story with a fantastic heroine at its heart. I fell in love with Echo; her sass, her vulnerability, her determination, and her independence. I felt a fierce need to love and protect her that I haven’t felt since reading ‘Scarlet’ by A. C. Gaughen.

The writing is beautiful. At times quiet and haunting and others fast paced and filled with wit. The dialogue is fantastic and the way the characters banter with each other is brilliant. I felt like I was sitting eating pastries with old friends and drinking tea – there is a feeling of being allowed into an exclusive gang of awesome people and I loved watching Rowan, Echo and Ivy interact with each other.

The romances were deftly handled. There is a tendency to sigh and roll your eyes when you see another eons old being falling for a teenage girl, but whilst that frustrates me in most books I felt that here it was handled well. I believed the attraction and the feelings and I got goosebumps right along with Echo. There are also some intriguing secondary romances which I cheered about and am eagerly waiting to see how they unfold in the second book.

There are comparisons that can be made to any number of YA novels, but particularly the ‘Daughter of Smoke & Bone’ trilogy by Laini Taylor. However Grey takes those similarities and puts her own mark on the story and makes it entirely her own. If you went down a checklist and marked them off then they would sound similar in some ways, but I really recommend reading the book before passing judgement. I adored Taylor’s series and I adore Grey’s – there is no either or, and it is definitely not so similar as to be frustrating. I saw a couple of the twists coming, but then Grey puts her own spin on it and suddenly you’re back in unfamiliar territory and I love being surprised by a book.

This is an incredible debut. It more than deserves all the attention it has garnered so far and I cannot wait to see it take off fully when it is released at the end of the month. It is a beautiful story full of action and daring, fights and romance, and beautiful quiet moments that force you to slow down and appreciate the still hush of the breath before the plunge. I adored it and I cannot recommend it enough.

Review: The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

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

Ceony Twill arrives at the cottage of Magician Emery Thane with a broken heart. Having graduated at the top of her class from the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined, Ceony is assigned an apprenticeship in paper magic despite her dreams of bespelling metal. And once she’s bonded to paper, that will be her only magic… forever.
Yet the spells Ceony learns under the strange yet kind Thane turn out to be more marvelous than she could have ever imagined — animating paper creatures, bringing stories to life via ghostly images, even reading fortunes. But as she discovers these wonders, Ceony also learns of the extraordinary dangers of forbidden magic.
An Excisioner — a practitioner of dark, flesh magic — invades the cottage and rips Thane’s heart from his chest. To save her teacher’s life, Ceony must face the evil magician and embark on an unbelievable adventure that will take her into the chambers of Thane’s still-beating heart—and reveal the very soul of the man.

I thought I was going to get one kind of novel and then it turned into something quite unexpected. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just took me a while to shift gears and get into the new part of the story. The premise is fantastic and I loved the idea and the different types of magic – I could have quite happily read a book entirely about that. However getting to know Thane through the exploration of his heart was an intriguing twist, and once I became used to it, one I quite liked.

I loved the characters, I loved the world, the whole imagination and the thought process behind the magics was brilliant. It was a quick novel that gave me an insight into this reality and left me wanting to go back for more. I’m looking forward to seeing and exploring more of Ceony's London in the next book as so much of this book was taken up with the exploration of Thane’s heart. The exploration was fascinating and really gave me a chance to get to know him as a character and also made Ceony’s attraction to him much more believable, but it did also contain the story into a very rigid set of parameters, and I really want to branch out and see more of this reality and the different types of magic and what they can do.

It was full of such wonderful little pieces of delight and magic. I loved Fennel. I loved the quiet space that Thane had created in the cottage. I loved the little glimpses of paper magic and what it could do. This was a quiet, understated novel that left me intrigued and wanting more.

However there are gripes and for this they are twofold. The first was the outburst where Ceony told one of the versions of Thane all the dark and terrible things she’d done. It felt forced and like it didn’t fit, not only with the character that we had come to know, but also with the story. It just felt completely random and like there was no reasoning behind it except to try and make Thane listen. It will be interesting to see if there is any payoff or expansion of this thread in the next book though.

The second is the language and slang. I am so incredibly picky about historical books being accurate. If you’re going to set them in a specific time period then I want them to speak appropriately to the time and country and it peeves me to high heaven when Americanisms creep into a book that is set in England. I am willing to be slightly lax in my standards because of the twists to the setting with the magic. If the magic has altered some elements of life then it may have altered slang too, you never know, however that only goes so far before I am ready to combust from the irritation of slang and Americanisms in a turn of the century English set book.

This is a book for fans of ‘The Night Circus’ with the same lyrical and whimsical feel that leaves you with not a vast amount of plot, but a whole world full of magic and wonder. Defintely one to have a cup of tea and an afternoon of reading with! And keep an eye out for the next two books in the trilogy!

Review: The Conspiracy of Us by Maggie Hall

Be warned for mild spoilers

Avery West's newfound family can shut down Prada when they want to shop in peace, and can just as easily order a bombing when they want to start a war. Part of a powerful and dangerous secret society called the Circle, they believe Avery is the key to an ancient prophecy. Some want to use her as a pawn. Some want her dead.
To unravel the mystery putting her life in danger, Avery must follow a trail of clues from the monuments of Paris to the back alleys of Istanbul with two boys who work for the Circle—beautiful, volatile Stellan and mysterious, magnetic Jack. But as the clues expose a stunning conspiracy that might plunge the world into World War 3, she discovers that both boys are hiding secrets of their own. Now she will have to choose not only between freedom and family--but between the boy who might help her save the world, and the one she's falling in love with.

I wanted to like this book, it had such a great cover and blurb and really sounded like it could be something quite exciting. It was being compared to ‘The DaVinci Code’ (which, shush, don’t tell anyone but I kinda enjoyed…) and had a wonderful array of masked balls, international travel and conspiracies. Plus a gorgeous cover. I couldn’t wait to read it.

I’m wondering now I’m on the other side whether it was just the wrong time for me to read it, because sometimes I come back and re-read a book I disliked and really enjoy it the second time around. However, this time it really wasn’t my cup of tea.

There were so many illogical choices and moments, starting with Avery deciding to run off with absolute strangers out of the blue because they said they knew her family (always trust random strangers kids!) and continuing right through wearing her contact lenses for three/four days straight, to hey you have to get married even though you’re not willing and it’s not legal without permission from your parent or guardian!

I know that it was supposed to be a young adult book and therefore we need characters who fit into that age bracket, but the idea that these big powerful secret society families would employ sixteen year olds to organise security/kill people/tote guns around seemed completely ridiculous. If the characters had been aged up to 18 – 20 then a lot of the issues would have been dealt with. As it was it was just irritating.

The other big issue for me was that it really wasn’t compelling. Given the high stakes, the racing around trying not to be murdered, you would think that I would have been racing through the pages to find out what happened, but instead I had to really push myself to keep reading. I was bored. It was a quick read, and once I sat down and got on with it I was through it very quickly, but there wasn’t any hook to keep me interested.

I also wasn’t convinced by the hints of the love triangle, or the romance involved. It just felt a bit flat and forced, but I think that was a spill over of my feelings about the rest of the book. However that could have also been a reflection on the characters as none of them seemed to have anything to them apart from Stellan. The dialogue was awkward and insisted on incorporating pet names in French as though to remind the reader where they were from, and no one was really developed beyond the basic character stereotypes.

It may be one I come back to again at a later point – it’s the start of a series so maybe there will be some development in a later book, but for now I really wasn’t fussed and it left me feeling decidedly non-plussed when I reached the final ‘twist’. 

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