Wednesday 26 June 2013

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY #1

So this is my first Waiting on Wednesday and this week I am looking forwards to receiving Fathomless! For those of you who dont know, Fathomless is book 3 in Jackson A. Pearce's amazing Fairytale retellings series and I adore this series so much. ANYway, Fathomless is book 3 and I am dying for it!


Sypnosis: Celia Reynolds is the youngest in a set of triplets and the one with the least valuable power. Anne can see the future, and Jane can see the present, but all Celia can see is the past. And the past seems so insignificant - until Celia meets Lo. Lo doesn't know who she is. Or who she was. Once a human, she is now almost entirely a creature of the sea - a nymph, an ocean girl, a mermaid - all terms too pretty for the soul-less monster she knows she's becoming. Lo clings to shreds of her former self, fighting to remember her past, even as she's tempted to embrace her dark immortality. When a handsome boy named Jude falls off a pier and into the ocean, Celia and Lo work together to rescue him from the waves. The two form a friendship, but soon they find themselves competing for Jude's affection. Lo wants more than that, though. According to the ocean girls, there's only one way for Lo to earn back her humanity. She must persuade a mortal to love her...and steal his soul.

Why am I crazy desperate in need of this book? Here's why; Pearce has this amazing world and all these beautiful tales we've been told as children have been completely remade. Also this series came out in sync with the whole Red Riding hood and Snow white and the huntsman time so they got a massive backing from those fairy tale retellings and and the retellings are still going with jack the giant killer and hansel and Gretel with hunters. I've always liked the idea of taking what people know and giving it a spin but this is more than that and this is why I must have this book. I think this one is a retelling of the Little mermaid and I'm so excited, because if you actually read the original grims fairy tales there actually a lot different to the tales were' told as kids and actually a lot more gruesome. Also *mutters rest under breath hoping no one hears* this fairy tales retelling series have werewolves playing a pretty main role in them.. so yeah, I'm raving for this book and if you haven't read this series you really should give it a go!

Tuesday 25 June 2013

THE BONE SEASON - SAMANTHA SHANNON - REVIEW

Book: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 9781408836422
Rating: A

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die. The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Phenomenal.

I got the email about this book and even though it was New Adult I knew I had to read it. The story idea itself had me gripped and just reading some of the glowing praises left me hungry for this. I admit when It popped though the letterbox I was a teeny bit daunted by the size of it but I do not regret reading it. It's such a quick, amazing novel you'll barely notice time fly by as you're sucked into Shannon's stunning world.

The plot of this is so unique and such a killer story that not once will you be bored. We follow Paige Mahoney, through a dystopian world in which Clairvoyants exist in society and are shunned. She find out she is a Clairvoyant, but unlike typical YA she's known for a while. anyway she get's taken to a place called Sheol - not going to talk about this part because there are too many spoilers - and she falls in love {though romance plays a pretty low key in this) and they uprise and leave you on a cliffhanger, thirsty for book 2. What I loved about this is whilst maintaining the main theme of Fantasy, the novel wove in some many other genre's like Romance, Dystopia and even a little Sci-fi.
The plot really was unique. The whole story covered everything you want to know and although it's a series It hast left me with any major unexplained questions apart from what happens next. The whole story flowed extremely nicely and all made sense, and like I said it contained all the memories and thoughts you needed for all the answers to explained, whilst still keeping you interested. The separate parts of the story were seamlessly interwoven and every chapter has so much actions and mystery there wasn't a day that went by when I wouldn't stay up to read this.

The setting of this was quite unusual. The inner cities I've found fairly normal as far as future Dystopian cities go but Sheol, the main fantasy location - and where the majority of the novel was based - was built up on an already existing places so it was interesting to see how Oxford was transformed into this new eccentric and fantastical setting. even iconic location like Port Meadow were completely redesigned and I think the use of current locations with twists really helps to build up he we see the settings because we already have a basic idea of what the lace should look like.
Beyond that though I think it's fait to Say Shannon has mastered the art of World Building. This way she creates the new world, the way the whole style of the Sheol builds up is perfection. I liked how instead of taking key design features from time periods Shannon created her own and her new world was truly her own. Every idea and concept was perfectly drawn from Shannon's imagination and pushed into ours and it just worked perfectly.

The writing of this was on a whole other level. I'm not sure I can even quite describe it. Whilst keeping very neutral and very balanced it still had that certain type of personality that marked it as Shannon's. Shannon s definitely a very skilled writer and looking at her background - she studied English Language at Oxford - I wouldn't expect any less. The writing was a pleasure to read. The words were well crafted and the story flowed, one chapter leading on from another. She used the perfect words in both description and dialogue and the way the images and scenes built in my mind were just glorious. This whole novel is just dripping with talent.

The Characters. Well what makes this interesting in it's own way is that within the set of characters there were different species, and yet again Shannon has managed another amazing feat in this novel. She has successfully and believably created her special (Rephaim) and created them in such a way there is nothing to question. One things I loved about this book is that although there was a lot of supernatural elements these elements were all explained and had reason which made them more real to me. More real than a book where the author says there is no explanation, it's magic because it is. Another interesting aspect of this was that although there were only a small set of main characters is that the set of main characters changed as the novel progressed, always with Paige at the front though.
The characters were all explained, history and all revealed, though I still feel like Shannon will hit us with more surprises and new secrets in book 2. The characters were formed well in our minds and the emotional connection were there but like with any book 2 I think we'll see everyone's true colours in the sequel which is something I'm raring for.

So this is one of those book that there are so many words to describe it with but even then they're not enough. Because quite honestly The Bone Season left me speechless.

Phenomenal.

Monday 24 June 2013

ANGELFALL - GIVEAWAY

So I am running a giveaway of AngelFall by Susan Ee! It's an amazing book and you can enter to win 2 copies below, where there is a entry form and sypnosis. All you have to do, to win, is read the sypnosis below and answer the question on the entry form. After you've answered the main question you can unlock extra entries. UK Entries Only.

Sypnosis:  It's been six weeks since the angels of the apocalypse destroyed the world as we know it. Only pockets of humanity remain. Savage street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When angels fly away with a helpless girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back... Angelfall is a fiercely compelling debut that tells the addictive story of Penryn, fighting for her and her sister's lives after angels of the apocalypse destroy the world as we know it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions
• Competition will close on 06/30/2013
• Open to UK participants only
• Prize for the main winner is a copy of Angelfall
• In the unlikely event the prize style has discontinued a similar model to the same value will be provided
• There is no cash or other alternative to the prize stated and the prize is not transferable and no part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.
• Winners will be picked at random and contacted by the site. The prize will be delivered to the winner within 28 days of confirmation of delivery address.
• Winners name, contact number and address will be passed to a third party provider for delivery.
• The Editor's decision is final and binding on the entrants. No correspondence will be entered into.

Monday 17 June 2013

HEART SHAPED - SIOBHAN PARKINSON - REVIEW

Book: Heart Shaped
Author: Siobhan Parkinson
Publisher: Hodder Childrens
ISBN: 9781444903607
Rating: C

Written with sensitivity, humour and a lightness of touch, HEART-SHAPED is a companion to Siobhan Parkinson's highly-acclaimed novel, BRUISED - for fans of Meg Rosoff, Aidan Chambers and David Levithan. Annie makes a startling discovery one day - and everything changes. She fears for the safety of her boyfriend Jonno, who has vanished, knowing he is in desperate trouble. Feeling alone, she clings to her dad, her only parent, but he can't fill in all the gaps in the puzzle that is Annie's life. Nor can her best friend. To do that, Annie has to look into her past and understand who her mother was, what happened to her and why. So the truth behind Jonno's disappearance - which is the story in BRUISED - becomes a mirror for what's happening in Annie's own life. The reader is desperate for him to come back, so that Annie can fully fit the pieces of her existence back together.

Heart Shaped. The title instantly reminded me of Heart Shaped Bruise so naturally I was on the look out for any similarities between the books and whilst there were many difference I did seem to find one major; whether I was looking to hard or not, a lot of this book is Annie telling her head doctor her story... which is nearly identical to what happened in Heart Shaped Bruise. However that's beside the point. Overall it was a good story, well written and evoking a lot of emotion, but it just wasn't for me. I felt that even though it was a very small book some parts dragged a little and I'm not saying this is a bad book; it's really not, I'm just sort of showing the negatives I found before moving onto the positives.

For starters this is one of those books that although sad it's rather positive and keeps you feeling good inside. The story was fairly simple as far as it went and had a mix of sub genres focusing around one genre. I like the use of death but in a way that it wasn't so much a negative things in this. I mean the story really touched on parental death for youngsters and what would happen and I really feel like Parkinson hit the nail on the head with portraying that and the emotions of how they would all feel.

The writing was nice. Annie had a very distinct voice and although some characters seemed to blend in my mind Annie stayed strong and clear as the main characters. Her narrative was good and I liked the way the book was a little more mentally focused, because if someone close has died you going to mentally close in a little more and talk less and I like how we glimpsed into Annie's mind a lot.

I have mixed opinions on the characters. Although some were a little samey I felt as though each one was likeable and well formed with enough information to make them real in my mind. I just felt like sometimes characters would drop out for a while and then reappear for a long time before disappearing again. However the main characters did have distinctive voices that held me tight and I definitely wanted to know Annies story from when she first started to talk.

Overall I though the book was a little confusing but once you reach that ending it all makes sense and quite honestly: this book will leaving feeling warm inside.


Friday 14 June 2013

HEART SHAPED BRUISE - TANYA BYRNE - REVIEW

Book: Heart Shaped Bruise
Author: Tanya Byrne
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 9780755393053
Rating: A

A compelling, brutal and heart-breaking story about identity, infamy and revenge, from debut author Tanya Byrne. Shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger 2012 They say I'm evil. The police. The newspapers. The girls from school who sigh on the six o'clock news and say they always knew there was something not quite right about me. And everyone believes it. Including you. But you don't know. You don't know who I used to be. Who I could have been. Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever shake off my mistakes or if I'll just carry them around with me forever like a bunch of red balloons Awaiting trial at Archway Young Offenders Institution, Emily Koll is going to tell her side of the story for the first time. Heart-Shaped Bruise is a compulsive and moving novel about infamy, identity and how far a person might go to seek revenge.

Well... Tanya Byrne is one of those authors that I've just heard so much about and about a week back I finally got round to reading Heart Shaped Bruise and I loved it. I guess it really took push for me to pick up and start the book, because It's not something I would normally pick up, but I'm so glad I did. I love finding a book so beautiful that I thought I wouldn't like and the satisfaction of that is incredible. In fact I think I would go as far as saying I honestly think, whether this appeals or not, anyone could pick this up and enjoy it, thoroughly.

The plot is really different and interesting and I'm always looking out for different plots or in this case, the ways of telling the stories. When unique storytelling is mentioned Stolen by Lucy Christopher springs to mind but this will definitely be added to the list, because the whole story was told through Emily Koll who is actually telling us the story by both, telling her doctor and writing a notebook, though it's rather weird because essentially the whole thing is a notebook. The plot itself is very clever. Byrne has shown her skill in this novel and the clever and witty way in which this book has been crafted really boasts Byrne's talent for writing.

The writing in this was quite informal but definitely worked in the context. In fact however casual, the writing was laced with talent, because Byrne managed to give vivd emotions and descriptions and tell a stunning story whilst keeping the writing as though a 18 year old girl was writing in a notebook rather than going full novel on the book. Even so the descriptions built up images in you mind and forced emotions that would leave you reading till midnight.

The characters were the main focus of this novel. There was no backstory or subplot. No distraction, the main characters spun this story and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were minimal and so each and everyone came across quickly and you soon knew who you liked and who you didn't. What I loved about Byrne's use of emotions in characters is the struggle between hating someone for what they have done and yet wanting to forgive because you have unintentionally befriended them. The characters really showed their true colours in this novel and Byrnes mastered the complexity of a 18 year olds mind perfectly.

Overall I really did like this novel. It provided suspense, thrill and evoked every emotion known. The book was stunning, beautiful and left me speechless. A gorgeous debut.