Tag: 5 stars

Upside-Down Magic #1: Upside-Down Magic – Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle & Emily Jenkins

Nory is ten and desperately wants to pass the Big Test to gain entry to the elite Sage Academy where her father, Dr Horace, is the principal. Her brother, Hawthorn, who is sixteen and a Flare, and her sister, Dalia, who is thirteen and a Fuzzy, both attend Sage. The problem is that Nory’s magic goes wonky. When she tries to turn into a cute black kitten she does, sort of. Except her kitten becomes a bitten; half kitten, half beaver, and the beaver part of her wants nothing more than to chew wood and build a dam.

After failing the entrance exam to Sage, Nory winds up being sent to live with her Aunt Margo, who’s practically a stranger, so she can attend the Upside-Down Magic class at Dunwiddle Magic School and Nory’s not happy about it at all. All she wants to do is fix her magic so she can be normal.

In this world of magic there are the five F’s:

  • Flares, who can do fire magic
  • Fuzzies, who do animal magic
  • Flickers, who can make themselves or objects invisible
  • Flyers are usually only able to fly themselves, but special flyers, like Aunt Margo, can take passengers
  • Fluxers can transform into animals. “Thinking about opposites is a great place to start understanding unusual magic.” Ms. Starr’s Upside-Down Magic class is being offered for the first time and Nory and her fellow misfits are the outcasts in the school. In Ms. Starr’s class Nory and her classmates learn to trust, forgive and manage their emotions. Hopefully they can also learn that being different means that their abilities are special, not something to be ashamed of.

Nory’s classmates have some really interesting abilities. Elliott is a Flare but his fire magic can turn into ice. Andres floated up to the ceiling one day and hasn’t come down since, so he’s afraid of wide-open spaces. Pepper is a Fierce, an Upside-Down Fuzzy, who terrifies animals including Fluxers. Pepper is afraid of snakes. Sebastian is a Flicker who sees sound waves. Marigold shrinks things and is also described as having a hearing aid. Willa is a Flare who makes it rain indoors. Willa is afraid of worms. Bax turns into a rock and needs medicine to change back. Naturally he’s afraid of sledgehammers. We don’t know what Ms. Starr’s ability is yet, but we know she’s afraid of heights.

This is a feel good story that made me smile and I feel better about the world now. I love stories about outcasts who learn that fitting in doesn’t have to be the goal and that being different should be celebrated. I read this book a couple of years ago and enjoyed the reread even more. I love this Upside-Down class and can’t wait to read about their accidents and triumphs in the rest of the series.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Nory Horace is nine years old. She’s resourceful, she’s brave, she likes peanut butter cookies. Also, she’s able to transform into many different animals. Unfortunately, Nory’s shape-shifting talent is a bit wonky. And when she flunks out of her own father’s magic academy, Nory’s forced to enter public school, where she meets a group of kids whose magic is, well, different.

This new, offbeat series from hit authors Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins chronicles the misadventures of Nory and her oddball friends, who prove that upside-down magic definitely beats right side up.

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Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones – Micah Dean Hicks

He was different, so people thought anything they did to him was okay.

This was one of the strangest books I’ve ever loved.

Swine Hill is a haunted town, where the dead outnumber the living. Downtown is overrun by ghosts and the main employer is the Pig City meat packing plant.

Most of the people Jane went to school with escaped as soon as they could to start over, but she’s stuck in a dead end job in this dying town. She can’t imagine leaving her parents, younger brother or the ghost girl who’s been attached to her since she was a child.

Nothing will ever be the same for the living or the dead of Swine Hill when newcomers start working at Pig City.

This was a dark book, with so much loss, grief and violence experienced by the living and the dead, yet there’s also a thread of light that runs through it (quite literally at times), of hope and love. The best and worst of what it means to be human are represented here.

While I found each haunting interesting and consistently wanted to know more, I connected intellectually, not emotionally, with the majority of the characters. The person I really connected with was a pig boy called Dennis, who was more human than most of the characters who were born that way. His innocence, enthusiasm and ability to see beauty wherever he looked made me adore him. The world would be a much better place if we could all see it through Dennis’ eyes.

Besides the awesomeness that is Dennis, there’s also a girl who cannot lose, a mad scientist who makes the impossible out of junk, a woman who burns and a boy who freezes, a robot in love, an alien, alternate realities, and let’s not forget the rest of the pig people. There’s so much going on in this layered story that it shouldn’t work but somehow it did. I have no doubt that people a lot smarter than I am will write very eloquently about things I didn’t dig deep enough to even realise were there but this book made me think. A lot.

I thought about what it means to be human and how you don’t need to have a ghost to be haunted. I considered the impacts unfulfilled dreams have, not only on our own lives but also on our relationships with others and the wider community who are missing out on what we could be bringing into the world.

I was frustrated by my inability to come up with a genius plan to eradicate the fear of the other. I thought about how ghosts linger in our present and wondered whether it’s possible to ever truly escape the past. I reevaluated my ideas of responsibility and how it intersects with blame.

I thought about love, forgiveness and what I have to be thankful for. I wanted to dance. I wondered if I’ll ever be able to look at bacon the same way again.

I’m struggling to work out who I’d recommend this book to. I expect a lot of people are going to read this book and think, ‘What the hell am I reading?!’ but that’s not necessarily going to be a bad thing. I thought it (several times) but couldn’t put it down, even when I wanted to after a couple of scenes of fairly graphic violence.

I was left with a few unanswered questions but I don’t feel the frustration I usually would; instead I’m enjoying pondering the possibilities for myself. I spent most of the book wondering how this story could wind up in a way that I’d be okay with and, while I would never have guessed the ending, I’m satisfied.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and John Joseph Adams Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for the opportunity to read this book. I’m intrigued to see what this author comes up with next.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Swine Hill was full of the dead. Their ghosts were thickest near the abandoned downtown, where so many of the town’s hopes had died generation by generation. They lingered in the places that mattered to them, and people avoided those streets, locked those doors, stopped going into those rooms … They could hurt you. Worse, they could change you.

Jane is haunted. Since she was a child, she has carried a ghost girl that feeds on the secrets and fears of everyone around her, whispering to Jane what they are thinking and feeling, even when she doesn’t want to know. Henry, Jane’s brother, is ridden by a genius ghost that forces him to build strange and dangerous machines. Their mother is possessed by a lonely spirit that burns anyone she touches. In Swine Hill, a place of defeat and depletion, there are more dead than living.

When new arrivals begin scoring precious jobs at the last factory in town, both the living and the dead are furious. This insult on the end of a long economic decline sparks a conflagration. Buffeted by rage on all sides, Jane must find a way to save her haunted family and escape the town before it kills them.

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Dating Dilemmas #2: 99% Faking It – Chris Cannon

Miss Overachiever: Let me get this straight. You want to fake date me.

Man Candy Matt: Uh huh.

Miss Overachiever: But you know that I have a crush on you. [Damn it! He won’t notice that Freudian slip, will he?]

Man Candy Matt: Have?

Miss Overachiever: [Damn it!] Had! I had a crush on you.

Man Candy Matt: So, fake date me? Then the girl I have a crush on who’s perfectly happy with her perfect boyfriend will get jealous and decide she wants me instead.

Miss Overachiever: What’s in it for me?

Man Candy Matt: Well, you like Mr Cool Hair. Maybe he’ll pay attention to you if you’re with me, the boy with hair that’s not as cool.

Miss Overachiever: Hmm … You make an interesting argument. I’ve already tried to get him to notice me by wearing more makeup, even though when he originally noticed me I was hardly wearing any at all, but —

Man Candy Matt: See? So is it a deal? I mean, what could possibly go wrong?!

Book Buddy Nina (who already did her own whole boy drama thing in The Dating Debate): So … Books?

Miss Overachiever: Books!

Book Buddy Nina and Miss Overachiever wander off to go find some new book boyfriends.

Man Candy Matt: Um, hello?

We first tagged along with Miss Overachiever and Book Buddy Nina to Friday night Nerd-Girl Festivities in The Dating Debate. That was my 💔 Achy Breaky Heart 💔 read last year and here I am again, likely torturing poor Chris Cannon (sorry, Chris!) by choosing another one of her books for this year’s foray into the smoochie side of life. Oops, it appears that I’m accidentally following a romance novel series! 😯

Before I go any further, let me just say … CANNON CONSPIRACY CONFIRMED!!!

Whatever am I talking about? Allow me to take you on a journey to a time when I first became suspicious that Chris was plotting a sinister scheme to convert me, a 100% committed romantiphobe, to … wait for it … a romance novel reader! I submit to you:

I had so many food cravings while reading 99% Faking It but the ones that specifically support my conspiracy theory are:

Pizza
🍕 Sausage and pepperoni thick crust with extra cheese
🍕 Meatball
🍕 More pepperoni
🍕 More meatball
🍕 More meatball
🍕 Sausage and mushroom
🍕 More sausage and mushroom
🍕 More meatball
🍕 Bacon and pepperoni
🍕 Cheese

Lasagne
🤤 Vegetarian

Chocolate
🍫 Brownie sundae with whipped cream and chocolate sauce
🍫 Chocolate frogs (mentioned but not eaten)
🍫 More brownies
🍫 Hot cocoa with marshmallows (yes, that counts!)
🍫 Do Oreos count? What am I saying?! Of course they do. Countless Oreos graced the pages!

And let’s not forget this brilliance:

“Our family motto is, Chocolate might not fix everything but it’s a good start.”

My verdict? Conspiracy confirmed! Case closed! Well played, Chris, well played. 🏆

I really enjoyed this book. I smiled my way through the banter and fandom talk and the only thing I craved as much as the yummy delectables was an invitation to Friday night Nerd-Girl Festivities. I wanted to be friends with Book Buddy Nina and Miss Overachiever. I loved that Miss Overachiever is a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl who doesn’t waste time in front of a mirror when she could be reading instead. She’s smart and fluent in sarcasm and while she loves Harry Potter (who doesn’t?!), she’s a multi-fandom girl. There were times I wanted to tell her to wake up to herself when she got snappy at Man Candy Matt but she endeared herself to me so much that I could overlook most of them.

While I liked Man Candy Matt I didn’t feel I got to know him as well as I did Miss Overachiever. The standout minor character for me was Matt’s father and naturally I adored the dogs. I consider it borderline cheating for any author to include dogs in their book since I’m such a sucker for fur babies.

I can’t believe how invested I became in this couple. I got frustrated whenever Man Candy Matt and Miss Overachiever’s romantic stars didn’t align. Either I’m getting used to the way these things called ‘romance novels’ work or there was less that irritated me this time. Unlike previous romantic reads, I’m pretty sure the feeling of hitting my head against a brick wall each time I told the characters to “COM! MU! NI! CATE!” has only resulted in a mild concussion this time around.

Once Upon a Nitpick: This pet peeve isn’t specific to this book but it did show up a few times; boys/men declaring they will punch a boy/man who is upsetting a girl/woman. I used to think this was charming when I was a teenager but now a neon sign lights up in my brain screaming, “Toxic masculinity!” at me whenever I come across it.

Favourite sentence:

“I love the smell of freshly baked carbs and coffee.”

Mmm, me too!

Favourite sentence (it’s a tie; I couldn’t choose):

“Best friends don’t let best friends date anti-Potter people.”

So, am I a romance novel enthusiast now? Hell, no! After three novels I’m definitely a converted Chris Cannon reader though, and if she just so happens to write romance novels then I guess I’m going to have to keep reading them. Sorry, Chris, but you’re stuck with me. 😊

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Teen Crush, an imprint of Entangled Publishing, LLC, for the opportunity to read this book.

P.S. If you can’t wait until the release date to start this book you can read the first chapter here.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Lisa is a card-carrying, book-loving Gryffindor. Solid. And that’s why everyone knows she’s awesome. Well, except for her crush, Matt. He only ever sees her as a friend. Plus, he’s got his eye on another girl. Oh well, plenty of fish and all that. 

Good thing Lisa just read a book on the “wedding ring phenomenon” – you get more attention when you’re already taken. What if Lisa pretends to be Matt’s plus one? Maybe it’ll help Matt get his girl and Lisa can hook her own fish. 

After the plan works, Matt suddenly claims he doesn’t like the view from the friend-zone and wants her instead … But she isn’t interested in being anyone’s second choice. If this guy wants to earn her attention, he’ll need more than some silly “phenomenon.” 

He’ll need to go all out …

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Sawkill Girls – Claire Legrand

“There were monsters in that book.”

And I loved it! I can’t believe it took me so long to read this book or that this is my first Claire Legrand read. I have seriously been missing out!

Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep. He’ll follow you home and won’t let you sleep.

So goes the island’s monster tale. But is the Collector just an urban legend? Why have Sawkill’s girls been disappearing? What happened to them?

Zoey needs to know, especially since her best friend Thora is the most recent missing girl, presumed dead for seven months. One of 23 girls.

Decades of dead girls. Poor girls and rich girls. Black and brown and white girls. All of them Sawkill girls.

I went into this book having read its blurb, and that’s all. I highly recommend you don’t know too much about this book before uncovering the secrets of the Sawkill girls yourself. So instead of me telling you much about the book itself I want to tell you who my favourite characters were, but quickly I want to address that romance. This romantiphobe wanted the romance to work, needed it to work, yearned to see more of it, despite everything that told me that it couldn’t, shouldn’t, wouldn’t work.

Absolute Favourite Character

Is it weird if I tell you that Zoey was my absolute favourite character? And also that in a lot of respects Zoey is me?! Some of the things that came out of her mouth felt like I’d spoken them.

Zoey is ME Example 1:

“Sorry. That isn’t helpful. God. I need to stop talking. I’m a really awkward person. It’s a chronic condition.”

Zoey is ME Example 2:

“Hi, Future Zoey, this is Past Zoey”

[Zoey, to her phone’s voice recorder]

Zoey is ME Example 3:

“Imagine, if you will, a sponge—“ “Animal, cleaning, or Bob?” Zoey interrupted.

Except sometimes Zoey was not me. At all. Because I would never say:

“Can I just say that I’m really disturbed by the number of secret rooms on this island?”

Because there’s no such thing. If Zoey was me she’d know that.

And a Very Close Second …

Grayson. Oh, I need a Grayson in my life. He’s adorable, he cooks, he cleans, he gives great hugs and did I mention he’s adorable?

But Let’s Not Forget …

the surprise standout character, the Rock.

No, not that one! Although he will always be a favourite.

Initially I found the Rock’s voice unsettling and a tad confusing but as I made it further into the book I began to look forward to those pages and they became my favourites.

I loved the creepy. I loved the moths. I loved the atmosphere. I loved the imperfect characters. I loved the diversity. I loved the girls sticking it to the patriarchy.

A girl with incredible strength. A girl who can vanish. A girl who burns.

Yes, I had some questions that weren’t answered and yes, I had the whole nitpick about how the moths’ markings on the cover of the book don’t match the colour described in the book but seriously, who cares?! If you haven’t already, you need to read this book!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.

He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken – or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight … until now. 

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SHOUT – Laurie Halse Anderson

This is the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one.

I expect I’m one of the only ones reading SHOUT before they’ve read Speak. I’ve had Speak on my ‘I absolutely have to read this book’ list for as long as I can remember but still haven’t read it. I searched my local library for it but they don’t own it. I tried for several years to buy it on Kindle but it wasn’t available to purchase in my country (I just checked and it’s still not an option). I finally bit the bullet and added it to my Book Depository order last year and it’s been looking at me ever since from my shelf, quietly asking me why I haven’t opened its pages.

Honestly? It’s intimidated me. It’s the book about sexual assault and while I’ve read so many others, I think I’ve worried about what it will bring up for me when I do finally read it. So, long story slightly shorter, my plan is to SHOUT, then Speak, and then SHOUT again. I’m interested to see if my perspective on SHOUT changes after I’ve read Speak. I guess time will tell.

The first section of this book is essentially memoir in free verse. Laurie takes the reader on a journey through a series of childhood memories; a father haunted by war when alcohol isn’t numbing his memories, a mother silenced, her own experiences of school, work and surviving sexual assault. I really loved reading about Laurie’s experience as an exchange student in Denmark and would happily devour as much information as I could about those 13 months; what I’ve read has sparked an interest in Danish culture.

The second section, which begins almost two thirds of the way through the book, broke my heart as Laurie shared just a handful of stories about her interactions with other survivors, whose young bodies have been invaded and lives changed, most often by those they know and should have been able to trust. Although this section made me cry one of the things that got to me the most was something hopeful – the colourful ribbons tied to fences in Ballarat, Australia in support of the abused, which ultimately created Loud Fence. The images of those ribbons of support broke me.

This section includes responses from readers, students who have heard Laurie speak, teachers and librarians; those who need to share their story, those who don’t understand what was so bad about Melinda’s experience in Speak, those who want to censor “inappropriate” reading material.

I’m not sure how to sum up the third section other than to say that it was the shortest section but also the one in which I shed most tears. Laurie’s final poems about her parents simply gutted me.

Although it’s clearly stated in the blurb I still hadn’t thought there’d be as much memoir as there was in this book. I’d expected a greater percentage of poems to be directly addressing sexual assault, even though there are plenty that do. When my expectations didn’t line up with reality I thought I’d be disappointed but I wasn’t and I’m already ready for a reread. I expect that I will revisit this book each time I read one of Laurie’s books that are mentioned here, to search out her favourite scenes and glimpses of the story behind the story.

There’s a vulnerability here and it’s entwined with strength, determination, courage, resilience and so much compassion. While I finished this book with a contented sigh I’m still yearning for more. Luckily for me, as this is the first of Laurie’s books that I’ve read (shame on me!), I still have plenty to explore.

Thank you, Laurie Halse Anderson, for sharing some of your life in this book, for breaking my heart, growing my empathy, giving me so many amazing passages to highlight and inspiring me. I will see you on Ultima Thule.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless.

In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. Shout speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice – and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

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Unwritten – Tara Gilboy

“What if every story ever written is a world in another dimension, waiting for us to find it?”

I was enchanted by this book from the very beginning. It explores the complexities of good and evil, and the power we have to write our own story, regardless of the roles and labels others have placed upon us. There’s action, drama and so much heart.

Gracie may look like a normal 12 year old girl but she’s actually the creation of Gertrude Winters, an author whose unpublished story includes Gracie, her mother and Walter, a boy in her class and an aspiring scientist. Gracie gets story glimmers, glimpses of what her life would have been like in the story, but she doesn’t know the whole story and is frustrated that her mother won’t tell her.

When Gracie learns the story’s author will be coming to her town she can’t resist. Here is the opportunity she’s been waiting for! If only she can speak to the author then she may finally find out who she really is and what her story contains. Things don’t go quite as planned and Gracie, her mother and other characters wind up in the world of the story.

I was captivated the entire time I was reading. I loved the greys in this story; the villains weren’t all bad and the heroes didn’t always make the right choices. I was easily able to imagine the story world and wanted to stay longer to meet more of the people who live there.

While this book works well as a standalone I’m greedily hoping for a sequel and/or spin-off. I’m interested in knowing what happens next for Gracie, Walter and Cassandra in particular. I’d also love to see how Gertrude, the author of Gracie’s story, would react if another of her storybook characters walked into her life and wonder what their story would be about.

I would like to know more about Cassandra, particularly her background and more about her motivations. She was an intriguing character who deserves more page time. I’m not sure if this was intentional or not but Cassandra in this story has some similarities to Cassandra from Greek mythology; although different in so many aspects they were both able to foresee the future.

Jomike Tejido’s cover illustration is absolutely gorgeous and captures the essence of this story so well. I’m not sure I would have read this story’s blurb without that cover sucking me in and I would have missed out on a gem.

Over the course of a single book Tara Gilboy has cemented her place in my ’Have to Read Everything They Ever Write’ Hall of Fame. I can’t wait to read whatever comes next!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jolly Fish Press, an imprint of North Star Editions, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Twelve-year-old Gracie Freeman is living a normal life, but she is haunted by the fact that she is actually a character from a story, an unpublished fairy tale she’s never read. When she was a baby, her parents learned that she was supposed to die in the story, and with the help of a magic book, took her out of the story, and into the outside world, where she could be safe.

But Gracie longs to know what the story says about her. Despite her mother’s warnings, Gracie seeks out the story’s author, setting in motion a chain of events that draws herself, her mother, and other former storybook characters back into the forgotten tale. Inside the story, Gracie struggles to navigate the blurred boundary between who she really is and the surprising things the author wrote about her. As the story moves toward its deadly climax, Gracie realises she’ll have to face a dark truth and figure out her own fairy tale ending.

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Ellery Hathaway #2: No Mercy – Joanna Schaffhausen

I fell in love with Bump immediately in The Vanishing Season and now he’s back, shedding fur throughout the pages of No Mercy. Ellery and Reed are back, too. After the events of the first book (you could read this book as a standalone but I’d highly recommend reading them in order) Ellery has been suspended from her job and forced into group therapy with other survivors of violent crimes.

Because this is Ellery she’s not so interested in looking inward because, ugh, feelings! Rather, this is the perfect opportunity to get herself personally involved in the crimes affecting some of the other group members. Ellery starts investigating an unsolved sexual assault, whose perpetrator may be responsible for a number of other assaults. She also manages to get entangled in a historic arson case despite the convicted arsonist having already spent decades in prison.

Naturally Ellery, who is strong, determined and at times petulant, jumps in head first and pretty soon Reed, FBI profiler and the man who rescued her from Francis Coben’s closet many years ago, has joined her in Boston. Even though Ellery basically has Reed wrapped around her little finger I still really like him, or maybe I just want him to cook for me. No matter how much I like Reed he’s a runner up to his adorable daughter, Tula, who’s my favourite human character of this book. Sorry, but no human could ever own a piece of my heart like Bump does!

I loved that there was more of a focus on Ellery and Reed’s relationship in this book. Their initial interactions in the first book were understandably awkward because of their shared history up to that point. While they’re still finding their way they’re more comfortable in each other’s presence and they’re building a more equal relationship, although Reed still feels the need to protect Ellery and Ellery still understandably chafes at physical and emotional closeness with any man, even Reed.

Cover Rant: When I reviewed The Vanishing Season I’d only seen the American cover and thought it was nice enough, if a bit tame as a representation of Ellery’s personality and story. Then I saw the UK version which, pardon the pun, nailed it! The American cover for No Mercy again falls short for me while the UK version shines. The American cover for this book doesn’t give the reader any sense of who Ellery is or what this story is about. I think Ellery would be disappointed that there isn’t anything gritty or honest about this cover. Sure, looking outside the window you can tell that the story has moved to the city, but the matches on the UK cover? They grab my attention and make me want to know more!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Minotaur Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, for the opportunity to read this book. Please publish the third book soon! I’m hanging off a cliff here waiting to find out what’s next for Reed!!!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Police officer Ellery Hathaway is on involuntary leave from her job because she shot a murderer in cold blood and refuses to apologise for it. Forced into group therapy for victims of violent crime, Ellery immediately finds higher priorities than “getting in touch with her feelings.” 

For one, she suspects a fellow group member may have helped to convict the wrong man for a deadly arson incident years ago. For another, Ellery finds herself in the desperate clutches of a woman who survived a brutal rape. He is still out there, this man with the Spider-Man-like ability to climb through bedroom windows, and his victim beseeches Ellery for help in capturing her attacker.

Ellery seeks advice from her friend, FBI profiler Reed Markham, who liberated her from a killer’s closet when she was a child. Reed remains drawn to this unpredictable woman, the one he rescued but couldn’t quite save. The trouble is, Reed is up for a potential big promotion, and his boss has just one condition for the new job – stay away from Ellery. Ellery ignores all the warnings. Instead, she starts digging around in everyone’s past but her own – a move that, at best, could put her out of work permanently, and at worst, could put her in the city morgue.

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Bird Photographer of the Year: Collection 3

This book is gorgeous! Photography is one of my passions, one I don’t spend as much time pursuing as I’d like. I’ve followed the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition since 2007 and accidentally found this book, the third Bird Photographer of the Year at my library. Yay, libraries!

I have a group of wild birds that I’ve been privileged to get to know over the past couple of years and have loved capturing their individual and often quirky personalities. This book, with its stunning collection of images, has sparked my creativity and given me so many ideas to improve my photos. I loved the compositions, the lighting and artistic choices made by the photographers that have resulted in photos that make you feel like you can almost reach out and feel the feathers.

You can find the winners featured in this book on the Photocrowd website.

Sometimes words just don’t cut it so instead I have to show you my two absolute favourite photos, which were both commended in the Creative Imagery category:

Virginia Grey’s Muted Swan Cygnet, found here

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and Kevin Morgans’ silhouetted Canada Goose, found here.

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Aren’t they stunning?! I loved them so much I forced myself to learn how to add images to Goodreads just so I could show you. (It’s only taken me almost 2 years to learn how 🤪)

An added bonus is that this competition isn’t just about brilliant images; it’s also about conservation. From the Photocrowd website, “Over the past three years Bird Photographer of the Year has been able to donate over £7,000 to the British Trust for Ornithology.”

I just hope my library has the first two books!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The Bird Photographer of the Year competition celebrates the artistry of bird photography, and this large-format book is lavishly illustrated to reflect this. A celebration of avian beauty and diversity, it is a tribute to both the dedication and passion of the photographers as well as a reflection of the quality of today’s modern digital imaging systems.

The book includes the winning and short-listed images from the competition, now in its third year, showcasing some of the finest bird photography, with a foreword by BTO President and head judge, Chris Packham. A proportion of the profits from the book goes directly to the BTO to support their conservation work.

The advent of digital technology has revolutionised photography in recent years, and the book brings to life some of the most stunning bird photography currently on offer. It features a vast variety of photographs by hardened pros, keen amateurs and hobbyists alike, reflecting the huge diversity of bird enthusiasts and nature lovers which is so important in ensuring their conservation and survival.

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Wayward Children #4: In an Absent Dream – Seanan McGuire

BE SURE.

I’m convinced the Wayward Children series are fairy tales for adults whose door never opened for them as children, who are holding out hope against hope that some day their door will finally appear.

Alas, that this is not a fairy tale.

Okay, Seanan, I hear you. So it’s not a fairy tale, but it’s a cautionary tale, right?

this is Lundy’s story, Lundy’s cautionary tale

This cautionary tale’s doorway leads to the Goblin Market which, despite the fact that I would never make it a day there, still made me yearn for my own doorway to appear. It also made me want to reread Every Heart a Doorway to revisit Lundy’s journey after the conclusion of this book.

Lundy is this tale’s Wayward and she’s a reader!

Everything was a story, if studied in the right fashion.

She won my heart before I knew anything else about this precious soul. Lundy is also a strict keeper of rules, which is exactly why her doorway would never even consider me a possibility.

Following the rules didn’t make you a good person, just like breaking them didn’t make you a bad one, but it could make you an invisible person, and invisible people got to do as they liked.

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This is a book of friendship and loyalty, of being torn between what you want and what you need, and of pies. Oh, the pies! I need to eat all of the pies.

I adored the Archivist, had a soft spot for Moon and wish I had gotten to know Mockery. I loved learning about how the Goblin Market’s rules work and especially loved the idea, foreign in our own, that unfair things always come with consequences.

I’m also entirely in love with that cover artwork and the gorgeous illustrations. I need a print of that doorway in the tree that’s large enough to span an entire wall so I can gaze at it all day, waiting for it to magically transform into the doorway to my world.

I was disappointed that some of the most exciting scenes happened off the page. I wanted to witness firsthand the battles that had been fought and won by characters when I wasn’t looking, and to be told of their conclusion rather than being shown them was frustrating for me.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I keep hoping there will be a Wayward Children book that explores the world I should be living in and that the simple act of opening the pages will open its doorway for me.

“It is a place where dreamers go when they don’t fit in with the dreams their homes think worth dreaming. Doors lead here. Perhaps you found one.”

How am I supposed to wait an entire year for Come Tumbling Down?!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

This fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

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Kingdom of Needle and Bone – Mira Grant

The difference between hero and villain was so frequently in the paperwork that most people never thought to file.

I love this book and I need MORE! Part of me adored that ending and another part of me, the greedy reader part of me, needs to know what happens next! In detail!

This was my very first Mira Grant Seanan read and I’m in awe over how much I loved it. I accidentally found Every Heart a Doorway on my library shelf in October 2016 and it became, over the course of one day, my all time favourite book. However, I’d hesitated to try a Mira book as I had this bizarre notion that they may not be for me. Well, to that I now say, ‘Pish posh! And bring me another!’

Seanan’s characters become real to me in such a short space of time. I become fully immersed in their world and the only reason I didn’t finish this book within a day was because life vaguely imitated art. Nope, I don’t have Morris’s disease but I did have a lovely time with food poisoning.

The outbreak was beyond control long before anyone realized it was happening.

Julie Dillon’s dust jacket illustration is absolutely jaw dropping and made me need this book before I even read the blurb. It’s just so delightfully creepy and mysterious and sinister.

I would advise with this book that you read the blurb but not much else. I want everyone to experience this book as I did, not knowing how everything was going to unfold until it did so with each page turn. The only thing I would mention is that if you’re strongly against the use of vaccinations then there’s a fair chance this isn’t a book you want to add to your TBR pile.

No matter how much she wanted it, this was one nightmare she would never wake from.

I am the proud owner of copy 35 of 1250 signed numbered hardcover copies. ❤️

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

We live in an age of wonders.

Modern medicine has conquered or contained many of the diseases that used to carry children away before their time, reducing mortality and improving health. Vaccination and treatment are widely available, not held in reserve for the chosen few. There are still monsters left to fight, but the old ones, the simple ones, trouble us no more.

Or so we thought. For with the reduction in danger comes the erosion of memory, as pandemics fade from memory into story into fairy tale. Those old diseases can’t have been so bad, people say, or we wouldn’t be here to talk about them. They don’t matter. They’re never coming back.

How wrong we could be.

It begins with a fever. By the time the spots appear, it’s too late: Morris’s disease is loose on the world, and the bodies of the dead begin to pile high in the streets. When its terrible side consequences for the survivors become clear, something must be done, or the dying will never stop. For Dr. Isabella Gauley, whose niece was the first confirmed victim, the route forward is neither clear nor strictly ethical, but it may be the only way to save a world already in crisis. It may be the only way to atone for her part in everything that’s happened.

She will never be forgiven, not by herself, and not by anyone else. But she can, perhaps, do the right thing.

We live in an age of monsters.

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