Monthly Archives: August 2012

An Apology, Update and Hint At Things To Come

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Apologies for the recent lack of updates. This summer has been really busy for me and stressful and I really sadly haven’t been able to devote as much time as I would like to the blog. However, I am finally starting to have a few of these stresses resolved! My final MA deadline is almost in, I’ve been working on my MFA proposal which is in on Monday so I will be free of then and some of my other IRL stresses are finally coming to a close.
So while I’m sorry about having to take a bit of a break, I’m really excited to tell you about what I have in store for September.
I’m part of the fabulous James Dawson’s blog tour for the paperback release of Hollow Pike (6/9/12) on the 10th and have a fabulous, or should I say Bagelious, deleted scene from Hollow Pike for you I can’t wait to share.
I also will have reviews of the Diviners by Libba Bray, which is outstanding, reviews of Niall Leonard’s Crusher, Sara Zarr’s How To Save A Life, Gregory Hughes’ Summertime of the Dead and many, many more books too.
And finally, I’m doing a special week for the final week of September to celebrate YA imprint Strange Chemistry’s launch with the first four books being reviewed, a blog tour post for one book and I’m trying to arrange even more awesomeness too.
So basically, sorry everyone for the absence but I hope what will be coming in the next month will more than make up for it!
Lucy

An Apology, Update and Hint At Things To Come

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Apologies for the recent lack of updates. This summer has been really busy for me and stressful and I really sadly haven’t been able to devote as much time as I would like to the blog. However, I am finally starting to have a few of these stresses resolved! My final MA deadline is almost in, I’ve been working on my MFA proposal which is in on Monday so I will be free of then and some of my other IRL stresses are finally coming to a close.
So while I’m sorry about having to take a bit of a break, I’m really excited to tell you about what I have in store for September.
I’m part of the fabulous James Dawson’s blog tour for the paperback release of Hollow Pike (6/9/12) on the 10th and have a fabulous, or should I say Bagelious, deleted scene from Hollow Pike for you I can’t wait to share.
I also will have reviews of the Diviners by Libba Bray, which is outstanding, reviews of Niall Leonard’s Crusher, Sara Zarr’s How To Save A Life, Gregory Hughes’ Summertime of the Dead and many, many more books too.
And finally, I’m doing a special week for the final week of September to celebrate YA imprint Strange Chemistry’s launch with the first four books being reviewed, a blog tour post for one book and I’m trying to arrange even more awesomeness too.
So basically, sorry everyone for the absence but I hope what will be coming in the next month will more than make up for it!
Lucy

Review: Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler and Maira Kalman

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Why We Broke Up is Daniel Handler’s YA novel with Maira Kalman and documents the break-up of Min and Ed. Min is on her way to Ed’s with the box that contains every reason they are breaking up, she’s writing a letter to explain each item too.

Why We Broke Up is reminiscent of John Green novels to me; the intelligent characters and Min’s interest in old films for example just reminded me of that type of contemporary. At times, I have to admit this made it feel a bit like Handler was trying a bit too hard to make Min cool and edgy, but he juxtaposed this really well with Ed, a more ‘stereotypical’ popular teen. I really enjoyed the dimension their differences added to Ed and Min’s relationship. When you’re a teenager,  who you’re friends with can feel like everything so for two people from different ‘cliques’ to come together in a book honestly, there had to be references to those differences. The expectations of dating a popular guy, of falling in love for the first time often don’t match up to the reality and I feel that this really showed it well.

Beautifully written and accompanied with stunning illustrations that really make this novel stand out, this book documents the rise and fall of a relationship perfectly. Every item and it’s emotional significance and story worked well for me and I thought that the anecdotes flowed well from one to the other. I also loved how they were linked a lot of the time, like the actress Min admired and thought she saw and her overall significance not only to the plot, but to their entire relationship. Some of my favourite moments in the book were the final confrontation scenes between Ed and Min, and one of the fundamental reasons they broke up, along with Ed and Min’s first date.

Overall this book depicted the highs and lows of that ‘high school’ love very well, with developed characters and a compelling relationship. From what started as a seemingly great relationship, Handler shows the reader how easily that first serious relationship can be derailed. It is not a hopeless book though and Min’s best friend Al seems a perfect match for her and I am sure I am not the only reader left wondering what the future will hold for them. The strain on her friendship with him and pull between her friends and Ed’s friends was really well written and honest to life. I also loved that it was the summation of all of the little things, and a few big things, that ultimately led to the break-up.

Why We Broke Up is available to buy now and comes highly recommended from me! If you are a fan of contemporary YA, this is a book not to miss and the art within it really makes it something special. I received a free proof of this book from Electric Monkey for reviewing purposes.

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Review: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

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Wendy Wunder’s debut YA novel tells the story of Cam. Her mum works in the Aloha show at Disneyworld, her Nana lives in Jersey and Cam is dying of cancer.

Compared to both Before I Die and Juno by the publishers, Penguin, a part of me was scared to start this book. If you love Junoesque dialogue, highly intelligent characters a la John Green then you’ll love this book in particular. If the idea of that turns you cold, then this book may be a harder sell.

When Cam’s mum hears about a mysterious town few people can find in Maine called Promise, where miracles happen and fish rain from the sky, she decides to move the family there in the hope it will heal Cam. Promise reminded me a little of the Latin American influenced magic-realist settings. One of my favourite moments in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is when yellow flowers rain from the sky, and I have to say there are slight influences of that style within Wendy Wunder’s novel.

The first quarter of the book is a road-trip. It’s funny, the tree in Hoboken comes to mind here, poignant when Cam argues with her best friend Lily and all honestly recalled by Cam. The comic description of the U-Haul truck is a particularly noteworthy moment.

Wunder evokes an idyllic, beautiful town in Promise with long sunsets, flamingos and every little detail! While in Promise, Cam starts to work on her Flamingo List (a less depressing name for a bucket list) which includes losing her virginity at a party, sleeping through Saturday, and getting fired from a Summer job. As you can see from the above sample, her list is acerbic and yet honest too. She seems to have no illusions or sense of grandeur; she doesn’t say about losing her virginity to someone she loves and with flowers and luxury sheets; she says about losing it at a party. This, along with some of Cam’ later behaviour, really made me gain sympathy and empathy for her.

Wunder juxtaposes Cam’s cynicism with her attempts to create miracles for her family. I loved this detail and while superficially it was humorous (the unicorn for example) it revealed a lot about Cam’s need and attempt to control her life.

Asher is the romantic interest in the novel and while seemingly perfect, is revealed to be damaged by his parents’ deaths and highly superstitious about leaving Promise. This is much to Cam’s frustration as she wants him to leave Promise and seize a life, not live in the same town forever and be unhappy.

Wunder throws in shocking tragedies to the plot that are simply heartbreaking. One seemed to come out of nowhere, as it would in real life, and absolutely broke my heart and stayed with me after I closed the book.

I can’t spoil this book for you and tell you if Cam gets her miracle; you’ll have to read it. It’s a simultaneously heart-warming and heart-wrenching read that is told through a narrator who seems to explode into life from the first page. Sophisticated, poignant and a treat for contemporary YA fans, this debut hasn’t attracted much hype, but deserves more.

The Probability of Miracles is published by Penguin/Razorbill UK and I received a free proof copy from the publishers for honest review.

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Blog Tour: The Bad Tuesdays: Spiral Horizon by Benjamin J Myers

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The final book in Benjamin Myers’ YA series, The Bad Tuesdays, has just been released. So to celebrate the release of this book, I was lucky enough to snag a place on Myers’ blog tour through his publishers, Orion, and have a fabulous post about Magic vs Science: Making the Fantastic happen from the author himself. These books are described as Philip Pullman meets Dr Who, which sounds an amazing combination. The publishers were kind enough to send me a set of the books and I am really looking forward to getting stuck into them!

So without further a due, I shall hand you over to the very capable Benjamin J Myers!

         

SCIENCE vs MAGIC: MAKING THE FANTASTIC HAPPEN

 Most of us know the difference between fantasy and reality and that’s the problem.  What we want is a reality where   fantastic things can happen.  Really happen.  Who hasn’t wished that they lived in a world where it was possible to travel through time, or to be invisible, or to wield eye-wateringly powerful weaponry or just to move about the universe at the speed of thought?  But as a general rule, reality doesn’t work this way.  So imaginative fiction is the place where we have to find that amazing blend of reality and fantasy.

I wanted The Bad Tuesdays books to be set in a world where everyday, urban reality would be as close to a world of extraordinary creatures, multiple universes, spirits and arcane mystery as possible.  I wanted Chess, and her brothers, Box and Splinter to be as shocked and mystified as we would be when they discovered, bit by bit, that what they thought was their world was only the outer shell of something altogether more dangerous, unpredictable and fantastic.  But for this to be exciting, for this to hit us with the force that it hits them, the reality of their world was crucial and that is where you hit the problem with magic.

In fact, for me, there are two problems with magic.  The first is that magic has been so well written about already.  We all know about the Boy Who Must Not Be Named and he follows a fabulous heritage of magical writing.  For me, Ursula Le Guin’s Wizard of Earthsea quartet describes brilliantly a world where magic is a genuine force requiring steely discipline and hard- won knowledge. But the truth remains that it’s difficult to say anything new about magic.

However, it’s the second problem that made me steer away from spells, wands and incantations.  What are the limits of magic in a real world?  Why aren’t we all doing it?  Why don’t we use it to win the National Lottery?  Every week?  Why limit ourselves when magic can enable us to do anything?  For a story that is rooted in reality, this is a problem

This is where science comes in.  I don’t mean the stuff from school: measuring electric currents, learning lists of chemicals, discovering how to make dead frogs twitch.  I mean parallel universes, bio-engineering, robotics, multi-dimensional travel . . . maybe even time travel.  You don’t need to consult spell books to discover how to make fantastic things happen.  Just take a look in any of the books about the rapidly exploding boundaries of modern science.  Michio Kaku’s Hyperspace is a good place to start.  It’s an easy read and will leave you in no doubt that we live in a universe (or is it universes?) where extraordinary things are only just tucked out of sight.

So in The Bad Tuesdays, when the bad guys talk about using energy to stop time by packing the universe back into its starting point, that’s not one of Myers’s mad moments: that’s how it works.  And the hiding of places, or faces, by spin symmetry?  The grafting of bionic prosthetics onto damaged limbs?  Using wormholes to travel from one world to another?  Slipping secretly through a city by using all those hidden dimensions?  It’s all in the science, a science that’s as much a part of our reality as we are.  Which means that the weirdness in the Tuesdays’ world can burst out of anywhere – a night club, a tourist information centre, even a supermarket. I love that sense of anything happening, even in the most ordinary places.  It gives an urgency and startling reality to the fantastic.

Spiral Horizon, he final book in Benjamin J Myer’s thrilling YA series, The Bad Tuesdays, is now out and to celebrate I am very pleased to be able to share you with a fabulous post by Benjamin Myers himself about magic and science and how it all works in his series. I have been lucky enough to receive a whole set of the books from the publishers, Orion, and it’s described as Philip Pullman meets Dr Who – who

Maybe it should come as no surprise that science can be as fantastical as magic, after all, a lot of what was once ‘magic’ has become ‘science’: the gowns might be white rather than wizardly, but look at what our white-gown wearers do – healing the sick, creating light, transforming energy, sending us further and further at greater and greater speeds and making things go BANG.  So you can take your pick – white gown or star spangled robe. But for The Bad Tuesdays the magic of science is what makes the fantastic happen.

Review:The Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin

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The Masque of the Red Death was a book I  eagerly anticipated for months after hearing about from US bloggers so when I heard Indigo had picked it up in the UK I was very excited and ready to harass the lovely people there for it! Inspired by the Edgar Allen Poe story of the same name, one I am now definitely putting on my to-read list, Griffin tells a seductive and thrilling tale in a epidemic hit world.

I found it hard to exactly place a time the novel was set in, but I think this was intentional. Part Victorian Gothic influenced, part dystopian, Griffin’s world is highly original. When a plague rules the population and only the rich can afford the breathing masks and live seemingly risk-free, Araby and her friends spend time at the Debauchery Club, where the name should give it away. There she meets two very different men; enigmatic Will who works at the club and aristocrat  Elliot and a cause she may have to fight for.

Araby is a really interesting narrator; she’s emotionally damaged from the death of her brother to the plague and seeks Oblivion and escape through the club and drugs. Her carelessness at the start was slightly difficult to sympathise with but Griffin slowly revealed why she behaved as she did and I found myself feeling more sympathetic towards her. Araby’s depression was beautifully evoked as was her need to self-destruct. The backstory as to why she acted as she did really tugged at my heart-strings and it was a truly tragic image that Griffin reinforced and evoked through the plot, forcing Araby to confront the circumstances of her brother’s death.

The political intrigue and scheming in the novel really interested me and were very well-written. The desire for change and way people go around it was very well explored and made this a lot more than a ‘steampunk libertine’ (as my goodreads friend, Wendy Darling, described it in her review) love-triangle and a more deep and satisfying read. The final quarter of the novel was extremely fast-paced, action packed and left me desperate for book two. I will admit, I wish it had ended more satisfactorily but this is something endemic in most YA novel series generally.

One of my favourite characters was Will; I loved that he cared for his family and was trying to provide them with the best skills to survive. His difficulty in only being able to afford one mask for them was poignant and reflected Araby’s own life too. There was a point where I wanted to scream at Griffin because of Will, but that was definitely the intention I believe! I have to admit, probably because of my preference for Will, Elliot slightly annoyed me as a character but his development from mere drug user and fun-seeker to someone with a more serious agenda was well done. I also found the development and backstory to Araby’s mother very intriguing and chilling in places.

The Masque of the Red Death is a highly different YA ‘dystopian’ or ‘steampunk’ novel and one I highly recommend. It was slightly more slowly paced at the beginning, particularly as I tried to place a time the novel was set in, however within twenty pages I was hooked by Griffin’s writing and world-building. With its literary influences, intelligent prose, historical atmosphere and exciting plot, as well as some swoon worthy characters, this is an elegant YA not to miss, particularly those who love Gothic influences or dystopia!

I received a free proof from Indigo and this is my honest review. The Masque of the Red Death is available to buy now!

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Quercus Blogger Drinks With Cat Clarke – June 2012

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So back at the end of June (I know where has the time gone?) I was invited to an evening at Quercus HQ for drinks and a cover reveal with the lovely Cat Clarke and staff at Quercus. It couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I was massively stressed out and an evening in London with blogger friends was just what I needed.
I made my way to Baker Street, which I maintain is the coolest and most beautiful of London’s tube stations, and found myself out the huge, terrifying building Quercus is housed in which was full of business people walking out and talking on Blackberries.
The floor Quercus is in was really nice though and they had a really nice lounge like area filled with shelves of their books where we spent the evening. I got to see some of my friends like Sophie from solittletimesomanybooks, Andrew aka Pewterwolf13, Laura from Sister Spooky, Liz from my Favourite Books who I hadn’t seen in ages so was lovely to catch up with and her husband who is also a blogger for My Favourite Books. I also got to meet Caroline of PortraitofaWoman on twitter. it was also so lovely to put a face to the name of Alice at Quercus who is the Press Officer and such a great person too as well as editors of Quercus’s Kids section, who terribly I have forgotten the name of!
Quercus are so friendly and they provided drinks, and always offered to refill our glasses, delicious delicious cupcakes – Oreo cupcakes too, which were mega yummy. – and other treats. I had had dinner at my favourite diner, Ed’s, and was stuffed from my peanut butter milkshake, but managed to fit one cupcake in as obviously it would have been rude not to!
The guest of honour was of course, Cat Clarke, who I had met before and every time I talk to have to hold in my fangirl as I love her writing – seriously, I probably act like a complete idiot in these situations and if Cat is reading this, sorry!
After chatting and drinks, Cat told us about her upcoming novel, Undone. Undone will be released next year and I, like everyone, am desperate to get my hands on it. It sounds amazing and she read us the prologue. Then we had a cover reveal and all oohed and aahed. I don’t know what I can tell you about it, but it’s both different from her previous covers but still very Cat Clarkeish.
In addition to all this spoiling, Quercus had bags and a selection of their books up for grabs. I took a copy of Lil Chase’s upcoming contemporary Secrets, Lies and Locker 62, which is great fun and Carol Midgley’s My Family and Other Freaks. I love the burst of funny contemporary novels for young teens that have been released recently and Quercus are delivering these too!
Also Isla J Bick’s Ashes and proofs of her hotly awaited sequel Shadows were available. I devoured these books and I’ll have reviews up very soon. I also found out Quercus are publishing her contemporary which I have been dying to read and not been able to find anywhere, Drowning Instinct, in 2013 too!
Gregory Hughes is also releasing a new contemporary in the next couple of months set in Tokyo called Summertime of the Dead. It involves a Japanese mafia and is a thriller that looks great. I can’t wait to start this one!
Finally John Marsden’s hugely successful Tomorrow, When The War Began series was on offer and as everyone was telling me how great it was, I took the first three books to catch up. I’ve seen the film and loved it so am excited to read the actual book. Australian YA is great and this was the ‘dystopia/war’ YA before the influx of The Hunger Games and so on and is a very plausible scenario.
Quercus were also displaying Shattered Dreams by Ellie James, which I already had read aswas on the blog tour on so didn’t take a copy, and Dead Rules by R S Russell, which I received a proof of much earlier in the year and loved! It’s a brilliant, snarky afterlife YA with hints of Heathers and Mean Girls.
So as you can see Quercus have some fabulous books coming up in the Autumn and I had a brilliant time at the event. Thank you so much to Quercus for inviting me!

Review: The Forsaken by Lisa M Stasse

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When a book is compared to the Hunger Games, there is a certain amount of expectation when you read it. The Forsaken is Lisa M Stasse’s YA debut, published yesterday by Orchard Books and certainly offers a chilling dystopian concept with allusions to William Golding’s seminal Lord of the Flies for teenagers.  The Forsaken is set in a world where sixteen year olds are tested for criminal potential, and if they fail the test, are sent to Prison Island Alpha where the life expectancy is just eighteen.

When Alenna was a child, her parents were taken away from her and imprisoned and so she has been raised in the nation’s orphanage. Because she was raised by the government, Alenna is certain the test is nothing to worry about as they would not want to fail the people they bought up. However Alenna wakes up on the island after going in for testing; the testing preparation scene was particularly chilling to read.

The Forsaken for me was very much reminiscent of Lord of the Flies by William Golding in the sense of children and teenagers living on an island and governing themselves and the sinister side. At the same time, Stasse invested in creating a political dystopian world. There is a twist towards the end, one of several, which for me sealed this when one character is revealed.

On the Wheel, as the inmates prefer to call it, youths divide into tribes, and Stasse focuses on two of them: the Monk and his drunken, animalistic followers and a group of teenagers attempting to outlive their expectancy and live the best quality life they can on the wheel. The latter group, which Alenna joins is attempting to find a way off the wheel by exploring the unchartered grey zone, where they expect they are originally dropped when they arrive. However to do this means crossing the mysterious, dangerous Monk’s territory and his firework fanatic drones.

When Alenna hears a rumour of her name in the rocks left by her parents in the grey zone, she knows she has to join the exhibition to the grey zone and learn the truth about what happened to her parents all that time ago.

Aspects of this novel weren’t perfect; I didn’t like the barrier between zones personally and felt that I didn’t need those scenes. The relationship between Alenna and Lucas was interesting too and I liked the fact she had seen him before on a shot of the island contributing to her attraction to him. The final developments and twists as well were skilfully executed and I really like the concept and twists at the end.

I also liked that despite there being a romance in the dystopia, it didn’t define the world. Instead Alenna’s priorities were learning about her parents and surviving. She develops from hapless teenage girl at the start of the book who is thrown into a situation she never saw coming and does not know how to deal with, to a fighter and strong woman who is a force to be reckoned with.

Stasse has left me excited for a sequel and fans of dystopian YA will find a lot to love in this fast paced addition to the genre.  I received a free copy of this book from the publishers and have written my honest review. Many thanks to Victoria at Hachette Children’s Books for sending this out to me.

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Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

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Throne of Glass arrived through my letterbox with high expectations. I had heard wonderful things about it from two blogger friends; Faye over at A Daydreamer’s Thoughts and Casey at Dark-Readers. As you may know, before I started blogging, fantasy and in particular high or epic fantasy didn’t really appeal to me, but after reviewing a few titles I have had my eyes opened more to the genre. Throne of Glass similarly won me over by the end.

The process of writing Throne of Glass is really worth mentioning. Mass started writing and submitting  what would later be Throne of Glass when she just sixteen on fictionpress.net. For over a decade she has been building and developing her world and this really shows in the writing as I got the sense Maas knows the complete history. The descriptions of the glass palace were lush and evocative and  Maas details her surroundings beautifully and meticulously.Originally envisioned as a retelling of Cinderella, where Cinderella leaves the ball because she something to flee from, Maas’ novel has evolved into a new, original tale that still has scatterings of the initial inspiration.

Celaena begins the novel a betrayed assassin and slave in Endovier’s ruthless salt mines. Then she is given a proposition; compete in a tournament to become the King’s Assassin for four years and win her freedom. However assassins begin to die and are murdered as an evil lurks in the castle. Add in a burning attraction for the Prince Dorian and you have quite a story.

At first, I found Throne Of Glass a little hard to get into.  The fantastical names and prose style distanced me a little, as did the seemingly constant description of Celaena’s appearance and clothing, however as I persevered I found I was sucked into the world. Celaena is a feisty and strong character which I adored. Her dialogue was very punchy and reminded me a little of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (oh Joss Whedon, what a wonder Buffy was!) I really liked her guard Chad and really would have loved more of a romantic development with him than the prince. However considering Maas’ original inspiration and fairytale roots, I understand why there wasn’t.

The competition was fast paced and exciting though I felt the murders were more of a way to speed the competition on at times if I am honest. In terms of the strongest competition scenes, other than the duels, the second task with the flag was the most exciting and strong events for me. I did however, really like that the competition was central to the plot and not just put in to introduce the character to her romantic interest. The evolution of Celaena from former legend and slave to elegant, deadly woman was well handled. However, I personally felt she had not changed her position so much from the mines, even though she was in a much better situation, as she was still seen as ‘belonging’ to the King. On a similar note, one flaw with the plot was that the castle seemed fairly lax in security at times and I was surprised a lot of the assassins, Celaena included, who was aware of her pawn status, did not consider an escape attempt.

Overall, I think YA fantasy fans will adore this and even those, like myself, who have been hesitant to the genre will find a lot to like this. Assured and confident, this debut meets the hype that has surrounded it.

Throne of Glass is available now to buy and is published by Bloomsbury. I received a free review copy from the publishers which I would like to say thank you for! There are also several prequel novellas available via Kindle and ebook to read set in the world that fans who cannot wait for the next instalment should definitely check out.

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