Review for A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness from an original idea by Siobhan Dowd

"The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do. But it isn’t the monster Conor's been expecting. He's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the one he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments, the one with the darkness and the wind and the screaming... The monster in his back garden, though, this monster is something different. Something ancient, something wild. And it wants the most dangerous thing of all from Conor. It wants the truth." Having just turned the final pages of this book I am feeling emotionally exhausted as if I have took one long, brutal journey and in some respects I have. Firstly let me talk about what you will see first upon picking up this book. A Monster Calls is beautifully presented, Walker have done a fine job putting together this wonderful book making it so that it looks really special, definitely something you want to keep and treasure. I’m guessing that secondly after reading the blurb you would skim through the pages noting the haunting and poetic illustrations by Jim Kay. Starting at the beginning you will notice the author’s incredibly beautiful and respectful note on how this book came to be in your hands right now. A Monster Calls was never originally Patrick Ness’s idea: Instead the idea for this book was sparked by the much acclaimed author for young adults Siobhan Dowd. Fans of Siobhan will know that due to her untimely death she was unable to complete this story, in stepping Patrick Ness writing A Monster Calls with one thing in mind: To write a story that Siobhan would enjoy. If the fact that this book is written by two award winning authors, has the most stunning illustrations, and sounds so lyrical and special from the blurb alone doesn’t make you want to read this book then I don’t know what will. You must be a very tough person to please so allow me with this review to elaborate on what makes this book so spectacular. There really are no words that can fully express how much I hope you read this book. How much I hope that parents and children will share it and bookclubs will read and discuss it because this is a book that needs to be read, that demands and screams to be noticed and talked about. This is a book that’s truthful, and harrowing and so incredibly frightening. Yes frightening, because I think I can safely say that as human beings this book discusses the biggest and scariest truth of our world. That one day each and every one of us is going to lose someone we love. It’s something we’ve all experienced to some extent so far in our life whether that’s from the death of a beloved pet or the greater extent of losing a parent. This book deals with the most frightening thing of all and however much we want to silence it and believe that we our invincible like it or not this is our story. Patrick Ness honestly portrays the thoughts and feeling of a young boy whose mother is being treated for cancer. Although Connor’s mother has cancer this isn’t technically a story about that horrendous disease. This isn’t a book about cancer, or illness or death. Ultimately it’s a book about grief. It’s a book about a young boy having to face the unfair reality that he is shortly going to have to say goodbye to the person he loves most in the world. Before reading A Monster Calls I had never read anything written by Patrick Ness or Siobhan Dowd despite hearing phenomenal praise for them. Patrick’s honest and creative way of storytelling along with Siobhan’s brilliant imagination makes me definitely interested in checking out their separate work. This book is like nothing else out there at the moment and in its short 215 pages packs one of the biggest punches a book has dealt me in a long time. A Monster Calls isn’t the kind of book that you gobble up in one action packed frenzy but is the kind of novel you take your time over absorbing the beautiful and haunting language and images. It’s the kind of book that is packed with lessons and life changing quotes that will make you stop and think for a moment before continuing reading. It’s a book that despite being short will stay with you for weeks, the lessons it brings to the table eternal. Needless to say I cried whilst reading this book. I defy anyone not to. I got angry and I lived along with Connor. To say that I recommend this book or even give it 5 stars is an understatement. It somehow seems unfair to it because this book deserves so much more than that. It deserves to be picked up and read and loved and cherished and talked about amongst friends and family. It deserves more praise than I alone can give it. If you have this book sitting on your shelf don’t put it off, read it next. If you have it on your wishlist buy it now above all other books. I sincerely promise that the tears, the tissues and your time will be worth it. My Rating 5/5 stars ***** Synopsis taken from goodreads Thanks go to Walker for sending me this book to review

Review for The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong

"Sixteen-year-old Maya is just an ordinary teen in an ordinary town. Sure, she doesn't know much about her background - the only thing she really has to cling to is an odd paw-print birthmark on her hip - but she never really put much thought into who her parents were or how she ended up with her adopted parents in this tiny medical-research community on Vancouver Island. Until now. Strange things have been happening in this claustrophobic town - from the mountain lions that have been approaching Maya to her best friend's hidden talent for "feeling" out people and situations, to the sexy new bad boy who makes Maya feel . . . . different. Combine that with a few unexplained deaths and a mystery involving Maya's biological parents and it's easy to suspect that this town might have more than its share of skeletons in its closet." I loved Kelley Armstrong’s first series for Young Adults The Darkest Powers trilogy and was so excited to read her latest book The Gathering the first book in the new Darkness Rising series a companion to The Darkest Powers. As a companion series I was expecting some answers that I didn’t get with The Reckoning and it to have some scenes with Chloe and company. Instead this book is really quite separate and easily read on its own. The only common theme at the moment seems to be that both series are set in the same “world” so to speak. After I got use to the different setting I really started to enjoy the story. I absolutely love Kelley Armstrong’s writing and how seamlessly it all flows together. She is definitely one of those authors where you plan to sit down for a few chapters and before you know it hours have flown by because you’re so engrossed in what’s going on. Kelley certainly possesses that talent of really captivating her audience. I loved the characters in this book maybe even more so than The Darkest Powers cast. Maya is a very different heroine compared to Chloe. She’s confident, self assured and funny. She’s kind of bad ass and adventurous and is definitely the type of girl I can see becoming one of my book bffs. This book to me felt like a cocktail of Shiver, The Body Finder and The Summoning which I have to say is a recipe for awesome! If you enjoyed any of the above books you’re bound to love The Gathering. I was desperate to know more about the town of Salmon Creek and its strange small town goings on from the beginning. The mystery, suspenseful plot and awesome characters to boot made for a fantastic read. The only thing that let this book down for me was the lack of answers at the end. I was so curious to know more and although Kelley gives us enough to keep us interested I wasn’t completely satisfied. I’m so curious to know what happens next and how Maya’s story fits in with Chloe’s. Although you do get some hints throughout the book nothing is confirmed and I so desperately want to know more, kudos to Kelley coz you can bet I’ll be devouring the next book as soon as possible! Overall Mrs Armstrong again has written a fantastic book setting herself up for another potentially awesome series. Kelley sure knows how to write and is a born storyteller. If you haven’t discovered one of her truly captivating books yet you really should and The Gathering is as good a place to start as any. My Rating 4/5 stars **** Synopsis taken from goodreads

Random Acts of Kindness: April Thankyous!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Random Acts of Kindness it’s a feature hosted by Book Soulmates where every month bloggers link up their wishlists in the hope that a generous blogger will grant one of their book wishes! This can be by giving away one of your own books, or buying and sending a new copy! RAK is a selfless act and nobody expects something in return other than a nice gesture in a post at the end of the month saying thank you. In April I received 4 books from my wishlist so let me show you what I got!

Zombies vs. Unicorns by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier This one was sent to me from Lisa at Baffled Books, it’s been on my wishlist for such a long time and I was absolutely thrilled to receive this one as a surprise, THANK YOU! One Seriously Messed-Up Week: in the Otherwise Mundane and Uneventful Life of Jack Samsonite by Tom Clempson I received a £5 Amazon gift card to pre-order this one from the lovely Birgit of The Book Garden, it sounds right up my street and I can’t wait for it to be released THANK YOU! Girl on the Run by Jane Costello This one was a lovely surprise from my good friend Ellie at Musings of a Bookshop Girl who recently discovered RAK through one of my IMM posts. I’d been eyeing this one since it came out and was so happy when this arrived as a total surprise in the mail! THANK YOU! Life of Pi by Yann Martel My last RAK is a book I’ve wanted forever just because it’s one of those books that you HAVE to read because of the amount of praise it’s received this was sent to me from Lainy at So many books, so little time. THANK YOU!

Huge HUGE thank yous to all the lovely generous people who sent me books last month! If you want to learn more about Random Acts of Kindness you can find out all the details and how to take part here. For anyone taking part this month here’s my wishlist :-)

Top books I’m wishing for

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt Bitter End by Jennifer Brown Beauty Queens by Libba Bray But I Love Him by Amanda Grace Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Dead Beautiful Tour Stop: Soulmates with Yvonne Woon

Hi guys today I’m coming to you with a post from Yvonne about the concept of soulmates in Dead Beautiful. Now we’ve all heard couples in fiction desciribed as soulmates but in Dead Beautiful it really is quite literal! The romance and soul aspect of Dead Beautiful really comes together beautifully and was one of my favourite things about the book. So without futher ado let me introduce and welcome the author herself to talk a little bit about why her soulmates concept is a little different from most! "The simplest way I’ve seen soul mates described are in movies. It usually happens like this: a woman wakes up in the middle of the night, craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but realizes she doesn’t have any peanut butter. She goes to the grocery store, to the preserves aisle, where she bumps into a man. As they part, she realizes he’s holding a jar of strawberry jelly. She smiles. He smiles. Regardless of what happens after that, we know they’re meant for each other. Even thought it doesn’t always happen this cleanly in literature, I think this encapsulates the essence of all soul mates. Both people are searching for something, and when they meet, they eventually realize that they complete each other. This is true of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre, of Jenny & Oliver in Love Story, of Bella and Edward in Twilight... Renée and Dante are just a more literal representation of the soul mate, as they not only complete each other emotionally, but physically. And like the characters that have come before them, they spend much of their time together trying to overcome obstacles—obstacles that force them to consider whether or not soul mates actually exist, and how they can be sure if the person they love is the right one." Thanks for stopping by the blog today Yvonne! I personally LOVED Dead Beautiful and to learn more on my thoughts you can check out my review here. The tour will next be stopping with Bookbabblers tomorrow where they will be doing a giveaway of the book itself! Exciting stuff right? So for your chance to win be sure to check that out!

Dead Beautiful is published in the UK by Usborne on May 1st. www.deadbeautiful.co.uk / www.twitter.com/DeadBeautifulUK

Review for Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon

"Desire. Danger. Destiny. Little did I know that this is what I would find at Gottfried Academy. Coming from sunny California, the mist-shrouded Academy was a shock, with its strange customs, ancient curriculum and study of Latin - the language of the dead. Then I discovered that the school has more than one dark secret... I also discovered Dante. Intelligent, elusive and devastatingly gorgeous, most people can't decide whether they love, hate or fear him. All I know is that when we're together, I've never felt more alive - or more afraid." I’ve wanted to read this book ever since it first came out in the US based solely on all the praise it was receiving. So when I found out that it was being published in the UK and the lovely people at Usborne offered to send me a copy for review you better believe I was on it! And oh did I love this book! It’s been a long time since I was surprised by a book. A lot of the time now after reading so much of the same thing I know what to expect and going into the book I know roughly what’s going to happen. However Dead Beautiful is a very welcome breath of fresh air. Yvonne Woon had instead of following everyone else and the hype created her own type of paranormal creature- the Undead- and no their not the vampire or flesh eating zombie kind! In a totally plausible, clever way Woon spins a hidden, ancient tale on these beings and how they have become the world’s very own forgotten supernatural creature. This book for me was a complete joy to read. It reminded me of reading Twilight for the first time. I had that feeling when you’re completely new to a supernatural being and uncover this dark and delicious secret that you actually believe in because the author makes it feel so real. I loved how original this book was and learning the rules of this long lost ancient way of life. Dead Beautiful is a big book reaching a grand total of 505 pages. I’m not a fan of larger books simply because after a while I easily tire of the same story but never at any point did I get bored with Dead Beautiful. It really felt like the book was the length it needed to be to tell Renee and Dante’s story. Not once did it feel like Yvonne Woon was waffling on or padding the book out with pointless scenes so kudos to Yvonne for keeping this reader constantly enthralled. It’s rare that I would describe a novel as interesting but that word really sums Dead Beautiful up. I became fascinated with the use of Latin and all the old mythology and rituals Yvonne used to shape this world. I for one would love to go to Gottfried Academy because Renee seriously has some of the coolest classes ever. I loved the relationship between Dante and Renee and find their situation to be very intriguing. This book ends on a huge cliff-hanger in so many ways and I closed the book with a hunger to know more and a slightly broken heart as I can honestly see no way that these two can ever be together. If you like your forbidden love stories this is up there with the best and most tragic! I didn’t really know much about this book going in to it and I think that’s the best way to read it so the only thing I’ll say about it is that it will be like nothing you’ve read before! There are also plenty of plot twists to keep you entertained and guessing, together making Dead Beautiful a fresh and compelling debut. I am so in love with this story and honestly think that Yvonne is a little bit genius. This is the second young adult novel published by Usborne and Dead Beautiful along with Angel is quickly setting them up as the go to publisher when you need a riveting read. As for Dead Beautiful if you’re looking for an original, gothic, romantic, all around fantastic read this is the book for you. I loved every minute of it and it comes with the highest of recommendations from me. My Rating 4.5/5 stars Thanks go to Usborne for sending me this book to review Synopsis taken from Usborne website

If you enjoyed this review and are interested to learn more about Dead Beautiful be sure to stop by the blog on Monday for my Dead Beautiful tour stop! For anyone interested in following this tour here is a list of blogs participating.

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