Exclusive Reveal! The Manifesto on How to be Interesting by Holly Bourne‏

So if you've followed the blog for a while you'll know that I've been a huge supporter of Holly Bourne's since before the publication of her debut novel Soulmates and so it's such an honor today to be exclusively revealing the title, cover and synopsis for her upcoming book *drum roll...*

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting

I absolutely love this bright coral neon cover and sprayed edges! It's definetely going to catch eyes in bookshops! And here's the synopsis for the book which sounds just as fab as the cover!

The Manifesto on How to be Interesting is a fearlessly frank take on school cliques, crushes and fitting in.

Bree is a loser, a wannabe author who hides behind words. But when she’s told she needs to start living a life worth writing about, The Manifesto on How to be Interesting is born. Six steps on how to be interesting. Six steps that will see her infiltrate the popular set, fall in love with someone forbidden and make the biggest mistake of her life.

Sounds great, right? So I bet you're wondering when you can get your grabby hands, that I just know you're all making at the screen, on a copy. Good news! The publication date has been brought forward to 1st August 2014.

AND THAT'S NOT ALL! 

If you're a fan of Holly's then you probably already know that she'll be at YALC on Saturday 12th July and I'm excited to reveal that copies of The Manifesto on How to be Interesting will be joining her! The book will be on sale early so fans attending YALC will be the first people to be able to buy and read the book.

 Do let both myself and Holly know what you think either in the comments or on Twitter @Jessheartsbooks and @holly_bourneYA 

Find out more about Holly and her books on her website www.hollybourne.co.uk

Ruin and Rising Blog Tour: Special Grisha Artwork and Giveaway!

Welcome to my stop on the International Ruin and Rising blog tour! Today I'm sharing with you a beautiful piece of Grisha art and a special giveaway to celebrate the upcoming publication of Ruin and Rising.

 The Summoner by Irene Koh

Okay, can we just stop for a moment and observe the gorgeousness of the kefta and clothing Irene Koh created for Alina in this panel of the triptych? The braiding, the fur cuffs, the allusion to Morozova's collar at her throat—it's ceremonial but also very much a uniform for a girl going to war. When I described what I wanted to see in Alina as the Sun Summoner, I used the words "battle ready" and that's exactly what Irene delivered. You also see suggestions of the sea whip's scales at her cuffs and the repetition of the sea motif in the background and even in the waves of her hair. – Leigh Bardugo 

 Giveaway 

I'm giving one UK based Grisha fan the chance to win this exclusive poster of The Summoner along with a copy of Ruin and Rising. Read the rules and fill in the Rafflecopter to enter. Good luck!

Giveaway Rules 

 To enter please fill in the Rafflecopter 

 Open to UK residents only 

 End date: 20th June 2014 

 One winner will be drawn and will be contacted by email with 1 week to reply else another winner will be selected

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ruin and Rising goes on sale Tuesday 17th June officially and internationally! Make sure you stop by Mundie Moms tomorrow for the next stop on the blog tour.

Spoiler Review/ Discussion for City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Walker
Release: 27th May 2014
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Rating: 4/5 stars
Source: Bought





Summary:

"Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary's own brother. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian - but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance. Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world will change. Who will survive the explosive sixth and final installment of the Mortal Instruments series?"

WARNING 
This is the sixth and final book in The Mortal Instruments series and WILL contain spoilers not only from the rest of the series but for City of Heavenly Fire itself. It’s starting to become a bit of a thing where I review the last book in a favourite series with spoilers so that I can freely share all of my thoughts and feelings and find out what you guys thought too.

Review/Discussion
The Main Story/ Characters:-
I have to start off on a not so positive note here and say that plot wise I don’t think this is the strongest of Cassie Clare’s books. I honestly felt that the main story was dragged out to fit in Emma and Jem’s stories. The Middle was quite slow for me and I could have done with a couple of hundred pages being edited out.

It felt like it took a long time to get to the crux of the story with The Clave messing around making dumb decisions and twiddling their thumbs at the beginning (seriously, why are they even in charge?) And then towards the middle it felt like we spent a lot of time traipsing through hell looking for Sebastian. I personally would have liked a tighter, snappier plot. It felt like in the end when it came to these characters and their story there wasn’t really much more to tell and we were covering old ground.

Emma and the Blackthorns:-
I really enjoyed getting to know Emma and the Blackthorn family. City of Heavenly Fire basically acts as a prequel to Cassie’s new series ‘The Dark Artifices’ and I really like where this series is heading. I really liked Emma and this book certainly set up a lot of drama for her with her parent’s murder, hints at a future war against faeries, and Emma planning on becoming parabatai with Julian.

Is it just me or is anybody else under the impression that Ty is Autistic? I have two family members who have Autism and he seemed to have a few of the traits. If this is the case I think it will be fantastic to have a Shadowhunter with Autism. We need more books featuring characters with disabilities without them being “issue books”.

Jem and Tessa:-
And so we come to my favourite part of this whole book. I am a HUGE The Infernal Devices fan so basically any mention of the Carstairs and Herondale relationship and I was a blubbing mess. I loved that Jace was the one who turned Brother Zachariah back into Jem and again found that very fitting for the Carstairs/ Herondale relationship.

Tessa and Clary’s chat at the end of the book made me so happy and I thought the whole Fairchild + Gray = Fray thing was pretty cool. I wonder how long Cassie has been planning that one!?

In our UK edition we get a The Infernal Devices comic strip of Tessa and Jem’s wedding and I sobbed and sobbed and sobbed and basically re-lived my intense The Infernal Device feels over a few pages. Even though it wasn’t an actual part of the book I couldn’t *not* mention it because it was so beautiful.

I really loved how many nods Cassie Clare gave to The Infernal Devices and the characters and how she showed that no one is every really gone through them. I can’t begin to explain my joy when I read that Jem and Tessa are off to LA so there’s a very big possibility that they’ll feature in ‘The Dark Artifices’. Hurray!

My Favourite Moments:-
• Jocelyn holding Jonathan as he died.
• Simon saving Izzy and drinking Alec’s blood.
• Jem stealing Church.
• Simon naming his band ‘The Mortal Instruments’ and remembering Clary.
• Seeing the characters ‘hearts desires’ in the demon world.
• That gorgeous Epilogue. Seriously Cassandra Clare is the queen of beautiful endings.

Overall although City of Heavenly Fire was not my favourite Cassandra Clare book I was still really happy with the ending and am really looking forward to ‘The Dark Artifices’.

What did you think of City of Heavenly Fire?

Revisited: OCD, the Kindle and Me

Some of you may remember a post I did a little while ago called ‘OCD, The Kindle and Me’ where I talked about how my OCD affects the relationship I have with my Kindle and reading. I wanted to give you a bit of an update on this today and revisit the issue.

We’re currently in the process of decorating which is stressful at the best of times and for me a bit of a nightmare. A large part of my OCD is the need to have everything in its place and doing certain rituals and checking to prevent the high anxiety and worry that something bad will happen if these checks are not performed. A lot of the items I’d usually check have been put into storage meaning I can’t do my OCD reassurances.

The first few days I was a complete mess; hysterically crying and having several panic attacks. However over the last few days I haven’t felt so bad. It’s definitely gotten easier and it feels strangely liberating dealing with the panic head on and not burying it under false promises and unnecessary bargaining.

Another big change is that a lot of my books are now unavailable to me in storage. I actually can’t believe I’m about to type this but my Kindle has become my new best friend! I can’t keep rummaging through boxes of books looking for a specific title and so I’ve been reading more on my Kindle. I used to read one or two books a month on it if that but now the last four books I’ve read on the date that I’m writing this post have been on my Kindle. This is a huge deal for me as you’ll know if you’ve read my ‘OCD, The Kindle and Me’ post. I literally don’t know what I’d have done without my Kindle these past couple of weeks.

The stressful process of decorating has been a bit of a blessing in disguise forcing me to confront a few of my OCD related issues. I’ve definitely become more comfortable reading on my Kindle and only hope that I don’t revert back to my old ways once we’ve finished decorating. That’s not to say that I no longer love my physical books. I do still prefer them but now being able to read on my Kindle too is a welcome bonus. I’m so proud that I’ve reached my goals for project learning to love my Kindle. Although some may think overcoming an OCD related fear of Kindle reading is a bit strange and trivial it’s one step closer to overcoming all aspects of my OCD that have ultimately controlled my life for years and I couldn’t be happier!

Review for On The Fence by Kasie West

On The Fence by Kasie West 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release: 1st July 2014
Genre: Contemporary, YA, Summer
Source: Received for review via Edelweiss





Synopsis:

"She's a tomboy. He's the boy next door…

Charlie Reynolds can outrun, outscore, and outwit every boy she knows. But when it comes to being a girl, Charlie doesn't know the first thing about anything. So when she starts working at a chichi boutique to pay off a speeding ticket, she finds herself in a strange new world. To cope with the stress of her new reality, Charlie takes to spending nights chatting with her neighbor Braden through the fence between their yards. As she grows to depend on their nightly Fence Chats, she realizes she's got a bigger problem than speeding tickets-she's falling for Braden. She knows what it means to go for the win, but if spilling her secret means losing him for good, the stakes just got too high."

Review 
When people think of Charlie Reynolds they see her as one of the guys. Growing up in a house with three older sports loving brothers, her dad, and the boy next door as her best friend it’s no wonder Charlie is a tomboy who loves nothing more than playing sports and goofing off with the five loving and protective men in her life. Charlie knows how to hang with the guys but when she gets a job at a clothing boutique and starts crushing on her best friend she’s thrown in at the deep end with no mom or girlfriends to help keep her afloat. On The Fence follows Charlie’s journey over one summer as she ventures into the unexplored territory of girlhood whilst trying to stay true to who she is.

One chapter in and I knew this was going to be the kind of contemporary summer story that I love to read. There’s a lovable and large close-knit family, a boy next door/ best friend, and a coming of age story looking at grief and being true to yourself. On The Fence was a sweet, quick, read that left me all smiley.

The relationships here had to be my favourite thing about this book. The goofy and teasing relationships that Charlie had with her brothers reminded me so much of the one that I have with my own brother. There’s also a really sweet slow burning romance between Charlie and boy next door Braden that is easy to get behind. They have these honest and meaningful midnight fence chats and you watch these two long term best friends blossom into something more as they share their secrets underneath the stars. Braden was the boy next door, brother’s best friend and boy you’ve know your whole life rolled into one which made for a really cute love interest.

Overall On The Fence is a sweet summer read that’s perfect for fans of ‘My Life Next Door’. It’s utterly feel good but there’s enough depth there to stop it from being fluffy. All in all? Perfect summer reading.