Holiday Hiatus

I'm going on holiday on Friday and I can't wait to make the most of those final days of summer. I'm also going to be taking an extended blogging hiatus for a few weeks in September to give me chance to rest and rejuvenate ready for Autumn and Winter. My TBR for the upcoming months is looking rather fantastic and I'm very much looking forward to cosy reading as Autumn arrives. Whether you're going on holiday like me, or are returning back to school, I hope you make the most of these last warm days of 2016! I'll speak to you all in a few weeks and will still be around on social media sharing what I'm up to and what books I'm reading over there :)

Review for The Deviants by C.J. Skuse

The Deviants by C.J. Skuse 
Publisher: Mira Ink
Release: 22nd September 2016
Genre: UKYA, Thriller
Source: Copy received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review



Synopsis:

"When you set out for revenge, dig two graves

Growing up in the sleepy English seaside town of Brynston, the fearless five – Ella, Max, Corey, Fallon and Zane – were always inseparable. Living up to their nickname, they were the adventurous, rowdy kids who lived for ghost stories and exploring the nearby islands off the coast. But when Max’s beloved older sister Jessica is killed, the friendship seems to die with her.

Now years later, only Max and Ella are in touch; still best friends and a couple since they were thirteen. Their lives are so intertwined Max’s dad even sponsors Ella’s training for the Commonwealth Games. But Ella is hiding things. Like why she hates going to Max’s house for Sunday dinner, and flinches whenever his family are near. Or the real reason she’s afraid to take their relationship to the next level.

When underdog Corey is bullied, the fearless five are brought back together again, teaming up to wreak havoc and revenge on those who have wronged them. But when the secrets they are keeping can no longer be kept quiet, will their fearlessness be enough to save them from themselves?"

Review 
C.J. Skuse is one of my favourite authors and every time she has a new book out I wonder how she can possibly top the last, but she does! Every. Single. Time. The Deviants is CJ’s most accomplished book yet and I gobbled it up greedily in a single sitting – it was that good!

Ella, Max, Corey, Fallon and Zane used to be best friends. As children they would spend their days having adventures in their sleepy seaside town, and at night would beg Max’s big sister Jess to tell them one of her legendary scary stories, until the day a very real kind of horror finds them when Jess is killed in an accident, changing their lives forever.

Years later and all that remains of their group is Max and Ella who have grown to be more than friends, but when a series of events bring the five back into each other’s lives, they find that secrets of the past never stay buried for long, and that there may be more to Jess’s death than they first thought all those years ago...

The Deviants is a book that doesn’t give up all its secrets at once. I started this book thinking it was one thing, only for CJ to add twists and turns throughout so that by the end, the book is something else entirely. I loved the direction that this book went in and found the bombshells that are dropped so casually throughout the book impossible to predict.

The area where C.J. Skuse really shines in all of her books is with her characters. CJ really gets teenagers and gives them voices and personalities that feel so authentic to read. Ella as a main character is so flawed and complex, I really appreciated not having the traditionally likeable heroine here and thought that it worked particularly well for this story.

When I started this book I never could have predicted the incredible ending, it absolutely blew me away! I’ve been purposefully vague in this review because this is a book that you want to go into knowing as little as possible so that you can experience the full impact, but I will just say that the ending of this book left me with my mouth hanging open!

The Deviants is a thriller with heart. With its clever twists, skilled plotting and heart-breaking finale it’s easily one of my favourite reads of 2016 – don’t miss it!

YA Shot Tour: Q&A with Sara Barnard

Hello everybody! Today is my stop on the YA Shot Tour and I'm thrilled to be hosting Beautiful Broken Things author Sara Barnard. I had so much fun interviewing Sara and I hope you enjoy the Q&A!

1.) Have you ever experienced a significant life event? 
 Yes, but nothing like what happens in BBT! Mine are things like going to university, living in another country, moving in with my boyfriend, getting a book published. They’ve all been very significant for my life!

2.) Which of your characters did you most enjoy writing?
I enjoyed all of them in different ways, but Suzanne is particularly special to me and I could write her all day. Rosie’s blunt tongue was fun, and I have a bit of a soft spot for Tarin!

3.) Who are some of your favourite fictional besties? 
I love Holly Bourne’s Spinster Club, and of course the Harry Potter trio. The friendship between Queenie and Maddie in Code Name Verity is incredible.

4.) In Beautiful Broken Things Suzanne has a mental illness, what advice would you give to readers who want to know how to best support a friend with mental health problems?
Just to be their friend - that’s your role, and that’s what they’ll need. Remember, they’re friends with you for a reason! You don’t need to try and be their doctor or their psychiatrist. If you’re not sure, it’s always better to ask. Above all, make sure they know you’re there for them and that they can trust you to be there through the good and the bad. That’s the most important thing.

5.) Do you have any tips for dealing with a friendship fallout? 
Usually the only thing you really can do is wait out the storm - they all fade out eventually. If you’re in the wrong, apologise, but let them be angry for a while, too. And if they’re in the wrong, go ahead and be mad for a while. You’re allowed to be annoyed with your friends sometimes!

6.) What are some of the best places to hangout in Brighton? 
The beach is the most obvious, but the Royal Pavillion also has beautiful sunny gardens to sit in and relax. When I have friends visiting we like spending time in North Laine, which has the best vintage shops to explore.

7.) What’s been your best debut author moment so far?
Honestly, nothing beats getting messages from readers who love or have really taken something from the book. Everything else is a brilliant bonus, but those messages mean the absolute world.

8.) Can you tell us a little bit about your next book?
It’s called A Quiet Kind of Thunder and it's a quiet love story between a girl who doesn’t talk and a boy who can’t hear. It features anxiety, selective mutism, deafness and a German shepherd called Rita.

Thank you Sara for taking the time to answer my questions! 

You can meet Sara Barnard at YA Shot this October for more about the event check out their website here and don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour under the hashtag #yashot2016 on Twitter

Review for The Graces by Laure Eve

The Graces by Laure Eve 
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Release: 1st September 2016
Genre: UKYA, Thriller
Source: Copy received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review



Synopsis:

"Everyone said the Graces were witches. 

They moved through the corridors like sleek fish, ripples in their wake. Stares followed their backs and their hair. 

They had friends, but they were just distractions. They were waiting for someone different. 

All I had to do was show them that person was me.

Like everyone else in her town, River is obsessed with the Graces, attracted by their glamour and apparent ability to weave magic. But are they really what they seem? And are they more dangerous than they let on?"

Review 
The early whisperings of excitement for The Graces has been impossible to ignore, so despite feeling so over stories about witches and the paranormal I *had* to read this book to see what all the fuss was about. Woah. Just…woah. This book was nothing like what I was expecting it to be! It’s very unique and like nothing else on the YA market right now. If, like me, you thought that you were done with books about witches – think again!

Everybody knows the Graces - glamorous, magnetic and unabashedly different – the Grace siblings Thalia, Fenrin and Summer are their high school’s celebrities and everyone wants a piece of them. New girl River is no different and quickly becomes enchanted by the rumours that the Graces are witches. So many have tried and failed to befriend the siblings and so everyone is surprised when they take River under their wing. At first, hanging out with the Graces seems like all fun and games, but as the stakes get higher River quickly learns that being allowed into the Graces circle comes with a price, and that power of any kind carries consequences.

In The Graces, Laure Eve strips back witchcraft to its basics, this story is one of small magics that are so delightfully coincidental that you’re never sure whether to believe in this books magical element or not. The way that Laure Eve teases readers is both tantalising and fun, it really is showmanship as its very best. Reading The Graces is like watching a magician perform, as the audience you want to believe in the magic, but is there such a thing? Or is what you’re experiencing simply clever illusions and smoke and mirrors? That drive to know the truth is what makes The Graces so compelling to read.

River was such an interesting character she’s very ambiguous to the point where we only know her by the name that the Graces call her. Her identity is solely made up of the Graces and their love and approval of her. This book is a real testament to how other people perceive us versus our true selves and how they can differ. At its heart The Graces is a story about fully embracing both the things that make us ordinary and the things that make us different.

With heady writing and intoxicating characters, Laure Eve has spun a gothic tale about power and obsession that breathes new life into witches. Thrilling, dark and atmospheric, The Graces will hold you spellbound from start to finish. Don’t miss the next big thing in YA Fiction.

Pokémon Go Book Tag

I'm so obsessed with Pokémon Go right now, so when I saw the Pokémon Go Book Tag created by Read at Midnight floating around social media I knew that I just had to do it! Pokémon and books? Yes please! Let's get started...

I have always loved reading since I was a little kid. When I was younger I remember being really obsessed with anything Roald Dahl especially The Twits, Matilda and The BFG, then as I got a bit older I discovered the Harry Potter series and Jacqueline Wilson's books and when I was in my early teens I fell in love with the Georgia Nicolson series by the late Louise Rennison and The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. These books were all so influential to me as a young reader and are what sparked my passion for reading.

 

I'm not a huge reader of the classics but two that I really enjoyed are Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.

I didn't necessarily lose interest in this one because it is everywhere, but it is one that lots of people love and I just don't get and that is Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard. I read the first book in this series and it just didn't work for me so I won't be continuing on with it.

Two books that came out this summer that are very similar to one another are The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware and Distress Signals by Catherine Ryan Howard, I've read them both and despite being similar I love them exactly the same.

I have been wanting to read the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon for about eight years now and I've always put it off because it's a HUGE series with each book standing between 800-1000 pages. I really want to watch the TV series but I want to read the books first so I really need to get around to them soon!

A book that I read late into the night recently was The Graces by Laure Eve - I just had to know what was going on with this book! It was totally worth the late nights because it's turned out to be one of my favourite books of the year.

I have sooo many bookish OTP's! Instead of a big long list, I'm going to go with my most recently discovered couple Libby and Jack from Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven, they're so cute and perfect for each other!

A series I love for a quick, fast-paced read is the Saga series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. The plot and dialogue is always whip fast and entertaining and because they're graphic novels they are really quick little reads.

As someone who loved The Cursed Child and has a constant hunger for more books/movies/plays set in this world, I will never get tired of being in J.K Rowling's Wizarding World. Hogwarts really is my home.

A book that I really wasn't sure about when it first came out was Cinder by Marissa Meyer. The synopsis sounded really wacky and I wasn't interested in it at all. Then a few of my friends convinced me to give it a go and I loved it! I've now read the whole series and it's one of my favourites,

The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson is a series that is so beloved and raved about and I'm very excited to get around to it. I've always been a bit intimidated by Brandon Sanderson's books but he's such an accessible High Fantasy author and after loving the Mistborn series I really want to read more by him.

There is an absolutely gorgeous collectors edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard that retails at most places for around £500. I love Harry Potter, but I don't love it that much.

There are already so many debut novels coming out next year that I'm really excited for but one that stands out to me is Caraval by Stephanie Garber. It sounds like such a magical fantasy and I'm so jealous of everyone who has a proof copy already!

I have a lot of favourite authors who are auto-buy for me but the author whose books I have bought religiously since I first discovered her writing at thirteen years old are Sarah Dessen's.

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor - March 2017 seems like forever away!

This was such a fun and creative tag! 

Be sure to check out the original post here and if you'd like to do it then consider yourself tagged