A Girl Called Owl by Amy Wilson

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 336

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books 

Released: 26th of January 2017 

It's bad enough having a mum dippy enough to name you Owl, but when you've got a dad you've never met, a best friend who needs you more than ever, and a new boy at school giving you weird looks, there's not a lot of room for much else. 

So when Owl starts seeing strange frost patterns on her skin, she's tempted to just burrow down under the duvet and forget all about it. Could her strange new powers be linked to her mysterious father?And what will happen when she enters the magical world of winter for the first time?

What I Have to Say 

An interesting new take on the myths and legends that surround the seasons, A Girl Called Owl explores the suffering of a young girl who doesn't know who her father is and has a mother who doesn't seem to be willing to share a single detail but fairy tails, and what happens when those fairy tails turn out to not be quite the stories they seem to be. 

The desperation that Owl shows on wanting a father is shown beautifully and juxtaposed against the subplot of her friend's trouble with her parents separation. But I feel as though the fight between them was pushed in for no reason but to create conflict. From the start, Owl's friend was on her side believing her, so I feel like if Owl had been honest with her from the start, nothing would have happened. 

All in all, I did really like this book and the mythology it explored, but I felt it could have been a bit more thought out and crafted. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan for providing me with this copy for review. 

Lily and the Christmas Wish by Keris Stainton

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 160 

Publisher: Piccadilly Press
Released: 5th of November 2015

When a town's Christmas wishes get mixed-up, can one little girl and her dog put them right? 

The little town of Pinewood can't wait for Christmas this year. They're going to celebrate by putting up a giant Christmas tree in the town square, and asking all the townspeople to hang a Christmas wish on its branches. Everyone is feeling very festive, including nine-year-old Lily - although she's not sure she believes in wishes. Then a very strange storm blows in, scattering all the wishes...and Lily wakes up the next morning to a bit of a surprise. Bug, her adorable pug puppy, can talk! It's magic - and a wish come true! But it's not Lily's wish...

Lily and her little brother James soon discover that something must have happened during the storm - the town's wishes have been granted, but to all the wrong people! Lily, James and Bug must work out which wish belongs to who, and sort everything out before Christmas Eve - otherwise no one will get what they want for Christmas. 

What I Have to Say 

This was such a cute story and was a really good read for the holiday season. It may be a little late for the Christmas season, but it'll still be great to curl up and read in front of the fire, especially if we get snow. 

Set against the backdrop of a struggling marriage, Lily and her family see a wide range of quirky wishes, from "I wish my dog could talk" to "I wish I didn't have to go to school". It's fun to see what kinds of wishes people have made and who they belong to, as Lily, her brother and her dog reunite the owners with their wishes. 

This book was a little young for me, but I think that's part of the reason I enjoyed it so much. It's nice to kick back and read a story about a girl and her talking dog, full of Christmas spirit. It still covers serious issues, but it does that in a more positive light than in a lot of older books. It was a very relaxing read. 

Even though Christmas is over, I still strongly recommend it for a cosy winter mood. 

Fire Colour One by Jenny Valentine

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 256

Publisher: Harper Collins

Release: July 1st 2015

A teenage girl will soon discover, there are some things which burn even brighter than fire.

Iris’s father Ernest is at the end of his life.

Her best friend Thurston seems like a distant memory to her.

Her mother has declared war. She means to get her hands on Ernest’s priceless art collection so that she can afford to live the high life.

But Ernest has other ideas. 

There are things he wants Iris to know. Things he can tell her and things that must wait till he’s gone.

What she does after that is up to her

What I Have to Say 

This book was interesting. It took me a while to get into it and it hasn't left me feeling like it was anything special, but there are moments that I can think back to and remember I really enjoyed. I think that for someone out there, this could become their favourite book, but unfortunately for me, it wasn't the one for me. 

There wasn't anything wrong with the book that I can see. I really liked the relationships, or lack thereof, between the characters. Iris' background of not really feeling love and actually despising her mother was really interesting to read. Her friendship with Thurston and Thurston's character in general was one of my favourite parts of the book. I always love an eccentric character and an eccentric character who enjoys doing performance art was sure to win my heart. 

I was also very captured by the descriptions of Hannah and her fakery. It was good to see a character who by very definition hasn't got that much to her, but who is still a very strong, well written character. It is an easy thing to get wrong, making a character bland and uninteresting, but Hannah is just shallow, vain and driven by her greed. She makes the perfect antagonist for Iris, as Iris is striving to form a relationship with her father, Ernest. 

As I said, I enjoyed this book, but don't think it will stay with me as one of my favourites, but I would encourage others to read it as it is well written and full of lively characters. It may not be the book for me, but it could be for you.