Paperweight

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 304

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 2nd of July 2015

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

 Struggling to deal with her brother's death and a past she refuses to confront, Stevie knows she has problems. But she's still furious about the fact that she's been packed off to a health clinic, in the middle of nowhere, where mobile phones are banned and communication with the outside world is strictly by permission only. The regimented and obtrusive nature of the clinic and its staff is torture to the deeply private, obstinate Stevie - and don't even get her started on the other 'inmates'. All she wants is to be left alone...

 But as Stevie is about to find out, life is full of surprises. And she will prove herself stronger than she knows - even when her past finally catches her up in the most shocking and brutal way possible.

What I Have To Say 

I really enjoyed this book. I've not read much about eating disorders before, especially not as severe. It was really interesting to see how much variety there is between the different girls as well as the organisation and ways they tried to treat it. 

The main characters voice was really strong. The way that her sense of identity was wrapped up in her illness made it really powerful. There was always this struggle between wanting to be seen as anorexic, wanting to die and wanting to just give up and submit to treatment. 

I liked the flashbacks too. It's become a bit of a trope in YA to start a story in the middle and show how the character got there though flashbacks. But I think that when dealing with mental health, it can be a really effective format especially when the character is working through trauma as they spend a lot of time stuck in the past. 

A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for providing me with this e-copy

Pages: 280

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Released: 4th of August 2015

Sixteen-year-old Beckan and her friends are the only fairies brave enough to stay in Ferrum when war breaks out. Now there is tension between the immortal fairies, the subterranean gnomes, and the mysterious tightropers who arrived to liberate the fairies.

But when Beckan's clan is forced to venture into the gnome underworld to survive, they find themselves tentatively forming unlikely friendships and making sacrifices they couldn't have imagined. As danger mounts, Beckan finds herself caught between her loyalty to her friends, her desire for peace, and a love she never expected. 

This stunning, lyrical fantasy is a powerful exploration of what makes a family, what justifies a war, and what it means to truly love.

What I Have to Say 

I didn't get on with this book at all. I had a major issue with the fact that they were glorifying prostitution a bit too much. The author did seem to make an attempt to show the trauma that working in a profession such as that can create. I'm fairly open, I don't think I'd have minded so much if it was an adult book where someone who chooses to go into prostitution, but this was a book for teenagers. A book where characters are pressured into the profession due to hard circumstances. This sort of thing has to be written sensitively, which I don't think it was. 

It was a really interesting setting, but the author didn't really spend a lot of time on it. I would have liked it a lot more if there had been more detail about the fairy culture and the friction between them and the trolls. But it just wasn't set up enough. 

It wasn't badly written and the characters were fairly interesting at times, but I really just didn't like it. 

Birdy by Jess Vallance

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Hot Key Books for providing me with this review copy! 

Pages: 272

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 2nd July 2015

Frances Bird has been a loner for so long that she’s given up on ever finding real friendship. But then she’s asked to show a new girl around school, and she begins to think her luck could finally be changing.

Eccentric, talkative and just a little bit posh, Alberta is not at all how Frances imagined a best friend could be. But the two girls click immediately, and it’s not long before they are inseparable. Frances could not be happier.

As the weeks go on, Frances finds out more about her new best friend – her past, her secrets, her plans for the future – and she starts to examine their friendship more closely.

Is it, perhaps, just too good to be true?

What I Have to Say 

I was left reeling by this book. The ending is just so wonderfully unexpected. Although I feel like I should have seen it coming really. It's all there when you think back on it. But it's set up in such a way that it leads you down the wrong path and makes you try to guess the twist. 

It was a beautifully written story. I really  like stories with unreliable narrator and Jess Vallance pulls off this one really well. The friendship is very well written. It shows how close the girls get to each other and the sadness Frances feels as Bert starts to draw away from her. 

Frances and Bert are very distinct characters. Bert is the bubbly, eccentric new girl, not used to a school environment and Frances, the quiet, loner type who's never had a real friend before. It was wonderful how quick it was to get to know them, how easy it was to think of them as real people. 

When you read this book, be prepared to hurt when Frances gets hurt and be happy when she gets happy. 

YALC - the Highlights!

So it's already been a whole week since YALC and yet again I've not found time to write a post about it until now. So I hope you are all still interested! I'll try to keep this short. Also, yet again, I managed to not think about taking any pictures for this post, so I'll have to make do with what I've got. 

Everyone was so nice. I don't think I stopped talking the entire time. There were just so many awesome people. I feel like I always say the same things about the UKYA community, but it really is just an accepting place. Everyone is so enthusiastic and friendly and completely okay with someone just sitting down next to them and starting to chat. I made so many friends! 

One thing I did notice was how much this blog has grown since last year. A lot of people said that my blog looked familiar or that they recognised the name. It was so much different from last year when not so many people knew who I am. 

The convention itself was much better than last year in terms of space. For most of the time we could actually walk around and breathe! It got a bit crowded on the Saturday, but for the most part it was pretty good. 

So on to highlights! 

Friday

Me modelling my thrown together Ravenclaw
uniform and wand

Friday was quiet as it was only a half day, though I was lucky enough to get invited to a Bloggers Brunch at Chicken House in the morning. It was awesome, if a bit crowded because the place we were in was a little too small for us all. I met lots of great bloggers and authors got a lovely Chicken House tote bag. 

In the afternoon, I think one of main highlights was the Cosplay panel by the ever wonderful Lucy Saxon, author of Take Back the Skies and The Almost King and amazing cosplayer. The panel really made me feel more confident about the idea that I could actually cosplay, which I tried for the first time this year. The panelists gave me enough confidence to wear a wig on the third day! 

The evening was the amazing Harry Potter Mugglenet Party, which was really fun. The quiz was as hard as they advertised it. It was fun trying to find the horcruxes, even if I didn't find many and I got some house points! And my Hufflepuff friends won the house cup so I was really happy for them. 

Hayley Atwell being blessed by the gods for
 being wonderful 

Saturday

Saturday was the biggest day for crowds. I went around and got a lot books signed. I think the thing I enjoyed most on Saturday was just hanging out, enjoying the bookish atmosphere and catching up with friends I knew from the UKYA community. I saw quite a few authors I'd met in previous years too, so it was cool to be recognised. 

I also got a chance to look around the main convention, which is always fun, if a bit of a money drain!

The biggest highlight of Saturday though was when an artist came up to me randomly and casually asked if he could give me a picture. And it turned out to be Chris Riddell. The Children's Laureate Chris Riddell. That was a bit of a shock. 

Me as Chisaki from the anime Nagi No Asukara
complete with blue wig

Sunday 

Sunday was the biggest, most awesome day. I had a lot of books to get signed, two panels to go to and a workshop.  I'm going to bullet point this because otherwise it is going to get too long. 

My best bits were: 

-The Mental Health and Bringing Sexy Back panels in the morning (can do a blog post on either of these if anyone wants to know what were said) 

- The Blogging workshop from Jim Dean, Lucy Powrie and Vivienne Dacosta where I learnt a lot of useful stuff which will hopefully help me improve this blog. 

- James Dawson's modesty dragon. 

- Getting to meet Annabel Pitcher and getting myself a proof of Silence is Goldfish, which I've been wanting for a while! 

-Not a book thing, but I also met the beautiful, wonderful actress Hayley Atwell. 

- Meeting Nina from Death, Books and Tea in the line for the Liz Kessler signing. 

 I also got to try out a couple of cosplays, which is a hobby I've been really wanting to take up since I was about sixteen. It was everything I thought it would be so expect bigger better cosplays from me in the next few years. 

If anyone else has any great stories from YALC or LFCC please feel free to share them in the comments.

Lorali by Laura Dockrill

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Hot Key Books for providing me with this review copy. 

Pages: 208

Publishers: Hot Key Books 

Released: 2nd of July 2015

Looking after a naked girl he found washed up under Hastings pier isn't exactly how Rory had imagined spending his sixteenth birthday. But more surprising than finding her in the first place is discovering where she has come from.

Lorali is running not just from the sea, not just from her position as princess, but her entire destiny. Lorali has rejected life as a mermaid, and become human.

But along with Lorali's arrival, and the freak weather suddenly battering the coast, more strange visitors begin appearing in Rory's bemused Sussex town. With beautifully coiffed hair, sharp-collared shirts and a pirate ship shaped like a Tudor house, the Abelgare boys are a mystery all of their own. What are they really up to? Can Rory protect Lorali? And who from? And where does she really belong, anyway?

What I Have to Say 

Can I just say how adorable Lorali is? She such a special little sweetheart that needs to be protected from this world at all costs so she never loses her enthusiasm for everything. I really hope that the events of the book don't take that from her because she is a beautiful character that everyone needs in their life. 

The story was amazing. There was everything, politics, drama, betrayal, pirates, hunters and pain. I found the society of the Mers really interesting. It was well done, drawing in classic mermaid mythology as well as new and unique ideas to create a beautiful world. The idea of savaging was especially interesting. It creates so much space for mermaids with tragic backstories. 

The ending nearly killed my heart. I knew how it would be resolved, but there were loads of twists and surprises. 

It's such a beautiful book. 

A Whisper of Wolves and Warning Cry by Kris Humphrey

Synopsis for A Whisper of Wolves (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 224

Publisher: Stripes Publishing 

Released: 2nd of March 2015 (Warning Cry: 6th of July 2014) 

When a raven drops a white feather at the doorstep on the day of your birth, it is a symbol of your destiny. You are a Whisperer – a guardian of the wild. After many years of peace in the kingdom of Meridina, rumours are spreading of a planned invasion – could the demonic Narlaw be returning from the darklands? It is up to the Whisperers and their animal companions to defend Meridina, protect Princess Ona and stop the Narlaw from destroying their world.

When hunters from her village disappear without a trace, Alice suspects that something sinister is at work. With the help of Storm, her wolf companion, Alice fights to save her village. The Narlaw are on the attack and it’s up to the Whisperers to stop them…

What I Have to Say 

This is a series that I would have adored as a kid. It's so in keeping of what I like that it reminds me a lot of the games I used to make up in the playground about 12 year old girls who could psychically connect to animals. So I am really, really disappointed to be finding it now and not then. Because while I would have adored it back then, it felt a bit flat to me now. 

That said the second book really picked up. I really liked Nara and Tuanne. They were much more interesting characters than I found Alice to be in the first book. Alice just felt like nothing special to me, she was the same girl that is in a lot of these books. 

I think the second book has made me a lot more enthusiastic about the series. I like the theme of girls finding their place in the world and being important. I love the animals and especially Tuanne learning to whisper with Nimbus. I like her in general because she is so different from the others and uses her powers in such a different way from her need to survive in the desert with her tribe. 

I'm looking forward to the next book. 

Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas

 Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Bloomsbury for providing me with this e-Copy.

Pages: 344

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books 

Released: 2nd of July 2015

Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.

A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this debut is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine.

What I Have to Say 

This is such a great idea! I'm so glad it was pulled off as well as it was. Ollie and Moritz were really great characters, both with distinct personalities and views of the world. I love how much the idea of not being defined by their illnesses came up, because I felt that this is something that anyone who is ill either physically or mentally can relate to. 

I loved how they played on the idea of optimism and pessimism, having the boys in opposite moods to each other throughout the book. Both characters were so strong with such interesting backstories both Ollie with Liz and Moritz with his mother as well as the mysterious laboratory. They both had their own personal struggles and barriers to overcome. 

And I'm so glad that they discussed the idea of becoming superheros, because that had to be done, especially with the similarities to Daredevil. 

This is definitely an author I'm going to watch out for more from.