Rosebush by Michele Jaffe

Rosebush was a seriously compelling read. I started it over the course of one evening, and felt aggrieved at having to put it down to go to sleep. I then spent the next day picking it up every chance I had. I just HAD to know what was going to happen, and which of Jane's friends was responsible for what happened to her.

Jane's voice is very strong - written in the first person - and means that the reader ends up living every nightmare that Jane suffers. Her descent into doubting herself and possible madness is chilling and kept me absolutely gripped.

The whole "rich gal with secrets" thing has been done before on TV, but it was the first YA novel I'd read with that sort of theme, and it lends itself well to the short snappy chapters that Jaffe used to construct her novel. I also liked the flashbacks and the confusion that left me guessing all the way to the end who would turn out to be the would-be killer.

I felt a little strange at the fact that Jane was snogging three different guys during the time that she was in hospital - it went against the way that I "felt" she should act. I would have preferred to see just David and Pete as the guys that Jane feels drawn towards - Scott is a strange addition to the story.

This definitely has more depth than a lot of the YA that I've read, and has a deliciously dark edge. I would warn against starting this when you have other things that need to be done, because you won't be able to put it down. Enjoyable, and psychologically scary.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf – her wolf – is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: in winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human – or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

The positive of Shiver is the prose. It is delicate and fragile, like ice crystals and the wind through leaves. It is haunting and desperate, like the best parts of Romeo and Juliet. Maggie Stiefvater writes beautifully. I found myself drowning in the loveliness of the prose - to the point where I was *almost* able to ignore the flaws of the novel. If Stiefvater had managed to take the plot to the same places as the prose - stratospherically good - then this would have been an AMAZING book.

As it is, I think the best words to describe Shiver are ephemeral and fleeting - much like the summers that the wolves experience as humans before turning back to animals. As I read it, I was drawn into this story, but I can't imagine that it will stay with me beyond a few days.

Even while reading and luxuriating in the stunning writing, I found myself frustrated by Grace's character. She loves Sam just because. Why does she love him? Why is she so obsessed? Why is she willing to overlook the fact he is a wolf half the time?

I also found the background around the story very limited. Why are there werewolves anyway? Why have they settled in Mercy Falls? Why does Beck need more werewolves? Why did he decide that Sam should be a werewolf?

Why doesn't Olivia - who is such friends with Grace, apparently - come to her friend about the issues she's having? Why is the ending so very artificial?

Ack, just writing all of these questions makes me become more frustrated. Shiver should have been a superb novel. A brilliant book. A book that you are dying to share amongst all your friends. As it was, I enjoyed it and will want to read Linger and Forever, but it wasn't the classic that it deserves to be.

VIII by H M Castor

VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII.

The copy for VIII states that it will do "for Henry what Hilary Mantel did for Thomas Cromwell - VIII is Wolf Hall for the teen and crossover market." I don't dispute that VIII most certainly introduces the life of VIII, but I have definite misgivings about the novel.

Key amongst these is the pacing of the novel. Over half of VIII tackled the early life of Henry and his marriage to Catherine, after the death of his brother. The remaining half showed the rest of his reign and the other five wives. In a novel that only just tips 300 pages, that is far too much to try and squeeze into the final half of the book. It made for a very rushed narrative, where Castor was unable to really showcase the way in which Hal changed from charming young man to absolute tyrant. When this came after such a leisurely opening, it caused me to catch my breath. It also meant that whole swathes of Henry's reign were not even touched upon - the whole monasteries malarkey wasn't even mentioned, and I believe this could and should have been added to the narrative.

The other facet of VIII that I didn't enjoy much was the ghost story/horror element. You have here one of the most famous personalities of all time; one of the most horrific tyrants; one of the most boisterous and downright larger-than-life monarchs - VIII didn't need any embellishments of this sort. It could have stood on its own two feet simply telling the crazy story of this King who beheaded two of his wives and divorced two others; destroyed the monasteries and introduced himself as the Head of the Church. Who needs ghosts when you have all of that actual material?

Lastly on the negative front, I found the style of writing a little odd - first person, but in a present tense e.g. "It's a beautiful morning, and the sunlight makes a halo around my mother's figure as she walks." Because this is such an unusual narrative choice in the novels I read, I found it jarring and that feeling never entirely left me.

Despite this failings, I still found myself entertained enough to read through VIII. Skipping the 'boring' bits and focusing on the soap opera style relationships and tensions of Henry's life definitely made it an interesting read. Castor has a nice flair for narrative (aside from the POV choice) and, for younger readers, it provides a good stepping on point for historical fiction. It has enough historical accuracy to appeal, and presents a decent perspective of Henry and how he became the tyrant we all know.

VIII is a decent stab at historical fiction for younger readers - and, in fact, one of the main failings was not being longer, so that Castor could do justice to the life of Henry VIII. Having said that, through personal preference I'm not sure I could read a longer novel from first person present tense perspective! Castor effectively showcases the monster that Henry is believed to have been, from arrogant young boy through to a man who truly believes he is God's hand on earth. An effective, although rushed, novel.

Blog Tour: VIII by Harriet Castor

Today I am pleased to be part of the blog tour for VIII by Harriet Castor. The other tour participants are as follows, so make sure you check any you might have missed:

(Click to embiggen!)

This is the blurb/info as lifted from Amazon UK - VIII is published on 1st October 2011!

VIII is the story of Hal: a young, handsome, gifted warrior, who believes he has been chosen to lead his people. But he is plagued by the ghosts of his family's violent past and, once he rises to power, he turns to murder and rapacious cruelty. He is Henry VIII. The Tudors have always captured the popular imagination, but in VIII, Henry is presented fresh for a new generation. H M Castor does for Henry what Hilary Mantel did for Thomas Cromwell - VIII is Wolf Hall for the teen and crossover market. The contemporary, original writing style will have broad appeal and VIII brings the tension of a psychological thriller and the eeriness of a ghost story to historical fiction.

Finally, a very warm welcome to Harriet...

Writing my new book VIII, a YA novel told through the eyes of Henry VIII, took a huge amount of research. I’m not complaining – I loved every bit of it. But today I wanted to tell you a little about some of the more… well, unusual aspects of the research process.

You’d expect me to have read great tomes on Tudor history, to have studied documents, visited palaces and consulted experts on everything from costumes to archery techniques, wouldn’t you? Yes, you’d be right.

But how about my endless obsessive watching of Elton John videos (or rather, two in particular)? How about my mining of Youtube for clips of Robert Downey Jr and John Malkovich? How about studying a huge in-depth biography of Elvis Presley?

No, I’m not mad. Don’t start backing away. Look, I’m a trained historian. Cambridge University, BA, First Class – honest! Let me rummage for my certificate…

You see, I wanted to steep myself in the detail of research, the known facts, the contemporary maps, the historians’ theories, the politics, the policies – all that. But I needed to find the emotional reality of Henry’s story too. This, for me, is a very different process. Because although historical research enables you to make the past vivid and present to yourself, at the same time it highlights the differences between the past and your own world. This is, of course, very necessary – you need to be aware of these differences, work with them, dig into them for insights. But, but. At the same time, because I was writing VIII in the first person, speaking in Henry’s voice, I needed to forget those differences and bring Henry closer… I needed to become him. And above all, I needed to get that Holbein image – of Henry standing arms akimbo, bearded and jewelled – out of my head. I could not inhabit an icon. I had to make Henry a human being.

Take, if you can, a couple of minutes to watch the video below. It’s a fantastic film made by the artist Sam Taylor-Wood of Robert Downey Jr lip-synching to Elton John’s song I Want Love. Downey is alone in palatial surroundings; to me the film speaks viscerally, immediately, of the loneliness of power. And of how easily it can push you into strange states of mind. Downey – or Henry, as he was to me when I was writing VIII – looks hard yet vulnerable, cold yet emotional… and dangerous. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbexgPyeJQ

Completely by chance, another video I found hugely useful was also an Elton John one – here it’s Justin Timberlake doing the lip-synching, to This Train Don’t Stop. It’s a brilliant portrayal of the isolation and disconnection of the constantly accompanied ‘star’ (as Henry was in his own day). How, it makes me ask, can such a person remain emotionally undamaged? What madness must it be to live in that situation and have no one (pretty much) to check you, to have life-and-death power over everyone around you? Surely that sort of power must be a hellish, lonely trap? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsuHAn54wPs

When Henry was young he was handsome, charismatic, ridiculously talented. Constantly surrounded by a gang of male friends and hangers-on. Yet, inside, he was in many respects child-like and insecure. Here, Peter Guralnick’s monumental and brilliant 2-volume biography of Elvis came in. Of course Elvis didn’t develop into the monster that Henry became – but, in a radically different time and place, he shared so many of Henry’s natural advantages, and he did manifestly fail to cope with his power and success. How could his story not be relevant to my study of Henry?

John Malkovich’s meltdown in the Coen brothers’ film Burn After Reading put flesh, for me, on Henry’s rage, while a particular scene with Robert Downey Jr and Nicole Kidman in the film Fur epitomised one of Henry’s relationships. Another scene with Robert Downey (him again! My casting for Henry, you see) in The Singing Detective conjured Henry’s grief – these were visual, emotional talismans that I came back to time and time again as I was writing.

The real creative alchemy happens inside the writer, of course. It’s no use trying to stitch together moments from other works – and I don’t in any way mean to suggest that that’s what I was doing. These film and video talismans inspired me as a piece of old glass or a walk by the sea or a painting might inspire… and I have no notion whether anyone else can see, in what I watched, what they signified for me. Perhaps it’s too deeply personal. But I hope, in reading VIII, that you might appreciate the results.


www.hmcastor.com
Twitter: @HMCastor

Thanks so much for stopping by, Harriet!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages - not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers - beautiful, haunted Akiva--fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor has received a great deal of pre-publication buzz - trailers, limited proofs and plenty of information. This often makes me a little concerned about whether the book can possibly live up to all my expectations. With the case of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I am pleased to say my expectations were absolutely surpassed - this is an exceptionally special book.

It tells the story of Karou, blue-haired artist living in Prague - ward of Brimstone, a chimaera who creates wishes in the world of Elsewhere. Karou has always felt as though she doesn't belong entirely in either world, and only comes to find out why when she meets akiva, one of the seraphim - and her mortal enemy.

From the very first page Taylor opens up a world of folklore and fairytale. The winter location of Prague feels 18th Century and very mystical - a perfect setting for the otherworldly Karou. She - with her tattoos and blue hair and artistic ability - is one of the strongest female protagonists I've seen in a YA novel for a while. She is strong yet vulnerable, talented, sardonic and brave.

Taylor's prose is exquisite. It is whimsical and delightful, playful and wistful by turn and kept me enthralled from first page to last. I just can't emphasise enough how beautiful it made this book to read.

The story feels a little like the weaving of a tapestry - thread after thread pulling together to create a glorious whole. I really enjoyed the unveiling of some of the mysteries - and I'm glad that some of them have been left to discover in the further two novels of the trilogy.

For me, one of the areas that most YA fails in is the way the romance develops and the manner in which the two protagonists fall in love - but here is was completely believable and organic, especially thanks to some of the reveals later in the story.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone is something incredibly special. While watching it I felt the same way as I did when I watched Pan's Labyrinth. It's an Event and deserves the capitalisation. This really is not to be missed.

Guest Book Review: Andrew from The Pewter Wolf reviews The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Today your guest reviewer is the truly lovely Andrew who runs The Pewter Wolf. In his own words: This blog is, what I like to call, a HappyBlog or a LaughBlog. The idea of this blog was to express book reviews and short stories I wrote, but have fun, random blogs that (I hope) will put a smile on your face.

You can say this is a book blog that doesn't take itself too seriously. Imagine this as a friend who wants to makes you smile, laugh and get excited over books - good or bad.

Andrew genuinely adores books, which is great to see, and so, for his review I decided to set a challenge. I'll let him explain it...

I want to thank Amanda quickly for allowing me to write this guest review for her lovely blog!

Now, when she asked the world of Twitter if anyone wanted to write a guest review, I jumped at the chance. But then, I had a problem: what to review? After a quick Tweet chat where Amanda asked "What don't you like reading or is out of your comfort-zone?", I immediately thought of faeries.

Now, why don't I like faeries, I hear you ask? Because the first thing that jumps into my head is Tinkerbell from Disney's Peter Pan. They're not edgy like vampires, werewolves or fallen angels. They're cute and fluffy and I can't really see them as dark or dangerous.


After a few more tweets with Amanda, I threw out to Twitter a HUGE list of books (ranging from faeries, books I got from the Indigo launch, a time-slip novel to a few eBooks on my Kindle) - the faeries won and I received more votes to read The Iron King by Julie Kagawa than anything else (it was that or a copy of Wicked Lovely I won!)

So, when I went away to Portugal, I took my glittery hardback copy of the book that I own and I read it over four days straight.

Meghan Chase thinks she is a normal teenager - until her little brother is snatched and replaced by a changling. When this happens she is thrown into a world that she didn't know existed. Now, to save her little brother, she must trust her best friend (who happens to be a faery - a pretty famous faery, actually) and follow them into the faery world of Nevernever. This world, surprisingly, seems to be a place where Meghan can fit in.

Now, I read this on holiday so this is a bit of a relaxing holiday read for me - although it did take a few chapters to get over the idea of "Disney" faeries in my head and see human-sized faeries with a definite dark streak to them. Plus, I really enjoyed the ideas Julie Kagawa used from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and found them incredibly interesting.

There was a feeling of déjà vu about this book with some of the ideas presented. The creature, Grimalkin, is very similar to the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland and you sometimes get the feeling that you have read the story before. But the idea of the Iron Fey was cool and I will be intrigued to know more about this. So, in general, The Iron King was a mix of good and bad.

Now, the teams... Like most YA books, there are Teams where readers can root for the couple and their "Happy Ever After" and Iron King is no expectation - I can see from reading this that there is the beginning of Team Ash and Team Puck. I am sure we will be shown more and more as we read the sequels, The Iron Daughter and The Iron Queen.

While I'm still not a great lover of faeries, I am intrigued to see what happens next in The Iron Daughter and I won't be so afraid to read books about faeries anymore. But I still might keep my distance from them. I need another faery book or two before I get over my "phobia" of faeries.

(On my blog, I put song choices to what I was listening to while I was reading so, I hope, Amanda allows the same. I apologise for the random song choices - "Pocketful of Sunshine" by Natasha Bedingfield & "Full Moon" by The Black Ghosts)

I don't usually include songs, Andrew, but for you here they are! Thanks so much for the review!



AND



Enjoy!

Guest Post: Rhys Jones on YA fiction!

Another day, another wonderful guest blog!

This time I welcome Rhys Jones, who is the mastermind behind Thirst for Fiction Rhys is one of those rare and mythical beasts - a teenage boy who loves to read, and blogs all about it. I asked him whether he would be prepared to talk about why YA, and here is his articulate reply...

I should probably start by introducing myself: I'm Rhys, and I'm a 15 year old book lover and blogger. Being one of the few male, teenage bloggers puts me in the position of being the target audience of many a YA/middlegrade writer, and through my blog I am able to express my opinions in the hope that someone will find my thoughts interesting and useful- not least authors whose work I critique.

I can't pretend to have read a great deal of "adult" novels- and the few I have are often by writers I know have written YA novels (Dark Matter by Michelle Paver is a good example)- but there is something that puts me off "adult" novels- a certain amount of cynicism that is really quite uninspiring. I'm sure there are many fantastic books for adults out there- but for me, as a teenager, most hold back, almost frightened to pitch radical and risky ideas. Which is why I like the YA genre so much. It's a place where it seems authors are far less restricted and a freedom of ideas can take place. Combine that with the fact that the characters of YA novels are far easier to relate to for someone my age, and you're onto something special.

Recently, I've become scared of the fact that perhaps, one day, I will no longer be interested in young adult novels. For me, that's a scary thought. I don't want to leave this world of fun novels- and though I know plenty of adults love YA books, I'm not sure how that will bode for me in 10, 20, 30 years time. Much like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys, I don't want to grow up, if only for the reason that I find the books I read now so much fun. I'm hoping that my ambition of going into YA publishing will ease that fear.

Unlike most bloggers, I'm not much of a writer, either. My Twitter feed is forever telling me that fellow bloggers and people I follow are writing, and as much as I'd like to be able to write as a hobby, I have neither the stamina nor the time- particularly now, when my blog takes up a lot of my free time. I've been told on numerous occasion that I'm a reasonable writer- and on the one-off event that I do write, what I produce isn't always that bad. YA fiction has affected my writing, if ever so slightly- I now know what works, what has been done, and as a reviewer, I know exactly what I want from a book. Perhaps, one day, that'll all help me craft my own novel- but for now, that knowledge remains largely unused, only on the rarity coming out to critique other people's work.

The fear of losing touch with YA fiction is still with me- but I'm hoping my career path will never shy away too much from reading teenage books. Whether that becomes a reality or not only time will tell- but for now, I'm a happy bunny chomping my way through lots and lots of (often very good) books- books that are daring, radical and a lot of fun.

Thanks *so* much Rhys! Make sure y'all leave him nice comments and definitely check out Thirst for Fiction!

Guest Book Review: Niall Alexander reviews The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Today I have a grand little guest review by none other than the beloved Speculative Scotsman, Niall Alexander. I am very grateful to him for taking some time out of his super mega busy schedule and providing a review for your delectation. I can assure you, no one writes a review like Niall (in a good way!) so enjoy this and then head on over to his blog and become a follower!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Reviewed by Niall Alexander

Another day, another dystopia.

In a village surrounded on all sides by the risen dead and so utterly isolated that the ocean has taken on mythic status, amongst a community of survivors over which the fiercely traditional Sisterhood holds sway, young Mary has lived her entire life with one foot in the grave and her head resolutely in the clouds. "How fragile we are," she muses, "like fish in a glass bowl with darkness pressing in on every side." (p.37) But reality bites, and Mary's bleak reality bites all the harder, for suddenly the time comes to be married off in accordance with the Sisterhood's strictures, and no-one's asked for her hand.

However, such questions - of a loveless marriage, or a life utterly without love, or only the love of a God this misbegotten girl has given up on - such questions as those are soon forgotten when the township that is all Mary has ever known comes under attack, first from within... and then without. Without, where the Unconsecrated roam...

I don't know if it began with The Hunger Games - I doubt it - or if this fascination with the plight of those left behind by the end of the world was only buoyed by the success of Suzanne Collins' game-changing trilogy, but the state of play in YA today is much of a muchness either way: nary a month goes by without the launch of yet another new series with designs on all those readers taken by the Mockingjay's tale.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I think, is not that. I mean, yes, it's a trilogy; yes, there's a love story sewn through it, without which seam the whole quilt would come apart in your hands; and yea, verily, the young protagonists - chief amongst them a girl burdened with responsibilities beyond than her years - spend it fighting for their very lives in a world gone to hell in a hand basket. Par for the course, perhaps. Swap out Collins' contestants (themselves ripped from The Running Man) for zombies, or the Unconsecrated as The Forest of Hands and Teeth has it, and you've pretty much got the gist of this one. Or you would, were it not for Carrie Ryan's incredibly powerful prose.

Now it's not always immaculate. Particularly as the going goes, and we approach an all-or-none conclusion so devastating as to put one once more in mind of The Hunger Games and its bittersweet denouement, particularly then Ryan seems to sacrifice the composure she's shown in order to up the ante, and I would really rather she hadn't. Add to that a heroine who seems to see-saw from one emotional extreme to the other in a matter of minutes, and a love triangle which can seem duly contrived, and perhaps you begin to grasp how roundly style trumps substance in The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But I can forgive a beautiful wordsmith much, and Carrie Ryan is that, at times. To wit, writers with such admirable aspirations often fall afoul of prose so minutely considered as to seem overwrought - some might say I should know! - yet there is a terrific undercurrent of the unspoken to Ryan's dialogue, while the understated comes naturally to her exposition. Her imagery is often haunting; her lexicon evocative, and absolutely appropriate to the tale, which is to say one of solitude and belief, love and trust.

Imagine if you will The Reapers Are the Angels for readers a touch younger than Alden Bell's audience, with - and why not? - a certain helping of The Hunger Games crowbarred in for good measure, and of course added bullet points in the marketing materials. As such, I would recommended The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but only with the aforementioned reservations. If a lesser author had knocked the same story out, I'd have said to steer clear, yet the larger part of Carrie Ryan's debut works a dark charm as a showcase of a formidable talent on an upwards trajectory - if not as a particularly notable narrative in its own right.

Thanks so much, Niall - definitely a book that I need to get to!

Guest Book Review: Sakura reviews Fire by Kristin Cashore

Sakura (from the fantastic blog chasing bawa - one of my great favourites in the blogosphere) has kindly stopped by, in my absence, to provide a book review. Please enjoy!

Fire by Kristin Cashore

I gushed about Kristin Cashore's debut, Graceling, when I read it last year. It was a surprisingly refreshing reading experience for me with likeable characters and interesting ideas. What was most welcoming was how the main female protagonist had a sense of self that defied the usual stereotypes you get in fantasy fiction. I liked it very much. So you can imagine how I was really looking forward to Cashore's second book.

Fire is set in the Dells, a neighbouring land to Monsea in which Graceling is set, where instead of gracelings (the gifted and cursed with mismatched eyes), there are monsters, both human and animal, distinguished only by their vibrant and brilliant colours with extraordinary powers and a hunger for their own flesh. 17 year old Fire is a monstrous beauty with flaming hair, daughter of the monster Cansrel who was once the brilliant and cruel companion to an insane king. Brought up in a secluded estate with Lord Brocker and his son Archer as neighbours, Fire is unlike her father and lives a lonely but loved life, always on the lookout from other monsters who crave her. Because that is what she is, something to be craved. When she is accidentally shot by a trespasser, she is flung into the path of an oncoming war where the prize is King's City and Fire herself. And when she is called up to help King Nash and his cold and closed-up brother Briggan dissipate a power struggle that threatens the Kingdom, her life changes as she must use her mind-controlling powers to help her friends survive. A power which she had sworn she would never use after the suicide of her father, Casrel.

In another part of the Dells, a fugitive graceling with a liking for control and a little pain is swiftly growing into an unforeseen power. Will they meet? And if so, will Fire, and the Dells, survive?

Somehow I was expecting the titular character to be an adult so was a little surprised that she is a teenager. Nothing wrong with it, of course, just an error in my expectation. After reading Steven Erikson's Malazan books, any fantasy not featuring the brutal and adult voice I've grown used to will feel a little soft for me. But that's not really fair as Fire is an accomplished novel, written very well, quickly grabbing your interest as you begin your journey to see how Fire will survive. Don't get me wrong, Fire does deal with a lot of adult themes about identity and the consequences of sex and rape but it was dealt a little too simply. The darkness of the issues and the simplicity of the characters felt a little dissonant. Consequently the character of Fire seemed a little too naïve and her relationships with the people around her didn't have enough depth for me to feel that we were really getting under her skin.

As a YA novel, I think it works well. I had no issues with the plot although I would have liked to know a little more about the monstrous graceling Immiker/Leck. However, there were a few things that bothered me, such as, if Fire was so strong, why couldn't she just overpower everyone more easily? And why did the ending feel rushed? I know, grumble grumble. I loved Graceling so much I wanted to love Fire too. But the issues about the simplicity of the novel with some of the darker themes that could have been explored more fully did not, unfortunately, leave me. Even at the end.

BUT, I really like Kristin Cashore's writing style and the world she has created and will be keeping an eager eye out for her next novel in the series, Bitterblue.

I won this book courtesy of a competition by Orion Books.

Thank you SO much, Sakura!

Shelter by Harlan Coben

After tragic events tear him away from his parents, fifteen-year-old Mickey Bolitar is sent to live with his estranged uncle, Myron Bolitar. For a while, it seems his train wreck of a life is finally improving - until his girlfriend, Ashley, goes missing without a trace. Unwilling to let another person he cares about walk out of his life, Mickey follows Ashley's trail into a seedy underworld, revealing a conspiracy so shocking it will leave him questioning everything about the life he thought he knew.

Wow. Seriously, wow. I picked up Shelter at just after four on a Sunday afternoon. I closed the last page just over two hours later, having DEVOURED it. This story of Mickey kept me utterly gripped throughout.

For a start, the chapters are short and snappy, with sleek prose that keeps those pages turning. You feel absolutely compelled to keep on reading - at the cost of missing meals, not taking phonecalls, not packing for an important business trip, things like that.

Shelter wouldn't work half as well if the characters weren't so vivid. The way in which Mickey interacts with Ema and Spoon, the two misfits of the new high school that he starts attending after he moves to live with his uncle, is absolutely bang on. He is bitter and hurting about the death of his father, and doesn't think he is ever able to become close to someone again. And yet Ema, particularly, worms her way into his life. Their conversations - especially Ema's black humour - are a highlight of Shelter.

In addition to this, Shelter works because it *feels* very adult. I mean, it deals with teenagers and yet circumstances lead them into an incredibly adult situation. It's like the Famous Five coming up against proper slave dealers who don't shy away from torture and killing. I love this dark element to the story, the sense of very real danger.

You know something? I honestly can't think of anything I didn't like about Shelter. From the dialogue to the emotions expressed by Mickey, from the investigation to the hint of a massive conspiracy - it was all superb. And man! That cliffhanger! It feels a long, long time to the next novel in the series.

This is sharp, dangerous, funny and, above all, vital reading. It is a masterpiece of a thriller story for Young Adults. Buy Shelter immediately, you won't regret it.

Shelter is released by the Indigo imprint of Orion Books on 15th September

There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff

In the beginning there was Bob. And Bob created the heavens and the earth and the beasts of the field and the creatures of the sea, and twenty-five million other species including lots and lots of gorgeous girls. And all of this, he created in just six days. Six days! Congratulations Bob! No wonder Earth is such a mess. Imagine that God is a typical teenage boy. He is lazy, careless, self-obsessed, sex-mad - and about to meet Lucy, the most beautiful girl on earth. Unfortunately, whenever Bob falls in love, disaster follows. Let us pray that Bob does not fall in love with Lucy.

You know when you experience major disconnect with a novel? When everyone else is crying out about how much they love said novel, and glorifying it with fantastic reviews, and you just can't seem to see what they have seen in it? Yes, that. That is the way I feel about There is No Dog by Meg Rosoff.

I should have loved it. The premise is just glorious - the idea that God is a feckless, ignorant, self-centred teenage boy. The biting humour did appeal to me. The idea that God just created everything on the fly in six days, and then needed a lie-in to recover. The fact that God has to be monitored by Mr B, a man who seems, more than anything, like an accountant - ready to dot the eyes and cross the tees. I even liked the philosophical discussion disguised as God/Bob's meanderings.

And yet, for me it failed as a reading experience. I think this was mainly because the plot itself was so slight - and, boy, did it get repetitive. God/Bob loves and adores Lucy, but how can he be with her? He gets in a strop and the weather changes. Mr B agonises over how to get God/Bob to pay attention to the events happening as a result of his incompetence. And repeat, ad boredom. I hate to say it, but I became bored of There is No Dog and ended up skimming the last twenty pages or so just to say that I had completed it. For me, it felt as though Rosoff had come up with this wonderful idea (which truly should be celebrated as something absolutely unique - and had the bonkers flavour of something written by Douglas Adams, in the humour and surreal aspects) but then failed to truly deliver.

As much as I *loved* the Eck (and I really did!), I failed to see how the plot involving his imminent demise as the dinner of Emoto Hed, another member of the godly pantheon, really fit into this story. And God/Bob's mother Mona drove me mad - she was so incredibly annoying, in the way she blithely careered through life (although maybe this did say something about the manner in which she behaved as God/Bob's parent).

I am left wondering if this was a failing by me as a reader, rather than Rosoff as a writer. It is clear that There is No Dog will be very appealing to many, many people. So I leave you with the recommendation to first read this review and then make your own mind up on whether to go forth and read. Usually I like to offer a recommendation on a novel as to why to buy or not, but with There is No Dog, I simply can't say either way whether you'll like it. Some people will like it and some people will hate it and, unfortunately, I fall into the latter group. Although the premise is so super cool!

Wild Magic by Tamora Pierce

Daine's knack with horses gets her a job helping the royal horsemistress drive a herd of ponies to Tortall. Soon it becomes clear that Daine's talent, as much as she struggles to hide it, is downright magical. Horses and other animals not only obey, but listen to her words. Daine, though, will have to learn to trust humans before she can come to terms with her powers, her past, and herself.

Wild Magic begins the second quartet featuring the land of Tortall. Although there are some familiar names in this novel - cameos from the Alanna quartet, such as Alanna herself, Jonathan and Thayet, George - a newcomer to the Tortall world could start here with absolutely no problems.

The level of reading is eight plus, I'd say. There are occasional moments of violence, as you'd expect from events in a feudal country that is beginning to descend into war, but nothing that I'd be worried about a younger reader encountering.

Wild Magic is a very good novel in terms of feminism. The central character, Daine, is living her life without any direction from a man. She is independent, stubborn, loyal and simply fantastic to read about. Within the novel you also have the Riders, a military force that accepts women. The Queen of Tortall, Thayet, is easily the equal of Jonathan (the King) and shares all the duties of the monarchy. Thayet and Buri helped to create the Riders, and still assist with the instruction of the new trainees. And, of course, Alanna is the Lady Knight. In every walk of life, in every instance, Tamora Pierce introduces a world where sex is not important when considering what is achievable. The men and the women are equals in every respect. This, for me, is an exceptionally healthy attitude to bring to a novel that younger readers will enjoy. I only wish there was more enduring and potent feminist fantasy fiction like this.

Alongside this feminist angle, Wild Magic's principle 'lesson' is that people can be accepted, no matter their background or beliefs. I would be very happy if my daughter or niece (or son or nephew) were reading this take on life. It is a strong message, and one that can't be taught too soon.

The plot within Wild Magic is very much an introductory piece - we come to know Daine and the people around her, principally, but there are hints towards what is to come in the other three books of the quartet. (Interestingly, Tamora Pierce has celebrated J K Rowling's impact on the world of children's and YA fiction, in terms of making publishers realise that books don't need to always be 200 pages or less. She says that, if the Daine quartet were published nowadays, it would be a duology instead). Wild Magic can be read as a complete story, but you would miss much of the overall plot if you didn't then move onto Wolf Speaker.

Pierce's greatest strength when writing is a real ear for dialogue. A book can falter, no matter how strong the story is, if the dialogue feels stilted and unrealistic. Here, it is easy to speak the dialogue aloud, and have it sound as though real people would be saying it, including the little idiosyncrasies of speech and differences in dialect.

Wild Magic would find great favour with girls who love horses as well. Daine owns (or, rather, is the human of) a pony called Cloud, and she gains a job looking after the horses of the Riders.

Personally, I love this story because it's pure old-fashioned magic and adventure, with a dash of mythology. The characters are collectively incredibly strong, and make you want to read on to find out more about them. The animal aspect - and Daine's wild magic - is just the icing on the cake, as far as I'm concerned.

I marvel a little at the fact that Tamora Pierce's novels about Tortall aren't more popular, in all honesty. They are, above all, fun, and I would encourage you to immediately seek them out, if you haven't already tried them. Wild Magic is a great place to start your journey.

Numbers by Rachel Ward

Since the day her mother died, Jem has known about the numbers. When she looks in someone's eyes, she can see the date they will die. Life is hard, until she meets a boy called Spider. Suddenly her world seems brighter. But on a trip to London, Jem foresees a chain of events that will shatter their lives forever..

Sometimes a novel comes along just at the *right* time, and Numbers by Rachel Ward was one of those books for me. We are experiencing riots here in the UK at the moment (hopefully settled down now, fingers crossed) and there has been a lot of discussion about what drove the kids to riot and loot. There was one particular part of Ward's novel that stood out for me and made me sit up: "Why do you think? It's all so simple, isn't it? Tell the truth and it will all be all right. Maybe it's like that here, but it's not where I come from. They see a black kid with some money, they see a dealer. They see a couple of kids, just chilling somewhere, hanging out, they see a couple of muggers. They need to collar someone for a crime, they collar someone - one of the usual suspects, anyone who fits the picture, doesn't matter. Truth and lies, it all gets mixed up."

Rather than the high concept science fiction novel that Numbers appears to be on first contact, it is actually more of an examination of society. It was written in 2009, two years after the bombs hit London. It shows an uneasy attitude towards certain parts of society; it highlights particular prejudices that have been around since the idea of 'haves' and 'have nots' was introduced.

Jem, the main character, is fiercely independent and knows her 'place' in the world. She is outside looking in at all those who have proper jobs, relationships and money. When she meets Spider, it is an encounter between two kindred spirits. Spider is a tall black guy, already dabbling in drugs and "deliveries" for a local gang boss. He is looked down on by some, and is intimidating to others. For me, Ward did superbly presenting these two misfit characters, and the reasons behind why people in real life might end up in poverty, excluded from school, on the outskirts of society etc. In this time of riots, it was immensely powerful.

The other part of the novel that I really enjoyed is the burgeoning love affair between Jem and Spider - it is inexpressibly tender and, above all, very real. I completely invested in these two characters.

Unfortunately, Numbers is prevented from being a top quality read by two factors. The first is that Ward seems not to know how to deal with the high concept of seeing people's death date number - at times it is used as a clumsy plot device, rather than as something that can introduce deep discussions about free will versus destiny. I would have liked to see much more of the numbers idea, including how and why this gift/curse might have been given to Jem. Some airy-fairy waved-away idea that she can just see auras is not a strong backdrop to the concept.

The second problem, for me, is that the ending of the book was a) very hurried and b) signposted from practically the start of Numbers. It was just a question of how Ward was going to get to the destination. I'm usually a gullible fool when it comes to what might happen in a novel, so, for me to grasp the ending so soon, meant that it was flagged in a very heavy-handed manner.

There was a lot to enjoy in this debut novel by Rachel Ward, albeit countered by some fundamental weaknesses. Nothing that wouldn't prevent me from picking up the second novel in the Numbers trilogy, however! I do wonder, though, how much of this review is flavoured by the fact that I could associate Numbers very much with current affairs - or is it just that bad attitudes and prejudices will always exist towards those at the bottom of society and, in fact, Ward has written about a timeless issue? Regardless, Numbers is worth your time - it is dark and poignant by turn, and kept me interested throughout.

Far From Home by Na'ima B Robert

Katie and Tariro are worlds apart but their lives are linked by a terrible secret, gradually revealed in this compelling and dramatic story of two girls grappling with the complexities of adolescence, family and a painful colonial legacy.

Some books are powerful - thanks to the prose, the story or the subject matter. Far From Home is powerful because of all three. It describes the sharp and terrible events in what used to be Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. It shows the rise of Robert Mugabe to power. It manages to portray both sides of a conflict that tore a country apart and was a dark period in world history.

First we meet Tariro, and gain an insight into the lives of the Karanga people. She is a bright and charming young girl, in love with the brave and handsome Nhamo. Her whole life is in front of her - but then the white settlers arrive and steal all of that life away from her.

The second part of the novel shows Katie, a pampered daughter of one of the white settler families. She has been brought up to consider black people beneath her, and is forced to confront those prejudices when her uncle takes her into his home - the uncle that has taken a black woman to wife.

There is a connection between Tariro and Katie that brings the two story lines colliding together, and is fitting and neat.

Robert's prose is stark, clean and elegant. It details the sometimes shocking events with quiet dignity and helps to evoke feelings for both Tariro and Katie, despite the fact that they are on opposing sides of the tale.

The characters are brilliantly written, and it is simply awesome to see two female protagonists take centre stage.

Robert clearly writes from the heart and has a great deal of experience in the subject matter. She manages to convey a complex political situation with direct language and a lot of sympathy.

This, as I say, is a powerful book. It is very well written. But it is not fun or light. It is challenging, thought-provoking and has enormous depth.

The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

A dark, gothic tale of romance... and murder. In the right dose, everything is a poison. Jessamine has spent her whole life in a cottage close to her father's apothecary garden, surrounded by medicinal plants and herbs that could kill her -- although her father has never allowed her into the most dangerous part of the grounds... the poison garden. And so she's never had reason to be afraid -- until now. Because now a newcomer has come to live with the family, a quiet but strangely attractive orphan boy named Weed. Though Weed doesn't say much in words, he has an instant talent for the apothecary's trade, seeming to possess a close bond with the plants of the garden. Soon, he and Jessamine also share a close bond. But little does Jessamine know that passion can be just as poisonous as the deadliest plants in the garden -- for behind Weed's instinctive way in the garden is a terrible secret.

I hate having to do this, because I feel as though my reviews should be taken as honest and considered (and I'm sure that most, if not all, of my readers understand that I would not artificially review a novel), but I need to add a disclaimer to this review. I have just spent the last two days enjoying the hospitality of the Duchess of Northumberland at Alnwick Castle, thanks to the release of the second Poison Diaries novel. So, if you wish to, you can consider that you should take this review with a degree of cynicism. However, I do believe that I've been as honest as possible about a book I genuinely liked.

The Poison Diaries is, at its heart, a celebration of doomed lovers in the vein of Romeo and Juliet. It is an exploration of the ambiguity in plants that can either kill or cure, depending on thier use. It has echoes of dark tales of the sidhe - trickster fae, who demand payment for their aid.

As well as that, it is an enjoyable, albeit dark, read. In fact, I would say it is easily the darkest YA novel I've read up until now - maybe not the first part of the novel, but certainly the denouement. Wood takes this novel to places that you would never expect and it is all the more surprising and interesting for it.

In Jessamine and Weed, we have a pair of lovers who show the same attraction for each other that we've seen in other celebrated YA protagonists, such as Bella and Edward - and consequently The Poison Diaries shares the same faults as those books. The romance is very sweet and yearning, but not entirely believable. Jessamine falls in love with this boy virtually as she first meets him - a foundling orphan boy who is said to be a monster. She accepts his secret with grace and no incredulity, which I think she should have shown to allow more believability. Like I say, very sweet, but not a romance you can really suspend disbelief over.

The Poison Diaries also encompasses another fault that is more of a personal issue than something that other readers would suffer - I don't like the name of the female protagonist! Jessamine just seems so unnecessarily fancy! I would have enjoyed the novel far more with a girl that had a more common name, but I do accept that I might be alone in this.

The part of the novel I found most gripping was the deadly ending - the three tasks that Weed is set has overtones of old folktales and fairytales, where agreements are made with the sidhe that have to be specified exactly otherwise those tricksy personages will twist the words in the manner that they so wish. I also loved the concept and discussion of what constitutes strength and weakness; and whether healers really should heal *everyone*.

Overall, The Poison Diaries is a great way to spend a few hours. It is a slight book with surprising depth at the end, although I would want to see more development of Jessamine's character in future novels. It is a quick read with little challenge to the prose, which is smooth and readable. There are faults, but these did not detract entirely from the rest of the novel and did not lessen the impact of the last third. Definitely has promise for future books in this series, and I would be very willing to read more.

David by Mary Hoffman

Michelangelo's statue of David is renowned all over the world. Thousands flock to Florence to admire the artistry behind this Renaissance masterpiece, and to admire the beauty of the human form captured in the marble. But the identity of the model for this statue that has been so revered for over five hundred years has been lost ...In this epic story Mary Hoffman uses her persuasive narrative skills to imagine the story of Gabriele, an eighteen-year-old who, by becoming Michelangelo's model, finds himself drawn into a world of spies, politicking, sabotage and murder. Set against the backdrop of Florence, this is a rich, colourful and thrilling tale.

I really like historical fiction. I mean, love it. Especially when fictional characters are used to bring actual historical events to life. So I was enormously happy to realise that Mary Hoffman employs her fictional narrator Gabriele to showcase this volatile period in Florence's history. For me, this enables real empathy with the situation, and I can identify with the motives of the actual personages who peopled the time.

Here we have a Florence that is being overcome by the rifts between the Republicans and the De Medici supporters, who want the city to remain in the hands of one particular family. Hoffman writes elegantly about the historical reasons why Florence is suffering so, and manages - with great talent - to people both sides of the conflict with likeable characters, so that the reader is conflicted as to which is the "right" side. Which, inevitably, is how the people of Florence must have felt at the time.

I would say that this is most definitely YA fiction - in that there are a few scenes unsuitable for younger readers, involving sex and/or violence. But it easily transcends being a book for a particular sex of reader - boys and girls would both find much to enjoy within its pages.

One aspect that I felt was missing was humour. This feels like quite a serious book and, although it presents a serious period in history, Gabriele and Michaelangelo are both young man, and yet come across as far too po-faced. I would have expected more light-heartedness from men like this and it was absent.

This lack of humour is replaced with a genuine love and appreciation for art, which suffuses every page. Hoffman has quite clearly researched her topic but, beyond that, she shows real warmth and affections for the pieces she describes - not least the eponymous David.

Honestly, for anyone who enjoys art, it is rather a thrill to read about the behemoths of the art world Michaelangelo and Leonardo de Vinci - their slight enmity, but respect, for each other; their rather casual attitudes to commissions received; the element of competition between them. It was awesome seeing them brought to life by Hoffman's lively prose.

This is a fairly slight novel by the standards of YA these days, but it is worth the cover price for a real glimpse into a very turbulent part of Italian history. It is thrilling and thoughtful by turn, and is peopled by charismatic characters. Very enjoyable.

DAVID, The Blog Tour - Mary Hoffman

I am thrilled to be part of the blog tour to celebrate the release of David by Mary Hoffman.

First of all, here are some details about David:

Bestselling and award-winning author Mary Hoffman has always been passionate about Italy. In this brand new novel she combines her love for the country, its culture, art and history to tell the story behind one of the world’s best-known sculptures. Little is known about the true identity of the model for Michelangelo’s statue of David, so Mary has used her persuasive narrative skills to breathe life into his story.

Aged just eighteen, Gabriele sets off from his home in Settignano to make his fortune in Florence. He plans to go straight to the home of renowned sculptor Michelangelo, who is also his ‘milk brother’, but instead finds himself in the house of a wealthy widow. Before he knows it Gabriele’s plans of living a simple life as a stonecutter have disintegrated and instead he has become an artist’s model, embroiled in Florentine politics and spying for the frateschi. Gabriele is playing a dangerous game and will be lucky to escape Florence with his life.

This epic story is full of romance, spies, politics and murder. With cameo appearances from the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, as well as the major role of Michelangelo, this is the perfect book for art fans and historical fiction fans alike.

Mary Hoffman is an acclaimed children’s author and critic. She is the author of the internationally bestselling picture book Amazing Grace. Her Stravaganza sequence for Bloomsbury has a huge fan base and Stravaganza: City of Secrets was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. She has also received award recognition for her stand-alone historical titles: Troubadour was nominated for the 2010 Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Costa Book Award and The Falconer’s Knot was shortlisted for the Guardian Fiction Award and winner of the French Prix Polar Jeunesse 2009. Mary lives with her husband in Oxfordshire.

Sounds brilliant, non?

I'm now delighted to present a guest post from Mary herself:

My five favourite places in Florence


1) The Bargello (especially the Michelangelo Room)

This is where the little Apollo-David is, which is my favourite Michelangelo sculpture, and the full-size drunken Bacchus and a bust of Brutus that looks like Tommy Lee Jones and the Pitti Tondo, described in David –a treasure-house!

You will also find Donatello’s and Verocchio’s takes on David, in the Bargello though the Verocchio is often not able to be seen. And there are lovely Giambolognas , including Mercury, the symbol of the Italian Post Office (and I must say they are VERY good at getting my postcards to the UK quickly). And the original plinth for Cellini’s Perseus statue in the Piazza della Signoria.

2) The Officina- Profumo-Farmaceutica (Profumeria) in Santa Maria Novella

I made use of this in Stravaganza: City of Flowers. Another magical place, with the most heavenly smell in the world! Gabriele buys Grazia some jasmine perfume “from the friars at Santa Maria Novella” and I got some of the same at Christmas from my husband.

3) Orsanmichele

This is a strange cube of a building that started as a grain store and THEN became a church. It is on the main drag from Piazza della Signoria to Piazza del Duomo but is often overlooked. Don’t overlook it – go inside. You won’t be disappointed. I stayed in an apartment near here with youngest daughter in 2007 and it became our “local” – a landmark and a favourite place.

4) The San Lorenzo market

What can I say? If you like to shop, this is the place for you. On my first month in Florence I stayed at the top of number five, Piazza San Lorenzo, and the market arriving every morning at 5.30am was my alarm clock.

It has leather goods in the most stunning range of colours and , though I am a vegetarian, I haven’t quite been able to wean myself off gorgeous purses and wallets. I have also become a glove dealer for my friend the writer Kath Langrish, as well as purveyor of purses to the family.

Just before you reach it on Borgo San Lorenzo you come to a men’s shoe-shop wear my husband buys two pairs of shoes, every other year. Only this year I was commissioned as he wasn’t with me. And in summer opposite the shoe-shop you can buy slices of fresh coconut drenched in iced water.

5) The Dome of the Santa Maria dei Fiori cathedral

On that first month in Florence when I was a student, I became obsessed with the dome of the cathedral, which you can see from all over the city. I climbed up inside it more than once and sat at the top outside on the ‘lantern’ with my feet dangling over the edge. My vertigo won’t let me do it any more.

But if you are young and/or not afraid of heights you must do it.

I'd like to thank Mary Hoffman very much for stopping by!

Here are some extra details!

David is out now!

www.maryhoffman.co.uk

www.twitter.com/@MARYMHOFFMAN

www.facebook.com/maryhoffman.fanpage

www.bookmavenmary.blogspot.com

Go forth and buy!

The Double-Edged Sword by Sarah Silverwood

Sixteen years ago, Finmere Tingewick Smith was abandoned on the steps of the Old Bailey. Under the guardianship of the austere Judge Harlequin Brown and the elderly gentlemen of Orrery House, Fin has grown up under a strange set of rules. He spends alternate years at two very different schools, and he has two, very different, best friends...and he's getting very tired of the constant lies to everyone, even his best friends, to hide the insanity of his double life.

But on his sixteenth birthday, everything changes. The Judge is killed. Fin is catapulted into an extraordinary adventure.

You know when you pick a book randomly from your shelves and start reading with little to no expectations, and then it just blows you away? You end up reading to the early hours of the morning and then telling everyone how much you absolutely loved it? Yes. That. That is what happened with The Double-Edged Sword by Sarah Silverwood. I already knew that I liked Silverwood's style of writing (thanks to her adult novels under the name Sarah Pinborough), but I wasn't sure that it would translate to a YA novel.

But it does! In spades! Silverwood writes a stunning adventure story that pays homage to both Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman via Harry Potter. We have the tale of a young boy discovering that he is way more than he originally seems, set in a London which explores the mystical qualities of a city that is also more that it seems.

Fin is a great character - at times vulnerable and sad, and at times embracing his destiny with gusto. He is adventurous and mischievous and street-smart. He is the kind of boy that Harry Potter wishes he can be. His two friends Joe and Christopher are just as fun to read about - and Silverwood also includes a female character who is sassy and easily the equal of the boys.

In The Double-Edged Sword, the world that Silverwood creates is just as important as a character as the characters themselves. The contrast between the Somewhere and the Nowhere is handled beautifully, with rules being built that I'm sure will become crucial in later volumes.

And that, I guess, is my one complaint about the novel. It is the first novel of a series and, as such, takes the time to bring the world and magic and history to life. The pacing never slowed down too much due to exposition, but there were some detailed conversations to explain what was happening that needed to be read carefully. I'm sure in future volumes Silverwood will be able to hit the ground running.

This is the start of an exciting new series that establishes YA urban fantasy in the mould of Kate Griffin and Neil Gaiman. Fin is a warm character that boys can really relate to. All in all, I recommend it wholeheartedly!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Jacob's grandfather tells him tales. Tall stories about peculiar people and his home on a magical island. As far as Jacob is concerned, these stories are just that - fibs, tales, something to pass the time. That is Before. After he discovers that there might be something to what his grandfather has said, and heads out on a journey to try and find the island from the past.

This is a quirky, beautiful, haunting, spooky little novel. I really had no idea what to expect going in - but did assume it would be a horror from the rather creepy photo adorning the front cover. I was left to uncover the secrets of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, and I hope that you decide to as well. I would hate to spoil anything, so will leave my discussions of the plot entirely. (I know that some people regard that reviewing technique as a complete cop-out, but I desperately want people to come to this novel with fresh eyes - it is a complete treat).

The prose is exceptional - leading the reader in a drifting manner through the first half of the novel, exploring Jacob's reaction to his grandfather's stories and his quiet life as an ordinary boy. At times it is quite stunning, and led me to think of such authors as Peter S Beagle. The second half of the novel increases the pace, with some exceptionally scary moments.

In fact, the best word to sum up Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is "atmospheric". I thought about old-time shows and circuses, featuring bearded ladies and the like. I thought about haunted houses and ghosts. Having the background of WWII to much of the novel gave it a weight and oppression. Some scenes drip with menace. Others show a dreary town haunted by its past. Altogether, this novel is atmospheric!

The atmosphere is increased by the wonderful archive photographs in sepia scattered through the novel. Riggs used them as his inspiration for the story, and you can see exactly why they created such a strange little tale. Indeed, the picture on the front cover of the novel shows a little girl in a dress - fairly ordinary. Until you look closely and see that she is hovering a foot above the ground. This manner of secrets being revealed is perfectly in tune with the prose of the novel.

I do have a quibble - as I always do where time travel and loops in time are concerned. It is too easy to see paradoxes and loopholes in the idea of people moving back and forth in time. If I thought too hard about what was occurring, my head started to ache with the logistics of it all.

Apart from that incredibly minor point, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is an exceptional tale; one that is destined to become a classic. It is undefinable and entirely beautiful. I think this has managed to do the impossible and knock the Chaos Walking trilogy from my top spot this year. Well worth your money!

The History Girls

PRESS RELEASE:

The History Girls (http://the-history-girls.blogspot.com) is a new joint blog by writers of historical fiction. 26 first-rate writers are lined up to produce a daily blogpost across a range of subjects in the genre. (photo by History Girl Caroline Lawrence)

Prize-winning, internationally renowned authors of YA historical fiction like Celia Rees ,Theresa Breslin, Mary Hooper and Eve Edwards (a.k.a. Julia Golding) are joined by both writers of historical fantasy for younger readers (Katherine Langrish, Katherine Roberts) and those with a primarily adult readership (Louise Berridge, Emma Darwin).

The group ranges from experienced established authors like Adèle Geras and Nicola Morgan to first-time novelists like Teresa Flavin, H.M. Castor and Imogen Robertson. Among us we cover every period from the Stone Age to World War Two (N M Browne, Leslie Wilson, Barbara Mitchelhill). And every period in between, Including the England of Alfred the Great (Sue Purkiss) the Tudors (Harriet Castor and Eve Edwards), George lll (Linda Buckley-Archer), Victoria (Eleanor Updale, Penny Dolan and Catherine Johnson), . Geographically we range from Iceland to Troy to the Wild West, via Venice and Ancient Rome and Egypt. (Marie-Louise Jensen, Adèle Geras, Caroline Lawrence x 2, Michelle Lovric and Dianne Hofmeyr)

We are going to run competitions to win copies of our books, regular feature on our first History teachers, favourite writers, inspirational objects etc. We’ll have reviews, interviews and guest blogs, from other best-selling authors of historical fiction – maybe even a man or two!

We don’t have a specifically feminist take on History; we just found when the idea was canvassed that the majority of the writers in this genre seemed to be women. The blog, The History Girls, goes live on 1st July, with an introductory post by Mary Hoffman on the inspiration for setting the group up, which she did with Michelle Lovric.

History Girls contributors and their specialisms:

Louise Berridge – Military history, 17th century + Crimea
Theresa Breslin – France, Spain, Renaissance Italy, World War I and World War II
N. M. Browne - 1st C AD (Celts and Romans) 5th Century (Arthur/Romano Brits) and 9th (Saxons/Vikings Alfred the Great.)
Linda Buckley-Archer – George III and the Court of Versailles
H. M. Castor – Tudor England
Emma Darwin – 19th century, Wars of the Roses
Penny Dolan – Victorian England
Eve Edwards - Tudor England
Teresa Flavin - Renaissance and Georgian London
Adele Geras – Ancient Greece and Troy, Victorian and early 20th Century
Mary Hoffman – Middle Ages and Renaiassance in Italy
Dianne Hofmeyr - Ancient Egypt, African History, early voyages of discovery including the dhow trade down the African coast.
Mary Hooper – Victorian England
Marie-Louise Jensen – Viking era, Tudor and Georgian
Catherine Johnson – 18th century and Victorian
Michelle Lovric – 18th and 19th century Venice, Peru
Kath Langrish – Viking era and Middle Ages
Caroline Lawrence – Ancient Rome + Wild West
Barbara Mitchelhill – 2nd World War + Shakespeare
Nicola Morgan – 19th century Scotland
Sue Purkiss – Alfred the Great + 19th century
Celia Rees – 17th and 18th century + Shakespeare
Katherine Roberts – Arthurian, Alexander the Great, Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia/Persia.
Imogen Robertson – Georgian England
Eleanor Updale – late 19th and early 20th century
Leslie Wilson – 2nd World War

With my love for historical fiction, I have immediately followed this blog, and I look forward to supporting their endeavour!