Book Review: Burnt Paper Sky by Gilly Macmillan

Gripping is my first thought. Real is my second.

An interesting cast of characters and an intense plot that kept me hooked and local locations I could plausibly visit. See I live near Bristol where the book is set. In fact my hometown was mentioned in the context of a dream Jim had where he's at Portishead Lido, while I've never visited the Lido itself (I drive past it sometimes though) I live in Portishead, so that was a nice little Easter egg.

The plot kept me guessing, I didn't work out who did it, it was written very sneakily with very few obvious clues and plenty of red herrings of possible suspects that seemed more likely.

I did notice one minor inconsistency though, at the beginning Skittle the dog was a boy but he's referred to as 'she' at the end of the book. Completely not relevant to the book but it bugged me anyway.

5/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig

Content warning: Child abuse.

Real and authentic and heartwarming and so so sad.

I loved Ginny and I feel that her autism was well-written, her backstory was so tragic and I did actually like that a lot of it was implied rather than spoken outright, usually I like things spelled out explicitly but it would have felt out of place in this book.

I feel like a lot of the adults were pretty useless and didn't take Ginny seriously or listen to her properly, especially regarding 'Baby Doll', to me that was obvious fairly quickly yet the adults in Ginny's life were so dense! And her adoptive mum in particular took things way too far and I wonder how thing would have been if she'd opened up sooner. Overall an interesting book that makes you think.

4.5/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Song of the Week #8

So today's song of the week is one that isn't even on my iTunes playlist but has been stuck in my head for a few weeks after a TV performance I'll add further down. The song is 'Proud Mary' by Tina Turner.

It's one of those feel good songs that makes you want to get up and dance yet the lyrics are real and serious, about going to work and making a living even if the work is crap. Apparently it was originally envisioned as the story of a woman who would get a bus to work as a maid for rich people, but then that changed and it became about a boat. I guess like all songs it's down to interpretation.

This is the reason it's been in my head lately, BBC show All Together Now getting it's first score of 100 with a quiet unassuming lad called Michael's rousing performance of this song, it's an epic moment and you really want to join in.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Night of Cake and Puppets by Laini Taylor

Another long title haha! So apparently this is a companion book to the 'Daughter of Smoke and Bone' trilogy. I didn't realise this when I picked it up from the library but I still breezed through it in a day.

I knew nothing about the history of the characters but they drew me in and I loved them anyway. I loved that it wasn't set in the US or even the UK, it made for a really rich, interesting setting.

Even though it was only one basic storyline I still enjoyed it and wanted more. The illustrations were stunning and added so much extra life to the story, Zuzanna is a badass little punk in platform boots! Loses one star because I felt like the ending was a little abrupt but I guess we see more of both in the main trilogy.

4/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Phew, a long-winded title there! Anyway I loved the characters in this, they were all so well-developed, even the side characters. I loved that the relationship between Feyre and Tamlin developed slowly, no insta-love here! Although a worrying hint at a triangle in book 2 though I hope not.

Also more sex scenes in Young Adult books please! Teens have sex and they want/need to see it in their books. I was half expecting a weird faerie pregnancy to happen!

The world-building was so intricate and everything felt so real! I loved the plot, everything was so detailed with some great foreshadowing and overall really smart writing.

Note 1: I personally couldn't work out the riddle.

Note 2: Apparently this book is actually classed as New Adult, not Young Adult, hence the sex I guess.

5/5 Stars.

Stef Out x

Song of the Week #7

A quick one this week in between work and stuff, another busy week. Here is Sara Bareilles with 'King of Anything'

This wasn't my original pick for this week but it came up on my phone on the way home from work today and I just felt a little inspired.

"Who cares if you disagree, you are not me, who made you king of anything?" This line just speaks to me and I find it really powerful especially at the moment with all of the scary political stuff in America.

Anyway that's it for today (told you it'd be quick!) but I'll be back soon.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Sweet Pea by CJ Skuse

Wow! This was almost a 5 star book. Almost! I loved it and Rhiannon was scarily relateable, all the people that ended up on her kill lists, I understood.

Everything was really well plotted with few loose ends. I loved Rhiannon's interactions with the other characters, especially Daisy and the PICSO's. I completely understood her motivations and it made me think are we all just a little bit psycho?

Honestly my main criticism with this book was that I wanted more. More backstory, more detail on the whys and in particular more of an ending! That ending though, a shocker and I just wanted to read more, where is Rhiannon going to go from here?

4/5 stars.

I need to sort out the timing of my book reviews though. With days of not getting onto the computer they end up going up late. Sweet Pea I finished Sunday and it won't be going up until Tuesday now. I guess I just need a slightly longer/slower book so everything can catch itself up.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Silence is Goldfish by Annabel Pitcher

Trigger Warning: Transphobic language

I really liked this book. I almost loved it but there were a few bits that were either inconsistent or abandoned.

I thought the opening was interesting, straight into the action. I loved the variety of characters. Tess was awesome, plus size with silver Doc Martens, dyed hair and extreme introversion she reminded me of myself, only my boots are metallic pink not silver.

The goldfish thing was a little strange and came out of nowhere and why didn't Tess write notes? Also the Twitter bullying started and then the whole plotline was almost completely dropped. I hated the transphobic language it incited and the implication that if Tess was trans then it was the worst thing.

I did like the story's resolution though, it seemed real and honest and genuine.

4/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Moth Girls by Anne Cassidy

An intriguing teen thriller about missing girls, family troubles and fitting in. Mandy has always been in the centre of, yet overshadowed by, her friends Petra and Tina's disappearance aged 12. 5 years on things still weigh heavily on Mandy's mind. She was always slightly excluded from the group by a cautious Petra and refused entry to their burgeoning pop duo 'The Red Roses'.

Petra has an obsession with a local mansion fro reasons unknown to the other girls but later revealed in some flashback chapters - the book is written in several parts of past and present. One night Petra decides to go into the house, Mandy leaves, Tina follows, the two are not seen again.

Alongside the main storyline there were minor plotlines that seemed trivial such as Mandy's unrequited crush on Tommy, the weird wannabe journalist who carries a briefcase instead of a backpack. Also Mandy's jewelry-making seemed a bit pointless other than to shoehorn in a new fake-feeling friendship with a random girl at school.

The ending was satisfying I guess, things were wrapped up and concluded, just not in a way you might imagine.

3/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Song of the Week #6

This week's song of the week is a little late and I do apologise. Normally I'd post it Wednesday but I've been busy and this is the first time I've gotten on the computer in days.

So this week's song is one that never fails to make me cry: 'I See the Light' from the Disney film Tangled.

For me it's the combination of everything in the song. The town's collective hope and sadness, Rapunzel and Flynn getting closer, Flynn finally shedding his thieving past for love, the knowledge that Rapunzel is so close to her true self yet so far and knowing that she'll be dragged even further away before realising and being able to go back. It's just a beautiful song and I love it.

Short and sweet today, I'll be back in a moment (tomorrow via scheduled post LOL) with another book review or two. I'm trying to get into the habit of reviewing every book I read and no doubt they'll all end up on here.

Stef Out x

Book Review: Swan Boy by Nikki Sheehan

A strange book. Johnny has just started at a new school following a move after the death of his father, and has managed to get on the wrong side of school bully Liam, until a chance encounter with a swan changes everything.

I thought the plot overall was interesting but I feel like it could have gone further than it did, make it a true contemporary/fantasy mash-up. The characters were interesting. I liked Johnny and his inner conflicts. Mojo was very cute, reading I wondered if maybe he was on the autistic spectrum what with his obsession with his drawing and his deeply involved animal impersonations. Or I could be wrong and it's just normal 5 year old behaviour with added grief.

Stefan was a decent character but the mentioned girls, Lola and Phoebe, have barely any defined personalities. I liked Mrs Cray but her dance idea was very out there and most schools probably wouldn't allow it to be run in that way. Also the swan thing was a little forced and overall everything was a bit disjointed and it didn't actually end, it just stopped.

Also I know it's wrong to judge covers but that one makes no sense, there were no fire breathing horses or ninja cats mentioned at all. Or birthday cakes for that matter. The other images of a bus, tower block, football and swan make more sense.

2/5 stars.

Stef Out x

Book Review: The Fandom by Anna Day

Another tricky one to rate and my rating did change as I wrote this review. I found it hard to get into at first. At the start we are expected to know this book and its film, the world it's set in. It's slightly disorientating the way we are thrown into it.

We are barely introduced to the characters: Alice, the fan-fiction writer with model looks, Katie the newer friend from Liverpool who shuns popular culture for Shakespeare, Violet's younger brother Nate who is much smarter than she is, and our narrator Violet who is a major fan of this book 'The Gallows Dance'. That's it, that is the entire sum-up of her character. She is average and yeah, a Mary Sue. Her role is to take the place of Rose, the main character of 'The Gallows Dance' after the group get transported to the book's universe and accidentally get her killed.

There are some interesting side characters, I loved Nate and Ash, and Baba was interesting. There were a few interesting twists along the way, the world was rich and well-developed and the plot was very character driven BUT thanks to the opening school moment and repeated tellings we basically know the plot and overall it deviates very little.

The ending also seemed very incomplete which could imply  possible sequel but I'm not sure how that would work. Which brings me onto the format of this book, or rather creation of it. The result of two competitions, a writing based one to find a new author, and an idea based one to come up with a plot for a children's/young adult's book. This book is the result. I will say though that I found Anna's writing style very expressive and engaging and I hope we see more from her.

2/5 stars.

Stef Out x