Review - All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflor

Title: All of This Is True

Author: Lygia Day Peñaflor

Pages: 432

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA

Release Date: 31st May 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

MIRI loves the novel Undertow like it's a living being. So when she and her friends get the chance to meet the author, Fatima Ro, they plot a way to get closer to her. As for what happened with Jonah … Well, obviously none of that was Fatima's fault.

SOLEIL wants to be a writer herself one day. She can't believe it when Fatima asks them to hang out with her – and having Jonah there makes it even better.

PENNY is more than the party girl everyone thinks she is, and she's willing to share her darkest secrets with Fatima to prove it. But what will happen when Fatima finds out about Jonah?

All of This Is True is a story of obsession and revenge, betrayal and forgiveness, and the devastating result of a secret that didn't stay buried.

 

 Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley*

The lives of Miri, Soleil, Penny and Jonah change when they become friends with Fatima Ro, the author of the girls' favourite book.

The four teens grow close to Fatima, who wants to know everything about them.

Jonah is hiding a secret. What will happen when it is unearthed?

Is there more to Fatima than meets the eye?

All of This Is True is told by interviews and journal excerpts which was a different and refreshing way to tell the story. However, for me, it seemed that this took away from the thriller aspect of the plot.

The characters were a mixed bag for me. I wasn't keen on Miri or Fatima, but I liked and felt sorry for Soleil and Penny. Jonah too.

The plot was interesting most of the time, but I did find it a bit predictable.

I was disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

I feel that this didn't quite reach its potential for me - I wasn't gripped or on the edge of my seat.

Overall this was a mostly enjoyable read.

Book Blitz + Giveaway - Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder

Letting Go of Gravity by Meg Leder
Published by: Simon Pulse
Publication date: July 17th 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

“The anticipation and slow burn of Parker and Finn’s relationship is electric…[an] absorbing novel that will appeal to fans of Rainbow Rowell.” —Booklist

Parker struggles to reconnect with her twin brother, Charlie—who’s recovering from cancer—as she tries to deal with her anxiety about the future in this powerful new novel.

Twins Parker and Charlie are polar opposites.
Where Charlie is fearless, Parker is careful.
Charlie is confident while Parker aims to please.
Charlie is outgoing and outspoken; Parker is introverted and reserved.
And of course, there’s the one other major difference: Charlie got cancer. Parker didn’t.

But now that Charlie is officially in remission, life couldn’t be going better for Parker. She’s landed a prestigious summer internship at the hospital and is headed to Harvard in the fall to study pediatric oncology—which is why the anxiety she’s felt since her Harvard acceptance is so unsettling. And it doesn’t help that her relationship with Charlie has been on the rocks since his diagnosis.

Enter Finn, a boy who’s been leaving strange graffiti messages all over town. Parker can’t stop thinking about those messages, or about Finn, who makes her feel free for the first time: free to doubt, free to make mistakes, and free to confront the truth that Parker has been hiding from for a long time.

That she keeps trying to save Charlie, when the person who really needs saving is herself.

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GUEST POST by MEG LEDER:

In my new book Letting Go of Gravity, my main character Parker struggles with anxiety, even though she doesn’t quite know what’s going on until the end of the book. As someone who also has a hard time getting out of her own head, like Parker, I’ve discovered a few ways to help manage my busy mind. Here are some of the tricks Parker and I have used to calm ourselves:

• Immerse yourself in the words of others. For Parker, it’s listening to Taylor Swift. For me, it’s finding a book that I can lose myself in. Sometimes, the mere act of letting yourself spend time with other voices is enough to give your worried mind a break.

• Get busy. In my book, Parker starts helping out at a local ceramics shop, working with a group of old women while discovering the joy of making things with her own two hands. For me, it’s writing and being a reading buddy at a local elementary school. Creating and volunteering are both great ways of slowing the worry train, letting your mind focus on other avenues.

• Be kind to yourself. It’s very easy to be mad at yourself when you’re anxious. You know that you’re not thinking rationally, but that doesn’t stop the anxious thoughts. But being mad at yourself doesn’t help you feel better—in fact, it makes Parker (and me) feel worse. Instead of being hard on yourself, be kind. You can’t always stop the thoughts, but you can at recognize that anxiety is hard and you’re doing the best you can.

• Talk to your friends and family. Throughout the book, Parker’s new friends Ruby and Finn encourage her to talk about her feelings, and it’s only when she starts to tell people that she’s worried and scared that things start to get better. I’ve found that being open about my worried thoughts with people I trust—my family, my best friends, my therapist—is often the first step toward owning and overcoming my anxiety.

• Know that it’s okay to seek help. It takes Parker a long time (a whole book!) to recognize she needs help in managing her worry. It took me twenty-plus years. More than anything, I hope that anyone who sees a little or a lot of themselves in Parker knows it’s okay to ask for help, whether it’s from a teacher, trusted adult, therapist, or good friend. Anxiety can be a hard road, but having someone on your side can make the journey a lot easier.

I hope you enjoy Letting Go of Gravity, and if you’re anxious too, please know you’re not alone—Parker and I are both with you. 

Author Bio

A former bookseller and teacher, Meg Leder currently works as a book editor in New York City. Her role models are Harriet the Spy and Anne Shirley. She is the coauthor of The Happy Book, and spends her free time reading, looking for street art, and people watching. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

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Review - The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Title: The Wicked Deep

Author: Shea Ernshaw

Pages: 320

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Release Date: 8th March 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow… 

Two centuries ago, in the small, isolated town, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return from the depths, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them down to their watery deaths.

Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into or the fact that his arrival will change everything...

Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters.

But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

 

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 My Review:

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Simon and Schuster UK Children's and NetGalley*

Two hundred years ago, the three Swan sisters arrived at Sparrow, a small town on the coast. The sisters were tried as witches and drowned in the sea. Every summer since they have returned to Sparrow, each sister taking over the body of a girl to lure boys into the sea as revenge.

Penny Talbot lives on a small island near Sparrow. She has accepted Sparrow's fate and avoids the Swan Season as much as she can.

Then Penny meets Bo, a boy from out of town who has no idea the danger he's in. Penny invites Bo to stay on the island, intending to keep him safe from the Swan sisters.

Can Penny and Bo trust each other when they're both hiding secrets?

Will Bo fall victim to one of the Swan sisters?

The Wicked Deep was an intriguing read that drew me in.

I liked Penny and found her relatable. I would have liked to have seen more of Rose. Bo was quite an interesting character.

The romance wasn't one of my favourites but I didn't dislike it.

The plot held my attention but I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't guessed the twists.

The writing style was easy to follow and I would be interested to read more by the author.

I was slightly disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

 

 

Book Blitz + Giveaway - A Pilgrimage to Death by Alexa Padgett

A Pilgrimage to Death by Alexa Padgett
Publication date: August 14th 2018
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller

They murdered her sister. They threatened her church. But their day of reckoning will cost her everything…

When Cici Gurule finds the dead body of a parishioner in the nearby Santa Fe National Forest, she’s horrified to realize the victim bears the same stab wounds that ended her twin sister’s life one year earlier.

Now, as a freewheeling, progressive reverend who’ll stop at nothing to protect her flock, she’ll need to join forces with her detective friend and loyal pair of Great Pyrenees to hunt down the killer before she’s forced to officiate another funeral.

Soon, however, Cici discovers her sister was on the trail of a deep-rooted criminal operation, and her death was no random act of violence. With the criminals out for Cici’s blood, she needs to catch the wolf by the tail…before it goes in for the kill.

Fans of Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, and Stacy Claflin will love Alexa’s Padgett’s new edge-of-your-seat novel! Scroll up and click to start this fast-paced, high-octane mystery thriller!

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EXCERPT:

Sam brought his chair down with a soft thump as it hit the patio paver but he didn’t say anything for another long moment.

“Anna Carmen was my best friend. She helped me through a hard time—she helped me see what I couldn’t then.”

Cici’s lip trembled as she lifted her teacup. “I miss her, too. So much. Yesterday . . . it all came bubbling back up.”

Sam’s hand settled on Cici’s shoulder in that gesture of comfort she’d come to depend on.

“I know you do. And, yeah, I figured it would.”

Jaycee sidled up to their table and settled Sam’s large glass of iced tea on the table. Condensation formed on the glass, dripping down to wet the white napkin beneath it.

“I thought of something,” the girl said.

Both Cici and Sam turned their faces up to the teenager.

“Mr. Johnson told me one time he was meeting someone about a case.” Her brow wrinkled for a moment before she shrugged. “Does that help?”

Sam tugged at his short ponytail. “Maybe. Thanks, Jaycee.”

“Sure.” The girl skittered off to greet some new patrons.

“You think you know what the case is, don’t you?” Cici asked, pouring more tea into her cup.

 

Author Bio

 

With a degree in international marketing and a varied career path that includes content management for a web firm, marketing direction for a high-profile sports agency, and a two-year stint with a renowned literary agency, award-winning author Alexa Padgett has returned to her first love: writing fiction.

Alexa spent a good part of her youth traveling. From Budapest to Belize, Calgary to Coober Pedy, she soaked in the myriad smells, sounds, and feels of these gorgeous places, wishing she could live in them all—at least for a while. And she does in her books.

She lives in New Mexico with her husband, children, and Great Pyrenees pup, Ash. When not writing, schlepping, or volunteering, she can be found in her tiny kitchen, channeling her inner Barefoot Contessa.

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Blog Tour + Excerpt + Giveaway - Between Frost and Fury (The Xenith Trilogy #2) by Chani Lynn Feener

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Between Frost and Fury (The Xenith Trilogy #2) by Chani Lynn Feener
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: July 24th 2018
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult

Delaney might have done her job a little TOO well…and now her life has once again been turned upside down by aliens, this time by a deadly (and devastatingly handsome) alien prince in this explosive second installment of Chani Lynn Feener’s The Xenith Trilogy.

Delaney has been kidnapped by aliens. Again. After only a month back on Earth with her hot new alien boyfriend Ruckus, the deadly and devastatingly handsome prince Trystan has dragged her right back to his planet.

While some girls may dream of winning a prince’s heart, Delaney just wishes this one would leave her alone. Instead, she finds herself at the center of both a tense political battle between two alien kingdoms and Trystan’s romantic attentions, both of which are absolutely ruining the life she’s built on Earth. Not to mention the fact that she’s about to be crowned queen of a planet she’s barely even visited. Just another day in the life of an ordinary human girl.

Readers won’t want to miss Between Frost and Fury, the compelling, fast-paced sequel to Chani Lynn Feener’s Amid Stars and Darkness.

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Excerpt:

 

She thought he was like Olena? Impossible. Olena Ond was a moron, and while Trystan had been called many things in the past, moron had never been one of them.

He shook his head, slamming both palms flat against the double doors leading to the conference room. They slapped against the inner walls, rebounding with a loud clatter that he hardly noticed.

There were five tellers in the room already, all Kint, and without needing him to say a word they scattered. They bowed as they passed, but Trystan was already turning his attention toward the large screen on the wall.

He checked his clothing, cursing under his breath when he remembered he wasn’t in uniform. He ran a hand over his hair to smooth down any unruly strands. He was painfully aware of the dark circles still under his eyes—a result of the constant meetings his father had been calling lately—but there was nothing to be done about it now.

Just as he was about to bend down and flick a speck of dust from the toe of his boot, the screen emitted a low chime. A second later his father’s face filled half the wall before him.

Of course, the Rex looked impeccable, and Trystan clasped his hands behind his back to hide the fact he was making tight fists. To the End family, appearance was everything, and if his father wasn’t reminding him of this fact verbally, he was always sure to do so physically.

His father got straight to the point. “I hear there were complications at the Positioning.”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Trystan said.

“It’s my understanding Basilissa Tilda handled it,” the Rex stated . “Smart, to renew fear of their Basilissa in the Vakar. But was an all-out riot part of your brilliant plan as well?”

“It hardly got that far.”

Damn his father’s spies for making it sound otherwise. Usually he carefully screened the tellers he had around him, made sure none of them had overtly strong ties to the Rex. Taking over the Vakar palace had been too big a play, however, and Trystan had been forced to accept whatever troops he’d had to send.

“From the sounds of it, even your human was worried.”

Author Bio

Chani Lynn Feener has wanted to be a writer since the age of ten during fifth grade story time. She majored in Creative Writing at Johnson State College in Vermont, and graduated in 2012. To pay her bills, she has worked many odd jobs, including, but not limited to, telemarketing, order picking in a warehouse, and filling ink cartridges. When she isn’t writing, she’s binging TV shows, drawing, or frequenting zoos/aquariums. Chani is also the author of teen paranormal series, the Underworld Saga, originally written under the penname Tempest C. Avery. She currently resides in Connecticut, but lives on Goodreads.com.

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Review - Lady Mary by Lucy Worsley

Title: Lady Mary

Author: Lucy Worsley

Pages: 384

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Release Date: 5th April 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

By turns thrilling, dramatic and touching, this is the story of Henry the Eighth and Catherine of Aragon's divorce as you've never heard it before - from the eyes of their daughter, Princess Mary.

More than anything Mary just wants her family to stay together; for her mother and her father - and for her - to all be in the same place at once. But when her father announces that his marriage to her mother was void and by turns that Mary doesn't really count as his child, she realises things will never be as she hoped.

Things only get worse when her father marries again. Separated from her mother and forced to work as a servant for her new sister, Mary must dig deep to find the strength to stand up against those who wish to bring her down. Despite what anyone says, she will always be a princess. She has the blood of a princess and she is ready to fight for what is rightfully hers.

 

 Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & ANZ) and NetGalley*

Mary Tudor loves her parents Henry the Eighth and Catherine of Aragon. She wishes they could all spend more time together.

Then Mary's world is turned upside down when her father announces that his marriage to Catherine isn't legal and he plans to marry again.

Henry marries Anne Boleyn and Mary is separated from her mother. No longer a princess, Mary resists those who wish her to become a servant for the new princess, Anne and Henry's daughter Elizabeth.

Does Mary have the strength to fight back?

Will she regain her former title of princess?

I have always been interested in the Tudors, but I never knew much about Mary. This book has definitely made me want to find out more about her. As a fan of Lucy Worsley and her documentaries, I was very intrigued to read this.

Mary was a likeable protagonist and I felt sorry for her - her family was torn apart and she was treated badly.

The plot was interesting and held my attention. I don't know how accurate it is, but it seemed believable.

I enjoyed the writing style and would read more fiction books by Lucy Worsley.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.