FairyLoot Unboxing - Whimsical Journeys

The April FairyLoot theme was Whimsical Journeys.

Here's what was inside . . .

 

This Narnia reusable coffee cup was designed by Ink and Wonder.
I love all the colours!

The notepad features a quote from The Darkest Minds and was designed by Little Inkling Designs.

The Blackjack enamel pin features Blackjack, Percy's pegasus in the Percy Jackson books. It was designed by Taratjah.

This Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them-inspired luggage tag was designed by Lovely Owl Books.

There's also an Ace of Shades badge/button.

The fictional places art print was designed by Fictiontea Designs.

There's also a bookmark for The Fates Divide.

The tote bag features a quote from The Hobbit and was designed by Stella's Bookish Art.
I love this tote bag! I'm definitely going to use this!

This candle made by Flick The Wick is themed around the book of the month and smells of sandalwood. I'm not the biggest fan of the scent, as it reminds me of Lynx, but I like that it matches the book of the month.

The book of the month was Beyond a Darkened Shore by Jessica Leake. This copy has exclusive gold foiling and came with a letter from the author, a sticker and signed bookplate.
Beyond a Darkened Shore is a stand-alone and features Celtic and Norse mythology. I really like the sound of it.
 

Did you get the Whimsical Journeys box?
What is your favourite thing in the box?

Review - The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven

Title: The Exact Opposite of Okay

Author: Laura Steven

Pages: 355

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Release Date: 8th March 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

Izzy O'Neill here! Impoverished orphan, aspiring comedian and Slut Extraordinaire, if the gossip sites are anything to go by . . . 

Izzy never expected to be eighteen and internationally reviled. But when explicit photos involving her, a politician's son and a garden bench are published online, the trolls set out to take her apart. Armed with best friend Ajita and a metric ton of nachos, she tries to laugh it off - but as the daily slut-shaming intensifies, she soon learns the way the world treats teenage girls is not okay. It's the Exact Opposite of Okay. 

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Egmont Publishing and NetGalley*

Izzy O'Neill is eighteen, has two best friends and lives with her grandma. Her biggest concerns are whether or not she will be able to get a job so that her grandmother can retire, and whether she will achieve her dream of becoming a scriptwriter in Hollywood.

Then everything changes when explicit photos are leaked online of Izzy in a compromising position with a politician's son.

Suddenly everyone is fascinated with Izzy's life and she is being slut-shamed constantly.

Who posted the photos of Izzy?

Will Izzy be able to become a scriptwriter now that her life has been splattered over the national news?

The Exact Opposite of Okay features some very important themes which were thought-provoking.

I liked Izzy, although her humour did annoy me a little at times. She was very strong - there was no way I would have been able to go to school knowing that everyone had seen such a personal photo of me.

I liked Ajita and her Izzy's grandmother, Betty (who is definitely not your stereotypical grandmother).

I found the humour a bit hit and miss.

The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped.

In the beginning, I wasn't sure if I was going to like the writing style but after a while it grew on me.

While reading this I found myself thinking a lot about how people have different views on sex. I think of sex of something very personal, but I've never really thought about how other people feel about it.

The way that Izzy was slut-shamed made me very angry. Men aren't treated the way that women are when it comes to sex which is very wrong and frustrating.

Overall this was an enjoyable read which explores important themes.

Blog Tour + Interview - The Accidental Recluse by Tom McCulloch

The tour schedule:

Blurb:

 

Johnny Jackson used to be a famous film director, but his brother Duke was a hero. Just  turned 75, JJ is heading home from exile in Japan for one last blockbuster. But going home means revisiting the past and Johnny’s past is a disturbing place. The dead won't tell any tales, but someone else just might.

 

 How did you come up with the idea for The Accidental Recluse?

It’s all my late grandfather Bert’s doing. A few years ago, he told me about a cargo ship called the Breda that was sunk off Oban by the Luftwaffe during World War Two. There were rumours of gold, a monkey and the Aga Khan’s favourite horse. It all trickled down the page from there as Norman MacCaig might have said.

What was your favourite part of writing The Accidental Recluse?

The research. Losing myself in Music Hall and Variety, fifties jazz, the rise of the 60s counterculture. Not a bad excuse to mine You Tube for old Lex McLean sketches, watch Blow-Up again, listen to loads of Mingus, Ellington and Coltrane, read Colin MacInnes, drink myself around Soho… Writing the comedy sequences for the Breda Boys was good fun too. I made myself laugh, at least, hopefully others will too… 

Do you have a favourite character in The Accidental Recluse?

Johnny, the main character. I like his delusion. We like to think we’re in control of our decisions. To an extent we are. But there are always other influences at work on us, some more subtle than others, conditioning our choices. Sometimes these influences can even be imaginary. Johnny always had tendencies to solitude but the ‘accidental’ is a way of suggesting he views others as primarily responsible for his exile, distancing himself from any personal responsibility.

When did you start writing?

I’ve always scribbled away. My family is and was full of writers. Books are everywhere. When I was 13 I started writing a sequel to Alistair MacLean’s Force 10 from Navarone. It remains unfinished, a lost classic…

What are your hobbies?

Last week I wandered Highgate Cemetery with a friend. We heard about dark spiders and the Queen’s Horse Slaughterer, wondered about muddy scuff-marks half way up a tomb (like hand-prints...) and made our bows to Bert Jansch and Malcolm McLaren. Then we went to the French Pub in Dean Street and drank Talisker. I think this counts as a hobby.

About the Author

Tom McCulloch has published poetry and short stories in various journals including Other Poetry, Northwords, Northwords Now, Eildon Tree, Markings, Buzzwords, and Wilderness magazine (New Zealand), and was long-listed for the Herald/Imagining Scotland short story competition 2011. With his first novel, The Stillman, he became an Amazon Rising Star.  

Tom is from the Highlands of Scotland, and currently lives in Oxford with his family.

Review - The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1) by Melissa Albert

 Title: The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1)
Author: Melissa Albert
Pages: 368
Publisher: Penguin
Release Date: 8th February 2018

Blurb from Goodreads: 

Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate - the Hazel Wood - Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. Her mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to come from the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD.

To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began . . .

Goodreads | Amazon UK | Amazon US

My Review:

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Children's and NetGalley*

Alice has spent most of her life on the road with her mother, having to keep moving because of the bad luck that follows them around.

Now, at seventeen and with her mother, Ella, married, Alice thinks they have finally outrun the bad luck. She's wrong.

Alice's grandmother is the writer of a book of short stories all set in the Hinterland, a dark fairytale realm. Ellery Finch, a student at Alice's school is a fan of the book and when Alice's mother goes missing, possibly kidnapped by characters from the Hinterland, Finch agrees to help Alice find the Hazel Wood. The Hazel Wood is Alice's grandmother's estate and in a message Ella left for Alice, she warns her to stay away from there.

Will Alice find the Hazel Wood and her mother?

Are the Hinterland and the characters in her grandmother's book real?

I like fairytales, so I was interested to read The Hazel Wood.

Alice was a good protagonist. She had anger issues and would have done anything to get her mother back. I thought it was odd that she always referred to Ella by her name, but I think I remember her saying at one point that their relationship was more like they were sisters than mother and daughter.

The plot was interesting and I liked the fairytales from Alice's grandmother's book. They were creepy and twisted and I would be interested to read the rest of them (only some of them are described). There was some action and a minuscule amount of romance.

I really enjoyed the writing style and look forward to reading more by the author.

I'm intrigued to see what happens in the next book.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.