Author Archives: Gee

About Gee

Eighteen. Student. Activist. Creative.

COMPETITION: Young Creatives 2016

I’m incredibly excited about sharing this post with you, which is about a competition I recently was informed about – if you’re aged 5 to 16, or know anyone who is, it’s definitely worth reading on! 🙂

The Young Creatives award is run by Holiday Cottages UK, and aims to showcase creative talent across the country through the competition. It’s run in partnership with Photobox, Puffin Books and WHSmiths, who are the suppliers for the £2500 worth of prizes up for grabs.

Well-loved UK authors Chris Bradford (Young Samurai) and Jeremy Strong (Beware Killer Tomatoes) are the judges of the contest, and you can create anything along these lines to enter:

short story
photograph
art work
creative video

along the theme of “where is your favourite place in the UK?”

Prizes that can be won include holiday vouchers, photography prizes from Photobox, and lots of books!

If you or someone you know is interested in entering, visit the Young Creatives website to find out more about submitting entries. The competition closes on April 15th. Good luck – and if you enter, I’d love to see what you made, so tweet me @GeorgiaReads! 🙂

Cinnamon Girl Blog Tour: Review Graphic

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Today I’m sharing the first graphic I’ve made completely on Photoshop – which was a fun experience. Cinnamon Girl is such a brilliant book, and I hope you enjoy this post and that it makes you a little curious about it!

cinnamon girl infographic

I received a copy of The incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

Book Review: This is Where the World Ends by Amy Zhang

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Published March 22nd 2016 by Greenwillow Books (US)

24039424 Proof Synopsis: Janie and Micah, Micah and Janie.

That’s how it’s been ever since elementary school, when Janie Vivian moved next door.

It’s the perfect friendship – as long as no one finds out about it.

It’s the perfect friendship, until Janie Vivian disappears and Micah can’t remember when or how or why.

My Review: I started This is Where the World Ends not hugely knowing what it was about – and I raced through it, I couldn’t put it down. I loved living in the world of Janie and Micah, and unravelling the story of what happened to cause everything in their lives to change.

I wasn’t too sure of the book at first, as from the first pages, it had a very Paper Towns-y vibe to it – Janie is very much like Margo, although that was also a reason I was so fascinated by Janie – I love complex characters like that. However, the story is individual – it seems like it’s taken elements of some of the best contemporary books I’ve read, and combined them to make one fantastically feels-y book.

I think the best thing about This is Where the World Ends are its characters – their voices are incredibly strong and memorable, especially Janie’s. The story is written in three different ways – chapters are either ‘before’ in Janie’s narrative, ‘after’ in Micah’s narrative, or pages from Janie’s journals. The journals were perhaps the hardest-hitting parts of this book, which took a turn for the emotional.

I didn’t expect this book to be as emotionally-charged and poignant as it was. There are, especially towards the end, plenty of moments you’ll need tissues for. Just a heads up. The ending was not what I’d expected at all and left me wondering about the protagonists, especially Micah, for a long time afterwards.

Overall, I think This is Where the World Ends is a perfect read if you’re a fan of John Green or E Lockhart. It’s a powerful and moving novel about a close friendship, and how things can change so quickly and unexpectedly. There’s also quite a tragic mystery in its core, too, as you slowly piece together the night Micah lost his memory throughout the split narratives and diary entries. Definitely recommended!

My Rating:

four

I received a copy of This is Where the World Ends from the publisher, via Harper360, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

Book Review: The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke

Book Review: Mind Your Head by Juno Dawson

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Published 16th January 2016 by Hot Key Books.

27799078 Goodreads Synopsis: We all have a mind, so we all need to take care of our mental health as much as we need to take care of our physical health. And the first step is being able to talk about our mental health. Juno Dawson leads the way with this frank, factual and funny book, with added information and support from clinical psychologist Dr Olivia Hewitt. Covering topics from anxiety and depression to addiction, self-harm and personality disorders, Juno and Olivia talk clearly and supportively about a range of issues facing young people’s mental health – whether fleeting or long-term – and how to manage them, with real-life stories from young people around the world. With witty illustrations from Gemma Correll.

My Review: It’s been fantastic to see that, over recent years, YA fiction has been increasingly representative of different mental health issues – and it was even more fantastic to see that a new, non-fiction book about it was coming out. Not only that, but Juno Dawson was writing it – arguably one of the best, versatile voices in YA fiction and non-fiction right now. I was over the moon when I received a copy!

Much like This Book is Gay, Mind Your Head is written equal part serious and witty. Juno is so great at making really important topics so easy to read for many audiences. Mind Your Head is a book you could devour in a night or so – I found all of the information in there incredibly useful and informative. It’s so brilliant that, despite not being an incredibly long book, Mind Your Head takes time to explore many different types of mental health issues and causes.

I can never fault Juno’s writing – she’s just perfect at writing anything for teenagers, no matter the genre or topic. With any similar sorts of books to this, I’d expect the information to be quite bombarding or written in a very straight-to-the-point detached style – but this book is nothing like that! The topics covered in this book are very serious and are rightly treated so – but Juno is so good at making reading about these things so engaging and accessible.

I think the input from clinical psychologist Dr Olivia Hewitt was really great! Her writing can be found in small extracts across the book, describing some details in a more in-depth style.

And, of course, I can’t not mention Gemma Correll. I adore her illustrations, as they’re all over the internet and are a fantastic addition to Being a Girl, another Hot Key non-fiction title. They’re just so funny and are a great addition to the book.

Overall, Mind Your Head is awesome – it’s a really well written, much needed book for all ages, and an important, informative book whether you are experiencing and mental health issues, or want to learn more. The book and its contents are presented in an engaign, visual way, with varied formats, visuals and illustrations. Definitely recommended. What can’t Juno write?! 🙂

My Rating:

four

I received a copy of Mind Your Head from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

COVER REVEAL: The Map of Bones by Francesca Haig

Book Review: INFERNO by Cat Doyle

Changers Blog Tour: Book Review + Unselfies!

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Today the Changers blog tour is stopping here at The Bibliomaniac! Enjoy my post ^_^

Published 12th January 2016 by Little, Brown.

27256347 Goodreads Synopsis: Changers book one: DREW opens on the eve of Ethan Miller’s freshman year of high school in a brand-new town. He’s finally sporting a haircut he doesn’t hate, has grown two inches since middle school, and can’t wait to try out for the soccer team. At last, everything is looking up in life.
Until the next morning. When Ethan awakens as a girl.
Ethan is a Changer, a little-known, ancient race of humans who live out each of their four years of high school as a different person. After graduation, Changers choose which version of themselves they will be forever – and no, they cannot go back to who they were before the changes began.
Ethan must now live as Drew Bohner – a petite blonde with an unfortunate last name – and navigate the treacherous waters of freshman year while also following the rules: Never tell anyone what you are. Never disobey the Changers Council. And never, ever fall in love with another Changer. Oh, and Drew also has to battle a creepy underground syndicate called ‘Abiders’ (as well as the sadistic school queen bee, Chloe). And she can’t even confide in her best friend Audrey, who can never know the real her, without risking both of their lives.

My Review: As soon as I heard about Changers, I was so eager to read it – and it really didn’t disappoint. As it’s now out in the UK, I can’t wait to see what other people think of it!

The premise of the book reminded me of Every Day by David Levithan, which was why the book piqued my interest. However, getting into it, I realised it’s definitely quite unique – Changers is a rather interesting blend of contemporary and fantasy, as the Changers are actually an underground, secret species of humans.

I wasn’t too sure on the beginning – the scene where Ethan wakes up as Drew seemed a little cheesy in its dialogue and stuff, but the story definitely does improve. With many scenes conveying the general awkwardness of high school and growing up, it’s almost possible to forget the fantasy element in places! I really love how Changers openly discusses identities – I think the premise of this whole series is a brilliant, accessible approach to an important topic for teenagers.

Drew is an incredibly relatable character – taking out the shape-shifting element, she’s such a realistic teenage character. She’s working out life, high school, crushes, and forming her own opinions about the world around her and the situation she’s been thrown into. I really liked how the authors made sure she was still very ‘Ethan,’ the person she was before her Change – Ethan’s identity is still there and the blend of two very different high school students is so interesting to read about.

Overall, Changers is a really great (and relatively short) read that I would undoubtedly recommend to anyone who wants an engrossing story. It’s got a really important message at its core, woven into the plot, and I just really love the whole concept. I’m excited to read book two, and see what the protagonist’s next Change has in store for them!

My Rating:

I received a copy of Changers from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

In Changers, there is a references to a site called wearechangers.org, which is set up by a separate group of Changers who are kinda rebellious. wearechangers.org is actually a website, run by the authors of the book, and coincides with the book’s message about identity and aims to spread positivity and empathy. I think it’s such a great idea!

Checked out the website? Awesome, so you might have seen the #unselfies project on there. This is my favourite thing about the movement – the idea of turning the camera away and ‘focusing your attention outward.’. So, here’s my #unselfie!

i thought this photo i took would be a cool unselfie because ooh calm waves and disrupting the norm and ooh metaphors

Enjoyed this post? Check out more about Changers on the rest of the blog tour stops, and be sure to share your own #unselfie online and on the wearechangers.org project!

2016 Releases: Books on my To-Read List!

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Here’s a list of some books coming out in the next few months that I can’t wait for.

Also on this list (but with no final cover art yet, so I couldn’t make matching graphics!) are The Last Beginning by Lauren James, When She Came Back by Michelle Harrison and As I Descended by Robin Talley.

What new books are you looking forward to reading this year?

Book Review: Moth Girls by Anne Cassidy

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Publisher January 7th 2016 by Hot Key Books.

27766357 Goodreads Synopsis: Helplessly drawn like moths to the light, two girls go missing in an evocative and gripping tale . . .
They called them the Moth Girls because they were attracted to the house. They were drawn to it. Or at least that is what is written in the newspapers that Mandy reads on the anniversary of when her two best friends went missing. Five years have passed since Petra and Tina were determined to explore the dilapidated house on Princess Street. But what started off as a dare ended with the two girls vanishing. As Mandy’s memories of the disappearance of her two friends are ignited once again, disturbing details will resurface in her mind.

My Review: I really enjoyed Anne Cassidy’s Looking for JJ and Finding Jennifer Jones quite recently – so when I heard of her latest book, I was really looking forward to reading it!

Cassidy is a master of YA crime books – a genre I feel is a little neglected. Her writing is fantastic, her stories always suspenseful and addictive to read. This one was no different – I was sucked into the story straight away, eager to know what happened to Tina and Petra, the two girls who went missing after entering an almost-abandoned house. The pages were pretty much turning themselves – I read this over a day, I was so engrossed in it!

I really liked the angle of the book; it heavily focuses on how Mandy, the girl who didn’t go to the house, is affected by the events half a decade later. The emphasis on Mandy’s psychological state, and how she was affected by her relationships with the two girls, was really interesting – I would have loved to see more scenes of her counselling sessions, as the way Mandy unravels how she feels is so well written.

The book isn’t just centered around the main crime story – I found the back-story of Petra, one of the missing girls, to be my favourite part of the book. Cassidy tackles a lot of very sensitive themes well, I think, and some scenes between Petra and her father felt quite unnervingly real.

The story is told in various parts, switching between before the vanishings, and five years after them. The mystery unravels slowly throughout the book, and as soon as you think you’ve figured out what happened, there’s another plot twist. The ending did feel a little disjointed to me, as the final elements of the puzzle seemed to be put together a bit too fast. Although it did leave quite an adept cliffhanger, I would have liked to know one tiny bit! [The next sentence is a spoiler – highlight to read] I think the story with Mr Merchant and his money could’ve been solved a little better – what was it all about?

Overall, I think Moth Girls is a perfect, relatively short read for fans of crime, or those who want a brilliant book to get into the genre with. The plot is inventive, unexpected and hard to stop thinking about once you’ve started reading! Anne Cassidy’s characters are always so well-developed and enjoyable to read about. Recommended!

My Rating:

I received a copy of Moth Girls from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.