Author Archives: keithbwalters

Mini Reviews: Looking for JJ and The Naturals

More mini reviews… as I’ve not yet actually written any proper, long reviews for recent ARCs yet! *hangs head* I decided to do these two as mini reviews for now, though I may do discussion posts on them later, because both were really, really interesting. Looking for JJ and The Naturals are both chilling, crime-based books- I enjoyed both of them. They’re pretty dark YA novels… (:

Looking for JJ by Anne Cassidy

Published by Scholastic, August 2013 (10th Anniversary edition). Click here for the Goodreads synopsis and profile!

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Looking for JJ is a really unpredictable book. I’ve heard a lot about it in the past, but I’ve never picked up a copy before! Hot Key Books were kind enough to send me a copy, because they’re going to be publishing the sequel, Finding Jennifer Jones, very soon. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the sequel has in store now. The main character here is under witness protection, after a traumatic experience in her childhood, which the media became obsessed with. The pot unwound in a way I would never have expected, and I was hooked right from the beginning until the very end. The main character, Jennifer Jones, is very relatable and understandable; even after I learned the truth about what happened in the woods that day…. *shiver* I think the only part that I couldn’t get used to was the format… I wasn’t expecting it to be set like that; starting with the present, then going to the past, then back to the present at the ending. It confused me, because JJ also had the flashbacks in the present… I just got a bit muddled at points! However, highly recommended- and I’m sure the sequel will be just as break-taking.

My Rating:

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I received a copy of Looking for JJ from Hot Key Books, the publishers of book two, in exchange for an honest review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Published by Quercus, November 2013. Click here for the Goodreads synopsis and profile!

18769818 The Naturals was… wow. It blew my mind. The story was so original and clever, fast paced and action packed. The plot focuses around Cassie Hobbes, whose mum went missing, supposedly murdered, due to the terrifying evidence Cassie found years ago in her dressing room. Now, Cassie has been recruited to work in a secret branch of the FBI, solving mysteries with her talents.Cassie’s talent reminded me a lot of Sherlock Holmes. She’s amazing at breaking things down and solving mysteries. It was easy to connect with her, and I really enjoyed seeing her character develop a lot. As she’s solving a mystery, she realises it’s more dangerous than she ever could have imagined. I enjoyed it so much! The plot was really fast paced and addictive; I was left completely stunned. I think some parts seemed a little too… freaky? I know Liz, who let me read her copy, definitely saw this too! It’s a seriously chilling book, and definitely not for the faint hearted… there’s something about the murders that sends a shiver up your spine, stronger than a lot of other mysteries I’ve read.

My Rating:

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I was given a copy of The Naturals from Liz, who told me I’d probably like it. Thank you so much!! 😀

I hope you enjoyed those reviews! both are spine-chilling books that you probably won’t want to read in the dark for the most part… Definitely recommended! (:

Book Review: BURN by Monica Hesse

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Published by Hot Key Books, 6th February 2014. You can read my review of the first book, STRAY, here!

18682748 Goodreads Synopsis: Lona Sixteen Always is about to become Lona Seventeen Always, but she isn’t feeling much older or wiser. Unlike Fenn and the rest of the Path strays, she is struggling to move on with her life. How can she look to the future when she knows almost nothing about her past? Lona feels like everyone’s pressuring her to become ‘normal’ – even her beloved Fenn – and on top of this, she’s been having strange, violent dreams. It almost feels like someone’s trying to send her a message…

Lona’s dreams turn out to be memories – clues hidden inside Lona by her mother, who Lona always assumed was lost to her forever. But she isn’t lost at all: she’s being held captive by Harm – emotionless, psychotic, murderous Harm – and she’s desperate for Lona to find her. But can Lona work it all out in time? And why does Harm need Lona’s mother? In the bid to find out who she really is, Lona will fall headlong into a trap far more dangerous and cunning than she could ever have imagined. The Path was just the beginning.

My Review: Contains small spoilers only in the first paragraph if you haven’t yet read Stray! Whoa. I’ve been really eager to read this since I finished Stray a year ago: If you’re on Twitter you might have seen multiple fangirly tweets. As soon as I received it, I re-read book one so I had everything fresh in my head! This sequel definitely lived up to my expectations. Wow.

Burn focuses largely on Lona’s hunt for any possible family. After the events of Stray, Lona is trying to adjust to life outside of Path, the virtual reality experiment that lets foster children live a ‘perfect’ life. Turning seventeen, she realises there must be a mother still alive, and she’s desperate to find her, but Harm makes an appearance in the story and everything turns really dark and sinister. I was completely blown away, on the edge of my seat for every page. The plot was really thrilling! It captures the broken bond between a mother and a long lost daughter so, so well. I felt tears welling up. A lot.

I fell in love with the story all over again, but there was one thing I couldn’t quite get on with: There’s a death in the first book, right at the ending, and I thought that would really shake all of the other protagonists up. They seemed fine, though… It bugged me for some reason.

Lona was still a kick-butt, loveable character. She develops a lot throughout this book, and I really felt for her as she begins to adjust to a life with no more danger (Or, so she thought…). With a lot of books I’ve read recently, I haven’t been able to connect with characters when the book’s in third person, but Lona’s a character I can instantly connect with and follow easily. Fenn, of course, totally beats Jace Wayland any day ;D Forget Jace and Clary or Tobias and Tris. It’s LONA AND FENN:3. One character I was truly terrified of was Harm… He seriously scared me in the first book, and this one was no different!

Overall, Burn was a brilliant sequel, and it was definitely worth the wait. The plot was pacy and exciting, and much more than what I was expecting. Monica Hesse’s writing is amazing, and more people need to read these books! Strong sequel? Yep. Awesome main protagonist? Yep. Clever and imaginative Sci-Fi themes? Yep. It ticks all the boxes! I can’t recommend this more; It’s definitely worth starting if you’ve read the first book, and if you haven’t, well… Read the first book!! (: I’m super sad now. There will be no more from the world of Stray, according to the author. But, I’m hoping there will be more books from her soon!

My Rating:

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

Book Review: Looking at the Stars by Jo Cotterill

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Published by Bodley Head, 31st January 2014.

18041951 Goodreads Synopsis: Amina’s homeland has been ravaged by war for many months, but so far she and her family are safe, together.

When a so-called liberating force arrives in the country, the family think their prayers for peace will soon be answered, but they are horribly wrong . . . The country is thrown into yet further turmoil and Amina’s family is devastated . . .

Through it all, Amina has her imagination to fall back on – of a better place and time. But can her stories get her through this?

My Review: I’ve never read a book by Jo Cotterill before, but I’ll definitely be reading more from her! Looking at the Stars was beautifully written, uplifting and hopeful and influenced by recent wars and disasters. Looking at the Stars is set in an un-named country and revolves around a controlling, violent group, making it really relevant to recent events. It’s eye-opening, memorable, and a beautiful read.

The story begins with Amina, a girl living in her tense home country as foreign soldiers ride in, to hopefully help everybody out of the situation. Right away, I clicked with Amina; I really felt for her and her family as she went through devastating events, and some hopeful ones.

She’s a really relatable character, held back from letting her imagination out because she’s not allowed to go to school because she’s a girl. The things she went through completely broke my heart! However, Amina’s the brave, memorable, inspiring character I was hoping for and more. She develops so much throughout the story, and I found myself wanting to read more books about her after I closed the book.

The story is so easy to get lost in. From the first page, with that first line that hooked me in, I couldn’t tear myself away! I It’s gritty, sad and violent, not as I’d thought it would be, but it’s also a beautiful story of how hope can turn things around. Amina’s adventure is full of ups and downs as she loses people and finds friends. The story, especially in the last half, focuses largely around storytelling, and I really, really loved that. The imagery was so vivid and beautiful, especially in Amina’s fantastical stories! Jo’s writing is gorgeous.

Overall, Looking at the Stars was a moving read, full of heartbreak and friendship. It’s unpredictable; dark at some parts but really beautifully written. It focuses on current world topics that I don’t think I’ve ever read books about before- so I really recommend it! Amina and her sisters were so loveable, as were the rest of her family and the friends that they make along their journey. I can’t recommend Looking at the Stars enough; it’s definitely one of the most emotional, but the most eye-opening books I’ve read this year.

My Rating:

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

If you’re interested about Looking at the Stars and want to read more about the book, the blog tour is continuing today over at Readaraptor! Make sure to check out the blog tour post, and the finale tomorrow. If you’d like to catch up on the blog tour, here’s the schedule! Clicking on the image will bring you to my post from the blog tour.

#RandomYACrime!

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A huge thank you to Random House and Dead Good Books for inviting me!

The #RandomYACrime fiction showcase was hosted on Thursday at Random House’s building. I was really excited for it, because Jane Casey, probably my favourite crime author was going to be there amongst three other great writers.Also, crime fiction is one of my favourite genres, so I was looking forward to hearing about upcoming titles. The place looked really cool, especially thanks to the crime scene tape. I really enjoyed the evening! Here’s a recap:

Left to right: Jane Casey, Simon Mason, Helen Grant and Niall Leonard. Thanks to Harriet for the photo!(:

Above are all of the books from the authors who were at the event. There were a few more mentioned, though! I’d already read How to Fall and Running Girl, and I was halfway through Crusher. Two publicists talked about the other titles coming later in the year, including one I’m really excited about: Web of Darkness by Bali Rai.

Then, they passed over to Niall Leonard, who wrote Crusher which has been out for a while, and Incinerator, which is the sequel out this year. He gave a really great talk about what his books were themed on, and also read an extract from Incinerator. It was creepy and chilling- I loved it! 😀 I finished Crusher on Friday and I mostly enjoyed it, so I’m eager to hear more about book two.

Helen Grant also gave a talk about her books, but she showed a presentation about them too. It was really interesting to hear about the settings, where Helen had been herself and she showed up some beautiful pictures of the places. Her titles are about a girl who stumbles upon adventures through Urban Exploration, which is basically exploring the town… not always legally. The books sound really clever, so I’m excited!

After, Jane Casey and Simon Mason held a discussion about their books with Lauren Buckland, Jane’s editor. It was really fun, because I didn’t realise that Simon was a previous editor as well as Jane. They discussed how it felt to be the other side of a novel, this time being the authors edited, instead of being the editors. Simon Mason and Jane Casey also talked about their main characters, Garvie Smith and Jess Tennant.

Afterward I was lucky enough to get copies of my books signed, and to have quick chats with the authors too. I spoke for a while to Simon Mason before the main talk, and he was awesome. It was really great to meet Niall, Helen and Jane too, as well as lovely publicist Jasmine (: I didn’t get the chance to speak to many other bloggers and people, but I was really happy to see Stevie Finegan at the event. I love her Book-tube videos, so it was great to meet her and talk! You can view her channel here.

A really big thank you again to Harriet, Jasmine and the rest of Random House for inviting me. I really enjoyed it, so I’m looking forward to reading upcoming crime titles!

New Books! #38

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This week’s book haul was awesome! (: On Thursday I was invited to Random House’s YA Crime Fiction Showcase evening, hopefully I’ll have a post up about that tomorrow. I also picked up pretty books out and about today, and one of my Amazon pre-orders arrived this week. 😀

Purchased:

FANGIRL by Rainbow Rowell: There’s no need to explain why I wanted this so badly. It’s been huge around the blogosphere, and it’s about a fangirl!

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children: I saw a copy of this in Waterstone’s today and had a flick through. It’s such a bizarre, unique looking book; creepy and haunting with mysterious photographs. I’m looking forward to it!

King Rat by China Mieville: I loved UN LUN DUN by China Mieville and really want to read his other titles. I spotted this today and picked it up, interested by the blurb!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor: I’ve read so many good reviews, I love the cover, and the synopsis has had m,e wanting to read it for ages. I spotted this in Waterstone’s too and decided I’d finally buy it! I’m hoping to get around to it soon.

RHCP Crime Showcase:

Silent Saturday by Helen Grant: I’ve seen a lot about this book, but actually thought it was an adult title by the cover, I’m not sure why. I received a copy to read as the sequel, Demons of Ghent, is out soon. It sounds really, really great so I’m so excited for this!

How to Fall by Jane Casey: I have actually already read this title, I think I read it in April last year. I absolutely loved it. The sequel to this, too, is out soon, which I’m so eager to read! This deserves a re-read before I buy book two. (:

Helen and Jane were both at the event along with two other authors, but I’ll talk about the event in more detail on tomorrow’s post! Thanks to Helen Grant and Jane Casey for signing my books- as well as Niall Leonard and Simon Mason, who were also there, but I already had their books from previous events(:

An interview with SF Said!

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My first author interview of the year, and probably one of the most exciting ones I’ve ever gotten to do!

SF Said wrote Phoenix, most recently- a sci-fi epic about a boy searching for his missing father. I fell in love with it; it was beautifully written and really captivating. You can read my glowing (No pun intended- the book’s about stars!) review here!

First up, here’s a little about SF… (I felt arty! So this looks relatively cool!):

Onto the interview questions, in which writing, book themes and illustrations are covered… The images are all of Dave McKean’s beautiful artwork for the book, aside from the photo!

Where did the initial idea for Phoenix come from?

The initial idea was about a boy who goes on an epic quest to find his missing father. That was all I had at the start. I didn’t know who the boy was, or where the quest would take him – until I got the idea of setting the story on a starship. This idea popped into my head one afternoon, and I immediately knew it meant we’d be crossing the galaxy, and there’d be aliens… and that’s when I got really excited about it!

The book took off from there. But I have to admit, it changed a huge amount over the seven years it took to write it!

What was the hardest scene to write in Phoenix? (Don’t worry, no spoilers here- thanks, SF!:))

The beginning and end were both very hard. But the thing I found hardest runs all the way through. It’s what you might call the mythic background.

The aliens in Phoenix believe that all the mythological gods are really stars who come down from the sky. They take different forms in different times, but they’re always the same immortal beings, returning again and again through history. They call them the Twelve Astraeus.

Originally, I wrote lots of material about the Twelve Astraeus, to explain this background. But it was impossible to find words powerful enough to describe them. After all, gods and stars should be mysterious and awe-inspiring beyond words!

Then I came up with the idea of describing them through illustrations and song fragments. I gave Dave McKean a list of the Twelve Astraeus, with their names and attributes in different mythologies (Greek, Roman, Norse, Egyptian, Mesopotamian etc.) The images he created have exactly the sense of mystery and awe that I wanted.

I also wrote song fragments to go with the pictures, which give you little hints about them. So when readers encounter the Astraeus of Love, for example, they can work out for themselves that she’s been called Venus, Aphrodite, Ishtar, Astarte, and so on; and even if they don’t, they’ll just feel who she is, without being told. I find that much more powerful and evocative than ordinary prose – but it took me a long time to work out the best way to do it!

Why did you decide to write a book set in Space- what that inspired by anything in particular?

I’ve always loved space stories. The stars have always filled me with a sense of wonder. I love the thought of other life; other worlds, out there in the universe… and I know I’m not alone in these feelings. Yet there aren’t many books set in space for younger readers, given how popular it is on TV and in films (Doctor Who, Star Wars, Star Trek…) So because I wanted to read more space stories myself, I had to sit down and write my own!

I’m also very interested in space science and astronomy, and the incredible things that are being discovered all the time. I love the idea of Dark Matter, for example. It seems that most of the matter in the universe is ‘Dark Matter’; it’s usually invisible and undetectable, but it’s what holds everything together. So I put this idea into the book, and Dave McKean made some beautiful images of it, partly based on fractals.

But it turns out that his illustrations are incredibly close to the reality! Just last week, astronomers captured the very first image of the web of Dark Matter that holds the universe together – and it looks astonishingly like Dave’s pictures!

Are any of the characters based on real people?

The one that’s closest to reality is probably Mystica Grandax, the Startalker. She is largely based on my grandma, who died during the writing of the book. She was pretty much the nicest grandma you could imagine, and I wanted to have a character as nice as that! A lot of strange and difficult things happen to the main character Lucky in the course of the story, so I wanted there also to be someone who was just unconditionally good and kind and loving towards him.

I loved Dave McKean’s illustrations! Do you have a favourite from Phoenix?

Thank you, I love them too, as you can probably tell from my other answers! He is a brilliant artist and a great collaborator, and we spent a lot of time talking and thinking about how to do it. Many of the things the book describes are impossible and unimaginable, so it wasn’t easy! And yet I think he pulled it off.

It’s impossible for me to choose a single favourite. But I have to admit, the cover blew my head off when I first saw it!

I also love the book trailer that he made for Phoenix, which animates many of his illustrations in a really beautiful way.

[My blog doesn’t seem to like YouTube Video embedding… but you can just click on the link above, for the book trailer! It’s worth watching… it really is gorgeous (: ]

Finally, do you have any hints about current writing projects?

I’m just beginning the third draft of my new book right now! The working title of this one is TYGER. It’s science fiction too, although it’s not space; it’s more of a parallel worlds story. I’m really excited about it!

My usual routine is: get up in the morning, go to the library, and write. I write in the library because I’m not disciplined enough to work at home; there are just too many distractions. Much as I love Twitter (where I’m @whatSFSaid), it’s disastrous for your concentration! I find it much easier to focus in the library, and I work there every day, unless I’m doing a school visit.

But my aim is always to make my books as good as they can possibly be, and that takes a lot of drafts, and a lot of time. Phoenix took 13 drafts in the end (Varjak Paw took a horrifying 17!) so it might be a while till it’s ready… but I hope not too long!

Wow! I can’t believe it took 13 drafts- but it was definitely worth it. Phoenix is an awesome read, and I really recommend it! Thank you so much to SF Said for the interview. I really loved it, so I hope everybody else does!

Book Review: Split Second by Sophie McKenzie (Buddy read!)

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Today I’m reviewing and crying over Split Second! I buddy-read this with Charli, who runs the To Another World book blog. You can read her review on her blog today, too, if you click on her blog name above! (:

Published by Simon & Schuster, 12th September 2013.

18369082 Goodreads Synopsis: Bound together by the devastating consequences of a terrorist attack on a London market, teenagers Charlotte (Charlie) and Nat appear at first to have much in common. But, as Charlie gets closer to Nat and his family, she begins to wonder if perhaps he knows more about the attack than he has let on. Split Second is an action-packed thriller that shifts between the perspectives of its two main characters as their courage and their loyalties are tested to the limit.

My Review (TINY spoiler in the third paragraph! Apart form that, spoiler free (: ): OH. I was not expecting to be that blown away by this. Whoa. I’ve been delaying writing this review because it’s actually kind of hard to put it all into words, because… whoa.

Split Second is set in a grim but possible future of the UK: A country torn to shreds by the lack of money, and terrorist gangs bent on pushing foreign people out of the country are raging. I was so excited to read about this, though I started Split Second around the same time as BOMBMAKER by Claire McFall, a book set in almost identical conditions. I guess after realising it was really similar, I was a little scared I’d keep comparing the two books. Ditto to Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman, also around racist gangs, but the book turned out to be entirely unique and something really memorable.

I think my only big problem with the book was Charlie… I didn’t like the way that she was so snappy and quick-tempered for the most of the book. I didn’t enjoy the beginning as much as I wanted to because I couldn’t get used to her at first!

Nat, on the other hand, I instantly loved- he was really realistic and three dimensional (though, Charlie was, too!). Their romance was really interesting and complex, because they both find themselves growing close to each other whilst at the heart of something really dangerous.

Split Second is full of thrilling plot twists and surprises, there’s literally no way to figure out the end result! Charli and I were tweeting each other about it all the way through reading. We thought we’d figured it out…. and then BAM. Massive twists threw the book upside down and left the book completely unpredictable. Split Second is definitely for people who love to keep guessing!

The ending left me in a bit of a fangirly, emotional mess. That is all. Split Second probably has the most evil cliffhanger in history… it was a brilliant, but mean way to end the book! I’ve spent the last few weeks brainstorming what could have happened next, but I guess I’ll have to wait until book two, Every Second Counts… *cries*

Overall, Split Second was really thrilling and clever. It’s set in a scarily realistic world, and I really loved the plot. It was evil, but it was so good. Sophie McKenzie is just the Master Of Plot Twists And Consequently Making Georgia And Charli Twitter-Cry. ;D The dual narrative was powerful and captivating, and I really couldn’t predict anything! Really highly recommended to fans of crime mysteries and dystopians. Not to be missed! (:

My Rating:

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I purchased a copy of Split Second (SIGNED!! ;D *FANGIRLYSCREAMS*) at a local bookstore.

Looking at the Stars Blog Tour!

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I’m really excited to be kicking off a blog tour for the first time! I’ve never started one before. Well, here goes! You can click the book cover below to take you to the Goodreads page for the book, too (:

Looking at the Stars is a beautifully written, captivating novel based around war, love, hope and loss. I fell in love with it when I read it earlier this month and I’m sure anybody who reads it will, too. My review should be up next week! For now, here’s the start of the blog tour: A guest post from the author, Jo Cotterill…

Let me take you back to 2007…

*swirly patterns and swooshy music*

I was pregnant. I had finished the edits for my controversial Young Adult novel Screwed (under the name Joanna Kenrick) and feeling a bit lost. I wasn’t sure what to write next. My latest series idea had been rejected. Despondent, I sat in my garden shed and stared at the view.

The news at the time was full of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Images of refugees flashed across the screen. Child after child, torn from home and family, seeing people killed in front of them – what does that do to people, I wondered. How does one remain sane in the face of such horror?

I reached for a shiny new notebook. ‘The day the soldiers came, we cheered,’ I wrote. How would I survive if everything I loved was taken away from me? How would I get through each day if I had nothing? How would I keep hold of hope?

In my mind, a character formed: a girl, full of hopes and dreams and fuelled by imagination. A girl who couldn’t help asking ‘what if?’ A girl who had big ideas and wasn’t afraid to speak them. A girl who made up stories because she couldn’t help it. How would THAT girl survive? And so my pen glided across the surface of the paper, filling a few pages – and then I switched to the laptop, typing as words flowed from my head without any effort.

When I’d written the first 10k words, I thought I should probably show it to my agent. She has excellent knowledge of the publishing world, and she knows me and how I work. I emailed it along with a synopsis. The below is copied from her email response:

I absolutely love love love this. You are the Khaled Hosseini for younger readers. The voice is perfect, the setting just oozes life and the pacing brilliant.

I felt massively encouraged. What a wonderful reaction! And so Amina’s journey continued. Since I started writing it, of course, the news has moved on from Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, the refugees are Syrian, fleeing from terrible situations at home and often lacking even the most basic of items. In fact, my heart stopped when I read an article in The Times about a baby born in shocking conditions in a camp, during a storm, to a young mother. The baby’s name? Amina.

Humans are amazing. Amid horror, we can find hope. Amid sorrow, we can laugh. And I think that Amina is the kind of person who will always brighten the lives of others because she has imagination. I’d like to think I’m that kind of person too.

Many thanks to Georgia for having me on the blog 🙂

Thank you, Jo, for the guest post! I really loved it, it was beautifully written. Make sure to keep up with all of the blog tour posts over this week and next week. Here’s the schedule:

New Books! #37

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A large book haul this week (Well, from only today!) and it caused much fangirling (: I had one book I’ve been excited about for months come through the post, and I also went to the RHCP Goes To The Movies! Blogger’s brunch today. It was really awesome. I got to talk to loads of lovely bloggers, and see some exciting info about upcoming Random House releases and trailers for movies like The Book Thief. Matt Haig was also the guest author and he was awesome; his talk about his debut YA book was great, and he signed a copy of his upcoming Echo Boy for me (!!!). Thank you so much to RHCP for having me- if was really great.

RHCP event titles:

Echo Boy by Matt Haig: Echo Boy looks amazing. I love Sci-Fi novels, and I loved Matt Haig’s The Humans- I read it earlier this week. I’m looking forward to starting it. Thank you Matt for giving a great talk about it today, and for signing my copy!

Running Girl by Simon Mason: I love this cover a lot. I also love crime fiction a lot. So, this seems awesome 😀 I’m excited to read it as the concept is really interesting. The hardback is really, really pretty. I’m definitely not judging a book by its cover here. Ahem.

From bloggers-and-bookswaps:

Thank you to Faye from A Daydreamer’s Thoughts, Michelle from Much Loved Books, and Debbie from Snuggling on the Sofa for passing these onto me! You’re all seriously awesome and so *bloggy hugs* *virtual cake* 😀 These are all titles I’ve been seeing a lot about around the blogosphere, so I’m excited to start them all. Thank you, lovely people, it was so nice of you!

Received in Post:

GIF image from fiercefiction.tumblr.com

Far From You by Tess Sharpe: First, admire the pretty GIFable cover!! 😀 Stupidly gorgeous. I love it so much! I’ve been so excited about this ever since I saw a synopsis. I’m really interested to see what it’s like, and it’s set to be a pretty amazing debut novel, I think! Thank you, Indigo. (:

Purchased:

The Chaos (Numbers, #2)

Numbers 2: The Chaos by Rachel Ward: I haven’t actually read the first book in the series yet, but I bought it a few weeks ago. I spotted this for sale in the local library today, and I decided to buy it- maybe I’ll really enjoy book one and want to move straight onto book two! Also, again, pretty cover. I couldn’t not.

[Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones: Necklace: Clairvoyant Rune (Product Image)]

This isn’t a book…. but it’s bookish and I want to rant about it! 😀 I went to the lovely London Forbidden Planet today, too, to pick up a comic. I also spotted these: Mortal Instruments necklaces, with the different runes. And they were really, really cheap. And pretty. I ended up going for the Clairvoyant rune, because it’s so gorgeous, and I already have Angelic on a bracelet 😉 Admire the pretty!! :3 You can find out about them here, if you’re a TMI fangirl too…

So, that was the book-haul-plus-a-piece-of-nerdy-awesome for the week! (:

Graphic Novel Review: Bravest Warriors Vol. 1 by Pendleton Ward

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Also by Joey Comeau, Ryan Pequin and Mike Holmes. I couldn’t fit them in the blog post title (:

Published by KaBOOM!, 31st August 2013.

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Goodreads Synopsis: The new hit Cartoon Hangover series from the imagination of Adventure Time creator, Pendleton Ward! POWER! RESPECT! Based on ADVENTURE TIME creator Pendleton Ward’s brand new animated series! Join Chris, Wallow, Beth and Danny, four 16-year-old heroes-for-hire, as they warp from galaxy to galaxy, saving alien races with the power of their…emotions. They’re noble, righteous and totally bodacious! This new series of original comics based on the new Cartoon Hangover series is sure to be a smash hit! This collection includes the first four issues, including the totally boss backup stories!

My Review: PENDLETON WARD I LOVE YOU.

Just had to get that out of the way. sorry. *Cough*I’m obsessed *cough* This was so fun. So, ridiculously, stupidly fun… I originally wasn’t planning on reading this, but I bought it on my Kindle. I’m so glad I did buy it- it was definitely worth it!

Bravest Warriors follows a band of four kids and one unofficial member (who is, probably, one of the coolest…), who defeat evil things with their righteousness. Sound silly? NO. Because this is what happens in Adventure Time, Pendleton Ward’s most famous work, and Pendleton Ward is awesome, and there is no way to deny that. ‘Nuff said (:

The world Bravest Warriors was set in was so rich with wacky imagination. It’s so difficult not to fall in love. Immediately, I was sucked into the world, and after the collected issues… I just wanted more! I’ll admit that the planet full of sad clowns was extremely creepy, but the extremely cute illustrations meant I could read it (: I fell in love with the artwork. It’s so pretty, simple yet really fun. Similar to Adventure Time’s art, which is probably a reason I loved it so much. Bravest Warriors is such a vibrant comic. It really stands out!

The story is very jumpy. It’s packed with events and it is pretty much all over the place and really random. But, I think that made it really loveable. It’s completely unpredictable and laugh-out-loud funny. Giant cats attacking spaceships. Sadness overtaking a world full of clowns. And zombies. None of them should go together, but they do. I’m not quite sure how this comic pulled it off, but it did!

The characters are so loveable. Each of them are all really different, but they made an awesome team. My favourite character? Had to be Beth, the dark haired girl on the cover. She was… awesome 😀 Though, of course, Miss Unofficial Fifth Member of the Team was equally fun. They’re all really easy to love, and I was really absorbed in their story. I ignored family on Christmas a bit, because I was so curious to see what happened to them!

Overall, Bravest Warriors is just a really fun comic. It’s not really to be taken seriously; it’s a silly, funny, random graphic novel, but it’s so easy to get stuck into. I’m really happy I got around to reading it! Recommended to MG fans of comics, but really, I enjoyed it a lot and I know a lot of adults did too, as I saw on Goodreads! The characters are loveable, and you’ll find yourself giggling manically at the story. Adventure Time fans will gobble it up.

My Rating:

I purchased Bravest Warriors through X Comics online.