Author Archives: keithbwalters

New Books! #15

Two really brilliant looking books came through my letterbox this week, of the same series: Witchstruck and Witchfall by Victoria Lamb. They’re such beautiful looking books (the covers, though you can’t make them out on these pictures, have cool shiny runes on them!!), set in the Tudor times and focusing around a paranormal romance involving witchcraft. I’ve almost finished the first book, Witchstruck, and it’s pretty brilliant so far. Reviews soon, and thanks very much to the awesome Harriet at Random House!

Witchstruck Witchfall

What books have you bought or received this week? Drop a comment! Happy reading (:

Bookish News! #1

Hold Your Breath

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By Caroline Green, published by Piccadilly Press.

Hold Your Breath

Goodreads synopsis: Tara has the power to find missing things and people, but it’s only been a source of trouble for her so far and she’s relieved when her family move house so she can make a fresh start and try to forget about the odd images in her head.

Making friends at her new school hasn’t been easy, especially with mean girls like Melodie Stone running the show. Then Melodie disappears. Tara’s not too sorry, but she starts to see strange images of a captive girl who she gradually realises must be Melodie. Tara tries but fails to ignore the pictures in her head and finally goes in search of Melodie, with the help of Melodie’s attractive half-brother. She finds herself trapped with her former enemy, and Tara and Melodie must work together to get free, with the help of Tara’s gift.

My review: Hold Your Breath was such a brilliant thriller! From the blurb on the back, it seemed a little too confusing, but as soon as I began the story, I couldn’t stop. The writing was brilliant, and the author clearly has a knack for keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. As the story began, I was instantly immersed in the world of Tara, and hints were frequently dropped that something terrible had happened to her in the past involving a child. The hints were cleverly dispersed, and left me itching to read on so that I could find out the full story. In fact, it was a little like By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt- because that’s a story where the girl slowly reveals her shocking past, too. So, as that dark past slowly unravelled, so did a tense, eerie story line involving a suspected kidnapping. I loved the build up to the outcome of both events- and how both past and present wound together, to help Tara rescue Melodie Stone.

There was also, soon after Melodie disappeared, a kind of vague love triangle involving Tara, Melodie’s half brother, and Melodie’s boyfriend. Though love triangles are getting a little too common in YA fiction, I was so excited to see the outcome for this one. As Tara played detective, she started getting closer to both characters. However, and I won’t reveal which love interest, is part of a shocking event that basically kicks him out of the whole story, I got a little disappointed. Although that definitely shook things up, Tara didn’t seem to feel much sympathy. Instead of going to visit this person in the hospital, she went down to the Lido for more answers, and made it seem like she was going to go and see him later. But she never did. Apart from the slight mention of this love interest at the ending to Melodie, there was no other mention of him after the said shocking event. Where was Tara’s sadness, her anger, her sympathy? Where was everyone else’s? It just seemed like he was forgotten about- when he was quite a central character before. This, I think, was the only fault in the story for me.

Tara was a really great protagonist, straight from the start. I doubt any other teenage girl would go out looking for the girl that she originally hated and was picked on by. That’s what I admired in her, and it made her a good role model, in terms of forgiving. I loved her investigative side. She seemed a bit like the teenage, female, modern Sherlock Holmes, hunting for clues to solve a crime. I really enjoyed reading her action-packed, dramatic adventure. Her background was really well illustrated, both through the flashbacks to the past, and through her family. It was explained all really well. Tara’s supernatural gift was really cool- who wouldn’t want to find whatever they’ve lost? Though, obviously, I got kind of put off from wanting to be able to do that when Tara’s ‘fault’ affected a life massively in her past.

Overall, Hold Your Breath was a brilliant read, from an author that’s new to me and that I’d love to read more from. I’ve heard lots of praise about her previous novels, and I hope they’ll be as brilliant as this read! Fast paced, thrilling and with a supernatural twist, I’m sure that Hold Your Breath will be thoroughly enjoyed by teenagers. It has elements of crime and ransom in it, as well as reflections on teenage life and love. It was very well written, and the author clearly has a real talent for storytelling. Keep on writing, Caroline Green!

My Rating:

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

Nineteen Eighty-Four

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By George Orwell, published by Penguin.

Nineteen Eighty-Four Goodreads synopsis: Winston Smith works for the Ministry of truth in London, chief city of Airstrip One. Big Brother stares out from every poster, the Thought Police uncover every act of betrayal. When Winston finds love with Julia, he discovers that life does not have to be dull and deadening, and awakens to new possibilities. Despite the police helicopters that hover and circle overhead, Winston and Julia begin to question the Party; they are drawn towards conspiracy. Yet Big Brother will not tolerate dissent – even in the mind. For those with original thoughts they invented Room 101 . . .

My Review: Nineteen Eight-Four was such a brilliant read! I’ve been meaning to read it for ages, and finally spotted it in my school library. Then borrowed it. Then devoured the whole thing in about a day, because it was just so addictive!

The story began really well. Instantly, I disliked Big Brother- from the first paragraph, describing that super creepy poster. The whole set-up was very eerie and suspicious. The world that Orwell has built in this book is just so imaginative; intriguing and scary at the same time. The Big Brother and the Government are trying to develop a new language to avoid people being able to speak rebellious thoughts, and telescreens in every single room monitor actions and can call in police if you stick one foot out of line. It’s a pretty terrifying vision of the future!

The plot was great, too. Well written, and rich in detail, it was just so entertaining to read. Throughout the whole story,I honestly didn’t have a clue where the story line was headed. I loved how Winston was mislead by Julia’s spy-like actions, and then how they came together and became a rebellious duo. Towards the ending, there were some truly brilliant plot twists that threw Winston and Julia apart in the most unpredictable of ways. I’d been brainstorming ways Winston and Julia might face capture, but the way they did was so unexpected, and left me in a state of shock for the rest of the novel. There were lots of pretty scary parts, too, at the ending. Room 101 terrifies me, thanks to Winston’s terrifying encounter with it. If I ever have another English class in that room (one of my school English classrooms is 101!), I think I might be more than a little scared.

Winston, at first, I didn’t really like. His negative thoughts towards Julia, before they were together, were really a little too harsh, and made me think that he was always going to be a really bitter character. In fact, it wasn’t for a while that I started to like him. As his relationship with Julia began to blossom, he didn’t seem to really, truly care about her much. However, all of that was abolished when things began to get more dangerous in the city, and I was totally rooting for him to get out of everything okay near the ending.

I think that Julia was an okay supporting character. Nothing too special, but made for an enjoyable character to read about. She was quite basic- not much background information was given on her, much unlike Winston. Maybe, if I’d gotten to know a bit more about her, and if Orwell had given her some visible emotions, I would have loved her much more.

Overall, Nineteen Eighty-Four was a really great classic read. It’s a brilliant dystopian, and obviously a must for fans of dystopic novels- because, as I’ve heard, most are based on Nineteen Eighty-Four! The world-building was just immaculate- it felt so real. The setting definitely had a big impact on me as a reader, because it’s believable, in a way, that London could actually soon become this. I liked the characters, and although they’re not my favourite protagonists ever, I do admit that I really did enjoy reading about them. If you’re a fan of classic novels, dystopia novels, or looking for a very terrifying read, then Nineteen Eighty-Four is definitely for you!

My Rating:

I honestly had a very hard time rating this book! The characters put it down a little bit at the beginning, but the world building was just so brilliant. So, my original rating of three has now gone up to a four, just because of the plot and setting, really.

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I borrowed a copy of Nineteen Eighty Four from my school library.

Demigod and Monsters

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Introduction by Rick Riordan; essays written by various other authors, published by Smart Pop Books.

*NOTE: This review is on the new, updated version of this book, which will be published soon and is now up to date with the latest Percy Jackson book*

Demigods and Monsters: Your Favorite Authors on Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series Goodreads synopsis: The #1 New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson series—The Lightning Thief, The Sea of Monsters, The Titan’s Curse, The Battle of the Labyrinth, and The Last Olympian—features a dyslexic boy who discovers he is the son of a Greek god, the target of mythical Greek monsters, and the center of a prophecy that could change the balance of power in the world forever. In Demigods and Monsters, YA authors take on the series’ Greek gods, demigods, monsters, and prophecy, to add insight and even more fun to Riordan’s page-turner series.
The book also includes an introduction by Percy Jackson series author Rick Riordan that gives further insight into the series and its creation, and a glossary of ancient Greek myth, with plenty of information on the places, monsters, gods, and heroes that appear in the series.

My Review: I’m not entirely sure how to review this book, seeing as it’s not a story, as such! This review will be quite different to my usual ones.

I’m such a big fan of the Percy Jackson series! I’ve been a fan for years, when my dad used to read The Lightning Thief to my brother and I at night. I was so excited to start this, because it contained a collection of essays on the books, and Greek mythology relating to Percy Jackson. The introduction by Rick Riordan was really great, and got me into high spirits about the rest of the book. As for the essays in there? Brilliant! Bar a few that I couldn’t really get into, because they were a bit too detailed for me, the collection was very enjoyable.

They touched on some really interesting subjects, exploring into the symbolism and history behind Riordan’s awesome trilogy. Many are really in-depth, giving some really intriguing (and shocking!) information on Greek myths. I was really drawn into them, because the subject is just so interesting for me. So, even if you’re not a fan of the Percy Jackson series and just a lover of Greek mythology, it’ll probably still be worth reading. Also, many of the essays are laced with a pinch of humor, livening up parts. I think that made the writing even more fun.

Quite a few of the authors, I haven’t read anything from, though I had heard of many. One author I’d read from before was Elizabeth Wein, author of Code Name Verity. I especially liked her essay- it was very different compared to the mythological others. Her’s was all about dyslexia and ADHD, the disabilities that Percy himself has.

Lots of the other essays were great! My favourites were the ones not written like your standard essay. One was an author going over well-known Greek Gods and deciding which ones would be best as parents (She had an awesome choice!). Another author had the really imaginative idea of giving the Divine parents of some of the Half Bloods school-style grade (The American A-F), based on their parental skills. That one was pretty funny. My other favourite was by an author who had kinda fallen in love with Hades. That had a really good take on the Underworld God.

Lastly, I think that the glossary that took up the last quarter of the book. It’s a giant A-Z of all things Greek and mythological, mostly, and great for if you’re looking for answer to things in the Percy Jackson series, studying on mythology, or just an interested Geek like me.

Overall, Demigods and Monsters is not the kind of thing I read- it’s not a story, and it’s kind of classed as Non-Fiction- because it’s basically studies on something. However, I grew to really enjoy it. The essays are fun, interesting, and give great insights into the background of Percy Jackson and Greek Myths. It’s a must for all Percy fans! I read the whole thing in about a day, really intrigued by the author’s takes on all of their subjects. The writing was really brilliant, serious and humorous at the same time. I’ll probably definitely read some more books like this, on books I like. I’ll also probably look out for some of these author’s books, too! I really enjoyed most of the writing, so I think I’ll enjoy their fiction stuff too.

My Rating:

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I received a copy of Demigods and Monsters from the publishers via Netgalley, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

The Bone Season

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By Samantha Shannon, published by Bloomsbury.

The Bone Season

Goodreads synopsis: It is the year 2059. Several major world cities are under the control of a security force called Scion. Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London, part of a secret cell known as the Seven Seals. The work she does is unusual: scouting for information by breaking into others’ minds. Paige is a dreamwalker, a rare kind of clairvoyant, and in this world, the voyants commit treason simply by breathing.
But when Paige is captured and arrested, she encounters a power more sinister even than Scion. The voyant prison is a separate city—Oxford, erased from the map two centuries ago and now controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. These creatures, the Rephaim, value the voyants highly—as soldiers in their army.
Paige is assigned to a Rephaite keeper, Warden, who will be in charge of her care and training. He is her master. Her natural enemy. But if she wants to regain her freedom, Paige will have to learn something of his mind and his own mysterious motives.

My Review: As soon as I’d heard about this book, I knew it would be a brilliant read from a fresh new author writing in the YA genre. And I was right. I got totally hooked into The Bone Season! I was thrown into the story, confused, at the beginning, where we’re introduced to Paige. It took me a little while to understand what she was and why she was committing crimes for a guy named Jaxon… but that just propelled me on and made me want to read more. The whole idea was so imaginative… 2059 London, where cities are run by Scion and Clairvoyants (people with supernatural abilities like Paige) are hated… and every year a few are ‘harvested’ by the new inhabitants of Oxford, now called Sheol I. It was a really great idea, and really interested and excited me. It was Urban Fantasy to the extreme, and I loved it so much!

The plot was an action-packed roller-coaster, and I actually found it hard to put the book down. It was so well structured; with lots of genius plot twists and unexpected events. The story gripped me like a vice and practically demanded me to not put it down. There was a great build-up to the ending, too. The story was actually quite emotional, with insights into Paige’s past and into the poor lives of some living in Sheol I. In one word, the plot was just thrilling.

Paige was a hardcore, kick-butt heroine- one of my favourite protagonists I’ve read about this year. She had a well explained past. I got a really good insight into her background, and understood her really well through the author’s flawless writing. Paige was a very three-dimensional character, with raw emotions that made me really feel for her. She was independent, mostly, and could fight her own battles brilliantly. I can’t really put into words how much I loved her character. Paige Mahoney was strong, and never gave up. Think Katniss Everdeen meets Lara Croft. Yeah, that awesome.

Another character I loved: WARDEN! At first, for some reason, I actually imagined him as some old dude. But then, um, (deletes a spoilerish sentence), an event took place, and I realised that he was actually kind of young in looks. He maintained this air of mystery and grace around him, and reminded me a little bit of the Darkling in Shadow and Bone. I really loved his role in the story.

Overall, The Bone Season was a read I devoured and adored. I loved the characters, and the setting, and above all the writing. Samantha Shannon’s writing is just stunning- with powerful imagery and beautiful descriptive passages. The Bone Season is a fresh new read from a very talented new YA author, that I’d love to read more from. I think this author is destined to have her books as famous as The Mortal Instruments series- honestly. Also, a movie studio has optioned The Bone Season for a future film! How awesome! So… I don’t know what to do with my life now. Maybe I’ll just sit in a darkened corner, rereading The Bone Season until book two is released. Bye.

My Rating:

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I received a copy of The Bone Season via the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

New Books! #14+ We have a Carnegie Award winner!

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This week has been exciting, book wise and, of course, award wise!

Book Haul this week: I have wanted to read 1984 by George Orwell for ages, and spotted it in my school library. I had to borrow it! I’m about halfway through now, and it’s a very eerie read. I’ll post my review soon.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Also, I bought a copy of By Any Other Name by Laura Jarratt. I have read so many brilliant reviews of this, and I found it in Waterstones. I had to get it, too! It just looks and sounds so amazing. It has gone straight to the top of my TBR!

By Any Other Name

I also realised earlier this week that Zom-B: Angels was being published on Friday. I rushed to the shops to grab a copy, I jst couldn’t contain my excitement! I hunted down one, and boy, the cover is so awesome. I really can’t wait to start this fourth installment.

Zom-B Angels (Zom-B, #4)

Some lovely, lovely people at Piccadilly Press ailed me a copy of Hold Your Breath, by Caroline Green. I’ve heard many good things about her previous book, Cracks, and think that this book will make for a great introduction to Green’s writing for me. By the blurb, it seems pretty amazing! I’ll be starting this as soon as I can.

Hold Your Breath

Finally, the awesome people at HarperCollins sent me an absolutely beautiful finished copy of The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chianani. I enjoyed this book so much, when I read a proof copy in February! You can find my review of it HERE. I’ll definitely be reading this again soon, and I really recommend it to young teens and older children.

The School for Good and Evil (The School for Good and Evil, #1)

A huge thanks to the publishers who’ve sent me books this week!

In other words… The Carnegie Award winners have been announced!!

I only shadowed one shortlist- the children and teens fiction one- and read seven out of the eight books on there. The titles listed were so brilliant, and all of them deserved to be up for the award. I was literally jumping up and down when I heard that Sally Gardner won with my favourite title of hers, Maggot Moon! It so deserved the award. Here’s my review of it: https://booksandwritersjnr.wordpress.com/2013/03/31/maggot-moon-2/.

Also, in the illustrated children’s books shortlist, which unfortunately I didn’t read any of, Black Dog by Levi Pinfold won! I did scan the shortlist online, and the artwork for that cover was one of my favourites. So, I’m glad it won.

Maggot Moon Black Dog

Happy Reading, and congrats to the two worthy winners of the Carnegie Medal!

The Taming of the Tights

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By Louise Rennison, published by HarperCollins.

The Taming of the Tights (Misadventures of Tallulah Casey #3) Goodreads synopsis: Gadzooks! It’s another term at Dother Hall for Tallulah and her mates. But can they keep their minds on the arts with all those boys about…
After the thing-that-will-never-be-mentioned last term, Tallulah is keen to put all thoughts of Cain behind her. But that seems like that the last thing he wants.
Their performing arts college may have been saved by Honey’s mystery benefactor, but for how long is anyone’s guess. So will Tallulah finally get to wear those golden slippers of applause or will Dr Lightowler swoop down on her glory days?
Don your craziest tights and Irish dance your way to some surprising and hilariously unexpected answers…

My review: Hooray, more Tallulah!! I loved the first two books in the Tallulah Casey series so much, and was ridiculously excited when this came. Louise Rennison’s previous books have been so brilliant, quirky and hilarious, and this one was no different. Before Tallulah had even arrived at Dother Hall for another term, she’d already made me laugh out loud a good few times. Things only got wittier as the term started, with Tallulah’s crazy love life, teachers, and friends. The plot was just brilliant, again focused around a school play (The Taming of the Shrew, hence the altered title of this book). I sped through the book, desperate to know what happens to all of my favourite comedy characters, and there wasn’t a single chapter that was boring.

I fell in love with Tallulah’s personality all over again in this third book in her series. Usually in books, I don’t like the make-up loving girly-girls, and prefer the kick-butt heroines, but Tallulah is one of my exceptions. She’s just so funny! A unique, cheeky protagonist, Tallulah always seems to make a mess of things in the most humorous ways possible. I just adore her, and I really like how she got really close to Charlie in this story. They make such a cute couple, and their date-ish thing about two thirds into the book just made me laugh so much.

As well as Tallulah, I also love her friendship group, The Tree Sisters. All of them are really awesome. They’re not as funny as Tallulah (though Jo kinda was in this installment), but I really do enjoy reading about their misadventures too. Jo in this book had quite a large part, thanks to the hilarious incident with Phil. I won’t go into detail about it, but it is one of the funniest points in the book.

Ooh, another point- THE DEAD RABBIT WAVING!!! You probably now think I’m mad. But, in the past two books, Rennison has put in the author’s note that she had this grim scene of a dead rabbit, but her family wouldn’t let her put it in. However, she snuck it in here. I’ve been wanting to read the scene so badly, even though it’s only a paragraph long. I was absolutely ecstatic when it appeared in the book. Look out for it. You shall laugh your head off, or cry because of the grimness. I laughed.

Overall, The Taming of the Tights was another brilliant read from another brilliant author. It’s crammed with ridiculously funny characters, and events, and there’ll be at least one point where you’ll find yourself laughing. Although I think the ending was a little too cheesy for me, the plot was just amazing. I honestly can’t wait for a next book (hurry, Louise Rennison, I want more!! :)). Just don’t read this in public, because people will probably give you funny looks because you’ve suddenly burst out laughing on the train, or something. This series is an absolute must for teenage girls!

My Rating:

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I received an ARC of The Taming of the Tights from the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

After Tomorrow

The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby: After Iris

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By Natasha Farrant, published by Faber.

Goodreads synopsis: Bluebell Gadsby is 13 but that’s the least of her problems. Both her parents seem more interested in their careers than the family, leaving Blue and her three siblings as well as their three pet rats (who may or may not be pregnant), in the care of Zoran the au pair. The enigmatic Joss moves in next door and Blue thinks she might be falling in love, until he takes out her older sister Flora instead (who, incidentally, is trying to make a statement by dying her hair bright pink but no one takes the blindest bit of notice). Blue thinks and feels very deeply about life but can’t really talk to anyone about it, because no one in the Gadsby family wants to address the real problem – that Blue’s twin sister, Iris, died a year ago, and they are all just trying to hide their grief in busyness…
So Blue turns to her diary and her unique way of seeing the world through her camcorder to express herself.

My review: After Iris was such a brilliant read! When I read the blurb after it arrived, I got kind of confused. It said Bluebell’s story was told through words and film. Film? In a book? Then I opened the book up and saw that all of Bluebell’s films were written up in transcripts, and were between every few diary-entry chapters- such a clever format! I really loved how it was written. Not only the unique format I’ve never seen before- but also the writing itself, crammed with emotion. Much of the story was quite sad, with the constant reminders of Iris that haunted Bluebell, and the writing was so full of raw emotion about that, and the rather shocking love story. Speaking of which- the plot was so unpredictable! Especially the love story that was woven into the plot. I expected a very basic romantic tale, where Bluebell would fall in love with Joss, the love interest, and then there would be a fight and then they’d get back together for a happy ending. I didn’t get that. what I got? A brilliant, complex romantic tale, where Bluebell fell in love with Joss, the love interest, but not all goes to plan and Blue’s sister has a large involvement and there wasn’t exactly the happiest of endings for that. But I loved that plot twist with Joss! It was so unpredictable.

The other aspects of the book were really great, too- I loved reading about Bluebell’s ‘invisible’ school life, and how she managed to get back at a bully, and I also really enjoyed reading about her frantic, very unique family and how they all dealt with Iris’s death in different ways. Everything was resolved really well- I loved the outcome. I think that the event at the ending, involving Blue’s little siblings, was really quite terrifying. When the story ended with them okay, I was so pleased- but that was solved a little crazily.

Bluebell was a really great main character, and I loved her throughout. She was so relatable- through the bullying incidents and the many issues at home- so made for a very realistic character. She had a very strong narration and I got to know her really well through her detailed diary entries and the things that she filmed on her camcorder. Bluebell had a really interesting, in-depth background, and her past was revealed little bit by little bit throughout the story, which was quite clever because it kept me reading because I wanted the full back story. I grew to love Bluebell so much, and I was so happy to read that this is the first book in a series- I will DEFINITELY be looking out for the sequel!

Overall, After Iris, was an emotional read, with its witty parts too. It was so well written, in a totally unique format that I really loved because it captured the essence of Blue’s family so effectively. Bluebell’s story was harsh at points, humorous and uplifting at others, and it’s really hard not to just fall in love with it. I honestly could not stop reading- this book is like a mixture of Cathy Cassidy’s contemporary masterpieces mixed in with the raw emotion from Annabel Pitcher’s equally amazing titles. Definitely recommended to young teenage girls, because they’ll definitely be able to relate to at least a small part of the story. I really can’t wait to read more of this series!

My rating:

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