Author Archives: keithbwalters

Ferryman

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By Claire McFall, published by Templar.

Ferryman

“Life, death, love– which would you choose?”

Teenage protagonist Dylan is on a train, heading north form Glasgow to finally meet the father that see hasn’t seen in over a decade. But the train crashes in the middle of a countryside full of hills, and when Dylan emerges from the wreckage, the only person she can find is a mysterious looking boy sitting up on a hill. She will soon learn that she has actually died in that train crash, and that she’s emerged into a wasteland full of demons called wraiths who wish to fest on her pure soul, and that the mysterious boy is called Tristan. He is her ferryman; a person who guides souls through the wastelands into the unknown afterlife. As they embark on the terrifying, wraith-infested journey, Dylan finds herself falling in love with her ferryman, Tristan. Life, Death, Love- what will she choose?

This is one of the books that seriously stood out to me during the bloggers brunch event the other weekend. I just couldn’t wait to read it, and ended up reading it in just under a day. I literally could not put it down! It’s a terrifying, downright scary story, with a strong essence of forbidden love. The characters were just brilliant, I  grew to really love Dylan, as it was quite a while into the book (about 60 pages) before she actually died. I got to know her whole back story, and what made her how she is, which I wasn’t expecting, but enjoyed. The setting was so imaginative; a really original take on the afterlife. There was not one point in the book that I didn’t like. It was just so awesome.

I really recommend this to YA horror/dark romance/dystopia  fans: It’s an absolutely brilliant debut from an author I would really love to read more from!

Back to BlackBrick

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By Sarah Moore Fitzgerald, published by Orion

Back to Blackbrick

“Just because you can’t see someone anymore doesn’t mean that they’re not a part of you…”

Cosmo is a boy in a complicated family- his brother, Brian, died at the age of ten, his mother has moved to Sydney for ‘business’, and now Cosmo lives with his Granny Deedee and Granddad Kevin. But Granddad seems to be losing his memory, and although Cosmo denies it, he knows he has Alzheimer’s Disease and there isn’t much time left before his Grandfather is moved to a special home.

When Cosmo says his goodbyes to his Granddad before moving to his Uncle’s home, his Grandfather gives him a key- a key to a strange place called BlackBrick Abbey. Out of curiosity,  brave young Cosmo takes the key and heads to the Abbey- but as he steps through the gates, he finds himself transported to his Granddad’s teenage past. He’ll discover hidden, dark secrets and lies, and some very special- and also evil– people…

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would! The book pulled me in straight from the beginning, and kept me reading; I ended up ploughing through this in about a day. The main plot of the Grandfather’s Alzheimer’s made this book a really emotional roller-coaster; and I got a real insight to a family torn apart by its effects. The authors’ father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, as it says in the Authors Note, and that made the story all too real, and devastating.

As well as the emotional side, there is also an imaginative, fantastical twist which I really wasn’t expecting. Cosmo stepped through some kind of portal to about seventy years ago, and played a huge part in the teenage lives of his grandmother, grandfather, and his grandfathers’ first love. The story was really well told, with a serious time-paradox-twist but it wasn’t too confusing thanks to the fantastic, consistent narration! The ending… well… lets just say it brought a tear to my eye. Or two.

My only problem with the book is that it was, even at 230 pages, too short for me (although that was probably because I became really emotionally attached to these characters, and didn’t want to let them go)!  Overall, I think this is one of the most stunning debuts I have read so far, from an author to keep an eye on. I’m sure we’ll hear some more great titles coming from Fitzgerald!

Sister Assassin

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By Kiersten White, published by Harper Collins

Sister Assassin (Sister Assassin, #1)

“She never chose her deadly gift but now she’s forced to use it. How far would you go to protect the only family you have left?”

Meet two sisters who love each other very dearly; Fia, and Annie, who is blind. Orphaned, they are sent by their Aunt to a special Academy which claims it has the resources to help older sister Annie’s need in education due to her blindness. However, it’s not all they help with- as they are a school for extremely talented students… ‘Talented’ here meaning ‘Gifted with special, almost supernatural abilities’. Annie has the gift to for see the future and the dangers that lie ahead for those close to her in visions. The school also helps to train Fia, the younger sister, in combat. But why are they training her to kill?

Then Fia is sent to assassinate a man for a reason unknown to her, but she just can’t do it. Fia has killed two people before, and her past haunts her. She doesn’t want the weight of another death on her shoulders, and additionally she finds this ‘target’ different… innocent. But when Fia does not follow her orders from the Academy, her life and her sisters life are thrown upside down and life becomes a deadly game… Can Fia work out why the Academy wants this man killed and save those she loves?

Sister Assassin has got to be one of the most mind-blowing, exciting, books for teenagers ever! Obviously, I was hooked from the first page: Top secret mysterious organisation? Check. Superpowers of sorts? Check. Two loveable and well developed protagonists? Check! It’s a great, gritty thrill ride of a book; fast paced and tense. I liked how the narration kept changing from Fia to Annie, even though Annie’s parts were a bit lengthier at times. Despite how frustrating that got, I found that was a pretty great narrative hook. It really drew the reader in.

The ending was a bit of a ‘I NEED TO READ THIS AGAIN TO MAKE SURE I READ THAT PROPERLY’  ending. It really shocked me (I gasped out loud!)! I’ll warn you now; this story gets pretty violent and shocking, it’s not for the faint hearted!

All in all, this is a really brilliant book by an awesome author. I really hope there’s some kind of sequel in the making!

Hot Key Books/Templar Bloggers Brunch!!

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(Awesome alliteration there in the title- ‘books bloggers brunch’ 😉 )

templarbooks

 

hotkey

A massive thank you to Templar publishing and Hot Key Books Publishing for inviting me over to their awesome joint-event with food, authors, and books!

All of us bloggers sat down to two mini-talks about some of the highlights of both publishers new releases for this year, then had a yummy lunch whilst meeting fellow bloggers and authors. It was nice to meet lots of awesome bloggers, kind publishing people and some really great authors who have signed my books! Along with a couple of other books which arrived in the post for me today, I now have a lineup of about 15 books to review, including some of Templar’s’ recently published YA and a chunk Hot Key Books’s releases from February to June, and two great looking ones from Harper Collins that were mailed to me to keep me busy! Keep your eyes peeled for some reviews of these!

Dear Dylan…

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By Siobhan Curham, published by Electric Monkey.

“A first crush. An unexpected friendship. A dream come true…”

Georgie is a fourteen year old girl who lives with her mum, little sister, and much-hated step-dad, Tone-Deaf, as she calls him behind his back. She has a major crush on actor Dylan Curtland, and one day decides to email him in the hope of becoming e-mates. But an unexpected twist leaves her emailing his mother, and they become very close friends, and help each other get through their bad times. Georgie is dealing with a first crush, her abusive stepfather, and her real Dad’s buried secrets, whilst Dylan’s mother Nancy is dealing with the death of her husband and her abandonment of her acting career.

First and foremost, I would like to say a VERY big sorry to Siobhan Curham, who sent me her book a while ago and I misplaced it, and couldn’t find it. But upon finding it yesterday, I just had to put all current books aside and read it!! Trust me, it was worth it. This is one of the best real-life-situation YA books I have ever come across. Dear Dylan is a really thought provoking, emotional roller-coaster of a book! Georgie, the protagonist, is such a great and love-able character, I really felt for her and rooted for her throughout the book.

I really loved the format too, despite being written in emails back and forth from the two main characters, the book has a great amount of detail and emotion packed into the pages. Siobhan has developed two very different characters, and brought them together in a brilliant way, tying in very serious situations like Domestic Violence and Grief.

I really loved it, and I’m sure Siobhan’s next novel, ‘Finding Cherokee Brown’ will be just as brilliant!

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

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By Mark Haddon, published by Vintage.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Christopher has Aspergers Syndrome, he loves maths, knows every prime number up to 7,507, hates the colors brown and yellow, and will only read detective books like Sherlock Holmes. One night, he finds his neighbors dog laying upside down with a garden fork in its’ stomach. Determined to track down the killer, fifteen year old Christopher begins a detective journey. But upon finding the killer, he also finds that the reason that person killed the dog for goes a very long way back, and when Christopher finds out the reason his whole world is turned upside down.

WARNING: SPOILER ALERTS!!

I’ve seen this book, literally… everywhere. I’ve NEVER gotten around to read it. But finally, I did! And I loved it!

Christopher Boone is a very likeable character with a unique voice and brilliant personality. I loved his narration and how this book was written by him, in the hope that he would make a really great murder mystery novel. I was, admittedly, quite shocked when the killer was revealed before the halfway point in the book. I read it again and though, So what’s the rest of the story about? I didn’t realise that the murder linked to his mothers absence in the family, but it was great all the same.

Heart wrenchingly-sad, accompanied by Christopher’s diagrams and drawings, and with a touch of warmth and love to it, this award winning book is not to be missed!

The Maze Runner

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By James Dashner, published by Chicken House

The Maze Runner (Maze Runner, #1)

Thomas wakes up in a lift. He cannot remember anything; why he was there or who his family was. The only thing that he can remember is his first name.

The lift opens to reveal a strange place called ‘the glade’. The glade is where the boys, who have been sent up in the lift too,live, and is a safehaven in the middle of a giant… deadly… unsolvable maze. And lurking in the maze are the Grievers; blood-thirsty half-machine-half-animals who are determined to stab whoever enters the maze.

Like Thomas, none of the boys know anything about their haven or why they are there. The only thing they know to do is survive, and solve the maze. But when a Girl arrives in the lift with a terrifying note, Thomas and the other Gladers’ lives’ will change forever…

Wow. Just wow. I didn’t realize this book would be so great!

I was thrown into the story on the first page scared, confused and in the dark just like Thomas… which i strangely loved. There was no explaining anything in great detail, just pure action and suspense. Thomas was a remarkable excellent protagonist, he was brave, heroic, curious and clever… just plainly awesome. I loved every single character, especially the mysterious girl, Teresa!

Every second of the story was fast paced and drew me in. The setting is very imaginative and unlike any other setting in books of The Maze Runners’ category.

The cliffhanger at the ending was brilliant. I now can’t wait to carry on reading about Thomas, Teresa, Minho, Newt and the other Gladers in the second installment, ‘The Scorch Trials’!

Wonder

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By R. J. Palacio, published by Corgi

“My name is August. I wont describe what i look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.”

August Pullman is an intelligent boy who has an obsession with Star Wars. There’s only one thing that seems to separate him from everybody else: He was born with disfigurements to his face, so he looks different to the other kids of the neighborhood.

Upon turning the age for grade five, August makes the brave decision to begin middle school. The story follows this brave young boy travel through his first year of going to a real school. What will happen?

I picked up this book after seeing all of the good reviews and seeing it be on the ‘book of the month’ table at the bookstore. I couldn’t wait to read this debut from a new author! I absolutely loved the whole thing. It has such emotion packed into the pages. It made me laugh at points, and cry at some too-August is a truly unique, and special character. He made a great and unforgettable protagonist, His narration especially was powerful, thought-provoking and emotional.

I really liked the format of the story, and how the narratives changed. I wasn’t expecting that; but I found it a really clever technique. It really explores the friends and relatives backgrounds and plots in depth, but keeps to Augusts’ story at the same time.

All in all, this really is a stunning debut from a really great new author, not to be missed by anybody.  I really can’t wait to read more from R. J. Palacio!

White Crow

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By Marcus Sedgwick, published by Orion.

“Supposing you wanted to prove something important. Supposing you wanted to prove, for arguments sake, that there is life after death.”

It’s 1798. A strange doctor called Dr. Barrieux becomes obsessed with the question, ‘is there life after death?’. With the help of an innocent person he tries to unveil the truth.

In 2010, a strange girl called Ferelith becomes obsessed with the same question. She lives in the same house that the doctor did, and discovers his work.

A new girl called Rebecca arrives in the small village of Winterfold, and meets Ferelith. As they become friends, they discover each others secrets. But Ferelith’s obsession with the ‘life after death’ question takes over, and so begins some shocking events that will change the girls’ lives forever…

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a modern, horrific, Gothic tale told in three narratives: One in diary entries/letters from the doctors assistant in the 1700’s, one from Fereliths’ perspective and the other following Rebecca version of events. Although it was quite confusing at first, I totally loved this way of Sedgwicks’ writing. The stories came together quite well at the end. I also liked how there was the main story of the doctor in the 1700’s experimenting on people to find out the truth of the afterlife and Ferelith walking in his footsteps, but also a sub-story following the reasons why Rebecca had come to Winterfold. I  think her story of her father and the murdered girl was lost a bit in the last chapters, and I would have liked to know the full story of it, but otherwise I really loved this book. It’s a brilliant modern horror story from an equally brilliant author. I would recommend it to YA’s and adults alike!