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Guildford Book Festival: Darren Shan

I thought I’d written this post up, but I hadn’t! Just before Hallowe’en, the Guildford Book Festival happened! It’s a really awesome festival for literature, that has some really great authors for events. I went a few years ago to see Alex Milway, who writes the Mousehunter series. I know Matt Whyman, author of The Savages, was there for an event this year, but unfortunately I couldn’t get to that one! But, I did get to go and see the ‘Master of Horror,’ Darren Shan, talk about his ZOM-B books! I’m a huge fan of ZOM-B so I was so excited to see him talk about them and get my books signed again (I met him in a Waterstones signing a few years ago :D) I was armed with a notebook and a pen, and nearly went through a whole ink cartridge scribbling pretty much everything Darren Shan said, down! This is only… half of it. And it’s still long…

Darren Shan kicked off the event with a little intro to the world of ZOM-B, then a reading of the prologue of the first book, which was even more terrifying when he read it aloud. It was really atmospheric! He also talked about putting in some emotion to the book, so that it wasn’t all gore and horror. “Any good book, even a horror boo, has to have an emotional journey,” He said. It definitely goes for his zombies book too, because the main character has to deal with an abusive, racist father.

He then read a little of ZOM-B City… and probably picked the worst scene in the book, about a baby and Mr Dowling, the evil zombie-like clown. It was so freaky and Darren made a lot of people jump (including me) at points!

After more talk about the rough plots of the books, and the readings, Darren moved on to a Q & A from the audience. My brother, obviously, had to stick his hand up first and tell Darren to not drop spoilers. He’d been trying to plough through the series on the train to Guildford! During the Questions and Answers, we got to find out that Darren’s favourite films were the old Hammer Horrors (I agree. I’ve watched a few and they’re awesome) and Salem’s Lot, which is an adaption of a bestselling King horror book. Someone did ask about a dream cast, for if the ZOM-B books were turned into films, but Darren couldn’t answer, as he’d rather focus on his writing than possible productions!

He said there’s nothing in the pipeline yet for ZOM-B to become a film… but I hope there will be, as that would make an awesome movie.

In one of the last questions, he revealed the name of the next book to be released in January. Soon after on twitter the cover (left) was revealed… ZOM-B GLADIATOR! ;D I am EXCITED. According to the author, there’s going to be a new villain introduced… so I am double excited. There was one question on his writing, which I can’t remember, but scribbled down the answer to which was really interesting. Darren Shan said that there wasn’t much, horror-wise for children to read, when he was younger. That’s a reason he writes horror books; to fill the gap in his childhood.

Also, on stand-alones, Darren made a really brilliant point, that I wrote down. “I don’t plot, I just go from story to EMBEDDED IMUJ PERMALINK story and give a story as much space as it needs.” Which, I guess, is why most books are turned into full-length sagas, because he has so much to write about! He also said he’d rather write stand-alones, but his ideas won’t let him. That’s obvious, considering all of the series he’s produced!

Nearer the end I asked a question, which was What character would he meet, from any of his books, given the chance? He replied that he’d really loved to meet Larten Crepsley, who is a character I absolutely loved, from the Saga of Darren Shan.

The event ended and my brother and I queued up to get our whole ZOM-B series signed! When Darren was signing our books, he recognized me from my blog, as he’d recently written up a guest post for my Halloween Reads event which took place in October- and I interviewed him a few months ago! It was awesome to get to talk to him properly, as I didn’t really talk very much at the signing I’d been to before, when I was about nine or ten. Above is the picture my brother and I got with Darren- he likes to strangle people. My brother pulls good I’m-Being-Strangled faces. I do not.

Thanks to Guildford Book Festival and Darren Shan for hosting a brilliant event, I enjoyed it so much!

An interview with… Caroline Green! (PLUS GIVEAWAY!)

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Wahey! If you have been reading my blog for a while, you’ll know that I read and loved the teen thriller, HOLD YOUR BREATH by Caroline Green. It was an awesome read, and you can see my review HERE! I went to the blogger’s lunch run by Hot Key, Piccadilly Press, and Templar Books a couple of weeks ago. There, I met Caroline- and she’s such a lovely person! We chatted for quite a while, and I took home another copy of her book by accident. I asked Caroline, and she was happy for me to do a special giveaway for it! I was also lucky enough to interview Caroline, online, after the event. So, here’s an interview, all themed around HOLD YOUR BREATH, one of her latest teen thrillers!

You can follow Caroline by her Facebook page, or her website: https://www.facebook.com/CarolineGreenAuthor

http://www.carolinegreen.net/

•Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about HOLD YOUR BREATH, your teen thriller?

Hold Your Breath is about a 15-year-old girl called Tara who has the ability to locate lost items. This used to be a bit of a party trick within her family but things took a dark turn when she tried to help the police find a missing person, a toddler, for the first time. Her ‘gift’ appeared to be flawed on this occasion and her involvement actually led to tragedy. So as the story begins, Tara is in a new town with her family. She pretends she doesn’t get these images of lost things or people anymore, because it caused so much trouble and heartache before. But when a nasty girl in her class called Melodie Stone leaves school suddenly, Tara keeps getting disturbing pictures in her mind that suggest Melodie has been abducted and is in serious trouble. She has to make the decision whether she should become involved to help someone she doesn’t even like and who no one else thinks is in danger. Then there’s the fact that she doesn’t even trust her gift anymore…

•What was your main inspiration that triggered the idea for the book?

Unlike my other books, Dark Ride and Cracks, this one didn’t begin with a clear mental picture. This time I played around with a number of ideas until this one started to get me excited. I knew I wanted to write a psychological thriller because I love reading that kind of book!

•Your protagonist, Tara, has a special talent: why did you decide to give her that quality?

I was really interested in exploring what it would be like to have a skill that some would perceive to be a gift, but my character sees as a curse. Because her ability is potentially a useful one for other people, it means she would sometimes be under pressure to use it, when really, she would rather not have this special ability at all. She just wants to be normal.

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•If you were to meet one character from this book, that wasn’t Tara, for a day, who would you pick and why?

Well if I was about 25 years younger it would have to be Leo! I did enjoy writing him and hope he is as a

ppealing on the page as he was in my imagination. But maybe it would be Leo’s dad, who cooks fantastic Italian food!

•Where do you write your novels?

My number one favourite writing place is the British Library. I love it there and find I can get lots done when I get the chance to spend the day there.

•Finally, do you have any advice for aspiring writers, in general or in the genre you write in?

I always say that writers must be readers first. So read, read, read, and not just in the genre you like best (although that is crucial too). All those words go in and whirl about in your brain and help you to make new stories. I really believe that. And you must want it really badly too and not let the inevitable knock-backs stop you from following your dream. It took me seven hard years of rejections to get published and I thought I would DIE from how horrible it was! But some stubbornness kept me going and I’m so glad I did.

Thank you so much, Caroline, for some brilliant interview questions! Now for a giveaway! ;D

UPDATE: Raflecopter is being stupid, and the code doesn’t let the widget show, and the link that was up previously doesn’t work. I’ve sent an email to them, but they can’t work it… so, in order to enter to win a copy of the book, please, instead, leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win HOLD YOUR BREATH!

TERMS: I will pick a winner at random fairly. The book will be sent via post, so if it gets lost or delayed I’m not responsible for it. Sorry! The giveaway is running from 12AM 7TH NOVEMBER until 12AM 21ST NOVEMBER. UK only, please, because otherwise postage is a lot of money 😦

Good luck!

Waiting on Wednesday #1

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So, I’ve never done this meme before! But, a lot of bloggers do it to showcase books they’re looking forward to, and it’s a great idea. I thought I’d give it a go!

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking The Spine.

I’m waiting on… The School For Good and Evil: A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani

A World Without Princes (The School for Good and Evil, #2) Goodreads Synopsis: In the epic sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, The School for Good and Evil, Sophie and Agatha are home, living out their Ever After. But life isn’t quite the fairy tale they expected.

When Agatha secretly wishes she’d chosen a different happy ending, she reopens the gates to the School for Good and Evil. But the world she and Sophie once knew has changed.

Witches and princesses, warlocks and princes are no longer enemies. New bonds are forming; old bonds are being shattered. But underneath this uneasy arrangement, a war is brewing and a dangerous enemy rises. As Agatha and Sophie battle to restore peace, an unexpected threat could destroy everything, and everyone, they love—and this time, it comes from within.

Soman Chainani has created a spectacular world that Newbery Medal-winning author Ann M. Martin calls, “a fairy tale like no other, complete with romance, magic, and humor that will keep you turning pages until the end.

Why am I excited for it? I am SO excited for this sequel! I read and absolutely fell in love with the first book in the series (Which is also the be a film soon. Squeeee!). It’s a children’s novel that’s worth being read by anyone. The School For Good and Evil is a perfect blend of fantasy, teenage rivalry, and action. It was such a funny book! The sequel looks awesome- and I only found the cover recently (I fell in love with it and squealed for a bit and just stared at it for a while). Bring on 2014 for this title!

You can read my review of THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL HERE.

The Memory Game (Buddy Read with Charli!)

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Charli, who runs the fantastic TO ANOTHER WORLD book blog, buddy read this short novel with me a couple of weeks ago! We both really loved it, as it was a really heartbreaking and beautiful book. This review was meant to be up yesterday, but due to my general un-organisation is WASN’T ): So it’s here now… ;D You can click on Charli’s blog button below for her review! (Yes I am obsessed with hyper-linking stuff. It’s cool okay.)

by Sharon Sant, self-published on the Amazon Store.

The Memory Game Goodreads Synopsis: ‘If there is a hell, I think maybe this is it.’

Weeks after fifteen-year-old David is killed by a speeding driver, he’s still hanging around and he doesn’t know why. The only person who can see and hear him is the girl he spent his schooldays bullying.

Bethany is the most hated girl at school. She hides away, alone with her secrets until, one day, the ghost of a boy killed in a hit-and-run starts to haunt her.

Together, they find that the end is only the beginning…

My Review: Wow. Seriously, wow. I was not expecting such a hard-hitting, beautiful story from a pretty short book! As Charli said- it definitely packed a punch, for a book under 200 pages!

I’ve never read a book by Sharon Sant before (I know! So many good reviews!) so I thought her latest short novel would be a great introduction to her writing, for me. I loved it so much! The pretty cover, and the mysterious synopsis drew me in, and upon starting it I really didn’t want to stop! I read this over a few days with Charli, and at a lot of points I was without my kindle. Which really sucked, because this book was so addictive!

The beginning is one you have to read over twice. What happened? Wait, he’s died- we’re only on the first page! David’s looking at his own body, and he’s a ghost. How? Why? It reminded me a lot of More Than This- by Patrick Ness, because the boy’s dead within the first chapter (They’re very different books, though!). Sharon Sant has used clever narrative hooks to keep the audience reading- they definitely worked! Lots of different twists in the story opened up brand new questions for me. All of them were answered… except for one! The one that wasn’t answered was one of the things I wanted to know the most: Who hit Dylan with their car whilst he was on his paper run- and was that related to the book somehow? It bugged me a little bit that I didn’t get to know this… however, the est of the emotional story most definitely made up for it.

Dylan’s a character you can love and hate. At first, you feel sympathetic for him; because he’s just been killed, and he can’t say sorry to his mum, and his friend has betrayed him after his death. Then, you want to hit him a bit, because he bullied Bethany, the second Protagonist of the novel. Then… you want to hug him (Though, that wouldn’t work, your hands would go straight through him…) because he’s formed a strong friendship with Bethany, and I can’t exactly talk about this much without spoiling it, but Sharon Sant is evil because she makes you love the two of them, but they can’t even hold hands because he’s a ghost. That was so, so sad. I loved David overall, though, and he made a really great main protagonist!

Bethany was an equally amazing main character. Whilst I had guessed why she was so protective of herself from quite early on, it was really heart-breaking to read on as her sad background unfolded throughout the plot. It tied in really well with David’s death and ghostly-reappearance… and the twist at the end was so shocking, so unpredictable, I was left in a bit of a shock at the ending!

The ending was really beautiful. I didn’t want the story to end, because I was enjoying it so much. When it did… I was in a bit of a whoa mode. I had to read over the last few paragraphs a good few times, in order to let the final parts of the book sink in. Sharon’s writing is really beautiful: I could visualize that ending so well- it was perfect.

Overall, The Memory Game was a really exhilarating read! It’s so original, and paced really well. Sharon’s writing brings the book and the characters to life: I wish the characters were real… I want to give Bethany a huge hug and David, too. Despite a couple of small things, the plot was very well written; complex, and had so much amazing-ness packed into it for a relatively short read. I’d really recommend this to fans of contemporary dramas, or supernatural thrillers! It’s a riveting read!

My Rating:

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I purchased a copy of THE MEMORY GAME from the Amazon Kindle Store.

Happy NaNoWriMo!

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Yes, a few days late to wish it, but I had other posts to put up!

Anyway, if you don’t know what NaNoWriMo stands for, it’s Na(tional) No(vel) Wri(ting) Mo(nth). The goal is to write a novel 50k words long, in 30 days. Sounds scary, but it’s doable! There’s a Young Writers Program for it to, where you can set lower goals.

I’ve been on the YWP site for a few years now, doing goals like 15k. For some crazy reason, I decided to go for 50k this year. Eeeeeeek! I wasn’t sure if I’d get further than a few thousand words on the 1st, but yesterday during a long sprint (Not a run. I don’t like running. A NaNo Sprint ;D) I finally got everything together and I kind of know where my novel is going now! It’s still scary, and I’m slightly behind on words at 3.5k, but I’m going for it this year!

My novel is a sci-fi, and is all centered around the CURIOSITY robot. CURIOSITY is a robot that’s on Mars at the moment, and I’ve twisted the story a little to say that it took pictures of an alien life form. A few years later, after the world has stopped panicking, NASA sends up three astronauts to investigate, and their mission is to take samples from the Moon first, then travel onto Mars. But then they die on the Moon. Because I’m evil and decided the aliens would murder them there. So before they die, they’ve sent a message to Earth that says DESTROY THE MOON. And NASA wants to do that to stop the aliens from coming. And then chaos ensues. Whoop! I have more but I won’t bore you!

If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, GOOD LUCK! 😀 I know lots of bloggers that are participating this year, and some are doing ridiculously well and are getting very far ahead. I’ve heard lots about some stories, and they’re all so brilliant! If you’re joining in, you can view my page to add me as a buddy HERE. If you’re very interested about NaNoWriMo and want to get involved, the 50k page is HERE, and click HERE for the YWP Program! (Oh, I overuse hyper-linking).

Happy NaNo-ing!!

New Books! #30

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A small-ish book haul this week, but all of the titles look awesome!

Also, I re-organised my TBR this week by date and genre. I have WAY too much time on my hands.

Received in Post:

The Demon's Lexicon (The Demon's Lexicon, #1)

The Demon’s Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan: I’ve heard ridiculously great things about Sarah’s books, and I’m really ashamed at myself because I’ve never read one before! On Monday I’m going to see her talk to Holly Black, and I want to try and start this before seeing her, and I also wanted to get a book signed! Thank you, Amazon, for bringing this early… you said it might not turn up until next Friday!

Bought:

The Killing Woods

The Killing Woods by Lucy Christopher: I LOVE crime books, and Lucy Christopher’s title looks amazing. I’ve seen it a lot lately in Waterstone’s and various other places, and I decided to buy it today, because I want to read it so badly! This one is definitely moving to the top of the TBR pile…

Leviathan (Leviathan, #1)

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld: I was in the lovely Beckenham Bookshop today, and went to buy BEHEMOTH, but then I realised that was the sequel! I really wanted to get a copy of the first book, though- because its pretty steampunk cover had me really intrigued- and I was hoping I could read it for my upcoming Spotlight on Steampunk event. The awesome people at Beckenham Books have ordered me in a copy- so I technically haven’t got this yet… but I wanted to show it anyway! (I mean, LOOK at that cover. ooooh.)

Library:

Chasing the Dark

Chasing the Dark by Sam Hepburn: I’ve read some mixed reviews about this, but I really wanted to try it! My Librarian reserved me a copy to read before next weekend, because Sam Hepburn will be at the library doing an event, which I’m going to. I hope I enjoy this!

What books did you buy or receive this week- or have you read any of these? Leave a comment! ;D

Halloween Guest Post by Alexander Gordon Smith!

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Yes, the banner says my Halloween Reads event finishes on the 31st… but I have one more guest post! ;D

I met Gordon Smith at his Horror Writing Workshop at the Bath Kids Lit Festival in September. I read the first book in his ESCAPE FROM FURNACE series for Halloween Reads! (Click HERE for the review). Gordon talked about channeling his worst fears into his writing, at the workshop, and he’s been very awesome and written a guest post all about it for my blog- and it’s brilliant! Have a read:

Thanks so much for letting me visit your awesome blog, Georgia, it’s so great to be here! And thanks too for your amazing review of Lockdown, I was so thrilled that you enjoyed it!! 😀

I had the pleasure of working with Georgia during my workshop at the Bath Kids’ Lit Festival last month. She joined in my horror writing workshop, and came up with some fantastic scary stories! We were talking about how when you’re writing a horror story, the best way to make it scary is to base that story on your own fears. And that’s what I want to talk about today!

I’m very afraid of a few things, a little bit afraid of everything else! I think that’s why I’m a horror writer! The more you’re afraid of, the more you have to write about. Some of my fears are very rational – like dying in a plane crash, or losing my loved ones. Some of my fears are slightly less rational. Like porcelain dolls (they scare the living daylights out of me, it’s those soulless eyes) and slugs. Yes, you heard right, I said slugs. There’s just something really creepy about them, especially when you step on one in the middle of the night whilst not wearing any shoes or socks…

*Shudder*

I haven’t quite found the courage to write about slugs yet, but I will one day! All of my books, however, are in some way based on my own worst fears. The Escape From Furnace series was inspired by a time in my own life where I went off the rails a bit – nothing too serious, but it could have been much worse. Back then I was terrified of being sent to prison, and I used that fear to come up with the idea of somebody being sent to a prison full of monsters!

The Fury was also inspired by one of my worst fears – the terror of being chased by a mob who want to kill you! This too came from a real-life incident. When I was at school, maybe fourteen or fifteen, I was in the bottom set for PE (I was always in the bottom set, because I was rubbish at sport). We had the world’s most evil PE teacher, and he would make us play a game called Murderball. Yep, that’s actually what he called it. The idea behind Murderball was that one person in the class would be given a rugby ball and a head start. Then everyone in the class had to chase him and get the ball from him. Murderball never actually worked like that, though. You would be standing there with the ball, then you’d hear the first whistle. The first thing you did was throw the ball away, because it

would only slow you down and you knew nobody actually wanted it. Then you’d run as fast as you could (which for me was sadly never very fast). Then you’d hear the second whistle, and the ground would start to shake, and you’d hear this roar of pure fury rise up behind you, and if you looked over your shoulder (always a mistake, but you couldn’t help it) you would see thirty people chasing after you with expressions like demons! It was terrifying!!

The weird thing is that everyone in that class was a friend of mine – the people I hung out with at lunch and after school. But something changed in them when we were playing Murderball. There was nothing human left in their expressions. All they wanted to do was catch you and kill you. Sooner or later you would be on the floor with thirty people on top of you kicking you, punching you, biting you, and sticking mud in your mouth and up your nose so you couldn’t breathe. I honestly thought I was going to die every time I played this game. Luckily nobody ever did, but I’m sure it was close!

I’ve had a fear of crowds chasing me ever since, and I used that fear when I was looking for a new idea. All I did was add the two magic words of writing: “What if?” What if one day, without warning, every single person in the Alexander Gordon Smith

world did try to attack me – not for sport, not for a game, just because they wanted to kill me. And The Fury was born!

Writing about your own fears makes the horror in your stories feel genuine, because it is! Fear is contagious, it’s a survival thing – if you see other people reacting to something with fear then you too begin to fear it. Once upon a time that communal panic is what kept us alive. Likewise, if a reader senses something genuinely upsetting in a story then they too will begin to feel the anxiety creeping in. It’s the best way of making your readers cower in terror!!

But there’s another reason why I always encourage people to write about their own fears. If there’s something you’re afraid of, and you write a story about it, then you take control of that fear. You are in charge of the story so, for the time you’re writing, you’re in charge of your response to that fear too. Writing is incredibly powerful, it is life-changing for you as an author as well as for your readers. If you can conquer your fears on the page then maybe you can conquer them in real life too. I certainly find that every time I write about something that scares me, I’m a little less scared of it by the time I write ‘The End’. Luckily for me, though, I’m always afraid of something else! 🙂

Thanks for a brilliant guest post, Gordon, it’s great to have you on my blog! The Murderball story behind your latest novel, The FURY, is pretty terrifying! D:

So, this is the last Halloween Reads post! I’ve decided not to review FRANKENSTEIN for the event, because I have lots of others reviews to write for ARCs. I will review it at some point in the future ;D I’ve really loved hosting two bestselling horror authors on my blog, and getting through a lot of my horror TBR pile. I enjoyed reviewing and reading one genre for a while- so my next blog event will be dedicated to Steampunk fiction, in December! 🙂

Halloween Guest post by Darren Shan!

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Happy Halloween, people!

If you follow my blog, you know that I am an OBSESSIVE when it comes to Darren Shan and his ZOM-B books ;D. Well, I was lucky enough to interview him in July (Click HERE to see it!) and hoped I could include him somehow in my Halloween Reads fortnight. Despite a busy schedule, Darren wrote up a guest post for me, and I’m so excited to post it here! It’s all about Trick-Or-Treating- and going up on Halloween, its content is very relevant… Over to Darren!

Zom-B (Zom-B, #1)

I miss Halloween. Oh, of course I know it hasn’t stopped, but for me it’s not the same as it used to be.
I always loved Halloween, dressing up, playing games like bobbing for apples and coins, eating lots of sweets and watching scary movies. But my favourite part was Trick Or Treating.
I didn’t go Trick Or Treating when I was child, as it wasn’t as popular back then, and I lived in the countryside where it was more complicated to get around. But when I was older, I started taking my young cousins out every year. I didn’t dress up, but I loved seeing their costumes, escorting them around from house to house, organising games for them when we got back to base.
One year, as part of the festivities, I read out an extract from a children’s book I had not yet published, a little number called Cirque Du Freak. Someone filmed it, recording for posterity my first ever public Darren Shan reading. You can check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z89HivgkbTQ&list=FLO3n4WBGNkRM1c8navqLXdQ
I loved those years of Trick Or Treating. I hoped they’d never stop. But then the children grew up and stopped wanting to tag around the roads with me, and I was forced into retirement.
If I ever have children of my own, I can start going out again on Halloween at some point in the future. But at the moment I’m home bound, limited to stocking up with lots of treats and wearing a scary mask when the youngsters come knocking on my door. (I picked up a creepy Chucky mask last year, which I plan to wear lots of times again!)
If you are going Trick Or Treating this year, my advice would be to have a whale of a time, relish every moment of the experience, and make sure you enjoy it while you can. Because, as unlikely as it seems, you too will grow older, and one day, like me, you’ll find yourself restricted to fondly reflecting on memories of Halloweens past, while dreaming of scary delights to come.

Thank you so much, Darren, for a fantastic guest post! It’s not fair you didn’t get to trick or treat enough- but at least you get to wear a cool Chucky mask now 😀 I also got to listen to and meet Darren at an event in Guildford last weekend- it was awesome! I haven’t yet written everything up yet- but I’m hoping to publish a post on that on Sunday.

(Also- I finished FRANKENSTEIN yesterday, but didn’t manage to get the review up last night, so that will hopefully be up tomorrow, meaning Halloween Reads hasn’t quite finished yet…)

UNREST

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We’re drawing closer to Halloween now… and what better book to be one of the finishing Halloween Reads recommendations than a spine-chilling, ghostly thriller? This book was terrifying- great to curl up with when you’re not trick-or-treating this Halloween!

By Michelle Harrison, published by Simon & Schuster.

Unrest Goodreads Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Elliott hasn’t slept properly for six months. Not since the accident that nearly killed him. Now he is afraid to go to sleep. Sometimes he wakes to find himself paralysed, unable to move a muscle, while shadowy figures move around him. Other times he is the one moving around, while his body lies asleep on the bed. According to his doctor, sleep paralysis and out of body experiences are harmless – but to Elliot they’re terrifying. Convinced that his brush with death has opened up connections with the spirit world, Elliott secures a live-in job at one of England’s most haunted locations, determined to find out the truth. There he finds Sebastian, the ghost of a long-dead servant boy hanged for stealing bread. He also meets the living, breathing Ophelia, a girl with secrets of her own. She and Elliott grow closer, but things take a terrifying turn when Elliott discovers Sebastian is occupying his body when he leaves it. And the more time Sebastian spends inhabiting a living body, the more resistant he becomes to giving it back. Worse, he seems to have an unhealthy interest in Ophelia. Unless Elliott can lay Sebastian’s spirit to rest, he risks being possessed by him for ever, and losing the girl of his dreams…

My Review: UNREST was an awesome ghost story. Right from the beginning I was captivated by Michelle Harrison’s terrifying plot! This book’s perfect for a Halloween read- or if you want a serious scare…
Plot wise, the book was brilliant. It’s a bit disappointing, actually, that the synopsis gives quite a lot away. Without that blurb on the back, it would be utterly unpredictable. Apart from the parts of the book it talked about on the blurb though, it was very hard to predict! I wasn’t expecting any of what happened. Michelle is an expert at writing terrifying, layered plots, packed with plot twists.

There were a lot of intertwining parts of the story, and I was kind of scared that ends wouldn’t tie together very well. It was less than a hundred pages from the end, and not much had been resolved… there was the mysteries behind Hodge; Ophelia; Tess the ghost; Sebastian the ghost… I was scared things would be forgotten and I’d be left wanting more of the story. Well, everything was resolved and linked together in a way I can’t describe in words other that genius, and I was left wanting more for a GOOD reason!

Michelle’s writing was brilliant. I can’t remember much of her writing style in the Thirteen trilogy, sadly, thought I can remember loving those books a couple of years ago. UNREST was written superbly. Harrison’s writing conveys so much tension and suspense, and I felt like I was there. I know I probably say that a bit in reviews, but this time it was vivid- I really did feel like I was watching Tess in an out of body experience; I felt like I’d had my body stolen by Sebastian; I felt like I was watching ghosts appear on a museum tour. I found the writing so descriptive and beautiful.

Elliott was such a flawless main character. He was very realistic, and his background was really well explained. I knew exactly what had happened to him, and it made me sympathize with him throughout the whole story. His story was riveting, and scary- I’d never be able to confront ghosts like he does, in this book! I adored his relationship with Ophelia: She was, too, a really amazing character. They’re both really unique protagonists. I want to read more about them! (Hint, Michelle Harrison, hint! :D). There were multiple points when I didn’t trust multiple character. A main one was Hodge. I can’t really detail on this- but I’ll just say that some characters can’t be trusted…

Overall, Unrest was a novel I absolutely loved reading, and it’s a book I think I’ll re-read again and again. The character were unforgettable, and I didn’t want to let them go at the end of the book. The setting was interesting, and so was the ghostly aspect of the book. I’ve also gotten really interested in the subject of out-of-body experiences now! The plot is complex and clever- the twists and turns in the story will get you hooked on this book. It’s a great novel as a standalone- I don’t think anything should be added, in fear of spoiling the story- but I want to read more at the same time! I can’t wait for more books from Michelle Harrison. She’s a fantastic author… I’ll stop now. I’ve written a long enough review!

My Rating:

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My Dad received a copy of UNREST in exchange for a review. Then I stole it a while after to review it myself. In no way at all did this (The source, not the stealing-from-Dad’s-bookshelf, obviously ;D) affect my thoughts.

The Coldest Girl In Coldtown

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Today for Halloween Reads, I’ve got a vampire book! I don’t normally read vampire books, but this one was great. Although this looks like a low rating, it’s actually a good one!

By Holly Black, published by Indigo.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown Goodreads Synopsis: Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy burdened with a terrible secret. Shaken and determined, Tana enters a race against the clock to save the three of them the only way she knows how: by going straight to the wicked, opulent heart of Coldtown itself.

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a wholly original story of rage and revenge, of guilt and horror, and of love and loathing from bestselling and acclaimed author Holly Black.

My Review: I don’t think I’ve read many vampire books before. Twilight, Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freak… that’s about it, I think! I’m not the biggest fan of them; probably because Twilight caused the YA industry to overflow with them, and I just avoided them, really. However, I requested a copy of Coldtown because the synopsis really captured me. It seemed very different to any other Vampire book I’ve heard about!

Coldtown really is a unique book. The concept is nothing like I’ve ever heard of, not just in the gothic genre: Quarantined towns of blood-suckers, rumored to be eternal parties for the undead; broadcast 24/7 on TV. Well… at first, I thought HUNGER GAMES!!!, but then, I was really wrong! The plot and all aspects of this novel were really original. I found some parts not explained as well as others- for instance, I couldn’t get to grips with the background of Gabriel, our lead vampire. I’m not sure if that was just me, or if it just wasn’t revealed in enough depth, though. However, it was a really thought-provoking concept: Because it was very realistic, and slightly political. The reason it’s a scary book is because the events are way too possible, if vampires exist!

The writing was, quite simply, very beautiful. From the start, I was hooked onto this novel, because the writing was so fluent, so descriptive… I just admire Holly’s writing so much! The book was written in a very interesting way. Flashback chapters, of course, have been done before by many authors; but in this book, pretty much every other chapter is a flashback for a certain character. That gave a really great insight into the character’s backgrounds, without lengthy, boring explanations during scenes set in the time of Tara’s adventure. The flashbacks were sometimes emotional, sometimes terrifying- and let me get to know Tara, primarily, very well. While they were so great to read, they did occasionally slow down the novel at points. Holly would leave a chapter on a cliffhanger, write a chapter focusing on another character or on something in the past, then go and tie ends together. It’s a great narrative hook, but at points it did frustrate me a little!

Tana was a brilliant main character. I was rooting for her to get through everything okay right form the start, when she wakes up in a bathroom after a high school party, and finds her friends massacred by vampires. She was a very self dependent, down-to-Earth and understandable- so she was very realistic. If you strip away all of the vampire trauma from her life, she is a very relatable character that I think teens will love! Her journey in this book involved life decisions, a fair bit of violence, friendships, and a pinch of romance… there wasn’t a moment I was bored of her!

Overall, Coldtown was a really good book, and it’s probably urged me to read some more books in the vampire genre. I enjoyed reading about the main character, and the idea for the story was scarily realistic, thought provoking, and interesting. It was a really fun read, great for Halloween- but a couple of things did let it down. The writing style, despite being quite clever, slowed down the pace at points. Also, I didn’t find some aspects explained as well as I’d have wanted it to be (Hopefully if I re-read it soon I’ll understand things better!) and so that made it slightly less awesome. But, it was an awesome book. Highly recommended to fans of gothic fiction!

Also, I will be going to the Foyles event to see Holly Black in conversation with Sarah Rees Brennan on Coldtown on the fourth of November! If you’re interested, go buy tickets on the Foyles website! If you’re already going, leave comment, so I can say hi! ;D

My Rating:

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This seems like a low rating, but it really isn’t!

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