Book Review: The Julian chapter by R J Palacio

Published 1st May 2014 by Random House Children’s books.

20878809 Publisher’s Synopsis: Over 1 million people have read Wonder and have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. Now readers will have a chance to hear from the book’s most controversial character—Julian.

From the very first day Auggie and Julian met in the pages of the #1 New York Times bestseller Wonder, it was clear they were never going to be friends, with Julian treating Auggie like he had the plague. And while Wonder told Auggie’s story through six different viewpoints, Julian’s perspective was never shared. Readers could only guess what he was thinking.

Until now. The Julian Chapter will finally reveal the bully’s side of the story. Why is Julian so unkind to Auggie? And does he have a chance for redemption?

My Review: The Julian Chapter was a story I fell in love with from the start. It’s engaging, emotional, and incredibly powerful. Spinning off from Wonder, R J Palacio’s much loved début, The Julian Chapter tells the story of the bully who hated Auggie for his looks.

As soon as I’d gotten an email about this spin-off chapter, I was too excited for words! I fell in love with wonder last year. It was so moving and powerful. I couldn’t wait to hear more from R J. I started the story straight away and once I’d begun, I couldn’t stop. I was so engrossed in the story! Julian was a character whose narrative wasn’t in Wonder, which switched between the viewpoints of lots of people in Auggie’s life. I was so glad I could finally see through Julian’s eyes.

The writing, of course, is brilliant. R J Palacio has adopted the voice of a middle-school kid really well. Julian’s voice is really distinctive and realistic. I could feel his anger and fear about the situation he was in because of Auggie. If you read Wonder, you’ll have really disliked Julian for the things he did to Auggie. I did. But in this novella, I got to understand all of the reasons behind his actions. Obviously, the things he did are still awful- but The Julian Chapter has made all of his actions make sense, and it’s built a really good back story to one of the most complex characters in the story.

The Julian Chapter tells Julian’s side of the story in Wonder, then goes on to after the events of Wonder. I loved how much Julian develops throughout the story. He changes into such a different person over the course of the novella, and honestly, the last few chapters made me start crying. I grew to forgive Julian, and liked him by the ending; The Julian Chapter shows how it wasn’t all Julian’s fault- how his actions were caused by so many things. I love that R J Palacio has made Julian such a more understandable character with an eighty page story.

Overall, The Julian Chapter was just… amazing. It’s poignant, honest, and written so well. I loved hearing Julian’s voice, and learning about his life and back story. The Julian Chapter gives a whole new side to the story. If you loved Wonder, I cannot recommend this highly enough! For an under-100-page story, it’s unbelievably emotional and engaging. I won’t be forgetting The Julian Chapter any time soon!

My Rating:

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I received a copy of The Julian Chapter, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

Book Review: The Forbidden Library by Django Wexler

Review-Graphic: The Boy Who Swam With Piranhas

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Sorry for the relatively short review graphic… I had to make this in a bit of a rush between revision-y things because it’s the start of the exam season! But, honestly, I can’t recommend The Boy Who Swam with Piranhas enough- one brilliant author, one brilliant illustrator, one fantastic MG read (:

Two recent events!

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Last Friday, I went to another Waterstones Piccadilly event – and on Saturday, I went to a talk in Conway Hall. Both events were really fantastic, so I thought I’d do a little joint post about them!

Friday, Waterstones Piccadilly: An Evening with Samantha Shannon, Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish

*runs around squealing* My dad found out about this event from the Waterstones website, and I’m so glad we were able to book tickets! Samantha Shannon is the author of The Bone Season- a fantasy début I loved so much, last year. And, to add more excitement to everything, the movie rights to The Bone Season were bought around the time the book was published- and it’s definite that there will be a film franchise of the series, coming from Imaginarium studios. The evening was Samantha Shannon in conversation with the two people behind Imaginarium Studios- Jonathan Cavendish (best known for Bridget Jones’ Diary movies) and Andy Serkis (Producer as well, and also actor- he played King Kong, Gollum from LoTR, and my all time favourite antagonist- Capricorn form Inkheart :D). I was so excited to see all three of them!

Samantha Shannon discussed lots of things, like inspirations behind the book and why she set it where she did. I found the inspiration behind her protagonist, Paige’s, supernatural ability really bizarre- Inspired by the author’s migraines during her A Level exams! I also loved what Samantha Shannon said about Oxford, and why she decided to set the book there: About the way it’s a city fixed in time, with such beautiful old buildings and an extensive history- clashing with all the scientific advances there being made by the University.

Jonathan and Andy also discussed why they decided this book would make such a great adaptation; and a favourite part of the evening had to be the casting discussion. Jonathan Cavendish reached out to the audience asking for casting advice- for who readers imaigned the characters to be. I had to agree with Tom Hiddleston being Warden, and Benedict Cumberbatch being Jackson. Just, yes. SO much yes. :’D

Overall, the evening was absolutely brilliant. Thanks to Waterstones for hosting it, and for Imaginarium Studios and of course Samantha Shannon for doing such a great talk! My brother even brought his Gollum toy along, which Andy Serkis signed for him. I was lucky enough to get nice signed things, too- so I now have a pretty arc of The Bone Season signed by Serkis and Shannon, and a signed Inkheart dvd, both of which are now probably the coolest things I own. Pics above! (:

Friday, Conway hall: Mike Carey in conversation with SciFi London Interviewer Alex Fitch

SciFi London is a really great festival with some great movie screenings and big events and parades and things, that happens every year. My brother and I went up to London the weekend before last to go see all of the Cosplay in the opening parade, which was very cool- you can check out my brother’s pictures on his blog here! Last Saturday, Mike Carey was doing a talk about all of his Sci-Fi work- and most of the family wanted to go, because MIKE CAREYYYY :D*squeee*

Carey most recently wrote The Girl with All the Gifts, which is a fantastic looking adult novel that I’m hoping to read very soon. He’s also very well known for lots of his writing for comics, namely X Men. I’m an X Men fan, so I was really looking forward to him talking about X Men: No More Humans, which is his latest graphic novel & is illustrated by Salvador Larroca. The event was even more brilliant- because they somehow had early copies of it! I think I bought the first ever copy of No More Humans, which is so cool- and I also definitely got the second ever signed copy (after my brother, who butted in…;D).

Sadly, not a huge amount of people were actually at the event- there were only a few of us- but still, it was a really brilliant talk and I’m really glad I came along! I didn’t realise how much Mike Carey had written, and what other comics he’d written, so I’ve made a note of a lot of series I must check out soon. There was also a lot of discussion about the writing processes of comics and things- it’s crazy how short the deadlines are for comic scripts! It’s definitely inspired me to consider writing comics- it sounds like a really fun job. Mike also did a reading of the first chapter of The Girl With All the Gifts – slightly edited, because kids in the room 😉 – and it was fantastic. It’s made me want to read the book even more now, it’s so haunting and beautifully written.

After the event, Mike signed books and things! Pictures, again, above, of him singing and of the pretty looking book. (: Thanks to SciFi London for organising that event- and to Waterstones for the event on Friday (:

Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

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Love Letters to the Dead might actually be the best book I’ve read this year: and I don’t think I can even do the book justice. About a week ago, I picked the book up again, and I reread it. I’m in the middle of my second or third reread now… It’s just amazing, and you can tell it’s a pretty special book, because I don’t think I’ve gone back to reread a book so quickly.

Published 1st May 2014 by Hot Key Books.

20703051 Goodreads Synopsis: It begins as an assignment for English class: write a letter to a dead person – any dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain – he died young, and so did Laurel’s sister May – so maybe he’ll understand a bit of what Laurel is going through. Soon Laurel is writing letters to lots of dead people – Janis Joplin, Heath Ledger, River Phoenix, Amelia Earhart… it’s like she can’t stop. And she’d certainly never dream of handing them in to her teacher. She writes about what it’s like going to a new high school, meeting new friends, falling in love for the first time – and how her family has shattered since May died.

But much as Laurel might find writing the letters cathartic, she can’t keep real life out forever. The ghosts of her past won’t be contained between the lines of a page, and she will have to come to terms with growing up, the agony of losing a beloved sister, and the realisation that only you can shape your destiny.

My Review: Love Letters to the Dead completely blew me away. It’s nothing less than an absolutely stunning début novel- there aren’t actually many words that can do this story justice, I think. It was emotional, captivating, and beautifully written.

Love Letters to the Dead is written entirely in what the title suggests. Protagonist Laurel is starting a new chapter of her life, and at the same time, is still grieving for her sister, May. She pours her riveting, moving life story, and everything that she can’t say to anyone else, into letters to Kurt Cobain, River Phoenix, and Judy Garland, to name a few people. Each and every letter is heart-wrenchingly powerful, and I found tears welling up reading most of them. Ava Dellaira has a fresh, gripping writing voice. It’s going to captivate anyone who reads this, I’m sure!

The romance in this book was heartbreaking, and heart-warming at points. It was beautifully told. Laurel’s relationships with characters in this book was mesmerising. I can’t say who she falls for, but I will say that the love story was a roller coaster and I couldn’t close the book. What touched me the most, though, was the story between two supporting characters. It deserved its own book; it was really unforgettable and emotional.

We get to know Laurel’s sister, May, really well over the course of the story. It’s quite hard to describe how I felt about May, but she is an unforgettable character. Her bond with Laurel is so memorable and unlike anything I’ve ever read about. Laurel is such a strong protagonist, because as the story progresses, we find out that she’s been through a lot more than we thought she had, and each new event shocked me so much. I felt really close to Laurel, and I loved her personality that really shone through in all of her letters. She’s a new favourite contemporary protagonist, and I really miss reading about her now that I’ve finished the book.

Overall, Love Letters to the Dead was an absolutely amazing début. I was a little apprehensive about starting it because I wasn’t sure how I’d find it… but there was no need to be. Love Letters to the Dead captivated me; Ava Delliara’s story captured me from the beginning and didn’t let me go until the very last page. All of the characters are so well fleshed out and memorable. I completely agree with what Steven Chbosky’s said on the front cover of the book: Ava Dellaira is a bold new literary voice. I’m really hoping to read more from her soon and I can tell Love Letters to the Dead is going to be a book I reread over and over again. It was mesmerising.

My Rating:

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I received a copy of Love Letters to the Dead form the publisher, in exchange for a review. In no way at all did this affect my thoughts.

book review: hate by Alan Gibbons

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You can also see my post from the HATE blog tour, by clicking here!

Published 10th April by Indigo books.

18692305 Goodreads Synopsis: Eve’s older sister, Rosie, was bright and alive and always loved being the centre of attention. Then one day, she is brutally murdered. Six months later, Eve meets Antony and discovers that he was there the night Rosie died and did nothing to help. Is there any way she can ever get past that? Inspired by the Sophie Lancaster murder in 2007, which saw Sophie and her partner Rob viciously attacked in Stubbylee Park, Bacup, Lancashire because of the way they dressed. This is a hard-hitting real-life thriller about friendship, courage, loss, forgiveness and about our society and communities.

My Review: The real-life inspiration behind HATE really shocked me. It’s terrifying to hear stories of hate crime. I started HATE nervously; how would it treat the topic? How would I find a story, that takes such a serious real-life inspiration?

Luckily, I found it really well written. HATE was gripping and eye opening- I read the whole book in one sitting. HATE’s centered around Eve, whose sister Rosie was killed by a gang because of the way she dressed. One day at school, she recognises the name of the new boy, Anthony Ward. He was one of the witnesses that day, who saw Rosie but did nothing to help… and now at school, tension is rising between one character who speaks up and another character who hates him because of it.

HATE is quite a short read, no more than 300 pages, but its plot is quite complex. It did take me quite a few pages to grasp the format, because it switches between six months before the present events in the book, and between the present tense narratives of Eve and Anthony. It did take me a bit to grasp everything about the characters, too, but after a few chapters I became completely engrossed in the story.

The plot is terrifying, made even more so, as it’s based on shocking true events. It really paints a realistic picture of the grief the victim’s families go through, as well as showing how hate crime can be caused, using homophobia and its effects for the central plot of this book. It’s a very tense book, and very heart-breaking, though at the same time, heart-warming at the end.

I grew to like the main protagonists- we learn so much about Eve, and after a while, I also grew to understand Anthony despite what he hadn’t done the night Rosie was attacked. Despite growing to really love the central characters the book is based around, I found the story a little too short, almost, to grow too attached to them! I blame that a little more on me reading it in one sitting- just over two hours- though…

Overall, HATE was a very tense, riveting and compelling read. It’s based around a scarily real topics such as homophobia and hate crime, and it’s not a book that can be forgotten easily. The characters felt three-dimensional, and Alan Gibbons’ writing is brutally honest and powerful. I felt the ending was a little bit abrupt, and the format was a little hard to get used to at first- but it’s most definitely worth picking up a copy of. HATE is a brave, and powerful read.

My Rating:

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

New Books! #47

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I am so stupidly excited about everything in this haul. Also, update on what I have now named The TBR Problem: I have taken to stacking to-read books on other bookshelves, as I cannot fit any more into the TBR wardrobe. I know. I should stop buying things. But, I blame Waterstones sales and pretty covers and things!

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon & X MEN: No More Humans by Mike Carey: I received The Bone Season and bought the X Men graphic novel at two fantastic events over the last two days. There’ll be a very fangirly post up about these soon, I promise! Both, I managed to get signed- and X Men: No More Humans isn’t actually meant to be out yet- I’m totally honoured to have gotten a pre-release, and to have it be the second ever copy the author has signed! *fangirly scream*

The Girl who saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson: I really loved Jonas Jonasson’s début of an equally-long and crazy title a couple of months ago! I was so excited to see his new book out, and there were posters and adverts and displays everywhere in London… I couldn’t not pick up a copy in Waterstones yesterday. I’m sure I won’t be disappointed: Jonasson’s writing is witty and genius and I loved it when I read The 100 Year Old Man who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared.

The Boy who Swam with Piranhas by David Almond, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers: I am in love with Oliver Jeffers’s drawings, and I’m a massive Skellig fan… and this was in a buy-one-get-one-half-price sale. I’ve been really interested in reading it, and you can have a look at more pics of the book on my Tumblr, here, because I literally took a billion pictures of this… I’m not obsessive at all. Nope. Definitely not.

The Peculiars by Maureen Doyle McQueery: I was walking through Foyles today, and this cover was the first one to catch my eye out of all the YA titles on display. I had to pick it up and have a look at the blurb… And I was so, so intrigued! It looks like a fantastic steampunk read- I’m hoping I can get around to it really soon, because I feel like something steampunk-y.

Fierce Resistance by Fiona Beddow: I was offered a copy of this from the author, and as soon as I’d watched the book trailer online, I was really excited about it. Fierce Resistance seems so action packed and epic, and a little like The Fearless- thank you so much to Fiona for mailing me a copy. I’m very excited about it!

Various Kids’ comics: I got these from the lovely Forbidden Planet in London today, because, it’s Free Comic Book Day! :3 This day is like Christmas. Except nerdier. I love it. I was given the Forbidden Planet Kiddy pack, though of course, I’ll be ~~stealing~~ borrowing some of the other comics like Guardians of the Galaxy from my dad’s adult pack 😉

Huge thank yous also, to Hot Key Books, Templar Books, and Piccadilly Press for the other books sent! What books have you bought this week- or what have you thought of any of the titles above? (: I’d love to know!

graphic novel review: young avengers – Style > Substance (volume 1)

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Written by Kieron Gillen, illustrated by Jamie McKelvie and Mike Norton

Published by Marvel NOW!, 2013.

17824752 Goodreads Synopsis: Legacy isn’t a dirty word…but it’s an irrelevant one. It’s not important what our parents did. It matters what WE do. Someone has to save the world. You’re someone. Do the math. The critically acclaimed team of Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie reinvent the teen super hero comic for the 21st century, uniting Wiccan, Hulkling and Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop with Kid Loki, Marvel Boy and Ms. America. No pressure, right? As a figure from Loki’s past emerges, Wiccan makes a horrible mistake that comes back to bite everyone on their communal posteriors. Fight scenes! Fake IDs! And plentiful feels! (aka “meaningful emotional character beats” for people who aren’t on tumblr.) Young Avengers is as NOW! as the air in your lungs, and twice as vital. Hyperbole is the BEST! THING! EVER!

COLLECTING: Young Avengers 1-5, Marvel Now! Point One (Young Avengers story)

My Review: Dad bought me the first issue of this when it first came out, and I enjoyed that so much. But by the time I’d been able to get to a comic shop I’d already missed two or three issues 😦 I finally got around to ordering the first volume a couple of week ago, and as soon as it was in my hands I started reading. I finished it in one sitting. Then reread it all the next day. The AWESOMENESS. I can’t even describe it properly!

Young Avengers is everything I was hoping it would be: non-stop action, super awesome bad guys, a riveting storyline, and a group of brilliant and dynamic teenage superheroes. It had a very Marvel’s Runaways feel to it, and I think that’s a main reason why I loved it so much! The plot, in one word: addictive. It’s so hard to pull yourself away from the pages… Kieron Gillen is a genius writer and this comic just adds to the evidence.

All of the characters were really well developed. I felt like I knew each and every one of that. I loved Loki waaaay too much. And Miss America is a new favourite female protagonist. Also, I’m shipping Hulkling and Wiccan so much. Argh. They’re PERFECT :3 The young avengers make up one of the coolest teams I’ve ever seen, and I can’t wait to read more about them!

I don’t think I could love the artwork more than I already do. It’s so gorgeous, detailed and vibrant. Everything, right down to the layout… just works so well. I think I’ve found new favourite comic illustrators! There are some outstanding, really unique and cleverly drawn two-page spreads and ahhhh… *tries to think of how to describe it* *fails* It’s just too gorgeous! Click here for a preview of a spread on bleedingcool. Have you seen it? Yes. I know. TOO PRETTY. *flails*

Overall, Young Avengers Vol 1., Style > Substance was just stunning. You can tell it’s brilliant and modern and fun and awesome just from the way it references Feels and Tumblr in the synopsis. 😀 I’m about to order the next volumes to carry on reading; I’m desperate to read on! With Kieron Gillen working on it, could it be any less than brilliant? Nope. honestly, go buy a copy now. You will not regret it. It’s definitely in the top three best graphic novels I’ve read this year.

My Rating:

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I purchased a copy of Young Avengers online.

three years of blogging… whoa.

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Yay! Three years ago today, I set up my blog as Books and Writers JNR, the YA-reviews version of my dad’s Books and Writers blog. That means I have had a blog for… *calculator timeeee* 1095 days (though admittedly I only really started blogging seriously at the end of 2012!)… The Bibliomaniac has gone through a lot of theme changes. And a name change. But you can read more about that here!

Firstly. Celebratory Gifs. Sherlock-y, obviously.

*celebratory Cumberbatch pirouette*

have some more Excited-Sherlock gifs to sum up my fangirling and stuff. 😛

A lot of bloggers who are extremely clever and organised do huge blogoversary events lasting for a week or longer… I’m not very organised. So this is a frantically-put-together post! I’ve never actually written a blogoversary post before. I completely forgot about it last year. Here goes…

Firstly, thank yous to lots of bloggers for being awesome! There are so many lovely people I’ve gotten to meet through starting a blog, like Charli, M & Little M, Lucy, Amber, Hawwa, Jack, Ruby, Sophie, Amy, bloggy-Parabatai Fionnuala, Sunny, Bella, Rita, Jim, Debbie, Daphne, Cait and Stacey. I know there are a billion other people too because I’ve fangirled with wayyyy too many people on Twitter and Goodreads and various other social networks. So bloggy hugs to all of you guys; you’re awesome and I love all of your blogs. It’s been great to meet lots of bloggers at events- and I hope to meet the rest of you in the future! Also, to all of the lovely publishers in the UK and occasionally the US. You’re all super-awesome. Thank you for the review-books and the blogger events!

*ponders what else to put in this blogoversary post* *regrets not actually organising something* Okay, throwing these things in 😀

My first ever blog post (and my first ever review!): Divergent Book Review. This is a reaaallly bad review. Spelling mistakes and all the things. It actually made me laugh quite a lot when I read it over xD

My first ever blog tour post: INSURGENT. Twelve year old me was stupidly excited about being in the Dauntless faction for the official Insurgent blog tour. My post was pretty… um *hides* full of really badly drawn dauntless people, because I was obsessed with my new Graphics tablet that I wasn’t very good with at the time. Hahaha.

My first ever interview post: Michelle Harrison. I think I wrote these questions with my dad… I can’t actually remember! But Michelle Harrison is a lovely author and I loved her 13 Treasures books, and more recently her Ghost-horror novel Unrest. Thanks for the first ever interview, Michelle 😀

Some of my favourite blog posts to write. WordPress claims I’ve written around 390 by the time of writing this post (I’m writing this on the 20th April… Weirdly in advance :P). But I’ve been scouring my blog for some of the ones I found the most fun to write.

Favourite Event Recap: GRIMM TALES with Neil Gaiman and Meg Rosoff. Though the photos disappeared from my post somehow and I can’t recover them for some reason on WordPress, this is without doubt the coolest event I’ve been to whilst blogging. It was meant to be niel in conversation with Philip Pullman on his Grimm Tales, but Pullman had a fall the day before and was too ill to talk. Fortunately, he recovered soon after. But Meg Rosoff took his place. And I met the legend that is Neil Gaiman. I just. GAH.

Favourite interview post: An interview with… Tess Sharpe. This was so hard to pick- I also seriously loved my interview with SF Said, too! Both interviews were so fun to receive answers from, and I”m a huge fan of both of the authors’ books. Thank you to SF and Tess for the interview opportunities- and to all of the other lovely authors who’ve visited the blog too!

Favourite book review: She is not Invisible by Marcus Sedgwick. I just fell in love with this book. It was so hard to pick a favourite book review but I had to go with this… Not sure why, I don’t even think I did the book justice… it was amazing!

Favourite Review-Graphic: Say Her Name by James Dawson. Info/Review-graphic-y things are relatively new to the blog, but I’ve really liked playing around online making them. Say Her Name’s one was definitely the most fun one to make, because freaky mirrors and handprints and writing in blood and general scariness! Yay!

Aaaaaand, I’ll wrap up there. So, yay! Three year blogoversary- whoop! Thanks again to all the lovely amazing bloggers and publishers and other people I’ve gotten to meet. And, also, especially to everybody who’s been reading my blog, whetehr that’s every post or only a couple- and thanks to everyone for following over Facebook and Twitter and other social things.

I’m definitely not going to stop blogging any time soon- though now I’m in year nine, over the next four, five years or so until the end of Sixth form there are obviously going to be frequent, reluctant hiatus for… *shivers* exams… *hides behind pile of books*

Anyway, I leave you with more gifs.