Ctrl, Alt; Delete: Social Media and Me

If you’re wondering what Ctrl, Alt; Delete is, you’ve been living under a rock and/or haven’t used Twitter in a year. Emma Gannon, social media whizz, blogger and writer has written the memoir everyone from the Internet age needs to read. It’s a fantastic book – I couldn’t wait for it to come out, and I devoured it.

It’s a brilliant insight into Emma’s life, her online world, and how she’a turned her love for social media and online content into a highly successful career. She started off on Myspace, and now writes for huge media outlets, alongside running her highly successful blog and podcast.

Although I’m only 16, like Emma Gannon I have grown up with the Internet. I can’t really remember a time before it was a daily part of my life. So inevitably, I adored reading about Emma’s online experiences – so much of it was (sometimes painfully) relatable. Ctrl, Alt; Delete is hilarious and entertaining, but also raises some very interesting discussion points. Where do you draw the line between personal life and what you share online? How can you tell if people are real? How on earth do we discover small, talented bloggers when there are so many sites out there?

One of the things I love most about the book is that it’s essentially a timeline of Emma’s online life. It made me think a lot about how my internet use has changed over the years. I thought it would be quite funny to make a timeline:

I think it’s so fascinating to think about how much of my life has been shaped online. I used to write and draw in diaries up until age ten, and now virtually everything I do is written on a blog, an online notepad, drawn with my graphics tablet, programmed onto a Calendar.

I think I’m very open on the internet, and there is quite a blurred line between my online life and my ‘private’ one. If I go out for a day with friends, I won’t necessarily talk about it online, but I will turn my photos into a blog post. If I’m struggling with school, I’ll complain on Twitter and Tumblr. I switch between talking to my friends to sending them gifs on Tumblr, when we’re both in the same room. Heck, even my Media Studies coursework is entirely virtual, written on a private school blog.

A lot of people probably view my largely-online life as a bad thing. My eyes are probably so bad because I’m on the computer all the time. I don’t really like socialising IRL. I’m not very good at holding a conversation, unless it’s through social media, and I probably should get out more.

But I love it. I love growing up online. The Internet has given me so many opportunities that never would have been presented to me otherwise. I’m studying Photography and Media because I’m fascinated by editing images and online culture. I’m gaining work experience and networking just by running my blogs. I’ve met the most incredible people in my life, whom I talk to every day. I don’t know how I’d live without all of this.

So, I want to know what you think. How much of your life is online? Do you control what people see on your social media, or are you an open book?

Reasons to Read: Unboxed by Non Pratt

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Published 15th August 2016 by Barrington Stoke.

I thought I’d make today’s post in an infographic form! I’ve been in a bit of a blogging rut recently (school, life, lack of motivation to do anything but binge netflix and sleep) and although I could write so much about this book, I wanted to summarise it really briefly and give it a pretty looking post. I mean, look at that cover! Isn’t it gorgeous?

Unboxed unexpectedly moved me to tears. It’s an incredible book, and I haven’t been completely able to stop thinking about the characters. I cannot recommend it enough.

unboxed

THANK YOU | UKYABA 2016

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So, a few weeks ago, I got a Twitter notifcation. I clicked on it, wondering why on earth I’d been tagged in a thread about UKYABA – and it turns out, to my disbelief, that I had actually been nominated for an AWARD.

I was convinced someone must have nominated the wrong person, but then the awards ceremony (which I sadly couldn’t make it to!) came and went, and people began tweeting me congratulations for winning. I was still convinced they had the wrong person when the lovely Andy Robb, founder of the awards, said he was going to send out my prize to me.

So this turned up today, and, whoa okay it’s real whoa whoa whoa.

So. I won a UKYA Blogger Award, in the Champion Teen Blogger category. IDK HOW EITHER. My prize was this really awesome trophy, plus a lovely £25 personalised book token.

I am so, so thankful to the people who made this possible – it’s such a surprising achievement for me, and the people running this award are the loveliest, kindest people in the publishing world for recognising bloggers. I’m so grateful people read and enjoy my blog, enough to award it!

This blog, The Bibliomaniac Book Blog started in 2011, known then as Book and Writers JNR. It’s been through many changes since – in a way, it’s grown up with me. This blog has enabled me to reach so many people and become interconnected with an industry that I adore. I’m very honoured to have even one person read a post – let alone hundreds.

So, to everyone who reads this blog, and of course to the lovely people who nominated me – THANK YOU!

Congratulations also to everyone else who was nominated for/won an award. You’re all awesome and the shortlists were full of so many wonderful people that I’m lucky to be associated with.

RECKLESS Blog Tour: the world behind the Mirrors and how it came to be

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I am beyond honoured to be hosting a guest post by Cornelia Funke today. Cornelia is the author of Inkheart, one of my all time favourite books, which shaped me so much when I was younger. I really don’t think I’d be the reader I am now without Inkheart, so it’s surreal to be sharing a post with you! Cornelia Blog Tour (002).jpg

Cornelia: When I left Inkworld to step through a mirror, I upset quite a few of my readers. Writers should stick to the world they created and feed the addiction they created for that world with as many books as possible! It took me a few years to realize that in fact I hadn’t left Inkworld behind. I just revisited it 500 years later. But….let’s start at the beginning.

I remember that while editing Inkdeath I had grown quite tired of the baroque storytelling this world demanded being inspired by medieval times. There was a sudden longing for another pace, a leaner language, a more modern setting, closer to the world surrounding us. But it didn’t take shape until I worked with a British friend, Lionel Wigram, on a possible movie adaptation of E.T. Hoffmann’s Nutcracker. Lionel was as much in love with the 19^th century as I with the 13^th and 14^th. I blame him and E.T.Hoffmann that I became infatuated with it too – with the century when our modern times finally and irrevocably hatch. When man announces to be god and sets out to recreate the world.

What if….I thought, while we played with Nutcrackers and Rat soldiers….what if there was a world resembling this defining century (maybe around 1860) in which all our fairy tales are historical fact? How would the existence of magical objects, of witches, gingerbread houses and seven miles boots change the course of colonial endeavours, of kingdoms and revolutions?

When I asked Lionel to use the world we had stumbled upon for a book, he gave his permission gladly. With one request: that he’d be allowed to discuss the plot and characters with me, while I’d of course do the writing.

We worked like that on Book 1. We found the first mirror, took the first steps behind it together, working in English and German, the language I still write in. It was an exhausting and utterly inspiring process, questioning the way I approach a story in profound and often unexpected ways. For Book 2 we still had quite a few very inspiring discussions, but by then Lionel’s work as a movie producer claimed so much of his time that I mostly travelled alone behind the mirrors. Since Book 3 the stories are based solely based on my adventures in that world.

In fact I know so much about it by now that I just revised Book 1 adding all the knowledge I gained about my heroes, the Mirrors and the world they reveal. I plan to write at least another three, as so far I only made it to Kasakhstan and there is so much fairy tale territory to explore still. But – stories don’t stick to plans in my experience. And this one surprised and tricked me so often in the past eight years that I am sure I don’t know half of his secrets.

Thank you so much to Cornelia Funke for the great insight into your writing!

Book Review: The Diabolic by SJ Kincaid

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Published 1st November 2016 by Simon & Schuster.

30542863 Goodreads Synopsis: Nemesis is a Diabolic, a humanoid teenager created to protect a galactic senator’s daughter, Sidonia. The two have grown up side by side, but are in no way sisters. Nemesis is expected to give her life for Sidonia, and she would do so gladly. She would also take as many lives as necessary to keep Sidonia safe.
When the power-mad Emperor learns Sidonia’s father is participating in a rebellion, he summons Sidonia to the Galactic court. She is to serve as a hostage. Now, there is only one way for Nemesis to protect Sidonia. She must become her. Nemesis travels to the court disguised as Sidonia—a killing machine masquerading in a world of corrupt politicians and two-faced senators’ children. It’s a nest of vipers with threats on every side, but Nemesis must keep her true abilities a secret or risk everything.

My Review: This book arrived as a complete surprise – I hadn’t even heard that SJ Kincaid had written a new book – so I absolutely hit the roof when I opened the package! I was so excited to start it; SJ’s INSIGNIA trilogy is one of my favourite series ever, and SJ’s debut novel was one of the first review copies I read (and also quoted in whoop whoop). Needless to say, I was excited to get stuck into another inventive Sci-Fi world.

Once I’d started it, I didn’t want to put it down – a cliche phrase maybe, but an apt one. I absolutely adored the concept – it takes the much used idea of humanoid characters created to serve people, and puts a fantastic new twist on it. It’s original and captivating. ‘Diabolics’ are genetically engineered humans, designed to kill anything that endanger the humans they are bonded to. Nemesis is a Diabolic – bonded to Sidonia, daughter of an important but rebellious figure in the galaxy. Nemesis finds herself on a terrifying mission, impersonating Sidonia in order to potentially spare her.

Nemesis was such an interesting character, and I adore dreading from her narrative. It’s implied that she’s not considered human, even by herself, because she was bred to defend and kill. It was really cool over the course of the plot to see how she develops, and discovers things for herself and begins to feel, in a way.

Perhaps my favourite thing about the story was Sidonia, and her chemistry with Nemesis, her Diabolic, who was bonded to her and essentially trained to kill in order to defend her. It’s hard to detail on this without spoiling anything, but the story started to go in the way I was excited for it to – and then absolutely tore my hear to PIECES. I’M NOT OVER IT. GAAAAHHHHH. I wish it had been detailed on more, as it’s an important story line to have in such an epic sci fi story.

I absolutely adore SJ Kincaid’s world building. I loved her last trilogy for the imaginative concept, set partly in space – I didn’t think her fictional worlds could get any better, but this one is incredible. It’s set entirely in space, and the whole universe is set out so brilliantly and originally. Kincaid’s ability to craft unique worlds, and her incredible attention to detail, is admirable. It’s implied that some sort of global disaster happened on Earth many years ago, and the “Excess” humans live in poverty on planets, whilst members of a higher status live grand lifestyles on ships. The universe Kincaid has crafted is intricate and captivating – as soon as I’d finished the book, I wanted to read more about it.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Diabolic, and cannot recommend it enough. It’s an epic and adventurous story of space, conflict and what it means to be ‘human.’ Although I must say that the romance part was a little sad to me, as it could have taken such a more interesting route – the whole book left me completely speechless. I was blown away! I cannot wait to see what other people think of this – it’s got the potential to be the next big thing.

My Rating:

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

Lost Stars Blog Tour: Lisa Selin Davis on the novels that inspired her

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I’m delighted to be welcoming Lisa Selin Davis to the blog today, to talk about the novels that inspired her to turn to writing! Her debut novel, Lost Stars, is out from Hot Key Books and I’m very excited about it. I’m in love with the cover.

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Over to Lisa:

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Lost Stars or What Lou Reed Taught Me About Love (1).jpg

I’m not alone in being inspired, very recently, by The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. It’s not why my title is “Lost Stars”—that came from my own love of astronomy and my main character, Carrie’s, obsession with the night sky. But the heartbreak and humor in that book—it stayed with me. The first young adult novel I can remember really loving was Madeleine L’Engle’s Meet the Austins, about a noisy, loving family, forever changed when an orphaned 10-year-old girl comes to live with them. I think I really wanted a family like that. My parents were divorced and I felt terribly lonely and isolated in the towns we moved to when I was young. As an older kid, three pieces of writing really affected me. A short story by Alice Munro, How I Met My Husband; Anne Tyler’s Morgan’s Passing; and a short story by Deborah Eisenberg called What It Was Like, Seeing Chris. They were all very, very different pieces, but probably all had a sense of quiet bewilderment that really affected me. I read them all when I was in junior high, and I said Lisa Davis cred.Dave Bigler (1) (1).jpg

to myself “Whatever these ladies did, I want to do that too.” They really made me want to be a writer. As a side note: my parents subscribed to The New Yorker, a famous, venerable, and long-running literary magazine, that has both fiction and journalism. I really hold this magazine accountable for my becoming a writer. For a long time I just looked at the cartoons (many of which I didn’t understand) or at the illustrations, but then, around age 13, I started to read the stories. It was there that I read Deborah Eisenberg’s piece, which changed me forever. Thank you, New Yorker. Or maybe I should curse them instead, since now I’m doomed to the writing life (unless I can think of how to become an investment banker). And as for recent novels for adults, I have a hands-down, absolute favourite called Christadora, by Tim Murphy, which is about several generations of a family in New York City’s East Village, all touched by gentrification, art, and AIDS. It’s an amazing book.

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Thank you for visiting the blog, Lisa!

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Lost Stars (or what Lou Reed taught me about love) is out now from Hot Key Books in the UK.

How I Blog: My Blogging Tools and Tips

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Upon brainstorming blog post ideas for the next few months, it occurred to me that I’ve never written a “behind the scenes” type post, about how I blog (or at least, I don’t think I have…) so, here we go!

I’ve thought about writing one in the past, but never felt really qualified to make a post like this – this blog has come a long way, but it’s still comparatively a very small site. However, it is over five years old, and I thought it might be a good idea to share all of the ways in which I create content.

First up, here’s the basics:

This photo contains pretty much everything I use to blog – there’s not much more to it! I blog from my laptop, which of course is where I write, create graphics, and organise my TBR list – and my notebooks extensions of this (more on all of these things coming up). I have to listen to music whilst I’m blogging – it’s a lil’ creativity fuel 🙂

Although I’ll blog anywhere and everywhere (mainly my bed tbh) I also use my desk a lot, when I need to get stuff done, as it feels more professional than being snuggled under a duvet while typing. My desk is full of bookish things, so I thought I’d include it here 🙂

I also use two notebooks at any time. The small one pictured here is my newest bullet journal; I’ve tried bullet journaling before, but this year I’d like to start doing so more seriously. This contains weekly overviews, which I fill with to-do lists – as I’m writing this post, it’s the Summer term, but when school starts it’ll fill up with homework tasks to balance with blogging.

The larger notebook was gifted to me through a blogger’s Secret Santa program (thank youuu, Holly from Books and Quills! IT’S SO PRETTY IT HAS OWLS ON THE COVER) I’m normally a spiralbound-notebook gal, but I love this notebook to bits. It’s full of all of my blog post planning in more detail – when I’m reading a book, I jot down bullet points to incorporate into reviews in this book. I also use it to plan ideas for discussion posts, and I used a few pages as calendars, which give me a clear visual as to what I’m posting each month without logging into WordPress.

HAHA THIS PHOTO IS OLD I NO LONGER HAVE 8 INCHES OF THAT HAIR

Next up – my camera! Aside from my laptop, this is my most important blogging tool – also partially because it’s the reason I have a second, photography-based blog. Aside from book jackets in reviews, and any other credited photos, images on here were taken and edited by me. More bookish photography can be found on my Instagram, which is a sort of extension of this blog. A camera isn’t necessary for blogging – but it was a natural development for me to invest in one, given that my second hobby is photographing things 🙂

OK, onto the digital tools I use!

For organising my TBR pile of ARCS (Advance Reader Copies) I collect all of them in one place in my room. It’s a ridiculous, incomprehensible stack, devoid of any organisation. BUT! Every time I receive a new book, I search up its information on Goodreads, and input it into a spreadsheet (above). It’s a nice visual which helps me decide what’s more logical to read next, and I also collect links to every review I do in a year on this same spreadsheet. It’s really handy, and pleases my organisation-obsessive brain.

I think most bloggers use a list of some form to help them organise ARCs! I really recommend doing it – although it can be really crazy, seeing how many books I’m sent in some months, that I haven’t been able to make time to review. I do try my best to get to everything at some point – though in the end, I’m blogging for fun and without payment – so it’s okay to relax a little! 🙂

The penultimate thing on this list, and possibly my favourite, is Photoshop. Photoshop is my baby. I LOVE IT. Originally, I only downloaded a free trial a year ago, because it’s an incredibly expensive program – but I grew to love it, and started teaching myself how to create lots of different things on it. I ended up buying an Adobe photography package at a really affordable rate – I pay around £7 a month, and I really recommend the package if you’re interested in photography or graphic design or both!

Over this year, I think I’ve improved a lot with creating graphics, as well as photography work. I try to incorporate as much design work into my blog as possible – pretty much every graphic I’ve made has been created in Photoshop. In the screenshot above, you can see that it’s how I created my current logo, too 🙂

And finally, the obvious one – WordPress!

If you’re reading this post and are yet to start a blog, I highly recommend WordPress as a platform. Although I’ve been blogging for a long time, I actually have very little knowledge of website building and coding. WordPress is a beautiful thing, because it’s fantastic for people who do have that knowledge, and yet it’s also beautifully simple for people like me. I love how easy it is to connect my blog to social media, and all of the brilliantly laid out functions from my sidebar to the post editing panel you can see above. It’s amazing, and I’m so glad I’ve been with it for five years!

Phew, that’s the end of this post… it was a long one!

If you’re a blogger, what tools and tips do you have? And if you’re looking to start a blog and have any questions, do leave a comment or tweet me! 🙂

Chasing Danger Blog Tour: Sara Grant on her Writing Process

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About the book: After surviving a pirate attack in the tropics, teens Chase and Mackenzie escape to an exclusive resort in the Arctic Circle. But just after they arrive, suspicious accidents begin to occur. It seems like someone’s trying to scare away the guests. When the accidents turn deadly, it’s up to the girls to figure out whodunit … before they become the next victims. This holiday’s going to be killer!

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SARA GRANT ON CHASING DANGER

The idea

The idea for this Chasing Danger mystery was inspired by my trip to a real ice hotel in 2009. From the moment I arrived, I knew that this would be a great location for murder and mayhem. (Yeah, that is what I think about when on holiday, but only the fictional kind.) When I started planning the book, I simply grabbed a big pad of Post-it notes and started writing all the amazing things I experienced and imagined could happen at this snowy, secluded spot in the Arctic Circle: runaway dog sleds, dead bodies in blocks of ice, getting lost in a blizzard, an amazing Northern Lights show, falling through the ice of a not-so-frozen lake, snowmobile chases, etc…The book really wrote itself.

My process

Because this is a second book in a series, I already know my main characters – Chase, Mackenzie and Ariadne – inside and out. I know how they will react and also how I want to develop the mega-story that bridges the first four books I’ve outlined for Chasing Danger. I’m a planner. I want my mysteries to have lots of twists, turns and surprises, and to do that, I need to plan out everything in advance. I plot all the Post-it notes from my brainstorming on a

timeline. Then I fill in any gaps and connect all the dots. This is usually a page or two of bullet points. Next I break the action down chapter-by-chapter. I carefully chart the rollercoaster of action and surprises. I wrote a 9,000 word storyline for Mystery at the Ice Hotel. At this stage I look for how I’ve scattered my clues and hints. I double-check my pace and make sure I’ve tied up all my plots and subplots. When I’m satisfied with the storyline, I send it to my editor. She will give me feedback on the big picture at this point. Once we are both happy, I’ll start writing the book.

The story isn’t set in stone. As I write, it evolves and changes from the original storyline. I always write several drafts before I send it to my editor again. The great thing about a series is that by the end of writing one book I already have loads of ideas for the next. And one of the fun things about Chasing Danger is that I reveal the location for the next adventure at the end of the current book. And luckily for me, there are endless exotic locations for Chase, Mackenzie and me to explore.

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About the author: Sara writes and edits fiction for children and teens. Her new series Chasi

ng Danger is an action-adventure series for tweens. Dark Parties, her first young adult novel, won the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Crystal Kite Award for Europe. As a freelance editor of series fiction, she has worked on twelve different series and edited nearly 100 books. Sara was born and raised in Washington, Indiana. She graduated from Indiana University with degrees in journalism and psychology, and later she earned a master’s degree in creative and life writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London. She lives in London. http://www.sara-grant.com

Shadow Magic Blog Tour: A Day in the Life of the Author

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I’m welcoming author Joshua Khan, author of SHADOW MAGIC, onto the blog today! Read on to hear about his new book and his daily process:

About the book: Thorn, an outlaw’s son, wasn’t supposed to be a slave. He’s been sold to Tyburn, an executioner, and they’re headed to Castle Gloom in Gehenna, the land of undead, where Thorn will probably be fed to a vampire. Lilith Shadow wasn’t supposed to be ruler of Gehenna. But following the murder of her family, young Lily became the last surviving member of House Shadow, a long line of dark sorcerers. Her country is surrounded by enemies and the only way she can save it is by embracing her heritage and practicing the magic of the undead. But how can she when, as a girl, magic is forbidden to her?

Just when it looks like Lily will have to leave her home forever, Thorn arrives at Castle Gloom. A sudden death brings them together, inspires them to break the rules, and leads them to soar to new heights in this fantasy with all the sparkle and luster of a starry night sky.

JOSHUA KHAN: A DAY IN THE LIFE

I am woken as 7am by the soft harmonies of the choir, and the gentle breeze peacock fans. Somewhere, far from the kitchens in the east wing, drift the spicy scent of cinnamon. There is the buzz of the helicopter landing on the lawn with figs, fresh from the slopes of St. Enta in Sicily.
My butler arranges my wardrobe for today and I rise, carried aloft on the shoulders of the players of the Swedish volleyball team to the bath.
Ah, such is the life of an author…

Actually, no aspect of that is remotely true. So, reality check. Up at 7am. Tell the kids to get up. Down to sort out their breakfast. Make sure the hamster cage is well sealed, let the cat in. Cat tries to hug the hamster for a minute, then gives up. Tell the kids to hurry up, breakfast is ready. Start making their sandwiches. Get my wife’s bike out as she cycles off to work. I tell the kids to get a move on.
Tidy up breakfast. Get the kids’ bikes out. Tell them it’s 8am. Check on the hamster. Check on the cat.
Wave bye to the kids, telling them to put on their helmets. Look at the mess in their rooms and sigh deeply. Vaguely tidy up. Find the iPod the youngest thought she lost.
Shower and whip on my clothes. Add shaving if its Tuesday or Friday.
Okay, we’re not quite at 9am. Start working.
I plan the week on Sunday, writing goals, paperwork, and domestic chores. I try and keep the mornings to writing and nothing else. My aim is 2,000 words a day if I’m at the first draft stage. I don’t work weekends as that’s madness. I’ll get the first 1,000 done by lunchtime. I either eat or do some chores (there are always chores. People who work in offices don’t really understand the concept of working from home. But there are only so many hours in the day.). If I can get the chore done within the hour, I do it. If not, I don’t. Otherwise you’re losing writing time. I then hit the keyboards until about 3.30pm, then start sorting out supper.
Emails and random correspondence is done over the day. Now we have a tablet I do some of that correspondence work in the evening. I do not do any writing after 3.30pm, I shouldn’t need to if I’ve hit my 2,000 words. If I haven’t I will do another hour around 9pm to get it done.
So, supper for the kids and wife. Help with homework where I can, and where it’s needed. Evening activities, depending on the evening. Up till midnight browsing the social media, FB and Twitter. It’s not my fave past-time, but a lot of my readers are US-based, so there is the time-zone thing.
Discipline’s the thing for me. Right now I’ve two novels to finish, one to write from scratch, a proposal for a new book to create, two comic series to work on. I can’t dilly-dally. Why should I? The stories are so much fun! I’ve grand quests across the deserts filled with monsters and nomads and ancient cities, then sci-fi cricket adventures, retelling of epic myths and belly-dancing cyborgs. And I get paid for all this. I spent twenty years doing a job I loathed, so feel I’m owed this. I never answer the phone during the day and never, ever put the TV on. I remember losing a whole summer watching Breaking Bad. If there’s tv to be watched, books to be read, that’s at night, quiet time away from the keyboard.
Time off is critical. Weekends, except in emergencies or other constraints. I’ve a trip to Italy and a fortnight around the US in November, so that’ll be events and airports. The evenings tend to be dinners with people so there’ll be no writing done. Thus I’ve decided to put in a few hours every Sunday to cover. Pen goes down for Xmas and the summer hols. You need to recharge.
That’s it!

About the author:

Joshua Khan was born in Britain. From very early on he filled himself with the stories of heroes, kings and queens until there was hardly any room for anything else. He can tell you where King Arthur was born* but not what he himself had for breakfast. So, with a head stuffed with tales of legendary knights, wizards and great and terrible monsters it was inevitable Joshua would want to create some of his own. Hence SHADOW MAGIC. Josh lives in London with his family, but he’d rather live in a castle. It wouldn’t have to be very big, just as long as it had battlements.

*Tintagel, in case you were wondering.

Book Review: Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige

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Published September 2016 by Bloomsbury.

30367320 Goodreads Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Snow lives within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she doesn’t belong there, but she has no memory of life outside, except for the strangest dreams. And then a mysterious, handsome man, an orderly in the hospital, opens a door – and Snow knows that she has to leave …
She finds herself in icy Algid, her true home, with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she’s destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change everything. Heroine or villain, queen or broken girl, frozen heart or true love, Snow must choose her fate.

My Review: This book arrived unexpectedly, and I was really excited based on what the synopsis had to say! I knew of Danielle Paige’s work as Dorothy Must Die looks like a fantastic read, and has been on my radar for a while. So I started this not hugely knowing what to expect, not having read anything by this author before, but excited to see what it was like.

For the first 75 pages or so, I was hooked – I adore the set up for the story, from the slightly eerie institution Snow is locked away in, to the really well developed characters in the wards with her. I really loved exploring that world- the characters were all so interesting to me.

Unfortunately, a little way into the fantasy world of the story, I suddenly stopped getting as into the plot as I was at the beginning. I was incredibly absorbed at the beginning, but for some reason I’m just not sure of, I couldn’t enjoy the rest of the sort in the way I thought I would. The world of Algid and the magic and characters within was really intricate and detailed, but for some reason I couldn’t engage with it.

Snow was a really interesting character, because like with the whole story itself, I felt really involved with her in the beginning, but less so for the rest of the book. I think the story swept the detail away a little, and all I could really be told about her throughout most of the story was her newest insta-love feels. I feel like a lot of people will really love Snow, as she’s got many likeable aspects and I think that she’ll become an awesome heroine later in this series, given this book’s set up.

Overall, I would recommend Stealing Snow to high fantasy fans, like fans of the A Court of Thorns and Roses series by S.J. Mass. Sadly, this book just didn’t click with me. It may partially be because I’ve been getting into contemporary fiction more and more lately, but I just couldn’t find myself engaging with or being excited about this book as much as I’d hoped. However, I’m sure I’m probably in the minority of people who disliked it, and that many fantasy fans will adore it 🙂

My Rating:

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