shannon_bone season“Welcome to Scion. No Safer Place.”

Ahhhh, sure! A completely believable slogan by a completely trustworthy governing body. Just as long as you fit into their nice neat little boxes and obey, obey, obey.

 As you would expect, we follow the young woman who commits treason by simply breathing. In 2059 London it is illegal to have any sort of supernatural ability, so for nineteen year old Paige Mahoney, being able to dreamwalk (her spirit can possess other people’s bodies) and walking the line between legality and the seedy underbelly of the organised criminal element, is ‘normal’.

It’s not until she is captured and shipped off to Oxford, a long forgotten and practically mythical place, that she finds herself under the tutelage of a race of otherworldly creatures. Will she open herself up to learning to hone her skills for the sake of this alien race? Or will she make a break for it and head back to London?

This book doesn’t really have a specifically defined genre, but it is most definitely speculative fiction. There is a little dystopia, a little Victorian fashion, a smidge of romance and a hell of a lot of paranormal butt-kicking, not to mention science fiction.

The pacing is varied enough that you would have to be extremely focussed to finish in a single sitting. That being said, I did find my mind wandering back to the storyline when I was at work, so there is certainly enough hook to bring you back after being forced to put the book down.

Paige is a dedicated and loyal character, and watching her struggle with her conscience was heart wrenching. I’m wondering how she will evolve over the seven-part series.

Though there are still questions to be answered, you are left feeling satisfied and hopeful for the next instalment.

 There are movie rights for The Bone Season being optioned and I think this dark, futuristic, struggle for survival would lend itself wonderfully to the big screen. Here’s hoping we’ll see Paige on the silver screen sooner rather than later.

http://samantha-shannon.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.boneseasonbooks.com/

Paperback, 466 pages

Expected Publication: August 20th 2013 by Bloomsbury

ISBN13 9781408836439



StepsToSuccess-thumbI don’t quite know how to start this review without getting sidetracked into stories from my childhood. Guess since I’ve just read this book I’ll go with my gut and be authentically, unapologetically myself.

During my first 3 years of high school, I hung out with the friends I’d had from primary school. It was the road of least resistance, however it wasn’t a chapter of my life that makes me proud.

I have vivid memories of the hurt looks in the eyes of my family as I spoke obnoxiously to them, of the loneliness I felt when Mum had had enough of my attitude, and would pull away. The time I was really rude to my LOTE (languages other than English) teacher and failing miserably because I couldn’t be bothered to study. Then there was the constant seeking of approval from my paternal side of the family, when really I needn’t have bothered. Some people can simply never be pleased.

Luckily, I had a little wake up call at the end of tenth grade and decided I needed a drastic change of scene. So I changed schools, found more genuine and loving friends and tried to pull together what little self respect I had left. I joined a cover band (was fired from the cover band) and eventually realised Home Economics is NOT my thing. *still isn’t*

It is now *cough* years later and I am seriously only just feeling like I am becoming the true me. I turn 31 this year… and let me tell you I could have really used a book like Lauren’s when I was dealing with all of the above… even if it was just so I didn’t spend so many years faffing around and making excuses.

Lauren GalleySteps to Success is designed to be a quick read, though I suggest you use it as a workbook of sorts. You’ll find sensible, achievable step by step ways to becoming a better you.

Which, since the only person who gets to decide how you’re going to think and behave is you, you may as well learn how to do effectively from the inside out.

I’ve let my daughter (almost 12) have a quick glance at it, but she feels it isn’t relevant to her yet… I honestly think there are chapters in there that are completely relevant, but I’ll leave her be. She’ll know when she’s ready.

The target audience is from 11-19 however I think it will be useful for anyone, male or female, of almost any age.

If you take the journey through Lauren’s Steps to Success now, then at your 20 year high school reunion when people are saying that you haven’t changed a bit, you’ll be able to be extremely proud to hear it.

Go ahead and get a head start on becoming a Girl Above Society.

Read our interview with Lauren Galley.

Paperback, 54 Pages

Published August 2nd 2013 by Lauren Galley

ISBN 0615834884 (ISBN13:9780615834887)



Heiresses CVR SI.inddIn the mood for a period book with the pomp and ceremony of Pride and Prejudice, twists and turns of Sherlock Holmes, and the teen drama of Anne of Green Gables?

Imagine being summoned to London when you’ve always believed yourself to be adopted child, only to discover you have sisters and an aunt. And not only are they your sisters but 2 thirds of a set of triplets… yeah. Consider that your mind would be pretty much blown.

Now think that your adopted families are finding it difficult to get by in the 1920’s, and the reason you and your sisters have been called to London is to fight a half brother for the fortune that is rightfully, collectively, yours.

How amazing would that scenario be?

This is pretty much the wrap on The Heiresses. Cool, huh?

It is the full package.

I adore the vivid way Allison describes 1920’s London. She sets it up so well, I want take a Tardis and travel back in time. Fashions, lifestyle, and the way women are starting to fight for their rights.

Her characters are vastly different from one another. Their voices are strong and even though there is that sister I want to slap, she is still lovable in her fractured way.

Allison has nailed 1920’s Girl Power.

If you enjoyed the Montmaray Journals by Michelle Cooper, you’ll be swept up in the delight that is The Heiresses.  

Paperback, 352 pages
 
Published May 7th 2013 by St. Martin’s Griffin
 


cassidy_killing_rachelRose’s mother and Joshua’s father have disappeared. Police inquiries have gone nowhere and the case, it seems, is closed: Rose and Joshua have been told that the police believe their parents are dead. But Rose and Joshua still hold out hope that they are alive. Joshua is determined to follow up his own inquiries, which includes working out the meaning of the cryptic notebooks – the murder notebooks – they have discovered. Then Rose is distracted by odd, desperate messages she receives from Rachel, a former best friend from her school, followed by the terrible news that Rachel is dead. But perhaps Rachel’s death will provide one more piece of the puzzle about what has happened to Rose and Joshua’s parents . . .” Blurb thanks to goodreds.com

The writing style changed a fair bit between Book 1, Dead Time, and Killing Rachel, book 2, in the Murder Notebooks series. To be perfectly blunt, I preferred Dead Time, but I think that had to do with spending so much time in memory sequences in book 2.

By the time Rose and Joshua began looking into what really happened to Rachel, I was starting to wonder why anyone would bother. Rachel was such an awful character, I just didn’t understand Rose’s loyalty to such a bunch of horrid memories of an even worse person.

I DID like the progress in their search for their parents. This storyline is all that matters in my mind and it is the lifeblood that kept me reading. What the heck went on to make their parents leave the kids unprovided for? Why didn’t they take their kids with them, and who’s after them?

The big unanswered question is what will happen when Rose and Joshua find their respective parental units?

Anne has created a world that both teens and adults can enjoy equally from different points of view.

A great winter read over a nice warm cup of tea.

 

http://www.annecassidy.com/

Paperback, 336 pages

Published March 14th 2013 by Bloomsbury Childrens

ISBN 1408815516 (ISBN13: 9781408815519)



If you’ve not read Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I urge you strongly not to read on until you’ve done so. Spoilers do make a difference to how you may perceive a book.

Book 1 spent so much time on the romance and the world building that book 2, Days of Blood and Starlight, feels like it went off on whole other tangent. It’s still the same gloriously rich world and intelligent character arcs as last time, but the focus falls more on the thought-provoking battle between good and evil. Not to mention the suspense.

Karou survives the dramatics at the end of book 1, and is taken in by Thiago, ‘The Wolf’. And as was hinted at in book 1, the slimy fink is still chasing tail. It is up to her to take over from her predecessor, Brimstone, to build the bodies, to house the souls, of the army who will save the future generations from the wrath of the Angels. However the true measure of an action is its intent. Just what is it that the Wolf intends to do?

I found pacing myself to savour the bitter tang of this instalment suited me better than flying through it. It took a fair bit of will power though, because the plot is certainly meant to be ready quickly. I rarely had to read back over pages and the dialogue is charmingly fresh. Especially when Karou finds her best friend and her boyfriend almost dead on the outskirts of the compound.

Laini almost had me in tears with the threads the next book will tie into. I hold much respect for her skill with twisting the knife on an already heartbreaking situation. How the events at the end of Days of Blood and Starlight will effect Karou will remain to be seen. If she can find it in her heart to allow Akiva back into her life, how will her allies react?

We’ve go plenty of time to stew over the details and reread the tortuously tangled tomes as the third instalment isn’t due out until April 2014. Considering how well the first two books are written I’d rather wait a while and get the best book Laini can write, than get it quickly and be left wanting.

You’ll kick yourself if you get on board with these books too late. Also it looks like a film adaption is in development for Daughter of Smoke and Bone, so be one of the people who read the book first. Methinks perhaps the premier should be in Prague. How about you?

http://www.lainitaylor.com/

http://www.daughterofsmokeandbone.co.uk/

Paperback, UK, 528 pages

Published November 8th 2012 by Hodder & Stoughton (first published November 6th 2012)

ISBN: 1444722689 (ISBN13:9781444722680)



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