The Secret Fire by CJ Daugherty & Carina Rozenfeld

"Jump!'
The voice was as cools the night. Each turned around - he looked more amused than afraid.
'You really want to do it?' Clutching his chest, he pretended to quiver. 'But... but... I might get hurt.'

Published by Atom Books in September 2015

Pages - 424

Summary

French teen Sacha Winters can't die. He can throw himself off a roof, be stabbed, even shot, and he will always survive. Until the day when history and ancient enmities dictate that he must die. Worse still, his death will trigger something awful. Something deadly. And that day is closing in.

Taylor Montclair is a normal English girl, hanging out with her friends and studying for exams, until she starts shorting out the lights with her brain. She’s also the only person on earth who can save Sacha.

There’s only one problem: the two of them have never met. They live hundreds of miles apart and powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.

They have eight weeks to find each other.

Will they survive long enough to save the world?

*****

Reviewed by Vivienne Dacosta

Ever since  I heard CJ Daugherty talking about The Secret Fire at YALC, I've wanted to read it. I really enjoyed reading her Night School series, even though I'm still a bit behind in it. So I knew this would be as dynamic and fast paced as Night School is. I was intrigued by the prospect of reading a book written by a duo as it isn't something I read that often, but does appear to be becoming more popular in YA and MG fiction.
 I love that we are thrown into the action from the first scene where we find Sacha being told to jump off something that sounds extremely high. All I could think of was that the main character was about to peg it in the first paragraph! But no, the authors are playing with us and we are swept up into a dramatic chase that keeps us running all the way through the book as we jump effortlessly from France to England and back again.  I'm guessing that Carina wrote Sacha's POV and CJ wrote Taylor's, but I could be horribly wrong. As a writing team, they have created an action packed book, where their voices blend seemlessly and beautifully together.
I really think this series will appeal to readers who have grown up loving Harry Potter. It has that dark magical feel to it, only more contemporary and more dangerous. The book ends on a pause in the drama, where we know the characters will soon be back to deal with the disasters that are in their not too distant future.
I loved the relationship between Sacha and Taylor. By rights, they should hate each other, but their attraction to each other sets the pages alight. 
I honestly can't wait for Book 2!!! I need to know what happens next. An excellent writing team, creating a screen worthy series. 

The Book Cycle with Lucy Coats

Today I am pleased to welcome Lucy Coats onto the blog, to tell us how Cleo went from being an idea to a finished novel. Cleo is published today with Orchard  Books. This is Lucy's first YA novel. 

Cleopatra is somewhere in all our consciousnesses. She's probably the most fascinatingly famous woman in history, barring Helen of Troy - and there are no actual historical facts about Helen. 

My journey towards writing about Cleopatra started one April afternoon, about three years ago. I was chatting to my agent at London Book Fair, and she mentioned briefly that an American publisher had told her that Angelina Jolie was making a film about the last female pharaoh (a project sadly now shelved indefinitely after the WikiLeaks furore over Sony emails). Might Cleopatra be someone I'd be interested in writing about for teenagers? As it so happened, I'd recently been reading the Stacy Schiff book the film was going to be based on, so the answer was yes (or at least, yes, I'd have a go). However, I knew that if I was going to write a successful book for YA readers, I couldn't write about the woman we all think we know. I needed to find another angle. 

The lightbulb moment was when I read that Cleopatra had seen herself as a living incarnation of the goddess Isis. Immediately my brain began to tick very fast, and ideas came tumbling out almost faster than I could think them. Because my great love is mythology, I started to wonder if I could write a story on the border where real historical met fantasy paranormal, if perhaps my version of Cleopatra had been helped towards the pharaoh's throne by a goddess of the Egyptian pantheon. What I discovered after a little research and digging was that there is almost no credible information about Cleopatra before she came to the throne. A hole in history is the best of all territories to work in, so I decided that her Isis-aided teenage path to the throne was the story I should write. 

Several discarded synopses later, I had a rough plan, and I dived into writing. That's how I always work. But there was a problem. I'd started writing in third person, and at just under 20,000 words in I realised it wasn't gelling for me. Writing was becoming a struggle, and I just wasn't connecting. Usually I can hear a clear voice in my head, but me being the omniscient narrator meant that Cleopatra was getting lost in everything that was going on around her, and I felt very distanced from her. At that point I nearly gave up. I tried to unpick what I'd written and rework it, but it was no good. It was pretty terrifying to have done all that work for nothing and it gave my writing confidence a knock. Could I even do this? Did I even want to (since I was writing the novel 'on spec')? But I gave myself a kick, took a deep breath, and binned the lot, planning to begin again when I had time. 

There was then a gap of several months while I wrote four books for my already-contracted (and therefore paid for) middle-grade BEASTS OF OLYMPUS series, but the Cleopatra book was always fermenting and bubbling at the back of my mind. By about April 2013 I had this teenager in my brain shouting at me to hurry up and write down her story. That was the moment Cleopatra became Cleo. As soon as I started to write that second time, I knew it was right, even though what was coming out scared me silly. My Cleo's voice is not historical-courtly-old-fashioned. It's incredibly modern (though I hope not anachronistic - no LOL or ICYMI!). It was a big risk to write her that way, but I wanted the teenagers of 2015 to be able to connect with her on the level of a girl their age. There are so many layers of legend laid over Cleopatra (mostly emanating from the Romans, who didn't believe any woman could possibly have done what she did without the aid of sorcery or witchcraft).  I decided to strip all that away. At the beginning of the story - the first two chapters are a sort of prologue - she is ten, later on, she's fourteen. She's just lost her mother. Her sisters want to kill her (history tells us that the Ptolemy family were a murderous lot). Her father has (as she sees it) run away to Rome. All that was fertile territory for showing her emotions, and for teasing out what she might have been like as a person - insecure, scared, wondering what Isis has in store for her (and occasionally complaining about it), friendless apart from her bodyservant, Charm - and much too intelligent for her own good. That bookish (scrollish?) intelligence also gave me the chance to write about the long-lost Great Library of Alexandria, and to make Cleo's first-love interest a hot librarian-scribe spy boy called Khai. (At first he was called Ash, but I soon realised that there are FAR too many Ash boys and girls in YA lit already!) I have to confess that I did start off making Cleo a bit older, because of the convention that the character must always be older than the intended reading target audience (a loose 13+). However, it niggled at me. It was historically inaccurate. She was eighteen when her father died and she took the throne with her younger brother. Her father came back from Rome three to four years before that... So fourteen it was, and damn convention.

I had just started the second bout of writing (now using the amazing Scrivener app, which has literally revolutionised my writing life), when I went to the SCBWI retreat. Into every writer's life a little serendipity must fall. During that retreat I went to a talk given by the amazing Lucy Christopher, which spurred me on to rework a passage I'd been having trouble with. That night I read it out to the assembled group. In the group was an editor from Orchard Books. She took me aside and said she'd like to see more. I only had about 13,000 words at that point, but after discussion with my agent, we sent it off, together with a synopsis for not one but two books. I kept on writing over the summer, slowly piecing things together, and in August I got the wonderful news that I had a two-book deal. Delivery was set in March 2014 for the first book, which went through several title changes before it became, quite simply, CLEO, because that was what we'll all been referring to it as from the beginning. Sometimes the most obvious solution is the one which works. 

A good chunk of the book was written in a friend's beautiful palazzo in Venice, and I was getting on really well, when writing disaster struck. About three-quarters of the way through, in January 2014, I got stuck. I knew where I was going, but suddenly I couldn't work out how to get there. I had a total panicky crisis of confidence meltdown and a bout of black depression. Depression is something many writers struggle with - and I believe in being up front about mine, which is longterm. It's part of who I am, an illness I have to manage, even though it isn't as visible as a broken leg or an appendix scar. When it strikes, I know to get help fast, so that's what I did. Up to that point, I'd aways been the 'pantser' kind of writer, having a rough plan, but not much more than that. I'd used mind maps for small scenes before, but not on a large scale. I'd also used a technique called 'creative napping' for years to solve writing problems. Once the depression was manageable and under control again, I took a long creative nap, and then constructed a mind map for the remainder of the book while my brain was still in that fuzzy creative space. After that, I did what I'd never done before. I immediately sat down at the computer and teased out the small plot clues in the mind map. It was a startling revelation - like unfolding of one of those tiny cubes that turn into a huge flannel and finding unexpected gold. Nine pages later, I had a really detailed plan, and I was able to write the end of Cleo's story in a way that worked. The fact that it ends on a massive cliffhanger is not going to please everyone - but at going on 85,000 words, it was the right place to stop for both me and the story, and I don't regret torturing my readers one little bit!

The publication process is, of course, very slow. So over the next year I worked with my editor, danced with joy when I saw the beautiful cover art, planned publicity, talked about the book to a lot of people - and most importantly, got on with researching and writing the sequel, which is called CHOSEN, and will come out in March 2016. How I finally wrapped up Cleo's journey to pharaoh is, of course, another book story entirely.... Expect more hot-Khai scenes, a good dose of gods and murderous sisters, some jars of ripped out hearts, a near-fatal trip to Rome - and a sprinkling of lecherous but fascinating Mark Anthony!

Cleo is published by Orchard and available to buy today.

Summary 

Her precious mother is dead - and it isn't an accident! The young Cleopatra - Pharaoh's illegitimate daughter - must flee the royal palace at Alexandria or die too. As her evil half-sisters usurp the throne, Cleo finds sanctuary at the sacred temple of Isis, where years later she becomes initiated into the secret Sisters of the Living Knot. But now Isis's power is failing, Egypt is in danger, and Cleo must prove her loyalty to her goddess by returning to the Alexandria she hates. She must seek out the hidden map which is the key to returning Isis's power - on pain of death. But will she be able to evade her horrible sisters? And will she find dreamy Khai, the über-hot Librarian boy she met as she fled Alexandria years before? Cleo's powerful destiny is about to unfold...

To find out more about Lucy:

Website / Twitter

The Zone by Morag Macrae

Published by Completely Novel, February 2015

100 pages in proof copy

Cover art by Karen Ronan

Teenage Drama, Teenage Lives

Zac runs away from home to his escape his mother’s abusive partner, Lucas is challenged to jump off a cliff, and Josh learns his girlfriend is seriously ill.

Reviewed by K. M .Lockwood

This collection of nine short stories is linked by characters who each belong to The Zone, a youth drama group. The author’s experience in similar settings comes through: these stories are full of the reality of many teenagers’ lives. That doesn’t mean they are either preachy or unremittingly bleak - there is warmth, humour and enough deliberate ambiguity to let readers make their own minds up.

The cover refers to the first story - and leaves it to the viewer to decide who is in the picture. This makes it plain that the stories invite a range of readers - not just the Hollywood-perfect.

Although difficult issues with complex choices are at the core of the stories, the writing style is simple and easy-to-read. The drama is often driven by dialogue and would make ideal source material for creating play-scripts or improvisation. 

I would recommend this collection for groups working with young people, including as a classroom resource. It would also suit those wanting a quick read with plenty of naturalistic drama and topics well worth discussing.

11 Days To Go - The Maze Runner by James Dashner

There are only 11 days to go now until the release of the The Maze Runner movie. As part of the blog tour to celebrate this, I have written my review of the book below. The book has been republished with a new cover to tie in with the movie and is out now in paperback (£7.99, Chicken House)

 

He began his new life standing up, surrounded by cold darkness and stale, dusty air.

Republished by Chicken House Books in 2014

Pages - 371

If you ain’t scared, you ain’t human.
When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his name. He’s surrounded by strangers—boys whose memories are also gone.
Nice to meet ya, shank. Welcome to the Glade.
Outside the towering stone walls that surround the Glade is a limitless, ever-changing maze. It’s the only way out—and no one’s ever made it through alive.
Everything is going to change.
Then a girl arrives. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying.
Remember. Survive. Run

******

If I’m honest, I really struggled to get into this book. I found it really difficult to connect to a character who didn’t have a clue who he was or where he was from, finding himself in an unnatural environment.

However, due to the high amount of praise this story had already received, I persevered and  I am grateful that I did. Once you find your bearings in this book, you are caught up in a sinister, gripping and fast paced escape which sends your blood pressure through the roof. 

Thomas is a strong, independent character and right from the start, you get the feeling there is more to him than being just another newbie to the Glade. He has that Neo from The Matrix vibe running through him. He is special, but we only realise just how important he is on the arrival of Teresa, the only girl to ever enter the Maze.

Once this story really gets going, it sets off at a frightening pace. The Glader’s lives are under threat; everything they have ever known is about to disappear. There are extremely frightening encounters with Grievers, where I found myself holding my breath.

The book ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger, which leaves the story open to the sequels which have been written.

I think the best way I could describe this book is perhaps as a futuristic version of The Lord of the Flies. If you are looking for a new dystopian world to enter, then this book is definitely for you. Though you need to be prepared to cope with the uncertainty at the beginning of the book.

After reading it, I definitely want to see the movie and I will be queuing up like everyone else when it opens to see this fast paced thriller in real life action.

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

The rusted Chevy pickup truck clanked to a stop, and when Lauren Huntsman’s head thumped the passenger window, it jolted her awake.

Published by Simon and Schuster in October 2014

Pages - 392

Summary

Britt Pfeiffer has never been that adventurous, but that's about to change. Wanting to impress her ex-boyfriend, Britt convinces best friend, Korbie, to take a trekking trip with her. But when a freak storm leaves the girls stranded they seek shelter in a cabin, where they find two knights in shining armour. Or so they think.
Britt quickly realises that the girls need to get off the mountain, fast. In exchange for her life, she is forced to guide the boys down, and as they set out on a harrowing journey through the cold and snow, Britt realises the only way to escape with her life is to pretend she is on their side. But is gorgeous, sexy Mason an enemy or an ally? Tension mounts, and it's only a matter of time before things turn deadly . . .

*****

I honestly feel like I have to defend this book, as after reading it and rating it a five, I realised there wasn’t a lot of love for the story. I was surprised by the amount of people who really disliked it and how many couldn’t finish it.

I have read the other reviews and I could see why people didn’t necessarily gel with the main character, Britt. They believed she was a spoilt brat, but I didn’t see this. Yes, her friend, Korbie, had the spoilt brat image down to a fine art, but Britt, didn’t come across like that. If anything, she was rolling along on Korbie’s money rollercoaster. She was also struggling with her emotional attachment to Calvin and her feelings were continually swaying in different directions.

When considering the theme of the book, I kept thinking it was about being self reliant. Britt starts off by relying on everyone around her to help her. She acts the innocent, highly dependent character perfectly, but as the book progresses you witness the real Britt shining through. No one is about to hold her back, least of all Calvin, Korbie or Jude.

I also felt the book explored friendship quite deeply. This book shows that if you are in competition with the people closest to you, then you are cohabiting in a fake friendship. Friends don’t keep scores on everything you do.

I can’t tell you anything about the plot without giving the story away. All I can say is watch out for Jude, because he is one hell of a character.

This is completely different from Becca Fitzpatrick’s best selling paranormal series, Hush, Hush. It must be difficult for an author to embrace something new, but I think she has done exceptionally well in writing such an intense, romantic thriller.

If I had to have any quibbles about it, I would only have one. It might’ve been nice to have a dual perspective within the story, as sometimes it was difficult being just in Britt’s head when so much was going on around her.

However, I can put my hand on my heart and say I really loved this book. I was glued to the pages from the very beginning. If I had to sum it up in one sentence it would be - Expect the Unexpected!

Sense of Place By Janet Quin-Harkin/ Rhys Bowen

On the blog today, I am pleased to welcome author Janet Quin-Harkin, who you may also know as mystery writer, Rhys Bowen. Janet’s YA book series, Heartbreak Cafe, which was really popular in the 80’s, is being republished, with the first book No Experience Required coming out today!

I’m the sort of person with a keen sense of place. I was born with a wanderlust. I’m told that when I was two I was taken to the seaside for the first time. I started to walk toward the waves. My mother watched to see what I would do. I kept on walking. When I was up to my neck she rescued me. Who knows where I was heading?

When I was twelve my parents put me on a train in London to travel to friends in Vienna. A train, a boat, and an overnight train by myself. And nobody worried. Since then I’ve travelled the world, relishing in each new place that I visit.

So it’s little wonder that sense of place is an important element of all my books.  And in the case of both my current mystery series I am dealing with not just a place but a time in history.  I want my readers not to be told about early Twentieth Century New York. I want them to be there, to know what the sights, smells, sounds feel like. I go to New York frequently and walk the streets that my heroine, Molly Murphy, walked.  I soak in the atmosphere of the city. I make use of the five senses to recreate my own experiences.

I do the same with my Royal Spyness books, gathering new experiences every time I return home to England. It’s the little things that create a place, not grand descriptions but the sound of a ball on a cricket bat on a summer afternoon, the hum of bees on roses, the smell of newly mown grass . Any of those things and I’m back in the English countryside.

The same was definitely true when I wrote my teenage series called Heartbreak Café. It was the setting that drew me to the story. I remember standing on that beach in California, looking at a couple of surfers walking toward a beachfront café and thinking “wouldn’t it be fun to set a book here? It’s a place outside of society’s rules, its own world, a place one can escape to.”  I’d drive down the California coast

to it, time and time again, feeling the salty breeze in my face and hearing the gulls crying overhead.  I still get chills when I think about it now.  Special places do that to me.

Check out the fantastic website for the book, which goes live today.

Here is the blog tour for the rest of week. So you won’t miss a stop!

Witch Finder by Ruth Warburton

Luke lifted his head and sniffed the dusk. The rich smell of roast chestnuts pierced the cold foggy air, above the more familiar Spitalfields stink: horse manure, coal smoke, rubbish. 

Another day he might have searched his pockets for a farthing, bought a paper cone of hot, burst chestnuts and burnt his fingers as he ate. Not today. Not with his stomach churning like a wash tub and a fluttering sickness in his gut.

Published by Hodder Children’s Books in 2014

Pages - 366

Summary

London. 1880. In the slums of Spitalfields apprentice blacksmith Luke is facing initiation into the Malleus Maleficorum, the fearsome brotherhood dedicated to hunting and killing witches.

Luke’s final test is to pick a name at random from the Book of Witches, a name he must track down and kill within a month, or face death himself. Luke knows that tonight will change his life forever. But when he picks out sixteen-year-old Rosa Greenwood, Luke has no idea that his task will be harder than he could ever imagine.

*****

Reviewed by Jill Atkins

With its sights and smells of London, the opening of this book evokes the atmosphere of late Victorian times. I learned all too soon why Luke has the ‘sickness in his gut’. His initiation is a terrifying experience, but he is compelled to go through with it to avenge the death of both of his parents at the hands of a witch.

Luke has a special power. He can identify witches by the aura that surrounds them. But his mission seems impossible as he learns that Rosa’s family is one of influence, closely linked to the Knyvet family, the most powerful family of witches in the land. 

The odds against Luke succeeding in his mission mount in a thrilling, tense drama which kept me hooked from start to finish.

Ruth Warburton has succeeded in creating some very strong, credible characters: from the naïve yet determined Luke and the beautiful Rosa to Alexis, Rosa’s drunkard yet ruthlessly ambitious brother, and Sebastian Knyvet, whose brutality is enough to make the most hardened reader cringe.

Told in the third person, alternating between Luke’s and Rosa’s viewpoints, I found I could get inside both their heads as they struggle with problems and decisions, both individually and, as the story progresses, together. The story ends in such a way that leaves it open for a sequel. 

A great read that I thoroughly recommend!

All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill

I stare at the drain in the center of the concrete floor. It was the first thing I saw when they locked me in this cell, and I’ve barely looked away since.

Pages - 362

Published by Bloomsbury in August 2013

Em is locked in a bare, cold cell with no comforts. Finn is in the cell next door. The Doctor is keeping them there until they tell him what he wants to know. Trouble is, what he wants to know hasn't happened yet.
Em and Finn have a shared past, but no future unless they can find a way out. The present is torture - being kept apart, overhearing each other's anguish as the Doctor relentlessly seeks answers. There's no way back from here, to what they used to be, the world they used to know. Then Em finds a note in her cell which changes everything. It's from her future self and contains some simple but very clear instructions. Em must travel back in time to avert a tragedy that's about to unfold. Worse, she has to pursue and kill the boy she loves to change the future.

*******

If you are planning to read this book, may I suggest buying some fuses first. Don’t raise your eyebrows at me like that! I can promise you if you read this book, your brain will blow a fuse. Seriously it has the most mind blowing plot I have ever read and so intricate; you wonder how the author managed to keep hold of all the threads.  It was ingenious with a cleverly written plot.

The book has been described as The Hunger Games meets The Time Traveller's Wife, but I don’t think that’s accurate at all. It just doesn’t describe the epicness of this book.  So in order to describe it you need  to think films - great big mega busters. This book is Back To The Future meets The Terminator! There is humour and terror interwoven with fast paced action and tornado sized time loops that will leave you brain fried.

The story is told from multiple viewpoints but with a twist as you jump backwards and forwards in time. I honestly can’t tell you any more than that without giving secrets away. The plot is exceptional, one of the best time travel books I’ve read in ages.

The characters were awesome. Em and Finn are the Katniss and Peeta of time travel. As their past and futures entangle before exploding apart, you desperately want a happy ending for them. They are running out of options on how to deal with the past; their final choice will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Em is emotionally pulled towards Marina and will go to great depths to  protect her. She is so mature for her age, treating Marina like a younger sibling. The changes between the characters of the past and future are intriguing and you find yourself desperate to discover what actually happened to make them so tough in the future.  I'm amazed by the author's talent to create such intriguing and unusual conflict between characters

I’m stunned that this was written by a debut author as it is so well written. I can’t help but wonder what other books they have hidden up their sleeves. I only hope they have something amazing to follow this book as it really is outstanding for a debut. I was  completely blown away by this book and can’t wait to read more from this author.  An epic time travelling adventure that needs to be made into a film- a cinematic gem just waiting to be picked up.

Inspire Me with Jane Casey

To celebrate the forthcoming publication of How To Fall, the new crime novel for young adults, I am pleased to welcome Jane Casey onto the blog to tell us what inspired her to write this novel.

 

I usually write crime novels for adults - I’m just finishing my fifth - but I have an enduring love for YA fiction. I started out as a children’s books editor (not a bad Plan B for a writer, it has to be said) and I was lucky enough to work with great authors such as Meg Cabot and Alyson Noel on some amazing books. The idea to write a YA novel came around the time I should have been writing my second crime novel. I’ve never been able to resist a good story, either as a reader or a writer, and I got hopelessly sidetracked. That book didn’t quite make it to being finished - maybe I’ll get around to it one day. It led, however, to a very lovely editor at Random House Children’s Books suggesting I might write a crime novel for teens, which in turn became How To Fall.

How To Fall is mainly a mystery but also a love story. My heroine, Jess Tennant, is a new arrival in the sunny seaside town of Port Sentinel - but the town has a dark heart and many secrets to uncover. I wrote Jess as an alternative to the fainting heroines that were Bella Swan’s legacy in YA fiction and she’s pretty feisty. She has a lot in common with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, being blonde, opinionated and easily underestimated. Like Buffy, she’s addicted to wisecracks even when she should keep her mouth shut. Like Buffy, she has a strong moral sense. Like Buffy, she can’t help falling for what might be the worst possible guy for her. If you’ve never watched Buffy, seasons 1, 2 and 3 are pretty much essential viewing, despite the rubbish CGI when they were making each episode for about $12.50. There has never been a better TV show. About vampires and teenagers, anyway.

A few years ago I got completely addicted to One Tree Hill, despite the fact that it was preposterous. I don’t even like basketball. I do like evil fathers who pull strings to get their own way, and One Tree Hill had a great one of those. Also, cute boys. 

And speaking of which, Grant Gustin. I’ve often been asked who would play a particular character if they made films of my books. If How to Fall was ever filmed, I wouldn’t get a say in who played Jess or any of the other characters, and it takes approximately one million years to get a film made so he would be too old (and American), but when I imagine Will, he’s built along the lines of Grant Gustin. To find this image I had to look at literally hundreds of pictures of him. Had to. For ages. I won’t judge you if you find you have to do the same.

Don’t ask me why, but I am currently obsessed with owls. They, and their reproductive habits, play a major part* in How to Fall. This one was an eBay purchase and sits on my desk. The picture does not feature my desk, which was too untidy to be a backdrop but has altogether fewer fruit bowls on it.

*all right, a minor part

In many ways I haven’t grown out of my teenage taste in music. Give me an angsty pop song about heartbreak and I am happy. It’s not cool and I don’t care. I edge towards credibility with my love for Feist, Gemma Hayes and Martha Wainwright, but to be honest it’s Taylor Swift, One Direction and Take That all the way when I’m writing. I highly recommend the overwrought yodelling of Avril Lavigne, especially ‘Keep Holding On’. It’s a karaoke classic. 

Art is a big element in How to Fall and I couldn’t resist including a particularly lovely painting that hangs in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. It was voted Ireland’s most popular painting recently, and you can see why. Called ‘The Meeting on the Turret Stairs’, painted by Frederick William Burton in 1864, it shows the final parting of Hellelil from her bodyguard, Hildebrand, and it’s a beauty. Hellelil, as a name, has been slow to catch on. I may try to revive it by giving it to a character. Then again, I may not.

Finally, Dirty Dancing, a film that really deserved a better title. I remember when it came out first (though I was FAR too young to go and see it in the cinema) and being fascinated by the poster - Jennifer Grey being lifted out of the water by Patrick Swayze. Like How to Fall it tells the story of a girl who learns to love and take risks and believes in doing the right thing, no matter what it costs her. I’ve seen the film so many times I think it’s woven into my DNA and every love story I write probably owes something to it. Sometimes falling in love is just the start of your problems, not the happy-ever-after ending you might expect - and that’s the kind of story I like to tell.

 Thanks for a fabulous post Jane!

How To Fall by Jane Casey will be published on the January 31st by Corgi.

To find out more about Jane:

 Author Place: http://authorsplace.co.uk/jane-casey/

Twitter: @janecaseyauthor

 

Cover Reveal: Acid by Emma Pass

I am so happy to be part of a group of UK book bloggers who are all revealing this AMAZING book cover today. This is the final version of ACID by the wonderful Emma Pass. ACID will be published by Corgi/Random House Children's Books in April 2013. Isn't it stunning. 

Here is the blurb from Amazon, to get you drooling.

A fast and furious thriller featuring the coolest, toughest bad girl since Lisbeth Salander. Meet Jenna Strong.

In Jenna’s world, ACID - the most brutal, controlling police force in history - rule with an iron fist. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember.

But Jenna’s violent prison has taught her a thing or two about survival. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead.

A gripping futuristic debut that will hook you from the very first page.

To celebrate the final cover reveal, Emma is giving away an ARC copy of the book, so head over to Emma's blog to enter now. 

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans

Pages - 317

Published by Usborne Books in January 2013

I'll sleep when I'm dead. I used to say it a lot. When my dad suggested I turn off the torch I thought I so expertly hid under my covers. That time youth pastor Joe told us to pipe down at the church lock-in. The balmy summer night I convinced Autumn to sneak out after midnight so we could dance in Nidda Park., arms outstretched to the stars. But then I died.

Goodreads Summary

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow drones, Felicia passes the endless hours reliving memories of her time on Earth and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and Neil, the boy she loved.

Then a girl in a neighbouring chamber is found dead, and nobody but Felicia recalls that she existed in the first place. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, Felicia learns the truth: If she joins the rebellion to overthrow the Morati, the angel guardians of Level 2, she can be with Neil again.

Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself at the centre of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

*******

I have been waiting to read this book for ages. Lenore is a well known book blogger  from Presenting Lenore who has managed to cross the divide and become a published author and I am very much in awe of her ability. When I read the blurb, I had a feeling this book would be good and it most definitely was. It can only be described as a heavenly version of The Matrix, only better. 

I loved the memory chambers, the idea of being able to relive whichever memories you want really appealed to me. As well as being able to relive other people's memories. Ingenious and unique - you will all be wishing that heaven was really like this. 

I love the detail and description used to portray such a clear picture of how heaven might operate. Or should I say the in between place where you evaluate you life by experiencing again everything you went through  on Earth. I felt the author presented an excellent visual of something no one has ever seen, only guessed at. This has to be the first after life book that has really captured my attention.

I loved Julian, even though on looking back over the book, I felt I really shouldn't. He was trouble and brought about the downfall of Felicia. His arrival on Level 2 changed everything again. Every little detail she had grown to believe about her very existence was instantly shattered by Julian. As the book progresses, his words and actions make her question her own sanity as well as her past memories. He had a manipulative way about him, yet you instantly understand that his actions were purely led by his love for Felicia. As a lead character Felicia kicked butt. She was very quick to come to terms with the changes occurring around her and she really shone bravely by the end. 

As the story progresses, you are shocked and surprised by the information revealed, leaving you to believe that everything is questionable. Even from the first chapter, I was shocked by the ending, because I had already been led to believe rather quickly that events like that were impossible. The ending was definitely a surprise for me, yet again I was stunned by what was revealed. 

On the whole this book was an excellent, fast moving thriller through the heavenly plains. I thought the plot was ingenious and well paced, with lots of surprises to keep me reading more. An excellent debut. 

Keep an eye out for the blog tour for Level 2 in January because there just might be an international giveaway of a copy of this book! *taps nose*

Breathe by Sarah Crossan

Review by Caroline Hodges

Pages - 373

Published by Bloomsbury in October 2012

I squeeze Abel’s hand and he looks at me. ‘Now?’ he asks. He puts his other hand into his pocket.

‘No, no. Not yet,’ I whisper. Several cameras are trained right at us and there’s a steward only metres away. I pull Abel close and nuzzle his neck. We aren’t a couple but posing as one makes us less conspicuous.

When oxygen levels plunge in a treeless world, a state lottery decides which lucky few will live inside the Pod. Everyone else will slowly suffocate. Years after the Switch, life inside the Pod has moved on. A poor Auxiliary class cannot afford the oxygen tax which supplies extra air for running, dancing and sports. The rich Premiums, by contrast, are healthy and strong. Anyone who opposes the regime is labelled a terrorist and ejected from the Pod to die. Sixteen-year-old Alina is part of the secret resistance, but when a mission goes wrong she is forced to escape from the Pod. With only two days of oxygen in her tank, she too faces the terrifying prospect of death by suffocation. Her only hope is to find the mythical Grove, a small enclave of trees protected by a hardcore band of rebels. Does it even exist, and if so, what or who are they protecting the trees from? 

*******

A few weeks before reading Breathe, someone on Twitter tweeted a joke image of ‘iOxygen,’ a joke that one day Apple would own oxygen as well as most of the gadget market. I had a giggle then didn’t think anything more of it.

But then I started reading Breathe and suddenly the idea became all too real. This dystopian novel takes place in the not too distant future, where climate change mixed with human attempts to defeat it has actually resulted in the death of all trees and plants. The bottom line? No air to breathe at all in the natural atmosphere.

Some of the descriptions of what happened in the initial aftermath of the air running out are chilling - a lottery was run and a select few chosen to live in the Pod, a city within a giant glass bubble run by Breathe, the company that has managed to manufacture oxygen. But for the unlucky majority, they were left to die, slowly suffocating.

The book is set many years after this and revolves around the teenage descendants of those living under Breathe. Yet life is not easy. Divisions in social class have only gotten worse, with those able to afford ample oxygen able to run and breathe as deeply as they like. Whilst those that can’t afford it are subject to restrictions on walking speed let alone running. Heck even having sex is considered an activity too oxygen intensive for most!

But as there always is in these novels, a resistance is rising. Out in the wasteland of the old world people are learning to survive on the low oxygen levels, and they are sharing the skill with others.

There were parts that impressed me about Breathe but then there were some really odd things that just ruined the believability of the whole situation.

The idea of oxygen as a commodity rather than what we know as perhaps the only truly free resource available to us is an excellent concept and the link to climate change as a way in which this resource was lost and monopolised is ingenious and compelling. But then there is the resistance, lead by basically a tree-hugging hippy who not only takes advice from a nine year old but suddenly just lets everything she has built up crumble to pieces, leaving the responsibility to the teenage main characters. Crossan starts out portraying her as a strong, no-nonsense woman, but ultimately she becomes distinctly unlikeable and pathetic. It just doesn’t make sense. I also felt that whilst the first two thirds of the novel had a nice pace to them and I was really very much enjoying the novel, the end was too rushed and chaotic.

The main characters are however engaging although perhaps slightly clichéd. There’s Bea, the quiet, clever one, struggling in a poor, oxygen-starved family, Quinn the womanising cocky one from the rich family and Alina who slams into their world and turns their lives onto the path of the resistance.

There is also a host of supporting characters with some very nice moments; I would particularly like to see more from Alina’s cousin Silas.

All in all a great twist on a dystopian novel with a worryingly plausible context.

Dreams by Daniela Sacerdoti

Pages - 397
Published by Black and White Publishing in May 2012

You'd never think it could happen to you.
You'd never think that one day you'd stand in a graveyard, rain tapping on a sea of black umbrellas, watching your parents being lowered into the earth, never to come back.
It's happening to me.
They said it was an accident. Only I know the truth.


Goodreads Summary
Ever since her thirteenth birthday, seventeen-year-old Sarah Midnight’s dreams have been plagued by demons—but unlike most people’s nightmares, Sarah’s come true. Her dreams guide her parents’ hunt as Sarah remains in bed, terrified but safe, sheltered from the true horrors of the Midnight legacy. But all this is about to change. After the murder of her parents, she is cruelly thrust into a secret world of unimaginable danger as she is forced to take up their mission. Alone and unprepared for the fight that lies before her, Sarah must learn how to use the powers she’s inherited and decide whom to trust before it’s too late...

*********

I have to be honest and say I was just a tiny bit worried about reading this book. I loved Daniela's first book 'Watch Over Me'; it is one of my favourite reads from this year. However Watch Over Me was an adult book with a paranormal strain to it. I knew Dreams was going to be completely different. So I panicked a little and dare I say it,  put off reading it until I began to see the excellent reviews appearing all over the blogosphere. Now I just want to slap myself for my stupidity, because as far as I'm now concerned, after reading this author's second book, I am convinced Daniela can write ANYTHING!
I really loved it. I found the writing to be  beautiful, flowing gently off the page. The imagery made the story jump out  like a child's 3D pop up book.  The story has multiple layers to it, which you find yourself weaving through the story to find the links. I loved how it was fantasy in the American YA book sense, yet had a strong UK vibe to it. I hope that makes sense, because I really can't think of another way to describe it. It  had the American wow factor, in British packaging, showing that we can do excellent YA fantasy in the UK too. 

The characters instantly came alive in the story, similar to Watch Over Me, I actually felt like I knew them. They all had their own quirks and secrets, desperate to keep them hidden from the outside world. Sean was my favourite out of them all. He really stood out for me. I loved the way he was so possessive over Sarah; how all he wanted to do was protect her from anything bad. She just consumed his every waking thought. Poor, poor Sarah; this girl really needs to be able to trust at least one person, who won't jump in and ruin her life. No wonder she suffers with OCD; I think that she has come out with a mild reaction to the life she has led. 

The only thing that stopped me giving this book a five star instead of a four and half rating I gave it, was the multiple first and third viewpoints.  It took me a while to realise who every one was. It doesn't take much to distract me, so I did get slightly lost to begin with . Once I got  the hang of it, I honestly couldn't put it down. On reflection, I did think that some of the first person passages were so exquisitely written and almost poetic in nature. 

The story had excellent pacing and finished with a dramatic ending, leaving questions unanswered, ready for the next book.  

I really am in awe of Daniela's talent as a writer. I can confidently say that I know I am going to get a good story when I read one of her books. I always feel comfortable with the way she writes. She is definitely a rising star I intend to follow. 

Dreams Blog Tour - Ten Things You Didn't Know About Sarah

I am excited about Daniela Sacerdoti's first YA book which is published next week. If you may remember, Dani wrote Watch Over Me which was one the book I loved the most in January.  Here is my review for you to see. 

As part of the blog tour for Dreams, Dani was happy to reveal a few secrets about the main character Sarah. 

So, here’s some help to unravel Sarah’s secrets. Some of them will be revealed in the course of the three books, some will be just for you to know.

1) Sarah’s birthday is the 22nd of October. She’s on the cusp between a Libra and a Scorpio (Scorpio starts the 23rd of October). Her rising sign is Sagittarius.
2) She has Chinese ancestors - her great-great grandfather, Dembric Midnight, from Islay in the Hebrides, married a girl from Jilin province, called Lei Gua.
3) Her biggest passion is playing the cello. She’s an accomplished musician and she hopes to gain a place in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
4) Sarah’s favourite book is Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte, and her favourite poetry is by the Latin poet Catullus.
5) She has a tiny birth mark on her collarbone, just below her right shoulder, shaped like a little swallow.
6) Sarah’s favourite drink is Hazelnut Hot Chocolate from Starbucks.
7) Sarah is obsessed with her waist-long hair, which she keeps shiny with almond oil masks. Her fragrance of choice is Pivoine Flora, by l’Occitane.
8) She loves fairy-tales, especially dark, gory ones, and Scandinavian thrillers.
9) Her first kiss was a very chaste peek on the cheek, in Primary 3. Culprit: Jake Mallach, who, to this day, fancies her desperately.
10) …and something else. Actually, no. This one I really can’t tell. So if you want to know more, ask her: @SarahMMidnight

For your chance to win one of two copies of Dreams by Daniela Sacerdoti, please enter your details in the Rafflecopter below. This is a UK competition only. The closing date is Monday 14th May.

An Interview with Antonia Michaelis

Today as part of the blog tour for The Storyteller, I have an interview with Antonia Michaelis, the author of the book. 

What inspired you to write The Storyteller?
Some people also ask me how long it took me. The answer to that one is: 32 years, for that is how old I am ... the Storyteller contains everything I ever learnt about how cold this world is and how unjust, how much social differences account for and what a lie it is when we say in India they have a caste system and we haven´t.
Where I live the problem of unemployment and poverty is a big one, after Germany reunited in 1990 a lot of people lost their jobs (before that everybody had work even though what they did might not have made much sense) and the region has never been one with much industry to begin with.
I was born in the rich West and grew up in a house that wasn´t exactly full of blue air as Anna´s is in the Storyteller but nice and full of light. When I came to Greifswald to study I lived in the picturesque fisherman´s village of Wieck and cycled to university and to town everyday pass those big ugly concrete tower blocks, left over DDR-architecture-miracles, in which Abel lives. And in which a lot, a lot, a lot of other poor, unemployed people live in tiny flats, a bit like you might keep chicken. You may think just because everybody can study in this country and if you are poor you don’t have to pay for your education that everyone has the same chances in life = they don’t. Humans are cruel and so are the systems. My novel of the Storyteller ends with Anna shouting, on top of her lungs, the core sentence of the book: ‘All humans are equal!’ and Abel asking, much quieter: ‘Do you actually listen to yourself when you talk such nonsense?’

Is the fantasy story that Abel tells alongside the reality narrative based on anything specific?
Well, it´s a mirror of the reality in the story and it actually NOT a fantasy story (I´m not into fantasy, I´m not up to saving the world and writing about battling dwarfs or elves), but a fairy tale.
And, as a fairy tale, it´s based on St Exupery´s Little Prince. Both Abel and Anna refer to that in the beginning. Exupery´s Little Prince visits different planets on his journey, inhabited by different characters. My Little Queen visits different islands instead, and on every island she meets a symbolic character as well, sometimes a group of people. The whole fairy tale is consisting of metaphors.
The German title of the book is not the Storyteller, but, literally translated, the FAIRY TALE TELLER.

How do you think readers will react to sinister side of the novel?
I´m very curious.
But that is a question to the readers, not to me.
In Germany we have 95 percent loving the book and 5 per cent hating it so much they´d like to see it forbidden. Not because of the murders, no one has a problem with murders these days. The keyword is "boathouse" ... that’s all I’m saying.

You have written about various places in your previous novels from India to Nepal - how do you decide where to set your novels? Is there a lot of research involved?
I am one of laziest authors in the world. I hardly ever do research. I wrote about India because I had been living there. I wrote about Nepal because I had been working there. I wrote about Greifswald because I studied there ... so I actually just take places I have been and I know.

Do you have any writing rituals?
Everything on my right side has to vanish from the table, because I seem to tend to make strange movements with my right arm from time to time - talking to myself or someone else on the phone. So a cup of coffee on the right side is too dangerous. Actually I guess I don´t move my arm at all, it´s more that I fear I could move it because I knocked over cups once or twice. So when I am on a "reading-journey", giving readings to kids at schools, I spend my afternoons working in little coffee shops as hotels make me depressed. So you can see me sit down at the tiniest tables and move all the decoration to the left of the table ... that must look real funny.
Apart from that, the ritual is: sit down, forget you surroundings and write. I have two small kids and I spend every free minute writing. Unfortunately there aren´t that many free minutes.

What advice would you give aspiring writers?
None. Advice is something no one wants, especially not writers.

If you could have written any book in the world which one would it be?
Well, sales-numbers-wise ... the bible, that´s a real hit, even though we´re all still waiting for the third part of the successful trilogy ... or, coming to think about it, the phone book is also a major achievement in literature. Everybody uses it ...
Thing is, a writer cannot "have written" a book, they simply write it. The book takes place while you write it, not afterwards. A written book is finished, dead, gone, not interesting anymore, it can live on in the reader´s heads but I have had my adventure with it and move on. So "having written a book" is nothing I wish for, and I cannot imagine "having written" a book that I didn´t write. The question is like "whose child would you rather have had than your own"? Brrrrr.

Who were you favourite writers growing up?
I don´t know any growing-up-writers ... seriously, well, all Germany my age have read a lot of Astrid Lingren and Michael Ende in their time, and Tove Janson of course: the Moomins ... later in school. I never read what I should have I just looked things up in my parent´s literature dictionary and wrote my essays about what I read there. Instead I read about everything of Arno Schmidt, which is a bit like the German James Joyce ... harsh and very enjoyable, too.

What was your best read of the last year?
The word "dog" spelled very wrong but written all by herself by one of the kids with difficult social background I give lessons to. She´s eleven.

What are you planning to write next?
The answer to the next question.
Oh! There isn´t one!
I´ll have to be honest ... I am writing, of course, but at the moment for adults. The next YA novel to be out this August, the German title is As long as the Nightingale Sings and it´s set in a very deep forest in the mountains between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic where there´s still wolves. It´s a little (no. very) creepy, but not fantasy. I’m still not sure if it will ever be out in the UK or US. I think literature-wise it´s better than the Storyteller though.

Thank you very much for asking the questions - I had fun and I hope you have fun reading my novel. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks for such fascinating answers. 

Lottie Biggs Is Not Tragic by Hayley Long

Pages - 265
Published by Pan Macmillan ( August 5th)

Opening lines.
Just when I thought I knew everything about me that there is to know, I have gone and shocked myself. I am potentially the next Lady Gaga. I've written my very own chart-topping smash hit pop classic, which succeeds in being both poppy and light and deep and meaningful all at the same time. When you consider that I gave up music at the end of Year 9, this is actually quite  incredible. 


Goodreads Summary
Just when things were starting to look up for Lottie her life's gone a bit pear-shaped, wonk-ways and downside up again. Her mum's all soppy over a bloke with a horrible shemo daughter, her best pal Goose has disappeared in a cloud of nerd-gas and Lottie's in the midst of an existential crisis. There's only one thing to do - get the hell out of Cardiff and go on the road with the gorgeous Gareth Stingecombe (and his manly thighs). But things don't go to plan, and Lottie starts to realise she might have been a bit me me me lately...a female emo, obviously The wit of Louise Rennison meets the depth of Jacqueline Wilson.

**********

This is the final book in a trilogy all about Lottie Biggs. I haven't read the first two books, so I was dubious to read this one as a standalone, but I was assured it would stand extremely well on its own and it most definitely did.

This book is hilarious to begin with. The first couple of pages had me stitches , but also made me cringe as I can remember doing exactly the same things at Lottie's age. I went through that stage of writing songs and believe me they were cringe worthy! It really was an entertaining read. Some of the thoughts that went through Lottie's head were surreal at times but very entertaining.  Once I realised the book was set in Wales, I couldn't help reading the story in the voice of Stacey from  the hit UK comedy Gavin and Stacey. I found it just flowed so easily with a Welsh accent!

This book is full of really cool illustrations which still appeal to me as an adult. I honestly felt like I had stepped into a time machine and been transported back to my teenage years. I just thought Lottie and her friends were fabulous. Poor Gareth, his pitiful attempts to admit his love for Lottie were sweet as well as embarrassing. 

I think this book is really in disguise. I am convinced it is a step by step guide for teenagers to help them deal with relationships.  I say this because there was lots of hidden information which teenagers would absorb without realising. These are the things that I learnt from the book (even though I am old, you can teach an old dog new tricks!)

1) Never judge someone by other people's standards.

2) Just because someone isn't deemed popular as others, it doesn't mean they are not cool to know.

3) Try and think of other people's feeling first.

4) Treat others as you would expect to be treated yourself.

5) Always value the people closest to you. 

6) Learn to love yourself. 

See!  Hayley Long secretly wrote a YA self help book!  

A really entertaining read that will secretly change your teenager from a stropster to a heavenly angel. ( I can dream can't I?)

Montacute House by Lucy Jago

Pages - 278
Published by Bloomsbury Publishing in May 2011
Book kindly sent by publisher for an honest review.

News of the dead boy spread through the church as fast as a pig runs from the butcher's sack. His body was black and blistered, they whispered, like the Devil himself and danced upon it. His tongue stuck from his mouth as if someone had tried to pull it. 


Historical fiction is rather  a new genre to me, but give me a witch and her coven and I am more than happy to delve into the past. This book is set in 1596 and begins on May Day where the celebrations are underway in conjunction with the grand opening of Montacute House in Somerset which had recently been built. Cess, the poultry girl at Montacute House, who is repeatedly sneered at and shunned by the villagers for being an illegitimate child,  finds herself in trouble when she defies Viscount Drax Morton,the Earl of Montacute's only surviving son, after he mocks her best friend William. The village are shocked by her actions.

On the same day, the body of a young boy is found and within hours William has disappeared. Cess is accused of being involved in his disappearance. She is determined to find out what actually happened to him. On her journey to determine the truth about William's disappearance, she becomes embroiled in a plot that threatens the live of the Queen. Can Cess stop the plot before everyone suffers. With the help of a local coven she will do what she can to help.

I found this book to be a fascinating read. Not only was the plot intriguing and exciting, but the book was rich with details and descriptions, allowing you to experience a sensory journey into the past. I am aware that the author carried out part of her research at the Weald and Downland Museum in West Sussex, which is a place I often love to visit. From past experiences, I know that you get to immerse yourself in the past, by actually taking part in recreated activities. Within the author's writing you can tell that she used all her senses and her extensive research to create this thrilling story.

I am aware that some may have found this too rich with detail, yet knowing how this book could be used as part of the School Curriculum as it covers elements studied in Key Stage Three History, leads me to believe that the author was right in her judgement.

Cess comes across as a strong, female character, who will defy others to reach her goal. She is loyal to the people she loves, even though her connection to them often puts her in danger. She is the only person in the village to still keep in contact with Edith, who is believed to be a witch, and acts as the go between person between the village and Edith when they are in need of her remedies.

The story builds quite dramatically at the end, as they try to stop the murderous plot. The ending turned out completely differently to how I had expected it too and the  book ends with a little twist which left me wondering if a sequel may occur.

I am thrilled to see such a beautiful National Trust property used as a setting for a plot. After reading the book, I found myself searching for more information about Montacute House and desperate to arrange a visit. The author revitalizes this property and shows it within its glorious hey day.

If you love historical fiction, then I think you will enjoy this book too.

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Pages - 250

Published by HarperCollins - New York.

Kindly sent to me via NetGalley to review.


Opening paragraph
It was the same as always, but different from the first time.
It felt as if my sternum was a door into which someone had roughly shoved a key and twisted. The door - my lungs - wanted to open, wanted to stop fighting against the twist of the key. That primitive part of my brain, the one designed for survival, wanted me to breathe. But a louder part of my brain was also fighting an urge that might let the water rush in.

Goodreads Summary
Can there truly be love after death?


Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is everything in his power to destroy their new found For and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

For the first time, in forever, I am struggling to review a book. This book has me sitting on a fence where I am struggling to decide which way to fall. There were certain aspects I loved and then others that I found difficult to believe.

The storyline itself was original. I have yet to come across a ghost/human love story with that Romeo and Juliet situation hovering in the background. The relationship develops a little too quickly for me and their love is doomed from the beginning. I think that is where my problem with the book lies. I cannot suspend my disbelief that this relationship can ever have a happy outcome. She is DEAD. She cannot come back to life, because that would be too much like Bobby reappearing in the shower in the retro show 'Dallas'. So the only way they can be together is if he dies and that is just not an option. I almost wanted to sit them down with a relationship counsellor and ask them 'So where do you see this relationship heading?'. I can imagine that the author has a few tricks up her sleeve,which she will conjure up in the following books, but the impatient old crone in me was desperate for answers.

The three main characters were interesting. I felt sorry for Amelia  from our first contact with her. The continual burden of her death made me feel melancholic. Joshua deals with his new found abilities as a Seer really well considering. I would have liked to see him a little freaked out by Amelia's secret, but that wasn't to be. Eli is a rather Machiavellian character who disturbed me quite a bit. You could understand the reasons for his actions, he was basically saving his own butt.

Death and the hereafter don't come across as an ideal holiday vacation; if there is a Heaven, we never get invited on the tour within this book. We just get to see the darker side of the hereafter, which is very bleak and possibly a little scary.

The book took me quite a while to get into and perhaps that was due to my frame of mind rather than the book. It needed my full attention and I was unable to give it to it. Once I got into the book, I enjoyed the storyline and the pace picked up as the story progressed. Their were a few surprises along the way which I had not expected.

The book ended with quite a few loose ends, which allows me to believe a sequel is on the way. I am hoping  the sequel will expand on Josh's family a little, allowing us to learn more about the hereditary vocation as a Seer.

I think that maybe ghost romances might just not be for me, they will sit alongside the zombie novels I just can't get into either.

If you loved A Certain Slant of Light, then you will really enjoy this one too.

Here are some more positive reviews to help you make up your mind about this book.

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