Dark Blue Rising by Teri Terry

Tabby lives a transient life with her mum Cate, never sticking in one place long enough to make friends.

Until one day, an accident changes everything. Cate is arrested and Tabby realises her life has been a lie: Cate is not her mother.

As she adjusts to her new life, Tabby finds herself drawn to the ocean - the only place she feels happy - and enrolls at a swimming summer school to help her heal.

But all is not as it seems. She and her new friends are cut off from the outside world and she's plagued by a repeating symbol of interlocking circles that follows her everywhere.

As Tabby begins to learn the truth about what the circles mean, and uncovers the terrible lies she's been told about her past, a final twist awaits her - a secret hidden in her DNA...

Book post, week ending 30 June 2020

Good morning, all! Welcome to another wonderful week of #bookpost. Let's dive right in and see what we received this week; still mostly ebooks, but physical books are starting to creep back in too.

As always, click on the covers to be taken to Goodreads. Like last week, there's a bit of a theme coming through on these titles. Not Zombies, though!

This week we've added notes under a couple of the books, but we're looking forward to all of these!

Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone

Molly Frost is FED UP...

Because Olivia was yelled at for wearing a tank top when she had to keep her sweatshirt wrapped around her waist.

Because Liza got dress coded and Molly didn't, even though they were wearing the exact same outfit.

Because when Jessica was pulled over by the principal and missed a math quiz, her teacher gave her an F.

Because it's impossible to find shorts that are longer than her fingertips.

Because girls' bodies are not a distraction.

Because middle school is hard enough.

And so Molly starts a podcast where girls can tell their stories, and soon her small rebellion swells into a revolution. Because now the girls are standing up for what's right, and they're not backing down.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, guys! Hope you had a good week.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

Wanted:
One (fake) boyfriend
Practically perfect in every way

Luc O'Donnell is tangentially--and reluctantly--famous. His rock star parents split when he was young, and the father he's never met spent the next twenty years cruising in and out of rehab. Now that his dad's making a comeback, Luc's back in the public eye, and one compromising photo is enough to ruin everything.

To clean up his image, Luc has to find a nice, normal relationship...and Oliver Blackwood is as nice and normal as they come. He's a barrister, an ethical vegetarian, and he's never inspired a moment of scandal in his life. In other words: perfect boyfriend material. Unfortunately apart from being gay, single, and really, really in need of a date for a big event, Luc and Oliver have nothing in common. So they strike a deal to be publicity-friendly (fake) boyfriends until the dust has settled. Then they can go their separate ways and pretend it never happened.

But the thing about fake-dating is that it can feel a lot like real-dating. And that's when you get used to someone. Start falling for them. Don't ever want to let them go.

The Princess will Save You by Sarah Henning

A PRINCESS
A STABLE BOY
A QUEST

When her father dies, Princess Amarande is given an ultimatum: Marry the leader of one of the four neighboring kingdoms, or lose her crown—and possibly her life. And to force her hand, her beloved, the stable boy Luca, is kidnapped.

But Amarande was raised to be a warrior, not a sacrifice.

And nothing will stop her from saving her true love and rescuing her kingdom.

The acclaimed author of Sea Witch turns the classic damsel-in-distress tale on its head with this story of adventure, identity, and love.

Happy Book Birthday!

Happy Book Birthday day, guys! We had several books on our list publish this week with a mix of ratings.

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

US Cover                                        UK Cover

It's 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over.

Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she's tiny until the night she's sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball . are forfeit.

But Sophia doesn't want to be chosen - she's in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia's night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella's tomb. And there she meets someone who will show her that she has the power to remake her world.

The Voting Booth by Brandy Colbert

Marva Sheridan was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election?
Duke Crenshaw is do done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight.
Only problem? Duke can't vote.
When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. She hasn't spent months doorbelling and registering voters just to see someone denied their right. And that's how their whirlwind day begins, rushing from precinct to precinct, cutting school, waiting in endless lines, turned away time and again, trying to do one simple thing: vote. They may have started out as strangers, but as Duke and Marva team up to beat a rigged system (and find Marva's missing cat), it's clear that there's more to their connection than a shared mission for democracy.
Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can't sit around waiting for the world to change-but some things are just meant to be.

Book Post, week ending 23rd June 2020

Welcome to another fabulous #Bookpost, everyone! The book fairies were very kind to us this week, with TEN whole new ebooks for us to enjoy! Some of them release very soon, so look out for the reviews over the next couple of weeks. I've alos noticed a theme on a couple of our books this week...

(It's zombies. The theme is zombies and one of the covers is a little bit graphic. Be careful if that upsets you.)

As always, click on the cover to see the book's description!

Accidental by Alex Richards

This timely, emotionally-resonant story about a teen girl dealing with the aftermath of a tragic shooting is a must-read from an exciting new YA talent.

Johanna has had more than enough trauma in her life. She lost her mom in a car accident, and her father went AWOL when Johanna was just a baby. At sixteen, life is steady, boring . . . maybe even stifling, since she's being raised by her grandparents who never talk about their daughter, her mother Mandy.

Then he comes back: Robert Newsome, Johanna's father, bringing memories and pictures of Mandy. But that's not all he shares. A tragic car accident didn't kill Mandy--it was Johanna, who at two years old, accidentally shot her own mother with an unsecured gun.

Now Johanna has to sort through it all--the return of her absentee father, her grandparents' lies, her part in her mother's death. But no one, neither her loyal best friends nor her sweet new boyfriend, can help her forgive them. Most of all, can she ever find a way to forgive herself?

In a searing, ultimately uplifting story, debut author Alex Richards tackles a different side of the important issue that has galvanized teens across our country.

Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson

When Andra wakes up, she’s drowning.

Not only that, but she’s in a hot, dirty cave, it’s the year 3102, and everyone keeps calling her Goddess. When Andra went into a cryonic sleep for a trip across the galaxy, she expected to wake up in a hundred years, not a thousand. Worst of all, the rest of the colonists–including her family and friends–are dead. They died centuries ago, and for some reason, their descendants think Andra’s a deity. She knows she’s nothing special, but she’ll play along if it means she can figure out why she was left in stasis and how to get back to Earth.

Zhade, the exiled bastard prince of Eerensed, has other plans. Four years ago, the sleeping Goddess’s glass coffin disappeared from the palace, and Zhade devoted himself to finding it. Now he’s hoping the Goddess will be the key to taking his rightful place on the throne–if he can get her to play her part, that is. Because if his people realize she doesn’t actually have the power to save their dying planet, they’ll kill her.

With a vicious monarch on the throne and a city tearing apart at the seams, Zhade and Andra might never be able to unlock the mystery of her fate, let alone find a way to unseat the king, especially since Zhade hasn’t exactly been forthcoming with Andra. And a thousand years from home, is there any way of knowing that Earth is better than the planet she’s woken to?

Weekly roundup

Ack! I'm so late today! Sorry, guys. All my fault.

Welcome to the weekly round up! We had a pretty busy week here on the blog.

The Book of Snow and Silence by Zoe Marriott

Girls of Paper & Fire meets A Game of Thrones in THE BOOK OF SNOW & SILENCE, a darkly romantic queer fantasy inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

Fierce Princess Theoai is devastated when betrayal by her own sister destroys her chance to inherit their mother’s crown. Exiled across the sea to wed a prince she has never met, she soon finds that taking possession of her new crown will be more perilous than she could ever have imagined. The snowy realm of Silinga is rotten to the core, and Theoai’s handsome Prince is spoiled and reckless, with eyes only for the beautiful mute who washed up on the shore the day after Theoai’s arrival: Shell. But though she enchants the entire palace with her unearthly dancing, Shell is more than just a romantic rival, and against her will Theoai is drawn to her. As they both navigate the glittering, treacherous court, their relationship changes from hostility to friendship – and then to a love that will shake the very foundations of the cold kingdom that seeks to tear them apart.

THE BOOK OF SNOW & SILENCE is a sweeping, Feminist novel of enchantment, ambition and, above all, love.

Beauty and the Bin by Joanne O'Connell

Publication for this book has been pushed to early next year.

Parents are humiliating – especially when they're eco-warriors.

Laurie loves her family and she wants to join them in making the world a better place. But right now, she doesn't want to fish food out of bins, she wants to wear a pair of ordinary tights and have the money to order a hot chocolate at the café after school.

When a competition comes to Silverdale High looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs, Laurie finds herself unexpectedly in the spotlight. The homemade beauty remedies and potions that she has been posting online are stealing the show, and the most popular girl in the school wants to team up for the win. It seems like Laurie can achieve normality – and even popularity – at last. But will her eco-warrior family accept that she no longer wants to be part of their close-knit gang, and can she find success and glory without losing sight of her true self?

Joanne O'Connell's Beauty and the Bin is a fresh and funny debut about friends, family, school and being a young eco-warrior.

Such Big Teeth by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch

If you go down to the woods today, be sure of a big surprise.
The Battle of Nearby Village is over, and deep in the Darkwood, Gretel and her friends journey into the hostile mountains of the north, seeking new allies in their fight against the huntsmen. There they find Gilde the Bear Witch, along with a Werewolf named Scarlett and a winged man named Hex. Meanwhile, Hansel and Daisy set off on a dangerous trip of their own to the Citadel, where they end up in the middle of a political battle for the future of the whole country.

Can Gretel and her friends persuade Gilde to join forces, or at least stop fighting them at every step? Can Hansel find a way to heal the land's divisions and make the huntsmen change their ways before disaster strikes them all? And how did Trevor the spider get hold of a wig? Discover the answers to all these questions and more in Such Big Teeth. Venture into the Darkwood in this modern fairy tale that will bewitch adults and younger readers alike.

Happy Book Birthday!

Hi guys! Only one book from our review lists has published this week. Luckily it was a really good one!

Harrow Lake by Kate Ellis

Warning, this book contains some (relatively explicit) violence and references to child abuse.

US cover                                     UK cover

Welcome to Harrow Lake. Someone's expecting you . . .

Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker - she thinks nothing can scare her.

But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she's swiftly packed off to live with a grandmother she's never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father's most iconic horror movie was shot.

The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map - and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away.

And there's someone - or something - stalking her every move.

The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola's got secrets of her own. And if she can't find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her.

What Unbreakable Looks Like by Kate McLaughlin

Be aware, this book contains, at various levels of explicitness, child prostitution, murder and suicide, rape and drug abuse, and cursing.

Lex was taken – trafficked - and now she’s Poppy. Kept in a hotel with other girls, her old life is a distant memory. But when the girls are rescued, she doesn’t quite know how to be Lex again.

After she moves in with her aunt and uncle, for the first time in a long time, she knows what it is to feel truly safe. Except, she doesn’t trust it. Doesn't trust her new home. Doesn’t trust her new friend. Doesn’t trust her new life. Instead she trusts what she shouldn’t because that's what feels right. She doesn’t deserve good things.

But when she is sexually assaulted by her so-called boyfriend and his friends, Lex is forced to reckon with what happened to her and that just because she is used to it, doesn’t mean it is okay. She’s thrust into the limelight and realizes she has the power to help others. But first she’ll have to confront the monsters of her past with the help of her family, friends, and a new love.

Kate McLaughlin’s What Unbreakable Looks Like is a gritty, ultimately hopeful novel about human trafficking through the lens of a girl who has escaped the life and learned to trust, not only others, but in herself.

Book post, week ending 16 June 2020

Happy Tuesday, everyone! This week we received a few more ebooks to add to our list. We're more or less staying on track, though!

Click on any of these covers to be taken to the goodreads page for each book. See which one you're most excited by!

Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston

In the third book in Ashley Poston's Once Upon a Con series, Beauty and the Beast is retold in the beloved Starfield universe.

Rosie Thorne is feeling stuck—on her college application essays, in her small town, and on that mysterious General Sond cosplayer she met at ExcelsiCon. Most of all, she’s stuck in her grief over her mother’s death. Her only solace was her late mother’s library of rare Starfield novels, but even that disappeared when they sold it to pay off hospital bills.

On the other hand, Vance Reigns has been Hollywood royalty for as long as he can remember—with all the privilege and scrutiny that entails. When a tabloid scandal catches up to him, he's forced to hide out somewhere the paparazzi would never expect to find him: Small Town USA. At least there’s a library in the house. Too bad he doesn’t read.

When Rosie and Vance’s paths collide and a rare book is accidentally destroyed, Rosie finds herself working to repay the debt. And while most Starfield superfans would jump at the chance to work in close proximity to the Vance Reigns, Rosie has discovered something about Vance: he’s a jerk, and she can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual.

But as Vance and Rosie begrudgingly get to know each other, their careful masks come off—and they may just find that there’s more risk in shutting each other out than in opening their hearts.

Weekly roundup

Hi guy! Welcome to the weekly roundup. A quieter week as we headed back to work, but hopefully things will even out as we get used to it again. There's a busy period coming up with lots of new releases!

Desa Kincaid Bounty Hunter by RS Penney

Desa Kincaid has spent the last ten years in pursuit of a man whose experiments have killed over a dozen people.

Blessed with the power to transform ordinary objects into devastating weapons, she journeys through trading ports, backwater towns, forests, deserts and the haunted remains of a dead city.

But can she stop her enemy before he unleashes something terrible on the world?

Childhood Favourites: When the Luvenders Came to Merrick Town, by June Considine

First in a new, extremely irregular feature! Every so often we will reread books we loved as children and see how they hold up now that we're adults. For the first one, we have an Irish childhood classic.

The Luvenders are spirits in the service of Solquest, the evil Zentyre, who has lost the secret of eternal youth and can only regain it by capturing 100 children. His plan is to mount an exhibition of beautiful old dolls in the pre-Christmas rush in Merrick town, steal real children, turn them into dolls, and replace them in their homes with living dolls.

Anyone by Charles Soule

If you could be ANYONE, who would you be?

When a brilliant female scientist searching for an Alzheimer's cure throws a switch - and finds herself mysteriously transported into her husband's body, she will change her life - and the world - forever.

Two decades later, 'flash' technology allows individuals the ability to transfer their consciousness into other bodies for specified periods, paid, registered and legal. Society has been utterly transformed by the process, from travel to warfare to entertainment. But beyond the reach of the law is a sordid black market called the darkshare, where desperate vessels anonymously rent out their bodies, no questions asked . . . for any purpose.

Anami has her own reasons for using it, and they start with revenge.

Like BLADE RUNNER crossed with GET OUT, Charles Soule's thought-provoking work of speculative fiction takes us to a world where identity, morality, and technology collide.

Happy Book Birthday!

Good morning everyone! A busy week for us, with seven books on our review lists publishing. Unfortunately, although we enjoyed all of them a few of them were 'may not read again' - but several were 'will read again' and we're already working on next week's titles!

Midnight's Twins by Holly Race

Fifteen-year-old Londoner Fern is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world - as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be?

But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you. Annwn and its Dreamers are protected by an ancient order known as the Knights - and when Fern's hated twin Ollie is chosen to join their ranks, Fern will have to do whatever she can to prove she is one of them too.

But the world Fern discovers in Annwn, in this dream mirror of her London, is a fragile one, threatened by vicious nightmares. Nightmares that are harder and harder for the Knights to defeat. Something dark is jeopardising the peace and stability of Annwn, something that must be rooted out at all costs. And gradually, Fern realises that the danger lurking inside our sleep is more insidious and terrifying than any nightmare. Because if you can influence someone's dreams, you can control their thoughts ...

The Boundless by Anna Bright

When Selah found true love with Prince Torden of Norway, she never imagined she’d have to leave him behind. All because the Beholder’s true mission was a secret Selah’s crew didn’t trust her to keep: transporting weapons to the rebels fighting against the brutal tsarytsya, whose shadow looms over their next port of Shvartsval’d. A place Selah hoped she’d never go.

But gone is the girl who departed Potomac filled with fear. With a stockpile of weapons belowdecks and her heart hanging in the balance, Selah is determined to see the Beholder’s quest to its end.

Book Post, week ending 9 June 2020

Hi guys! Welcome to our first week back at work. It's been a slowish week, just four titles, but there are some more pending, so never say never!

Weekly roundup

Hi everyone,

what a crazy, turbulent week it's been. We hope you're all staying safe and well and finding ways to be happy, whatever that looks like for you. For us it's books, so let's have a look at what we read and celebrated this week.

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Agnes loves her home of Red Creek--its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town's strict laws. What she doesn't know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet.

Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn't a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek?

As the Prophet grows more dangerous, Agnes realizes she must escape with Ezekiel and leave everyone else, including Beth, behind. But it isn't safe Outside, either: A viral pandemic is burning through the population at a terrifying rate. As Agnes ventures forth, a mysterious connection grows between her and the Virus. But in a world where faith, miracles, and cruelty have long been indistinguishable, will Agnes be able to choose between saving her family and saving the world?

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Yadriel's family don't understand him. Tradition is important in the brujx community, and Yadriel - born a girl, knows he's a boy - challenges everything they believe in.  He's determined to prove himself as a brujo - and at first things seem to go well. At first...

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be "that" girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she's been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other "girlfriends," London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men, no dating, and no worrying about their relationship status . . .

For once Samiah is putting herself first, and that includes finally developing the app she's always dreamed of creating. Which is the exact moment she meets the deliciously sexy, honey-eyed Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? When it comes to love, there's no such thing as a coincidence. But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

Blog Tour: Queen to Ashes by Mallory McCartney

Are you ready for the next installment in the Black Dawn series? Check out Queen to Ashes by Mallory McCartney -- Read the excerpt and enter the giveaway to win a signed hard copy of the book!

Happy Book Birthday!

Hi guys! This week was busier, with several books on our review list publishing on different days. It was a good week, with most titles earning a 'will read again' from us!

Blog Tour: Forgotten Magic Anthology

Welcome to the blog tour for the final installment from the Magic Underground trilogy, Forgotten Magic! Read on for an exclusive excerpt and a chance to win a paperback copy of the book!

Book Post! Week ending 2 June 2020

Howdy all! It's been a very quiet week, with just one new title, but it looks fantastic! It's maybe just as well we're bringing our numbers down, as we're all heading back to work over the next few weeks.

New competition!

Hi guys! There's a fantastic new competition for you to enter today! Find the link at the end of the entry.

Destination Anywhere by Sara Barnard

Peyton is running. She's not sure what from, or where to. She just knows she can't stay where she is. Told in two timelines, this is the story of how far you sometimes have to go to find home.