If I Have to be Haunted by Miranda Sun

Your first love will always haunt you...

The most haunting, heartwarming debut of 2023. Perfect for fans of strong female leads and supernatural stakes in Buffy, with all the sweetness and romance of To All the Boys I've Loved Before.

Cara's just trying to stay on top of all her classes, excel at her extracurriculars, and prepare for college - which means not speaking to the dead, an ability she inherited from her grandmother. Ghosts are trouble, and Cara doesn't need to add their problems to her own.

But then she stumbles upon the body of Zach - the super popular but very newly dead high school golden boy - in the woods, and guess what? He wants her to resurrect him.

Cue trouble.

Miranda Sun's debut touches on the power and conflicts in a mother-daughter love, first romance - and finding your place in the world while honouring your culture. Full of heart, humour and thrills, If I Have to be Haunted will put a spell on you.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! It's been cold and rainy most of this week - all the better to curl up with a book!

Eve by Cat Bohannon

How did wet nurses drive civilization? Are women always the weaker sex? Is sexism useful for evolution? And are our bodies at war with our babies? In Eve, Cat Bohannon answers questions scientists should have been addressing for decades. With boundless curiosity and sharp wit, she covers the past 200 million years to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex. Eve is not only a sweeping revision of human history, it's an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Bohannon's findings, including everything from the way C-sections in the industrialized world are rearranging women's pelvic shape to the surprising similarities between pus and breast milk, will completely change what you think you know about evolution and why Homo sapiens have become such a successful and dominant species, from tool use to city building to the development of language.

Gwen and Art are Not In Love by Lex Croucher (spoilers in review)

Gwen, the quick-witted Princess of England, and Arthur, future lord and general gadabout, have been betrothed since birth. Unfortunately, the only thing they can agree on is that they hate each other. 

When Gwen catches Art kissing a boy and Art discovers where Gwen hides her diary (complete with racy entries about Bridget Leclair, the kingdom's only female knight), they become reluctant allies. By pretending to fall for each other, their mutual protection will be assured. But how long can they keep up the ruse? 

With Gwen growing closer to Bridget, and Art becoming unaccountably fond of Gabriel, Gwen's infuriatingly serious, bookish brother, the path to true love is looking far from straight ...

Wings of Glory by Dermot O’Leary and Claire Powell

It's 1940, and the world is at war. Linus, a swift, has always dreamed of flying with the Royal Bird Force and making a name for himself as a squadron leader. So when he and his sister, Ava, have the opportunity to volunteer, he jumps at the chance.

But it's a dangerous journey, and Ava goes missing before they manage to reach the airfield for training. Now, Linus has two missions: help the war effort and find his sister.

Linus will face bomber planes, arrogant falcons, and a spy who's determined to take him down...

He is brave and fast and kind - but can Linus prove that helping win the war is more about the size of your heart than the size of your wings?

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FOUR books - and we've read FOUR of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

Red River Seven by A. J. Ryan

A man awakes on a boat at sea with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. He's not alone - there are six others. None of them can remember their names, but all bear the scars of recent surgery.

When a message appears on the onboard computer - Proceeding to Point A - the group agrees to work together to survive whatever is coming.

But as the boat moves through the mist-shrouded waters, divisions begin to form, and the group is plagued by questions. Who is directing them, why have their memories been wiped, and what are the screams they can hear beyond the mist?

Weekly roundup

 Happy Sunday, all! I hope you're all keeping well and that the weather in whatever part of the world you're in isn't too terrifying right now.

Aftershock by Gabrielle Prendergast

A massive earthquake forces Amy and her estranged half-sister to work together to survive.

Amy is happy it’s the last day of school...until a huge earthquake hits. She’s surprised that it’s Mara, her half-sister, who finally comes for her, since they hardly know each other. There’s no word from any of their parents, and their homes have been destroyed. So Amy and Mara set out on a perilous journey from their suburb into the city to search for their parents. As they walk day and night, the scope of the horrific destruction becomes clear. Have their parents survived the disaster?

365 Poems for Life by Allie Esiri

Discover the comfort of poetry with 365 Poems for Life, an uplifting collection from curator Allie Esiri.

This nourishing poem-a-day collection offers readers a brief moment of escape from daily life through some of the warmest words in the English language. Whether you’re searching for wisdom or looking to boost your wellbeing, dip into this anthology to share with others or enjoy a quiet moment of calm every day of the year.

Explore a wide range of poets, including Ocean Vuong, Maya Angelou, Kae Tempest, Raymond Antrobus, Carol Ann Duffy and many more. The perfect gift for poetry lovers and newbies alike, this beautiful anthology brings a moment of solace every day of the year.

Happy #BookBirthday! 20th Jul

Happy Thursday! This week there are THREE books on our lists publishing!

Daughter of Winter and Twilight by Helen Corcoran (mild spoilers in review)

Magic was dormant - never dead

To some, Emri - the adopted heir and daughter of two queens - is a living reminder that her birth father tried to usurp the Edaran throne. But as she grapples with a diplomatic visit from her estranged cousin, Melisande, the two girls are attacked by a magical force and spirited away. They must put their differences aside when Emri comes face to face with a goddess she's always considered a myth: Lady Winter.

Trapped deep within a mountain temple alongside other young royals, they face a race against time to complete Lady Winter's trials ... or die.

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FOUR PLUS ONE books - and we've read THREE and reviewed ONE of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

I'm Not Here to Make Friends by Andrew Yang (mild spoilers in review)

When Sabine Zhang is picked for Hotel California, a teen reality show with an all-Asian cast, she jumps at the opportunity. As one of few Asians at her high school in the Midwest, she’s always felt as if she was playing a side character in someone else’s story. But on this show, she’ll finally have a chance to step into the spotlight.

All Yoona Bae wants is to get away. The girls at church think she’s mean, her mom thinks she’s a troublemaker, and she’s tired of fighting against her unearned bad reputation. So when she’s invited to appear on Hotel California, Yoona sees it as an opportunity to chill out, make some friends, maybe even get a tan.

But life on the show isn’t all sunshine and self-actualization. The producers want drama at all costs, even if it means pitting Sabine and Yoona against each other. With the season finale looming, can the girls figure out a peaceful way forward, before they lose control of their own narratives?

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We had a fairly normal week on the blog, with just one extra post.

Feature: Becoming Flawesome by Kristina Mänd-Lakhani

 

Non fiction

Date Published: July 10, 2023

Publisher: Hay House Publishing

Overcome perfectionism and self-doubt by unapologetically embracing your fully awesome self—flaws and all—with the co-founder of Mindvalley, a global school that delivers transformational education for all ages.

It’s odd to think that we can simultaneously be living as ourselves without ourselves. As life happens, we fall in love with the idea of who we could be instead of with who we actually are—leaving parts of ourselves behind and losing sight of what and who is truly important within ourselves.

 

By sharing revelatory personal anecdotes and reflection prompts, Kristina Mänd-Lakhani, co-founder of Mind Valley, helps to guide you toward:

 

• Finding your own truth despite the external and internal critics
• Transforming from the Perfect You into the Real You
• Embodying a life where no one needs fixing

 

Reclaim your happiness as your gift to the world and take the first steps to living truthfully within your flawesomely beautiful reflection.

 

OverEmotional by David Fenne

Sometimes, emotions can be a little too powerful . . .

Seventeen-year-old Steven has a big problem . . . Whenever he feels intense emotions, weird things happen. Like when he kissed a boy for the first time, and the boy's head literally exploded.

Fleeing to the miserable town of Grunsby-on-Sea, Steven is determined to not hurt anyone else - but he doesn't count on his best friend Freya, her boyfriend Marcus and American friend Troy following him. And when agents from the mysterious DEMA organisation show up talking about "neutralisation", Steven realises that Grunsby-on-Sea might not be the safe haven he'd hoped for . . .

Accountable by Dashka Slater

From the New York Times- bestselling author of The 57 Bus comes Accountable , a propulsive and thought-provoking new young adult narrative nonfiction book about the revelation of a racist social media account that changes everything for a group of high school students and begs the What does it mean to be held accountable for harm that takes place behind a screen?

When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account. Pretty soon, everyone knew.

Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery. Not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults―educators and parents―whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse.

In the end, no one was laughing. And everyone was left Where does accountability end for online speech that harms? And what does accountability even mean?

Award-winning and New York Times –bestselling author Dashka Slater has written a must-read book for our era that explores the real-world consequences of online choices.

Happy #BookBirthday! 11 Jul

Happy Thursday! This week there are TWO books on our lists publishing!

The Never Ending End of the World by Ann Christy (mild spoilers in review)

Station Eleven meets The Last of Us in this post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic from USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author Ann Christy.

Coco Wells hasn’t seen another living person since she was a teenager. All of Manhattan is reliving the same few seconds, minutes, or hours on a loop… and they have been for years. Everything looks normal from a distance, but up close it’s a nightmare.

Coco is a survivor. She scavenges for food, reads, and—most importantly—avoids loopers. They ignore her, but only as long as she’s silent. She’s learned the painful lesson that a broken loop can mean death.

After eight years of solitude, learning to survive and precisely timing the loops that weave around the city, Coco wonders what lies beyond New York and what has become of the rest of the world.

As she leaves home for the first time, one question haunts her above all:

“Am I the only one left?”

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday, all! This week we received FIVE books - and we've read TWO of them!

As always, you can click on each cover to learn more about the book.

Flight Plan by Eric Walters (mild spoilers in review)

When all technology breaks down and he’s far from home, thirteen-year-old Jamie learns he’s stronger (and braver) than he thought he was in this dystopian adventure.

Thirteen-year-old Jamie’s plane is just taking off when something goes terribly wrong. The lights go out, communications halts and the engine stops. After a bumpy landing, Jamie realizes it’s not just his flight. All the other planes have been grounded too. And every car on the road has stopped in its tracks. And no one’s cell phone is working. Technology has shut down, and no one knows why. 

Soon, it becomes clear that this disaster is anything but local, and people begin to panic. Jamie is now stranded 1,200 miles away from home and the world is in chaos. With the help of the plane's flight crew, a group of fellow passengers and a rescued dog named Godzilla, Jamie must make the long, perilous journey home.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We've had a nice week here on the blog, with some great books coming and going.

You Could Be So Pretty by Holly Bourne

“The Doctrine exists to make us believe we are less than, so we don’t have the strength to overthrow everything. Masking, and Ceremonies, and Chosen Ones – how we’re all groomed to worry constantly about what we look like – it’s a deliberate pressure. It’s designed to keep us down. To limit us. Divide us. Masks…Beauty…it’s all about weakening and dividing us.”

Belle Gentle follows the rules of The Doctrine to the letter and is so close to Having It All. She’s the highest Pretty in school, A Chosen One in her spare time, and she’s about to win The Ceremony and fulfil her destiny. So why does she feel so suffocated by her perfect life?

Joni Miller is an Objectionable and hated by everyone for her repulsive looks. But Joni doesn’t care. She just needs to win the Scholarship to The Education, so she get the power to overthrow The Doctrine and wake everyone up. The only person standing in her way is the prettiest girl in school.

Set in a dystopian world, of normalised sexual violence, and where girls are expected to maintain impossible beauty standards of beauty, You Could Be So Pretty explores what happens when two enemies are thrown together.

How to Die Famous by Benjamin Dean (mild spoilers in review)

London-born Abel has landed the role of a lifetime for an upcoming blockbuster. On the face of it he’s Hollywood’s latest teen star, but below the surface he’s an undercover journalist on a mission to expose the ‘squeaky clean’ entertainment industry and the part they played in his brother’s ‘accidental’ death.

As Abel steps into the spotlight alongside fellow actors Lucky, Ryan and Ella, he soon discovers that beneath the glittering surface of fame and riches lies a darker world of secrecy, scandal and murder. Nobody is who they seem when the cameras are off, and everybody has something to hide. But who’s next in line to die famous?

Drawing on his previous career as a celebrity journalist, Benjamin Dean examines the dark underbelly of showbiz, leaving no stone unturned.

Happy #BookBirthday! 6 Jul

Happy Thursday! This week there are THREE books publishing on our lists.

Girl, Goddess, Queen by Bea Fitzgerald

To hell with love, this goddess has other plans...

Thousands of years ago, the gods told a lie: how Persephone was a pawn in the politics of other gods. How Hades kidnapped Persephone to be his bride. How her mother, Demeter, was so distraught she caused the Earth to start dying.

The real story is much more interesting.

Persephone wasn't taken to hell: she jumped. There was no way she was going to be married off to some smug god more in love with himself than her.

Now all she has to do is convince the Underworld's annoyingly sexy, arrogant and frankly rude ruler, Hades, to fall in line with her plan. A plan that will shake Mount Olympus to its very core.

But consequences can be deadly, especially when you're already in hell . . .

#Bookpost!

Happy Tuesday! This week we've received FIVE books...and we've read THREE of them!

As always, you can click on the cover to learn more about each book.

The Slug and the Snail by Oein de Bharduin and Olya Anima

An illustrated own-voices fable about self-acceptance and pride from a member of the Irish Traveller nomadic ethnic minority 

Drawn from the Irish Traveller oral storytelling tradition, DeBhairduin’s tale is a gentle allegory about difference, self-acceptance and different ways of seeing the world. Two slugs travel happily together as brothers, until they meet a crow who shows them that they have no home. Ashamed, one of the slugs decides to make himself a home, and calls himself snail. The brothers grow apart and become suspicious of each other. The slug with no shell-house feels ashamed until he learns to see that the very road he travels is his home, and so he shall never be homeless. The happy slug no longer sees himself through the judging eyes of others, but proudly asserts his place in the world and the two brothers travel happily together once more.

Weekly roundup

Happy Sunday, all! We had a normal week on the blog...except that one of our posts was our 1500th! ::drum rolls:: Now obviously that isn't 1500 reviews as we have our weekly three features, but it's still pretty impressive, I think!

Swarm by Jennifer Lyle

Sixteen year-old Shur is one of the first to see the creatures. While staring out the window in history class, she spots one floating over the soccer field. It looks like a monarch butterfly—but it's huge. Within minutes, her classmates' phones are buzzing with emergency alerts. These things are everywhere, and though nobody's exactly sure why the alerts are telling them to take cover, Shur knows it can't be good. It's only when she's left school and headed home that she learns what the creatures do: they attack.

By the time Shur, her two brothers, and their two best friends make it back to her house, it's clear the five of them must survive whatever comes next on their own.

As the "butterflies"—new hybrid creatures thought to be created by climate change—multiply and swarm outside, anxiety-prone Shur focuses on what she can control: boarding up windows, stocking food, and preparing a shelter in the basement. They lose internet and power while vigilantes create terror outside. Meanwhile the creatures begin to fulfill their ultimate purpose: multiplying via parasitic load, and before long, the butterflies aren't the only thing trying to get in. To protect her family and survive the invasions, Shur must find the strength to protect their sanctuary at any cost.