I’ve been doing some more vicarious travelling during lockdown, this time to the Sri Lankan jungle… In her small village ruled by a selfish King, Chaya is a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to help the poor. One day she goes too far, though, stealing jewels from the Queen and unwittingly implicating her…
I immersed myself in this gem of a read last night – James Haddell’s debut book, The Lost Child’s Quest (swipe for synopsis). For those of you who follow James’ book reviews on Instagram and Twitter, you’ll know he is an eloquent writer and so it’s no surprise that this crosses over into his storytelling.…
Does anyone else suffer from the phenomenon that is the TBR (To Be Read) black hole? I was so excited to read this sequel to Brightstorm that I had it on pre-order: it arrived on publication day last year, was placed on my TBR trolley (which is now a TBR cupboard 😱), and then got…
This is the perfect book to feature on Christmas Eve. Set in Norway in the late 70s, The Good Bear is a beautiful, atmospheric story about connection, blended families and acceptance (see synopsis in photo below). It’s the sort of book that creates a bit of a dilemma: do you take your time reading it…
Here come the girls… (if you’re a person of a certain age in the UK, you’ll now have the old Boots Xmas advert song playing in your head – sorry about that!). Tinsel is a funny, magical and empowering Yuletide adventure for readers aged 8+, which is served with a satisfying side dish of friendship…
With trips restricted at the moment, I managed to travel vicariously to the streets and underground tunnels of Paris last night, thanks to this fab adventure. Nell Magnificent takes the opportunity to visit France with her (downright horrible) parents to try and track down her old friend and nanny, from whom she hasn’t heard lately.…
I’ve been struggling to get into the festive spirit this year, but this has definitely done the trick. Catherine Doyle’s modern re-telling of A Christmas Carol is magical, humorous, hopeful and warm, and while clearly based on the literary classic, feels fresh and original. An exciting and, at times, poignant, adventure, it has great characterisation,…
I’ve just finished A Secret of Birds & Bone as part of my first readalong with Tandem Collective UK and I absolutely loved it. As you might expect from Kiran Millwood Hargrave, it’s a beautifully-written, atmospheric read, with enough darkness and suspense to create all the right sorts of tingles (see photo above for synopsis).…
This was a quick and very funny read. Kale and Jaundice Bland, sock-darners of Dullsville, lead a quiet, uneventful existence until they find themselves kidnapped and loaded aboard a pirate ship with an all-female, kick-ass crew. As you might expect from a pirate adventure, there’s swashbuckling (the male pirates of The Testostero clearly don’t stand…
The snowy weather in the UK today makes this the perfect book to review – grab your hot chocolate and snuggle under the covers… In the snowy Alps, a young girl called Tessa is on the lookout for barbegazi – mythical avalanche-surfing, alpine creatures – as her late grandfather had told her they had rescued…