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Review: Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon (Blog Tour)
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Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
Genre: Young Adult | Contemporary
Published by: Penguin
Pages: 285
Release date: 01/06/2021
Rating: ★★★★☆
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: Evie is disillusioned about love ever since her dad left her mum for another woman – she’s even throwing out her beloved romance novel collection.When she’s given a copy of a book called Instructions for Dancing, and follows a note inside to a dilapidated dance studio, she discovers she has a strange and unwelcome gift. When a couple kisses in front of her, she can see their whole relationship play out – from the moment they first catch each other’s eye to the last bitter moments of their break-up.
For Evie, it confirms everything she thinks she knows about love – that it doesn’t last.
But at the dance studio she meets X – tall, dreadlocked, fascinating – and they start to learn to dance, together. Can X help break the spell that Evie is under? Can he change Evie’s mind about love?
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Review: The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery
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The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery
Genre: Young Adult | Historical
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 304
Release date: 04/04/2020
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: 1945, Hiroshima: Ichiro is a teenage boy relaxing at home with his friend Hiro. Moments later there is a blinding flash as the horrific nuclear bomb is dropped. With great bravery the two boys find Hiro’s five year-old sister Keiko in the devastated and blasted landscape. With Hiro succumbing to his wounds, Ichiro is now the only one who can take care of Keiko. But in the chaos Ichiro loses her when he sets off to find help.Seventy years later, the loss of Keiko and his broken promise to his dying friend are haunting the old man’s fading years. Mizuki, his grandaughter, is determined to help him. As the Japanese legend goes, if you have the patience to fold 1,000 paper cranes, you will find your heart’s desire; and it turns out her grandfather has only one more origami crane to fold…
Narrated in a compelling mix of straight narrative, free verse and haiku poems, this is a haunting and powerful novel of courage and survival, with full-page illustrations by Natsko Seki.
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Blog Tour: Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly (Review)
...Hey friends. Today is my stop on the blog tour for Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly and I am sharing my review with you. Enjoy!
Poisoned by Jennifer Donnelly
Genre: Young Adult | Retelling | Fantasy
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 432
Release date: 20/10/2020
Rating: ★★★★☆
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: Beautiful Sophie, with lips as red as blood, skin as pale as snow, and hair as dark as night, is about to come of age and inherit her father’s throne. But Sophie’s stepmother wants rid of her – beautiful she may be, but too weak and foolish to reign. And Sophie believes her, as she believes all the things that have been said about her – all the poisonous words people use to keep girls like her from becoming too powerful, too strong.When the huntsman carries out his orders of killing Sophie, she finds a fire burning inside her that will not be extinguished, and sets off to reclaim what was taken from her.
Jennifer Donnelly turns her feminist eye to this most delicious of fairy tales and shows Snow White as she’s never been seen before.
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Review: I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
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I Was Born for This by Alice Oseman
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Harper Collins
Pages: 393
Release date: 03/05/2018
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: For Angel, life is only about one thing: The Ark – a pop-rock trio of teenage boys who are currently taking the world by storm. Being part of The Ark’s fandom has given her everything – her friend Juliet, her dreams, her place in the world.
Jimmy owes everything to The Ark. He’s their frontman – and playing in a band with his mates is all he ever dreamed of doing.
But dreams don’t always turn out the way you think, and when Jimmy and Angel are unexpectedly thrust together they find out just how strange and surprising facing up to reality can be. -
Review: The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James
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The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James
Genre: Paranormal
Published by: Walker Books
Pages: 425
Release date: 03/09/2020
Rating: ★★★★☆
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: What if death is only the beginning?When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a group of ghosts, each with a special power.
Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome Harriet into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival after decades alone. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.
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Review: Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
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Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Genre: Fantasy
Published by: Hot Key Books
Pages: 476
Release date: 18/08/2020
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as the Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of Eleven. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood. That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But the Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn–but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?
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Booktube – Australian Book Recommendations
Hey guys. My latest booktube video just went up and in it I recommend some of my favourite Australian authors and their books. Enjoy!
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Review: Boy Queen by George Lester
Boy Queen by George Lester
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Macmillan
Pages: 400
Release date: 06/08/2020
Rating: ★★★★★
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: Life’s a drag until you try . . .Robin Cooper’s life is falling apart.
While his friends prepare to head off to university, Robin is looking at a pile of rejection letters from drama schools up and down the country, and facing a future without the people he loves the most. Everything seems like it’s ending, and Robin is scrabbling to find his feet.
Unsure about what to do next and whether he has the talent to follow his dreams, he and his best friends go and drown their sorrows at a local drag show, where Robin realises there might be a different, more sequinned path for him . . .
With a mother who won’t stop talking, a boyfriend who won’t acknowledge him and a best friend who is dying to cover him in glitter make up, there’s only one thing for Robin to do: bring it to the runway.
Boy Queen by George Lester is a sparkling debut full of big hair, big heels and even bigger hearts.
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WWW Wednesday – 12/08/2020
Hey guys. I’m back with another WWW Wednesday post, where I share with you what I’m reading! WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words. All you have to do is answer these three questions: 1) What are you currently reading? 2) What did you recently finish reading? 3) What do you think you’ll read next?
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Review: Loveless by Alice Oseman
Loveless by Alice Oseman
Genre: Contemporary
Published by: Harper Collins
Pages: 435
Release date: 09/07/2020
Rating: ★★★★☆
Where to find: Goodreads | Waterstones
Summary: It was all sinking in. I’d never had a crush on anyone. No boys, no girls, not a single person I had ever met. What did that mean?Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day.
As she starts university with her best friends, Pip and Jason, in a whole new town far from home, Georgia’s ready to find romance, and with her outgoing roommate on her side and a place in the Shakespeare Society, her ‘teenage dream’ is in sight.
But when her romance plan wreaks havoc amongst her friends, Georgia ends up in her own comedy of errors, and she starts to question why love seems so easy for other people but not for her. With new terms thrown at her – asexual, aromantic – Georgia is more uncertain about her feelings than ever.
Is she destined to remain loveless? Or has she been looking for the wrong thing all along?
