Under a Dancing Star by Laura Wood

I adored A Sky Painted Gold, and have been recommending it ever since. I knew I would love Under a Dancing Star, but I wasn't prepared to love it even more than ASPG. Wood is going straight onto my auto-buy list; I can't wait to see what she writes next. 

I bought Under a Dancing Star at YALC (where my sister had the pretty UaDS themed manicure she's modelling the book with in this photo) and started it that evening, as soon as I'd finished Flame in the Mist. I adored this story, and here are three reasons why I think everyone should read it:

1) It's a really different take on a Shakespeare retelling. I love Much Ado About Nothing, and this reimagining hit on familiar notes, but still felt fresh and special in its own right. I think anyone interested in writing retellings could learn a lot from Wood. 

2) The setting was beautiful: idyllic and intoxicating, with an undercurrent of danger and foreboding. Wood expertly balances the beauty of the Italian countryside with the political threat about to engulf the country. The setting is integral to the story and I also thought it was an interesting link to the original, since Shakespeare's plays are often set in continental Europe, and Italy in particular. 

3) The romance is so well done. Swoonworthy. Beautiful. Perfect. Bea and Ben were as witty as their Shakespearean counterparts and I loved every scene they spent together. 

Picture This: Two Sides

I first noticed Two Sides on Twitter, but wasn't sure my five-year-old would quite be ready for it. When I found it in our local library at the start of the summer, I decided to give it a go. Reading wise, it was definitely too advanced for her, but we had fun reading it together instead - she did a few words on each page, and I did the rest. 

My daughter is really enjoying longer stories at the moment that we can read together over a few nights or weeks, but she still needs plenty of pictures to hold her interest. Two Sides was perfect for this - the artwork was bright and engaging.

The story itself was sweet and very relevant to the age range it's written for - I just know I'll be referring back to it again when she falls out with friends at school.

If you're looking for a story for children to read independently, I would recommend this to 6-8 year olds, but if you want a lovely, longer story to read to 4-5 year olds, the Two Sides is perfect. 

Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

Mariko has always known that being a woman means she's not in control of her own fate. But Mariko is the daughter of a prominent samurai and a cunning alchemist in her own right, and she refuses to be ignored. When she is ambushed by a group of bandits known as the Black Clan enroute to a political marriage to Minamoto Raiden - the emperor's son - Mariko realises she has two choices: she can wait to be rescued... or she can take matters into her own hands, hunt down the clan and find the person who wants her dead.

Disguising herself as a peasant boy, Mariko infiltrates the Black Clan's hideout and befriends their leader, the rebel ronin Ranmaru, and his second-in-command, Okami. Ranmaru and Okami warm to Mariko, impressed by her intellect and ingenuity. But as Mariko gets closer to the Black Clan, she uncovers a dark history of secrets that will force her to question everything she's ever known.

I picked up a copy of Flame in the Mist from the book swap YALC last year, and it sat on my tbr list until YALC this year! Hopefully this year's book swap find (The Million Pieces of Neena Gill) won't have to wait that long to be read! Once I started reading FitM, I couldn't stop, and even took it to YALC with me on the train because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving it behind and starting something else. Here are three writing related reasons I loved Flame in the Mist:

1) The characters were complex and imperfect and so wonderful to follow. There were plenty of secrets and twists in the character's backstories too, and relationships unfolded with tantalising slowness. 

2) Like the Wrath and the Dawn, this is a Ahdieh novel with phenomenal world building. I felt completely immersed in the magic and history of FitM's setting. 

3) The cliff hanger ending leaves you immediately desperate to pick up book two (which I would have done if I wasn't so snowed under with MA reading! Luckily I'm just about caught up, so I'm looking forward to starting Smoke in the Sun very, very soon).  

Scoop McLaren Detective Editor by Helen Castles

Today is my stop on the blog tour for Scoop McLaren Detective Editor!

Sonny Fink, evil reporter, writes an online newspaper that is uploaded at one minute past midnight every night. The news is always frightfully awful and what is predicted seems to happen every single time. Like the time it rained frogs and nobody could leave their house! Thirteen-year-old detective editor Scoop McLaren and her best friend, Evie, set out on a mission to discover everything about this mysterious Sonny Fink...

Thank you New Frontier Publishing for sending me a copy of this fun, pacy MG novel to review. I really enjoyed reading about Scoop and Evie, and I'm looking forward to the next story in the series.  Also, how pretty is that cover? The illustrator, Beatriz Castro did a brilliant job bring Scoop to life. It's so clever too - after finishing the book, I went back and spent a few minutes looking at all of the subtle hints and references in the border that I hadn't noticed before I started. 

Here are three reasons I think you should read Scoop:

1. The pacing is brilliant. Castles keeps tensions running high throughout, and there's plenty of twists and turns to the plot. You're left feeling as though you are investigating the case along with Scoop and Evie.

2. Scoop and Evie make a brilliant partnership. I loved reading their chats, and the way they approached working on the paper together. 

3. There's a great range of media in this book, from text chats to newspaper articles. I could see this being really good in schools as a way to introduce pupils to writing their own articles - as well as showing them some brilliant examples of how to write, there's also a lot of potential fun to be had coming up with their own Sonny Fink style stories! There's even a list of 12 writing tips from Scoop at the end as a great starting point.

You can find out more about Helen Castles on twitter and instagram.

The Paper & Hearts Society by Lucy Powrie

The Paper & Hearts Society was, without doubt, my most anticipated contemporary novel of 2019 and it did not disappoint!

Tabby Brown is tired of trying to fit in. She doesn't want to go to parties - in fact, she would much rather snuggle up on the sofa with her favourite book.

It's like she hasn't found her people ...

Then Tabby joins a club that promises to celebrate books. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING - especially when making new friends brings out an AWKWARD BUZZING feeling all over her body.

But Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed have something that makes Tabby come back. Maybe it's the Austen-themed fancy-dress parties, or Ed's fluffy cat Mrs Simpkins, or could it be Henry himself ...

Can Tabby let her weird out AND live THE BEST BOOKISH LIFE POSSIBLE? {Goodreads summary}

As a frequent participant of the #UKYAchat on twitter, I preordered Powrie's book as soon as it became available. I knew from Powrie's blog post that her writing was good, and I was excited about a novel about teenager book-fanatics who loved classics as much as contemporary YA. 

I only wish this novel had existed when I was a teenager because I know I would have loved it even more at that age. If I was still working in a school library, this would definitely be my top summer read recommendation. Here are three things I loved about The Paper & Hearts Society:

1. The mix of characters. Every one of the club's members had their own important backstory, and it felt as though the novel could have been written from any of their perspectives and still been just as strong. 

2. It's a teen novel that is definitely written for teenagers. That's not to say that adults can't enjoy it too! I just mean that there were never references/language that made me feel disconnected from the teenage protagonists. Its use of social media and technology is really authentic and never jars. 

3. The Paper & Hearts Society shows the bravery it takes to be honest and be your true-self, rather than hiding behind the idea of who you think you should be to fit in. 

Overall, this was a fun, heart-warming story which championed books and the teens who love them. I'm really excited to see where Powrie takes the story next, for her sequel 'Read with Pride'. 

The Shadow Keepers by Marisa Noelle

Today is my stop on The Shadow Keepers blog tour!

This brilliant novel comes out on the 30th July and is definitely one not to be missed. Here is the creepy blurb:

Sixteen-year-old Georgia Boone has seen the shadow creatures in mirrors and other reflective surfaces since she was six-years-old. But no one–not even her brother, the person she’s closest to in the entire world–believes her. She is all alone in the hellish world where crow-like creatures hunting her everywhere she goes.

When an afternoon of shopping ends in violence and blood, Georgia is sent to the UK’s most prestigious mental health hospitals: Brookwood Hospital. There, she’s forced to face her fears and answer the question:

Are the shadows real, or is this all in her head?

At Brookwood, the shadow creatures are more present than ever and are getting stronger every day. Only with the help of a mysterious boy who lives inside the mirror world might she be able to prove that she’s not hallucinating and stop the shadows from destroying the human world.

I was gifted an ARC of The Shadow Keepers by Marisa Noelle and Magnolia Press earlier this month and I raced through it in a few days! The Shadow Keepers was so hard to put down, and the creepy premise ensured that I was always thinking about it, even when I couldn't read on. Tensions and stakes run high as Georgia races to uncover the truth about the terrifying shadow creatures who have haunted her for most of her life. 

I don't think I've read many non-contemporary YA novels which features mental health so prevalently, and it was really clever how the character's mental health struggles became integral to the plot - they made them stronger, rather than being purely another plot-point or issue to 'get over'. The topic as a whole was sensitively handled and I felt like I learnt some new things about mental health conditions as a result of reading.

Having said that, readers should bear in mind that as mental health is so important within The Shadow Keepers, the novel does include subjects like self-harm and suicide. If this isn't something you're comfortable reading, it would probably be best to avoid this novel. They're not a large part of the plot, but do come up.

You should definitely read The Shadow Keepers if you like:
- creepy monsters
- slow-burn romance
- seeing mental health in non-contemporary stories. 

From a writing perspective, The Shadow Keepers is brilliant for:
- world building - I could completely believe in the monsters and shadow world that Noelle created. 
- pacing - this story is paced just right, with plenty of action and tension, but also some great character driven moments to help back the pace off and give you a respite between the horror. 
- keeping the reader guessing about who they could and couldn't trust!

I really enjoyed The Shadow Keepers and am now even more excited about Noelle's second novel, The Unadjusteds, which comes out later this year.

Here's a little bit about Marisa Noelle:

Marisa Noelle is the writer of middle grade & young adult novels in the genres of science-fiction, fantasy & mental health. The Shadow Keepers is her first novel. The Unadjusteds is due out in November 2019 & The Mermaid Chronicles – Secrets of the Deep at the end of 2019. When she’s not writing or reading or watching movies, she enjoys swimming. In the pool she likes to imagine she could be a mermaid and become part of some of her make-believe words. Despite being an avid bookworm from the time she could hold a book, being an author came as a bit of a surprise to her as she was a bit of a science geek at school. She lives in Woking, UK with her husband and three children.

If you want to read more, you can preorder The Shadow Keepers from here. The tour continues tomorrow at Kimothy Wish.

Writing Wednesdays

I'm doing an MA in creative writing! The offer has been accepted, my student loan has been approved, so I am now, 100%, officially, starting my MA this September! 

I'm going to be doing it part-time, distance learning, with Manchester Metropolitan University (which has an amazing Writing School) and specialising in writing for children and young adults. It was the flexible learning opportunities and the children's focus that drew me to this course and I'm already working my way through the reading list for September, starting with The Hobbit. 

I'm really looking forward to learning everything I can on this course, and putting it to work in my rewrite of Fearful (although I'm also planning to start something new for the writing elements of the course). 

I'm taking a career break for at least the next two years (due to the high cost of child care) and I'm excited to have a new challenge to focus on while I'm at home. 

Other writing news:

I've entered three stories into this year's Wattys and am still updating On Sapphire Wings and Democracy is Dead twice a week. 

Last month, I started Fearful all over again and I'm really pleased with how this new take on the story is progressing (higher stakes, more angst for the characters - I'm being really mean to them in this redraft). 

I'm also making a few final tweaks to Mirrored Snow, although I can't decide whether to start querying it this summer, or to sit on the manuscript until after my MA.