young adult Archives

July 12, 2020 Leave a Comment

Memories from YALC, the UK’s biggest YA book convention

YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention) is the UK’s first young adult book festival. You could say it’s the UK’s equivalent of BookCon and BookExpo. Every year book lovers from all over the UK gather in London at the end of July for a weekend of bookish fun. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, 2020 will be a year without YALC and as expected, it’s left a lot of us disappointed.

UKYABA’s are still going ahead this year and they have encouraged book bloggers and shortlistees to spread some YALC love through their blog posts this month. Realising that YALC isn’t taking place this year has made me reminiscent of the years past, so I thought it’d be a grand idea to create a post of my personal favourite memories.

Incoming soppy-ness! This year I was nominated for UKYABA’s most Inspirational award and I’d like to say a massive THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to click on my name and press that ‘vote’ button. I’ve been on the book community for 6 years now and it’s the best thing I’ve truly ever been a part of, and for my blog and bookstagram to be acknowledged like this has meant the absolute world to me.

Now, let’s reminisce about YALC together, shall we?

Reuniting with friends

This is by far my favourite part about YALC! Being in the online book community, you will have a lot of friends that you only get to see once a year at YALC. The excitement of knowing you’ll be seeing your friends for three days straight in and out of the convention is just a feeling that I don’t get tired of.

And it’s guaranteed that you’ll probably leave YALC with even more friends, because you’re constantly meeting new people with one massive shared interest; books!

April 27, 2020 Leave a Comment

Blog Tour | Q&A with Holly Jackson

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to interview best-selling author Holly Jackson, author of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. She’s now the author of Good Girl, Bad Blood which is the sequel to AGGGTM and will be publishing later this week.

To celebrate the publication of Good Girl, Bad Blood, I’m kickstarting the blog tour by sharing my Q&A with Holly Jackson below. Enjoy!

Thank you so much Holly for taking the time to answer some questions!

And thank you very much for taking the time to ask them!

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder was recommended to me by a friend after I’d been eyeing it in Waterstones for a few months. I truly kicked myself for waiting for so long! What would you say to someone to entice them to start reading your series now that Good Girl, Bad Blood is about to be released?

I would say that if you have ever day-dreamed about solving a murder, or have ever attempted to solve any kind of mystery on social media (aka less murder – more
investigating friends’ potentially cheating boyfriends) then these are the books for you! A chance to truly step into your detective shoes and see if you can work out what really happened to Andie Bell, before Pip does.

October 15, 2019 Leave a Comment

Cursebreaker’s Breakfast: An event with Brigid Kemmerer

On Tuesday 9th October, I travelled from Glasgow down to London for my first exclusive blogger event. The Cursebreaker’s breakfast with Brigid Kemmerer and Bloomsbury YA.

It’s very unlike me to do something so “spontaneous” but after reading and loving ‘A Curse so Dark and Lonely’ earlier this year and the ‘A Heart so Fierce and Broken’ proof during Summer I knew I had to go when I received the invite.

I was accompanied by Beth from BooksNest. You may know her; she really likes yellow, sunflowers and nutella.

We attended the event first thing in the morning on October 9th and were immediately greeted with the most incredible room that looked like it was taken straight from the pages of Alice and Wonderland with it’s forest-y walls, mismatched and brightly coloured furniture and beautiful bar. It’s whimsical aesthetic completely transported you to a magical land. I was calling it an elegant rendition of the Mad Hatter’s tea party!

September 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

Book Review | ‘Escaping From Houdini’ by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Escaping From Houdini
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Little Brown / Jimmy Patterson
Release Date: 18th September 2018
Genre/Age Group: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery
Format: Hardcover (437 pages)
Source: ARC / Advanced Proof (Sent by publisher in exchange for an honest review)
Rating:

(Disclaimer: This review is spoiler free. However, may contain spoilers for previous books in the series!)

Synopsis

“Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.

But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The strange and disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea. It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?”

Review

We have joined Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell as they investigate and solve the Ripper murders, and as they discover the secrets of a Romanian forensic school said to be haunted by Vlad Dracula. Now we’re following them as they cross the Atlantic to the United States on the RMS Etruria where a number of passengers are being murdered one by one. Audrey Rose and Thomas, now open with their feelings for one another, find themselves stuck on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic with a murderer who is using morbid and magical acts to kill their victims. Whilst Audrey and Thomas are aboard the RMS Etruria, they meet the Moonlight Carnival, a group of performers hired to entertain the passengers throughout the journey. But, when the mysterious ringmaster Mephistopheles offers his assistance, Audrey Rose and Thomas’ companionship is put to the test.

September 13, 2019 Leave a Comment

Book Review| ‘Hunting Prince Dracula’ by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Hunting Prince Dracula
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Little Brown / Jimmy Patterson
Release Date: 19th September 2017
Genre/Age Group: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery
Format: Hardcover (435 pages)
Source: Purchased
Rating:

(Disclaimer: This review is spoiler free. However, contains spoilers for the first book in the series!)

Synopsis

“Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine…and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.”

Review

There are very few books in the world I love that much, that I actually wish they had hundreds of more pages so the story would just keep going. ‘Hunting Prince Dracula‘ (HPD) is one of those books. This is book two in the ‘Stalking Jack the Ripper‘ (SJTR) series, which you can read my review for here. It picks up a couple of weeks after SJTR ends and begins with Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her ridiculously witty and handsome companion, Thomas Cresswell, heading to a top forensic school in Romania. The school is a magnificent dark castle with secrets of it’s very own. When strange murders start to befall the students and guests of the school, Audrey and Thomas are eager to investigate and find out if it’s really the infamous Vlad Dracula who’s committing these heinous crimes.

September 5, 2019 Leave a Comment

Book Review| ‘Stalking Jack the Ripper’ by Kerri Maniscalco

Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Little Brown / Jimmy Patterson
Release Date: 20th September 2016
Genre/Age Group: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery
Format: Hardcover (416 pages)
Source: Purchased
Rating:

(This review is spoiler free!)

Synopsis

“Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.”

Review

‘Stalking Jack the Ripper‘ was always one of those books that I had a feeling I’d enjoy. Nevertheless, it sat on my TBR shelf for almost a year before I finally decided to pick it up. And boy, I regretted waiting so long to dive into this one. This book is a fantastic historical fiction, mystery and thriller that will have your jaw dropping and chills crawling up your spine. It’s set in nineteenth century London, and as you can probably tell from the title, the infamous case of Jack the Ripper is worked into the gripping plot line. It really made the story feel more realistic and terrifying. It’s not constant blood and gore though. Our protagonist is Audrey Rose Wadsworth who is a high society lady, so there are definitely some lovely tea parties in there for us readers to enjoy (and drool over the foods described). But, Audrey has a secret. She has a passion for forensic science, which definitely isn’t a profession nineteenth century women would find themselves in. Luckily, her forensic scientist Uncle allows her to study under him.

September 3, 2019 Comments : 2

Book Review | ‘Serpent & Dove’ by Shelby Mahurin

Title: Serpent & Dove
Author: Shelby Mahurin
Publisher: Harper 360
Release Date: 3rd September 2019
Genre / Age Group: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Format: Hardcover (528 pages)
Source: ARC / Advanced Proof
Rating:

(This review is spoiler free!)

Synopsis

“Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.”

Review

‘Serpent & Dove‘ by Shelby Mahurin is one of the most anticipated books of 2019, and for very good reason. This without a doubt one of the best books I’ve read this year, it completely took me by surprise. It follows Lou, a witch who has fled her coven to the the city of Cesarine. However, she’s not safe in a city filled with Chasseurs; men sworn to the church to hunt and burn Witches at the stake.

Reid Diggory is one of the finest Chasseurs in the city, until one day an ‘unfortunate incident’ leads him and Lou into the most unthinkable situation for them both. Marriage. Lou has no choice to keep her true nature hidden from her new husband, however this becomes harder for her when true feelings become involved.

August 14, 2019 Comments : 2

YALC 2019 Review

YALC 2019 has come and gone, and it passed way too quickly for my liking. But you know what they say? Time flies when you’re having fun!

I’ve attended YALC for the past four years, but this is the first time I went as an exhibitor at the Fairyloot booth. And, even though I was working the booth I still had plenty of time to attend signings, check out others booths and the rest of the YALC floor.

Last year I reviewed YALC 2018 and brought up a few issues that I’d like to see changed. You can check out that review here! I’m really happy to say though that a lot of the issues I listed seemed to have been resolved this year, but there were a few that could still be improved upon.

There’s lots to cover, so let’s get on with this shall we?

July 3, 2019 Comments : 10

YALC Tips & Tricks

YALC tips and tricks, and Guides to YALC are some of the best posts you can read to prepare for the UK’s biggest book festival. This is because you’re getting helpful advice from people who have experience from attending the event before. Which I have! I’ve been attending YALC since 2016 and every year has been an absolute joy.

I won’t lie guys, YALC is a lot, it’s busy, it’s exciting, it’s exhausting. But, most of all it’s ridiculously fun. I can guarantee it’ll probably be one of the best weekends of your year.

As I said before, I’ve been attending YALC since 2016, so I definitely have my fair share of experience with the event (check out my Guide to YALC here) and over the years I’ve found some tricks (or hacks, if you will) that will help you get a bit more prepared for the weekend. Some of these tips you may not have come across before and others are small, but as Tesco says, every little helps!

May 6, 2019 Comments : 11

What I’d Like To See At YALC 2019

YALC (Young Adult Literature Convention) is the UK’s first young adult book festival. You could say it’s the UK’s equivalent of BookCon and BookExpo which take place in a big city within the US each year. This convention started back in July 2014 with author Malorie Blackman being heavily involved in its creation. Over the years, YALC has managed to bring along best-selling authors such as Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Maggie Stiefvater, VE Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Marcus Sedgwick, Patrick Ness and many more, making it one of the most exciting events of the year for book bloggers around the UK. I’ve been travelling down to London for YALC from Scotland every Summer since 2016, so you could say I’ve got a few years of experience attending the event.

YALC is an absolutely wonderful event and you’re always guaranteed to leave with an abundance of new books and friends. However, there are some things that I’d personally like to see in future events that I feel could definitely improve the experience for attendees, and potentially the vendors too.

We finally got the author line up for YALC 2019 this past week (it’s awesome!) so it definitely felt like the perfect time to post this! You can view the schedule here. We really appreciate all the hard work and effort people go into to make this event happen each year, I’m genuinely counting down the days till YALC 2019.

Let’s begin!