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An English Literature graduate, working in publishing, reviewing and chatting about books. I'll read pretty much anything but mostly young adult fiction, sci-fi and fantasy. Feel free to ask a question or just have a read of my reviews! Currently reading: A Shiver of Snow and Sky by Lisa Lueddecke

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Because you can never have enough earrings in the shape of punctuation marks.

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Finally got myself down to Primark today to check out their Harry Potter range ⚡️ever so slightly in love with my Marauder's jumper. Well worth checking out if you're in need of more HP merch (and who isn't?)!

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About to start reading this. One review describes this as 'Harry Potter...with a touch of Dickensian dystopia' - so all my favourite things!

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Pottermore Pop-up Shop

If you head to the very top of Portobello Road in west London, you’ll find a treat. Pottermore currently have a pop-up shop in the Graffik gallery there and it’s open all this week. I hadn’t actually looked at Pottermore’s online shop so all of the art was new to me and there is a great variety of prints available. I particularly love these covers:

I definitely had to keep my hands in my pockets to stop myself buying all 7.  Though all of the posters are very reasonably priced at just £19.95 each for the unframed ones. I really love the way Prisoner of Azkaban has both Azkaban and the head of the wolf howling. The Order of the Phoenix one is also a fave. I also really liked this little Buckbeak:

They also had some fantastic artists do some great things with favourite quotes from the books. The one below by Peter Strain was my favourite of these but there were so many great ones.

I highly recommend a visit if you’re in need of some HP art in your life, which let’s face it, there’s always room for. The shop is only open until Friday though so get your skates on. You can also buy these on Pottermore too though. :)

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Sunday reading in the park.

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She stood facing London, a metropolis created by centuries of humanity. London, with its secret, folded layers of history and beauty, as perfectly formed as the petals of a rose. The deeper you ventured into its heart, the more there was to peel away.

Samantha Shannon, The Song Rising

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Samantha Shannon event

Last week I went to a great event at Waterstones Piccadilly (aka my favourite place) to celebrate the publication of the third book in the Bone Season series, The Song Rising. The author Samantha Shannon was in conversation with Katherine Webber (author of Wing Jones and all-round excellent asker of questions). Here is a picture of the two of them and the great backdrop that had been made.

I was so keen to hear Samantha talk because I knew she was quite young and I think it’s amazing that she’s written such a complex and successful series already. If you haven’t read The Bone Season, I highly recommend it. Samantha has set herself a mighty task as she is changing the location in each book (there will be seven in total). She told us about how she was eager to write a series that felt truly global. It’s an unusual tactic but one that is working well so far.

Here is the gorgeous purple edition I bought of The Song Rising. I have to say I’m not a huge fan of the white and orange cover so was very pleased to find this.

Samantha is also writing a high fantasy novel called The Priory of the Orange Tree, which she described as an Elizabethan fantasy with dragons. I like all of those things. I love her writing style so can’t wait to see her do something different while waiting for the entirety of the Bone Season series to publish.

That’s it for now, I’m off to read The Song Rising...

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If, like me, you're excited to read The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon which came out yesterday, you might find this link useful! Samantha wrote a recap of The Mime Order to get us up to speed. (Obv. major spoilers) Amazing, I really wish more authors would do this as it's tricky to keep track when you read a lot. Top author points!

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First and last lines

I’ve been going to a writing class and this week’s homework was to find some first and last lines that we like. This has prompted me to realise that there really aren’t many that I recall straight away. My first thoughts were the first two on the list below but after that I had to go searching through my bookcases. 

While these two elements are notoriously difficult for writers, what surprised me was how many of my favourite books have relatively uneventful or mundane first or last lines. I was particularly surprised by the lack of memorable first lines there are. This led me to wonder how important they really are. Is it fair to say, it’s perhaps more your first paragraph or first few pages that need to really hook the reader?

Whatever your opinion on the subject, it’s an interesting exercise to go back and look at the first and last lines of your favourite books in isolation, having read them, and consider how they fit together.

Here are my favourite ones:

But there are much worse games to play. 

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

This one always gets me and is one of the first ones that comes to mind. I love the significance this has against the rest of the trilogy and think it’s such a fitting last line.

Mr and Mrs Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. 

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling

Where would so many of us be if we hadn’t read this first line? This is an all-time favourite and tells us so much about the Dursleys in such a short sentence. Interesting that it doesn’t even mention our eponymous boy wizard yet...

I do.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green

Short but sweet. In case there are still a few of you who haven’t read John Green’s fantastic book, I won’t spell out why this last line is so perfect but just know that it is.

Are there any questions?

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This is the last line of Atwood’s novel but of the ‘Historical Notes’ section rather than the end of the story. I love the irony of the thought of someone who might not have any questions after reading this novel. It’s such a perfect fit with the style of the commentary on the story that has just taken place.

I would have live in peace. But my enemies brought me war.

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I cheated here as this is two sentences but this is the beginning of the first book in the Red Rising trilogy. This introduction to the narrator, Darrow, already tells us so much about his character and the words become so much more significant once you’ve finished the book. It’s a great set-up for what’s in store.

What are your favourite first and last lines?

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Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

This is yet another book that has been on my tbr list for an age. I’ve had two close friends read it who have very similar reading tastes to me, both with opposing opinions and I thought it was time I read it and decide for myself. The protagonist, Karou, has a foot in two worlds: ours and ‘elsewhere’. She is at the beck and call of Brimstone, a creature who collects teeth for a secretive purpose. She doesn’t know who her family are and has always sensed something was missing - just how does one become the errand-girl to such a being?

I love the premise of this book. As much as I enjoy high fantasy, I also really like urban fantasy where two worlds run alongside one another (I have Cassandra Clare to thank for my love of this style). This idea that Karou flits between Prague and her errands for Brimstone is intriguing and I like the way Taylor unfolds the plot.

I wish I could say it was all smooth sailing from here but it wasn’t. It was a great start but as soon as the love interest is introduced, I felt like I had regressed to reading Stephenie Meyer. Seriously, I was having major flashbacks to reading Twilight. I’m all for a hot love interest (yes, please) but the *instant* connection between these two and the outright adoration and love after like 2 minutes of knowing each other was just too much. 

I then felt this detracted from the plot because I just couldn’t get past the unbelievableness of it all. Yes, I know this is fantasy and it’s inherently unbelievable but there are limits. I wanted to know what happened but I don’t think I’ll be rushing out for the sequel. Eeks.

Rating ** 2 stars

Love reading urban fantasy and more books with angels please but can’t take the lack of believable character development. 

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There is no black and white - just a pathetic greyness in which everyone is trying to find solutions.

Laurie Lee, Village Christmas and Other Notes on the English Year

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Love this gorgeous cover on a modern classic. Christmassy reading is on the cards.

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Love my amazing secret santa present! 😍📚⚡️🎄

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Currently reading this. Been missing some dragons in my life and this is certainly filling the gap!

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This is the answer to the question - what do you get someone who loves books and chocolate?

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Review: All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

Some books will fill you with a fervent passion for life and books, and make you want to read endlessly. This is not one of those books. This is one of those books that was hard work, sadly. I don’t like writing negative reviews but this was not my cup of tea at all.

Laurence and Patricia meet when they are children but it’s not exactly a boy-meets-girl story. Patricia is a witch with an odd habit of eating spicy food and having out of body experiences (yes, really) while Laurence is a scientific/computer whizz-kid. They go their separate ways when they end up at different schools but then meet again as adults, when their two opposing ideologies do not go hand in hand. 

A reviewer on the back of the book describes this as ‘weird but charming’? I just found it odd. Not in a cool, quirky way - just in an inaccessible way. The characters weren’t very well-developed so I didn’t really care about them and the dialogue was clunky in places. I think this was intentional and was supposed to achieve some sort of unique quality but it didn’t work for me. As for the plot - my best guess would be that the author was going for some kind of overarching ‘we’re killing our planet’ lesson but the message is so bizarrely presented that it doesn’t come across with any power.

The blurb on the back was the best part about this book and made it sound like a different kind of story. I also mostly bought it because it has a beautifully designed cover. Well, that’s taught me. (Who am I kidding, I’m still a sucker for a well-designed cover.)

* 1 star

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Review: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone series was a great read so when I saw she’d brought out Six of Crows, I knew I needed to check it out. I’m a little late to the game here as this has been on my tbr pile for ages. Six of Crows is the tale of Kaz Brekker and his attempt at carrying out the most dangerous and difficult heist with the help of only those with the skills to pull off this kind of job. This introduces us to the best thieves and crooks that Ketterdam has to offer as Kaz leads his own gang, the Dregs.

The cast of characters and their stories are really what makes this book, more so than the overarching plot, in my opinion. Kaz is suitably mysterious as the young leader of the infamous Dregs and those around him are equally intriguing. Their efforts to pull of the heist in order to earn a great deal of money, are impressive. What’s more interesting is the reasons why they’re all doing it. 

Bardugo’s writing is fairly fast-paced and her world-building is great. This is as easy to get into as Shadow and Bone was and the characters are eclectic and will tug on your heartstrings even if they aren’t exactly on the right side of the law... Well worth a read, as is the excellent sequel, Crooked Kingdom.

Rating - *** 3 and a half stars