Review: Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige (Stealing Snow #1)

Seventeen-year-old Snow lives within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she doesn't belong there, but she has no memory of life outside, except for the strangest dreams. And then a mysterious, handsome man, an orderly in the hospital, opens a door – and Snow knows that she has to leave …
She finds herself in icy Algid, her true home, with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change everything. Heroine or villain, queen or broken girl, frozen heart or true love, Snow must choose her fate …
A wonderfully icy fantastical romance, with a strong heroine choosing her own destiny, Danielle Paige's irresistibly page-turning Snow Queen is like Maleficent and Frozen all grown up. 

What a great fairy tale of a surprise. When I saw this book turning up on twitter I knew I had to have a copy for myself, there might have been a little begging involved. And its been totally worth it too. This has been an absolute pleasure to read, it has all the right ingredients for a fantastic fantasy novel.

This is Snow's story who lives in a mental hospital. Snow has one friend in there, her big love Bale. But she fears that their first kiss has broken him, now she is not allowed to see him at all. But Bale disappears one night and a strange mysterious boy convinces her to stop taking her meds and run away and follow Bale. Snow ends up in icy Algrid, where she learns that this strange place full of magic and strange beings is her real home. Not just a home, but her father is the evil king. A prophecy suggests that she is the one to bring the king down and rule this world herself or fail and let the King have all the power. But all Snow wants is to save Bale and go back home. On her travels she has the help of two boys that couldn't be more different but Snow finds herself attracted to both. But

how dangerous is her kiss really? And will she find Bale?

This has been a really refreshing kind of book and I read a lot of fantasy. I loved all the little touches of different fairy tales here and there. I always find myself rooting for Snow even when she fights her destiny and power. But most off all I loved the boys... all the boys. Like Snow there is no way I could decide which one I like the most. And I actually really love this idea. While its usually always obvious which one belongs to the main character straight away I love how Snow is torn and so are the readers. Because lets face it, she is 17, she has been locked away, now there is attractive and amazing boys around... you are bound to be totally confused with your feelings flying all over the place!

The ending was really unpredictable and the book was filled with lots of twists and surprises. I couldn't put it down and I am already very excited for the next one. I can not wait to see Snow grow even more in the books to come, for her power to come to its full potential.

I have never read anything by Paige before but I am now a fan. This has been an absolutely magical book, exciting from the first page to the last with a huge potential for so much more to come. If you love fantasy you are going to eat this up and love every minute off it. I know I did.

A magical fairy tale, unique and full of dreamy boys.

Stealing Snow will be released on 6th October.

Thank you to Lizz Skelly and Bloomsbury Childrens Books for my copy.

Weekly Wrap Up and Stacking the Shelves #32

Weekly Wrap Up...

I have managed to read 4 books this week, yep 4! This is actually really good for me who normally manages only 2. The fact I am off work right now and my daughter had 2 sleepovers obviously helped. Not only did I manage to read 4 books but it was 4 really good books too. The first one being an early copy of Stealing Snow, which was a great sort of fairy tale, the 2nd was Songs About a Girl which has easily become one of my favourite reads this year, 3rd was The Sleeping Prince and i am so glad i have finally picked that up and last but not least was an early copy of Dear Charlie which is a book that could start some very serious debates.

Seventeen-year-old Snow lives within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she doesn't belong there, but she has no memory of life outside, except for the strangest dreams. And then a mysterious, handsome man, an orderly in the hospital, opens a door – and Snow knows that she has to leave …
She finds herself in icy Algid, her true home, with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change everything. Heroine or villain, queen or broken girl, frozen heart or true love, Snow must choose her fate …
A wonderfully icy fantastical romance, with a strong heroine choosing her own destiny, Danielle Paige's irresistibly page-turning Snow Queen is like Maleficent and Frozen all grown up. 

Charlie Bloom never wanted to be 'with the band'. She's happiest out of the spotlight, behind her camera, unseen and unnoticed. But when she's asked to take backstage photos for hot new boy band Fire&Lights, she can't pass up the chance.

Catapulted into a world of paparazzi and backstage bickering, Charlie soon becomes caught between gorgeous but damaged frontman, Gabriel West, and his boy-next-door bandmate Olly Samson. Then, as the boys' rivalry threatens to tear the band apart, Charlie stumbles upon a mind-blowing secret, hidden in the lyrics of their songs...

Return to the darkly beautiful world of The Sin Eater's Daughter with a sequel that will leave you awed, terrified . . . and desperate for more.

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.

When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.

Death should never meet the young. But it did. Thanks to my brother, death made fourteen new friends that day. Maybe even fifteen, if you count Charlie.

At sixteen, Sam Macmillan is supposed to be thinking about girls, homework and his upcoming application to music college, not picking up the pieces after the school shooting that his brother Charlie committed.

Yet as Sam desperately tries to hang on to the memories he has of his brother, the media storm surrounding their family threatens to destroy everything. And Sam has to question all he thought he knew about life, death, right and wrong. 

Stacking the Shelves...

Hosted by Tynga’s Reviews

This week has been a really good one for my shelves. I have treated myself to some kindle books in the sale, one of which I already own but I didn't want to take the physical copy on holiday. Red Rising is one I have been wanting to read for a while so snapping it up got 99p was great. I hear a lot of great things about the Did I Mention that I... series so added those too. And An Amber in the Ashes is the book I already own, that I will hopefully finally finish on holiday.

The amazing Nazia at Little Brown has emailed me The Girl Who Cried Wolf which looks and sounds amazing, thank you.

Cara at HQ Young Adult has send me The Deviants, which I have been eyeing up since YALC, everyone is raving about this one and i cant wait to read it, thank you so  much. Funny enough I also received it on NetGalley so its coming on holiday with me.

You know what's even better then book post? Surprise book post, Louis Lane Double Down was a massive surprise, thank you Georgia and Curious Fox, I have loved the first one and have already started this one now.

And to finish this week offm GEMINA arrived!! I literally squeeled. Been trying to get my hands on that for months. Eeeeeek thank you so much OneWorld Publication for this absolute  beauty. If I wasn't scared of the sun destroying it I would already be reading it right now.

I also still have to pick up one parcel from DPD in Leeds, which is a bit of a nuisance but I couldn't have it redelivered and it might have been send back to the sender if I left it there while on holiday.

Review: The Creeper Man by Dawn Kurtagich

A spine-chilling psychological thriller from stunning YA talent and author of THE DEAD HOUSE, Dawn Kurtagich.

When Silla and her little sister, Nori, escape London and their abusive father, Aunt Cath's country house feels like a safe haven. Leaving the smog and fear behind, the girls have the love and freedom they never had in their violent home. But slowly, ever so slowly, things begin to unravel.

Aunt Cath locks herself in the attic and spends day and night pacing; every day the surrounding forest inches slowly towards the house; a mysterious boy appears from the enclosing wood offering friendship, and Nori claims that a man watches them from the dark forest. A man with no eyes who creeps ever closer. . .

There is only one way to start this... Hellooooo amazingly creepy cover!!! As covers go this one is fantastic. I was sold already! But then you start reading and it just gets better. I have managed to finish this book between my travels to and from YALC. I was shattered my eyes wasn't what they should be but I didn't care I just had to finish it. Most off all because I just couldn't guess how this was going to end, not at all, but I really really needed to know.

This is the story of Silla and her little sister Nori who one night arrive at their aunties house. Running away from their abusive father they find their way through the woods into their mothers old home. While their time with their aunt is beautiful at first things are not all as it seems. And when Nori almost runs into the woods, which their Aunt warned them about, everything starts changing. Aunt Cath locks herself away and keeps pacing day and night. Silla and Nori are left to look after themselves until a mysterious boy turns up. But its the dark forest that scares Silla the most, that and the Creeper Man that Aunt Cath keeps talking about. The forest seems to creep closer and closer... and there is no way out.

This book will creep you out and freak you out, it did me. Wow, what a hell of a nightmarish ride this was. It messed with my head over and over again. Just when you think you know what the hell is going on... well you will realise you don't at all. In no way could I predict the end, which is rare and very important to me. Incredible and so captivating. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't forget it either. The end blew my mind and had me very surprised, loved it!

Absolutely creepy, unpredictable and will give you not only nightmares but food for thought.

The Creeper Man is out now!

Thank you to Sarah at Hachette Children for my copy.

Review: Lament for the Fallen by Gavin Chait

'Father, tell me a story?' asks Isaiah, moments before a strange craft falls from the sky and smashes into the jungle near his isolated West African community. Inside the ruined vessel the villagers find the shattered body of a man. His name is Samara and he is a man unlike any the villagers have seen before - a man who is perhaps something more than human.

With his city home of Achenia hiding in the rubble left by a devastating war, Samara has fallen 35,000 km to earth in order to escape the automated hell of an orbiting prison called Tartarus. As he struggles to heal himself, he helps transform the lives of those who rescued him but in so doing attracts the attention of the brutal warlord who rules over this benighted, ravaged post-21st century land. He is not a man to be crossed, and now he threatens the very existence of the villagers themselves and the one, slim chance Samara has of finding his way home and to the woman - and the world - he loves.

And all the while - in the darkness above - waits the simmering fury that lies at the heart of Tartarus.

I have been approached by the publisher about this book and i really liked the blurb. I'll be honest I didn't quite expect it to be this much of science fiction, so much so that there was some parts i didn't quite understand, but even tho this isn't really my thing I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

This is the story of an amazing West African community and Samara who literally falls from the sky. The people in the Village take care of him and hide all traces of his arrival. Samara escaped from Tartarus, a horrible, nightmarish prison. He is now needing to return home and for that he needs the help of the people in the village. During his stay Samara tells many stories, stories like nobody has ever heard before. But Samaras stay in the Village brings danger for all the people. Will he be able to return home?

There was a lot of almost technical details that I just couldn't follow, its not my thing and I certainly know nothing about it. But take that away and this has been a wonderful story. A story about doing the right thing and inspiring people to try something new. Samara not only wants to get home but he wants to end the horrible prison and take away the power of the people who put it there. What I enjoyed a lot is Samara showing everyone the power of a story, inspiring everyone around to tell their own.

All in all I have enjoyed this book, its different from anything else I have ever read. I have sailed through it and it has totally surprised me. Also as a big fan of covers this one is really worth mentioning, it really stands out and I absolutely love it.

Surprising, inspiring and futuristic.

Lament for the Fallen has been published on 28th July by Transworld Books, thank you Thomas for my copy.

WWW Wednesday (3rd August)

 WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words. It’s open for anyone to join in and is a great way to share what you’ve been reading! All you have to do is answer three questions and share a link to your blog in the comments section of Sam’s blog.

The three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

I am currently reading...

Return to the darkly beautiful world of The Sin Eater's Daughter with a sequel that will leave you awed, terrified . . . and desperate for more.

Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin's life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep.

When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won't reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help her, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds shatters everything she believed about her world, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom.

I have recently finished...

Charlie Bloom never wanted to be 'with the band'. She's happiest out of the spotlight, behind her camera, unseen and unnoticed. But when she's asked to take backstage photos for hot new boy band Fire&Lights, she can't pass up the chance.

Catapulted into a world of paparazzi and backstage bickering, Charlie soon becomes caught between gorgeous but damaged frontman, Gabriel West, and his boy-next-door bandmate Olly Samson. Then, as the boys' rivalry threatens to tear the band apart, Charlie stumbles upon a mind-blowing secret, hidden in the lyrics of their songs... 

I will be reading next...

Death should never meet the young. But it did. Thanks to my brother, death made fourteen new friends that day. Maybe even fifteen, if you count Charlie.

At sixteen, Sam Macmillan is supposed to be thinking about girls, homework and his upcoming application to music college, not picking up the pieces after the school shooting that his brother Charlie committed.

Yet as Sam desperately tries to hang on to the memories he has of his brother, the media storm surrounding their family threatens to destroy everything. And Sam has to question all he thought he knew about life, death, right and wrong. 

Review: Always Emily by Michaela MacColl

Emily and Charlotte Brontë are about as opposite as two sisters can be. Charlotte is practical and cautious; Emily is headstrong and imaginative. But they do have one thing in common: a love of writing. This shared passion will lead them to be two of the first published female novelists and authors of several enduring works of classic literature. But they’re not there yet. First, they have to figure out if there is a connection between a string of local burglaries, rumors that a neighbor’s death may not have been accidental, and the appearance on the moors of a mysterious and handsome stranger. The girls have a lot of knots to untangle—before someone else gets killed.

Ok i have a confession to make, don't judge me, I have requested this book purely because of the cover and because my daughter is called Emily. Other then that I went in there blind. Sometimes a risk like this pays off and sometimes it really doesn't. This time it was a winner. If I had looked at this closer I might not have picked it up, its not my usual genre. However this has been much better then I ever expected.

This is the story of Emily and Charlotte Bronte, two sisters that could not be more different. One thing they do have in common tho is their love for writing. But before they become famous writers they return from a school at which Emily is the student and Charlotte the teacher, to discover a serious of burglaries have been happening. To add to all the mystery on one of Emily's walks she discovers a boy, one she remembers from her past. He seems to be staying outside and keeping an eye on one of their neighbours. Why is the boy really there and what is he looking for? And who is breaking into peoples homes?

Filled with lots of mystery it was a rather exciting read. This isn't just for fans of the Bronte sisters at all, I for one don't know much about them but I still really enjoyed it. Emily has been an amazing character who clearly didn't want to be like all the other girls and women. She wanted so much more from life then just to find a husband and have a family. I rather admire this about her. But what I enjoyed the most was the relationship between the two sister. Weather they are completely the opposite and don't always get on, when one needs the other they will be there for each other no matter what.

What this book has achieved is make me curious about the Bronte sisters. Its probably time I found out more about them.

This was a rather pleasant surprise. I didn't see the ending coming at all and I have literally flown through this book. It was a nice quick and lovely read that I can highly recommend.

Thank you to Abrams and Chronicle for my copy of Always Emily.

YALC 2016 Wrap Up

So our first time at YALC is over and i am really really sad about that. I want to go again already. I went with my best friend Ela who also has an amazing book blog (check it out here). We haven't been able to go on all 3 days but we have spend Friday afternoon and Saturday running around YALC and we have literally had the best time ever. This is me and my friend waiting to get in on the Saturday morning.

Of course the YALC is all about amazing books and authors and we have gotten some pretty amazing books. Although we have certainly learned our lesson and will be taking something on wheels next time so we don't have to carry them all around with us. I have dragged 26 books half way across England in my suitcase on my way home. This is all the books that now need to find some space on my shelves. Tbh I am surprised the Hubby let me into the house ha ha

This is all of them together...

But the books haven't been all that I had to carry home there has been some amazing swag to be had too. Tons of it and i just had to have it all. I love the little badges and the samplers, postcards, bookmarks, tote bags.... Just wow! To top it off there was sweets everywhere too. Yum! And much needed.

Here is all the incredible swag...

These are all the different piles of books that i have, split in categories. The first one being my own books that i have taken with me to get signed...

The books I've bought at Waterstones to get signed on the day...

The books I bought because I am super weak and I just cant resist an amazing cover...

And the amazing proofs we have managed to get our hands on. Some of these involved some serious running and luck.

I am so so happy with the amazing haul from YALC! If i wasn't on the train i think there might have been much more. But dragging all this home was rather a challenge. Next year we are taking a car for sure.

But what is even more amazing at YALC is meeting all the incredible authors, publishers, bloggers, readers, old friends and new friends. Everyone is super lovely and you can easily start a chat with anyone. And most authors, no matter how long their queue, have taken some time to have a little chat which made it all very special. Sometimes we was so busy chatting away we haven't always managed to take a picture but here are the ones we have remembered to take...

Taking home so many signed books has been amazing and they will not only have a special place on my shelves but also in my heart.

Thank you to everyone who has helped to build this event and all the people who have made it so special esp Ela, the authors and the publishers. We will be back next year with an even better battle plan and with a suitcase on wheels.

If you couldn't make it to YALC, over on twitter I have a tiny giveaway of some swag, I know its not the same but I hope it will make someone smile. Head over and good luck.