Her mother, frustrated as what she perceives at her daughters misbehaviour, has shipped her of to stay with her grandmother’s rambling old manor house in the country for a few weeks.

Only, Tanya’s not misbehaving, it’s the faeries that are causing the trouble, and that’s hardly an excuse anyone will believe, is it?

Not only that, you’d think the old house with its secret passages, locked doors, and overgrown walls, would be heaven to Tanya and Fabian the slightly geeky groundkeeper’s son who also lives on the grounds. But in reality, it’s a pretty gloomy place, and the fun of exploring is rather lessened when the place is teeming with faeries!

There’s also the decades old mystery, of a young girl who went missing in the village and was never found, is intertwined in both their families lives, and when come across a girl  in the woods that resembles a photograph of the girl, they resolve to find out the truth. As they begin to uncover some shocking secrets…

This isn’t a book that I would have normally picked up, despite it winning the 2009 Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. However I was lucky enough to win a copy from the publisher in the October Readathon.

One of the joys of the book is the development of the friendship between Tanya and Fabian, at the start it’s a friendship created by living in the same house, but as the story develops, it becomes one where the pair support each other when the going gets tough.

Aimed at a slightly younger age group these aren’t the sensuous fae, to be found in other recent novels such as Tithe and Wicked Lovely. But that does not mean they are any less dark, they still mean business and are prepared to do anything to get what they want.

Despite a shaky early section, I did like it. Once the story reaches the manor house and the introductions to the house and characters are out of the way, the story really hits its stride, and becomes an engaging, gothicy and slightly old-fashioned (in a good way) adventurous romp.

Other Reviews to Consider

• Wondrous Reads
• Valentina’s Room
• Beyond Books
• MyFavouriteBooks

Buy: The Thirteen Treasures by Michelle Harrison from The Book Depository.

You can check out the authors fantastic website, and find out about the sequel, The Thirteen Curses.

Alek’s parents have just been assassinated, and along with his parents most trusted advisors, he is on the run. Abandoned by his own people, he must cross Europe and reach safety.

Deryn, is a talented airman, with only one problem. Only boys can join the British Air Service. She is noting if not determined though, and after successfully disguising herself as a boy, she finds herself serving onboard the flagship, Leviathan.

Alek and Deryn’s story is told against the relentless backdrop of a drive towards war in Europe. A war between the Darwenists and the Clankers, two very different ideologies…

The Darwenists follow the teachings of Charles Darwin, and breed their technology, their weapons, transport, and communications are all alive. It is on one of these airships that Deryn lives and serves.

The Clankers, the world from which Alek hails, are firmly grounded in the mechanical, packed with cannons and guns and covered in armour, their machines are still unlike anything you have come across before, the tanks walk for one thing!

Scott Westerfeld is one of my favourite discoveries this year, I started with Parasite Positive/Peeps and haven’t looked back since!

So, when I started to see snippets of this one; an alternate history of WW1, with elements of steampunk and some fantastic illustrations by Keith Thompson, it instantly became of my my most anticipated books of the year!

Thankfully it more than lives up to it.

I’ve mentioned the fantastic illustrations and the book is packed with them (I believe there are around 50!) and along with the excellent writing, really do add something special to the novel.

Due to their upbringing, when the two do eventually meet, the differences are immediately apparent, not only from what we have already learned about them, but alson from their reactions to each other.

But their are similarities, as well, Deryn is a talented airman and Alek is pretty skill full and driving a Cyklop Stormwalker, himself. It is soon clear that there is a natural affinity between the two (and yes the first signs of something more).

With tanks that walk, lizards that carry messages, fantastic characters, and allsorts of other steampunky goodness this is book that is just made of awesome!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Other Reviews to Consider

• My Favourite Books
• Fyrefly’s Book Blog
• Karin’s Book Nook
• Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog
• Book Nut
• Bermudaonion’s Weblog
• The Infinite Shelf
• The Written World & The Zen Leaf

Check out the Fantastic Trailer!

Buy: Leviathan by Scott Westefeld from The Book Depository

What with the onset of man-flu the day before the readathon and website server issues just as my mini-challenge slot arrived, I wasn’t in the best states to give a book with dense block of text any attention. So ‘zine’ like mix of formats in this one worked perfectly for me!

The book is about teenager John, who’s life since his parents divorce some years earlier, is a mess. His mother avoids any physical contact with him, and his father would obviously rather me anywhere else on a Friday night than having dinner with his so.

His mother’s new fiancé, whilst a decent bloke, wants the both to up-sticks and move in with him.

His best mate is discovering girls, and well, John hasn’t even decided if he likes girls yet!

In an effort to find some release, he discovers the ‘zine scene, and soon starts his own, calling it ‘Bananafish’ in which John writes articles such as “Interview with the Stepfather” and “Memoirs from Hell”

He soon meets Marisol, creator of “Escape Velocity” one of his favourite ‘zines, and a friendship soon forms with this self-proclaimed “Puerto Rican Cuban Yankee Lesbian.” A friendship which as it deepens and develops, John mistakes for ‘romantic’ love.

A mistake that leaves the friendship in ruins, and potentially irreparable.

As they both attempt to recover what they’ve lost, John learns that you can’t always get what you want, love can be hard, potential can be found when you’re not looking and sometimes that’s okay.

John and Marisol were both fantastic characters, quirky and adorable, and the development of their friendship was genuinely touching, which made it all the more heart-breaking when it shattered, especially as you could see it coming, but were helpless in stopping it.

As Chris noted, the ending isn’t a happy one, it is tinged with sadness, but it is the right one, and while they can never go back to what they had, they will both carry something forward from each other for the rest of their lives.

A very entertaining, and moving read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Other Reviews to Consider

• Stuff as Dreams are Made on
• The Book Reader
• Leafing Through Life

Buy,  Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger from the Book Depository

By plucking her petals you do not gather the beauty of the flower. – Rabindranath Tagore, “Stray Birds”

About the Book

“Special Circumstances”

The words have sent chills down Tally’s spine since her days as a repellent, rebellious ugly. Back then Specials were a sinister rumor — frighteningly beautiful, dangerously strong, breathtakingly fast. Ordinary pretties might live their whole lives without meeting a Special. But Tally’s never been ordinary.

And now she’s been turned into one of them: a superamped fighting machine, engineered to keep the uglies down and the pretties stupid.

The strength, the speed, and the clarity and focus of her thinking feel better than anything Tally can remember. Most of the time. One tiny corner of her heart still remembers something more.

Still, it’s easy to tune that out — until Tally’s offered a chance to stamp out the rebels of the New Smoke permanently. It all comes down to one last choice: listen to that tiny, faint heartbeat, or carry out the mission she’s programmed to complete. Either way, Tally’s world will never be the same.

My Thoughts

A fitting finale to the Uglies trilogy (yes I know that there is a forth book, but more on that later!) It’s everything the first two books were, a fast paced page turner, with an excellent lead character in Tally Youngblood. Once again, she has been changed into something she does not want to be, by the city authorities. This time with her memories intact.

She has a choice to make, only this time it’s even more difficult than last time, even though she has her memories, they just don’t seem as ‘special’ as she is now. What choice does she make, and where does it lead her?

I don’t suppose the choice will come as a surprise to most people,but the effects it has and the journey it starts Tally on, does keep the interest going, and it was one I enjoyed.

Much like the other books, I really did enjoy the book, but for me it just missed out on “loved it” status, and personally I’m enjoying the Midnighters series, just that little bit more.

There is another book in the series “Extras”, but for now I’m undecided as to whether to read it or not, I thought Tally’s journey ended in the right place, and while I realise Extra’s focuses mainly on a new character, I think I’m happy to leave things here.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Other Reviews to Consider

• Moonsoar
• At Home With Books
• Regular Rumination
• Ticket to Anywhere
• Bookworm Burrow
• Devourer of Books

Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless.
- John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, I

About the Book

Tally has finally become ‘pretty’. Her looks are beyond perfect, her clothes are cool, her boyfriend’s gorgeous, and she’s completely popular.

It’s everything she’s ever wanted. But beneath all the fun – the nonstop parties, the high-tech luxury, the total freedom – is a nagging feeling that something’s wrong.

Something important.

And sure enough, when a message from Tally’s ‘ugly’ past arrives, the fun stops cold.

Now Tally has to choose between fighting to forget what she knows and fighting for her life…

My Thoughts

You can read what I thought about book one in the series, Uglies, by clicking the link. Read on to see what I thought about this one!

Thankfully I started reading this one, just as soon as I had finished book one, so the worry for Tally with the cliff-hanger ending was soon abated, of course the calm didn’t last long, and it’s clear, things are not quite as simple as David’s mum and Tally had planned.

Tally is a great character, who despite life constantly being just tantalisingly out of her control really battles against all that is thrown at her, and indeed becomes one of the most important things about her, if you haven’t read the books I won’t spoil it for you, but the effects that strength have is one of the most satisfying things about the book.

Again the imagery and ‘toys’ are excellent, one of the highlights being the tattoos that spin according to your heart rate!

Minor niggles, are once again the “pretty-speak” which is lets face it, annoying, it’s meant to be shallow and everything of course, and works perfectly at what it is meant to do, so I can forgive the frustrations it gives me as a reader. Anyway, as the book moves on, the characters start to subvert the useage, which is a nice twist, and I can’t see it going away, so I’ll shut up about it!

And, despite the circumstances and reasons being different, Westerfeld pulls essentially the same trick with the ending, it is of course another cliff-hanger, and Tally is about to head back into New Pretty Town.

Didn’t mean, however. I didn’t immediately pick up book three though! And you can look forward to a review of Specials, before the weekend.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Other Reviews to Consider

• Devourer of Books
• Teen Lit Review
• At Home With Books
• Book Nut
• Regular Rumination
• The Novel World
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Melissa’s Bookshelf

Is it not good to make society full of beautiful people? – Yang Yuan, quoted in The New York Times

About the Book

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. Not for her license — for turning pretty. In Tally’s world, your sixteenth birthday brings an operation that turns you from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to have a really great time. In just a few weeks Tally will be there.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to be pretty. She’d rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world — and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever.

My Thoughts

This book has been on my radar for a while, almost since I started book blogging, but something has always held me back from reading the series, even when I discovered what a great writer Westerfeld is, I still wasn’t tempted. I think it’s because I had visions of a preachy “you don’t need to be beautiful…” kinda book. One of those horrible young adult novels I remember from school.

But when he posted about a free download of the ebook of Uglies to celebrate the launch of his next series, I just knew I had to give it a try.

I really should have known better, Westerfeld is not that sort of writer, Uglies, is set in a a great science fiction world, with brilliant characters and exciting action sequences, and much deeper philosophy, than you’d think going in.

Set an undisclosed amount of time in the future, the Uglies world is both recognisable and very strange, and with a level of control and spying on its inhabitants that would do any big brother government proud. Even so, Tally gets to play with some fantastic ‘toys’!

“Of course, a hoverboard. What is it about those things and miscreants?” -Dr. Cable, Uglies

I should talk about the ‘Pretty’ speak that Tally and her friends either use or aspire to, it’s perfectly realised, so much so, in fact that it is damn annoying at times (it is meant to be), and I suspect my less than perfect tolerance for it, has more to do with my age than anything else

I’ll be honest, while I really enjoyed the book, I didn’t quite enjoy it as much as The Midnighters or Peeps. Even so I still called in at my library to grab the rest of the series, before, I was even half-way through this one. A good job too, considering the cliff-hanger ending!

I’m already on the last book of the series, so keep your eyes open for a review of Pretties, the second book in the series over the next few days.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Other Reviews to Consider

• Medieval Bookworm
• Devourer of Books
• Presenting Lenore
• Becky’s Book Reviews
• Regular Rumination
• And many, many more!

Before I sign off, I must give special mention to the opening line, one of the best I’ve come across this year!

The early summer sky was the colour of cat vomit.

Over to you, have you read the book? What did you think about it?

I’m sure I’m not the only one of you has taken advantage of Scott Westerfeld and Simon and Schuster’s offer of a free download of Uglies (if you haven’t be sure to visit Scott’s site soon, as it is only available for a short time!

Well I started it at the almost the end of the week and the very next day nipped in to the library to grab the rest of the books, I was lucky enough to pick up the rest of the series!

I’m very much enjoying them so far – I’m already halfway through Specials. In all honesty, I think I prefer Peeps and The Midnighters, but these are as good as everyone says they are. I’m not sure if I’ll, be reviewing them all together or putting a series together, but you can look forward – if that is the right word – to them next week most likely.

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother’s rock band, until an ominous attack forces them back to her childhood home. To the place where she used to see Faeries. They’re still there.

But Kaye’s not a child anymore. This time she’s dragged into the thick of their dangerous, frightening world. A realm where black horses dwell beneath the sea, desperate to drown you…

Where the sinister Thistlewitch divines dark futures…

And where beautiful faerie knights are driven to perform acts of brutal depravity for the love of their uncaring queens. Once there, Kaye finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms – a struggle that could end in her death…

My Thoughts

Do you believe in faeries? Not the soft, gentle kind, but the sinister, feral kind – the ones that wreak havoc on everything in their path…

The comparisons between this book and Mellissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely are really unavoidable, fairies and teenagers from the seedier en of town, but thankfully they both have their own stories to tell.

Whilst both of them are dark tales, Tithe, had a more morbid feel about it for me, that’s not a bad thing by-the-way, but it did lead to a certain detachment from the story.

There were some really nice things about the book, the faerie lore was intriguing and well developed, the characters were well rounded, and less than perfect and full of flaws, and the depictions of the both the real and fey world were nicely vivid.

And the plot more than matched the rest of the book good points, with lots of twists and turns and page turning action.

All in all, just about everything you could want from a book about faeries, but for me, Wicked Lovely just edges it in my ratings.

But I have notice that people who read Wicked Lovely first tend to prefer that one and vice versa, so it is still well worth the read!

A very strong: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Other Reviews to Consider

• Betty’s Books
• Mind of a Bibliophile
• Books and Other Thoughts

Buy: Tithe from The Book Depository with FREE WORLDWIDE DELIVERY!

The woods came to the edge of the property: to the gravel of the drive, the electronic gate, and the green twisted-wire fence that kept out the boars.

I’ve heard many good good things about Guy Gavriel Kay’s writing, his ability to create wonderful characters, and a sense of place that puts you right in the middle of the environment he’s describing, that I had to give him a go. I’m happy to say, that, after reading this my first book by him, I was in no way disappointed.

Ned Mariner is a fifteen-year-old Canadian, spending a few Spring weeks in France, while his famous photographer dad, shoots some photos for a upcoming book in Aix-en-Provence, and his mother is in Dafour, volunteering for Medecins Sans Frontiers.

During a shoot at the Saint-Saveur Cathedral, Ned, leaves his father to work and wanders inside the ancient building to explore and listen to his iPod. Whist there, he meets Kate Wenger, a geeky but attractive American girl who quickly becomes a good friend, (and, who is in France as part of a student exchange scheme)  and is also a walking encyclopedia of history. In the cathedral’s ancient baptistry, the pair are surprised by a mysterious, scarred man wielding a knife who warns that they’ve “blundered into a corner of a very old story. It is no place for children.”

Soon after, Ned discovers a magic he never realised he had, and then he and Kate are drawn in to the middle of a story thousands of years in the telling, and then his family and friends, must come together (and in some cases face up to old hurts and grievances) to help Ned unravel the past and help change the story.

Whilst it is not a coming-of-age story, it is about Ned discovering his place in things, and growing to meet the challenge, but this can be said about other characters too.

I mentioned at the start about Kay’s ability to transport the reader right in the middle of whatever location he is describing, and his descriptions are at times breathtaking. You are right there in the middle of Aix En Provence, France. Watching the sun rise or set over the ruins and hill sides that surround the town.

And his characterisation is superb, both individually and in the group dynamics. One of the things that can completely sell me on a group of characters is how the author captures there interactions, particularly when they are laughing and joking and generally ribbing each other. This is what a real family/group of friends do to each other, and Kay captures it perfectly.

The ending is top-notch and so the book works perfectly as a stand alone novel and it certainly doesn’t need a sequel, but I enjoyed the characters so much, and there is more we could learn about them, that if it were possible to see Nick and Co again return in a future novel and I would be delighted to do so.

Other Reviews:

• Medieval Bookworm

Awards and Nominations:

• Locus Award Finalist (Fantasy Novel, 2008)
• Sunburst Award Honorable Mention (adult, 2008)
• World Fantasy Award (Novel, 2008)
• Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee (Adult Literature, 2008)

Buy, Ysabel, from Amazon.
Buy, Ysabel, from the Book Depository. (Free Worldwide Delivery)

Grass blades were tickling Thorn’s nose. This was always how it was when you were crawling on your belly. And often on it was when your were standing up too…

When 15-year-old Jewel Ranson’s father, a travelling trader, is murdered at a fair, she sets out to avenge him. Accompanied by Rainy Gill, a juggler, she discovers that a strange power is awakening in her and, in a notorious gambling den, becomes involved in a grisly wager. On his 16th birthday,

As part of a traditional rite of passage, Thorn Jack steals a curious crystal from a neighbouring settlement.  Returning home, ready to celebrate, he finds that his younger sister has been kidnapped. Along with the mysterious Racky Jagger he sets out to find her

After surviving acts of treachery, wild adventures and having some amazing encounters with new friends and foes alike, their separate quests lead Thorn and Jewel to a momentous meeting—and the discovery of a common enemy.

Blackmailed. Jewel and Thorn must journey to retrieve the mysterious brass key. Until they find it and return it , Thorn’s sister Haw remains at her captors cruel mercy.

Jewel develops a mysterious talent, which grows further when she comes across a crystal similar to the one stolen and hidden away by Thorn. It has a strange, dark power—but is there danger in its strength? Encountering unexpected, malevolent forces along the way, but also making new friends,

Jewel and Thorn discover a new and even more dangerous opponent lurking in the shadows behind those they already know.

And so, Jewel and Thorn’s story is told in the first two books of the Book of Lowmoor Trilogy. There’s a slight mystery in how I came to read these books, as well, I spotted them, in my local bookshop, just before Christmas, on the ‘Signed by the Author’ stacks, and I thought “Oh, I saw a review, for one of those the other week,” so I snapped them up. Can I find find the review? Not a trace! Despite being able to place the covers and vauguely relevant comments about the book!

So, if it was you, please wave and I’ll link your review!

Turns out as well, that the author was born and raised locally to me, which accounts for some slightly altered but recognisable place names.

From Richardpoole.net:

I was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, on New Year’s Day 1945 and brought up in a village on the edge of the city. Next door was a dairy farm; behind the house, a meadow stretched up to a reservoir beyond which lay a steep hill. On the further side of the ridge lay a wood that, to my child’s eyes, seemed to stretch on forever. When I began to write The Book of Lowmoor, I set the action of the trilogy in a distorted version of this landscape.

The books are well written and the two main protagonists Jewel and Thorn are both engaging characters. The adventures the duo have are original, often wild, and mostly fun (to read at least, not sure Jewel and Thorn would aways agree!) So everything was set up for the books to be really enjoyable, and they were, but yet…

For some reason, I never really engaged with them in the way I normally would do, and I’m not entirely sure why.

I think, possibly, its partially down to the fact, the duos meeting doesn’t happen until the end of the first book, and a similar event in the second. It’s a bit like, when a TV programme is going to have a “Big Event” ™ (murder, attack, reunion etc etc you know the sort of thing) and it happens in the final few seconds. Because it has been trailed, you’re waiting for it and so, you don’t engage with the rest of the show in the way you normally would.

That might be a bit rambly but it’s the only thing I can put my finger on.

Still, it is well written and entertaining and certainly worth your time.

• Jewel and Thorn Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
• The Brass Key Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
• Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Buy the books!