I received a copy of this title from Hachette Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Verity Fassbinder is pregnant and on the job, investigating weiI received a copy of this title from Hachette Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Verity Fassbinder is pregnant and on the job, investigating weird occurrences around Brisbane. When a woman complains of a pattern of muddy befoulment of her upmarket house, Verity discovers that a bit of mud is just the tip of the iceberg.
It must be noted that Brisbane, my ancestral home and current shelfing ground, is not commonly the setting for books featuring fantasy and paranormal happenings. In fact, the last one I read with Brisbane as a setting was Jam by Yahtzee Croshaw, four years ago. Despite this, Slatter has had a damn good crack at trying to create a paranormal paradise in our fair city in Corpselight, with, among other creatures, a mud-slinging Scandinavian nasty and a skulk of kitsune who have no doubt taken advantage of the quick nine hour flight from their home country.
The quick-witted tone of Verity’s narration moves the plot along apace and despite the many, many references to her pregnancy in the first few chapters (including the truly remarkable revelation that at thirty-two weeks along, she sleeps soundly all night), it’s easy to get sucked in to the initial mystery on offer – the mysterious repeat appearance of stinky, coating mud inside an upmarket Paddington house. Much like in the Peter Grant series, Verity works with various connections in the paranormal underworld as well as seemingly ordinary people who have taken advantage of Weyrd-Human relations – the ubiquitous insurance agency chief amongst them – to dig deeper and uncover the truly unexpected source of the mud-slinging. I did find that the narration was slowed a little in the early chapters by information dumps about the events of the previous book. These were necessary from my point of view, considering I hadn’t read the first book, but I wonder whether there might have been another way to accomplish the same task without slowing the narration – a cast of characters at the beginning, perhaps, or something similar.
I’m sure that most readers won’t have any problem at all with Brisbane as a setting, but for some reason I found it enormously difficult to try and pair places mentioned that I know with the existence of fantasy elements. I’m not sure why that is. I’m sure if the setting was Melbourne or Sydney or some other Australian city I wouldn’t have had this problem, but because Brisbane seems so unlikely to me as a paranormal setting, what with being a resident, it took an awful lot of effort to suspend my disbelief. Although I will admit to a little flash of schadenfreude when I noted that the mud-afflicted house was in Paddington. Sucks to be you, richy rich!
There were some reasonably complicated reveals toward the end of the book relating to Verity’s mother and other family members, that may have been clearer to those who have read the first book, but provided for an action-packed finale. The fact that Verity gives birth halfway through the book was also an unexpected spanner in the works but provides a new lens through which Verity views the sinister events that are unfolding around her.
Overall, if you enjoy urban fantasy novels and appreciate some diversity in the paranormal creatures you encounter in your reading then you should definitely give Corpselight a go. If you aren’t a fan of jumping in at the middle of a series, start with book one instead – Vigil....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: Limpy, whose family owns a failing potato farm on the brink of foI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: Limpy, whose family owns a failing potato farm on the brink of foreclosure, desperately wants to escape to art school and pursue her dream. When she discovers a mysterious box containing even more mysterious eggs in the cellar, she unwittingly unleashes a historical nightmare that threatens to tear apart the final threads holding her family together.
Limpy is the only daughter in her family and was unlucky enough to have her mother die while giving birth to her. Her father is so stricken by grief that he keeps a potato-sack effigy of his dead wife in their home, her brothers are alternately bullying and selectively mute and Limpy wants nothing more than to escape her dreary existence and go to art school far away from their failing potato farm. After discovering a strange box in the potato cellar, Limpy begins to hope that maybe her impossible dream isn't so unlikely after all...but at the same time, she may have just unleashed an unholy terror onto the farm that could be the end of her broken family.
I thoroughly enjoyed this original and layered middle grade horror-action story. Other reviewers have compared the story to the film Gremlins and there are certainly shades of that fun film in the parts of the book relating to the "pets" that Limpy discovers, but in addition to that, Stewart has crafted an emotional story about grief, moving on and coping with change that is forced upon you. There's a definite atmosphere of oppression and depression that emanates from the descriptions of the farm and the town in general and the reader can definitely understand Limpy's deep need for escape. The depictions of Limpy's family life were, at times, difficult to read as the grief and anger of her father, particularly, is raw and toxic despite the passing of time.
When the creatures that Limpy discovers stop being so cute and fluffy in favour of being more scaly and rampaging, the book alternates between bursts of chaotic action and poignant personal discoveries, as Limpy and her family face their deepest fears in order to save themselves. Part of the emotional draw at the end of the story, I think, depends on the fact that Limpy is the only girl in this part of the story, and it is her older brothers and father (as well as some male neighbours) that have to put aside their bravado and acknowledge those things that make them frightened and hold them back.
I love that the author has selected a monster that isn't so common in children's literature, or "monster" stories generally, so the book provides an opportunity for young readers to discover a legend that they may not have encountered before. I would highly recommend this book to adventurous young readers who enjoy action and fantasy elements blended with real-life problems....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley for review.
DNF at 11%
When I requested this I remember thinking, "Should I?" and it tuI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley for review.
DNF at 11%
When I requested this I remember thinking, "Should I?" and it turns out I probably shouldn't. I put this down at 11% simply because I felt there was too much telling, with a first person narrator, and not enough showing, and the narrative style was quite staid, as it often is with historical novels of this era. I was quite interested in the demon element, but after 10% of the story the demons haven't done anything except hang around and so my interest wasn't piqued in the way that it might have been. If you enjoy historical fiction set in the medieval era this may be more to your tastes than mine....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: Tiffany Aching discovers some strange happenings on her farm, befI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
Ten Second Synopsis: Tiffany Aching discovers some strange happenings on her farm, before her brother is whisked away by fairy folk. In order to save him, Tiffany must team up with the Nac Mac Feegle to venture into the world of dreams.
This particular edition of The Wee Free Men is being marketed as a middle grade story, hence the middle-grade-ish cover design, but I can’t imagine many a middle grader will take to Pratchett’s style of humour much and would prefer to stick to thinking of this book as an adult fantasy fiction tale. I have found when reading Pratchett before that I really enjoy the first few chapters and then my interest tapers off, but with this story I maintained my interest throughout…mostly.
Tiffany is an independent sort of a nine-year-old, having grown up under the influence of Granny Aching, the previous witch of the Chalk and owner of two fantastic dogs. Tiffany feels the pressure to be as savvy and wise as old Granny Aching was, but senses that she doesn’t quite have the stuff to be the next Chalk witch…well, not yet anyway. Once the Nac Mac Feegle – little blue crazy fighting men with thick accents – become involved however, Tiffany discovers that she’s going to have to get her witch on whether she likes it or not. Add to that the fact that a fairy queen has scarpered with her younger brother and you’ve got the makings of an adventure to remember.
I can’t say exactly what it was about this story that made it different from others of Pratchett’s that I haven’t been able to get through, but I did enjoy Tiffany’s independence mixed with her completely understandable anxieties about becoming a witch while having absolutely no witchy skills to speak of. I did lose interest a little during the parts set in the fairy world – I find hearing about dreams tedious at the best of times and this section was set entirely in a selection of dreams – but overall I found the story engaging enough that I looked forward to getting back to it.
I can now safely put the others of the Tiffany Aching sequence on my to-read list, although I’ll take things slowly....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A collection of folk tales and legends from around the world retold I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A collection of folk tales and legends from around the world retold in vibrant graphic novel form.
If you are like me and find fairy tales and their retellings a mite tedious without some innovative new twist or format, then you will heartily appreciate Craig Phillips eye-poppingly viewable new collection, Giants, Trolls, Witches, Beasts: Ten Tales from the Deep Dark Wood. This beautifully presented, large format book contains ten fairy and folk tales from around the world in graphic novel format. Rather than ripping through the whole thing as I normally would with a graphic novel, I read one story a night until I had finished the book. This worked really well, because it gave me time to consider and absorb each story before moving on to the next.
I love graphic novels and I am lukewarm-to-openly-hostile toward fairy tales, so one might expect that I would find my enjoyment of this book to be fair to middling, but the strong illustrative element has swung this one for me. It seems, on reflection, to be an absolute no-brainer to liven up oft-told stories like fairy tales with vibrant illustrations but the use of full page illustrations in different frame layouts along with the traditional fairy tale style text and dialogue works incredibly well to flesh out the details and atmosphere of each story. Some of the stories here, such as the tale of Baba Yaga, the story of Snow White and Rose Red and the myth of Finn McCool will be familiar to many readers, but mixed in with these are less typical (if you are from a European background, anyway) stories, such as Momotaro, the peach-boy and the tale of the Polar Bear King who is forced to wear a fleece of feathers.
The graphic novel format is just genius because it instantly broadens the audience of the book. Teenagers, or older reluctant readers for instance, who might roll their eyes at the thought of reading fairy tales could easily pick up this tome without embarrassment and become absorbed in the visual appeal of the stories. The text is in that traditional, sometimes a bit convoluted, fairy tale style and so might be a bit tricky for the lower end of the intended audience, but taken with the illustrations, this book has high appeal to a whole range of reading ages.
I would absolutely love to see a follow up tome to this one from Phillips, with folk tales from an even wider range of cultures because the format is so readable and can so easily transfer between read-alone for confident readers, to read-aloud in a group setting, to read-together between parents and children snuggled up before bed. What an innovative new way to present some old classics that we feel like we've all seen before....more
I received a copy of this title from PanMacmillan Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Augie is stuck for the summer working on his parents fadingI received a copy of this title from PanMacmillan Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Augie is stuck for the summer working on his parents fading, fairy tale theme park, while also trying to think up a good idea for his Creative Arts project re-do. When unexpected wolfish behaviour starts to take over Augie's life, he'll need every friend he can find to come out the other side of the summer unscathed.
Return to Augie Hobble was a package of unpredictability from start to finish. Augie lives in a reasonably crappy amusement park based on a fairy tale theme and spends his summer sweeping up after guests and being picked on by bored teenage pranksters. In his downtime, he and his best friend Britt escape to their fort in the woods and attempt to create a Creative Arts project that will get Augie a passing grade. When Britt leaves on holiday and Augie has a strange encounter with someone in a wolf suit (or is it?), Augie's life takes a turn for the weird...er.
This book is a bit of a cross between a graphic novel and an ordinary novel, as it is heavily illustrated throughout. Along with the actual story the reader is privy to Augie's multiple attempts to create a passable project for his summer school Creative Arts class and these range from cartoons to illustrated stories to photographs. We also get to see some particularly .... unexpected ...scribblings that appear in the notebook. I use the word "appear" because Augie can't explain how they got there...although he has a rather shrewd idea.
I won't try to describe the plot of this story to you because it is twistier than a spring caught in an automated twisting machine - just when you think you can guess where the story's going - phwip! - something completely unexpected pops up to change things around. By the end of the book you'll have vicariously experienced lycanthropism, theft, ghost activity, a genuine cowboy horse chase, gypsy prophesying, time-lapse photography, poltergeisting for the win, agents working on a government conspiracy and festive decorating. By about two thirds of the way through the book I did feel that I had lost the thread a little because the plot was changing so quickly, but the writing is full of humour (some of it quite dark) and Augie is so relatable that I was willing to forgive a bit of disjointedness in the plot itself.
Presentation wise, this book will definitely appeal to young readers. The cover design is engaging and the sheer volume of illustrations throughout break up the text beautifully, giving readers of all abilities a chance to evade the monotony of black-on-white text. I'm not sure that the story will appeal to everyone - it has a unique mix of silliness and seriousness that I don't think I've come across before - but if you are a fan of quirky humour and unbelievable situations then you will definitely appreciate Smith's style....more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
DNF at 25%
I started off really enjoying this one, and in particular the idea of a malI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
DNF at 25%
I started off really enjoying this one, and in particular the idea of a malevolent storm that can snatch humans away. Once Nell's siblings and the witches into the picture however, my attention kept slipping away. I'm not sure what exactly it was about the story that wasn't grabbing me. I thought Nell was an original character with some fascinating characteristics. The mysterious man who was going to help the kids also seemed appropriately intriguing and the sibling banter was funny enough. Perhaps it was just a mood thing and it wasn't the right time for me and this book.
Ten Second Synopsis: Miku, Clair and their class are going on school camp - but Clair seems absentminded, to say the least, and before the class even gTen Second Synopsis: Miku, Clair and their class are going on school camp - but Clair seems absentminded, to say the least, and before the class even gets to the camp one of Miku's classmates has been preyed upon by a Yokai. When the camp leader suggests telling ghost stories around the fire, Miku knows that they are risking the Hyaku Monogatari - an ancient ritual that creates a super-demon.
The Filth Licker featured far more yokai than the first book in the series, with everything from the titular Licker, to weasels with sickles for hands, an invisible set of footsteps that just wants you to get out of his road and a devious, tofu-wielding monk. This one was so packed with yokai that it was a little hard to keep track of who was working with or for whom, and who had or hadn't taken over which character's body/thoughts/memory.
There is a lot of action in the second half of the book as the three protagonists head into the forest and are chased, kidnapped, set on fire, frozen and generally given the run around by various nefarious spirits.
I really like the idea of a Filth Licker demon (I've come across it before in other books - particularly Kathryn Tanquary's The Night Parade - and the one in this story is just adorable.I'm still enjoying coming across inexplicable spirits, like the tofu monk. These little insights into yokai culture make me want to bust out my Yokai encyclopedia and dive on in.
This story was lacking the creepy atmosphere of the first book and seemed to focus on the action scenes rather than developing any sense of suspense. Much was made early on of Cait's loss of memory and mood swings and I thought this was going to be more of a focus than it actually became. We still don't really know much about Miku's inheritance of her powers so I'm hoping that this will be fleshed out a little more in the third book....more
Ten Second Synopsis: Miku, who loved hearing stories of Yokai from her Baba, has moved to England with her family. When a disappearing visitor knocks oTen Second Synopsis: Miku, who loved hearing stories of Yokai from her Baba, has moved to England with her family. When a disappearing visitor knocks on the door, Miku is thrust into a dangerous situation, as Yokai of all types begin troubling the Takeshita family.
If you are a fan of fantasy and mild horror for middle grade readers, then this should be a delightfully dangerous change of pace, featuring, as it does, monsters from the rich and complex mythology of Japan. This opening book alone includes a nukekubi (a demon that can detach its head at night and send it out hunting), an amazake-baba (a demon that takes the shape of an old woman but brings sickness and disease if you let her in) and even some murderous curtains. And that's not the half of it.
If you are on the lookout for books featuring characters from diverse backgrounds, Miku and her family are Japanese, living in England. There are plenty of Japanese words and descriptions of various customs scattered throughout, as well as a glossary of the demons that appear in the story at the end of the book.
The plot is deliciously creepy without being outright scary and so is perfectly suitable for younger readers. As an adult reader I found it a fast and fun romp with a few spine-shiver-inducing elements. I read it over about three days in short bursts, so it's not an overwhelming read for independent young readers. Even though the protagonists are female, the action and monsters should appeal to young male readers also, making this a book that should be a winner for everyone!
Also, it's illustrated! Throughout the book there are single page illustrations that help to bring the monstrous demons to life.
I did have a few cringes at the plotting at some points. The heroines do overcome the demons at the end, but have a bit of help that comes along in quite a handy fashion. There are obviously parts of this book, such as the references to the Takeshita's house-spirit back in Japan, and the allusions to the powers inherited by the female line of the family, that will be expanded on further in later books in the series. This didn't bother me too much, because I already have the next two stories in my possession, but may be an sticking point for someone reading this as a standalone story.
The author also has a tendency to throw in apparently random occurrences here and there, such as the noppera-bo (faceless ghost) and the yuki-onna (woman of the snow). These characters don't end up having much to do with the story, so either they've been introduced to give the reader an idea of the variety of Japanese spirits getting around the place, or they might play a part in later books. Either way, their inclusion did amount to a number of red-herrings that ended up being a bit annoying because I wanted to know what their role in the story was going to be.
Overall though, this was a fun read and I can't wait to get stuck into the next in the series. ...more
I received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
DNF at 58%
Ten Second Synopsis: A surly teen is forced to move to the far north of ScanI received a copy of this title from the publisher via Netgalley.
DNF at 58%
Ten Second Synopsis: A surly teen is forced to move to the far north of Scandinavia on the whim of parents who want to take up tree farming. From the moment they arrive, strange occurrences start happening, but the father refuses to leave despite obvious impending doom.
I had high hopes for this one, given that it featured creepy trees - a collective character that, it must be admitted, surely doesn't get enough coverage in YA - and a cold, dark setting that I hoped would be a mental escape from the unrelenting heat of Australian summer. Unfortunately I ended up DNFing at just over halfway, having given the book plenty of time to grab my attention and hold it.
The two biggest problems I had with this one were the slow pace and the stilted dialogue mixed with tedious monologue. I just couldn't be bothered to stick around and find out what the trees were planning, or indeed, if they were planning anything at all and not just a figment of the narrator's imagination. The suspense aspect takes its time in building up, which is perfectly forgivable, provided the characters around which the suspense is building are interesting enough to inspire a sense of protectiveness from the reader. I found most of the characters to be reasonably unlikable - the teen narrator is angsty and moody, the father is arrogant and stubborn and the mother is overly conciliatory - and so would have happily seen them eaten by trees ...or whatever...and for this reason, somewhere along the line the suspense morphed into a sense of impatience and a desire for the trees to get on with eating the characters...or whatever.
The one character who was written to be off-putting, the housemaid Dorothea, actually turned out to be my favourite, simply because at least she had a bit of nouse about her. By the time I put the book down however, my feelings toward Dorothea had merged with my feelings for the hapless others and I would have been quite happy to have seen her eaten first...or whatever.
The setting was the definite standout of this story and set the appropriate tone of mild foreboding, and in some instances, blessed quiet. Had the pace of the book been a bit quicker or had I given a hoot about any of the characters, I probably would have finished this, but I just wasn't enjoying it enough to keep snow-ploughing on....more
I received a copy of this title from HarperCollins Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Lady Helen, Carlston and their assorted hangers-on are ensI received a copy of this title from HarperCollins Australia for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Lady Helen, Carlston and their assorted hangers-on are ensconced in Brighton to begin Helen's Reclaimer training. After being sworn in to the Dark Days Club, Helen is given a mission that causes chaos and distrust in her closest allies.
Society takes a back seat in this second offering as Helen's Reclaimer training begins in earnest. Almost immediately though, spanners are thrown in the works as the Duke of Selburn appears in Brighton on a not-very-subtle reconnaissance mission on behalf of Helen's older brother, while the man in charge of the Reclaimers, Mr Pike, turns up unexpectedly and changes the course of Helen's loyalties irrevocably. We also see a return of Delia, Helen's much-maligned friend, and Pug, who provides equal parts wingwoman and comic relief.
The tone of this book is one of underlying disquiet as events seem to conspire against Helen and her band of Reclaimer friends at every turn. Helen is forced to make decisions on the fly, the consequences of which could end up endangering people she loves, no matter which course she chooses. Essentially, this book is Helen's coming-of-age in the Reclaimer world. No longer is she a young lady to be protected and promenaded; Helen must now take her place as an active Reclaimer or risk her own life and the lives of those she loves. The events of the story do a great deal to advance the world-building and "rules" surrounding the bond between Deceivers and Reclaimers and as such, there is a lot of new information for readers to absorb and join the dots around.
Action is portioned out throughout the story, with subterfuge, underhanded deals and espionage more the order of the day, although the final few chapters certainly make up for any lack of chase, escape and derring-do that might be lacking in the earlier parts of the story. There are some important reveals in this story that will absolutely change Helen's role in the Dark Days Club as well as her role in life generally. Other parts of the story will make your skin crawl and the "ick" factor is certainly in play where particular characters of ill-repute are concerned. For the romance fans, you can cut the sexual tension between Carlston and Lady Helen with a knife (and between another pairing that you might not expect!) but for readers shipping that particular couple, it should be noted that the course of true love never runs smooth, particularly where demon-slaying is involved.
Once again, this is a hugely entertaining story with meticulous attention to detail for the time period and innovative fantasy elements from a strong voice in Australian YA fiction. If you are a fan of either historical fiction or fantasy, you really are missing out if you haven't added Lady Helen's adventures to your nightstand reading pile....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen and Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Frans is a reasonably content young school teacher who enjoys nothI received a copy of this title from Allen and Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: Frans is a reasonably content young school teacher who enjoys nothing more than sharing a tall tale (all featuring himself, of course) with the children he teaches. When one of his tales starts to permeate into his real life however, Frans is reluctantly drawn into a centuries old mystery and a plot to save a young boy from a fiendish foe.
After having put Dragt's The Letter for the King and The Secrets of the Wild Wood on my TBR list when they first came out, but never having got to reading them, I was excited to see The Song of Seven released, not least because it's a standalone novel. It took me a couple of chapters of delightfully vintage-feeling prose before I looked at the publishing information to find that rather than just being vintage-feeling, the text actually was vintage! I must applaud Laura Watkinson, the translator, for recreating that nostalgic tone of great children's literature of times gone by in this contemporary English release, because the story just oozes retro charm.
The most interesting thing about this book for young readers is that the protagonist, Frans van der Steg (or Frans the Red, as he calls himself when telling stories to his class) is an adult, and more than that, a schoolteacher! It's so rare to find contemporary children's stories that aren't told from a child's perspective these days that it certainly made the book immediately stand out for me as something different, and perhaps even timeless, as no doubt to a child, an adult is an adult is an adult, no matter what historical period you find them in. In fact, apart from the supporting cast of Frans' class and Geert-Jan, the boy confined in the House of Stairs, all of the main characters are adults. This collection of unlikely companions makes up a group of conspirators, who are invested in dealing with the prophecy connected with the House of Stairs, and Geert-Jan himself.
While the vintage tone of the book was definitely refreshing and cosy to fall in to, I did find that there were a lot of chapters in which not a lot happened. The author seems to delight in leaving Frans the Red in the lurch, and just when it seems he is about to make a breakthrough regarding the conspiracy, his fellow conspirators decide not to tell him, or something happens to ensure that the next key piece of information is left dangling, like a carrot on a stick, for Frans and the reader to chase.
Once Frans makes it into the House of Stairs as Geert-Jan's tutor, however, the pace begins to pick up and we are treated to yet more oddball adult characters, as well as a setting that must be seen to be believed. The climax of the tale comes together quite quickly and it is an exciting and unexpected ending that balances out the slower pace of the first half of the story. Throughout the book there is a definite sense of magical realism lurking behind the ordinary happenings, the fact that one of the characters is a magician notwithstanding. Even though I wouldn't class this as a typical fantasy book, there is an undeniable undercurrent of the uncommon and extraordinary between the lines of each page.
If you have a confident, independent reader in your dwelling who isn't afraid to solve a riddle, and wishes that their classroom teacher would spend a good portion of each day telling stories, then you should definitely nudge The Song of Seven in their general direction. If you are an adult fan of books for young readers and you love a book where the magic is in the nuance of the story, then I can't recommend this one highly enough. ...more
I received a copy of this title from Netgalley for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A craft book with a sweary, snarky, DIY difference.
If you are a fan of tI received a copy of this title from Netgalley for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: A craft book with a sweary, snarky, DIY difference.
If you are a fan of traditional cross-stitch samplers, look away now. In fact, you should probably shut your eyes and never open them toward this title again, because there is no sugary-sweet sentiment here. Nope, this book features antagonistic, sarcastic and downright anti-social slogans rendered in beautiful, folksy detail. From the mild and amusing “Go to Hell”, to the thought-provoking “Deflowered not devalued” to the eyebrow-raising “I have a raging heart on”, there is something for all tastes in this collection, unless of course you don’t appreciate sweary personal attacks. I nearly had to reach for my smelling salts after seeing “Shut your whore mouth” but I am an old-fashioned kind of gal.
Cheekiness levels aside, I did mention that this book has one genius feature, and here it is:
The pages are perforated.
This means that you don’t need to have any cross-stitch talent whatsoever and you can still display these delightful designs in your very own home! Just carefully tear out the design that takes your fancy, pop it in a frame and ta-da! Everyone will think that you are the instigator of a new snarky take on traditional folk art!
Some of the designs in this book won’t be to everyone’s taste, due to levels of sweariness and general antagonism, but there are lots of benign, funny designs in here too, that won’t cause your mother to rage or your grandparents to disinherit. If you are hankering after some modern cross-stitch art to hang in your home but lack the ability to bring your dream to fruition, let Bless This Mother-Effing Home do the dirty work for you....more
Ten Second Synopsis: A brief history of the game of Quidditch, its origins, rules and contemporary teams.
If you are a die-hard fan of the Potterverse, Ten Second Synopsis: A brief history of the game of Quidditch, its origins, rules and contemporary teams.
If you are a die-hard fan of the Potterverse, then it would be remiss of you not to read this book. It's certainly one that you can fit in to a lunch break or two, coming in at well under 100 pages. The book was originally penned to raise money for Comic Relief, so it isn't any deep exploration of the game of Quidditch, but rather a mostly-humorous look over the game itself and how it came to be, as well as dropping a bit more information about the Quidditch league for those Potter fans who like to go the extra mile, trivia-wise.
The most enjoyable part of the book for me was reading about all the different international Quidditch teams and how they came to be. I was surprised to learn that the Americans have their own spin-off of Quidditch called Quod, which is at least as exciting and deadly as Quidditch itself.
I wouldn't go out of your way to read this if you haven't already, but if you've got a spare half-hour with nothing to fill it, this would be a suitable way to pass the time. It may also have kindled my interest a bit more regarding finding out about the new Fantastic Beasts movie/screenplay and deciding whether or not I will bother with it....more
I received a copy of this title from Walker Books Australia for review.
3.5 stars
Ten Second Synopsis: Hana lives in the shadow of her parents' grief forI received a copy of this title from Walker Books Australia for review.
3.5 stars
Ten Second Synopsis: Hana lives in the shadow of her parents' grief for her lost older brother. When the opportunity arises for Hana to end the curse that plagues the people of her village, she sets off into the Dark Woods and discovers something she didn't expect.
This is a deeply atmospheric foray into family tragedy and having the strength to follow one's own mind in the face of opposition. As retellings of fairy tales go, setting one in a fantasy version of historical Japan is a stroke of genius. I will admit that this was the element that drew me in to this book. The first few chapters, in which we are introduced to Hana, her peculiar ability to talk to trees, and the shadowy curse plaguing her village, had me immediately hooked. The writing is laden with imagery and Hana is shown to be kept on the outer by her peers, troubled by grief and family tragedy and yet steadfast in knowing her own mind. The historical setting of the book felt so unlike any fairy tale I have read before that even though the book is a retelling (or re-imagining, I suppose), there is no deference to the usual tone and motifs typically seen in YA retellings of such familiar tales.
As I mentioned earlier, the strongest parts of the novel for me were the beginning and end, as both of these took place in Hana's village. In the beginning, as the story moved on and we discover more about the curse of the Dark Wood, I was a little bit sad to let go of the down-to-earth aspects of the story to engage with the fantasy elements, which is unusual for me, but I'm sure those that love fairy tale retellings will adore the unique setting for the Beast and the other forces that manipulate the Dark Wood. It was great to see a bit of influence of Japanese fantasy culture included here, with a truly frightening spirit throwing her weight around in the latter stages of the story. If I'm honest, I could take or leave the "romance" bit, which read more like a developing relationship and building of trust than romance (thank goodness!) but the atmosphere and imagery generated by the writing were absolutely absorbing and so I can definitely recommend this to those who love retellings, or indeed those who love a good historical fiction with a fantasy twist....more
I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: River is starting afresh at a new school and like everyone else, is I received a copy of this title from Allen & Unwin for review.
Ten Second Synopsis: River is starting afresh at a new school and like everyone else, is drawn to the Grace siblings like a moth to a flame. When River manages to form a friendship with Summer Grace, her life becomes all that she wants it to be...but are the rumours of a Grace curse true?
This is a deep exploration of identity, loyalty, belonging and exerting one's power in the fraught social world of the teenage years. I didn't think that I would be pulled in to The Graces as much as I was, but I was quickly won over by the focus on character development and the ways in which people will lie, keep secrets and remake themselves in order to fit in.
Everyone in River's town believe that the Grace family are witches. The three Grace siblings - twins, Fenrin and Tahlia, and younger sister Summer - float through school untouched by the problems of the common people, despite rumours of revenge and trouble that may have been dished out to those who defied the Graces in the past. River, desperate to remake herself in this new environment, is somehow able to find her way into Summer's good graces, and from there into the Grace family itself. What she discovers is a tight-knit, exclusionary, possibly paranoid vision of their place in the world - a place she wants to share.
For the most part, this story is firmly grounded in human relationships - parents exerting their will (and fears) on children, sibling loyalty, friendship defined by secrecy - but towards the end, a more obvious element of fantasy emerges. I was slightly disappointed by this, because I thought that the character development and psychological twisting and turning between the Grace siblings and River was compelling enough that the story didn't need any fantastical trappings. Also, the fantasy element shows the story up as a series-opener, which heightened my disappointment. I felt that this story had everything it needed to pack a memorable and thought-provoking punch contained within its pages, without having to add anything other-wordly to the story, and I don't want to see that watered down by a focus in the next book on fantasy, rather than human nature.
Despite that little niggle at the end, I can heartily recommend this to readers of YA who are looking for an examination of human relationships and the price one might be willing to pay in order to be included.
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