Home of innovative and original Young Adult fiction
Title: TorchfireAuthor: Moira BuffiniEdition: Kindle ARCRating: 5/5 The second gorgeous instalment in Moira Buffini’s trilogy, which began with Songlight (reviewed here). The world set up in the first book features a form of telepathy called songlight, which can be used to find other telepaths, or ‘Torches’, and communicate in images and words. As in the …
Title: SonglightAuthor: Moira BuffiniEdition: Kindle ARCRating: 5/5 What an absolutely gorgeous book! The story follows three women with a form of telepathy called songlight, which they can use to find other telepaths, or ‘Torches’, and communicate in images and words. In the world of the book, two countries are at war. One values songlight, and …
Title: After the FireAuthor: Will HillEdition: PaperbackRating: 5/5 Wow. This absolute page-turner is both heartbreaking and life-affirming, as the fifteen-year-old narrator tells the story of her life in a strict religious cult, and what happens when a government raid on their fortified compound brings everything she knows to an end. Moonbeam has lived in the …
Title: My Teeth in Your HeartAuthor: Joanna NadinEdition: Kindle ARCRating: 5/5 Another Netgalley ARC from UCLan Publishing, and another surprising, smart YA romance with compelling characters and plenty of emotional depth. I was hooked from the first page, and the story only became more gripping as the author built up the stories of Billy and …
Title: The Guidal – Discovering PuracordisAuthor: Roxy EloiseEdition: PaperbackRating: 5/5 I love a good, original YA Dystopia, and this ticked all the boxes! A training centre for teenagers learning to be Enforcers of curfew and other laws, arranged marriages, strict relationship rules, games with life-changing rankings for the winning teams, friendships and romances, a mysterious …
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Title: The Prisoner’s ThroneAuthor: Holly BlackEdition: HardbackRating: 5/5 Holly Black is back, and so are Wren and Oak, and I couldn’t wait to jump back into the story and find out what happened after the cliffhanger at the end of The Stolen Heir (reviewed here). This is a hard book to review without dropping spoilers, …
Title: Gorgeous Gruesome FacesAuthor: Linda ChengEdition: PaperbackRating: 4/5 Confession time: I love ‘behind the scenes in the music business’ stories. Think Daisy Jones and the Six, Coyote Ugly, Espedair Street or Almost Famous. I even loved Julie and the Phantoms. I don’t know what it is about catching a glimpse behind the curtain at the …
Title: Where Sleeping Girls LieAuthor: Faridah Abike-IyimideEdition: Kindle ARCRating: 3.5/5 An intriguing take on the unreliable narrator trope, Where Sleeping Girls Lie follows Sade as she finally leaves home to attend an expensive boarding school, following the death of her wealthy father. Her mother died when Sade was ten, and we very quickly learn that …
Title: Black HeatAuthor: Bex HoganEdition: PaperbackRating: 5/5 My absolute favourite book of 2023, Black Heat completely consumed me. Three strong female leads with very different lives, all affected by – and contributing to – a war they have been powerless to prevent. What do the princess, the blacksmith and the midwife have in common, and …
Title: The Thing About LemonsAuthor: Tasha HarrisonEdition: PaperbackRating: 4/5 This is a sweet YA romance, and therefore not my usual choice of reading, but it grabbed me from the start and kept the pages turning right up until the satisfying ending. It’s a perfect holiday beach read, with the power to make it feel like …