REVIEW: DANCE OF SHADOWS

Author: Yelena Black
Series: Yes, #1
UK Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's
UK Release date: 12th February 2013
Genre: Paranormal YA
Read via NetGalley

Dancing with someone is an act of trust. Elegant and intimate; you're close enough to kiss, close enough to feel your partner's heartbeat. But for Vanessa, dance is deadly – and she must be very careful who she trusts . . .

Vanessa Adler attends an elite ballet school – the same one her older sister, Margaret, attended before she disappeared. Vanessa feels she can never live up to her sister's shining reputation. But Vanessa, with her glorious red hair and fair skin, has a kind of power when she dances – she loses herself in the music, breathes different air, and the world around her turns to flames . . .

Soon she attracts the attention of three men: gorgeous Zep, mysterious Josh, and the great, enigmatic choreographer Josef Zhalkovsky. When Josef asks Vanessa to dance the lead in the Firebird, she has little idea of the danger that lies ahead – and the burning forces about to be unleashed . . .

As a child I always wanted to dance, so I was really excited to read about ballet 'behind the scenes'. There was something very idyllic and stylish about living in New York, and popping out with a cute guy for pizza. But the storyline was made up of two different subplots: Vanessa starting and settling into the New York ballet school, and the strange mystery of her sister who just mysteriously ran away and disappeared from the same ballet school a few years before. 

I enjoyed the balance of both angles - I loved finding out about the realities of living and studying in a ballet school. I’d already heard that it could be really tough, so it was interesting to see Vanessa making friends and flirting with Zep and also having to work really hard to train and learn new dances. Seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly was fascinating for me. And I also liked the mysterious goings-on and strange clues there were for Vanessa to follow, but I would have liked a few more twists and surprises as the plot was a little easy to guess.

Vanessa was driven by her search to find out what happened to her sister Margaret, and it some ways it was a little sad that she was so good at dancing but didn't fully appreciate and enjoy her talent for what it was. But the fact that she still wanted to find the truth was very noble and caring. When she started seeing strange things when she danced and kept bringing up her sister, I knew that others might start questioning her sanity and think she was losing it. And it made me feel nervous for her, as I really wanted her friends to believe her. Vanessa’s friends were cute, quirky and bubbly and their tight-knit little group felt like it was plucked straight from scenes of TV musicals like Glee. 

I wouldn’t say Dance of Shadows has the strongest plot, but for a younger audience I think this book would be a great insight into ballet school that also has a creepy, supernatural mystery running alongside.

Rating: 3.5*

WAITING ON WEDNESDAY: INK

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted over at Breaking the Spine, that highlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating. My choice this week is Ink. Not only do I love this cover, but I love that this book is set in Japan.

Ink by Amanda Sun
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release date: 18th June 2013
Genre: Paranormal

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe. I reached for it, flipping the page over to look.Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench.A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness.And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.
Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets.
Katie never wanted to move to Japan—now she may not make it out of the country alive.

What books are you waiting for?

TRAILER TUESDAY #5

The purpose of my weekly trailer teasers is to highlight some fab books (and/or their related movies). Here are this weeks trailer:

Ketchup Clouds by  Annabel Pitcher was published by Orion Books on 8th November 2012. (The kindle edition will be published on 27th December 2012.) Not only is Ketchup Clouds written by a British author, but this story sounds so unique and gripping. Plus I love the reddish, pink colours of the book cover and trailer!

I've done something wrong.
Not a little bit wrong or even quite a lot wrong.
What I've done is awful.
And do you want to know the worst thing?
I got away with it.

Fifteen-year-old Zoe is keeping a secret that she can't tell anyone. Stuart Harris is locked up on death row in Texas. Like Zoe, Stuart is no stranger to secrets. 
Or lies. Or murder. Full of heartache and humour, Zoe tells her story in the only way she can – in letters to the man in prison in America.

Armed with a pen, Zoe takes a deep breath, eats a jam sandwich, and begins her tale of love and betrayal . . .

You can read an extract from Ketchup Clouds here.

*****

The Host by Stephanie Myers was published back in 2009 by Little Brown. It took me a little while to get into this book as it was quite intense and had strong science fiction and dystopian feels to it, but I started I couldn't stop. I loved this book, and so I'm really excited that it has been filmed and will be in cinemas in Spring 2013. I beg you, whether you love or hate Twilight, give this book a read if you like sci-fi dystopians.

Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. Our world has been invaded by an unseen enemy. Humans become hosts for these invaders, their minds taken over while their bodies remain intact and continue their lives apparently unchanged. Most of humanity has succumbed.

When Melanie, one of the few remaining "wild" humans, is captured, she is certain it is her end. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, was warned about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the glut of senses, the too-vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

Wanderer probes Melanie's thoughts, hoping to discover the whereabouts of the remaining human resistance. Instead, Melanie fills Wanderer's mind with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she has been tasked with exposing. When outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off on a dangerous and uncertain search for the man they both love.

What do you think? Do the trailers make you want to read the books?

A - Z OF PEOPLE WATCHING: A IS FOR ANXIETY

Years ago, I took a degree in Psychology because I wanted to learn about human behaviour. However I didn't actually learn how to interpret body language or 'read' what people are thinking. Needless to say I was slightly disappointed by this. In both the areas of my life that I want improve, acting and writing, I want to understand people better. I want to be able to write about the little things that people do, the way that we react in different situations, the habits we display. And I want to find inspiration for my acting.

So this A - Z will be a weekly series of posts exploring human nature and behaviour by looking at everyday emotions, experiences, and situations. It will draw on my observations of other people, my own experiences, snippets from authors that write emotions/behaviour exceptionally well, or just some cathartic rambling. However I do hope you find these posts insightful, amusing or just a little bit interesting.

A is for Anxiety

Anxiety is something that I think everyone can relate to and understand. Whether it is a full blown panic attack, the nerves of talking to a large audience, or butterflies before a big exam, anxiety is something we all experience at some point in our lives.

For me personally, the height of my anxiety levels is on a rush-hour, busy tube. I don't know if it's the claustrophobia of so many people squeezed into one place with arms stretching  and bags poking into my back, the simple lack of fresh oxygen or the terrifying thought of being stuck underground in a cylinder of metal, but my rational mind goes out the tube window. Within minutes my heart rate sky rockets, my breathing becomes shallow and rapid, and my face flushes an unattractive, vivid puce.

The fear that I might be sick is compounded by the butterflies in my stomach, the sweaty palms, the wobble of the tube as it hurtles over the bumpy tracks, and the knowledge that I just can't escape until the next stop. The only way I've found to distract myself during the journey is to play word games in my mind and stop all thoughts from wandering to my own feelings of panic.

So when I reach my stop, I feel a complete and sweet relief as I jump through the tube doors. I can finally take a deep breath and feel my heart start to slow. I have escaped.

Having just finished reading Kendare Blake's amazingly creepy and well written Anna Dressed in Blood, I can't help but be reminded of the tension and anxiety that spilled from the pages. So here is a little snippet that perfectly describes Cas's fear and panic:

"I'd like to leave now. I'd very much like to leave now. The hairs are up on the back of my neck and my teeth would chatter if I wasn't clenching so hard. Given the choice between fight or flight, I would choose to dive out the window, knife in hand or not... After this is over, I might puke. Assuming, of course, that I'm still living."

Does this quote make you as anxious as Cas?
What situations make you nervous or panicky?

REVIEW: KATYA'S WORLD

Author: Jonathan L. Howard
Series: Yes, #1
UK Publisher: Strange Chemistry
UK Release date: 6th November 2012
Genre: Science fiction
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

The distant and unloved colony world of Russalka has no land, only the raging sea. No clear skies, only the endless storm clouds. Beneath the waves, the people live in pressurised environments and take what they need from the boundless ocean. It is a hard life, but it is theirs and they fought a war against Earth to protect it. But wars leave wounds that never quite heal, and secrets that never quite lie silent.
Katya Kuriakova doesn’t care much about ancient history like that, though. She is making her first submarine voyage as crew; the first nice, simple journey of what she expects to be a nice, simple career.
There is nothing nice and simple about the deep black waters of Russalka, however; soon she will encounter pirates and war criminals, see death and tragedy at first hand, and realise that her world’s future lies on the narrowest of knife edges. For in the crushing depths lies a sleeping monster, an abomination of unknown origin, and when it wakes, it will seek out and kill every single person on the planet. (Goodreads)

Katya, despite being only 15, was an extremely practical and logical young girl at the start of her navigation career. As her first job veered extremely off-course, she was able to come up with solutions to life threatening situations that even experienced war veterans weren’t able to think of. She was also very forthright and stubborn, refusing to be left behind from any dangerous missions on multiple occasions, despite the risks. All of these things made me like her a lot. She had smarts and balls!

The setting for the story is primarily underwater on a variety of different submarines. Russalka is a planet that has absolutely no land mass, forcing the inhabitants from earth to live under water, on submarines, on ships or on water platforms. This makes for a very interesting setting as the threats are different to normal sci-fi/YA, the obstacles characters face are very different, and because of this I found the story really engaging.

Outlaw Kane was a most secretive and mysterious character. He often withheld important information from the other characters and at best talked cryptically. I did expect certain things to be revealed about his past and links to Russalka, but never got any of this. I don’t know why but I expected more revelations and big surprises lurking in his past. I guess if this is the start of a series, there may be more revelations later on. Despite the fact that he has had a shady past, I couldn’t help but like him. I knew deep down he was a good man by the way he looked out for and protected Katya.

Although the current inhabitants of Russalka are long ago descendants of earth, specifically Russians, they have lost their sense of heritage and ancestry and formed a completely new identity and society for themselves. I liked seeing how a group of people from the same socio-economic and cultural group now lived without any earth history to go by. Even on Russalka, a people united against earth, they still managed to have their own factions and groups, and I thought that Jonathan L. Howard’s writing managed to subtly explore human nature and behaviour without overpowering the plot.

Katya’s World is an underwater, action packed adventure with a strong lead character and amazing space setting.

Rating: 4*

TRAILER TUESDAY #4

The purpose of my weekly trailer teasers is to highlight some fab books (and/or their related movies). Here is this week's trailer:

The debut dystopian YA novel, The Forsaken by Lisa Stasse, was published by Simon & Schuster in August 2012, but for some reason it has taken me until now to discover the trailer link in my inbox. Anyway, in case this book has slipped your attention (like it slipped mine) here is a quick recap of the blurb:

As an obedient orphan of the U.N.A. (the super-country that was once Mexico, the U.S., and Canada), Alenna learned at an early age to blend in and be quiet—having your parents taken by the police will do that to a girl. But Alenna can’t help but stand out when she fails a test that all sixteen-year-olds have to take: The test says she has a high capacity for brutal violence, and so she is sent to The Wheel, an island where all would-be criminals end up.

The life expectancy of prisoners on The Wheel is just two years, but with dirty, violent, and chaotic conditions, the time seems a lot longer as Alenna is forced to deal with civil wars for land ownership and machines that snatch kids out of their makeshift homes. Desperate, she and the other prisoners concoct a potentially fatal plan to flee the island. Survival may seem impossible, but Alenna is determined to achieve it anyway.

ON MY WISHLIST

Although my post today isn't part of the linked original meme, I just couldn't bear to think up another name for what is basically a post about books that I'm looking forward to. So anyway, here are books that I can't wait to read.

MILA 2.0 by Debra Driza

Published by: Katherine Tegen Books
Release date: 12th March 2013

Genre: Science fiction

Mila 2.0 is the first book in an electrifying sci-fi thriller series about a teenage girl who discovers that she is an experiment in artificial intelligence.

Mila was never meant to learn the truth about her identity. She was a girl living with her mother in a small Minnesota town. She was supposed to forget her past —that she was built in a secret computer science lab and programmed to do things real people would never do.

Now she has no choice but to run—from the dangerous operatives who want her terminated because she knows too much and from a mysterious group that wants to capture her alive and unlock her advanced technology. However, what Mila’s becoming is beyond anyone’s imagination, including her own, and it just might save her life.

Mila 2.0 is Debra Driza’s bold debut and the first book in a Bourne Identity–style trilogy that combines heart-pounding action with a riveting exploration of what it really means to be human. Fans of I Am Number Four will love Mila for who she is and what she longs to be—and a cliffhanger ending will leave them breathlessly awaiting the sequel.

*****

Taken by Erin Bowman

Published by: Harper Teen
Release date: 16th April 2013

Genre: Fantasy/Dystopian

There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends...and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?

*****

Freakling by Lana Krumwiede
Published by: Candlewick Press
Release date: October 2012
Genre: Dystopian

A thrilling, fast-paced dystopian novel about the dangers of unchecked power and the dilemmas facing a boy torn between two ways of life.

In twelve-year-old Taemon’s city, everyone has a power called psi—the ability to move and manipulate objects with their minds. When Taemon loses his psi in a traumatic accident, he must hide his lack of power by any means possible. But a humiliating incident at a sports tournament exposes his disability, and Taemon is exiled to the powerless colony.

The "dud farm" is not what Taemon expected, though: people are kind and open, and they actually seem to enjoy using their hands to work and play and even comfort their children. Taemon adjusts to his new life quickly, making friends and finding unconditional acceptance.

But gradually he discovers that for all its openness, there are mysteries at the colony, too—dangerous secrets that would give unchecked power to psi wielders if discovered.

When Taemon unwittingly leaks one of these secrets, will he have the courage to repair the damage—even if it means returning to the city and facing the very people who exiled him?


What books are you dying to read?

REVIEW: FATED

Author: Alyson Nöel
Series: Yes, #1
UK Publisher:
UK Release date:
Genre: YA
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

Until now, he's existed only in her dreams - but fate is about to bring them together.
I shove through the crowd, knocking into girls and bouncing off boys, until one in particular catches me, steadies me.
I feel so secure, so at home in his arms.
I melt against his chest-lift my gaze to meet his. Gasping when I stare into a pair of icy blue eyes banded by brilliant flecks of gold that shine like kaleidoscopes, reflecting my image thousands of times.
The boy from my dream. The one who died in my arms. (Goodreads)

Having read and really enjoyed Evermore, I've had a bit of an up and down journey with Fated. The writing style, which was in the present tense, was sometimes surprisingly jarring and off putting due to sentences that could go on for lines and lines, and the overuse of ‘–ing’ words. It just felt like a few sections of the book were written at different time periods or in different moods, because the style wasn’t fully consistent. But I know this isn’t representative of Alyson Noel's usual brilliant writing, and I’m willing to trust that these kinks will get worked out in the next books. Plus, I loved the Native American aspects to the story.

The setting really suited the magical themes of the book, drawing on animal guides, healing and the Day of the Dead to add magical context and depth to the story. The wild lands that Daire explores on horseback and visits for her quest sound so beautiful, despite being very remote and harsh. For me, these elements made up the best parts of the book and helped to keep me engaged with the story.

I have to admit I also had a love/hate affair with Daire. She could be extremely whiny and selfish, and a bit of a brat at times. When she acted like this I wanted to throw the book in frustration, and hopefully hit Daire with it and knock some sense into her. However in the second part of the book her character definitely changed and she became much more grown up and responsible and I started to like her a lot more.

Paloma is Daire's grandmother - and amazing. She's sympathetic, wise, and understands the balance of freedom and discipline. Her ancestral roots means she is into dreamcatchers, healthy diet, growing your own food, herbal potions, communing with dead relatives and so on. She was very cool, and it was Paloma that encouraged and guided Daire as she learnt to control her magical powers and venture into the spirit world.

Dace and his twin brother Cade were like polar opposites. Whilst Dace radiated kindness, his brother oozed false charm. Although with such a pleasant front and charming manner, it would have been hard to have imagined Cade as anything other than nice, if it wasn't for Daire's mysterious dream about the twins. Although her dreams included some steamy romance with Cade, she took time to get to know and trust him in real life, and I look forward to seeing where their relationship goes in the next book.

Fated journeys into the spiritual realms for a magical story.

Rating: 3.5*

COVER REVEAL: EMILIE AND THE HOLLOW WORLD

The cover art for Martha Wells' forthcoming book Emilie and the Hollow World has been released. And it is looking pretty cool.

Emilie and the Hollow World will be released by Strange Chemistry in April 2013.

I love the map imagery and the steampunk feel it has. It makes me think of Phileas Fog! I'm so excited to read this :D In case you are too, here is the synopsis:

While running away from home for reasons that are eminently defensible, Emilie’s plans to stow away on the steamship Merry Bell and reach her cousin in the big city go awry, landing her on the wrong ship and at the beginning of a fantastic adventure.

Taken under the protection of Lady Marlende, Emilie learns that the crew hopes to use the aether currents and an experimental engine, and with the assistance of Lord Engal, journey to the interior of the planet in search of Marlende’s missing father.

With the ship damaged on arrival, they attempt to traverse the strange lands on their quest. But when evidence points to sabotage and they encounter the treacherous Lord Ivers, along with the strange race of the sea-lands, Emilie has to make some challenging decisions and take daring action if they are ever to reach the surface world again.

The cover art was produced by studio amazing15.

What are your thoughts? Love the cover?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: JEREMY DE QUIDT ON THE FEATHERED MAN

Today I am really excited to have author Jeremy de Quidt joining me on the blog to talk about some of his latest book The Feathered Man, a historical YA with some creepy undertones and strong characters that delves into the concept of what happens after your last breath.

How would you describe The Feathered Man to a potential reader?

It’s an adventure, a dark, frightening adventure. I wanted to take the science and thought of the early nineteenth century - that Gothic world of Mary Shelley in which the boundaries of medicine and anatomy were being pushed forward - and mix it up with murder, and curse and the belief in an after life from an earlier, more distant time. It’s about a search for that unanswerable question - where does life go when we have breathed our last? Maybe it’s an answer it’s better not to know.

What sparked the ideas for this new book?

A present to my daughter Alice. A friend of ours gave her a life-sized wire and feather sculpture of a kneeling man. Alice hung it on her bedroom wall. I would go in to her room to say ‘goodnight’  and see its shape in the dark. I’d sit there on the edge of her bed and think to myself ‘there’s a story there.’

If you were to 'sell' The Feathered Man using a single quote or line from the book, what would you choose?

The warning given to Markus by Professor Karolus - ‘Curiosity is a killing thing.’

The Feathered Man is set in a German town in a long ago era. Did you need to carry out any research to help you write the book, and if so, what did you research?

I needed to have a grasp on the science and philosophy of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and of the beliefs and ritual of the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish Conquest. The town itself is made up - I dipped into every mental picture I had of a northern German town and fitted them together, though the twin-spired church is based on the Marienkirche in Lubec. It was on a postcard that someone once sent to me.

Who was your favourite character to develop and write for in The Feathered Man?

I liked writing Frau Drecht. She is simply so horrible. Cruel people are bad enough, but scheming cruel people are even worse - they are an absolute gift to a writer.

The Feathered Man touches on some thought-provoking issues such as life after death. Has writing this book taken you on any emotional/philosophical journeys.

It made me think about the conflict between religious belief and science, and the conflict between different religious beliefs themselves. And I had to think about an after life. I ended up asking myself what if there was one, but what if it was more broken and disfunctional than life itself?

When you were writing The Feathered Man what were the positive or challenging elements?

I found the difficult part was combining the real world and an after life - finding a way of running them together as one. The positive part? Actually making it to the end of the book.

Who would you say inspires you and your writing (people you know, authors etc).

I find I’m more inspired by object and image than by people or by other authors. I find it really difficult to read any fiction while I’m trying to write it myself. But it’s not the case that I see an object and think ‘I could make up a story about that,’ it’s more that it sets in motion a train of thought that leads to other things. Old photographs do that for me too. I love old photgraphs - they are a gold mine for imagination.

How has writing your second book differed from writing your first? Has it been easier, with the experience behind you, or more challenging?

It was far more challenging. When I wrote my first - The Toymaker - it was as a weekly instalment to tell to children at a local junior school. The only pressure was to make sure there was another instalment ready to tell them come Thursday. It was a different thing altogether knowing that I was writing a book that a publisher was waiting for. I think it’s an almost universal fear among second time novelists that the first was a complete fluke and that you are about to be found out in a big way when you try to write a second.

What can we expect next from Jeremy de Quidt?

I don’t know yet. I still haven’t quite put down THE FEATHERED MAN - I need to get a little more distance between him and me, and by then one of the ideas that is quietly working away in my head will have pushed it’s way to the front. I’ve got an opening scene I’d like to use though, and in it there is snow on the ground, and the breath of the man makes a small cloud as he walks towards the door of the carriage.

Thank you so much Jeremy for taking time to talk about The Feathered Man. If you would like to find out more about Jeremy de Quidt or his latest book you can find it here:

Goodreads
Jeremy's Blog on the David Fickling Books website

The Feathered Man was released on 1st November 2012 by Random House. You can read my review of it here or you can head on over to Amazon to grab yourself a copy.

REVIEW: THE FEATHERED MAN

Author: Jeremy de Quidt
Series: No, standalone
UK Publisher: Random House
UK Release date: 1st November 2012
Genre: YA, Horror, Historical
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

In a German town, long ago, lives a tooth-puller's boy called Klaus. It isn't Klaus's fault that he sees his master steal a diamond from the mouth of a dead man in Frau Drecht's lodging house, or that Frau Drecht and her murderous son want it for themselves.

He has nothing to do with the Jesuit priest and his Aztec companion who turn up out of the blue looking for it, or the Professor of Anatomy who takes such a strange interest in it. No, Klaus doesn't want any trouble. 

But when he finds himself with the diamond in his pocket, things really can't get much worse - that is, until the feathered man appears. Then they become a matter of life . . . and death.

The Feathered Man features some very strong characters, some of whom are very cruel and heartless. Particularly Frau Drecht who uses children as free labour and has an unusually high number of deaths in her boarding house. I loathed this woman and really wanted her to get her just desserts. In comparison, the two young children, Klaus and Liesel, were so innocent, naive and vulnerable. Because of this they ended up constantly on the run and all I wanted was for them to find safety and hope. My heart went out to them both because they had no parents or anyone to look out for them, and sorely needed someone to give them a hug, food and a warm bed. But in the poverty stricken German setting, safety and love were very hard to find.

The setting very much reminded me of Victorian London, due to the historical timing as well as the stark contrast between those with money and education and the poor struggling just to survive. There were also a fair few gruesome acts in the story from murder, torture and maltreatment which gave the town a very dark and sinister underbelly. This poverty meant that Klaus and Liesel were forced to work for horrible adults just to survive, and when they were both in danger (which was quite often!) I was wracked with fear for them. The plot also took a number of sharp twists and turns, and there was plenty of intrigue when new characters were introduced and I tried to figure out how hey might fit into the puzzle.

A huge part of the plot links to the spiritual and what happens after death. I’m not sure I completely understand the other world. In fact, if that’s what it is like afterwards, I’m not sure I want to know. And yet, the desire to know what lies beyond drove several of the characters to commit heinous acts of violence and murder. I did like that this spiritual element was balanced against the exploration of the physical through anatomy, and that the anatomists were intrigued in life after death despite having a scientific background. 

The Feathered Man is a dark and chilling tale of human nature and what happens when our curiosity about death exceeds the value of life.

Jeremy de Quidt is currently taking part in blog tour for The Feathered Man. Here on My Book Journey Jeremy will be answering some questions about his latest book – be sure to stop back on November 6th 2012. 

Rating: 4*

TRAILER TUESDAY #3

The purpose of my weekly trailer teasers is to highlight some fab books (and/or their related movies). Here are this week's trailers:

The first is a tribute to Halloween. It is the trailer for Alice in Zombieland by Gena Showalter published earlier this month by Mira Ink. A perfect read for Halloween!!

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.
Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.
Her father was right. The monsters are real….
To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

*****

Although I haven't read the Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick, I love the trailer for Finale. It really does tempt me to start the series! For those who want the last installment in the series, Finale was released a few days ago by Simon & Schuster:

Fates unfurl in the gripping conclusion to the New York Timesbestselling Hush, Hush saga.
Nora is more certain than ever that she is in love with Patch. Fallen angel or no, he is the one for her. Her heritage and destiny may mean they are fated to be enemies, but there is no turning her back on him. Now Nora and Patch must gather their strength to face one last, perilous trial. Old enemies return, new enemies are made, and a friend's ultimate betrayal threatens the peace Patch and Nora so desperately want. The battle lines are drawn—but which sides are they on? And in the end, are there some obstacles even love can't conquer?

REVIEW: TIME BETWEEN US

Author: Tamara Ireland Stone
Series: No, standalone
UK Publisher: Doubleday
UK Release date: 26th October 2012
Genre: YA, Romance
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility.
As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time.

I seem to have come across a few books or films lately that involve some sort of time/space travel, but for some reason I still find it really interesting. With Time Between Us, I was instantly intrigued and pulled into the story, particularly because of the mysterious prologue that was set 15 years before the rest of the book. I also liked that the story was set in the 1990s, with its grunge and rock references (where were you when Kurt Cobain died?). The time travel element added thought provoking "what might happen if" questions that made me think about not only the characters' potential futures but my own.

Anna was just amazing. I liked the way she tied her hair up with a pencil (something I do), wanted to go travelling, and liked rock/grunge bands. She was independent, down to earth and very cool, in a ‘I don’t even realise it’ kind of way. Whilst she wasn’t like her friend Emma who seemed to ooze charm and a sense of her own pretty outward appearance, Anna had so much passion and potential to do something different and interesting with her life, and I really wanted her to get the courage to go for it.

Although we didn’t know as much about Bennett, because he was the secretive ‘visitor’, I really liked him. Despite his gifts he was unpretentious and a nice, caring guy. His mysterious disappearances and appearances, whilst strange to Anna, weren’t quite so suspicious to me (having read the synopsis). But what I didn’t know was how things tied together later on. Being able to jump between times, there is likely to be some crossover of appearing in the same time, and it was these points that I found intriguing and kept me guessing. In fact I would have liked a little more on this to add a bit more complexity and mystery to the plot. Having said this, Time Between Us was well written and plotted out with events from different times or versions linking together and resonating nicely.

I also loved the ending to the book and the "message" that it conveyed. I don't want to spoil the book, so all I will say is that I wish I was more like Anna; brave and with her own amazing dreams and aspirations.

Time Between Us is a heart-warming romance fraught with suspense and mystery.

Rating: 5*

REVIEW: REVIVED

Author: Cat Patrick
Series: No, standalone
UK Publisher: Electric Monkey
UK Release date: July 2012
Genre: YA

As a little girl, Daisy Appleby was killed in a school bus crash. Moments after the accident, she was brought back to life. A secret government agency has developed a drug called Revive that can bring people back from the dead, and Daisy Appleby, a test subject, has been Revived five times in fifteen years. Daisy takes extraordinary risks, knowing that she can beat death, but each new death also means a new name, a new city, and a new life. When she meets Matt McKean, Daisy begins to question the moral implications of Revive, and as she discovers the agency's true goals, she realizes she's at the center of something much larger -- and more sinister -- than she ever imagined

Having absolutely loved Cat Patrick's Forgotten, I couldn't wait to read Revived. Like the former, Revived was a sharp and succinct standalone book. The theme of the book revolved a lot around life and death and had serious and sad undertones at certain points. Rather than feeling overwhelming and unnecessarily heavy, this was delicately balanced with the blossoming romance between Daisy and Matt and the heartwarming friendship Daisy had with Audrey.

Daisy was such an adorable protagonist. She's the girl-next-door kind of girl, at least when she's not moving around the country, because she's down to earth and very likeable. And I really liked how much of a good friend she was to Audrey. I always think you can tell a lot about someone by the way they are with their friends. Their friendship was a surprise within the book, and what happens later on in the book was such an ironic and sad contrast to what Daisy has experienced and what she knows.
The one potential downside about Daisy, which was a purposeful characteristic based on her own experiences, was her blase attitude towards her own safety. She could be reckless and thoughtless, but not in a bad way.

The unique development that has affected and shaped Daisy's life so much is Revive, an experimental and highly secretive drug that can bring people back from the dead. The fact that it was so secretive added mystery, and hints of paranoia/suspicions to the plot, and made it feel like Daisy was part of the FBI. Although the Revive drug gives the basis for the story and is an intriguing and slightly scary concept, I have to admit that Cat Patrick's character development and writing almost surpassed this for me. The secondary characters, including Audrey, Mason and co-blogger Megan, were brilliant. I loved the idea of Daisy and Megan's blog which drew on both random and relevant points in the story.

Revived is a beautiful blend of science fiction, humanity, emotional turmoil and romance. Another stunning read from Cat Patrick.

Rating: 5*

REVIEW: PANTOMIME

Author: Laura Lam
Series: Yes, #1
UK Publisher: Strange Chemistry
UK Release date: 7th February 2013
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Kindly given by the publisher for an honest review

R. H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic is the greatest circus of Ellada. Nestled among the glowing blue Penglass—remnants of a mysterious civilisation long gone—are wonders beyond the wildest imagination. It’s a place where anything seems possible, where if you close your eyes you can believe that the magic and knowledge of the vanished Chimaera is still there. It’s a place where anyone can hide. Iphigenia Laurus, or Gene, the daughter of a noble family, is uncomfortable in corsets and crinoline, and prefers climbing trees to debutante balls. Micah Grey, a runaway living on the streets, joins the circus as an aerialist’s apprentice and soon becomes the circus’s rising star. But Gene and Micah have balancing acts of their own to perform, and a secret in their blood that could unlock the mysteries of Ellada.

The rich setting for Pantomime encompasses elements of magic, fantasy and historical Victorian period. Ellada has all the finery of the rich upper class, contrasted against the poor and the beggars. Whereas Gene has all the luxuries of the rich, she still suffers from the restrictive traditions and formalities and from the burdens of a mother that wants her to marry well and be like every other girl coming of age. 

Then there is the circus; a whole different world in itself. As soon as you start reading Pantomime you are thrown into the Circus of Magic. I loved reading about what circus life is really like behind all the glitz and magic. There were so many different personalities and characters like the 'freaks' and clowns, and whilst I expected them to be like a big family I didn't quite expect the dark and sinister 'hazing' that Micah received when he started there.

The magical element in the story is Vestige and the mysterious Penglass domes. I wasn't really sure what exactly Vestige was, although it had a steampunk feel to it. I'm hoping that the world building and magic is explored in more detail in subsequent books, as there is so much potential for this to develop into something beautifully complex and colourful. Whilst this book focused more on the characters and their development, I would really love to find out more about the different countries and their dwindling magic.

What makes Pantomime different from so many other books out there is the big twist in the story. Actually I think there are two surprises. One I picked up on fairly early into the plot, as there were some little hints floating around. But the other I hadn't quite guessed, although it made sense when I found out. I can't tell you what these twists are, because it would completely spoil the story. But I will say that Pantomime will get you thinking, it will open your mind, and hopefully remind people that no matter what our differences everyone deserves to live their life how they want to, with freedom, equality, and respect. I also really admire Laura Lam for writing a book that dares to pick such a unique and slightly taboo topic and write it with really sensitivity.

Pantomime is a dark, gritty world where all the fun of the fair can turn sinister at any time.

Rating: 4*