Book trailers!!

Hello, happy Saturday folks! Just a quick post today to share two trailers with you! The first up is for a book I cannot wait to get my hands on and the second is for a book thats sat on my TBR pile begging me to pick it up already, which I just might have to do soon!! 

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Frostfire - Zoe Marriott

Frost is cursed - possessed by a wolf demon that brings death everywhere she goes. Desperate to find a cure, she flees her home, only to be captured by the Ruan Hill Guard. Trapped until she can prove she is not an enemy, Frost grows increasingly close to the Guard’s charismatic leader Luca and his second in command, the tortured Arian. Torn between two very different men, Frost fears that she may not be able to protect either of them ... from herself. (Goodreads Summary) 

Walker Books - June 6th 

I LOVE this trailer, its so atmospheric and I'm really hoping that this actor represents the MC well because I like her in the trailer! I love Zoe's books and I doubt Frostfire will be any less loved than the others! 

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Seraphina - Rachel Hartman 

Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend court as ambassadors, and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty's anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.

Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered—in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen's Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift, one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life. In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina's tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they've turned the final page. (Goodreads Summary)

Random House Children's Publishers - 19th July 


I love the trailer but the narrators voice is a little off putting for me, but it still gets me excited to get round to the book and makes me intrigued about what's going to happen!! 


Hope you enjoy these trailers too, let me know what you think in the comments! 

The Chaos (Numbers #2) - Rachel Ward

“The knock on the door comes early in the morning, just as its getting light.

‘Open up! Open up! We’ve got an Evacuation Order on these flats. Moving out in five minutes. Five minutes everybody!’

You can hear them going down the corridor, knocking on doors, repeating the same instructions over and over. I haven’t been asleep, but Nan nodded off in her chair, and now she jerks awake and curses.”

When Adam and his Nan move back to London, he starts seeing the same number over and over and knowns that somethings up. Adam is just like his mum, they could both see the numbers - the dates of people’s deaths when they look into the eyes of individuals. In London Adam keeps seeing the same date: 1st January 2027.

Sarah has a nightmare, the same one thats been coming for a few months, theres a boy in her dream and a baby. There’s fire and screaming and crying. Then one the first day of school she sees Adam and as soon as she sees him, she knows its him, the boy from her nightmare. That night there’s a new addition to her dream: 1st January 2027. 

As the terrifying date gets closer both know somethings going to happen. Something big. But can either of them do anything about it? 

***

I loved the first book in this series, Numbers, and I really couldn’t wait to read the second after I finished the first. However, that was over a year ago and I’m only just getting to the second, and that’s really bad of me! 

Anyway. The Chaos was just as exceptional as the first book, and even better in places. I couldn’t remember much of Numbers but it didn’t matter as The Chaos could easily be read as a standalone, with the only real connection being that Adam, one of the main characters, is Jem and Spider’s son, from the first book. It doesn’t really make a huge difference if you don’t know that because the major things about the first book are mentioned early on. 

The story is very much Adams, its all about his way of coping with the numbers and what happens as he starts to realise something’s going to happen on January 1st. Its told in split persepctive from Adam and Sarah’s point of very - something which is done well in this book - and I’ll admit, at first I was a bit off with Sarah because I didn’t know why she needed to be there, but once the story grew I grew very attached to both characters. 

Sarah had her own more personal part within Adams story and I really liked the touch. It made for a very powerful conclusion to The Chaos but that’s all I’ll say about the end. During the book though it made me see more depth into the characters and how Adam has the weight of the world on his shoulders but can still be a caring human being. Sarah was just incredible and I couldn’t imagine what she was going through. You find out early on that the baby in her nightmare is hers but at the beginning of the book she’s pregnant with it. You also discover other things and the events that happen to her throughout the book are heartbreaking. I wanted to gather her and Adam up into a huge squeeze of a hug when I finished The Chaos!

other minor characters make a huge impact on the book too, Adams Nan, Val, is just as amazing as she was in the first book - the only thing annoying me about her is that I was convinced she was his great-nan because I’m certain she’s Spiders Nan but it wasn’t verified and I don;t have a copy of the first book. Val was all heart and she loved Adam so much, she was strong and brave and just amazing as a character. Then there’s Nelson who was spectacular, I really would love to know what actually happened to him though... He was a whiz kid and you could tell he wasn’t overly comfortable with Adam but he was awesome and always keen to help.

There are so many aspects of this book that I haven’t even talked about but I’m running out of time. The Chaos is a non too distant future based book which could quite probably be labelled as slightly dystopian. There are microchips inserted into children at birth so they can be tracked and there’s something going on under the surface thats not right. Other topics are so realistic and brutal though that you will not associate The Chaos with other dystopians at all and its an incredible book in its own right. 

The Chaos is the second in the Numbers series. It was published by ChickenHouse in June 2010. The third in the series, Infinity was released in June last year. The Chaos was recently treated to a cover redesign which you can see to the right. My copy was sent in exchange for an honest review from the publisher. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Adorkable - Sarra Manning

“‘We need to talk,’ Michael Lee told me firmly when I stepped out of the makeshift changing room at the St Jude’s jumble sale, which was actually four curtained rails arranged in a square, to have a good preen in front of a clouded mirror.”

Jeane was happy, she had half a million follower on twitter, a blog and her own lifestyle brand that was fast becoming an international phenomenon and a boyfriend who, well... he was nice enough. Then Michael Lee came along. Star of the school, the stage, even the football team, Michael had it all, even the beautiful airhead girlfriend. Then he noticed something between Barney and Scarlett. When the two couples fall apart is it possible that Jeanes ex boyfriend and his ex girlfriend are better suited with each other? And if so, why does that mean Jeane and Michael keep ending up snogging too? 

***

I don’t think I can put my love for this book into coherent sentences. I seriously don’t think I can, so I’m going to try and write a letter to Adorkable instead.... 

Dear Adorkable,

I knew I’d love you from the minute I saw your title and your authors name. Sarra has been a favourite of mine since I was a teen myself. Pretty Things and Guitar Girl were amazing, but those, your big sisters in a way, are nothing compared to you. 

You are sweet, funny, crude and oh so real. I could relate to Jeane more than I’ve ever been able to relate to a main character and I thank you for letting her take centre stage. Jeane’s a strong willed girl but theres only so much strong will a girl can have when she’s 17 and alone, I know that. 

I loved how brutally honest you were with the portrayal of families and how different people have different families, including those who have more friend-families than real ones. I loved how Jeane had so many online friends because in all honesty, I have more of those than ‘real life’ friends too. And lets not forget the feminism and sex stuff... ahh what a breath of fresh air. The way you handle sex is awesome especially, its not always love-y dove-y and its not always well thought out, and thats not always a shocking awful thing. 

Thank you for also letting Michael share the stage and have his side of the story included. I’m a big fan of split-narrative in books and I think you did it so well. The two voices were so different that I never had problems confusing them and it really helped me understand why Michael was the way he was... which was lovely, most of the time. 

I loved the way the story panned out and all the things that Jeane and Michael experienced on the way, Michaels family were so lovely and even his group of friends could be pretty nice, except Heidi, why did you have to let her spoil things Adorkable... I probably could have done without her. Saying that though, Jeane’s friends were even better and I loved the relationship she had with Molly, Ben and Gustav. They were quirky and a variation of personalities, which as I’ve got older I’ve discovered is what your friendship group does actually turn out to be the case. 

Most of all I loved how you show that people have to be true to themselves. They shouldn’t let others influence them too much and they should be who they want to be. If they aren’t with the right person or in the right group of friends then they shouldn’t stay there. If they aren’t being honest about who they are then the should be because they’ll be happier. Thats something I struggled with a lot as a teen and I really wish I had you to help guide my way back then. 

I really hope that so many teen girls and boys read you and fall in love the way I did. 

Sorry for the gushy love letter... I will stop now and go search for some plaid golf shorts on ebay, because they truly sound amazing! 

Yours forever,

Raimy 

Adorkable was published on May 24th by Atom. My copy was purchased from the Waterstones website. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Soul Beach - Kate Harrison

“The girl is dead, no doubt about it.

That face, the one that launched a billion internet clicks, is flushed, as though she’s spent too long in the sun. Somehow, her skin still glows - one of the TV critics called her dewy - but that won’t last, of course.”

When Alice receives an email from her sister she is stunned. The emaill arrives on the day of a funeral, a funeral of someone who’s been dead for four months, her sisters funeral. It must be some kind of sick joke, someone must have hacked Meggie’s emails. But then an email arrives inviting Alice to Soul Beach, an online community of glamourous, beautiful, young people, who all happen to be dead. It’s the one place where Alice can talk to Meggie and find out if she knows anything about the person who murdered her. 

***

When Soul Beach came out last year I heard nothing but good things, I kept meaning to get hold of it but kept forgetting about it when I was in bookstores and browsing online. I knew it was one I wanted to read but for some reason it was pushed to the back of my mind. Then I was offered the second in the series for review and the time was right for me to read Soul Beach. 

There’s a reason all these good things were floating around the blogosphere about Soul Beach, not only is it a great mystery and thriller, its a brilliant contemporary that deals with grief, love, family and handling life and death. Alice’s sister was famous because of a reality TV show and then she was dead. But this online community allows Alice to connect with Meggie and her new - dead - friends, and Alice realises she can help them.

The story is quite an interesting one, it very much transpires that Soul Beach is like Limbo, its where people go when they die and have unfinished business. Alice thinks she can help but quickly gets sucked in to live on Soul Beach... It might sound like Ive told you the entire story there but there’s so much covered in this book that I haven’t and it doesn’t get too much at all, it makes it all very exciting. 

Alice is such a sweet character, she’s racked with grief and can’t seem to operate real life following her sisters murder, which is understandable really. I liked that she didn’t jump to conclusions about things but she did rush into things a little bit which worries me a little. Meggie is the best big sister and such a realistic one, they are friends but they are still sisters and it made me love the pair of them. Cara is a really good friend to Alice but I can understand why she acts the way she does, she wants to help but doesn’t know how and its hard for them both... and Robbie, he does seem a bit wet but he was a nice lad... thats about all you can say for him. There’s too many people in this book that I didn’t quite grow to like and I think everyone, in my head, is a suspect as to Meggies murderer, especially a couple of the boys, including Lewis, Ade and Tim - Meggies boyfriend who the police believe to be the biggest suspect. 

Soul Beach is the first in a trilogy and becuase of this there are a lot of unanswered questions, including the identity of Meggie’s murderer. I liked that there was a kind of separate investigation going on though and I really loved Triti and finding out more about her was really eye-opening. I wanted her to stop hurting and it hurt so much to read about what happened to her. 

I really loved Soul Beach. There was something missing for me. I don’t know what it was but I couldn’t give the book five stars, it was amazing and I really enjoyed it but something didn’t sit right and I think it might have been the lack of answers. However the story really gripped me and the different themes included really helped make this book something unique. I also really, really liked the passages included from the murderers point of view and how it changed parts of the story. 

I really cant wait to read where the story goes next and thankfully Soul Fire is ready waiting for me to read. I wasn’t planning on reading it straight after soul Beach but no I’ve finished that, I might just have to.

Soul Beach is the first in the in the series of the same name, it was published in trade paperback in September 2011 by Indigo, and released in mass market paperback in May 2012. The second, Soul Fire is due for release on July 5th. My copy was sent in exchange for an honest review from the publishers. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Torment - Lauren Kate

***Torment is the second in the fallen series by Lauren Kate. Whilst I have taken care not to, if you have not read the first, Fallen, then this review may contain spoilers.***

“Daniel stared out at the bay. His eyes were as grey as the thick fog enveloping the Sausalito shoreline, as the choppy water lapping the pebble beach beneath his feet. There was no violet to his eyes now at all; he could feel it. She was too far away.”

Luce and Daniel are forced apart as the danger to Luce is increased. Whisked away to another strange school Luce is angry that Daniel cant stay with her, wontexplain anything to her and she’s having to work it all out for herself. At this new school Luce is faced with more Announcers - the shadows which have been following her all her live - and now she thinks she knows how to handle them she starts searching for clues to her past lives. But as she finds them she becomes more and more convinced that Daniel is hiding something big from her, are they really meant to be together forever? Has he lied about their past? Is Luce in as more danger as he says, considering he wont even tell her what she’s hiding from?

*** 

Torment is the second in the Fallen series, the first of which I read way back in February. I was excited to get round to it but other books got in the way and it somehow ended up being three and a half months before I read it. This caused a few problems for me as I couldn't quite remember what happened and Torment doesn't take you step by step through it all, but it does give hints and clues so i remembered along the way. 

Now if you read my review of Fallen you may remember that I liked it but couldn’t explain why... well Torment was a bit the same. I liked it more than Fallen because more things were explained and the action was really awesome and some of the characters were amazing. But Torment still had so many unanswered questions and I’m sorry but both Luce and Daniel annoyed me a little. 

Firstly Luce, she was better in this book than she was the first I think. She stood up for herself a bit more and started thinking for herself. However there were far too many times she let herself be told what to do and when she started arguing back she was stopped by Daniel kissing her... not cool. I wanted her to have more of a backbone and think more on her own, which started happening but then she went and ruined it all at the end of the book. I wont go into what happens at the end in detail obviously but Luce seemed to go from a spineless naive girl, to one who thinks more for herself and questions other poeple, to a completely selfish bitch. I cant believe what she did at the end of the book with no thought as to what it would do to the others, and I’m not talking Daniel but her parents, Shelby, Miles and Callie, poor Callie who has no idea what was going on or what she had just seen. I couldn’t do that to my best friend and I cant believe Luce did it. 

Anyway... rant over. Daniel... he was also very annoying, he seemed really chauvinistic and bossy and just annoying. He thought he was protected Luce and couldn’t seem to see that the reason she kept trying to do stuff on her own was because he hadn’t told her everything that was going on. He went crazy about her hair colour like it was something he had a say over and he just bugged me. Right to the end of the book... I’m sorry but its no surprise that Luce started thinking “what if” about their relationship and Miles would have looked hot to me too. 

The other characters though were great. I loved the mystery behind Francesca and Steven. I loved Shelby after a while, she really grew on me and I really loved that Arrianne and some of the others like Gabbe turned up. I even liked Molly in this book! Most of all thought I liked Miles, he was funny and sweet and didn't come across all macho and stuff except when he was bickering with Daniel. The slight love-triangle think going on between Luce, Daniel and Miles was a bit meh but I could see its benefit to the story. 

I think the most interesting and enjoyable thing about Torment is the answers you get and the glimpse into the lives of the angels. I really liked how the lines are blurred between good and bad, right and wrong and Steven and Francesca's relationship further intensified that. The Outcasts were also a great addition and I liked the lore behind them too, especially the way Cam described them as being those people who say their going to a party but think they're too cool to actually turn up etc.. that was really interesting. 

All in all I did enjoy Torment and need to carry on with the series. I honestly think this is my book equivalent of peoples liking of Hollyoaks, I don’t know why I like it as much as I do, but I can’t help it. The beautiful writing and action and romance just sweeps me away even if I don’t always like where it takes me, I can’t help but enjoy it. 

Torment is the second in the Fallen series and was published in August 2010 by Doubleday, a Random House imprint. My copy was won in a giveaway at Feeling Fictional. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Readaraptor on Holiday!

Just a quick post to let you guys know that I'm away this week. I won't be back until Tuesday 26th June and won't be posting anything until then. I won't be checking other blogs either, and will probably be so far behind when I get back that I'll never see them! though I will try!! 

Anyway, I'm in sunny Spain, don't hate me too much! I'll be reading lots and when I come back I'll have more reviews, news and a few event write ups including one from Keris Stainton's book launch for Emma <3's LA and the Random House Book Blogger Brunch.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share with you to the wonderful trailer for the upcoming movie based on Jenny Downham's Die for Me... 

I think it looks really good and I can't wait to get my copy of the book read!! 

So just to add, I won't be checking my emails when I'm away either and I will probably be quite absent from Twitter so don't miss me too much... 

ps. I have someone house-sitting so don't use this opportunity to come rob me, you will be met with a bonk on the head!

Letterbox Love (#8)

Hey! Welcome to Letterbox Love, this is a UK meme, hosted by the lovely Lynsey at Narratively Speaking and inspired by The Story Sirens In My Mailbox, where we highlight the books we got in the post and beyond!!

sorry for the eye rubbing - I had something in my eye the entire way through the video! ouch!! 

For Review:

Pushing the Limits - Kate McGarry

Time Between Us - Tamara Ireland Stone 

Muddle and Win; The Battle for Sally Jones - John Dickinson

Never Fall Down - Patricia McCormick 

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

Before I Die - Jenny Downham 

Thank you to MiraInk and Random House (and its imprints) For these!! 

Gifted:

Mist - Kathryn James 

When You Were Mine - Rebecca Serle

Shift - Em Bailey 

Thank you to Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies for these!! 

Witchcraft Blog Tour: Researching Vampires & Witches Part One - Witches by Emma Mills

As the debut author of ‘Witchblood’ releasing the sequel, ‘Witchcraft’ this week, I thought I’d write this post on research, seeing as it seems to be the question that has cropped up most over the last few months. Only last night at my local book group (discussing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is an amazing book, by the way) we found ourselves discussing how writing research has changed over the last ten years. As I have only been writing for a couple of years I have had it easy. There is only one word I need to use…Google!

Before the internet people must have spent their lives in city libraries, spending hours trying to find two lines facts and information to support a single paragraph of their novel.  Sure I do have several really good informative books on Wicca, Witchcraft and even a book on the history of vampires, but the majority of research I do consists of me typing my question into Google and seeing what comes up. Of course a lot of vampire and witch lore is also found in reading novels in the same genre… and this part is easy, I love YA supernatural fiction!

Witches
Compared to writing about vampires, I find writing about witches a little more tricky, mainly because there are two types. There are fictional, broomstick flying witches and there are real Wiccan and witchcraft practising witches, and by writing about one, you need to be careful you don’t offend the other. I have to say personally I love all things witchy. I have read many books on Wicca and witchcraft and find it very interesting. I love my collection of crystals and am not averse to the odd candle/herb room cleansing.

 
My ‘Witchblood’ witches are a fun mix of both plausible and fantastical. I have tried to weave plausible spells and chants into the writing and I did a lot of internet research on ley lines and Wiccan practices such as grounding. Having said that, I then used artistic license and a dash of imagination to stretch those boundaries. My ley lines are used to travel in, a super highway for supernaturals! Spells go wrong, windows explode and fingers are broken one by one with dark magic. 

Unlike vampires, I have not read many fictional books about witches, naturally I have read Harry Potter, but then who hasn’t? And only a couple of months ago I came across a great new series by Dianna Hardy, throwing witches, demons and angels into the mix. I haven’t read L.J.Smith’s ‘Secret Circle’ books, but I do adore the TV series, and I grew up watching ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’ and ‘The Craft’.    

I love my vampires, but I think I may just be coming to love my witches even more! Read my guest post at Susan K Mann blog to read about my vampires. Then decide, which do you prefer?

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Emma's new book, Witchcraft is the second in the Witchblood series. the blurb is as follows: 

Jess is no ordinary vampire. Protected by the Manchester vampire clan, and initiated by her family’s east coast American coven, she is sought after by every dark witch and warring vampire faction. Jess must fight if she wants to keep hold of her friends, her sanity and finally her existence.

As the dead bodies of human girls begin to stack up, and her recently accepted vampire boyfriend, Daniel, finds himself in prison, Jess goes on a crazy, forbidden trip to London, racing against time to save an old friend and solve the mystery behind Daniel’s incarceration. In battling new enemies and finding new friends, Jess’s confidence finds room to grow, but who will she lose along the way?

To find out more about the book visit goodreads or the Witchblood website. The book is out now and can be purchased from Amazon or Smashword. 

Whats up with Jody Barton? - Hayley Long

“Life can be pretty weird sometimes... It seriously can. 

Sometimes, just when you think you’re rocking along nicely and minding your own business, life throws you a complete curveball and leaves you feeling totally and utterly freaked-out.”

Jody and Jolene Barton are twins. They share everything, except a birthday. Jolene was born just before midnight on February 28th and Jody was born just after on February 29th, the leap day. However recently they haven’t been sharing all that much and just before their 16th - and fourth- birthdays Jody has a massive secret that not even Jolene knows about. Life’s thrown a massive curveball again and Jody can’t talk to anyone about it.

***

This is going to be a very hard book to review. very hard indeed. 

I loved Hayley Long’s last series, Lottie Biggs, and I was very much looking forward to Whats Up With Jody Barton? When I started reading I was a little let down because it just seemed very very similar to the Lottie Biggs series, the narrative was a little crazy and very 16 year old-ish and it just felt like another contemporary school type book. Then the book throws a complete curveball at the reader. Now I can’t discuss this in detail as it doesn’t happen until page 108 but I will discuss it a little. 

This curveball change the book completely and whilst I liked it, I also didn’t. For the first 100 or so pages I found that something I thought was obvious and implied was not true, and it kinda made me feel a bit cheated. I could deal with it and understand why it was there but I honestly think that it would have sat better with me maybe a little earlier into the book, not too early, maybe page 30-50 around there somewhere but seriously, half way through the book? I didn’t like it when I read it. 

Then I carried on reading and ended up really liking the story. Jody has kinda fallen for Jolene’s boyfriend and its causing some serious issues with the whole family, especially Jolene. Their parents are struggling to deal with the problems caused between Jody and Jolene but they try and help out, and they are lovely to be honest. I found Jody’s dad quite embarrassingly funny and thought he was very realistic. I thought Jody’s mum was a bit too in her own bubble sometimes and Jolene had picked that trait up too but they were both there for Jody when it mattered. 

The layout of the book was very similar to the Lottie Biggs books with a mixture of font sizes and fonts, and pictures interspersed throughout. I really like this style and it makes it really easy and quick to read. This book will make a great edition to any teens bookshelf and I really would recommend it because of how much it makes you stop and think. 

I thought What’s Up With Jody Barton? was a really interesting coming of age style story. It makes you think and makes you re-think later on and it really makes you kick yourself. As I said, the revelation really didnt sit well for me and I had to stop reading to take it in, I was tempted to even re-read the first 100 pages because I really thought something was very much implied that wasn’t but once I’d stopped to take it in I really did enjoy the book. 

What’s Up With Jody Barton? was released on May 31st by Macmillan Children’s Books. My copy was sent in exchange for an honest review from the publishers. 

Goodreads | Amazon

Blog Tour: The Vampire Fighters: How my idea for a new kind of vampire story came about by Pete Johnson

Now this is going to shock you. The first and biggest influence on The Vampire Trilogy was ‘Gregory’s Girl.’

Yes, that’s right; the charming, low-budget film comedy from the early eighties was my initial inspiration for a series of books about fangs, vampires and blood ghosts. Let me explain.

I watched ‘Gregory’s Girl’ first as an adolescent. And it spoke to me about all the rites of passage ahead. I still think it’s one of the wisest films ever made.

Gregory, as you may remember, is the gangling adolescent who falls for this aloof, mysterious, independent girl who also happens to be the star of the school (otherwise all male) football team. His unrequited love leads him into a whole new world.

Well, I wanted to write a comedy about an adolescent boy and all the rites of passage he faces today. And at the centre would be his relationship with the wilful, independent, maddening but fascinating Tallulah. But I magnified all the usual teen problems by giving Marcus an extra one. On his thirteenth birthday he discovers his family are half-vampires and he’s about to start transforming into one too. I chose a half-vampire because it’s nowhere near as cool as being a vampire – so funnier as well. And comedy was going to be a key element in my vampire stories. Vampire tales are not normally known for their humour. But I wanted this to be the stand-out element in mine.

Now, while Gregory in ‘Gregory’s Girl’ is geeky and gangly, Marcus seems much more confident. He’s lively and wise-cracking. I’m rather like that myself. In a social gathering I try and keep things funny and light and cheerful. So I know Marcus very well. But I also wanted to let the mask slip, especially in ‘The Vampire Hunters’ and ‘The Vampire Fighters’, where Marcus is challenged as never before.

He has problems which he cannot share with a single friend, as half-vampires must keep their identity secret from every single human being. Marcus writes how he feels ‘separate and odd and different to everyone else. It’s as if I’m permanently freaky. I can’t tell you how much I hate that.’ Marcus is still determined to be as human as possible. But sometimes the two parts of his life come crashing together.

So in ‘The Vampire Hunters,’ Marcus is told he must always carry a bottle of blood around with him for when he gets a blood craving, he doesn’t think, ‘Wow, how exciting?’ No he’s furious. What a total nuisance.

Then Marcus, (who’s temporarily given up on Tallulah) is on a blind date at a cinema – a stressful enough occasion anyway. But it’s here he gets his blood craving, and of course he’s forgotten his bottle of blood. This is, I think, one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever written and is quite possibly the most disastrous blind date ever!

In ‘The Vampire Hunters,’ I also introduce a third key character, a girl half-vampire – Gracie. She and Marcus become close. So when at the end of ‘The Vampire Hunters,’ he is forbidden from seeing Tallulah anymore – she’s come too close to discovering his secret identity – it seems only natural he should transfer his attention to Gracie. But events don’t turn out quite that way.

And instead in ‘The Vampire Fighters’ Marcus and Tallulah continue their bantering relationship. Marcus even asks her out – while they are on a ghost train. He picks that venue as he thinks she’ll feel really at home there. Some readers say they especially like the fast-paced dialogue exchanges between Marcus and Tallulah. They’re favourites of mine too. Oddly enough they are scenes in which I seem to do very little. They’re both talking away in my head and I’m just transcribing what they say.

I would say, the very best thing about writing a trilogy is you have more space to explore your characters. And although Marcus remains wise-cracking and quick-witted to the end, I believe the character at the end of ‘The Vampire Fighters,’ is different in many ways to the person at the start of ‘The Vampire Blog.’

But does he, like Gregory at the end of ‘Gregory’s Girl’ find a girlfriend? Does he exit the page with Tallulah or Gracie? Or neither? I couldn’t possibly tell you! I’ll just say I know the ending I wanted, but it didn’t feel right. I think – I hope – the ending of ‘The Vampire Fighters’ is the real one, and the true one.

It’s rather strange not writing about Marcus, Tallulah and Gracie anymore. I can still hear them in my head, eager to be brought to life once more. But although I’m not writing about them anymore, many other people are. I’ve visited schools and book groups in which children have written their own adventures for Marcus and company.

That’s the last and most humbling part of writing a book. There always comes a moment when the characters take flight and go off on their own journeys, leaving you – their creator – far behind.

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Thanks for this post Pete, I know I'm going to miss The Vampire Trilogy but I can imagine you'll miss it even more, I love the idea of the characters taking off on their own. Now I'm off to go watch Gregory's Girl!! 

If you want more information about Pete or any of his books visit his website here. My reviews of The Vampire Blog and The Vampire Hunters can be seen here and here. 

Geek Girls Unite: How Fangirls, Bookworms, Indie Chicks, and Other Misfits are taking over the world - Leslie Simon

What do Amy Poehler, Bjork, Felicia Day, Martha Stewart, Miranda July, and Zooey Deschanel have in common? They're just a few of the amazing women proving that "geek" is no longer a four-letter word.

In recent years, male geeks have taken the world by storm. But what about their female counterparts? After all, fangirls are just like fanboys--they put on their Imperial Stormtrooper Lycra pants one leg at a time.

"Geek Girls Unite" is a call to arms for every girl who has ever obsessed over music, comics, film, comedy, books, crafts, fashion, or anything else under the Death Star. Music geek girl Leslie Simon offers an overview of the geek elite by covering groundbreaking women, hall-of-famers, ultimate love matches, and potential frenemies, along with her top picks for playlists, books, movies, and websites. This smart and hilarious tour through girl geekdom is a must-have for any woman who has ever wondered where her sassy rebel sisters have been hiding. (Taken from Goodreads)

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This is something a little different to what I would usually review on this blog. For one Geek Girls Unite isn’t exclusively YA though I believe lots of teens and young adults will enjoy the book and secondly it’s non-fiction, shock horror I know... I haven’t read any non-fic since finishing university but it was a great book and so interesting. It had me laughing out loud and nodding along throughout. 

Geek Girls Unite caught my attention in London’s Tottenham Court Road Forbidden Planet and I know I needed to read it. Its a fun guide to the different types of geek girls that are around and a great reference for geeky stuff should you want recommendations of websites, books and music.

The book is split into a few different types of Geek Girls; Fangirl Geeks, Literary Geeks, Music Geeks, Film Geeks, Funny-Girl Geeks, Domestic Goddess Geeks and then a section for Misc geeks ie a few random other types of geek girls that you can come across. It was really quite interesting and talked about different famous women who fit into these categories but I think sometimes it was a little stereotypical. I could get over that because of the humour and interesting references within the pages though. 

I found myself agreeing with a lot of different parts of the book from the different sections so although I’m not really a proper film geek I could relate to some of the things the book was talking about. I obviously felt right at home in the Literary Geek and Fangirl sections though and I love that I have new things to check out, of the few things covered which I hadn’t heard of before reading this book. 

I was a little disappointed that the book appeared to be more of a guide for girls who wanted to be geeks rather than those who already are. I found myself thinking “I already know that, why are you telling me about it?” especially right at the beginning where there was a “Geek Girl Lexicon” list and all the words in the glossary were either obvious or already known to me, though I admit not everyone I know will understand what MMORPG is (Massively Multiplayer Online role Playing Game for those who don’t.) 

With that little disappointment I will move on to  larger one. I can get over knowing things that the book covers and it feeling a little more like a guide to being a geek than a celebration of Geekdom. what I couldn’t get over was the “love interest” section at the end of each chapter. This love interest section classified the types of guys that the geek girl in question would go for, whilst this was highly amusing in places and I did question my boyfriends ability to name at least one of Shakespeare’s Plays (a requisite for any Literary Geeks partner apparently (and interestingly my partner said King Lear and not the obvious Romeo and Juliet!)) but it never took into account sexuality and in every chapter it was implied that the love interest of a geek girl would be male. I didn’t like this and don’t think it would have killed the author to include female traits (for example in each checklist it had that a love interest would look like one of three celeb guys and Im sure there could have been a female celeb added.... just to balance things out a bit.) 

Other than the blatant sexuality issues in the book and the stereotyping I did really enjoy this book, I thought it was really funny, a great reference, taught me a few things I didn’t know and was really well written. I will be tempted to check out the authors other books especially Everybody Hurts which is a guide to Emo music, that sounds just up my street! 

Geek Girls Unite was published in November 2011 by HarperEntertainment in the US but can be purchased in the UK from some suppliers. My copy was purchased. 


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Burn Mark Blog Tour: Who is Lucas? by Laura Powell

Today I have the lovely Laura Powell on the blog telling us more about Lucas, one of the main characters form her new book Burn Mark. I'll let Laura tell you more...

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Lucas Stearne comes from a long line of famous witch-hunters. His father is Chief Prosecutor for the Inquisition, and Lucas has grown up expecting to follow his dad’s prestigious career. In this version of modern Britain, licensed witches are employed by the government, but illegal ones are hunted down and publicly burned.
Lucas’s mother was murdered by a witch-terrorist, and though he takes a seemingly “politically correct”, liberal view of witches, he still thinks they’re subhuman. (Witchwork usually runs in families, and while some regard it as a blessing, most think of it as an embarrassing disability.) He’s charming, rich, popular and used to having things his own way. In fact, he’s the kind of boy I was hopelessly intimidated by when I was fifteen! But when, against all the odds, Lucas turns into a witch himself, his world is shattered.

Desperate to prove himself, he joins the witchkind division of the Secret Service, and is sent on a dangerous undercover mission to infiltrate London’s most infamous criminal gang: the Wednesday Coven. But it’s not just mobsters and corrupt inquisitors he’s struggling against. Although Lucas begins to feel the thrill of his powers, he can’t help thinking it’s not a gift, but a curse.

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Thanks for this Laura! If this bio about Lucas doesn't get you intrigued by Burn Mark I don't know what will! You can check out more about the book here and find out more about Laura via her website, and follow her on twitter and Facebook. 

Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson

“I eased open my bedroom door to check that the hallway was empty. When I was sure that it was, I shouldered my purse and closed the door behind me quietly, then took the stairs down to the kitchen two at a time. It was nine am, we were leaving for the lake house in three hours, and I was running away.”

Taylor is a runner - not in the sporting sense, no - she runs away from everything as soon as it gets hard. So the thought of returning to the Lake House fills her with dread. She hasn’t been back there in five years, not since she was 12 and she left unexpectedly, running away form some problems that its not likely will have been forgotten. To make it worse the reason the family are going to the Lake House is because her father has received some terrible news. Taylor can’t see the summer being a good one but when they arrive at the Lake House could things be different, is it time to make amends and could this summer be great even with the looming troubles that are ahead?

***

I knew this book was going to be good, to follow on from Matson’s first - Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour - she really had to hit the nail on the head and make this book amazing, and thankfully, she managed it brilliantly. 

Second Chance Summer is a hard book to read, not by way of actual reading, but by topic. The words flow seamlessly and whilst it’s very descriptive I really felt like that helped the book as I could picture so much of the house, the people and the lake community. You got to know the characters brilliantly well because of the way everything’s described and I really felt myself connecting to them all. 

The topics that are dealt with in this book are immense, theres love, friendship, guilt, grief and facing up to your fears. There’s growing up and being a better person and mostly its Taylor who goes through this all. Second Chance Summer is an emotional rollercoaster for both Taylor and the reader. I seriously had to stop reading towards the end becuase I couldn’t see the book for tears, and I was crying so much i needed tissues and a drink to re-hydrate myself! 

You see this book really hit home for me because at 17 my dad was going through crap with his health too. Nowhere near as bad as Taylor’s dad I must add, but it was still scary. I have a very similar relationship with my dad as Taylor does in this book - even down to the hilarious pun jokes that everyone else groans about. I wanted to call my dad and share some of the ones that appear in the book with my dad! Taylors dad is a workoholic and so was my dad, it takes a lot for Taylor’s dad to stop working and it did with mine too, I saw so many similarities between the dad in this book and my own that I couldn’t help but think “what if this happened?” and that’s when I started crying even more! 

Its so hard to see the change in Taylor’s father as the book and its months go on but I loved seeing Taylor and her dad’s relationship grow even more. I loved that he wanted to know so much about her life and what she was going to do with it and I loved how he just understood her, especially because as a teenager you probably don’t even consider parents are people let alone ones who actually see things! 

The change in her father made Taylor change too. I’m glad of the way things worked out and I know she still wasn’t perfect but she was trying and I really liked that. The problem that she ran away from all those years was still a fresh wound for so many of the characters but for different reasons, exspecially for Henry and I felt so sorry for him. Things must have been tough and then Taylor turns up, making it worse. The two of them were childhood sweethearts and its obvious that neither of them ever got over that first love. I did think that maybe Henry was to easy going on Taylor, especially towards the end but I guess when you know something is right, tis right. 

This book was filled with brilliant characters, the relationships they all had was brilliant and whilst Taylor wasn’t my favourite character, she made for a good narrator. Warren was typical big brother and such an egghead. Gelsey was a bratty little sister who could be great at times. Taylor's mum wasn’t mentioned a lot, despite always being there but I thought her character was well drawn in, the way you could tell how the grief and hurt was there despite her not being mentioned properly and how much of an effort she was putting in for her husband and children. Lucy was a brilliant friend, despite the obvious set backs and her flirting ways made me laugh so much when she couldn’t even see what was right in front of her. My favourite character had to be Taylor's dad though, I loved him and to see him hurt was awful. I loved the breakfasts he’d take taylor too and the way he’d talk law stuff with Warren even though there was probably other stuff on his mind. He was a kind, sweet guy who realised just how little time he had spent with his family and wanted to change that. 

Second Chance Summer was just incredible. If you read and loved Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour you will love this, but be warned; have tissues at the ready! It's a brilliant summer read with amazing 'part' titles that work so well for the book, and whats more is, it starts off at the very beginning with a Death Cab For Cutie song lyric! 

Second Chance Summer was published by Simon and Schuster on June 7th. My copy was purchased online. 

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