Book Tour: The Stranger by Kate Riordan

Book Tour: The Stranger by Kate Riordan

Sunday, 1 April 2018

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We’ve got to that point in the year again where all the BIG books are being released and the excitement is brewing. When Penguin Random House got in touch to see if I wanted to be part of the blog tour for The Stranger by Kate Riordan, I was over the moon. I read (and adored) The Girl in the Photograph a few years ago and spent a lot of my time recommending it to everyone I knew so I was pretty sure that The Stranger would be equally as enjoyable.

Cornwall, 1940.

In the hushed hours of the night a woman is taken by the sea.

Was it a tragic accident? Or should the residents of Penhallow have been more careful about whom they invited in?

In the midst of war three women arrive seeking safety at Penhallow Hall.

Each is looking to escape her past.

But one of them is not there by choice.

As the threat of invasion mounts and the nightly blackouts feel longer and longer, tensions between the close-knit residents rise until dark secrets start to surface.

And no one can predict what their neighbour is capable of . . .

In a house full of strangers, who do you trust?

The story starts in 1940’s Cornwall. Two girls have arrived in Cornwall as land girls, to work and escape the blitz that is currently going on in London, and a third has lived there for a while, the granddaughter of Penhallow Hall's owner. We then discover that Diana, one of the three girls and the girl who the story is told from the perspective of later down the line, has disappeared without a trace. We are taken back in time 6 weeks and slowly but surely the story begins to unravel, a small clue at a time and it quickly becomes apparent that everyone and everything is full of secrets and whispers. We are introduced to the weeks leading up to Diana’s disappearance and the story becomes addictive in the sense that you are keen to read on and discover exactly what has happened. As friendships are made and others fall apart, these secrets start to make their way to the surface and everything reveals itself as being not quite like it seems.

Cornwall as a setting is just beautiful and I found myself almost smelling the fresh sea air as I read. The characterisation in the story is very interesting – Diana is a beautiful and engaging character, full of danger and mischief. It’s clear that all of the female characters have gone through suffering and this is evident within the story- this suffering has lead to character flaws, all of which make the story, and consequently the characters and their roles, all the more believable. I found myself doubting everyone and everything, dying to find out just who was responsible- if anyone- for Diana’s disappearance. There were parts of the story that left me feeling uncomfortable but this only did more to give the story depth and that edge of realism. There is a glistening of hope at the end of the dark tunnel, in spite of all the heartbreak and misfortune throughout the story.

If you’re a lover of historical fiction then this one is definitely for you- I enjoyed the setting and the characters, the story was poignant and thought-provoking and is a definite must-read for lovers of the genre.

3.5/5.

Book Tour: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Book Tour: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Sunday, 18 March 2018

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Another day, another book review – and this time, something a little bit out of my contemporary/young adult/thriller comfort zone. Last year, I booked to go to an event at Waterstones Liverpool to meet Laini Taylor, the other of the esteemed novel Strange the Dreamer and listen to her speak. Unfortunately, I was at work and couldn’t get out for the meet and greet so a lovely fellow blogger got my copy of the book signed for me. However, I am me, and I have about 50 books on my TBR pile at home so the book was pushed to the sidelines and left to wallow.

When I was asked to be a part of the Strange the Dreamer paperback release tour, I didn’t hesitate for a second, in spite of my incredibly hectic work schedule and other impending deadlines. It did however, mean I had to read the book and my goodness me, I am so glad that I did. It’s fair to say that Strange the Dreamer is a special book and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. It reminded me of the reasons why I read and the books that I myself want to write. I’ve realised that actually, the fantasy genre is something I should explore more and I’ll definitely be looking out for books just like this one in the future.

Prior to buying the book, I had heard a lot about the story and was intrigued – there was quite a buzz about the book blogging community and rightly so. The story of Lazlo Strange, an orphan brought up by Monks is a fantastical and exciting one- the Monks limit Lazlo’s life, prohibited from doing all the things he had previously. He becomes obsessed with the mythical city of Weep, a city that has become lost and detached from the rest of the world that he lives in. Everyone else appears to have forgotten all about it, but Lazlo Strange is different and unfortunately, this is the start of where his problems lie. When Lazlo realises that the city he has been dreaming of for all these years actually DOES exist, and the name of it had just been stolen from everyone’s minds, he spends his teenage years researching the city further and trying with all his might to find out as much about it as humanely possible. It is then that he decides to go on a journey to find it and fulfil his own dream.

On the other side of all this rests Sarai, a blue skinned Goddess (granted, she’s a half goddess, but her human blood means nothing). She lives in Weep, hiding in the citadel where the Gods live. She is the one responsible for giving the city of Weep nightmares. Naturally, a love story develops but arguably one of the most true and beautiful ones that I’ve read in a long time. It is definitely essential to the plot progression and they help each other to grow in a way that other characters wouldn’t have allowed them.

The language used throughout the story is beautiful and I was often reminded of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, a series we all know is my favourite book series of all time. It baffles me that an actual real-life human being could come up with a story as beautifully magical as this one and the language really is a tier above anything I’ve read recently. Lazlo and Serai, the two main characters, are beautiful characters – full of hope – and they are backed by a whole range of mystical characters, ranging from gods, goddesses to ghosts and moths. Yes, moths.

This year will be the year of the release of Laini’s sequel to Strange the Dreamer, The Muse of Nightmares and it’s fair to say that I am absolutely bouncing in my seat at the thought of getting my hands on it in the coming months.

If I could give the book more than 5 out of 5 stars, I would.

An absolute dream (see what I did there?)

Book Tour: Only Child by Rhiannon Navin*

Book Tour: Only Child by Rhiannon Navin*

Wednesday, 28 February 2018

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Having a very busy schedule means that I have to be pickier about which book tours I agree to, especially at the moment where meetings, planning and marking take complete precedence. Of course, some publishing houses are prioritised and when the team at Mantle, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, got in touch to see if I wanted to take part in one of their book tours, I wasn’t going to look a gift-horse in the mouth and after a read of the book synopsis and press release, I quickly signed myself up to take part, especially on the basis that lovers of Jodi Picoult and Liane Moriarty would be a fan of the book.

Very rarely does a book have the effect on me that Only Child had.

The story is written from the perspective of Zach, a 6-year-old boy who is a student at the local elementary school. The story commences with Zach and the rest of his small class, including his teacher, forcing themselves into a small cupboard during a lockdown situation, terrified in the knowledge that a gunman is walking the school, shooting whatever crosses his path. The children and their teacher sit silently as they listen to the ‘pop’ of the bullets outside. Luckily for Zach and the rest of his classmates, the gunman evades their classroom and they are escorted safely out of the school into the nearby church to be collected by their parents. When they arrive at the church, the real heartbreak of the situation reveals itself – amongst the 19 fatalities is Zach’s elder brother Andy, aged just 10. Zach, at just six years old, doesn’t quite understand the finality of death at first

The story follows the anguish that the family face in the aftermath of their son and brother’s death. Zach in particular struggles to deal with the death of a brother that he didn’t particularly like or get on with when he was alive. Zach takes on the role of the healer, attempting to fix his parents’ already failing marriage and struggling to deal with the both survivors guilt and the relief that his troubled and cruel brother is gone.

The characters were incredibly well written and I fully understood why they acted the way they did in the aftermath of the events. We are introduced to a mother who is completely dedicated to getting justice for her dead son, to the extent where she sets out to enact her revenge on the family of the shooter, in spite of their own tragedy. This response is completely contrasted to the father, who shuts himself away entirely and blocks out his emotions, refusing to cry. Zach struggles with his emotions, lashing out at his parents and spending most of his free time locked in the closet in Andy’s room, where he’s made a shrine of sorts to his brother. He reads his story aloud – to Andy and to himself- and allows himself the time to think.

The book was beautifully poignant. Starting it on a train journey a few weeks back, I found myself quickly choked up and had to stop reading on multiple occasions. I finished the book quickly; it read incredibly well and was tragic in a thoughtful and provoking way. Having it written from a child’s perspective was particularly clever and made the writing all the more realistic. There are some beautiful moments between Zach and his dad, which made me tear up quite a bit and it’s safe to say that the entire book blew me away in the best kind of way and I feel privileged to have been invited onto the book tour.

If there is one book you pick up this week, month or year, let it be Only Child by Rhiannon Navin. You will not be disappointed. This book is definitely a book that will stay with me for a very long time, particularly whilst school shootings occur so unnecessarily frequently in our own lives. Let’s make change happen.  

Only Child will be published by Mantle books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan on 8^th March 2018. Thank you so much to the lovely Jess Duffy for sending me a copy of this fantastic book! Book was provided freely but all views remain my own.

5/5.