Month: August 2017

Guest Post: Top 7 Fangirl Moments in Fantasy by Helen Scheuerer

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Title: Heart of Mist (The Oremere Chronicles #1)
Author: Helen Scheuerer

Published: NEW RELEASE
Publisher: Talem Press

In a realm where toxic mist sweeps the lands and magic is forbidden, all Bleak wants is a cure for her power.

Still grieving the death of her guardian and dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by the Commander of the King’s Army, and summoned to the capital.

But the king isn’t the only one interested in Bleak’s powers.

The leader of an infamous society of warriors, the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated.

Heart of Mist is the gripping first book in The Oremere Chronicles, a fantasy series of epic proportions.

[Add to Goodreads]

Top 7 Fangirl Moments in Fantasy

When I was a teen, I was a massive fangirl. From life-sized posters of Aragorn (that I may or may not still have) to arguing with my bestie over which of us would marry Harry Potter… However, somewhere along the way, I forgot how much fun it was to ship a certain couple or gush with my friends about the latest development in our favourite TV show… Thankfully, in recent years I’ve definitely rediscovered my inner fangirl.

And so to celebrate this glorious occurrence, I wanted to share my top 7 Fangirl Moments in Fantasy with The Adventures of Sacakat!

Here goes nothing…

7. If you want him, come and claim him.

Arwen defending Frodo against the Servants of Sauron is a pretty epic moment in The Fellowship of the Ring. It’s how we’re introduced to Arwen and we realise that beautiful, feminine women elves can be just as badass as any warrior.

6. Kestrel’s cunning.

I’m of course talking about Kestrel from The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski. All too often we see protagonists who are epic warriors from the start, with these larger than life reputations… Kestrel breaks that mold. She’s completely and utterly cunning and clever, she knows where her strengths lie, and how best to use them to her advantage. There are so many fist-pumping moments in this series where Kestrel outsmarts and outmaneuvers those who oppose her.

5. I am Celaena Sardothien and I am not afraid.

Speaking of larger than life reputations… No matter how arrogant she is, I’ll always have a soft spot for Celaena from Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass series. While it’s certainly not perfect, this series helped get me out of a serious reading slump – there’s so much girl power, sass and action that it’s utterly addictive.

My favourite moment? When Celaena/Aelin rescues Aedion from the king in a whirl of dancers and exploding roses.

4. “Fear can be good, Laia. It can keep you alive.”

Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes starts off with Laia making a choice she regrets. To me, her choice reflects one that the majority of us would make were we in her shoes. We’re not presented with the story of an immediate hero, but one of a young girl who seeks to right her wrong. Laia’s character development is one of my favourite moments in recent fantasy – we get to see her grow into herself, make mistakes, and live with the consequences…

“Fear can be good, Laia. It can keep you alive. But don’t let it control you. Don’t let it sew doubts within you. When the fear takes over, use the only thing more powerful, more indestructible to fight it: your spirit. Your heart.”

3. “I’ll thank ye to take your hands off my wife.”

While I don’t usually buy into the whole man-saves-woman nonsense, there’s nothing quite like Jamie Fraser rescuing his One-True-Love Claire from Black Jack Randall in Outlander. I mean, how can you not fangirl over a gorgeous, loyal Scottish warrior bursting in at the right moment?

In fact, I’ve only read the first four Outlander books by Diana Gabaldon, but I can safely say that pretty much anything involving Jamie and Claire is a top fangirl moment…

2. Not my daughter, you bitch

Ummm… Is there anything more badass than when Molly Weasley takes on Bellatrix Lestrange??? Both in the Harry Potter book and film, this scene always has a double effect on me: tears and goosebumps.

I love that J.K. Rowling gave us this fantastic scene where we’re shown just how absolutely fierce Molly is.

1. “I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”

An adventure is certainly how I’d describe V.E. Schwab’s A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy. Arguably my favourite series in the last few years, there are wayyyyy too many fangirl moments to pick just one… But here are two of my favourite scenes…

“You look more ready to storm a city than seduce a man…” – sounds like an awesome dress-code to me!

“Aren’t you afraid of dying?” he asked Lila now.
She looked at him as if it were a strange question. And then she shook her head. “Death comes for everyone,” she said simply. “I’m not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of dying here.” She swept her hand over the room, the tavern, the city. “I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.” – Delilah Bard is basically a walking fangirl moment, in my humble opinion.

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I’m curious, what are YOUR top fangirl moments in fantasy fiction? Why not share them in the comments below!

Helen Scheuerer is a YA fantasy author from Sydney, Australia. Heart of Mist is the first book in her high fantasy trilogy, The Oremere Chronicles. It explores themes of identity, belonging, loyalty, addiction, loss, and responsibility.

After writing literary fiction for a number of years, novels like Throne of Glass, Elantris, The Queen’s Poisoner and The Queen of the Tearling inspired Helen to return to her childhood love of fantasy.

Helen is also the Founding Editor of Writer’s Edit (www.writersedit.com), an online literary magazine and learning platform for emerging writers. It’s now one of the largest writers’ platforms in the world.

Helen’s love of writing and books led her to pursue a Bachelor of Creative Arts, majoring in Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong and a Masters of Publishing at the University of Sydney.

Helen now works as a freelance writer and editor, while she works on the second book in The Oremere Chronicles.

Purchase Links:
Amazon AU | Amazon US 

Author Links:
Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Helen will be featured in the Australian YA Bloggers September author spotlight, so keep your eyes open for that.

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Love Across the Universe: Review

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Love Across the Universe: Twelve Stories of Science Fiction Romance Set on Intergalactic Shores

Genre: Science Fiction Romance, Short Story Anthology

Publication: August 1st 2017

Publisher: Stars and Stone Books

Source: Review copy from Bewitching Book Tours – this has in no way influenced my review- THANK YOU.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Summer love is summer love, no matter the planet. Climb aboard your spacecraft or time machine and travel across the universe with these twelve tales of love on beaches in the future and among the stars. Includes stories by USA Today Bestselling Author Traci Douglass, Cara McKinnon, A.E. Hayes, Sheri Queen, M.T. DeSantis, L.J. Longo, K.W. Taylor, Mary Rogers, Elsa M. Carruthers, Emmerite Sundberg, Serena Jayne, and Oriana Maret.

Amazon | Goodreads | Stars and Stone Books

I really do like short story anthologies. I think they are a great way to get a taste of an author’s writing and I’ve gone onto read (and love) full length works I’ve read from authors I’ve found in short story anthologies like this one.

Love Across the Universe is a science fiction romance anthology consisting of twelve short stories of varying lengths and with leading characters of varying human status and sexual orientation. A few of the stories fell victim to the instantaneous trap, but the majority managed to build up quite enjoyable story lines.

Sexy time warning: Not all, but most of the stories contained sex scenes. None were super graphic. Just thought I’d give you a heads up 😛

My favourites were:

The Princess of sands by M.T.Desantis. This story was a super cute and adorable, as were the characters. It featured a stowaway and an arranged royal marriage. The writing and story flowed well and I would happily read a longer version where the drama and romance are teased out more. Romance: female/male.

Reprogramming by K.W. Taylor. I wanted this story to keep going! Essentially this was the story of someone trying to kill their partner to get their families money. I really enjoyed it and want a revenge sequel ASAP. Romance: female/android.

Breathless by L.J. Longo. This was a well rounded out story involving the unlikely duo of an Ex-soldier and a resort manager. The story was action packed with alien bug slaying and blooming new romance. I know that sounds like it wouldn’t work – but it totally did. Romance: male/male.

Fluid by Emmerite Sundberg. The writing and story flowed well. It featured a human shipwrecked on an uncharted planet who finds unexpected romance with a native humanoid water being. Romance: female/female.

A Dream to Build a Kiss On by Traci Douglass. The longest of all the stories in the anthology. An island paradise of extremely rare tropical plants brings together a lonely nature loving android who has the capability of thinking and feeling for itself, with a lonely and broken-hearted botanist. Both find something to desire on the island other than the plants. Romance: female/android.

As a whole I give the anthology 4/5. Overall is was a fast and fun read.

#LoveOzYaBloggers – Series

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#LoveOzYABloggers is hosted by #LoveOzYA, a community led organisation dedicated to promoting Australian young adult literature.

The theme for this fortnight is ‘Series’.

Keep up to date with all new Aussie YA releases with their monthly newsletter, or find out what’s happening with News and Events, or submit your own!

For todays prompt I’ve picked three #loveozya series which all also happen to be trilogies.The Every Series, book one: Every Breath by Ellie Marney

Rachel Watts has just moved to Melbourne from the country, but the city is the last place she wants to be.

James Mycroft is her neighbour, an intriguingly troubled seventeen-year-old who’s also a genius with a passion for forensics.

Despite her misgivings, Rachel finds herself unable to resist Mycroft when he wants her help investigating a murder. He’s even harder to resist when he’s up close and personal – and on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer.

When Rachel and Mycroft follows the murderer’s trail, they find themselves in the lion’s den – literally. A trip to the zoo will never have quite the same meaning again…

 [The Every Series on Goodreads]

The Colours of Madeleine Series, book one: A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty

This is a tale of missing persons. Madeleine and her mother have run away from their former life, under mysterious circumstances, and settled in a rainy corner of Cambridge (in our world).

Elliot, on the other hand, is in search of his father, who disappeared on the night his uncle was found dead. The talk in the town of Bonfire (in the Kingdom of Cello) is that Elliot’s dad may have killed his brother and run away with the Physics teacher. But Elliot refuses to believe it. And he is determined to find both his dad and the truth.

As Madeleine and Elliot move closer to unraveling their mysteries, they begin to exchange messages across worlds — through an accidental gap that hasn’t appeared in centuries. But even greater mysteries are unfolding on both sides of the gap: dangerous weather phenomena called “color storms;” a strange fascination with Isaac Newton; the myth of the “Butterfly Child,” whose appearance could end the droughts of Cello; and some unexpected kisses…

[The Colours of Madeleine Series on Goodreads]

The Circle of Talia Series, book one: Shadows of the Realm by Dionne Lister

This is an epic fantasy adventure book with lots of action, intrigue, creaturas and dragons, for young adult to adult.

Bronwyn and Blayke are two strangers being drawn into the same war. Their world is facing invasion from the Third Realm. While they move unknowingly toward each other, they are watched, hunted, and sabotaged. When the Dragon God interferes, it seems their world, Talia, will succumb to the threat. Can they learn enough of the tricks of the Realms before it’s too late, or will everything they love be destroyed?

The young Realmists’ journey pushes them away from all they’ve known, to walk in the shadows toward Vellonia, city of the dragons, where an even darker shadow awaits.

This book’s been given the Grub Street Reads seal of approval.

 [The Circle of Talia Series on Goodreads]

My posts for the previous prompts:  [High School]  [Fantasy]  [Feels]  [Sci-Fi].

 

Frankie Fish: MG Review

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34039199Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase by Peter Helliar
Genre: Children 10+
Publication: 1st May 2017
Publisher: Hardie Grant Egmont
Source: Purchased Paperback
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In his bestselling children’s novel, Australian writer & comedian Peter Helliar takes young readers on a hilarious time-travel adventure about mega mischief, missing limbs, and a grandad with a wicked secret.

Twelve-year-old Frankie Fish hates visiting his grandparents. Grandad Fish is cranky, and yells a lot, and has a creepy hook for a hand – plus he NEVER lets Frankie go inside his shed. But after a teensy tiny prank goes wrong at school, Frankie is packed off to Old-People Jail for the whole holidays.

What Frankie doesn’t know is that Grandad has been building a home-made TIME MACHINE in the Forbidden Shed, and the old man has big plans to get his missing hand back. But when Grandad goes back in time, he changes history and accidentally wipes out Frankie’s entire family – Nanna, Mum, Dad, even his annoying sister Saint Lou. Somehow, everyone is gone but Frankie and Grandad! And it’s only a matter of time until Frankie disappears too…

I’m a fan of Peter Helliar and a lover of time travel tales so I just had to buy this little baby.

Frankie Fish and the Sonic Suitcase is a humorous action packed tale of a Granddad and Grandson tackling the perils of time travel together. Both the young and old learn valuable lessons along the way and the two different generations of the Fish family bond while on their accidental adventure together.

There are wonderful lessons for the younger reader threaded through Helliar’s humour. Lessons about knowing when pranks go too far, the importance of love and family, and of knowing when to leave mistakes in the past and move forward.

I am looking forward to sharing this book with my son when he is a little older.

I don’t think you could read this book and not enjoy it!

Bring on Frankie’s next adventure!

The Hate You Give: YA Review

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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Genre: Contemporary
Publication: February 28th 2017
Publisher: Walker Books
Source: Review copy from publisher – Thank You Walker
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The Hate U Give is one of the must read books of 2017. Inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, this incredibly powerful debut YA novel from Angie Thomas holds a mirror to what prejudice looks like in the 21st Century. The Hate U Give is a gripping look into one girl’s struggle for justice.

Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two worlds: the poor neighbourhood where she was born and raised and her posh high school in the suburbs. The uneasy balance between them is shattered when Starr is the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Now what Starr says could destroy her community. It could also get her killed.

I’m not going to lie, I was apprehensive in reading “T.H.U.G.” and kept putting it off. When the wonderful people at Walker supplied me with a copy to read and review, my second son was only three months old and my new baby emotions were all over the place. I had heard of the book and knew it was a confronting and emotional read. I was expecting my heart to be shattered into a million pieces and was not ready to go there while trying to keep my physically and emotionally exhausted self sane. Hindsight is a marvellous thing and I’m pissed that I waited so long to read it. There was so much love between the pages that I actually came away from the novel more hopeful for the future.

The Hate U Give is a truly captivating and moving tale. My heart reached out to Star. I hated that she had to hide parts of herself to be accepted into white society. I hated that she had to witness the senseless death of loved ones. I hated that she was treated differently because the colour of her skin.

Knowing something happens and experiencing it are two different things. I think this book takes the open minded reader one step closer to understanding what it is really like to be on the receiving end of such hate.

There were some truly moving and powerful scenes between Star and her daddy. Both of Star’s parents were standout characters for me. Both were doing their bit to hold the world around them together, while attempting to make it better. It was a breath of fresh air to see such positive role models. Strong, supportive and loving parental characters tend to be lacking in YA.

The story is faced paced, confronting and beautiful. I cannot fault this book, not only does it highlight important social issues, the writing is immaculate.
Buy this book! I urge you to go buy two copies, one for yourself and one for a teen you know.

Amazon US | Amazon AU | Bookdepository | Booktopia | Goodreads

“Pac said Thug Life stood for ‘The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody’.” The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody – It sure does mate, it sure does.

Lily Luchesi: New Release

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Get the thrilling prequel novella of The Paranormal Detectives Series for FREE!

In 1988, Angelica Cross worked with a mortal detective to take down a werewolf pack who were feeding on children at a local school playground.

In 2008, the killings begin again, and Angelica is called in to work the case alongside her old partner’s nephew, who likes Angelica as much as she likes garlic.
They need to put their animosity behind them, before more people are murdered.

 
Click HERE to receive your free e-book from Lily Luchesi!
 
And don’t forget to check out book one in the PDSeries, which is always 99cents for Kindle!
You can find Lily on Twitter | Goodreads | her Website

#LoveOzYaBloggers – Sci-Fi

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#LoveOzYABloggers is hosted by #LoveOzYA, a community led organisation dedicated to promoting Australian young adult literature.

The theme for this fortnight is ‘SciFi’.

Keep up to date with all new Aussie YA releases with their monthly newsletter, or find out what’s happening with News and Events, or submit your own!

Today I’ve posted my entry for the Sci-Fi theme on the #AusYABloggers site. So if you want to find out a little bit more about the books I picked, just click [HERE].

Or if you want to check out my previous entries >  [High School]  [Fantasy]  [Feels].

July 2017 Round Up

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Books Read: 7

Where the Wild Mums Are by Katie Blackburn & Sholto Walker [Goodreads]

Sometimes I really want to go where the wild mums are for a month or 12. My mum bought me this book, intuitive woman she is, must have been able to tell the water has been right at my eyes lately. Or maybe it was just that I was so feral she always wanted to run away from me. ANYWAYS, Wild Mums is an amusing re-write of the classic kids’ tale “Where the Wild Things Are”. It made me smile and I’m sure I’ll read it again.

Saga #44 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples [Goodreads] Fantastic as always. “Whether we like it or not, most of our deepest-held beliefs come straight from the people who made us. Even when we turn against them, our parents still help define exactly what kind of ‘rebels’ we’ll be.” I’ve repeatedly read this quote over while mulling on my own teenage rebelling – no definite conclusions yet, but I think Vaughan maybe onto something.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas [Goodreads] Beautiful, powerful and brilliant! Full review to come 🙂 ❤

Pookie Aleera is not my boyfriend by Steven Herrick [Goodreads] A super cute story with a beautiful message behind it. It was an absolute joy to read.

The Lost Hero: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan (Author/Creator), Robert Venditti (Comic Adaptor) & Nate Powell (Illustrator) [Goodreads] Having read the actual book before, this was a quick and fun way to revisit the story 🙂

The Bad Book by Andy Griffiths & Terry Denton (Illustrator) [Goodreads] While I did find this book amusing, it is designed for a much younger audience. I think kiddlets from 6-10 would find it hilarious.

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl by Melissa Keil [Goodreads] More #LoveOzYA gold! Cinnamon Girl is a humorous, feel good story of growing up, friendship and the almost end of the world.

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Until next time, enjoy your shelves 🙂