Author: Absidity Art

The Dog Who Lost His Bark: Review

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The Dog Who Lost His Bark

The Dog Who Lost His Bark by Eoin Colfer
Genre: Childrens /MG Fiction
Publication: November 1st 2018
Publisher: Walker Books
Source: Review copy from Walker – Thank You
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Rating: ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

A warm, uplifting story about a boy, his dog, and the healing power of music marks a first-time collaboration between two former Irish Children’s Laureates, Eoin Colfer and P.J. Lynch.

Patrick has been desperate for a dog of his own for as long as he can remember, and this summer, with his father away, he longs for a canine friend more than ever. Meanwhile, in his short doggy life, Oz has suffered at the hands of bad people. Somewhere out there, he believes, is an awesome boy — his boy. And maybe, when they find each other, Oz will learn to bark again. Illustrated in light charcoal by two-time Kate Greenaway Medalist P.J. Lynch, this heartwarming story by Eoin Colfer, internationally best-selling author of the Artemis Fowl series, is certain to enchant.

Eoin Colfer’s links: Website | Twitter  | Bookdepository | Booktopia

The Dog Who Lost His Bark is a heart wrenching yet heartwarming tale that touches on animal abuse, the wonderful work rescue shelters do, marriage separation and the power of music. Yeah that does sound like a lot to be crammed in 149 pages, but Colfer’s story flows beautifully and accompanied by Lynch’s illustrations this really is a masterpiece.

Firstly we meet Oz as a little no name pup, see him go onto to his first home, be abused, then dumped.

Secondly we meet the boy, Patrick, going of to spend his summer holidays with his mum at his granddads. As an adult reading the story you pick up up on what’s going down between Patrick parents quite early on, but depending on the age of the child either reading the book or having it read to them, they might only learn this as the character does.

Ultimately Boy and Dog end up up saving each other. Through love and care and patience Patrick gets through to Oz and they build a loving friendship. Patrick shuts down after learning the truth of his father abandoning him and his mother for a new woman. Patrick’s instincts is to push Oz away, to push love away. But Oz persists with his doggy awesomeness and finally breaks through to Patrick.

Yeah you’ll cry while reading this one. But I think it’s worth it. Colfer gives the reader some really important life lessons through a beautiful story of love, friendship and recovery.

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Nick White: Author Q&A

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Kat: The Legend of Gnawbonia by Nick White
THE WORLD’S FIRST FULLY ILLUSTRATED NOVEL
168 pages & 14 chapters of action packed illustrated mastery

In the great city of Catifornia, the Meofia are by far the most feared of all the felines. At home, their baby sister Kat is enslaved under lock and key. Done with the constant abuse, she escapes, embarking on a perilous journey far beyond the land of cats.

Lost at sea, Kat is captured by a ruthless gang of notorious pirate dogs and forced to the depths of the ocean in search of treasure; where she discovers an ancient city, lost in time.

Here, Kat comes to terms with who she truly is – gaining the courage to fight for her life and freedom, to fulfil an ancient prophecy that she inevitably finds herself entwined with.

A new style of book, a fusion of various parts.
Adventure novel, graphic novel & picture book.

T h e    I n t e r v i e w

KAT: THE LEGEND OF GNAWBONIA IS AVAILABLE AS A VISUALLY STUNNING HIGH-QUALITY HARD COVER (seriously it’s beautiful, congratulations on that) AND AS AN ANIMATED EBOOK. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR AND KAT’S PUBLISHING JOURNEY?

Thanks Sarah. I did actually get accepted into a few publishing houses, but turned them down as they wanted full creative control of the book and in the end they pay fractions to authors. Although there’s a few risky pages in there I like everything I’ve put into the book and didn’t want it butchered by any company scared of offending few individuals to protect their reputation. So I funded the first print run through Kickstarter, it’s a great way to do it – if you can convince people it’s a worthy investment that likely won’t be fulfilled for a long time due to shipping problems and international banking issues. Hahaha.

CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND IT, OR HOW THE STORY CAME TO BE?

I’ve wanted to do an illustrated novel for about 17 years, and what sparked that was that there just aren’t many around (there were none back then). I guess I then had to work up the courage to spend 5 years of my life on one single project. I was never really sure what the story was going to be but in the end when I put pen to paper I wanted the end of it to have an epic fight between a seemingly helpless and small-for-her-age cat, and a bunch of hungry beastly dogs. And I wanted the cat to come out on top. From there it was a case of reverse engineering the story; Why are they fighting? The dogs could be pirates. Why is the cat there? She could be their prisoner? How did she get there? She was lost at sea etc etc. Every answer would inspire a further question until the story was plump enough.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING AND GIVE YOURSELF ANY ADVICE, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

I’d tell myself to invest heavily on Netflix… then I could have spent the last few years working on my book fulltime and not through the nights in between my full time job.

ARE YOU WORKING ON ANYTHING AT THE MOMENT, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT IT?

I am loosely working on the next volume of the book. It’s very exciting; it’s a straight continuation of the story.

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT OR WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ?

The last book I read was the Gruffalo. I have a 3 year old daughter. The last book I read for myself was James and the giant peach. I always wanted to read it when I was younger but never got around to it. Roald Dahl’s still got it!

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO NICK FOR TAKING THE TIME TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS!

Nick has chosen to give 10% of all profits from the book to three international animal charities, Mercy for Animals, The Humane League and Animal Equality, who are doing essential work around the globe to eradicate factory farming – a theme the book lightly touches on.
Nick is originally from Sydney, Australia, has spent the last 18 years as a commercial artist, lending a hand to some of the biggest ad and design agencies in the UK, NZ and Australia.

NICK CAN BE FOUND @ www.nickwhiteworks.com

KAT: THE LEGEND OF GNAWBONIA CAN BE FOUND @
Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Animated eBook

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Lily Luchesi: Author Shout Out

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A little bit about about Lily:
Lily Luchesi is the author of one of my favorite adult series, the “Paranormal Detectives Series”.

She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and now resides in Los Angeles, California. Lily is an out and proud member of the LGBT community. When she’s not writing, she’s going to rock concerts, getting tattooed, watching the CW, or reading manga, drinking copious amounts of coffee and sharing her struggles and triumphs with PTSD and depression.

As a person she is a kick ass sister, who inspires me.
Lily writes horror, paranormal fiction and erotica, her stories always feature LGBT characters, always have one or more characters fighting mental illness and always focus on strong females kicking ass.
The last book I read by Lily:

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The Coven Heir (The Coven Series Book Two) by Lily Luchesi
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication: October 5th 2018
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Source: Review copy from Author – Thank you
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The Dark never dies.One year after The Company of Clan Munro was defeated, things in the UK Coven are settling down, and also beginning to be shaken up.

The Princess, Harley Sinclair, is building her potion business and planning a wedding to James Quigley, while still taking lessons from her father, the Coven King.

Her younger half-brother, Nick Smith, is moving to London with three friends … including Roger Ainsley, the son of the former leader of the Dark.

When a mysterious stranger appears back from the dead, his words of warning of another Dark Clan rising might change Nick and Harley’s lives forever.

There’s a deathwitch in the Coven, and she has her sights set on the Princess.

Set in the same world as Lily’s Paranormal Detective Series books, split into four parts, The Coven Heir follows Harley and her comrades as they track down and defeat a Necromancer who is hell bent on destroying all Harley holds dear and wreaking havoc on the Coven.

I struggled to connect with Harley a bit this time around. Which is strange because I loved her in the first book, seriously check out my review of book one. I found myself enjoying the parts of the story that followed Harley’s half brother Nick the most.

☹ I didn’t like how the Harley-James-Caelum ish went down. And while I wasn’t real keen on the Harley & James romance part of the first book, and did much prefer the dynamic of Harley and Caelum, it all happened too fast for my liking.

❤ I did like the addition of the newly resurrected Caelum and enjoyed his interactions with Harley and the other characters.

I loved how there was multiple homosexual and bisexual characters in safe and loving relationships, with all characters surrounding them behaving as if it was the most natural and normal thing on earth – as they should, because it is!
I loved how Lily showed Harley battling her herself (internally) and still kicking ass (externally) – because mental illness doesn’t make you weak.
I even screenshotted character inner monologues and speeches because they resonated with me – and you see those as quotes in my Monthly Bookish Babble at some point.

 

Who would like this story: The violence and romance isn’t too aggressive or graphic and I think the story would be best suited to younger paranormal fans, and any Lily Luchesi fans. It could be read as a stand alone.

Lily’s latest: COMING SOON! on the 14th.
Lily’s first co-written novel, SOUL SYNDICATE, written with Faith Marlow.
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Soul Syndicate by Lily Luchesi & Faith Marlow
Genre: Horror, Paranormal Fiction
Publication: November 14th 2018
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
A soul is a heavy burden to bear.
There’s a gala celebrating the city and many notable celebrities are attending, including a rock star, a socialite, a baseball player, and an entertainment reporter. Each one notable in their own right, and each one holding a secret.
When they all get stuck in an elevator together after the gala is over, they think that that is the worst thing that could happen to them…until the doors finally open.
The world as they knew it has gone, now they have poppies attached to their chests and are facing down soulless friends, family, and strangers, including a crotchety old woman and a former drag queen.
It’s a battle for the ultimate prize: their souls and the souls of everyone else on Earth. Can they save the world, or will these disparate individuals kill each other first?

 

Lily’s Links: Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

October 2018 Bookish Summary

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The start of last month was an emotional one for my entire family. We held our heads high and celebrated our matriarch, my grandmother’s life. She illuminated this earth with her light for 91 years. I will mourn her for the rest of my life. But, I will take the lessons she taught me and try to be the best version of myself I can be.

So as you can imagine October was a pretty crappy month for me and I didn’t have much motivation to do anything. But somehow I did still manage to read some wonderful books.

I decided while reading Stephanie’s September 2018 Recap post [shout out to Stephanie] that I should start doing a summary post each month.
A lot of bloggers do a monthly roundup /recap type posts. I’ve sporadically done it over the years in one form or another. I always read more books than I write up reviews for, and I want to try and shout out more of them. I won’t go into to detail on comics, as some months I smash quite a few single issues and that would make this post too long and a pain in the butt to write. So here we go.

Books read in October: total books read = 9

Comics/ Graphic Novels = 4

#LoveOzYA / #LoveOzMG = 5

Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah.
Published August 1st, 2005 by Pan Australia [View on Goodreads].
A contemporary tale of an Aussie Muslim teenage girl battling, then embracing her identity. This is not the first Abdel-Fattah book I’ve read and it won’t be the last.

All the Little Bones (Circus Hearts #1) by Ellie Marney.
Published September 1st, 2018 by Bearded Lady Press [View on Goodreads].
A dark romance that is fast, exciting and so delicious you’ll want more. Oh Ellie Marney I love you. All hail Ellie the queen of young-adult crime-romance mash-ups.

Obsidio (The Illuminae Files #3) by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff.
Published March 14th, 2018 by Allen & Unwin [View on Goodreads].
A sci-fi symphony. The Pow-pow-ping-ping-BOOM-hacktastic and thrilling conclusion The Illuminae Files trilogy. Amie & Jay = pure sci-fi awesomeness.

All Fall Down (Circus Hearts #2) by Ellie Marney.
Published October 1st, 2018 by Bearded Lady Press [View on Goodreads].
Ellie Marney at it again with book two in the circus hearts series steaming up my reading space. Bring on book three!!! [Full REVIEW HERE].

The Bogan Mondrian by Steven Herrick.
Published September 3rd, 2018 by University of Qld Press [View on Goodreads].
A contemporary tale of friendship, grief and domestic violence. Steven Herrick is a brilliant storyteller and his books are always deep and meaningful, while being easy to read and entertaining. [Full REVIEW HERE].

Conclusion: Sometimes life is hard. Losing loved ones is always hard. We must make sure each moment counts. Steven Herrick is a gem and Ellie Marney is awesome.

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Wind Rider blog tour + Giveaway

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Wind Rider (Tales of a New World #3) by P.C. Cast
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publication: October 30th 2018
Publisher: @macmillanaus
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Mari, Nik, and their newly formed Pack are being hunted. Thaddeus and the God of Death will stop at nothing until they are obliterated from the earth. But Mari and Nik have one goal: to reach the plains of the Wind Riders in order to band together to stop Thaddeus from destroying all that Mari and Nik hold dear.

But will the mysterious Wind Riders accept the Pack, or will Mari and Nik and their people be rejected by the mighty Riders and be forced to flee for their lives? And what happens when a rogue Lead Stallion gets too close to the Pack, rejecting all Wind Riders and turning to a stranger for companionship instead?

In the third instalment of the Tales of a New World series, love and goodness are put to the ultimate test. Will the Wind Riders and the Pack be strong enough to withstand the God of Death? Will the Great Goddess of Life awaken to join the battle and, if so, will it be as Death’s consort, or will the Goddess stand with Mari and her people against the great love of her eternal life?

To celebrate the release of Wind Rider (Tales of a New World #3), Pan Macmillan Australia has given me the opportunity to give away to one lucky reader the first three books in the Tales of a New World series!

GIVEAWAY T&C’s:
♥ Giveaway is open to Australian and New Zealand addresses only, sorry.
♥ You must be over 18 or have parents permission to enter.
♥ If randomly selected as the winner you will need to provide me your postal address so I can pass it on to Pan Macmillan for shipping of the prize pack.
♥ Giveaway will close at 12:00am AEST 16th November 2018.

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Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

The Bogan Mondrian: #LoveOzYA Review

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The Bogan Mondrian by Steven Herrick 
Genre: Contemporary, #LoveOzYA
Publication: September 3rd 2018
Publisher: University of Queensland Press
Source: Review copy from UQP – Thank You
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Rating: ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

‘There are worse things than school.’

Luke sleepwalks through his days wagging school, swimming at the reservoir and eating takeaway pizza.

That is until Charlotte shows up.

Rumour is she got expelled from her city school and her family moved to the Blue Mountains for a fresh start.

But when Luke’s invited to her house, he discovers there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye.

Woop woop! The Bogan Mondrian, another contemporary #LoveOZYA title from Steven Herrick. Whether he is writing a Prose or Verse Novel, he excels at both and is a brilliant storyteller. One of my favourites. SO, as you can imagine I was super excited when I heard he had a new release coming up, and I was over the moon when I got a copy for review from UQP.

I was heartbroken that I didn’t adore The Bogan Mondrian (prose novel) the way I adored The Simple Gift (verse novel) or Slice (prose novel), but I still really liked it and it is still a Herrick masterpiece.

Herrick’s stories always deal with heavy issues, but leave you with a feeling of hope. I think that’s why I didn’t love this one as much. It didn’t leave me as heart-warmed as all the others have. But within a story dealing with domestic violence, I guess that was always going to be the case. I wanted a more severe punishment for the perpetrator of the domestic violence (and animal murder). I felt he got off lightly. But that is the real world, and this is a contemporary novel. They don’t get locked up when they should. They continue to roam free.

Herrick writes his male leads with such heart and compassion. He writes his teenage boys behaving the way I want my boys to behave once they hit their teens, loving and respectful. Yeah most of them muck up at school, so what, they are always loving and respectful to the women in their lives and their elders. The world needs more men like Steven Herrick. The world needs more books like The Bogan Mondrian shining a light on the way boys/men should behave. And the best part is, the kids wouldn’t even realise that Herrick’s characters are teaching them good morals and values because his stories are so compelling and entertaining.

The Bogan Mondrian deals with friendship, grief and domestic violence. It follows 17-year-old Luke as he grieves the loss of his father to cancer and struggles to figure out how to help a friend in need. Luke is a fantastic character and I warmed to him immediately.

Thank you, Steven Herrick, please keep writing more books. You make the world a little bit better place each time.

Trigger warnings. Domestic Violence, Animal Abuse.

 

Herrick’s Links: Twitter | Goodreads | Website | Blog | Facebook | UQP
Amazon AU | Amazon US | Bookdepository | Booktopia

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

All Fall Down: #LoveOzYA Review

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All Fall Down (Circus Hearts #2)
by Ellie Marney
Genre: Contemporary, #LoveOZYA
Publication: October 1st 2018
Publisher: Bearded Lady Press
Source: Review copy from Author
Thank you Ellie
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

A ringmaster’s daughter and a bearded lady’s son join forces to stop a saboteur…

Nineteen-year-old Fleur Klatsch is loyal to her trapeze team and her ringmaster father, dedicated to the circus, and tough on everyone around her. After a series of accidents at Klatsch’s Karnival, Fleur is left holding the ball: she’s running the carnival, trying to stop a saboteur, and taking care of her dad. She doesn’t need anyone’s help, least of all Eugenia Deloren’s son, Marco, who’s been trying to break out of show life since the moment he was born into it. All Marco needs to do is get Klatsch’s back on its feet so he can leave. But after one fateful kiss with Fleur, will he really want to? And will Fleur and Marco figure out who’s trying to kill the show before someone kills them…

Dark YA romance with a criminal twist – Circus Hearts: Step. Right. Up.

I was captivated with book one, All the Little Bones, from the first sentence up until the last. I adored the protagonist, Sorsha, and didn’t want the story to end. So, obviously I was super excited when the opportunity to read and review book two came along and I jumped at it.

The first book is told from the POV of Sorsha and tracks her journey to the circus, her struggles to forget her past and fit in at the circus the second book is wholly set in. Fleur the POV in this, the second book, is a secondary character in the first one and I really didn’t like her…
My residual ill feelings towards Fleur made it hard for me to get into the story at first. But once I got to know Fleur, it was all good, GAME ON.

The second book has a thrilling Circus saboteur who-done-it feeling. With a friends to lovers type smouldering romance weaved through. And also a slight coming of age kind of vibe.

With Fleur’s father injured and in hospital thanks to the saboteur, Fleur must run the circus, figure out who the saboteur is and what on earth is going on between her and Marco. Thankfully she has some great side characters to help her along the way. Sorsha’s still there in the background with her muscle man, Colm and Genie and Mitch are wonderful. Oh, and I can’t forget Marco, glorious Marco. Marco lights up book two like petrol on bonfire.

Who would like this book: Fans of swoon worthy romance. #LoveOzYA aficionados. Anyone after a captivating and fast paced read.

I think All Fall Down could stand on its own. But then you would be depriving yourself of meeting Sorsha and Colm, and trust me, that’s not something you want to do.

Fast paced action. Hot romance. Circus life. What more could you want people. Do yourself a favour and check the series out.

Bring on book three and the POV of Ren!!!

Ellie’s Links: Amazon AU | Amazon US | Goodreads | Twitter | Website 

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Quotes Collection Part Nine

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You only have to have been following me for a minute, to know i’m a SAGA fan. I read issue #44 back in July 2017 and was immediately drawn to the above text. It struck a chord in me and made me sit back as go “Shit, that sounds about right”.

I sat back and thought about all the things I was passionate about, and all the times I’d done stupid don’t-do-it things, and came to the conclusion that Brian was 100% on the money.

I’m lucky that this fact doesn’t bother me. I like to think I have to pretty open minded and compassionate parents who taught me good values and morals – even if I didn’t always follow them.

I found it interesting to ponder and the more I thought on it, the more I could see how the lives my parents lived with their parents had shaped them to be who they are.

SAGA, always providing food for thought! Seriously, if you haven’t picked this series up yet you really should. Here is another SAGA tidbit from back in late 2015.

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Me, Myself and Thrive: Product Review

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I’ve felt further and further under the weather for years now. You might remember when I was chasing down all my aches and pains and trying to self-manage with essential oils. A while back I finally broke down, gave up and went crying to my GP. My doctor then sent me for numerous tests and to multiple specialists. In the end I got a diagnosis of spondylo-arthritis, sleep apnoea and high blood pressure. Yay me! Not! But hey, it could be much worse. I’m on meds for the arthritis and blood pressure and have been seeing a Chiropractor and Remedial Massage Therapist regularly.

I’ve had all of the above compounding on me for years and the births of two children to add to it. But I’m not here to bitch and carry on about health issues. I’m here to talk about something proactive I’m doing to better my overall health.

I’ve got a friend who’s been harping-on, all over Facebook, about how she is now “Thriving”. She’s been doing this “Thriving” thing for quite a while now. Her name is Jody and I love her to pieces. So, SHOUT OUT TO JODY! Anyways, Jody sent me a ten-day sample of the health supplements she’d been using and being the super-special-critter I am, I wasn’t holding out much hope that I’d feel any different. I read a shit tonne of testimonies on the products and couldn’t see any reason not to give it a go.

What the heck is thrive you ask. Essentially you are taking a vitamin and mineral super bomb, with an appetite suppressant. So, think of it as going into the chemist and buying every Blackmores product there is and taking one of it each, every morning.

From day one I had more energy and my hunger was decreased. But from what I’ve read you are either a first day Thriver or don’t feel it kick in to around day ten.

This is a word for word message I sent to my friend Jody after a week Thriving.
“I got up at five this morning and did some light exercise before my shower/get dressed/get the kids up morning ritual. It’s the first time since having kids that I’ve managed to do this. I used to do yoga or go for a walk early in the mornings before I had the kids. So that feels like a step back in the right direction.”

I’ve been using it for over four months now and am still finding I’ve got more energy and am less hungry then I was pre-Thrive. I struggled to get out of bed pre-Thrive, constantly felt I was dragging myself through wet concreate, now I hop out and head off to do my stretches, computer work or catch up on some reading before the boys wake up. I hardly drink coffee anymore, only as a treat, not a way to survive. I don’t feel like I need it. And I was drinking two large cups just to get my brain functioning each morning pre-Thrive. There are still some days where I’ve had a bad night apnoea wise and all my efforts are destroyed for the day until I can get some rest. But that’s on a ratio of like, one to eight, so I can deal with that.

The biggest rule on Thrive is to make sure you drink heaps of water. At first your body is detoxing and will NEED plenty of water – that’s what I was told, and that’s how it felt. I was smashing down five plus litres of water a day during my first ten days, but that super thirst has calmed down now. Most days now I drink around four litres total.

Cost: It seems super expensive when you pay for a month’s supply but boils down to about $8.00 a day with the American dollar change over, once you add it into the auto-ship set up. It’s not financially sustainable for most people unless you’re flush with cash or have friends you can sign up with and share around the credits you receive. Yes, it is a business, so of course they offer you benefits for signing people up, it’s just like what I’ve encountered with doTerra and YLEO etc.

I’m not sure for how long I’ll keep the program up for, but even in the short term it has given me a well needed boost and got me living again.

The THRIVE 8-Week Experience is the fastest-growing health & wellness movement in the world. THREE premium nutritional based products have changed the world and created millions of success stories!
The THRIVE Experience is SIMPLE, FUN and it WORKS! Check it out…
That’s it! You’re set to THRIVE all day long! Learn more about the THRIVE 8-Week Experience [CLICK HERE]… a simple system with powerful results designed to fill in your nutritional deficiencies!

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Amal Unbound: MG Review

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Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Genre: Contemporary, Middle Grade
Publication: June 1st 2018
Publisher: Text Publishing
Source: Review copy from Text, Thank you.
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Life is quiet and ordinary in Amal’s Pakistani village, but she had no complaints, and besides, she’s busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. Her dreams are temporarily dashed when–as the eldest daughter–she must stay home from school to take care of her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn’t lose hope and finds ways to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens–after an accidental run-in with the son of her village’s corrupt landlord, Amal must work as his family’s servant to pay off her own family’s debt.

Life at the opulent Khan estate is full of heartbreak and struggle for Amal–especially when she inadvertently makes an enemy of a girl named Nabila. Most troubling, though, is Amal’s growing awareness of the Khans’ nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear just how far they will go to protect their interests, Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams.

Amal Unbound is a Middle Grade novel, but I appreciated and enjoyed this story as an adult. I found it to be a captivating and delightful read, even though it dealt with some not so delightful things.

I am sure that the idea of village hierarchy, an all power landlord and forced servitude would shock a lot kids, which is why books like this are so important. It is a story that I feel will give it’s target audience, and any others who read it for that matter, a connection and compassion for a child in totally different circumstances then themselves. It’s one I’ll definitely be giving to my boys to read when they are a bit older.

Essentially, while 12 year old Amal is under the intense pressure of running her parents household, caring for four younger siblings as her mother suffers from post-natal-depression, she snaps and says the wrong thing to the wrong person. Amal then finds her life turned upside down as she is ripped from her home and forced into the servitude of the man whose ego she bruised.

Ultimately Amal Unbound It is a story of hope. A story of right and wrong. A story of Karma catching up with those that think they are untouchable. A story of a young girl fighting her her freedom, and winning.

Who would enjoy this book: anybody who craves knowledge (Amal dreams of knowing everything there is to know of the world), anybody in need of a feel good tale and being reminded that sometimes right does win out over wrong, anybody who loves an underdog, anybody with a passion for women’s rights.

Aisha Saeed is a New York Times bestselling author, a Pakistani-American writer, teacher and attorney. She has been featured on MTV, the Huffington Post, NBC and the BBC, and, as one of the founding members of the much talked about ‘We Need Diverse Books’ campaign, she is helping change the conversation about diverse books. Aisha lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and sons.

Aisha Saeed links: Goodreads | Text Publishing | Instagram | Website | We Need Diverse Books

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).