Begone the Raggedy Witches: MG Review

July 14, 2018July 7, 2018 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / 2 Comments

36131823 Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publication: February 1st 2018
Publisher: Walker Books
Source: Review copy from Publisher
Thank you Walker Books
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

On the night that Aunty dies the Raggedy Witches come for Mup’s mam. Pale, cold, relentless, they will do anything to coax Mam back to Witches Borough. When they kidnap Mup’s dad, Mup and her mam must leave the mundane world to rescue him. But Mam is strange on this side of the border – striding, powerful, and distant. Even if they can save Dad, Mup is not sure anything will ever be the same again…

Begone the Raggedy Witches has been dubbed as Ireland’s answer to JK Rowling, but I got more of an Alice in Wonderland vibe then Harry Potter. So, maybe it’s Ireland’s answer to Lewis Carroll? Hmmm, no.

Mup was an easily likeable main character. You couldn’t help but root for her, on her journey through a strange and exciting new land, to save her father.

Mup’s baby brother Tipper turning in a dog was a highlight for me. I have an eighteen month old son and I kept imagining him running around as a puppy. I also loved the inclusion of the old family dog on the adventure, really rounded out Mup’s ragtag band of adventurers.

Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan is a whimsical fairytale-esque story about self-discovery, making friends, writing wrongs and good triumphing over evil. I would highly recommended this book for any younger fantasy fans.

Celine Kiernan’s Links: Twitter | Website | Facebook | Goodreads

Raggedy Witches Links: Booktopia | Bookdepository | Amazon US | Amazon AU

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Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Flash Fiction: Timothy’s close call, a 270-word-short-story

April 29, 2016July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

I’m not sure where this story came from. I was sitting in front of my computer thinking about rose petals floating on water, for no particular reason, then they turned into leaves and so this story began.

* * *

Timothy sat upon his raft made of gum leaves floating on top of the seemingly endless stretch of brown water. Every ripple on the water’s surface threatened to submerge him.

Jennifer loved jumping in puddles and she could see a beautiful long and muddy one up ahead. She raced with her dog Pippin and splish, splashed, sploshed up and down until she was drenched and gasping for breath.

Suddenly Timothy was flying through the air clinging to his raft. The last thing had seen before he found himself air born was a giant human girl covered in pink thundering towards him.

Jennifer squealed in joy.

Timothy screamed in fear.

Pippin felt a tiny pinprick between his shoulder blades, he thought nothing of it and returned to chasing Jennifer with glee.

* * *

When Timothy regained consciousness he was in some sort of warm musky yellow forest. He promptly passed out again.

* * *

When Timothy regained consciousness again, he struggled to comprehend where he was, until he saw the pink clothed giant human girl above him. Terrified he started to run. He kept running until he was falling. He’d run right off the edge of the warm musky yellow forest that he’d now registered was in fact a dog.

* * *

When Timothy regained consciousness again, he thanked the universe that he’d been born an elf giving him a nearly indestructible body.

It was a long and slow trek from the human domain to his magically protected part of the bush lands. On the way he recounted tale to every fairy and elf he came across. He Vowed never to stray that close to humans again.

* * *

Nobility by Kayla Bain-Vrba

March 22, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / Leave a comment

Nobility by Kayla Bain-Vrba

Published March 18th 2015 by Less Than Three Press LLC

I received a copy to read and review through Net Galley, so thank you to the Author and Publisher for allowing me this opportunity.

Determined to escape an arranged marriage, and with very few options available, Danna brings a curse down on herself and settles into life in an enchanted tower. The very last thing she needs or wants is to be rescued, no matter how beautiful or compelling her unexpected rescuer is.

Nobelle is desperate to avoid the hangman’s noose, and as last ditch efforts go her life could be worse than rescuing a bratty princess. But an easy way to stay alive turns into a complicated tangle of lies as she and Danna grow closer and Nobelle has no easy way to admit that she’s no knight in shining armor…

I so wanted to love this, but it all moved way too fast and I didn’t get a chance.

The story is a cute, quick, insta love story. Nobelle is the arse kicking outlaw and Danna is the pretty princess with more to her than meets the eye. There are little snippets of humor the whole way though keeping the story light, fresh and entertaining. There was definitely a really strong background for what could have been spun into a longer and more thrilling tale.

I really loved the sound of this story, its synopsis and the cover. I think if the author had had the extra pages to build the characters and the world more, I would have loved it. I wish it had been a longer story so that we could have watched the Women fall in love – I know it’s only a short story but it just felt too rushed for my taste.

Twitter – https://twitter.com/KaylaBainVrba

Tumblr – http://kaylabainvrba.tumblr.com/

Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5357735.Kayla_Bain_Vrba

Live Journal – http://kaylabainvrba.livejournal.com/

Down The Wormhole by Ana Franco

February 10, 2015July 14, 2019 / Riot @ Absidity Art - Sarah Fairbairn / 1 Comment

Down The Wormhole by Ana Franco

Release date: March 17th, 2015

Publisher: French Press Book Works

The Pitch: “A young orphan girl bonds with four mythological gods while trying to find a true home for herself”.

I received an ARC from the author to read and review, so thank Ana Franco.

In a city there is a tiny lane that separates two orphanages – one for boys and one for girls. Inside live two very special groups of teenagers. These teenagers carry a secret and leave it tucked safely away in their mysterious lives.

Then one day, a girl named Kitty arrives. No last name, just Kitty.

Before Kitty has time to be astonished by the teenagers’ real identities, she is whisked into a magical realm that slowly unfolds her own. She must come to terms with her true place in the world while she can, because time is ticking and there are secrets in the wormhole.

Travel with Kitty and her new friends Down The Wormhole into a mysterious world of magic, mythology, and mayhem.

“Ana’s YA Novel weaves mythology with modern life and creates a magical tale that will attract readers from all genres.” – Pen Name Publishing.

“The narrative in this book was something else. I mean that in the best of ways. This: ‘She widened her eyes and opened her mouth, looking like an email emoticon’ was one of the best descriptions I’ve read in a book in forever. It had me laughing silly for the longest time.” – Blackbird’s Nest.

“Throw in a plot twisted with deceit, revenge, a magical bracelet, and a wormhole leading to the land of gods, and you have an enticing journey. Oh, and there is also the gratuitous love story many young readers seem to expect.” – Amazing Stories.

“Down the Wormhole is a good book. It’s barely 100 pages, so Franco does not waste pages with anything unnecessary to the story, which I am always appreciative of, especially if sequels are promised.” – Purple Owl Reviews.

To start off with we get a Lewis Carroll Alice in wonderland quote to set the mood:

“Alice laughed: ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said; ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’  

‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.’”

Alice in Wonderland is one of my all times favourites, so I was very nervous here – Was this going to be a copycat sort of thing?

I realised very quickly that Ms Franco has her own strong voice and has created a unique story using a blend of Nordic, Celtic and Egyptian mythology with modern day teenagers in all their overreacting drama filled glory.

The beginning was so strong. The first chapter of Eris and Sif fighting in The Land Above All Clouds was fantastic; I would have loved to have read a whole story up there about those two.

Once we swapped from Sif’s to Kitty’s life it lost a little bit of it lustre for me. I had to keep reminding myself thought-out the story to stop being an adult and enjoy the impossible happening.

My favourite character was the villain of the story, the Goddess of Chaos, Eris. But I think the aim was for people to love Kitty, Oops my bad. My least favourite character was Anna. Anna’s treatment of Kitty during labour put her right up there with the likes of Dolores Umbridge in my hatred of book characters.

The writing was choppy with a furious pace and to her credit Ms Franco fitted a hell of a lot of story into very few pages. I really wanted to love this story. It had some of my favourite things in it – mythology, magic, love and revenge. The synopsis sounded interesting and it had gotten a few good reviews. But I just couldn’t get into it. I read an ARC so I can’t comment on what the finished product will be once it is buffed and polished, but this version had a lot of mistakes (sentences with words out of order, misspelled words). I’m normally not one to nit-pick at grammar and spelling as my skills are very poor – if it doesn’t affect the story then I really don’t care. But I found it very hard to read this at times and I really do think that is what lowered my enjoyment. Once it is published I will buy a copy and re-evaluate, because there was real potential for an awesome story under it all and Ms Franco has a wonderful vision of a fantastic new fantasy world.

Blog – https://anaisthebookworm.wordpress.com/