Book Review Blog

A delightful new mashup of old familiar fairy tale characters and themes, with loads of originality and memorable characters. (I particularly adore the cranky Snow with all her axes and armour! And the secret boy witch Hansel with his unfathomable powers.) The characters have depth and can certainly sustain a series of adventures. Themes deftly and humorously tackled head on in this book: gender stereotypes, racism (underlined as species-ism), authoritarian governments, political asylum, to name a few. There is an abundance of juicy ideas to relate to real life and discuss with young readers delightfully delivered. Definitely looking forward to...

Author Guy Jones has started an unstoppable creative wave amongst primary school children!  For the launch of his second novel, The Fire Maker, Guy Jones visited primary schools across London in June and talked to Years 4 - 6 about how to start a story: the secrets of creating engaging characters and new worlds... And he ignited imaginations far and wide. Blue Gate Fields Junior School ran a Creative Writing competition based on Jones' launch event and below you can read the scintillating winning entry... Winning entry by Ramla Mirire Year 5 Class 7 The Girl Named ‘Poop’ Hello, my so-called name is...

Meat Market by Juno Dawson Pub Date: 23 May 2019 Publisher: Quercus Teens & YA PGBB Reviewed on NetGalley 02 June 2019 ⭐5/5  Juno Dawson just gets better and better with every book!  Meat Market is an extraordinarily accurate exposé of the fashion industry in the real world told through the experience of an utterly believable and lovable fictitious character: Jana Novak.  In fact, I'm sure I know her!  I spent over 10 years in the modelling world, and it hasn't changed in 35 years. I remember it well and traced many of the same cities that Jana does and shared many of her experiences, good and bad. It...

The Deathless Girls by Kiran Millwood Hargrave Pub Date: 19 Sep 2019 Publisher: Bellatrix Sci Fi & Fantasy , Teens & YA PGBB Reviewed on NetGalley 16 May 2019 ⭐5/5 An original gothic vampire origin story told from the POV of one of Dracula’s brides, giving it a feminist voice that is so refreshing for gothic fantasy!  Kiran’s beautifully written poetic prose conjures the reader into a vividly imagined world of Travellers and slavers that feels  utterly believable and palpable, then it ever so gradually moves from realism into more sinister suggestions of unnatural evils, then before you realise the...

Rumblestar By Abi ElphinstonePub Date: 30 May 2019Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK Children’s Children's Fiction, Middle GradePGBB Reviewed on NetGalley 15 May 2019 ⭐5/5 Simply splendid start to finish! I didn’t think I could adore another new pair of protagonists following my mini-love-fair with Smudge and Bartholomew in Everdark, but Utterly and Casper are another unique and fabulous duo. Casper hates risks and is allergic to adventure. Utterly hates rules and is allergic to behaving. Their odd combination of personal strengths and challenges chime with delightful counterpoint and provide every reader with traits to identify with. But for all their faults...