Snow White | Matt Phelan | Review

Monday, 19 September 2016

Snow White | Matt Phelan | Review

*Image and book provided by NetGalley.

Summary:

A graphic novel version of the classic Snow White story set in 1930's Depression Era New York City. 

Review:

There isn't a lot of dialogue in this book and the base story is very familiar so I'm going to focus on the artwork. Phelan is incredibly talented. The copy I received was all shaded work, no real color, with the promise that the full book would be published in color, but I'm not sure I'd want to read it then. The whole story works so well with the film noir styling. It's already so beautiful that I hope the final, full color version of the book uses muted colors at most. 

I'm not normally one for retelling of classic fairy tales (The Lunar Chronicles being the exception) but this was such an engaging retelling. The Depression Era setting is well thought out and integrated. The use of a ticker machine instead of a magic mirror and the "glass coffin" are so perfect for the setting and the story. 

I'm a little hesitant to recommend the final book since I'm not sure how full color will affect the overall feel of the book, but, fingers crossed, it'll still be just as beautiful and heart-warming.  

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Features | Back to School Books

Friday, 16 September 2016

Features | Back to School Books

For a lot of people September is either pretty great or pretty terrible, depending on how you feel about school. Whether you're someone who wants to celebrate going back to class, someone who longs to experience a more exciting school life, or someone like me who isn't going back to school at all but is still feeling those September vibes, there are plenty of campus based novels to channel that back to school spirit. Here are five of them. 

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

A tense read about a group of Classics students at a prestigious New England college, The Secret History is not quite a murder mystery, as the murderer's identity is never in question, but a literary story that will probably make you glad your educational experience hasn't been quite like this one.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is often described as a great feminist YA novel. When Frankie discovers that her new boyfriend is part of an all-male secret society at their boarding school, she is not impressed. And since she can't be part of the society, she hatches a plan to teach the boys a lesson instead.

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

The title of Anna and the French Kiss probably tells you everything you need to know. This is a love story set in an American boarding school in Paris. If YA romance is your thing then you'll probably love it, but be warned it may make you wish you were attending a French boarding school too.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I know pretty much everyone has read Rainbow Rowell's novel about an introverted fangirl starting college for the first time, but for me personally Cath's reaction to her new situation is the most relatable thing I've ever read. I wish I had had this to read when I first started university.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

And finally, I won't tell you what this one is about because I'm pretty sure you already know, but I just couldn't talk about books set in school without mentioning Harry Potter. 'Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.'

Good luck for this year if you're starting or have started a new school year! And hey, good luck to the rest of us who aren't too!

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Sofia Kahn Is Not Obliged | Ayisha Malik | Review

Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Sofia Kahn Is Not Obliged | Ayisha Malik | Review

*cover image via GoodReads

"Brilliant idea! Excellent! Muslim dating? Well, I had no idea you were allowed to date.' Then he leaned towards me and looked at me sympathetically. 'Are your parents quite disappointed?'

Unlucky in love once again after her possible-marriage-partner-to-be proves a little too close to his parents, Sofia Khan is ready to renounce men for good. Or at least she was, until her boss persuades her to write a tell-all expose about the Muslim dating scene.

As her woes become her work, Sofia must lean on the support of her brilliant friends, baffled colleagues and baffling parents as she goes in search of stories for her book. In amongst the marriage-crazy relatives, racist tube passengers and decidedly odd online daters, could there be a a lingering possibility that she might just be falling in love . . . ?

— — —

Hands down one of the funniest books I've read in a long time.

Sofia is an utterly irresistible as a heroine. Endearing, sharp and quick off the mark, I'd find anyone hard pressed to not fall in love with her. Despite the obvious Bridget Jones comparisons (30-something woman working in media who’s love life takes center stage of the narrative), I’d argue Sofia is even more of an 'every woman' than Bridget ever was. Driven, confident, and opinionated on the outside (you get the idea within the first few pages that Sofia is a woman who know exactly who she is already, thank you very much), on the inside she's failing and falling and saying stupid stuff an inappropriate times. She messes up a lot and yet, you're still rooting for her right until the very end.

Addressing the massive elephant in the room with the book, I honestly barely noticed. Yes, seeing a Muslim woman portrayed in this way has been flung around the press and Internet as revolutionary, but in reality Sofia’s religion played second fiddle to how well the story played out and how much I was enjoying myself. Malik has struck an eloquently written balance between showcasing Sofia’s religious identity, culture, and family, and letting her 'be Sofia’, a woman writing a dating book whilst also trying to manage her own love life and societal pressures of ‘settling down’ and finding a husband.

If anything I’m mad at myself for thinking that having a Muslim female protagonist was such a revolutionary thing in the first place and utterly sad that more books like this aren’t getting published on the regular.

A 10/10 recommend from me!

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Bookish Links #22

Wednesday, 7 September 2016

Bookish Links #22

Welcome to Bookish Links - our monthly list of awesome links from around the web! Here's some of the articles we've been reading and loving lately, don't forget to let us know if you read/write any articles you'd like us to share!

1. To Pre-Order Or Not? - in this article Tiffany talks about why she never pre-orders books. Are you with her on this one, or are you someone who can't resist placing their orders months in advance?

2. Write Like A Grrl - we thoroughly enjoyed reading about Ria's recent adventures at a writing workshop in London over on her personal blog. Have you ever attended an event like this? Let us know in the comments!

3. Re-reads! - Ava shared her thoughts on re-reading and the nine reasons she loves to revisit old favourites. Are you a re-reader?

4. Pointless Reviews?! - Jenny recently wrote a post inspired by the comment "I don't see the point of book reviews, they're irrelevant". What are your thoughts on the matter?

5. Love At First Sight - in this post Anjali talked about the books she purchased thanks to their gorgeous covers. Do you ever buy books based on their covers? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

6. GardenDreamsDecor - if you're looking for a unique bookish gift you may like these garden decorations that caught our eye over on Etsy, where each metal decoration has a tiny book cover inside the centre of the flower!

7. Cliffhangers - we found Ranu's thoughts on cliffhangers to be an interesting read. Which books do you think have the best (or most frustrating) cliffhanger endings?

8. Writing In The Margins - over on her blog, Jillian discussed how she annotates her books. Do you fill the margins of your favourite reads with notes, use highlighters to pick out the best quotes and post it note thoughts for reviews? Let us know in the comments!

9. Changing Tastes - in this post Jamie talks about the change in her relationship with a long-time favourite go-to genre; contemporary YA. Do you go through phases when it comes to favourite genre?

10. Talking Feminism - we really enjoyed this video where Amber chats to popular UK YA author Holly Bourne about Feminism and more. Don't forget to subscribe whilst you're there!

11. Love For YA... - we think YA is an important genre and that's why we wanted to share Laura's post on five reasons why you should read YA! She even includes a list of recommendations - have you read them all yet?

12. & More Love For YA! - our final post of the roundup is another focused on YA! In this article Annika responds to a post shared on the Guardian and discusses why no one is "too old" for YA.

If you've read or written an interesting bookish article you think our readers would enjoy please let us know - it may be featured in a future post!   

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The Tower's Alchemist | Alesha L. Escobar | Review

Monday, 5 September 2016

The Tower's Alchemist | Alesha L. Escobar | Review

*Image from Amazon.

Summary:

In a time and place that mixes World War II with magic, Isabella/Emelie/Noelle is a spy for the SOE and an Apprentice-Level Alchemist who left the Grey Tower, where all people with magic get trained, to help out the war effort. Isabella gets assigned to go behind enemy lines to try to bring into custody Dr. Veit, who has used his knowledge of magic to create a chemical weapon called, simply, The Plague. Naturally, it doesn't go according to plan and she must find a way to destroy the chemical weapon, get out of the war-zone safely, all the while keeping herself out of the hands of Grey Tower Agents and the Black Wolves who wish to use her to get her father.

Review:

This was quite the adventure! I'm not gonna say it was all a fun ride because there was genuine emotional turmoil included, but that just helped to make it such a good book. This world's use and acceptance of the reality of magic was seamless. It never seemed out of place for someone to be able to create symbols and unleash the elements. 

Isabella is a strong and intelligent woman, as someone in her line of work should be. Her tools of the trade mix traditional spy gear with magical gear. She has emerald glasses that let her see in the dark. She has red garnet lipstick that, when kissed, allows her influence over the kisser. A wonderful blend of spy and magic gear.

My favorite part of this book is the entire cast and crew of characters. It's so easy to feel for the people she meets behind the lines, the people who have lost everything, the people who are tired of fighting but continue to do so. It is written in such a way that much of the history of World War II is still there, there's just magic involved as well. The people of Britain are still conserving every ounce of food and cooking with even the most disliked ingredients (liver sandwiches, bleh). The people of France are on strict rations with curfews and are killed on the streets if suspected of any Marquisard activities or sympathies. This book almost brought me to tears through its characters.

All of this and I've barely scratched the surface the Grey Tower vs the Black Wolves! The Order versus "vampires" that drink the blood of wizards to gain their energy. Plus, the hunt for Isabella's father who is believed to be a Drifter, a magician who can travel through time. There is just so much going on in this book, but it is so well balanced that it never feels overwhelming. It never feels like the author is skipping over important details. 

This was a great read. If you like magic-in-the-real-world, or fictional stories set in World War II, or stories about magical forces at war with each other, I highly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down!

This post was written by Rachel.

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Features | Under-hyped Book Recs

Friday, 2 September 2016

Features | Under-hyped Book Recs

The #UnderHypedReads readathon starts tomorrow so in honour of that, today I am sharing a few of my favourite under-hyped books. For the purposes of this I have defined 'under-hyped' as 'having less that 1,000 ratings on GoodReads.' So although I'm sure you may have heard of a couple of these books in the online book community I think they all still need a little extra love.

Campari for Breakfast by Sara Crowe

Set in the 1980s, in a beautiful, crumbling, old manor house, Campari for Breakfast is a funny and moving coming-of-age story. After the death of her mother, Sue Bowl moves into her aunt's beautiful but somewhat neglected manor and, along with the other varied and eccentric residents, explores her passion for writing, a long-hidden family secret, and the boys who work in the local cafe.

Diving Belles by Lucy Wood

Diving Belles is a collection of short stories about husbands lured to the depths of the sea, houses that watch over their inhabitants, and people turned to stone. The stories are varied but they all share elements of the fantastic and Lucy Wood's beautiful writing and a common thread of Cornish folklore runs through them all.

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged shows us Sofia Khan's diary as she juggles her day job, the expectations of her family, her sister's upcoming wedding, a uniquely bad break-up, her friends' love lives, and her boss's new idea that Sofia should write a book on Muslim dating. Of course, the fake dates for the book swiftly turn into not-so-fake feelings for Sofia to juggle on top of everything else.

Lorali by Laura Dockrill

In Lorali, Rory, a teenage boy in a seaside town, finds a girl on the beach under the pier. Only after he begins to help her does Rory discover that Lorali is a mermaid and she's missed not only under the sea, but by the sea itself. Then the pirates arrive. Lorali is a really unique story told from the very poetic, alternating perspectives of Lorali, Rory, and The Sea.

The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude

The Cornish Coast Murder is a classic, cosy murder mystery. A magistrate is found shot in the head in his own home in the small Cornish village of Boscawen. With seemingly no clues for the police to follow, the local vicar, Reverend Dodd, a big fan of detective novels, soon finds himself involved in the investigation.

What are your favourite under-hyped books that you think deserve more love?

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