prettylittlewriter

Thank you so much to Black Crow PR and Tor books for sending me a copy for review!

 Synopsis
‘Ropa dropped out of school to become a ghostalker. Now she speaks to Edinburgh's dead, carrying messages to the living. A girl's gotta earn a living, and it seems harmless enough. Until, that is, the dead whisper that someone's bewitching children--leaving them husks, empty of joy and life. It's on Ropa's patch, so she feels honor-bound to investigate. But what she learns will change her world.

This is a brilliant read full of ghosts, magic and a dream library setting!

It took me a little while to like our main character Ropa, as she was very stubborn at the start and would only help the departed communicate with their loved ones for a charge (which wasn't very empathetic).

However, as the novel went on, a softer side came out of her, especially when she starts making friends within the library.

The first person thoughts from Ropa were a brilliant way to read the novel through her perspective, and it really helped hook me to the story.

The book takes place in an alternate Edinburgh, set in the future (after an event known as ‘the catastrophe’) and features slums, poverty and quite a bit of violence. Even though it seems to be set in the future, some parts of the novel give me a retro vibe.

I really enjoyed the paranormal elements to it, and the incorporation of Ropa’s mbira (African instrument) to help tether the spirits to the earth so she can communicate with them properly. There was also the mention of another realm, where the departed can be banished to, that has no time or gravity and is full of monsters.

The main danger/baddie within the novel is very clever and really interesting, and without giving too much away, I found it quite scary and difficult to read in places due to the nature of it.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot, and would highly recommend to anyone that likes a fantasy novel that incorporates ghosts and a dystopian element.

I'm very much looking forward to the 2nd book!

4/5 stars

Thank you so much to Noah for sending me a copy of your novel to review! 

Synopsis

‘Deep in the of rural Tennessee, sits the forgotten town of Three Summers. Mere miles away, on an overgrown river island, stands the house that once presided over the grand plantation of Angel’s Landing,

It took me a while to realise that Brad and Missy’s timelines are different; Missy Holiday is years before Brad, and their timelines do meet at the very beginning when Brad first shows up in Three Summers, but it is not apparent until later on that they are different (a little bit of a spoiler, but may help you understand the book more if you read this review before you read the novel!).

At the very beginning of the novel, Brad is running from his problems and has made the decision to kill himself, which is why he ends up in Three Summers, looking for water to take some pills with. This was a shocking start to the book, with my intrigue piqued to find out what has happened for him to make this decision.  When a grey-haired woman knocks on his car window and asks if he’s the doctor, he finds himself saying yes, and being taken to the house at Angel’s Landing, for a woman in apparent need of a doctor.

I found the writing style very dark, gothic and with plenty of metaphors. Noah’s descriptive writing of the town, the house and the land around it was so intense and incredibly compelling.

The skipping between the different timelines was a little confusing at times, especially at the beginning when I didn’t realise that Missy was not Brad’s fiancée. We also get a first person narrative as Brad writes for his magazine at the beginning of each chapter, Southern Gothic, and then it switches to third person for the actual story.

Both our main characters of Brad and Missy were likeable, especially Missy, who is very damaged but a delicate and caring soul, who gives sympathy to those who don’t even necessarily deserve it (A boy called Roy who hurts a cat so bad it goes brain dead, ends up needing her help later on).

The small town with all its inhabitants feels very much like a cult, with bizarre rituals and beliefs that seem to cause absolute chaos at times.

Overall, I did enjoy the novel, and I was rooting for the characters to have a happy ending (more-so Missy as she’s had such a terrible life and I wanted her to have some happiness), but I did find myself putting off reading it as I found it quite a difficult at times due to the disjointed writing style. I would definitely recommend to anyone that loves a true gothic novel, with some frightening scenes and a rural southern setting.

4/5 stars

'Never mix vodka and witchcraft.' 

I am so incredibly excited to be participating in the book tour for this wonderful witchy rom com! Thank you so much to Isabelle from Headline for allowing me to take part and gifting me this copy!

Synopsis

‘Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones had her heart broken by Rhys Penhallow, and with a little help from her sister and some vodka, she sets a curse upon him. Having used a scented candle to cast the spell, she doesn’t think the curse has worked.

That is until Rhys returns to Graves Glen to charge the towns Ley Lines, and everything he does goes disastrously wrong.

This is such a feel good easy read! It felt like Gilmore Girls collided with Practical Magic, to give us a sexy and hilarious story, set in a quaint and autumnal town, with a little bit of spice! Thank you to Erin Sterling (aka Rachel Hawkins) for writing such a brilliant, seasonal read!

Vivienne is a great main character, very relatable and sweet, with a bit of a sassy side. I really felt for her with her heartbreak, breakups can be very difficult, and I’m certain that I would have cursed a few of my exes if I had the chance!

Rhys was definitely a charmer, and in some ways, I don’t actually think he did anything wrong per say; he wasn’t engaged/in a relationship with anyone else at the time, it was his dad looking to find him a match. However, we wouldn’t have this wonderful story if they hadn’t broken up like they did, so I’m not mad at it! The fact that he is welsh also added to the sexiness of his character, with his welsh pet name for Vivi getting my heart rate up!

I also loved the characters of Gwyn and Elaine, two very badass witches that really do have Vivi’s back when it comes to protecting her and the town.

When the curse started to affect the town upon Rhys’ return, there were some hilarious incidents that occurred, including their pet cat being able to talk! Him screeching ‘TREATS’ constantly was just amazing.

The romance itself was gorgeous, and the sexy scenes certainly got me all hot and bothered whilst reading them (who doesn’t dream of having a Rhys in the bedroom?).

The only reason I’m not rating this a 5 star, is because I felt like the actual danger in the story could have been focused on more, and the ending felt a little anticlimactic (Vivi and Rhys’ relationship seemed to be more important than anything else). However, this did not take anything away from the storyline itself and I still absolutely adored it.

4/5 stars

 A witty and hilarious adventure with a fierce feline as our hero. 

Synopsis

'Teufel (alias Thunderpaws) finds himself no longer living the life of luxury by the sea in Devon, but now in residence at the Tower of London. Confused and agitated, as he explores, he finds himself in the midst of a ghostly war, surrounded by irritating ravens, kings and queens both alive and dead, and mischievous ghostly cats. When a magic mouse tells him his destiny is to save the world, Teufel has to figure out who he can trust to help him along the way, and to save the Tower of London from destruction, he has to battle with some unlikely characters.'

This story was a laugh the whole way through. I think it is brilliantly clever and witty how Ben has written from a cat’s perspective; it truly feels like this is how a cat would think and speak if they could. Our protagonist is just hilarious, with bounds of confidence even when he should fall in line, and he is not afraid to stand up to the enemies around him.

The writing is just brilliant, I love how it changes with the story, like when Magnificat changes in size, so does the text, or when Teufel falls down or jumps up, the writing goes in an up or downwards direction. Little elements like this, and the stunning illustrations, help to create this world of Teufel’s very vividly in your head, and also make it that extra bit child friendly.

It is also very historically factual, with details about the tower and those that died there, which in turn, gave me horrible histories vibes! Meeting the likes of King Richard III and Guy Fawkes (to name a few) was exciting and brilliant, with some very interesting conversations between them and our main character!

There are some absolutely hilarious moments throughout, one of my favourites being two cats commandeering a speedboat to escape! I could perfectly imagine it in my mind, which really did make me laugh out loud.

When Ben reached out to me via twitter to ask if I’d be interested in reading his debut novel about a talking cat, I was intrigued but unsure whether it would be too childlike. I’m 27 years old, but absolutely enjoyed every element of it and I am looking forward to seeing what else our Thunderpaws will get up to! Definitely not a story for younger children, but anyone over the age of 9 will enjoy this thoroughly!

Thank you so much Ben for sending me a copy to review, and I cannot wait to see what else you have in store for my new favourite feline!

5/5 stars