Michelle

I would definitely recommend the 2nd Reviver book - it's much more supernatural, and I love Never's character in it.

I wasn't that keen on Revival, but I did like Mr Mercedes, and Doctor Sleep. Didn't finish Finders Keepers.

Beautiful Broken Things isn’t published until 28th Jan 2016, but I was lucky enough to be sent an early copy. I usually try to put reviews up closer to publication date, but I simply can’t keep quiet about this book! Best friends Caddy and Rosie are inseparable. Their differences have brought them closer, but as she turns sixteen Caddy begins to wish she could be a bit more like Rosie – confident, funny and interesting. Then Suzanne comes into their lives: beautiful, damaged, exciting and mysterious, and things get a whole lot more complicated. As Suzanne’s past is revealed and her present begins to unravel, Caddy begins to see how much fun a little trouble can be. But the course of both friendship and recovery is rougher than either girl realizes, and Caddy is about to learn that downward spirals have a momentum of their own. I want to talk about everything which happens in this book, but I also just want to shout ‘READ IT’ to everyone! The characters are so well written and developed.. I could relate to so many aspects of Caddy, even though I am now a long way from 16! She’s the quiet one, who wants something a little more from her life.. in particular she wants to experience a Significant Life Event… something special she can talk to people about. Into her life steps Suzanne.. beautiful, confident, but also complicated and damaged by her past. Their developing friendship changes them both; as their lives, and Suzanne’s past, intertwine. Rosie is also an important part of the book, as she watches two of her friendships change before her. She brings a different viewpoint, and the way she sticks by Caddy is lovely. It’s so wonderful to see a YA book focusing on the amazing relationship which friendship can bring, with it’s highs, and it’s lows. The subjects raised within the book are beautifully handled, and events towards the end made me cry – and only one other book has ever done that! It’s hard to believe that this is a debut book – it grabbed me from the moment I started reading, and didn’t let up at any point. Caddy, Rosie and Suzanne are characters who have a special place in my heart, and the story will most definitely stay with me. Please, pre-order it, then as soon as you have it, READ IT! :-D

Yep, I think you might. The whole area of 'reviving' is really interesting, and I'm always impressed when a sequel not only holds my interest, but also turns out to be better!

Lost Souls It’s always difficult to review a sequel. In most cases it’s going to be read only by those who have read the initial book, so a review needs to be for those people too. I’ve previously reviewed The Reviver and it’s remained one of my favourite reads. If you’ve already read it, and are wondering whether to read Lost Souls, my short answer is yes, you most certainly should. As I said in my review, I felt that The Reviver started more as a crime / thriller, with the supernatural aspect developing towards the end. In Lost Souls, that supernatural aspect is far more towards the forefront – and it works brilliantly. For me, the main issue I have with a sequel is whether I can pick it up, a year after the first book, and get straight into it. I simply don’t have time for re-reading, and many good books have simply lost me early on in book two. Seth seems to have the balance just right here – he doesn’t spend ages going over the events of The Reviver, but there’s just enough to spark memories, and remind you what went before. This is an ongoing story, and yet there’s no cliff hanger into the third book – and Seth has told me on twitter that yes, there will a third, and final book. Jonah is still the central character, and I’m glad Never plays a large part. He has to be one of my all time favourite characters – and some of his comments made me laugh, in the middle of a rather dark book! I will go as far as to say that I found this a better book than the first. The Reviver spends some time laying the groundwork of reviving, and it’s place.. and the darker, scarier aspects come to the fore in this sequel. I’m so pleased it’s there’s a third book to come, but knowing how hard Seth can be on his characters, and he’s stated it’s the final book, I’m quite anxious about it! Both The Reviver and Lost Souls are available now, and are highly recommended.. and you can wait alongside me for the final instalment!

The Reviver Jonah is a Reviver – someone who can revive the dead for a short period of time. In Jonah’s case, he works for a forensic team, so he revives in order to let the victim testify about the events of their death. It’s a well controlled experience, and is used as evidence in courts. However, during one revival, Jonah experiences something which makes him question exactly what they’re doing.. another presence, which he can’t explain. He’s told it’s just an hallucination, brought about by stress, but Jonah isn’t convinced, and starts to dig deeper. He ends up involved in something much bigger than he expected. For the majority of the book, this feels like a crime / thriller, with this very interesting twist. The whole issue of Revival is explored, including it’s uses and problems, and it’s this aspect which lifts it well above average. Some reviewers have found the book too slow, but I disagree – there’s a lot of information to give, and aspects of reviving to explore, and I enjoyed this. Throughout there’s an uneasiness, a suggestion of a supernatural element, and towards the end this becomes more apparent, and there’s a definite switch in the book. I have to admit, this did worry me for a while, because I’ve seen similar books which started to feel.. well, silly. In my opinion though, Seth keeps a realistic tone, and it soon settles into a good ending. Whilst it would have been possible to keep simply to the idea of forensic revival, I’m not sure how far it could have been taken in the future. I would imagine that the supernatural aspect will feature quite strongly in the next book, and I look forward to finding out where we’re taken next.

It looks as if this is about to be published (there are paperbacks available from 3rd party sellers, so maybe previously self published) - and it's your first, and only post - so I'm wondering if you're connected to to the book in any way?

Thank you, but I rarely read on my kindle. I do have The Blade Itself bought on audible (it was a special deal) so I will probably try that at some point.

I enjoyed the fact that there was an ongoing story, but with a different perspective each time.

I've reached 50 books! Including, my first Abercrombie series, The Shattered Sea. i was quite impressed, and may well try more of his.

As part of the UKMG Extravaganza (see @UKYAX) I’ve been able to chat to author Susie Day. My daughter and I both read the rather excellent Pea’s Book of Best Friends, and we were both able to ask Susie about her writing…. First - Amy in particular wanted to know where you get your ideas from.. are they from personal experience, or all from your imagination? I come from a big family too (youngest of four sisters), and I was quite Pea-like at that age: bookish and worrisome. But my childhood was quite traditional and undisrupted, which doesn’t make for much of a story! I tend to start with something real (visiting the Tower of London, for example) and then bounce off into daft made-up directions like being best friends with Anne Boleyn, fake kidnappings and so on. She also wondered if you felt the story would have felt different if the girls had had more traditional names.. are their names supposed to help you understand they aren't a traditional, usual family? Names are so important when I’m writing; I really can’t get going on a story if they aren’t right. For a while the girls were called Katy, Nina and Tinkerbell - but it wasn’t till I went for a walk along the canal and ‘She’s called Pea!’ popped into my head that it all clicked. Lots of readers really hate that they have unusual names, which I think is a shame. Being unusual isn’t a bad thing. She also felt that it was good that you included unusual families, especially the two mums next door - she wondered if you felt it was important for children to realise that not everyone is the same? Absolutely! Our children’s fiction is outstanding at providing us with orphans, but not so good at reflecting the variety of family structures in our reality. Kids need books that allow them to escape to fantastical places and magical worlds - but also ones which relate directly to their own experiences. No child should feel excluded from the joy of finding themselves on the page. There were a few extra things I wanted to ask - how did your writing evolve.. did the childrens' books come before YA.. and do you have a preference? My first book was a bonkers genre-busting adventure story for 8-12s, and then I wrote teen and YA before coming back to children’s. I love both. And I find, without meaning to, I tend to write about the same things in both: awkward characters, wonky families, friendship, some sharp edges but hopefully lots of jokes. Did you set out to write about diversity, or was that just a natural part of the story telling for you? I live in Oxford, I work in an international school, I’m gay. The world I live in is diverse. There’s an odd assumption that it’s a natural default to write exclusively about straight white able middle-class people, and diversity is something we might consciously add in. I think it says a lot about the people who traditionally work in this industry. We need to move past that. Has the diversity aspects of your stories received much feedback.. good or bad? Is there any difference between the way children and adults respond to the story lines and characters? I’m often contacted by parents and teachers asking for recommendations of more stories with same-sex parents, mixed-race families, inclusion across the board; the response has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s brilliant to know that my books are stocked by Letterbox Library (an independent non-profit bookseller which supplies a lot of schools), and Gay’s The Word bookshop in London. Many kids don’t really notice, which is exactly as I’d hope; to them, they’re just reading about characters in a story. But I’ve had letters from individual children who have never seen ‘someone like me’ in a book before, and that’s pretty special. Were you a keen reader as a child - did you have a favourite author? I went to the library every Saturday morning and had usually read two or three books by the time Doctor Who was on. I loved the classics: the Narnia books, Swallows & Amazons, Noel Streatfeild. And masses of Enid Blyton! Pea’s Book of Holidays is actually all about Blyton, and that awkward relationship so many of us have with her books: the ones that made me an avid reader, but are so problematic too. Do you read MG and YA yourself now? Again, any favourite authors, any who have been an inspiration for your own writing? I hardly read anything else, honestly. Lately I’ve really enjoyed Keris Stainton’s young teen Reel Friends books, Robin Stevens’ Wells & Wong boarding school mysteries, and Tamsyn Murray’s Completely Cassidy. For YA, I don’t think you can go wrong with Keren David, Catherine Johnson, Sarah Mussi or Cat Clarke. How many Pea books are there to date, and are there any more planned? What are you working on at the moment.. can we have any hints? There are four Pea’s Books, and no official plans for more... officially... who knows? The Secrets of Sam & Sam spins off to focus on the twins next door, and my next book is about a new chaotic family on the same street: Billie, her brothers, her dad, and the terrifying adventure that is starting Year 7. It’ll be out in 2016. I’d like to think Susie for her time. If you’d like to read some of the other articles and posts, please visit the other sites taking part…

Rick Riordan has already brought us Percy Jackson, The Kane Chronicles and Heroes of Olympus, covering Greek, Roman and Egyptian mythology. In his latest series, Riordan turns his attention to Norse mythology, with his usual enthusiasm and humour. My name is Magnus Chase. I’m orphaned and living rough on the streets of Boston. And things are about to get much worse. My day started out normally enough. I was sleeping under a bridge when some guy kicked me awake and said, ‘They’re after you.’ Next thing I know, I’m reunited with my obnoxious uncle, who casually informs me that my long-lost father is a Norse god. Nothing normal about that. And it turns out the gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Apparently, if I can’t find the sword my father lost two thousand years ago, there will be doom. Doomsday, to be precise. A fire giant attacking the city? Immortal warriors hacking each other to pieces? Unkillable wolves with glowing eyes? It’s all coming up. But first I’m going to die. This is the story of how my life goes downhill from there… As with previous books, Riordan brings lots of memorable characters, in an exciting setting. Of course there are similarities with previous books.. there are normal people discovering they have links with gods, the main character finds new friends, grows as a person, and becomes the hero of the day. But, that really doesn’t matter, because this is what Riordan does best, and he yet again brings a fast paced, fun story . Magnus is taken to Valhalla – the ‘hall of the fallen’ from mythology becomes a hotel, where the daily activity is a huge battle, which is to prepare the ‘guests’ for the final battle during Ragnarok – otherwise known as the end of days! From here, he travels between this world and his own, on a journey to find the Sword of Summer, and to prevent Ragnarok occurring. Riordan brings a diverse range of new characters, including Sam, a Muslim girl who lives an amazing double life as a Valkyrie, a fashion-loving dwarf, and a deaf elf. The various gods aren’t always what you expect, and there are lots of fun twists. My favourite relationship though, has to be between Magnus and his Sword – just how *do* you befriend a sword?! My only slight negative is the fact that this is a long book, and it does get quite complex in places. It’s not the sort of book you want to read with big gaps, as it could be easy to forget a recent twist. However, from what I’ve seen, Riordan’s fans seem to devour his books, so that shouldn’t be a problem. Maybe a little complex for younger children though? All in all, an excellent new offering from a proven author! By the way, I think the UK got the best cover! ;-)

There are a lot of YA and MG events this year, and one of these is YA Shot, arranged by Alexia Casale. One of the authors taking part is Lou Morgan, author of a YA horror, Sleepless. As part of the online events put together for YA Shot, Lou and I decided to do a 50/50 interview. This was a first for me, so I hope my answers make sense! I ask Lou... Can you start by telling us about your YA books - what genres and aspects do you like to cover? "Sleepless" is really my first YA book: my previous ones were technically adult urban fantasy novels - although the boundaries between YA and adult are pretty permeable when you get down to it, and that's the way it should be. I don't usually think about genre when I'm writing anything - be that a story or a book: I just sort of wait and see how it comes out. The horror fan in me, though, does seem to like steering things dark. Or maybe it's just that I'm a terrible human being? It's hard to say. Maybe one day I'll write a book that's all sunsets and feelings, and shock everyone! Thinking about YA Horror in particular, what lead you to write Sleepless? I lived in the Barbican for a few years, and there's something about the layout of it that felt like it belonged in a horror story: it's an enormous labyrinth of buildings and walkways full of dead ends and locked gates. But the really interesting thing about it is that it feels very, very safe - and the best part of horror is taking something or somewhere tremendously safe and suddenly making it un-safe. Over the last few years, I'd also kept seeing articles about the epidemic of student stress - first in the US, in Ivy League schools, and then gradually it spread to the UK, along with reports that exammed-out pupils were resorting to taking shady study drugs to help them cope with the pressure of being constantly tested. I've sat enough exams in my time to sympathise - and as well as that, I have three cousins who have been slogging their way through SATs, GCSEs, A and AS levels and university over the last couple of years. It's endless. The final piece of Sleepless was the rise of the online pharmacy: no doctors, no accountability, no guarantee that you're getting what you think you are. Just click and pay. What a terrifying thought. And that started me thinking: how desperate would you have to be to do that? Maybe, if you were a student at a particularly high-pressure school, with particularly high-pressure parents... maybe just desperate enough. I know YA covers a wide age range, but how does the younger side of the readership affect you when you're writing horror, are the boundaries different, and are there subjects / issues you would avoid? I try to be reasonably sensible about it - there's a fair amount of gore in Sleepless, but books are much more forgiving than, say, a horror film. Books only let you go as far as you want: your imagination will take you up to a certain point and then decide when it's had enough - and again, that's exactly as it should be. Like comedy, horror is entirely subjective and very personal. In practical terms, language is obviously something to think about, and the same goes for sex and violence (does *this* or *that* actively serve the story? If it does, then there's an argument for it being there, but always thinking about the way it's presented) ... but at the same time, I don't think any author wants to be a censor. It isn't our place to decide what a YA reader - or any reader - wants or in some cases, needs to read about. Do you think the horror is covered well enough in YA, are there any aspects you think are missing? We're living in a good time for YA horror. There's some excellent stuff around, covering everything from classic ghost-and-monster territory to more subtle metaphorical stories. It's great, too, to see very contemporary aspects of life being looked at through the lens of horror: Tom Becker's "Dark Room", for instance, involves selfies - which opens up the wider discussion to include all kinds of issues around self-esteem and social media, and how we present ourselves to the world. The really exciting thing about horror in particular is that it gives us a new way of looking at the world we actually live in. Is it a genre you enjoy reading yourself, and are there other YA horror writers you would recommend? I do. I loved reading the Point Horror books when I was a teen, so I've always had a huge fondness for that kind of story, as well as the big-hitters of horror like Stephen King. My go-to YA horror reading list includes people like James Dawson, Will Hill, Kendare Blake, Matt Whyman (whose Savages books manage to be both dark and funny - no small achievement), Darren Shan, Charlie Higson and Dawn Kurtagich - as well as all the other members of the Red Eye family. But I'm always excited to discover new stories and writers - so if there's someone out there I ought to be reading and I'm not... tell me! And then it was time for Lou to question me... Why do you think YA and MG books in particular have developed such a strong community around them? There are probably lots of reasons behind this, but the one which jumps out at me is that everyone is so friendly and lovely! The authors are quite happy to chat to readers, and bloggers are happy to help each other. Of course, there are also lots of excellent YA and MG events – both online and in that thing called ‘real life’! What's the most exciting thing about reviewing and discussing books online? And the most frustrating? Ooh.. tough.. I think I find the interaction the most exciting part. There’s nothing like tweeting about a book, and getting a response from the author! As for frustrating.. this will make me sound bad, but it’s the book envy! There are so many great new YA books, that no matter how high my review and to-read pile, I get envious when someone tweets about a book I don’t have! What would you love to see more of in YA? A while ago, my immediate response would have been ‘horror’, but as you say, things have changed, and there’s now a lot to choose from. From a personal point of view, I would like to see more characters dealing with every day mental health issues, such as anxiety and panic attacks. As with everything, it’s important for young people to be able to read about the issues they may think affect only them. What are your top 3 tips for someone who wants to start reviewing books (on their own site or on YouTube, for example)? Always start by reviewing books you already own, don’t immediately start asking publishers for new books. This way you can build up your own style, and have some reviews to show publishers. Decide for yourself what your limitations are. For example, some choose to review books they didn’t like, whilst others choose to only review what they enjoyed. This is your site, do what makes you happy. Most importantly, have fun, and enjoy the experience! What are your top 3 tips for authors and publishers working with reviewers, bloggers and BookTubers? I would always suggest that publishers send out emails about new books, rather than simply posting them out. I’d much rather only receive the books I *really* want to read, instead of feeling guilty that something has arrived which I’m not that interested in. This is probably a difficult one for publishers, because they have their own deadlines – but try not to push pressure on bloggers to review a book by a certain point. This remains a hobby for most, alongside their busy lives. I personally do much better when I pick my book by my mood, rather than feeling I *have* to read something because the review is due at a certain time. In the same way, not everyone is going to love every book, so please accept that sometimes we’re going to not finish, and therefore not review, everything. If I like a book, I’ll do everything I can to support it, so look for that enthusiasm, and don’t worry too much about the ones we don’t like, or don’t review by publication date. That was fun - thank you Lou!

Amazon is the cheapest, at £15. I'm not a massive HP fan, but this edition is gorgeous. The illustrator also illustrated A Monster Calls, and he he's extremely talented.

Ness is a good YA writer, and I have great hopes for this. I wish there were a few more details though!

Re ending of Asking For It.. As for Alive, I can't remember the moment I sussed out where they were, but it was quite early on.

I listened to Alive not long ago and overall yes, it kept me hooked, and was pretty good (I give up on audio books soooo easily, so just the fact that I make it to the end is a good thing!). However, I guessed the 'twist' rather early on, which was a bit of a disappointment for me. As for Asking For It, as I said on twitter, my thoughts were the same. I really didn't like Emma.. and I think that's a clever way of writing. You don't have empathy for her as a person, and so it's the morality aspects which you focus on. It makes it easier to appreciate why people react the way they do (sadly, I know people who would react just the same), whilst knowing it's wrong. I also love the way Louise doesn't go for the happy, glib endings. That book battered my heart, and made me feel awful... but it's such a necessary read.

I've emailed the publicist, but he's on annual leave.

Earlier today Patrick Ness set up a fundraising page for Save the Children, who have recently put out an appeal for aid for Syrian refugees. He promised to match all donations, up to £10k. As I post, donations are at £66k, with an extra £10k pledged by Patrick, Derek Landy, John Green and Jojo Moyes. He's also just tweeted that he's been contacted by 2 anonymous people who are going to donate £10k each. So it's now way over £100k - and this has been over the course of the day. It's amazing what people can achieve to help others. Want to help? http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=PatrickNess

Welcome to here - by all means make yourselves comfy in the TV section..

This has been on my wish list for a while - will certainly get it at some point!

A quick catch-up.. Monster by CJ Skuse - I've been wanting to read this author for a while, as she seems to write darker YA, and I was offered a copy of Monster. It starts off set in an English boarding school, with a rumour of a beast living in the surrounding woods, but it then really picks up the pace. I think I've read far too many 'adult' horrors and thrillers, because I saw some of the twists.. but I do really like her writing, and I will certainly go back to her other books. Alive by Scott Sigler - A random audio pick, which was pretty good. Again, I saw the big twist way before it happened, but it was an interesting read. A Thousand Nights by EK Johnston - This is very different to my usual YA reads. It took a while for me to adjust, and to work some of it out, but overall it's a beautifully written, interesting story. The Box of Demons by Daniel Whelan - I picked up a limited edition hardback of this in Foyles, and I adore it. It's a good story, with lots of humour in there for us older readers. Asking For It by Louise o'Neill - Probably one of the most powerful books I've read, looking at an 18 year old girl who gets drunk and is raped. It deals with the fallout, and Louise doesn't go for the happy ending. It's an important read, but it's hard to do so.

I do like that cover!!

I liked Doll Bones - there were some quite creepy bits in it, but for me it wasn't a 'stand out' read.. but I can't remember what it was about it. I have Feed on my wishlist, and for some reason, something is putting me off Seed, even though people of twitter rave about it.

2016!? Please don't remind me how quickly 2015 is disappearing!