REVIEW: The Ghosts of Heaven - Marcus Sedgwick

Title: The Ghosts of Heaven

Author: Marcus Sedgwick

Series: None

Publisher: Indigo Books

Source: Review Copy

Publication Date: 2nd October, 2014

The spiral has existed as long as time has existed.
It's there when a girl walks through the forest, the moist green air clinging to her skin. There centuries later in a pleasant greendale, hiding the treacherous waters of Golden Beck that take Anna, who they call a witch. There on the other side of the world as a mad poet watches the waves and knows the horrors the hide, and far into the future as Keir Bowman realises his destiny.
Each takes their next step in life. None will ever go back to the same place. And so, their journeys begin...

Harry Potter #87

This is a meme hosted by me here at my blog :).The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! I will be picking a topic within HP for us to focus on each week and then if anyone wants to take part feel free! All I ask is to link back here, to my blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

REVIEW: The One - Kiera Cass

Title: The One
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #3
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: Bought
Publication Date: 5th June, 2014

The Selection changed America Singer's life in ways she never could have imagined. Since she entered the competition to become the next princess of Illéa, America has struggled with her feelings for her first love, Aspen—and her growing attraction to Prince Maxon. Now she's made her choice . . and she's prepared to fight for the future she wants.

Find out who America will choose in The One, the enchanting, beautifully romantic third book in the Selection series!

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY: The Walled City and its Characters

Today I have the lovely Ryan Graudin on the blog with a very special and unique guest post. Ryan has given us an inside into her three protagonists, Jin Ling, Dai and Mei Yee through quotes and why these quotes reflect their character.

I went through THE WALLED CITY and picked out quotes that help explain each of my three main characters! They’re all very different, but each has an integral role in the novel.

Jin Ling: “I can stab a man, but I can’t let one die. Not on my watch.”

Jin Ling, as you can tell from this quote, is a fighter. She has to be, to live on the streets of the Hak Nam Walled City, which one of my other character’s describes as “A recipe of humanity’s darkest ingredients—thieves, murderers, addicts—all mashed into six and a half acres of land.” Jin Ling disguises herself as a boy to survive and spends her days stealing food, earning money through drug runs, and searching the Walled City’s many brothels for her older sister, Mei Yee. Though she’s tough as nails, she also has a soft side, which only comes out around her sister and her cat, Chma. Though her mantra for survival in the Walled City is, “Run fast. Trust no one. Always carry your knife,” she is very lonely, and starts, out of sheer necessity, to trust one of the most mysterious figures in the Walled City: a boy named Dai…

REVIEW: The Elite - Kiera Cass

Title: The Elite
Author: Kiera Cass
Series: The Selection #2
Publisher: Harper Collins
Source: Review Copy
Publication Date: 23rd April, 2013

Thirty-five girls came to the palace to compete in the Selection. All but six have been sent home. And only one will get to marry Prince Maxon and be crowned princess of Illea.

America still isn’t sure where her heart lies. When she’s with Maxon, she’s swept up in their new and breathless romance, and can’t dream of being with anyone else. But whenever she sees Aspen standing guard around the palace, and is overcome with memories of the life they planned to share. With the group narrowed down to the Elite, the other girls are even more determined to win Maxon over—and time is running out for America to decide.

Just when America is sure she’s made her choice, a devastating loss makes her question everything again. And while she’s struggling to imagine her future, the violent rebels that are determined to overthrow the monarchy are growing stronger and their plans could destroy her chance at any kind of happy ending.

Harry Potter #86

This is a meme hosted by me here at my blog :).The aim of this meme is to share with fellow bloggers a character, spell, chapter, object or quote from the books/ films/ J. K. Rowling herself or anything Potter related! I will be picking a topic within HP for us to focus on each week and then if anyone wants to take part feel free! All I ask is to link back here, to my blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

BLOG TOUR: Prisoner of Night and Fog Cover Secrets

Today I have the lovely Anne Blankman, author of Prisoner of Night and Fog on the blog to share a couple of book cover secrets as part of her UK blog tour.

Cover Secrets

I have a confession to make--one of my favourite parts of the publication process is getting a book cover. Let's face it, covers these days are as gorgeous and elaborate as movie posters. Plus, there's something incredibly moving about seeing the book you've written captured in a single image.

So when I found out that Headline, my UK publisher, wouldn't be using my US cover but would create a new one, I got a little excited. Okay, I may have squealed. And pumped my hands in the air. Don't get me wrong--I adore my US cover. But getting to have two covers? That's amazing. And lucky me, I love both covers so much.

UK Cover

US Cover

I also love learning the secrets that go into making covers, so I thought I'd share some of mine with you today!

Most people don't know this, but the US cover is actually a self-portrait. That's right, the model and photographer are the same person! I think that's why her expression feels so intimate. In a funny coincidence, her name is Anni, which happens to be my nickname!

Have you noticed the "Little Red Riding Hood" vibe in the UK cover? Well, in the 1920s, Adolf Hitler liked to call himself "Herr Wolf." After he became Chancellor, he liked to go around whistling "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" The graphic designer, Bekki Guyatt, brilliantly captured that sense of a wolfish predator and his prey in the cover. And the shoutline... It gives me chills every time I read it.