Harry Potter #106

This is a meme hosted by me and the lovely Mimz at Lunar Rainbows :).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 or to Mimz's blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

REVIEW: The Hive Construct - Alexander Maskill

Title: The Hive Construct
Author: Alexander Maskill
Series: None
Publisher: Transworld Publishers
Source: Review Copy
Publication Date: 13th August, 2015

Winner of the Terry Pratchett Prize, a dark yet dazzlingly imaginative science fiction thriller by a furiously talented new young writer Situated deep in the Sahara Desert, New Cairo is a city built on technology—from the huge, life-giving solar panels that keep it functioning in a radically changed, resource-scarce world to the artificial implants that have become the answer to all and any of mankind's medical problems. But it is also a divided city, dominated by a handful of omnipotent corporate dynasties. And when a devastating new computer virus begins to spread through the poorest districts, shutting down the life-giving implants that enable so many to survive, the city begins to slide into the anarchy of violent class struggle. Hiding amid the chaos is Zala Ulora. A gifted hacker and fugitive from justice, she believes she might be able to earn her life back by tracing the virus to its source and destroying it before it destroys the city—or before the city destroys itself. With its vivid characters, bold ideas, and explosive action, The Hive is science fiction at its most exciting, inventive, and accessible.

Top Ten Tuesday #61

I'm back this week for another Top Ten Tuesday! Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Books that would be on my syllabus if I taught Gender in Literature 101. 

REVIEW: Asking For It - Louise O'Neill

Title: Asking For It
Author: Louise O'Neill
Series: None
Publisher: Quercus
Source: Review Copy
Publication Date: 3rd September, 2015

FROM THE WINNER OF THE SUNDAY INDEPENDENT NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR AWARD. It's the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O'Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident. One night, there's a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma. The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can't remember what happened, she doesn't know how she got there. She doesn't know why she's in pain. But everyone else does. Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night. But sometimes people don't want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town's heroes...

BLOG TOUR: The Hive Construct - Inspiration Behind Zala

Today Alexander Maskill, debut author and winner of the Terry Pratchett Prize to talk to us about the influences behind his protagonist, Zara. 

However much I try to insist that The Hive Construct (out now in paperback from all reputable booksellers!) is an ensemble work, I can’t pretend I didn’t realise that people would gravitate towards de facto main character Zala Ulora. She’s capable, she’s deeply flawed but capable of growth, she’s enough of an outsider to the setting that the reader gravitates towards her perspective most easily of all the perspective characters, she collides with the setting’s various factions without being directly beholden to them, and her story arc carries most of the heavy lifting regarding plot.

Harry Potter #105

This is a meme hosted by me and the lovely Mimz at Lunar Rainbows :).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 or to Mimz's blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

BLOG TOUR: The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich

Today I am so, so excited to host an audio clip and video for Dawn Kurtagich's phenomenal debut The Dead House. The Dead House is the chilling story of Carly and Kaitlyn  and what happened at 'the Johnson incident'. It's one of my favourite books of 2015 and it holds a special place in my heart. Before I go into it, here's what The Dead House is all about:

Title: The Dead House
Author: Dawn Kurtagich
Series: None
Publisher: Indigo
Publication Date: 6th August, 2015

Part-psychological thriller, part-urban legend, this is an unsettling narrative made up of diary entries, interview transcripts, film footage transcripts and medical notes. Twenty-five years ago, Elmbridge High burned down. Three people were killed and one pupil, Carly Johnson, disappeared. Now a diary has been found in the ruins of the school. The diary belongs to Kaitlyn Johnson, Carly’s identical twin sister. But Carly didn’t have a twin . . . Re-opened police records, psychiatric reports, transcripts of video footage and fragments of diary reveal a web of deceit and intrigue, violence and murder, raising a whole lot more questions than it answers. Who was Kaitlyn and why did she only appear at night? Did she really exist or was she a figment of a disturbed mind? What were the illicit rituals taking place at the school? And just what did happen at Elmbridge in the events leading up to ‘the Johnson Incident’? Chilling, creepy and utterly compelling, THE DEAD HOUSE is one of those very special books that finds all the dark places in your imagination, and haunts you long after you've finished reading..

Harry Potter #104

This is a meme hosted by me and the lovely Mimz at Lunar Rainbows :).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 or to Mimz's blog :). There is now a full list of the topics to come in the Harry Potter section of my blog here.

BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY: Drop by Katie Everson

Today the lovely Katie Everson has stopped by to chat about the things she tells herself pre-publication of her fantastic debut Drop. This book is a stonker and not one to miss! To top off a great post, the lovely people at Walker have given me x2 copies of the fantastic Drop to giveaway so don't forget to enter at the bottom! Enjoy!

BLOG TOUR: Character Q&A with Jessie Jefferson

Hey guys! Today we have the lovely Jessie Jefferson accompanied by Paige Toon on the blog to answer a few questions. Hope you enjoy. 

Welcome back! For all of the new fans, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Jessie Pickerill and I’m 15. Some people have started to call me Jessie Jefferson because my biological dad is Johnny Jefferson, the famous rock star. I don’t know. I struggle with that a bit because it feels disloyal to my mum, who died earlier this year. It’s probably best that I don’t talk about that if you don’t want me to get upset.