Review: A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

On August 20, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

A Kind of Spark: Exclusive Edition (Paperback)

A Kind of Spark tells the story of 11-year-old Addie as she campaigns for a memorial in memory of the witch trials that took place in her Scottish hometown. Addie knows there’s more to the story of these ‘witches’, just like there is more to hers.
Can Addie challenge how the people in her town see her, and make her voice heard? A story about friendship, courage and self-belief, perfect for fans of The Goldfish Boy, Addie’s story was born from Elle’s own experiences of neurodiversity and her commitment to seeing greater representation in children’s books

Elle McNicoll strikes again (or maybe she did with Show Us Who You Are, but I read them the other way around)! Ever since I read Show Us Who You Are and it absolutely blew me away, I knew I needed to pick this up. And let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I fell in love with this book almost immediately, and Addie made for an amazing main character.

Addie is 11 years old and is autistic. She is struggling in school with an unkind teacher and trying to fight for something really important to her. I love how honest this book is and how much this book discusses autism and all of the things that come with being autistic. Although the same for Cora in Show Us Who You Are, I feel like Addie touches more on things like stimming, masking and generally day to day life as an autistic child. I really loved the transparency this offers to the reader and how much insight we have about Addie’s life.

Someone being autistic is the same as being left-handed or color blind.

Although this book does focus a lot on Addie’s autism, we also have an exciting plot about Addie finding out about the witch trials that took place in her village. Following her grow in courage throughout this plot was so heartwarming, and I just wanted to cheer her on from the sidelines throughout. I felt everything so viscerally, and I found myself tingling all over in the last few pages.

The writing was so easy to follow and tackles difficult subjects so well. I can only imagine how accessible this book is for children and I really admire how Elle writes. I read this with Courtney and we both read it in one sitting together! The characters were also so likable and Addie’s family especially were just so heartwarming to read about. Addie’s older sister, Keedie, is also autistic and I feel like having another autistic character that Addie feels completely herself around added such a lovely layer to the story. I also really enjoyed reading about Keedie’s life in university and her own experiences of masking.

It means we all experience the world differently.

This is a book that every child needs to read. I have no doubts that it will make autistic children feel so seen, but will also teach so many children empathy for those around them. It is a lesson for us all about kindness, empathy, understanding and compassion. I adored it.

★★★★★
5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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Review: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

On August 18, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

When a mysterious sailor dies in sinister circumstances at the Admiral Benbow inn, young Jim Hawkins stumbles across a treasure map among the dead man’s possessions. But Jim soon becomes only too aware that he is not the only one who knows of the map’s existence, and his bravery and cunning are tested to the full when, with his friends Squire Trelawney and Dr Livesey, he sets sail in the Hispaniola to track down the treasure. With its swift-moving plot and memorably drawn characters – Blind Pew and Black Dog, the castaway Ben Gunn and the charming but dangerous Long John Silver – Stevenson’s tale of pirates, treachery and heroism was an immediate success when it was first published in 1883 and has retained its place as one of the greatest of all adventure stories.

There was a lot I liked about this book. I found from the very start this one made for the perfect adventure story and I really liked the feeling of it. I read this on audiobook and this one was published by Recorded Books, who I’ve found I really like for classics because the narrators tend to actually sing the songs in the books I’ve listened to so far. That felt like such a big thing in this book because it has such an iconic song (quoted in this post).

Fifteen men on the Dead Man’s Chest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

I did find myself switching off a little from the audiobook depending on what I was doing, and I did feel a bit of disconnect with this book. I think this was slightly due to me, and partly due to the book itself. I just found this a little boring in places and found that I didn’t care much about where the plot was heading.

However, when I did find myself focusing on this book properly I enjoyed it. It felt like such a great pirate adventure book and the setting was very entertaining – I’m not usually one for pirate/books set on the sea, but I liked this one.

Drink and the devil had done for the rest Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!

If I did end up ever so slightly regretting reading the audiobook because I have noticed that my Wordsworth copy is illustrated, so if I do ever reread this one I would like to pick up my physical copy!

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Amari and the Night Brothers (#1) by B.B. Alston

On August 16, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Amari Peters knows three things.
Her big brother Quinton has gone missing.
No one will talk about it.
His mysterious job holds the secret . . .
So when Amari gets an invitation to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain this is her chance to find Quinton. But first she has to get her head around the new world of the Bureau, where mermaids, aliens and magicians are real, and her roommate is a weredragon.
Amari must compete against kids who’ve known about the supernatural world their whole lives, and when each trainee is awarded a special supernatural talent, Amari is given an illegal talent – one that the Bureau views as dangerous.
With an evil magician threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is the enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton . . .

Thank you to Egmont books for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a fantastic middle grade book filled with magic and wonder. It follows Amari Peters, who is a young Black girl with a missing older brother. She finds out early in the story that her brother belonged to a top-secret magical organisation, and that she has a chance to attend the same magic school her older brother did.

I love how this book tackles subjects such as race and class from the first chapter, and also introduces the topics in a way very accessible to young readers. I feel like so many people will relate to Amari as a main character and it’s so lovely to see more diverse main characters. Amari faces all kinds of oppression throughout this book and is still such a brave, confident and strong female protagonist – we need more people like her in middle grade!

You’re not going to change the world

This is the kind of middle grade that everyone will find enjoyment in. I found it so easy to read and loved the action, and I feel like children will find it so fun and entertaining. Despite being quite a long middle grade at almost 400 pages, this doesn’t feel like a long book at all as it’s a very quick one to get through with constant action and change in pace. There are so many different ways this story could go, and I’m excited to see where this series will head.

I love how this book tackles some harder topics without feeling like it is trying to combat them. These topics were woven in very naturally and will be brilliant for younger readers. This book was also so jam packed with magic and uses some great fantasy tropes we know really well to create a fresh and interesting story.

unless you hang with people who want to change the world too.

Overall, I can’t wait to see where this series goes and I loved the introduction to Amari – I think she’s going to be such an important protagonist but also has such an entertaining story!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He

On August 13, 2021August 12, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads

Cee has been trapped on an abandoned island for three years without any recollection of how she arrived, or memories from her life prior. All she knows is that somewhere out there, beyond the horizon, she has a sister named Kay, and it’s up to Cee to cross the ocean and find her.
In a world apart, 16-year-old STEM prodigy Kasey Mizuhara lives in an eco-city built for people who protected the planet―and now need protecting from it. With natural disasters on the rise due to climate change, eco-cities provide clean air, water, and shelter. Their residents, in exchange, must spend at least a third of their time in stasis pods, conducting business virtually whenever possible to reduce their environmental footprint. While Kasey, an introvert and loner, doesn’t mind the lifestyle, her sister Celia hated it. Popular and lovable, Celia much preferred the outside world. But no one could have predicted that Celia would take a boat out to sea, never to return.
Now it’s been three months since Celia’s disappearance, and Kasey has given up hope. Logic says that her sister must be dead. But nevertheless, she decides to retrace Celia’s last steps. Where they’ll lead her, she does not know. Her sister was full of secrets. But Kasey has a secret of her own.

This book is going to be such a difficult one to review, purely because I don’t think I’ve read anything quite like this before. Following similar themes to one of my favourite films, Weathering With You, this is a science fiction novel looking at climate change and how the world may adapt to such extremes. This book is kind of set in a possible future where floating eco-cities exist, and follows two sisters leading completely different lives across this world.

I really appreciated how Joan He didn’t patronise us as readers at all, and managed to throw us into this world without explaining what was going on at all. I found it surprising how I didn’t feel daunted or overwhelmed by this world that felt so alien in many ways, and I really enjoyed reading about and visualising the world they resided in.

None of us live without consequence. Our personal preferences are not truly personal.

I loved how this followed two sisters, but I must say I much preferred Cee’s chapters over Kasey’s. I think this is mainly because Cee’s chapters are not only a little more relatable due to how far she lives away from the floating city word Kasey lives in. But I also think this is because Cee’s chapters were written in first person, whereas Kasey’s were written in third person. It took me a while to realise this was why it felt so jarring to jump between characters, and also why Cee’s chapters felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket after Kasey’s. I just found her chapters so much more enthralling and easy to read, but are supported well by Kasey’s part of the story.

I also loved the plot of this book, although the ending felt slightly…murky to me. This book was quite fast paced and also kept me on my toes throughout. I could never predict where the plot was going and there were a lot of situations that shocked me just as much as our main characters!

One person’s needs will deny another’s. Our privileges can harm ourselves and others.

Although this one wasn’t quite a 5 star for me, I did still really enjoy this and I feel like I could enjoy it even more upon a reread! I also only just realised this is the same author of Descendant of the Crane, which has been on my TBR for a long time but I’m even more excited for now.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

On August 12, 2021August 11, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book ReviewLeave a comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

An orphaned child with little or no prospects, Pip expects very little from life.
His sister makes it clear that her little brother is nothing but a burden on her. But suddenly things begin to change. Pip’s narrow existence is blown apart when he finds an escaped criminal, is summoned to visit a mysterious old woman and meets the icy beauty Estella.
Most astoundingly of all, an anonymous person gives him money to begin a new life in London. Are these events as random as they seem? Or does Pip’s fate hang on a series of coincidences he could never have expected?

Thank you to Amy for the recommendation of this one! I’ve been reading a classic per month this year from my Wordsworth editions set, but recommended to me by my friends. I’ve picked most of the classics I’ve read so far up on audio, and this one was no different. I found this one to be quite daunting as a physical version, and the audiobook felt a lot more accessible, despite it being quite a long one.

I have to say, I definitely didn’t find this as dense as I expected, and I don’t think that’s just because of the audiobook. I generally found the language easier to get through than I anticipated. Although it could be quite a hard one to focus on at times, I only had to focus on the words to find this one much easier to get on with.

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts.

I really liked the characters of this story, and honestly they were one of my favourite parts of this book. I felt so emotional for Pip, especially towards the end of this book, and just generally found the characters quite likable and that I couldn’t help but root for Pip. I also feel like some of the characters had a sense of mystery around them and I enjoyed seeing how their stories intertwined throughout the book.

I also really love the writing and I like it more and more as I reflect on the book and read some of the quotes. Dickens has a way of weaving beautiful sentences and creates such emotional scenes that I know will stay with me for a while to come.

I was better after I had cried, than before–more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle.

I would love to re-read this in the future and I already know it is one I will come back to throughout my life, much like A Christmas Carol which I now try to re-read every year.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (#2)

On August 11, 2021August 8, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review1 Comment

Goodreads | Waterstones

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end. No more puzzles. And no more running. Thomas was sure that escaping meant he would get his life back. But no one knew what sort of a life they were going back to…
Burned and baked, the earth is a wasteland, its people driven mad by an infection known as the Flare.
Instead of freedom, Thomas must face another trial. He must cross the Scorch to once again save himself and his friends.

Well, that was darker than expected. Reading this book made me realise how I often recommend this series to young teens at the bookshop I work in, and even I was slightly creeped out. There is definitely some scenes in here that weren’t included in the movies (at least not that I remember) and I can fully see why they were left out, because they were very dark. The earlier scenes also reminded me of some parts from Terminator 2: Judgement Day and I think if you’ve read this one and watched the films you will know what I mean!

In some ways this book did have a bit of second book syndrome and felt a little like a bridge book between the first and third books. I think this was partly because this book features a journey across a hot, flat desert…which made it feel like a journey bridging the two books and also made it feel a little flat. Which might sound stupid, but I honestly think it gave me some strange symbolism.

i felt her absence. it was like waking up one day with no teeth in your mouth.

I also felt a little bit of a disconnect to the characters and I just wish I felt more for the horrific things these characters go through. This book was quite dark in places and the characters have some incredibly traumatic times – however I just didn’t feel enough sympathy for them in my opinion.

One of the most positive parts of this book for me was the plot. The chapters were super short and I found this so easy to read because I didn’t want to put it down! I found this slightly quicker and easier to read than The Maze Runner (despite me reading that over a fewer amount of days). I just thought this one was slightly easier to pick up and felt a little more compelling than the first.

you wouldn’t need to run to the mirror to know they were gone

Overall this one was a little mediocre in comparison to my pleasant surprise of the first one in the series! However, I’m excited to read The Death Cure soon as I haven’t seen the film of that one so I have no idea what to expect there.

★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

On August 8, 2021August 4, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Everyone has a reason to fear the boy with the gun…
10:00 a.m.: The principal of Opportunity, Alabama’s high school finishes her speech, welcoming the entire student body to a new semester and encouraging them to excel and achieve.
10:02 a.m.: The students get up to leave the auditorium for their next class.
10:03: The auditorium doors won’t open.
10:05: Someone starts shooting.
In 54 minutes, four students must confront their greatest hopes, and darkest fears, as they come face-to-face with the boy with the gun.

I’ve had this book for a while and I’m so glad it came up on my August TBR so I finally had a reason to pick it up. I love the idea of this being set of 54 minutes and books set over a time period of a day or even an hour really intrigues me. I admire authors so much who can fill a whole book with such a short amount of time and still make it fast paced and full of action.

This book felt so important and a crucial read, but wasn’t without heartbreak and sadness. I read this over a couple of days where I had little time to read, and I still got through it so quickly and never wanted to put it down. It is the kind of book that would be super easy to read in one sitting as despite the heavy topics, it was very easy to read and hard to put down.

You can’t always keep your loved ones with you. You can’t always settle your life in one place. The world was made to change.

I liked the characters and I also enjoyed the fact this had 4 points of view. However, I felt like the execution of this wasn’t perfect. This book is fairly short at 280 pages and I just feel like we didn’t quite have enough time for the characters to build distinct personalities. I just didn’t feel as connected to the characters as I wanted to, and I feel like this one was crucial to have a connection to the characters in such a harrowing situation. I didn’t dislike the characters, I just didn’t feel they were as distinct from one another as I wanted them to be.

I really liked the atmosphere of this book and I feel like the writing captured the action really well. I felt like I was right there with the characters as they went through this horrific event. The writing was also so easy to read and created a great balance of being compelling without taking away from the nature of the difficult discussions throughout.

But as long as you cherish the memories and make new ones along on the way, no matter where you are, you’ll always be at home.

Overall, although this wasn’t perfect I did find this really enjoyable and would make a perfect one-sitting read!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Stacking the Shelves #51

On August 7, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Stacking the Shelves2 Comments

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga where we share books we’ve bought or received this week. Find out more and join in here!

Hi all! I’ve been slightly better about buying books in the past couple of weeks (I think). I definitely feel like I’ve been restraining myself a little better when it comes to purchasing!

Myths, Monsters and Mayhem in Ancient Greece (Hardback)

Waterstones

I was also sent this beautiful picture book about Greek Mythology, which feels like exactly what I need. Thank you to the publishers, Templar, for sending me a copy!

Goodreads | Waterstones

I was also sent the second Deadly Education book by the publishers – thank you Cornerstone! I’m hoping it gives me the motivation to pick up the first book.

Goodreads | Waterstones

A young woman picks up a book left behind by a stranger. Inside it are his margin notes, which reveal a reader entranced by the story and by its mysterious author. She responds with notes of her own, leaving the book for the stranger, and so begins an unlikely conversation that plunges them both into the unknown.
THE BOOK: Ship of Theseus, the final novel by a prolific but enigmatic writer named V. M. Straka, in which a man with no past is shanghaied onto a strange ship with a monstrous crew and launched onto a disorienting and perilous journey.
THE WRITER: Straka, the incendiary and secretive subject of one of the world’s greatest mysteries, a revolutionary about whom the world knows nothing apart from the words he wrote and the rumours that swirl around him.
THE READERS: Jennifer and Eric, a college senior and a disgraced grad student, both facing crucial decisions about who they are, who they might become, and how much they’re willing to trust another person with their passions, hurts, and fears.

I recently found out a copy of this book had been sent into the bookshop I work in and couldn’t resist picking up. It’s the only book I will admit to buying because of Tiktok!

Goodreads | Waterstones

Way out in the furthest part of the known world, a tiny stronghold exists all on its own, cut off from the rest of human-kin by monsters that lurk beneath the Snow Sea.
There, a little boy called Ash waits for the return of his parents, singing a forbidden lullaby to remind him of them… and doing his best to avoid his very, VERY grumpy yeti guardian, Tobu.
But life is about to get a whole lot more crazy-adventurous for Ash.
When a brave rescue attempt reveals he has amazing magical powers, he’s whisked aboard the Frostheart, a sleigh packed full of daring explorers who could use his help. But can they help him find his family . . . ?

My friend at work recently got rid of her copy of Frostheart and after hearing Gav from How To Train Your Gavin talking about this series, I decided to pick it up!

Goodreads | Waterstones

Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.
There are no teachers, no holidays, friendships are purely strategic, and the odds of survival are never equal.
Once you’re inside, there are only two ways out: you graduate or you die.
El Higgins is uniquely prepared for the school’s many dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out untold millions – never mind easily destroy the countless monsters that prowl the school.
Except, she might accidentally kill all the other students, too. So El is trying her hardest not to use it… that is, unless she has no other choice.

I also swapped my Illumicrate copy of A Deadly Education for the standard hardback copy, mainly because it matches my proof of The Last Graduate really well. I also found the Illumicrate edition stood out on my shelves because of the gold colour it was, and it is one of very few books I’m finding I prefer the standard hardback overall!

Which books did you buy or receive this week?

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Maze Runner (#1) by James Dashner

On August 6, 2021August 4, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

When the doors of the lift crank open, the only thing Thomas remembers is his first name. But he’s not alone. He’s surrounded by boys who welcome him to the Glade – a walled encampment at the centre of a bizarre and terrible stone maze. Like Thomas, the Gladers don’t know why or how they came to be there – or what’s happened to the world outside. All they know is that every morning when the walls slide back, they will risk everything – even the Grievers, half-machine, half-animal horror that patrol its corridors, to try and find out …

These books have been on my radar for over 10 years. I think the box set I am reading from has been in my family home for around 10 years too, and I never picked them up for some reason. I read The Hunger Games around the time of popularity, but I only picked up Divergent last year and I’m only picking up The Maze Runner now. My brother read the first book years ago (which is why I own the set) and I have actually seen the films of the first two. I always struggle when I watch the films before reading the book (which very, very rarely happens!) as I never know quite how to make my thoughts distinct on them both.

I have to say, this book was a real pleasant surprise. I thought I would find this a bit young for me and therefore not find it too enjoyable, which is how I felt about Divergent when I read it last year. But I must say I really liked this book. I read it in just over 24 hours and found it such an easy and fast paced read.

Just follow me and run like your life depends on it.

I liked the cast of characters and I really like how this focuses on male friendship rather than a relationship (not yet at least!). It felt unique for YA to not jump on a relationship and I liked having something a bit different. Even though I have watched the film adaptation for this first book, I found myself on the edge of my seat and wondering where the book was going to go (it’s worth knowing it has been years since I saw the film last!).

I definitely feel like this premise is super unique and although falls into dystopian themes and tropes now, feels unique of it’s time. I’m intrigued to see how the plot will develop over the books as I haven’t seen the film adaptation for The Death Cure and therefore will have no idea where the book goes.

Because it does.

Despite this one being a little difficult to judge, I can confidently say I really enjoyed reading this one more than expected and I’ll be starting The Scorch Trials very soon!

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

Review: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

On August 5, 2021August 3, 2021 By Beth JonesIn Book Review3 Comments

Goodreads | Waterstones

Far from fading with time, Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale of fantasy has attracted a growing audience in each generation. Rat, Mole, Badger and the preposterous Mr Toad (with his ‘Poop-poop-poop’ road-hogging new motor-car), have brought delight to many through the years with their odd adventures on and by the river, and at the imposing residence of Toad Hall. Grahame’s book was later dramatised by A. A. Milne, and became a perennial Christmas favourite, as Toad of Toad Hall. It continues to enchant and, above all perhaps, inspire great affection.

I had a lot of nostalgia going into this book, which was unexpected actually. I must have read some kind of version of this story as a child as I remembered certain aspects of it really clearly. I don’t remember reading a specific version or watching a film adaptation, but I have clear memories of the characters and setting.

I really loved the setting of the book and it felt so vivid and beautiful. The river felt very reminiscent of spring and captured the atmosphere perfectly. Although I really liked the setting and houses of the characters, some of it did feel slightly nonsensical to me. Much like a lot of children’s classics I’ve read, I feel like this kind of silliness is the kind that really grabs children’s attention but feels a little lost on me now.

Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing –

I really enjoyed reading about the friendship between these characters, but I ended up disliking Toad a lot. He is narcissistic and pretentious throughout the second half of the book, and any redemption is too little, too late for me. Sadly this made me lose interest in a lot of the second half of the story and miss the cozy companionship of Mole and Badger.

I listened to the audiobook of this from Recorded Books on Scribd, and I really liked the version I listened to. Not only was the narrator brilliant and gave a lovely tone to the story, but he also sang some of the songs. This may seem like a tiny thing to notice, but I often find myself disappointed when songs and poems are read out in monotone, so this stood out to me as something extra special.

absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.

Overall, this definitely wasn’t my favourite classic but also wasn’t unlikable. I wouldn’t go into it expecting a wild ride, but more a slow meander down the river in spring.

★★★
3 out of 5 stars

-Beth

May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽

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The Books are Everywhere

Tag: book review

Review: A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Review: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Review: Amari and the Night Brothers (#1) by B.B. Alston

Review: The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He

Review: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Review: The Scorch Trials by James Dashner (#2)

Review: This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Stacking the Shelves #51

Review: The Maze Runner (#1) by James Dashner

Review: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame