Recently returned to Lake Erie to study the migratory patterns of the monarch butterfly, entomologist Liz Crane moves into her family’s now-deserted farmhouse. Casting a shadow over her life is the recent death of her cousin, Amanda Butler, a gifted military strategist killed in Afghanistan, and the disappearance many years earlier of her irrepressible, charismatic uncle. Liz explores the many-layered history of the eccentric Butler family, ancestral lighthouse-keepers, agriculturalists and dreamers and re-evaluates the lives of the seasonal workers imported each summer from Mexico to harvest the fruit on the farm, with them Teo, a young boy alone in his apartness. Surrounded by memories, Liz herself is haunted by a deeply buried family secret, by four different, unexpected love affairs, and by the tragic events that ultimately altered all their futures.

Jane Urquhart may be the author of six novels, but for some sad reason my book radar has completely missed her, until now. I had no idea what to expect from Sanctuary Line. I knew the premise of the novel intrigued me, but I wasn’t prepared at all for the astoundingly beautiful writing that held me captive for two whole days whilst reading it, and many days long after.

Sanctuary Line follows the story of Liz Crane as she moves into the now-deserted farmhouse that once belonged to her uncle. Living there alone, watching the land around her deteriorate day by day, she reflects on the lives of her family and their ancestors. The novel has a strong underline of unwavering sadness throughout, as Liz remembers her cousin, recently killed in Afghanistan, and her Uncle who she loved so dearly until the day he left and never came back. Liz has fond memories of spending many a summer on her uncle’s farm, playing in the river with her cousins, or taking driving lessons with the Mexican farmhand, Teo. Liz’s uncle is a complicated character, one with many faces. He is at times heart-warming and endearing, playing with the children to his heart’s content, obviously feeling much as much joy as them in these times. The children look up to him and want to be around him as much as possible. But then, he has a troubled side. A rash, impetuous and angry side that shows its ugly face, often in reaction, or to provoke a reaction from his wife, who he clearly shares a somewhat strained relationship with. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that he was a man living the kind of life he didn’t really want. He wanted more, but his marriage held him back from the things he truly wanted. Despite his flaws and outbursts, he became one of my favourite characters, and Liz’s memories of him became my favourite of all.

“My uncle stood out on the lawn for what seemed to me to be a very long time, tilting the record my aunt had scratched back and forth in the light to see how much it was damaged. I watched him through the window while I was putting knives and forks on the table. Something about the way his head was lowered as he examined the disc made it possible for me to see that during his most recent trip to the barber the back of his neck had been shaved. The thought of him sitting in the chair with his chin resting on his chest, utterly submissive and covered like a child in a large white bib, coupled with the way he carefully slid that vinyl record back into its sleeve and slowly closed the lid of the record player, made me heartsick, thought I couldn’t have explained, at the time, why I might feel that way.”

My other favourite character has to be, without a doubt, Teo, the young Mexican boy who lives on the farm during the summers with his mother, to work on the farm. He is a quiet, polite young man, who knows little English, but Liz’s Uncle encourages the other children to treat him as one of the family, to play with him and be kind. However, Liz’s Uncle felt a kind compassion towards Teo, that the other children couldn’t understand. Teo was a Mexican, an outsider, and that’s all he would ever be. But Liz saw beyond that and came to love the boy in a way that eludes her, even years later.

What really makes this novel the beautiful piece of art that it is, is not only Urquhart’s incredibly sparse, simple yet powerful writing style, but the sense of place. The Canadian farm-setting really comes to life and you can tell that Urquhart has either experienced this life for herself, or has spent a lot of effort doing meticulous research. The wonderful history of the farm and the orchards and of Lake Erie itself has been captured so well that it will make you feel as though you’ve known the place your whole life too. As the family stories go back over four generations, you can tell that this is a family that takes a lot of pride in its history and that their ancestors play a huge part in their lives today. Liz’s uncle tells her stories of how in the 19^th century, their ancestors emigrated from Ireland, settled on both the American and Canadian sides of the lake, and one half of the family became lighthouse keepers, and the other half farmers. It’s interesting to see how one person’s decision can impact the fate of several generations in the family. Liz’s story recalls four love affairs, and one deeply buried family secret, and it’s intriguing to watch them all evolve.

Of course the other thread of this intricately woven story is Liz’s virtually life-long study of butterfly migration. It is obvious that theme of migration plays a big part in Sanctuary Line, but the way Urquhart uses simple metaphors of butterfly migration to depict a certain feeling Liz feels towards her life, is breath-taking. Urquhart is absolutely effortless in her writing, her spare style never feels over-loaded with adjectives, but words that have been carefully chosen.

“It occurs to me now that monarchs show every appearance of being cheerful creatures. Their beauty, the fact that they dance across our summer gaze, stunningly adorned and always in the vicinity of brilliantly coloured flowers, their poise, and the apparent effortlessness of their movements give us every reason to believe they are in a state of grace. But, in fact, few insects have such a fraught existence.”

These passages reminded me somewhat of Poppy Adams’ The Behaviour of Moths, a book I didn’t enjoy and often found overloaded with moth facts and long, wordy descriptions that I never understood, or cared for. Jane Urquhart manages the complete opposite with her wonderful, fluid prose. I never once found the little insights into the lives of butterflies, dull or factual. They read beautifully, and I felt fascinated by each and every one of them, almost as if their behaviour really could give us an insight into our own.

One of my colleagues who read this before me, said she found Sanctuary Line to be beautifully written, but thought not much really ever happened in the story. I couldn’t have disagreed more. This novel may be one character’s introspective look on her life, but all the wonderful little stories are fascinating studies of human behaviour and I challenge anyone not to relate to at least one of them. There is so much in this novel it’s hard to include everything in this review; love, death, lies, secrets, family, racism, migration, and war. This isn’t a plot-driven thriller, but a reflective account of a farm and its inhabitants, and it’s certainly not without its twists. There are some huge secrets exposed that I never saw coming, and was left sitting open-mouthed.

I have truly been left in awe of Jane Urquhart and her incredible talent as a writer. I have already added more of her novels to my wish list, and really cannot wait to explore more. Sanctuary Line may not be the bestseller of the year, or the most popular novel, in fact, you may not have heard of it yet. But trust me when I say, this is better than most bestseller’s I’ve read in the last year! If you appreciate great writing and are looking for a story that will stay with you forever, then go and buy Sanctuary Line. I’m already looking forward to reading it again.

Sanctuary Line is out now, published by MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus. Thanks goes to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review. I must also give another big thank you to MacLehose Press for providing me with these short clips taken from an interview with Jane Urquhart discussing the novel which you can find below.

Rating 

For centuries it has been locked away
Lost beneath the sea
Warded from earth, air, water, fire, spirits, thought and sight.

But now magic is rising to the world once more.

And a boy called Gavin, who thinks only that he is a city kid with parents who hate him, and knows only that he sees things no one else will believe, is boarding a train, alone, to Cornwall.

No one will be there to meet him.

I approached Advent with some trepidation as a few of my colleagues had already read it and had very mixed feelings towards it. The general consensus of them, and other reviewers, is that Advent should be a young adult novel rather than adult. If you follow my blog in any way, you will know that the topic of target audiences has been something that seems to keep cropping up in my reviews of late. I think this probably has a lot to do with more adults reading young adult novels due to the trends of Twilight and the like. It seems clear now that the lines between adult and young adult fiction are becoming a little less defined nowadays, with more novels reaching out to both adult and teen readers than ever before. Advent is definitely one of those novels, but in my opinion, it goes from one extreme to the other, and never really decides what it wants to be. I’m certainly not saying it needs to be either adult or teen, but a few things need to give to allow it to become that crossover. Hopefully, this review will try and outline my reasons why.

First of all, the blurb tells you literally nothing. There is nothing to make it stand out amongst other fantasy novels of its kind, but it will probably still intrigue you like it did me. The story begins in 1537 when Johannes Faust, the greatest mage that ever lived, prepares to set sail for England. The next chapter takes us straight to Gavin, a young boy who has an invisible friend that no one will believe in. He is on a train, bound for Cornwall to visit his aunt, the only person who truly gives him the time of day. But once he arrives, he can’t find her anywhere. The chapters continue to alternate between the stories of Johannes Faust and Gavin, as the two slowly come together for a rather dramatic climax.

Once the story really got going, I was completely taken by surprise, and this is what I enjoyed the most about this novel. I don’t want to give too much of the plot away for fear of spoiling it for those of you who haven’t yet read it. You already know the basic plot from the blurb above, but if you want a little taste of what is to come then do read on. It’s really not much of a spoiler, but if you are the kind of reader who prefers to know nothing about the novel before reading it, then skip this paragraph! *Minor Spoiler* The way the story went right back into Greek mythology and the time of Helen of Troy, was very unexpected, and like I said the blurb really gives you no hint towards it. There are also mermaids, witches, magicians, hell-hounds, and a rather strange-looking bird. It’s obvious that Treadwell has been inspired by mythology and folklore and it is all beautifully portrayed and very intriguing. I almost wished the blurb would hint at a little more of these things, as I feel it may attract more readers and help make the novel stand out amongst others in the fantasy genre. These were the most exciting parts in the novel, and they really made me begin to appreciate Treadwell’s novel as being something a little different and unique.*End of Spoiler*

The first one-hundred pages or so are rather slow-going, I felt as though Treadwell could have written the same scenes within half the page numbers. The writing has a very traditional fantasy feel to it, and this will certainly appeal to some, and repel others. I was kind of somewhere in the middle. At times I found it to be beautiful and carefully considered, and other times I thought Treadwell was using too many words to describe the most trivial of events. I think Treadwell is a fine writer with a lot of talent and skill, and if you prefer a more detailed, slow pace in your prose then this will be the book for you. It’s slightly akin to Patrick Rothfuss and Tolkien in that sense but not quite as high a standard yet, but there is huge potential there without a doubt.

The thing about Treadwell’s writing that jarred with me most of all, was the mixture of it being a story about a young boy who discovers there is a lot more magic in the world than he could ever have imagined, but then being told in rather slow, detailed prose, often with the use of profanities. The swearing ruined it for me, and added nothing at all to the story. This is my problem with it being classed as teen. It just didn’t fit in with the tone of the story and if it wasn’t for this, I definitely would have felt comfortable recommending it to teens with a taste for the more literary fiction. But it’s almost as though Treadwell is trying a little too hard to make, what is essentially a children’s story, into an adult one, and he doesn’t quite pull it off.

I don’t mean to give Advent any kind of in-depth analysis, but I often approach my reviews from the point of view of a bookseller, and reviewer rather than just a reader. The reader in me will tell you how much she was actually quite impressed with the story as a whole, and was very much taken by surprise with the wonderful fantastical elements that come into play. It is a skilful novel, but it is not without its flaws, and that’s where the bookseller part of me comes in! You may be surprised to find me giving this novel such a high rating after all my rambling above, but in truth, Treadwell’s story is so enticingly beautiful that I can’t help but love it, for all its flaws. I see great potential in him as a writer and storyteller, and only hope that the flaws I have detailed here are ones that can be approached in his next book.

Advent is a wonderfully unique novel, but one that hasn’t quite found its place yet. I hope I have intrigued you rather than deterred you from reading it, as it really is something that deserves to be read. If you like traditional literary fantasy, this will undoubtedly appeal to you, and I feel it will most certainly invoke rather an interesting discussion or two! I’m very excited to see what will happen next in the trilogy, and to see how Gavin will cope with the new direction his life appears to be taking!

Advent is out now, published by Hodder & Stoughton. Thanks goes to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Rating 

Related articles

• VIDEO: Meet the Author: James Treadwell (bbc.co.uk)
• Advent (bookwitch.wordpress.com)

We know you are here, our brothers and sisters. We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace. For now, we watch from afar.

Pressia Belze has lived outside of the Dome ever since the detonations. Struggling for survival she dreams of life inside the safety of the Dome with the ‘Pure’.

Partridge, himself a Pure, knows that life inside the Dome, under the strict control of the leaders’ regime, isn’t as perfect as others think.

Bound by a history that neither can clearly remember, Pressia and Partridge are destined to forge a new world. 

If you’ve read a lot of my reviews you probably know by now I’m quite the fan of dystopian fiction. However, when I first started hearing about Pure by Julianna Baggott online, I wasn’t exactly dying to read it. I suppose that as much as I love dystopian fiction, there is a little too much of it, certainly in the YA market today, and half of them never live up to the hype. But when a few fellow booksellers started telling me about just how good Pure really is, I decided to give in and give it a go for myself, and I have to say I certainly have no regrets!

Pure tells the story of Pressia and Partridge. Pressia is a ‘wretch’ who now lives outside the Dome since the Detonations which virtually destroyed Earth as we know it. The wretches are horribly disfigured after fusing with any items they may have been near or holding at the time of the Detonations. Pressie has a doll’s head for a fist. Partridge, however, is one of the Pure. He was lucky enough to be inside the Dome at the time of the Detonations, thanks to his father who is running the place. Although Partridge may be whole on the outside, he is very much disfigured on the inside due to the deaths of his mother and brother and a rather strained relationship with his father. Partridge becomes convinced that his mother is still alive somewhere outside the Dome, and a plan soon starts to take shape that will lead him outside into a world he’s only ever heard very little about. Needless to say, Pressia and Partridge’s lives come together and lead them both on a journey they never thought possible.

What I love most about Pure is undoubtedly the world that Baggott has created. It’s unique, original and above all exciting. It may take you a while to get your head around the fact that these people have odd disfigurements, certainly when I learned of Pressia’s doll head for a fist, I found it quite hard to imagine and not very believable. However, I think it was once I got to Pressia’s new-found friend Bradwell, the boy with live birds in his back, that I started to open up to these disfigurements and go with it. I started to imagine what a great film it would make, visually, if done right, and that’s something I don’t often say about books I enjoy! There’s a lot of talk of nano-technology as the reason for these fusions and disfigurements, and I’m not going to pretend like I really understand why it happened, but I will say that it in the end I thought it was a very fresh, original idea that Baggott has brought to life.

The second thing I loved about Pure has to be the characters. The first thing I realised was that this wasn’t just a typical YA story where you have two main characters who go on some kind of journey together and obviously fall in love. Pure immediately felt different, and I was extremely grateful for it. Pressia and Partridge both have their own love interests which gives the story a chance to have more well-developed, brilliant characters. I particularly loved Bradwell, the boy with birds in his back, and I really enjoyed watching the relationship between him and Pressia grow. The other character who I perhaps enjoyed the most, was El Capitan, a soldier who thought he was working against the Dome, but soon discovers otherwise. He is also fused with his brother, whose head sits upon his shoulder. It’s a little disturbing at first, and although El Capitan is often quite horrible to his brother, you do get a sense that he is almost thankful to have his brother with him, and that the two do share quite a close bond.

The world Baggott has created is certainly an intriguing concept, and one I thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in. Within the Dome, life feels very regimented. They are giving coding and conditioning to heighten their abilities, and to shape them into stronger, better human beings. They know that a time will come when they must take back the world they lost. Outside the Dome, it is a very different story. Food and shelter are scarce, and the disfigurements of these people make life rather uncomfortable. The streets are threatened by Dusts, those fused with the earth and waiting under the soil to grab your ankle as you walk by and pull you down with them. There is very little joy in this world, and what little they have is often from each other, and a shared sense of hope that flickers faintly amongst them. There are many conspiracy theories as to why the Detonations happened and who was behind them, but I feel these are answers we will not get until later on in the trilogy. Pressia and Partridge are never quite sure who is working for who, and who they can trust, and you as a reader are left guessing the same.

Baggott is a gifted writer, and one that has managed to create a world I haven’t been this excited about in a long time. There is no doubt she has a wonderful imagination and a talent for creating intriguing, heartfelt characters. But if I had one gripe about this novel, it would be that to me it’s not clearly defined as YA or adult fiction. And yes, maybe it doesn’t need to be, there are after all many books that cross-over into both age-groups, but I can’t help but feel that if you are a writer, you should write with a specific target audience in mind, and I’m not entirely sure who this audience was for Baggott. Any story that has teenage protagonists often feels like YA fiction, and that is the case with Pure, but I can’t help but feel that a lot of the writing and scientific explanations is very mature and doesn’t quite have that easy flow as say The Hunger Games do, for example. This certainly isn’t a criticism, myself not being a big lover of The Hunger Games anyway, as I feel Baggott is arguably the better writer. But it seems that the intended audience for Pure has become a little confused. In the UK, Pure has been released as an adult novel, and I know this took many booksellers by surprise. I can see why this has happened, but I also feel that those adults who don’t normally read young adult fiction, may find Pure not quite ‘adult’ enough for them, and the reverse with young adult readers. However, if you’re like me, an adult who does read YA, then I’m sure you will love Pure as much as I do. It’s certainly an interesting concept to ponder though, as I notice this happening more and more – particularly with Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and James Treadwell’s Advent.

If you like dystopian fiction or you fancy something a little more original, then you should definitely pick up a copy of Pure. I’m extremely excited to see what is going to happen next in this series, and I can only apologise to Baggott for having doubted her in the first place, for she has certainly proved me wrong.

Pure is out now, published by Headline. A big thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy through NetGalley.

Rating 

Book of the Month

 I have never in my life had such an emotional reaction to a book – not only in terms of tears, but in terms of laughter as well. Some of you may cower at the thought of reading a book about kids with cancer, and admittedly I did so myself at first, but this is a book about kids with cancer, written in a way you will never have read before, and are unlikely to read again. If I could urge you to read one book this year, it would undoubtedly be The Fault In Our Stars.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green 

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides 

The Demi-Monde: Spring by Rod Rees 

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey 

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach 

Switched by Amanda Hocking 

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce 

Plans for February

I still have some January releases that I need to get through as I just haven’t had the time for them all this month! I also have a couple more February releases including the brilliant Pure by Julianna Baggot, which I’m reading at the moment, and also Advent by James Treadwell. I’m also dying to read Empire State by Adam Christopher which I recently bought, and last but not least I will also be reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence for the Genre Book Challenge. In fact, my whole fiction team at work are taking part in this so I’m really looking forward to it! I hope you’ve all had a wonderful start to your reading new year, just as I have!

A bewitching tale of heartbreak and hope set in 1920s Alaska.

Jack and Mabel have staked everything on making a fresh start for themselves in a homestead ‘at the world’s edge’ in the raw Alaskan wilderness. But as the days grow shorter, Jack is losing his battle to clear the land, and Mabel can no longer contain her grief for the baby she lost many years before.

The evening the first snow falls, their mood unaccountably changes. In a moment of tenderness, the pair are surprised to find themselves building a snowman – or rather a snow girl – together. The next morning, all trace of her has disappeared, and Jack can’t quite shake the notion that he glimpsed a small figure – a child? – running through the spruce trees in the dawn light. And how to explain the little but very human tracks Mabel finds at the edge of their property?

If you’re a blogger or a lover of adult fiction in general then you have probably already heard of The Snow Child. It’s been creating a magnificent buzz on Twitter and book blogs for the last few months, and I for one couldn’t wait to get stuck in and see what the fuss is all about!

Inspired by a Russian fairytale called ‘The Snow Maiden,’ Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel is a beautiful and endearing tale of a couple, unable to have a child of their own, decide to make a girl out of snow. But the following day, the snow child is no longer there, and footprints are left trailing into the woods. When Jack and Mabel start seeing a young girl near their home, they begin to wonder where she came from, and if it is even possible that she might be the child they made out of snow.

If you’re a fan of fairytales, I know I certainly am, then you will devour this within a couple of days very easily. It’s down to Ivey’s beautiful yet haunting prose that really brings the snow child herself to life. I adored the Alaskan 1920s setting and this seemed to come very naturally to Ivey, an Alaskan herself. Everything about it felt utterly authentic and completely effortless, and I couldn’t help but feel so much compassion for this heartbroken couple who have uprooted their whole lives to come to this desolate, unforgiving and extremely cold land. With their still-born child weighing heavily on their marriage, you can’t help but feel as though Alaska is their last chance at living some sort of a happy life together, and you will root for them every step of the way.

The Snow Child has a wonderful mythic feel to it as it makes you, the reader, constantly question is this girl in fact the snow child? Or has she merely been imagined by a couple wrought with sadness at the loss of their own. Or she could even be real and belong to some other couple out there in the wilderness. You will doubt yourself over and over again, and this is the beauty and power of the novel. I loved the fact that I could never quite work out what was really going on. But it is Mabel’s unwavering belief in this child that makes you want to believe in her yourself. What it must be like to chance upon a seemingly orphan child, when you so badly want one of your own.

But it isn’t just Jack, Mabel and the child who compel you to keep reading. Ivey has created a wonderful cast of characters in the shape of Mabel and Jack’s neighbours Esther, George and their sons. The youngest son, Garrett, actually became my favourite character of all. A young, extremely independent boy who knows the wilderness like the back of his hand, who can aim and shoot any animal he comes across, who can provide for his family. Over the course of the novel, as Esther and Jack slowly age together, we see Garrett become a man, a man who has a chance at the life Esther and Jack always dreamed of. It’s these subtle moments in the novel that really make you appreciate Ivey’s talent and the characters she has created. Each character feels fleshed-out and real, each with their own personality and back-story. Esther and George’s family help bring a touch of lightness to an otherwise bleak and sorrowful tale, and I couldn’t help but be thankful for them, just as Mabel and Jack are.

As the snow melts each year, the young girl disappears until the following winter. Together, Mabel and Jack must face months on end wondering where she is, whether she is still alive, and whether she will come back at all. The girl has become a part of their family, and it proves difficult to admit that she does not belong in their world. She belongs to the wilderness and the snow. But whether the girl stays or goes, it’s plain to see that she has helped renew their marriage and their love for one another. She has brought joy back into their lives, and helped realise their dream of a life in Alaska, and maybe that’s all they really need.

The Snow Child is a breath-taking debut novel, and I can’t wait to recommend it to everyone I know. However, what I’m really looking forward to is seeing what Eowyn Ivey will write next. This novel is proof that she is definitely one to watch in the coming years, and it will most certainly be a hard one to follow.

The Snow Child has been selected as one of the Waterstones 11 top debut novels of 2012. It is released on 1^st February, published by Headline Review. A big thank you goes to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Rating 

Related articles

• REVIEW: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (Guest Reviewer: Booktopia’s Sarah McDuling) (booktopia.com.au)

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other.

He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone.

All he knows is that he must keep walking.

To save someone else’s life.

I have heard endless good things about The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry for quite a few months now, and it hasn’t even been released yet. After it was announced that it is also one of the Waterstones 11, a list of 11 top debut novels selected by Waterstones booksellers, I knew I had to give it a go! I was expecting something brilliant, something life-changing that would stay with me for a long time to come. Now, I’m a little bit sad to have to say I didn’t quite love it as much as I wanted to. The thing about this book is that I know some people are absolutely going to love it, and for them it will be life-changing and something they think about for a long, long time. But for me, it lacked a little something, and I’ll try to explain what that was…

Harold receives a letter from a former colleague, and former friend, Queenie, who is writing to tell Harold that she is dying from cancer, but to thank him for his friendship. Harold has a rather quiet reaction to this letter at first, as he realises he hasn’t seen Queenie in many, many years. But this reaction soon grows into something that will ultimately change his life, and the lives of those around him forever. Harold begins a walk to the post box to post his reply, but he knows that what he has written is inadequate and what he wants to say, must be done in person. So begins Harold walk from one end of the UK to the other, leaving his wife Maureen wondering exactly what’s taking him so long to walk to the post box!

This is a very sweet and endearing novel, with a rather dark heart at its centre. Harold and Maureen’s marriage is particularly strained – they sleep in separate bedrooms and don’t have a whole lot to say to each other, but Harold’s relationship with his drug-using son is even more strained, and these relationships both weigh very heavily on Harold as he begins his walk. This walk starts to become much, much more than just a walk. It becomes a journey where Harold looks back on his life and realises where it all went wrong, and a renewed sense of hope begins to shine in him of what his life could be like, with his wife and his son. His walk also becomes a reason to keep living – not just for Queenie, but I think for Harold as well.

My problem with the novel is that my least favourite parts were where Harold was walking. As the main character of the novel, and the walk being the whole premise of the novel in the first place, I would have expected this to be the most exciting bit. However, I found myself wanting to go back to Maureen and her neighbour Rex as they rediscover life together, and find joy in the things that once made them happy. I really loved Maureen as a character and watching her evolve as the novel went on. I felt a great deal of sympathy for her at first as she realises her husband is on this huge undertaking of a journey to see another woman. And although at first she is angry, Maureen slowly realises what her life has become. She has blamed Harold for many years for his awkward relationship with their son, and has held it against him ever since. But with Rex’s help, Maureen revisits old hobbies she used to love, and she becomes excited and proud of Harold for what he is doing. She soon realises just how much she loves and misses her husband, and things have to change.

I really enjoyed Harold looking back on his memories, and they certainly helped add some depth to his character, but like I said earlier, I found his actual journey just a little bit boring. I think for me, the problem was that it was such a huge distance for one man to walk, that the amount of people he met along the way became a little too many, and they are all a bit too one-dimensional. And the more he travelled, the more annoying these other characters became.

However, one thing I can’t fault Joyce for is her ability on how to end a novel, because I thought the ending was absolutely superb. First of all there is a rather big twist that I kicked myself after for not having seen it coming, and I was slightly in awe of Joyce for writing it so well that I never even guessed! Then later, I felt a little short-changed when Harold does finally get to Queenie, and I won’t say why exactly for fear of spoiling it for some of you, but then I realised that this was never really about Queenie. This novel is about Harold and Maureen and their regrets over the years, and finally putting it right and rediscovering their love for one another. This novel is a perfect example of humanity and all its faults and flaws, of how life often doesn’t turn out how you planned, but your life is in your hands and only you have the power to change it. You can plod along in an empty and strained marriage, or you can do something about it. The last few pages are a testimony to Rachel Joyce’s talent as a writer, as they are simply nothing short of perfection. But I felt sad that the journey it took for them both to get to this place in their lives didn’t quite live up to the standard set by the beginning and end. I would have liked to have seen some more in-depth memories from Harold along the way as these really were the best parts, and I would have liked a few more solid characters to appear on his journey, for I honestly only remember one that has stayed with me since.

I’ve often wondered since finishing the novel, whether or not if I was older, would I have gotten more out of it? I would definitely recommend this to women maybe ten/twenty years older than myself. And like I said before, I just know that some readers are absolutely going to love this novel with every bit of their hearts and recommend it to all their friends. Maybe in a few years time I even find myself appreciating it a little more.

I have argued back and forth with myself on how to rate this novel after this review, and I have to admit after reading the superb ending I was about to give it four stars out of five. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that the middle section just wasn’t nearly as interesting, and I was unsure if it would be something I’d read again. So I have stuck with three stars. But make no mistake, this is a very sweet novel, and it will make you think, there’s no doubt about that. Rachel Joyce is definitely a gifted writer who has the ability to create characters that are as flawed and troubled as the rest of us, but who will also give you a few laughs along the way. I will definitely be looking out for anything she writes in the future.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry is out on 15th March 2012, published by Doubleday. A big thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Rating 

In The Art of Fielding, we see young men who know that their four years on the baseball diamond at Westish College are all that remain of their sporting careers. Only their preternaturally gifted fielder, Henry Skrimshander, seems to have the chance to keep his dream – and theirs, vicariously – alive, until a routine throw goes disastrously off course, and the fates of five people are upended.

After his throw threatens to ruin his roommate Owen’s future, Henry’s fight against self-doubt threatens to ruin his; while Mike Schwartz, the team captain and Henry’s best friend, realizes he has guided Henry’s career at the expense of his own. Keeping a keen eye on them all, college president Guert Affenlight, a longtime bachelor, falls unexpectedly and dangerously in love, much to the surprise of his daughter, Pella, who has returned to Westish after escaping an ill-fated marriage, determined to start a new life.

I have to admit that when I first heard about ‘The Art of Fielding,’ and all the rave reviews that were appearing across the press and on Twitter, I wrote it off immediately as something I would never read because it’s about baseball. I’m sure many women out there will do the same. I’ve never been into sports and completely loathe the many nights when my other half insists on watching football. However, once I started seeing a few reviews online from other female readers, who still insisted that you didn’t need to like baseball to enjoy it, I decided I would give it a shot. And now I can safely say I agree with them wholeheartedly I absolutely loved it! It just goes to show that if you take a step outside of your comfort zone, and try something new, you will often be very surprised at what you find.

Looking back on ‘The Art of Fielding’ now after finishing it a few days ago, I honestly don’t see it as a ‘book about baseball.’ Yes it has baseball in it, but it’s about so much more than that. It’s about having dreams for the future and watching them come alive or fade away. It’s about unyielding friendships that will support you through the good and the bad. It’s about finding what makes you happy, even if it’s in a place you never thought to look before.

Henry Skrimshander has a remarkable talent as shortstop in the game of baseball. To him it comes naturally and almost without effort, and most importantly he never makes a single error. This soon comes to the attention of Mike Schwartz, the team captain of the baseball team at Westish College. Mike believes in Henry every step of the way, helping to make his dreams come true, dreams that Henry never really thought would come true. The relationship between Mike and Henry is one the most wonderful and most realistic friendships I have ever come across in fiction before. Mike watches and analyses Henry’s every move and pushes him to be better and better. Mike realises that whilst he is a good player, he lacks the natural talent that Henry has. Suffering with endless muscle ailments, Mike knows his future as a baseball player is drawing to an end, and so it seems that part of Mike’s ‘push’ for Henry to be great, is not only so as Henry can live out his dreams, but so that Mike can live his dream through him vicariously. Of course, Mike didn’t quite prepare himself for what it would feel like, to watch Henry be offered thousands of dollars to play pro-baseball, whilst Mike is still figuring out exactly what he wants to do next in life. The strain on their friendship soon becomes evident, as the dream threatens to come between them both. But things aren’t quite smooth-sailing for Henry either. The pressures of playing in front of scouts and with his whole future balancing on how he plays for the next few months of his life, Henry starts making errors. Costly errors. He can no longer play a single game without making an error. With his teammates getting edgy, it falls to Mike to defend Henry and support him for as long as it takes.

What I love most about Henry is the fact that he simply just loves baseball. It’s not about money or fame. I don’t think he ever even considered these things before coming to Westish College. There was just something about the game of baseball that made Henry happy in a way like nothing else could. He was clearly relaxed on the field, making no errors whatsoever, and not really thinking it through. It all just became reflex actions, like a well-oiled machine. It’s only when the possibility of making an actual career out of baseball started to seem real that he started to think about the game. For Henry, the joy of the game was lost. He is soon taken on a turbulent journey of self-discovery that will help him get back on his feet, and back to the heart of the game and everything that made him happy before.

My favourite character is definitely Mike, however. There is something incredibly endearing about this huge bulky figure of a man who is suffering with numerous aches and pains, has a love of baseball but knows he will never make it as a pro-player, but who is willing to put every bit of encouragement he has into this boy he’s only just met. Mike has had a very tough childhood, and it’s easy to see that these experiences have helped shaped him into the ‘father’ figure of the team. Everyone looks up to him and admires him and never questions any of his instructions. Mike soon finds love with Pella, the estranged daughter of President Affenlight, and their relationship became something that just felt ‘right’, even to me as a reader. Pella is a brilliant strong female character who often shines above the men, and holds her own. She is a breath of fresh air in this male-dominated world of baseball, and her scenes were often my favourite parts in the whole novel. Her father, President Affenlight also embarks upon a rather unexpected relationship of his own, I’m not going to talk too much about this here, as it was quite a surprise for me when I read it, and I’d like it to remain that way for you too.

The characters are really what make this novel. They are the sole reason that ‘The Art of Fielding’ isn’t a baseball book. I have to commend Chad Harbach who has managed to create such realistic and endearing characters who I still can’t get out of my head. Harbach really took me back to my student days with this one, just like Jeffrey Eugenides did with ‘The Marriage Plot’. I’ve seen some people comparing the two novels for their ‘American college’ similarities. I think Eugenides is possibly the better writer, but Harbach’s novel is much simpler in form and plot and flows much nicer. But you really do get a sense that you really know these characters like they are your best friends, teachers, or team mates. I never want to let them go.

To go back to the baseball, I would have to say I didn’t understand much of what was going on in the descriptions of the games themselves. I know some people have said you don’t need an understanding of baseball to enjoy it, and maybe you don’t, but I can’t help but think it would have been better if I did just so I could understand exactly what was happening. But most importantly of all, Harbach has the balance between baseball and the other plot-lines spot on. The novel never feels over-crowded with baseball, and never too little of it either. It’s enough to keep both sport-lovers and sport-haters happy.

I am really glad I gave this novel a chance, and that I didn’t do the typical girly thing of shying away from it just because it features baseball. It’s a brilliant novel, written in beautiful prose and with some of the most life-like characters I’ve ever come across. ‘The Art of Fielding’ may have been nine years in the making by Harbach, but it is a novel that will stay with you for a lifetime. Give it the chance it deserves and you will not be disappointed.

‘The Art of Fielding’ has been selected as one of the ‘Waterstones 11’ debut novels. To check out the rest of the list, please click here. The list this year is phenomenal and I can’t wait to make my way through them all!

‘The Art of Fielding’ it out now, published by Fourth Estate, an imprint of Harper Collins. A big thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Rating 

Related articles

• The Art of Fielding, By Chad Harbach (independent.co.uk)
• Digested read: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (guardian.co.uk)
• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach: review (telegraph.co.uk)
• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach – review (guardian.co.uk)

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel was prepared to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs… for now. Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means) Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly, to her interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

This is definitely an incredibly difficult review to write, because I know that whatever I say will never do this novel justice. I’ve read very little of John Green’s work before, in fact I’ve only ever read Looking For Alaska, and yes it was great and I raved about it for a day or so, but nothing could have prepared me for just how truly brilliant his next novel would be. I have never in my life had such an emotional reaction to a book – not only in terms of tears, but in terms of laughter as well. Some of you may cower at the thought of reading a book about kids with cancer, and admittedly I did so myself at first, but this is a book about kids with cancer, written in a way you will never have read before, and are unlikely to read again. If I could urge you to read one book this year, it would undoubtedly be The Fault In Our Stars.

Hazel was diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at the age of twelve. Two years later, she was getting ready to die, until a miracle test drug mysteriously shrunk the tumours in her lungs, for now at least. There is no telling when they will grow back, she is the only test subject of her kind, all the other children had their tumours grow back exceedingly quickly. Hazel is a miracle, but that still doesn’t make life easy for her. She is hooked up to an oxygen tank every day, and has to carry it with her everywhere she goes. She can’t over-exert herself, in case her lungs fill with fluid. And worst of all, she is forced to attend a cancer support group, where they are forced to chant seemingly meaningless declarations of ‘living our best life today’, and where the numbers diminish month by month. But it is there, at support group, where she meets the weird and wonderful Augustus Waters. Augustus is in remission after having to have a leg amputated, and Hazel is quick to succumb to his charms. The two form a very special relationship that will ultimately change their lives as they know it. Now they have something to live for, but the question is, is it fair to let someone fall in love with you when you know you’re going to die?

The thing that will grab you straight away when reading The Fault In Our Stars, is just how truly wonderful the characters of Hazel and Augustus are. You will be afraid to love them, but love them you will. In many ways, John Green is ultimately putting the reader in the same situation as his characters, of being afraid to love someone who you know is going to die. The only difference is that throughout most of the novel, I had an unwavering sense of hope for these two people that refused to give way. They had to live, and they had to fall in love and live happily ever after. I would refuse any alternative.

Hazel is an incredibly likeable character. She has suffered from cancer throughout a good deal of her childhood, and by age seventeen she certainly knows the ins and outs of it. She’s bored of the support groups, and the empty chants, she’s well aware of what its like to get ‘cancer perks’ – things that wouldn’t normally be allowed, but because you suffer from cancer, it’s okay. She knows what its like when young people die, and every acquaintance that person has ever known suddenly leaves messages on their Facebook wall, retelling what little memories they have of them, and how he/she was such a great person. John Green tells it how it is, and that’s the most shocking thing of all, but also the funniest. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments in this book, and it’s funny because Green has just hit the nail on the head. This really is what it’s like to have a terminal illness in today’s society, and Green doesn’t shy away from it in any way. The truth is, Hazel may find the support group boring, but she knows that these people are the only people in her world that know what it’s really like. Her parents and even her best friend will never truly understand what its like to live with a disease. It is down to Isaac, the boy who’s lost one eye and is about to lose another, and Augustus with his one leg, to keep Hazel grounded in the reality of it all.

Augustus is like a breath of fresh air. He is quirky beyond belief, exciting and utterly loveable. He knows what he wants out of life, and isn’t afraid to stare death in the face as he keeps an unlit cigarette in his mouth most of the time. He is someone that Hazel can talk frankly with, never shying away from what their lives are really like. Together, they make the best couple I’ve seen in YA fiction in a long time. John Green’s use of dialogue between the two is incredibly sharp and witty, almost like something straight out the movie, Juno, but better. Even Hazel’s dialogue between herself and her parents is spot on. Hazel’s parents clearly love her unconditionally, and it’s easy to see just how hard it is for them both to accept that their only daughter will die, and that between them both, they carefully watch her every move. But there is a particular passage that made me a huge emotional and personal impact on me, and that I haven’t forgotten since, and that’s when Hazel’s mum whispers to her husband “I won’t be a mom anymore.” I found this incredibly hard to take, and it really struck a chord with me as I haven’t seen my own mother in four years. It made me think a lot about what it means to be a parent, and how it feels to lose a relationship that you thought you would have for the rest of your life, a life that you dreamed an entire future for, together. It dragged up a lot of memories for me that I haven’t quite been able to lay to rest since. But I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to lose a child, but to lose your only child has to be that much worse. I think this book will have a personal impact on anyone who reads it – whether you’ve lost a child, a parent, a relative, a friend in any shape or form. You will connect to it in your own way, and that is what makes this book so incredibly special. It’s John Green’s sharp, witty and above all honest writing in this novel, that makes it what it is, and it really is true perfection. It seems obvious to me that John Green must have experienced the loss of a loved one himself and that a lot of his own emotions are invested in this novel.

I honestly cannot criticise this novel in any shape or form. It has become one of my favourite books of all time, and I know I am never going to part with it. Whilst reading it, I often thought at times, of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, which also deals with the loss of a parent through cancer. I keep thinking back to it, and remembering being tearful, but no where near as emotional as I feel towards The Fault In Our Stars, and this is where I think the idea of hope plays a part again. I truly had all the hope in the world for these two young people, and nothing could possibly make me lose it, but when it came to A Monster Calls, despite it being unbelievably sad in its own right, it was all rather set in stone – you knew the boy’s mother would die, and there was nothing you could do, you just had to accept it. It’s amazing just how powerful hope can be. Although Hazel is sure her tumours will grow back, and that she will inevitable die when they do, I think Augustus does bring hope back into her life, and it is this hope that propels them to live their lives as they always should have been – by being happy.

I’m not going to comment on the ending apart from the fact that I figured out pretty early on what would happen. You will be afraid to get to the end, as I undoubtedly was, but I hope that you will keep that little spark of hope alive, just as I did. Who knows what could happen? What I eventually started thinking, after finishing this novel, is whether or not an adult novel could pull this kind of story off? Would it even be acceptable as an adult novel to bring this kind of humour to terminal illnesses? Or is it the power of YA fiction that allows us to push the barriers because teenagers are likely to be more receptive to it, and not quite so outraged an as adult reader may feel towards it? I’d definitely be interested in hearing any of your thoughts on these points…

This is a book that will make you laugh out loud and cry bucketfuls of tears, and it really will stay with you for the rest of your life. I can already see myself re-reading it countless times, and every time I sell it to someone, or recommend it to someone I get a little bubble of happiness inside, and a lump in my throat. This is a book that deserves to be read and shared with everyone you know. John Green is an exceptional writer, and I honestly don’t know how anything is going to beat this novel in 2012 for me, and we’re only a couple of weeks into January! I am now rushing off to devour everything John Green has ever written…!

The Fault In Our Stars is out now, published by Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Books USA.

Rating 

Related articles

• Trailer Tuesday: The Fault in our Stars and Partials (yabookscentral.blogspot.com)
• Causing a Big Stir in the US: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Australian Nerdfighters Don’t Wait, Get Your Copy Here Now) (booktopia.com.au)
• ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ is a tour de force about teenage cancer (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

So after much deliberation I have finally chosen 16 genres, and 16 books, that I wish to explore for the Around The Stacks In How Many Ways 2012 Book Challenge that myself and Dog Ear Discs are hosting.

My reasons for choosing the books I have are either because I wanted to choose a ‘classic’ that I thought fully encapsulated the chosen genre, or because it’s a book I’ve had on my bookcase for sometime to read but just haven’t quite got to yet! Though please note, even though I have selected 16, I may not have time to read each one, despite how much I’d like to – but I’m definitely going to try my hardest!

If you haven’t yet signed up for the challenge you can do so by clicking here to get to the original challenge post, and leaving a comment with your details.

So without further ado, here are my chosen genres and titles:

• Crime – The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.
• Thriller – The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
• Romance – Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
• Fantasy – A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin
• Science Fiction – A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick
• Literary Fiction – Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
• Classic – Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• Historical Fiction – The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
• Dystopian Fiction – The Trial by Kafka
• Steampunk – Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories edited by Gavin J. Grant
• Horror – The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft
• Adventure – Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
• War – Alone In Berlin by Hans Fallada
• Western – The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
• Short Stories - Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
• Non-Fiction – Tigers in Red Weather by Ruth Padel

What do you think of my selected genres and titles?

Would you recommend something else?

Related articles

• Around The Stacks In How Many Ways – A 2012 Book Challenge! (bookmonkeyscribbles.wordpress.com)

The Shadows grow ever darker across the Demi-Monde. And as the soldiers of Heydrich’s ForthRight goose-step into Paris and the long-forgotten evil that is Lilith is awoken, it falls to Norma Williams to lead the resistance.

Lost in the virtual nightmare that is the Demi-Monde, she must come to terms with these terrible responsibilities and with the knowledge that those she thought were her friends are now her enemies. To triumph in this surreal cyber-world she must be more than she ever believed she could be… or perish.

It has been well over a year now since I read The Demi-Monde: Winter, the first book in the Demi-Monde quartet, and although I may have forgotten a few plot details since then, I can still remember the way I felt when I finished it: completely blown away and quite unable to grasp hold of the fact that I would have a whole year to wait for the next instalment! Was it worth the wait, you may ask? Hell yes!

I hadn’t read a great deal of science fiction when I was handed an early review copy of The Demi-Monde: Winter, and I certainly didn’t know what ‘steampunk’ was. I remember looking at this book thinking ‘hmmm…I’m not sure if I’ll ‘get’ it,’ and ‘I’m not sure if it’s for me.’ But I couldn’t have been any more wrong, and it just goes to show how marvellous it can be when you jump outside of your comfort zone and delve into a new genre. The idea of a computer-simulated world where all the monsters and villains of history are replicated and brought to life again for the apparently sole purpose of training soldiers, may sound absolutely ludicrous. But it works, and that’s all down to the genius mind of Rod Rees and his ability to create some fantastically horrific characters, mixed in with some laugh-out-loud prose.

I was a little bit worried when I sat down to read The Demi-Monde: Spring, I have to admit. I remembered most of the characters from the first novel, but I have an awful memory for remember plot details and I wasn’t sure if I had retained enough to be able to just carry on where I left off. Luckily, Rees instantly give you a very subtle reminder of the main events in the first book, and I was able to throw myself right back into the story. The first book centred around the President’s daughter, Norma Williams, becoming somehow trapped in the Demi-Monde. The US government employs jazz singer, Ella Thomas, to jump in and rescue her. Together with a few other characters of the computer simulation world, mainly her new lover Vanka Maykov, and the rather revolting Burlesque Bandstand, they all set out to rescue Norma. However, in the Demi-Monde: Spring the tables have turned. Ella has come to be known as the ‘Messiah’ by the people of the Demi-Monde, and she is soon expected to be the saviour of all its people, rescuing them from the evil of Heydrich’s ForthRight army. Only Ella no longer seems quite the same Ella we have all come to know and love in the first book. There is something different about her, and only those with the power to read auras are able to see this. It is then left to Norma Williams to step up and create an army of her very own against the ForthRight.

The first thing I loved about this second instalment is the role Burlesque comes to play in it all. In the first novel, let’s face it, he is pretty loathsome. And although he’s still not exactly pleasant, I quickly came to love him, not only for his humorous lines, and inappropriate behaviour, but for the simple fact that he’s willing to put his own life on the line, to help others. He is without a doubt my favourite character, and that is all down to Rees’s skill as a writer.

I absolutely adored Vanka and Ella together as a couple in the first novel, and I suppose I found it rather sad that everything turned against them this time. Vanka was an extremely memorable character for me in the first novel, and looking back now, I think I found him to be a little ‘flat’ this time, and that he became slightly overshadowed by other characters such as Burlesque and even Norma at times. Vanka’s constant worry was Ella, which is understandable, but at the same time, a little dull for the reader. I’m interested to see what will happen to their relationship in the coming novels, and I can only live in hope that it will end well for them both. Norma, however, has definitely stepped up to the plate, and become much more likeable. There was a section in particular which I loved, where Norma asks Vanka what it means to be a hero. In the real world, as the President’s daughter, Norma doesn’t have much of a life of her own, and so its interesting to see her develop in this other world, where she is free to become her own person. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how she will develop as the series goes on.

For anyone else who has read The Demi-Monde: Winter, you may remember a certain character called Trixie Dashwood. She represented a great female heroine and became one of my favourite characters in the first book, and I was extremely saddened to find virtually no sign of her in the second book at all, until the very last few pages. This may irritate some of you, but it’s easy to see why Rod chose to do this. The novel as it stands is so jam-packed with new ideas, new storylines and new characters that it would have become a very messy novel if Trixie were included as well. Although I missed her greatly, I think Rod chose to do the right thing by focusing the novel on one area of the Demi-Monde world, and concentrating on fewer main characters, to develop their personalities more. The great thing is with Trixie coming in at the end, its clear we can expect her to play much more of a role in the third book in the series!

If you have read the first book, you will probably remember endlessly flicking to the back of the book to the glossary, to look up one of Rod’s weird and wonderful word creations that frequent the novel. I found myself doing this a lot in the first half – having forgotten what most of them meant in the first book, and trying to grasp the meaning of the new ones. I did get extremely confused at one point, and found the glossary lacking certain words I just didn’t know the meaning of, but were then explained much later in the novel. I think it would have been more helpful to have all the obscure words in the glossary, or at least have an explanation of it as soon as its mentioned in the novel, but by the end I wasn’t too bothered because Rod, thankfully, had clarified everything I needed to know. So if you do find yourself struggling a little like I did, do persevere as all will be explained.

This is truly a fantastic addition to the series, and I’m ever so thankful to Rod Rees for not disappointing his readers. There are some brilliant laugh-out-loud moments in this book, and a great new array of characters – from Florence Nightingale, to the Marquis de Sade. You can also be left feeling very happy that you won’t have to wait a whole other year for the next part! The final two books in the series are being brought forward to later this year! Great news or what?!

If you haven’t yet read the first book in the series, The Demi-Monde: Winter, then what the hell are you waiting for? It was one of my top ten books of 2011 and it deserves many, many more readers! If you’d like to read my review, you can click here.

The Demi-Monde: Spring is out now in hardback, published by Jo Fletcher Books, an imprint of Quercus. A big thank  you goes to the publisher for providing me with a copy for review.

Rating 

Related articles

• Review: The Demi-Monde: Winter (thejoyofbooking.com)
• My Top Ten Books of 2011 (bookmonkeyscribbles.wordpress.com)
• My Top Ten Most Anticipated Books of 2012 (bookmonkeyscribbles.wordpress.com)
• Book Beginnings: The Demi Monde: Winter (thejoyofbooking.com)